Blyte Plays
Well-Known Member
disclaimer.. this is all my opinion and a lot of guess work.. this is also given from a party based DPS perspective, and assuming you are 14+, and wanting to min/max. You can still do great DPS not using this advice!
disclaimer 2.. the info in this thread is a bit dated. Offhand-weapon attack % chance, has been re-worked. Hit seems to have gotten a buff.
THREAT:
don't rip threat, try and DPS from the rear position, because the striking class has -threat built in from the rear.
try and do a few DPS abilities early, then wipe the threat from them with fading strike.
turn off attack if you rip threat and the monster is still not in a health range that you can quickly burst them down or you cannot fading strike out of the threat lead.
If you like to DPS with a bow, you also will generate less threat from range, but dont rip aggro from your tank. No one will like chasing after a monster running to you.
If you are with a tank who is needing to dump a lot of stam to keep up with your threat, dont use your 20 second buffs stacked, just use one at a time to keep up the steady damage without ripping threat. Communicate with the tank so you are in a sweet spot and can reduce down time.
POSITIONAL BONUS:
positional bonuses matter. pay attention to them. they matter more if you stack +flanking gear.
DMG > PEN > HIT (This of course becomes false when you are dealing with high values of HIT or PEN vs. small values of DMG)
The more flanking bonus you stack, the more true this hierarchy becomes.
*** Please see the post below concerning extensive testing regarding positional stats. With this new insight, it might be advantageous to start combat with PEN positional weapons, then after the armor has been softened up, finish with DMG positional weapons.
COMBAT MOVEMENT:
it's really nice to have and be shifty on the battle field in the middle of chaotic combats
don't prioritize it, when you can take a lighter piece of gear allowing you to stack more +flanking
ARMOR:
you want armor which stacks +flanking, which is light weight, so you can equip more of it. (Kaet's Bracer in CV1 & Strider's gear in meadowlands are fine options)
of course you want gear which adds to DMG, HIT, PEN, & Haste as well.
look for selections which give more than the standard 2 flanking. (an early quest reward like the Raven Rock Cuirass +3 flanking and an Exile Scout Helm in Redshore has +4 flanking)
WEAPONS:
Warden & Brigand - use a big 2hander + longbow for pulling or taking down longbow monsters. If you don't have a good 2hander, be certain to use your highest damaging 1hander in your main hand. You want high damage/slow weapons because you use abilities to bypass the auto-attack cool down of your weapon. Try and use abilities which have stamina efficient costs to get more mileage in forcing big swings. (As you level up, dual wielding faster weapons in your main hand becomes more viable as your offhand will trigger more frequently, so it might be a good option in fights which will likely deplete your stamina and leave you auto-attacking for extended periods of the fight)
Beserker - use a big 2hander in your first weapon selection & dual wield a fast primary weapon coupled with a slow secondary weapon in your second weapon selection. If you must pull, then equip a bow + which ever melee combo is your best.
TARGET SELECTION:
call out targets to coordinate fast take downs & communicate your CCs before you do them
CC 3-Chevs which are defender or healer roles, or striker roles if it will take you a while to prioritize them for take down
prioritize taking down 1s & 2s which are controllers (shreikers, sappers, etc..)
when all 1s & 2s are dropped prioritize 3-Chevs which are Controller >= Striker > Healer > Defender
again.. communicate all your CCs and kill targets
*** 3-Chev longbows, tanks should try their best to build aggro on these and make them a priority to take down as soon as the tank has a sufficient aggro lead; Ideally as the 2nd target take down.
WEAPON INTERACTION /w dual wield:
Positional bonuses on two weapons (dual wielding) are not additive. Positional bonuses only effect the weapon they are printed on.
Dual wielding offhand weapon delay is null, your offhand only fires as an unknown percentage chance [which increases with your level] based off your main hand swings. If you have a 2 second main hand and 5 second offhand, your offhand has a chance to swing every 2 seconds.
HASTE:
haste not only increases your auto attack speed, but also your ability spam speed.
DAGGERS w/ beserkers:
They are particularily strong on a beserker being the only 2 second delay weapon currently. You want them in your main hand and a strong axe in your offhand. Then you want to que up Follow Through + Furry and compound as much of the additive damage that you can. Don't use Wind Up for your followthru+fury, it is best used with a big two hander and ability spam. Trying to weave in windup with your followthru+fury will delay the start of your auto attack flurries and really just be a wash in damage output. Windup is definitely worth using for big twohander and longbow spam.
ALT STRIKERS:
Juggernaught is a strong DPS alternative striker, if you stack a lot of flank and enjoy their wrecking ball maul swings. They really chunk the monsters HP bars, and also enjoy an array of AoE attacks. They lack the built in threat reduction of strikers, so pulling threat is an issue, making everyone in the group lose positional bonus. The flanking gear over tanking gear, makes them an inefficient damage sink as well.
AoE group grinding:
Friggin awesome with multiple Juggs and Zerkers in the group all dropping bombs. I imagine you want 1 duelist, 1 warlord, 2 juggs, 2 zerkers. I know you might be saying why not 1 jugg and 3 zerkers, but it will be better for mitigating damage if there are two juggs bouncing more aggro. The duelist AoE heal, coupled with warlords constant heal song ticks, makes this beefy group very sustainable. Alternatively, a 1 knight, 1 jugg, 2 zerker set up works well, with the knight focus tanking 3^ mobs in the chaos.
AoE group grinding (small) - 1 Jugg + 2 Beserker +1 Warlord is ideal. There is room of course for variance. Stick to dense packs of 2^ monsters with low health, preferably with an ember rupture near for double xp chances.
disclaimer 2.. the info in this thread is a bit dated. Offhand-weapon attack % chance, has been re-worked. Hit seems to have gotten a buff.
THREAT:
don't rip threat, try and DPS from the rear position, because the striking class has -threat built in from the rear.
try and do a few DPS abilities early, then wipe the threat from them with fading strike.
turn off attack if you rip threat and the monster is still not in a health range that you can quickly burst them down or you cannot fading strike out of the threat lead.
If you like to DPS with a bow, you also will generate less threat from range, but dont rip aggro from your tank. No one will like chasing after a monster running to you.
If you are with a tank who is needing to dump a lot of stam to keep up with your threat, dont use your 20 second buffs stacked, just use one at a time to keep up the steady damage without ripping threat. Communicate with the tank so you are in a sweet spot and can reduce down time.
POSITIONAL BONUS:
positional bonuses matter. pay attention to them. they matter more if you stack +flanking gear.
DMG > PEN > HIT (This of course becomes false when you are dealing with high values of HIT or PEN vs. small values of DMG)
The more flanking bonus you stack, the more true this hierarchy becomes.
*** Please see the post below concerning extensive testing regarding positional stats. With this new insight, it might be advantageous to start combat with PEN positional weapons, then after the armor has been softened up, finish with DMG positional weapons.
COMBAT MOVEMENT:
it's really nice to have and be shifty on the battle field in the middle of chaotic combats
don't prioritize it, when you can take a lighter piece of gear allowing you to stack more +flanking
ARMOR:
you want armor which stacks +flanking, which is light weight, so you can equip more of it. (Kaet's Bracer in CV1 & Strider's gear in meadowlands are fine options)
of course you want gear which adds to DMG, HIT, PEN, & Haste as well.
look for selections which give more than the standard 2 flanking. (an early quest reward like the Raven Rock Cuirass +3 flanking and an Exile Scout Helm in Redshore has +4 flanking)
WEAPONS:
Warden & Brigand - use a big 2hander + longbow for pulling or taking down longbow monsters. If you don't have a good 2hander, be certain to use your highest damaging 1hander in your main hand. You want high damage/slow weapons because you use abilities to bypass the auto-attack cool down of your weapon. Try and use abilities which have stamina efficient costs to get more mileage in forcing big swings. (As you level up, dual wielding faster weapons in your main hand becomes more viable as your offhand will trigger more frequently, so it might be a good option in fights which will likely deplete your stamina and leave you auto-attacking for extended periods of the fight)
Beserker - use a big 2hander in your first weapon selection & dual wield a fast primary weapon coupled with a slow secondary weapon in your second weapon selection. If you must pull, then equip a bow + which ever melee combo is your best.
TARGET SELECTION:
call out targets to coordinate fast take downs & communicate your CCs before you do them
CC 3-Chevs which are defender or healer roles, or striker roles if it will take you a while to prioritize them for take down
prioritize taking down 1s & 2s which are controllers (shreikers, sappers, etc..)
when all 1s & 2s are dropped prioritize 3-Chevs which are Controller >= Striker > Healer > Defender
again.. communicate all your CCs and kill targets
*** 3-Chev longbows, tanks should try their best to build aggro on these and make them a priority to take down as soon as the tank has a sufficient aggro lead; Ideally as the 2nd target take down.
WEAPON INTERACTION /w dual wield:
Positional bonuses on two weapons (dual wielding) are not additive. Positional bonuses only effect the weapon they are printed on.
Dual wielding offhand weapon delay is null, your offhand only fires as an unknown percentage chance [which increases with your level] based off your main hand swings. If you have a 2 second main hand and 5 second offhand, your offhand has a chance to swing every 2 seconds.
HASTE:
haste not only increases your auto attack speed, but also your ability spam speed.
DAGGERS w/ beserkers:
They are particularily strong on a beserker being the only 2 second delay weapon currently. You want them in your main hand and a strong axe in your offhand. Then you want to que up Follow Through + Furry and compound as much of the additive damage that you can. Don't use Wind Up for your followthru+fury, it is best used with a big two hander and ability spam. Trying to weave in windup with your followthru+fury will delay the start of your auto attack flurries and really just be a wash in damage output. Windup is definitely worth using for big twohander and longbow spam.
ALT STRIKERS:
Juggernaught is a strong DPS alternative striker, if you stack a lot of flank and enjoy their wrecking ball maul swings. They really chunk the monsters HP bars, and also enjoy an array of AoE attacks. They lack the built in threat reduction of strikers, so pulling threat is an issue, making everyone in the group lose positional bonus. The flanking gear over tanking gear, makes them an inefficient damage sink as well.
AoE group grinding:
Friggin awesome with multiple Juggs and Zerkers in the group all dropping bombs. I imagine you want 1 duelist, 1 warlord, 2 juggs, 2 zerkers. I know you might be saying why not 1 jugg and 3 zerkers, but it will be better for mitigating damage if there are two juggs bouncing more aggro. The duelist AoE heal, coupled with warlords constant heal song ticks, makes this beefy group very sustainable. Alternatively, a 1 knight, 1 jugg, 2 zerker set up works well, with the knight focus tanking 3^ mobs in the chaos.
AoE group grinding (small) - 1 Jugg + 2 Beserker +1 Warlord is ideal. There is room of course for variance. Stick to dense packs of 2^ monsters with low health, preferably with an ember rupture near for double xp chances.
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