Focus vs Meditation

someone may have done this but I was really wondering if all my characters needed focus or meditation or both or none. Also, this test was only for mana as mana can easily be transformed into HP or stamina using spells. So, I still would have to see if having focus adds to the confidence spell which increases HP regens in order to heal. 

First are numbers with no armor so mana regen is 0. Focus and Mediation is GM.

No focus No Med -  72 seconds for 50 mana .69m/s
Focus only -  46 seconds for 50 mana 1.09m/s
Focus + Med (passive)  27 seconds for 50 mana 1.85 m/s
Med only (passive) - 36 seconds for 50 mana 1.39m/s
Med only (active) -  15 seconds for 50 mana 3.33m/s
Focus + Med (active) - 15 seconds for 50 mana 3.33m/s (same with 0 Focus)

Notice that meditation even passively gives a better mana regen than focus only. Focus and Meditation together do have a slightly higher mana regen. You can get about half a mana a second extra if you have passive meditation with GM focus. One other thing to note is that once you enter a meditative trance it does not appear the focus skill matters at all. 

Next, I loaded up some mana regen equipment. I got to about 34 mana regen. This may be well pass a cap but for my purposes I think it still gives us insight into answering the questions can I get by with just mana regen from equipment.

Mana regen (30+)
No focus No Med  50 seconds for 100 mana  2m/s
Focus only  41 seconds for 100 mana 2.44m/s
Focus + Med (passive)  30 seconds for 100 mana 3.33m/s
Med only (passive) 35 seconds for 100 mana 2.86 m/s
Med only (active)  25 seconds for 100 mana  4m/s
Focus + Med (active)  25 seconds for 100 mana 4m/s

Notice meditation (passive) by itself still gives better regen than focus by itself. It is neat that Focus + Meditation with 30 mana regen is identical to being in a trance with no equipment on. Again, active mediation is the same regardless of your focus skill. 

If you have a mage then there is not much reason to have focus. I've heard focus is probably more beneficial as the power bonus to mysticism. I don't think it helps chivalry. Chivalry spell damage is based on fame/karma i believe. Unless you need that boost as a helper skill otherwise focus increasing your regen from 2.86 to 3.33 which is about that 1/2 mana point per second is probably not worth a whole skill slot. Especially being that you can enter a trance and get 4m/s without focus. Mediation may still be better for a warrior than focus. 

The next thing I will do is slowly decrease my equipment mana regen to see what number reduces the mana regen per second. I have a feeling there's probably not much difference between 12, 24, and 36 mana regen. I think stratics has a calculator but I like seeing the numbers in action to verify. 

Hope this helps and would appreciate any input and feedback. 

Focus is only necessary for mystics. It has no impact on Chivalry.

Generally speaking, neither meditation nor focus should be used on a warrior. Meditation requires mage armor, so you won’t be able to overcap LMC. You should be using a mana leech weapon. This will solve any mana problems.

Meditation on a PVM mage is often desirable. If you rely on wraith form, you may be able to forgo it.

Focus complements Meditation for a mage. The higher your focus the faster your mana is replenished while you are moving about or invisible. It is not as fast as standing still and meditating. But active meditating makes you visible. Something you might not be in a good place to do.  During the last event I played as a mystic mage with 100 meditation and 100 focus spamming chain lightning. I rarely had to withdraw from the fight to go meditate to bring my mana back up. If I did not have that Focus I would be drained of mana quickly and would have needed to withdraw a lot more times.

I run both on my bard buffing is hard work 

Thanks for the replies. 

First, I think loop is kinda on the same page as to the reason for my post was to try and see the benefit in a cost vs reward. Some of these character templates are tough to balance and it is nice to see what skill slot you can save. Just planning to have a warrior with mana leech weapons is not a bad idea. I loot tons of weapons with mana leech so that suggestion is possible.

Next, TimSt makes a good point that with med and focus that he is able to spam a high end spell. So, it very well could be that the ~0.5mana/sec bonus focus gives you is just enough to put you in the "good" zone where you never have to leave the battle and actively meditate. My only comment was to look at the numbers and some users may say I can make up that mana rate somewhere else and save a skill slot but they may find certain battlegrounds a bit tougher. So, people need to keep what you are saying in mind.

azuldemogogu said:

Thanks for the replies. 

First, I think loop is kinda on the same page as to the reason for my post was to try and see the benefit in a cost vs reward. Some of these character templates are tough to balance and it is nice to see what skill slot you can save. Just planning to have a warrior with mana leech weapons is not a bad idea. I loot tons of weapons with mana leech so that suggestion is possible.

Next, TimSt makes a good point that with med and focus that he is able to spam a high end spell. So, it very well could be that the ~0.5mana/sec bonus focus gives you is just enough to put you in the "good" zone where you never have to leave the battle and actively meditate. My only comment was to look at the numbers and some users may say I can make up that mana rate somewhere else and save a skill slot but they may find certain battlegrounds a bit tougher. So, people need to keep what you are saying in mind.

Knowing your other skills would help with clearer answers 

I got a lot of GM skills and I was stoning a bunch and moving them around and it seemed like I was constantly moving and storing focus and I got a bit aggravated that so many of my characters had focus and I was wondering exactly the benefits. 

I'd always wanted a lumberjack warrior but I haven't quite found the right pairings with it. I have a samurai so I was trying to work it in with him.

Healing
Anatomy
Lumberjack
Swords
Tactics
Bushido
Parry

But I think swords, tactics, parry and bushido are 110 or over so this won't work as it leaves my 7th slot capping around 80 or 85 which would be healing or anatomy which is no good.

I love resist with my warriors or poisoning because that makes me immune to a lot of poisons. 

Could always have healing on ring and bracelet , unless you are running a specific set of armor/jewels.

 Maybe consider an equipment swap macro to toggle in your healing jewels when you really need them. I assume you are running LJ for the inherent DI when using axes, so healing to me seems like the only real skill to viably get somewhere like jewels. A lot of finaggling around but that does seem like a cool build.

NamelessJourney said:

Could always have healing on ring and bracelet , unless you are running a specific set of armor/jewels.

 Maybe consider an equipment swap macro to toggle in your healing jewels when you really need them. I assume you are running LJ for the inherent DI when using axes, so healing to me seems like the only real skill to viably get somewhere like jewels. A lot of finaggling around but that does seem like a cool build.

Yep, looking for high skill increase jewelry now. thanks.