The Spec
51 Inquisitor/10 Sentinel/5 Cabalist is the highest DPS ranged build for clerics. Inquisitor applies clinging spirit, a primary 7% magical debuff. If you are the only cleric DPSing, it is imperative you run this build or a Jolt-n-Bolt with clinging spirit to maximize raid dps.
Gearing Up
For virtually all cleric specs, not just Inquisitor, you will be aiming to acquire gear based around spell power. As a general rule, value spell power at roughly 2x the worth of spell crit.
Buffs and skills to have on your bar
**Active Buffs - Mien of Aggression, Armor of Awakening, and Shroud of Agony will be your primary buffs.
**Skills to have on your bar: Vex, Nysyr's Rebuke, Aggressive Renewal, Purge, Perseverance, and all of the macros below (if you decide to follow that route)
Vex and Nysyr's Rebuke will be used as part of your DPS rotation. Aggressive renewal is an emergency mana return in case you get mana drained. Purge will offensively dispel buffs from enemies and is very useful in raids. Perseverance allows you to ignore certain mechanics at least once.
Macros
Some prefer not to use macros. I use them when they are highly beneficial with minimal or absent negative side-effects. In this case, you are free to macro a "spam" button with no conditional lag seen in Rising Waterfall and other comparable abilities. The downside to using this macro would be slightly less dps while mobile due to banish being your best mobile skill outside of Sanction heretic, refresh of vex, or instant-cast Bolt of Depravity.
**Spam Macro:
#show sanction heretic
suppressmacrofailures
cast sanction heretic
cast bolt of judgment
cast life's vengeance
cast excommunicate
cast banish
cast vex
**AoE macro:
#show bound fate
suppressmacrofailures
cast bound fate
cast circle of oblivion
**Bolt of Depravity:
#show bolt of depravity
suppressmacrofailures
cast fanaticism
cast bolt of depravity
**Soul Drain:
#show soul drain
suppressmacrofailures
cast fanaticism
cast soul drain
**Emergency backup heals
#show healing breath
suppressmacrofailures
cast healing breath
cast healing grace
Priorities and Rotations
Having the macros is a great first step, but you need to understand the absolute priorities of Inquisitor. Precisely following these priorities will net you the highest possible DPS. x
If you have the Inquisitor crystal effect of Sanction Heretic refresh:
**Quick and Dirty ST
1. Refresh Sanction Heretic DoT portion
2. Bolt of Depravity macro after an instant cast proc
3. Sanction Heretic while DoT portion is already applied
4. Refresh Vex after it falls off
5. Nysyr's Rebuke where DoTs will remain on target or fall off just as channel ends
6. Bolt of Judgment spam (or the "spam macro")
(now on the move)
7. Banish application/refresh
8. Life's vengeance
9. Excommunicate
If you do not have the Inquisitor crystal effect of Sanction Heretic refresh: Sanction Heretic always outweighs Bolt of Depravity. This is all that changes. Use Sanction Heretic on cooldown in this case.
**Key points
It is extremely important to eliminate wasted GCDs with vex. I see many clerics who refresh vex while it is already applied, which is a terrible mistake. You need to wait until the DoT fully disappears from the target before re-applying.
Nysyr's Rebuke is best used in the following stmcenario: Clinging Spirit already applied by Bolt of Depravity, all previous conditions listed as above (no missed ticks on DoTs), and flaring power active.
As mentioned earlier, the spam macro doesn't include the best possible mobile dps. If you want to pay attention and gain a slight bit of dps, manually apply/refresh banish while on the move instead of relying on Life's Vengeance/Excommunicate first.
When DPSing you will have to make quick decisions. You need be aware of your Bolt of Depravity proc along with its cooldown, the vex timer on your target, and if your synergy crystal has procced Sanction Heretic. Making the wrong decision will not cause your dps to plummet, but it certainly will have an impact.
**AoE explanation (3 targets+)
Soul Drain is your best AoE to use when the encounter warrants and/or permits you being in melee range. It's not only your best damaging AoE, but it applies clinging spirit to everything it hits. I like to macro it with fanaticism to get an obscenely powerful force-crit.
In melee range, your aoe rotation would look like this: Soul Drain>Bound Fate>Circle of Oblivion....repeat
Bound Fate acts as a filler for time to cleanly transition between AoE skills. If you were to use Soul Drain immediately followed by Circle of Oblivion, there would be a bit of a gap.
You are able to get the targeting portion of Circle of Oblivion active during your Bound Fate cast. This is important for squeezing every ounce of DPS from your GCDs.
At ranged it will just be Bound Fate>Circle of Oblivion (unless there are more than 5 targets in which case you ignore Bound Fate). There may be a little gap due to pushback+not using soul drain. You can easily fill this void with one of your powerful ST abilities.
**AoE explanation (2 targets)
If you are able to run into melee range, you will simply Soul Drain and begin your normal ST rotation on the first target. When your priority becomes vex, apply it on the first target, then the next. Rinse and repeat, switching between targets to re-apply vex.
If you are unable to run into melee range, you will do as stated above, minus soul drain.
Final Notes
Squeezing out that extra couple of DPS can come down to very small things, especially the final moments of a fight. For example, if you know a fight is ending in four seconds, why would you re-apply vex? You would not. Instead, continue with Bolt of Depravity/Sanction Heretic/Bolt of judgment, and absolutely Nysyr's Rebuke if it's available. Try and make your final attack Life's Vengeance right as the boss dies.
Keep mana tonics available if you get drained! Don't lower your dps by using Aggressive Renewal.
Full consumables, such as with any other spec, make a huge difference in dps. Use them!
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