Support/DPS Build -- Feedback Appreciated

theigmo

Hey all! I'm a returning player (started back during the freeform sale a week or two ago), and I just finished leveling my new freeform slot character up to 40, and looking for some feedback on the current build. My aim is to have a support/dps character that is fire-based (using powers that I feel look fire-like). Overall I'm pretty pleased with how survivable it is, but I feel like it could be better on the damage side of things. For equipment, I'm primarily using heirloom equipment, with two Legion pieces that I swapped in last night (using rank 7 mods, since that's the highest I had on hand). Build posted below, but I am interested in feedback on ways to maybe bump the damage up a bit without ruining the support aspects (I'd prefer to not swap to hybrid to run this, since it's running AoPM). Thanks in advance for any advice/feedback!

Effigy - Freeform

Super Stats
Level 6: Presence (Primary)
Level 10: Constitution (Secondary)
Level 15: Intelligence (Secondary)

Talents
Level 1: The Witch (Con: 10, Int: 8, Pre: 10, Rec: 10)
Level 6: Healthy Mind (Con: 5, Int: 5)
Level 9: Shrug It Off (Con: 5, Pre: 5)
Level 12: Diplomatic (Int: 5, Pre: 5)
Level 15: Boundless Reserves (Con: 5, End: 5)
Level 18: Investigator (Int: 5, End: 5)
Level 21: Prodigy (Pre: 5, End: 5)

Powers
Level 1: Throw Fire
Level 1: Fireball (Unstable Accelerant)
Level 6: Thermal Reverberation
Level 8: Conflagration (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 11: Aura of Primal Majesty (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 14: Concentration
Level 17: Pillar of Poz (Dizzying Impact, Dilemma)
Level 20: Absorb Heat (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 23: Fire Snake (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 26: Flashfire
Level 29: Will-o'-the-Wisp (Guide, Ghost Fire)
Level 32: Empathic Healing
Level 35: Energy Wave (Reverse Polarity, Recharge)
Level 38: Force Shield (Force Sheathe)
Adv. Points: 31/36

Travel Powers
Level 6: Fire Flight
Level 35: Teleportation

Specializations
Presence: Repurpose (3/3)
Presence: Grandeur (2/3)
Presence: Moment of Glory (3/3)
Presence: Force of Will (2/2)
Guardian: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Guardian: Locus (2/2)
Guardian: Ruthless (2/2)
Guardian: The Best Defense (3/3)
Vindicator: Aggressive Stance (2/2)
Vindicator: Merciless (3/3)
Vindicator: Modified Gear (2/2)
Vindicator: Mass Destruction (3/3)
Mastery: Vindicator Mastery (1/1)

pwestolemyname

Well, your damage problem is mostly coming from your AoPM. That means you have to run in Hybrid or Support role, which lowers damage.

Also, why INT as SSS? Why not EGO? EGO buffs ranged damage.

It looks like you are trying to do too much, a little damage, a little debuffing, a little healing. That means you won't do any one of those well.

theigmo

pwestolemyname said:

Well, your damage problem is mostly coming from your AoPM. That means you have to run in Hybrid or Support role, which lowers damage.

Also, why INT as SSS? Why not EGO? EGO buffs ranged damage.

It looks like you are trying to do too much, a little damage, a little debuffing, a little healing. That means you won't do any one of those well.

I wound up going INT for the power cost reduction (NINJA EDIT) and also to help with the Concentration damage buff. With AoPM up, Ego's ranged damage boost is around 21%, which isn't far off from the soft-cap is it (I honestly thought this was capped at 20%)? Without AoPM I'd have to basically start from scratch, since it's fueling my crit percent with Moment of Glory (bumps it up to 25% and Vindicator gets my AoEs [which are most of the powers] up to a 34% crit rate) -- on top of that, it's also what I'm using to bump up my survival, since it's also fueling a pretty significant defense bump with Force of Will.

My damage isn't TERRIBLE, but I'm peaking out at around 700/tick 1300/crit tick with conflagration (my primary DPS skill) -- I'm mostly curious if there are some powers that I should swap out to bump that average damage up a little more. If it's just plain not doable, I understand, but I've seen some pretty durable DPS that also do some pretty spectacular healing, and I'm just sort of trying to figure out how to get from where I am to where they are. I could run in hybrid mode for the damage bump, but that pretty much halves the stat bonus that the team gets and makes healing a bit more of a struggle (while absorb heat is pretty great at healing the group regardless of role in general, the single-stack casts of it don't heal much in hybrid, and that keeps it from being a great "oh crap" button).

flowcyto

The Support role considerably cripples ur dmg potential, due to the dmg penalty and low dmg scaling on SS's- to a degree you can't really avoid having rel low dps in Support. The build is mostly okay for its stated goals, though I prob would move ranks from Firesnake to Empathic Healing if the latter is ur normal heal. But it does depend on how often you end up using various powers. Your build is a mix of close-range stuff (Pillar, EWave, Absorb Heat) w/ some 50ft range stuff, so I'm not really sure what ur normally doing when fielding it. It also lacks a self res or an ally res.

theigmo

Thank you for your suggestions. Here's what I wound up with:

Effigy - Freeform

Super Stats
Level 6: Presence (Primary)
Level 10: Constitution (Secondary)
Level 15: Intelligence (Secondary)

Talents
Level 1: The Witch (Con: 10, Int: 8, Pre: 10, Rec: 10)
Level 6: Diplomatic (Int: 5, Pre: 5)
Level 9: Shrug It Off (Con: 5, Pre: 5)
Level 12: Healthy Mind (Con: 5, Int: 5)
Level 15: Enduring (Con: 8)
Level 18: Brilliant (Int: 8)
Level 21: Intimidating (Pre: 8)

Powers
Level 1: Throw Fire
Level 1: Fireball (Unstable Accelerant)
Level 6: Thermal Reverberation
Level 8: Aura of Primal Majesty (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 11: Conflagration (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 14: Absorb Heat (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 17: Pillar of Poz (Dizzying Impact, Dilemma)
Level 20: Fire Snake (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 23: Will-o'-the-Wisp (Guide, Ghost Fire)
Level 26: Death's Embrace (Rank 2, Pact)
Level 29: Force Shield (Rank 2, Force Sheathe)
Level 32: Compassion
Level 35: Empathic Healing
Level 38: Flashfire
Adv. Points: 36/36

Travel Powers
Level 6: Flight (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Teleportation (Rank 2)

Specializations
Presence: Selfless Ally (2/2)
Presence: Grandeur (3/3)
Presence: Moment of Glory (3/3)
Presence: Force of Will (2/2)
Guardian: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Guardian: Locus (2/2)
Guardian: Ruthless (2/2)
Guardian: The Best Defense (3/3)
Vindicator: Aggressive Stance (2/2)
Vindicator: Merciless (3/3)
Vindicator: The Rush of Battle (2/3)
Vindicator: Mass Destruction (3/3)
Mastery: Vindicator Mastery (1/1)

The way I've been playing this is: From range, cast Fire Snake and Will-o'-the-Wisp, fly into melee range, cast Pillar of Poz (damage debuff, snare, and start Compassion stacks), cast Absorb Heat (Will-o'-the-Wisp ensures that there is at least one stack of Clinging Flames to proc the heals -- this will generally heal me from damage taken during the alpha strike and start up the HoT, which with Pillar of Poz keeps me healed up), cast Fireball (to apply UA), and burn everything down with Conflagration. Most of the time I reserve Flashfire for boss fights, since it's normally faster to skip it with normal groups. Empathic Healing is mostly used for out of combat heals (and group content before I can get my Clinging Flames/Absorb Heat rotation going), and Death's Embrace is what I use to keep people from healing Kigatilik get people back up and fighting. I'm still trying to figure out the best gear setup, but right now, I've got a relatively even distribution on primary and secondary super stats.

Edit: Question for anyone who might know -- do Jinxed and Disorient stack? They have the same debuffs (except Jinxed also does a knock-down on expiration), so I mostly want to make sure that I'm getting benefit for having both on Pillar of Poz.

flowcyto

Jinxed and Disorient do stack, yes. Only issue w/ rolling Jinxed as a dmg debuff is that it has a considerably shorter duration than the others, so if using Pillar for it, then you've got to be on top of its cd use.

The build is still a bit strange to me, but if it seems to suit ur slated playstyle, then so be it. My only other vague concern is how reliably you can stack/roll Compassion in this build when in combat. People have complained in the past of Compassion falling off when relying on HoTs or more passive healing sources.

pwestolemyname

At this point, I recommend going a little heavier on the heals and just use the fire as background damage.

I mean, if it solos alright, and soloing is mostly what you do, then great, keep it as is. But, for team play, I think more healing would do you well.