Life, liberty and the pursuit of flexibility

I think it's been well established that when it comes to the roles a mage can fill, I'm much more inclined toward heals than dps. Going back pretty much as far as there's been a "holy trinity", I've always leaned toward heals or tanks. My board-namesake character (Tetharel) will be a tank if I ever get around to leveling her. Indeed, this is the first game I've ever really played a mage (especially as a main), and it's only because I like the novel approach to healing as a chloromancer. But standing back and throwing spells at something just for the sake of making it dead, without collateral benefit to my teammates? Not for me, though I greatly respect those who enjoy it and are good at it. I think DPS is an art, just as much as healing or tanking. But just as with the fine arts, there are those I enjoy and am pretty good at, and those I suck at (because I don't like them or vice versa). Chloro is good because it lets me "dabble" in dps (think paint-by-number dps) while still practicing healing as an art: as a chloro, you can't really heal without doing damage.

That said, and with the idea that I acknowledge the stated need for this much-touted thing called flexibility, I have a couple of questions:

1. What about archons and doms? My gut feeling is that they're even more limited in their usage to a raid group than a chloro. At least you generally want one chloro per tank, but only one archon or dom per raid, right? The main (read "only") reason I haven't spec'ed either (both?) of these is I figured these were well covered and I'd never really have opportunity to use them. (But then, that's not turning out to be so different from how well covered we have chloros. ;-) ) Well that and I'm a slow learner when it comes to overcoming my old-man reflexes... I'm just now getting to where I'm really confident I'm as good as I should be as a chloro.

2. Is there a cookie cutter 1-button (more or less) necrolock (or other mage dps) that performs adequately for when one is expected to switch roles to dps? Failing that, can someone clue me in on what a necrolock's rotation should look like? I have all these buttons in front of me, and I parse what I'm able to do with all that, and it's barely (if at all) better than my chlorolock. I know the failure is me, but I don't really know how to remedy it. As it is, I'm more good to a raid staying chloro and doing my 300 (with my current gear) dps, since I'm at least raising the aoe heal threshold by doing so.

I have no direct experience with #1 but I have read over and over that your raid group only wants 1 Archon because one can provide all the buffs/debuffs, and so there's no benefit to having additional ones around. As for #2, if you are looking for a "raid worthy" DPS Mage spec, I bet it will involve either Stormcaller and/or Pyro. I'm sure someone will have some good info on that.

I've found this guild to be very helpful in figuring out how the mage works, http://bluedots.org/2011/04/30/end-game-mage-pve-guide and I've just switched from my Elem/Lock leveling spec to the "Alternative Necro/Lock" dps spec. I'm no nimble fingered youth but found the suggested rotations easy to use. On Archon, there are two flavors of Archon buffing spec suggested as well.

» Edited on: 2011-05-19 10:59:34

» Edited on: 2011-05-19 10:59:58

I'm a new 50 and I don't have any feedback on your #1 question: Archons and Doms. My gut matches yours, though. Re #2, I have played a Necrolock for leveling/instances 20-50, and can give you some pointers on that. But I think SC/Elem is easier to master and be effective with in 5 mans and raids. SC/Elem DPS is not quite as amazing as it used since the bug fixes that came with 1.2, but it's still near the top of the heap. For a good, recent guide see: http://bluedots.org/2011/05/16/stormcallerelementalist-video-guide/ The downside to Necrolock is that your pet must stay alive for good DPS; the upside is that it has great mobility. For Necrolock, the group/raid DPS spec I'd recommend is: http://rift.zam.com/en/stc.html?t=0zvw_.ceRhkmVxz.EtczVzozs Buff yourself with warlock armor, etc. and use the Zealot pet where possible. Your pet is a big part of your overall DPS, so recast it if he dies (Exhume -> pet). Trigger Lich Form as often as possible. Initial Rotation: Necrosis, send pet > Life Leech > Dark Touch > spam macro below suppressmacrofailures #show Void Bolt cast Neddra's Torture cast Draining Bolt cast Void Bolt Refresh Necrosis and Dark Touch as needed, then back to the macro. Void Bolt (from the macro) will keep Life Leech up. Apart from the self-heal, Life Leech is a decent DoT that's essentially a freebie. (Unfortunately, the ACT parser doesn't track the damage after a Void Bolt refresh, but it's there.) Burst: When you get full charge, it's time for a burst. Trigger Lich Form, Sac Life: Damage, +damage/SP trinkets, then: Exhume > Empty the Crypts, aka "EtC" > spam macro #2, below suppressmacrofailures #show Plague Bolt cast Grave Rot cast Plague Bolt The goal of this second macro is to keep lots of stacks of Deathly Calling up, which your EtC buddies eat like candy. When your little EtC buddies vanish, go back to the Initial Rotation. If you find yourself with a lot of charge when EtC is on cooldown (or you need mana, or you/pet need extra heals): Sac Life: Mana (as needed) > Soul Purge (at least 3 ticks). Then back to Initial Rotation. AE Rotation: Trigger Lich Form, Sac Life: Damage, +damage/SP trinkets, then: Dark Touch > Neddra's Grasp > Radiate Death > Grave Rot > Devouring Shadows (spam)

» Edited on: 2011-05-19 11:33:17

Zashyn - thanks for the link to the spec. I love the bluedots.org site, but I don't think I agree 100% on that spec. It's super close to mine, but it passes over Radiate Death for slightly more pet health. My experiences are: 1) Radiate Death rocks, and 2) in group situations your pet (assuming you control it well) is either alive, or so overkilled that the extra 20% health is not helpful. Feign Death is a great survivability skill, as is Shadow Life in Warlock. I can't argue with folks who decide to grab one of those.

Archons are essential in a raid. I always make sure we have one in every raid. That being said, unless you have played it extensively within a group format, you will be much less useful and effective than someone who has done it for awile. A good Archon can tip the balance of a boss encounter. Dominators have some useful utility tools but are confined to a niche spec until they do something about their damage output. There is no such thing as a one button spec. Even if it were the case, the circumstances of a boss encounter change dramatically and you'd have to adapt your role to those changes. Flexibility not only means how you can change outside your preferred role but also within too. My best suggestion is to find one that you are comfortable with and just go use it in some dungeon runs. It matters less that you pick a specific role than that you are comfortable and proficient at it. When the #@#! hits the fan, you need to be able to perform your task without hesitation.

Thanks for the info, all! @Bentmer: Yes, but seems to me the so-called "1-button" builds are useful for figuring out what your basic rotation is (assuming it's a generally acknowledged solid spec), aren't they? Study what's in that "1-button" macro, and you have the essentials of a rotation... which is just what I'm wanting to help build an understanding of why and how the build works. From there, it's "just" a matter of learning what other skills you have and what circumstances they're useful for, then practicing till, as you say, you can do it all without hesitation. IOW, in looking for a "1-button" build, I'm looking for a starting point, not an ending point. I know doing something well takes practice... hence why, as I said, I'm just now getting to the point of being confident I'm a good chloro.

I don't like to double post (especially on my own thread), but I have a quick question about this spec you listed, Lakshmi. I see you've taken Opportunity, but I'm not sure I understand why, given all the short casts in this build. Wouldn't Magical Affinity for building charge quicker be better? Or am I missing something?

Archon builds are dependent on buffs and debuffs to be effective. There is only one per group/raid/outing because their stuff does not stack - by design, or they would be so amazingly overpowered that they could render boss fights down to something silly easy. Having said that about 1 per raid, that one is usually a 51 pt archon for the amazing constant 10% haste they bring to all casts and melee in the raid. That is also a 'low glory' roll because your heals and dps and all other measurable things on any meter doesn't accurately reflect the amount of benefit that you bring to every single fight, when played well. I think honestly that is exactly why I love it - because they just make it all go so much better, without bragging about it so loudly. The top dps build for group/raid settings is the SC/ele one out there most are familiar with. The tie back to Bluedot's work in an earlier reply is an excellent guide complete with spell rotations, build, and good explanations of why things are done how they are done. That guide is a great place to start if you are looking for a strong DPS build to use in 5 mans, 10 mans, and raids. And yes, it is the top dps build for both single target and multi-target on long fights - but that is a huge can of worms for another discussion. ;) There are other builds that can be used as well - that is one of the terrific(and sometimes frustrating) things about Rift. You can usually find your own style and combination of souls and abilities that you like to use to get the job done. Granted if you must do the min/max measuring game that list grows quite a bit shorter, but overall there is a tremendous variety that lets you be a great member of any group/raid. It can cost a bit of coin respec'ing but it is well worth it to find the combination of souls you are the happiest playing in whichever role you need to fill at the time -- dps, heals, buffs/debuffs. I love that about mages very much!

» Edited on: 2011-05-19 23:47:04

» Edited on: 2011-05-20 00:04:52

» Edited on: 2011-05-20 00:06:16

#show fulminate suppressmacrofailures cast fulminate cast inferno cast flame bolt cast heat wave cast fireball *** #show cinder burst suppressmacrofailures cast cinder burst cast fireball spec 51 pyro 10 lock (charge and opportunity) 5 elementalist for crits cast 1 all the time, 2 when opportunity or pyromancer's armor pops up. stand in ground of power, need to cast that spell as well as pyromancer's armor and int buff This is way less dps than stormcaller but much easier, though I think that is what you were looking for. ***you may want to remove heat wave, b/c it's your main cool down.. but you can leave it in for simplicity can also forget hotkey 2 and instead use fire armor buff (instead of pyromancer's armor) if 2 hotkeys is undesirable Make sure to have an open role that you can practice stormcaller or something else.. not worth limiting yourself to this imo

» Edited on: 2011-05-20 02:56:51

» Edited on: 2011-05-20 09:02:08

It timed out on me while I was typing - just don't feel like typing it again. :( It was rather long.

» Edited on: 2011-05-21 01:24:54

It's more important to play the spec than get the spec. I know when healing in instances I've found Chloros that were so good I felt useless healing, and others that I woulldn't have known were Chloro if not for the buff. Flexibility to me is more than being able to fill multiple meta-roles. As a cleric healer I have three souls devoted to healing (full tank heals, tank heals with group heals and utility and the third - which needs some practice - group heals). In a PVP rank or two I'll need a fourth heal spec for PVP. Leaving a 5th soul for solo/rifting. All play differently, all play different parts, and all favour slightly different gear weighting. People that like tanking will have multiple tank roles, the same with DPS (and even some really keen support classes). When you think about it, you have boss tanks, add tanks, damage soaking tanks (magic/physical), tank healers, raid healers, range dps, melee dps, AoE dps, buff support, debuff support and buckets of hybrid multipurpose. And this is not an exhaustive list :-). I think one of the strengths of Rift is you can tailor how extreme you want to pigeonhole your role. I'd be very surprised if most people didn't devote at least 2 specs to their preferred option of Tank/Heal/DPS/Support. That's another point to consider. How much does Chloro favour Int/SP/Crit/etc? You want to be able to share as much gear as possible between your two specs so try to find a DPS spec that has around the same stat priorities as your Chloro spec. If Chloro doesn't value Crit very highly, don't choose a crit dependent DPS spec.

Interesting point, that last, Lumenbara. While you can't have "mage stuff" without having at least a fair amount of SC on it, I "cherry pick" the ones that have SP (and thus, less SC)... and then rune for SP as well; as a chloro, I think most people being healed would prefer my healing be better odds than "hang on... if I crit, you might survive!" I'm guessing necrolock (which is what I've been messing with) is much more crit dependent... though not nearly as much so as, say, pyro. Anyone know offhand, or can point me to resource for tracking down such info? Thanks! And yes, I had two chloro specs (though the second one, 51 chloro, is now 51 archon, at least until I can afford to buy another slot ;-) ). That's as many as I could ever see making sense for a chloro (and I know many would argue that 51 chloro is senseless): there are just not many ways to "customize" what we do, beyond picking what point in the tree is "enough" healing: there's no healing we can get from any other tree, as clerics can. Whatever we get from other trees is not healing specific, but things of (more or less) general usefulness to mages. More to the point at hand: all chloros are (by way of specialty) tank healers; we just "happen" to also have "natural" AoE heals going on to keep everyone else, generally speaking, alive. We have very few "on demand" heals (on long, as heals go, CDs), and we (generally) have to "save" those for spike damage on our tank (or put it this way... if we see a dps in trouble and throw a big heal their way, we'd better be darn sure the tank isn't going to need that heal, instead, before it's off its, likely, 8 second CD... an eternity when waiting for a heal).