the Balance or TK question

[Baron_Blackhack]

Hi Guys,

 

I would like to request for the opinion of the group regarding the 2 trees. Been a balance sage since I started playing this game and would like to ask if TK gives out more dps than balance?

 

I know that for TK build, mobility suffers but aside from that are there any other cons about it?

 

Thanks in advance.

[khak]

refer to nibbon's guide if you are unfamiliar with the class but they are equal in almost all regards with balance being better for highly mobile fights and tk being better for less mobile fights but both still are about equal. what makes a bigger difference is your personal preference (bursty glass cannon tk or dot spec balance) and how well you can execute the rotation.

 

from my own experience I never felt like I got the most out of either spec really till I got my 4 set bonus (weaken mind has chance to give you 5%alacrity) with balance being slightly better for me. I did feel that once I got my 4 set and better gear in general both specs seemed to balance out pretty evenly based on my personal experience. I do play both specs and can parse fairly high in both it just comes down to timing when to use certain abilities based on the raid situation.

 

to sum everything up besides mobility issues and having to watch more procs to capitalize on your dps for tk there really is no damning aspect of the spec that makes it inferior in my opinion

Edited August 9, 2013 by khak

[FROIDBUSTER]

The biggest gripe I had against Balance initially was how even with ability queue set to 1 second, it was hard to chain your DoTs/Channel without clipping your abilities and ghosting your globals. In raid situations that always seemed to either outright lower my dps because I was wasting globals or force me to stifle my APM and slow down my rotaiton thus lowering my damage.

 

The last patch supposedly fixed that issue, but compared to TK with ability queue it seems like its' much easier to push 30+ APM rotations get out more abilities and subsequently deal more dps than it is with Balance.

Edited August 13, 2013 by FROIDBUSTER

[Ycoga]

from my own experience I never felt like I got the most out of either spec really till I got my 4 set bonus (weaken mind has chance to give you 5%alacrity)

I personally found it better to stack more alac mods / enhancements and use shadow armourings for an extra Force Potency stack.

[VassagoOmega]

In answer to the OP question, TK does more sustained damage than Balance. Balance is much better suited to PVP. It has decent damage overall, but can't compare to TK. TK has harder hitting abilities, and more total damage. It's slower than Balance, since everything you use is casted, pretty much. (Except for the instant procs.)

 

I've debated this with people off and on, but the numbers just don't lie.

 

I think the major difference is that in Balance, you can self-heal, or off-heal. However, this takes away from raw DPS. So, ... You tell me.

[Darth_Dreselus]

Pick it per fight, or do a fight in non progression with either and see what fits if you are flexible. As a general rule TK gives you burst, AoE and good target switch and Balance gives mobility. On the top of my head:

 

TFB:

 

WH: TK; hardly any movement, lot of AoEs but limited target switching

DG: either; moderate movement in phases 2 and 3, but plenty of burst/target switch in phase 1 where Balance could suffer slightly

OP9: TK; limited movement and target switching, burst is advantageous and Force in Balance has to be specifically placed to even effect cores.

Kephess: either but TK preferred; while movement heavy the fact that there is no target switching unless you deal with orbs and burst is crucial could mean that you can suffer a bit of downtime while positioning.

TFB: TK; the only time you move is when you don't deal damage, target switching and burst phases.

 

S&V:

 

DR: Balance; movement and knockbacks and DoTs will allow some damage even while lost.

Titan: TK; mostly turret fight, move when damage is not dealt and AoEs.

Thrasher: either but TK preferred; TK if on boss, Balance or TK if on adds

OC: TK; once you get in position it's turret fight

Olok: TK; limited movement, target switching and burst

Warlords: either depending on kill order but TK preferred; can be a turret fight and burst is preferred if Piggy is last.

Styrak: TK; Balance suffers heavily as this fight is full of target switching and burst phases and having to reapply your dots 20 times per fight drains Force.

 

This is not saying that you cannot do Balance but TK will be the better option on majority of fights. TK only really suffers on Dash'Roode where as Balance is not ideal for Styrak.

 

From what I have seen from DF there is also a lot of turret potential and 2 fights are add heavy.

Edited September 9, 2013 by Darth_Dreselus

[rlamela]

In answer to the OP question, TK does more sustained damage than Balance. Balance is much better suited to PVP. It has decent damage overall, but can't compare to TK. TK has harder hitting abilities, and more total damage. It's slower than Balance, since everything you use is casted, pretty much. (Except for the instant procs.)

 

I've debated this with people off and on, but the numbers just don't lie.

 

I think the major difference is that in Balance, you can self-heal, or off-heal. However, this takes away from raw DPS. So, ... You tell me.

 

you are joking right, it is way easier to off heal in TK, Balance has force issues if they use healing abilities especially in prolonged fights. Tho in PVE you should never be doing off heals in either tree. And if you need to then your healers aren't doing their job.

 

The Bastion / Jedi Covenant

Rellik / Syck'syyde

Jenna'syyde / Rázakel

Edited September 11, 2013 by rlamela

[Zhadara]

In answer to the OP question, TK does more sustained damage than Balance. Balance is much better suited to PVP. It has decent damage overall, but can't compare to TK. TK has harder hitting abilities, and more total damage. It's slower than Balance, since everything you use is casted, pretty much. (Except for the instant procs.)

 

I've debated this with people off and on, but the numbers just don't lie.

 

I think the major difference is that in Balance, you can self-heal, or off-heal. However, this takes away from raw DPS. So, ... You tell me.

 

Don't agree with the last point about off-healing, but otherwise this is true. Balance is a better PvP spec IMO because it's more mobile and has shorter cast times. You are basically a DOT monkey with the occasional burst and good AOE capability through FiB. This is a tough spec to PvP with though as you have to learn to move very well and be reactive with your rotations.