Leveling Sith Assassin: Madness compared to Deception

[Deleted]

Hi guys,

I am leveling my Sith Assassin (lvl 35) with all points in the Deception tree and so far it's working fine. But I get tired of having to be behind the target to use Maul. Especially because I am completely limited to Khem as a companion due to his tanking abilities.

So I was wondering, has anybody experience in leveling with the Madness tree?

My idea of the build: (8 / 2 / 31, I am not allowed to post the link)

I know that's it's difficult to judge a build without a damage meter, but maybe some of you can share your experience?

Cheers,
Tri

[Vrachara]

I've heard Madness works just fine for leveling. That said, I don't see what's your problem with using Khem (unless you're bored of him/want to use other companions for RP's sake, like I do with Ashara), I found him to be a brilliant companion to level with along with a Deception build, could mow down pretty much anything.

[Deleted]

The problem with any tank companion is that they take only slightly less damage than a dps companion, while doing a lot less damage themselves.

[Gentlepenguin]

http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#200ZhGMRkZf0cR.1

spec i would use at 35, at 40 i'd respec into 31 deception and go for the generic 0/33/8 chain shock build. chain shock is pretty invaluable and this build doesn't play much differently from full deception.

[Deleted]

My main issue with Khem is that I am little bit bored of him and just want to try out some other companions. As a Deception Assa with Maul as my main attack, this is a tough thing to do. I know that he's brilliant in terms of effectiveness but well... I just need some change.

---------- Post added 2012-01-25 at 02:39 PM ----------

Hmm ok, so speccing fully into Death Field doesn't make any sense? I am not a min/maxxer, but I want to keep at least some effectiveness..

[Gentlepenguin]

generally you don't want to use maul without duplicity up. it's not worth the force cost. especially once you get voltaic slash and your shock starts hitting a lot harder.

[Deleted]

OK, then I'll wait until Level 40 for Voltaic Strike to evaluate the effectiveness. Thanks!

BTW I know that I need Duplicity to use Maul effectively, but with the standard UI it's just hard to track when it's ready. So I just Maul all the time.

[belfpala]

I leveled in the madness tree. Once you get the talent that buffs death field, it's pretty damn good. I mostly leveled with dark charge (the tanking stance) and used either andronikos or talos as my companion, depending on the situation.

[PACOX]

The problem with Deception is that a lot of people just don't understand the playstyle. I leveled Deception with no problem. The last couple class quest were hard but even Tankassins had problems because they aren't really melee friendly. After 40 I barely used Khem only used Xalek (I used Xalek over Khem because I hadn't geared Khem for a couple of levels by now and Xalek could just get gear I didn't want for myself) for a couple of end quest that needed a tank. At 40 you get Volatic Slash, it changes everything. You really shouldn't be using Maul unless it procs but now you will never use Maul unless it procs and that clears up a lot of past frustration.

[grandpab]

I switched back and forth between deception and madness a couple times while I was leveling and I feel like it doesn't really matter what you spec. Just play the spec that you enjoy more. Give madness a shot, see how it is, and if you don't like it just go back to deception.

Deception is lots of big numbers and you kill fast if you can get a bunch of crits, Madness is 2-3 dots so smaller numbers but better sustained dps and some abilities still can crit pretty hard.

I also use Talos all the time. With the tank pets and dps pets you have to seethe after every fight and I found that kind of annoying, so I just use Talos and he removes all the downtime. There's certain class quests I know I couldn't do without Talos, the droid everyone has problems with near the end of the quest line I killed on the 2nd try with Talos, and as deception. IMO Talos is the best companion.

Like someone else mentioned, dark charge makes a big difference in your survivability. It's so good that I base my pvp spec off it and have to ignore all the other weapon charge talents. It's like being a tank that can still do good pretty good damage. Dark charge is probably only something I'd use on the more difficult fights though, for questing.

I think the cookie cutter pve madness spec is something like 3/7/31