Magic Basic DPM Advice

Introduction

Prelude: Learning PvM is a journey from tackling the basic concepts of DPM to mastering the nuances and techniques at the highest level. DPM-Advice-Basic focuses on the fundamental concepts to dealing efficient DPM to match the level of our basic boss guides. If you're deciding on a style, curious about magic, and or would like to revisit the fundamentals this guide is for you!

This guide will go over abilities, weapons & gear, approaching a boss, and refining mistakes.

Ability Themes

Magic abilities vary in their themes. Some are strong individually, some comboed and some provide powerful utility values. Currently, they can be interpreted into four different classes with three different damage types.

Classes:

⬥ Power: Deal high damage.

⬥ Auxiliary: Deal equal or less damage but enhance other abilities.

⬥ Utility: Provide low or non-damaging utility buffs.

⬥ Subpar: Lack any serious use cases that are generally known. Generally avoid using these unless using specific rotations theorycrafted in advance.

Damage Types:

⬥ Instant: Deal damage immediately

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Examples:

⬥ Channeled: Deal channeled damage.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Channels lock the player into using the ability.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Can be cancelled early, losing the later hits of the ability.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Examples:

⬥ DoT (damage over time): a debuff applied to deal damage over time.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Aren't boosted in

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• But are boosted by

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎⬩ Refer to the command !dot ‎for more information.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎⬩ Full list here: Damage over Time - https://runescape.wiki/w/Abilities#Damage_over_Time_abilities

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Examples:

⬥ Other

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• These don't really fit into any of the other categories for one reason or another.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Examples:

Basic Abilities

Magic basics are common use abilities with 2 purposes:

⬥ Build adrenaline (+8%)

⬥ Deal Damage

Here are some examples:

⬥ Power Basics

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Examples:

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎⬩ denotes (flanking)

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎⬩ is an auxiliary basic, but its strength warrants it to be in both sections.

⬥ Auxiliary Basics

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Examples:

⬥ Utility Basics

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Example:

⬥ Subpar Basics

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Example:

Sample Auxiliary Combos

⬥ →

Utility Examples:

⬥ →

⬥ +

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Extends the range of and redirects with

Threshold Abilities

Magic thresholds are usually stronger than basics however are more taxing to use. These abilities have 2 purposes:

⬥ Sacrifice adrenaline (-15%)

⬥ Deal higher damage

⬥ Power Thresholds:

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Examples:

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎⬩ does stun however is more renowned for its damage.

⬥ Utility Thresholds:

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Examples:

⬥ Subpar Thresholds:

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Examples:

Auxiliary/Utility Examples:

⬥ : Stuns target for 3.6s.

Ultimate Abilities

Magic Ultimates deal maximum damage and or elevate other abilities. They typically have 1-3 purposes:

⬥ Sacrifice 100% adrenaline

⬥ Deal devastating damage

⬥ Provide a longstanding buff

⬥ Power Ultimates:

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Examples:

⬥ Auxiliary Ultimates:

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Examples:

⬥ Utility Ultimates:

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Examples:

⬥ Subpar Ultimates:

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Examples:

Sunshine:

⬥ is Magic's strongest ultimate ability and is the core of Magic's dps.

⬥ Typically, magic will cast then execute a series of abilities to maximise damage output during the uptime of .

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• This is called a Sunshine Rotation.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• The Sunshine Rotation will be covered after introducing weapons.

Weapons & Gear:

⬥ In this section, we'll introduce the 2 weapons used for the rest of the guide.

⬥ Magic weapon(s) have several key descriptors which describe its capabilities.

If you are familiar with this feel free to skip ahead.

Sample Weapon Breakdown:

⬥ Wand of the Cywir Elders and Orb of the Cywir Elders:

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Accuracy: This is assigned from the Main Hand's accuracy value.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎⬩ has a t90 accuracy value of 2458.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• ^^ Ability Damage^^: Ability attack damage from the respective weapon.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎⬩ This is damage dealt with Abilities.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎⬩ have Tier 80 ability damage: ~1523 (99 and no other boosts).

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎Players must select a spell that scales to at least tier 80 in order for the weapons to do this damage.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Tier: Requirement to wield.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎⬩ Both require 85 Magic.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Passive(s):

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎⬩ Whilst some magic weapons have passives (e.g. ), they are not relevant to this channel or pvm in general at the moment.

Spells

In order to cast magic abilities, a spell must be set to autocast, for the purposes of this guide choose them as follows:

⬥ Autocast Exsanguinate if unlocked

⬥ if not, autocast Blood Barrage if unlocked

⬥ if not, auto cast Air Surge

Armour & Other Gear

⬥ T70 Subjugation Power Armour:

⬥ Tier 80

⬥ Any necklace/cape slot is okay.

⬥ Wear a Ring of Vigour if you don't have the passive unlocked.

Auras:

⬥ +15% magic, -10% def, +10% damage outside /

⬥ +5% dmg

⬥ Deal magic damage over time

⬥ +10% accuracy

⬥ +5% healing (capped)

Planning a Fight:

We'll use this sample 12-ability action bar.

In this section We'll cover three fundamental steps to tackling bosses for the first time.

Step 1: Identify Key Abilities:

All of these abilities are enhanced by except for DoTs and

Sunshine Enhanced Abilities

⬥ Power Basics 1-3:

⬥ Subpar Basics 4-5:

⬥ Power Thresholds 6-7:

⬥ Subpar Thresholds 8-9:

⬥ Auxiliary Ultimate 10:

⬥ DoT Abilities 11-12:

Step 2: Analyzing the boss:

⬥ We'll use Vindicta and Gorvek as our sample boss. Vindicta and Gorvek has 2 phases, each with 100k health.

⬥ Higher DPM is one part familiarizing with boss threats and another part executing a strong rotation.

Analyzing Vindicta

⬥ Phase 1:

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Does a spinning melee special attack ... "I should protect/deflect melee."

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Does a fire breathing magic special attack ... "I should move away from it."

⬥ Phase 2:

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• attacks 3 times. Melee, ranged, melee... "The ranged one hits hard, I should use a defensive or pray protect/deflect ranged**"

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• does her fire breathing magic special attack... "I should move away from it."

Rough Plan:

⬥ rotation the first 100k health.

⬥ and strong Power thresholds for the last 100k health.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• From now on we'll focus on the rotation.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• The rest is left as an exercise to the reader.

Step 3: Create & Test the plan:

Now let's try making a rotation. Here's our general approach:

⬥ Use Power Abilities as much as possible and fill with Subpar Abilities when necessary.

⬥ Utilize thresholds but also manage adrenaline.

Brainstorm

⬥ We're 100 adren, so let's +

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• → ...

⬥ We need adrenaline so we use some Power Basics: .

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• → → → ...

⬥ We now have enough adrenaline to cast a Threshold Ability:

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• → → → → ...

⬥ We want more adrenaline so let's use more Power Basics: .

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• → → → → → → ...

⬥ Again, we have enough adrenaline for a Threshold Ability:

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• → → → → → → (4-hit) → ...

⬥ Now we want to build more adrenaline with Basic Abilities:

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• → → → → → → (4-hit) → → → ...

⬥ We have enough adrenaline to cast another threshold, since our Power Thresholds are on cooldown we will use a Subpar Thresholds:

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• → → → → → → (4-hit) → → → (4t) → ...

⬥ Again, we build adrenaline with basics

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• → → → → → → (4-hit) → → → (4t) → → → ...

⬥ We have enough adrenaline to cast another threshold, since our Power Thresholds are on cooldown we will use a Subpar Thresholds:

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• → → → → → → (4-hit) → → → (4t) → → → → ...

⬥ Follow it up with more basics to generate adrenaline

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• → → → → → → (4-hit) → → → (4t) → → → → → → ...

⬥ Now that we have enough adren for a Threshold again we can use

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• → → → → → → (4-hit) → → → (4t) → → → → → →

Rough Rotation:

⬥ → → → → → → (4-hit) → → → (4t) → → → → → →

Vod Reviewing

Refining is considerably the most important practice of improving DPM. It exercises many healthy thought processes to rationalize where a boss encounter did not go as planned. Viewing a recording or VoD of your encounter is critical to identifying mistakes.

Below, is a video sample of the rough rotation alongside a list of mistakes. Try identifying the mistakes inside the video as an exercise.

Identifying Mistakes:

⬥ Firstly, despite having room to use 6 times, we only use it 5 times.

⬥ Secondly, the crit buff from is often applied to the weaker ability.

⬥ Thirdly, we can save ticks from abilities by using something called cancelling.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• What exactly cancelling is, and how it works is described in the next section.

⬥ Lastly, we only use 51 out of the 52 ticks of for the rotation

Refining mistakes

⬥ We have to somewhat re-design the rotation to fix all of these mistakes. Have a look at the rotation below.

→ → → (2 hit) → → → → → → → → (3t) → → → → (2 hit) → →

⬥ There's several changes

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• The order of abilities is different

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• is changed into two 2-hit - the same number of hits but in 1 tick less

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• is gone

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• is changed for a 3 tick

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• an extra is added

⬥ We can calculate the damage difference easily

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• - (-120%)

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• - (-225%)

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• + (3t) (+180%)

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• + (+160%)

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• + (+90%)

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Total +85% Ability Damage

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎⬩ Note: this is before even considering that the crit buff from is now more effective.

Results:

Average Ability Damage, (AAD) = Average ability % of rotation

⬥ Rough vs Final AAD: 2600% vs 2775%

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• ~7% DPS increase

⬥ Final rotation deals ~7% more damage

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• (2775/2600) - 1 ~ 0.067,

⬥ Net Gain from these changes:

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• 85% ability damage

⬥ Total AAD difference between Final and Rough:

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• 2775% - 2600% = 175%

Cancelling Channels

Why Channelled Abilities are Important

⬥ Cancelling channeled abilities saves time.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• Animations are sometimes unsynced with the hitsplats.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• It can be higher damage-per-tick and/or more adrenaline friendly to cancel early.

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎⬩ Frequently cancelled:

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎⬩ See the following example with from magic.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎• A full breakdown of how to cancel every ability can be found by using the command !cancelling ‎in #bot-commands.