Rotation & Play Style
Rotation:
The survival rotation has evolved to a priority based system instead of a true rotation.
Kill Shot (KS)
Black Arrow (BA)
Explosive Shot (ES)
Aimed(AS)/Multi(MS)
Serpent Sting (SrS)
Steady Shot (SS)
The way this priority list works is that if at each time the GCD comes up you try to fire the ability closest to the top of the list. This list may change as more real data comes in after the patch goes live.
Every 21 seconds (with Glyph) you will have to refresh Serpent Sting. Every 30 seconds (24 with talents) you will have to refresh Black Arrow.
**3.1 CHANGE** – Kill Shot is now back ON the GCD and you can no longer macro it to all your shots. This will cause further complexity to your priority list below 20% health especially if you have the KS glyph.
What to do on a LnL Proc
Ideal LnL rotation: The first rotation is if Aimed/Multi is off CD when LnL procs. The second rotation is if Aimed/Multi is on cooldown when LnL procs.
ES > Aimed/Multi Shot > ES > Wait .5 seconds after GCD > ES > regular rotation.
ES > wait .5 sec after GCD > ES > wait .5sec after GCD > ES > regular rotation.
High Lag/ping LnL rotation: – Timing the Ideal rotation is difficult if you have heavy lag, this rotation will yield similar results with minimal dps loss.
ES > Aimed/Multi Shot > ES > SS > ES > original rotation continues.
At any point in the rotation you can drop a steady shot to reapply serpent sting, hunters mark, mend pet, rapid fire, or anything on the GCD. Due to the potential damage output of ES you should avoid replacing it with anything unless you absolutely have to. Addons such as PowerAura or Class Timers can help you identify LnL procs if you hate staring at your buffs and needs something to pop up on your screen.
The closer you are to 1.5sec Steady Shots the smoother your rotation will be and as such the higher your dps because you are firing off more explosive shots compared to base 1.7sec Steady shots which delays your ES by almost a full second. At NO TIME during a LnL proc should you use one of the charges to cast Arcane shot. Its damage is pitiful, especially compared to the new explosive shot.
Explosive Shot Mechanics
- 0 seconds = Explosive shot hits the target mob and applies the debuff “Explosive Shot”
- .5 seconds = 1st tick
- 1 second = 2nd tick
- 1.5 second = 3rd tick
Now, this LOOKS like it should line up to the GCD just fine however Explosive Shot also has a travel time to the target mob before this ~1.5sec cycle can run it’s course. If you are standing at ~30+ yards it takes just over .5 sec for your shot to reach the target so you are not actually sitting there for a full 1.5 seconds in between shots during a LnL proc. This travel time combined with the 1.5sec long tick makes Explosive shot effectively a 2 second long event if you are at ~30+ yards. The main goal of this modified LnL rotation is to get through the LnL proc faster and get to your next Explosive shot as soon as possible. If done well this LnL rotation puts you to your next Explosive shot a full 1sec earlier than weaving Explosive Shot and Steady Shot. While this does not seem like much over the course of a fight and multiple LnL procs you will end up with more Explosive Shots.
For players with high latency issues or who do not want to use addons to try and “time” this you can just replace this “wait time” with a steady shot and only suffer marginal dps loss. The ES > Aimed/Multi (or wait .5 sec) > ES > wait .5sec > ES is an absolute min/max rotation and is not absolutely ESSENTIAL to amazing dps but it certainly helps if you can pull it off.
Eddie “Brigwyn” Carrington is often known as being that crazy dwarf on Twitter.
He's also a blogger, podcaster (Hosts Brigwyn's Corner, Co-host of Everything Blah! and of course Redneck Geek and Cajun Gamer with his good friend Andy "Daewin" Dino. 
