Ultimate Guide to Swashbuckler AAs (Part 2 of a Series)

Part one of this series described the Swashbuckler's Rogue Tree. This part of the series will focus on the Pirate's Ability line and the Mercenary's Stamina line.

Agility Line:

The agility line of the Rogue AA tree is called Pirate's Agility. Like the Strength line, the first AA points placed in this line increase a swashbuckler's agility by five points each. Once a swashbuckler has put four points into the ability line, the following AA abilities are available.

Walk the Plank - The walk the plank ability (i) inflicts a medium amount of damage (71-118 points for the first AA point), (ii) inflicts a root on the enemy, and (iii) forces the enemy to stay facing the swashbuckler so he can move to the back and hack the enemy from behind. Since GU #36, no longer is a rapier needed to be equipped.
Commandeer - Once a swashbuckler has put four points into the Walk the Plank AA, a swashbuckler can increase his running speed by putting points into the Commandeer ability (1.3% for the first AA point). Unfortunately, with the launch of GU #36 runspeed enhancements will no longer work while engaged in pvp combat.
Avast Ye - Once a swashbuckler has put four points into Commandeer, the next AA ability available in the Agility line is Avast Ye. Avast Ye gives a swashbuckler a chance (2% for the first AA point) to cast Pirate Stab. A combat ability that inflicts medium damage on an enemy if the swashbuckler is flanking or behind his enemy.
Sailwind - Once a swashbuckler has put four points into Avast Ye and a total of 22 points into the agility line, a swashbuckler increase his casting speed and reuse speed of his combat arts (25% increase for each).

Stamina Line:The stamina line of the Rogue AA tree is called Mercenary's Stamina. Like the agility line, the first AA points placed in this line increase a swashbuckler's stamina by six points each. Once a swashbuckler has put four points into the stamina line, the following AA abilities are available.

Swear - The Swear ability increases the swashbuckler's threat to the target and allows him to maintain aggro. Many swashbucklers like to tank while grouping and this ability allows the swashbuckler to fill this role.
Conditioning - Once a swashbuckler has put four points into the Swear AA, a swashbuckler can increase his max health by 1% per AA point and increase his shield effectiveness by 2% per AA point.
Opportunistic Cover - Once a swashbuckler has put four points into Conditioning, the next AA ability available in Stamina line is Opportunistic Cover. This AA ability increases a swashbuckler's damage per second, but he must be equipping a roundshield a the time. GU #36 did not remove this requirement.
Formation - Once a swashbuckler has put four points into Opportunistic Cover and a total of 22 points into the Stamina line, a swashbuckler can gain the Formation ability. Formation allows a swashbuckler to (i) increase his blocking ability by 4%, (ii) increase his max health by 5%, (iii) increase mitigation versus crushing, slashing and piercing damage by 185, and (iv) the swashbuckler has a 50% chance to cast Mercenary's Stand each time the swashbuckler inflicts damage on his enemy. Mercenary Stand increases the swashbucklers threat.

The Stamina line is essential for a tanking swashbuckler. Because a swashbuckler wears chainmail armor he can tank as long as he can keep aggro. The Stamina line allows him to do this. I also really like this line for soloing named mobs in T2 and T3. I find that I can stand toe-to-toe with nameds because of my increased mitigation and health.

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Comments (4)

4 Responses to “Ultimate Guide to Swashbuckler AAs (Part 2 of a Series)”

no Says:
July 13th, 2007 at 1:29 am
Eh, walk the plank forces the mob to face the same direction as the rogue, or spins the mob around
anfrey Says:
July 14th, 2007 at 1:51 am
i wanted to comment about your description of ‘walk the plank’ as it is incorrect. it does not keep the enemy facing you, but rather, it forces them to face the same direction as you. basically, they turn their backs to you. this gives you a window where one to use rear positional attacks without having to move.
Fred Says:
July 14th, 2007 at 2:23 am
Thank you very much for the correction. You are absolutely right. I will update my guide with this information.
Trio Says:
July 16th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
I am surprised that you had no comments on the agility line as it is by far the most common AA line that I have seen swashy’s take up. I’ll admit I haven’t experimented yet with the other AA lines (str, sta, or wis), but walk the plank has to be the single most useful solo skill for a swashy. With it, you can use at least three out of the four back/flanking swashy attacks; not to mention they won’t be attacking you much during the use of walk the plank. Also, I am not sure how the other AA lines stack up, but the 25% faster reuse and casting speed for all your skills is pretty amazing.

The second most useful solo skill, imo: feign death. But we haven’t gotten that far in your guide yet.

As for your comments on the stamina line, you mention you like it for soloing T2 and T3 named enemies. Does this hold true for higher tier named? I have yet to meet a swashy that has choosen the sta AA line, so I never get to ask how they like it.

Good job on your guide so far! Would like to see more comments on the skill lines and each skill.