Extra AAs for raids - To Melee or not to Melee

[Lazyfr]

<p>Hey Guys, </p><p>I was wondering if anyone has really run a parse to see how much DPS the melee line would add in raids. In my mind, a decent alternative is to completely max out the AGI line, and go down STA to get heal crits for the group. Has anyone compared these two options in an actual raid setting?</p><p>I could see STR boosting DPS because it is pulling some damage from a previously not used source. At the same time, I don't know if it would also be the death of us, having to be that close to mobs in the new zones. I haven't been able to get in the new raid zones yet, so I have not been able to test that.</p><p>Anyways, To Melee or not to Melee.... That is the question.</p><p>Thanks for any insight you guys have,</p><p>Lazygnome</p>

[Agaxal]

Going 70-80 I was specc'ed STR, however once I started raiding I went doing STA.Lots of the mobs AOE where the effect is much larger within 15 meters for example - (even with STR we're still too close) not to mention fears/stuns/stifles.  We seem to be able to max range many of the fights, even the trash, without getting affected.With that, STR line is worthless.Once I get one of those AA switchers I'll have an STR spec for when I'm soloing and I'll use STA line for when I'm raiding.agressiv

[Lazyfr]

<p>Thanks Agressiv,</p><p>     That answers my questions about the raid content. Has anyone tried parsing a non-epic fight to see how much DPS our STR line actually adds?... Just curiousity more then anything. I know we get all the bonuses to DA, Crit, and what not... but we are also meleeing with nearly no Strength... </p><p>Thanks again for your help Agressiv. </p><p>Take care guys,</p><p>Lazy</p>

[Slips]

With the new aa's I added the wis line for +magic resists and fewer mez resists.  I can't see the STR line being worth anything, we miss a lot and our low str = low melee dmg.

[Bawang]

<p>As a raid leader, I'd probably get annoyed with any mage I see meleeing in a raid.  It just doesn't look right and will give the impression that you're a raiding noob.  It's taken as axiomatic that mages should keep their distance in raids.  So even if there were a few DPS points that you could squeeze out from meleeing, I'd say it's a moot point given the drawbacks.</p>

[Agaxal]

<cite>Bawang wrote:</cite><blockquote><p>As a raid leader, I'd probably get annoyed with any mage I see meleeing in a raid.  It just doesn't look right and will give the impression that you're a raiding noob.  It's taken as axiomatic that mages should keep their distance in raids.  So even if there were a few DPS points that you could squeeze out from meleeing, I'd say it's a moot point given the drawbacks. </p></blockquote>Not true IMO.  In T7 we melee'ed all the time, most of the trash didn't do anything except attack the tank.  In EH for example pretty much everyone went into melee range to get some extra dps.We (Illusionists) did especially because it wasn't uncommon to see us with an OT zerker and dirge - so melee helped quite a bit.Heck, we'd frown on people who DIDN'T melee as being noobs.  Every bit of DPS counts.  If you aren't getting hit by AOE's, melee.Now with RoK, everything seems to have an AOE, so we're better off backing away on most fights.  I still pop out autoattack on a few of the trash fights though.agressiv

[Mihos]

<p>you'll put your eye out....</p>

[Junaru]

As long as the mob doesn't AoE there is no reason not to melee on raids. But be smart about it. There is nothing funnier then seeing a melee caster get riposte and one shotted cause they didn't pay attention to where they were.

[TheRisingstorm]

I can't see why the STR line is there if we are not supposed to be able to use it, Other Melee classes are just jealous of not being able to get it <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />Out of curiosity though, has any Illu disregarded INT gear and gone for just buffing STR as much as poss? would be interesting to know the outcome hehe <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Seth]

How is the range on the melee attacks with the range increasing AA?  I'm only level 34 atm, so I only have the agi line atm, but was considering str for down the road.  Can you melee stuff that's rooted a bit away from you (if so IA on self along with chaos will probably make the procs a lot more reliable than on my pet, which is what I currently do.  My pet usually only uses up one charge before stuff dies).

[Agaxal]

When I was specc'ed for STR, I could melee mobs with the mobs rooted and they couldn't hit me with melee attacks.Granted we only have like 2-3 CA's (1-2 with fairly long recasts), and more than likely your STR is really low (< 150) and you'll have a really crappy melee staff (like WoCP) so don't expect a ton of DPS, even with double attacks and crits.A lot of times we get stuck in the melee group in raids though, so with a dirge and maybe a zerker you can at least get, probably the best melee dps of any mage in the game.Once I get my AA mirror I'm gonna switch back and forth.  I had abandoned STR right when we started raiding T8.agressiv

[110euph]

On the few ocassions I've felt it beneficial to get in there and whack that big baddie with my beatin stick I've found that one Riposte will do more damage to me than all my normal attacks did to him, and I felt the tradeoff not worth the effort... especially when I can stay way the heck over -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->  There and cast from a position of relative safety. =)