MindspikeFollow

Just dinged 81 on my SP and had to play with my new spell. Looking at the numbers it appeared to be more efficient then mindblast (and has no CD) and (at least at this level) it is. Now it does strip your dots and you obviously want those cooking on a mob, in single target solo situations at least. But what about boss or big fights where you've got the time to let the dots cook - is it worth starting with three, then tossing on dots and MB?

Math in case I'm having a sped moment -

MB = 917m 5860 dam = 6.39 dam/mana
MS = 647m 4967 dam = 7.68 dam/mana

So MS does about 1.3 more damage per mana point then MB, right?

As for single target soloing...

My SOP up till now is to hit a target with the three dots below, toss in a MB and then finish up with SWd

VT = 863m 12838 dam
SWp = 1068m 8984 dam
DP = 1214m 10813 dam

Now MS gives MB a 30% crit chance and stacks three times, so three MS followed by a MB is usually enough to kill anything my level outright at a total cost of 2858 mana.

On the other hand, the standard dot/dot/dot/nuke routine costs 4062 mana and usually requires the 582m SWd if I don't feel like letting the mob beat on me for a grand total of 4644.

Obviously you aren't getting the healing bonus of the two dots but the mob dies way faster and at 40% of the mana cost.

I know that MS has a bad rep because it eats your dots and SP are considered more of a dot then nuke class but, at least for single target situations and possibly as a lead in to boss fights, it seems like a useful spell - or does that mana to damage efficiency get lost at higher levels?

You're right about MS being mana efficient - it is.

However, with almost no exception, using DoTs will outdps using Mind Spike/Mind Blast.

What this means is that it's going to take a bit of practice as a Spriest to figure out when and where to use it. The general rule of thumb is that if the DoTs are going to be on long enough to have to be refreshed, use DoTs/Mind Flay/Mind Blast. If the target will die before you will have to refresh the DoTs, use Mind Spike and Mind Blast.

In other words, if the target is alive for a long time, use DoTs. If it will die quickly, use Mind Spike.

It may be tempting to use it as a lead in to a boss fight thanks to DoTs significant ramp up time and to get up there with other dps on meters, but when you're starting a boss, you're almost always going to want to use DoTs. It has a ramp up time which sucks, but you will still do more damage in the end with DoTs than with MS.

so pretty much what Pigtails said.

Mind Spike is my nuke of choice for Disc PvP, because Smite/HF usage can lead to heals being locked out.