This guide covers the “Melee Mage” melee DPS build for the Esper class in WildStar for Battleground, Arena, and World PVP.
The Melee Mage build differs from other melee lifesteal Esper builds in that it heavily emphasizes control and meaningful damage. In PVP, control + burst is what matters, especially when your opponents are skilled. In many cases, control is more important than your individual sustain, for both solo play and team play.
This guide reflects my perspective as an Esper with extensive endgame PVP experience – I’ve reached 1800 rating in 2v2 Arena and soloed RBGs up to 1791 rating – and feedback from (credible) veteran Espers on the discussion thread for this guide on the official forum. Thanks Zyoxo, vanisha, Centricity, and other Espers for sharing your knowledge :)
Recent Updates
- 2014/09/28: tweaks made to build links and to content in general. Updated AMP progression diagram
- 2014/09/25: major updates throughout the guide. Added arena content :)
- 2014/08/11: swapped out AMP points from Strikethrough and Dash to take The Power. Lots of updates to Runes section. Added notes about Empower refresh mechanics
- 2014/08/08: updated addons. Removed Bolster custom aura. Updated PP custom aura
- 2014/08/07: added video for PVP Drop 2, lifesteal mechanics, and upcoming PVP gear system changes. Addon Recommended Combat Addons section
Strengths and Weakness
+ lots of CC: up to 4 active abilities (knockdown, root, disarm, and knockback) and 1 passive proc (snare)
+ good sustain via lifesteal, HoTs, and charge ability
+ good mobility
+ as of Drop 2, good sustained DPS
+ strong counter to Stalker stealth
(+ can solo Primes in PVE)
– damage dealing requires near-range (<= 10m) combat in light armor
– slower Psi Point generation as compared to Telekinetic Strike nuke builds
– all DPS Espers lack the front-loaded burst of Spellslingers, Warriors, and Stalkers
As with any melee class, if your target doesn’t know how to deal with you melee strafing them, it can make it difficult for them to hit you while you punch them in the face. Muhahaha die noobs :)
If you need help learning how to melee strafe properly, see my Guide on Keybinding and Strafing.
Build Links
- Level 25 BG build: http://www.ws-base.com/builds/generator/esper#1CKCqQvKvqvvvK/465.343.324.334.335.336.460.461.462
- Level 50 BG build template (45/55 AMP points, 41/48 Ability Points): http://www.ws-base.com/builds/generator/esper#1pKpqQvKlqvKvC/334.335.336.326.333.460.461.462.343.465.324.377.378.975.327.328.329.443.495.496.497.498.971.972
- Arena build (45/55 AMP points, 41/48 Ability Points): http://www.ws-base.com/builds/generator/esper#1sKpqQCvvqvKvC/334.335.336.326.333.460.461.462.343.465.324.377.378.975.327.328.329.443.495.496.497.498.971.972
For the level 25 build, you need the 3rd tier A/U AMP Slow It Down (SID). Given that we’re months from launch, you should be able to purchase this AMP from the AH. You can of course wait until you can buy it from the reputation vendor in your mid 30s and respec your AMPs, but the SID snare is one of the key elements of this build so you really need it at 25.
The following diagram shows the recommend AMP progression by points spent:
LAS Mechanics
- Melee builds in PVP need CC abilities to counter being kited, to meaningfully pressure and lockdown targets, and to peel for friendlies who need help. In addition, Esper is a particularly strong CC class. Therefore, this build provides 3.5 CC abilities (4.5 if you slot Shockwave), if we count the SID snare as half a CC. You can swap out a CC ability for another ability, but I would not recommend going below 2.5 CC abilities. Keep in mind that we are the only class that has a disarm (Incapacitate), so unlike other CC abilities your target won’t have DR immunity to disarm due to CC from other friendly classes
- Only two Assault abilities are slotted, T8 Psychic Frenzy (PF) and T8 Telekinetic Storm (TStorm). Some players stop at T4 PF, but PF is our primary source of sustained damage and sustain, and it scales terrifically with ability points, so T8 is a must. Every tick of TStorm can proc SID+NR (No Remorse) and for targets less than 30% HP you also get The Humanity (TH) damage. This means that even a 1PP (Psi Point) TStorm can finish off a target with 7k HP, but of course it takes time for the DoTs to tick so your target may be healed. The main usability issue with TStorm is that the telegraph is narrow, so you have to aim carefully. You can alternatively slot T8 Mind Burst (MB) instead of TStorm, if you want to emphasize crits. The other Assault abilities do not provide as much value as the Utility CC and Bolster Support abilities selected in the build
- The T4 lifesteals for the summon-based abilities, Geist and Spectral Swarm (SS), are traps to the unwary or ignorant – your precious ability points are much better spent elsewhere. In addition, SS requires 2 AMP point. Therefore, I never use SS. Geist provides a whopping 15% mitigation, and I’ve found it useful in 2v2 Arena and for boosting survivability in BGs
- I was originally thinking I might need to slot Telekinetic Strike for ranged capability, but after experimenting at level 25, it’s not needed, and an additional CC provides far more value. In addition we don’t want to spread our Ability points over 2 builders
AMP Mechanics
- As a melee, we get a lot of value out of the Inspirational Charge AMP, because each tick of TStorm refreshes the +12% movement speed buff
- I have tested various defensive AMPs, e.g. the armor-boosting AMPs (Iron Reflexes, Stand Strong), Fisticuffs, and Psychic Barrier (PB). Obviously as a DPS spec we don’t want to over-invest in defensive AMPs or we nerf our offensive capability, but we are a light armor class so thoughtful but limited investment makes sense to improve our survivability. In my opinion the best 2nd or 3rd tier defensive AMP is PB, since it’s a passive buff with high uptime and can significantly reduce incoming burst damage. The armor-boosting AMPs have limited uptime compared to PB. Fisticuffs is awful, as it provides a multiplicative not additive bonus, so it increases your Resistances by x1.085 not +8.5%.
- The Follow Through (FT) AMP provides 10.5% Assault Power Empower regardless how many PPs you spend on the finisher. In addition, every tick of TStorm refreshes the 5-sec Empower, so you can maintain good uptime on FT. Therefore, you can buff your damage when starting combat by landing a 1PP TStorm
- Our disarm (Incapacitate), knockdown (Crush), and knockback (Shockwave) strip opponents of IA and are guaranteed to deal damage – they can’t be deflected – which makes them excellent tools for stopping caps. Our root is also an excellent cap-prevention tool because it deals damage over time
- We don’t directly invest in Strikethrough with AMPs or stats, as the build provides good mechanics with respect to your target’s deflects. T8 TStorm debuffs your target’s Deflect up to 8%, and CCs can’t be deflected
- Shockwave provides high value in rated battlegrounds (RBGs). A clutch knockback can boot players off a platform or catwalk, peel for a friendly flag carrier (FC), knockback an enemy FC into your friendly DPS, etc. It’s also very helpful against DPS Spellslinger as you can interrupt a Charged Shot (you can hear them casting it) or Wild Barrage
- TStorm synergizes effectively with proc-based AMPs (per Aelroen on the official forums):
Tstorm does have an ICD, in that you will see whenever you have multiple stacks on a target, only one will receive The Humanity bonus as well as No Remorse, the rest just normal ticks of damage. Not yet confirmed, but I also observed that these two damage ticks will only apply to a single target, so if you have two below 30% HP in a Tstorm, only one will receive bonus damage.
SiD can only proc once on a single target each Tstorm tick, i.e. it will not snare 2 or more people in one tick. However since SiD last long enough, if you’re lucky with proc rates or stacked Tstorms a bit, you can keep renewing or applying SiD on multiple targets in 1sec intervals. Not completely sure if e.g. you PF + Tstorm within the same second, whether they can both apply SiD, which would indicate absence of an ICD because the low proc rate masks this mechanic.
- SID can proc with each tick of TStorm, which provides No Remorse damage, but the snare debuff does not refresh until it expires
- TH and NR can’t crit
The following AMP-based Empowers can overwrite (refresh) themselves before their duration ends:
- FT
- The Power!
- Inspirational Charge
The following AMP-based Empowers cannot overwrite (refresh) themselves before their duration ends:
- Duelist
Lifesteal and Healing Mechanics
- Our 6% lifesteal from AMPs is not affected by healing debuffs nor the PVP Healing stat. It only heals for 6% of the actual HP damage, so if you roll 200 damage on a hit, and 100 damage is eaten by your target’s shield so you only deal 100 HP damage, you lifesteal 6 not 12. I didn’t test but I suspect that a target with an absorb that takes 0 HP damage will result in 0 lifesteal
- T4 PF healing is not affected by healing debuffs nor the PVP Healing stat. T4 PF heals for 25% of the damage roll, plus what you get from the lifesteal from AMPs, for up to 31% total healing
- Projected Spirit, Bolster, and the PVP gadget healing are all subject to healing debuffs and the PVP Healing stat, which makes sense given that they are direct-cast heals
Arena Considerations
- T4 Crush (knockdown) is immensely valuable in Arena, as it enables you to knockdown a target that has 1 IA (Interrupt Armor)
- If you have all 48 Ability Points, you’re able to slot T8 PF, T8 TStorm, T4 Crush, and T4 PS. This is the ideal setup
- If you have between 41 and 47 Ability Points, I recommend going T8 PF, T4 Crush, T4 PS, and investing the rest into T5-T7 TStorm, and then putting any excess points in a CC ability, e.g. the root. You lose the T8 deflect debuff from TStorm, so more of your attacks will be deflected, but I’ve found this to be an acceptable tradeoff given that TStorm damage scales poorly with ability points and CC’s can’t be deflected
- In 2v2 Arena, you should expect to be the focus fire target for the opposing team, especially if you run a double-DPS comp, given that you are melee and wear light armor. Even with a healer team mate, opponents know that if they try to focus fire your healer, you’ll peel for that healer with your CCs and freecast damage abilities while your healer kites and recovers. Therefore, the 3% PVP Defense AMPs and PB AMP provide high value
Stat Priority
PVP Power > Assault Power (AP) = Moxie >> Armor = PVP Defense >> HP > Crit Hit Rating > Finesse
- My guildee Unindel modeled PVP Power compared to AP, and his conclusion was that for DPS Esper, PVP Power is the best stat to stack. I did some testing of Power versus AP/Moxie for 4 rune slots on my 1500 gear and came to the same conclusion. See my YouTube video and video description for details
- In Vijaya’s thread on Moxie vs AP maths, he concluded that below 1449 AP, Moxie outperforms AP, when you factor in Moxie-boosting AMPs (Superiority, The Power) and the the Moxie milestone bumps. That being said, in PVP you won’t have full uptime of those AMPs, and for all rune set runes, you don’t have the choice between Moxie and AP – the choice is already made for you
- It’s unclear whether Armor or PVP Defense is better for mitigation. Mitigation synergizes well with our sustain
- 1 point of Crit Hit Rating gives ~0.015% Crit Hit Chance, or 67 Rating for 1% Chance. That’s anemic
- 1 point of Finesse only gives 0.0075% Crit Hit Chance and ~0.02% Crit Severity
- We lack the Crit Hit mechanics to make Crit Severity Rating meaningful
- 1 point of Strikethrough Rating only gives 0.0075% Strikethrough Chance, or 133 Rating for 1% Chance. Worst. Stat. Ever.
Runes
As of the PVP Drop 2 patch, runes on PVP gear are RNG. This is both bad and good: bad, because prior to the patch, most gear pieces already had good rune colors for Esper DPS, and good, because if you’re willing to grind Prestige you can keep buying a PVP gear piece until it has the exact mix of rune colors you want.
As everyone’s gear no longer has the same rune colors, I can give general guidance on how to slot runes, but YMMV based on your rune colors.
Here are the best rune set bonuses for Esper PVP:
- Spellweaver (SW) (General Rune Set): Fire, Life, Water
- (4): Increases Magic damage dealt by 1% and grants you a 10% chance to apply an Expose for 5.0s when you land a hit. Expose: Reducs Magic Resistance by 240.
- (8): Increases Magic damage dealt by 1.5% and grants you a 10% chance to apply an Expose for 5.0s when you land a hit. Expose: Reducs Magic Resistance by 360.
- (12): Increases Magic damage dealt by 2% and grants you a 10% chance to apply an Expose for 5.0s when you land a hit. Expose: Reducs Magic Resistance by 480.
- Sight Before Sight (SBS) (PVP Rune Set): Air, Fire, Fusion, Life, Water
- (6): Landing a Critical Hit applies a Blind for 1.0s. Blind: Hinders vision and reduces Strikethrough Chance by 20%. Can only occur every 20.00s. Landing a Critical Heal grants an Empower for 5.0s. Empower: Increases Strikethrough and Critical Hit Rating by 65.
- (11): Landing a Critical Hit applies a Blind for 1.25s. Blind: Hinders vision and reduces Strikethrough Chance by 20%. Can only occur every 20.00s. Landing a Critical Heal grants an Empower for 5.0s. Empower: Increases Strikethrough and Critical Hit Rating by 89.
- (15): Landing a Critical Hit applies a Blind for 1.5s. Blind: Hinders vision and reduces Strikethrough Chance by 20%. Can only occur every 20.00s. Landing a Critical Heal grants an Empower for 5.0s. Empower: Increases Strikethrough and Critical Hit Rating by 108.
SW benefits not only our DPS but also that of allied Spellslingers and Espers. Therefore I consider 12/12 SW to be non-negotiable for PVP.
The blind from SBS may seem underwhelming with its relatively short duration, but it throws your opponent’s targeting and they may miss on a key ability (e.g. CC or Assassinate). I find it incredibly annoying to fight Espers with SBS. Therefore, I consider 6/15 SBS to be non-negotiable for PVP. Note that the Empower from SBS only procs from crits of direct-cast heals, not HoTs such as Boslter
If you stop at 6/15 or 11/15 SBS, here are the alternatives, from best-to-worst:
- Protect Your Neck (PYN) (4/12): Increases Armor by 128 and grants a Defense for 5.0s when you drop below 30% health. Defense: Increases Armor by 830. Can only occur every 30.00s. The 830 armor is ~4% of mitigation. Also makes good use of Earth runes, which don’t have DPS stat options anyway
- PYN (8/12): Increases Armor by 192 and grants a Defense for 5.0s when you drop below 30% health. Defense: Increases Armor by 1250. Can only occur every 30.00s. You want to avoid using Air runes to get to this bonus, as you’ll be losing out on DPS stats and set bonuses. If you have 8 Earth and Life slots, PYN 8/12 is a good option
- Concentrated Assault(CA) (6/15): Activating Spectral Form deals 308 magic damage to 5 foes within 6m and Roots them for 1.0s. The root effect is situationally nice if you want to keep a runner/RDPS in-range. Note that the root duration is not increased at 11/15 nor 15/15, so 6/15 is the max investment
- Synapse (6/15): Building 5 Psi Points within 5.0s grants an Empower for 5.0s. Empower: Increases Critical Hit Rating by 56. This is ~0.84% increased crit chance, due to the anemic conversion of Rating to Chance. Also note that there is no Synapse rune that has PVP Power, AP, or Moxie as an option. This is a trap rune set for PVP DPS Esper – don’t fall for it!
Given the rune set bonuses described above, here’s how I rank rune colors:
Omni > Fire > Fusion = Air > Earth > Life > Water > Logic
Here are some tips for each rune color:
- Air can be used for SBS (PVP Power) or CA (Moxie), but I recommend the former only
- Earth is used for Protect Your Neck (Armor), which increases mitigation at low HP, or Armor. If you have two Earth rune slots on the same gear piece, you can slot one with PYN (Armor) and the other with PYN (Grit)
- Fire is used for SW (Moxie) and SBS (PVP Power) – but definitely prioritize Fire for SW given that Air and Fusion can be used for SBS but not for SW. You can slot Fire for CA (Moxie), but Air mats for CA are cheaper. If you have 3 Fire runes on the same gear piece, you can slot SW (Moxie), SBS (PVP Power), and SBS (Moxie)
- Fusion should only be used for SBS (PVP Power) or PVP Power
- Life is used for SW (Crit Hit), PYN (HP), or SBS (PVP Defense)
- Logic is used for Armor or Moxie
- Omni can be used for whatever will complete your target set bonuses, but most likely you’ll want to use it for Fire for SW (Moxie)
- Water is used for SW (Finesse)
For those who are curious what I did with my runes, here are the set bonuses that I targeted on my 1800 gear:
- 12/12 SW
- 8/12 PYN
- 11+/15 SBS
I did try 12/12 PYN, but I felt that I was losing too much damage. Between 4/12 and 8/12 PYN seems to be the right balance. If you are finding your survivability lacking, a better option than 12/12 PYN is simply slotting Geist.
Narrated PVP Videos
The following video provides the introduction to the build, with footage @ 25 from a Walatiki Temple battleground where I queued solo and went 12-0 for kills-to-deaths:
The following video @ 31 shows how to leverage effective keybinding and melee strafing to wreck opponents in 1v1s and 1v2s:
As it turns out, the Melee Mage build works well for soloing Primes. Here’s a video @ 37 of the Melee Mage build soling a Prime:
The following video @ 39 shows a hilarious failed attempt by a 50 Spellslinger who tried to gank me when I was fighting a mob:
Here is the last in the series of leveling battleground videos. My Esper is level 45 in this Walatiki Temple battleground where I queued solo and went 13-0 for kills-to-deaths, dealt 962k damage, and healed for 325k:
The following video @ 50 showcases gameplay with 1500 gear in a Rated Battleground, where I queued solo, dealt 2.1MM damage, healed for 785k, and went 17-4 for kills-to-deaths. We lost 5-4, but it was a great match:
The following video provides an update to the “Melee Mage” build for the PVP Drop 2 patch, breaks down the lifesteal mechanics and math, and discusses MuffinMan’s awesome news about proposed PVP gear changes.
Recommended Combat Addons
Here are the combat addons that I feel are essential for enabling good gameplay, with most important listed first:
- OptiPlates: replaces the built-in nameplates. This is a fork of the BijiPlates addon, but with performance optimizations and additional functionality. When I used BijiPlates, I would sometimes see severe framerate lag in BGs, and OptiPlates solved that problem. The only issue with OptiPlates is that you get ghosting of nameplates, but given how good the addon is and how much of a performance boost it provides, that’s an acceptable downside
- TheZone: enables you check out your opponents in Arena and Walatiki prior to match start, and auto-identifies healers
- QtCooldown: provides a scalable time slider bar which shows your abilities on cooldown
- TrackMaster: draws a vector to your target. Most helpful because of the Subdue sub-addon
- TrackMaster: Subdue: draws a vector to your weapon when you’re disarmed
- AuraMastery: allows user-specified tracking for abilities and resources with icons and sounds. I use this for providing an audio cue at 5PPs and for tracking healing debuffs on me
Here are the combat addons that provide utility value but are less critical, with most important listed first:
- WalaTikiTimer: provides a panel that indicates the timer for the next flag spawn
- SlingDing: tracks PPs visually with a 5-section bar
The following combat addons are strictly cosmetic:
- KillingBlow: provides a visual and audio notification when you kill a player
Imports for the Aura Mastery Addon
Following are my custom Auras for DPS Espers. Note that these are useful for both PVE and PVP.
5PP Sound Alert Aura
When you are at 5PPs, this aura provides the same sound when a PVP queue pops:
{['playSoundWhen'] = "All",['iconScale'] = 1,['iconEnabled'] = true,['iconSprite'] = "",['iconSound'] = 196,['iconPosition'] = {['left'] = 117,['top'] = 19,},['SimpleMode'] = false,['onlyInCombat'] = false,['iconName'] = "5 PPs",['showWhen'] = "Any",['iconText'] = {},['iconBackground'] = true,['Triggers'] = {[1] = {['Type'] = "Resources",['Name'] = "Sound at 5 PP",['TriggerDetails'] = {['Resource'] = {['Value'] = 5,['Percent'] = false,['Operator'] = "==",},},['TriggerEffects'] = {},['Behaviour'] = "Pass",},},['iconOverlay'] = {['overlayColor'] = {[1] = 1,[2] = 0,[3] = 0,[4] = 0.75,},['overlayStyle'] = "Radial",['overlayShape'] = "Solid",},['iconColor'] = {[1] = 1,[2] = 1,[3] = 1,[4] = 1,},['actionSets'] = {[1] = true,[2] = true,[3] = true,[4] = true,},['iconBorder'] = true,}
Superiority AMP Aura
Let’s you know when this AMP’s buff is up. Strictly cosmetic:
{['playSoundWhen'] = "Any",['iconScale'] = 0.6999999880791,['iconEnabled'] = true,['iconSprite'] = "icon_Tick",['iconSound'] = -1,['iconPosition'] = {['left'] = 68,['top'] = 12,},['SimpleMode'] = false,['onlyInCombat'] = false,['iconName'] = "Superiority",['showWhen'] = "Any",['iconText'] = {[1] = {['textFont'] = "CRB_Header10",['textAnchor'] = "OB",['textString'] = "Superiority",['textFontColor'] = {[1] = 1,[2] = 1,[3] = 1,[4] = 1,},},},['iconBackground'] = true,['Triggers'] = {[1] = {['Type'] = "Health",['Name'] = "Trigger 1 ",['TriggerDetails'] = {['Target'] = {['Target'] = false,['Player'] = true,},['Health'] = {['Value'] = 70,['Percent'] = true,['Operator'] = ">=",},},['TriggerEffects'] = {},['Behaviour'] = "Pass",},},['iconOverlay'] = {['overlayColor'] = {[1] = 1,[2] = 0,[3] = 0,[4] = 0.75,},['overlayStyle'] = "Radial",['overlayShape'] = "Solid",},['iconColor'] = {[1] = 0.093652442097664,[2] = 0.72580647468567,[3] = 0.72580647468567,[4] = 1,},['actionSets'] = {[1] = true,[2] = true,[3] = true,[4] = true,},['iconBorder'] = true,}
Follow Through AMP Aura
Let’s you know when this AMP’s buff is up. Strictly cosmetic:
{['playSoundWhen'] = "Any",['iconScale'] = 0.6999999880791,['iconEnabled'] = true,['iconSprite'] = "icon_Tick",['iconSound'] = -1,['iconPosition'] = {['left'] = 139,['top'] = 12,},['SimpleMode'] = false,['onlyInCombat'] = false,['iconName'] = "Follow Through",['showWhen'] = "Any",['iconText'] = {[1] = {['textFont'] = "CRB_Header10",['textAnchor'] = "OB",['textString'] = "Follow Thru",['textFontColor'] = {[1] = 1,[2] = 1,[3] = 1,[4] = 1,},},},['iconBackground'] = true,['Triggers'] = {[1] = {['Type'] = "Buff",['Name'] = "Trigger 1 ",['TriggerDetails'] = {['Target'] = {['Target'] = false,['Player'] = true,},['Stacks'] = {['Enabled'] = false,['Operator'] = "",},['BuffName'] = "",['TimeRemaining'] = {['Enabled'] = false,['Duration'] = 0,},},['TriggerEffects'] = {},['Behaviour'] = "Pass",},},['iconOverlay'] = {['overlayColor'] = {[1] = 1,[2] = 0,[3] = 0,[4] = 0.75,},['overlayStyle'] = "Radial",['overlayShape'] = "Solid",},['iconColor'] = {[1] = 0.093652442097664,[2] = 0.72580647468567,[3] = 0.72580647468567,[4] = 1,},['actionSets'] = {[1] = true,[2] = true,[3] = true,[4] = true,},['iconBorder'] = true,}
The Power! AMP Aura
Let’s you know when this AMP’s buff is up. Strictly cosmetic:
{['playSoundWhen'] = "Any",['iconScale'] = 0.6999999880791,['iconEnabled'] = true,['iconSprite'] = "icon_Tick",['iconSound'] = -1,['iconPosition'] = {['left'] = 212,['top'] = 11,},['SimpleMode'] = false,['onlyInCombat'] = false,['iconName'] = "The Power!",['showWhen'] = "Any",['iconText'] = {[1] = {['textFont'] = "CRB_Header10",['textAnchor'] = "OB",['textString'] = "The Power!",['textFontColor'] = {[1] = 1,[2] = 1,[3] = 1,[4] = 1,},},},['iconBackground'] = true,['Triggers'] = {[1] = {['Type'] = "Buff",['Name'] = "Trigger 1 ",['TriggerDetails'] = {['Target'] = {['Target'] = false,['Player'] = true,},['Stacks'] = {['Enabled'] = false,['Operator'] = "",},['BuffName'] = "",['TimeRemaining'] = {['Enabled'] = false,['Duration'] = 0,},},['TriggerEffects'] = {},['Behaviour'] = "Pass",},},['iconOverlay'] = {['overlayColor'] = {[1] = 1,[2] = 0,[3] = 0,[4] = 0.75,},['overlayStyle'] = "Radial",['overlayShape'] = "Solid",},['iconColor'] = {[1] = 0.093652442097664,[2] = 0.72580647468567,[3] = 0.72580647468567,[4] = 1,},['actionSets'] = {[1] = true,[2] = true,[3] = true,[4] = true,},['iconBorder'] = true,}
Recommended Esper Guides
- Carthh’s “Break Them With Your Mind: A DPS Esper’s Guide”: incredibly detailed writeup about the mechanics of our abilities, amp locations, stat prioritization, etc
Taugrim's MMO Blog 
Would love a Stalker video next!
I’m more inclined to level up an Engineer or Warrior than Stalker. All 3 can tank, but I prefer the mechanics of the prior 2.
I love it.
All the classes in this game feel really strong. I don’t know how carbine did it.
The build frankly outperformed my expectations. I thought it would be good, but it’s REALLY good, in ways that match my preferred playstyle.
I can tool people 1v1 and hold my own in a 1v2.
Once I get the charge ability @ 31 (Projected Spirit), I’ll be much more mobile too.
I think a big part of it is the player skill truly matters, thanks to the design of the combat mechanics. In WildStar, skill is a primary factor in determining outcomes, which is how it should be.
Contrast that to the old Vanilla WoW adage for PVP: gear > spec > skill
No spec or gear is going to enable a player to aim well or make the right decisions in PVP. In that sense, WildStar PVP reminds me of World of Tanks, which has a ludicrously high skill cap.
I withheld judgement about WildStar until after launch, and aside from some of the early launch bugginess, the combat mechanics are fantastic.
There is some tweaking of class balance from what I hear for endgame, e.g. Esper and Medic DPS in PVE, and the PVP stats need to be (badly) fixed, etc, but overall, the game feels surprisingly balanced for a game that just launched.
I was a bit surprised to read the number of players who claim they are unsubbing after the 1st month:
http://www.reddit.com/r/WildStar/comments/2860ij/two_weeks_have_passed_will_you_renew_your/
Agreed.
The official class forums are a blast to read. It’s a massive juxtaposition of threads that either claim a class is terrible or fantastic. It really illustrates how huge a gap skill makes in the game.
I’m not too shocked. I don’t think many players realized the kind of practice needed to excel in veteran PvE content. Many players seem put off by how un-pug friendly Wildstar is.
Agreed, and one needs to be careful whom they listen to in terms of advice or perspective.
The primary reason I wrote this guide is that there are some very suboptimal MDPS PVP builds posted on the Esper forum. It turns out veteran 50s agree with the Twilight spec and use something similar.
I freaking love the difficulty of the game. Carbine has no intention of making it any easier in dungeons LOL:
I’m glad I’m dying in PVE while *questing* ROFL, because it means I need to pay attention, as opposed to watching a movie while playing.
I found the long queue times and conventional questing to be a pretty big turnoff personally. I plan on going back at some point, but just didn’t have the patience for it on opening week.
Are you talking about login, PVP, or PVE queue times?
The first two are non-issues now. Not sure re: PVE.
Sorry, login times.
I do have a question about your setup on the video. I notice that you have a small shield/health bar and combo-point meter sitting right over your character. Is that part of the default UI or a third-party mod?
BijiPlates.
It’s a must-have addon.
The only other addon I’m currently using is AMP Finder for quality of life.
BijiPlates — interesting, thanks. That’ll probably help with one issue I found I was having with the PvE content. There just isn’t enough time to glance down to the default character display even when fighting regular enemies. The lack of constant feedback on my character’s status lead to some very off-putting deaths (ie. from healthy to dead with little indication as to when things went south).
BijiPlates has a lot of great options.
E.g.:
1. you can enable your class resource to show up above your character, so you don’t have to look down
2. you can enable cast bars for opponents, so you can see what they’re casting without having to click on them
3. you can have the class name shown for a given player, e.g. “[ss] SomeDude”, which can be helpful for identifying a class from distance before you can see their telegraphs.
Nice video. Awesome to see you back in the MMOrpg PvP world. :-D
Hey Taugrim been following you since SWTOR, great to see you back and great guide as always!
I have a couple of questions for you: 1) Have you considered swapping out one of the skills with a T4 Geist? At T4, Geist reduces damage taken by 15%, deals magic damage and grants lifesteal as well. At 25, this would mean reducing Mind Burst to base level, however it will be back to T4 at level 33. 2) Do you plan on updating your keybinding guide? I’ve been running with a modified version of your GW2 bindings and having pretty good success but still haven’t found a good place for my sprint key.
Thanks for all of your work!
Yes.
As I wrote in Design Decisions:
I don’t take either of the two summon-based lifesteals, Geist and Spectral Swarm (SS). While Geist does provide 15% mitigation and at tier 4 can heal you, the pet is somewhat squishy and can be used by your opponents to build up their resources. Ditto for SS, which also has a very significant AMP point investment. Furthermore, I don’t want to rely on pet AI
Yes, I will.
As with every other game, I mapped movement as:
W/R: left/right strafe
E/D: forward/backward
no point in binding left/right turn, since I use the mouse for that
Given the position of my fingers, a natural fit for sprint is “Q”, which allows my fingers to line up on QWER comfortably.
Hi Ed! Love your videos as always! i followed you daily when you were still playing SWTOR. Glad to see you back in the mix of things PvP wise in Wildstar. Quick question, which faction did you choose and which server are you currently playing on? If you do not feel comfortable disclosing that information here feel free to PM me or not at all. Keep up the good work!
Dominion on Pago.
I preferred Exile but followed the guild’s majority vote for Dom.
What? Esper? No, play a Warrior!
Glad to see you’re playing a game I’m into, again. That sounds shallow, but I love this site and World of Tanks just never really grasped me.
It’s not an RPG and there is no character to get attached to.
It’s good to be back playing a character I can control and customize again :)
Hi Taugrim.
Realy happy to see you back. I was always a fan of your guide/video and been following you since Warhammer Online.Funny how we always seem to be playing the same kind of class. Swordmaster in Warhammer online, Trooper in Swtor but this time we seem to have chosen a different class. I went for the warrior, i like the CC abilities and the burst seem kinda of ok at around level 28 where i am right now. Do you plan on playing one, i am curious to know your input about it. Do you know any guide out there for them?
Thanks again and i can’t wait to read/listen to more of your educationnal guide/video.
Check out Shunn’s guide on Warrior:
https://forums.wildstar-online.com/forums/index.php?/topic/38372-the-warriors-way-a-dps-warrior-guide/
I’ve been watching as well since Warhammer. I still remember your old OOOOLD burning wizard guide where you helped point out how broken they were at launch lol. Love seeing you back in a game I’m playing. We were also on the same server in Swtor and I saw you a few times in bgs.
Regarding your build at level 50, base amp points is 45, no one will have 55 for some time.
Yea, I wondered whether to stop at 45 or 55, given the Elder Gem business.
I opted for the latter to show the final target build.
I followed one of your guides of rift, which was amazing IMO. And now watching for information about DPS esper I found this one. Your build is pretty much like mine, but I’m not commenting for this. I want your opinion about the state of DPS Esper in PvP (forget pve) Because all I see everywhere is that an Esper can’t be as good as others DPS except stalker because he is nerf swell. Do you think that’s true or with enough practice and proper plays can be, at least, almost as good as the top DPS classes. And, do you think DPS Esper can be good at arenas 2’s? Because that’s what I want to play. Thanks for your time Taugrim and keep updating your content, it’s awesome!!
Objectively, DPS Esper in Arena faces the following issues:
1. nuking build is too immobile and easy to tunnel
2. melee build lacks the insane on-demand burst that Warrior has
3. SS and Engi RDPS is very good. SS brings good burst DPS, good CC, and high mobility. Engi brings very high sustained DPS, due to good crit mechanics
The issue with Stalker and MDPS Esper in Arena IMO is more a function of other classes just being very strong. Carbine already said they’re looking at toning down Warrior burst without gimping their sustained DPS.
We’ll have to see. I’m still 15 levels from 50, and I expect with Carbine’s changes the meta will shift a bit towards better balance
Your Bolster Stack Tracking Aura does not work for me, it display a error when importing into AM addon, nice guide though
Can you try again?
It may have been a blog formatting issue.
I just deleted my Aura, copied the above into my clipboard, then successfully imported in AM in-game. Worked fine.
Thanks, works great now
Hey chap great to see you back and on wildstar been a huge fan of your builds as your play style is almost identical to my own and had so much fun with your mobile dps warrior gw2 build that was so much fun to play especially in WvW. I’ll be deff rolling an esper to give this a try as looks a lot of fun to play. But I do think you should give stalker a try over the other tanks as it does seem stalker does need some taugrim loving and seems to be the most complained about class of the 3 tanking classes. Anyways keep up the good work and looking forward to more videos and guides
Are you levelling your esper up purely through pvp? I’m trying to level up by doing both pve and pvp but I’m always too high for the area after i come out of bg’s and have less gold doing pvp levelling
In this game, it’s really important for solo PVP to be in areas where the quests and mobs are 1-3 levels higher than you, because the quest rewards do not have a level requirement. So if you are level 32 and complete a 34 quest, you get a piece of gear 2 levels above you.
If you are outleveling a zone, simply skip the quests and find the next quest hub or zone.
Where did you get the AMP “The Humanity”? I cant find It anywhere..
I bought it off the AH for 24g.
It’s a good AMP.
I recommend installing AMP Finder addon. It tells you where you can acquire a given AMP.
Thanks for the recommendation but I already got the Addon. Unfortunately It says that Its a worlddrop and Its not in the AH atm either :/
I got another problem, my Skills with 2 stacks always use the 2 Stacks at once when I press the Skill only one time. Do you have any Idea why that could be?
Nevermind I found out why, when the Setting “Hold button to keep casting the skill” Is activated then It casts all charges at once with one key press.
Hey, sorry I missed your previous comment.
I recommend turning that option off, which is the default.
With which AMP Could I replace “The humanity”? I cant find It in the AH and It doesn’t drop for me either
Either of the PVP ones. They’re fillers though.
So I don’t necessarily have to buy the Humanity AMP? I would If I could but Its not in the AH as I said :/ so which of the PvP ones would you prefer?
The Humanity is a good AMP.
The 2 PVP ones are strictly filler.
I tested out the PvP build as I just turned level 25 but I’m having a big Issue, the CCs all have an extremely long cooldown..how do you handle that?
Also what about trading out Restraint for Fade Out to have an CC Breaker?
At the moment I’m having problems with CC and Stalkers that manage to leap away and stealth, especially in open pvp as I don’t have any dots to stop them from restealthing. Any Ideas how to counter that?
Root and TStorm DoT, so you can track where they go invisible.
Hey Taugrim – I’ve been following you since SWTOR, and your Vanguard Iron Fist spec was one of my favorite MMO classes to ever play.
I’m only level 28, but I’ve been having a blast playing the Twilight spec as well. The only variation is that I’m running with Shockwave because I feel it’s such a strong ability in BG’s. In Bloodsworn I routinely run to a side cap point with 3-5 guarding and knock them all off if I time it just right.
Yes, I’ve found at 50 in Rated BGs that Shockwave is immensely valuable.
I’m now slotting all 4 CCs we have. Control is superb.
If you slot all CCs which skill do drop for Shockwave?
Phantasmal Armor
So how do you survive without the CC Breaker Fade Out then?
Also I’m wondering If you do your Dailys or PvE In general with the same build you do PvP with
FO seems mandatory in Arena.
Otherwise, I use my CCs to reduce incoming damage and Projected Spirit + Shield consumable to stay alive and kite.
I’ve been using your build for a while now but my dmg seems rather weak, do you fill all items slots with pvp gear you buy or just so many pieces (if so which) and fill the remaining with pve gear.. i’m clueless when it comes to what stats i need and which items are best for us.. thanks for the great guide btw :)
PVP stats are currently broken. You get massive DR even after 3 pieces.
I slot 3 PVP pieces: Boots for run speed buff, and 2 gear slots (Support System, Implants). Rest are PVE blues.
Thanks taugrim, that might explain it then :)
Hi Mike,
An update: I’m now running 5 pieces of 1500 PVP pieces, partly because the high number of rune slots.
Probably 4 pieces is optimal from a pure stats perspective, but with 5 pieces I’ve almost completed 2 set bonuses: 12/12 Spellweaver, 11/15 Sight Before Sight.
Great build! I just played 30mins of walatiki with this build and it was a draw! Dammit haha! There was a taugrimesper on the domi side, not sure if that was you. Lol
LOL it was probably me.
I’m TaugrimEsper@Pago.
I got my 1500 gear now, and it’s a huge upgrade from the 50 blues, especially the weapon.
Oh man, thank you so much for this Taug. I had been struggling to level a warrior (so incredibly boring at lower levels), and was looking to try a new flavor before giving up on WS and this build is PERFECT. So much more enjoyment to be had. Your build philosophies and approach to pvp have really helped me step my game up.
Cheers mate,
B
When are you going to upload a new Video from you playing Bgs on level 50?
I just finished the grind to buy all the 1500-rated gear, so I’ll be recording footage this week as we try to carry guildees to 1500.
Stay tuned.
Nice to hear, Ill wait patiently then! I got to 1500 too and already farmed the Gear for It now we are trying to get our guildies to 1500 too :)
Also Im currently farming the prestige to buy the 1500 Healer Gear as DPS Esper Isnt very good in Arena against all these Warriors and Spellslingers but Heal Esper Is.
Agreed.
I tried 2v2 Arena with a 1500 Stalker for one evening, and every team we faced had a 1500/1800 Warrior, 1500/1800 DPS SS, or both. And there were teams exploiting bugs too, such as the shield buff item.
Right now SS brings too powerful ranged on-demand burst, and Warrior even after the recent nerfs to Rampage is still a terror.
Beyond the class imbalance though, which should improve as buffs to Espers and Stalkers go live, the really big issue is the way gear scales. The jumps from blue -> 1500 and from 1500 -> 1800 are so big that gear ends up being the primary factor in determining PVP outcomes, so long as the players are decent.
Finally got to test drive my 1500 gear in Rated Battlegrounds last night.
Here’s a video for a close match:
I’ve said it on youtube and I’ll say it here, Taugrim playing an mmo makes me want to play it. I lvld an Engi to 24 but it’s not the best match for me so I’m trying your esper build (kind of) and am now lvl 15. It’s a lot of fun and I really enjoy the tanky feel. Tried the warrior at even lower lvls but I like the esper mechanics better.
I’ll prob return to my engi at some point but for now it’s esper pvp all the time. Oh and the pet ai is so annoying as engi. I know i can opt out of pets but i’d like it to be my decision not the games poor ai deciding for me.
I’m very greatful for your guides. I suck at theory crafting and I don’t have a lot of time to test my own builds. Having someone elses foundation to build on is so valuable! So thank you for that and keep up the brilliant work.
The melee Esper takes a huge leap forward in capability at level 25 when you can slot T4 Psychic Frenzy.
I love the Melee Esper mechanics too – that’s the main reason I decided to stick with Esper after first rolling Warrior to 11 and then SS to 11 on live.
The upcoming changes to Esper are going to make our class stronger, i.e. more balanced, relative to other classes so I’m looking forward to them :)
Figured we should talk about the impact of the proposed Esper changes to the “Melee Mage” build that were posted last week:
https://forums.wildstar-online.com/forums/index.php?/topic/97447-esper-july-update
Obviously our Innate SF being castable while moving is a big quality of life improvement for a melee class.
Right now we have to use Dash, Projected Spirit, or move at the measley 9% afforded by our PVP boots if we want to move while self-rooted.
On the PTR, the buff to the Innate is being balanced by reducing the bubble from 300% to 250%. I’ll gladly take that tradeoff. The bubble from our Innate today is good, but our mobility is constrained, which means we eat attacks we might have been able to avoid completely.
Being mobile will allow us to avoid damage, and have the bubble absorb what it really needs to absorb.
I’m actually just as excited about the PF changes than the Innate change for the “Melee Mage” Esper.
PF on live is 2.25s to fire all 3 blades for a single cast. By reducing the initial cast by half a second, firing all 3 blades will take 1.75s. Obviously, a shorter overall cast time means higher throughput, and that means higher sustained DPS, which means higher sustain from the lifesteal, and we build PPs faster.
I’ve never complained publicly about PF, but my thought was that for a melee class – with light armor no less – this seemed like a slow spammable in terms of cast time and mediocre DPS, in this game and compared to other games. Usually melee attacks have the higher DPS, because meleeing requires staying in close range, which tends to entail more risk, and melees generally have lower uptime on their attacks as they run in and out of range. I think the shortened cast time is a step in the right direction. A huge step.
I’m also glad to see that the T8 bonus will be meaningful. Today, I always take T8 for PF, because the damage difference between T4 and T8 is significant, and more damage also means more sustain, but the T8 bonus is underwhelming. With the change to make a PP build every 3 full casts, we’ll get a nice bump to our finisher throughput. Like I said, if you aren’t already investing T8 in PF, you’re doing it wrong. But the change will provide better ROI.
Will PF become as viable as TKStrike for sustained DPS in PVE? Probably not, especially if there are AMPs that reward stationary play, as that synergizes well with a ranged build but not so much for a melee one.
In PVE, PF will still be superior for over TKStrike, given the lifesteal and ability to melee strafe targets and cause them to miss. For Espers who struggle with movement, TKStrike may feel more comfortable for them.
I can already anticipate that some Espers are going to theorycraft that stationary AMPs might provide meaningful value to Melee Mage Espers.
While there are times when our targets don’t move – either the target is stupid, or they’re CC’d – movement is critical for good MDPS gameplay, and there would be an opportunity cost to taking stationary AMPs over other ones that synergize better with a melee build.
Stationary AMPs will be incredibly relevant for PVE RDPS, but not for PVP MDPS.
———————————-
Lastly, it looks like the CC Resilience AMPs are getting reduced from 30% to 15% across the board, so I will likely use those points plus one from the Dash AMPs to take No Pain No AMP to further boost PP generation.
Overall, I’m excited about the changes. I don’t think on paper they will make “Melee Mage” Esper too strong, but they will help to address the DPS gap we see right now between our class and Warrior / Stalker.
Now that we’re at level 50 and can get Elder Gems, Taugrim, how about a picture showing which AMPs, Ability Points you would use as you get them for a Melee Mage?
I’m going to wait until the July Update announced changes go live.
The PVP stat-related AMPs will likely become far more valuable. Between that and the extra 10 AMP points, things may look quite different.
Assuming Shocked is working correctly:
http://www.ws-base.com/builds/generator/esper#1pKpqKvwvKvqvMs/971.972.973.465.345.346.347.326.327.328.329.334.335.336.343.324.333.447.448.377.378.975.463.460.461.462.474.495.496.497.498
Great guide Ed. I would like to know if you have turned on the “single press” attack feature under combat in the options section of Wildstar. This can be a disadvantage on lining up shots, but an advantage on not having to spam keys all the time. Curious what your thoughts were.
I don’t use Hold to Continue casting or whatever it’s called. I want to control what gets cast when.
There may be a very small DPS loss from delayed start time for casting, but I prefer the manual control.
Actually I started using Hold to Continue Casting, with the faster Psychic Frenzy casting.
Damn convenient LOL.
Updates per Drop 2 to the level 25/50 build links and to the AMPs progression by level.
Are those points in PvE offense useful in solo PvE? How does that work? I’ll give it a try, but I thought PvP power was only effective for PvP…
3% PVP Power AMPs and Duelist AMP are only relevant for PVP.
They’re the last 7 points I’d take on the leveling process to 50.
I’m mulling over what the Elder Gem AMP points would be.
Per vanisha’s recommendation, replaced Runes of PVP Defense with Runes of Armor, which provide better mitigation.
Slightly off-topic, and I’m not sure someone else posted this elsewhere, but please tell me you saw this linked on reddit:
http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=4635253
LOL yes, there was a thread on Reddit about it yesterday.
The LoL post was apparently a fake, but the comments were hilarious.
Added Stats Priority section.
Updated Mechanics section with in-depth lifesteal and healing mechanics.
Let me know your feedback.
Hey taugrim, i been following you for years and i have to say I love this build, but my suggestion/question is about amp selection… i personally chose Shocked! in the Hybrid A/U tree instead of Superiority in the Assault tree. my reasoning is that Superiority takes 4 amp points which are ineffecive as soon as i take any meaningful damage. where as Shocked is procced off of any hit and effectively makes TKS an AOE PVP def debuff as well as a snare.
while Superiority is a huge damage buff at the very beginning of a fight outside the first 2-3 seconds its basically 4 wasted amp points…just my 2 cents…anyways as always i love what you do and how you do it sir:) keep up the great work!
Have you tested against a player to make sure Shocked is working? I heard it was bugged, but I haven’t tested myself.
With my full 1500 gear, I can take 17.5k damage before I’ll lose Superiority.
I tend to go heavy on CCs early in a fight, and I use my 2 big heals (Projected Spirit, Protection Gadget) when I’ve dropped about 6k HP.
This helps me keep Superiority up, and with the extra damage I drop my target’s HP quickly.
while i agree better gear would make a larger difference in the duration of upkeep, it still becomes a waiting game of when will it stop working as opposed to the shocked buff.
i was unaware that it could be bugged against players and i will have to check it out and watch for the procs…it does work against target dummies for sure. if it is bugged superiority is the better choice until it is fixed.
if it is not bugged, then i feel it(shocked) allows me to maintain a more steady debuf on targets especially with multiple TKS on my targets. it also leaves me room to use other gadgets that are straight DPS boosts instead of having to use the heal gadget just to make my 4 amp point investment applicable, more often.
also skill is a huge factor too, i am definitely not the best out there and more “average” compared to a strong player such as yourself. so when i get better, and am able to keep my HP steady above the cut off then i may decide to swap back to superiority. until then, as long as it is not bugged, i think for me shocked is the better choice.
tldr: shocked is more consistent for players of varying gear types/skill levels and is not reliant on hp levels.
superiority is the clear winner if shocked is bugged(until it is fixed)
will test later on players for verification.
Did you track to see not only whether the debuff was applied, but whether your damage went up as well?
I don’t think PVP Power/Defense works on target dummies, since they are PVE. Not sure though.
This is solid reasoning.
On a somewhat related note, in BGs last night I tested running without Superiority, as I was trying out tankier builds (theorycrafting for 2v2) that focused on mitigation, and I noticed a pretty significant drop in damage and killing power:
TANKY BUILD WITH TOO MUCH DPS LOSS
http://www.ws-base.com/builds/generator/esper#1pKpqKvwvKvqvvKs/971.972.973.465.345.346.326.334.335.336.343.324.377.378.975.460.461.462.495.496.497.487.398.347.447.448.449
-4 Superiority
-4 Duelist
-3 Crit Hit
+3 PVP Def
+4 Stand Strong
+4 Iron Reflexes
TANKY BUILD WITH ACCEPTABLE DPS LOSS
http://www.ws-base.com/builds/generator/esper#1pKpqKvwvKvqvvKs/971.972.973.465.345.346.326.334.335.336.343.324.377.378.975.460.461.462.495.496.497.487.398.333
-4 Duelist
-3 Crit Hit
-3 Dash
-1 Strikethrough
+3 PVP Def
+4 Stand Strong
+4 Iron Reflexes
It is amazing how diverging from my current “Melee Mage” build – even by 11 AMP points – makes a noticeable difference.
i was not sure about the dummies for sure…and you are right my damage did not go up, however in a few duels with guldies it is verified it does work against players… and interestingly enough it dropped my buddies defense by 4% (15% to 11%) not 4% of his current defense. which i feel makes it very strong. i decided to use a build you had posted with both superiority and shocked… i opted to forgo Psychic barrier however since i dont have enough AMPs for it and it seemed like the best option to leave off…especially since i dont have much deflect crit to begin with(not that any little bit doesnt help but it seemed like the best choice)
again thanks for doing what you do! with out your stuff i would not have even thought of Esper as a class for me :)
That makes sense.
With the exception of the armor-boosting AMPs, for the most part if an AMP tooltip says boosts a stat by Y%, it means
current stat + Y%
not
current stat x (1 + Y%)
FWIW, here’s the build I was running 3v3 last night, seems to work:
http://www.ws-base.com/builds/generator/esper#1pKpqKvKvrMvqvKvs/334.335.336.326.333.460.461.462.343.465.324.495.496.497.498.377.378.975.327.328.329.447.448.398
Not sure whether I should be taking Stand Strong instead of Iron Reflexes, but IR may have more “uptime” since it can be triggered regardless of HP level.
Added the following per Drop 2:
The following video provides an update to the “Melee Mage” build for the PVP Drop 2 patch, breaks down the lifesteal mechanics and math, and discusses MuffinMan’s awesome news about proposed PVP gear changes.
Have you got any plans on what you’re going to do with the AMP points you get from Elder Gems?
I was looking at throwing them in to Crit Severity, CC Resilience, then a Tier 2 such as The Power, Inspirational Charge, or Shocked (assuming that it’s working, now), personally.
Assuming Shocked is working correctly:
http://www.ws-base.com/builds/generator/esper#1pKpqKvwvKvqvMs/971.972.973.465.345.346.347.326.327.328.329.334.335.336.343.324.333.447.448.377.378.975.463.460.461.462.474.495.496.497.498
– 1 from Dash
+ 4 in Shocked
+ 3 in PVP Defense
+ 4 in Psychic Barrier
CC Resilience was nerfed from 30% to 15% so not worth it IMO.
This guide has helped me so much, just wanted to thank you.
Right now, I’m actually having lots of fun hunting stalkers that are bothering questers in Crimson Badlands.. :-)
Decided to go back to pvp but my rating is at 1k, should i wear all pvp blues?
Yes, all PVP gear.
You need the PVP Power and the PVP Defense.
Swapped out AMP points from Strikethrough and Dash to take The Power!
Updated the build links and AMPs order diagram.
Added notes about which AMP-based Empowers can overwrite themselves and which cannot.
Thanks! Is it worth it to rune pvp blues?
Depends how much you want to be carried, and how easily you can get to 1250, 1300, 1350, etc without runes.
I runed my blues, but that’s because when I was getting to 1500 in RBGs there was only one 1500 player I was grouping with in my guild (and he was playing a stalker not a FOTM SS or Warrior pre-Drop 2).
Hey Taugrim great guide. did You consider swap No remorse with Duelist isnt 4.5% PVP offensive better than dmg from No remorse ?
As of Drop 2 I take both
awesome mate we both think same way :)
preface: no offense intended, just looking for clarification.
Do you take The Power amp or not? You say a few contradictory things:
1. “2014/08/11: swapped out AMP points from Strikethrough and Dash to take The Power…”
2. Point 2 under the “Stat Priority” section reads “and as of Drop 2 Patch I no longer take The Power”.
3. The screenshot of the action set builder shows level 38 over “The Power”.
Regards!
Fixed in the Guide.
In the current build I have linked in the Guide, I have The Power. It’s very good for pumping out damage.
That said, for 2v2 Arena I’m taking more defense-oriented AMPs, and of the good three 2nd tier Assault AMPs, The Power is the weakest.
A quick update, as I have been doing 2v2 Arena the past couple weeks.
Here is the 2v2 Arena build I’m running with:
http://www.ws-base.com/builds/generator/esper#1pKpqKvwvKvqvKvs/334.335.336.326.333.460.461.462.343.465.324.377.378.975.327.328.329.447.448.443.495.496.497.498
Note the following AMP decisions:
1. the best defensive AMP is probably Psychic Barrier, as it has good uptime and is anti-burst protection. I have tried Iron Reflexes and Stand Strong. IR boosted my mitigation from ~25% to 30%, which is decent but not huge, and it has a 15-sec ICD. SS provides a big mitigation bump but has a very long 30-sec ICD, and moreover it only procs when you are already at low HP
2. Inspirational Charge has excellent uptime with TStorm, and mobility for a melee spec is always a good thing
3. Due to having only 45/55 AMP points to work with, I take 3% PVP Power and 0% Lifesteal. As I talked about in my Drop 2 video, lifesteal only steals based on the actual HP damage you inflict
I’m waiting until the AMP/Ability changes go live, which will make it much easier to get to 48 Ability Points.
What are your thoughts on the assassin/fusion blast rune sets? I would think that they would synergize with TK storm and psy blades quite well.
The issue with the Assassin set is that the only Rune it makes good use of is Logic.
There are much better sets for Fire runes, and better sets for Life runes.
Major updates throughout the guide. Added arena content :)