Zamir’s Elemental Spreadsheet for Patch 3.3

Firstly.  My previous post, “Gear Pollution“, has generated a lot of interest and several lengthy and well-considered comments.  I’d like to highlight some of the things which commenters have mentioned and respond to some of them myself, but I won’t be able to do that until Monday.  So if you want to have your say on the issue before I weigh in again, you have the weekend to do so!

Now!  I’ve finished adding the changes from the 3.3 PTR into ZAP! , and in the process have reworked some of its internal mechanisms to make them easier for me to expand upon later.  I’ve also tidied up some existing features and added a few new things:

Version 1.1.1 for Patch 3.3 (PTR)

Version 1.1.1 for Patch 3.3 (PTR) – compatibility

Update: With 3.3′s release, the normal version of ZAP! is updated to 1.1.2 and includes the new Icecrown trinkets, so just use the regular download links to get the latest version.

I must stress that these downloads are for patch 3.3 only, and they assume that changes presently on the PTRs will go live.

The most regularly updated source of information on the spreadsheet is the thread over at Elitist Jerks.  Changes and notes after the break.  Update: tweaked the 4t9 change based on feedback from Agash and Tufy.

Changes – version 1.1.1

• Implemented patch 3.3 changes:
  • Elemental Mastery now grants haste instead of crit
  • 4t9 now grants an extra 10% of LvB’s total damage rather than the previous 20% additive modifier
• Revised fight segmenting model to make it simpler to include new EM
• You can now choose whether or not to use CL during Heroism and EM
• “Rotation Delay” setting changed. It now allows the user to add a period of no-casting in between each LvB cast. LBs will be sacrificed first, then CLs.
• CastDelay now properly accounted for during Heroism
• Statistics:
  • Mana usage more accurate
  • Heroism and EM properly accounted for when figuring out totals
• Judgement of Wisdom and the Reign of the Unliving trinkets now use variable PPM based on the user’s stats and options
• “Advanced Settings” now contain the options to factor in miss chance and partial resists (which doesn’t affect EP, but it was a frequently requested feature)
• Sandbox’s haste calculator looks better and has more options
• Haste from relics is included in the buff display until I can figure out a better way to make it obvious (people tend to forget about relic haste when playing around with numbers)
• Various other minor cosmetic changes.

The user guide should be updated sometime in the next couple of days.  Until then some notes:

Relic Haste

Two things to note.  Firstly, relics that grant haste assume a 100% up-time for their haste effects, even though in practice the up-time can vary slightly.  There’s not really any other way to include them in the spreadsheet and it doesn’t really affect DEP or relative relic values anyway (since the haste relics are so vastly superior to any others).

Secondly, a lot of folks play around with different haste ratings but forget they’ve got a haste-granting relic selected giving them 200 (or 220) more haste than they have entered.  I’ve yet to fix a good way of alerting users to this fact, but haste from relics is now added to other haste buffs and shown in the buff display.

New Advanced Settings

Partial resists and miss chance are included because folk asked for it, not because they’re important to the results of the spreadsheet.  They should be treated with a pinch of salt if used.

The partial resist formula is a bit weird – nobody really seems to have done any research into the level 80 values for players against bosses (as distinct from bosses against players).  I’ve used the accepted level 70 formula with the option of assuming +5 resistance per level or +8 resistance per level (as there was some debate as to which was accurate).

PPM and Rotation Delay

Rotation Delay has been changed to try and better formulate the effect of movement in limiting the number of Lightning Bolts that are cast.  It’s not perfect but it can help give a rough idea of what changes.  As a result of this, I’ve also changed the way procs-per-minute work for JoW and Reign trinkets.  In the future I may add a proper PPM model for all trinkets.

Bugs

There are a lot of changes in this release so it’s quite possible I’ve missed stuff.  If you find anything amiss please do let me know, and provide as much detail as you can.  There is one “known issue” which I do not intend to fix:

• For fight lengths shorter than the cooldown of Elemental Mastery, the full 15 seconds of the effect will not be accounted for. This is because EM is included as a 15/cooldown fraction of the total fight duration to smooth out its effect. However, the DEP values for potions – if set to be used during EM – do force the full 15 second duration for the effect no matter how long the fight.

Checking your rotation

I’d also like to remind users that you can see how ZAP! is constructing your rotation by looking at the figures above the DPS output.  You’ll see how many Lava Bursts, Lightning Bolts and Chain Lightnings are being cast per Flame Shock “rotation”.  If you add up how many spells you think you should be casting and compare them to this output, you can get an idea of whether you need to check your rotation in the sandbox or try using a Cast Delay figure.

Anyway, that’s that.  The default download link will continue to point to the patch 3.2 version 1.0.5 until patch 3.3 goes live.  Feedback is, as always, welcomed.