Grim focus changes (suggestion)

Zarrakon

So my understanding of the change to Grim Focus is:

- 5 light or heavy attacks proc the bow shot.
- After you proc it, another 5 light or heavy attacks will proc it again as long as the buff hasn't expired.
- You have to recast Grim Focus every 20 seconds.

I definitely think this is an improvement for PvE, but I don't know if it goes far enough. It feels like the timing will be too tight, though I'll have to test it on Monday.

I do think, in the same spirit as these changes, that a better way to buff this skill would look like:

- Reduce duration of the buff to 11-13 seconds (make it tight, but not too tight).
- 5 light or heavy attacks proc the bow shot.
- After you cast the bow shot, the entire buff is refreshed and another 5 light or heavy attacks within the next 11-13 seconds will proc (and refresh) it again.

(And maybe reduce damage/increase initial cost by ~5-10%. EDIT: And probably charge some (not too much) magicka each shot.)

t3hdubzy

Id rather see them extend to 28 or 30 seconds. Unless you are focusing on light attacks and not bar swapping. I dont realistically see 2 procs. I believe the change people are happy about having the berserk damage buff not expire when the shot fires.

SanTii.92

Really lile your idea Op, you'd need tho to also charge magicka on every proc. It's awesome tho, sounds really fun

Toc de Malsvi

t3hdubzy wrote: »

Id rather see them extend to 28 or 30 seconds. Unless you are focusing on light attacks and not bar swapping. I dont realistically see 2 procs. I believe the change people are happy about having the berserk damage buff not expire when the shot fires.

?

It's a 20 second buff, you can get one light attack in per sec optimally. Realistically probably two every three seconds, so two proc's are almost guaranteed, the third proc is where you likely will lose out.

I don't see how so many are so down on this change. Every second you can get light attack, skill, and bash(although you won't do this 95% of the time). Even without optimal weaving you are getting more bang for your buck.

Up till now:

Light attack
skill
light attack
skill
light attack
skill
light attack
<<<<<<<<<<Proc grim focus
light attack
buff<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<Here you are losing dps, which is why so many either didn't use proc or tried to wait as long as possible
light attack
skill
etc


Now:

Light attack
skill
light attack
skill
light attack
skill
light attack
skill
light attack
<<<<<<<<<<Proc grim focus
light attack
skill
light attack
skill
light attack
skill
light attack
skill
light attack
<<<<<<<<<<Proc grim focus
light attack
skill
etc

The loss of dps for rebuff is only every 20 seconds instead of every 5 seconds. If you were proccing it every 5 seconds then I can see how waiting another 1-2 seconds feels like a dps loss, but its not you will spend less time buffing and more time casting damaging skills.

With a good rotation you should get 3 proc's in the same period where before you would have gotten 4, however you will rebuff once in a period where you would have rebuffed 4 times if you were proccing on CD. Which means you will get 3 more skills in that same window.

t3hdubzy

Im not light attacking that much, not in pve or pvp.

Cloudless

t3hdubzy wrote: »

Im not light attacking that much, not in pve or pvp.

Toc de Malsvi

t3hdubzy wrote: »

Im not light attacking that much, not in pve or pvp.

Heavy attack is 2 seconds, which means you would only not get 2 proc's if you heavy attack every single time, which for most would be a distinct dps loss. Even with the changes to CP most parses I see are only heavy attacking half the time.

Even with the last version of the spell you would lose DPS on rebuff unless you timed release perfectly. You should always get 2 procs, and you should lose no dps to rebuff other than standard rebuff 20 second buff. This free's up your rotation and increases your dps.

Coming changes will speed up heavy attacks as well as increase dps on light attacks which will make this skill all the more valuable.

Bringer

Ive often wondered why they didnt have it like that from the start.
Using the bow should just automatically reapply the buff, so as long as you keep using it reliably the buff stays up.

It would make the skill considerably stronger sure but its not like that would make NB overpowered all of a sudden.

LtCrunch

Bringer wrote: »

Ive often wondered why they didnt have it like that from the start.
Using the bow should just automatically reapply the buff, so as long as you keep using it reliably the buff stays up.

It would make the skill considerably stronger sure but its not like that would make NB overpowered all of a sudden.

It also rewards and encourages effective weaving, not enough skills that specifically reward higher level play, so it would be a nice addition IMO.

Zarrakon

Bringer wrote: »

Ive often wondered why they didnt have it like that from the start.
Using the bow should just automatically reapply the buff, so as long as you keep using it reliably the buff stays up.

It would make the skill considerably stronger sure but its not like that would make NB overpowered all of a sudden.

The biggest problem I have with nightblades right now (the reason I don't play mine) is that I need to cast 2 abilities (not including ward/major sorcery) that do no damage every 20 seconds, which is absolutely no fun as a DPS.

If this does make them stronger than other classes (I doubt it), it would only be a little bit stronger than other classes for single target DPS, which I think is where they really should shine anyway.