Coming back, I have ALOT of characters, but with rolling so many, only a few are 180 or higher. With bosting, I'm thinking of shaking things up. Whats new, improved for:

(1) dps pve/pvp, (2) dps pve straight up,

(3) dps with a nice melee/heal secondary tree.

 

Much appreciated!

-It's not an easy question to answer, in PVE and PVP too some specs are better than others under different circumstances and vice-versa.

-I'm not sure what you mean by stragiht up PVE dps

-the only class with melee/heal tree is scoundrel/operative

 

Anyway with 2.8 every advanced class has at least one viable dps tree for PVE and reg PVP so choose what you enjoy the most.

For any HM I agree with the above, just play what you like.

 

Also I want to note that at least sentinels/marauders and gunslinger/snipers are having a spec which should be considered per boss.

Meaning on certain bosses you might want to spec into the AoE tree or maybe the sustained dps tree. Especially for NiM content you make it way to hard it if you to many people are speccing suboptimal.

 

For example yesterday I had a Draxus NiM run where our sagedps got replaced by a watchman sentinel and our 2nd gunslinger by a commando. Although we cleared it the loss of AoE dps meant the boss enraged while normally we shouldn't have hitted it.

 

PS: for sentinels I'm talking in theory, I don't know if Watchman out sustains the dps of combat. (EDIT: after 2.8 they should officially)

Edited June 14, 2014 by fire-breath

My most geared PvE is a Sniper just getting into hard mode. I know the MM rotation well. Should I lich up hybrid with Cull next, roller bomb engeninerring, or straight up leathality? ( I'm not a fan of over three dots to keep up with at a time.)

I'll say this about slinger/sniper. I still play ss/mm even though I know it is the least dps for the class. But the hybrid is valuable and not that difficult. Learn the basic rotation and managing 3 dots is no big deal, in fact its fun. For instance in DP HM I use SS for the first 4 bosses then switch to hybrid for kiting Raptus on counsil so that I can apply dots while running. Its fun, trust me.

 

What I have discovered is that all of these advanced classes have guides for all of their trees. They all work but I was always hesitant to try a new thing because I was so overwhelmed by the thought of a new rotation. Truth is once I just went for it I eventually learned that new rotation (use the dummy and parsec). Then learning the next new rotation was easier (like learning a language). Don't get me wrong, learning a rotation and becoming perfect on a rotation are 2 different things so don't expect it of yourself right away.

 

So here is my real life comparison: MY Slinger in SS peaks about 3300 dps and my Commando in AS peaks about 3500 in slightly less gear. So will I be learning Saboteur? Yes I will.

PvP or Pve? I'm seeing well played sages/sorcs crushing the dps boards with the changes...although they were good before, they do more dmg now.

Coming back, I have ALOT of characters, but with rolling so many, only a few are 180 or higher. With bosting, I'm thinking of shaking things up. Whats new, improved for:

(1) dps pve/pvp, (2) dps pve straight up,

(3) dps with a nice melee/heal secondary tree.

 

Much appreciated!

 

(1) Difficult to answer. PvE- wise i would say that overall all the ranged dps classes (merc/sorc/sniper) are pretty close together. Some of the melee classes are definitly a little bit stronger then the other ones tough for pve.

 

The class that is probably the furthest behind in terms of overall damage and the only class were i doubt that he can do enough damage for dread council nightmare mode phase 2 is juggernaut dps (although juggernaut is currently probably the best melee class for PvP).

 

(2) Without a doubt powertech dps currently does the best damage of all classes in pve. His 2 damage trees (Advanced Prototype and Pyro) provide you with the perfect spec for every raid fights.

 

Pyro Powertechs are among the highest sustained damage specs in the game. On the dummy only madness assassins and engineering snipers can deal slightly more damage.

 

Additionally Pyro Powertechs vent additional heat during raid Encounters which additionally increases their damage and their whole rotation evolves around instants from range which means that they will not lose any dps whenever they move, even if they have to move away from the Boss.

 

Advanced Prototype Powertechs is the spec with the highest instant sustained AoE damage in the game. Together with the other AoE they have, Advanced Prototype is the strongest spec in terms of damage for fights with a lot of adds with little HP(Draxus for example).

 

Powertech dps are ahead of every other melee dps class in raids and as long as the fight does not make it difficult to attack the boss ranged dps classes can't catch up aswell.

 

(3) Merc dps probably have the best offhealing and additionally currently have the strongest heal tree in pve.

The best offtanking goes to Juggernauts (especially Vengeance) or Advanced Prototype Powertechs. In terms of tanking all the three classes (juggernaut, assassin, powertech) are pretty much equal.

Here is a link to current leaderboards for DPS (dummy parses): https://docs.google.com/a/waldenu.edu/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ao-urXta1qC8dEFNTlMzVnJHVVpDNDUwZ3lmVkVOcWc&usp=drive_web#gid=9

 

Looks like sniper, madness/balance assassin/shadow, then vanguard/PT. Of course many don't post parses and skilled players do well with many different classes.

(3) Merc dps probably have the best offhealing and additionally currently have the strongest heal tree in pve.

 

Considering that Lightning Sorcs can spam their off heals and just pick up their rotation where they left off (or even replace an entire chunk of their rotation whole-sale for several minutes sustained), I'm not sure mercs would qualify as the "best" off healing. Kolto Missile is pretty boss though, I've gotta say…

 

Regarding best DPS… If you want numbers, you need to look in the melee camp, which I think is fair.

 

• Madness Assassins have the highest single-target sustain and relatively respectable AoE splash. They also have the most brutal execute phase of any class in the game.
  
• Annihilation Marauders are insanely powerful, and Carnage is getting buffed a lot. Rage is good enough to run in all current content (though most people wouldn't), which means Marauders are a rare AC that has three viable specs covering insanely high sustain, insanely high burst, and insanely good AoE respectively.
  
• Pyro Powertech rivals Madness for single target sustain, but lacks a gap closer (which can be a problem for some fights). AP is excellent for fights that require AoE, but falls significantly behind Rage in both AoE and single-target, so I'm not sure it would be my first choice.
  
• Concealment Operative is not quite as high as the above three, but it's still enormously above most other classes. It's very melee-dependent though. Lethality is more flexible, has better AoE and better ranged options, but the DPS is only as high as Rage Marauder, which is unfortunate.
  

 

If you look at ranged:

 

• Sorcs are probably the best all around ranged DPS if you exclude utility. They have the highest DPS of a ranged class (in their Madness tree), rivaling most melee specs, and they have some of the highest burst and among the best AoE in the game with their lower-DPS Lightning spec. They also have the only sustainable off-heals. Hilariously squishy though.
  
• Snipers blow everyone away in the utility department, and their DPS trees are respectable, though not awe-inspiring. They're among the lower DPS classes in the game, but still highly valued because of their versatility and utility.
  
• Mercs are all-around very good, with an extremely high parsing sustained spec (Pyro) and a very high burst but lower-sustain spec that brings the armor debuff in rotation (Arsenal). They also have very solid off healing.
  

 

Take your pick. Honestly, at this point, you can build a winning DPS composition out of any combination of advanced classes in the game, including Juggs whom I failed to list above.

There is a DPS chart in this forum.

 

Pyro Merc is by far the top DPS, on a dummy. In live fights, assassins have amazing burst but decidedly average sustained. Mara offer consistent high damage, but the skill ceiling for doing off the hook DPS is higher than other classes. Maddness Sorcs could quite possibly tear a hole in the game when geared and played well.

 

For the most fun, I can't see beyond my Pyro Merc. My Mara gets kind boring, you see less going on at melee range, but their utility is impressive with Bloodthirst and Predation being very useful raid buffs. But there's always a mara in there somewhere! The Merc at ranged sees all, the animations are pretty cool, you have great utility with off heals, self cleansing and being able to Battle Rez. Should point out almost all of these are available to the Sorc as well. Both of them can bet set up to have almost everything they do insta cast, which for me is more fun than channeling.

 

I LOVE MY MERC!

 

I should mention I pretty much consistently tank on my jugg or heal on my OP, but when I do DPS I have so much fun on my Merc.

Edited August 29, 2014 by Maldorans

There is a DPS chart in this forum.

 

Pyro Merc is by far the top DPS, on a dummy...

 

take a closer look at the dps leaderboard you mentioned and then rethink that part of your post.