[Osidious]

http://aoc.yg.com/feat-planner?class...013-21,4006-21

same spec i suggested as #1 raid tank spec a few months back. yes use mainly polearm with this, S&B situationally.

now with new stats and caps i suspect this will need adjustments for the HIGH END guards amongst us. HOWEVER anyone undergeared, or new to the game or class, you want a good PvE spec, here is a good start, adjust to your own liking from there. GL

[Lariuss]

OK I have a couple of questions.

*Is polearm the end all be all for guards? I've noticed all of your builds include polearm.

*What are the main benefits of both polarm and S & B?

[Takedakai]

I just reactivated my lvl80 Guard and since I haven't played since Aug. 2008 I'm hoping that much has changed for the better.

Currently my Guard has S&B and I never messed much with pole. My focus is on PVE and tanking and I'm wondering if polearm is now the way to go?

Thanks~

[Aylis]

My guard is s&b. I see alot of pole guards around nowadays though. Pole does more dps and has less mitigation. Armor can offset alot of that. If your happy with s&b stay that way. If you want to go pole you may want to make sure your wearing some raid gear 1st before switching over to pole. Ive seen to many poorly geared pole guards die cuz they pull agro and cant take the hits.

[Kastos]

Originally Posted by Aylis Pole does more dps and has less mitigation.

Less mitigation being in the 0.5-1.5% region while Guard is up.

Current pros of Polearm/SnS (Assuming a Jugg+Gen or Tempest+Gen build respectively)

Sword and Shield:
- Higher burst aggro
- Very slightly higher mitigation
- More bleeds/debuffs
- Access to +Protection weapons, essential for certain T3 bosses
- Juggernaut - Very useful nuke/survivability buff

Polearm:
- Higher sustained agggro, largely due to...
- Much higher DPS
- Longer range
- Access to key Sword and Shield combos/abilities (Dulling Blow, Guard Destroyer, etc) without having to spec for them
- Defiance - Very useful survivability buff

[thegreatheed]

Originally Posted by Aylis My guard is s&b. I see alot of pole guards around nowadays though. Pole does more dps and has less mitigation. Armor can offset alot of that. If your happy with s&b stay that way. If you want to go pole you may want to make sure your wearing some raid gear 1st before switching over to pole. Ive seen to many poorly geared pole guards die cuz they pull agro and cant take the hits.

The issue is the vast majority of tanking talents available to guardians are in the general tree. Making a viable build that can generate sufficient hate while still taking a LOT of general talents is much easier with the tempest tree.

Once your gear improves, and you can start removing points from the general tree, SnS is viable because of slightly higher mitigation and good burst threat.

So ya, a polearm build makes you slightly squishier... if you look at pure mitigation. But if you take the overall picture, an undergeared pole guard can make an effective enough hate build while still taking a large number of general talents. Those general talents come close to or completely make up for the mitigation difference in undergeared tanks.

[Kastos]

Originally Posted by Aylis My guard is s&b. I see alot of pole guards around nowadays though. Pole does more dps and has less mitigation. Armor can offset alot of that. If your happy with s&b stay that way. If you want to go pole you may want to make sure your wearing some raid gear 1st before switching over to pole. Ive seen to many poorly geared pole guards die cuz they pull agro and cant take the hits.

Reasons why a Polearm Guard "can't take the hits".

- Juggernaut buff - 10% armour (Countered by Defiance)
- Strike and Guard +8 Damage deflection
- Improve Dulling Blow +5% Evade (Countered by Redoubt)
- No stacked Dulling Blows (If it's really making a difference, you can just swap to SnG and stack them. Simples)

If a Polearm Guard also decides to go for LR (Which I personally believe is a waste, but meh) then the +2.5% Evade could potentially cancel the SnG buff due to being passive over SnG's 45 sec duration.

I often hear people talking about Polearm Guards having poor mitigation compared to SnS at lower levels, but aside from the Guard buff not giving quite as high a boost, can't actually find significant reasons why. Not attacking anyone, but you wonder where the extra survivability that a poorly-geared SnS Guard has.

[Hurlbut]

Originally Posted by Kastos Reasons why a Polearm Guard "can't take the hits". - Juggernaut buff - 10% armour (Countered by Defiance) If a Polearm Guard also decides to go for LR (Which I personally believe is a waste, but meh) then the +2.5% Evade could potentially cancel the SnG buff due to being passive over SnG's 45 sec duration. I often hear people talking about Polearm Guards having poor mitigation compared to SnS at lower levels, but aside from the Guard buff not giving quite as high a boost, can't actually find significant reasons why. Not attacking anyone, but you wonder where the extra survivability that a poorly-geared SnS Guard has.

Actually Juggernaut do more than just provide 10% armor, it provide +300 protection and 70% weapon damage. So as a buff it's more valuable than Defiance, unless you want the heals when you're at 50% or less of Health. Juggernaut Buff doesn't care whenever you're polearm or sword n board.

[Kastos]

Originally Posted by Hurlbut Actually Juggernaut do more than just provide 10% armor

I'm aware of that, but was talking purely from a mitigation point of view. Everything considered Jugg is better (Costs 6 points though) but on a pure survivability basis Defiance can be extremely effective, although if you're hitting 50% regularly it'ss not a good sign.

[brettau]

Defiance is passive and continuous.