Afflock low DPS, Not sure what's wrong, any help would be apprecaited!

[Kgurnhill 1]

Hey there!

 

I've not long since hit level 90 on my warlock, and I've been following the rotations posted on here, and using Ask Mr. Robot for my reforges!

 

However, I've noticed i can't seem to have the ability to break 40k dps.

 

I was in Vault of Mysteries, and my DPS was sitting at 38.8k, It didn't get much higher on the multi-target trash fights!

 

In fact, my DPS seems to be so bad, that i was running a random dungeon and i got Kicked by the tank, as he was out DPSing me too!

 

http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/character/magtheridon/Darkarissa/simple

 

That's my character, I used "Enable Reforge Only" on ask mr. robot, as I'm an enchanter and plan on doing my own enchants once i get them!

 

Also, I wonder if anyone could help me with my Macro problem?

 

I'm trying to create a macro that: When i hit the button normally, it uses Soul Swap, but if i press Alt then hit the hotkey, it uses souldburn AND soul swap. my current Macro is as follows

#showtooltip Soul Swap
/cast Soul Swap
/cast [mod:alt] Soulburn
/cast [mod:alt] Soul Swap

but when i hit Alt, this just uses Soulburn, and doesn't use soul swap at all, but since Soulburn isn't on the GCD, I thought this would cast them together when i use Alt?

 

I have also tried making a  /click macro, and putting the following macro on a button by its self, but also only casts Soulburn

#showtooltip Soul Swap
/cast Soul Swap
/click [mod:alt] ElvUI_ActionBar10Button5

which clicks the following macro

#showtooltip Soul Swap
/cast Soulburn
/cast Soul Swap

Now, It does work to click the 2nd macro when i press Alt, but for some reason that only uses Soulburn too!

 

Thanks in advance all!

Edited March 15, 2014 by Kgurnhill

[Astynax 24]

Soooo.... Lots of things wrong, and lots of things to ix. MAny are mentioned on this forum...

 

 

Don't use AMR by default. You need your own stat weights from somewhere, and AT THE VERY LEAST make sure it's actually softcapping your haste @ one of the BPs.

 

Second, your ilvl is just way way way too low for affliction to be viable. IDK exact DPS numbers, but even then, 38k is probably a bit low. That'll be an issue for logs, which you don't have. Basically, switch to destro, cause aff is terribad @ low ilvls.

 

Third, your haste is way off threshold, as a byproduct of the shitty AMR reforge. The correct stat priorty can be found in the guides on the site.

[Hurtlocker 11]

Check out Zagam's fix my DPS guide in the forums which can help.

 

Mastery is king, Just go Mastery>Haste>Crit after you reach the hit cap. I would not worry so much until you get some better gear and get used to the warlock play style.

 

Good affliction play comes form using pandemic and dot snapshotting.  So gear wise, you want to replace your damage on proc trinkets with ones that have intellect procs like Light of the Cosmos from MSV, relic of Yu'lon (depending on budget) or the Static Caster's Medallion.  Even the on use intellect proc form one of the dungeon heroics will help..  Getting the Legendary Meta Gem helps too.  Aff dots help with snapshotting, but you might want to look for some addons that track your trinket procs as well.

 

I would not worry about your dungeon dps, if mobs die quickly you won't be topping meters since you won't reach 10 stacks of agony very often.  Don't worry about being kicked just requeue.

 

I don't use a macro for SB:SS anymore.  I had some issues where I clicked it and bugged on me and with the soul swap changes its just easier to keep them separate.

[Astynax 24]

Check out Zagam's fix my DPS guide in the forums which can help.

 

Mastery is king, Just go Mastery>Haste>Crit after you reach the hit cap. I would not worry so much until you get some better gear and get used to the warlock play style.

 

This is not correct. DoT haste thresholds will outweigh mastery, but there is a balance, meaning you can't reforge entirely into haste, out of everything. The specific balance is touchy, but you will definitely see negative rsults from not reahing the proper dot haste breakpoints.

[Lockybalboa 618]

This is not correct. DoT haste thresholds will outweigh mastery, but there is a balance, meaning you can't reforge entirely into haste, out of everything. 

 

 

Meh, that's kind of like saying that a .22 with 20 rounds is more powerful then a .45 with 10. Either way, you're still left bleeding on the ground. There really isn't that big of a difference at all between getting a BP and not getting it. When I go aff I just change my reforging from mastery>crit>haste to mastery>haste>crit. I end up around 12400 haste and do just fine keeping up with destro numbers.

 

You can probably eek out a few extra theoretical DPS by running a few dozen sims and finding the best BP for your gear, but in the real world it will have very little impact on your DPS.

 

 

 

However, I've noticed i can't seem to have the ability to break 40k dps.

 

 

Most of that is your gear. You don't have any gear. Don't worry about your DPS right now, read the guides and the FAQ and just play your warlock.

 

Aff is very weak at low gear, so is demo. Destro is really the only option until you get a lot more gear. Demo becomes almost on par with the other specs at around 580, Aff can keep up at around 540+. Until then both will be a good bit behind Destro.

[Astynax 24]

Meh, that's kind of like saying that a .22 with 20 rounds is more powerful then a .45 with 10. Either way, you're still left bleeding on the ground. There really isn't that big of a difference at all between getting a BP and not getting it. When I go aff I just change my reforging from mastery>crit>haste to mastery>haste>crit. I end up around 12400 haste and do just fine keeping up with destro numbers.

 

You can probably eek out a few extra theoretical DPS by running a few dozen sims and finding the best BP for your gear, but in the real world it will have very little impact on your DPS.

 

This is just from my personal experience. I found that @ proper ilvl, haste outweighed mastery before the BPs in a significant way. ATM, my reforge strat is the same, but I'm rocking a 564 ilvl, and OP can't hope to reach my lv of secondary stats. I raided as aff up until about 500 ilvl, and found that pure mastery was really dificult to manage DPS properly with. Maybe it's just playstyle.

[Kgurnhill 1]

Thank you for the replies!

 

I will respec into Destruction until my gear imrpoves! :)

 

I do plan on switching back to affliction at some point, i really love the spec, but it does sound like Destro would be best for now :)

[gahhda 95]

To be frank, I haven't even looked at why affli sucks in simc in like 6 months, so I wouldn't be taking any weights derived from it as gospel.

 

All intents and purposes, mastery and haste are the same value, breakpoints don't give you much anymore but are still valuable if near one, and crit isn't an awful stat anymore, it's just not on par with the other two and doesn't have a good synergy.

 

Destruction will outperform affliction until you get a good BBoY off garrosh, give or take a few other factors like set bonuses and general ilvl.

[Astynax 24]

To be frank, I haven't even looked at why affli sucks in simc in like 6 months, so I wouldn't be taking any weights derived from it as gospel.

All intents and purposes, mastery and haste are the same value, breakpoints don't give you much anymore but are still valuable if near one, and crit isn't an awful stat anymore, it's just not on par with the other two and doesn't have a good synergy.

Destruction will outperform affliction until you get a good BBoY off garrosh, give or take a few other factors like set bonuses and general ilvl.

Destro will almost always outperform tbh, assuming nothing cheesy and progression levels of dps.

From what I see, most of the issue is that simcraft drags on fights for something ungodly like 10 mins this puts affs strengths as a low portion of overall damage. When I drag an aff rotation out this long, it does something similar, however I rarely get the chance since dps is generally decent at this time in the tier.

Edited March 16, 2014 by Astynax

[gahhda 95]

Destro will almost always outperform tbh, assuming nothing cheesy and progression levels of dps.

From what I see, most of the issue is that simcraft drags on fights for something ungodly like 10 mins this puts affs strengths as a low portion of overall damage. When I drag an aff rotation out this long, it does something similar, however I rarely get the chance since dps is generally decent at this time in the tier.

 

False, if you set the time to something more realistic like 240 seconds (~50% of normal), the results are the same, with affli being a good 6-7% behind. I just haven't cared to figure out why that is.

 

-update- did some looking into it tonight, I'm pretty sure simc is correct for the median dps output for affliction. The only reason that there are so many parses on par with demo/destro is because the affliction rng spectrum is highly favored to the positive side, meaning the chances of getting a really good parse above the median is significantly higher.

Edited March 16, 2014 by gahhda

[bangorme 0]

First, look at the specs the people advising you are raiding with.  If it isn't affliction (and I have yet to see one on any raid I've been in), then look elsewhere.  I'd be running destruction.  It's pretty easy to play (compared to afflc) and can produce respectable numbers for anyone.  MAYBE with really good gear at the higher levels affliction is playable and competitive with destruction.  But the locks I've seen in heroic gear are all destruction.

[Lothrandir 12]

Don't use AMR by default. You need your own stat weights from somewhere, and AT THE VERY LEAST make sure it's actually softcapping your haste @ one of the BPs.

 

I don't agree with this. AMR is pretty good by default imo as long as you don't rely on it's BiS lists. In any case you can enter your own stat weights, and I have yet to see a better tool for actually taking everything you can possibly setup into account (reforging, enchants and gems). It can be costly to follow it's advice rigidly, but I don't know of a better source.

 

Also, I've often had some catch-22 issues with stat weights. Sim-crafting suggests something, and it can happen that it suggests the stat you're currently not re-forging to, and as soon as you do, it wants your original stat again. In other words, stat weights are relative to your current setup, and not the finite truth.

E,g, with my current setup, setting up for M > C > H, the weights come out at M = 4.46, H = 5.32 & C = 3.83, when setting up for M > H (10124) > C, they come out at M = 4.55, H = 4.82 & C = 4.00 and if going H > M > C, they come out at M = 4.85, H = 3.99 & C = 3.98, so what is the truth here. Only that stat weights are relative ...

The point being, that the AMR weights are as good as any, and unless you have a real good reason to change them, why would you?

[Zagam 1,982]

Using AMR for your secondary stats has a relatively small amount of DPS effect, EVEN IF YOU DO IT COMPLETELY WRONG!

 

/beats dead horse

 

Secondary stats are a SMALL portion of your DPS.

You will see a LARGE portion of your DPS and DPS gain opportunities from your GAMEPLAY.

 

QUIT PUTTING SUCH A HIGH EMPHASIS ON YOUR BLOODY SECONDARY STATS AND IMPROVE YOUR PLAY!

[Zagam 1,982]

This is just from my personal experience. I found that @ proper ilvl, haste outweighed mastery before the BPs in a significant way. ATM, my reforge strat is the same, but I'm rocking a 564 ilvl, and OP can't hope to reach my lv of secondary stats. I raided as aff up until about 500 ilvl, and found that pure mastery was really dificult to manage DPS properly with. Maybe it's just playstyle.

You're speaking from a pure single target scenario.  Since you don't gain Nightfall procs from multiple Corruptions anymore, you typically want your DoTs to hit harder, not faster because the gain per point on multiple targets is MUCH higher with more Mastery than Haste.  Affliction's 2 set is going to give you a 60-70% uptime on Empowered Grasp with a single target's DoTs so having more will increase that uptime, but typically you'll be spending more time spreading DoTs to multiple targets.  The amount of Haste needed to gain a single additional tick of any DoT is not worth the 7-10% empowering of every DoT and this becomes magnified with a higher number of targets.

 

Overall, there is very little change between Haste > Mastery and Mastery > Haste.  Having Haste over or below a breakpoint isn't going to hurt you either.

[Lothrandir 12]

Well, no argument there.

 

Edit: this was regarding the dead horse thing :)

Edited March 17, 2014 by Lothrandir

[Zagam 1,982]

Yeah, so many people put such a high emphasis on stats thinking they're going to peel off another 50k DPS because they changed a reforge.  This one time, I went PURE Crit for Affliction and lost like 8k DPS out of 350k.  The players who think secondary stats are super important might have told me I couldn't even cast Malefic Grasp with so much Crit and no Haste.

[gahhda 95]

Using AMR for your secondary stats has a relatively small amount of DPS effect, EVEN IF YOU DO IT COMPLETELY WRONG!

 

/beats dead horse

 

Secondary stats are a SMALL portion of your DPS.

You will see a LARGE portion of your DPS and DPS gain opportunities from your GAMEPLAY.

 

QUIT PUTTING SUCH A HIGH EMPHASIS ON YOUR BLOODY SECONDARY STATS AND IMPROVE YOUR PLAY!

 

Hey, I'm sure if they were stacking crit on an affli lock they could probably get like 10% dps gain from stats :D.