Why Is Everyone Always Picking On Me?

Who is Dr. Boom and why on earth is everyone talking about him? Dr. Boom is a mob in Netherstorm that almost all ranged classes use to run DPS tests. Why is this so? If you remember leveling in Netherstorm, you might recall a quest actually called “Dr. Boom.” You were given some bombs and sent right outside Area 52 and threw some bombs on him until he and his minions were no more. And he is stationary. Combine that the fact that he has a large amount of health since you have to kill him with the bombs generally. And his little minions don’t actually venture farther than 30 yards. Toss in a plethora of large rocks to stand on surrounding him and you’ve created a perfect scenario for personal DPS tests.

So let’s about how to use this guy to your advantage. First of all, we will need a few things. First of all you will either need a damage meter such as Recount. Alternatively you could create a WoW Web Stats account and enable combat logging during your tests. The second step is deciding how you want to test. You have a couple options here. The most popular methods are as follows:

1) Shoot till your out of mana. The idea behind this is to determine how long you can shoot continuously without using potions, etc.

2) Shoot for a set time duration. Pick some time limit, such as 2 minutes or so, and then unload to get a DPS reading.

When doing these tests, it is important to make sure you keep your buffs as similar as possible. If you used a Bloodlust Brooch during one test, make sure you use it again in the next one. Or just not use it at all. Keeping your test samples as similar as possible goes a long way in developing accurate assessments in determining your idea DPS.

It is also important to determine what aspect of your DPS you are testing. If you are trying out different shot rotations, be sure to keep your spec the same. If you are testing specs, try and keep your shot rotation similar unless it is a drastic change obviously (i.e. going from Survival to BM).

There are a few important things to note. One, obviously you cannot use your pet, as they would die to the Boo Bombs. Also 1.5:1 rotations that involve Multi Shot will be slightly skewed since they will hit multiple targets.

Remember, in the end this is a personal DPS comparison. The numbers are not exact indication of how you will perform in a raid setting, but can give you a great idea of how your shot rotations or specs measure up to one another.

Dr. Boom has a very short respawn timer so don’t fret if he is dead when you arrive. Also be kind and invite individuals to your group who want to do the actual quest. Either that, or Feign Death so you lose the tag and they can finish their quest. Dr. Boom is a great tool for analysis. Using him in conjunction with Cheeky’s Spreadsheet and everything else you will go a long way in helping you be the best Hunter you can be.

So we were having a “discussion” in trade chat last night about why people would want to turn in tokens for PvP gear, in which point I said that turning in a Tier 4 shoulder token for S1 shoulders would be far better than actually getting the Tier 4 shoulders, since they are terrible. A couple people quickly agreed with me, yet one Hunter whispered me wanting to argue the point. So as I was talking to him, I looked up his Armory so I knew who I was dealing with.

• Spirit Bond? Check.
• No Animal Handler? Check.
• No Improved Revive Pet? Check.
• Points into Imp Concussive Shot instead of Efficiency or iHM? Check.
• Improved Stings and no Mortal Shots? Check.

Ugh, this would be an entertaining discussion. Especially since his justification for his spec was that he was a hybrid Arena/Raider. The culmination came when he said Tier 4 shoulders were great and that Blizzard knew how to itemize better than anyone else.

Sigh. Last night I was in the mood to take all the screenshots of the conversation, paste ‘em together and let the whole world see. But I decided against to preserve their identity. Noob Hunters on my server. He goes hand-in-hand with the Hunter who was AFK in Orgrimmar in three or four pieces of Tier 6 with a Shivering Felspine who specced into Master Tactician but did NOT take Readiness. He was actually 0/20/41. Without Readiness. Bleh.

It’s Friday. It’s a sunny day. I hope everyone has a great weekend. Tomorrow we are going to see Prince Caspian. Questions, comments, concerns, etc. Leave ‘em here!