Alrighty, here’s the final post in my Moonkin how-to series. I’ve gone over spells, glyphs, talents, and stats. Now I’m going to wrap things up with a couple rotations for raids and how to get by during the less-than-80 nights.
Here’s a quickie spell abbreviation key for this post:
MF = Moonfire; IS = Insect Swarm; SF = Starfire; IFF= Improved Faerie Fire (or just Faerie Fire if you don’t have it talented).
Eclipse
Okay, think back to middle school science classes. Take all WoW out of it for now. There are two types of eclipses: lunar and solar. A solar eclipse is when the Moon gets between the Earth and the Sun, and a lunar eclipse is when the Earth gets between the Moon and the Sun. Two different things, but very similar.
Back to the WoW portion! All Moonkins should have the talent Eclipse, which causes a proc based on what spell crits – Starfire or Wrath. That proc will buff the opposite spell (Starfire eclipse buffs Wrath and vice versa). The buff is REALLY nice, so your goal is to land it as much as possible and be on your toes when it does land.
A rotation where Starfire causes the proc is called a solar rotation. A rotation where Wrath causes the proc is called a lunar rotation. You can tell the difference between the rotations from the actual eclipse animation that will appear above your head (orange for solar, blue for lunar).
Solar Rotation
IFF (if necessary) –> MF/IS –> SF until Eclipse –> Wrath once Eclipse procs
You’d keep your DoTs rolling as much as possible here (if you have Starfire glyphed that should give you some wiggle room on MF) and spam Wrath as soon as Eclipse procs. Since [Improved Insect Swarm] boosts Wrath-spamming, make sure that IS is rolling for this (MF can drop and it’s not a big problem). Once the Eclipse proc wears off you can either start over with Starfire or continue into the next rotation…
Lunar Rotation
IFF (if necessary) –> MF/IS –> Wrath until Eclipse –> SF one Eclipse procs.
Again, just keep your DoTs going as much as you can, especially Moonfire since it boosts SF spamming. Once Eclipse wears off you can either restart this rotation or just keep spamming SF until the Wrath-boosting Eclipse procs and transition to the Solar rotation. Ever since 3.2 changed, it really doesn’t matter HOW you start, but you maintain the right DoTs (preferably both if possible) and switch to the right nuke quickly once Eclipse procs.
Below Eclipse
With the technical things out of the way, I really envy the fledglings. All you have to do is Root your target to keep them at range, then spam Starfire and keep your DoTs up. Save Wrath for when the target is in melee range (since it has a faster cast time and won’t get knocked back as much). Toss Faerie Fire on instance bosses or hard mobs and you’ll be good!
5 comments:
I think the rotation sb to spam SF until solar, wrath while solar is up, spam wrath until lunar... dot, dot.... restart.
Sorry I guess I could be clearer. I think the recommended approach is to move back and forth from the lunar and solar rotations above, because of a change that was made to disconnect the internal cooldown of the eclipse procs (the period of time when lunar/solar will not proc, irrespective if you crit in that period).
We would move to a lunar rotation while the solar eclipse is on CD, and move to a solar rotation when the lunar is on CD. What that means for example is if you get a solar proc, spam wrath until lunar proc, then spam SF until you get a solar proc, and then back to spamming wrath again, all the while keeping the MF/IS dots up.
Let me know if you all agree.
I've noticed that one will often proc immediately as the other wears off since 3.2. I'm thinking they can trigger while the other is in effect, but both can't be in effect at the same time. With a bit of luck you can get a near endless stream of Eclipse casting.
Even with the changes I seem to get the best dps out by aiming mainly for the Lunar eclipse even though I can get over 10k crits from wraths. Seems to also be slightly better on mana. I do the standard MF, IS, then wraths until eclipse and then SF.... once Lunar is finished I will refresh dots and give it 3 SF casts (to also extended the MF dot) to attempt to proc solar otherwise I will start from square one again and get Lunar back up. Most of the time I get solar eclipse within those 3 casts in the middle. I agree with people that say there is not much in the dps between starting with Lunar or Solar eclipse but just wondered if people do a similar kind of rotation or agree?
@first Anonymous - That's pretty much what I've been doing, depending on the mobility requirements of the encounter. If I can stand still and knock off a long Solar rotation to start, I'll gladly do it since I have a decent amount of crit. Though sometimes I get scrambled if we have to move a lot and my Starfire is delayed/interrupted :P
@Millhouse - This is closer to what I do and what I've seen others Moonkins doing on longer fights or those with move movement requirements. I believe it -is- easier on the mana (just from what I've noticed, not calculated), but yeah...three Starfires and if it doesn't proc I ditch it and swing the Lunar rotation again. Maybe I'm impatient or we just have to move more than I'd like, but that's more of what I do. A hybrid of the first and second rotations.
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