[Balance] Am I using simcraft properly and does this sim sound right to you?

[Hatemuffin]

I started using simcraft to figure out the obvious things, is this piece of gear a dps increase and what is my stat priority. I want to make sure these are the correct settings. I set iterations to 25,000, length: 450, fight style patchwerk, Threads 4, Process priority high, World lag: 25ms, I enabled scaling and put in int, crit, haste, mastery, versatility. I also Plot scaled the same stats. Everything else I left default.

Then I ran the first simulation and my weights come back as Int: 8.10, haste: 6.25, Vers: 6.14, Crit: 6.05, and Mastery 5.46. So presumably that means I need to lower my mastery and raise my haste and crit right? so equip some lower ilvl gear that prioritizes haste or crit I lose about 4k dps and the stat weights become Int: 8.09, Vers: 6.03, Haste: 5.85, Crit: 5.85, Mastery: 5.53. So even though I improved the stats in crit and haste and reduced mastery the dps is worse I guess that's because of the int? I'm just want to make sure I'm using and understanding this tool properly. Am I hitting soft caps is that why the weights are changing? Also if the int didn't change and I made the gear changes to prioritize the stat weights from the first sim would the second sim have come back as higher dps? Do I have my settings right? Is patchwerk the correct boss to be simulating or should I use another (is this accurate to use for Emerald Nightmare)? Is there a boss to use for multidot fights? What does it mean exactly when the stat priority changes when you equip new gear?

I apologize if I made this more complicated than it had to be I just want to understand this tool completely. Thanks for your time and help


My states are first sim and the dps: 257,729
Int: 29,128
Crit: 17%
Haste: 24%
Mastery: 41%
Versaltility: 6%

Second sim stats and the dps: 254,082
Int: 28,629
Crit: 20%
Haste: 25%
Mastery: 32%
Versatility: 6%

[Machinelf]

1. Go into options and change boss type (Hectic add cleave, etc) for more accurate results. Patchwerk is one target, stationary, which is not reflective of any fight... one reason why people cringe when people spout Noxxic numbers. This is why http://www.simulationcraft.org/reports/Raid_T19P.html, though a nice yardstick, isn't really reflective of reality (note, at the top, it's set to a Patchwerk fight ) Sure, a Demo lock is top, but on a movement fight? NERP

2. Stat weights are dynamic, i.e. they are always going up and down and you gear up. Add scaling to this and it gets complicated quickly. Don't overthink it. Simcraft works best when you are comparing two pieces of gear in terms of dps. The in game addon makes this more painless.
In my experience in Legion sims, 15 ilvl points eradicates any stats between any 2 items, i.e. a belt with vers mastery simmed higher than a crit haste belt 15 ilvls lower. It's only the 5 or 10 point range that is the wiggle room. But realistically, one screwup on a fight will crater your dps ceiling. As always, know that most of your time should be spent learning the fight, min maxxing burst windows, and planning/minimizing movement.