Seeking advice from expert destroyer players

[TheHumji]

Hello all, I am new to destroyer and I just leveled mine to 16 just now. The only thing that got me hanging was the damage by destroyer because I am mainly a solo PvE player and I do not do PvP at all. 

 

So, I added my first 3 precious points into RMB and went to solo the dungeons at Jadestone Village. My clear time was surprisingly slow, I guess around 8-9 minutes? Did not really check on that but I felt that it's really slow if compared with my BD clear time. The most importantly was that I've used around 4 pots (which I think I shouldn't because I managed to solo with my FM without using any pots at all and the clear time was quite fast).  

 

I am pretty sure I am playing destroyer wrongly so I am here to seek some advice. The thing that I did was I move in circle (kite like FM play style), LMB RMB Tab rinse and repeat. I used grab sometimes if I did not miss the space button.  So far I think I couldn't perform the ani-cancel yet cause I might need 1 more point to add into the RMB skill.

 

Also, I wonder why sometimes after I grabbed the boss but I could not press F to execute lifesteal? All I can do is grab then Z to smack it down to the floor.

 

And most of the time when I encountered the boss, I pressed 2 or Z but I could not seemed to grab them even though I saw the sort of like 'green shadow' after I landed a hit on the boss.

 

I am really interested in destroyer and decided to change my main from FM to destroyer. My current weapon was up-to-date, waiting for level 20 breakthrough only. Please point out my mistakes which I think especially the skill rotation part.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

[Alvriana]

Most bosses require a joint cc to get them crowd controlled, aka you have to use 1 (blitz) and 2 (ram) together or z (kick) and 4 (axe sweep) together to get the boss stunned/knocked down.

When you can't use F to lifesteal while using grab, it's because the monster is too large and you're forced to use lift, which is basically grab with both your hands. This is typically on bosses  (like the ones in the dungeon in Jadestone Village)

[TheHumji]

But I am curious about destroyer at the late game. May I know the role of a destroyer is just mainly a grabber or he can do both of the grab and damage at the same time? Because so far from what I've seen, destroyers are kinda slow in attacking. 

[Alvriana]

Personally, I mainly tank (by dealing most damage and 1 taunt)  and CC. Grabbing bosses can be a boost to dps since your party members can freely dps, but if you have the highest DPS, it might be smarter to use Z for the Wrath/RMB ani cancel.

[Tsuchiryu]

Destroyer's DPS is... OK, but heavily reliant on animation cancel to pull it off, which is easier to do by using at least one of the keyboard buttons instead of mouse ones (I personally favor R to replace LMB). Aside from grabbing, the class is also good at CCing bosses, coming with a pretty good selection, most notably with their stuns and knockdowns. Double dazes, on the other hand, are trickier to pull off on our own and going for these has its drawbacks, because it depends on you getting a critical and sacrificing a good stun (Blitz) for another daze (with a pull effect). It's mostly preference, but I prefer Blitz as a stun since it can also extend other CC.

[CrazyAmber]

As an active pvp/pve destroyer I tell you our main roles are

1.- Knocking and stunning, in total we have about 8 of these abilities, two of them are defensive/offensive skills, which are thypoon tier 2 stage 3 (stuns after 5 hits and can chain with a joint stun attack) and stone shield last stage, which has a spear that stuns with every hit, the rest depends in ram tier 1 all the way for sure, blitz too tier 1 all the way, and in pvp you use hurricane tier 3 stage 2, when you spin if you get hit the first 0.5 seconds of being hit it will stun target and you dont receive damage, but for pve you will love hurricane tier 2 stage 3 for sure.

 

 

2.- Grabbing

grabbing enemy means other party members can use better skills and deal much more damage, specially if you improved grab skill, it has a debuff that makes enemy lose 25% defense, and slam! which is throwing the enemy to the floor (not recommended in pvp) it also has debuffs if improved + bleeding, super useful at bosses no doubt

 

3.- Best ingame DPS for only 6 seconds during fury (improved)

with anicancel its the highest damage any class can deal, sadly 6 seconds every 45 seconds of cooldown, rest of the time just normally anicancelling

 

 

3.- Protecting party

Stone shield protects you and anyone behind it, it can also be buffed, but you also have IRON FORTRESS which is the best ingame saving skill you party can have, if a party member loses all chi but is about to die, destroyer can grab the member, jump far away to a safe zone, then when the person is regenerating chi, left clic twice infront of that person, will cover him/she with a big stone shield protecting from attacks and lower chi regeneration by like 6-7 seconds, awesome!

 

In pvp destroyer is of the top classes, but it can be either easy to be killed if you don't use correct improvements and skills

In pve is a raw damage tanker party saver/defender and temporal high DPS and overall party damage booster when grabbing enemies

 

[Tsuchiryu]

1 hour ago, CrazyAmber said:

then when the person is regenerating chi, left clic twice infront of that person, will cover him/she with a big stone shield protecting from attacks and lower chi regeneration by like 6-7 seconds, awesome!

You meant RMB. Iron Fortress is triggered by RMB in front of party member performing the chi regen, not LMB twice.

 

But yes, once you remember the skill and actually use it, it is awesome.

[7XVe]

Once you have enough points, use this.

 

Regular attacks: Judgement + Cleave [animation cancel]. If that is too difficult, use Repulse + Galeforce.

 

Burst damage:  Emberstomp [T5S2] for KD resist and defense increase, then fury. If you don't use emberstomp, your defense will be 0.

 

Primary role: Destroyers are there to CC the boss, then carry them. When the two bars under the boss become dark, use two of the same CC's to disable the boss. Use Grab [T3S2] so the party gets a critical bonus as well as focus regeneration.

 

Secondary role: If you have the dps, or if you spec for taunt on Z [T2S2], you can tank the boss. Use Hurricane [T5S2]  to absorb hits - this includes normal attacks, KB attacks, and focused (indicated by red) attacks. However, this does not protect against knockdown and launch skills.

 If you have confidence in your parrying skill, use Hurricane [T5S3] to deflect hits. You get 0.5 seconds to deflect hits, which will nullify all damage and regen some focus. Use this on any non-focused attacks. This version does not increase defense or absorb damage. If the boss hits you after 0.5s, you will take damage.

[TheHumji]

Hey all, sorry just short question regarding the ani-cancel. Currently, my judgement was T2 (lack of skill point) whereas cleave is T4S3. I key binded my LMB and RMB to R and T so I can spam continuously without failing. However, the problem is I still need to pots like twice or thrice when I solo the breakthrough accessories. The way I played is I 1 to stun the boss then start spamming ani-cancel without moving. After a while, I 2 and Z and start spamming again. But somehow, the boss managed to hit me sometimes and my HP dropped so fast. Was wondering if i am playing correctly? Because I thought when you spam ani-cancel there is a passive regen HP?

 

I am level 20 now using Blight soul shield set from Blackram Narrow, weapon and accesories are all up-to-date.

[Brainy]

You shouldn't base anything on your current experience, gameplay changes drastically at max level.

 

You only have to learn LMB - RMB ani-cancel, as this is basically your only damage. You need Cleave T4S2 or T4S3 (this is what I use for PvE). Judgement is good for better focus regen, but not needed for ani-cancel.

 

Also, you should never move, unless the boss moves, or it's needed because of mechanics. Use tab to reduce damage taken or later, when you have HM emberstomp, just put that down > fury > spam LMB RMB regardless of what damage you take (it will be so low that you'll heal it up easily with RMB / amethyst / whetever else). Once you know the fights, you'll never have to use pots.

 

As an example, on Asura - a boss that puts down poison which you need to take and it stacks - you can have 2 stacks and heal it up as long as you are in a phase that allows you to attack the boss. Other classes need to use antidote even at 1. So don't worry about using potions early on.

 

Just to name some skills that heal you:

- RMB (T4S3)

- Stone Shield (any spec - some are better, read descriptions)

- Searing Strike (T2S1)

- Smash (T3S2)

(I left out Gust, Blitz, Emberstomp and Power Slam on purpose, they aren't worth speccing for healing)

All life steals are doubled by emberstomp (T2S2).

 

Life drain amethyst works on crit, so if you do emberstomp (double life steal) + fury (always crit), you'll end up with a ridiculous life steal.

 

I suggest playing to max level, or at least to lvl 36 before giving up. If you do decide to stick to Destroyer, try to learn your ani-cancel perfectly since you'll be using it almost all the time.

 

Almost forgot to say, if you play Destroyer to be top damage dealer, then you're better off playing your FM. Even though they can have high damage, you'll be mostly a boss-disabler machine.

[7XVe]

Bosses will always have opportunities to hit you. When you see them prepare to attack, press Tab as a defense. Make sure to spec it right.

[Tsuchiryu]

For Stone Shield, best trees are either Stage 3 or 4 IMO. 4 seems to be a bit more common for the stun (and penetrating deflect), but I like 3 more because of shorter cooldown and I already got my stun needs covered by Blitz, Ram and Typhoon, so I don't need more.

 

As for Hurricane, either Stage 2 or 3. Some people love 3 for the 0.5 sec parry, though it works for only ONE attack. I find 2 more lag-friendly and generally more useful because it increases defense for its entire duration, so that's the one I go with. Plus, it goes great with HM Emberstomp, the latter of which you can also pair with Fury (T4S1).

 

Also, you wanna try to activate Wrath (T3S1) as often as possible, because it deals more damage than Judgement and is faster, making it a bit easier to anicancel with. So always, ALWAYS go for Power Slam (T3S2) right before Grab ends. When in a party, NEVER do an aerial attack from grab, so no Launch -> Piledriver. Fun and powerful as that combo may look, it's a waste of DPS for party play since less people will be attacking and their damage isn't big enough to justify it.