The Spellslinger will easily give you damage, amazing movement, and great utility abilities within the first 10 levels. Upon entry into the game you can immediately start with all the boosts mentioned below except for Flask of Experience. Fastest times should be 10 - 15 hrs depending how well you complete Quests and your luck with queues. Although this may seem like the best plan, we highly recommend you take your time and enjoy all Nexus has to offer.
This guide will cover the basics to get you successfully by any situation in Wildstar as a Spellslinger. This is currently not a min/max lvling guide and will include some talk of features in general. Full Wildstar level unlocks and map here
XP Bonuses before you start:
5% Exp Boost - 2 Step Verification - Link
10% Exp Boost - Flask of Experience - Guild Unlock - 500 Renown
50% Exp Boost - Flask of Advancement - in game Cash Shop - 230 NCoin / 115 Omnibits
The first ten levels for the Spellslinger consists of many core abilities, some of which can be swapped out later. This will ultimately give you the wherewithal for how to properly utilize your abilities. This is very important considering the way combat mechanics are usually the highest priority over straight DPS. Below you will find the abilities for this level block that are important for taking down your enemies and doing the dance that is combat in Wildstar.
Spell Surge - Your class innate that is toggled on and off to give abilities bonus damage or additional functionality.
Quick Draw - This is your main basic attack that will act as a DPS filler in your rotation.
Charged Shot - Your main big damage ability for awhile until you can reach tier 8 Rapid Fire.
Gate - Your first interrupt ability that's also a movement ability. Get use to this ability because it can stop an oppenents spellcast and create a MoO - stunning them and increasing damage recieved by 50%.
Ignite - A DPS filler if everything else is on cooldown.
Flame Burst - Use this ability whenever it procs - instant damage.
Arcane Shock - This will really be your main interrupt so you can keep your distance and use Gate as more of a movement ability.
Rapid Fire - Rapid Fire comes in at level 12 but we will put it here anyways. When you can dump enough ability points to get to Tier 8 this should be your main damage dealer over Charged Shot.
Void Slip - You get this at level 12 but you will get there fairly quickly as stated above. It is a CC Break but also useful to get out of hairy situations.
The Spellslinger should feel as fast paced as they sound. They offer high mobility, utility and fantastic DPS. The real key is toggling your innate, Spell Surge (R), whenever you want to boost your abilities. You want to open with Spell Surge then follow with Charged Shot (2) and as many Rapid Fires (7) as you can - this doesnt happen til level 12 but you can get there fairly quickly in the grand scheme of things. Flame Burst (5) should be used whenever it procs. Ignite (4) is nothing special but can be used as a filler when trying to re-establish some distance between you and some mobs, same can be said for Quick Draw (1). Remember to toggle Spell Surge on and off for the main damage dealers only.
The abilities you want to make sure you utilize on top of the usual DPS stuff is Arcane Shock (6), Void Slip (8), and Gate (3). Arcane Shock (6) will allow you to interrupt your opponents armor (A brownish shield with a number next to your opponents nameplate.) - This will not only increase DPS on your enemy but it will also result in less damage taken; this is key to keeping health up and in turn getting into more fights quicker. Interrupting your enemy is essential to combat in Wildstar and will become a must in Elder Game content - get it down, and tighten those reflexes. You can use Void Slip to keep down time low and get out of sketchy situations - less damage taken means more time getting into combat.
The Gate (3) ability will get you into fights faster (More Exp!!) or get you out of impending danger. Gate also acts as an interrupt if you need an extra one outside of Arcane Shock. These abilities may fall to the bottom of your list in destroying your enemies but they are what make combat in Wildstar fun and truly engaging with your enemy. Use them well, and use them often.
But wait... that's it?
Yes and no - as you level you will get more abilities that should be played with and used as needed; but this should put you in the right direction. Remember to keep an eye out for Rapid Fire later on. I get it, we all want that max DPS and to breeze through stuff. The thing is - you really need to learn how to control your character and it's abilities to not only get the most out of your character, but to also get the most fun out of it. These abilities will teach you how to flow through combat, time those interrupts, and maximize those DPS opportunities.
After the first ten levels is when your abilities start to gather more character of their own. You will receive some more abilities that may be useful depending on your situation but for the most part the real flare comes from Amp and Ability points. At Elder Game you will have to gather a few more of these to reach their caps and to fully maximize your abilities and their utility. Try our Amps and Ability Point section to see where you can grab those extras at Elder Game (lvl 50)
Charged Shot - As you gather Ability points it is suggested to always put as many as you can into this ability until you can got Tier 8 with Rapid Fire.
Rapid Fire - This is second priority for Ability points while leveling and will become priority when you can hit Tier 8 - you should then open with x2 Spell Surged Rapid Fires and then Charged Shot.
Flame Burst - If you have extras then I would suggest placing the Ability points into Flame Burst - its a great instant damage filler.
1. Tier up the Assault Power I,II, and III (1st Tier Assault)
2. Grab Critical Surge and then Killer (2nd Tier Assault)
3. Grab Surge Damage (3rd Tier Assault)
4. Tier up Critical Hit I,II,III (1st Tier A/S)
5. Get Power Surge (2nd Tier A/S)
This base Amp setup should have you taken care of for most of the leveling process as a Spellslinger. After what was stated above you can go for tiering up Strikethrough I,II,III (Assault Tier 1) and then Deadly Chain (Assault Tier 2). This can then be followed by Gunslinger (Assault Tier 3). Another reason to leave you off here is because at this point you should probably start looking at various build guides to get a better sense of what to expect at Elder Game.
We hope this has been a helpful guide to getting you headed in the right direction to leveling a Spellslinger . Again, this is obviously not a min/max guide by any means and you hould take it upon yourself to truly try and flesh out the rest of what it means to be a Spellslinger in Wildstar. Special thanks to Red Velvet Ninjas for their input, which you should probably visit for those nifty builds.
