Optimal Application of Shadow&Flame - @Jubeto,Manni,Diivil

[Xayide]

Hi, DREAM Paragon pros. If you could please help, I would like to know detailed guidelines about the application of the 5% spell crit debuff, assuming I'm the only one providing it:

1 - Last time I checked, the spell crit debuff was one of the only ones in game that wasn't checked per DoT tick, but rather it was calculated when the DoT landed and persisted for its whole duration. If this is still true, should I delay casting my DoTs on the opening sequence until my SB/Incinerate reaches the target, specially BoD? (Immolate being an exception for Demo and Corr for Aff, since they are readily refreshed by HoG and Haunt respectively).
2 - For Destruction, would it be better to precast Soul Fire or Incinerate before the pull?
3 - In fights where the boss cleans all his debuffs at some point (like Raganaros) or if the debuff falls for any reason, should I prioritize reapplying it over everything else, even mid battle? If not over everything else, over what exactly for each spec?

I believe the answers for 2 and 3 depend a lot on the raid setup, i.e. the amount of caster DPS in your raid. In my case, it's just me and an arcane mage in a 10-man raid (plus occasionally a Boomkin) and I'm the only one providing the spell crit debuff. I also understand this helps non-casters as well, since all DPS have some kind of spell damage except warriors and maybe feral druids. In a 25man scenario, I believe it's a no brainer since many more will benefit from the debuff, right?
I would additionally like to know what the answers would be from a strictly personal DPS viewpoint, just as curiosity and for solo scenarios (although this one is not very important if you're too busy).

If I knew how to sim those specific scenarios, I honestly would... If you would be so kind as to explain to me how to do it (what action list lines), it would be even more appreciated than to just give the answers. =)

Thank you very much in advance!

(I realize I'm posting this again, but I thought it deserved its own topic since it's not really an opener question.)

[Diivil]

Last time I checked, dots and crit debuffs still work as you described.

You should always have someone putting up the crit debuff first and that's pretty much it. The personal DPS gain of casting something else would be irrelevantly small. Of course you can assign 1 dude to always do it and the others can cast their heaviest hitting spells.

I always open with a shadowbolt on pull and everytime a boss clears its debuffs. On debuff clears I even follow it up a CoE (except maybe when we have unholy DKs) because moonkins seem to take their time with applying their own debuff.

[Xayide]

Cool, thank you very much for the input!
If I do apply it though, should I delay casting my own DoTs until my SB or Incinerate reaches the target?
Specially in Ragnaros, since spells take so much time to reach him, I usually cast Incinerate CB Incinerate and then start my usual rotation after the debuff finally gets applied. Is this correct or should I forego the +5% crit on the first DoTs I apply (with the exception of Bane of Doom perhaps)?
This question could also be answered for Improved Soul Fire as well, if it isn't much trouble.

[Diivil]

I don't think it's worth to wait for crit debuff but as destro you probably want to wait for imp. soul fire. Otherwise start your normal rotation right away. On Ragnaros you can start casting the first shadow bolt like 4-5 seconds before the pull so it's going to land fairly quickly.

With demo spec you are going to want to apply doom within a few seconds of activating metamorphosis. And then reapply another doom when 30 seconds tick has gone by and your meta is ending so you will get another full doom with metamorphosis damage bonus.

[Xayide]

Thank you very much, Diivil. All my questions have been answered and the BoD trick was a welcome bonus. I was already aware how Meta affects our DoTs, I just hadn't realized that obvious optimization opportunity. I assume one should recast Corruption right before Meta ends as well. Probably not Immolate, since it will be refreshed by HoG potentially right after that.