SK Tanking - A Little Help please

[Mojak]

I'm currently gearing up my SK to tank Redfang and Koritz in DSK1, and had a few questions for those of you that SK all the time.

1) What Items can I get with Defensive on them so I can chain the Disc? I currently have Rayin's Gauntlets and the Ring of the Clawed Guardian, but its a 1 hour cooldown. I know there is a quest ring I can get as well but need to catch Fennin up to get it.

2) Does Unholy Aura Discipline act like the warriors Discipline? except with a 63 minute recast time? Is it dispellable? Is it extendable with focuses?

So if I start the fight with UAD, thats 5 minutes, + 3 from the gloves + 3 from ring... so 11 minutes to kill Redfang, but then 50 minutes of downtime before engaging Koritz.

Other than the fearless AA, I dont see a reason to even have a knight in my group and this might just be my lack of understanding the class. Is there a reason Xegony's Warrior only "Defensive State" skill cant be Pal/SK/War instead of just Warrior? What am I missing?

Currently I buff the following: (yes im missing a few spells )
Cloak of Cazic
Power of Shadows

Debuffs I apply:
Chaotic Poison
True Disease
Occassionally I'll power tap

Then I'm casting when needed:
Grasp of Death Rk. I
Beholder's Gaze Rk. I

Probably a Silly question, and if I overlooked this im going to slap myself.... Where do I get Defensive Force webtools/spell.php?id=5767

Any constructive feedback that might help me progress on my SK is appreciated, as I'm pretty much lost when it comes to tanking on this class. Basic stuff is easy enough, but anything that will help my knight live would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks all

[Puffda]

As far as defensives go I use the Class ring, Kael Gloves, and Immaculate Ring of Dolgrem Which will replace the Clawed Guardian one as it has a slightly faster recast time.

I will usually start out using the Kael Gloves since it has the shortest recast timer. From there I will try to hold out on the next Defensive for a short time by using Death's Guard Rk. II Combat Ability. Once that fades I will go into the Class Ring, also holding out as long as possible before hitting it. Seeing as SKs get a very limited number of defensives, it is all about timing really. Usually time I get through the Immaculate Ring of Dolgrem my Kael Gloves are up and ready again.

Another thing on SK survival is Life taps and Life Tap procs, the more the merrier. My weapon has several Kiss of Life II and III procs on it and help ALOT. Leech Touch AA it like Lay of Hands for Paladins and will just about full heal ya. Use only when needed 15min recast.

Life Taps Spells I keep loaded is Grasp of Death Rk. II and Touch of the Devourer. Also Shroud of Discord is a good self buff that adds a Life tap proc and the Raid Aura, Aura of the Mighty is good too.

[Mojak]

Thanks Puffda

I was thinking of dropping the Anger proc aug on my Weapon and going with the Sharp Pointed blade for lifetap, and just using the stupid crazy good threat spells instead. I also click my 2.0 for the life on hit proc from time to time.

Something I didnt think of was using the 1.5 in my back slot and just auging it with good ac augs. I'll have to do that tonight

[Noren]

[1] There are only 3 different defensive discs, on different timers, that paladins and shadowknights can use.
Type 5:
Kael Gloves (10 min recast)
Type 8:
Shadowhaven Ring (90 min recast)
Sleeper's Tomb Ring (60 min recast)
Halls of Honor Ring (45 min recast)
Type 16:
Quest Ring (60 min recast)

Save for the quest ring, you have the best you can get for defensive discs for someone that far in progression.

[2] Unholy Aura Discipline acts like a warrior's defense discipline, yes, (because it is also a discipline) but does not mitigate damage like the warrior one. The boost to spell damage is useful for healing yourself with lifetaps, though. It is not dispellable (except by a special boss ability). Months ago, like all disciplines, yes it was extendable by focus effects. Currently; however, that feature is bugged and is being worked on.

[3] Self Buffs:
Your choice looks good. I personally use Shroud of Discord over Power of Shadows for a proc buff. While I have no data about proc rates, I do know that the proc from Shroud of Discord is better in every way than that of Power of Shadows.

[4] Debuffs:
Use whatever you please - I don't think too highly of SK debuffs so I doubt they'll make or break you.

[5] Spells while tanking:
I would cease using Beholder's Gaze for this fight.

As some general advice for this fight, I would recommend this:
Start off with your shortest recast defensive disc (Kael Gloves) and get some good hate built up on Redfang. All you want to do is survive while the raid takes care of the other bats. I'm assuming your warrior is tanking the named bats during this time. If so, your goal should be to get every mob BUT Redfang away from the SK and onto the warrior, since he's better geared.

Redfang does not hit hard for a T7 boss. With clever use of your lifetaps, epic lifetap buff, chanter debuffs, bard spell dmg song, and quick-reuse discs and the assistance of one healer, you may be able to hold Redfang without ever using the long-reuse defensive clickies.

Should that fail, then I would switch up your SK's gear a bit. I see you're tanking with a 2hander. I would go sword and board to take advantage of Shield Block AA for more damage avoidance and a considerable AC boost from the shield. If you're still taking hard hits, then I would do some PoAir quests to get the good augs (chest, legs, ears, fingers, charm) to give you an extra edge.

Shadowknights are lifetappy lil' guys. With enough support, they can do some amazing stuff and not need a single heal.

I'm far from an expert on the class, but that's the way I play SKs. Hopefully there's something useful in there!

PS. As for the Defensive Force disc for pallies/sks: I suspect the devs are working on some new spells / AAs and that one will be available in the future, as I don't think that disc is live on the server just yet.

[Mojak]

thanks for the info Btw.. Power of the Shadows and Should of Discord Stack... I had no idea until now.

I dont tank with a 2hander.. i have the draco shield and the hammer from Xegony's Corner of the world. Last night I wsa tanking on the warrior and the SK was tagging along for the extra 12 dps they do haha

I have a lot of augs to farm to replace some of the terrible ones he has right now as well. I should be able to get him to 7500 ac soon, which should be enough for redfang

Thanks again, gave me a lot to consider and tweak

[Stickybuds]

In regards to using both power of shadows and shroud of discord. There are only 4 buff proc slots by default (bst and enc can increase these). That is to say you can only have 4 buffs that provide a proc effect, any after that simply wont fire. If you don't use any other buffs that provide procs then using both of these buffs is fine. But if you are at T7 I'm sure you have other buffs on you that are providing procs, this includes procs from the auras. If this is the case then I would stop using Power of Shadows as it is just a dmg proc and just use shroud of discord instead since it is a lifetap proc. If you don't have any solo or raid auras yet I highly suggest getting at least the solo auras or go right for the raid auras if you can. Aura of the mighty provides a great lifetap proc and aura of the stronghold gives a rune proc that also acts as a great source for agro.

Something you can do to buy time between your disc clickies is use your epic 2.0 click. It usually provides enough extra healing power from the lifetap via dmg done to act as a buffer between discs and it has a pretty short cooldown, around 3mins iirc.

Regards,
Sticky

[Mojak]

Good info on the 4 proc thing.. I didnt know that.

yay! 1 less spell to micro manage

What about using Leechcurse disc as well? Do ya'll know of any stacking issues with that?

webtools/spell.php?id=4504

[Puffda]

What about using Leechcurse disc as well? Do ya'll know of any stacking issues with that?

I use it on occasions for a lil extra DPS and another LT proc. Haven't noticed any stacking issues with it.

Also something else I am gonna throw out there that I use is the SK donor BP. It is very nice and I use it as a Defensive in a way cause it life taps like crazy and you get a nice little rune for a min after the first buff fades.

[Mojak]

yeah, but I just got the warrior BP

I did have a ton of fun on the SK last night though.. now that I understand more of the mechanics behind them.. Granted it was just in kael, but still getting used to it.

[Stickybuds]

the leach curse disc is similar to the epic 2.0 click in that it turns ( a portion) of your white dmg into healing. It can be used in the same way as the 2.0 to buy some time in between def discs. Its been a while so someone currently playing a SK correct me if im wrong, but i think the SK BP from ToV quest armor also has a similar effect, though im not sure of the recast number it uses and the recast timer. but could be another option to buy time between def discs.

Regards,
Sticky