solo tanking in thordan EX possible ?

[Alistaire]

actually havent paid much attention there so

is it that bad ?

From what I understand they share shield+sword oaths when near. It's pretty bad; our tank has said he might as well stand there when his is in shield oath.

[Tranquil]

It would likely be impossible, unless a DRG could reliably tank one of the adds and also take the T10 mechanic without dying.

In the Sword/Shield Oath phase, having the adds tether and be close up really makes it nigh impossible to kill them (especially if you have them tethered up from the start). You could technically somehow work around this with NINs, but seeing as DPS don't have Provoke, it would be pretty hard to machinate, unless you end up p1 with the DRG MTing, without it dying in the process. In which case, the actual tank could Provoke one of the adds. The next issue is surviving the Holy Bladedance. If RNGesus is on your side and the DRG's add starts in Shield Oath, it could probably be mitigatable and spam healable through. You would then need to be able to nuke one of the adds and carry on normally.

The next issue would be having the DRG survive the T10 mechanic. Might be doable if they use some VIT accs and also have the Adloquium crit of the century, with Stoneskin up as well. (The MT wouldn't be able to eat this while tanking Thordan, because the T10 mechanic gives you a phys vuln up thingy).

Anyone feel like doing this? B)

[Eul]

I think it's impossible for phase at 2 adds. Those adds need to separated, otherwise you get 2x damage. Also for the stance of those adds there's one that do Sword Oath that gives big damage.

[anguel]

ok i see, well thanks for your answear guys

[UBERHAXED]

It would likely be impossible, unless a DRG could reliably tank one of the adds and also take the T10 mechanic without dying.

In the Sword/Shield Oath phase, having the adds tether and be close up really makes it nigh impossible to kill them (especially if you have them tethered up from the start). You could technically somehow work around this with NINs, but seeing as DPS don't have Provoke, it would be pretty hard to machinate, unless you end up p1 with the DRG MTing, without it dying in the process. In which case, the actual tank could Provoke one of the adds. The next issue is surviving the Holy Bladedance. If RNGesus is on your side and the DRG's add starts in Shield Oath, it could probably be mitigatable and spam healable through. You would then need to be able to nuke one of the adds and carry on normally.

The next issue would be having the DRG survive the T10 mechanic. Might be doable if they use some VIT accs and also have the Adloquium crit of the century, with Stoneskin up as well. (The MT wouldn't be able to eat this while tanking Thordan, because the T10 mechanic gives you a phys vuln up thingy).

Anyone feel like doing this? B)

No amount of shields will save a dps from even the shield oath LB. A tank can't survive without heavy mitigation, much less anyone with less HP and much less defense. Same goes for the wild charge mechanic.

[Tranquil]

No amount of shields will save a dps from even the shield oath LB. A tank can't survive without heavy mitigation, much less anyone with less HP and much less defense. Same goes for the wild charge mechanic.

Did you try? I sure as hell didn't, but I was entertaining the OP's idea on a theory level! A Foresighted DRG is practically in godmode! (Dat Foresight!)

[Ashkendor]

actually havent paid much attention there so

is it that bad ?

Yes. They both have the Vulnerability Down buff when they're tethered. Not to mention there's a point where they cast Holiest of Holy > Holy Bladedance > Holiest of Holy. If you even lived that long, that right there would wipe the raid while they're tethered.

Did you try? I sure as hell didn't, but I was entertaining the OP's idea on a theory level! A Foresighted DRG is practically in godmode! (Dat Foresight!)

As a PLD with Bulwark and Shield Oath up, I still take around 3/4 of my HP bar (I have close to 19k HP) from the knight in Shield Oath. A DRG has significantly lower physical defense values and less HP, so I don't think there's much of a chance they'd survive.

[Tranquil]

You gotta remember, having Bulwark up doesn't necessarily mean it's proccing for each hit. I know it hits hard, but I am tanking through that add in Deliverance and Holmganging there anyway (which only puts my mitigation above a DRG's due to my phys defense values on the gear), and I also OT that encounter in full slaying, with pretty much DRG-tier HP. I would be pretty interested to see if a DRG could live through that via accessory HP bloat (20k HP or so), while also being catered to in the form of Virus + Disable on their add (which stack). You can also obviously pre-shield the hit, then pre-cast further heals to land between the hits, etc. I would be able to shed some more light on how much a completely unmitigated (on tank phys def) Holy Bladedance does per hit, but alas I haven't been vidding the fight, and haven't thought of paying that much attention to the individual flying text so far, as I am purposefully 1HPing there anyway.

Anyway - is what the OP proposed worth it? Nope, don't think so, might just as well have two tanks and tank aggressively anyway. But the OP asked a question, and I was just pondering it for fun.

[PArcher]

Just the fact that you need to voke the one guy says that this is basically impossible (unless you have like 5 BLM/BRD/MCH popping Quelling and keeping aggro down, and the tank just barely holding out against the melee they bring. Or 4 ranged with quelling and some really clever use of Shadewalker on a DRG/MNK). Would also require that the DPS get Sword Oath first and then the mob burned before it can cast its LB.

[Brian_]

With 6 good DPS + a WAR + an AST + an LB, you might be able to kill a Knight before they activate their oath. So, you'd avoid the tether mechanic and you'd also avoid their holy blade dance.

The bigger issue is the WC mechanic in p5. While DRGs have like ~16000 HP in i210, I still doubt they'd be able to take the spear hit and live. If anyone dies, it's an auto wipe. I Vengeance and Thrill with ~17000 HP in Deliverance and still end up with like 2k HP left. Maybe a MNK with Fists of Earth, Divine Veil shield, Stoneskin, RR Bole, Apocatastasis (if it's magical... not sure)? That might... work?