I need some advice as to how to use shock on my 31/0/10 Assassin. Should I spam Thrash and wait until I get the proc to use Shock? or should I just use Shock on cooldown regardless of proc? I usually go with the former, as I fear I would have terrible Force management issues with the latter Edited October 18, 2012 by RendValor

Wither>tthrash til energize>shock>thrash til energize again>shock>force lightning>repeat when wither debuff is about to end----That is pretty much all you'll be doing toss in a discharge here and there to spice it up saber strike when >20 force and then keep dark ward up when its about to fade or at 1 charge and CD is up.

 

you are correct about spamming shock hurting force, also as a tank you wont have much crit so getting a 1500 shock for half your force is kind of a waste, nice to have it always critting.

Thats actually incorrect.

 

For a long time it has been known that the thrashless/low thrash rotation is better for DPS(and TPS) and survivability.

 

I use the following priority rotation:

1 - Dark Ward (if about to expire)

2 - Force Lightning (if at 3 stacks of HD)

3 - Wither

4 - Shock

5 - Discharge

6 - Saber Strike

 

Wither and Shock are more fluid in their placements as Shock -> Wither -> Filler -> Shock is the fastest way to get 3 stacks of HD but Wither has the AoE and applies the debuff.

 

Using this rotation and Tionese/Columi gear I was able to generate more threat per second than my Guardian who is in full Campaign.

So no point in Energize?

Thats actually incorrect.

 

For a long time it has been known that the thrashless/low thrash rotation is better for DPS(and TPS) and survivability.

 

I use the following priority rotation:

1 - Dark Ward (if about to expire)

2 - Force Lightning (if at 3 stacks of HD)

3 - Wither

4 - Shock

5 - Discharge

6 - Saber Strike

 

Wither and Shock are more fluid in their placements as Shock -> Wither -> Filler -> Shock is the fastest way to get 3 stacks of HD but Wither has the AoE and applies the debuff.

 

Using this rotation and Tionese/Columi gear I was able to generate more threat per second than my Guardian who is in full Campaign.

 

That was true before 1.4. Better force means more thrashes / energizes/ shocks -> more threat and more harnessed stacks. You can thrash now semi- regularly and still have force to keep 100% uptime on other stuff.

 

To the op, if shock is off cool down you should cast it with or without the proc. use thrash if you are riding high on force and shock is >1.5 s from end of cd.

Edited October 18, 2012 by enoax

For me, if shock is off cool down, I use it. If the proc is there, it's just bonus.

Short answer: Thrash was pretty bad before (though not as bad as most people thought). Post-1.4, it's back! The models which showed Thrash being a pure force dump were run without considering the procs from defense/shield. Even before 1.4, Thrash was a fairly decent ability as long as you didn't over-use it. My rule was "only if above 55-60 force, unless the boss is F/T heavy, in which case 70-80 force". Following that rule, I was able to sustain 750 DPS and over 150 HPS basically indefinitely.

 

Post-1.4, it's an entirely different ballgame. Force management is a HUNDRED times easier than it used to be. I now use Thrash as my main filler, popping Saber Strike only if a) I'm at a lull in M/R attacks, or b) my force is below 30-ish (though this is hardly a hard-and-fast rule; I'll sometimes use Saber Strike even before this). It feels really weird, as if I'm always on the verge of force starvation, but it works out because of the defense/shield regen procs. I now sustain 800-850 DPS and nearly 165 HPS.

 

So basically, Energize is actually really, really good as long as you're tanking a boss who does physical damage (which is most of them). Using the proc, I get my 3 stacks of HD faster than I would using Shock on cooldown, since Energize *finishes* the cooldown on Shock prematurely.