TSW NM DPS Build Guide

TSW NM DPS Build Guide by JGater

So I regularly read on the forums. One of the most common things I see/msgs I get are people asking for help with build suggestions for DPS. Before I say anything else for this guide please read the disclaimer message posted below.

Can’t make decent DPS? Want to make more? Want a different build to play? Have a look here for a simplistic overview and some suggestions on builds. I tailor the guides I type without having tons of crazy information and just try to touch on what I suggest will help out players if they are needing advice/info/having troubles/etc through tried and true methods that have been tested and are used by myself and cabal mates.

I am going to continue this under the assumption of several things. You’re not completely new to the game (aka you’re at NM level). You know how BB works and what custom pieces are. You’re familiar with your wheel and have skills unlocked or are working on it.

I was born to kill. What do I need to do to make crazy DPS?

Your DPS is going to be determined by several things. Your gear, your rotation, your build, your stats, your team, and the encounter you are in (not in any certain order).

What?! Why is that?

Gear/Stats – Increase here means increase in DPS. (keeping it simple as possible)

Rotation – Practicing your rotation makes up quite a great deal of your potential DPS. Timing Elemental Force counters to force crit certain skills, 100% proc’ing your Laceration signet, always consuming on 5 stacks, etc. This is the difference of making 2k dps or 6k dps. Get over to your local test dummy and beat the hell outta him until you got it down!

Build – Will be discussed below.

Team – Is the tank applying weakened/debil/exposed/afflicted (they should be). Are you running with a leech healer or full healer? Do you have group buffs? Are they being used correctly (not being overwrote, used as soon as they fall off)? Are people dying in fights?

Encounter – How long is the fight (less time in encounter = higher the DPS number)? Am I glancing because I’m in a certain dungeon (need to change a passive or drink a potion)?

Dude I already know that stuff, so what do I need to do this?

Actually wanting to have decent DPS takes a little bit of a commitment from you. You have to practice, put in the time to get your BB and upgrade your gear. You’re not going to make 6-8k DPS in drop gear. Get that rotation down, unlock your wheel, find a cabal or good group to go with casually if possible to do your NMs. If you’re not willing to put forth effort, you’ll be stuck with those 2-3k parses. If you can’t find the time, then work at it at your own pace. Just don’t think it takes forever to get your gear maxed out (it seemed overwhelming at first to me). It goes relatively quicker the better you get at it and more regular friends you make to do things with.
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Stats

It is really important that you plan your stats out and glyph properly while gearing up. It’ll save you days (yes days) worth of running NM’s for BB if you plan ahead and don’t have to reglyph things in the future. With that being said, I suggest aiming for these stats:

HIT: 650+
PEN: 800+

And then the story behind Crit or Crit Power, should I go one or the other or split?… Let me see if I can just simplify this as much as possible:

All Crit Rating? – Gives you a chance to proc a crit.
Don’t have DA? Fight longer without buffs? More crit means more reliable crit proc, thus increased damage. Hits get bigger if you have some crit power. Might try out livewire/one in the chamber/brawler if you are going with crit and see how those work out for you.
Numbers here in a chart: http://dulfy.net/2012/08/01/fistpist…aling-guide/#1

All Crit Power? – When you crit, increases the damage of that crit by X amount.
This works well too, for fights that last the duration your group buffs (DA) is up. You’ll regularly see 20k+ consumer hits (with buffs up). Your base crit rate and using elemental force allows you to run with no crit rating at all if you choose. Combine with brawler and boom, crazy high consumer hits (when proc’d on ele counter or with DA up).

What I suggest. Do a split or choose one or the other. I’ve ran all Crit Power builds. I’ve run all Crit Rating builds. I currently run a split build. Which is better? I believe the split I am using works just fine. The others will do just fine as well. Depending upon if you take full C or CP, some of your passives will change that will increase your damage over what I will suggest below for builds. Run with what you want (its personal preference) and tailor your build to it.

Glyphing Suggestions

* Your glyph stats need to be upgraded to reliably hit things and get past blocks. Consider upgrading them before trying to max out your AR first, as it will help you a great deal.

* Never put hit on your weapons. The stat on your weapon is calculated into your stats for the weapon you have active at the time. So if you are shooting with your pistols (and have hit on them) and swing your chainsaw, the swing from your chainsaw doesn’t have the hit from your pistols calculated in with it. Thus you will glance much often and miss out on, say, a 20k+ timber hit.

* I have found that your offhand weapon (and the way I glyph) is best for me to have full crit power on it (with laceration signet) as this is generally a consumer only weapon (that you most likely use to force crit with through elemental force) and helps get those big hit numbers when you consume. I recommend running this whether you are full crit/cp or split. The glyph in the weapon in the links below is your builder weapon.

All Crit Rating – http://seekrit.info/Tools/Glyph_Calc…-0&O=4-0-3-0-0

All Crit Power – http://seekrit.info/Tools/Glyph_Calc…-0&O=4-0-2-0-0

Split – http://seekrit.info/Tools/Glyph_Calc…-0&O=4-0-3-0-0
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Don’t forget to make Gadgets!http://www.endgameguides.com/TSW/Crafting/General/196
I use a + to pen stimulant and a + to crit power on pen kickback. Use them both on builder #3-4 to add big stat gains before using your consumers. These remain up the full 20 seconds (buff keeps procing as long as you meet the proc requirement).

Use those Animas!
Pure Anima (AR) and an anima potion with a stat boost of 100+ to a stat of your choosing will help increase your DPS even more.

Ambrosia
Nectar of the gods! Can use this to build 5 resources instantly for a weapon.

Special Items (From NY Raid)
Ashes of the Elder Things (Head) – When you penetrate gives you 25% extra penetration. Your base pen x 0.25 = how much extra pen you get. You don’t need 1k pen rating. Thus if you get this helm, its best to lower your pen to around 650, giving you 812 when it procs (which is all the time up). Then invest more points into your crit or crit power stats for increased damage.

Egon Pendant (Neck) – Increases your crit rating amount when you crit hit.

Subway Tokens (Luck) – Every 6 seconds you gain a 1% damage increase buff. This builds up to 10% then resets, or resets upon a glancing hit.

Signets can be looked at here: http://dulfy.net/2012/08/10/tsw-signets-guide/
Find what works best for the build you are using and work on getting your epic ones. With the introduction of signet extractors now, you can remove signets and re-use/replace them if needed.

Head/Weapons
Breaching (assuming pen tank doesn’t have it)
Abuse
Laceration
Fury
Aggression

Majors
Violence

Minors
*Tailored to your choice of weapons for your build (generally your builder weapon).
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This guide is filled with suggestions. These are not the possible best suggestions for DPS in the game. This is just tried and true information that I am sharing with everyone that would like to increase their knowledge of things or seek assistance. Many people will disagree with things that have been posted in this guide. This is fine, we are all entitled to our opinions, respectfully. I respect everyone as players and I ask to keep conversations civil when replying to this thread. I cannot guarantee you will make 4k+ DPS. Too many factors come into play (see first section in post) that determines your DPS. Use this information as a basis to form your own opinions and play styles.

I’m keeping this simple. I’m going to post a lot of builds that parse well with many different weapons combinations. Are they the best? Always going to be dependent on all kinds of factors (what was discussed at beginning of the guide). What I suggest may not work well for some people. What I suggest might not make the top DPS for that build. Don’t forget to tailor your builds and try swapping out different passives/skills while testing parses on test dummy’s to maximize your potential DPS. These are just for someone looking to throw a build together who might want a starter reference, play something new, has no idea where to start, etc. I am posting only actives, passives, and rotation for each (and to save room). If you are looking to use certain weapon combos I might not say anything about, ask for help! I am glad to try to make any weapon combo work together and I like thinking outside the box
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Pistol / Shotgun

Actives
1. Lock, Stock & Barrel
2. The Business
3. Out For A Kill
4. Shootout
5. Do or Die (E)
6. Deadly Aim
7. Breaching Shot
8. Timber

Passives
1. Probability (E)
2. Lethality
3. Twist the Knife
4. Straight Shooter
5. Elemental Force
6. Brawler
7. Iron Maiden
8. Revved Up

Rotation
I don’t count ele force stacks while using this build. It parses crazy high as it is with buffs up, but a better rotation is probably out there.
The Business (x5) – LSB – OFAK – Shootout – Timber – OFAK
The Business (x5) – OFAK – Shootout (repeat until LSB off CD then repeat above)
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Assault Rife / Shotgun

Actives
1. Lock, Stock & Barrel
2. Safety Off
3. Out for a Kill
4. Three Round Burst
5. Lock & Load
6. Do or Die (E)
7. Breaching Shot
8. Timber

Passives
1. Probability (E)
2. Twist the Knife
3. Lethality
4. Ferocity
5. Elemental Force
6. Brawler
7. Iron Maiden
8. Revved Up

Rotation
Safety Off (x5) – LSB – OFAK – 3RB – LL – 3RB – Timber – OFAK (works out perfect)
Safety Off (x5) – OFAK – 3RB (until LSB/LL are off CD then repeat above)
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Blade / Shotgun

Actives
1. Lock, Stock & Barrel
2. Grass Cutter
3. Raging Bullet
4. Dancing Blade
5. Master’s House (E)
6. Breaching Shot
7. Steel Echo
8. Timber

Passives
1. Probability (E)
2. Twist the Knife
3. Lethality
4. Sharp Blades
5. Elemental Force
6. Brawler
7. Iron Maiden
8. Revved Up

Rotation
Grass Cutter (x5) – LSB – Raging Bullet – Dancing Blade – Timber – Raging Bullet
Grass Cutter (x5) – Raging Bullet – Dancing Blade (repeat until LSB off CD then repeat)
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( Pistol | AR ) / Elemental

Actives
1. Lightning Manifestation
2. Fire Manifestation
3. ( The Business | Saftey Off)
4. Blaze
5. ( Big .45 | Three Round Burst)
6. Do or Die (E)
7. Short Fuse
8. Timber

Passives
1. Probability (E)
2. Twist the Knife
3. Lethality
4. Highly Strung
5. Elemental Force
6. Brawler
7. Iron Maiden
8. Revved Up

Rotation
Remember to keep yourself as your defensive target to get the extra DPS buff from Elemental Fury.
Builder (x5) – Fire Manifestation – Blaze – Timber – Consumer
Builder (x5) – Lightning Manifestation – Blaze – Consumer (repeat above)
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Chaos / Fist (Burst Build)

Actives
1. Run Rampant
2. One-Two
3. Four Horsemen
4. Do or Die (E)
5. Reckless
6. Amor Fati
7. (ANY)
8. Timber

Passives
1. Seal the Deal (E)
2. Twist the Knife
3. Lethality
4. Follow Through
5. Elemental Force
6. Brawler
7. Iron Maiden
8. Revved Up

Rotation
There are builds that utilize Adrenalize using a fist builder and a more complicated rotation that possibly parse higher. This is my easy to follow/lazy build which works good.
Run Rampant (x5) – Timber – One-Two – Four Horsemen
Run Rampant (x6) – One-Two – Four Horsemen (repeat above when timber off CD)

Hammer / Blood

Actives
1. Full Momentum
2. First Blood
3. Bloodshot
4. Molten Steel
5. Do or Die (E)
6. Cannibalise
7. Trucker
8. Timber

Passives
1. Seal the Deal (E)
2. Lethality
3. Twist the Knife
4. Hard Impact
5. Elemental Force
6. Brawler
7. Iron Maiden
8. Revved Up

Rotation
You can use trucker get right on top of targets quickly at start of fight or if you have to backout and need back in fast. If you don’t want to use it, drop it for anything else. It does not add an Elemental Force counter also. Full Momentum is included in case you mess up your rotation or can work it in for another good consumer hit.
First Blood (x5) – Bloodshot – Bloodshot – Molten Steel – Timber – Bloodshot – Cannibalise – Bloodshot
First Blood (x4) – Molten Steel – Full Momentum – First Blood (x1) – Bloodshot – Molten Steel – Bloodshot – Bloodshot (repeat above)
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Hammer / Fist

Actives
1. Full Momentum
2. First Blood
3. One-Two
4. Molten Steel
5. Do or Die (E)
6. Reckless
7. Trucker
8. Timber

Passives
1. Seal the Deal (E)
2. Lethality
3. Twist the Knife
4. Follow Through
5. Elemental Force
6. Brawler
7. Iron Maiden
8. Revved Up

Rotation
First Blood (x5) – Timber – One-Two – Molten Steel
First Blood (x4) – Molten Steel – Full Momentum – First Blood (x1) – One-Two – Molten Steel (repeat above)
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Pistol / Blood

Actives
1. (ANY)
2. The Business
3. Bloodshot
4. Big .45
5. Do or Die (E)
6. Deadly Aim
7. Cannibalise
8. Timber

Passives
1. Seal the Deal (E)
2. Lethality
3. Twist the Knife
4. Closer
5. Elemental Force
6. Brawler
7. Iron Maiden
8. Revved Up

Rotation
There are builds that use Bloodline as a builder and Finish the Movement that might parse better for this. Once again, that one is a more involved rotation. I have tried to make it parse better than what I am posting for this but for the life of me cannot (due to not having a builder glyphed/signet blood focus I assume).
The Business (x5) – Bloodshot – Big .45 – Bloodshot – Bloodshot – Cannibalise – Bloodshot – Timber
The Business (x5) – Bloodshot – Big .45 – Bloodshot – Bloodshot (repeat above when available)