Crit vs. Power

[Nieky]

Firstly I apologize if there is a similar thread on here, but I couldn't find it.

 

I am quickly approaching 50 with my Infil Shadow (currently 43), and want to start to get an idea of what stats I should be stacking. I plan on PvP'ing early on once I reach 50, but also running some FP's to collect PvE gear. I have read some arguments for and against Crit and Power, but thought I would reach out to the Shadow community to get a better understanding of the pros and cons of each.

 

Through my leveling I have been leaning toward stacking Crit. As I understand it, Crit provides you with the massive devastating hit, while Power gives you that higher more sustainable hit. Now what I'm not sure of is where the diminishing returns are. My gut tells me it is easier to hit the diminishing returns on Crit as opposed to Power (please correct me if I am wrong).

 

Now, to provide some context on my play style in PvP, I typically sift through the masses looking for a healer (first priority) or other player with around 50% health. I pop out deal my damage, maybe get a few more hits on another player (to help finish off), vanish if neccessary, or heal up and repeat.

 

So far Crit has served well in this regard. If I land a few big Crits usually the target falls fairly quickly. I do note however, that if I don't Crit, it usually results in my having to vanish to survive.

 

So having said all that, I want to hear from you Shadows out there who have tried both perhaps. Which did you find to be more effective? Which one are you using now? OR do you switch between the two for PvP vs. PvE?

 

Thanks for your feedback.

[roestzwiebel]

Power has no DR.

Higher Power -> Higher Sustained Damage AND Higher Crits.

 

Sure, less "chance" to crit, but as infil. with force potency it's really negligible.

Backstab Buff is Nice, 6k+ on light armor, got even 7k+ and 8k.

 

(Bonus Damage 1k atm.)

 

I recommend power.

[anstalt]

My general rule of thumb is aim for 30% crit buffed, 75% crit multiplier and then put everything else in to power.

 

Honestly though, it depends on your playstyle. If you mostly play solo and like jumping people then stack power as high as you can. Force potency will allow you some massive burst damage and the power is much more beneficial. However, if you play with a premade and can guaruntee more healing then you can afford to raise your crit a bit to help with sustained damage whilst lowering burst.

[Mutley-Gin]

Stack 31-33% crit then the rest power...

 

you have to crit 1 out of 3...criting less then that leaves to much dps on the table.

Your Shadow when finished will have 4 attacks that can hit over 5k...if they crit....So when you use those attacks and they dont crit....The healer doesnt die....The Ball Carrier Scores....ect.

[Amasar]

Power has no DR.

Higher Power -> Higher Sustained Damage AND Higher Crits.

^ this.

[Cheaky]

as contradictory as it sounds... I used to power stack. was at 29% raid buffed with close to 1040 bonus force damage running balance as well as infil. Both specs I noticed a dps increase by dropping some of the power in favor of crit to get my crit up to about 38% raid buffed. Any less crit in favor for 63 mods/enhancements with power was a dps loss. Any more crit above that dropping power was also a dps loss. I'm also close to 79% crit multiplier too.

 

I would recommend trying to get around 35% crit fully raid buffed, 75%+ crit multiplier and go for everything else power stacking after that. When you get into this range go play around with the dummy and some parses and play with your gear some to see what is going to work best for you based on your crit %, bonus damage and crit multiplier.

Edited November 13, 2012 by Cheaky

[roestzwiebel]

In PvE Environment, where Burst Damage is mostly not as valuable as DPS, i would agree. I talked about PvP. Edited November 14, 2012 by roestzwiebel

[markedfourdeath]

i agree with the guy who recommends crit around 34-35%, surge 77-78% and rest in power, for pvp anyway,, im a deception assasin (middle tree), not many around and you really want to cirt when taking people down quickly. that said i have not lost many one on one fights and as deception you certainly want to land some big hits when coming out of stealth to put them on the back foot;

[stephenalandavie]

I do pvp and i run dps gear but tank spec and i find ignoring crit and going power/surge is much better for me with the PA proc its an auto crit which is my biggest burst hit i find.

[stephenalandavie]

Just been testing infil on a test dummy at 50 fully stacked with power only 19% Crit and my DPS is 1647.8.

 

 

Not to shabby!!

[Nieky]

Just been testing infil on a test dummy at 50 fully stacked with power only 19% Crit and my DPS is 1647.8.

 

 

Not to shabby!!

 

have you compared this with stacking crit to around 35%? Is there a significant difference in DPS?

[WooduckAUS]

Forget %'s, stack around the 300 mark for crit rating and let us know if you see any difference in dps.

[Missandei]

have you compared this with stacking crit to around 35%? Is there a significant difference in DPS?

 

You can get swtor-simulation craft, make an appropriate geared spec in ask mr. robot and see for yourself.

 

In most cases, stacking Power is more usefull than crit. Unless your build depends on crit not only as a Damage Amplifier but as force/health regeneration aswell..

In a long fights, the 30% crit and 1100 power is do more damage than 40% crit and 950-1000 power..

[stephenalandavie]

You can get swtor-simulation craft, make an appropriate geared spec in ask mr. robot and see for yourself.

 

In most cases, stacking Power is more usefull than crit. Unless your build depends on crit not only as a Damage Amplifier but as force/health regeneration aswell..

In a long fights, the 30% crit and 1100 power is do more damage than 40% crit and 950-1000 power..

 

My crit is now at 15% my power is 1451 using the 31/0/10 spec And i do just find with this build

[stephenalandavie]

Also Using just power i am getting 2238 DPS But with 25% unbuffed crit it is down to 1760 DPS.

[toyfanatic]

OP you said you were running Iniltration correct? The 35% and 75% are good rules of thumb with the rest power. This is because of the increased crit % offered by the skill tree. Rember these numbers are a bit different if you are raidning in balance spec. Now while no one has touched the point it should be made- rotation. What procs you have should determain your attacks for the highest DPS rotation. Too many people I have seen spamming clairvoyent strike and not using project when when its ability procs. Or compleatly forgetting to use forcebreach and low strike. Part of infiltration spec is feeding your critical attacks. Rember you need to feed procs to shadowstrike when infiltration tactics pops. This build is hard toplay well, if you do- you will decimate your enimies. This spec isn't a stand their in front of them and fight your a sneaky backstabing jedi assasin.

I know htis thread is about how to gear. Playing this spec is more of knowing which abilities are up to crit not just using your crit multiplier.

My thought s are from being a shadowtank and watching fellow shadows knot have a gear issue but a rotation issue for lack luster parser numbers.

[Okema]

In my modest opinion:

 

If you roll a Kinetic spec, feel free to drop your crit massively for power. You'lle be a node defender anyway and in most of the fights you probably will have FP up. In the smaller fights that occur in every so and so seconds, you have an advantage. If you are to participate in the on-going fight though, you may want to get a higher crit rating, as you won't have that much up-time on FP and increased crit gives you a slightly higher DPS output over time (theoretically speaking).

 

For other specs, you'd definately want to go for at least 29.5-30% crit buffed. That's in my opinion a sweet spot where you can still get a decent amount of crits and still have room for a considerable power gain.

 

Surely you could go way over 30% but I don't know if the loss in power, which will be significant, is worth it.

Edited December 16, 2012 by Okema