[Warden] Attribute points?

[core4dumperror]

Hi all,
I'm brand new to TQ, and my reading on the Warden class makes it sounds like a good choice for both soloing and tanking in a group (which I plan to do a lot. My roommates all play together, so we have a consistnat 4-man group going).
I'm playing a Conjurer as my main in the group, but no one is tanking, so I figured I'd build up an alt tanker for when/if we ever get stuck and need an intelligent tank (in case my Conjurer's Core Dweller doesn't cut it). So, I'm wondering what the best way to distribute Atrribute points will be. I need to be able to kill stuff well, as I'll be soloing this guy to keep him up to snuff with the rest of the group, but I also need to be able to tank well enough to be a good improvement over a Core Dweller when/if it becomes necessary. What do you guys suggest?
Also, if you're so inclined, please let me know your opinions on the best skills to take from both trees. Thanx

[Kin-Luu]

Atts:

I would go 1 Health every lvl, as much str as needed but not more, rest dex.

Skills:

Def:
All three shield procs are awesome imho. I went straigth to pulverize and maxed it asap. Should be doable around lvl 23 if I remember correctly. Adrenaline and its mods are very cool aswell. 1 point in adre, mods max. Put one point in the aura and each of its mods, max it later. One point in collossus grants u a nice boss killer.

Hnt:
Wood lore buffs your spears AS, max that spears are sooo slow. Art of the Hunt gives dmg. Lots of. Maxed. Put some points in first mod, 1 in second (trap duration comes always handy). Call of the Hunt and mod should be maxed aswell, its one of the best buffs there are. If there are some points left (is this possible?) put them into study prey and its mod, its one of the best debuffs, very usefull if fighting skellis. Volley should be maxed aswell ofcourse.

at 65 my build will look like this.

[core4dumperror]

What's a good value to leave str at? My current base str is 94, should I go higher?

You don't like Takedown? It seems like a fantastic skill, especially against bosees. That 38% health reduction is massive. though it is kinda pricey, I guess.

I've read the Batter is a very good skill, do you agree?

[Kin-Luu]

Yes, Batter is a good skill. But when u get pulverize, its not needed anymore.

Takedown may be quite good vs. bosses, I dunno but it is not needed. A warden rips bosses apart like silk in the storm.

But I maybe I have forgotten shield charge... that is a cool skill. Similar to takedown, but with aoe. Some points should/could be put there...

[core4dumperror]

Ah, I hadn't thought about Pulverize taking Batter's place.

Why bother with the points in Gouge, though? 108 bleed damage seems nearly worthless at the high end game. Unless I'm missing something. I figure those points could be put into 1 point of Shield Charge and maxing Disruption, for an AOE stun/skill disrupt.

What does the 16% armor absoption from Armor Handling actually do? Do I take 16% less damage? I don't know if that's worth 6 points.

Is the 12 armor and 64 defensive ability from Battle Awareness at max really worth much? I figure that a few points could go from there to something like Herbal Remedy, which seems to have been significantly buffed in 1.20. My game says the duration is 10 times more than TitanCalc says.

Anyway, I really appreciate your help so far, and more help would be even more appracited.

[Mad_Bombardier]

Yes, Armor Absorption adds on to the base 66% of damage that your armor blocks/arsorbs. Best case scenario for end-game is: 600 Armor on the best Legendary piece w/ +16% Armor Absorption = an additional 96 damage blocked. Considering that you shouldn't need any -%STR for items in end game (unless you are doing a unique INT or DEX based Defender), the remaining bonus of a maximum of 96 dmg blocked is not worth it for me. My Juggernaut's Suit with 250 Armor only gets an additional 40 dmg blocked, from 165 base to 205 with Armor Handling 6/6.

If you tend to rush in and get swamped by 10+ monsters attacking you all at once, you may want to dampen the damage by any and all means necessary. So others may like the skill. But, I play a bit more cautiously and don't need it to clear groups of 5-6 monsters.

[core4dumperror]

Awesome, thanx for the info. What's the 600 armor Legendary piece called? Sounds like a tank's dream-gear!

[Kin-Luu]

Yay, the points in gouge ae just there, because they were left. Put them into charge.

[Mad_Bombardier]

Originally Posted by core4dumperror

Awesome, thanx for the info. What's the 600 armor Legendary piece called? Sounds like a tank's dream-gear!

600 is the best case scenario. I have not seen it, but also not just pulling that number out of my butt. Before the patch notes, a dev said that top Legendary armor would be moving into the 550-600 range. So, I have been using 600 as my best-case number for hypothetical skill calculations. But so far, the highest reported armor is bugged banded leggings with 557 armor instead of just 57. Talk about a coding/database typo in our favor! Everyone run back to Normal Greece and get yourself a pair!

[core4dumperror]

I read about those bugged pants, and people are saying that the displayed number is the only thing that's bugged. They actually only provide 57 armor.