Burst Damage

[Seska]

I wasn't sure where to put this, so if it's in the wrong section, I apologise.

I'm fully aware that this is likely to contain some knowledge that is obvious to some, which will in turn make me look a bit silly, but hey, you don't ask you don't learn, right!?

So, this happened this evening


http://imgur.com/a/gfugv

Now, I'd like to note- I'm not unleashing a rant, I'm actually pretty impressed (and somewhat perplexed) and want to learn more! That's an insane amount of damage to put out in 1 second! So much so, I started to delve into how Sorc works (in it's basic form) in order to figure out how the figures were so high and how I could die in 1 second flat (because you're **** is a harsh yet possibly valid answer)!

HoR tooltip states a DoT with 343 base every 2 seconds (2 seconds never elapsed), so that confuses me slightly. WoP tooltip only has damage associated with it after 10 seconds?

[wpc56]

Sorc rotation revolve around setting up 5 seconds rotation based on WoP (Geared sorc WoP crit for 2k+)

They'll chill wind (dot/debuff), dot (ap drain, don't remember the name), WoP and arctic blast (1.5 seconds)

by this time WoP should pop and they'll hand of ruin (channeled) on top of that and can burst you down from 100-0% in that time... only guard and heal can prevent it.

Counter, get Cleansing Wind. When you see WoP on you, click Cleansing Wind when WoP have 1-2 seconds left on you to get rid of it all the dots... and hope you have enough burst to kill the sorc or you have healer near by and is paying attention to you.

[sanii]

HoR tooltip states a DoT with 343 base every 2 seconds (2 seconds never elapsed), so that confuses me slightly. WoP tooltip only has damage associated with it after 10 seconds?

HoR is a channeled ability witch ticks on the frame you cast it and every 2 seconds after , WoP uses a tactic called Vision of Domination which is located in the middle tree (3point tactic) to boost its damage significantly and reduce the time until impact to 5s.

[Gachimuchi]

dot (ap drain, don't remember the name), WoP and arctic blast (1.5 seconds)

Vision of torment is a waste of AP unless you're getting cleansed, in which case its good to put on as a cover for chillwind.

[blaqwar]

So here's the short rundown of how a burst rotation of a BW/Sorc works.

Keep in mind they will likely be running the tactic that reduces the activation time of the Word of Pain/Blood Boil down to 5 seconds. They will also use a tactic that decreases your Spirit/Corporeal resistance (the resistance that defends against their damage) by a decent amount, upwards of 200. Couple that with their mechanic which increase their crit chance sby 35% and the damage their crits do by 100% when fully charged and you have a dead person with a press of a few buttons.

How the Sorceress that killed you did this is very likely thusly:

1. Chillwind (regular DoT but reduces spirit resistance with a tactic, will conveniently enough tick at an interval that corresponds with the rest of the abilities if used correctly)

2. Word of Pain (the damage on expiration DoT, detonation time reduced to 5 sec with a tactic, will damage at the same time as the rest of the abilities)

3. Cast Arctic Blast (this has a 2 sec cast time but the fact that it's a projectile and has travel time means it hits around the same time as the Word of Pain damage, it also slows if cursed but beside the point)

4. Cast Gloomburst (1 sec cast that deals damage immediately upon completing the cast)

5. Channel Hand of Ruin (this is a channeled ability but the first time it deals damage - the first tick is immediately when it's cast).

Which means in terms of a timeline (instant abilities invoke a 1.5 sec global cooldown): Chillwind (1,5 sec) + Word of Pain (3 sec) + Arctic Blast (5 sec) + Gloomburst (6.5 sec) + Hand of Ruin (8 sec) <- this is when everything activates, Chillwind ticks, WoP ticks, Arctic Blast and Gloomburst Land with a Hand of Ruin followup.

Thus all of the damage hits within less than 2 seconds and is very difficult to avoid. It's a skillfully combined rotation that is designed to kill anyone not reacting appropriately. They spec for this kind of thing so it's a reasonable tradeoff, as well as being incredibly squishy and damaging themselves and thus requiring a healer for fights with a longer duration.

Mind you Bright Wizards can do pretty much the same thing.

Avoiding it is difficult. If you do not have support your best bet is to run out of range of the last part of the rotation as soon as you see and hear the Word of Pain being applied (it's quite distinct and after you've died enough from it you'll shudder when you hear it). Hopefully you can avoid the second part of the burst and survive.

If you're a career with a ranged detaunt use it when you see you're being focused by a Sorc. It will not reduce the damage of the DoTs that were applied beforehand but it does help with the second part of the rotation. Use any kind of magic mitigation tools your career has, in the case of a SW you're simply out of luck.

If you do have support, call out being focused and hope you get healed/cleansed in time or a guard get's swapped to you. A tank with Hold the Line helps as well.

[Seska]

Desired knowledge achieved. Thank you all for your input, Blaqwar in particular for the detailed and easy-to-digest run-down, appreciated.

The lack of reaction was in part due to playing with no sound and a small group of them coming from behind, by the time you see the first log damage you're pretty much gone!

They looked like they were having fun (so was I, to be fair), so it makes you want to find out more and play it.

[eks]

Another tip: the add on Enemy will show an individualized icon when Word of Pain pops up on someone in your group/warband (same with the BW equivalent....boiling blood I think?) Very good for healers looking to protect against this particular rotation.

[wpc56]

Yes, just remember what Word of Pain icon look like (a mad purple face)... and wait until it has 2 seconds to go and hit cleansing wind...

Did I mention you need cleansing wind? I lost count how many times I barely made it back to healers in SC or burst the sorc down because of cleansing wind... 5 minutes may seem a long time (1st rank) but that's all you need for most part.

If you are range class, detaunt and you have a good chance of suriviving

[Seska]

Another tip: the add on Enemy will show an individualized icon when Word of Pain pops up on someone in your group/warband (same with the BW equivalent....boiling blood I think?) Very good for healers looking to protect against this particular rotation.

Great tip. I'll add this to my healer characters. Thanks.

[Seska]

Yes, just remember what Word of Pain icon look like (a mad purple face)... and wait until it has 2 seconds to go and hit cleansing wind...

Did I mention you need cleansing wind? I lost count how many times I barely made it back to healers in SC or burst the sorc down because of cleansing wind... 5 minutes may seem a long time (1st rank) but that's all you need for most part.

If you are range class, detaunt and you have a good chance of suriviving

Noted, thanks. I hadn't got CW, I now have.

Playing with the sound on next time, and detaunt on a quicker hot-key.