Sunny wrote:
Don't rotate. Prioritize.
Once upon a time, a long time ago, I looked at the DK class and started thinking about rotations. A good 5-6 ability rotation would ensure that we'd be spending our runes properly each cycle, and then we'd get our Runic Power, which we'd spend in our downtime between rune refreshes. That's the basic idea behind the class mechanics, and it works... sort of. Except sometimes we don't have that option, because we used a double rune and it refreshes at the same time, and we need to use it. Or sometimes the runes refresh in 8 seconds, when we were expecting 10. Or sometimes our rotation falls off because we were expecting to see our diseases up longer than we thought they would be, and they aren't up now. So now what do we do?
Once upon a time, a little more recently, I sat down with a spreadsheet to try to build my "perfect" DPS rotation. My goal was to maximize the total DoT uptime (including Unholy Blight), minimize the number of "dead" GCDs (GCDs where I do nothing but wait for my runes to come back), and try to use my hardest hitting attacks (Scourge Strike) at the same time. My plan was to build a rotation that would eventually double back on itself and then I could just memorize the perfect rotation, and use it in normal play. Except that didn't quite work itself out too much either.
What ended up happening was that around the 45th or 50th GCD, I realized something. There was no real discernible pattern that was emerging yet. Due to the 2 sec difference from Epidemic, this means that the disease durations would edge 10% closer and closer to the beginning of the rotation every 20 seconds. Because I needed to keep the diseases up for maximum damage, this meant that I would have to clip my Scourge Strikes, and thus my rune refreshes. For example... if you have to use Plague Strike + Icy Touch in one rotation, that means that you will not be able to use the runes for an FU ability until the rune for the later of the two refreshes, which will create a single GCD of 'lag' time that you can potentially fill with a runic power ability. However, if you do that, chances are pretty good that it won't be in the same place on the next rotation, and you might not even have enough runic power to do something at that point.
So at the basic level, yes... we have rotations. But those rotations don't play within the rules we expect them to, and adjusting them is a natural thing. So, instead of using a specific rotation and sticking with it, the best method of being a DK that I've found is to have a *priority* system. You all understand what priorities are. Even at the basic level, there's some priority level going on - you use Icy Touch and Plague Strike before you use Blood/Heart Strike, because the diseases that Icy Touch and Plague Strike put up increase your Blood Strike damage. Even further, if you attempt to keep to a specific rotation, you end up having to memorize a lot of rotations. Here's what I mean:
If you have >60 RP:
Unholy Blight > PS > IT > BS > BS > SS
But if the thing will die fast:
UB > PS > IT > SS > BS > BS
But if you get more than one:
UB > PS > IT > Pest > DnD
But if you don't have Runic Power:
PS > IT > SS > BS > BS > UB
But if you know it will die fast:
PS > IT > SS > BS > DC > BS
As you can see, there are a lot of variations on a normal "rotation" here. And each one is situational. What ends up happening is that you don't need a hard and fast rotation. What you need is a list of questions with which to decide what to do. It should end up being something like this:
0. What is my goal?
Aside from being obvious, this changes based on role. A tank's role isn't to deal as much damage as possible, but to build up as much threat as possible, and on as many targets as possible. A damage dealer's goal is usually to kill things as quickly as possible. Sometimes it's more important to kill a specific target (like the healer) than it is to spread as much damage around as possible. Other times it's all about dealing as much damage as you can to everything around you (AE packs), because it will all die soon enough.
1. What is the best order to get my diseases up on the target?
Every DK needs diseases up. If I am Unholy, this means I usually start with PS > IT, so that Blood Plague is up as quickly as possible, to ensure that +10% damage from Rage of Rivendare is up as long as possible. For Frost, this should start with IT > PS, for the Tundra Stalker bonus. If I am blood, I can either lead with Icy Touch if I am far away, or Plague Strike if I am nearer.
2. How many enemies are there?
Every DK build has to change their rotation based on the number of enemies. It is almost always better to pestilence than anything else. Blood Boil is generally a worthwhile expenditure of the blood rune if there are more than 3 targets if you have Outbreak, and more than 6 as Blood (with no outbreak). Yes, Heart Strike just hits that hard. Death and Decay is still probably the best damage ability you can use in an AE situation.
3. Do I have RP for something to start with? If so, can it wait? Should it wait?
Most RP abilities have some sort of optimal situation to use them. For example, the Gargoyle gains 40% of your AP per strike, and takes a snapshot of your character when you summon it. You are much better served by summoning the gargoyle when you get a Fallen Crusader Proc and clicking your AP trinket than you are when you don't have those temporary buffs up, since your gargoyle will hit significantly harder. Unholy Blight, however, will always put up damage reflective of whatever buffs you have on. If you start it up and the buffs come later, the damage will gain from the buffs as you go. Thus, if you have the choice between UB and Gargoyle, ask yourself "Do I have any temp buffs right now that can make Gargoyle the most useful?"
4. How long is this fight?
If the fight will end quickly, you want to front load your damage as much as possible. This means that damage over time powers like Dancing Rune Weapon should take a back seat to up front damage like Death Coil. By the same token, for fights that will almost certainly last longer than the duration of the power, then you should use the power that provides the most damage in that time frame. For long fights, you also want to consider whether you have enough time to use your cooldowns more than once. Patchwerk, for example, is a fight that lasts up to 5 minutes. If you expect that the fight will be longer than 3 minutes (and it likely will be at the start), you can pop your Gargoyle or DRW early, then use it again before the fight ends.
5. When should I use RP compared to Runes?
As a general rule, you want to find out what abilities deal the most damage, and use those as often as you can. Runic Power cooldowns like DRW and Gargoyle are right up there, and if the fight lasts long enough to use them more than once (as per #4 above), I try to get them out as early as possible (under whatever optimal conditions I can, #3). After that, I personally prefer to prioritize Runes over Runic Power. The runic power will still be there, but the runes will have to take their time to cool down, and my runes generate a larger portion of my damage than my runic power does.
6. What about proc abilities like Sudden Doom?
You're still paying your GCD for those, and procs are generally unreliable. Look at the timing, and figure out when you are going to next be able to use a GCD for a non-rune ability. The worst case scenario is to get a proc and not use it. This includes wasting a proc by getting another proc. However, you have to weigh that extra 1.5 sec on the GCD for when your runes refresh. If you are running a 4-HS or even a 6 HS cycle, you're going to really be hurting for GCDs. Ultimately, this is one I tend to play by ear. I'd be interested in seeing somebody's extended DPS report based on waiting for a proper GCD to use Sudden Doom, vs immediately using it.
Ultimately, I think it is important for folks to realize that sticking to a rotation isn't a good thing, because it's too restrictive. You use different abilities during different situations, but your best bet is to be informed about it and react accordingly. There are so many factors to playing a DK that being stuck in a rotation that you think you should be doing without adjusting for the situation at hand will end up with bad play. I'm hoping that this will help some of the newer DKs understand how it all works out. This may (should!) be old hat to some folks (I hope most of you), but I thought it was worth consolidating.
Cheers.