TSW Blade/Chaos Tanking Guide

TSW Blade/Chaos Tanking Guide by Escalith

This is a throughout guide that should settle all your tanking needs, whether you just started out – are mediocre or mayhaps a few tips and tricks that even some of the good tanks don’t know about!

[Early Game – 72 Points] – Able to tank Polaris, Hell Raised & Darkness War

Actives

1. (Blade Tier 1) – Balanced Blade
2. (Chaos Tier 1) – Call of Eris
3. (Chaos Tier 1) – Escalation
4. (Blade Tier 1) – Stunning Swirl {E}
5. (Turbulence) – Provoke
6. (Chaos Tier 1) – Martial Discipline
7. (Blade Tier 1) – Illusion

Passives

1. (Blade Tier 1) – Regeneration
2. (Blade Tier 1) – Fluid Defense {E}
3. (Blade Tier 1) – Sharp Blades
4. (Chaos Tier 1) – Chaos Adept
5. (Chaos Tier 1) – Intensity
6. (Chaos Tier 1) – Master of Illusions
7. (Turbulence) – Agitator

Very basic; that’s all you really need to keep aggro and mitigate as much damage as possible by using your cooldowns. Also you have an interrupt for certain skills, such as Exhale (Darkness War) or Psychic Death Zone (Polaris)

[Mid Game – 315 Points] – Able to tank any normal instance

Actives

1. (Blade Tier 2) – Clearing the Path
2. (Chaos Tier 1) – Call of Eris
3. (Chaos Tier 1) – Escalation
4. (Blade Tier 1) – Stunning Swirl {E}
5. (Turbulence) – Provoke
6. (Chaos Tier 1) – Martial Discipline
7. (Blade Tier 1) – Illusion

Passives

1. (Claw Tier 2) – Bloodsport
2. (Blade Tier 1) – Fluid Defense {E}
3. (Chaos Tier 2) – Inevitability
4. (Chaos Tier 1) – Master of Illusions
5. (Chaos Tier 1) – Intensity
6. (Turbulence) – Fuel the Fire
7. (Turbulence) – Agitator

By now we changed our AoE to Clearing the Path. Along with Bloodsport you will ensure alot of threat and alot of sure penetrates. Also you use Fuel the Fire once more for holding aggro better. It’s not required but it helps alot with adds and to really make sure that -noone- will run astray.

[Lategame – 728 Points] – Able to tank any Elite

Actives

1. (Blade Tier 2) – Crimson Theatre
2. (Chaos Tier 2) – Reality Fracture
3. (Chaos Tier 1) – Escalation
4. (Blade Tier 2) – Art of War {E}
5. (Turbulence) – Provoke
6. (Chaos Tier 1) – Martial Discipline
7. (Blade Tier 1) – Illusion

Passives

1. (Claw Tier 2) – Bloodsport
2. (Blade Tier 2) – Flight of Daggers {E}
3. (Chaos Tier 2) – Inevitability
4. (Shotgun Tier 2) – Hardcase
5. (Chaos Tier 1) – Intensity
6. (Turbulence) – Fuel the Fire
7. (Turbulence) – Agitator

[Endgame – 824 (1072) Points] – Recommended Nightmare Build

Actives

1. (Blade Tier 2) – Crimson Theatre
2. (Chaos Tier 2) – Reality Fracture
3. (Chaos Tier 1) – Escalation
4. (Blade Tier 2) – Art of War {E}
5. (Turbulence) – Provoke ((Turbulence) – Mass Provoke)
6. (Chaos Tier 1) – Martial Discipline
7. (Blade Tier 1) – Illusion ((Chaos Tier 2) – Helter Skelter/Chaotic Pull)((Blade Tier 2) – Trial of Swords)

Passives

1. (Rifle Tier 2) – Shoot ‘Em Up
2. (Blade Tier 2) – Flight of Daggers {E} ((Blade Tier 2) – Sixth Sense {E})
3. (Chaos Tier 2) – Inevitability
4. (Shotgun Tier 2) – Hardcase
5. (Chaos Tier 1) – Intensity
6. (Turbulence) – Fuel the Fire // ((Chaos Tier 2) – Fever Pitch)
7. (Turbulence) – Agitator

This build trades Bloodsport for a more powerful and relaible Affliction; Shoot ‘Em Up. The other skills are pretty much the same but switch out skills are added to the list of useful skills. If your aggro is fine and you prefer a small self heal; or to hold aggro on bosses that you can’t reach (Dr. Klein) Sixth Sense is quite strong. Helter Skelter/Chaotic Pull/Trial of Swords when another impair is needed. Fever Pitch is not really needed; because RF and CT do not miss – however if you feel like you glance too much put it in. I did not find it necessary.

[Itemization]

This is where most tanks and tanking guides split apart; everyone has their own way of gearing and prefer this and claim this to be the superior way; I will simply state the way I gear up; what worked best for -me- and tanks I know, also which helped me to do Masterplanner in the 3 early Nightmares in full blue gear.

Tank Items:
1 Head
2 Major Talisman
2 Minor Talisman

DPS Items:
1 Major Talisman
1 Minor Talisman

Required Stats:

There’s no real formula on how to split them up, but your best bet is getting slottable gear and getting half of it with +Defense and the other half with +Block. If you really want to make sure it’s perfectly even, use 50/50 Runes! Once you reach 800 in both, Defense and Block, start putting the rest into +Physical or +Magical Protection.

Why?

The most painful hits in TSW are Penetrating and Critical hits. By ensuring a High Block and Defense you minimize the chance of being hit by those, adding protection ontop of this ensures that your overall damage is reduced. It’s the simplest and most logical explanation I could come up with.

In blue gear you won’t reach anywhere near those numbers, but roughly a 400/400 Split – if you also add those defensive stats on your blue weapons. I was lucky enough to find 2 items with 347 Damage (Maximum for Blue) with Glyph Slots.

My personal Setup:

Blade/Chaos Focus +Defense
Head +Defense
1 Major Talisman +Defense
1 Major Talisman +Block (+Physical Protection)
1 Major Talisman +Block
3 Minor Talisman +Block

[Skills and when to switch them out]

Provokes:

Provoke raises your threat to the the point of where the monster will attack you. If you stop hitting and someone else hits, the monster will turn and hit them instead. Thus, this is best used in conjunction with a DPS using Confuse.

Mass Provoke does not change your threat at all, but instead forces a monster to attack you for a few seconds. Thus, it can be quite useful to use this skill as ‘aggro grab’ to ensure you got a few seconds to build up aggro, or on monster that aggro reset to ensure aghain those few seconds you will be the only person that is hit. Both of them are ranged.

Defensive Cooldowns:

They are best used to mitigate damage when either you expect a large hit (Charged Hack for example) – or when your health drops below 45%, to give the healer some breathing space to catch up. 45% is a good number to go for if you are inexperienced, at some point you will simply /feel/ the perfect moment to use those cooldowns.

Impairs:

Art of War – Is your best impair. Provided the boss is not immune to impairs, it will always hit. Short Range.

Chaotic Pull – If you do not need to mitigate damage by the impair, this is your best choice to interrupt. A lower cooldown than HS/ToS; but does not stun bosses. 15 Metre Range.

Trial of Swords – 15 metre ranged single target stun. Useful when you need the stun (to mitigate damage) and/or you can’t get too close to the boss.

Helter Skelter – AoE Impair that displaces you. Very useful to stun a large amount of adds or to switch places.

[Tips & Tricks]

Point of Harmony: A strong aggro builder. With 10k Health you will instantly build 9k Hate. Also strong on fights where you can’t reach the boss or have reduced aggro due to other mechanics. Coupled with Stoicism this can go up to 24k Hate in 3 seconds.

Surging Blades: This skill properly used can mitigate certain damaging abilities. Most noticeably is Dr. Klein’s Wave of Mutilation. (The small ones, not the large one) – With proper timing you can surge through them without taking any damage.

Art of War: Dependant on the fight and the trash packs inbetween you can use Art of War to ‘pre-stack’ charged for a boss fight. Simply use it on mobs right before they die and try to dodge/kite in case they aren’t dead yet. It takes practise to know the perfect moment.
This also can serve as another mitigation cooldown; on the Ur-Draught for example. You can impair the cleave and make sure the next 2 hits against you will glance. This is risky as sometimes the boss will reposition and your DPS needs to adjust. It’s best to warn them beforehand not to panic.

Helter Skelter: If used smartly it can serve as a minor defensive cooldown, especially on add waves. Since mobs do not attack you when impaired and facing away from you; you can use this to prevent being attacked by them for the duration. Most noticeable would be the Skeletons in Ahnk Nightmare; 5th Fight.

AoW+HS: If timed and done properly, you can use Art of War to impair/interrupt adds and get (x-10) stacks of the glancing buff. A little backstep and a Helter-Skelter will once more root them in place for a few seconds, giving you more leeway to keep your stacks.

Aggro Trading: Make sure to tell your DPS to confuse after you taunt, this is essentially an Hate Swap as you get their amount of hate and they reduce theirs by half. This is useless when done in the wrong order and requires some coordination.

Adv. Aggro Trading: If you really have problems with aggro despite the guide or you need to wear full tanking gear, you can tell a DPS to get Stoicism. You pull a monster with Art of War to force it on you; the DPS will use Stoicism and full-fire on the mob. At the end of the Forced Taunt; you use Provoke to get the DPS’s aggro – and the DPS will use confuse & stop attacking till Stoicism ran out. This is especially useful on fights where you can’t build alot of aggro due to shields or mob placement. This however requires some voice communication to be done properly. And of course, practise.

Active Dodging: Certain abilities that bosses cast can be mitigated and entirely ignored by a perfectly timed active dodge. Most prominent skills are ‘Charged Hack’ and ‘Searing Brand’ – If your Impair is on cooldown/you do not with to use it, you should active dodge out of the hit. This is done by double-tapping your movement key when the castbar of the skill is at roughly 70-75%. Keep in mind this requires some training and experience to do it on a reliable basis; however if done properly you can avoid a lot of damage and even prevent wipes.

[Final Words]

I’m certain there are several other builds that work, that are viable, that can tank and that do the job well – however I found this to be working best for me and my playstyle. This build is tested by myself in every instance mentioned, wearing entirely blue gear for the Nightmares. (Ahnk and HF excluded)
I hope you have fun trying this build out and even if you have your own build preferance mayhaps caught a few new ideas.