Curse

Elruid · Nov 01, 2006, 07:14 PM // 19:14

Seems as though Searing flames is outperforming it in every way.

Mind blast
5 en 1 sec 2 sec
Target foe is struck for 15..51..63 fire damage. If you have more Energy than target foe, you gain 1..7..10 Energy.

Searing flames
15 en 1 sec 2 sec
Target foe and all nearby foes are struck with Searing Flames. Foes already on fire when this Skill is cast are struck for 7..91..119 fire damage. Foes not already on fire begin Burning for 1..6..7 second.

With Glowing gaze and Attunement and the buff to GoLE, where's the point to Mind blast?

Helios Skyfire · Nov 01, 2006, 08:40 PM // 20:40

It's effectively FREE? And if you're running attunement/GoLE - it actually GIVES your energy to use it?

jesh · Nov 01, 2006, 09:44 PM // 21:44

Mind Blast is energy management with damage as a bonus.

spun ducky · Nov 01, 2006, 10:10 PM // 22:10

It can be insane energy management the way I was messing with it being fast casting me/e with an attunement and channeling = major energy and spammable dmg.

Gorebrex · Nov 01, 2006, 10:45 PM // 22:45

If youre ONLY looking at damage potential, then yeah, Searing Flames wins, but as the above posters said, you get it for no energy cost, and the damage is only low-mid range, but servicable, making it rather good, actually.

Francis Crawford · Nov 15, 2006, 12:13 PM // 12:13

I haven't actually played Nightfall or run the numbers.

Would Mind Blast/Flare/Mark of Rodgort outperform Searing Heat/Glowing Gaze/Conjure Flame/wand against a single target in damage, at sustainable levels of energy expenditure?

prism2525 · Nov 15, 2006, 01:49 PM // 13:49

Well Mind Blast is single targeting, so Searing Flames beats it fully regardin damage output, however as E-management mind blast is very efficient. Slap the guy with mark of rodgort and burn him down (literally) for free.

Longasc · Nov 15, 2006, 02:30 PM // 14:30

Searing Flames has AoE damage potential, but it requires Glowing Gaze and then it is still:

15+5 Energy for 10 energy back - 10 loss
Mind Blast is 5 energy for 10 back - 5 gain

So you should rather see Mind Blast as energy management, while Searing Flames is a damage elite. Most will probably prefer the AoE damage and just using Glowing Gaze in combo with burning spells.

Ensign · Nov 15, 2006, 08:42 PM // 20:42

Mind Blast is a combination energy elite and beater. It makes your energy very smooth while chaincasting. Searing Flames is a decent, spammable AoE attack, but you have to invest most of your bar just into powering it. The practical difference is that Searing Flames guy is Searing Flames or bust, with maybe a little bit of utility on the side...Mind Blast guy gets to beat with Mind Blast and has a bunch of mana and slots to do whatever he wants with.

Peace,
-CxE

Arkantos · Nov 15, 2006, 08:46 PM // 20:46

Mind Blast + MoR + Attunement = you damage them+set them on fire while gaining energy.

Francis Crawford · Nov 16, 2006, 12:27 AM // 00:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Longasc

Searing Flames has AoE damage potential, but it requires Glowing Gaze and then it is still:

15+5 Energy for 10 energy back - 10 loss
Mind Blast is 5 energy for 10 back - 5 gain

So you should rather see Mind Blast as energy management, while Searing Flames is a damage elite. Most will probably prefer the AoE damage and just using Glowing Gaze in combo with burning spells.

So it would seem that you could do the Searing Heat/Glowing Gaze combo every 7 seconds or so and still get the a wand shot or two in between them. Energy cost = what you're regenning, plus the background cost of Fire Attunement and Conjure Flame.

Or you could get in 3-4 Mind Blasts or Flares (similar damage between the two spells). Energy cost = what you're regenning, plus the background cost of Fire Attunement and Mark of Rodgort.

Either way, you could keep the enemy on fire pretty permanently.

That's not a precise calculation by any means (and what's the best time estimate these days for aftercast anyway? -- I was assuming about 1 second), but it seems likely that Mind Blast beat Searing Flames against a single target -- as of course it should!

Put in Lava Arrows instead of Flare, and the tradeoff against small mobs gets really interesting ...

Thom Bangalter · Nov 16, 2006, 12:48 AM // 00:48

The only thing is, no serious ele bar should include mark of rodgort or conjure flame. or flare. or lava arrows.

Francis Crawford · Nov 16, 2006, 01:23 AM // 01:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thom Bangalter

The only thing is, no serious ele bar should include mark of rodgort or conjure flame. or flare. or lava arrows.

I disagree. Ideally, you should have MORE energy than you need if you're not seriously stripped/disrupted. And something like Flare can be a good use of that extra energy.

Conversely, if you're going big-bang (extreme example: Renewal Nuking) you may have time to wand. I think. I've never had a build where wanding was important, or in which I used Conjure Flame ...

Phades · Nov 16, 2006, 02:02 AM // 02:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Francis Crawford

I disagree. Ideally, you should have MORE energy than you need if you're not seriously stripped/disrupted. And something like Flare can be a good use of that extra energy.

There are better ways to use time as a ele than wasting it spamming flare or wanding. If you figure in the recast time of mindblast, you can be hard pressed just to fit in other spells between casts. Simply casting fireball spans that wait period easily enough. The only real problem with using mindblast would be the more energy hungry skills like rodgorts invocation and immediately following it up against a caster energy target without a focus swap. Then again, the swaps take time as well reducing overal pressure. Its a mixed bag really.

Francis Crawford · Nov 16, 2006, 02:26 AM // 02:26

Oh, I agree about Fireball. It may be the most efficient spell in the fire elementalist's kit bag. But you can't get it in between EVERY pair of Mindblasts, obviously.

I'll admit that I was being sloppy in estimating what combination of spells sucks up around 80 energy/minute, however.