Confused Baby Thaumaturge: Rotation

I currently have THM at level 17 and I'm trying to figure out the best rotation.

So far people agree on opening with Thunder and then Fire spam until MP is almost depleted followed by a transpose. I'm good with that.

It then seems to split into 2 camps:

• Blizzard II to full MP then transpose and continue Fire spam with Thunder thrown in, or
• Weaving Blizzard with Fire and re-apply Thunder DoT as required.

Is one of them more optimal or is it just a case of preference at this stage? I know some might say it's a little early to be caught up in optimum rotations but I'm just trying to understand the mechanics better sooner rather than later. :)

i normally go with the first one. though blizzard 1 can be better if there is no AOE needed. just being in umbral ice increases the MP regardless on skills you decide to use.

weaving that i found personally takes away from damage if not careful as the more astral fire stacks is more damage. though it has been awhile so i do not remember if you do get a stack of 2 or if it is one only at that level.

When you consider potencies of Blizz(180) and Blizz 2(50) you can calculate that basically if there is not 4+ targets Blizz is more dmg

But then Blizz 2 has shorter cast time(2sec vs 2,5sec), but is it so short that you can get more casts out and potentially get more potency output vs say 3 targets?

I don't remember how many mp ticks you need with UI 1 stack to get full mp. If we're gonna do Blizz 2 on 3 targets it'd be 3x50potencyx4 casts (8 seconds roughly) = 600 potency if it takes 3 mp ticks to get full mp, 1mp tick is every 3 seconds so you're left with 1 extra second.

Then since Blizz is 0,5 seconds longer cast you can either get 3 casts out and be left with 1,5seconds extra time before full mp (If you need 3 ticks) since 3x2,5sec-9sec = 1,5 sec, but if you cast one more, you go 1 second over the full MP ticks. But with 3 casts you fall short on the potency, totaling to 540 from 3 casts of Blizz, but if you add that last cast you get to 720 potency, which would win over Blizz 2 on 3 targets cast 4 times, but with this you go 1 second over the UI timer, where as you're 1 second under, so lets add one more cast of Blizz 2 on the Blizz2 spam so 600 potency + 3x50 = 750,

both going over the MP ticks by 1 second, you get 30 more potency out from blizz 2 spam, if you have 3 targets, with 4 targets (4x50 = 200 potency) Blizz 2 is always a winner

But then, if it's the 1st UI phase for you and the monsters aren't that low on HP yet, throwing out thunder on the targets that are not being hit by the other DPS could be even higher dps increase (If total DoT timer included, it's 270 potency skill)

so basically if you're against multiple enemies thundering the 3 that are not the #1 targets and then throwing a Blizzard for the #1 target could be the best dps gain from UI phase, 3x thunder + 1x Blizzard = 4 casts (same lenght as 4x blizz casts)

But if you have 3 enemies. 2 thunders (5sec) 2x Blizz 2 (300 potency) would be better I believe, I got tired of counting already, it's not my thing :D


To note: I'm guessing the MP ticks needed 3 ticks so 9 second UI phase, I could be wrong here and you'd have to do other calculations. But generally thundering other 2-3 monsters and using Blizz or Blizz 2 once would be the best dps ( if DoT timer gets it's full duration)

Thank you! That's helped a lot. :)