You learn as long as you live. That was my conclusion after a quick visit to Dr Boom i Netherstorm yesterday.

Not that I hadn't heard of him before - that sort of permanent target where mathematically gifted players, for whom theorycrafting is more of a passion than a tool, can optimize their talents and spell rotations. But to hear of a phenomenon is one thing, to deal with it is another.

It was the veteran mage in my new guild that without any further discussion brought the new recruit to make a basic check of her dps. Equipped with Recap, a sort of advanced damage meter, he positioned himself, taking notes, while I obayed and emptied my mana pools in a few different ways: with molten armor, with mage armor, with and without scorching up (which I usually do at bosses in order to make them take more vulnerable and take damage from fire.)

The result made me raise my eyebrows - it turned out that I shouldn't consistently be using molten armor, that I had considered being standard for a fire mage. Using mage armor I could poor out considerably more damage from my mana pool. And that scorching I could probably do a little less of, it didn't seem to help me make more damage, there were signs that the effect was the opposite.

All that it took to throw over all my old theories was a simple little test. Or to put it right: someone elses theories, since I not knowing exactly how I've obtained my habits, strongly suspect that they are the result of something I've read somewhere.

And what are the conclusions of this? First of all, you shouldn't believe everything you read. What is true for someone else isn't necessary the right way to go for you, there will always be things that differ - gear, latency and other circumstances.

Secondly: seeing Dr Boom really isn't such a big thing. He's really worth visiting, not only for those experts in theorycrafting, but for ordinary average players like me. Why take the risk to refrain from it, when you by testing actually can find a simple action to take in order to raise your dps by lets say 10 percent? No, Recap is now high up on my priority list of addons to download and start using.

See you soon again, Dr Boom!