Damage shield dps analysis: Magician

[Snaggles]

I have a 60 mage I sometimes bring when a dps is needed. A focused water pet is actually pretty solid for this 1-2 group stuff doing mid 40’s to mid 50’s dps if a max summon and positioned well but I was curious how a DS adds to the dps. Granted the effect isn’t cumulative but when I’m tanking I’m always shocked how seldom I have a caster DS on me besides my 9pt Ragefire arms and Ring 8 (mages are scarce and druids seem rare to DS the tank, in my experience). Plus there are some situations you can know for a fact if you will be the only DS class there and can directly attribute this in considering the choice of which character to bring.

This is from a few tanking logs for my 60 pally. It’s how many hits I took once engaging the npc and I had full aggro lock for the duration of the fight. It’s obviously not scientific law but basically shows the what-if of using a max mage DS (-1 if a Druid) and a shaman DS potion at level 60.

brother Zephyl (level 61)- quad attack mob
112 hits in 85 seconds
Hits per second: 1.31
33pt DS: 43.2dps
64pt DS: 83.84dps

A Kromzek Captain (level 58)- double attack mob unslowed
38 hits in 58 seconds (approx…compared a few parses)
Hits per second .48-.58 (depending on parse)
33pt DS: 15.84-19.14dps
64pt DS: 30.72-38.28dps

plasmatic priest (level 55) double attack mob unslowed (caster)
89 hits unslowed 341 seconds
Hits per second: .26
33pt DS: 8.58dps
64pt DS: 16.64dps

Sir Lucan (level 48), double attack mob and slowed 75%
23 hits 160 seconds
Hits per second: .14
33pt DS: 4.62dps
64pt DS: 8.96dps

I’m not sure if some npcs attack quicker besides those hasted by a local friendly npc. I expect running evasive and with natural skill caps a warrior of substantial gear would take less hits thus less damage shield dps (or a knight with better gear than I have plus some luck). That said, this probably represents a fairly wide range of encounters.

A slowed Lucan seems to hit one quarter as much as the Kromzek Captain so the math on Turgurs at 75% reduction all but lines up. Interesting enough a frequent casting npc like the Plasmatic Priest with long cast times (CH attempts) has a melee rate almost on par with being slowed.

Damage shields obviously do not scale like slow but do add a noticeable amount of kill speed. Not every tank will have ragefire arms and even a ranger can do a 17pt DS (21 with call of earth). With all the scout rolls I’ve attended I can’t recall being DS’ed more than a few times and rangers are always there. While 12.18dps doest seem like much it’s certainly something so if you can DS the tank you might as well. It’s up to another quarter of the average ranger’s dps and up to half of a mage pet so definitely worth taking up a gem slot.

[loramin]

Nice data.

[Allishia]

Damage shields are huge dps...I top vindi parse if you count dmg shield /nod. Can stack it really high with dmg shield potion + mage + bard and I'm pretty sure bards push it even further if they use pure tone.

As a tank you should be bugging everyone for buffs you need

[Naethyn]

I’ve been fighting for damage shields for a long time. My biggest gripe is on raids with cleric groups demanding every available bard, instead of giving one bard to the tank group. Here is some rough math I’ve come up with to prove how little bards do for clerics in a dragon fight. For things unslowable it’s not even close, the bard will do 3 rogues of dps.

Bard produces 20 mana a tick.
20 mana a tick = 200 mana per minute
Complete heal = 350 mana
17.5 bard ticks = 1 Complete Heal
10 minute fight = 2000 mana
5 complete heals
7 minutes = 1,400 mana
1,400 mana / 350 = 4 CH
5 clerics * 4 CH = 20 CH per 7 minutes

Bard produces 61 damage shield.

[Allishia]

Originally Posted by Naethyn [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I’ve been fighting for damage shields for a long time. My biggest gripe is on raids with cleric groups demanding every available bard, instead of giving one bard to the tank group. Here is some rough math I’ve come up with to prove how little bards do for clerics in a dragon fight. For things unslowable it’s not even close, the bard will do 3 rogues of dps.

Bard produces 20 mana a tick.
20 mana a tick = 200 mana per minute
Complete heal = 350 mana
17.5 bard ticks = 1 Complete Heal
10 minute fight = 2000 mana
5 complete heals
7 minutes = 1,400 mana
1,400 mana / 350 = 4 CH
5 clerics * 4 CH = 20 CH per 7 minutes

Bard produces 61 damage shield.

Yes, all epic bards to tank group please [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Snaggles]

Thanks for the info Naethyn!

I don't raid a cleric so don't know how close it gets; with like 15 clerics it seems you can keep that chain going a very long time regardless. Killing quicker reduces chances for unlucky RNG to happen. Less heal chain blips from tired players, less tank changes (often with only a few to spare) etc.

If on my mage I try to hit each warrior with a DS right before we start up but have never been asked for one. Probably a good thing. Hopefully people think like you do regarding this.

The main drive of this was some of the "are mages good in group?" talk. The pet plus the DS is massive dpm over the course of a grind. Throw in the ability to burn down stuff with 130+ dps as needed anyone who isn't a complete slacker should be welcomed aboard.

[loramin]

For those looking to max damage shields, check out the wiki page on Buff Lines (Damage Shield Stacking).

[Jimjam]

This thread proves rangers are best tank as they take the most hits, therefore do most DS DPS, which in turn reduces fight length.

[Naethyn]

I find it interesting that the best mage ds is only 2 points better than the druid.

[Naethyn]

Originally Posted by Allishia [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Yes, all epic bards to tank group please [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Agree! So many times raiding here the clerics relent and give up some trash bard who can play mana song as well as a top tier epic bard who is kept on mana duty.