So I decided to make a guide to some talent specs and rotations that might help you if you are a bit lost or don't quite understand whats going on.

So with this guide I hope you understand these are all opinions and should be taken with a grain of salt, and is only here for suggestions on helping.

For leveling I recommend this tree:

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#600hZbcMZcrfRsMkrcz.1

This tree gives you the sustain you need with a balance of damage reduction as well as good damage output. This is not the only spec you can go, in fact if you see you're taking a lot of damage i would recommend the few points in the 'Mind Ward' talent for safe keeping.

In this spec especially for leveling i take the critical strike talent 'Penetrating Light' over the 'Concentration' talent because while leveling your gear will have more POWER on it then CRITICAL STRIKE so the talent should help your 'Focused Insight' Talent proc a lot more then if you didnt have the talent.

For end game DPS:

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#600ZbsrZcMfRsMkrfz.1

This build focuses around pretty much the same thing as the leveling tree except it should be a bit more force efficient as well as more range. It out DPS's any other builds I have tried.

The Rotation:

The rotation generally for this spec is open up with 'Project' then throw 'Weaken Mind' on the target, then use 'Telekinetic Throw' until you get a proc of the 'Presence of Mind' Talent from there on either use that proc for Mind Crush > Disturbance.

So the priority of spells will generally be:

- Project (opener on weak/standard targets)

- Weaken Mind

- Presence of Mind (Talent Proc)

- Telekinetic Throw

This is the main rotation for the spec I have given above. I know there are more skills/spells that are usable and might be better if given the statistics, but this guide is to help show a path that makes things a bit easier to a start.

Stats and gearing!

Now while leveling it might be a bit different than endgame gearing but almost the same.

For leveling You are going to want generally more POWER and CRIT on your gear.

Leveling: Wisdom > Power > Crit > Alacrity

Now while Wisdom and POWER should be your top stats on gear and what you should be hunting for as a 'DPS' class. CRIT will be your most prefered stat after them. CRIT will help you do more damage as well as keep you sustained with your 'Focused Insight' Talent. Alacrity is a very good stat, so don't get me wrong here, but the amount you would need to actually have it make an impact especially while leveling would be very hard to reach, so if its on your gear thats fine, but CRIT would be better in terms of damage and survivability.

I will be updating this guide as much and as often as possible, feel free to correct me if needed and I will try my best to answer the questions that are asked.

Thank you

FYI - you posted this in the Shadow thread. It should be moved to the sage thread.

I didn't see any other threads, I just posted in the Consular thread.

I didn't see any other threads, I just posted in the Consular thread.

It's weird, the forum tree doesn't always show up if you just click on the breadcrumb. Navigate to it using the main forum page, then go to classes, jedi consular, and you'll see "sage" and "shadow" at the top.

It's part of everything that needs to be overhauled on the site.

It's weird, the forum tree doesn't always show up if you just click on the breadcrumb. Navigate to it using the main forum page, then go to classes, jedi consular, and you'll see "sage" and "shadow" at the top.

 

It's part of everything that needs to be overhauled on the site.

moved to the right thread

Am I the only one that noticed he doesnt have telekentic wave specced...yet its in your rotation?

Thank you for pointing this out, I cant believe i didn't catch that.

Psychic Absorption is the worst expenditure of two talent points conceivable. Any other two points in that tree are better than those.

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#600hZf0MZcrfRsMkrcz.1

I like this one much better. AoE mezz is useful, the vast majority of trash pulls in Heroics that you'll be soloing, you mezz a Strong or Elite and two peewees with it, and then you can use your best ranged DPS pet and mow everything down single target before it matters.

For your endgame dps spec, hybrids that just go 16 into Balance for Presence of Mind and then put the rest into Telekinesis are most likely going to do much better, and again with the Psychic Absorption. Ugh.

Even if you're going to spec full Balance/Madness for endgame dps, there's little reason to take Sever Force. You'll outdps it by a lot going up to Telekinetic Wave on the Telekinesis tree and using your Presence of Mind procs for that than you ever will with Sever Force, IMO.

For your endgame dps spec, hybrids that just go 16 into Balance for Presence of Mind and then put the rest into Telekinesis are most likely going to do much better, and again with the Psychic Absorption. Ugh.

I realize that Psychic Absorption is not optimal for endgame DPS, to be honest i should have put it elsewhere, but these are clearly my own opinions, while yours are very great ones, i only recommended something that might help people out, as i stated at the start of the post.

I personally like the feel of the Psychic Abortion talent while i was leveling, but of course I would not use it endgame.

I realize that Psychic Absorption is not optimal for endgame DPS, to be honest i should have put it elsewhere, but these are clearly my own opinions, while yours are very great ones, i only recommended something that might help people out, as i stated at the start of the post.

I personally like the feel of the Psychic Abortion talent while i was leveling, but of course I would not use it endgame.

I wasn't trying to bash, I just tend to be a little blunt (this being a text-based communication medium lends itself more to that).

You just have to analyze what the talent does. It takes the healing from Force in Balance and Focused Insight and increases them by 20%. If the healing from those two talents was significant, a 20% increase would be okay. However, you're taking Focused Insight's 1% heal per tick and turning into a 1.2% heal per tick. The .05% per tick per point by itself is arguably not even worth it, as Jedi Resistance and Mind Ward collectively (also at 2 points apiece) will prevent far more damage than Focused Insight and Psychic Absorption will ever heal for.

Then you look at Force in Balance. I don't think I've ever seen its inquisitor variant ever heal for more than about 60-80 health per target. If I didn't have 10,000 health at the time, that might seem significant. That healing is also baked into one of your hardest hitting skills that you'll be using as a high Madness/Balance caster on cooldown regardless of whether it healed or not, but increasing that by 20% at the cost of two points is a huge waste.

Analyzing the utility you can get from each skill point you get is the point to a post dedicated to creating a guide and saving new players from having to theorycraft themselves, but to function pragmatically, the theorycraft you're saving them from has to be logically sound, tested, and not based on opinion, but verifiable fact.

It's a verifiable fact that Devour/Psychic Absorption is terrible. It would have to double or triple Focused Insight's healing and probably quadruple Force in Balance's to be worth the points. This ain't no pre-cataclysm affliction warlock or Rift Inquisicar we're talking about here, those archetypal caster variants could sustain themselves from backhealing on their dots. Balance/Madness self healing is kind of a joke.

I need to clarify: The problem isn't you. The problem is the lack of thought put into building the talent trees. So many leaps forward on the whole talent mechanic over the last three-odd years and BioWare wasn't paying attention. Incremental percents of a percent are never worth a whole talent point. Those should be baked into the level progression or become a passive benefit to taking points in a tree (see Rift root skills). Each talent point is precious, you get exactly 41 of them. We're put in a position where we basically always have to take mental longevity (whether we end up getting inner strength, or not) and then empty pitfall talents like Psychic Absorption are basically there more to confuse people on what a good expenditure of talent points is than to allow them to derive mechanical benefit from the levels they gain.

This game will be rife with cookie-cutter builds, not so much because of min/maxing, but because most archetypes will only have a set number of options that are actually mechanically meaningful, as though every talent in a tree was a noob check.

This is a flaw in the game's design.

I like the ideas on builds. I'm using the leveling build.

But I'm not so sure about the rotation. Why open with Project? I only use that if I want to try for a random stun. It's not in my rotation any more.

I use this one for a lone opponent:

- Force Shield companion and then myself

- Mind Crush (target doesn't engage me until Mind Crush is cast, vs using those 2 seconds of casting time to damage me)

- Weaken Mind

- TK Throw

- Force in Balance

- repeat until Presence of Mind kicks in, then Mind Crush again or Disturbance if Mind Crush is still on cool down

- I keep Force Stun on call if interput is needed, as Mind Snap has an unfortunately long cool down time and Force Wave takes a while to execute.

For multiple non-elite targets in a small area, I use:

- Force Shield companion and then myself

- Force Quake - damage and likely knock downs

- Force in Balance

- Weaken Mind on all targets still over 50% health

- TK Throw at individual targets in turn to finish off

- Force Wave against any one who rushes me to melee

For multiple strong or elite targets:

- Force Shield companion and then myself

- Force Lift any Healer or Caster, or just toughest target

- Force Stun second hardest target

- Mind Crush third hardest target, who is likely meleeing with my companion by this time

- Weaken Mind and TK Throw on second target. Once Presence of Mind kicks in, use Disturbance or Mind Crush if available

- Repeat on third hardest target

- Repeat Force Lift on hardest target if required.

- Once underlings are killed off, heal and re-shield companion and myself, then go thru single target rotaiton listed above.

- If I thinks the underlings will be particularly tough, and I have the sufficient space, then I once I float the toughest target, I will back way up and draw the underlings far enough away from the floater so that I can use Force in Balance against the underlings. This is particularly useful when I need to be damaging mutliple underlings at a time. Sometimes it's well worth the effort to take out nearby groups of opponents to create such space.

Purely for leveling, I think a mixed build is mode valuable. Here is my reasoning (lacking, of course, a dps meter). Also, I assume a level 21+, otherwise there are just not enough points to play with.

Points 1-5:

Empowered Throw -> Telekinetic Throw is your go-to damage attack.

Will of the Jedi - Hey, willpower is king.

Points 6-10:

Critical Kinesis - Critting at +10% on Throw and Disturbance is great

Upheaval - Not the greatest talent overall, but better than other choices at this level.

Points 11-15:

Start with Force in Balance. You need the AOE for speed on trash pulls.

OR Telekinetic Balance which removes cooldown on Telekinetic Throw. Get the other next.

Finish the remaing 3 points in Psychic Barrier. Helps with Force management for longer fights.

Points 16-20:

Place 1 point in Presence of Mind. The instant Disturbance is great, as is an instant Mind Crush.

At this point, you are level 26, and have a choice. I chose to switch trees for a while, because there is nothing compelling in this tree until level 30 when Force Suppression arrives. You could fill in here with Pinning Resolve followed by Containment if you do not want to repec later. I chose Telekinetics tree: Mental Longevity and Clamoring Force, but you can choose what suits you. At level 30 respec into Pinning Resolve and Containment so you can get Force Suppression.

Once you have Force Suppression, quit putting points into Balance, and start focusing on Telekinetics.

Points 21-25:

2 Points Mental Longevity

3 Points Clamoring force

With the average skill costing 30-40 force, it would take 20+ skills to save 100 force. In addition, your Psychic Barrier skill will generate 3% of your total Force every Telekinetic Throw (Deals Damage 3 times at 1% per damage dealt), so increasing the pool increases regen. Extra damage on Disturbace (Which is now Instant) is helpful, as that is a fairly weak skill without boosting.

Points 26-30:

2 Points in Concentration to make your instant disturbances increase force regen.

2 Points in Disturb Mind to increase dot length.

The last point is somewhat optional as long as it is placed in the Telekinetic tree. I use Telekinetic Defense so my companion can survive a bit longer and I spend less interuption time when taking damage.

Points 31-35:

2 points Psychic Projection - Anything that speeds up Telekinetic Throw is good.

1 point Telekinetic Wave - Yay, more AOE.

2 more discretionary points. If you find you are having force problems, your 3 discretionary points in Inner Strength shouuld relieve you of those issues.

Points 36-40:

1 point Tidal Force - Even more AOE

2 points Drain Thoughts (On Balance Tree)

2 points discretionary

Point 41:

Time to respec for the end game.

This theory crafts well for leveling, but without meters there is no way to validate. Your AOE rotations will be Force In Balance, ForceQuake (when you get it at 34), Telekinetic Wave, and if anything is left, telekinetic throw it until you proc Wave again. (You gain the periodic damage boost from Force in Balance on your quake)

Single Target is simple: Mind Crush pull, Telekinetic Throw until proc, then disturbance. For strong or Elite you throw in Weaken Mind, or youcan toss it in when you feel like using it.

This is what I use and find it very good.