Approaching KaraFollow

See the min/max dps affliction thread on this front page here. There is a spreadsheet you can download and put your gear into. Then you can play with the specs there to see what will do the largest dps for you. Generally speaking, affliction is the best spec to go with in early kara, but again... check the spreadsheet. You can find it at elitistjerks.com I believe.

For Destro:

1. 180-202 Spell Hit
2. 1k+ Shadow Dmg
3. 20% Crit

For Affliction:
1. 76 Spell hit
2. As much shadow damage you can get
3. DoTs can't Crit

For affliction the gladiators spellblade and off-hand
For Destro the gladiators war(?) staff. And get the FSW tailored set if you are tailor, and Spellstrike as well.

I only have +60 hit and Prince resists me quite a lot. That's as Demo. Everything I've read suggests maxing out +hit first, then stacking +dam

Yet for some reason, FreeTrial suggests 76+ hit will do for Aff!?

I need an explanation!

Yeah, sure, but I had read that more than 2 points is a waste - and even then, being hit capped is better because you have two spare points to use in better places.

Goddam - before I respec I'm going back to the research books.

As I understand it, and I could be deluded here, the 2 points in suppression is to maximize hit on equal-level mobs (mobs the same level as the caster). This obviously doesn't work as well on bosses who are generally calculated as level 73 elites.

The idea of raising your +hit to the cap is to then move those two talent points to something more useful in raiding (melee loves imp. imp, for example).

The current spell +hit cap is 202. The hit and crit ratings are most important in Destro builds, the hit and +damage ratings are more important to Affliction.

Also, every analysis I've seen puts heavy affliction (deep UA) builds well ahead of destro up to t5 gear. After 2/5 t5 gear this changes to sac/destro or deep destro being more effective dps output.

But in the end, play what you enjoy. I've spec'd both while leveling, seen both in raids and really dig each for different reasons. If your raid is cool with pre-t4 destro build, then sac the succy and get ready to spam spam spam shadow bolts! ;)

Oh, and for the PvP gear: Every single raiding lock I've talked to suggested no more than the spellblade/offhand (or staff) and maybe the robes. You can get by with PvP gear, but it's not ideal for raiding. Even just Kara.

I get all the mechanics. It's just this respec - and the required hit for each. Bugger it - I'm chasing more +hit and respeccing to affliction in the next couple of days.

You didn't sac your succubus?

o.O

1 HoT, 2 FoL, or being hit twice with part of a Chain Heal will get more health back than 30% of your max health every minute. If you ask your healer nicely, I'm sure they can spare a couple seconds every minute to give you basicly an extra 15% DPS.

Thanks for the feedback. I hit 70, got some S1 pvp gear, and switched to Affliction.

I also had 2 friends bring me into a 3v3 team, and I realized that my keyboard dexterity / ability to execute quickly (especially when turning or close range) needs more attention than my gear.

I know this isn't the forum for it, but I somehow need to work on maneuverability-execution, if that makes sense. Things I had taken for granted while soloing to 70, and nuking in AV from a distance.

I'm a late-blooming nerd and not a PC proficient person, so I'm struggling to get where I need to be in order to perform better.

Theory I get, practice is harder.

for keybindings... read this. It is written for rogues, but you could insert lock spells you use all the time (e.g. iHoT) to reduce your reaction time.

I never considered the mouse wheel.

Guess what I'm doing tonight. Sigh.

Sometimes this game is just work.

I'd advise against it. Relying so much on autorun for free look isn't optimal. Besides, with Shift, Ctrl and Alt on the keyboard, there's no reason to dump two vital movement keys for those easy-to-reach keys.

You can probably reach 4 or 5 on the keyboard without many issues, right? That's twelve or fifteen different combinations right there. Add Q, E, R, T, F, V, C, X, Z and Ctrl, Shift, Alt for each of them.

Unless you're suffering from arthritis, hitting those combinations shouldn't be a problem. Not that you need that many keybindings, though. I don't and I only have two offensive spells unbound. Rain of Fire and Incinerate. I don't use them much as a SL/SL lock.

Edited, May 13th 2008 1:37am by Mazra

After trying to move with only my mouse last night, I'm agreeing with Mazra.

WASD seems to work ok UNTIL my hand leaves that spot to hit numbers 6 7 8 9 0, then I have to react while resetting my movement hand.

Inconsistency has been the bane of my typing prowess, and with this too. Sometimes I'll hit "6" (Fear) with my left hand, sometimes I'll be turning and use my right hand, it makes for a lovely mess.

Tonight I'll try to localize my bindings to letters around WASD as suggested, but I need to pick something and stick with it and get those neural pathways hard-wired.

5 years of FFXI totally gimped me (number pad movement).