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Sorcerer|Sage DPS Compendium
Sorcerer|Sage DPS Compendium
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Sorcerer|Sage DPS Compendium
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12-20-2011, 02:23 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-03-2012 08:48 AM by Kaedis.)
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Sorcerer|Sage DPS Compendium
Table of Contents
Introduction This guide is focused on PVE DPS gameplay for Sith Sorcerers and Jedi Sages, with emphasis on end-game Operation viability/utility. Thanks to Sujin for allowing me to use his post as a template for this thread, and for use of his 1.1.5 Lightning/Telekinetics information that I have since integrated into this guide. Abilities will predominantly be given in Empire terminology. See the Sith Inquisitor/Jedi Consular Mirror Terminology Dictionary for translations to Republic terminology. I've translated most of the major portions, but the spec-specific sections are still mostly in Empire terms. FAQ Are the Jedi Sage and Sith Sorcerer identical? The Sith Sorcerer and Jedi Sage are mechanical mirrors of each other. Their abilities and skills have different names and graphics but otherwise play identically. Shock (SI) and Project (JC) used to have mechanical differences due to the different timing in their animations, but this was changed in 1.3. Most Sage spells still have a fraction of a second travel time compared to the instantaneous lightning of Sorcerers, but the timing difference is small enough that it can generally be ignored. Abbreviations
Abilities I. General Attack Abilities
II. Talent Specific Attack Abilities
III. Crowd Control / Situational Abilities
IV. Heals
Speccing a Sorcerer|Sage General Sorcerers currently have 3 primary dps playstyles available for PvE: Lightning, Madness, and Hybrid. Lightning builds are based around strong direct-damage through cast-time abilities and a number of procs. Lightning players will need to be able to may attention to a number of timers and procs simultaneously, as at full rotation Lightning has 2 short cooldown abilities, 2 procs effects, 2 stacking effects, and a DoT to keep track of. Lightning does, however, have advantages in sustainability, AoE, and burst DPS. Madness builds are based around augmenting damage-over-time mechanics. The core of any Madness-based build is tier 3 and 4, in particular Madness, Sith Efficacy, and Wrath. This trio of skills takes Force Lightning from being a solid damage ability to the absolute staple of the tree. The Death Field / Deathmark combo is similarly potent, and synergizes well with the DoT focus of the tree. Madness players will need to get very good at managing their DoT timers and short cooldowns, as the spec has 2 moderate duration DoTs that need to be maintained on the target as much as possible, 2 short CD effects that need to be casts as often as available, and the charge limit on Deathmarks to be aware of. Madness also arguably has the best mobile DPS, though it sometimes suffers from force depletion issues. Hybrid builds focus on the synergy provided in the mid-tier skills in each tree. Up until patch 1.1.5, one of the staples of these builds was the synergy between Wrath and Chain Lightning (leading to hybrid builds often being referred to as Wrath-CL). Though 1.2 removed this synergy, the hybrid builds remain strong based in large part on the synergy between the Force Lightning-boosting skills in the Madness tree combined with Lightning Barrage in the Lightning tree. Lightning (3/31/7) The Lightning build is based around maximizing cast-time abilities. The spec has 1 major DoT (Affliction) that should be maintained on the target at all times, both due to its relatively high damage and its synergy with Thundering Blast and Lightning Barrage. Crushing Darkness and Thundering Blast are the primary short-cooldown nukes, and should be used whenever active. Lightning players must also watch for two separate proc effects: Lightning Barrage, which procs from critical ticks by Affliction, and Lightning Storm, which procs from Lightning Strike (and Force Storm, if you're AoEing). The former allows a hasted Force Lightning to be cast, while the latter allows an instacast Chain Lightning. The points in Lightning Barrier are optional and may be placed wherever desired. The points in Electric Induction may also be redistributed, but this may lead to force depletion issues if you are using a lot of non-rotational utility abilities (Static Barrier, Shock, heals, etc). Madness (3/7/31) The Madness build is based around maximizing DoT potency and uptime. The spec has 2 primary DoTs available (Affliction and Creeping Terror), the same Force Lightning spam that is the signature of all Madness-based builds, 2 short-cooldown nukes (Death Field and Crushing Darkness), and the significant DoT boosts from Deathmark and Creeping Death. The points in Chain Shock, Devour, Haunted Dreams, and Parasitism are all considered optional and may in any other skill in the tree at player option. However, Devour and Parasitism combine to give a decent (though not game-changing) amount of additional survivability through trickle self-healing (on the order of about 2/3rds of a percent HP per second), and Haunted Dreams has more utility for raid CC purposes than Oppressing Force (raid trash is rarely Standard or less, and if it is, it doesn't need CC'd). Chain Shock amplifies Shock to the point of actually being better on DPCT than Force Lightning, but the cost means it still can't be included in the standard rotation. Chain Shock is still a very solid mobile DPS increase, however. Hybrid (1/12/28) Only barely qualifying as a hybrid build now that 1.2 removed the Wrath-Chain Lightning synergy, this build plays very similarly to the 31-point Madness build, with a few notable exceptions. First, the spec only has 1 DoT to keep track of (Affliction), though this DoT is all the more important to maintain due to the spec's dependancy on Lightning Barrage. Second, this spec lacks a bit over half of the trickle self-healing that Madness is known for. Thirdly, the spec has one additional proc to watch for, Lightning Barrage. NOTE: Lightning Barrage can no longer be double-dipped as of patch 1.3. As in the CT build, the points in Chain Shock, Haunted Dreams, and Parasitism are optional, and may be placed elsewhere at player discretion. In addition to these 4, 2 of the points in Electric Induction may instead be placed in Lightning Barrier at the player's discretion, though this can lead to force depletion issues on extended fights. Spec Comparison Since all 3 specs play relatively differently, direct playstyle comparisons are difficult to make. In terms of ease of play, the hybrid build has the least to keep track of, having a priority list consisting of 2 cooldown effects and 1 DoT (the Lightning Barrage procs can mostly be ignored, since they simply augment the spec's filler spell). Madness is next, with 2 cooldown effects, 2 DoTs, 1 charge-based mechanics, and no procs (since Wrath can effectively be ignored). Lightning leads the heap as the most complex with 1 DoT, 2 cooldown effects, 2 procs, and 2 stacking mechanics. In terms of raw dps comparison, the latest SimC results show Lightning leading the way, with Madness trailing by approximately 1.9%, and Hybrid in the rear by another 3.0%. Builds to AVOID Note that these builds may be considered useful or even ideal in PvP, so you may still see them discussed in certain places. However, for PvE, all of these builds should be avoided. 0/17/24 - While this build is significantly more force-efficient than the more traditional 1/12/28 build (to the point of basically never dropping under 90% Force), it loses a solid amount of damage to do so. This build was more popular (and more justifiable) when CL was still part of the hybrid playstyle, resulting in a strongly force-negative rotation if CL usage was not metered properly. 7/16/18 - A variation of the above that was designed to amplify the damage of Chain Lightning and Death Field at the expense of DoT damage. Was relatively effective in before 1.2, but the Wrath-CL change has broken this spec. 0/25/16 - One of the most common builds proposed as a way of negating the Wrath-CL change. The idea is that instead of using Wrath directly on Chain Lightning, one uses Wrath procs on Lightning Strike instead, which then have a chance of procing an instacast Chain Lightning via Lightning Storm. Unfortunately, Lightning Strike has a low enough DPCT (and a low enough chance of procing Lightning Storm) that this strategy ultimately fails to live up to expectations. This spec suffers a 10%+ dps loss compared to any of the 3 main builds above. VI. Playing a Sorcerer|Sage Ability Data The following table summarizes the DPCT of each ability for each spec, based on an assumed Rakata-level gear level as given in the Sorc DPS BIS thread. Pertinent details are a Damage Bonus of 799.8, crit chance of 26.71%, crit multiplier of 75.45%, and alacrity of 7.60%. Also assumed is an average armor on the target of 30.12% (one armor debuff present). Death Field and Chain Lightning are calculated as hitting only a single target, and all abilities are calculated as if cast as that spec would. For example, Crushing Darkness is assumed to only be cast under Wrath for 1/12/28 and 3/7/31, as is Lightning Strike. Chain Lightning is assumed to only be cast with Lightning Storm for 3/31/7. If you have any questions about the assumptions in each cast, please ask in this thread.
Madness From a pure DPCT standpoint, the abilities stand as: Crushing Darkness (Wrath) > Affliction > Creeping Terror > Death Field > Shock > Force Lightning However, due to Shock's extremely low force-efficiency, it's not worth casting in a normal rotation. It is, however, a very good option if you're on the move and everything else instacast is on cooldown or already active on the target. As expected, Lightning Strike is still not worth casting, even with Wrath. This means that optimal use of Wrath is to use it on nothing but Crushing Darkness (though Wrath LS is an option for mobile dps if everything else (including Shock) is on cooldown, and you've got at least ~6 seconds left on Crushing Darkness's cooldown). Death Field's Deathmark effect is a bit more difficult to quantify into its DPCT, but it can generally be assumed to at least be above Creeping Terror. Ideally, Death Field should be cast just after Crushing Darkness expires on the target, to maximize the percentage of the stacks that are consumed by Affliction and Creeping Terror (which both do more damage per tick than Crushing Darkness). This should cause it to be cast on cooldown, since the cooldown of Crushing Darkness is identical to that of Death Field. However, also keep in mind that DoT effects cast by other Sorcerers (and even certain Assassin effects) will consume charges as well. DoT ticks can consume charges from multiple different Deathmarks cast by different Sorcs simultaneously, and their benefits stack additively, so there's no benefit or drawback to coordinating Death Field cast times with other Sorcs in the group. Recklessness charges are best used on a pair of Force Lightnings, despite the lack of a guaranteed crit on FL. Ideally Recklessness use should also line up with Relic and Adrenal use. Madness can run into Force problems on protracted fights, particularly those with little-to-no downtime and a large amount of Shocks (from moving) or Shields required. In this case, the optimal ability to drop from your rotation is Creeping Terror. If that fails to alleviate your Force issues, drop Death Field as well (or instead). Both of these will obviously lead to reductions in total dps output, but some dps is better than none. For AoE, Death Field beats out even Affliction for DPCT once it has at least 2 targets to hit (though it should be cast on CD even on single-target). Even against a pack of 5 mobs, Deathfield far outstrips Force Storm for DPCT. Rotation Priority List Wrath Crushing Darkness Crushing Darkness Sith Inquisitor Force: -40 Range: 10m Activation time: 2.0 secs Cooldown: 15 secs Damage Type: Kinetic Mirror: Mind Crush Summons a dark cloud of energy to crush the target, instantly dealing [?] kinetic damage and an additional [?] kinetic damage over 6 seconds. Affliction Affliction Sith Inquisitor (Sorcerer) Force: -35 Range: 30m Activation time: Instant Damage Type: Internal Mirror: Weaken Mind Casts a powerful Force affliction upon the target that deals [?] internal damage over 15 seconds. Death Field Death Field Sith Inquisitor Force: -50 Range: 30m Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 15 secs Damage Type: Internal Mirror: The Force In Balance Creates a death field at the target location, dealing [?] internal damage and stealing [?] health from up to 3 targets within an 8-meter radius. Creeping Terror Creeping Terror Sith Inquisitor Force: -20 Range: 30m Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 9 secs Damage Type: Internal Mirror: Sever Force Paralyzes the target in fear, immobilizing it for 2 seconds and dealing [?] internal damage over 18 seconds. Force Lightning Force Lightning Sith Inquisitor Force: -30 Range: 10m Channel time: 3.0 secs Cooldown: 6 secs Damage Type: Energy Mirror: Telekinetic Throw Deals [?] energy damage to the target over the duration of the effect. Also slows the movement speed of the target by 50% and immobilizes weak and standard enemies. Shock Shock Sith Inquisitor Force: -45 Range: 10m Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 6 secs Damage Type: Energy Mirror: Project Shocks the target for [?] energy damage. Standard and weak targets are additionally stunned for 3 seconds. Notes:
Lightning Lightning has a much clearer DPCT list: Force Lightning (Barrage) > Affliction > Thundering Blast > Crushing Darkness > Chain Lightning > Lightning Strike Unlike Madness (and Hybrid below), Shock is not better than Lightning's filler ability Lightning Strike (mostly due to the lack of Chain Shock). It is, however, relatively close, and thus is still a valid ability to use on-the-move if nothing else is available (in particular because Lightning has the force efficiency to support it). Interestingly enough, Force Lightning, even without Lightning Barrage active, has a higher DPCT than Lightning Strike. However, the Lightning Strike DPCT does not include in it uptime on Conduction or Lightning Storm procs. This means that while weaving in Force Lightnings is beneficial even without Barrage procs active, using Force Lightning on cooldown is not desirable, as it impairs Conduction uptime and Lightning Storm procs too much. The ideal usage appears to be weaving in a Force Lightning any time you would be casting 2 or more Lightning Strikes in a row. Do note that as Lightning Barrage cannot re-proc during it's duration (10 seconds), a Barrage Force Lightning may not be the highest priority ability, despite having the highest DPCT. This is because Barrage can't be wasted unless FL simply isn't triggered within the buff. The result of this is that refreshing abilities with cooldowns or durations takes priority. However, at all costs do not fail to cast FL during the duration, Lightning Barrage is a very significant DPS boost. The same logic applies to Lightning Storm-based Chain Lightning casts, you have a 10 second window to cast them without sustaining potential DPS loss. Just like Madness, Force Lightning is still your best use of a Recklessness charge, followed by (or preceded by) a Lightning Storm Chain Lightning. As with Madness, try to line up Recklessness use with you Relic and Adrenal use. Thundering Blast will consume Recklessness charges without providing any benefit, so at all costs avoid using Recklessness right before TB comes off cooldown. Polarity Shift is optimally used when you have a large number of cast-time abilities ahead of you. Ideally this means having at least 10 seconds left on Affliction on the target, and right after you use a CL from Lightning Storm. Any Lightning Storm procs that occur during the duration should be withheld until after Polarity Shift expires, as the instacast CL's gain no benefit from Polarity Shift. Lightning specs very rarely run into Force issues due to Lightning Effusion, so Lightning players should feel free to utilize expensive abilities such as Force Storm or Static Barrier as the encounter mechanics suggest without worrying (much) about Force depletion. Lightning players are also the best option for emergency off-healing, as they can regain their Force totals the easiest of the 3 specs, at the least dps loss (just weaving in more of the efficient Force Lightning casts). For AoE, Chain Lightning far out-strips Force Storm if instacast. Even hardcast Chain Lightning has a higher DPCT than Force Storm against 5 or less targets, and has a better damage efficiency. However, if Lightning Storm is off cooldown, this should be avoided. Optimal usage seems to be Hardcast CL -> Lightning Storm (until proc) -> Storm CL -> Lightning Storm -> Hardcast CL -> Lightning Storm (until proc) -> repeat. Rotation Priority List Affliction Affliction Sith Inquisitor (Sorcerer) Force: -35 Range: 30m Activation time: Instant Damage Type: Internal Mirror: Weaken Mind Casts a powerful Force affliction upon the target that deals [?] internal damage over 15 seconds. Thundering Blast Thundering Blast Sith Inquisitor (Sorcerer) Force: -45 Range: 30m Activation time: 2.0 secs Cooldown: 9 secs Damage Type: Internal Mirror: Turbulence Sends a thundering blastwave at a target that deals [?] internal damage. Thundering Blast automatically critically hits targets affected by your Affliction. Crushing Darkness Crushing Darkness Sith Inquisitor Force: -40 Range: 10m Activation time: 2.0 secs Cooldown: 15 secs Damage Type: Kinetic Mirror: Mind Crush Summons a dark cloud of energy to crush the target, instantly dealing [?] kinetic damage and an additional [?] kinetic damage over 6 seconds. Lightning Barrage Force Lightning Force Lightning Sith Inquisitor Force: -30 Range: 10m Channel time: 3.0 secs Cooldown: 6 secs Damage Type: Energy Mirror: Telekinetic Throw Deals [?] energy damage to the target over the duration of the effect. Also slows the movement speed of the target by 50% and immobilizes weak and standard enemies. Lightning Storm Chain Lightning Chain Lightning Sith Inquisitor (Sorcerer) Force: -50 Range: 30m Activation time: 3.0 secs Cooldown: 6 secs Damage Type: Energy Mirror: Telekinetic Wave Delivers an arc of lightning that deals [?] damage to up to 5 targets within 8 meters. Lightning Strike Lightning Strike Sith Inquisitor (Sorcerer) Force: -30 Range: 30m Activation time: 2.0 secs Damage Type: Energy Mirror: Disturbance Fires a charge of lightning at the target, deals [?] energy damage. Force Lightning Sith Inquisitor Force: -30 Range: 10m Channel time: 3.0 secs Cooldown: 6 secs Damage Type: Energy Mirror: Telekinetic Throw Deals [?] energy damage to the target over the duration of the effect. Also slows the movement speed of the target by 50% and immobilizes weak and standard enemies. Shock Shock Sith Inquisitor Force: -45 Range: 10m Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 6 secs Damage Type: Energy Mirror: Project Shocks the target for [?] energy damage. Standard and weak targets are additionally stunned for 3 seconds. Notes:
Hybrid Hybrid has easily the simplest DPCT order: Crushing Darkness (Wrath) > Affliction > Death Field > Shock > Force Lightning As with the Madness spec, Shock's extremely low efficiency means its generally not worth casting in a normal rotation, but is a very good option for mobile dps. As expected, Lightning Strike is still not worth casting, even with Wrath. This means that optimal use of Wrath is to use it on nothing but Crushing Darkness (though Wrath LS is and option for mobile dps if everything else (including Shock) is on cooldown, and you've got at least ~6 seconds left on Crushing Darkness's cooldown). Deathmark should be used exactly as in the Madness spec above, except that lacking Creeping Terror to eat some of the charges, Crushing Darkness will invariably get some. The ideal, however, is still to maximize the number of charges used by Affliction ticks (as they do more damage than Crushing Darkness ticks), so Death Field should ideally be cast just after Crushing Darkness expires on the target. This should cause it to be cast on cooldown, since the cooldown of Crushing Darkness is identical to that of Death Field. However, also keep in mind that DoT effects cast by other Sorcerers (and even certain Assassin effects) will consume charges as well. DoT ticks can consume charges from multiple different Deathmarks cast by different Sorcs simultaneously, and their benefits stack additively, so there's no benefit or drawback to coordinating Death Field cast times with other Sorcs in the group. Hybrid generally has an easier time on the resource side than Madness, but still doesn't quite have the endurance of Lightning. Hybrid shouldn't really run into Force issues during their regular rotation, but they can deplete themselves if they use high-cost abilities like Shock, Static Barrier, or Force Storm a great deal. If such case occurs, the optimal way to regain your resource pool is to start cycling in Consumption every 10 seconds, or if the encounter mechanics make this hazardous, drop Death Field from your rotation. For AoE, Death Field beats out even Affliction for DPCT once it has at least 2 targets to hit (though it should be cast on CD even on single-target). Even against a pack of 5 mobs, Deathfield far outstrips Force Storm for DPCT. Rotation Priority List Wrath Crushing Darkness Crushing Darkness Sith Inquisitor Force: -40 Range: 10m Activation time: 2.0 secs Cooldown: 15 secs Damage Type: Kinetic Mirror: Mind Crush Summons a dark cloud of energy to crush the target, instantly dealing [?] kinetic damage and an additional [?] kinetic damage over 6 seconds. Affliction Affliction Sith Inquisitor (Sorcerer) Force: -35 Range: 30m Activation time: Instant Damage Type: Internal Mirror: Weaken Mind Casts a powerful Force affliction upon the target that deals [?] internal damage over 15 seconds. Death Field Death Field Sith Inquisitor Force: -50 Range: 30m Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 15 secs Damage Type: Internal Mirror: The Force In Balance Creates a death field at the target location, dealing [?] internal damage and stealing [?] health from up to 3 targets within an 8-meter radius. Force Lightning Force Lightning Sith Inquisitor Force: -30 Range: 10m Channel time: 3.0 secs Cooldown: 6 secs Damage Type: Energy Mirror: Telekinetic Throw Deals [?] energy damage to the target over the duration of the effect. Also slows the movement speed of the target by 50% and immobilizes weak and standard enemies. Shock Shock Sith Inquisitor Force: -45 Range: 10m Activation time: Instant Cooldown: 6 secs Damage Type: Energy Mirror: Project Shocks the target for [?] energy damage. Standard and weak targets are additionally stunned for 3 seconds. Notes:
III. Open Questions: VII. Gearing a Sorcerer|Sage Stats You Care About SWTOR's base stats are Strength, Aim, Cunning, Willpower, Endurance, and Presence. Of these, the only one you care about as a Sorcerer is Willpower. Every point of Willpower adds 0.2 bonus damage to attacks and 0.14 bonus healing to healing abilities. Willpower also increases Force Critical chance, with a diminishing returns curve much lower but also much shallower in benefit-per-point fall-off than crit rating. Willpower can contribute up to 30% crit to force attacks, but will limit to around 10-15% in practical terms. It should also be noted that Mark of Power and Will of the Sith combine additively to give a total of an 11% increase to Willpower. This amplifies the per-point damage and healing bonus contribution to only about 3% less than Power. The secondary stats of interest are Power/Force Power, Alacrity, Crit and Surge. Note that gear containing bonuses to Power and Crit will affect Force Bonus and Force Crit respectively, so there is no need (nor in fact is it even possible) to look for equipment with bonuses to this specific type of damage.
Stats You Don't Care About (and why) The remaining primary stats (Strength, Cunning, Aim, Presence, and Endurance) have either no effect whatsoever on you (Strength, Cunning, Aim), or very little effect and no notable way to directly gear for them (Endurance, Presence). Endurance increases your HP, but is an intrinsic part of an item's level, and generally only comes extra at the expense of other stats on item modifications (where it is usually better to stack other stats instead). Presence increases your companion's health, damage, and healing, which is useless for end-game operations. In addition, the only known way to increase Presence is via Datacrons, certain skills, and consumables. On the secondary stat side...:
Evaluating Gear One thing to consider when evaluating stats is that in most cases, certain stats can only be traded for certain other ones. For example, when dealing with custom gear, you have access to an armoring, a mod, an enhancement, and on weapons only, a color crystal. Armorings have only primary stats on them. Mods have primary stats and either Power or Crit. Enhancements have either Power or Crit and either Surge or Alacrity (ignoring the stats we don't care about). Color crystals have either Power or Crit. None of these allow you to, for example, directly trade out the Alacrity on an item for Power. You may trade out the Alacrity for Surge and vice versa, that's your only option. Thus when evaluating stats, the best way is to instead evaluate the pairs of stats that may be traded for each other. In this manner, we need only evaluate the relative value of Alacrity compared to Surge, and of Crit compared to Power. According to calculus optimization theory, the maximized point of the system of equations is where the partial derivatives are equal. In other words, the point where the stat weights are equal. Thus in order to optimize our DPS, we need to find the balance points where the value of Power equals the value of Crit, and the value of Surge equals the value of Alacrity, then find the gearset that gets us closest to that point. On a personal level, the easiest way to do this is to download SimulationCraft, plug in your spec and gear, and look at the weights that come out. If Power is weighted higher than Crit, swap some of your Crit mods or enhancements for ones containing Power instead. If your Alacrity weight is higher than your Surge weight, swap some of your Surge enhancements for ones with Alacrity on them. You'll very likely not be able to find a gear set where the values of the paired stats are actually equal, but the closer they are to it, the better your dps will be. Now for generalities. In general, you'll want more Power than Crit Rating, up to three times as much by the time you reach Campaign gear level. Also in general, Surge starts out significantly more powerful than Alacrity. However, by the time you have 150-200 of it, its benefit has dropped to close to Alacrity's. In Campaign level gear, you'll actually want roughly the same amount of both, favoring Surge slightly more than Alacrity (the balance point is closer to equal amounts for Lightning). Enhancement Subtypes Next we must consider types of item modifications. For enhancements, it's an extremely easy choice. Enhancements only come in two flavors for each pair of stats. For Grade 25 enhancements (all other grades are proportional), these two options are:
The latter is obviously preferred for optimizing DPS (though some fights do favor higher health pools), and therefore Sorcs tend to stick to Adept (Power/Surge), Battle (Crit/Surge), Insight (Crit/Alacrity), or Quick Savant (Power/Alacrity) enhancements. Selection of which you use should be done to get both paired stats (Power and Crit, Alacrity and Surge) as close to equal to each other as possible. Our Rakata gear comes with Quick Savant on two pieces and Insight on the other 3. Grade 25 Adept and Battle enhancements drop in Eternity Vault and Karagga's Palace. Grade 24 Battle enhancements may be acquired as a quest reward from the daily 2+ Heroic quests Poisonous Strategy (Empire) and Darkness on Ilum (Republic) on Ilum. Grade 25 Adept enhancements may be acquired from the Columi or Champion Enforcer's Gloves or Headgear off the Imperial Agent Rakata vendor. You may purchase the gloves (the helm costs more) for 56 Columi tokens, which gained from the final bosses in hardmode flashpoints, the daily and weekly hardmode flashpoint missions, EV and KP operation bosses, and the two weekly operation missions, or you may directly acquire the Columi tokens for those slots. Both tokens drop in Karagga's Palace and Eternity Vault. In addition, the helm token can drop from the final boss in Kaon Under Siege, and the glove token can drop from the final boss in Boarding Party (Empire) or Taral V (Republic). Mod Subtypes Mods are a bit trickier. For each pair of stats (primary + crit or power), there exist 3 alternatives: the regular model (for example, Aptitude Mod 25), the A model (Aptitude Mod 25A), and the B model (Aptitude Mod 25B). Again at Grade 25, these options are:
This is one of the few situations in which Power and Crit may be directly traded for Willpower, and vice versa. However, the net difference between the 25 mod and the 25A mod is a gain of 13 Willpower at the cost of 26 Power or Crit. Since Willpower has very shallow diminishing returns, this can actually be calculated fairly easily. With full raid buffs and 2/2 Will of the Sith, Willpower's value is very close to static at ~10% better than Power. Ideally, if you've been balancing your gear properly, Crit and Power will have near-equal values, or at the least you'll be looking at the more valuable of the two when considering which of these mods to pick. 26 Power/Crit, at 90% the value of Willpower, is still worth ~80% more than 13 Willpower. Thus the unlettered version of the mods are the best for raw dps, followed by the A models, and in a distant third, the B models (as with the enhancements above, though, some fights do favor higher health pools). Relics One of the most common questions I get is, "which relics are best". Well, thanks to some recent theorycrafting by hatterson in the Sorcerer DPS BIS discussion thread, we have the following list in descending order of DPS benefit, with their EP value (1.0 EP equals the DPS benefit of 1 Power) in parentheses:
Note that the desirability of on-demand burst may amplify the value of the on-use relics a bit, but it is highly unlikely that they'll exceed the War Hero relics in benefit even with burst factored in. Consumables Stims We'll be using a Resolve stim. Comes in Exotech, Energized, and Prototype Hyper-Battle variants, all of which are BoE and crafted by Biochems. Rakata stims are identical to Energized stims in benefit, but are not consumed on use, are BoP, and require 400 Biochem to use. The stims provide the following benefits for Exotech/Energized(Rakata)/Prototype Hyper-Battle: Increases Willpower by 128/112/104 and Power by 52/46/43 for 120 minutes. Only one stimpack can be active at a time. This effect persist through defeat. The Exotech version is is obviously the best for min-maxing. Outside of min-maxing scenarios, Biochems can get away with using Rakata versions. Exotech stims are gained from random recipe drops in EV and KP, and can be a bit expensive. Prototype Hyper-Battle are from the trainer, and should be relatively cheap overall. Adrenals There are 4 adrenals beneficial to us: Attack (Power), Critical (Crit Rating), Efficacy (Alacrity Rating), and Force (Surge Rating). Sorcerers should always use the Power version (Attack), as the sheer magnitude of the stat bonus provided by adrenals pushing any other stat far enough along the DR curve that Power will always be better. Triage adrenals also exist, but while these provide the same amount of Force Power as Attack adrenals provide Power (so same total benefit), but they also reduce all damage you deal by 50% for the duration. They should be avoided at all costs (they are designed for healers). As with stims, adrenals come in Exotech (+535), Energized (+475), and Hyper-Battle (+450) variants. Also like stims, the Biochem-only non-consumable Rakata adrenals are identical in power to Energized. Thanks go to the following people for providing insights and information Sujin for letting me use his Lightning Compendium as a template. Sujin, Alratan, Masterkiller, LagunaD, CaseyTheRetard, Caltiom, and many others for initial and continued theorycrafting. Written by Kor, based on a lightning version by Sujin. Change Log:
Even Angels must kill from time to time...
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04-11-2012, 11:36 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-11-2012 11:37 AM by Kaedis.)
Post: #2
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RE: Sorcerer|Sage DPS Compendium
Updated for 1.2. Updates include:
Even Angels must kill from time to time...
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04-11-2012, 12:45 PM
Post: #3
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RE: Sorcerer|Sage DPS Compendium
I am glad this is a new thread.
How does Lightning spec get 2082.22 for the DPCT for FL, when the other specs have around 1k? Does those DPCT numbers take into account the new Tier 1 Madness talent (6% damage to Affliction, Shock and FL)? Since this is a 1.2 post, the Grade 25 Adept enhancements can not be acquired from Champion Enforcer's Gloves or Headgear, since that gear is removed from the vendors. It can still be removed from existing items though. Ashstorm - Sorcerer http://swtor.askmrrobot.com/character/8a...f065cdb66b Ashtech - Powertech http://swtor.askmrrobot.com/character/86...e5f049799e |
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04-11-2012, 12:51 PM
Post: #4
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RE: Sorcerer|Sage DPS Compendium
Quote:How does Lightning spec get 2082.22 for the DPCT for FL, when the other specs have around 1k? FL's DPCT for Lightning was calculated assuming it was used on Lightning Barrage, since otherwise it is just "occasionally" weaved in. I may revert that to unmodified, though. Quote:Does those DPCT numbers take into account the new Tier 1 Madness talent (6% damage to Affliction, Shock and FL)? It's not really new, it's just altering the mechanics of Calcify. Yes, however, the DPCT quoted above takes the new behavior of Calcify (and Disintegration, and Wrath) into account. Quote:Since this is a 1.2 post, the Grade 25 Adept enhancements can not be acquired from Champion Enforcer's Gloves or Headgear, since that gear is removed from the vendors. It can still be removed from existing items though. Ya, I left that in mostly for posterity. I may remove it. Even Angels must kill from time to time...
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04-12-2012, 04:30 AM
Post: #5
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RE: Sorcerer|Sage DPS Compendium
Awesome Kor, thanks very much for reorganizing this into a concise post.
With the ability to add augments to gear in 1.2, I'd be very curious to see more information on the value of the various set bonuses. I know they are in general very weak in terms of a DPS increase, and my plan is to initially just put my Rakata mods into crit-crafted Orange gear to gain the augment slot. Is it possible to come up with a Willpower equivalent to the set bonuses so we can more easily make that evaluation? The 2 piece PvP bonus in particular seems as though it could be very useful, since it reduces the CD on our highest priority ability for Hybrid/Madness. At least on the PTS, you could put PvE mods into the PvP gear and retain the set bonus. Methodical
A home for adults who want to enjoy high-level progression raiding in a respectful, mature atmosphere without sacrificing their real life |
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04-12-2012, 04:41 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-12-2012 06:02 AM by frmorrison.)
Post: #6
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RE: Sorcerer|Sage DPS Compendium
(04-12-2012 04:30 AM)Wugan Wrote: The 2 piece PvP bonus in particular seems as though it could be very useful, since it reduces the CD on our highest priority ability for Hybrid/Madness. At least on the PTS, you could put PvE mods into the PvP gear and retain the set bonus. At least on the PTS, it seems you could put your Rakata mods into two pieces of PvP gear to retain PvE stats with the reduced cooldown on CD. However, the PvP 2 set bonus was previously calculated at about 12 dps, so it seems better to use orange gear with augments even if you have no set bonuses. Each Augment in 1.2 gives 18 willpower, which is ballpark around 5 dps so it seems best to use Willpower augment oranges. E: The PvP 2 set will be higher because of the Wrath buff (it increases the tics of CD as well), so it should be about 12 dps, not 7 dps. Since crit orange hands and gloves will be rarer than the other three slots, getting the cheap Centurion Gloves/Boots may be a good idea, since the PvE 4 set bonus (that is not changing) is around the same dps. Ashstorm - Sorcerer http://swtor.askmrrobot.com/character/8a...f065cdb66b Ashtech - Powertech http://swtor.askmrrobot.com/character/86...e5f049799e |
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04-12-2012, 04:54 AM
Post: #7
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RE: Sorcerer|Sage DPS Compendium
(04-12-2012 04:41 AM)frmorrison Wrote:Ah ok. If it's only 7 DPS, the whole thing is probably moot, although it seems like it should be higher. If it is, you could use the PvP gloves and boots and not give up any augments right away, since it will be a while until people are able to create crit-crafted oranges for those slots (I believe it's just head, chest and legs until we can start REing Campaign drops in the other slots).(04-12-2012 04:30 AM)Wugan Wrote: The 2 piece PvP bonus in particular seems as though it could be very useful, since it reduces the CD on our highest priority ability for Hybrid/Madness. At least on the PTS, you could put PvE mods into the PvP gear and retain the set bonus. Methodical
A home for adults who want to enjoy high-level progression raiding in a respectful, mature atmosphere without sacrificing their real life |
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04-12-2012, 04:20 PM
Post: #8
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RE: Sorcerer|Sage DPS Compendium
Just curious if Hybrid is still viable for 1.2 content bosses? I know with Toth/Zorn having to be out of the 30m range might make this spec a bit less useful. Just wondering if this spec still puts out competitive DPS now that we can't use CL on wrath proc and Force Lightning took a damage nerf or if I'd be better of re-speccing to Lightning.
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04-12-2012, 04:36 PM
Post: #9
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RE: Sorcerer|Sage DPS Compendium
(04-12-2012 04:20 PM)Darth_Nihilus Wrote: Just curious if Hybrid is still viable for 1.2 content bosses? I know with Toth/Zorn having to be out of the 30m range might make this spec a bit less useful. Just wondering if this spec still puts out competitive DPS now that we can't use CL on wrath proc and Force Lightning took a damage nerf or if I'd be better of re-speccing to Lightning.Works great, I cleared everything in story and the first 3 bosses on Hard with it, and seemed to do competitive DPS based on the parsing we did. On Zorn, you can be between 25-30m and not get hit, and still DPS, so all ranged classes work fine there. Methodical
A home for adults who want to enjoy high-level progression raiding in a respectful, mature atmosphere without sacrificing their real life |
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04-13-2012, 12:21 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-13-2012 12:24 AM by Khadroth.)
Post: #10
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RE: Sorcerer|Sage DPS Compendium
Thanks for the new guide Kor.
So I went full balance last night to get reaquainted with it before 1.2 hits as I haven't played it since back in beta. I miss the burst from hybrid specs but it's fun in its own way. A few questions came to mind last night though as I was playing. Are the changes to Inner Strength/Electric Induction now including Weaken Mind/Affliction going to make enough of an impact to make it worth considering for Full Balance/Madness? |
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