Does Aquaveil actually help?

[cidbahamut]

Does Aquaveil actually help when casting while under attack?
I ask because I honestly can't tell the difference and I'm starting to think it's little more than a placebo since I'll get my spell off anyway when the R.N.G. decides to eventually work in my favor.

[Elwynn]

Re: Does Aquaveil actually help?

Wiki says it's about 20%. Heko/Silver Obi +1 is 8%. Willpower torque is only 5%. I'm sure there's a cap, but I don't know what it is.

But first of all, NOTHING will prevent an interrupt from movement. If you aren't in the same spot at 75% as you were at 0%, you will absolutely, positively, always get an interrupt. Lag matters here, such that if you stop moving, you still have to wait a moment for the server to catch up with your position before you start casting. (It also means that if you start casting a long spell like a teleport, you can run around for a while during casting, as long as you return to the original spot. It helps a lot to start casting on an obvious mark on the ground when doing this.)

What Aquaveil and other -interrupt stuff help with is if you get hit for damage while casting. I've personally found it not generally worth casting, since you can time your casting to avoid interrupts anyhow. I just put on a torque and obi and +evasion gear for mid-level solo and forget about it. Paralyze is the only WHM spell long enough to matter, so I usually use it to pull. Also notice that I said "hit for damage". Stoneskin will prevent interrupts from getting hit, because you get hit for zero damage, so it's much better to use if you have it.

It also helps to have the appropriate magic skill capped for the spell. A higher skill level will result in lower interrupts.

Timing your casts is a matter of knowing when the mob is about to attack, and hitting the button just as it starts to move. The reason I don't like to use Slow when going solo is because it messes up my timing, and I always cast a little too early and get an interrupt.

[cidbahamut]

Re: Does Aquaveil actually help?

So that's why I keep having spells get interrupted while standing still with the enemy in range.
Yeah, so far I'm liking stoneskin as a better option but that only does me so much good if I decide to aggro half the mobs in the zone for practice.

[Taskmage]

Re: Does Aquaveil actually help?

Since Composure went in I started using Aquaveil almost all the time. At 12 mana for 15 minutes the biggest cost is the cast time; if I had to recast it every 5 I might not bother. I certainly don't have any hard data on it, but it seems like my stoneskins get interrupted less often, and if I get into a situation where I need to land a sleep or cure or stoneskin under duress I'd rather have the lifeline.

The -20% interruption figure ... I don't even know what that means, really. If you're casting utsusemi from a subjob and have a 0.10% chance of not getting interrupted by a hit, Aquaveil isn't going to give you a 20.1% chance of successfully casting. It's probably more like +20% chance of succeeding, as in 0.10% x 120% = 0.12% chance of getting those shadows up. It just isn't going to happen. If your skill is decent and you've got a 50/50 shot of getting your spell through normally, I could see Aquaveil raising it to 50% x 120% = 60%. Again, this is just conjecture based on casual observation.

Bottom line is the effect isn't earth shattering and obviously you should try to avoid getting into situations where your chance of interrupt becomes important, but depending on what else you were doing with your time and mp it isn't necessarily a waste. If you have access to composure and aren't doing anything for the next 5 seconds, why not? It's practically free.

[Takelli]

Re: Does Aquaveil actually help?

When I was soloing before stone skin on Rdm and Whm, I did find that Aquviel did help, but not that much. If you can time your casts between attacks, there is no real need for it unless its a long casting spell. But, if you have your magic skill capped, then you shouldn't have much of an issue of getting the spells off anyways.

[Armando]

Re: Does Aquaveil actually help?

I ask because I honestly can't tell the difference

Until someone decides to measure it and provide the source of his findings then we won't know anything besides "it helps, but I don't know how much." Observation is unreliable.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Does Aquaveil actually help?

A JP friend of mine explained to me that Aquaveil is also affected by the difference in level between you and the mob. So basically if you kill an Easy Prey mob and use the spell and get hit, it will work better than if you were killing an IT mob. I agree with TM wholeheartedly. I used it for important solo stuff that I would do and was glad I did at times.

[Armando]

Re: Does Aquaveil actually help?

I've used it on PLD/RDM soloing Ts for when I need to recast Stoneskin. I don't know how many times it let me get away with a Stoneskin cast that really shouldn't have succeeded, but I did get away with some, and I sure was glad I did.

[Callisto]

Re: Does Aquaveil actually help?

A JP friend of mine explained to me that Aquaveil is also affected by the difference in level between you and the mob. So basically if you kill an Easy Prey mob and use the spell and get hit, it will work better than if you were killing an IT mob. I agree with TM wholeheartedly. I used it for important solo stuff that I would do and was glad I did at times.

It's my understanding that it's not the spell itself, but spell interruption rate in general that has the level difference modifier as well as a damage taken modifier, most any longtime RDM knows from anecdotal reference that a lower level mob hitting you for 5-30 won't really interrupt, but a higher level one hitting you for 100+ will generally do so.

TM has the right idea, especially with Composure giving it a 15 minute duration, there's no excuse to not use it really, regardless of if you can eyeball the difference or not. For that matter the MP cost alone is low enough that you shouldn't really have an excuse to not cast it if you're in a position where you're going to get hit while casting spells.

[Elwynn]

Re: Does Aquaveil actually help?

It's my understanding that it's not the spell itself, but spell interruption rate in general that has the level difference modifier as well as a damage taken modifier, most any longtime RDM knows from anecdotal reference that a lower level mob hitting you for 5-30 won't really interrupt, but a higher level one hitting you for 100+ will generally do so.

...as will the higher level one hiting you for 5-30. It's not how hard you get hit, it's just whether it's for zero or not.

TM has the right idea, especially with Composure giving it a 15 minute duration, there's no excuse to not use it really

The main reason I don't use it when I don't is because of the duration. Composure would make it worth juggling that one more plate, but I only just got RDM to 37. It's also because I've been playing a lot of mid-level /WHM lately, where I don't get SS and its loooong cast time. Just like everything else, it's situational.

[Truece]

Re: Does Aquaveil actually help?

For what it's worth, there was a discussion somewhere regarding caps on - spell interrup %. I found this article on BG Spell Interruption Rate questions - Order of the Blue Gartr, but I thought that I saw a better write-up on someone's blog. In the linked thread, they theorize that spell interruption down caps at 100%, which you can't get without Aquaveil. So, whether or not Aquaveil actually helps or not is up for debate, but stacking gear certainly seems to help.

[Malacite]

Re: Does Aquaveil actually help?

Yes.

[Armando]

Re: Does Aquaveil actually help?

...as will the higher level one hiting you for 5-30. It's not how hard you get hit, it's just whether it's for zero or not.

I can vouch for at least this much. You have no idea how many 1 damage interrupts I've gotten on PLD/RDM.

I doubt your own level actually matters, it's probably purely based on your magic skill vs the mob's level.

[cidbahamut]

Re: Does Aquaveil actually help?

I think I got my answer tonight while soloing my first level appropriate NM. First round I let Aquaveil drop and I took a dirt nap. Round two I made sure to keep it up and had less trouble getting Stoneskin back up under pressure.

Not exactly quantifiable, but definitely helpful.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Does Aquaveil actually help?

It's my understanding that it's not the spell itself, but spell interruption rate in general that has the level difference modifier as well as a damage taken modifier, most any longtime RDM knows from anecdotal reference that a lower level mob hitting you for 5-30 won't really interrupt, but a higher level one hitting you for 100+ will generally do so.

I don't really follow all the calculation this and that stuff. I was told by a JP play WAY back in the day, MrFat I believe was his name on Midgard. He was one of those uber JP players so of course I'd believe him if he told me the sky was blue cause he painted it that color. LOLOLOLOL I will say that people should buy it and should use it for certain things, especially soloing.