Sim your DPS

A thousand fights, not a formula

Sim DPS builds your character from your gear - every item's stats, your enchants, set bonuses and trinkets - and your talents, then plays your rotation against a raid boss three levels above you, a thousand times. Each fight has its own misses, crits, resists and procs, so the result is an average with a margin: 572.6 ± 3.1 means nearly all fights landed close to that number.

The rotation is the one a good player uses for your spec, from the spec's guide. Healers are measured in healing per second against a raid's damage, tanks in effective health against a boss hitting them all fight.

Reading the breakdown

The damage breakdown shows how much each ability adds, its share of your total and how often you cast it. It is the quickest way to see where your damage comes from: a Fire mage might do over half of it with Fireball, with Ignite close behind Pyroblast. Damage over time and procs are listed separately, so you can see what your talents and trinkets are really worth.

Getting the most accurate number

• Use the Forever Upgrades addon: it reads your gear and talents in game, so nothing is out of date.
• Set the fight length in Options to match the bosses you fight - short fights favour burst cooldowns.
• Pick the target level: a raid boss (+3) has more resistance and dodge than an elite or a same-level target.
• Add your talent build link if you aren't using the addon, so the sim plays your talents, not the default ones.

From your number to your next upgrade

Sim DPS shows where you are. Find Upgrades runs the same simulation for every item that fits each of your slots and shows how much each one adds over what you wear. The spec rankings below compare every spec in its own best-in-slot gear - click one to see exactly how it was simulated.