So you want to master Bard? 3.5

[Cetonis]

Respect for the effort, but your handwaving of BL, BA and RpS is a poor idea.

As I understand it, what you're effectively describing is a scenario where you toggle off WM for 12-second intervals, in between EA+IJ pairings. Our gain by getting the four auto attacks is 308p.

With modern crit values, the odds of a given DoT tick proccing River of Blood are around 1 in 3. Given that over a 15 second cycle, you're guaranteed at least one BL, your average BL count over the 12 second span is 1.5.

(That's an underestimate too, as I should be accounting for the tick during EA+IJ and am not because it'd be a small migraine adjusting for certain factors there.)

So for now we'll say you lose 225 x .3 = 67.5p on average on the back of River alone. On your five GCDs, assuming no SS proc (there usually will be one), you lose 222 more potency. Add in 9p x 1.3 = 12p on the DoT clip, and we're down 301.5p, just on baseline / underestimated stuff.

Now you can see the problem. Under the absolute best circumstances, what you're suggesting is effectively break-even on average. When you add in - what if SS procs, what if IR or Litany was on the DoTs, what if BA or RpS are up, what if high SkS - it won't do even that well.

It's relevant for Bards to know that you can do something like this for a cycle when you need to - if stutter stepping just isn't good enough for mechanic x - and it won't completely destroy your DPS. WM-off was common for the A7S merry-go-round, for instance. But it's not optimal in and of itself, and should not be standard operating procedure. It -was- optimal in 3.00 with 20% WM if not for the 3s cast, which maybe helps demonstrate why 3.00 WM was completely asinine.

You seem to take a cue from the fact that Krietor lists a "toggle" opener - however, that's driven more by a desire for less potion clipping, and taking advantage of the uniquely precise knowledge you get of the AA timer in an opener situation (you can WM at 4s and you got two autos guaranteed, which is not true mid-fight). The "Rinchan" opener he has at the bottom there is what most top Bards are using presently, or some relatively minor variation of that.

(p.s. your suggestion of that macro undermines your credibility)
(p.s.s. you can circumvent the post length thing by editing your original post)