I'll start off this time discussing some of the differences between an Enhancement single target rotation and an aoe rotation.
Single Target
Single target rotations vary depending on the situation, but for the most part it is safe to follow this priority when choosing your next ability to us. From highest priority to lowest:
Maelstrom 5 - Lightning Bolt
Flame Shock DoT
Stormstrike if the debuff is not present on your target
Lightning Shield if zero charges left
Magma Totem if not down
Feral Spirits
Shamanistic Rage
Earth Shock
Stormstrike
Lava Lash
Fire Nova
Refresh Magma Totem
Refresh Lightning Shield
Now, that is basically the EJ list based on a simulator. I do not rely on the EnhSim for anything regarding Enhancement dps. This is not to say that the Sim is wrong or otherwise poorly made. The opposite is true. It is a very well made simulator that will do what it is supposed to do, but it is not the ultimate answer of everything Enhancement.
That being said I will begin talking about the single target rotation in detail. Like I said, that's the highest simulated dps priority over a large amount of time. Most boss fights in ICC will last anywhere from 2-5 minutes typically with the LK and Sindragosa being exceptions. That is not what I would consider an large amount of time. What this means is there will be some practical changes in the rotation based on what's happening.
For example, the EJ list suggests a medium priority for Feral Spirits and Shamanistic Rage. No. These are highest priority if Bloodlust/Heroism will be used soon or if you will get multiple uses of them by using them at the start of the fight. Flame Shock is not used on mobs/things that will not live at least 10 seconds. Try your best not to refresh Lightning Shield or Magma Totem until they expire. Refreshing either of these before they expire and if another ability will be off cooldown within the next 1-1.5 seconds is a dps loss. It is fine to refresh them if nothing is coming off cooldown within the next global though.
AoE Rotation
The aoe rotation can go one of two ways.
1) Trash. Spam Magma Totem and Chain Lightning on cooldown. If both are on cooldown, continue with single target rotation on a mob.
2) Boss with adds. Maintain your single target rotation on the boss while substituting Chain Lightning for Lightning Bolt as often as possible. Do not prioritize Magma Totem unless there are 3 or more adds. If there are 3+ mobs, put Magma Totem ahead of only Lava Lash. Sorry, we're not the ones cleaving.
Next time I'll talk about ICC 10/25 Normal/Heroic gearing and touch on the worthwhile Emblem of Frost purchases.
Thanks for your continuing interest.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Arenas as Beastcleave
First off, I have a short pvp video I made over the course of a night's arena.
http://www.filefront.com/16061943/Beastcleave-PvP-1-short.wmv/
Some people wanted to see it, so there it is.
*Section removed*
http://www.filefront.com/16061943/Beastcleave-PvP-1-short.wmv/
Some people wanted to see it, so there it is.
*Section removed*
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Comin back and Hard....Mode tips!
First off I'd like to thank all the people who have come requesting more posts in this blog. I really didn't think a lot of people would read it, so it makes me happy to see that I can help people, or at least entertain them. I really appreciate the support, and I'll try to meet the expectations. So after many very unexpected requests, I am here to post on random and useful Shaman info once again!
Secondly, I'd like to brag a little. This past week we achieved the US 9th Glory of the Icecrown Raider (25), allowing us to fly around on very smexy drakes. I'm very proud of us and I guess this is a good way to start my Helpful Heroic Tips for Enhancement. Enhancement Shamans are very delicate flowers and we need all the help we can get in order to keep up with the big boys.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heroic Helpful Tips:
Lord Marrowgar:
If you really wanna push the dps, make sure you save wolves for Bonestorm phases and drop Fire Ele right before them. Keep Flame Shocks rolling on the boss and remember that he has a HUGE hitbox. Don't forget to always be doing damage! Utilize Maelstrom'd Lightning Bolts and Lava Burst whenever the boss is out of range. Of course you prioritize bone spikes at all times. Other than that, just stick close to him during normal phases so that you don't have to worry about the evil fires!
Lady Deathwhisper:
This is a very dangerous fight come phase 2 and your role is completely dependent on how your guild handles the fight. If you are on add duty, I would recommend that you ask your guild to let you be on the boss and put more aoe-intensive/threat heavy melee on the adds. Anyway, let's focus on phase 2 since it's the meat of the fight. Fire Ele in the middle of your boss tanking area so that you can focus on more important things. You should be able to get every other interrupt, so make sure that's one of your 2 top priorities. The other one is DON'T GET HIT BY GHOSTS! That is the biggest part of this fight. A single ghost can wipe the raid if it's followed by a Frostbolt Volley. Frostbolt Volley does seem to be pushed off his ability list as long as you keep interrupting Frostbolts, so that's a nice side benefit. I would suggest you play this fight as safe as possible. I basically turn into Pussioh for the duration of phase 2. My job is to do decent damage while avoiding ghosts and interrupting Frostbolts. Last thing, don't forget to Hex mind controls, especially on melee.
Saurfang:
Uh...stand there and dps. You can Chain Lightning the Blood Beasts (it doesn't suffer the aoe penalty) for extra epeen flexing, or you can bullshit your raid leader and tell him "it's to help the pussy casters" lolololololol.
Festergut:
Another standard fight. Green shit is placed under your feet to let you know that a green blob of rapeyourdps is about to land on you. We just have our melee move foot to foot every time he throws a goo. You CAN miss a single spore if you use Sham Rage for the bloat. You should be able to use 3 Rages before the first bloat IF AND ONLY IF you use them ASAP. Avoid green shit at all costs and do many deepz.
Rotface:
Once again, not a very complicated fight. Drop fire totem before you run out with diseases and continue to dps with LB/CL/LvB and Fire Nova whenever possible at range.
Professor Putricide:
Don't put too much focus on your Magma Totem for this fight, but don't forget it either. You want to make sure it's down every time an ooze spawns so that it can hit the ooze and the boss. You also want to CL every time the ooze runs past the boss. You generally want to hang on the side of the oozes since they seem to be a little touchy with their hitboxes. I still haven't found a great spot for Fire Elemental. Try to set the totem down in the middle for maximum possible range on the Ele.
Blood Prince Council:
DO NOT GET HIT BY MULTIPLE EMPOWERED SHOCK VORTEXES. Save your wolves' Spirit Walk ability, and possibly Rocket Boots, for moving between targets. Shadow prison stacks are based on how long you're moving, so movement speed increases will reduce the chances for you to get buttraped while all the other melee sit comfortably with 40k health. As usual, hit cooldowns every time they're up, but save like speed pots, and maybe lust, for the caster mob since he should have the least chance to turn and parry you or some shit.
Blood Queen Lanathel:
As I said before, you have to keep dps'ing at all times. If you get Pact of the Darkfallen or Swarming Shadows, make sure to drop a new fire totem for Fire Nova and keep shocking. Save personal cooldowns for your bite turn, Fire Ele during your last phase, and that should be it.
Valithria Dreamwalker:
Save cooldowns for the Blazing Skeletons. This is a good fight to utilize your full utility. Drop Earthbinds on Suppressors and the worms that spawn out of dead Aboms. Fire Ele in between the two gates for max use. When you're not dps'ing, heal the boss with Lesser Healing Waves. Overall not a dps fight. If you're the only Shamans, have the healers call for Bloodlust whenever they're ready for it.
Sindragosa:
Fuck this fight. Remove as much Haste oriented gear as possible. I switch out my Tiny Abom for a Whispering Fanged Skull and I switch out my Haste totem for the AP one (the names escape me at 6am). I wouldn't recommend going higher than 6 or 7 stacks of Chilled to the Bone. While you're waiting for your stacks to reset, you must still do damage! Keep Flame Shock rolling, Magma Totem down, then just Lava Burst, Lightning Bolt, Earth Shock, and Fire Nova. You could also use this time to refresh Lightning Shield or heal your dumb rogues who think they're special and go to like 10 stacks of Chilled to the Bone. IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE A DUMBFUCK ABOUT IT, GO MAKE US ALL A SANDWICH ASSHOLE!
THE LICH KING (he deserves caps):
Yea ok, I'll let ya know when we get some solid attempts in soon.
I didn't include Gunship for obvious reasons. :P
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
So I wanna recap a few general dps tips that can be applied to any fight.
1) Always be doing damage. If you're in melee, do your complete rotation. If you're at range, use your ranged abilities to keep up the dps.
2) Place your Fire Elemental at a central point so that he has the least chance of leashing. Also try to place it during or right before Bloodlust. This will allow you to maximize your GCD usage during Lust.
3) Don't screw up your rotation. We have to play damn near perfectly to even keep up with other melee, so try your best every fight!
Whenever I wake up I'll respond to the questions about Tiny Abom since I've gotten a few of them. The quick answer is that it's amazing if you're in 264+ gear with like 46%+ unbuffed crit and around 400-500 hit. Feel free to hit me up in game with specific questions whenever.
Peace and much love,
The Palioh
Secondly, I'd like to brag a little. This past week we achieved the US 9th Glory of the Icecrown Raider (25), allowing us to fly around on very smexy drakes. I'm very proud of us and I guess this is a good way to start my Helpful Heroic Tips for Enhancement. Enhancement Shamans are very delicate flowers and we need all the help we can get in order to keep up with the big boys.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heroic Helpful Tips:
Lord Marrowgar:
If you really wanna push the dps, make sure you save wolves for Bonestorm phases and drop Fire Ele right before them. Keep Flame Shocks rolling on the boss and remember that he has a HUGE hitbox. Don't forget to always be doing damage! Utilize Maelstrom'd Lightning Bolts and Lava Burst whenever the boss is out of range. Of course you prioritize bone spikes at all times. Other than that, just stick close to him during normal phases so that you don't have to worry about the evil fires!
Lady Deathwhisper:
This is a very dangerous fight come phase 2 and your role is completely dependent on how your guild handles the fight. If you are on add duty, I would recommend that you ask your guild to let you be on the boss and put more aoe-intensive/threat heavy melee on the adds. Anyway, let's focus on phase 2 since it's the meat of the fight. Fire Ele in the middle of your boss tanking area so that you can focus on more important things. You should be able to get every other interrupt, so make sure that's one of your 2 top priorities. The other one is DON'T GET HIT BY GHOSTS! That is the biggest part of this fight. A single ghost can wipe the raid if it's followed by a Frostbolt Volley. Frostbolt Volley does seem to be pushed off his ability list as long as you keep interrupting Frostbolts, so that's a nice side benefit. I would suggest you play this fight as safe as possible. I basically turn into Pussioh for the duration of phase 2. My job is to do decent damage while avoiding ghosts and interrupting Frostbolts. Last thing, don't forget to Hex mind controls, especially on melee.
Saurfang:
Uh...stand there and dps. You can Chain Lightning the Blood Beasts (it doesn't suffer the aoe penalty) for extra epeen flexing, or you can bullshit your raid leader and tell him "it's to help the pussy casters" lolololololol.
Festergut:
Another standard fight. Green shit is placed under your feet to let you know that a green blob of rapeyourdps is about to land on you. We just have our melee move foot to foot every time he throws a goo. You CAN miss a single spore if you use Sham Rage for the bloat. You should be able to use 3 Rages before the first bloat IF AND ONLY IF you use them ASAP. Avoid green shit at all costs and do many deepz.
Rotface:
Once again, not a very complicated fight. Drop fire totem before you run out with diseases and continue to dps with LB/CL/LvB and Fire Nova whenever possible at range.
Professor Putricide:
Don't put too much focus on your Magma Totem for this fight, but don't forget it either. You want to make sure it's down every time an ooze spawns so that it can hit the ooze and the boss. You also want to CL every time the ooze runs past the boss. You generally want to hang on the side of the oozes since they seem to be a little touchy with their hitboxes. I still haven't found a great spot for Fire Elemental. Try to set the totem down in the middle for maximum possible range on the Ele.
Blood Prince Council:
DO NOT GET HIT BY MULTIPLE EMPOWERED SHOCK VORTEXES. Save your wolves' Spirit Walk ability, and possibly Rocket Boots, for moving between targets. Shadow prison stacks are based on how long you're moving, so movement speed increases will reduce the chances for you to get buttraped while all the other melee sit comfortably with 40k health. As usual, hit cooldowns every time they're up, but save like speed pots, and maybe lust, for the caster mob since he should have the least chance to turn and parry you or some shit.
Blood Queen Lanathel:
As I said before, you have to keep dps'ing at all times. If you get Pact of the Darkfallen or Swarming Shadows, make sure to drop a new fire totem for Fire Nova and keep shocking. Save personal cooldowns for your bite turn, Fire Ele during your last phase, and that should be it.
Valithria Dreamwalker:
Save cooldowns for the Blazing Skeletons. This is a good fight to utilize your full utility. Drop Earthbinds on Suppressors and the worms that spawn out of dead Aboms. Fire Ele in between the two gates for max use. When you're not dps'ing, heal the boss with Lesser Healing Waves. Overall not a dps fight. If you're the only Shamans, have the healers call for Bloodlust whenever they're ready for it.
Sindragosa:
Fuck this fight. Remove as much Haste oriented gear as possible. I switch out my Tiny Abom for a Whispering Fanged Skull and I switch out my Haste totem for the AP one (the names escape me at 6am). I wouldn't recommend going higher than 6 or 7 stacks of Chilled to the Bone. While you're waiting for your stacks to reset, you must still do damage! Keep Flame Shock rolling, Magma Totem down, then just Lava Burst, Lightning Bolt, Earth Shock, and Fire Nova. You could also use this time to refresh Lightning Shield or heal your dumb rogues who think they're special and go to like 10 stacks of Chilled to the Bone. IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE A DUMBFUCK ABOUT IT, GO MAKE US ALL A SANDWICH ASSHOLE!
THE LICH KING (he deserves caps):
Yea ok, I'll let ya know when we get some solid attempts in soon.
I didn't include Gunship for obvious reasons. :P
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
So I wanna recap a few general dps tips that can be applied to any fight.
1) Always be doing damage. If you're in melee, do your complete rotation. If you're at range, use your ranged abilities to keep up the dps.
2) Place your Fire Elemental at a central point so that he has the least chance of leashing. Also try to place it during or right before Bloodlust. This will allow you to maximize your GCD usage during Lust.
3) Don't screw up your rotation. We have to play damn near perfectly to even keep up with other melee, so try your best every fight!
Whenever I wake up I'll respond to the questions about Tiny Abom since I've gotten a few of them. The quick answer is that it's amazing if you're in 264+ gear with like 46%+ unbuffed crit and around 400-500 hit. Feel free to hit me up in game with specific questions whenever.
Peace and much love,
The Palioh
Thursday, February 18, 2010
White Crit Cap, New Findings, Crit Cap Calculator
Crit Cap
http://elitistjerks.com/f31/t76785-crit_depression_combat_table/p3/#post1548494
That's a link to an EJ thread regarding the white crit cap. Basically, the dude who did the original testing forgot to think about blocks or some shit. Anyway, the thing we need to be concerned with is the fact that our crit caps are no longer where we thought they would be and that you CAN actually remove Hits from your hit table. This would, assuming you're expertise capped like you should be, leave you with only Crits, Misses, and Glancing blows.
Now, if you somehow manage to reach the dual wield hit cap, you can also remove Misses, leaving you only Crits and Glances. This is a rather silly goal and I doubt us Enhancement Shamans will be aiming for it (though you can get it, I'm so close).
The following link is a download to a small spreadsheet that will allow you to calculate your raid buffed crit % and it will also tell you how much room you have until you reach YOUR specific crit cap.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=364Q598C
http://elitistjerks.com/f79/t87972-enhancement_critical_cap_analysis_tow_hotc/p3/
^That's the link explaining the spreadsheet if needed. You simply input your UNBUFFED agility, crit %, and specify your Orcness or non-Orcness. You must have a 1 in one of the race boxes and a 0 in the other. Do not leave either or both of them blank.
Even though I put "New Findings" in the title, this was actually discussed like 2 weeks ago, but I just kept putting off listing it here since I was fairly busy.
That's all I really have for now. Go now, rape the meters!
http://elitistjerks.com/f31/t76785-crit_depression_combat_table/p3/#post1548494
That's a link to an EJ thread regarding the white crit cap. Basically, the dude who did the original testing forgot to think about blocks or some shit. Anyway, the thing we need to be concerned with is the fact that our crit caps are no longer where we thought they would be and that you CAN actually remove Hits from your hit table. This would, assuming you're expertise capped like you should be, leave you with only Crits, Misses, and Glancing blows.
Now, if you somehow manage to reach the dual wield hit cap, you can also remove Misses, leaving you only Crits and Glances. This is a rather silly goal and I doubt us Enhancement Shamans will be aiming for it (though you can get it, I'm so close).
The following link is a download to a small spreadsheet that will allow you to calculate your raid buffed crit % and it will also tell you how much room you have until you reach YOUR specific crit cap.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=364Q598C
http://elitistjerks.com/f79/t87972-enhancement_critical_cap_analysis_tow_hotc/p3/
^That's the link explaining the spreadsheet if needed. You simply input your UNBUFFED agility, crit %, and specify your Orcness or non-Orcness. You must have a 1 in one of the race boxes and a 0 in the other. Do not leave either or both of them blank.
Even though I put "New Findings" in the title, this was actually discussed like 2 weeks ago, but I just kept putting off listing it here since I was fairly busy.
That's all I really have for now. Go now, rape the meters!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
25m Lich King down!
Last night we finally got him. It was more than obvious that this took way too long to do, but whatever, shit got done. Really wish I didn't lag a lot in that fight, then it might be more fun.
This means we get to do Hard Modes next week, which should give me something to do during raids, and something else to aim for. Maybe I can start Frapsing again once we get to them as well.
We also get to do 10m Hard Modes this week. The gear from there, ilvl 264, is really good. Can't wait to get some of it seeing as I have little to no competition in our group for loot. :P I was listening to the other 10m group do Marrowgar on heroic and it sounded like he hits very fucking hard. This means I'll probably end up being Resto for quite a few bosses until we get more gear and more comfortable with the fights. I don't really mind since Resto is still fun to play. As long as I don't have to go Ele, respecing is OK by me. :D
The 4pc t10 is still pissing me off. Take these 2 Deathbringer parses. One is mine(the first) and the other is some lucky Korean asswipe:
Palioh
http://www.wowmeteronline.com/combat/detail/325876318#damageout
Korean Bitch:
http://www.wowmeteronline.com/combat/detail/322853046#damageout
Now, if you check out the Buffs and Debuffs tab, you can see the source of my frustration. Out of my 24 Maelstrom Weapon procs, I got 3 Maelstrom Powers(the 4pc bonus. The Korean, however, managed to get 5 Maelstrom Powers out of his 20 Maelstrom Weapon procs. I would love for this to be explained to me! Screw this random, proc-based bullshit that has been present since the class was put into being. Give me something that I can rely on please.
Now, it's only a 200 dps difference between us, and I still have the top US parse for him, but it really bothers me that my 4pc is a random bonus that could completely fuck you or, once in a blue moon, do what it was designed to do.
This means we get to do Hard Modes next week, which should give me something to do during raids, and something else to aim for. Maybe I can start Frapsing again once we get to them as well.
We also get to do 10m Hard Modes this week. The gear from there, ilvl 264, is really good. Can't wait to get some of it seeing as I have little to no competition in our group for loot. :P I was listening to the other 10m group do Marrowgar on heroic and it sounded like he hits very fucking hard. This means I'll probably end up being Resto for quite a few bosses until we get more gear and more comfortable with the fights. I don't really mind since Resto is still fun to play. As long as I don't have to go Ele, respecing is OK by me. :D
The 4pc t10 is still pissing me off. Take these 2 Deathbringer parses. One is mine(the first) and the other is some lucky Korean asswipe:
Palioh
http://www.wowmeteronline.com/combat/detail/325876318#damageout
Korean Bitch:
http://www.wowmeteronline.com/combat/detail/322853046#damageout
Now, if you check out the Buffs and Debuffs tab, you can see the source of my frustration. Out of my 24 Maelstrom Weapon procs, I got 3 Maelstrom Powers(the 4pc bonus. The Korean, however, managed to get 5 Maelstrom Powers out of his 20 Maelstrom Weapon procs. I would love for this to be explained to me! Screw this random, proc-based bullshit that has been present since the class was put into being. Give me something that I can rely on please.
Now, it's only a 200 dps difference between us, and I still have the top US parse for him, but it really bothers me that my 4pc is a random bonus that could completely fuck you or, once in a blue moon, do what it was designed to do.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
10m Lich King Down :o
One of our 10 man groups downed him on Tuesday, but our group didn't get to go until yesterday. In any case, he is dead and we are now Kingslayers. :D
Most ashamedly, I admit I did the fight as Resto. The extra healer really does help when you don't have an OP Beacon bot. Now it's time for 10m heroics, which some guilds have shown in 25m to be extremely doable. Here's hopin.
If you haven't done so already, be sure to update your Enhsim with the latest version. I've been seeing a lot of questions about TAJ and I'm pretty sure they recently updated the sim to fix TAJ's modeling.
Most ashamedly, I admit I did the fight as Resto. The extra healer really does help when you don't have an OP Beacon bot. Now it's time for 10m heroics, which some guilds have shown in 25m to be extremely doable. Here's hopin.
If you haven't done so already, be sure to update your Enhsim with the latest version. I've been seeing a lot of questions about TAJ and I'm pretty sure they recently updated the sim to fix TAJ's modeling.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
4piece Tier 10 + TAJ fix inc.
4piece Tier 10
I definitely am not impressed with my 4 piece so far. I got it last night during our 10m ICC run just after Gunship, so I had the majority of the instance to test it.
http://www.wowmeteronline.com//combat/log/1427445
Looking at my WMO parse from the night, I noticed about a 20% uptime. Now, I can understand that in 10m, where the fights are shorter and I'm missing buffs, the uptime would be slightly lower. Having switched back to haste gems, I was really hoping that this would significantly boost the 4pc uptime to something like 50%, or even and optimistic 60%. So far, however, I've just been disappointed and I'd hate to think what kind of uptime AP gemmed Shamans would see.
When we do 25m next week, all we have left this week is Putricide, I'll post my parse and see if the uptime is any higher. My prediction is that with the increase in fight length and Bloodlust for every boss, I should see at least a 30% uptime. Just for reference, EnhSim puts it at about 34% uptime.
Now I just gotta save my badges for the War Token and that yummy belt. That shouldn't take much longer than two weeks though. :)
TAJ
As for TAJ:
http://blue.mmo-champion.com/13/22418857349-bug-tiny-abomination-in-a-jar.html
They know. Hopefully this fix will be put into the next patch, 3.3.2 I think it is. This should prove to be a very good trinket once it's working.
I definitely am not impressed with my 4 piece so far. I got it last night during our 10m ICC run just after Gunship, so I had the majority of the instance to test it.
http://www.wowmeteronline.com//combat/log/1427445
Looking at my WMO parse from the night, I noticed about a 20% uptime. Now, I can understand that in 10m, where the fights are shorter and I'm missing buffs, the uptime would be slightly lower. Having switched back to haste gems, I was really hoping that this would significantly boost the 4pc uptime to something like 50%, or even and optimistic 60%. So far, however, I've just been disappointed and I'd hate to think what kind of uptime AP gemmed Shamans would see.
When we do 25m next week, all we have left this week is Putricide, I'll post my parse and see if the uptime is any higher. My prediction is that with the increase in fight length and Bloodlust for every boss, I should see at least a 30% uptime. Just for reference, EnhSim puts it at about 34% uptime.
Now I just gotta save my badges for the War Token and that yummy belt. That shouldn't take much longer than two weeks though. :)
TAJ
As for TAJ:
http://blue.mmo-champion.com/13/22418857349-bug-tiny-abomination-in-a-jar.html
They know. Hopefully this fix will be put into the next patch, 3.3.2 I think it is. This should prove to be a very good trinket once it's working.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Our 10m + Baddies + Trinkets!
So apparently one of our alt 10 man groups, which I went to on my Resto Druid, is more efficient and an overall better group than my normal 10m. It's pretty depressing, but I hope it's just because of the different heals. The alt run had a Resto Druid and Holy Pally, while my normal group has a Resto Shaman and Holy Priest. Oh well, whatever.
Blood Queen was stupid easy on 10m. We wasted attempts in 25m with people who probably need to go back to Naxx so they can learn how to watching their debuffs. It's really embarassing to see some of these people play in the same raids as the people who actually put forth some amount of measurable effort. I'll be dealing with that this week though, via gkicks.
I was lucky enough to have Keleseth's Seducer drop in 25m this week and the Marrowgar 10m cloak, so I'm lookin pretty set in gear for a good while. My biggest concern, dps-wise, are my trinkets.
Trinkets:
Whispering Fanged Skull (WFS)
Deathbringer's Will (DBW)
Tiny Abom in a Jar (TAJ)
First I'd like to note that since I have these great trinket options, I decided to hold off on buying the War Token trinket until I've obtained all the tier pieces I want.
So I've been looking over these trinkets and the deciding factor ends up being how they affect me and my crit cap. I'm going to list the different setups and the pros and cons of each.
1) TAJ + DBW
I originally assumed that this setup, remember that I'm ignoring HWT for the moment, was going to be the strongest. This may or may not be correct. When I realized that with full raid buffs and the Agility DBW proc, I was actually slightly over my own white Crit Cap (I think), I thought there might be a better option. As I said, this would put me at, or really close, to my WHITE crit cap. Agility and, even better, Crit will still affect my melee and spell specials until 100%. Still a strong combo for the Haste and AP procs, but the next might be a bit better.
TAJ + WFS
The static crit on WFS is generally viewed as more usefull than the static Arp on DBW. The Proc is also slightly more reliable on WFS. I'm currently sitting at a low amount of haste, so not having the Haste proc from DBW kinda sucks, but overall I feel like WFS is a better choice than DBW.
WFS + DBW
I don't see a way you can make this really work unless you have a crazy amount of hit or very little crit. That's not to say it's a bad choice, just not the optimal of the three.
Blood Queen was stupid easy on 10m. We wasted attempts in 25m with people who probably need to go back to Naxx so they can learn how to watching their debuffs. It's really embarassing to see some of these people play in the same raids as the people who actually put forth some amount of measurable effort. I'll be dealing with that this week though, via gkicks.
I was lucky enough to have Keleseth's Seducer drop in 25m this week and the Marrowgar 10m cloak, so I'm lookin pretty set in gear for a good while. My biggest concern, dps-wise, are my trinkets.
Trinkets:
Whispering Fanged Skull (WFS)
Deathbringer's Will (DBW)
Tiny Abom in a Jar (TAJ)
First I'd like to note that since I have these great trinket options, I decided to hold off on buying the War Token trinket until I've obtained all the tier pieces I want.
So I've been looking over these trinkets and the deciding factor ends up being how they affect me and my crit cap. I'm going to list the different setups and the pros and cons of each.
1) TAJ + DBW
I originally assumed that this setup, remember that I'm ignoring HWT for the moment, was going to be the strongest. This may or may not be correct. When I realized that with full raid buffs and the Agility DBW proc, I was actually slightly over my own white Crit Cap (I think), I thought there might be a better option. As I said, this would put me at, or really close, to my WHITE crit cap. Agility and, even better, Crit will still affect my melee and spell specials until 100%. Still a strong combo for the Haste and AP procs, but the next might be a bit better.
TAJ + WFS
The static crit on WFS is generally viewed as more usefull than the static Arp on DBW. The Proc is also slightly more reliable on WFS. I'm currently sitting at a low amount of haste, so not having the Haste proc from DBW kinda sucks, but overall I feel like WFS is a better choice than DBW.
WFS + DBW
I don't see a way you can make this really work unless you have a crazy amount of hit or very little crit. That's not to say it's a bad choice, just not the optimal of the three.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Putricide Down + Tiny Abom in a Jar!
So we got Putricide down in 25m. Was a fun fight and it seemed to go even more smoothly after the aoe damage got buffed.
As a result, I got the Tiny Abom in a Jar trinket! I was pretty excited, yet some part of me wanted to pass it to one of our rogues. Anyway, I took it and am waiting to see the results. I posted on EJ how Stormstrike was actually giving 3 chances for Motes of Anger, most probably due to the 2 hits + the application of the SS debuff. Anyway, it's looking like it'll make up about 2% or so of my overall dps, which is strangely similar to Black Bruise. The best things about TAiaJ are:
1) The proc will scale very well with gear. It also can, apparently, proc everything from that swing. Let's say it procs a Main Hand extra swing, that's another chance to proc Windfury, and it's the same with the offhand, a chance to proc Flametongue. The trinket procs also have a chance to proc Maelstrom, Berserking, Ring procs, Trinket procs, etc.
2) The large amount of hit on it will allow you to push your crit cap a bit higher. We're currently really close to the crit cap, at it with some trinket procs, and so more hit will allow us some breathing room in that regard.
Current Enhance BiS sheet shows TAiaJ as being a BiS trinket, but things change. Let's hope it ends up being BiS cuz I would feel kinda bad for one of our Rogues if it isn't. ^_^
As a result, I got the Tiny Abom in a Jar trinket! I was pretty excited, yet some part of me wanted to pass it to one of our rogues. Anyway, I took it and am waiting to see the results. I posted on EJ how Stormstrike was actually giving 3 chances for Motes of Anger, most probably due to the 2 hits + the application of the SS debuff. Anyway, it's looking like it'll make up about 2% or so of my overall dps, which is strangely similar to Black Bruise. The best things about TAiaJ are:
1) The proc will scale very well with gear. It also can, apparently, proc everything from that swing. Let's say it procs a Main Hand extra swing, that's another chance to proc Windfury, and it's the same with the offhand, a chance to proc Flametongue. The trinket procs also have a chance to proc Maelstrom, Berserking, Ring procs, Trinket procs, etc.
2) The large amount of hit on it will allow you to push your crit cap a bit higher. We're currently really close to the crit cap, at it with some trinket procs, and so more hit will allow us some breathing room in that regard.
Current Enhance BiS sheet shows TAiaJ as being a BiS trinket, but things change. Let's hope it ends up being BiS cuz I would feel kinda bad for one of our Rogues if it isn't. ^_^
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Shaman Vent Omg + Possible New Rotation?
So Eklo gave of himself a vent for all Shamans. I'll most probably be on there in case people have questions or whatever, but it's mostly just to hang out and talk Shaman...shop.
I've been thinking about the standard priority rotation since Blizzard released the 4pc tier 10 bonus for Enhancement. Currently, it is widely believed that you want to prioritize shocks over Stormstrike (ex: FS > ES_SS > SS). Once we obtain 4pc t10, however, I really think we'll be putting Stormstrike ahead of Shocks in order to maximize the bonus' uptime. So, the priority would look something like this:
Maelstrom x5
Stormstrike
Magma Totem
Flame Shock
Earth Shock
Lava Lash
Fire Nova
Lightning Shield
Since I've moved away from using the sim, I've been having my own personal debates on Lava Lash vs Fire Nova. Right now, I'm sticking with Lava Lash before Nova simply because LL's potential damage is much higher than Fire Nova's. LL's normal damage (which is nothing to scoff at) plus the Flametongue proc, plus the possible Maelstrom stack should make it more worthwhile on boss fights. I really have no math to back this up with, but it's what my brain is telling me is best. I did place Lightning Shield at the end, but don't miss a spare global opportunity to refresh Lightning Shield charges if you can.
I'm really tired at this point, so this post will be rather short. We're pulling Professor Putricide on 25m on Sunday, so wish us luck. :D
I've been thinking about the standard priority rotation since Blizzard released the 4pc tier 10 bonus for Enhancement. Currently, it is widely believed that you want to prioritize shocks over Stormstrike (ex: FS > ES_SS > SS). Once we obtain 4pc t10, however, I really think we'll be putting Stormstrike ahead of Shocks in order to maximize the bonus' uptime. So, the priority would look something like this:
Maelstrom x5
Stormstrike
Magma Totem
Flame Shock
Earth Shock
Lava Lash
Fire Nova
Lightning Shield
Since I've moved away from using the sim, I've been having my own personal debates on Lava Lash vs Fire Nova. Right now, I'm sticking with Lava Lash before Nova simply because LL's potential damage is much higher than Fire Nova's. LL's normal damage (which is nothing to scoff at) plus the Flametongue proc, plus the possible Maelstrom stack should make it more worthwhile on boss fights. I really have no math to back this up with, but it's what my brain is telling me is best. I did place Lightning Shield at the end, but don't miss a spare global opportunity to refresh Lightning Shield charges if you can.
I'm really tired at this point, so this post will be rather short. We're pulling Professor Putricide on 25m on Sunday, so wish us luck. :D
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Black Bruise Buffed + Raiding Tips!
Blizzard went ahead and buffed Black Bruise's proc rate significantly yesterday. Instead of seeing ~15% uptime, I noticed ~45% uptime on the Target Dummy. I'd expect to maintain about 55-65% uptime in raids. This was a huge buff to the weapon and should put it in a spot where it's a clear upgrade over 258 weapons. It has no internal cooldown which means it can, and has numerous times, refresh itself.
I promised some helpful Enhancement Specific tips for the new ICC bosses so here we go!
- Lord Marrowgar:
Marrowgar's a fairly simple fight. The fight is made infinitely easier when you consider that we do not have to run out for Bonestorms. If you trust your healers, stay in Bonestorm without wolves, but keep an eye on your health for Maelstrom healing. If you think your healers are the kind of people that tried to shove the square block into the round hole as children, you may want to pop wolves during Bonestorm instead then lust when its over. It's more important that you dps during Bonestorm than it is for your wolves to get Bloodlust later on.
You should drop your Fire Ele totem as close to the center of the room as possible as the boss is likely to be taken somewhere close to that by the tanks. If, however, your raid positions him in a certain spot every time, well just place it there then :P. Overall this is a decent fight for us, just be careful with Bonestorms and fires together.
- Lady Deathwhisper:
You should be mindlessly slapped onto the boss for this encounter. That said, there's not much to think about here. You're the perfect interrupt for this fight, so make sure you're doing that. Try to stand max range from the boss to maximize the chance that you'll still be able to dps her when there's a Death and Decay placed near you. Outside of avoiding ghosts there's not much for you to concern yourself with. Hit cooldowns as soon as you can and just lay into her. I would suggest placing Fire Ele totem early to avoid losing out on Fire Nova damage later on if the boss must be moved.
- Gunship Battle:
What a silly fight. Place Fire Ele on your ship where the portal spawns for uber rape aoe dps. To fudge the meters once Fire Ele is down, drop a Magma before you leave the other ship on some mobs then Fire Nova on the jump back ^_^. If there aren't any mobs up on your ship, feel free to Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, and Lava Burst the riflemen on the other ship. Or you can just run around in circles til the Sorc is up, either way. Be sure to re-drop totems when you go to fight Sorcs and that's about it. Silly fight.
- Deathbringer Saurfang:
What did you do on Patchwerk? Do it here. Blow everything at the start unless you're killing him in under 3:15 or so. If you kill him in this amount of time, save Wolves for Bloodlust time. This is just another mindless melee fight. Enjoy.
- Rotface:
Drop your Fire Ele in the middle to make full use of Fire Nova. If you have to kite, make sure to keep Shocking and Lava Bursting when it's safe, and if you still have Fire Ele up you can Fire Nova as well. This one's almost as easy as the next fight which is...
- Festergut:
What did you do on Deathbringer Saurfang and Patchwerk? Do it here. If you must run to Innoculate the ranged, be sure to keep Shocking and using Fire Nova. Then yell at them for making you run away from the boss. :D
I'll get around to Putricide whenever we actually pull him. Next time I'll give my thoughts on an updated priority given new 4pc and all that stuff.
I promised some helpful Enhancement Specific tips for the new ICC bosses so here we go!
- Lord Marrowgar:
Marrowgar's a fairly simple fight. The fight is made infinitely easier when you consider that we do not have to run out for Bonestorms. If you trust your healers, stay in Bonestorm without wolves, but keep an eye on your health for Maelstrom healing. If you think your healers are the kind of people that tried to shove the square block into the round hole as children, you may want to pop wolves during Bonestorm instead then lust when its over. It's more important that you dps during Bonestorm than it is for your wolves to get Bloodlust later on.
You should drop your Fire Ele totem as close to the center of the room as possible as the boss is likely to be taken somewhere close to that by the tanks. If, however, your raid positions him in a certain spot every time, well just place it there then :P. Overall this is a decent fight for us, just be careful with Bonestorms and fires together.
- Lady Deathwhisper:
You should be mindlessly slapped onto the boss for this encounter. That said, there's not much to think about here. You're the perfect interrupt for this fight, so make sure you're doing that. Try to stand max range from the boss to maximize the chance that you'll still be able to dps her when there's a Death and Decay placed near you. Outside of avoiding ghosts there's not much for you to concern yourself with. Hit cooldowns as soon as you can and just lay into her. I would suggest placing Fire Ele totem early to avoid losing out on Fire Nova damage later on if the boss must be moved.
- Gunship Battle:
What a silly fight. Place Fire Ele on your ship where the portal spawns for uber rape aoe dps. To fudge the meters once Fire Ele is down, drop a Magma before you leave the other ship on some mobs then Fire Nova on the jump back ^_^. If there aren't any mobs up on your ship, feel free to Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, and Lava Burst the riflemen on the other ship. Or you can just run around in circles til the Sorc is up, either way. Be sure to re-drop totems when you go to fight Sorcs and that's about it. Silly fight.
- Deathbringer Saurfang:
What did you do on Patchwerk? Do it here. Blow everything at the start unless you're killing him in under 3:15 or so. If you kill him in this amount of time, save Wolves for Bloodlust time. This is just another mindless melee fight. Enjoy.
- Rotface:
Drop your Fire Ele in the middle to make full use of Fire Nova. If you have to kite, make sure to keep Shocking and Lava Bursting when it's safe, and if you still have Fire Ele up you can Fire Nova as well. This one's almost as easy as the next fight which is...
- Festergut:
What did you do on Deathbringer Saurfang and Patchwerk? Do it here. If you must run to Innoculate the ranged, be sure to keep Shocking and using Fire Nova. Then yell at them for making you run away from the boss. :D
I'll get around to Putricide whenever we actually pull him. Next time I'll give my thoughts on an updated priority given new 4pc and all that stuff.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
First!
I'd like to welcome all readers to my very own blog. For starters, I'd like to introduce myself.
My name, for this blog, is Palioh. I have played an Enhancement Shaman since right before 3.0 was released. The reason I chose to play an Enhancement Shaman is that the talent tree looked like it would provide a very interesting and fun experience. This turned out to be very correct as I enjoy my Shaman as much as I enjoyed my Priest in BC (and that's saying a lot, I loved my Priest).
During my time on the Magtheridon realm (US), I have constantly been among the highest dps Enhancement Shamans in the world. This may sound like I'm tooting my own totem, but facts are facts. My goal is always to push myself in raids and do the most damage possible while maintaining my buffs and raid awareness.
This blog's purpose is to allow me to express my thoughts about anything and everything Enhancement. This is my first blog as well, so I'm hoping it will be a positive experience. :D
So, let's get started!
Yesterday we saw the release of The Plagueworks section of Icecrown. While my guild did not get to attempt Professor Putricide, we got some decent kills on Rotface and Festergut. With Festergut comes Black Bruise. Black Bruise is the first serious, possible weapon upgrade in Icecrown from the Anub'arak 25m heroic weapons.
When I saw that it dropped, I was so excited. To get a new weapon upgrade as soon as it's made available is amazing. The problem is that Black Bruise's proc, Necrotic Touch, seems to be very lackluster. After doing a relatively short auto attack test on the Training Dummy, I found that the proc had about a 1% chance to proc, which confirms early PTR test(s).
My test:
http://www.wowmeteronline.com/combat/detail/293726644#damageout
Blizzard released a statement which claimed that they are looking into buffing the weapons with special procs up to the level of the very popular Bryntroll. We can only hope that they do a good, and very quick, job.
Blizzard statement:
http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/22048473487-nerf-bryntroll-the-bone-arbiter.html
Next time I'll post some helpful tips regarding each ICC encounter that may increase your dps/survival.
My name, for this blog, is Palioh. I have played an Enhancement Shaman since right before 3.0 was released. The reason I chose to play an Enhancement Shaman is that the talent tree looked like it would provide a very interesting and fun experience. This turned out to be very correct as I enjoy my Shaman as much as I enjoyed my Priest in BC (and that's saying a lot, I loved my Priest).
During my time on the Magtheridon realm (US), I have constantly been among the highest dps Enhancement Shamans in the world. This may sound like I'm tooting my own totem, but facts are facts. My goal is always to push myself in raids and do the most damage possible while maintaining my buffs and raid awareness.
This blog's purpose is to allow me to express my thoughts about anything and everything Enhancement. This is my first blog as well, so I'm hoping it will be a positive experience. :D
So, let's get started!
Yesterday we saw the release of The Plagueworks section of Icecrown. While my guild did not get to attempt Professor Putricide, we got some decent kills on Rotface and Festergut. With Festergut comes Black Bruise. Black Bruise is the first serious, possible weapon upgrade in Icecrown from the Anub'arak 25m heroic weapons.
When I saw that it dropped, I was so excited. To get a new weapon upgrade as soon as it's made available is amazing. The problem is that Black Bruise's proc, Necrotic Touch, seems to be very lackluster. After doing a relatively short auto attack test on the Training Dummy, I found that the proc had about a 1% chance to proc, which confirms early PTR test(s).
My test:
http://www.wowmeteronline.com/combat/detail/293726644#damageout
Blizzard released a statement which claimed that they are looking into buffing the weapons with special procs up to the level of the very popular Bryntroll. We can only hope that they do a good, and very quick, job.
Blizzard statement:
http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/22048473487-nerf-bryntroll-the-bone-arbiter.html
Next time I'll post some helpful tips regarding each ICC encounter that may increase your dps/survival.
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