Blue Protocol: Star ResonanceShield Knight Recovery Spec GuideBest build and how to play the class.

Basic ATK

Blade of Justice

Skill

Valor Bash

Ultimate

Radiant Infusion

Slot 1 - Mandatory

Judgment

Slot 2 - Mandatory

Reckoning

Slot 3 - Mandatory

Shield Toss

Slot 4 - Mandatory

Aegis Ward

Holy Sigil - Holy Sigils are our main resource; we have 5 of them and what we use to cast our core abilities - Valor Bash and Reckoning, which require 3 and 1 Holy Sigil to use, respectively. After a Holy Sigil is used, it goes on cooldown for 10 seconds, with each Sigil having its own separate cooldown. Many of our talents and stats focus heavily on reducing Sigil cooldown and granting them back to us for free.

Photon Energy - Our energy bar resource, which is used solely to cast our most powerful self-healing ability, Judgement. We can hold up to 100 Photon energy at a time and primarily gain it through using Holy Sigil spenders. For every 1 Holy Sigil an ability costs, it grants 10 Photon energy; an ability that costs three will therefore grant 30.

Radiant Shield - While technically not a resource, another one of our main mechanics is Radiant Shield. Many of our talents and some of our abilities will grant us this with varying degrees of scaling. The common theme among all sources of this thought is that we gain a shield based on our ATK, which blocks 50% of incoming damage, with the other 50% hitting our HP. We can accumulate a shield equal to our maximum HP (200,000 HP = 200,000 maximum potential shield).

Note

Despite being a “Shield”, it does not scale with the %increase shield stat. However, it scales with the shielding improvement from Versatility.

Fixed Skills

• 

  Blade of Justice
  - Our Basic Attack is a 4-part melee sequence which we won't really be using unless no other abilities are available.
• This ability can be enhanced, evolving into Condemn when certain talents trigger.
• 

  Valor Bash
  - Consumes 1 Holy Sigil to deal damage and apply a stackable buff that lasts for 10 seconds. The buff can stack up to 3 times and grants us a %Armor Increase as well as a Flat Armor increase. Maintaining this buff is one of our primary objectives when playing the Recovery spec. Stack it up ASAP and don’t let it fall off. off.
• You can use
  

  Valor Bash
  even out of combat to accumulate buff stacks, allowing you to pre-stack the buff before encounters to save time and ensure you’re as tanky as possible at the start of the fight.
• 

  Radiant Infusion
  - Our Ultimate deals AoE damage around us and Dazzles enemies, forcing them to move toward us, which is fantastic for fishing in ranged enemies into melee so they can be cleaved. Upon use also grants us 1 Holy Sigil and 10 Photon Energy every 2 seconds for 10 seconds, prioritizing Sigils with the longest cooldown remaining. During this period, you’ll be able to spam Holy Sigil spenders and use
  

  Judgment
  liberally for fantastic sustain. Finally, this ability also grants us a massive personal shield, and with talents, is also capable of deploying a shield that may benefit our party members as well!

Mandatory Skills

• 

  Judgment
  - Our only Photon Energy spender and the signature ability of both Shield Knight specs. Consumes 45 Photon energy on use to deal AoE damage and heal us based on the amount of HP we’re currently missing. At max Advancement, this heal is 40% of missing HP, meaning at half HP we can recover 20% of our total life pool with one cast. This also has a minimum healing effect of 5%, even when we’re close to maximum life. This ability allows us to be our own healer and is so accessible that you’ll have no problem spamming it constantly.
• Although you’ll gain plenty of Photon Energy, it can be a good idea to hold enough in reserve to cast
  

  Judgment
  on demand in emergencies.
• 

  Reckoning
  Our other core Sigil spender outside of
  

  Valor Bash
  , we’ll be using to trigger many of our talents. Consumes 2 Sigils on use to perform a sweeping strike, hitting all enemies around our position. One of our more accessible ways to trigger the Divine Strike effect from our talents.
• This ability can be enhanced, evolving into Inferno Reckoning when certain talents trigger.
• 

  Shield Toss
  - One of our most powerful cooldowns that has two charges and a myriad of bonuses thanks to talents. At baseline tosses a shield that will slowly rotate around the position it was thrown from, hitting enemies it passes through until finally timing out. Also interrupts enemies and reduces the damage they deal by 10% when hitting them. With talents, this ability becomes monstrous, being capable of generating obscene amounts of shield in a single use.
• After unlocking the double charge talent for this ability, it’s possible to use it back-to-back. We don’t recommend this as the debuff and eventual buffs this ability provides from talents are easier to maintain when spacing out usage.
• 

  Aegis Ward
  - Our main defensive cooldown and biggest source of damage mitigation. Grants a ton of flat armor as well as a % increase to defense for 10 seconds with a 45-second cooldown. Also causes you to automatically counter the enemy boss's red flash abilities for free. Lastly also grants one-shot protection throughout its duration, preventing us from dying when struck with a fatal blow at the cost of removing the abilities buff. Many of our talents focus on empowering, keeping this buff active for as long as possible, and reducing its cooldown. It is a key part of our mitigation.

Skill Priority

Judgment

=

Aegis Ward

=

Valor Bash

>

Reckoning

>

Shield Toss

>=

Divine Circle

>

Radiant Infusion

=

Blade of Justice

Advance

Judgment

Aegis Ward

Valor Bash

Reckoning

Shield Toss

Divine Circle

Judgment

Radiant Infusion

Blade of Justice

• Overclock Explosion: Taunts the target, greatly increasing Aggro against them for 5s.
• A great single target taunt that can be used in combination with Veil of Shadow to swap aggro with another tank.
• Mocking Roar: Releases an energy wave, interrupting all targets within 10m and Taunting them. Greatly increases Aggro against affected targets for 10s.
• AoE taunts were removed off of some of our abilities in favor of utilizing this role skill. It is the main option for controlling aggro in large groups.
• Adamant Will: Grants 45% additional Resistance and Super Armor for 10s.
• An additional defensive cooldown that also provides super armor. Great in situations where there is risk of knockback or interruption and risk of taking huge damage.
• Veil of Shadow: Conceals the caster's presence to prevent Aggro generation and cleanses all debuffs from the caster for 10s.
• A useful skill to halt your aggro generation when trying to give aggro to others, and also cleanses debuffs off of yourself. It can be used even when you are affected by an immobilization debuff (freeze, petrify, etc…).

If you want to create your own Talent tree, check our tool:

Talent Planner

Important!

All gear & talent related info is based on extensive in-game testing, parsing, theory crafting and simulations. If you want to learn more about how damage works to understand our decisions, check out our Damage Formula Guide.

Note!

The percentage value shows the impact of the module compared to not having any module equipped (each module is calculated based on it being +6).

Note: We are prioritizing effective HP as a tank and the increases are based on the effective HP increases.

Here are the best modules for Shield Knight - Shield - listed in priority order:

Lvl 3: +1.91%

Lvl 6: +5.64%

Resistance

Provides increased Max HP% and a ton of Endurance. Also provides magic damage reduction for further defensive benefit. Even if Magic reduction it’s not very helpful against many enemies, the HP% carries this node.

Lvl 3: +2.06%

Lvl 6: +4.13%

Armor

Provides some flat armor, which is always welcome, but also 6% attack damage reduction, further boosting our tankiness.

Lvl 3: QoL

Lvl 6: QoL

Attack SPD

Grants us up to 6% ATK SPD to further accelerate our rotations speed and help us churn through our Holy Sigils and photon energy. It also helps us dish out more damage while empowering our shield and heal due to the attack gained.

Lvl 3: +0.73%

Lvl 6: +1.45%

Crit Focus

It provides Crit Damage and max HP. This node gives both defensive and offensive capabilities, making it a decent option.

Lvl 3: +0.08%

Lvl 6: +0.33%

Strength Boost

The combination of strength and ATK boost overall damage but not our defensive capabilities. Being so not very reflected in these gains. It also provides some Armor penetration, also boosting our damage.

Being an offensive attack module makes this node lose most of its appealing value.

Attention!

The best Recovery Imagines are incredibly flexible with what’s best depending on the content you’re running and the Imagines your other support party members are using. Below is a guideline of what we recommend for different content types. Also, tank-based Imagines have some of the most unique effects in the game, often meaning they don’t have direct equivalents. Because of this, there is no exact F2P substitution; check out our purple Imagine listing for more info.

ATTENTION!

The list of Imagines below is not a ranking; each listing can be equally useful if the right situation arises. Read the descriptions to understand when to use each.

Trash Clearing

Frost Ogre

+

Tempest Ogre

Bosses

Frost Ogre

+

Airona

/

Fafala

Top Gold Imagines

• 

  Fafala
  - When cast, it summons a zone that reduces the incoming damage and grants resistance to interruption to anyone inside. While inside the field everyone does additional damage based on the caster’s defence. It also reduces its own cd when getting hit, making this imagine the overall best for dealing damage and helping the party. Even if only 1 field can be active this imagine is incredibly highly valued to have on tanks for bosses & raids.
• 

  Airona
  - When cast, summons Airona who performs a short prayer before reviving up to 4 downed teammates. Airona is powerful in standard play to resurrect teammates, but also has another use. By equipping our invulnerability, we can survive guaranteed raid wipe mechanics; therefore, the group can forgo completing these, we can invuln them, then use Airona to bring the team back. Incredibly highly valued to have on tanks for raids.
• 

  Tempest Ogre
  - Upon activation, Tempest Ogre generates a vortex that draws enemies in from a large distance away. Its passive also makes the user take 5% less damage, making this a great option for tanking in dungeons. Tempest Ogres' pull radius is frankly absurd, allowing you to group entire rooms in dungeons, boosting clear times a disgusting amount.
• 

  Frost Ogre
  - Frost Ogre deals some of the highest resilience break damage in the game on use, allowing us to break enemies far more quickly. Breaking bosses before major mechanics or before they leave the arena can be a huge benefit to the party’s overall damage. Also incredibly effective at controlling large packs of enemies.
• 

  Golden Juggernaut
  - Passively increases shield strength and grants a 30% HP shield to you and your allies on use at Advancement 0. Allies shielded by this effect also deal additional damage with their hits. Golden Jug isn’t as effective on recovery shield knight due to our already absurd personal shield generation, but it can still be helpful for helping keep the team alive.
• The additional hit granted to allies can Crit and Lucky Hit, has a 0.5 second cooldown, and is unique, meaning only one of these buffs can be held at a time.
• The 8% Shield increase does not scale our Radiant Shield, and the 30% HP Shield on use is separate from it as well, allowing for a theoretical max shield of 130% of HP.
• 

  Tina
  - Tina buffs the party with a 50% cooldown reduction for 20 seconds, and once a party member is affected by this effect, they can’t be affected again for 60 seconds (Advancement 0). Tina is considered the best Imagine for support roles due to her buff, allowing classes to go back into their burst window more quickly.
• While powerful, Tina is usually best run on sustains. You should only prioritize running it over tank choices if they don’t have it or you’re confident in coordinating up and downtimes.

Top Purple Imagines

• 

  Void Arachnocrab [A5]
  After receiving 10 hits, increases Armor by 1125 for 15s. Upon use, it transforms you into Void Arachnocrab and grants invincibility for 5s. This is a great option to gain additional armor and also an invulnerability without changing out one of your skill slots.
• This Imagine can become one of our best when aiming to cheese certain boss mechanics, especially in combination with Airona.
• 

  Blackstone Commander [A5]
  - Provides a passive 15% Armor bonus and deals substantial damage based on both Attack and Defense when activated, making it a good all-around choice for both offensive and defensive capabilities.
• 

  Blackfire Foxen [A5]
  - This Imagine offers substantial flat Mastery through its passive effect and additional Mastery% when activated, enhancing our mastery scaling and making it stronger than the A2 or lower Arachnocrab.
• 

  Goblin Guard [A5]
  - Provides +500 Block passively, and 15% block damage reduction on use. The passive is equivalent to a 10% Block, which, when stacked with the 50% from our talents and the 1.5 times multiplier from Aegis Ward, gives us a 90% Block chance. The active ability also improves our Block Rate from 30% damage mitigation to 45% acting as a solid defensive cooldown for us.
• 

  Mighty Colossus [A5]
  - Transform into Mighty Colossus and charge at the enemy, dealing more resilience damage the longer you charge. Mighty Colossus also passively increases Resilience Break Efficiency and is a good alternative to Frost Ogre if you’re aiming to break enemies often and don’t have him yet.

Class

General Offensive

General Defensive

Oblivion Dream: Applies Oblivion Dream, inflicting Oblivion on enemies within 5m.

• Oblivion: Atk -20%, Dream Damage Taken +10%, Move Speed -20%
• Split Nodes: Dream Obsession > Limit Extension > Class DEF > Tuning > Domain Suppression

This Psychoscope tree allows for tanks to provide additional utility for themselves and the party. It debuffs nearby enemies, making them take additional damage, and part of the tree allows us to apply further debuffs or save ourselves in high damage situations.

Shattered Illusion: Every 5s, the next damage you deal will trigger Shattered Illusion. Each 1% Mastery grants it 0.65% Element Bonus.

• Shattered Illusion: Deal damage equal to 330% Armor to enemies within 5m

This tree is the one that amplifies our tank capabilities and also provides a bonus damaging ability. It will usually result in the highest personal damage out of all of the options. This is mainly used in solo content or if you already have someone in the party using Oblivion Dream.

• Crit - Our best choice for maximizing talent activations and reach a comfortable crit rate (45% recommended).
• Mastery - The next best choice after hitting your desired crit amount.
• Versatility - Another good option to reduce both the incoming damage and increase the damage done.

Recovery Shield Knight’s gameplay boils down to establishing our key survival buffs as fast as possible, then maintaining them for as long as possible. We must do this while keeping Sigils on cooldown at all times and ensuring Photon energy never caps out.

Here is what to do:

• Before combat
  

  Valor Bash
  to establish three buff stacks
• 

  Shield Toss
  to gain the attention of enemies, generate a massive shield, apply 10% damage reduction, and gain 15% Block.
• Optionally use
  

  Aegis Ward
  if available (you can save it if you want as a survivability cooldown)
• Optionally use
  

  Radiant Infusion
  if available (you can save it if you want as a survivability cooldown)
• Alternate between using
  

  Reckoning
  /Inferno Reckoning and
  

  Valor Bash
  to establish Reckon Shield buff for 25% Block and maintain the buffs of both skills.
• Continue maintaining the buffs of
  

  Reckoning
  ,
  

  Valor Bash
  , and
  

  Shield Toss
  while also ensuring you don’t overcap your Photon energy by dumping it with
  

  Judgment
  .
• Basic attack when evolved into Condemn to recover Sigils.

If you find staring at buff timers annoying, a good way to keep everything active is to always alternate between using

Valor Bash

Reckoning

Shield Toss

Judgment

Can Recovery be played on auto?

As a tank, autoplay will never be ideal due to the loss of control it incurs but with that said, if that’s not an issue for you, Auto can play Recovery Shield decently fine. Outside of the fact it struggles to use the correct Sigil spender at the right time, uses cooldowns incorrectly, is sluggish at establishing buffs at the start of combat and sometimes allows them to fall off.