Table of Contents
- Terminology
- General Gameplay
- Positioning, Trash and You
- Stats
- Runes
- LAS: The Skills to Kill
- Slinging Your Way to Silver: Slinger Tips to Silver Dungeons
Terminology
MoO = moment of opportunity
IA = interrupt armor
SS= Spell Surge
QD = Quick Draw
CC = Crowd Control
General Game play
Wild Star introduces a new and exciting type of combat and with telegraphs. However even though it’s easy to see where the hurt is about to come from it can be overwhelming trying to pewpew and avoid the red, so here’s some general tips for staying alive and maximizing your DPS.
- Mouse Turning and Strafing
- Keybindings
for you so experiment in your keybinds and practice them until you don’t have to watch your hands when you play.
- Addons
- Interrupts
Triggering MoO on trash has a significant impact on your run’s time and can be the difference between silvering the run or landing a bronze. I normally run with two interrupts through most encounters.
- Communication
Positioning, Trash and You
As a spellslinger you have in your toolkit some of the longest ranged telegraphs which is great…in solo content. However in most encounters there is no reason for you to be halfway across the room. You can handle your entire rotation while sticking with the group, mainly within the healer’s range. The one thing you will have to be aware of is the multi-target “piercing” effect that most of our abilities have. You do not want to pull another group accidentally by using your long range telegraphs in melee range.
Here are some skillfully sketched imitations of positioning that I like to use in most trash encounters.
Red angry circle = mob
Purple shield = tank
Star = you!
Position 1 – On either side of the mob
This is my favorite position largely because most pulls are not single target and this allows for me to line up my telegraphs with the entire group. Just keep an eye out for any trash pulls that might be near or across from you because pulling them would be bad. This is also very useful because it makes a safer and more efficient gate (if it’s a multi-mob pull).
Position 2 – Behind the mob
Every time I attempt to use this position I usually end up body pulling a patrol and wreaking havoc on my group. However if you’re smarter than me and actually look out for stuff like that I’d highly recommend this because it keeps you within the healer’s range and you don’t have to worry about sniping another pack with your long telegraphs.
Position 3 – Behind the tank
This is the safest position if the mob doesn’t have a frontal cleave. Correct me if I’m wrong but I am not aware of any negative effects from attacking from the front. Just be knowledgeable of your healer’s position as you’ll want to be in front of the healer at all times. Also be wary of sniping any other mobs with your long telegraphs, if need be ask your healer to step back a little bit.
As I stated earlier these are for trash mobs only. Every boss encounter is different and you will have to position yourself accordingly if requested I will include a section devoted to positioning during boss encounters.
Stats
According to wildstar.gamepedia.com…
As a spellslinger DPS your main stat will be Finesse and your secondary stats are Brutality for strikethrough and Moxie for crit. However if you have the chance to take flat assault power over finesse you should always take it.
From what research I’ve done, dungeons require at least 6-8% strikethrough. Note that strikethrough is not like hit in World of Warcraft, it doesn’t not guarantee all of your abilities will hit. At 6-8% your abilities will hit enough that you get more damage from putting stats into crit.
Knowing that finesse is your main stat your food buff and boost should grant you that stat. However since they both fall off upon death it’s not a huge thing to worry over unless it helps you reach a milestone.
Runes
A lot of people are hesitant to rune their gear because they expect to replace most of it quickly. However this is not the case and, according to some individuals who are experiencing raiding content already, a vast number of blues that can be obtained via crafting, dungeons and adventures are significantly better than the epics that drop in raids. Placing runes in your gear has a huge impact on your DPS and I highly recommend it, especially for dungeons!
The following is a spreadsheet I made to help me decide whether or not an item is an upgrade by seeing what useful stats I can get from each rune. You may notice that while I have mentioned Elder Runes in the Key, they are not listed under any element, this is because most of them take too much buck for only a little bang.
LAS: The Skills to Kill
I firmly believe that the best build for a slinger is whichever you're the most comfortable with. However I still haven't taken the time to test the popular builds so this section remains blank.
Slinging Your Way to Silver: Slinger Tips to Silver Veteran Dungeons
In this section I’m hoping to compile all the little tricks that spellslingers can utilize on each boss fight. If there’s something you know that isn’t here, feel free to share!
Stormtalon’s Lair
Blade-Wind the Invoker
Phase II:
- Don’t bother grabbing your weapon upon phase change; you’ll get it back before the lightning spell triggers.
- Slingers using the ignite build can QD > Ignite > SS Ignite on the Channeler to apply the ignite debuffs before the Channeler can take damage. The Ignites will expire just when the first lightning spell hits the Channeler: instant damage. Note: Works well on the first Channeler, requires your party isn’t bad for the others!
- This one is kind of hard to put into words…Basically the orbs are the main thing you have to look out for from this point in the fight. The last orb that will spawn is the one that rotates through where the channelers are standing. If you hug the Channelers as you kill them you will not be struck by the floating balls of annoyance.
Phase III:
- Keep your distance! 25m away from Blade-Wind (Quick Draw’s range) is about the same range as the safe-spot spawns in his telegraph.
- Watch the orbs! At the 25m range there are only two orbs you have to keep an eye out for. If you have the timing right you should only have to step forward and then step backwards to dodge them.
Aethros
Gauntlet event:- Void slip removes you from the plane of existence which houses those evil tornadoes!
Phase I:
- When he starts to run to the center of the room to knock you back, run in and give him a high-five. The closer you are to Stormtalon when he casts that, the less distance you will be knocked back.
- After you are knocked back you can break the CC with Void Slip
- If you’re not comfortable avoiding the lightning after the knock back you can use Gate to teleport over them and get close enough to Stormtalon. By this time your group mates will have already made it back and you can stun him. Remember, the lightning spawns between you and Stormtalon, if you don’t move it can’t hit you!
Ruins of Kel Voreth
Grond the Corpsemaker:
Phase I:
- Stand near the little piggy’s front. When he Thrashes it will always be interrupted before it reaches you
- Stay one QD’s distance away from him (25m). When he knocks everyone’s weapons away to transition to flea phase you will not be hit.
- Show your party members how much you trust them to handle mechanics! Void Slip upon flea spawn to drop all aggro and have them chase someone else.
- Void Slip does NOT drop threat on this encounter
- Slingers have access to a stun (Gate), root (Flash Freeze) and a slow (Chill) that makes them really useful during this phase
- If you are being chased and are getting corned, you can Gate through the robots. Be sure to warn your party if you’re going to do this, however, because it will cause the robots to explode and they will have to get out of the way too.
- When he is about to spawn the ring, backpedal. As it is coming towards you step close enough to the ring without touching it. When it moves back towards you simply step forward. No sprinting, rolling or gating necessary!
- At the beginning of the fight, Slingers can step up to the telegraphs and shoot the crap out of him while he continues to bang on the forge.
Thunderfoot:
- At the start of any telegraph quickly perform a double jump. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the air during the spell cast or not; if you double jump at any point during the cast you will not receive damage.
- Stand away from the mushrooms just in case he decides to jump on you. Let the tank manage when to trigger the MoO.
- You can hit the moodies as you’re running up to them, before your shield even fades.
- Void Slip takes you to another plane of existence that is much cooler, with less flamey telegraphs of burning death.
- If you squeezed yourself into a nasty place you can Gate over the telegraphs. Just make sure you don’t go falling off into the lava!
- As a mobile ranged dps you can call out most of the mechanics as they happen.
- Help your party members out by shooting the crap out of his little Squirg-babies
- Void Slip removes the blinding effect of his Noxious Ink
If you have any feedback, be it suggestions, responses or just telling me to take this piece of crap down let me know!
Thanks for Reading!
* 8/27/2014: Added a new, upgraded imagine of Runes and which element they are tied to while updating the text in the Rune section to match. Cleaned up the overall appearance of the guide by adding and removing existing formatting.
** 8/27/2014: I centered some pictures. I did not like this.
*** 8/27/2014: This editing window is mocking my existence.