For my second Destro toon on this little escapade, please refer to the scary looking dude to the right. Currently I’ve got him to R25 and find myself deep in the throes of T3 desolation. It’s not as bad as it used to be, scenarios occasionally pop (I’ve got a 92% win rate), and I’m finding with a healer I’m pretty much unkillable in PvE.

Like, extremely unkillable. It’s disturbing how much abuse I can take at a time. I’ve yet to find a PQ that I can’t pull every single mob at the same time and not survive provided my healer doesn’t fall asleep.

It might be the capped resists, 30% block and 70% parry that do the trick. Toss about 500 toughness on there, a Thornshield III standard, Discordant Fluctuation and Dreadful Agony, it’s just a world of killing without having to lift my sword. Doesn’t really do the trick in RvR as well, mobs don’t really heal themselves at all so the little damage adds up over time. 

I’m still something of a menace in RvR, standing in the back protecting the healers is my preferred position. 70% of the time is waiting, which is exhausting, but worth it. The benefits of snare+punt+ravageravageravageravageravage I suppose. Once we’re put into a situation were either we or they are dominating, I can take the front and Hold the Line against all the ranged nonsense while intercepting pesky Warrior Priests or other MDPS that rush in. I don’t often let things sneak by if it can do some damage.

I suppose I could put away my huge shield and go with a two hander, rebind all my hotkeys to ravage, and roll my face against the keyboard to rack up some silly amounts of damage and DB’s in scenarios, but to be honest it’s just nowhere near as much fun. Playing a Chosen, or any tank really, is about abusing control. You call the shots, direct the battle, and cover your assets. Also, form a warband and people are far more likely to take direction from a tank in my modest amount of experience. So then, overall, the experience with Chosen is mostly good. Flipping between auras takes some practice, and the pace is quite a bit slower, but your effectiveness is a bit higher as well. It takes a bit of finesse and patience, keeping 60 AP available at any moment is almost a requirement. Being able to react thoughtfully and quickly to situations is a boon. Totally different playstyle than I’m used to.

I may be avoiding Land of the Dead this time around as well. Sure, it’s a fast and easy way to grind out r40 once you hit 25, but some of these PQ’s are quite a bit of fun. Not to mention, I don’t think I’ve done any of them. I’m not a huge fan of PvE, but when T3 goes silent for hours at a time I’d rather do something interesting than slap the same 15 skeletons to death over and over again. Perhaps if I’m lucky I’ll have just enough RvR to get three pieces of my Stalker set before it becomes pointless to me. Barring that, I may actually go down to the Gunbad Tunnels and make a serious attempt at getting some nice Redeye gear. Not sure, the path ahead is all cloudy with this nasty Chaos stuff… bleh.