Heavy Attack Set Question

THEDKEXPERIENCE

Would the best set for heavy attacking repeatedly with a staff be Queen’s Elegance?

I’ve always been an excessive heavy attacker in PVP for resource management reasons so I kind of want to see what it’s like if I just lean into it. Thanks.

D0PAMINE

Ulfnors gives back 30% more resources with heavy attacks. If you want more damage, maybe Undaunted Unweaver or Infiltrator.

jaws343

Elegant and Infal are probably the best pairing imo. Even with the wasted slayer stat, Infal provides a solid amount of damage with heavy attacks and gives vulnerability.

Major_Lag

PvP heavy attack builds have been covered pretty extensively HERE.

THEDKEXPERIENCE

Major_Lag wrote: »

PvP heavy attack builds have been covered pretty extensively HERE.

Awesome, thanks!

THEDKEXPERIENCE

@Major_Lag

I read a lot of that post. It was quite informative. I have one question for you that seems to have not been addressed.

I saw that you did a breakdown of how spell power doesn’t scale that effectively, but is the same true about overall magicka?

For example, instead of 33K do you know how it may scale with 50k or thereabouts? Basically do you think that stacking magicka has any potential for better results than stacking spell power would? Thanks!

Major_Lag

THEDKEXPERIENCE wrote: »

I saw that you did a breakdown of how spell power doesn’t scale that effectively, but is the same true about overall magicka?

I have not tested that scenario specifically - but if my understanding is correct, raising max magicka sky high won't have much of an effect.

There are 3 factors at play here:
1. Because of how shock staff heavy attack base damage (not buffed by any sets) scales with offensive stats, going from 20k to 40k magicka will only give you ~20% damage increase.

2. The HA buff sets apply a flat increase to the HA damage ticks; this increase (buff) is not subject to any scaling.

3. Because there are literally only a few possible sets to choose from for a staff HA build, your options for increasing the magicka pool are rather limited.

Of course you still want to maximize your magicka pool (within reasonable bounds, imposed by the build) because shields scale off of max magicka. Also, more max magicka = more juice to cast abilities with.

Finally, remember that your heals DO scale off of both spell damage and max magicka. So don't go overboard with those stam regen enchants

THEDKEXPERIENCE

Major_Lag wrote: »

THEDKEXPERIENCE wrote: »

I saw that you did a breakdown of how spell power doesn’t scale that effectively, but is the same true about overall magicka?

I have not tested that scenario specifically - but if my understanding is correct, raising max magicka sky high won't have much of an effect.

There are 3 factors at play here:
1. Because of how shock staff heavy attack base damage (not buffed by any sets) scales with offensive stats, going from 20k to 40k magicka will only give you ~20% damage increase.

2. The HA buff sets apply a flat increase to the HA damage ticks; this increase (buff) is not subject to any scaling.

3. Because there are literally only a few possible sets to choose from for a staff HA build, your options for increasing the magicka pool are rather limited.

Of course you still want to maximize your magicka pool (within reasonable bounds, imposed by the build) because shields scale off of max magicka. Also, more max magicka = more juice to cast abilities with.

Finally, remember that your heals DO scale off of both spell damage and max magicka. So don't go overboard with those stam regen enchants

Good info. My Magplar is at about 50k magic - I could probably get it near 60k if I felt like having a useless build but that is beside the point - and I currently run 4 shields, 2 are spells I can rotate (light armor skill line one and resto staff one) along with the Psijiic and CP proc shields.

That said, when the fights get larger I tend to end up simply casting bubbles or executes from the back line and that works to fantastic results as a Zerg busting technique. Only problem is resource management so I’ve become accustomed to heavy attacking as I do it more than most people. My thinking is that if I’m gonna do that anyway, maybe I should simply push more resources into the heavy attack itself.

Anyway, thanks for the info. You’ve given me some things to think about.

Major_Lag

THEDKEXPERIENCE wrote: »

That said, when the fights get larger I tend to end up simply casting bubbles or executes from the back line and that works to fantastic results as a Zerg busting technique. Only problem is resource management so I’ve become accustomed to heavy attacking as I do it more than most people. My thinking is that if I’m gonna do that anyway, maybe I should simply push more resources into the heavy attack itself.

The problem is, by building for massive heavy attack damage you are sacrificing a lot in other areas, including the power of your execute.

This is at least partly offset by the fact that rolldodge becomes worthless as a counterplay when facing a shock HA build: it just doesn't do anything; your opponent can roll 72 times in a row and will still eat all of the damage (unless they block, shield or LoS it).

A "real" HA build plays very differently from the usual PvP damage-stacked builds, there's just no comparing those 2.
Outside of XvX/Xv1 situations, unbuffed heavy attack damage in PvP is simply way too low to kill decent players with on its own - especially shock/resto staff HA damage, which is very non-bursty due to its channelled nature.

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BTW, here's something else to think about: it's not a heavy attack build, but I had a lot of fun with my Sorc healer after putting Frags+Fury+spammable on his lightning staff bar. (in CP PvP)
This worked out quite well for me: excellent sustain, OK-ish damage output (for group play, that is), lots of heals to work with, and insane mobility (Dark Deal + Boundless + BoL).
With such a setup, the damage output is rather too low for solo play - but if you and a few of your friends focus down one enemy at a time, they still melt alright.