Post by Shapey on Oct 23, 2022 23:15:05 GMT -5
Have you ever wondered if you can make a Support without a drop of Presence? Me neither. However, in light of the recent update to Force, there's merit in checking out the possibility, and today I'm doing just that. Force's update put heavy focus on knocks for DPS and barriers for Support, but the unexpected part came from Endurance getting a support form, as well as a force field power scaling with it. So to the above question; yes, you can.
This build is not designed for leveling.
Super Stats
○ Endurance (Primary)
○ Dexterity
○ Constitution or Presence
Yes, I am including the option to take Presence, if you want.
Talents
○ The Chiller (+10 End/Con/Dex, +8 Rec)
○ +8 Endurance
○ +8 Constitution
○ +8 Dexterity
○ +5/5 End/Con
○ +5/5 End/Dex
○ +5/5 Dex/Con
Replace all Con options with Pre if taken
Powers
Energy Builder: Force Bolts
Power 2: Force Eruption (Field Expulsion)
Power 3: Shield Restoration (Rank 2)
Power 4: Vital Shielding
Power 5: Inertial Dampening Field (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 6: Protection Field (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 7: Power Barrier
Power 8: Warmth (Rank 2, Rank 3) or Psionic Healing (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 9: Vala's Light (Rank 2, Rank 3) or Bionic Shielding (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 10: Force Shield (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 11: Singularity Bomb
Power 12: Resurrection Serum (Rank 2, Rank 3) or AoE Revive of your choice (Rank 2, AoE Adv)
Power 13: Redirect Force (Rank 2, Rank 3, Hold the Line)
Power 14: Thundering Return
Specializations
Endurance
○ Readiness (2/3)
○ Gear Utilization (3/3)
○ Hardened (2/2)
○ Outburst (3/3)
Sentinel
○ Caregiver (2/3)
○ Sentinel Aura (3/3)
○ Genesis (2/2)
○ Moment of Need (3/3)
Sentry
○ Fortified Gear (3/3)
○ Precise (3/3)
○ Sentry Aura (2/3)
○ Reinforce (2/2)
Endurance Mastery
Travel Powers
Player's choice. Force usually pairs well with Distortion. Rank to 3, as usual
Gear
Starting:
○ Healing Primary Offense (Fort/Merc/Qliph/Nem, Tempered Handguards) with Endurance mod(s) and a Sentinel's Brooch
○ Defense Rate Primary Defense (Fort/Merc/Qliph/Nem/Viko, Blocking Duster) with Endurance mod(s) and an Impact Prism
○ Efficiency or Utility Primary Utility (Fort/Merc/Qliph/Nem) with Endurance mods and a Gambler's Lucky Gem or Vital Spirit
○ Artist's Belt (+20 Dex/14% Bonus Heal) and Acrobatic Bracers/Eyepiece (+20 Dex/Con)
Ending:
○ Virtuous Healing Gauntlets with Endurance mods and Sentinel Brooches
○ Virtuous Fitness Armor with Endurance mods and Impact Prisms
○ Virtuous Efficency Helm with Endurance mods with a Veteran's Core of Might and Gambler's Lucky Gem (Or anything of your choosing, there isn't much to do with the cores here)
○ Rejuvinating Determination Belt or Onslaught Savior Gloves with End/Dex mod or Cosmic Fang of Wrath with Healing Core (Use Dex/End mod on primary gear in this case)
○ Onslaught Fitness Tights with End/Dex mod
○ Onslaught Efficiency Helm with End/Dex mod
Gameplan
This build takes some setup, as you can only gain stacks so quickly. The goal will be to use Protection Field as much as possible in conjunction with your opted heal. Inertial Dampening Field will buff the shield strength up to 5 times, and the buff is 12 seconds long, so the idea is to use a Protection Field after every charge or maintain. Use a field on yourself and tap Force Eruption to apply a shield to close-by allies. Use Shield Restoration off cooldown on any strong targets that people may linger around, and use the aforementioned AoE shielding technique to make the most of the rune. If you took Vala's Light, target people in groups. If you took Bionic Shielding, it isn't a bad idea to keybind Target Ally and repeatedly tap it while tapping Bionic when AoE damage is going out. Psionic Healing is a long charge, but it can still do considerable healing for shorter charges, and it has no travel time. Tapping heavily diminishes it's power, so hold on for at least a second. When heavy AoE damage is set to go out, you can hold Redirect Force to mitigate a great amount of it, with Hold the Line preventing block-or-die mechanics to not apply to you for the maintain. You can use Singularity Bomb to help gather mobs for your team or apply Power Shield for more energy gain. If using a revive other than Resurrection Serum, you can apply a shield to yourself to prevent it from being interrupted.
Other notes
Once again, this is a build that has essentially no damage; however, this is one that can be swapped a bit to fit some in, though I'd recommend only 1 power point be devoted to such. Singularity Bomb is the most likely candidate to be replaced, and Shield Restoration can be unranked for damage rank. The healing in this build depends on how far you're willing to bend thematics, as personally I usually excuse Vala's Light from magic-relation, but you should have a heal in this build. Bionic by itself is a iffy. Endurance stacking will take care of most HP needs you have thanks to Hardened, but Con is good to have in conjunction.
The concept of bubble support is cool, but lacking a dedicated heal can make it difficult to stay within the frame. Still, this build is good support and bubbles can be a decent source of mitigation, especially in Alert content. This is also the first build that doesn't have Distinguished listed as Ending gear, wow! It's also the first to have Savior gloves listed, and while it does definitely have the energy gains to make it work, this build isn't an ideal battery support. If you feel like venturing outside the Presence mold, give Force a look over.
As before and always, thank you for reading.
This build is not designed for leveling.
Super Stats
○ Endurance (Primary)
○ Dexterity
○ Constitution or Presence
Yes, I am including the option to take Presence, if you want.
Talents
○ The Chiller (+10 End/Con/Dex, +8 Rec)
○ +8 Endurance
○ +8 Constitution
○ +8 Dexterity
○ +5/5 End/Con
○ +5/5 End/Dex
○ +5/5 Dex/Con
Replace all Con options with Pre if taken
Powers
Energy Builder: Force Bolts
Power 2: Force Eruption (Field Expulsion)
Power 3: Shield Restoration (Rank 2)
Power 4: Vital Shielding
Power 5: Inertial Dampening Field (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 6: Protection Field (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 7: Power Barrier
Power 8: Warmth (Rank 2, Rank 3) or Psionic Healing (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 9: Vala's Light (Rank 2, Rank 3) or Bionic Shielding (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 10: Force Shield (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 11: Singularity Bomb
Power 12: Resurrection Serum (Rank 2, Rank 3) or AoE Revive of your choice (Rank 2, AoE Adv)
Power 13: Redirect Force (Rank 2, Rank 3, Hold the Line)
Power 14: Thundering Return
Specializations
Endurance
○ Readiness (2/3)
○ Gear Utilization (3/3)
○ Hardened (2/2)
○ Outburst (3/3)
Sentinel
○ Caregiver (2/3)
○ Sentinel Aura (3/3)
○ Genesis (2/2)
○ Moment of Need (3/3)
Sentry
○ Fortified Gear (3/3)
○ Precise (3/3)
○ Sentry Aura (2/3)
○ Reinforce (2/2)
Endurance Mastery
Travel Powers
Player's choice. Force usually pairs well with Distortion. Rank to 3, as usual
Gear
Starting:
○ Healing Primary Offense (Fort/Merc/Qliph/Nem, Tempered Handguards) with Endurance mod(s) and a Sentinel's Brooch
○ Defense Rate Primary Defense (Fort/Merc/Qliph/Nem/Viko, Blocking Duster) with Endurance mod(s) and an Impact Prism
○ Efficiency or Utility Primary Utility (Fort/Merc/Qliph/Nem) with Endurance mods and a Gambler's Lucky Gem or Vital Spirit
○ Artist's Belt (+20 Dex/14% Bonus Heal) and Acrobatic Bracers/Eyepiece (+20 Dex/Con)
Ending:
○ Virtuous Healing Gauntlets with Endurance mods and Sentinel Brooches
○ Virtuous Fitness Armor with Endurance mods and Impact Prisms
○ Virtuous Efficency Helm with Endurance mods with a Veteran's Core of Might and Gambler's Lucky Gem (Or anything of your choosing, there isn't much to do with the cores here)
○ Rejuvinating Determination Belt or Onslaught Savior Gloves with End/Dex mod or Cosmic Fang of Wrath with Healing Core (Use Dex/End mod on primary gear in this case)
○ Onslaught Fitness Tights with End/Dex mod
○ Onslaught Efficiency Helm with End/Dex mod
Gameplan
This build takes some setup, as you can only gain stacks so quickly. The goal will be to use Protection Field as much as possible in conjunction with your opted heal. Inertial Dampening Field will buff the shield strength up to 5 times, and the buff is 12 seconds long, so the idea is to use a Protection Field after every charge or maintain. Use a field on yourself and tap Force Eruption to apply a shield to close-by allies. Use Shield Restoration off cooldown on any strong targets that people may linger around, and use the aforementioned AoE shielding technique to make the most of the rune. If you took Vala's Light, target people in groups. If you took Bionic Shielding, it isn't a bad idea to keybind Target Ally and repeatedly tap it while tapping Bionic when AoE damage is going out. Psionic Healing is a long charge, but it can still do considerable healing for shorter charges, and it has no travel time. Tapping heavily diminishes it's power, so hold on for at least a second. When heavy AoE damage is set to go out, you can hold Redirect Force to mitigate a great amount of it, with Hold the Line preventing block-or-die mechanics to not apply to you for the maintain. You can use Singularity Bomb to help gather mobs for your team or apply Power Shield for more energy gain. If using a revive other than Resurrection Serum, you can apply a shield to yourself to prevent it from being interrupted.
Other notes
Once again, this is a build that has essentially no damage; however, this is one that can be swapped a bit to fit some in, though I'd recommend only 1 power point be devoted to such. Singularity Bomb is the most likely candidate to be replaced, and Shield Restoration can be unranked for damage rank. The healing in this build depends on how far you're willing to bend thematics, as personally I usually excuse Vala's Light from magic-relation, but you should have a heal in this build. Bionic by itself is a iffy. Endurance stacking will take care of most HP needs you have thanks to Hardened, but Con is good to have in conjunction.
The concept of bubble support is cool, but lacking a dedicated heal can make it difficult to stay within the frame. Still, this build is good support and bubbles can be a decent source of mitigation, especially in Alert content. This is also the first build that doesn't have Distinguished listed as Ending gear, wow! It's also the first to have Savior gloves listed, and while it does definitely have the energy gains to make it work, this build isn't an ideal battery support. If you feel like venturing outside the Presence mold, give Force a look over.
As before and always, thank you for reading.