Quote Originally Posted by Renathras View Post
To an outsider, you look like you...

Well, never mind.

Afflatus Solace and Afflatus Rapture have different use cases, and they're distinct actions. That's why I counted them differently. If I count them as one ability, then I'd have to count Verholy/Verflare as one ability. There are, in theory, cases where you'd use Solace or cases where you'd use Rapture because of their secondary effect, just as there are cases where you'd use Engagement vs Displacement. They have different non-damage effects even though their damage is the same and they're used at the same point in a rotation, with the choice between them being situational based on the fight situation at the time. There's a similar case with Forked and Fleeting Raiju as well (which ARE GCDs)

Forked and Fleeting do the same damage, but aren't the same ability, and would PROBABLY be counted by people as two distinct ones. If that's the case, Solace and Rapture have the same thing going.

And your example was dumb...because it doesn't make any sense. If you use a Glare instead of Solace/Rapture, you don't generate a Lily. So Glare isn't interchangeable with them, but they're interchangeable with each other. That's like comparing Forked/Fleeting Raiju to Spinning Edge to make an argument that Forked and Fleeting Raiju can't count as separate buttons since you can choose to use Spinning Edge in that GCD instead... Or using another Raiton and saying Raiton must be the same ability. That might be a dumb kind of argument.
I look like I....what? If you wish to throw an insult, simply do so.

The point is that there's no talk of use cases here, the point of your post seems to be listing the actions which contribute to DPS, thus putting both Rapture and Solace there is redundant as they both contribute the same to WHM's DPS kit (1 petal to the lily). Like you said, you can do pointless things to make it so you only ever have to use Verflare or Verholy, but that would be dumb and result in damage loss. You could also just spam Mythril Tempest combo on WAR instead of ever using Storm's Eye, but we can both acknowledge that would be stupid to even entertain. I'll agree with you on the Raiju one though.

As for my example, it's correct under your terms. 4 Glares and a Misery is the same potency, so you can go through the entire fight and never use a single Misery as long as you use 4 Glares where all the Afflatus skills are used, thus, Glare and Afflatus spells have the same value. You can also only use one or the other since they're both GCDs.