Greetings fellow warriors,
today I am gonna present a few changes to our current Inner Release ability.
My goal is a slightly more complex and enjoyable rotation that interacts with our burst instead of "just have SE buff for at least 16s" and ignore Gauge. That's because - and I am gonna be blunt here - the current version is hella boring and dull, not engaging in the slightest.
The new ability is a mix from HW Berserk and 4.1 Inner Release/Berserk merged with the new stack/GCD buffs introduced with 5.1.
Berserk: 90s Recast, Increases damage dealt by [30-50]%. Duration: 20s
Inner Release: 90s recast, Grants 4 stacks of Inner Release, each stack allowing the use of Beast Gauge weaponskills without cost.
(Weaponskills = Fell Cleave, Decimate, Inner Chaos, and Chaotic Cyclone). Duration: 20s
Additional Effect: Nullifies Stun, Sleep, Bind, Heavy, and most knockback and draw-in effects. Duration: 10s
The old HW Berserk increased your damage by a wooping 50% for 20s on 90s recast, but applied a 5s pacification debuff that was mostly dealt by using a BRD with The Warden's Paean. And that fact was a huge flaw because healers never "wanted" to esuna, and thus a BRD was must-have - and also for other reasons.
During 4.0-4.1 Berserk was a 60s CD that granted 30% flat damage buff for 20s, while IR was a 120s CD that halved ALL Beast Gauge cost during its duration - 20s also. The problem: this IR burst was prone to downtime/disengagements, as it could happen that the gauge was left with an uneven number, e.g. 25. After the duration of IR wore off, there was no opportunity to use this uneven number without wasting gauge or weaking your next burst, so you just had to ignore the overflow/loss. Another problem was that the Infuriate trait was useless after the opener. It ensured that Infuriate was ready during every Berserk (60s) past the opener, but was left unused past that.
I think the idea of havling the cost is - or was - quite interessting and imo should come back in a different form - in this case in form of stacks that are spent once you use your Beast Gauge GCDs.
With my suggested rework, you should be able to land 6 FC + 2 IR, 1 Upheaval + 1 Onslaught in every Berserk + 1 SP (prefered).
I've separated Berserk from IR, so you can control your gauge generation during burst, and use Infuriate/Nascent Chaos [Inner Chaos/Chaotic Cyclone] in raid buffs - instead of 5x FC and then IR/CC outside of raid buffs. The knockback effect is now an additional buff you can turn off in case you must do so, without losing your stacks. Baking it into Berserk would make it too strong, 20s of knockback preventing is way too much.
PROS:
-A more complex, rewarding rotation
-Burst interacts more with the rotation and its gauge generation
-Nascent Chaos (IC and CC) can and should be used during Berserk/IR, no more "wasted" IC during IR
-MOAR FC during bursts
-DH can be melded, omni-tank gear has better synergy across all tanks
-Infuriate trait (5s reset) still usefull, it ensures 2 IR during Berserk
-Works with slower SkS also (recommended)
CONS:
-Less stable and slow start (first burst 1/8 FC will be used outside of Berserk/raid buffs)
-Downtime can mess with gauge generation needed for burst
-Less FC outside burst windows
Additional changes:
-Remove Beast gauge cost from Upheaval
Reason
The 'saved' gauge is necessary for 2nd Berserk, or you end up opercapping or not enough gauge. Also, in later stages, gauge overflow will get dumped into Onslaught, granting higher mobility without sacrificing FC casts nor causing rotation issues.
-Increase SE duration when Onslaught is used
Reason
My early rotation mapping shows that SE will drop after each Berserk for at least 1 GCD. Instead of simply increasing its duration by x seconds (also a possibility), I would like to see another mechanic/ability/trait that allows us to maintain buffs. It's also a good buff/QoL change for dungeons. Additionaly, Mythril Tempests SE duration increase should get buffed to 15s, up from 10s.
Additional notes:
This Berserk window is and was - imho - a better design for lower levels, especially for leveling. While the current Berserk just guarantees critDH for 10s, the new one gives a high damage buff with CHANCES to crit/DH for 20s. I think it would feel more powerful that way. Also the 20s is more forgiving and less punishing than 10s of "higher burst", you can actually play on lower GCD speed and still land 9 GCDs in your buff window.
Some of you might ask: "Why 4 stacks without cost, why not 8 stacks that half the cost? It's the same result!"
When I was mapping out the rotation, it seemed over the top complicated, and punishing once you lose the stacks. And there is still the problem that you might end up at an uneven gauge number, unless stacks stay for an unlimited duration. It also ended in 5 or 6 FC/IR getting used in Berserk in the opener, unless super delayed. With the current suggestion it's 7, and 3 of them are IR. This also compensates the 1 missing FC during your Berserk.
In my current rotation mapping 2 IR and 3 FC + 1 Upheaval + 1 Onslaught are being used inside raid buffs, including the opener.
Of course all this requires potency adjustments across the board and/or redesign of IR/CC, and changes to Nascent Flash's healing portion.
Continue reading...
today I am gonna present a few changes to our current Inner Release ability.
My goal is a slightly more complex and enjoyable rotation that interacts with our burst instead of "just have SE buff for at least 16s" and ignore Gauge. That's because - and I am gonna be blunt here - the current version is hella boring and dull, not engaging in the slightest.
The new ability is a mix from HW Berserk and 4.1 Inner Release/Berserk merged with the new stack/GCD buffs introduced with 5.1.
Berserk: 90s Recast, Increases damage dealt by [30-50]%. Duration: 20s
Inner Release: 90s recast, Grants 4 stacks of Inner Release, each stack allowing the use of Beast Gauge weaponskills without cost.
(Weaponskills = Fell Cleave, Decimate, Inner Chaos, and Chaotic Cyclone). Duration: 20s
Additional Effect: Nullifies Stun, Sleep, Bind, Heavy, and most knockback and draw-in effects. Duration: 10s
The old HW Berserk increased your damage by a wooping 50% for 20s on 90s recast, but applied a 5s pacification debuff that was mostly dealt by using a BRD with The Warden's Paean. And that fact was a huge flaw because healers never "wanted" to esuna, and thus a BRD was must-have - and also for other reasons.
During 4.0-4.1 Berserk was a 60s CD that granted 30% flat damage buff for 20s, while IR was a 120s CD that halved ALL Beast Gauge cost during its duration - 20s also. The problem: this IR burst was prone to downtime/disengagements, as it could happen that the gauge was left with an uneven number, e.g. 25. After the duration of IR wore off, there was no opportunity to use this uneven number without wasting gauge or weaking your next burst, so you just had to ignore the overflow/loss. Another problem was that the Infuriate trait was useless after the opener. It ensured that Infuriate was ready during every Berserk (60s) past the opener, but was left unused past that.
I think the idea of havling the cost is - or was - quite interessting and imo should come back in a different form - in this case in form of stacks that are spent once you use your Beast Gauge GCDs.
With my suggested rework, you should be able to land 6 FC + 2 IR, 1 Upheaval + 1 Onslaught in every Berserk + 1 SP (prefered).
I've separated Berserk from IR, so you can control your gauge generation during burst, and use Infuriate/Nascent Chaos [Inner Chaos/Chaotic Cyclone] in raid buffs - instead of 5x FC and then IR/CC outside of raid buffs. The knockback effect is now an additional buff you can turn off in case you must do so, without losing your stacks. Baking it into Berserk would make it too strong, 20s of knockback preventing is way too much.
PROS:
-A more complex, rewarding rotation
-Burst interacts more with the rotation and its gauge generation
-Nascent Chaos (IC and CC) can and should be used during Berserk/IR, no more "wasted" IC during IR
-MOAR FC during bursts
-DH can be melded, omni-tank gear has better synergy across all tanks
-Infuriate trait (5s reset) still usefull, it ensures 2 IR during Berserk
-Works with slower SkS also (recommended)
CONS:
-Less stable and slow start (first burst 1/8 FC will be used outside of Berserk/raid buffs)
-Downtime can mess with gauge generation needed for burst
-Less FC outside burst windows
Additional changes:
-Remove Beast gauge cost from Upheaval
Reason
The 'saved' gauge is necessary for 2nd Berserk, or you end up opercapping or not enough gauge. Also, in later stages, gauge overflow will get dumped into Onslaught, granting higher mobility without sacrificing FC casts nor causing rotation issues.
-Increase SE duration when Onslaught is used
Reason
My early rotation mapping shows that SE will drop after each Berserk for at least 1 GCD. Instead of simply increasing its duration by x seconds (also a possibility), I would like to see another mechanic/ability/trait that allows us to maintain buffs. It's also a good buff/QoL change for dungeons. Additionaly, Mythril Tempests SE duration increase should get buffed to 15s, up from 10s.
Additional notes:
This Berserk window is and was - imho - a better design for lower levels, especially for leveling. While the current Berserk just guarantees critDH for 10s, the new one gives a high damage buff with CHANCES to crit/DH for 20s. I think it would feel more powerful that way. Also the 20s is more forgiving and less punishing than 10s of "higher burst", you can actually play on lower GCD speed and still land 9 GCDs in your buff window.
Some of you might ask: "Why 4 stacks without cost, why not 8 stacks that half the cost? It's the same result!"
When I was mapping out the rotation, it seemed over the top complicated, and punishing once you lose the stacks. And there is still the problem that you might end up at an uneven gauge number, unless stacks stay for an unlimited duration. It also ended in 5 or 6 FC/IR getting used in Berserk in the opener, unless super delayed. With the current suggestion it's 7, and 3 of them are IR. This also compensates the 1 missing FC during your Berserk.
In my current rotation mapping 2 IR and 3 FC + 1 Upheaval + 1 Onslaught are being used inside raid buffs, including the opener.
Of course all this requires potency adjustments across the board and/or redesign of IR/CC, and changes to Nascent Flash's healing portion.
Continue reading...