A Templar's Handbook

Zephyr

New Member
A Templar's Handbook


SECTION 1 "Intro and Gear"


Hello everyone, I would like to take my experiences as a Templar or "Temp" and pass them down to those of you that either have started
or are thinking about making a "Meat Shield" or "Tank". I do not claim to be a pro or know everything there is to know about a Temp and this guide
is geared towards the PvE standpoint and the role of a Temp in the group setting within Aion.

First a little history...

Templar
n

1. (Historical Terms) A member of a military religious order (Knights of the Temple of Solomon) founded by Crusaders in Jerusalem
around 1118 to defend the Holy Sepulchre and Christian pilgrims; suppressed in 1312. (Pretty cool huh)
_____________________________


1. Basic role of a Templar
The main role a Temp plays in a group is to be the brawn and Asorb the damage for the group. His role is to keep the enemy focused on him,
while the rest of the group does their jobs. This is the reason for the nicknames Meat Shield & Tank.
Temps are most often handed the reins of the group and expected to "brand" or "mark" the targets (more on that later).
A Templar is NOT a major damage doer and is mainly to maintain aggro. I will say that the Templar class is somewhat more complicated and
at times more stressful than most any other class.
If you don't like being placed in those types of situations, you may feel more at home with another class.


2. Armor
As you will be taking the brunt of the damage faced by the group, you naturally want to gear up with all Plate armor as soon as you can get it
(around Lvl 10). The main thing you are looking for in armor is the Physical Def stat, next is any HP modifiers and then Block.
As soon as your able to find armor with the "Enmity Boost" stat, you'll want to jump all over them.


3. Weapons
Temps can use three different weapons; Swords, Maces and Greatswords(GS).
If you choose to carry either a sword or mace, you also carry a shield in your offhand. GS's are two handed weapons and you can not carry a shield with them.
For PvE, your main weapon choice most likely will be a sword/shield combo (called sword & board sometimes).

3a. Sword vs Mace
Your going to want to prefer mace over sword for the greater damage output; which a Temp needs all the help he can get with DPS (Damage Per Second).
That being said, if you have a chance to get a better sword from a drop or quest reward over the mace your using,
by all means go with the sword until you can get better mace. When you get to the later lvls, you'll benefit from the Magic Boost stat as well.

3b. Greatswords vs Mace
A good Temp will learn when to use both GS and mace & shield. For the most part GS are used for soloing purposes.
I'll explain when to switch to GS while in a group later in the Tactics section.


4. Manastones
There are only four manastones that most Temps use, and sometimes a mix of them.

4a. Crit and Attack.
I list these together as most will mix the two, leaning more towards crit than attack. Used to help maintain aggro and boost your output.

4b. HP.
Some go with all HP stones. The basic thought here is the more health you have, the more damage you can take (with out working your clerics too hard).

4c. Block.
Block stones help increase your block rate and reduce the damage you receive from an attack.
Every time you successfully block an attack, you have skills that you can use if you have a shield equipped.
 
SECTION 2 "GAMEPLAY"

1. Setting up to tank...
One of the first things that you need to do on your Temp character is turn on some options from your Options panel.

You need to make sure to have the follow items checked...
Options-panel.jpg


Show Distance To Target. This will help you know how close you need to be to start your attack. (Good for all classes IMO)

View Targets Skill Gauge. This lets you see when your target is using a skill. There are somethings you can do as a Temp to interrupt skills (Tactics sect)

View Target's Target. This is VERY important for Templars to have turned on as it shows you who the foe is looking at, which should be YOU.
This will help you keep aggro and know what to do if you lose aggro.

Here is a look at what this looks like in game...
Targets-targetanddist.jpg



2. Brands or Marks.
When your playing solo, you just pick a target and go after it. In group play, you have others depending on you for guidance.
If you don't tell them what your attacking (or planning on attacking next), things can go bad very quickly... and most often do when you don't brand.
If you get two or more foes attacking at once, how's the group going to know who you want taken down first? You'll end up with the ranger, glad and Sorc
fighting with you on the main target, while the sin and chanter fight another. The Healer now must decide on who to heal and in what order when three people
are taking damage. Sometimes you will be fighting a foe and another will wonder into your fight, you have to keep an eye on things like this and be ready to
throw up the Zzz Brand for your Sorcs to know who you want them to sleep. Other wise, the Sorcs won't notice, or may sleep who ever they feel needs to be slept.

You don't have to know exactly which is the right one to attack first, but if you have a plan and will direct the group, it will go much better than if you
leave everyone guessing. As the saying goes, "Too many chiefs and not enough indians". Your the leader and everyone is looking to you for directions.
There are a couple of different ways to brand targets.
1)You can Right Click on the targets nameplate to select a Brand.
2) Bind the Brands to keys on the keyboard, usually F1-F9 or so.
3) I prefer setting up one of the floating Quickbars with the Brands and place it right over your normal skillbar. This way you can select your target and press the "1" Brand,
select the next and press the "Zzz" Brand rather than try and remember which key you bound the "Zzz" Brand to.
To do this all you have to do is press the 'K' key and drag the brands to the skillbar in whatever order you prefer.

Here is what mine looks like...
brandbar.jpg


I will also show you later a pretty simple macro when you have two foes close together that will automatically brand the first one "1", move to the next,
brand it "2", then change back to the first ready for you to pull.


3. Taunts.
Early on you only start with one taunt skill called... ready? Taunt :) This is an enmity boosting skill to help you maintain aggro.
Later on in the game you will have access to stigma skills that also add enmity to you. A good way to use your taunts are to go through your main attack
skills once, then use your taunt skill, then back to the skills... rinse, wash, repeat.


4. Stigma Stones.
When you reach lvl 20, you get a quest that teaches you to learn to use stigmas. These are extra skills that work just like your regular skills.
ou start with 'Divine Fury' being your first one. Keep this until you reach lvl 22, at which point you will want to either check with your legion mates
or look to the Broker to buy 'Doom Lure'. This is a must have skill for a Temp and you will have this skill with you all the way through the game. Doom Lure
allows you to snatch a foe to you from up to 19m away and also snares them. This helps to isolate the target from any nearby mobs. My next early choice would
be 'Holy Shield'. This skill is a reflect skill that does damage back to the foes that attack you. 'Provoking Roar' and 'Incite Rage' are more taunt skills
that you will need to have if you plan on going down the PvE or Group stigma tree. 'Break Power' is another really nice stigma to use if you haven't
decided on which tree you want to follow. 'Bodyguard' is another important stigma for group play you are able to get at lvl 37. If you found that you have lost aggro and
can't regain it, you can select the party member taking damage, hit Bodyguard and you will recieve the damage they would be taking. It is VERY helpful for
you to call out that you are using Bodyguard, as you can go down pretty quickly using this skill if the healer doesn't know you have Bodyguard up.

5. Food & Scrolls.
Generally the type of food you want to take with you are Increased Attack, Crit or one that gives you HP in addition to one of those.
Drink should be anything that helps you regain health.
Attack speed scrolls or Crit scrolls are for you. You'll also want to have with you some run and flight speed scrolls in case you need to get somewhere fast.
You will want the best HP potions (both health over time and instant health) you can get your hands on.
Same with Flight potions, the best you can get your hands on.
Talk with your legion members to see if anyone can make these for you before you go to the broker for them.
 
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SECTION 3 "Tactics"

1. Losing aggro and what to do...
This is the main reason why you turned on the option "View Targets Target". You'll see that while your fighting, your healthbar with your name is under
the targets nameplate. You'll know when you have lost aggro when your bar and name is replaced with a group members name. There are two things you can do to
help you regain aggro, sometimes you have to use both. Okay, you lost aggro, first thing to do is use your taunt. If this doesn't help, use your 'Shield Bash'
skill (also an enmity booster) and if you have the other taunt stigmas, use them too. Oh no, none of that worked! Now is the time to switch to your GS and
continue fighting, using your taunts as soon as they recharge. Holding a shield in your hand does you no good if you aren't being attacked. Now is the time
to keep a close eye on the party member's bar that is taking the damage and be ready to use Bodyguard. Most often you'll lose aggro to the main healer, as
every time the healer casts a heal, that gains them enmity. This is the hardest time you will have regaining aggro, just stick with the plan and you'll
either get it back or the foe will go down. Other times you'll lose aggro to the other DPS characters, most of the time you can get aggro back pretty easily
from them. If you have to switch to your GS, you need to switch back to your shield as soon as you get the foes attention back.


2. Weaving...
Weaving is a technique that all melee characters should practice and especially Temps to help increase your DPS.
As you attack, you will preform what is called 'Auto attack' naturally when you aren't using a skill. Weaving is when you use a skill, wait for your character
to start his auto attack and you hit your next skill. This cancels the auto attack animation and shows the skills animation. You will want to get in the
practice of doing this in between all your skills for the most part. The main exception to this is when your shield block skills proc. You want to use them
as quick as you can before they go away. Another case that you don't want to weave is if you have Break Power; the time window you have to hit Break Power is
VERY small and you have to try and hit it as soon as it lights up. It will take some practice to learn, but stick with it.


3. Interrupting Skills...
I mentioned earlier that you can sometimes interrupt a target's skill. If the skill has a long casting time you can use your Shield Bash skill, this stuns
the foe and thus interrupting them. If your Doom Lure has recharged or you didn't need to use it to start combat, you can use this to interrupt as well.
Only other ways I know that a Temp can interrupt is the chance that your GS will knockdown the foe, or Face Smash procs which stumbles them.
These are not reliable as you have no idea when they will happen.


4. Saving Emp Armor...
Try to save your Empyrean Armor (Emp Armor) until you are between 75-50% health to take advantage of the 25% healing you get from this skill.
At lvl 48 you get 'Refresh Spirit I' which is a Remove Shock chain that also heals you for 25% of your health, Don't just use it because it is flashing if
you don't need it at the time.


5. Macros.
Here is the Branding macro lines if you'd like to play around with it...
Code:
/Brand 1
/select [AutomaticSelect]
/Brand 2
/select [PreviousTarget]
Only thing you have to do is manually select the first target that will be branded "1".
**NOTE** If there isn't another foe close by, the macro will just choose the first target after branding it "1" and brand it "2"... so best for two that
are close to one another. You can also change the second brand to the "Zzz" brand if your group prefers to sleep a lot of the foes. /Brand 9 I believe is
the Zzz brand.

This is the Bodyguard macro I have started using, I found I wasn't calling out when I was using Bodyguard on the healer and was dying because of it.
What this one does, is selects the Cleric in the group which is at the top of the Party panel.
(If the Cleric isn't at the top of your party, you can click and drag them to the top of the list)
Uses the Bodyguard skill, then types out in big orange letters across the screen of everyone in the group,
"*(Clerics name)* You have been Bodyguarded. Please stay within 10m and watch my HP."
Bodyguard only works if the person you used it on stays within 10m of you. (Will be increased to 30m in an upcoming update)
Then switches back to your previous target so you can do your job. All this with one click of a button, very nice. :)
Code:
/select [Group1]
/skill Bodyguard I
/alert *[Target]* You have been Bodyguarded. Please stay within 10m and watch my HP.
/select [PreviousTarget]


In closing.

If I have forgotten anything I'll add to this in later posts. I hope this has helped you to be a better Templar and answered any questions you may have had.
Feel free to discuss this or add anything you may have learned through your experiences that will help new Templars out.
I hope you enjoyed this guide.

Now get out there and lead your group to Success!!
 
Your post doesn't make a lot of sense to me...
Why say from 1-35, don't about gear, then turn around as say you need FT blues/golds and crafted blues/golds???
 
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