True... I guess I didn't fully state my thoughts there, lol. It's only good if you're mana capped (have more mana than you can spend).
You'll be spending 30% more mana if you use pierce which means you will cast 30% less spells but the spells will do 20% more damage. Seems like a crappy deal to me... at the cost of one of your passive slots even.
There is of course, the benefit of doing more upfront damage. If you want to have a burst damage build, pierce is for you. However, realize that you will be giving up a lot of long term dps. It's a bit of a trap passive imo. It sounds good at first look but if you sit down and think about the tradeoffs... it's really not worth it unless your build is made with it in mind (no mana skills, low mana skills).
Well said. There is tremendous value to paying only 85% mana cost of spells (w/ blood ritual) vs 130% mana cost with Pierce the Veil. Max mana is overrated, because in boss fights you'll only have max mana once, and that is when you begin the fight. Regen is what matters. By paying 85% of the mana cost for a spell, you are in essence regenerating 1.17 mana for each 1 point of mana regenerated (1/0.85). On the flip side, if you are paying 130% mana cost of each spell, then you are only effectively regenerating .77 mana for each one point of mana regenerated (1/1.3). In other words a Blood Ritual WD has a 52% greater mana regeneration rate than a Pierce WD. (.4 [difference between regen rate) / .77).
Now if the 4 player group is demolishing the mobs, and you want to make your dent before your teammates crush the enemy, then pierce is awesome. But for maximum damage over time, then Pierce is out.
I think pierce is really crappy unless you have an odd build that relies on one of the primary skills for the main source of damage.
I disagree, I think with the right build and perhaps supplementary items you could get some use out of it.
Sacrifice - Pride for instance can restore your entire mana bar np.
Vision quest would seem to yield and absurd amount of mana if you can keep 4 skills on CD. (especially if it includes mana regen affixes, which are listed as +14 man atm.)
There is also a Hit mana = 12.
Max Mana of +150
The health gained by blood ritual is at lest partially consumed by the health loss component. Its really only worth looking at the 15% mana reduction imo.
True... I guess I didn't fully state my thoughts there, lol. It's only good if you're mana capped (have more mana than you can spend).
You'll be spending 30% more mana if you use pierce which means you will cast 30% less spells but the spells will do 20% more damage. Seems like a crappy deal to me... at the cost of one of your passive slots even.
There is of course, the benefit of doing more upfront damage. If you want to have a burst damage build, pierce is for you. However, realize that you will be giving up a lot of long term dps. It's a bit of a trap passive imo. It sounds good at first look but if you sit down and think about the tradeoffs... it's really not worth it unless your build is made with it in mind (no mana skills, low mana skills).
Just like you said, if you can front load and kill everything in front of you fairly easily then its quite good, as you never have to worry about long term scenarios.
The way that I look at pierce is that its going to be good for norm, nightmare, maybe hell, crap for entry inferno, and then make a comeback when you farm inferno.
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Well said. There is tremendous value to paying only 85% mana cost of spells (w/ blood ritual) vs 130% mana cost with Pierce the Veil. Max mana is overrated, because in boss fights you'll only have max mana once, and that is when you begin the fight. Regen is what matters. By paying 85% of the mana cost for a spell, you are in essence regenerating 1.17 mana for each 1 point of mana regenerated (1/0.85). On the flip side, if you are paying 130% mana cost of each spell, then you are only effectively regenerating .77 mana for each one point of mana regenerated (1/1.3). In other words a Blood Ritual WD has a 52% greater mana regeneration rate than a Pierce WD. (.4 [difference between regen rate) / .77).
Now if the 4 player group is demolishing the mobs, and you want to make your dent before your teammates crush the enemy, then pierce is awesome. But for maximum damage over time, then Pierce is out.
Just like you said, if you can front load and kill everything in front of you fairly easily then its quite good, as you never have to worry about long term scenarios.
The way that I look at pierce is that its going to be good for norm, nightmare, maybe hell, crap for entry inferno, and then make a comeback when you farm inferno.
Epicurus