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AltarBoy v1.0 - Priest CC (Shadow)

I'm happy to see that you've found something that seems to work. I'll be sure to test it in a raid as soon as I can, and I'll get back to you on how it works for me.
 
alagondar47 said:
I'm happy to see that you've found something that seems to work. I'll be sure to test it in a raid as soon as I can, and I'll get back to you on how it works for me.
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Please do. From what I can tell, the CC was running so fast through the behavior tree that during the GCD from the instant cast Mind Blast it was failing all the "CanCast" checks until it hit the Normal DPS rotation. We through up a roadblock to prevent that from happening.
 
I finally found a comprehensive post that explains everything about the t13 4-set. This includes why the /cancelaura Mind Melt is used, and also some alternate variations on the rotation that may be more DPS. I don't know that there's anything you'd want to do with it at this point, but I present it for your consideration.

http://www.howtopriest.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=1176​
 
alagondar47 said:
I finally found a comprehensive post that explains everything about the t13 4-set. This includes why the /cancelaura Mind Melt is used, and also some alternate variations on the rotation that may be more DPS. I don't know that there's anything you'd want to do with it at this point, but I present it for your consideration.

http://www.howtopriest.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=1176​
Click to expand...

Thanks alagondar, that makes sense with regards to the Mind Melt cancelling, however, I still don't think that removing a buff to force a cast time on a spell is the best way to manage that. I mean, we could add a wait to Mind Blast that achieves the same thing more effectively (essentially: if Mind Blast is off cooldown and Shadowfiend is out, wait up to 1.5 seconds for Priest to have 3 Shadow Orbs).

I think the second rotation is probably the most ideal for implementing with Altarboy, but means coding a new rotation altogether.

So we have three choices, and I'll go with the one that receives the most impassioned, logical response:


  1. Cancel Mind Melt
    Pros: Gives Mind Blast the opportunity to benefit from Orbs. Easy to implement. Models most widely accepted behavior.
    Cons: Dependent on successful Shadowfiend attack during Mind Blast cast time. Could wreck Shadow Word: Death damage on low health targets.

  2. Wait for Orbs
    Pros: Mind Blast is always instant cast and will take advantage of Orbs. Doesn't affect Shadow Word: Death. Easy to implement.
    Cons: Potential downtime while waiting for Orbs to proc.

  3. Alternate Mind Spike Rotation with Mind Flay filler
    Pros: Mind Blast is always instant cast and will take advantage of Orbs. Doesn't affect Shadow Word: Death. No downtime waiting for anything.
    Cons: Hardest implementation.
 
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Hey spriestdev,
I just wanted to let you know that I've let my WoW subscription lapse and I will no longer be available to test updates to this CC. Thanks for your hard work! This CC has been great.

WoW just doesn't feel fun these days. I'll be back for Panda's and reassess it at that time but for now, who knows. SWToR again perhaps.

Thank you
 
spriestdev said:
Thanks alagondar, that makes sense with regards to the Mind Melt cancelling, however, I still don't think that removing a buff to force a cast time on a spell is the best way to manage that. I mean, we could add a wait to Mind Blast that achieves the same thing more effectively (essentially: if Mind Blast is off cooldown and Shadowfiend is out, wait up to 1.5 seconds for Priest to have 3 Shadow Orbs).

I think the second rotation is probably the most ideal for implementing with Altarboy, but means coding a new rotation altogether.

So we have three choices, and I'll go with the one that receives the most impassioned, logical response:

  1. Cancel Mind Melt
    Pros: Gives Mind Blast the opportunity to benefit from Orbs. Easy to implement. Models most widely accepted behavior.
    Cons: Dependent on successful Shadowfiend attack during Mind Blast cast time. Could wreck Shadow Word: Death damage on low health targets.
  2. Wait for Orbs
    Pros: Mind Blast is always instant cast and will take advantage of Orbs. Doesn't affect Shadow Word: Death. Easy to implement.
    Cons: Potential downtime while waiting for Orbs to proc.
  3. Alternate Mind Spike Rotation with Mind Flay filler
    Pros: Mind Blast is always instant cast and will take advantage of Orbs. Doesn't affect Shadow Word: Death. No downtime waiting for anything.
    Cons: Hardest implementation.
Click to expand...

To be perfectly honest, I think you covered the pros and cons of each choice pretty effectively, and it largely comes down to which one you feel will be the most effective once coded in.

Choice #1 is, as you said, the most widely used behavior. It seems to be accepted as the "correct" way to do the rotation in most circumstances. The dependence on a Shadowfiend attack during MB I consider to be a moot point...if it were an actual issue, I feel like it would have been widely discussed by now, and if found to be a disadvantage, discontinued. The Shadowfiend has a very predictable attack speed, and it seems to me that as long as the fiend does not die as you're casting MB, the orbs will be there. Seeing how quickly they proc I tend to agree with this theory, which takes a major issue out of the "cons" of this rotation. I also feel the same way about the SW: D issue. I haven't seen it being discussed, so although the potential may be there, it seems like it doesn't come into effect often enough to stop doing the rotation this way.

Choice #2 is very straightforward. Wait for that attack by the fiend, then cast instant MB. Theoretically it should work the same as Choice #1, as the wait would be offset by the fact that there's no longer a cast time for MB. My only issue is the potential for the rotation to get stuck in a waiting loop for a few cycles, and end up waiting much longer than it should, thus causing a serious DPS loss. This is more of a coding thing, and I won't pretend to know how to address it, but it is something to keep an eye on. The cast time on MB can get pretty short with full raid buffs, end-game gear, and bloodlust/heroism. I'd make sure the wait isn't too long.

Choice #3 is the "best" choice. It offers the most DPS while taking advantage of all the shadow orbs. However, the fact that it's not the most widely used behavior indicates that it is a difficult rotation, and it involves clipping Mind Flay at very specific times. I'm not sure how much harder it would be to implement, but it's definitely going to be harder than the others. You have to ask yourself, as the developer, if it's worth it.


I know you were looking for a response that was a stellar defense of one of these options, but I honestly don't think that that's the appropriate response. As the developer, you have the final say in what's done to your CC. Any of these 3 rotations will allow MB to take advantage of the orbs, which will be a DPS increase over what we have now. In a perfect world, I'd say go for #3 because it's the highest DPS rotation, but it's also the hardest, and may not be worth it. Go with the one where you feel the difficulty of recoding is balanced by the performance increase the CC will see overall, and you'll have our thanks.
 
Algamish said:
Hey spriestdev,
I just wanted to let you know that I've let my WoW subscription lapse and I will no longer be available to test updates to this CC. Thanks for your hard work! This CC has been great.

WoW just doesn't feel fun these days. I'll be back for Panda's and reassess it at that time but for now, who knows. SWToR again perhaps.

Thank you
Click to expand...

Thank you for all the valuable feedback you've provided over the last few months. :)
 
alagondar47 said:
To be perfectly honest, I think you covered the pros and cons of each choice pretty effectively, and it largely comes down to which one you feel will be the most effective once coded in.

Choice #1 is, as you said, the most widely used behavior. It seems to be accepted as the "correct" way to do the rotation in most circumstances. The dependence on a Shadowfiend attack during MB I consider to be a moot point...if it were an actual issue, I feel like it would have been widely discussed by now, and if found to be a disadvantage, discontinued. The Shadowfiend has a very predictable attack speed, and it seems to me that as long as the fiend does not die as you're casting MB, the orbs will be there. Seeing how quickly they proc I tend to agree with this theory, which takes a major issue out of the "cons" of this rotation. I also feel the same way about the SW: D issue. I haven't seen it being discussed, so although the potential may be there, it seems like it doesn't come into effect often enough to stop doing the rotation this way.

Choice #2 is very straightforward. Wait for that attack by the fiend, then cast instant MB. Theoretically it should work the same as Choice #1, as the wait would be offset by the fact that there's no longer a cast time for MB. My only issue is the potential for the rotation to get stuck in a waiting loop for a few cycles, and end up waiting much longer than it should, thus causing a serious DPS loss. This is more of a coding thing, and I won't pretend to know how to address it, but it is something to keep an eye on. The cast time on MB can get pretty short with full raid buffs, end-game gear, and bloodlust/heroism. I'd make sure the wait isn't too long.

Choice #3 is the "best" choice. It offers the most DPS while taking advantage of all the shadow orbs. However, the fact that it's not the most widely used behavior indicates that it is a difficult rotation, and it involves clipping Mind Flay at very specific times. I'm not sure how much harder it would be to implement, but it's definitely going to be harder than the others. You have to ask yourself, as the developer, if it's worth it.


I know you were looking for a response that was a stellar defense of one of these options, but I honestly don't think that that's the appropriate response. As the developer, you have the final say in what's done to your CC. Any of these 3 rotations will allow MB to take advantage of the orbs, which will be a DPS increase over what we have now. In a perfect world, I'd say go for #3 because it's the highest DPS rotation, but it's also the hardest, and may not be worth it. Go with the one where you feel the difficulty of recoding is balanced by the performance increase the CC will see overall, and you'll have our thanks.
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Thank you, that's kind of what I expected to hear. Choice #3 is not hard for a bot to execute, the problem is that I just don't have a way to test it right now and that kind of change probably needs some kind of QA against it. (WoW isn't installed, and even if it was, I don't have the 4pT13 set bonus.)

So here's the plan right now....

I'll try and slam Choice #1 in tonight as a temporary measure since it's a rather quick implementation and I can sneak it in before raid lockouts reset without a real risk of breaking something. I'll put together the code for Choice #3 in an experimental branch and I'll send it out to you (and maybe some other people), if you're willing to trial it with the understanding that it may be a bit wonky.
 
I appreciate your commitment to trying new things as we ask for them, and always in such a prompt manner. I would be more than happy to test the implementation of any new code you add in, and let you know how it turns out.
 
alagondar47 said:
I appreciate your commitment to trying new things as we ask for them, and always in such a prompt manner. I would be more than happy to test the implementation of any new code you add in, and let you know how it turns out.
Click to expand...

Check your PM's.
 
alagondar47 said:
So I went to test your latest revision to see how it went, and this happened. Not sure what to do.
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That's bizarre. There's nothing in the code that should cause that. I'm assuming that's with the modified CastManager and Shadowpriest.cs files I sent you?
 
Hello just discovered this profile and it seems awesome with the multi dotting etc , may make my priest a main again after some testing :).

While i wait for dungeon que i'm testing stuff on dummies and after it disperses it seems to want to melee the dummy and won't do anything until i either cast another spell or if i move within dummy range for it to melee once.

Also up for testing anything you may need , can tell alot of work has been put into this :).

Here is a log , will check if it doesn't happen in dungeon.

View attachment 17-02-2012_5_48 4876 Log.txt

Cheers
 
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Quick question.. Does this still have a GUI?

Think i broke something, hasn't shown up in awhile.
 
Having an issue with this sometimes getting stuck and just randomly targetting raid members in LFR. It just cycles through raid members and if I try to manually target an enemy it just goes back to targetting the raid. Don't really have a log, curious to know if it is a known problem.
 
Gentoo said:
Quick question.. Does this still have a GUI?

Think i broke something, hasn't shown up in awhile.
Click to expand...

Yes, there is still a GUI. It hasn't changed in recent updates, so if you're not seeing it perhaps try a fresh install. It should be there.


vwest877 said:
Having an issue with this sometimes getting stuck and just randomly targetting raid members in LFR. It just cycles through raid members and if I try to manually target an enemy it just goes back to targetting the raid. Don't really have a log, curious to know if it is a known problem.
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The only thing I can think of is that for some reason it's cycling raid members trying to find a good target for Mind Sear. This isn't something I've seen personally though, so I can't be sure. You can always try the obvious restart HB, fresh install of the CC, blah blah blah. If nothing seems to work, turn off auto-target and click the mobs yourself for a while!
 
you should make this support raidbot....would love you long time.
 
Can someone post their recont on a fight like ultrax an item level .. or just tell us your average dps/ilvl
 
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