Pvp set up Question

eMKa8

If i already have quite some crit chance and crit dmg … would it then be wiser to invest more in crit dmg extra (because k already have 60% crit chance … or better to invest in oenetration or spell dmg if you want to go for dmg (not healing)

In my opinion , i would guess that investing more in crit would be more beneficial is t it ?

What if my penetration is only around 4K? Is it better to get that to 7K or is it just not worth it then and best go all in on crit?
Thanks

Necrotech_Master

im assuming your going for a burst setup, which you have the crit chance and dmg for (60% crit is already very high)

i can tell you right now that with pen that low most players are going to mitigate a large portion of your dmg, you have to assume the majority of players are running 33k (or more) armor unless they are also a squishy ganker

another thing that would be helpful is saying some of your other stats (max mag/hp/stam, weapon/spell dmg, etc) because in order to get to 60% crit chance you would have had to give up a good bit to get that far (normally anything above 50-55% crit chance is where you start to sacrifice too much in other areas for crit chance)

fred4

As a rule of thumb, I would say 60% crit is way too high for PvP, because of the sacrifices it takes for you to get there. Crit in the range of 30% to 40% is enough.

If you aim to burst people down with hard-hitting skills, all you're looking for is a lucky succession of a few crits in a row. This can happen regardless of whether you have, say, 35% crit or 60% crit. It will happen more frequently with the latter, but you will have sacrificed penetration, crit damage, or a damage proc, for greater crit chance. In other words your burst potential is blunted for better average damage. That tends to be optimal for PvE, but not for PvP. If you're a nightblade attacking from stealth, you also get a guaranteed crit for, say, your Incap Strike, and you get some guaranteed crits with Surprise Attack.

On the other hand, if you use multi-hit skills, such as Crushing Shock, Sweeps / Jabs, or Flurry, or if you apply DOTs to other players, then your average damage matters. I'm just not convinced crit % is the best way to up that damage. As you suspected yourself, penetration also matters, proc sets matter, status effects matter. Everything does.

To up your penetration, Balorgh is an obvious choice. If at first you don't succeed, build ultimate. To up your pressure, the usual suspects these days don't include crit, but Master dual-wield (soon to be nerfed), status effect builds via Ele Sus / Vateshran destro, Charged weapons, Crushing Shock, Draugrkin, Unleashed Terror, Dragon's Appetite, Blackrose Bow, and so on. That said, a way to make crit % work for you in PvP is Mechanical Acuity. I wouldn't rate PvE sets, such as Order's Wrath, particularly highly, unless maybe in the Ravenwatch campaign.

In other words, it all depends where your crit % and your crit damage is coming from. Are you a nightblade, templar, or a Khajiit? You have a natural advantage that it may be worth leaning into more. However usually you need to be an all rounder in PvP. That means you simply need to find the most stat-dense pieces of gear, somewhat regardless of what they offer, as long as the stats are useful for PvP. Rallying Cry is an example of that. Master dual-wield too, up to this point, because it's been flat out OP. While that wiIl be nerfed, I think building for status effects will still be good next patch, if not even better than before. As always, however, it depends on class and build. For example as a ganker or bomber, you wouldn't build for those.