[Balance] Please help me improve my dps!

[MYTHRIZ]

Hello fellow druids! (and others)

So I've been raiding as balance for quite some time now, but I feel like there is a lot of room for improvement!
I can't quite figure out what I am doing wrong.
If you guys would be so kind to help me point out my errors and help me improve I would really appreciate it!

I also got Unblinking Gaze of Sethe, Treads of the Dark Hunt and Sootstained Felsworn Signet if they are better then what I am currently wearing.

Logs for our latest raid (On a side note, this last raid got me my Argus staff and heroic tier legs (upgraded from normal loot)):
https://www.warcraftlogs.com/reports...ZmYp3D#boss=-2

Armory:
http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/characte...Mythriz/simple

[EDIT] Simcraft says I should be able to push 72244 dps. [/EDIT]

- Myth

[Shalinn]

Im a uselesss balance druid so i cant help

[MYTHRIZ]

bumpetibump

[Seikusa]

use yseras gift it will provide more raid hps
and also use Sootstained Felsworn Signet since it has more ilevel and you need crit.
you missed a long time your moonfire
https://www.warcraftlogs.com/reports...ability=164812
dot the infernals that are not in cleave range:
https://www.warcraftlogs.com/reports...one&target=197
your focus damage is lacking on archy: https://www.warcraftlogs.com/reports...one&target=210
even if it will decrease your dps, the dps on archy himself int important, so watch for your raidaddon timer when the spirit will spawn and switch targets asap

[theburned]

use yseras gift it will provide more raid hps
and also use Sootstained Felsworn Signet since it has more ilevel and you need crit.
you missed a long time your moonfire
https://www.warcraftlogs.com/reports...ability=164812
dot the infernals that are not in cleave range:
https://www.warcraftlogs.com/reports...one&target=197
your focus damage is lacking on archy: https://www.warcraftlogs.com/reports...one&target=210
even if it will decrease your dps, the dps on archy himself int important, so watch for your raidaddon timer when the spirit will spawn and switch targets asap

I disagree with ysera's gift, personally I use it myself out of laziness, but renewal is far more valuable as for keeping yourself alive, as long as you use it.

Sootstained is definitely an upgrade, crit is a lot more valuable compared to MS than mastery is to crit, especially at high mastery levels.

Trinket is not particularly usable for anything, I suppose it could be used for a few fights if used correctly, xhul'horac I suppose would be the one.

not entierly sure what you are comparing the boots against considering you are wearing the boots that you linked.
Also that edict is quite beast, wf socket leech, now imagine that as M wf/socket + leech.

[MYTHRIZ]

Hi!
Thanks for the replies everyone, I got some stuff that I will try and keep in mind now.

The boots I was using before I switched were Oppressor's Merciless Treads

Also that edict is quite beast, wf socket leech, now imagine that as M wf/socket + leech.

Seriously, the screams on TS after I ROLLED that bad boy in, I wasnt even gonna roll until my bf told me to go for it.
Might possibly have been one of the best moments in WoW for me.

[kuroemon93]

You have some problems:

1. Unnecessary movements, which leads to lower number of casts overall => less damage.

2. Very bad usage of CDs. Across all your logs, your CDs usage is pretty bad as you either (a)not use a 2nd pot at all, or (b) use your CDs totally outside of ring and bloodlust, or (c) use your CDs while in solar. There is only one fight which require you to use your CDs outside of lust (Socrethar). Also in fights that last longer than 4 minutes, it is better to hold your CDs to use with the 3rd ring rather than between the 2nd and 3rd ring usage.

I guess you are new to the group and are being carried to catch up with gears, thus explain the flaw in execution. Your normal rotation is fine as far as I can see. However if you want to up your game, come to raid prepared by knowing when to use CDs to maximize usage as well as the raid positioning so that you don't have to move too much.

[Deleted]

Rather than overwhelm you by pointing out each individual mistake, I'll try to give you more of a mindset to get into. So theres 3 major things to keep track of as balance, 2.5 since they introduced Seed. In no particular order they are, 1. keep your dots up 2. Keep starfall up and 3. Cast as many starfires and wraths as possible. Now this may sound SUPER basic and somewhat patronizing, but trust me, the more you hammer in this idea that playing balance is actually fairly simple, the higher your dps will go.

I've noticed that in some of the more chaotic fights your dps lowers. To help with this, and all fights in general, learn them, very very very well. Know all the possibilities of things that can happen to you, and think about them before the fight. "Can I stand still and hit the boss for 5 minutes?" Come up with all the situations in which you'll have to stop standing still and hitting the boss, and prepare for them.

For example on specifically Xhul'horac, you move for 3 reasons - You're about to be stepped on by a void swirly, you get targeted by Fel Surge, or you're standing in fire. This means that instead of reacting to things as they come, you can spend the entire time focusing on your rotation, chaining your casts, with a small amount of focus dedicated to the boss mechanics.

A key thing I learnt which helped my dps was the difference between a good boomkin and a great boomkin is the amount of empowered starfires at peak they cast. This means you should aim to cast 2-3 starfires, at 80+ energy, with Lunar empowerment everytime you enter Lunar. An empowered starfire hits for sooooooo much, and on most fights should be your highest damaging spell. Keep this in mind.
The only time you should cast starsurge any other time than to pump out these starfires is if you have too many charges of starsurge, if you need a starfall right now, or if you need to want to dump fast damage into a target (Or legendary ring).

I think the starfires and boss planning parts will help you the most, since the starfall uptime sorts itself out with the Archimonde trinket. The dot uptime compliments the empowered starfires quite well, since it can grant you more Starsurge charges, but they wont help much if you arent getting the max amount of casts off.

If you have any other questions or you're unclear about something let me know.

[MYTHRIZ]

@kuroemon93
Yup, been pretty much carried for gear for awhile since I was about 30-20 ilvl behind everyone else when I joined. So I'm still getting used to the fights and thus, panicking is far too common. (Had to reroll balance from resto)
Actually, ring usage is being used by a melee at random whenever he feels like it.
Thanks for the feedback!

@Connorbigboy
Yeah, boss planning is a thing I really need to keep in mind. I still feel fairly new to heroic, even though we have it on farm. (I've had a full clear 4 times now)
This might sound like a really stupid question, BUT, what about renewing dotS? I hear pretty much two different things about this either ..
1) only refresh at peak
2) refresh when they are about to fall off, since peak is only a small dps increase.

But for fights where we don't pop BL at the start, would it be better for me to hold my cds assuming that we will pop BL within ~2mins?
Sometimes BL and ring are VERY random and will be popped late (mage/shaman forgot about it) and as I said, melee popping ring when his cds are ready.

[Albimoo]

@kuroemon93
Yup, been pretty much carried for gear for awhile since I was about 30-20 ilvl behind everyone else when I joined. So I'm still getting used to the fights and thus, panicking is far too common. (Had to reroll balance from resto)
Actually, ring usage is being used by a melee at random whenever he feels like it.
Thanks for the feedback!

@Connorbigboy
Yeah, boss planning is a thing I really need to keep in mind. I still feel fairly new to heroic, even though we have it on farm. (I've had a full clear 4 times now)
This might sound like a really stupid question, BUT, what about renewing dotS? I hear pretty much two different things about this either ..
1) only refresh at peak
2) refresh when they are about to fall off, since peak is only a small dps increase.

But for fights where we don't pop BL at the start, would it be better for me to hold my cds assuming that we will pop BL within ~2mins?
Sometimes BL and ring are VERY random and will be popped late (mage/shaman forgot about it) and as I said, melee popping ring when his cds are ready.

You don't have to refresh directly at a peak and shouldn't because that's where you get your biggest damage increase from alignment on your hard casts. Should be refreshing at about 40 on the downswing of whatever eclipse you're coming from just before the peak buff wears off.

Lust and ring are really important, should ensure your guild is on the same page with where they should be used or no one will be doing optimal damage.

[theburned]

@kuroemon93
Yup, been pretty much carried for gear for awhile since I was about 30-20 ilvl behind everyone else when I joined. So I'm still getting used to the fights and thus, panicking is far too common. (Had to reroll balance from resto)
Actually, ring usage is being used by a melee at random whenever he feels like it.
Thanks for the feedback!

@Connorbigboy
Yeah, boss planning is a thing I really need to keep in mind. I still feel fairly new to heroic, even though we have it on farm. (I've had a full clear 4 times now)
This might sound like a really stupid question, BUT, what about renewing dotS? I hear pretty much two different things about this either ..
1) only refresh at peak
2) refresh when they are about to fall off, since peak is only a small dps increase.

But for fights where we don't pop BL at the start, would it be better for me to hold my cds assuming that we will pop BL within ~2mins?
Sometimes BL and ring are VERY random and will be popped late (mage/shaman forgot about it) and as I said, melee popping ring when his cds are ready.

For refreshing dots you can keep it quite simple, refresh when peak debuff has 1-2 sec left (tracking peak buffs makes this a lot easier) this is the preferred time, as you would then usually want to start casting something that hits with roughly 0 eclipse energy eitherway, while at the same time getting the bonus damage from peak. if you have more than 11-12 sec left of sunfire I would personally just refresh it at the start of next round of solar eclipse, but the dps increase seems to be quite minor due to peak buff being somewhat valuable.
moonfire has a bit more room due to longer duration, but everyother eclipse rotation at end of peak buff.

Also your opener is just flat out horrible.
Checked zakuun.

1. no prepot.
2. starfire start of cast is roughly 1 sec prepull, horrible for a spell with presumably 2.6-2.8 sec cast time.
3. trinket proccs start very late, as for starfire hitting very late, your moonfire comes in very late aswell.
You are missing a ton of value out of your first and biggest CA it is so sad.
4. no 3rd starsurge during opener.
5. no incarnation.

im not sure why I am bothering to see what is wrong with your opener rather than just telling you how to actually do it.

you have two choices as for opener, you have the wrath + SS opener and you have the straight off the bat starfire opener.
for wrath opener:
-5sec incarnation
-3.5 sec prepot + wrath
-1.5 sec starsurge
0 sec CA + (berzerk assuming it won't put you under gcd) + moonfire
1.5 sec (berzerk if you didnt use it in last step) starfire x2
5.5 sec starsurge
7 sec 2x starfire
11 sec Starsurge
just keep rolling starfires with empowerment up after this, until you reach 0 solar energy where you cast a sunfire and continue with normal rotation.

as for starfire opener

-4 sec incarnation
-2.6 sec prepot starfire
0 sec CA (+berz) + moonfire
1.5 sec SS
3 sec (+berz)2x starfire
and so on.

changing berzerk placement was mostly relevant last tier when the haste trinket would put us close to gcd. So in case you haven't gotten the haste trinket from beastlord, you can most likely just macro it into CA.

I personally like the wrath opener better, as inc lasts exactly until end of first lunar eclipse, and both the trinket and wep enchant will last for 20 sec, buff up your first starsurge aswell as lasting the entire CA + peak of lunar eclipse and a few seconds extra.
I see the starfire opener being quite close though so shouldn't be any issue either.

but 2 casts before boss pull seems more valuable than one aswell, and more damage will fit into ring aswell if people are using ring exactly at pull.

[MYTHRIZ]

@Albimoo Well, as far as the ring goes, I got told "It just doesn't align with everyones cooldowns".
Basically, as far as I'm aware, the ring just get popped by our warrior without any notice.

@theburned

Also your opener is just flat out horrible.

Funny story, I was told to "do as the other balance druid do it" and he assured me that popping EVERYTHING at start and then starting the rotation is the way to go. Even though I had checked guides for it he pretty much said I would be stupid to do that and his opener would give me more dps.
But yeah, some pulls are more chaotic then others .. ninjapulls, no bl/ring etc.
I will def look into changing my opener and binding my berserker to CA.
Thank you so much for the elaborate reply! It really gave me a lot of feedback and now I can start working on mastering balance!

[theburned]

@Albimoo Well, as far as the ring goes, I got told "It just doesn't align with everyones cooldowns".
Basically, as far as I'm aware, the ring just get popped by our warrior without any notice.

@theburned
stuff

As for the ring this goes into fight planning and knowledge of how long fights are.

You have 2 choices when it comes to the ring, line up with every 3rd ring, this means you don't have to save cooldowns.
or you can choose to line it up with every 2nd ring saving the inc + CA combo for 1 minute, this is very favorable for some fights, but it goes well into preparing for the fight, a fight that lasts for 4 min and 15 sec and longer would clearly benefit of saving the cooldown for the 2nd ring, while a fight that lasts for 6 min and 30 sec would beenfit a lot more from using inc + CA on cd.

So a first rule of thumb, if you believe the fight will last between somewhere between 4 min and 6 min using first inc + CA on pull and second cds with 2nd ring + (BL if it wasnt used on pull) if it is less than 4 minutes, use CA + inc on cd.
then we have the case where its above 7 min and 15 seconds where you should save the first inc + CA for 2nd ring and then use it on cd for the last one, this goes all the way up to 9 minutes and 15 seconds.

Also another reminder be sure that you will be in lunar eclipse for CA and you can use inc 10-15 sec before ring comes off cd, then pop CA right when someone pops ring.

As for the druid saying pop everything on pull, well he's right about that, it's just that you have to do it in the correct order as you don't want to waste gcd's with incarnation, and you want a bit of time for precasting, and you want all buffs present during the entire CA. I believe boomie has one of the strongest openers, apart from a few pure dps classes (rogue, mage, possibly wlock.) which is why it is very important to get as much out of it as possible.
When I started playing boomie I failed horribly at the rotation, but my opener was very good, so it allowed my dps to be quite good even though I was casting wrath in lunar eclipse etc.

ok I am going to take a shot in the dark and assume that the druid you are talking about is the guy called "microugn" while his opener is quite different from the one I found in your logs, it has some remarkably weird things to it. (and sounds like the guy who would say "just pop everything)
He starts of with a starsurge roughly 1 sec prepull, and then pops CA + moonfire then he pops incarnation, I find this quite hillarious as you are spending an entire gcd casting a spell that does zero damage and can be casted prepull.
In 2.8 sec into the pull he has casted 1 unbuffed starsurge, and wasted 2.2 seconds of CA before casting his first moonfire.

[MYTHRIZ]

I no longer raid with that particular balance druid.
The pop everything at pull was pretty much spam all your cds one after one right before the pull and then pewpew.
About being in lunar eclipse for cds, would it be better to wait to actually end up in the eclipse or use astral communion to quickly switch eclipse?

Thanks again for the awesome input, I feel like I got a little more ground to stand on now!

[theburned]

I no longer raid with that particular balance druid.
The pop everything at pull was pretty much spam all your cds one after one right before the pull and then pewpew.
About being in lunar eclipse for cds, would it be better to wait to actually end up in the eclipse or use astral communion to quickly switch eclipse?

Thanks again for the awesome input, I feel like I got a little more ground to stand on now!

Hmm I would really say that depends on the legendary ring, and you'd have to be proactive for it to be useful to communion.

Lets say a scenario where someone pops BL ring is on a 45 sec cd or more, your best choice would be to wait until lunar phase then pop CA.
Now things certainly get more complicated when you bring in DSI proc and ring into the equation.
And tbh I really don't know the answer to this myself, usually I ask myself the question is it something important that I need to use my CA for (e.g. a dominator, phantasm at iskar, etc.) which I can also prepare for if this is the case your best bet for the progress is to use communion to make sure you are in lunar eclipse for when it spawns, otherwise I would say its not super important or actually too tricky.

tried to find some logs, and it seems to me that people would not use it, which is understandable.
Also I don't think it matters super much this tier, as long as you either pop the 2nd one at 3min or 4min exactly it should be fine.

Some logs from Gapezilla (consistently high ranking druid.) seems to have missed out on a lot of the legendary ring on one of his archimonde mythic kills because he waited until the ring was popped thus had to wait until lunar eclipse to pop CA. (where he would've gained a lot more of the ring by popping it at the 4 minute mark.)
Which means that even skilled druids seem to get this wrong, and still won't use AC.
So I would say rather wait than use AC unless your progress depends on it, it is most likely a dps loss aswell as being an extra component to learn.

[Adramelch]

It's kind of a question whether the benefit you get from being in Lunar exactly on time with the ring when you pop your cds is enough to warrant wasting however many seconds on communion (ie being inactive dps-wise).

[Seikusa]

About being in lunar eclipse for cds, would it be better to wait to actually end up in the eclipse or use astral communion to quickly switch eclipse?

when you clearly know that your raid will use dps cds and therefore the ring, like on start of gorefiend feast phase, it could be advantages to go to the end of solar to be ready for maximum lunar while ring is active.(also refresh your dots beforehand so you dont have to refresh them while ring is active)

as for using AC in general, in our raid we moonkins are part of the kill the ghostteam, so I sometimes AC to middle/end solar and dot the ghosts once with sunfire and then I am ready for lunar-starfall-dps.

[theburned]

when you clearly know that your raid will use dps cds and therefore the ring, like on start of gorefiend feast phase, it could be advantages to go to the end of solar to be ready for maximum lunar while ring is active.(also refresh your dots beforehand so you dont have to refresh them while ring is active)

as for using AC in general, in our raid we moonkins are part of the kill the ghostteam, so I sometimes AC to middle/end solar and dot the ghosts once with sunfire and then I am ready for lunar-starfall-dps.

I have to say I really disagree with both of your examples, ACing in any of those situations will guarantee a dps loss, while also doing nothing to help you dps the priority target.

I assume you are talking about ghosts at socrethar, in which case AC should never be used to get to lunar eclipse, as you will lose roughly the same solar damage as you will gain with starfall, and you will lose a lot of time channeling AC instead of focusing other important targets like the boss or shadowcallers. Channeling to get to solar eclipse I could understand though.

Rule of thumb nr.1 never use AC unless it will allow you access to skills you already have access to. (sunfire and lunar empowerments being the ones that could ever be valuable enough to use it for.)

as for gorefiend it really depends where your guild pops ring, depending on exactly when the feast phase start or when the adds are dead. If it's exactly at feast phase sure AC can be valuable, as any gain is doubled compared to what you do before feast phase. If they are popping it after adds die though, you have to make a judgement call right before going into next solar eclipse wheter or not to pop it.