DPS Zealot, The Double-Edged Dagger

I've done some serious testing, even FRAPSed it (although chances of it becoming an actual posted video are close to none as I don't have much free time on my hands to devote to learn how to make a presentable thingy).

I was surprised, impressed even, at the Zealot's ability to deal real damage and real kills, despite most of them being stolen. In the same exact specc, changing only my tactics and toggling on/off the Harbinger, I was healing the same as usual, which was very good.

Bear in mind we're talking about a rr70 Zealot in good gear so results may difer.

So, what I did was:

Tactics: Divine Fury (yes, I ended up using it after all cuz, frankly, I don't need to switch back to healing when in a premade with (an)other good healer(s)); Chager's Touch (the heal debuff is as sweet as I expected); Waves of Chaos, Scourged Warping.

I had to turn on Duff timer, which I don't usually use with my healer, so I could have some visual input of when Scourged Warping ticked and to check the efficiency of Changer's Touch.

I am pleased.
I would recomend all you Zealots started switching to DPS as well, if the battle is going in your favor.

The Healer's Hassle

That's my title, that is.
I've been trying something different, not necessarily good, but I've quite ejoyed it.

Long overdue, I've been trying to DPS more often, taking advantage of my new found intteligence softcap (sitting at 1070 with the Int buff an the Harbringer set to offensive). The result has been... satisfying and I've found myself trying to raise alternative healers for my scenario parties so I can DPS. I've taken revenge on WHs and WLs alike, closing in the gap in my Dammaz Kron. Oh yeah, I dinged 70. Also, long overdue.

But let's continue our DPS Zealot musings.

With my new found renown rank came a new mastery point which I spent to buy Chaotic Agitation. It is actually quite a good spell and I'll tell you more about its potential shortly.

I could feal the evil glares as other players started noticing the Scourge coming from my focus so I tried to not switch to DPS tactics very often, remaining in healer-friendly tactics and only turning on the harbringer once in a while.

But I've been thinking of completely rehauling my specc to slot in some new goodies and possibly make my Zealot a true force to be reckoned with while DPSing.

My DPS friendly-tactics have been Waves of Chaos (rituals pulse with damage), Divine Fury (25% more damage but 20% less healing; that or the other way around), Something-Or-Other (20%? chance to proc an absorb shield of 700~? on being hit) and Scourged Warping (each tick of Warp Reality - the DoT - has a chance of making the next Scourge cast in 10 seconds to be insta cast). All well and good but I'm not happy with Divine Fury. The extra damage is good but the healing gimp is noticeable when I have to turn off my Harbringer to save myself (and, possibly others) from certain death.

So I've been looking at other tactics to buy to slot in instead of it. I could go for Manipulation, to keep damaging while I turn back to healing. But there's too many 25%s in tthat equation, making its damage output quite gimped.

Chaotic Force wouldn't be half bad either, considering I mainly cast Tzeentch's Cry and Scourge while Chaotic Agitation cools down. But taking up a tactic slot for just two abilities seems a bit of a waste.

But what really caught my eye was Changer's Touch. Chaotic Agitation crits nicely, even though my crit is subpar (sitting at around 16%). But Chaotic Agitation has some very nice points going for it: the hits are close together; if the target goes out of range (oh, say, to the backline next to his juicy healers) it keeps on hitting, wether I lose LoS or just range; my AP ritual makes its AP cost almost null. Now, from the recently discovered usefulness of the Shadow Warrior's heal debuff (yes, only now have I started seeing Shadow Warrior's actually use it on a regular basis) I can assert that a 50% heal debuff is not to be taken lightly, especially if u can AoE it. 2k heals will only heal 1k and previously useful HoTs of 500~will be cut down to 250ish. Not terribad, in my opinion.

I'm left to wonder if it stacks with Windblock, but I'd need some help in testing it out.

I'm also thinking of scraping up an extra point to buy Boon of Tzeentch, if its axis problems have been fixed (I've heard nothing to confirm this), mainly to improve my own survivability against those pesky pouncers and stealthers.

I also wonder if anyone out there has tried these things out and can shed some light on the subject. My bloodthirst would greatly apreciate it.

Chaos in the Old World

I try to get away from WAR, now and then. Mostly to go sleep or to indulge in some much needed bodily functions. But we've made a habit of taking weekend nights to visit our neighbours' house and having a game night. We can either rock out on our fake guitars with Rock Band, play Munchkin, build roads in Catan and we even gave Risk a go. I ended up starting with Mother Russia, lost it but, by golly, I won it back! And that single russian fended off wave after wave of invasions.

We have other 2 games we play regularly: Warhammer Invasion and Chaos in the Old World. You play as one of the four Chaos God and kill the other's minions and ruin places. Godly enough, in my opinion. I usually end up playing Tzeentch (not by choice, mind you, but the laws of the universe have decided that if I went Zealot and Magus, I must be Tzeentchian), but this time I gave Slaanesh a go.

Good times were had by all, as good times usually are, when there's alcohol involved.

Later we came back and back to WAR it was. I've been pretty lucky with our Mount Gunbad runs and I've gotten 2 Redeye setpieces so far. I decided to go full DPS on scenarios with Donkeywrath (with the odd healing now and then) and I decided not to specc out of the AoE tree. Turned out quite well. Chaotic Agitation is now among my favourite abilities in the game. It can crit up to 500 on mobs and 300ish on players. And it ticks lots. On lots of people.

Although in some scenarios I proved to be less effective, Talabec Dam turned out to be real sweet. Especially if we had other good healers in there and I could feel free to just kill and rez up. (Sorry for the uncropped pic, I cba to go to the laptop and crop it.)

All in all, I'm fairly pleased with my DPS and this might encourage even more people to stop picking at us. We can be helpful if you work with us, not against. And I still pick up a new set of tactics if we're short on healers. So, less bitching and more healer rolling, there's still not enough of us out there so that I can DPS moar!

On a side note, it seems our PvE runs are getting indefinitely postponed as the bossman is always sleeping now that he found a job. That Darkpromise set seems almost impossible to get by now. And don't get me started on my Sentinel boots...