Devai/Kruf

[Frantic]

So I think the majority of players know that survival is going to be the entry raiding spec in Cataclysm, I was just hoping you guys could share some insight from beta testing with me. A few questions, anybody who has raided in the beta as survival feel free to pitch in :)

What is the basic shot priority?
How are lock and load procs best handled?

A question that I would like most answered is how are you guys maximizing burst dps on boss pulls? What has worked best for you (starting rotation)?

[deva]

What is the basic shot priority?
How are lock and load procs best handled?

It's more like priority system, anyways:
Keep serpent sting up 100% of the time -> black arrow (unless explo trap needed on AoE) -> explo shot -> if both of ur black arrow and explo shot are on cd and ur focus is about to cap shoot arcane shot. Then u shoot cobra shot every time ur explo and black arrow are on cd.

Lock and Load:

Normally this is what i do -> explo -> cobra -> explo -> cobra -> explo

If high focus when get Lock and Load proc -> explo -> cobra -> explo -> arcane -> explo

If you have ur black arrow coming out of the cd while Lock and Load proc on -> explo -> black arrow -> explo -> cobra -> explo

Be sure to use every proc on explo and not to waste it on arcane!

A question that I would like most answered is how are you guys maximizing burst dps on boss pulls? What has worked best for you (starting rotation)?

It variates hugely on bosses, some bosses you can put all ur cd's up right away, some bosses u need to wait for different phase to use cd's. Other bosses have damage modifiers so u should try to save ur cd's on those.

Normal start: sting up, black arrow up, explo,(*rapid fire,blood fury,call of the wild, agi pot), then lotsa cobras.

*if u can use cd's when ever u want

[Kruf]

A question that I would like most answered is how are you guys maximizing burst dps on boss pulls? What has worked best for you (starting rotation)?

There's no point in optimizing for initial burst on pull really, you want to optimize for best sustained DPS over the whole fight. Which means, Sting up, then normal priorities, pretty much. Some of the fights are in the 5-6min range, in those you really want to blow Rapid Fire right away so you can get it again before the fight is over.

[Stripes]

What is the basic shot priority?
How are lock and load procs best handled?

It's more like priority system, anyways:
Keep serpent sting up 100% of the time -> black arrow (unless explo trap needed on AoE) -> explo shot -> if both of ur black arrow and explo shot are on cd and ur focus is about to cap shoot arcane shot. Then u shoot cobra shot every time ur explo and black arrow are on cd.

Lock and Load:

Normally this is what i do -> explo -> cobra -> explo -> cobra -> explo

If high focus when get Lock and Load proc -> explo -> cobra -> explo -> arcane -> explo

If you have ur black arrow coming out of the cd while Lock and Load proc on -> explo -> black arrow -> explo -> cobra -> explo

Be sure to use every proc on explo and not to waste it on arcane!

Are you sure Arcane Shot and Black Arrow are viable ways to waste LnL procs seeing as our GCD is now 1 second, I believe the shots would clip from what I've been playing on beta. Cobra Shot is fine though, just double checking. :)

The only way I can see Arcane Shot and Black arrow working is if you chain them both together in a ES pause or fire either one of a actually wait for a tiny moment (around 0.5 seconds?).

EDIT: Been thinking some more on this and maybe your LnL dump rotation is taking into account the recent dot changes where if refreshed before the last tick and after the second to last tick there are no ticks overall lost, this applies to ES?

[Kruf]

The only way I can see Arcane Shot and Black arrow working is if you chain them both together in a ES pause or fire either one of a actually wait for a tiny moment (around 0.5 seconds?).

Should be pretty obvious you ought to delay for the time necessary to avoid overwriting the previous Explosive Shot after using an short cast ability.

EDIT: Been thinking some more on this and maybe your LnL dump rotation is taking into account the recent dot changes where if refreshed before the last tick and after the second to last tick there are no ticks overall lost, this applies to ES?

I'm pretty sure Explosive Shot does not work by that mechanic, as it isn't strictly a DoT you reapply but rather a direct damage attack that leaves a DoT behind, though I haven't checked it yet.

[Stripes]

Yea for me it's obvious you'd delay but Devai never mentioned it for the person asking the question which wouldn't be clear :P

Yea the DoT thing was just a pondering thought I had, I doubted it but was looking for justification in Devai's LnL method.

[deva]

Yeah sorry about that, u need to wait for tiny bit of time that previous ES drops. If you are on max range it should be able to drop before next ES lands if not just wait that 0,5 secs and ur fine :)