IV) Abilities
Dhar Wind
Your Dark Magic dump. It's damage isn't particularly great, although it is nice when Gloomburst is on cooldown as another 1s cast ability. It's primary weakness is that you have to be standing still to cast it and it's fairly meager damage. The damage is undefendable so you can pierce crazy defended tanks with it. Be wary of the cast time – you can't expect to spam your Surging Pain for example and clean up your Dark Magic.
Suggestion to Mythic: Make it instant cast and/or deal more damage. Currently it's very difficult to use in some situations such as kiting or running away and it makes you feel pretty useless in that state. I honestly just think making it instant cast would be perfect but some have said it could use a damage buff too to encourage it. Although I think the damage buff would be better served in it's respective tactic Empowered Dhar.
Doombolt
The primary skill used for damage comes at a hefty cost. Not action points however, cause that is dirt cheap in terms of the amount of damage. A 3 second cast can be difficult to pull off on some targets especially in RvR. If you are getting hit in melee you better find a way to prevent setback or you will suffer trying to cast this spell. Also watch for when people pull out of LoS. May as well cancel it at that point and reposition or retarget. With all it's downsides however it hits extremely hard compared to most spells and it comes without a cooldown allowing it to be chain cast. With Agony powered up this is a spell to fear getting hit with and is probably the single most efficient spell to spam while at maximum Dark Magic if you wish to gamble your health due to it's long cast time. This spell can be used to create some powerful combos with other morale, masteries, and core abilities as well and is the standard nuke you will use throughout your career as a Sorceress.
Chillwind
So a nine second dot does have it's disadvantages in that it's duration is so low. It's less AP efficient then Doombolt and costs you half the time to setup – although you can move during the global cooldown. It does wonderful damage for a DoT though, especially powered with Calamity. It's also extremely safe to use at low Dark Magic and powerful once you built it up. I use it primarily as I move around positioning myself – although I'm careful when I need to mind my Dark Magic. Spam casting it can destroy you if you do this at high Dark Magic levels. It's very useful with Grasping Darkness to AP drain and debuff the enemy as well. No matter what the spec a DoT has it's uses. From using it as a primary source of damage with Calamity to simply throwing it beforehand while getting into position as Agony it is your staple DoT that lasts forever (well 9 seconds of it anyway).
Gloomburst
A spell laced with Dark Magic. It oozes Dark Magic into you and is a very quick cast with a high damage per second. It also leaves you .4 seconds of freedom to move (with global cooldown) but you are more likely to simply chain a spell right after it. Taking it as a 1.5 second cast spell its a little above Doombolt in damage, hits the target instantly, and skyrockets your Dark Magic. Without healing, Dhar Wind might be the next cast if your Dark Magic is brought to Tier 4 or 5. Combined with Doombolt this makes an extremely low level efficient combo. Doombolt → Gloomburst hits at nearly the same time for a decent chunk of health. Use it pretty much anytime the cooldown is up unless your worried about Dark Magic.
Shroud of Darkness
Defensive spell plain and simple. Use it anytime you are being attacked by magical damage or anticipate it. Bright Wizards, Archmages, and Runepriests do it primarily. Most non-siege AoE is magical as well. A lot of melee classes are sprinkled with Spirit damage types (Swordmaster, Warrior Priest, Witch Hunter and White Lion) and the Engineer carries a lot of Corporeal. The Shadow Warrior comes with Festering Arrow and Flame Arrow but they can take a tactic to negate resistance - but throwing up a defense doesn't hurt I guess if you know if he doesn't have it as undefendable. You can save it for the Bright Wizards or simply chuck it out whenever one of the above engages you. It's a powerful effect and is not to be taken lightly. It single handedly allows you to beat Bright Wizards one on one and allows you to stick your nose out in a zerg without dying a horrible death.
Dread Aspect
Smart use of this ability can keep you alive especially coupled with healing. Doesn't prevent setback however so you can either make the choice to escape or cast at a reduced pace of damage. Use it on Shadow Warriors or Bright Wizards trying to pick you off. Be wary though – if you have Stricken Limbs or Grip of Fear do not use Dread Aspect immediately against a Witch Hunter whom has revealed themselves or a White Lion whom has pulled you to him. The exception is if you have to use Grip of Fear and the attacker is under heavy damage himself, in which use Dread Aspect so Grip of Fear doesn't break. You have to entirely prevent the damage first and foremost – if you do not have access to that then Dread Aspect should be your last choice. Should be more then capable of keeping you alive with support however. One trick you can attempt to use in a close fight is to Dread Aspect them and charge a Doombolt face to face with a melee. During the cast time you take 50% less damage and any bit can help in a duel. Remember you don't have to be facing the target to use it.
Surging Pain
A PBAoE nuke. Tread carefully however as this can earn you a quick death by spam casting it. Maxing out your Dark Magic in 5 or less casts coupled with using it every 1.5 seconds earns you A LOT of backlash damage. It's damage isn't exactly incredible either. Use it sparingly when surrounded by enemies (you probably should be getting the heck out of there too!) unless you have some very capable healing support. I have used it in particular moments I know I'm going to die – but don't always give up hope and kill yourself off since a heal can be just around the corner. Combined with Piercing Shadows it can do some impressive damage but the cones do much higher damage so be sure to use them first. Pit of Shades and Shattered Shadows are so much safer to use though so don't TRY to use Surging Pain.
BUG: Currently generates Dark Magic and deals backlashes without hitting the target or dealing any damage. This includes spells that are disrupted or blocked. I believe it is a bug that this occurs.
Frozen Touch
One of the best buffs in the game. Gives your entire group extra damage including you. It's fairly simple to use just keep it always up and try to catch your group entirely with it. Can be dispelled but is fairly easy to recast and since the Action Points regen in 2 seconds you should always have it up before battle. In case it's not clear, this will trigger upon any successful cast of an ability including any DoT. It will not however trigger upon each tick of a DoT.
NOTE: Currently make sure in RvR that you gain the Bolster buff before casting it as it's level doesn't increase until that is cast.
Word of Pain
A lot of people love this ability to death. I have a different take on it. I do see it's uses for preparing a target for burst damage or destroying targets on the run, but after that I don't use it. The Willpower debuff is to say the least pathetic and the fact that it takes it's damage at minimum 13s to come through with a x3 stacking is a long time in RvR. Maybe I'm too spoiled at the higher levels where combat feels much faster and CC can change the day at any given time. Honestly, whenever I try to use it the target usually gets away or is killed prematurely. Even then it's damage is honestly NOT that impressive without Calamity specialization. I do more damage with a Doombolt → Gloomburst combo then I do with x3 Word of Pain. That's not to say it's not useful! If for some reason it all does follows the plan I can set up some very impressive simultaneous damage with x3 Word of Pain. It's main use to me however is when I'm chasing someone with instant cast spells since it can be used while moving. I'm not impressed with this spell in its' current form but it can be used well especially if you build your Dark Magic up quickly afterwards.
Suggestion to Mythic: Change the Willpower debuff to a bonus to crit the target affected and/or rework it so that it does x1.5 the damage and effect it does now except it cannot stack. Willpower is a terrible stat to debuff unless it was much, much stronger and although the x3 cast stacking is intersting once you realize the actual mechanics of it then it's no longer any fun to use except in very certain situations. Besides we shouldn't be able to time that much damage at once or people are going to freak out when they are “1-shot”.
Shattered Shadows
Once you get Pit of Shades this spell loses a fair bit of use but it does get used in between the castings of Pit of Shades. It's long cast time prevents it from being a rapid use spell and makes it difficult to position correctly in RvR sometimes as you have to guess where the target will be in 3 seconds. It does less damage then Pit of Shades per second as well. It's useful in between castings but it's not your gospel AoE. Also, be careful with the 80 range as you do have to stick your neck out in front of a group if there is a standoff to use it.
Obsessive Focus
Consider a 1.5s global cooldown (I know it's 1.4s, just simpler). You lose 1.5s worth of time (you can move while using it thought) to cast this spell to gain +10% damage. You should make up for that in 15 seconds worth of DPS. I know you can't quite make it that simple and there are other things to take into consideration but, the point remains that this ability should only be used if you can focus for nearly the full duration or you are setting up for some powerful burst damage. It's not worth using regularly however at least in my practice. If you can prove me wrong please do so, I can't figure out the right way to use it.
Suggestion to Mythic: Increase the strength to +20% damage and -25% damage on unfocused targets and/or make it not affected by the global cooldown. It's not very effective, noticeable, or even penalizing in it's current incarnation. Besides it'll give Vengeance Of Nagarythe a mirror of sorts.
Grip of Fear
Absolutely essential escape ability. Some may cry it breaks too much or is not long enough. I don't find that being too much of a problem since if the target is under attack they usually are being killed and 5s is more then enough time to get 3s of distance and turn around to use another spell. One thing to notice is this is a Hex which means things that require hexes (see skill below) can be used on this. While escaping to your party make sure you use this skill and don't look back. As far as I know this doesn't break during your dots and rather when they are cast but I could be wrong. If someone could verify it that would be awesome.
Arctic Blast
The 2s cast on this spell hurts is more then anything – the curse component isn't so bad. Makes it very difficult to use in PvE though. Use this snare to assist someone's escape (like your healer buddy!) or when the target is dilly dallying on his way to you. Chillwind is the easiest curse to throw on them beforehand but make sure you look across all your spells like Ice Spikes, Vision of Torment, and Absorb Vitality since they are curses too. The best way to use this in a solo situation is to have them cursed and then after you Grip of Fear them take 2.5s worth of steps away and turn around to whip this at them so it breaks and they are snared to boot. I actually don't use this much in practice other then solo situations and in aiding an ally.
Suggestion to Mythic: Decrease the cast time to 1s or 1.5s. It's very difficult to use and I acknowledge that it shouldn't be too easy but a small reduction in cast time would be great for the ability since it has a decent cooldown to it as well.
Ice Spikes
The first cone ability is unique in that it's not of the Destruction line but rather the Calamity line since it's a DoT. It ticks for a little over 3/5 of what Chillwind does and costs the same. If the target is in range you may as well cast it although you probably can find something better unless your Calamity. If there are two or three in range you should cast it. If there are any more... you probably should not be where you are without support or at least hope to be lucky – but cast it anyway since it's fun to see all the pretty numbers. Pretty effective in combination with Infernal Wave when you get a little close to a group of people.
Infernal Wave
Ah the direct damage cone ability. This makes it so you have two of them which is very handy when you are in range. Make sure you use this far before you consider using Surging Pain but you should probably use it after Ice Spikes. It's somewhat okay at quick instant cast damage but in comparison Impending Doom carries almost twice it's damage and even Gloomburst does plenty more. Make sure you use the cone AoEs when you can and don't forget about them for your AoE. Before Pit of Shades they are extraordinary useful and retain most of their power even after the fact being instant cast on the move.
Daemonic Chill
A blessing/augmentation to accompany Frozen Touch. These two give you a signature of sorts in a group since anyone will know when you have given them these buffs. The damage isn't all so great (even with Calamity) but it's something at least and is pretty much free to cast. It's most effective on tanks since you will be beaten down relatively quickly if this starts to cause a lot of damage to someone while a tank should survive with their toughness and wounds. At the very least it's dispel fodder.
Suggestion to Mythic: Increase it's damage a little so it's more noticeable. Taking low damage 25% of the time isn't a great combination. If it's 25% of the time then make it felt when it hits because currently it does very little damage in my experience and when it does you are usually dead fast enough before it does much. Something along the lines of a x1.5 to x2 damage increase would be far more fun and make us wanted.
Frostbite
The almighty 1s instant -travel disarm. It's what separates us from the Bright Wizards in my opinion. Use it intelligently but use it often. Witch Hunter just pop up on you with Sudden Accusation? This is the answer. Then nuke his face while hopefully you have support to take care of him. Shadow Warrior trying to pick you off? Warrior Priest feeding off the damage into healing? Tank disrupting your healer? It has many, many uses and my favorite of all of them is defending the healers or other Ranged DPS in the zerg by making them regret ever attacking. Watch out for it's cooldown however it's 30s of weakness once you don't have it.
Pit of Shades
This makes us the queen of AoE for Destruction. It's a GTAoE of doom. Positioning it correctly is key but it's fairly simple – catch as many as you can with it. Preferably somewhere you are sure they will stick around; the middle of a melee conflict, keep doors & hallways, or in the path of resistance. To use it most effectively build up to maximum Dark Magic and then cast it. You only suffer the chance of a backlash once right at the beginning of the cast and gain the benefits of super powerful crits throughout the channeling. Afterwards, your Dark Magic will likely be dropping back to safe levels. In a sense it's the safest way to use maximum Dark Magic there is although you are still likely to take a bit of damage. This is one of our defining abilities and should be used often when there are groups to AoE and the reason we should always place high in scenario for damage.
Reckless Gathering
Oh such a wonderful ap recovery ability. 3 seconds and you regain 210 AP which is nearly full (out of 250). While repositioning in RvR combat you probably won't be out too often, but in a focused attack such as killing off a tank you might run a fair bit low. Often it's all you need in RvR to keep your action point flow enough to where you never will run out. Remember it's considered “burst dps” while you have action points, and “sustained dps” while you are out just scraping for action points. This ability helps you keep in the “burst dps” phase for as long as needed in RvR only costing you 3 seconds of recharge time. If you would ever need more we have Devour Energy and Recover Energy to pick from as well – making action points one less thing you have to think about.
Vision of Torment
Just as a delayed nuke it's a little weak. The damage is far less then half of what Chillwind provides at the same cost, although it's effect comes in 5 seconds rather then 9. Also quite a bit weaker the Impending Doom in a straight comparison. What it's used for is Action Point denial. With Grasping Darkness you can effectively bring someone into “ap lockdown”. It works best on people with cast times, such as Support Casters and Magic DPS. You don't use the Action Points until you've cast a spell – if someone is low on action points and combined with casting a spell they have no ap regeneration. Combined you can lock out someone from casting spells. It's only really effective against someone standing through your nukes... such as a healer however. Also, 30 AP loss over 5 seconds is very meager and will only effect them if they are spam casting at zero action points – likely need to be affected by Grasping Darkness during this cast. I only use it on any support or if I'm deep in Calamity.
Suggestion to Mythic: Make this a 10s duration with damage equaling x1.5 what Word of Pain currently is and/or increase the AP drain per second. Currently the AP drain is barely worth it as you won't even notice the effect. I honestly do it simply because I think it has to be having some effect on support classes. Matching it with a 10s duration with a revised Word of Pain would be excellent having delayed nukes as a class feature.
Stricken Voices
Such a wondrous ability. AoE silence for 5 seconds. Dirt cheap at 25 action points. Only problem is the cooldown and 2s cast time. You will probably use it on that pesky healer healing themselves or others. You will probably use it on the Bright Wizard attacking you. Of course, if you can catch multiple healers under the effect then do so as soon as you think you have a chance at killing someone while they are silenced. I can only imagine what this could do in coordinated battles although the range of 80 makes you exposed and warns them of the possibility. Using this on a single target is viable as well as a ranged silence. Such a tragedy one has to wait until rank 40 for it...
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Dhar Wind
Your Dark Magic dump. It's damage isn't particularly great, although it is nice when Gloomburst is on cooldown as another 1s cast ability. It's primary weakness is that you have to be standing still to cast it and it's fairly meager damage. The damage is undefendable so you can pierce crazy defended tanks with it. Be wary of the cast time – you can't expect to spam your Surging Pain for example and clean up your Dark Magic.
Suggestion to Mythic: Make it instant cast and/or deal more damage. Currently it's very difficult to use in some situations such as kiting or running away and it makes you feel pretty useless in that state. I honestly just think making it instant cast would be perfect but some have said it could use a damage buff too to encourage it. Although I think the damage buff would be better served in it's respective tactic Empowered Dhar.
Doombolt
The primary skill used for damage comes at a hefty cost. Not action points however, cause that is dirt cheap in terms of the amount of damage. A 3 second cast can be difficult to pull off on some targets especially in RvR. If you are getting hit in melee you better find a way to prevent setback or you will suffer trying to cast this spell. Also watch for when people pull out of LoS. May as well cancel it at that point and reposition or retarget. With all it's downsides however it hits extremely hard compared to most spells and it comes without a cooldown allowing it to be chain cast. With Agony powered up this is a spell to fear getting hit with and is probably the single most efficient spell to spam while at maximum Dark Magic if you wish to gamble your health due to it's long cast time. This spell can be used to create some powerful combos with other morale, masteries, and core abilities as well and is the standard nuke you will use throughout your career as a Sorceress.
Chillwind
So a nine second dot does have it's disadvantages in that it's duration is so low. It's less AP efficient then Doombolt and costs you half the time to setup – although you can move during the global cooldown. It does wonderful damage for a DoT though, especially powered with Calamity. It's also extremely safe to use at low Dark Magic and powerful once you built it up. I use it primarily as I move around positioning myself – although I'm careful when I need to mind my Dark Magic. Spam casting it can destroy you if you do this at high Dark Magic levels. It's very useful with Grasping Darkness to AP drain and debuff the enemy as well. No matter what the spec a DoT has it's uses. From using it as a primary source of damage with Calamity to simply throwing it beforehand while getting into position as Agony it is your staple DoT that lasts forever (well 9 seconds of it anyway).
Gloomburst
A spell laced with Dark Magic. It oozes Dark Magic into you and is a very quick cast with a high damage per second. It also leaves you .4 seconds of freedom to move (with global cooldown) but you are more likely to simply chain a spell right after it. Taking it as a 1.5 second cast spell its a little above Doombolt in damage, hits the target instantly, and skyrockets your Dark Magic. Without healing, Dhar Wind might be the next cast if your Dark Magic is brought to Tier 4 or 5. Combined with Doombolt this makes an extremely low level efficient combo. Doombolt → Gloomburst hits at nearly the same time for a decent chunk of health. Use it pretty much anytime the cooldown is up unless your worried about Dark Magic.
Shroud of Darkness
Defensive spell plain and simple. Use it anytime you are being attacked by magical damage or anticipate it. Bright Wizards, Archmages, and Runepriests do it primarily. Most non-siege AoE is magical as well. A lot of melee classes are sprinkled with Spirit damage types (Swordmaster, Warrior Priest, Witch Hunter and White Lion) and the Engineer carries a lot of Corporeal. The Shadow Warrior comes with Festering Arrow and Flame Arrow but they can take a tactic to negate resistance - but throwing up a defense doesn't hurt I guess if you know if he doesn't have it as undefendable. You can save it for the Bright Wizards or simply chuck it out whenever one of the above engages you. It's a powerful effect and is not to be taken lightly. It single handedly allows you to beat Bright Wizards one on one and allows you to stick your nose out in a zerg without dying a horrible death.
Dread Aspect
Smart use of this ability can keep you alive especially coupled with healing. Doesn't prevent setback however so you can either make the choice to escape or cast at a reduced pace of damage. Use it on Shadow Warriors or Bright Wizards trying to pick you off. Be wary though – if you have Stricken Limbs or Grip of Fear do not use Dread Aspect immediately against a Witch Hunter whom has revealed themselves or a White Lion whom has pulled you to him. The exception is if you have to use Grip of Fear and the attacker is under heavy damage himself, in which use Dread Aspect so Grip of Fear doesn't break. You have to entirely prevent the damage first and foremost – if you do not have access to that then Dread Aspect should be your last choice. Should be more then capable of keeping you alive with support however. One trick you can attempt to use in a close fight is to Dread Aspect them and charge a Doombolt face to face with a melee. During the cast time you take 50% less damage and any bit can help in a duel. Remember you don't have to be facing the target to use it.
Surging Pain
A PBAoE nuke. Tread carefully however as this can earn you a quick death by spam casting it. Maxing out your Dark Magic in 5 or less casts coupled with using it every 1.5 seconds earns you A LOT of backlash damage. It's damage isn't exactly incredible either. Use it sparingly when surrounded by enemies (you probably should be getting the heck out of there too!) unless you have some very capable healing support. I have used it in particular moments I know I'm going to die – but don't always give up hope and kill yourself off since a heal can be just around the corner. Combined with Piercing Shadows it can do some impressive damage but the cones do much higher damage so be sure to use them first. Pit of Shades and Shattered Shadows are so much safer to use though so don't TRY to use Surging Pain.
BUG: Currently generates Dark Magic and deals backlashes without hitting the target or dealing any damage. This includes spells that are disrupted or blocked. I believe it is a bug that this occurs.
Frozen Touch
One of the best buffs in the game. Gives your entire group extra damage including you. It's fairly simple to use just keep it always up and try to catch your group entirely with it. Can be dispelled but is fairly easy to recast and since the Action Points regen in 2 seconds you should always have it up before battle. In case it's not clear, this will trigger upon any successful cast of an ability including any DoT. It will not however trigger upon each tick of a DoT.
NOTE: Currently make sure in RvR that you gain the Bolster buff before casting it as it's level doesn't increase until that is cast.
Word of Pain
A lot of people love this ability to death. I have a different take on it. I do see it's uses for preparing a target for burst damage or destroying targets on the run, but after that I don't use it. The Willpower debuff is to say the least pathetic and the fact that it takes it's damage at minimum 13s to come through with a x3 stacking is a long time in RvR. Maybe I'm too spoiled at the higher levels where combat feels much faster and CC can change the day at any given time. Honestly, whenever I try to use it the target usually gets away or is killed prematurely. Even then it's damage is honestly NOT that impressive without Calamity specialization. I do more damage with a Doombolt → Gloomburst combo then I do with x3 Word of Pain. That's not to say it's not useful! If for some reason it all does follows the plan I can set up some very impressive simultaneous damage with x3 Word of Pain. It's main use to me however is when I'm chasing someone with instant cast spells since it can be used while moving. I'm not impressed with this spell in its' current form but it can be used well especially if you build your Dark Magic up quickly afterwards.
Suggestion to Mythic: Change the Willpower debuff to a bonus to crit the target affected and/or rework it so that it does x1.5 the damage and effect it does now except it cannot stack. Willpower is a terrible stat to debuff unless it was much, much stronger and although the x3 cast stacking is intersting once you realize the actual mechanics of it then it's no longer any fun to use except in very certain situations. Besides we shouldn't be able to time that much damage at once or people are going to freak out when they are “1-shot”.
Shattered Shadows
Once you get Pit of Shades this spell loses a fair bit of use but it does get used in between the castings of Pit of Shades. It's long cast time prevents it from being a rapid use spell and makes it difficult to position correctly in RvR sometimes as you have to guess where the target will be in 3 seconds. It does less damage then Pit of Shades per second as well. It's useful in between castings but it's not your gospel AoE. Also, be careful with the 80 range as you do have to stick your neck out in front of a group if there is a standoff to use it.
Obsessive Focus
Consider a 1.5s global cooldown (I know it's 1.4s, just simpler). You lose 1.5s worth of time (you can move while using it thought) to cast this spell to gain +10% damage. You should make up for that in 15 seconds worth of DPS. I know you can't quite make it that simple and there are other things to take into consideration but, the point remains that this ability should only be used if you can focus for nearly the full duration or you are setting up for some powerful burst damage. It's not worth using regularly however at least in my practice. If you can prove me wrong please do so, I can't figure out the right way to use it.
Suggestion to Mythic: Increase the strength to +20% damage and -25% damage on unfocused targets and/or make it not affected by the global cooldown. It's not very effective, noticeable, or even penalizing in it's current incarnation. Besides it'll give Vengeance Of Nagarythe a mirror of sorts.
Grip of Fear
Absolutely essential escape ability. Some may cry it breaks too much or is not long enough. I don't find that being too much of a problem since if the target is under attack they usually are being killed and 5s is more then enough time to get 3s of distance and turn around to use another spell. One thing to notice is this is a Hex which means things that require hexes (see skill below) can be used on this. While escaping to your party make sure you use this skill and don't look back. As far as I know this doesn't break during your dots and rather when they are cast but I could be wrong. If someone could verify it that would be awesome.
Arctic Blast
The 2s cast on this spell hurts is more then anything – the curse component isn't so bad. Makes it very difficult to use in PvE though. Use this snare to assist someone's escape (like your healer buddy!) or when the target is dilly dallying on his way to you. Chillwind is the easiest curse to throw on them beforehand but make sure you look across all your spells like Ice Spikes, Vision of Torment, and Absorb Vitality since they are curses too. The best way to use this in a solo situation is to have them cursed and then after you Grip of Fear them take 2.5s worth of steps away and turn around to whip this at them so it breaks and they are snared to boot. I actually don't use this much in practice other then solo situations and in aiding an ally.
Suggestion to Mythic: Decrease the cast time to 1s or 1.5s. It's very difficult to use and I acknowledge that it shouldn't be too easy but a small reduction in cast time would be great for the ability since it has a decent cooldown to it as well.
Ice Spikes
The first cone ability is unique in that it's not of the Destruction line but rather the Calamity line since it's a DoT. It ticks for a little over 3/5 of what Chillwind does and costs the same. If the target is in range you may as well cast it although you probably can find something better unless your Calamity. If there are two or three in range you should cast it. If there are any more... you probably should not be where you are without support or at least hope to be lucky – but cast it anyway since it's fun to see all the pretty numbers. Pretty effective in combination with Infernal Wave when you get a little close to a group of people.
Infernal Wave
Ah the direct damage cone ability. This makes it so you have two of them which is very handy when you are in range. Make sure you use this far before you consider using Surging Pain but you should probably use it after Ice Spikes. It's somewhat okay at quick instant cast damage but in comparison Impending Doom carries almost twice it's damage and even Gloomburst does plenty more. Make sure you use the cone AoEs when you can and don't forget about them for your AoE. Before Pit of Shades they are extraordinary useful and retain most of their power even after the fact being instant cast on the move.
Daemonic Chill
A blessing/augmentation to accompany Frozen Touch. These two give you a signature of sorts in a group since anyone will know when you have given them these buffs. The damage isn't all so great (even with Calamity) but it's something at least and is pretty much free to cast. It's most effective on tanks since you will be beaten down relatively quickly if this starts to cause a lot of damage to someone while a tank should survive with their toughness and wounds. At the very least it's dispel fodder.
Suggestion to Mythic: Increase it's damage a little so it's more noticeable. Taking low damage 25% of the time isn't a great combination. If it's 25% of the time then make it felt when it hits because currently it does very little damage in my experience and when it does you are usually dead fast enough before it does much. Something along the lines of a x1.5 to x2 damage increase would be far more fun and make us wanted.
Frostbite
The almighty 1s instant -travel disarm. It's what separates us from the Bright Wizards in my opinion. Use it intelligently but use it often. Witch Hunter just pop up on you with Sudden Accusation? This is the answer. Then nuke his face while hopefully you have support to take care of him. Shadow Warrior trying to pick you off? Warrior Priest feeding off the damage into healing? Tank disrupting your healer? It has many, many uses and my favorite of all of them is defending the healers or other Ranged DPS in the zerg by making them regret ever attacking. Watch out for it's cooldown however it's 30s of weakness once you don't have it.
Pit of Shades
This makes us the queen of AoE for Destruction. It's a GTAoE of doom. Positioning it correctly is key but it's fairly simple – catch as many as you can with it. Preferably somewhere you are sure they will stick around; the middle of a melee conflict, keep doors & hallways, or in the path of resistance. To use it most effectively build up to maximum Dark Magic and then cast it. You only suffer the chance of a backlash once right at the beginning of the cast and gain the benefits of super powerful crits throughout the channeling. Afterwards, your Dark Magic will likely be dropping back to safe levels. In a sense it's the safest way to use maximum Dark Magic there is although you are still likely to take a bit of damage. This is one of our defining abilities and should be used often when there are groups to AoE and the reason we should always place high in scenario for damage.
Reckless Gathering
Oh such a wonderful ap recovery ability. 3 seconds and you regain 210 AP which is nearly full (out of 250). While repositioning in RvR combat you probably won't be out too often, but in a focused attack such as killing off a tank you might run a fair bit low. Often it's all you need in RvR to keep your action point flow enough to where you never will run out. Remember it's considered “burst dps” while you have action points, and “sustained dps” while you are out just scraping for action points. This ability helps you keep in the “burst dps” phase for as long as needed in RvR only costing you 3 seconds of recharge time. If you would ever need more we have Devour Energy and Recover Energy to pick from as well – making action points one less thing you have to think about.
Vision of Torment
Just as a delayed nuke it's a little weak. The damage is far less then half of what Chillwind provides at the same cost, although it's effect comes in 5 seconds rather then 9. Also quite a bit weaker the Impending Doom in a straight comparison. What it's used for is Action Point denial. With Grasping Darkness you can effectively bring someone into “ap lockdown”. It works best on people with cast times, such as Support Casters and Magic DPS. You don't use the Action Points until you've cast a spell – if someone is low on action points and combined with casting a spell they have no ap regeneration. Combined you can lock out someone from casting spells. It's only really effective against someone standing through your nukes... such as a healer however. Also, 30 AP loss over 5 seconds is very meager and will only effect them if they are spam casting at zero action points – likely need to be affected by Grasping Darkness during this cast. I only use it on any support or if I'm deep in Calamity.
Suggestion to Mythic: Make this a 10s duration with damage equaling x1.5 what Word of Pain currently is and/or increase the AP drain per second. Currently the AP drain is barely worth it as you won't even notice the effect. I honestly do it simply because I think it has to be having some effect on support classes. Matching it with a 10s duration with a revised Word of Pain would be excellent having delayed nukes as a class feature.
Stricken Voices
Such a wondrous ability. AoE silence for 5 seconds. Dirt cheap at 25 action points. Only problem is the cooldown and 2s cast time. You will probably use it on that pesky healer healing themselves or others. You will probably use it on the Bright Wizard attacking you. Of course, if you can catch multiple healers under the effect then do so as soon as you think you have a chance at killing someone while they are silenced. I can only imagine what this could do in coordinated battles although the range of 80 makes you exposed and warns them of the possibility. Using this on a single target is viable as well as a ranged silence. Such a tragedy one has to wait until rank 40 for it...
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