Using this method at level 73, I can burn a level 73/74 mob down in just over 2 minutes, or just a smidge over the duration of one VP3. For this reason, I also use the clicky root pants as a mana and spell gem free way to keep a mob rooted for the extra few ticks it takes to finish them off.
Absolute Requirements
VP3
An item that extends the duration of dots. Being casually geared, I use a Tattered Cloak of the Fallen - http://lucy.allakhazam.com/item.html?id=70183
A Burning Affliction-esque focus
Bane and Nectar of Pain - Bane is easily purchased these days / NoP is a PoR spell drop ... it can be a pain to get, but is our best dot and highly recommended
Canni or Frenzied Canni (frenzied will obviously be nicer to have)
Nice To Haves
Clicky root pants
Crit Affliction AA (I'm currently at ICA2 - 15% chance to crit)
Affliction Efficiency (I use AE5 tribute)
A horse a horse, of course of course
First, I'll explain how and why I set up my spell lineup the way I do. Shaman dots come in a variety of flavours -
Curses (which last 5 ticks unfocused / 7 ticks focused)
Poison dots (which last 7 tick unfocused / 9 focused)
Disease dots (which last 14 ticks unfocused / 16 ticks focused)
I have my soloing spell lineup set to build to 7 dots running at once, and then to sustain them for the duration of the fight. At level 73, I use 2 disease dots, 2 curses, and 3 poison dots.
Spell Lineup
Spell Set 1 -
1 - Breath of Ternsmochin
2 - Breath of Wunshi
3 - Curse of Sisslak
4 - Bane
5 - Nectar of Pain
6 - Blood of Yoppa
7 - Malos
8 - Putrid Decay
9 - Ancestral Bargain
Spell Set 2 ( replace gems 7 and 8 ) -
7 - Blood of Saryrn
8 - Sting of the Queen or Halcyon Breeze
The Pull
Pull with PD from max range. Run to your safe spot, start turning, and then hit VP. Summon horse. Malo mob. Swap to spell set 2.
The cycle
Tick 0 - Breath of Ternsmochin
Tick 1 - Breath of Wunshi
Tick 2 - Curse of Sisslak
Tick 3 - Bane
Tick 4 - Nectar of Pain
Tick 5 - Blood of Yoppa
Tick 6 - Blood of Saryrn
Tick 7 - Ancestral Bargain
Tick 8 - Frenzied Canni
Tick 9 - Pause for breath or heal over time (if you really want, not required though)
Tick 10 - Curse of Sisslak (first one just wore off, so you should land this before the next tick, and you haven't lost a single tick of CoS damage)
Tick 11 - Bane
Tick 12 - Ancestral Bargain
Tick 13 - Breath of Ternsmochin - (This is an option step - the dot hasn't run it's course yet, but this way it will last to the end of the fight - otherwise BoT will run out when the mob is about 25% health)
Tick 14 to 16 - NoP, BoY, BoS
Tick 17 - Curse of Sisslak
Tick 18 - Bane
.... At this point, you either re-VP, or else click root (ie. we're 2 minutes, 5 seconds into the fight). The mob should be around 15% hp. After you've re rooted - sit back, canni up, pop on a heal over time, and wait for the mob to die. You can Sting it if you really want to, but that's probably just going to be wasted mana.
When you get lucky and have a few crits on the same tick, you end up seeing something like this -
[Fri Oct 06 22:04:38 2006] A Clan Direwind initiate has taken 568 damage from your Breath of Ternsmochin.
[Fri Oct 06 22:04:38 2006] A Clan Direwind initiate has taken 520 damage from your Breath of Wunshi.
[Fri Oct 06 22:04:38 2006] A Clan Direwind initiate has taken 1374 damage from your Curse of Sisslak.
[Fri Oct 06 22:04:38 2006] A Clan Direwind initiate has taken 523 damage from your Bane.
[Fri Oct 06 22:04:38 2006] A Clan Direwind initiate has taken 1390 damage from your Nectar of Pain.
[Fri Oct 06 22:04:38 2006] A Clan Direwind initiate has taken 517 damage from your Blood of Yoppa.
[Fri Oct 06 22:04:39 2006] A Clan Direwind initiate has taken 402 damage from your Blood of Saryrn.
Which is 5294 damage in 1 tick, or 882 DPS. Again, just using the spells listed above (which don't include Juju or VoA), my average each fight is about 525 dps from the first tick (when only BoT is active) to the very last.
With unimpressive gear, it takes me about 40 seconds after the mob has died to be full mana and full hp again. This is why I prefer to root at the end of the fight instead of VP again. You have to wait another 45-60 second when you're ready to go, waiting for VP to pop. And why wait, I always say. *grin*
A few thoughts - because a tick is 6 seconds, you'll sometimes land your dot and then *immediately* after the first tick takes effect. You'll pretty much have to chain cast your next dot to keep the rhythm going, but no biggie if you get off track. It is only 1 tick of a dot after all.
You'll also find that sometimes you land your dot and then 5.5 seconds later the tick takes effect. This means you can sometimes get 2 dots to land before the first tick becomes active. Just an interesting factoid.
However, one thing you should pay attention to is the 3rd time you cast Bane. Right around that point, VP will be about to wear off. Sometimes you'll have to delay casting it in order to land root. Always make sure you re root before you re dot, though. Missing one tick of damage is a lot better then having a mob on top of you tripling for 1100 points a pop!
Finally, there is a bit of wasted effeciency using this method. The mob tends to die on or around the tick that the second NoP wears off. This means you have Curse, Bane, and 2 other poison dots running (and BoT, if you refreshed it mid fight). I'm a bit undecided on the best way to go - perhaps it would be better to Sting the mob a few times instead. However, this risks breaking root or VP, which can mess up your mojo. Plus it's about 600 mana for a sting. Better, in my opinion, to lose a small bit of dot efficiency and be assured VP / root won't break early. As mentioned, I am under geared, so in this case I decided to take the easy way out and have a fight last a tick or two longer, if it means I'll be safer and not die.
It still is a good idea, however, to have Sting up, in case root does break early and you need to burn the mob down.
I hope you've found this post at least semi interesting and informative. I'll leave you with a breakdown of my highest DPS fight so far using this method - It was against "A clan direwind initiate", white con mob (level 73). The damage portion of the fight lasted 2 minutes and 2 seconds, and I ended up at 577.13 DPS.
Breath of Wunshi - 5,828 total damage / 50.24 dps / 1:56 second duration (recast it mid fight, to try something new)
Blood of Saryrn - 6,328 total damage / 73.58 dps / 1: 26 second duration
Breath of Ternsmochin - 8,033 total damage / 65.84 dps / 2:02 second duration
Blood of Yoppa - 9,549 total damage / 103.79 dps / 1:32 second duration
Bane - 11,738 total damage / 112.87 dps / 1:44 second duration
Nectar of Pain - 13,290 total damage / 135.61 dps / 1:38 second duration
Curse of Sisslak - 15,644 total damage / 142.22 dps / 1:50 second duration
