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How exactly is DPS measured?
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Post by
535364
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Squishalot
DPS is essentially the amount of damage you do, divided by the time taken in the fight. But don't get too hung up over the number, because there are issues with the way it's calculated.
1) Addons like Recount divide by the active time in the fight. So time spent casting, channeling, GCDs of instant cast spells, any time you are 'in combat', basically. Note - in case you have a tank, this can also include the time after picking up a mob, and all the while you're running around picking up more without doing anything other than running. It also applies to DoTs that continue to run even once you stop being 'in combat', for the purposes of attacking target dummies.
2) Some addons fail to take into account 'absorb' effects into DPS. If damage is absorbed, the amount absorbed doesn't go into your DPS figures. So in some fights, the specific fight mechanics may result in you having particularly poor DPS (eg, see the Frost Mages in the first fight listed in that thread you linked).
3) Most serious raiders really couldn't care less about DPS as a number in itself. The bigger concern is the amount of total damage done. An Arcane mage can stand and deliver huge DPS in the first 30 seconds of a fight and top the meters by running away or dying for the rest. They'll do the least amount of damage, because they weren't active for most of the fight, but because they blew all their cooldowns, they'll be at the top of the DPS meter. A serious raider will realise what happened, and ignore the high DPS number, and boot you for not pulling your weight.
4) On that note, DPS is an indicator about how much damage you can do over the length of a fight. It's a substitute measure of performance -
the key measure is how much damage you do, full stop
. DPS is just a nice way of presenting that in an 'easier to read' number.
To answer the rest of your questions:
Is it the damage devided from start of a fight till the end of a fight?
For measurement purposes, ideally, yes, meaning that those pesky Arcane mages and Rogues who die after blowing cooldowns won't be at the top. But remember that Recount won't consider that.
Are phases like Evocation skipped for that count?
Nope, time spent Evocating is time spent not doing damage, and thus, your damage per second falls. Note - if you don't have a damaging effect on the target, some add-ons such as Recount will stop counting time while you Evocate.
Is it the Damage you do devided by the Time you are actually castin harmfull spells (cast bar running)?
As I said above - it goes for all spells, and pretty much any time you're in combat. Note - this includes time at the end of a target-dummy fight, when your DoTs are still running, if applicable.
How are instant spells put into this equation?
To the best of my knowledge, if you're at a test dummy, for example, an instant cast spell is worth 1.5 secs of active time, less haste, being the GCD. Any other spell would be the maximum of the casting time and the GCD. But how Recount calculates it is meaningless - if you just want to be the best damage dealer you can be, you should aim to top the 'damage done' meters, although will usually mean topping the DPS meters as well, for all intents and purposes.
Post by
511171
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Trick83
Great reply.
Post by
Squishalot
Edited the reply to note the effect of DoTs.
Post by
535364
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
pelf
2) Addons like Recount fail to take into account 'absorb' effects into DPS. If damage is absorbed, the amount absorbed doesn't go into your DPS figures. So in some fights, the specific fight mechanics may result in you having particularly poor DPS (eg, see the Frost Mages in the first fight listed in that thread you linked).
That may be selectively true, but I don't think it's entirely true. For example, on P1 Deathwhisper, my feral is 100% on the boss as ferals do quite poorly with target switching. My DPS or damage done for that fight is not zero. It's reported as it should be.
Post by
303016
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Squishalot
2) Addons like Recount fail to take into account 'absorb' effects into DPS. If damage is absorbed, the amount absorbed doesn't go into your DPS figures. So in some fights, the specific fight mechanics may result in you having particularly poor DPS (eg, see the Frost Mages in the first fight listed in that thread you linked).
That may be selectively true, but I don't think it's entirely true. For example, on P1 Deathwhisper, my feral is 100% on the boss as ferals do quite poorly with target switching. My DPS or damage done for that fight is not zero. It's reported as it should be.
Thanks for the feedback, changed accordingly.
Are phases like Evocation skipped for that count?
Nope, time spent Evocating is time spent not doing damage, and thus, your damage per second falls.
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but it was my understanding that because Arcane doesn't have any DoT effects, DPS should stay stangant while you Evocate. The same can be said of your total dmg output.
This is why Arcane mages frequently top DPS meters but come further down the chain on the dmg total.
A couple of paladins mentioned the same thing (I raised it up with them to see if I'd missed anything). That's an add-on issue though - realistically, it should be factored into your DPS, and certain add-ons/logs will treat that as 'active' time. Recount doesn't, I believe, which is where you're coming from.
I'll edit the reply accordingly.
Post by
DerrHans
About damage done for arcane mage's.
True the lack of dots and the need of evocating hurts our damage done, but i still top the damage done meters in our raids (10mans only) or i am top 5 on damage done in 25man pugs.
If arcane had something of a dot it would even be better but that might give the other classes alot of tears as we go up in damage done.
But DPS should never being linked as measurement but Damage done should be the tab u need to look at. But still take damage done with a grain of salt on
some fights
. Marrowgar and spikes can lower a mage's damage by alot if the group is to spread out, or if the mage him self is unlucky and get spiked alot. Rotface same thing if the mage get infected alot or beeing the first to kite so u cannot stand still and dps. On fester if the mage gets the throw-up debuff u lose alot of damage.
For guild runs not important as the know how much spikes u get but pugs can kill u for it without knowing u had been spiked 3 times in a row for example.
Post by
365547
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
DerrHans
The first to kite is no reason for dps loss. I stand still out the raid and dps while the small thing is humping me.
Well, thats also something people can do while having the first ooze.
But we choose to kite it and im sure many others do.
It has AoE affect and shoots puddles u dont want to have in the raid.
nvm the striped sentence as i didnt read ur post that well.
Never thought of that as were just kiting the first ooze around.
I never healed rotface, but i might consider this next time were there and the healers/raid leader agree's.
Post by
pelf
As far as activity versus overall: WoL displays both DPS and EDPS being Effective DPS. The first is between combat boundaries and the second takes into account activity. Which one is better for an in-game meter? I'm not sure.
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