Demonology Action Priority List

[Teye]

I was wondering if anyone knows how to write a line or two for Simcraft for jumping into Meta while HoG is on travel time. I personally never cast a single HoG without having it either stack twice, or having it land while I'm in Meta for the extra damage on SF. I want to see how this effects the stat weights for Mastery, and how much more important it makes the 8064 haste cap for the extra SF tick.

Thanks, and Merry Christmas.

[Brusalk]

If you want to write a conditional for when hand of guldan is in flight you can use the following.

action.hand_of_guldan.in_flight

and use it like the following:

actions+=/metamorphosis,if=buff.dark_soul.up|dot.corruption.remains<5|demonic_fury>=900|demonic_fury>=target.time_to_die*30|action.hand_of_guldan.in_flight

I simulated demo with that added into the T14H apl and it simmed at 116342 DPS. The default was 116691 with error of 36dps. So a dps loss the way I coded it, but I did it just to test if that works.

[Teye]

I simulated demo with that added into the T14H apl and it simmed at 116342 DPS. The default was 116691 with error of 36dps. So a dps loss the way I coded it, but I did it just to test if that works.

Thanks. I also need to modify the cancel Meta clause, because its possible to enter and leave meta before HoG even lands. Then you end up with an 8 second CD, and a dps loss. Stat weights will also change, most likely favoring Mastery over Crit, rather than the equal priority my current gear has.

Thanks for the help.

[Brusalk]

Thanks. I also need to modify the cancel Meta clause, because its possible to enter and leave meta before HoG even lands. Then you end up with an 8 second CD, and a dps loss. Stat weights will also change, most likely favoring Mastery over Crit, rather than the equal priority my current gear has.

Thanks for the help.

You're very welcome. Please share the results when you get them!

[Teye]

It doesn't appear that Simcraft is calculating the damage of Shadow Flame while in Meta the same way its calculated in game. The dps of the DoT is exactly the same in the normal results and the results from the modified APL. That leads to a dps loss because of the wasted transitions into Meta and the CD. In game however, its a clear cut increase every time you weave meta with your HoG.

This is some testing I did a about a month ago, and posted the results on my guild's forums.

In my gear, 1 stack Shadow Flame normally ticks for about 3.5k with no procs up. With Meta, 1 stack Shadow Flame ticks for about 4.4k. 2 stacks without Meta tick for 7.2k. In Meta, 2 stacks tick for 8.9k. In Meta, with Dark Soul, 10.5k. Once I settle into the normal rotation, I only dip into Meta if I need to refresh Doom, and whenever I have a HoG in travel time.

Weaving HoG in this way has landed me multiple #1 rankings on WoLs, and a top 5 ranking for every non-heroic fight of the tier so far. However, Simcraft shows Crit>Mastery for my weights, and I don't think that's correct for the way I'm playing. That's the purpose of this thread.

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte.../Teye/advanced

My Armory^

I'm by no means god's gift to Warlocks, but I strongly believe that this style of playing Demonology, when done properly leads to much higher dps.

http://worldoflogs.com/reports/4vzyw...?s=8286&e=8583

An example log of Feng 10 normal from last week. Notice how Shadowflame is 10.8% of my damage done.

Compare that with this log of another Demonology Warlock on Feng 10N who has 4 set.

http://worldoflogs.com/reports/rt-3m...=11988&e=12246

He's not doing the same thing with HoG, and as a result SF is only 6% of his damage done, and we did nearly identical dps.

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte...hhweh/advanced

His Armory^

I could be completely wrong, but it seems to me that everyone who is serious about Demonology should be striving to do the rotation this way.

[Brusalk]

It doesn't appear that Simcraft is calculating the damage of Shadow Flame while in Meta the same way its calculated in game. The dps of the DoT is exactly the same in the normal results and the results from the modified APL. That leads to a dps loss because of the wasted transitions into Meta and the CD. In game however, its a clear cut increase every time you weave meta with your HoG.

This is some testing I did a about a month ago, and posted the results on my guild's forums.



Weaving HoG in this way has landed me multiple #1 rankings on WoLs, and a top 5 ranking for every non-heroic fight of the tier so far. However, Simcraft shows Crit>Mastery for my weights, and I don't think that's correct for the way I'm playing. That's the purpose of this thread.

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte.../Teye/advanced

My Armory^

I'm by no means god's gift to Warlocks, but I strongly believe that this style of playing Demonology, when done properly leads to much higher dps.

http://worldoflogs.com/reports/4vzyw...?s=8286&e=8583

An example log of Feng 10 normal from last week. Notice how Shadowflame is 10.8% of my damage done.

Compare that with this log of another Demonology Warlock on Feng 10N who has 4 set.

http://worldoflogs.com/reports/rt-3m...=11988&e=12246

He's not doing the same thing with HoG, and as a result SF is only 6% of his damage done, and we did nearly identical dps.

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte...hhweh/advanced

His Armory^

I could be completely wrong, but it seems to me that everyone who is serious about Demonology should be striving to do the rotation this way.

I'd strongly suggest opening an issue/ticket with simcraft to get this (obvious) bug fixed. If you can mark it as high-priority and be sure to explain exactly what the problem is.

[Deleted]

It is indeed a good dps boost to meta in this case and indeed also, Demo's action priority list is quite pitiful at the moment, especially concerning HoG (not because it is not optimized but because some tools are missing to get good results).

[Zmaniac17]

This is what I came up with for a HoG weaving macro.

/castsequence [stance:0] reset=1 Hand of Gul'dan, Metamorphosis; [stance:1] Touch of Chaos, Metamorphosis

[Teye]

This is what I came up with for a HoG weaving macro. The unending breath is there to make sure that the HoG lands before popping you out of meta. It's apparently free to cast unending breath in meta, warlocks are so OP!

/castsequence [stance:0] reset=1 Hand of Gul'dan, Metamorphosis; [stance:1] Unending Breath, Metamorphosis

This also ensures that you will never drown due to tunneling dps and not paying attention to the rising tide.

If you manage your Fury properly, this should never be worth doing. Just ToC until Corruption is above 22~ seconds, and then hop out.

[Zmaniac17]

If you manage your Fury properly, this should never be worth doing. Just ToC until Corruption is above 22~ seconds, and then hop out.

Then just replace unending breath with ToC.

[lichanator]

Ok so this got me to test it out.

I casted 15 Hog's with out going into meta, then 15 with. It turned out to be a 120k differnce in favour of going into meta. no buffs.

A couple questions.

1.I couldn't cast 2 before going into meta without the first one hitting before I transformed. So are you doing one at a time? and just roatating everythimg it's up.

2. If there are 4 to 5 adds, does the shadowflame damage out weigh the Chaos Wave damage hit? or would you cast 1 Hog, transform, 1 Chaos wave?

I found that casting one touch of chaos in meta after transforming then going back to caster form was ideal for keeping corruption up. My biggest concern is fury generation becasue were depleting it little bit by little bit. Like if I see my DS comming up with about 15 secs, I like to get my bar full so I have over 800 fury for a DS burn in 4 piece.

[Deleted]

1.I couldn't cast 2 before going into meta without the first one hitting before I transformed. So are you doing one at a time? and just roatating everythimg it's up.

Onle meta on the second one, of course.

2. If there are 4 to 5 adds, does the shadowflame damage out weigh the Chaos Wave damage hit? or would you cast 1 Hog, transform, 1 Chaos wave?

HoG > Chaos Wave, be it 1 or 10000 targets.

[Zinnin]

It is indeed a good dps boost to meta in this case and indeed also, Demo's action priority list is quite pitiful at the moment, especially concerning HoG (not because it is not optimized but because some tools are missing to get good results).

This is ridiculously true. I can increase my personal DPS in simcraft by almost 5-8% just by optimizing trinket \ meta use. Demo's dps is so reliant on using meta correctly with your trinkets and other cooldowns that it is very difficult to write a solid list that will work for everyone.

[Teye]

This is something I wrote up for a guildie who was trying Demonology on an alt.

SB = Shadow Bolt
HoG = Hand of Gul'dan
ToC = Touch of Chaos
SF = Soul Fire
CoE = Curse of Elements
Corr = Corruption
Service = Service Felguard
DS= Dark Soul
SFD = Shadow Flame DoT
MC= Molten Core

Pre-pot/SB>HoG>CoE(If no one else provides it)>Corr>Imps>Service>DS>HoG>SF>Meta>Doom

That's the basic opener. With 3036 haste, and 5% raid haste, your GCD is short enough that the 2nd HoG will land while the first SFD is at .2 seconds remaining (If you don't have to CoE, it'll be 1.2 seconds, but there's nothing else with a 1 second GCD you can cast to fill that gap). You'll get a 2 stack like that. Going into Meta immediately following a HoG will cause the HoG that's landing to benefit from Meta, and Meta benefits from SFD, so you end up with a double damage (2 stack) SFD that's buffed by 131% (In my current gear, as a fresh 90 I think it was about 115%). SFD normally ticks for 3.7k without raid buffs. With a double stack and the extra 131%, it ticks for 16.8k.

ToC spam until HoG has 1 second left on its first charge. You should be low on Fury by this point. Pop out of Meta>SF>HoG>Meta>ToC spam. (If for some really odd reason you don't have a Molten Core proc, you can Fel Flame twice. It costs less mana than Soul Fire, and generates the same 30 Fury. If both Crit, it'll even do more damage than SF, but if one doesn't, its less.) At this point, DS should have about 5 seconds left, and that HoG+SF generates just enough Fury for you to ToC 5 more times before DS falls off. Once DS falls, you leave Meta, and start a "conservation phase".

During this, you want to be watching the CD on HoG and DS very closely. HoG is a 15 second CD, so after 8 HoGs, DS will come back off CD. The first one was just used at the tail end of DS, and you want to save the last 2. So, for the next 5 HoGs, this is the rotation.

SF to burn MC procs>SB until HoG is off CD>HoG>Meta>ToC twice>drop Meta>SF to burn MC procs>SB until HoG is off CD>HoG>Meta> etc etc.

Once you hit 30 seconds left on your DS CD, you want to use 1 last HoG. Keep generating Fury after you leave Meta, use Imps as soon as they come off CD (They generate LOADS of Fury, and at 3036 haste, they come off CD after about 1:45). The HoG that comes off CD at :15 seconds, you want to hold. Once you have less that 5 seconds left on your CD for a 2nd HoG stack (5 seconds left on DS CD as well) HoG>SB or SF twice>HoG>DS>Meta>Service. This will give you the 2 stack again, and from there its all rinse and repeat.

Obviously, its written without 4 set in mind because I still don't even have 2 set. All the same ideas still apply though.

[lichanator]

One question with your action list there, wouldn't it be more beneficial to hold your imps and ds for your trinket procs then cast them, same with service, I hold them back till my two trinkets pop, normaly after about 6 secs into fight?

So it would go

Pre-pot/Shadow Bolt>corruption>coe>shadowbolt>Hog>DS>Imps>Service>Hog>Meta>Doom>TOC usually you should be at 300 fury and it lasts for about 6 to 8 TOC's before having to shift back,

I added the extra Shadow bolt in there to make sure trinkets proc,

[Teye]

One question with your action list there, wouldn't it be more beneficial to hold your imps and ds for your trinket procs then cast them, same with service, I hold them back till my two trinkets pop, normaly after about 6 secs into fight?

So it would go

Pre-pot/Shadow Bolt>corruption>coe>shadowbolt>Hog>DS>Imps>Service>Hog>Meta>Doom>TOC usually you should be at 300 fury and it lasts for about 6 to 8 TOC's before having to shift back,

I added the extra Shadow bolt in there to make sure trinkets proc,

They benefit dynamically, to my knowledge. All 'guardian' type pets do.