Endgame AP gearing problem.

[quirez]

While gearing my AP i've encountered a problem and i cannot seem to get an answer anywhere.

 

I mostly power geared with rather low crit (around 140, not in game atm so cant check it) - rest is basics: accuracy up to 100/110% rest surge.

 

My problem starts with crit - with incoming changes in AP tree the crit seems to get more attractive (bonus surge for all of our main attacks, especially immolate and PFT). And also with the information that the devs "are not satisfied with the current state of crit rating stat" we can expect to see some positive crit rating changes - tho it can take even few months...

 

I can easily increase or decrease my crit rating atm as i have MH crystal with power and OH crystal with crit - so changing one of them + one of my power/surge items into a crit/surge item will make a big difference.

 

Shall i make any changes now, or would it be better to wait? And IF i should - better to get more crit or more power?

 

My other problem is with relics. I've got an underworld SA relic and thats a granted 1 slot. The second slot bugs me - atm i have Arkanian Boundless Ages, but when i get my set bonus (yeah i dont have it yet ;/) the BA relic cd wont match my Explosive Fuel cd - and that SUCKS, as they synergize perfectly.

 

Any other interesting options to put in 2nd relic slot so that i wont waste the set bonus? Think i've heard there is a crit proc relic coming in the patch? Would that be worth a shot (if both SA and crit relics proc wont bug out of course).

 

PS. I'm running full AP and won't be changing it, so try to avoid telling me that i should go hybrid please

[OlosBC]

Crit is devalued somewhat with auto crit rail shot. This is counteracted by the surge bonus, especially after 2.4. You probably won't notice much of a difference from 0 to like 300 crit.

 

I would NOT gear with the potential crit changes coming a loooooong ways down the road.

 

I have the 4 set, but still just activate explosive fuel with my relic. Feels kinda like a waste of set bonus, but oh well. This also works to get shoulder cannon missiles off during cool downs.

 

After 2.4, AP will be the #1 spec for PvE DPS, why would we tell you to change to hybrid?

[quirez]

Crit is devalued somewhat with auto crit rail shot. This is counteracted by the surge bonus, especially after 2.4. You probably won't notice much of a difference from 0 to like 300 crit.

 

 

I wouldn't count the devaluation of auto crit rail shot as something gamebreaking. Railshot is about 8-10% of AP dmg on a parse - practically the same as immolate, but then again the surge bonus applies also to Rocket punch (6-8% overall dmg), and Retractable blade (3-5%) AND after 2.4 to flamethrower which is up to even 40% on a dummy parse (less in real fight with more movement of course). So the surge bonus applies to more or less 60% of your overall dmg, while RS will probably reduce its effectiveness by a few % if you trade power for crit.

 

I would really like to get some more serious math done on the subject as i am totall bad at maths

 

 

 

I have the 4 set, but still just activate explosive fuel with my relic. Feels kinda like a waste of set bonus, but oh well. This also works to get shoulder cannon missiles off during cool downs.

 

This issue bugs me out. I won't have a 4pc set so fast so its not as important to me at the moment, also devs said that they are not satisfied with many of the set bonuses so theres a chance this one will get changed as well.

 

I will test some other relics tho when im finally in full 72's or higher.

 

Thanks for the input Olos.

 

 

EDIT:

 

Since stacking double SA relics is working again - how good would that be for us? I know that the self healing classes benefit the most of stacking SA. But how effective will it be on AP Powertech?

[Ssaffin]

 

My other problem is with relics. I've got an underworld SA relic and thats a granted 1 slot. The second slot bugs me - atm i have Arkanian Boundless Ages, but when i get my set bonus (yeah i dont have it yet ;/) the BA relic cd wont match my Explosive Fuel cd - and that SUCKS, as they synergize perfectly.

 

Any other interesting options to put in 2nd relic slot so that i wont waste the set bonus? Think i've heard there is a crit proc relic coming in the patch? Would that be worth a shot (if both SA and crit relics proc wont bug out of course).

 

 

I think some people use the 4 piece Eliminator merc set because the 4-set bonus is the same and then you don't have to worry about the 2-piece messing with your explosive fuel / boundless ages timing. And if you use legacy armor, then you can mail the set back and forth between your PT and your merc, if you have one.

[quirez]

I think some people use the 4 piece Eliminator merc set because the 4-set bonus is the same and then you don't have to worry about the 2-piece messing with your explosive fuel / boundless ages timing. And if you use legacy armor, then you can mail the set back and forth between your PT and your merc, if you have one.

 

 

Well my merc is still lvl 31 or something like that, and he will be a healer anyway when and if i ever make it to 55 with that char. Still i simply dont like that idea anyway - i'll stay optimistic until the announced set bonus changes come to life. Even if we dont know if they plan to change the powertech's set bonus.

 

After this week's ops i managed to get my hands on 2 set items - but im just keeping the tokens in inventory and not using them for now becouse that would be a downgrade from 2x72 armorings to 2x 69armorings and i wont be using the 2pc set bonus anyway. At least not until i get my hands on a proper 2nd relic to test it all out.

 

So far i managed to pull 2664 dps on thrasher (pure single target, no snipers - even got lucky and didnt get any firebugs) in mix of half 72/69 without any set bonus and im quite happy with that - cant wait for the 2.4 changes tho!

 

I'm kinda interested how many rerolled pt's will we see after the patch. So far people look at me really strangely when i pug into a flashpoint as not-a-tank-powertech

 

Anyway - i would welcome any thoughts from experienced PT's about the choice of relics and the amount of crit rating for AP!