After doing a lot of pvp in past 2 days I came to the conclusion that full lotus/general might be the only way in 1.5 that suits me. Current build IS very "caster heavy" which means casters are dominant in the minigames both in terms of damage and their sheer numbers.
Here is what a tested:
Variations of hybird builds
Hybrid got hit, a lot. The offhand nerf striped it from it great damage that came from deft blades and corrupting strikes. I don't know why, but 1.5 got even more CC crazy and hybrid is lacking in that departament. The infamous avatar nerf also got hybrid down - not only your target has more HP and you deal less damage, you also have less time to deal with him. No matter how I spread the points I feel lacking the tools (despite the fact that the bar is jam packed with icons).
In solo PVE there is no match for hybrid - it's even better in 1.5. With 4(!) sources of healing you can heal EVERY fight and take on loads of mobs.
Corruption/general
You die to casters. As simple as that. With single CC (not counting FTD) being death's gaze and very low magical resistance you are easy pray. I don't know, perhaps I am jaded towards corruption/general - it seems so plain and boring. The soul shard generation is also an issue. It seems like you gain them at much lower rate. Perhaps a good choice for 1.5 build, but not my cup of tea. I see a lot of people using it thou (by a lot I mean 3 assassins that I have seen, where is EVERYBODY?).
Lotus/general
Ah yes, the good old lotus. I always loved this tree, but hated the paper armor and being insta-gibed by melee classes like Conqu or BS. With pvp armor lvl4 in 1.5 this is gone (in 1.4 the pvp armor did't help all that much, or didn't help compared to godly unholy armor and pvp armor lvl4). Also the casters went down smooth and easy in 1.4 with hybrid having access to best of both worlds so Lotus wasn't really bringing anything to the table. Here is what I found out to be good in 1.5:
New Lotus Overdose
With this great buff we no longer have to suffer through stupid withdrawl. Also the stamina regeneration that comes from this baby is worth gold in1.5 where stamina goes down faster than...doughnut in the police station.
Corrupted body, arcane backlash and Lotus overload
I have faced demo who keept refreshing my overload while hurting himself with corrupted backlash. What more would you like? This is exacly what we need to stay alive in the storms of "wtf crit" and "omfg fire" that fly around in 1.5.
Blindside + Bewilder
Not only this combo will work when you are totaly out of stamina, but it will also drain the opponent and regen your stamina pool. I have always liked the idea of this combo and its animation, but it was useless in 1.4 with MEGA STAMINA POOLS and it's low damage. I find it very good against soldiers that tend to go low on stamina - fast. Also if your opponent stacks shields up Lotus can respond with GC + Blindside. Hybrid or Corruption doesn't really have anything to deal with shields going up (unless you specc in the upgr. for SDS)
New GC in Lotus stance
Lotus GC > Corruption GC - no doubts here. Not only you buff your melee and SDS, but also help others to deal more damage. What does corruption bring to the table? I guess it helps POMS and DTs to deal more of their already low damage :/
Now, I know what are you thinking "Slith, you have flip-floped builds on this blog so many times that it makes my head spin.Week from now you will be praising other build as "TEH NEW SHIT". I guess you could be right by thinking that. I play for the enjoyment that comes from my game, not for the stats (leave that to the PVE crowd, making speccs to be on top of DPS is something I will never "get", but I can understand it). If I will fall in love with another specc, so be it, but now I am on a honeymoon with my Lotus/general and I digg it a lot.
Here is what a tested:
Variations of hybird builds
Hybrid got hit, a lot. The offhand nerf striped it from it great damage that came from deft blades and corrupting strikes. I don't know why, but 1.5 got even more CC crazy and hybrid is lacking in that departament. The infamous avatar nerf also got hybrid down - not only your target has more HP and you deal less damage, you also have less time to deal with him. No matter how I spread the points I feel lacking the tools (despite the fact that the bar is jam packed with icons).
In solo PVE there is no match for hybrid - it's even better in 1.5. With 4(!) sources of healing you can heal EVERY fight and take on loads of mobs.
Corruption/general
You die to casters. As simple as that. With single CC (not counting FTD) being death's gaze and very low magical resistance you are easy pray. I don't know, perhaps I am jaded towards corruption/general - it seems so plain and boring. The soul shard generation is also an issue. It seems like you gain them at much lower rate. Perhaps a good choice for 1.5 build, but not my cup of tea. I see a lot of people using it thou (by a lot I mean 3 assassins that I have seen, where is EVERYBODY?).
Lotus/general
Ah yes, the good old lotus. I always loved this tree, but hated the paper armor and being insta-gibed by melee classes like Conqu or BS. With pvp armor lvl4 in 1.5 this is gone (in 1.4 the pvp armor did't help all that much, or didn't help compared to godly unholy armor and pvp armor lvl4). Also the casters went down smooth and easy in 1.4 with hybrid having access to best of both worlds so Lotus wasn't really bringing anything to the table. Here is what I found out to be good in 1.5:
New Lotus Overdose
With this great buff we no longer have to suffer through stupid withdrawl. Also the stamina regeneration that comes from this baby is worth gold in1.5 where stamina goes down faster than...doughnut in the police station.
Corrupted body, arcane backlash and Lotus overload
I have faced demo who keept refreshing my overload while hurting himself with corrupted backlash. What more would you like? This is exacly what we need to stay alive in the storms of "wtf crit" and "omfg fire" that fly around in 1.5.
Blindside + Bewilder
Not only this combo will work when you are totaly out of stamina, but it will also drain the opponent and regen your stamina pool. I have always liked the idea of this combo and its animation, but it was useless in 1.4 with MEGA STAMINA POOLS and it's low damage. I find it very good against soldiers that tend to go low on stamina - fast. Also if your opponent stacks shields up Lotus can respond with GC + Blindside. Hybrid or Corruption doesn't really have anything to deal with shields going up (unless you specc in the upgr. for SDS)
New GC in Lotus stance
Lotus GC > Corruption GC - no doubts here. Not only you buff your melee and SDS, but also help others to deal more damage. What does corruption bring to the table? I guess it helps POMS and DTs to deal more of their already low damage :/
Now, I know what are you thinking "Slith, you have flip-floped builds on this blog so many times that it makes my head spin.Week from now you will be praising other build as "TEH NEW SHIT". I guess you could be right by thinking that. I play for the enjoyment that comes from my game, not for the stats (leave that to the PVE crowd, making speccs to be on top of DPS is something I will never "get", but I can understand it). If I will fall in love with another specc, so be it, but now I am on a honeymoon with my Lotus/general and I digg it a lot.
