SimulationCraft

SimulationCraft is a tool to explore combat mechanics in World of Warcraft, acting as a multi-player event-driven simulator that models raid damage.

Because combat in World of Warcraft has become more erratic and proc-based, trying to simulate an average DPS flow becomes increasingly difficult by conventional means, so using a calculator that uses complex algorithms becomes a must. Using the program itself is extremely easy since once you enter your character data off of Battle.Net and run your first simulation, among the first information displayed is a very important one: the number of iterations. This setting is the number of fights that have been simulated , and the higher this setting, the longer the computations times will be. The trade-off, however, is that the accuracy of your results will also increase and they will be more stable across runs (smaller variations).

The program can be used to simulate the impact of stats on the gear you are using, while reflecting the weight each stat has based on your class and spec. As such, SimulationCraft can also double as a item comparing tool, giving you an insight on which item will impact you more based on your role. Once that is done, you can then use the program on a much larger scale, simulating how an entire group of players would perform (in theory), and even so, the above-mentioned feature are only a fracture of what this program can do.

While World of Warcraft may be a game before all else, getting past certain bosses and obtaining the much-coveted end-game items requires an almost mathematical approach to an encounter, so a program such as SimulationCraft can come as extremely useful.