Degeneration

Masel · December 2016

I was thinking about using this on my mag dk as a damage-based self-heal to get rid of my resto staff on back bar in vma, but I'm not sure how it works.

Does the healing work like a self buff and you get the healing for as long as major sorcery, or does it end when the original target dies?

The least would be a lot worse, of course. The first one would be awesome as my lightning staff ticks would heal me for 15k+ when it procs, and blockade should proc it too as it is a weapon line skill.

Does anyone know how it works?

Xvorg · December 2016

Masel92 wrote: »

I was thinking about using this on my mag dk as a damage-based self-heal to get rid of my resto staff on back bar in vma, but I'm not sure how it works.

Does the healing work like a self buff and you get the healing for as long as major sorcery, or does it end when the original target dies?

The least would be a lot worse, of course. The first one would be awesome as my lightning staff ticks would heal me for 15k+ when it procs, and blockade should proc it too as it is a weapon line skill.

Does anyone know how it works?

Before giving an answer, are you going to use a destro staff a lot?

Masel · December 2016

Xvorg wrote: »

Masel92 wrote: »

I was thinking about using this on my mag dk as a damage-based self-heal to get rid of my resto staff on back bar in vma, but I'm not sure how it works.

Does the healing work like a self buff and you get the healing for as long as major sorcery, or does it end when the original target dies?

The least would be a lot worse, of course. The first one would be awesome as my lightning staff ticks would heal me for 15k+ when it procs, and blockade should proc it too as it is a weapon line skill.

Does anyone know how it works?

Before giving an answer, are you going to use a destro staff a lot?

I use a mag dk heavy attack build with sergeants mail, aether and a vma lightning staff, so it's my main damage source.

Edit: just read the uesp article about it and it only heals for as long as you attack the same target and the target stays alive, obviously. Sad, would be a really useful skill if it were otherwise.

Waffennacht · December 2016

Does it proc only on La or Ha or any weapon abilities?

Masel · December 2016

Waffennacht wrote: »

Does it proc only on La or Ha or any weapon abilities?

On uesp it says that it's only on la and ha, so the skill is even more disappointing.

Autolycus · December 2016

The heal component is tied to the target while it is affected by the spell itself. It doesn't apply to targets around you, only the intended target. If that target dies, you must reapply it to a new target, and you will need to be hitting that target for the self-heal portion. This is unlike the Major Sorcery portion, which you retain for the full duration after cast. I'd note here that many enemies in vMA actively dodge-roll to avoid your attacks, and thus you will not be able to rely on this proc heal until the dodge mechanic ends.

I believe the heal proc is on a 1s global cooldown (but possibly mistaken, please correct me if so), so it must be at least one full second before the heal can proc again. Realistically, you are doing a light/med/heavy attack between skills (at least in most cases) and the time it takes to cast the skill (even with proper animation cancelling) puts roughly 1s between basic attacks anyway. Thus, you can reasonably expect (although certain skills have wonky animations and could alter this slightly) to have that 15% proc chance every time you use a basic attack.

That being said, I would urge you to consider using another heal instead. This of course assumes that you intend to use this as a primary source of healing, rather than supplementary. Burning Embers is a far more reliable and potent heal, along with its damage. I'm aware that this requires melee proximity, but so do all of your other abilities (for the most part). Using something like Annulment while moving toward the next target pairs nicely with Burning Embers healing, and you can spam Burning Embers for instant gratification if you wish, though the healing is more potent if the DoT persists for longer.

If you wanted to use Degeneration as a supplementary heal, I see no reason why you can't. I'm confident that you can make this work, and there's a valid reason for using Degeneration, if you wish (Major Sorcery primarily). Your basic attacks can be done at range while moving toward your next target, and in many situations throughout vMA this can be very useful.

Masel · December 2016

Autolycus wrote: »

The heal component is tied to the target while it is affected by the spell itself. It doesn't apply to targets around you, only the intended target. If that target dies, you must reapply it to a new target, and you will need to be hitting that target for the self-heal portion. This is unlike the Major Sorcery portion, which you retain for the full duration after cast. I'd note here that many enemies in vMA actively dodge-roll to avoid your attacks, and thus you will not be able to rely on this proc heal until the dodge mechanic ends.

I believe the heal proc is on a 1s global cooldown (but possibly mistaken, please correct me if so), so it must be at least one full second before the heal can proc again. Realistically, you are doing a light/med/heavy attack between skills (at least in most cases) and the time it takes to cast the skill (even with proper animation cancelling) puts roughly 1s between basic attacks anyway. Thus, you can reasonably expect (although certain skills have wonky animations and could alter this slightly) to have that 15% proc chance every time you use a basic attack.

That being said, I would urge you to consider using another heal instead. This of course assumes that you intend to use this as a primary source of healing, rather than supplementary. Burning Embers is a far more reliable and potent heal, along with its damage. I'm aware that this requires melee proximity, but so do all of your other abilities (for the most part). Using something like Annulment while moving toward the next target pairs nicely with Burning Embers healing, and you can spam Burning Embers for instant gratification if you wish, though the healing is more potent if the DoT persists for longer.

If you wanted to use Degeneration as a supplementary heal, I see no reason why you can't. I'm confident that you can make this work, and there's a valid reason for using Degeneration, if you wish (Major Sorcery primarily). Your basic attacks can be done at range while moving toward your next target, and in many situations throughout vMA this can be very useful.

Thanks for the thoughts on this

usually rapid regen is enough to keep me alive, but I want to get rid of my resto, even though I don't think I'll ever get a sharpened inferno...

Izaki · December 2016

I tried this out with Overload once... Pretty funny that I was healing for 58k when my Overloads were hitting for 51k and when my health was only 17k. I could see it being great in PvP though. Those huge burst heals must be pretty damn good.

Masel · December 2016

IzakiBrotheSs wrote: »

I tried this out with Overload once... Pretty funny that I was healing for 58k when my Overloads were hitting for 51k and when my health was only 17k. I could see it being great in PvP though. Those huge burst heals must be pretty damn good.

I'll actually try this on my dk. Already having 5k lightning ticks against heavy armor targets in pvp, and the heal would come in handy