When to pop buffs (monk)

[Ricdeau]

whhhhaaaat? I believe you sir! I still don't think i can squeeze a dragonkick into this opener. unless I do something like, Perfect balance, dragon kick, blood 4 blood, demolish, internal release, snap, howling fist, twin, steel peak, snap, perfect balance should end right here so then you can throw on ToD and another demolish before B4B wears off.

So many of us use an opener similar to yours except we do DK instead of Twin Snakes. After you complete your PB combo then start with DK/BS (doesn't matter, both are the same since no form bonus), and then Twin Snakes. I ToD after I Twin Snakes that way it's fully buffed, and then you'll complete that combo with Demo. Then it's just business as usual.

So PB -> Demo -> BfB -> Snap -> IR -> Snap -> Steel Peak -> DK -> Howling Fist -> Snap -> DK/BS (whatever you feel like since it's non-form) -> Twin Snakes -> ToD -> Demo -> back to business. That is what I use as well as many others. The DK debuff will net you just slightly more damage than the Twin Snakes buff. This is the reason we use it first. In the end the opener is just an opener, and as long as you get GL3 fast the order isn't going to amount to very much of a difference. I just wanted to make sure everyone knows that DK can be applied in PB.

Please note that as you start going through you next combo (BS->True Strike) you will lose the DK debuff for 2 moves. The math apparently works out so that doing it in that order still nets slightly more than not letting it drop for those two attacks. I didn't bother doing the math myself since after a lot of testing the difference is minuscule either way, and the person providing the combo as well as doing the math is highly reliable and tests things along with doing the math. We're talking about only the first 20 seconds here anyway after that DK/Twin Snakes will always be up so I wouldn't stress too much on the opener as long as you are getting GL3 as quickly as you can, and getting your CD cycle started.

[Houston009]

wow....what kind of monk doesn't know that perfect balance only hinders dragonkick debuff. Allow me to educate you sir. This opener gives you 3 stacks of GL, twin buff, applies demolish twice, and touch of death once, both for full duration. Perfect balance will end by the time you get to dragon combo, and so dragon kick will be applied as you will be in stance from the prior demolish.

I hope you've learned something, and I suggest you try it on a practice dummy.

(please imagine me saying this in a very rude elitist tone of voice)

I only asked why you did not apply all GL3, Twin, and Dragon in perfect balance instead of ending w/ snap, you can do dragon kick instead. I know my job and i know gl3,twin,and dragon can be applied while in Perfect Balance.

I can now see how what i posted may have been misinterpreted and have fixed so you can better understand what it is I meant to say.

Also, you are trying to use an elitist tone towards me when majority of the people on our server says RareX are a bunch of elitist assholes? I guess we know where that mentality derives from xD

[Ehayte]

Shoulder Tackle > Touch of Death > Perfect Balance > Demo > Snap > Snap > IR > TwSn > Dragon Kick > Bootshine > BFB > TrSt > Steel Peak > Demo > Howling Fist

/thread

[Jeremias]

Lol no no, the way i had typed it out was making me sound like an elitist a hole myself, so I figured the tone should go with it. I end with snap because that gives me more time on GL, I was having issues ending PB with a DK then doing ToD and and a full combo and my stacks would fall off a half a second before getting demolish off, due to a skill speed issue. I was obviously doing something off key, But Why not do DK right after Demo? It just adds to all the damage during PB right?

[Chokee]

you can pop buffs as soon as they are ready so they come off cooldown sooner as well, so you get to buff more the whole fight.
one thing to check is if youre going to pop ir, make sure the next skill youre going to use is not bootshine. bootshine crits 100% when in flank with form bonus, so youd just end up wasting 1 gcd cycle of ir.

off topic i think, but what i do is:

st > frac > (wait til gcd is halfway) > pb > demo > snap > snap > bfb > dk > ir > ts > xpot > boot > peak > true > howl > demo > tod > frac > flank combo, etc.

you get gl3 and ts on yourself, dk debuff + fully buffed dots (demo, tod, frac) on target.

i wait til half gcd before popping pb so i don't end up short with just 4 skills in pb by accident.

i use frac instead of tod after shoulder tackle because i would just apply a fully buffed one after pb ends. if i did use tod there i would just end up clipping it.

i use 2nd frac after pb opener with all my buffs active because fracture is worth it if you have buffs (specially ir) up, instead of using dk on that part.

[Jeremias]

what i do is:

st > frac > (wait til gcd is halfway) > pb > demo > snap > snap > bfb > dk > ir > ts > xpot > boot > peak > true > howl > demo > tod > frac > flank combo, etc.

you get gl3 and ts on yourself, dk debuff + fully buffed dots (demo, tod, frac) on target.

i wait til half gcd before popping pb so i don't end up short with just 4 skills in pb by accident.

i use frac instead of tod after shoulder tackle because i would just apply a fully buffed one after pb ends. if i did use tod there i would just end up clipping it.

i use 2nd frac after pb opener with all my buffs active because fracture is worth it if you have buffs (specially ir) up, instead of using dk on that part.

You use Fracture? I've had a DPS loss time after time parsing with it. not to mention the huge TP drain it causes.

[Chokee]

You use Fracture? I've had a DPS loss time after time parsing with and without it. not to mention the huge TP drain it causes.

i use it as fluff because sometimes my next skill is bootshine while i still have 2s of internal release left and it would be a waste to use it on a bootshine. i rarely use fracture outside of that situation which is like basically when stars align in the universe

[Jeremias]

i use it as fluff because sometimes my next skill is bootshine while i still have 2s of internal release left and it would be a waste to use it on a bootshine. i rarely use fracture outside of that situation which is like basically when stars align in the universe

Good reasoning sir!

[Houston009]

I can show you my opener akachi when I log on if you want, i believe it to be most efficient(imo). I'd post it on here, but I don't want too many people to adopt it. :P
Btw, i wont get home 'til like 7pmish est, if you want to see.

[Jeremias]

I can show you my opener akachi when I log on if you want, i believe it to be most efficient(imo). I'd post it on here, but I don't want too many people to adopt it. :P
Btw, i wont get home 'til like 7pmish est, if you want to see.

that's fine, i'll be in coils till around 9pm PST