Getting aquainted with Stats (Attributes)

[Elly]

It's a bit of a wasteland of information coming from Carbine right now, even though we could be only 8 weeks or less from an open beta.

One of the appeals for some of us (me included) is diving into theorycrafting. I've always been an unapologetic min/maxer and I'm very interested in how Attributes (stats), AMPS (your talent tree) and Runecrafting (like Gems) will fit together into customized characters.

Granted, we still have to choose classes for ourselves, but I think it's not a bad idea to see what the stats are, and how they work. What different Stats do changes slightly depending on your class.




This chart shows the number 1,2 and 3 stats to go for, and in what order. S1,2,3  designates a support build (which could be tank or healer) and D1,2,3 denotes a damage build.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GRt0qWPi7vg/UsYO5MfVDNI/AAAAAAAADGk/o-WkDlVy9tk/s1600/abilities+chart.png

For a little more depth Chief Sarcan did a nice write up.

http://www.wildstarfans.net/2013/12/chief-sarcans-guide-to-attributes.html

[Rumze]

This is excellent ! Thanks a ton Elly !

[Gith]

I feel sorta stupid but I don't get how to read this chart? It doesn't tell me the colour coding? I would imagine it is colour coded in order of importance?

I am gonna play a DPS spellslinger so I want? The other thread says " DPS: Finesse (7), Moxie (5), Brutality (3) " so that would be red, green, orange?

Ah. The other thread had a graph with a priority list.

[Askari]

I will also likely be playing a Spellslinger. I got to try it for a couple hours in a stress test, and enjoyed it.

The "DPS: Finesse (7), Moxie (5), Brutality (3)" means those stats automatically go up 7, 5, and 3 points every level... so WildStar is emphasizing those stats for your class.

That second chart does a good job of prioritizing stats for gear choice. For a DPS Spellslinger, you'll be looking for Light Armor with Finesse first and foremost (with Moxie second, and Brutality third). That's opposed to the Esper who will be looking for Light Armor with Moxie first.

If you want to micromanage your gear a bit, there will stat "milestones" where achieving a primary stat level will grant bonuses to secondary stats (milestones unlock at 30, 75, 120, 180, 240, 300, 375, 450, 525, 600, 690, 780, 870, 960, 1050). So if you have 600 Finesse (meets milestone) and 179 Moxie (just under its milestone), a piece of gear with more Moxie might be better for the Spellslinger than more Finesse... in the short term. But I'm guessing that probably won't be worth bothering to look at until >35th level.

[Gith]

Playing a spellslinger eh? What happened to playing the most stationary tank type character because all this movement is too much for ya? I knew you would come around.

Although, spellslingers are the longest range characters so I would imagine if ya got a tank or two going in the group you can mostly just stand back and nuke.

[Askari]

Well... if you watch this video of Spellslinger PvP... you can see exactly the concerns I had about playing Spellslinger. Without tab-targeting... the long, skinny telegraphs of the Spellslinger are a true pain in the rear-end to keep targeted against foes that are running around.

Spellslinger would be an absolute nightmare for me, if I PvP'ed. But I don't!

Fortunately, in PvE, melee NPCs tend to run right at you and ranged characters tend to stand their and shoot at you (as opposed to the players who are circle-strafing like crazy in PvP)... so hitting NPCs with those long, skinny telegraphs was not anywhere near as bad as I worried.

In fact, I didn't have to move around that much as a Spellslinger in PvE. That may change at higher levels.

A Spellslinger Chua was going to be my Dominion main (because gremlins with guns!!!), but I liked the class enough that I will need to have a Spellslinger on the Exile side... even if it ends up being my #2 character.

Meanwhile, Warrior was considerably more annoying than I expected. I felt like I was bringing the proverbial "knife to a gunfight". The cooldown on my closer was too long and there are far too many ranged PvE NPCs. I ended up chasing after ranged foes a lot more than I anticipated.

Of the four classes I had time to try (Warrior, Spellslinger, Medic, and Esper), Warrior actually annoyed me the most due to that "bringing a knife to a gunfight" feel. I was pretty happy with all three of the others.

Spellslinger felt the most like the archer/ranger styles of characters I have played a lot in recent years... stand back and shoot!

Esper was similar to the Spellslinger and quite fun, but the animations and psyblade weapon are stylistically less appealing to me than the Spellslinger's dual-pistols.

Medic was really cool, and is still very much in contention for my Main. Their animations were a bit understated, but I like the dubstep "wub-wub-wub" sound effects of some of their skills. I also liked the fact that Medics were a bit more durable (Medium Armor) and had big, fat telegraphs... allowing for easier AE.

I think we get 6 characters per server, so I will have an Exile character of ALL six classes on our server. And then maybe 1 Dominion alt on a separate server.

I'm still not 100% sure which class will end up being my main, but after my stress test sneak peak... "Human Male Spellslinger/Settler" got a big boost. Medic also got a big boost. Warrior took a big hit. Esper is still in the middle. I know Stalker is at the bottom without even trying it, because I never really get into stealthy positional melee characters. But I still really need to try Engineer, because I'm not sure where they fit in the list.

[Elly]

Medic was really cool, and is still very much in contention for my Main. Their animations were a bit understated, but I like the dubstep "wub-wub-wub" sound effects of some of their skills.

Made me think of a thing I saw on the forums- someone asked what it was like to play a Medic, and someone replied by showing this you tube video. Made me chuckle. Yep, that's about right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDlif8Km4S4&feature=youtu.be&t=59s

[Askari]

Hehe, yep! 

[Rumze]

Im still torn between esper , stalker and engineer .

Esper is like the perfect mage class- flashy, big hands of doom! summoned pets I mean ahhhh - and its psi based in lore which is AWESOME.

Stalker reminds me of the jedi shadow which I loved - it doesn't seem to have combo points like a wow row rogue which I like . A stealthy tank? Yes please - not sure how stealth works though in wildstar so we shall see.

Engineer has pets. And it can tank. AHHH. It does look a bit underwhelming though. I love my special effects - and esper seems to have the most of that ( well it is the mage-like class so )

It basically boils down to - have the ability to solo tank lower level stuff which I love to do or go with flashy ( which I love ) and heal others.
Then if I do want to tank - should I go stealthy? or guns blazing - also how good are the pets - so many questions.

And don't get me started on paths!

[Gith]

Hmmm. Interesting video Askari.

So I am choosing the highest skill level class to PvP with. Hmmm. I am not the best player I admit so I am wondering if I will be hugely bad at Spellslingers compared to the other PvPers, which I like to do sometimes.

I still think I will be playing an Aurin Spellslinger settler.

[Askari]

So I am choosing the highest skill level class to PvP with. Hmmm.

Well, in that YouTuber's opinion. And I would also find it hard to keep those skinny telegraphs on juking/dodging players, but your mileage may vary.

I'm not sure about the toggle on/off Spell Surge ability. Again, I think it's a bit easier to "pick your moment" in PvE.

If I were to PvP at all, I would be forced to play something with much bigger/fatter AE telegraphs... like Medic... just to land a punch. But I'm old and slow, so PvP is never going to be my cup of tea.