Improved alacrity.

[Veprovina.4876]

> @"Leonidrex.5649" said:

> > @"Quadox.7834" said:

> > pretty bad for pvp, 33% better sounds like a lot but in practice it isn't bcs of low uptime, but good in pve

>

> improved alac is REALLY good if you are using lost time, problem is that mesmer is too garbage to afford and make " cute " combos like this.

 

That's actually a good combo for WvW, i run that.

 

Delayed reactions (disabling a foe slows them), Improved Alacrity and Lost time.

Pair that with a Domination traid Vicious Expression and you got yourself a nice combo whenever you disable someone.

 

Disabling now slows the enemy, strips boons from them and gives you alacrity. :tongue:

 

It's only garbage in PvE where you'd be hard pressed to choose that over Seize the Moment.

I've been doing Seize the moment on minstrel's with uber alacrity on the wintersday strike. I have perma quickness and perma alacrity lol. Shame minstrel's hits like a wet noodle so i don't do damage like, at all but it's fun being support.

[Leonidrex.5649]

> @"Veprovina.4876" said:

> > @"Leonidrex.5649" said:

> > > @"Quadox.7834" said:

> > > pretty bad for pvp, 33% better sounds like a lot but in practice it isn't bcs of low uptime, but good in pve

> >

> > improved alac is REALLY good if you are using lost time, problem is that mesmer is too garbage to afford and make " cute " combos like this.

>

> That's actually a good combo for WvW, i run that.

>

> Delayed reactions (disabling a foe slows them), Improved Alacrity and Lost time.

> Pair that with a Domination traid Vicious Expression and you got yourself a nice combo whenever you disable someone.

>

> Disabling now slows the enemy, strips boons from them and gives you alacrity. :tongue:

>

> It's only garbage in PvE where you'd be hard pressed to choose that over Seize the Moment.

> I've been doing Seize the moment on minstrel's with uber alacrity on the wintersday strike. I have perma quickness and perma alacrity lol. Shame minstrel's hits like a wet noodle so i don't do damage like, at all but it's fun being support.

 

problem with slow on disable is that its almost useless by itself, what use do I get from 1,5s slow on CC when CC lasts 1,5s.

and you end up with 3 or more traits to do 1 thing, when others get similar things much easier

[Veprovina.4876]

> @"Leonidrex.5649" said:

> > @"Veprovina.4876" said:

> > > @"Leonidrex.5649" said:

> > > > @"Quadox.7834" said:

> > > > pretty bad for pvp, 33% better sounds like a lot but in practice it isn't bcs of low uptime, but good in pve

> > >

> > > improved alac is REALLY good if you are using lost time, problem is that mesmer is too garbage to afford and make " cute " combos like this.

> >

> > That's actually a good combo for WvW, i run that.

> >

> > Delayed reactions (disabling a foe slows them), Improved Alacrity and Lost time.

> > Pair that with a Domination traid Vicious Expression and you got yourself a nice combo whenever you disable someone.

> >

> > Disabling now slows the enemy, strips boons from them and gives you alacrity. :tongue:

> >

> > It's only garbage in PvE where you'd be hard pressed to choose that over Seize the Moment.

> > I've been doing Seize the moment on minstrel's with uber alacrity on the wintersday strike. I have perma quickness and perma alacrity lol. Shame minstrel's hits like a wet noodle so i don't do damage like, at all but it's fun being support.

>

> problem with slow on disable is that its almost useless by itself, what use do I get from 1,5s slow on CC when CC lasts 1,5s.

> and you end up with 3 or more traits to do 1 thing, when others get similar things much easier

 

Well that goes into what i already complained about in other threads, that mesmers are nerfed to the ground and need to sacrifice way more and trait whole trait lines to get a thing other classes can do with 1 trait. So... I agree, but since it's not going to change for a time, i work with what i got. And that seems to be the best trait combination for boonstrip. According to ArcDPS i'm always in the top 5 strips with the top being not much more strips than me so it's ok. The only problem is that Warriors that are usually top strips with their bubble, can also be good at 5 other things at once but mesmers have to build their entire build around just 1 thing and you're lacking on everything else. Same with almost every other class... It is what it is for now, and that slow can matter a lot when you're fighting a lot of people as it adds up with all other players abilities.

 

Besides, for a boonstrip build, my choice is:

 

Time Catches up - gives illusions superspeed - garbage in general (wtf are my illusions gonna do with superspeed 1 hp damage someone to death?), and garbage in WvW especially since every illusion dies the moment it spawns.

 

All's Well That Ends Well - Good for a variant of my build where i'm more healy/tanky with less boonstrip.

 

Which again - others can do all that and not have to sacrifice being healy/tanky, plus they get to do 5 other good things but whatever.... Mesmers are OP right? lol

[Quadox.7834]

to run alac on slow you need slow on disable but then you miss out on superspeed shatters which is one of the best parts of chrono

[Veprovina.4876]

> @"Quadox.7834" said:

> to run alac on slow you need slow on disable but then you miss out on superspeed shatters which is one of the best parts of chrono

 

That's only useful if you have illusions. In WvW, slow is more consistent because you can never count on having any illusions alive.

[rhall.8150]

I think I have found another way of explaining Alacrity for those who are still struggling to see the benefit:

 

there are a few things to consider when thinking about alacrity.

-What is the efficacy of my alacrity (1.25 or 1.5)

-How long does my alacrity effect me? (full or reduced to 0.66 duration)

-How much time does this remove from my CD? and in what duration of time?

-When my applied Alacrity is up, how much CD do I have left before I can use the skill again? (effective time saved)

lets look at three mesmers, that all have a cooldown of 10s and the latter two cast Well of Recall. Mesmer 1 has no alacrity, Mesmer 2 has normal alacrity and Mesmer 3 has Improved Alacrity

 

Mesmer 1 will need 10s for the CD to be done (basic kitten) okay, easy.

Mesmer 2 gets 5s of 1.25 Alacrity. That means after 5s, 6.25 of the 10s CD has been recharged, and at the 5s timepoint, there is only **3.75s** of CD left (Mesmer 1 still has 5s).

 

now here is where things get a touch tricky...

Mesmer 3 has improved Alacrity with 1.5 the efficacy. From Well of Recall, this Mesmer will only get 3.3s of Alacrity instead of the full 5 (5 * 0.66). When the alacrity from that one WoR is up, this Mesmer will have recovered 1.5 * 3.3 = **4.95** (~5s) of CD Recharge. In comparison to the other two at THIS timepoint (3.3s), Mesmer 1 will still have 6.7s left of CD, and Mesmer 2 will have 5.875s (6s) left of CD.

 

Given that all three Mesmers receive no further source of Alacrity, will this make a difference?

Mesmer 1 still needs the full 10s obv. (CD - effective cooldown from alacrity) = leftover CD (10 - 0) = 10

Mesmer 2 will need 3.75s (10 - 6.25) after 5s of "alacritized" recharge or ~4s (10-6.25s) for the full 10s CD to be up. This makes a total of 8.75s and means 1.25s were saved.

Mesmer 3 will need 5.05 (10 - 4.95) after 3.3s of "alacritized" recharge for the full 10s CD to be up. This makes a total of 8.35s and means 1.65s were saved.

 

this shows that the improved alacrity, even with a reduced duration, is still more effective than standard Alacrity with a difference of 32%. If you have perma Alacrity up or use multiple sources (shatters, Signet of Inspiration, etc.), the reduced duration of the improved Alacrity means even less but your sources of alacrity will be more stressed. Example, with this CD, to fully recharge the skill, Mesmer 2 needs 8s of Alacrity (from various sources) and will save 2s over Mesmer 1, Mesmer 3 will need 6.66 (~7s) of Improved alacrity to fully recharge the CD.

 

Hope this helps! Please comment below if you have any further questions or criticisms! Math was never my best subject but I'm fairly confident with how I calculated this! :)