refunded channeling focus aa's gonna burn a hole in my elysian tunic -- just what exactly does critical affliction aa do (double the dot damage for the tic it clicks in only or entire lenght of dot?) Seems if is the former it wouldn't be worth it.

I seem to recall reading that it increased the chance of breaking root -- is this true?

double the dot damage for the tic it clicks in only


I seem to recall reading that it increased the chance of breaking root -- is this true?
I don't know but I would guess no.

DoTs do not break root unless they have an initial DD component. An enchanter DoT has this for example. It is well worth the cost even though it is on a per tic basis. Extra damage is always good. Especially on click items like Orb of Clinging Death.

thanks

I won't ever regret the aa's for spell casting fury because that does a BIG difference in damage when it clicks in.

But, an extra 200 damage a click doesn't seem much. Do you know how often critical affliction goes off in a minute at each level on average? In other words, do you see an noticeable increase in dot damage per mob per each level of the aa?

I guess if you are root/rotting and stacking dots it might add up indeed if it clicks in often enough -- is the check made against each dot individually every tick?

DoT crit AAs are a worthwhile place to spend AAs especially if you have Focus Effects to increase DoT duration and actual damage done.

Each tic of the DoT has a % change of critting and doubling the damage performed that tic. The damage is doubled after any increase from Focus Effects is factored in.

I Currently have a 45% Improved Fire damage focus effect from CoA and I've seen Vengence of the Sun crit for a max of 1268.

Parsing with YALP shows me that VotS hits for an average of 632 per tic (Maxd DoT Crits + 45% Fire ID). VotS hits for a base of 412 each tic, add in FE raises this to an average of 504 each tic, so Max'd DoT crit AA raises the damage I do by about 25%.

Totally agree... Critical affliction AAs are well worth the points especially if you solo and root-DoT. Focus effects that raise the base damage per tic, as Seeker has mentioned make it even better... Burning Affliction is a good all-round one to get.

Yep I don't have that high end focus stuff just BA 5 and crit affliction first part at 2 and I see my dots doing 1024 ....I crit ALOT wasp swarm doing 666 often and with bards songs OMG.

It is crucial for root rotting with my shammy and wizard friends in 69.1 hard missions. I want to fill the line all the way out but feel I must get healing aa's done first then will come back to them asap.

wow!!! thanks for the info...great numbers I will have to pursue.

what would you guess the percent damage increase would be at level one critical affliction? I am a 64 druid with mostly focus effect 3 equipment. I have avoided levelling to 65 but i have over 100 aa's so where to put them is getting a bit harder without moving up. Thinks this would be much better place than the damage avoidance aa.

Errr someone else can do the math... but I found this on EqDiva.com, the bard messageboard/site:


http://www.eqdiva.com/Forums/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=65998 (http://www.eqdiva.com/Forums/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=65998)

"Improved Critical Affliction - Req. Crit Affliction 3 and Level 67/68/69
3/6/9
This ability grants damage-over-time spells an increased chance to have a critical effect each time they are active. (3% addition chance to proc per level, 18% chance to crit on each tick of each DoT doing double damage with CA3 and ICA3)"

well i was sold on critical affliction aas until i started playing with the new 'out of combat' regen system. While criticals from dots would seem always good, seems to me it makes more sense now to just nuke away instead of root/rotting since you can regain 2k mana in about one minute.

Hence, I've put my 9 aa's into DD criticals.

Yes, I've put AA into DD crits too =) the OOC regen is all good for the solo druid! ...but I do like the flexibility of root rotting as it lets you kill in tighter spaces and/or areas of uneven ground where kite and nuke isn't as viable.

okay, just got the first two levels of critical affliction -- do you get a message that a critical has kicked in similar to the nuke criticals? I have my dot damage and spell damage filters on but i don't see anything to turn on to know its working or how often it is going off.

i just notice that the damage is doubled on the dot... a 700pt curse dot is doubled, a 600+ swarm is, a 110 epic 1.0 is, etc... you just have to keep mental track of it, if you want to follow along. bottom line is, the mob will die a tick or two faster.

/cackles

Yeah... you do not get a special message in a different colour saying "You have scored a critical blast for (###) damage!" DOT criticals are in the same color and wording as the usual damage message... so you need to scan for the numbers specifically.

Also, the critical does not get reported to the group as with DD criticals... so you won't have group mates commenting "nice crit!" None of the glory of nukage but it does get the job done.

I just wish we could shorten the DoT messages like you can Melee damage messages.

Critical affliction line of aa's also effects clicky DoT's (epic 1, tempest blade, orb from time) which makes this a must have aa line for anyone who does any sort of dueling...

At least for soloing I think the replies in this thread are underestimating the power of dots and dot crits. You can layer substantial damage down - and you don't get one nuke per tick since you have to kite around, while root/rotting should let you achieve maximum dot dps consistently. At level 68 - with Burning Affliction V and 12% dot crits (21 AAs) - you max out at 1430 damage per tick with a full dot layering (wasp swarm, swarming death, vengeance of the sun, immolation of the sun, winged death, epic 1 dot). Sylvan Fire is 2278 per hit with a 25% fire focus and 15% crits (33 AAs). If your goal is pure dps you win with Sylvan Fire if you can land 2 of them every 3 ticks, which is not trivial in a typical kite - more often it is every other tick or less.
Since you can get Affliction Efficiency V from tribute easily, the mana cost of dots is also less - basically, you can chain pull without even the 3 minutes downtime with dots with root/rotting. I can get 5-6 consecutive pulls without med if I have a clarity potion - my mana pool is around 6100. Nukes are very handy if you're dealing with caster mobs (especially healers - alternate stun and fire nukes). But I find that I gain steady exp faster with vanilla root/rots, not to mention reduced deaths from kiting glitches.

With the ooc regen now I DOT and nuke towards the end when root breaks just mean the mob turns away from you stationary due to snare (for those fleeing type mobs.) I agree that you can do a tonne of damage via crit DOTS and it tends to be more relaxing for me not to have to be kiting all the time, but that can be a personal playstyle preference.