Energy and the DPS Operative.

[Sol]

I would like to take a moment to look a bit deeper into the energy mechanic and subsequent implications it will have on our rotations. The reason for this is that with the introduction of a tiered system for energy regeneration, there comes a complete shift in focus that will be required by players who wish to maximise their DPS. If you take a look at the old model of the energy resource mechanic, say the rogue from WoW (most systems work exactly like this), all you are trying to do is keep as many abilities on CD as much as possible, in accordance to their priority. Don’t cap your energy was probably the only worry we previously had. The system employed by the Scoundrel/Operative is completely opposite. You are now trying to maintain the maximum amount of regeneration possible in addition to keeping as many abilities on CD as possible.

Gone are the days of spamming abilities just because they are lit up and ready to go. Now you’re going to have to judge the moment we use our abilities, and what order of importance they also have, at the same time. Now, just because abilities can be used, doesn’t mean they should be. Now, you need to take a deeper look at your situation and ask yourself one not so simple question:

Will using this ability at this point in time provide me with the greatest benefit?

This question is the new fundamental concept that overshadows all others for sustained DPS imo. You may say that this is a little drastic, however it’s based on a very simple equation: More energy = more abilities to use = more DPS. Start dropping the amount of energy you return and it won’t matter what abilities you have off CD, because you won’t be able to use them. Furthermore, because there are 5 levels of regeneration, a snowball effect is going to occur and the more you try to use everything on CD, the faster you’re going to wind up with no energy. With this in mind I took a different approach to designing a rotation. I started thinking ‘what is the point in which I need to stop worrying about which abilities to use, and start worrying about my energy regeneration?’

The answer was: much sooner than I anticipated. Keep in mind that as all of our attacks are instants, we only ever get the length of a global cooldown (1.5 seconds) to regenerate energy. Now consider that our cheapest ability is 15 energy (for Concealment), and our maximum amount of energy regeneration under Stim Boost is 9.75 energy (for Concealment). This leaves us with a shortfall of 5.25 energy, and that is in the top tier of regeneration only! Start pushing into lower tiers and the effect is obviously worse. Now we are not only concerned with abilities that provide damage per second, but also abilities that provide damage per energy.

Take laceration for Concealment specs for example. This ability requires and consumes Tactical Advantage so in effect it’s really saying that a Laceration also requires Shiv. Laceration can also proc Collateral Strike, an ability that does a low amount of damage and restores the TA buff. But Collateral Strike also needs Vital Shot in order for this to happen. So let’s start adding this up. Shiv (15) + Vital Shot (20) + Laceration (15) + Collateral Strike (0) = 50 energy. But wait, because Collateral Strike also re-applies TA, we can hit Laceration again, so let’s add another 15 on top of that for a total of 65 energy. Now let’s look at the approximate damage for these abilities. Laceration = 1400, Shiv = 1200, CS = 400, VS = 1200. So for that 65 energy we get:

1,400*2 + 1,200 + 400 + 1,200 = 5,600 damage; and

5,600/65 = 86.15 damage per energy for this entire string of attacks.

Compare this to Acid Blade, which makes your next Backstab apply a heavy DoT and costs 15 energy. The approximate damage for Acid Blade is 1200 and Backstab is 1100, for a combined total of 2,300.

1,200+1,100 = 2,300

2,300/15 = 153 damage per energy.

Acid Blade/Backstab is twice as efficient as Laceration, and if not for the 9 second CD would be chosen every time. But even with these efficient attacks, we’re still 5.25 energy short every GDC in the top tier (15-9.75 regen). This means that in order to make up this shortfall, we need look at attacks that are either free (our default attack), what CD’s we have at our disposal to provide regeneration above the normal level (Adrenaline Rush), or do we have access to times in the fight where we aren’t required to attack (during movement).

Two of these options are extremely situational; using CD’s and movement to help mitigate heavy energy usage. CD’s are generally on a high CD of 1.5-2 minutes and will only help you out marginally at best, and while movement may be present in most encounters, we are really addressing times when you are going to be on a single target for a decent length of time. So we’re left with our default attack to help even things up again. Taking this thought further, our default attack is going to be the single most important ability, as while it doesn’t hit very hard, it’s completely free making it’s damage per energy ratio 1:1.

This shift in thinking is the entire reason I decided to write this piece. Who the hell is going to place such large importance on the ability we get at level 1?! It wasn’t until several excellent discussions with other players in the forums that it really cemented for me the importance or not when to use my specials, but when to use my default ability. Now I ask myself the following question:

How can I use my abilities in such a way that I never drop too low on energy, and I never cap out wasting energy?

The answer was surprisingly simple. Don’t use abilities when my energy was below 90. This pushed Rifle Shot (the default ability) to the top of the priority the moment energy fell below 90. Don’t worry about if Backstab is off CD, or do I need Shiv to get another stack of TA. Rifle Shot, then worry about that stuff. This is the core foundation of the priorities that I have come up with and it is designed to ensure that you are always using your abilities in the most energy effective way for sustainability. The greatest test for players will be keeping their energy in the goldilocks zone whilst utilising that damaging abilities as much as possible. But remember, you will never be able to use your damaging abilities without energy!!

With this in mind, there is on instance where it is mathematically better to not Rifle Shot when below 90 energy and that is when reapplying Stim Boost. As stim boost does not actually provide energy every 1 second, but 3 clipping energy early is going to waste that last tick on the 45th second.

I have been shown that when reapplying Stim Boost that due to the fact that it ticks every 3 seconds, clipping this ability, will lose a tick, as shown in the example by suleria.

sulerai Wrote:You stim boost at 0 seconds
- refreshing stim boost at 44 seconds you will get ticks at 42 and 47 seconds.
You miss the tick at 45 seconds as you clipped it. You also have to keep refreshing stim boost earlier and earlier, slowly pushing back GCDs for DPS.
-refreshing stim boost at 46 seconds you get ticks at 42, 45 and 49 which has both more frequent ticks than the case above, and does not lead to a loss of GCDs

Due to this suleria recommended that you let Stim Boost fall off, Shiv first then apply Stim Boost at the 46th second. Mathematically (here are the calcs]), if the above scenario happened at 85 energy, it leads to a 0.32 difference in energy. My argument (which I still stand by) is:

Sol Wrote:I do agree however that significantly clipping Stim Boost is not worth it and as we aren't going to be able to keep Shiv on CD, it increases the importance of NOT doing so. However I still don't agree that very slightly clipping (final 3 secs) or slightly delaying (1.5 secs) a Stim Boost, in favour of keeping energy above 90 prior to using will be detrimental. The above example only showed a cost different of 0.32 energy. This simply isn't enough to warrant changing things around from simple, to more complex. I'd much prefer to Shiv/Stim at 48 seconds and lose a tick, rather than have to change my shift of thinking regarding the foundation of the entire rotation (Use specials in order whilst trying to stay above 90 energy) all for approximately 0.32 energy gain each application of Stim Boost. I'm not saying mathematically you guys aren't correct, you certainly are. I'm saying the cost/benefit ratio doesn't make it worthwhile imo.

And that is the basis of my argument. In my opinion, Rifle Shot when below 90 energy is the golden rule by which we should be living for operative DPS. Keep it simple. We have enough to worry about with concerning ourselves with 0.32 energy every 45 seconds. Until such point that a significant enough advantage can be proved (such as with the Lethality spec where Stim Boost immediately returns 10 energy on use) by making things more complex, I will definitely be keeping things as they are. Ultimately the decision is yours though; I just wanted to lay both side of the story on the table and let you decide for yourself.

Special thanks go to suleria and Bnol. Their input was invaluable.

[Mycroft]

You are basicly taming the horse from it's tail.
First you are implying an infinte fight length, instead of simply splitting the fight into cycles determined by Adrenaline Probe availabilty.
Secondly, at the end of the fight you want to be at 0 energy, because energy not spend at that point simply is damage wasted.
Third, you have to account for what buffs/debuffs you have to keep up on you/the target which basicly define the backbone of your skill rotation.

Energy consumption is basicly devided into 2 phases: conservation and burn.
Burn Phase is determined by 3 factors:

• Adrenaline Probe uptime
• Encounter Mechanics requiring certain actions (as burning adds down) which may require you to delay your burn phase accordingly
• the Encounter is about to end

Conservation Phase:
you don't want to not activate any ability when below 90%.
what you do want is to be above 80% after activating that ability which is inherently different and not applicable for all skills.
This basicly means a little planning is required.
You need to know what skill you want to use next and how much energy it will cost, how much time is left until you have to spend that energy and what other skills are available that fit into that frame which will not cause you to drop out of optimal regen. A thourough rotation plan at this point is mood as we can not test it live and have no input on viability on all skills.

regarding stimboost clipping:
to minimize tick losses you will want to reapply stimboost within the consecutive second of an applied tick, no matter if it is clipping the old buff or letting it fall off.
because of human response time you will always delay the next stimboost cycle by a fraction of a second because failing to do so means you just lost that last tick that you wanted to happen before refreshing the buff.
due to this you want to refresh the buff as seldom as possible (while maintaining maximum uptime), which basicly means idealy you let it fall off.

[Sol]

mycroft Wrote:First you are implying an infinte fight length, instead of simply splitting the fight into cycles determined by Adrenaline Probe availabilty.

You are correct. All I've done is highlight the sustained part of the fight. Perhaps I need to make it more clearer than:

Sol Wrote:This question is the new fundamental concept that overshadows all others for sustained DPS imo.

and

Sol Wrote:This is the core foundation of the priorities that I have come up with and it is designed to ensure that you are always using your abilities in the most energy effective way for sustainability.

Sustained dps invloves an infinite amount of time so that's that I was addressing. Of course at the end of an encounter you will hit a burn phase. That is a separate issue entirely, which you've addressed so no need to go over it again. Adrenaline rush is also another matter that will be looked into.

mycroft Wrote:A thourough rotation plan at this point is mood as we can not test it live and have no input on viability on all skills.

I disagree with this statement. Viability is determined by the worth an ability compared to another. This can be done by comparing the damage, energy cost, applicable buffs/debuffs and related talents of all abilties at hand. Testing it live is doing the exact same thing, but you feel better watching numbers fly around the screen as opposed to an excel file.

@Stim Boost

Sol Wrote:Until such point that a significant enough advantage can be proved (such as with the Lethality spec where Stim Boost immediately returns 10 energy on use) by making things more complex, I will definitely be keeping things as they are. Ultimately the decision is yours though; I just wanted to lay both side of the story on the table and let you decide for yourself.

There is nothing more to say really than that. Go how you feel is best for you mate.

[Deslan]

(12-15-2011 09:00 AM)Sol Wrote:  Now let’s look at the approximate damage for these abilities. Laceration = 1400, Shiv = 1200, CS = 400, VS = 1200. So for that 65 energy we get:

1,400*2 + 1,200 + 400 + 1,200 = 5,600 damage; and

5,600/65 = 86.15 damage per energy for this entire string of attacks.

Compare this to Acid Blade, which makes your next Backstab apply a heavy DoT and costs 15 energy. The approximate damage for Acid Blade is 1200 and Backstab is 1100, for a combined total of 2,300.

1,200+1,100 = 2,300

2,300 / 15 = 153 damage per energy.

Acid Blade/Backstab is twice as efficient as Laceration, and if not for the 9 second CD would be chosen every time.

Acid Blade costs 15 energy and backstab costs 10 energy, so that's 25 energy... Which means that...
2300 / 25 = 92 damage per energy.

Not much of a difference there... But then, Collateral Strike will only proc like what, 30 % of the time? So you should include both scenarios in that rotation:

Laceration = 1400, Shiv = 1200 => 2600 / 30 = 87 damage per energy.

If your first calculation is correct numbers, that means it would be more efficient to skip Collateral Strike, which seems a bit odd.

I think you need to revisit your numbers here.

[Panicc]

Backstab doesnt cost energy when skilled correctly

But it should also be said that vital shot is 18secs and you could posisibly take 2-3 turns of laceration in it which would increase the efficientcy of this rotation a lot.

[Mycroft]

Waylay reduces Backstab Energy Cost by 10 and Acid Blade by 2, making that string actualy cost 13, not 25 Energy.

CS is an automated attack on top of Lacerate with no Energy Cost and may regrand TA, so no, skipping CS is not the Question and with not much variability in the skilltrees skipping Lacerate is neither.

The real question is the rotation for conservation phase as in 9s the max total regen is something like 59 (9x5 when above 80 + 3x4.5 from stimboost) Energy and you want to squeeze in Shiv (15), Acid Blade (13), Corrosive Dart(15?) and Lacerate(15) which leaves not much option but to actualy run that in a straight cycle.

Also from the sheer looks at the numbers, you will want to have stimboost tick right after you used a skill that actualy cost Energy and not after Rifle Shot (assuming an rather even alteration of shiv -> rs -> ab+bs -> rs -> lacerate -> rs etc) but from ingame experience that looks rather hard to manage with no numbers on buff and debuff duration, just the small icon.

edit: fixed my napkin math

[mort]

(12-22-2011 08:21 PM)Mycroft Wrote:  The real question is the rotation for conservation phase as in 9s the max total regen is something like 59 (9x5 when above 80 + 3x4.5 from stimboost) Energy and you want to squeeze in Shiv (15), Acid Blade (13), Corrosive Dart(15?) and Lacerate(15) which leaves not much option but to actualy run that in a straight cycle.

You need Corrosive Dart only every other duration, it runs for 18 seconds when skilled.

[Tactician]

(12-22-2011 08:21 PM)Mycroft Wrote:  The real question is the rotation for conservation phase as in 9s the max total regen is something like 59 (9x5 when above 80 + 3x4.5 from stimboost) Energy and you want to squeeze in Shiv (15), Acid Blade (13), Corrosive Dart(15?) and Lacerate(15) which leaves not much option but to actualy run that in a straight cycle.

Corrosive Dart costs 20 energy

[Sol]

One thing I would like some help claryifying please guys is the current in game energy regeneration rates. Kor had previously supplied my numbers directly from a datamine and now the UI is showing different. I'm hesitant to change the ones in the guide until I can be 100% sure of things. Currently the tiers being shown in game are:

60-100 : 5 energy per second
20-60 : 3 energy per second
0-20 : 2 energy per second

I'm inclined to believe that these figures are correct as with some testing (extremely inaccurate visual testing at that) of my own, I really cannot see a noticible difference for energy regen in the 60-100 zone. If anyone could shed some light on this that would be great as it changes things quite drastically for the better for us if this is correct. Much more forgiving rotations and greater burst potential.

[Nyth]

(12-23-2011 08:38 AM)Sol Wrote:  One thing I would like some help claryifying please guys is the current in game energy regeneration rates. Kor had previously supplied my numbers directly from a datamine and now the UI is showing different. I'm hesitant to change the ones in the guide until I can be 100% sure of things. Currently the tiers being shown in game are:

60-100 : 5 energy per second
20-60 : 3 energy per second
0-20 : 2 energy per second

I'm inclined to believe that these figures are correct as with some testing (extremely inaccurate visual testing at that) of my own, I really cannot see a noticible difference for energy regen in the 60-100 zone. If anyone could shed some light on this that would be great as it changes things quite drastically for the better for us if this is correct. Much more forgiving rotations and greater burst potential.

Last I checked, it actually does go by 1 energy/sec for every 20 energy. Between 60 and 80 I would get 4 energy per tick (I'm sniper but that shouldn't matter; didn't have the +1 energy talent at the time.).
It's pretty easy to test though with a heal or supp. fire.

I guess the UI is wrong; although I kinda hope they change it to how you wrote it, as that would make energy a bit more flexible. Otherwise you are practically forced to RS between each attack to stay in that 20 energy window.