castsequence lowers dps big time. 500dps loss

[Kicksome]

I was wondering why my dps was low compared to other elemental shaman. So I spent some time at the training dummies.

Just to cut to the chase, castsequence has some sort of lag with it, compared to using a direct /cast macro or clicking on the actual spell.

A very simple test:
Manually clicking /cast macros, I am able to easily click my 5th LB before lava burst is off cooldown, but when I use a castsequence (spamming the key), by the time my 4th LB cast is over, LvB is off cooldown. (which means I lost at LEAST 1 second of DPS) I can even notice slight delays between each cast with my castsequence macro. Maybe only .25 seconds, but they add up compared to non-castsequences. These delays are not there when I spam a /cast macro.
It almost seems that the delay between casts, using a /castsequence = my latency, which is about 220ms. The delay isn't there with /cast.


I did a few tests with my shaman (I did each rotation 4x with a full mana bar and was within 100 dps).
When I manually clicked on the cast rotation of Flame Shock, LvB, LB, LB, LB, LB, LB, LvB, LB, LB, LB, LB I did a solid 2.5K dps
When I used my castsequence to do it - I did a little less than 2K dps.
(/castsequence reset=6 Flame shock, Lava Burst, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Lava Burst, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt)

(To keep this simple, I didn't use chain lighting)
My Lightning Bolt has about a 1.7 sec cast time.
4 lighting bolts = 6.8 seconds
Lava Burst = 8 second cooldown
Since Lava Burst has a 8 second cooldown, that means I need to cast 5 lightning bolts before I cast another Lava Burst. (If I cast 4 LB, then I'd have to wait 1.2 seconds for LvB cooldown)

Result: net loss of 500dps in each test.

Has anyone else noticed the /castsequence lag???

EDIT: This is confirmed, you can try it yourself with /cast lightning bolt vs. /castsequence lightning bolt, lightning bolt, lightning bolt, lightning bolt, lightning bolt, lightning bolt macros. DPS loss and delay between casts with /castsequence is very noticeable vs. /cast. The higher latency you have, the bigger the difference. Very low latency might not notice any substantial difference.

-Kicksome

[Catamer]

I had a similar cast sequence that started with a flame shock and I feel like i get a HUGE delay from the flame shock and when my girls start casting lava burst or lightning.
i feel like they are stop casting for 3 seconds when they should only delay 1.5 seconds for the global cool down.
I'll have to do some more tests, I'll try some of your ideas at the test dummys.

[Bigfish]

How much testing are we talking here, and how long were your trial times? I've seen some pretty hefty discrepencies in DPS based purely off a lucky string of crits or a poor string of non-crits. Given that we're talking training dummies here, there wasn't anyone else around dropping a 13% increased magic damage, or a trinket going off at some point, or procs, or the like?

[genocyde]

When I manually clicked on the cast rotation of Flame Shock, LvB, LB, LB, LB, LB, LB, LvB, LB, LB, LB, LB
When I used my castsequence (/castsequence reset=6 Flame shock, Lava Burst, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Lava Burst, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt)

I'm not exactly sure how the parameter reset=6 works but wouldn't that reset your castsequence well before it finished? Or does it only reset if your not casting?

Edit: NvM i /searched. Reset=6 would be 6 seconds without triggering the macro.

[TheBigBB]

When I manually clicked on the cast rotation of Flame Shock, LvB, LB, LB, LB, LB, LB, LvB, LB, LB, LB, LB
When I used my castsequence (/castsequence reset=6 Flame shock, Lava Burst, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Lava Burst, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt)

I'm not exactly sure how the parameter reset=6 works but wouldn't that reset your castsequence well before it finished? Or does it only reset if your not casting?

Yes, the "reset=6" ought to be resetting the sequence after 6 seconds. There may be a problem with the macro. OP, it's possible that you're flame shocking way too often and then waiting another second doing nothing while Lava Burst is on cooldown. I think that's what would happen with this macro.

[Mokoi]

makes me wonder if maybe /castsequence denys access to your next spell until the cast of your old is complete on both client and server?

Quartz is an addon that gives you a rough estimate of when you can cast your next spell based on the lag you are experiencing and the time it takes for the signals to cross, and you are able to start casting the next spell before the old one has finished, and maybe a /castsequence denys this overlap of spells, and given enough casts, this can be significant loss of DPS.

[Kicksome]

I did the dps test 4 times each with a full mana bar (level 80 dummy). No one else was at the dummy, as I did it this morning and it was dead. (I also ran it about 4-5 times after this post)

This is after I did about 5 tests and was thinking WTF is wrong with my macros.

Even a very simple test of casting Lava Burst, LB, LB, LB, LB manually (and watching the lava burst cooldown)
vs putting it in a castsquence (and watching the lava burst cooldown)
shows there's lag in the castsequence every single time.

i.e when you cast it manually, LvB still has a cooldown. When you use a castsequence, LvB cooldown is up. Which means there is a delay in there.

[Kicksome]

Yes, the "reset=6" ought to be resetting the sequence after 6 seconds. There may be a problem with the macro. OP, it's possible that you're flame shocking way too often and then waiting another second doing nothing while Lava Burst is on cooldown. I think that's what would happen with this macro.

Take the flame shock out, you still have the same lag issue. It's also not waiting on Shock to be up since I'm casting it once every 15 seconds max. Also, reset=6 doesn't matter in this macro [unless you wait 6 seconds before hitting it again, then it starts over]. Once the castsequence is over, it just starts it again.

[genocyde]

Hey, can you do a simple test quick. I would but i'm working. Just throw /castsequence LB,LB at the target for a bit and compare it to a regular spammed /cast LB and let us know if this is a lag/GCD lockout issue. I imagine if it's the /castsequence command you might see a significant dropout of LB's / min just spamming that one spell

[Kicksome]

Hey, can you do a simple test quick. I would but i'm working. Just throw /castsequence LB,LB at the target for a bit and compare it to a regular spammed /cast LB and let us know if this is a lag/GCD lockout issue. I imagine if it's the /castsequence command you might see a significant dropout of LB's / min just spamming that one spell

Great idea!

I just tried it. The difference is VERY noticeable and it's really silly. I did 1200 with /castsequence lightning bolt, lightning bolt, lightning bolt, lightning bolt, lightning bolt, lightning bolt etc... and 1750 dps with /cast lightning bolt

Just a massive difference.

The server is definitely waiting for the cast to end before it takes the next spell in the /castsequence.