Heya guys!!  OK, so I said I did 5700 DPS on Patchwerk.  Hell, I’ve got the SS to prove it.  But as many are, and probably more who are not, aware Recount has it’s own method of determining DPS.  Which is slightly inaccurate.  Now the big boys on the block for factual proven numbers are WoW Web Stats and WoW Meter Online.

These basically record the in game combat log and put up in pretty graphics what you really did and how.  Now for the purposes of online measuring the top ranked DPS’ers in WoW, people rate other players by not their DPS, but their “Effective DPS”.  What does that mean?  Glad you asked.

Effective DPS is basically how much Damage you do per duration of the boss encounter instead of the damage per second (DPS) you do.  What is the difference you ask?  Say a boss encounter lasts for 3 minutes, or 180 seconds.  Now lets say you did not run in and make contact with the boss until 10 seconds had passed.  And lets also say that you dealt 100,000 damage in this encounter.

DPS = Damage per second.  You spent 170 seconds dealing damage so your DPS is 100,000/170 = 588.235

“Effective DPS” = Damage per second for the encounter.  You spent 180 seconds in the encounter so 100,000/180 = 555.555

Now there have been arguements about the fairness of that method, but it doesn’t matter anymore.  That is the tried and true accepted method of measuring DPS now online for WoW.  So pretty much you have to deal with it.  Whether you like it or not, heh.    Basically, if you want to get ranked you have to bust your hump and get into every fight *right* away.

Now Recount does add everything in, such as Army of the Dead.  Yes, I said it.  ARMY OF THE DEAD!!!  BEWARE MY UNDEAD HORDE!!!!  RAWRR!!!!

Heh.  At the start of Patchwerk I drop AotD becuase they don’t Taunt bosses.  Go figure right?  Well those lil suckers do a butt ton of damage…but it does not appear that WWS is setup to acknowledge them as part of your DPS.  So they did not even record it for me.  /sigh

Right, so if you look here again you will see that I did 5700 DPS and that Batmack did 5500 DPS.  Sweet right?  So I wanted to go look up all of the information on the fight.  So we head over here to the WWS Report “Clicky“.

Now if you look at the top right side of the window with all of the toons and dps listed in it, there will be a box named “Columns” with 2 small gear icons.  Click on it.  It will expand a list of columns to optimize the charts.  Under Dmg Out there is a list of green choices.  The last one is “Avg DPS”.  Make sure it is checked.  That is the “Effective DPS” number I was telling you guys about.

Now you will see here that I did 5400 DPS (instead of 5700 DPS) and that Batmack did 5800 DPS (instead of 5500 DPS).  Weird right?  Inorite!?!?  /cry  I was cool for a moment!!

So, that has been driving me CRAZY.  For some time now.  You just do not know.  My itemization in Unholy setup, versus his DW gear setup, should be able to put me ahead.  But it doesn’t.  So I did some searching on the net.  And I found this wonderful link “Clicky” at WoW Meter Online.

So here is the deal.  The Top 10 rated DK’s for DPS for the ideal tank and spank fight in game rocked out for 5300 to 5700 DPS with that site.  Batmack’s DPS would have placed him at the number 5 spot in that encounter.  Pretty dope eh?  Word!!  Who’s mother?!?!  What?!

Exactly…heh. 

Eight of the DK’s were a Dual Wield Howling Blast/Unholy spec.  2 of them were Unholy spec’d.  And more than one of the DK’s used a SLOW MH weapon instead of using FAST/FAST weapons in each hand.  Interesting stuff eh?

0/32/39 is the standard DW spec atm.  Standard variations include swapping points around in Night of the Dead, Crypt Fever, and Bone Shield.   And no I have not had time to track down the Glyphs and Rotations yet.  Sorry.  SLOW/FAST is entirely viable atm for DW spec, as is FAST/FAST.  I’ve looked through a lot of the gear for these people and the gear disparity is enough in both directions that player skill and RNG is accounting for the DPS differences more than gear is.

So, the end result appears to be that Dual Wield is currently leading the pack, followed closely by Unholy.  Ideally 2 DK’s (one spec’d into each) would bring great raid utility as well.  Unholy would bring Ebon Plaguebringer and Unholy Aura, while the DW would bring Imp Icy Talons and Crypt Fever.  Which would allow both specs to do their maximum potential DPS so long as all other raid buffs were covered.

I don’t have finalized research done on DW spec, their rotations, their glyphs, or their BISI.  So…since I’m making damn sure I do the BISI posts 100% correctly this time, it is getting pushed back ever so slightly again.  Why?  I don’t know that I have accurate weight scales for APE for DW builds.  So gimme some time.  I’m working this stuff out.  Good luck to those out there whatever spec they try!!

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters.

Tags: Raids, Specs