Alacrity and Tracer Missiles.

[BradFett]

So, I've noticed +10 to Alacrity = .01 seconds. That being said, with the 3% in the shared spec, can we get the cast time below .5 secs (or even instant)?

 

Any more thoughts on Alacrity in regards to Mercs?

 

Thanks!

 

Edit: Chaged thread title since this is more about Alacrity and the BH class in general.

Edited December 20, 2011 by BradFett
Stuff.

[Auilt]

There is no evidence so far to suggest that alacrity reduces the global cooldown below 1.5 seconds. If this is the case, alacrity isn't particularly useful for the arsenal tree. With heat the way it is, I have a hard time seeing it being useful for any Merc tree, to be honest.

[BradFett]

Try this... I added a +10 Alacrity augment to one of my implants. The cast time of TM went down to 1.49. So, it does seem to have an effect.

[Auilt]

Try this... I added a +10 Alacrity augment to one of my implants. The cast time of TM went down to 1.49. So, it does seem to have an effect.

 

I understand it reduces the cast time of tracer missile. Let's assume for a moment that you had enough alacrity to reduce the case time of tracer missiles to 1.25 seconds. Awesome, right? The problem is there is still a 1.5 second global cooldown. You have to wait 1.5 seconds after starting your tracer missile cast to perform any other ability, which means you will have 0.25 seconds after that tracer missile before you can cast another. Since tracer missile is already a 1.5 second cast (even with the GCD), alacrity really provides no benefit other than just allowing you to get that cast off a little sooner. Given the importance of crit in an Arsenal build, I see no reason to stack alacrity at all.

[mrmojoz]

Getting a cast time faster than the global cool down doesn't increase your damage any, so it is wasted stats.

[Redial]

There is no evidence so far to suggest that alacrity reduces the global cooldown below 1.5 seconds. If this is the case, alacrity isn't particularly useful for the arsenal tree. With heat the way it is, I have a hard time seeing it being useful for any Merc tree, to be honest.

 

i believe he is talking about making tracer missiles instant, for the purposes of mobility in pvp. gcd doesnt really matter when all you are trying to do is dmg while not sitting still

and eating lightsabers.

 

interesting concept for sure.

 

2 things to note

 

1. at that rate it will take you 1500 alacrity to make it instant. I have no idea how stats work endgame, so i dont know if that sounds possible or not. My guess is no.

 

2. do diminishing returns exist on stats in this game? again, i do not know the answer

[Auilt]

We aren't sure how cast times and alacrity work quite yet to my knowledge as enough theorycrafting has not been performed yet, but suffice it to say it is not worth it to stack alacrity as an Arsenal BH. You have so many tools to kill people in PvP it's unbelievable. As full arsenal, I can think of no less than 4 abilities that do good damage and are instant casts. If you are hybrid, you lose one of those. If I do nothing but run around and kill people that need to die in a warzone, I can consistently get 50 kills and 250k damage. That's standing there and spamming tracer missile for debuffs.

[BradFett]

I understand it reduces the cast time of tracer missile. Let's assume for a moment that you had enough alacrity to reduce the case time of tracer missiles to 1.25 seconds. Awesome, right? The problem is there is still a 1.5 second global cooldown. You have to wait 1.5 seconds after starting your tracer missile cast to perform any other ability, which means you will have 0.25 seconds after that tracer missile before you can cast another. Since tracer missile is already a 1.5 second cast (even with the GCD), alacrity really provides no benefit other than just allowing you to get that cast off a little sooner. Given the importance of crit in an Arsenal build, I see no reason to stack alacrity at all.

 

Ah... gotcha, thanks.

[Rulea]

So spending points in the bodyguard tree up to Critical Reaction (tier 2) is kinda useless?

 

Tier 1 'Improved Vents' and 'Hired Muscle' seem the only really usefull talents you can reach in the Bodyguard tree when the Arsenal tree is filled up.

 

And with the rest of the points you can go Pyrotech tree for 'Advanced Targetting' or some?

 

 

That raises the question though, does alacrity not also reduce GCD? If I'm bodyguard specced to heal, what's the point, I will be able to cast a faster heal due to lower cast time, but same problem, I won't be able to spam the heals any faster than the GCD..?

[Werdan]

You need to have around ~33% alacrity to reduce TM to 1 second. Good luck with that. The only way you'd be able to do that is with a fully modded set of alacrity gear and using an alacrity stim/relic but that's only for short term use (around 10-20s I believe) and it'd have around a 1.5-2 minute CD.

[Auilt]

So spending points in the bodyguard tree up to Critical Reaction (tier 2) is kinda useless?

 

Tier 1 'Improved Vents' and 'Hired Muscle' seem the only really usefull talents you can reach in the Bodyguard tree when the Arsenal tree is filled up.

 

And with the rest of the points you can go Pyrotech tree for 'Advanced Targetting' or some?

 

 

That raises the question though, does alacrity not also reduce GCD? If I'm bodyguard specced to heal, what's the point, I will be able to cast a faster heal due to lower cast time, but same problem, I won't be able to spam the heals any faster than the GCD..?

 

There is no evidence currently to suggest that alacrity reduces the GCD. All tests show that it does not. The point in bodyguard is that Rapid Scan is a 2-second cast. Alacrity actually does increase throughput in this case, but how much is not really known given the heat mechanic we are forced to work within. It's not like you can sit there and spam heals all day regardless of what your alacrity is which leads me to question how good it really is as a stat for any Mercenary tree.

 

There are no true DPS talents for you to take outside of Hired Muscle and Improved Vents in the Bodyguard tree and Advanced Targeting in the Pyro tree. The rest of your points (should have 2 left over) are really just for whatever utility talents you want to grab. I personally chose Med Tech because I hate having a 2.5-second Rapid Scan.

 

The build becomes: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#300rcZMIkbRMdRkfzZc.1

Edited December 20, 2011 by Auilt

[DrekorSilverfang]

That raises the question though, does alacrity not also reduce GCD? If I'm bodyguard specced to heal, what's the point, I will be able to cast a faster heal due to lower cast time, but same problem, I won't be able to spam the heals any faster than the GCD..?

Tests thus far have shown convincing evidence that alacrity does NOT affect GCD which makes it much less powerful a stat than crit or surge. There is some oddities that indicate some abilities do not actual trigger a GCD and instead just use their own activation time as a limiter. I haven't seen any testing done on this though.

 

http://sithwarrior.com/forums/Thread-Alacrity-and-the-GCD

[Rulea]

The build becomes: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#300rcZMIkbRMdRkfzZc.1

 

Yeah that's what my build sorta looks like aswell.

[Airees]

I was interested in testing out alacrity for Arsenal before launch, but after getting a good deal more experience now I can assure you that you want 0% haste as Arsenal. DO NOT pick any of the alacrity talents.

 

The problem has nothing to do with GCD or more heat usage due to more casts or anything like that. The "problem" is Terminal Velocity and Barrage. By reducing your cast-time by just a tiny bit you effectively make these 2 talents way less potent due to their cooldowns and they are some of the most important skills in the build.

 

Terminal Velocity would be proccing somewhere between 25-30% less and it's a vital skill for managing your heat. Barrage would be proccing 10-15% less and is both good for reducing heat output and increasing damage.

Edited December 21, 2011 by Airees