New Molten Whip vs Flame Lash

BlackMadara

Hello fellow magDKs. I would like to share my opinion on the new Molten Whip, as well as hear your opinions. This is from a PvP perspective. Below is a list of relative changes that I believe play into the larger picture of this change.

-Molten Whip (morph): Reworked this ability so it no longer grants a passive bonus to Weapon and Spell Damage while slotted. Instead, this passive grants access to Seething Fury, a 33% damage bonus to your next Molten Whip cast and increase of 125 Weapon and Spell Damage every time you activate an Ardent Flame ability that isn't Molten Whip. This bonus can stack up to 3 times, lasts 5 seconds, and will refresh in duration every time it is applied to you.
-Fiery Breath: Increased the damage of the initial hit of this ability by 200% to be on par with our PBAoE standards. The base ability will now rank up in damage for the entire ability, rather than just the DoT.
-Fiery Grip:
Increased the damage of this ability and its morphs by 20% to put it on par with our "gap closer" standards.
-Inferno: This ability and its morphs now operate like the Flames of Oblivion morph, where they will scale with your highest offensive stats. Also increased the power of these abilities by 5%.
-Coagulating Blood: Increased the heal of this morph by approximately 19% to put it better in line with other burst heal abilities.
-Inhale:
Increased the damage of the initial hit of this ability and its morphs by 25%.
Increased the damage of the delayed explosion by approximately 7%. This was done to adhere the ability to our AoE standards. Note the initial hit of the abilities is half of the AoE standard, because it heals for 100% of the damage caused, which takes it to that standard.
Removed the 6 target cap for the heal, interrupt, and resource restore for this ability. Note this puts this ability into the "rule breaker" category.

The largest loss of switching from Flame Lash to Molten Whip would be losing the heal from the Power Lash proc. This is a massive HoT over 2 seconds, that can allow a magDK to play rather dangerously while offensive. You can trade with an opponent and chose to stun, instead of casting a heal, and use the Power Lash proc to deal burst damage and heal yourself out of danger.

Switching to Molten Whip would mean losing that type of playstyle and safety while on offense. Despite that, the PTS currently has an increase for Coag Blood heal, which is substantial from my testing and a small bump in power for Inferno, including Cauterize, which is an excellent HoT already. These two skills never leave my bar, so it is nice to see buffs. Another buff to consider is the Inhale buff. The increased healing is nice, but would only be substantial if hitting multiple targets. It does pair nicely with the burst style of the new Molten Whip, however.

Now to examine the increased damage, spoiler, it is massive.

First, the Power Lash proc requires the target to be stunned or rooted to proc off balance with the first Lash and then procs for an increase of about 18% damage, as well as granting the big HoT.

The new Whip grants up to 3 stacks of Seething Fury for 5 seconds, which adds 125 SD/WD and 33% increased damage on next Whip. The combo I was using in duels is Empowering Chains, Engulfing Flames (damage buffed), and Burning Embers. The 33% increased damage means that one cast of another Ardent ability will make the next whip deal more damage than a Power Lash proc already, not even considering the increased SD. The increased SD is also a straight addition to the toon's stats, albeit only on the bar with Whip slotted. This means that any heals and ultimate damage are boosted before casting the Whip. The best combo would be to stack up Seething Fury, Ultimate into empowered Molten Whip for maximum damage. My empowered whip did similar damage to a Ferocious Leap, so a massive amount of damage.

Despite this huge amount of potential burst, I was missing the heal from Power Lash proc. I even switched my Fossilize morph to Shattering Rocks to compensate the reduced healing. I may have just gotten lazy or too in the habit of relying on Power Lash healing. Also, stacking Seething Fury can be awkward in the middle of combat. It seems to work best at the beginning of combat, since reapplying Ardent DoTs before their duration end seems wasteful. Has anybody else tested this out? How does it feel to you? What other considerations are their for this change in your opinion?

TBH I am considering sticking with Flame Lash, unless I am going for a pure burst build or can rely on a healer in a group.

Xvorg

BlackMadara wrote: »

Hello fellow magDKs. I would like to share my opinion on the new Molten Whip, as well as hear your opinions. This is from a PvP perspective. Below is a list of relative changes that I believe play into the larger picture of this change.

-Molten Whip (morph): Reworked this ability so it no longer grants a passive bonus to Weapon and Spell Damage while slotted. Instead, this passive grants access to Seething Fury, a 33% damage bonus to your next Molten Whip cast and increase of 125 Weapon and Spell Damage every time you activate an Ardent Flame ability that isn't Molten Whip. This bonus can stack up to 3 times, lasts 5 seconds, and will refresh in duration every time it is applied to you.
-Fiery Breath: Increased the damage of the initial hit of this ability by 200% to be on par with our PBAoE standards. The base ability will now rank up in damage for the entire ability, rather than just the DoT.
-Fiery Grip:
Increased the damage of this ability and its morphs by 20% to put it on par with our "gap closer" standards.
-Inferno: This ability and its morphs now operate like the Flames of Oblivion morph, where they will scale with your highest offensive stats. Also increased the power of these abilities by 5%.
-Coagulating Blood: Increased the heal of this morph by approximately 19% to put it better in line with other burst heal abilities.
-Inhale:
Increased the damage of the initial hit of this ability and its morphs by 25%.
Increased the damage of the delayed explosion by approximately 7%. This was done to adhere the ability to our AoE standards. Note the initial hit of the abilities is half of the AoE standard, because it heals for 100% of the damage caused, which takes it to that standard.
Removed the 6 target cap for the heal, interrupt, and resource restore for this ability. Note this puts this ability into the "rule breaker" category.

The largest loss of switching from Flame Lash to Molten Whip would be losing the heal from the Power Lash proc. This is a massive HoT over 2 seconds, that can allow a magDK to play rather dangerously while offensive. You can trade with an opponent and chose to stun, instead of casting a heal, and use the Power Lash proc to deal burst damage and heal yourself out of danger.

Switching to Molten Whip would mean losing that type of playstyle and safety while on offense. Despite that, the PTS currently has an increase for Coag Blood heal, which is substantial from my testing and a small bump in power for Inferno, including Cauterize, which is an excellent HoT already. These two skills never leave my bar, so it is nice to see buffs. Another buff to consider is the Inhale buff. The increased healing is nice, but would only be substantial if hitting multiple targets. It does pair nicely with the burst style of the new Molten Whip, however.

Now to examine the increased damage, spoiler, it is massive.

First, the Power Lash proc requires the target to be stunned or rooted to proc off balance with the first Lash and then procs for an increase of about 18% damage, as well as granting the big HoT.

The new Whip grants up to 3 stacks of Seething Fury for 5 seconds, which adds 125 SD/WD and 33% increased damage on next Whip. The combo I was using in duels is Empowering Chains, Engulfing Flames (damage buffed), and Burning Embers. The 33% increased damage means that one cast of another Ardent ability will make the next whip deal more damage than a Power Lash proc already, not even considering the increased SD. The increased SD is also a straight addition to the toon's stats, albeit only on the bar with Whip slotted. This means that any heals and ultimate damage are boosted before casting the Whip. The best combo would be to stack up Seething Fury, Ultimate into empowered Molten Whip for maximum damage. My empowered whip did similar damage to a Ferocious Leap, so a massive amount of damage.

Despite this huge amount of potential burst, I was missing the heal from Power Lash proc. I even switched my Fossilize morph to Shattering Rocks to compensate the reduced healing. I may have just gotten lazy or too in the habit of relying on Power Lash healing. Also, stacking Seething Fury can be awkward in the middle of combat. It seems to work best at the beginning of combat, since reapplying Ardent DoTs before their duration end seems wasteful. Has anybody else tested this out? How does it feel to you? What other considerations are their for this change in your opinion?

TBH I am considering sticking with Flame Lash, unless I am going for a pure burst build or can rely on a healer in a group.

You can always use obsidian shard for the heal and stun

BlackMadara

@Xvorg I might give that a try. The unblockable and undodgeable nature of petrify would be missed. I do enjoy these potential trade offs.

Xvorg

BlackMadara wrote: »

@Xvorg I might give that a try. The unblockable and undodgeable nature of petrify would be missed. I do enjoy these potential trade offs.

Off course, but you can't have them all