Is Scathing mage a viable choise in Morrowind? (Theorycrafting)

Lum1on · May 2017

I'll be talking about PvE only and (naturally) magicka based damage dealers only for end-game and group content.

Scathing mage used to be good (at least) for Nightblades and Sorcerers. Then came Burning spellweave that crushed Scathing mage and also Necropotence that even outperformed Burning spellweave for pet builds (Sorcerers). But because of Burning spellweave got nerfed (PTS week #3) some have asked will it still be the best choise for magicka damage dealers, and some have suggested Scathing mage. I decided to dive deeper into this and list pros and cons about having these sets (including Julianos) on Update 14.

Burning spellweave

PTS patch notes v3.0.3

Burning Spellweave: Decreased the proc chance to 15% from 20%, and decreased the Spell Damage bonus to 525 from 600.

Developer comments:
Burning Spellweave is currently one of the most dominant Magicka DPS sets in the game, which limits diversity in set gearing. We’ve slightly reduced the proc chance and Spell Damage it grants so it is more in-line with other Item Set options, and is only a more attractive option when you are using many Flame Damage attacks.

It is true that Burning spellweave was too strong and I'm glad it got nerfed. In my opinion Zenimax did not nerf it too much, though. I tested this set with Dragonknight and Nightblade, and noticed few things:

Burst damage is not as good. Not only because the 5pc proc damage got reduced, but also because of the 5,0% chance reduction.
Dragonknights manage to keep it at least over 60,0% with troubles.
Nightblades can get almost 60,0% uptime, but mostly it was between 50-55,0% - so a huge nerf for other classes than Dragonknights.

So while every class still benefits from Burning spellweave's burst possibility (which is a better choise from time to time than sustain damage) the average spell damage it gives you is rather low compared to other sets:

260-290 for Nightblades.
At least 315 for Dragonknights.

Julianos

Julianos haven't changed at all. It still gives you a constant 299 spell damage as 5pc bonus which gives you a good amount of damage without having to worry about proc's and such. And as you can see from a list above it should perform better than Burning spellweave for Nightblades. But it's not that simple.

First of all, if using ability metrics you can see that Julianos gives better results that Burning spellweave, but if you're lucky enough to get a high proc chance Burning spellweave will definitely be a better choise than Julianos. But Julianos is more safer choise, though.

Secondly, sometimes burst damage is better than slightly higher average spell damage. Meaning that for trash mobs, for example, Burning spellweave suits better.

So if you're looking for "high risk, high reward" type of thing and you feel lucky enough you should go for Burning spellweave. But if you're looking for a safe set that still gives you a good (sustain) damage, go for Julianos.

Scathing mage

Finally we can talk about Scathing mage.

(2 items) Adds 967 max. magicka
(3 items) Adds 688 spell critical
(4 items) Adds 688 spell critical

(5 items) When you deal direct critical damage, you have a 20,0% chance to increase your spell damage by 516. This effect can occur once every 6 seconds.

So... Basically all three first set bonuses are the same; the difference is small and we could calculate it with ability metrics but because math is not the same than real situation we're not going to do that, for now at least. So we're only interested in 5pc bonuses.

If we calculate the required (direct damage) attacks per second for Scathing mage to be better than Burning spellweave we get the following results:

60,0% uptime for Burning spellweave // ~1,3 APS for Scathing mage
55,0% uptime // ~1,0 APS
50,0% uptime // ~0,8 APS

If you're wondering how to calculate the required (direct damage) attacks per second from a specific uptime:

Where
x is the specific uptime (60,0% = 0,6)

y is your critical chance (65,1% while using Scathing mage with 7 legendary and Thief mundus = 0,651)

Those numbers are extremely easy to achieve as a Nightblade (and as a Sorcerer if you don't want to use or it's not as good as before to run the pet build). For Templars things are more tricky and I'll come to that later.

Even without highly optimized rotation you should get 1,3 APS if you know your rotation and use the right skills. Of course the easier way to get high APS is using Force pulse, but because of a sustain nerf coming in Update 14 it might be better to run Funnel health or Swallow soul instead because;

Funnel health / Swallow soul (1 attack per second)
DPSpC (damage-per-second per cost): 0,953

Force pulse (3 attacks per second)
DPSpC: 0,643

Test enviroment:
No gear or weapons used.

7,958 max. magicka and 1,037 spell damage stats.

No damage bonuses were applied.

So as we can see that Force pulse gives us three times better chance to proc Scathing mage when using spammable skill but it's more expensive skill to use (even with damage bonuses that applies to Force pulse only; e.g. elemental damage). So better Scathing mage proc's come with more sustain problems.

This means that Sorcerers with the "default" build (no Overload) and Nightblades benefit from Scathing mage a lot more than Burning spellweave. Dragonknights (no matter they have direct damage attacks) benefit from Burning spellweave because it's a lot safer choise to get better proc's.

Templars

I myself believe that Templars will run Julianos instead of Burning spellweave or Scathing mage. And here's the reason:

Templars are able to get a decent uptime for Burning spellweave but the issue is the execute phase. And because the proc damage and chance got nerfed it'll become probably too hard to maintain a good uptime for it.
At least for now you're able to proc Scathing mage with Puncturing sweeps and execute's first tick (not sure, haven't tested by myself?) but it's not enough because of channeling times - especially in execute phase.
Julianos gives a high constant spell damage bonus so you can concentrate on your execute phase without having to worry about any proc's whatsoever.

I'm not saying Templars get the best results with Julianos. The thing is, it's extremely hard to maintain the uptimes for Burning spellweave and Julianos during the execute phase which might hurt you a lot because you'll be losing an important 5pc bonus. Of course with enough luck you sure are able to pull higher DPS with those sets (Burning spellweave might be better for that situation).

That's why I'll prefer Julianos over those two other sets in next patch.

Conclusion (Summary)

Main sets (5pc):

Sorcerers: Necropotence - if pet builds aren't as viable anymore, then Scathing mage
Nightblades: Scathing mage - if group buff build is better in general (for the group), then Master architect
Templars: Julianos
Dragonknights: Burning spellweave

What do you think? Are you going to use Burning spellweave for Nightblades and Templars in next patch as well, or will you move to Scathing mage, Julianos or some other set?

I'm also not able to talk about Warden so can't say much about it in here. But if you think about the flame damage abilities it has and compare it to other classes (Nightblades with zero and Templars with one flame damage ability from class skills) you should be able to figure out the future of Burning spellweave for Wardens. And same with direct damage attacks when thinking about Scathing mage.

Masel · May 2017

I already use scathing on my Magblade, and will continue to do so next patch. In order to sustain a FP rotation you can simply use the Moondancer 5-piece on top of it (5 scathing 5 MD).

With Master Architect, you need to go melee and use funnel health. You can sustain a funnel health rotation without any heavy attacks whatsoever with drain, siphoning attacks and a poison on front bar. This setup has good group utility, but the problem is that the major slayer buff has very bad targeting and can also hit pets, healers, tanks etc.

On the sorc I'll most likely go for 5 MD 3 Willpower 2 Illambris. But I will only start playing sort again if they stop being so overpowered in PvE.

As sad as it is, double barring sharpened vMA staffs will be BiS, due to the fact that you keep the 189 spell damage on top of your drain magicka poison. So be prepared for a lot of RNG rant threads on here, especially now that vMA is more difficult to sustain.

On the DK I'll stick with my Heavy Attack build. It's still awesome and requires no change in gear whatsoever, you can still rock a 5/1/1 setup with it. If slayer would work on the PTS it would be even better. Others might opt for sun, as it does get increased by major and minor sorcery and has a health bonus in it that is very useful in Endgame PvE.

I'm not an expert on templars, so I can't say a lot about them. But going for 5 MD 5 Julianos with vMA inferno back bar is very sustainable with channeled focus.

Going for 5+5 is definitely worth considering now that you need to go for 5/1/1 to sustain well.

Mojmir · May 2017

I think BSW is better if your a dunmer on NB,possibly templar as well.

DRXHarbinger · May 2017

Mojmir wrote: »

I think BSW is better if your a dunmer on NB,possibly templar as well.

Sun will be better for inferno based magdk. Bsw for heavy attack build using a lit staff and eruption and embers will proc it often enough as it is.

But a Magblade and scathing mage is still going to be the best. Race doesn't impact it. You'll have 2 flame attacks on at the best of times. Warmaiden may even prove better if you run funnel over FP. As it'll buff shades, path, funnel and impale passively..Bsw is hard to maintain on a nb. Even harder with the nerf.

Lum1on · May 2017

Masel92 wrote: »

I already use scathing on my Magblade, and will continue to do so next patch. In order to sustain a FP rotation you can simply use the Moondancer 5-piece on top of it (5 scathing 5 MD).

At least on my testings I got 70,0% uptime on Scathing mage at the most. That equals to same amount than 60,0% uptime with Burning spellweave, but you were able to get more than that - so that's why I keep Burning spellweave better than Scathing mage on Live.

Masel92 wrote: »

With Master Architect, you need to go melee and use funnel health. You can sustain a funnel health rotation without any heavy attacks whatsoever with drain, siphoning attacks and a poison on front bar. This setup has good group utility, but the problem is that the major slayer buff has very bad targeting and can also hit pets, healers, tanks etc.

Yes, that is the problem with Master Architect; too much RNG in it. And you need to be in melee range and in some situations there can not be (or shouldn't be) more than x players in the melee range, so you take someone else's place who is able to deal more damage (Templars, for example).

Masel92 wrote: »

On the sorc I'll most likely go for 5 MD 3 Willpower 2 Illambris. But I will only start playing sort again if they stop being so overpowered in PvE.

That is an interesting one which I haven't really thought about. Have you tested this on PTS yet? I can understand this because of sustain Moondancer offers, but is it really worth it because you lose quite a lot damage as well.

Masel92 wrote: »

As sad as it is, double barring sharpened vMA staffs will be BiS, due to the fact that you keep the 189 spell damage on top of your drain magicka poison. So be prepared for a lot of RNG rant threads on here, especially now that vMA is more difficult to sustain.

If I run Ilambris on ranged builds I use Master staff on back bar with poison because, for some reason, poison does not remove the Destructive clench bonus. I'm pretty sure this is a bug, though. And I know some players don't like that skill and think it's not good at all. But I get about 2k DPS on Live with it without Master staff bonus. And it's really good to proc Ilambris' lightning as a Nightblade and Templar because of a lack of shock damage abilities.

Masel92 wrote: »

On the DK I'll stick with my Heavy Attack build. It's still awesome and requires no change in gear whatsoever, you can still rock a 5/1/1 setup with it. If slayer would work on the PTS it would be even better. Others might opt for sun, as it does get increased by major and minor sorcery and has a health bonus in it that is very useful in Endgame PvE.

Heavy attack build works for Dragonknights for sure, but I don't personally like them at all so I didn't even consider it at all. But t hat wouldn't change the fact that Burning spellweave is still the best choise, right?

And about Silk of the Sun. Yes, it benefits from Major and Minor sorcery and other % damage increase bonuses, and the extra health from 2pc bonus is good (but not necessary) it's basically a better choise if you're not able to have ~61,0% uptime on Burning spellweave (based on ability metrics) which shold not be the case.

Masel92 wrote: »

I'm not an expert on templars, so I can't say a lot about them. But going for 5 MD 5 Julianos with vMA inferno back bar is very sustainable with channeled focus.

Yes, if you want to go for dual wields then 5x Julianos and 5x Moondancer is probably the best route to go. Channeled focus increases your sustain by a lot and Moondancer as well so you shouldn't have any problems.

Lum1on · May 2017

Mojmir wrote: »

I think BSW is better if your a dunmer on NB,possibly templar as well.

Burning spellweave's uptime is too difficult to maintain with Nightblade because of a lack of flame damage abilities, and on Templar because of the execute phase. Of course you see from, for example Combat metrics, your average uptime during the fight but on Live it's currently around 35-40,0% during the execute. Of course you get the burst damage I talked about and it's better in some situations. But with the incoming nerf that's going too low so I wouldn't recommend running it.

DRXHarbinger wrote: »

Sun will be better for inferno based magdk. Bsw for heavy attack build using a lit staff and eruption and embers will proc it often enough as it is.

But a Magblade and scathing mage is still going to be the best. Race doesn't impact it. You'll have 2 flame attacks on at the best of times. Warmaiden may even prove better if you run funnel over FP. As it'll buff shades, path, funnel and impale passively..Bsw is hard to maintain on a nb. Even harder with the nerf.

How come Silk of the Sun will be better for Dragonknights than Burning spellweave? Based on ability metrics (with 3x Moondancer and 2x Grothdarr) you need less than 61,0% uptime for it to be better. And based on my PTS testings you can still get 65,0% uptime for Burning spellweave with Dragonknight. So I don't really see your reasoning behind it.

If you have difference results, please share them so we can compare and see where's the problem; with me or you.

The problem with War maiden is that you still have a lot of important flame damage (Elemental blockade, light attacks, ultimates) and they are part of the most of your damage. It requires a lot of testing so can't say for sure yet, but that's how I feel about that set (for Nightblades and Templars).

Jonno · May 2017

ive been getting consistant 75% scathing uptime in raids on pts using funnel

Lum1on · May 2017

Jonno wrote: »

ive been getting consistant 75% scathing uptime in raids on pts using funnel

75,0% seems quite a lot without Force pulse. But on the other hand, Twisting path is bugged because for some reason ESO thinks it's direct damage ability instead of damage-over-time (CP's and Scathing mage at least).

Do you have any parses uploaded from those runs?

EDIT: Or if you don't have any parses what's your crit. chance? Around 68,0%?

Masel · May 2017

Jonno wrote: »

ive been getting consistant 75% scathing uptime in raids on pts using funnel

I get 70%+ by myself on dummy with funnel too. Mainly due to twisting path.

DRXHarbinger · May 2017

Lum1on wrote: »

Mojmir wrote: »

I think BSW is better if your a dunmer on NB,possibly templar as well.

Burning spellweave's uptime is too difficult to maintain with Nightblade because of a lack of flame damage abilities, and on Templar because of the execute phase. Of course you see from, for example Combat metrics, your average uptime during the fight but on Live it's currently around 35-40,0% during the execute. Of course you get the burst damage I talked about and it's better in some situations. But with the incoming nerf that's going too low so I wouldn't recommend running it.

DRXHarbinger wrote: »

Sun will be better for inferno based magdk. Bsw for heavy attack build using a lit staff and eruption and embers will proc it often enough as it is.

But a Magblade and scathing mage is still going to be the best. Race doesn't impact it. You'll have 2 flame attacks on at the best of times. Warmaiden may even prove better if you run funnel over FP. As it'll buff shades, path, funnel and impale passively..Bsw is hard to maintain on a nb. Even harder with the nerf.

How come Silk of the Sun will be better for Dragonknights than Burning spellweave? Based on ability metrics (with 3x Moondancer and 2x Grothdarr) you need less than 61,0% uptime for it to be better. And based on my PTS testings you can still get 65,0% uptime for Burning spellweave with Dragonknight. So I don't really see your reasoning behind it.

If you have difference results, please share them so we can compare and see where's the problem; with me or you.

The problem with War maiden is that you still have a lot of important flame damage (Elemental blockade, light attacks, ultimates) and they are part of the most of your damage. It requires a lot of testing so can't say for sure yet, but that's how I feel about that set (for Nightblades and Templars).

Because sun is in fact buffed by all minors and majors. Giving magdk a passive boost of 629 SD (using 4th and 5th perks) to all abilities if using all flame attacks. This is far superior to bsw. Which does give slightly higher...but only 60% of the time. And with bsw you get no damage from the off. Sun gives you that power if you start with an ulti like meteor etc. Far better if using all flame attacks.

Masel · May 2017

Lum1on wrote: »

Mojmir wrote: »

I think BSW is better if your a dunmer on NB,possibly templar as well.

Burning spellweave's uptime is too difficult to maintain with Nightblade because of a lack of flame damage abilities, and on Templar because of the execute phase. Of course you see from, for example Combat metrics, your average uptime during the fight but on Live it's currently around 35-40,0% during the execute. Of course you get the burst damage I talked about and it's better in some situations. But with the incoming nerf that's going too low so I wouldn't recommend running it.

DRXHarbinger wrote: »

Sun will be better for inferno based magdk. Bsw for heavy attack build using a lit staff and eruption and embers will proc it often enough as it is.

But a Magblade and scathing mage is still going to be the best. Race doesn't impact it. You'll have 2 flame attacks on at the best of times. Warmaiden may even prove better if you run funnel over FP. As it'll buff shades, path, funnel and impale passively..Bsw is hard to maintain on a nb. Even harder with the nerf.

How come Silk of the Sun will be better for Dragonknights than Burning spellweave? Based on ability metrics (with 3x Moondancer and 2x Grothdarr) you need less than 61,0% uptime for it to be better. And based on my PTS testings you can still get 65,0% uptime for Burning spellweave with Dragonknight. So I don't really see your reasoning behind it.

If you have difference results, please share them so we can compare and see where's the problem; with me or you.

The problem with War maiden is that you still have a lot of important flame damage (Elemental blockade, light attacks, ultimates) and they are part of the most of your damage. It requires a lot of testing so can't say for sure yet, but that's how I feel about that set (for Nightblades and Templars).

It's simple math with BSW vs Sun.

Comparing Sun to BSW, Sun will most likely dish out more damage in Raids while giving you more suvivability than BSW. BSW might be better against a Dummy due to the increased Burning Chance:

The difference in 57 SD is assuming a 100% uptime on BSW. With 60% it is already 91 Spell Damage. And if we take into account that most people will likely opt for 7 light for more sustain next patch, the Health bonus is very useful if you want to survive.

In a raid, every whip/FP/initial hit of fire dots has a 20% chance to apply burning. So the additional burning chance from BSW isn't necessary there.

PS: I know it's 967 Magicka on full legendary, but that doesn't make a difference either way.

Does the Ability Metrics calculation already include the nerfed BSW?

Sanctuary · May 2017

The only drawback with SUN is the 5th bonus doesn't affect GROTHDARR (or the fire part of ILAMBRIS).

Jonno · May 2017

Lum1on wrote: »

Jonno wrote: »

ive been getting consistant 75% scathing uptime in raids on pts using funnel

75,0% seems quite a lot without Force pulse. But on the other hand, Twisting path is bugged because for some reason ESO thinks it's direct damage ability instead of damage-over-time (CP's and Scathing mage at least).

Do you have any parses uploaded from those runs?

EDIT: Or if you don't have any parses what's your crit. chance? Around 68,0%?

diddnt save parses but 66.2% crit + whatever sorcs passive gives me

Lum1on · May 2017

DRXHarbinger wrote: »

Because sun is in fact buffed by all minors and majors. Giving magdk a passive boost of 629 SD (using 4th and 5th perks) to all abilities if using all flame attacks. This is far superior to bsw. Which does give slightly higher...but only 60% of the time. And with bsw you get no damage from the off. Sun gives you that power if you start with an ulti like meteor etc. Far better if using all flame attacks.

It's true that you have that 400 extra spell damage (to flame damage abilities) passively on with Silk of the Sun, but you're forgetting few things I'd consider:

Occassional burst damage (usually) benefits more than sustain damage
Burning spellweave also has spell crit. bonus (not much, but it still affects in an ideal situation)
The only reason you actually want to use Shooting star is for large trash mobs where you need a huge burst damage and usually you don't start a fight with your ultimate as a Dragonknight because of Battle roar (no matter it'll get nerfed but still it's important because of sustain)

Masel92 wrote: »

It's simple math with BSW vs Sun.

Comparing Sun to BSW, Sun will most likely dish out more damage in Raids while giving you more suvivability than BSW. BSW might be better against a Dummy due to the increased Burning Chance:

The difference in 57 SD is assuming a 100% uptime on BSW. With 60% it is already 91 Spell Damage. And if we take into account that most people will likely opt for 7 light for more sustain next patch, the Health bonus is very useful if you want to survive.

In a raid, every whip/FP/initial hit of fire dots has a 20% chance to apply burning. So the additional burning chance from BSW isn't necessary there.

PS: I know it's 967 Magicka on full legendary, but that doesn't make a difference either way.

Does the Ability Metrics calculation already include the nerfed BSW?

The Burning proc's are already quite good for Dragonknights without Burning spellweave, yes. But the potential burst out of it is better (in most situations) where you don't have any % damage increase skills (Radiant oppression for Templars, Impale for Nightblades, ...). And with Dragonknight I'm able to get that 65,0% uptime on PTS which means that I get 340 spell damage out of it compared to Silk of the Sun's 400 "passive".

On my ability metrics calculation I use:

5x Burning spellweave vs. 5x Silk of the sun
4x Moondancer - legendary jewelry with spell damage enchantments and inferno staff with weapon damage ench.
2x Grothdarr

and I get these results:

Burning spellweave (60,0% uptime): 94,874
Silk of the sun: 94,996

and with 61,0% uptiem I get more than Silk of the sun. Of course these are mathematical and theoretical situations which always does not reflect the real situation in-game. But it's still the best scenario, though.

Lum1on · May 2017

Jonno wrote: »

diddnt save parses but 66.2% crit + whatever sorcs passive gives me

Okay, so that basically means 2,3 APS which is hard to get, but doable with Funnel health. But that indeed just proves my point that Burning spellweave is not a good choise anymore for Nightblades on Update 14.

Magıc · May 2017

Scathing lost out to BSW on uptime according to the DD's of the top raid guilds (Hodor, Aquila, G+G, MC etc.)

That may be different now as Jonno said. If they had the same uptime, or if scathing had better uptime, scathing would beat BSW on live, but with the BSW nerfs it's possible scathing beats out BSW.

Lum1on · May 2017

Magıc wrote: »

Scathing lost out to BSW on uptime according to the DD's of the top raid guilds (Hodor, Aquila, G+G, MC etc.)

That may be different now as Jonno said. If they had the same uptime, or if scathing had better uptime, scathing would beat BSW on live, but with the BSW nerfs it's possible scathing beats out BSW.

Actually Scathing mage haven't lost to Burning spellweave on uptime. But because Burning spellweave's 5pc proc damage was 600 it was better.

It required about 80,0% uptime (~3,3 direct damage accants per second) for Scathing to be better than Burning spellweave with a 60,0% uptime.

Now when Burning spellweave will be nerfed it'll be dropped to 1,3 DAPS for scathing to be better than Burning spellweave - and that is easily achieved by Nightblades (and Sorcerers).

NyassaV · May 2017

I've almost given up on my nightblade... What with the grim focus change that happened I just wanna cry. They just HAD to stick in that extra attack required.

overclocker303b14_ESO · May 2017

I think I'm going to end up trying for 5pc master architect (w/ 2 daggers) and 5 scathing mage with a good monster set for my magblade. I can keep the destro staff stuff on one bar and then just cast class abilities and soul harvest on the dw bar and get the benefit from both sets.

Gamanoid · May 2017

overclocker303b14_ESO wrote: »

I think I'm going to end up trying for 5pc master architect (w/ 2 daggers) and 5 scathing mage with a good monster set for my magblade. I can keep the destro staff stuff on one bar and then just cast class abilities and soul harvest on the dw bar and get the benefit from both sets.

Why not 2 swords? You get 5% damage increase from dual swords passive but nothing useful from dual daggers on a magicka toon.

Jonno · May 2017

overclocker303b14_ESO wrote: »

I think I'm going to end up trying for 5pc master architect (w/ 2 daggers) and 5 scathing mage with a good monster set for my magblade. I can keep the destro staff stuff on one bar and then just cast class abilities and soul harvest on the dw bar and get the benefit from both sets.

why would you ever use daggers on a magicka build? swords always

Hollery wrote: »

I've almost given up on my nightblade... What with the grim focus change that happened I just wanna cry. They just HAD to stick in that extra attack required.

huh? this is a buff in pve

Lum1on · May 2017

Hollery wrote: »

I've almost given up on my nightblade... What with the grim focus change that happened I just wanna cry. They just HAD to stick in that extra attack required.

Definitely a buff in PvE and if you know what you're doing in PvP it'll be a buff there as well.

overclocker303b14_ESO wrote: »

I think I'm going to end up trying for 5pc master architect (w/ 2 daggers) and 5 scathing mage with a good monster set for my magblade. I can keep the destro staff stuff on one bar and then just cast class abilities and soul harvest on the dw bar and get the benefit from both sets.

I believe you meant swords instead of daggers? At least I sure hope so...

Master architect looks like a nice choise for Nightblades, yes, but the problem is your positioning because you don't want it to go to your tanks or healers. And for it to be the most effective you need to be in melee range (well, probably not as huge DPS loss as it was on Homestead because you couldn't deal as much damage as other melee magicka classes).

Asardes · August 2017

I found this topic, and I've decided to bump it not to open a new one.

I'm thinking of running the following topic on a magicka sorcerer: 5 Julianos 5 Scathing Mage 1 Iceheart. I played around with Scathing mage before and the uptime was really good, especially in AoE fights. I have no problem sustaining force pulse rotation since I do HA in between for sustain so it procs a lot. I also have Netch Touch, which Alcast recommends. Frankly I don't know if the difference between them is too big. But SM has received a slight buff this patch because of the 2 Spell critical buffs, so the uptime may actually be better then the last time. I expect around ~75% critical chance on my build with minor prophecy.