Sun's Guide to Being a Better DPS Through not so Common, Common Sense

After taking month long breaks in between a week of play time for the 4 months I have come to find that a) people are just really bad at their classes or b) they just don't care about how they play.

I have joined some raid groups with people that out gear me which I admit currently would be some one if full heroic DS loot, but even in the past when I was not geared the way I am now I always found away to be competitive and push myself to the limit. After the break I will go into a few steps that can help improve your DPS with getting new gear or needing to have better gear then everyone else.

1) Dont stand in the fire, or the cookies tornadoes, walls of death or anything else that cause a insurmountable amount of damage really quickly. Also in this category and it applies to probably 90% of Dragons in the game don't stand in front of or behind the Dragon



2) Use a DPS Meter, to check to see where you stand at the END of the fight. Some people will tell you not to use them at all because they aren't good tools. However if you don't use one you wont know when you are severely holding your group back or not. It can also be used to adjust your rotation to better suit your play style while maximizing DPS. I stress at the end of the fight because during the fight if you are constantly looking at the meter to see where you are you will likely either stand in the above mentioned items and your DPS will suddenly stop, or you will miss a key cool down or spell.

3) Make the most of the gear you have and don't use tanking or healing gear (unless you get the gear in a non raid environment, and the stats are not terrible). I don't care how minute the upgrade is or quickly you think you are going to get and upgrade if you are raiding you need to enchant, gem, and reforge all your gear the best you can. These are extra stat points that will boost your value to the group. That being said I am not saying enchant and gem your greens with the highest enchants and epic gems, but you need to use the base enchants and gems for your level (i.e. don't use 80 enchants at level 85, unless it is proven to be better). It is amazing how many people you will see with out the correct gems, right enchants, and optimized reforging, that could potentially boost their DPS in ways that they don't have to adjust their play style. Their is this amazing tool that I have written about in the past call Ask Mr. Robot that will help you maximize gemming, enchanting, and reforging you can even set it so it doesn't use the most expensive gems and enchants.

4) Pay attention to cool downs, it doesn't matter what rotation you are using or if you are just mashing buttons. If you don't pay attention to cool downs you are going to lose out on DPS. this also means use cool downs when you'll get maximum usage from them. Don't use Recklessness 2 seconds before a phase that requires you to move away from the boss or be the guy who pop Blood Lust when their is no damage output.

5) Don't be a loot whore. This one should be common sense but I swear every raid I have ever been apart of has 1 or more people who just don't get it and actually I hinted at it in step 3. 

          A) If it's DPS loot and its a side grade or minor upgrade for you but a major upgrade for someone         else pass the loot on to them. Yes this may seem to go against making you a better DPSer but it makes your DPS unit better as a whole. If your goal is to be the best geared player then fine go for it but if you go about it this way you will limit you groups progress and other people on your server will surely pass you up in gearing.

           B) If its tank or healing loot that is decent for DPS don't take it unless all the tanks and healers don't need it. Just like above nerfing your raid group for your personal gain in the ends limits your personal gain and makes you hated by everyone in your guild.