Best Leveling Spec

[Bugattiboy]

So as part of EA requiring us to make a character in all 4 classes if you want to a be self buffer I started a sage yesterday. I've heard both trees do viable PvE DPS, but which one is best for leveling?

[Daellia]

I tend to argue Balance. It matures earlier in the leveling curve (around level 20-25, rather than the level 40 for TK), has more leveling utility, and tends to have better force efficiency while soloing until you get into end-game gear (and the massive crit chance increases it gives).

[Nibbon]

Agreed, balance is probably best all the way through. By level 21 you have two of your main skills in your tree (FIB and Tele Balance). By 25 you pretty much have all necessary - and then each point thereafter is just boosting your damage. FiB is good enough for AOE - but tele is better for AOE in general - otherwise there's rarely a situation where tele is better than balance (hybrid or pure).

 

IMO tele shouldn't be used until they buff turbulence to do vastly more damage.

[Daellia]

Agreed, balance is probably best all the way through. By level 21 you have two of your main skills in your tree (FIB and Tele Balance). By 25 you pretty much have all necessary - and then each point thereafter is just boosting your damage. FiB is good enough for AOE - but tele is better for AOE in general - otherwise there's rarely a situation where tele is better than balance (hybrid or pure).

 

IMO tele shouldn't be used until they buff turbulence to do vastly more damage.

 

Well, by end-game, it's showing significantly better numbers than Balance specs. Our current BIS profiles (which we're putting the final finishing touches on as I type this) show TK specs doing a touch over 4% more DPS than Balance, and nearly 5% more than the Balance/TK hybrid build.

[Vir_Cotto]

I'm not sure, while leveling, one is "better" than the other, they're simply a slightly different play style. Telekinetic is more stationary, while Balance gives you more mobility. I personally like Telekinetic better, but that's just me. I will say that Balance is considered far better for PvP though, with the increased mobility.