Warfare/Defender

[tweaker]

Anyone know of any good builds for this?

Currenty im going the Duel Wield route, i only have maybe 2 points tops into defender right now lol since im only lvl 20 in normal, ive been focusing on warfare tree's.. let me know if anyone has any skill or build advice.. thanks

[Jack McCandless]

Given that you're a dual wielder, that narrows down your options in the defense tree quite nicely.

Your offense options are pretty straightforwards; dual wielding skills with onslaught is obvious and solid and should be really good fun.

It looks like there are two different strategies you could adopt for defense, however - well, at least two. These are the two that jump out of me.

The first is basically a "don't get hurt" or "don't get mad, get even" style aproach, where you pump up skills like Adrenaline, Battle Rage, Armour Handling, and probably Rally. You use your enemies attacks to buff you up in various ways that make you more dangerous and more durable.

Another aproach would be to use the various stun effects, in more of a sort of "don't get hit" style of play. War Horn would be a big feature here, but you also have options such as Concussive Blow that you could make use of by dual wielding clubs. In an ideal scenario you wouldn't be taking so many hits, so adrenaline and battle rage would probably take a back seat to Battle Awareness (this time for defensive ability as much as anything) and Rally. Dodge Attack also stands out as being prime material for this type of aproach.

Some things are just obvious whatever you do - Onslaught is so helpful and low cost that just about any warfare character can get good use from it, and weapon training to ensure you hit hard and often is a basic tool of the mastery.

[Icehawk]

IMO, and I'm not a powergamer or past Normal so take it FWIW, if you choose Defender then you've chosen to go with a shield - the shield powers are just too good to go dual wield. A shield charge followed up by a rending batter and whirlwind will take out most mobs :)

[tweaker]

well, i dont really want to go shield, ive tooled around with it and seem to kick ass more w/ my current setup its just staying alive thats a bitch. i dont know, i def was feeling that first build from Jack McCandless w/ the Adrenaline & Rally. I only right now in defender have 1 Point into the Mastery and 1 point into armor handling. The rest is in my warfare tree. He does decent dmg, its just tough on staying alive so i took defender hoping of some route of making him be stronger poopers.. anyone else tips or w/e.. so far guys thanks for the tips.:clap: :clap: :clap:

[Icehawk]

The shield really ups the survival level because they straight up block damage. Plus you get a bunch of nice passive attacks :)

I think dual wield would suit a Hunter subclass better, more chances to get those bleed/poison hits.

Not sure how far you are but I struggled a bit in the low teens, but once I got a few more powerful skills it hasn't been too bad. I'm 25th lvl, almost at the end of Egypt.

[tweaker]

im lvl 20, towards like beginning/middle of Egypt... i dont do to bad, i just drink a lot of potions and sometimes bosses own me.. and sometimes they dont if i play smart.. but iam getting currently raped by some Huge big dog boss in egypt w/ a lot of fire attacks i even switched to shield W/ 50% resist , ownaged still. but i didnt change my stats..

ok ok, lets say then i kill my DW skills and move them to defender. roughly 12+ skills.. where should i put them in defender? also what kind of sword to use w/ a shield? fast? very fast? etc.. sigh my whole char might get screwed up cuz i already have a lot of pts in warfare mastery and only 1 in defender. know any areas to farm for a good shield and or sword?
plus what skills are u using in ur build icehawk? :clap:

some of this open ended w/ the skills and builds makes me crazy :knockout:

[Xaece]

The shield really ups the survival level because they straight up block damage. Plus you get a bunch of nice passive attacks :)

I think dual wield would suit a Hunter subclass better, more chances to get those bleed/poison hits.

Not sure how far you are but I struggled a bit in the low teens, but once I got a few more powerful skills it hasn't been too bad. I'm 25th lvl, almost at the end of Egypt.
Only problem with Warfare/Hunters, is you can't dual-wield and use Spears. It actually is more problematic imo than a Warfare/Defense who can use Dual-wield, with the Adrenaline/Rally line and having Colossus Form to take 50% less from ALL forms of damage, while boosting their own damage.

[Icehawk]

My guy is 24th lvl in both Masteries and single pointed in most skills to that level, only Onslaught is at 5 and the basic attack one is maxed. I didn't put anything into the buff skills (Focus) but will likely need to at Epic when the resists begin to matter more. Stats are ~300Str and 220Dex, 1500hp. Doing ~170DPS which I don't think is really that great to be honest but I don't have any problems killing stuff as long as I have energy. I was using a sword until recently but got a better mace so I switched to it - nice thing is the 1pt I put into concussion is getting used, and stuns are nice on things that I don't one hit kill.

I have 180 health potions, I never need healing just MANA!!! My full attack seq can only be run twice before I've drained my 500 mana.

My attack seq is usually shield charge in, rending batter, and a war horn and/or whirlwind followup if needed. Can't wait to get the shield charge upgrade on my next levelup, should make mob smashing even easier.

Maybe I'm going to the wrong way but in Normal it seems better to get as many skills and max your Mastery vs few high level skills, the basic stats of each skill are good enough.


Ah, the spear thing. I haven't studied the other trees as much :)

[CycloneJack]

well, i dont really want to go shield

I have a Warfare/Defense as well. I have one shield skill that it almost a must, and that's Shield Charge. I have a decent shield on swap and charge through the meleers and get to the caster, the charge will stun the caster for a second allowing you to swap back to dual wielding and take the caster down quick. then use the Horn (forgot the name, stuns) to stun the rest of the mob.

I'd also suggest picking up Adrenaline and Rally for extra HP Regen and Dodge Attack (I think thats what it's called) to increase a bit more survivability.

Cyclone Jack

[tweaker]

I have a Warfare/Defense as well. I have one shield skill that it almost a must, and that's Shield Charge. I have a decent shield on swap and charge through the meleers and get to the caster, the charge will stun the caster for a second allowing you to swap back to dual wielding and take the caster down quick. then use the Horn (forgot the name, stuns) to stun the rest of the mob.

I'd also suggest picking up Adrenaline and Rally for extra HP Regen and Dodge Attack (I think thats what it's called) to increase a bit more survivability.

Cyclone Jack

very cool and interesting, sounds like a mixed blend between shield and DW, this might be right up my ally.

[tweaker]

My guy is 24th lvl in both Masteries and single pointed in most skills to that level, only Onslaught is at 5 and the basic attack one is maxed. I didn't put anything into the buff skills (Focus) but will likely need to at Epic when the resists begin to matter more. Stats are ~300Str and 220Dex, 1500hp. Doing ~170DPS which I don't think is really that great to be honest but I don't have any problems killing stuff as long as I have energy. I was using a sword until recently but got a better mace so I switched to it - nice thing is the 1pt I put into concussion is getting used, and stuns are nice on things that I don't one hit kill.

I have 180 health potions, I never need healing just MANA!!! My full attack seq can only be run twice before I've drained my 500 mana.

My attack seq is usually shield charge in, rending batter, and a war horn and/or whirlwind followup if needed. Can't wait to get the shield charge upgrade on my next levelup, should make mob smashing even easier.

Maybe I'm going to the wrong way but in Normal it seems better to get as many skills and max your Mastery vs few high level skills, the basic stats of each skill are good enough.


Ah, the spear thing. I haven't studied the other trees as much :)

wow lvl 24 in both masteries.. nice nice.. yeah ive maxed more skills out then done like 1 of each except for the real shitter skills.. i dont know im gonna do some re-twinkin of my char and a lil diff tweaks here and there after hearing some of this stuff. but im still stoked to have my char and maybe do a lil farming to get some better gear cuz im hurtin for some lol. =p I LOVE THIS GAME minus the every now and then stuttering and lag. =p

[Xaece]

wow lvl 24 in both masteries.. nice nice.. yeah ive maxed more skills out then done like 1 of each except for the real shitter skills.. i dont know im gonna do some re-twinkin of my char and a lil diff tweaks here and there after hearing some of this stuff. but im still stoked to have my char and maybe do a lil farming to get some better gear cuz im hurtin for some lol. =p I LOVE THIS GAME minus the every now and then stuttering and lag. =p
I did this with one of my Corsairs. Just pumped up the Masteries. Not only did I find it not as fun, but I also found it weaker to a character who spends 2/3rds of their skill points earned into actually skills (the other 1/3rd + quest skill points going to Masteries).

The biggest problem with pumping masteries over skills, is never being able to pull those points out of a mastery.

[desnok214]

I don't think defense mastery is a very good idea if you're set on DW, as the majority of defense skills use a shield, so most of the skills are wasted if you use DW. Other masteries offer a lot more to compliment DW than defense, IMO. I'm a warfare/defense, too, by the way, but I use a shield.

I also actually maxed my masteries pretty early (although maxed Onslaught and put points into a few other skills first). I maxed Defense mastery first basically to get all the shield skills on the right side of the tree...they help a lot and do decent damage to several foes.

[tweaker]

seems like everyone has a different opinion.. son of a b.

[tweaker]

well iam warfare/defender.. lets say i want to remain DW and not rly go the shield route.. plz throw opinions/ideas for staying warfare/defender yet staying DW.. what would be good to pull from defender.. Rally, armor aborpotion, adrenaline, battle awareness?!

[Xaece]

well iam warfare/defender.. lets say i want to remain DW and not rly go the shield route.. plz throw opinions/ideas for staying warfare/defender yet staying DW.. what would be good to pull from defender.. Rally, armor aborpotion, adrenaline, battle awareness?!
Battle Awareness can give you much needed Armor Boosts, and Defense Ability. You will be taking hits, and the Adrenaline line is awesome to help keep you alive, while also giving you better damage capabilities (Defensive Reaction), it can be kept up permanently once you have Resilience max'd out.

Colossus Form is excellent for all types, even Dual-Wielders (One of the trailers had a Warfare/Defense use Colossus Form). To say that Defense mastery is horrible without a shield is wrong. It can fill in the holes that a Warfare mastery has. In addition, if you use a club as one of your two weapons and take Concussive Blow to max, your Warhorn will stun for 40% longer!

[tweaker]

Battle Awareness can give you much needed Armor Boosts, and Defense Ability. You will be taking hits, and the Adrenaline line is awesome to help keep you alive, while also giving you better damage capabilities (Defensive Reaction), it can be kept up permanently once you have Resilience max'd out.

Colossus Form is excellent for all types, even Dual-Wielders (One of the trailers had a Warfare/Defense use Colossus Form). To say that Defense mastery is horrible without a shield is wrong. It can fill in the holes that a Warfare mastery has. In addition, if you use a club as one of your two weapons and take Concussive Blow to max, your Warhorn will stun for 40% longer!

sounds interesting and good.. i will be doing some playing around w/ those skills = D .. i think im gonna take a point from battle standard and put it into battle awareness.. i could use that AR boost right about now. :clap:

[desnok214]

I'd say definitely max resilience and defensive reaction in the adrenaline line. Maxed, without + items, it will give you +50% damage and +20% combat speed while it's active, and with resilience maxed, it can be active nearly all the time. One point in Battle awareness is sufficient, and I'd eventually max out Iron Will for Epic and Legendary. Wasn't that necessary in normal. Max Armor handling, this will lower str requirements and increase your armor absorption. At least one point in colossus form, possibly maxing it if you have the skill points to burn.

I can't really comment on the rally line, as I haven't really experimented with it yet.

EDIT: I never said that defense mastery is "horrible" with warfare if you're going DW. I just said I thought there are other masteries that compliment a DW better. But that's the great thing about this game, trying different combinations. Combos that don't look that promising might work out well in the end.

[Xaece]

sounds interesting and good.. i will be doing some playing around w/ those skills = D .. i think im gonna take a point from battle standard and put it into battle awareness.. i could use that AR boost right about now. :clap:
The first pt in Battle Awareness is definitely the most important. You won't need Focus at all, once you get to Orient on Normal you'll want Iron Will for the Stun resists, very very useful. Which is something no other mastery could give Warfares (:P To all those who say don't go Defense with Warfare Dualwield)

[tweaker]

Awesome guys, you have all been a huge help and fantastic.. im stoked.