Solid PVP spec with low expertise?

[Toxicus]

So I'm just getting into PVP. I have some RWZ Comms saved up, but right now I'm working on getting my normal WZ gear.

 

As of this moment, I am in full shield spec, but can't kill to save my life. While I am not super easy to kill, it just delays the inevitable as I am nearly incapable of defeating my opponent if he has any bit of Expertise.

 

I have looked around, but have yet to find any solid specs for the current patch. I'd even be willing to try out a hybrid if it works well.

 

Any and all assistance would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to help the Pubs get some more wins!

[Kaos_KidSWTOR]

Hmm, if your looking for Tanking, the Tactics hybrid tank, is a good choice. if your looking for raw damage, Full Assault or Tactics, Assault Hybrid works also.

 

Tactics hybrid tank: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#801hMGrboroMZrsMrobRM.3

 

Assault/Tactics Hybrid: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#801ZrsMrobRMZfhrrzoRc.3

 

Full Assault: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#801hMZMcZfhrrzorffdz.3

[Toxicus]

How tanky are you in those specs? My fear, is that once I go DPS spec I will become squishy. I've leveled this toon all the way to 55 as Shield Spec.

 

See, right now I'm only at 668 Expertise in my current gear. So I still get completely trashed by people in full pvp gear. Right now, Shield Spec is the only thing (imo) that has kept me from dying twice as fast.

 

Any insight into this question?

[Kaos_KidSWTOR]

I have not personally played any hybrid specs, With decent amounts of gear, Full Assault at times can be damn near invincible. Especially when you use Adrenaline Rush, because it gives you 30% damage reduction while Adrenaline Rush is active, so you are getting healed, while being boosted defencively. and there's still Degauss, Nightvision Scope, Electro Shield, and Assault Frame which are all defencive talent to work with. Assault Frame is a PvP designed talent, it directly counters classes that do DoT damage, so other Assault/Pyro players, Madness/Balance, Anni/Watchman, Vigilance/Vengence, Lethality/Dirty Fighting, Engineering/Saboteaur, Concealment/Scrapper, all use DoT's in their damage, so you have a direct 30% less damage they deal to you. Electro Shield makes your Reactive Shield deal damage to attackers, making it great to make people want to NOT attack you. and Night Vision Scope increases Ranged and Melee defences by 2%, and gives 2 more stealth detection range, along with reduced CD on Stealth Scan, perfect for ousting the Stealthers. I play a Full Assault Vanguard, and Full Pyro Merc AND Powertech, so I know some things about the specs.

[Toxicus]

That's my issue at the moment, though. My gear is all mainly PVE gear. Mostly 69's, but still. For PVP gear, I only have the WZ comm relics, implants and ear piece. I still have a good ways to go, as I don't like to farm more than 5-10 WZ's before I need to mix it up and do something else.

 

I might just try one of these specs though. Which has good burst vs sustained damage though?

[TACeMossie]

That's my issue at the moment, though. My gear is all mainly PVE gear. Mostly 69's, but still. For PVP gear, I only have the WZ comm relics, implants and ear piece. I still have a good ways to go, as I don't like to farm more than 5-10 WZ's before I need to mix it up and do something else.

 

I might just try one of these specs though. Which has good burst vs sustained damage though?

 

If it helps, if you downgrade yourself to 66s (easy to get on the GTN) then bolster should boost you to ~1900 expertise.

 

Once you get there, its a matter of preference:

 

Do you like Tanking or DPSing?

 

If tanking:

Gear, prioritize HP, then shield/absorb

 

Do you like More DPS when tanking or more survivability?

 

If max DPS as a tank(Note: This counts as DPS in Ranked Arenas):

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#801hMGZrsRrobRRzGGz.3

Run in ion cell, Shield Generator optional

 

If Moderate DPS as a tank:

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#801hMGrboroMZrsMrobRM.3

Run in Ion Cell, must use shield generator

 

If Max Durability, or have the PvP set bonus and want to abuse it (+5% damage when shielding an ally, -1.5 second for energy blast cooldown):

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#801hRGrdRroMdRRZbcZoc.3

 

However, if you like damage, then there are another 3 options:

 

Tactics (Good for use against groups, and against AoE Specs, like Tactics or Smash):

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#801hMhZMsMMRrRRkGGzZb.3

 

Assault (Good for bursting stuff down incredibly fast)

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#801hMZMcZfhMrdRrfcdz.3

 

Hybrid (Good for killing stuff, but dont let people know you are going it because of how squishy you will end up being without any real DCDs)

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#801hMhZrsMrobRMZfhbrzo.3

 

Also, in PvP you dont need more than 5% accuracy, so just 1 implant for accuracy (if Obroan) is enough to cover it.

[Toxicus]

Maybe I'm too used to playing WoW, where there are so many cookie cutter builds and if you aren't using those you're gimping yourself.

 

So my question is, Are any of these specs "Tried & True" specs? The only reason I ask, is because those of you that have posted specs, the specs look good! But I'm still pretty much new to SWTOR even though I pre-ordered.

 

See, I left 2 months after launch and only just came back last month. So I'm still familiarizing myself, and don't want to just jump headlong into something I don't fully understand yet. So any extra tips & advice with these specs would be greatly appreciated.

 

For instance, the one spec was stated to be tanky with max DPS, yet there is barely much of anything in shield spec tree. Do the other specs provide tank-life potential with different talent choices?

[Kaos_KidSWTOR]

Short-Answer: Yes.

 

Long Answer: Yes.

 

all of these specs are tested and tried and true. Vanguard is really only one of the classes that right now, can be hybridised. There are many specs to choose, i just tend to go for Assault because it deals great damage and can be semi-tanky in a pinch. most of Assault's damage is a mix of Burst and Sustained.

[Toxicus]

I guess the only way to find out is to try one of these specs. My only issue is, the two Assault specs listed have different points in a few talents. Do those points change any of the play style at all?

 

I have always been one to try and min/max and theorycraft, so this tends to make me wary of committing to something before fully understanding the differences.

[TACeMossie]

I guess the only way to find out is to try one of these specs. My only issue is, the two Assault specs listed have different points in a few talents. Do those points change any of the play style at all?.

 

Well to be completely fair, the first Assault linked to you (http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#801hMZMcZfhrrzorffdz.3) put points into Rapid Recharge. Unfortunately, Rapid Recharge is actually a negative to pick up, as alacrity reduces the Global Cooldown, meaning it goes from 4 GCDs to 5 GCDs between each proc of Ionic Accelerator (the free HiB thing). So the preference is really just between these 3 skills on this link:

 

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#801hMZMcZfhMrdRrfcdz.3

 

1. Parralactic Combat Stims

I personally prefer to not bother with this, as energy management in PvP is much more forgiving, and considering I can get well over 100k damage out there without even trying when it comes to energy management in assault - enough to kill 3-4 people - the energy returns dont cut it for me

2. Assault Frame

This used to be the skill to drop. However, with Uncleansable DoTs waiting around the corner to ambush everyone, this skill is incredibly important, as it drops the power of those DoTs by 15%.

3. Night-Vision Scope

I personally prefer to keep this one, as it helps deal with stealthers should an arena pop, and also increases the passive defenses for Assault, which really helps out.

 

THINGS TO NOTE ABOUT ASSAULT

 

The other 2 full specs are very passive about their mitigation - you dont have to do much for your survivability to keep you alive forever. However, outside of its Defensive Cooldowns, Assault just has an extra +2% defence - so you have to work for your invulnerability.

 

On the bright side, thats what happens with your defensive cooldowns. Your Energy shield drops damage you take by 25%, and causes about 600 damage recoil to anyone who hits you while its up. Your Diversion causes 1/4 attacks to miss you, and your Adrenaline Rush gives you 8 seconds of pretty much infinite health (30% damage reduction and ludicrous HP regen when you drop below 35% as long as you stay below 35%), not to mention the much shorter cooldown on adrenaline rush (minimum cooldown of 36 seconds)

 

Oh and with assault the rotation for PvP typically its:

 

Sticky Grenade -> Assault Plastique -> Incendiary Round -> High Impact Bolt -> Stockstrike -> Neural Surge -> Ion Pulse/High Impact Bolt x2 (Procs dependent) -> Cryo Grenade -> Ion Pulse/High Impact Bolt x2 (Procs dependent)

 

If they are still alive by then they are obviously hacking.

 

Oh and I forgot to mention the Min/Maxing for PvP Gear:

 

Accuracy: One Obroan Combat Techs Implant for +power/accuracy

 

Alacrity: Only 1 acceptable value with how alacrity works: 1887 (I mathed this, any less than this, or any more, and 0 alacrity will work better, even in an infinite budget). As this is not only a ludicrously high value, but completely ridiculous AND Unobtainable, dont even bother going for it. So 0 Alacrity

If you are wondering why this exact value? It reduces the global cooldown to 1.2 seconds when combined with vent heat, allowing the 5 GCDs for Ionic Accelerator when you have alacrity to line up perfectly

 

Surge: Well since you aren't using a shield generator, put it all here! Should be at about 78% surge in min/maxed PvP gear

 

Crit: The Crit/Surge implant that is used alongside your power/accuracy one.

 

Power: Everything except the Crit/Surge Implant

 

Relics: Serindipitous Assault/Focused Retribution. If you ignore the glitch where Underworld/Kel Dragon relics double proc with self heals, then these are tied for second place with the Kel Dragon Serindipitous Assault relic (well the focused retribution comes ahead) so of course go for these.

 

Set Bonus: Surprisingly, most Assault spec players use the Mando Set bonus, as they feel +8% HiB Crit rate is worth having only 1 set bonus (its the 4-piece and the 2-piece buffs a commando-only ability). I take the combat tech set bonus (+0.5 second neural surge duration, -15 seconds on CC breaker, +15% crit rate on Stockstrike) as I use stockstrike on cooldown, and I also abuse the hell out of my CC breaker and neural surge - something the mando set bonus doesn't give me.

Edited December 12, 2013 by TACeMossie