Stacking Alacrity post 1.2....Thoughts?

[doughboyxx]

I am almost done a full set of augmented armor at level 30 with 9points of alacrity on each. With 6 pices i gain aorund 3% alacriy boost....so once im done im assuming it will be around 6%. Also running a hybrid but havn't added the 4% alacriy 2 point skill yet...nor the 5% 6sec alacriy proc which i plan too. Can also add in the alacrity relic and even a low level alacrity 15sec pop. I'm mainly doing this because i just find the cast times way to long on the hybrid. I also did get the .5 time reduction on tracer and power shot but at this point i don't have tracer yet. Just wondering if anyone els has played around with this and what your thoughts are.

 

I've gotten powershot down to 1.3.....the plan is to get it down to 1 sec. The other option is to leave it at full duration and put points into other stats which increase damage/healing however i just find in WZ that the long cast time is killer.....i feel after much playing around I MUST have those cast times lowered for this hybrid build. Let me know what you all think about this crzy Alacrity fettish im on....

[Ewert]

Pre-1.2 heavy alacrity was arguably as powerful or arguably even more powerful.

 

Post-1.2 we are so severely heatlocked, and gas is nerfed, so the burst-cooloff cycle is totally killed pretty much, and a heavy alacrity build is not worth it anymore.

 

I had 1s healing scans and power shots with relic+adrenal, am/was the loudest obnoxious alacrity proponent pretty much. And I am saying that at the moment, the alacrity build is arguably broken and unviable (more unviable than the pure power build with respectable crit and 150ish surge). By this I mean the cutting edge content, sure many fights are doable even if the other healer is half asleep and rolling his face on the keyboard, but for the toughest healing fights ...

 

Then again I respecced to dps and am just the backup now if we are missing 1 healer, since BH healing is too weak compared to the other 2 classes.

Edited April 20, 2012 by Ewert

[TempestasSilva]

I would not worry too much about how much alacrity you have and focus on aim until you hit 50.

[doughboyxx]

I would not worry too much about how much alacrity you have and focus on aim until you hit 50.

 

 

I've played around with my tree and taken the alacrity skills...the 4% and the proc one in bodyguard. That's the way to go for me in pvp no doubt about it right now. It allows me to be not only situational...which is what the hybrid brings but also effective...which is what the alacrity brings. I'm not a fan of the DPS or the Healing of the merc class really....but this hybrid is def what i'm going with for now.

[TempestasSilva]

I am a big fan of doing what works for you. Glad you are enjoying PvP as a hybrid. Edited April 20, 2012 by TempestasSilva

[Sinsavz]

No offence, but I don't think you really understand how diminishing returns works. It just aint worth it with alacrity. Take a few percent once you reach the 75% surge cap, but it's not worth extensively stacking imo. Aim surge and power are so so much more important than 10-15% alacrity that it's not even funny. Edited April 21, 2012 by Sinsavz

[Ewert]

No offence, but I don't think you really understand how diminishing returns works. It just aint worth it with alacrity. Take a few percent once you reach the 75% surge cap, but it's not worth extensively stacking imo. Aim surge and power are so so much more important than 10-15% alacrity that it's not even funny.

Who you talking to anyways as you didn't quote.

 

Do you understand how inverse increase stats work with regards to effect and DR? Just like armor dmg reduction % works through increasing "equivalent health", cast time reduction % works through "output" value, that is 1/x value. 20% haste is 1/0.8 = 25% output increase, 15% haste is 1/0.85 = 17.6% output increase. That 5% extra haste is worth 6.3% pure output increase (from 1.176 to 1.25, not 1.25-1.176). Take as an example crit rating instead, agent buffed with high main stat lets say you have 35% crit chance, and 85% surge increase. Your critical overall modifier is 1.2975. To achieve 6.3% pure output increase, it requires the overall mod to be 1.3792, which means _44.6%_ crit chance. So you need 9.6% extra crit chance to get as much burst increase for cast time skills as 5% extra haste.

 

Power? Power has inherent DR. Say your skill does 1800 base value, you increase power enough to get 30 more, that's 1.667% increase overall. You get 30 more? 1.64% increase. At 2100? 1.43% increase. It is a lot less DR than critical or surge, yes, that's why power is the go-to stat after you get past the "wunderbarzone" of crit&surge. I do not know the exact values of power relative to all skills in game, but for example even for my bodyguard's powershots, power _never exceeds alacrity output increase_, even though I have _fully stacked alacrity gear_. I had relic+adrenal to 33% haste at my "best" at one point, and even then alacrity was more powerful for bursting than power, let alone crit/surge.

 

The thing to understand is, that just as power has an inherent DR, due to the above effect for alacrity, alacrity has _inherent INCREASING RESULTS_, that combats the numerical rating -> haste% diminishing returns formula.

 

If you go for alacrity, the best thing to do is get all the talents for it. Now I'm not saying it's the best for dps, _it's not_ for sustained dps, but it is a wicked burst mechanic for cast time skills.

 

As such, for pvp it is a good question to ponder about.

Edited April 21, 2012 by Ewert

[napeh]

As a pve healer Alacrity is a must. Smart rotations and not spamming buttons + alacrity is way better than stacking surge.

[zoltarDO]

This post brings me to a question that I placed a thread about but wouldn't mind getting a little more input about. I have a 50 Merc BH with full BM eliminator set and just decided that I would rather be a healer. I love the playstyle, whether people consider it worth it or not is not my concern, I know that I love it over the DPS merc. That aside, do I just grind out 4 other BM medic pieces for the set bonus and keep the rest the same and maybe get two relics that increase alacrity, or not even bother and just keep trying to get my eliminator WH pieces? Hope I am not stealing this old thread.

[DomingoDarkrage]

^^ if you are going to heal, the 4 piece set bonus for combat medic is pretty useful, with the reduced cooldowns on 2 of our heals.

 

Since we are fairly immobile, having higher alacrity feels nice as we can throw more heals/damage before being forced to move due to boss mechanics or pvp situations. I like having high alacrity because I know i can get my heals landed faster. I don't have any simulations numbers to show evidence about what is "best", but it will likely boil down to your playstyle. Want big numbers? Go crit/surge. Want faster casts which have more precision in damage/healing- stick with alacrity. Experiment with your builds and swap enhancements, and you will eventually figure out what you like for PVP and PVE.

[Slipt]

As a pve healer Alacrity is a must. Smart rotations and not spamming buttons + alacrity is way better than stacking surge.

 

I have 29 alacrity rating (not by choice). That's barely 1% alacrity.

It doesn't hurt, but I feel it wastes itemisation and is hardly more valuable than accuracy.

 

I guess that's just me though.

Edited May 9, 2012 by Slipt

[zoltarDO]

I have 29 alacrity rating (not by choice). That's barely 1% alacrity.

It doesn't hurt, but I feel it wastes itemisation and is hardly more valuable than accuracy.

 

I guess that's just me though.

 

But isn't surge something that can be itemized? The medic gear has alacrity built in so I wasn't going to go beyond the 4 pieces since I already have the entire set of eliminater BM gear. I guess having the stats for crit etc..from the eliminator set would be good for when i have to go on the offensive. I did get the alacrity BM relic just to see the difference even 380 alacrity would add, and that alone seems to decrease my casting time by 15% or so, so adding those four pieces should get me down to maybe a 25% decrease which could help but not be so much that I have to worry about as much heat management.

[Slipt]

But isn't surge something that can be itemized? The medic gear has alacrity built in so I wasn't going to go beyond the 4 pieces since I already have the entire set of eliminater BM gear. I guess having the stats for crit etc..from the eliminator set would be good for when i have to go on the offensive. I did get the alacrity BM relic just to see the difference even 380 alacrity would add, and that alone seems to decrease my casting time by 15% or so, so adding those four pieces should get me down to maybe a 25% decrease which could help but not be so much that I have to worry about as much heat management.

 

A couple of key points:

1) Yes surge can be itemised. Easy to get, it's the best tertiary stat (in my opinion)

2) The medic gear has alacrity, but that doesn't make it correctly statted. The awkward part of the gear design for some classes is that the default stats need to be reworked to give you what you need. That's why the gear is moddable.

3) You're putting a lot of importance on alacrity, but I'm really not sure how much help it's going to be to you.

Also I think it's useless, so somebody else will have to discuss the value of rapid response healing with you.

[zoltarDO]

My only concern is that I feel like I am taking way too long to fire off a heal that is not instant. I was hoping that alacrity would be my answer but it sounds like it would also contribute heavily to a heat issue. I would want to be able to fire one or two off quickly and keep moving and it "seems" like the answer but it sounds like it is much more complicated then just grinding the 4 piece set. That being said, the four pieces do provide a nice cooldown set bonus on two of the casts which sounds helpful. Edited May 9, 2012 by zoltarDO

[Slipt]

Yes, the 4pc bonus is very useful. It's a shame that the 2pc bonus is actually damaging to sustained healing though.

It's one of those things you've got to make a decision about, to get the most out of your healing.

 

Instead of stacking alacrity so you can push out a 1.5-1.8 Healing Scan in 1.1 seconds, why not stack power and push out a 2.0-2.2k Healing scan in 1.5 seconds? Extra power means less need to cast heals, and less standing around healing.

 

That said, spamming rapid shots to keep the 5% alacrity buff running constantly will help you a lot, and kolto shell can help keep that up too.

[zoltarDO]

 

Instead of stacking alacrity so you can push out a 1.5-1.8 Healing Scan in 1.1 seconds, why not stack power and push out a 2.0-2.2k Healing scan in 1.5 seconds? Extra power means less need to cast heals, and less standing around healing.

 

I agree with this, so it sound like maybe getting the 4 piece set for the cooldown improvement, which automatically increases alacrity a little, then remodding with power. That brings me to the real dumb question. I really never paid much attention to remodding except the ones I received while questing and changing those around. Where do I find these higher level mods that are comparable to BM or WH gear ones? (I know I should have learned this long ago, but such is life:) I appreciate the help!

[Slipt]

Well, if you're looking for armourings/mods and enhancements at the same level as battlemaster... that'd be item rating 140 (level 58). So that means rakata (Tier 3, in ops progression... the items are listed as grade 25).

 

The highest you can get from crafters would be grade 22, which is below columi level. I'd basically suggest getting the battlemaster gear, a few extra pieces (notably the gloves... some really nice mods in those) and just swapping the bits around til you're happy. From there, get into a ops group (or guild) and get some rakata under your belt, which means Hard Mode 8man or 16man operations.

 

Battlemaster is actually really high quality, it just has some itemisation points wasted on expertise. It's still a great place to start your gear for ops though.