Last updated: 1/7/19
This thread is a work in progress. If you think of a new question that should be in this post, or would like to improve on one of the answers, please reply to this post and an administrator will update the post as needed. When it comes to builds and gear, some of the information in this FAQ is entirely subjective and you may very well get three different answers if you ask three different people. I've tried to provide the most current, commonly accepted answer based on the experiences of various people I've teamed with over the lifetime of SWL.
Where are some good guides to agents, gear and builds?
Rather than reinvent the wheel, here are some links to various build guides and play guides that other SWL experts have posted on Reddit or the official Funcom Forums
- Guide to Gear and Upgrading: [www.reddit.com/r/SecretWorldLegends/comments/6kr224/guide_to_gear_and_upgrading/]
- Sustain Tanking for Anyone: [forums.funcom.com/t/guide-sustain-tanking-for-anyone/711?page=2]
- How to DPS: [www.reddit.com/r/SecretWorldLegends/comments/6r73hl/guide_how_to_dps/]
- How to Heal: [www.reddit.com/r/SecretWorldLegends/comments/6p403r/guide_how_to_heal/]
- Gear and Theorycraft Spreadsheet: [docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HVgBeFTbXH0eZ5dJVtzXXm6HyITMHLUyM8avntoPOSI/edit/]
- Agent Spreadsheet: [www.reddit.com/r/SecretWorldLegends/comments/80s4wm/agent_spreadsheet/]
- Collected Funcom Forums build and gameplay guides: [forums.funcom.com/t/consolidated-list-of-gameplay-guides/560]
- Raztec's collection of video guides: [forums.funcom.com/t/raztec-video-guides/288/7]
Going to some (or all) of these links will teach you most of what you need to know to make you an effective dps/healer in this game. The rest will come with practice and from talking to your fellow caballies.
What glyphs/talismans should I buy?**
With crit-based sustain tanking being the current meta and Anima Allocation being a thing, there is no longer a real need for separate tanking gear or healing gear. Until you get to the tip top of the endgame, all roles can use DPS glyph strategy and talismans without losing effectiveness. Below is a basic TL:DR guide to glyphing and talismans. For more detailed info, including the rationales and maths for each recommendation, see the "Guide to Gearing", "How to DPS" and "Gear and Theorycraft Spreadsheet" guides linked at the top of this post. All talismans and glyphs are recommended to be at 3 pip level if you can afford it, but until you're ready to fuse your purple stuff into orange, it's okay if your stuff is only 2 pip. Recommendations below are ALSO assumed to be for a player just hitting level 50 and learning the game. Tip top endgame gear recommendations are a bit different, but by the time you get that far, you won't need this FAQ to tell you what to look for :-D
- Head Slot: Ashes of Crushed Cities talisman, Accurate glyph (Ashes of Shriven Souls is viable alternative if you can't find/can't afford AoCC) MAX THIS GLYPH ASAP! You can't damage what you can't hit. Glancing your target seriously nerfs your dps.
- Finger Slot: Skadi ring or Cobra ring, Fierce glyph (Cobra is recommended for energy intense weapons like AR and hammer, but tbh, the special effect of the ring procs so seldom you probably won't notice much difference)
- Neck Slot: Egon Pendant, Fierce glyph (Choker of Shed Blood is viable alternative if you can't find or can't afford Egon pendant)
- Wrist Slot: Iron Sulfur Bracelet, Fierce glyph
- Luck Slot: Cold Silver Dice, Fierce glyph (Gambler's Soul is a viable alternative if you can't find or can't afford CSD)
- Waist Slot: Most of the waist talismans are weapon-specific, so pick the one that goes with your main hand weapon. If you also plan to tank with this gear, Generalist Belt is recommended. Whatever belt you choose, equip it with a Fierce glyph, although once you get your glyphs to max red level, you'll want to switch this out for an intricate devastating. Crit Rate is soft capped at 45% (IIRC) so you're better off with Crit Damage by that point.
- Occult Slot:Razor Fossil, Fierce glyph (Sigil of Ambition is a viable alternative if you can't find or can't afford RF. Talis in this slot proc so rarely in dungeons that you might not see any difference between the two. For questing and scenarios, RF is clear winner.)
- Main Weapon: Devastating glyph (weapon glyphs only give you benefit while weapon is "in use". Avoid putting CR or ACC glyphs on weapons)
- Off Hand Weapon: Devastating glyph (weapon glyphs only give you benefit while weapon is "in use". Avoid putting CR or ACC glyphs on weapons)
What is the Best In Slot weapon for. . . ?
The "How to" guides linked above have more detailed information including the rationales and maths, but here is a TL:DR summary. All recommendations are also good for off-hand DPS purposes, unless otherwise indicated.
- Assault Rifle*: KSR
- Blood*: Eldritch Tome
- Pistols*: Sov-Tech Harmonizers
- Elemental*: Totemic Hell Lord (Orochi Thermal Inverter for off-hand use)
- Shotgun*: SPES-C221 (Ifritian Despoiler is good for off-hand use)
- Blade*: Blade of the Seventh Son
- Chaos*: Warped Visage (although some prefer Otherworldly Artifact for chaos dps. For tanking, Sanity's Aphelion is a good choice, but if you're sustain tanking, your choice of chaos focus is largely irrelevant, so go with whatever you can afford)
- Fist*: Bladed Gauntlet
- Hammer*: Pneumatic Maul or Hammer of the Red Road (For tanking, Frostbound Hammer or Anima Touched Hammer are viable alternatives, but Pneumatic Maul is viable for tanking AND gives superior DPS. According to math Hammer of Red Road is equivalent or slightly superior to pneumatic maul for dps, but has no benefit for tanking)
Energy? Havoc? Which weapon suffix is best?
This is probably one of the biggest arguments you'll see among theorycrafters, and in large part it comes down to your role, your weapon type, and "what you can afford". Generally, Energy or Havoc is best for DPS and Healing. If you're planning on using your weapon for tanking or melee dps, you may want Alacrity to get you out of harm's way faster, or Efficiency to recharge your cooldowns faster. It is generally agreed that Restoration and Warding are the WORST suffixes except in certain special situations. Overall, the amount of difference the suffix makes is minimal until you get to red-gear levels of item power. If all you can afford is the KSR of Restoration, go for it, but you probably don't want to fuse it to Legendary. For tanking, it's highly recommended to have at least one of your weapons contain an alacrity suffix as the tank will frequently need to kite bosses at the higher levels, and Alacrity plus a signet of quickness makes survival that much more likely.
What about Signets?
Signets are gear items that drop in lairs, regional boss fights, world boss fights and some dungeon or scenario chests. Like glyphs, they have to be leveled up and fused with another fully leveled signet of the same name to get the next tier of power. Weapons do not have signet slots. Signets are attached to talismans of purple or higher quality using the fusion window, just like attaching a glyph. Signet effects are slot specific (more on that later), and some come in weapon-specific versions and "weapon agnostic" versions. Signets that only buff certain weapons usually provide a bigger buff, but signets that are "weapon agnostic" provide a slightly smaller buff to any weapon you are using at the time. If you are planning on tanking or healing with the same set of DPS gear or aren't sure which main hand weapon you'll use in endgame, consider buying the "weapon agnostic" version of a signet rather than the weapon specific version. You'll lose out on a bit of dps, but you won't have to build a second set of tanking/healing gear. The "How to DPS" guide and the "Gear and Theorycraft" spreadsheet linked above has more info. Below is the TL:DR version.
- Head Slot: Signets for this slot modify your elite ability. If you're tanking and healing, go for the one that reduces cooldown of elite abilities. For pure dps, choose the weapon specific signet that increases the damage of elite abilities. If you're not sure what main hand weapon you'll want to use at the endgame, pick the "weapon agnostic" version.
- Finger Slot: Signets in this slot increase basic ability damage. Signet of Neophyte is best in slot, but very expensive. If you're certain what main-hand dps weapon you want, you can pick the weapon specific version of this signet for a much lower price.
- Neck Slot: Signets in this slot increase power and special ability damage. If you're not sure what main-hand dps weapon you're going to stick with, or if you're using this gear for tanking or healing, get the weapon agnostic version. Otherwise pick the one that enhances your main hand weapon damage.
- Wrist Slot: Signets in this slot enhance your "Ultimate Ability" and at this point, it's only your wings. If you don't have wings yet, save Marks and don't bother building this signet. Otherwise, Signet of Overwhelming Power is considered Best In Slot because it enhances wing damage.
- Luck Slot Signets in this slot proc when you crit. For pure DPS, Laceration is considered Best in Slot, although with the new Occult Defense scenario, Cruel Delight and Thirst are becoming more popular for the heal-when-you-crit effect. For tanks, Cruel Delight is Best in Slot. For healers, keep whatever you use for DPS. The healing signet for this slot isn't worth the expense to build.
- Waist Slot: Signets in this slot buff your gadgets. Signet of Time and Space Alteration is Best in Slot since it reduces gadget cooldown. At E5+ levels, DPS will be using a lot of different gadgets to help the tank with shields, cleanses, impairs and purges, so reduced cooldown is more important than increased damage output or increased healing from gadgets.
- Occult Slot: Signets in this slot modify your active dodge. For tanks and melee dps, Signet of Quickness is Best in Slot. Ranged dps and healers also benefit from Quickness signet, but if you can't afford it, Signet of Acrobatics or Signet of Contortion are viable alternatives.
What are these gadgets. . . and do I need one?**
Gadgets are gear items that can't be leveled up and drop mostly from the rare bosses in dungeons. You can also get a few of them from the Tokyo containers when you redeem key bags and fight the boss inside the container. For most people, the best way to get gadgets is to buy them on the auction house. If you want to be a well-rounded dps that gets invited back to teams because you're a team player, you should consider having some (or all) of the following gadgets so that you can help contribute to the overall success of the dungeon run. Having these gadgets often means that you can swap out a gadget instead of completely rebuilding your power tray and learning a new rotation. Also, if you want to be a "swiss army knife" when it comes to gadgets, I highly recommend you invest in the Time and Space signet for waist talismans. They can get pricey, because they're very popular, but having rapid recharge on your gadgets will help with every gadget you equip--even the dps gadgets.
Keep in mind, some of these are very expensive at the higher levels (orange level and red level) but not all of them need to be that high a level to do the job. Where possible, I've indicated when a cheaper (blue/purple) version of the gadget will work as well as the more expensive (orange/red) version. This is also not a comprehensive listing of EVERY useful gadget, merely a list of the ones I have personal experience with. Feel free to suggest more alternatives in your replies.
Impairs/Interrupts:
- The Mistress Bashosen--PBAOE interrupt+ knockback + Damage. Cheap on AH since they drop from Tokyo container bosses. Get the highest you can afford, since higher level=faster recharge. Essential for melee dps and very useful in scenarios for both ranged and melee dps. Short range means you have to be right next to boss to use it.
- Electrogravitic Attractor--Single target interrupt + pull. Since most dungeon bosses can't be CC'd, you won't usually get the pull effect. Long range means this is nice to have for ranged dps, but since it's single target you will have to be facing the boss to use it properly. Blue or purple level will do the job just fine for most dps.
- Ultrasonic Antipersonnel Cannon-Single target interrupt + knockback. Good for getting mobs out of your face as far as possible as fast as possible, but not much use on dungeon bosses, because they can't be pushed or pulled. Mostly only works on minions, and frequently your tank will want to murder you for pushing the adds out of threat range.
Cleanses:
- Asibikashi's Hoop-Automatic self cleanse with on-demand cleanse option. This is useful if cleanse is needed and no one in the group has a group cleanse available. It will only cleanse you, but if everyone in the group has one, no group cleanses are needed. They drop from Tokyo containers, so even reds are relatively cheap on AH. Get the red if you can, since higher level=faster recharge.
- Purification Drone-Group cleanse, but slow. It moves from player to player, which means sometimes a big stack of lifeburn ends up killing the last person in line if you're not fast on the trigger. Usually pretty cheap on AH, so get the highest level you can afford. That said, blue or purple will usually do the job just fine.
Purges:
- Electrostatic Disruptor-Single target purge of one beneficial status effect. Excellent for removing Tide Wall shield or Izuma's Wrath damage buff. Higher is better, of course, but blue or purple will usually suffice.
Damage Mitigation/Miscellaneous:
- Compact Catastrophe Shelter-AOE shield that provides increased protection for all players under the shield. Very useful for fights in which adds are a significant danger to the dps, during Traumadriver's Molten Metal and Dr. Klein's Dreaming Shroud. These are very expensive on the AH, but the higher the level the more protection provided, so get the highest level you can afford.
- Unification Susceptibility Module-similar to CCS, but protection provided depends on how many fellow players are near you when activated. Not as useful as CCS if your teammates can't remember to stack up. Again, buy the highest level you can afford, but honestly, you're better off with CCS.
- Osmium Configuration--makes player immune to knockback/knockdown and negates damage from knockback/knockdown effects. Generally more useful for tanks fighting bosses like Abyssopelegic Horror or Flappy regional boss (to resist tornado effect). Purple will do the job just fine. No need to spring for more expensive versions.
