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I am Cam, #1 esper NA

Congrats if you're reading this because you are already taking the first step to becoming a better player.

Waraight's Orphanage - Wildstar PVP

I no longer play this game due to lack of PvE endgame content and the disgusting Primal Matrix grind. If you want help, look around for someone, be it in-game, the subreddit (r/Wildstar) or Discord. All information in this guide should be current for Drop 9.

META

Tier 8 - Your main damage spell, really
You can use when they have a tank. Dropping Storm on a tank and watching them kill their team for you is hilarious. Dropping Storm on a DPS and seeing it do 2k damage before your target dies and Storm disappears... is not.
Tier 8 - Crits pretty hard, the backbone of your build. You can also use instead (Tier 8) if you feel like it.
Base - A builder
Tier 8 - A nice investment of Ability Points, makes you do more damage.
You can also use Tier 8 when you feel like it. PKF works better with a good team that will take advantage of the buff.
Base - A builder
Base - A builder. Did you know: Pets will always attack whoever you have selected as your target.
Base - Utility. Roots are underrated in my book. Helps you set up a bird.
Base - The spell Espers are hated for, really really annoying . Excellent on Tiki Bridge or Halls mid when you can line your enemies up and subdue them all.

The two Utility slots can be swapped out for:
Crush
Projected Spirit
Incapacitate
Fade Out
Restraint
Catharsis (Healers plz, y u no cleanse me)
Shockwave
Bolster - This is where I draw the line, please do NOT take MoB, or PA, or Warden etc. Play healer if you want to.

AMPS
All of the amps listed by position on the AMPs tab, plus
The Power!
True Sight
2/3 Armor Pierce


The standard build for all espers.

Snare

Tier 8
Tier 8
Base
Tier 8
You can also use
Base
Base
Two Utility Slots

AMPS
All of the amps listed by position on the AMPs tab, plus
No Remorse
Slow It Down
2/3 Armor Pierce

This build takes advantage of No Remorse and Slow It Down's synergy.

Go fst

Tier 8
Tier 7
Base
Tier 8
Base
Tier 2
Tier 3
Base


AMPS
All of the amps listed by position on the AMPs tab, plus
Inspirational Charge
Fixation
Quick Response

This build takes advantage of the CDR provided by QR & Fix to deliver a 3 bird burst with reduced cooldowns when used in combination with Spectral Form (Innate). You do slightly less damage with abilities due to no ArP AMPs or damage amps but the effect of a third bird is noticeable.

I currently use this build as it completely melts teams without healers, very effective and noticeable at the start of Tiki / Halls.

Spaghetti Melee Build ( more DPS)

Tier 4
Tier 7
Base
Tier 8
Tier 2
Tier 4
Tier 3
Base

AMPS
All of the amps listed by position on the AMPs tab, plus
Defensive Maneuvers
Fixation
Quick Response

This build focuses on Lifesteal provided by Tier 4, Full Strength, Blood Rage, and Tier 4. It provides an extremely aggressive playstyle that gets stronger the more health you lose, making it perfect in skirmishes. I have won 1v4s with this build, and it only gets easier against a team that has pet classes (Engineer, Esper). I take Fixation and QR because Incap is godlike, and it helps your Swarm uptime even when they are being cleaved (which is, basically, all the time). I suggest juking your opponents with your Innate when you are <25% HP to give you the IA and absorb necessary to destroy them with all the buffs in your gear from being low HP.
If you want you can tier down Swarm and tier up PF if you feel like it, this is just the way I run it since you don't have to be anywhere near your target for Swarm to heal you.
Do not take Lifesteal AMPs with this, it isn't worth the PVP Power loss.

That being said, this build completely falls apart against Ripsaw, UA, or Phlebotomize, and is not ideal for teamfights, where a TK Strike build would serve better.

Spaghetti True Melee Build

Tier 4
Tier 8
Tier 8
Tier 4
Base
Base
Base
Base
OR
Base
AMPS
All of the amps listed by position on the AMPs tab, plus
No Pain...
B-I-N-G-O
2/3 Armor Pierce

RUNES
Make sure to swap out two Devastation minors (Crit hit and crit sev) in one piece of gear to make room for 4/8 Unstoppable (2 Power Intensity, 2 Power Health)

This build is full melee and really, REALLY fun to play. The speed you get from BD makes you pretty sticky so you can add a Speed Burst fusion if you want. 4/8 Unstoppable assists in keeping you alive while channeling BD. Make sure to bring IA for when you do since being CC'd during BD will shut you down. Always have at least 1 stack (preferably 3) of IB before you cast BD, it is invaluable damage.

You can rune full MH for this if you want to be a defined anti-tank, just be sure to take out any crit related AMPs and replace them with others.

Full Utility Dangerously Cheesy

Tier 8
Tier 8
Base
Base
Base
Base
Tier 8
Base

AMPS
All of the amps listed by position on the AMPs tab, plus
Defensive Maneuvers
Fixation
Quick Response

Pick your target > Incap them > they cc break > crush, restraint > they stand there > shockwave them off the edge > you fail or there is no edge > fixation > incap > they pick up their weapon > crush, restraint LUL etc.

This isn't a serious build most of the time however it works exceptionally vs most Engineer Tanks.

Remember CCs have 10 second internal cooldowns.

The Primal Matrix - Locus of Power

This ability is good on paper but heavily restricts movement. At tier 8 with full amp and ability points from the matrix, maybe. Currently, with a few extra points and having to tier down a skill, no.

With new AMPs I am currently putting them into more Armor Pierce. I can see something like Refund, The Humanity, or No Pain No... being useful in the future.

With new ATPs I am able to Tier 8 Bird with a tiered up Fixation while using my QR/Fix build (I've used only this one for DPS for a while now). I honestly don't know what I'd put these extra ability points into but T4 CB for the bit more PP generation looks good.

Gearing

6/6 Devastation in EVERYTHING except class set piece plus:
Weapon - Venom / Suppression / Demoralizing Blows / Bludgeon
Head - Deadly Blows / Blood Rage
Chest - Full Strength / Bombardment Sev
Legs - Bombardment Sev
Hands - Punisher / Enrage
Feet - Bombardment Sev
Shoulder - Class set ( 2 Sev 2 Crit 1 Str)

Example:

Gadget - Break Free
Shield - Fast reboot time absolute must. Timber Shivering Barrier (RMT drop) is BiS with high mitigation, fast reboot, and decent recharge rate. Being hit under an absorb (like Spectral Form) will still reset your reboot time so the faster it reboots the better.

BiS gear is from the PvP Seasonal Vendor at your capital city next to the contract boards. They are i70 and have two imbuement steps for a total of 5, from 3 max runeslots.

Weapon Fusion is up to you. I take Bludgeon to be more aggressive, Suppression is nice if you're planning on longer, drawn out fights, or if you want to blanket the enemy team with the debuff. Same goes for Demoralizing Blows. Venom I don't really use anymore since the DoT isn't that helpful as Espers are bursty, and your class set has the same effect anyway.

Blood Rage > Deadly Blows, even at lowest effect (2%). It is just really the only fusion any pvp dps should ever take, the damage and (negligible) sustain is amazing.

Enrage > Punisher because you will have a pretty nice uptime on Enrage (6% Damage).

You can replace Full Strength with a Bombardment Crit Sev. I prefer the former.

Some people take boot fusions, I do not see the need to sacrifice damage for it.

You always have the option of replacing the Strikethrough class set rune with a 2 piece Dev crit sev for a bit more on the spot damage, but the class set has actually secured kills for me in the past even if it looks stupid - also it acts as a replacement for the Venom fusion so you have a stalker detector / cap preventor.

Fresh 50s

Tier 5
Tier 8
Base
Tier 8
Base
Base
Base
Base

This is for fresh 50s with no ATPs nor AMPs. Take over because the T4 bonus is actually used. If you want you can Tier 7 and put the extra ATPs into PF / Reap. We don't take Fixation because of lack of AMPs, and we don't take B-I-N-G-O because as a fresh 50 with no runes you won't have enough crit. I have an AMP into strikethrough since base deflect as a player is 5% - make sure your strikethrough is at least 5% in instance, and if it isn't, take the Armor Pierce amp and put it into Strikethrough.

As you AMP/ATP up simply follow one of the builds. I would recommend starting with the meta build (first one) as a new player.

We take Fade Out here because new players do not have Break Free.

When you start out PvPing, buying the weapon is a MUST. Look for "Seasonal PvP Vendor" in your capital city and buy the i65 weapon as soon as you can. The PvP Power on it is huge and greatly augments your damage to players. You then want to start buying the rest of the i65 gear with gold until all your items are PvP (They say "Item Type: PVP" on the item).
With your prestige, buy the i70 weapon and gadget (usually Break Free) first. Then buy the rest of the runeable gear (head, chest, shoulder, legs, gloves, boots), and accessories last. You will notice i70 gear starts out as blue quality and have 0/2 imbuements on them. You can imbue these pieces with Enhancers, purchaseable also at the Seasonal PvP Vendor, or found as drops from PvP loot bags. These increase item quality by 1 tier each imbuement ( Blue > Purple > Orange ), and add a rune slot. Runing is very important and makes up most of your damage. If you intend to be a good PvPer, pay attention to them.
That being said I don't bother runing i65 gear because it's a pain to rune thanks to certain sets having lowest ilv70 and the fact that you can replace them with prestige gear so quickly.
P.S. You are probably going to get steamrolled a lot when you start out. There is nothing you can "do" about this at the start, just keep queueing.

Changelog

starting from ~5th update:

08/02
deleted useless last chapter trash commentary
added runemaster for easier understanding
noted current build
updated 8 cc build:
- replaced with due to the former not proccing Quick Response.
10/02
added fluff
14/02
more fluff
updated gearing section
26/02
added true spaghetti build
18/03
removed salt from PM section
removed salt from full utility section
revamped and polished fresh 50 section
added FS thoughts to Gearing section
02/04
updated PM section
13/04
updated PM section
09/05
Updates discontinued.