Duststorm woes

smreas · 03-29-2005, 10:01 PM

Based on some hearsay, I was looking forward to this spell as something pretty useful.

Maybe it is, but now that we can see Avoidance, it appears to add around 1.1%. This is something, but doesnt seem too great.

The main disappointment though is being rooted. This mean you usually have to recast it each fight and of course cant move unless you click it off.

This would only be an annoyance except that I can't interrupt spells with it up. Based upon the whats happening, I usually interrupt my spells a couple times per fight to switch targets or do a different heal or maybe stop a nuke. And sometimes switching to a fast or bigger heal is critical to survival. Not being able to do this seems to outweight the avoidance gain (unlike HG).

So, I first wanted to ask if there is a way to interrupt a spell while rooted?

And second, just wanted to ask how other Wardens use Duststorm in xp and raid situations.

Shennr · 03-29-2005, 10:39 PM

On raids when their is a bard in the group I have noticed that their is a multiplyer effect with our AC buff and theirs. However it only multiplies your AC and nobody elses in the group. If I know that Im in a good healing spot on the raid and dont need to move and their is a bard in the group then I will keep the buff up on me

I will not say how much it gets multiplied by but test it out for yourselves. You will like it.

Eclect · 03-29-2005, 10:53 PM

First off don't judge duststorm by your own stats, all healers have lousy avoidance so adding 10 to our defense doesn't do much, judge it by how much it adds to the MT in your group.

As far as interupting a spell while rooted nothing seems to work which is irritatiing. You should be able to sit down while rooted which would interupt the spell but you can't which is just dumb :smileymad:

I use dustorm in every single raid, even tho it appears that avoidance is capped at 100% now so stacking all the defense buffs are kind of worthless. (this was not the case pre patch, see my thread http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=testfeed&message.id=11555 for more info)

I use it rather sparingly in single groups since we are usually moving alot but I will sometimes use it when facing a named mob like a sister in the new Nek Castle for example.

Zammik · 03-30-2005, 10:03 AM

Duststorm doesn't seem to make a big difference moving defense from 250 to 260; however, once defense starts to hit 280+ you're avoidance will be nearing 100%. On it's own it may not be the best, but stacked with others it helps quite a bit.

Then again, they're nerfing defense and avoidance in an upcoming patch (I think with the Warden nerf in LU#7), so we'll get the double whammy.

By the way, Master 1 of this spell upgrades it to a whopping +11 defense, from +10 at adept 1. Amazing!

/auction Trading Duststorm for group invis.

Eneg · 03-30-2005, 08:19 PM

There is a problem with the avoidance display.Play around with Duststorm often, each time pulling up your Persona window. Try casting it before combat, try casting it during combat. You will see avoidance fluctuate HEAVILY, and by heavily I mean 40%.I was using it all last night in a 4 group raid, myself and 5 level 50's in the MT group. My unbuffed avoidance is 57%. I was constantly clicking off and recasting Duststorm.These are real avoidance numbers:Cast 1) 57% > 62%Cast 2) 57% > 62%Cast 3) 57% > 98%Cast 4) 57% > 100%Cast 5) 57% > 62%Cast 6) 57% > 100%That's right.. 100% avoidance across the group, but only some times. Try as I might, I cant determine the cause of the fluctuation.

KageMirai · 03-31-2005, 05:31 PM

I use it all the time in raids or difficult fights. I don't care for the root too much but I've gotten used to it, at first I didn't like it but now that I'm going on raids a lot more it's really nice to have.

~Kashka
Lucan D'Lere
49 Warden

smreas · 04-01-2005, 04:42 AM

One side note, I was playing around with interrupting and I did have some limited success.

In Options->Controls, you can set your third mouse button to toggle AutoRun. For me, the third mouse button is the pushable mouse wheel.

Being in autorun mode, will interrupt all spells even when rooted. Not that you would want that. But starting with autorun off, I could *sometimes* interrupt a casting spell by mashing the third button. Maybe trying to move and spin affected this, hard to say.

Not a dependable method, but if someone wanted to experiment with that more maybe it could work.

This could be considered an exploit. And if so, lets not do it. But I still thought I would post this in case someone wanted to follow up.

Unmask · 04-06-2005, 07:22 PM

Radiohead316 wrote:

Duststorm doesn't seem to make a big difference moving defense from 250 to 260; however, once defense starts to hit 280+ you're avoidance will be nearing 100%. On it's own it may not be the best, but stacked with others it helps quite a bit.

Then again, they're nerfing defense and avoidance in an upcoming patch (I think with the Warden nerf in LU#7), so we'll get the double whammy.

By the way, Master 1 of this spell upgrades it to a whopping +11 defense, from +10 at adept 1. Amazing!

At adept 1 I am getting an increase of 12 to defense skill (I didn't check after I made 50 though). Do not use the examine window as it shows incorrect figures. UIse your skill window which updates when you cast and remove the spell. And don't forget, 5 defense skill is 1 level. Adding 10 defense skill increases the defensive capabilities by everyone in the group by 2 levels. That's nothing to sneeze at.

The only real shame is that this spell is pretty useless in a raid where you are not in the MT group.

03-29-2005, 10:53 PM	#3
Eclect Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 71	First off don't judge duststorm by your own stats, all healers have lousy avoidance so adding 10 to our defense doesn't do much, judge it by how much it adds to the MT in your group. As far as interupting a spell while rooted nothing seems to work which is irritatiing. You should be able to sit down while rooted which would interupt the spell but you can't which is just dumb :smileymad: I use dustorm in every single raid, even tho it appears that avoidance is capped at 100% now so stacking all the defense buffs are kind of worthless. (this was not the case pre patch, see my thread http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=testfeed&message.id=11555 for more info) I use it rather sparingly in single groups since we are usually moving alot but I will sometimes use it when facing a named mob like a sister in the new Nek Castle for example. __________________

03-30-2005, 08:19 PM	#5
Eneg Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 266	There is a problem with the avoidance display.Play around with Duststorm often, each time pulling up your Persona window. Try casting it before combat, try casting it during combat. You will see avoidance fluctuate HEAVILY, and by heavily I mean 40%.I was using it all last night in a 4 group raid, myself and 5 level 50's in the MT group. My unbuffed avoidance is 57%. I was constantly clicking off and recasting Duststorm.These are real avoidance numbers:Cast 1) 57% > 62%Cast 2) 57% > 62%Cast 3) 57% > 98%Cast 4) 57% > 100%Cast 5) 57% > 62%Cast 6) 57% > 100%That's right.. 100% avoidance across the group, but only some times. Try as I might, I cant determine the cause of the fluctuation. __________________ __________________ ~~Deus ::: 50 Warden ::: Nektulos~~ Severity ::: 6x Bladedancer ::: Hindemith

03-31-2005, 05:31 PM	#6
KageMirai Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 15	I use it all the time in raids or difficult fights. I don't care for the root too much but I've gotten used to it, at first I didn't like it but now that I'm going on raids a lot more it's really nice to have. ~Kashka Lucan D'Lere 49 Warden __________________ ~Kashka Silvermist Warden, Lucan D'Lere

04-06-2005, 07:22 PM	#8
Unmask Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 1,132	Radiohead316 wrote: Duststorm doesn't seem to make a big difference moving defense from 250 to 260; however, once defense starts to hit 280+ you're avoidance will be nearing 100%. On it's own it may not be the best, but stacked with others it helps quite a bit. Then again, they're nerfing defense and avoidance in an upcoming patch (I think with the Warden nerf in LU#7), so we'll get the double whammy. By the way, Master 1 of this spell upgrades it to a whopping +11 defense, from +10 at adept 1. Amazing! At adept 1 I am getting an increase of 12 to defense skill (I didn't check after I made 50 though). Do not use the examine window as it shows incorrect figures. UIse your skill window which updates when you cast and remove the spell. And don't forget, 5 defense skill is 1 level. Adding 10 defense skill increases the defensive capabilities by everyone in the group by 2 levels. That's nothing to sneeze at. The only real shame is that this spell is pretty useless in a raid where you are not in the MT group. __________________ Clint Eastwoods Oasis dogs > cats /wagtail

03-29-2005, 10:01 PM	#1
smreas Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 15	Based on some hearsay, I was looking forward to this spell as something pretty useful. Maybe it is, but now that we can see Avoidance, it appears to add around 1.1%. This is something, but doesnt seem too great. The main disappointment though is being rooted. This mean you usually have to recast it each fight and of course cant move unless you click it off. This would only be an annoyance except that I can't interrupt spells with it up. Based upon the whats happening, I usually interrupt my spells a couple times per fight to switch targets or do a different heal or maybe stop a nuke. And sometimes switching to a fast or bigger heal is critical to survival. Not being able to do this seems to outweight the avoidance gain (unlike HG). So, I first wanted to ask if there is a way to interrupt a spell while rooted? And second, just wanted to ask how other Wardens use Duststorm in xp and raid situations.

03-29-2005, 10:39 PM	#2
Shennr Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 346	On raids when their is a bard in the group I have noticed that their is a multiplyer effect with our AC buff and theirs. However it only multiplies your AC and nobody elses in the group. If I know that Im in a good healing spot on the raid and dont need to move and their is a bard in the group then I will keep the buff up on me I will not say how much it gets multiplied by but test it out for yourselves. You will like it.

03-30-2005, 10:03 AM	#4
Zammik Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 115	Duststorm doesn't seem to make a big difference moving defense from 250 to 260; however, once defense starts to hit 280+ you're avoidance will be nearing 100%. On it's own it may not be the best, but stacked with others it helps quite a bit. Then again, they're nerfing defense and avoidance in an upcoming patch (I think with the Warden nerf in LU#7), so we'll get the double whammy. By the way, Master 1 of this spell upgrades it to a whopping +11 defense, from +10 at adept 1. Amazing! /auction Trading Duststorm for group invis.

04-01-2005, 04:42 AM	#7
smreas Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 15	One side note, I was playing around with interrupting and I did have some limited success. In Options->Controls, you can set your third mouse button to toggle AutoRun. For me, the third mouse button is the pushable mouse wheel. Being in autorun mode, will interrupt all spells even when rooted. Not that you would want that. But starting with autorun off, I could sometimes interrupt a casting spell by mashing the third button. Maybe trying to move and spin affected this, hard to say. Not a dependable method, but if someone wanted to experiment with that more maybe it could work. This could be considered an exploit. And if so, lets not do it. But I still thought I would post this in case someone wanted to follow up.