5.4 Spec/Talents

[timoseewho]

With 5.4 around the corner and all the changes/loot/tiers out in the open, what spec/talent is everyone going to go with once it goes live? Have the numbers been ran somewhere? How do our tier bonuses affect our choice of spec? The changes that strictly affect dps seem to be:
Overall
- Arcane Shot now deals 125% ranged weapon damage (up from 100%) and had its focus cost increased by 50%.
- Stampede damage dealt by pets when the ability is used outside of an Arena or Battleground is no longer reduced by 75%.
- A Murder of Crows now deals 40% more damage.
BM
- Beast Cleave's range has been increased to 10 yards (up from 8 yards).
- Kill Command damage has been increased by 15%.
MM
- Aimed Shot now deals 400% ranged weapon damage (up from 350%).
SV
- Explosive Shot damage has been increased by 18%.
2P
- Aimed Shot, Arcane Shot and Multi-shot reduce the cooldown of Rapid Fire by 4 seconds per cast.
4P
- Explosive Shot casts have a 40% chance to not consume a charge of Lock and Load. Instant Aimed shots reduce the cast time of your next Aimed Shot by 50%. Offensive abilities used during Bestial Wrath increase all damage you deal by 4% and all damage dealt by your pet by 2%, stacking up to 5 times.

Let me know if I'm missing anything here. I just wanna open up some more discussion as the patch draws closer.

[Shockymonkey]

I will personally be staying Survival Main and BM Off for PvE.

Stat Priority Crit>haste >Mastery


Talents
15 -Situational.
30 - Situatinal.
45 - I will continue to be using Iron Hawk.
60 - After playing with ToTH a bit more this one seems to be doing well for survival and it complements the 2P tier bonus.
75 - Sticking with blink strikes, even though AmoC got buff, without readiness to refresh the usage ("uptime") it won't be better.
90 - Barrage or Glaive depends on AoE or single target still.


As for numbers it seems like middle of pack.

[timoseewho]

I was thinking the same too, though BM main and SV off (BM for single target and add fights where the adds are close enough and die relatively fast, SV for the rest). As for stat priority, I think your way is the safest bet for now hehe. What do you feel about the AMoC change? With the stupid pathing from BS bugging all the time, I just feel that an AMoC buff would be enough to make me switch lol.

[Kaeth]

I'm still torn between affliction and demonology.

[Jeremypwnz]

I'm still torn between affliction and demonology.

Crit Demo.

[Kissthebaby]

I will personally be staying Survival Main and BM Off for PvE.

Stat Priority Crit>haste >Mastery


Talents
15 -Situational.
30 - Situatinal.
45 - I will continue to be using Iron Hawk.
60 - After playing with ToTH a bit more this one seems to be doing well for survival and it complements the 2P tier bonus.
75 - Barrage or Glaive depends on AoE or single target still.


As for numbers it seems like middle of pack.

75 is blink strikes, murder of crows, and lynx rush
90 is glaive toss and barrage

[Shockymonkey]

75 is blink strikes, murder of crows, and lynx rush
90 is glaive toss and barrage

Yup, realized that and fixed it.


As for tier 75 talents. Amoc is only as good as the amount of times you can use it during a fight while keeping a 100% uptime on it. Before with readiness you would be able to apply it more times during a fight. While Blink strikes is a passive that doesn't rely on readiness it won't be affected by the removal of readiness.

[Perrito]

Yup, realized that and fixed it.


As for tier 75 talents. Amoc is only as good as the amount of times you can use it during a fight while keeping a 100% uptime on it. Before with readiness you would be able to apply it more times during a fight. While Blink strikes is a passive that doesn't rely on readiness it won't be affected by the removal of readiness.

the buff to AMoC still a nerf on a 5 min fight, on a 10 min fight still a nerf.

with readiness:

-------0-----30-----1-----1:30-----2-----2:30-----3-----3:30-----4-----4:30-----5-----5:30-----6-----6:30-----7
Old: 100--100----------------------------100-----------------------------100----100-----------------------------100=600
New: 140--------------------------140-----------------------------140-----------------------------140----------------=560
so in order to be a buff from old the fight needs to be 6:30 min, anything less and you are getting less, 30 sec more and you getting less. this dosnt take into account when you can use the whole duration of AMOC sub 1 min.

before blink strikes was almost on par with AMOC for survival taking into account focus and gcds lost by AMoC, AMoC would come ahead but that isnt the case anymore. so i think he is right.

[eschatological]

I think AMoC will be smoother with BM now that you don't have the 30s offset of your second AMoC (on ST, that is) from the Readiness. I don't know if it'll be better, per se, but optimal AMoC usage (especially within BW) will be easy to manage.

Keeping it at 60 focus in SV is going to make me go with Blink Strikes in SV. It's kind of counterintuitive since you'd think you want BS for BM and AMoC for SV, but I'm playing around with it a bit. If Blizz succeeds with their philosophy of the active ability being better than the passive (big if there), I think AMoC might be truly powerful in BM.

[Deleted]

I think AMoC will be smoother with BM now that you don't have the 30s offset of your second AMoC (on ST, that is) from the Readiness. I don't know if it'll be better, per se, but optimal AMoC usage (especially within BW) will be easy to manage.

Keeping it at 60 focus in SV is going to make me go with Blink Strikes in SV. It's kind of counterintuitive since you'd think you want BS for BM and AMoC for SV, but I'm playing around with it a bit. If Blizz succeeds with their philosophy of the active ability being better than the passive (big if there), I think AMoC might be truly powerful in BM.

Also with ToTH "fixed" and arcane shot proccing from itself, theres no reason to pick Fervor over it, unless you need a 100% reliable source of focus for some big burst phase. Not picking fervor really hurts AmoC usage, but somehow it also undervalues BS, to a lesser point.
If nothing changes in this 2 weeks the spec choice will vary from boss to boss, being BM slightly superior overall, but also depending a lot on the set bonuses and trinkets. It looks like the whole 4pc benefits SV the most, but AoC BW reduction+4 piece will be a good boost. On the other hand, if you have Haromm's and not AoC, you will most likely go SV, as the trinket yields 1.5-2% more dps for SV, which is the whole difference between specs in raw, simulated damage. BM will still be overall superior, but not to the point of late 5.3, making the choice viable.

[Deleted]

mindfkd sry
wrong calculated

[ReklessJonez]

So IS no body even considering Going MM? I've been Doing some testing on the PTR. I feel like if you have enough haste a MM Power shot build would be nice. Ive gotten my Power shot down to 1.68sec cast. I like the numbers I get from MM..... But where does it stand for you guys? Ive read every comment and not one person said anything about MM..Is that a bad sign for the spec? I'm really tired of "No Path Available", "You pet is to far away", "Invalid target" DAMN YOU CAST KC!!!!!!!!!! "Ragin'"

[Bisso]

There is nothing scientific about what I'm going to say, but the 4pc bonus to SV will make me want to play SV soooo bad. I already like LnL proc spams, now that I can get even more this patch, I think I will gladly sacrifice DPS for that.

[timoseewho]

Will the 4P mess up ES ticks in any way? From my understanding of the change they made, it shouldn't, but who knows lol.

[Shockymonkey]

Will the 4P mess up ES ticks in any way? From my understanding of the change they made, it shouldn't, but who knows lol.

Won't make a difference, ES doesn't "tick" like it did last expansion.