Need help with Phoebe

Battleborn Phoebe
#1

After mastering Deande and Orendi, I wanted to try something different, I wanted to try a melee character. Now, being more of a sneaky player who uses tricks and tactics rather than close combatting face to face, I am by no means what you call experienced in melee fights. So I went on to choose Phoebe as my first melee character, as she at least has some kind of a sneaky element with her phasing.

Now I played my first 3 rounds as Phoebe and things went, well, rather pear-shaped, to say the least. Not that I expected to be a pro from the get-go, but I got one mere kill and about 20ish assists, along with 17 deaths in 3 rounds, which does not suffice at all.

I think I may have acted a bit too hasty, like a lot of people say you have to wait for your opportunity with Phoebe. But it’s hard to find my role, I don’t actually have an idea what I’m supposed to do and how I best kill people. Do you guys have any advice on how to play her, some tricks and maybe a good gameplay video that I could watch and learn from? Because I have been watching Phoebe gameplays for like 2h now and I didn’t really see anything that I didn’t do.

#2

Look for people who are alone. Any non-tank alone will have a really hard time standing up to Pheobe post-2 because of her super useful slow helix. Try to enter a fight after it’s already begun and when attention’s not on you, and also from behind so that people who are unaware may not realize you’re hitting them until they’re almost dead.

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#3

It’s not so much when to kill but who to kill. Oscar, Whiskey, Orendi (with slowdown helix), Miko, low level Thorn (high level Thorn with slowdown helix), Kleese, and Reyna are pretty much free kills when you Phasegate them. Stay away from tanks early on until you get your attack speed up. Even then try to have a buddy with you. And on the topic of attack speed, it is the most valuable thing you have as Phoebe. Her level 7 right helix gives 20% bonus melee speed, and you can easily stack another 20% with gear (buy those Jennerit packs!) And knowing this, avoid slows at all costs. A slowed Phoebe is a dead Phoebe.

Here’s how I built her before unlocking mutations: http://battlebornforum.com/pages/battleborn-helix-build-editor-phoebe/?rows=-1,1,1,1,1,-1,1,1,-1,-1,

It pretty much involves boosting Phasegate’s usefulness and buffing her primary and secondary attacks. Levels 4, 9, and 10 are tossups. Use whichever feels better for you personally.

And here’s the build I use after all mutations have been unlocked: http://battlebornforum.com/pages/battleborn-helix-build-editor-phoebe/?rows=-1,1,0,1,0,0,1,1,0,0,

With this build all mutations are taken. Phoebe’s mutations are super solid. The only tossup here is level 10, and maybe level 5. I need to do some testing with Crosscut plus Reprise.

For gear, you want to buff attack speed using Jennerit gear because it’s secondary bonus can be attack speed. The negative can either be recoil (optimal) or damage reduction (very much not optimal). So for primary gear stats, slot one is damage speed, slot 2 will be attack damage, and slot 3 can be whatever you prefer (I like either critical hit damage or shields). If you want to add some legendary gear, try the Vow of Vengeance or the Mini Singularity Launcher (my favorite). The Heliophagic Goggles also seem good on paper, but I’ve never seen it in use so I don’t feel comfortable recommending it yet.

Also most importantly, practice and don’t get discouraged!

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Who wants a Phoebe build guide?
#4

I go with Reprise myself. I used to get Blade Sweep, but I prefer the focused power on Reprise.

However, I used Blade Sweep before finding my marks. It’s a good way to offset target tracking issues, especially with a melee character, or for killing minions. Once you start knowing how and when to use Phasegate, the only really useful skill she got ( her ult is neat, though ), you know when to strike and when to leave, so Reprise gives some more burst damage.

Also yes, attack speed. I love Cooldown reduction too, though. Because I don’t have a lot of items with nice attack speed bonuses as secondary, I put a CDR item. A little more phasegates can go a long way.
And a defensive item because Phoebe is still a very squishy character and can pretty easily be stuck in melee with her pants down. So get some shield or health over there ( I prefer health myself because it’s the “base” survivability stat :wink: )

#5

Thank you guys. I chose attack speed & damage, running speed and a shard extractor with skill damage. Worked better than yesterday, I got 2 kills in my first match today. More matches to come, but I’m confident now, I got the hang of playing her a bit now.

Update: yup, got a 2-0-7 K/D/A on the second round, stuff’s getting better. :wink:

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#6

if you still need help give me a message im very skilled with her she is very underated and can easily carry a team

#7

If you are a stealthy type player then I have the combo for you!

Stack her with some sort of movement speed, attack speed and buff true strike as much as possible. True strike’s speed is effected by your overall movement speed so she can literally dance circles around the players. 5-10% movement speed is great with about 15% attack speed.

Also always choose the phase gate that has slow and take out minions until it’s your time to strike. When an opponent is engaged with another phase gate behind them to give them the slow effect and add standard hits and true strike hits to follow their retreat or ways of egress. Chances are they’ll be dead before they go far unless it’s a tank, which will take a bit more.

Her level 5 should only be used for three things, a quick mob clear, an assassination tactic when sneaking up behind opponents, or a means of blocking a lane or zone from opponents so your team can react and punish accordingly.

In my opinion she is the only true assassin in this game, actually getting behind your opponents and taking them out fast. Well, unless you count Rath doing a CC Dreadwind

I hope this helps you with Phoebae :slight_smile:

#8

I mastered phoebe a week ago and I will say go with attack speed and damage. The dps is godlike with that gear

#9

By “True Strike’s speed” do you mean how fast you can use it or how fast Phoebe actually moves when using it?

#10

How fast she moves. You’d be amazed what 10% Movement speed does for her. She literally moves around the enemy like she’s on Ice Skates. Combine that with high attack speed and a bit of damage and she truly assassinates everything.

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#11

Thanks for the tip! I’ll definitely try that out.