Stance Tank?

I am a W/R lvl 20 and have been trying my hand at places like the UW/FoW and ToPK. A lot of people are asking me if I'm an experienced 'stance tank'.

What the heck is a 'stance tank'?

I use various stances in my skill bar so does that make me a stance tank? After reading a little it seems it's a warrior build that concetrates mostly on defense (staying alive under heavy fire). Is this true? And if so, are there any players out there who have found a good skill combo for there warrior build that would classify them as a good 'stance tank'?

Thanx,
OFG

stance tanks have high tactics, and low weapon skill. they use skills like shield stance, dolyak signet, gladiators defence and such. a stance takn isnt designd to deal damage, its designed to take a beating. im sure you can gind a stance build in the "warrior" section

One other thing needs to be said about the Stance Tanks for those specific areas. Those areas take advantage of what's called the "Bood Trick", where the Warrior holds an object to garantee that everything in aggro range will attack you and only you. In SF, this is the Gear or Keg trick.

I'd recommend not getting used to that particular kind of play, as there have been promises made that that particular trick will no longer work come the 27th, or shortly there after. This is because of the Ritualist, and several of thier key skills, where they generate, then hold, an object. Since the aggro pull of held items would be devistating to a soft target like a Ritualist, they're probably going to simply drop the aggro pull on all held items.

A simple W/E one for Dye farming that I use is this:-

Warriors Endurance {E}
Cyclone Axe
Executioners Strike
For Great Justice
Doylak Signet
Sprint
Healing Signet
Armour Of Earth

It's pretty simple to use, which is why I chose the skills I did. First, just run around aggroing the enemy and when you have enough on your tail stop and hit Armour of Earth, Doylak Signet and Warriors Endurance. Then just start spamming Cyclone axe everytime it's recharged. Also, keep an eye on your Doylak and Armour of Earth too. Refreshing when they die out. Use Healing Signet if you need it.

Due to a Warrior having little energy, W.E. combined with Cyclone axe always keeps your energy bank charged.

It won't stand up against any of the higher level enemies but for farming dyes from Trolls, Forest Minatours, Minatours and any other lower level non magic using creatures it works just fine. I got 15 dye drops yesterday with it.

It may just be me, but I'm willing to bet that Azagoth is using a Zealous Axe. That should be noted, because a non-Zealous axe with that build would probably be a major energy pig.

Yeah, sorry I forgot to mention the axe. You're right, it's a 6-28 Zealous Hand Axe of Shelter.

Although that said, even with a bog standard 6-28 axe you can keep the energy filled if you've got enough enemies around you for Cyclone axe to strike each one, as each individual hit gives you 3 energy when Warriors Endurance is active.

Well, I was right then; it's mainly a defense skill build for a warrior. Thanx for the specific skills Azagoth tho I don't know what Armour of Earth is. Sounds like an ele skill. I'm a W/R and I'm finding that this build doesn't work all that well. You have some ranger skills to benefit from but they use a lot of energy; more than most warrior skills. I've always taken an offensive "stance" in the past but now I'm trying to figure out an effective defensive "stance". A fellow W/Mo guildy does hydra farming in the desert by himself so I will hit him up for some tips.

Thanx,
OFG

P.S. After all I may just change my secondary prof.

My suggestion would be to experiment with other secondaries for different situations, but W/Ra is generally considered to be one of the best as a stance tank.

Meleandru's Resilience is a fine elite stance for a ranger. Combined with Dolyak Signet and Watch yourself for a huge armour boost, perhaps Troll Ungeant for even more regen, you can generally live through most apocalypses.

I do usually use a zealous axe mod and Cyclone Axe to keep energy as high as possible though.

If your part is planning on a variation of the book/keg trick, the idea will be that you as the tank hold said item and get attacked by every monster and their dog, while your party heal you/kill everything.
In those circumstance, remember that you will not gain as much adrenalin (if any), so Watch Yourself/Defy Pain will not be as useful, and defences that require a weapon or shield (Shield Stance, Riposte etc) will also be useless.

Gladiators defence can be a nice one to carry, as it allows you to still damage enemies a fair bit, even when holding. It also creates a nice mental image of a whirling warrior bashing Skeletal Beserkers with a leather bound tome, or beating up dwarves with a keg of blasting powder. Bar room brawl tactics FTW

FOr the above posters comment.

To combat the lack of adrenaline since your not gaining damage take a "To The Limit" and that should keep it topped up if theres room in the skill bar for it.

Have tried different builds for a W/N, obviously using the book/keg/gear trick and there are different ways you can go about it i.e. do damage while stancing.

For example, one way is to use Doylak, Glads, defensive/disciplined stance, riposte/deadly riposte (of course not when carrying stuff), plague touch etc

OR

Doylak, defensive, disciplined, life transfer, life siphon, plague touch, unholy feast.....this is quite fun as well

Stance tanking contrary to obvious popular opinion is NOT just whats in the skill bar onscreen! There is skill and knowledge that makes a good stance tank, this I can easily see from the back seat where my monk, necro, elementalist, or ranger sits for any of the advanced farming areas. There's position, aggro control, not leeroying out of range of your support, communication, and coherent thought when situations change or don't change involved in a decent stance tank (I'm 'decent', not 'realy good'). A good imitation stance tank can even be pulled off quite effectively by a prepared geomancer, or mesmer...