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Mega Ultra Chicken
Jul 9, 2012, 08:58 PM
Since I already have a reckless offensive fighter in Mazarin, I'm thinking of making Killbot more of a tank to differentiate her from Maz. Problem is, I don't really know which skills or Mag stats I should look in to if I want to take that path. Perhaps someone could fill me in on that, or if making a defensive Hunter is even worth doing?

Pillan
Jul 9, 2012, 09:09 PM
Guard Stance seems like the obvious choice on such a route. It is a -150 to S-Atk and R-Attack starting off, and maxes at -100, but that won't be too much of a problem in the long run. While you're down that path you may as well grab Sword Gear anyway.

Between Guard Stance Up and S-Def Up, definitely S-Def Up. Both are +50 to S-Def, but one isn't limited by guard stance activation. I don't really care for +50s at level 10, but there are no multipliers for defense stats. HP Up seems like an obvious choice, but it's so easy to get a lot of HP from Soul effects and the stat is naturally higher, making it harder to justify.

And if you are going the sword route, the Just Guard/Counter tree seems like a good bet. And I personally have fallen in love with Just Reversal.

But, personally, I would recommend playing defensively by skill moreso than by tree build, as the best defense is guard/step timing. And that doesn't require a -30 to -20 to damage before JA and PA multipliers.

Also remember that Hunters defense growth only effects S-Def, but HP helps out with every type of attack. The overwhelming majority of attacks are reduced with S-Def, but bosses and the occasional throwing or techy enemy uses the other ones.

Mega Ultra Chicken
Jul 9, 2012, 09:24 PM
Guard Stance seems like the obvious choice on such a route. It is a -150 to S-Atk and R-Attack starting off, and maxes at -100, but that won't be too much of a problem in the long run. While you're down that path you may as well grab Sword Gear anyway.

Between Guard Stance Up and S-Def Up, definitely S-Def Up. Both are +50 to S-Def, but one isn't limited by guard stance activation. I don't really care for +50s at level 10, but there are no multipliers for defense stats. HP Up seems like an obvious choice, but it's so easy to get a lot of HP from Soul effects and the stat is naturally higher, making it harder to justify.

And if you are going the sword route, the Just Guard/Counter tree seems like a good bet. And I personally have fallen in love with Just Reversal.

But, personally, I would recommend playing defensively by skill moreso than by tree build, as the best defense is guard/step timing. And that doesn't require a -30 to -20 to damage before JA and PA multipliers.

Also remember that Hunters defense growth only effects S-Def, but HP helps out with every type of attack. The overwhelming majority of attacks are reduced with S-Def, but bosses and the occasional throwing or techy enemy uses the other ones.

Would War Cry be useful at all for such a build? Or is the threat generation from it too marginal to make much use of it?

Pillan
Jul 9, 2012, 09:29 PM
To be completely, honest, I've never used War Cry. And I usually attract the bosses attention by just hitting him in the face with a giant sword. I generally hold its attention even in groups of ten, so it's possible to do that easily without that skill. I assume attracting attention is based on damage, which would be reduced going the Guard Stance route, which justifies the use of War Cry. (...Usually only grenade happy rangers can steal it from me...)

TheSnowmanEffect
Jul 10, 2012, 09:43 AM
5 points of defense = 1 point of damage reduction from that type of damage.
If you stack it, you can seriously take out a large chunk of damage.. From one type of damage.

HP Up is the way to go for all-round defense builds. Get S-Def Up if you want to equip better units that require S-Def, but other than that just stack as much HP as you can.

As for War Cry, it increases the rate of aggro you gain. Starts off at 100% and lasts 5s but at max it'll be 200%, and lasts as long as its cooldown. If the aggro is based off of damage then using war cry would make the monster see you hitting it for 3x damage at max, so people would never rip the thing off you.. Theoretically (Still haven't tried out War Cry at max yet).

Don't forget to grab Just Reversal and Just Guard, not one or the other. Just Counter is your choice, as the damage isn't much.

Now for your guard stance, I'm sure you know that at max your S-Def gains a 200 boost with -100 to S/R-Atk. That's only 40 points of damage reduced from melee. The reduction seems worth it against normal bosses and mobs, but when bosses are boosted you'll wish you had specced for HP instead.

My personal opinion? Your skill tree should look like this,
http://ryuhiroshi.ry.funpic.de/pso2/hunter.html?01HU!IOI2ebkbGOjJddof

You don't need anything else in S-Def Up currently as you can spec into your mag for better units, and with S-Atk Up that high you can equip the best sword currently with very little points into your mag (Maybe 20 or so).


Of course this is all my theory. And yes I know I put Just Counter in that skill tree. I find the skill worth it just for the laughs when you kill a boss (or really anything) with it.

ps0k1d
Jul 10, 2012, 04:07 PM
Well as soon as I could buy AC, i went and bought another skill tree for just this reason. I went full tank build with war cry and everything and i have not looked back. My reason being, i have insanely high defense with a great amount of attack still. And this is how i did it.

First, keep your s-atk mag from when you were a damage hunter, the loss in atk you will see from going tank will be noticeable so having the extra 80-100 points you should have on the mag will help. (I have about 60 ability on mine as well) This helps counter balance the loss of attack from guard stance and keeps your damage up.

Next is to find a good sword and get it up to about 400+, last survivor is a great sword as it gives HP up and requires s-def to wield. This in my book was a great sword for a tank. Also you will want to pick up sword gear.

S-def up is a must, as without a def mag you will need them to use the higher 8* armors. I recommended the golden looking armors that look like they have feathers on them, as they grind out to a very high amount of s-def, plus put a nice rockbear soul on them and i think they max out at 200+ s-def per armor.

Also, the importance for war cry at max is almost certain if you are going to be full tank, if you just want to be a defensive fighter then its not as important. With war cry however they stick to you like glue and the other damaging members of your team can pummel them to death. Also at max it has a 30 second CD, with its active time being 30 seconds so they are always on you.

Of course you want just guard, because i've found out as a tank if you can throw yourself in front of an attack and just guard it, it will also stop the attack from hitting your teammates if they are in range. This is very helpful to being an effective tank, and something i use all the time on the new snow tiger when he does his leaping attack.

Here is my current skill tree:
http://ryuhiroshi.ry.funpic.de/pso2/hunter.html?01HU!IOI2ebGOkbjpKIbf

I don't see the importance of getting the extra health, as the rockbear souls help out and you have to max the HP up's for them to be really useful. Plus I take at the most 60 damage from bosses attacks so I have plenty of HP to take damage with.

My current striking stats are 900 atk and 1000 def, without guard stance on or any med center drinks. So i feel pretty balanced.

Anyway this is all just my opinion and what has worked for me. Hope i have been able to help you figure out what you want to do!

Sigmund
Jul 10, 2012, 04:17 PM
^
Hmm, this is almost exactly my build. Although I'm going to start getting the prerequisite for Automate Half Line instead of getting SATK Up and I don't get Just Counter.

War Cry is either a 10 or 0 talent imo, it just doesn't work at low levels. Unless your partner is a pretty geared Launcher, the boss will stick to you.

ps0k1d
Jul 10, 2012, 04:44 PM
Yeah Sigmund, i agree with you. War Cry needs to be at ten for it to be a good skill to use. However i also think the same way for automate halfline, that ones needs to be at about a 9-10 points for it to be useful as well. So my plan for that skill is to pick it up when the cap hits 50, assuming they give us another 15 SP to play with. :)

Sapparu
Jul 11, 2012, 07:57 PM
How does Just Reversal work? It only works about 1/10 times I get knocked down.

ps0k1d
Jul 11, 2012, 08:10 PM
Sapparu, for just reversal you have to hit your jump button as soon as you hit the ground. Also you cant hit any other button before landing or else it cancels out the action of just reversal. So basically, as you go flying let up of all other keys/buttons, the second you touch the ground press your jump key, then continue moving and fighting as normal.

Sapparu
Jul 11, 2012, 08:31 PM
Ahh thanks that probably explains why it's called Just Reversal.