I feel a dedicated Farseer Last Stand strategy topic is order. In this post, I’m describing my setup, why I believe it works and why I feel other builds don’t work. This is an opinion only and can’t wait to hear about other successful builds.
My main strategy as Farseer
There are 3 routes to go with the Farseer: Melee, Support , Half and Half
I have chosen the Support strategy and build for when I play Last Stand. Over all other builds, this load out allows for my Farseer to do three things, which I deem the 3 most important principles of the Last Stand:
1. Provide support for the teammates
2. Keep myself alive in every scenario
3. Gives offensive support
I think every Last Stand player should keep these principles in mind when designing their character. Many people already understand that it’s important to Give Offensive support and I applaud them for that. However, many players aren’t building their characters as to keep themselves alive in every scenario. I see ranged builds without some form of escape (examples, ranged ork without teleport or bouncy shield, a Tank SM without any mobility). When mobs come swarming, players need to be mobile AND keep themselves alive.
Specifically to the Farseer, I have yet to find a melee build that meets all 3 principles. She doesn’t have HP regen, HP+ items, and has low armor. I cannot find any possible combinations to survive mob swarms and keep meleeing. And if you go half and half, you’re still weak at melee AND have little support to offer due to low energy regen. That’s why I fully support Support (har har).
So, the Support Strategy…This is what I wear at level 20:
Witchblade of Isha
Pistol of the Warseer
Amor of Vaul
Runes of Harlequin
Runes of Deception
Runes of Fortune
Spirit Stone of Vigor
At early levels (1-6), yes, the Farseer is somewhat useless. She doesn’t offer much offensive support, but she can survive all the mobs and can go toe to toe via melee. Your teammates will do most of the killing; however, if you and your teammates are worth a damn, no one is worried until 10+. At 10 and beyond, the strategy is to keep everyone fortuned and spam confuse. With 1.6 energy regen and 75 mp, you can do this easily. When mobs are thick, target the heavier units with confuse. If your teammates are tanks, run through the middle and to the outside of mobs to draw fire. The Swift from the Pistol of Warseer allows you to keep running without being touched at all. The Armor of Vaul and fortune allows you to take plenty of damage. Spam confuse and fortune, draw fire, and even melee some weaker ranged units. Those pesky Rocket Orks on the skirt of the mobs are your responsibility. Tie them up so your tanks can survive longer. If you have Ranged Jumping teammates (tele Ork and jumpy SM), fortune them and let them do their thing. Keep spamming confuse.
If you get into trouble, a teammates dies, or you are alone, cast conceal. It’ll last 10 seconds and takes 13 to cooldown. Chill in conceal while spamming confuse. Once conceal dissipates, run until you can cast conceal again (and this is possible because of Swift, Fortune, and Armor of Vaul). Work down the mob until you can get to your teammate to revive him. Cast conceal over him, get concealed, cast confuse then revive. Rinse and repeat till 20!.
Some might argue that the FS isn’t doing enough. I sometimes feel that way too. However, each character has their own role to play. Tanks tank, Ranged picks off enemies, you soak up dmg, dance, and confuse. It’s a team effort – not a Tank damage fest.
My current setup at level 20 and why:
Weapon Setup:
Witchblade of Isha
Why: The Witchblade of Isha offers +.03 energy regeneration and an extra 25 energy. Since my main tactic is to spam spells, I heavily require lots of energy and energy regeneration. I
Why not: I’m not meleeing, so that rules Withblade of Crone and the Singing Spear out. The Warp Blade is fun and might be useless, but the +.03 reg and +25 energy is more viable for spamming spells.
Pistol of the Warseer
Why: There are two reasons to grab the Pistol of the Warseer for my tactic. First, the Swift ability keeps your Farseer as fast as any unit on the field. This piece of wargear increases her survivability by allowing you to distance yourself from chasing mobs and weave in and out to draw fire for teammate tanks. The second reason to get the Warseer Pistol is that the other two grant abilities that are neigh useless in late game.
Why not: The Pistol of the Doomseer grants a psychic blast that provides excellent early game support but is shrugged off by units level 13+. The Levitation field from the Pistol of the Skyseer doubles as a great way to kill yourself and your enemies. You are completely vulnerable during its cast. Doubling it with War is possible yet the energy cost is 35 per usage – making it castable only a few times before you are drained.
Armor Setup:
Amor of Vaul
Why: With 186 armor, the Armor of Vaul is the only viable option when equipping armor. This
ignores suppression and keeps the Farseer alive much better than any other armor. The only other armor that can compare is the Armor of Eldanesh, however, the energy drain with the Bubble isn’t compatible spam casting.
Why not: The Rune Armor and Ghost Helm are simply lol. You’ll die in an instant. The Armor of Eldanesh offers a great Bubble spell, but it will run out quickly. The key to this armor is keeping your Farseer alive in order to support with spells, draw fire, and survive. No other armor provides enough to make me consider another option.
Accessories Setup:
Runes of the Harlequin
Why: Confuse. If you’ve been reading the boards at all, you’ll know by now that Confuse, confuse, confuse is the best ability for the Farseer. It’s energy cost is low, the cooldown is small, and its impact is immeasurable. Make your enemies fight themselves! This draws fire away from you and your teammates, drains enemy health and ultimately kills ultra baddies in mobs that even the toughest tank should never touch. This ability alone is THE BEST offensive (and practically the only) spell the Farseer has to offer.
Runes of Fortune
Why: Another ultra energy cheap, 2(?) second cooldown spell that increases survivability of all teammates. Fortune keeps everyone alive longer, allowing enemies to pick themselves off (with confuse) and your teammates to pick enemies off if the mob is too strong.
Runes of Deception
Why: This one is up for debate. If your teammates don’t die (and those are the best type of teammates), you may not need to this ability. If however someone messes up, the mob will sent upon the lonely Farseer and no single Farseer can handle a full level 18 mob by Tanking or Psychic Bolting. Conceal increases survivability for you and is a great way to inch your way to teammates to revive. Casting Coneal over a dead teammate allows you to revive someone without being seen. Chain casting Coneal with Confuse can allow the Farseer to solo almost any mob. You just need plenty of Energy Regen.
Why not: The Rune of Fleetness is wasted ability for support and melee builds. With Swift and +30% melee and reflexes coming from the Pistol of the Warseer, ignore Fleet of Foot. Runes of Vigor is crucial if you’re a caster. I’d swap Rune of Fortune for Vigor to keep your energy regen high IF you don’t have the Spirit Stone of Vigor. But mind you, this my level 20 build. Level 19 and below, keep Vigor instead of Fortune for spell casting sake.
Runes of War, Runes of Evasion, Runes of and Wrath are viable for melee builds only (but you know my feelings on a Farseer melee, just garbage).
Confuse trumps the Runes of the Spider’s Entangle. Just use confuse.
Group teleport is very, very, very useful. If you can make it work instead of conceal, use it. But I prefer conceal for the reviving/ confuse chains.
Commander Accessory:
Spirit Stone of Vigor
Why: This wargear is only available at level 20. I use this so that I can free up an Accessory slot and provide +.03 energy regen for my teammates.
Why not : I use the Eldrich Storm up until level 19. The Spirit Stone compliments this current build better. Mass is confuse, but it's a 50 energy shot for only a momentary period of time. Regular confuse targets one group and is almost a guaranteed kill on higher levels.
Thanks for reading. Thoughts?
.
