beastboyisbeast's Ultimate Phsychic Guide

if u say so.. probably u know better

anyway.. come to DW, pm me and u will see

Risingson - Lost City wrote: »

Well regarding PvE, having Soul of Vengeance doesn't change anything because mobs don't touch me very often.

Soul of Vengeance, in my noob experience, is pretty handy when I'm being attacked by mobs even ranged ones. The damage they try to deal goes back to them and some even died before I realized I was being hit.

So I keep it on. Compared to my cleric mp needs, the skill's mana consumption is ridiculously low... for the moment.

b:chuckle

Chic_Sigh - Heavens Tear wrote: »

Thanks BBiB for your honest work and generous time, your guide is much appreciated. However...



I beg to differ here. As Reds mentioned earlier, it's all in the playstyle but I think it goes beyond that and I'm only talking from my in game experience.

My main being a full MAG (lev 89) cleric, I have built this one with a 1-pt VIT every 4 levels, and I find it much more fun to play than full MAG psychic.

IMO:

- a Cleric needs full MAG in order to self- and group-heal properly as well as dealing good damage including AoE's plus buffing and debuffing regularly in between, whereas:

- the Psychic needs only self-buffs/heals while mainly DD'ing -- which she does as a caster, like the Wiz. Contrary to the Wiz tho:

- the Psychic's buffs return damage to the attacker, which is pretty cool.

For these reasons, IMO again, the Psychic does not need to go full MAG because instead of a plus, it becomes a handicap in the long run. It's like trying to kill a fly with a sledgehammer. A few more VIT points more sure helps a great deal in keeping the Psychic alive and useful.

b:mischievous

Ehh.

I was actually prepared to give a super huge giant wall of text (yes, even bigger than this) on why I don't feel that Vit is a good idea. But I'll just stick to the biggest flaws in what you were saying...

1) Why play a DD class and intentionally gimp the damage on the claim that "it doesn't need it"? I can understand saying that you want to survive easier, but saying you don't need damage? Where is the logic in saying a DD doesn't need to get higher damage...? That part threw me way off. This isn't so much an argument against being Vit, as it is an argument against the way you explained it.

2) And this one is major: Light Armor Psychics will have just as much (often more) survivability as a Vit Psychic, with similar damage. But at least the LA Psy will gain a critical ratio out of the deal. This alone is the biggest reason why Vit Psy doesn't make a lot of sense. If you really need to survive more, don't add Vit. Add dex and change armor. Or read the next point.

3) Most survival problems the full-mag Psy encounters can be fixed by: a) hp and pdef gems, b) refinement, c) learning how to maneuver, and d) (in case of emergency) using White Voodoo and casting the correct skills to address the loss of attack levels. I hate to say it, but knowing how to play the class is far greater than any amount of vit... Not saying you don't know, just saying it can be compensated for with the right tactics. It tends to be better to adjust playstyle and keep your strength than to lose your strength to keep a less effective style.


All that being said, if you do enjoy your Vit Psychic, it's your character, have it any way you like. It's not my place to tell you how to have fun with your own creation. I'm just pointing out the reasons why many of us won't agree.

---

These arguments are coming from the perspective of someone who would rather seek efficiency, and really... Imo dying easier teaches you better because you have to actually start thinking. When not fighting bosses, its sooo easy to kite and take no damage at all, even from ranged mobs. But that actually requires effort, and well, I've seen some lazy Psychics who let themselves be hit. Obviously there are times when kiting isn't needed, especially if its a melee mob. A full-mag Psy will generally drop any melee mob before it becomes a threat.

When fighting bosses and whatnot in squads, its not too hard to be mindful of aggro and let the tank take the hits. If you're soloing the boss, White Voodoo and DoT it, if its damage scares you. If this strategy fails, you're probably too low to be attempting a solo at that boss anyway. Do remember, some bosses can be easily kited too. (theTideborn Traitor from the test of loyalty is the easiest boss ever for a Psychic. Aqua Impact + Landslide + kite effectively = no damage taken. I soloed it easily.)

ryukage wrote: »

Ehh. I was actually prepared to give a super huge giant wall of text

You already have. And most of it mostly bla bla *sigh*

All that being said, if you do enjoy your Vit Psychic, it's your character, have it any way you like. It's not my place to tell you how to have fun with your own creation. I'm just pointing out the reasons why many of us won't agree.

Why all of a sudden you would represent "many of us" is beyond me.

But if a 20 VIT build is considered a VIT psychic, then be my guest and keep QQ'ing.

As for the rest of your text wall I hope you don't feel offended if I prefer to ignore it, it's just too eye-tiring to even try to read it.

b:fatb

Chic_Sigh - Heavens Tear wrote: »

You already have. And most of it mostly bla bla *sigh*



Why all of a sudden you would represent "many of us" is beyond me.

But if a 20 VIT build is considered a VIT psychic, then be my guest and keep QQ'ing.

As for the rest of your text wall I hope you don't feel offended if I prefer to ignore it, it's just too eye-tiring to even try to read it.

b:fatb

I'm just guessing, but the reason why I probably represent "many of us" is because there are, in fact, many Psychics who don't agree. Why do you think pure magic build is so popular?

Aside from that, if most of my post is "bla bla", then what was yours? I find it funny that you'd reply to a post you claim to not actually read, and still do it in such a defending-your-epeen manner. Oh well, enjoy the rest of your uneventful day.

Lately I have been contemplating the effectiveness of a end-game LA Psy who stacks gear for +crit chance. With the high dex and enough crit gear, it might be deadly. But I'm not sure how much crit a Psy can reasonably get, so I don't know if it would be worth the effort. The other main problem I have with LA is that Psy's don't have a buff to multiply pdef like Wizards or Clerics do. True, we have White Voodoo, but that doesn't necesitate LA for me. If anything, White Voodoo makes me want to stay in robes more. (Because I can count on taking 66% less damage in a tight spot, with or without high pdef, so I'd rather keep my damage higher.)

Though, LA would probably make skills like Blade Tempest less of a pain in the **** for us.

---

On another topic, I noticed Landslide knocks pets back. I'm probably late to the party on that one. But usually when I have to fight a Veno, I concentrate on dropping the Veno ASAP, often ignoring the pet if I can manage it. The other day I wanted to get a person's Herc out of my face so I tried it, not actually expecting it to work, I guess instinct took over. Well, it did work.

Risingson - Lost City wrote: »

Don't fool yourself, you will need to go Pure mag and stuff yourself with shards at the end. Psychic is a - very - expensive class. Between the squishiness and the possible Soulforce improvement, you will have to spend quite a lot of money into your gear.

That's basically my plan. I was just saying if someone found a way to actually have a high crit ratio on a Psy, it'd be an interesting thing to see.

PurpleBomber - Dreamweaver wrote: »

Ok i have a question does stone barrier reduce the effect of the skill as well?

Cause i'm not understanding what you said about wizzies stone barrier skill. I understand it raises def and earth resistance does it also reduce the effect of skills that stun,sleep etc. which are earth as well?

The reason for asking is because psy skill does not grant the increase time its more soul force. I maybe wrong but doesn't the skill say it increases the stun time by 1 second for every 5000 soul force. So i'm sure he shouldn't be getting a stun that has a duration of 6-7 seconds unless he has over 15000 soul force.(I may be wrong)

Also how much does stone barrier increase earth resistance and would it dramatically affect a psys earth nuking skills if they were both the same level.

max lvl stone barier=100% extra earth def (lots of damage reduction) and 100% extra pdef
and yes the earth barier can take of alot of damage from ur earth nukes

This topic will be open to debate until 2083, so no point attempting to convince anyone of the "right" or "wrong" way to do it.

I've played all the classes, and most of them are lvl 75+ (with my my main being lvl 86). In other words, I've been around the block.

That said, it comes down to how one prefers playing the game. I generally take on a purist role, with classes. To me, a DD is a DD, a WB is a tank, an EP is a healer. And I keep it that way. Again, though, this is what works for me, based on how I play the game.

My wizard is a pure mag build (370 mag at lvl 76), and hits like a tonne of bricks. Usually hits at around 10k, +/- some depending on elemental affinity. I have tried speccing for LA, but found the damage output too reduced, and the added LA protection relatively marginal, unless I had HP shards or some VIT specced in as well.

All in all, I didn't like that type of build.

With the Psychic (lvl 66), however, I am experimenting a bit. I am finding quite a successful build in Mag/Dex. Now, this isn't a LA build; I am not putting STR points in for LA. What I am doing is going an arbitrary route of allocating Dex, in addition to Mag, for the sole reason of raising crit rate. I haven't followed any real ratio, but I suppose it comes down to about 3 Mag & 2 Dex / lvl.

Add to this build a bit of gear with some -channeling (which is not really that important, since Psy's channel very quickly, anyway), and some crit gear (plus a crit arrow :-), and you suddenly find yourself a machine-gun speed casting Psychic who, with Black Voodoo, hits just about as hard (maybe slightly less, but very little so) as a pure mag Wizard, and has 10% crit.

This alone is often enough to compensate for low HP, and less Phys. Def, because you are still hitting hard, and critting fairly frequently.

But, again, this is just what works for me... and it works very well, particularly in PvE. For the record, I've never once done PvP with my Psy, so I can't say anything on this matter.

The only drawback is that when I'm in a group, I aggro more than a 'Sin or EA, so I need to make sure to switch to White Voodoo and kite like hell till the tank or some other squad member intercepts the mob.

All in all, though, I quite like this Mag / Dex build.

I think I seen it in one of the earlier posts here in this thread somebody saying Psy's aren't all that wanted for groups. Can I ask why that is? I just rolled one, and I want to be sure I'm going to be wanted down the road.

beastboyisbeast wrote: »

Well many people see Psychics as faster channeling Wizards which is why they say things like "OMFG, OP, nerf patch pl0x!!!!"

QFT.

A lot of people don't actually stop to consider that many of our attacks are in fact much weaker on a per-hit basis than many Wizard spells are. We just have the edge DPS-wise, for two main reasons:

1) If you consider basic spells alone, a Psychic's Black Voodoo will usually give him a DPS lead.

2) If you consider the larger spells also, the Psychic's faster channeling will yield faster damage in a lot of cases.

However, people gotta remember a Wizard's big spell hits harder. A Psychic's big spell hits faster.

Only one problem with your guide.

You spelled Psychic wrong.
Someone should sticky this BTW.