NA Espei's PvE Tanking Guardian

[Espei]

Thanks, to answer your questions:

Level 8 Block, is it necessary? It depends on the person. I find it helps when I'm faced with Nest bosses who do multiple hit attacks like Manticore's hurricane and Apocalypse's spinning move. Sure you could dodge but sliding step only moves you so far. You can always start low and add if you feel you need to block more hits (less expensive than resetting points, lol).

I don't use Stance of Faith often enough to warrant more points in it and you also do not stay in that stance long enough either. Well at least I don't so used those points elsewhere. Provoking then using SoF doesn't keep aggro imo cause you've stopped attacking for x number of seconds.

I believe from what I've read it is level 6 + plate for 100% aggro as in there isn't a second where the effect has worn off. I've had it at level 4 initially but found that I lost aggro too often to be good enough for me. This becomes a life or death situation for my team and because I have spec'd myself to be a full on tanker that is a no-no for me. So again, start with 4 and if you feel that's good enough keep it but if you plan on being a main tank for SDN then at least 6.

I use Life-giving for the fact that it heals HP when hit and that it was the lowest cool down out of all the possible suffix. That alone is good enough reason to keep it and it becomes crucial when running long nests like SDN which on average will take 2 hours. As a tanker your job is to stay alive. The effect for Sturdy/Adorned and the bonus is not that great IMO when compared to more HP (which means you heal more with Aura of Healing) and actually healing 2k+ every 5 seconds.

[aquamarin]

Geez, does anyone know real threat and provoke mechanics?

In my personal experience, provoke seems to force your threat level to highest when cast. However, if you have a teammate who can really dish out dat DPS, he/she may override provoke's threat level.

I think that's what usually happens with provoke + Stance of Faith, as you mentioned.

What's still up in the air is whether leveling provoke increases threat level gained when cast. A brief search landed me on this
Tanking as a Crusader
which suggests that leveling provoke does more than just increasing duration.

If so, wouldn't provoke duration crest that everyone wants be unnecessary?

For now, I will keep my provoke at level 4 and wait for more information regarding how provoke exactly works.

[Espei]

Yeah, I understood that increase in Provoke level means increasing the amount of threat when using it thus overriding the threat level of someone who has lower skill level. I noticed this when I was partied with another Paladin who used Provoke and when I used it they switched over to me.

But between cooldown and de-buffing... I may still choose to keep the de-buff. Though it's still hard to tell if increasing hate means it's a de-buff as well, haha.

[Espei]

Updated info on weapon suffix recommendation.

After looking at the stats again Life-giving may not be a bad idea to have on weapons. If you plan on becoming a main tank for your SDN party you may actually need it for the HP boost as well as the healing ability.

Though I'm still undecided as to whether I should go for Intellect suffix or Water suffix on helm. I've read that Ice Age is a really painful skill. At the same time while you do get near 6% of Ice Resist from the craft the question is if that 40% resist will proc at the proper time to save your butt from Ice Age. xD

Intellect will be all around good even after SDN. Water would really be just for SDN... and those annoying lizards that cast 10s ice stun.

[Fidelino10]

Wow! thank you for this guide! If u want, I can PM you the SEA translations of the terms you use in your guide