Coiled Altar Ret comparison
Holynoodles, Tartare, and Lorthamere, all Herald of the Sun Retribution, on Heroic Venomous Abyss. Built from the full Warcraft Logs report and the patch 12.1 Icy Veins guides.
When everyone stays alive, Holynoodles does about 60% more damage than Tartare with the same spec, the same hero tree, and nearly the same buttons.
Average DPS across the five pulls where all three of you stayed alive (Coiled Altar pulls 7 and 10, Ula'tek pulls 13, 16, and 17). That's 16.7 minutes of combat each.
Item level explains part of the gap, since Holynoodles is 11 levels ahead of Tartare. Most of it comes from four differences in how the class is played, covered below in order of size.
Tartare's quick wins
The short version. Details for each are further down the page.
- TalentsImport the guide build. It adds Divine Arbiter, which was 12% of Holynoodles' damage and 0% of yours.
- RotationWake of Ashes and Divine Toll on cooldown. You lost about one Wake every 90 seconds.
- RotationFinal Verdict on one target. Use Divine Storm only on 2+ targets, or once right after a free Divine Purpose spender. 164 of your Storms should have been Verdicts.
- RotationHammer of Wrath before it hits 2 charges, and fewer Flash of Lights. Every self-heal is a global cooldown with no damage.
- SurvivalHealthstone and health potion before Divine Shield. Stay stacked behind Zul'jan. You died early on both of the raid's closest wipes.
- GearGet a 4th tier piece and replace your 295 belt. The tier bonus means more free Divine Purpose spenders.
- GearFix three setup items: Lynx's Dexterity on boots, Rite of the Hash'ey on your weapon, and the Masterful Cunning rune in your Omnium Folio.
Every pull
DPS and raid rank among about 22 players. Struck-through numbers mean that player was dead for more than 15% of the pull.
| Pull | Boss | Length | Holynoodles | Tartare | Lorthamere |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Coiled Altar | 5:07 | 117k #11 | 109k #13 | 125k #10 |
| 3 | Coiled Altar | 6:36 | 191k #2 | 124k #10 | 65k #19 |
| 4 | Coiled Altar | 3:24 | 91k #17 | 106k #12 | 120k #9 |
| 5 | Coiled Altar | 7:31 | 221k #1 | 41k #19 | 156k #13 |
| 6 | Coiled Altar | 1:25 | 159k #3 | 98k #17 | 108k #14 |
| 7 | Coiled Altar | 5:13 | 200k #2 | 121k #15 | 162k #11 |
| 9 | Coiled Altar | 2:41 | 111k #8 | 83k #15 | 93k #13 |
| 10 | Coiled Altar | 5:43 | 182k #3 | 124k #14 | 123k #15 |
| 11 | Coiled Altar | 7:17 | 203k #2 | 84k #19 | 139k #15 |
| 12 | Coiled Altar (kill) | 8:22 | 51k #18 | 116k #15 | 148k #11 |
| 13 | Ula'tek | 1:36 | 145k #3 | 90k #14 | 111k #11 |
| 15 | Ula'tek | 2:02 | 113k #11 | 93k #15 | 92k #16 |
| 16 | Ula'tek | 2:05 | 170k #2 | 110k #12 | 88k #16 |
| 17 | Ula'tek | 2:04 | 163k #2 | 86k #16 | 110k #12 |
Holynoodles finished top 3 in the raid on 9 of 14 pulls. The kill is the exception: he died at 3:01 of an 8:22 pull, and the kill is the only pull that produces a parse.
Where the damage comes from
Totals from the five all-alive pulls unless noted.
Divine Arbiter: 12% of Holynoodles' damage, 0% of Tartare's
Divine Arbiter was Holynoodles' third-largest damage source. Tartare never had the buff on any pull, so his build doesn't include it. The current guide priority is built around Divine Arbiter procs.
| Divine Arbiter | Holynoodles | Tartare | Lorthamere |
|---|---|---|---|
| Share of damage | 12.4% | 0% | 4.4% |
Holynoodles spends Holy Power 39% more often
Both players pressed Blade of Justice, Hammer of Wrath, and Judgment about equally. Holynoodles still got 426 spenders to Tartare's 306, because he generated more Holy Power from cooldowns and procs.
| Five pulls, 16.7 min | Holynoodles | Tartare | Lorthamere |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holy Power spenders cast | 426 | 306 | 392 |
| Wake of Ashes | 31 | 20 | 24 |
| Divine Toll | 16 | 11 | 13 |
| Blade of Justice | 124 | 127 | 94 |
| Hammer of Wrath | 64 | 69 | 98 |
| Judgment | 62 | 59 | 76 |
| Flash of Light | 7 | 12 | 0 |
Wake of Ashes is the biggest miss. It generates Holy Power and also triggers Dawnlight. Tartare cast it 11 fewer times over the same 16.7 minutes, about one lost Wake every 90 seconds. Holynoodles' 4-piece tier bonus also raises his Divine Purpose proc rate. On pull 10, where both played the full 5:43, he got 39 free spenders to Tartare's 32.
Which spender, and when
Holynoodles and Tartare cast nearly the same number of Divine Storms per minute, but for different reasons. I sorted every Divine Storm from all six Coiled Altar pulls into three groups. Some hit 2 or more targets, which is correct when Zul'jan and Malacrass are both up. Some were tier-set weaves right after a Divine Purpose spender, which the guide recommends. The rest were single-target Storms that should have been Final Verdict.
Tartare uses Divine Storm in the right places too. He just also uses it in the wrong place, on the boss alone. Lorthamere goes the other way and almost always casts Final Verdict, which means he skips the tier-set weave the guide calls for.
Staying alive
None of this matters while you're dead. Each of you lost a big pull that way. Details are in the next section.
Deaths that cost the most
| Player | Pull | Died at | Cause | What would have helped |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holynoodles | 12, kill | 3:01 of 8:22 | Raid abilities hit him from 2:19 (most likely a Dreadmarch possession), then Dreadful Presence wore him down | Divine Protection and a Healthstone right after being freed. No defensives were used. |
| Holynoodles | 4 | 1:48 of 3:24 | Sever, one hit of about 1.16M | Standing behind Zul'jan. Sever hits whoever is in front. |
| Tartare | 5 (2.2% wipe) | 2:54 of 7:31 | Dreadful Presence (constant raid damage) | He used Divine Protection, Lay on Hands, and Divine Shield within 70 seconds. A Healthstone and health potion first would have stretched them out. |
| Tartare | 11 (3.1% wipe) | 5:01 of 7:17 | Spirit Erasure, Coalesced Venom, Gloombomb | Review those mechanics in the raid strategy. |
On both of the raid's closest wipes, one of its Rets was dead early. On the kill, Holynoodles was dead for five minutes. Staying alive is the cheapest DPS increase on this page.
Gear and setup
| Holynoodles | Tartare | Lorthamere | Guide | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item level | 326 | 315 | 318 | |
| Tier pieces | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 for the full bonus |
| Divine Arbiter talent | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Weapon enchant | Rite of the Hash'ey | Arcane Mastery | Acuity of the Ren'dorei | Rite of the Hash'ey |
| Boots enchant | Lynx's Dexterity | None | None | Lynx's Dexterity |
| Omnium Folio rune | Masterful Cunning | Critical Power | Masterful Cunning | Masterful Cunning |
| Lowest item | Several at 321 | Belt at 295 | Leggings at 305 |
All three had the right flask, food, Vantus Runes, and helm, chest, shoulder, and ring enchants. Run a Raidbots Top Gear sim to settle trinkets for your exact gear.
Single-target cheat sheet
This is the 12.1 Icy Veins Herald of the Sun priority in short form. Start at the top and cast the first ability that's ready.
- Avenging Wrath, then Execution Sentence, with potion and on-use trinkets
- Final Verdict at 5 Holy Power (Divine Storm first if Final Verdict gave you a Divine Arbiter proc)
- Wake of Ashes
- Divine Toll
- Blade of Justice at 2 Art of War stacks
- Hammer of Wrath at 2 charges
- Final Verdict (weave one Divine Storm after a free Divine Purpose spender)
- Hammer of Wrath, Blade of Justice, Judgment
- Crusader Strike if nothing else is ready
With 2 or more targets, swap Final Verdict for Divine Storm everywhere in this list.