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Cat Gear and DPS Help
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Post by
burns91
I think I need some advice about gemming my gear and how I can get more DPS out of it. My DPS in heroics is not great, and I'm hoping some cat people will be able to help me out.
Here's my gear (and talent tree, etc):
http://www.wowhead.com/?profile=us.zuluhed.coventina
Currently there are a lot of gems for attack power. Should I change to agility? armor penetration? Any specific suggestions for what gems and enchants to use on certains pieces? I would love to see a specific list like in
this thread
- that would be really helpful.
I'm only doing 5 man heroics currently. I'm not really looking to raid anytime soon - I want to improve my DPS and skill in heroics first. Once I know I am gemming and enchanting correctly, then I will examine my rotations and see what I am doing wrong.
Thanks for the help!
Post by
129046
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
burns91
Thanks for taking the time to reply. Too bad I didn't research the gemming more before I did it... what a waste of several hundred gold! oh well...
I'll switch them over to agility gems and look for some enchants. I didn't want to get too crazy with the gemming on the blue chestpiece since I will hopefully be replacing it soon with a frost emblem piece.
Post by
burns91
I've changed my gems to agility gems and am working on the agility enchants, and eating agility food but my DPS actually seems
lower
than it was before...
What am I doing wrong with this gear? I don't get it =(
Post by
hashmel
Spec
0/55/16
Gems
Put an enchanted/nightmare tear (+stats) in the most beneficial blue socket you have then treat blue sockets as though they were red.
Yellows offering ~6 or more agil should be matched with Glinting (agil/hit) if below hit cap or Deadly (agil/crit) gems if above hit cap.
All reds, blues after the tear, and yellows with less than desirable bonuses should be filled with Delicate (agil) gems or Precise (exp) if your expertise is just terrible.
Chants
head = Arcanum of Torment
shoulders = Greater Inscription of the axe
back = superior/major agility
chest = super/powerful stats
bracers = fur lining: attack power
gloves = major agility till crit cap or crusher past the crit cap
legs = nerubian leg reinforcements
boots = superior agility till crit cap or greater assault past the crit cap
weapon = mongoose till you get something worth investing in berserking
Once you get an ArP trinket (GT, MR, or NES) and are able to hit its soft cap then go ahead and do so.
Post by
burns91
Thank you! That's the sort of easy-reference checklist I was hoping for =)
Sounds like I am in the general ballpark as far as gemming and enchants go, so maybe I need to work on my rotation. I know my gear is pretty low level still, as far as epics go, but I'm just trying to maximize the DPS my gear is capable of. I'm always last or next to last in DPS recount in 5 man heroics and I want to try to pull my weight.
Thanks again for the info - I really appreciate it!
Post by
Aadramelekh
I'm always last or next to last in DPS recount in 5 man heroics and I want to try to pull my weight.
Tip for 5 man dungeons.
TRASH MOBS:
Set assist on the Tank. Let him do the pull (this means letting him use one of his AoE abilities at least once - paladins usually throw shield and then consecrate, warriors charge in and thunderclap, bears charge in and maul+mangle the first target then swipe spam, death knights usually lay DnD and then apply diseases + spread them) at his own pace. After that go Mangle his main target, then Savage Roar. At this point all the mobs should be humping the tank, nicely gathered in one place. Swipe once, use Tiger's Fury for 60 energy, then Swipe two more times. Usually at this point the trash pack should be dead or almost dead. This should grant you at least ~4K DPS on trash.
BOSSES:
On 95% of the bosses (except those that have particular player disable / CC mechanics) you should wait for the tank to establish a solid ~40-50K threat lead. After that you Mangle -> Savage Roar -> Rake -> Shred -> Tiger's Fury, Berserk. At this point proceed spamming Shred to 5CPs, Rip when you have 5CPs, then Rake once more (it will probably have expired by now), renew Savage Roar (this will be at 1 or 2 CPs, depending if Rake has crit) and then for the remaining ~10 seconds or so of Berserk just mindlessly spam Shred. When you are down to ~20 energy at the end of Berserk (you should have 5CPs), perform a Ferocious Bite. After this (if the boss isn't dead yet) continue with the normal DPS cycle (the '
JFM priority list
').
This should again grant you at least 4K DPS on the boss.
Note: 'JFM' = 'John Fcuking Madden'
Post by
burns91
Thank you so much, Aadra! I've seen your replies in other druid threads and you are SO nice and helpful! I really appreciate you taking the time to help me.
Thank for the info on trash/boss rotations. I usually start in Prowl, then Feral Charge and Ravage to start so I am automatically behind the mob, then Feral Faerie Fire, Rake, Savage Roar, Mangle, Tigers Fury, Shred to 5 CPs, and then Rip. Should I not even bother with the whole pounce thing to start?
I didn't realize there was a way to set assist on the tank...(*embarrassed*) I'll look for that option. See? This is why I need pointers from the Kitty DPS Gurus like you!
Post by
Sokken
Me personnaly never really use stealth in heroics. you loose more than you gain from it. (except the obvious coolness factor of the stealth ability itself ^^ )
Post by
burns91
Me personnaly never really use stealth in heroics. you loose more than you gain from it. (except the obvious coolness factor of the stealth ability itself ^^ )
I wondered about that because all the kitty rotations I've seen don't include any of the pouncing openers. Leaping into the fight looks so cool though, lol. Ok, so just run straight in and go to town?
Post by
Sokken
can charge/leap even out of stealth tho :)
Post by
243176
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
nossy
If there's an Arms warrior to provide Trauma
http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=46855
, just skip the usage of Mangle, maybe just as an opener to start.
So my opener on a boss fight would be,
Mangle, Rake, SR (This should give you 3 to 4 CP SR) which will last you 24-29 sec). Depending if you get any Clearcast proc or not, at this point you can use Tiger's Fury and/or Shred. if there's an arms warrior in the group, don't worry about Mangle anymore and keep up Rake, SR, and Rip.
Remember, you get the most out of Tiger's Fury if used at 30 energy or lower, and most out of Berserker when used at 70-80 energy.
Because of clearcast procs and extra CP from crits, makes it priority rotation than it is a "rotation." Ideally, you want Rake, SR, and Rip, and Mangle bleed debuff up 100% of the time and fit in a Ferocious Bite IF you think you can afford to. Having said this, heroic's boss fight are usually around 30-45 seconds long, so I'd say the first 5CP finisher would be a RIP then the 2nd CP finisher would be a Ferocious Bite, because, typically your 1st Rip hasn't fade yet (if you glyph for it) and even if it did, the 2nd Rip won't follow through its course for the full dmg on a heroic boss.
Pounce is a PVP thing. Maim is mainly PVP, but has some usuage in PVE for spell interupt as well.
Post by
burns91
typically your 1st Rip hasn't fade yet (if you glyph for it) and even if it did, the 2nd Rip won't follow through its course for the full dmg on a heroic boss.
I'm not glyphed for Rip. I have Mangle, Savage Roar, and Beserk. Do you think it would be better to trade the Beserk for Rip glyph? Which of the two would benefit me more?
Thanks again for all the help, everyone!
Post by
Aadramelekh
The Berserk glyph will probably provide 2 more shreds in those additional 5 seconds. For heroic instances it may be a good choice, since you don't have much time to care for Rip there anyway. Most bosses are done with in 30 seconds or so, which is enough time to use one Rip and after it finishes, you'll probably want to use one big fat Ferocious Bite for the final push.
On raid bosses though the situation changes and the Berserk glyph becomes much less valuable than Rip. For serious raiding, Rip, Shred and Savage Roar are the best three glyph choices.
To enforce another point brought up here - Pounce and Ravage provide a
HORRIBLE
DPE (damage per energy) ratio and as such are a complete waste. Don't bother with them in PvE.
About the tank assist business - just right click his portrait in the party frame and choose Set Focus. That way you'll always be able to pick his current target. Or use the assist function if you still have it hotkeyed. Personally I find it easier to click his target under his portrait when I have him on focus. Just make sure you also activate the 'Target of Target' option in your Interface game menu.
Post by
yodadoe
A few comments... the best glyphs for raids and heroics are Rip, Shred and Savage Roar. Increasing the duration of mangle a bit isn't that much of a boost in DPS, and Berserking is only once or twice a fight.
I disagree that you should be gemming for hit/agility in yellow sockets. I think you'd get more DPS from gemming crit/agility, at your gear level. Capping hit is not important for cat DPS, as we are not dual-wielders. (It does become useful at much higher gear levels when you reach the 77% crit cap)
I like to Feral Charge too. However, I am fairly well-geared with respect to my raid group, so if I charge in and start beating on the boss, it usually turns to me and snaps my head off. I run in and hit FFF while I'm running to get that out of the way... or sometimes I sit there, hit FFF, and THEN charge in, just for fun. Don't use Ravage or Pounce, tho.. studies have shown that they net you a DPS loss compared to opening with mangle>SR>etc....
If you have trouble managing all the debuffs, buffs and bleeds, grab the FeralByNight addon... it recommends which move to use next.
But yeah, gem for all Agility for now. You need around 500 Armor Penetration on your gear (before any gemming) before gemming for ArP is better than Agility.
Post by
Sokken
I like to Feral Charge too. However, I am fairly well-geared with respect to my raid group, so if I charge in and start beating on the boss, it usually turns to me and snaps my head off. I run in and hit FFF while I'm running to get that out of the way... or sometimes I sit there, hit FFF, and THEN charge in, just for fun. Don't use Ravage or Pounce, tho.. studies have shown that they net you a DPS loss compared to opening with mangle>SR>etc....
or you could hold the charge for a few seconds and save your W key the usage?
Post by
burns91
Lots of great info!
I do like Feral Charge because I wind up right where I want to be - behind the target to start my rotation. Now that I understand the damage per energy better, I'll try the rotations Aadra posted and see how it goes. I don't think I was using my abilities properly to maximize energy and DPS. Once I get more used to what I'm doing, I'll evaluate changing my glyphs.
I'll keep gemming agility because I know I'm no where near making the switch to armor penetration...
Thanks for all the details - like about how to focus target on the tank and assist. It's little things like this that I think I'm missing and making my life harder...
I really appreciate all the replies, opinions, and help!
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