I know the commonly accepted hybrid is Darkness/Madness, but after having leveled an Infiltration Jedi Shadow, there is one talent in the Deception tree that I absolutely love to have for leveling/soloing -- Obfuscation.

 

I'm primarily interested in a solo tanking build that can tank any of the heroics. I'd like to be able to do enough to damage to make leveling comfortable, but I'd really like to be able to solo any hard quests, and maybe even some heroic 2s with the right companion.

 

Is there a viable hybrid build that can afford 8 points into Deception? I'm not looking at end-game content here, just an enjoyable leveling experience.

 

This one is 10 points shy, but I'm looking at a base build of: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#200rcr0krskZhG.1

 

With maybe an end state of something like: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#200bcrskrskbsZhGZb.1

 

With the latter I was trying to focus on doing maximum damage while also having any tanking utility/survivability I'd need for heroics.

 

Thanks for any advice.

Edited January 23, 2012 by USSDefiant

27/14/0 is great too.

 

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#200rsrokrskbZhGMMk.1

 

Probably the less bursty of all hybrid darkness builds, but really good sustain, you'll never run out of force.

Thanks, Zunzun -- it's good to know that I'm not crazy trying to hybridize those two trees.

 

I hadn't considered the benefits of Darkswell, but it's definitely something worth considering. Hopefully the end result is a very "tanky" stealther. Moving faster while stealthing has so many soloing benefits, that I can't bear to live without it.

27/14/0 is great too.

 

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#200rsrokrskbZhGMMk.1

 

Probably the less bursty of all hybrid darkness builds, but really good sustain, you'll never run out of force.

 

Yeah, I think it's a real toss up when it comes to damage. The Madness hybrid gets 45% chance to do another Shock with -50% damage, but Deception hybrid makes Shocks a whole lot cheaper with Trash, which you spam anyway, so you can cast way more of them.

 

The major pull from Madness, for me at least, comes from instant Whirlwind. I cannot overstate how ludicrously powerful it can be in the right situation. Turning a 2v2 into a 2v1, or forcing an enemy to pop their trinket one second into the fight is huge. Then again, Whirlwind gives them silly amount of resolve, so it's a tradeoff.

 

Dang man, you've given me a lot to think about...

i use the same spec but instead of lower duration of discharge i put the 2 points into avoidance, them 2 seconds on jolt can help alot when trying to fight a healer and 30 seonds of unbreakable will is handy too.

 

Its a shame we dont have two extra point's to play with, would be nice to have wither without missing out on so many nice skills

 

Its one thing i miss about rift, each tree had 50 points and you had a total of 66 points to spend at lvl 50

 

with an extra 2 points you could have wither and then induction in deception which would be great for single target tanking or if you had wither and 12 points in madness u could do some nice aoe tanking too.... sorry doesnt really help much for this discussion

Edited January 23, 2012 by stush

While mostly solo leveling, would you guys recommend filling out the Deception tree first?

 

I'm leaning towards that because I figure I can probably tank heroics at the lower levels even without points in Darkness.

 

Or maybe I'll just fill out Deception to get Obfuscation (level 17) and then move over to Darkness.

Edited January 23, 2012 by USSDefiant

Funny, I made my own last night:

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#200rIMs00cZGGMRk0r0z.1

 

I have yet to test it, but I like it on paper.

I like deception/darkness been using it a long time and it's awesome.

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#200Mc0cZGGMRkhMrtz.1

For me Induction and Obfuscation are must-haves for pvp.

 

Here are the 3 builds that i've used and really enjoyed:

 

23/13/5 - http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#200rsMokrskZhGMMzZf.1

 

This build that does solid dps for long periods of time, has a lot of survivability, and a lot of utility for group pvp.

 

12/13/16 - http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#200rsMozZhGMMzZf0cRr0z.1

 

This is the build i'm currently using. This is a very high dps build that gives up some utility with force pull and spike in exchange for a lot more damage. You're still much more durable than a deception sin with surging charge, and you probably do even more damage than a deception sin if the fight lasts more than 10 seconds or so. You also still retain the ability to use guard and taunts so it's a great build if you want to be a dps class that is still useful to a group.

 

I recommend using a focus offhand with this build in pvp since shields are pretty weak in pvp and the focus item adds a lot of damage to your shock and other force abilities.

 

27/13/1 - http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#200rIMokrskbZhGMMzZz.1

 

A variation of the first build i posted that takes harnessed darkness. Personally i think Force Lightning does really weak damage, especially if you're using a shield generator (which you likely will be) but FL is efficient and the healing is nice so this build is good if you're just soloing elite mobs n stuff.

How would you gear these hybrid builds? DPS PvP gear?

HD is not used to heal yourself. Building 3 stacks of HD is a great way to gimp yourself in PvP or PvE.

How would you gear these hybrid builds? DPS PvP gear?

Yeah, and if you go one of the 22+ darkness builds you can use the tank set but trade out the armoring/mods with the dps mods so that you get the more useful tank set bonuses with the more useful dps stats.

 

Also as i mentioned in the post i'd personally use a focus offhand for pvp.

HD is not used to heal yourself. Building 3 stacks of HD is a great way to gimp yourself in PvP or PvE.

 

Please, don't elaborate or anything.

Im rolling with this 27/14 With Focus offhand. Has both offense and defense.

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#200rfrozMskrZhGbMk.1

 

Cool thing is that you can spam maul with impunity with the crazy force regeneration.

Edited January 27, 2012 by Atemus