Become a WoW Amateur Theory Crafter

If you want to become the very best in your character class you will need to put a lot of research end energy into your character which means becoming a theory crafter. A theory crafter develops their own knowledge into their character by taking the accepted standards for their class and challenging it. This often means extensive mathematical equations and repeated in game testing but the results are highly rewarding for any player with ambition and dedication to the game.

Using Add-ons

Add-ons can be highly useful to an amateur theory crafter looking to expand their knowledge and put their theories into practice. The most popular add-on used for logging combat information is called Recount Damage Meter. This add-on is not the most accurate combat logger so you may wish to choose a more suitable one for your needs. Which ever add-on you decide on you should always assume that you will encounter a small margin of error. In order to compensate for this and to even out spikes from item, ability or enchant procs you should perform multiple tests and compare the results from your combat logger to obtain an average reading.

Taking it out on the Training Dummies

Armed with your chosen add-on for combat logging you should visit a level 80 heroic training dummy and get stuck in. If you are unsure whether or not a certain piece of gear can improve your overall DPS the best way to find out is to log your combat with and without the item. First clear the records in your combat log and then set up the in game stop watch or alarm. Remember that the more time you spend per test on the training dummies the more accurate your test will be. Make sure your character has no buffs or de-buffs currently active for a basic reading.

You can then perform two types of tests, first is an auto attack test where you simply place your character on auto attack to minimise discrepancies in your rotation caused by circumstantial changes such as energy gains. This is highly accurate for gathering combat information by limiting the variables of the combat. This type of test is useful for determining basic improvements as you can guarantee that if your DPS improves for your auto attacks alone it is sure to improve overall in a combat situation. Make sure you perform a control test beforehand to compare your results with.

The second type of test is more suitable for estimating your DPS in a real combat situation as you will be practicing your actual rotation on the dummy. This method is less accurate in terms of basic combat information but is much more accurate in terms of real time situations. This essentially mans you get a much better feel for what your combat will be like in an instance by using this method. This method is therefore more suited to testing out things like trinket proc rates and tier set bonuses.

Once you have completed your tests you should make a note of all the available information provided by your combat reader including hits, glancing blows, misses, critical, ticks, percentage of damage, damage per tick, damage per application and overall damage and DPS. All of this information may prove useful to you depending on what mathematical processes you wish to apply. For example, it has recently been shown that while wound poison procs much more while on an offhand weapon, it produces much more overall damage on a main hand weapon. Since wound poison deals a set amount of damage it would suggest that main hand weapons force more critical strikes from poisons thus producing more damage. As an amateur theory crafter you should take this information and then challenge it by testing it out for yourself on a training dummy and reading the results of the combat logger for wound poison procs and critical strikes.

Using Spreadsheets

A far less time consuming method of testing out certain pieces of gear or abilities in a talent tree is to use a class spreadsheet. Certain professional theory crafters have created in depth spreadsheets for players to enter their existing character information including gear, buffs, talents and rotation in order to calculate their DPS. Once you have your own spreadsheet set up accurately you can then make changes to your character without them being present in-game and see how it affects your DPS.

The Real Testing

Once you have completed all of these methods above, or a selection of these, the only real way to determine if you have successfully calculated an improvement for your character is to get stuck into various heroic instances or raids. This will be the final check box for testing out your new theory and if you have done your maths correctly you should see your hard work has really paid off.

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