Need advice on HL DPS WM Build/Loadout/Rotation

I've been experimenting with my HL DPS for sometime.

Before I ask my questions here's some info about my Loadout/Rotation and Build:

Weapon: Brawling

Previous Stem007 inspired Loadout & Rotation:

Snap Trap, Robot Sidekick, Chompers, Fan, Shield/Barrier, SC

I have mostly used the Stem007 inspired combo rotation i.e. WM > Snap Trap - Tap Range (Fan) or Chompers > WM > repeat


Current Loadout and Rotation (pretty much followed Mark_ofthebeast):
Chompers, Inspiration, Fan, HL Shield, Barrier, SC

Rotation: WM > Chompers / Inspiration > WM > Fan > WM > repeat

Some times I also clip HL shield (40% damage modifier) into the mix from Power Fan when the other powers are recharging.

Build:
I have approximately 103 skill points meaning and aside from using only one SP in the movement tree, I've maxed out four weapons tree to get the precs/might.

I have three questions:
1. Is Brawling a good DPS weapon or should I revert to Shield/HB?
2. (MOST IMPORTANT) Should I just max out the weapon trees I need for the WM combos (i.e. Brawling & MA) and get all the weapons crit from the rest? Or maxing out the weapons trees for Precs and Might more important?
3. Is the current rotation fine or should I revert to Stem007 inspired rotation? I like the idea of bringing inspiration into the mix but that costs me Snap Trap for taking too many power points.



PLEASE NO HL IS BROKEN COMMENTS. I only seek advice from the HL pros who've learned to adapt to the changes. Thanks!

1) No, use 1H,DW or HB because easymode.
2) ~100 sp = get all 3 point crit innates/tree then get the 3 WM trees for your chosen weapon. 1 point in movement.
3) Chompers is all you realistically need, the rest is playthings

So
1. I don't quite understand your rationale...what do you mean by easy mode? Do you mean it's easier to pull off a WM combo (coz nothing's easier than Brawling's Tap, Hold)? Or are you saying the damage is better?

2. Wow thanks...that's the thing bugging me the most. I only need two WM trees since I only use range WM.

3. Cool.
So if I use more than one 50%/45% modifier it stacks right? Also one last question, can I use Inspiration with Neo Venom Boost? Or do they cancel each other?

Thanks a lot for your time mate, really appreciate the input.

I'm a Brawling HL Troll and DPS, I love it and do really well with it.

People in raids are like, "Dude, you can't Brawl and Troll" I call BS on that!

I've always tried to do what folks think can't be done, just too prove a point!

I mostly Troll but do really decent numbers and compete with most DPS easily, but, don't do it often so I'd have to get back to ya with my loadout later today!


IA ARMY

Personally I too think brawling goes well with trolls. They are really fast and capable of spamming power dumps at times of most importance. There may be a slight problem with it though....I think it's attacks do not regenerate enough power but I may be wrong (especially since I haven't been giving priority to the crit innates all this time).

I am a little concerned about brawling with dps though....I haven't seen any beast dps use the weapon.

1) For those 3 weapons mentioned the button combos are just very easy for the damage return you get. This allows to focus on other things while still performing s ocalled "top dps".

2) I hear from a lot of people that skip crits in favor of the might/prec at the bottom of WM trees. This is very inefficient unless you have very very bad gear (T1 and below).

3) Damage modifiers dont stack, its always just the last one you used in effect. Dont worry too much about loadouts and rotation talk. Its really mostly bs. Focus on your WM combos and a single burst power, if you have that down the rest can be totally figured out by yourself.

To OP
1.If you want better damage then go easy mode, after all its in the game and people use it so why dont you. if you dont then i dont quite know why you are making this thread, i mean if you already have a set rotation why bother asking for tips?

2.id recommend getting all the crit inates and most of the 4% damage inates, but i suppose you can max out the inates except for maybe 1 tree for each saving you about ~15 sp that you can use to get the pec/might inates (i tried maxing all crits about 3 trees for prec/might inates and no 4% dmg and my dmg was poopy)

3.Spamming WM >chompers is fine, but I personally like using Chompers/inspiration >WM >Chompers > repeat on mobs basically having inspiration up until the mob is cleared, and Chompers/inspiration >WM >snap trap (or Grasping hand) >repeat on bosses just so i can get some PI damage in there

I'm trying to understand why they call it easy mode especially when Brawling Tap>Hold is the easiest WM to pull off. If I just listen to others' advice without understanding it myself then will I not become a drone just doing what others tell me to do?

2. You're right. I couldn't max out one of the crit damage/chance trees. Had about three sp which I used to max out high end prec/might innate. Excited to try out the new build!

3. Thanks. I guess I'll try fan instead of snap trap or grasping hand for boss battles for a few days (since I just respeced). If that doesn't work out I'll got to snap trap (which is faster I think). I'll continue doing the chompers/inspirateion > WM > chompers > repeat for adds.

Thanks for the input mate.

I won't add to the others as we agree generally on the rotation, I will say always have Chompers and Inspiration, that's PI and 400 precision for 12 secs, plus whatever modifier you get from attacks like ST and WM itself. I personally use WM-Chompers-clip-Inspiration-WM-ST-Fan-WM, on mobs you can just go WM or same rotation but don't use fan at the risk or drawing adds to close. Weapons could either be HB for a ranged only build or DW for a melee plus range, you mentioned Brawling which is good but mostly for a melee only build, it's good for trolls though but as a fast recharge, but as dps it needs to be a melee rotation for it to have the full effect.

Oh yeah....you just pointed out a big flaw with Fan....pulling adds! I might just replace it with Snap Trap. Thanks!



OFFTOPIC BUT SLIGHTLY RELEVANT:
Should I prioritise crit innates for Troll too? Or Vita is the most important thing to max out in the trees? Most people keep asking about vit.

get all the crit damage/chance innates first. You're not even a proper DPS if you don't get all the crits.

I understand that now and what about trolling? Get the crits first then vit? I lose about 300 power and 96 vit if I do that.

same with healing and trolling, you're not a proper troll/heal yet if you don't have all the crits.

I'm currently trying out this loadout and I have been at the top of the board even doh I still have 3 pcs of 91 on
Robot sidekick
Chompers clip with inspiration OH WM clip with grasping hands clip with neo venom... repeat.... with grasping hands you can use the pull into fan clip with chompers, when low on power or for the extra prec ticks..1st get the crits from tree...

Brawling to MA has low Damage per second, lowest of any WM combo I think, and because it's so fast it doesn't buff the power much. You can keep using brawling if you want, but it's not very popular for dps.

You can get some numbers here:
https://forums.station.sony.com/dcu...eapons-in-dcuo-weapon-mastery-edition.210326/

Yeah I'm keepin a pair of floating Power Points in my new build. I'll either use it for Neo Venom boost, HL Shield or Robot when appropriate.

Yes I'm thinking about going back to Shield which did MASSIVE damage...however I've read in that post Shield doesn't give crit bonus to might based attack and only to prec based attack.
I don't like the idea of playing all of my chars with the same weapon. I'll either go shield or 1H.

Thanks for your input.

I have used brawling, 1 handed and Hand Blast for DPS and Trolling, both. The damage produced by Brawling WM combo is at the bottom of all weapon masteries. Hand Blasters and 1 handed are most optimal when it comes to WM damage output and produce the best possible damage output in comparison to other weapons.

Dual wield with bow weapon mastery for range.

Chompers/inspiration>wm>snaptrap >fan clipped to fan from loadout
With robot sidekick ofc

Are you talking about range damage output of 1H WM? I've been using HB for the other char so I'll either use Shield or 1H for my HL char.

I am talking about the overall usefulness of each of the weapon types listed by me. Also, the range output for 1H WM is slightly behind HB. I suppose shield is better than 1H WM as far as range combos are concerned.
The choice to use one weapon or another is always personal but the best weapon for DPS will continue to be HB unless some other WM is buffed. If you like to chase scoreboards, HB would be better and if not, feel free to use whatever you like.