Shadow; need help maxing out my DPS

[Deleted]

First and foremost, thanks for any help.

I've been playing this priest since the launch of TBC and have been healing most of the time. Whenever my guild needs me to go shadow I do so for the greater good. As it isn't my mainspec, I haven't focused all out on it trying to max my dps. As I've been more or less forced to go shadow for the past weeks I'm looking for ways to increase my DPS on the fights mentioned below (any other tips are of course very welcome!). Please note that I consider myself a casual player, and I'm currently progressing with my guild in normal 10-man raids, being 9/12.

Armory: http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/characte...arest/advanced

Training Dummy: I know, I know, the numbers here aren't near accurate but I thought I'd post it anyways since it might be a nice benchmark or whatever.
I did 3 tests, each ending up doing around 12k dps (+/- 300), peaking at 19218dps, 18912dps, 20151dps. I did each test for a reasonable long time (~4million damage).

My biggest concern is Chimaeron. I refrain from using SW: D as it has killed me a few times in this fight in the past. Without it, I am somewhat mana starved but nothing that has an impact on my dps I think (the use of Dispersion using Feud doesn't help dps I suppose, but those seconds shouldn't have such a large impact, or?). The annoying part is that I can't seem to push above 11k on this fight, no matter how hard I try. Some evenings I even end up in the low 9000, which isn't far from our MT at about 8k dps. Our enh shaman is pulling almost 18k on this fight.

Further, I don't seem to have any problems on multi-target fights at all seen as I do anything between 25-36k on Halfus depending on drakes and 18-20k on Omnotron Def.

I've been tanking the wind boss in Throne of the Four Winds (conclave) and can't seem to pull numbers there either. Sure, when I head over to nuke Nazir at the very end with BL popped, I peak at maybe 23k dps, but being alone with a healer on the wind platform I do anything between 11k and 13k.

I've managed to do around 17k on Maloriak, but recently I have struggled to get up to even 14-15k.


I feel that my DoT management is confident. I'm still a bit damaged from pre-cata (re-applying VT sometimes right when it falls off) otherwise it's pretty solid.
I use MB and SW: D (below 25%, or if I have a nice opportunity in my rotation) on cooldown.
I might be clipping MF (I have been studying the latest raid video closely and it seems that I cancel some casts, not often but still, maybe 0.1 or 0.2 seconds too early. I play with about 100ms)
I always try to time shadowfiend with BL (as raid leader I can call out BL when I want, which is neat ofc). I use SF at start in most single-target fights or wait until we pop BL (if early).
I try to have Archangel ready for BL as well. I always reapply DP first then VT, then pop Archangel and use MB -> SW: D -> MF.


Some questions I have:
When I got Archangle popped, and I'm nearing it's end I need to choose between reapplying VT or casting another MF. Should I cast MF or VT here?
In my rotation, and I get to a point where MB is off CD but at the same time I need to reply VT or DP. Should I cast MB first, and then reapply or reapply first and then use MB? Does it change if I have 3 orbs?
I'm .15% away from hit capped which is as close to the cap as I can get with my gear (other reforge option I think will land me at .41% over cap). Is this a dps loss? Should I try and bring my hit up another .15%?


Any help is greatly appreciated. As said, I'm mainly holy so keep that in mind (for example when it comes to one of my trinkets and my chest, and all the reforged spirit).

Sorry for rather long post.

/Marest

[Lucretcia]

When you have Archangel popped and VT is going to drop, reapply it. Letting VT drop is a straight up dps loss as it takes 3 seconds for it to start doing damage again. But it depends on if you have Empowered shadows up or not, if not MB then VT. Keeping your DoTs up takes priority over MB and MF.

Also you being .15% under hit cap isn't going to impact your dps, don't bother trying to boost it more.

Looking at your gear I noticed that your meta should be swapped to the 54 int + crit damage one. And swap out your Core of Ripeness for DMC: Volcano when you get the chance.

[Deleted]

When you have Archangel popped and VT is going to drop, reapply it. Letting VT drop is a straight up dps loss as it takes 3 seconds for it to start doing damage again. But it depends on if you have Empowered shadows up or not, if not MB then VT. Keeping your DoTs up takes priority over MB and MF.

Also you being .15% under hit cap isn't going to impact your dps, don't bother trying to boost it more.

Looking at your gear I noticed that your meta should be swapped to the 54 int + crit damage one. And swap out your Core of Ripeness for DMC: Volcano when you get the chance.

Thanks for the reply mate. I use that head piece for healing as well hence the meta. I'll look into that trinket swap though.

[rhyliss]

Lucretcia's answers are correct, in my opinion, but those minor changes shouldn't account for the sort of drastic DPS loss you're complaining about.

As far as your boss-specific questions, do you have parses for these fights that are hosted somewhere (like World of Logs)?

Generally speaking, I don't use SWD on Chimaeron and my DPS has never been a problem. It's not a lack of SWD that's bringing your DPS down. Using Dispersion shouldn't drop you to 9k DPS, either. For this fight I typically save Archangel for immediately after a spit, so I know I don't have the hit debuff. Also, I only use my Mind Blast (with shadow orbs, of course) when I don't have, or know I won't have, the hit debuff. I often use Dispersion on the first Feud when moving into position, and I typically don't let Dispersion run its full duration. I also try to use my fiend during Feud, as it provides a DPS boost that continues through the hit debuff.

Overall, it seems to me that you probably have some DoT management issues. A combat log parse that shows your DoT uptimes may be helpful.

[Karei]

Think your biggest dps loss comes from stats itemization.
You seem to be pretty low on Haste, which is our main stat after Int.
Other than that I don't see anything wrong.

[Jerryfalwell]

I can tell you have the general concept right by looking at your gems and reforging. A couple decisions I might have made differently but none would affect your dps to the degree at which you're trying to improve. I'll assume you know the basics of priest dps and skip all that mess.

I'm going to have to agree with Karei that it seems to be raw stat itemization. Start replacing some of those shiny epics with maybe some blues so that you're not suffering in the haste department (until you find shiny haste epics of course). When all else fails sim the gear you have against your gear with a piece in question. Or just sim yourself in the first place and see what the variance is.

[Zuziza]

Only have a moment, but you need to watch the splash debuff on Chimaeron. It lowers your chance to hit by 75%. It's very likely that you've been trying to refresh DoTs when you have the debuff and didn't notice that they didn't pop up on the boss. Just watch for the debuff and don't bother refreshing VT or DP until it's off (only lasts about 2 seconds). Also, even if MB missed, you'll get your ES buff, so you can use that when you have the debuff, though you'll miss out on MB damage.

[zsun]

Without looking at your gear, I can make a few comments:

1. For your biggest concern (Chimaeron), as the above poster said, watch out for the splash debuff on Chimaeron. Dont use any mind blast or dot refresh when that debuff is on you. It only lasts for 2-3 seconds anyway.

2. If you can peak 19-20k on a dummy, then there is no way you end up with 12k dps at the end. I peak at 19-20k, and end up with 15-16 after 4 million damage.

3. Being alone on the Rohash platform means you are not benefitting from raid buffs/debuffs, such as totems... or curse of elements etc.

4. I can't really explain the dps drop on Maloriak. From 17k down to 14-15 seems like a decent chunk. Does your group have a warlock? Does he apply Dark Intent on you? Dark Intent has recently been nerfed so that could be a reason.




To answer your question:

1. Mind Flay, even if it is under the influence of Archangel, still doesn't compare to VT in terms of DPET, so I would cast VT.

2. Again, VT and DP have higher DPET compared to Mind Blast (even with 3 orbs), so cast VT/DP first. There is an exception however, is that if you currently don't have empowered shadows up, then you cast Mind Blast first to gain empowered shadows, followed by VT/DP. However if you don't have any shadow orbs, then casting Mind Blast won't give you Empowered Shadows, in that case, cast VT/DP first.

3. Staying 0.15% under hit cap is fine. No need to worry about hit

[Deleted]

Thanks for all the useful comments!

Logs: Unfortunately I don't have any logs and next raid is on Thursday. I'll look into fixing some logs then.

Haste: I've got a few (two) "shiny epics" with haste/crit, but no matter how I try to reforge or re-gem it seems that it becomes near impossible to reach my hit cap. The gear is still a work in progress ofc, and Ideally I'd like to pick up a few more haste/spirit items as this would benefit me in holy as well.

I'll try harder to look for that debuff during Chimaeron. I was aware that it existed, but didn't pay much attention to it. As stated, I don't have any real problems with reapplying DoTs (using an addon called EventHorizon has helped a lot with this).
I realized that I actually had a Youtube video up showing me as Shadow on this encounter, found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m358-PffrhA (Our very first kill of him). I'm also aware that I'm using Archangel completely wrong here.
I know the DPS/Damage done is hard to see here (low right corner) but I figure it states anything between 10 and 12k. It's definitely 10k+ at least, and judging by the other numbers on that chart I'm doing alright. Still, I want to really push my numbers on this fight as I feel that they are too low.
Further, does anyone know what the debuff is called that gives the -75% chance to hit? I figured setting up a Power Aura for it would help.

We have just recruited two new Warlocks as we have been low on them since early ICC and whenever I'm shadow I receive DI of course.

As for the dummies; I have no answer for you. I usually record/fraps when I'm on a dummy and then study the footage in detail if I felt there was a mistake made or something similar. During Archangel, I see my DPS go up to around 19k, otherwise it stabilizes around 11-13k.

[YankeePhan1234]

Get the Tol Barad trinket instead of Core of Ripeness, the static int on it is nice but the on use effect is useless as shadow. Drop your hit down also, 16.85 is too much, you should probably be around 16% or 15.8-15.9%. Reforge in this priority:
Haste>Crit>Mastery

On Chimaeron you probably are losing dps because you get stuck w/ spits and your casts miss, an easy way around this is to time your casts so that they finish just after the debuff ends, sounds hard I know but all it takes is a half second pause when you first get spit on and you'll be fine. Mana wise if you aren't missing a lot you will probably gain more mana. Also get shadow tier instead of healing and your DPS will go up just from having the bonuses.

[healyg]

In that chimaeron kill, why are you moving? i suggest not moving at all unless you need to get in for feud. Didn't really look over it thoroughly, but you are better off using archangel and shadow fiend at the start of the fight, and then whenever they come off cd, there are obviously some exceptions to this.

[Zuziza]

Another thing on Chimaeron; make sure you try to keep your DoTs up and DPSing during Feud, even with that hit debuff going. It's not constant, so you should have chances to refresh and toss in a MB. Your loss in DPS may be due to DoTs slowly falling off and fewer MF's during that phase, since Feud's about 20 seconds long.

[Deleted]

For Caustic Slime, I'd recommend doing the following;
A few seconds before they hit: refresh your DoT's if they're close to running out.
Right before it hits, use mind flay. This effectively means 2 seconds of the caustic slime debuff has no effect on you. If, after the first MF has finished, there is still over 1 second left, try to use MF again.
~1 second before it finishes, you can begin casting VT or MB so that they will hit just after the debuff ends.

[Deleted]

I haven't been able to fix any WOL, but it seems that the comments you posted has helped a lot. Yesterday on Chimaeron I managed to pull 17.8k dps which is a number I'm comfortable with. Basically, as a holy priest through and through, the things I tried to improve overall was:
- Don't move so much. Sure, we have instants but there is a limit.
- Never let VT, DP or SW:P fall off. Sometimes I even cast VT with 4 seconds left and I've really tried to move away from the Wrath mentality that they need to be cast back to back.
- Better use of trinket procs (I picked up both DMCV and Theralion's Mirror) and Power Torrent.
- I got my haste up to 23%+, still working on it but a huge improvement from the 16% I had before.

Also, the comment above helped some although it can be difficult to pull off. Casting MF right before you get the Caustic Slime debuff is to recommend, but can be hard to time correctly.

I can still only muster at or around 12-13k on a training dummy though, which is a bit of a mystery. There was no fight in BWD yesterday where I did less than 17k dps (Magmaw 21.2k, Omnotron 24k, Maloriak 18.3k, Chimaeron 17.8k + Conclave of Wind 17.1k being tank which meant I could be alone on my platform longer + Argaloth 18.6k). I did have DI on these fights which I haven't before (we have been overrun by warlocks the past week, rejoice!).

So, again, thanks will still work on increasing those numbers but it feels good being top 1-2 on every fight.