Vanguard build help

[Krazer]

Hey guys I'm ripping out my hair here trying to figure out a good dps build for my vanguard as well as what kind of war hero and rakata gear I should be wearing. I'm currently a tactics build and I'm not really liking the dps output. As far as gear I've got full rakata combat tech expect of course for the belt, bracer offhand, and weapon which is eliminator. PVP wise I have full war hero combat tech expect for the bracers and belt which is eliminator. So what I'm asking is how can I salvage this vanguard to do max dps and what sets should I be wearing for pvp and pve? Do I have it right or am I totally blowing it? I'm looking to cut my losses as best as possible specially on the pvp gear as its going to take a long grind to get the proper gear.

[Krazer]

Guys I will pay ingame cash or RL cash I Really could use some help with my vanguard. Name a price send me a phone number and we can discuss payment options, but yeah Im that DESPERATE!

[Atracin]

First of all, there is no need to pay anyone.

 

My opinion on PVP

As far as DPS goes, I do think that Assault is a bit more bursty than Tactics (something needed in PVP). And in all honesty, I havent seen a single Vanguard use Tactics in Warzones. I've tried tactics, and it works; but I find AP + HiB combo too good to pass up.

In WZ's, preferably you'd have WH Eliminator (for the 15% higher crit for HiB(again, running as an Assault). But Rakata Combat Tech set fill that niche quite nicely (since it does give you an 8% damage increase to HiB). WH Combat Tech should also work in terms of an Assault build, but keep in mind HiB is your main hitter, and will be used more often than SS.

 

PVE

Gear wise, Rakata is the best. But if you're wearing Combat Tech, why run Tactics?

 

 

And after all this gear decision, you should really know what your rotation is. A good rotation is one of the keys to being successful in PVP. I feel that people could help more if we got a skill tree from you and what your rotation is like. You have the gear, so (sorry if it hurts) it must be you.

 

Edit:

Just thought I'd add my current Assault build (PVP focused):

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc/#801bIrbdGhMsZ0MZMs0M.2

Edited July 11, 2012 by Atracin

[Krazer]

Thank you for getting back to me. My tactics build I guess is irrelevant at this stage. I'm only looking to cut my losses as it seems iv mindlessly bought gear without regards to my tree. I want to do great dps and I need a build that will suite both pvp and pve. Keep in my mind this is what I'm currently geared in. PvP=War hero Combat tech helm, chest, gloves, boots War hero Eliminator=belt, wrist. Battle master eliminator weapon and offhand. I really don't want to grind anymore to change my gear how can I salvage this mess and do great dps? what gear needs to absolutely change and what can I manage with for the assault spec you mentioned.

 

For Pve I have Rakata Combat tech, helm, chest, legs, gloves, boot. Rakata Eliminator weapon, offhand, belt and black hole med-tech wrist. Again I just don't have the time to grind for the proper gear so how can I put a positive spin on the gear and what has to go and what can stay to maximize dps in the assault tree. I took no offensive what so ever I'm completely at your mercy here and desperate to salve this mess of a vanguard.

[TrigPt]

I'd suggest reading the 2 stickied threads in this forum section. The top one explains the tactic build very well.

[Atracin]

Indeed, the top sticky explains some very cool Tactics builds.

 

 

First off: You're gear is fine, there is no need to change any of it. The change must start with you.

 

I can't give you much insight in any Tactics tree's, and I've only really dabbled in it myself. So I'll wait for a Tactics Vangaurd to chirp in (but check out the sticky thread here).

 

Anyways, the build I posted is what I use for PVP (the majority of what I play) as well as what I have used for Hard Mode Flashpoints. It's not optimized for HM Flashpoints, but it gets the job done.

 

I recommend that you give Assault Specialist a try. The PVP gear you use should be fine, and it's handy to have a higher crit on Stock Strike.

My rotation (as soon as I am in range):

Opening up with Incendiary Round

Assault Plastique

Hammer Shot (moving towards target)

Firing HiB at the same moment AP detonates

Stock Strike (after this trying to hang around the 10m range)

Ion Pulse

-- And depending on the health of a target, I'll blast HiB right away as soon as it becomes available. Using my taunts as much as I can. If you're waiting for AP to finish its cooldown or running low on ammo, Hammer Shot until you can use these abilities again.--

 

You can get a targets health from around the higher 90% to around 50% from the opening IR, AP, and HiB combo.

 

 

It works:

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/405/screenshot2012071022021.jpg

 

As far a PVP vs PVE...

If you spec yourself into PVP DPS: You loose some PVE DPS

If you spec yourself into PVE DPS: You loose some PVP DPS

It's the nature of the beast.

AP in PVE does some great damage, but you loose some DPS when compared to you're overall rotation.

It's good to have 2 trees that excel in what they do. One for PVP, one for PVE. You've already seen my PVP build.

This is the PVE build I use: 8/8/25

Reasons can be found in this thread. Head to page 6 and go to the last post to see the numbers.

Edited July 12, 2012 by Atracin

[CitizenFry]

One quick thing for PVE: the stock Rakata gear you get for your tokens has way, way too much Accuracy on it. Swap those modifications out (particularly the Enhancements) as quickly as you can, possibly even for ones from your Columi gear.

[TrigPt]

To Atracin

 

Curious as to why you have 3 points in Soilders Endurance (+3% endurance) rather than Ionised Ignition (100% proc of plasma cell with ion pulse)?

 

To OP

 

Also gear wise for pure DPS you should always get the best gun available so I'd put the WH weapon at the top of your list to get next for PVP.

 

and augmenting everything you plan on keeping a while will help as well

[solistus]

Here's my spec, pretty straightforward Assault DPS:

 

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#801fhrbzGhrsZhMhM.2

 

I primarily PvP, but it's done just fine for DPSing ops/HMs as well.

 

Your core skills are:

 

Incendiary Round - spammable, instacast, does a lot of DoT DPS. I often spam this on every enemy in a fight before I pick a target to burn down with single target DPS. It's ammo-intensive, but if you have extra ammo to spend and any enemies nearby not already affected by the DoT, it's almost never a bad idea to hit them with incendiary.

 

Ion Pulse - this is your main single target DPS attack. It procs free High Impact Bolts, it does good elemental damage, it's instacast and spammable, and it's surprisingly ammo-efficient.

 

High Impact Bolt - basically, you use this any time you can as your first priority. The only time you really wanna save a HIB is if you just used Assault Plastique and are trying to line up the burst DPS, but for the most part you want to use this ASAP so you can proc another free one. With your spec, you get big boosts to damage and crit rate for this skill, and frequent cooldown resets that also make it *recharge* 1 cell instead of costing any. If Ion Pulse is your bread, HIB is your butter.

 

Stockstrike - this is your secondary single target DPS attack, when you can get to melee range. Ion Pulse / HIB / Stockstrike are the main three hotkeys you spam while burning down a single target - in a pinch, you can just button mash. Since you can also proc Stockstrike cooldowns with Ion Pulse, you usually want to use this whenever possible, second only to High Impact Bolt.

 

Assault Plastique - this is great for burst DPS. A lot of this build centers on DoT (incendiary round and plasma round procs) and steadily pumping out Stockstrikes and HIBs for sustained DPS, so it can be hard to get that burst you need to finish someone off before they can get healed. The best way to do this is to try and line up Assault Plastique and High Impact Bolt. In BM gear, I frequently get 2.5-3k crits from each, more against undergeared enemies. That's one heck of a damage burst!

 

both taunts - even though you're DPS, you can easily snag a few medals and help out your teammates a bit by using your taunts. They work best when the enemies you taunt CAN'T or at least won't attack you (melees that are far away, around a corner, just too big of a fight for them to notice the taunt, etc.). If they attack you, you're fairly squishy. If they keep attacking a teammate, they get a huge debuff to their DPS output. In a pinch, you can tank a bit with your defensive cooldowns, but you're better as a DPSer with taunts as a debuff than as an off-tank.

 

There are lots of other skills worth using, and of course you want your defensive cooldowns and whatnot, but these are the core ones that give you an idea of the playstyle. If I end up fighting nonstop through a full WZ (instead of guarding vacant objectives, etc.), I usually break 300k and sometimes 400k DPS, and if we don't have a real dedicated tank I'm usually top Protection as well. I can spread DPS around to pressure healers in long fights, or I can focus entirely on single target DPS to burn down key targets, with pretty much equal efficiency. I can keep up very steady DPS indefinitely with good ammo management, or I can spend it all on some crazy burst DPS. It's surprisingly dynamic for a 'straight up DPS spec'.

Edited July 12, 2012 by solistus

[Sanctusvox]

Assault is the best way to go. listen to solistus because they are correct in what they say. If you want to see it in action check out my channel.

 

http://www.twitch.tv/basileus_reges

 

I average 350k-450k in warzones. highest output i have had is around 670k. you can see my rotations in the videos. if you have any questions just pm me or jump on shadowlands and whisper me.

[Atracin]

To Atracin

 

Curious as to why you have 3 points in Soilders Endurance (+3% endurance) rather than Ionised Ignition (100% proc of plasma cell with ion pulse)?

 

 

Because my Vanguard seems to have a lower amount of HP when compared to other Troopers. So what you see is my vain attempt to get him up there.

Plus no creds to re-allocate 3 points.

[Glower]

Here's my spec, pretty straightforward Assault DPS:

 

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#801fhrbzGhrsZhMhM.2

 

I primarily PvP, but it's done just fine for DPSing ops/HMs as well.

 

Your core skills are:

 

Incendiary Round - spammable, instacast, does a lot of DoT DPS. I often spam this on every enemy in a fight before I pick a target to burn down with single target DPS. It's ammo-intensive, but if you have extra ammo to spend and any enemies nearby not already affected by the DoT, it's almost never a bad idea to hit them with incendiary.

 

Ion Pulse - this is your main single target DPS attack. It procs free High Impact Bolts, it does good elemental damage, it's instacast and spammable, and it's surprisingly ammo-efficient.

 

High Impact Bolt - basically, you use this any time you can as your first priority. The only time you really wanna save a HIB is if you just used Assault Plastique and are trying to line up the burst DPS, but for the most part you want to use this ASAP so you can proc another free one. With your spec, you get big boosts to damage and crit rate for this skill, and frequent cooldown resets that also make it *recharge* 1 cell instead of costing any. If Ion Pulse is your bread, HIB is your butter.

 

Stockstrike - this is your secondary single target DPS attack, when you can get to melee range. Ion Pulse / HIB / Stockstrike are the main three hotkeys you spam while burning down a single target - in a pinch, you can just button mash. Since you can also proc Stockstrike cooldowns with Ion Pulse, you usually want to use this whenever possible, second only to High Impact Bolt.

 

Assault Plastique - this is great for burst DPS. A lot of this build centers on DoT (incendiary round and plasma round procs) and steadily pumping out Stockstrikes and HIBs for sustained DPS, so it can be hard to get that burst you need to finish someone off before they can get healed. The best way to do this is to try and line up Assault Plastique and High Impact Bolt. In BM gear, I frequently get 2.5-3k crits from each, more against undergeared enemies. That's one heck of a damage burst!

 

both taunts - even though you're DPS, you can easily snag a few medals and help out your teammates a bit by using your taunts. They work best when the enemies you taunt CAN'T or at least won't attack you (melees that are far away, around a corner, just too big of a fight for them to notice the taunt, etc.). If they attack you, you're fairly squishy. If they keep attacking a teammate, they get a huge debuff to their DPS output. In a pinch, you can tank a bit with your defensive cooldowns, but you're better as a DPSer with taunts as a debuff than as an off-tank.

 

There are lots of other skills worth using, and of course you want your defensive cooldowns and whatnot, but these are the core ones that give you an idea of the playstyle. If I end up fighting nonstop through a full WZ (instead of guarding vacant objectives, etc.), I usually break 300k and sometimes 400k DPS, and if we don't have a real dedicated tank I'm usually top Protection as well. I can spread DPS around to pressure healers in long fights, or I can focus entirely on single target DPS to burn down key targets, with pretty much equal efficiency. I can keep up very steady DPS indefinitely with good ammo management, or I can spend it all on some crazy burst DPS. It's surprisingly dynamic for a 'straight up DPS spec'.

 

Torhead reset your links... can you redone it, please?