Soloing group content, Magplar or Stam Sorc?

sutasafaia · February 2017

Really unsure which to mess around with here. I've been posting around on various sites asking about classes, been reading, researching, stuff like that. Not sure which one best suits me honestly. It's my first time back in over a year and the only class I really ever played before now was a Magblade.

I've been playing said Magblade for the last couple weeks while I've been trying to decide on my solo class, generally play exclusively in groups with the Magblade, but I really want a second character that is basically a full time soloer. That does mean that I want to be able to take on as much as possible on my own. Nothing insanely crazy like trying to solo vWGT or anything like that (that sounds more stressful than fun to me) but both classes are fun so far.

Magplar has more or less infinite healing and AoE built into a single attack, with an emergency heal strong enough to bring you back to full if you mess up. Stam Sorc relies on crits for it's healing but unless you get an unlucky streak of non-crits you're more or less immortal outside of being 1-shot.

Having a really hard time choosing between them. I've been playing both up until now, just hit 20 on them, and trying to level both at once has officially become tedious. Since I have zero experience with either of them endgame, and I'm enjoying them both more or less equally right now, I figured it was time to ask.

In the mean time I'll just mess with my grouper Blade some more, doing the same quests at the same time on the other two is just too much

any ideas?

Vapirko · February 2017

I think that right now stam sorc is one of the most powerful solo builds.

Truewavesound · February 2017

Beandre wrote: »

I think that right now stam sorc is one of the most powerful solo builds.

Indeed. Stam sorc is nigh on invincible, you can solo a load of vet dungeons on one. VMA is a breeze.

Saying that, mTemplar is pretty tough. I think ssorc is tougher though, and much more fun to play imo.

tunepunk · February 2017

Stamsorc with 2 hander is easy mode.

Brawler+Critical surge will let you solo huge groups of enemies without breaking a sweat. Rest of the skills you can pick what you want to maximize DPS. If you still encounter something that hit way too hard, make a spare weapon with Glyph of hardening and infused trait.

For boss fights I go vampire, and pop Mist form/baleful mist on really heavy boss spells/skills. That way i don't even need to bother about blocking or moving out of red circles. Just block when spell has hit to get out of mist form and Just keep hammering.

sutasafaia · February 2017

Thanks for the replies.

Question regarding that though, was Stam Sorc always so good at soloing? From what I understand, Magplar has basically always been good at it while Stam Sorc depends a lot on skill interactions that weren't always there.

Also, how does Stam Sorc deal with burst damage that can 2-3 shot you? Magplar has an emergency heal, does Stam Sorc have a way to bounce back?

Obviously you can't see the future, but would it be safer to play the Magplar over the Stam Sorc as far as always being able to solo in the future? Going on best guesses here, of course.

tunepunk · February 2017

When I used my 2h Stam sorc for pure solo play group content, brawler + crit surge alone is enough to keep you alive. I find that damage shields are very powerful when soloing, especially from sources like brawler which you can keep refreshing by spamming the skill.

Brawler + crit surge = heal + damage + apply damage shield... all in one blow. I don't even bother blocking or moving out of red circles with that setup except for bosses with some really heavy hits. You will probably do a bit more damage with DW, but brawler is your one stop survivability skill. Even against several mobs. They hardly break through the Damage shield and harm your health. I almost never even used potions with this setup.

Main bar. 2 hand. Brawler, crit surge, + whatever skills you prefer to make more DPS.
2nd bar bow. For some dots, like endless hair, poison injection, rearming trap etc..

Dao_Jones · February 2017

Why not just rework your Magblade? Isn't that a pretty good solo class?

sutasafaia · February 2017

Yes but I don't really want to respec all the time, not to mention I could really use a break from the class. I'm just really not sure which one to play. Both have great merits.

Truewavesound · February 2017

sutasafaia wrote: »

Also, how does Stam Sorc deal with burst damage that can 2-3 shot you? Magplar has an emergency heal, does Stam Sorc have a way to bounce back?

Between Crit Surge, and the dual wield skills (Blood Craze, Blood Thirst), I can go from 20% to full in a second or two. Real emergencies, you can use vigor.

Regarding VMA, I would not recommend using 2H for many reasons. DW is FAR superior for Stam Sorc on any PVE content.

Oreyn_Bearclaw · February 2017

For what it's worth 100% of the really impressive soloing feats where I was like "holy cow, someone soloed that?" were all done by a magic sorc. Stam sorc is certainly very strong, especially in VMA, but for soloing group content, I think magic sorc is stronger.

Iziquiel · February 2017

I have been levelling a StamSorc and Magplar recently (only lvl 26 & 15 respectively though) and I have found StamSorc much more enjoyable and it is very survivable with the DW skills. Magplar has got a bit tedious.

DragonBound · February 2017

I think there is a bit of misinformation here, stamsorc is not easy mode, now if you mean before the hurricane nerf then I would agree for solo content but now it takes allot more skill. But yes stamsorc has nice suitability for vet arena.

DragonBound · February 2017

Truewavesound wrote: »

sutasafaia wrote: »

Also, how does Stam Sorc deal with burst damage that can 2-3 shot you? Magplar has an emergency heal, does Stam Sorc have a way to bounce back?

Between Crit Surge, and the dual wield skills (Blood Craze, Blood Thirst), I can go from 20% to full in a second or two. Real emergencies, you can use vigor.

Regarding VMA, I would not recommend using 2H for many reasons. DW is FAR superior for Stam Sorc on any PVE content.

I think it depends on gear to be honest, I have an easier time with 2h then bow in ma but I have yet to do vet, but I imagine many go in with tons of champion points.

sutasafaia · February 2017

CosmicSoul wrote: »

I think there is a bit of misinformation here, stamsorc is not easy mode, now if you mean before the hurricane nerf then I would agree for solo content but now it takes allot more skill. But yes stamsorc has nice suitability for vet arena.

I wasn't really looking for easy mode, persay, just which class would be better for soloing the higher end stuff for when I need a break from my Magblade. So far I'm certainly having fun with the sorc, although I really want Surge. Haven't managed to reach it yet >.>

Oreyn_Bearclaw · February 2017

CosmicSoul wrote: »

Truewavesound wrote: »

sutasafaia wrote: »

Also, how does Stam Sorc deal with burst damage that can 2-3 shot you? Magplar has an emergency heal, does Stam Sorc have a way to bounce back?

Between Crit Surge, and the dual wield skills (Blood Craze, Blood Thirst), I can go from 20% to full in a second or two. Real emergencies, you can use vigor.

Regarding VMA, I would not recommend using 2H for many reasons. DW is FAR superior for Stam Sorc on any PVE content.

I think it depends on gear to be honest, I have an easier time with 2h then bow in ma but I have yet to do vet, but I imagine many go in with tons of champion points.

DW is light years ahead of 2H in VMA on a Stam sorc. It is more DPS (single target and AOE) and better heals. Surge is plenty by itself, but you can go overkill on heals and run bloodthirst, bloodcraze and vigor, and still nuke every boss past most mechanics. I won't call it easy mode, but once you learn the arena the stam sorc is the most efficient way to clear IMO. There is simply nothing that a 2H can do that you can't accomplish better with a combo of class and DW skills inside the arena on a stam sorc.

MartinDeShade · February 2017

VMA by definition is not group content. For doing group dungeons and group delves I would stick with 2h/bow, but yes for VMA I would go with dw/bow.

Nidro · February 2017

Try Mag Sorc Dude ;-)

Baconlad · February 2017

I think that if your either a newer player or a lazy player or just not very good at the games mechanics, then templar is absolutely the way to go. Stam sorcs from what i understand is a bit more difficult to play, and more suited for vets of the game or players who understand full game mechanics.

Templars rotation in solo content, i *** you not...drop ritual/ drop focus/ restoring aura and go to town spamming sweeps...it can be more difficult if you want it to be for faster gameplay with fire staff and dropping wall of ele. But you dont need it...so easy, just slower than most other solo builds

Oreyn_Bearclaw · February 2017

MartinDeShade wrote: »

VMA by definition is not group content. For doing group dungeons and group delves I would stick with 2h/bow, but yes for VMA I would go with dw/bow.

@MartinDeShade
DW/Bow is even further ahead in Group dungeons than it is in VMA. 2H is primarily useful because of rally in PVE. There is at least a plausible argument for it in VMA. Its a heal and weapon power buff, but much less sustained DPS. It is how stam characters cleared before they gave a healing morph to rapid strikes. That flies out the window in the current meta. Sorcs have crit surge which does the same thing. If you have 2 players of equal skill and gear in group content, the guy running DW/Bow is going to absolutely destroy the guy running 2H/Bow.

sutasafaia · February 2017

Thanks for all the replies (and weapon ideas). I'm surprised it seems to be so much in favor of stam sorc considering all I've heard about Magplar. At least it doesn't seem like a mistake that I've been messing with the sorc. That does still leave my other question though, I'll just copy it for lazy/convenience:

"Question regarding that though, was Stam Sorc always so good at soloing? From what I understand, Magplar has basically always been good at it while Stam Sorc depends a lot on skill interactions that weren't always there.

Obviously you can't see the future, but would it be safer to play the Magplar over the Stam Sorc as far as always being able to solo in the future? Going on best guesses here, of course."

Also, complete side question regarding crafting...

If you decide to drop all your blueprints/motifs/etc on a character and then get bored, do you ever kick yourself for wasting them when you could have put them on another character to go for the crafting achievements?

MartinDeShade · February 2017

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

MartinDeShade wrote: »

VMA by definition is not group content. For doing group dungeons and group delves I would stick with 2h/bow, but yes for VMA I would go with dw/bow.

@MartinDeShade
DW/Bow is even further ahead in Group dungeons than it is in VMA. 2H is primarily useful because of rally in PVE. There is at least a plausible argument for it in VMA. Its a heal and weapon power buff, but much less sustained DPS. It is how stam characters cleared before they gave a healing morph to rapid strikes. That flies out the window in the current meta. Sorcs have crit surge which does the same thing. If you have 2 players of equal skill and gear in group content, the guy running DW/Bow is going to absolutely destroy the guy running 2H/Bow.

It has nothing to do with Rally, but with Brawler. Until you are at the point of walking through the content the Damage Shield from Brawler will save you many deaths, it is very much like Sweeps except shield instead of heal without the +140% for center target. 2h execute is quite nice too on those 2.5million+ HP bosses. So save your DW weapons and keep the DW skills for easier content you can get through quickly, but pull out your 2h for tough content and grind your way through.

DragonBound · February 2017

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

CosmicSoul wrote: »

Truewavesound wrote: »

sutasafaia wrote: »

Also, how does Stam Sorc deal with burst damage that can 2-3 shot you? Magplar has an emergency heal, does Stam Sorc have a way to bounce back?

Between Crit Surge, and the dual wield skills (Blood Craze, Blood Thirst), I can go from 20% to full in a second or two. Real emergencies, you can use vigor.

Regarding VMA, I would not recommend using 2H for many reasons. DW is FAR superior for Stam Sorc on any PVE content.

I think it depends on gear to be honest, I have an easier time with 2h then bow in ma but I have yet to do vet, but I imagine many go in with tons of champion points.

DW is light years ahead of 2H in VMA on a Stam sorc. It is more DPS (single target and AOE) and better heals. Surge is plenty by itself, but you can go overkill on heals and run bloodthirst, bloodcraze and vigor, and still nuke every boss past most mechanics. I won't call it easy mode, but once you learn the arena the stam sorc is the most efficient way to clear IMO. There is simply nothing that a 2H can do that you can't accomplish better with a combo of class and DW skills inside the arena on a stam sorc.

I only get blood craze, your loosing out on tons of dps for blood thirst so I disagree with that, anyways 2h easily gives more suitability for starters, it has a real finisher for two, it has its uses in dungeons and pve in general or pvp, but in trials on the other hand not so much.

DragonBound · February 2017

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

MartinDeShade wrote: »

VMA by definition is not group content. For doing group dungeons and group delves I would stick with 2h/bow, but yes for VMA I would go with dw/bow.

@MartinDeShade
DW/Bow is even further ahead in Group dungeons than it is in VMA. 2H is primarily useful because of rally in PVE. There is at least a plausible argument for it in VMA. Its a heal and weapon power buff, but much less sustained DPS. It is how stam characters cleared before they gave a healing morph to rapid strikes. That flies out the window in the current meta. Sorcs have crit surge which does the same thing. If you have 2 players of equal skill and gear in group content, the guy running DW/Bow is going to absolutely destroy the guy running 2H/Bow.

Well crit surge and really essentially do the same thing, I prefer the visual of crit surge though, but in pvp the guy with the 2h will destroy the guy with a dw/bow period, pvp is about burst and 2h is all about burst while dual wield/bow is about sustain. No one is going to stand there while you rapid strike to death, not to mention 2h has stuns and snares.

DragonBound · February 2017

sutasafaia wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies (and weapon ideas). I'm surprised it seems to be so much in favor of stam sorc considering all I've heard about Magplar. At least it doesn't seem like a mistake that I've been messing with the sorc. That does still leave my other question though, I'll just copy it for lazy/convenience:

"Question regarding that though, was Stam Sorc always so good at soloing? From what I understand, Magplar has basically always been good at it while Stam Sorc depends a lot on skill interactions that weren't always there.

Obviously you can't see the future, but would it be safer to play the Magplar over the Stam Sorc as far as always being able to solo in the future? Going on best guesses here, of course."

Also, complete side question regarding crafting...

If you decide to drop all your blueprints/motifs/etc on a character and then get bored, do you ever kick yourself for wasting them when you could have put them on another character to go for the crafting achievements?

If you pick the right skills first and level up fast yes they are easy to level, but you need to make sure you rank up the stuff you need fast, use a pet for now if you need to, it can be a late blooming build. I started with 2h and used brawler until I could get bound armor for example.

sutasafaia · February 2017

Have to admit I'm thinking about working my Magblade into my solo rotation also, although I really don't think it will perform quite as well as my Stam Sorc or Magplar. Fun, certainly, but still. Since I'm trying to actually level one character up I'll likely stick to said Stam Sorc

I don't see the Magblade soloing quite as well, despite stealth. Being a blender is kind of funny. Who knows? Still a little bit torn, but at least they're all fun. Would be so much easier if there was just a flat out best solo character, but of course that can change patch to patch also >.> /sigh

Truewavesound · February 2017

MartinDeShade wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

MartinDeShade wrote: »

VMA by definition is not group content. For doing group dungeons and group delves I would stick with 2h/bow, but yes for VMA I would go with dw/bow.

@MartinDeShade
DW/Bow is even further ahead in Group dungeons than it is in VMA. 2H is primarily useful because of rally in PVE. There is at least a plausible argument for it in VMA. Its a heal and weapon power buff, but much less sustained DPS. It is how stam characters cleared before they gave a healing morph to rapid strikes. That flies out the window in the current meta. Sorcs have crit surge which does the same thing. If you have 2 players of equal skill and gear in group content, the guy running DW/Bow is going to absolutely destroy the guy running 2H/Bow.

It has nothing to do with Rally, but with Brawler. Until you are at the point of walking through the content the Damage Shield from Brawler will save you many deaths, it is very much like Sweeps except shield instead of heal without the +140% for center target. 2h execute is quite nice too on those 2.5million+ HP bosses. So save your DW weapons and keep the DW skills for easier content you can get through quickly, but pull out your 2h for tough content and grind your way through.

This is drivel, don't advise people to use 2H for PVE. The heals you get from surge and the three healing dual wield skills are 10x superior in keeping you up. Plus the DPs is much higher.

I would love to see you use Brawler in VMA. Clueless.

tunepunk · February 2017

Truewavesound wrote: »

This is drivel, don't advise people to use 2H for PVE. The heals you get from surge and the three healing dual wield skills are 10x superior in keeping you up. Plus the DPs is much higher.

I would love to see you use Brawler in VMA. Clueless.

Please read his original title again. He's not lookging for a VMA build, he's looking for a build to Solo GROUP content. U'll never be able to outheal all the incoming damage with Crit surge+DW heals when facing big groups of trash mobs, and hard hitting bosses.

Truewavesound · February 2017

tunepunk wrote: »

Truewavesound wrote: »

This is drivel, don't advise people to use 2H for PVE. The heals you get from surge and the three healing dual wield skills are 10x superior in keeping you up. Plus the DPs is much higher.

I would love to see you use Brawler in VMA. Clueless.

Please read his original title again. He's not lookging for a VMA build, he's looking for a build to Solo GROUP content. U'll never be able to outheal all the incoming damage with Crit surge+DW heals when facing big groups of trash mobs, and hard hitting bosses.

How does Brawler help with bosses? What rubbish. Built right and with the right rotations (as with everything), DW is by far superior on Stam Sorc for soloing. Feel free to gimp yourself jamming 2H into DW's hole.

You can't win an argument against an idiot, i guess. Peace

Lore_lai · February 2017

CosmicSoul wrote: »

I think there is a bit of misinformation here, stamsorc is not easy mode, now if you mean before the hurricane nerf then I would agree for solo content but now it takes allot more skill. But yes stamsorc has nice suitability for vet arena.

Maybe not for u.

I personally *never* seriously played a stam class before and I found Stam Sorc to be super easy.
I did vMA on my Mag Plar and found it decent because Puncturnig Sweeps is so good in there, then I went on my Stam Sorc and I was like WHOA!! WTF is this?!?! Why does it feel so casual?!
Then I put on Vicious Ophidian and it felt like cheating, even though I'm nub at Stam gameplay.

I'm not even gonna talk about overland solo-gameplay cos yeeeea...I mean, c'mon, that stuff is as easy as it comes. Crit Surge -> go to town.

Tried it in PvP and it felt dirty. Initially I was scared, I admit, because I haven't played stam so it's a different type of gameplay especially when you decide to go medium armor and not get carried by Op heavy armor on stam.
Then my partner kinda told me to get it together

and I went for a playstyle more fitting for what I like (Dual Wield stam sorc) and yeah...

I'm a nub at playing stam and if i would have to choose one class and one class only, I would choose Stam Sorc without even thinking twice. And this is with me being super-used to playing Templar and having on demand Purify.

tunepunk · February 2017

Truewavesound wrote: »

tunepunk wrote: »

Truewavesound wrote: »

This is drivel, don't advise people to use 2H for PVE. The heals you get from surge and the three healing dual wield skills are 10x superior in keeping you up. Plus the DPs is much higher.

I would love to see you use Brawler in VMA. Clueless.

Please read his original title again. He's not lookging for a VMA build, he's looking for a build to Solo GROUP content. U'll never be able to outheal all the incoming damage with Crit surge+DW heals when facing big groups of trash mobs, and hard hitting bosses.

How does Brawler help with bosses? What rubbish. Built right and with the right rotations (as with everything), DW is by far superior on Stam Sorc for soloing. Feel free to gimp yourself jamming 2H into DW's hole.

You can't win an argument against an idiot, i guess. Peace

Trust me I've soloed all Soloable group dungeons (the ones without group mechanic) on normal mode with 2H and Brawler, even most (II) versions, and a few of the Veteran dungeons.

I did Veteran Tempest island up to last boss on DW as well, but ONLY because i was using Iceheart set, and Hardening glyph on one of the weapons. Have you soloed any normal or veteran dungeons with your DW setup, without any damageshields? I'd like to see you try.

Truewavesound · February 2017

tunepunk wrote: »

Truewavesound wrote: »

tunepunk wrote: »

Truewavesound wrote: »

This is drivel, don't advise people to use 2H for PVE. The heals you get from surge and the three healing dual wield skills are 10x superior in keeping you up. Plus the DPs is much higher.

I would love to see you use Brawler in VMA. Clueless.

Please read his original title again. He's not lookging for a VMA build, he's looking for a build to Solo GROUP content. U'll never be able to outheal all the incoming damage with Crit surge+DW heals when facing big groups of trash mobs, and hard hitting bosses.

How does Brawler help with bosses? What rubbish. Built right and with the right rotations (as with everything), DW is by far superior on Stam Sorc for soloing. Feel free to gimp yourself jamming 2H into DW's hole.

You can't win an argument against an idiot, i guess. Peace

Trust me I've soloed all Soloable group dungeons (the ones without group mechanic) on normal mode with 2H and Brawler, even most (II) versions, and a few of the Veteran dungeons.

I did Veteran Tempest island up to last boss on DW as well, but ONLY because i was using Iceheart set, and Hardening glyph on one of the weapons. Have you soloed any normal or veteran dungeons with your DW setup, without any damageshields? I'd like to see you try.

Lol. You can solo most of the normal dungeons (those without a mechanic that prevents) on pretty much any class/build! The fact that you talk about this like it is a challenge makes me think you might not really know what you're talking about.

Yes, a lot of the early VET dungeons are soloable on a Stam Sorc with Dual Wield., and with DW, dps will be 2x as much so is much quicker. Trash mobs are easy and bosses are even easier, on the whole, as dps is so high. Bosses must take forever for you with 2H/Brawler (that's hilarious).

It is clear from what you have said that you are not interested in improving, so i think i'm going to leave this discussion here. Give DW a try on your Sorc, it is by far the easiest way to solo any content IMO.

OP if you would like to talk about a good stam sorc soloing build in game, I am @Truewavesound on EU. Cheers.