Author:Jeboyb
Published under authorization of Jeboyb.
Why should I use polearm?
Polearm is very fun to level with. I tried a couple of levels with the sword and board builds, but it can get very repetitive, hence why I always respect to polearm. Polearm is very dynamic, you need to check for enemies abilities (stuns, knockdowns) to properly use an opportunity that is given to you (using frenzy at the right time). I am in a PvP server and without being overpowered I just feel like I can beat anything if I time my things right. This is why I like the guardian : if I micromanage good, I can kill and if I play stupid I die. The more I play this class the more I seem to enjoy it since there is so much tweaking that you can do.
Anything I should know before reading this?
This is a polearm guide that is to generally guide everyone that needs helpful hints. I mostly did this to cut the newbie threads on the guardian's forum so that everyone can talk about things more intricate than : Should I switch to polearm?
Correctness :
- You should know that I consider inacceptable to distribute false information, hence if anything I say is not true, please tell me so everyone can enjoy a clean guide.
- My mother tongue is not english, so I would greatly appreciate any relevant corrections to my WALLOFTEXTLOL.
There are terms I'll be using the whole thread :
Priming : Priming consists in starting a combo only to keep the last hit for further use. You can keep each hit for about 5 seconds and the combo will disappear if you go above 5 seconds.
SS : Means Sword ˇ®n' Board meaning the Juggernaut Guardian, the sword user.
Frenzy : The frenzy stance plus all the offensive tactics and strategems if you have quick fingers.
Defensive : The defensive stance plus all the defensive tactics and strategems if you have quick fingers.
Tempest : The guardian Tempest tree.
Soldier : The guardian Soldier tree.
Juggernaut : The guardian Juggernaut tree.
Mob : monster
2. Leveling :
The rule of thumb is to follow the quests and if by any mean you feel bored, change areas and get clean fresh air. That's what I did, but I must say if you want to grind, I would look for Ciderhelm's Grinding Guide on Guardian's forum. Because of the reach of your polearm as a tempest guardian, you aren't forced to fight tiny (humanoids) targets like the SS build would to be effective in grinding. However, humanoid seems to drop more money, so that is still a plus.
Stance, Tactics, Stratagems and Maneuvers
During enemies encounters, I suggest you always be in Enduring Defense Maneuver ( since you're polearm -10% damage is nothing versus the extra protection you'll get but go Unguarded if you want to DPS more), Hold the line Stratagem (if you're soloing / not tanking in a group). The only one you'll need to change depending the encounter is the Tactics :
- If you're not tanking and in a group, use Elusive Daring,
- If you're solo (or tanking) melee mobs (or melee and casters), use Wall of steel (you're not draining that much stam so it's a big help)
- If you're solo (or tanking) caster mobs ONLY, use Mental Barrier.
As for the stance, I'm always in defensive stance, then I'll hit my combos and I'll hold the last hit only to switch to frenzy stance and hit it right after, to get the frenzy damage bonus, then I go back in defensive so I won't take useless damage by staying frenzy. Keep in mind that if you spec into ˇ°Guarded Frenzyˇ± you won't have to change so fast. Also if you're tanking, you stay in defensive! =)
Before I explain the procedure to follow during a mob encounter, I will explain a bit about the guard ability : The guard ability, when the combo hits an enemy, triggers a shield of your level and a counterattacking buff. Each time an enemy melee strike you, he has a chance to get hurt for X damage (10-20 for the first one?). But this damage is really useless when you think of all the damage you will do with Flashing arcs and Skewer. So UNLESS you prime your guard outside of combat and you hit the mob with the last hit OR the mob is full shielded on the right side and you'll need to rebuff yourself in some time, I will always use Guard I since it's the same shielding buff as Guard 2,3,4,5 (it's based on your level). It's so much faster and really less stamina draining (it's about a Flashing Arc stamina worth that you're saving).
Procedures
You need to damage your enemies fast since the longer they hit you, the slimmer your chances are. Such statement is not necessarily true with a SS build (counterstrike, strike and guard, high hp regen). When I kill (up to 3 or 4) mobs, I have two sets of combos that I use alternatively :
Guard / Flashing Arc : This is the procedure I will use the most often. You hit Guard and prime your highest Flashing Arc in defensive, unleash the combo and go back in defensive like I said. The Flashing Arcs animation and Stance cooldowns are both 3 seconds so you can switch to defensive at the same time your combo finishes. When they are low on health, I stay in frenzy to white damage them until they die (dead in 2 or 3 hits, if not, just crank a lower rank flashing arc). I will talk about this later, but you can change the directional damage by an instant combo called Riposte.
Impale / Skewer : Both Impale and skewer are on a 1min cooldown so it's a perfect mix. I usually do this combo on a lonely target or a caster in a mob group (up to 3, but try to only hit the caster so the damage doesn't get reduced). I switch to frenzy stance, then hit my Impale ability. When I'm next to the mob, I just hit my skewer and finish off with directional damage or Riposte (even if I don't have the Attack Evaded buff). The lonely mob will be dead like the caster in the group. You can then use the Guard / FA procedure I talked about to finish the group (keep in mind to hit the defensive and guard ability faster if the mobs around the caster are hitting you hard, you'll just have to hit him a couple of times for him to die right after).
If a group of mobs is giving you a hard time, be sure to hit stagger and give yourself 2 ¨C 3 free hits or to flee (remember, you can't win them all!).
When killing mobs, be sure to check your next targets. I usually check for my 2 next bunch of mobs to kill : If I feel they are weak or not hard, I will use my skewer a lot more to save stamina (Skewer is using 131 stamina where flashing arcs are about 3 to 4 times more costly) and to shorten my grinding time.
Another quick note, switch to SS if you're getting attacked and you don't have you Guard buff on. I switch to SS when I'm fleeing or going through mobs I don't want to fight.
RANDOM TIP(s) :
- Use Disarming Aggression when you change to frenzy stance (last combo hit). In the worst case, you can crank up 2 Flashing arcs, a skewer and a riposte while you would have done 2 flashing arcs max if you started it when you started your combo.
Food, Drinks and Potions :
Buy food, drink and Stam/HP potions as they are cheap and will shorten dramatically your downtime. As for the pots, I will often use a hp one when I fight 3-4 or more mobs together. Just take a quick look at your health when you're doing the first procedures you know by heart; if your hp drops faster than you like, chew a potion up.
3. Builds :
I found that a good mix of Tempest and Soldier is the way to go with Polearm leveling. Tempest will give you mostly damaging feats, where Soldier tree will be more about upgrading your survivability. I'm going with survivability first so you pretty much can use SS before 26 if you want to. I'm a Lifesaver freak so if it doesn't fit you, change it.
Level 26 : http://www.conanarmory.com/feat.aspx...f48efef2ef8ef3
Level 44 : http://www.conanarmory.com/feat.aspx...f15efef2ef8ef3
Level 56 : http://www.conanarmory.com/feat.aspx...f10efef2ef8ef3
Now the tricky part : depending on your playstyle, you may chose a different path.
I would go with impale and 1 in Toughness and then get Cunning Deflection / Volcanic Rage but I prefer to get Redoubt first, a skill that I love. Either way, you end up with Riposte, Cunning Deflection, Impale and Volcanic rage.
After it's easy, just go with Guarded Frenzy or Stone Skin depending on your playstyle.
At level 74 : http://www.conanarmory.com/feat.aspx...2ef2ef2e2fe2f2
The last few points are up to you : If you wanna suck up everybit of DPS, go Master Pikeman but Iron Skin in Soldier is more important IMO.
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