The Case of the Durable Telepath

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• flowcyto Posts: 12,859 Arc User

  April 2016 edited April 2016

  If ya wanna be high dps and still have some durability, then I'd suggest Ranged dps role + Ego Form since it also gives a general dmgRes boost (or even take ID Mastery, since its dmgRes is a bit more, but its Ranged Ego dmg boost also isn't as good). Also using Guardicator specs, for the high Defense from gear alone, and otherwise its the usual: adding ADs and heals, maybe a threat wipe and/or CoPD, etc.
  
  TP's best dps is still using Ego Blast w/ MO + Mental Storm, which means using TP Reverb, though ya don't have to gear heavily into Pres (not an ideal dps stat, though for debuff/CC builds it can be good). Pres PSS is underrated as a PSS tree for non-healers, as it also boost crit chance and/or Defense, bonus healing considerably, and can be competitive dps if you can roll Vulnerability (though its tough to do that, and w/o Vuln Pres isn't as good for dps). Otherwise, Ego PSS is fine for a ranged dps build w/ some Defense added.
  
  The ideal toggle for dps is Conc (or Chilled Form), though Manip is what ya want if ya care about CC.
  
  Selfish dps TP build:
  
  PowerHouse (Link to this build)
  
  Archetype: Freeform
  
  Super Stats:
  Level 6: Ego (Primary)
  Level 10: Constitution (Secondary)
  Level 15: Presence (Secondary)
  
  Talents:
  Level 1: Matter Manipulator
  Level 6: Ascetic
  Level 9: Shrug It Off
  Level 12: Showmanship
  Level 15: Quick Recovery
  Level 18: Wordly
  Level 21: Lasting Impression
  
  Powers:
  Level 1: Psi Lash
  Level 1: Ego Blast (Rank 2, Mind Opener)
  Level 6: Telepathic Reverberation
  Level 8: Id Mastery (Rank 2, Rank 3)
  Level 11: Concentration
  Level 14: Conviction (Rank 2, Rank 3)
  Level 17: Ego Sprites (Rank 2, Rank 3)
  Level 20: Mental Storm (Rank 2, Rank 3)
  Level 23: Telekinetic Shield (Rank 2, Rank 3, Telekinetic Reinforcement)
  Level 26: Masterful Dodge
  Level 29: Palliate (Absolve)
  Level 32: Ego Sleep (Plagued by Nightmares)
  Level 35: Ego Surge (Rank 2, Nimble Mind)
  Level 38: Rebirth
  
  Travel Powers:
  Level 6:
  Level 35:
  
  Specializations:
  Ego: Force of Will (2/2)
  Ego: Insight (3/3)
  Ego: Follow Through (3/3)
  Ego: Sixth Sense (2/3)
  Guardian: Fortified Gear (3/3)
  Guardian: Ruthless (2/2)
  Guardian: Find the Mark (2/3)
  Guardian: The Best Defense (3/3)
  Vindicator: Aggressive Stance (2/2)
  Vindicator: Merciless (3/3)
  Vindicator: Focused Strikes (3/3)
  Vindicator: Offensive Expertise (2/2)
  Mastery: Ego Mastery (1/1)
  
  Pick either ID Mastery or Ego Form (ie. more dmgRes vs. more dps). Ego Sleep is for the easy debuff apply on tap to proc TP Reverb (not essential, but can be convenient). Gear focus is mostly on Ego and Con here.
  
  Keep in mind that Manip builds can be durable vs trash solely by using AoE stuns like TK Maelstrom; ya can basically stun-lock entire groups w/ decent gear and the right specs. Its not ideal for dps, though.

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• nornsavant Posts: 93 Arc User

  April 2016 edited April 2016

  This is, of course, a good build and I thank you much for it Flowcyto. Three things stood out as questions when I looked it over though. So I went to the PTS to run it through the test bed.
  
  Duck and Cover
  
  I tried it with Energy Shield with Energy Sheath and with TK Shield and Reinforcement. Sure enough, even though I enjoyed the extra energy Energy Shield gave me, damage just punched right through it. I really needed the harder defense of TK shield. Flowcyto called that one on the money.
  
  You are getting sleeeepy
  
  I had doubts about the usefulness of Ego Sleep. But it performed just as advertised showing amazing synergy with TP Reverb and other attacks. It is sort of like a second energy unlock in this setup.
  
  33% of a heal
  
  Palliate… wait… what? Okay, so it returns 33% of your health, adds some presence and runs on a cooldown timer longer than an Active Defense. But let’s compare that to Resurgence which is an Active Defense.
  
  Resurgence will lock out other ADs for 30 seconds and it has the cooldown of an AD. But it will snatch you back from mere points away from death and fill up your health bar while thumbing its nose at the bad guys from behind your block or shield.
  
  Despite my misgivings I did run the first few tests with the build just as annotated including Palliate. It just could not put forth a good showing, by the [long] time it recycled I was dead, respawned in the control booth and questioning my life choices.
  
  Oh, it also packs Absolve, a true threat wipe that puts you into stealth. Like other powers of the same ilk (lookin’ at you Evasive Maneuvers) it serves to reset PVE encounters so that lieutenant you had almost dead just shrugs, wanders back to his mark and gets all his health back.
  
  Oh the Pain
  
  I am used to Tanks. One might say that I am spoiled to Tanks. And one would be right. I am used to smashing into the battlestation at its highest settings and expecting my build to perform like a rabid tiger unleashed.
  
  This was a different experience to be sure. I was never able to get above hard opponents and a team of three and even that took some serious technique.
  
  Some might say that is not a good test of a DPS build. Taking on a group of mobs by yourself is the Tank’s job. But then being cut off from the group with a mass of mobs pounding on you and no way to escape outside of killing them all is the nightmare scenario for any DPS. Why not test in the “bad as it can get” column? Everything else has got to be easier right?
  
  So the first few runs with the build straight off the shelf and utterly ungeared resulted in insta-murder for me. Even a 1 man setting was painful. So I made some tweaks and changes back and forth. Eventually I came to understand that I just didn’t have enough healing. Conviction just could not soak up the damage that got through under pressure and I had no other way of getting rid of it. Eventually I just folded through attrition.
  
  Kicking Palliate to the curb I tried some other heals, most stunk. So eschewing those that crushed my DPS or my Energy recovery or were just bad left me with two working models:
  
  Sigils of Radiant Sanctuary
  
  This one worked really well up to a three man setting with hard opponents and full difficulty. The bad guys spent precious time on killing the circle and I was able to get my damage in and ticking. Once I had enough of them dead I could manage the rest on my own. The healing and stealth was super handy and really made all the difference.
  
  BUT
  
  I don’t get to see my character. As much as I mingle with the min-maxers and try to feign proficiency and climb the learning curve in understanding the process of building effective characters, I do have a deep running streak of vanity as might befit an RPer. I want to see my characters. Perhaps it is a flaw but I embrace it as a truth about myself. I think that may be the first step. That and not talking about fight club…DOH!
  
  Support Drones
  
  I almost never use these. Thematically they never fit the characters I make. Might be time to expand my character driven horizons though because these lil fellas nearly fixed my build right up. Fully ranked, they just kept me obnoxiously alive even when that rotten purple Tommygun insisted that I die.
  
  Still could not break the three man limit in the testbed but the fights felt much more in control and I felt like I had plenty of options as the fight progressed. In group play I know I would not get as much healing myself but then I would not be facing the world on my own either.
  
  So in the nightmare scenario, these two really came through. They do affect my power like any pets will but I never felt starved and, in truth, death had a much bigger effect on my DPS.
  
  So this is the build I ended up with and I think it performed well for durability. It doesn’t have the damage of those Fire and Epidemic spam builds that just wipe the maps clean but maybe gear will make a difference along those line later. We shall see.
  
  PowerHouse (Link to this build)
  
  Name: Golden Throne
  
  Archetype: Freeform
  
  Super Stats:
  Level 6: Ego (Primary)
  Level 10: Constitution (Secondary)
  Level 15: Presence (Secondary)
  
  Talents:
  Level 1: Matter Manipulator
  Level 6: Ascetic
  Level 9: Shrug It Off
  Level 12: Showmanship
  Level 15: Quick Recovery
  Level 18: Wordly
  Level 21: Lasting Impression
  
  Powers:
  Level 1: Psi Lash
  Level 1: Ego Blast (Rank 2, Mind Opener)
  Level 6: Telepathic Reverberation
  Level 8: Id Mastery (Rank 2, Rank 3)
  Level 11: Telekinetic Shield (Rank 2, Rank 3, Telekinetic Reinforcement)
  Level 14: Support Drones (Rank 2, Rank 3)
  Level 17: Ego Sprites (Rank 2, Rank 3)
  Level 20: Mental Storm (Rank 2, Rank 3)
  Level 23: Conviction (Rank 2, Rank 3)
  Level 26: Masterful Dodge
  Level 29: Concentration
  Level 32: Ego Sleep (Plagued by Nightmares)
  Level 35: Ego Surge (Rank 2, Nimble Mind)
  Level 38: Rebirth
  
  Travel Powers:
  Level 6: Jet Pack (Rank 2)
  Level 35: Teleportation
  
  Specializations:
  Ego: Force of Will (2/2)
  Ego: Insight (3/3)
  Ego: Follow Through (3/3)
  Ego: Sixth Sense (2/3)
  Guardian: Fortified Gear (3/3)
  Guardian: Ruthless (2/2)
  Guardian: Find the Mark (2/3)
  Guardian: The Best Defense (3/3)
  Vindicator: Aggressive Stance (2/2)
  Vindicator: Merciless (3/3)
  Vindicator: Focused Strikes (3/3)
  Vindicator: Offensive Expertise (2/2)
  Mastery: Ego Mastery (1/1)
  

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• pantagruel01 Posts: 7,091 Arc User

  April 2016

  nornsavant said:

  
  33% of a heal
  
  Palliate… wait… what?

  Palliate, on a dps setup, is not intended for healing, nor is it intended for solo content. It's there as a threat wipe so in team content if you steal aggro from the tank you can give it back.

  nornsavant said:

  Oh, it also packs Absolve, a true threat wipe that puts you into stealth. Like other powers of the same ilk (lookin’ at you Evasive Maneuvers) it serves to reset PVE encounters so that lieutenant you had almost dead just shrugs, wanders back to his mark and gets all his health back.

  That's only true if they have nothing else on their threat tables -- in a team (or with pets) they won't reset. flowcyto's build is really meant for group content, for soloing you'd probably wind up relying on full charge mental storm plus ego sprites.

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• flowcyto Posts: 12,859 Arc User

  April 2016

  Its not really fair to judge a build if ya dun have the gear for it yet. Good stats via gear is essential to realizing the potential of any build. A lack of gear to have decent stats (and not a bad build), is mostly what gets you creamed in Alerts at low levels, for ex- despite ur hero being sidekicked to lvl 30.
  
  Regardless, ya won't be very tanky w/ any offensive passive- best ya could get there is prob a heavy dodge-based build using WotW, but even then ya gotta take very specific powers for that, the upkeep of those powers does lower ur optimal dps, and those are melee builds besides. Having ID Mastery_Ego Form and high Defense via specs and gear is prob the next best bet. Otherwise, being an optimal dps means using active survival tools well, blocking at the right times, and not drawing all attention to urself when ya don't have backup buttons ready (doesn't necc mean ya need a threat wipe, but for ex. ya dun wanna open on an Alert mob w/ heavy AoE if ur not ready to pop an AD - let another hero take aggro and use focus fire and CC instead).
  
  And yea, Palliate was taken mostly for its threat wipe, and the threat wipe was mostly for groups, and/or to reset a fight gone south. Its not essential- but can be nice to have for dps builds doing group content. However, it can also be used to skip most enemy packs in solo missions: run past everything, drop the aggro train when ya get to the last room w/ the boss/objective to kill, complete objective, leave. Not a huge priority there, as solo leveling isn't too hard in CO either way- more just like a perk to getting a threat wipe. If ya want another option that is more effective just for healing, then I'd prob get Bionic Shielding for solo builds. The drones are okay for backup healing, but they also are not fully controllable, can die easily, and give ya a bit of an energy penalty.
  
  And yea, I can understand about not wanting to use Radiant Sigils for the visual (its one of the main reasons I don't use them, as vain/silly as that sounds). Ebon Sigils are a good alternative to that, though.

  <CO stuff> .: Petco :. // A basic FF building guide (see 1st reply) // PSA on Power Activation Delay // Ayonachan's Gift Horse (misc stat data)
  - Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!

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• riverocean Posts: 1,690 Arc User

  April 2016

  The build Flowcyto gave you is excellent for a sturdy DPS.
  
  Ego/Con/Pre is pretty much the standard for a DPS w/decent heal ability.
  
  If you wanted to experiment, you could swap out Bountiful Chi Resurgence or Empathic Healing for the Drones. Empathic Healing can actually work as a fantastic self-heal. But BCR is more fire and forget. BCR + Conviction should keep you healthy for most fights.
  
  Another option would be to experiment with Ego/Con/Dex + Seraphim in the Hybrid role. Seraphim will boost your healing and Paranormal DPS.
  
  Here's the thing about builds like this though.. you will be an aggro magnet. This is due to the large amount you heal for + your DPS. Even a well-built tank is going to have trouble keeping aggro off you, thanks to CO manages threat.

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• nornsavant Posts: 93 Arc User

  April 2016

  If it seemed like I was criticizing Flowcyto’s initial build then please let me voice contrition. He has always been incredibly smart and gracious with his contributions to the CO community. It’s just that there is a variable that no builder can really account for… the player and their play style.
  
  I would never really use a threat wipe to get past mobs. I would just kill them all. Not saying that’s better but it’s just how I play. I just had to modify things a little to match the way I play is all. In fact I think I ended up changing a single power in the whole initial build offering. And that may change again.
  
  I did say I wanted a DPS approach and that may have to be something I have to figure out. I may be leaning towards tankiness because it is a comfort zone that I will have to ease out of. I don’t mean to imply that the build isn’t working. It is clearly doing exactly what it is supposed to do. I just need to find a place where the build and I can both exist comfortably.
  
  I opted for the extra healing to get a certain feel in the worst possible circumstances. But someone else might see more value in the threat wipe. I might see value in it after getting stuffed a few times in some protracted fight.
  
  I tried Bionic Shielding and found that it impacted my power as well. I basically had to use it on cool down and that really soaked my blue bar. Plus I didn’t have the health to make Bionic Shielding very useful. That might be a gear thing as well and things could go a different way later on.
  
  The Drones may carry a penalty with them but I [probably] don’t have to recast them every time they are up and they will heal constantly without me having to spend power on them. However Ebon Sigils might hold some thematic prospects as well. I will have to look into that.
  
  So I am not looking to tank and I am not looking to storm the battlestation at full settings because that really is a tank’s test. I just wanted a benchmark and to get a feeling for the way I should expect it to flow. I fully expect the group play will offer more of an opportunity to do actual DPS when I am not under constant aggro pressure.
  
  So I am not commenting on the car or the engineer, I am really talking about the driver. I am moving from dump trucks to sports cars here. My apologies if I seemed critical, I only meant to be detailed.
  

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• flowcyto Posts: 12,859 Arc User

  April 2016 edited April 2016

  Ya guys dun need to defend or defer to me that much I can take critiques and be wrong sometimes. Last thing I want is for my advice to be treated like some sort of sacred cow.
  
  Regardless, you'll prob want to give some info on what sort of gear stats you plan on aiming for, and/or if ya want any help there if ur uncertain. Also may help to clarify what sort of content ya plan on doing, as it can change the build and gearing a bit.

  <CO stuff> .: Petco :. // A basic FF building guide (see 1st reply) // PSA on Power Activation Delay // Ayonachan's Gift Horse (misc stat data)
  - Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!

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• nornsavant Posts: 93 Arc User

  April 2016

  Gear has always been a weak place for me and so I am usually chronically under-geared. You mentioned gearing for Con and Ego. I am not certain exactly what that means except for “Huh, I can put some more ego on this thing, think I’ll do that”
  
  Ideally I want to be of use to a group damage-wise. I spend a lot of time soloing but that is usually because my group game is a little weak and soloing and often pretty easy. That’s sort of what this is about, trying to field something more relevant in its role without going all glass cannon.
  
  But I am not sure about the gear, I have never really gotten to that step.
  

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• flowcyto Posts: 12,859 Arc User

  April 2016

  Well, you kinda are going glass cannon here. It just so happens in CO that oftentimes the best specs for dps also are the best for personal defense (Ward/Guardicator), and that one of the best PSS trees gives you great defense than even Con PSS, and while not giving up too much dps (STR PSS- though DEX PSS is still usually the best dps tree, it sacrifices more for it).
  
  If ya really wanna be durable w/o being a group tank, then I'd stick w/ the Hybrid role and Invuln as the passive. Playing a more focused dps requires a bit of a diff mindset, and if ur not ready for that it may be better for you take cut ur dps to play it safer. Its all on ur playstyle, though, and what ya find more important.
  
  If ya want an easy benchmark for gearing at lvl 40 and still netting decent maxHP, get the main toggle stat to the 200-250 range, then bump up Con as much as ya can. Ya shouldn't need to much for the 3rd SS, unless ur having energy issues perhaps. Can also read the short guide I made for how I tend to gear FFs:
  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NyWu7WcIy1UVBb-6kl0yA5937rL2ch-HfUu0N5mVUmU/edit
  
  I give more specifics, but I tend to not proffer hard numbers cause I like to make suggestions rather than guidelines.
  
  

  <CO stuff> .: Petco :. // A basic FF building guide (see 1st reply) // PSA on Power Activation Delay // Ayonachan's Gift Horse (misc stat data)
  - Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!

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