Thread: Monk 3.0 CHAKRA UNLEASHED

Originally Posted by Crocel

Basically, whether or not the extra Snap is necessary.

Not necessary.

Originally Posted by Crocel

I've heard the first opener is more potent if the extra Snap crits.

I have heard that claim before, but that's a little like saying the lottery is a good investment.* Even assuming you did get that crit, the chance ToD will get the two or crits it needs to (on average) outperform it is about 99.995% (current BiS + IR + BL -> 70% crit rate, 11 Bernoulli trials), so it should take priority. Your main rotation (~400 potency / GCD) also takes priority over an extra Snap Punch (~360 potency) in general.

Unfortunately, priorities don't always guarantee you the best DPS when a cutoff is known, which is kind of what an opener is. Forunately, I'm fairly sure the extra Snap Punch doesn't pay off with a 3m cutoff. I guess I ought to take another look at openers like I did in 2.5....

*Not the world's best simile, just a soundbite.

The real question is why are you even using FS to begin with on opener #2 if you are planning to use only 4 GCDs under Perfect Balance?

@topic I'd personally favor opener #2 (with a few changes). Besides FS being a pain to do before every opener, #2 allows you to fit a buffed fracture and ToD under the same DK rotation, without dropping either DK or TwS.

Originally Posted by Lilyth

The real question is why are you even using FS to begin with on opener #2 if you are planning to use only 4 GCDs under Perfect Balance?

It's not strictly necessary, but I do recommend doing it for most cases since (1) Perfect Balance has a skill lockout time that isn't 0 and (2) losing the 5th GCD to lag / a scrubby tank isn't the most common situation (I'm assuming 3.5 changes made the lag bit even less common), but a lot can go wrong in 10 seconds. That is not to say be dogmatic about it; if pre-pull FS is being a distraction to you, or you suspect a tank has Leeroy tendencies, then surely you should drop it.

Originally Posted by Lilyth

snip

You have to hold it for roughly 20 seconds before you can use it in the opener, that's 2/3 of it's cooldown. Fully buffed it's 2.66(1*1.3*1.4*1.1*1.1*1.1*1.1) times the damage. If you use it on pull you get 1 + 1.87(1.3*1.19*1.1*1.1) = 2.87 within 30 seconds. So unless you're losing out on another ST pulling with ST is higher pot(On average 2/3 of the time).

There's nothing to do during the pull macro anyways so there's no reason not to FS.

Originally Posted by Lilyth

Also, the 0.3 secs PB animation is a non issue if you use it 0.3 secs pre pull.

Is it really that fast now? I wonder what that does to people who were using PB ST. (This is a serious question; my computers don't do video very well.)

Anyway, where I'm coming from is that I view good DPS as a habit, not an opener; I obsess over getting optimal openers and rotations not because optimality is possible but only to the extent that it forms good habits. There are many superstar DPS rankings (any MMORPG) that quite frankly don't do what is optimal because they have a strong set of enough good habits that it doesn't matter. My melee partner for two years does himself use a Form Shift opener. It comes in handy because this is a distinct likelihood: PB > Lightswitch rave at NSA datacenter > Snap-Snap-Snap-Snap um where'd PB go. In a situation like that, his OODA loop is well oriented to continue with a no-PB opener, where someone who did not Form Shift would need more GCDs to achieve GL3.

Monk, more than most jobs, involves keeping your head in the game. Everyone else stands around popping fireworks during a 2hr? This is permitted unto them, but monks are a li'l busy with Chakra and Form Shift. I see benefits in extending Form Shift preparedness mentality to a Perfect Balance opener, even if it isn't strictly necessary. It isn't strictly necessary to maximize our DPS either, but with the view that good DPS is a habit and not a conscious decision, we try (in part) because it feels right and comes natural. So if this is not how you function, you do you, don't fix it since it's not broken; when Bruce Lee says, "the easy way is the right way" he does not mean to be lazy, of course, but that what comes fastest to us and what benefits us the most need to be in alignment, rather than to be tied down to a style.

Originally Posted by Krindor

snip

ST fully buffed is a little more than that. Between all your buffs, pots, possible raid buffs (Trick Attack, Hyper Charge, Battle Litany, The Balance), not to mention it's almost a guaranteed crit with optimal gear and IR, using it naked at pull is at most a convenience that most monks still like to have. Nothing wrong with that, and the dps difference caused by one way or the other is so barely noticable, that we would be better off arguing why not all monks are Highlanders 'cause of the +STR class bonus. However, engaging battles like a9s and ZurvanX with ST at pull is boderline non-sense and completely unecessary.

You can also jump around spamming the new Valentine's Day emote during pull macro, there's no reason not to. :P

Originally Posted by SunnyHirose

My melee partner for two years does himself use a Form Shift opener. It comes in handy because this is a distinct likelihood: PB > Lightswitch rave at NSA datacenter > Snap-Snap-Snap-Snap um where'd PB go. In a situation like that, his OODA loop is well oriented to continue with a no-PB opener, where someone who did not Form Shift would need more GCDs to achieve GL3.

Would you care to elaborate on this a bit more. o_o
I legit didn't get why someone without FS opener would take more GCDs to achieve GL3.

Originally Posted by SunnyHirose

the rest

I don't engage with ST. But in order to start with PB AND engage with ST, than yes, there would be the small PB animation lock. However it's not stricly necessary to engage with ST either. You can engage all the bosses, at pull, just by walking with the tank. Zero dps loss, and ST can be used fully buffed by potentially 10 damage-up modifiers.

Regarding FS, if you like doing FS pre-pull, sure go ahead. You might not be losing any DPS ("might", since you are adding a unecessary extra Snap Punch and delaying things like ToD and Fracture).
But please, you keep implying that doing it this way is part of "Good DPS Habits" as well as implying that by not using it, one is *not* trying to push dps to its maximum. That is completely false.

If there's no clear evidence that adding an extra Snap Punch at the end increases your DPS, then it's pointless to FS pre-pull. Unless you want a small lag safety-net that, just like human error, happens to all of us and will end up lowering your DPS regardless of what you do. Or maybe, you wanna engage with ST but not have that small PB animation lock. Or out of habit. Pick one, but don't say someone is not trying to push their DPS by not using something that does not contribute to DPS and can very well be even hurting it.