Earth/Fire DPS

I used to be earth dps so I know how awesome it could be. Simply go next to tank after he pulled adds clip tectonic break with reinforce then jackhammer away everything in sight. But with more and more adds blocking now its hard to use jackhammer and in boss fights where you need to get in close and still remain mobile doing consistant dps was nearly impossible.

Using jackhammer as the main and only focus of a single target rotation is doing it wrong.

Pre T5 I was an earth dps with 800+ prec and when using the relenless prec neck mod I was over 950 then add reinforce to that and you are well over 1k prec. In prime many times I out dps both gadgets and HL. Simply tetonic break for P.I. clip it with reinforce then jackhammer until reinforce is ready to be cast again. So basicly doing jackhammer with 50% multi and over 1k prec the whole fight nyone can do massive damage like that but its very situational. In BD on last boss with the 3 clowns because of there blocking cant consecutively do jackhammer so need to rely on short burst for damage so overall dps would drop alot. Those frustrating moments made me switch to HL mainly to have more consistant dps instead of just sometimes having insane numbers.

How to say it, there is far more to it then this. Spamming jackhammer for this long... dear lord no, just no. The dazed PI is out your buff is out, no debri field was placed, you don't make use of your waepon at all. This is doing it wrong, i'm sorry.

Dps With Any Power Is A Matter Of Speed And Maximizing Your Dmg/Speed. Daze Pi Runs Out So Continuing To Use Jackhammer After The Pi Is Gone Means You're Losing Dmg. Having A For Up Can Help Increase Your Dmg And Clipping Weapon Attacks With Powers Helps Squeeze In More Dmg Over Time. That's Why It's Beneficial To Mod Towards How Your Might/Prec Attacks Are Split In Your Rotation.

gadgets uses fear gas, gauss grenade, cryo field= easy high damage
hard light uses snap trap, light claws, impact= easy high damage
quantum uses warped reality, singilarty, gravity bomb= easy high damage

so whats so hard to believe that for earth to use tectonic break, reinforce, jackhammer to get that easy high damage. Most high dps use 3 maybe 4 powers on there loadout for a standard rotation, the 5th and 6th are most likely a supercharge and some sort of shield or damage immunity. You may want to use other powers on your loadout because you like them or think they are pretty but overall that what you would be using most of them time cause that will give you that high damage. Also even if you go prec/ might or even full might you wont do nearly as much damage as full prec thats just how earth is.

earth dps imo is a spam power set if you go precision based where I just use tetonic break reinforce clip into jack hammer hen I just spam it until the daze is over and repeat and I sometimes add debris field. and fyi earth dosent need to be super close u can be above the enemies head and still hit them and u don't get hit u can have distance

easy-high dmg=/= top possible damage for each powerset mentioned there is waepon combos clipped into the rotation,trinkets, consumables.A Good rotation is about stacking as much dmg as possible in the shortest time possible.

Side note - what you stated is actually untrue- gadgets for instance uses 5 powers in their rotation.

Fact is that what you stated is an incomplete inefficient, and not the optimal way to deal dmg as earth. It is not a complete rotation, it's severly lacking and thus I am not suprised that You don't believe Earth can be viable in the new raids. The people who just spam jackhammer or those left behind at the far end of the scorecard, and I've run with such people before- trippling their dmg out.
That beeing said earth is not an easy powerset to play, nor to shine with, but for those who take the time and tinker with it it is very rewarding and can do as good as any other powerset.

sigh.... you just make it all the more clear that you dont understand earth, because earth is prec based you dont need to constantly clip your weapon combos its the same with hard light. If you stop to do your weapon combos only cause your are waiting for your power to regen. All I can say is shame your not on my server so I can show you how to dps. Lastly if ya say jackhammer can be efficently used in T5 raid then simply show me, record and post I would love to be proved wrong.

Jachammer is one move in a full might loadout, but Earth should mod purely prec? Jackhammer's dmg is no where NEAR the dmg of spinchop/downward smash/solar flare ect ect.. Earth is not hardlight earth is earth, the powersets are vastly dfferent. Btw even hardlight players- the excelent ones at least make use of waepons like rifle which allow them to squize in some more waepon dmg thanks to the simple tap combo :> I'm not doing my waepon combos for power regen lol, it's for increased damage. Or do you suggest that 1h's hit counter of 3 or staffs hitcounter of 5 would be effective at that? :> When I have the time, i'll gladly record a a t5 op or raid run with me dpsing just for you :>
Lastly I've been earth since it came out, I've been using it in t5 content ever since it became available to premiums, and I did great with it, but i also am not blinded by the notion that earth is one move an one move only.

Going to address your post DIRECTLY since it seems people have digressed from your question to an opinion argument here, so:

As an earth dps and a tank i can tell you, from experience, yes, earth IS comparable, if, like the good gadgets and HL players, you know your rotations/clips/powers. Yes it eats LOTS of power, but gadgets and HL eat more by far.

Yes, Earth can stay at the top of the charts, even without a SC, which I have done.

Earth tanking: Very hard to do well. It is VERY viable until you get to the t5 raids. That is where their lack luster abilities and HORRIDLY long cast times for tank powers really start to hurt, but t5 alerts and down, its good, even easy to tank with, if you know the loadout/rotation to do it well. If you seriously want to learn/experiment, I would be happy to give you what I do and a few pointers.

Dev's are VERY good at keeping this game balanced so I would give the earth tank time to flush out. I am sure it will be tweaked eventually and be just as good as the other tanks in time. Thats why I hold out

GL to ya whichever way you go...play YOUR game and dont worry about tryin to be the best. Have fun!

Jackhammer is prec after first hit and dazed gives added hit, so jackhammer gets boosted for every him, if dazed, each aftershock...in prec. If you are using JH as a might move, ur doin it wrong.

Earth is fortunate to have very good clipping powers available to it. My problem lies with not having the power points to get all the powers I want!

That's not what I said. I said Jackhammer is one prec move among all other's beeing might(upheveal sucks, earthquake sucks, gemstone sucks.)

Epicenter , Tectonic Break , Debris Field , Jackhammer , Gem Stone Shield , Reinforce is all you need to be a accurate DPS as a earth
some like to use upheaval , and totem there ok but not great for a good stack of the damage dots to increase the damage out put fast enough and in the end as always you really do need a good controller who can keep up with your power needs not these controllers who just think they can control but lack POT being up or back up trolls who just seem to never refill the main troll it's nice to see those who debuff when it's needed but let of us damage do our thing it's why we were created.

Now with 800 to 1K precision 1700 - 2200 might as skill points is where its at of course I as this current time 84 CR to 94 Cr if done and used right you should be out Dpsing HL and Nature hands down 20% higher and at times even fire depending on the player since I changed to this load out its beast clip all you feel you need to do easy way to test any load out and dot stacking of damage is use the sparing partner it's going to pop off the numbers giving you a general idea of what the damage will look like this is why it's there and a lot just don't use it then complain there being out done by those in lower tier with less sp test and retest till you find what your looking for and happy dpsing .....

I have been fire dd since launch and doing very good dps requires that you are skilled player.
Personally i cant keep up with similar geared good hl or gadget dds, but that could be player, not powerset issue. Cant tell for sure.

If you try to jackhammer and you get knocked back then you are running with a bad team blame the tank for low dominance and the controller for not having enough this is one of the main problems reason when I tank and spec as I should I maintain 1300+ dominance to keep the ago on me and not on my controller so the dps can do there things any time you got ago always ask the tank there dominance and let them know they should have more and they might be spec wrong I see some tank don't even have dominance mods on like fire just cause you spec in to restoration don't mean you don't need any dominance .

It's funny cause now I am seeing more and more 95+ CR tanks lose agro in raids like Gates or FOS 2 to the ads and then they say it's not there fault actually I am a 96 Cr with 155 Sp so what it is your fault your the tank your job is to keep the agro so the controllers can debuff and the dps don't have to run for there lives and can do what there built to do BURN

Tank with low dominance give controllers ads next comes the healers then you got a raid that is dying it's a simple fix to the problem

Now some earth spec precision only I spec as precision first all of it then I go for all my might next I don't even mess with my health or my defense it's a waste of SP if your team is good and healers are strong now running a solo sure I will spec in to it when it's needed but this comes down to player preference.

Tank players forget one thing your not the only one who specs in to Dominance - Controllers spec in to it too.

Earth isn't just about Jackhammering away. That's an ignorant thought to have; but no worries, I'm here to help enlighten those who believe Earth = Jackhammer.

Jackhammer is the major damage power for precision based Earth DPSes, but there are a lot of sets that you can use to maximize damage in other ways. In the T5 Raids you can't simply sit there and Jackhammer away; there are stuns, AOEs, and a whole mess of things that you need to dodge. Sitting down and Jackhammering will just end in your death.

I set up DoTs using Tectonic Break and Debris Field, and I have to time the rotation of these things in co-ordinance with getting stunned, Reinforce cooldowns, and Jackhammer cooldowns. It's more difficult than being a HL DPS was, but it is a lot more fun and rewarding when people realize that an Earth DPS, which many people believe is one of the weakest DPS powers, is beating them. It takes more smarts than learning HL combos to constantly repeat. And it is definitely one of the best at conserving power usage. I easily use half the power of other DPSes while doing the same amount or more damage.

As for tanking, it is about the same difficulty as Fire is. They both rely on a system that is more complex than Ice, but is also weaker when it comes down to staying alive. That being said, you can run the higher level content with Earth, you just have to know what you are doing and have the right gear.

Any power has the capabilities to do amazing. They each have unique quirks, with some doing better in certain situations. Go with a power that you enjoy using. Always pay attention to maximizing your efficiency so that you help your teammates with defeating PvE/PvP content.