How Lightning Field Works

Lightning Field is a 14 point root spell in the Stormcaller tree. It is augmented by the 25 point Stormcaller talent "Charged Field". Without the talent this is a very simple instant cast AoE that hits all targets with 1 - 3 stacks of Electrify. With the talent this becomes my favorite spell in the game.

For everything I do to test this I used: http://rift.zam.com/en/stc.html?t=0zyvq.V0xt0tcsbo.xx0V0VVx.m. This is your typical Warcaller, PvE, no-pet DPS spec.
My stats are:
847 SP
569 Crit

Now consider the following situation:

Note: To fully understand this you need to be exactly, and I mean EXACTLY like the mage in this picture.

We have 4 enemies with 3 stacks of Electrify each. If you cast a Lightning Field on one all 4 of them will immediately take roughly equal damage (it varies as each one has a separate chance to crit). Now each target will do a separate AoE that hits his buddies again. However, this AoE removes stacks of Lightning Field from each target it hits. This means:

1. Lightning Field hits all 4
2. Charged Field from A hits B, C, and D.
3. Charged Field from B hits A, C, and D.
4. Charged Field from C hits, A, B, and D.
5. Charged Field from D hits, A, B, and C 

Now each target has 0 stacks of Electrify. 

This means if you have 4 or more targets you have to apply 3 stacks of Electrify (Forked Lightning) before casting Lightning Field again. 

If you have less then 4 targets, but more then 1, you can cast Lightning Field multiple times before reapplying Electrify. Pretend D does not exist:

1. Lightning Field all 3.
2. Charged Field from A hits B and C.
3. Charged Field from B hits A and C.
4. Charged Field from C hits A and B

Each target is hit by Charged Field twice so now each target has 1 stack of lightning field. Now you can cast Lightning Field again:

1. Lightning Field hits all 3.
2. Charged Field from A hits B and C.
3. Charged Field from B hits A and C
4. Charged Field from C hits... nothing.

Because the final stack from A and B were removed previously the Charged Field from C has nothing to hit.

This causes a debate. With 3 targets do you cast Lightning Field twice or just the once before casting Forked Lightning again. The rotations are:

Cast Lightning Field once: 

Forked Lightning x3 > Lightning Field > Repeat: (Forked Lightning x2 > Lightning Field)

Cast Lightning Field twice: 

Forked Lightning x3 > Lightning Field x2 > Repeat.

And here are the official results:

The first one, Lightning Field once: 1950.77 DPS

The second one, Lightning Field twice: 1661.70 DPS

Now what if you have 2 targets?

1. Lightning Field hits both targets.
2. Charged Field from A hits B.
3. Charged Field from B hits A.

Now both targets still have 2 stacks of Electrify on them, so you can cast Lightning Field 2 more times. Since the normal rotation for a SC/Lock or SC/Ele is:

Raging Storm > (Ice Shear > Lighting Strike > Lightning Field x5)

With two targets you can easily adjust the rotation to:

Forked Lightning x3 > Lighting Field x3

You will do more DPS then the single target rotation. This is great on fights that have a single add, or web or crystal one of your teammates (Majolic the Bloodwalker, Glubmuk, or Tegner Deepfang).

It is also worth noting that the UI is bugged and does not correctly show stacks being removed when you cast Lightning Field. Until they fix this you have to keep track of how many stacks you have yourself. 

There ya have it folks, little longer then I expected but what the hell. 

Recommended Leveling Guide... Hey guys, if you are needing a good leveling guide that will get you up to 50 fast then I would recommend using xerxes guide. Most of the same leveling paths and quests lines that I used to level up are written out in this guide. I bought it a little while ago to check it out and see if it was any good and I was really impressed. Its too bad I didn't have this guide when I was leveling up, it would have saved me days of headache lol. Click Here to check it out