Hi,

 

I'm looking for a build and rotation for highest sustained DPS against operations target dummy (pve single target only). I usually heal so my gear set bonus is tweaked for that; regardless, when speced/tree'd for DPS in either balance or TK I see 1000+ bonus damage, approximately 75% crit bonus and crit chance near 30% when stim'd and buffed. My gear is a mix of lvl 61/63 mods.

 

I can't seem to get over 1100 average dps against the target dummy, but I seem to recall reading posts and forums where people have gone as high as 1500 or more (one guy said almost 1900 but I don't believe him). I use MoX parser.

 

I'm not talking about AoE because with MoX parser I've seen my DPS go up to 1500 in that case.

 

So I ask you, what is the best build and rotation for this? I've tried 3 of them already.

 

Thanks!

Edited January 13, 2013 by obi-wan-kaneobi

Either full TK or Balance should get you well over 1500 DPS on the dummy with those stats.

 

This is the build I use for balance: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#600hZf0MZcMfRsMkrfz.2

 

Some people put three points in Clamoring Force instead of Inner Strength, but I prefer the additional boost to force management as it allows me to use project now and again.

 

Balance rotation is fairly easy. Make sure Sever Force and Weaken Mind are always up on the target. Do not re-apply until they disappear from the target's debuffs. Otherwise, you will clip that last ticks of damage. TK Throw is your filler ability. Use Force in Balance on cooldown with wrath-proc'd Mind Crush on cooldown as well. You can even throw a project now and again although not on cooldown. You also want to use Force Potency on cooldown. Time it so that you use the first charge of potency on TK Throw and the second one on Force in Balance.

 

I'll let someone else speak to a full TK build as I haven't used it in a while and would probably mess up if I tried to give min/max advice.

Thanks for the help.

 

That got me up to 1300 easy. I can see it will take a lot of concentration and practice to go over that.

 

What about BIS relics? I have the latest power (active) and healing (passive) one. The healing one goes off every 20 seconds because of "Force In Balance" I guess and heals for a small amount 550ish.

 

Should I expect a sustained output or do you see force being depleted after a while (5 mins or so)?

 

Thanks again!

Edited January 14, 2013 by obi-wan-kaneobi

Thanks for the help.

 

That got me up to 1300 easy. I can see it will take a lot of concentration and practice to go over that.

 

What about BIS relics? I have the latest power (active) and healing (passive) one. The healing one goes off every 20 seconds because of "Force In Balance" I guess and heals for a small amount 550ish.

 

Should I expect a sustained output or do you see force being depleted after a while (5 mins or so)?

 

Thanks again!

 

Relics will make a difference. Best in slot at the moment is one of the Dread Guard proc relics (the elemental one I think) along with the Dread Guard clicky power one. assuming you use it on cooldown. You can also use the passive Elite War Hero Relic of Boundless Ages, although it is not quite as good as the clicky power Dread Guard one.

 

As for the rotation, it does take some practice just to get the feel right. I generally start off with Sever Force and Weaken Mind, then a TK throw to get my Wrath proc up. Then I use Force in Balance, Mind Crush w/Wrath proc back to back. The reason is that they are on the same 15 second cooldown. So if you use them back to back, it is always easy to track when they are coming off cooldown. You can also use that 15 seconds to give you a feel for when your dots are coming off cooldown. Sever Force is 19 seconds and Weaken Mind is 21 seconds.

 

When you get used to the rotation, you will get really good at applying everything on cooldown and getting maximum uptime on your dots. If you are biochem, a Rakata power adrenal is also a really nice DPS boost. The cooldown on the adrenal is twice the cooldown on Force Potency. So if you pop them together the first time and use them on cooldown, the adrenal will be back up for every other Force Potency.

 

Should I expect a sustained output or do you see force being depleted after a while (5 mins or so)?

 

Forgot to answer this part. With the spec I linked, you should never run out of force unless you are casting force armor or off heals. TK Throw actually generates force in this build. It is force positive.

I'm definitely not one of the best DPS Sages in game, I've only dpsed for like 1 month or so, mostly because I usually healed. I've worked on my DPS gear and I have 36% Crit chance, 76% Crit mult, 9% Activation around 1050~ Bonus Damage and I managed to do this:

 

TK Build Parse: http://www.torparse.com/a/99560/18/0/Overview

TK Build: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#600hZfcr0dorutzZcM0M.2

There's a TK guide in the forums wich is a nice help, but I consider that this spec requires a lot of attention to your buffs and the targets dots (Also I consider that TK can do more dmg to bosses if you have the armor debuff because you have more kinectic based skills than balance sages)

 

Balance Build Parse: http://www.torparse.com/a/99560/19/0/Overview

Balance Build: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#600hZbcMZcMfRsMkrfz.2

As some people said in the thread, just place your DoT's in time (when they actually wear off), try to avoid Force in Balance CD near Mind Crush CD so that way your Force Supression debuff is mostly used by Weaken Mind and Sever Force instead of Mind Crush (wich doesn't do a lot of dmg per tick as the mentioned above). Also for Balance you need more crit than TK.

 

I use 1 DG power relic and 1 EWH power one (working on another DG relic). For Balance you should use 1 DG power relic and 1 DG proc relic (I cant remember wich one is for sages but there are plenty of treads where you can find it) for TK I'm not sure if the DG Proc relic is good (mostly because you have cast times and only 1-2 dots on the target)

 

About the 1.9k DPS on the Operation Target Dummy I believe that's doable, as I said I don't think I'm a great sage dps and I'm not min/max for dps and look what I manage to do.

 

I hope this help you

Edited January 14, 2013 by rklm

I noticed you don't use Telekinetic Throw in your TK parse. I don't quite understand why since with Psychic Projection you should be able to get a nice burst from that. Correct me if I'm wrong, but TK Throw should have a higher DPCT than Disturbance, even more so with Psychic Projection.

I do use TT when running TK spec, although it is not shown as "TT" the parser shows it as "Crushed". Also I don't always use TT as soon as i gain the proc, if a higher priority skill is not on CD I use that skill then I use TT. Edited January 15, 2013 by rklm

Gotcha. I'm unfamiliar with sage parses (I'm in the process of making one for my ranged dps) so I didn't know it had that bug. Thanks for the reply!

Yeah, I don't get why TK throw shows up as crushed, either. Strange.

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#600hZssrMdoMutzZcM0M.2

 

I go with this build. My gear is a heavy mix of Rakata, War Hero, Elite War Hero and Black Hole for now, as an average assumption I would say that it's maybe "Rakata+" (Also using Rakata Willpower Stim). Over 5 minutes on the Gav Daragon Operations Dummy my record at this point is 1550 dps. With this build, and with a high enough crit chance (maybe around 35% while buffed, don't remember exactly) I don't have to pump up my Force even once. It's a bit RNG at times (crits bring Telekinetic Effusion), but inside the 5 minute timeframe I cannot run out of Force, although sometimes it's close, and sometimes I might be almost at 50% at the end.

 

I start my rotation by applying Weaken Mind, then hit Mental Alacrity and pound 3x Disturbance, Turbulence, Mind Crush, (Telekinetic Throw if proc) and more Disturbance until MA wears off. If I proc Telekinetic Wave, I try to use my Force Potency on those occasions. I throw a Project in there sometimes and cast Mind Crush only if all others are on CD and have enough time to reapply Concentration at 3 stacks after that with Disturbance. I try to time applying Weaken Mind as accurately as possible so that it doesn't "overlap" or that it doesn't wear off. Only use Turbulence when Weaken Mind is ticking.

 

One thing to understand is to always try to use instants AFTER a cast or a channel, it's more efficient on the GCD's that way.

 

Tremors are way too RNG for us to be able to control it, but for the best runs I get a stack of 3 almost instantly (during the first MA) and it never gets to wear off. It's luck, though.

 

When I was a bit less geared (full TK was doing ~1400 dps) I tried out several hybrids, one of which gave me maybe 50 more dps. But I couldn't replicate it on my current gear, and I don't like the way the hybrids or full Balance play out so I'll be sticking with Telekinetics which is fun to play.

 

//rklm, not to nitpick or anything, but why exactly are you taking Kinetic Collapse in favour of Telekinetic Defense (leaving Mind's Eye I can understand, although I personally like it)?

Edited January 18, 2013 by Memo-

It was only a DPS test, those 2 points can go to Mind's Eye or any other skill you want

By the way try to keep Mind Crush in CD, in my parser it was 9%~ of the total damage if you use it properly it can help you get better DPS.