PvE Guide for the Arms Warrior

[voidillusion]

Well, assuming BiS gear on a tank and spank fight (as usual) the expected difference between your normal
rotation and your execute rotation is ~10k dps (so 2k over the course of the fight).
The expected difference if you do not have Executioner is only ~5k (1k over the course of the fight).

I personally consider Executioner to be a fairly big deal but whether you think the trade is worth it or not
is obviously up to you!

Thanks for the info.

[Akitric]

Heroic Madness Bladestorm = broken <3

[bruisertank]

Hello. I wanted to ask about macroing stance changes into certain abilities. This was brought up early in the thread but I didn't see a conclusive response to it and stopped scrolling around page 8.

There seems to be a time loss when using overpower from berserker stance before the macro can get you into battle stance and then allow you to use the ability. I'm not seeing a corresponding time loss when using MS or CS which have a stance change into berserker before the attack should happen. My best guess is this is happening b/c OP is not usable in berserker but MS and CS, for example, are usable in battle. If this is the case this would seem to imply, for whatever reason, that MS and CS, despite having the stance change coded into the macro before the actual attacks, are in fact happening in battle stance, not berserker like the macro intends. Can anyone verify that this set of stance dance macros in the guide actually increases dps? Because the lag I'm seeing when using OP from berserker is disturbing and makes me want to scrap these macros altogether. Thanks.

[smn]

There is a delay when casting overpower while in berserker stance because you need to press the button once to swap stance and once to cast op, I don't know if that delay is present or not when casting ms,cs. Βut that by itself doesn't make stance dancing a dps loss since you only have to press the button in advance(which you should already do).Stance dancing is about a 3% increase if done correctly(there are numerous threaδs on how to do it correctly) and your lag usually won't worsen it,what's your ping?

[Teye]

The trick to Stance Dancing is knowing what ability you're going to cast next, and to start spamming it as soon as the last ability's GCD has started. This will ensure that you're in the proper stance when the GCD is done. When done properly, there is no delay.

[Shadow-cleave]

The trick to Stance Dancing is knowing what ability you're going to cast next, and to start spamming it as soon as the last ability's GCD has started. This will ensure that you're in the proper stance when the GCD is done. When done properly, there is no delay.

You've also got to make sure that your internet isn't so slow that stance dancing becomes a DPS loss rather than a DPS gain. You've got to hit the right balance.

[Lohe]

You've also got to make sure that your internet isn't so slow that stance dancing becomes a DPS loss rather than a DPS gain. You've got to hit the right balance.

If you change the stance right after you used your previous ability you have over a second for the stance change to "go through". It's ok to have a higher latency, it just requires you to be more proactive in your decision making than someone that plays with a lower latency.

[Zellviren]

Hello. I wanted to ask about macroing stance changes into certain abilities. This was brought up early in the thread but I didn't see a conclusive response to it and stopped scrolling around page 8.

There seems to be a time loss when using overpower from berserker stance before the macro can get you into battle stance and then allow you to use the ability. I'm not seeing a corresponding time loss when using MS or CS which have a stance change into berserker before the attack should happen. My best guess is this is happening b/c OP is not usable in berserker but MS and CS, for example, are usable in battle. If this is the case this would seem to imply, for whatever reason, that MS and CS, despite having the stance change coded into the macro before the actual attacks, are in fact happening in battle stance, not berserker like the macro intends. Can anyone verify that this set of stance dance macros in the guide actually increases dps? Because the lag I'm seeing when using OP from berserker is disturbing and makes me want to scrap these macros altogether. Thanks.

The responses from smn, Teye, Shadow-cleave and Lohe are all perfectly legitimate and correct, but…

5.0 is just around the corner. If you’re trying to learn stance-dancing at this late stage I’d advise against it because it’s not going to exist in a couple of months time. The gain in mastering it prior to that isn’t worth the effort at this point, in my humblest of opinions.

[Lohe]

You have a point there but I'd argue that learning something new is never a loss. While the use of stance dancing itself might not become relevant again it helps you learn other things too. Planning ahead is much more important when you stance dance than when you do not and that is something that everyone should aim to get better at.

[Zellviren]

You have a point there but I'd argue that learning something new is never a loss. While the use of stance dancing itself might not become relevant again it helps you learn other things too. Planning ahead is much more important when you stance dance than when you do not and that is something that everyone should aim to get better at.

In general, I’m with you about oiling in the practice of pre-planning. I’m only saying that learning stance dancing and writing piles of macro lines is going to be a waste of time, as the damage gain isn’t worth the effort at this point of Casterclysm.

[Miseration]

I know that the heroic tier shoulders are less than optimal for Arms but, I just won them last night over the 403 backbreaker with the mindset that the str and the crit would be enough to make me alright. is that crazy talk?

[Zellviren]

I know that the heroic tier shoulders are less than optimal for Arms but, I just won them last night over the 403 backbreaker with the mindset that the str and the crit would be enough to make me alright. is that crazy talk?

Not crazy at all, reforging solves a lot of ills – in fact, it also buys you a little breathing room for other slots with regard to the four-piece set bonus.