On paper this trait seems pretty good, and synergizes really well with a lot of popular builds in PvP … especially those that use the Rabid/Rampager amulets. But there’s one big problem with these choices. Running baseline vitality as an engineer right now is pretty much suicide against half the classes in this game in any 1v1 situation, and any focus fire spells a quick end in team fights.
Conditions are just too strong right now to run baseline vitality amulets for engineers, as our condition removal is relatively subpar (and really always should be). Yet if one were to slot a condition removal skill into their build such as Elixir C, you would then be sacrificing something more valuable like Elixir S, the Elixir Gun, or the Tool Kit that alternatively keep you alive during direct damage spikes.
I think for the above reasons most would agree that, as it stands, Celestial and Carrion are our best options when it comes to running condition builds. Perhaps Settler at some point may become viable, but right now I haven’t seen reason to take it. If I continue finding Mortar Kit and Elixir Gun useful in P/P condi builds, I just might try it.
In any case, all of these amulets lack a lot of precisely what makes Pinpoint Distribution useful: precision. Settler and Carrion both have baseline precision. And when it’s cut at a 10% rate, we must ask ourselves just how much we benefit from this trait even with Celestial.
Burning scales by 15.5% per stack. Pinpoint Distribution with Celestial, then, would have burn stacks that tick for 25 more damage. For perspective, this means your Blowtorch+IP “burst” would tick for a total of 125 more damage than if you did not take PPD.
Confusion scales by 4% per stack while ticking and 6.25% upon skill activation, or for 6 and 10 more damage respectively.
Bleeding scales by 6% per stack. Pinpoint Distribution with Celestial, then, would have bleed stacks that tick for 9 more damage.
I could go on, but I think you get the point. 156 condition damage is not a significant increase for Celestial builds, and in many respects, is worse than alternative options in the very same tree because of a few conclusions.
1. No Scope grants you 4.75 seconds of fury every 10 seconds you crit. Because Celestial builds also have fairly good power damage you actually increase your damage output significantly more speccing for additional fury than you do going for Pinpoint Distribution. Some may argue you’re already getting fury from Hidden Flask in Alchemy, and this is true. But boon strip does exist and there’s nothing wrong with fitting more fury into your build to maintain better upkeep.
2. Because of the additional fury of No Scope, you actually more consistently sustain bleed stacks against your target through Sharpshooter. At a 33% chance to proc per crit with no internal cooldown, you’re pretty much guaranteed to get at least one bleed stack out of a No Scope proc, which adds, with Celestial+Balthazar, 199 additional damage to your build.
3. Taking more fury over more condition damage also better reliably procs Bunker Down and Incendiary Powder, and pretty much eliminates needing to take a Sigil of Intelligence. Between High Caliber (because I think Chemical Rounds is also not good enough), No Scope, and Hematic Focus, a Celestial build gains 40% critical hit chance on skills within 240 range, meaning Pry Bar, Acid Bomb (with dodge cancel), Flame Blast, and (shotgunning) Grenade Barrage all become stronger and will almost always crit at a 70% rate, allowing you to even further snowball your condition gains elsewhere, like taking Geomancy or Doom.
Overall, I think this was a good trait on paper, but in practical applications fury upkeep is the number one thing keeping Celestial builds still viable for us, and I just don’t see how Rabid or Rampager will get a lot of use out of engineers when Settler and Carrion are much more survivable and—especially in the case of Carrion—output similar condition damage values.
Thanks for reading.
(edited by Phineas Poe.3018)
. The best setups for me remain celestial rifle (power) or rabid p/p (condi). Celestial condi , for me is not good as the other 2