I play a 50 DPS Sage with a hybrid TK-Balance build. I mostly do PVP with an occasional FP. Our guild doesn't have any rated teams yet, so I do unrated pugs for most WZs. I have a few questions about build, stats, and gear, and am hoping you can offer some guidance.

Build

I used to run a full Balance spec, but now I'm experimenting with a hybrid TK-Balance build. Here is my build:

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

I chose Telekinetic Balance so I can spam Telekinetic Throw, chose Presence of Mind to give my TT a chance to proc an instant-cast Disturbance, and chose Tidal Force to give my Disturbance a chance to proc an instant-cast Telekinetic Wave.

Would you give me some feedback on this build? Would you recommend any changes?

Stats

Given my role as DPS and my hybrid build, what stats do I want to maximize with augments? I've heard some say that Willpower is the best option, but I've heard others say that I should augment Power (for increased damage), Accuracy (for increased hit chance with force powers), Critical, and Expertise.

Here are my relevant stats. Can you give me some guidance on which stats to maximize? Are there any benchmarks that I want to make sure I hit with these stats?

Presence: 289

Endurance: 1499

Willpower: 1476

Expertise: 1346

Valor: 68

Force Bonus Damage: 677.8

Force Bonus Heal: 489.5

Accuracy: 104.15%

Critical Chance: 34.58%

Critical Multiplier: 78.17%

Force Regen Rate: 8.0

Activation Speed: 8.36%

Health: 17665

Armor: 2613

Damage Reduction: 19.48%

Defense Chance: 10.00%

Gear

Currently, I have the WH Force-Master armor for head, chest, gloves, belt, legs, boots, bracers, focus, and lightsaber. I have 2 BM Force-Master Systems for implants, and 2 BM Relics of Forbidden Secrets. Also, I just picked up the EWH Force-healers MK-1 Relay for my ear.

I have most of my gear augmented (ripped out my WH mods and put them in adaptive armor). My plan is to get the rest of the EWH Force-Master armor.

What do you recommend for implants and relics? I've heard some say that the Rakata/BH implants and relics are best for this, but I'm not sure why that is because they don't have expertise.

Thanks in advance for any guidance you can offer. I'm done research on my own but have hit a wall and need some guidance.

I hope you don't mind if i extend here your question - but I was asking myself if there are any Soft or Hard caps that I have to reach as a PVP Seer? Like a given amount of Expertise or the Crit and Surge percentages? Maybe even something else?

I'm kinda confused cause i returned to the game after not resubscribing at launch (so pre 1.2 i guess). I would really appreciate any answer!

Thanks

That's a great question, and one that I have too.

What stats are most important for a DPS Hybrid Sage, and what are the benchmarks that a DPS Sage should reach on these stats?

Recently, there was a guy in a WZ who criticized my Force Accuracy rating, which at the time was sitting at about 101%. He told me that I should get that rating at least to 105% or 106%.

I've talked to others who say that Force Accuracy doesn't matter for a DPS Hybrid Sage, and that I should try to increase my Alacrity and Activation Speed (the faster I cast, the more damage I do), but how high should it be?

Others have said that I will get the most bang for my buck if I augment for Willpower. Again, how much Willpower should I go for before I start augmenting other stats?

So, I've just been experimenting on my own to see what works the best. It would be great if others with my experience would offer their two cents.

That's a great question, and one that I have too.

 

What stats are most important for a DPS Hybrid Sage, and what are the benchmarks that a DPS Sage should reach on these stats?

 

Recently, there was a guy in a WZ who criticized my Force Accuracy rating, which at the time was sitting at about 101%. He told me that I should get that rating at least to 105% or 106%.

 

I've talked to others who say that Force Accuracy doesn't matter for a DPS Hybrid Sage, and that I should try to increase my Alacrity and Activation Speed (the faster I cast, the more damage I do), but how high should it be?

 

Others have said that I will get the most bang for my buck if I augment for Willpower. Again, how much Willpower should I go for before I start augmenting other stats?

 

So, I've just been experimenting on my own to see what works the best. It would be great if others with my experience would offer their two cents.

Most attacks are internal which bypass armor so overall you gain more damage from putting it in other stats which benefits all attacks.

This is my build on my sage.

http://swtor.askmrrobot.com/character/801d637d-3474-47c9-9db1-55929b4ee874

To the original poster here are two builds

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

This is for excellent force management, with the tk and balance procs, and cc goodies from both tk and balance. Last point can go on crit in seer, effusion in tk or 7.5 percent extra weaken mind damage in balance.

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#600G0bZccbMdRbZcMcRs0z.2

Trading force management, the missing point from tk effusion will be felt, and dots proc from fib, and instant force lift, for increased damage of fib, tk wave and earthquake and higher critical. If you can live with randomness you could take one point from bubble stun to effusion for excellent force management. Very dangerous against clusters if left in peace.

Iam running this one in PvP

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

Good damage, useful abilities to play objectives. Good survivability. You should run with both 2 mystic pieces and 2 master pieces bonus set.

17 sec refresh force armor and 0.5% health from Mindcrush. In this tree you got instant skills and Instant abilities is the key to perform as a pvp player. Casters are so easy to kicl&kill.

to the OP:

I cant post a talent build link becuase my work computer is retarded and uses an ancient version of internet explorer, but i would make the following changes to your current build, and ill epxplain why:

MINUS

-tidal force. reason being you should not be specced for telekenetic wave

-kinetic collapse. reason being is you have a 20sec timer on yourself that you cannot force armor again with. furthermore you can only bubble someone every 6sec, and throwing a stun bubble on everyone as a DPS sage will take away needed force for your dps attacks

-telekinetic wave. reason being it is a 3sec cast. it could do decent damage, but if, and only if, you managed to get it off. with a 3sec cast time, your far more likely to get interupted during cast than not.

-psychic projection. reason being you only get a 1.5sec TKT every 10seconds. while a 2x as fast throw is nice, the 2 points spent here are not worth the investment.

-minds eye. reaon being, 5 yards on a cast you will only use when procced from throw is useless, especially when your main spam ability will stil be 5 yards shorter.

-pinning resolve. reason being, that while a reduced timer on stun is nice, that still leaves it at 50seconds. that is still a long length in any skirmish, especially with the abundance of stuns in this game. the chances of you getting off more stuns with a lower CD are minimal since other teamates most likelly have either already stunned, or filled the persons resolve bar

ADDITIONS

+1 inner strength, while 3% reduced force cost is not a game breaker, it is more usefull in a longer WZ skirmish than the bennifits of minds eye

+2 mind ward. 15% DR on all dots is extremily useful in a game where a lot of damage in WZs comes from dots (sages/sorcs/anni maras/OPS/snipers/slingers/scoundrals(when specced for the right tree) power techs and vanguards)

+1 force suppression. a lot of your damage comes from dots. 20% damage to the next 10 dots is a no brainer

+2 drain thoughts. while this dot does not do a lot of damage, with this dot now at 21 seconds instead of 15, add 15% damage only makes it do more damage per force cost

+2 assertion. mind crush is a very damaging ability and your strongest dot. 2 seconds on this dot is king, and also reduces the dots down time on a target

+3 mental scarring. 30% crit bonus damage to FIB and dot criticals is key to increasing your damage potency in any situation. it is a staple for a balance/balance hybrid

+1 jedi resistance. a left over point, but still usefull as that is 1% less damage you will take over the whole match. while 1% doesnt look like much, small %'s add up

STATS:

your expertise is far too high. you are very safe to run 1150-1200 expertise. the damage reduction loss you will see from this will be very minimal due to expertise diminishing returns. use the slots clear of expertise to add stats like crit, power, and surge

your accuracy is also too high. force attacks have a base hit chance of 100%. in pvp this is plenty. the only time you would need 100% acc is in pve raiding. you should not be using any accuracy on your gear. dont worry about melee crit, as if your melee'ing as a sage, your wrong.

your stat priority should look something like this:

expertise to 1150-1200

crit to 30% unbuffed

surge to 75% (at a minimum, however, after 75% surge receives harsh diminishing returns)

willpower (the +6% to will power talent closes the gap a lot when comparing bonus damage/healing gained from willpower compared to power)

then power last. (you should still be able to obtain a very large ammount of power after reaching 30% crit and 75% surge)

NEVER EVER GET ALACRITY.

for gear:

i personally would go full WH, with 2pc pve bonus and 2pc PVP bonus.

get your EWH ear (which you have) and 2 EWH implants.

use WH power relics

augment everything with willpower augments

min maxing the mods/enhancement is easy and relitively quick when min maxing WH gear.

**i personally would not waste the time and credits to min/max with PVE 27 mods and EWH gear with the xpac so close to dropping, but that is my personal view**

i probobly missed some stuff, but ive already wrote a long enough wall of text