New Player, Requesting Help

[Mhaeric]

Re: Thunder spells.

These spells on their own look lackluster, but two aspects make them very useful for increasing your dps.

First, while the overall potency when hardcast (cast without the proc) is less than a fire spell in astral fire, it does give a chance to give a proc effect that greatly enhances its damage. When casting the procced version, instead of the low initial damage you normally get you get an amount equal to the amount the spell would do over time. E.g. For Thunder 1, instead of being a 270 potency spell (30 up front + 240 over time) it becomes a 480 potency spell (240 up front + 240 over time) as long as you don't cast it befote the previous one wears off. To compare, Fire 1 is 333 potency when cast in astral fire 3 (180 + 85%) so Thunder can be more effective if cast properly. Because of the increased chance for procs with multiple enemies, thr AoE Thunder 2 can be extremely powerful when used in multiple mobs since you can all but guarantee it will proc every time.

Second, it should always be cast during your ice phase, since you will need one filler spell to get to full mp before switching back to fire and Thunder is the most effective use of this filler gcd. Its potential damage ouput will always be higher than any additional ice spell you could cast as a filler.

This changes slightly with the 70 rotation, since Fire IV is so powerful and the rotation is super tight, but you'll lways want to use it once during the ice phase regardless.