Only for pve.

In PVP they did not remove the 1% miss chance(bug, not addressed by Blizzard yet)

Also you cannot cap spell hit against players that have a resist talent or racial, for example gnome racial(2% arcane resist) means no matter the hit rating your arcane attacks against him cap at 97%(1% base miss). Ret pallys notoriously have 4% spell resist which cannot be overcome. (95% cap)

I hope this is fixed.

Also, smart boomkins will not put on faerie fire, the GCD is a lack of personal dps, and I think it takes 6 people benefiting for it to break even. This should probably be changed, faerie fire refreshing on starfall attacks or something.(talent suggestion)

3% hit on 6 people for it to balance a GDC every 40 sec ? I never did the math myself but i highly doubt it. also it increase crit %. It's a given that in a raid it is likely a mage will keep the +10% crit up. But if you average people's DPS in raid to be between 3000-4000 6 people hitting 3% more seems an insane number to compensate on 1 GCD of the boomkin every 40 sec.

I mean it seems to be in the ballpark of losing more than 600 DPS raid wide for 40 sec compared to 1 GDC ? 1.5 second would be a loss of about 6000 damage every 40 sec from the boomkin, ( about 130 DPS ), also it is easily reapplied when you need to move etc ( instant), it seems to me that if you actually have about 2 or 3 casters needing 3% more hit, it's already better to keep FF up.

Anyway in our raid a boomkin keep imp FF up.

You are right, my numbers are off. However, and I apologize for this now, but I often assume perfect group makeup and buffs and everything, especially WOTLK 25 man.

If your 25 man group does not have a shadow priest, you are missing a very important role, as you would need 2 ret paladins to keep replenish on the 20 mana users(guestimate). And ret pally dps does not compare to SP, especially AOE fights. However in Ulduar gear I fear most melee will pull ahead of all casters but Frostfire mages and maybe Afflic locks.

But this thread is not about Boomkins;

I have a not so simple question:

I have around 18% haste in a raid enviroment.
During heroism(bloodlust) and Icy veins my GCD is like 0.7, during just heroism my GCD is 0.94 or something.

#1 Should I weave in living bomb during hero+IV?
#2 Should I weave in living bomb during just hero?

Both my trinkets are proc trinkets and uncontrollable, can be ignored for this question.

I already know I should not living bomb if the target will not live for another 12 seconds.

Thinking ahead on a what-if situation: Do you think Blizzard will itemize haste later on that gives a higher % than in TBC? the realistic cap was around 25-28% haste for a mage(sunwell), I assume this will be the goal also in Icecrown gear. Or will we reach new levels?

I'm trying to correct my living bomb usage in raids. I've noticed that I often let LB fall off if I'm in 20 seconds of bloodlust + icy veins heaven. I assume that there's a FFB cast speed where opting to refresh LB actually becomes a DPS loss, but given the 1.0s cap I'm not sure it's attainable.

So, should I worry about refreshing LB during bloodlusted icy veins or keep spamming 1.6s FFBs?

I never cast LB during icy veins/lust.

Concerning a 53/0/18 spec (with Ice Shards and Piercing Ice) and 3.0.8; the question arises, whether to use AB or Frostbolt on PoM.

The average damage of a single Frostbolt (without glyph) ist slightly higher than AB's (0 stacks).
However the Frostbolt benefits much more from the +30% crit provided by Arc Potency because of it's higher crit multiplier, on the other hand the AB provides the +15(20)% damage stack.

Of course this is not an issue on regular clearcasts, since one won't have 5/5 Improved Frostbolt.

So on PoM they should be quite close regarding dps. However, I am unsure which one is ahead?

I have a simple question.

Best in slot >4pc T7 ? or is 4pc T7> Best in slots

4pc being Helm/shoulders/gloves/leggings ( if there is a better combo please say )


in terms of DPS.

Yes this is wrong. You should stack CD's during Heroism, including icy veins. This will increase your dps because they amplify eachother. Cast time below 2 seconds is not a DPS nerf by any means.

I believe robe is a better alternative than helm for 4 piece. The best in slot indicate robe, legs, shoulders and gloves as best combination for frostfire (with gothics cowl). T7.5 helm simply sucks. However for the new fireball spec someone indicated that head might be a better item for 4 piece in combination with Heigans chest. I'm guessing it is because Fire/Arc can use the extra hit cause of no EP.

Long time reader, first time writer here.

I've rolled through a lot of these forums since 3.0.8 was announced, and was curious about a few things.

1) What is the recommended rotation for Arcane going to be? 1 AB -> ABarr, AM on MB proc, 3 AB -> ABarr, AM on MB proc during AP/IV/BL? Also, should I save the MB proc for when an AB charge is up (or 3 during haste buffs) or just spend the MB proc on AM asap?

2) What is the top DPS spec currently in 3.0.8? I've seen multiple posts saying Arcane will be raid viable/competitive yet again, but that Deep Fire will be able to pass FFB after the hit change and Thunderclap applying to TtW. (Assuming the mage has enough hit already to reach 17% for all specs while raid buffed.) Then I see spread sheets where arcane is ahead of both, and get confused.

SampleOutput - simulationcraft - Google Code

It shows 57/3/11 being the top for a mage. Explanation? I think I'm getting confused somewhere.

To be clear, the reason I question weaving in Living Bomb during heroism and icy veins is my GCD is always under 1.0 during those, and since that is the cap, there is .2 seconds wasted for example. For extreme scenarios if my GCD was .1 seconds, if I spammed scorch I would waste .9 seconds every cast, and could not cast anything in between.

since many of us have finally replaced hex shrunken head, shifting naaru sliver and skull of guldan, the time of activated trinkets is gone. Ulduar will probably have one though. Anyway since +dmg is not on command, the math is less clear on IV and Hero benefiting each other, but you must keep in mind molten fury is basically a +dmg trinket proc, and haste benefits it so much. Also speed potions are way better than the new destruction potions.

And from a realist viewpoint, most people pop heroism when the boss is around 25-35% anyway, there won't be time for IV after heroism faded. Exception being OS 3 or 2 drakes with hero on Tenebron but whatever.

You must be careful with those spreadsheets. I'll explain- if you click that link, go to the bottom, and click "lootrank" for any spec really that needs hit rating. You will notice that epic hit gems are in every socket imaginable, the spreadsheet is not programmed to reach "hit cap". The gear that this simulation is running collectively has like 700 hit rating-(would make rogues cream).

You might argue that every mage spec has 3% hit now from talents, and 6% if you go arcane and 8 frost. However since FFB has a better scaling factor with spell damage, which is the obvious choice for most mage specs for gems, it would be a connection to say that 300 +damage from all this hit gems turned into +dmg gems would benefit FFB spec better than frost, arcane or fireball spec. Long sentence, wasn't sure how to cut it up.

I'm not saying arcane is not on the top, I'm just saying take that spreadsheet lightly. As a matter of fact I wish Rawr had a hit calculator which put hit gems into yellow sockets first until cap then stopped.

Quick question regarding the upcoming Torment the Weak changes.

Does this mean that Judgement of the Just will also make TTW active? So, since we have a Pally tank in our raids, TTW will always be up?

Also, Does the Arcane spec become more powerful because of scaling, because 18/53/0 Frostfire build would boost Frostfire by 12% as well, wouldn't it?

Yes, Judgement of the Just will activate TTW.

18/53/0 Fire with TTW is a viable spec. 18/53/0 Frostfire loses out on its huge crit bonus, so is not a great spec.

Edit: Oops, I misread your 2nd question somewhat. The numbers are somewhat still up in the air, but it seems like Deep Arcane, Deep Fire/Arcane casting Fireballs, and Deep Fire/Frost casting Frostfire Bolt are all likely to be viable specs in 3.0.8. Exactly which one is the highest dps is still up for debate, in particular how good Arcane is going to be and what the exact rotation to use is. The general conclusion on Deep Fire/Arcane vs Frostfire seems to be that Fire will be slightly higher damage at the cost of somewhat worse mana efficiency and worse AOE.

Not to mention 6% damage to FFB.

The default profile uses ~290 Hit Rating (not 700). To see a "hit capped" version of the Lootrank/Wowhead gear lists, simply turn off the weights on Hit Rating after clicking through the lootrank/wowhead links on the SimulationCraft SampleOutput page.

As to the question: Is 57/3/11 the highest dps spec? Well.... The DPS achieved by the spec required exploiting the "combo" affect of executing Arcane Barrage early, clipping the last Arcane Missile. It also requires immense mana generation. The default raid config has "one of everything" which means that you have the best possible scenario for raid mana regen sources.

This post is somewhat directed at Manly since I know you have done calculations based on the 4pc t7 set bonus. First off sorry for posting this here, but I am unsure where else to place it. There is no thread dedicated to set pieces or their bonuses so this seems the most logical place to ask since the answer to this, putting aside any math work, is pretty strait forward.

I have the 4pc t7 bonus and was trying to figure out for my guild and for others if this was worth it. There are a couple post scattered around the web but nothing really solid that explains the math behind the bonus. I know that according to your math you stated somewhere ( or atleast I am told you stated somewhere) that the bonus will provide around 334% increases to crit as opposed to the standard 315%. I kind of beg to differ on this though and wanted to propose three separate equations.

Originally I calculated the set bonus to work like the chaotic meta does and apply the 5% after talents so my original equation looked something like this:

(1 + (0.50 * (1 + 1.0 Ice Shards + 0.5 Burnout))) * 1.4 Ignite =3.15 or 315% (this is the number we get normally ffb crits should be 315% bonuses, but then I multiplied in the set bonus after the talents---->) *1.05(4pcbonus) = 3.31 or 331%

This I found to not be true though, and a lot of other people are saying that the set bonus is applied before the talents. So my second equation looks like this.

(1 + (0.525 * (1 + 1.0 Ice Shards + 0.5 Burnout))) * 1.4 Ignite = 3.237 or 324%

We have to apply the 4pc bonus to the original 150% bonus that crits receive.

So we take .50 % *1.05= .525 ~ .53 = Which gives us 152.5% ~ 153% critical bonus. Which is where the .525 comes from in the above equation.


This also seemed to be incorrect, as further analysis seemed to suggest that the set bonus applied only to the base crit modifier of 150% and that the bonus crit talents would not factor in to its original effect. So I went back to the drawing bored and came up with the below analysis. Correct me if I am wrong but I think I am right on my assumptions of how hit/crit is calculated when a spell leaves your hands and when it actually contacts the target.



________________

So in theory, you cast a spell and lets say this spell is going to hit the target as a non crit for 4,000 dmg.

So now if we take the set bonus which basically bumps us up to 152.5% or 153% if you round.

4,000*1.525= 6100


The calculation that dictates whether a spell is going to crit or not, is not completed until it actually lands. However, there is math done when the spell is cast. When the spell leaves your hand the game will calculate how much based on your spell dmg / buffs you have on atm the spell is going to hit for, whether it actually hits / crits is done once it reaches the target. But it knows what it " should " hit the target for should it actually do so. So lets say it calculates that it will hit the target for 4,000. It can then say well excluding the crit talents this guy has, if this spell was to crit it should crit for 6,000k. BUT this guy has the T7 4pc bonus that means that if he crit it would be for 6100. So if the spells actually lands all the crit multipliers would come into play. If the spell was going to hit for 4,000 once you factor in our crit talents, burnout, iceshards, and ignite it would crit for 12,600 because 4,000 * 3.15 = 12,600 ( and as you know from above 3.15 or 315% is the standard critical bonus added to FFB after talents ) So at that point the original extra 120 dmg that our set bonus gives us would be thrown into it all which would bring our total dmg up to 12,720.

__________________________________

Is that correct assumptions and math above?

Because I am hearing two sides of the story from fellow TC ppl. Some say the set bonus is applied directly to the base crit modifer of 150% and then its added to the final resulting crit after talents. I have never heard of anything in wow working this way because most of the time things are factored in as multipliers nothing is ever added on top of anything else. Others say it is factored in before talents, but that the talents CAN multiply it, so now I am at a crossroads and not sure which is right.

Thanks for looking over this.

YouTube - Mirror Image (Mage) bug during Malygos

Mentioned in the Malygos thread that a Mage who casts Mirror Image at 97% or higher will have their Images pull aggro. If you watch Omen Draygon had 90% when the Images pulled aggro. Has anybody else experienced this?

That MI behavior wasn't abnormal. Images will pull aggro at 130/1.33_ = 97.5%, if they're at range. However, if the images are in melee range (as they were in the video), they'll pull aggro at only 110/1.33_ = 82.5%.

Yes, and you should use the search functions, the MIs inherit 133% of the mages threat, if the mage is in melee range (and Malygos has a big hit box) it will pull agro.

Apologies for not utilizing search. Thanks for the quick and accurate answers!

I used Mirror Images on Thaddius last night, when we first engaged Feugen/Stalagg. Now, I should have just waited, but we wiped, so I used them immediately on Thaddius next time around. However, for the first attempt, I was on Feugen, I believe.

Hilariously, 2 of my Mirror Images decided they didn't want to fight Feugen. They proceeded to run across the entire room (down the ramp, over, and back up) and engage Stalagg, while the third MI stayed and fought Feugen with me. Score for Mirror Image AI. Can't figure that one out.

<OT>

As a tank it really freaks me out when I hear MI's die. I frantically look around to see who's dead and why but Grid doesn't show anybody dead.