Ruin I versus Ruin II

[Kosmos992k]

Personally I think that the instant cast and mobility alone is worth the extra MP, but as a tank, the blind status effect seals the deal when choosing between ruin and ruin 2. Ruin 2 all the way in that choice.

[FoxyAreku]

He's not wrong, but his logic is being applied to content where it really doesn't matter.

If you spammed Ruin II and nothing else in say, nidhogg extreme, you may run into MP problems in the long run.

Personally, I never use Ruin II unless I need to force a GCD, move out of an AoE, or if something needs to be blinded (which is rarely ever tbh).

[Rennies]

Keep your DoTs up and you're golden, Ruin II is for extra mitigation on the tank (like E4E) and using Fester and other oGCDs.

To any Summoners reading this, please god, do not spam Ruin 1 and then 2 throughout the entire run. You have other skills. I might just have bad luck with DF but I've seen it far too much.

[Chalbee]

Like everything a SMN does, it's situational. If I just need to do something in between cooldowns/refreshing DoTs, I choose Ruin I (or even a non-Dreadwyrm Trance Ruin III depending on my MP situation). If I need to move out of the way of an aoe, or want to throw in some OGCD skills, use II. Another reason not to spam II is the blind debuff has diminishing returns; after a point it's just unnecessarily using the extra MP for no real benefit. As for the run in, run out for Miasma II, unless the party is on the strugglebus DPS wise, I don't really use Miasma II all that much...

[Deathgiver]

for every 5 ruin II you cast you lose the mp that could have been used to cast a ruin III:
ruin II 5x353 = 1765 mp and 400 potency
ruin 4x 176 + ruin III 1*1060 = 1764 mp and 520 potency

The 4xruin + ruin III is a 30% gain to potency over the same time and mp usage.

Limiting your ruin II usage to movement and ogcd weaving is the better option than just spamming it.

[JustPlainLucas]

Well, I just found myself in a situation where I decided to use Ruin 1. I was doing Chryfailis and got the balls mixed up so I died. Rezzed and had very little MP, so I went wtih using R1. Guess it does have its uses. :P

[Eloah]

All of the Ruins each have their uses. Ruin I is the basic filler spell, with Ruin III being the new replacement, in and out of DWT, barring MP. Ruin II acts as the intermediate, depending on the situation. Trying to move/dodge, Ruin II, need to blind an enemy, Ruin II need to kill an enemy who is almost dead quickly, Ruin II, in a time crunch, like in Tam-Tara HM, Ruin II. And I'm saying this as a Scholar main.

[LineageRazor]

When your choices are limited to Ruin I and Ruin II (aka, content where you're synced below the ability to use Ruin III), whether you should use Ruin II boils down to this question:

Are you running out of MP?

If not, if the jog between pulls is enough to make up the difference in cost, then by all means, use Ruin II freely.

There are a lot of longtime raiders who shy away from Ruin II for the simple fact that many of the old Raids were long slogs where MP conservation was a REAL PROBLEM for Summoners. A lot of SMNs who had gotten accustomed to using Ruin II for the freedom of movement suddenly found themselves running dry. These folks tend to admonish SMNs that they see doing the same, with the thought that it's going to come back to bite those newbie SMNs later, just as it did themselves.

Honestly, though, for casual content such as Roulette dungeons and trials, it really doesn't matter which you use.

As for content where Ruin III becomes available... It becomes a very tricky balance to maintain MP output while keeping your MP up. You want to cast Ruin III as much as you can afford to, but figuring out how much you can afford to varies from instance to instance. Certainly, during Dreadwyrm Trance, Ruin III should be your Ruin of choice, but that pretty much goes without saying!

[Zigabar]

Sometimes I like to jump around and toss Ruin II and pretend I'm a 50 BRD. Too soon? ._. I'm sorry bard-mages.

[JustPlainLucas]

Like everything a SMN does, it's situational. If I just need to do something in between cooldowns/refreshing DoTs, I choose Ruin I (or even a non-Dreadwyrm Trance Ruin III depending on my MP situation). If I need to move out of the way of an aoe, or want to throw in some OGCD skills, use II. Another reason not to spam II is the blind debuff has diminishing returns; after a point it's just unnecessarily using the extra MP for no real benefit. As for the run in, run out for Miasma II, unless the party is on the strugglebus DPS wise, I don't really use Miasma II all that much...

It helps. I add Miasma II in with the rest of my DoTs before I contagion. If I'm DoTing while chain pulling, then when I hit Contagion and then Bane, the rest of the mobs get a Miasma II without me even casting it again.