I was talking to a guildie about some basics to her new DPS DK yesterday and with the continued addition of new raiders to the guild and the need to tweak DPS for 25-man Festergut, I wanted to put together a post outlining my skewed perspective on approaching DPS classes. This is my philosophy, if you will, and is not meant to single anyone out. This thread is not for everyone. As a standard disclaimer, I by no means am an exceptional DPSer; there are definitely some of them in this guild. I will be talking in generalities and use specific examples; there are plenty of class specific threads in this forum along with a general guild specific DPS thread from the summer of last year. I am a lumper, not a splitter. I tend to group things in broad categories and accept there will always be exceptions. This is meant as something for hopefully new raiders to read before they approach the dizzying details outlined in an Elitist Jerks post. My raiding experiences in Wrath have been constrained to a DK and a druid.

As always, comments, feedback, differing perspectives are welcome and appreciated. Yes, my grammar is horrid and no, I don't care.

To begin with, there are two basic attacks: Direct damage (DD) and damage over time (DOT). These spells are taught by your trainer. Talents (or the ability itself) will possibly add 2 modifiers to specific DD’s and DOT’s. These modifiers are either a debuff applied to the target, or a proc (activation of an ability) that will set up your target for another ability (eg enable or magnify). For example, on an unholy DK, 2 of my basic attacks (Icy Touch and Plague Strike) will add disease debuffs to line up for another attack (Scourge Strike) which benefits from these debuffs by increasing its damage. On a destruction warlock, Conflagrate is not only an awesome instant DD, it procs an ability to decrease spell cast time and a possibility to increase subsequent damage.

These are basics and I know some of you are rolling your eyes, but this is what makes a ‘priority’ cast list when you read an Elitist Jerks thread (the ‘why’ in ‘why is this spell my number 1 priority). Every dps class has at most 5-6 bread and butter abilities for single target dps, 1 of which is a ‘filler’ ability (cast when all the other abilities are on cooldown or ‘up’ on a target). These abilities play off each other and set each other up, again using my previous paragraph for examples, and thus constitute an idealized priority list. For my unholy DK, priority 1 is maintenance of diseases (hence I cast Plague Strike and Icy Touch, in that order, because Plague Strike itself sets up Icy Touch). If those are on a target, my priority cast is what is lovingly called in the DK community as the FU strike (scourge strike, aptly named for the runes used, not the colloquial term).

For me, my dps lives and dies by 2 mods. I know others eschew mods (good ol' Leapinggnome, when he played, comes to mind) but I use them because I cannot quickly perceive what debuffs are on a target (so I know my other abilities are being set up for magnified damage) and what abilities are on a cooldown (because of course, all the awesome abilities have a cooldown) using the stock UI. The mods I use are ‘needtoknow’, which is a bar mod to track specified buffs I have on myself (such as savage roar on my feral druid) and what debuffs are on my targets, and ‘tellmewhen’, which I use to tell me when specified abilities (those on the priority list) are ready.

The differentiation between average DPS and good DPS is knowing when to deviate from the priority list, but that is more gestalt than anything else. For example, my priority list differs, though not radically, when questing, doing introductory heroics, ICC heroics, and for raiding. It also changes with group dynamics. It’s all about how can I put out the most damage without dying (ie what can I get away with). It comes with comfort with a class but it also relies on a player knowing why an ability is where it is on a class’ priority list.

In summary, when I approach a DPS class, I ask myself 3 questions: 1) what is my priority cast list, 2) why are the abilities in that order, and 3) which abilities do I need to track. These 3 answers allow for a player to quickly answer the subsequent question on boss fights: how do I restore and/or maintain my priority cast list after being interrupted due to fight mechanics.