DBM vs. Bigwigs, what do you use and why?

[jere]

The kicker back in the day for me was DBM had the alar platform switching timer by default and for some reason BW didn't. Since I used that to keep track of when to pick up phoenixes, I stayed with DBM. They both are good however.

[Eide]

I'm amazed that lots of people here are stating DBM is more accurate than Bigwigs. After much debate the DBM team has had to admit to getting most of their data from Bigwigs.... That also goes for their 5 man which ported all info straight from Littlewigs.

Regardless of how they get their data, both mods basically do the same tricks. If you delve into the mods you'll find out that they virtually have the same options, just different ways of getting to em and activating them. It's mostly a case of personal preference I suppose.

I personally prefer Bigwigs, because it eats less performance wise.

[jere]

We have a warrior that uses BigWigs and I use DBM. Our timers are always different. Regardless of where DBM got their code (are you saying they still do or that they did?), the timers are not the same for us. I don't know know if that is an issue localized to us or others, but something is different.

[Volador]

For DBM you can type /distance XX and it will give you a proximity window for said range. I'm not sure how BW does it, but being able to set it and turn it on when I need it works for me.

[Kazeyonoma]

same here jere. we were having issues with anub'rekhan and a few others because our MT was reporting his BW telling him locust wasn't up for another 20 seconds. while DBM on the OT was reporting it almost within 5 seconds. We all switched to DBM after that.

[Ayne]

Type /dbm to bring up the options
Click on the options tab
In the leftmost box click on the topmost list item. In the box on the right there will be a button for the range indicator.

I use it to yell at melee that get too close to me in that fight.

LOL, sigh. I think I almost cried when I read this. You just changed my world.

Yay for not knowing that DBM even had this!!!!! /runs to turn this on for next KT fight.

[Jaen]

I use BigWigs and it does everything I need it to do. I used DBM during the time that BigWigs wasn't updated, but immediately went back. I just prefer BW.

[hvidgaard]

same here jere. we were having issues with anub'rekhan and a few others because our MT was reporting his BW telling him locust wasn't up for another 20 seconds. while DBM on the OT was reporting it almost within 5 seconds. We all switched to DBM after that.

To be fair, there shouldn't even be a timer for that. It's a 3sec cast time with 16sec duration and a 20sec cooldown (according to wowhead.com), tho it seems to be cast ~90sec - just be ready for it at all times. A timer gives a false sense of security should it fail. This is the case with all boss abilities on a variable timer, I turn them off right away as it's too unpredictable to, well, predict.

[jere]

To be fair, there shouldn't even be a timer for that. It's a 3sec cast time with 16sec duration and a 20sec cooldown (according to wowhead.com), tho it seems to be cast ~90sec - just be ready for it at all times. A timer gives a false sense of security should it fail. This is the case with all boss abilities on a variable timer, I turn them off right away as it's too unpredictable to, well, predict.

The cooldown is much longer than 20s.

[hvidgaard]

The cooldown is much longer than 20s.

We don't know for sure, but data mining seems to say it's on a 20s cd - that is not the same as it's cast every 20s. I did write the average interval which it's cast to emphasise this.

[yolande]

dbm + the raid management addons (have to get those from deadlybossmods.com )

out of the box the raid management gives cool downs on things like bloodlust, intervate, etc and you can add in any spell with its spell id.

[Maethor]

Those mods make me sleep, I havent used them for a looooong time. A well configured buff frame/event log and in-game stopwatch create wonders. This game is about estimating what's gonna happen next. And I intend to keep it that way

[Ewanar]

I've used both, and I love the features they both have. Bigwigs has many many options ( my favorite being the victory sound to FF7 Lol) where as DBM has a nice simplicity about it. I picked DBM during sunwell because it had nicer kalecgos health and portal timers. In Wrath I tried out Bigwigs, and it was going fine till it started telling me locus swarm was up no where near the right times. showed 15 seconds, then he starts casting it immediately, with the timer ticking down from 15. As Lore said, DBM I've found to be more accurate in Wrath. Both phenomenal addons though

[hvidgaard]

I don't dispute the fact that BWs timer for Locust Swarm have been way off (but as I mentioned, that is a timer I don't care about), but can you bring one other example to conclude that BW is less accurate? I haven't found it so, but I'm switching if it is the case

[Satrina]

The config menu for DBM is enough to use it over BigWigs.

[Aethraen]

I don't dispute the fact that BWs timer for Locust Swarm have been way off (but as I mentioned, that is a timer I don't care about)

I've found Bigwigs to be more melee oriented about their bars, if that makes any sense. The Locust Swarm bar on Bigwigs expires several seconds piror to DBM's bar. It was the same way for the Whirlwind bar on Leo back in SSC.

DBMs bars are more accurate about exactly when stuff happens, Bigwigs will show certain bars, such as Locust Swarm and Whirlwind expir early, which gives melee ample time to get away.

[Bodasafa]

I used BigWigs through all of BC and found it to do everything I needed. Just before Wrath dropped we re-tooled our raiding system and had this very same discussion amongst the officers and raid leads. We basically came to the conclusion that Both were effective.

I tried out DMB shortly after our first few Naxx 25 clears. I liked the feature some have mentioned with boss health bars for Thaddius Twins and 4 Horsmen, but in a reality Main Tank targets do the same thing, so that canceled out for me. Probably the biggest thing I liked was the auto whisper when someone tries to whisper you while in a boss encounter. But really that's the only thing I found to be "great". It had an interesting feature that told you how much you improved time wise on a previous kill of the same boss, it was cool, but hardly a deal maker.

So I went back to BigWigs. I dont know if its just what Im used to but I like it so much better. Feels more customizable. I love the global bars I can create as a raid lead for breaks. Kinda sucks it only broadcasts to other BW users tho.

In the end I would say it comes down to personal taste.

[VEEN]

I ran with BigWigs all through BC and when it came time to do Wrath, I didn't see any reason to switch. Any improvements that DBM has on BW in certain bosses of Naxx like the charge change on Thaddius and the proxy monitor on KT (i'm going off what others have written about DBM in regards to that) don't interest me because I've learned to deal without them.

Unless BW does a release with a catastrophic error, I won't be changing.

[KnThrak]

I use BigWigs.

I like the following things:

• More accurate bars. Tried it bad and forth in both TBC and WotLK, and DBM always tries to guess when the ability will be used (which isn't a fixed time), while BigWigs shows the accurate internal CD and then doesn't try to guess when it'll get used. I prefer that, more accurate information.
• Better customizability. I can make it fit my interface, which declutters my sensory input. Couldn't get that done with DBM.
• FF7 victory theme > all!
• The screenflash is worlds superior to DBM's blue text + borderflash. While healing, I kept missing DBM's flash, and died. BigWigs flashes the entire screen which means it's impossible to miss independant of where your eyes are focused. As a healer and/or tank I find that a lot better than DBM's, although I admit as a DPSer it didn't make a difference.

Though DBM has two nice features, the record times, and the fact that it's boss reply whisper works for 5man bosses (BigWigs' SimpleBossWhisperer only works on Boss-flagged mobs).

But overall, between a loss of accuracy, an inferior flash and the pre-built style, I just get along with BigWigs better. Fits in more.

[Halym]

Using DBM as per guild request. Looked at BW for a bit ... I prefer DBM :P.