This is a step-by-step explanation of the Catalyst rotation. A mostly complete written rotation and some extra info can be found in step 3. The steps do not indicate what skills do the most damage, it merely demonstrates a possible way to learn the rotation.
Step 1: Attunement Rotation/Hammer 3
In the first step, we will take a look at the Hammer 3 skill. All of the orbs are instant-casts while
is not.
Repeat from step 1 (the cooldowns will take a bit to recover as we are not using any other skills yet)
This will maximize the uptime of the 2 offensive buffs from Hammer 3 and make sure that you always use
with all 4 orbs up. Make sure to not double-tap the skill on the first loop or you will cast
early losing your buffs and extra damage from sending all 4 orbs. In later loops, the skill will be on-cooldown so this will not be an issue.
Step 2: Jade Sphere and Augments
Now it is time to take a look at the Jade Sphere and Augments, namely
and
. These become stronger when cast near the corresponding Sphere. We will have enough energy to cast our Jade Sphere in Air, Fire, and Water. Use the Augments right after casting the corresponding Sphere. We will also use
as a timer for counting auto-attacks in
as this is our strongest auto-attack.
Swap to and cast and , followed by .
Swap to and cast and , followed by .
Swap to and cast . Use until has around 7-9 seconds cooldown left.
Repeat step 1
Step 3: Hammer Skills
All of your Hammer skills except
(Air 4) and
(Earth 4) are worth using in your rotation. Once you swap to an attunement, cast all good weapon skills in that attunement. You can use longer channels such as
to use your Hammer 3 and Jade Spheres as well as attunement swap during their casts. The rotation will look like this:
Use and during the cast, swap to and cast and
Once finishes its channel, use , , and .
Swap to and cast and , followed by .
Swap to and cast , followed by and .
Use until has around 7-9 seconds cooldown left.
Swap back to and cast , followed by . Cast once you have enough energy. Use when it is back.
Repeat from step 2 (skipping the as you already cast it in step 8).
You can focus on only using Hammer 2 in each attunement first if you struggle to press everything at once.
Note: Not all skills will always be off-cooldown in this rotation. It is usually worth waiting for the following skills (as all their cooldowns should be the same as
meaning you will not delay your rotation):
Step 4: Glyph of Storms and Conjures
The last skills we need to incorporate are
and
(as well as other Conjures if we're running any).
Cast
at the start of the fight in
. You will be able to cast it approx. every 3 loops in
.
In fractals, you will mostly use Conjures to precast skills at the start of the fight or between phases. The most important skills are
from
as well as
from
.
In a golem situation (long single phase, no
Exposed to take advantage of), the highest damage is using
skill 4 and 5 in
instead of some
.