Do you basically have to run Shattering Rocks with Molten Whip?
Molten Whip gives Mag DK’s a really good burst ability. In fact, it’s one of the best burst abilities in the game IMO. However, when you choose to use Molten Whip, you of course miss out on the hefty heals from Flame Lash. To add to that, I’m a big believer in the idea that you really have to run Flames of Oblivion with Molten Whip. Flames of Oblivion can actually act like an okay spammable to keep pressure up while you’re building your whips. If you don’t run it, then you’re stuck just spamming Burning Embers or Engulfing Flames to proc Molten Whip. Both are DoTs that don’t really get very much value if you spam them. Burning Embers does less upfront damage than Flames of Oblivion if you spam it, and it costs more. Engulfing Flames does similar upfront damage but at a MUCH higher cost. Spamming Fiery Grip would give you less damage at a massive cost. And while you could obviously spam Cauterize as cheaply as Flames of Oblivion, that basically means giving up essentially all pressure while building up Molten Whip. So it makes the most sense to run Flames of Oblivion as a spammable with Molten Whip.
But if you run Flames of Oblivion, that means you don’t have Cauterize.
Without Flames Lash and Cauterize, do you have to run Shattering Rocks to get enough healing? You can still have Burning Embers + Coagulating Blood + Rapid Regen for healing. But Burning Embers is the only proactive heal there, and it’s not necessarily super reliable—especially now with a 14 second duration and low damage. My worry is that with Burning Embers as the only proactive heal, you’ll basically be forced too easily onto your back bar and get stuck there unless you’ve got Leap up.
Shattering Rocks would help this issue. The heal is pretty big, and the combination of Burning Embers and Shattering Rocks should be a good amount of self-heal.
But my concern is that that means dropping Fossilize—which I regard as being one of the best PvP abilities in the entire game. I play mostly no-CP PvP, and Fossilize’s double stamina drain is just so incredibly strong. It’s a death sentence for magicka characters a very large portion of the time.
I know I could test this all out myself, but does anyone who is more experienced at Mag DK have some developed thoughts on this? If you use Molten Whip, is the heal from Shattering Rocks basically necessary and therefore worth using instead of Fossilize, or is it possible to keep yourself up and on your front bar without it?