SKs: Iksar and their AC bonus. Ghost, or Real

[gobbosnobbo]

I've been debating with people lately, trying to get to the bottom of which race will be superior in the expansion for Shadow Knights.

A lot of talk has been centered around Greenmist, and how Iksars aren't restricted by plate gear in the next expansion. However, the later of the topics has hinged on whether or not Iksar race AC bonus actually exists, or whether it simply buffs the number on your character stat screen without having any real benefit to mitigation.

We've also debated as to what kind of AC the iksar bonus is, and whether or not it counts towards the softcap, or if it is considered avoidance AC and therefore is exempt.

I've heard players even go as far as to say that AC bonus for iksar class has never worked, not here, or on live, and will not work during the velious expansion either.

So I've come to the great pantheon of Shadow Knights, to seek knowledge from those who better remember the era than I do.

[Pheer]

Even if the ac bonus is going to be working, it wont be a big enough difference to get out from under the shadow of ogre frontal stun immunity. Playing any race other than ogre as an SK should be decided by your personal preference of race rather than the racial bonuses themselves imo. If you play an iksar just for greenmist and AC/regen then you're doing it wrong. Also iksar combat animations are pretty bad. On the plus side, the iksar custom velium helm model is one of my favorite item models in the entire game.

Its all ogre now

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[gobbosnobbo]

Isnt racial abilities part of what builds to personal preference, and therefore, "doing it right"?

On that point, I gotta say that I...

"disOGREE" with you.

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[Celatus]

Iksar will be the superior sk due to greenmist.

[gobbosnobbo]

Originally Posted by Celatus [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Iksar will be the superior sk due to greenmist.

What makes greenmist so good over the epic though.

Yes, I understand its a 1h weapon, goes with a shield... Yet, does it really compete with the epic in terms of both survivability and damage output?

Is there some trump card it has overall that we can definitely say "oh yeah, greenmist by far and away makes iksar sks the definitive best", or are we really just playing up and overestimating greenmist?

It is also notoriously hard to get, so that factors in as well..

[Celatus]

You could debate it i guess but yes it is that much better. + regen while fd is nice and the ac bonus is nice. I guess it depends on what you feel you're role is. If you are off tanking then greenmist is the shit. If you fancy yourself a 2h dpser i don't know what to tell you.

[gobbosnobbo]

Fair enough. You think SKs, or knights in general will weather the storm as well as Warrior for tanking groups or at the very least, off-tanking?

I've seen a lot of trash talk vs knights for velious, and outside of palli for their support heals, a lot of people are saying they have no use in min/max outside tanking very specific and few add phase fights.

[Celatus]

I think they will be fine in group tanking and off tanking raid trash and other things. Knights have their place just like every other class. I also think every race for knights will be fine but Greenmist is a nice bonus that other races wont get here.

[gobbosnobbo]

Great posts cel, ty for your advice

[Danth]

Knight classes tanking raid mobs, even trash, tends to be more about guild culture than about class strengths. Some guilds use Warriors for everything and forget about their knights except for picking up class loot. Other guilds like rapid aggro-lock and use knight tanks for trash clearing with some regularity. I don't really see it as an expansion issue. Raid bosses during Velious, however, tend to require Warriors to a much greater degree than in Kunark due to increased length of battles. There are a handful that knights are sometimes used for, but few and far between. Knights can easily handle most trash, but don't make a knight if you particularly care about tanking Velious raid bosses with any great regularity.

There's nothing wrong with Iksar Shadow Knights. I wouldn't make one simply for Greenmist, but it's a very nice perk. Note that Velious will be out for the better part of a year before the quest is even made available.

Danth