Warcraft Logs' Mogu'shan Vaults Statistics
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ToES & HoF DPS Rankings in MoP Phase 1 - September 23rd
95th Percentile Statistics
Overall Damage
Damage to Bosses
Overall Statistics
Overall Damage
Damage to Bosses
Looking Ahead to Phase 2
A handful of classes are receiving balance changes in Phase 2. We asked our writers for their opinions on the recent changes.
Arcane & Frost Mage
With the recent 5.1 Landfall patch, Mages got some balancing which, in short, nerfed Arcane and buffed Frost Mages.
For Frost, they buffed the three main spells (Frostbolt, Ice Lance, Frostfire Bolt) by 15%, which overall led to an approximate increase of nearly 10% single target damage. As for Arcane, it got a nerf that reduced the previous buff to Arcane Blast, from 29% to 15%, which in practice nerfs the single target damage of the specialization by a bit under 4%.
At first glance this change might imply Frost would beat Arcane now, and that is possible - but because Arcane was overall so ahead of Frost, this change could also either not be enough or put them in a position where you'd swap depending on whether you need more single target or cleave damage.
I can't say for certain whether or not one or the other will be best for you, but with the updated sim numbers I can say that Frost is now ahead by a small margin.
Personally I believe it's likely enough to get Frost ahead for now, although not by much. This is the case especially for any player who wasn't playing Arcane optimally or struggled with the mana or movement aspects of the spec - because Frost is so much easier in those two aspects and just requires basic caster mechanics and uptime.
Elemental Shaman
Elemental definitely needed some buffs to make sure their scaling keeps up with the pack. Our basic builders and Fulmination are a good spot to buff, as they represent a large portion of our damage and scale with Crit unlike Lava Burst.
These changes won't change the specs stat priorities, or shift the balance in a crazy way. It will however give more value to Crit, which is always nice as you can't completely avoid it on gear.
It is interesting to note that these buffs largely impact Elementals traditional strength of 4+ target AoE, with priority targets mixed in ideally. This reinforces Elemental Shamans status as a specialist DPS, not a generalist.
Assassination Rogue
With the recent nerfs to Assassination, we're noticing it simming about 2.5% worse than Subtlety. This makes Combat the highest-simming spec, but it has yet to show enough improvement in logs for us to be confident that this reflects reality. There is even a strong possibility that future Subtlety logs will surpass Assassination; however, I expect that the outcome will continue to depend on the encounter, as the two specs remain very close in simulated performance.
Each spec has its own strengths and weaknesses. Combat has Killing Spree and Subtlety has directional requirements. Assassination, whose only real constraint is a long cooldown that relies on uptime, probably should end up a being a bit below the others. I think the nerfs are warranted; however, I worry that if Combat players can fully emulate the simulations, then heading into Throne of Thunder we’ll be cornered into playing only Combat, since it always has the option to cleave.
Balancing the specs through percentage-based damage increases or decreases on passives feels like a very safe, “retail-style” approach, and for efficiency’s sake, it’s probably the best way to do it for now.
Mogu'shan Vaults DPS Rankings in MoP Phase 1 - September 23rd
95th Percentile Statistics
Overall Damage
Damage to Bosses
Overall Statistics
Overall Damage
Damage to Bosses
Disclaimers and Source
The data for this article was taken from the Terrace of Endless Spring, Heart of Fear, & Mogu'shan Vaults Statistics Page on Warcraft Logs. We will examine the data for the 95th percentile and show the overall results to paint a better picture.
The idea of this article is to give a perspective of the current state of class balance for Mists of Pandaria Phase 1, meaning this is an incomplete picture of Mists of Pandaria balance.
We refer to perspective, as there are inherent biases in examining the data in this way.
Specs considered underpowered are generally played less and tend to appear weaker than they are.
This happens as many performance-oriented players tend to play the strongest spec or class, increasing the gap between top and bottom specs even further.
Position of specs for the 95th percentile might be skewed by alternative strategies and parse funneling. We're including the chart showing all percentiles' results to paint a better picture for all specs.
Statistics displayed below show data for 25-player heroic difficulty. For 10-player difficulty, please visit Warcraft Logs.
Mists of Pandaria Classic Class Guides
For more information on Mists of Pandaria classes & specs, check out our Class Guides!
Blood DK
Frost DK
Unholy DK
Beast Mastery Hunter
Marksmanship Hunter
Survival Hunter
Arcane Mage
Fire Mage
Frost Mage
Brewmaster Monk
Mistweaver Monk
Windwalker Monk
Holy Paladin
Protection Paladin
Retribution Paladin
Discipline Priest
Holy Priest
Shadow Priest
Assassination Rogue
Combat Rogue
Subtlety Rogue
Elemental Shaman
Enhancement Shaman
Restoration Shaman
Affliction Warlock
Demonology Warlock
Destruction Warlock
Arms Warrior
Fury Warrior
Protection Warrior
Balance Druid
Feral Druid
Guardian Druid
Restoration Druid
