2 replies to this topic

[Rukaroa]

So there's this dangly little point I kinda want to get rid of since it's kinda useless for me (though it does save me some walking in farming).
 
Oh no! Secret build is out!
 
So I decided to look into Summon Spirit Sphere objectively to see if it is what it's cracked up to be. We all know that Summon Spirit Sphere (SSS) is supposed to help monks refresh all of their skills and can be used to get high CD skills off faster such as Fury Explosion/Guillotine Fist (FE/GF) and Protection Ki (PK). But just how much of a difference does it make?
 
First thing's first, let's set a time limit. Currently, a normal raid boss takes about 10-15 minutes to down. So we'll randomly pick a number there and say...12 minutes. We'll look at how often you can pull off FE/GF and PK in that amount of time.
 
These are the base numbers of how many times you can pull them off if you use these as soon as they come off cooldown:
 
Fury Explosion/Guillotine Fist: 12
Protection Ki: 6
 
Now we're going to use the above skills as soon as they come off cooldown and refresh them immediately if SSS is available. Each block is worth 30 seconds. Fury Explosion will be used every 30 seconds for efficiency and Guillotine Fist will follow ASAP. Protection Ki only lasts 10 seconds, but the blocks still represent 30 seconds of passing time.
 
Below are the results.
 
Fury Explosion/Guillotine Fist
 

 
Protection Ki

 
Results in Tabulated Form
 

 
Okay, so what does all of this mean?
 
In a nutshell, getting at least lv1 SSS will result in 2 more FE/GF and PK over 12 minutes. However, lv5 SSS isn't necessarily that much better than lv1 SSS.
 
At lv5 SSS, you get a one more FE/GF use compared to lv1, and you didn't need lv5 SSS to even get that since lv4 was enough.
 
The same story can be seen with lv5 SSS when using Protection Ki. However in that case, you're really not using it as soon as it comes off cooldown since it's more of a defensive stance when you're getting pounded or expecting a huge attack to come. Either way, actual usage is lower since you won't be spamming it as much as FE/GF.
 
So why max out SSS at all? Sure it feels like you're getting off GFs more often, but all lv5 SSS really means is that you have it ready sooner to be able to use it at a moment's notice. However, if you stick with lv1 SSS, you may have to use it as soon as possible to make the best use of it otherwise you're waiting a whole 4 minutes instead of 2 minutes to get it ready for an emergency.
 
So what's the optimum level for SSS? Findings above says lv4 gets you the best balance of cooldown and uses for your long CD skills, even lv3 if you don't mind the loss of 1 FE/GF. In the end though, the level of SSS is whatever you're comfortable with. Regardless, every monk should get this at least lv1 because it does help. From there, you can use points to keep leveling this skill or save them for something else depending on your goals.
 
Again, thanks for reading, and let me know your thoughts on this.

Edited by Rukaroa, 29 July 2013 - 02:01 AM.

[DatMONKey]

More interesting information. It's a bit hard for Monks to figure this out innately since most people dont get extensive use of skills during the period they would level SSS from 1 to 5 or wherever they please.

I will say that max SSS is invaluable to me. As you said it is more readily available at a moments notice and allows for clutch plays in colo and clutch saves in Raids. I can't tell you how many time I've been able to finish off a raid boss when things look grim or drop a dps when I am at extremely low health.

We did discuss possible future builds if and when AGI comes into play on Monk gear. This proves that taking a point from SSS and putting into Flee would still be very ok.

 

Thanks for presenting this information.

Edited by DatMONKey, 28 July 2013 - 02:29 PM.

[Rukaroa]

Modified the post with corrected usages for Protection Ki and lv4 and 5 SSS. You actually still can use it up to 9 times instead of 7 in 12 minutes at lv5 and up to 10 uses at lv4.

Edited by Rukaroa, 29 July 2013 - 02:01 AM.