Tamriel Foundry

Are you talking pvp or pve, because everyone i know in pve starts on bow bar to lay down their dots first before swapping to dw.  If you are talking pvp, i would still start on bow bar if i was ganking for a heavy attack > ambush cancelled into a surprise attack... but i dont think you are talking pvp using VO gear and DPS, since dps isnt really a measurable in pvp.  It is about burst and sustain, and you cant do an over time dps against moving player targets.

Not to mention skewing your dummy results with mark is a little off, right?  No one uses reapers mark.  Not unless you are in pvp, and then it is piercing mark for the stealth nerf.

try starting on bow bar, laying down your hail, poison and caltrops before swapping to dw for your weaving.

Thanks for the reply.  I'm talking about PvE.  I'll start on the bow bar, that's a very easy change to make.

The reason why I used Reaper's Mark was for the Major Fracture, which is normally provided by the tank.  But I realized later on that Surprise Attack already gives me Major Fracture, so I removed Reaper's Mark.

 

On the bow bar, what is the normal sequence: LA, skill, block cancel, LA, skill, block cancel?

 

As for skewing the dummy results - I'm not really sure what is allowed and what not.   I'm currently aiming for 25k, which is my guild's requirement to do vet trials with them.  They said that they'll provide Elemental Drain, but didn't specify any limitations on my side.  Should I ever get to a place where I approach them to do a "formal" DPS test, I'll be sure to ask if my setup is acceptable.  For now I just want to make sure that I'm getting the basics right, which is where I feel my real problem lie.

Pretty much all stam back bar rotation is the same.  Light attack, rearming trap, light attack endless hail, light attack poison inject, light attack razor caltrops, bar swap, heavy attack rending slashes, light attack surprise attack, relentless bow proc, then maybe incap strike or another surprise attack.  Then start over.

Also very important, you do not want to lose the 5 piece tfs bonus ever.  I do not recommend using tfs weapons as losing the 5 piece bonus is a huge dps loss. I this case it would be better to take off the velidreth and use 5 tfs and 5 vo all the time.  Then crafted night mothers daggers or shacklebreaker daggers.

Thanks, that rotation layout was exactly what I was looking for!  So no block cancelling.  Mmm, it will be a relief to stop trying to work block cancelling in - I so often end up with totally confused fingers.

 

I'll try the 5 TFS 5 VO suggestion - I already have both NMG daggers and a Shacklebreaker dagger+axe set, so it will be fun to play around with both.

Update:

Got 25k against the dummy for the first time tonight.  5VO, 5TFS, Shacklebreaker dagger and axe.  I'm pretty sure that I've got the basics right now, so now I can practice that and hopefully get it above 25k consistently.

Thanks mrowmrif2 and MisterDMC - your advice has proven to be a great help!

Nicely done!

as for dummy practice, try and recreate a raid situation as best you can... we used to do this on bloodspawn - defender would come and drop a warhorn + pierce armor + use crusher enchantment procs + taunt to hold hate...

this allows the dps to simply use their standard trials raid bars and not slot anything otherwise.

you shouldnt be trying to mimic buffs and debuffs on your own, so either run solo completely or bring a tank and healer and recreate the battle.  Brutality/savagery potions + relentless focus for berserk + weapon power (main weapon)+ poison offhand enchants.  Good job so far!  Getting there!  20-25k is wnouh for any content and you will only et better!  I am not sure if slayer is active vs dummies so that maybe another % damage you arent seeing in dps test.

I'm pretty sure that Slayer is active against dummies, so I'm not going to score there.

 

A mistake I now see I made is that I focussed so much on my dots, that I often skipped Surprise Attack.  That way I missed out on Major Fracture, and that cost me a fair bit of DPS.  Mixing HA and LA on my front bar makes it easier to keep SA up as well, so I'm getting that 25k fairly consistently now.

 

I'm using Potion of Weapon power for the Major Brutality which is a great help.  I also like the stamina boost that it gives - my HA weaving is still slow enough that I really appreciate every scrap of extra stamina.

 

I would love trying the dummy in a raid mimicked setting, but for now am quite content to simply use it to better my own skills and to make sure that I get the whole rotation thing working.  It's so easy to lose the rhythm - that will only get better with more practise.