LNC/DRG Ring of Thorns requires a buff!

*EDIT* I still believe that RoT could be somehow made more efficient but it is ok the way it is i suppose as most arguments are valid. Consider this thread closed. ROT does NOT REQUIRE a buff. But it would be nice to see it made into a more unique AoE skill when compared to DS.


AS it is right now Ring of Thorns is pointless when compared to other skills.

Ring of Thorns
100 Potency

150 potency when combo with Heavy Thrust. Small AoE Damage around user.

Doom Spike
160 potency in straight line

I realize the difference in AOE ranges here but a well placed Doom Spike hit multiple enemies while still doing higher damage.

Ring of Thorns depends on heavy thrust for high damage when you can just as well use Heavy Thrust and initiate a better combo with True Thrust.

My point is, overall when solo or group battling, Ring Of Thorns is less then effective and requires a review of it's usefulness.

The radial area is useless when it depends on another skill like heavy Thrust (which you'll only use every 20 seconds.

Share your thoughts and like this post so devs can get a look at it. OR at least point me a better way to make this known to them.

I suggest either increase the potency or add an extra effect to complement it's lower damage.

It has cheaper TP cost.
120 TP compared to Doom spike's 160 TP.

May not be the topic you were hoping for here, but why not just HT > Ring, then move a bit out of melee range to widen your line to hit more, and use Doom Spike? That's all I do when using AOE, spamming Ring is just a waste beyond that first one after HT in my eyes. It's balanced as is right now IMHO, and 9 times out of 10, you can just as easily Spike instead of ring spam. Ring wasn't designed as a standalone spam skill the way I look at it.

I find it quite efficient in CT to get rid fast of the imps and other trash mobs that cluster around a tank. You don't even need to move to do the HT before the ring.

I suppose these are valid points.

As for the Tp cost, RoT still depends on HT and if you want optimal AoE dmg quickly, DS twice in a row is much better option imo.

And yes i am aware RoT ain't supposed to be spammed it just feels less then effective most of the time for the cost it takes. But i may be just overreacting and require further testing to get used to situations where it is good.

It would be nice to see RoT feel slightly more useful for a one time use skill though.

As for do the HT before ring... Don't you need to hit HT on the flank to activate the combo? I am almost sure that you do but i will test it out.

Thank you for your arguments.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DagAsmodian

Don't you need to hit HT on the flank to activate the combo? I am almost sure that you do but i will test it out.

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Yes.

/10char

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DagAsmodian

As for do the HT before ring... Don't you need to hit HT on the flank to activate the combo? I am almost sure that you do but i will test it out.

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It does require use from the flank to combo it.

I don't think RoT needs buffing, but it does have the downside of requiring a ST ability to be used first to get the best use out of it.

It is cheaper than Doomspike, though. I tend to use Doomspike whilst my TP is high, and move to RoT when it's low, especially if I expect the fight to continue on and my Invigorate is cooling still. Just keep in mind what TP you have to spare and use that for Doomspikes. ST Thrust combo might also be better where mobs have a lot of HP as it does a lot more damage for less TP overall.

I guess you could say that my rule of thumb (I'm not saying that what I go by is perfect/optimal, but it works ok for me):

Lots of weak, low HP mobs? Ring of Thorns (sometimes with HT on, sometimes even without).
Nicely lined up mobs, with some moderate HP? Doomspike can work if you have the TP available (I use it 2-3 times, unless Invig is ready to go).
A few, high HP mobs? ST combo (when those can hit for lot each - it's reasonable to expect 1k+ crits - this will do more than any AoE we have, Dragonfire Dive aside, for the TP we spend).

>Thinks RoT is bad

Bro do you even DRG. Rotation Reborn has a whole section about AoE.

I'll echo what everyone's said, RoT is fine as is. DRG's AoE needs no buff in any way, they're up there with BLM and SMN (multi-target) while they have B4B and IR up.

It doesn't really "need" a buff, I wish they would have taken a slightly different approach to the combo to make it more obvious when it was meant to be used.

For example:
Ring of Thorns
Base TP: 180
Delivers an attack with potency 150 to all nearby enemies.
Combo Action: Heavy Thrust
Combo TP Cost: 120

So it would still be clearly worse than DS if you were just spamming it, but you still COULD if it weren't possible to hit everything with the Line AoE of DS.
However; it becomes obvious that it's meant for use during periods of sustained AoE where you need to manage your TP while also contributing to the AoE.