The Cutting Edge Gadgets Guide

The only use I’ve found for vortex cannon is when trolling and trying to chain knockdowns on multiple targets. It’s wider AoE can be better than sticky bomb for that purpose (but not quite as reliable). For DPS, it’s not really much of an option.

Random Notes from Legion Testing

Just some random musings from the changes in Legion:


1. "Power healing grants hate to yourself and allies"
You need to watch out for this now if you're playing Controller. There were a few times the boss immediately started attacking me after the tank got knocked out. Also, I found the NPCs were more eager to attack me immediately after spawning.


2. "Fixed issue where the internal cooldown of Source Shard’s Godwave Strength was not always working. To compensate for this fix, we’ve increased the proc chance of Godwave Strength cooldown refresh to 25%."
I think this resolves a bug where you might sometimes see several Godwave resets very quickly. In testing, I was finding Godwave was resetting more consistently once the internal cooldown timer expired.


3. Holographic Decoy Viability
When I first started testing the regular and Elite alerts, all the bosses were programmed to ignore pets and always target players with their basic attacks. I don't know if this has been changed, but I was finding Decoy to not be overly useful in the alert.


4. "Dealing damage, healing, power healing, and taunting are now counted towards Bounty contribution."
Anytime you engage a Legion bounty, you have a Contribution bar displayed below the Radar. Your actions and the enemies you defeat help to fill the bar. Once the bar is filled all the way, you go from a Silver to a Gold trophy. I'm interested to see how this will play out on Live.


5. Grimbor's Chains
This is the Controller artifact. It provides a Slow Field for 6 seconds and Disable for 2 seconds when using a Defense debuff. At higher levels, it acquires an AoE damage proc that does undivided damage if the targets all have 3 debuffs on them. That combination sounds good on paper, but I wasn't having much luck getting good use out of it. The way the artifact is setup almost requires you to use Amulet of Rao and B.O.P. Commlink to get the best use out of it. The Slow Field Field and Disable don't work on enemies that have C.C. immunity. If you aren't using Bird Blitz, the Disable is overlapped by the stun from your Defense Debuff. Once the Disable wears off, the enemies are all too happy to use ranged attacks or lunge you. None of these effects work on bosses. The AoE damage proc was just awkward to use. It required all 3 debuffs to be setup and only worked when multiple enemies were within range. So the damage proc drops off if you end up in a solo boss fight situation. There was never a moment in group content where I said to myself, "Grimbor's Chains made a big difference there."


6. Computo Redistributor HUD Artifact
This is the Hybrid artifact. The idea is to use a mix of Might, Weapon, and Supercharge attacks to power up a new tray ability called "Redistributor Ray." The ability does more damage based on how many bars you've charged up.

This is a weird artifact to use. You have to completely change your playstyle to get the most of out it. With the way it is setup, you have to lean more on the Might side than the Precision side. So I was finding I was having to do more Might attacks versus Precision to charge up the relevant bars. Also, pets can be used to charge up the Precision gauge. For weapon attacks, short Weapon Mastery combos seemed to work best.

I was able to get some decent parsing results on single-target and AoE sparring targets once I found the right loadouts/rotations. I wasn't have much luck using it in Open World or Instanced Content though. The meter charge bars have cooldown timers built into them. If you don't use a bar within a certain amount of time, it resets. With the numerous combat stops you ordinarily see, building and maintaining the meters was awkward in a lot of places. I found the artifact to be really good in content where you can just keep attacking.

I'm hoping that once more people try this artifact on Live, they'll find better rotations for maximizing Redistributor Ray damage.


7. Quislet
The is the Pet Damage Artifact. It has a basic single-target ranged attack. If you are using a damaging superpower, it will do an AoE attack every few seconds and give you a large supercharge tick. When the player uses a 5k supercharge, it will do a more impressive AoE attack. On 10k supers, Quislet will use a high-damage single-target attack.

To get the most out of this artifact, you need to pair it with Source Shard and utilize a playstyle that emphasizes 5k/10k supercharge usage.

I didn't have a chance to use this artifact much in actual combat. I did enough testing to verify that the basic features worked. The Supercharge boost was noticeable on timed testing. Without Quislet, it took 60 seconds to build 5k SC. With Quislet, it was take 50 seconds to build the same amount.

Same. I've only used it for juggling adds away from the group and tank when I'm troll trolling pugs then I'll uses stasis so the tank can't pull them

Swapped the Grim for it yesterday in my prec build. In ST Flurry shot where I was clipping napalm grenade, stealth, cryo foam, battle display and taser pull every 12 seconds, simply substituting the HUD power where I was clipping taser pull in stealth (clips the same way after return to normal) increased damage as taser pull averages about 23K and with just the prec bar filled it’s hitting for 45K and once every 3-6 12s rotations I’d get the might bar filled for 110K (pretty much crit dependent). But even when I don’t get the might bar fully filled before it expires, it still sits at half way for a while providing a 1% damage boost as well. One thing I noticed, as I normally never buff when testing, buffing myself with a compound omega and seasonal cookie noticeably increased the frequency of the might bar filling since those are both buffing damage without increasing the actual might stat.

With explosive shot clipping napalm grenade after every explosive shot combo and then the same powers as above every 12 seconds, the prec bar filled every time by the time stealth was back off cooldown and the might bar got filled every other time consistently.

Using Neo Venom not only builds the SC bar for an eventual 184K hit after ever other neo venom, but also guarantees the next rotation will fill both bars for the 110K hit once stealth/battle display are back off cooldown.

This was all on sparring targets. I haven’t used it in content yet. While I know play stoppages (pickups, mechanics, etc) play a factor in potentially losing a filled bar, the various in content buffs (DLC augments, troll buffs, etc) would still allow for the a very quick fill of the precision bar. Although one thing I do wonder is how raid boss defense will affect this artifact. Some bosses have higher defense but lower health or have phases where defense is buffed which reduces your numbers that would be contributing to building the bars. Which also brings in to question the factor of troll debuffs. So it’ll be interesting to see how this artifact performs in various content. I can already see myself getting all huffy when grail goes in to her reflector phase right after I got the bars filled in FGSe! Lol

Thanks for the information. I've only seen one person use the Computo HUD Artifact in instanced content so far and it was a Gadgets user. The player was working working really hard and using a lot of tricks to build/maintain meter. Still, I ended up finishing ahead of them on NPC and boss damage using a fairly simple Amulet survivability build.

You do have a good point about bosses with scaling Defensive values. If you're in a full phase and getting hit with group DPS debuffs, it becomes a lot harder to build/maintain those bars.

I sometimes wonder how popular the Compute HUD artifact actually is. I've seen a few people talking about it on the forums. I've seen a couple other people using it while running bounties and that's about it. I like the idea behind the artifact, but I haven't seen anyone getting superlative performance out of it yet.

I imagine a lot of people are waiting on next double artifact xp week plus Obsidian Chill just released his review a day or two ago which was pretty positive and I haven’t seen any others. So we could see more being used pretty soon. I initially was waiting for Double Artifact XP but figured out that with the cyber monday sale, having saved a decent anount of source marks for catalysts, fusing in the Grim and also fusing in my claw (since I have yet to be asked to buff troll after gettung it up to 160 six weeks ago) it would only cost me $30-$40 to get it to 200, so I took the plunge. Also, I REALLY hate the Grimorium. That thing is ugly, clashes with my style and really is nothing more than good stats and pet damage since stealth applies dazed anyway. So I’ve been wanting an excuse to dump it anyway.

One thing that limited my testing was having to stick with napalm grenade for PI. I couldn’t really try PDart or anything else as there would be a damage loss from cryo foam. And whereas in pure single target scenarios taser pull applies electrified and hits harder, in boss battles with add phases it’s a big loss when switching to explosive shot AOE, especially since napalm grenade stacks on itself and will also proc the strategist a lot more. In actual content, there’s almost always SOMEBODY applying burning or electrified, especially with the popularity of heat vision, so it’s realistic to forgo setting up my own PI, it’s just limiting for testing. I’m gonna try to get a leaguemate to help me by applying the pi to the sparring targets and I’ll see if I can come up with something that builds the might bar a little better for ST but still hits hard for AOE.

Thank you for this highly detailed guides, makes me understand more abt the mechanics of the game too.
Have you tried lernaea's amulet for might aoe dps? Currently I use suppressor turret (as pet, not clipping) Canary Cry > Thermite Mine > Implosive Mine > P Dart > Stealth; and I clip stealth with EMP Pulse.
So far this loadout works for me quite well, but I am trying to use amulet. I also planned to put a finisher into the loadout to lower the burden for healers, also being more a self-sustainable rotation. I understand that putting a finisher in aoe is a lost of dps, but if I'm gonna put it in my rotation any possible way that it would work decently?

Computo hud isn’t really used that much because every power can’t maximize it like gadgets or mental can, but all in all, it’s actually a very good art

Bloody hell. Sorry I’m late.
It’s your 4 Year Anniversary!

I just switch my main to Gadgets might side dps. May I get the current info about:

1) Artifacts
2) Single target load out & rotation
3) AOE load out & rotation

Yes, I am super speed. Thanks in advance!!

This is what I currently use as Flight.

AoE
Artifacts:
Solar Amplifier
Transformation Card
Strategist Card

Loadout:
Amplified Heat Vision
Freeze Breath
Cryo-Foam
Paralyzing Dart


Base AoE Rotation:
Cryo-Foam > Paralyzing Dart > Freezing Breath (jump cancel after second tick) > Cryo-Foam > Paralyzing Dart >Amplified Heat Vision > Repeat

Commentary:
Basic idea is to use Cryo-Foam to help proc Strategist. There are two open slots that loadout. I often use Stealth with appropriate supercharges. You can work Whirling Dervish in there as a Superspeed player.



Single-Target
Artifacts:
Solar Amplifier
Transformation Card
Lernea's Amulet

Loadout:
Stealth
Amplified Heat Vision
Taser Pull
Photon Blast
Holographic Decoy

Rotation:
Taser Pull clipped with Stealth >Surprise Attack > Amplified Heat Vision > 3x Taser Pull > Amplified Heat Vision

Use Taser Pull > Stealth again when it is off cooldown. If I'm too low on health, I'll use Photon Blast at any point.

Commentary:
This loadout isn't designed to do max damage. Rather it is what I call my "One Man Army" self-sustaining build. It is built around using Lernea's Amulet and Transformation Card as a self-healing tool. The other powers have low power cost and do minimal self-damage. That combination allows you to heal back from close to death to almost full health with a single Photon Blast cast. Regular usage of Stealth ensures that mobs are often going after any pets you have deployed. Holographic Decoy helps to keep aggro off of you too. If you are expecting a large damage spike, stay in Stealth and block. Stealth + Improved Stealth has a high base shielding modifier.

I find this loadout works great in Elite content and it doesn't matter who is in your party. It is low power cost and self-sustaining.

If you have a good healer in the group, you can stay at max stack size for Lernea's Amulet for long periods of time. Also, you can swap out Transformation Card for something else to do improved damage.

5 years now & officially the gadgets guy longer than me
Congrats

Penryn, I remember you helped me set up a gadget pet battle troller build. I neglected it for a while but I decided to bring it out to tinker with it again. My big questions are:

- What artifacts should I use to make this effective? Right now using source shard, grim, and trans
- What loadout should I use? (Im using Obsidians loadout from like 2 years ago)
- Which allies should I try to get?

Got U

I've been on a big break from the game and recently came back, caught up but need to do old content for feats.
So I've been spamming omnibus and hybrid builds are quite fun in those content.
Another fun thing I've been doing is stasis>self destruct as a troller.
I don't main troll because I'm missing a lot of the troller artifacts. Omnibus really brings the fun into these like quirks we got as gadgets

@TheDark & Penryn,

Good to see Gadget'a guides going strong. (Just got back into game and saw Go Go Gadget's guide was locked...found my way here.)

So much has changed from 2014 when I left.

Created a new PC account as PS4 feels too laggy to play gadgets stealth. (Also sick of controller drift and PS4 sounding like a jet)

MrNishi 414CR (3/28/2023 creation date)

Main play style load out:

Sticky Bomb, Defibrillator, Bird's Blitz (I am in Honeymoon Phase with this ability*), Holographic Decoy, Distract, Stealth

Stealth: Cuff'em, Battle Display, Paralyzing Dart, EMP (they still haven't removed redundant Pulse...eck), Asphyxiation Gas, Battle Drone

Trinket, Lex Corp Back-Up, Lex-Corp Tier 3 turret, Static Grenades (SOBA)


Amulet of Rao
B.O.P. Commlink
Strategist Card

Krypto, Black Lantern Energy, Cyborg all your base (looking to change with General Zod Phantom Zone Touch, in the future)*
Bird's Blitz range makes it very easy to rally enemies to decoy/Tank*
*wish Bird's Blitz was a SC generator or did the damage of a non- SC Generator ability* (Seems to be similar damage as Stasis Field)

Static Grenades are just as fun as I remember. (Haven't received any complaints about Static Grenades interference with Tanks) Solar Flame or Flare kick clip. (Kick seems to work better with B.O.P. cool down for casting and also for internal power proc)*

B.O.P. and Black lantern energy steal seem to be the only way to consistently give power to other player's pets.
Strategist card seems to do alright with Debuff Efficiency triggered from Bird's Blitz


Lex Corp bot Debuff feels like it stacks with Amulet of Rao...when the AI does apply Debuff (sometimes boss burn feels really fast...even when in solo content or soloing a boss)*



Questions:

Does normal P.O.T (any ability cast) or Claw P.O.T give energy to other player's pets?

In Elite content it feels like I have to pair Holographic decoy with an additional detaunt in order for Decoy to "psuedo-tank," is this normal mechanic?
(Sometimes switch Death Metal Batman passive to Cloak of Erasure, just to for a detaunt rotation)

Massah? "Static Grenade" Massah! Wow!

I still remember your old threads from back in T5, about your Nexus of Reality runs with Precision Earth + Static Grenades. Earth ranged was just awful, and you turned a bunch of people on to Static Grenades (myself included). I remember I started running a similar playstyle with Ice - Ice Armor (dps) and Resonating Gale/Frost Snipe + Static Grenades. That used to be pretty good and super power efficient. Back when certain things didn't split after two targets. Good times.

Welcome back. Good to see you back in the mix.

B.O.P is afaik the only way to give power to Pets. I've never considered the Emo Bat's Pools doing it, but seems logical.
Never seen anyone pseudo-Tanking Elites. I saw a few Sorcery try to use Guadian in HQe when Legion was current. On every occasion I ended up switching to Tank.
And all debuffs stack with other debuffs, but only 1 each. I.E Rao + Ivy + Lex Corp Bot + BWL's Toxin + whatever I can't remember atm, but 2 players both applying BWL's Toxin will not stack with eachother.

It feels good to be back. Looking forward to Graphic update this year.

Was very happy to see how much changed for "Free/Premium" ...a little disappointed about not being able to just transfer over my PSpr have it count as same Account on PC (yet my daybreak log-in is the exact same)*

* I was ecstatic to too see new higher tier Static Grenades stack to 999 vs the 192 of Static grenade V experts (not happy about stat clamping weakong said grenades in other content ... why?!?)

Thank you kindly.

Bought another armory so I can have Buff Troll (raids)
Amulet of Rao, Tetra, and Claw (swapped with Cog) so I can still power dump.

and my variant of regular troll
Amulet of Rao, B.O.P., Strategist Card with Static Grenades being cast while coming out of stealth.
(Strategist card proccong off Stealth crit from using EMP on stealth load out is very nice!!)

As for psuedo-tanking...I had a single no-wipe no Tank run of Met-therapy clinic elite. (Although one of the dps also used Holographic decoy)* Really wish I had recorded that run.
I haven't run a single Elite raid .. waiting until I get either my artifacts to 160 and/or my skill points high enough to at least max a bottom node. (Currently at 221 on MrNishi above the 218 Massah grinded from 2014....so low compared to some like Hollow at 814sp)

Just haven't been able to get through Elite God's Eye Pyramid due to the Monstristy Tackle.

As others have mentioned, you need to use Bird Blitz from B.O.P. Commlink for this to work.

I find that my "One Man Army" build works really well in the current Elite content. It consists of Stealth, Distract, Cloak of Erasure, Holographic Decoy, Quislet, and Lernaea's Amulet. The three detaunts help ensure I'm never at the top of the aggro table. Quislet works as an AoE pet and helps shift aggro from myself to a pet. Amulet allows me to self-heal every few seconds. Holographic Decoy works better in some situations versus others. It just depends on whether the boss is programmed to target pets or not with its scripted attacks. I get better use out of using Decoy in the current Elite alert than in the duo.

Just keep in mind that you need to setup Decoy fairly close to the boss and the boss has to finish its current attack sequence before it will attack Decoy. If you are attempting a rally, using a detaunt is helpful to make sure you are at the bottom of the aggro table.

Holographic Decoy shines in No-Tank Elite Clinic runs. I've cleared that alert several times with 0 KOs while using Decoy. You just have to make sure your team is patient enough so you can use Decoy on every add group in the hallways.