To Kin or not to Kin

[AbeLincoln]

I like the input most members have on these forums. Just wanted some pros and cons if possible, I'll make this quick and to the point.

In speaking of overall DPS, does Balance or Feral push the top 5?

Been Balance forever, just wanted to see if Feral was worth changing over to, with the new patch coming (no info on Moonkin changes so far) Thanks in advance!

[baseball]

being "good at your class" will push the top 5.


Good luck!

[Degrador]

In general I think Balance far overtakes Feral for pure DPS. Boomkins regularly push 5k+ on patchwerk (I'm sure there'll probably be ones with 6k on WWS) but most of the cat form druids I've seen struggle to even pull 4k.

[Dooudad]

kitties right now with full 25 man gear can be #1 if they get their rotations down. however its not something easy to learn and it can be frustrateing. boomkin right now can also be number 1 depending on the fight with the right gear.

right now in dps its really gear + skill = high end dps not so much class+spec. there are a few diffrences but typically no more then 2-3% diff in specs.

would say if your looking for pushing a guild raid fruther stay boomkin if you have a kitty or bear all ready, and no boomkins as the +5% crit buff is nice and leaves shamans with other totems to drop.

[awake283]

I just hate boomkins, it's so boring.

I back that up with no facts, I just find it really boring.

Who doesn't want to be a kitty?

[Nepenthes]

Kitties are much more cuddly.

The best DPS will come from the spec that works best for your playstyle and preferences... but go cuddle a kitty and then tell me you'd rather be a bird! :-)

[Gilissen]

kitties right now with full 25 man gear can be #1 if they get their rotations down. however its not something easy to learn and it can be frustrateing. boomkin right now can also be number 1 depending on the fight with the right gear.

No no no no No, I don't know in what crazy world you're living in but I don't see any kitty pushing out 6-7k dps which is being reached by multiple specs. I've seen some topnotch geared druids claiming to get 5.5k dps but I don't even want to know what their partymembers are pushing then.

[AbeLincoln]

With my current gear and spec (as Moonkin), I am pulling 3k-3.8k in 10mans.

And we do not have a Feral that is raiding. I am just starting to agree with awake2830 that Moonkin is getting a little boring. So far thanks for the inputs!

[Morganskunk]

It is a hell of alot easier to top meters as boomkin. If that is your goal, you wont top DPS as a kitty. You can push as hard as you want but wont be topping any meters.

The highest kitty I have seen our guilds feral druid who goes kitty when he doesnt need to tank, which was about 4.5 +

Where did you get this 6k from? Rofl :

[Deleted]

You can't "just" compare one spec to the other, cause there are so many factors involved. Lets use Patchwerk as an example:

- Physical or magical heavy group (especially for 10 mans)? If you are a caster in a melee heavy group, you wont have nearly as many benefits if it was the other way around.
- What kind of gear are you up against? Are you "topping meters" because you're good, or because others are slacking? They are subject to #1 aswell.
- How long is the fight? A fight lasting 3m30seconds will yield you two treants. Or maybe bloodlust was popped just after you did your treants. Or maybe you we're extremely lucky with eclipse procs. Or maybe you werent. For cats, some lucky crits to get that last rip in before SR runs out, or maybe you timed a tigers fury just at the rigth time.

There are so many factors, so simply stating "I did x DPS on one fight" means nothing.

[rathok]

I like the input most members have on these forums. Just wanted some pros and cons if possible, I'll make this quick and to the point.

In speaking of overall DPS, does Balance or Feral push the top 5?

Been Balance forever, just wanted to see if Feral was worth changing over to, with the new patch coming (no info on Moonkin changes so far) Thanks in advance!

I generally see boomkins throwing out bigger numbers than the cats. Not to mention... life as ranged dps is sooooooooo much easier (coming from a mage/warlock/hunter POV)

"Melee dps, we need you to jump and twirl in and out of the lava rings while avoiding the blobs and then you have 2 seconds notice to pull out or you get 1 shotted. Ranged, sit in the corner and Pew pew. Questions? Pulling!"

[Degrador]

There are so many factors, so simply stating "I did x DPS on one fight" means nothing.

Well, not really. Stating potential DPS for a fight like patchwerk isn't meaningless - I agree it's not the be-all-and-end-all, but it at least shows the potential for that class / spec for the duration of that fight.

As a few of us have stated, boomkins are definitely capable of 5k+ in this fight, where feral druids just aren't (at least, not that I've seen). This gives a good indication for the potential of the two specs in terms of doing the most damage that can be used to extrapolate to most fights.

[Pity]

Other than patchwork i would like to see a true raiding boomkin post a video or some kind of proof that they are hitting 4k dps on raids. I'm not by any means saying it doesn't happen i would just like to see the proof and know what rotation/gear they are using to get to these numbers.

[Gryzorz]

I suggest to take a look at
http://www.wowmeteronline.com

and process large amounts of different bosses/top meters

It's currently the best overview available of what top geared/craft/enchant/gems/buffs players are doing.

[SBS]

Other than patchwork i would like to see a true raiding boomkin post a video or some kind of proof that they are hitting 4k dps on raids. I'm not by any means saying it doesn't happen i would just like to see the proof and know what rotation/gear they are using to get to these numbers.

Well I don't have any solid proof like WWS or some other kind of parser, but I can tell you my rotation and you can see what gear I have.

I regularly push over 4k dps on fights that don't require that much movement (been pushing above 4k dps on sarth as well though). I use the normal rotation of IFF->IS->MF-> wrath spam till eclipse -> starfire spam while eclipse is up and when it's on cd -> and start all over again.


If I remember it I can try to get some proof, but you also have to remember that on any fight that require me to do something other than pure dps (like decursing or rooting), my dps plummets to the ground. Moonkin rotation is reliant on you actually keeping that rotation pretty tight.

edit:
Regarding OPs question I can say that I'm in top5 in almost every fight in the game atm.

[morechezzez]

It is a hell of alot easier to top meters as boomkin. If that is your goal, you wont top DPS as a kitty. You can push as hard as you want but wont be topping any meters.

The highest kitty I have seen our guilds feral druid who goes kitty when he doesnt need to tank, which was about 4.5 +

Where did you get this 6k from? Rofl :

when hes not tanking I'm guessing hes using the same spec.If so, Shut up your ignorant.If not to bad for him.

[suzukia]

For pure and only dps with same rotation all day every day go ugly boomkin :P

For fun and cute gameplay go feral!

I personaly realy enjoy playing feral as i can do realy nice dps and still tank any encounter ingame without any problem! Also no problem to be top 5 dps with only swithing a few items. +4.5k dps on patchwerk is no problem even thou im fully tank specced (exept 2p shred instead of Infektion wound) and use tanking gems and enchants on my gear. And if i who are pretty noob at playing my drood can do 4.5k dps with tank specc and gear i'm pretty sure pro feral droods could output 6k dps or something like that!

http://wowwebstats.com/hvv3tm6scp23a?m

[Razulath]

http://wowwebstats.com/rx2agtx6livga?s=43690-69573 5900 dps 3 min patch fight.

And boomkin dps rotation isnt boring, its about watching procs, be fast to switch wrath -> Starfire, evaluate if you should reaply MF during eclipse. Constantly making decission.

http://wowwebstats.com/rx2agtx6livga?s=274316-315713 5400 dps 5 min lotheb spoorelooser fight.

Keep the rotation up, getting the wrong eclipse proc can ruin your day

[Degrador]

when hes not tanking I'm guessing hes using the same spec.If so, Shut up your ignorant.If not to bad for him.

You're making guesses to then call someone ignorant? Yep, good work there.

As for the feral druid in my guild, he respecs when he comes to raids as DPS, and he usually sits at about 4-4.5k on patchwerk and other fights without too much movement.

[Ikkatsu]

Other than patchwork i would like to see a true raiding boomkin post a video or some kind of proof that they are hitting 4k dps on raids. I'm not by any means saying it doesn't happen i would just like to see the proof and know what rotation/gear they are using to get to these numbers.

3888 DPS (4127 Actual DPS if you include resists as damage) on Maexxna and that's not even with getting lucky Eclipse Procs.

http://www.wowmeteronline.com/combat/1543224#damageout