DPS fury warrior [dps vs. total damage]Follow

So my Dranei warrior is level 44 now and I was doing Zul' Farack yesterday. We had a druid healing and another druid tanking, a mage on DPS, and hunter on DPS, and me (specced fury) on DPS. I have violation and when I checked out our DPS mid-run I was only above or below the mage by at most 20 dps. He was level 46. The hunter was 3rd by a lot (he was the typical huntard, not knowing how to play his class...). Anyway, when I check out the Damage meters, not the DPS meters, just total damage, I was annihilating them. I was almost double the mage's total damage.

So what's the deal on that? What is the main difference between DPS and damage done, I mean I know the obvious differences but everyone always refers to their DPS. Is total damage not a viable number to base anything on? It's a lot harder than I thought as a fury warrior to try and keep a constant number for DPS, but that's the part I enjoy about it most. I felt fairly accomplished topping the mage in total damage and being on par with him in DPS, and mind you he wasn't under geared and he knew his stuff. This on the other hand is my first character.

So can anyone explain the whole total damage vs. DPS thing to me?

Thanks for the feedback!!

I said I have violation. I don't think I have a problem calculating my white damage, if it isn't registering that then I must be doing a crap load more damage then everyone else..

I hear you ctgkm, In a Shadow Labs run the other night, I (Fury Warrior) did more damage than everybody (about 900k as opposed to 700k for the 'lock and 600k for the Mage), the thing is, I was behind both of them in terms of Damage Per Second.

My theory is that, because they are ranged, the are able to keep applying damage at a more consistant rate. As Melee, you stop doing damage if he mob / boss runs around (especially when one of those 2 pull agro ;->). Also being so close to fearing mobs/bosses ... you are very vulnerable to being feared, during which time, you can't deal damage.

Short version ... you have a very narrow scope in terms of position in which you can do damage (5 yards ... 8 yards if you Whirlwind when it's up). A ranged class has a full 30-40 yard circle, so the mob can move around as much as it wants, the ranged DPS can carry on applying the damage .. you can't.

Just think, if you COULD be in contact all the time, and also do damage while the ranged DPS are dealing damage, they'd nerf warriors again, cos we'd be overpowered.

Nah.

Once you charge, you're in combat. A caster isn't in combat until their first spell lands, so they'll usually get five seconds or so where they're not considered 'in combat' but they're actually fighting. Over the course of many pulls it adds up, so while you may have done more damage in the run they'll have shown as doing more DPS... since it's not counting part of their actual fight time.

That is exactly right. I have a mage alt, and always wait a few seconds before I unload (so the tank has time to build threat). I wouldn't be in combat for at least the first 5-7 seconds of each encounter - less if it was a Pally tank.

Also, I've noticed that sometimes (not often) when I kill a mob, I go "Out of Combat" until I hit the next mob with a spell. Kinda wierd, but it has happened, and would play into the DPS number.

My suggestion - follow the damage done stat, and keep smiling :) Total damage is what kills mobs, not DPS.

^^ Nicely said.

I wander if activating Bloodrage counts as "in fight" time. That would lower so called DPS stat even more as warriors would be longer in fight then the fight actually lasted and all ranged actually the other way around.

I wander as well if FD/vanish/ice block - don't substract time "in fight" for hunters/rogues/mages - artificialy boosting their DPS....

All those are "dust in the wind". "Total damage is what kills mobs, not DPS." ^^^

Recap > all.