How useful is Battle Fervor? And other DPS/SA questions.

[SpineDoc]

<p>I'm currently specced out AGI 4478, STA 4448, and INT 44881 and was scrutinizing the different options.  I love shield ally and swear by it in groups so taking points out of that will never happen.  I will probably take the one point out of intelligence as Divine Recovery doesn't seem worth it based on the short duration and the 5 minute recast.</p><p>Anyhow I was looking at how to increase my DPS and have been reading on how having Severe Judgment maxed to get 100% melee crits was godly, I only have 4/50% into it right now.  I'm trying to see where to pull the other points from.  Shield ally and spell crits are where I'd rather not pull them from, so I was considering taking them from Battle Fervor which "Increases the Protector's chance at blocking and striking twice in melee combat".  In regards to this I have 2 questions.</p><p>1) Is the double attack on Battle Fervor or the 100% melee crit more valuable from a DPS point of view.</p><p>2) Does the block of Battle Fervor add to Shield Ally?  This is a very important question for me as if it does add I will leave it alone.</p><p>Also in general if I go another route and take points away from spell crit and put them into melee crit would I expect with Flurry and Yaulp Shadows improver to see an increase in DPS?  Or would it pretty much balance out, and I should keep my spell crits?</p>

[Sirenta]

<p>Regarding the new mechanics i do think more of multiplying not adding.</p><p>Battle Fervor is a bonus to your shieldeffectiveness.</p><p>The tank has a 67% chance that you block for him and Battle fervor heightens your chance to use a shield</p><p>(as in BLOCKING) so.... you figure it out.</p><p>Speaking of divine recovery (which nets you 2 points in refund) it really ups magedps.</p><p>And go look at your gear, do you really need 8 points in healcrit?</p><p>there are some really big healcrit thingies out there these days and more than 100% is not needed.</p>

[SpineDoc]

<p>Thanks, ok so looks like I'm not touching Battle Fervor.  In regards to the heal crits I've gotten mine up so far, but not anywhere near the max.  But it seems smarter to take points from spell crit and put them into melee crit, at least then I am just transferring the source of DPS instead of losing heal crit which is more valuable in groups anyhow.  Thoughts?</p><p>I was hoping for a straight up comparision of the value of spell crit versus melee crit regarding DPS.</p><p>Also Divine Recovery is just too long of a recast.  I only use it for bosses, so maybe it's worth keeping for that.</p>

[Filroden]

<p><cite>SpineDoc wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I was hoping for a straight up comparision of the value of spell crit versus melee crit regarding DPS.</p></blockquote><p>There are too many variables to do a simple comparison. Much will depend on your equipment. The easiest way is to run your own tests using ACT and seeing what percentage of your solo DPS comes from spell and what from melee in both AA specs using your best equipment for that damage type.</p><p>For me, even using the best melee build and my best equipment for melee (haste, str, dps, etc) my spell damage still exceeds my melee damage (which gets to about 700-800 DPS). Going full spell spec/equipment, my overall DPS increases and my melee DPS (now down to below 70 DPS) is so low it is no longer worth even doing it (considering the increased risks from AEs, etc).</p><p>However, different people will have different equipment and they might get different results.</p>

[SpineDoc]

<p>I switched out my DPS and maxed my double attack, 100% melee crits, am using Yaulp, and a 116.2 damage 8.0 second delay (Lava Wrought Great Hammer)  hammer with +4 to double attack (which is really 4.9 delay with my haste).  I've also put 4 points into the combat/spell/pet buff and use the combat one, and have 4 points into flurry.  I still have to finish the buff, flurry, and put 5 points into Yaulp so I still am 7 points away from maxing my melee build.  As it stands my Critical Hit is at 101%, my Double Attack is at 76%, and that's an unfinished melee spec.</p><p>I did all this with only sacrificing the spell crits, which I have 5 points instead of 8, into so it wasnt a huge sacrifice.  With the 4.9 delay hammer I'm able to time 2 DD spells between swings pretty regularly. That's the nice part, I didn't touch any of my other group needed stuff, they all stayed the same.  Still have heal crits, facile grace, Shield ally maxxed, etc etc.  I also don't have to stress so much over the disable smite wrath when I cast a spell.</p><p>With this setup I notice a HUGE dps gain.  I haven't parsed it or anything, but I would say I'm killing mobs in at least half the time.  Flurry is pretty amazing.  I can critical hit for 2100 or so, and with flurry, DA, and Reproval that can be 5 hits, it's pretty amazing to get 10k just in one freakin hit!</p><p>I can't wait to further jump up with those last points I need to finish the melee spec, pretty amazing so far.</p>

[PRALL]

<p>Unfortunately, the answer to your question is the same as any question regarding AA's and spell use. It depends on your style of play. Do you solo, group, or raid more? Do you tend to be a solo healer, or do you usually have a second healer in your groups? There are many variables here.</p><p>My heal crits are at 52%, and I have a very nice boost to the heal amounts. I have gear that helps speed up my heals, and gear that lowers the power cost of heals. So, I have no issues in healing.</p><p>I have my melee crits maxxed. I have my spell crits up to 25%. I have a decent boost to spell damage. I have the shadow AA that gives you either a melee boost or spell boost. My next AA point will go to fervor. Here's the point I'll make. In some groups, I am a solo healer in an instance. In this scenario, I have to look at the mobs and decide whether I need to stay out of melee or AoE range. Based on that info, I decide if I will boost my melee or spell abilities. If I have a second healer in group, that frees me up to do more DPS. In this instance, I again look at what the mobs "quirks" are. Some mobs are more resistant to melee, some to spells. I try to keep myself alert to that, and adjust. I don't limit myself to just melee or spellcasting. If the mob is just a tank & spank, then my best DPS comes from autoattack and spellcasting. (Like rangers, you have to let autoattack go off, cast, autoattack, cast... etc.)</p><p>I know this may not be exactly what you were looking for. Hopefully, it gives you a different viewpoint to consider.</p>

[SpineDoc]

<p>Good info, I completely agree.  There are times when you need to stay at max range.  Even with spell crit maxxed out there were never any times I was in danger of tipping the parse numbers so I think either melee or spell parse is just a small help in groups.  It's more of a boost to soloing if anything, but every little bit does help the group.</p><p>My heals are only up to 42% crit and in the low 600's for heal amount, not great numbers but Im slowly upgrading my T1 suit to a T2 suit and am slowly replacing all my jewelry.  I finally got my fabled weapon and was a bit bummed at the stats, my Scalerot mace had better stats but oh well.</p><p>I will say this though, I have several +power regen items and have noticed lately, especially with no power feeder, that power is an issue at times during tough fights.  I'm very meticulous when it comes to sparing power as I'm a pessimist and always feel any fight can go south and a bunch of power and heals will be needed.  In that train of thought I'm not a huge spell DPSer unless we are just rocking the zone and my power bar stays above 75%, which is why I like the melee DPS much much better.  It's so nice to precast repent, run in with the tank and take my first huge melee hit , cast a debuff while the weapons refreshes and then hit again for a nice fat amount.  It really really makes me feel like the battle priest we were supposed to be.</p><p>Also keep in mind, as I mentioned I did it without taking a single thing away from any healing AA, so in my mind it's completely free, just switching DPS from spell to melee.</p><p><cite>Sutures@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Unfortunately, the answer to your question is the same as any question regarding AA's and spell use. It depends on your style of play. Do you solo, group, or raid more? Do you tend to be a solo healer, or do you usually have a second healer in your groups? There are many variables here.</p><p>My heal crits are at 52%, and I have a very nice boost to the heal amounts. I have gear that helps speed up my heals, and gear that lowers the power cost of heals. So, I have no issues in healing.</p><p>I have my melee crits maxxed. I have my spell crits up to 25%. I have a decent boost to spell damage. I have the shadow AA that gives you either a melee boost or spell boost. My next AA point will go to fervor. Here's the point I'll make. In some groups, I am a solo healer in an instance. In this scenario, I have to look at the mobs and decide whether I need to stay out of melee or AoE range. Based on that info, I decide if I will boost my melee or spell abilities. If I have a second healer in group, that frees me up to do more DPS. In this instance, I again look at what the mobs "quirks" are. Some mobs are more resistant to melee, some to spells. I try to keep myself alert to that, and adjust. I don't limit myself to just melee or spellcasting. If the mob is just a tank & spank, then my best DPS comes from autoattack and spellcasting. (Like rangers, you have to let autoattack go off, cast, autoattack, cast... etc.)</p><p>I know this may not be exactly what you were looking for. Hopefully, it gives you a different viewpoint to consider.</p></blockquote>

[PRALL]

<p>LOL.. yeah, a Templar will never top a parse. I do agree that every little bit helps. I may not be on top, but I have had groups where I wasn't at the bottom most fights. It's fun when that happens, because the group starts griefing on the guy that is being beat by the Templar. This happens a lot when the mobs are undead, as I can use Turn Undead and master smites to really turn up the DPS =)</p><p><cite>SpineDoc wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Good info, I completely agree.  There are times when you need to stay at max range.  Even with spell crit maxxed out there were never any times I was in danger of tipping the parse numbers so I think either melee or spell parse is just a small help in groups.  It's more of a boost to soloing if anything, but every little bit does help the group.</p></blockquote><p><em>EDIT: took out all that quoted text =/</em></p>