Analysis Week for Frost Mages

[Akraen 230]

Hey posters and browsers! I'm making a friendly post to you all to offer my analytical services all this week.

 

All I need from you is a Malkorok parse (worldoflogs or warcraftlogs) on any difficulty and I will run it through an analysis spreadsheet tool that I am refining for an even bigger project.

 

You'll know how much DPS you did, the breakdown, how much you lost, all your uptimes, and how much you're getting out of your gear.

 

So just make a reply to this thread and I'll get a chart and graph all ready with your name on it.

 

 

Example:

[Oltier 471]

I really like your idea, fellow frost mage!

It would we awesome if somehow we could export warcraftlogs.com logfiles into this sheet and make a "help my DPS FAQ" topic.

Unfortunately with my current knowledge of programing I could not achieve this but if we have a fellow mage who would like to contribute to this kind of project, I think me and Akraen would apreciate it a lot! Right, my fellow mage mate? :)

[Akraen 230]

Yeah I'm exploring options to get this into some sort of webapp. If it could be automated and secure, I think it could be a low-maintenance model for any class or spec. It would be a huge step above simcraft since this is analyzing the human side of things and pointing out inefficiencies.

 

Knowing that most of your errors come from one particular ineffiency helps the player zero in on that and revisit the less major issues.

 

I think it's also good for players to see that their choices they make during combat matter so much more than theorycraft gemming or reforging. I see many opinionated mages (on MMO-C and battle.net mostly) argue about haste or mastery, yet that damage might account for 1000 dps, whereas their invocation uptime would account for 13000 dps :P

[Storm 426]

 whereas their invocation uptime would account for 13000 dps

 

This is why I gave up on my alt mage. My invocation uptime was horrendous. Sometimes I'd forget the buff even existed until I looked at meters mid fight and was trying to figure out why I was doing 70k dps with a 500 ilvl. (I haven't touched the mage since ToT, so it was a relevant ilvl back then)

[Oltier 471]

This is why I gave up on my alt mage. My invocation uptime was horrendous. Sometimes I'd forget the buff even existed until I looked at meters mid fight and was trying to figure out why I was doing 70k dps with a 500 ilvl. (I haven't touched the mage since ToT, so it was a relevant ilvl back then)

Ever heard of weakauras, mate? :P

[Akraen 230]

If I could somehow scan all parses of all mages on all fights I bet invoc uptime would come in around 70%. It's horrible.

 

The devs are aware, that's all I can say.

[Storm 426]

Bad invoc uptime is completely the fault of the mage not paying attention, not the design of the ability. 

 

Now as a somewhat similar comparison, I'm glad they're changing dot snapshotting. that is something that takes little skill to execute if you have an addon, but it takes time researching your class to discover it exists in the game and to download the addons. the difference between average and exceptional shouldn't hinge on knowing a mechanic exists.

 

No mage can claim they "didn't know they should keep the buff up 100%" when the tooltip specifically says it gives you a buff. So any reason for failing to keep it up is just sloppy playing.

[Mariketa 8]

I'll take a look at the log files and see what I can do with that after work. Im still a student on coding :P so I'm not sure but it looks feasible. Probably need to pull data off the logs website page (after the server does its calculations) rather than the un-analyzed  raw-data logfile. I'm rolling Fire right now but I bounce back and forth with Frost and this would be really cool tool to have.

 

Also I hate hate hate that tier of talents. I kind of like that a lot of mages are failing to utilize it properly; seems more likely that Blizz will change it. I set up a weak aura to ring a bell at me when I'm late refreshing evocation. My hubby knows to bring marshmallows if he hears that bell ring too many times ^^

[Oltier 471]

I'll take a look at the log files and see what I can do with that after work. Im still a student on coding so I'm not sure but it looks feasible. Probably need to pull data off the logs website page (after the server does its calculations) rather than the un-analyzed  raw-data logfile. I'm rolling Fire right now but I bounce back and forth with Frost and this would be really cool tool to have.

 

Also I hate hate hate that tier of talents. I kind of like that a lot of mages are failing to utilize it properly; seems more likely that Blizz will change it. I set up a weak aura to ring a bell at me when I'm late refreshing evocation. My hubby knows to bring marshmallows if he hears that bell ring too many times ^^

The best would be if you could do it on warcraftlogs.com, as WoL is kinda outdated and getting very unpopular.

[Akraen 230]

I love it, marshmallow alarm!

[Hazemat 0]

Bad invoc uptime is completely the fault of the mage not paying attention, not the design of the ability. 

 

Now as a somewhat similar comparison, I'm glad they're changing dot snapshotting. that is something that takes little skill to execute if you have an addon, but it takes time researching your class to discover it exists in the game and to download the addons. the difference between average and exceptional shouldn't hinge on knowing a mechanic exists.

 

No mage can claim they "didn't know they should keep the buff up 100%" when the tooltip specifically says it gives you a buff. So any reason for failing to keep it up is just sloppy playing.

I loathed channeling the shit in the middle of an encounter. I knew it was beneficial to keep it up, but what I didn't know was how much of a loss it was when you didn't keep it up. As the player in Akraen's example, I can say since knowing, my DPS has went up over 15k on average. 

[Cynthaea 12]

Hello,

 

When I saw someone else have their logs analyzed - that graph was very impressive. When I heard that this service was being given out, I wanted to have mine analyzed. :) 

 

I am partly nervous cos I am terrified of what may be revealed, but mostly excited because I'd like to improve. 

 

http://www.warcraftlogs.com/reports/Wp7wgmNYGRybz6vh#fight=68 This is my 10 man Normal Kill of Malkorok. 

 

I should say that I forgot to respec into LB for the fight. >.< I should also say that tier16 is the first time I have ever raided. 

 

Anyway, thank you so much Akraen for doing this! 

[Stormy 11]

Am I the lone mage who doesn't loathe invocation ? I think it's unspectacular as a max level talent "choice" but I don't mind it at all as a gameplay mechanic.

[Cynthaea 12]

I don't loathe it either. It is a pretty simple thing to do. What I do loathe is RoP which is one of the main reasons I never went back to Arcane. 

[Akraen 230]

 

next!

[Akraen 230]

This is for Bokkob, he sent his request via PM:

 

 

next!

 

PS: I know I haven't been updating the name from my template, lol, ignore that

[Ghanjo 37]

Just wanted to say that this spreadsheet is awesome. Any chance you'll make one for arcane and fire mages?

[Akraen 230]

Just wanted to say that this spreadsheet is awesome. Any chance you'll make one for arcane and fire mages?

The goal is actually every class/every spec. Though that might not happen for a little bit. I have interest from all over to get this tool expanded. The main purpose of this thread is twofold: 1) see if people like this type of help & 2) work the bugs out of it by doing actual test cases.

[Cynthaea 12]

Hey! That was quick and I really appreciate it. :) My ilvl was 559 during that fight cos I got a ring off Thok that boosted it to 561 later. I don't think that it matters but is there a way to find ilvl from the logs? 

 

I am quite happy with the analysis. For a noob-ish player it feels nice to know I am doing something right. Of course, I see a lot of scope for improvement.

About the Ice lance casts, when I was analyzing my own logs(as poor as my knowledge may be) even I was surprised that it happened. I never consciously cast ice lance without a FoF proc. Maybe cos my Ice lance keybind is really close to Frostbolt and I spam it, it may have been inadvertent but I will keep a check on that in the future fights.

 

Yes, bomb uptime is still something that I am working on and I will strive for it to be 100%. Honestly, I just forgot to change my bomb, not an excuse but will not happen in the future. 

 

Completely off topic - I am used to Ice Barrier mostly cos I solo-ed with it and its just a thing of habit. About Temporal Shield, will you recommend me macro-ing it to Frostbolt so its on whenever its off CD? 

[Kver 65]

Okay, I must admit that I am quite interested in the idea of that spreadsheet. Here is one of my Malkorok logs:

http://worldoflogs.com/reports/rt-aqtfl934y19rch9j/details/7/?s=9574&e=9772

 

I quite wonder what your spreadsheet will tell me about uptimes.

[Akraen 230]

Hey! That was quick and I really appreciate it. My ilvl was 559 during that fight cos I got a ring off Thok that boosted it to 561 later. I don't think that it matters but is there a way to find ilvl from the logs? 

 

I am quite happy with the analysis. For a noob-ish player it feels nice to know I am doing something right. Of course, I see a lot of scope for improvement.

About the Ice lance casts, when I was analyzing my own logs(as poor as my knowledge may be) even I was surprised that it happened. I never consciously cast ice lance without a FoF proc. Maybe cos my Ice lance keybind is really close to Frostbolt and I spam it, it may have been inadvertent but I will keep a check on that in the future fights.

 

Yes, bomb uptime is still something that I am working on and I will strive for it to be 100%. Honestly, I just forgot to change my bomb, not an excuse but will not happen in the future. 

 

Completely off topic - I am used to Ice Barrier mostly cos I solo-ed with it and its just a thing of habit. About Temporal Shield, will you recommend me macro-ing it to Frostbolt so its on whenever its off CD? 

Oh wow you gave me another idea for the spreadsheet, to include GCDs lost by choosing Ice Barrier :P

 

I like to macro TS to Frostbolt when I'm lazy this tier. Adds up to more damage mitigated & healed than attempting to hold on to it for spikes.

[Cynthaea 12]

The fewer buttons I have to press the better for me. So I will switch to TS and macro it accordingly, thanks. 

 

PS: Your signature redirects me to your armory that does not exist anymore cos you server transferred.

[Akraen 230]

For Kver, yes I found you-- nobody can hide from the all-seeing arcane eye!

 

 

next!

[Kver 65]

And that's exactly what I was wondering about. I didn't refresh my Invoker's due to the rest duration of the fight(I play the mixture build so I don't get insane speed Invocation casts), I'm not sure if you disagree on that or whether you skipped it(Though I guess it might be a bit complex to track easily), but I believe that's fine.

 

Interesting to see I waste Ice Lance casts though, never noticed. The rest of the analysis is interesting. I suppose that not everything you suggest is possible(You can't really control trinket procs for example) but it is intriguing either way. I suppose I should enlarge my AT cooldown tracker

 

Thanks for the analysis!

 

Edit: Though I do wonder if I can hit the 390k DPS on Malkorok at all with my current gear :P A nice prospect at least.

Edited January 14, 2014 by Kver

[Akraen 230]

You should be able to easily because the fight is so short. If the fight goes below 3 min 12 sec you'll lose a lot of DPS, until you get to around 1 min fight length. 1 min burst is the biggest.