Hi locksies,
I've noticed that, despite having lower stats than some of you, I seem to be the getting the highest dps typically. This thread is here to show some of the analysis I've done and try to share some ideas about how to get your dps near or above mine where it ought to be.
The patchwerk fights are the best indicators on where your dps is at.
Here is my stats on our last 25 man patch fight.
I suspect that the biggest difference in dps for affliction are caused by DoT uptime. This information can be obtained by looking at the Auras applied to others table in the Auras tab.
Haunt is our most important debuff we have on boss fights. It increases the damage of all our DoTs, heals us, and perhaps most importantly, it removes the need to reapply corruption. It is also the only DoT spell where we can and should clip, all other DoTs we should wait to drop off before reapplying.
You'll notice that my Haunt stats indicate 3 gains/fades. This doesn't mean I casted Haunt three times, but that there were two occasions (plus the first application) where I let drop off before I could reapply it. You'll also notice that corruption had 1 gain/fade. I applied it once, and didn't need to reapply it for the whole fight. Haunt and corruption also make up the highest uptime percentage, both above 97%. It is imperative that Haunt is kept up for as long as possible. Remember that Haunt has no DoT component itself, so you can safely reapply it without worrying about clipping the damage.
For all other DoTs, we should endeavour to maximise our uptime without clipping the debuffs. This comes down to being vigilant on when our DoTs will expire and getting a good rotation going.
For the first, I will once again plug my addon
Dominos_BuffTimes. It puts the time remaining for debuff on the actual button, like a cooldown. See the link for a screenshot. The screenshot shows how I actually use it. I have my buttons situated in the lower centre of the screen, and I can see directly what action I need to take next. This suits me well, but of course you may prefer watching debuff timer bars or something.
For the second, it will probably come down to trial and error, but I will share what works for me. This is basically how I dps a stand and fight boss like patchwerk:
Initial DoT applications: CoA, Haunt, UA, Immolate, Corruption, SL. Then for the rest of the fight:
- If Haunt <=5 seconds - reapply (I usually lifetap straight after the cast to get more mana and catch the health thrown back)
- If Unstable affliction < 1.5 seconds - reapply UA then Immolate
- If CoA expired - reapply
- If SL expired - reapply
- Shadow bolt
When the boss is below 25%: can safely ignore Immolate, reapply CoA and SL only if they will go their full duration, use Drain Soul instead of Shadow Bolt. Try to let DS tick before interrupting to refresh DoTs or fire off your nightfall bolt. Don't bother life tapping unless your out of mana.
Also, where appropriate, use your Felpuppy. In the fight I linked, my Felpup did >300dps (which incidently was not attributed to me for some reason). Don't both with Dark Pact, Life tap returns way more for the GCD and you can get your health back with SL and Haunt.
I hope this helps. Feel free to ask questions or give suggestions of other ways I/we can improve our dps.
