Grimah vs Stox Build

l3xi55

Hello All,

Just curious if anyone out there has tried both. Which do you feel yielded higher damage? Which did you like? Pros and cons?

Thanks!

vorphied

l3xi55 wrote: »

Hello All,

Just curious if anyone out there has tried both. Which do you feel yielded higher damage? Which did you like? Pros and cons?

Thanks!

They're both viable. That being said, I use neither; I prefer my own build. If I were to choose one, Grimah's is closest to what I use. Stox's build is extremely efficient and undeniably excellent at trash-clear, but be sure you know exactly how to work it if you that's what you choose. If you don't perform rotations correctly so as to leverage Snap Freeze, the build won't perform as it should.

I recommend that you do your own testing. Copy characters to Preview and check out different builds on familiar content, compare and contrast. The correct build will be whatever fits your preferred play style and provides the results you're looking for.

uurbs

l3xi55 wrote: »

Just curious if anyone out there has tried both. Which do you feel yielded higher damage? Which did you like? Pros and cons?

That is quite obvious. Grimah's more aimed for sustained damage and Stox' is for burst damage. It is even explained in Stox posting. If your group is clearing trash so fast, that you rarely need to use your encounters twice, go with Stox', else use Girmah's.

l3xi55

Thanks for the comments. @uurbs I do understand that Stox's build is aimed at "front loading damage". I have been running Grimah's build now for several months and was just curious about Stox's build. I am aware of what they were designed for in "theory" and I have spent much time w/ both builds on the test shard. Unfortunately on the test shard you cannot simply run CN or VT w/ a group of folks quite easily unless you are fortunate enough to have 4 other mates that are into testing new builds and running dungeons on a test shard.

I wanted to get some feedback from people who have actually used both builds to get a perspective on how these builds worked out for people in practice instead of getting feedback on how the build works in theory. That is exactly why I asked if anyone has tried both builds. I did not ask how these two compare in theory.

uurbs

@l3xi55: I used both builds, and as I was saying: if your group clears trash fast enough to hardly ever use more than one rotation of your encounters, use Stox' build.

niadan

I have used both builds and with the testing on mod 3 am personally keeping coi on tab, fpt, critical power and keeping transcended. I am also stacking power and using the same heroic feats as the stox build. I believe you need the added ap gen from critical power and I want the extra burst from transcended. But thats just my viewpoint.

silverquick

uurbs wrote: »

That is quite obvious. Grimah's more aimed for sustained damage and Stox' is for burst damage. It is even explained in Stox posting. If your group is clearing trash so fast, that you rarely need to use your encounters twice, go with Stox', else use Girmah's.

I would have to agree,

I have never used Grimah's specific build, but I have used similar things he incorporates. One thing Grimah's build is excellent at is Debuffing Mobs. Grimah's build literally incorporates all the debuffing feats from both the Renegade and the Thaum tree and combines them into one specific build.

This I think it the point Grimah was intending to make with his build. I would say its a very party friendly build.

The debuff stacking this build is capable of is huge.

kozi001

Both are very good!
But skipping Sudden Storm in CN a'la Stox? Well...

l3xi55

Just an update for anyone looking to try either build. I spent about 3 months w/ Grimah's build and about a week with Stox's build. I had to switch back to Grimah's after a week. Stox's build just did not work well for me. I want to say in practice I did about 15% more damage on the first rotation but on any fight that requires more than one rotation I personally found this build not as effective Grimah's. As some others pointed out it is great if you are with high GS groups which only require 1 rotation per pull but let's be realistic here. Who the hell has trouble clearing trash? I want to down bosses. Not to mention Grimah's build is not any slouch in clearing trash anyway. I generally found myself doing more damage during trash clearing but less damage on boss fights w/ Stox's build.

For me personally, I preferred Grimah's build due to the additional debuffs and the faster encounter cooldowns. But that is just my $.02.

Edit: Forgot to mention that Kozi001 has nailed this. Skipping out on Sudden Storm just seems like a tough sell. Once you've become comfortable w/ positioning yourself for Sudden Storm, you can be a monster with this.

solipsisms

hi there. Please link me the Grimah build being talked about here. thanks!

beckylunatic

It's still on the front page of the CW forum right here.

Scroll down.

Scroll down.

Do you still need a link?

solipsisms

the reason i asked was because i wasn't sure if you guys are talking about this

http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?539741-Grimah-s-Shadowmantle-Spellstorm-Thaum-Spec-(PvE)

or this

http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?385321-Grimah-s-Comprehensive-Wizard-guide&highlight=grimah

ratjam

Im using grimah's build, only with evocation in place of spellstorm (to me is more dps, although i didnt test with act). What's good about this build vs stoxx is nightmare wizardry, now that combat advantage dmg is fixed it's a nice dps boost expecially if you have artifact for more combat dmg and high CHA, also it's a party buff too so imo it's better than personal dps.

beckylunatic

solipsisms wrote: »

the reason i asked was because i wasn't sure if you guys are talking about this

http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?539741-Grimah-s-Shadowmantle-Spellstorm-Thaum-Spec-(PvE)

or this

http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?385321-Grimah-s-Comprehensive-Wizard-guide&highlight=grimah

Only one of those is a build guide.

solipsisms

beckylunatic wrote: »

Only one of those is a build guide.

Yes. I know. I don't understand why people like you participate in forums when you're not willing to give straight answers.