DPS Tracks 17: War is the Answer

I've got a few things on my mind, today. First, is Saurfang. Well, it's not that I hate Saurfang (although, he isn't on my fucking Christmas list or anything). But I kinda hate that our guild has a tendency of... slipping back down the difficulty slope. We get a kill, we make it look clean, and then the next week it's /smack! back to progression style wiping.

I know we only killed the big stupid orc once, but I suppose I have a case of wishful thinking, and hoped that we could, y'know... get through him before he got to 10 FUCKING MARKS!

Obligatory rant about Guild/Raid night aside, I found out that FFDP put out a second album. Sure, it came out in September, but sue me, I've been busy. I don't know if I talked about how much I like Five Finger Death Punch...

I like it this much!

Before I get to that, I've been noticing a large amount of (additional) QQ in the blogosphere about dps in Heroics. And while I already threw in my two cents on the matter (I really don't give a shit), I thought I'd share an encounter that tickled me pink.

I actually was not a member of this pug, but experienced it vicariously through guild members. I suppose some of you remember huntards. There aren't nearly as many as there used to be, since most of them rerolled Deathtards, so it is really a sight to see when you catch a glimpse of them in the wild. And this one was no different.

Clad in spellpower gear (possibly even a few cloth pieces), this Hunter came in at a low 500 dps, and the entire guild was giggling at his gear and his performance. We didn't bother to tell him in party chat, mind you, that he was possibly the worst player we'd seen since Braylon Edwards. We just thought it was funny to see someone two entire expansions behind in class knowledge and damage output.

Which is what brought me to my next thought. The next time I am actually watching the meters in a pug heroic, and someone struggles to break 1k dps, I'm going to stop and calmly tell them:

Burning Crusade called: They want their DPS back.



War is the Answer
By Five Finger Death Punch

[Verse 1]
(GO!)
This aint a test, fuck the rest.
Time to set the record straight.
Talk your shit behind my back, let's hear you say it to my face?
I've heard the words roll out your lips.
You little trendy fuckin' bitch!
The time has come to get you some, cause I just do not give a shit.

[Chorus]
Do you take me for a fool!?
How's it feel to be a tool!?
See to me you're just a cancer!
Motherfucker!, War is the Answer!

[Verse 2]
As of now the end begins,I want to laugh but there's no joke.
To eat with the beast, and run with the wolves.
On the Ashes you must choke.
I know it's got to chap your ass, to think I just won't go away.
Forget me not, I'm writing you off.
I've got nothing more to say.

[Chorus]
Do you take me for a fool!?
How's it feel to be a tool!?
To me you're just a cancer!
Motherfucker!, War is the Answer!

[Bridge]
(Get some!)
You wanna disrespect me, you little fuckin' punk?
Everything I've done?, And who I am? As far as I've fuckin' come?
I'll slap you so fuckin' hard, It'll feel like you kissed a freight train.
Fuck you!

[Guitar Solo]

(Rawr!)

[Chorus]
(Bam!)
Do you take me for a fool!?
How's it feel to be a tool!?
Talking shit behind my back...
See to me you're just a cancer!
The time has come to get you some.
Motherfucker!, War is the Answer!

Yeah!!!!!!!!!!

Improving DPS

Okay, let's get the silly, preface crap out of the way. World of Warcraft is just a game.

Wow, I said it. It's pretty true, too. It runs on your computer and everything.

But before you start quoting those words on your license to be retarded, there is something else to consider. World of Warcraft is also both a social medium and a group activity. Well, raiding is a group activity. As with any other group activity (sports, D&D sessions, etc.) a certain level of maturity must be brought to the table to ensure that you don't let your team mates down.

With this in mind, I bring you the DPS = Sacrifice way to improve your dps performance. Because "it's just a game" doesn't give you an excuse to suck.

Improve Framerate:

I don't see this one mentioned very often, but there are times when I have personally felt that a slow system/game client can limit a person's DPS ceiling. Think about it. Every time the game stutters, you lose a few seconds where you could (and really should) be doing something.

Unfortunately, due the vast amount of computer configurations, I wouldn't really be able to list any specifics on improving your framerate. This type of improvement would take a bit of research on your part. Don't have the time? Make the time. DPS = Sacrifice.

I can provide you with a few of the following places to start:

-Disable unncessary Windows Services
-Update your hardware drivers to their latest versions
-Update Windows appropriately
-Turn off all unnecessary programs in the background (ICQ, MSN, browsers)
-Browse the tech support forums for system and game-related advice (Here and here are good places to start)
-Lower your video settings for raiding

Spec for Success:

I know I've said this before: If you want to be successful, do what successful people do. I suppose that doesn't mean that you have to get the 'most awesome cookie-cutter build EVAR,' but you should probably find a build that suits you that is pretty darn close. Alterations to your build should be adequately researched to determine if they suit your role and playstyle.

I'm always lounging around in my tank getup, so for those who need easy access, my build is here. For more in-depth discussions on your spec and class, I would recommend heading over to Elitist Jerks. Yeah, those guys are awesome.

Rotation:

This. Read it. 3.2 didn't change anything.

Gearing up:

There are several ways to make a "gear progression list." I personally prefer to use the spreadsheets instead of word-of-mouth advice or the infamous 'eyeballing' method our resident retnoob employs. I used to swear by maxdps.com, but in the update-deprived weeks that followed 3.2, I found a tool I like more. The spreadsheet I use was here, but there were some... uh... issues, and the thread was locked. Hopefully, our buddy Landsoul will get things straightened out and that link will actually be useful in the near future.

Analyzing Your DPS:

Of course, all the gear lists in the world won't help you if you're not actually improving dps. Either use your combat log or recount to analyze your dps. This is the only way to ensure that what you are doing is correct, and that you are improving as a player.

I prefer to turn on combat logging and then use the WoW Meter Online client to upload my parse at the end of the night. I do this for two reasons:

1) It lets me record it for posterity, and allows me analyze my progress from week to week.
2) I'm not tempted to look at my dps during combat

The last one should find a way into your brain. I'd recommend a silver hammer, if necessary. DO. NOT. LOOK. AT. YOUR. DPS. DURING. A. FIGHT!

The reason for this is pretty simple. Unless you're a super genius (Chances are, you're not), staring at a flashy number is going to distract you from the task at hand. More importantly, if you're doing well, it could cause you to do something stupid. And for the uninitiated, when DPS does something stupid, they die. Tell me, class, how much dps does a dead person do?

Don't do it. It's bad DPS.

And there you have it. The unofficial compendium of ways to make you DPS just a little harder. Now press the buttons faster, I'm gonna make me a sammich.

Tuesday Night: Back to Work!

2009-08-26: Back to Work!

I'm lazy. Milestones are down there. I'll have something witty to say tomorrow. I need to find food.

Kologarn - 7494
Auriaya - 6414
Hodir - 8663

Macros and You

When I started this gig, I didn't know what I was doing. I had forty million buttons, and struggled to reach the right tool for the job at a moment's notice, and probably sacrificed dps by doing so.

Now I only have 20 million buttons (-_-), but have successfully whittled down my abilities to a few easy-to-use macros.

Use Bloodrage:

Sure, that seems like good enough advice. And most of you have it glyphed, and use it all the time. But for the beginner fury warrior, this is something that most people miss. Even untalented, this thing is 20 rage every 60 seconds, and with the recent changes to fury, that's just too good to pass up. On top of all that, Bloodrage isn't on the global cooldown, so there is no excuse not to use it. Here's where the magic happens. Because Bloodrage isn't on the GCD, it can share a macro with an ability that uses the GCD. I put mine in my Bloodthirst and Whirlwind Macros:

#showtooltip
/cast Bloodthirst
/cast Bloodrage

#showtooltip
/cast Whirlwind
/cast Bloodrage

Yes, you'll get a lot of "This ability is not ready" spam, but that's a small price to pay for optimal rage generation.

Trinket Macro:

I've seen a lot of different variations on this, but I'll keep it simple. I prefer to use the following:

/#showtooltip
/cast Deathwish
/use 13
/use 14

Because Recklessness is on the GCD (and on a different timer), it is not possible to place it into the macro without a castsequence or castrandom modification. I would discourage trying to make one of these work, simply because it would not be optimal for dps. Use Deathwish between your BT and WW cooldowns, and Recklessness in the next break. It's better to keep the rotation going than to pause to get all your buffs up, in my opinion.

Slam:

#showtooltip
/cast Slam
/stopcasting

I'm not entirely sold on this macro. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm sold on the idea, but the darn thing isn't guaranteed to work all the time. Maybe only half the time. The idea, of course, is to prevent any non-auto slams from interrupting your rotation. This happens to me every now and then because I do not prioritize bloodsurge/slam over bloodthirst and whirlwind.

Targeting Macros:

I wouldn't feel right if I forgot the basic targeting macro. Certainly, there are many of you who know what this is, but in the middle of intense combat, this can be the difference of a few hundred DPS. The syntax is as follows:

/target Mob's Name

It's fairly easy to set up and use, and I keep one on my bar at all times, so that I may easily modify it to suit my needs. An example of a useful targeting macro would be during the Kologarn fight, where it is imperative to jump onto the right arm as soon as it spawns. A simple, clickable button basically takes the guess work out of the whole thing.

I have a few more tricks in my bag of goodies, but most of them pertain to specific fights, tanking or Arms DPS. I think that this pretty much covers the basics though. Now to make a paladin cry about his low DPS.

Tuesday Night Suckfest

Oh, wait, I'm sorry. What I meant to say was...

Wait a second...

*Stands back to take a second look.*

No, no that's right... suckfest.

A healer and a competent tank short, and we find ourselves on the less traveled path... meaning, our raid leader wanted to skip the optional, farmable bosses in lieu of progression bosses, even though we were, as I said, short our normal raid requirements.

Needless to say, it was pretty damn painful. I don't know what it was. Maybe it was the atmosphere. The extra fury warrior that couldn't break 4k. The missing buffs. I just didn't do as well as I should have. But, because I wanted to do this from the start, here are tonight's records (and since there are no old records, these are all, through technicality, record breakers):

XT-002 Deconstructor - 5620
Kologarn - 5654
Auriaya - 4865
Hodir - 5451

I got nothing. Peace out.