Bite or Claw, A Google Search Answered

BRK » 22 February 2007 » In Pets, Talents »

Whilst perusing the stat counter and the searches that result in you all finding my little hunter training ground on the web, a specific search caught my eye: “Pets talent bite or claw?” A very intriguing, if vague, question, and one that deserves some BRK analysis. Let’s break it down old-school. (Can I say that?)

Bite Rank 9
Training Point Cost: 29 Points
Focus Cost: 35 Focus
Range: 5 yds (Combat Range)
Cast Time: Instant
Duration: Instant
Dispel Type: None
School: Physical
Cooldown: 10 seconds
Global Cooldown: 1.5 seconds
Description: Bite the enemy, causing 108 to 132 damage, (average of 120 damage)

Claw Rank 9
Training Point Cost: 29 Points
Focus Cost: 25 Focus
Range: 5 yds (Combat Range)
Cast Time: Instant
Duration: Instant
Dispel Type: None
School: Physical
Cooldown: None
Global Cooldown: 1.5 seconds
Description: Bite the enemy, causing 54-76 damage, (average of 65 damage)

Obviously, Bite 9 will do more damage than Claw 9 on the first hit. The question we should ask is: Which will do more damage over time, Bite or Claw?

We know that each talent requires Focus to proc, but let’s try our first set of calculations eliminating Focus as a variable.

Over a period of 100 seconds, assuming unlimited Focus, how much total damage will each spell generate?

Bite 9 has a ten-second cooldown
100 seconds / 10 seconds per proc = 10 procs
10 procs * 120 damage = 1200 proc_damage

Claw 9 has no cooldown, but is limited by the global cooldown of 1.5 seconds
100 seconds / 1.5 seconds per proc = 66 procs
66 procs * 65 damage = 4290 proc_damage

Jeebus, that’s pretty cut and dry right?

Wrong.

Let’s find out just how much focus would be required to do this much damage:

Bite 9 requires 35 Focus per proc
35 Focus * 10 procs = 350 Focus

Claw 9 requires 25 Focus per proc
25 Focus * 66 procs = 1650 Focus

Obviously, Claw 9 isn’t going to strike 66 times in 100 seconds as your pet cannot generate 1650 Focus in 100 seconds. Our assumption of unlimited Focus doesn’t produce any meaningful data. How about we try the other extreme, and shorten the duration to make our presentation more… presentable.

Over a period of 10 seconds, assuming zero Focus regeneration, how much total damage will each spell generate?

Time = 0 seconds
Bite 9 = 120 proc_damage done, 35 Focus used, 65 Focus remaining
Claw 9 = 65 proc_damage, 25 Focus used, 75 Focus remaining

Time = 1.5 seconds
Bite 9 = 120 proc_damage done, 35 Focus used, 65 Focus remaining
Claw 9 = 130 proc_damge done, 50 Focus used, 50 Focus remaining

Time = 3 seconds
Bite 9 = 120 proc_damage done, 35 Focus used, 65 Focus remaining
Claw 9 = 195 proc_damage done, 75 Focus used, 25 Focus remaining

Time = 4.5 seconds
Bite 9 = 120 proc_damage done, 35 Focus used, 65 Focus remaining
Claw 9 = 260 proc_damage done, 100 Focus used, 0 Focus remaining

If no more Focus is generated, Claw will not proc again, so we can jump to when Bite will proc next, which is:

Time = 10 seconds
Bite 9 = 240 proc_damage done, 70 Focus used, 30 Focus remaining
Claw 9 = 260 proc_damage done, 100 Focus used, 0 Focus remaining

Well, that’s pretty meaningless too, isn’t it. But it gave us a good idea of the calculations we have to do next.

It’s time to do some Real Work. We’ve ignored it long enough; let’s think about Focus generation and add it to our previous efforts.

Over a period of 80 seconds, assuming a Focus generation rate of 5 Focus every 10 seconds, how much total damage will each spell generate?

Time = 10 seconds
Bite 9 = 240 proc_damage done, 70 Focus used, 35 Focus remaining
Claw 9 = 260 proc_damage done, 100 Focus used, 5 Focus remaining

At this point, our Bite-only pet will have 35 Focus, while our Claw-only pet has 5 focus. Bite can proc again, as it has enough Focus, but only once its cooldown is up in another 10 seconds. Also at that point, our pet will generate another 5 Focus. The Claw pet won’t proc as it doesn’t have enough Focus, so it will save those 10 Focus for later.

Time = 20 seconds
Bite 9 = 360 proc_damage, 105 Focus used, 5 Focus remaining
Claw 9 = 260 proc_damage, 100 Focus used, 10 Focus remaining

Ooo!! Isn’t that slick? Bite has overtaken Claw! But let’s go another 10 seconds and see what happens. Our pet will generate another 5 Focus:

Time = 30 seconds
Bite 9 = 360 proc_damage, 105 Focus used, 10 Focus remaining
Claw 9 = 260 proc_damage, 100 Focus used, 15 Focus remaining

Well, we cannot proc Claw until it gets another 10 Focus. Guess we have to move another 20 seconds forward where Claw will have 25 Focus and can proc again.

Time = 50 seconds
Bite 9 = 360 proc_damage, 105 Focus used, 20 Focus remaining
Claw 9 = 325 prog_damage, 125 Focus used, 0 Focus remaining

And Bite is still out dps-ing Claw. Then next proc will be when Bite hits 35 Focus, in 30 seconds

Time = 80 seconds
Bite 9 = 480 proc_damage, 140 Focus used, 0 Focus remaining
Claw 9 = 325 proc_damage, 125 Focus used, 15 Focus remaining

Does it look like Claw is going to catch Bite if the Focus generation is 5 Focus every 10 seconds? No, and later we will prove that it doesn’t. But we do know that if our Focus regeneration rate is infinite, Claw easily surpasses Bite. So our final question must be:

At what Focus generation rate does Claw do more damage-over-time than Bite?

To answer this question, we’re going to write… computer code! Time to break out the ole C++ compiler, crack our knuckles, and punch out some code:
This program will calculate the the Bite damage done, and the Focus remaining for a specified amount of time in combat and at a specified Focus generation rate. For Claw damage, modify the code for Claw needing 25 Focus and needing only a 1.5 seconds cooldown. Remember to modify all the variables and constants as required to reflect these differences.

I ran this code for several Focus generation rates for a battle duration of 100 seconds, for both Bite 9 and Claw 9. Here’s the datum:

Bite 9
1 Focus / 10 sec = 360 damage, 5 Focus remaining
5 Focus / 10 sec = 480 damage, 10 Focus remaining
10 Focus / 10 sec = 600 damage, 25 Focus remaining
15 Focus / 10 sec = 720 damage, 40 Focus remaining
20 Focus / 10 sec = 840 damage, 55 Focus remaining
25 Focus / 10 sec = 1080 damage, 35 Focus remaining
30 Focus / 10 sec = 1200 damage, 50 Focus remaining
35 Focus / 10 sec = 1200 damage, 100 Focus remaining

1200 damage is the maximum Bite damage due to its 10 second cooldown. So, from this data, we can see that, after our pet generates more than 30 Focus every 10 seconds, the Bite cooldown is the limiting factor in how much damage Bite can do.

Claw 9
1 Focus / 10 sec = 260 damage, 5 Focus remaining
5 Focus / 10 sec = 325 damage, 10 Focus remaining
10 Focus / 10 sec = 455 damage, 25 Focus remaining
15 Focus / 10 sec = 585 damage, 25 Focus remaining
20 Focus / 10 sec = 715 damage, 25 Focus remaining
25 Focus / 10 sec = 845 damage, 25 Focus remaining
30 Focus / 10 sec = 975 damage, 25 Focus remaining
35 Focus / 10 sec = 1105 damage, 25 Focus remaining
40 Focus / 10 sec = 1235 damage, 25 Focus remaining
45 Focus / 10 sec = 1365 damage, 25 Focus remaining

Ooo! Look at that. When a pet generates 40 Focus every 10 seconds or more, Claw will do more total damage than Bite over 100 seconds. We also see that Claw has not come close to its theoretical maximum of 4290 damage over 100 seconds, (as we determined previously, that can only be accomplished with a generation rate of 165 Focus every 10 seconds). Claw is just scarfing up the Focus as fast as it can be generated.

So, from this data, we can see that, after our pet generates more than 165 Focus every 10 seconds - remember our theoretical maximum - the Claw cooldown is the limiting factor in how much damage Bite can do.

So what is our conclusion?

Total damage-over-time is a function of more than the damage-per-hit of each spell.

The maximum damage of Claw and Bite can only be calculated knowing the length of a continuous battle and your pet’s Focus generation rate.

And we also know that we haven’t taken into account the hunter talent Go For the Throat, which dumps 50 Focus on the pet for every hunter crit. To calculate that Focus generation, we’ll need to know the hunter’s crit percentage, his firing rate…

Mmmaaaaaybe next time.

Edit: This was a child-birth of a post. If you see an error, please post it in the comments and I’ll make appropriate changes. I’ve already done so three times since I posted it.

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