Priest gear comparison tool!

[Samathul]

I hate coding from the bottom of my heart, but here I see myself coding a tool, when I had insomnia, that helps me to compare different gear. The tool tries to cast a spell as many times as possible mana and regen permitting.



A comparison with my gear if I had chosen +55 healing instead of my current +20 spirit enchant in my staff. Don't mind about the values for which I based the test, they're my unbuffed values even tho I have written in the tool for buffed values.


+20 spirit

Your total buffed mana: 6731
Your total buffed spirit: 351
Your total MFS: 69
Your total +damage/healing: 513
Transcendence 3set: (1=yes/0=no) 1
Total fight time: 500

Chaincasting flash heal rank7
Total casts: 73.0 Total mana regen: 21192.2
fsr total: 54.5%
Total heal output: 80708.0

Chaincasting gheal rank 5
Total casts: 42.0 Total mana regen: 23298.0
fsr total: 44.8%
Total heal output: 106535.9

Chaincasting heal rank 2
Total casts: 106.0 Total mana regen: 15298.2
fsr total: 89.8%
Total heal output: 97156.4

+55 healing

Your total buffed mana: 6731
Your total buffed spirit: 331
Your total MFS: 69
Your total +damage/healing: 568
Transcendence 3set: (1=yes/0=no) 1
Total fight time: 500

Chaincasting flash heal rank7
Total casts: 71.0 Total mana regen: 20738.0
fsr total: 53.1%
Total heal output: 80176.04

Chaincasting gheal rank 5
Total casts: 41.0 Total mana regen: 22680.2
fsr total: 43.8%
Total heal output: 106006.3

Chaincasting heal rank 2
Total casts: 103.0 Total mana regen: 14668.3
fsr total: 90.0%
Total heal output: 99448.56

I myself am a heavy flash heal caster, and my FSR % tends to land around 55% when I'm healing, so in my own assesment the tool works pretty well.

The only problem comes from the heal rank2. Since the tool tries to cast the spell as many times as possible if it has mana for it, it tends to skyrocket the FSR and plummet mana regenerated fubaring the thing totally.

On to do list: Finishing "Mind Flay spammer", compiling the tool to an easy to use .exe (I'm crappy at that. Never done it, so is there anyone with some extent of Java coding who could help?) and possibly doing this to include other classes, if there's enough interest. I had a mage version, which casted talented frostbolt with evocation and 45% inside FSR regen just to compare mage DPS output to priest DPS output. Unfortunately, since I don't have a mage, I can't check if the thing calculates the mana regenerated and damage done correctly for mages.

I'm such a nerd

[ukkoshukka]

I don't get it, how do you calculate the time within fsr inside your simulator?

[Samathul]

Operandum is something like this: Cast until you don't have enough mana to cast another spell -> regenerate inside FSR -> if mana, cast another, else -> regenerate outside FSR until mana for another cast. The program keeps track of time it stays inside FSR (casting and regenerating) and then does a "FSR time / total time" calculation at the end.

The spell manacost plays a role, as you can see in the case of heal rank 2. I seem to have enough regeneration inside FSR to hardly ever have the need to step out of the FSR before I have enough mana for another cast. The tool "simulates" worst case scenario for every spell, where you'd have to keep casting constantly in order to survive the fight.

I could have been told the tool to try to equalize itself at 50% mana for example, but then I realized that when having infinite time, the level of mana where it equalizes itself would become non-trivial for manaregenerating purposes, just as it comes in the real game. I was thinking about a fixed level of mana (for example 2000) where it would bounce back from oom point and then proceed casting until oom again, but I have a small hunch that it wouldn't change the results much (non-existent at infinite time).

As for how to interpret the results, don't compare different spells inside same "simulation". Instead compare same spells between different simulations.

[Allin]

Could you run the numbers with FH rank 5 and 6 as well, as those are used 90% of the time instead of 7?

[Samathul]

+20 spirit

Chaincasting flash heal rank 6
Total casts: 84.0 Total mana regen: 19876.5
fsr total: 61.1%
Total heal output: 77665.5

Chaincasting flash heal rank 5
Total casts: 95.0 Total mana regen: 18582.6
fsr total: 68.1%
Total heal output: 74821.0

+55 healing

Chaincasting flash heal rank 6
Total casts: 82.0 Total mana regen: 19381.2
fsr total: 60.0%
Total heal output: 77755.6


Chaincasting flash heal rank 5
Total casts: 93.0 Total mana regen: 18226.3
fsr total: 66.5%
Total heal output: 75445.3

All of these numbers are with meditation and Transce 3 set bonus. They are comparatible with the earlier calculations.

Seems like if you plan to downrank, you're better off with +healing than with manaregeneration. Doesn't surprise alot, since HPM goes up nicely when you downrank enough.

Keep in mind that BC will nerf downranking.

[Allin]

samathul said:

+20 spirit
All of these numbers are with meditation and Transce 3 set bonus. They are comparatible with the earlier calculations.

Seems like if you plan to downrank, you're better off with +healing than with manaregeneration. Doesn't surprise alot, since HPM goes up nicely when you downrank enough.

Keep in mind that BC will nerf downranking.

yup, just wanted current numbers, as we are not forced to use max rank spells until TBC... where I hope the nature of healing changes, as otherwise we need to use even more consumables (as current encounters are designed around pre-emptive spamhealing, and not reactive healing)

[Samathul]

Allin said:

the nature of healing changes, as otherwise we need to use even more consumables (as current encounters are designed around pre-emptive spamhealing, and not reactive healing)

You lost me there a little. Can you elaborate on what you mean?

I thought the healing changes the other way around in BC Ie. currently we're dependant on the reactive healing (You see a greenbar drop, you cast a heal) as opposed to preactive healing (get up n hots on the tank and go take a beer or cast a prayer of mending and see the people getting hit at being automatically healed) With a quick thinking, the latter case would let healers to regen mana for longer periods of time without having to reset the FSR timer thus reducing consumables usage.

[Allin]

samathul said:

Allin said:

the nature of healing changes, as otherwise we need to use even more consumables (as current encounters are designed around pre-emptive spamhealing, and not reactive healing)

You lost me there a little. Can you elaborate on what you mean?

I thought the healing changes the other way around in BC Ie. currently we're dependant on the reactive healing (You see a greenbar drop, you cast a heal) as opposed to preactive healing (get up n hots on the tank and go take a beer or cast a prayer of mending and see the people getting hit at being automatically healed) With a quick thinking, the latter case would let healers to regen mana for longer periods of time without having to reset the FSR timer thus reducing consumables usage.

Reactive healing stops working in naxx, they basically tuned the encounters for a tank with good gear+titans, and you have to spam most of the time. Of course not all encounters are that way, but for example patchwerk has no room for reactive healing on most of the tanks.

If larger HP pools means we can reactively heal with large heals the changes are good, if they means we still have to start healing before damage comes, or when green bar drops a *little* then it's bad.

Stacking HoTs do indeed present a nice tool, but all depends on what kind of damage kills tanks. As it is burst damage kills tanks, not normal steady damage. stacking HoTs will alliviate some of the pressure, but all depends on how the encounters are tuned. And prayer of mending looks like an awesome raidhealing tool though, and stacking HoTs on raid means a lot less FH spamming, which is always nice.

[Samathul]

I personally wouldn't call the Naxx healing what you described as "preactive" healing. Blindly chaincasting heals on a tank doesn't fit on the desciption "preactive" as people would understand it in general. I'd rather call it "desperate healing". But that's schemantics.

Stamina itself can't affect boss tuning at all, since it isn't a damage migitative or a regenerative stat, as I assume you already know. Now that we have stacking HoTs, I fear that the total damage output from a boss might change from the "steady damage" model to the "spike damage" model. That means, the total damage output from a boss stays the same, but it will come more as crits rather than heavy hitting normal hits.

[Grul]

I think what Allin means is that if tank health goes up to 20,000, then on a fight like broodlord, we can wait until a tank takes a couple of 5k hits, then heal afterwards with our most efficient heals.
Whereas at the moment we need to keep casting/cancelling big heals, while others patch the tank up to 100% with smaller heals.

[Samathul]

grul said:

if tank health goes up to 20,000, then on a fight like broodlord, we can wait until a tank takes a couple of 5k hits, then heal afterwards with our most efficient heals.

You're still thinking BC healing as the same as our current healing, where that statement would hold true.

In BC:
-HoTs stack
-HoTs are the most efficient heals when comparing max rank heals
-BC nerfs downranking of any heals

Thus I'm predicting the bulk healing will come from HoTs (the preactive healing part) while direct heals (the bulk of where current healing output comes, the reactive part) will stay as patch heals when HoTs can't keep the current tank HP levels at level.

[Erath]

Does't that mean shamans will suck horribly? Unless they buff healing stream to 300 hp/tick!

[Grul]

samathul said:

-HoTs are the most efficient heals when comparing max rank heals
-BC nerfs downranking of any heals

I think that depends on class still. For max rank heals, Healing Touch gets +100% of +healing for druids, whereas Rejuvenation only gets +80%. For efficiency, max rank HT heals more per mana than Rejuv.

I know it's different for priests though, Renew gets +100% of +healing doesn't it? (and Greater Heal +85%ish?)

Hard to say what healing will be like in BC though. If stamina and health increases a lot, then the downranking nerf might not make too much difference.

At the moment (with healing gear), my max rank Healing Touch heals for about 3400ish. Main reason I don't use it is that it'd overheal all the time, so I downrank to something which heals for either 1000, 2000, or 2500, depending on the encounter.

If tanks start hitting 20,000 health in BC, then it means I can happily do 3400 heals, since it won't be wasted on overhealing, and I won't need to downrank as much.

[Allin]

samathul said:

I personally wouldn't call the Naxx healing what you described as "preactive" healing. Blindly chaincasting heals on a tank doesn't fit on the desciption "preactive" as people would understand it in general. I'd rather call it "desperate healing". But that's schemantics.

Stamina itself can't affect boss tuning at all, since it isn't a damage migitative or a regenerative stat, as I assume you already know. Now that we have stacking HoTs, I fear that the total damage output from a boss might change from the "steady damage" model to the "spike damage" model. That means, the total damage output from a boss stays the same, but it will come more as crits rather than heavy hitting normal hits.

Well, the bulk of a bosses damage is already from crits rather than steady damage, Anub'rekhans impale+crit, faerlinas enrage, maexxnas trash, patchwerks hateful strike (those are the bosses I've currently done in naxx where the boss is the main part of the encounter, I suspect all other like it has similar mechanics) Even outside naxx and in AQ40 there is usually crits that kill tanks, or specials such as emps unbalancing strike. Desperate healing may be a word for it, but is still proactive, as you start casting before damage actually shows up (there are predicted spikes of course, such as shadowflames and the like, but they are trying to make them as unpredictable as possible).

Stamina is very important on how healing works, try healing a tank with 6k hp, and then try healing a tank with 10k hp on a mob with the same damage output. Mana has not been a problem for me ever, and most priests I've talked to said it was a problem in MC, but since then regen/consumables usually takes care of it. Thus burst kills tanks, not oom healers as it is today.

Frankly though, healing can very well be reduced to botting if HoTs can cover it, and thus I think they'll keep the current model of bursty damage on tanks,

I predict shamans role will go for a more supportive/offensive role, we will still need direct heals, which you can suplly, but totems and dps may be secondary roles, and of course earth shield or whatever it's called on MT for even more healing activated by damage.

I'd say 20k fully raidbuffed for a tank is quite far away, but I expect 14-15k with moderate buffs (updated titans, epic food, raidbuffs, random +hp pots). But boss damage will probably scale the same way, as we already have bosses hitting tanks for ~6k crits with ~70% mitigation.

On the other hand, the first raids may be tuned for casuals, and thus only be MC difficulty, in which case how you heal will be largely irrelevant. But looking at current developments and the latest raid dungeon they are moving to a burst inclined damage already, which has to escalate to make dungeons "harder".