Just wondering. I've got a character that primarily uses Darkness attacks, with Shadowform as his passive. I'm enjoying the Avenger tree's buff to maintains, and I'm looking for a good solid single-target attack.

Currently, Celestial Conduit seems to be winning. I've also given Telekinetic Assault and Skarn's Bane a try, but Conduit seems to out-damage Telekinetic Assault, and Skarn's Bane is somewhat redundant with Shadow's Embrace in the build.

Is Conduit the winner, here? I'd prefer a Paranormal damage character, since I've been using Shadow abilities/Shadow Form up until now, but... I do have a free respec, and recolors and changing emanation points can do a lot to make any ability fit any theme. Is there a higher-damage single-target Maintain kicking around somewhere?

When trying TK Assault did you use Mental Discipline ?

Celestial Conduit may appear to be the strongest if you're just looking at the damage per tick, but remember that it ticks only once per second, while most maintains tick every half-second. This means it has to do twice as much damage per tick just to break even with powers like TK Assault, before even considering TK's crit bonus from Ego Leech stacks and Mental Discipline. Even if we do ignore those things, TK Assault catches up after only a few ticks.

Conduit can double as a heal, and with Illumination can provide some AoE, so it does have that going for it. But TK Assault is superior as a single-target attack.

Ah, I hadn't noticed that Conduit was only ticking once per second. I actually looked at the speed of ticks, and apparently completely misread it anyway. TK Assault would clearly be the best option, then.