[Black Orc] Fresh R40 Questions

[anstalt]

Hi folks,

I've recently returned and have been enjoying my black orc a lot, I played one on live and I just love Warhammer's orcs, by far my favourite orc from all fantasy IPs!

I'm currently r38rr43 and so far, the progression has been fairly linear and obvious. I'm trying to prepare for r40 and have a few questions. For note, I'm pure SnB tank, I only dabble in DPS specs when farming PQs for crafting mats. I'll experiment more with DPS specs if/when im higher rank.


1. Gearing

I'm currently full anni and have full conq set waiting for me. I have the T4 epic quest weapon and shield, the 3-piece bulwark set (cloak+2 jewels) and I am in the process of getting the genesis jewellery. I have a gunbad diamond waiting for r40 too.

My question is what to aim for next. Armour is obvious - keep ranking up and getting the next set of pvp armour. But, I'm unclear what to be aiming for in terms of weapons and jewellery. Should I bother with the PvP weapons? They seem damn expensive compared to everything else, but perhaps they're easy to get with the currency changes? Is there some specific PvE stuff I should be aiming for? What about jewellery, will the genesis set tide me over long term or are they considered a starter set at endgame?



2. Specs - AP issues

I've read through the BO spec thread and I've tried out as many builds as I could. I play "pure" tank, so I don't really care about damage, just staying alive and keeping others alive.

I've mostly been speccing for Not in da Face (cd increase), Down ya go (KD) and AoE snare. I've also tried out the Rock 'Ard skill. However, I have been having major AP issues with this - rock ard is insanely expensive for a 5s bubble, and the AoE snare is also damn expensive. If I have both these skills in use, I run out of AP far too quickly. Even dropping rock 'ard, trying to keep the AoE snare/disorient up on healers drains my AP too quickly.

Now, I know GCD and AP both had reworks recently, so it feels like this might be a "new" issue. I also only have +2AP/s from gear, so I know I can do better with different gear. How are the rest of you getting on?

Finally, the AoE snare/disorient just feels too weak to me. The snare is barely noticeable and the disorient only feels worthwhile in small scale fights that are quite well balanced - so basically never.

I've been toying with dropping Big Brawlin tactic and replacing it with either Less Stabin Me (more block and parry) or Stop hittin the Runts (+AP when war bellows trigger). Both feel like they would be more useful to me in just about every situation.

What do you think? How are you dealing with the AP issues at the moment?



3. PvE Dungeons

So, I've not done any dungeons in WAR since 2009. Back at launch, I cleared everything except lost vale. Whilst I loved seeing the dungeons, the actual combat was ****, and the random rewards severely gimped progression, not to mention that every minute spent in a dungeon meant another minute falling further behind the pvpers.

What's the situation like these days? I see groups forming fairly regularly, but they also seem to have quite high requirements. I often see Bastion Stairs and Bilerot Burrows / Enclave being advertised, but only for RR60+ players. Compared to live, that sounds insane! On live, I only reached RR55 the first time around and never even got full conq due to rng bags, yet we cleared BS and BB/BE without too much effort.

Have the devs changed how dungeons work? If so, what are the recommended ranks/gearing needed for each?

Also, have they changed the skins? I could swear that on live, the sentinel headpiece was an awesome rust-coloured bullshead style thing, my second fav helmet after the sov helm. I've only seen one BO with that helm in game, but when I inspected it was the bloodlord helm (with no appearance, i did double check!). Is this a mistake from teh devs? Or do I have faulty memory? Or was it deliberate?




Thanks very much for your help and advice!

-Spitt

[Vri]

I can sum it up rather well, much has changed since you left and came back. You want the glory days of 2h BO, roll a SM 2h.

[Detangler]

-Keep gettin genesis crests - buy subjugator gear with it.
-Do all the PVE dungeons so you can unlock wards. they're now linked with RvR gear wards (check the latest patch notes from like 2 weeks ago) there's literally no downside to doing them except that they're pve dungeons and pve puts me to sleep. You can save warcrests on lower tiers and buy higher ones if you want or mix and match if you want to. Also there are quests so that you will guaranteed get the entire set in like 3 full runs thru each dungeon. RNG may make it less than that.
-Renown ranks to 60+ is not too hard here. better renown gain than on live.

[anstalt]

Thanks for the responses so far.

I checked out the subjugator weapons / shield, somehow I hadn't spotted them before. They look great! I will definitely save up for them, shouldn't take too long.

[CyunUnderis]

1. Gearing

I'm currently full anni and have full conq set waiting for me. I have the T4 epic quest weapon and shield, the 3-piece bulwark set (cloak+2 jewels) and I am in the process of getting the genesis jewellery. I have a gunbad diamond waiting for r40 too.

My question is what to aim for next. Armour is obvious - keep ranking up and getting the next set of pvp armour. But, I'm unclear what to be aiming for in terms of weapons and jewellery. Should I bother with the PvP weapons? They seem damn expensive compared to everything else, but perhaps they're easy to get with the currency changes? Is there some specific PvE stuff I should be aiming for? What about jewellery, will the genesis set tide me over long term or are they considered a starter set at endgame?

For shield, you can go : [Madcap Blocka] (GB loot) or [Blocka of the Subjugator] > [Sentry's Blocka of Tyranny] > [Shieldbearer's Blocka of Anathema] or [Fortress Chopstoppa]

For axe, you can go : [Madcap Cleava] (GB loot) or [Cleava of the Subjugator] > [Sentry's Choppa of Tyranny]
To me, [Fortress Cleava] and [Sentry's Choppa of Infamy] are not worth it.

For jewellery, [Genesis Fragment of the Everlasting] + [Genesis Remnant of the Everlasting] (if you lack Wounds) or [Genesis Aspect of the Everlasting] (if you lack Initiative) + [Sentinel Boyz' Chain] with +6 block + a Genesis or Invader/Sovereign jewel.

For cape, until Sovereign one, you can go for the Green skins equivalent of [Ravack's Warmantle ] (loot on Ravack) or go for a blue cape that can be loot inside BB/BE dungeon with great stats (no % block, but a lot of stats).

[Asderas27]

1. Gearing
Go from Conq to Vanq and just get the Invader ward from full Bloodlord and go straight to Sov.
Jewellery - personally i use ToK unlock Winds Impervious set on SnB tanks for RvR. You can use Genesis, Sentinel, Gunbad/Sov jewel.
Weapons - Just farm the sc rr45 weapons. They are pretty much BiS. The upgrades are minor and can be done after you finished your gear. If you have AP issues you can run an axe from BBBE dungeon that has AP on hit proc.

2. Spec
https://builder.returnofreckoning.com/c ... ,4462,4472

3. I don't know about pug groups but any decent guild group can run the dungeons in around 1 hr with conq/vanq characters and yes some of the items may have different appearance. Check RoR appearance guide post on forums if you want to have a look

[Praywithme]

Get ready to be curb stomped for the most painful renown ranks of your life.

[anarchypark]

good to see a real tank candidate!
set progression is linear but gear mix is kinda complex due to stat priority.

block, parry, armor, dodge/disrupt, reduced chance to be crit, toughness, wound. that's tank main stats.
priority is up to your playstyle. front liner and guard bot are quite different.
ctbc can be minus value. your -30 against enemy +30.
ctbc + toughness is life saver from knockdown back attacks + assist train and funnels.

1. Gearing
aim block/parry from weapon and jewels.
genesis everlasting 3 + genesis undying 2, both genesis fragment included. or 2 gunbad mix.

for PvE set, vale-walker is good for snb BO before invader ward. it's Hunter's Vale set.
with your full conq, practice in gunbad first. aggrometer addon is must for PvE.
if you're confident at tanking, skip BB/BE to HV right away. with HV set, BB/BE and BS will be easy.
you can skip all rvr set and save currency for sov end gear. PvE ward is amazing.

2. Specs
40
RoR.builders - Black Orc
more focus on guard swap, challenge, Hold the Line push.
Can't Hit Me timing against tank punt. it's who catches side/back first. same time staying in guard range.
it's all about movement, positioning.
aoe snare, disorient are secondary. it's busy enough for guard swap, challenge, cc, stance manage.
maintain skills simple and more focus on reading battlefield.
no AP issue while running around ( positioning ) with best plan stance.

3. PvE dungeons
with conq and HV set you'll have no problem. but rr 45 first. for full Futile Strike. at least 3, ctbc 0
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[anstalt]

Thanks for the detailed responses everyone!


I had definitely forgotten about the winds impervious set, looks like great resistences on them. I will pick them up at somepoint and test them against genesis / +block jewellery. I'm leaning more towards genesis right now as there seem to be less BWs about compared to the last time I played.


Thanks for all the advice on PvE sets and dungeons, I'm actually quite looking forwards to trying them out! Sounds like a lot of interesting loot in them. Skipping invader by getting PvE set sounds like solid advice too. Admittedly, I do really like collecting armour sets so if I stick around long enough, i imagine I'll try to get them all eventually!


Thanks for the build anarchypark. I've been running it in RvR the last few nights with good results, I can't really kill anything but I can survive most things except a funnel and make things difficult for others. I don't really like the build in SCs so I've been dropping both wounds and toughtness tactics, and replaced with +AP on bellow and the DoT on follow me lead. I've found I haven't really needed the extra survivability, but the extra AP and the DoT has made me much better at pressuring / assisting. I expect this to change once im in T4 SCs tho, it'll be back to getting creamed!

[anarchypark]

yea killing is a job for your guarded dps.
you just support them.
KD at low hp, ST snare, taunt interrupt etc.
punt enemy guard but BO is not for this.
leave it to other tanks, your aoe punt have another job.
reserve it to save your healer at 20% hp from assist train.
or break formation at bridge, cliffs etc.
remove front line to push.

try ranked SC
best way to practise guard.