Early to Mid-game (lvl 1-39) Solo/Group PURE DPS dps leveling pve pvp thing
Guide by LordDalamar Last update at Jul 12th 2014, 17:58

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Pulverizing Fury 1
1  60

Early to Mid-game (lvl 1-39) Solo/Group Pure DPS


Part 2 for levels 40-60 located HERE


This build is designed for easy leveling and near maximum single & multi target DPS w/ a moderate amount of added survivability during early & mid-game (normal & heroic modes). Keep in mind that this is NOT a tanky build and relies on taking out enemies a.s.a.p. It works great in virtually any scenario (solo, group, leveling, crowds, bosses, etc.) but it REALLY shines for solo leveling and in group environments with tank(s) present.

NOTE: This build dominates in any environment from levels 1 to 39 (Normal & Heroic modes) but once in Superheroic mode at level 40+, the mobs hit much harder, have much better defense and this Thing build will suddenly seem super-squishy. After level 39, I highly recommend my Endgame (lvl 40-60) Solo/Group Tank build, designed to survive the absolute worse conditions the game has to offer, whether group or solo.

Minor build updates may follow as I continue to test. Please feel free to comment. Any constructive criticism is appreciated. Flames will be completely ignored and/or reported. Please up-vote this build if you have found it useful, viable and/or intuitive!


Brawler



Bash - I opted for Bash as my blue/yellow/boss-killer due to its high damage & moderate DPS (considering its attack speed) and its added stun. 1 on 1, it's brutal. In a crowd, a well positioned (all enemies in front of Benjy) Bash can hit multiple targets for massive amounts of damage. I chose this over
Brickyard Headbutt because of comparable damage, faster attack speed, multi-target (as opposed to Brickyard's single target) and less spirit consumption.

Bruising Punch - I chose Bruising Punch over
Fantastic Haymaker because the speed & damage is nearly the same however, as this is a pure DPS build, the extra Damage Rating for 5 seconds from Bruising Punch applies to ALL powers within that 5 seconds. Fantastic Haymaker, on the other hand, only gives +Crit to that power alone. A well-built Benjy should never be so spirit-starved as to have to rely on FM that frequently. Bruising Punch also costs nothing to use...making it great for use while waiting on spirit to replenish during prolonged battles.

Center of Attention - This was my last choice for point placement as the others gave more benefit-per-points spent. You can also allow items giving +1 to Brawler or +1 to All to take up the slack here. Alongside a maxed out Aggressive Aura, even with 1 point, you're looking at a crazy amount of +dmg across the board.


Rockpile



Directed Shockwave - A great opener with excellent damage. Following it up with Crashing Leap will take out most all trash mobs.

Hard as Rock - As this is your only survivability-based skill asides for the Clobberin' Time defense rating buff, it should be maxed.

Jagged Defender - Only 1 point here for the added slow and let the +1 to All and/or +1 to Rockpile from items take up the slack.

Crashing Leap - I chose this over
Rockslide Charge &
Ground Smash for my AoE due to its incredible damage. Versus Ground Smash, the AoE hits 25% harder and offers some mobility. Versus Rockslide Charge, the damage hits right at 2x harder, works better when triggered immediately after Directed Shockwave and does not take you careening out of the fray when triggered allowing you to keep your foes in front of you for a good old-fashioned Bash-fest followup. It can be used standing in-place and the spirit cost-per-damage is far better.

Clobberin' Time - Maxed. 'Nuff said. Keep it up as much as possible.

Pulverizing Fury - Thing's Ultimate Power. Though I'm not really impressed with it since it seems a bit buggy right now (see note below) it may be fixed in a future patch. Therefore, from level 30 up, you should be investing heavily in advancing Pulverizing Fury by trading Eternity Splinters to Adam Warlock for Ultimate Power upgrades.

NOTE: Pulverizing Fury is still buggy. So use it with care. Gazillion stated that they corrected the problem with ultimates being interrupted by adding a CC effect to them in patch 2.14. Great! However, this does not seem to have fixed Benjy's ultimate at all. After testing, it is still interrupted 4 out of 5 times. Nor has Gazillion addressed the issue of Thing's ultimate not applying all of its DoT ticks as it should. A quick tip, Crashing Leap AWAY from the mobs, start Pulverizing Fury and wait for the mobs to come within range of it themselves. It will NOT be interrupted using this method.


Teammate



Aggressive Aura - As this is a nearly pure DPS build, this should be maxed for its added +dmg & crit to all other offensive powers.


Point Placement While Leveling



Levels 1-3 - Focus on pumping 2 points into Hard as Rock and 1 into Directed Shockwave in that order of priority.

Levels 4-9 - Focus on pumping points into Bash, Hard as Rock and Directed Shockwave in that order of priority.

Levels 10-23 - Focus on Aggressive Aura and Bruising Punch with any remaining points going into Bash and Hard as Rock, and to a lesser degree, Directed Shockwave. By level 24, you should also have no more or less than 1 point in Center of Attention.

Levels 24-29 - Focus on Crashing Leap, Aggressive Aura and Hard as Rock. Place your last 2 points into Directed Shockwave. Place only 1 point into Jagged Defender at level 28. Place any unusable points into Bruising Punch.

Level 30-39 - By this time you should have a feel for this build and be able to use your own best judgement on point placement based on your weaknesses and playstyle. After level 30, I personally recommend focusing on maxing Hard As Rock as my first priority. Then alternating points into Bash, Clobbering Time, Aggressive Aura, Crashing Leap and Directed Shockwave in that order of priority until they are maxed. During the level 30-39 stretch, occasionally (and sparingly) dump a point or two into Bruising Punch so that it remains viable.

Pulverizing Fury - From level 30 on, you should be investing heavily in advancing Pulverizing Fury by trading Eternity Splinters to Adam Warlock for Ultimate Power upgrades.

Level 40 - At level 40, you should Retcon and use my Endgame (lvl 40-60) Solo/Group Tank build.


Equipment



Equipment selection is pretty simple and build-to-taste...

For pure DPS, focus completely on items with +Damage Rating, +Crit Rating, +Damage on Crit, +1 to All, +1 to Brawler, +1 to Rockpile, +1 to Teammate (arguably in that order of priority), +Attack Speed and to a lesser degree +Move Speed if you can afford to.

For added survivability, focus completely on items providing +Health, +Defense, +1 to All, +Health on Hit, +Health Regeneration, +1 to Rockpile and +Move Speed (arguably in that order of priority).

However, you may also wish to mix and match between damage & survivability as I have done...but again, it's build-to-taste in this department.

Immortal Spirit of Kirby and Semper Fi are the two key Thing-specific Uniques to keep an eye out for.


Thing Gameplay



Gameplay for this build is pretty straightforward and nearly the same whether you are up against crowds, blues, yellows or bosses...


  1. Keep Aggressive Aura on at all times.

  2. Throw up Clobbering Time before engaging enemies and keep it up during battles.

  3. Use Directed Shockwave as an opener.

  4. Follow up immediately with Crashing Leap for its incredible damage & decent crowd control effect. Always aim Crashing Leap so that you keep as many targets in front of you as possible. After Directed Shockwave & Crashing Leap, most all trash mobs should be dust.

  5. Attack whatever is left with a repeated Bash for a continued stun. This will decimate single or multiple targets quickly and offer a surprising amount of survivability due to the knock-up & stun. Note that heavy units & those with high Tenacity may resist these crowd control effects.

  6. Given Bruising Punch's +Damage Rating, to optimize DPS you may wish to rotate one Bruising Punch followed by 5-6 Bashes repeatedly. This will also help spirit management slightly.

  7. If and when low spirit becomes an issue, revert to continued Bruising Punches until spirit replenishes, fire an in-place Crashing Leap and then continue w/ Bash or the Bruising Punch/Bash rotation mentioned above.

  8. I've never been terribly impressed w/ Pulverizing Fury. I primarily use it during boss battles or when heavily swarmed by crowds...Clobbering Time, followed by one Bruising Punch, then Pulverizing Fury for max effect.

  9. The gameplay tactics listed above using this build will quickly destroy all, except maybe bosses. Due to its focus on DPS rather than survivability, during some boss battles, you may want to occasionally run & gun repeatedly w/ Crashing Leap if spirit, survivability and/or added trash mobs become a problem.