How Much DPS Do You Do?
I received a tell from a Rogue buddy of mine from my T6 days in Dominion. He was helping his guild (not Dominion anymore) put together a weekend Naxx25. I had previously mentioned to him I'd love to go on one of my alts if they needed people.
I thought about the Warrior briefly but decided against it. He has only had a couple of pieces crafted so far. The Titansteel Mace, and Titansteel DPS helm for his DPS set, and the Titansteel ShieldWall, Titansteel Tank Helm, Daunting Legguards and Daunting Legplates for his Tank set. Mostly we was still in quested blues and greens. The group would really have had to carry him.
The other issue against the Warrior was the raid was stacked with melee dps and plate. Just one of ther Warrior but 2 or 3 Death Knights and 4 or 5 Paladins. We were actually a little light on Ranged DPS.
So I brought the Hunter out of mothballs. Granted, he's not all that well geared either, but he does have mostly ilevel 200 gear.
The run was mostly a guild run with about 8 or so PuGs like me. It took two nights, but we cleared the place top to bottom.
Overall I was pretty happy with my performance. I was usually running in the top 10 for DPS. Not great, but also not bad for an alt.
The run was eye opening from me from the sense that I came to an understanding that you really can't answer the 'what kind of dps do you do?' question. Do I use the number for the whole run? Just for Bosses, and if so which Boss? My DPS fluctuated from Boss to Boss. So I decided to use Patchwerk as my DPS number. Patchwerk is a stand there and shoot him until dead kind of fight and it doesn't have any mechanic that's a real danger to Watch, my Mulgore Prairie Wolf. I pulled 2.5k on Patchwerk. I have to say I was pretty happy with that number. It feels like it took far longer for me to hit 2k with Honorshammer.
Even better, I know I can hit higher numbers with better play.
I'm not watching my two DoTs (Black Arrow and Serpent Sting) very well. Sometimes I would hit Serpent Sting well before it was going to expire, and other times I would let it fall off. Black Arrow is a bit easier, I just fire it every time it's off cooldown.
I'm really bad at watching for Load and Load procs. I need something to come up on my screen and yell at me "Hey dummy, Lock and Load proc'ed, you might want to use it!"
I've also got to get better at managing my Pet. He died on Heigan, Sapphrion and Kel'Thuzad. Each fight I rezzed him and kept him at my side, but KT was kind enough to kill him again.
I managed to pick up a non Tier chest and my Tier Legs for him. You were limited to two epics for the night, unless no one wanted it, then it didn't count. There was only one other Hunter in the raid. Then you could get another single epic from KT/Sapph. I was hoping the gun would drop, but I had no such luck.
It's funny but even though my Hunter is an alt in mostly blue BoEs and crafted stuff, there isn't much he needs from Heroics. The biggest need out of heroics would actually be rep for Head Enchant. Most of his upgrades come from Raids, which makes it difficult to gear him up further unless I raid with him which will pretty much only happen in PuGs, even if they are mostly guild runs like this weekend. I did tell my friend to invite me if they go next weekend.
It was fun to see the fights from a new perspective. You don't have to worry about the whole 'will I get to play my role (tank) on this fight'. You DPS and DPS hard every fight. Well, except for Gluth where I was a kiter. I did okay, Gluth died, but I know I could do that job better with some practice.
I thought about the Warrior briefly but decided against it. He has only had a couple of pieces crafted so far. The Titansteel Mace, and Titansteel DPS helm for his DPS set, and the Titansteel ShieldWall, Titansteel Tank Helm, Daunting Legguards and Daunting Legplates for his Tank set. Mostly we was still in quested blues and greens. The group would really have had to carry him.
The other issue against the Warrior was the raid was stacked with melee dps and plate. Just one of ther Warrior but 2 or 3 Death Knights and 4 or 5 Paladins. We were actually a little light on Ranged DPS.
So I brought the Hunter out of mothballs. Granted, he's not all that well geared either, but he does have mostly ilevel 200 gear.
The run was mostly a guild run with about 8 or so PuGs like me. It took two nights, but we cleared the place top to bottom.
Overall I was pretty happy with my performance. I was usually running in the top 10 for DPS. Not great, but also not bad for an alt.
The run was eye opening from me from the sense that I came to an understanding that you really can't answer the 'what kind of dps do you do?' question. Do I use the number for the whole run? Just for Bosses, and if so which Boss? My DPS fluctuated from Boss to Boss. So I decided to use Patchwerk as my DPS number. Patchwerk is a stand there and shoot him until dead kind of fight and it doesn't have any mechanic that's a real danger to Watch, my Mulgore Prairie Wolf. I pulled 2.5k on Patchwerk. I have to say I was pretty happy with that number. It feels like it took far longer for me to hit 2k with Honorshammer.
Even better, I know I can hit higher numbers with better play.
I'm not watching my two DoTs (Black Arrow and Serpent Sting) very well. Sometimes I would hit Serpent Sting well before it was going to expire, and other times I would let it fall off. Black Arrow is a bit easier, I just fire it every time it's off cooldown.
I'm really bad at watching for Load and Load procs. I need something to come up on my screen and yell at me "Hey dummy, Lock and Load proc'ed, you might want to use it!"
I've also got to get better at managing my Pet. He died on Heigan, Sapphrion and Kel'Thuzad. Each fight I rezzed him and kept him at my side, but KT was kind enough to kill him again.
I managed to pick up a non Tier chest and my Tier Legs for him. You were limited to two epics for the night, unless no one wanted it, then it didn't count. There was only one other Hunter in the raid. Then you could get another single epic from KT/Sapph. I was hoping the gun would drop, but I had no such luck.
It's funny but even though my Hunter is an alt in mostly blue BoEs and crafted stuff, there isn't much he needs from Heroics. The biggest need out of heroics would actually be rep for Head Enchant. Most of his upgrades come from Raids, which makes it difficult to gear him up further unless I raid with him which will pretty much only happen in PuGs, even if they are mostly guild runs like this weekend. I did tell my friend to invite me if they go next weekend.
It was fun to see the fights from a new perspective. You don't have to worry about the whole 'will I get to play my role (tank) on this fight'. You DPS and DPS hard every fight. Well, except for Gluth where I was a kiter. I did okay, Gluth died, but I know I could do that job better with some practice.
Comments
I actually had a fairly interesting raid weekend and need to get a post or 2 up about it when I get home.
My hunter is currently MM and I find it much simpler to play then SV. While I can get around 200 or so more dps as SV you have to follow many more things. If you are having an issue managing procs and dot timers I would recommend giving MM a try. MM is still competitive dps and is much simpler to manage since with Chimera shot you don't have to manage any dots at all.
After that it is just hitting whatever shot is off cd and steadyshot inbetween. Also you need to make sure you are tracking something whenever you have improved tracking talented. Also not sure what ammo you are using but Mammoth Cutters give a decent increase in dps. My hunter sounds like she is similarly geared and typically runs at around 2.7k dps.
I also use this to remind me when I have aspect of the viper up, and when my serpent sting/mark falls off a mob.
Good luck
It takes a bit of configuration but that addon can be a huge help reminding you of things.
I use it on all my characters including my Paladin tank, informing me of missing buffs, etc.
Wankster of Magtheridon
This is an interesting opportunity to tie this post back to your post about the Emblem changes coming in 3.2 - which will make gearing this guy easier and actually make it possible to raid at higher levels with your guild, should you choose to do so.