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Infiltration Quicky 5.0 Priority Guide and Utilities Guide


FlavivsAetivs

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Priority:

 

Republic

1. Force Breach having been triggered by Force Potency

2. Normal Force Breach (Triggered by building stacks or from Shadow stride)

3. Highlighted ability (Psycho has priority) after using a Force Breach + Force Potency combination (for 100% crit)

4. Highlighted Psychokinetic Blast

5. Highlighted Spinning Strike from Stalker's Swiftness Utility

6. Highlighted Vaulting Leap

7. Highlighted Shadow Strike

8. Clairvoyant Strike

 

Imperial

1. Discharge having been triggered by Recklessness

2. Normal Discharge (Triggered by building stacks or from Phantom stride)

3. Highlighted ability (Ball Lightning has priority) after using a Discharge + Recklessness combination (for 100% crit)

4. Highlighted Ball Lightning

5. Highlighted Assassinate

6. Highlighted Reaping Strike

7. Highlighted Maul

9. Voltaic Slash

 

Opener:

 

[battle Readiness + Power Adrenal] -> [Force Potency + Force Breach] -> Shadow Stride -> Force Breach -> Force Cloak -> Highlighted Assassinate -> Highlighted Vaulting Slash -> Highlighted Psychokinetic Blast -> Force Breach -> [Force Potency + Force Breach] -> [Priority Order].

 

Notes:

 

1. Force cloak and Shadow Stride (Phantom Stride) are still in rotation. Looks like saber strike isn't needed anymore, as long as you're behind the boss.

 

2. Clairvoyant strike (Voltaic Slash) usage has to be timed a lot better now, in order to maintain 2 stacks of clairvoyance (Depredating volts). It's easy to let those fall off with the addition of vaulting leap and more frequent usage of assassinate.

 

Utilities:

 

Skillful:

Celerity (PvE)

Mental Defense (Mandatory)

 

Masterful:

Force Harmonics (Mandatory)

Fade (Mandatory)

 

Heroic:

Shadowy Veil (Mandatory)

Cloak of Resilience or Sturdiness (PvE, depending on fight)

 

Legendary:

Stalker's Swiftness (Mandatory).

Mind over Matter or Avenging Grip, depending on the fight.

Alternatively, you can use the remaining point to pick a lower tier ability (like Shadow's Shelter).

 

EDIT 1: Fixed after I spent several hours testing things.

EDIT 2: Organized it.

 

Commentary?

 

~ Eudoxia

Edited by FlavivsAetivs
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  • 3 weeks later...
Why do we not get "Restorative Shade" and why is "Celerity" so much better than "Lambaste"? I admit that while I wish to someday play SWTOR as an MMORPG, I largely play it as a Single Player PvE RPG..., Dragon Quest, with Light sabers. So please forgive my ignorance, as a DPS spec shouldn't you focus on your best AoE attack? Your proposed Utility allotment is short for a level 70, a level 70 still has one point to spend. You say "We don't get access to Restorative Shade, Avenging Grip, or Mind over Matter due to the mandatory utilities for DPS." What is this mandatory DPS utility that prevents us from taking the other utility Feats?
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Spinning Strike should probably have more priority. It isn't as easy to explain but if you think you can build your induction stacks without it, it's priority is above Maul and Ball. The reason is because for every second it isn't cooldowned, you are losing uses.

 

You just have to factor in induction and force when making your choice. And try to see it coming at least 2 globals ahead because if you have to make the choice while the GCD is already over you are losing damage over inactivity obviously.

 

 

P.S. You can't really call something a guide by just posting what you think is right without any sort of grounds or explaination for choices. IE this must be the shortest guide ever.

Edited by Evolixe
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Why do we not get "Restorative Shade" and why is "Celerity" so much better than "Lambaste"? I admit that while I wish to someday play SWTOR as an MMORPG, I largely play it as a Single Player PvE RPG..., Dragon Quest, with Light sabers. So please forgive my ignorance, as a DPS spec shouldn't you focus on your best AoE attack? Your proposed Utility allotment is short for a level 70, a level 70 still has one point to spend. You say "We don't get access to Restorative Shade, Avenging Grip, or Mind over Matter due to the mandatory utilities for DPS." What is this mandatory DPS utility that prevents us from taking the other utility Feats?

 

they are "mandatory" because they are a dps increase in a boss fight.

 

in the context of operations, lambaste is a situational utility at best (if there are many adds you'd be taking on at once and there are no strong AoE dps specs in your group) while the reduced force speed cooldown from celerity is always useful. There's no point in focusing on your best AoE attack if you won't be doing any AoE :)

 

"Mandatory" is also meant in this context: utilities like fade, force harmonics, stalker's swiftness, they all represent a dps increase in a boss fight. For example fade reduces the cooldown of force cloak and cloaking reduces the cooldown of force potency which means more force breaches=more dps. But in solo play cloaking ends the encounter so you might as well choose something else over fade if it's going to be you, your comp and an army of skytroopers :)

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It doesn't define as procced. Although I would definitely advise against using Shadow Strike without a proc unless you're trying to execute something and don't have Breach and Spinning Strike available.

 

But then that doesn't really apply to PvE aside from unique situation specific instances..

 

Honestly, I'm not sure if a priority system is the way to go anymore because it's kind of become a massive labyrinth.

You could try my way;

 

Asses what you abilities you have, what you don't have, and what will happen when you use each ability.

I do this constantly about 2-3 GCD's in advance. For me it just gives peace, instead gazing at every ability frantically looking at which ones would be the next priority, I just set a carefully precalculated path.

 

Doing this correctly might take some practise, though.

 

 

It might sound a little strange.. but you can try it and if you have questions you know where to find me :)

Edited by Evolixe
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Pretty sure it still is a priority list, but you might want to rework the way you put it. It's obvious a potency breach will have higher priority than a non potency one since you can't have both at the same time. The same goes for spinning strike. And there's no situation where you'd want to use a non procced shadow strike. I mean 40 force is almost half your freaking bar. I know force management is easier than what it was but you don't waste half your ressource for that. Just refresh clairevoyance if you don't have anything else to press, it might come in handy if you're getting lucky with your procs.

 

Also

 

Procced Spinning Strike (looking like a 100% crit)

 

I'm pretty sure it's not an autocrit. It would be specified otherwise.

 

But the real question is : what place does vaulting slash has in the list ? Is it better to use it on CD ? And acutal math needs to be done to define that.

My thinking is it's higher than shadow strike since you could delay it pretty long before, but I'm not good enough at math to calculate it.

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Just refresh clairevoyance if you don't have anything else to press, it might come in handy if you're getting lucky with your procs.

 

That's just it though. Keeping clair up is a pretty big deal. And you will definitely want to delay your Shadow Strike for it if the timing is right (or wrong, however you put it). You don't just press it "when you have nothing else to press".

 

Clairvoyance is now a filler, but an important one at that. And you will want to choose the moment you refresh it carefully.

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Going to use sin terms since its the class I use not a shadow but:

 

P. Blast = ball lightning

Force Breach = Discharge

Shadow Strike = Maul

Clairvoyant strike = voltaic slash

Spinning strike = assassinate

Force Potency = recklessness

Vaulting Slash = Reaping Strike

Shadow Stride = Phantom Stride

 

 

I normally go :

 

1st - Voltaic slash IF voltage is going to fall off (unless you are 100% sure you have everything on cooldown and not coming off cooldown for 2 gcd. Only will happens after a ball lightning giving you your 3rd stack of discharge, and having recklessness, vaulting slash, phantom stride with all more than 3 sec left on their respective cooldowns, with duplicity recently used and still not reprocced. then its better to discharge what you have and do your two voltaic you'd have done anyway, rather than delay discharge. It takes some really good thinking to spot this opportunity, so when in doubt, delay one GCD rather than be forced to delay 2.)

 

2nd- Discharge (3 stacks)

 

3rd- Ball Lightning (always under voltage 2 stacks, sometimes will use it with 1 stack of induction if ressources allow, mostly in the opening, and when a sequence with multiple discharge happen, like Recklessness/Phantom Stride built discharge in quick succession, I might use ball lightning even at full cost or with only one stack after. Never ran into ressource issues or had to saber strike to recover from it, but 95% of the time, you'll have built 2 stack of induction before using it, as nearly everything in your rotation gives one, safe discharge)

 

4th - Reaper's rush procced assassinate that is about to fall off outside of execute range (because in, no one cares about that proc anymore)

 

5th - Duplicity procced Maul that is about to be renewed (proc last longer than its refresh rate)

 

6th- In execute range : assassinate - In non-execute range : reaper's strike

 

7th (or 8th in execute range) - Voltaic slash filler OR lacerate if more than one target. Typically use voltaic unless there are 3 target or more in range.

 

 

The break down is pretty much, you'll use reaper strike before maul and a reaper's rush assassinate unless their proc is about to be wasted. My idea of it is its better to delay Reaper's strike for one second than lose a maul over a 10 sec window (you'll have to use a voltaic slash in that window where you'd have used maul) or losing assassinate's proc from phantom strike, which means again where you'll use voltaic slash in that 30 sec instead of an assassinate. Maul is also better damage procced than Reaper's strike.

 

If you have both maul and assasinate procced and neither are in danger of falling off (or being overridden for duplicity), be my guest about which to use first. Assassinate's cooldown won't be used for a while, unless you are closing in to the 30% mark (then I'll use it to be sure its availaible when the boss reach it. So it doesnt matter much where you use it in the 10 sec window it procs, just make sure to use it somewhere, and it should be plenty of room so it doesnt conflict with something at one point. Same for duplicity, from its proc, you have 6 GCD to use it. And in that case, Reaping strike will take priority since its solely governed by its cooldown.

 

As Flaviv said, its simple enough as a list at first sight, but maximising the dps requires you to think 2-3 gcd ahead at all time to avoid potential conflict (having to lose a maul to not waste a reaper's rush, or being forced to use voltaic slash just to renew your voltage because you were too greedy in the last 15 seconds).

 

The execute range because especially hectic sometimes. But so far I just positively love the way the class handles both in raiding, solo pve (thats just an heroic nuking machine right now with reaper's rush, without making it too OP in raids) and pvp.

 

As for utility goes I typically use for pve :

 

Tier 1

Avoidance

Shapeless spirit

Lambaste

 

Tier 2:

Fade (100% mandatory)

Audacity (100% mandatory)

 

Tier 3:

So long as insulation is bugged, no mandatory there. Feel free to grab one more from the previous tier, or any. The cleanse on cloak is nice, but not always going to be useful since its used in rotation, so using it as such means a possible slight dps drop. Emersion is a pretty good one in fights that have raid wide snares and roots, etc. Its currently the one I mostly use. Still its not a bad idea to bring the force cloak cleanse in fight where some deadly dots are going around, and your healers are struggling with giving good cleanse.

 

But its more of a heal issue you are compensating than anything else, as if you trust your healers you'll use force cloak on CD following a recklessness to nearly reset the cooldown on it, so good chance when the cleanse is needed, you won't have cloak up.

 

Tier 4:

Reaper's rush (200% mandatory)

Retaliatory Grip

 

 

I'll sometimes change depending on needs, healing output (if heals are struggling, I'll drop the retaliatory grip for Phasing Phantasm or Disjunction) but otherwise lots of nice way to use it with shroud to slap good damage on a boss. Wish I could take both disjunction and it, but thats not possible and reaper's rush is a 100% must imo.

Edited by verfallen
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Spinning Strike should probably have more priority. It isn't as easy to explain but if you think you can build your induction stacks without it, it's priority is above Maul and Ball. The reason is because for every second it isn't cooldowned, you are losing uses.

 

You just have to factor in induction and force when making your choice. And try to see it coming at least 2 globals ahead because if you have to make the choice while the GCD is already over you are losing damage over inactivity obviously.

 

 

P.S. You can't really call something a guide by just posting what you think is right without any sort of grounds or explaination for choices. IE this must be the shortest guide ever.

 

That's just it though. Keeping clair up is a pretty big deal. And you will definitely want to delay your Shadow Strike for it if the timing is right (or wrong, however you put it). You don't just press it "when you have nothing else to press".

 

Clairvoyance is now a filler, but an important one at that. And you will want to choose the moment you refresh it carefully.

 

Actually I did test this and I was specifically looking to see how uptime on Clairvoyance affected the new Rotation, which was roughly by about 75 DPS (because you have spinning strike and vaulting slash in the rotation now which makes it more difficult to keep uptime on it especially during last <30% on boss).

 

The increased usage of abilities that do statistically higher damage and with higher crits seems to compensate heavily for the loss of DPS, but properly timing and managing clairvoyant strike is a BIG deal now to keep up DPS.

 

But the real question is : what place does vaulting slash has in the list ? Is it better to use it on CD ? And acutal math needs to be done to define that.

 

I don't know the actual math because I keep failing calculus, but it seems that Shadow Strike has the lowest priority (barring filler) and that Vaulting Leap is inbetween Spinning Strike and Shadow Strike in priority, since Vaulting leap builds stacks of Breaching Shadow, on top of it building Circling Shadows to proc Psychokinetic Blast. Spinning Strike, however, is consistently more likely to crit.

 

I did forget that level 70 gets a second utility. So the reflect one is robably the best pick.

 

It doesn't define as procced.

 

Eh, highlighted, procced, whatever. Terminology isn't my thing unless it's Roman stuff.

 

Updated first post. I'll upload the parse logs to parsely if I can get starparse to work (and remember which one is which). Consistently getting between 8000 and 8200 DPS depending on what I was playing with.

 

Also, sorry I didn't reply and address all this sooner, my initial post was based on initial observations on day one of the expansion's release. I threw it together quickly so others would have something to go off of in testing stuff.

 

~ Eudoxia

Edited by FlavivsAetivs
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Actually I did test this and I was specifically looking to see how uptime on Clairvoyance affected the new Rotation, which was roughly by about 75 DPS (because you have spinning strike and vaulting slash in the rotation now which makes it more difficult to keep uptime on it especially during last <30% on boss).

 

The increased usage of abilities that do statistically higher damage and with higher crits seems to compensate heavily for the loss of DPS, but properly timing and managing clairvoyant strike is a BIG deal now to keep up DPS.

 

That's what I said ^^ Choose the moment to refresh Clair carefully, you might want to delay a Shadow Strike/Reaping Strike for it.. sometimes even a Spinning Strike.

 

Also niché things like using Spinning Strike before Breach when you had your random proc of Breaching Shadows (no more than 3 GCD's apart, icd is 4 GCD's)

 

This is why I don't like to speak of a priority system.

Because they are all intertwined and you need to pay close attention to your buffs and procs.

Not using Breach doesn't cost you any DPS if you aren't losing Breaching Shadows stacks.

Edited by Evolixe
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That's what I said ^^ Choose the moment to refresh Clair carefully, you might want to delay a Shadow Strike/Reaping Strike for it.. sometimes even a Spinning Strike.

 

Also niché things like using Spinning Strike before Breach when you had your random proc of Breaching Shadows (no more than 3 GCD's apart, icd is 4 GCD's)

 

This is why I don't like to speak of a priority system.

Because they are all intertwined and you need to pay close attention to your buffs and procs.

Not using Breach doesn't cost you any DPS if you aren't losing Breaching Shadows stacks.

 

But that's still a priority list even if you have some subtilities in some cases. I mean 90% of the time you'll follow the priority (and even most players just stick to priority), but you'll only delay a higher ability under certain conditions. That's how you recognize great players from good, but doesn't make it less a priority list ^^

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But that's still a priority list even if you have some subtilities in some cases. I mean 90% of the time you'll follow the priority (and even most players just stick to priority), but you'll only delay a higher ability under certain conditions. That's how you recognize great players from good, but doesn't make it less a priority list ^^

 

Well, I just look at it from a grander perspective. I don't just tell people how things work and send them off.

 

I want them to understand it. In detail. So I try to make everything as simple as possible and looking at it like its a priority list just creates a massive headache in my opinion. Which is exactly why I don't look at it like that myself.

 

And its not at all rare to delay a "higher priority" move, especially in PvP.

You (should) do it often, the thing is you need to see the oppertunities.

Edited by Evolixe
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Not clear atm. Mastery a good bet for now.

 

I honestly doubt this. I'm not sure when crit maxxes in 5.0 (at least, when the diminishing returns makes it inferior to power) but it was 1537 in 4.0. If you max out crit, which is still the priority stat it seems, then you're going to want to go to power next because Master grants an overall DPS bonus and a crit bonus, but when crit is at that point of diminishing returns then power is going to do more good than mastery + that little crit bonus mastery gives will.

 

I've currently got everything set up in anticipation for 242 min/max, but considering I've gone through 84 command ranks and have only gotten a 230 mainhand, don't expect numbers from me anytime soon.

 

As to your post about subtleties and nuances in the Infiltration rotation, I agree that it is a very important part. Yes, infiltration is more or less an order of priority, but as I pointed out to people in 4.0, that doesn't necessarily make it easy. There are a myriad of subtleties and nuances within the rotation.

 

~ Eudoxia

Edited by FlavivsAetivs
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