Only using True Strike in PvP is too low dps and in PvE it’s no fun at all, while the rest of the item’s modifiers are not so great. I guess Sprint + Attack Speed gear can replace this?
I just started playing Phoebe a bit ago and the tips here took me from an ok experience to having a ton of fun with her. Weaving true strike between standard combos makes Phoebe one of the most fun melee attackers right now in my opinion, like the fun of playing El Dragon but without having to hide behind corners all the time. I love that you can essentially flank even other melee attackers point blank with it, she is definitely a hard target to pin down when played properly.
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Ok, I want to learn her, but played her only once in campaign to get what she does. As I’ve gathered, if you upgrade her RMB to two hits, you basically hold LMB until she does her 1-1-2 (one hit, one hit, than two hits that are actually one - I hope you get what I’m saying lol) and then while the animation is still on, you hold RMB for those two additional hits.
Does this sound remotely legit?
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Yes, that’s the idea. Although it is easier if you hold down both mouse buttons at all times and just raise your finger from the LMB when you see the animation from the third hit.
I believe the developers wanted your fingers to “dance” on the mouse/controller to play with Phoebe’s dancer theme.
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Yup that’s more or less just that.
To be honest I just never bother with raising my finger form the LMB. I just hold down both of them 
It’s not perfectly optimal because you will probably loose one or two buffed True Strike because the 150% buff will run out of time, but by holding down your primary attack you can virtually keep refreshing the buff.
As far as I can tell the yellow glow doesn’t go away when you use the primary attack, does it ? Damn, I haven’t been able to play for a few days and already my memory is playing tricks on me…
Thanks for the replies:)
Hm, I will have to revisit her and pay more attention. You mentioned the golden glow, I’ve seen some streamer do it, I just remembered. But I didn’t have the glow when I was trying to connect the lmb/rmb stuff… Now I wonder what went wrong there… I’ll just take her for a walk then:)
Yup that yellow glow is actually the effect of the buff from Crosscut, her level 3 helix mutation. You can actually chain 4 or even maybe 5 True Strikes during Crosscut with Reprise ( 1 regular TS, 1 Reprise, TS, Reprise ) and they will all benefit from the Crosscut +150% damage buff.I still can’t remember distinctly if, when you hold both button, you strike less often with True Strike…
The legendary may be another reason to avoid weaving primary and secondary attack together too much, as it gives a damage bonus stack when you use True Strike, but that buff disappear as soon as you do anything else. I’m still unsure as whether it’s actually interesting in the long term, I feel like just weaving will give a greater damage output…
Is there any gear bonus that reduces the cooldown of Truestrike? As far as I can tell attack speed has no affect on it. I’m wondering if it’s one of those weird things that gets buffed by something you wouldn’t think of (like ISIC’s charged shots getting buffed by skill damage). A Crosscut/Reprise build would be more effective if we could get more Truestrikes out in a shorter amount of time.
Can anyone tell me what I’m doing wrong? I keep seeing these phoebes that wander the battlefield doing pretty much whatever they want. I came across a phoebe who was moving so fast without any speed gear, and attacking so fast it looked like her character was glitched. I continuously run into phoebes that act more as tanks than assassins.
I run this build like the person above: http://battlebornforum.com/pages/battleborn-helix-build-editor-phoebe/?rows=-1,1,0,-1,0,0,1,1,0,-1
my items are:
1- Legendary attack speed - attackspeed/crit damage/stacking attack speed
2- gauntlets - attack damage/attack damage after a player kill
3- Legendary boots - phoebe’s legendary
I know two legendaries is looked down on but I don’t often have troubles getting the shards.
I try to sneak, I hold both L2 and R2 unless my L2 isn’t working then I just tap it but I mostly hold because it doesn’t glitch often. I just don’t know what I’m doing differently than other people. If I see a person I need to go back to base because I usually end up taking SO MUCH damage from one single encounter that I have to back out.
I’ve tried using super defense gear but that doesn’t work well with a character that’s supposed to destroy.
Well, you didn’t actually tell us what you are doing. What do you do at the very beginning of the game? Do you die often before level 5? Where do the people you attack stand? Do you kill minnions?
I displayed my build first because I believe there isn’t much I’m doing wrong outside of that.
Match starts, run and grab shards, and run towards a side that looks like it needs the most love. I run along the path less traveled because she’s an assassin. I try not to fight too many players at the beginning unless it looks like we’re winning. Kill as many minions as possible but since I’m phoebe, the minions attacking me is enough to make me go back to base without even destroying the whole pack, let alone other players trying to stop me from killing their minions.
I try to strafe and move around as much as I can but honestly it’s friggen hard with her because you’re moving and attacking so fast. Sometimes I can end up doing it but other times I lose players because there’s so much movement going on between the two.
Her blade rush I can barely ever land too, but it seems to shoot weird and almost differently depending on how you’re moving and I never really get hit by it much either.
If I see a player I just hold down R2/L2 (primary and secondary) until they die which is just about all I can do.
I’d say that it’s dangerous to go alone early in a game. It’s an almost guaranteed way to either die because they are moving in pairs and can quickly overpower you, or have a hard time leveling because you will have to flee / won’t see anyone.
Of course there is the minion farming in Meltdown or vaguely Incursion ( I hardly play any Incursion myself ), but in Capture there are only a couple Varelsis so you really have to stick to someone. And as you mentionned, minions can really hurt you early on so it’s another indication you just can’t go alone. I tend to think myself that you are probably going to have a hard time until level 5.
There are two schools I guess about the Helix choices : Blade sweep like you do, or Reprise. I go with Reprise 90% of the time myself because I’d rather boost Phoebe’s strength which is single target slaying. Reprise, with Crosscut and the occasional Phoebe’s legendary buff, can quickly reach some serious damage. Which lead me to think that maybe you should maybe not hold R2/L2 continously but rather rythm them a little more in order to get full advantage of the buffs ( land more True Strikes, all increasingly boosted ). I still do not have that legendary ( can you believe I can’t find Marquis ??? )
Also I’d rather pick Scientific Method ( farther casting range of Phasegate ) rather than the alternative which boosts Phasegate’s bonus and damage. I think it’s both a better offensive and defensive tool, to better get the jump on someone, or flee from a hairy situtation which can come aplenty with Phoebe.
Blade rush I use when able just to get a little damage increase but it’s weak, weak weak.
For the last line, I prefer the third option. People tend to move around so a bigger AoE is always nice. Unless you’re in a coordinated team and can coordinate an assault or the use of ultimates in which case Blade Cascade will act as a welcome debuffer for more hard hitting ults.
In the end I mostly roll with this : http://battlebornforum.com/pages/battleborn-helix-build-editor-phoebe/?rows=-1,1,0,-1,1,0,1,-1,0,1,
As for the loadout, attack speed, attack damage, CD reduction ( almost the most important for me haha ). Getting +8% damage on 90 ( primary ) to ~150 ( secondary ) damage isn’t going to rock your world. They are nice boosts but not essential, which is why I’d rather go with CDR, +health, +shield regen ( can yield more free Contingency Plans )… Tools and defense.
Also yeah, too much legendaries isn’t a good idea because of the cost. That’s as many shards you won’t spend on buildables which are very important - XP gain, a little edge for your team, etc. I do not have the numbers on your first item, but it really doesn’t sound worth it. Crits are … Let’s say hard to land in melee. I’d get a regular attackspeed item instead, much much cheaper and probably just as efficient, and not based on proc. Attack speed is very strong and wil lbenefit Phoebe more than actual raw damage boost.
The issue with Phoebe’s legendary is that not only are the number for regular stats low, the proc is… Debatable. It apparently is cancelled as soon as you do anything that isn’t a True Strike or do not hit anything for 1sec. I think it’s a very weird item that is probably not worth it at all when you’re still looking for your marks. Just put a stronger CD reduction item there, or that defensive item I was talking about. Health, Shield, Shield regen, even Shield Delay…
Last, there is a totally viable option too : instead of Blade Sweep or Reprise, go with Passata Sotto if the team is giving you a hard time. You won’t hit as strong but you will be way harder to kill, allowing you to actually do something. Phoebe can have a very strong defense with a build like that :
http://battlebornforum.com/pages/battleborn-helix-build-editor-phoebe/?rows=-1,-1,-1,-1,-1,0,1,1,-1,1,
and shield regen / health items. Phasegates all day long thanks to a very high Shield regen rate, lots of resistance. What’s the use? In an organized team, I guess having a tanking Phoebe can be a very surprising thing…
Can’t get much more comprehensive info than that. I actually prefer pasatta sotto over the other two options, the second hit for true strike feels difficult to land a hit when you are constantly strafing a target, even without movespeed increases I find I occasionally lose my target even with regular strikes, much less the small window of true strike’s second hit. I should experiment more with them though. I find myself able to use her nearly tank like as Goldhawk mentioned as the combination of damage reduction + ridiculous weaving from truestrike makes most players whiff their attacks and the ones that land are laughable. The only weakness Phoebe has at that point is to AOE heavy opponents.
I’m definitely still experimenting with loadouts though, either a 400 shard cost general builder type I usually use for capture, or a very basic attack/attack speed loadout. Try stacking 20% attack speed on Phoebe sometime, once she hits level 7 it’s kind of insane. Possibly the highest DPS of any non skill attack at that point.
I highly recommend taking Preparation and then pretending that Blade Rush is only for silencing. I also find that if I’m fighting Caldariuses and Mellkas that the long range helix helps with securing a kill so you don’t have to overextend. I prefer Passata Sotto lately, but Reprise and Crosscut can be extremely powerful. No matter what, I think that although the shield buff is very helpful, it’s overshadowed. Contingency Plan is utterly amazing. If you don’t take the shield buff, you can secure a kill, run away, have your shields come back, and then dash back in. Contingency Plan is as strong as some of Orendi’s cooldown choices IMO. I highly recommend trying it again. I also recommend farming shards like crazy until you hit around level 4. That’s when she becomes overpoweringly strong.
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