[Enhancement] BiS gear and set-up discussion (4.3 and onward)

Ashunera · 01/10/11, 7:03 AM

The purpose of this post is to provide the current best-in-slot gearing setup for an Enhancement Shaman. It will be be kept as up to date as possible.
This is not intended to discuss or debate which race or professions are the best for an Enhancement Shaman, and only to discuss our basic best in slot setup including glyphs.

For other Enhancement related discussion, refer to this thread: [Enhancement] 4.3 - At least your old Axe is good for transmog!

This list obviously isn't final. Please keep in mind that while I believe this setup to be the best currently available in game, I am human and have not tested every possible setup. If I have made mistakes, spelling errors, or there's an error in a config file, or you have any other questions or comments, send me a PM rather than cluttering up the thread.

If you believe you have a gear, enchant, gem, reforge, imbue or glyph or talent setup that is superior, you'll need to simulate your setup and provide data supporting your claim, keeping a few things consistent with what is outlined here. For the sake of consistency, most parameters required will be similar to those outlined in the 3.3 BiS discussion thread by Vespasian and Rava.

Race: Must be Tauren. Other races provide a dps increase.
Professions: Must be Alchemy and Enchanting. They do not interfere with normal enchants and provide +80 agility each.
Mana: Simulating mana is not necessary, we are not limited by it. It's fine if you do, the results should be identical either way. Do not use Shamanistic Rage as soon as available.
Simulation Time: 5000 hours
Combat Length: 7 minutes
Combat Variation: 35%
Reaction Time: 230-260.
Talents: This is the talent setup currently being used. Please note that Shamanistic Rage will be considered a required talent point.
PLEASE INCLUDE CONFIG FILE AND DPS REPORT WITH YOUR POST, as well as any and all changes you made from those found under the item list.

Agility main hand:

With 4.3, spell power weapons are dead. We are not likely to see them compete again in the future.
I don't have a config/dps report to give yet, but wanted to update for 4.3 as quickly as possible, so until I'm able to provide them, if you have any setups you believe to be better, please PM me instead of cluttering up this thread unless you can provide significant data supporting it.

There is a lot of potential for different setups to have very similar output this tier, as several of the highest agility items also have very weak secondary stat combinations, namely Sporebeard Gauntlets, Belt of the Beloved Companion, Treads of Dormant Dreams and Signet of Grasping Mouths. Spiritwalker's Grips, or VP gear in the other 3 cases may be very competitive. It's also entirely possible that some setups will go as high as 60 points over the spell hit cap. Hit beyond the cap is often better than Haste Rating.

Chardev profile: chardev 9

Slot	Item	Gem 1	Gem 2	Gem3	Reforge	Enchant
Head	[Spiritwalker's Helmet]	[Agile Shadowspirit Diamond]	[Delicate Queen's Garnet]	-	Haste -> Mastery	[Arcanum of the Ramkahen]
Neck	[Choker of the Vanquished Lord]	-	-	-	Haste -> Expertise	-
Shoulders	[Spiritwalker's Spaulders]	[Delicate Queen's Garnet]	[Adept Lava Coral]	-	Expertise -> Mastery	[Greater Inscription of Shattered Crystal]
Back	[Dreadfire Drape]	[Delicate Queen's Garnet]	[Delicate Queen's Garnet]	-	Mastery -> Expertise	Enchant Cloak - Greater Critical Strike
Chest	[Spiritwalker's Cuirass]	[Delicate Queen's Garnet]	[Delicate Queen's Garnet]	[Delicate Queen's Garnet]	-	Enchant Chest - Peerless Stats
Wrists	[Bracers of Looming Darkness]	[Delicate Queen's Garnet]	-	-	Crit -> Hit	Enchant Bracer - Agility
Hands	[Sporebeard Gauntlets]	[Delicate Queen's Garnet]	[Delicate Queen's Garnet]	-	Crit -> Hit	Enchant Gloves - Greater Mastery
Waist	[Belt of the Beloved Companion]	[Delicate Queen's Garnet]	[Delicate Queen's Garnet]	[Delicate Queen's Garnet]	Crit -> Mastery	[Ebonsteel Belt Buckle]
Legs	[Spiritwalker's Legguards]	[Delicate Queen's Garnet]	[Delicate Queen's Garnet]	[Adept Lava Coral]	Crit -> Mastery	[Dragonscale Leg Armor]
Feet	[Treads of Dormant Dreams]	[Delicate Queen's Garnet]	[Delicate Queen's Garnet]	-	Haste -> Mastery	Enchant Boots - Major Agility
Finger	[Seal of Primordial Shadow]	[Delicate Queen's Garnet]	-	-	Mastery -> Hit	Enchant Ring - Agility
Finger	[Signet of Grasping Mouths]	[Delicate Queen's Garnet]	-	-	Haste -> Mastery	Enchant Ring - Agility
Trinket	[Wrath of Unchaining]	-	-	-	-	-
Trinket	[Vial of Shadows]	-	-	-	-	-
Ranged	[Ripfang Relic]	[Delicate Queen's Garnet]	-	-	Crit -> Hit	-
Main	[No'Kaled, the Elements of Death]	-	-	-	-	Enchant Weapon - Landslide
Off	[No'Kaled, the Elements of Death]	-	-	-	-	Enchant Weapon - Landslide

Priority
Searing Totem if not present
Stormstrike
Lava Lash
Maelstrom Weapon x5 Lightning Bolt
Flame Shock with Unleash Flame buff
Unleash Elements
Earth Shock
Feral Spirit
Searing Totem if <5 ticks left
Maelstrom Weapon x4 Lightning Bolt

Imbues
Main Hand: Windfury Weapon
Off Hand: Flametongue Weapon

Glyphs
[Glyph of Windfury Weapon]
[Glyph of Lava Lash]
[Glyph of Stormstrike]

Stat values (DPS)
These are the stat values used with the below Config file. Yours will be different. Sim it yourself for your own character for best results.

Stat	EP value	Value in DPS
Attack Power	1.0	1.64
Crit rating	1.02	1.67
Hit rating (past spell cap)	0.82	1.34
Hit rating (below spell cap)	2.05	3.41
Expertise rating (below dodge cap)	1.82	2.98
Haste rating	0.53	0.87
Mastery rating	1.66	2.73
Main hand DPS	2.98	4.90
Off hand DPS	2.32	3.80
Agility	2.59	4.26
Strength	1.03	1.70

DPS Report and config file:

← Click Here

DPS Report

EnhSim version 2.7.0 ................................................................................ MH: miss 780159 6.66% dodge 0 0.00% glancing 2810406 23.99% hit 1830625 15.63% crit 6292132 53.72% average ap 26918.33 clip 152692 1.29% reset 0 0.00% MH Windfury: procs/hits 16.17% procs/swings 15.25% miss 0 0.00% dodge 0 0.00% hit 2725125 43.33% crit 3563892 56.67% average ap 26917.11 MH Storsmtrike: miss 0 0.00% dodge 0 0.00% hit 882999 43.50% crit 1147105 56.50% debuff 2030104 100.00% MH Unleashed Weapon Windfury: miss 0 0.00% hit 454209 43.43% crit 591689 56.57% average ap 26855.03 MH No'Kaled Procs: hit 865684 77.20% crit 255713 22.80% average mastery 1675.00 OH: miss 779546 6.65% dodge 0 0.00% glancing 2813328 24.00% hit 1832035 15.63% crit 6295277 53.71% average ap 26915.50 clip 145827 1.23% reset 0 0.00% OH Flametongue: miss 0 0.00% hit 11259763 77.18% crit 3328685 22.82% cooldown 0 0.00% average sp 14803.26 OH Stormstrike: miss 0 0.00% dodge 0 0.00% hit 880059 43.35% crit 1150045 56.65% debuff 2030104 100.00% OH Unleashed Weapon Flametongue: miss 0 0.00% hit 807566 77.21% crit 238332 22.79% average sp 14788.03 OH No'Kaled Procs: hit 789698 77.22% crit 233015 22.78% average mastery 1675.00 Earth Shock: miss 0 0.00% hit 443708 42.13% crit 609366 57.87% average sp 14809.54 Flame Shock: miss 0 0.00% hit 758229 77.16% crit 224414 22.84% average sp 14806.16 dots hit 4518050 77.19% dots crit 1335398 22.81% average dot sp 14839.03 Lava Lash: miss 0 0.00% dodge 0 0.00% hit 701029 43.33% crit 916675 56.67% average ap 26913.52 Lightning Bolt: miss 0 0.00% hit 1311380 42.23% crit 1793611 57.77% average sp 14820.35 Lightning Shield: miss 0 0.00% hit 1076977 42.15% crit 1477902 57.85% average sp 14812.93 Spirit Wolves: miss 0 0.00% dodge 0 0.00% glancing 1696698 24.02% hit 5155594 72.98% crit 211704 3.00% average ap 27055.70 Searing Totem: miss 0 0.00% hit 8271553 77.18% crit 2445565 22.82% average sp 14788.26 Searing Flames: hit 3680187 77.16% crit 1089369 22.84% average sp 14783.62 Trinket2 Damage: miss 0 0.00% dodge 0 0.00% hit 275099 43.30% crit 360261 56.70% Maelstrom Weapon: PPM MW5 cast 2402625 77.38% 8.01 MW4 cast 702366 22.62% 2.34 MW3 cast 0 0.00% 0.00 MW2 cast 0 0.00% 0.00 MW1 cast 0 0.00% 0.00 proc 18293639 60.98 proc lost 3366598 18.40% 11.22 proc clipped 54885 0.30% 0.18 efficiency 81.30% flurry uptime 93.33% elemental devastation uptime 94.67% stormstrike debuff uptime 99.61% flame shock uptime 84.57% lightning shield uptime 100.00% searing totem uptime 99.52% searing flame uptime 92.90% maelstrom weapon uptime 81.60% UW Windfury uptime 16.77% UW Flametongue uptime 20.05% mh enchant uptime 44.10% oh enchant uptime 34.50% potion uptime 11.92% Set bonus uptimes: T13 Battlegear 2 piece 81.60% MRPS without overregen mana regen 0.00 0.00% mp5 81.63 34.19% replenishment 14.25 5.97% unrelenting storm 0.00 0.00% primal wisdom 142.86 59.84% shamanistic rage 0.00 0.00% mana potion 0.00 0.00% misc 0.00 0.00% DPS PPM MPS white 7507.21 15.34% 78.11 windfury 4698.96 9.60% 6.99 flametongue 3829.17 7.83% 48.63 searing flames 1176.91 2.41% 15.90 stormstrike 4739.96 9.69% 6.77 52.85 24.55% lava lash 6591.94 13.47% 5.39 21.06 9.78% searing totem 3622.37 7.40% 1.15 7.84 3.64% earth shock 935.02 1.91% 3.51 61.68 28.66% flame shock 1952.19 3.99% 3.28 54.36 25.26% direct damage 539.63 27.64% 3.28 dot tick 1412.56 72.36% 19.51 lightning bolt 5647.22 11.54% 10.35 0.00 0.00% lightning shield 1568.56 3.21% 8.52 0.00 0.00% spirit wolves 513.32 1.05% 0.55 6.47 3.00% melee 513.32 100.00% 23.55 unleashed elements 1725.55 3.53% 3.49 23.82 11.07% MH Windfury 872.68 50.57% 3.49 OH Flametongue 852.87 49.43% 3.49 No'Kaled 2505.34 5.12% 7.15 MH Flameblast 489.06 19.52% 1.25 MH Shadowblast 331.31 13.22% 1.24 MH Iceblast 490.09 19.56% 1.25 OH Flameblast 445.91 17.80% 1.14 OH Shadowblast 302.26 12.06% 1.14 OH Iceblast 446.71 17.83% 1.14 Trinket2 1913.62 3.91% 2.12 DPS 48927.34 MPS 215.23 MP2min 25827.92 MRPS 1283.58 Out of mana time 0.00% elapsed simulation time: 5000.00h elapsed real time: 18.89s simulation speed: 952986x

EnhSim Config:

config_version 2.7.0 simulation_time 5000 simulation_time_combatlog 300 combat_length 7 combat_length_rng_factor 0.35 report_count 80 threads 2 min_lag 230 max_lag 260 simulate_mana 1 ep_precision 2 ep_base_stat ap ep_ap 200 ep_crit_rating 100 ep_hit_rating 100 ep_expertise_rating -100 ep_haste_rating 100 ep_mastery_rating 100 ep_spellpower 0 ep_dps 57 ep_mana 1200 ep_spirit 100 ep_mp5 100 ep_intellect 100 ep_agility 100 ep_strength 100 mh_auto_attack 1 oh_auto_attack 1 cast_fs_only_if_dots_left 3 cast_magma_only_if_ticks_left 1 cast_searing_only_if_ticks_left 5 cast_sr_only_if_mana_left 0 use_mana_potion_if_mana_left 1000 cast_sr_on_cooldown 0 use_bloodlust 1 always_bloodlust_wolves 0 cast_lvb_only_if_fs_active 1 use_potion_before_combat 5 rotation_priority_count 10 rotation_priority1 ST_0 rotation_priority2 SS rotation_priority3 LL rotation_priority4 MW5_LB rotation_priority5 FS_UEF rotation_priority6 UE rotation_priority7 ES rotation_priority8 SW rotation_priority9 ST rotation_priority10 MW4_LB aoe_rotation_priority_count 0 aoe_rotation_priority1 SW aoe_rotation_priority2 SR aoe_rotation_priority3 MW5_LB aoe_rotation_priority4 FE aoe_rotation_priority5 MT aoe_rotation_priority6 FS aoe_rotation_priority7 ES aoe_rotation_priority8 SS aoe_rotation_priority9 FN aoe_rotation_priority10 LL fight_name standard_single_target miss 8.00 dodge 6.50 glancing 24.00 armor 11977 spell_miss 17.00 nature_resistance 0 fire_resistance 0 frost_resistance 0 arcane_resistance 0 shadow_resistance 0 additional_targets 0 additional_target_percent 0.00 additional_target_level 85 armor_debuff 12.0/12.0 physical_vulnerability_debuff 4.0/4.0 melee_haste_buff 10.0/10.0 crit_chance_buff 5.0/5.0 attack_power_buff_multiplier 20.0/20.0 spell_haste_buff 5.0/5.0 spell_crit_chance_debuff 5.0/5.0 spell_damage_debuff 8.0/8.0 spellpower_buff 10.0/10.0 percentage_damage_increase 3.0/3.0 stat_multiplier 5.0/5.0 agi_and_strength_buff 549/549 mana_buff 2126/2126 mana_regen_buff 326/326 replenishment 1 water_shield 0 mixology 1 gloves_enchant - cloak_enchant - ring_proc - weapon_set_proc - flask_elixir flask_of_the_winds guardian_elixir - potion potion_of_the_tolvir food skewered_eel profession_buff - race tauren mh_speed 2.6 oh_speed 2.6 mh_dps 786.3 oh_dps 786.3 mh_crit 36.48 oh_crit 36.48 mh_hit 20.34 oh_hit 20.34 mh_expertise_rating 543 oh_expertise_rating 543 ap 18652 melee_haste 7.38 str 156 agi 7529 int 155 spi 178 mastery_rating 1675 spellpower 10259 spell_crit 12.82 spell_hit 17.00 spell_haste 7.38 max_mana 25475 mp5 1171 mh_imbue windfury oh_imbue flametongue mh_enchant landslide oh_enchant landslide mh_weapon nokaled_heroic oh_weapon nokaled_heroic trinket1 wrath_of_unchaining_heroic trinket2 vial_of_shadows_heroic set_bonus1 t13_battlegear_4 set_bonus2 - set_bonus3 - metagem agile_shadowspirit_diamond glyph_prime1 stormstrike glyph_prime2 windfury_weapon glyph_prime3 lava_lash glyph_major1 - glyph_major2 - glyph_major3 - armor_type_bonus 1 primary_talent enhancement elemental_weapons 2/2 focused_strikes 3/3 improved_shields 2/3 elemental_devastation 3/3 flurry 3/3 static_shock 3/3 searing_flames 3/3 frozen_power 0/2 shamanistic_rage 1/1 unleashed_rage 2/2 maelstrom_weapon 3/3 improved_lava_lash 2/2 convection 0/2 concussion 2/3 call_of_flame 2/2 reverberation 0/2 elemental_precision 3/3 elemental_focus 0/1 elemental_oath 0/2 lava_flows 0/3 storm_earth_and_fire 0/3 elemental_mastery 0/1 feedback 0/3 lava_surge 0/2

SentinelBorg · 01/10/11, 8:16 AM

Originally Posted by Ashunera

Talents:
[...] This gear list will be accurate for the vast majority of PvE DPS specs players will take, and I've opted out of having one point in Elemental Precision (despite it being very slightly better than Concussion) for consistency - far too many players simply will not take the talent for very legitimate reasons.

Thanks for your work, but what exactly are those reasons? It is more DPS (~100 in my tests) and I don't see the drawbacks. With Andoros you even get some additional spell hit.

Also exchanging the Feral Spirit Glyph with the Flametongue Glyph increases the DPS by around 200 with the current version 2.3.0 of the sim.

bestpike · 01/10/11, 8:50 AM

Thanks for your work Ashunera. However where you speak about trinkets its a bit vague. By "proper" weapons you mean Agility ones? And second, you say Essence of the Cyclone is the second best trinket, does that include Fluid Death also?

Ashunera · 01/10/11, 9:28 AM

You're right, by "proper" weapon I mean an Agility weapon. Essence of the Cyclone would be second best for second slot, or third best overall, though I didn't spend a whole lot of time trying to rank trinkets, and just didn't find any setups where Essence or Prestor's came out above either of the top two.

From my testing, trinkets ranked something like this (possibility of human error and will not be accurate for all setups of course):

[Fluid Death]
[Darkmoon Card: Hurricane]
[Essence of the Cyclone]
[Prestor's Talisman of Machination]
[Tia's Grace]
[Essence of the Cyclone]
[Prestor's Talisman of Machination]

[Unheeded Warning] comes out below pretty much every item level 346 Agility trinket. I didn't bother playing around with [Unsolvable Riddle], but I don't see it competing.

Israfel · 01/10/11, 10:49 AM

According to the in-game links, all the caster weapons you linked have been 'nerfed', as in have less than 100 dps.
A few options would be to use the Twilight Highlands caster mace, [Gurgthock's Garish Gorebat], which has ~333dps ingame, or the [Vicious Gladiator's Gavel], whose stats are about the same ingame.

charissa · 01/10/11, 11:19 AM

I'm looking in the the gearset's at this moment and i was wandering, what is the best routine to make an optimal gear set? Is it first select gear, then select enchant, then gems and then reforge or is there another optimal order? Or is there any order at all?

Second question is it also possible to list BiS set for non-heroic if possible. Since not everyone is able to run them. If i know the most optimal gear selection i will try the contribute to the non-heroic BiS set if needed.

Edit: Some Grammar

sirtyface · 01/10/11, 1:51 PM

Ashunera, I'm not sure why, but the primary stats in your config are incorrect, which is throwing off other stats as well. STR should be 148 (it's 145), AGI should be 4544 (4699), INT 320 (309), SPI is correct. Here is the CharDev profile for your setup (with 2 points in Imp. Shields instead of Imp. Fire Nova, as these are a dps increase and are completely up-in-the-air points).

Mykkal · 01/10/11, 4:56 PM

Ashunera I understand that you are listing the BiS but I only have one issue:

Originally Posted by Ashunera

Disclaimer: [Andoros, Fist of the Dragon King] is showing in game via Atlas Loot as having 2.3 speed, 2 - 331 damage, and 72.4 damage per second. We will not know for sure until it drops, though I'm inclined to believe game data over Wowhead. If it has the 1.8 speed Wowhead suggests, [Twilight's Hammer] will be better, as it shows 2.3 speed both in game and on Wowhead. Keep in mind that by the time it's possible for players even in the very best guilds to acquire either item, Blizzard will likely have fixed our desire to use weapons with spell power. In the meantime, [Incineratus] (Haste -> Expertise + Landslide) is a reasonably close third. Agility is more powerful than Mastery at all gear levels, regardless of whether you're running FT/FT or WF/FT, or using a Caster or Melee weapon.

If this does happen wouldn't it be best to also list a non-caster weapon that people should look for as trying to get a caster weapon in guild runs is also going to be difficult to do as a melee class in most cases.

• Jessamy · 01/10/11, 5:11 PM

This thread should not be seen as a shopping list. Look at that gear list. Most people reading this thread won't be able to get any of it, much less one of the best caster weapons in the game. This is literally the best possible gear available to an enhancement shaman in this tier of raiding. If you could get it all right away, raiding wouldn't have the same meaning.

Instead, think of this thread as a fun exercise, the ultimate level in the meta game of planning out potential upgrades. With that in mind, things like "the best gear available for people who will never do any heroic fights, not even the easiest ones," or "the best weapon available, other than caster weapons, because Blizzard might make them not as valuable" don't fit the spirit of "best."

So what's the point of all this anyway, then?

Playing around with gear sets and priority orders can help us better understand how our class mechanics work, and how the tools we have work. We can even improve the accuracy of the tools based on discussions about what's truly the best setup.

As we improve our understanding of the class and mastery of the tools, we can then better plan out what gear will actually be upgrades for us, in the raid content we will actually see. And we can then better determine what gems, reforging, glyphs, and priority will provide the most potential dps for us, with the gear we actually have.

And, as I mentioned earlier, this whole exercise is meant to be fun.

Vespasian · 01/11/11, 7:09 AM

Thank you for getting something like this going again; I had considered doing so myself having recently returned to the class. It is disappointing that the thread began at time when FT is being re-designed- it will create a lot of confused Shaman. I would probably make the disclaimer relating to the upcoming nerf a touch clearer, lest the sort of posting above continues to ensue.

I think your decision relating to talents is off the mark. Certain talents and enchants (think runspeed) provide varying levels of utility, and it’s up to the player to make a judgment about what utility is most valuable at different times and in different circumstances. From my old post:

In light of these complexities, it is better for Shaman to find an ideal combination of gear, gems and enchants that provides the highest potential DPS when used in conjunction with a certain talent spec, glyph set-up and ability priority order (survivability [e.g. HP and dmg mitigation abilities] can and should not feature into this discussion since its DPS value cannot be definitively quantified)

This being a largely theoretical exercise dependent upon output generated by EnhSim, I think it best to allow people to spec however they choose. I personally don't take SR because I think its crap (there are no mechanics that benefit from having me taking 30% less dmg as I no longer have the lowest HP of any melee as I did back in WotLK). Many players would be of the same mind. Similarly, many players will run a second enh spec and some may choose to exercise Astral Swiftness from their builds because it provides less DPS than Imp Shield on certain encounters (again, see Runspeed discussion). My point is not 'omg SR is terrible'; my point is that this is about Enhsim DPS output, and the less restrictions we are able to put on people. the more robust the results will be.

Also, the priority queue looks rather static as you have written it. I would suggest a table format (as with the other dynamic variables) to encourage people to tweak this queue. Similar with the talent spec listing.

Finally, I think there is value in a post explaining methodology so that the lay-man can at least know the tools that are being used and can try it for themselves (I for one do not know how you managed to export your re-forged Chardev page to enhsim- if it is a manual process human error can creep in, making your cross-checking of people’s submissions take a lot longer). Perhaps a mod could squeeze in another post under your OP allowing you to do this

As you can tell, much of this is personal preference so feel free to discard as much or as little as you like. Best of luck with the thread- I look forward to following the discussion.

Ashunera · 01/11/11, 7:19 AM

A slow caster weapon is preferred, but the weapon speed doesn't mean quite as much as the weapon's spell power. The vast majority are 1.8 speed and very few 359+ have weapon DPS over the 72.4 mark.

For those curious, dual [Crul'korak, the Lightning's Arc] is the best main and off-hand if you refuse to use a spell power weapon.

It's hard to tell when exactly a caster weapon pulls ahead by a noticeable amount, but once you get to a point where you're looking for Mastery gear instead of Hit gear (or roughly around full 346 blues), a caster weapon starts to pull ahead by a few hundred dps. The only way to know for sure which setup is best for you with any given gear setup is to sim it. Keep in mind a target dummy will not provide you with accurate results - raid buffs significantly increase our spell damage output, while we bring the vast majority of melee buffs on our own. The disparity between Caster and Agility weapons only increases as you acquire more gear as well, and in full heroic quality gear, the switch to Crul'korak from Andoros (and the resulting switch to Windfury due to matched weapon speeds) will net you a 1000 DPS loss at least.

4.0.6 Shaman patch notes (not complete, and official forums are down as of this post) have a "fix" to Flametongue Weapon damage that will reduce this disparity, but I suspect it will not be enough to put Agility weapons ahead.

Thank you for getting something like this going again; I had considered doing so myself having recently returned to the class. It is disappointing that the thread began at time when FT is being re-designed- it will create a lot of confused Shaman. I would probably make the disclaimer relating to the upcoming nerf a touch clearer, lest the sort of posting above continues to ensue.

Thank you for the suggestions, the OP will remain a work in progress. I'll make Blizzard's intentions with Flametongue, and with any other changes they make regarding spell power weapons very clear as they become known. Updates to the list itself may take some time for now, as copying everything manually into EnhSim is very time consuming.

Cochice · 01/11/11, 7:43 AM

Originally Posted by Vespasian

I personally don't take SR because I think its crap...there are no mechanics that benefit from having me taking 30% less dmg

I'm sorry but this is simply not true, and not to sound inflammatory but this isn't the kind of thing that should be on these boards where people might get a misguided idea about what is and isn't important in a raid.

Encounters, off the top of my head (that I have experience with, I'm sure there are more in heroic), that contain very high, and very concentrated raid damage (or single target damage), and therefore encounters that using SR will likely prevent you from dying:
Heroic Omnitron Defense System - on Aquiring Target, (shadow infused) Lightning Conductor
Heroic Halfus - Mitigate raid damage on the pull, and Furious Roar
Nefarian - Massive raid damage every 10% of Nefarian's health, I forget what it's called
Conclave of the Winds - Nezir's Sleet Storm
Heroic Maloriak - Red phase fire breath, and dark phase for mitigating puddle damage
Chimeron - Fued

Just about every other raid encounter has a point where using SR situationally is encouraged, however these have absolute cut and dry points where using it is almost required, and if it's not up, some other cooldown is going to be needed (stoneclaw, bubble, raid wall, tranq etc).

I realize that this is a theoretical exercise in maximizing damage, but this isn't the type of thing that should be suggested under any circumstances.

Saveric · 01/11/11, 8:01 AM

Ashunera I have a couple questions about your config file vs your chardev page.

Your config file has:

Str: 145
Agi: 4699
Int: 309
Melee Crit: 28.63
Attack Power: 10587
Spell Power: 8856
Spell Crit: 10.31
Spell Hit: 17.02

While your CharDev with your gear on it has:

Str: 156
Agi: 4525
Int: 320
Melee Crit: 24.49
Attack Power: 10489
Spell Power: 7761
Spell Crit: 10.33
Spell Hit: 17.86
Those are the numbers I found off from your gear list and your config. Was curious as to where you got the 174 Agility, 4.14% Melee Crit, 98 more attack power, and 1,095 more spell power while missing out on 11 Int, 0.03% Spell Crit(from the 11 Int), and 11 Str.

Is there some modification going on from your CharDev to EnhSim? When I input the corrected stats from CharDev to Enhsim I'm getting:

DPS Output

EnhSim version 2.3.0

................................................................................

MH:
miss                738331         6.47%
dodge               0              0.00%
glancing            2739392        24.02%
hit                 3523586        30.89%
crit                4404823        38.62%
average ap          15674.45       
clip                0              0.00%

MH Flametongue:
miss                0              0.00%
hit                 8466333        75.69%
crit                2719359        24.31%
cooldown            1320683        10.56%
average sp          13701.62       

MH Storsmtrike:
miss                0              0.00%
dodge               0              0.00%
hit                 1078552        58.66%
crit                760022         41.34%
average ap          15634.78       

MH Unleashed Weapon Flametongue:
miss                0              0.00%
hit                 837995         75.73%
crit                268601         24.27%
average sp          13712.39       

OH:
miss                654171         6.48%
dodge               0              0.00%
glancing            2421044        23.99%
hit                 3116863        30.89%
crit                3898827        38.64%
average ap          15670.80       
clip                0              0.00%

OH Flametongue:
miss                0              0.00%
hit                 7340093        75.68%
crit                2358432        24.32%
cooldown            3229374        24.98%
average sp          13699.44       

OH Stormstrike:
miss                0              0.00%
dodge               0              0.00%
hit                 1073952        58.41%
crit                764622         41.59%
average ap          15665.84       

OH Unleashed Weapon Flametongue:
miss                0              0.00%
hit                 838532         75.78%
crit                268064         24.22%
average sp          13712.39       

Earth Shock:
miss                0              0.00%
hit                 647770         40.73%
crit                942684         59.27%
average sp          13690.70       

Flame Shock:
miss                0              0.00%
hit                 730243         75.70%
crit                234405         24.30%
average sp          13723.71       
dots hit            4518396        75.68%
dots crit           1451950        24.32%
average dot sp      13754.92       

Lava Lash:
miss                0              0.00%
dodge               0              0.00%
hit                 965935         58.45%
crit                686656         41.55%
average ap          15633.19       

Lightning Bolt:
miss                0              0.00%
hit                 582540         31.06%
crit                1292895        68.94%
average sp          13715.90       

Lightning Shield:
miss                0              0.00%
hit                 977403         40.77%
crit                1420219        59.23%
average sp          13710.61       

Spirit Wolves:
miss                0              0.00%
dodge               0              0.00%
glancing            1706332        23.98%
hit                 5196568        73.03%
crit                212616         2.99%
average ap          15984.64       

Searing Totem:
miss                0              0.00%
hit                 8115799        75.68%
crit                2608718        24.32%
average sp          13687.99       

Searing Flames:
hit                 3567511        75.68%
crit                1146250        24.32%
average sp          13679.00       

Trinket1 Damage:
miss                0              0.00%
hit                 786664         75.72%
crit                252219         24.28%

Maelstrom Weapon:
PPM                 34.65
efficiency          90.21%

flurry uptime                  78.34%
elemental devastation uptime   94.07%
UW Flametongue uptime          23.36%

mh enchant uptime              27.31%
oh enchant uptime              31.22%
stormstrike debuff uptime      98.99%
flame shock uptime             88.87%
lightning shield uptime        100.00%
searing totem uptime           99.77%
searing flame uptime           92.06%


                    MRPS without overregen
mana regen          0.08      0.03%
mp5                 27.56     10.83%
replenishment       30.82     12.12%
unrelenting storm   0.00      0.00%
primal wisdom       195.97    77.02%
shamanistic rage    0.00      0.00%
mana potion         0.00      0.00%
misc                0.00      0.00%

                    DPS                 PPM       MPS
white               2848.61   11.42%    71.66
flametongue         4086.29   16.38%    69.61
searing flames      995.67    3.99%     15.71
stormstrike         1088.76   4.36%     6.13      47.86     20.82%
lava lash           3410.39   13.67%    5.51      21.51     9.36%
searing totem       3161.95   12.68%    1.09      7.47      3.25%
earth shock         1262.65   5.06%     5.30      93.16     40.53%
flame shock         1763.21   7.07%     3.22      53.37     23.21%
  direct damage     475.45    26.96%    3.22
  dot tick          1287.77   73.04%    19.90
lightning bolt      2630.76   10.55%    6.25      0.00      0.00%
lightning shield    1170.35   4.69%     0.14      0.00      0.00%
spirit wolves       404.17    1.62%     0.56      6.51      2.83%
unleashed elements  1589.78   6.37%     3.69      25.21     10.97%
  MH Flametongue    794.98    50.01%    3.69
  OH Flametongue    794.79    49.99%    3.69
Trinket1            530.52    2.13%     3.46

DPS                 24943.12
MPS                 229.88
MP2min              27585.05
MRPS                808.45
Out of mana time    0.00%

elapsed simulation time: 5000.00h
elapsed real time: 26.08s
simulation speed: 690236x

Total DPS: 24,943.12

Config:

### Saved by v2.3.0 of EnhSimGUI

config_version                  2.3.0
simulation_time                 5000
simulation_time_combatlog       300
combat_length                   7
report_count                    80
threads                         1
combat_length_rng_factor        0.35
min_lag                         230
max_lag                         260
simulate_mana                   1
cast_sr_on_cooldown             0

ep_precision                    2
ep_base_stat                    ap
ep_ap                           200
ep_crit_rating                  100
ep_hit_rating                   -100
ep_expertise_rating             -100
ep_haste_rating                 100
ep_mastery_rating               100
ep_spellpower                   115
ep_dps                          57
ep_mana                         1200
ep_spirit                       100
ep_mp5                          100
ep_intellect                    100
ep_agility                      100
ep_strength                     100

mh_auto_attack                  1
oh_auto_attack                  1
use_bloodlust                   1
always_bloodlust_wolves         0
cast_lvb_only_if_fs_active      1
cast_fs_only_if_dots_left       1
cast_magma_only_if_ticks_left   1
cast_searing_only_if_ticks_left 1
cast_sr_only_if_mana_left       0
use_mana_potion_if_mana_left    1000
necrotic_touch                  0
necrotic_touch_heroic           0

gloves_enchant                  -
cloak_enchant                   -
ring_proc                       -
weapon_set_proc                 -

rotation_priority_count         8
rotation_priority1              ST
rotation_priority2              LL
rotation_priority3              FS_UEF
rotation_priority4              MW5_LB
rotation_priority5              UE
rotation_priority6              SS
rotation_priority7              ES
rotation_priority8              SW

aoe_rotation_priority_count     0

fight_name                      standard_single_target
miss                            8.00
dodge                           6.50
glancing                        24.00
armor                           11977
spell_miss                      17.00
nature_resistance               0
fire_resistance                 0
frost_resistance                0
arcane_resistance               0
shadow_resistance               0

additional_targets              0
additional_target_percent       0.00
additional_target_level         85

armor_debuff                    12.0/12.0
physical_vulnerability_debuff   4.0/4.0
melee_haste_buff                10.0/10.0
crit_chance_buff                5.0/5.0
attack_power_buff_multiplier    10.0/10.0
spell_haste_buff                5.0/5.0
spell_crit_chance_debuff        5.0/5.0
spell_damage_debuff             8.0/8.0
spellpower_buff                 10.0/10.0
percentage_damage_increase      3.0/3.0
stat_multiplier                 5.0/5.0
agi_and_strength_buff           549/549
mana_buff                       2126/2126
mana_regen_buff                 326/326

replenishment                   1
water_shield                    0
mixology                        1

flask_elixir                    flask_of_the_winds
guardian_elixir                 -
potion                          potion_of_the_tolvir
food                            skewered_eel

###############################################################################
### Everything in the section below can be replaced by information obtained ###
### from your paper doll stats or exported by the ShockAndAwe addon         ###
###############################################################################

race                            tauren
mh_speed                        2.3
oh_speed                        2.6
mh_dps                          72.4
oh_dps                          521.73
mh_crit                         24.49
oh_crit                         24.49
mh_hit                          20.52
oh_hit                          20.52
mh_expertise_rating             541
oh_expertise_rating             541
ap                              10489
melee_haste                     3.98
str                             156
agi                             4525
int                             320
spi                             244
mastery_rating                  1963
spellpower                      7761
spell_crit                      10.33
spell_hit                       17.86
spell_haste                     3.98
max_mana                        27950
mp5                             0

mh_imbue                        flametongue
oh_imbue                        flametongue

mh_enchant                      landslide
oh_enchant                      landslide

mh_weapon                       mace
oh_weapon                       axe

trinket1                        darkmoon_card_hurricane
trinket2                        fluid_death

set_bonus1                      t11_battlegear_4
set_bonus2                      -
set_bonus3                      -

metagem                         relentless_earthstorm_diamond

glyph_prime1                    stormstrike
glyph_prime2                    flametongue_weapon
glyph_prime3                    lava_lash

glyph_major1                    -
glyph_major2                    -
glyph_major3                    -

armor_type_bonus                1

primary_talent                  enhancement
elemental_weapons               2/2
focused_strikes                 3/3
improved_shields                0/3
elemental_devastation           3/3
flurry                          3/3
static_shock                    3/3
improved_fire_nova              2/2
searing_flames                  3/3
frozen_power                    0/2
shamanistic_rage                1/1
unleashed_rage                  2/2
improved_lava_lash              2/2
maelstrom_weapon                3/3

convection                      0/2
concussion                      3/3
call_of_flame                   2/2
reverberation                   2/2
elemental_precision             0/3
elemental_focus                 0/1
elemental_oath                  0/2
lava_flows                      0/3
storm_earth_and_fire            0/3
elemental_mastery               0/1
feedback                        0/3
lava_surge                      0/2

Ashunera · 01/11/11, 8:08 AM

Edit - DPS report and config files have been updated, should be much more accurate for the listed set of gear. I had made a few errors as you pointed out.

Copying everything over manually from Chardev to EnhSim is a time consuming process, so config files of superior setups will save a lot of time in getting this list updated. As Cochice said, however, Shamanistic Rage will be viewed as a required talent point and will not be changed. The rest of the talent setup I will be much more flexible about.

Vespasian · 01/11/11, 10:04 AM

We are now in new territory; a defensive cool down is a requirement for a max DPS thread but Ancestral Spirit (one of the largest DPS gain talents available to us under certain conditions) is optional. This is exactly why I said we should focus only on the data objective (finding max DPS according to enhsim) and leave the utility to asterisk marks and discussions.

On SR, Coch, I think it’s a crap talent because there is no boss ability that is designed to one shot me unless I make a mistake, so I never NEED 30% reduction of dmg taken. If I did, everyone would need it and every spec would have an ability like this. They don’t. Further, since I am able to instantly heal myself more often than not, I would rather use a heal from time to time than suffer what I believe to be a badly designed talent point permanently.

If you really want to get down to the math of it all, you would have to model the DPS gained on every encounter by ½ imp shields (or whatever) x the number of encounters over the life of your character, then measure that against the DPS done for every second after SR saves your life (and I mean exactly that- times where had you not used that talent, you would have certainly died). I have been using that talent since it was made available (in whatever variety) and I can tell you that is has not saved my life that many times. Sure it’s saved my healers some mana, but rarely has it saved my life since I generally do what I am supposed to do.

My job is to do dmg. My healers and I (enh are perfectly capable of healing to acceptable levels during all the mechanics you have listed) have healed me through many of the mechanics you have listed and bosses have died as a result (surprisingly, I expect more to die in future). Further, SR’s value reduces to almost nothing the more your farm gear/become more experienced during encounters. TLDR; you don’t need SR. Neither does this thread. If people want to take it, let them. If they don’t, don’t call them stupid.