AoE Spell Cap Mechanics

Guide not updated for Wrath of the Lich King
In process of updating the guide. If you have values, please PM me or post them in this article.

This is not updated for WotLK, but I have added some listed values in this post. If the mechanics have changed, feel free to PM me, etc.

Area-of-Effect (AoE) spells are spells that will deal damage to each affected target on the spell's cast, according to the AoE spell's capabilities. In certain situations, players find themselves required to use such spells; using them, you will damage multiple mobs, which may be grieved by other competitors in your group or raid. Seeing the plethora of numbers may look fancy, but it's misleading in the sense that as you add more mobs, your damage output per mob lowers, and your total damage remains constant. This behavior is caused by a mechanic that is referred to as the "AoE cap," because upon reaching the cap's value, you will do no more total damage than if you had affected more mobs. By referring to this value, you can determine your options when in AoE situations, like choosing which spell to use, or which talents to choose.

 

Contents

1 Explanation of an "AoE Cap" 1.1 Examples 2 AoE Damage Cap Listings 2.1 Mage AoE Spells 2.2 Warlock AoE Spells 2.3 Druid AoE Spells 2.4 Priest AoE Spells 2.5 Hunter AoE Spells 2.6 Shaman AoE Spells 2.7 Paladin AoE Spells 2.8 Warrior AoE Spells 3 Inspection of AoE Spell Caps 3.1 Spell Choice 3.2 Talent Choice 3.3 Stat Choice 4 Patch 3.3

[top] Explanation of an "AoE Cap"

An "AoE Cap" on a certain spell means that you will deal AoE damage to mobs normally, but when you reach this cap, you deal no extra total damage. In an AoE situtation, you will do your normal damage to an amount of mobs, but when you affect a number of mobs such that you reach the cap, the cap is divided by the number of mobs you're affecting. An exception to this rule is critical strikes, which are somewhat affected by the AoE cap; the critical strikes portion of damage is not counted towards the cap, and is extra damage, but the critical strikes themselves are based upon the cap-modified damage. There are two ways to "boost" the damage cap: critical strikes and damage increasing debuffs (on the mob). If a hit from an AoE spell is resisted, the hit is excluded from the cap, and that mob is not counted in the damage calculations; if you land a partial resist, then it's assumed that it will function the same way as a normal, complete resist.

[top] Examples

A theoretical example of Arcane Explosion; 1000 damage cap, 500 hit per mob:

One mob: Two mobs: Three mobs: The three-mob encounter does 333 damage to each mob (the 334 is from the decimals), which is because of the 1000 damage cap. Because I deal 500 damage per mob, it took me two mobs to reach the cap; when I add a third, I exceed the cap, so my damage must be modified to re-equal the cap. The theoretical cap is 1000, so the equation to solve for damage is: 1000 / 3, or 333.3 damage to each mob.

Another example is below, involving one critical strike; 1000 theoretical cap; 500 base, normal damage; 750 unmodified critical strike:

One mob: Two mobs: Three mobs: Also, because CoE and such damage-increasing debuffs "avoid" the cap, a situation can be true:
With a cap of 1000; a base, normal hit of 500; and two mobs:
No mobs with CoE:
One mob with CoE:
Two mobs with CoE:

[top] AoE Damage Cap Listings

Any spells not listed are not subject to this rule; all spells listed are of its current max rank.
A [Placeholder] tag means that we require you to help us! If you know of a certain spell's max rank's damage cap, PM me or post so I know to edit it into the tables.

Numbers are outdated as stated above; however, as stated below, most AoE spells have a cap of ~25000.

Roywyn suggested that spells have an AoE cap of 25000/second (Druid: Simple Questions/Simple Answers) for all spells under the effects of an AoE cap. The tables reflect this and will be changed if evidence is found.

[top] Mage AoE Spells

Spell Name	Damage Cap
Arcane Explosion*:	37500
Dragon's Breath*:	37500
Flamestrike*:	75000; DoT portion not included, nor is subject to cap
Blast Wave*:	37500
Cone of Cold*:	37500
Blizzard:	25000 per tic; 200000 total
Frost Nova:	25000
Water Elemental's Freeze:	[Placeholder]

*Abilities with a secondary effect might have a lower cap.

[top] Warlock AoE Spells

Spell Name	Damage Cap
Seed of Corruption*	37500
Rain of Fire	25000 per tic; 200000 total
Shadowfury*	37500
Hellfire	25000 per tic; 375000 total

*Abilities with DoT components or other secondary features may have a lower cap.

[top] Druid AoE Spells

Spell Name	Damage Cap
Hurricane	25000 per tic; 250000 total
Swipe	[Placeholder]

Hurricane may have a lower cap due to its slowing function.

[top] Priest AoE Spells

Spell Name	Damage Cap
Holy Nova	37500
Mind Sear	[Placeholder]

Holy Nova may have a different cap due to its healing function.

[top] Hunter AoE Spells

Spell Name	Damage Cap
Volley	25000 per tic; 150000 total

[top] Shaman AoE Spells

Spell Name	Damage Cap
Fire Nova Totem	[Placeholder]
Magma Totem	[Placeholder]
Thunderstorm	[Placeholder]

[top] Paladin AoE Spells

Spell Name	Damage Cap
Holy Wrath	[Placeholder]

[top] Warrior AoE Spells

Spell Name	Damage Cap
Thunderclap	25000
Shockwave	[Placeholder]

[top] Inspection of AoE Spell Caps

By using this data, we can conclude a few details about situations where AoE is relevant.

[top] Spell Choice

By using this information of spells' caps, we can conclude that certain spells will be superior than others when you're in a situation that allows you to be capped. If you're facing an abundance of mobs, you will generally become AoE capped; thus, the AoE spell that has a larger cap will essentially deal the most damage. You may also determine the DPS value of the spells, by dividing the cast time with the spell's cap.

[top] Talent Choice

With this evidence we can conclude that talents that increase an AoE spell's damage will have no effect if the mob would become AoE capped without the talent. Parts of talents can become wasted if only a portion of the talent's points will help reach the AoE cap. An example is Improved Cone of Cold, which increase Cone of Cold's damage by 35%. This talent becomes useless in situations where you will get AoE capped without Improved Cone of Cold. However, you may also become capped with one point; thus, you may choose to re-spec to only choose 1/3 Improved Cone of Cold, which will conserve some of your talent points. Some talents will increase the critical strike chance of an AoE spell, and unlike damage increasing talents, these talents will not be wasted, as critical damage is bonus damage.

[top] Stat Choice

AoE caps can also lead players to change their stat composition when they're in AoE situations. Spell Damage is a stat that will increase your AoE spell's damage, but if the spell would be capped without this added damage, it essentially becomes wasted. You could, however, gear for Spell Crit and Spell Haste, which increase your damage output by "avoiding" the AoE cap.

[top] Patch 3.3

Coming in patch 3.3, the AoE spell cap mechanics will change: The normal damage you deal with any spell to one target, multiplied by 10, will become the cap of the spell. This change will most likely increase the caps for the majority of people. Any data from the PTR is welcomed, including any miss or critical hit data.