#aion4.0

1) 65aug2 is more or less suited towards either slotting in Crit/Accuracy or Crit/MR but it’s a very flexible set in that it can potentially do anything other than Block set very well. However it’s more suited towards an end game Magic Resist set or Accuracy set.

Accuracy is difficult to measure, as a stat it’s difficult to definitively say “Yes, I know why I’m slotting this stat” as it only works on potentially 3 classes in the game (that you’ll have to worry about). If you find yourself not meeting this situation very often then perhaps MR is the better option for you. Both setup’s have their Pro’s and their Con’s, arguing which one is better between an Accuracy set and  Magic Resist for such and such engagements would be like reinventing the Wheel, you get nowhere and you’re essentially arguing for no reason as they both fill two very different Niche’s to one another. 

Magic Resist on the other hand you can actually actively see the merits and results of slotting it, resisting things that you would not have otherwise resisted on an accuracy set etc.So it’s much easier for you to know exactly why you’re slotting this stat and why it’s much easier to be easily swayed as to which of the two stats are better than the other. The reality is both stats fill two different roles, ideally you have both, but that’s a reality most people aren’t faced with.

2) Magic resist numbers, ideally you’re at or above 2k MR Unbuffed and without food etc; ideally above 2.1k. For magic resist to be realistically noticeable you need at least 1.9k to be resisting most melee classes, with AA that puts you at 2.7 which will resist most if not all melee classes, pretty high chances to resist most SM’s, Sorcs without Supp of Focus will probably be resisted, Most clerics, particularly if they’re in a block set will be resisted etc. So it’s a nice number, having a higher number will mean that you touch closer and closer to being able to resist Sorcs even with Supp of Focus (+1000 MA). 

Composites for an MR set are Mandatory if you intend to be able to perform well against the caster classes and Clerics. Clerics even ones that don’t slot MA can cast a debuff upon you which decrease your MR which can potentially bring you down to their level. You need composites to furthermore close the distance on your MR to your target’s MA. This is also the case with Accuracy sets, without composites you will fall short of being able to even get near 3.6k Accuracy. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDb-3f_CGn4

(Ignoring how one sided the match was, completely focusing on how the win was achieved and small plays made by Yuki and co. to come out so dominating on top) 

Another video from Yuki, this one depicts a case of, okay so the Templar and Cleric of the other team is running Block Spec and their Gladiator is simply being Gladiator.

(In no particular order)

Geographics of the map, abusing the size of the map and corners allowing to create distance between their team and the op-for; disallowing their gladiator whom preemptively popped Beserking to close the distance to effectively use it. (Kiting) 

Fairly obvious but note he pops both buffs when they're about to force an engagement, harder for them to create distance.

Keeping the enemy group clumped together as much as possible to allow greater effect of AoE's of glad and to some extent even your own. 

Focusing the Gladiator seeing as the Cleric and Templar are block spec AFTER their templar has wasted group surviviability skills early on Cleric.

Abusing walls to their greatest effect disallowing their Cleric from reaching other group members and thus heal them while Glad is focusing other group members down.

Knowing when the right time is to differentiate between using RS Heal and RS Pull.

Morale Wave, seems to do little, it can help a lot particularly if your group members are clumped and few.

Knowing what buffs to poke at, Impervious Veil Cleric RS was baited in order to kill "2" (The Gladiator), Cleric couldn't react in time and 2 died as the skill ended. 

A Direct correlation between a high Crit count and chances to KD are noted in throughout the video, that is why we socket additional crit, even if it seems over kill amounts.

Prolonged usage of Sword/Board is being phased out for more aggressive and offensive Greatsword play post 4.0 as it's becoming more and more apparent that a component of DPS needs to be involved to effectively maintain aggro on top of regular taunts. 

Is that to say that Emp Prov Tree is dead and buried? Not necessarily, I expect it to make a come back in 4.5 content where Eternal Bastion seems to require a larger degree of survivability over DPS output for selected Templars in the alliance. 

Could you effectively deal damage (Meeting instance requirements of minimum 1k crit, 3k accuracy) on sword board though? If your gear allowed you to be at 1k crit and 3k accuracy on sword and board I think you should reconsider what role your weapons play, as in the grand scheme of things your greatsword will still do theoretically superior figures in terms of DPS. 

Furthermore, if you were going to be going prolonged and sustained usage of sword/board to tank said instance, assuming you're doing it in Emp Prov tree you should be in a HP Set which essentially rubs out you being able to reach the requirements of the instance. 

If you swap to shield and board, the idea is that you're attempting to reduce damage intake in some way shape or form, not to potentially be doing more damage than with greatsword up. Exceptions would be running out of moves to weave on greatsword and needing to swap over for Shield Bash etc. 

Similarly, by swapping to greatsword you're doing so with the intent of dealing large damage figures, which is also reiterating the idea why your greatsword should always be slotted with Crit Strike or Crit/___ Composites. 

Taunts won't get you across the line alone, classes like Assassins whom have a much more linear DPS in that it remains steady and doesn't fluctuate as much as you taunt CD's do. Note how long most CDs to bigger Taunts are, then note that their DPS just linearly goes up, eventually something is going to give way and it's going to be you sitting there having lost aggro with taunts on CD and them tanking.  

"But what If I swap to greatsword, gear macro set to a mainstream DPS set and burst between taunt cycles?"  ಠ_ಠ, you could, but that would be trying way too hard to achieve essentially what you could be doing in DPS spec but better. 

I think it’s a fairly obvious statement to say that realistically, 60a2 is the easier set to obtain of the two, in terms of attainability you can get substantially more mithril medals in the same time it took you to get the same amount of Ceramium medals.

With that being said of the two sets which would I recommend to obtain first, would be 65a2, and it’s worth the wait. 60a2 I feel is just out dated, it can do what needs to be done and can perform at the level you expect it to but why should you save up and get the 2nd best armor set in the game. 65a2 apparently is being reduced to rank 1 requirements in 4.5 as it is which means you will no longer need to maintain 1 star with it (Which can often times mean quite a lot of AP).

If you do decide to get 65a2, Blood Mark set can adapt to most situations you want it to, as a block set and in most cases will do what you need it to do. Augment sets are more or less suited towards a Magic Resist or Accuracy centered play, both of which require large sums of funds and felicitous’s etc so take that into consideration before purchasing either or. 

Dazing decreases the target's attack speed, depending on what class that is it can be devastating, or not so devastating. However, whether it be devastating or not it's a debuff which hinders them drastically, especially if you manage to land it while their GHP (Greater Healing Potion) is on cool down (30 seconds).

With most classes leaning away from Magical Resist Set's in 4.0, particularly Clerics whom were known for rocking them almost exclusively for a fairly long duration throughout previous patches and single handedly shifted the meta for Cloth classes needing to Slot Magical Accuracy in order to deal with them. Due to the decrease in occurrences, what this means for us is that it opens larger windows of opportunities to land skills which notoriously did not land on them or other classes.

Dazing just so happens to be one of them, but other skills like Break Power, Doom Lure, Illusion Chains and most importantly, though not a skill is godstones (primarily referring to Silence), Asmodians also get the Tier 3 skill from Ferocious Strike Chain - > Rage. 

That being said this assumes this isn't in a Group PvP situation as typically a Cleric can simply remove Dazing off of another group member should this occur. However if this were to occur on the Cleric, the potential for heals and what not can be delayed, more so buy your other group members time to burn someone else as the Cleric must focus on themselves for even a split second longer than they should to deal with you on them. 

To be completely honest, from a player standpoint (Having no direct affiliation to NCSoft/Gameforge etc, (unlike aion.im) or direct contact to) I don’t think I can comment on instances of hackers and what not.

But what I can say is that be aware that AA is not completely impervious, some people like to think that by popping AA you have this magical shield around you that prevents you from taking damage from a magical class; It isn’t. Like block, there’s also a hard cap for MA/MR, in that once you reach a certain point over their MA to your MR there will not be a noticeable difference at that point in resisting things. Yes, you will get a lowered chance to be hit by things but you still can be hit by numerous skills a gunner can throw at you.

Also bare in mind it’s beginning to trend within the gunner community to either slot in directly or supplement with composites MA stones to counteract classes slotting in small amounts of MR to try to resist them. 

Tying it together, similarly how when you pop a Shield Stance you’re not going to block every single hit, there will simply be hits you don’t block; in this case it’s the same with MR in that even if you get substantially more MR than their MA, you will still be hit by skills, essentially it means your only option to truly take substantially less damage without flipping coins is Magic Suppression or Stubborn Spirit against Gunners.