Patch 2.0: Day 1, Blade Twisting

Patch 2.0 finally arrived yesterday and I log on right after getting home from work. The spec of choice is 10/41/0 Combat Mace stun/daze build. I have tried 41/3/7 mutilate build on test servers for couple of hours, but I figures that its time for me to change. I have been in the various SF builds for majority of my time in WoW, or at least 100 days out of the 130 days played, including new and old builds like 30/0/21, 30/8/12, 31/8/12, 30/20, 31/15/5. Misplaced Servo Arm remains to be the weapon of choice as it is currently the second hardest hitting SS weapon besides Gressil. Despite I have access to Kingsfall but the chance of me getting it before expansion is very slim. :(

The focus of the build is to annoy the shit out of people in PvP with Mace Spec Stun (5% chance) and Blade Twisting (20% chance) while maintain a certain degrees of PvE/farming viability with Combat Potency (20% chance to gain 15 energy per OH attack). I also want to investigate what weapon skills have become after the nerf with my decent +8 mace skills (5 from mace spec, 3 from Anubisath).

Here's some thoughts:

Blade Twisting - 20% chance per SS/BS/Shiv/Gouge to daze target for 8 seconds; targets will have a daze debuff when it procs. Sounds perfect on paper but it doesnt deliever. Assumes all SS lands, it should proc:

(SS / 40 energy) * (20 energy / 2 second) * (60 second / minute) * (1 proc / 5 SS) = 3 ppm.

Compare to my Crusader MH (1 ppm):

(1 proc / min) * (min / 60 sec) * (2.8 sec / swing) * (swing / 0.80 hit) = 5.8% proc / hit

which translate into (0.058 * (60/4 + 60/(2.8/0.8))) = 1.86 ppm.

Compare to Mace Spec stun (5% proc/hit)
(5% proc/hit ) * (2.8/0.8 + 1.8/0.8 + 4 hit/s) * (60s / m) = 2.94 ppm

So theoritically, Blade Twisting should proc as much as Mace Spec and a lot more than Crusader. However, from 4 hours of PvP and PvE, it's proc rate is definitely less than either of them. The problem with it is it proc only off special attacks, which has a 4 second cooldown, so the larger interval offsets some of the proc chances.

So in summary:

• With 2.8s MH, 1.8s OH, SS, +5% hit, Blade Twisting will proc roughly 3.00 ppm, compare to Crusader's of 1.86 ppm and Mace Spec Stun of 2.94ppm.
• Despite similar theoratical proc rates to Mace Spec, Blade Twisting will proc less than Mace Spec and even Crusader due to the large time intervals between special attacks (4 second cooldown for SS, 6 second cooldown for BS).
• My feeling is that Blade Twisting procs less than Crusader after 4 hours of PvP/PvE.
• Blade Twisting needs to be buffed, to roughly 30% proc chance to offset the large time interval between specials.

EDIT: Oh and btw, the Crit Scaling post is still TBC...

TBC & Crit Scaling

In TBC, Blizzard introduced one additional stats called Resillience Rating (RR) of which decrease your crit rate by 1% and crit damage by 2% per every 39.4 RR @ level 70. Here is the list of damage calculations:

Assuming a crit rate of C, resillience of R, mainhand damage of MH, offhand damage of OH, respective damage modifier of Mod, then Backstab(BS), Hemorrhage(Hemo), Mutilate(Mut), Sinister Strike (SS) damage will be:

BS(C, MH, R, Mod) = 1.2 * (1.5MH + Mod) * {[1 - (C + 0.3 - R)] + 2.3 * ( 1 - R) * (C + 0.3 - R)}
Hemo(C, MH, R, Mod) = (MH + Mod) * {[1 - (C - R)] + 2.3 * ( 1 - R) * (C - R)}
Mut(C, MH, OH, R, Mod) = 1.2 * 1.5 * (MH + OH + 2Mod) * {[1 - (C - R)] + 2.3 * ( 1 - R) * (C - R)}
SS(C, MH, R, Mod) = 1.06 * (MH + Mod) * {[1 - (C - R)] + 2.3 * ( 1 - R) * (C - R)}

After some simplification, the respective formula becomes:

BS(C, MH, R, Md) = (1.8 MH + 1.2Mod) * [(1.39 + 1.3C) + (4.6R^2 - 4.6RC - 2.68R)]
Hemo(C, MH, R, Mod) = (MH + Mod) * [(1 + 1.3C) + (4.6R^2 - 4.6RC - 1.3R)]
Mut(C, MH, OH, R, Md) = 1.8 * (MH + OH + 2Mod) * [(1 + 1.3C) + (4.6R^2 - 4.6RC - 1.3R)]
SS(C, MH, R, Mod) = 1.06 * (MH + Mod) * [(1 + 1.3C) + (4.6R^2 - 4.6RC - 1.3R)]

Taking partial derivative on RR,

dBS/dR = (1.8 MH + 1.2Mod) * [9.2R - 4.6C - 2.68]
dHemo/dR = (MH + Mod) * [9.2R - 4.6C - 1.3]
dMut/dR = 1.8 * (MH + OH + 2Mod) * [9.2R - 4.6C - 1.3]
dSS/dR = 1.06 * (MH + Mod) * [9.2R - 4.6C - 1.3]

Sub in the highest level modifiers,

dBS/dR = (1.8MH + 306) * [9.2R - 4.6C - 2.68]
dHemo/dR = (MH + 10) * [9.2R - 4.6C - 1.3]
dMut/dR = (1.8MH +1.8OH +364) * [9.2R - 4.6C - 1.3]
dSS/dR = (1.06MH + 104) * [9.2R - 4.6C - 1.3]

Plug in some decent level 70 numbers at the very high end, 500 MH, 250 OH, 30% crit

dBS/dR = 11095R - 4896
dHemo/dR = 4692R - 1367
dMut/dR = 15768.8R - 4593
dSS/dR = 5833R - 1699

TBC -> to be continued...

Mutilate, Part 2: Crit Profile

In part 1, Mutilate was evaluated from a lv60 perspective with rosy 30% crit rate and 1540 attack power. So in this post, I am going to investigate how Mutilate will scale at lv70.

I will use my mediocre gear as an example.
434 Agi

• 135 Naked
  
• 299 item

29.97% Crit

• 5% malice
• 4.65% naked
• 10.31% item agi
• 10% item +crit chance

The crit profile of Mutilate will therefore be:

• 49.04% Non Crit
• 41.98% Single Crit
• 8.98% Double Crit

At level 70, using 5 piece Gladiator gears, 2xGladiator Daggers, Gladiator Thrown, Lv70 Dungeon Hard mode Cloak, Neck, Ringx2, General's Bracer/Belt/Boots, I would have:
411 Agi

• 165 Naked
  
• 246 item
  

25.88% Crit

• 5% malice
• 165/34 = 4.85% naked
• 246/34 = 7.24% item agi
• 194/22.08 = 8.79% crit rating
  

The crit profile of Mutilate will therefore be:

• 54.94% Non Crit
• 38.36% Single Crit
• 6.70% Double Crit

Thus my mutilate crit rate went down from about 51% t0 about 45% as I level and obtain top end gear at the same time. Absolutely horrible.

Mutilate, Part 1: Dual Wield Spec vs Opportunity

The rogue class has evolved over time. I remember we used to wear the OH weapon purely for the stats (Bonescrapper) as OH weapon DPS were basically nullified by dual wield penality. As gears progresses, OH DPS becomes more and more important and at some point, become a significant part of the overall DPS profile. Mutilate elevate the OH DPS to another level as it is the first skill/talent that is mitigated by dual wield penality.

Mutilate adds 101 damage (rank 4) right on top of your MH and OH damage, does 150% when your target is poisoned, and awards 2 combo points (without SF). To maximize Mutilate damage, a slow offhand must be deployed.

Since I am not in Beta, I still have 3 questions about the mechanics of Mutilate.
1. Is Mutilate normalized?
2. Does OH receive the full bonus damage of 101 (rank 4), or bonus damage will first be adjusted by duel wield penality before adding?
3. Does Mutilate adds more than 3 combo points?

11/17/06 EDIT: Mutilate is normalized, the OH receives the full bonus damage, and adds at most 3 combo points.

That being said, an idea came to mind when I was on WoW over this weekend. Is Duel Wield Spec worth giving up Opportunity for?

Mutilate Rank 4, 101 with each weapon.
Assuming 30% crit, 5% hit, and 1540 attack power. Dual wielding Grand Marshal's Shanker (103-155, 1.8 speed). Also assuming Mutilate IS normalized, and OH receive the full bonus damage.

MH = 316 average damage

Mutilate, with Opportunity but no DW spec:
MH = (316 + 101) * 1.2 * (0.7 + 0.3 * 2.3) = 696
OH = (158 + 101) * 1.2 * (0.7 + 0.3 * 2.3) = 432
Sum = 1128 (1692, if poisoned)

Mutilate, with DW spec but no Opportunity:
MH = (316 + 101) * (0.7 + 0.3 * 2.3) = 580
OH = (237 + 101) * (0.7 + 0.3 * 2.3) = 470
Sum = 1050 (1575, if poisoned)

For comparison basis, backstab (rank 10) damage:
BS = (316 * 1.5 + 255) * 1.2 * (0.4 + 0.6 * 2.3) = 1557

So Mutilate is virtually the same DPE replacement for Backstab in PvE and is a slight boost in PvP. Keep in mind that I am calculating using 2 very slow and high damage daggers. So mutilate will benefit the GM/HWL crowd or the high-end raiding guild (Kingsfall/Deathsting) a lot more than random NE/UD rogue out there.

Mutilate should get a little boost on either damage or the poison requirements.

11/2/06 EDIT: Fixed the BS calculation. Apologies on the brain fart.

Combat Rating System Explanation - Bliz

With the upcoming release of the Burning Crusade, we thought we would take the time to explain more on a new stat that we are introducing: Combat Ratings. These ratings are being used for any combat stat that previously was percentage-based such as: critical strike chance, hit chance, dodge chance and defense skill. Combat ratings are only used with effects generated by items and do not apply to effects that are generated by spells and talents which will continue to work the same.

The following combat ratings are currently in use: weapon skill, defense, dodge, parry, block, hit chance, spell hit chance, critical strike chance, spell critical strike chance, resilience, haste, and spell haste.

*We may introduce others at a later time.

Combat Skills

Unlike fixed percentages such as 2% critical strike chance, combat ratings diminish in potency as your character increases in level. 2% crit is the same at every level, while 28 critical strike rating grants 4% crit at level 34, 2% crit at level 60, and 1.27% crit at level 70. This allows us the ability to create and add new and better items to the world without eventually reaching a point where every character has a 100% chance to critically strike.

Below is the level 60 conversion for combat skills:

Weapon Skill Rating 2.5 rating grants 1 weapon skill
Hit Rating 10 rating grants 1% hit chance
Spell Hit Rating 8 rating grants 1% spell hit chance
Critical Strike Rating 14 rating grants 1% critical strike chance
Spell Critical Strike Rating 14 rating grants 1% spell critical strike chance
Haste 10 rating 1% haste
Spell Haste 10 rating grants 1% spell haste

Defense Skills

The impact on the defense skill and weapon skill systems is slightly more complicated. Many people do not realize these skills actually grant percentage-based benefits already. For example, every 25 points of defense skill grants a 1% dodge chance, 1% parry chance, 1% block chance, 1% increased chance to be missed and 1% decreased chance to be critically hit by physical attacks. Weapon skills have a similar effect for the attacker. Items will now grant skill rating rather than skill directly, and that will convert to an actual skill increase.

Below is the level 60 conversion for defense skills:

Defense Skill Rating 1.5 rating grants 1 defense skill
Dodge Rating 12 rating grants 1% dodge
Parry Rating 20 rating grants 1% parry
Block Rating 5 rating grants 1% block chance

Resilience

Resilience is a special new rating which we have created to reduce the effects of critical hits against your character. It has two components; it reduces the chance you will be critically hit by X percent, and it reduces the damage dealt to you by critical hits by 2X percent. X is the percentage resilience granted by a given resilience rating.

Below is the level 60 conversion for resilience:

Resilience 25 rating grants 1% resilience

Each time you go up a level, the amount of rating needed to get the same benefit will increase. An example of the scaling involved would be the current implementation of Agility which has always worked this way in the live game, requiring more agility for the same critical strike chance as you go up in level

__________________________________________________________________________

10.30.06

We've seen a number of players (since we've released the combat rating information) display a desire to be empowered with the knowledge of the appropriate level 70 values. As a result, we've gathered them for you. Enjoy your weekend of theorycrafting! :P

Combat Ratings conversions at level 70 (rounded to 1 decimal point):

Weapon Skill Rating: 3.9 rating grants 1 skill point

Defense Rating: 2.4 rating grants 1 defense skill.

Dodge Rating: 18.9 rating grants 1% dodge

Parry Rating: 31.5 rating grants 1% parry

Block Rating: 7.9 rating grants 1% block chance

Hit Rating: 15.8 rating grants 1% hit chance

Spell Hit Rating: 12.6 rating grants 1% spell hit chance

Critical Strike Rating: 22.1 rating grants 1% critical strike chance

Spell Critical Strike Rating: 22.1 rating grants 1% spell critical strike chance

Haste Rating: 15.8 rating grants 1% haste

Spell Haste Rating: 15.8 rating grants 1% spell haste

Resilience Rating: 39.4 rating grants 1% less chance of being struck by any type of critical strike, and 2% less damage taken from critical strikes

__________________________________________________________________________

GG Rogues. On top of already ridiculously high caster armor, they added another layer of melee damage mitigation. Seriously we need some magic resilience/armor rating that reduce magic damage by a flat percentage, similar to armor rating...

Memorable Rogue

Today Chalon announced his "retirement" from WoW and community. He is a highly respected rogue and raid leader of Eternal Reign on Light Bringer. He is the author of Rogue FAQ and the famous combat dagger DPS calculator spreadsheet.

I have never spoke to him, but I started my WoW 'career' following his Rogue FAQ, and he has been very helpful on the rogue forums.

Raid Leader, ER - http://www.eternalreign.net
Rogue FAQ: http://tinyurl.com/qbeyn
Combat Daggers/Swords Spreadsheets: http://tinyurl.com/k4vc8

Wish him all the best.

BC Talent Preview: Surprise Attacks

Suprise Attacks
Requires 1 point in Adrenaline Rush
Requires 40 points in Combat Talents
Your Sinister Strike, Backstab, and Gouge can no longer be dodged.

Melee attack ruleset explained here
Energy regen explained here

Assuming a typical melee attack table of a well equiped rogue and a backstab damage of B. Energy loss for miss/dodge/parried backstab is 11.

00-04 Dodge (5%)
05-09 Parry (5%)
10-44 Crit (35%)
45-99 Hit (55%)

Damage WITHOUT Surprise Attacks

Total damage = 1.355B
Total Energy Cost = 55.1
Total CP gain (without SF) = 0.9

DPE = 0.0246B
CP per Energy = 0.01633

With Surprise Attacks, it effectively move Dodge out of the melee roll table, so now the table will look like:

00-04 Parry (5%)
05-39 Crit (35%)
40-99 Hit (60%)

Damage WITH Surprise Attacks

Total damage = 1.405B
Total Energy Cost = 57.55
Total CP gain (without SF) = 0.95

DPE = 0.0244 B
CP per Energy = 0.01652

Surprise Attacks thus in decrease your DPE by 0.8% and increase your CPE by 1.1%. The slight decrease in DPE will be offset by the slight increase in CPE. In other words, your white DPS will be flat.

The only time it will be useful is when you are fighting at the Crit cap. Consider an target with 90% dodge (a rogue with evasion).

Before -> Target
00-04 Dodge (5%) -> 00-89 Dodge (90%)
05-09 Parry (5%) -> 90-94 Parry (5%)
10-44 Crit (35%) -> 95-99 Crit (5%)
45-99 Hit (55%) -> 99-99 Hit (0%)

Your Crit is capped by the high dodge andd parry of your target. Now if we are to remove dodge from the table, it will look like:

00-89 Dodge (90%) -> 00-00 Dodge (0%)
90-94 Parry (5%) -> 00-04 Parry (5%)
95-99 Crit (5%) -> 05-39 Crit (35%)
99-99 Hit (0%) -> 40-99 Hit (60%)

Surprise Attacks will be extremely benefitial at this situation.


To find out for how much dodge, crit, etc will Surprise Attacks actually increase DPS, we have to solve some fucking nasty equation:

Assuming special attack damage of SAD, crit rate of C, dodge rate of D, parry rate of P, miss rate of M.

No SA:
Crit damage = MIN [(100 - M - D - P), C] * 2.3 SAD
Non Crit damage = MAX [(100 - M - D - P - C), 0] * SAD
Energy Cost = 100 * 60 + (M+D+P)*11

SA:
Crit damage = MIN [(100 - M - P), C] * 2.3 SAD
Non Crit damage = MAX [(100 - M - P - C), 0] * SAD
Energy Cost = 100 * 60 + (M+P) * 11

DPE WITH SA > DPE WITHOUT SA
(MIN [(100 - M - D - P), C] * 2.3+ MAX [(100 - M - D - P - C), 0] ) / [100 * 60 + (M+D+P) * 11] > (MIN [(100 - M - P), C] * 2.3 + MAX [(100 - M - P - C), 0] ) / [100 * 60 + (M+P) * 11]

Yay for a massive 4 variable inequality equation. Take out block and parry if you believe Blizzard fixed the bloc/parry from behind bug.

Simplifying by assuming you won't miss or parry:
(MIN [(100 - D), C] * 2.3+ MAX [(100 - D - C), 0] ) / [100 * 60 + 11D] > (MIN [100, C] * 2.3 + MAX [(100 - C), 0] ) / (100 * 60)
(MIN [(100 - D), C] * 2.3+ MAX [(100 - D - C), 0] ) > (2.3C + 100 - C) / (6000) * (6000 + 11D)
(MIN [(100 - D), C] * 2.3+ MAX [(100 - D - C), 0] ) > (1.3C + 100) * (6000+ 11D) / (6000)

(MIN [(100 - D), C] * 2.3+ MAX [(100 - D - C), 0] ) > 1.3C + 100 + 14.3CD/6000 + 1100D/6000

Alright. I gave up here. Something is wrong here. There is no way in hell for me to crunch through this and I probably made thousands of errors up to this point, but if anyone could please plot this simple 2D piece of shit on Excel or Matlab, I would helluva appreciate it.

EDIT: fucking bloggers killed my work, but I have simplified the equation into 3 cases and done some math.

Summary:
SA will increase your DPS only at the shaded region of the below graph, with Dodge being the y-axis and Crit being the x-axis. The boundry condition will be dodge + crit = 100. What does it all mean? SA is FUCKING USELESS under most conditions.
EDIT 2: Disregard the above graph. Somehow my brute force calculation is just a brain fart. Need to do something on Excel once I figure out how do. The equations are true.

More to come: BC Talent Preview: Mutilate