I support this comment. Even when Lightning was supposedly better because it parsed higher, on most actual fights (aka not the dummy) I was doing consistently better with Madness simply for the mobility reason. Obviously in some fights it's more pronounced than others, but just as a prime example: Tyrans. Well, in NiM anyway, you are forced to fall to the ground, you can't even see the boss, but if you were Madness you could have 3 dots rolling the whole time and be continually doing damage despite not even being able to target the boss. I often have the same thoughts as you OP on Lightning though. Having to cancel a Tblast to move out of a reticle is the most infuriating thing. So I just avoid the situation all together if possible.

Yes but it's 5% alacrity that lasts 15s. So it has 75% uptime. That's very significant. And effects everything you do. Faster GCD, faster channels. -1.5 on CD means over a 5 minute parse you will use it 2 more times. For a healer, trance only has a 9s cd to begin with so -1.5s is more significant. The main reason that healer set bonus is so good however is because with the cd reduction it puts trance and rejuv in sync rotation wise. So to break that down. Would you rather have. A) Two more crushing darkness casts every 5 mins. vs. B) Static +3.75% Alacrity (5 x 0.75) and +74 Willpower (dps stat difference of two 69 pvp and 81 pve armorings)

To maximize DPS you want the 4-piece for either spec. (2) Reduces cost of Lightning Strike and Force Lightning or Disturbance and Telekinetic Throw by 2 and reduces the cooldown of Polarity Shift or Mental Alacrity by 15 seconds. (4) Affliction or Weaken Mind damage has a 30% chance to increase alacrity by 5% for 15 seconds. Cannot occur more than once every 20 seconds.

Sounds fun, pub or imp? What day/time? I've got a mid level mando, low level merc and have never played sent/mara so could start new either side as well.

Apparently I'm out of touch with the pugs. My friends give 1000 yard stares at my idea. "You.... you have no idea what you are asking."

Ascension fizzled out on JC. Most just stopped playing. The remaining merged into The Covenant, which is also using a few Torva Nex members pub alts, I believe. I'm still poking around too. Joining Covenant runs every now and again. I was thinking about putting together a PvE school to teach people of all skill levels and maybe stir up the pug scene on the server. Mostly I just get made fun of for the idea haha.

Here's a graphic I made to help those working on Tyrans. http://i.imgur.com/pjaHmZI.png

Crux - Sage - Balance - 5/5/36 - 4m 43.914s http://www.torparse.com/a/521478/time/1386998847/1386999131/0/Damage+Dealt http://swtor.askmrrobot.com/character/17ce5efd-983b-40d3-8e53-218b914a3634

So what's the deal with the adjustments? My first log said 4m43s but dps was 3496, so i did another one to break 3500 and this one http://www.torparse.com/a/521478/2/0/Damage+Dealt is also 4m43s but has the 3525 number you adjusted my first one too?? Edit: well i guess i do see the total damage is higher in my 3525 parse so it must be closer to actual?

Crux <Ascension> Sage Balance 5/5/36 3413.17 (7m 19.224s) http://www.torparse.com/a/521477/1/0/Overview http://swtor.askmrrobot.com/character/17ce5efd-983b-40d3-8e53-218b914a3634 For 1.5M bracket. I made several mistakes. Should be easy to beat. 7mins is a long time to not get distracted hahaha

Crux <Ascension> Sage Balance 3496.4 (4m43s) http://www.torparse.com/a/521463 http://swtor.askmrrobot.com/character/17ce5efd-983b-40d3-8e53-218b914a3634 1st try. c'mon Viviana, gimme some competition.

This sounds like a ton of fun! I stand no chance, but will come throw my body at you regardless. My plan may involve sexy clothing to distract you.

Nice thanks. I see where doing balance screws me up in tk. I see wm drop and feel the need to immediately reapply it. Doing so I invariably always end up with out of sync timing on turb for the crit. I can see where waiting like you do to reapply would make this much better. Also. Press buttons faster. haha. 42apm. In balance my 33 is good. That might be the lowest APM of any dps haha. Actually I wonder now. What spec/class has the lowest APM I wonder.

Wow that is impressive. Nice job! If possible, could you do me a favor and record yourself doing a parse sometime. I'd like to get a good look at the minor details and timings you use, hopefully make some improvements on my use of the spec.

Presence of Mind - procs from crits on Tk Throw.

What's funny is I say the exact same thing about TK sages. On average I parse about 100 less in TK and have never been able to do as well in TK than I do in Balance. But I used Balance primarily in progression raiding, so I'm just more familiar with it. Had to force myself to be comparable in TK so I could use it in NiM Styrak. When I started trying to push my TK numbers, managing cooldowns at exactly the right time and right way is what eventually boosted my numbers. Something that just comes as second nature to me in balance.

I just posted my Balance sage parse 2 or 3 pages ago. It's not up on the OP yet, but I should rank 2nd. I can give you some tips. I've been doing Sage dps since release and am best with Balance spec. http://www.swtor.com/community/showpost.php?p=6871657&postcount=203 Gearing: - Make sure you have as close to 110% force accuracy as possible. - ALL mods should be willpower/power. You can buy 78 belts/bracers for best in slot. - The lower the crit the better. But accuracy/power enhancements are hard to come by. So if you have to use accuracy/crit enhancements its fine. I'm using 2 at the moment. - After accuracy is good, 1-2 power/alacrity is acceptable. I use 1. power/surge enhancements for everything else. - Don't use Implants/Ear that have crit on them. - Relics, elemental damage relic is not best in slot anymore. Get a serendipitous assault paired with a boundless ages. General rotation guidelines: Force In Balance on cooldown, no exceptions. Keep Weaken Mind and Sever Force up at all times. Do not reapply until they drop. Only use Mind Crush with Presence of Mind proc. Only use Disturbance with Presence of Mind proc. Throw rocks. Some rotation tips: Don't use disturbance if Mind Crush is below 50% cooldown. Just wait and use PoM with Mind Crush. Goal is to be casting Mind Crush on cooldown (with PoM). If force drops below 25%, only use disturbance to keep your focal point stacks full. Use Boundless Ages after you've freshly applied dots. Always spend Force Potency charges on Force In Balance and Telekinetic Throw. If you are in a fight with multiple targets always use 1 charge on Tk Throw FIRST then do FiB otherwise FiB will eat both charges. Tips on a good parse: - Parse until you RNG a 40%+ crit chance. Edit: Also it's worth noting to not forget the people parsing at the top are nearly full best in slot 78's already. I'm probably more than halfway there and everything not 78 is 75's. So that's a big gear difference than the mostly 72's you said you are in. So don't be discouraged.

I see someone knocked me off top spot. Time for an update! Character Name <Guild Name>: Cruxie <Ascension> Character Class: Sage Character Spec: Balance (5/5/36) Torparse Link: 3175.35 AMR Profile

Cruxie - Sage - Balance (5/5/36) - 3175.35 AMR Profile

Cruxie, officer in Ascension here. Bumping to let everyone know what we need. Currently looking for backup raiders for tank, mDPS, and rDPS. And possibly an opening for a main rDPS. We are sitting at 4 main tanks, 3 rDPS (with 1 recruit), and 4 mDPS. We run 2-8man groups multiple times a week. Ideally I'd like to have 1 backup for every role. Backup raiders fill in when main raiders are out. Which happens quite often, so I wouldn't worry to much about not getting to raid. Though it will obviously be less often than others. Exceptional players will likely be put on rotation as mains. Main raiders are guaranteed a spot once a week, backups are not. Backup raiders are held to the same standards as the rest of the guild. The backup position is purely a way to ease scheduling. As OP states, interested players please submit applications via our website http://www.ascension-swtor.com/index.php/application Our raid days are Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday starting at 8pm Eastern.

Cruxie - Sage - Balance 5/5/36 - 2843 DPS http://www.torparse.com/a/322521/1/0/Overview Stats- 3280 Willpower 1319 Power 395 Acc 104 Crit 395 Surge 0 Alc

Updated Cruxie <Ascension> Balance 2843 http://www.torparse.com/a/322521/1/0/Overview Stats for the curious 3280 Willpower 1319 Power 395 Acc 104 Crit 395 Surge 0 Alc Power clicky and proc relics

Bump. Hey folks. Just wanted to bump/update our current needs. One of our longtime members is cutting back playtime for a new job which has created a void in our hearts.... and roster. So if there are any Commando Healers out there we have an open spot for one. You certainly have some big shoes to fill so lets see what you got server!

Character Name <Guild Name>: Cruxie <Ascension> Character Class: Sage Character Spec: Balance - http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#600hZbcMZfMfRs0krfRR.3 Torparse Link: 2705.22 DPS - http://www.torparse.com/a/229373/3/0/Overview

Still looking for some new faces. I would really like to bring on a skilled ranged DPS player if there are any out there. Any rDPS class, though we seem to be lacking on Gunslingers at the moment. So if you obsess over min-maxing your gear for 10 more dps, scream like a girl when you beat your personal best on a boss, and tweak your rotation because Sever Force ticks immediately so you realize it's better to use Force In Balance before but just after Weaken Mind so the first Force Suppression can proc on the first tick of both your dots........ then we'd love to have you! Again ideal availability would be Tues/Thurs/Sun. 8pm-12am Eastern. You will not likely run all 3 days, or for 4 hours/night, but being flexible is a plus. Especially with 55 raiding being 2 different lockouts a week. Message Cruxie in game or submit an app on our website: http://www.ascension-swtor.com/index.php/application