Author Archives: Toskk

Feral DPS Mechanics & Formulas

What follows is a collection of mechanics and formulas for various aspects of World of Warcraft Classic Burning Crusade as they pertain to feral druid cat form DPS. These formulas are being presented here to assist theorycrafters, as there is a great lack of quality information available on the underlying game mechanics. All formulas listed below reflect a level 70 character and (when relevant) a level 73 (raid boss) enemy.

Cat Form Damage Formulas (as of TBC Patch 2.5.2.40488)

White attacks (melee_damage): (768 + attack_power) / 14
Mangle: melee_damage * 1.6 + 264
This formula is well-documented, and matches the in-game tooltip value. This formula gives Mangle an overall attack power scaling value of ~0.114 * AP.
Shred: melee_damage * 2.25 + 405
This formula is also well-documented, and matches the in-game tooltip value. This formula gives Shred an overall attack power scaling value of ~0.161 * AP. Note: Shred damage is affected by the Mangle debuff (x1.3) multiplier.
Rip (5 Combo point): attack_power * 0.24 + 1553
This formula was determined via direct testing, and does not match the in-game tooltip value. At this time, I am unable to find any documentation from the game developers on this deviation/buff from the tooltip value. The correct 4 combo point formula is: attack_power * 0.24 + 1272. Rip also ticks six times over 12 seconds, so the value of each tick can be calculated by dividing the total damage by six.
Ferocious Bite: attack_power * 0.25 + 941
This formula was determined via direct testing. In addition, extra energy consumed by Ferocious Bite converts to extra damage using this formula: extra_energy * 4.1.

Note: the above formulas represent the average damage of each attack. Melee, Mangle, Shred, and Ferocious Bite damage are actually represented in-game as a narrow range of values.

Cat Form Mana and Mana Regeneration Formulas

Mana: 2370 + (intellect – 20) * 15 + 20
This formula was determined via direct testing.
Mana Regeneration (Every 5 seconds): (0.001 + (spirit * Math.sqrt(intellect) * 0.009327)) * 4.43
This formula was estimated based on the developer-provided formula for mana regeneration, and reflects the slightly lower mana regeneration values observed while in cat form compared to caster form. At this time, I am unable to find any documentation from the game developers on the exact coefficient for cat form mana regeneration. Note: this formula only applies to mana regeneration when not casting, and may not be relevant depending on the frequency of powershifting used.

World of Warcraft Feral Druid Modeling

Well, with the re-release of the Burning Crusade expansion for WoW Classic, I have resumed development on the feral druid DPS and tanking models. Version 3.0.0. of the feral DPS model is now published here, and the feral tanking model should be finished soon too. I’ll be posting many more notes about ongoing development of the models, but here are a few introductory comments about the dps model so far:

Currently, the dps model uses (raid) buffed cat form stats. I eventually plan to switch this over to using unbuffed caster form stats, however that will be a major undertaking (for those that remember the old WotLK model interface, it will need checkboxes for every possible buff).

The dps model as implemented incorporates a “perfect” attack cycle, including 100% Mangle debuff uptime, perfect energy usage and Rip uptime, and optimal powershifting usage. I’ll write more about powershifting at a later time, too. The dps model also currently outputs a lot more data than is strictly necessary within the model itself. For example, it will report the relative damage-per-energy of most cat form attacks, even though the model itself only uses Mangle, Shred, and Rip.

Anyway, more to come later, but I’m happy to be back! – Toskk

In Progress Back Up

Ok, In Progress is back up and running now, and I’m starting the process of re-importing site content. I have the most-utilized tool (the Dominion card picker program) up and running now, and should have the rest of the site back up soon too. I apologize for the problems!

Toskk