How does one “test” a build?

Bobby_V_Rockit

As my title says, how exactly do you test a build? If the target dummy says 15k+ is it a success? If you can solo a normal dungeon? If you can group without being kicked?

I’m at a loss here, what stats and feats let you know if your build will work or not?

Waffennacht

PvE solo vet Dungeons is my test

PvP duels

Bladerunner1

Bobby_V_Rockit wrote: »

Think I’m just bad at the game then lol. I always lose duels, not a fan battlegrounds (or PvP in general). Was more wondering if there is a threshold certain skills should do, ie: heavy attacks with a greatsword should do X damage or more, or resources should last between X and Y without group support...

There's a low health target dummy, the precursor, available through clockwork city that let's you test on a smaller scale if you just want to try killing it with one thing at a time like heavy attacks, then make adjustments to the build and try again.

It's easier to test out the damage buffs of different equipment and CP setups when you just compare the damage of a skill or two and eliminate human error of a minute-long rotation. But it's also important to find a rotation and the right amount of Regen to last a minute or two in a fight. Practicing on a 3 million health dummy with cheap potions will pay off, but it might take a lot of time investment.

The PC has a lot of addon options for quick testing. Combat metrics shows the average damage numbers of every skill on a summary chart along with the resources per second that you spent and resources per second you gained. FTC can show a scrolling window with every single tick of damage each skill dealt next to a time stamp.

Bobby_V_Rockit

Waffennacht wrote: »

PvE solo vet Dungeons is my test

PvP duels

Well, in that case all builds are bad, not a chance I can solo a vet dungeon lol. Cheers though, good tip

Narvuntien

Well for dps you can just test on a dummy did this build do more damage than last time I tested with my old build. I am not interested in making benchmarks only in improving my own dps.

Soloing requires specific builds so its not actually useful for things like trails.

For PVP I just jump in and see if its any good.

Waffennacht

Bobby_V_Rockit wrote: »

Waffennacht wrote: »

PvE solo vet Dungeons is my test

PvP duels

Well, in that case all builds are bad, not a chance I can solo a vet dungeon lol. Cheers though, good tip

You totally can! The mobs are now like dps checks and most bosses are just mechanics. I found vMA harder than a lot of vet dungeons.

You may surprise your self. If I would make a suggestion, Fungal Grotto or Elden Hollow first

Gomumon

Bobby_V_Rockit wrote: »

As my title says, how exactly do you test a build? If the target dummy says 15k+ is it a success? If you can solo a normal dungeon? If you can group without being kicked?

I’m at a loss here, what stats and feats let you know if your build will work or not?

If your goal is to be a DD, then "good" DPS is totally dependent on what you're running and who you're running with. Some groups will want ~25k DPS; while others will want ~35k. The main priority should be maximizing the stats you need to do, and working on critical uptimes for your build. For example, if you're a magicka sorcerer, you should be aiming to keep >80% uptime on Blockade of Shock, Liquid Lightning, and Haunting Curse. The speed at which you can accurately perform your rotation is more important than specific gear sets; granted you're using sets that have SOMETHING to do with your build (e.g. Julianos on a mage or Hunding's Rage on a fighter). Light attack weaving makes a big difference as well.

Once your rotation is where you want it to be, the next thing to check would be your gear. Do you have the best sets for your class? Does everything have a useful trait? Is everything improved to gold? All gold enchantments? Best food? Do you have all the necessary skill lines' passives maxed out? Just keep going down the list looking for places to improve, and your DPS will improve.

As for running dungeons, I wouldn't say an optimal test of your DPS is to be able to solo them. That's more along the lines a test of your survivability. Most classes can't DPS veteran content solo without tweaking them in ways that would lose DPS in a group, and having max DPS in a group is your goal; thus, it's counterproductive. I would say once you can solo 27k DPS on a skelly, you're good for most content in this game.

ak_pvp

PvP: Throw it into BGs. Gets a good mix of 1v1, 1vx and group play.

Betsararie

1) Gather necessary parts of build

2) Use it

kessik221

Trying my hardest not to state the obvious, but you identify what you want to do then go do it. Your question was way to broad to qualify an answer. If I told you to go make a glass cannon build then used tanking a vet dungeon as a test that wouldn't make sense would it? Success is a variable based on a constant set of parameters.

kessik221

and i definitely wouldnt use "not getting vote kicked" as a determination of success as you results will vary based on the demeanor of the person(s) carrying you.

dpencil1

@Bobby_V_Rockit
Your question really has two answers.
1. To "test" a build, you need a controlled baseline which can then be compared to some change. The more static your control and more limited the change, the better. So say you want to see if Infused or Nirnhoned is better for you on the back bar. You do 5-10 dummy parses with each, using identical rotations and comparing average dps. You can do this for each set/trait/mundus/etc you want. It also applies to different ways of doing rotations.
2. To determine if your build is "good enough" you need to know your context. Are YOU happy with it? Are people you play with fine with it? Are you trying to min/max to get top leaderboard scores on vet trials? Do you feel effective in PvP? These are mostly subjective questions. I personally try to parse at 40k and do 30k in less optimal circumstances, but that's just me.

GaunterODim

Make it, play it and adjust it according to how its supposed to/ you want it to work

Ragnarock41

For PvP I just take it for a walk in solo PvP.

Vizier

Get out there and go kill something!

Hope that helps.

TheDoomsdayMonster

Blanco wrote: »

1) Gather necessary parts of build

2) Use it

It really is this simple...

Just use it in the situations you want it for and judge for yourself how well it performs...

gabormezo

Pvp: CP battlegrounds. If you don't die every 15 seconds, the build is kinda okish. If you can slaughter people there, you're ok with the build. If you can gather objective points beside of the above: the build is ready, it's time to gold the armor too. Just prepare for toxic comments while theorycrafting. It's by my opinion better method than duels, because if you build towards to win duels, you will loose when there will be other players around, and will be too slow to do objectives. Of course dueling is important for training your own player skills.

Bobby_V_Rockit

Think I’m just bad at the game then lol. I always lose duels, not a fan battlegrounds (or PvP in general). Was more wondering if there is a threshold certain skills should do, ie: heavy attacks with a greatsword should do X damage or more, or resources should last between X and Y without group support...

gabormezo

It takes time to get good in PvP, and years to get excellent. It took me a whole year to reach that point where I can run a melee Stamblade in medium. The build is not that important, the player skills are.