Damage Auras... how do they compare to DPS?
By
Barata,
Posted on: 2009-05-14 21:25 in Archetypes and Powers General Discussion
that 12.5 is one tick of damage and that tick goes off every 2 seconds
You could call it a tick, a pulse, a cycle ... however long a toggle or auto power pauses between effects. For most damage auras, it's 2 seconds, except World of Confusion which is a gimpariffic 4 seconds.
well, when you consider the number of targets that can be affected, and the 'ticks' of damage, damage shields are actually incredibly efficient.
for example, death shroud 3 slotted for damage does from 25-250 damage every 2 seconds, which is 12.5-125 damage per second, depending on how many mobs you catch. on only 3 slots.
for comparison, a blaster's fireball does 157 damage, 3 slotted with damage, every 8 seconds, 3 slotted with recharge. That fireball (with activation time factored in) does around 157-2521 damage every 9 seconds, or 17-280 dps but that's on 6 slots.
So in general, damage shields are HIGHLY efficient, and are often the best attack a lot of melees can get.
Probably the big benefit of these types of powers is prepaid casting time. You jump into the fight with it already going, and continuing to go as long as you have endurance and need for it.
So you save casting time, and you save a little bit of your attention span as well. Set and forget.
Probably the big drawback to these powers is that recharge enhancements/buffs/bonuses aren't really any help, and IO "procs" are of limited benefit.
The only time I find myself avoiding a damage aura is in the low levels. It really is unneeded endurance spent during a part of you character's life where endurance consumption can be problematic.
Other than that, though, damage auras are very nice sources of additional "micromanage-free" dps and I usually try to fit them in eventually.
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@Laxx
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It's actually more efficient to take the damage aura and just stand there watching them slowly drop than using attacks if I remember the math right. Still, I avoid them as well since there's no fun in just standing there.
To second what laxx said, I generally don't pick up damage auras until after Stamina. Or if I do pick it up earlier, because there's not much better to take, I generally won't use it until after stamina.
They're pretty harsh pre-stamina, which also means pre-End Red SOs.
One advantage of damage auras is that they add usually less resisted damage types for many characters that use lethal or smashing attacks.
Also; if you get hit with -recharge, does it lower the damage tick rate ? If not, that's another advantage for the aura.
Arc #40529 : The Furies of the Earth
I have a /fire blaster (blapper) who uses both Blazing Aura and Hot Feet. Each is slotted with 3 lvl 50 damage SOs and I'm getting (approx.) 23 and 54 damage respectively per tick. That's around 70-80 total every 2 seconds for every mob within vicinity. What's more Hot Feet has a mitigation fear effect and sends everyone affected scrambling while slowed. And this is without using Build Up and Aim.
But for my build, I rely on other AoE powers like Combustion and Fire Sword Circle to get that DPS going. It doesn't make sense (and it's pretty boring) just standing there and watching the mob scramble around in panic from the tick damage (though it's entertaining).
When I get the exact numbers I'll update this post.
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Also; if you get hit with -recharge, does it lower the damage tick rate ? If not, that's another advantage for the aura.
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If I'm not wrong it quickens (EDIT) down the recharge rate of the toggle power, that is, how long it takes to activate again it if it gets detoggled.
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How long is a 'tick' anyway?
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Every power that works in ticks -- which is all toggles and all auto powers, as well as many click powers that create a continuous effect on a fixed area, like Blizzard -- defines its own tick rate as part of the power's data. Some are as rapid as five times per second, others are as slow as once every ten seconds, or even slower.
Toggle power Endurance costs are reported in a normalized End/second format by the Real Numbers power info system. NCsoft did you the favor of factoring in different tick rates for you so you'd have directly comparable numbers. As far as I can tell, though, it doesn't report tick rate directly for any power. You'll need to go to a site like Red Tomax's Guide to find it, then work it into the math yourself, if you want summaries like DPS.
Death Shroud, if I remember the numbers, was roughly equivalent to having a PBAOE attack (whirling sword, or Spin from Claws, or whatever) on auto, going off every ten seconds, with no activation time.
This means if you actually do have a PBAOE attack, you're getting two for one.
And it means that you're burning endurance like having a PBAOE attack on auto...
I worked this math out while running a Spine/Dark. Two auras and Spine Burst. Kins are your friens.
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
So you think you're a hero, huh.
@Boltcutter in game.
I kind of eyeballed this when I was first considering Death Shroud on my Dark. Tried it on Test in Kings Row (was low level at the time) and it could drop 3 white con Skulls before they could drop me, with me running no shields and just standing there. I took it and never looked back.
Whats nice is it means as you get higher and get things slotted up that you can jump into a spawn and start wailing on the boss and by the time they go down, the minions are pretty much dead too. This is not only an End saver but a time saver as well. And the larger the teams you favor, the more efficient this is.
One caution, if you are running this and sidekicked up to a friends MA/SR scrapper who is running Invincible, say, expect to die a lot. You are doing a lot more AoE aggro then he is. 
The flip side is I've tanked for teams without a tank because I can keep the aggro off the support folks pretty well, who can keep me alive if needed.
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I worked this math out while running a Spine/Dark. Two auras and Spine Burst. Kins are your friens.
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To be fair, with a number of procs, everything is dead in the first 10 seconds anyway.
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Also; if you get hit with -recharge, does it lower the damage tick rate ? If not, that's another advantage for the aura.
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If I'm not wrong it quickens (EDIT) down the recharge rate of the toggle power, that is, how long it takes to activate again it if it gets detoggled.
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Correct, although in the opposite direction to what you're saying. I think. Your wording is a little obtuse.
The recharge on the actual toggle, when your global recharge is debuffed, is made longer. The damage ticks themselves will always go off every two seconds.
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Whats nice is it means as you get higher and get things slotted up that you can jump into a spawn and start wailing on the boss and by the time they go down, the minions are pretty much dead too. This is not only an End saver but a time saver as well. And the larger the teams you favor, the more efficient this is.
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QFT.
They are also great for doin that last sliver of damage to KO a target, saving you from using endurance on a bigger attack.
According to MIDS, damage/end on an UNSLOTTED brute's Death Shroud is 8.34. NOTHING from Mace, SS, Stone or Axe primaries can match that. That means that from an endurance standpoint, if you have any one of those primaries, you are better off taking DS that any of the attacks from your main set. Of the rest of the primaries, Fire Melee is the only one who's tier 1 and 2 attacks do more D/E.
In terms of DPS, unslotted and un-debuffed auras do less than pretty much all single target and cone attacks, but more than the PBAoE's.
So basically, UNSLOTTED, they kill slower but at much less end drain then other attacks. This means if your toon has more problems with end than health, take the aura. If their green moves more than their blue, skip it.
On my stone tank, when I would run low on endurance, I'd just stop attacking and let mud pots do the rest. I'd gradually get back endurance, and the mobs would still be dropping. Of course it's slower that way, but you kind of get used to that with a stone tank.
Arc ID#30821, A Clean Break
The only problem with defeating the Tsoo is that an hour later, you want to defeat them again!
"Life is just better boosted!" -- LadyMage
"I'm a big believer in Personal Force Field on a blaster. ... It's your happy place." -- Fulmens
The other big benefit is that they are basically "free damage" you can do all your attacks that you would use if you didn't have an aura at the same time as the aura.
For soloing Tanks this is incredibly good. By the time my Ice/Mace Tank could take out a Leut the minions were dead or almost dead just from Aura + AoEs.
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You can't please everyone, so lets concentrate on me.
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According to MIDS, damage/end on an UNSLOTTED brute's Death Shroud is 8.34. NOTHING from Mace, SS, Stone or Axe primaries can match that. That means that from an endurance standpoint, if you have any one of those primaries, you are better off taking DS that any of the attacks from your main set. Of the rest of the primaries, Fire Melee is the only one who's tier 1 and 2 attacks do more D/E.
In terms of DPS, unslotted and un-debuffed auras do less than pretty much all single target and cone attacks, but more than the PBAoE's.
So basically, UNSLOTTED, they kill slower but at much less end drain then other attacks. This means if your toon has more problems with end than health, take the aura. If their green moves more than their blue, skip it.
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I don't remember there being a difference in damage per endurance between toggles and PBAOE attacks. . . but I did this math in issue 7/8. I could go look, I suppose.
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
So you think you're a hero, huh.
@Boltcutter in game.
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The other big benefit is that they are basically "free damage" you can do all your attacks that you would use if you didn't have an aura at the same time as the aura.
For soloing Tanks this is incredibly good. By the time my Ice/Mace Tank could take out a Leut the minions were dead or almost dead just from Aura + AoEs.
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It's definitely not "free" damage. The endurance costs for those damage auras are pretty high. When you're running toggles and using your regular attacks, you'll suck wind much much faster if you're running a damage aura, especially pre-Stamina.
For my tank, I spent many many times barely even attacking and would let mud pots just do the work. I'd herd up a large group of enemies to make it less time-consuming as it wasn't much more effort to take out three or four spawns than it would be to take out one. Attacking with my regular attacks though, I'd have to stop shortly and let my endurance creep back up again, letting the aura do the work in the meantime.
Arc ID#30821, A Clean Break
The only problem with defeating the Tsoo is that an hour later, you want to defeat them again!
"Life is just better boosted!" -- LadyMage
"I'm a big believer in Personal Force Field on a blaster. ... It's your happy place." -- Fulmens
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It's not free, but it is efficient.
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Yes, it is. I found that out very early on. I'm dying to get a purple proc into my damage aura and see how well that works, with their higher chance to hit and the greater damage.
Arc ID#30821, A Clean Break
The only problem with defeating the Tsoo is that an hour later, you want to defeat them again!
"Life is just better boosted!" -- LadyMage
"I'm a big believer in Personal Force Field on a blaster. ... It's your happy place." -- Fulmens
So, looking at different builds, and trying to make comparisons between say, */DA, which has Death Shroud (12.5 damage according to Mids, whatever that means) vs. some other armor without a damage aura. Is that 12.5 damage per second (dependent on accuracy and slotting, etc.), or per 'tick', or something else?
How long is a 'tick' anyway?
Thanks to anyone who can help!