There is no easy answer to that question. This weapon has a great success rate, but it only functions if you are able to connect with the spirit of undeath and make it animate your weapons for some time. It’s worth trying out though as this builds up in difficulty every few levels
The “Genesis Lathe” is a unique Sepulcher healing weapon that can be obtained at the item level of 7. The lathe has a chance to drop from any boss in the game. This weapon is worth it if you are looking for an easy way to get your item levels up.
Scariizard, a WoW developer, shared his insights on the Design Philosophy of weapon acquisition in raids earlier this week, notably mentioning that only a few healers will be unable to earn a max item level weapon from Sepulcher of the First Ones. However, he did mention that the Genesis Lathe, a one-of-a-kind mace, would be a formidable alternative for those specifications. We’ve allowed Voulk, a skilled healer-focused theorycrafter, to dig down all the data of Genesis Lathe and see how it compares to other Sepulcher of the First Ones weapons, both comparable and max ilvl.
About the Author Voulk is the author of Questionably Epic, a healer-focused theorycrafting site. He is also the creator of healer gearing & theorycrafting app QE Live and the Dungeon Tips addon.
In this week’s PTR version, Genesis Lathe’s healing benefits were increased by 400-500 percent. This article refers to the weapon’s post-buff state. In addition, the build created an issue, which will be described at the conclusion of the essay.
End-game weapons with Special Effects are an intriguing method to distinguish them from conventional stat sticks. However, it should go without saying that if an effect demands you to give up stats or take it at a lower ilvl than a non-special effect weapon, the effect should still be powerful enough to make it a good choice. Because the Genesis Lathe lacks secondary stats and is only accessible at ilvl 265 instead of the maximum ilvl of 272 obtainable from the last three monsters of Sepulcher of the First Ones on Heroic, both scenarios are viable.
They can also use special weaponry to produce something that will be remembered for years, and they do so on occasion. Anu-Azshara, Staff of the Eternal was introduced in Battle for Azeroth, and it was a highly powerful raid cooldown that became stronger over the course of a battle. Val’anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings, was a legendary weapon in Wrath of the Lich King that was very powerful. While there have been a few duds, effect-based weapons have generally functioned well.
Genesis Lathe is provided to us in Sepulcher of the First Ones. Let’s take a look at what it does first, and then see whether it can match the great healer weapons of the past.
What Is the Genesis Lathe Effect and What Does It Do?
Giving the target precisely what they want is a big claim, and it’s also not a very helpful tooltip. When your trigger spell strikes your target, the impact is determined by how much health they have (more on the triggers in a bit). Here’s what each of the three impacts does:
- If target is above 90% health: A 10s duration 11-13k absorb + 20s duration 105 (10%) Speed buff.
- If target is between 40% and 90% health: A 5s duration 11-13k HoT + 20s duration 105 (5%) Leech buff.
- If target is below 40% health: An instant 11-13k heal + 20s duration 105 (7.5%) Avoidance buff.
Essentially, it’s a form of healing effect & a tertiary buff, roughly matching the type of healing they’d prefer at each health level.
What Are the Steps to Triggering the Genesis Lathe Effect? You’ll need to employ a spell relevant to your class to activate the effect:
Some of them, like as Resto Druid’s Regrowth, are routine casts that you can easily weave into every 40s if the impact is worthwhile. Others, such as Mistweaver Monk and Holy Paladin, are less well-known. To justify the casts that will proc it, you’ll want the effect to be quite good.
The Science of Genesis Lathe Blizzard’s belief in the weapon sparked this piece in various ways. Genesis Lathe might be an excellent alternative for Holy Paladins and Mistweavers who don’t have access to a “high ilvl” weapon. It’s seven item levels below than the weapons from the last three bosses, but if the impact is excellent, who cares?
Scariizard
…leaving only certain healers without a weapon from the last three bosses – this is unlikely to change, since there is a special Healer Mace that we expect will be a very potent choice for those specs early in the raid.
Does this claim hold water? Is the current tuning of Genesis Lathe worth 7 item levels? Let’s have a look at the numbers:
- 75-89 secondary stats are sacrificed by the weapon (depending on item level). In most circumstances, this equates to around 2-2.5 percent damage and healing loss.
- Ephemeral Effusion may occur once per 40 seconds at most, but will have a significantly poorer average.
- At heroic item level, all three effects heal for 11k-13k, depending on your secondary stats. This is a considerable improvement over the weapon’s previous generation, which had a maximum of about 2.5k.
Before including any potential overhealing and wastage (which should be low) we have an effect worth ~300 HPS if we’re able to proc it close to on cooldown plus a handful of bonus tertiary stats. On a 12k HPS Sepulcher Heroic encounter you’re looking at ~2.5% healing, This roughly equates to slightly higher than what the secondary stats would have given you in most cases, though at the cost of damage. Unfortunately, the effect won’t scale quite as well for encounters with very high incoming damage.
The Tertiaries The “heal” portion definitely makes up most of the weapons power, but the 20s duration tertiary buffs do contribute. At 265 item level you’ll be giving 105 of either avoidance (7.5%), leech (5%), or speed (10%). However, tertiary stats are quite difficult to quantify as they tend to be near-invisible on logs and of questionable benefit. Giving Avoidance to a teammate might save them a few hundred health, or it might do nothing at all. It depends on the encounter. Giving speed at (almost) random can even be a hindrance.
Is Genesis Lathe Worth It in the End?
Does Genesis Lathe match the power of a +7 ilvl weapon off the last 3 bosses of Sepulcher? Unfortunately, not in most scenarios. It competes well with equal item level weapons and you’ll grab it on your way through the raid, but it isn’t strong enough to be better than a higher ilvl weapon found off the last 3 bosses of Sepulcher.
A 265 ilvl Genesis Lathe was essentially similar to a 259 ilvl regular weapon in the first edition, which was a huge letdown. The weapon impact has improved significantly in the latest version, and it is now on par with comparable ilvl weapons; nonetheless, Genesis Lathe still falls short of the ‘powerful option’ claim.
The approximate equal intelligence value (in yellow) for various ilvl weapons is shown below for reference:
The figures are from QE Live. The numbers will vary significantly depending on the class and how frequently you utilize your proc. The greater your HPS, the less powerful Genesis Lathe gets. Only for comparison to a +7 ilvl weapon, a 272 Relic Blade was added, however it is not an option from Sepulcher.
Reaction to the Design As a result, the weapon is in a much better numerical position, yet it still falls short of ultimate grandeur. The healing procs are now enough, but I’m not sure we couldn’t have gone in a more inventive way for an end-tier weapon, or at the very least one with more uses.
- The current design is of particular concern for Monks and Paladins, who both lack a high ilvl alternative, and rarely cast their trigger spells during regular play. The triggers could be changed to Vivify & Holy Shock.
- The cooldown for a single target proc is also rather substantial. If it’s important for balance, it may be lowered down to 20 seconds with a minor decrease in the heal.
- To give the weapon a higher item level, it might be relocated to the final three bosses.
This should be the pinnacle healing weapon of the tier if not the entire expansion. As-is it’ll see some play but it could be significantly more exciting.
One Last Thought on Bugs The weapon’s cooldown is highly problematic in this version, and you may receive a cooldown of less than 40 seconds at times (and it won’t update at all at other times). We’re assuming that the 40s cooldown is still the plan, but we’ll keep you updated if anything changes.
Related Tag
- metal lathe
