Staff Attack Chain

If you are speaking about Dread Shinobi's, that was a brute.

As for the attack chains, it is sometimes better to use a lower dpa attack if it allows you to use your highest dpa attacks more frequently. Sometimes the addition of -res procs will make the difference. In such a case where you have two heavy hitters (AS and SS), it is better to get whatever -res you can or simply shorten the chain.

I am remaking my BETA scrapper Lunar Knight Staff/WP and very pleased with him. I will also remake my BETA staff/fire Brute farmer. Both are a ton of fun to play. YMMV.

All of those chains involve sky splitter. Therefore, all of those chains give AS more than five seconds to recharge. None of them give it ten seconds because that would be a crappy chain. Maybe I didn't understand the question?

Shouldn't your goal be every second rotation, assuming the chain took exactly five seconds? You can't make assassin's strike recharge in the three and a third seconds you'd need for three chains to be optimal.

Okay I have to step in here and inform you that 1 -> 3 -> 5 is every second time. I think we do secretly agree but I don't know where you got the three rotations thing from, every stalker set I've ever looked at does best when you shoot for AS's hide proccing, not proccing, proccing, not proccing. By that standard, all of those staff chains work.

It's a communication error. Don't worry about it. When I say First > Third > Fifth, that isn't even remotely suggesting No Proc > Proc > No Proc.

When I said 'every third chain', that means the next proc is always on your third chain, from the first.

It's just communication semantics. We were talking about the same thing, just using different definitions.

If that's the case I guess I don't understand what you mean. On my elec stalker when I run CB-JL-CB-AS-CI the hide procs every second time. When I run CB-JL-AS-CI it procs every third time. How is that an improvement? Elec could perhaps be an exception to the rule but in my experience the guaranteed proc on the set's second best DPA attack is more valuable than the slightly higher overall DPA, especially if you factor in the increased likelihood for three stacks of AF. That's all pretty moot for staff, though, if you're using sky splitter at all you're definitely going to have a chain longer than five seconds so the hide will proc every second time.

This is painful.

Okay. We can't back to back ATE Proc. We know that's impossible, unless you horribly drag your chain out. So, what we're both saying is, you can only proc every other chain. That is, your first rotation procs, your second rotation can't proc due to the cooldown, your third rotation can proc, your fourth rotation can't proc due to the cooldown, your fifth rotation can proc...

And so on and so on. Correct?

Right, I'm wondering where the "third" thing came into play at all I guess. Some sets CAN fire AS more than once every five seconds but it doesn't seem to benefit them to do so. Staff can't reasonably do that in the first place.

I already explained that and am not explaining it again >_>

Anyway, I'm gonna do some number crunching and seeing if relying on -RES Procs is more efficient considering the DPA disparity.

Yeah, you misspoke, Reppu. "Every third" would mean it's working on chains 1, 4, 7, etc.

What you wanted is "every other".

Getting back to the point, the only power in Staff that can take an Achilles' Heel proc is Mercurial Blow. Make projections accordingly.

Shut up I do what I want.

Ugh. I'm not that good at math to determine the average damage gained per upkeep as well as what to do when it doesn't proc because they WON'T always proc and waaaaah.

I refuse. Someone else do it!

I tried a little to crack the math of Microcosm's chains over here

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showp...98&postcount=7

But I too am out of my depth

This was a Brute who was getting 198 with T4 Reactive.

My DB/WP Scrapper was only getting about maaaaybe 20 more DPS than that.

Last I recall, Brutes generally did less DPS than Scrappers when it came to attack chains that didn't involve using Gloom.

In fact, I don't remember there being a weapon set on Brutes that wasn't better on Scrappers, with the exception of Claws, which had to be ported with Brutes in mind, and even then I recall Scrappers still winning (barely) in ST DPS, while Brutes were top in the AOE for Claws.

I'm curious to see the Scrapper time, with them doing better on the +DMG bonuses than Brutes.

And of course Stalkers win out on ST DPS, new Assassin Strike should assure that, not to mention Form of Body free, with BU use!

So it'd be best to see those numbers (IOed Scrapper no Incarnate) even if it's going by MIDs, which hasnt even put out SF yet to check out.