WHM: Determination vs Spell Speed

It's probably too early to ask, but have any WHM's gotten lucky enough to get a decent amount of Allagan healing gear? I've cleared Turns 1-4 weekly and have yet to even see a drop. I'd like to know if the determination will be better than spell speed in the long run. I'm beginning to think Spell Speed isn't really worth it because I'm not needing to toss lots of quick heals like I used to back when our tanks were only in Darklight. Also our DD's are very good at dodging so I heal them a lot less. I'd really like to see how much my Cures and Regen's tick for with 100% determination on every gear slot. I wish there were PTS's that I could use to test this...

Hi Epimony,

Here's a thread that was up in the air about Determination vs. Spell Speed. Haven't checked it thoroughly yet, but there was some discussion going back and forth a bit on these stats.
Thread: Determination vs Spell Speed (WHM)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fiosha_Maureiba

Hi Epimony,

Here's a thread that was up in the air about Determination vs. Spell Speed. Haven't checked it thoroughly yet, but there was some discussion going back and forth a bit on these stats.
Thread: Determination vs Spell Speed (WHM)

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I read all the replies on that thread you linked and it looks like all speculation from people that don't really know which is better because they haven't invested in the gear yet. Maybe it really is too early to ask. It'll be cool to know what the differences are once we get people with at least four pieces of Allagan listing their heals versus people with four pieces of Mythology AF.

It's possible to do a rough comparison of healing output based on spamming Cure and Cure II for one minute.*

+100 Spell Speed
GCD = 2.4
Cure = 885.67 per heal or 22,141.75 total healing
Cure II = 1439.22 per heal or 35,980.5 total healing

+100 Determination
GCD = 2.5
Cure = 922.87 per heal or 22,148.88 total healing
Cure II = 1499.66 per heal or 35,991.84 total healing

I suppose it's not too surprising that the healing output of each skill will scale about the same, given how every other stat seems to function, and 1 point of SS or DTR will increase healing output by ~.04% ((21256.08/22141.75)/100=.00041667). Due to the similar scaling in healing output over time, I think it is clear that it can be concluded that Determination is the better stat when having to decide between the two. Unless you happen to be in a situation where spamming your heal is necessary, then Determination will provide an overall benefit, since the higher rate of casting is the only thing that allows Spell Speed to compete. Additionally, Spell Speed will cost you more MP when spamming for the same output as Determination.

Of course, it could be argued that the difference between the two is marginal at best, and you really should just go for items that look prettier while spamming Holy. Or maybe that's just me.

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*N.B. This is assuming Valk's calculator is correct, ~5 DTR = 1 MND, and ~100 SS = -.1 cast time.

I have not tried with any end game gear, but I did do testing at level 36-40 gear, where I purchased two sets of HQ items, maxed with determination, and spell speed materia (I wiped out most of my gil at the time to do this mind you, which is why I never tried again at higher gear). The Spell speed made a very noticeable difference in stone-skin, but no difference I could tell in cure speed. The determination made a dramatic difference in cure across the board, and obviously cure is probably preferable unless you have infinite mana since the longer spells that are most affects by spell speed, are the ones that drain you mana the most.

So yeah, based on my much lower gear test: determination wins out, unless you already maxed on it and still have slots for spell speed in which case why not?

Not sure if this will be useful because I do not get into maths AT ALL. But in my obsession with buff foods, I tend to check stats a lot and happened to notice that the indicators of recast time and general info that pop ups from the spell buttons/toolbar themselves also change when you change.

So for example you eat spell speed food, the info pop up changes related to recast time. Maybe this can be helpful in measuring the spell speed.

I read it's more like 9 determination = 1 mind. What so we have to verify this versus the numbers posted above?

http://valk.dancing-mad.com/?page_id=200

bump

/10char

Quote:

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Originally Posted by v_jones

It's possible to do a rough comparison of healing output based on spamming Cure and Cure II for one minute.*

+100 Spell Speed
+100 Determination

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On same level gear spell speed comes in much high quantities per piece than determination so you can't really compare them at 1:1. Suggest doing the same comparison with the stats of a full i90 set built for spell speed, and a full i90 set built for det.