Moonkin gear post-3.3 t8 nerf

[Scunosi]

I had read multiple times on this forum that after 3.3 came out, it would be better to use the 4-set for t9 Balance than to continue using the two set t8/two set t9 bonuses. However, after a quick dummy test with Recount, the t9 4 set has me constantly hovering just above 4.4k while continuing to use t8 has me spiking at 4.9k at the highest.
Were there any changes to the....changes? Or was the nerf not as severe as we thought it'd be? Or is it just rng being bad on my t9 4 set test?

***I realized I didn't use trees on my 4 set test, so I did another 2 set one without them, and the 2 set still came out on top peaking at 4.6k***

[Deleted]

Disregarding that a "quick" test is never a good test (:P), the major reason why you would see discreptencies on a dummy is because you are missing your raid buffs. I remember when comparing 2pt8 to 4pt9, the 15% loss in crit was noticable because i saw an increase in non-crit starfires to a point where i dreaded just how much those 15% gave me. Still, when i did my test, back with the old eclipse, 4pt9 was just 50-150 DPS behind on average. You should keep in mind too, that you are basicly standing with a better tier 8, at a total of +17%, because Blizzard baked 2/3 of the effect into our eclipse.

And no, i don't think it would be worth to keep 2pt8 around :P

It may also be a factor of what other gear you have. When i put on my 4pt9 and switched a few items around, i got +80 spell power, +17 haste (and a lot of hit) and lost 0,75% crit, but i do have the benefit of having four pieces of 245. If you are comparing 2pt8 (226) to tier 9 232, the difference in stats will be rather small, and tier 8 probably still wins, but it will be bumped down as you gain gear above 24x.

I also notice that you might be a little bit too quick on your tests. You note 4pt9 as "Hovering around 4.4k" while you only mention that 2pt8 "spikes up to 4,9 at the highest". Does this mean that you simply stopped DPSing when you saw a high number, but continued DPSing with 4pt9?

I think the best way to compare these are as follows:

Put FF on the target - wait until you go out of combat. Start your rotation without treants (we are not testing those) and without starfall (bad on dummies). Notice how long it takes for your first eclipse to proc, just as a mental note in case you start a parse with really bad luck. Try and go full out on parses that, at least, start off the same way.

Keep nuking for a set amount of time and NOT until you run out of mana. If you do have mana problems, the 2pt8 will make you crit more during lunar eclipse, which gives you more mana, which increases the fight time. Simply set a limit that you know you can keep - 3-4 minutes should be enough when you are just testing nukes. Follow the rotation as you normally would, including dots and swapping when eclipse comes along. Do *at least* five runs with either setup, then take the top three, and find an average of these.

You may see a longer time between eclipse procs when on a dummy, simply because you are lacking raid buffs. I dont think i will see much of a difference on this point compared to what i did pre-3.2 (although i might with the loss of WiseEclipse). The way i see it, is that we lose 15% from our 2pt8, but we gain 10% in general. 4pt9 gives me another four, so wrath only lost 1% damage. Starfire lost 5% crit, but also gained 4% damage, and does crit most of the time anyways. Statistically, it should be around the same, but might be slightly in favor of tier 9, and definately still a bump to tier 10.