PvE MagSorc - CFrags V Clench

MyrddinEmrys

Which do you use? Does anyone have any definitive parses showing a significant advantage of one vs the other?

MyrddinEmrys

Crystal Frags

Obviously there are considerations to be made for specific circumstances, however I am looking for data in the general sense, assuming the more or less standard PvE MagSorc build at this point in time. Of course significantly off-meta builds may have wildly different uses for various reasons, but the context here is Vet Hard Mode Trials and other endgame content.

ZeroXFF

Neither

I find that a clench rotation is easier on resources than one with frags. The damage potential is about the same though according to my tests (check post #17 https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/375949/magicka-sorcerer-dps-what-am-i-doing-wrong-video-included). I personally prefer to use force pulse, because it allows more flexibility since it can be used at any point in the rotation, and doesn't have to be timed perfectly with all the other spells, but of course that means somewhat lower overall dps.

MyrddinEmrys

Crystal Frags

ZeroXFF wrote: »

I find that a clench rotation is easier on resources than one with frags. The damage potential is about the same though according to my tests (check post #17 https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/375949/magicka-sorcerer-dps-what-am-i-doing-wrong-video-included). I personally prefer to use force pulse, because it allows more flexibility since it can be used at any point in the rotation, and doesn't have to be timed perfectly with all the other spells, but of course that means somewhat lower overall dps.

I always have Crushing Shock on my bar (lower damage but for trials you really need that ranged interrupt), I have always run CFrags and only throw it when it procs, but I'm increasingly frustrated that frags no longer stuns, which I put to good use as a crowd control method. If clench has roughly the same damage output, I might try it out just for the stun.

Liofa

Clench for heavy attack builds . Frags for Force Pulse builds .

Tyrion87

Liofa wrote: »

Clench for heavy attack builds . Frags for Force Pulse builds .

Pretty much this.

On the other note on my petsorc I also tested shock reach as a spammable combined with master lighting staff (in place of moondancer lighting staff as a fourth set piece). With this setup I got nearly 41k on a dummy so if someone is tired of spamming HA/FP (depending on a build), master lighting staff with shock reach spammable is a decent replacement (yet ofc still weaker than e.g. moondancer staff as a fourth set piece) and feels like a breath of fresh air.

Dracane

Tyrion87 wrote: »

Liofa wrote: »

Clench for heavy attack builds . Frags for Force Pulse builds .

Pretty much this.

On the other note on my petsorc I also tested shock reach as a spammable combined with master lighting staff (in place of moondancer lighting staff as a fourth set piece). With this setup I got nearly 41k on a dummy so if someone is tired of spamming HA/FP (depending on a build), master lighting staff with shock reach spammable is a decent replacement (yet ofc still weaker than e.g. moondancer staff as a fourth set piece) and feels like a breath of fresh air.

The reason why destructive touch is never going to be an on par spammable, is because its first dot tick is delayed by one second and the delay is replaced with every recast. Means, that when you spam it you will never get a single dot tick out of it.
Sure, it may tick a few times when you take a break to apply your other abilities. But it's really poor, even with the Master staff buff.