Warrior Tanks: Maximizing DPS Output

[Kitru]

Max Enmity: Butcher's Block combo only - This is what you want to be doing to start a fight in order to build a healthy enmity lead on the rest of the party. For tank swaps, a couple of combo'ed Butcher's Blocks is enough to solidify aggro.

Not true. The highest enmity rotation for a WAR is SE>BB>BB>BB. BB spam generates 716.67 enmity potency per GCD ((150 + 200 * 3 + 280 *5) / 3). SE>BB>BB>BB generates 748.11 epot/GCD ((150 + 190 + 270 * 1.2 + (150 + 200 * 3 + 280 * 5) * 2 / .9 * 1.2 + (150 + 200 * 3 + 280 * 5) * 1.2) / 12). It also ends up doing more damage: BB spam is 210 potency/GCD ((150 + 200 + 280) / 3) while SE>BB>BB>BB generates 260.17 ((150 + 200 + 280 * 1.2 + (150 + 200 + 280) * 2 * 1.2 / .9 + (150 + 200 + 280) * 1.2) / 12).

There's no reason whatsoever to spam BB: it's worse damage *and* worse enmity than other options. Hell, SE>BB>BB is higher damage (268/GCD) and maintains virtually identical enmity generation (718.37/GCD; it's actually slightly better because Maim buffs auto-attack damage, providing an extra ~17 / GCD). I honestly have to wonder if you actually did any math for the attack strings or just went with what you use instead of what is actually best.

These are the actual optimal attack strings:

SE>BB>BB>BB (high enmity)
Enmity: 850.88 / GCD ((150 + 190 + 83.33 * 2 + (270 + 83.33) * 1.2 + (83.33 * 3 + 150 + 200 * 3 + 280 * 5) * 2 / .9 * 1.2 + (83.33 * 3 + 150 + 200 * 3 + 280 * 5) * 1.2) / 12)
Damage: 362.94 / GCD ((150 + 200 + 83.33 * 2 + (280 + 83.33) * 1.2 + (83.33 * 3 + 150 + 200 + 280) * 2 * 1.2 / .9 + (83.33 * 3 + 150 + 200 + 280) * 1.2) / 12)
no SP debuff

SP>BB>BB (standard)
Enmity: 729.77 / GCD ((83.33 + 150 + 190 + 250 + (83.33 * 3 + 150 + 200 * 3 + 280 * 5) * 2) * 1.2 / 9)
Damage: 324.44 / GCD ((83.33 + 150 + 190 + 250 + (83.33 * 3 + 150 + 200 + 280) * 2) * 1.2 / 9)
SP debuff

SP>SE>BB (solo tanking standard)
Enmity: 594.66 / GCD (((83.33 * 6 + 150 + 190 + 250 + 150 + 200 * 3 + 280 * 5) / .9 + (83.33 * 3 + 150 + 190 + 270)) * 1.2 / 9)
Damage: 369.48 / GCD (((83.33 * 6 + 150 + 190 + 250 + 150 + 200 + 280) / .9 + (83.33 * 3 + 150 + 190 + 270)) * 1.2 / 9)
SP debuff

SE>BB (high damage)
Enmity: 724.44 / GCD ((83.33 * 6 + 150 + 190 + 270 + 150 + 200 * 3 + 280 * 5) * 1.2 / .9 / 6)
Damage: 386.66 / GCD ((83.33 * 6 + 150 + 190 + 270 + 150 + 200 + 280) * 1.2 / .9 / 6)
no SP debuff

SP>SE(offtank, minimum enmity)
Enmity: 377.77 / GCD ((83.33 * 6 + 150 + 190 + 250 + 150 + 190 + 270) * 1.2 / .9 / 6)
Damage: 377.77 / GCD ((83.33 * 6 + 150 + 190 + 250 + 150 + 190 + 270) * 1.2 / .9 / 6)
SP debuff

For comparison, BB spam
Enmity: 800.00 / GCD ((83.33 * 3 + 150 + 200 * 3 + 280 * 5) / 3)
Damage: 293.33 / GCD ((83.33 * 3 + 150 + 200 + 280) / 3)
no SP debuff

SP>SE>BB is a better attack string than SP>BB>BB if your other tank isn't riding your ass on enmity since it's easily enough to keep aggro off of DPS but it's substantially lower than RoH spam or any other non-OT attack string. If you're running with another WAR that is kind enough to be running the OT rotation, which keeps up the SE debuff constantly, SP>BB>BB is the better one to use since you only use SE in order to provide the ~11% increase in damage to your own BB and SP.

SP>SE is the OT rotation because it deals nearly as much damage as SE>BB (only 9 potency/GCD less), keeps up both debuffs on a permanent basis, and generates low enough enmity that you pose no threat to the MT's enmity generation even if you overgear them.

As for Fracture, this is somewhat arguable but I keep Fracture up when not tanking (provided that the target won't die or become invulnerable for the next 30 seconds) and otherwise don't bother using Fracture when Defiance is up.

Fracture is a 300 potency hit that you can throw out once every 13 GCDs (12 GCDs for the DoT duration w/o breaking combos and 1 GCD for itself). Considering the average potency/GCD from special attacks of most of those attack strings is ~200, assuming you're not messing with Maim/SE debuff uptime, you're getting an extra 100 potency every 13 GCDs, which is 7.69 potency/GCD. Assuming a baseline potency/GCD of ~370 (SP>SE>BB, which is the median), that's a 2.08% increase in DPS (it's actually lower than this because using it would interfere with Maim and SE debuff).

The problem with Fracture, however, is that it is expensive. The WAR combos all consume 63.33 TP/GCD ((70 + 60 + 60) / 3). As such, throwing in Fracture every 13 GCDs equates to a cost of 64.61 TP/GCD ((63.33 * 12 + 80) / 13), which is a 2.02% increase in TP cost.

As such, in any TP constrained scenario (any prolonged fight without regular periods of doing nothing, e.g. Titan HM and EX, coil), Fracture doesn't really do anything and, in fact, will end up reducing your damage by stopping you from reapplying Maim/SE when you're TP starved. If TP isn't a consideration at all, it's a tiny DPS increase that you probably wouldn't notice.

Offensive cooldown management is pretty much based on common sense. They are strongest when used in conjunction with each other. Use them as often as possible, but also make sure that you have them for the key moments in the fight. Unchained and Berserk are good for starting fights, for tank swaps, and snap-aggro on newly spawned adds.

You actually don't want to use Berserk on CD because it ends up contributing less over time than if you only use it once every 120 seconds while you've got Unchained. The reason for this is pretty simple: the 33% damage increase from Unchained balances out the loss of contribution from artificially increasing the CD by 33% (90->120) but it also reduces the loss in damage from the Pacification effect from it by 33% for the same reason.

If you've got IR, you want to use Unchained>Berserk>IR in that order whenever you've got Unchained up and use IR on CD otherwise (it's a 60 sec CD compared to Unchained's 120).

[Instrumentality]

You actually don't want to use Berserk on CD because it ends up contributing less over time than if you only use it once every 120 seconds while you've got Unchained. The reason for this is pretty simple: the 33% damage increase from Unchained balances out the loss of contribution from artificially increasing the CD by 33% (90->120) but it also reduces the loss in damage from the Pacification effect from it by 33% for the same reason.

If you've got IR, you want to use Unchained>Berserk>IR in that order whenever you've got Unchained up and use IR on CD otherwise (it's a 60 sec CD compared to Unchained's 120).

So assuming you have a healer that can clear the Pacification debuff within ~1 second of it hitting your WAR you should use Berserk on cooldown?

[Menae]

So assuming you have a healer that can clear the Pacification debuff within ~1 second of it hitting your WAR you should use Berserk on cooldown?

Probably not, because A) that's pretty tight timing, B) the healer might have to heal at that moment, and C) the healer could cast a damage spell instead of Esuna/Leeches and possibly do more, especially if it's a SCH (they have a few damage spells which CANNOT miss).