As always, a work in progress. Initial hat tip for the time is to Phoon for reminding me that I
should go test this shit and telling me to get the hell on so I could
see Corrosive Spores.
I'm no longer updating the guide as I'm no longer putting serious time into Rift. Was fun while it lasted.
1.0.0 - General Notes
1.0.1 - Significant Changes
1.0.2 - New Abilities
1.0.3 - Evaluation of Changes
2.0.0 - Builds
2.0.1 - Leveling 1-50 Builds
(theoretical)
2.0.2 - Leveling 51-60 Builds
2.0.3 - Level 60 Builds
2.0.4 - Whither the hybrids?
3.0.0 - General Advice with Rotations
(if any) and Macros
4.0.0 - Raid Encounters (under
construction and pending release)
4.1.0 - Triumph of the Dragon Queen
4.2.0 - Frozen Tempest
4.3.0 - Endless Eclipse (under construction)
4.4.0 - Legacy Raids
4.1.0 - Triumph of the Dragon Queen
4.2.0 - Frozen Tempest
4.3.0 - Endless Eclipse (under construction)
4.4.0 - Legacy Raids
5.0.0 - Chloro Theory
5.1.0 - Stat Priorities
5.1.1 - Crit Power and the Number 42: Way of the Spell Power
5.2.0 - Itemization
5.2.1 - Gear Focus
5.3.0 - Statistics!
5.3.1 - Statistical Comparison of Specs
1.0.0 - General Notes
-One key bit of advice: go train your
skills first thing. It will help out when you start rolling through
to 60 (though it is hard to recall that you have to train skills
while leveling).
-Stat weight reworks forthcoming. I
really have not felt like swapping runes, getting a spreadsheet set
up and getting an adequate number of casts to get a reasonable amount
of data for statistical analysis to make any sort of predictions on
the amount of healing/damage one point in a given stat will give you.
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. I will add the post hoc
rationalization that I wanted to test with whatever went live so any
last-minute changes wouldn't render all that work moot.
1.0.1 - Significant Changes
-Veil changes: there is no longer a
connection between damage done and healing done. Veils now heal based
on cast time (the longer the cast time, the more it heals). There is
still an emphasis on Life damage for the highest amount of healing,
so hard cast Cinder Burst as a leading ability for a heal is out
(sadface).
-Veils now have their own spell power
coefficient and crit chance roll. This means you can crit with the
damage but not crit with the heal. This is intended.
-Radiant Spores got a sizable (though
understandable) nerf that caps the heal done at 5 percent of the
mages maximum health. For reference, I have about 11k HP reliably in
ID gear at level 50. This caps healing at 550 health for Radiant
Spores heals for me. In full SL Raid test gear and max PA, I was
running around 24k HP before buffs (heals were capping around 1400
based on ACT logs).
-To adjust for this, Lifegiving Veil
now heals 10 targets. You're welcome. Lifebound Veil still only
heals 5 targets (oh well).
-The distinction between Lifegiving
Veil and Lifebound Veil is SIGNIFICANT. Raid heals are basically
minor splash heals from LBV. A bit of a nerf, but passively healing
that much was apparently not the intent of the distinction.
-Natural Healing is now a 1.5 second
cast (without Burning Purpose).
-Essence Surge now on 1 minute cooldown. Nice 25k heal at 60 in raid gear, instant cast.
-Essence Surge now on 1 minute cooldown. Nice 25k heal at 60 in raid gear, instant cast.
1.0.2 - New Abilities
-AoE cleanse. Enough said.
-Three new heals: a heal over time
(Resurgence - 10 second cooldown, 6 second duration), a cast on
target Corrosion (Corrosive Spores - 8 second cooldown) and a heal
with cast time that has a direct healing component and a heal over
time component (Healing Torrent - 2 second cast, 15 second cooldown).
These are intended to be included in the tank healing rotation and
allow for flexibility in healing on the move.
-A new cooldown (Symbiosis) that boosts
healing on Synthesis target or heals its target for the same amount
that the Synthesis target (translation: double Synthesis for a
mage...for 10 seconds).
1.0.3 - Evaluation of Changes
We're in good shape, despite what the forums will say to no end (at least PvE-wise). Corrosive Spores is
ridiculous, Natural Splendor is still ridiculous and Vile Spores/Ruin
FINALLY got the DoT component tweaked so you should never be clipping
and losing the heal (the only conceivable way you could clip this is
if you had an Opportunity proc and were standing at point blank
range).
Tank healing is quite impressive (from
what I've experienced) and still can put out decent AoE heals if
played properly. Not much changes for raid healing from 1.11 –
chloros don't have the best capacity for dealing with burst damage,
but can still maintain an impressive flow of constant heals to make
up for it.
I will say that at first it may seem like tank healing is a pain, but once you get the flow of knowing when to use Corrosive Spores, Ruin, Nature's Touch and your other direct heals (within rotation vs. timing), it becomes easier. A major issue at the start will be the lack of tanking gear most players will have, so between tanks re-gearing and adjusting to something that isn't the same mechanics people have seen ad nauseum (not saying there's anything amazingly new mechanic-wise -- just new timers, new cast bar names, new encounter areas to adjust to, etc), tank healing will likely seem a bit off.
I will say that at first it may seem like tank healing is a pain, but once you get the flow of knowing when to use Corrosive Spores, Ruin, Nature's Touch and your other direct heals (within rotation vs. timing), it becomes easier. A major issue at the start will be the lack of tanking gear most players will have, so between tanks re-gearing and adjusting to something that isn't the same mechanics people have seen ad nauseum (not saying there's anything amazingly new mechanic-wise -- just new timers, new cast bar names, new encounter areas to adjust to, etc), tank healing will likely seem a bit off.
I'll miss Entropic Veil toggling for charge conservation (it has to be kept on for the full duration of a channel to provide bonuses), but it just means staring at the charge bar the whole fight instead of getting it to full and never looking at it again.
2.0.0 - Builds
Disclaimer: the level 1-50 builds will
all be theoretical since I am going to be leveling from 50 to 60 in
Storm Legion. Barring me rolling a mage alt and not sleeping ever, I
will probably not test these.
A few notes: Using 3/3 Burning Fury implies you'll be building a crit power sigil. BF will have the overall effect of increasing your max heal hit in an ACT log (you will hit with a bigger crit), but should do very little to affect the median heal.
I personally would advocate using specs that increase your median healing hits' effectiveness as much as possible (which means prioritize spell power) since there is little control over WHEN you can crit, particularly with the nature of Burning Fury. What stacking crit power and using Burning Fury does is allow you to get off some of those more emergency crit heals (on occasion), which potentially can salvage a possible death with a minor trade-off of median healing effectiveness.
Hence, this is why the 10 dom/5 harb spec is what I listed as the go-to tank healing build -- dealing with hard-hitting enemies is, in my estimation, best handled by pairing the additional effective health granted by cleric heals with the constant healing throughput of chloro.
Any 3/3 BF spec is really an overheal spec for tank healing -- better median heals is more controllable and less subject to RNG from BF stacks. If tanks are taking that much damage that it seems you REQUIRE crits to heal them, then you are missing a mechanic. One can do just as much throughput in 10 dom/5 harb and have the additional utility from dominator.
I personally would advocate using specs that increase your median healing hits' effectiveness as much as possible (which means prioritize spell power) since there is little control over WHEN you can crit, particularly with the nature of Burning Fury. What stacking crit power and using Burning Fury does is allow you to get off some of those more emergency crit heals (on occasion), which potentially can salvage a possible death with a minor trade-off of median healing effectiveness.
Hence, this is why the 10 dom/5 harb spec is what I listed as the go-to tank healing build -- dealing with hard-hitting enemies is, in my estimation, best handled by pairing the additional effective health granted by cleric heals with the constant healing throughput of chloro.
Any 3/3 BF spec is really an overheal spec for tank healing -- better median heals is more controllable and less subject to RNG from BF stacks. If tanks are taking that much damage that it seems you REQUIRE crits to heal them, then you are missing a mechanic. One can do just as much throughput in 10 dom/5 harb and have the additional utility from dominator.
2.0.1 - Leveling 1-50 Builds
(theoretical)
Don't hold me to these. I'm also not sure I got the levels right, so be wary. There are probably better ways to level than using these for instances, but oh well.
Don't hold me to these. I'm also not sure I got the levels right, so be wary. There are probably better ways to level than using these for instances, but oh well.
Level 20: http://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#S8/Fhl2v0/do
Level 25: http://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#S8/Fhl2v2/dg
Level 30: http://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#S8/Fhl9ai3g/dg
Level 35: http://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#S8/Fhl9amN90/dgo
Level 40: http://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#S8/Fhl9al4Bwg/dgg
Level 25: http://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#S8/Fhl2v2/dg
Level 30: http://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#S8/Fhl9ai3g/dg
Level 35: http://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#S8/Fhl9amN90/dgo
Level 40: http://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#S8/Fhl9al4Bwg/dgg
Level 45: http://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#S8/Fhl9alcAG4g/dgg
Level 50: http://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#S8/Fhlr9iFil54/dgg
Level 50: http://rift.magelo.com/en/soultree#S8/Fhlr9iFil54/dgg
2.0.2 - Leveling 51-60 Builds
Depending on how you are leveling, you have a few options. I ended up mostly doing a 5x chloro when in a group and spamming Withering Vine on everything, though I did use a chlorodom and harb/chloro spec.
After looking back, what I probably would have used is this build at 50 and worked towards using this build at 60. More points into chloro equates to more healing, but more points in harbinger means more damage and mobs die faster. These are just loose recommendations -- I used a 51 harbinger/15 chloro spec to begin with and dumped the remaining points into harbinger as I leveled, but I was going high-risk, high-reward.
I do also like chlorodom in some cases, as it offers you a lot more ways to extricate yourself from sticky situations. The level 50 build I used is here. I got rid of the build, but I might go with something like this at 60 for a more conservative playstyle (I personally would probably at least get Mass Betrayal and Lightning Wall and run a 58/18 chloro/dom, but that's me).
There are probably more "efficient" builds, but I was mostly going for a purely survivable solo build that minimized the grey screens you have to stare at.
Depending on how you are leveling, you have a few options. I ended up mostly doing a 5x chloro when in a group and spamming Withering Vine on everything, though I did use a chlorodom and harb/chloro spec.
After looking back, what I probably would have used is this build at 50 and worked towards using this build at 60. More points into chloro equates to more healing, but more points in harbinger means more damage and mobs die faster. These are just loose recommendations -- I used a 51 harbinger/15 chloro spec to begin with and dumped the remaining points into harbinger as I leveled, but I was going high-risk, high-reward.
I do also like chlorodom in some cases, as it offers you a lot more ways to extricate yourself from sticky situations. The level 50 build I used is here. I got rid of the build, but I might go with something like this at 60 for a more conservative playstyle (I personally would probably at least get Mass Betrayal and Lightning Wall and run a 58/18 chloro/dom, but that's me).
There are probably more "efficient" builds, but I was mostly going for a purely survivable solo build that minimized the grey screens you have to stare at.
2.0.3 - Level 60 Builds
Tank heal build: 61 chloro/10 dom/5harbinger
Raid heal build: 61 chloro/10 pyro/5harbinger (Alternatively, consider put 4/5 Ignition and 3/3 Burning Fury if you have a crit power sigil).
Alternative raid heal build: 61chloro/11 pyro/4 harbinger
2.0.4 - Whither the hybrids?
Hybrids are likely out for the time
being. In large part, this has to do with class balancing when all
the souls are getting significant overhauls. It's easy to work out
the kinks and balance 61 point builds -- it's not so easy to try to
add additional layers of complexity when considering hybrid builds.
I would wager we'll see a return of
hybrids in the first or second major patch (if we call Storm Legion
2.0, then I'd expect hybrids to creep back in around 2.1 or 2.2).
I'll keep looking out for interesting hybrid possibilities prior to
that, though I may delay publishing them until adequate testing in
raid. I understand this is frustrating, but it's part of being in a
competitive guild.
One of the other problems with hybrids
is the lack of the healing bonus from the Chloromancer tree's gift
when you put more points into other souls. I was playing around with
some hybrids and you can get more damage output at the noticeable
cost of healing output. It'll be a trade-off that may be warranted
for some fights – at this point it depends on how much AoE damage
has been nerfed.
3.0.0 - General Advice with
Rotations (if any) and Macros
Tank healing:
Void Life remains primary cast. I would say there is no "optimal" rotation or priority system for healing, though I would prioritize the use of your major heals on the tank as Corrosive > Bloom (Essence Surge) > Nature's Touch > Ruin (largely due to travel time and cooldown times).
Keep Corrosive Spores up on a target, preferably one with a bunch of other mobs around it – it gets a nice initial heal and ticks for a solid amount. Ruin off cooldown or during movement with minimal damage.
Nature's Touch is a bit trickier -- if you aren't comfortable with keeping the tank up with Corrosive/Ruin/Void Life, you may want to include it in the healing rotation. Otherwise, save for spikes (account for travel time) or movement with a fair amount of tank damage. Resurgence, Bloom and Essence Surge are good for movement when travel time may be an issue or for emergencies.
Keep Corrosive Spores up on a target, preferably one with a bunch of other mobs around it – it gets a nice initial heal and ticks for a solid amount. Ruin off cooldown or during movement with minimal damage.
Nature's Touch is a bit trickier -- if you aren't comfortable with keeping the tank up with Corrosive/Ruin/Void Life, you may want to include it in the healing rotation. Otherwise, save for spikes (account for travel time) or movement with a fair amount of tank damage. Resurgence, Bloom and Essence Surge are good for movement when travel time may be an issue or for emergencies.
When you can stand still and get the
channel off: Symbiosis + Corrosive + Natural Splendor = tank
shouldn't die. This combination is ridiculous. Make sure you have charge though, I've managed to forget this once or twice, though fortunately it wasn't in a situation where I needed major heals (I just wanted to seen green numbers fly around my screen).
Symbiosis is a nice boost to heals
during large spikes (50 percent bonus heals to Synthesis target OR
equivalent heals of Synthesis target to the target of Symbiosis).
Macroing this depends on how you like to set up your interface and
use macros – I went with mouseover for flexibility.
#show Symbiosis
cast @mouseover Symbiosis
raid "Optional message saying I used Symbiosis"
raid "Optional message saying I used Symbiosis"
Using “cast @focus” can also help
if you MAINLY are focusing on healing one tank. The most restrictive
macro would be “cast @playername.”
Symbiosis is also a decent tool for synth swapping now since Synthesis is on the GCD. If tank swaps don't occur more than once every 45 seconds, you can use Symbiosis on the tank being swapped to to avoid any downtime in healing output (particularly if the tank is squishy) and then cast Synthesis on the new tank when damage isn't spiking or becomes manageable with the non-healing GCD from casting Synthesis.
Your raid healing capacity in LBV is basically: 1) try to keep Radiant Spores and Withering Vine up (if you can spare the GCDs) and 2) Flourish and pray everyone moves out of fire.
Symbiosis is also a decent tool for synth swapping now since Synthesis is on the GCD. If tank swaps don't occur more than once every 45 seconds, you can use Symbiosis on the tank being swapped to to avoid any downtime in healing output (particularly if the tank is squishy) and then cast Synthesis on the new tank when damage isn't spiking or becomes manageable with the non-healing GCD from casting Synthesis.
Your raid healing capacity in LBV is basically: 1) try to keep Radiant Spores and Withering Vine up (if you can spare the GCDs) and 2) Flourish and pray everyone moves out of fire.
Raid healing:
Keep Radiant/Corrosive up
Vile Spores <> Void Life
Nature's Touch/Ruin/Flourish
for spikes/movement
If possible, maintain Withering Vine on at three targets (assuming three targets)
If possible, maintain Withering Vine on at three targets (assuming three targets)
Due to the new synergy crystal bonus,
you generally want every other or every third cast to be Void Life to
maintain your stacks. For the sake of simplicity, this is unnecessary
if your primary goal is NOT maximum healing output for progression. Alternatively, you can use the Harbinger crystal to just keep 200 SP up full time and put Lightning Blade on.
I would recommend keeping Void Life on your bar for potential sustained AoE. If you get a Vile Spores cast off and then lead directly into a Void Life during something like Auric Evocation on Laethys, you should get a dot tick heal from VS and maintain heals through the AE channel. Void Life is also a good option when there is significant travel time (cough cough P1 Maelforge) and simple Vile Spores spam drops in terms of healing output.
I would recommend keeping Void Life on your bar for potential sustained AoE. If you get a Vile Spores cast off and then lead directly into a Void Life during something like Auric Evocation on Laethys, you should get a dot tick heal from VS and maintain heals through the AE channel. Void Life is also a good option when there is significant travel time (cough cough P1 Maelforge) and simple Vile Spores spam drops in terms of healing output.
For packs of mobs, put Withering Vine
on 3 targets and keep Corrosive Spores up on a group of mobs (each
tick procs a heal). If there are no packs of mobs, you may want to keep Corrosive in reserve for movement or a spike when Flourish is down or travel time is a concern.
Radiant Spores is nice splash heals,
but nowhere near as ridiculous as it was (5k+ heals off Bladefury are
gone).
Macros:
Cleanse still works. Keep a mouseover macro handy.
#show Nature's Cleansing
suppressmacrofailures
cast @self Nature's Cleansing
cast @group01 Nature's Cleansing
Macros:
Cleanse still works. Keep a mouseover macro handy.
#show Nature's Cleansing
suppressmacrofailures
cast @self Nature's Cleansing
cast @group01 Nature's Cleansing
cast @group02 Nature's Cleansing
cast @group03 Nature's Cleansing
cast @group04 Nature's Cleansing
cast @group05 Nature's Cleansing
Can optionally put Cleansing Rush at the top to fire off the AoE cleanse, but I keep it separate.
Not anything else I personally macro aside from Wild Growth and Battle Rez
#show Soul Tether
cast @mouseover Soul Tether
say Battle Rez on %t
#show Wild Growth
cast Wild Growth
say Oh look, Wild Growth
cast @group03 Nature's Cleansing
cast @group04 Nature's Cleansing
cast @group05 Nature's Cleansing
Can optionally put Cleansing Rush at the top to fire off the AoE cleanse, but I keep it separate.
Not anything else I personally macro aside from Wild Growth and Battle Rez
#show Soul Tether
cast @mouseover Soul Tether
say Battle Rez on %t
#show Wild Growth
cast Wild Growth
say Oh look, Wild Growth
4.0.0 - Raid Encounters (under
construction and pending release)
If I write it here, it's probably because it's not progression.
4.1.0 - Triumph of the Dragon Queen
4.1.1 - Grand Falconer Zoles
-A relatively easy fight. Flourish should be up for every one of the meteor stack emotes.
-Try to have some means of healing the tank on the move when moving out of the void zones (I usually Resurgence > Ruin > Bloom > NT/CS if I have it up).
-Don't need two tanks. Walked in with dungeon gear and needed only one tank. Heal him/her.
4.1.2 - Cyril
-This is a synth swap fight. Be wary about switching via target of target since he sometimes will swap to a different target for the mind control or meteor mechanic.
-If you are not comfortable with it, don't worry too much about raid heals after the meteor mechanic. You can (and should eventually) be able to cover most heals with Flourish and splash heals from Radiant and Withering. The only reason you probably want a second healer is the mind control mechanic.
-Can prematurely Symbiosis tank about to swap to top him/her off before the swap occurs as health will be low due to HP debuff falling off. Not hugely necessary, as bloom is usually adequate.
4.1.3 - Jultharin
-I've generally been on tank heals for this fight. They usually don't spike too much, so you may be able to go LGV and spot heal.
-Flourish on movement when multiple raid members are low -- otherwise, try to stick to using direct damage-to-heals.
-Wild Growth usage depends on what you seem to be having trouble with. Ideally, I'd say try to get about 5-6 seconds on an orb (if it's problematic) and 5-6 seconds on Jultharin.
-Keep Radiant and Withering up. It helps, particularly when running heavy on DPS to make timer (if that's an issue).
4.1.4 - General Typheria
-This is purely an AoE healing fight. Tank damage is laughable.
-I recommend using the 10 pyro/5 harbinger build to allow for stronger raid heals with Vile Spores.
-Keep an instant-cast Nature's Touch up for the big AoE when boss is in human form and Flourish if you are worried about travel time.
-The second phase is really boring and I doubt it will become any more exciting unless you intentionally run just in front of the breath on kite. I seriously doubt there will be any buffs in the future, so I suppose enjoy the loots.
4.2.0 - Frozen Tempest
4.2.1 - Gelidra
-A fairly intense healing encounter. I've primarily tank healed this fight swapping Synthesis on the active tank.
-During transitions, use Symbiosis on the off tank to top them off quickly if needed.
-Be sure to use Corrosive Spores on the pack of adds when possible. More heals!
-You have the time to spare a GCD to AoE cleanse. Do it.
-Flourish on the raid spike damage if Lacerating isn't about to go out. Prioritize topping off the active tank when Lacerating is going out above raid healing.
4.2.2 - Artificer Zaviel
-A relatively simple fight. Very little in the way of tank healing from the chloros (unless there is a surfeit of clerics).
-I would advise (even as tank healer) to use the 10 pyro/5 harb build for VS spam in the kite phase.
-You may need to have a chloro to help with tank heals, but the tank swap is very easy.
-During the charging phase, switch targets before one of the four stations dies so as to maintain heals.
-Due to the absurdly annoying nature of the orbs floating around Zaviel, I would set the boss as your focus target to quickly swap back or use a targeting macro.
4.2.3 -Kolmasveli and Toinenveli
4.1.0 - Triumph of the Dragon Queen
4.1.1 - Grand Falconer Zoles
-A relatively easy fight. Flourish should be up for every one of the meteor stack emotes.
-Try to have some means of healing the tank on the move when moving out of the void zones (I usually Resurgence > Ruin > Bloom > NT/CS if I have it up).
-Don't need two tanks. Walked in with dungeon gear and needed only one tank. Heal him/her.
4.1.2 - Cyril
-This is a synth swap fight. Be wary about switching via target of target since he sometimes will swap to a different target for the mind control or meteor mechanic.
-If you are not comfortable with it, don't worry too much about raid heals after the meteor mechanic. You can (and should eventually) be able to cover most heals with Flourish and splash heals from Radiant and Withering. The only reason you probably want a second healer is the mind control mechanic.
-Can prematurely Symbiosis tank about to swap to top him/her off before the swap occurs as health will be low due to HP debuff falling off. Not hugely necessary, as bloom is usually adequate.
4.1.3 - Jultharin
-I've generally been on tank heals for this fight. They usually don't spike too much, so you may be able to go LGV and spot heal.
-Flourish on movement when multiple raid members are low -- otherwise, try to stick to using direct damage-to-heals.
-Wild Growth usage depends on what you seem to be having trouble with. Ideally, I'd say try to get about 5-6 seconds on an orb (if it's problematic) and 5-6 seconds on Jultharin.
-Keep Radiant and Withering up. It helps, particularly when running heavy on DPS to make timer (if that's an issue).
4.1.4 - General Typheria
-This is purely an AoE healing fight. Tank damage is laughable.
-I recommend using the 10 pyro/5 harbinger build to allow for stronger raid heals with Vile Spores.
-Keep an instant-cast Nature's Touch up for the big AoE when boss is in human form and Flourish if you are worried about travel time.
-The second phase is really boring and I doubt it will become any more exciting unless you intentionally run just in front of the breath on kite. I seriously doubt there will be any buffs in the future, so I suppose enjoy the loots.
4.2.0 - Frozen Tempest
4.2.1 - Gelidra
-A fairly intense healing encounter. I've primarily tank healed this fight swapping Synthesis on the active tank.
-During transitions, use Symbiosis on the off tank to top them off quickly if needed.
-Be sure to use Corrosive Spores on the pack of adds when possible. More heals!
-You have the time to spare a GCD to AoE cleanse. Do it.
-Flourish on the raid spike damage if Lacerating isn't about to go out. Prioritize topping off the active tank when Lacerating is going out above raid healing.
4.2.2 - Artificer Zaviel
-A relatively simple fight. Very little in the way of tank healing from the chloros (unless there is a surfeit of clerics).
-I would advise (even as tank healer) to use the 10 pyro/5 harb build for VS spam in the kite phase.
-You may need to have a chloro to help with tank heals, but the tank swap is very easy.
-During the charging phase, switch targets before one of the four stations dies so as to maintain heals.
-Due to the absurdly annoying nature of the orbs floating around Zaviel, I would set the boss as your focus target to quickly swap back or use a targeting macro.
4.2.3 -Kolmasveli and Toinenveli
-Fun times. A slightly unpredictable tank swap fight with an LoS component that makes helping with raid heals a bit challenging.
-I swap Synthesis between the two tanks on one of the two bosses. Due to how the bosses target players for certain mechanics, it's best to target the tank and cast abilities through target of target.
-Wild Growth use varies depending on your issues. Ideally, use it for DPS uptime, though if you are having difficulties keeping the raid alive during the LoS emotes, you may want to reserve it for that point. It is better to just Flourish in conjunction with cleric heals, but this again depends on your raid's strengths and weaknesses.
-Try to keep Withering Vine up on your target for extra splash heals.
-Try to keep Withering Vine up on your target for extra splash heals.
4.2.3 - Crucia
-How you heal this fight is dependent upon your raid composition. If on tank heals, I would advise using 10 dom for extra range unless you are comfortable in a closer position.
-I have been mostly on tank heal duties this fight, which only comes into play on the second platform when Crucia is landed.
-At the start, just focus on raid healing -- Lifegiving for the entirety of the first platform is fine.
-When you are physically fighting Crucia, depending on raid composition, you may have to synth swap or toggle veils. I synth swap because that's how I roll.
-To emphasize my point: when Crucia is off flying around like a robotic fairy or sitting on some high perch taunting you like the French taunted King Arthur in Monty Python, use Lifegiving Veil.
-Oh, final phase, how I loathe Synthesis being on the GCD. You shouldn't spam (even I catch myself spamming sometimes though) abilities so you can properly manage the GCD needed to synth swap or veil swap.
-Cleanse when possible between breaths. The spike damage is during Lightning Breath every 15 seconds or so, so you CAN spare the GCD as long as the tank remains topped off in time for breath.
4.3.0 - Endless Eclipse (under construction)
4.3.1 - Progenitor Saetos
-B-O-R-I-N-G fight.
-I tank healed this fight up to a certain point (think after two mobs were dead), then switched to raid heals until final 2 bosses and then healed a tank (though I think this is unnecessary after a while).
-Cleanse when possible.
4.3.2 - Kain the Reaper
-A straightforward fight now that the cross graphic/debuff is fixed.
-Keep Corrosive up on a pack of mobs rather than a mob by itself -- it will tick for a heal for each mob hit, bumping up heals (a necessary thing while progressing).
-Refresh Radiant between raid damage spikes.
-If you get the debuff and need to eat, say something so other healers know to push out more heals.
-If on tank heals, make sure to keep Withering Vine up on at least one target for extra raid heals.
4.3.3 - Matriarch of Pestilence
-Holy raid damage Batman! 10 pyro/5 harb is the way to go (Flicker is unnecessary).
-Rest under construction because I want to sleep.
-Filler
4.3.4 - Dread Lord Goloch
-Filler
-Filler
4.3.5 - Regulos
-Filler
-Filler
4.4.0 - Legacy Raids
Once I feel like retyping out the numbers, I'll just copy over the old guide information with a few caveats.
5.0.0 - Chloro Theory
I'll do a lot more here once someone tells the RNG gods that I really really really need a nice OH at some point and that I'll try to stop cursing, drinking and living in sin (as much) if I get one.
5.1.0 - Stat Priorities
SP: 1
Int: .87
Wis:.37
Crit: .23
CP: .5 (.75 with 3/3 Burning Fury)
I'll probably recalculate again later. I value crit power slightly less because you really need about 2000 data points to iron out the fluctuations of crits on the overall values (something I'm not in the mood to enter data for and calculate, particularly since I'd actually prefer more like 10000 data points). It's also a bit harder to calculate the efficacy of crits without comparing heals to overheals in an actual raid environment.
5.1.1 - Crit Power and the Number 42: Way of the Spell Power
Right now, how crit power scales with healing would primarily depend upon using 3/3 Burning Fury for the stacking crit buff (this works out, at low crit percentages, to be the equivalent of extra crit) that ONLY disappears on damaging ability crits.
One could potentially use this to get a high crit chance and then spam direct heals with a high crit percentage. As we only have one spell that we can really use to take advantage of this high crit chance (Natural Healing) and it does not hit as hard as our damage-to-healing abilities, this has limited utility and may sacrifice the raw median healing output (statistically, this is more consistent across attempts without crit RNG).
If anything, you may want to keep an eye on your stacks of Burning Fury (if you are using it in your build) and use it at high stacks to fire off a heavy-hitting heal (Corrosive Spores, Nature's Touch, Ruin or Bloom) to get a big heal number (bigger if you use Symbiosis, of course).
Is it worth using this to get bigger heals at the cost of MEDIAN healing output? For now, the jury is out because I want to sit down and write a lot of numbers on my scratch pad and try to justify it. I personally would not trade spell power for crit power, but I don't have any immediate math to justify it. If one could RELIABLY get crit chance higher and have at least a modicum of control over when one was hitting with crit heals, then I would argue in favor of crit power stacking. For the time being, I don't see crit chance getting high enough to justify stacking crit power at the expense of spell power.
So for the time being, spell power remains king, which is why I strongly recommend having 10 dom/5 harb for tank healing - it provides stronger median healing output, is not subject to the RNG of crit rolls and also gives you few nice tools (Mass Charged Shield for a bit of extra DPS and Reflective Command - always a useful spell to have when trying to figure out what can be reflected and what can't to save people).
5.2.0 - Itemization
I hate itemization. There are multiple items I question the existence of due to the presence of pointless stats (I mean really, SPELL CRIT over SP?) and the continued insistence on making crafted items with proper augments end up being more potent than raid vendor pieces.
Regardless, the expansion pack brings new gear and pretty much means everyone is off farming gear again for a good amount of time.
5.2.1 - Gear Focus
If it's an upgrade, get it. Higher SP weapons and higher Hit weapons are probably your first priority simply so you can start running higher content.
Early on in the dungeon/raid gearing process:
-DO TOWER OF THE DAWN IN KINGSWARD. There is a very nice staff at the end of the story quest line which will likely last you for a decent amount of time.
-If you have the plat, get the crafted rings, belt and helm. I would personally advise going big and using Stellar Cunning Augment on all of them (with the exception of, possibly, the belt -- going for Stellar Brilliant may be marginally better for the crit power).
-Get a decent sigil going. Generally, you want to get green lessers with the "of Invocation" suffix until you can pick up a few lessers from Torvan Hunters/Lycini rep vendors.
-Grab the two piece bonus whenever you can -- who can say no to 60 SP?
As you push towards raid gearing:
-There is a set bonus for an epic wand drop at the end of expert Empyrean Core (it pairs with the epic staff purchased and upgraded with Infinity Stones [h/t Reticularize]), though it appears to be bugged right now (it's not proccing at all, apparently).
-Subject to change, but trinkets that say "proc on ST heals" will proc on Veil heals. I believe this has to do with the individual calculation for the Veil heal, which translates into each heal per person getting its own amount/crit chance roll and thus counting as a ST heal. Needless to say, these trinkets will be extremely valuable (particularly the shielding trinket from last boss in expert EotSQ).
-I have yet to see an epic staff drop from experts (I think it doesn't exist). I would get the Infinity Stone staff and upgrade it if you are a staff person (mostly if, for some reason, you aren't remotely close to PA cap and have more points in staff PAs for efficiency).
-If you are a MH/OH person, the best pre-raid items are the MH from the last boss in Expert Archive of Flesh and the Infinity Stone OH. They have a set bonus, but it's DPS (extra death damage!).
-I have yet to see a healing MH/OH set for mages. Right now, it looks like the staff from TotDQ and the wand off twins are the only healing-specific items. The proc rate on staff alone would lead me to go for a higher SP item/items -- going to wait and see how the wand/staff pairing works out.
5.3.0 - Statistics!
5.3.1 - Statistical Comparison of Specs
Under construction. This is going to take a bit of time to get data for because I have to either find a way to export data from ACT to a spreadsheet/statistical software package or enter data by hand. And I have to gather the data for multiple specs. And write all this up and find a way to present findings concisely. I may scrap this and just use a smaller data set and a less sophisticated analysis (i.e., parse the same fight two weeks in a row and just do some screen shots of ACT logs). I'm also curious what the crit changes that have been supposedly implemented on PTS do to the analysis.
At the very least, I'll present my major premise: due to how crit is calculated on heals, the benefits from Burning Fury will face diminishing returns on tank heals due to:
A) the lack of correlation between each individual veil heal
B) the distribution of crits across the the five persons healed
C) the interaction between these two to reduce the effective crit rate on tanks
D) the unpredictable "average" effect of Burning Fury.
I will examine these four factors in determining the preferred tank healing spec (though regardless, I expect to at least examine the diminishing returns in Burning Fury benefits to healing due to the effective crit chance on the tank as crit chance will statistically distribute itself across the five people healed in Lifebound Veil).
I will try to parse this on a raid boss where I remain on tank heals on one tank for the bulk of the fight -- any decent ideas on which boss would be a good test? Right now too many splits/swaps for me to think of a boss that hits hard enough for decent data. I'm leaning towards Kain (even though it has a swap since I generally remain on one tank the entire fight) or Gelidra (there's a swap, but compiling the data shouldn't be a huge issue).
Early on in the dungeon/raid gearing process:
-DO TOWER OF THE DAWN IN KINGSWARD. There is a very nice staff at the end of the story quest line which will likely last you for a decent amount of time.
-If you have the plat, get the crafted rings, belt and helm. I would personally advise going big and using Stellar Cunning Augment on all of them (with the exception of, possibly, the belt -- going for Stellar Brilliant may be marginally better for the crit power).
-Get a decent sigil going. Generally, you want to get green lessers with the "of Invocation" suffix until you can pick up a few lessers from Torvan Hunters/Lycini rep vendors.
-Grab the two piece bonus whenever you can -- who can say no to 60 SP?
As you push towards raid gearing:
-There is a set bonus for an epic wand drop at the end of expert Empyrean Core (it pairs with the epic staff purchased and upgraded with Infinity Stones [h/t Reticularize]), though it appears to be bugged right now (it's not proccing at all, apparently).
-Subject to change, but trinkets that say "proc on ST heals" will proc on Veil heals. I believe this has to do with the individual calculation for the Veil heal, which translates into each heal per person getting its own amount/crit chance roll and thus counting as a ST heal. Needless to say, these trinkets will be extremely valuable (particularly the shielding trinket from last boss in expert EotSQ).
-I have yet to see an epic staff drop from experts (I think it doesn't exist). I would get the Infinity Stone staff and upgrade it if you are a staff person (mostly if, for some reason, you aren't remotely close to PA cap and have more points in staff PAs for efficiency).
-If you are a MH/OH person, the best pre-raid items are the MH from the last boss in Expert Archive of Flesh and the Infinity Stone OH. They have a set bonus, but it's DPS (extra death damage!).
-I have yet to see a healing MH/OH set for mages. Right now, it looks like the staff from TotDQ and the wand off twins are the only healing-specific items. The proc rate on staff alone would lead me to go for a higher SP item/items -- going to wait and see how the wand/staff pairing works out.
5.3.0 - Statistics!
5.3.1 - Statistical Comparison of Specs
Under construction. This is going to take a bit of time to get data for because I have to either find a way to export data from ACT to a spreadsheet/statistical software package or enter data by hand. And I have to gather the data for multiple specs. And write all this up and find a way to present findings concisely. I may scrap this and just use a smaller data set and a less sophisticated analysis (i.e., parse the same fight two weeks in a row and just do some screen shots of ACT logs). I'm also curious what the crit changes that have been supposedly implemented on PTS do to the analysis.
At the very least, I'll present my major premise: due to how crit is calculated on heals, the benefits from Burning Fury will face diminishing returns on tank heals due to:
A) the lack of correlation between each individual veil heal
B) the distribution of crits across the the five persons healed
C) the interaction between these two to reduce the effective crit rate on tanks
D) the unpredictable "average" effect of Burning Fury.
I will examine these four factors in determining the preferred tank healing spec (though regardless, I expect to at least examine the diminishing returns in Burning Fury benefits to healing due to the effective crit chance on the tank as crit chance will statistically distribute itself across the five people healed in Lifebound Veil).
I will try to parse this on a raid boss where I remain on tank heals on one tank for the bulk of the fight -- any decent ideas on which boss would be a good test? Right now too many splits/swaps for me to think of a boss that hits hard enough for decent data. I'm leaning towards Kain (even though it has a swap since I generally remain on one tank the entire fight) or Gelidra (there's a swap, but compiling the data shouldn't be a huge issue).
