Lost Allagan Codex

[Ftail]

I don't have a problem with SpS from a DPS perspective...

This "ganging up" thing isn't your fault, it's me being taken out of context by someone else. You aren't the one putting words in my mouth or taking me out of context, you are actually having a conversation with me. While I enjoy our exchanges and I feel you are being sincere without taking advantage of me, which I highly respect you for that. Another person is taking our conversation out of context while tactfully ignoring the points I have made, all the while pretending to have addressed them.

every encounter in this game is choreographed to an extremely high degree.

That's exactly why I think healing is an absolute joke in this game. Because everything is choreographed it makes it an absolute joke to heal, I'll never need that extra crit rating to do my job well. However, I am judged in pugs as to how much DPS I do in savage raids which is my main reason to spec SS.

Until content that is created that actually makes me struggle with healing groups and I'm not spending the majority of my time dealing damage, I'll consider changing my build.

[Sebazy]

Another person is taking our conversation out of context while tactfully ignoring the points I have made, all the while pretending to have addressed them.

Care to clarify this? I'm fairly sure I've addressed your 'SS helps me bubble people quicker' view rather thoroughly.

The main point of the video I linked was to demonstrate that you can pump out heals faster, inherently making SS above "garbage".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCDT4bNLla8

There's 3 inherent issues with this video:

First up, the two right most levels are not attainable anymore due to the rework and changes both Fey Glow/Light and PoM have gone through since this video was made. Whilst Fey Glow/Light's wording was rather misleading and I forget the specifics behind it. PoM was much more clearcut, it multiplied your Spell Speed and thus as the video shows, it responded incredibly well with sufficient gear as any WHM in Dreadwyrm gear could likely attest to. Unfortunately now it reduces your cast time by a percentage and as such, rather than scaling upwards with gear, it actually becomes marginally less effective as you stack more and more SS. As an extreme example, PoM > Raise saves 1.60 seconds with base 364 SS, but 1.47 seconds with 1680 SS. With Cure it's a smaller drop off, 0.40 seconds base, 0.37 seconds with 1680 SS.

Secondly, look a little closer at window three. Over 10% less healing per cast than window two. Not a good trade off.

Last but most certainly not least, whilst the left two views are much more relevant, the third is an unrealistic extreme. After 10 hard casts, 2 ends up about half a cast ahead of 1, it's important to note that it never overtakes it by a complete cast, it would have needed a further 20 seconds to gain that all important extra cast. I cannot think of a single occasion in Savage where I have to turret and cast nothing but heals for 20-40 seconds. As soon as you pause casting to move, switch targets or wait for a mechanic, you're eating into (and usually negating) Spell Speed's value. I'd gain more on the healing side of things by working on making my movement more efficient, targeting quicker or optimising my GCDs so I don't have to wait for a mechanic than I ever will from Spell Speed itself.

It's a fun thing to watch, but it's about as relevant to savage gameplay today as a Fiesta Rally Cross car is to the Auntie's run around.

Let's also not forget, the DPS requirements are rather broad this tier. My first O1S clear had like 15 deaths? A friend's group managed it with 25! O2S gets a little sterner, but it's still highly forgiving with substantial delays between sequences of mechanics, not to mention it's almost entirely devoid of any RNG outside of the tentacle movement. Once you hit O3S and O4S you're going to need clean runs in most pugs to get that kill. If someone doesn't understand the encounter well enough to know when it's safe to raise you're likely going to struggle unless the rest of the group is on the ball.

Consider recording yourself for a few savage runs if you don't already. It's interesting to watch and highly insightful to see lots of little pauses and delays you may not realise you do.

Raw math below for the curious

1680 SS - PoM - No PoM

Cure - 1.47 - 1.84
Raise - 5.90 - 7.37
Medica II 2.21 - 2.76

364 SS - PoM - No PoM

Cure - 1.60 - 2.00
Raise - 2.40 - 3.00
Medica II - 6.40 - 8.00

[Dregenfox]

The argument over SpS people are having is kind of dumb. Why would movement hurt SpS more than anything else? I mean you're not really getting any benefit from Det when you're just waiting either.

The issue with SpS for healing-only is that it's super-binary. Either it lets you get an extra cast off before a mechanic and becomes insanely good, or it isn't enough to get in an extra cast and has no impact.

The people arguing against SpS are throwing out the positive cases, while the people arguing for SpS are throwing out the negative cases. But on average, SpS's impact on combined HPS/DPS is higher than a stat like determination.

[Sebazy]

Why would movement hurt SpS more than anything else? I mean you're not really getting any benefit from Det when you're just waiting either.

My point is that from a healing perspective, Spell Speed saves you time which is a valuable resource in it's own right. Wasteful movement or pauses to time a cast for a mechanic can very quickly wipe out these gains and then some. By comparison, even if you're being wasteful with your time and GCDs, Crit and Det are both boosting your overall efficiency per cast irrespective of your Job or Stance.

The issue with SpS for healing-only is that it's super-binary. Either it lets you get an extra cast off before a mechanic and becomes insanely good, or it isn't enough to get in an extra cast and has no impact.

Absolutely nailed it, the issue is that right now, the content generally doesn't force you to hard cast heals long enough to get that extra cast in. DPS is another matter of course. As Cyn says above, Spell Speed will shine when you can stand and turret for prolonged periods, O2/O2S is a great example of this. On the flip side of the coin, O3S and O4S are disruptive enough that you'll likely gain more time by optimising and minimising your movement than you ever will through Spell Speed.

https://youtu.be/BLGUMzl2cV0?t=45s (Apologies for it being obsolete content, I don't upload much thanks to the tin can broadband I have currently).

0:45 to 1:15 is an example I'd use where the combination of minimising my movement, abusing stutter stepping to it's absolute limits and ensuring I'm using instants/oGCDs on the occasion where I am forced to move allows me to gain multiple GCDs within a relatively short period.

The big unknown here of course is Super Savage. If it comes at us with rapid paced mechanics and a greater need for timed heals akin to what we used to regularly see in Coil, SS's worth will likely go through the roof.