CP Deadly Aim vs. Master at Arms?

faeeichenlaub · July 2021

Trying to figure on which slottable has best benefit. What's the difference here?
(Non magic)

Master at arms
Increase your damage with direct Damage attacks by 2% per stage

Deadly Aim
Increase your Damage done with single target attacks by 2%, per stage.

hackdrag0n · July 2021

It varies from class to class and build to build, dependent entirely on how many skills you run that do each damage type and how important they are to your overall dps score.

Lokryn · July 2021

I don't know the data but current Meta is to slot both depending on your build. I tend to go close to Alcast's builds.

Fennwitty · July 2021

faeeichenlaub wrote: »

Trying to figure on which slottable has best benefit. What's the difference here?
(Non magic)

Master at arms
Increase your damage with direct Damage attacks by 2% per stage

Deadly Aim
Increase your Damage done with single target attacks by 2%, per stage.

Here's an example, and hopefully I chose the a skill that doesn't play by unique rules:

Arrow Spray: Fire a burst of arrows in one shot, dealing 1742 Physical Damage to enemies in front of you.

It is direct damage.

It is not single target.

So for Arrow Spray specifically, Deadly Aim does nothing.

Night_Child · September 2022

So...for a Magika build, Entropy and Cripple would both benefit from MAA and DA? I'm thinking yes, but would definitely would like confirmation just to make sure I'm understanding this correctly.

Necrotech_Master · September 2022

Night_Child wrote: »

So...for a Magika build, Entropy and Cripple would both benefit from MAA and DA? I'm thinking yes, but would definitely would like confirmation just to make sure I'm understanding this correctly.

DoTs do not benefit from master at arms

entropy is entirely a dot so it wouldnt benefit from master at arms, but would benefit from the other one

cripple is an interesting case

if you go with the morph that has the frontloaded dmg, then yes both would apply, if you went with the morph that was only dot, then master at arms would NOT apply, but the other one would

Oreyn_Bearclaw · September 2022

Yeah, for single target setups, you will almost always run both. Here is actually a pretty good flow chart curtesy of Skinny Cheeks, but you do need to know some things about your particular build and where your damage comes from.

CP+FLOW2.png?format=1500w

For PVE DPS, if looking for a set and forget setup, you are going to be safe the vast majority of the time with Master at Arms, Deadly Aim, Fighting Finesse, and one flex spot (Wrathful strikes is solid). Even in Group Finder, I find I am usually pretty close to the Pen Cap. You probably wont be at the crit cap, so I would run FF. Backstabber is stronger, but very situational as you cant always flank.

On a Trial Dummy, you probably dont need either FF or Backstabber, as you only need 30% crit damage to hit the cap. Thaumaturge or Exploiter can become that second flex spot. My best sorc parses right now on the dummy are: Deadly Aim, Master at Arms, Wrathful Strikes, Exploiter. If building for a specific trash/AOE setup, be sure to get Biting Aura in there.

Quethrosar · September 2022

what do you mean by making a specific build, when does anyone have time to change builds in a dungeon ?

Dagoth_Rac · September 2022

Quethrosar wrote: »

what do you mean by making a specific build, when does anyone have time to change builds in a dungeon ?

There are addons that can change your gear/skills between fights. So you can store a "fighting trash" build versus "fighting boss" build. And even have a "flankable boss" versus "unflankable boss" setup.

Oreyn_Bearclaw · September 2022

Quethrosar wrote: »

what do you mean by making a specific build, when does anyone have time to change builds in a dungeon ?

@Quethrosar
Vast majority of competitive end game players on PC swap gear, bars, and CP between trash and bosses in dungeons at a minimum, and if they aren't swapping gear, they are probably at least swapping a skill or two. Even on console, the score chasers are doing it there as well to some degree.

At the extreme end, for example during a recent TTT prog I did, I had a different gear setup for every single boss, and at least two different trash setups. On PC you can do it with the click of a button. I had the number pad 1-7 all with different setups.

The take away is not a PC vs Console war, its that BIS or Meta (or whatever you want to call it) is 100% dependent on the encounter. The setup I wear to nuke the spider boss in 10 seconds in VHOF is not the same as I am going to run for a trench strat on the final boss, nor is it the same setup we use to nuke the triplets. One requires burst, One requires sustained single target, One requires high AOE/Cleave damage.

One of the advantages to a lot of CP is that its also relatively easy to swap out your slotted passives. As an example Biting Aura is very powerful in trash, but on a boss it usually not worth running.

Do most players in the game overall do this? Hard Nope.

Quethrosar · September 2022

but people like to pull mobs without any time to switch, and the switcher doesn't always do it right the first time, i have this switching thing to but there have been times i been stuck in a broken switch.

Oreyn_Bearclaw · September 2022

Quethrosar wrote: »

but people like to pull mobs without any time to switch, and the switcher doesn't always do it right the first time, i have this switching thing to but there have been times i been stuck in a broken switch.

@Quethrosar
Yeah, in a random group, this is not real life.

I am talking organized runs, with voice coms. In Group Finder types of scenarios, more of a jack of all trades setup is generally preferred. That said, even in Group finder, I usually have one flex spot that is either an AOE spammable (trash), Single target DOT (Boss), or defense skill (harder boss). I have no issues swapping between those, but typically, I dont bother with my gear or CP. I go for a one sized fits all setup in those areas. If I get caught on the wrong flex skill, its not the end of the world.

For harder DLC, with a good group, I almost always have Trash/Boss setups on hotkey. The massive changes I was talking about are almost always in trifecta/score runs, where every part of the run becomes choreographed with your team. That type of play is certainly not for everyone, but it is fun for a lot of us to try and min/max each encounter once we have the content memorized.

kringled_1 · September 2022

Switching gear between encounters is something that happens much more in a fully pre-made, on comms group. As you observe, it has issues in pugs. The simpler and shorter boss fights don't really have as much call for it either; its probably overkill in most vet base game dungeons. Vet dlcs you may show a bit more need and it becomes more relevant in HM runs.