Welcome to Method's living 'best build' guide for Testing Station No. 152 (Electric). This guide was written by Talath, the current fastest Testing Station speedrunner, and will showcase what we believe to be the strongest current build for the Testing Station.
If you are looking for the difficulty scaling or loot tables, check out our Testing Station Info Page or if you need a walkthrough then we also have a guide available.
Note: we will update this guide whenever we find a better build or improvements to the current build, so we advise you check back often.
Quick Links
Video Guide
Check back soon for the video guide!
Weapons & Augments
Ranged Weapons
The best build for the Electric Testing Station only requires a melee weapon and a shotgun for the fastest clear times. The Perforator or Shellburster shotguns (scatterguns) are the best weapons for this build and can be found in Testing Station No. 136 (Fire). Both shotguns have comparable sustained DPS, however the Perforator is the preferred shotgun for its superior burst damage.
For your shotgun, you will want the following Augments (in order of priority):
Melee Weapons
For the mobs and lock-in rooms, the highest grade melee weapon you have is usually the best, although when competing with weapons of the same grade the rapier Static Needle comes out on top. Rapiers have the longest reach during lunge attacks, allowing you to chain lunges without missing your target. Rapier slowblade attacks are 10% faster when penetrating shields compared to other top weapons like the Replica Pulse-sword or Pulse-knife. The Static Needle is chosen over Halleck's Pick, because damage over time effects (like the poison damage inflicted by the Pick) cancel crowd control effects like Compel.
Alternatively you could use a Replica Pulse-sword for its area effect parry or the Replica Pulse-knife to keep some reach.
For your melee weapon, you will want the following Augments (in order of priority):
Garments & Augments
Power Harness and Circuit Gauntlets are great choices, because they increase the effectiveness of our shield, while still providing the primary type of damage mitigation that we need. The shots fired by the boss of this station deal dart type damage, so we maximise our armor and resists against dart type attacks to tank more shots when our shields are down. Bulwark's high armor, dart mitigation, and energy mitigation make it the clear winner for this Testing Station.
- Head: Bulwark Helmet
- Chest: Power Harness
- Legs: Bulwark Leggings
- Gloves: Circuit Gauntlets
- Boots: Bulwark Boots
The Energy Dispersing Padding and Energy Resistant Weave Augmentations will both give additional Energy Mitigation, while Dart-proof Latticing, Penetrative Reinforcement and Garment Reinforcement can be added to help against the boss's shots. If you've prioritised dart mitigation on your armor pieces, augmenting them shouldn't be necessary for this station.
Tools
For this Testing Station you will want to run a pretty standard Tool loadout:
- Power Pack: Young Sparky Mk6 > Accelerator Power Pack
- Shield: Adaptive Holtzman Shield
- Suspensor Belt: Full Suspensor Belt
Abilities & Techniques
We will be running a different build for the pre-boss section of the Testing Station, then switching Skills and Techniques before entering the boss fight. Both builds are outlined below.
Abilities & Techniques - Pre-boss Fight
Here's our suggested Ability loadout below:
- Ability Slot 1: Knee Charge
- Ability Slot 2: Weirding Step
- Ability Slot 3: Compel
And your Techniques:
- Technique Slot 1: Suspensor Dash or Disciplined Breathing
- Technique Slot 2: Manipulate Instability
- Technique Slot 3: Center of Mass
This loadout maximises mobility, while providing as much damage as possible through Manipulate Instability and Center of Mass. Use Compel to peel one mob away when there are two together, or to set up a flurry of slow blade attacks on an enemy Heavy. Suspensor Dash is preferred over alternatives like Disciplined Breathing in this Testing Station because of the time air dashing saves during the run up to the boss.
Abilities & Techniques - Boss Fight
Here's our suggested Ability loadout for the boss fight:
- Ability Slot 1: Attractor Field or Weirding Step
- Ability Slot 2: Energy Capsule
- Ability Slot 3: Compel or Deflection
And your Techniques for the boss fight:
- Technique Slot 1: Battle Hardened or Exploit Weakness
- Technique Slot 2: Manipulate Instability
- Technique Slot 3: Center of Mass
Using Spice Presience, Attractor Field, and Battle Hardened is the fastest way to kill this boss, however the boss can't be staggered by shotgun blasts or have damage over time effects applied to him while Attractor Field is active. Using Attractor Field requires you to time your shots and preserve your shield to maximise damage. If you use Compel on the boss, followed by Energy Capsule and Attractor Field you can create a reliable opening for damage. You can increase the damage window by moving close to the boss and backing off, triggering him to use Suspensor Blast while you are already safely away. Remember that damage over time effects, like those applied by Perforator and Shellburster, will interrupt CC effects like Compel, so save Compel if you've just fired on the boss without Attractor Field active.
The safer alternative to Attractor Field runs Weirding Step and Exploit Weakness. You can use Weirding Step whenever you need to bridge the gap to the boss, most commonly in Phase 3 and 4 after the end of each ground rotation. It can also be used defensively to temporarily 'stun' the boss and reposition if you get hit by the electricity. Manipulate Instability increases your ranged damage when you stagger the boss with shotgun blasts and Exploit Weakness while sometimes inconsistent, adds another damage boost. It's important to be mindful of your spacing with the boss during this fight, you should be trying to dip into melee range with the boss as often as you can to trigger his Suspensor Blast for a free damage window.
Finally, Deflection is a defensive option that can keep you alive if your shield goes down. This can be especially useful while you are learning the fight.
Skill Trees
Check out the images below where you can view the full skill trees for every Skill, Passive, and Technique we use. Techniques and Active Skills used in this build should be max level, before prioritising the Key Skills below.
Key Skills
Below are the skills you really don't want to be without for this build.
- Trooper: Scattergun Damage (Level 3)
- Trooper: Ranged Damage (Level 3)
- Mentat: Ranged Damage (Level 3)
- Bene Gesserit: Blade Damage (Level 3)
- Bene Gesserit: Short Blade Damage (Level 3) (Only if running a Dagger or Dual Blades)
- Bene Gesserit: Vitality (Level 3)
- Swordmaster: Optimized Hydration (Level 3)
- Swordmaster: General Conditioning (Level 3)
- Swordmaster: Blade Damage (Level 3)
- Swordmaster: Long Blade Damage (Level 3) (Only if running a Sword or Rapier)
- Swordmaster: Solid Stance (Level 2) (Level 2 is the breakpoint to not be staggered by the boss's shots)
- Planetologist: Rerouting (Level 3)
