Rikosuave
01-29-2008, 11:17 PM
I have not found a thread that has discussed this spec and the information I am posting did not come from me so I do not take credit for any of the doing of the math or pictures etc.
As a DPS Warrior there will be times you will be expected to OT (Off Tank) so it is always expected that you carry around a set of up to date tanking gear so that you can tank effectively in said instance, as in you don't bring Greens into BT (Black Temple) as tanking gear.
(Following quoted from text but edited)
"
How slam works:
Slam has a cast time (non-interruptible) of 1.5seconds, possible to talent to 0.5 seconds.When you start to cast it you stop the auto swing timer, and once you have finished the casting the auto swing is automatically restarted. The auto attack swing is RESET and starts over from the beginning again! Remember that slam still triggers the global cool down (1.5 seconds for warriors) so you cannot cast anything in 1.5 seconds even if you have talented slam. So why talent slam? Because the auto
swing starts 1 second earlier! If you plan on casting one slam after another, there is little point in putting talent points in improved slam. The best way (as will be showed later in the cycles section) is to only cast one slam per auto swing attack.
Here is a picture to better illustrate how it works (this one with some lag, and reaction time):
(Link to Original Doc as well)
http://www.honorbound.se/Slamdps2.pdf
Data:
For comparison, let’s use the following numbers: Assume weapon DPS is 131.5 (it was just easy to count on), and you roll at 3000 ATP. All as unmitigated and non critical hits, but crit’s and mitigation alter all damages equal. Normal hit’s glancing blows have been calculated in to it’s damage. Note these numbers are only theoretical, and DPS numbers derived from these are only theoretical, they are good to compare to see which spec is the best, how weapons speed affect DPS, and how they compare to each other. The derived DPS numbers however do not correspond do actual raid DPS. I have calculated the different damages for different weapon speeds assuming the weapon speed is the only thing that changes.
Note that slam is not normalized!
3.8 speed weapon
Normal Hit:1235
Slam:1454
Mortal Strike:1417
Whirlwind:1207
3.7 speed weapon
Normal Hit:1211
Slam:1419
Mortal Strike:1404
Whirlwind:1194
3.6 speed weapon
Normal Hit:1169
Slam:1385
Mortal Strike:1391
Whirlwind:1181
3.5 speed weapon
Normal Hit:1136
Slam:1351
Mortal Strike:1378
Whirlwind:1168
Slam triggers flurry, but do not consume flurry charges. So assuming you have good gear (30% + crit) you will virtually have flurry up constantly, thus I will assume it’s always up in my calculations.
Cycles:
In the following examples no lag or reaction time is included, that is done under weapon speed section. In this part only calculations for 3.8 speed weapons will be done.
Auto swinging only: 406 DPS.
Only rolling on auto-attack (flurried) will yield a DPSof 1235 damage per attack / (3.8 * (1/1.25)) = 406 DPS
Slamming only: 969 DPS.
Unrealistic since you will not have enough rage for it, but let’s count on it anyways with a 3.8 speed weapon (and no lag). 1454/1.5 = 969 DPS
1 Auto attack, 1 slam: 760 DPS.
The total attack time will be flurried attack speed + 0.5 seconds so (3.8*(1/1.25) + 0.5), and the damage is 940 + 1140 so (1235+1454)/(3.8*(1/1.25) +0.5) = 760 DPS.
1 auto attack, 2 slams: 822 DPS
The total attack time will be flurried attack speed + 1.5 + 0.5 seconds so (3.8*(1/1.25) + 2.0), and the damage is 1235+1454*2 so (1235+1454*2)/(3.8*(1/1.25) +2.0) = 822 DPS.
1 auto attack, 1 slam, 1 Whirl Wind: 1101 DPS
Assuming WW only hit’s one target. The total attack time will be flurried attack speed + 0.5 seconds so (3.8*(1/1.25) + 0.5), and the damage is 1235 + 1454 + 1207 so (1235 + 1454 + 1207)/(3.8*(1/1.25) +0.5) = 1101 dps.
1 auto attack, 1 slam, 1 Mortal Strike: 1160 dps
The total attack time will be flurried attack speed + 0.5 seconds so (3.8*(1/1.25) + 0.5), and the damage is 1235 + 1454 + 1417 so (1235 + 1454 + 1417)/(3.8*(1/1.25) +0.5) = 1160 dps.
Weapon Speed.
Let’s look at the 1 auto attack + 1 slam + 1 instant attack cycle above. As we can see
there is some time in the end where we do pretty much nothing. In order to make the
best cycle your hasted attack speed can never go below 2.5 seconds, if it does you will
interrupt the cycle. But even 2.5 seconds is too little, you have to count in the lag and
reaction time. After slam gcd has ended you have a ping roundtrip time before you
can do your MC or WW. And after the auto attack has landed there will be a ping
time + reaction time before your slam is registered at the server. With a ping of 100
ms, and a reaction time of total 0.25 sec (reacting to auto hit = 0.2 sec and
hammering MS button after Slam = 0.05 sec) minimum swing time would be 2.85
seconds. Ie it’s bad to have an auto swing faster than 2.85 seconds (flurried/hasted),
thats a 3.6 weapon. If you start casting slam before your auto hit lands, and virtually
remove all lag (read on mages /cancel casting type of macros addons to understand
how this works), you can use a 3.5 speed weapon. Do not forget to count in your haste
gear (which is a great way to reduce you cycle time if you use a 3.8 speed weapon for
example).
Lets see how weapon speed affects the 1 attack, 1 slam 1 MS cycle. All weapons will
be considered being flurried constantly. Included is also latency and reaction time ():
3.8 speed weapon: 1055
(1235 + 1454 + 1417 ) / (3.8*(1/1.25) + 0.5 + 0.35) = 1055
3.7 speed weapon: 1059
(1211 + 1419 + 1404 ) / (3.7*(1/1.25) + 0.5 + 0.35) = 1059
3.6 speed weapon: 1059
(1169 + 1385 + 1391 ) / (3.6*(1/1.25) + 0.5 + 0.35) = 1059
3.5 speed weapon: 1060*
(1136 + 1351 + 1378 ) / (3.5*(1/1.25) + 0.5 + 0.35) = 1060*
*But since you would destroy the DPS cycle, this DPS is lower!
As we can see slow weapon = more damage is a myth. While the hit’s will be
weaker you will also increase the amount’s of slams and mortal strikes. However if
you slack and have bad reaction time, high lag, poor fps etc, go with the safer option
of a really slow weapon, it’s easier.
The real DPS cycle
So we can’t do the MS cycle every cycle, because MS has a 6 sec cooldown. You can
however use it every other. The cycle in between is of the WW attack. We can also
draw the conclusion that reducing the MS cool down (although that talent also
increases damage, it’s still a waste since you can’t take imp flurry then) is a waste, as
is reducing the cooldown on WW. WW has a 12 second cooldown so that only usable
to fill every other hole from the MS cycles, what should we do in between? The 1
autoattack + 1 slam or 1 autoattack + 2 slam? The 2 slam cycle is higher DPS but takes
1.6 second (lag included) longer to complete, that one and a half second could be
spent on the 900+ DPS cycles. (comparing 1 auto attack + 2 slams + 1 auto attack + 1
slam + 1 MS vs. 1 auto attack + 2 slams + 1 auto attack + 1 slam + 1 MS shows that
using only 1 slam is slightly better). So never double slam, even if MS and WW are
on cooldown, it just costs rage and lowers your DPS . Use the time to recast Battle
Shout or something, if you have excess rage use Heroic Strike/Cleave to up your
DPS . Remember that the risk of rage starvation is high when using heroic strikes, and
if you rage starve so you cannot cast MS. Use HS in situations where you are certain
there is no or very little chance you will rage starve. Cleave can be used a little more
freely if you DPS two targets, but it costs a lot of rage in rage not gained from yellow
attacks, so if you are short in rage: don’t.
The best possible DPS cycle is thus:
1. 1 Auto attack, 1 Slam, 1 Mortal Strike.
2. 1 Auto attack, 1 Slam, 1 Whirl Wind.
3. 1 Auto attack, 1 Slam, 1 Mortal Strike.
4. 1 Auto attack, 1 Slam.
Repeat..
Builds.
33/28/0
This is a very nice starter spec, and having Blood Frenzy will up raid DPS by a fair
amount. Big back draw is that you only get 3/5 in flurry, and that hurt’s your DPS a lot.
However the extra DPS the Blood Frenzy gives is threat free (you evenly spread the
increased raid DPS , especially to classes with threat dumps which you lack) so it’s a
nice spec none the less. If you are the only DPS warrior in the raid and you use a
lot of melee DPS , this is probably the best spec. As you will not have full flurry, you
can also grab the 3.5 speed weapons with good confidence!
31/30/0
This is a nice all-round slam DPS spec, if you have 2 slam warriors in the raid and the
other warrior is 33/28/0 you should choose this, especially if you are geared in tier 4
(or equivalent) or lower.
20/41/0
Once you get your gear sorted and is in the 3k+ ATP raidbuffed monster this spec will
out-DPS the others. The normal attacks and slam attacks will do extreme damage, and
you really need to start watching your threat. If you have the gear, go for it. Just as a
comparison to the above numbers (with 10% more ATP, and Rampage up) the numbers
would be:
3.8 speed weapon
Normal Hit:1382
Slam:1522
Bloodthirst:1609
Whirlwind:1343
The corresponding Hit-Slam-Blood Thirst cycle DPS would be: 1275.
Note that this build scales a lot better with gear than the MS build, if you have worse
gear you will do less damage than the MS build, and vice versa if you normally have
4k ATP, the difference between the two builds will be even bigger! Although you will
loose your weapon spec, but gain 3% free hit. No lag/reactiontime was included in
this calculation, so compare it with the 1160 dps of the MS cycle.
Slam DPS in reality.
Slam DPS is a lot harder to play than fury warriors if you want to be #1 DPS . It’s no
mindless spamming and you need to keep track on a lot of cool downs, especially if
being fury 2 hand slam warrior (which has the highest potential for your own DPS ). If
you are not prepared to give 110% don’t try it, you will be disappointed, go dual
wielding fury as it’s a lot easier to play.
Get an auto swing timer. It’s a must have!
Shaman is a must have in your group. It’s extremely vital you have a WF totem
all the time. Yes even after the WF nerf. You will rage-starve otherwise.
Slam DPS is fairly easy to get gear for, while dual wielding is much more requiring. 2h
fury slam scales extremely well with gear.
Slam DPS has one big back draw; you can’t run around. In very mobile fights, you
can just forget about being top DPS . Static fights is where you will shine. And how
well can you DPS and compete for top DPS spot? After the WF nerf (WF only procs on
normal white attacks) I could still pull over 1000 DPS and that is with a mix of PvP
gear, T4 and a T5 or two on Void Reaver.
Note:
Once again I do not take any credit for any of this math done or the writing Im just posting it up here and editing it highlighting things as I saw fit here is the link to the original doc.
(Original Doc:http://www.honorbound.se/Slamdps2.pdf)
Regards:
Rikosuave
:cool:
As a DPS Warrior there will be times you will be expected to OT (Off Tank) so it is always expected that you carry around a set of up to date tanking gear so that you can tank effectively in said instance, as in you don't bring Greens into BT (Black Temple) as tanking gear.
(Following quoted from text but edited)
"
How slam works:
Slam has a cast time (non-interruptible) of 1.5seconds, possible to talent to 0.5 seconds.When you start to cast it you stop the auto swing timer, and once you have finished the casting the auto swing is automatically restarted. The auto attack swing is RESET and starts over from the beginning again! Remember that slam still triggers the global cool down (1.5 seconds for warriors) so you cannot cast anything in 1.5 seconds even if you have talented slam. So why talent slam? Because the auto
swing starts 1 second earlier! If you plan on casting one slam after another, there is little point in putting talent points in improved slam. The best way (as will be showed later in the cycles section) is to only cast one slam per auto swing attack.
Here is a picture to better illustrate how it works (this one with some lag, and reaction time):
(Link to Original Doc as well)
http://www.honorbound.se/Slamdps2.pdf
Data:
For comparison, let’s use the following numbers: Assume weapon DPS is 131.5 (it was just easy to count on), and you roll at 3000 ATP. All as unmitigated and non critical hits, but crit’s and mitigation alter all damages equal. Normal hit’s glancing blows have been calculated in to it’s damage. Note these numbers are only theoretical, and DPS numbers derived from these are only theoretical, they are good to compare to see which spec is the best, how weapons speed affect DPS, and how they compare to each other. The derived DPS numbers however do not correspond do actual raid DPS. I have calculated the different damages for different weapon speeds assuming the weapon speed is the only thing that changes.
Note that slam is not normalized!
3.8 speed weapon
Normal Hit:1235
Slam:1454
Mortal Strike:1417
Whirlwind:1207
3.7 speed weapon
Normal Hit:1211
Slam:1419
Mortal Strike:1404
Whirlwind:1194
3.6 speed weapon
Normal Hit:1169
Slam:1385
Mortal Strike:1391
Whirlwind:1181
3.5 speed weapon
Normal Hit:1136
Slam:1351
Mortal Strike:1378
Whirlwind:1168
Slam triggers flurry, but do not consume flurry charges. So assuming you have good gear (30% + crit) you will virtually have flurry up constantly, thus I will assume it’s always up in my calculations.
Cycles:
In the following examples no lag or reaction time is included, that is done under weapon speed section. In this part only calculations for 3.8 speed weapons will be done.
Auto swinging only: 406 DPS.
Only rolling on auto-attack (flurried) will yield a DPSof 1235 damage per attack / (3.8 * (1/1.25)) = 406 DPS
Slamming only: 969 DPS.
Unrealistic since you will not have enough rage for it, but let’s count on it anyways with a 3.8 speed weapon (and no lag). 1454/1.5 = 969 DPS
1 Auto attack, 1 slam: 760 DPS.
The total attack time will be flurried attack speed + 0.5 seconds so (3.8*(1/1.25) + 0.5), and the damage is 940 + 1140 so (1235+1454)/(3.8*(1/1.25) +0.5) = 760 DPS.
1 auto attack, 2 slams: 822 DPS
The total attack time will be flurried attack speed + 1.5 + 0.5 seconds so (3.8*(1/1.25) + 2.0), and the damage is 1235+1454*2 so (1235+1454*2)/(3.8*(1/1.25) +2.0) = 822 DPS.
1 auto attack, 1 slam, 1 Whirl Wind: 1101 DPS
Assuming WW only hit’s one target. The total attack time will be flurried attack speed + 0.5 seconds so (3.8*(1/1.25) + 0.5), and the damage is 1235 + 1454 + 1207 so (1235 + 1454 + 1207)/(3.8*(1/1.25) +0.5) = 1101 dps.
1 auto attack, 1 slam, 1 Mortal Strike: 1160 dps
The total attack time will be flurried attack speed + 0.5 seconds so (3.8*(1/1.25) + 0.5), and the damage is 1235 + 1454 + 1417 so (1235 + 1454 + 1417)/(3.8*(1/1.25) +0.5) = 1160 dps.
Weapon Speed.
Let’s look at the 1 auto attack + 1 slam + 1 instant attack cycle above. As we can see
there is some time in the end where we do pretty much nothing. In order to make the
best cycle your hasted attack speed can never go below 2.5 seconds, if it does you will
interrupt the cycle. But even 2.5 seconds is too little, you have to count in the lag and
reaction time. After slam gcd has ended you have a ping roundtrip time before you
can do your MC or WW. And after the auto attack has landed there will be a ping
time + reaction time before your slam is registered at the server. With a ping of 100
ms, and a reaction time of total 0.25 sec (reacting to auto hit = 0.2 sec and
hammering MS button after Slam = 0.05 sec) minimum swing time would be 2.85
seconds. Ie it’s bad to have an auto swing faster than 2.85 seconds (flurried/hasted),
thats a 3.6 weapon. If you start casting slam before your auto hit lands, and virtually
remove all lag (read on mages /cancel casting type of macros addons to understand
how this works), you can use a 3.5 speed weapon. Do not forget to count in your haste
gear (which is a great way to reduce you cycle time if you use a 3.8 speed weapon for
example).
Lets see how weapon speed affects the 1 attack, 1 slam 1 MS cycle. All weapons will
be considered being flurried constantly. Included is also latency and reaction time ():
3.8 speed weapon: 1055
(1235 + 1454 + 1417 ) / (3.8*(1/1.25) + 0.5 + 0.35) = 1055
3.7 speed weapon: 1059
(1211 + 1419 + 1404 ) / (3.7*(1/1.25) + 0.5 + 0.35) = 1059
3.6 speed weapon: 1059
(1169 + 1385 + 1391 ) / (3.6*(1/1.25) + 0.5 + 0.35) = 1059
3.5 speed weapon: 1060*
(1136 + 1351 + 1378 ) / (3.5*(1/1.25) + 0.5 + 0.35) = 1060*
*But since you would destroy the DPS cycle, this DPS is lower!
As we can see slow weapon = more damage is a myth. While the hit’s will be
weaker you will also increase the amount’s of slams and mortal strikes. However if
you slack and have bad reaction time, high lag, poor fps etc, go with the safer option
of a really slow weapon, it’s easier.
The real DPS cycle
So we can’t do the MS cycle every cycle, because MS has a 6 sec cooldown. You can
however use it every other. The cycle in between is of the WW attack. We can also
draw the conclusion that reducing the MS cool down (although that talent also
increases damage, it’s still a waste since you can’t take imp flurry then) is a waste, as
is reducing the cooldown on WW. WW has a 12 second cooldown so that only usable
to fill every other hole from the MS cycles, what should we do in between? The 1
autoattack + 1 slam or 1 autoattack + 2 slam? The 2 slam cycle is higher DPS but takes
1.6 second (lag included) longer to complete, that one and a half second could be
spent on the 900+ DPS cycles. (comparing 1 auto attack + 2 slams + 1 auto attack + 1
slam + 1 MS vs. 1 auto attack + 2 slams + 1 auto attack + 1 slam + 1 MS shows that
using only 1 slam is slightly better). So never double slam, even if MS and WW are
on cooldown, it just costs rage and lowers your DPS . Use the time to recast Battle
Shout or something, if you have excess rage use Heroic Strike/Cleave to up your
DPS . Remember that the risk of rage starvation is high when using heroic strikes, and
if you rage starve so you cannot cast MS. Use HS in situations where you are certain
there is no or very little chance you will rage starve. Cleave can be used a little more
freely if you DPS two targets, but it costs a lot of rage in rage not gained from yellow
attacks, so if you are short in rage: don’t.
The best possible DPS cycle is thus:
1. 1 Auto attack, 1 Slam, 1 Mortal Strike.
2. 1 Auto attack, 1 Slam, 1 Whirl Wind.
3. 1 Auto attack, 1 Slam, 1 Mortal Strike.
4. 1 Auto attack, 1 Slam.
Repeat..
Builds.
33/28/0
This is a very nice starter spec, and having Blood Frenzy will up raid DPS by a fair
amount. Big back draw is that you only get 3/5 in flurry, and that hurt’s your DPS a lot.
However the extra DPS the Blood Frenzy gives is threat free (you evenly spread the
increased raid DPS , especially to classes with threat dumps which you lack) so it’s a
nice spec none the less. If you are the only DPS warrior in the raid and you use a
lot of melee DPS , this is probably the best spec. As you will not have full flurry, you
can also grab the 3.5 speed weapons with good confidence!
31/30/0
This is a nice all-round slam DPS spec, if you have 2 slam warriors in the raid and the
other warrior is 33/28/0 you should choose this, especially if you are geared in tier 4
(or equivalent) or lower.
20/41/0
Once you get your gear sorted and is in the 3k+ ATP raidbuffed monster this spec will
out-DPS the others. The normal attacks and slam attacks will do extreme damage, and
you really need to start watching your threat. If you have the gear, go for it. Just as a
comparison to the above numbers (with 10% more ATP, and Rampage up) the numbers
would be:
3.8 speed weapon
Normal Hit:1382
Slam:1522
Bloodthirst:1609
Whirlwind:1343
The corresponding Hit-Slam-Blood Thirst cycle DPS would be: 1275.
Note that this build scales a lot better with gear than the MS build, if you have worse
gear you will do less damage than the MS build, and vice versa if you normally have
4k ATP, the difference between the two builds will be even bigger! Although you will
loose your weapon spec, but gain 3% free hit. No lag/reactiontime was included in
this calculation, so compare it with the 1160 dps of the MS cycle.
Slam DPS in reality.
Slam DPS is a lot harder to play than fury warriors if you want to be #1 DPS . It’s no
mindless spamming and you need to keep track on a lot of cool downs, especially if
being fury 2 hand slam warrior (which has the highest potential for your own DPS ). If
you are not prepared to give 110% don’t try it, you will be disappointed, go dual
wielding fury as it’s a lot easier to play.
Get an auto swing timer. It’s a must have!
Shaman is a must have in your group. It’s extremely vital you have a WF totem
all the time. Yes even after the WF nerf. You will rage-starve otherwise.
Slam DPS is fairly easy to get gear for, while dual wielding is much more requiring. 2h
fury slam scales extremely well with gear.
Slam DPS has one big back draw; you can’t run around. In very mobile fights, you
can just forget about being top DPS . Static fights is where you will shine. And how
well can you DPS and compete for top DPS spot? After the WF nerf (WF only procs on
normal white attacks) I could still pull over 1000 DPS and that is with a mix of PvP
gear, T4 and a T5 or two on Void Reaver.
Note:
Once again I do not take any credit for any of this math done or the writing Im just posting it up here and editing it highlighting things as I saw fit here is the link to the original doc.
(Original Doc:http://www.honorbound.se/Slamdps2.pdf)
Regards:
Rikosuave
:cool: