Hello all,

For the elite tower runs I have respeccd into the following:

Stats: All Intelligence

Fireball (Engulf, Ignite, Impact, Scorch)
Lightning (Empowered Bolt, Positive Surge)
Frost Bolt (Jagged Ice, Shiver)
Lifegiver (Empower, Regrowth, Recharge Mana)
Knowlege (+25 Int)

Pet: Ribbit (Active then cast Lightning, Frost, Fire)

I have not used Curse even though many say that it is the best for elite runs. I run with a good Warrior and mana-hungry rogue. Please check my assumptions to make sure I am not missing something as I am not sure I see how Curse makes sense:

Charged Up:
In play 5 sec out of 17 (15 sec cooldown and 2 sec Charge Up), or 29.4%. 29.4% x 15% = 4.4% overall damage per person. The improvement in total party damage 4.4% x 3.7 (Warrior only 70% of Rogue/Wiz DPS) is the equivalent of boosting my individual DPS by about 16%.
Since I would have to charge 2 secs out of 17, I'm giving up almost 12% of my casting time. While not perfect since this does not take in to account the use of Lifegiver, I'm estimating my net DPS improvement is now less than 5%.
I can spam my 3 short cooldown damage spells (fireball, lightning, Frost bolt) uncharged without need to use the standard attack more than offsets curse from a damage perspective.
We dont have issues with survivability so the 10% damage reduction (which is actually only 10% x 29.4%, or 3% overall) which isn't that useful. Plus I charge fireballs when clearing the trash.
Rogue needs Lifegiver for Mana support to blow stuff up.

Non Charged:
Actually a better option than charged but for my purposes and if my earlier assumptions are correct still inferior to a third damage low cool down damage spell.
In play 3 secs out of 15, or 20%. 20% x 10% = 2% damage per person. 2% x 3.7% is just over 7.4% individual damage without giving up any time for charging up.
However now I only have 2 spammable damage spells on short cooldown.

Please help me out if I have made some false assumptions or miscalculations. I want to make sure I am not undervaluing Curse.