We've been had...

[dmitya]

<DIV>This post is only about Focused Casting and Aftershocks.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I have finally been able to test the new Warlock end AA's that I have been so excited about getting-</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The results: dissappointment</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Why: They look much better per description than they are.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Aftershocks equates to about 2% of my dps output making it little better than the proc effect off of Grizzfazzle's.  I see the rocks coming up pretty frequently, but the output on this spell is marginal.  I suppose the focus on the new lines are the whole benefit of a given branch and that may be reflected in the low one point cost spent on end abilities.  I guess one point is worth 2% dps increase.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The other dissappointment is Focused Casting.  I don't understand why there are so many abilities in this game that increase recovery speed.  It is a mechanic that seems illusory for the most part.  I think there are alot of ppl out there who will get confused and go for this line thinking it is a REUSE timer benefit... it isn't.  The casting speed bonus isn't particularly beneficial for raiders which is why I wanted it- my mistake.  I guess it could be usefull for soloing/group content.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I was really excited for what I thought was an overall awesome tree, but it is only mediocre.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I am now thinking that I am going to suck it up and go for volatility even though I have to pretty much waste points in my most hated spell: Curse of Isolation.  Volatility may bring us some unique utility that we are lacking... I guess I should test it and see.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I would love to see focused casting be turned into a wicked little jesters cap or aftershocks get beefed up, but I won't hold my breath.</DIV>

[KrAzE1]

We have been had for a long time... They dont seem to be able to balance solo/group/raid ever since they changed our role in LU13. Solo I do ok, in group, and I'm the only dps I parse way high even with the nerfs including the dropping a tick on dev/appoc. But put a Swashy, Assassin or Wizard in the group and I go down at least half of what they parse. Yay for long cast timers and dots that never get time to finish ticking. Necros have the same trouble in groups with other dps because it takes time to get the damage up so they parse low. I feel that they have no clue how to balance us in all 3 areas and thats the root of our problem. They see we did to much damage in groups so out comes the nerf bat.  But now look at what that has caused. Cant group with other dps unless it doesnt bother you doing half the damage of a tier 2 dps class. Also look at how it effects us in raiding and lets not forget about aggro lol. I'm always with a Troub and still die alot doing only a portion of the dps others do. And whats sad if I topped a raid merge parse once in a while I could swallow the aggro problem alot easier. In summary I feel we will never get fixed until the game mechanics for our class is changed and we get balance in our dps between solo/group/raids or we will continue to see the nerf which drastically effects the other two areas. Or roll us back to what we were before LU 13  posion/desease based wizard.   Raids start up again Sunday and I'l keep posting the raid parse merges as I get them, but I dont forsee any changes to us in the near future. <div></div>

[Caliga]

Wait, I think I'm headed down that line, so what is recovery speed if its not recast time?<div></div>

[Ugho]

<P>Why do people complain so much?  What you want your class to be able to solo L70 named?  I think we already rock and there is nothing wrong with our class.   We do UBER damage and are welcomed in groups.  I end up in the top 5 in parse all of the time in raids.  Normally if you are dying in raids, it's your own fault.  Yes they have nerfed a few things here and there.  A good example is most of our stuns awhile back and taking that away from Apocalypse.  But my god we were so [expletive haxx0red by Raijinn] uber with all of that and it was so much easier to solo than a lot of classes.  There are some things like Evac and few other that I don't understand why we don't get when wizards do, but so be it.  When we are in zones like Lyceum a wizard can't touch my uber damage.</P> <P>So sit back and enjoy.</P>

[KrAzE1]

People like you are the very reason I hardly ever post my thoughts on this board about our class. You are to close minded and you draw your own conclusions without truely reading someones post. Seems to me I said I was ok solo. Infact when you return and perhaps read this I only raid. Sunday thru Thursday we raid 3 zones a nite between 8-12  in KOS. In EOF its usually one to two raids nite. Some might say that I havent raided much but I feel that hardcore raiding for 6 months I have a pretty good feel on how warlocks do on raiding. This will be my last post other than  parses. Merry Christmas! <div></div>

[Groma]

Don't quite understand why everyone has such a huge problem with the Warlock class.  I love it.  I rip things up on raids, devistate people in PvP, and i'm full mattlemage spec with my old AAs and currently capping everything out in the Explosive line to increase the range/dmg on my AEs.  Just accept the fact that every class is made to shine in certain situations, and unfortunately for us we don't see those situations very often.  Just be prepared to do your job when that situation does arrive, and you will be very happy with the class.  If you still cant stand it, reroll to a wizard, because its not THAT much better on their end.<div></div>

[Legaroth]

id just betray :p<div></div>

[Ravenhoft]

<div><blockquote><hr>jflongo1 wrote:<div></div> <p>Why do people complain so much?  What you want your class to be able to solo L70 named?  I think we already rock and there is nothing wrong with our class.   We do UBER damage and are welcomed in groups.  I end up in the top 5 in parse all of the time in raids.  Normally if you are dying in raids, it's your own fault.  Yes they have nerfed a few things here and there.  A good example is most of our stuns awhile back and taking that away from Apocalypse.  But my god we were so [expletive haxx0red by Raijinn] uber with all of that and it was so much easier to solo than a lot of classes.  There are some things like Evac and few other that I don't understand why we don't get when wizards do, but so be it.  When we are in zones like Lyceum a wizard can't touch my uber damage.</p> <p>So sit back and enjoy.</p><hr></blockquote>How about posting some of these parses?  There is a parse thread dedicated for this very reason.  You can show us how well you do in raids vs the other DPS and we can all compare notes and see where we stand.  The numbers don't lie right?  Post them.~Voltair</div>

[Ugho]

<P>I don't have my parser running these days, going to wait till up upgrade my machine.  I get some lag when doing that.  I raid 3 times a week usually, and I'm ALWAYS in the top 5, quite often top 3.  Here is a parse from a recent Freethinkers raid, just killing the first named.  I'm taking out the names and only leaving mine in there, and will replace them with their class, don't want to be throwing names around here.</P> <P><BR><BR><SPAN><SPAN>Raid-wide Parse:</SPAN></SPAN><BR>NECRO    3502332 | 1083.31<BR>RANGER  3092661 | 956.59<BR>Ugho         3046614 | 942.35  <--Warlock<BR>RANGER  2804118 | 867.34<BR>Conjuror   2533559 | 783.66<BR>NECRO   2376699 | 735.14<BR>NECRO   2197666 | 679.76<BR>WIZARD  2174355 | 672.55<BR></P> <P>Usually our wizzy shows up higher, maybe was afk a little.</P>

[dmitya]

<P>I am not saying at all that I don't parse well on fights.  This post is just about how the end abilities while they seem awesome at first glance are only ok.  I am only stating that the actual results from using the end abilities didn't meet my expectations or it seems what others expected.  I am happy with the tree as a whole because the upgrades to spells in general are nice... (However [expletive haxx0red by Raijinn] do we get a recast timer reduction on our long dot that even with the duration decreaser refreshes faster than the recast?)</P> <P> </P>

[Deathspell]

Personally I think we do great, the potential is there, the dps is in the class, but there's not always a situation for it. I do think we are too slow to output our good damage, mobs die before or while our damage is up and running effectively. I think our casting timers are too high, I don't care how that rates on SOE's tech sheet, but it FEELS slow, especially with other classes that outdps you with instant casting spells. Other than that there's too much garbage a Warlock has to cast BEFORE he casts a nuke, e.g. a debuff, dark infestation, corrupt gift, netherous realm.... Ofcouse, none of those are necessary, but they are necessary big time if you wanna parse high. Unfortunately casting these (or only a few) takes precious time (not to mention resists) and generally that leaves not enough time for our DOTS to tick for their full potentional (compared to instant damage spells). Having said that, I can say I have no problem with keeping up in the dps top as long as the mobs live long enough. Despite all this, I love playing my Warlock and I think it's a great and fun class, but saying it's an a-OK, well-balanced class is not correct, there's still quite some work to be done and I think it requires more then some AA choices to fix. <div></div>

[Victicu]

<div><blockquote><hr>jflongo1 wrote:<div></div> <p>I don't have my parser running these days, going to wait till up upgrade my machine.  I get some lag when doing that.  I raid 3 times a week usually, and I'm ALWAYS in the top 5, quite often top 3.  Here is a parse from a recent Freethinkers raid, just killing the first named.  I'm taking out the names and only leaving mine in there, and will replace them with their class, don't want to be throwing names around here.</p> <p><span><span>Raid-wide Parse:</span></span>NECRO    3502332 | 1083.31RANGER  3092661 | 956.59Ugho         3046614 | 942.35  <--WarlockRANGER  2804118 | 867.34Conjuror   2533559 | 783.66NECRO   2376699 | 735.14NECRO   2197666 | 679.76WIZARD  2174355 | 672.55</p> <p>Usually our wizzy shows up higher, maybe was afk a little.</p><hr></blockquote>Thats pretty pathetic DPS from everyone on your raid.  I cant believe you are bragging about that and proclaiming how "uber" you are.  </div>

[Thief]

Betrayers shouldn't troll on this board Victicus. <div></div>

[Ugho]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Victicus7 wrote:<BR> <DIV><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> jflongo1 wrote:<BR> <P>I don't have my parser running these days, going to wait till up upgrade my machine.  I get some lag when doing that.  I raid 3 times a week usually, and I'm ALWAYS in the top 5, quite often top 3.  Here is a parse from a recent Freethinkers raid, just killing the first named.  I'm taking out the names and only leaving mine in there, and will replace them with their class, don't want to be throwing names around here.</P> <P><BR><BR><SPAN><SPAN>Raid-wide Parse:</SPAN></SPAN><BR>NECRO    3502332 | 1083.31<BR>RANGER  3092661 | 956.59<BR>Ugho         3046614 | 942.35  <--Warlock<BR>RANGER  2804118 | 867.34<BR>Conjuror   2533559 | 783.66<BR>NECRO   2376699 | 735.14<BR>NECRO   2197666 | 679.76<BR>WIZARD  2174355 | 672.55<BR></P> <P>Usually our wizzy shows up higher, maybe was afk a little.</P><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE>Thats pretty pathetic DPS from everyone on your raid.  I cant believe you are bragging about that and proclaiming how "uber" you are.  <BR></DIV><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Get a clue.  I have parsed over 1K plenty of times and as low as 700ish.  It depends on the raid zone and how well everything was controlled.  I was just posting an example.  I have even averaged over 2400 in Lyceum before on a set of group mobs.   I have seen one of our necros parse as high as 2700 before on a singe encounter.

[Victicu]

<div><blockquote><hr>jflongo1 wrote:I have even averaged over 2400 in Lyceum before on a set of group mobs.   I have seen one of our necros parse as high as 2700 before on a singe encounter.<hr></blockquote>Well then, show us those parses and grace us with your uberness.</div>

[Zombo611]

Seems like the problem is with Burst dps and Sustained dps hmmmmmm.... which would I rather have?????

[Hellswrath]

<P>I'd say the real problem is forgetting what this thread is supposed to be about.  People's thoughts on, and experience with, Focused Casting and Aftershock.  There is already one Aftershock thread, so that part is covered except in regards to comparisons between the two.  Do we really need another thread for people bashing on other's parse numbers or claiming to be uber? (regardless of actual uberness, before someone tries to drag me into this:smileytongue: )  If you really need an outlet for this line of discussion, I recommend starting a thread entitled "I'm Uber! Look at me!", "My Parses Rule!", or "Self admitted parses prove SoandSo sucks!".  Just some of my favorites.  :smileywink:</P> <P>Personally, I'm going the focused casting route.  I think my target encounter DPS is already large enough in potential to be difficult to manage aggro with.  I figured the hastenings line would help my single target DPS, where I could use some help.</P> <P>Let's either get back on topic or let the thread die.</P>

[Inebriation]

You guys are missing the point of AAs. They are not just for the final ability, have you seen how much use you can get out of capping range on Chaostorm? Jesus Effing Christ... I don't have to get one shotted by melee AEs and [expletive haxx0red by Raijinn] and I can cast Chaostorm which does an amazing amount of damage.. fast casting time, very fast reuse timer. Of course the Aftershock, I will admit is a disappointment of what I was expected, but honestly I found the Volatility even more crap.<p>Message Edited by Inebriation on <span class=date_text>12-13-2006</span> <span class=time_text>05:49 AM</span>

[Miracleshadow]

I didnt wanna talk too much on our spell, but one thing is we still a tier 1 dps class? At the time on raid, less than 3 mobs, my maximum dps was just 1300--1400, and necro and conj, at least 1500--1700, and ranger also in this stage. For a group mobs, a pally amends on me, my dps can up to 2000--2400, but the point is nerco and conj, even ranger and assasin, they were doing 1700 again, and no need any pally. But u must remember that not many group epic can let us been that stage. <div></div>

[Hellswrath]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Inebriation wrote:<BR> You guys are missing the point of AAs. They are not just for the final ability, have you seen how much use you can get out of capping range on Chaostorm? Jesus Effing Christ... I don't have to get one shotted by melee AEs and [expletive haxx0red by Raijinn] and I can cast Chaostorm which does an amazing amount of damage.. fast casting time, very fast reuse timer. Of course the Aftershock, I will admit is a disappointment of what I was expected, but honestly I found the Volatility even more crap. <P>Message Edited by Inebriation on <SPAN class=date_text>12-13-2006</SPAN> <SPAN class=time_text>05:49 AM</SPAN><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Is volatility not working correctly?  Please elaborate.  One of my guildies may be going volatility, and I don't want her to have to respec.