PvP 1st Timer - Sapping?

Years of PvEing behind me, I want to try PvPing. A few questions, is Zone or Arena easier starting off? I've chosen an Elec/Therm Corrupter to sap, is this a viable strategy? It seems so despite Elec being such a weak primary.
I'm working on the build. What are some obvious build necessities for a PvP toon? My understanding is +HP, +Def, +Acc, and +Dmg.

I wouldn't focus to much time on getting the HP cap while sacrificing other aspects of the build such as +Recharge. Aim for at least 65% recharge, more would be better. 1450-1550HP should be fine for a therm that I assume you'll be taking Incan on. Elec will be trash to use in zone, and probably arena nowadays. It use to be dueling FoTM before incarantes.

Heat Ex is Perma quite easily, I would suggest you go for a better primary and add pre-emtive interface to it... no point sapping something if you can't kill it. With incand and a stronger primary you will outlast your opponent, the reason i say this is that alot of pvp'rs have ageless to fight therms so you need to pack more than -end.

Actually another way to go would be Elec control / Therm and proc the attacks to stack with an epic/patron attacks, again i would use pre-emtive... U really want powerboost too not only for the heal but for all secondary effects. Aim for,

1400hp min
70 Rech (before hasten)
70% Acc
Tact+kismet for to-hit, also +perc io
Tough or Phase your preference
41Kb protection
Range if you have space, 25% - 35% should be good.

Happy PvP'ing, i'm off to buy some blues incase i meet you.

The real problem with electric is that Short Circuit is a PBAoE. If it were a 80 ft ranged attack, you can bet we would see a lot more ele/therms.

From experience playing an ele/therm cor and an ele/mm blaster, I can tell you electric's damage is sub-par and that the only power worth taking the set for (Short Circuit for drain) requires you to be in melee range. People realize this and will just kite around shooting you so that you can't drain their end.

As others have said, another primary may be better.




On a side note, has anyone run the numbers for Preemptive interface? In my testing it was worthless, but that was back when I was trying to drain regens only using Preemptive + Energy Drain on my SS/EA.

That was the 25% chance for end drain I tested it with, perhaps everyone sees it's use in the 75% chance instead.

-5% recovery is nothing, even when stacked up 4 times.

The -end is 4 ticks (on average) of -0.5 endurance. Which means every attack takes -2 endurance with 75% and -0.5 endurance with 25%.

Stacks up to 4 times, lasts 4.3 seconds.

Meaning, if we assume you attack once every second, you'll get -2 endurance every second (Max you could drain because of the stacking limit), and you'll get -0.5 end every second (with 25%).

Well then, there it is. If you want to get preemptive, 75% is far superior (and helpful).

I may run a Fire/Therm with preemeptive now. Fire/MM with preemptive would be fun to see too. Ice blast would actually be slightly faster at stacking the -end, while sacraficing some damage.

To reiterate, as the others have said, draining is somewhat of a secondary and shouldn't be your main focus. Heat exhaust forces people to use ageless, which lowers their overall survivability. Use end drain to enhance your damage instead of just trying to drain people's end.