So I can tell that getting hit by a fireball is magic and getting hit by a sword is physical. But my question is: how do you guys know when to use AMZ or AMS?
I am forever hemming and hawing about when to use them because I don’t know if the majority of the damage that WILL be done will be magic or physical. Should I just use them regardless? Is it as dirt simple as reading up on exactly which abilities are magic vs. physical? Or is there a way to tell in game, before a cast is completed (maybe an addon?) ?
The answer to your question is experience.
You just need to become experienced with what other classes do.
A good way to learn is to just spam duels.
AMZ is also a group utility so you might want to learn into which bosses it is effective against as well.
Less obviously, AMS can be used offensively to prevent CC.
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As Resiliant said, experience. You can generally use AMS to walk over any bad stuff on the ground without taking damage. Anything that glows, glitters, shines, misty, boils, festering, rots, is generally magic stuff. Like the tentacle slam on N’Zoth was a magical attack that deceivingly looks like a physical one, but the tentacle would glow prior to the cast. Physical attacks are things like spikes, melee attacks, arrows or gunshots where AMS has no use and you either interrupt with grip/stun or pop IBF/deathstrike. Channeled magical attacks that can generally be interrupted with mind freeze can be nullified with AMS. You have to watch cast bars. Grey channel bars means you can’t use mind freeze, and if the target is immune to stuns or grips, then the channel can’t be interrupted and you need to know the type of attack to see if you need to pop AMS or IBF. Or you can burn both for safe measure.
If the attack is instant cast, then you either need to be fast as hell and throw up the defensive when the projectile/swing is mid flight/mid action or just know the timing of when the attack comes, typically in PvE.
In PvP, I don’t use AMZ as often as I probably should. But it is also difficult to use to max effect because people would rather spread out to break/avoid incoming cleave/AoE rather than huddle inside a bubble.
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So from the PvP perspective (which i think is the question) you can use it on most things.
Yes it absorbs magic damage…but even with “pure” melee classes they do alot of damage that AMS can absorb. Paladins for instance do most of their hurt with holy damage…even warriors have damage types that can be absorbed by AMS.
I use it on casters 100% of the time and melee depending on the situation. it works great. nothing like a DH flying up to bombard you and you AMS while waiting for him to return to earth so you can spank him.
I had a precognitive grip on one DH and yanked him down mid jump, then magic locked him after interrupting his eyeball lazer, then stunned/chained when he tried to dash away, and then sliced to death. I was like Scorpion “Get over here!”. Man, was that satisfying.
This. Great against effects like Fear.