JBB Usefulness

[ElanoraBryght]

I had one on live from 47 - 65. I have one here. My opinion of it still stands. Useful, but not game changing, and not worth the pp being thrown at it here.

But it's the second week after launch, and to some its worth it no matter what the price just for the status.

[Wenai]

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

Posted this in an EC post as well.

Generally a soloing shaman thats taking on high risk mobs are slow+torpor tanking and dont cani AS MUCH as normal so this is what makes the JBB such a valued item. Its by no means a "must have to kill high risk" but it certainly makes things a lot easier.

Its by no means meant for grouping, altho Im not saying it should never be used in a group. Buts its mainly for the reason I posted that makes it a high valued item.

Exactly.

JBB pretty much comes down to playstyle. On live I had a JBB from 45 right through to 65 and I pretty much used it to solo all the time.

For the most part I prefered to spend as little mana as possible when soloing (ie. Slow + Torpor + Epic and Poxx if needed) and just use JBB for my DPS. This meant that I could continuously pull with no waiting, and no delay between kills. I kept enough mana at all times so that if I got in trouble (ie. adds/repops) I would have the mana to deal with the situation.

If you put yourself in a situation where you are stacking disease and poison based DoTs as your DPS you will find yourself in trouble if you get adds because your mana is typically low when you are soloing that way.

Does using a JBB result in slower kills? Most definitely. Using your DoTs will result in quicker kills but at a huge mana cost. I personally feel that JBB puts in enough to DPS to warrant its price and demand; due to the way that I play. Does that mean everyone is going to want it? Not really.

As stated previously in this thread, JBB is NOT a grouping item. You can use it for soloing and/or duoing, but other than that it is not really a spectacular item. Your time would be better served recouping your mana for slows.

[Phallax]

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

The higher risk the situation, the less sense it makes to waste it using an 8 second 260 DD ice nuke. You need to be mana up on canni while torpor tanking and dotting.

Using canni specically so you can torpor tank is counter productive. As Torpor regen vs mana > cannis mana vs neg hp. So youre digging yourself into a hole if your slow tanking if you are constantly using canni. When you torpor tank you dont use canni quite as much as you do in a group or root/rot situation. Thus making JBB amazing for torpor tanking.

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

If you're tanking, wouldn't the 8 sec click be interrupted alot?

Thats what walls and corners are for. You can actually get JBB off quite easily when torpor tanking especially when its 75% slowed.


Again, its all play style and personal preference. Im just stating how I play and why "I" think JBB is valued.

[yaaaflow]

Mardur has a good post somewhere on these forums where he did the math on it - at level 60 it's pretty clearly better to not be using JBB and use the time/mana for other stuff, but when you can first start using it at 45 it pretty much beats almost anything else you can do DPS/efficiency wise. As you get further into the 50s it begins to lose effectiveness outside of some specific circumstances.

[Shiftin]

it's also worth pointing out that jbb is not on your spells global delay, meaning in the 2 seconds you couldn't be casting any other spell, you can be 1/4 of the way into a jbb cast.

[Amuk]

I remember on live in COM you could chain nuke mobs on the top ghost floor level with a jbb over and over - easy way to level~

[Wildas]

It's very useful, both grouping and soloing. 33 dps mana free and sustainable. With a pet, a shaman is going to be able to keep up 60 dps. That's equal to a mid 50's monk or rogue.

The 25 or so mana you'd get back in 1 tick is never going to be able to be used more efficiently.

It's a pretty damn big item.

[Ledzepp02]

Didnt want to read everyone elses' posts, but here's my reasoning, if it was mentioned, oh well:

You have a rooted mob.
1.) wait for mana tick
2.)click bracer
3.) at end of bracer cast, (no cooldown for other spells), mash Canni
4.) sit back down for next mana tick
5.) rinse repeat

Basically, you only miss one mana tick, but you get to canni and do a decent DD in the process, effectively gaining mana in those 12 seconds while doing damage.

That came to mind when I saw the post. Have never played a shaman but I expect that's what shamans will figure out is beneficial to it [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Ledz

[Mardur]

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

it's also worth pointing out that jbb is not on your spells global delay, meaning in the 2 seconds you couldn't be casting any other spell, you can be 1/4 of the way into a jbb cast.

Ding ding ding, this is the best way to use it.

Without getting into all the math I did previously regarding JBB, it's a nice item if you use it correctly, and can actually make you a bad shaman if you rely on it too much. There are very few situations where clicking it twice back to back is a good idea. The best shaman never stop casting spells, if you're lom then canni/torpor is way faster than sitting on your ass, if you have mana then you should be casting a heal or a dot or something. JBB is great to add in between casts however, as item clicks don't have a cool down like normal spells.

This is all true at 60, with gear and spells by the way. JBB is way more awesome at 45, obviously.

[Pyrocat]

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

Ding ding ding, this is the best way to use it.

It's great to use after slows/malo because if you don't have aggro after slow/malo, you will when you sit. The 8 seconds gives a nice amount of time for tank to build more hate.