Do you run out of CA's?

Dedaehder · 01-27-2008, 02:20 PM

Hello fellow Swashies! Ive posted here once or twice when I was leveling my Swash but now that Ive been raiding with him consistantly in ROK I have came across a bit of an issue. I seem to run out of CA's to cast waaaay to soon into battle. I am for sure letting my AA's hit and not stepping on them. With Sailwind I am able to get off 2 CA's in between each AA, for the first 40 sec for so of the fight my DPS just goes to shit cause Im sitting there auto attacking... I do have RSB so I have tried dropping back while I'm waiting on my CA's and getting a good bow shot in but that doesn't seem to help at all, often it can lower my DPS.

In ROK I normally hit around 3000-3500 ZW DPS with a 45-50k raid DPS and Im in the MT group. Have 35% Crits (w/o crit pots and oil stone adorn), 30 Haste / DPS and 15% DA self buffed. Mostly using EH poisions as well. Weapons are Throatripper and Crotidcutter (http://eq2players.station.sony.com/characters/character_profile.vm?characterId=795041109)

Fairly certain my AA's are in the right place, went down STR / AGI and have some INT (for Boot Dagger) and then the rest is in STA and maxing out the damage from my AA CA's. For Swash tree Im down the poison line, Advanced Warning and then debuffs (still debating on moving from debuffs to Reach)

I guess what I'm looking for is maybe a helping hand on what CA's I should be using first and which I should save till last. I have built my CA lineup based on the debuffs and other important things about the mechanics of the game to make the mob weaker and lower his defense so the rest of my raid can DPS better but I think this may not be most advantageous for my DPS. My CA lineup normally goes as follows:

Eye Point (while the mob is inc)
Traumatic Swipe
Kidney Stab
Uncanny Thrusts
Topurous Draught? (whatever the AA is that comes with STR line)
Lung Bleed
Sack
Triple Blades
Blame BladeBoot Dagger
Stealthy Charge
Flashy Strike
Bedazzling Steel
Heel Cut
Lucky Whirl

There may be one or two more Im not at my PC with EQ right now so I can't go all the way down the list but thats as best as I can recall.

Like I said that is simply for the debuffing of the mob, getting Parry / MIT down for mele ASAP then getting into my "DPS" and O debuffs. Recently talked to someone who suggesting hitting with my big attacks first and then by the time I get through all of them and get into my faster recasting skills they will be back up or I will have just a very slight delay in my CA's but not as long as normal. Havn't tried that one yet and I will soon just thought I'd get everyone else's opinion as well. I just wanna hit that Fabled 5k DPS as often as our Assassian does... is it possible?!?!

Runaf · 01-27-2008, 03:01 PM

I can't speak for all swashbucklers, but I have always assumed that depending on your CA rotation there is going to be some inevitable downtime waiting on re-use from time to time. The lineup you posted, while it's not what I personally use, looks like you at least included the major CAs we use in a rotation. For what it's worth, I drop my quick-reuse debuffs first, wait for dispatch before dropping the higher-damage CAs (Sack, Flurry, ect), and end with the longer recast, low damage arts. I wish I could be more specific but I don't have access to the game at the moment :P

That being said, with autoattack being so important to our DPS (at least in the lower tier zones) you could probably work on your self-buffed crit rate and doubleattack. It sounds like you are already clearing T2 zones, and with a little work you can easily collect a combination of heroic legendary and low-tier fabled that will put you closer to the 50% crit range, especially if you're in the MT group. I personally argue that the carodicutter isn't worth using because of the weak spread, but that's just me. 4.5-5k burst parses are definitely possible with the right setup, but don't expect to regularly pull it off as a zonewide like some assassins do without a "stacked" group.

Woruuden · 01-27-2008, 05:28 PM

Reach line will boost your dps considerably over the debuff line as you boost your short duration buffs effectiveness and lower their reuse times. Also you can be at melee range and still use your ranged CA, if you start using a pouch again. It also makes it easy to get in a good position behind or flanking the mob.

Dedaehder · 01-27-2008, 06:00 PM

Isnt the Reach line the AOE line too?!? Gives you the extra hit % for both AOE's and the tid bit to Hurricane doesn't it? Thought it was the Style (Advanced Warning) line that gives you the extra duration / reuse for your temp buffs and invis...

Paeto · 01-27-2008, 06:20 PM

Reach = increase range on AEs, ranged CAs and auto attacks etc
Style = Temp buff improvements, AE block and a few more things

Woruuden · 01-27-2008, 10:01 PM

well I guess i was wrong, I wasn't in game when I replied. But still reach is fucktons better than the debuff line.

Leithe · 01-28-2008, 06:41 AM

Except the debuff line makes a bigger difference in ROK than it might have in previous expansions.

Just because the end of the line is garbage doesn't mean the rest is.

Terminate · 01-29-2008, 05:58 AM

i vary rarely run out of cas. This is the order i usually go in since i am logged in

Eyepoint
Trickery
Swipe
Lung Bleed
Blame Blade
Kidney
Steel
Heel Cut
then run through all my 30 second timers
By then your 10 second timers are back up hit those again
stealthy charge
eye point
aoes
10 second ones should be back up
stealthy charge again then the 30 second ones should be back up or close to it

temp buffs inbetween aas durring dispatch/cob.

Nihlathak · 01-29-2008, 06:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terminate

i vary rarely run out of cas. This is the order i usually go in since i am logged in

Eyepoint
Trickery
Swipe
Lung Bleed
Blame Blade
Kidney
Steel
Heel Cut
then run through all my 30 second timers
By then your 10 second timers are back up hit those again
stealthy charge
eye point
aoes
10 second ones should be back up
stealthy charge again then the 30 second ones should be back up or close to it

temp buffs inbetween aas durring dispatch/cob.

If I'm wrong then someone more knowledgeable feel free to correct me, but I'm pretty sure these CA's aren't worth using on a single target encounter?

Edit: For the sake of contributing~

I like to only throw one CA between autoattacks unless my haste mod is really really low, so I don't really have a problem with much CA downtime. This is my ideal casting order, though I don't always do it this way:

Trickery
Eye Point
Blame Blade
Bedazzling
Flashy Strike
Sack
Kidney Stab
Master Strike (if applicable)
Triple Blades
Uncanny Thrusts
Swipe
Torporous Strike

With Temp buffs during CoBs.

I'm open to any criticism of course but please keep in mind I play on PvP server so it's a little different having only Qeynos classes (No delicious dispatch for example.

)

Woruuden · 01-29-2008, 11:36 AM

My cast order does not change much from single to group besides adding in my AE's on groups. I use 2 CA's then pause for 1 -2 autoattacks ( I am using carotid cutter and soulfire sabre)

Bedazzling Steel
Trickery
Blame Blade
Tram Swipe / Torp Strike (macro'd together)
Kidney Stab
Lung Bleed
Sack
Master Strike / if not up or applicable I use boot Dagger / Stealthy Charge
Tripple Blades
Eye Point
Uncanny Thrusts
Flashy Strike
Boot Dagger / Aggro slip
Stealthy Charge
Tundra Slam
WTP
Bound
Heel Cut

That is how I start off, it changes after first run through in that I hit whatever is up after 1 - 2 autoattacks and I maintain the main debuffs.