Int vs mp5: a lazy post
I’m feeling lazy, but also feeling the need to update. I’ve decided to cater to both by sharing some healer math I posted in response to a friend rank guild member’s question in our guild forums.
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Question: “Healers in general, but specifically for paladins (as we have other perks to int) What is the perception on mp5 versus mana pool? Is a weak mana pool ok with enough mp5, or vice versa a huge mana pool ok with lower mp5?
I’m worried I might have stacked too much mp5 and sacrificed some of my overall mana pool. My mana and mp5 stats should be in my signature, i can regem to get my int up higher, but I’d lose some mp5 in the process. Not to mention one of my rings has zero stats on it, and desperately needs to be upgraded.
But yea, anyone have some advice on mana pool vs mp5? 
“
Long nerdy AuzAnswer(tm): “The significance of a large mana pool is relative to the length of the fight. I did my calculations based on a 10 minute fight which I’ve found to be the average length for a NEW boss fight (I emphasis new because as a boss fight becomes farmed the time it takes to down it shortens). For a 10 minute fight 1 mp5 is equal to 8 int. (I’d like to add a caveat that this is for MANA REGEN only.)
Ooo look math:
1 int = 15 mana
8 * 15 = 120 mana
1 minute = 60 seconds
60 * 10 = 600 seconds
600/5 (mana per 5 seconds) = 120 ticks
120 ticks * 1 mana = 120 mana
So in 10 minutes 1 mp5 gains you 120 mana or 8 int gives you 120 mana to start the fight with. As you can see from the math portion, the shorter the average fight you experience the more important int becomes relative to mana regen.
In addition 80 int = 1% spell crit (NOTE: I’m certain this is true for PRIESTS, I haven’t done all my fact checking for other mana users, honestly I just care more about priest minutia than other classes) I know that as a Pally you get 60% mana back for a spell that crits. So you can 1/800 * .6 * average total mana you use per fight and add that to the total mana you gain via int. (To be honest this number will probably be small enough to discount.)
Other considerations:
Blessing of Kings will multiply your int by 1.1 giving it a greater yield in comparison to mp5 which does not scale with Kings. This changes the ratio of a 10 minute fight to 7.27 int = 1 mp5, but this is only when you have Kings active.
When you get to a ridiculously small mana pool, the mana gained is too slow to meet up with your usage curve. (Remember 1mp5 is given out 1 mana point at a time) For 5 mans this is probably evident with mana pools below 6k and in raids below 8k but I’ve never seen gear allow you to drop below this pool unless you’re making an effort to avoid int)
If you use spirit, which as a pallidan you don’t, int also raises the amount of regen each point of spirit provides you. Given your small spirit score it’s not worth calculating.
5 man fights and 10 man fights tend to be 6 minutes or less, I won’t redo the math for you but you can see this will skew your ratio more heavily in favor of int.
Mods:
If you want help gaining the assumed statistics I used, I reccomend RegenFu (if you use Fubar) it will post your total mana regen and the length of the fight after each combat in it’s display.
Caster Weapon Swapper also does the same thing (and switches weapons for Spellsurge procs automatically!) only it reports in to your chat window.
Healpoints is a stand alone mod that will allow you to theorycraft changes to your stats and how they will affect your healing per second as well as your endurance (how long you can heal before you go OOM) Maybe if I get bored I’ll make a Healpoints theorycrafting guide.
/nerdmode off
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So that’s my lazy post idea. Also now that I’ve discovered people actually read this stuff, if you have your own questions feel free to post them and maybe when I’m feeling less lazy I’ll provide an AuzAnswer(tm).
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May 7th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
From “Long nerdy AuzAnswer(tm)” down, your column is not appearing properly in IE7. It’s squished to the left side, about a third of the normal width.
It might be an issue with the picture that you have inserted right before.
May 7th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Thanks Rohan, I believe I’ve fixed the error. (and learned a valuable lesson about copying and pasting text from my guild’s forums!)
May 7th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Hey Auz,
Thanks for linking me, I appreciate it. Just wanted to let you know I changed the domain/title of my blog - http://e4ae.blogspot.com/
Eye for an Eye.
RetLOL sounded too internet-ish, I decided.
And Rohan, Firefox! Know it, use it, love it!
May 8th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Josh thanks me for keeping updated, you’ve been prolific!
May 8th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Me being bored at work and thinking way too much about WoW leads to way too much posting. I’m starting to queue up items so that I don’t seem like a total dork and post 2-3 times a day, but I’ve got topics stacked til next week now… makes me feel like I should find another hobby.
May 8th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Gosh I’m struggling to find the time to update once or twice a week, I’ve got weeks worth of articles in my head, but having trouble finding the time get them out of my head and onto the interwebz!
Often the best posting material comes from something that has me busy taking care of my guild first. In fact, this week look for “ZOMG DRAMA!!!!” In which I tell about an initiate we didn’t keep and his very mature response.
May 8th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
You also put a bit more thought into your posts than I do. Most of your entries are probing a topic or doing a deep comparison in relation to member evaluation or boss performance. My stuff is usually just observational and grazing the surface. Much easier to spill loads out on topics if you don’t cut too deep.
And being a Sunwell guild GM is a bit more taxing than being a 3 day-a-week raid member. So I can understand your time constraints!
May 9th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Grrr, I just lost my comment. Boo comment moderation :(.
To summarize:
* I like what I’m reading
* More
* Less wall of text
* Cookies
May 9th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
About the int vs mp5 thing for paladins, I’ve tossed this one around in my head for a while myself since my main is a paladin.
When I first started playing the only healer I knew was a shaman. I leveled to 70 as Protection and avoided the other two paladin trees completely so healing was not something with which I was well versed. I picked up a lot of habits and preferences from that resto shaman and once I finally did spec Holy those became very noticeable. I had mp5 that made other resto shamans drool and really, you wouldn’t have been able to tell much of a difference between my gear and a shaman’s gear.
So having gone that route I can say that now after spending months doing things that way I’m having to regear, regem and rethink everything. Its a fine enough approach but its just rare to actually need regeneration that much.
Going with Int and crit is the way to go for the most part in my mind. Dazzling and Luminous probably ought to be the adjectives in your gem names.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Matticus - thanks for the feedback.
One of my goals in looking into BA was to meet other bloggers and see what they were doing for visual interest. Today, I’ve converted over to a graphical header and experimented with using graphical images in my posts. I’m not sure I’ve got the hang of it yet, but I’m hoping once I do I can help break up those blocks of text.
As for more, you and me both! My first goal is to be consistent, my second is to increase the frequency of my posts. Unfortunately being a GM takes a LOT of my spare time, and to neglect the needs of my guild to post advice and opinions about guild leading, seems counterproductive to me. So unfortunately for my readers, this blog will always take a back seat to the needs of my guild. I can only hope that with experience and advice from other successful bloggers I’ll pick up some tips about how to accomplish both.
Cookies - yes please, I’ll take oatmeal raisin.
May 9th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
Ravhinn,
Thanks for taking the time to add your expertise to the discussion. As a priest I can only really go over the math and relate my observations of the pallys with whom I’ve healed. It’s always great to get first hand observations from players of other classes.