Vengeance

As the proud owner of a newly level 9 Infiltrator (thanks Kirin and Zaius!), I figured I'd post my spec template and let more experienced players pull it apart for me. Suggestions, comments and questions are welcome.

Note: This only takes into account points spent on skills, not autotrains.

Lvl 10 - 0 Stealth, 8 Slash, 9 Envenom, 6 Crit Strike, 4 Dual
Lvl 15 - 0 Stealth, 12 Slash, 10 Envenom, 15 Crit Strike, 4 Dual
Lvl 20 - 16 Stealth, 15 Slash, 11 Envenom, 18 Crit Strike, 4 Dual
Lvl 25 - 20 Stealth, 21 Slash, 14 Envenom, 21 Crit Strike, 4 Dual
Lvl 30 - 25 Stealth, 25 Slash, 17 Envenom, 25 Crit Strike, 4 Dual
Lvl 35 - 30 Stealth, 29 Slash, 19 Envenom, 29 Crit Strike, 4 Dual
Lvl 40 - 30 Stealth, 29 Slash, 25 Envenom, 39 Crit Strike, 4 Dual
Lvl 45 - 35 Stealth, 35 Slash, 38 Envenom, 39 Crit Strike, 5 Dual
Lvl 50 - 39 Stealth, 50 Slash, 41 Envenom, 39 Crit Strike, 5 Dual

This spec plan was designed to keep Fiendish competetive at all levels of RvR comabt, with special attention payed to the Battlegrounds environment.

Also, the 50 in Slash is based on the premise that as a Infiltrator specialized in slashing, it will be hard to obtain equipment that will boost Strength and Slash (as it will be scooped up by the tanks).

The decision to go with a higher Envenom than Crit Strike was to ensure that I'd be able to get my hands on Lifesbane. Sweet, delicious Lifesbane.

So, any comments? I'm particularly interested in seeing peoples opinions on specific level breakdowns: Does, for instance, my level 30 spec plan gimp me compared to other characters my level (PvE or PvP-wise)?

Oh, and any suggestions for a last name will also be given due consideration. I'm currently leaning towards Fiendish Glee.

:o .....i think the poison is name Lifebane...not LifeSbane  ;)

...anyway....ive read on message boards that unlike other spec skills you can use higher lvl poisons with +envenom items...so you dont need to bring envonom up to 50. however ive also heard that +envenom stuff isnt to common, but i wouldnt know.
im not sure about any of this stuff though...not being an inf and all, but i hope it helps

Envenom gear is relatively rare. There are just a few envenom items i'm aware of, and they're almost all at the highest levels... nothing you'd see in a BG career.

Darkness Falls has a +5 envenom jewel for a big pile of diamond tokens. There's a fishhook from Lyonesse that gives you +2 (little axe can now do envenerating poisons... ph33r m3!1! - thanks Noreen). The rest are on thrusters from Lynn Barfog which won't be available to you, since you're slash.

The dual wield will help you through some early levels; so that looks pretty good. (I went with 0 dual wield until my late 40s...)

Damage output looks like this skill wise:

CS > weapon > envenom > dual wield

So a point of CS gives you more benefit than weapon, etc.

Your stealth at 20 may be a point too high; remember that you can have level/5 + 1 skill adds from gear, so +5 at level 20-24. You can get Cat Boots with your main and hand them off to your twink (+2), Cloak of Shades quest (+2) and infiltrator epic at 15 (+1) will cap you out. So go 15 at 20 and keep it level-5 thereafter for max stealth.

Slash looks great. You should be able to locate +slash weapons that get you at or near max spec through 25.

My only concern for you is that with lower envenom skill, your levelling will be more difficult than mine was. With max envenom, CS, and weapon, I can easily solo low oranges all day long. Yellows provide only downtime to top off endurance. Just to see if I could, I've been able to solo a few low reds with weapon vulnerabilities, though it's risky and requires they don't resist the poisons. Anyway, as you build your infiltrator you'll figure out how viable he is in PvE and adjust accordingly if you're having too much trouble.

Okay, how's this for a revised level 20 template:

15 Stealth, 15 Slash, 15 Envenom, 15 Crit Strike, 5 Dual

I'm still not sure about 15 Stealth, though. While yes, I could have +5 from items at 20th, at 16 you get Detect Invisible - seeing as my primary targets are going to be cloth and lether wearers, that's a skill I want to have. I assume, like other skills, you don't get level-dependant benefits (like styles) from +items.

The other problem I see is that this template is rather generic. If I really wanted to be uber, I could go 7 Envenom and 21 Crit, which would give me PA at 20th. Is it worth it to suffer through the next 10 levels just to have PS at 20th?

Based on a few fights in the BG as a 24 infil, I think critstrike is great, but has limited use. A lot of people know to spin around to screw up your perf. So my poisons seem to make more of a difference there than my critstrike.

I think I would probably try to get detect hidden at 16 if I were you, knowing that you're focussing on BG domination. Maybe pick it up at 21.

Perforate artery is very, very good. It does more damage in one move than your BS2/Thighcut chain, with a bleed effect. I didn't get it til 23, trying to get high envenom (the 20 DoT does 31-35/tick * 6 ticks. About half of a BG'ers health. Perf with poison and run can win a fight.)

I'd say you have a good revised template. At 21, raise stealth to 16 to acquire detect hidden, then focus on getting perforate artery. I discovered that my autotrained stealth wasn't really good enough to land the perf reliably when soloing.

My template at 24:
Stealth 14 (+5)
Thrust 19 (+5)
Envenom 20 (+2)
CS 21(+3)
DW 1

My current plan is to try to raise stealth, CS and thrust relatively evenly as I progress. I'm planning to leave envenom at 20 until my late 30s.