Defiler: dungeon support build & guide

[Defender]

With this build you can do decent ST dps, good AOE dps and support heal (ST & AoE), while reducing incoming tank damage by 20% and healer damage by 10%. The build is 53 defiler / 17 cabalist / 6 warden

Buffs: Feast of the Fallen, Rage Blight, Armour of Devotion
Links: 20% on tank, 10% on healer, 5% on melee dps

ST dps

• Apply Marrow Harvest and refresh whenever it is re-castable.
• Apply Bonds (Bond of Pain, Bond of Corruption).
• Apply DOTs (Siphon Vitality, Curse of Discord, Dehydrate).
• Spam nuke with Dark Water & Geyser (ST macro). I suggest you do not macro Marrow Harvest since it causes macro hold-up.
• Re-apply Marrow Harvest, DOTs & Bonds when they fall off.

AoE dps

• Apply Tyranny of Death.
• Cast Bound Fate once to spread Tyranny.
• Apply Curse of Solitude.
• Apply Bonds (Bond of Pain, Bond of Torment).
• Apply Siphon Vitality (SV).
• Apply Marrow Harvest (MH).
• Use Unholy Nexus (UN) to spread the Bonds, Siphon & Marrow Harvest to all nearby mobs.
• Cast Pain Transmission.
• Spam Bound Fate (your AOE dps spam skill).
• Re-apply SV & MH whenever UN comes off cooldown, and spread them. Bonds last longer, so re-apply these with alternating UN casts.
• Re-apply Tyranny whenever it is castable, and fire off one Bound Fate to spread it to nearby mobs.

This looks like a complex AOE dps rotation, but it isn't really. It is, effectively:

• Keep Tyranny on all mobs.
• Keep your spreadable Bonds, SV & MH on all mobs when you can via UN.
• Cast Pain Transmission on cooldown.
• Otherwise, spam Bound Fate.
• Keep Curse of Solitude running. A good way to remember is to re-cast it whenever UN is re-castable.

Tips

• You take damage that is redirected from other players, so keep your Husk of Indifference up by casting "heals". Simple ways to do it are:
  --- Make sure you have your HoT (HR) running on the tank all the time; use a @mouseover macro to spot-heal.
  --- Spam nuke with Geyser, which AoE heals and refreshes your husk. It is not as much damage as other ST skills, but it has great side-effects.
  --- Refresh Siphon Vitality regularly; this refreshes your Husk in addition to healing you and adding to your DPS.
• Your DPS skills will stack Foul Growth on players, so make liberal use of your AoE heal (Feedback) to trigger these into big heals. Feedback will also re-apply your Husk of Indifference.
• You have an AoE purge skill (removes enemy buffs); this is awesome! Use Sigil of Woe on fights such as the end boss of Unhallowed Boneforge, where you have to keep the Titans unbuffed.
• Low on mana? Just cast Empowered Affliction for a 7% mana return. Use this early and often!
• You have a combat rez! Awesome tool for a support player.
• If the healer is down you can take over. Just focus on getting stacks of Foul Growth onto the players with lowest HP and then triggering it via Feedback (if plenty of players suffering) or Loathsome Restoration (if just one). Again, I suggest @mouseover macros for Explosive Growth and Loathsome Restoration.

Comments welcome, as always.

[Darkforge]

-- I have been using a 61 def with a bit in purif/sent (usually solo grinded with it -- << is glutton for punishment grinding as psuedo healers alot, but nonetheless). Has anyone used a 61 defiler as support in experts with as much success as a 51 or similar pnt spread.?? Always looking to see other options or uses i can improve on or may have overlooked (or sometimes just for kicks and something a smidge different to use occasionally).

Thanks,

--Long live the Defilers.!!

[Defender]

I switch to my 61 defiler / 15 sentinel / 0 purifier if stronger support is needed. This is the build I use for solo-healing in experts. Its healing is superb, but it is fairly weak on AoE damage.

[Fuess]

Just go Druid for support lol, way better.

AOE heals
AOE DPS
Party buffs

[Fuess]

Forgot to mention better than decent ST DPS

[Darkforge]

Just go Druid for support lol, way better.

AOE heals
AOE DPS
Party buffs

-- Druid is nice, but i prefer ranged casting personally, and the idea type of defiler is much more appealing to me, not to mention there is always the newness of it (and yes i plan on playing that type past the 2 month honeymoon stage)..I have played druid before and really enjoyed it so i agree on some of what you say, but as far as better.. not so much (meaning situations and dung mechanics make both nice in their own way, neither truely better i would think.).
--Anyways druids are very very cool, but im soley interested in defiler for support and main heals for now (still love other role/spec/souls though so dont get me wrong -- i LOVE clerics period)..

--Long live the Defilers.!!

[Shibi]

Thanks for this support build. I wish we could tool a heal build.

AoE dps

• Apply Tyranny of Death.
• Cast Bound Fate once to spread Tyranny.
• Apply Curse of Solitude.
• Apply Bonds (Bond of Pain, Bond of Torment).
• Apply Siphon Vitality (SV).
• Apply Marrow Harvest (MH).
• Use Unholy Nexus (UN) to spread the Bonds, Siphon & Marrow Harvest to all nearby mobs.
• Cast Pain Transmission.
• Spam Bound Fate (your AOE dps spam skill).
• Re-apply SV & MH whenever UN comes off cooldown, and spread them. Bonds last longer, so re-apply these with alternating UN casts.
• Re-apply Tyranny whenever it is castable, and fire off one Bound Fate to spread it to nearby mobs.

The defiler parts of this rotation is exactly what I use solo-tanking huge slabs of mobs at once. It works so well on your beacon, it's fairly ineffective on your tank though, and of course, you only have three links, one on the healer presumably just for their safety.

Maybe I queue defile as Support and let people blink at the green cross....

uhhhh who's the healer?
why two?
You mean we have to do this with only 2 dps?
Hey Chloro, can you go to DPS please?
Cleric can heal this

uh guys, I queued support

... you have been kicked from the group ...

[Defender]

Haha. I do know where you are coming from, but it honestly works well. Also, I am running 51/15/0 def/sent/puri as my go-to healing spec and it is superb. Solo-healed xGF tonight (I have spent all my marks on tanking gear, so only have drops, and am at around 3800 SP buffed).

[KarthosNZ]

Seeing as I will already have a 61 Defiler, I would just use that if heavy support is needed. Can't see there being a huge difference between the two. Not enough to spend on a valuable Spec slot, anyways. Imo.

[Defender]

You're right, there is not a huge difference, but my Defiler support build is also my soloing build. The major difference is the lack of cabalist in a dungeon heal build, and this is responsible for a large part of AOE damage (admittedly, only on trash though). I estimate that my 61/15/0 def/sent/puri does about 20% less damage ST than my 53/17/6 def/cab/ward and about 40% less AoE damage.

[despite]

Just go Druid for support lol, way better.

AOE heals
AOE DPS
Party buffs

Melee.
/thread

No but really I feel we are kinda pigeon holed into Defiler. Which is ok, but I'm tired of dying so much due to link dmg on top of whatever group dmg is going on. and yes I have husk up 99% of the time.

[Darkforge]

-- Yea with the amount of damage taken sometimes from folks with links on, having husk up may not be tough to do but unless you are healing (main healer, or super heavy support healing) there are times its worth not putting links (or at least all links you have available) onto party members...Because otherwise you get the good old, "<defiler name> do you have a full dps you can use.?" or some similar BS comment.
--Its funny too if you dont put links on folks (mainly on tank; and usually only another defiler playing person would bother commenting though), you get frowned upon, but a good amount of the time folks dont even consider (or care) about the amount of damage you are negating with your links and look at numbers (hps/dps) only..
-(and yes, this is only my personal experience.. 1 player out of who knows, so i do understand if you dont know where im coming from, but nonetheless this is alot of what i have dealt with)..(and my dps is decent as defiler but still)...
-- I love playing my 61def/15sent for support when i can, and have a 40def/8pur/28sent as well..I do have 2 other defiler mix types .. When im not using my 61d/15s, ill use a def/inq for soloing.....
--Sorry not much of a helpful post as opposed to a bit of complaint.. but there it is..just wondering if anyone else runs into this alot or just my luck.?

--Long live the Defilers.!!

[Hijati]

I switch to my 61 defiler / 15 sentinel / 0 purifier if stronger support is needed. This is the build I use for solo-healing in experts. Its healing is superb, but it is fairly weak on AoE damage.

Would love to see a video of you solo healing an expert with this build. It is nigh impossible given the tank damage and the damage on yourself that you must maintain healing on. Although it is good for support healing if needed...I used to use it for Pain Transmission on the Grapplebot to one shot him.

[Xenoheart]

Would love to see a video of you solo healing an expert with this build. It is nigh impossible given the tank damage and the damage on yourself that you must maintain healing on. Although it is good for support healing if needed...I used to use it for Pain Transmission on the Grapplebot to one shot him.

If defender is on greybrier then I believe him. I was in an expert with a defiler that solo healed Tots (tower of the shattered, I like tots...now I'm hungry...grrr). Anywho, it's definitely doable, but of course that was just with the group I was with...and as we all know not all groups are created equal in those experts. Different healing classes are able to handle varying degree's of derp from other members.

[despite]

-- Yea with the amount of damage taken sometimes from folks with links on, having husk up may not be tough to do but unless you are healing (main healer, or super heavy support healing) there are times its worth not putting links (or at least all links you have available) onto party members...Because otherwise you get the good old, "<defiler name> do you have a full dps you can use.?" or some similar BS comment.

Oh man I've heard that one a few times. It seems just cause we're not impressive on the meters for hps/dps players assume we're bad.
I do try to keep up all 4 links though. Maybe I should just use the 25% and 20% on tank and MH and to hell with the dps! lol
Would like to see more healing from Feedback. That and our dps is weak.