Good 2nd mastery for forcewave & blitz Soldier...?

[Siddha]

So I have a Lv 42 hardcore soldier using Forcewave & Blitz as my damage dealers (physical & internal trauma). I just completed Steps of Torment and wondering about taking a second mastery that would support my build and playstyle.

I'm happy with forcewave & blitz and the sort of commando hit & run playstyle I've developed using them... so I want a second mastery for the mastery bar and for damage support and protections or circuit breakers for safety (playing hardcore).

Forcewave & Blitz use energy and I do sometimes run short of it so I thought maybe the Nightblade Mastery bar would give me some more spirit and Nightblade supports physical damage too... but I'm not sure... so I thought to ask for suggestions here from more experienced players.

[DirtyMick]

I would go either shaman or oath. Shaman is nice for brute force passive skill that gives a bunch of flat health, that will synergize real well with physical conditioning on soldier tree. Also you can get mogdrogens pact, which is really good all around defensively. Oath does have good stuff too though.

[Senrezu]

There is a lvl 94 set that changes the entire kit you are using into fire damage and it has additional bonus skills to Demolitionist and Oathkeeper. If you pick Oathkeeper you can respecc into an unkillable super tank if things don't go the you planned.

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

Originally posted by Siddha:

the Nightblade Mastery bar would give me some more spirit and Nightblade supports physical damage too...

i think it's the first time i've seen someone pick Nightblade because of spirit and or physical dmg
and i'd dare say you picked "wrong" if those were the reasons, not just because Nighblade doesn't really give you much mana or spirit boost, but also because it doesn't really support physical dmg - physical and pierce are 2 very different things, and nightblade would not be my top5 picks for phys dmg support, "unless you were specifically intending to meme Nighblade skills into phys dmg"

Oathkeeper, Occultist and Necro has phys dmg support in terms of RR, Oathkeeper also has phys passives and shield dmg bonuses if going that way
Demo has phys dmg bonus in a passive, no RR, Inquis has phys dmg in passive, no RR(without items), and shaman has phys dmg passive, no RR
If you wanna do Forcewave i'd say it depends on whether you want to do spam forcewave or cooldown forcewave, since the class choice can switch a little depending on which you wanna aim at,
for Blitz i'd say it depends if you're going shield route or 2h route, but Oathkeeper is a solid choice for both tho
and ofc depends if you want conversion flexibility, as Sen mentioned later you get access to items that can convert the physical dmg into something else
Krieg Set does aether dmg, and Justicar set does fire dmg, Necro could be used for both phys and aether swap potential, Oathkeeper could be used for both phys and fire swap potential
currently i think the strongest cooldown FW build is Crab's witchblade https://forums.crateentertainment.com/t/1-1-9-6-forcewace-trauma-witchblade-all-celestials-sr90-1-million-damage-internal-trauma-crits/115351 - no Blitz focus
for spam FW or phys Blitz you're likely looking at Warlord(soldier+oathkeeper), tho witchblade would still technically work there, as would Death Knight

[madrigal]

Originally posted by gNuff!~©~gNom3™:

currently i think the strongest cooldown FW build is Crab's witchblade https://forums.crateentertainment.com/t/1-1-9-6-forcewace-trauma-witchblade-all-celestials-sr90-1-million-damage-internal-trauma-crits/115351 - no Blitz focus
for spam FW or phys Blitz you're likely looking at Warlord(soldier+oathkeeper), tho witchblade would still technically work there, as would Death Knight

This Witchblade build looks fun: Soldier with minimalist support from Occultist. I just "finished" a Battlemage and I like it for a similar reason that it's a Soldier with very minimalist support from the Arcanist class. Either combination will never run out of energy.

Sometimes it feels like every build I make has either Oathkeeper or Shaman because they're very strong and straightforward to play. I think if I played hardcore, I would stick with one of these two.

I can't believe I have a couple thousand hrs in this game and still don't have a pair of Myth Boneshatter Treads. The rng gods hate me.

[Siddha]

Thank you folks for excellent replies and suggestions all of which look worthy of considering.

Thank you especially gNuff!~©~gNom for your in-depth reply and suggestions. I think you are right about the Nightblade not being a good choice.

What I want is a soldier with some support from the second mastery. Most of all I want extra spirit & cunning from the second mastery bar. Using a combination of cool-down forcewave & blitz uses quite a bit of energy and I find during intense battles I can run out of energy which leaves me unable to use my main damage skills for a short time... not ideal.

The Witchblade looks good... it would give me the energy I want... but I would be losing cunning which I also want. So I had a look at all the mastery bars and the one that I think might fit my requirements best is Inquisitor... a Tactician. I would be getting more spirit & energy and a little more cunning too. I have means already in Soldier to boost physique & health.

So I am tempted to go with Tactician. I had a look at a couple of tier lists and Tactician is usually in the top or S rank.

[Safarel]

Originally posted by Siddha:

I had a look at a couple of tier lists and Tactician is usually in the top or S rank.

very, very strange tier list tbh

[peetski]

Witchblade is kind of fun with Curse of Frailty debuff, very useful. If you have Stonefist Rebuke at level 50, very op but you have to wait a while for the Mythical version. I started out Cadence/Forcewave but went with Cadence/Blitz build because it is fun smashing close and then zooming to next pack. There are some Korvan Axes that might beat it mid-game I can't remember but used the level 50 version to 80 I think. have fun.

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

Originally posted by Siddha:

What I want is a soldier with some support from the second mastery. Most of all I want extra spirit & cunning from the second mastery bar.

probably worth to mention that
ideal support should be more than just merely what attributes you get/mastery bar
but also, if your issue is mana, you do not need spirit to fix it, much less so the attribute proportions of a mastery bar
there is many ways to fix mana issues, and just stacking spirit, specially purely from mastery bar is probably the least effective
as for cunning, pretty much same deal but "worse" since while cunning from mastery bar is indeed nice, the amount/proportion afforded by a 4-3-2-1pt/mastery bar should not be your deciding factor for support. Solely mastery bar portion of cunning will not be the thing that "tips" your character over another mastery with more direct build support but lower cunning points per mastery bar - and like spirit, cunning can be obtained elsewhere than mastery bar

as example, the difference from 50pts mastery bar on a 2 vs 4 pt cunning attribute upgrade is 41% additive phys/pierce dmg and 50 offensive ability, that's it
meanwhile the gain in actual mastery buffs can be much much higher or more synergetic, be it % or flat dmg from buffs, oa from buffs, RR, or defensive build capabilities or resists that lets you obtain those offences elsewhere too - heck or mana too

[Siddha]

Originally posted by gNuff!~©~gNom3™:

Originally posted by Siddha:

What I want is a soldier with some support from the second mastery. Most of all I want extra spirit & cunning from the second mastery bar.

probably worth to mention that
ideal support should be more than just merely what attributes you get/mastery bar
but also, if your issue is mana, you do not need spirit to fix it, much less so the attribute proportions of a mastery bar
there is many ways to fix mana issues, and just stacking spirit, specially purely from mastery bar is probably the least effective
as for cunning, pretty much same deal but "worse" since while cunning from mastery bar is indeed nice, the amount/proportion afforded by a 4-3-2-1pt/mastery bar should not be your deciding factor for support. Solely mastery bar portion of cunning will not be the thing that "tips" your character over another mastery with more direct build support but lower cunning points per mastery bar - and like spirit, cunning can be obtained elsewhere than mastery bar

as example, the difference from 50pts mastery bar on a 2 vs 4 pt cunning attribute upgrade is 41% additive phys/pierce dmg and 50 offensive ability, that's it
meanwhile the gain in actual mastery buffs can be much much higher or more synergetic, be it % or flat dmg from buffs, oa from buffs, RR, or defensive build capabilities or resists that lets you obtain those offences elsewhere too - heck or mana too

Once again thanks gNuff!~©~gNom3™
I think you are right... there are better ways to manage energy... so I am now thinking in terms of skills synergy with how I am playing my soldier. He's 47 now and I've not yet decided on my second mastery... but perhaps Oathkeeper best suits my shield build.

[Siddha]

Originally posted by peetski:

Witchblade is kind of fun with Curse of Frailty debuff, very useful. If you have Stonefist Rebuke at level 50, very op but you have to wait a while for the Mythical version. I started out Cadence/Forcewave but went with Cadence/Blitz build because it is fun smashing close and then zooming to next pack. There are some Korvan Axes that might beat it mid-game I can't remember but used the level 50 version to 80 I think. have fun.

I didnt try Cadence yet... maybe one day I'll do a respec and try it out
I'm thinking of Oathkeeper since I use a shield and it has a lot of supports

[Lynx]

If you're reasonably coherent with your skill points forcewave/blitz/warcry soldier will absolutely get you through Ultimate pretty comfortably without any supporting mastery. Decent luck farming/shopping a superior obsidian warcleaver of ruin at appropriate levels is the game changer. For pure phys anyways.

[GD4Ever]

I have a pure soldier that uses cadence as well and there's nothing wrong with just solder by itself. If I were to try hardcore though, would choose the Shammy as secondary just for the healing totems and modrogens pact.

One addition to your combo that would make life easier down the road is when you can add the "leap" ability by applying that component to your medal. So blitz, leap (i think it does a stun as well), forcewave then cadence. Rinse and repeat. That leap will also get you out of your jams when you are surrounded and there's puddles of crap under your feet and you need to get out of it quick! Not to mention warcry and all the other stuff. =)

[Siddha]

Originally posted by Lynx:

If you're reasonably coherent with your skill points forcewave/blitz/warcry soldier will absolutely get you through Ultimate pretty comfortably without any supporting mastery. Decent luck farming/shopping a superior obsidian warcleaver of ruin at appropriate levels is the game changer. For pure phys anyways.

Yes I just found an Obsidian War Cleaver around The Blood Grove area... not of ruin unfortunately... but I will be farming for one. Good to hear I could just go pure soldier.
What skills do you think should be developed most... other than the obvious FW & B...?

Originally posted by ttl4you:

I have a pure soldier that uses cadence as well and there's nothing wrong with just solder by itself. If I were to try hardcore though, would choose the Shammy as secondary just for the healing totems and modrogens pact.

One addition to your combo that would make life easier down the road is when you can add the "leap" ability by applying that component to your medal. So blitz, leap (i think it does a stun as well), forcewave then cadence. Rinse and repeat. That leap will also get you out of your jams when you are surrounded and there's puddles of crap under your feet and you need to get out of it quick! Not to mention warcry and all the other stuff. =)

I am using a Severed Claw in my weapons which grants the skill Brutal Slam... so I dont feel the need of investing skill points in Cadence. My usual tactic with heroes & bosses etc is to blitz in... then Warcry & forcewave and slam... then retreat to avoid attacks and to let the internal trauma dot do its work.... then rinse & repeat.

I cannot find any component with a leap skill on GDTools...?
Are you sure that is the right name... or that it is a component skill...?

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

Originally posted by Siddha:

I cannot find any component with a leap skill on GDTools...?
Are you sure that is the right name... or that it is a component skill...?

leap is a skill granted by augment you put on medal, from the forgotten gods expansion
https://www.grimtools.com/db/search?query=%22leap%22%20%22medal%22&in_description=1&exact_match=0

[Siddha]

Originally posted by gNuff!~©~gNom3™:

Originally posted by Siddha:

I cannot find any component with a leap skill on GDTools...?
Are you sure that is the right name... or that it is a component skill...?

leap is a skill granted by augment you put on medal, from the forgotten gods expansion
https://www.grimtools.com/db/search?query=%22leap%22%20%22medal%22&in_description=1&exact_match=0

Excellent... thank you
I almost died a couple of times after activating a totem and being surrounded by the monsters and unable to move away... do you know will leap overcome that issue?