This isn't a guide for finding out if you should invest in Crit Chance or Crit Damage, how to clip, how to generate power, what acronyms mean, and so on. My plan here is to put out a few things that I've tried, or want to try, get some discussion going, and see if we can't hash out some basic, elemental, earth dps loadouts and rotations. This is simply for a cookie-cutter loadout and rotation, to learn from and adapt to your own style of play ... a starting point. "Classic Crushed" This is the basic Crushed rotation. Rumblecrush > Debris Field > Shards 35% > repeat twice 50% Crush PI > 45% DoT x2 > 35% DoT x1 > DoT x2 Earthen Grip can be used for a single target - higher speed, less risk, but lower DM. Reinforce can be used prior to all for the buff, somewhere in the middle to clip, or at the end to give 50% and a buff and to put the extra precision into a weapon combo. Striking Stones could be used, too, and will give a DoT with a crushing PI. But, previous DoTs and possibly the PI will have worn off by the end of the rotation. If using Striking Stones, it can be jump-clipped while still giving equal damage. This loadout strikes out in a forward cone (even DF is usually targeted). Formula of Crushing might help at melee range, but is PBAoE, and may often go to waste. These are all Might-based attacks. Nothing here clips, you'll have to rely on other clips (trinket, consumable, clipping power added to rotation) "Doing it Dazed" This is the basic Dazed rotation. Tectonic Break > Debris Field > Reinforce > Jackhammer 50% Dazed PI > 45% DoT x2 > 50% Clip Buff Extra Precision > 50% Crazy power-hungry. Especially if you spend too much time jacking. Fairly quick, with lots of damage, particularly useful for mobs. Keeps a high DM and the Reinforce buff. Not for use for where melee-to-mid range is not possible. For me, it's difficult to go from aftershocks and switch to a melee weapon. Chances are, I'll be out of power anyway, and will automatically be melee-ing. Which , if you hop in and out of the action with a ranged weapon, might not be the best thing. Gotta pick your spot for your DF and JH. JH is only a good tradeoff for power used with both the PI and the Reinforce buff going. If you fall out of your rotation, don't be a power vacuum. "Rocking Ranged" I'm naming it. This is Orbit's crushed ranged loadout he uses for Nexus. Totem > Rumblecrush > Debris Field > Shards x3 > Striking Stones > Reinforce 45% DoT > 50% PI > 45% DoT x2 > 35% DoT x3 > 35% DoT > 50% Clip Extra Precision I have a hard time criticizing Orbit; his loadouts have been striking-out point for most of my own Earth play. You still have to get mid-range to use Totem and Shards. Even JH would work at that range, depending on the situation. The Shards and SS DoTs don't have very many ticks ... though it all adds up if you hit all seven DoTs in the rotation. If you're having power problems with the sparring dummies, you're gonna have the same problems with a fair majority of PUGs. Rumblecrush is difficult to get off as smoothly and quickly as he shows in the video. He's using consumables and trinkets to clip Totem. If you don't have a utility belt, or the ability to make consumables that have a quick cooldown, this is going to be problematic for the rotation. This is a many-point rotation, most of which hinges on the PI set up by Rumblecrush. If you get off track it will be hard to pick up again. If you're short on power it also doesn't lend itself to a low-power abridged version. Gotta love the variety. There is a different look to each of the six items in the loadout and, unlike clipping in other powersets, you get to see all of them. It looks so flashy to have rocks of all sorts everywhere. "The Groundpounder" This is a JH loadout. Crystal > Totem > Reinforce > Tectonic Break > Jackhammer DoT > 45% DoT pet buff > 50% Clip Buff > 50% Dazed PI > 50% The advantage of this loadout is that it saves all its power for jacking, and keeps a high DM It is best used at melee range, and with multiple adds. It should not be used in places where pets die easily, and definitely not where melee-to-mid range is not possible. Totem also has a pushback which, depending on how placed, can act sort of as a shield, or to corner adds while you kill them. Tectonic Break splits damage. Often, pets can be buggy. Supposedly, Crystal can get stuck in animation, and she's not granting CC immunity. Some notes about Crystal. Totem heals golems, and gives Crystal increased crit chance and magnitude. She scales with you. She hits hard. But, people have complained, she hits slowly/infrequently. Totem does not appear to scale much, and appears to be a very low DoT. Like DF, it's stationary, and placement is key. Something else it doesn't mention: Totem has a little longer cooldown time than Reinforce, so you'll want to always have another clip available. "Don't look at my Burst" This is my weak attempt at a "burst" loadout, going for high instant damage. Sandblast > Tectonic Break > Localized Tremor Enduring Damage > Dazed PI > Double-tick This assumes you have the Enduring Damage mod which will keep your DM at 50-60%, depending on how you read the tooltip (60% for 20 seconds, or DM% of the power used for 20 seconds for qualifying powers) You should try to clip TB and LT. Unstoppable and Reinforce are good candidates. Keep DF in your loadout, even though it's not Bursty. TB splits, LT doesn't, but on a single target, they're about the same. LT is about the same as Pebble Blast, but PB only works on one target. Don't clip Sandblast ... it's highest tick is the last one (unlike Fear Gas). This is what I've actually been using. Totem > Reinforce > Tectonic Break > Debris Field I sprinkle in Sandblast and Tectonic Break, whenever it feels appropriate. In the past, I used Earthquake and Robot Sidekick, but I've given up on both of these. I'm thinking of dropping This can be split into Totem > Reinforce or TB>DF if your rotation is off, or you have little power. I favor Totem>Reinforce in alerts when I have little power, because it costs so little, and I'm going to spend a lot of time using my weapon to get that power back, just to be able to throw TB>DF. Currently, I'm not happy with any of these loadouts, not even my own. Let's discuss.
