Omen and Clarity

The merciless Brutallus of Sunwell Plateau was a great teacher.

Within the progressive knowledge of game mechanics, this particular pit lord was an enormous milestone for many damage dealers. While the mechanics were nothing new, it was the imperative gravity of threat--and all the notions associated with it--that received the spotlight.

Regrettably, many players did not get to experience this encounter and the intricacies it presented.

Brutallus was a gear-check as tenacious as Patchwerk was in Naxxaramas, 60. What set him aside [and above] from the abomination, was the fact that threat was a problem (and damage was raid-wide but that's not what I'll be focusing on.)

But why, with the myriad of simple tank&spank bosses in TBC, did this issue only surface at the end of the first expansion?

The sheer magnitude of DPS needed to down Brutallus was unprecedented. Many damage dealers sacrificed their profession to pick up Leatherworking so they could chain trigger Drums. Every acquirable buff was a necessity and raids were stacked to maximize the damage in hopes of beating the unforgiving enrage timer.

With all the scrutiny for the ultimate damage dealing setup a problem emerged: tanks were not outputting enough threat to maintain aggro against warlocks (and others.) The only feasible solution was a compromise between damage dealers and their Omen Threat Meter; the former having no option but to acquiesce to the proposed number:

129.

A warlock, at a range greater than that of melee, will not pull aggro from a tank until it surpasses 129.9-% of said tank's threat according to Omen. The Blizzard UI threat meter will convert the percentage regardless of range and present it in a scale that ranges from 1-100%.

Assuming you, as a competent warlock, can produce 6000 DPS, your tank would be required to output 4615.+ threat (assuming that 1 point of unmodified damage equates to 1 point of threat.)

After modifiers are applied--say 10% from Vigilance and 5% from 1/2 Destructive Reach--your tank will only need to generate 4000~ TPS.

But I digress. The moral of the Brutallus encounter was not the restrictions set by your tank's ability to generate threat. The moral presents itself in a new aspect wherein maximization plays a part yet again. In other words, to be the best warlock you can be your gear must be the best you can attain; your stats must be mathematically seamless; your talents must be optimal; your timing must be impeccable... and your threat must be at 129%.

Spellstones, Firestones and Equivocality

If there is one thing I can concretely conclude from all the research posts and math-riddled essays I have read, it is this: the smartest authors are those who realize and admit that their proverbial theories are nothing more than isolated proofs; calculated numbers that stand alone and untouched by the plethora of variables found within any raid scenario.

These calculations build upon themselves creating sound foundations (presuming they are accurate), not results that can be translated in to absolute certainty. (This is not to deter from the fact that fundamental, unequivocal numbers exist and can be recognized as such (i.e. the supplementary 17% to hit and stat scores.))

A clear example in which we can observe the effects of misinformation would be the case of the warlock-specific weapon enchants: Spellstone (60 Haste Rating, 1% DoT damage) versus Firestone (49 Crit Rating, 1% DD damage.)

When Ulduar was fresh, posts based on Simcraft and gear-optimizing programs were published. These determined the “exact” value of each stat and the public proceeded to treat these numbers as gospel. For Destruction Warlocks (0/13/58), it was ascertained that Spell Power was the most valuable, Haste Rating was its near-equivalent and Crit Rating paled against the two.

What people failed to understand while regurgitating these revelations was that these values were not universal; in fact, they were based upon very strict Best-in-Slot gear scenarios wherein Crit Rating was abundant compared to Haste Rating.

Soon after, every warlock began hoarding Haste Rating (so, using Spellstone), ignoring Crit Rating and the natural synergy that exists between the three stats.

To illustrate the aforementioned mathematical synergy of crit and haste one can look at a simplified equation:

Average Damage per Cast = x ( 1 + ( Crit / 100 )) + ( x ( 1 + ( Crit / 100 )) * Haste / 100 )

Where ‘x’ is the damage of your spell, unmodified.

What one can extrapolate from these variables is that haste is applied to the original spell damage after it has been multiplied by the critical chance (or vice-versa.) In other words, the two stats are applied multiplicatively and the more you have of one, the more valuable the other becomes.

So what can we infer from this in relation to our Stones? The more people continued to amass Haste the more potent Firestone became; yet, since Crit had been dubbed as unfavourable, it was dismissed altogether even though its second effect (1% to DD spells) buffed the sources of about 65% of your damage; a bonus which easily trumps that of the Spellstone.

Ultimately, which one is better? I can only tell you what is best for me. With my T8.5 and T9 I have an abundance of crit to the point where it's actually unpleasant; therefore, I use the Spellstone for its 1.8%~ Haste Rating. Without it, my incinerate would have a cast time of over 2 seconds which I think is unacceptable for a warlock my ilevel.

That is all for today. Join me next time for the following segment, "Pulling Aggro and Why It's Not That Bad Sometimes".

With love, Minina