SM Spec post leveling - Phoenix Freeshard

Is Supp spec for SM viable after leveling for RvR? I could see staying that spec for PvE farming but since we lose being able to switch specs anytime we want at 50 is it better to spec Dark (47Dark/26 Supp) or say full Supp (49Supp/22Dark)? Is there another spec to consider?

Tue 29 Jan 2019 1:59 AM by Evilreaper

Been asking myself the same question I came up with

47/26/5 Standard Dark Build , Red Lifedrain, yellow aoe mez, cure mez and eh life transfer

22/49/5 Red PBAOE, Red STR/CON aoe debuff (goes along way), cure mez and 22 in dark less variance on baseline nuke

40/9/35 Hybrid I was looking at still Yellow AOE mez, yellow lifedrain, yellow aoe dex/qui debuff and then you also get beefy pet, good mid line focus DS for when you pve, resurrect. Thinking this build would need higher RR but I really like it when I look at it.

Thoughts?

Tue 29 Jan 2019 1:43 PM by TehHobbitz

I never thought about your Hybrid spec. It does look interesting. Still not sure which one is viable, so hopefully someone else will chime in here for us.

Wed 30 Jan 2019 3:07 AM by Afuldan

47 dark 26 supp. Debuffs, red lifetap, no variance on cold DD (for caster train), good pet clears with pbaoe, mez, aoe mez, pbaoe instant mez, cure mez, combat speed debuff, blue s/c aoe debuff...Sm has a lot of utility with this spec. Its the most popular for a reason.

Summoning spec is pretty much only PvE focus farming, and you’d probably do better with Supp and bombing than focus shield pulling.

Wed 30 Jan 2019 6:31 PM by Shaigomasu

I played Dark SM in the original game to about 10L8. If your intention is to play SM for RvR, in my opinion, it's red lifetap or bust. MoC is so powerful for full (47) Dark SMs, and the opportunities to take advantage of pbaoe are just not common enough.

I always break down SM based on what you're trying to do:
Dark/supp - RVR
Full supp - PvE groups/ power-leveling friends
Summon - duo/trio boss killing (FDS)

Thu 31 Jan 2019 7:59 AM by Belga

I agree, unfortunately Mids don't play for pbaoe RVR, and maybe it's actually impossible right now.
I'll respec at 49 to dark my SM, and also for BG dark would be better

You can still play a pbaoer sm for relic keep defence, but i feel it limiting

Thu 31 Jan 2019 4:48 PM by Vlalkor

Belga wrote: ↑
Thu 31 Jan 2019 7:59 AM
I agree, unfortunately Mids don't play for pbaoe RVR, and maybe it's actually impossible right now.
I'll respec at 49 to dark my SM, and also for BG dark would be better
You can still play a pbaoer sm for relic keep defence, but i feel it limiting

It's sad that mid doesnt play pb in rvr, specially with aoe stun.

Fri 1 Feb 2019 1:54 PM by TehHobbitz

So considering there is almost always going to be some PvE part even at 50 (farming, raids, etc.) Going 47 Dark/26 Supp should still be fine in PvE content? I mean it won't be the 49 pbaoe but enough that doing pbaoe pulls won't be an issue? I just want to make sure in either spec that life isn't hell trying to find a group in either RvR or PvE.

Fri 1 Feb 2019 1:58 PM by Afuldan

Full dark or bust for RvR. Noone runs PBAoE groups. Maybe for lord room defence.

Fri 1 Feb 2019 5:56 PM by Shaigomasu

TehHobbitz wrote: ↑
Fri 1 Feb 2019 1:54 PM
So considering there is almost always going to be some PvE part even at 50 (farming, raids, etc.) Going 47 Dark/26 Supp should still be fine in PvE content? I mean it won't be the 49 pbaoe but enough that doing pbaoe pulls won't be an issue? I just want to make sure in either spec that life isn't hell trying to find a group in either RvR or PvE.

This is the double edged sword of the SM class. They are really good at both PvE and RvR, but with entirely different specs. 26 suppression at lvl 50 is not enough to be effective in a bomb group. You're best contribution to PvE is going to be single target DPS with survivability, but ultimately it wont be very attractive to high-end groups. You're probably going to need to decide what is more important to you for this character (Dark for RvR vs. staying Supp for PvE), and then make an alt to fill the other side.

Personally, I'll be staying supp for a while at 50 to help with leveling friends and alts, but ultimately I will switch back to Dark and then level up a healer or warrior for PvE.