How long is your rotation?

chattygeekHD · June 2022

Hey ESOFam!

This is just out of curiosity.

I'm relatively new to the game, but have learned that there is such a thing as a rotation that people will generally stick to when they are in combat.
This is something that is composed of preferred skills and attack-weaving etc that maintains decent DPS / protects / buffs / maintains stats etc, depending on role.

I'm just curious, but does your character have one rotation that you just stick to?

I've been having wonderful fun building my 2H Stam-Warden and have come up with a rotation that is 40 moves long!!!

I get the feeling that this isn't normal however, and to be honest there's very few mobs I've come up against that aren't dead before I get to the end of it!

The only exception is when I lose memory of my rotation and have to start again, and so it takes a bit longer to get through.

So I'm just wondering -

how does your rotation work?

How many moves do you have to memorise?

Do you stick to it regardless and it tends to just work, or does it adapt as the fight progresses?

I'm sure I'll come up against complications as I get up to harder content (I'm currently lvl 41 and haven't done any dungeons yet or the tough PVP stuff) so my own strategy will have to change to suit...

Marginis · June 2022

Well, on the low end, I have builds that don't really have a rotation so much as they just keep two abilities up in combat. Other than that, I just use whatever abilities I need at the time I need them. This isn't uncommon for simple tanks.

Toward the medium, there are some simple DPS builds and heal builds I have where I basically just activate all the abilities on back bar in order, weave a front bar spammable for 20-30 seconds, and then repeat, mixing in heavies or heals as needed.

What you have is probably something toward the high end of long rotations.

Necrotech_Master · June 2022

i usually try to focus on simpler rotations

my stam templar would be an example of that, maelstrom bow back bar, maelstrom 2h front bar

my attack chain is basically volley->swap to front bar->stampede->power of the light then spam jabs, refreshing power of the light as it expires (usually about once or twice before refreshing volley/stampede)

ive been able to hit upwards 50k dps in some situations (that ive seen in combat metrics during fights, i dont dummy parse)

my other good dps is a mag dk, his rotation is a little bit more complicated but still follows a similar setup of medium to long duration dots on back bar then weaving skills on front bar (the last patch hurt his sustain quite a bit so need to look into that)

dmnqwk · June 2022

If you're going by rotation, that's a choice.

In most games there are 3 styles of dps gameplay:

1) Rotation - You hit the skills in the same order everytime and, should anything interrupt it, pick up from a specific point.
2) Priority System - The button which does the most damage at the time
3) Proc-based Rotation - A system wherein you have a set rotation that is interrupted by abilities with a % chance or being ready.

In ESO it's all number 2 - Especially with dodge rolling, moving to avoid ground damage, stuns and boss immunities, on top of the fact this game lacks cooldowns on abilities (blastbones excluded) you simply hit the button that'll do the most damage at the time.

The simplistic view is:
1) Hit that one ability which does lots of damage but either needs charges or needs a few seconds to work
2) Get your dots up
3) Spammable or Execute spammable.

Obviously it's not always that simple - for example on my stamden it'll be:
1) Cleave (maintaining cleave 3 stacks is so much damage)
2) Bear Ult
3) Sub Ass
4) Barbed Trap
5) Fetcherflies
6) Stampede (If Maelstrom weapon move this up to 4)
7) Winter's Embrace
8) Spin to Win (execute phase) or Cutting Dive (regularly)

Now, you can argue about the order (for example, Fetcherflies is worth 5% of your damage over 10 seconds on top of the ability's damage but is it better to get Winter's Embrace up due to the chance of applying Chill etc) but overall how you decide is based upon the ability which is needed next to do the maximum damages.

This is also just for a parse. With Minor Berserk on both bars this is all 10 slots, but in actual gameplay I'd have lotus blossom for crit and netch for dmg (and not pot 24/7) so Fetcherflies is dropped (and the backbar Bird of Prey goes) while I also switch out Winter's Embrace for Vines, leaving me less to work with for my RND and such.)

phaneub17_ESO · June 2022

I drop a lot of crap on the ground, OOH SHINY, rinse repeat, Heavy Attack when empty. I don't Light Attack weave as it hurts my fingers trying to keep up with that.

The only exception is my Breton Templar with Molag Kena + Diamond's Victory + Julianos who has just enough recovery and cost reduction to keep both set bonuses going for massive spell damage increase without the need to Heavy Attack, ever. Reflective Light and Degeneration for Melee Supremacy; Puncturing Sweep, Solar Barrage (10 sec constant Empower), and Channeled Focus for Range Supremacy; double tap staff for Molag Kena between Puncturing Sweep.

Everyone else drops multiple DoT damage effects from both bars then spams a burst attack.

Necrotech_Master · June 2022

dmnqwk wrote: »

If you're going by rotation, that's a choice.

In most games there are 3 styles of dps gameplay:

1) Rotation - You hit the skills in the same order everytime and, should anything interrupt it, pick up from a specific point.
2) Priority System - The button which does the most damage at the time
3) Proc-based Rotation - A system wherein you have a set rotation that is interrupted by abilities with a % chance or being ready.

In ESO it's all number 2 - Especially with dodge rolling, moving to avoid ground damage, stuns and boss immunities, on top of the fact this game lacks cooldowns on abilities (blastbones excluded) you simply hit the button that'll do the most damage at the time.

The simplistic view is:
1) Hit that one ability which does lots of damage but either needs charges or needs a few seconds to work
2) Get your dots up
3) Spammable or Execute spammable.

Obviously it's not always that simple - for example on my stamden it'll be:
1) Cleave (maintaining cleave 3 stacks is so much damage)
2) Bear Ult
3) Sub Ass
4) Barbed Trap
5) Fetcherflies
6) Stampede (If Maelstrom weapon move this up to 4)
7) Winter's Embrace
8) Spin to Win (execute phase) or Cutting Dive (regularly)

Now, you can argue about the order (for example, Fetcherflies is worth 5% of your damage over 10 seconds on top of the ability's damage but is it better to get Winter's Embrace up due to the chance of applying Chill etc) but overall how you decide is based upon the ability which is needed next to do the maximum damages.

This is also just for a parse. With Minor Berserk on both bars this is all 10 slots, but in actual gameplay I'd have lotus blossom for crit and netch for dmg (and not pot 24/7) so Fetcherflies is dropped (and the backbar Bird of Prey goes) while I also switch out Winter's Embrace for Vines, leaving me less to work with for my RND and such.)

cleave does not stack bleeds (since at least ascending tide patch), it just increases the duration up to a maximum of 30 seconds

aaisoaho · June 2022

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

dmnqwk wrote: »

If you're going by rotation, that's a choice.

In most games there are 3 styles of dps gameplay:

1) Rotation - You hit the skills in the same order everytime and, should anything interrupt it, pick up from a specific point.
2) Priority System - The button which does the most damage at the time
3) Proc-based Rotation - A system wherein you have a set rotation that is interrupted by abilities with a % chance or being ready.

In ESO it's all number 2 - Especially with dodge rolling, moving to avoid ground damage, stuns and boss immunities, on top of the fact this game lacks cooldowns on abilities (blastbones excluded) you simply hit the button that'll do the most damage at the time.

The simplistic view is:
1) Hit that one ability which does lots of damage but either needs charges or needs a few seconds to work
2) Get your dots up
3) Spammable or Execute spammable.

Obviously it's not always that simple - for example on my stamden it'll be:
1) Cleave (maintaining cleave 3 stacks is so much damage)
2) Bear Ult
3) Sub Ass
4) Barbed Trap
5) Fetcherflies
6) Stampede (If Maelstrom weapon move this up to 4)
7) Winter's Embrace
8) Spin to Win (execute phase) or Cutting Dive (regularly)

Now, you can argue about the order (for example, Fetcherflies is worth 5% of your damage over 10 seconds on top of the ability's damage but is it better to get Winter's Embrace up due to the chance of applying Chill etc) but overall how you decide is based upon the ability which is needed next to do the maximum damages.

This is also just for a parse. With Minor Berserk on both bars this is all 10 slots, but in actual gameplay I'd have lotus blossom for crit and netch for dmg (and not pot 24/7) so Fetcherflies is dropped (and the backbar Bird of Prey goes) while I also switch out Winter's Embrace for Vines, leaving me less to work with for my RND and such.)

cleave does not stack bleeds (since at least ascending tide patch), it just increases the duration up to a maximum of 30 seconds

But you still want to maintain it at 3 stacks to be able to cast it less. When you refresh it at 3 stacks, it refreshes to 30 seconds duration. This helps you sustain and lets you cast more abilities in the mean time. Also the damage per cast on fully stacked carve is good.

I personally have played stamina sorcerer for a long time. Currently there is no clear rotation to measure time for, since I use a dynamic rotation with skill priorities, plus I use crystal weapon and bound armaments that are special cases. Crystal weapon was changed in update 34 to apply to the next 2 light attacks, which means I use it now as the every second skill. Bound armaments are best used as an every 4th skill, but sometimes I need to prioritise other skills over bound armaments.