A Mental Breakdown V3

I am conflicted.
The AM pretty much allows me to keep using powers without the need for a troll which I REALLY REALLY LOVE. No more weapons and I get virtually unlimited power.

The AM damage isn't that good, but it isn't terrible either. It's middle tier I think, but that's probably because of the unlimited power usage. The WM is better, which makes sense since WM loadouts are power wh0res usually.

Also for trolling, we finally got our old Mass Terror without the Panic. It came in the form of an AOE Pyrokinesis, it is now become mental's best CC move. Some may like to use Mass Lev and that's great too, both are awesome. I like Pyro more though.

Should the AM be better than the WM though? I know for Ice / Celestial / Gadgets that's the case, but I don't think they got the unlimited power back like we do.

The AM in theory sounds cool. But ours was just executed poorly.

I think the AM is lower to middle tier of AMs, which isn't anything special because most AMs are brutal in comparison to their WM counterparts. Sorcery, Earth, Fire, HL, Nature, and Rage in particular, all have poor or middling AMs for one reason or another. The WM DPS on all of those besides maybe HL (in some content) handily outperforms the AM. Electricity, Gadgets and Ice all have pretty good AMs that compete or in some cases out perform weapon mastery.

My biggest issue is I still have to use WM to compete. In the hands of even the best DPS, I don't know how you could squeeze out much more DPS from the AM then what people are doing and that's an issue because the damage isn't very good on it to begin with. Combine that with the fact that it's both extremely limiting and boring and you have a very sub-par and underwhelming AM. Hell, in order to maximize AM DPS, you HAVE to use Mass Terror which forces you to be in Melee range. You can't tell me that using ML in any AM rotation will net you even close to the DPS that MT does.

Controlling we made out like bandits. The Distortion Wave-like effect that Mass Levitation should have had years ago is finally here and Pyro is a non-panicing Mass Terror. The DPS side though? Meh. Same as before. WM got an extremely miniscule buff and the AM is like gadgets ****** cousin. I can see what they wanted to do with it, but it just didn't happen. I wish that Spord had been in charge of our AM, he's far and away the best at power revamps/AMs (electric and gadgets are his babies)

But the damage benefit shouldn't come from the power you are using, it should come from the risk you are taking. Maybe I'm wrong to think like this, but thats my opinion. So when you weight both things: AM with virtually no power cost and so-so damage and high risk Versus WM with high power consumption (which isnt that big of a deal anyways since all trolls can keep you powered up) no risk and higher damage, its kind of a no brainer if you ask me, but to each its own.

Yup. In order to maximize damage on the AM you have to have much more go right for you. You can't be knocked out of your rotation or you lose the finisher and you MUST be in melee range for Mass Terror because Mass Levitation doesn't hit nearly as hard. In Love and War, for example, you just can't use it if you want Max DPS.

WM on the other hand? I can sit comfortably back and the only issue I'll have is hitting my window.

Yup. It's infuriating to have to continue to use WM if I want to be competitive.

I'm using the AM just for something different in all content that isn't L&W. Duels are fun. Charging up resonance then the second you see that 1 tick away you just pop MT and watch the 20k crit roll off.

Where did Mental get buffed with WM? IMO it's worse as well. Is it from cryokinesis? Having the PI applicator and AOE dot separated is the main reason why I think that even WM was nerfed. Enlighten me please, I see some of you fellow mental keep brining up how we got a little better with WM, but I don't see it.

Because MT didn't work with WM. It was a move you had to cast separate from WM and couldn't get a crit on. Now Pyro (in essence, old MT) does work with WM. Additionally, there is no more PF overriding the burning DOT (miniscule, but over the course of a raid it adds up) and Cryo is on par or slighly better than PF and shock

The difference in damage isn't all that big, but its there. The Dazing side has always hit harder, the issue was that we couldn't reliably set up the PI before.

Exactly this. I'm using the AM for solos, duos and even alert runs. In raids below T6, everything dies before you hit your second or third power, and in raids upwards of Necro, you're more of a liability than you are a DPS. Forget L&W, smh. I used the new (and only) WM loadout in L&W and it hits like a truck now. Well..comparatively lol.

If you stop the AM damage, which relies on casting the powers in succession and starting over, to do Pyro again, aren't you losing damage in the long run? I understand the initial cast of it, but I mean the every other rotation thing. By the time Pyro is cast, I could have been about to cast my 3rd amplifier and getting to the big hit of MT faster. Or is it that the DOT overtakes the speed over time? If so, that would be awesome for bosses.

All I've got to say is...

I quit trolling over a year ago.
Now, I'm trolling again because my DPS took such a hit from this update
And I refuse to buy a power respec token
That's like paying the developers specifically for ruining my power...

Clip Pyro with PsyRes, takes about a second to cast it, for additional damage you can use a dazing device consumable or any consumable for that matter.

Hey Greenman, just checking in since everybody's had time to play with the GU43 changes, is this still holding true after testing as far as the WM loadout goes? What kind of rotation would you be looking at using Hand Blast (Solar-Explosive) combo

Yea, its still the case. I'm running Mass Lev - Thought bubble - Pyro - Menace - Cryo - Mass Hysteria (IT SUCKS AND I FREAKING HATE IT BUT NOTHING ELSE FITS THERE IF I WANT THE 2 ICONICS)

My video with DW will be up shortly, but with HB I'd probably go: WM > Mass Lev > WM > Pyro clipped with Menace > WM > Cryo 2x and repeat. With DW, I'm restarting my ML after my 3rd cryo hit before the dazing effects wear off, so I figure with HB you're probably right next to that window.

On bosses, just swap a cryo with thought bubble.

I've been doing the same loadout, including DD, but with Menace. Think I'll try what you're saying. So it would start with Pyro after WM? Then pyro again after the second MT? No WM in between I'm assuming. Also, as far as I see, the DOT finishes after the 3rd MT, so casting it after the second overwrites right? Just trying to skip that second where it's off before recasting?

Greenman, are the descriptions of the Mental powers completely up to date on the first page? Also, is there a way to show the cooldown times, average damage, number of people hit, and number of people affected by control affects to go along with the cost of each power? Thanks,

No WM at all, no weapon attacks at all. Just do normal AM and use Pyro every other rotation. Thats the best I could get out of the AM, but in no way it means its the absolute best. Maybe someone else can come up with something better ...

Yeah Pyro last a bit longer but you'll be overiting only the small burning dot that PF is already overiting anyways.

Can you guys confirm something for me? I'm doing a bit of testing on a sparring target and it appears pyro is only getting the 3rd DOT when the enemy is dazed OR after I use WM. If I use it alone (like I've been doing), I'm only getting 2 DOT ticks.

Of course this is all on a sparring target (and a base one at that) so something could be going wrong, but if you guys notice the same let me know. It seems odd and shouldn't be working like that I don't believe. Unless Tunso neglected to mention (or I glossed over) that it only gets that 3rd tick when a status effect is put on an enemy (helpless, stunned, rooted, juggled, dazed, etc) and works like Cryo, then it's a bug.

Just want to make sure I'm not crazy.

You definitely have to daze the target to get the 3 DOTs outside of WM. I didnt even know you could get it with WMS if it wasn't dazed

Ok cool, I'll try it. Last question: did you test this after the last pc test update? Well not the last, but the one right before. They made some sparring target changes that might change the menace/pyro thing.

I tested on Live same day the GU came out.