When to switch to Flask?

Hi,

I am currently gemming around double elixir due to the greater total amount of stat points it provides. There is a gear level where one is ctc capped without the elixir. Clearly, at that point the stamina flask is better. But it may be advantageous to gear around a stam flask even before being near-BiS.

About what gear level do you think the stam flask is better than double elixir? Please don't say it's personal preference as it's not.
The real technical question I suppose is how valuable is deep earth/prismatic. It's pretty easy to figure out just based on the mastery elixir vs stam flask and doing it this way shows the stam flask as being much better as gemming this way also lets you take more socket bonuses and the single flask just has more item budget in it than a single elixir. But we are losing direct mitigation by taking off the second elixir.

Since I specifically am asking for advice I'm Morganstanly on Stormreaver if anyone wants to chardev and see where I would be better off but I think it's worth discussing in the general case as well.

Thanks.

p.s. switching to mastery food is always an option

teckman wrote:SNIP

The short answer is never... I doubt we can reach gear levels where pure stam/dps gemming/chanting and dual stam/dps trinkets will put us above 102.4.

The Mastery elixir and the stam scroll (which counts as a guardian elixir) give an "extra" 25 points of itemization over a stam flask. It may prove more convenient to use the flask but will never be optimal.

I'm not sure why you are talking about dps? I raid 25m if that's relevant. I don't want to get into a discussion of tanks dpsing but let's just say hypothetically you put no value in doing dps and just want to survive.

But BiS reforged to mastery will hit 102.4 with mark/shout/mastery food and all stam gems. Using indomitable/resolve of undying. I would not use a second stam trinket (soulshifter). Too much item budget is wasted on the useless proc.

Thanks for the input though. I had never considered using stam scroll, isn't the direct mitigation better?

Resolve is pretty horrid. Other threads that discuss this in this gear discussion forum. Spindle, Stay of Execution, Scales of Life and Mirror are all far superior because of their procs or uses.

If you put no value at all into dps then the same remains true. After you hit 102.4 CTC, stamina is generally considered better for survival than avoidance. After switching all gems to stamina gems if you are still above 102.4 that would be the only time that it would be beneficial to switch from mastery elixir/stam scroll to stam flask. You are losing 25 points of itemization by going to the flask.

Fights like Zon and Yor the prismatic elixir is going to be more beneficial than some stamina AFAIK.