Best SMN rotation: Teach me Mogster.

[LordNarmo]

I always use Ruin 2. Even though it costs more in terms of MP, I rarely run out of MP. Whenever I am low, I sacrifice Fester for Energy Drain.

[Xianghua]

You sac dps so you can use an instant cast that does the same damage over the same time as the normal spell.

[Regis]

The purpose of Ruin II is to throw it in before your off GCD skills so you are never wasting any time on your GCD timer.

For instance you could go:
RS-->Bio2-->Miasma-->Bio-->Aetherflow-->Ruin II-->Fester-->Thunder-->Ruin II-->Rouse-->Ruin II-->Spur-->Ruin II-->Enkindle

Rather than going:
RS-->Bio2-->Miasma-->Bio-->Aetherflow-->Ruin>Fester-->Thunder-->Ruin-->Rouse-->Ruin-->Spur-->Ruin-->Enkindle

You will save roughly 10 seconds using the first rotation simply because your off GCD skills like aetherflow, fester, rouse, spur, and enkindle are happening WITHIN the recharge time of your GCD because Ruin II is instant cast. As a summoner it is important not to waste any GCD timer because if you think about it Ruin/Ruin II is like a faster ticking dot with 2x the damage of your strongest dot.

Dots tick roughly every 3 seconds, Ruin II can be used every 2.4-2.5 seconds depending on your spell speed. Your strongest dot is Bio with 40 potency while Ruin/Ruin II have 80 potency and can be used faster than dots tick. It is silly not to use them on every GCD rotation if you aren't refreshing dots or using shadow flare. I am still iffy on single-target shadow flare but only because I haven't done any math on it.

[glim]

@Regist

//RS-->Bio2-->Miasma-->Bio-->Aetherflow-->Ruin II-->Fester-->Thunder-->Ruin II-->Rouse-->Ruin II-->Spur-->Ruin II-->Enkindle//

why is there aetherflow in that rotation? when you have 3 stacks of pre-casted aetherflow at the start of fights?

[Regis]

@Regist

//RS-->Bio2-->Miasma-->Bio-->Aetherflow-->Ruin II-->Fester-->Thunder-->Ruin II-->Rouse-->Ruin II-->Spur-->Ruin II-->Enkindle//

why is there aetherflow in that rotation? when you have 3 stacks of pre-casted aetherflow at the start of fights?

I did not assume we were talking about the beginning of the fight and I always assume worst case scenario which in this case means no aetherflow stacks.

If you want to make the assumption that we have 3 aetherflow stacks at the beginning then here:
RS-->Bio2-->Miasma-->Bio-->Fester-->Thunder-->(Ruin and RuinII + Fester until RS runs out)-->Ruin II-->Rouse-->Ruin II-->Spur-->Ruin II-->Enkindle-->refresh dots/ruin/ruinII+offGCD skills(Virus, EfE,W/E else)

Only thing that changes is you take out an aetherflow and a ruin II. The point I am trying to make is always use Ruin II before an off GCD skill to maximize your DPS.

[glim]

I did not assume we were talking about the beginning of the fight.

oh alright, I assumed that it was beginning of the fight cause of the RS and all the dots still not up on the target + spur, rouse and enkindle..

[Xianghua]

Regardless where you are in the fight. Never use RS if you don't have Aether stacks ready.

[pandabearcat]

RS is most definitely worth it.

It is a 3% total dps increase.

However, for the first ~35 seconds or so, it boosts your pps to something ridiculous like ~127pps, compared to the average personal pps of ~96.

So it is close to a 30% dps increase for the first 30 seconds or so. Its very significant in any encounter that doesn't end exactly on a 3 minute rotation.

[Mortechai]

All wonderful points made so far, but I'm trying to get a solid, end-all-be-all rotation nailed out, kind of like the ones shown for other classes in some of those "hot topic" posts on the main page. One for single-target, stationary situations, one for when you're on the move, one for AOE etc. Something I can quote and edit into the first post.

[Troggy]

Are people really asking if raging strikes is worth it?

Does Dolly Parton sleep on her back?