Tanking Nex.

[Noxx]

I recently joined a clan and started PvMing with them a bit, specifically Nex.

Since i have Ports armor i  offered to tank since i won't be of much use in the DPS department with t80s when a lot of them have t90s.

Anyway, i've been using a Shield the entire kill. One of the guys that i usually go with told me it's best to just stick to a shield until i become a bit more familiar with everything, then i can switch to different things when i feel a bit more comfortable. Thus far i've found that i only really need a shield when it comes to Ice and Zaros phase, but more specifically Zaros.

Also i've been usign 2 combat styles, Ranged and Mage (mainly Mage).

Since i can't really afford any t90 Mage or Range quite yet, i was thinking about switching one of those styles to Melee seeing as i will once again be able to afford Drygores. But my question is if, as a tank, it's a "good" option. 

 

I don't really know. I'm just looking for some Tanking advice in general. As it is i think i last for about 5 or 6 kills in a trio, which i'm sure isn't terrible. But i'm sure i could be doing a lot better.

So if i was to use Drygores, what would it replace (if it would replace anything), and what are some other useful tips for a tank?

[Wkw]

The only case where I'd reccomend melee is for dps, and if you do not have access to mage or range.

 

Tanking without melee is super easy. You should use a shield, to conserve food, so that you and your dps can last longer for more kills.

 

What armor are you using for tanking?

[Noxx]

Been using Seasinger. Last few kills i did i took DL switch for when i ranged.

[Levells]

I'm just going to reply to this as a placeholder, as I'm on my phone right now.

 

I melee Tank as a Duo with a friend. We get hour trips so we must be doing something right :p

[Wkw]

I'm just going to reply to this as a placeholder, as I'm on my phone right now.

 

I melee Tank as a Duo with a friend. We get hour trips so we must be doing something right :P

Please tell me how you do ice :(

[Levells]

You mention your gear only a little bit, so I'll just tell you how I do it and you can make adjustments from there. I prefer maining melee with a range swap just for shadow phase. I find shadow to be the worst for a meleer and I don't mage due to lack of decent weapon and remaining on lunars to use Heal Other.

My partner mains range with a melee swap (he goes full out so he's using sirenic/asc and malev/dry). We get 10 kills/hour, going with an instance.

 

Gear:

I normally use either Vampyrism or Penance aura, my invy changes slightly accordingly (more restores and less food w/ Vamp)

 

Invy:

This is my invy setup while using Penance. If I'm using Vamp, I add 3 restore flasks in place of 3 rocktails in my yak, towards the bottom but spaced out a little so I can still get food/brews if I only have a few spaces available to withdraw to. If you're not using Heal/Lunar, you can throw more food/prayer in those spots.

 

Yak:

Again, Penance setup. Swap as above for Vamp.

 

Quick prayers: Turmoil, Prot Item, Prot Magic

 

Smoke:

Start in the middle and use Sever to get her attention, then run back to the walkway and loop around so she'll follow, using Anticipation, Resonance, and Preparation while running and turn on your prayer after. Then run into melee distance of her, flick on melee prayer and grab your offhand. Smack once or twice, you can use Dismember if you want, and then I use Slaughter before she moves, using Soul Split to take advantage of the free health. You should move a space or 2 back so she's guaranteed to pop back up where she was. When she calls the minion, toss on your shield (leaving melee prayer on) and walk away and use Res to heal, then switch prayer back to magic. If you still seem to be getting hit a lot, you can use Devotion.

 

Shadow:

This one comes down to if she's using Prot Range, but that'll come in a moment. Throw your offhand back on and if she hasn't been tagged yet, tag her and run a few spaces back. If things go in your favor, she won't make the room dark yet. Flick on Soul Split and use Assault and cancel it with Sever and move quickly away.  If she isn't praying range, throw on your cbows, switch to Anguish and have at her. If she is, then you have to do the back and forth melee hits. Her melee hurts much more than her ranged. When she calls, run through the center and drag her around the pillar. You can switch back to your shield and use Res/drop pray a nice heal.

 

Blood:

If you do trios, this should be easier for you. As a duo, dps is a bit more critical. Throw on your offhand and voke to make sure she's on you, then start with Assault. You'll have to learn your timing here but you need to use your best abilities here, so there's still Destroy, Kick, and Sever to mix up. Be sure to use Escape if she targets you for the sacrifice. When she calls, again, shield, drop pray, use Res.

 

Ice:

Use Anticipation for the first prison so you can Freedom the second.  How I start this phase depends on how my health is. My general rule is: ~4k+, use Barricade. Under that, I use Immortality. Whenever I use Barricade, I heal my dps. Soul Split is good to use as well. This phase is extremely difficult to pull off without problems and comes down to luck most of the time. When she says Contain, use Escape to get away, then Voke/Res/Prep. You also need to be careful she isn't targeting the dps when you escape, which is why voke is also good. Pretty much spam abilities to try and get adrenaline up to full. If not, it comes down to 2 things: adrenaline pot or relying on dps to free you.  When she calls, I run through the center, making sure she's on me or voking. Try to stand in the middle so she'll use Contain in there (away from your dps) and then run to the last minion. You should only have to deal with 2 prisons as a trio, I would think. As a duo, I sometimes get hit with a 3rd prison as the minion is dying, so I eat up and hope my friend can break it.

 

Note: I had an easier time with this phase before the Revolution/queuing/targeting update. That update ruined a lot of "back and forth" motions for me, both here and at QBD. Here is more deadly though. Now I just get spammed with "You don't have a target." and come close to dying. Also, I can get screwed up badly on this phase and yes I do die a bit. Slowly getting into a rhythm with how to do it properly now though, so deaths are less frequent.

 

Zaros:

This phase I'm finding to be quite easy now. Keep your shield on and whenever you use Res, swap to Soul Split until you get the heal or it expires. Her magic can easily hit well over 4200 (I got healed to full, so perhaps higher). I normally switch back to my offhand when my health is above 5k or so. Don't forget you can use Debilitate still if you need it. If she prays melee, I put my shield back on and use shield abilities, voke, etc to keep building adrenaline. Again, I use Heal Other if I use Barricade. If you end a kill at low health, like ~1500 but have full adrenaline and already used Rejuvinate, use Immortality and don't move when she dies. Immort brings you back to life and the 40% health can be much more than the 25% you'd get from using Regenerate otherwise.

 

Occasionally I have a nice Zaros and have my offhand the whole time. I made my dps go "wtf did you do?!" because his xp drop was much lower than it normally is :p

 

I've done a fair bit of nexing, mostly as a tank, so what I find to work for me may not always work for others. Let me know if I skipped something or you have any other questions. Gl.

[Quasar]

If you've unlocked borrowed power, you can mage heal tank (this is not very useful, but extremely badass)

[Levells]

If you've unlocked borrowed power, you can mage heal tank (this is not very useful, but extremely badass)

Out of curiosity, how would that work? It sounds like it can only single cast wave spells, no autoattacks. Which leads me to wonder if it would even count for abilities at all.

[Perfect Wave]

Out of my experience mage tanking is the best. You take far less damage and can dual wield a lot more.

In a duo dps matters as a tank, in a trio it doesn't.

 

For mage kills:

dual wield smoke and shadow, grab a resonance in-between and after shadow. For blood dual wield use debilitate as she siphons then go HAM with thresholds.

 

As soon as blood ends build to 100% adren and hope that your partner kills minion quick so you can start with a prison (tag after siphon=prison, after sacrifice= contain).

Use anticipate and barricade immediately after (barricade has a quicker cool down than import so you can use it, import, then 'cade)

Build adren using basics, aren pot if you need it.

 

Quick tip for ice: 

Run or surge towards your dpsers so she stays on you. Though you have to do this right before contain this or just as she says it.Ex:

 

Dps Nex <-------- You

 

 

I always [bleep] up luring nex after ice so I won't tell you what to do for that.

 

Zaros is mostly about defensive abilities. I like to resonance+prep right as phase starts the rejuv and build adrenaline. If I'm high enough HP I use devotion and then put on offhand and use debilitate then dual wield dos for a bit. After that it's all about cycling abilities.

Make sure you wait till reflect is over to use resonance (don't forget to drop prayer), use barricade on soul split if you want, revenge is good tp use to help speed up the kill.

 

I really hate the melee kilsls. You take WAY more damage than when you're maging. 

 

Also you should use war priest boots, gloves, and cape unless you have comp.

 

Finally bring a superior leviathan ring switch if you have it. Wear that the whole time and switch to vigor before using an ultimate. I tend to just keep it on the whole time during ice phase so I don't forget.

 

Feel free to ask any questions, I'll be happy to answer them.

[Wkw]

Do you know if warpriest boots gloves and hood is enough to prevent her meleeing on shadow, if you have a range body and legs?

[Perfect Wave]

Do you know if warpriest boots gloves and hood is enough to prevent her meleeing on shadow, if you have a range body and legs?

 

My guess would be yes, but you'd have to test it out.

[Quasar]

 

If you've unlocked borrowed power, you can mage heal tank (this is not very useful, but extremely badass)

Out of curiosity, how would that work? It sounds like it can only single cast wave spells, no autoattacks. Which leads me to wonder if it would even count for abilities at all.

 

Borrowed power lasts until you cast another spell on lunars, and then you need to recast.  So you can do abilities with fire wave, do a round of heals, recast borrowed power and keep maging.  Note that you'll only do t75 damage.