Cooldowns are meant to be hot!
So, as Matticus says, "Use them. Please." It makes a lot more sense to use the cooldowns on a regular basis (like, roughly every time the cooldown is up) than it does to hardly use them at all, or only in situations where it's too late. Now, if you're like me and you think about this for a while, and reluctantly agree that yes it does make sense, then you come up with another problem that you want to use these cooldowns only at moments when it'll be most effective. On my hunter, for example, I hate to use "Bestial Wrath" (and "Beast Within") unless I believe there's at least 18 seconds left in the fight, because I hate seeing myself and my pet all Big and Red with nothing to kill!
But the plain and simple fact is, people like me need to be less stingy with cooldowns. I don't mean we should blow them at moments that don't matter, of course, rather we would do better if we used them much more often, especially when they're not absolutely necessary to succeed. They can help the various sorts of grinding, farming, and trash-mob fighting go by a bit faster, and sometimes in long boss fights you can use them more than once!
Can you think of any cooldowns that you think should be saved for that somewhat rare panic-button moment (such as a rogue's "Vanish," perhaps)? Can you think of cooldowns that you see people often forgetting or hesitating to use?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Birio Oct 24th 2007 1:53PM
hmm maybe recklessness or retaliation i always forget to pop these o maybe its because i use shield wall then i cant use these or the 30 min cooldown is why im not so sure
Judas Oct 24th 2007 1:55PM
I find myself doing the same thing on my hunter. I sit around with rapid fire and bestial wrath for hours and I never really remember to use them.
Matthew Rossi Oct 24th 2007 1:56PM
The big three warrior abilites (Recklessness, Retaliation and Shield Wall) are all linked and on a 30 minute cooldown. Use one, all three are gone for 30 minutes. So I'm hesitant to use them.
But when I see a hunter use Bestial Wrath, I always use Recklessness and kill his pet.
vak Oct 24th 2007 1:59PM
On the elemental shaman, i macro Elemental Mastery to a trinket and lightning bolt, utalizing it when ever it's up, i save 'oh noes' cd's like that of Nature's Swfitness for pinch heal/nuke situations.
Conversly, on the rogue, i burn almost all cooldowns depending on the class encounter, and the fact that i'm noobing it up @ 52 in 51-60 AV. The only cd i try to keep for "oh noes" on that toon is Preperation, which is easily one of the most hax talents ever, even with it's 10m cd. :)
Back during the hunter days, i used Intimidation constantly as an opener for the /petattack macro, but kept BW for "oh noes".
hpavc Oct 24th 2007 1:59PM
I had this problem for a long time, ReadySpells helped me use trinkets and cooldowns more.
Zumwalah Oct 24th 2007 2:05PM
im horrible for this, which is why i like my lock so much, His only CD is CoD and the only time this takes any kind of management is Curator...
as for my shaman, i save Bloodlust for boss fights, and always forget to use it while grinding, fire ele, i save for hard bosses only..and rogues while grinding but NS i use quite often, especially now that i have the 4 peice bonus from t4
but all in all, like wiht my twinks i never use my CDs as i should
Jackson. Oct 24th 2007 2:05PM
My priest is using an item called Energy Cloak...
restores about 400 mana on use. Sounds great! Too bad it has a 1 HOUR cd.
Speaking of my priest, Elune's Grace comes to mind...
Paul Oct 24th 2007 2:07PM
I stupidly didn't think about the fact that as a frost mage, my cold snap ability (on an 8 min CD) resets the CD on my water elemental in addition to my frost nova and ice block.
So if you're not worried about using frost nova or ice block multiple times for extra defensive capabilities, you can use cold snap right after summoning the water elemental, then summon another one right after the first one disappears.
IF you time it right, normally you can have your elemental up 45 seconds out of every 3 minutes, that's 25% of the time. But when you add in the cold snap, you can have it up 34% of the time.
And from a mana-efficiency standpoint, the elemental has got to be the best deal in the game for a mage.
fLUx Oct 24th 2007 2:20PM
My lock doesn't really have any major cooldowns I would use, except my soulstone...
But I just use my voidwalkers sacrifice anyway most of the time...
Heres how I do it, if I really really really don't wanna die...
1. Oh no, I, or my void [tank] is really low on health, sacrifice!
2. Can I kill them alone before they kill me? If no, move on...
3. Summon Voidwalker, usally 20 secs if alot of mobs are holding my cast back - but who cares, my sacrifice lasts 30 secs...
4. Either get my void to get all the aggro off me, or sacrifice again, and keep doing this until the mobs loose intrest of die from my DoTs....
This method can use a hell of alot of soul shards, but its worth it, if you have good timing, theres little chance you will ever die! ;)
Too bad I think I'll have to start using my imp more as a mana battery soon, no more sacrifce!! :(
Megilion Oct 24th 2007 2:29PM
I'm in the same boat as Paul. I consider myself a pretty good Frost Mage, except when it comes to managing my cooldowns, especially ol' Bubbles. The Water Elemental accounts for a remarkable amount of a Frost Mage's potential DPS, but why do I only bring him out on bosses, and then only when I remember?
I've been getting better at this now that I'm in Kara and have to bring my A-game, but I just noticed last night that my DPS (according to RecapFu) literally jumped almost 75% (!) when I brought my W/E out for the first time in that raid. After that, I realized pretty quickly that he's much more effective when used as often as possible, even on trash, as it helps us clear things quicker.
Of course, controlling him and making sure he doesn't do anything stupid ("Who broke Shackle?" "Stupid water pet.") is an entirely different matter. :-)
prudychick Oct 24th 2007 2:30PM
On my Balance Druid Barkskin and my Treants. I don't know that I've ever used Tranquility. I think part of it is with these is I just forget I have them, and then when I do, with the exception of my awesome fighting trees, it is just that, "Do I want to risk using this now?" The one that I am of course very leery of using is Rebirth. I generally only use to rez the tank during combat. Pretty much if you aren't a tank release and put your running shoes on. A half hour is a little to long to rez DPS when in 10 minutes we get to that difficult, by the skin of your teeth boss.
On my rogue if all else fails (and I remember I have it) I never hesitate to use Vanish or Sprint to get me out of a deadly situation.
Razhlok Oct 24th 2007 2:31PM
I use Beastial Wrath, Rapid Fire and my Bloodlust Brooch *EVERY TIME* they are up immediately following a successful FD in every boss fight. You *have* to use your cooldowns as a hunter during a boss fight. It doesn't make any sense NOT to.
Thogz Oct 24th 2007 2:36PM
Dead Coil... I never use it when farming, I'm just too paranoic that some horde would come and gank me, so... I save it for that moment... (that almost never happend)
Knucker Jun 28th 2008 12:45AM
Death Coil*
Grammar Nazi, at your service.
Dol Oct 24th 2007 2:39PM
I use Avenging Wrath whenever its up on my paladin.
Great damage buff when soloing so its almost always on cooldown.
dan Oct 24th 2007 2:43PM
When I played my preist, i always saved my desperate prayer for when I was desperate, back when it had the half hour cool down, I usually saved it for instances, or for when I was grinding and wasnt paying attention to my health, but it got to the point when id reach for a health pot befor I considered the free heal. Luckily they lowered the cool down on it to ten minutes and i used it alot more often.
With my hunter though, i've been trying to work intimidate and bestial wrath more into my pattern, and save rapid fire for tough mobs. 1 and 2 minutes are short enough that when I think I might need them, the cool down is already almost up or I can wait an extra minute for it.
Karf Oct 24th 2007 2:45PM
I've got a similar thing with Retaliation. I try to save it, but when I use it at last it turns out I shouldn't have, because it's not helping out. At all.
Alkahn Oct 24th 2007 2:46PM
This took me some time to adjust to as well. I now use "on use" trinkets as much as possible when they have an offensive effect (dmg or attack power), but I'm still bad about defensive ones like tanking trinkets on my warrior or my lower city prayerbook.
The lucky pocket watch is something I just got that I'm still getting used to using more often, but generally when I'm low on health or know healing is going to be hard to come by for a period of time.
And best use of inner focus for a shadow priest by far is for mind blast. I use it every time it's up with mind blast for the (usual) free crit mind blast; good mana returns with VT up.
Fireflash38 Oct 24th 2007 2:46PM
@ 8 and 13.
I also am a Frost Mage. Generally, how I use the elemental, is if it is a pull > 2. However, you want to wait if it is 5 pull just before a boss.
To get max efficiency out of you elemental on a boss:
1. Rank 1 frostbolt to build up WC (and give tank some leeway).
2. Pop trinket then elemental, nuke away
3. Pop coldsnap as soon as elemental is out.
4. When elemental goes away, pop another trinket and summon another.
5. If the fight is long enough, you can get another elemental (3-4 total)
For fights such as Maiden, ice block the repentance then summon. That will give your elemental max cast time, as well as allowing you to continue dps. (coldsnap again right after you summon so you can do it again for the next repentance)
For grinding tho, I almost never use the water elemental. I probably should use it more often, but since I am on a pvp server, I like to save it for those ganking occasions.
BillDoor Oct 24th 2007 2:47PM
I would always forget to use my trinkets until I finally made a macro with them in my normal attack rotation. Now they get used whenever they're up, but don't prevent my attacks from working if they're not.