They just made a change to scaling toughness in high lvl fractals which is suppose to bring power builds up to par with condi. I personally run condi Druid with empower, frost and burn spirit. You’re not really there for your dps but your buffs so not sure how much it really matters. I find I do decent dps with condi though.
Condi brings a bit of umph in terms of DPS.
Power (zerk) in terms of utility (CAF more often = more CC / more GotL) and versatility (ranged / mobile fights…)
I may be called elitist, but please, condition for T4’s. Even after the recent change, everytime i pug with a power or mixed group we usually fail or struggle a lot in some parts. Idk if its just my bad luck with players that aren’t that experienced.
But when i get on a condition only group … kitten ! I seems like i am doing old days CoF P1s.
I may be called elitist, but please, condition for T4’s. Even after the recent change, everytime i pug with a power or mixed group we usually fail or struggle a lot in some parts. Idk if its just my bad luck with players that aren’t that experienced.
But when i get on a condition only group … kitten ! I seems like i am doing old days CoF P1s.
But this applies only if you are playing with premades or friends.
When I was playing T4’s – we usually kept wiping because players had no idea how to stay alive. For baddy-groups – power might still be better to keep them alive.
The so-called training wheels.
For every experienced group – power is completely redundant and there’s no reason to pick it whatsoever. That was, however, not my experience with pugs in T4.
How does Power build Astral Force faster? Playing Condition I usually fill Astra Force before the CD is up.
Allows you to use Staff if needed, and even without it LB goes faster thanks to double Rapid fire and Barrage.
Also, going for traited Healing Spring for perma AoE regen (which is the reason why CAF builds before CD) results in a massive DPS loss in condi while Power doesn’t even have to blink an eye.
I’m not really sure what was your way of building CAF up but the “meta” doesn’t offer this comfort. If you’re playing Condi, you are maximizing damage – which includes Glyph of Rejuvenation. And there is no other access to perma AoE regen for condi.
How does Power build Astral Force faster? Playing Condition I usually fill Astra Force before the CD is up.
Allows you to use Staff if needed, and even without it LB goes faster thanks to double Rapid fire and Barrage.
Also, going for traited Healing Spring for perma AoE regen (which is the reason why CAF builds before CD) results in a massive DPS loss in condi while Power doesn’t even have to blink an eye.
I’m not really sure what was your way of building CAF up but the “meta” doesn’t offer this comfort. If you’re playing Condi, you are maximizing damage – which includes Glyph of Rejuvenation. And there is no other access to perma AoE regen for condi.
1 stack of GoTL every 20s is 2% * 8s/20s=.8%, So assuming you get everyone in the group into that seed, you lose .8% damage, where is this massive loss coming from?
1 stack of GoTL every 20s is 2% * 8s/20s=.8%, So assuming you get everyone in the group into that seed, you lose .8% damage, where is this massive loss coming from?
Aren’t you supposed to take Sharpened Edges instead of Trapper’s Expertise? That’s where the massive drop comes from.
If you do not take trapper’s expertise – you’ll get CAF in time only once every 30 seconds. Which is far less than Power builds that can trait into trapper’s expertise without any huge DPS loss and keep 100% AoE regen uptime – gaining access to CAF on every CD.
(Water field vs. Light field blasts can also count towards dps loss, since AoE retal helps even if by a small margin)
I don’t drop Sharpened Edges. I don’t get why people always say Power fills Astral Force the fastest. I mean if I’m filling it before the CD is up, then Condi is fine. I usually keep 1-2 stacks of GotL always up, then get to 5 with CA. Using staff in Fractals in either builds is silly to me as well the drop in DPS is never worth it to me. Maybe in a Raid it is.
Never had a problem with keeping people up as Condi. Maybe I just get good groups in T4.
1 stack of GoTL every 20s is 2% * 8s/20s=.8%, So assuming you get everyone in the group into that seed, you lose .8% damage, where is this massive loss coming from?
Aren’t you supposed to take Sharpened Edges instead of Trapper’s Expertise? That’s where the massive drop comes from.
If you do not take trapper’s expertise – you’ll get CAF in time only once every 30 seconds. Which is far less than Power builds that can trait into trapper’s expertise without any huge DPS loss and keep 100% AoE regen uptime – gaining access to CAF on every CD.
(Water field vs. Light field blasts can also count towards dps loss, since AoE retal helps even if by a small margin)
No one really blasts the seeds of Life light field, I mean you could, but in general fractal play, you don’t except by accident.
And, yes with Sharpened Edges you get your Healing Spring less, but you still get CA pretty close to reuse, if not before.
With power to get CA faster you’ll need water sigils and/or Staff usage which is a noteworthy dps loss as well.
In the end they’re both solid choices. I like Condi because I like that I can also swap full condi ranger, or more personal dps condi druid when the rest of the group is slacking on damage. To say one is objectively better than the other seems silly to me, each has their advantages. Power you have some utility flexibility, staff offhand and water sigils for more healing, Axe offhand for reflects and pull. Dagger offhand being less of a damage loss (it’s not bad on condi either) for more dodges. Condi has in general higher DPS with respectable heals more than capable of covering a decent fractal group (decent pug that is, organized groups it should be overkill honestly).
@Jerus
I never ever had a situation where I’d get into a group/squad and actually payed attention to which field my random blast I use into rotation will affect.
It’s just that you asked why I thought Power has easier and faster time getting into CAF and so I did.
Our opinion on viability and use of both is shared.
@Jerus
I never ever had a situation where I’d get into a group/squad and actually payed attention to which field my random blast I use into rotation will affect.
It’s just that you asked why I thought Power has easier and faster time getting into CAF and so I did.
Our opinion on viability and use of both is shared.
I’ll give you that. Sorry, misinterpreted it as an effective difference not just difference.
As for blasts, I main Engi (though play mostly other stuff lately in PVE because of the stigma they have been given) so blasts to me are more key and I always adjust my placement trying to make sure I get the correct field, and I expect the same out of people, and most people I regularly play with (not pugs) do the same.
You know what’s funny? I’ve been running my raid healing build in T4 fractals and not one person in the past 3-4 weeks has complained about it. What people have said, however, is that with a couple of condi necros and a healer, T4 fractals are stupid easy no matter what the two remaining classes are, power or condi. Only time we had problems was when people didn’t know the content well enough, not because of team composition.
Full disclosure:
1) I have not noticed the toughness change make a bit of difference.
2) I only PUG fractals, no premades.
I’ve been running my raid healing build in T4 fractals and not one person in the past 3-4 weeks has complained about it.
I run viper in my T4s (thought it was the meta) and yesterday was asked: “wtf are you condi? we usually take healer druid”. Is this actually a new thing?
