Rotation for the IO Merc

 

 

https://document.li/8tNv

 

Enjoy

 

 

Scaeva, Darth Malgus

 

 

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Edit 1: Republic version added

Edited April 4, 2018 by salaciousc

I think I should add some more information.

 

1.) Unload

There is a 15 second timer for Unload. Latencies delay the 9 GCDs, as consequence the cooldown of Unload ends exactly in time. I do not actively delay any attack or wait 1 GCD until Unload becomes available.

 

In this rotation Unload is NOT used to reset the Mag Shot as it would cause timing problems. If the latencies did not add up please repeat a Powershot at positions #2 or #6.

 

2.) Latencies

Hardware has an impact on latencies.

I use a Ryzen 1700 with enough RAM and a GTX 1060 Graphic Card. My Ping is usually somewhere between 70 and 80ms. Despite my system it relatively fast, the occouring latencies are big enough to reduce the duration of the rotation from 10 to 9 GCDs.

Reducing the graphics setting from "Ultra" to lowest does not affect the rotation.

 

Many players will have a similar or weaker PC, the rotation should work on those systems too.

 

3.) Failed Procs

Let us assume there are no latencies and all attacks hit instantly. Even under those (unrealistic) conditions it would make sense to use a rotation of 9 GCDs with a duration of 13.5 seconds:

 

In each real fight there are additional unplanned attacks, deviations from a rotation. Something like:

- an Explosive Dart or a Fusion Missile to spread your dots to several enemies

- an Electronet to prevent a Marauder from jumping

- rocket out of a red circle

- stuns

 

In my 9 GCD rotation there is a chance that an additional attack contributes to the timer of the Particle Accelerator. The duration will grow to the 10 GCDs that are required to trigger the Mag Shot. If I had used a rotation with a default lenght of 10 GCDs I would end up at 11 GCDs.

 

Without additional attacks (and zero latencies) the reset of a Mag Shot will always fail, in this case I have to repeat a Powershot. The duration would grow from 9 to 10 GCDs, but this is what other people use in their rotations anyway.

 

In reality there are delays caused by latencies and the distance to the enemy plays a role, in raids and pvp matches I don't need to rely on additional attacks to trigger my 2 Mag Shots within 15 seconds.

The rotation is built on latencies, not on additional attacks.

 

4.) Permutations

Most players will begin their rotations with the 2 dots. My rotation can easily be changed into this by swapping Incendiary Missile and Serrated Shot (#4 and #5) with Thermal Sensor Override and Unload (#7 and #8). The modified rotation is started from position #7.

 

I do not use that variant, there are several reasons:

- The 2 dots take 15 seconds until they deal their entire damage

- Incendiary Missile (also the Thermal Detonator) does not trigger the burning cylinder, Serrated Shot has only a 30% chance for the proc (Mag Shot: 100%)

- A death blow can occour at any position, the end of the rotation varies. As the 2 Mag Shots are grouped at the beginning, there is a higher chance that they fall into incomplete rotations

- There are several other classes that can trigger the same damage buffs as the IO Merc with his 2 dots. In my opinion the advantages of having the 2 Mag Shots at the beginning justify the short delay those 2 buffs.

 

 

Scaeva, Darth Malgus

Edited April 23, 2018 by salaciousc

Mag Shot can be reset every 7.5s. A rotation of 9 GCDs lasts 9*1.5s = 13.5s (assuming 0 alacrity). I cannot imagine how it is possible to fit the proc twice per circle.

You said "..., latencies will normally fill the gap for procs of the Innovative Particle Accelerator". Does that mean you calculate with a loss of 1,5s between the procs? That sounds like huge latency or simply a not optimal APM. This would also explain, why you don't need Rapid Shots to deal with overheating.

And final: The Thermal Detonator is not broken the way you describe it. It does not explode instantly, only if you use Mag Shot or Power Shot, while TD is active on the target. The only broken thing is, that the additional burn effect is applied regardless of how the TD explodes. But that's rather an advantage.

 

Edit: spelling

Edited April 2, 2018 by CMoray

Common misconception is all that it looks like. You can't think of the proc as "oh every 7.5 seconds and it happens twice so 15 seconds". It instead happens as the first proc is at time 0, and the 2nd proc is at 7.5. Just like if a fight lasted 10 minutes and raidwides are used at the start, if a raidwide has a 5 minute Cd it can be used 3 times not 2. At times 0:00, 5:00, and 10:00.

 

As for rotation I don't see that working. Especially since there is no taking advantage of a precast, or your first mag shot's "vent 5 heat on a burning target", and while DFA can be used in place of unload, in terms of rotation it doesn't proc mag shot so it just lengthens the rotation already letting dots fall off on top of the late application and time already mid combat it's been placed in rotation.

 

Still think the current rotation variants work:

Opener: Serrated, incendiary, mag shot, unload, supercharge electro-net, Thermal Det, Mag, Power, Mag.

And either followed by Variant 1 or 2 (usually by preference)

Variant 1: incendiary, serrated, rapid, unload, rapid, Thermal Det, Mag, Power, Mag.

Variant 2: incendiary, serrated, power, rapid, mag, unload, Thermal Det(rapid), Power, Mag

What did I just read.

I'm not sure why you say you're using 9 GCDs. You're using 9 abilities, one of which is a two GCD channel (Unload) so you're using exactly 10 GCDs.

I'm not sure why you say you're using 9 GCDs. You're using 9 abilities, one of which is a two GCD channel (Unload) so you're using exactly 10 GCDs.

 

Thermal Sensor Override is off GCD.

Thermal Sensor Override is off GCD.

 

Heh, responded a bit too quick, missed that. So this rotation makes zero sense really, losing 1 GCD every 9 GCD is an incredibly low APM. No wonder he sees no need for using rapid shots if you're just dropping a GCD instead.

Wow. Hope no one sees this and takes it seriously. If you want an IO guide go look elsewhere (cabro/nabcobra did a good guide on these forums for example).

Latencies are always there, no matter if you use a rotation of 9 or 10 GCDs. They cannot be avoided or actively influenced.

 

In PVP matches and raids the 9 GCDs of attacks plus those latencies allow to activate the Innovative Particle Accelerator very reliably, there is no need for an additional 10th attack. As a side effect he energy management is not a big issue.

 

A rotation of 10 GCDs does NOT last exactly 15 seconds (with an alacrity=0), the delay from latencies will usually add more than 1.5 seconds per iteration.

The 11 GCDs (=10 GCDs from attacks + latencies) will delay the Innovative Particle Accelerator (-> this causes energy problems). The additional 10th attack is in most cases a weak Quickshot (that also increases your heat level) or a Rapid Shot.

This is not what I want.

 

There may be gamers out there who think that latencies are neglectable and nonsense, but for this and some other classes its simply not correct. I recommend to have a look at your own latencies:

Run your 10 GCD rotation, the duration of one iteration is supposed to be 15 seconds (alacrity=0). The burning effect of the Incendiary Missile also lasts 15 seconds, in theory that dot should be refreshed immediately after its end.

In reality there is a gap between the end of the dot and the next Incendiary Missile.

That gap represents your personal latencies, the deviation from the optimal 15s timer.

(In Starparse activate the marker of the burning effect of Incendiary Missile, option group effects)

 

That gap is much smaller if only 9 attacks are used instead of 10.

Edited April 4, 2018 by salaciousc

Rotation for the IO Merc

 

 

https://document.li/8tNv

 

Enjoy

 

 

Scaeva, Darth Malgus

 

 

###

Edit 1: Republic version added

 

Can you show us a parse with your brilliant rotation? Cause we obviously need proof that this one works well. By just looking at what you wrote there, all we can say that it's BS. But please, prove us wrong and get a solid parse!

snip

 

Sounds like you have serious server lag issues? In 3 years of playing the game I have never based my rotation on latencies... And I have never seen anyone else do it either. My ping is 60-90ms most of the time and I can normally perform my full rotations in fights. Lag never breaks them, only mechanics of the fight do. Even when I played Carnage (not anymore, thx Bioware) I had no troubles following the dummy rotation as much as possible in real fights. When playing specs with lower APM (like IO by the way) It's much easier to play them optimally in real fights, so there are even less reasons accounting for latencies...

 

Your rotation only makes "some" sense if you personally have consistent server lag... But in no way it is gonna work as a general rotation for everyone. And if you are seriously saying that your rotation is fine even for target dummy... You don't mention Rapid Shots anywhere. I am very interested to see how you will still have energy left after like 2 minutes of this rotation... (or even less)

 

Edit: Okay, I noticed a part about Rapid Shots - you called them Quick shots which confused me. Again, show us a parse cause there is no way you can complete a 2.5 mil dummy with this rotation of yours.

Edited April 4, 2018 by Equeliber

You cannot expect more than 2 Magshots within 15 seconds.

In real fights the reset never fails unless I clip Unload or Death from Above gets interrupted. In this case I have to repeat a Powershot and the rotation grows to 10 GCDs.

 

A comparison of different rotations only makes sense if the conditions are exactly the same, parses with different gear are not really relvant. In addition the testdummy does not really tell what you get in a raid or in a pvp match as latencies are different. At the shipdummy there is a bigger failiure rate for resets than in real fights.

 

Why not try the rotation in a PVP match, there you can see that the Mag Shot does not get crippled despite only 9 GCDs are filled with attacks (as default).

Edited April 4, 2018 by salaciousc

You cannot expect more than 2 Magshots within 15 seconds.

In real fights the reset never fails unless I clip Unload or Death from Above gets interrupted. In this case I have to repeat a Powershot and the rotation grows to 10 GCDs.

 

A comparison of different rotations only makes sense if the conditions are exactly the same, parses with different gear are not really relvant. In addition the testdummy does not really tell what you get in a raid or in a pvp match as latencies are different. At the shipdummy there is a bigger failiure rate for resets than in real fights.

 

Why not try the rotation in a PVP match, there you can see that the Mag Shot does not get crippled despite only 9 GCDs are filled with attacks (as default).

 

If with your rotation you actually expect to fail Mag Shot reset that already should tell you that your rotation is not optimal. Check top parses on parsely.io, do you see them failing the resets?

 

And again, show us some proof that you are good. You can't just come in and teach people. Who are you? Do you have a parse to prove you can get good DPS? Are you a Nim raider who cleared many fights with this rotation?

Edited April 4, 2018 by Equeliber

Other ppl use 10 GCDs to reset their Mag Shot, despite 9 CGDs are usually sufficient do the same job.

Other ppl use 10 GCDs to reset their Mag Shot, despite 9 CGDs are usually sufficient do the same job.

 

If I ecexute your rotation I get the first two resets for Mag Shot (with Power Shot (2) and Unload (8), but immediately in the second repetition I don't get it. So, taking your words, I use another Power Shot. Now the reset with Unload fails, so i use another Power shot (and so on). So I always have to use a 10th GCD.

 

You have 5GCDs = 7.5s between the first and second reset (assuming #2 and #8 giving the proc) but only 4GCDs between the second and first. This means you are calculating to loose 1.5s during 4GCDs. Not loosing 1.5s over the whole circle.

 

In raids I use my 10GCD rotation and I even manage to fail to get a reset from time to time (alacrity buffs or some instant fillers maybe - weird), so with a 9GCD rotation this would happen way more often, maybe all the time.

Edited April 4, 2018 by CMoray

You cannot expect more than 2 Magshots within 15 seconds.

In real fights the reset never fails unless I clip Unload or Death from Above gets interrupted. In this case I have to repeat a Powershot and the rotation grows to 10 GCDs.

 

A comparison of different rotations only makes sense if the conditions are exactly the same, parses with different gear are not really relvant. In addition the testdummy does not really tell what you get in a raid or in a pvp match as latencies are different. At the shipdummy there is a bigger failiure rate for resets than in real fights.

 

Why not try the rotation in a PVP match, there you can see that the Mag Shot does not get crippled despite only 9 GCDs are filled with attacks (as default).

 

Not a problem. Any player worth listening to will be aware how much gear matters. You can list your stats and players can match to test it. I for one have vast amounts of gear to gear down to virtually any level to compare.

 

A dummy parse is not needed. The parser will log data from any fight. A flashpoint boss, an open world mini-boss while your companion tanks.

 

A few rotations as proof of concept.

Edited April 4, 2018 by Gyronamics

@CMoray

Only Powershots are used to trigger the Particle Accelerator, if the proc failed repeat that attack. Don't use Unload for the reset.

 

Have you tried it in a pvp match yet?

As posted before the latencies are not the same at the dummy and in real fights. During pvp matches and raids I got a success rate of nearly 100%.

Edited April 4, 2018 by salaciousc

@CMoray

Only Powershots are used to trigger the Particle Accelerator, if the proc failed repeat that attack. Don't use Unload for the reset.

 

Have you tried it in a pvp match yet?

As posted before the latencies are not the same at the dummy and in real fights. During pvp matches and raids I got a success rate of nearly 100%.

 

Hm, okay. the reset on #6 und #8 come on the same time. I missed that. But you still have only 4 GCDs between the second and first reset. If the first reset fails and you channel another Power Shot you delay the Reset by another GCD. And even in PvP i don't have latencies that high to loose 1.5s. Only movement may result in delayed abilities.

PVP is different because the activation pushback (if you're getting attacked) plus stuns etc, is much higher than in raids where as a dps the only pushback you should get are from unavoidable aoe/mechanics and maybe adds. If you're allowed to continuously freecast in PVP, 9 GCD rotation won't work. But if you keep getting hit during your casts/channels in PVP, then yeah the pushback will add up enough to where 9 GCDs can work.

 

Also with the max 1s ability queue, server latency is at least somewhat minimized.

@Jevaruss

I get the same success rates in PVP matches and raids, there is no difference. There the reset of the Mag Shots only fails if I clip Unload or my Death of Above (PVP) gets interrupted.

If I wait long enough for a proc to be ready again, I have a success rate of 100%, too. But no decent rotation. :/ Edited April 6, 2018 by CMoray

@Jevaruss

I get the same success rates in PVP matches and raids, there is no difference. There the reset of the Mag Shots only fails if I clip Unload or my Death of Above (PVP) gets interrupted.

 

Okay, let's see some Ops boss parses then.

After reading this new approach I wondered, wheter this works for other classes aswell. So I decided to rework the rotation of my ap-pt. I'm now doing: Mag-blast -> Railshot -> wait 2 gcd's -> Mag-blast -> Railshot ... and so on. Works great, if I mess up and use MB too early I simply do another one. This way I get the proc 100% of the time.

 

And there are lots of upsides to this:

1. I have no heat management whatsoever and don't need to use puny rapidshots.

2. Since I only use 2 buttons, I can eat dinner while raiding, which is very time efficient.

3. Since I have to wait about 50% of the time, I have enough time to look around and see what the others are doing, so I can then criticize their rotations -> everybody wins

 

Think, I'm gonna try my luck with more specs now.

Rotation for the IO Merc

 

 

https://document.li/8tNv

 

Enjoy

 

 

Scaeva, Darth Malgus

 

 

###

Edit 1: Republic version added

 

F*ck it. I'm just coming back with a previously maxed out character. You gave graphical and textual explanations. Your work helped me, greatly. Thanks, man