Shield Specialist Vanguard 5.x Tank Class Guide

Details: Category: Discipline Guides; Last Updated: Saturday, June 10th, 2017; Published: Thursday, January 5th, 2017; Written by Bant & Hayward

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Gearing & Stats

The tables on this page were generated using optimizer scripts created by Bant aka Goblin_Lackey. The stats were calculated to give the maximum theoretical DPS/HPS/DTPS for each discipline, however you may wish to alter the builds depending on your play style or what content you are facing in SWTOR. Each table assumes you have a full set of the specified gear.

Suggested Best-in-Slot Stats

Name	GEMINI MK-5 Tier 4: Legendary (248)	GEMINI MK-3 Tier 4: Artifact (246)	Iokath MK-5 Tier 3: Legendary (242)	Iokath MK-2 Tier 3: Artifact (240)	Eternal Commander MK-15 Tier 2: Legendary (236)	Eternal Commander MK-13 Tier 2: Artifact (234)
Mastery	7127	6850	6714	6714	6451	6315
Power	910	910	910	910	910	910
Critical	0	0	0	0	0	0
Alacrity	0	0	0	0	0	0
Accuracy	0	0	0	0	0	0
Absorb	1461 (3xE, 8xA)	1416 (6xE, 1xA)	1390 (2xE, 10xA)	1390 (2xE, 10xA)	1344 (14xA)	1344 (14xA)
Defense	4063	3875	3793	3793	3605	3523
Shield	2325 (7xE, 6xA)	2252 (4xE, 13xA)	2224 (8xE, 4xA)	2224 (8xE, 4xA)	2164 (10xE)	2110 (10xE)

"E" = Enhancement or Implant or Earpiece
"A" = Advanced _ Augment 45
"C" = Advanced _ _ Color Crystal (+41 ones)

Discipline Statistics

Name	GEMINI MK-5 Tier 4: Legendary (248)	GEMINI MK-3 Tier 4: Artifact (246)	Iokath MK-5 Tier 3: Legendary (242)	Iokath MK-2 Tier 3: Artifact (240)	Eternal Commander MK-15 Tier 2: Legendary (236)	Eternal Commander MK-13 Tier 2: Artifact (234)
DTPS	2,593	2,623	2,643	2,650	2,680	2,707
% Reduction	74.07 %	73.77 %	73.57 %	73.5 %	73.2 %	72.93 %

DPS Rankings

Current Rank	Previous Rank	Rank Change	DPS	Standard Error	vs Average DPS (9,991)	Imperial Class	Republic Class
5	5	-	10,336	+/- 284	+3.46%	Annihilation Marauder	Watchman Sentinel
8	8	-	10,150	+/- 299	+1.6%	Carnage Marauder	Combat Sentinel
12	8	4	9,828	+/- 351	-1.63%	Fury Marauder	Concentration Sentinel
10	10	-	10,027	+/- 372	+0.36%	Vengeance Juggernaut	Vigilance Guardian
11	15	4	9,857	+/- 488	-1.34%	Rage Juggernaut	Focus Guardian
7	7	-	10,157	+/- 582	+1.67%	Deception Assassin	Infiltration Shadow
14	13	1	9,640	+/- 346	-3.51%	Hatred Assassin	Serenity Shadow
18	18	-	9,327	+/- 304	-6.64%	Lightning Sorcerer	Telekinetics Sage
16	16	-	9,520	+/- 268	-4.71%	Madness Sorcerer	Balance Sage
9	9	-	10,054	+/- 516	+0.64%	Arsenal Mercenary	Gunnery Commando
4	4	-	10,432	+/- 414	+4.42%	Innovative Ordnance Mercenary	Assault Specialist Commando
13	12	1	9,679	+/- 505	-3.12%	Advanced Prototype Powertech	Tactics Vanguard
15	14	1	9,556	+/- 383	-4.35%	Pyrotech Powertech	Plasmatech Vanguard
17	17	-	9,448	+/- 461	-5.43%	Marksmanship Sniper	Sharpshooter Gunslinger
3	3	-	10,441	+/- 270	+4.51%	Engineering Sniper	Saboteur Gunslinger
2	2	-	10,467	+/- 161	+4.77%	Virulence Sniper	Dirty Fighting Gunslinger
6	6	-	10,157	+/- 526	+1.67%	Concealment Operative	Scrapper Scoundrel
1	1	-	10,754	+/- 322	+7.64%	Lethality Operative	Ruffian Scoundrel

Note: DPS rankings assume best-in-slot 242-rating gear.

Suggested Best-in-Slot Gear & Items

Type	Quantity	Name
Augment	6	Advanced Shield Augment 45 (228)
Augment	8	Advanced Absorb Augment 45 (228)
Enhancement Earpiece Implant	3	Sturdiness Enhancement 52 or GEMINI MK-5 Bulwark Device or GEMINI MK-5 Bulwark Package (248)
Enhancement Earpiece Implant	7	Immunity Enhancement 52 or GEMINI MK-5 Bastion Device or GEMINI MK-5 Bastion Package (248)
Color Crystal	2	Advanced _ Indestructible Crystal (136)
Mod	9	Warding Mod 52 (248)
Relic	1	GEMINI MK-5 Relic of Reactive Warding (248)
Relic	1	GEMINI MK-5 Relic of Shield Amplification (248)
Armoring	8	Resistive Armoring 52 (248)
Barrel	1	Resistive Barrel 52 (248)
Stim	1	Advanced Polybiotic Fortitude Stim
Medpac	N/A	Advanced Polybiotic Medpac
Adrenals	N/A	Advanced Polybiotic Shield Adrenal

Note: Tank B mods are to our knowledge currently unavailable, however if you find one you can swap Warding Mod 52 for Warding Mod 52B with minmal impact on mitigation.

Set Bonuses

Pieces	Set Bonus
2	Heat Blast or Energy Blast increases damage reduction by 2% for 5 seconds.
4	While Ion Gas Cylinder or Ion Cell is active, Rocket Punch or Stockstrike reduce the cooldowns of Neural Dart and Sonic Missile or Neural Jolt and Sonic Round by 2 seconds.
6	Increases the duration of Oil Slick or Riot Gas by 3 seconds and the duration of Energy Shield or Reactive Shield by 4 seconds.

Suggested Utility Skills

PvE

Suggested PvE Utility Build

Unknown - please email us one at admin@torcommunity.com!

Suggested PvE Utilities

Unknown - please email us one at admin@torcommunity.com!

Abilities

Shield Specialist Discipline Abilities

Name	Description	Type
Ion Storm	Sprays waves of ionizing energy in a 10-meter cone, dealing <<1>> elemental damage to up to 8 enemy targets. Affected targets are impaired for 45 seconds, reducing the Force and tech damage they deal by 5%. Replaces Pulse Cannon.	Instant
Riot Gas	Throws down a canister of Riot Gas over the immediate area for 10 seconds. Enemies that enter and remain within the riot gas are slowed by 70% and suffer a 15% melee and ranged accuracy loss.	Instant
Energy Blast	Fires a shot that consumes all Power Screens to deal <<1>> elemental damage, regenerate 10 energy cells, and increase shield absorption by 25% for 6 seconds. This ability is only usable with 3 Power Screens, generates 25% additional threat, and does not respect the global cooldown.	Instant
Transpose	Swap places with a group member and bestow a benign presence upon them for up to 6 seconds. Targets with a benign presence are ignored by most enemies, cannot be leapt to or pulled, and are immune to interrupts and ability activation pushback until they use an aggressive or healing ability. This ability is immune to activation pushback and only works on other players.	Casted

Vanguard Advanced Class Abilities

Name	Description	Type
Shoulder Cannon	Deploys a shoulder cannon that gradually loads 4 missiles over time. Once loaded, the shoulder cannon can be triggered again to fire against an enemy target within 10 meters, launching 1 missile that deals <<1>> kinetic damage. A missile can be launched up to once per 1.5 seconds. Loading and launching the shoulder cannon does not respect the global cooldown and can be done while controlled. Once all missiles have been loaded, depleting all missiles puts the shoulder cannon on cooldown for 1.5 minutes.	Instant
Ion Pulse	Fires an ion pulse at the target, dealing <<1>> elemental damage.	Instant
Harpoon	Fires a harpoon line that pulls the target to your location and generates a high amount of threat. Cannot be used on targets in cover.	Instant
Explosive Surge	Emits an explosive surge, dealing <<1>> elemental damage to up to 8 enemies within 5 meters.	Instant
Flak Shell	Fires a high impact shell that instantly explodes on contact with the target, spraying the area with searing bits of slag that deal <<1>> kinetic damage to up to 8 enemies within 8 meters of the initial target.	Instant
Storm	Storm a distant target, dealing <<1>> kinetic damage, interrupting the target's current action and immobilizing the target for 2 seconds. Cannot be used against targets in cover.	Instant
Riot Strike	Interrupts the target's current action and prevents that ability from being used for the next 4 seconds.	Instant
Ion Wave	Blasts everything in a 10-meter cone with ionized energy, dealing <<1>> elemental damage to up to 8 targets.	Instant
Sonic Round	Fires a sonic round that taunts your target and all nearby enemies, forcing them to attack you for 6 seconds, if Ion Cell is active. If Ion Cell is not active, threat towards all current enemies is immediately reduced. Enemy players have their damage reduced by 30% for 6 seconds unless they attack you.	Instant
Neural Surge	Deals <<2>> internal damage to up to 8 enemies within 8 meters, stunning them for 2.5 seconds.	Instant
Artillery Blitz	Call in a strike while unloading your own plasma blitz upon an area dealing <<1>> kinetic damage and <<1>> elemental damage over the duration to up to 8 enemies. Standard and weak targets are knocked down by the blasts. Can be used while moving.	Channeled
Into the Fray	Increases the duration of Reactive Shield by 3 seconds. In addition, suffering direct damage from area attacks regenerates 2 energy cells and heals you for 2.5% of your total health. This effect cannot occur more than once every 3 seconds.	Passive
Neural Jolt	Shocks the target at long range, taunting it to attack. Player targets deal 30% less damage when attacking anyone other than you. Effect lasts 6 seconds.	Instant
Battle Focus	Increases ranged and tech critical hit chance by 25% for 15 seconds.	Instant
Stockstrike	Strikes the target with the butt of the rifle, dealing <<1>> kinetic damage.	Instant
Guard	While active, the guarded player takes 5% less damage and generates 25% less threat. In addition, so long as you remain within 15 meters of the guarded player, 50% of all incoming damage from enemy players is transferred back to you.	Instant

Trooper Class Abilities

Name	Description	Type
Hold the Line	Grants 6 seconds of immunity from all movement-impairing effects, knockdowns and physics and increases movement speed by 30%.	Instant
Recharge Cells	Recharges 50 energy cells over 3 seconds.	Instant
Reactive Shield	Increases damage reduction by 25% for 12 seconds.	Instant
Plasma Cell	Ranged weapon attacks have a 25% chance to deal <<1>> additional elemental damage over 6 seconds. This effect cannot occur more than once per second.	Passive
Hammer Shot	Fires a series of hammering shots that deals <<1>> weapon damage to the target.	Instant
Adrenaline Rush	Activating this ability makes you Fired Up for up to 60 seconds, which triggers an Adrenaline Rush when your health is reduced to 35% or less. If your health is already 35% or less, Adrenaline Rush triggers immediately. Once triggered, Adrenaline Rush goes on cooldown for 3 minutes and rapidly heals you up to 35% of your max health for 8 seconds but will not exceed 35% of your max health.	Instant
Cryo Grenade	Hurls a cryo grenade that freezes the target, dealing <<2>> energy damage and stunning it for 4 seconds.	Instant
Tenacity	Purges incapacitating and movement-impairing effects.	Instant
High Impact Bolt	Fires a very powerful round at the target, dealing <<1>> weapon damage. Only usable against incapacitated targets and targets suffering from periodic damage.	Instant
Fortification	Increases the target's Endurance by 5% for 60 minutes. If the target is a group member, all other group members are also affected.	Instant
Heroic Moment	Seize the moment, restoring 2% of your maximum health every 3 seconds. Requires an active companion. Lasts 60 seconds.	Instant
Stealth Scan	Fires off probes that scan the area for stealthed opponents. The probes last for 10 seconds.	Instant
Reserve Powercell	Your next ability depletes no energy cells. Effect lasts 15 seconds.	Instant

About the Author

Author: Hayward

Hayward founded TORCommunity in 2008 the day after SWTOR was announced. Engineer by day, software dev by night, he does his best to keep the site up to date.

Shield Specialist Vanguard 5.x Tank Class Guide

Gearing & Stats

Suggested Best-in-Slot Stats

Discipline Statistics

DPS Rankings

Suggested Best-in-Slot Gear & Items

Set Bonuses

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