Originally Posted by
Thursley
Won't DPET only be the whole story if the full duration of the DOT is counted? Delaying black arrow only loses you the fraction of DPET you would have gained at the end of the fight if you hadn't delayed it based on the number of ticks you lost. The same is true of explosive shot, but it has a shorter cooldown, duration, and tick frequency. For example, if there are only 5 seconds left in the fight, you would always cast explosive shot over black arrow, right? It's not as apparent but your actions at earlier parts of the fight can be viewed the same way, because they impact how much damage you can squeeze in before the fight ends.
There are other factors at play too, such as the timing on lock and load or lining up black arrow with a proc that is running out. I'm not saying you should just use explosive shot over black arrow, the point is that you can't just look at DPET and call it a day.