Generic WoW

v3.3

If you speak French or know how to use Google Translate then you might be interested in this French website.  Prêtresse d’Elune is a well written priest blog which I discovered recently.   For those even lazier than I here is an English translation of the website.

Alehann, the author seems to be well read and even helped me discover Save the Lightwell another new priest blog (in English).   So check it out.

In other news things might slow down a bit here while I create a couple of gear list master pieces for you.  These take hours to do, but the discipline one is half way there so… soon.

Gobble gobble.

Posted in Priest

Hi there mates! According to official news, we are close (damn finally!) to the Fall of the Lich King content update – patch 3.3, the sturdy doors of Icecrown Citadel will be crushed open by us! The most powerful warriors of the Alliance and Horde will finally beat the …. out of evil Arthas, the Lich King. Of course its not for justice, or anything like that – everyone want to take his powerful weapon and take ultimate loot =). Arthas the Evil lord of the Scourge of course is not kinda weak enemy. To beat him you need to be really well organized and have powerful weaponry.

The price of victory in Northrend grows higher with each passing day. Charge the gates, and bring an end to the wrath of the Lich King!

Anyway this very fresh update includes awesome an new raid and winged 5 – player dungeon + many interface improvements. Also some powerful epic tier – 10 armor, sets including great detailed quest tracking and instant cross realm dungeons + scores of fresh quests and achievements and many system and class updates.

Well I’m its great that finally we all get opportunity to kick evil Arthas butt. It’s great occasion to test your character. Anyway I don’t have time to play in World of Warcraft but I will try to go on small Arthas raid with my guild mates. Did you know that World of Warcraft have 5 years? So long time passed…damn I’m getting old.

See you again and Happy New Year!

v3.3

Whoa! This one got lost in the blogging system.  Hope it still makes sense!

Ok, one more post on this topic before I move on (or perhaps get moved on).  Previously I posted about AoE tanking heroics on my baby warrior.  Well I think he’s grown up and this is going to be some thoughts on where he is at and where he is going.

Firstly I dropped the Glyph of Sunder and returned to Blocking.  The extra sunder appears to have been generating a bit more threat but nothing really outstanding.  I have nothing quantitative to prove this but thats my feeling after tanking half a dozen heroics with it.

I think a significant chunk of the ‘trouble with AoE tanking on a warrior’ is actually lack of experience and perception.  OMG!  I was about to say i’ve tanked about 20 instances in the last few weeks, but its actually a few more   Pug Checker tells me its more like 40!  I had thought it took me about 20 clears of normal Trial of the Champion to get The Black Heart, which I finally got over the weekend, but it as actually 29.  It dropped three times in those 29, the first two I lost the rolls on.  I’d be lying if I said I loved the last ten of those runs.

Anyway i’ve a bit more experience tanking now, and although i’m far from an expert, i’m comfortable with my ability to generate AoE threat.  Some of this better gear, true, but a good amount of it is that I am just now more used to the Thunderclap + Shockwave + Cleave ‘rotation’ and i’m better at clicking runners and taunting them straight back.

I’ve tanked heroic Trial of the Champion a couple of times and it is probably the hardest of the instances so far.  Despite being very familiar with it phase 2 of Black Knight, where he summons all those adds, can get ugly.  In normal they die fast enough and/or the DPS aren’t as strong.  In heroic the adds take longer to die and/or the DPS are ripping them off me.  I can hold them for about a dozen seconds with Challenging Shout, Thunder Clap, some Cleaves and Shockwave, but after that it can get messy.

It was the first time I tanked heroic Trial of the Champion that I realised that I can actually tank heroics.   Before that I was like, “is it an easy heroic like Utgarde Keep? No.  Hmm, better just DPS it.”  Having a well geared druid guildie healing me, probably gave me confidence too.  Once I did that one I started just assuming I could tank heroics and so far so good.

One of the strangest was tanking heroic Nexus with three 6k DPS guildies.  I’d get about three global cool downs before the target would evaporate in a cloud of dead bits. It t’was surreal.

Trial of the Champion is a great bridging instance both for fresh 80’s in normal mode and for better geared 80’s preparing to raid.  Especially in normal mode, where you can run it half a dozen times in a row, you can get a number of good upgrades out of it, and its not overly challenging.

Its quite a noticable change gearing him now too.  Initially its was ‘everything = defence’ just to get to the 535 heroic defence cap.  Now he has 546 defence and i’m putting in expertise and hit gems.

Its amazing how some people think.  I’ve had to convince the leaders of 5-mans that yes I am tanking with Black Knights Rondel.  Yes I realise its not a ‘normal’ tanking weapon. Yes I do realise the Peacekeeper Blade is what I ’should’ be using.  Hello!?! Until the Peacekeeper Blade drops Black Knights Rondel will actually do the job just fine.  In fact it is a better weapon for generating threat, which seems to be more useful in heroics anyway.  Perhaps I should run around with my old Hammer of Quiet Mourning equiped, after all its a ‘proper’ tanking weapon, and sneakily equip the Black Knights Rondel at the first pull.  Some people!

Gobble gobble.

Posted in Warrior

v3.3

Whoa! This one got lost in the blogging system.  Hope it still makes sense!

Ok, one more post on this topic before I move on (or perhaps get moved on).  Previously I posted about AoE tanking heroics on my baby warrior.  Well I think he’s grown up and this is going to be some thoughts on where he is at and where he is going.

Firstly I dropped the Glyph of Sunder and returned to Blocking.  The extra sunder appears to have been generating a bit more threat but nothing really outstanding.  I have nothing quantitative to prove this but thats my feeling after tanking half a dozen heroics with it.

I think a significant chunk of the ‘trouble with AoE tanking on a warrior’ is actually lack of experience and perception.  OMG!  I was about to say i’ve tanked about 20 instances in the last few weeks, but its actually a few more   Pug Checker tells me its more like 40!  I had thought it took me about 20 clears of normal Trial of the Champion to get The Black Heart, which I finally got over the weekend, but it as actually 29.  It dropped three times in those 29, the first two I lost the rolls on.  I’d be lying if I said I loved the last ten of those runs.

Anyway i’ve a bit more experience tanking now, and although i’m far from an expert, i’m comfortable with my ability to generate AoE threat.  Some of this better gear, true, but a good amount of it is that I am just now more used to the Thunderclap + Shockwave + Cleave ‘rotation’ and i’m better at clicking runners and taunting them straight back.

I’ve tanked heroic Trial of the Champion a couple of times and it is probably the hardest of the instances so far.  Despite being very familiar with it phase 2 of Black Knight, where he summons all those adds, can get ugly.  In normal they die fast enough and/or the DPS aren’t as strong.  In heroic the adds take longer to die and/or the DPS are ripping them off me.  I can hold them for about a dozen seconds with Challenging Shout, Thunder Clap, some Cleaves and Shockwave, but after that it can get messy.

It was the first time I tanked heroic Trial of the Champion that I realised that I can actually tank heroics.   Before that I was like, “is it an easy heroic like Utgarde Keep? No.  Hmm, better just DPS it.”  Having a well geared druid guildie healing me, probably gave me confidence too.  Once I did that one I started just assuming I could tank heroics and so far so good.

One of the strangest was tanking heroic Nexus with three 6k DPS guildies.  I’d get about three global cool downs before the target would evaporate in a cloud of dead bits. It t’was surreal.

Trial of the Champion is a great bridging instance both for fresh 80’s in normal mode and for better geared 80’s preparing to raid.  Especially in normal mode, where you can run it half a dozen times in a row, you can get a number of good upgrades out of it, and its not overly challenging.

Its quite a noticable change gearing him now too.  Initially its was ‘everything = defence’ just to get to the 535 heroic defence cap.  Now he has 546 defence and i’m putting in expertise and hit gems.

Its amazing how some people think.  I’ve had to convince the leaders of 5-mans that yes I am tanking with Black Knights Rondel.  Yes I realise its not a ‘normal’ tanking weapon. Yes I do realise the Peacekeeper Blade is what I ’should’ be using.  Hello!?! Until the Peacekeeper Blade drops Black Knights Rondel will actually do the job just fine.  In fact it is a better weapon for generating threat, which seems to be more useful in heroics anyway.  Perhaps I should run around with my old Hammer of Quiet Mourning equiped, after all its a ‘proper’ tanking weapon, and sneakily equip the Black Knights Rondel at the first pull.  Some people!

Gobble gobble.

Posted in Warrior

v3.2

This is basically a rewrite of my healing priest trinkets in 3.2 post with an updated stat weight model and the additional trinkets now available.

Stat Weights

For stat weights I used two gearing theories. Firstly is the more throughput focused one I posted about in my previous posts on theorycrafting. The second idea is a more mana regen focused stat weight set. The mana regen stat weights use the same model as the throughput stat weights but with the spell power to MP5 ratio set to 0.6 instead of 2.0.

Throughput stat weights

Mana regen stat weights

Trinket rankings

Throughput

Discipline

1. 480 - Solace of the Defeated (heroic)
2. 475 - Althor’s Abacas (heroic)
3. 434 – Pandora’s Plea
4. 428 - Solace of the Defeated (normal)
5. 423 - Althor’s Abacas (normal)
6. 400 – Illustration of the Dragon Soul
7. 397 – Purified Lunar Dust
8. 368 – Eye of the Brood Mother
9. 350 – Talisman of Resurgance
10. 352 – Show of Faith
11. 335 - Sliver of Pure Ice (normal?)
12. 310 – Shiny Shard of the Gods (set)
13. 300 - Reign of the Dead/Unliving
14. 300 - Battlemaster’s Ruination
15. 294 – Scale of Fates
16. 278 – Sif’s Remembrance
17. 277 – Purified Shard of the Gods (set)
18. 260 – Embrace of the Spider
19. 260 – The Egg of Mortal Essence
20. 252 – Binding Stone/Light (heroic)
21. 249 – Je’Tze’s Bell
22. 249 – Forethought Talisman
23. 226 – Binding Stone/Light (normal)
24. 222 – Darkmoon Card: Greatness (Int)
25. 219 – Soul of the Dead
26. 208 – Meteorite Crystal
27. 207 - Muradin’s Spyglass (heroic)
28. 184 – Energy Siphon
29. 178 - Muradin’s Spyglass (normal)
30. 173 – Spark of Hope
31. 163 – Flare of Heavens
32. 154 – Tears of the Vanquished
33. 150 – Darkmoon Card: Greatness (Spi)
34. 114 – Sundial of the Exiled
35. 105 – Purified Shard of the Scale
36. 102 – Ephemeral Snowflake
37. 96 – Shiny Shard of the Scale
38. 80 – Living Ice Crystals
39. 77 – Majestic Dragon Figurine
40. 59 – Spirit World Glass
41. 0 – Shiny Shard of the Flame
42. 0 – Purified Shard of the Flame

Holy

1. 480 - Solace of the Defeated (heroic)
2. 423 - Althor’s Abacas (heroic)
3. 428 - Solace of the Defeated (normal)
4. 423 - Althor’s Abacas (normal)
5. 400 – Illustration of the Dragon Soul
6. 399 – Pandora’s Plea
7. 397 – Purified Lunar Dust
8. 352 – Show of Faith
9. 342 – Eye of the Brood Mother
10. 335 - Sliver of Pure Ice (normal?)
11. 310 – Shiny Shard of the Gods (set)
12. 308 – Talisman of Resurgance
13. 300 - Reign of the Dead/Unliving
14. 300 - Battlemaster’s Ruination
15. 292 – Scale of Fates
16. 278 – Sif’s Remembrance
17. 277 – Purified Shard of the Gods (set)
18. 258 – Embrace of the Spider
19. 258 – The Egg of Mortal Essence
20. 252 – Binding Stone/Light (heroic)
21. 249 – Je’Tze’s Bell
22. 249 – Forethought Talisman
23. 235 – Spark of Hope
24. 226 - Binging Stone/Light (normal)
25. 190 – Soul of the Dead
26. 189 – Majestic Dragon Figurine
27. 185 – Energy Siphon
28. 177 – Darkmoon Card: Greatness (Spi)
29. 172 – Meteorite Crystal
30. 164 – Darkmoon Card: Greatness (Int)
31. 160 - Muradin’s Spyglass (heroic)
32. 145 – Spirit World Glass
33. 138 - Muradin’s Spyglass (normal)
34. 127 – Tears of the Vanquished
35. 127 – Flare of Heavens
36. 100 – Ephemeral Snowflake
37. 96 – Shiny Shard of the Scale
38. 89 – Sundial of the Exiled
39. 85 – Purified Shard of the Scale
40. 80 – Living Ice Crystals
41. 0 – Shiny Shard of the Flame
42. 0 – Purified Shard of the Flame

Mana regen

Discipline

1. 245 - Solace of the Defeated (heroic)
2. 218 - Solace of the Defeated (normal)
3. 207 – Pandora’s Plea
4. 194 – Darkmoon Card: Greatness (Int)
5. 193 - Althor’s Abacas (heroic)
6. 191 – Meteorite Crystal
7. 183 - Purified Lunar Dust
8. 177 – Soul of the Dead
9. 172 – Spark of Hope
10. 172 - Althor’s Abacas (normal)
11. 167 – Talisman of Resurgance
12. 156 – Show of Faith
13. 154 – Eye of the Brood Mother
14. 146 – Sliver of Pure Ice (normal?)
15. 141 – Tears of the Vanquished
16. 139 - Muradin’s Spyglass (heroic)
17. 135 – Shiny Shard of the Gods (set)
18. 124 – Sif’s Remembrance
19. 121 – Purified Shard of the Gods (set)
20. 120 – Illustration of the Dragon Soul
21. 120 – Binding Stone/Light (heroic)
22. 119 - Muradin’s Spyglass (normal)
23. 109 – Flare of Heavens
24. 101 – Je’Tze’s Bell
25. 96 – Shiny Shard of the Scale
26. 93 – Energy Siphon
27. 91 - Binging Stone/Light (normal)
28. 90 - Reign of the Dead/Unliving
29. 90 - Battlemaster’s Ruination
30. 85 – Purified Shard of the Scale
31. 83 – Forethought Talisman
32. 77 – Sundial of the Exiled
33. 77 – Darkmoon Card: Greatness (Spi)
34. 77 – Majestic Dragon Figurine
35. 75 – Scale of Fates
36. 69 – Living Ice Crystals
37. 59 - Spirit World Glass
38. 59 – Embrace of the Spider
39. 59 – The Egg of Mortal Essence
40. 55 – Ephemeral Snowflake
41. 0 – Shiny Shard of the Flame
42. 0 – Purified Shard of the Flame

Holy

1. 245 - Solace of the Defeated (heroic)
2. 205 - Solace of the Defeated (normal)
3. 195 – Spark of Hope
4. 193 - Althor’s Abacas (heroic)
5. 187 – Pandora’s Plea
6. 187 – Soul of the Dead
7. 183 - Purified Lunar Dust
8. 172 - Althor’s Abacas (normal)
9. 171 – Meteorite Crystal
10. 163 – Eye of the Brood Mother
11. 161- Darkmoon Card: Greatness (Int)
12. 156 – Show of Faith
13. 154 - Muradin’s Spyglass (heroic)
14. 146 – Sliver of Pure Ice
15. 144 – Talisman of Resurgance
16. 135 – Shiny Shard of the Gods (set)
17. 133 - Muradin’s Spyglass (normal)
18. 126 – Tears of the Vanquished
19. 125 – Sif’s Remembrance
20. 122 – Flare of Heavens
21. 121 – Purified Shard of the Gods (set)
22. 120 – Illustration of the Dragon Soul
23. 120 – Binding Stone/Light (heroic)
24. 117 – Darkmoon Card: Greatness (Spi)
25. 117 – Majestic Dragon Figurine
26. 101 – Je’Tze’s Bell
27. 96 – Shiny Shard of the Scale
28. 93 – Energy Siphon
29. 91- Binging Stone/Light
30. 89 – Spirit World Glass
31. 85 – Sundial of the Exiled
32. 85 – Purified Shard of the Scale
33. 83 – Forethought Talisman
34. 77 - Reign of the Dead/Unliving
35. 77 - Battlemaster’s Ruination
36. 75 – Scale of Fates
37. 69 – Living Ice Crystals
38. 59 – Embrace of the Spider
39. 59 – The Egg of Mortal Essence
40. 55 – Ephemeral Snowflake
41. 0 – Shiny Shard of the Flame
42. 0 – Purified Shard of the Flame

Calculation notes

Most trinkets have either confirmed or suspected 45s internal cool downs. I have added 5s to all cool downs to allow for delays in procing or players deciding not to use the trinket for a period of time. Observation sees most 45s procs actually occurring every 48 to 55 seconds. Trinkets with 2 minute cool downs were assumed to be used ever 125s.

• Pandora’s Plea = Intellect bonus * Intellect stat weight + (duration [10s]/cool down [50s] * spell power [751] * spell power stat weight)
• Spark of Hope = Spirit bonus * Spirit stat weight + MP5 equivalence * MP5 stat weight. The up to 42 mana reduction of spells has been valued between 100 and 200 MP5. I erred on the conservative side with 130 MP5.
• Darkmoon Card: Greatness (Int) = Intellect bonus * Intellect stat weight + (duration [15s]/cool down [50s] * Intellect [300] * Intellect stat weight). I assumed that priests will have Intellect as their highest stat.
• Darkmoon Card: Greatness (Spi) = Spirit bonus * Spirit stat weight + (duration [15s]/cool down [50s] * Intellect [300] * Intellect stat weight). I assumed that priests will have Intellect as their highest stat.
• Flare of Heavens = Crit rating bonus * Crit rating stat weighting. The ‘Equip’ effect has been ignored as I assumed healers will be healing and not DPSing.
• Illustration of the Dragon Soul = Maximum spell power bonus * spell power stat weighting. I assumed that the full stack was gained instantly and maintained throughout a boss fight. I’m too lazy to calculate it taking 10-20 seconds at the start of the fight to hit full power and teh effect will be minimal in a 5 mintue boss fight.
• Eye of the Brood Mother = Crit rating bonus * Crit rating stat weighting + maximum spell power bonus * spell power stat weighting. I applied the same laziness as for Illustration of the Dragon Soul above.
• Sif’s Remembrance = Crit rating bonus * Crit rating stat weighting + Spell power bonus * spell power stat weighting
• Forethought Talisman = Spell power bonus * spell power stat weighting + (healing [3572] / HPM [6.5] * over heal % [50%]) / cool down [50] * 5 * MP5 stat weight. This one was a bit more complicated than most. The healing effect was calculated based on Flash Heal’s healing per mana (HPM) ratio of about 6.5. 50% over heal was assumed, which if anything was generous.
• Scale of Fates = Spell power bonus * spell power stat weighting + (duration [20] / cool down [125] * hast rating gained [432] * haste rating stat weight
• Soul of the Dead = Crit rating bonus * Crit rating stat weighting + (mana gain [900] / cool down [50] * 5 * MP5 stat weight
• Sundial of the Exiled = Crit rating bonus * Crit rating stat weighting. The ‘Equip’ effect has been ignored as I assumed healers will be healing and not DPSing.
• Je’Tze’s Bell = Spell power bonus * spell power stat weighting + (duration [15] / cool down [45]) * MP5 bonus * MP5 stat weight
• Energy Siphon = MP5 bonus * MP% stat weight + (duration [20] / cool down [125]) * spell power bonus * spell power stat weight
• Embrace of the Spider = Spell power bonus * spell power stat weighting + (duration [10] / cool down [50] * haste rating gained [505] * haste rating stat weight
• The Egg of Mortal Essence = Spell power bonus * spell power stat weighting + (duration [10] / cool down [50] * haste rating gained [505] * haste rating stat weight
• Show of Faith = Spell power bonus * spell power stat weighting + (duration [15] / cool down [45]) * MP5 bonus * MP5 stat weight
• Spirit World Glass = Spirit bonus * Spirit stat weighting + (duration [20] / cool down [125]) * Spirit bonus * Spirit stat weight
• Meteorite Crystal = Intellect bonus * Intellect stat weighting + MP5 generated * MP5 stat weight. The total MP5 generated isn’t well documented yet. I’m going to assume that once triggered the user will spam spells with a global cool down of 1.3s. I am also going to assume that all MP5 generated by this trinket terminates 20s after the trinket is used. The equates to about 1782 total mana over that 20s. MP5 generated = uptime * MP5 = (duration[20] / cool down [125])*(total mana [1782] / 20 * 5)
• Majestic Dragon Figurine = Spirit bonus [180] * Spirit stat weight. I’ve made the same instant full stack assumption as for Illustration of the Dragon Soul above.
• Living Ice Crystals = MP5 bonus * MP5 stat weight + on use healing. I used a similar calculation as for the Forethought Talisman above except I assumed only 30% overheal. On use healing = (healing [2710] / HPM [6.5] * (100% – over heal % [70%])) / cool down [65] * 5 * MP5 stat weight.
• Tears of the Vanquished = Intellect bonus * Intellect stat weight + (Mana gain [500] / cool down [50s] * 5 * MP5 stat weight)
• Talisman of Resurgance = Intellect bonus * Intellect stat weight + (duration [20s]/cool down [125s] * spell power [599] * spell power stat weight)
• Solace of the Defeated = Spell bonus * spell power stat weight + MP5 generated * MP5 stat weight. I’ve optimistically assumed that a new cast renews the existing stack for the full duration and that you are maintaining the full stack most of the time.
• Reign of the Dead/Unliving = Spell bonus * spell power stat weight. The ‘Equip’ effect has been ignored as I assumed healers will be healing and not DPSing.
• Battlemaster’s Ruination = Spell bonus * spell power stat weight. I have ignored the ‘Use’ effect as i’m not sure how to value it. It’s unlikely to have a high value either way.
• Binding Stone/Light = MP5 x MP5 stat weight + ((SP per cast [66] x max stacks [8]x SP stat weight) x (duration [20s]/cool down [125s])). I have assumed the full 8 stacks 66 spell power last the full 20s. Not entirely accurate, but this trinket is so weak it doesn’t matter. To be more valuable this trinket would need to grant 100 or 120 spell power per cast.
• Purified Shard of the Scale/Shiny Shard of the Scale = MP5 x MP5 stat weight
• Purified Shard of the Flame/Shiny Shard of the Flame = zero value. I could equate the 510 health per 5 regen to an equivalent stamina (over a specified fight duration) then multiple by the stamina stat weight, but i’m not going to. I’m too lazy and it will still score very poorly.
• Purified Shard of the Gods/Shiny Shard of the Gods = (Equip value = MP5 x MP5 stat weight + SP x SP stat weight)/2. On use value is similar to (but worse than) the Forethought Talisman above. (((Average heal from buff [2811]/ healing per mana [6.5])* overheal mod [0.5]/cooldown [50]*5)*MP5 stat weight)/2. Both numbers are divided by two as you have to wear both trinkets to complete the set.
• Sliver of Pure Ice = SP x SP stat weight + (mana return [1625]/cool down [125]*5*MP5 stat weight)
• Althor’s Abacas = SP x SP stat weight + (Average heal [e.g. 6000]/healing per mana [6.5]*overheal mod [0.7] /cool down [50]*5*MP5 stat weight.  Overheal percent is assumed at 70%.  How high/low this is is dependent on if the 6k heal is a smart heal or a ‘heal nearest’ heal.  I’ll update when I discover more.
• Purified Lunar Dust = SP x SP stat weight + MP5/cool down [50] * 5 * MP5 stat weight
• Ephemeral Snowflake = (mana return [11]*heals per second *5*MP5 stat weight) + (duration [20]/cooldown [125] * Haste * Haste stat weight).  This one is up for argument.  I’ve assumed 60 heals per minute (over a 6 minute fight).  I’ve assumed that the 11 mana returned is per effective heal (heals for zero ignored).  I’ve assumed that Renew ticks and bounces from Prayer of Mending count in my guesstimate.
• Muradin’s Spyglass = crit rating x crit rating stat weight.  The spell power effect has been ignored as it only happens for offencive spells.

Comments

Althor’s Abacas is a nice new trinket.  Ephemeral Snowflake is a waste of space.

I’ll continue updating this as I discover new trinkets.

Gobble gobble.

Posted in Priest

v3.3

Let us gather the various parts together and have a look at some of the numbers. This post also includes LootRanks and Pawn values.

Sections

1. Introduction
2. Mana regeneration including Spell Power and Stamina
3. Mana pool
4. Haste rating
5. Critical rating
6. Summary including LootRank and Pawn values

Summary of stat weights

MP5

• Discipline = 2.00
• Holy = 2.00

Spirit

• Discipline = 0.4272
  • MP5 value from mana regen = 0.4272
• Holy = 1.0516
  • MP5 value from mana regen = 0.3818
  • MP5 value from Holy Concentration = 0.0924
  • MP5 value from Spiritual Guidance = 0.525

Intellect

• Discipline = 1.2349
  • MP5 value from mana regen = 0.1552
  • MP5 value from maximum mana = 0.1977
  • MP5 value from Replenishment = 0.1518
  • MP5 value from Shadowfiend = 0.0988
  • MP5 value from Rapture = 0.1581
  • MP5 value from critical healing = 0.2187
  • MP5 value from Divine Aegis = 0.1969
  • MP5 value from Inspiration = 0.0577
• Holy = 0.9114
  • MP5 value from mana regen = 0.1632
  • MP5 value from maximum mana = 0.1719
  • MP5 value from Replenishment = 0.132
  • MP5 value from Shadowfiend = 0.0859
  • MP5 value from critical healing = 0.2020
  • MP5 value from Surge of Light = 0.0614
  • MP5 value from Holy Concentration = 0.0395
  • MP5 value from Inspiration = 0.0556

Spell Power

• Discipline = 2.0
• Holy = 2.0

Critical Rating

• Discipline = 1.3610
  • MP5 value from critical healing = 0.6290
  • MP5 value from Divine Aegis = 0.5661
  • MP5 value from Inspiration = 0.1660
• Holy = 1.0547
  • MP5 value from critical healing = 0.6681
  • MP5 value from Surge of Light = 0.2029
  • MP5 value from Inspiration = 0.1838

Stamina

• Discipline = 0.2
• Holy = 0.2

Haste Rating

• Discipline = 0.6309
  • MP5 value from hasted healing = 0.6309
• Holy = 0.6227
  • MP5 value from hasted healing = 0.6096

Gear lists

Below are a pair of links to LootRank gear lists which are a good place to start with looking at the application of these stat weights.

• Discipline LootRank
• Holy LootRank

Pawn values

Pawn values for these are:

( Pawn: v1: "Discipline33": Stamina=0.2, Intellect=1.2349, Spirit=0.4273, RedSocket=46, CritRating=1.361, MetaSocket=105.933, HasteRating=0.6309, BlueSocket=29, YellowSocket=36.349, SpellPower=2, Mp5=1)

( Pawn: v1: "Holy33": Stamina=0.2, Intellect=0.9114, Spirit=1.0516, RedSocket=46, CritRating=1.0547, MetaSocket=99.1395, HasteRating=0.6096, BlueSocket=34.5165, YellowSocket=33.114, SpellPower=2, Mp5=1)

Note that the gem values are derived from the best-in-slot blue gems for each socket. These for both specs are Insightful Earthsiege Diamond (meta), Luminous Ametrine (yellow) and Runed Cardinal Ruby (red). Blue slots are Royal Dreadstone for discipline and Purified Dreadstone for holy.

Comments

Spell power is still king for both specs. The hunt for spell power, especially when gemming and enchanting will continue.

For discipline spec priests critical rating and intellect continue to be primary stats. Although critical rating vs haste rating is a personal preference critical rating outshines haste rating completely on a theorycrafting basis. Even in an unlimited mana scenario (which is actually feasible at T9.5), where discipline haste rating rises to 1.1621, ciritcal rating (1.3610) provides better value for itemisation. Spirit continues to be the poor cousin to intellect.

For holy spec priests the stats are more evenly balanced. Spirit, intellect, critical rating and haste rating (in an unlimited mana scenario – 1.2344) are all evenly valued. In my experience holy priests continue to have significantly more mana issues than discipline priests decreasing the value of haste significantly.

How much MP5 are abilities worth a T9.5 gearing level?

• Replenishment about 172-237 MP5
• Shadowfiend about 129-155 MP5
• Rapture about 247 MP5
• Holy Concentration about 100 MP5
• Divine Aegis about 909 MP5 at 35% crit
• Surge of light about 326 MP5 at 35% crit
• Inspiration is about 266-295 MP% at 35% crit

Divine Aegis is huge, and to a lesser extent so are Surge of Light and Inspiration, because at this gearing level the amount healed per cast is high. All these abilities add quite a bit of additional throughput for no extra mana cost.

Thanks for reading and your constructive comments.

Gobble gobble.

Posted in Priest

v3.3

There are three areas which are affected by Critical Rating. There is the base 50% additional healing which results from a critical and then there is then one talent for each of the healing schools which is crit based. These are Divine Aegis for discipline and Surge of Light for holy.

Sections

1. Introduction
2. Mana regeneration including Spell Power and Stamina
3. Mana pool
4. Haste rating
5. Critical rating
6. Summary including LootRank and Pawn values

Assumptions:

• Flash Heal is being spammed (1887 base heal, 81% co-efficient. 1.5s cast time)
• Discipline has 2774 spell power
• Holy has 3149 spell power
• 45.91 Crit Rating equals 1% Crit
• 167 Intellect equals 1% crit. However as we are including talents and Blessing of Kings the amount of intellect on gear required for 1% crit is 132 for discipline and 151.8 for holy
• 30% over-heal
• Divine Aegis is 70% consumed.
• Surge of Light procs are 90% consumed

Base Critical value

Healing spells that critically hit heal the target for 150% of their normal healing value. To calculate the value of this additional healing we assume that the caster is using Flash Heal and use the attributes associated with that spell. To determine its value as MP5 we equate the total heal for the FH as MP5 based on the SP to MP5 ratio (2.0:1) and then calculate how much is additional healing is due to the critical. Over-healing is also taken into account.

Flash Heal Crit MP5 value = (base heal + (SP * SP co-efficient)) * SP MP5 value * proportion from crit * (1 - over-heal %)
FH Crit MP5 value (Disc) = (1887+(2774*80.68%))*2*0.5*(1-0.3)
FH Crit MP5 value (Disc) = 2887
FH Crit MP5 value (Holy) = 3099 (Holy FH crits are bigger)

1% FH Crit MP5 value (Disc) = 28.87
1% FH Crit MP5 value (Holy) = 30.99

These numbers are now converted to Critical Rating and Intellect values:

• Discipline
  • Crit rating MP5 = 28.31/45.91 = 0.6290
  • Intellect MP5 = 28.31/132 = 0.2187
• Holy
  • Crit rating MP5 = 30.43/45.91 = 0.6752
  • Intellect MP5 = 30.43/151.8 = 0.2042

Divine Aegis

Discipline priests have an additional effect that triggers on healing critical hits. Divine Aegis creates an additional 30% of the total critical heal value as a damage absorption bubble. To calculate its MP5 value we need to once again assume Flash Heal is being cast and then calculate the MP5 value of the Flash Heal and the associated Divine Aegis.

Divine Aegis FH MP5 value = (base heal + (SP * SP co-efficient)) * SP MP5 value * 1.5 * DA bonus * DA consumption rate
Divine Aegis FH MP5 value = (1887 + (2774 * 80.68%)) * 2.0 * 1.5 * 0.3 * 0.7
Divine Aegis FH MP5 value = 2598

1% DA FH MP5 value = 25.98

Divine Aegis Crit Rating MP5 value = 25.98/45.91 = 0.5661
Divine Aegis Intellect MP5 value = 25.98/132 = 0.1969

Divine Aegis, under a Flash Heal spamming scenario, provides a lot of extra throughput at this level of gearing. High spell power and high critical hit chance grant Divine Aegis quite a lot of value in this model.

Surge of Light

Holy also have a critical based talent which creates MP5 value. Surge of Light provides free Flash Heals, 50% of the time, following a spell critical.

SoL MP5 per 1% crit = Spell mana cost / cast speed * 5 * proc rate * consumption rate / 100

SoL MP5 per 1% crit = 621/1.5*5*50%*90%/100
SoL MP5 per 1% crit = 9.315

SoL Crit Rating MP5 value = 9.315/45.91 = 0.2029
SoL Intellect MP5 value = 9.315/151.8 = 0.0614

Inspiration

There is one more ability we can have a go at estimating the value off and that is Inspiration. This talent provides a buff to healing targets which reduces damage received by 10%. At first glance this doesn’t sound like much, but when you consider that a tank can take 2 million (2,000,000)points of damage in a six minute boss fight the 10% damage reduction starts to add up.

Assumptions:

• Inspiration reduces all damage received by 10%
• Uptime is about 60%. Single target healing uptime is about 90%, but raid healing uptime is about 40%. To make the calculations simpler i’ve assumed a middle of the range 60% uptime.
• 30% critical chance
• MP5 value per Flash Heal is 2887 for Discipline and 3099 for Holy. This is calculated in my critical rating theorycrafting post for 3.3.
• Mana cost of Flash Healing is 528 for Discipline and 621 for Holy

Damage reduction per 1% critical chance = 10%*60%/30 = 0.20%
Damage reduction = 0.20% * 2000000 = 4000

Flash heals saved per 1% critical for:

Discipline = 4000 / 2887 = 1.3853 Flash Heals
Holy = 4000 / 3099 = 1.2904 Flash Heals

Inspiration MP5 per 1% critical = (FH mana cost * FH saved) / fight duration * 5
Discipline Inspiration MP5 per 1% critical = (528 * 1.3853) / 360 * 5 = 10.1586
Holy Inspiration MP5 per 1% critical = (621 * 1.2904) / 360 * 5 = 11.1299

Inspiration Crit Rating MP5 = Inspiration MP5 per 1% critical / Crit rating per 1% crit

Inspiration Crit Rating MP5 for discipline = 10.1586 / 45.91 = 0.2213
Inspiration Crit Rating MP5 for holy = 11.1299 / 45.91 = 0.2424

Inspiration Intellect MP5 = Inspiration MP5 per 1% critical / Intellect per 1% crit (remembering to include talents and buffs)

Inspiration Intellect MP5 for discipline = 10.1586 / 132.0158 = 0.0769
Inspiration Intellect MP5 for holy = 11.1299 / 151.8182 = 0.0733

Final critical related stat weightings are:

Discipline

• Critical rating
  • Base critical rating MP5 weighting = 0.6290
  • Divine Aegis critical rating MP5 weighting = 0.5661
  • Inspiration critical rating MP5 weighting = 0.2213
• Intellect
  • Base Intellect MP5 weighting = 0.2187
  • Divine Aegis Intellect MP5 weighting = 0.1969
  • Inspiration Intellect MP5 weighting = 0.0769

Holy:

• Critical rating
  • Base critical MP5 weighting = 0.6752
  • SoL critical rating MP5 weighting = 0.2029
  • Inspiration critical rating MP5 weighting = 0.2424
• Intellect
  • Base Intellect MP5 weighting = 0.2042
  • SoL Intellect MP5 weighting = 0.0614
  • Inspiration Intellect MP5 weighting = 0.0733

Finally next we conclude with the summary.

Posted in Priest

v3.3

Time to look at haste. Haste is a trickier creature to calculate as there are two main aspects to it:

1. More haste allows faster casting which means more throughput
2. More haste also increases the chance that a spell will be cast just-in-time to prevent death. The so called ’saving cast’.

The saving casts can not be quantified as far as I am aware as it is dependant on factors such as player skill and latency. We can however estimate the additional throughput that haste grants.

Sections

1. Introduction
2. Mana regeneration including Spell Power and Stamina
3. Mana pool
4. Haste rating
5. Critical rating
6. Summary including LootRank and Pawn values

Assumptions:

• Flash Heal is being spammed (1887 base heal, 80.68% co-efficient and 1.5s cast time)
• Discipline has 2774 spell power
• Holy has 3149 spell power
• 32.8 Haste Rating equals 1% Haste
• Caster currently has zero haste. The effect of moving from 0% to 1% haste is slightly greater than moving from 6% to 7% haste. However the effect on weighting is very small.
• 30% over-heal
• Borrowed Time and Serendipity have been ignored as only FH is being spammed.
• Surge of Light procs are ignored.

Firstly we calculate the MP5 value of a Flash Heal. We calculate this so we can figure out how much an additional FH, enabled by haste, is worth.

Flash Heal MP5 value = (base heal + (SP * SP co-efficient)) * SP MP5 value * (1 - overheal %)

Flash Heal MP5 value is 5775 for discipline and 6199 for Holy.

Secondly we need to calculate the number of additional casts 1 Haste Rating allows.

Cast time for 1% Haste = Base Casting Time/(1 + (% Spell Haste / 100))
Cast time for 1% Haste = 1.5/(1 + (1 / 100))

Cast time for 1% Haste = 1.48149
Extra casts for 1% Haste = 1.5 - Caste time for 1% Haste
Extra casts for 1% Haste = 1 .5- 1.48149
Extra casts for 1% Haste = 0.014851
Extra casts for 1% Haste (%) = Extra casts for 1% Haste/ Base cast time
Extra casts for 1% Haste (%) = 0.014851 / 1.5
Extra casts for 1% Haste (%) = 0.990099%
Extra casts for 1 Haste Rating = Extra casts for 1% Haste / Haste Rating per Haste
Extra casts for 1 Haste Rating = 0.009901 / 32.8
Extra casts for 1 Haste Rating = 0.030186%

So for each 1 Haste Rating you get 0.030186% additional casts. Not much eh? Thirdly we bring the parts together to calculate how much MP5 value 1 Haste Rating brings.

Haste Rating MP5 value from additional healing = FH MP5 value per second * extra casts for 1 Haste Rating
Haste Rating MP5 value (Disc) from additional healing = 5775 / 1.5 * 0.030186%
Haste Rating MP5 value (Disc) from additional healing = 1.1621

Haste Rating MP5 value (Holy) from additional healing = 6199 / 1.5 * 0.030186%

Haste Rating MP5 value (Holy) from additional healing = 1.2475

Now this additional healing throughput comes at a cost. Casting more Flash Heals heals for more but also consumes more mana. So we need to deduct the additonal mana consumption.

Mana consumption per haste rating (MP5) = Flash Heal mana cost * extra casts for 1 Haste Rating / Flash Heal cast time * 5
Mana consumption per haste rating (MP5) (Disc) = 528 * 0.030186% / 1.5 * 5
Mana consumption per haste rating (MP5) (Disc) = 0.5312

Mana consumption per haste rating (MP5) (Holy) = 621 * 0.030186% / 1.5 * 5

Mana consumption per haste rating (MP5) (Holy) = 0.6248

Final value of haste rating is additional healing minus additional mana cost or:

• Haste Rating MP5 value for Discipline = 1.1621 – 0.5312 = 0.6309
• Haste Rating MP5 value for Holy = 1.2475 – 0.6248 = 0.6227

Using this model, at about a spell power to MP5 ratio of about 1:1 the additional throughput generated by haste rating is equal to the the additional mana cost of casting the spells. Thus at ratios less than these I suggest a floor value of 0 for haste rating MP5 value be used instead of a negative value.

Next is critical rating.

Posted in Priest

v3.3

Just a quickie.

I’m going to reconsider the holy intellect/spirit balance with an eye to taking a couple of hundred spirit off them and adding it to intellect.  I’ve been stalking a lot of holy priests and all have more intellect than spirit.  So the holy numbers will change before I do the gear lists.

I might also extend the fight duration out to 8 minutes from 6 minutes.  If I do this both the discipline and holy numbers will change slightly.

One interesting thing I discovered while checking out the holies is there is two main gearing methods  in use ATM.

Intellect stacking – Just like disc some holies are stacking intellect.  These guys tend to have similar intellect/spirit balances to disc priests.  For example 1500 Int and 900 spirit.  These players have low spell power usually around 2400.

Spirit stacking – These priests are behaving as I expected and stacking carrying intellect and spirit in about equal measures.  They tend to have about 1300 intellect and 1200 spirit.  These priests tend to have much higher spell power at about 3000.

Anyway watch this space regarding slight changes to stat weights.

Gobble gobble.

Posted in Priest

v3.3

Next we look at mana pool and abilities which effect mana pool. There a number of parts to discuss in this post. Base mana pool and calculating the effective MP5 of a static mana pool for a specific fight duration is first followed by Replenishment, Shadowfiend and Rapture for disc priests.

Sections

1. Introduction
2. Mana regeneration including Spell Power and Stamina
3. Mana pool
4. Haste rating
5. Critical rating
6. Summary including LootRank and Pawn values

Assumptions:

• MP5 for mana pools is based on a 6 minute (360s) fight over which the entire mana pool is depleted.
• Discipline has 1741 Intellect
• Holy has 1197 Intellect
• Replenishment is assumed to have an 80% uptime and returns 1% of the mana pool every five seconds.
• Shadowfiend returns 5% of the mana pool per hit and strikes for an average of 10 times per use. It is only used once per 6 minute fight.
• Rapture returns 2.5% of the mana pool each time it procs and does so once every 15s. In theory it can proc every 12s but this seems unlikely in reality. I have also ignored multiple, simultaneous procs.

Mana pool

This is also called maximum mana. To calculate the MP5 value of this firstly we need to calculate what the mana pool actually is. This calculation is fairly straight forward.

Maximum mana = Base mana + 20 + (15 x (Intellect - 20))

Base mana@80 is 3836 so the maximum mana is 29678 for Disc and 21511 for Holy. Over a 6 minute fight this is (Maximum mana/360)x5 = MP5 or 412 MP5 for Disc and 299 MP5 for Holy.

The Intellect MP5 weighting for additonal mana granted by intellect is:
Intellect MP5 weighting = Mana gained per Intellect / Fight time (s) * 5


15 mana is gained per point in intellect so the Intellect MP5 weighting is:

• Intellect MP5 weighting for Discipline maximum mana = 0.2635
• Intellect MP5 weighting for Holy maximum mana = 0.2291

The difference between dicipline and holy arises from Mental Strength], which grants 15% additional intellect to discipline priests.

Replenishment

Replenishment MP5 = Maximum mana x uptime x mana return per five seconds

This results in 29678 x 80% x 1% = 237 MP5 for Discipline and 21511 x 80% x 1% = 172 MP5 for Holy.

The Intellect MP5 weighting for Replenishment = Replenishment Mp5/Intellect (base intellect before talents and buffs) so we get these weightings:

• Intellect MP5 weighting for Discipline Replenishment = 0.1518
• Intellect MP5 weighting for Holy Replenishment = 0.132

Shadowfiend

Shadowfiend MP5 = (Maximum mana x mana return per hit x number of hits) / Fight duration in seconds x 5

This results in (29678 x 5% x 10) / 360 x 5 = 206 MP5 for Discipline and (21511 x 5% x 10) / 360 x 5 = 149 MP5 for Holy. For this calculation I have ignored the fairly common practice of using Shadowfiend and Hymn of Hope together. Mainly because its not always possible for a priest to channel Hymn of Hope for the duration of Shadowfiend.

The Intellect MP5 weighting for Shadowfiend = Shadowfiend Mp5/base Intellect so we get these weightings:

• Intellect MP5 weighting for Discipline Shadowfiend = 0.1317
• Intellect MP5 weighting for Holy Shadowfiend = 0.1145

Rapture

Rapture MP5 = ((Maximum mana x mana return per proc) x (1/proc frequency)) x 5
Rapture MP5 = (29678 x 2.5%) x (1/15) x 5
Rapture MP5 = 247

The Intellect MP5 weighting for Rapture = Rapture Mp5/base Intellect so we get this weighting:

• Intellect MP5 weighting for Discipline Rapture = 0.1581

Mana pool complete. Next is haste rating.

Posted in Priest