Neverwinter GF Feats Builds and Theory

Neverwinter GF Feats Builds and Theory by dkcandy

Hello I’m @DKCandy also known as Scrotobagins on Mindflayer and I’ve been playing the Guardian Fighter class since beta. As of writing this guide I’m considered one of the top PvP Guardian Fighters in NW and theory crafters. Since many of the original GF theory crafters have left the game I’ve decided to write a guide and be available for your questions about the Guardian Fighter class.

Below I will cover some of the basic of the class and links to good information that has helped me understand the mechanic’s and math within the game.

Reference material:
If you enjoy theory crafting then take a look at the 2 links below for the math behind the stats for a Guardian Fighter. These reference materials have been extremely helpful. Big Thanks to Freehugs9 & Ferret09!

http://guidescroll.com/2013/09/neverwinter-gf-avoiding-diminishing-returns/

http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/sho…or-Penetration

http://neverwinter.gamepedia.com/Neverwinter_Wiki

Let’s start the guide with attributes and how they affect Guardian Fighter Class:

Each attribute has a special passive bonus that increases for every point over 10. Below is a list of the effects for each point over 10.

Attribute Roll Formula: http://neverwinter.gamepedia.com/Ability_Score_Rolling

Strength: +1% Damage Increase, +1% (DoT) resistance, +1% Guard Meter (Note: You will notice your tooltip damage increase as you increase your strength.)

Constitution: +2% Hit Points, +1 % Action Point Generation

Dexterity: +1% Resistance Ignored (Armor Penetration), +1% (AoE) resistance, +0.5% Deflection Chance (Note: Resistance Ignored will not display on your Armor Penetration character sheet. Use the link above in reference material for math when stacking ArP.)

Intelligence: +1% Recharge Speed (Note: This reduces your cool down durations.)

Wisdom: +1% Control Bonus, +1% Control Resistance (Note: This increases the prone duration of frontline surge and reduces the effects of crowd control effects. While testing this I did not notice any increase to prone duration to Bull Charge or Indomitable Strength.)

Charisma: +1% Combat Advantage, +1% Companion Bonus (Note: Currently companion bonus does not appear to work with augment pets.)

Recommended Races:

Human (DPS or Tank Builds): +3% Increased Defense and +3 Feats
Half-Orc (DPS Builds): +5% Critical Severity, +2 Dex and +2 Str
Dwarf (Tank Builds): +2 Str and +2 Con
Halfling (Deflect Builds): +3% Deflection, +10% Crowd Control Resistance, + 2 Dex and +2 Con
Tiefling (DPS Builds): +2 Con, +5% Damage when target below 50% Hit Points

The only race that really makes any difference is Halfling when it comes to deflect builds due to halfling having a 4% deflect bonus. (3% + 2 Dex = 4%) Otherwise any race can tank/dps as a Guardian Fighter with minimal mix/max differences.

Commonly used At-Wills, Encounters, Daily’s and Passives:

Cleave: This is your primary damage skill and is normally over 50% of your total damage due to AoE slash. To increase your overall damage you want this skill to do as much damage as possible.

Threatening Rush: This skill is used to dash to targets and AoE mark them. Marking targets builds threat and adds a very small debuff that reduces the targets damage resistance. Marked targets can also give GWF a damage increase if they are specced into the feat.

Tide of Iron (Alternative to Threatening Rush): In most instances you will want to use Threatening Rush but if your team is lacking DPS to kill a boss, you can switch to Tide of Iron and give a small debuff to reduce targets damage resistance.

Encounters:

Lunging Strike: High Damage, short cool down and long distance dash makes this one of the Guardian Fighters most used skills. This should almost never be taken off your encounter bar.

Enforced Threat: High Damage AoE attack (limited to 5 targets), medium cool down and hard taunt makes this skill a must have for tank builds. This is also a good damage skill for DPS builds while clearing trash.

Knights Challenge: 100% Damage Increase to a single target, long cool down and hard taunt makes this a must have skill for boss fights when you are tanking the boss. This is an amazing skill to double your damage and force the boss to attack you but the boss also does 100% more damage to you. So be careful when using this skill as it can result in your own death.

Anvil of Doom: 100% Damage Increase when target is below 25% Hit Points, long cool down makes this skill an execution skill to be swapped on boss fights. When the boss reaches below 25% hit points swap to this skill and combine Knights Challenge + Anvil for godly damage.

Frontline Surge: Frontal Cone AoE High Damage attack (limited to 3 targets), very high Action Point generation and long cool down makes this one of your primary encounters. The prone on the skill is a bonus but it’s mainly used for AP generation and good damage.
Into the Fray: Buffs yourself and allies giving them a movement speed increase, +15% Action Point generation boost and a very small temporary hit point gain. This skill is great for using during trash or assisting teammates with action point generation problems.

Knights Valor: Buffs your allies (including Pets and TR’s Bait & Switch clone) with a shield that transfers 50% of all damage they receive to the Guardian Fighter. This encounter is the best damage mitigation skill for tank builds and assisting your team in tough fights. But this encounter can and will kill the Guardian Fighter if the team takes a lot of damage. Use this skill with caution, I’ve received over 50k damage within 1 AoE in CN to instant jib me many times.

Bull Charge: High Damage, prone and short cooldown this skill is mainly used in PvP.

Daily:

Villain’s Menace: 20% Damage and Immunity to CC buff

Fighters Recovery: Life Steal buff

Supremacy of Steel: Reflects a % of damage received back to the attacker

Indomitable Strength: High Damage double hit sending the target flying in the air and prone at the end of the assault mainly used in PvP.

Passives:

Enhanced Mark: Guardian Fighters generates more threat from damage and passively with this passive equipped. Great passive for tank builds.

Combat Superiority: 10% Damage increase. A must have passive as more damage equals more threat for tank builds and damage builds want more damage.

Trample the Fallen: 15% Damage increase to targets that are currently being CC. This is another damage boost for damage builds and also has a great feat in tactician tree that adds more threat generation and damage.

As you can see I have not covered every power as I personally don’t find many of the other skills useful in my play style. I highly recommend that you at least test every skill on the test server and see how they work and if it fits into your play style.

Common At-Wills, Encounters, Passives builds:

Leveling:
At-Wills: Cleave / Threatening Rush
Encounters: FrontLine Surge, Lunging Strike, Enforced Threat
Daily: Fighters Recovery and Villains Menace
Passives: Combat Superiority and Trample the Fallen

PvE Trash / Boss Adds:
At-Wills: Cleave / Threatening Rush
Encounters: Frontline Surge, Lunging Strike, (Knights Valor, Enforced Threat or Into the Fray)
Daily: Fighters Recovery and (Villains Menace or Supremacy of Steel) (Note: SoS + Knights Valor reflects all damage received from Knights Valor back to enemy.)
Passives: Combat Superiority and (Trample of the Fallen or Enhanced Threat) (Note: Use enhanced threat only if you are having issues holding threat, otherwise trample’s increased damage is a better optioin.)

PvE DPS Boss:
At-Wills: Cleave / Threatening Rush (Maybe Tide of Iron if team DPS issues.)
Encounters: Frontline Surge, Lunging Strike, Knights Challenge (last 25% swap frontline for Anvil of Doom)
Daily: Villains Menace and Fighters Recovery
Passives: Combat Superiority and Enhanced Threat

PvE Tank Boss:
At-Wills: Cleave / Threatening Rush (Maybe Tide of Iron if team DPS issues.)
Encounters: Knights Valor, Lunging Strike, Knights Challenge (Use Knights Valor when Knights Challenge is down, this way boss is always doing 50% less damage to teammates.)
Daily: Fighters Recovery and (Villains Menace or Supremacy of Steel)
Passives: Combat Superiority and Enhanced Threat

PvP:
At-Wills: Cleave / Threatening Rush
Encounters: Lunging Strike, Bull Charge and (Frontline or Knights Challenge) (Note: For new players with below average gear and enchants, the damage boost from Knights Challenge can really help burst targets.)
Daily: Indomitable Strength and (Fighters Recovery, Supremacy of Steel or Villains Menace) (Indomitable is a huge single target damage attack with a decent CC duration. The other options as your second daily are a matter of preference for your build and style of play.
Passives: Combat Superiority and Trample of the Fallen

Guardian Fighter Feats:

I will be covering my personal feat builds and as above with the powers, I recommend testing all feats on the test server. This way you can see how every feat works, if it does what you think it does and works with your play style or concept build.

PvP Feats:
Strength Focus 3/3 (This is a straight damage increase and does not increase your strength as it describes.)
Toughness 3/3
Shielded Resurgence 3/3
Armor Specialization 3/3
Powerful Attack 5/5
Weapon Mastery 3/3

Paragon – Iron Vanguard
Conqueror Paragon
Take Measure 5/5
Reinforce Surge 5/5
Cruel Cut Style 5/5
Tactical Superiority 5/5
Reckless Attacker 1/1

Protector Paragon
Plate Agility 5/5

Tactician Paragon
Crushing Pin 5/5

PvE DPS Feats:
Strength Focus 3/3 (This is a straight damage increase and does not increase your strength as it describes.)
Toughness 3/3
Shielded Resurgence 3/3
Armor Specialization 3/3
Powerful Attack 5/5
Weapon Mastery 3/3

Paragon – Iron Vanguard
Conqueror Paragon
Take Measure 5/5
Wrathful Warrior 5/5
Cruel Cut Style 5/5
Tactical Superiority 5/5
Reckless Attacker 1/1

Tactician Paragon
Crushing Pin 5/5
Battle Trample 5/5

PvE Tank Feats:
Strength Focus 3/3 (This is a straight damage increase and does not increase your strength as it describes.)
Toughness 3/3
Shielded Resurgence 3/3
Armor Specialization 3/3
Potent Challenge 3/3
Powerful Attack 5/5

Paragon – Iron Vanguard
Conqueror Paragon
Take Measure 5/5
Reinforce Surge 5/5
Cruel Cut Style 5/5
Tactical Superiority 5/5
Reckless Attacker 1/1

Protector Paragon
Plate Agility 5/5
Shield Defense 5/5

This pretty much covers most of the basic information, feats and powers of the Guardian Fighter class. As always I recommend you test everything on the test server prior to spending your AD on new gear, enchantments or respec.

If you have any questions about the Guardian Fighter class, need advice on a concept, upgrade or just want to say hello, leave a message in the post. I’ll try my best to answer everyone’s questions.

DKCandy’s Guardian Fighters Build Theory:

When I’m working on a new build I first decide on what I want this build to focus on. PvP, PvE, DPS, Tanking or Hybrid tanking DPS and then look at feats. Do I want to use Conqueror, Protection or Tactician or Hybrid.

Once I have a concept in mind which race and attribute stacking will be the best. I then make a copy of one of my Guardian Fighters to the test server and do a free respect. Even if I don’t have the race or max attributes I want for the build I will still use the free respect and test the concept. If the feats and attributes work as I thought and performance is acceptable. I then move on to the next phase.

What profile does my concept fit and do I have access to a CAT or Stone or am I limited to just my main character. Am I stacking Recovery, CRT, ArP or all 3 or something else? Some of the basic profiles I use are:

PvE (Conqueror) DPS/Tank (Includes CAT or STONE):

Critical Hit Chance: 1650-1750 (1750 is max due to high DR past 1650.)
Armor Penetration: 24% (I use the reference material ArP DR guide and find max value and get close as possible to 24%.)
Normally I am able to stack my CAT or Stone with enough CRT and ArP to reach both caps allowing my main character free to stack power. This way all power is doubled due to reckless feat. (Note: Power from Pet and Buffs such as set bonces do not stack from reckless feat.)

PvE (Protection/Tactician) Tank (Includes CAT or STONE):

Since these builds do not have doubled power from conqueror feat you don’t need to worry about stacking power on main character. These concepts allow you to build godly near unkillable tanks with mass amounts of damage mitigation and health regeneration. You can also build DPS concepts stacking your pet with ArP & CRT but damage won’t be as high as Conqueror but still decent.

PvP (No Pets):

PvP concepts limit you to just stacking everything on your main character and itemization is extremely important. If you are going for a very high burst glass canon to a troll Wisdom/Int recovery punt build, the possibilities are there.

Once I have the profile I’ll be working with I open up Excel and grab a blank spread sheet then head over to the Auction House. I’ll start by searching for items that fit my build and get a list of them for each slot. Once I have a rough profile of gear, I’ll then start figuring out what rank enchants I need and if I can change a piece(s) of gear by having a high level (Rank 7+) enchant. I’ll also keep referencing the DR guide for stats to make sure I’m not going way over DR’s unless stacking one specific stat for a specific concept.

After I have a complete set of gear on paper, I’ll figure out the cost of all items and if it’s within my budget. I’ll then purchase the items if I can afford them and then copy my character to the test server. (NEVER equip the gear until you test the build on the test server. If the concept doesn’t work out, you can resell all of the gear and recoup most or maybe make a profit.) Also if I don’t have all of the enchants I want to use on the concept. I’ll ask friends that do to please copy their character to the test server and give me the enchants.

(Note: You can copy your character as many times as you want and it does not affect the live servers. This means you can duplicate your enchants by unsocketing them and mail to yourself on the test server to make rank 10’s or perfects.)

Once I have all of the gear, enchants on the test server, I’ll respec, equip the gear/enchants and test the build on the test server. If I like the concept I’ll work on getting everything on live and even rolling a new race if necessary, otherwise I scrap the concept and start over.

High Health, Regeneration, Deflect – PvP Build
Version: 1.1
– Changes: Added several different armor sets

Concept: Very Tanky Survival build stacking regeneration and health for a very high constant heal with a high deflect chance and damage reduction %. This build mimic’s a GWF Sentinel and is designed to fight 2+ opponents at a time. If you are tired of being 1-2 shot in PvP give this build a try.

Recommended Race: Halfling (Any race can be used)
3% Deflection
+2 Dexterity and +2 Constitution

Reason for Halfling is due to the racial and the 4% bonus to deflection (3% and 2 Dex for 4%) which makes this race my choice for a GF & GWF classes. Also the 10% increase to CC resistance is a bonus.

Stat Rolls:
Con – 18 + 2 = 20
STR – 13
DEX – 13 + 2 = 15
WIS – 10
INT – 10
CHA – 8

As you level you will max Con / Dex with an end result of 26 Con / 21 Dex this gives you:
+32% Health
+16% Action Point Generation
+11% Resistance ignored (Armor Penetration)
+11% AoE Damage Resistance
+5.5% Deflection Chance

Also note that if you have the +1 all stats campfire buff all of the above stats will increase by .5 to 2%.

Epic Armor Sets:
Grand Regent 4/4: Gives 800+ more Power from 4pc.
Grand Regent 2/2 & T2 Fay 2/2: +900 Defense

Cheap Blue Armor Set:
Champion’s Helm of Youth (560 Defense, 270 Deflect, 236 Regeneration)
Champion’s Bracers of Youth (560 Defense, 270 Deflect, 236 Regeneration)
Champion’s Greaves of Youth (560 Defense, 270 Deflect, 236 Regeneration)
Chest: Grand Regent, Stalwart Bulwark or T2 Fay

Recommended Items:

Weapon: Ancient Grand Knight’s Longsword
Shield: Ancient Grand Knight’s Shield
Neck: Bloodied Frostwolf Pelt (Or any other regeneration neck)
Rings: Greater Ring of Health
Belt: Reinforced Frostpelt Girdle
Shirt: Gemmed Exquisite Shirt (The Blue versions are a great option if you are on a budget as you get the socket and very minimal stats difference.)
Pants: Gemmed Exquisite Pants (Same as above blue version for cost savings.)

Utility Slots: Dark Enchantments: (1) Rank 7 & (2) Rank 8’s – 5% Movement Speed
Defensive Slots: Radiant Enchantments: Rank 8 – 880 Health Each
Offensive Slots: Greater Tenebrous (Note: You can run Dark Enchantments if you prefer more ArP or can’t afford Greater Tenebrous)

Armor Enchantment: Normal Soulforge
Weapon: Greater Plague Fire

Note: You do not need to use the high level enchantments for this build to work. I do recommend starting with Rank 5’s at a minimum as the more Health you have the better this build works and then save up for rank 8’s and replace rank 5 with an 8. This way you can destroy the rank 5 and not waste AD removing it.

High Health, Regeneration, Deflect – PvE Build + PET
Version: 1.0 

Concept: This is the same as the Regen / Deflect build as above but adds a PET for PvE. The pet gives the build Critical Strike Chance and Armor Pen for increased damage.

PET (CAT or STONE):

CAT Build:
Offensive Enchant: 220 CRT
Offensive Enchant: 220 CRT
Defensive Enchant: 9%
Neck: Lethal Berserker Amulet: 243 CRT / 133 ARP / 220 CRT Enchantment
Ring: Piercing Berserker Ring: 133 CRT / 243 ARP / 220 Armor Pen Enchantment
Belt: Piercing Berserker Belt: 133 CRT / 243 ARP / 220 Armor Pen Enchantment

Results with 9% Defensive Buff:
Critical Strike: 1519 or 11.3% (with 5% Base & 3% feat 19.3%)
Armor Pen: 1154 or 11.4% (with Dex & Neck 24.1%)

PvE Weapon Enchant: Greater or Perfect Vorpal (Does more damage than Plague Fire.)

**NEW** Knights Captain “Team Buff” Hybrid DPS / TANK Life Steal Build
Version: 1.0

The Knight Captain 4pc bonus reads “When using a power you have a 25% chance to increase your allies power by 60% and defense by 25% for 6 seconds.” The set bonus only applies to your teammates and not to yourself so don’t get too excited but the damage and defense scaling is amazing as your teams gear improves. This set bonus is currently the best in slot for any Guardian Fighter and a must have for PvE teams.

Recommended Race and Attributes: Any Race and STR/CON (Max STR if possible 24 for extra damage.)

Armor Set: Knights Captain 4/4
Weapon: Ancient Grand Knight’s Longsword
Shield: Ancient Grand Knight’s Shield
Neck: Berserker Amulet of Restoration
Rings: Ancient Berserker’s Ring of Cleaving x2
Belt: Berserker Belt of Restoration
Shirt: Gemmed Exquisite Shirt (The Blue versions are a great option if you are on a budget as you get the socket and very minimal stats difference.)
Pants: Gemmed Exquisite Pants (Same as above blue version for cost savings.)

Utility Slots: Dark Enchantments: (1) Rank 7 & (2) Rank 8’s: 5% Movement Speed
Defensive Slots: Radiant Enchantments: Rank 8 880: Health Each
Offensive Slots: Radiant Enchantments: Rank 8 220: Power Each
Armor Enchantment: ?? (Testing new enchants)
Weapon Enchantment: Vorpal

PET (CAT or STONE):
Ioun Stone of Allure (Level 25):
Offensive Slot 1: Profane Runestone, Rank 8: 220 CRT
Offensive Slot 2: Profane Runestone, Rank 8: 220 CRT
Defensive Slot 3: Eldritch Runestone, Rank 8: 9% Pet Stats
Ring: Ancient Berserker’s Ring of Cleaving /w Dark Enchantment Rank 8: 220 Armor Pen
Neck: Berserker Amulet of Restoration /w Azure Enchantment Rank 8: 220 Critical Strike
Icon: Greater Icon of Retribution /w Dark Enchantment Rank 8: 220 Armor Pen

PET STATS /w 9% Bonus:
Power: 478
Critical Strike: 1038
Armor Penetration: 928
Recovery: 174
Life Steal: 479

Boons:
Dark Fey Hunter: 250 Power
Fey Precision: 250 Critical Strike

Character Stats with Pet Buff:
Hit Points: 29,883
Power: 7717
Critical Strike: 1556 (19.5%)
Armor Pen: 1903 (19.4% + 5 from Dex for 24.4%)
Recovery: 1529 (13.3%)
Defense: 3912 (45.7%)
Deflect: 626 (7.5%)
Regeneration: 699 (5.8%)
Life Steal: 1007 (7.9%)

Daily: Villain’s Menace and Fighter’s Recovery
Passives: Combat Superiority and Trample the Fallen
Encounters: Fonteline Surge, Lunging Strike and Anvil of Doom

Master of the Hunt: Average Damage between 2Mil to 2.4Mil

Malabog’s Castle: Full Clear 12Mil to 14Mil