Casting between swings: Ranger w/ Earthshaker

[Snaggles]

Hi all,

I bought an Earthshaker on a whim, just as a toy. My brother is a Bard so I figured that might work well for swarm kiting or clearing low dungeons someday. Turns out it actually procs a considerable amount (or seems to). I'm currently reverse-kiting animals and since Panic Animal only lasts like 10 seconds the dps loss from the Woodsman doesn't seem huge. I'm constantly turning off-on attack between casts of fear.

As a very casual player I'll prob tank-n-spank mobs into my low 50's when the WL raptors green out. Here's my question...

1.) Buff up, cast snare/dots and just plunk away with Swarmcaller until it procs, then switch to Woodsman. Cast Call of Flame when it's available. Root, heal, repeat.
2.) Buff up, cast snare/dots but skip the Swarmcaller, just use Woodsman for the ratio advantage. Cast Call of Flame when it's available. Root, heal, repeat.
3.) Buff up, cast snare/dots and just plunk away with Swarmcaller until it procs, then switch to Earthshaker. Cast Call of Flame when it's available. Cast Firestrike and dots between swings. Root, heal, repeat.

Basically does not having your swing timer reset on the longer spells with the slower proccing weapon (and casting spells) make up for your huge ratio disadvantage? Less ripostes and larger ones too due to the 37 vs 31 dmg weapon.

Thanks!

PS: I know I should just parse it. Any suggestion on software that is cool with the P99 team? I'd rather not try to reverse a ban from a seemingly innocuous analysis...

[Triiz]

Originally Posted by Snaggles [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

PS: I know I should just parse it. Any suggestion on software that is cool with the P99 team? I'd rather not try to reverse a ban from a seemingly innocuous analysis...

For what you're trying to do, Gamparse will work. If you mess with the settings, you can set it to show a live DPS overlay or you can just look at the fights after the fact. Gamparse only reads logs, and GM's have stated programs that just read logs are acceptable.

[Cecily]

The formula I use is hit mob until it dies. Wouldn't sweat the fight taking a bit longer. If you have more fun with earthshaker, use it. That's why we play. Not to crunch numbers for efficiency.

[Troxx]

For the raw efficiency and number crunching I bet it's a toss up between

1) Swarmcaller then Woodsman
2) Skip Swarmcaller and just Woodsman

A lot of it depends on luck and your dexterity but I would not be surprised if the MOST efficient setup is skipping swarmcaller. On a high level mob the slow will probably make with worth it, but lack of a proc will leave you low health and a slower kill rate. Again, this boils down to luck.

Vs not high level blues the Woodsman alone will probably result in less downtime as the kill speed and consistency overcomes the randomness of procs.

I cannot see any setup where Earthshaker wins out from an efficiency setup. Comparing kill time to down time to heals needed vs regen ... does not compute. The time needed to proc already favors the Woodsman. Assuming you get an early proc a slow + ratio of woodsman wins. If you're buffed to hell AND get lucky, any combination including the Earthshaker is likely still worse than just using Swarcaller and Woodsman.

But ... if the earthshaker is the most fun, Cecily is right. Whatever is the most *fun* is the best setup ... even if it is 1/4 the efficiency of the next best setup.

For pure efficiency, only casting snare and necessary CC and saving mana for regens, necessary buffs, and heals is probably the best bet. That means skipping dots and all other non snare spells (the exception being an emergency root). For fearable animals, the mana spent on fear is far more efficient than mana spent healing damage the animal would have done to you - so fear away, and skip the Swarmcaler!

At the end of the day? Just play the way that is the most fun. After all, isn't that the point of playing a video game?

[Snaggles]

Thanks everyone [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.].

Yea I'll just have fun and see. Not like soloing as a Ranger I won't have plenty of time to sit and think about how slow all the combos are, lol.

[Rainik Stormseeker]

If you don't like getting hit and want to regen mana faster, just joust a rooted/dotted mob with the earthshaker, medding in between swings. That weapon is perfect for the task, especially with a massive damage bonus of 40 at level 55.. i'd love to get my hands on one, but can only do so if/when we kill Yael =)

[Snaggles]

Originally Posted by Rainik Stormseeker [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

If you don't like getting hit and want to regen mana faster, just joust a rooted/dotted mob with the earthshaker, medding in between swings. That weapon is perfect for the task, especially with a massive damage bonus of 40 at level 55.. i'd love to get my hands on one, but can only do so if/when we kill Yael =)

Good call on this [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.].

I might try the root-joust as I just got the upgraded root at 49. Even if it breaks on the proc re-casting root is better than just getting smashed repeatedly. At least I can refresh the Tolan's swarm while waiting for the reset.

Even at lvl 45 you can do a pretty serious round of damage with a double-attack and proc. I had a number of 450dmg+/- bouts back then.