spell casting question..

[Fhenix]

<p>In battle, is it more effective to keep casting blazing avatar whenever it is up or only at the beginning of the fights.. same thing with elemental unity?  Cause as of now I cast them before pull and when ever they come back up but I don't know if it is hurting my parse or not.    Also Elemental toxicity... IS that cast in the beginning only or in the middle?  Also when you die in fight, do you rebuff ur pet or just start blasting away for best parse...</p>

[Banditman]

<p>Depends on the length of the fight.  If you cast BA during the fight, is the pet going to have time to use all seven procs?  Five?  Three?  These are the questions you can only answer as the fight unfolds.  Generally, if my pet will have time to use four or more procs of BA, I'll cast it.  Less than four, I'll probably do something else.</p><p>Toxicity is even more involved.  First, will the fight last long enough for Tox to run it's full duration?  If not, probably won't cast it.  Will the NEXT fight begin with multiple targets, while the current fight has only a single target?  I'll probably hold it for the next fight.</p><p>Tox at the beginning?  Middle?  Twice?  Who knows!  You are asking questions that only you can answer.  Is this a raid situation or group?  How fast are you moving?  Lots of encounters or mostly single targets?  You have to analyze the situation and play smart.</p><p>Playing a Conjuror has always been an exercise in knowledge and experience.  Know what your spells do.  Run the content to gain experience and then apply the knowledge to your experience and maximize your potential.</p>

[Fhenix]

<p>Sorry.. I am refering to raid fights. </p>

[Lantis]

<p>I agree with Bandit there - there is no correct answers to most of these questions, as the answers will always be highly situational.</p><p>As a general rule, I cast Blazing Avatar whenever it's up and I know there's more than 10 secs left to the fight (giving enough time for most of its procs to land). Elemental Unity and Elem Tox, however, will depend on a lot of factors.  For instance, I try to make sure that both are available at the same time as Planeshift, because at the speed the mage pet casts while Planeshifted, these will proc a LOT more.  When that's the case, I cast Elem Tox as soon I have Planeshift up.  Then 20 secs later, I replace it with EU.</p><p>When it doesn't conflict with timing it with PS, I have no problem recasting Elem Tox in the middle of a fight if it just came back up, as globally it adds a good chunk of DPS when you take into accout the fact it procs for everyone in your group.  I see a lot of summoners who seem to underestimate that spell - don't.  Its true DPS output is the sum of what it does for your whole group, not just your own personal parse.  I know my usual illy loves me for having it up almost everytime it's available.</p><p>A lot of our DPS output depends on timing procs and buffs together.  Better to wait 10-15 secs before casting EU or Elem Tox if it means you will be able to cast it at the same time as Planeshift.</p><p>To be a successful conjuror, a LOT depends on knowing the basics on what your spells do separately.  Then, learn how you can combine them for increased results.  By then, you will have enough experience and knowledge to be able to answer those more situational questions that nobody can really answer in a forum, because the answer will depend on the exact situation.</p><p>Dead pet: once again, this is completely situational.  Most of the time I recast it, inserting some procs like Blazing Avatar between buffs so the pet will be doing some half-decent DPS on my behalf while I am busy rebuffing it.  But if it's a fight where my pet keeps dying, or it's a short fight, or I keep being interrupted by an AE, then it's a different story.  Thankfully, this is quite rare these days, as the pet survives our death (unless he's the one that ripped, died, then transfered all the blame onto you), plus the dimensional closet AA to keep a backup ready for instant summon.</p>

[Banditman]

<p>On a dead pet, the ONLY buff I bother to recast on my pet during the fight is Unabate.  His stance is worthless anyway, unless of course your tank is strong enough to deal with your pet in it's defensive stance.  Conjuror's Pact/Mark whatever . . . I mean, it's nice, but in a raid, another 1500 debuff isn't worth the time to cast DURING a fight.</p><p><cite>Lantis@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote> For instance, I try to make sure that both are available at the same time as Planeshift, because at the speed the mage pet casts while Planeshifted, these will proc a LOT more.  When that's the case, I cast Elem Tox as soon I have Planeshift up.  Then 20 secs later, I replace it with EU.</blockquote><p>I have a question here.  Does Planeshift allow the pet to go over the cast haste cap of 100%?  My pet normally sits at about 99% cast speed (outside of raids, he's way over in raids), and thus I am currently working on his re-use and ability mod.</p>

[Fhenix]

<p>wait... we have to re cast unabate?</p>

[Lantis]

<p><cite>Banditman wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>On a dead pet, the ONLY buff I bother to recast on my pet during the fight is Unabate.  His stance is worthless anyway, unless of course your tank is strong enough to deal with your pet in it's defensive stance.  Conjuror's Pact/Mark whatever . . . I mean, it's nice, but in a raid, another 1500 debuff isn't worth the time to cast DURING a fight.</p><p><cite>Lantis@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote> For instance, I try to make sure that both are available at the same time as Planeshift, because at the speed the mage pet casts while Planeshifted, these will proc a LOT more.  When that's the case, I cast Elem Tox as soon I have Planeshift up.  Then 20 secs later, I replace it with EU.</blockquote><p>I have a question here.  Does Planeshift allow the pet to go over the cast haste cap of 100%?  My pet normally sits at about 99% cast speed (outside of raids, he's way over in raids), and thus I am currently working on his re-use and ability mod.</p></blockquote><p>I never checked, but since this is usually a mechanical limitation, I doubt you can go over 100% (meaning the reduced cast time caps at half the unmodified cast time once you hit 100%)</p><p>That might be worth testing just to be sure since, indeed, we get much more pet buffs in that area in SF than ever before.</p><p>I usually bother with the Conjuror Mark.  I don't think there is so many elemental/magic debuffs out there that procs often enough to be up almost constantly, so it definitely helps.  The pet stance however...  I never use them at all on raids.</p>

[Lantis]

<p><cite>Fhenix wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>wait... we have to re cast unabate?</p></blockquote><p>Correct.  Unless SOE finally fixed that, the buff doesn't properly get applied to a pet if it's already up when you summon the pet.</p><p>Same thing might apply when you revive and your pet survived your death - I always recast it just to be sure.</p>

[Banditman]

<p>I never checked on my own death actually, but when I'm rebuffing myself, I generally cast any buff that isn't "grayed out" . . . so Unabate usually gets recast on my death anyway.</p>