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Guide to Spec Trees
Archived Post
Posts: 1,156,071 Arc User
So, I'm Sage. I'm in Wildcards. And I like playing with builds. So the new spec trees are quite intriguing.
However, not everyone else is as crazy-gleeful about an entirely new complexity layer being placed on top of the multiple levels of complexity we already have in making builds. If you're one of them, that's okay. It means you're probably sane.
The following is an attempt to map out some useful applications of the spec trees to various builds. This isn't the end-all be-all, and should be taken with a grain of salt. The way I play may not be remotely similar to the way you play, and we may see value in entirely different things. But I'm hoping this will at least be useful as a starting point for experimentation.
This is going to be a work-in-progress for like the next week. Bear with me.
Basics:
Spec trees grant buffs to specific stats or to specific aspects of character performance. Their benefits fall into a few broad categories:
Gear boosts
Buffs to what superstats do
Buffs to certain categories of attacks or powers
Character stat boosts
Other types of buffs that don't fit in the above categories
Taking a break for now, going to start in on the Role trees next.
However, not everyone else is as crazy-gleeful about an entirely new complexity layer being placed on top of the multiple levels of complexity we already have in making builds. If you're one of them, that's okay. It means you're probably sane.
The following is an attempt to map out some useful applications of the spec trees to various builds. This isn't the end-all be-all, and should be taken with a grain of salt. The way I play may not be remotely similar to the way you play, and we may see value in entirely different things. But I'm hoping this will at least be useful as a starting point for experimentation.
This is going to be a work-in-progress for like the next week. Bear with me.
Basics:
Spec trees grant buffs to specific stats or to specific aspects of character performance. Their benefits fall into a few broad categories:
Gear boosts
Gear boosts increase the performance of gear. They usually increase the offense or defense gained by gear, or sometimes both. Now, if you've played Champions before the megapatch, enough to where you had a chance to play around with old gear, you're probably wondering "so what?". Well...this aspect of the Spec system ties in with the revamp to gear.
"New" offensive gear has +offense baked into it, and every new piece of gear has some +defense baked in as well. +Offense provides a damage boost, and +Defense provides a resistance to all damage. These scale on Cryptic math, so a "+31% damage boost" from offense doesn't mean you're doing 31% more damage overall. It's still a significant damage boost though. As a general rule of thumb, these Spec choices are always useful, but they're not always the best choice at a given decision point.
"New" offensive gear has +offense baked into it, and every new piece of gear has some +defense baked in as well. +Offense provides a damage boost, and +Defense provides a resistance to all damage. These scale on Cryptic math, so a "+31% damage boost" from offense doesn't mean you're doing 31% more damage overall. It's still a significant damage boost though. As a general rule of thumb, these Spec choices are always useful, but they're not always the best choice at a given decision point.
Buffs to what superstats do
These talents add abilities to your character that scale off your superstats. First off, I'm going to draw a distinction here between "stats" and "superstats", and then divide "superstats" into "major superstat" and "minor superstats". Stats are your "Core" Stats that every character has. Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Ego, Intelligence, Presence, Recovery, Endurance. Hover over these to see what they do, at base. These boosts are always on.
Now, when you pick your "Superstats", you're basically saying "when I make these stats higher, I get better at what I do". Your Character Role that you select (Hybrid, Tank, Melee Damage, Ranged Damage, Support) determines how your Superstats determine "what you do", and you can change this by swapping Roles (on a Freeform. As an AT, you're stuck with whatever the devs selected as your default.) You pick one stat to be your "Major" Superstat. It increases with level (to an increase of +80 at level 40) and determines what Stat Tree you have access to in your Specializations. You then pick two "Minor" Superstats. These get a smaller boost with level (+40 to each at level 40).
In addition to doing whatever they do by virtue of existing (Con giving HP, Pre boosting healing, Dex boosting crit chance, etc), your superstats also give bonuses based on them being selected as Superstats. Your superstats give a damage bonus (along with healing bonuses and threat bonuses/reductions, depending on Role) based on how high they are compared to an unlisted "target" the devs think is an appropriate number for the level you're at. This is why, if you have some gear on, and you go from level 20 to 21, your damage (and other) bonus from superstats may drop slightly, because you're a bit off from that level's "target" value. I don't have these values for all the level range, but a general rule of thumb is that, in Hybrid role, if you're at about a 30% damage boost from your Major Superstat, you're doing well. That's about 200 points at level 40, I think.
What these types of Talents do is add an effect to your character that scales on how high your Superstats are. Sometimes these are keyed off your Major Superstat (like in the Int tree, there's a Talent that adds Armor Penetration based on your Intelligence). And sometimes they are keyed off the total of your two combined Minor Superstats. Like extra critical severity, knock resistance or crowd control strength.
These talents are often very useful, and are sometimes the main reason for picking a certain Major Superstat (besides wanting a lot of whatever the Stat does at base, like Con giving HP. Sweet HP...)
Now, when you pick your "Superstats", you're basically saying "when I make these stats higher, I get better at what I do". Your Character Role that you select (Hybrid, Tank, Melee Damage, Ranged Damage, Support) determines how your Superstats determine "what you do", and you can change this by swapping Roles (on a Freeform. As an AT, you're stuck with whatever the devs selected as your default.) You pick one stat to be your "Major" Superstat. It increases with level (to an increase of +80 at level 40) and determines what Stat Tree you have access to in your Specializations. You then pick two "Minor" Superstats. These get a smaller boost with level (+40 to each at level 40).
In addition to doing whatever they do by virtue of existing (Con giving HP, Pre boosting healing, Dex boosting crit chance, etc), your superstats also give bonuses based on them being selected as Superstats. Your superstats give a damage bonus (along with healing bonuses and threat bonuses/reductions, depending on Role) based on how high they are compared to an unlisted "target" the devs think is an appropriate number for the level you're at. This is why, if you have some gear on, and you go from level 20 to 21, your damage (and other) bonus from superstats may drop slightly, because you're a bit off from that level's "target" value. I don't have these values for all the level range, but a general rule of thumb is that, in Hybrid role, if you're at about a 30% damage boost from your Major Superstat, you're doing well. That's about 200 points at level 40, I think.
What these types of Talents do is add an effect to your character that scales on how high your Superstats are. Sometimes these are keyed off your Major Superstat (like in the Int tree, there's a Talent that adds Armor Penetration based on your Intelligence). And sometimes they are keyed off the total of your two combined Minor Superstats. Like extra critical severity, knock resistance or crowd control strength.
These talents are often very useful, and are sometimes the main reason for picking a certain Major Superstat (besides wanting a lot of whatever the Stat does at base, like Con giving HP. Sweet HP...)
Buffs to certain categories of attacks or powers
These add additional effects, damage buffs or cost discounts to certain types of Powers, or certain Powers when they're used on certain targets. They range from buffing the effects of your shields when used on other people, to making your Stuns/Holds/Roots make targets take extra damage, to increasing the damage of Combo Attacks or Blasts, to reducing the cooldowns of Active Offenses/Defenses, to many other types of things.
What you need to know in making use of these types of Talents is that you have to have the type of power they buff to get use out of them. A few terms to know when looking at these are "Blasts", "Combo Powers", "Shields", "Heals", Active Offenses, Active Defenses and the various flavors of Crowd Control (like Hold, Stun, Root, Snare, Incapacitate, etc). When you look at the details in the Power Window, it'll show you what a power is tagged as. Here's a very brief description of the two new types of power tags (Blasts and Combos), with some example powers of each type. For every other type of power, check the CO Wiki.
At the end of this section is a list of what powers fall under what tags, for a few of the more confusing tags.
These talents are quite useful if you're making heavy use of the powers they buff, but somewhat useless otherwise.
What you need to know in making use of these types of Talents is that you have to have the type of power they buff to get use out of them. A few terms to know when looking at these are "Blasts", "Combo Powers", "Shields", "Heals", Active Offenses, Active Defenses and the various flavors of Crowd Control (like Hold, Stun, Root, Snare, Incapacitate, etc). When you look at the details in the Power Window, it'll show you what a power is tagged as. Here's a very brief description of the two new types of power tags (Blasts and Combos), with some example powers of each type. For every other type of power, check the CO Wiki.
At the end of this section is a list of what powers fall under what tags, for a few of the more confusing tags.
Blast - Usually Tier 0 ranged attacks that can be charged. An example is Ice Blast. Low-tier maintains (like Two-Gun Mojo, TK Assault) or taps (like Fire Strike) are not Blasts, and do not benefit from Blast specs.
Combo - These are Tier 0 melee attacks that involve hitting a button multiple times to do different attacks, with increasing energy costs and damage as you finish the combo, with the third hit being the biggest. Blade Tempest, Ego Weaponry and Cleave are examples here. Frenzy and Laser Sword are not "Combo" powers, even though they may look like it.
List of Blasts:
- Ice Blast
- Gust
- Chain Lightning
- Force Blast
- Experimental Blaster
- Power Gauntlet
- Straight Shot
- Shotgun Blast (Yes, I know, wtf)
- Ego Blast
- Rebuke
- Shadow Blast
- Eldritch Blast (this is really pretty now)
- Infernal Blast
Combo - These are Tier 0 melee attacks that involve hitting a button multiple times to do different attacks, with increasing energy costs and damage as you finish the combo, with the third hit being the biggest. Blade Tempest, Ego Weaponry and Cleave are examples here. Frenzy and Laser Sword are not "Combo" powers, even though they may look like it.
List of Combos:
- Blade Tempest
- Viper's Fangs
- Thundering Kicks
- Reaper's Caress
- Ego Weaponry
- Beatdown
- Defensive Combo
- Cleave
- Bullet Beatdown
- Shred
These talents are quite useful if you're making heavy use of the powers they buff, but somewhat useless otherwise.
Character stat boosts
These are buffs to your character's abilities that are either always-on, or trigger when you hit a certain condition. Most of them take the form of buffs to "Substats". Yes, because the STAT MADNESS above was not enough. These are stats that are usually derived from your Core stats, though some of them are base to the character, and some are gained only through powers. So Dex gives Critical Strike, or every character when completely naked has 10% dodge chance, 20% avoidance and 50% Critical Severity, for instance. A lot of buffs to these types of stats are on gear, but you can also get buffs to them through Talents.
These talents are great for certain types of builds that make use of them, but can be useful to pretty much any character.
List of substats, by slot (or slot they are associated with):
Offensive - Critical Strike, Critical Severity, +Offense, + Heal Strength, +Primary Superstat (yes, this adds to whatever your Primary Superstat is)
Defensive - +Dodge, + Avoid, +Defense, +Crowd Control Resistance, + Maximum HP
Utility - Cost Reduction, Cooldown Reduction, Crowd Control Strength
Offensive - Critical Strike, Critical Severity, +Offense, + Heal Strength, +Primary Superstat (yes, this adds to whatever your Primary Superstat is)
Defensive - +Dodge, + Avoid, +Defense, +Crowd Control Resistance, + Maximum HP
Utility - Cost Reduction, Cooldown Reduction, Crowd Control Strength
These talents are great for certain types of builds that make use of them, but can be useful to pretty much any character.
Other types of buffs that don't fit in the above categories
These are oddball talents that don't fit in any other category. There are the Aura talents in each of the "Support" trees that grant an always-on buff to you and any teammates/pets within 150 feet, talents that grant immunity or run speed boosts, and talents that grant buffs on you for doing certain things.
These range from practically useless to completely game-destroying, depending on what you're trying to do.
These range from practically useless to completely game-destroying, depending on what you're trying to do.
Taking a break for now, going to start in on the Role trees next.
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Stat Trees:
Your first available tree is determined by what Major Superstat you select. The abilities available in the tree should be taken into account as well as the stats base effect when you are selecting your Primary Superstat.
Its also not always necessary to assume that your Primary superstat will be your highest stat. You may want to Primary a certain stat for access to its tree abilities, but then buff your Secondary superstats with gear and talents beyond the level of Superstat diminishing returns after you get your Primary Superstat to a sufficient level.
Example: End Primary Superstat with Con and Dex as Secondary Superstats. Getting your End to about 230 and your Con/Dex to about 220 each would be a better investment than getting your End to say 290 and your Con/Dex to 180 each.
But if youre going with something like Ego/pre/int on a sniper, you may want to buff your Primary more than your Secondaries.
Stat emphasis depends on the build and what you want to do with it.
A few things to keep in mind about powers and stats that have changed with the recent patch:
-Imbue scales off either Presence OR Constitution now. So bubble builds can have a scary spike
-Ego and Strength give ranged/melee bonuses, respectively. These are soft-capped, so investing in them past 70 is a good idea. The caps on these are a bit more generous than superstat caps, so you can get to about 40% damage increase to their respective area with about 300 in the stat. This is in the same bonus layer as superstats.
-New offensive gear gives, essentially, everyone mini-Enrage (from the +Offense on gear). Im describing it as mini-Enrage because its basically a flat damage bonus to all your attacks. Its nowhere near the magnitude of Enrage backed by high Strength, but its a decent boost (about 30% boost around 200 Offense, if I remember correctly). This sits in the same layer as your Superstat Damage bonus. This, on its own, makes up for the loss of damage in the Tank/Support roles, IMO.
-New utility gear gives everyone, essentially, a minor in Int as far as cost reduction/cooldown reduction goes. This means every build has a lot more energy efficiency, as soon as you start getting new Utility gear. It doesnt have to be purples, or even blues. AH greens (which are dirt cheap) are still a nice bit of cost redux/cooldown redux. This also means that Int as a superstat isnt quite as appealing on its own for energy management, as Int hits diminishing returns with cooldown/cost reduction gear.
- New utility gear means End and Rec are more viable choices for energy management now. Youll still want to take Int if youre using MSA, using Quarry, or have powers with cooldowns that you want to lower, but its no longer the absolute best choice for energy efficiency on a per-stat basis.
-New defense gear has more +Defense on it, and all gear (old and new) has some Defense on it. The old Physical Defense and Energy Defense gear types got rolled into one number, Defense. Focusing on this substat in your gear/talents isnt going to make you a tank on its own, but it can make for a damned tough offensive squishy, and further buffs tanks into unkillable walls of meat. Think of Defense as mini-Defiance.
-Youre going to see a lot of crit-related talents in the Spec trees, especially once you get into the Role trees. This doesnt mean the devs want everyone to go Dex, or that its required. The new +Critical Strike rating substat on gear is quite good, even for people with no Dex whatsoever. This, combined with the innate 50% crit severity everyone starts with, means that you can get about a 25% crit rate without talents or Dex, just from using +Crit Strike gear. For builds that normally wouldnt have anything to do with crits, they can now pick it up at little cost to their build.
-If you want to focus on crits, you have three choices. Dex tree (best for melee crit characters or just general crit-monkey-ness.) Ego tree (for massive crits, better with ranged characters due to Egos innate ranged damage boost, but usable for melee. Especially Dragons Claws builds.) Presence Tree (surprisingly enough. It has a talent that can give you about 8-10% crit rate, on its own. TK/Seraphim plays nicely with this)
-The spec trees, in general, do not contain a lot of flat damage boosts. You can boost offense or crit rate or crit severity or the damage of certain selected types of powers, but youre not going to find a lot of pick this spec for 50% more damage sort of things. If youre looking to spec trees for damage, youre going to end up tailoring it to your build.
-The spec trees do, however, contain a lot of quality of life survival options, as well as some ridiculously strong survival options. I would guess the Devs intent here is to make it so non-defensive-passive users can be more survivable. This also means tanks are ridiculously hard to kill now, but thats why Im ignoring PvP for the next six months or so.
-The point of the two above comments is to point one thing out. You arent going to gimp your build with your spec choices. Relax. You may not be getting as much of a buff out of them as you could, but you arent going to ruin your build. Everything in the spec tree is a buff of some sort. It just may be a buff to a power type you arent using, or a buff that doesnt help you very much.
Stat Tree info follows in the next few posts (I'm long-winded). Check Ryko_Nailo's topic at http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=145568 for detailed numbers.
The following are my opinions on the Spec Trees. I've tried not to be factually wrong, but if I am, please feel free to correct me. Just please don't be a **** about it. Opinions would also be welcome.
I'm going to "reserve" some posts here too, as I've still got Role Trees and Builds to cover.
Note: Remember how I established those "categories" in the first post? Talents are going to be color-coded according to what type they are.
Gear Boosts: These apply to any gear you have equipped. As long as you have gear (usually new gear, as old gear usually doesn't give +Offense), these will always give a boost.
Buffs to what Superstats do:These apply no matter what your Superstats are. As long as you have superats, you're getting the benefit.
Buffs to certain categories of Attacks or Powers: These only apply if you use a power they effect or meet a condition they require. You need to build around these, but they can be quite useful.
Character Stat Boosts: These are always-on and scale with a specific Stat or Substat. The scaling stat/substat is in Bold. You need to have some of the stat this requires to get a benefit from it.
Other: These are things that defy normal classification. There's only a few of these.
Strength
Strength tree is designed to give a bit of extra survival while also helping you hit things better/harder. A lot of its stuff is melee, but it also has some decent boosts in there for ranged characters thatll never touch melee (like if youre using Enrage).
Tier 1 -
Physical Peak is one of the Strength trees melee boosts. It makes your melee attacks cheaper. If youre melee, max it.
Quick Recovery is one of those Quality of Life survival boosts I mentioned. It gives you scaling HP regeneration based on your Rec. This is not a lot of HP, at all. At rank 2, with 150 Rec, its 30 HP a tick, or 10 HP per second. Looking at this, its minor almost to the point of insignificance. But...if youre using something like IDF or Invulnerability, its enough to completely negate some henchmen attacks, and it can (when combined with block turtling) be a way to slow down losses in a battle of attrition. Its not a substitute for real healing, but it can be stacked with other things. Dont discount it off the bat.
Aggression gives extra Offense from Items. If youre starting out fresh from the patch, with no new gear, this is going to seem useless. Its not. Id take this unless youre melee, and might even suggest taking it if you are melee and dont want the minor survival boosts of Swole/QR.
Tier 2-
Brutality causes your Secondary Superstats to give you Crit Severity. Now, youre probably wondering why a Strength build cares about Crit Severity. Three reasons, even if you dont have Dex in your build: 1. Crit Strike gear 2. The Overpower Talent 3. Crits are basically a free damage boost if you grab Crit Strike gear. This isnt going to make you a critmonkey on its own, but its an additonal boost you can stack on top of other boosts.
Juggernaut makes your Con grant Defense. This is better than it sounds, because Defense is a bit better than it sounds.
Overpower causes your Strength to give extra Critical Chance to your melee powers. If youre a melee build, youll probably want to take Physical Power along with this and Brutality. If youre not, this can be ignored. This isnt a very big boost on its own (about 6% at rank 3 with about 150 Strength), but again, it can be stacked with other things. And if youre Strength, youre probably using Enrage and likely Aggressor, so an extra multiplicative damage bonus every once in a while is a good thing.
Strength Mastery-
Dexterity
Dex tree is the critmonkey tree, and its damned good at it. Anyone wanting more damage and a bit more survival would do well to take this tree. Dodge builds will especially like it.
Tier 1-
Gear Utilization is a nice generalist talent that makes both your Offense and Defense from gear better. Unless you reaallly want something else from Tier 1, Id give this a good look.
Brush it Off is a nice situational bonus that makes you more likely to dodge AoE attacks. If youre a DPS in either Ranged/Melee damage roles (and your Tanks either taken threat boosts or is in Tank role and isnt asleep), youre not likely to be directly targetted by things that the Tanks occupying. AoEs are the main thing thats going to hit you, and this talent helps survive them a bit. Its not bad, since its a flat bonus to AoEs (as opposed to Dodge rating, which DR eats alive).
Power Swell causes your crits to make your next attack/heal cheaper. If youre having energy issues, you may want to take a look at it. But crit-based builds (at least the most common ones) usually dont have that many energy issues (Form of the Tempest helps here, of course). May want to take it if youre spamming high-cost attacks.
Tier 2-
Deadly Aim is amazing. If youre taking the Dex tree and you arent taking this talent, you deserve to be ridiculed. WITH SCORN. This causes your Secondary Superstats to buff your Critical Severity. At an average superstat number (150, which is low when you get new gear), youre getting about 19% critical severity. Y helo thar, 20% damage bonus on crits. Take this, max it, love it, stack with other critical severity buffs for extra lulz.
Expose Weakness dovetails nicely with Deadly Aim (and the Dex tree as a whole). It causes a stacking resistance debuff to all damage on your target every time you crit. At Rank 2, with 5 stacks, this is a 10% damage resistance debuff. Quite nice for damage dealers, especially if youre already getting some dodge from your passive (WotW or Quarry) and youd get a relatively low boost from the Dodge/Avoid talents in this tree.
Quick Reflexes causes your Dex to add a bit of a dodge boost. The numbers on this are better than the Avoid from Evasion, but Dodge is a bit easier to get than Avoid. This would be far better if it wasnt competing with Expose Weakness, let alone Deadly Aim.
Dexterity Mastery-
Constitution
Con tree is primarily for tanking, or at least tankiness. It doesnt have any offensive-buffing Talents at all. However, combining Con superstat and the Con tree with, say, Dex or Str or Ego as Secondary Superstats and an Offensive Passive can make for quite a durable Blaster-type.
Tier 1
Fuel my Fire is basically a mini-version of the energy return from Defiance. This is pretty good to add to other energy options (or even Defiance itself), but it only works if youre getting hit.
Tough causes your Secondary Superstats to grant you health. As youre pretty much required to have a lot of Con if youre using Con as your major Superstat, this means you probably arent hurting for HP. Take if you want to make a ridiculously high-HP monster, but its not that useful (1.5 HP per point of secondary superstat is pretty tiny)
Resilient adds an extra dimension of tanky to Con, protecting against knocks. If you dont have Strength as a superstat, max this. If you do...you still may want to max it. Especially since knock resistance gear is MIA in the new gear reality.
Tier 2
Quick Healing is similar to the other heal over time talents in the Strength, Recovery and Endurance trees. It scales off of Secondary Superstats instead of specifically Recovery, though. This makes it more useful to Con tree, as it works even without Recovery. Can be somewhat useful to add on to other self-heals and to help patch you up from henchmen attacks (especially on ATs that otherwise lack self-healing), but its not the end-all, be-all of heals by any means.
Adrenaline Rush causes you to get healed for 2% (at max rank) of your health every time you crit. Since youre Con superstat, this is a pretty nice chunk of HP. This may make adding some Crit Strike gear or Dex into your build, and can be quite good for dodge tanks that are also somewhat crit-based.
Armored is a % boost to your Defense from Items. Good for anyone that wants a bit of extra space between themselves and oblivion. This is the highest gear defense boost available in the trees, but Gear Utilization is almost as good (and also adds Offense). Con doesnt get Gear Utilization, though. You can have some pretty nice shenanigans going by combining this with some of the tank role trees, as Ill get to later.
Constitution Mastery-
Int tree is a bit of an oddball one. It has the most broken Talent in the game (Revitalize) along with several other niche boosts to various things or to the effectiveness of stats. It can give you innate Resistance Penetration (think Dragons Wrath) on every attack, which makes it pretty okay for a DPSer and would-be-good for PvP (if tanks werent more ridiculous now than ever). Int on its own is also good for builds with a lot of cooldowns, and you may want to use it for making a dedicated Controller as well, as its talent to add Int to Crowd Control Strength stacks with Talents, Gear and Presences +Crowd Control strength. This is one of these trees that (Im *******izing someones sig here), you might need a Real-Life Int superstat to understand. Its quirky.
Tier 1
Enlightened is a weird one. It takes your non-superstats (so the five left after picking your Primary and two Secondaries) and makes them give more of a bonus. Str/Ego gives more melee/ranged damage, Dex gives more crits (I dont think this is 30% more crit rate, I think its 30% more crit rate than what youd get from whatever your Dex gives you which is likely low), Pre gives more healing/hold strength, Con gives more HP, Rec gives more equilibrium/max end, End gives more max end. This is most useful if you dont have Con, Rec or End as a super.
Tactician makes your Secondary Superstats give Offense. This isnt as good as some of the ones in the other trees, but its a damage buff all the same.
Battle of Wits makes your Intelligence also give you Hold Strength. This is useful if you use holds a lot, especially if you couple it with a Secondary Superstat in Presence and some of the hold-buffing talents. If you arent going with that sort of specialized build though, you wont really want it.
Tier 2
Detect Vulnerability is pretty good. Have you ever complained about Dragons Wrath? If so, this is the talent for you. It makes your Int apply an armor resistance penetration buff to all of your attacks. Against a target with resistance, its a pretty good damage boost. Against a squishy (or PvE content), its not as great. And this assumes that it works like old Resistance Penetration (like Dragons Wrath) instead of new Armor Penetration (like the PvP gear). The former is better against tanks and kinda lackluster against PvE content (since most stuff doesnt have resistance). The latter is better against squishies, as its a flat reduction. Someone shine the Radia/Pantagruel-signal and humbly request numbers of them, please.
Tinkering is a weaker version of Gear Utilization. This talent confuses me, as it was originally labeled as Boosts Effects of Secondary Utility gear on PTS (many builds ago), but never got implemented. I guess they went with this as a stopgap. Its okay, but there are far better choices in this Tier.
Expertise is another weird one. It buffs the effects of your Secondary Superstats. So if youve got Con and End as your Secondary Superstats, youll get more HP/Endurance out of them. This does not boost the things that they do by virtue of being Superstats, only the things that they do by virtue of existing. So it wont increase your damage buff from taking Con or End, but it would make Str or Ego give more damage.
Intelligence Mastery-
Ego
Ego is the other crit-based tree, focusing more on Severity than Crit Chance. Given that Ego buffs ranged damage, youll pretty much only want to use this with ranged builds. Unless youre using Dragons Claws or Ego Blades, of course (though Dex tree works quite well for those, too). I wouldnt suggest using this over the Dex tree unless youre getting some other benefit out of Ego (ranged damage, ranged knock or Ego Blades interactions, for example). It is a nice parallel to the Strength tree (ranged cost discounts, Ego can scale melee knocks), but thats more a curiosity than a useful application.
Tier 1
Force of Will is similar to the Presence tree talent that gives Defense from your Secondary Superstats. A decent way to add some extra beef to a squishy blaster type.
Insight gives a cost discount to your ranged powers. If youre taking Ego tree, youre likely wanting to blast things, and this helps give MOAR DAKKA. Stacks with cost redux from gear or Int too. This is a better choice for energy management in this tree than Mental Endurance.
Aggression is the same as the talent in the Strength Tree (boost to Offense from Gear). A decent overall buff to Offense, but the types of characters that will likely build for Ego as Primary may want the other options in Tier 1.
Tier 2
Exploit Opening has your non-crits get a mini-crit effect for 30% of your Critical Severity, if they occur after a crit. So crit once with 120% severity, your next non-crit does an additional 36% damage. This is..okay, moreso if youve got a high-crit rate and are using maintains. Something like Ego/dex/whatever Conflag or Avalanche or Lightning Storm would do quite well with this.
Sixth Sense lets your Secondary Superstats add Critical Chance. This combines pretty nicely with Follow Through, and a theoretical combination of 3 Follow Through, 2 Exploit Opening, 3 Sixth Sense would be awesome. But since you cant do that, Id suggest grabbing three Follow Through and a combination of either Exploit Opening or this.
Mind over Matter makes your Ego buff your melee knocks, but makes Strength not buff them anymore. Only real use I can see to this talent is if youre a Strength-less Ego Blader thats using something like Inexorable Tides as a setup.
Ego Mastery-
Presence is probably my favorite of the stat trees. Its so damned versatile. Theres healing/crowd control buffs coupled with a self-defense boost and two surprisingly good offensive buffs (Crit Chance and +Offense, comparatively). If you have any sort of support component in your build (Heals, Crowd Control, Auras, Ebon Sigils, Bubbles, self-heals, etc), or any use for Presence in your build at all, Presence tree can be of great use to you.
Tier 1
Selfless Ally causes you to heal yourself for up to 10% of the heal on an ally. The shenanigans possible with Iniquity should be self-evident, but last I checked this also works with Sentinel Aura...
Dominion increases the Hold Strength you get from Pre. This is good if youre using Holds (Paralyzes, mainly), Stuns or Sleeps, especially when combined with Vulnerability. Note that Vulnerability DOES NOT work with Stuns. Sadface.
Grandeur makes your Pre grant up to 3 Offense per 10 points of Presence (at max Rank). The extra offense from this does not work with Repurpose (sadly), but its still a pretty decent offense boost. (With 400 Presence and max ranks, thats an extra 120 offense) Take it if you want to hurt things while you heal.
Tier 2
Moment of Glory makes your Secondary Superstats grant Crit Chance. THIS is where you get the critlcal chance for Brilliance (especially combined with Sentinel tree and crit strike gear). Or, yknow, you could not be a wuss and use the increased crit chance to make things dead. Its about a 6% crit chance at average Superstat levels, and more like 9% if youre geared well and rocking AoPM.
Force of Will makes your Secondary Superstats grant Defense. This stacks with every other Defense boost, blahblah. Its pretty good, especially if youre buffing your Superstats well or youve taken some of the % Defense boosts from the Role trees. Take it if you have points (which you might not, Presence trees that good).
Vulnerability makes your Holds (Paralyzes, so the charged holds) and Sleeps apply a Resistance debuff to your target. I would love this if it applied to Stuns, but as of last reading, it does not. Take it if you use Paralyzes (or especially if you use Ego Sleep). This applies even if the hold doesnt, so it works on bosses.
Presence Mastery-
Recovery
Recovery, in my opinion, got the least benefit from the spec trees. Its like End-lite. It can still be useful, and theres a few tricks it can do that End cant do, but generally speaking, the types of builds that would benefit from Rec tree would generally also get as much or more of a benefit from End tree. It does have the best self-heal out of the stat trees, though. Rec and End trees both get a talent to lessen their reliance on the other Energy Stat (End for Rec, Rec for End), so that makes fitting them into a build a bit more flexible.
Tier 1
Withstand gives you innate CC resistance, scaling off your Secondary Superstats. This is a bit better than it sounds, though the gear version is even better. It can turn holds into interrupts.
Rapid Recovery is the best of the make x grant heal over time talents, making your Rec grant a heal over time. Thats not saying much, of course. Good for those that dont have other ways to self heal (like ATs), or those that can turtle behind block for a bit (like anyone with Ebon Void and the advantage).
Staying Power is Readiness (End Trees) not-as-attractive cousin, or alternatively, the less-ugly sibling of Mental Endurance (from Ego Tree). It makes your Rec give more maximum energy per point. End granting equilibrium is generally far more useful than Rec granting max energy, but this may have some use depending on your build. More useful when combined with Super Charged and without End as a superstat (as it gives you more wiggle room to stay in the 91%+ of max energy range)
Tier 2
Efficient makes it so your Energy Unlock powers (Thermal Reverb, etc) give more energy per tick. If youre making use of your Energy Unlock often, this can be pretty good. Especially when combined with Super Charged, as itll help you stay above 90% energy.
Well Rounded makes it so your Secondary Superstats give you max energy/health. The scaling on this is pretty terrible, and being tied to Secondary Superstats only makes it moreso. 10 HP and 1 Energy per 5 points of Secondary Superstat, after spending 2 rank points? Not that interested.
Second Wind is a nice bonus in an otherwise-lackluster tree. It makes your Secondary Superstats grant Recharge Reduction (similar to Recharge Redux on new Utility Gear). Not bad if youre using things with Recharge (like Active Offenses or Dark Transfusion).
Recovery Mastery-
Endurance
Endurance is quite good for blasters (mainly ranged types, though I could see a few oddball melee builds using this too), especially alpha-strikers. With Thermal Reverb now scaling off End, the three energy projector energy unlocks all use End now (Wind Reverb, Thermal Reverb, Ionic Reverb). Its also useful for Force (Cascade) and can even do well with Power Armor. End tree is a big reason why End superstatting is now actually useful, as a major. You still probably will want to focus heavily on your Secondary Superstats though, moreso than with some of the other Primaries.
Tier 1
Withstand gives you innate CC resistance, scaling off your Secondary Superstats. This is the same as the Recovery Trees version. This is a bit better than it sounds, though the gear version (+CC Resist Substat) is even better. It can turn holds into interrupts.
Gear Utilization is the same as the version in the other trees. End has a bit more offensive potential than Rec, but not as much as Dex. However, End is likely to be used with big blasty boom things, so adding offense onto those is always good.
Kickback is kinda eh. If you use your End Builder, your next attack grants 5%/10% of your max energy. While thats a big bundle of energy...you could just use your End Builder again. Or your energy unlock, as there are several that scale off of End.
Tier 2
Outburst is great. And Im not just saying that because I tried to get the devs to add something like this for a while, I swear. If you get over 90% energy, you gain up to 15% extra damage on your attacks for as long as you stay above 90% energy. It also buffs healing and reduces costs of those powers, but if youre End superstat and above 90% of your max energy, you likely dont care much about healing or about energy costs. You care about charging up and unleashing massive hell, which is what this talent is for. The must be over 90% of max energy is a bit onerous, and hard to sustain. Except for Dark Transfusion. If you take End superstat tree, take this Talent. And then take Dark Transfusion with the advantage. And then alpha-strike the living bejeezus out of things. Its glorious. Especially coupled with a Con or Pre-fueled Imbue.
Power Overwhelming is a bit underwhelming, after Outburst. But still quite nice. It makes your Secondary superstats grant additional Offense, which helps with the alpha striking and the general blasting.
Hardened is the best of the make x add HP talents. At max rank (2), it makes every point of End give you 4 points of HP. While thats still less than a third of Cons contribution, it does stack with Con (and other sources of HP). And given the Outburst rant I went on about above, youre probably going to want Con as a superstat. Take this and combine it with Con for a pretty durable blaster (can probably hit 10k HP in Ranged Damage role with good enough gear, this talent and high Con/End).
Endurance Mastery-
Pick any two trees (unless AT)
Protector
This is for tanks, or people who want more tankiness. Similar to Con tree, really.
Tier 1
This buffs your Defense from Gear. Similar to Armored from Con tree.
Beacon of Hope
This increases healing received from others. Good if you expect to have a healer around, but theres better in this Tier if you want survival (like Fortified Gear)
Unrelenting
This gives Snare immunity and a minor runspeed boost. Welcome to one of the reasons why PvP is dead. This + Versatility stacks from Acrobatics = no one can stop you unless they slap on a hold. Not as-good in PvE unless youre in the habit of running around with no travel on.
Bulwark
This gives an increase to max HP (which isnt bad) if you aren't in the Hybrid Role or a massive increase to threat if youre in the Hybrid role. If you want to be a tank and run in Hybrid, this is for you. (Hybrid gets a heal buff that may outweigh the innate resistance/HP buff in Tank)
Tier 2
This makes Crippling Challenge lower Resistance. A nice extra, but theres better in this Tier.
Exhausting Strikes
Energy Builder now lowers main target's damage. See comments for Debilitating challenge.
Defensive Expertise
This makes your Active Defenses recharge faster. This is amazing if youre using a single one, and somewhat overpowered if youre using two. Max it if you use an Active Defense.
Resolute
This heals you for a % of max HP when youre Knocked or Held. What, you were going to hold or knock that tank to kill them? lolno. Pretty good, Id throw it at rank 2 (for 4% of max HP)
Protector Mastery -
Brawler
This is for melee, especially Dex-tree-having melee.
Tier 1
Melee AoEs grant a buff for each target hit (Glory), stacks to 30, at 30 it applies Glorious Battle for increased Crit Strike and Offense for 15 seconds. If youve played a game that counts combos, this will give you a similar feeling. Not all that useful (ok, the offense is nice at R3), but fun. Id throw a point in.
No Escape
Your End Builder hits gain a chance to Daze ( 20% speed Debuff)for 4 seconds. Welcome to another reason why PvP is dead (or at least melee PvP is). Brawler innate snare got removed, replaced with this. Take this if you have a point available, otherwise dont bother.
Penetrating Strikes
Melee Crits grant a 5%/10% resist debuff on the target. This is golden, especially when stacked with Dex trees similar talent.
Ruthless
Theres one of these talents in most of the damage trees, and they all provide a boost to Crit Severity that stacks (10% Severity at r2). If you crit and you have one of these trees, take these talents.
Tier 2
This makes your ST attacks do up to 9% (base) bonus damage to targets under 35% Health. Not bad, but if somethings that low, its probably about to die anyway. Might be useful against Cosmics.
Setup
This makes your Melee Combo attacks increase damage on next non-Combo Melee attack. Works quite well if youre using both Combo and non-Combo attacks (So Blade Tempest/Dragons Wrath, Cleave/Skewer or Annihilate, Ego Weaponry/EBA or EBB, Thundering Kicks/Dragon something). If you arent using both of those regularly, dont bother. See my first post for a list of combos.
Flanking
This slightly increases your Melee damage if you attack from behind your target. Now, take a minute and think for me. How often are you behind a target? Yeah, exactly. Take this if you want a damage bonus against big things and you team often with a good tank. Otherwise dont bother.
Offensive Expertise
This makes your Active Offenses (clicky hold breakers) recharge faster. Nice to have.
Brawler Mastery-
Avenger
This is for ranged characters that use Maintains. Or anyone that uses Maintains. Or Active Offenses. But mainly Maintains.
Tier 1
Same as all the others. Crit Severity Boost. Take it if you crit.
Can't Touch This
Same as No Escape from Brawler, but for ranged Energy Builders. Just as bad, except youre likely ranged, so its EVEN WORSE. Doesnt stack. Dont bother.
Anguish
This is bad, but Avengers first Tier is pretty horrid anyway. This makes your Ranged Crit inflict a lingering DoT that penetrates defenses/shields. Damage is looow (double-digit low). Its better than Cant Touch This and arguably better than Round Em Up, but no one takes Avenger for its Tier 1 talents.
Round 'Em Up
Yo dawg, I put a buff on your ranged AoE so your AoEs hit harder. Except Xzibit hates that meme, and he hates this skill. Damage buff is low, but its better than the rest of the non-Ruthless options in the Tier if you use ranged AoEs. Which you do, right?
Tier 2
This is a nice crit buff (20%) to ranged ST attacks...at things that are over 90% health. So your opening strike is more likely to hit harder. Good if youre having trouble wiping out a single minion with your opening salvo. Would be good for sniping other players, but PvP is dead and any self-respecting sniper is going to try to guarantee his only shot crits (hi2u Imbue).
Relentless Assault
This? THIS is why people put up with the utter crap that is the rest of the Avenger tree. If youre using a maintain, take this. No ifs, no ands, no buts. If you dont use a maintain? Take it just to use this. Its that good. Rank 3 is 30 offense per stack, it stacks to 5 (quickly). 150 Offense for trying to kill things anyway? Its a no-brainer. This also works with those add x % of your defense as a boost to your offense skills. Like in Vindicator. Yes, they work together.
Offensive Expertise
Blahblah Active Offenses recharge faster, same as Brawler, blahblah. Still a good talent if you use AOs. Avenger tree just makes me grumpy.
Preemptive Strike
This is kind of like Setup in Brawler tree (low-tier attacks make your non low-tier attacks do more damage). Except ranged, and Blasts are generally a lot worse than Combos. And if youre using Blasts, youre likely to only use Blasts (like...uh...Ice Blast? Maybe?). Take Relentless Assault and Offensive Expertise instead.
Avenger Mastery-
Sentinel
This is for anyone that wants to have a great self-heal, or wants to be better at healing/bubbling/holding/general support.
Tier 1
This increases Hold duration, stacks with other buffs. Affects Stuns/Snares/Paralyzes/Incapacitates. If you use holds and you dont want other stuff in Sentinel (seriously, its awesome), take this.
Eternal Spring
This makes crit heals bestow a HoT on the target for 6 seconds, up to 20% of the original heal. Doesnt stack, doesnt work on self-heals. If youre a green-number-slinger (ie: a healer that isnt a bubble build or Iniquity-based), this is pretty good.
Caregiver
This buffs your healing powers or the HP of your bubbles (Protection Field, MR, game calls em Shields) when used on others. This is ideal for support builds, and should probably be maxed.
Sentinel Aura
This is...amazing. Its probably going to see some time with the nerfbat, but its still awesome. Heal over time that scales with heal buffs. If youre a healer? Take this, your entire team has Regen. Including you. Even if you arent a healer, you can still get almost-regen numbers out of this. Any squishy that needs a self-heal and that can use ANYTHING else from the Sentinel tree should probably start here. Though it does eat up one of your trees for one ability, which may not be worth it to you.
Tier 2
This buffs your critical chance on heals that can crit. Green number spammers, etc, otherwise not that worth it.
Rejuvenated
Ive never actually been able to get this to work. Its supposed to give you energy when a HoT ticks. I assume its supposed to have interactions with Eternal Spring and maybe BCR. Skip it.
Wither
If you have a Stun or a Hold or a Sleep, take this. It means you can apply up to a 20% resistance debuff whenever you try to hold something. Whether or not it works. This is golden.
Genesis
This makes your heals, shields and holds cheaper. Quite good if youre having energy problems, and every bubblespam build can use more energy.
Sentinel Mastery
Disclaimer: I hate pet builds. I really hate mongrel horde pet builds. If you take the little *******s, youll probably want to use this tree. Its a no-brainer otherwise, its only useful for pets or Sigil users, and the only thing that buffs Sigils is Rapid Response.
Tier 1
What, a pet army? Just use an AoE, theyre individually weak! No, not quite. Take this, make your little monsters more resistant to AoEs, by quite a bit. Stacks with the Im a pet buff for 75% AoE Resistance.
Rapid Response
Summon faster. Good if you summon/resummon a lot. Also good for Sigil users, but the rest of the tree...isnt...unless youre using other pets.
Create An Opening
When you crit, your pets are more likely to crit, up to 20%. If youre a crit build that uses a few attacks (or a normal build that crits and has pets), this is great.
Multitasker
Lowers the energy Penalty caused by Pets. Good if youre actually trying to fight alongside your pets, but Evasive Action is going to want priority.
Tier 2
This reduces recharge time on pet abilities. Good if youre using a pet that has useful Active abilities
Durable
Make your little monsters have more HP and receive more healing when you heal them. Better for keeping the pets alive than Relief, but Relief adds more utility if youre using healing pets. Savage is better than both if youre going with attacks, so these will be using whats left.
Relief
Your healing drones and Angels will heal for more, based on your Secondary Superstats. Stacks with Durable on the Pets and with Beacon of Hope from Protector. Take it for more pet survival, if you have room.
Savage
This makes your Secondary Super Stats increase your Pets Damage. If youre using a pet build, you want this.
Commander Mastery-
Warden
Wardens ideal both for melee-using tanks and for damage-type melee that want to be better at surviving and killing things. Its quite a good tree as long as youre using melee. It gets better if youre using stuff like Ego Weaponry, Thundering Kicks, Cleave or Blade Tempest.
Tier 1
This buffs your defense from gear, same as the others. Warden has a talent that makes this far more useful than its already sorta-useful self.
Slaughter
Buffs your crit chance on melee combos (up to 9% at rank 3). Ideal for Blade Tempest and Cleave, so-so for the others (because the other melee combos are mediocre at best.). Amazing for Ego Weaponry with the heal-on-crit advantage. This gets better if youre stuck with a combo (like on an AT, for instance)
Ruthless
Same as all the other incarnations of Ruthless. Crit Severity buff. Better for Warden if youre using Combos (due to Slaughter).
Elusive
This is similar to the Dex tree talent that buffs Dodge on AoEs, except increases your Resist against AoE attacks instead of your chance to dodge them. Good for a bit more beef, but Slaughter and Ruthless are probably better unless you dont use Combos or dont attack.
Tier 2
This makes things that hit you get hurt for up to 20% of the damage they dealt you. Meaning it wont be very much damage if youre a Tank. Not horrible, but theres better here.
Tenacious
They hit you, you hit back harder. Stacking Offense buff as you get attacked. Pretty good.
Upper Hand
This makes you do more Melee damage to debuffed targets (Disoriented, Bleeding, Shredded, Ego Leeched or Staggered). Sorta useful if you apply those debuffs regularly, but Tenacious and Reactive Strikes are arguably better, and The Best Defense is amazingly better.
The Best Defense
So good. Makes your Defense grant you bonus offense, up to 100% of your Defense added to your Offense. This makes tanks hit harder, and makes all those +x% defense things better. Take this, max it, love it. Even if you arent a tank (as you still have Defense from Items)
Warden Mastery
Guardian
Guardian is Wardens slightly worse brother, designed for range tanking.
Tier 1
Same as the other instances of this, better in Guardian/Warden because of The Best Defense talent.
Locus
Hitting with an AoE or getting hit with an AoE grants a stack of Locus, at 30 stacks you get the Locus Explosion buff (+Offense/Defense for 15 seconds). This works with The Best Defense, so it might be worth it if you use AoEs.
Make It Count
This makes your Blast Attacks (see first post for a list) hit harder and cost less. If you use them heavily, this is pretty good. So...basically, if you use Ice Blast and you dont want anything else from the tier, take this. Its not that big a boost, though.
Ruthless
Same as other instances of Ruthless, same advice applies. Crit Severity buff.
Tier 2
Similar to Reactive Strikes in Warden, single-target attacks aimed at you proc a buff ( Retribution) that gives a nice Damage buffs and a Heal over time 6 seconds. If you expect to be hit often, this is pretty good.
Tenacious
Same as in Warden, same advice applies, except Retribution is a bit better than Reactive Strikes (as its a buff to your damage, not a percentage of their damage to you). Take it if you get hit.
Find The Mark
This gives a chance for your Ranged attacks to debuff the target to make them easier to crit. Not bad if you have points to spare and use crits, but the other options (TBD, Tenacious or Retribution) are pretty much better. Even 3 stacks of this is only 9% increased crit chance for a few seconds.
The Best Defense
Amazing, as in Warden. Defense grants you Offense. If you take this and take Wardens version too, they stack. Not infinitely, but its a hell of a boost. Assuming that still works, rather. (This was current as of the build that went Live, havent tested yet on Live)
Guardian Mastery-
Sentry
Sentry is a tree for tanks that heal themselves or others, or anyone who wants to be a bit more durable while healing themselves or others. It also has a mechanics-breaking Mastery that can Stun the Unstunnable (row row, fight the power, etc)
Tier 1
Same as the other trees. Sentry lacks The Best Defense, so its not quite as good as it could be. Not bad, but a bit of a letdown after writing the Warden/Guardian tree stuff.
Twist Fate
Eww. Use your end builder, gain a slight dodge/ crit chance. Pass.
Precise
Flat buff to Single-target attacks and heals/shields on other people. Not a huge buff, but good if you heal others or use single-target attacks. Stacks with other buffs to ST attacks or heal/shield other buffs.
Sentry Aura
This is a mini-Aura of Radiant Protection for your whole team. Stacks with other stuff, but its relatively minor. Take it if you have points. These Auras (like Sentinel Aura) do not stack from multiple users.
Tier 2
If you crit (attack or heal), get a stacking buff that increases your damage resistance and healing. Relatively minor (6% at rank 3), but if youre critting anyway, its not bad.
Stalling Tactics
If you use Stuns, Sleeps or Snares and you dont like anything else in the second Tier (entirely possible, though Perservere is good, take this. It makes them last longer.
Persevere
Every time you get hit with a Single-target attack aimed at you, you have a 10% chance to heal you and teammates by a % of the damage you took (so after mitigation). This is a pretty okay maintenance heal, but it only really works if youre taking hits consistently. This used to be hilariously broken on PTS (think healing 20k HP every attack you took), so its real version seems lackluster by comparison.
Reinforce
If you crit heal someone, they gain up to 10% damage resist (rank 2). If you critically hit something with a Single-Target attack, you get the damage resist. Stacks with the other damage-resisty stuff here, and doesnt require you to get hit (so non-tanks might want it). A decent bonus.
Sentry Mastery-
This is a melee-damage based tree with some pretty good support abilities added in.
Tier 1
This buffs your (melee combo) damage, heals and shields. Unlike most of the other Shield buffs, it also buffs them on yourself. Good if you want extra shield HP on yourself, or if you use combos/heals.
Ruthless
You know the drill. Crit Severity buff. This gets bonus points for being in a pretty decent support tree.
Arbiter Aura
Makes you and your teammates do a bit more melee damage. Not bad, but theres better in the Tier. Only applies to melee damage, doesnt stack from multiple sources.
Rend
Puts a damage resist debuff on the enemy when you crit. This ones smaller than the ones in Brawler or Dex, but they all stack. Stacking those things would be a good idea. Decent enough on its own, much better when stacked.
Tier 2
I like this. Places a hefty damage buff on you (that applies to your next attack) and lingers for a few seconds when you heal or shield someone else. Stacks with the other version of Honor in the Overseer tree, at least last I checked. 10% damage buff per stack is a nice reward for doing your job. Bubble team, TK Lance with 5 Ego Leech stacks, profit. Repeat.
Concussion
This isnt as useful as the lowers target resistance when stunned Talents, because stunned things usually, yknow, ARE STUNNED. Meaning they arent attacking. But it does apply on Stun attempts, so it works on things that cant be stunned. Decent, but theres better in the Tier.
Preservation
Makes your single-target melee attacks, holds and heals a bit cheaper. Good if youre using an expensive single-target attack, but heals and holds are cheap-enough (and infrequently-cast-enough) that this isnt that great. Maybe if you arent in Support role.
Enhanced Gear
Flipside of Fortified Gear, works for Offense instead of Defense. Im reasonably sure (last I checked) that this stacks with Pre trees add healing strength from Item offense talent. Good if you want more damage.
Arbiter Mastery-
Overseer
I hated this tree on PTS, but its starting to grow on me. Its a ranged-damage version of Arbiter, with the same caveat that Blasts are usually worse than Combos.
Tier 1
Buffs damage of your blasts and the healing/shield HP of your heals and shields. This works on self-cast heals/shields as well. Quite a nice boost.
Ruthless
Same as all the other incarnations of Ruthless. Crit Severity buff. Good if you use crits.
Overseer Aura
See Arbiter Aura, replace melee damage with ranged damage. Slightly better in that it is marginally harder to get ranged damage boosts than melee, but still minor.
Impact
When you crit, the target does less damage. Decent for debuffing boss attacks, but Id prefer Arbiters Rend instead.
Tier 2
Same as the Arbiter version. Just as good, pretty sure it stacks. Damage boost on you when you use Shields/heals on others.
Trapped
If you use Paralyze-type Holds or Sleeps, take this. Your team will thank you.
Conservation
Makes your heals, holds and single-target ranged attacks cheaper to use. Again, these likely arent a problem unless youre in a role other than Support, but its still a pretty good discount (15% at rank 2).
Enhanced Gear
Same as the Arbiter version, same things apply.
Overseer Mastery-
Vindicator
Vindicator is my favorite of the Role trees. While it may seem to be just for damage, it has a few tricks in it that make it valuable to any character (ok, so any character that has gear and wants to survive). Plays quite nicely with Warden, Guardian and Avenger trees, especially.
Tier 1
This is amazing. It makes a percentage of your Offense (20% at max rank) buff your Defense. While you may be looking at The Best Defense and wondering why this is so low, its because you can get much higher Offense than Defense, and Defense is more valuable per-point than Offense. This stacks with The Best Defense from Warden/Guardian, along with any situational +Offense boosts you may get (including Relentless Assault from Avenger). If youre taking Vindicator and have any Offense whatsoever (from Gear, Pre tree, TBD, etc), take this and max it.
Merciless
This is Ruthless bigger, scarier, slightly more expensive brother. It ranks up to 3 and can give 15% crit severity total. If youre using Vindicator and using crits, take this and max it out.
Initiative
This makes your end builder apply a resist debuff. Not bad, but compared to the other Tier 1 Vindicator choices, its not really worth it.
The Rush Of Battle
So, +HP on kill items got removed. This is their replacement, and its better at what it does. It procs a heal-over-time based on a % of your max HP (15% at rank 3), that gets refreshed when you kill things. If you want some supplemental healing (or youre a squishy damaging AT that has this tree), youll want this.
Tier 2
This is a flat crit chance buff to your single-target attacks. Straightforward, somewhat low (6% at rank 3), but ideal if you use a lot of single target attacks and you crit, but want to crit more. Stacks with all other crit chance increases (Gear, dex, Super Charged, etc)
Modified Gear
Same as the other trees offense boosts from gear, but slightly lower (2 ranks at 20% max instead of 3 at 30% max). The rest of Vindicators so good that youre probably not going to have the points to take this, unless you dont want a heal over time or dont crit.
Offensive Expertise
Lowers your recharge on Active Offenses, stacks with any others (or with recharge reduction). Take it if you have points and use an Active Offense, though Vindicators one of the few trees where you might have other options you like better (ok, so Avengers bad except for RA and Brawlers decent).
Mass Destruction
Read the description for Focused Strikes, replace single-target with AoE. Same things apply. Stacks with all other crit chance increases, etc.
Vindicator Mastery-
List of buffs available from Spec Trees
Offense - Locus, Relentless Assault, The Best Defense, Tenacious, Grandeur, Enhanced Gear, Modified Gear, Gear Utilization, Tinkering, Aggression
Defense - Aggressive Stance, Force of Will, Armored, Fortified Gear, Gear Utilization, Tinkering
Crowd Control Resistance - Withstand, Unyielding
Knock Resistance - Resilient
HP - Bulwark (when not in Hybrid), Hardened, Swole, Tough, Well-Rounded
Heal over Time - Quick Recovery, Rapid Recovery, Quick Healing, Sentinel Aura, Rush of Battle
Heal when x condition is met - Selfless Ally (sorta), Adrenaline Rush, Resolute
Dodge - Deflection, Quick Reflexes
Avoidance - Evasion, Dexterity Mastery
Damage - Outburst, Arbiter Aura, Overseer Aura, Warden Mastery, Upper Hand, Honor, Administer
Critical Strike - Overpower, Combat Training, Sixth Sense, Moment of Glory, Focused Strikes, Mass Destruction, Super Charged, Glory of Battle, Surprise Attack (target > 90% health), Moment of Need (heals only), Create an Opening (pets only), Slaughter (melee combo only), Twist of Fate
Critical Severity - Follow Through, Ruthless, Merciless, Deadly Aim, Dexterity Mastery
Max Energy - Well-Rounded, Mental Endurance, Staying Power
Equilibrium - Readiness, Preparation
Power Cooldowns - Protector Mastery, Second Wind, Revitalize, Defensive Expertise, Offensive Expertise
Power Cost Discount - Physical Peak, Power Swell,
Threat - Bulwark (in Hybrid only)
Healing Strength - Beacon of Hope (heal from others), Administer, Caregiver
Types of powers that Spec Trees talents buff:
Melee Combos
Blast Attacks
Ranged Attacks
Melee Attacks
Single-Target Attacks
AoE Attacks
Heals
Shields
Critical Hits
Critical Heals
Holds (Paralyze)
Holds (Sleep)
Holds (Stuns)
Holds (Incapacitate)
Stat Tree Builds:
Suggested Strength Tree Talent builds:
-All-out offense: Physical Peak 3, Aggression 2, Overpower 3, Brutality 2
-Ranged Enrage user: Aggression 2, Quick Recovery 2, Swole 3, Juggernaut 3
Suggested Dex Tree Talent Builds:
All-out Damage: Combat Training 2, Gear Utilization 3, Deadly Aim 3, Expose Weakness 2
Dodge Build that for some reason isnt at DR: Gear Utilization 3, Brush it Off 2, Evasion 2, Quick Reflexes 3 (Dont use this. This is a travesty. Take Deadly Aim!)
Suggested Con Tree Talent Builds:
Dodge Tank with crits: Fuel my Fire 3, Resilient 2, Adrenaline Rush 2, Armored 2, Deflection 1
General Blaster Survivability Pack: Unyielding 2, Resilient 2, Tough 1, Quick Healing 3, Armored 2 (may want to swap in Adrenaline Rush for Quick Healing if you have Crits)
Suggested Int Tree Talent Builds:
Have to admit, this one was tough.
Gouda, Emperor of Cheese: any 5 points in Tier 1 talents, Revitalize 3, whatever. Take a bunch of Active Defenses (ie: Masterful Dodge, Unbreakable, Ascension, Smoke Grenade), take Protector Mastery and be literally unkillable. Bonus points if you then brag about your duel prowess and offer to pay people to fight you, whilst you spend match time running around unkillable. More bonus points if they accept.
Jack, hipster of all trades: Enlightened 3, Preparation 2, Expertise 2, Armor Penetration 3. (Take Dragons Wrath and use it, ironically of course)
Suggested Ego Tree Talent Builds:
Sniper (Imbue-based): Insight 3, Aggression 2, Exploit Opening 2, 3 in wherever since youll likely only be using non-imbued strikes as finishers
High-damage all-round ranged blaster: Insight 3, Force of Will 2, Follow Through 3, Exploit Opening 2 (Secondary Dex and use Crit Strike gear)
Suggested Pre Tree Talent Builds:
This was a tough one, as theres a lot of stuff to like in Pre tree.
Healy McHealington the crit-healer: Repurpose 3, Selfless Ally 2, Brilliance 3/Moment of Glory 2 or Moment of Glory 3/Brilliance 2 (Id go with the latter)
Paralyze-using Debuffer: Repurpose 3 (noticing a pattern?), Dominion 2, Vulnerability 2, Force of Will 2, Selfless Ally 1 (Take Sentinel Mastery and probably Ego Sleep)
Suggested Rec Tree Talent Builds:
-Maintained Crit-monster (grab Dark Transfusion and Circle of Arcane Power): Gear Utilization 3, Staying Power 2, Super Charged 3, Efficient 2
-General Survival Starter Pack (take an Active Defense): Staying Power 2, Rapid Recovery 3, Second Wind 2, Gear Utilization 3
Suggested End Tree Talent Builds:
Durable Blaster Type: Readiness 3, Gear Utilization 3, Quick Recovery 2, Hardened 2,
Balanced Blaster/Spiker: Readiness 3, Gear Utilization 2, Outburst 3, Hardened 2
Starter Builds (somewhat unoptimized but what I'm using). Builds in my posts are hosted on Powerhouse, an online character builder created by my SG mate (and all-around awesome guy) Brizel.
Sage - Buffer, bubbler, telekinetic and support attacker- http://powerhouse.nullware.com/powerhouse.html?v=2&n=&d=1645QRSVgOI71I3E0008203E6033603M5033704EB00FA00FD03EK0338033E00EL04JA00
Note: Sage's build could be much better. Start with adding an active defense and dropping Two-Gun Mojo for Telekinetic Assault. I use it because I like using it.
Presence: Repurpose 3, Grandeur 3, Force of Will 2, Moment of Glory 2
Sentinel: Sentinel Aura 3, Caregiver 3, Wither 2, Genesis 2
Overseer: Administer 3, Overseer Aura 2, Honor 2, Enhanced Gear 3
Sentinel Mastery
Ayame - Infernal blaster with survival - http://powerhouse.nullware.com/powerhouse.html?v=2&n=&d=1738b3aPQNXH351Q000Q705Q903QB05QG03QI03K604QA00F500EH059A00KA04MA032C04
Note: Rapid Recovery really isn't needed with Sentinel Aura, and I'm debating swapping to End tree anyway. This build's atypical for an Infernal as it doesn't use Enrage and is skewed towards survival.
Recovery: Rapid Recovery 3, Staying Power 2, Second Wind 2, Super Charged 3
Vindicator: Aggressive Stance 2, Rush of Battle 3, Offensive Expertise 2, Merciless 3
Sentinel: Sentinel Aura 3, Eternal Spring 2, Wither 2, Caregiver 3,
Recovery Mastery
Sentinel - Might/Wind Crowd Controlling Tank - http://powerhouse.nullware.com/powerhouse.html?v=2&n=&d=1317W3PQAEa1331I000I700IC0m9603IF0S450046004804II05J503J6039A04QF00IG05
Note: This is probably into diminishing returns on Defense. Don't really care, wanted to see how high I could get it.
Constitution: Fuel my Fire 3, Unyielding 1, Resilient 1, Armored 2, Quick Healing 3
Protector: Fortified Gear 3, Unrelenting 1, Bulwark 1, Defensive Expertise 3, Resolute 2
Warden: Fortified Gear 3, Elusive 2, The Best Defense 3, Tenacious 1, Reactive Strikes 1
Constitution Mastery (Protector's better, don't care, refuse to use it)
Huntress Athene - Crit Dual Blade DPS - http://powerhouse.nullware.com/powerhouse.html?v=2&n=&d=1214ZH9BGAM4750A000A10BA600A803AF04K70K7C00J503AC03AH00AE046504AA04A901
Dexterity: Gear Utilization 3, Brush it Off 2, Deadly Aim 3, Expose Weakness 2
Brawler: Glory of Battle 2, Penetrating Strikes 2, Ruthless 2, Setup 2, Offensive Expertise 2
Warden: Slaughter 3, Ruthless 2, The Best Defense 3, Tenacious 1, Elusive 1
Dexterity Mastery
Voltaic - Sturdy Electric Alpha-Spiker - http://powerhouse.nullware.com/powerhouse.html?v=2&n=&d=1834O3UQMPa3350100012031503170014051B031A04J603KA049A007803FD01M2031600
Endurance: Readiness 3, Gear Utilization 2, Outburst 3, Hardened 2
Vindicator: Aggressive Stance 2, Rush of Battle 3, Modified Gear 2, Offensive Expertise 2, Initiative 1
Avenger: Anguish 2, Round 'em up 3, Relentless Assault 3, Offensive Expertise 2
Endurance Mastery
(You can post after this one)
Seriously, this is awesome, and extremely helpful already (it's got me reconsidering my Dex talents; I waffled and didn't get Deadly Aim and in consideration, you're absolutely right. No reason not to, ever).
o7 Carry on, good sir.
EDIT: From the PTS, courtesy Eldrake2 (compiler) and Ryko_Nalio (PTS Spec Tree Info thread compiler):
Archetype Trees
Brought to you thanks to Eldrake2
Silver Archetypes
Grimoire
Intelligence/Guardian/Overseer
Behemoth
Constitution/Protector/Warden
Glacier
Constitution/Guardian/Protector
Inferno
Recovery/Avenger/Guardian
Blade
Dexterity/Brawler/Warden
Mind
Presence/Sentinel/Sentry
Marksman
Dexterity/Avenger/Guardian
Soldier
Ego/Vindicator/Avenger
Unleashed
Dexterity/Warden/Vindicator
Radiant
Presence/Sentry/Sentinel
Gold Archetypes
Scourge/Cursed
Recovery/Overseer/Avenger
Devastator
Strength/Brawler/Warden
Inventor
Intelligence/Overseer/Commander
Specialist
Dexterity/Vindicator/Guardian
Savage
Strength/Warden/Brawler
Impulse
Endurance/Guardian/Vindicator
Mountain
Constitution/Protector/Guardian
Disciple
Ego/Vindicator/Brawler
Master
Constitution/Warden/Protector
Fist
Dexterity/Brawler/Vindicator
Squall
Ego/Vindicator/Avenger
Tempest
Endurance/Avenger/Guardian
Void
Endurance/Guardian/Avenger
Should still be accurate (and thanks to both of them both for getting the info and making it easy to find
Go for it.
I've still gotta do (all of) the Role trees, but I think I've got enough posts reserved. And those should be a little shorter.
And if you catch anything I've missed or misrepresented, please let me know. I want to make sure this works well, but if it's going in the Build Directory, I doubly want to make sure it does.
http://powerhouse.nullware.com/powerhouse.html?v=2&n=The%20Ascended&d=1354fhigfKT5010E000E200E500J700K700EG04EB00DI04DK00J100J3043704EJ04J500
Can anyone see where I went with that? >_>
I accidentally the whole trinity.
EDIT: Here, at someone's request I'll post a screenshot detailing how I speced this guy...
http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/578953933014205207/24CC1DA2313DA1C08CABCE2C8273965840BA14B8/
The Superstat Trees and Role trees are both up now. Role Trees are a bit less wordy than Stat trees, as they share a lot of general buffs, and they're far more modular (you can change your Role trees without changing anything else about your build, unlike the Stat trees).
Things I plan to add:
- Sample builds, both powers and spec choices for individual characters
- List of buffs available through the trees and where to get them
- At least one "solid" power build with chosen superstats, listed twice with two different Role Tree combinations, to show how the different role trees impact capabilities. This last one's iffy, and I may not get around to it.
Unleash the feedback, please. And thanks for reading. I know I'm wordy.
<_< Because I'm totally one to complain about people being wordy.
Thanks for doing a lot of hard work that will go on to help many people be a little less silly.
...or at least more effective.
EDIT: Of most of the trees I use, I don't have any disagreements at all. Though I'm going to have to go back and re-do a few at this point... Too many misplaced points that have been nagging at me, but I didn't really consider alternatives. :B
Some of the descriptions were not just informative, but amusing! Also a plus.
Also, im pretty sure the notes on revitalize says it can only trigger once every 2 seconds now. The must've changed it from the last PTS push to live.
Also a few things I'd note.
*Those +stat effects in Int Tree as ridiculously amazing if you use Primal Aura, basically 20-30% more stats then you already had
*Any bubble boos that increases on self does effect PFF's max hp (not regen) potentially very nice in hybrid role as all 'bonus healing' boosts the prot bubbles too for even more bubble health on ones self. Still haven't figured out a good PFF TANK build yet but.... probably doable now especially with that threat skill in Protector for hybrid.
*The Kickback in End tree is bleh but not if you use Wrist Bolters and Automated Assault adv
Regarding Reinforce in the Sentry tree:
If you crit with a self-heal, it applies the buff to you. That means if you have CON as your primary stat and use Imbue, Imbue + Resurgence guarantees a stack. At least that's how it worked on PTS. I'm not sure if it works with HoT crits (Imbue + Endorphin Rush). I'd need to test it, or someone else can if they have the time. If that combo would work, you'd get the reinforce stacks pretty fast. Might be useful for tanks with the Sentry tree.
That build I linked above uses Constitution/Protector/Sentry and I just spam Ego Blade Frenzy into a group of enemies and more or less instantly get full stacks. If you're running a critty build, it's REALLY easy to stack up quickly.
This made me chuckle. Just leave it to me. I'll have a build put together in due time thanks to all that I've been reading from the gurus while waiting for my desktop.
I think the trick is to quit being a hero and rename yourself Kevin Poe or Draconis.
Well played, sir. Well played.
So, pet lovers, don't take it personally. Larry the Arcane Construct has ruined Sage for all other pet players.
I like Larry. We're cool. He tanks for me. I have no problem with convenient walls of meat throwing themselves in-between me and incoming damage. :cool:
And you've at least bothered to come up with a believable (and quite good) origin story as to why you're running around with a swarm of pets on Hexy.
As opposed to "lol I use pets because they mean I can be lazy". And then naming your petmaster the same as one of your pets, and queueing in PvP, and...rage, etc
Anyway. Gonna try to finish the "list of things you want to buff and the talents that buff them" that's towards the bottom of the first page. Probably tonight.
Can someone clarify; are the heals from healing pets affected by boosts to your own healing ability or only healing received abilities?
I'm assuming the later (+ pet specific heal abilities, but there's less of those)
What? Just because she's the daughter of Morocco's greatest super scientist and the Seelie Court's most powerful summoner and inherited both of her parents' powers, and has Larry the Arcane Construct (who is now a frighteningly decent tank)?
Also, I have to say your guide has allowed me to turn my kinda nifty Elec/Celestial healer Life Dose into a bubbly, bubbly death machine as a very viable Presence/Ego/Rec Guardian/Sentinel hero that can bubble tank, blast and heal. A bit more specialized gear for those roles through Unity farming and she'll be good to go.
We're going to be famous. Well, you are. BUT I AM YOUR ERSTWHILE LEADER, so there's that too.
Get your changes made now or be prepared to be price-gouged tomorrow morning. Or burn a retcon.
I think this is a horrible decision, but it's not as if they're listening to feedback at this point.
When the Nerfbat falls we're all out 50 global per character.
My money's actually on The Best Defense stacking from Guardian and Warden getting it right between the eyes rather than Sentinel Aura getting b
If you have multiple Auras (Sentinel and Sentry, Overseer and Arbiter, etc.), do they stack or does one override the other?
I know my one friend has Sentinel/Sentry, but I've never been able to catch both icons active at once. ಠ_ಠ
EDIT: Follow up - does Sentry and Aura of Radiant Protection work together? That may be what's causing the weirdness some...
Like everything else it is a diminishing returns number.
At low numbers it is like 10 offense will give you 5% bonus damage or whatever, by 100 it is maybe 25% bonus I think, getting in the 200-300 range will give maybe 30-40%.
But it takes 622 to get a 45% bonus damage which is as high as I checked. And 475 got 41% So the last 150 points got me a whopping 4 % more bonus damage. (That was with guardian/warden/double stacked 'defense gives +100% to offense' Tenacious, Locust, and Glory of Battle all at full - but no gear so it could go higher - but I dont think the damage would ever go above 50% I am guessing even if you had 1000 Offense)
Sentry and AoRP work together. And I'm pretty sure different types of Auras from the same source stack, but not from different sources.
So, say...Sage, my main. He's got Aura of Primal Majesty, Sentinel Aura and Overseer Aura. They all work.
If I team with someone that has Sentinel Aura, only one of the Sentinel Auras will apply, but they get all the other Auras too.
And I think only specifically +pet healing abilities affect pet healing, to the question from like two days ago that I missed.
Cheers mate, suspected that would be the case. Thanks again for the guide, seems to be a constant reference point at the moment
For the record, I'd like to note that Overpower from the Strength spec tree seems to cap at 10% critical strike chance at 360 STR:
INT: 189
Detect Vulnerability Penetration: 15%
Dm - Damage Maximum; the tooltip damage from Sniper Rifle
Dm - Damage Total; the actual damage the target suffers
R - Resistance value; the decimal value (plus 1) of how much damage resistance the target has
1) TEST DUMMY: Dummies have 10% resistance. With Dragon's Wrath, they take damage as if they had exactly 5% resistance.
Dm = 4062
Dt = 3693
R = 1.10
4062/3693= 1.10 (rounded up) -- This matches the expected result.
b) With Detect Vulnerability
Dm = 4062
Dt = 4062
R = 1.10
4062/4062 = 1.00 -- This does NOT match the expected result. It's behaving as if the dummy had no resistance.
2) Dr.Sage: Was willing to eat some hits to help gather numbers. Slotted AoRP for 69% Damage Resistance. 26% resistance from gear. No other passive damage reductions.
Dm = 4062
R = 1+(.26 + .69) = 1.95
Dt = 2096
4062/2096=1.94 (rounded up) -- This is extremely close to the expected result.
b) With Detect Vulnerability
Dm = 4062
R = 1+(.26 + .69) = 1.95
Dt = 2274
4062/2274=1.78 -- This does not match the expected result.
c) With Detect Vulnerability, Gear Resistance Only
Dm = 4062
R = 1.26
Dt = 3684
4062/3684= 1.10 -- This does not match the expected result.
From the above, it appears as though Detect Vulnerability is behaving in a subtractive manner, chopping its value off the opponent's resistances rather than the Dragon's Wrath style divisive penetration. If this is true, it means that Detect Vulnerability is most powerful VS softer targets, by cutting down what little resistance they have. The impact on a tank with 100% to 150% resistance (quite attainable, now) would be far less drastic.
That said, it would be best for one of the resident number gurus would check it as well, as it is not necessarily my strong suit. I may have missed something.
My Seraphim/Lifedrain/Shadow Embrace character is happily going through full maintains in the 90% power range. Now I just need to get her some decent gear...
Powers that be - Please Sticky!!!!!
It would be nice if this could get stickied.
I also would like to point out that it should be added to the 'Big Box of Guides'.