I'm considering lightning heavy attack builds, and I realized I lack a LOT of basic information. Links with information would be great, if you're reasonably confident (or at least optimistic
) that they're still accurate. My main interest is PvE; if you want to include comments about PvP that don't apply to PvE, please be so kind as to label them as such.
For starters, in no particular order:
1. Unbuffed, lightning heavy attacks do -- how much damage, divided how across how many ticks, over how much duration?
2. How do skills and heavy attacks mix? Can you cast one skill per heavy attack without reducing the opportunities you have to heavy attack?
3. The 5-piece sets generally considered for lightning heavy attack builds are Undaunted Unweaver, Undaunted Infiltrator, and Noble Duelist, correct?
4. Those are proc sets. Do they buff every tick of lightning heavy attacks against every target? Like other proc sets, do they not crit, not depend on your stats (CP excepted), etc.? Are they affected by Empower? By a DK's Molten Armaments?
5. Are the answers the same for the Maelstrom staff?
6. Natural sources of Empower include Solar Barrage (if Templar) and Might of the Guild. Am I missing any relevant ones?
7. For CP purposes, lightning heavy attacks are DoTs? (As well as being directly influenced by Staff Expert.)
Beyond that:
8. I get the impression that in many heavy attack builds, one "spams" Scalding Rune, to keep proccing Might of the Guild, even though this "wastes" some of the skill's DoT. I presume Degeneration would be mixed in on builds without another source of Major Sorcery. Is this correct?
9. What other attack skills are common in lightning heavy attack builds? I've seen references to Mines for sorcerers (expensive but affordable). I presume in some content one keeps Crushing Shock available for interrupts.
10. Would it make sense to add a Vatershran staff to the Maelstrom staff and live without a monster set, thereby saving the trouble of farming a lightning staff in one of the 5-piece sets?
11. If Undaunted Unweaver is used, which stamina skills make sense? Caltrops? Trap? Silver Leash (if you're using Noble Duelist too)
?