Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
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The latest patch 5.4 newsThe Queue: Uber Epic DPS
by Adam Holisky 
May 11th 2009 at 8:00PM
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky will be your host today.
Let's jump right into The Queue today. Lots of questions answered after the break.Valdorin asked...
"What DPS is expected before you start heroics, 10-mans, 25-mans?"
Start heroics when you can do around 1400 dps. Start 10-mans when you can do around 1500 dps. Start 25-mans when you can do around 2000 DPS. Some folks probably will disagree with these numbers, but the thing to remember is that it's ultimately up to the raid leader. These figures are only for boss fights too. If you're being judged on trash DPS, then something is probably fundamentally wrong with the raid you're in.
Additionally, you do no DPS if you're dead. That means you need to know all the fights before you enter the instance / raid. If you die, you do zero DPS and are a prime candidate to be replaced.
Sorror asked...
"Whatever happened to epic gems?"
Grab a Stormjewel from the fishing daily, but other than that, you'll need to wait until at least the next major content patch.
Kubien asked...
"Does Blizzard have any plans to make spawned quest mobs auto-tagged?"
That'd be nice, wouldn't it? I recommend posting in the Blizzard Suggestion Forums and hope that it gets someone's attention.
Mused Moose asked...
"Did Blizzard remove the 'Bloodsail Admiral' title from the achievements?"
The achievement is a Feat of Strength, so you can't see it.
Mused Moose also asked...
"Has Blizzard said anything about adding Jewelcrafting trainers to the non-expansion cities?"
I don't really think there is a need. Everyone congregates in the major cities as is, and everyone has Dalaran either set as their hearth or can get there quickly. But no, they haven't said anything about adding Jewelcrafting trainers to other locations.
Tural asked...
"Didn't the interview a few days ago have a Blizzard staffer saying the Argent Tournament expanding was the biggest feature of 3.2? That leads me to believe that there won't be a raid if a world event is the largest piece of content in the patch."
I think you're reading too much into what Blizzard has said. While there Patch 3.2 will feature a bunch of Argent Tournament stuff, it'll also feature a lot of other things. Remember too that Blizzard has different teams working on things, so the argent tournament team is very likely separate from the instance / raid team.
Filed under: The Queue
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 5)
Dogmeat May 12th 2009 7:49AM
Amen to that brother.
Our 10 man raid is progressing slowly since we're competing with another raid in our guild for raiders. We started doing the trash on the way to Kolo and we actually CCed and focus-fired them down.
You know what? I liked it.
deffo May 11th 2009 8:46PM
"Has Blizzard said anything about adding Jewelcrafting trainers to the non-expansion cities?"
I don't really think there is a need. Everyone congregates in the major cities as is, and everyone has Dalaran either set as their hearth or can get there quickly."
wow, why even bother putting this in the queue? way to not answer a question..
RJagoda May 11th 2009 9:06PM
Has Blizz said anything about why they did not change the class make-up for tier tokens from T7 to T8? I raid as a lock with a lot of pallies and priests, and I was looking forward to rolling against our occasional hunter/shaman/whatever.
magin May 11th 2009 10:29PM
I don't have a dog in the DPS fight, 'cause I stand at the back throwing balls of light at my friends. But it sure seems like people are using this question as an excuse to brag on their leet DPS, and aren't really providing helpful information.
I've been running heroics with my guild and with PUGs for a couple of months, and I'd say that MAYBE 1/4 of the DPS players in my groups have been able to crack the 2.2k mark on bosses. 14-17k is what I see most often. And yet, we make extremely good time, get our bronze drakes, and rarely wipe.
So maybe those DPS are "doing something wrong" if they can't push out 2.5k in quest gear, but that's not the same as being unready for heroics.
seanfury May 11th 2009 10:41PM
Doing something wrong = Unready
magin May 11th 2009 10:59PM
@seanfury
I get what you're saying there, but it's really not the case that heroics are some big, scary thing that require absolute perfection right from the beginning. They're dungeons that are tuned for lvl-80 players. Let's not pretend that it requires a particularly high degree of skill to DPS in a heroic without causing your group to wipe.
Lyraat May 12th 2009 10:49AM
You're right. DPS love to brag about huge numbers. Lord knows I love seeing my name at the top of the charts. Juicy.
Without more info, though, it's hard to assess the issue. What class is the person? Spec? Race? Gear? Rotation? Latency? Buffs? Boss? Debuffs on the boss? Enchants? Gems? Hit rating? Are there adds? What pet is he using? When is Hero/BL used if at all? Is he getting lucky on procs? These all matter. I can go from 2k dps in a heroic to 4k if things work out (Hero is cast when all my procs hit and I pop my trinket).
I think the numbers provided are fairly accurate for entry-level DPS. Yeah, if you have to ask what your DPS should be for Ulduar, go run Naxx some more. But if you're looking to try a heroic or two, use these numbers. And yes, you can't DPS while dead. I wish more people realized this.
Erik May 11th 2009 9:11PM
I am currently leveling my first horde character through Outland (Hellfire Peninsula right now). What quest hubs should I be on the lookout for lore-wise? I've heard Nagrand was good (being the home of the Orcs or something I believe), what else should I not miss?
Valdorin May 11th 2009 9:34PM
Not too sure on the lore front, I only did 2.5 zones in outland before flying onto NR. (I am too, a Wrath baby) But I really enjoyed questing in zangamarsh. It just felt really well put together
Trasken May 11th 2009 10:31PM
Blades Edge Mountains has a tid bit of Lore in regards to Rexxar, I don't really recall (outside Nagrand) a ton more Horde related lore.
Evelinda May 12th 2009 4:03AM
if youre into the lore, you absolutely should not miss nagrand... and make sure you do all the chains you can find, because once you have, it will lead you to ANOTHER chain, which is absolutely awesome, easily one of the best in game. (i'm assuming from your comment that youre playing a horde char).
Terokkar has a few as well, particularly around the bone wastes, like in the ruined caravan and at the sha'tar outpost there.
Shadowmoon valley also has a lot of excellent lore quests, so you should maybe take a look in there if you decide to stick around outland.
sadloser May 11th 2009 9:14PM
I'll admit I'm not the best PvPer, but I gotta say that rogue stunlocks seem ridiculous. I know it depends on which class you're playing but is there any good way to beat them? Are they considered OP? Even with my trinket it seems unfair that I go from full health to dead without a chance to fight back. Not looking for advice so much as what the overall opinion on this is. I'm guessing nothing but rogues laughing at me.
seanfury May 11th 2009 9:36PM
My main is a rogue and all I have to say is this:
If we get the opener on you, and you break our rotation of CC, we're dead. You WILL kill us. Rogues are kill or be killed, all our skills/CDs rely on us eliminating you within our control period. If we can't do that, we are dead.
What class do you play?
Amberlee May 11th 2009 9:14PM
Argent Tournament Dailies - Why do I have both an Argent Lance and an Alliance Lance in my bag? Is it safe to get rid of one or both? I know there are lance racks around but are they for the alliance or argent lances?
Riley May 11th 2009 9:28PM
they're from different dailies
you can throw them out, when you get any of the jousting dailies you'll get a new one anyways, and theyre interchangable
you can also pick one up from a lance rack anywhere in the tourny area
seanfury May 11th 2009 9:34PM
I don't mind dragging a low DPS person through heroics (since I'm geared to all shit nowadays) as long as they don't cause the group problems. Getting geared? No problem with me, as long as you know what you're doing I don't mind your low DPS.
Same with raids, enough good people to compensate and the person knows how to not die/cause a wipe? Cool.
Mook May 11th 2009 9:35PM
I got Titan steel Shanker and Grass cutter and my DPS hasn't improved at all.(These are major improvements to my old weapons) I have socketed items and I'm getting my hit rating up. As a combat rogue my DPS doesn't seem to go up and i'd like to start raiding Naxx-10 soon can somebody give me advice on what else i can do to raise my DPS?
DPS Currently at around 1k average.
Valdorin May 11th 2009 10:17PM
Enchants? And what rotation are you using?
seanfury May 11th 2009 10:41PM
Grasscutter is awful, really. Do not buy the emblem weapons.
Harlequinne May 12th 2009 9:56AM
A few things:
1. Combat tree: Check your weapon specialization, then look at your MH / OH weapons.
2. Check your hit rating. Get to the special cap ASAP. IIRC it should be around 274 with Precision maxxed out.
3. Use the right poisons. WoWinsider's Encrypted Text should have a nice rundown of them.
4. Last, but not least: A high max damage (usually, the slower, the better) weapon in your MH, and a fast OH weapon. Grass Cutter's cute, but the Titansteel Shanker's better off in your OH and Pride should probably be in your MH if you're relying on Emblems to get weapons.