Casting AM preemptively for higher AC uptime/less clipping

[Causese]

Moderating note: moved to Arcane.

*edit: goddamit, meant to post this in arcane mage subforum, migrating it is much appreciated.

1)

I altered my rotation/priority list few months ago so that I don't waste AM proccs that could potentially procc when I'm at 3AM and <4 Arcane Charges and I'm curious if it could lead to a DPS gain.

Example:

You are at 2 AC, 2 AM during conserve phase and your next AB cast might procc another AM. Most people would initiate two more AB casts to get to 4 AC which might lead to a clipped AM proc.

I made a short video to visualize what it looks like:



(don't mind the blue AM procc)

In the video you can see that I "saved" two AM proccs from being clipped by using AM instead of AB as a followup when my AB cast just finished at 2AM 2AC, causing the recently gained (third) AM procc to be used instantly.



This slightly alternative "cast-priority" might lead to:

Pro:
- "Potentially" Higher Temporal Power uptime
- Third AB cast might procc Doom nova and using AM asap, as shown in the video, might lead to more missiles during Doom Nova.

Con:
- Third AB doesn't procc AM and you are casting a weaker version of AM due to 3 AC.

I just wanna know if I should continue with this sligtly altered cast-priority since I like it a lot more, and also find it more difficult since you have to think a step ahead. (which is a good thing imo)

2)


There's something else I wanted to point out, more as a "tip" with no question attached to it.

I see a lot of mages, be it in videos or on live streams, that do a common mistake that's rarely pointed out in guides or even mentioned. When I say a lot, I'm thinking 99%

Basically when you're at 4 AC and your next AB cast causes you to be in the 85%~ mana zone, most people just use their Arcane barrage as a follow up to the recent AB to reset charges but they never consider that the most recent AB cast might procc an AM, which then can be used to remain at 4 AC for a longer period of time.

so you're probably asking yourself how it's possible to cast AM without knowing that your recent AB cast proccs it for sure, causing you to cast Arcane barrage, thinking you have no time to check whether AM procced or not, leading to a DPS loss.

However, a "simple" interaction of using AM at the end of your AB cast followed up by Arcane Barrage, causes your mage to cast AM if it procced, otherwise barrage is being cast.

I honestly don't know how to word this easier, sorry, therefore another short video to visualize things:



Basically, whenever you're using arcane barrage and you end up with 2 AM, you're doing it wrong.

[magictricks]

Everything you've said is well know and played with a lot.

Point 1, the dps gained by not munching at ac2 or ac3 is not worth just going to 4 and saving your AMs, because of the times when you dont get a proc and you're left with a single AM instead of 2. yes obviously when it does work it's more dps but you are betting on 35% proc so overall you have no option but to lose.

point 2 is called option select and lots of people do it already.

[Causese]

Everything you've said is well know and played with a lot.

Point 1, the dps gained by not munching at ac2 or ac3 is not worth just going to 4 and saving your AMs, because of the times when you dont get a proc and you're left with a single AM instead of 2. yes obviously when it does work it's more dps but you are betting on 35% proc so overall you have no option but to lose.

isn't it a good "risk" to take?
i mean you get a 12% spelldmg buff, and you summon a npc that deals damage and is also granted a 12% buff.

casting AM itself, even if it goes bad, will grant you an AC. I'm really curious how much dps I lose from risking it and failing and how much I gain from taking the risk and succeeding.

Actually gonna stick with taking the risk since we're not progressing anymore.

[Komma]

You haven't established it as a good risk to take because you didn't consider the odds.

Suppose you are at 2AC, 2AM. AM has a 30% chance to proc per spell. Here are the probabilities of each case happening:

Both AB proc AM, you munch 1: 30% * 30% = 9%
Neither AB proc AM: 70% * 70% = 49%
One AM proc from 2 ABs: 100% - 9% -49% = 42%

Therefore, if you don't prematurely spend AM, there is a 9% chance of you munching AM. if you do prematurely spend AM, there is a 91% chance of you ending up with 2 AM or less. This is equivalent to a 91% chance of losing the effect of one or two Arcane Charges on AM. That alone is either 16.67% or 33.33% of the AM's damage. Is a near-guaranteed 91% chance of losing AM damage, worth the 9% chance of avoiding an AM proc munch?

[Causese]

oh well, that sounds horrible.

what if i just do it when arcane barrage proccs an AM and I end up with 3 AM at 2AC? are the odds any better of not munching a procc and ending up with a temporal power buff?

too bad it rarely ends up as a gain, feels really bad to munch proccs

[Curnivore]

feels really bad to munch

It appears that you imply it is inherently wrong to munch. It might not be. If the class is designed to be clunky in part like that then it might be a DPS loss to try to avoid it.

This subject reminds me that sometimes 3xAMs give the impression that an extra AB followed by an AM cast may not munch, and give an extra AM too, but not sure.

[Ogo]

Point 2 is called option select and lots of people do it already.

Option select? Is it a option ingame (Like the spell que system)?

The way he described it, it sounds like his Abarr will be (slightly) delayed. Since he's spamming AM, until he realizes that he got no proc, then Abarrs. Or am I missing something?

[magictricks]

Point 2 is called option select and lots of people do it already.

Option select? Is it a option ingame (Like the spell que system)?

The way he described it, it sounds like his Abarr will be (slightly) delayed. Since he's spamming AM, until he realizes that he got no proc, then Abarrs. Or am I missing something?

Option select means you buffer in 2 or more commands and the game will chose the best one for the situation.

In this case after you've fired off an AB at 4 stacks if you mash AM right up until the last possible second and then hit ABr, if you happen to get a proc from the AB the game will accept the AM command and fire off your 4 stack AM and ignore your ABr button, if however you dont get a proc on that last AB you can't possiblly fire an AM and your ABr will just come out as normal with no time wasted.

It's easier to do with more haste because more of your mashing goes in your GCD which is easer to buffer in.

[Curnivore]

the game will chose the best one for the situation [..] after you've fired off an AB at 4 stacks if you mash AM right up until the last possible second and then hit ABr, if you happen to get a proc from the AB the game will accept the AM command and fire off your 4 stack AM and ignore your ABr button, if however you dont get a proc on that last AB you can't possiblly fire an AM and your ABr will just come out as normal with no time wasted.

The game does not choose the best one based on the situation there. You are mashing the button of AM and you queue it before the Arcane Barrage. Mashing Buttons is not a trick, there is an established grace period that queues spells which is exactly 400 milliseconds, or, lower according to user settings.

[magictricks]

the game will chose the best one for the situation [..] after you've fired off an AB at 4 stacks if you mash AM right up until the last possible second and then hit ABr, if you happen to get a proc from the AB the game will accept the AM command and fire off your 4 stack AM and ignore your ABr button, if however you dont get a proc on that last AB you can't possiblly fire an AM and your ABr will just come out as normal with no time wasted.

The game does not choose the best one based on the situation there. You are mashing the button of AM and you queue it before the Arcane Barrage. Mashing Buttons is not a trick, there is an established grace period that queues spells which is exactly 400 milliseconds, or, lower according to user settings.

i like my explanation better.

[Ogo]

I was of the impression that you couldn't que a spell that wasn't available (as is with AM when it has 0 stacks). I've tried with the macro that does /click specialbuttonX /cast Abarr, and it always ends up Abarring

[Curnivore]

I was of the impression that you couldn't que a spell that wasn't available (as is with AM when it has 0 stacks). I've tried with the macro that does /click specialbuttonX /cast Abarr, and it always ends up Abarring

It's even simpler than queuing apparently. AM is just available during the mashing of the command. Arcane Barrage happens later because simply AM was used earlier.