Look through the thread a bit. Its already been stated that dropping IIT will increase personal dps.

Hello,
I'm looking for a straight-forward answer, as my browsing hasn't yielded one(and perhaps the answer is that there is no straight-forward answer). I recently acquired several nice upgrades, but haven't seen my dps increase as expected. In fact, I seem to be doing a bit less than I had previously. I lost some Haste and ArP, but gained in all other stats. I'm currently MM-specced, hit-capped, <50% crit and gemmed for +Agi.

Is there a point where it's better to gem for stats other than +Agi(for example, Haste, ArP or even AP?) I'm still not very clear on exactly how Haste and ArP affect Hunters.

I am new to theorycrafting and still learning to use the spreadsheets, so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Keep in mind that Arp directly increase the EP of strength. At Arp cap, each point of strength is roughly 40% more effective than if you have 0 Arp. For my gear level (mostly 264), the DPS difference between gemming Arp til cap and gemming strength is extremely small, and this is the reason why you find both Arp stackers and Strength stackers in world top parses. But as gear level increases, the strength "multiplier" by Arp cap will become more notable. So give it a few more months and you'll find all world top blood dks are at Arp cap.

Also the rotation OP posted has a few more RP dumps than I would of used in a tank n spank fight, especially at beginning of a fight. At Arp cap your rune abilities does so much more damage than your DC, that you wouldn't cast DC while you have any runes up even if you are at RP cap.

Blood dps breaks down into 2 parts, an opening rotation, and followed by a priority system.

My opening rotation lasts around 30 sec, and it goes like this:
DS-DS-HS-HS-BT-HS-ghoul-Hysteria/CDs/DRW-IT-PS-HS-HS-HS-HS-DS-ERW-DS-HS-HS-HS-pest(refresh diseases)-DC-HS-HS.
notice there is only 1 death coil cast in the first 30 seconds.
After opening rotation, it come down to a priority system:
disease>DS(with FU runes)>HS(with blood and death runes)>DC

Knowing the opening rotation and the priority system that follows, the key to high DPS is cool down stacking. But keep in mind that summoning DRW(or ghoul and hysteria) 3 times per fight will always net a higher DPS than summoing it 2 times. Finding the balance between cool down stacking and maxiumize uptimes requires planning head according the the length of the fight, when your RL will call blood lust, and knowing when you'll be moving/target switching due to boss mechanics.

I believe you're right, Mizar.

Back to Arthas, we set tranq targets on 25 by X hunter does the first spawn, Y hunter does the second one, and rotate. That obviously gets more difficult if you're not dpsing them but it would be very simple to set a raid target to each hunter and their respective horror for the purpose of tranqing. All you need to do is make sure the marks you used are not marks that your raid leader's boss mod is using. You can then set yours to focus or whatever is easiest for you. From what I understand, if you're both using a mouseover macro to tranq them, then you could both be on tranqing and with proper communication, there may be no need to assign individual targets.

Hi folks,
I am not a big fan of jumping in mid-discussion but I have had a burning question for days now and I am hoping, with help, to resolve it....


Prior to 3.3, there was a fairly well-understood point where after enough defense stoneskin became obsolete and swordshattering became a bit more attractive. For me, that was around ~580 or so...

However, with the new changes to IBF, I have since switched back to stoneskin which puts me at just about 600 defense.

Is there any updated consensus on when to consider swordshattering over stoneskin or does the 3.3 change make anything but stoneskin laughable?

Lich King 25
Encounter difficulty: Hard
Spec: 56/0/15
Impressions: Affi is strong aoe spec and it seems to be best for this fight imo. P1 SoC ghouls and tap/dot LK/big add between respawns. Teleport positioning, P1 - inside to teleport out of the edge, P2 between middle and throne to teleport once you get Defile so others don't have to move and it's the only direction where Valkyrs won't fly. Keep dots on LK while dealing with remaining Enraged Spirit and Valkyrs. This spec is also really good for P3 to aoe Vile spirits that fly in the air.
Disadventages: If played properly none except Valkyrs once they get out of aoe range, then direct dmg would be better.

I have a quick question considering weapon choices as Arms.

I've been using [Justicebringer] and [Shadow's Edge] is a faraway reach from me at the moment but [Cryptmaker] dropped and I took it because of the weapon DPS upgrade. It's gonna cost me a lot of gold to regem and I'm gonna lose a good 7% of crit chance. Is the 15% ArP worth the lost on 5% crit damage increase?

First off, thank you Aldriana so much for making this spreadsheet, I've been using it for a month now and can only say that I love it.

I've got a question though on the Combat sheet: I suppose the spreadsheet takes the Meta socket into account. If it does, how does it make sense that if I socket 10arp/15stam vs. 20arp in my chest to get my meta socket bonus, I lose ~6dps according to the sheet?

I can't understand how 10ArP weights out 3% cirt + 21Agi?

Link to sheet:
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This is about the highest DPS I can get with my setup, as far as I understand the mechanics. It has no Meta socket bonus, which I find a bit odd:

RapidShare: 1-CLICK Web hosting - Easy Filehosting

The sheet assumes you meet the meta requirements. Even if you don't. So what you're seeing is that 20arp is better than 10arp/15sta. No more, no less. The meta never enters the equation since it's always assumed to be "on". So you should make sure to meet the requirements for it manually.

Okay, thanks a lot of that answer. I googled an searched this forum (a bit) but didn't find the answer. I suppose it's out there anyway

Thank you, that was exactly what I was looking for.