Ok Bruiser - Ill put up, but put DOWN your dukes man! Ill explain the VK build, not the pally/Plant/DPS build.
***Disclaimer***
I can provide ALL the information you need to spec the VK and I can provide all the macros (That I use, some may use different setups) but, I cannot give you the SKILL to play the class.
1. I know personally, when I 1st started doing 5 - man content, I was stuck on the Pally build. Look at all those shield throws, a charge, a shield for the ENTIRE group, and a buff you can give another player that heals them when they take dameage. Who can forget the heals on block, life returned on retaliation and so on. So, off I go tanking 5-man in my pally/wl spec .... and not doing so great. Ive tanked in every game all the way back to DAOC.I know how to do it, but here I am not doing the job well. I even tried full WL on the advice of another tank. Still - didnt go so well.
2. Why? Why VK? After a few DH runs, I inquired what spec the MT was using because our gear was nearly the same and yet he could stand up to bosses and I was having trouble. 51VK 7 WL 8 Pally. Look at the VK tree and see, he says, youll understand.
3. VK is a bit confusing at first, and I for one didnt understand what it was all about. But I tried it. Got the buttons all conduffled the first few times, then it started to work. I remember the 2nd boss in DSM just destroying me in pally spec before, and here I am in VK doing MUCH better.
Taking less damage, making it easier on the healer etc.
I am not a Dev, not the VK Lead or any such thing. I just use it, and it works. It works because its the magic buster tank - you can spout physical mitigation numbers at me ALL day, but nearly ALL the bosses in the game have some form of magic attack, and so many pulls deal with at least 1 caster, maybe more (CR anyone?) So, I use VK to mitigate all that magic damage. NEver once, since i made the switch has any healer, new or pug heals EVER said to me "you are so hard to heal!" In fact, ive heard the opposite.
THE SPEC http://rift.zam.com/en/stc.html?t=0cghE.EeuqIkiudz.x0R.xM.-5
51 VK (Fill all the skills)
07 Warlord 5/5 Powerfull Countenance (Armor) and 2/5 Defensive Experience (Moar Block Please)
08 Pally 5/5 Stalwart Shield for 5% BLock, 2/2 Aggressive Guardian (added threat, and 1/1 shield of the hero (because buffs are good)
Lets break this down now, in this Role using the spec above, I receive the following (this is not a complete list as you can see the entire list on zam)
But here are the highlights
**VK** Below are highlights of the spec, I am not including the Pally/WL Abilities Granted, as any tank should be able to see the buffs and abilities and understand the use.
Pacts are king - they are what drives the VK spec. WIthout them, you may as well be in some hybrid spec.....
VOID - Thrive on primal energy, absorbing 3% of incoming damage. Magical energy absorbed is converted into Pacts. Lasts 1 hour.
AIRBURST - (AOE THREAT) Quickly release a burst of pent up energy to deal 646 to 654 Air damage to up to 10 nearby enemies. Affected enemies are forced to attack the Warrior for 3 seconds.
RAGESTORM - (AOE THREAT) The Warrior attacks up to 5 enemies within 7 meters, dealing weapon plus 259 Physical damage, in addition to 8 Air damage per Pact. Generates additional threat. This ability grants 1 Attack Point
Tempest - (AOE THREAT)Release a torrent of unstable energy, striking up to 10 targets for 645 Air damage, in addition to 16 Air damage per active Pact. This ability generates significant threat. This ability grants 1 Attack Point.
UNSTABLE REACTION - (Ranged Silence) Focus a torrent of unstable energy into the target, dealing 3284 Air damage over the next 6 seconds, in addition to draining Mana equivalent to 50% of the damage done. The enemy is silenced for 6 seconds. Gain 1 Pact each second this ability is active. This ability grants 1 Attack Point.
SHOCK BURST - (AOE SILENCE) Inflicts silence on up to 8 nearby targets:
1 Point: 3 seconds.
2 Points: 5 seconds.
3 Points: 8 seconds.
FUSION OF FLESH - (SELF HEAL) Protects the Void Knight for 20% of their maximum Health for each Pact consumed for the next 5 non Physical hits over 30 seconds. Each Non Physical hit heals the Void Knight for 20% of their maximum Health. Consumes up to 5 Pacts.
SINGULARITY - All incoming damage is reduced by 35% for 10 seconds.
ACCORD OF EMPTINESS - (Keeps Pacts full all the time, refreshes summon) The cold darkness of the void is bound to the very flesh of the Void Knight, granting a Pact every 3 seconds, in addition to causing incoming damaging spells to have a 50% chance of refreshing Rift Summon. Lasts 1 hour.
RIFT SUMMON - (Ranged Pull) Planes Shift the selected enemy to the Warrior. The disorientation roots the enemy for 1.5 seconds, and forces them to attack the Warrior for 3 seconds. This ability grants 1 Attack Point.
RIFT SHIELD (Shield self or grp member) Shield an ally from the next 130 non-Physical damage per Pact unleashed, for 30 seconds. Consumes up to 5 Pacts.
SPELLBREAKER - (Cleanse) Drains the negative magical energy from an ally, removing 3 Curses. Adds 2 Pacts per effect drained.
SPELL SUNDER - (Purge) Drain the beneficial magical energy from an enemy, removing 3 positive spell effects. Adds 2 Pacts per effect drained.
RIFT TAP - (Ranged Caster MAnagement) The next spell that hits the Warrior deals damage back to the caster. Generates additional threat. Lasts 30 seconds:
1 Point: 635 Air damage.
2 Points: 697 Air damage.
3 Points: 756 Air damage
Below are the passives for the ENtire spec.
Improved Rift Summon Reduces cooldown on Rift Summon by 20 seconds.
Replenish Heal 6% of your Endurance when a Pact is gained.
Residual Absorption You become immune to negative magical effects for 6 seconds after casting Spellbreaker.
Power Leech Increases number of Pacts gained through Devouring Blow, Spell Sunder, Spellbreaker, and Soul Pillage by 1.
Quality Care When receiving a single target heal, you have a 30% chance of gaining a Pact. This will not be triggered by Branch based heals such as Replenish, and will only trigger off of the first hit of a heal over time spell.
Ravenous Defense Reduces incoming non-Magical damage by 0.3% per application. This bonus applies while a Pact is active. Can be applied up to 10 times.
Blood from a Stone When you hit a target that does not have Mana with a melee attack ability, you gain a 25% chance of getting a Pact.
Efficient Conversion Abilities that unleash Pacts cost 15 less Power.
Surge Increases all threat generated by 30%. Generates additional threat to up to 10 nearby enemies based on Endurance whenever a Pact is gained.
Ravenous Strength Increases Strength by 2.5% per application, in addition to 0.12% per application for every point spent in Void Knight past level 30. This bonus applies while a Pact is active. Can be applied up to 10 times.
Energy Retention Pact duration is increased by 15 seconds.
Aggressive Guardian Increases threat generated by 20%. Increases threat from Retaliation, Disarming Counterblow, and Paladin's Reprisal further based on Endurance.
Stalwart Shield Increases your Block by 5%.
Defensive Experience Increases Block chance by 2%.
Powerful Countenance Increases Armor by 5%.
Macros - I only use 3 macros and they are on my qbar1 in this orde: ST MAcro = #1 AOE Macro = #2 Finisher Macro = #3 Rift SUmmon = #4
All other skills are on my qbars to be used on CD or As needed.
ST Macro =
#show pacifying strike
suppressmacrofailures
cast aggressive block
cast pacifying strike
cast retaliation
AOE Macro =
suppressmacrofailures
cast tempest
cast ragestorm
cast aggressive block
cast power sink
cast empowering strike
cast retaliation
FInisher Macro =
#show Spotter's order
suppressmacrofailures
cast spotter's order
cast retaliation
My Current, self buffed stats are:
Armor: 11545 = 63.98% Physical damage reduction
BLock: 1143 = 48.15% chance to block
61.32% Damage Absorption
Parry: 735 = 11.89% Chance to parry
Hit Points = 16547
Armor and HP are NOT as high in full VK as they are in say, Pally or another spec, but those specs DONT have the utility the VK has, or the magic mitigation.
Most trash pulls I use #2, ALOT. I do 1 rotation with the ST macro on my target and right back to AOE Macro. Its nearly the same for bosses but usually have to mix a few ST rotations in to keep Aggressive Block active.
IF a mob breaks loose a quick target and button 4 brings em back.
I use the ranged silence and spark or Rift Tap to either draw a caster in, or keep him aggrod until Rift summon is back up.
Fusion of Flesh if Im taking alot of damage from caster mobs or caster boss OR the group needs attention from the healer more than me.
Touch of Life - Same as FoF except it gets used for any situation
Sigularity - TO deal with Big Spike Magic Damage (IE Uru in GP)
Spell Breaker - Help with Grp cleanses, or cleanse myself (so healers dont have to), this also works alot like Break Free for self use (SO I have 2 Break Frees)
Spell Sunder - Stip Damage shields off bosses mostly, Glacial Shield, Jagged Ice Shield etc. but I use it on trash in CR/DH/GP etc too.
Passives that really stand out:
When your buffs are up, and Accord of Emptiness is up you will maintain 10 Pacts - so the following passives are ALWAYS at the max they can be
Ravenous Defense Reduces incoming non-Magical damage by 0.3% per application. This bonus applies while a Pact is active. Can be applied up to 10 times.
Ravenous Strength Increases Strength by 2.5% per application (STR = BLOCK!!!!) in addition to 0.12% per application for every point spent in Void Knight past level 30. This bonus applies while a Pact is active. Can be applied up to 10 times.
Next time you are in a dungeon, or raid, pay attention to the mobs that are physical dmg and the mobs that are magical damage. Compare the bosses too - how many bosses have ONLY physical damage attacks? So a build with High Physical mitigation might take less damage from that form of attack and take ALOT more during magical damage.
Lets try some very simple math ( I am not a math magician, so...)
Pally/Reaver Spec VS. Average Joe Boss (who does magic damage, or magical damage is part of the encounter - which is like...every boss)
Pally Takes 5000 LESS Physical damage
Pally takes 10000 MORE Magical Damage
VK takes 1000 more Physical Damage (Believe it or not, the VK ISNT that gimped at physical damage mitigation)
VK Takes 10000 LESS Magical damage - Because of singularity and passives etc
As a healer, I would rather heal the VK because he WONT spike so much after big magic hits (unless its a baseline dmg of a % of health pool (ie Soul Fracture))
As a healer, I would rather heal the VK because He can cleanse himself, mitigate magic damage better, Heal off Magic dmg, Heal with ToL and shield himself.
