Return of Reckoning

Looking for some insight as most of the posts here are getting quite old. As well as any pertinent videos.

I've experienced a touch of both 2h/SnB while Scenario grinding in between the odd RvR.

I plan on playing quite a bit in Scenarios as the queues give me time to move about and am thinking about 2h BO for that. Swapping to SnB mainly for RvR as I'm sure I'd be a prized possession showing up with 2h instead of being able to block.

Have seen about a half dozen builds, this is my -first- character to reach max level. I'm not sure about stats or if I'm just setting myself up for a world of hurt if I spend a lot of my resources into attempting to build this. If there are good sources or knowledgeable folks that can tell me about any changes that have occurred in the past two years (most posts are 2024), please fill me in before I commit!

Thank you all, been a wonderful experience thus far.

Great information here!
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That warband gearing build is great! For warbands......but dont be afraid to experiment for different styles of play, such as your desire to go 2h in SCs.

I'll be honest, 2h BO at your rank is rough. Not impossible, but beware. You'll either need to put everything into offence, in which case you'll be a rubbish tank. Or you'll put everything into defence, in which case you should just go SnB.

Here is a 2h build for your rank:

RoR.builders - Black Orc

This gives you reasonable utility and a bunch of raw stats to make up for low rank. You could drop one of the stat tactics for something else offensive (I'd personally go for Gork Smash!).

What I'd aim for:

- 9k HP
- 0% Chance to be crit
- As much parry as possible
- Strength or toughness

Dont worry if you can't reach 9k hp immediately (im only at 9k myself in BiS....but i dont run the wounds tactic), but you're gonna be on the front lines so having a good health pool at least gives healers a chance to heal you.

Parry is your main defence as 2h tank. So, the build includes both parry tactics, and you should put your renown into reflexes. Combine that with the parry buff (Tuffer N Nails) and you should be in the 40%+ range for parry.

I don't think you'll have much left in terms of flexibility. See what your strength and toughness comes out as and then decide. I use full strength talismens but if you're mostly playing in groups then toughness might be a better choice.


For progress:

- Do the PvE grind - most of it's SnB gear, so it'll help you gear up for RvR. Start with Gunbad (GB), then Bilerot Burrows (BB), then probably Hunters Vale (HV). That'll get you a pretty decent SnB setup. After that, there is Bastion Stairs (BS) which will get you a DPS gearset. Then its onto Lost Vale (LV). That's the hardest and longest dungeon, but it'll give you a choice of 3 armour sets and some nice weapons. This gear is close to BiS. (also, please note that the ruin set - which u get from t4 PQs - and the gunbad set both have armour as set bonuses. Combining both will get you up to 5k armour and make tanking pve easy).

- Keep killing people! One way or the other, you need ranks and war crests. It is perfectly viable to skip PvE and just kill people and buy the PvP gear. I've done it with 2 of my characters. You wont be able to have both SnB and 2h gear setups if you only stick to PvP, but that's OK.

- Join a guild - if you're not in one already, find one that matches ur playstyle and timezone. Whilst there is a solo scene, the devs hate soloers and balance everything around groups. So, find a guild, make some friends and have fun! Assuming its an active guild, this will also speed up your leveling and gearing progress. Its also my experience that sooooo many people have BOs, either as mains or alts. So, you'll be able to get good advice from loads of people.

Oi Git!

Have a read of this thread. Great BO tips here.
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SnB is the better build for BO in both RvR and Scenarios. Most of our best abilities and tactics are tied to SnB, and now that the punt tactic works with SnB as well, it's even better.

The 2h build niche is to sacrifice quite a lot of defense and utility for additional support damage, helping your DPS kill enemies faster. This only really comes online with late-game gear and requires you and your group knowing how to assist to make it work. BO can put out decent assist damage, but as you'll still need to do all your normal tanking things as well as damage, it is the hardest (but arguably the most fun) way to play the class effectively.

I'd recommend focusing on SnB over 2h. The extra defense will make a big difference while you're gearing up, and it's better for learning how to tank and use all of BO's most powerful tools. Once you learn how to tank effectively, you'll be much better at 2h once you get the late-game gear for it. Most 2h tanks try to play them as DPS and end up being absolute trash, as they don't do anything well.

RR50 SnB RvR build: RoR.builders - Black Orc
RR50 SnB SC build: RoR.builders - Black Orc

40/46 is too low for a 2H build tbh, unless you have grinded PvE and have sent weapon + BL/DP. SnB with root and speed increase is still great in SCs, when you reach 70 and sov you get waaaagh as well. So yea, it's a bit boring early on being a pure support but it gets a lot better.