How much DPS is "good"? And how do you test?

I'm running an LB/GS "power ranger" build for open world PvE. While I'm soloing a lot of the time and it's working fairly well (rarely have problems with anything that's not explicitly marked as a Group Event), I don't want to be a letdown when I get into a group to finish off a larger foe.

I have almost full Assassin and Berserker/Ruby gear now, and I think I'm rotating my skills fairly well, including the pets, using two cats.

I did a DPS test on the small golem in the Special Forces Training Area, and merely got 4,2k peak DPS. Looking at some posts on reddit and such, I see people mention a whopping 40k+ for some DPS elementalist builds. Not sure if they're using the same test method? E.g. I didn't add any boons to myself through the console.

Is my DPS fine, or am I doing something totally wrong?

These big numbers are for raids and require specific builds and knowledge of exact rotations against the bosses and usually a lot of time spent practising these rotations.

Depending on my prof I usually manage 4-9k on a golem which wouldn't even get me into a raid let alone fight a boss. However, I have zero issues in open world where things work a bit differently- your dps is fine for this as well

@Taylan.2187 said:I'm running an LB/GS "power ranger" build for open world PvE. While I'm soloing a lot of the time and it's working fairly well (rarely have problems with anything that's not explicitly marked as a Group Event), I don't want to be a letdown when I get into a group to finish off a larger foe.

I have almost full Assassin and Berserker/Ruby gear now, and I think I'm rotating my skills fairly well, including the pets, using two cats.

I did a DPS test on the small golem in the Special Forces Training Area, and merely got 4,2k peak DPS. Looking at some posts on reddit and such, I see people mention a whopping 40k+ for some DPS elementalist builds. Not sure if they're using the same test method? E.g. I didn't add any boons to myself through the console.

Is my DPS fine, or am I doing something totally wrong?

It's very important to note that all benchmark tests are done assuming a standard raid composition and their array of buffs (which can be set at the Special Forces Training Area):

• Might x25
• Fury
• Quickness
• Vigor
• Banner of Discipline
• Banner of Strength
• Empower Allies
• Grace of the Land x5 (now defunct)
• Spirit of Frost
• Spirit of Sun
• Spotter
• Alacrity
• All conditions applied to Golem

Other niche boons like Swiftness (for Weaver) and Pinpoint Distribution can be also be added.

Added together, you will very likely see a significant increase to your DPS. However that would only be relevant in a 10-man raid squad under ideal circumstances (stationary target with no mechanics to consider), and not indicative of your potential output while solo or in 5-man dungeon/Fractal groups.

For open world stuff 5k would be enough to melt most mobs(unless there is some screwed up scaling involved which happens a bit too frequently). Also more than enough for story instances.

In non-solo situations I haven't been paying any attention and it will depend on the build of other people nearby members.

You should also know that people who have posted data from actual raids show that few people come close to the benchmark numbers. Elementalists are supposed to rack up 30k+ with ease, according to the game's top players, but the reality is top players are happy when PUG eles hit 10k in an actual raid. @Ojimaru.8970 has listed the ideal circumstances and you can imagine, for a lot of people, it's hard to stay within the buffs and maintain their rotations while staying out of trouble and focusing attention on the relevant target(s).

So against the golem, make sure you have the same buffs described above. That alone will boost your DPS a lot. If you still fall short of where you'd like to be, then watch the specific videos from the folks offering the builds, e.g. QT (raids) or DT (fractals). Practice and watch, watch and practice. That will also boost your DPS.

A good real world test of whether your DPS passes muster is to solo HPs against champs in PoF (the ones in HoT are generally harder, so that's also a good challenge). Success is a combination of having good DPS, good active defense (e.g. walking out of AoEs, blinds, etc), and being able to self-support (buffs for you, anti-buffs for foes), so it's not quite the same. Then it's a matter of learning what helps the most in open-world group play, in which people aren't operating at their most efficient.