Post by Shapey on Oct 31, 2022 11:32:13 GMT -5
Happy Halloween champions! I hope you aren't tired of hearing that from the long weeks of Bloodmoon, but today is the truly ceremonious day of such! For that, I'll take one last delve into Supernatural before publishing more of the other variety. Now, one might not suspect it, but Infernal actually has a melee option, and that is what we'll be focusing on for this build, as it shares the easily-maintained property as Thrash, which makes it a great candidate for tanking. It also has a bit of self-healing, something to make you that much tankier!
This build is level-friendly
Super Stats
○ Strength
○ Constitution
○ Recovery or Dexterity
Talents
○ The Behemoth (+10 Str/Con/Rec, +8 End) or The Protector
○ +8 Strength
○ +8 Constitution
○ +8 Recovery
○ +5/5 Str/Con
○ +5/5 Str/Rec
○ +5/5 Con/Rec
Replace Rec talents with Dexerity if selected
Powers
Energy Builder: Infernal Bolt
Power 2: Devour Essence (Rank 2, Rank 3, Challenge)
Power 3: Supernatural Power
Power 4: Invulnerability (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 5: Vicious Cyclone (Rank 2, Vortex Technique, Challenge) or Venomous Breath (Rank 2, Rank 3, Challenge)
Power 6: Aspect of the Bestial
Power 7: Will-O'-The-Wisp (Guide)
Power 8: Resurgence (Unchained)
Power 9: Unstoppable (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 10: Thrash (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 11: Viper's Fangs
Power 12: Antagonize (Rank 2, Rank 3) or Ebon Void (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 13: Unleashed Rage (Rank 2, Commanding Presence)
Power 14: Backhand Chop
Specializations
Strength
○ Swole (3/3)
○ Physical Peak (2/3)
○ Juggernaut (3/3)
○ Aggression (2/2) or Brutality (2/2) or Overpower (2/3)
Warden
○ Fortified Gear (3/3)
○ Elusive (2/2)
○ The Best Defense (3/3)
○ Upper Hand (2/3) or Ruthless (2/2)
Protector
○ Fortified Gear (3/3)
○ Unrelenting (1/2)
○ Bulwark (2/2)
○ Debilitating Challenge (2/2)
○ Resolute (2/3) or (1/3) with last point going to Unrelenting
Strength Mastery
Travel Powers
As before, it's recommended that tanks get things with easily-controlled speed to get to important spots quickly, but it's still up to the player. Rank one of them to 3.
Gear
I'm going to do something a bit different and show another method of gearing--one that's very expensive, but can get you tanking Cosmics right off the bat, instead of having to wait for gear.
Starting (Standard):
○ Critical Rate Primary Offense (Fort/Merc/Qliph/Nem or Ravaging Handguards) with Con mod(s) and Confront or Gambler's
○ Defense Rate Primary Defense (Fort/Merc/Qliph/Nem/Viko or Bastion's Duster) with Con mod(s) and an Impact Prism
○ Any type Primary Utility (Fort/Merc/Qliph/Nem) with Con mods and any Utility core
○ Ravaging Belt (+20 Con/Crit) and Sturdy Defense/Utility (+20 Con/Strength)
Starting (Expensive):
○ Critical Rate Legion Gloves with Rank 7 Con Mods and Rank 7 Confronts or Infection mods
○ Heroic Defense Breastplate with Rank 7 Con Mods and an Impact Prism
○ Heroic Efficiency Helm with Rank 7 Con and Con/Str with a Gambler's Lucky Gem
○ Onslaught Defender Gloves with Con or Cosmic Fang of Rage with Confront
○ Onslaught Fitness Tights with Con or Cosmic Talon of Rage with Pure Health Core
○ Onslaught Efficiency Helm with Con or Cosmic Vision of Wrath with Venomous
Ending:
○ Distinguished Intimidating Gloves with Con Mods and Confronts or Infection mods
○ Distinguished Freedom Armor with Con Mods and an Impact Prism and Growth Amulet
○ Distinguished Efficiency Helm with Con, Con/Str, Venomous, and Veteran's Core of Might or Teleiosaurus's Rage
○ Onslaught Defender Gloves with Con mod
○ Onslaught Fitness Tights with Con mod
○ Onslaught Efficiency Helm with Con/Str mod or Bolstering Determination Eyepiece with Con/Str mod
Gameplan
Since this build doesn't have many buttons, it's divided into two modes; Tank Mode and DPS Mode. In Tank Mode, when handling mobs, jump into the center of groups and use Cyclone if you took it, or find a good angle to start Venomous Breath and hit all targets. If it's important enough, use Unleashed Rage to begin. Use Will-O-the-Wisps when targets are close together, and continusly AoE until there's fewer targets or you start taking more damage, then use Devour Essence on single targets. In single target, all that's needed is to use Will-O whenever it's off cooldown and repeatedly use Devour Essence and Unleashed Rage. In DPS mode, try and gather targets if you took Cyclone and use Viper's Fangs as AoE, otherwise Thrash with Will-O taps any time it's off cooldown. The latter half applies to single target as well. It's important to remember that Will-O will be your primary means of gaining form stacks, so watch your energy, you should be able to use it when Supernatural Power procs; elsewise, block for a moment to gain the necessary energy.
Against Kiga
During Phase 1, use Devour Essence to wake up the dog, and hold it if the aggro is still on the CC when they wake. Backhand Chop on the third bob as usual and back it to the other side, where you can start using Will-O to gain form stacks. Be sure to have energy for Backhand Chop. Repeat for all 4 dogs. It's important to not use Will-O on any dog near another, as it'll cause a Poison proc and wake them all up. During Phase 2, the above Single Target means will do the job, make sure to block the special attacks and block every other shot if healing is low.
Against Ape
Simple tank and spank, above Single Target method. Start with Unleashed Rage right in front of ape then turn him towards the ocean. Hold Devour Essence until his arm swings and Will-O off cooldown, block each punch and special attacks, only use Unleashed Rage when within melee range of ape. Make sure to stay centered for heart spawns.
Against Dino
Start with an Unleashed Rage facing the mountains, then twirl her around to the palm tree opposite to you. Hold Devour Essence until she leans her head back, block bites, breath, and wireframes. Use Will-O when it's off cooldown after blocking. If you are the main tank, block when baby spawns unless it is facing entirely away from you. It's safe practice to hold block until baby is away, since baby dino moving increases mom's damage significantly and Invulnerability has less total defensive capacity versus Defiance, but you can Will-O and Devour Essence if you're confident in your block timing. If you are baby tanking, stand roughly behind the palm tree and spam your AoE at 2/3rd HP until the baby spawns and aggros on you. Cyclone has an easier time with this, as it's an untargeted sphere so it'll be easier to hit baby. Block mom's breath if she starts one while waiting for baby, block baby's breath if it immediately targets you, use Devour Essence (if you don't need to block mom breath) if it starts charging breath on someone in the DPS pile. Move baby towards the mountain once breath is over holding block. You can use Will-O on mom from a distance to gain a little more score if it's a concern, thanks to Illuminate's heal, otherwise hold block until mom is down.
Other notes
If you want to improve the DPS mode, you can take a rank off of your AoE or Guide off of Will-O and take Shred with Penetrating Strikes to give yourself Bleeds and Shredded, thus increasing the effectiveness of Thrash. Dexterity will also improve the DPS mode at the cost of some energy comfort, but Supernatural Power still makes the build easy to handle. This is a build that employs multiple builds, so be sure to have one set to Tank Role with Invulnerability and Challenge attacks handy, while having another in Melee Role with Unstoppable and non-challenge attacks ready. If the content isn't particularly challenging, you can also use your Melee role with Challenge damage to have more DPS. On note of having a DPS mode, be sure to get a second set of Offense gear; you can mod it for Critical Strike or Severity with Strength mods in it instead of Constitution, so that you aren't taking Threat as the wrong role. If you aren't comfortable with gearing up in Tank role, you can use your DPS mode the way through, or simply use a DPS build until you have your gear.
If you need a better understanding on how tanking works, be sure to read this guide before using this build.
Supernatural still has plenty more to go through, I haven't touched Arcane Sorcery at all, but as I've dedicated many recent builds to this framework, I think this'll be the last for a while... unless I suddenly bring something up for the Cauldron Fire! Such a good device. Anyway, this is close to a build I've used personally for a long time, it was the first tank I ever geared, and it's something of a comfort build for me. I feel that maintain damage tanks have a bit of an easier time, since they're guaranteed to do damage, but a practiced charge tank will do just as well! Hope this helps or inspires you!
This build is level-friendly
Super Stats
○ Strength
○ Constitution
○ Recovery or Dexterity
Talents
○ The Behemoth (+10 Str/Con/Rec, +8 End) or The Protector
○ +8 Strength
○ +8 Constitution
○ +8 Recovery
○ +5/5 Str/Con
○ +5/5 Str/Rec
○ +5/5 Con/Rec
Replace Rec talents with Dexerity if selected
Powers
Energy Builder: Infernal Bolt
Power 2: Devour Essence (Rank 2, Rank 3, Challenge)
Power 3: Supernatural Power
Power 4: Invulnerability (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 5: Vicious Cyclone (Rank 2, Vortex Technique, Challenge) or Venomous Breath (Rank 2, Rank 3, Challenge)
Power 6: Aspect of the Bestial
Power 7: Will-O'-The-Wisp (Guide)
Power 8: Resurgence (Unchained)
Power 9: Unstoppable (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 10: Thrash (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 11: Viper's Fangs
Power 12: Antagonize (Rank 2, Rank 3) or Ebon Void (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 13: Unleashed Rage (Rank 2, Commanding Presence)
Power 14: Backhand Chop
Specializations
Strength
○ Swole (3/3)
○ Physical Peak (2/3)
○ Juggernaut (3/3)
○ Aggression (2/2) or Brutality (2/2) or Overpower (2/3)
Warden
○ Fortified Gear (3/3)
○ Elusive (2/2)
○ The Best Defense (3/3)
○ Upper Hand (2/3) or Ruthless (2/2)
Protector
○ Fortified Gear (3/3)
○ Unrelenting (1/2)
○ Bulwark (2/2)
○ Debilitating Challenge (2/2)
○ Resolute (2/3) or (1/3) with last point going to Unrelenting
Strength Mastery
Travel Powers
As before, it's recommended that tanks get things with easily-controlled speed to get to important spots quickly, but it's still up to the player. Rank one of them to 3.
Gear
I'm going to do something a bit different and show another method of gearing--one that's very expensive, but can get you tanking Cosmics right off the bat, instead of having to wait for gear.
Starting (Standard):
○ Critical Rate Primary Offense (Fort/Merc/Qliph/Nem or Ravaging Handguards) with Con mod(s) and Confront or Gambler's
○ Defense Rate Primary Defense (Fort/Merc/Qliph/Nem/Viko or Bastion's Duster) with Con mod(s) and an Impact Prism
○ Any type Primary Utility (Fort/Merc/Qliph/Nem) with Con mods and any Utility core
○ Ravaging Belt (+20 Con/Crit) and Sturdy Defense/Utility (+20 Con/Strength)
Starting (Expensive):
○ Critical Rate Legion Gloves with Rank 7 Con Mods and Rank 7 Confronts or Infection mods
○ Heroic Defense Breastplate with Rank 7 Con Mods and an Impact Prism
○ Heroic Efficiency Helm with Rank 7 Con and Con/Str with a Gambler's Lucky Gem
○ Onslaught Defender Gloves with Con or Cosmic Fang of Rage with Confront
○ Onslaught Fitness Tights with Con or Cosmic Talon of Rage with Pure Health Core
○ Onslaught Efficiency Helm with Con or Cosmic Vision of Wrath with Venomous
Ending:
○ Distinguished Intimidating Gloves with Con Mods and Confronts or Infection mods
○ Distinguished Freedom Armor with Con Mods and an Impact Prism and Growth Amulet
○ Distinguished Efficiency Helm with Con, Con/Str, Venomous, and Veteran's Core of Might or Teleiosaurus's Rage
○ Onslaught Defender Gloves with Con mod
○ Onslaught Fitness Tights with Con mod
○ Onslaught Efficiency Helm with Con/Str mod or Bolstering Determination Eyepiece with Con/Str mod
Gameplan
Since this build doesn't have many buttons, it's divided into two modes; Tank Mode and DPS Mode. In Tank Mode, when handling mobs, jump into the center of groups and use Cyclone if you took it, or find a good angle to start Venomous Breath and hit all targets. If it's important enough, use Unleashed Rage to begin. Use Will-O-the-Wisps when targets are close together, and continusly AoE until there's fewer targets or you start taking more damage, then use Devour Essence on single targets. In single target, all that's needed is to use Will-O whenever it's off cooldown and repeatedly use Devour Essence and Unleashed Rage. In DPS mode, try and gather targets if you took Cyclone and use Viper's Fangs as AoE, otherwise Thrash with Will-O taps any time it's off cooldown. The latter half applies to single target as well. It's important to remember that Will-O will be your primary means of gaining form stacks, so watch your energy, you should be able to use it when Supernatural Power procs; elsewise, block for a moment to gain the necessary energy.
Against Kiga
During Phase 1, use Devour Essence to wake up the dog, and hold it if the aggro is still on the CC when they wake. Backhand Chop on the third bob as usual and back it to the other side, where you can start using Will-O to gain form stacks. Be sure to have energy for Backhand Chop. Repeat for all 4 dogs. It's important to not use Will-O on any dog near another, as it'll cause a Poison proc and wake them all up. During Phase 2, the above Single Target means will do the job, make sure to block the special attacks and block every other shot if healing is low.
Against Ape
Simple tank and spank, above Single Target method. Start with Unleashed Rage right in front of ape then turn him towards the ocean. Hold Devour Essence until his arm swings and Will-O off cooldown, block each punch and special attacks, only use Unleashed Rage when within melee range of ape. Make sure to stay centered for heart spawns.
Against Dino
Start with an Unleashed Rage facing the mountains, then twirl her around to the palm tree opposite to you. Hold Devour Essence until she leans her head back, block bites, breath, and wireframes. Use Will-O when it's off cooldown after blocking. If you are the main tank, block when baby spawns unless it is facing entirely away from you. It's safe practice to hold block until baby is away, since baby dino moving increases mom's damage significantly and Invulnerability has less total defensive capacity versus Defiance, but you can Will-O and Devour Essence if you're confident in your block timing. If you are baby tanking, stand roughly behind the palm tree and spam your AoE at 2/3rd HP until the baby spawns and aggros on you. Cyclone has an easier time with this, as it's an untargeted sphere so it'll be easier to hit baby. Block mom's breath if she starts one while waiting for baby, block baby's breath if it immediately targets you, use Devour Essence (if you don't need to block mom breath) if it starts charging breath on someone in the DPS pile. Move baby towards the mountain once breath is over holding block. You can use Will-O on mom from a distance to gain a little more score if it's a concern, thanks to Illuminate's heal, otherwise hold block until mom is down.
Other notes
If you want to improve the DPS mode, you can take a rank off of your AoE or Guide off of Will-O and take Shred with Penetrating Strikes to give yourself Bleeds and Shredded, thus increasing the effectiveness of Thrash. Dexterity will also improve the DPS mode at the cost of some energy comfort, but Supernatural Power still makes the build easy to handle. This is a build that employs multiple builds, so be sure to have one set to Tank Role with Invulnerability and Challenge attacks handy, while having another in Melee Role with Unstoppable and non-challenge attacks ready. If the content isn't particularly challenging, you can also use your Melee role with Challenge damage to have more DPS. On note of having a DPS mode, be sure to get a second set of Offense gear; you can mod it for Critical Strike or Severity with Strength mods in it instead of Constitution, so that you aren't taking Threat as the wrong role. If you aren't comfortable with gearing up in Tank role, you can use your DPS mode the way through, or simply use a DPS build until you have your gear.
If you need a better understanding on how tanking works, be sure to read this guide before using this build.
Supernatural still has plenty more to go through, I haven't touched Arcane Sorcery at all, but as I've dedicated many recent builds to this framework, I think this'll be the last for a while... unless I suddenly bring something up for the Cauldron Fire! Such a good device. Anyway, this is close to a build I've used personally for a long time, it was the first tank I ever geared, and it's something of a comfort build for me. I feel that maintain damage tanks have a bit of an easier time, since they're guaranteed to do damage, but a practiced charge tank will do just as well! Hope this helps or inspires you!
As before and always, thank you for reading.