Could those who say it's not viable please offer a better explanation as to why it isn't? It's difficult to find the truth with so much disparity between opinions.
I haven't had chance to experience +50 play as my LI Sorc is only lvl 19, I've really enjoyed it so far and can happily plug away quests a few levels above me. Of course, I acknowledge that this is probably worthless as from what I gather any class can complete the story without any major difficulty. So far I've been having an easier time than my Marauder, even after 1.2. I left my mara at lvl 30 about a week ago and re-rolled a sorc (Despite the uproar about 1.2 nerfing sorcs) but I was only interested in LI spec. From what I understand LI tree was more or less untouched by 1.2 but just wasn't particularly stand out in anyway compared to the other trees.
I just wonder if I'm suddenly going to hit a wall and start having a hard time. I get the impression that those questioning its viability may be exaggerating the flaws somewhat, in that having a spec that puts out slightly less DPS than the tree that offers the maximum makes the lesser spec somehow nonviable. This is really what I need clarification of. Is the LI Tree nonviable for an appreciable number of missions, or will the player just have a harder time than if they specced Madness?
It's just that post 1.2 this guide seems pretty bang on it: http://mmo-mechanics.com/news/sorcerer-sage-dps-compendium-updated/
This guy states that:
Now to me, I would read that as the 1/12/28 hybrid offers the best DPS with Madness and LI being 2.7/2.8% behind it. Firstly, .1% is negligible so its fair to say Madness/Lightning are essentially the same in the realm of DPS. Secondly, and I suppose this is the important question: Does having 2.8% less overall DPS than the best DPS spec have an appreciable impact on the capabilities of the class?
I'd be inclined to say 2.8% is pretty small and chances are it won't change much but as I say, I have no end game experience of my own yet and I'm new to MMO's. No doubt the delivery of each tree's DPS is different, I could understand if this was the problem, but I can't figure out how 2.8% would be a deal breaker. I just need an impartial answer from someone who can validate their argument reasonably.
I can live with being 2.8% behind the best plus I'm only PvE'ing, but I would like to know that if I stick with my build I can still complete ops/flash's/heroics etc when I'm end game.
Thanks in advance,
Harry