WildStar Esper DPS Guide

WildStar Esper DPS Guide by Carthh

Why hello there! I’ve been expecting you [insert name here]! Of course you already know who I am seeing as how you are a talented Esper yourself…..no? Well then allow me to introduce myself, my name is Carthh.  I’ve played my share of video games over the years and have always been into in depth theorycrafting and gameplay. I have always wanted to try and write a guide for a class that I was playing and I thought what better chance than to give it a shot on the Esper in Wildstar.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Abbreviations
3. Basics
3.1 Weapon/Armor
3.2 Race/Path/Profession
3.3 Resources
3.3.1 Focus
3.3.2 Psi points
4. Abilities
4.1 Assault
4.2 Utility/Support
5. Builders and Finishers
5.1 Builders
5.2 Finishers
6. LAS/Builds
6.0.1 Amp Locations
6.1 PvE
6.1.1 The Rotation
6.1.2 Genetic Archives
6.1.3 Datascape
6.2 PvP
6.2.1 1v1 Match Ups
6.3 Leveling
7. Stats
7.1 Runes
7.1.1 Rune Sets
8. Raid Consumables
9. BIS Gear List
10. Advanced
10.1 Ability Queing
10.2 Dodge Weaving
11. Addons

1. Introduction

What exactly is an Esper? “A flashy, telekinetic illusionist, the Esper is a mash-up between Professor X and the Green Lantern. The Esper has a telekinetic psyblade, powerful illusions and light armor – just a few of the many features worth exploring for the class.” This guide is intended to be a source of information to help others excel in becoming the best DPS Esper they can be. It will be centered mostly on DPS builds, abilities, rotations, and anything else related to the damage side of the Esper class.

2. Abbreviations

BD- Blade Dance
CB- Concentrated Blade
CD-Cooldown
DPS- Damage per Second
FF- Freeform
IB-Illusionary Blades
MB- Mind Burst
MNB- Mental Boon
MOB- Mind Over Body
MOO- Moment of Opportunity
PA- Phantasmal Armor
PBAOE- Point blank AOE
PF- Psychic Frenzy
PP- Psi Point
PS- Projected Spirit or Deer
SS- Spectral Swarm or Swarm
SW- Shockwave
TK- Telekinetic Strike
TS- Telekinetic Storm

3. Basics

3.1 Weapon/Armor

The weapon of choice for the Esper is the Psyblade combined with their mental powers. Also, the Esper is one of two Light Armor wearing classes, the other being the Spellslinger. The Esper is restricted to using both of these and are only allowed to wield Psyblades and wear light armor.

3.2 Race/Path/Profession

In Wildstar, you race has exactly zero effect on your DPS and is only for aesthetic reasons.  The Esper has four race choices, two for Exile, Human and Aurin and two for Dominion, Cassian and Chua.  The same goes for your path and professions as well, no matter which you choose it will not affect your combat output capabilities in anyway.

3.3 Resources

The Esper has two types of resources to manage: Focus and Psi points.  The focus resource is shared across three classes: Esper, Spellslinger, and Medic.  Focus can be easily compared to as mana in other games and is generally only used by healers.  Psi points are a specific resource available to only the Esper and can be compared to combo points in other games.

3.3.1 Focus

Focus is a static resource pool that as it is spent, will slowly regenerate back over time.  As an Esper, focus is you main resource that is spent on the majority of your healing and utility abilities. DPS Espers will almost never have to worry about Focus and will never be resource starved because of this.

3.3.2 Psi Points

Psi Points are generated through specific abilities referred to as “builders” such as: Telekinetic Strike, Psychic Frenzy, and Concentrated Blade.  You can have a max of five total Psi Points stored up at once.  As you store up your Psi Points you are able to spend them on other abilities called “finishers” such as: Mind Burst and Telekinetic Storm.  When you use a finisher, it will spend all of your available Psi Points and the ability will increase in power with the more Psi Points consumed.

4. Abilities

Listed below will be the main abilities you will be using as a DPS Esper. If you want to see every ability I suggest using this website: http://www.ws-base.c…nerator/esper#/

Skills ranked 1 (poor) to 5 (great)

B= Builder, will generate a Psi Point

F= Finisher, will consume Psi Points

Innate

Spectral Form    Cooldown: 30 seconds Rank: 3

Root yourself in place, grant 1 interrupt armor, an absorb shield, and 1 PP every second for 5 seconds.

Spectral Form has been through a fair share of changes over the course of the game. The current iteration could be argued that it is the worst it has ever been when compared to its predecessors. However good or bad it may be, it is still one of our core abilities and should not be ignored as it is a solid dps increase when used correctly. So how does an Esper use their innate correctly? The first thought that occurs to a lot of new Espers is to save it for when they get in trouble, they’re low on health and pop it to save themselves. This is actually the exact opposite time an Esper should use Spectral Form. The best use of our innate is early and often, as many times as you can. The issue with using the innate as a last resort, is when you’re in those kind of situations, it will most likely get you into more trouble than you were already in. When you’re low on health, low sprint meter, no dash tokens, you pop your innate and suddenly a telegraph shows up and you’re stuck standing there until it lands. How do you prevent this? Use your innate not only as a source of damage, but as damage mitigation.

In terms of solo PvE, PvP, and Arenas, it is best used early in fights when you know the enemy is looking to lock you down and put a hurting on you. Using your innate allows you to stop their first CC, reduce incoming burst, and return some burst of your own possibly applying enough pressure to cause them to go on the defensive. The same strategy holds true when out questing, try to always use it to reduce white damage, auto attacks or non telegraphs, and to help kill your enemies faster. It is your single strongest tool for quick leveling outside the Espers great CC.

Raids have a little different mindset in terms of Spectral Form usage. Every Esper should view it simply as a dps cooldown and only as damage mitigation in minor scenarios. Most of the time your shield won’t reduce the incoming damage on most bosses, but there are a few cases where it can make your healers job easier and those instances are listed in each boss fight in the raids section. Otherwise, your innate should be used at the beginning of the fight and on cooldown everytime it is up, barring any movement phases.

*IMPORTANT* One big tip that you can do that a lot of Espers are unaware of is you can right click your Spectral Form buff on your buff bar and remove it. You will still generate the full 5 Psi Points but you will remove your shield, interrupt armor, but most importantly, the root. As of right now, there is absolutely no possible way to remove the buff outside right clicking. I will update when a /cancelaura macro or addon is made that can help in any way.

4.1 Assault 

Telekinetic Strike  B  Range:30m  Cost: none  Cast Time:1.25s  Cooldown: None  Type: FF Stationary   Rank: 4

Deals damage to foes and generates a Psi Point.

T4: Ignore 25% of foe’s shield

T8: Grant yourself one Psi Charge stack, at 6 stacks gain one Psi Point

Thoughts: The very first skill you get and the perfect one at that to set up the feel of the class. A lot of people argue you should get this skill later on but I think it is best for players to understand how the class is going to feel and play out at an early level, so they can decide if they like it or not. Now on to the ability, Telekinetic Strike our bread and butter builder, some people love it and some people hate and I am certainly one of those who love it. Very straight forward spell, stand still for 1.25s, deal good damage, generate a Psi Point, and has the ability to hit up to five targets. This is my go to spell, I always want to use it no matter the situation, leveling, vets, PvP, you name it and I want it on my bar. If they made this thing mobile without a significant damage reduction Esper would simply be unstoppable and easily the most overpowered class. That being said, a lot of people don’t understand by asking for this to become mobile, it would have to lose a fair chunk of damage to compensate, similar to how they recently handled Haunt. My problem with this is, most people don’t understand how little movement there actually is in most raid fights and you have plenty of time to stand and cast this skill. Leave it the way it is, and if you need more mobility, pick up our next builder.

Psychic Frenzy  B  Range:10m  Cost: none  Cast Time: 0.75s then multi tap  Cooldown: None Type: FF   Rank: 4

Conjure 3 spectral blades to deal magic damage to foes and generate a Psi Point.  There is an initial cast time, followed by multi tap.

T4: Each blade heals you when you deal damage

T8: Grants a Psi charge stack, at 6 stacks, gain a Psi Point

Thoughts: Another highly debated ability but not because of the damage, or mobility, or even the range, but because of the multi tap mechanic of the skill. I love the recent change over to each swing having their own GCD, before when each swing is off the GCD, it caused a lot of trouble with the ability queing system and felt very clunky. Now that each swing is restricted to a GCD it feels much much better and more fluid. The only gripe I have with this skill is that it takes a full 2.25s just to finish one full cast compared to that of TkStrike at 1.25s. Now I understand that there needs to be drawbacks for the mobility but I think the short range is a good start. I would propose the make the range even shorter, reduce the GCDs and maybe give it a tiny damage buff. It needs to still be less damage than TkStrike, but you shouldn’t lose as much damage as you do when switching between the two. But, with all that aside Psychic Frenzy is still your go to mobile builder in any high movement scenario in any situation including, leveling, raids, and PvP. Some people will choose it simply because they prefer the playstyle which is fine as I choose TkStrike most of the time because I prefer it. Either way, both of out builders are now in a very good spot and are easily two of our best assault abilities.

Mind Burst  F  Range: 25m  Cost: 1-5 PP  Cast Time: Instant  Cooldown: None  Type: FF   Rank: 5

Consume Psi Points to deal damage to foes.

T4: Deal 10% more damage over 4 seconds

T8: Grants a 15% crit chance buff if cast at 5 PP

Thoughts: AKA The Bird. Your go to finisher in every situation. If you don’t know which to choose, choose this one. The tier 8 basically puts Mind Burst on another level when compared to the other two and will almost always be the best choice. It’s telegraph is actually a lot skinnier than most people would think, but it is still a really nice size when trying to hit your target. I love this over TStorm in PvP simply because I can always hit my target no matter who is in front of me while TStorm will attach to the first person it comes across and also similarly in PvE, being assured that your finisher hits all targets instead  of taking a chance at TStorm not hitting everything.

Telekinetic Storm  F  Range: 30m  Cost: 1-5 PP  Cast Time: Instant  Cooldown: None Type: FF AOE   Rank: 4

Fire a storm that erupts upon hitting an enemy or reaching the end of its path that will then last for 7 seconds dealing damage every one second to 5 enemies in the area.

T4: Pierces armor

T8: Reduces the targets deflect chance

Thoughts: Telekinetic Storm does more overall damage than Mind Burst with the difference being Tstorm damage is applied over time with Mind Burst is instant. The biggest thing that keeps Mind Burst close to Tstorm is MB T8. The biggest issue at the moment is that armor pierce does not seem to be working on PvE mobs and only on other players. This means TStorm is losing a huge damage buff from the Tier 4 and that is really holding it back from being better than Mind Burst. Once that issue is solved there is a chance the bonus damage of TStorm will actually out value the T8 of Mind Burst, but we will have to wait and see. Otherwise, TStorm is a viable choice in Battlegrounds although I still prefer Mind Burst for accuracy, and TStorm is definitely the best choice in Warplots as it guarantees you more safety with a longer range and the ability to guarantee hits on many targets at once gives it a much higher value than Mind Burst. The biggest benefit of TStorm in raids is the T8, you will always have one Esper running it to benefit the raid group along with a T8 Haunt.

Concentrated Blade  B  Range: 30m  Cost: none Cast Time: *4.3s  Cooldown: **10s Type: Self    Rank: 3

Manifests a psyblade that after 4.4s will spin to the nearest foe dealing damage and generating a Psi Point.

* Instant cast to summon the blade but will not do damage until 4.3 seconds later

** Has 2 separate charges each on their own 10s cooldown

T4: Decreases delay to 3.4s

T8: Increases charge count to 3

Thoughts: Such a lackluster ability but we are required to take it simply because it equates to one Psi Point every 14.4 seconds. Combined with Bolster it makes them both a little more valuable but still kind of boring.

The biggest thing it has going for it is it is off the GCD and is instant cast, allowing it to be used inside of another GCD or on the move. The animation is cool I guess but the damage is so low and the windup can be a little annoying at times making just a PP generator. It is our only other spell that we run that can proc B-I-N-G-O so it has that going for it, but once assault amps are fixed there’s a chance I won’t even be running it any more after the nerf. If that wasn’t bad enough, both T4 and T8 is basically worthless and provide a near zero dps increase and with the low damage values there is no incentive at all to ever tier this ability up. We are stuck with it for now until something better comes along which most likely won’t happen so hopefully it receives a little help.

Illusionary Blades  B Range:25m  Cost: none Cast Time: 2.5s charge  Cooldown: 4-8s  Type: Mobile   Rank: 4

Deal damage to foes and generate a Psi Point. Charge spell has higher strength and a longer cooldown the longer you cast it. At charge 3, gain another Psi Point.

T4: Reduce cast time by .5s

T8: Snare: Reduces movement speed by 20% / 25% / 45% for 5s

Thoughts: I love this spell in that you know exactly what it is meant to do. It should be used a mobile builder and or a high damage longer cooldown ability and it fills that role perfectly. Once we receive the rest of our tier points there is a good chance we will be taking this to T8 and it will have first priority over TkStrike as it will be higher damage per second mainly due to the T4 reducing the cast time. The only issue is that without any tier points, IB is almost the exact same damage coefficient as TkStrike, and since we always T8 TkStrike, IB won’t be able to catch up until at least T6 at the minimum, if not more likely T7 and T8. The other problem is that it has a 1.25s GCD meaning you can’t just instant cast C1 because it will take the same amount of time as it would to cast a TkStrike. I still really like this spell and the potential it will provide when we receive for tier points.

Haunt  B  Range:25m  Cost: none  Cast Time: 1.5s  Cooldown: 8s  Type: Mobile   Rank: 5

Deal magic damage and apply an expose to foes. Generate a Psi Point.

Expose: Reduces magic resistance by 8% for 10s

T4: Push foes back 4m

T8: Remove a dash charge from players and reduce NPC threat

Thoughts: Pretty big damage increase and then it became mobile. One of our best skills by far, amazing skill, until they change up how debuffs work then it is going to take a tumble. Even with the change it will most likely remain in the solo builds as it is a great opener and useable now if you need to kite. You will still always have one Esper running the T8 of this in your raid for a max debuff. One of the issues I have with it is the T4

and just how dang annoying it is. The pushback is minimal at best, but it is still big enough to make it really annoying in any group content or even while soloing. I will generally only tier it up to T3 for this reason but if you can stand the annoyance, you will get a higher damage increase by taking it up to T5 at level 50 and not putting points else where. After they change debuffing though, it will most likely remain baseline.

Blade Dance  B  Range:10m  Cost: none  Cast Time: 3s channel  Cooldown: 15s  Type: PBAOE   Rank: 1

Deals damage to foes every .5s over 3s and grants you swiftness increasing your movement speed while channeling.  Generates one Psi Point at the start of the channel and another when the channel ends.

T4: Increase channel time by .5s

T8: Defense: Increase damage mitigation by 20% while channeling

Thoughts: I have tried time and time again and again to make this spell viable in any possible situation and it has failed me every single time. The simple fact of the matter is, you are essentially pacifying yourself for three plus seconds to deal a moderate amount of damage while moving. You could easily get more damage and Psi Points in the same amount of time by casting TkStrike. Believe me when I say I have tried every possible situation and it has never succeeded. That being said I do have a couple possible changes to make the spell viable. Both of them remove the pacification aspect and make it work on their own. The first one I like the most  would be to make it do the exact same as it does now, but not require you to channel. Simply apply a buff that makes you do aoe damage around you but allow you to continue to cast your other spells. The other option would also basically be the same thing, but instead of the damage being centered on you, when you use the ability you place an aoe on the ground at your feet with the animation of a clone of you inside spinning around and doing the damage in that spot. Either way, Blade Dance will never be viable so long as it pacifies you unless they severely increase the damage.

Spectral Swarm  B  Range: 25m  Cost: none  Cast Time: Instant  Cooldown: 12s  Type: Self   Rank: 3

Summon three phantoms that deal magic damage every 1.25s for 10s and generates a Psi Point.

T4: Phantoms gain lifesteal and the health is also transferred to you

T8: Phantoms explode on death dealing damage.

Thoughts: Another average ability with nothing really special about it. It used to do more damage and would daze players in PvP but since then they removed that and reduced the damage by a good bit. It is instant cast but the GCD can be a little annoying aside from the fact that proc literally none of our amps or set bonuses. The only reason we don’t completely drop it is because it does generate a PP on use and still does more damager per GCD than TkStrike. I really feel like this should be a top priority in our PvE rotation but for whatever reason, everytime I get a chance to stand and free cast, I feel like I am losing damage compared to if I had just continued to cast TkStrike. It is definitely a DPS boost to use this on the move which is a good reason for us to have it on our bar, but I still feel as if the ability is lacking some where. I no longer use it in PvP as I feel it hurts much more than it helps, mainly because almost every single class can build up resources off of them except for stalkers which are the only class our pets really mess with.

Reap  F  Range: 25m  Cost: 1-5 PP  Cast Time: Instant  Cooldown: None  Type: Targeted   Rank: 2

Conjure a trap at targeted location lasting for 30s. The first enemy to walk through the trap triggers a reaper that deals magic damage to the enemy.

T4: The trap now snares the foe

T8: The trap now leaves a field that applies a 50% snare to all foes

Thoughts: It is good for one thing and one thing only, single target PvP, dueling. While it is higher damage than MB, the 15% crit keeps it far ahead of the little bit of extra single target damage in terms of PvE. In any form of PvP with more than one target, Reap quickly falls behind because as soon as you hit two target with MB it instantly is above the damage of Reap, and not being able to apply pressure to both targets in arena is a huge drawback. I will admit though, I definitely prefer it in 1v1 matchups because you aren’t really able to take advantage of the T8 of MB so the bonus damage of Reap is definitely better. I still don’t understand the T8 of Reap, if it is a single target spell, why give it an aoe snare? I think they simply wanted three finishers but at this point all they had left was a single target option but didn’t really have any idea how to go about it. You also need a fairly high skill cap to use it efficiently.

4.2 Utility/Support

I will only be listing the most useful utility and support abilities.  Even if you do not see an ability listed, you are still able to put any of your 30 class abilities on your bar, but some abilities are far superior to others.

Crush  Range: 25m  Cost: none Cast Time: Instant  Cooldown: 35s  Type: FF   Rank: 4

Deals magic damage to foes and applies a knockdown.

Knockdown: Prevents any action except dash for one second and destroys 1 interrupt armor.

T4: Destroys 2 interrupt armor

T8: Apply an expose: Decrease magic resistance for 6 seconds.

Thoughts: The first interrupt you get and rightfully so, it couldn’t be any more basic unless it was targeted. Speaking of which, is the biggest gripe I have with it is you can not use it on what ever you want, you have to

specifically aim it and make sure the enemey you want to hit is the closest one to you. I’ve started using it a little less in PvP and using other skills especially if my team already has a knockdown, but it is still pretty strong. It is a solid all around utility spell spell with a good length knockdown.

Shockwave  Range:10m  Cost: none  Cast Time: Instant  Cooldown: 30s  Type: Self   Rank: 3

Deal damage to foes and knock them back 12m.

Knockback: Destroys 1 interrupt armor.

T4: Apply a snare: Reduces enemy movement speed by 25% for 4s

T8: Break free from all CC effects

Thoughts: Even after the base range increase I am still not a fan of this ability. You really have to tier it up a good bit before you really notice the knockback and the T4 is barely noticeable by most classes. Along with

all of that, half the time the hit box reg is awful and you could use it on someone near you and the go the exact opposite way you want them to go. The only real use I have for this is another ability that removes IA

during an ecnounter if you’re stretched for them and really need another one but that would be a rare opportunity. One of the only things it has going for it is in Battlegrounds where you could max it out and launch people off ledges in both Walitiki and Halls possibly making it quite useful.

Restraint    Range: 25m   Cost: none  Cast Time: Instant  Cooldown: 35s  Type: FF   Rank: 4

Create a field on top of a foe that lasts for 4s. The field deals damage and applies a root to foes.

Root: Prevents movement for 3s.

T4: Reduce Cooldown to 30s

T8:Drain 100 endurance each tick

Thoughts: Easily our best utility spell by a mile. Haviing it generate a PP before was really over powered but it is still a beastly spell. Instant cast three second root with a huge range makes it just amazing for solo leveling. It is also really strong in PvP because it has no breakout mechanic and it forces players to either wait it out, use their cc break, or get a cleanse. It also has the ability to cause a MOO in veterans when a mob uses a movement ability. I have no issues at all with this ability except for the couple times it simply does not work and does not appear on the mob. Great spell all around.

Incapacitate  Range: 30m  Cost: none  Cast Time: Instant  Cooldown: 40s  Type: FF   Rank: 4

Deal magic damage and apply a subdue to foes.

Subdue: Prevents ability usage for 4s or until your weapon has been recovered.

T4: Apply an expose: Decrease magic resistance

T8:If foes are casting, apply Blind: Hinders vision and reduces hit chance by 100%

Thoughts: Another one of our great utility spells. The only class in the game that brings a Subdue to the table and boy can it be a pain for other classes in PvP. It doesn’t perform quite as well in arena as weapons tend to not fly as far away as they could if they hit a wall, and with class burst toned down you won’t ever really use it on them unless you’re peeling for a really low health target. It is however really strong against healers if you already forced out their cc break. In PvE it should really only be used to cause a MOO and never used otherwise. Subdueing PvE mobs causes them to immediately turn and pick up their weapon making it not very effective. But with such a long range and very forgiving telegraph, it is generally a better choice than Crush when you need to remove IA.

Geist  Range: 35m  Cost: none  Cast Time: Instant  Cooldown: 25s  Type: self   Rank: 3

Summon a Geist that deals damage to foes every 2.25s for 15s. Geist generates 400% threat and grants you a 15% damage reduction buff.

T4: Geist gains lifesteal and all health is transferred to you

T8: On summon, Geist takes 100% of your current threat

Thoughts: I hate this spell. No other way to say it. The only use it has is a 15% damage reduction that is rarely useful if that. The biggest reason I do not like this spell is it is a bit of a noob trap. Some one who hasn’t

played before and sees this spell thinks, hey this is pretty good I have a pet to hold aggro for me so I can free cast. The biggest issue with this is, if you don’t cast Geist before the pull, it will never be able to pull aggro off of you. It also is only single target aggro and can’t hold onto groups of mobs. What a lot of Espers do not realize is they can simply kill the mob before it even reaches them, there is no need for a pet to tank for you. I am not saying you can’t use this spell, but I for one avoid it like the plague outside of very rare cicrumstances.

Fixation  Range: Self  Cost: none  Cast Time: Instant  Cooldown: 60s Type: self Rank: 3

Reset all cooldowns by 20% and generate 3 Psi Points.

T4: Generate 10 Focus every 1s for 12s

T8: Generate 1 Psi Point every 3s for 12s

Thoughts: Fixation is actually a pretty nice spell, the drawback to it is the fact that you have to invest 13 amp points to get it. I really liked it when I tried it out in PvP, but you are giving up a lot of other amps to be able to reach this one. It is still worth giving a shot if you are interested in it, it has lost some of the potency it had with the switch from a burst meta to a more sustained meta in PvP, and we won’t ever be able to take this in PvE as the lost amps no where near make up for the small gain the skill gives.

Meditate  Range: Self  Cost: none  Cast Time: 5s channel  Cooldown: 45s  Type: Stationary  Rank3

Restore focus and health every 0.5s for 5s.

T4: Generates 2 Psi Points when Meditate ends

T8: Grant Freedom: Immune to CC effects while channeling

Thoughts: As funny as it sounds, I did kind of enjoy running Meditate in PvP, but the heal just ended up being too weak to continue using. The T4 was actually really interesting because you don’t have to fully cast the

ability to receive the Psi Points, meaning you could stop for a second to start casting and immediately move and you would gain the 2 PP. I could see it working a defensive sustain build but as usual, with our amazing

utility tree there are much better options.

Bolster B Range: 25m Cost: none  Cast Time: Instant  Cooldown: 10s each charge  Type: Self   Rank: 4

Place a HoT on yourself or ally restoring health over 7s. Two charges and generates a Psi Point.

T4: Grant an absorb

T8: Increase charge count to 3

Thoughts: Essentially the same as Concentated Blade but instead of dealing a small amount of damage it heals you for a small amount of damage. Off the GCD, instant cast, works really well when cast together with CB. This is a pretty big source of our sustain in PvP but the heal is pretty unnoticeable in PvE. OUtside of the instant off GCD PP, it is another pretty lackluster ability and of course it is a support ability used in our main assault rotation but if we didn’t have that we would be down to only 3 abilities in the rotation.

Phantasmal Armor  Range: 35m  Cost: none  Cast Time: Instant  Cooldown: 45s  Type: Targeted   Rank: 3

Grant yourself or an ally an absorb shield and 1 interrupt armor.

T4: Reduce cooldown to 40s

T8: Grants an additional interrupt armor and increases magic resistance by 15%

Thoughts: A pretty signature Esper ability but not very good for an assault Esper. Personally, I am not a fan of IA abilities because it requires a lot of luck to guess when your opponent is going to use an interrupt or when they see you apply it they could simply choose not to interrupt. They added a small abosrb for assault specced Espers but it generally seems to go unnoticed for the most part. It can certainly be a solid skill choice but I feel that there are some really other strong picks in the utility tree that can outshine PA, but it could still fit into a comp you are running, so don’t toss it aside without giving it a second thought.

Projected Spirit  Range: 25m Cost: 39F  Cast Time: Instant  Cooldown: 30s  Type: Self   Rank: 3

Dash forward restoring health to yourself and allies

T4: Increase dash range by 10m and grant a Psi Point

T8: Grant swiftness increasing your movement speed

Thoughts: Not the greatest baseline spell, but one of our greatest T4 spells. Going from a 15m jump to a 20m jump plus a Psi Point makes this easily one of our most valuable PvP tiers. The heal will easily heal for around 5k and crit upwards of 10k. Great to close or create distance and add to our already solid sustain. Very difficult to not run with the T4 in PvP, but if you are running with a solid healer in your comp then you could swap it out for some of our fantastic utility.

Fade Out Range: 15m Cost: none  Cast Time: Instant  Cooldown: 30s  Type: Self   Rank: 3

Break free from all CC effects and apply pacify to all enemies.

T4: Apply a weaken, reducing enemies assault and support power

T8: Manifest an illusion to distract foes

Thoughts: Standard cc break, I will always avoid putting any tier points in here because I almost never want to go backwards, so keeping the distance low is nice. On the flip side, if for some reason you had points to spare or were just messing around, a T8 Fade Out is no joke in just how much distance you travel backwards. But you can’t go a couple in to it, you would need atleast a T4 if not more before it would be beneficial. Either way, unless you are running heavy interrupt, and even then, you will most likely always have this on your bar in PvP, and even in PvE, some encounters are made a lot easier with a cc break.

Catharsis Range: 25m Cost: 38F  Cast Time: Instant Cooldown: 6s Type: Freeform Rank: 4

Restore health and cleanse 2 debuffs from yourself and 5 allies.

T4: Cleanse 3 debuffs

T8: Purge 2 buffs from foes

Thoughts: With the cooldown reduction and it now only at six seconds, this is another strong utility spell that we can bring to assist in debuff removal. Personally, I wouldn’t choose to run it when solo queing for arenas or Battlegrounds, but in coordinated group PvP play, it can be really strong being able to alternate cleanses between you and your healers since the only thing that scales is the heal itself and you will remove the same number of debuffs if you were support specced. I do wish they would swap the T4 and T8 though since a T8 is a heavy investment for offensive dispels.

Soothe B Range: 30m Cost: Focus Cast Time: 2.5s Charge Cooldown: None Type Mobile Rank: 4

Restore health to yourself and allies. Generates 1 PP at C2 and 2 at C3.

T4: Reduce charge time by 0.5s

T8: Restore additional health ever 1s for 4s.

Thoughts: I am not a fan of the kite Soothe playstyle but I know some Espers are. Now that Soothe is completely mobile you can run and charge up Soothe for decent little heals and Psi Points while kiting. The biggest issueI have with kiting with it is that you can neither sprint nor dodge roll while charging it, two of the biggest assets to kiting. You have to simply turn your back to your opponent and walk away from them. It is certainly

stronger in a solo que environment, or if you are running a no healer comp you could provide decent off heals, but I still choose other utility spells over it for now.

Mending Banner  F Range: 35m  Cost: Focus and Psi Points  Cast Time: Instant  Cooldown: none  Type: Targeted  Rank: 3

Restore health to yourself or an ally.

T4: Grant Defense to your target increasing their armor

T8: Heal chains to additional nearby ally within 10m

Thoughts: What is this doing here? Well funny enough I tried this on a whim and actually really enjoyed it in PvP. I don’t think I would ever stick with it but it was certainly annoying for the other team when they tried

getting me low and I could generate a bunch of PP for some easy big heals and take myself well over 50% health. I would be really interested in completely dropping an assault finisher and replacing it with this and making all your damage come from your builder. More of a fun build than anything else.

5. Builders and Finishers

5.1 Builders: Telekinetic Strike vs Psychic Frenzy

An in depth analysis and comparison of the Espers two builders can be found here: https://forums.wilds…psychic-frenzy/

While it is viable to use either builder in any situation, each one excels in its own ways making it much stronger than its counterpart depending on the content you are doing. As of right now, Telekinetic Strike wins out in basically every PvE and PvP scenario except for small group PvP where Psychic Frenzy edges it out (solo, 2s, and a toss up in 3s depending on comp). Both are completely viable for solo PvE play.

5.2 Finishers: Mind Burst vs Telekinetic Storm vs Reap

The new build I am looking into will use both Mind Burst and Telekinetic Storm alternating between the two of them.

Mind Burst– AKA The Bird. Your go to finisher in every situation. If you don’t know which to choose, choose this one. The tier 8 basically puts Mind Burst on another level when compared to the other two and will almost always be the best choice, aside from being the coolest spell animation in game. Live by the Bird die by the Bird. Best uses: PvP, PvE, sol leveling, every situation.

Telekinetic Storm– Telekinetic Storm does more overall damage than Mind Burst with the difference being Tstorm damage is applied over time with Mind Burst is instant. The biggest thing that keeps Mind Burst close to Tstorm is MB T8. Tstorm is a viable choice in Battlegrounds and is better than Mind Burst in Warplots. Although I still prefer Mind Burst for burst over sustained in BGs, and in raids you will always have one Esper using the tier 8 of Telekinetic Storm, it really comes down to a playstyle preference.  Best uses: Clumped up enemies, group PvP, multi targer PvE.

Reap– I have only found one use for Reap and that’s in a 1v1 pvp scenario as it has higher damage than Mind Burst, but I’ve recently started using tier 8 Mind Burst in PvP so it’s still a toss up, aside from Reap having a fairly high skill cap to use efficiently. Best uses: Dueling.
6. LAS/Builds

In WildStar, your character is able to choose 8 of their class specific abilities to have on their action bar at a time. This system is known as a Limited Action Set or LAS, sometimes referred to as your loadout or action bar.  You are not limited in any way as to which abilities you choose to put on your action bar, but some combination of abilities are much more effective than others. Once you reach level 50 you are will begin to earn Elder Gems that can be spent to acquire an additional 10 amp points and 7 skill tier points. As of now, these will most likely be a top priority of buying them before some of the gear. Prices still may change so I will keep this updated. When you see a build mark W/EG, this is the final build with full Elder Gem points including all Tier and Amp points. I am not going to bother listing a build for every single bonus Ability or Amp so feel free to ask any specific questions at the end of the guide. Here I will list some of the more common loadouts and which situations they are best in.

6.0.1 Amp Locations

If you can’t find an amp listed here, it is most likely a random world drop, or will be added to vendors later on.

E CELESTION: SYLVAN GLADE; Melri Gladewalker
D ELLEVAR: LIGHTREACH MISSION; Lady Saphis
Reckful
Inspiration
Refund

E ALGOROC: GALLOW; Merchant Clara Clearfield
D DERADUNE: BLOODFIRE VILLAGE; Mika
Iron Reflexes
Inspiration
Refund

E GALERAS: SKYWATCH; Provisions Officer Windfree
D AURORIA: HYCREST; Merchant Voxic
Me Worry?
Mental Overflow
Focus Mastery
Stand Strong

E WHITEVALE: THERMOCK HOLD; Fenan Sunstrider
D WHITEVALE: PALEROCK POST; Zephix
No Pain No…
The Power!
Superiority
Spectral Shield
Hard to Hit
Inspirational Charge

E FARSIDE: Walker’s Landing; Reya Resinbough
D FARSIDE: Dakahari;
Fisticuffs
Rupture
Companion
Figment

E Wilderrun: Fool’s Hope; Merchant Snowglimmer
D Wilderrun: Provisioner Jazira
Defensive Maneuvers
Not Snackworthy
B-I-N-G-O
Bounce Back
Slow it Down
Cheat Death
Feedback

E THAYD; Supply Officer Clayre
D LLIUM; Supply Officer Phenoxia
Duelist
From the Grave
No Remorse
Psychic Barrier
True Sight
Payback
Shocked

Quest rewards: Build Up, Molasses, Quick Response

Exile
CELESTION: Gienview’s Bulkwark; Greenbough’s Guardian Quest Line
Starts at Arwick Redleaf
1) Reclaiming Greenbough
2) A Fiery Escape
3) Greenbough Guardian (AMP reward)

ALGOROC: Tremor Ridge; Loftite Rush Quest Line
Starts at Pappy Grizzleston
1) The Loftite Hunt Begins
2) Troublesome Tremors (AMP Reward)

————————————————————-

Dominion
DERADUNE: MOODIES! Quest Line
Starts at
1) Mojo Moodies
2) Tamolo’s Necromojo
3) The Staff and the Shaman (AMP Reward)

ELLEVAR: quest line with the Stormseekers:

The final quest “Unfortunate Force” given by Guardian Zelcon

6.1 PvE

With the change to how debuffs work, Haunt is not nearly as powerful as it once was but it is still a small damage boost for us. I believe it should still be used as the opening ability to pull the mobs and with it becoming mobile gives you another ability to use when kiting larger mobs.

Solo/Questing

Either of these builds are very viable to use while questing, doing dailies, and the like. It will basically boil down to your preferred playstyle if you would rather kill stuff before it gets to you or be mobile in melee and kite the mobs around. The ideal opener would be to use: Haunt, 2x Telekinetic Strike/Psychic Frenzy, 2x Bolster+CB, Mind Burst. The idea is to rotate between your innate and each of your CC and use 1-2 of them each pull for quick and effective kill times.

Telekinetic Strike/Ranged: http://www.ws-base.c…349.330.333.345

W/EG: http://www.ws-base.c…447.448.449.379

Video demonstrating the build: http://www.twitch.tv…hh_ws/c/3945320

Psychic Frenzy/Melee: http://www.ws-base.c…378.975.333.345

W/EG: http://www.ws-base.c…346.347.449.379

This video shows how to effectively use Psychic Frenzy. I’m still working on getting a video with this specific build:http://www.twitch.tv…hh_ws/c/3945371

Veteran Dungeons and Adventures

Different bosses will require different abilities to be brought including: Fade Out, Geist, Soothe, Restraint, Catharsis, Shockwave, and even Projected Spirit. This is a basic build that should work for most situations, and if you need to switch out abilities you will most likely drop Incapacitate and if for some reason you need to drop a second ability it should be Spectral Swarm. Another common thing you may do is remove the tier points from everything except T8 Mind Burst and Telekinetic Strike, and use them in Crush to reach the T4 as it can be a big help on certain bosses that need extra interrupting. With the T4 Crush, Incapacitate, and Shockwave, Espers can instantly remove four interrupt armor from a boss proving to be very useful on some fights.

General build: http://www.ws-base.c…330.349.340.447

W/EG: http://www.ws-base.c…340.447.441.442

Raids

This is a basic raid LAS for trash and bosses. More specific information about each raid encounter can be found below the rotation section.

DPS: http://www.ws-base.c…346.347.451.447

W/EG: http://www.ws-base.c…346.347.464.447

Utility, one Esper in every raid should be running this: http://www.ws-base.c…347.441.442.447

W/EG: http://www.ws-base.c…442.447.340.349

*Note: Crush, Geist, and Incapacitate are subject to change depending on the encounter.

6.1.1 The Rotation

Basically, we have more of a priority list than a rotation. The list is in order of importance starting with the most important at the top going down to the least important:

5 PP Mind Burst

Telekinetic Strike

Only use Bolster+Concentrated Blade after you spend 5PP which would be during the GCD of Mind Burst, or on the move. They are off the GCD and should be used after Mind Burst, never interrupt Telekinetic Strike to use them. If you use them while casting it breaks the ability queing and will be a dps loss. Any time you have to move cast SS and then begin channeling Illusionary Blades. The quicker you can get back to casting Telekinetic Strike the better. This means if you can begin channeling IB and you can stop moving before C1 ends, fire it off and start using TkStrike. BUT, if you get to C2 and can stop moving, continue casting until C3 and fire if off even if you can stop early. The damage gain from C2 to C3 is much better than stopping at C2. Ideal use of your Innate is when you are at 4 PP as when you use it you instantly gain 1 PP so it will take you to 5 meaning you can immediately fire off MB. You should generally always treat your Innate as a dps cooldown and not survivability. Also make sure you are using your gadget with every other Innate as it should be on a minute cooldown. What I like to do, is when I am at 3 PP, begin casting TkStrike and right before it goes off I pop my gadget then innate then Mind Burst. This gives your last TkStrike the gadget buff, and your first MB the buff as well before continuing your rotation.

Raid Opener: Just a note, this is the most optimal opener but it can still be really annoying to do correctly. There is also better rotations depending on the boss fight which will be mentioned in the raid section. For the easiest rotation just start with Telekinetic Strike and follow priority order. This is the more advanced rotation, to make it much easier simply use your trinket on the pull then follow the order. Openers can be tricky due to B-I-N-G-O procs making things unpredictable but the best opener I have found so far would be:

C3 Illusionary Blades – Begin casting before pull, use on pull

Spectral Swarm

1x Bolster+CB

Innate

Trinket while using Bolster+CB and Innate once the GCD is free from SS

5 PP Mind Burst

Bolster+CB

Now comes the tricky part as you will want to cast TKstrike and you should be at about 3 PP as your casting TKstrike and once the cast finishes it will either take you to 5 PP with a crit so you Mind Burst or take you to 4 PP (non crit) then you wait just long enough for your innate to take you to 5 PP and then Mind Burst. The order of your opening also helps insure against Illusionary Blade crits, because if it does crit you will go to 4 PP cast SS for 5 PP trinket then Mind Burst without accidentally wasting any Bolster+CB charges. This will obviously change depending on the boss fight and even I am still working on getting better at the rotation.

Any time outside raids your opener is much simpler:

Haunt

TK

2x Bolster+CB

Innate

Trinket during Bolster+CB and Innate

5PP Mind Burst

Same thing, it can be much easier to just pop your trinket before you cast Haunt. This is just my preferred opener, you can also use IB to start off but I’m usually not try harding that much with DPS in Vets and I’m usually just carrying extra interrupts to make bosses go smoother and quicker as we generally have more than enough DPS and losing the little extra IB opener gives is usually unnoticeable.

6.1.2 Genetic Archives

This section contains each boss in the 20 man raid Genetic Archives and the most optimal build and tips for them. Most mini bosses don’t require a specific LAS but I will update this section with any tips, skills, and videos that may be useful. For the most part, the core abilities will always be the same, you will just cycle 2-3 of your slots for other abilities you may need. Amps shouldn’t ever change but I will make a note if they do, the ones I have in the builds are just to get to Spectral Swarm. These are just my preferences on skills there is still plenty of other skills you can move around if you prefer. When you receive your Elder Gems, just check the common raid build for the best skills to max out as it will be the same for each boss 99% of the time and if not I will make a comment in that bosses section.

Experiment X-89

Build: http://www.ws-base.c…336.326.333.940

Video: http://www.twitch.tv…hh_ws/c/4114307

• A lot of people will go into the fight thinking they should use deer on every knockback when that is definitely not the best use. Everytime he begins casting the knockback, simply sprint towards him and as you are knockbacked continue holding forward sprint and you will come close to landing in the same spot you took off from. Deer is simply a safety net if you get caught in a bad position and need a save. Also, if you have your innate up when he knocks you back, you will be unable to sprint forward and will take the full knockback distance so be careful with this.
• Make sure to always position yourself on the opposite side of the spew to reduce the amount of movement needed.
• As a range, you have an easier time of setting up bombs and still maintaining dps, but remember if you aren’t in melee range you most likely won’t be getting Warrior/Medic buffs so this might negate the slight advantage.
• Depending on how you pull it, your tank may need you to not dps at the start as they position the boss. You should be able to summon SS, and start charging IB for a C3 and to position while your tank moves him into place and depending on BINGO crits, you can use Bolster+CB charges to 5 PP if not and go from there.

Kuralak the Defiler

Build: http://www.ws-base.c…336.326.333.940

Video: http://www.twitch.tv…hh_ws/c/4111290

• When running in at the start, if you get in quick enough you can cast SS, 2x Bolster+CB then 2x TkStrike and get a MB off before the blind and your CB’s will hit after she ports and give you the PP.
• I included two builders in this as most groups won’t allow you to stand in the middle when learning the fight and you need to reduce your damage taken by a lot. So in Phase 1 simply strafe the boss while using PF to build points and when Phase 2 comes switch over to using TkStrike as your builder.
• I use Incap as my interrupt on this fight as Crush can be unreliable with certain positioning. Incap allows you to reach your egg up to 30m away and also through Kuralak and still get the interrupt off.
• I use deer as a heal when I have egg debuff and we are running out to the pillars in case we don’t have a healer at that one. Do not use it as a means to get out of puddles as the hitbox remains left behind you and you will still take the damage. The best way to get out of puddles is to make sure there aren’t many people near you and dodge roll out of the ones that appear on you.
• When you get the rest of your Ability points from Elder Gems put them into Psychic Frenzy. Also, when you feel confident enough in your healers, you can drop Projected Spirit for Illusionary Blades, but just remember you won’t be putting points in IB because they will be in PF.

Phagetech Prototypes

Build: http://www.ws-base.c…336.326.333.940

Video: http://www.twitch.tv…hh_ws/c/4147459

• This fight is kind of easy right now and there isn’t too much extra work that you need to do. Just make sure you are always hitting as many of the bosses as you can at once.
• You may or may not be required to interrupt, Crush should be fine if you are needed for it, and even if you aren’t it doesn’t hurt to have it in case of emergency.
• Pretty standard opening, nothing special on this one.

Phage Maw

Build: http://www.ws-base.c…336.326.333.940

Video: http://www.twitch.tv…hh_ws/c/4023523

• One of my favorite fights as an Esper, our strengths can really be showcased in this encounter.
• Proper Tactician management will separate the good from the great Espers on this fight. Using dodge rolls before Mind Bursts to slowly work yourself towards your next position is very crucial.
• Learn the range of your telegraphs, we are able to reduce our time spent moving drastically by being able to reach bombs without moving much, and turning right back on the boss by simply spinning and not having to move.
• Along with being able to hit bombs at range, whenever there is a bomb close to the boss, make sure to line your telegraph up to hit both the bomb and the boss, or another bomb.
• At the start of the fight, you can actually start casting Telekinetic Strike before he comes down to charge up T8 and his hitbox actually reaches the ground before he does.
• On the pull, use your trinket, SS, then start casting Tkstrike. Right as he is about to hit the ground, dodge roll forward for Tactician and fire off a 5PP bird.
• Deer can be really strong when you get multiple explosions in a row, being able to put out a 4k-5k heal to 5 people is relief on the healers.
• Using your innate to for the PP gain and right before a bomb goes off can help make your healers job a little easier.

Phage Council

Build: http://www.ws-base.c…336.326.333.940

Video:

• Pretty straight forward fight for us, only major thing is bringing Fade Out to break Tether/Subdue.
• We start on the left on Noximind (dunno about sp or even if that’s the right name) and you basically sit behind him and dps.
• You’ll mostly likely need T4 Crush for one of the bosses because everytime you interrupt him he does AOE damage, so the less interrupts to remove his armor the better.
• Remember during the add phase to always be hitting more than one at a time.
• Opener will most likely be standard, will depend where your raid starts and how much running you need to do.

6.1.3 Datascape

This section will contain each boss in the 40 man raid Datascape and the most optimal build and tips for them. Only internal testing has be done on Datascape so this section will be updated as soon as possible.

6.2 PvP

Solo/Arenas 2s and 3s

As of Winter Beta 4 Psychic Frenzy has proven to be much stronger than Telekinetic Strike in solo and small group PvP. Telekinetic Strike is still useable, but will most likely always under perform when compared to Psychic Frenzy. Check the skill choices section below for options on what to fill the last spot with. In 3s, it will depend on your comp but there is a good chance Telekinetic Strike will be a better choice of Psychic Frenzy for safer damage and with an extra teammate helping to distract to give you free cast potential.

http://www.ws-base.c…346.347.340.447

Battlegrounds

Pretty straight forward build, your role is to stick in the back with the ranged healers and Spellslingers and Engineers. Incapacitate can be really strong in either battleground if you use it on an enemy close to an edge it can potentially knock their weapon off the platform down to the ground. Most of the time as long as you have some melee, any combination of stalkers, warriors and medics, you will be left alone to turret and CC in the back and there will be very minimal movement required of you. That said you can still get caught out that’s why Projected Spirit and Fade Out are included for those tight situations. Shockwave was mainly for Walitiki and knocking people off the top but with the enlarged platform in the update this is a little tougher. Check the skill choices section below for other options on what to fill the last spot with.

http://www.ws-base.c…345.346.347.447

Warplots

Warplots are a little tricky to build for because the few that have occurred have generally been who can kill the other teams generator faster. What that means is it has been more of a base race implying your PvE build that pumps out the most damage would be best. That being said, this build is designed more around actually fighting large groups of enemies and dealing with structures when necessary.

http://www.ws-base.c…396.397.974.333

Skill Choices

Geist: 15% damage reduction, helps keep healers in combat, does a little bit of damage. It would be a fine pick if we didn’t have much better options.

Soothe: C1 can be instant cast on the move, C2 and C3 can be used on the move and grant one and two PP respectively. With the nerf to the coefficient we’ll have to see if it is worth a spot, good chance it is.

Catharsis: Six second cooldown cleanse, removes two debuffs, T4 removes three, T8 removes enemey buffs. Definitely a strong choice in organized arenas depending on comps. I wouldn’t take it if you are queing up solo, you should focus more on yourself in those situations.

Meditate: With the change to the T4 it now heals you all the time and the new T4 can be activated instantly by cancelling the cast, the problem is giving up T4 Projected Spirit hurts too much so maybe once we get our last 7 tier points it could be viable. A good combination sometimes is using Meditate after you pop your Innate most likely guaranteeing a full health return, but also most likely wasted Psi Points.

Shockwave: Base pushback has been increased now so adding points in it can be a good size knockback now. Good choice if going against a lot of melee.

Spectral Swarm: It used to be incredibly strong as it had almost double the damage and dazed people on hit but since they gutted it, I feel it helps the other team more than it does you.

Haunt: Used to turn you into a sitting duck, then it became pretty strong, then they changed how resistances work and basically makes this skill pretty unattractive now. Sure you can still use it, but giving up another skill for this will most likely hurt you in the end.

Fixation: I was enjoying the on demand burst and CD reduction of Fixation before the patch, but now with so many other skill options, and other amp choices, I can’t see myself using this now.

Restraint: A solid CC pick if you find yourself against a lot of melee or need to lockdown fleeing targets. Not the best solo choice but can be strong in coordinated play.

6.2.1 1v1 Match Ups

The biggest component in a 1v1 match up aside from skill will always be gear. Espers grow in power with higher levels of gear due to B-I-N-G-O procs, and as you get more crit, you’ll notice you start casting less builders and a lot more Mind Bursts. These match ups will be judged on similar skill and gear levels with an average gear score of around 120 (ranging from 100-130) or a mix of blue and purple quality gear. I will start with our hardest match up and work my way down to our easiest match up. This is the build that was used:

http://www.ws-base.c…474.324.441.442

Stalker   Difficulty 4/5

The bane of every mage type class’s existence in PvP since the beginning of time, and it is no different in WildStar. For the most part, all Stalkers generally run a very similar build to one another and it’s all about burst and retreat. Stalkers would be much easier to fight if they weren’t able to constantly disengage, restealth, and heal up due to prep T4.

Tips:

>Use Fade Out on Stagger (Stun)
>Controlling a Stalkers opening will be the biggest deciding factor of the match. Playing with game sound can be a huge help because if a stalker uses Impale and misses, you will know he is near. When you see the stalker, immediately dodge roll backwards (away from them) and Crush, then reengage them.
>Dodge roll out of False Retreat knockdowns
>Always be holding right click and spinning your character, never give them your back for free damage
>Geist is very strong in not only the damage reduction, but can eat Impales as well. You can summon Geist and stand on top of it right before the Stalker opens up and it can stop Impales.

Medic   Difficulty 3or4/5

Medic difficulty will depend on the build they are running. If it is a burst Medic they will be a 4, if it is the sustain Medic it will be a 3. Esper sustain is just too strong in that you don’t lose any of your damage in exchange for the survivability that you gain and a Medic losing some of their damage only helps us.

Tips:

>If they do carry CC, eat the root and use Fade Out on the Stun.
>Sometimes Medics will not run with any CC. This allows you to use Fade Out as a defensive cooldown, apply the pacify when you are getting burst, but make sure you know for sure they aren’t carrying stun or root.
>Against burst Medics, watch the start of the fight, you’re looking for: trinket (red sword over their head) and Empowering Probes (you can hear them and see the animation). Do not engage until you see both of these. >Once they use them together, Crush and back away. Let them burn cooldowns trying to chase you and waste actuaters by hitting nothing. Once their buffs are about half way over reengage them by using Incapacitate and getting as close to them as you can. Always strafe back and forth and remain literally on top of them as this gives you a higher chance of dodging some Cascade/Discharge ticks. After their  first burst you’re going to have to burst them quick enough to put them on the defensive before they get Empowering Probes back up.

Warrior   Difficulty 3/5

It might be hard to believe but Warriors tend to be one of our easier match ups. Being able to brawl up close with Psychic Frenzy and deal damage at range with Mind Burst makes us a real annoyance to them. Along with this, Warriors tend to have very little sustain compared to our own, allowing us to draw out matches and continue to build PP on the run and kite with Mind Burst.

Tips:

>Use Fade Out on grapple root
>Any time a warrior pops innate, CC them and run. Don’t turn back until they lose their innate
>As soon as you hear the first whoosh of Power Strike, dodge roll out as they generally immeidately use the next charges and you’ll be out of range

Engineer   Difficulty 3/5

Another one of our easier match ups if you play it correctly. The only things that really stand out are blind and Electrocute.

Tips:

>Use Fade Out on blind
>Always stay on top of them, strafe back and forth when they Electrocute and you can dodge most of the ticks

Esper   Difficulty 3/5

The mirror match. On equal gear levels it is a pure skill match up. It might be childish, but I am going to choose not to include any tips to fight against Espers to avoid any other classes taking advantage of them.

Spellslinger   Difficulty 3/5

With the damage increase to Spellslingers they have become more of a threat if you play incorrectly. They still play basically the same style.

Tips: 

>Use Fade Out on Gate (Stun)
>Use your Innate when they root you
>Always stay on top of them as it makes it almost impossible for them to hit Quick Draw

6.3 Leveling

Your build will obviously depend on what level you are and it will essentially be the same as the PvE solo build so I recommend checking those builds and videos out first. I will list which skills and amps are best or when to pickup each ones while leveling.

Skills:

Geist: The first skill choice you will run into is Geist. Personally, I am not a fan of this skill for questing because I found that I always produced more aggro than it could and was essentially only a 15% damage reduction. That being said, some people swear by this skill and won’t do any solo PvE content without it. My advice since you get it at such an early level now, give it a try and decide for yourself. It seems the best way to use it is to summon before you pull the mobs and I believe it has a telegraph so make sure they are inside it so it will immediately go and aggro them rather than waiting for you to attack first. Try it out early since you don’t have many other skills to choose from any way and see how it performs for you.

CC: You will get four different cc abilities as you level, each having their own usefulness. The first you receive is Crush, and it has never left my bars since level three. It is your most straight forward cc and comes with a basic knockdown. The only issue with crush is you have to aim it to hit the target you want when there is more than one mob. It will target the one closest to you and can be very frustrating on pulls when there is a ranged mob you want to interrupt, but there is a melee in your face. This is where Incapacitate comes in. Another of our really strong cc’s as it is a straight line and a 30m range that subdues foes. While the subdue itself isn’t quite as strong against PvE mobs, it’s very good against enemies who are using a telegraph and you use it to interrupt them either up close or at a distance for your MOO. Another cc that is supposed to be really strong is Restraint,it is single handedly the Espers strongest leveling tool and makes your job much easier. The last of our cc’s is Shockwave. I’m not a very big fan of this one as the knockback is can basically go unnoticed, unless you invest multiple tier points into it, and even at T4 the snare is very weak. That being said, it does remove an interrupt armor and can be good against mobs that use a lot of telegraphs for more MOO chances.

Heals: There’s two heals that a dps Esper would look into. The first is Bolster and is another highly required skill that I use in every spec. It has two charges that are instant cast, off the GCD, and generate one PP each, along with providing a nice little HoT. This is huge in the health sustainability of the Esper and PP generation. The other heal to look at would be Soothe. By choosing the option in the combat menu use on button press instead of two presses, you are able to instant cast Soothe C1 while moving. I normally don’t use soothe unless I intend to be doing heavy kiting on a world boss, but if you feel like you can’t quite kill the mobs faster enough, or want to heal between pulls to lower any downtime then this is the spell for you.

Psychic Frenzy: This has been discussed in the solo PvE section and it basically comes down to preference. I prefer Telekinetic Strike but it will be up to you based on the playstyle you prefer.

Amps:

This is the most optimal amp set up but as you level you can really stick with just about anything you want and you should be fine. This involves resetting your amps through out leveling but it’s definitely not required it just makes things go quicker. I think I did the levels correct let me know if the numbers are off.

6-11: Take the crit amps in the A/S tree then take the Assault Power amps in the Assault Tree

12-18: Reset your amps and buy the True Sight amp from the PvP vendor in Illium. Put your points in the 3 Assault Power amps then True Sight. Then the next 3 in the crit amps and then the crit severity amps.

19-32: Once you get to Whitevale pick up The Power! and learn it. Next hold onto your points until you get to Farside and pick up Figment.

After 32 there is not many choices left to make. If you have gotten Follow Through or Tactician to drop they would be good choices. If not, Pick up Refund and/or Reckful from your starter areas and learn them. If you choose to learn Refund or found Tactician, you can pick up B-I-N-G-O from Wilderrun and learn that as well but I am not currently a fan of B-I-N-G-O. At this point, without obtaining dropped amps or buying them off the auction house there’s not really many other places to advance to. Some options: Max Shield Capacity, Lifesteal, Armor Pierce, and maybe Strikethrough but only if you notice a lot of deflects as you shouldn’t have too many with True Sight.

Ability Points:

Ability points are pretty straight forward when it comes to leveling. Just make sure that your main builder, Telekinetic Strike or Psychic Frenzy, and your finisher, Mind Burst or Telekinetic Storm, always has the maximum amount of points in it that you can put in. After that, you can very little from tiering up other spells so just try to put them in your damage skills.

7. Stats

For leveling: Moxie, Moxie, and….Moxie! Always choose the piece of gear that will give you the most Moxie as Assault Power is king when leveling. But also use good judgement, don’t give up 1,000 health 50 brutality and 50 Finesse for 1 Moxie and always pay attention to your milestones.

Level 50: As of right now Moxie is basically your go to stat with the nerf to B-I-N-G-O crit has become less attractive than it once was.For now with so little time left in beta, just aim for gear with the most Moxie and you will be fine. I will update with possible stat caps and priorities once I have gathered more information. Strikethrough cap for PvE bosses is 12%, but you are able to get 10% when at or above 3 Psi Points with the True Sight amp. Also, in raids classes will bring a deflect reduction buff lowering your needed Strikethrough even further so right now I’m floating around 7% for now with no misses but I’m still messing with this stat. I will most likely be dropping True Sight for other dps amps now that all the amps are working.

7.1 Runes

At level 50 when you earn a new piece of gear it will most likely contain rune slots. The different types of rune slots are: Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Life, Logic, Fusions, and Omni. You are then able to create your own runes and place them in a rune slot of the same element, while an Omni slot can hold any rune element type. Additionally, the first rune slot in your gear receives 100% of the stat, and each rune after it receives less and less of their stat. This means, if possible, you want to put your best stats in the first few slots to gain the most value out of them. Each rune element has a few different stats associated with it so naturally some elements have much better rune choices for the Esper than some others. Listed below are the rune elements with their best stats in order of most wanted to least wanted:

Fire: Moxie, Crit, (Assault Power with rune Frags)

Fusion: Assault Power

Life: Crit

Logic: Moxie, Crit

Water: Strikethrough, Finesse

Air: Moxie

Earth: Brutality

With the removal of secondary and tertiary runes, the best runes you can place in your gear is straight Assault Power in Fire and Fusion slots, along with Omni.

7.1.1 Rune Sets

Along with normal runes you are also able to obtain special rune fragments that can be used when crafting runes to make a special rune apart of a Rune Set. Theses runes have the same stats on them, but provide you with a bonus when you have a certain number of them equipped in your gear. Also, each set has three elements associated with it and you are only able to create runes of those elements for the set. Some of the best rune sets for Espers and their elements are:

Spellweaver: Fire, Life, Water

(4) Spellweaver: Increases Magic damage dealt by 1% and grants you a chance to apply an expose for 5.0s when you land a hit. Expose: Reducs Magic Resistance by 240.

(8) Spellweaver: Increases Magic damage dealt by 1.5% and grants you a chance to apply an expose for 5.0s when you land a hit. Expose: Reducs Magic Resistance by 360.

(12) Spellweaver: Increases Magic damage dealt by 2% and grants you a chance to apply an expose for 5.0s when you land a hit. Expose: Reducs Magic Resistance by 480.

Magic Fire Starter: Fire, Life, Water

(8) Spellweaver: Increases Magic damage dealt by 1.5% and grants you a chance to apply an expose for 5.0s when you land a hit. Expose: Reducs Magic Resistance by 360.

(12) Spellweaver: Increases Magic damage dealt by 2% and grants you a chance to apply an expose for 5.0s when you land a hit. Expose: Reducs Magic Resistance by 480.

(20) Fire Starter: When you Critically Hit an enemy with a direct attack you have a 50% chance to create a 6 meter field that lasts for 6 seconds dealing damage every 2 seconds to enemies standing inside of it. This can only occur every 20 seconds.

Assassin: Fire, Logic, Life

(4) Assassin: Increases Assault Power by 8 and grants a 25% chance to deal an additional 20 physical damage when landing a hit on a foe below 30% health.

(8) Assassin: Increases Assault Power by 16 and grants a 25% chance to deal an additional 30 physical damage when landing a hit on a foe below 30% health..

(12) Assassin: Increases Assault Power by 32 and grants a 25% chance to deal an additional 40 physical damage when landing a hit on a foe below 30% health.

Shadow Blast: Fusion, Fire, Air

(8) Assassin: Increases Assault Power by 16 and grants a 25% chance to deal an additional 30 physical damage when landing a hit on a foe below 30% health.

(12) Assassin: Increases Assault Power by 32 and grants a 25% chance to deal an additional 40 physical damage when landing a hit on a foe below 30% health.

(20) Shadow Blast: When you Critically Hit an Enemy with a direct attack you have a 5% chance to deal 1616 bonus damage to that enemy and the 3 closest enemies within 6 meters.

Synapse: Water, Life, Earth

(6) Synapse: If you generate all 5 Psi Points within 4.0s your next ability will gain an additional 50% chance to Critically Hit.

(11) Synapse: If you generate all 5 Psi Points within 4.0s your next ability will gain an additional 75% chance to Critically Hit.

(15) Synapse: If you generate all 5 Psi Points within 4.0s your next ability will gain an additional 100% chance to Critically Hit.

With the recent nerf and changes to rune set, the best combination right now is simply 12/12 Spellweaver and 12/12 Assassin. If you don’t have enough rune slots for both then choose to fill out Spellweaver first.

8. Raid Consumables

The three main raid consumables are: Food, Boosts, and Field Tech. The main stats you want from your Food and Boosts will be Moxie and Crit. I will update this list as I find the specific names and locations of each buff.

Food: 

Magician’s Meal – 34 Moxie, Malgrave

Boosts: 

Moxie Boost – 35 Moxie, Technologists

Field Tech: 

Bioreactive Acid Membrane – Gives your abilities a chance to cleave, Technologists 3 minute duration

zerkOut Neurochems – Increases crit chance, Technologists (Currently behaving as a boost and has a 10 minute duration)

9. BIS Gear List

In this section, I will attempt to keep a list of some of the best in slot gear for the Esper and which boss encounters or reward vendors they can be found on.

10. Advanced

So you think you are a pretty good Esper huh? Well then, take a look at some of the more advanced techniques and see if you can master them!

10.1 Ability Queing

*Disclaimer* You must not be using hold to continue casting for this to work. You have to use ability queing. You also need a good ping/ms to perform this first one as well.

The issue before: Say you were at 4 PP and you start casting TkStrike. You want to use a 5 PP MB so you start tapping MB but instead of letting TkStrike finish casting, it interrupts your cast causing no damage or Psi Point and will only cast a 4 PP MB.

The fix: This is sort of no longer the issue. Now say you are in the same situation, you are at 4 PP, start casting your last TkStrike and begin tapping MB before it finishes. Now, you will cast MB at 4PP just like the last situation, but if you tap it fast enough, you will cast MB then TkStrike will hit after your MB. Why is this is a good thing you ask?

Situation 1: You are going through your rotation, you get to 4 PP and start casting another TkStrike. During the cast you forget that you had a CB that was about to hit and it generates its PP to take you to 5 before you finish casting TkStrike. Instead of losing out on TkStrike, you start tapping MB quickly at the end which allows you to cast a 5 PP MB AND finish casting TkStrike giving you the damage plus the Psi Point.

Situation 2: Basically exactly the same except you are at 3 PP and you are casting a TkStrike, right before it finishes casting, you start queing up another TkStrike. But, BINGO procs taking you from 3 to 5 PP while you are already casting another TkStrike. Once again, instead of stopping the TkStrike cast, you spam MB allowing it to cast before the TkStrike, and the TkStrike will cast after giving you the damage and PP.

Situation 3: When you pop your innate, and you are at 4 PP and you begin to cast TkStrike but your innate takes you to 5 PP before you finish casting TkStrike. You start spamming MB and you cast a 5 PP MB but your TkStrike still does its damage and grants you 1 PP.

What this does is allows us to not lose PP from unexpected PP generation and gets us to 5 PP finishers sooner. If anyone needs more clarification on this feel free to ask. I will work on getting a video up of how to do this correctly.

10.2 Dodge Weaving

We are able to dodge roll inside the GCD of MB before the damage of MB actually hits. This is in reference to the Tactician amp that gives us a 4% magic damage buff after a dodge roll. So, with good micro and a fair bit of extra work put in, you can weave dodge rolls in to the rotation to buff MB. Obviously you wouldn’t be doing this every fight because some fights you need to either not move or need to save your dodge rolls, but in a situation where neither of those are an issue, this looks like it would be a dps increase.

11. Addons

Here you will find any addons specific to the Esper that can prove to be very helpful or make it easier to keep track of things.

Aura Mastery – My favorite addon so far for tracking buffs/debuffs. Only problem is I can’t track T8 Tkstrike/Frenzy Psi Charge stacks and that’s really the only thing I need to keep track of.

GJ Moveable Frames – Allows the ability to track your Innate and Trinket