✔ Taugrim's "Iron Fist" 25/14/2 PVP Tank Spec for SWTOR Powertech / Vanguard

[youbet2011]

@Mareekaka your computer is bad or you wouldn't have these issues... I have a decent rig and I run everything as high as it goes, only place I have any fps issues is ilum

Q

[psynthpriest]

MVP the healer. <3

[taugrimtaugrim]

Iron Fist spec has been updated per the Surge Rating nerf in 1.1.3. Simply put given that fights are longer, mana management is more important now, so 1 point was moved out of Oil Slick (Smoke Grenade) to the 2nd point in Shield Vents (Shield Cycler).

[nosaj73]

@taugrimtaugrim Awesome video. FYI, it looks like you have the spec links reversed.

[wraithaur]

@taugrimtaugrim How often are you using retractable blade? Just often enough to keep the dot up?

As its a melee spec mostly i am typically hitting rblade, rocket punch, then the 10yard flame attack with a rail shot where i can...is this the normal rotation? I'm only to lvl 22 so far so don't have all the abilities to comment in depth.

[Stratoforce42]

@taugrimtaugrim I found Oil slick/smoke grenade to be pretty bad and already did this anyway!

[FreedomFighter08]

Taugrim I like the close combat with vanguard but i wanna do dmg too and iron fist only lets me crit with stockstrike and barely anything else, your all ou dps assault spec lets me crit with alot of things not just stockstrike.

[Mekias]

One thing I noticed that was wrong in this video. You said that the AoE accuracy debuff affects smugglers and agents because of their melee. Actually, smugglers and agents melee is all tech based. They have ranged and tech for their attacks. It will affect a sniper/gunslinger as they do a lot of ranged attacks but it won't affect an operative/scoundrel that much. Great videos. Just started up my Powertech again this weekend and am loving him.

[taugrimtaugrim]

@Mekias What I meant is that many of the bread-and-butter attacks for classes such as Sniper/Gunslinger are Ranged and therefore Defensible and Shieldable

[WrestleingMaching]

very informative, I'm going to try this spec with my powertech. Do you gear up with dps or tank gear?

[Shagthegoat]

Nice vid m8, but i was wondering if this spec is viable for tanking hm's?

[taugrimtaugrim]

@Shagthegoat I've tanked all 7 Hard Mode Flashpoints with this spec with a mix of PVP DPS and PVP tank gear.

It works fine.

It's not optimal, but it's fine.

[glikozzzz]

why you did not take the %3 absorption talent ?

[taugrimtaugrim]

@glikozzzz read the Guide article linked in the description for this video, I explain why I skip most of the Shield talents in great detail.

[glikozzzz]

@taugrimtaugrim thanks

[MaReekaka]

im so jealous of players like you.. im runnin the game in "low" settings and still cant get more than 30 fps even in low resolution :( and my computer is not that bad. shitty engine :(

[LazieGenius]

@MaReekaka me too. im actually probably gonna go back to wow just cuz i can run it perfectly.

[WilltheH]

I first ran into you while delving through the Rift forums for a good Warrior PvP build. I was talking to a friend just the other day about how my vanguard felt like your old Riftblade Pally build. Consider me respecc'd!

[vickyd4]

Great video and the explanations put them over the top! As a mediocre PVP'er myself, this is gonna help immensely with a lot of the 'so obvious it's never said' pointers that I'm not aware of! :)

[gironan]

are your pvp videos going to be posted on gamebreaker?

[BMac7773]

Taugrim do you have a spec recommendation for solo leveling/questing?

[bosseardum]

Great video. Really inspiring, and coupled with the speccs and guides on your blog, I can't wait to do some more PvP with my vanguard-

[davecichy]

Thanks for the videos. I love how you explain the logic and technical data behinds all your decisions.  As oppose to most guys who say "use this bc it pwns".

Like'dd and Fav'd yet another video.

[getklopowed]

Nice, Taugrim. This is exactly the same pvp spec I've been running for three weeks as I mentioned in your spec video. Keep up the good work!

[tortugaa85]

Hey taugrimm, is explosive round to expensive in most pvp scenarios? I don't see you use it much.

[taugrimtaugrim]

@tortugaa85 I use ER to stop opponents from capping a node. That's about it, because the Ammo (Heat) cost is too high.

[BMac7773]

Taugrim will you check out this build and see what you think. Using ion cell for increased survival while keeping core abilities.

[CommradeDucky]

This guy needs some more fame, his guides are crazy awesome!

[CWYT]

Hi i was recommended this vid. But how is tanking in pve witht his build?

[jwtiger69]

How are you liking sentinel? Can't wait to see a video. I am still trying to decide between shadow or sentinel for my new main.

[ramenboy666]

Awesome video. Always like watching you explain game mechanics.

I'm curious... right before early play you were saying that the Sith Marauder was your choice to play. Granted, you went Republic but what was it about the Jedi Knight / Marauder that made you change your mind?

[taugrimtaugrim]

@ramenboy666 simply put, a co-worker at GAMEBREAKER kept bugging me to try Vanguard before Beta ended, because it said the playstyle would appeal to me. He was right.

I have rolled a Sentinel as my 1st Republic alt, and this is the mirror to Marauder.

[TheStevenWhiting]

What package are you using to edit your videos with the overlay that appears?

[taugrimtaugrim]

@TheStevenWhiting It's a custom Adobe After Effects animation

[TheStevenWhiting]

@taugrimtaugrim Thanks. Do you use Adobe Premiere Pro for editing? I normally use Camtasia Studio 7 but having issues with it at moment.

[taugrimtaugrim]

@TheStevenWhiting Adobe Premiere Elements 10

[tidus814]

...*files this away for the debate on what tank to take*

What? It's hard to decide what Tank I want XD

[d3c0yBoY]

Not sure if you answered this, but what is your crew skill set up? Keep up the great work.

[thesavsta]

Yeah dude... Been watching and following ur stuff since WoW mate. So glad to see you keeping up on stuff. Enjoyed this vid SOO much more than others because you didnt have the pocket healer which makes any class easy mode. So definately My most fave vid so far. Question though: Your 'e' ability... what the hell is that :)

[taugrimtaugrim]

@thesavsta the 'e' key is mapped to Explosive Round. I mainly use it for preventing enemies from capping a node.

[taugrimtaugrim]

@thesavsta and thx for commenting on the fact I didn't have a pocket healer. In videos like this I try not to show a faceroll easy situation

[thesavsta]

@taugrimtaugrim Epic! Thanks for the info. I would kill to see you play an operative!! An op class with an op player... Yeah.. fun times would ensue... So what are the chances????? :)

Thanks again for taking the time to help us mate. Much appreciated. I also use your keybind setup since Rift, but there it was much easier thanks to macroing one key to do everything :) lol

[drzatch]

I play mostly in the Assault tree, I'll have to give this a look once I hit 50.

[chase55565]

i dont even play SWTOR and i still watch all your vids, lol

[cowgoesmoow]

Why did you choose to put 2 points into harpoon/stealth immobilize and not 2 points into 16% armor? your armor rating would be boosted to ~8,4k, which i can imagine would provide something like 5% extra mitigation to energy and kinetic attacks. I think more than half of most class's abilities are energy and kinetic. To me, that sounds like it'd be more worthwhile than a talent which has the potential of adding resolve to a target on moments you ideally wouldn't want it.

[taugrimtaugrim]

@cowgoesmoow the 3-sec root effect is *amazing* in PVP.

Roots do *not* build Resolve on the target. I recommend reading the Resolve article on my blog so that you are clear on the mechanics.

[TVjoakim]

How long does it take you to find out these kind of things, your doing an amazing job on it and i hope more people will come to your channel for your awesome content (sorry for my bad english)

[taugrimtaugrim]

@TVjoakim part of what I do in my gaming guides and blogging is analyzing game mechanics to help players understand them and their implications.

I cover topics I am curious about and where there seems to be a significant amount of confusion or misconceptions in the community. E.g. Resolve, Defense & Shielding, etc

[TourWins]

I killed you 7 times.

[taugrimtaugrim]

@TourWins that's fascinating, considering I died 5 times total in the match.

[glorydrunk]

Would you prefer the tank spec above the assault/pyrotech spec?

[taugrimtaugrim]

@glorydrunk apples-and-oranges.

Assault Spec (Pyrotech) is a DPS spec. Shield is a tank spec.

Depends which one you prefer.

[iMakesh]

Awesome video, subscribed.

[lilkhmer5]

Omg man im so jealous u have alot of champion gear. Im sitting here nearing rank 60 and im getting the shittiest luck from these RNG champ bags :( Maybe i should just save my BM bags up till i hit 60.

[kbdemonbain]

watching taugrim kick ass as a vanguard kinda makes me wish i went vanguard. i went commando right now gunnery i hear assault spec is better for pvp i will try that

but vanguard looks pretty freaking sweet

[jwtiger69]

Thanks for your reply. I have a vanguard already but really want to be more of a melee class.  I am thinking shadow or sentinel. I want to be able to dps in raids and have fun in pvp.

[rnicholson111]

Great video. Good for you for MVP voting best healer.

[tommythetomcat]

@taugrimtaugrim Good vid, I had been using this spec since I was 50 and it has it's good points and you didn't need to respec for PVE tanking, but now that everyone's got PVP gear it's less reliable to take people out compared to something like a full pryotech build.

[TheVarzoth]

Thanks Edd another great vid, Just wish I played this class but it's still good to know what others are capable of :D

[hocruxx]

Man after seeing this I really hate my Guardian now.

[taugrimtaugrim]

@hocruxx Guardian/Juggernaut has more CC capability and much better damage mitigation to work with via your Warding Call and Blade Barrier mechanics.

Tank-spec'd Guardian / Juggernaut takes the longest TTK of any non-healer class.

That being said, I do feel a lot more tanky now that I'm playing "Iron Fist" - it gives me the durability that I've been wanting to have as a tank without giving up too much damage and utility to gain it.

[hocruxx]

@taugrimtaugrim Thank you for your immediate answer :) but i feel like losing a huge amount of my "dmg" while in defense build compared to a Vanguard

[taugrimtaugrim]

@hocruxx well that's objectively true.

I lose some damage capability running with my spec, but IMO the tradeoff is worth it.

[iThisKid]

@taugrimtaugrim What level in Cybertech do you get those Sentry probs? o:

P.S. Awesome video, so informative and helpful!

[taugrimtaugrim]

@iThisKid that's a base Bounty Hunter (Trooper) ability: Stealth Scan

It's not from Cybertech.

[iThisKid]

@taugrimtaugrim Wow I feel silly.. I wanted that on my sniper ): Anyway, thank you very much! + Awesome response time.

[Virsago7]

I noticed you didn't take prototype gas cylinders in this build. Is the damage bonus it gives ion gas cylinder not enough to warrant the 1 point?

[taugrimtaugrim]

@Virsago7 exactly.

The damage bonus is small, and the damage for the stance proc is low to begin with.

The talents that buff it over in the tanking tree provide much better value and are worth taking.

[RogueDogg1]

I must say, I've been watching your videos for a while, they REALLY helped me in Rift and now they're helping me in SW:TOR ! You do such an amazing job at learning all aspects of the abilities and give great descriptions that we can all understand! Keep up the GREAT work!!

[jwtiger69]

How do you like the Jedi shadow compared to vanguard?

[taugrimtaugrim]

@jwtiger69 Shadow/Assassin is a very strong, well-rounded AC: high burst even with tank spec, stealth, ranged pull (if talented), excellent ranged CC, in-combat sprint, etc.

The main difference is that Powertech/Vanguard has the better ranged capability and situational AOE.

I am *really* enjoying Iron Fist. I feel like an offensive tank in PVP, which is exactly what I was looking for.

[captnt3rror]

no one answers this but why twitch > own3d

[RogueDogg1]

@captnt3rror maybe no one really knows...I mean everyone has opinion but come on...we know about opinions now don't we ;-) I like both

[captnt3rror]

i dont even play this game and i still like this video lol

[Rennaaa]

Sweet guide as usual :D

[Reginolde]

I really hate troopers/bh's pulling me into the pools of mountain dew and barbeque grills and stunning me. >:P

[HeresASeatHD]

Taugrim, what other upcoming MMOs do you intend to play?

I sold my SW:TOR account just yesterday due to the lack of endgame PvP options.

Nice video as usual.

[wethepeoplesm]

Awesome vid Taug...you da man



[Ghostdog360]

i never knew we could charge across mid air gaps...Is that a bug that will get a nerf? I hope not cause it looks fun. Gonna try it when servers back up.

[phT06]

Enjoyed, slowly forgiving you for the rogue hate in Rift :)

[taugrimtaugrim]

@phT06 listen man, I don't hate classes. I hate stupid game mechanics. Rogue went from being underpowered to faceroll in 1.5 due to the changes to Nightblade and Marksman.

If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a huge advocate for class balance, and as I said back in RIFT, I am one of the only people who advocated and supported nerfs to the classes I played.

[WARfanPOWER]

What server are you on? I think iv seen your name ingame often without knowing im subbed to ya =)

[BMac7773]

You made me famous Taugrim, I'm all over that video. Cyrion LOL. Thats me, enjoying some scoundrel before I get nerfed and have to be a healer or reroll.

[taugrimtaugrim]

@BMac7773 I hope the 1.1.1 changes don't make Scrapper unviable.

I think reducing both the armor penetration (50% -> 30%) and damage on the opener by 20% together may be too much. The armor penetration going from 50% down to 40% probably would be sufficient to take the edge off the opening burst from stealth

[IloveDAGAMEZ]

Hi can i ask how do u manage to run the game so smoothly in warzones, alot of people are having fps issues inwarzones, what system are u running?

[taugrimtaugrim]

@IloveDAGAMEZ I play on a gaming laptop that was recommended by a friend. Sager rocks - the laptop does a great job venting heat (just like a Bounty Hunter!)

SAGER NP8130 GAMING LAPTOP SPECS

- Nvidia GeForce GTX 560M GPU with 1.5GB GDDR5

- Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM Processor (6MB L3 Cache, 2.20GHz)

- 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz

- 500GB 7200rpm SATA 300 Hard Drive

- 15.6" Full HD LED-Backlit Display (1920 x 1080)

- MS Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Edition

[gremlock]

Nice vid!

[chazdoit]

Great video as always

[eligos6]

I play a rank 72 sniper on Hedarr Soongh, but your videos make me to level up my vanguard.

Very enjoyable videos with lots of info. Thanks.

[lrg1404]

hey man i liked this before it even started!! love your vids!! hope to see some more soon!

[m4giq]

GJ

[Bubbafett10]

what do you think about the trooper story taugrim? i heard it is pretty bad and it makes me not want to play this awesome class

[taugrimtaugrim]

@Bubbafett10 it picks up over time. I enjoyed it and hearing the story for Elara Dorne, the former Imperial soldier.

[Ethermalol]

How do you not have more than 5k subs, these videos are brilliant

[taugrimtaugrim]

@Ethermalol I have more than 5k subs. If you think my videos are good, please spread the word :)

[Boljarin]

@Bubbafett10

After act 1 it's all shit.

[Apaolo247]

Second and I love your videos

[KRew133]

Great video!