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DPS Dilemma...
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Post by
Erethzium
I don't know what's going on, but I'm in all 213+ gear(to be exact, i've got two 219's and 3 226's), and I'm only hitting 3200 dps maximum on the target dummies.
I've got:
2300 SP with own buffs (Goes up to 3000 with Illustration 10-stack and Lightweave, along with Glyph of Shadow proc)
18% Crit
300 Haste
Hit Capped (273 hit rating, Draenei Spriest, so cap is 263)
Glyphs:
-Shadow
-Mind Flay
-SW: Pain
For my rotation:
Starter - Vamp. Touch -> Dev. Plague -> MB -> MF -> SW: Pain (get Shadow Weaving to 5 stacks before Pain.)
After that, I just keep using MB and MF, while re-applying Vampiric Touch and Devouring Plague when they're about to run out.
So...am I doing something wrong? I'm hearing of Death Knights and other classes hitting 4400 DPS on the target dummy, completely unbuffed, so I really have no idea what I'm doing wrong. I'm starting to think that Blizzard intentionally made Priest do less DPS than other classes...
Post by
Aldones
Are you clipping MF or your DoTs? You clip these and it results in missing a tick. The goal is to recast immediately after it runs out, not a nanosecond before.
Post by
KudlaMaster
Your numbers seem about right for where your gear is at. Keep in mind that in a raid setting with full raid buffs your dps will increase dramatically.
My stats are about the same as yours. The only major difference is I have about 5% more crit than you. When I go through my rotation on a dummy I do about the same dps (3k to 3.3k, depending on how many iterations of my rotation I go through). Those aren't disappointing numbers by any means, but I can see how one could be discouraged.
Other classes may do more dps than you but you also need to keep in mind that you are bringing a lot more utility to the table than most other classes. Vampiric Embrace, Replenishment, Misery, Mind Control are all great components of your repertoire that most (I know Misery/Replenishment are offered by select other class specs) other classes can't offer to the raid.
If you don't have Quartz I would highly recommend it. It provides a cast bar that will let you know exactly when you can cast your next spell without clipping the last tick of your Mind Flay. As far as DoT's go Devouring Plague can't be recast until it has run its full course so it will fall off for a second or two every time it needs to be refreshed. Vampiric Touch, however, should never fall off of your target. Your goal should be to reapply Vampiric Touch when there is 1 second or less left on the timer.
For your rotation I would recommend some changes though. My standard rotation runs like this:
VE - VT - MF - MB - DP - SW:P
Mind Flay will apply 3 (yes 3, every time it ticks) stacks of Shadow Weaving to your target. Your goal is to build 5 stacks of Shadow Weaving and as many stacks of Illustration up as you can before applying DP and SW:P. After that just use your standard spell hierarchy to determine what to do in any situation. Make sure all 3 DoT's are always up, then Mind Blast if it is off cooldown and finally Mind Flay if Mind Blast is on cooldown and DoT's are fine.
Also I would love to know what your other trinket is. Spell power proc trinkets (Dying Curse/Sundial of the Exiled/etc.) are an excellent boost to dps. Eye of the Broodmother is also an excellent trinket to have as it is basically another Illustration of the Dragon Soul and it is pretty easy to get to boot.
Please let me know if this was helpful or if you have any further questions about a shadow priest. I've been playing one since WoW first came out and I'd love to help you out any further if you need it.
Post by
Erethzium
Make sure all 3 DoT's are always up, then Mind Blast if it is off cooldown and finally Mind Flay if Mind Blast is on cooldown and DoT's are fine.
This is basically what I do after I get Shadow Weaving to 5 stacks and apply SW:Pain. And yeah, I know that MF applies 3 stacks.
My trinkets are:
-Illustration of the Dragon Soul
-
Embrace of the Spider
I can easily go buy a Sundial though, if that would help my DPS. I remember back a while ago, using
Forge Ember
(a slightly-lower version of the Sundial) and then the Embrace of the Spider, and the Embrace turned out to give me higher DPS. But I'll check again, just in case.
EDIT: Tested it out again. Using the Embrace DOES give me much higher DPS. with the Sundial, I couldn't even hit 3100, but with the Embrace, I was easily hitting 3250 DPS.
Also, this screenshot confuses me:
http://i29.tinypic.com/vdjw5d.jpg
Recount's graph is saying that I'm going up to 3900 dps, yet I can only get up to 3250 or so on the regular meter. What does the graph show? potential DPS with raid buffs?
Post by
KudlaMaster
That graph shows your dps spikes. It is showing you how much damage you did that second, but your DPS number is the average of your DPS over the course of the whole encounter. DPS on the smaller recount window is what you should be watching.
Post by
368348
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Kataly
The reason why people apply 5 stacks of weaving before SW:P is because it's never actually casted again in your rotation. When mind flay refreshes SW:P, it does not refresh it's damage to the current stack of weaving, but physically casting it does. DP must be casted manually, so it matters not where it is at in your opening rotation. The earlier the better.
Post by
KudlaMaster
Exactly. If you apply SW:P with 5x Shadow Weaving, Lightweave/Sundial proc/Dying Curse proc/Illustration stacks/Tricks of the Trade that buff you had when you initially applied SW:P will affect its damage over the course of the whole fight, provided you never recast it and keep it refreshed with Mind Flay. Devouring Plague must be recast as soon as it runs its course, which means by the second time you cast it there is no reason you should not have 5x Shadow Weaving.
I just like to get my stacks up to 5 before I drop DP on a boss, it doesn't take long at all to build them up.
Post by
Aldones
I apologize in advance, but I'm about to tear a few points made here up...
If you don't have Quartz I would highly recommend it. It provides a cast bar that will let you know exactly when you can cast your next spell without clipping the last tick of your Mind Flay.
Quartz is nice, but I personally prefer to get a feel for everything. Nothing is wrong about Quartz, but I'd rather use skill over mindlessly looking at an addon.
As far as DoT's go Devouring Plague can't be recast until it has run its full course so it will fall off for a second or two every time it needs to be refreshed.
You should be looking at everything. If DP isn't applied until 1-2s after it falls off the target, your wrong. Plain and simple, it should be off for <1s. This is one of the few times it's considered acceptable to cast SW:D over MF (this allows you to still use some dps but still keep the DoT as close to a 100% up time as possible.
Vampiric Touch, however, should never fall off of your target. Your goal should be to reapply Vampiric Touch when there is 1 second or less left on the timer.
This is some of the worst advice he could offer you. By doing this you are clipping VT and skipping a tick. You should recast this just like DP.
For your rotation I would recommend some changes though. My standard rotation runs like this:
VE - VT - MF - MB - DP - SW:P
This isn't a very common opening rotation; VE doesn't offer a stack to SW. Most spriests I know tend to go w/ VT > DP > MF3 > SW:P > MB > VE or for slightly higher dps, some use (I believe this is what it is) VT > DP > MB > MF2 > SW:P > VE (the former starts your CD on MB earlier).
Your goal is to build 5 stacks of Shadow Weaving and as many stacks of Illustration up as you can before applying DP and SW:P.
Illustration offers a direct SP increase, thus it is refreshed by MF on SW:P. The reason SW doesn't stack, is b/c it offers a spell damage percentage increase.
**To be fair, everything I left out I completely agree with. If there is anything that I'm wrong about, I encourage other priests to let me know.
Post by
91278
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Aldones
Relying on guesswork isn't synonymous with skill, and use of an add-on is not synonymous with lack of skill. Sure, all the add-ons in the world can't make a bad player good, but they can make a good player better by virtue of what they can do that we cannot do.
I agree w/ that statement; I think it might be that I'm so addon reliant as a healer that I prefer to use as little as possible for shadow.
Post by
Erethzium
After reading all this and following the advices (cast DP so that it completes just after the DoT runs out, using Quartz, ect) and switching around a few gear pieces, along with getting an upgrade, I now manage a steady 3400 DPS on the target dummy, and was hitting 4300 on Sartharion 25man. :) Pretty good for an offspec, I must say.
Post by
KudlaMaster
Sorry I couldn't help you guys. I'll keep to myself from now on.
Post by
Aldones
Sorry I couldn't help you guys. I'll keep to myself from now on.
Don't say that...I've learned more from making a fool of myself on these forums than I ever have from research...you should read some of my earlier posts...
Heck, my MS is disc; I was completely naive to disc actually being a viable raiding spec 6 months ago...
Edit: It's very rare for me to tear a post like that up, but when I do I hope that it improves the poster as much as the viewers. That's also why I encouraged others to comment on what I said, b/c I hate doing that.
You said that you've been playing a spriest since WoW first launched. That alone offers you a vast amount of knowledge that most priests here never had the opportunity to experience. Knowledge I hope you feel free to share w/ the rest of us priests.
Post by
332701
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
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