Quesrions regarding Breath of Sindragosa timings and scenarios

[kwaky]

I recently started playing unholy with BoS and I have some questions. I read the guide on sonofalich and looked through the posts here on mmo-champ, so hopefully I'm avoiding asking repeat questions.

1. The answer given when asked about switching to unholy is after you have obtained 4pc and the legendary ring. However, does itemization matter? I currently still have mastery heavy gear from playing frost, and my multistrike is currently sitting at 22% unbuffed. Doesn't MS a lot in terms of damage for BoS? So even with low MS, is it still worth playing BoS as long as you get 4pc and legendary?

2. BoS should always be used with the legendary ring buff, right? So if there is a scenario where your guild holds off on ring for certain phases, you should also hold off on BoS, correct?

3. Currently my first BoS lasts around 18-20 seconds at pull (without AMS). My issue is usually with subsequent BoS casts, where they usually only last around 10 seconds. Without ERW, the main way of extending BoS would be through AMS soaking. However, it feels like it's completely luck based because the boss might not use a soakable ability when the ring is used. Am I doing something wrong here? Are you supposed to time the ring so that it coincides with a boss using an ability that can be soaked? That sucks for people in a raid where they don't control the ring usage timings.

As it stands BoS is never my #1 damage ability, although on logs for top DKs it usually is. I'm starting to feel that perhaps the BoS playstyle is not for me, although I'm sure things will improve with practice / gear (poor itemization, lacking trinkets).

Thanks for reading.

[Clayney0]

1. 4pc and Legendary Ring are definitely mandatory for BoS. Multistrike is (after strength ofc) the best stat for Unholy, not only for BoS, so you should probably go over your gear and try to get some more pieces with Multistrike or hope for rng on Bonus Sockets. The Iron Maidens Trinket is really strong, and still BiS for BoS. It shouldn't be to much of a hustle to get your hands on that, especially on heroic. Maybe you can convince your guild to help you out on Mythic Iron Maidens, because with randoms you'll probably wipe on Thogar and Maidens multiple times and disband the raid after. Been there, done that.

2. Always use BoS with Legendary Ring. Maybe write down some notes on when your Guild uses Ring, and try to pool 100 RP and some Blood Tap stacks when you know that the Ring will be used soon.

3. 18-20 seconds at pull is decent, I'd say 25+ is good. If you can soak abilities with AMS, it will boost your DPS immensely. This will ofc take some time to figure out when it's best to use AMS, I can give you a good example if you want.
Subsequent BoS uptime of 10sec is really low tbh, as I said, try to pool 100 RP and some Blood Tap stacks when you know that the Ring will be used soon.

I'm pretty sure you're running Plague Leech when playing BoS, even though you didn't mention it. Eventually, you will have 1-2 GCD downtime while BoS is up, and Plague Leech will help you gap that bridge.

I've goon through some of my logs, and BoS is almost always 1st or on par with Gargoyle Strike.

BoS is a really difficult Ability to master, but tbh if you're raiding Mythic on a "higher level", you should stick with it and try to maximize your uptime. Maybe you can test it on a raid dummy (I don't know if this is effective, because you're lacking Raid Buffs, no AMS soaking and probably Blood Lust if you don't have drums) or in LFR/Heroic Raids.

Maybe it would help if you can link me your Armory/Logs - If you can't link them here, you can send me a PM.

TL;DR:
Multistrike > all
Always use it with Ring and (if you have it) Maidens Trinket
Aim at a uptime of 25+ on pull and 15-20 on subsequent uses with AMS soaking.
Try to figure out the best "rotation" (that word is really misleading i feel) for your Level of Gear
Practice it over and over!