65 BST as tank for 4 box group - help please?

[russeadg]

Hi all, first time posting...

I 4 box a BST, ENC, WIZ, CLR combo (all 65 except 66 Wiz).  The BST is the tank and in content up to PoP that works fine - in BoT, for instance, my crew is non-stop killing with slow but steady aaxp.  My BST is about 1600ac 6400hp unbuffed, only about 90aa, and mostly elemental gear with a few qvic pieces (magelo is http://www.magelo.com/eq_view_profile.html?num=1177181).  When I venture into the post-PoP zones, I find the BST's tanking abilities starting to diminish pretty rapidly.  I play on FV so some normally no-drop stuff is available through bazaar time to time.   At this point, the wizzy and chanter provide non-stop hotkey nukes (and shiny bob/DC pet), and the cleric bots nukes and heals.  Of course there is a nice set of buffs available for the BST and an almost endless supply of mana for the bots).  DPS seems to be pretty potent and not really the issue.

What I'm looking for is guidance on the best tanking improvements in terms of effectiveness from among many choices, such as:
- Working toward +Avoidance items
- Getting the Improved Dodge III aug
- Finishing the Mitigation and Avoidance AA lines
- Upping AC to some magical next plateau

Desired target zones are the OoW grouping zones, and top end instanced non-raid instanced zones like Tipt/Qvic, hard LDoN, and and the upper end of DON.  Steady aaxp is the primary goal for the time being.

Any thoughts or ideas are very much appreciated.

[Dakat]

If you havent reached above 65 on your beast, I would highly recommend staying 65 and camping BOT until you max out or come close to maxing out your Defensive AA before proceeding to places like WoS.  As soon as you ding 67 the AA you get in a easy solo spot like BOT drops tremendously.  From 5% per kill at level 65 to like 2% at level 67 to .5% at level 70.

In other words, in my opinion I would go with getting the AA first, its easier to get then the rest.

[Tannyon]

/agree


Get to level 67 in BOT, then check out the other sections for ideas on xp grounds.

Level 70 is > 65 in every aspect as a tank. Get 70 first, then do the tanking AAs

[bham]

I 4-box beast (as tank), cleric, mage and wizard so hopefully I can offer some insight.

Defensive AAs make a big difference. Finishing them should be your next AA goal.

Leveling also makes a big difference. Specifically for tanking; Im not sure which will help you more, especially when you consider that AAs will slow down if you level up but are not able to progress to tougher content. I make AAs faster at level 70 than ever before, but I already had a lot of AA at 65 before Omens came out. Heading straight to 70, without full defensive AAs on your beast-tank might not work so well.

Dodge III is a nice to have but doesnt make that big a difference. I only got it on my beast because I was about to buy another DoN FT3 aug for him anyway when I saw a FT3/ dodge 3 aug for sale.

I cant comment on exactly how useful avoidance and shielding are. I was going to say that getting these effects is a long way off for you if you are doing 1-group content (ie MPG trials) but if you are on FV that may not be the case (I have no idea how the FV economy works).

AC is nice but there is no magic number that I am aware of that makes a massive difference. You already have more AC at 65 unbuffed than I do at 70 buffed, but it doesnt stop me tanking RSS. Pick up AC upgrades as they come but dont necessarily concentrate on them.

In short I would do AAs until you have finished all archtype def AAs and the PoP avoidance ones. Then I would level up. I recommend exping on the WoS murkgliders in the eastern caves. Once those initial def AAs are complete, try the first valley in RcoD.

[russeadg]

Thanks all, bham especially for the very concise suggestions (as always).  Your posts have always been a help for me bham, and a big part of the influence on helping me shape my own 4-box crew.  Thanks so much for your thoughtful insights on this board.

[Gungagunga]

I'd like to add the teir 1 OOW arms have improved block on them... dont think great but every little bit might help.

Agree with the avoidance/mitigation being huge help.  At 62 now i'm able to tank stuff that most people think will eat me alive.

AA wise besides defensive since you seem pretty mellee based you might want to look into Sinister Strikes. 

If you could do just a few DoN missions now you could also get some life taps(100-125hp) to put on your weaps which would help a little bit as well.  If after all those AA your not quite tired of farming yet you could add the HG and WA lines which would make those taps alot of fun.