Playing a support in fractals

[Zenith.7301]

I don't play druid, way too frustrating chasing down people to stay in my healing fields. Had a supportish firebrand in our CM's and the amount of block sharing for those dangerous attacks was immense for making a breeze out of fights.

 

I think people are seriously underestimating support firebrands. They can still provides respectable DPS, and they provide great condi clear which helps a lot in CM 99 and 100 on top of aegis.

[Ojimaru.8970]

> @Feanor.2358 said:

> > @Ojimaru.8970 said:

> > I think the main mental gap people need to cross is the twin facts that

> >

> > 1. No matter how much healing you can push out, if you or your party members eat every single major attack, you will still wipe; and

> > 2. Even as support, you should still be contributing damage, especially during burn phases.

> >

> > I've been to one too many Fractal groups that has somebody camping Water Attunement or Ventari _for the entire fight_, even when the party was healthy. Dragging out fights also increases the mental fatigue of players, most especially when you're doing a full daily run, and therefore lead to more mistakes, more damage taken, and more chances of failure.

>

> Come on. The dps of a magi healer is essentially zero. I would camp water if I was a staff healer, too. Not only I will have faster access to heals should they be needed, I would also counter chip damage, keep the party topped and Scholar bonuses up. This will by far surpass any personal dps I might have been contributing. Same applies for any pure healer. If you're playing a condi druid - of course, dps. But on a magi/minstrel, better focus on healing.

 

Even in full Magi (which I contest is a bad set for Fractals), a Staff Healer Tempest deals more damage in the other three attunements compared to camping Water. Furthermore, camping Water also means you lose out of traits like Elemental Attunement, Healing Ripple, and Latent Stamina/Unstable Conduit, as well as the secondary Overload buffs (Fire field, Static Charge, and Protection).

 

In most cases you are better off being an active contributor to the fight then a reactive contingency. Water Blast isn't going to save people from killing themselves and each other with Social Awkwardness, and Soothing Mists lasts for 10 seconds, so why not switch to another attunement and open up a fresh set of options for yourself and the team?

 

Lastly, due to the unfortunate state of Power-based damage, the priority on Scholar rune upkeep is barely a consideration these days.

[Incarne.4927]

> @Zenith.7301 said:

> I don't play druid, way too frustrating chasing down people to stay in my healing fields. Had a supportish firebrand in our CM's and the amount of block sharing for those dangerous attacks was immense for making a breeze out of fights.

>

> I think people are seriously underestimating support firebrands. They can still provides respectable DPS, and they provide great condi clear which helps a lot in CM 99 and 100 on top of aegis.

 

That's what I'm running, but I let people know ahead of time just in case they don't want a support. Also, staff rework when! lol

[Feanor.2358]

> @Ojimaru.8970 said:

> > @Feanor.2358 said:

> > > @Ojimaru.8970 said:

> > > I think the main mental gap people need to cross is the twin facts that

> > >

> > > 1. No matter how much healing you can push out, if you or your party members eat every single major attack, you will still wipe; and

> > > 2. Even as support, you should still be contributing damage, especially during burn phases.

> > >

> > > I've been to one too many Fractal groups that has somebody camping Water Attunement or Ventari _for the entire fight_, even when the party was healthy. Dragging out fights also increases the mental fatigue of players, most especially when you're doing a full daily run, and therefore lead to more mistakes, more damage taken, and more chances of failure.

> >

> > Come on. The dps of a magi healer is essentially zero. I would camp water if I was a staff healer, too. Not only I will have faster access to heals should they be needed, I would also counter chip damage, keep the party topped and Scholar bonuses up. This will by far surpass any personal dps I might have been contributing. Same applies for any pure healer. If you're playing a condi druid - of course, dps. But on a magi/minstrel, better focus on healing.

>

> Even in full Magi (which I contest is a bad set for Fractals), a Staff Healer Tempest deals more damage in the other three attunements compared to camping Water. Furthermore, camping Water also means you lose out of traits like Elemental Attunement, Healing Ripple, and Latent Stamina/Unstable Conduit, as well as the secondary Overload buffs (Fire field, Static Charge, and Protection).

>

> In most cases you are better off being an active contributor to the fight then a reactive contingency. Water Blast isn't going to save people from killing themselves and each other with Social Awkwardness, and Soothing Mists lasts for 10 seconds, so why not switch to another attunement and open up a fresh set of options for yourself and the team?

>

> Lastly, due to the unfortunate state of Power-based damage, the priority on Scholar rune upkeep is barely a consideration these days.

 

Yeah, you'll deal more damage in the other attunements. And compared to your dps classes, it will still be essentially zero. Sure, swap out when you need a particular utility from another attunement. But for dps? Not worth the effort. I'd still go with Water Blast. Also don't underestimate power builds in the context of fractals. At least half of all dps builds I see in t4/cm groups are power, meaning Scholar bonus is still a valid consideration.

 

Whether or not the full support sets are good for fractals is a different matter. In experienced groups, I would agree. However, they are pretty good for carrying pugs, which can be rather bad even at t4. So it really depends on your typical usage.