The Light and How to Swing It: The importance of optimal play
by Matt Walsh 
Jan 6th 2012 at 9:00PM
My column from last week explored what has been theorycrafted to be the optimal patch 4.3 rotations and talent choices. The responses brought up an interesting point -- there's wide disagreement on what the value of optimal play is. What defines optimal play, and what does that leave for what can be considered suboptimal? The answer to these questions are important because the effect they have on the multitude of players you associate yourself with in this, a multiplayer game. Playing, gearing, speccing, and so on -- your character optimally is an act of respect for your teammates. I'll explain what I'm rambling about.
What does optimal play mean? In short, optimal play is playing your character to the absolute best that it can be played. That includes not just the actual buttons you're hitting while on the ground tanking, but also the choices you make before the fight even begins with regards to your talents, glyphs, and so on.
Optimal play can change from fight to fight, depending on the demands of the encounter. But there is always one constant: Optimal play is what leads to the boss's death. Optimal play is what keeps you alive long enough for the DPS to kill the boss. Even if it's a wipe, optimal play is staying alive as long as you can so that the entire raid or group can learn the fight. In short, optimal play is maximizing your contribution to the success of group play.
What does it mean to play suboptimally?
To use an example from last week's column, not optimal (oh, cripes, I'm doing it again) is making choices that aren't as effective as better options, yet you choose them because they feel right at that moment, like speccing into Hallowed Ground to boost your Consecration. The thing is, while there can be corner cases where Consecration is so critical that an extra 45 to 72 DPS would be a huge help, by and large, the wasting of two talent points enhancing the spell is nearly guaranteed to be a huge disservice to yourself. You'd be far better off dropping a golden puddle sans those two talent points sacrificed on the altar of "it feels like it works better."
Non-optimal play can mean making choices with a poor return on investment, in short. In terms of damage and threat, I'll explain in a bit why being suboptimal in that regard can hurt a group, when coming from a tank.
Another example: Some people worship on the altar of total damage reduction (TDR) and use that as a metric of a tank's effectiveness. Many tanks (some the best in the business) would counter that the best use of a cooldown is when it's most needed to prevent a spike in damage, rather than randomly to bring down some number on Recount. A tank could have mountains of TDR over the duration of an attempt, but if he fails to use his cooldown at the most opportune time, eats a spike, and dies, what good is that number?
Behavior like macroing Holy Shield to Crusader Strike is just about always suboptimal, because it can lock you out of the ability when you might need it most. The only exception to this is probably Ultraxion, where such a macro saves you the micromanagement of hitting Holy Shield every time it is available at half the cooldown it normal has. But again, this hearkens back to optimal play as a shifting but steady constant. In this case, that macro can help you keep up an ability that needs 100% uptime, which improves your survivability. Otherwise -- terrible idea.
What's the point of optimal play?
For starters, when you play optimally, you make the lives of those you play with easier. Doing your maximum possible DPS without sacrificing any survivability means that the DPS players have a higher initial threat ceiling for when they're pre-potting and popping cooldowns right at the start of the encounter. It means that your contributions to the raid's total damage output allows in turn less tight DPS requirements from the rest of the raid (perhaps allowing your team to surpass that gear check). And it means that you require much less strenuous healing, allowing the healers to have free GCDs for the rest of the raid.
When you play optimally (again, this includes your talents, gear choices, and the like), you can push the upper limits of your survival to the point where attempts learning a boss last that much longer. Every percent of the fight you can keep yourself further alive through is another percent that the raid will be able to learn and that much quicker the raid will be able to learn and conquer the encounter.
As I said, it's an act of respect toward your fellow raiders or groupmates. You're not making them expend extra effort to pick up the slack that are generating. In a game where people seem to care less an less about what other players think and how they feel, paying such a kindness is a rare and valuable thing.
Likewise, when you are optimal with regards to your threat output, you can focus more so on your personal survival. If you can suffice with the proper talents and glyphs alone, then hit and expertise gear becomes all the more meaningless, and valuable itemization -- gem slots, enchants, gear choices -- can be funneled into mastery, stamina, avoidance, or what have you.
In a world where threat is generally easy mode, why would you ever elect to boost it at the expense of your survivability when your own personal damage contribution doesn't matter? Every fight isn't Ultraxion, so there's really no general occasion where one must absolutely be hit-capped and expertise soft-capped (unless we're talking serious farm content -- but even then optimal play has its place ... no one wants to wipe on farm).
Ultimately, if threat doesn't matter (and it generally doesn't, with correct play), why would one not choose to do threat right with minimal investment than doing it incorrectly with far more? The former is optimal play through rotation, glyphs, talents, and so on, while the latter is doing things like wasting talent points on Hallowed Ground and wasting itemization on hit and expertise rating.
Lastly, there is a certain satisfaction to playing at the peak of your potential, is there not? That euphoric high of giving your all and reaping the rewards should be reason enough for all to be given.
The Light and How to Swing It shows paladin tanks how to take on the dark times brought by Cataclysm. Try out our 4 tips for upping your combat table coverage, find out how to increase threat without sacrificing survivability, and learn how to manage the latest version of Holy Shield.
Filed under: Paladin, (Paladin) The Light and How to Swing It
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
omedon666 Jan 6th 2012 11:46PM
This article is, I can tell, well intended. It's well written, and the message is potentially very good.
There's just one problem: the reception.
Many WoW insider readers will get this, and take it to heart as intended... but messages such as this are notoriously taken to a very dark place by some of the WoW community.
That "good gesture" of "respect" that optimal play represents becomes an entitled standard of expectation in the random world of LFD, leading to angry rantings and elitism in content that gets overgeared easily, and then that degree of speed and efficiency becomes part of the "gesture", and its absence is seen as a social failing... and it goes from there.
It's important that those good eggs in the community remember the intent here, and remember to set their expectations to the content they are doing, and who they are doing it with, and remember that, when we aren't directly invested in each other, good enough is, indeed, good enough. That's why it's called good enough, because it's good enough.
rodmin Jan 7th 2012 9:19PM
I'm just glad this opinion is on the very first comment.
Do pay attention to these kinds of thoughts, as they can turn tasty snowflakes into sour eggs.
ironshield Jan 7th 2012 5:34AM
Well first off I understand what you're getting at and I agree with the gist of it, BUT I maintain the right to disagree with your talent choices and I would appreciate not being told that I'm now a suboptimal tank.
Yes I have hallowed ground. Yes I am aware that those points could be better spent elsewhere if I wanted maximum single target DPS, but why do I want that? My single target DPS is more than enough as it is and I choose (after weighing the pros and cons) to not go OOM on trash packs when I am judicious with my applications of consecration. And do you know what survival talent I give up to go 2/2 into hallowed ground? One point in rule of law. So I have chosen to sacrifice a bit of single target crit (never a problem) in favour of some AoE mana (often an issue) . The only talents that are grey in the protection tree are HoJ (I have that in my PvP build) and WoG which is some free DPS after a recovery or a 10% increase to a spell I can rarely use.
One more thing in defense of consecrate. It is a fire and forget AoE DoT which means you can continue to tick some threat on even a single target while you're running off to do something else. Yes it is by no means a massive amount of damage, butt with a 500% threat multiplier any damage is reasonable threat and it can save you losing a mob that's not getting your full attention from getting healer aggro.
Just because an ability doesn't top a damage simulation doesn't mean we don't have a use for it, we're not DPS after all.
Dudegar Jan 7th 2012 10:19AM
Exactly. I am specced into 1 point in Holy Ground as well, for mana. But I sacrificed Pursuit of Justice completely... I mean, the movement speed increase is a waste IMO (use your eyes/ears/DBM and you're good to avoid pretty much everything) and I haven't noticed many (if any) Stun/Fear/Immobilize effects in DS. So 2nd point from it went into Grand Crusader. So I'm 0/33/8. Am I suboptimal? Getting close to 20k dps on Ultraxion with ilvl 390 and being 7/8 normal.
Zapwidget Jan 7th 2012 3:49PM
"And do you know what survival talent I give up to go 2/2 into hallowed ground? One point in
rule of law. So I have chosen to sacrifice a bit of single target crit (never a problem) in
favour of some AoE mana (often an issue) ."
You probably ought to read what Rule of Law does, all the way to the period, rather than
stopping at the first comma.
Anyway, for a raid tank, there is no reason for Hallowed Ground. None. Rule of Law gives you
more of a DPS increase, and a survival increase to boot. Pursuit's movement speed increase
is phenomenal for any encounter requiring movement, which is just about everything except
Ultraxion.
Consecration's mana cost only looks drastic. 55% base mana on a 30 second CD. Consider
Crusader Strike is 10% base mana on a 3 second CD, using 100% base mana in the time that
Consecration only uses 55%. Holy Wrath uses 20% base on a 15 second CD, using 40% base mana
in the time Consecration uses 55%.
But let's look at this in terms of Mp5. Consecration costs a dwarf 12,882 mana on a 30
second CD. 2147 Mp5. 2/2 HG decreases the mana cost by 80%, to 2577 mana for 430 Mp5. 1717
Mp5 looks like a lot. It really does. And to a healer with a mana-negative system, it is a
lot. Protection paladins have a mana surplus. We generate far more mana than we actually
use, and mana has a maximum limit and anything generated beyond that limit is a waste.
Using a 30 second sample of our rotation, with no misses and no procs:
CS -10%
1.5 Judgement -5% +30% / 10 * 9 = +27%
3 CS -10%
4.5 Avenger's Shield -6%
6 CS -10%
7.5 ShotR -0
9 CS 10%
10.5 Judgement -5% +27%
12 CS -10%
13.5 Consecration -55%
15 CS -10%
16.5 ShotR -0
18 CS -10%
19.5 Judgement -5 +27
21 CS -10%
12.5 Avenger's Shield -6%
24 CS -10%
25.5 ShotR -0
27 CS 10%
28.5 Judgement -5 +27
We are at 21%, right? then we add in Sanctuary: 3% max mana when you block or dodge. Having full CtC, that means that on 82% of all incoming hits I gain 3% back. Using our example and on a boss with no additional dodge/blockable attacks other than base melee, that's an attack every 2.4 seconds. In our 30 second sample that's 13 melee hits, 11 of which give Sanctuary, for +33% mana, leaving us at +54%.
Then we factor in Might, which in our sample gave us 1956 mana, which is 8.3% for a dwarf.
Now we're at 62.3% mana, plus the ~1300 mana we have in addition to base by virtue of our limited intellects.
So, long post made short, 2/2 HG leads to a mana overflow and is wasted. 1/2 HG leads to us being mana-neutral at best. Neither of them really save us mana, they just make us feel better because our blue bar doesn't fluctuate.
Zapwidget Jan 7th 2012 3:50PM
Wow, that formatting looks horrid. Next time I should probably use word instead of notepad.
Unowitz Jan 10th 2012 12:46PM
I agree with Ironshield.
I have 2 pts in hallowed ground...and I know that I am not sub-optimal.
It's a great tool for trash and add management that let's you practically be at two places at once. Drop it where some adds will appear on one side...and you can focus your attention elsewhere. I will never get rid of it for single target or movement talent points.
And as you pointed out in your article, single target threat is a currently a non-issue.
As a tank, you should spec into whatever helps you increase your longevity, and helps you manage threat. If you need more aoe threat...feel free to spec into hallowed ground.
However, if you could use some more movement speed or increased single target dps, skip over it...just be mindful of your mana if you are anticipating on using it on some adds.
Bottom line is too t worry about what some hair obsessed blogger says, and do what is right for you and your group.
:)
Unowitz Jan 10th 2012 12:57PM
"...is to NOT worry about..."
wtb edit button!
Gniver Jan 7th 2012 8:04AM
I think we have to keep some sort of perspective here.
A subset of the tiny minority of WoW players that raids uses builds and practises that are arguably sub-optimal? A minor problem.
Every time a player runs within inspection distance of another player he runs the risk of being ridiculed and called out to defend his choices by some overbearing nobody who may or may not know or even care to know what they are talking about? A major problem.
Now, I know that you (general you, not the OP), Mr. Well-meaning Self-appointed Adviser don't FEEL like Mr. Overbearing, Meddlesome Nobody # 138. But ask yourself: if you are really that wise, why are you standing there, number 138 in a line of random nobodies that no one wants to listen to?
Druidiot Jan 7th 2012 8:52AM
This is the dumbest post I've read to date.
Stilhelm Jan 7th 2012 9:41AM
Clearly some people don't care at all what effect their choices have on other people. Think about that the next time you'd like to sit outside at a restaurant on a nice day, but can't because everyone has to smoke. Think about that the next time someone is playing music you don't like very loudly nearby, so loud you can't even really hear your own music. Think about that the next time you're trying to go down the street in your neighborhood, and the road is blocked because two people are stopped in their cars to talk to each other. Think about that the next time you're at a light, and the person in front of you is texting instead of watching for the light to turn green. Think about that person texting while driving almost runs into you.
And then, there's those of you that are those people mentioned above. Whether in-game or real life, in a multi-person environment many of your choices have some effect on people around you.
Jon Jan 7th 2012 11:35AM
@Stilhelm
There's a big difference between texting and driving, and using LFD with a slightly suboptimal spec. Do you see what it is?
Stilhelm Jan 7th 2012 2:51PM
There's also a big difference between driving while texting and playing music so loud you annoy your neighbors. The point of the article, though, was that you should try to be as good as you can not just for yourself but as a show of respect to the others in your group. The original poster indicated he thought the idea of showing respect to those around you is the dumbest idea he's ever heard, and my response was to point out where that line of thinking can lead.
Puntable Jan 7th 2012 11:27AM
Some of you should give Matt a break and consider his target audience. This article is for those tanks that are working on raid content and are wiping every attempt. If you are a random dungeon tank, then this advice is not adressed to you.
My Paladin uses Hallowed Ground, macros Holy Shield, and is Hit and Expertise capped. He also does not tank raids. He only tanks dungeons, and his setup works better for dungeons where the chance of dying is practically nil.
Zapwidget Jan 7th 2012 2:29PM
Which highlights the point that "optimal" is fluid and relative to content.
While math still shows Hole in the Ground isn't worth the cost, a fast-paced AoE-heavy 5man is a completely different setting from raid with opportunities to eat mage biscuits between pulls if the mobs all happen to die right after you hit Consecration.
Claq Jan 7th 2012 4:32PM
I feel the article is generally well written, but seems to have an elitist bias in that every tank should use the correct version currently accepted by the community and math number crunkers over at EJ.
This article assumes that every tank should aspire to end game, hard core raiding, and anything else is suboptimal.
The majority of his readers are mediocre players that are looking for ways to advance their character and will never be hard core end game raiders, so I'm unsure of the author's intent with this article.
Aymuhdroowud Jan 7th 2012 5:25PM
I appreciate the chip on your shoulder, but he said nothing about end-game raiding. He specifically mentioned older or lower-end farm content. However he DID mention this: In short, optimal play is playing your character to the absolute best that it can be played.
If playing the best you can in a given circumstance is elitist, well, that's just sad.
Ironshield Jan 8th 2012 5:15AM
When you copy paste from Notepad, just turn the Word Wrap off before you do it and you'll get rid of those extra carriage returns.
Rule of Law - I may be mistaken but I was under the impression that the spread portion of HotR cannot crit. And WoG is something that I very rarely use outside of PvP hence the rest of the stuff about WoG. Rule of Law was the least threat producing talent (according to Theck's Matlab calcs) that I could lose a point from that wasn't required for a tier transition, so I went 2/3 rather than 3/3.
On the Mana issue. I won't argue with your maths except to say that in an AoE trash situation (which is what I am talking about) Judgement tends to slip down the list behind AS and AW as they both offer immediate benefits of silence / stuns and Consecrate is also very useful at this point. I am sure someone will now want to show me a perfect rotation that fulfils the criteria and still has a minimal impact but the fact of the matter is that in on occasion - not in Raid bosses but while questing or dungeoning or such I have gone out of mana on trash packs as I haven't gotten enough judgements in.
One thing I have never come across is DPS complaining that they are hitting up against a threat barrier. I occasionally have issues grabbing threat off another tank, but I have been on the other side as well where my co-tank can't get threat off me if I go all out optimizing my rotation while sitting of full stacks of Vengeance. And indeed on the start of Ultraxion I'll often race my co-tank for a bit just for s#1ts and giggles and even with him get misdirects if I land a string of good shots I can pull off him after his taunt wears off. My point is that single target threat is NOT an issue for boss tanking, so min-maxing output at the expense of something that may be an issue for a specific tank is LESS optimal than spec'ing to how you play. And yes although my raid team is not terribly progressed at 5/8 normal, I have run dungeons with Dragonwrath holders and I will occasionally lose a mob that needs taunting back, but never a boss.
Zapwidget Jan 8th 2012 6:03AM
"On the Mana issue. I won't argue with your maths except to say that in an AoE trash situation"
You also get a crapton of mana back from Sanctuary when you have several mobs beating on you. My above example was with a single mob beating on my paladin. With three, a very small AoE pull, the return from Sanctuary would be +99% base.
Now, as to "And WoG is something that I very rarely use outside of PvP hence the rest of the stuff about WoG." The response I would give in the realm I typically reply in would be something along the lines of: You're doing it wrong.
Anyway, since you mentioned the lord of the Emberseal, according to his math you're giving up 150-200 DPS per point for superfluous mana gains. HG really does absolutely nothing except make you feel better by making your mana bar not fluctuate.
Now, in an AoE heavy, fast-paced-screw-the-social-crap-andget-to-the-end 5 man, HG could have some potential use. But if you're raid tanking with it, doing content that your raid team would consider a challenge, you're doing it wrong.
mirigirl83 Jan 8th 2012 12:14PM
I already had my rant on mediocrity and that went over so well ;) I think you did a very polite summary that in WoW, you're not playing just for yourself, you're playing for other people. And if you can't be bothered to try to play at your best, not only are you selling yourself short, but you're affecting the progression of your fellow group mates and raid team members.
As enrages grow ever tighter and as healing becomes even more focused on heroic modes, the more you can do to ease the load of your team, the better a team player you become and the stronger a player a player you turn into.
I hate mediocrity. With a passion. Either play your best, or don't waste my time. And if you are wasting my time, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it when I call you out....