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[Tieflingz]

Stone's greetings, friends. Before we start, we need to ask ourselves the following questions:

Do I have good enough equipments on my legionnaire?
People can kind of tell whether or not if a player is new from the player's portrait, banner, or title. But they can't see your equipment. It is up to you yourself to make sure that you have, at the very least, good enough armor and weapon and shield before you move on to Perilous difficulty.

Do I have enough levels and the correct spec?
Having the right abilities and passives will help your legionnaire through many battles. Only deviate from certain builds when you are comfortable enough to make changes.

Do I know the mechanics of the enemies well enough for Perilous Difficulty?
DPS'ing the enemy is one thing. Knowing how to tank, when to raise shield, and what to do for different bosses are another. Everything you face in Perilous difficulty hits harder, attacks faster, and allows for little to no mistakes.

If you have answered all of the above with a sound, confident Yes, then you don't really need to read this.
You probably already know what you're doing, and are more than welcome to share your thoughts
 

Equipment

 

Armor

Craft a specialized Tier 2 armor as soon as possible; the variants only differ cosmetically, their actual stats and functionality are identical. 
 
Tier 2 (Specialized) Armor Previews:
Legion Commander's Plate (Stonebound)

Spoiler

Legion Commander's Plate (Ironbound)

Spoiler

Legion Commander's Plate (Oathbound)

Spoiler

Legionnaire's Inquisition Captain's Plate (Fortitude)

Spoiler

Legionnaire's Inquisition Captain's Plate (Perseverance)

Spoiler

Legionnaire's Inquisition Captain's Plate (Endurance)

Spoiler

 

Weapon

It is best to wield a mace or an axe; avoid wielding swords in general as swords have the slowest attack speed. The legionnaire shouldn't be trying to optimize DPS here, but survivability. The faster he can attack, the more stamina he can generate over time, the more crit he can proc to reduce cooldown timers, and the more enemy attacks he can block without being staggered.
 
This can be reconciled, however, with cancelling the attack animations. Swords will still perform slightly slower than maces or axes, though not by a margin if the 3rd and 4th consecutive strikes are skipped. There are two ways to cancel an attack animation: by either tapping Shift key or using the Shield Wall ability as you hold your Left Mouse Button.
 
For optimal attack performances on Maces and Axes, it is best to cancel the animation after the 2nd strike, whereas for swords, it is best to cancel the animation after the 1st strike.

Please refer to Dragon Age Inquisition Multiplayer Equipment for more information on weapon stats.

Spoiler

As you can see from the chart, many axes have crit stats that Legionnaires can benefit from. There is an exception to this. Caliban, a level23 unique sword, is a phenomenal sword that will allow further optimization and different approaches to building up your legionnaire.
 
Of course, even when Caliban is available, other lower level options such as Moon Axe or Firm Tournament Axe may just be as viable and perhaps more compatible with personal playstyle, depending on players themselves.

 

Shield

There is a bit more leniency on your selection of shields as opposed to the optimization of your armor and weapon. The higher your shield rating is, the less damage you will take when facing an opponent. The armor rating does not help with Magical damage.
 
There are two unique shields that will heal your legionnaire for 15% of the damage taken over 10 seconds. Note that this heal will still apply even when taking damage to your guard. Coupled with Shield Wall or Walking Fortress, it is a free heal-over-time for your legionnaire.
 

Accessories

This can be tough, as not many are available right away. Currently I have the following as priority:
Stamina Amulet: +Stamina - This allows the legionnaire to block more attacks and use more abilities before his stamina pool is depleted.
Common: 10 Stamina | Rare: 25 Stamina | Unique: 50 Stamina
 
Cooldown Amulet: Cooldown Reduction - This reduces the long cooldown timers on abilities by a margin.
Common: 5% CDR | Rare: 10% CDR | Unique: 15% CDR

Belt of Ranged Defense: +%Ranged Defense - You can replace this with either melee or magic one, whichever comes first.
Common: 2% Defense | Rare: 5% Defense | Unique: 10% Defense

Ring of Life-Drain: +% Heal on Kill - This will allow more sustain for your legionnaire. If your legionnaire is taking tons of damage and ultimately proc'ing Unyielding, the % Heal on Kill will fill him right back up after the enemies are dealt with.
Common: 2% HoK | Rare: 5% HoK | Unique: 10% HoK
 
Ring of Critical Chance: +% Critical Chance- This will synergize well with the passive, Flow of Battle, which is vital to Legionnaire's CDR.
Common: 2% Crit | Rare: 5% Crit | Unique: 10% Crit
 
Enhanced Counterstrike Ring: Increased [Counterstrike] Duration by 30% - Duration increased from 6 seconds to 7.8 seconds!
CURRENTLY NOT WORKING AS INTENDED

Make do with what you have, since it will take a while to gather up all the necessary accessories as opposed to other gears.
 

Upgrades

Armors:
There are plenty of options available, though the general consensus on the optimal choice for Arms are the +Constitution arms (Armor Arms)
 
As for Legs, you can prioritize Ranged defense legs (Coat Legs) or Magic defense legs (Mail Legs). Either one will do fine.

Now, if you happen to have the level23 Unique shield, Shield of the Emperor, or the level14 unique shield, Aegis of the Order, which heals you for 15% of the damage taken, you may also go for the % heal bonus from Armor Legs. Some enemies (especially the bosses and giant creatures such as behemoth, pride demon, or venatori brute) sometimes have enough damage to bypass your guard and damage your health while still leaving some of your guard intact.

Take note that healing potions, regeneration potions, and healing mists will also benefit from the % heal bonus; don't forget % Heal on Kill stats from your accessories, weapons, or shields can apply, as well. Only use the % heal bonus legs if you have those items to further optimize it.
 
Weapons:
For upgrades, I will assume most would be using either a mace or an axe, which requires a haft. Now there are two options:
Bulky One-Handed Haft - 3 Offense Metal / 2 Offense Metal
Hilted One-Handed Haft - 3 Utility Leather / 2 Offense Metal

I chose the Bulky Haft with Offense Metal and picked the highest %Stagger possible. However, it's also possible to go with Hilted Haft with the Utility Leather and go for Cunning stats since they increase % ranged defense and % crit chance. It really depends on players.

Here are some statistics to help you decide:
Optimal Bulky Haft: 9% Stagger
Optimal Hilted Haft: 4% Stagger, 6 Cunning (3% Ranged Defense, 3% Crit Chance)

Of course, if you happen to only have swords available as the best option for your legionnaire, you can also go for the following Grips:
Optimal Dwarven Grip: 4% Stagger, 9 Cunning (4.5% Ranged Defense, 4.5% Crit Chance)
Optimal Raider Grip: 7% Crit Chance, 4 Cunning (2% Ranged Defense, 2% Crit Chance)

As for the Runes, well, I pick lightning damage since not many enemies have lightning damage resistance. Some venatori has weakness to lightning as well, but, again, it all depends on players.
 

Potions

There can be variations for your selection of potions, since you can communicate and cooperate with your teammates on which potions to use. But there are times when you just don't trust your teammates enough that you are on your own, ugh.

Here are the 4 that I use:
Healing Potion - duh (Note that this can also be used to break the legionnaire out of any crowd control effects on him)
Regeneration Potion - Use after your Unyielding procs, or when you know your legionnaire is running out of stamina with no active guard
Pitch Grenade - The AoE slow is really useful when guarding a chokepoint or kiting while waiting for your stamina to regenerate or cooldowns to, well, cool down.
Spirit Resistance Potion - I have this specifically slotted just for the Demon Commander. His knockbacks are often fatal if you don't tank him the right way. If you have a trustworthy keeper with you, though, you may use something else such as Healing Mist, Confusion Grenade, or Jar of Bees, maybe even Rock Armor Tonic.
 

Specialization

There are 5 key active abilities. Yes, 5, not 4, for a Legionnaire to succeed in the Perilous difficulty. Since players are limited to only 4 abilities per game, however, it will be up to you to decide what is best for the group you are in. The following abilities will be explained in level order to reduce redundancy.
 

Active Abilities

Payback Strike - Level 1

Spoiler

Why is this even on the list? Perilous difficulty isn't a very popular mode. Payback Strike allows you to have that extra DPS and it also helps you out on many situations where your cooldowns are running out and your DPS haven't taken down the enemies yet. I would highly suggest taking this ability if you somehow know it from your guts that your group is not going to do just enough damage for the whole group to pull through.

And how would a player know when his group isn't going to have that DPS? First and foremost, it would be the player classes chosen for the group. If you have 2 Keepers and an Alchemist, for example, then you're better off taking Payback Strike over War Cry since they most likely will not pull the enemies off you in the first place. And, well, with 2 keepers you will be invincible. Might as well do some damage, no? There can be variation in this, play more games to get the feel for it.

Take note that Payback Strike will also break your legionnaire out of CCs. This is especially useful against Demon Commanders. Normally the decision point is whether or not if I have a trustworthy Keeper or elementalist to barrier my legionnaire when I need it.

Shield Wall - Level 1

Spoiler

Needless to say, this is the one of the important skills for a Legionnaire. It is important to know when to block and when to strike. In Perilous difficulty: enemies attack faster, and their attacks will go through if you attempt to do half-arsed blocking.

Pace your legionnaire's attacks and blocks. For single melee opponents, you can always block his attack once and go for 2-3 swings with a mace/axe before having to block again. If you push for more, it depends on your reaction time and latency, you'll most likely fail to block. When facing multiple opponents, always wait for the sweet sound of those attacks being blocked by your shield like raindrops on the roof. After that multiple sound slows, attack once, and block right away. At this point, you can only block so many attacks that your stamina will allow you, you may as well find the best interval for you to slightly regenerate stamina while taking the least amount of damage possible.
 
It is, however, possible to replace this ability with something else. Once you are comfortable with timing your cooldowns and have the right equipments further optimize CDR per Crit passive, you can replace this skill with other offensive skills for a more offensive playstyle.

Walking Fortress (Essential) - Level 5

Spoiler

This is a legionnaire's invincibility on demand ability. What the description doesn't tell you is that it will also break your legionnaire out of CCs. This can be useful when mistakes are made such as going inside a corner when Red Templar Commander is spinning at you. You can also activate this ability right after your Unyielding expires to help generate guard while keeping you alive.

War Cry - Level 6 - Replaces Payback Strike or Shield Wall at Level12

Spoiler

Some may argue that Unbowed may be a better option since it doesn't cost any stamina, but keep in mind that by unlocking War Cry, it also unlocks the passive, Cutting Words. The passive will synergize well with Counterstrike. Though War Cry does have a smaller radius than Unbowed, this means it's possible to miss a few stragglers with your War Cry.

Counterstrike (Essential) - Level 12 

Spoiler

This is probably one of the most important skill to have in perilous, as its taunt has literally unlimited range, as long as the enemies are within the Legionnaire's line of sight. Make sure your legionnaire is at the right spot when he activates this ability. It will also grant full guard, but do keep in mind that this does not mean invincibility from ranged/magic attacks. You can technically still counter ranged attacks by standing close to them, as long as they are within the legionnaire's "melee" range.

Be careful on activating this ability, though, since it will, at times, chain-pull everything in the room (can be good or bad).

At this point, level 12, you are ready for Perilous difficulty. Nah, just kidding, go for the suggested level16 unless you are fully decked out on gear and know what you're doing.
 

Passive Abilities

 (Active Upgrades Included)

There are many options after level12. For those 8 (or 7, if you promote your legionnaire) skill points you may want to spend the first 5 on these, with Siege-Breaker, Flow of Battle, and Cutting Words being priorties whereas the rest can go in whatever order you wish.

Siege-Breaker (Walking Fortress Upgrade) - Level 13

Spoiler

This upgrade generates 10% guard and 1 second cooldown reduction per hit taken (while being invincible). It makes the ability perfect for a follow-up after an AoE taunt.

Flow of Battle (Combined Arms) - Level 14

Spoiler

The 1 second cooldown reduction per critical hit is quite crucial to your legionnaire's survival. Combined with Siege-Breaker's own cooldown reduction per hit taken, your legionnaire will be almost invincible... almost.

Cutting Words (Guardian) - Level 15

Spoiler

The bonus 20% dmg on taunted targets can synergize well with AoE classes such as Elementalists, Arcane Warriors, or even Necromancers. This also applies to the legionnaire's Counterstrike taunts, as well.

Bear Mauls the Wolves (Combined Arms)

Spoiler

This prevents your Legionnaire from getting flanked. However, he'll still take more damage when not facing assailants since the shield's AR won't apply.

Turn the Bolt (Guardian) - CURRENTLY NOT WORKING AS INTENDED 

Spoiler

Reduces frontal ranged damage by 50%. I don't know how many Venatori/Red Templar archer mobs my legionnaire has survived just because of this damage reduction.

Now that there are 3 (or 2) remaining points left, it is up to you to decide where they will go. Here are the suggestions:
Chevalier's Step (Shield Wall upgrade)
Balanced Combat (Guardian)
Adamant (Guardian) - CURRENTLY NOT WORKING AS INTENDED
Trust the Steel (Guardian) - CURRENTLY NOT WORKING AS INTENDED
Bulwark (Guardian)

Modifié par Tieflingz, 20 décembre 2014 - 03:51 .

[Tieflingz]

Work in Progress

Mechanics

In this section we will discuss the mechanics of all bosses and different approaches to different bosses. Please note that there are many possible group compositions out there that requires great teamwork and cooperation. At some point, however, there are usually something in common in between those approaches. Feel free to share your thoughts, as I'm sure I'm not the only one out there doing Perilous difficulty.
 

Arcane Horror

Difficulty Rating:
Attacks and Maneuvers:

• Instant Cast Ranged Attack: Spiritual
• Channelled Ranged Attack: Spiritual
• Melee Attack: Physical

AI Behavior:

• At spawn, Arcane Horror immediately targets the most vulnerable party member with its Channelled Ranged Attack.
• Arcane Horror will attempt to teleport after first channelled ranged attack, no matter what.
• Starting after first teleport, should the person with aggression on Arcane Horror get close to it, it will start teleporting around the treasure room.

Approach 1: Playing Safe
Taunt, keep a distance from Arcane Horror, and sprint sideways, circular around the Arcane Horror. /end

Approach 2: For Legionnaires who could use a bit guard generation
Taunt, keep a distance from Arcane Horror, sprint sideways for 3 seconds, then turn and face the Arcane Horror with Shield Wall or Upgraded Walking Fortress to generate free Guard. Make sure the Legionnaire has full stamina.
 
Note: The key here is to prevent the Arcane Horror from teleporting while keeping your legionnaire alive, thus allowing the DPS to take down the Arcane Horror without being interrupted.

It is a relatively easy encounter, as long as you are not chasing him and making him teleport all over the map.
 

Revenant

Difficulty Rating:
Attacks and Maneuvers:

• Three Consecutive Strikes: Physical
• Long Range Pull: No Damage

AI Behavior:

• At spawn, Revenant immediately targets the most vulnerable party member with its long range pull.
• Should the Revenant's pull successfully grabs the party member, he will immediately assault said party member with three consecutive strikes.
• The first strike cannot be dodged unless the party member executes an evasive maneuver immediately after pull.
• Should the Revenant's pull got LoS'd by the party member, he will pursue the party member on foot.
• After a while, the Revenant will attempt to pull again.

Approach 1: Melee Heavy Composition
Taunt, block his 3 attacks, and strike back a couple of times. Immediately retreat and line of sight the Revenant as blocking the 3 attacks will most likely deplete the stamina pool. Kite until full stamina, and then resume taunting and blocking until the melees have taken him down.

Approach 2: Ranged Heavy Composition
Taunt, avoid his pulls by line of sight, and kite. /end

Note: The Revenant has powerful melee assaults, and the animation always come in three consecutive strikes before he takes a break. You can taunt and then activate Walking Fortress for free guard generation. Do not face the Revenant towards the melee group if you decide to hold your ground. Angle yourself so that you leave the Revenant's back wide open for your teammates to bash on, while not cornering yourself.
 

Venatori Commander

Difficulty Rating:
Attacks and Maneuvers:

• Basic Attack: Fire
• Fire Mine: Fire
• Firewall: Fire
• Energy Barrage: Fire

Red Templar Commander

Difficulty Rating:
Attacks and Maneuvers:

• Basic Attack: Physical
• Spin-to-Win: Physical
• Ground Stomp: No Damage
• Earthshaking Strike: Physical
• Leap Attack: Physical

Demon Commander

Difficulty Rating:
Attacks and Maneuvers:

• Ground Teleport Attack: Spiritual
• Instant Ranged Attack: Spiritual
• Melee Attack: Physical

Modifié par Tieflingz, 15 décembre 2014 - 09:31 .

[tbxvividos]

I was told enhanced counter strike ring isn't working at the moment, but I havnt tested mine...was a friend that told me so I took his word for it.

And did I miss it or do you not have the cool down reduction on crit passive?

That combined with crit gear is arguably more important than many defensive passives because of dramatically higher uptime on wf and cs.

Moon axe is my legionnaires best friend

[Tieflingz]

I was told enhanced counter strike ring isn't working at the moment, but I havnt tested mine...was a friend that told me so I took his word for it.

And did I miss it or do you not have the cool down reduction on crit passive?

That combined with crit gear is arguably more important than many defensive passives because of dramatically higher uptime on wf and cs.

Moon axe is my legionnaires best friend

I knew I was missing something, I thought I had the wrong amount of skill points. Thanks for pointing that out.

I'm currently using Thunderstrike, a lvl23 unique mace, which has no +%crit unfortunately.

Here's to hoping that BioWare fix the duration bug Soon ™

[tbxvividos]

Yeah unless there's a higher lvl weapon with more crit, I doubt I'll ever replace that lvl 17 unique.

Passive seems to count rune crits as well, which is incredible.
and has no icd

[Nitestick7]

Nice write up, although I don't see any description under Couterstrike when I click the spoiler button, it's empty.  Really good guide though.  One thing I like to do with Counterstrike is if I know I've got around a minute till I need it, I'll cast it just to fill up my guard, so I have max guard going into every fight. 

[Cirvante]

Swords have the slowest attack speed? Do you even animation cancel, bro?

 

I have the Caliban modded with +9% crit chance and I wouldn't trade it for any axe or mace.

[tbxvividos]

16% > 9%

Numbers are hard.

[Cirvante]

16% > 9%

Numbers are hard.

 

9% + 16% heal on kill + 5% dmg for every nearby enemy + deeeeps

[Tieflingz]

Now now, we can all be friends here. We're not those generic MMO elitists or Call of Duty jocks. We're playing Dragon Age: Inquisition because of its rich lore and storytelling, and we can all agree that we have good tastes in games, ya?

 

As for the sword animation cancel thing, I will put some time to test it out. Since swords do have roughly the same attack speed on the first 2 attacks, only the 3rd and the 4th are slower than mace/axe, it may prove to be as less detrimental to stamina generation as I initially thought!

 

Also there's a description for counterstrike now. Let me know if anything else is amiss, and let us all discuss in peace with respect for each other.

[Cirvante]

As for the sword animation cancel thing, I will put some time to test it out. Since swords do have roughly the same attack speed on the first 2 attacks, only the 3rd and the 4th are slower than mace/axe, it may prove to be as less detrimental to stamina generation as I initially thought!

 

I always cancel after the first hit. I could try it after the second hit, but I'm pretty sure it would be slower.

[tbxvividos]

9% + 16% heal on kill + 5% dmg for every nearby enemy + deeeeps

Heal on kill refills guard?

[Cirvante]

Just tested it and canceling after the first strike is best for swords. For axes and maces it's best to cancel after the second swing, or rather at the beginning of the second swing. You can just hold your attack button down and tap the sprint button whenever you want to cancel. The two swings from axe and mace are slightly faster than the one swing with the sword.

 

For the forward attacks it's the same (sword = first swing, axe/mace = second swing). Here the sword thrust is faster than the two swings with axe and mace. But you'll only use the forward attack when closing in or chasing an opponent who goes after a teammate.

 

So yeah, an axe will be better for crits (more crit and atk speed), but the Caliban might have more dps. I'd have to acquire a comparable axe to test whether the benefits of the axe (more crits for flow of battle) outweigh those of the Caliban on Perilous. You have to consider that with the Caliban you could take a 10% crit ring instead of the 10% lifedrain ring (assuming you have either).

[Tieflingz]

Just tested it and canceling after the first strike is best for swords. For axes and maces it's best to cancel after the second swing, or rather at the beginning of the second swing. You can just hold your attack button down and tap the sprint button whenever you want to cancel. The two swings from axe and mace are slightly faster than the one swing with the sword.
 
For the forward attacks it's the same (sword = first swing, axe/mace = second swing). Here the sword thrust is faster than the two swings with axe and mace. But you'll only use the forward attack when closing in or chasing an opponent who goes after a teammate.
 
So yeah, an axe will be better for crits (more crit and atk speed), but the Caliban might have more dps. I'd have to acquire a comparable axe to test whether the benefits of the axe (more crits for flow of battle) outweigh those of the Caliban on Perilous. You have to consider that with the Caliban you could take a 10% crit ring instead of the 10% lifedrain ring (assuming you have either).

Caliban is an exceptional sword with amazing stats, but we also have to keep in mind that not everyone has Caliban. I have found this spreadsheet that may help on decision-making in regard to weapons for legionnaires.

https://docs.google....#gid=1884891229

I suppose in conclusion, Caliban would be the exception, but every other swords have rarely the stats or attack speed that are beneficial to tanking. Swords in general will still not be the optimal choice for Legionnaire tanking. Although swords do have their grip available with % crit chance boost, I may have to change the weapon section once I've tested more.

Now that I have taken a closer look at things, Moon Axe seems like an amazing choice for Legionnaire tanking. If only it also has a haft slot.

[Tieflingz]

Nice write up, although I don't see any description under Couterstrike when I click the spoiler button, it's empty.  Really good guide though.  One thing I like to do with Counterstrike is if I know I've got around a minute till I need it, I'll cast it just to fill up my guard, so I have max guard going into every fight.

Thanks, I have updated few other sections with descriptions. It was a long type, so I tend to start missing out things at the end, heh.

[Tieflingz]

Updated some of the Mechanics section with Treasure Room bosses. I'm sure I'm missing on some of stuffs, feel free to comment on them.

Was there a knockback for Revenant at the end of his swings? I don't recall.. It's been 1 day since I last played multiplayer!

[tbxvividos]

I don't believe so

[Drasca]

No leap and strike recommendation? Too bad. I don't need shield wall once I have the three invincibility skills, unyielding being the passive guaranteed after counterstrike and walking fortress.

 

Leap and Strike enables you to get to mobs chasing your allies, and followed up with a payback strike, or to close in on enemies ahead of you to distance them from the enemy. Leap and strike --> Payback strike --> Counterstrike --> wait for invunlerability to finish --> Walking fortress, or WF first, then CS to get as many hits in onto upgraded WF for cooldown reduction.

 

Not everyone has caliban, but if you do use longswords, using shield wall to reload-cancel the first attack animation works great, and gets occasional free block/guards too.

[Tieflingz]

No leap and strike recommendation? Too bad. I don't need shield wall once I have the three invincibility skills, unyielding being the passive guaranteed after counterstrike and walking fortress.
 
Leap and Strike enables you to get to mobs chasing your allies, and followed up with a payback strike, or to close in on enemies ahead of you to distance them from the enemy. Leap and strike --> Payback strike --> Counterstrike --> wait for invunlerability to finish --> Walking fortress, or WF first, then CS to get as many hits in onto upgraded WF for cooldown reduction.
 
Not everyone has caliban, but if you do use longswords, using shield wall to reload-cancel the first attack animation works great, and gets occasional free block/guards too.

Interesting insight. All the power to you if you manage to pull it off without shield wall. I'm sure there are many players out there with different set of skills for their legionnaires and function just as well, or perhaps even better. To quote myself:

Having the right abilities and passives will help your legionnaire through many battles. Only deviate from certain builds when you are comfortable enough to make changes.

Seeing that you're comfortable enough to take out Shield Wall says that there are many variantions to be had for the legionnaires

[-PenguinFetish-]

Hoe to perilous: win the rng lottery and play as normal.

[tbxvividos]

Hoe to perilous: win the rng lottery and play as normal.

Hoe?
Hue...

[PurpGuy1]

Ho to Perilous: bring all the boys to the yard with your upgraded Barrier

[Cirvante]

I don't think Payback Strike should be replaced. It's a strong counter attack that hits enemies around you and knocks them down and it will also free you of any debilitating effects. Demon Commander stuns you with his scream? Hit him with Payback Strike on the way into the ground and instantly free yourself from the stun. Getting swarmed by melee units from all sides? Payback Strike. An enemy throws you to the ground? Instantly get up with Payback Strike.

 

Drop Shield Wall instead. Surviving on Perilous is more about hitting as many enemies as fast as possible for crits so you can get Walking Fortress off cooldown.

[Shinnyshin]

On the subject of passives, it's worth noting that armour bonuses seem to be bugged right now as a result of the Turn the Bolt fix.  Funny enough, they're applying on flanking attacks but not...front ones.  This makes Adamant and Trust the Steel much, much worse until the next patch.  Same for upgraded Warcry.  There's a Reddit thread up right now where someone's been testing all the #s.

 

Oh well, at least I get to play with upgraded Payback Strike for a change.  Also, I strongly, strongly recommend it for all of the same reasons as Cirvante.  Maximum uptime on Walking Fortress is the ticket to my happyplace in Perilous and Shield Wall actually works against that...though that playstyle is hurt a lot by the armour bug.

[Tieflingz]

Interesting, I will have to try this myself, seeing that some of the time shield wall turns into a crutch, stamina drain, anyways.

I am still uncomfortable with the idea of having no shield wall while tanking demon commanders though. I'd imagine that heavily requires a keeper or elementalist to barrier every time. I suppose instead of tanking him straight on, it's possible to jump around and pray not to get knocked down, takes practice.

Also, what are you guys' thoughts on Stamina Amulet and Cooldown Amulet?