Introduction

Heya, I’m Jus, a former casual PvP player in DN Official Server (SEA) and now one of the known PvE players here in PDN. Started playing PDN since November 2022 and its different approach to PvE caught my interest to try it. I play a variety of classes. Destroyer is one of my most played classes because this is the first tank that I’ve learned throughout my PDN journey and because of its slow but hard-hitting playstyle.

Class Overview

Destroyer is the easiest tank among the two (Guardian and Defensio) (and I am here to prove it as to why) due to its infinite Super Armor and multiple damage reduction skills. It’s just people don’t want to try this class because it’s very sL0w and h4rD to manage but hey, it’s a tank for a reason, a heavy class and slow but hard-hitter, not a speedster that has multiple i-frames or invincible.  I am here as well to give you the knowledge and enlightenment towards this class. Your damage and defense heavily rely on in Crash Mode so you may want to keep it 100% uptime and facetank the bosses without neglecting your responsibility as a tank. This includes knowing bosses’ behavior, mechanics, pattern, map awareness etc etc. Check this link for more info about tanking in general.

Bubble System

Basically, you have [Rage] that allows you to enter Crash Mode when you have max Rage which is 50 and lets you extend Crash Mode by casting [Maelstrom Howl] when you have 30 Rage. It can be filled up manually by using [Flying Swing]/[Flying Swing Instant] and [Lifesaver] and automatically filled up by passives [Resentment] and [Awakened Passive: Crash]. Make sure you have max bubbles (50 Rage) before entering a content by pressing your [Class Buff] in field. We’ll talk about bubble management later on.

Skills

Warrior

[Breaking Point] – REBUFF! A class buff that increases your ATK by 10%, Max HP increased by 20% and Incoming Healing effectiveness increased by 10%. Please I’m begging you. Rebuff yourself and your allies if wiped buff mechanic happens or if you got debuffed by fucking up [e.g. stepping on the DDN flower’s lava, got shouted by the BDN stage 1 boss etc etc.]

This can be seen in your Warrior skill tree at the bottom left so please for the love of god, press it. Also, press it while on field (e.g Void Gate, Frozen Foothills, Twilight Bay etc.) before entering contents such as dungeons, nests and raids for max bubbles and obviously, a buff.

I need to highlight this part as this is the most basic yet most forgotten mechanic to do by most of the players.

So please make sure you and your party members have your [Class Buff] before entering content such as dungeons/raids/nests. Please press that white skill button. The other buffs that you are seeing above are basically the other class buffs that obviously other classes provide. They need to do the same. Also, there are some contents that has autobuff system which means the game itself will apply the missing buffs to you and your party members (e.g in nest, there are 4 warriors in the party and they have the same class buff, therefore, the remaining buffs such as stove buff, arrow buff etc. will be applied once they entered the nest). Make sure to ask in PDN discord for more details or you can ask your party members regarding contents that has autobuff system or don’t have.

[Aerial Evasion] – used to recover yourself when you got launched in air by pressing Jump Button (spacebar)

[Destructive Swing] - This is the skill that you need to use very often to extend your Crash Mode duration by casting it before any Crash skill in Crash Mode. An Airborne skill too so you can use it to dodge stomps. Infinite SA but no damage reduction.

[Brush Off] – cures negative status effects from yourself (up to 5 debuffs) and can be used as well to cancel skills that can’t be cancelled mid-animation. Some status effects cannot be removed so be mindful of that. This can be a substitute as well if your Aerial Evasion is on CD or you got knockback to recover yourself.

Mercenary

[Flying Swing] – Rage generator. Gain 5 [Rage] when hit. It has 2 versions. Normal and Instant version (Instant version, see Bombs Away below). Both can generate 5 [Rage] when hit. Blocks attacks and Invulnerable after successfully parrying an attack. Some attacks cannot be blocked by this.

[Crash Flying Swing] – A Crash skill that has 25% damage reduction while casting. Can be used as a parry skill by holding S but obviously don’t do it, you’re here to eat damage duh unless a special mech that requires only parrying or iframe happens. Can speed it up as well by using Destructive Swing before it and it will automatically trigger the 2^nd attack. Manual cast you will need to press Left Mouse button to trigger 2^nd attack. Has infinite SA.

[Punishing Swing] - A provoke skill and now inflicts [Agitated] for 15 seconds that gives you 10% additional damage on targets afflicted with it. It can still inflict even when the boss is immune to provoke.

[Crash Punishing Swing] - A provoke skill that deals a great amount of damage and now has 25% damage reduction too while casting. Now inflicts [Agitated] for 15 seconds that gives you 10% additional damage on targets afflicted with it. It can still inflict even when the boss is immune to provoke. Has infinite SA.

[Bombs Away] - This is what triggers [Flying Swing Instant]. You can either use [Flying Swing Instant] after it quickly for the [Rage] or use [Destructive Swing] and [Flying Swing Instant] as a combo to deal large damage. This can be used if you ran out of Crash Mode.

[Crash Bombs Away] - A Crash skill that has 75% damage reduction while casting. No longer triggers [Flying Swing Instant], but deals a lot more damage. Using it with [Destructive Swing] will significantly increase the cast speed. Infinite Super Armor.

[Roll Attack] – I-frame when in air and obviously an airborne too. Holding down keys WSAD before casting will change the flying direction. For getting full hits (10), press S before casting.

[Crash Roll Attack] – Crash skill that has 25% damage reduction while casting and deals a great amount of damage. Using it with [Destructive Swing] will significantly increase the cast speed. An airborne skill too and has infinite SA.

[Resentment] - Reduces the amount of damage taken by 15% and [Rage] is generated periodically.
[Rage] is used as a resource when using some skills. Generate 1 [Rage] points every 2 second. This is a passive skill.

[Taunting Howl] - A debuff skill that makes the boss take 20% more damage.

[Crisis Howl] - Generates 10 [Rage], but you hardly have chance to use it because of super armor. Can use it outside Crash Mode to recover yourself from getting knockback.

[Battle Howl] - A buff skill that provides 10% extra damage and has 900 secs duration. Press it while on field (e.g Void Gate, Frozen Foothills, Twilight Bay etc.) before entering content and whenever you get buff wiped.

[Enervating Howl] – Dispel skill and not a damage skill. Use it when the boss is enraged (e.g. RuDN first boss, BDN Punisher and Golem) but take note that some enraged bosses cannot be dispelled. To distinguish whether the boss is enraged or already enraged, they will usually say a line first and better to take note of that and then they will have a green sword buff in their status bar so check it from time to time.

[Lifesaver] - Generates 20 [Rage] ezpz. Use it after entering Crash Mode.

[Stomp] – Filler skill. I don’t actually use this tho. Just own preference.

[Subjugate] – Heals 25% of your Max HP. Costs 10 Rage to cast and is an i-frame for the first 2 seconds you cast it.

[Cleaving Gale] – Long i-frame skill. Use it when in danger or in emergency. Same function as Endure but this inflicts damage.

[Calamity Crush] – Destroyer’s ult that inflicts decent damage. Personally, this skill just acts as a filler.

Destroyer

[Provoke] – Tank exclusive skill used to get attention or aggro of the boss. Some bosses can’t be provoked so take note of that. Now inflicts [Agitated] for 15 seconds that gives you 10% additional damage on targets afflicted with it.

[Endure] – Long i-frame skill that lasts 4 seconds. Use it when in danger or iframing bosses’ long skills (e.g triple stomps, DDN Manticore’s Sandstorm etc.) Some attacks can’t be iframed.

[Empowering Howl] - The golden shield that gives you and party member a barrier for 30% of max HP that lasts for 15 seconds. Hold [S] button while casting so that you can gib shield to allies as Crash Mode won’t extend when you have it unless it breaks or wear off. Self-heal skill over time as well that recovers 2% of max HP per tick. Use it wisely as it has now 60 seconds cooldown. Can prebuff it while on field (e.g Void Gate, Frozen Foothills, Twilight Bay etc.) before entering content.

[Maelstrom Howl] – No longer turns you into a Crash Mode. 50% damage reduction while casting and deals decent damage. Used to extend Crash Mode by 10 seconds only if you have 30 Rage.

[Class Mastery I] - [Passive Benefit] Gain 50% STR and 40% Max HP.
[Mastery Benefit] Regenerate 2% of your Max HP every 2 seconds for 25 seconds after using [Empowering Howl].

[Class Mastery II] - [Passive Benefit] Gain 30% ATK.
[Mastery Benefit] -When [Bombs Away] is used, [Flying Swing EX] changes to Instant for a while and can be used quickly and immediately. Flying Swing does not share cooldown with Instant

[Class Mastery III] - [Destructive Swing]'s damage and attack area are increased.
After using [Destructive Swing], use [Bombs Away EX] to create shockwaves around oneself. Additional damage from direct hit on nearby targets increases to 150% but small explosions will not occur. [Destructive Swing]'s damage increases by 1000% and has infinite SA. While in Crash Mode the casting [Destructive Swing] then following up with [Flying Swing], [Punishing Swing], [Bombs Away], or [Roll Attack] will drastically decrease the cast time and increase the duration of Crash Mode by 3 seconds.

[Awakened Passive] Weapon Mastery - Gain 15% PATK

[Awakened Passive] Maelstrom Howl - [Maelstrom Howl]'s attack range is increased. When you are in Crash Mode and have at least 30 Rage, casting [Maelstrom Howl] will consume 30 Rage and extend Crash Mode by 10 seconds. [Maelstrom Howl]'s attack range is increased to 10m

[Awakened Passive] Empowering Howl - Range increased and no longer costs [Rage] to cast.

[Awakened Passive] Crash - [Roll Attack] is enhanced. Attack power and casting speed are increased. Damage increased by 60%. Additionally, 1 additional rage is generated per 2 seconds. So basically you’re gaining 2 [Rage] per 2 seconds including the effect of [Resentment].

[Assault Crash] – Filler skill xd

[Crash Assault Crash] – Another Crash skill that has 25% damage reduction while casting. Has a total of 5 swings. Additionally heal 1% of your Max HP per swing. Press Left Mouse Button to attack continuously. Can’t be combined with [Destructive Swing]

[Crash Mode] -Costs 50 Rage to cast. While in Crash Mode, gain Super Armor, 25% PATK, 15% damage taken reduction, and enhanced skills. When you are hit and take damage, Crash Mode's duration is increased by 1 seconds and [Devastating Howl]'s cooldown is reduced by 3 seconds. Note: Environmental damages don’t increase crash mode duration. Ex: RuDN boss 1 spikes.

[Earthquake] – A big bang dong Crash skill that you can only cast when in Crash mode. Gives 50% damage reduction while castingand has infinite SA.

Skill Build

Max HP Boost, Final Damage Boost / Ultimate Skill CD Boost ( if you are a Cleaving Gale enjoyer)

Soccer Kick, Dash Uppercut and Soccer Kick Combo are pretty much optional, you can leave it unlearned and spend those SP elsewhere to your liking (It’s just me being dumb learning those LMFAO). Dropkick can help prolong your airtime a very bit when jumping so you may want to consider getting it as it’s very helpful in dodging stomps and stuff. Sweeping Kick is good for pushing objects (e.g DDN’S Worm pushing barrel mech, RuDN8 stage 1 ball mech etc.). Same thing with Dash Kick.      

Skill Crests

[Flying Swing] Cooldown Reduction
[Punishing Swing] Damage Increase
[Roll Attack] Damage Increase
[Bombs Away] Damage Increase
[Destructive Swing] Damage Increase
[Cleaving Gale] CD Reduction (Optional)
[Calamity Crush] DMG (Optional)
[Roll Attack] +1 or [Punishing Swing] +1 (either is fine, just own preference)

(Basically, you have 2 free skill crest slot, you can just put any stat crest or the optional ones)

Dragon Gems

1 Conversion (any element of your choice, there’s no difference to each other, just for damage icon aesthetic xd) and 3 Elemental Gems

Rotation

This is just a basic, beginner-friendly yet effective rotation for Destroyer. There are a lot of possible and better rotations out there so feel free to experiment. The idea and purpose of this is that how you manage Crash Mode and have it available at all times so you won’t have dead time being in a non-Crash mode state. Skill spread and skill log were shown there for you to easily follow and what skills that deal a lot of damage.

This one is complex due to its tight and strict rotation. The idea of this is to show the DPS potential of Destroyer. Use it at your own risk xd

Content Videos

Here are some videos that showcase Destroyer gameplay. These cover everything. Map awareness, proper positioning of the boss and yourself, aggro management, Crash Mode management, min-maxing your skills, damage reduction, super armor, sustains, shielding allies, removing boss enrages and many more.

Raids:
Rune Dragon Nest - Destroyer POV
Desert Dragon Nest Time Attack - Destroyer POV
Black Dragon Nest Time Attack - Destroyer POV
Forest Dragon Nest (Normal) - Destroyer POV
Red Dragon Nest (Nightmare) - Destroyer POV


Ice Dragon Nest Vahrcore DX:
Stage 1 (Kodiak)
Stage 2 (Balapa)
Stage 3 (Guy)
Final Stage (Dragon Stage)


Nests:
Rune Dragon Nest (4-Player) - Destroyer POV
Snowdrift Citadel (Master) - Destroyer POV
Brynhildr Nest (Abyss) - Destroyer POV
Treasure Nest (Abyss) - Destroyer POV

Misc

Iframes

Iframe also known as "invulnerability frames" or "invincibility frames", allows players to become invincible for a small moment when certain actions or skills are performed.

Here's a list of your i-frame skills:
[Roll Attack] (Non-crash Mode version)
[Subjugate]
[Cleaving Gale] (Barb ult)
[Endure]
[Tumble] (duh)

Airborne

An "airborne" skill usually refers to abilities or maneuvers that puts your character obviously in air. This is used to dodge ground mechanics such as stomp.

Here is the list of your airborne skills:
[Jump] (obviously just space bar duh)
[Destructive Swing] (initial cast)
[Roll Attack] (Both non-Crash and Crash Mode version)

Provoke and Agitated Status

Let’s talk about these two different status especially [Agitated] as this was recently introduced. See Patch v865

Provoke, as I mentioned above is a tank exclusive skill used to get attention or aggro of the boss. On the other hand, [Agitated] is a debuff skill on top of Provoke that gives you 10% additional damage on targets afflicted with it for 15 seconds.

So here’s the thing, again as I’ve mentioned above, some bosses are immune to provoke or if they are not, sometimes they just go wild and ignore it so basically, uncontrollable and nothing much you can do about it. At that point, you can just focus on eating attacks and DPS. BUT but but but, you can still inflict [Agitated] status on bosses using the provoke skills regardless if they are provokable or not so you may want to cast the provoke skills off cd as usual. With that being said, you get to enjoy the 10% additional damage 100% uptime.

Here's an image showing these two statuses. [Provoke] has the cross icon while the [Agitated] has the skull one or poison icon idk what that called is xd but that’s that. Both can be located below the bosses’ name. This is how you determine if you successfully provoked the boss and inflicted [Agitated]status on it or not.

Tips

Let’s have a quick recap first about Crash Mode and its Crash Skills

[Crash Mode] - gain Super Armor, 25% PATK, 15% damage taken reduction, and enhanced skills known as Crash skills. When you are hit and take damage, Crash Mode's duration is increased by 1 second.

[Crash Skills] – these are the skills that you should prioritize and only available when in Crash mode.
[Crash Punishing Swing] - A provoke skill and now has 25% damage reduction too while casting.
[Crash Flying Swing] – A Crash skill that has 25% damage reduction while casting.
[Crash Bombs Away] - A Crash skill that has 75% damage reduction while casting.
[Crash Roll Attack] – Crash skill that has 25% damage reduction while casting.
[Crash Assault Crash] – Another Crash skill that has 25% damage reduction while casting
[Earthquake] – A big bang dong Crash skill that you can only cast when in Crash mode. Gives 50% damage reduction while casting.

All of it has infinite SA and deals a great amount of damage (except Assault Crash ew)

Now, let’s move on to the tips and tricks
- First and foremost, remember those damage reduction numbers above. If you’re gonna eat big attacks (e.g. large stomps, dives etc) use those skills that have 75% or 50% dmg reduction on it. Otherwise, use the skills that have 25% damage reduction on it if you’re gonna eat small or normal bosses’ attacks.
- Use your [CM3] or Class Mastery III more often as it extends your Crash Mode by 3 seconds and it decreases the cast time of Crash skills. [CM3] is basically [Destructive Swing] + [any of the Crash skills above except Earthquake and Assault Crash]. Exception: CM3 in Punishing Swing as you’ll lose a lot of damage on it.
- If you are in [Crash Mode], you have extreme SA (Super Armor) and the Crash skills have infinite SA but there are some attacks that ignore SA so be mindful and remember those attacks. Same thing with the damage reduction and i-frames.
- Eat attacks as many as you can so that you can cast 2 [Earthquake] in just a single [Crash Mode] but eat responsibly.
- If you have more than 30 [Rage] and [Lifesaver] is up (considering that you are not in a Crash Mode anymore), try to fill it up by using Flying Swing and its Instant and filler skills if it is on CD. You’ll have 50 [Rage] on time since you have the [Awakened Passive] Crash that generates 1 [Rage] every 2 seconds.
- If you have already 50 [Rage] and [Lifesaver] is up (this one is considering that you are IN Crash Mode), use [Maelstrom Howl] to extend your Crash Mode more by 10 seconds. Overflowing Crash Mode is fine but holding 50 [Rage]for a long time is not. The idea of this is to have your [Lifesaver] on CD again so that it will not break the flow of your rotation and you can have it available again. And besides, if you do this, considering you have 50 [Rage] minus the Maelstrom Howl by 30 [Rage] = 20 [Rage] + 20 [Rage] from [Lifesaver]= 40 Rage. With that being said, you regained the 90% of the 30 [Rage] you spent by extending your Crash Mode using Maelstrom Howl at least and the awakened passive will fill up the remaining for you.
- If your [Crash Mode] is gonna wear off and your[Earthquake] is still in a long cooldown (considering that you have already 50 [Rage]), let it wear off and enter [Crash Mode] again so you can use [Earthquake] again without waiting on its cooldown as its CD resets upon entering [Crash Mode].
- Use [Provoke] or a provoke skill every after bosses’ mechanic so that the aggro won’t go in any of your party member or if possible, use it off cooldown as some bosses have aggro reset. It inflicts [Agitated] for 15 seconds that gives you 10% additional damage on targets afflicted with it as mentioned above so you better have this 100% uptime.
- Always have your DPS meter (Alt+D to open) open so you can check the aggro from time to time. If your name is highlighted RED or there’s an eye icon besides your character name (sometimes it appears both), it means that you have the aggro of the specific boss.
- If you lose your tanking position, make sure to get back to it immediately so you won’t hurt your party members DPS-ing from sides and back.
- If you are in mid-game progression (aka Rune Dragon 4 player and Rune Dragon Nest 8 man, Manticore Nest, Apocalypse Nest, Mellow Rift dungeons, Snowdrift Citadel etc.) and you want to start learning tanking in Destroyer, make sure to have your Astral Crests a 3^rd-roll stat which is VIT and equip Astral Life-Giving Gems to your accessories (Necklace and Earring specifically because you can’t equip Life-Giving Gems to your weapon anymore). With that being said, you can tank and eat damage without worrying so much about your HP. DPS-ing can come on latter once you get the hang of it.
- Same thing if you are in endgame progression already (aka EXP5). Make sure you have your Verdant Aeon Crests a Max defense roll and equip Fae Spiritus accessories (defense-focus accessories). You can do the same thing as above. Check this link for more info about EXP5 and stuff.
-If you think you are fucked up because you can’t cancel some skills mid-animation and you’re gonna die, cancel it with [Brush Off] and proceed to use tumble, parry or any i-frame skill.
-Watch out for your HP. You won’t notice sometimes that you’re about to die by taking so much damage. Use [Subjugate] or any long i-frame skills when you think you are in danger or you can’t tank the next boss attacks anymore. You can use Gerrant's Crest Healing Barrier as well for self-healing. Eating damage doesn’t mean you have to die with it. You are a tank, not a hero.
-Also, don’t be surprised if you can’t enter [Crash Mode] while on field as that is actually disabled there and it is intended (due to some exploit on it) and not a bug. You can enter Crash Mode once you entered the content already.