Im a bit confused on how the normal dawnstrike and icefall strike interact with their AA version I put 5 AA into each of these (icefall and dawnstrike) and they do a bit more dmg than my normal adept version of these spells so i just took the normal spells off my bar. I noticed when I leveld up last level (24 to 25) they did a bit more damage. So am I correct in assuming that these lvl with me now? Is there any advantage to getting better versions of the actual Dawnstrike spell? For example: if get the Expert version of the spell will that extra damage somehow port over to the melee Dawnstrike aa?
Yes, the Combat Arts version (CAs) that you put your AA into will level with you. The spells and their CA versions share a cooldown timer. CAs have a longer cooldown than the spells and whichever you use starts the cooldown. I do keep my spells on a small hotbar I have to the side of my main hotbars. I mostly only use Dawnstike and that's just for pulling hard to reach mobs out of melee range, unlinked named mobs, and those sorts of situations. I don't normally upgrade my spells because I solo 99% of the time and even when I group my guild doesn't mind me doing melee and healing. Having good spells available can be very handy though for raiding and heroics where being in melee range might be a deal breaker. When I do get to 90 I'll upgrade my spells so I can be more versatile. Also note that there is more to having an effective melee build than just putting 5 points into your CAs. I'm not sure if you have a build thought out around that already but if not there are builds posted here and on EQ2Flames that can give you ideas. I posted my build goals in another thread, but I'm not a vet and there are many more experienced wardens that can advise you better.
As the poster above said - the CAs will level as you do....... However, just to clarify on the timers - yes, they are slighly different that is between the CAs (AA) and the spells. How you use them depends on what you are doing. If I am doing melee (solo or group usually trash mobs), I'll use my CAs to time nicely with my melee weapon (Thex Mallet). The dmg spells are a bit too fast on the cooldown time so I can't get as much dmg in using the spells inbetween the autoattacks. You want you auto attacks to register - even when you are healing for increased dmg. If you have a faster dmg weapon than your CA cooldown can handle, then use the dmg spells. Or if you have a much slower melee weapon (more than 6-8 sec), you can use the dmg spells and get in an extra one or two. Best way to know is try the combos out on a training dummy using ACT. I also use my GA stance when melee. If I need to switch over to NA for healing a group, it's no problem. I do have my epic conversion of my myth, but prior to the change, I would also pop my myth in place of the Thex. There are some nice melee weapons in SF, too.
For further clarification. The lvl 90's master spell will do more damage then the CA's at lvl 90 with 5 pts in them. The downside of using the spell version is it will be resisted more then the ca will be blocked or parried if you have instinct on yourself. The upside of spells is that if resisted they can be recast after the resist timer in a few seconds where as the CA's have the full reuse timer if blocked or parried. Thats why I kept my debuff as a nuke, its more important as a debuff then as a damage spell to help us do extra damage with our DD nukes or CA's IMO and help them hit for that matter instead of the damage being reduced by resist.
Oakum wrote: So do you mainly melee and use your spell debuff instead of the CA? I mostly solo so using CAs has an advantage for me of less setbacks when pulling groups. If I understand double attack only works for melee auto attacks between spells or CAs. Does crit work the same way? I posted a thread a while ago about adding Double Attack versus Crit% when building. Unfortunately no one answered (maybe I asked the wrong question or addressed it in the wrong way), but I'm curious how does stacking DA and C% affect using CAs or spells? Does a high DA or Crit% (which I would think affects CA and spells both) make one approach more effective than another? My DA is around 67% and my Crit about 8.9%. It seems adding to Crit at this point would have a better return.
If you time it out, the total of casting time + reuse on dawnstrike is the same as casting time + reuse on the spell version. You don't get to use it any less frequently, it's just that the difference in casting time is the same as the difference in reuse times. The possitive to that is the CA pretty much cannot be interupted where as the spell version can. For a min/maxer, the CA will be better. It's still wise to keep them handy though incase you get into a ranged fight. As far as crit and DA go, the lower your crit, the faster attack speed weapon you should use, and the more likely the spell versions will be a better means to go. If your DA is higher than your crit chance, switch to melee versions of spells just so that you can keep your auto attack running and not get stopped by your spell casts. Crit affects all abilities and auto attack, double attack only works on auto attack (think of it as a proc that gives an additional "auto attack" as the result because thats functionally whats happening).
