Shadowflare + Swiftcast

[Lyrica_Ashtine]

you're also making swift cast on shadow flare out to be some important dps increase. it's a 16% decrease in cast time on 1/2 shadow flares which is our lowest potency spell, minus the cast animation time of swiftcast. you probably get more out of using it on ruin 1 when you're on the move since you care so much about mp

Well, since we're discrediting your arguments:

About using Swift cast on Ruin 1:
Ruin 1 has 80 potency at the cost of 79 MP. This is 1,01 potency/mp
Shadowflare has a total potency of 250 at the cost of 212 mp. This results in 1,18 potency/mp
It also takes 25 Ruins to match 8 shadowflares. You're more likely to swiftcast 8 shadowflares than swiftcasting 25 ruins as well
Add in the fact that it takes 62,50 seconds to cast 25 ruins while it takes 24 seconds to cast 8 shadowflares. Assuming you Swiftcast 8 of each, this results in 20s GCD for Shadowflare while Swiftcasting Ruins still remains at 62,50s combined GCD and casting time.

Checkmate.

[Suggestion]

I think its getting a little to hot in here o.o

[Buff_Archer]

Whether to swiftcasts vs. hardcast shadowflare in favor of a potential raise is all situational decision, there's no concise answer that can't be refuted. It would look more like a flowchart with all the variables to take into account.

One thing to consider I'm not sure I saw mentioned- the longer cast time of shadowflare carries with it a higher chance of the need to dodge and break that cast... completing 90% or more of the cast and then having to cancel in a situation where a faster casting spell could have finished is not something you want to have happen. So it's not just about shadowflare going of off a bit faster, it's also about being able to get it up with success even if having to dodge at the same time.

[Suggestion]

Whether to swiftcasts vs. hardcast shadowflare in favor of a potential raise is all situational decision, there's no concise answer that can't be refuted. It would look more like a flowchart with all the variables to take into account.

One thing to consider I'm not sure I saw mentioned- the longer cast time of shadowflare carries with it a higher chance of the need to dodge and break that cast... completing 90% or more of the cast and then having to cancel in a situation where a faster casting spell could have finished is not something you want to have happen. So it's not just about shadowflare going of off a bit faster, it's also about being able to get it up with success even if having to dodge at the same time.

I think that is a very reasonable statement.

[Hayden]

Simply put, for smn time is damage, the more time you save the more damage you do. Throwing quickcast up, then shadow flare lets you get to your rotation all that much faster.

It makes you look like you're doing, it's neater, and it gives you more time to get everything else up.

And the final nail in the coffin, there's no reason NOT to use it for Shadowflare. Unless your Egi died and you need to get it back fast, or the party is in deep shit and you need to raise a whm, there's no other real pressing use for swiftcast.

So meh, it's a moot point.

[Suggestion]

It makes you look like you're doing, it's neater, and it gives you more time to get everything else up.

And the final nail in the coffin, there's no reason NOT to use it for Shadowflare. Unless your Egi died and you need to get it back fast, or the party is in deep shit and you need to raise a whm, there's no other real pressing use for swiftcast.

So meh, it's a moot point.

I think looking like you know what your doing is a personal view point that is different from player to player to be honest o.o

but then again im paying attention to me to make sure i do my job, and not looking at others to see if they look neat and tidy

[RazeLandale]

Use your judgment based on what you're fighting and if you think someone might actually die.

[Brianmj]

Use your judgment based on what you're fighting and if you think someone might actually die.

So always keep swiftcast at the ready if there is a Dragoon in the party? Gotcha

[Alkimi]

Some very good points have been made here. But, SMN has rez, it should use it.

Maybe as a last resort. SMN has enough MP problems as it is, they're resorting to Energy Drain in final coil just to keep going. Blowing a 1/4 of their MP on something the healers are better equipped to handle is not going to help that.

[Buff_Archer]

I think it's all the variables at play that make it an interesting game vs just watching a cartoon with 7 other people. You know those games that have scripted cutscene type battles where you have to hit triangle within 5 seconds of it showing up or you lose, or you have to pound X over and over before the zombie gets close enough to bite your face off, and thats the only way that mini-sequence in the game is going to play out whether you get it right or get it wrone, die, and have to repeat it? This isn't that kind of game. Usually the healer is better positioned for a raise, but sometimes one is keeping themselves and the tank up while the other is frozen in ice, stone, dead or whatever. If a healer has to be raised in a party of 8, and I have a full set of dots already going and aethyrflow stacks at my disposal, the other healer prob needs their MP to solo heal mmonetarily, more than I do. The questions originally asked wasn't solely in the context of a full on nonstop DPS race from the latest coil.

Another example- when does it make sense for a Bard to use LB2 against a primal? Pretty much never. But for the first time in like a year that's exactly what I had to do as Bard that s week with both healers dead, the rest of the party on the very brink of death, too much boss HP for a caster/melee DPS to finish him off before we died, and LB3 being unattainable before we would have wiped. I brought the tanks and other surviving DPS's back long enough for us to finish the battle, and that wasn't how the fight was supposed to go, but it sure as hell felt great having a risky call like that pay off rather than failure.

So my suggestion is- swiftcast shadowflare when you can and feel comfortable doing so based on your assessment of the overall battle. If you sense that you might need to resummon, or a raise might be imminent, do what you think is best especially if you can back that decision up after battle with a logical reason for it. And hey if you try to swiftcast raise someone but someone else beat you to it, if your shadowflare is about to expire or already went down, just do a new one before swiftcast timer is up- that new raise status symbol is super handy.