Optimal way to use Soul Carver?

[Haytur]

So I have tanking down mostly pat, but I feel like with Soul Carver I don't quite know where the best places are to use this ability. Should i use it on CD for the damage? I kinda feel that is not a good idea as it would probably just end up wasting souls. So if anyone could help I would appreciate it. Also any tips with best use of Fiery Brand would be good to.

[Orloth]

I personally use it on cooldown for the damage and soul generation, provided I have enough Pain to consume all those souls before they despawn. The souls themselves don't heal for enough to really use it as a survival cooldown, in my opinion, but consuming more souls means better uptime with DS (when running FtD, which I do).

[Deleted]

For damage you should use it on cd, unless you have at least 2x relic that increases fiery brand for +50% fire damage (lol)

Think of it that way, if you delay soul carver by 20 seconds to line it up with Fiery Brand, you're casting it 33% less often , so you need the ability to deal at least +50% dmg (it's actually very slightly different because you'll gain a partial GCD here and there so technically you don't quite need 50%, but whatever it's such a minimal diference, one GCD every 3 minutes.. 1/3rd of a shear per minute.. actually i'm curious if 40% fire damage wouldn't be enough with that considered, will have to napkin math that one out later)

If you have Kirel Narak this obviously changes due to the reduction in Fiery Brand cd, in which case you should always line them up (for damage at least)

The other important thing is that it depends on the remaining fight length - if you're in the last 40 seconds of the fight and this is going to be your last Soul Carver, you might as well delay it a bit

Also if you're not planning on using fiery brand on cd (for plenty of reasons which are obvious, given how strong of a defensive cd it can be) then soul carver on cd becomes a no brainer

If survivability is a concern it might be better not to use them together though, so it's up to you to decide what's optimal then, smoothing out cds over time or straight up damage

[unfilteredJW]

I've was trying to use it defensively but I've just started doing it on CD.

But that's more to do with the content's difficulty. I think using it proactively before be hits in raids will be beneficial.

[Munkky]

As far as the damage goes if you use it on cd, you will get the first and every 4th SC to line up with Fiery Brand. Even with Fiery Demise Relics, it's better to just cast Carver on cd. You get 1 extra cast per 2 minutes if you cast on cd and only miss one fiery demise.

This is assuming you don't have Kirel Narak.

[redfella]

Offensive use has been covered, as for defensive use, every time I'm under 60-70% HP and got 0 soul frags to collect. The increase in healing is not huge, but it's not meaningless either.

That said, the only situation I use it defensively is when pulling all trash between bosses in M dungeon and I want to stay in a moment longer before kiting.

[zito]

I use it whenever I need soul shards, which is when my health is going to dip low. Using it whenever it's off CD is a waste unless you are some extreme high haste feed the demons build.

[Munkky]

I use it whenever I need soul shards, which is when my health is going to dip low. Using it whenever it's off CD is a waste unless you are some extreme high haste feed the demons build.

Its used on cd for dps.

[Deleted]

Remember that it's also fire damage, so if you have the 'Fiery Demise' trait you can occasionally combine it with Fiery Brand for extra damage. In the open world Brand -> Fel Blade -> Soul Carver -> Fel Devastation is probably the strongest single-target burst you can do. With 'Demonic Flames' you can probably also squeeze in a Sigil and another Fel Blade.

[Caeth]

If I don't use it on CD then I'm pain capped. What else is there to use pain on really? Other than the fracture talent I guess.

[Munkky]

If I don't use it on CD then I'm pain capped. What else is there to use pain on really? Other than the fracture talent I guess.

You are thinking Soul Cleave, this is about Soul Carver.

[redfella]

How exactly is pain generation an issue when discussing an ability that neither generates or uses pain?