Overview

Following on from our Warrior class guide, in this Tanking build guide we’ll provide you with all the information you need to load out your Warrior and maximise your tanking potential. Warriors aren’t, at the moment, the best tanks in WildStar (they fall behind the Stalker and Engineer) however they’re still very much in demand in PvE. This entire build revolves around improving your damage mitigation for yourself and your party and as you might expect, it means you can survive a huge amount of damage for a lengthy period of time.

Full Interactive Warrior Tanking Build

Skills

Rampage

Rampage is your go-to DPS skill that allows you to swing multiple times at an enemy. It's best to be used while your opponent is grappled or knockdowned so you can successfully hit them with all swings.

Menacing Strike

This is your taunting auto-attack that costs no Kinetic Energy but is quickly able to build it. At Tiers 4 and 8 it has a 50% chance to reduce your Kinetic Energy decay (stacks 3 times) and also a 30% chance to restore 87% health.

Plasma Wall

Costing 250 Kinetic Energy with an 8 second cooldown, Plasma Wall deals technology damage to 5 foes and provides Defense, reducing the damage you take by 30%. You should use this skill prior to a spike or when you’re low health (to buy your healer some time).

Atomic Spear

On a 10 second cooldown, Atomic Spear generates 175% threat, 250 Kinetic Energy and hurts 5 foes. It’s only usable after deflecting an attack so should be used the moment it becomes available.

Polarity Field

Polarity Field creates a field that lasts 10 seconds around a foe. It deals damage to a foe inside the field causing Exhaust and preventing endurance regeneration (while draining endurance). Lastly, it generates 130% threat. At Tier 4 it’s able to create a field around 2 foes.

Kick

Kick is your go-to skill when you want to spike an opponent. It knocks down up to 5 foes and prevents any action (exception dash) while also breaking an Interupt Armor. Use it with Rampage.

Power Link

If Warrior didn't hit hard enough already, Power Link increases yours and 4 party members damage by 18%. At Tier 4 it gains an additional 2.5% damage increase, taking the total to 20.5%.

Defense Grid

Defense Grid is your 30 second “Oh Shit!” button that creates a field lasting 10 seconds. During this time all party members in the field (including yourself) have your damage reduced by 21%.

Tiers

32 out of a total of 41 ability points are spent on the Support tree, while the remainder are placed into Assault and the Rampage skill (primarily for the additional damage). The Tier 8 in Menacing Strike is to obtain Efficiency and a chance to restore your health on hit. Tier 4 in Atomic Spear offers additional stackable damage and Tier 4 in Polarity Field will cause it to affect an additional target.

 

AMPs

In total you’ll spend your 45 AMP points across the Assault, Hybrid A/S, Support and Utility trees. The vast majority are spent in Support in order to bolster your Defense when above 500 Kinetic Energy. Additional points spent in the other trees are to reduce your cooldowns or to boost your Kinetic Energy accrual.

 

Assault

Assault Power IIi - Increases Assault Power by 5% (total)

Hybrid A/S

  • Strikethrough III - Increases Strikethrough Chance by 3% (total)

Support

  • Deflect III - Increases Deflect Chance by 3% (total)
  • Support Power III - Increases Support Power by 7.5% (total)
  • Full Force - Landing a hit has a 50% chance to grant a Threaten. Threaten increases threat generation by 25% (can only occur every 15 seconds)
  • Kinetic Buffer - While above 500 Kinetic Energy gain a Defense, increasing all resistances by 9%
  • Full Defense - While above 500 Kinetic Energy gain a Defense, increasing Deflect and Deflect Critical Hit Chance by 5%
  • To The Pain - Taking damage that would kill you instead restores 1363% health and dains 136% health every 1 second for 15 seconds. Can only occur once every 5 minutes.

Utility

  • Cooldowns III - Increases Cooldown Reduction by 15% (total)
  • Unyielding - You can no longer be Dazed
  • Kinetic Drive - Build 45 Kinetic Energy every 0.25 seconds when Sprinting in combat
  • Power Link - Unlocks the Power Link ability

Rotation

The rotation for a tanking Warrior is actually quite repetitive. Many of the skills you can only use once in a rotation and in the interim, you simply use Menacing Strike to maintain aggro. Try to stay above 500 Kinetic Energy at all times to ensure you gain maximum use of your AMPs.

  1. Use Polarity Field on the enemy you’re facing to generate instant threat.
  2. Use Menacing Strike at least two times to gain further aggro from the enemies you’re facing while generating 500 Kinetic Energy.
  3. Use Atomic Spear the moment it becomes available to generate further threat and 250 additional Kinetic Energy.
  4. Use Kick to remove interrupt armor and to knock down your opponent.
  5. Use Power Link only when you have secured aggro from the enemies you’re facing to improve your parties damage output.
  6. Use Rampage when above 750 Kinetic Energy, preferably after you have used Kick.
  7. If under pressure use Plasma Wall to reduce the damage you take (again, only when at 750 Kinetic Energy or higher) or unless it is absolutely necessary.
  8. Use Defense Grid only when under heavy telegraphs that risk damaging you and your entire party.
  9. Repeat the process, using Menacing Strike as often as possible.

Variables

Realistically the only variable I see for this build is to replace Rampage and instead utilise Plasma Blast. You don't need the damage that Rampage offers in order to keep threat from the enemies you're facing, so Plasma Blast is a good alternative. Plasma Blast forces enemies hit by it to attack the Taunter and reduces the damage your allies take by 25%.


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Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

About The Author

Lewis is a long standing journalist, who freelances to a variety of outlets.

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