Tempest - Power DPS

Part of the current metagame

Our curator decided this build is in the current metagame regardless of rating. The community gave this build a rating, making it top-tier: Great

Focused on: Direct damage

Designed for: Raids

Expansions required:

Difficulty:

Normal

This build was last updated on December 18, 2024 and is up to date for the October 8, 2024 patch.

Overview

Fresh Air Tempest relies on spamming Overload Air and resetting its cooldown with Fresh Air. This, combined with its high damage AoE skills, makes it excel at killing adds and trash mobs. In addition, Tempest provides a lot of Vulnerability, deals excellent burst damage on large hitboxes, and provides a unique damage buff to its party through Overload Air's Static Discharge.

Skill Bar

Scepter/Warhorn

Utility

Weapon Variants

Players that own Janthir Wilds can use Spear. This is slightly higher long-term DPS, but the burst is lower and the weapon is incredibly visually noisy, making it difficult to see mechanics. You can play whichever you prefer.

Mainhand Sword can also be used by players that own Secrets of the Obscure, though this brings a melee requirement and animation locks without gaining anything in damage.

Skill Variants

Healing

• Signet of Restoration provides good healing in low damage fights (i.e. fights where you never press your healing skill).
• "Wash the Pain Away!" for a strong group heal.
• Ether Renewal if extra condition cleanse is needed.

Utility

• "Feel the Burn!" can be swapped to Arcane Blast for higher burst.
• Conjure Lightning Hammer can be pre-cast in fractals then swapped to another skill for extra damage.

Elite

• Conjure Fiery Greatsword can be pre-cast in fractals then swapped to another skill for extra damage.

Template Code

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Specializations

Specialization Variants

Water can replace Fire. The damage difference is negligible, and Water brings a number of small benefits such as extra vitality and healing, but it can interfere with some healers in the same subgroup (such as druids and tempests).

Do not use Water with Spear, as Etching: Volcano will not be off cooldown fast enough without Pyromancer's Training.

Be aware that the rotation changes very slightly depending on the traitline you use.

• The grandmaster trait is completely optional, so take whichever sounds most useful.

Equipment

Head
Berserker

Shoulders
Berserker

Chest
Berserker

Hands
Berserker

Legs
Berserker

Feet
Berserker

Backpiece
Berserker

Accessory
Assassin

Accessory
Berserker

Amulet
Berserker

Ring
Assassin

Ring
Berserker

Scepter
Berserker

Warhorn
Berserker

Sigil

Sigil

Spear
Berserker

Sigil

Sigil

Rune
x6

Infusion
x18

Relic

• This setup has 2218 precision.

Equipment Variants

• Sigil of Superior Sigil of Impact instead of Sigil of Superior Sigil of Force on Keep Construct.
• Using full Berserker stats gear with would be a miniscule DPS gain.
  • With this setup, it is optimal to use 17 Mighty infusions and 1 Precise infusion.

Consumables

Food

• or ascended versions

Utility

Usage

Scepter Rotation

Opening Burst

1. Summon Glyph of Elementals in Fire Attunement before the encounter starts, and swap to Air Attunement.
2. Cast Lightning Orb from afar then begin channeling Overload Air. Ideally you time the cast to finish on top of the enemy the moment combat begins. If you aren't confident in pre-casting, you can use Lightning Orb after Overload Air instead.
3. Lightning Strike and Flame Barrage during the cast of the skills above.

Loop Rotation

The rotation is very simple. After Air Attunement, you switch to either Fire Attunement or Water Attunement, use two skills, then return to Air Attunement to overload. Then, you switch to whichever of Fire Attunement or Water Attunement is still off cooldown, use two skills, then return to Air Attunement and repeat.

The loop will thus look like one of the following

Air Attunement ⇒ Fire Attunement ⇒ Air Attunement ⇒ Water Attunement ⇒ Repeat

Air Attunement ⇒ Water Attunement ⇒ Air Attunement ⇒ Fire Attunement ⇒ Repeat

Ideally, the first attunement you go into after the opener corresponds with the specialization you chose (Fire or Water), as this attunement will have more damage modifiers for the ticking effects of Lightning Orb.

Regardless of the specialization, use the following skills in each attunement:

Fire

1. Phoenix
2. Wildfire. If not available, use Dragon's Tooth instead.
3. Air Attunement during the cast - we use the longer cast time skill second in order to spend as little time autoattacking in Air Attunement as possible.

Water

1. Shatterstone
2. Water Trident
3. Air Attunement during the cast

Air

1. Use whichever of the following cooldowns are available, otherwise just autoattack
   • "Feel the Burn!"
   • Lightning Storm
   • Lightning Strike - this has no cast time, so cast during other skills. You should be able to use it twice each time you're in air.
   • Lightning Orb
2. Overload Air
3. Water Attunement or Fire Attunement as soon as Overload Air finishes - go to whichever is off cooldown.

Video rotation (fire)

Video rotation (water)

Notes

• Cast Lightning Strike whenever it's available - it doesn't interrupt other channels.
• Step back from the boss before casting Lightning Orb to maximize the hits you get from it.

Spear Rotation

Spear's unique mechanic is its Etchings. The five-skill in each attunement places a large symbol on the ground. This can be immediately reactivated to launch an AoE attack, but a more powerful version can be charged up by using three skills while inside the symbol. As such, the general principle will be to quickly activate the Etching, followed by at least three skills, then the enhanced attack from the Etching.

It is worth noting that while you need to remain in the Etching symbol to charge it up, the damage can be aimed up to 1200 units away.

In order for Etching: Volcano to be available each loop, the Fire traitline is required.

Autoattacks will not be listed in general.

Opener

1. Summon Glyph of Elementals in Fire Attunement before the encounter starts, and swap to Air Attunement.
2. Overload Air
3. Fulgor and swap to Fire Attunement during the cast

Fire

It is very important that Volcano is used immediately after Seethe as the entire attack will benefit from the damage buff.

1. Etching: Volcano
2. Blazing Barrage
3. Meteor
4. Seethe ⇒ Volcano and Air Attunement during the cast

Air 1

1. Etching: Derecho
2. Twister
3. Energize - this is instant cast so can be used during other skills
4. Autoattack, and use Fulgor when it comes off cooldown
5. Derecho as soon as you see it fully charged (the icon changes)
6. Overload Air - make sure the skill has finished casting before swapping attunement
7. Earth Attunement

Earth

1. Earthen Spear
2. Air Attunement

Air 2

1. Fulgor
2. Lightning Javelin until Overload Air is available
3. Overload Air
4. Fulgor and swap to Fire Attunement during the cast
5. Return to start of Fire

• Use Flame Barrage off cooldown.
• Use "Feel the Burn!" whenever it's available and you're in Air Attunement.
• Use Lightning Storm whenever it's available, and you're in the Air 2 section.

Video example

Sword Rotation

Click to view

Opening Burst

1. Summon Glyph of Elementals in Fire Attunement before the encounter starts, and swap to Air Attunement.
2. Cast Lightning Orb from afar then begin channeling Overload Air. Ideally you time the cast to finish on top of the enemy the moment combat begins.
3. Lightning Storm and swap to Water Attunement or Earth Attunement as soon as you begin casting.
4. Immediately swap back to Air Attunement to gain Fresh Air, and use Quantum Strike
5. Fire Attunement, Flame Uprising, Cauterizing Strike and Wildfire
6. Air Attunement

Loop Rotation

The loop follows the opening burst closely.

1. In Air Attunement you autoattack and use the following skills off cooldown until the overload is ready:
   • Quantum Strike
   • Lightning Orb
   • "Feel the Burn!"
   • Lightning Storm
   • Flame Barrage
2. Overload Air

After this, you alternate between dipping into Water Attunement or Earth Attunement then immediately back to Air Attunement, or swap to Fire Attunement and:

1. Flame Uprising
2. Cauterizing Strike
3. Wildfire (if available)
4. Air Attunement

Then repeat from the start.

Video example

Staff Rotation

Video example