Do you guys use damage meters?

Good morning multiboxers,

My team has finally moved on to outlands. Been doing some ramparts and just moved up to blood furnace (one pally who wasnt getting 3x xp is lagging behind, alas, but i am hoping it will even out).

I am wondering if you guys use damage meters at all. I am at the point where there is so much going on that I cant really tell how well my team is doing. Lefthoof can solo ramparts and a good deal of blood furnace so he is doing the lion's share of damage I know, I am just wondering how my other guys are doing. I *think* my macros are working right lol but who knows?

Anyways, anyone use a damage meter to judge how well your people are doing, and if so which one?

Thanks and have a great day,

I use one. Recap..or Recount.. can't remember right now. ;)

My paladin seems to be doing the most dps, but I suspect it's do to the fact I always pull multiple mobs.

That and instant attacks vs. 2-3 second cast times on trash mobs.

I use recount. It makes me angry that all my toons are geared exactly the same and they don't put out the same dps. I like seeing how much damage I do on bosses or how fast they die. So it is good for that but basically the differences in dps comes down to the ammount of crits one toon gets vs the other toons. Also your main character is hitting just a microsecond before the other toons so this could explain some dps difference.

I use recount for logistic purposes, but outside of that, so long as it dies I'm fine with whatever my group is doing.

Thanks, recount seems popular.

What do you mean for logistic purposes?

To keep track of individual DPS, group DPS, who should be specced what, what equips are giving me the most bang, etc, but I only keep the thing up when I'm beating on target dummies in town. When I'm out and about, I don't keep track because there are any number of things that can and will effect your final count, and I'd rather not make judgement calls on my group based on flukes, front loaded damage, or classes that need to warm up.

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Originally Posted by 'Schwarz',index.php?page=Thread&postID=148906#post 148906

I use recount. It makes me angry that all my toons are geared exactly the same and they don't put out the same dps. I like seeing how much damage I do on bosses or how fast they die. So it is good for that but basically the differences in dps comes down to the ammount of crits one toon gets vs the other toons. Also your main character is hitting just a microsecond before the other toons so this could explain some dps difference.

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Heh, I know what you mean man. With my 4 shammies in BC I had one that I always geared best (Eloshamc) and the one I geared 2nd best (Eloshamb) would ALWAYS out DPS Eloshamc. I would check, recheck, and check again talents, gear, macro's, but they were all the same (only C had better gear) and still B > C. Needless to say the solution was to bench B and bring in a mage. :) C is the favorite child and I'm not going to have anyone interfere with that RAWR!

[edit:] Actually, now that I think through this I think I understand it. I bet C was actually doing the most dmg, and therefore pulling aggro, taking those ranged shots, and losing DPS time due to pushback making her stats look lower. Makes sense at least. Guess this is just another example of how dmg meters can be misleading.

I recommend recount, it gives you TONS and TONS of information. I use it to measure dps on the group to make sure they're all pretty similar. If I see one lagging behind a bit I'll change an enchant or I'll put a higher level enchant to help that clone keep up with the rest.

I used to have one and I came to the conclusion that it stops being interesting after a while, because your dps doesn't change much and it also doesn't really matter, because it's not really useful to know how much damage you did(or are doing). Threatmeters however are very helpful.

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Originally Posted by 'Ken',index.php?page=Thread&postID=149404#post1494 04

I used to have one and I came to the conclusion that it stops being interesting after a while, because your dps doesn't change much and it also doesn't really matter, because it's not really useful to know how much damage you did(or are doing). Threatmeters however are very helpful.

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I somewhat agree, but it has helped me in the past to see what toon needed their castsequence tweaked to improve performance.

Yeah I agree they're more of a tool than interesting. With it up if you've got 2 dps doing 800dps and the third doing 550dps you need to know so you can look at improving it. It may just be an inescapable situation but it's definitely good to know. Kinda like keeping tabs on your gas mileage on your car. If it suddenly dips then there may be an issue that you need to look into before damage is done (fuel pump failing, fuel filter clogged, bad O2 sensor, etc. etc.)

Ken,

I can see with a group of max level characters how this would be the case or if you were running 5 of one class ( i am running a mixed group, see my sig). I am just looking to use it to see how much damage my individual members are doing and if i can get one that will lay it down ability by ability (which i believe many do) i can try to use it to check and make sure my macros are behaving like I want them to. If I see Medrick never has a divine storm on the meter after a instance run then I can say "hmm lets double check that macro" its certainly possible that they all missed or whatever, but I think in my case of checking my settings, etc it could be useful.

I appreciate all your comments!

Thanks.

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Originally Posted by 'Ken',index.php?page=Thread&postID=149404#post1494 04

I used to have one and I came to the conclusion that it stops being interesting after a while, because your dps doesn't change much and it also doesn't really matter, because it's not really useful to know how much damage you did(or are doing). Threatmeters however are very helpful.

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Last night, my Recount was the first indication I had that a macro was broken, and ToonB wasn't firing Lightning Bolts.

"Me: WTF is wrong with B?"

That is exactly my intention Bovidae, hah.

I just swapped out 1 paladin for a death knight and did ramparts.... the 60 DK beat all 3 of my other lowbies on the meter, lol. I hope theyre embarassed (they had 2 or 3 levels on him).

been using omen for this just watch and see how they fair threat wise against a prot pali
So far I've figure out that I really need to work on my dps toons :P

A good damage meter is indispensable, not necessarily for the total damage done or over all dps, that is just a wide look at everything being done.
Personally, I LOVE being able to dig in and see what is actually going on, find out what ability is doing the most damage and what should be. Find out if one ability is missing more then others. It let's you take a look at things you might have missed, are the adds casting a debuff you didn't see? Things like that. Recount let's you really dig into your combat log and look at every little thing, even down to who much mana is being regened and what ability is doing it.
But then again, I am a number cruncher and love playing with data. :)

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Originally Posted by 'Bovidae',index.php?page=Thread&postID=151557#post 151557

"Me: WTF is wrong with B?"

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I had the same issues I had a broken macro that was not firing off a particular cast sequence because of a typo. It took me a while to find it.

i usually figure out a macro is broken when one guy has full mana the whole time...

If I'm out questing, my mana bar is always full. That damn water shield....

I ususally take a look at the toons during battle to ensure everyone is casting, but then again I run 5 of the same toons in one group, so its pretty easy to spot if one isen't performing.

Muhahah evil multiboxer! :D

I have dps meters, I think they are essential in finding out how to gear yoruself up, which dps rotations to use and how to get the max out of your characters.

And it is also to know what your dps is like, for example when you're gonna try a dps fight like Patchwerk, it is good to know if you have enough dps for it. Or maybe find ways to accomplish enough dps.


I'm using recount myself, as it has some individual graphs for your different skills. It's a great utility.