At-Wills
Cleave
Magnitude per second:
(Magnitude of each attack / animation times)
(55+55+55)/(0.5+0.4+0.75)=100
Magnitude per second with ‘Cleaving Bull’ Feat:
(105+105+105)/(0.5+0.4+0.75)=190.90
Cleave is designed as the default attack against multiple enemies. Boosted with the bugged-for-good (+50 Magnitude instead of +40 when hitting multiple enemies) ‘Cleaving Bull’ Feat, this At-Will is unmatched against hordes of mobs. This At-Will can be used to apply debuffs like Vistani and Grace Ring. Thus it is often used.
Brazen Slash
Magnitude per second:
(Magnitude of each attack / animation times)
(100+100+100)/(0.5+0.65+0.5)=181.81
Stamina Regeneration:
3 Stamina per second / cast time:
1.5 / 1.95 / 1.5 Stamina replenished
Brazen Slash is designed to maximize damage against single enemies. The added Stamina Restoration is a nice bonus for survivability. Can be used on boss fights if group damage is not high enough to justify the use of Tide of Iron or Threatening Rush.
Generates 3 Stamina/s (multiply with cast time to get the exact values). Unaffected by the Stamina Regeneration stat.
Shield Bash
Magnitude per second:
(Magnitude of each attack / animation times)
(55)/(0.7)=91.66
Shield Bash should not be used for two reasons:
Shield Bash deals not enough damage per second to hold aggro.
If one expects an incoming attack, blocking (+ using Shield Bash) provides less protection than Dig In and thus effectively wastes stamina when hit. Additionally, Stamina does not regenerate while blocking.
Guarded Strike
Magnitude per second:
(Magnitude of each attack / animation times)
(100)/(0.5)=200
Similar to Shield Bash, Guarded Strike should not be used for the same reasons. One exception: Tiamats stuns that can be avoided with shielding.
Tide of Iron (ToI)
Magnitude per second:
(Magnitude of each attack / animation times)
(120)/(1)=120
Tide of Iron provides an additive +500% boost to the Threat generation to all attacks (See Math Section in the Threat Section). That is in general ~33% more Threat.
Tide of Iron is the way to go, when holding aggro gets complicated against well equipped damage dealers. Should be used once in 10s to refresh the buff.
Threatening Rush
Magnitude per second:
(Magnitude of each attack / animation times)
(60)/(0.8)=75
Threatening Rush generates 300% more Threat (multiplier). Additionally Threatening Rush is a gap closer. Due to this, it is the best aggro generator.
At-Will Discussion
Aside from Shield Bash and Guarded Strike there are 4 At-Wills usable.
For mob groups the best choice of At-Wills is a combination of Cleave and any of the other three (Brazen Slash, Tide of Iron or Threatening Rush). Brazen Slash can be used for its fast and high damage attacks on remaining big baddies. Tide of Iron can be chosen if one really wants to make sure to get the aggro of all minors. Threatening Rush can be used as a gap closer and to additionally maximize threat on the more tougher minors in the group. Not using Cleave is not recommended, as one would need to use Encounters like Linebreaker to hold aggro on all mobs or rely fully on Aggro generators like the Darklake Ring.
For bosses the best choice of At-Wills is a combination of Cleave, Brazen Slash, Tide of Iron and Threatening Rush. Cleave is listed here, because it can reliably trigger debuffs from the Vistani set and the Eilistraee’s Grace ring, which are crucial for a support build. Brazen Slash is awesome for generating extra Stamina and gaining survivability. Tide of Iron is great for maximizing threat. Threatening Rush is also great to maximize threat.
Personally, I use Cleave and Tide of Iron as default with the Vistani set and the Grace ring and switch Cleave out for Brazen Slash if I feel more need for survivability.
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