So first one, stats: Is it worth it to use a ring/earing with swiftness? or should i just go full crit?
Second, when using nightmare set, should i contain myself within the magik addiction phase? is it ok to go to mana regen phase?
i’ve seen some variations using 2 parts dominion / 4 nightmare, what about those? are they any good?
Sorry if this reply is too late but here is what I use:
My main Verthandi is currently a 1545 sorc with about 1500+ crit and 800+ swiftness; this is using 1 ring with swiftness. The only other source of crit is via the Adrenaline engraving and any party synergies (I run the LoS18 instead of the LWC12 card set).
My engravings are: Reflux 3, Hit Master 3, Grudge 3, Adrenaline 3, Cursed Doll 3. However, after testing in Trixion, my damage is about the same if I run Keen Blunt Weapon 3 instead of Cursed Doll 3. So someday I would like to swap to KBW (and also not deal with the healing penalty).
I also found that Cursed Doll + Final Strike tripods were roughly equivalent to Keen Blunt Weapon + Magic Amplification tripods for my setup. I suspect though in general, the magic amplification tripods might be stronger though, but I’m not sure. Whatever you chose, do NOT use both Final Strike AND Keen Blunt Weapon as they add up instead of multiply your damage (worse scaling).
As for the Nightmare set phase, try to stay in Boundless Mana as much as possible. That said, it’s only a very minor loss if you dip into Magic Addiction every now and then (e.g. when mechs are happening or you need to dodge things for a long period of time).
I prefer the full Nightmare 6-piece set over other variants as Dominion requires using your Awakening frequently (and you will run out of those in long fights like Brelshaza G6). For non-raids, I use Nightmare 2 + Hallucination 4 so I get some buffs without needing to use my awakening to turn the set “on” (I use this for chaos dungeons/gates, cubes, life skilling, etc.).
I would recommend at least a swift ring. You can use a swift earring instead if your gems are lower level. I have tried full crit and found cdr to be slightly lacking to keep up boundless mp.
You want to stay in boundless mp for as long as possible to keep spamming skills. As a piano class, your main damage source is high skill uptime. Since your skills do lower damage each, you have to make up for it by constant skill spam. Being in Magick Addiction is fine for short bursts. You will be forced into it anyway regardless of your skill uptime due to mechanics, cutscenes, unfavourable attack patterns, etc.
2 D/4NM is stronger while dominion buffs are active, so it’s generally only useful for short runs (ideally <2 min before dominion buffs run out). Without high swift and awakening engraving, the downtime from waiting on awakening cd is quite a bit of dps loss. For longer fights, just go full NM set.
I am using the same build with cursed doll + Final Strike. The other variant with KBW is stronger right now, because we need 85% crit rate for final strike tripod to show it’s superiority. You need at least 1700 crit, adrenaline 3 and party synergy. but later when we have higher stats cursed doll with final strike will be better then KBW variant. I have now 1723 crit and with adrenaline 6 stacks i am hitting 81-82% crit without any party synergy.
Spam as much as you can regardless of the state you’re in. I do this with igniter.
Why only in non-raids?
I’m debating atm whether I should go the 2NM/4H or even 6H route because I don’t wanna be bothered with awakening.
would it be possible to post your build/tripods. I’d like to copy it but with kbw thanks!
Oh sorry, I saw this post before but wasn’t in game so couldn’t copy the build. I’ll just go off memory.
Blaze Lv12 - Damage Amp 1, Flame Exp 5, Weak PD 5 - Bleed Rune
Frost Call Lv10 - Enlighten 1, Rule Enh 5, Final Strike 5 - Wealth Rune
Seraphic Hail L12 - Quick Prep 5, Evolved Hail 5, Weak PD 5 - Rage Rune
Reverse Gravity Lv12 - Quick Prep 5, Electric Atk 5, Weak PD 5 - Protection Rune
Esoteric Reaction Lv12 - Quick Prep 5, Final Strike 5, Stabilized Crys 5 - Galewind Rune
Punishing Strike Lv12 - Wide Area 1, Unavoidable 5, Final Strike 5 - Galewind Rune
Rime Arrow Lv12 - Quick Prep 5, Piercing 5, Ice Pick 5 - Quick Recharge Rune
Ice Shower Lv1 - Purify Rune (can swap with Squall instead if desired)
Engravings:
Reflux 3
Adrenaline 3
Grudge 3
Cursed Doll 3
Hit Master 3
Damage Gems: Blaze, Rime Arrow, Esoteric Reaction, Punishing Strike, Seraphic Hail, Reverse Gravity
Cooldown Gems: Rime Arrow, Esoteric Reaction, Punishing Strike, Seraphic Hail, Reverse Gravity
Card Set: Light of Salvation 18 (eventually 30 is better)
Stats: 1500 Crit, 800 Swiftness, ~50 all others (roster bonuses)
Set: Nightmare set bonus level 2 (6 piece)
I eventually want to transition to non-final strike tripods with Keen Blunt Weapon instead of Cursed Doll, but this setup is fine for now.
You wanna eventually get KBW and getting swift on anything but necklace will be a huge dps loss if you do.
I finally did the change from Cursed Doll to Keen Blunt Weapon since the stones are relatively cheap now (about 200-500g each). I even was able to snag some good deals on the few accessories I needed so overall I spent maybe 30k gold after considering I get some money back from selling my old accessories for a little.
So now switching from Final Strike to Magic Amplification/Enhanced Strike, my damage is more consistent (lower ceiling, higher floor), and a tiny smidge higher. The biggest perk for me is I drop the 25% healing penalty so I can save money by using blue pots again. I know this is a skill issue but I can’t be bothered to avoid every little thing (I avoid the big important mechs though) if I want a high damage uptime.
So with my current engravings:
Reflux 3, Keen Blunt 3, Grunge 3, Adrenaline 3, Hit Master 3
My Sorc (ilevel 1545 with +18 brel weapon, 97 quality, 1532 crit, 792 swift, LoS18 card set, all level 7 gems) with a 3 minute parse I achieved:
This is a 3 minute average with 100% uptime on boundless mana (pre-awakened, pre-spent mana before starting the parse).