Gauging your DPS

Caroloces · January 2015

I'm not a new player, but relatively new to MMOs. One thing I've noticed, and become interested in, is the constant preoccupation with the amount of DPS one can generate in battle. Every time you look at a build that's posted on the forums or elsewhere, one of the most important considerations is the amount of DPS that the build can output. I also sense that there is two types: Sustained DPS and burst DPS.

I'm wondering what is the best way to measure this? Do you look at one single ability, or do you arrange abilities in a certain way to maximize your output? Which is more important, sustained DPS or burst? Do you clock DPS over the course of a battle, or do you measure DPS from a single attack?

Thanks!

Ahdora · January 2015

Most people use an addon for DPS measuring. FTC (Foundry Tactical Combat) is the most popular.

Sustained DPS is more important. Burst is fine, but if you can't sustain that DPS over the course of an extended battle, it's not worth a ton.

Caroloces · January 2015

Thx, Ahdora. I do have FTC, and I've used it so it does that reporting window at the end of an encounter. The report lists the abilities and the damage produced, and I think a percentage of dps. At the top, it gives the DPS total for the encounter.

I'm curious, though, as to what players refer to when they say something like, My Nightblade is capable of 1,000 dps, because I imagine that the dps would depend on the difficulty of the encounter and how long the battle lasts. So if you're going up against a boss in a dungeon and the fight is prolonged, your dps would continue to add up depending upon the length of the battle (and that would be sustained dps). If you drank potions, and the boss managed to also retrieve health, the dps of any player would just keep adding up. In this scenario the dps would not depend upon the synergy of skills and abilities, but more on the extent one could keep oneself alive.

It seems to me that this DPS emphasis only has meaning if it's measured in a set period of time. Oh, wait a sec, this does make sense if the FTC result is an average amount taken over the course of the battle. So, is that the case?

Ahdora · January 2015

Yes, the DPS measurement is the amount of damage you doled out, divided by the number of seconds the fight lasted. Thus, "damage per second." If you look at the top of FTC you'll see the length of the encounter. Long fights show you your sustained DPS, meaning the amount of DPS you can realistically contribute on an average basis in a longer fight.

Most people give an average DPS number when discussing their build. Those who only give the highest burst DPS they're capable of are being disingenuous.

DeLindsay · January 2015

If the fight is shorter than ~20 seconds then it's all Burst damage. If the fight is long, say 500 seconds, then it's sustained DPS. The first Boss in AA for example is a burst damage fight, where the Warrior in HR is a sustained DPS fight. Players are capable of insane numbers on the Storm Atronach, but not many are capable of huge numbers on the Warrior, especially since you are switching to adds periodically and roll dodging a fair bit during that encounter.

Burst Damage: PvP and very short duration PvE fights.
Sustained DPS: Any long fight that involves resource management.

Caroloces · January 2015

Fantastic! Now I understand.
Thanks so much!

Cuyler · January 2015

You may want to try out "combat log statistics" as well for more details on where your dps is actually coming from. It gives logs of DoTs and damage from specific spells/buffs. Things FTC wont give you.

If you want to gauge sustained dps you need to get into a long fight. Go find a v5 mammoth or a practice trial run.

Edit: in addition you need to separate single target dps from AoE dps. For example my single target dps against the warrior in HRC averages 900-1k. My AoE dps on a pack of trial mobs can go as high as 3.5k. So when reporting dps its best to use single target sustained dps numbers.