SW PvE build.

miseryanklast · October 2018

Hello,

What's good PvE build nowadays? Is it fury hellbring or are people going with templock support instead? Soulbinder any viable?

Thanks in advance.

vorphied · October 2018

miseryanklast said:
Hello,

What's good PvE build nowadays? Is it fury hellbring or are people going with templock support instead? Soulbinder any viable?

Thanks in advance.

Boss Supporting DPS: HB/Fury single-target feats/encounters
Trash AoE: HB/Fury
Templock: HB
Boss Primary DPS: SB (HB also does the job and would arguably be better if you are buffing a DPS GF with your Pillar, but SB is stronger at single-target if you're looking at selfish DPS)

giz · October 2018

How viable is dps SW? I know we have big disadvantages against the only dps class in the game, but i see people running dps SW, i play dps but only up to MSPC because at 16k ilvl i can't be grabbed as second dps, all parties now are only one dps class (GWF) as main dps. We have place in the game the players that don't want to play Templock always?

vorphied · October 2018

giz#2086 said:
How viable is dps SW? I know we have big disadvantages against the only dps class in the game, but i see people running dps SW, i play dps but only up to MSPC because at 16k ilvl i can't be grabbed as second dps, all parties now are only one dps class (GWF) as main dps. We have place in the game the players that don't want to play Templock always?

It's completely viable. I've played main DPS on my SW in every dungeon without issue and in reasonable time, up to and including CR, and I have been since at least 15 or 16k (now 18k), both with and without the Bug of Hadar and with/without a DPS GF.

The great debate is more about how the other DPS classes (e.g. GWF, DPS GF, basically anything but CW) have built-in advantages that SW does not enjoy, specifically around self-buffing and boss burst DPS. I think it's important to note that SW isn't dead in the water as a DPS, but I am definitely an advocate of doing something about the gap that exists among DPS classes.

If you're a SW or CW trying to get players in public queue to pick you up as a primary DPS, it can be expected not to go well unless you're invited by someone who has played with you before and knows you to be good at actual DPS. If your guild and/or alliance isn't offering opportunities for you to explore your DPS role on your DPS class, you might want to reevaluate that relationship.

giz · October 2018

vorphied said:

giz#2086 said:
How viable is dps SW? I know we have big disadvantages against the only dps class in the game, but i see people running dps SW, i play dps but only up to MSPC because at 16k ilvl i can't be grabbed as second dps, all parties now are only one dps class (GWF) as main dps. We have place in the game the players that don't want to play Templock always?
It's completely viable. I've played main DPS on my SW in every dungeon without issue and in reasonable time, up to and including CR, and I have been since at least 15 or 16k (now 18k), both with and without the Bug of Hadar and with/without a DPS GF.

The great debate is more about how the other DPS classes (e.g. GWF, DPS GF, basically anything but CW) have built-in advantages that SW does not enjoy, specifically around self-buffing and boss burst DPS. I think it's important to note that SW isn't dead in the water as a DPS, but I am definitely an advocate of doing something about the gap that exists among DPS classes.

If you're a SW or CW trying to get players in public queue to pick you up as a primary DPS, it can be expected not to go well unless you're invited by someone who has played with you before and knows you to be good at actual DPS. If your guild and/or alliance isn't offering opportunities for you to explore your DPS role on your DPS class, you might want to reevaluate that relationship.

Yup, it's hard to think about my role as dps SW if everyone is telling me that Warlocks can't be dps. Thanks for the response.

miseryanklast · October 2018

Thanks for the replies.

vorphied said:

miseryanklast said:
Hello,

What's good PvE build nowadays? Is it fury hellbring or are people going with templock support instead? Soulbinder any viable?

Thanks in advance.
Boss Primary DPS: SB (HB also does the job and would arguably be better if you are buffing a DPS GF with your Pillar, but SB is stronger at single-target if you're looking at selfish DPS)

Any guide out there for SB warlock? Like what artifact weapons, accessories, gear and stats I should aim for. (no idea what are soft caps nowadays ._ .)

schietindebux · October 2018

My Advice at lower gear/stats -> Hellbringer temptation, you can use same stuff a SB dps uses anyway except Atifact, from wich Wheel is BIS when buffing main dps followed by several debuffing artifacts.

Soulbinder dps is like this:
Artifact: Crystal is the common artifact for almost all dps. https://neverwinter.gamepedia.com/Soul_Sight_Crystal
Enchant: Dread > Feytouched , SB deals 80-90% dps with encounter.
Stats: 100% crit >power>recovery
Comps: Chultan Tiger https://neverwinter.gamepedia.com/Chultan_Tiger +
Groot https://neverwinter.gamepedia.com/Razorwood +2-3xArchon/Siegemaster Air+earth+fire vs air+earth+siege
Gear is the actual you can read in most guides: Hags Rag ( Barovian huntsarmor) + Eyestalker Wraps (arms-Omu hunts) + Enduring Boots (Omu-rewards from Marcos)+ Curselords head/Rex Corona (Omo hunts)
Primal Weapon Set (Omu)
Deamon Lords Set
Ring of Shadowstalker +4 and +5 (Omu Fane of the Nightserpant)
Ring of Gravestriker +4 and +5 into companion (Omu treasure)

dazed · January 2019

I play HB fury on xbox. I use killing flames fiery bolt and pillar. With mod 15 changes what should go in place of fiery bolt? What's the new aoe. Also boss fight encounter?

vorphied · January 2019

dazed#8235 said:
I play HB fury on xbox. I use killing flames fiery bolt and pillar. With mod 15 changes what should go in place of fiery bolt? What's the new aoe. Also boss fight encounter?

Killing Flames isn't for AoE; Murderous Flames feat isn't enough to make it good for that purpose.

Curse Bite, Pillar of Power, Fiery Bolt are your AoE staples.

Arms of Hadar can be swapped in, replacing Curse Bite, if you prefer. Personally I like Curse Bite even better now since it has two charges, no channeling, and is not limited to a frontal cone AoE. You may also prefer Arms if your crit is low and you are not able to proc Lesser Curse consistently enough.

dazed · January 2019

Never said killing was aoe I just said use it in my mix. Even knowing the feat in fury gives it aoe ability I don't spec that. As of now on xbox killing hits for over 400k. Your suggestion of curse bite which has no aoe ability hits for a measly 146k... even with its having a second it still doesn't touch was killing flames does... also fiery bolt in mod 15 says no longer does increased damage to targets in area... so that is no longer an aoe attack...

vorphied · January 2019

dazed#8235 said:
Never said killing was aoe I just said use it in my mix. Even knowing the feat in fury gives it aoe ability I don't spec that. As of now on xbox killing hits for over 400k. Your suggestion of curse bite which has no aoe ability hits for a measly 146k... even with its having a second it still doesn't touch was killing flames does... also fiery bolt in mod 15 says no longer does increased damage to targets in area... so that is no longer an aoe attack...

Well...let's start from the top.

You mentioned that you used KF, FB, and PoP, then asked about AoE in Mod 15. I trust that you understand the confusion since Fiery Bolt is not something you use for a single-target rotation.

Curse Bite is for AoE. You apply Lesser Curse to all of your targets with the All-Consuming Curse class feature. Also, you can't use arbitrary damage samples to compare ability effectiveness. Remember that you can hit for millions of damage when fully buffed, so throwing numbers out there in a vacuum won't help. Also, KF is a dedicated single-target power that increases dramatically in damage potential as the target loses HP, so this is very much an apples and oranges situation.

As for Fiery Bolt specifically, they fixed a bug where it would actually do MORE damage to surrounding targets than to the primary target. Fiery Bolt remains an AoE skill, and I'm not sure why you're trying to tell me that it isn't when you admittedly haven't played mod 15 at all yet.

naoqueroforum · January 2019

dazed#8235 said:
Never said killing was aoe I just said use it in my mix. Even knowing the feat in fury gives it aoe ability I don't spec that. As of now on xbox killing hits for over 400k. Your suggestion of curse bite which has no aoe ability hits for a measly 146k... even with its having a second it still doesn't touch was killing flames does... also fiery bolt in mod 15 says no longer does increased damage to targets in area... so that is no longer an aoe attack...

Why don't you have murderous flames? It's one of the few good fury feats, specially good for single target.

Saying your kf hits for 400k is basically no information at all, since it will hit for either 40k or 4m under the same buff level. Curse bite probably hits harder than kf on targets at full life. Curse bite also has the highest target limit of any of our skills making it a great multi target ability.

dazed#8235 said:
I play HB fury on xbox. I use killing flames fiery bolt and pillar. With mod 15 changes what should go in place of fiery bolt? What's the new aoe. Also boss fight encounter?

For AoE, you wont replace FB. Why do you think you are not going to use it as aoe anymore? It is still one good aoe power, though a bit slow sometimes. What you can do is replace killing flames with curse bite, which got a great improvement in mod 15.

mirajanesitri · February 2019

curse bite+pillor of power+harrow storm/fiery bolt/killing flame depending on mob pack/dun/trail for sb its kf/fb(depending on dun/trail/mob pack)+curse bite/kf(depending on mob pack/dun/trial)+harrowstorm/blades of vanquised army(depending on mob pack/dun/trail)
for aoe

as a matter of dps sb is the better option(mostly due to soul scorge(yes this pass 20m mark easy without effectiveness bug+the dot of it is close to 5m..so) and mf(procting of ss as well not just kf)..no evidence that will ever support hb as better dps(on single target).. going with the "i tried sb and did better with hb" kind of logic wont cut it. learn to play sb right then wake up and smell coffee(if this offend someone im sorry..but sometimes one has to be blunt(not aiming at forms specific just in general i see this)
as for enchants i disagree ....fey is better then dread even for sb..even though you use one daily per phase...its stil decent damage boh give..i wont ever agree with dread >fey on sb unless you never ever use daily at all......or you are on very low ap gain and in a very bad party which doesnt allow you to spam daily or use it much ..but allow you to spam powers alot...that for sure is a good choice for dread.....
(those additional weapon damage feats wont matter much as they are bad without buffs)

vorphied · February 2019

mirajanesitri said:
as for enchants i disagree ....fey is better then dread even for sb..even though you use one daily per phase...its stil decent damage boh give..i wont ever agree with dread >fey on sb unless you never ever use daily at all......or you are on very low ap gain and in a very bad party which doesnt allow you to spam daily or use it much ..but allow you to spam powers alot...that for sure is a good choice for dread.....
(those additional weapon damage feats wont matter much as they are bad without buffs)

Fey vs. Dread will depend on how much of your total damage comes from BoH vs. Encounter Powers and damage sources that inherit attributes from those Encounters.

Unfortunately I don't have a real dungeon parse to refer to, and it's a given that Fey will do its best work in a well-buffed group due to multipliers. However, what I'm seeing from a base boss dummy test with no weapon enchantment and no buff support is that Brood of Hadar is about 9% of my overall damage output assuming I align it with Soul Sight whenever possible and add together the damage from the initial hit and the summoned minions. I also use the Legendary snail power for additional AP regeneration and have about 19.1k recovery during this test, so I'm casting more dailies under my own steam than the average SW.

Conversely, ~88% of damage came from sources that are Encounters or are directly influenced by them (e.g. 37% from Creeping Death and 30% from Soul Scorch). While Creeping Death includes virtually all of my damage sources, a comparatively small portion of it can be expected to come from Brood of Hadar based on the overall damage distribution.

Maybe someone more conversant with the math can correct me or help flesh this out to a logical conclusion in a dungeon environment, but I'm not certain that replacing Dread with Fey is worth it if the only benefit really is adding more damage to Brood of Hadar (I'm not factoring in At-Wills because SB doesn't use them).

Edit: Removed sad attempt at math for now. Will revisit when I have time to make sure I get it right unless someone else can helpfully step in.

vorphied · February 2019

Ironically it looks very likely that all of the SB DPS discussion may become moot soon. From what the dev blogs indicate, Warlock will have one DPS path and one Healer path, like how Paladin is split into Tank Prot and Healer Devo. My guess is that Hellbringer will become the default DPS path and what we currently consider Templock will become the entire Soulbinder path. Soul Sparks were referenced to have become "Soul Essences" and were mentioned in context of healing, so it seems more or less a given at this early stage of speculation.

SW PvE build.

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