Mechanical Acuity on Sorc for Wrathstone

Zalathorm · March 2019

Trying out mechanical acuity on a magsorc per the suggestions of Th3asiangod (after shadow mundus buff), and.... I hate it so far. Does anyone use this set and like it? It's great when it procs at an idea time in the rotation. Half the time though, it procs at *** times. Like it procs, and I get cc'd. Or it procs, and I'm just switching to my back bar to recast dots and buffs. Or it procs, and I'm dodge rolling or jousting an AoE. Standing in front of a dummy is no problem, its fine. Also, I LOVE sioria. I dont mind managing the sioria circle at all, but its hard to play around mechanical acuity procs to maximize it. Wish I hadn't dropped 300k to get it crafted. Maybe i'll come around, we'll see.

JediCody · March 2019

Zalathorm wrote: »

Wish I hadn't dropped 300k to get it crafted.

You could have just Purpled it for next to nothing and found this out before this.

I'm curious about MA too so will follow thread.

Neoauspex · March 2019

Doesn't proc enough post nerf. R.I.P. set.

Zalathorm · March 2019

JediCody wrote: »

Zalathorm wrote: »

Wish I hadn't dropped 300k to get it crafted.

You could have just Purpled it for next to nothing and found this out before this.

I'm curious about MA too so will follow thread.

Next to nothing? 275k WAS the purple jewelry man. You look at purple plating prices recently!?

JediCody · March 2019

Hot dam, wasn't aware. Thinking about MA on my new StamNB so still will follow.

kollege14a5 · March 2019

You should always have your dots up when its about to proc. So you get the most out of the proc. If you are able to do it you will get a lot more dps out of it. I really like this Set it just requires a bit more training. Acuity addon can help alot btw.

Zalathorm · March 2019

kollege14a5 wrote: »

You should always have your dots up when its about to proc. So you get the most out of the proc. If you are able to do it you will get a lot more dps out of it. I really like this Set it just requires a bit more training. Acuity addon can help alot btw.

"When it's about to proc"

It's RNG man. 15% chance on direct damage. What if it procs on your last elemental weapon cast, before switching to your back bar?

Like i said, it's great when it procs at the right time in your rotation, like when you're just starting your light attack / ele weapon weave. But you can't control it.

Then, environment stuff happens to also mess it up.

So if you have any "training" ideas that overcome the RNG, I'd honestly love some tips.

ToRelax · March 2019

Proccing it is no issue with Force Shock.

Making good use of it is very difficult because once procced, you have only a single GCD to apply curse or it will be wasted. You can gamble by keeping Curse active at all times and hope it will explode within the proc's duration, but I don't think that's worth it.

It's been this way since the set was introduced btw. It can be nice on Warden because unlike Curse, Scorch can be cast without a target.

Edit: Just realized this was probably a PvE thread. My bad.

zvavi · March 2019

I use it. And I like it.

Trinity_Is_My_Name · March 2019

I have a set on one of my Mag Sorcs and still use it from time to time. If you time it well you can maximize the proc times but yeah, it's not that great to me.

I tend to go with non proc sets these days and use something that applies a flat amount of Spell Damage or for Stamina, Weapon Damage to abilities.

Some proc sets are good though like the ones with very short duration cool downs.

Camb0Sl1ce · March 2019

I like it on sorc with crushing shock/force pulse.

Oreyn_Bearclaw · March 2019

I am using it on my mSorc paired with Siroria this patch. Hitting around 55k selfbuffed on a 6 million dummy, and I have seen people hit 60 with just having ele drain provided (i run my own). I use the psijic spammable, not FP. I also run 3 bloodthirsty (tried 3 infused and it was much less damage).

It's pretty strong this patch for a sorc. I get very similar results on a dummy with Spell Strat and Siroria, but mech acuity is much better AOE damage. There is definitely a fair bit of RNG associated with this set, and sorcs have probably the most RNG dependent parses with how frags work, but on longer fights, it tends to work itself out.

I have found that trying to play to the set is often more trouble than its worth, about the only exception is sometimes I will hold an ultimate for a few seconds until the set procs. Sometimes I wish I could just turn off the annimation for it if I am being honest. Sometimes the blue glow makes me think I have the bar swap mechanic in VCR+3. haha

If it makes you feel better, i made the jewelry in infused first and had to blow 150 transmute crystals. Purple JC mats sure are spendy because you dont really get that many from writs other than survey refining. I have several hundred chromium grains, but the purples I can never seem to keep around.

Zalathorm · March 2019

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

I am using it on my mSorc paired with Siroria this patch. Hitting around 55k selfbuffed on a 6 million dummy, and I have seen people hit 60 with just having ele drain provided (i run my own). I use the psijic spammable, not FP. I also run 3 bloodthirsty (tried 3 infused and it was much less damage).

It's pretty strong this patch for a sorc. I get very similar results on a dummy with Spell Strat and Siroria, but mech acuity is much better AOE damage. There is definitely a fair bit of RNG associated with this set, and sorcs have probably the most RNG dependent parses with how frags work, but on longer fights, it tends to work itself out.

I have found that trying to play to the set is often more trouble than its worth, about the only exception is sometimes I will hold an ultimate for a few seconds until the set procs. Sometimes I wish I could just turn off the annimation for it if I am being honest. Sometimes the blue glow makes me think I have the bar swap mechanic in VCR+3. haha

If it makes you feel better, i made the jewelry in infused first and had to blow 150 transmute crystals. Purple JC mats sure are spendy because you dont really get that many from writs other than survey refining. I have several hundred chromium grains, but the purples I can never seem to keep around.

Yeah my dummy tests are fine with it, its the real application that is making me question it. How do you feel in trials with it on? Do you experience those frustrations of timing or environment? I swear I do better with sioria + mothers sorrow right now than sioria + acuity in actual game content (non dummy fights)

susmitds · March 2019

It is BiS if you are a Khajiit MagSorc imo.

kollege14a5 · March 2019

Zalathorm wrote: »

kollege14a5 wrote: »

You should always have your dots up when its about to proc. So you get the most out of the proc. If you are able to do it you will get a lot more dps out of it. I really like this Set it just requires a bit more training. Acuity addon can help alot btw.

"When it's about to proc"

It's RNG man. 15% chance on direct damage. What if it procs on your last elemental weapon cast, before switching to your back bar?

Like i said, it's great when it procs at the right time in your rotation, like when you're just starting your light attack / ele weapon weave. But you can't control it.

Then, environment stuff happens to also mess it up.

So if you have any "training" ideas that overcome the RNG, I'd honestly love some tips.

Force pulse counts as 3x direct damage also Light attacks are direct damage so it is very likely that it will proc after one weaved force pulse if it doesnt it's mostly 2 weaves. So not that much RNG.

Edit: also you shouldnt allow the Set to proc while you are about to go to your backbar that is what i meaned by changing your rotation for mechanical acuity. It is only front bared so you can influence when it procs

WrathOfInnos · March 2019

It makes a pretty good front bar set if used with Force Pulse. If it’s on armor/ jewelry pieces I think Mother’s Sorrow is better. I typically go with Sorrow when I pair it with other sets that work well on a single bar (Siroria, Architect, Spell Strat) and Acuity when paired sets that should be active on both bars (Necropotence, Spinner, Moondancer, Burning Spellweave, etc.). Its a matter of personal preference though, as some people might consider Moondancer and Spellweave to be good single bar sets, I just don’t like what it does to their uptimes.

IMO the main place Acuity shines is for trial trash when going for a speed run. Often the fights last around 10s so you’ll see around 50% Acuity uptime on a short fight. Also there are so many enemies that it’s easy to make it proc quickly.

ccfeeling · March 2019

Test MA both stam and mag toons , the result was really bad .

But those youtubers hit much harder than me... dont know why ...

JediCody · March 2019

I take it MA is not a good idea for someone without the Maelstrom Bow yet, as it could proc when your just throwing Endless Hail and Caltrops. Yea? Thanks for feedback.

WrathOfInnos · March 2019

JediCody wrote: »

I take it MA is not a good idea for someone without the Maelstrom Bow yet, as it could proc when your just throwing Endless Hail and Caltrops. Yea? Thanks for feedback.

@JediCody I don’t think Acuity is great for stamina builds in general. Acuity is most valuable when your Crit Chance is low, and the typical stamina DPS has a decent amount of crit from daggers.

Advancing Yokeda is the go-to single bar set for those using a Maelstrom bow, because it carries over to the off-bar. If you don’t have a Maelstrom bow and you’ll have the set active on both bars then you may as well use Leviathan. It’s nearly the same amount of crit (16.4% vs 16.7%) and is much easier to obtain. Also Leviathan has a bow, while Advancing Yokeda only exists in melee weapons.

JediCody · March 2019

WrathOfInnos wrote: »

JediCody wrote: »

I take it MA is not a good idea for someone without the Maelstrom Bow yet, as it could proc when your just throwing Endless Hail and Caltrops. Yea? Thanks for feedback.

@JediCody I don’t think Acuity is great for stamina builds in general. Acuity is most valuable when your Crit Chance is low, and the typical stamina DPS has a decent amount of crit from daggers.

Advancing Yokeda is the go-to single bar set for those using a Maelstrom bow, because it carries over to the off-bar. If you don’t have a Maelstrom bow and you’ll have the set active on both bars then you may as well use Leviathan. It’s nearly the same amount of crit (16.4% vs 16.7%) and is much easier to obtain. Also Leviathan has a bow, while Advancing Yokeda only exists in melee weapons.

Thank you for your feedback. I had the feeling MA would be overkill, especially as I'm going to be a Nightblade, and we know their Passives give more Crit Chance as it is. Couple that with Daggers, and, yea, MA would actually take away from another potentially great build.

For starters, I'm going to probably run Hunding's and Briarheart, as they both grant good Crit Chance bonuses, coupled with high Weapon Damage. Then, if I crawl my way back to Veteran Trials, I'll consider other sets.

I'm coming from over three years on Xbox and have just moved to PC NA, hence my being in the planning stages.

Lovelocke · March 2019

I was trying a ton of different combinations on my Petsorc post patch. Ended up going with Siroria and Mother's Sorrow, but I did try Mechanical Acuity.

I found that when it proc'd regularly you could pull very comparable parses. In fact, I thought at first I'd found my new set. But sometimes it barely procs and the damage output drops dramatically.

I went with Mother's Sorrow instead because it's more reliable.

Zalathorm · March 2019

I'm surprised at the people who say to alter rotation to influence or avoid procs. Rotations by nature are ideal for dps already. It seems to me any deviation from ideal is a dps loss. How good can MA be compared to sets that are so close in do, when you have to alter your rotations? It it worth it?

Oreyn_Bearclaw · March 2019

Zalathorm wrote: »

I'm surprised at the people who say to alter rotation to influence or avoid procs. Rotations by nature are ideal for dps already. It seems to me any deviation from ideal is a dps loss. How good can MA be compared to sets that are so close in do, when you have to alter your rotations? It it worth it?

Yeah, I really dont think it ever makes sense to alter your rotation other than perhaps holding an ult here or there for a few seconds. Like on a sorc, why would you hold a frag proc to wait for the set to fire, its still your best opportunity cost for that particular cast in your rotation, whether or not the set is up (50/50 it crits anyways).

Zalathorm wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

I am using it on my mSorc paired with Siroria this patch. Hitting around 55k selfbuffed on a 6 million dummy, and I have seen people hit 60 with just having ele drain provided (i run my own). I use the psijic spammable, not FP. I also run 3 bloodthirsty (tried 3 infused and it was much less damage).

It's pretty strong this patch for a sorc. I get very similar results on a dummy with Spell Strat and Siroria, but mech acuity is much better AOE damage. There is definitely a fair bit of RNG associated with this set, and sorcs have probably the most RNG dependent parses with how frags work, but on longer fights, it tends to work itself out.

I have found that trying to play to the set is often more trouble than its worth, about the only exception is sometimes I will hold an ultimate for a few seconds until the set procs. Sometimes I wish I could just turn off the annimation for it if I am being honest. Sometimes the blue glow makes me think I have the bar swap mechanic in VCR+3. haha

If it makes you feel better, i made the jewelry in infused first and had to blow 150 transmute crystals. Purple JC mats sure are spendy because you dont really get that many from writs other than survey refining. I have several hundred chromium grains, but the purples I can never seem to keep around.

Yeah my dummy tests are fine with it, its the real application that is making me question it. How do you feel in trials with it on? Do you experience those frustrations of timing or environment? I swear I do better with sioria + mothers sorrow right now than sioria + acuity in actual game content (non dummy fights)

I actually havent ran MS in quite a while. I have gone back and forth between Spell strat and Mech Acuity, and really the only trial I have run this patch is VCR+3. I am getting more damage on average with mech acuity. The single target is basically a wash, but its more AOE. I also find it makes the portal/crystal phase quicker. Usually the delay in getting upstairs to the first crystal means you are likely off cooldown, so you almost always get the buff right away. Last patch I was killing 2.5 -3 crystals before needing to go up to the platform now I am getting 4 pretty consistently, which is really simplifying that part of the trial. My biggest complaint with that set is the blue glow associated with it.

John_Falstaff · March 2019

@Oreyn_Bearclaw , I wonder what do you pair it with? Also - you run MA frontbarred or as a full-time set?

lassitershawn · March 2019

I have not liked acuity since dragonbones personally. I'm using BSW/MS in vCR rn (one pet matriarch build) which is the only content I'm currently using my sorc in and it works great but I intend to try out scathing mage once I get an inferno.

Oreyn_Bearclaw · March 2019

John_Falstaff wrote: »

@Oreyn_Bearclaw , I wonder what do you pair it with? Also - you run MA frontbarred or as a full-time set?

@John_Falstaff Front bar only. I think it is pretty hard to dispute that Perfect Siroria is the baseline meta set for damage at this point, even in relatively mobile fights. Siroria is simply not a viable front bar only set. IMO, sets that stack (siroria, relequen) or give flat damage boosts (hundings, julianos, Mothers Sorrow) , should generally be on both bars, and sets that proc work better as front bar only sets because their bonuses can carry over to the back bar.

So assuming you are running Siroria and a back bar VMA staff, I would generally favor a front bar set that is proc based. The obvious players are Spell Strat (damage), Mech Acuity (crit), and perhaps BSW (damage). The buff to shadow arguably favors crit sets over spell damage sets, especially considering Siroria already has that covered for the most part (and does nothing for crit).

If you dont have a VMA staff, then sets like MS or Julianos become better options IMO to pair with Siroria, but I certainly havent tested all the possible combos. And truthfully, the difference between any of these sets is not nearly what it used to be. There are plenty of viable combos out there.

John_Falstaff · March 2019

@Oreyn_Bearclaw , oh yes, I actually was wondering lately on whether I should try frontbarring Siroria (I generally frontbar SS or MS and run vMA inferno back bar), I just have infused Siroria inferno that feels like a waste, so was wondering how well might it work on front bar only with Mother's Sorrow body. I feel I'm missing out when I front bar MS since it's not a proc set and won't give me anything on back bar. My 'mobile damage' setup is Mother's Sorrow + BSW, but what I don't have yet is BSW inferno. ^^ So frontbarring it isn't an option for me, not yet.

Oreyn_Bearclaw · March 2019

John_Falstaff wrote: »

@Oreyn_Bearclaw , oh yes, I actually was wondering lately on whether I should try frontbarring Siroria (I generally frontbar SS or MS and run vMA inferno back bar), I just have infused Siroria inferno that feels like a waste, so was wondering how well might it work on front bar only with Mother's Sorrow body. I feel I'm missing out when I front bar MS since it's not a proc set and won't give me anything on back bar. My 'mobile damage' setup is Mother's Sorrow + BSW, but what I don't have yet is BSW inferno. ^^ So frontbarring it isn't an option for me, not yet.

@John_Falstaff

I think the answer to that is a resounding no. I would front bar MS over Siroria for sure, if those are the options. MS is certainly viable for front bar only, its just ideal IMO. Most of your heavy hitting skills will still benefit from it.

Vildebill · March 2019

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

John_Falstaff wrote: »

@Oreyn_Bearclaw , oh yes, I actually was wondering lately on whether I should try frontbarring Siroria (I generally frontbar SS or MS and run vMA inferno back bar), I just have infused Siroria inferno that feels like a waste, so was wondering how well might it work on front bar only with Mother's Sorrow body. I feel I'm missing out when I front bar MS since it's not a proc set and won't give me anything on back bar. My 'mobile damage' setup is Mother's Sorrow + BSW, but what I don't have yet is BSW inferno. ^^ So frontbarring it isn't an option for me, not yet.

@John_Falstaff

I think the answer to that is a resounding no. I would front bar MS over Siroria for sure, if those are the options. MS is certainly viable for front bar only, its just ideal IMO. Most of your heavy hitting skills will still benefit from it.

I've played Magsorc with siroria lightning staff on front bar and it works good, I don't really understand why you don't like it. The only two skills you apply from back bar is liquid lightning and blockade, plus a light attack in between, so no huge loss in time.

md3788 · March 2019

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

John_Falstaff wrote: »

@Oreyn_Bearclaw , oh yes, I actually was wondering lately on whether I should try frontbarring Siroria (I generally frontbar SS or MS and run vMA inferno back bar), I just have infused Siroria inferno that feels like a waste, so was wondering how well might it work on front bar only with Mother's Sorrow body. I feel I'm missing out when I front bar MS since it's not a proc set and won't give me anything on back bar. My 'mobile damage' setup is Mother's Sorrow + BSW, but what I don't have yet is BSW inferno. ^^ So frontbarring it isn't an option for me, not yet.

@John_Falstaff

I think the answer to that is a resounding no. I would front bar MS over Siroria for sure, if those are the options. MS is certainly viable for front bar only, its just ideal IMO. Most of your heavy hitting skills will still benefit from it.

@Oreyn_Bearclaw is your main issue with Siroria Front bar that you lose a Magicka Bonus when swapping? Because it was patched quite a while ago that the spell damage buff carries over. I personally have tried both and had no noticeable difference between MS and Siroria front bar on 6M dummy tests.

Oreyn_Bearclaw · March 2019

md3788 wrote: »

Oreyn_Bearclaw wrote: »

John_Falstaff wrote: »

@Oreyn_Bearclaw , oh yes, I actually was wondering lately on whether I should try frontbarring Siroria (I generally frontbar SS or MS and run vMA inferno back bar), I just have infused Siroria inferno that feels like a waste, so was wondering how well might it work on front bar only with Mother's Sorrow body. I feel I'm missing out when I front bar MS since it's not a proc set and won't give me anything on back bar. My 'mobile damage' setup is Mother's Sorrow + BSW, but what I don't have yet is BSW inferno. ^^ So frontbarring it isn't an option for me, not yet.

@John_Falstaff

I think the answer to that is a resounding no. I would front bar MS over Siroria for sure, if those are the options. MS is certainly viable for front bar only, its just ideal IMO. Most of your heavy hitting skills will still benefit from it.

@Oreyn_Bearclaw is your main issue with Siroria Front bar that you lose a Magicka Bonus when swapping? Because it was patched quite a while ago that the spell damage buff carries over. I personally have tried both and had no noticeable difference between MS and Siroria front bar on 6M dummy tests.

I was under the impression, that it became much harder to keep your stacks up if it was just on one bar. That could certainly be old info at this point. I have never actually tested it myself as I dont have a perfect staff. I also certainly dont like the idea of losing 2k magic every time I swap.

It would certainly be easy to test. Do a parse with it on one bar and both bars. If your x20 stack uptime is basically the same, then I would be much less concerned about front barring it.