Ryzom

I rolled up a new charecter and am making it primeraly a mage, but am having difficulty comparing Dots and Direct damage spells.
Can anyone tell me if one is better than the other? or the pros and cons of them.
thanks

Damage over time does less damage per 'tick' and requires you 'hold a link' with the mob. If you are adventuring/trekking, it seems not to be too effective as the link will be broken as they chew on you.

I find DOT somewhat useful while hunting with a tank, but generally for most flexibility direct nukes seem far more powerful. Also, I can cast with good amps faster than the 'tick' for DOT seems to go by, so I can do a LOT more damage that way. Too bad, DOT seems cool, and sometimes on plods i'll do DOT in between nukes or in a combined missile with my nukes hoping to get one hit in between nukes (seems to work some of the time if i cast slower).

IMHO what is better is the affliction/missile for sometimes getting a little OA in say a madness/electric. That's one way I've levelled OA because in a high level party, an afflictionist is as much 'another healer' as a bigtime contributor.. well, that's mayb e not fair, i've hunted with only afflictionists and fear/root/me nuking worked pretty good for duoing great jabs .. sometimes.. when they break the link it gets a bit nasty lol.

evalisa wrote:I rolled up a new charecter and am making it primeraly a mage,

little advice, from mage tree, you can get half HP from max (equal HP to lvl 125 melee i think).

just saying that it's a challenge but doable.

but am having difficulty comparing Dots and Direct damage spells.
Can anyone tell me if one is better than the other? or the pros and cons of them.

simply put: DoT gives you dp, direct damage spell gives you xp.

longer version: DoT spells dont kill a <beep>. they just waste of skill points, only reason higher players have them, is that there will be loads of spare skill points later.
when you cast dot, it does not do damage right away, but you need to hold link long enough that DoT "tick" happens (dunno how long that takes, but it's long lol). also, because link is broken _right_ after you start casting next spell, then you cant chain cast and need to wait for spell to reach target, then need to check if it linked, which all takes time. hit but not linked spells dont do damage either.

when they (nevrax) allow stack (next cast dont break link) link spells (DoT and aflictions), then DoT will became useful... it only needs sap, and it's cheap to use bomb sap heal... maybe you can then even heal your team, when DoT is linked

starting out, DD is the way to go.
Later on when you know what you're doing, DoT has some specialist uses ( dont even bother healing people using DD spells on Madakams - they are just commiting suicide ), but for normal everyday nuking DD is the rule.

The beauty of Ryzom is that even if you start out "primarily a mage" there is nothing to stop you from becoming an accomplished warrior when you feel the urge...

Actually I like DoT spells in Team-hunts.
If you ad "concentrate" to your Spell the link isn´t so easily broken and it "ticks" pretty fast, about once every 3 seconds. Defininite advantage is that you don´t need to be healed that often if you build your spell the right way, thus letting your healer(s) concentrate better on the main Tank(s). And I think it´s quite cool to just stand there, letting the dmg "tick" and seeing others struggle to get ONE DD spell through and almost casting themselves to death in the process.


Acridiel
Wicked men, you face THE TICK

iwojimmy wrote:Later on when you know what you're doing, DoT has some specialist uses ( dont even bother healing people using DD spells on Madakams - they are just commiting suicide ), but for normal everyday nuking DD is the rule.

but.. but... the damn mobs hp regen is faster than DoT can do damage

little math:
spell: "drain rot damage 6 (q100) / 150 dmg every sec", with 100% "success"
target: blooming stinga

with amps (ele: 91/91, off.deff: 91/74)... 600 damage every 4 sec, 105 sap drain
no amps, 600 damage (do i hear oops ??) every 4 sec, 105 sap drain

time credits or how much sap do i use on initial spell, is it double or single.. does not matter on sap drain or time spent on waiting "tick".

now... for madakams, get poison protection jewels and wear them, then nuke madakams using poison... or use spell that you have highest resist/protection. simple.

blaah wrote:now... for madakams, get poison protection jewels and wear them, then nuke madakams using poison... or use spell that you have highest resist/protection. simple.

Or just use your eyes and don't nuke when it's shield is up

sprite wrote:Or just use your eyes and don't nukle when it's shield is up

try it on muncham- dosnt work. The sheild animation isnt always correct when the shield is actually up.

*shrug* always seems to work for me

irrespective of how you build the original DoT, the maintenance cost is paid purely in sap, which can be useful. I do the original cast heavy on hp credits, so my sap will last longer in the link. If you have the "active links" window up, it will show how much sap you are paying per 'tick' (amp power makes a difference for afflictions.. havent actually looked at elemental )

I use DoTs when solo digging in PR, and nearby aggro is attacking herbis.. the herbis tank for me while I kill the aggro.. without 3/4 killing myself spending the credits DD spells would cost Also useful on Named, if they are fighting something that will last out the battle (eg, another Named .. havent actually seen that happen for a while now, maybe the AI has been revamped )

the point is DoT are cheaper but slower. Dont use them if you are in a hurry, or if you have lots of healing power available.