Hey all, just to promote discussion and everything, here's a little bit of a take from a new ToS with relatively few AAs and only store bought PvP gear. Let me preface this with the fact that I'm still pretty bad and getting my situational awareness about me has been slow going, so just keep that in mind. This is NOT meant to be a cookie cutter spec nor should you think you should use it just because I use it. Also, keep in mind I only PvP so I have no idea how any of this does in PvE. Just wanted to share my thoughts as a new ToS and new 80, and some of the things I've noticed regarding how I play it.
I hit 80 and basically there were two routes I was suggested to go, with variances possible in each route. One was Thunder/Lightning and one was Thunder/General. Tried the Thunder/Lightning (double end feat Thunder with Lightning up to Elemental Fury) and although I didn't feel too weak, the survivability left quite a bit to be desired especially against decent teams who know not to let the ToS live too long. Thunder/Gen offers some great support for the team, with General giving you another 50% on your self heals (keeping you up longer to heal others who can CC and kill around you), another 2m on both blue options, and instant big blue (can cast it on the move, very nice).
This is the build I've settled on with experimenting, used most often from PvP0 to halfway through PvP3 so far. I do not use Idol of Set, but that's just from personal preference. That decision was made when I was less familiar with the class and needed less to manage, and I'll be revisiting the Idol build soon, now that I'm more comfortable with a lot of the other aspects of the class.
Some tweaks I've been thinking of making to it are the Idol inclusion and also maybe get some more points in armor..... We seem to do somewhat OK against magic and have some good tools there, but physical damage really dilates my anus. I'll admit, having ST is nice, and I'm trying to make it less of a crutch, but when you're out there against teams who like to melt ToSes, and you're not getting the support you need from your pug team, it's a godsend.
Again, I don't claim to know what I'm doing, I'm not good at the class. Just wanted to share what personal preference I've come to and why. I'm open to suggestions on how to improve on it.
It's not a build meant to top kills in minis, it's a build I've found promotes the mindset of support. I still lack a lot of AAs and I only get gear off the store, but with the low barrier to entry into DW minis, this has been enough to keep me from getting railroaded into Khitai whatsoever. It's been a nice change. I hope I never see that place again.
Also, like I said, I'm open to suggestions and critique. You don't need to tell me I'm bad and that I suck at the class, I already know that.
I'm terrible at duels and this spec doesn't help much, I've found it to be lacking in that respect. It's more of a mini or PvP group spec.
A couple things I've randomly noticed:
PotSR is great in sin-infested minis (bombs)
TLoS makes a great search ability to pop others out of hide, nice feature since you get a blue heal to boot.