Wouldn't using Clutches of Dying Hope instead of the tier hands be a higher DPS increase than using the Hood of Stilled Winds instead of the tier head?

Yes, legs work out best. But wouldn't the gloves be a better option than the head?

ETA: Sorry, this really should have gone into the simple questions thread but since this discussion started in this thread, I continued it here.)

We switched to legs after we went over the BiS list and optimised for crit without hitting the haste breakpoint. Haven't had hat off-piece since then, but I can't be bothered going through all my old posts to edit out the outdated information. :p

If you want an up-to-date, and revised, version of the BiS list head over to [Balance] T14H BiS list

Edit: most of my discussion on hat/gloves offpiece is there somewhere, you'll just have to go trawling if you want the numbers haha.

Man you're so my hero, I'm sure nobody has understood your answer on the US topic, but this is so informative.

I'm wondering if we end up using Inc/HotW in 5.2, what would the ideal opener be? Same as now except HotW cat dps after CA? HotW cat dps first before normal opener? Does lusting on the pull have an effect on this?

I'm hot sure HotW cat is worth using at all since the nerf. If it is, you'd probably use it after the opening stack of Inc/CA/Lust was done, when all your good stuff is on cooldown.

Looking at HotW cat, and only considering Int scaling:
From WC:
An Eclipsed MF scales at about 13 dpet per Int
An Eclipsed SF scales at about 3 dpet per Int
Shooting stars is about 7 dpet per Int

If my math is correct, a single full-duration HotW rake does roughly 9.6 damage per Int and a cat auto attack does about 0.5 damage per Int. Both of those are before crit (and HotW crit will be high), so a total of around 13 damage per Int is not unreasonable.

Ideally you might have a situation with four targets (not enough for AoE or MF multi-dot to really shine).
Cat/4xRake/Moonkin is under 7 seconds (under 6 if you used Dash to get to cat) DPS/Int is 13*4/7, so something over 7, a little-bit more than seven seconds of shooting-stars spam, but without moving (or needing) the Moonkin energy bar.

Note that none of this scales with Mastery, or Weapon SP, and the benefit from Haste and weapon DPS is very small. As gear gets better, expect HotW to look poorer and poorer.

That 9.6 came from (1.05 Leather Specialization)(1.05^2 MotW)(1.06 HotW passive)(2.1 HotW active)(2 AP/Agi)(0.3 Rake AP scaling)(1+5 DD+DoTs)(1.04 Raid buff (physical damage))

This is how I use it on the rare occasions I spec for it - basically dumping all Energy, out into Moonklin form with caster weapons to refresh DoTs and then back into Cat Form.

Used this way it is a very small dps increase over not using it but certainly nothing to write home about.

Remember that SimCraft and WrathCalcs are measuring two completely different things - WrathCalcs evaluates your steady-state DPS on a single-target fight, whereas SimCraft runs different iterations of the same fight and finds the average DPS (as shown by their normal distribution).

Naturally, two different models will yield slightly different results. I've gone over the H BiS list for this tier many times, changed gear around and we've come to a conclusion that the heroic Butterfly bracers don't exist (since they are trash drops, simcraft needs to update that), as well as all off-pieces for tier. Pants pull way ahead in these situations, according to WrathCalcs, and we recently switched from hat after shifting away from the haste breakpoint strategy.

Also, you'll notice SimCraft includes buffs we don't give ourselves (barring Stormlash totem). This includes potions, heroism, warrior banner (if they include that). These stack well with our cooldowns and can account for the DPS change. Either way, WrathCalcs is meant to be used as a basis for comparison, being a tool we can make logical conclusions from with simple alterations. Almost everything WrathCalcs reports can also be applied to multi-target or damage mod fights, the only thing it really could not account for was DoC being overrated for this tier (movement, multi-targets, etc.).

Overall, it's up to the individual to choose which model they want to follow for their gearing strats, and there's nothing perpetually wrong with how SimCraft models DPS (as long as it follows our rotation and quirks), but remember that WrathCalcs is specifically tailored to boomkins whereas SimCraft must update and keep relevant all DPS specs for every class.

Hello everyone.

I just want to specify that I have read all the articles about Haste Breakpoints & Rounding. I also read the whole moonkin guide: [Balance] Mists of Pandaria 5.0, Guide and Discussion, and several last pages.

Here are my 2 questions I could not find answer yet:

1) I'm aware that the first haste breakpoint is 5273 rating without the tier bonus. The fact is, I just restarted playing and I can't reach that first breakpoint yet even if I reforge and gem everything I can in haste (considering my hit cap aswell). Should I reforge and gem everything in crit instead since I can't even reach the first breakpoint or should I aim it at all cost?

2) You mention in your guide that in aoe multi targets situations, we should dot every target possible with solar eclipse up and then hurricane. I have this problem, for example on Wind Lord Mel'jarak in HoF, where I don't even have time to put dots on all adds, because the 14-16secs run out before I could complete a full rotation on all the mobs. I was wondering if it would be better in that case to skip a couple dots and start hurricaning sooner.

This is correct.
There was a post about this a couple of pages back. Read from page 11 if you want to find it.
Link to the past.