Wait a minute, how would crit chance increase? Crits are still on a per spellcast basis and most warlock spells (Dots, death coil, and channels) don't crit.
Give me some hard numbers on your crit rate. Last night, I've tested rank 1 shadowbolt CoS'ed through duel mechanism about 70 times. Mine remained consistent at around 12% with my standard setup. Post your total +crit eqiupment, +crit talent investment, int stat and % crit resulted. I'm willing to record more results on different enemies and setups. What about you? Don't you wish to know your true crit %?
I never said Ruin didn't do extra damage, and I will probably try the build on the test server if WoW-0.4.0.4323-to-0.4.0-enUS-patch.exe ever downloads, but its certainly not worth it early on and without +damage equipment. Again, give me actual numbers on your crit rate. "Routinely" is too subjective. Show me some promising figures Lissa. I want to see nasty Ruin specc'ed damage.
As for cap of the scarlet savant, you'll get likely an epic set helm before that. Compared with Crown of the Ogre King its a whole 1-2 stat points in int and stam, and 1 crit. That worth 300g, 3 arcane crystals, 2 skin of shadow, and pristine hide? Which would deny someone else getting an epic. I think you'll see what's severely wrong with the cap's cost vs benefit when the next best thing is nearly as good and costs drastically less.
The biggest reason I criticize SM/ruin is because so many newbie locks take it without realizing what they're giving up. You can burn a lot of burst damage, potentially pull aggro, but you might be doing more steady damage by simply having more mana (dark pact, 31 points, mutually exclusive with Ruin), or simply surviving longer: (master summoner / fel domination / health funnel / improved imp stam buff / and finally soul link which is again mutually exclusive with Ruin).
I'll show you some figures on how crit bonus works. You'll see its best with a large base damage, but the difference between Ruin and non-Ruin is one shadowbolt every % crit rate. You'd essentially get 12 shadowbolts when I get 11 at a 10% crit rate (or 13/12 /w Shadow Vulnerability). The difference widens with additional crit, but at some point you'll have to choose between +damage and +crit equipment. But if the shadowbolt isn't hitting that hard or often, due to resistences or equipment, Ruin's just not a whole lot more damage.
Warning, lots of data ahead
How warlock crit bonuses work, and the 360% Ruin / 240% Non-Ruin optimal ratio
360% vs 240% is the maximum crit damage ratio between Ruin and non ruin crits, all other things being equal.
Total = Base + Crit bonus
Base * Shadow Vulnerabilty = 1.2 (base)
Crit bonuses onto base:
Base * Negative resistence crit effect (Curse of Shadows) crit bonus = Base + 50% (2)
Base * Ruin = same as above
Base * Negative resistence effect & Ruin = Base + ( 50% )(2)(2)
Ruin
--With Shadow Vulnerability, Negative Resistences crit :
120% Base + 120% * 200% = 360% Base
No Ruin
--With Shadow Vulnerability, Negative Resistences crit :
120% Base + 120% * 100% = 240% Base
Note: Neither Shadow Vulnerability nor negative resistences crit bonus is guaranteed. Without them numbers would be..
Ruin
Base + 100% = 200%
No Ruin
Base + 50% = 150%
The damage Ratio between Ruin/No ruin closes from 1.5:1 to 1.3:1
Shadow Mastery adds 10% to base shadowbolt damage, at rank 9...
455-507 + 10% = 500-557. At best that's equivalent of +50 magical damage from equipment. That's why the last 5 points into shadow mastery isn't worth it without dark pact.
No Ruin crit with Neg Resists (+100% damage to base)
500-550 w/o shadow vulernability + 100% crit bonus = 1000-1100
600-660 /w +20% shadow vulnerability + 100% crit = 1200-1320
Ruin crit with Neg Resists (+200% damage to base)
{500-550 w/o shadow vulnerability } + 200% bonus = 1500-1650
{600-660 /w +20% shadow vulernability } 200% bonus = 1800-1980
*note high shadow resistence enemies won't receive attain recieve bonus. So damage magnified wouldn't be as much. You'd see non-ruin figures w/o neg resistences.
Theoretical trials of
100 Shadowbolts...
At a given %crit rate.
Assuming: Always shadow vulnerability (1.2 base shadowbolt), Always negative resist crit dmg bonus, always hit, and at set crit rates.
These assumptions maximizes the gap between Ruin and non-ruin. Resists, lack of shadow vulnerability, and anything that reduces shadowbolt damage closes the gap between ruin and non-ruin.
SB's = Base damage shadowbolts.
(Total Crit % damage bonus ruin or non ruin) (crit SB's) + (Shadow vulnerability bonus) ( Non crit SB's) = Total damage in SB's at a given crit
At 10% crit rate,
--normal for most players with modest equipment or minimal talent investment
Non Ruin
240% ( 10 shadowbolts ) + 1.2 (90 shadowbolts) = 24 + 108 = 132 SB's
Ruin
360% ( 10 shadowbolts ) + 1.2 (90 shadowbolts) = 36 + 108 = 144 SB's
Non Ruin to Ruin damage ratio: 0.91 : 1
Ruin % damage increase 9.09
At 15% crit rate
--available with talents and/or a decent +crit collection
Non Ruin
240% ( 15 shadowbolts ) + 1.2 (85 shadowbolts) = 36 + 102 = 138 SB's
Ruin
360% ( 15 shadowbolts ) + 1.2 (85 shadowbolts) = 54 + 102 = 156 SB's
Non Ruin to Ruin damage ratio: 0.88 : 1
Ruin % damage increase 13.0
At 25% crit rate
--achieved by forsaking +damage equipment
Non Ruin
240% ( 25 shadowbolts ) + 1.2 (75 shadowbolts) = 60 + 90 = 150 SB's
Ruin
360% ( 25 shadowbolts ) + 1.2 (75 shadowbolts) = 90 + 90 = 180 SB's
Non Ruin to Ruin damage ratio: 0.83 : 1
Ruin % damage increase 20.0
At 50% crit rate,
--completely theoretical, not available in-game
Non Ruin
240% ( 50 shadowbolts ) + 1.2 (50 shadowbolts) = 120 + 60 = 180 SB's
Ruin
360% ( 50 shadowbolts ) + 1.2 (50 shadowbolts) = 180 + 60 = 240 SB's
Non Ruin to Ruin damage ratio: 0.75 : 1
Ruin % damage increase 33.3
Only at a ficitonal 50% crit does Ruin greatly surpass non-ruin builds. You get 10-15% at moderate crit rates, beyond that you are sacrificing +damage modifiers for crit on most all blue items.
When you run out of mana, you'll be sacrificing dps, time or life, to regain mana for more shadow bolts. When you run out of health, again your ability to damage the enemy drops. I'd rather the option to mitigate either life or mana loss, while retaining 80-90% of Ruin damage.
If I ever get epics that increase both my +shadow damage and my crit rate high enough, I'll respec to ruin... until then +damage equipment is clearly superior for straight % damage. Pushing shadowbolt damage from 500-->700 is a 40% increase without considering crits, while with talents and ruin, I'd be pushing about 13-17% increased damage (optimally).
I wanted to see how much damage in real numbers Ruin actually adds, and now I have. I'd need at least +8% to crit on equipment in addition to my +damage equip to really take advantage of Ruin.
Give me some hard numbers on your crit rate. Last night, I've tested rank 1 shadowbolt CoS'ed through duel mechanism about 70 times. Mine remained consistent at around 12% with my standard setup. Post your total +crit eqiupment, +crit talent investment, int stat and % crit resulted. I'm willing to record more results on different enemies and setups. What about you? Don't you wish to know your true crit %?
I never said Ruin didn't do extra damage, and I will probably try the build on the test server if WoW-0.4.0.4323-to-0.4.0-enUS-patch.exe ever downloads, but its certainly not worth it early on and without +damage equipment. Again, give me actual numbers on your crit rate. "Routinely" is too subjective. Show me some promising figures Lissa. I want to see nasty Ruin specc'ed damage.
As for cap of the scarlet savant, you'll get likely an epic set helm before that. Compared with Crown of the Ogre King its a whole 1-2 stat points in int and stam, and 1 crit. That worth 300g, 3 arcane crystals, 2 skin of shadow, and pristine hide? Which would deny someone else getting an epic. I think you'll see what's severely wrong with the cap's cost vs benefit when the next best thing is nearly as good and costs drastically less.
The biggest reason I criticize SM/ruin is because so many newbie locks take it without realizing what they're giving up. You can burn a lot of burst damage, potentially pull aggro, but you might be doing more steady damage by simply having more mana (dark pact, 31 points, mutually exclusive with Ruin), or simply surviving longer: (master summoner / fel domination / health funnel / improved imp stam buff / and finally soul link which is again mutually exclusive with Ruin).
I'll show you some figures on how crit bonus works. You'll see its best with a large base damage, but the difference between Ruin and non-Ruin is one shadowbolt every % crit rate. You'd essentially get 12 shadowbolts when I get 11 at a 10% crit rate (or 13/12 /w Shadow Vulnerability). The difference widens with additional crit, but at some point you'll have to choose between +damage and +crit equipment. But if the shadowbolt isn't hitting that hard or often, due to resistences or equipment, Ruin's just not a whole lot more damage.
Warning, lots of data ahead
How warlock crit bonuses work, and the 360% Ruin / 240% Non-Ruin optimal ratio
360% vs 240% is the maximum crit damage ratio between Ruin and non ruin crits, all other things being equal.
Total = Base + Crit bonus
Base * Shadow Vulnerabilty = 1.2 (base)
Crit bonuses onto base:
Base * Negative resistence crit effect (Curse of Shadows) crit bonus = Base + 50% (2)
Base * Ruin = same as above
Base * Negative resistence effect & Ruin = Base + ( 50% )(2)(2)
Ruin
--With Shadow Vulnerability, Negative Resistences crit :
120% Base + 120% * 200% = 360% Base
No Ruin
--With Shadow Vulnerability, Negative Resistences crit :
120% Base + 120% * 100% = 240% Base
Note: Neither Shadow Vulnerability nor negative resistences crit bonus is guaranteed. Without them numbers would be..
Ruin
Base + 100% = 200%
No Ruin
Base + 50% = 150%
The damage Ratio between Ruin/No ruin closes from 1.5:1 to 1.3:1
Shadow Mastery adds 10% to base shadowbolt damage, at rank 9...
455-507 + 10% = 500-557. At best that's equivalent of +50 magical damage from equipment. That's why the last 5 points into shadow mastery isn't worth it without dark pact.
No Ruin crit with Neg Resists (+100% damage to base)
500-550 w/o shadow vulernability + 100% crit bonus = 1000-1100
600-660 /w +20% shadow vulnerability + 100% crit = 1200-1320
Ruin crit with Neg Resists (+200% damage to base)
{500-550 w/o shadow vulnerability } + 200% bonus = 1500-1650
{600-660 /w +20% shadow vulernability } 200% bonus = 1800-1980
*note high shadow resistence enemies won't receive attain recieve bonus. So damage magnified wouldn't be as much. You'd see non-ruin figures w/o neg resistences.
Theoretical trials of
100 Shadowbolts...
At a given %crit rate.
Assuming: Always shadow vulnerability (1.2 base shadowbolt), Always negative resist crit dmg bonus, always hit, and at set crit rates.
These assumptions maximizes the gap between Ruin and non-ruin. Resists, lack of shadow vulnerability, and anything that reduces shadowbolt damage closes the gap between ruin and non-ruin.
SB's = Base damage shadowbolts.
(Total Crit % damage bonus ruin or non ruin) (crit SB's) + (Shadow vulnerability bonus) ( Non crit SB's) = Total damage in SB's at a given crit
At 10% crit rate,
--normal for most players with modest equipment or minimal talent investment
Non Ruin
240% ( 10 shadowbolts ) + 1.2 (90 shadowbolts) = 24 + 108 = 132 SB's
Ruin
360% ( 10 shadowbolts ) + 1.2 (90 shadowbolts) = 36 + 108 = 144 SB's
Non Ruin to Ruin damage ratio: 0.91 : 1
Ruin % damage increase 9.09
At 15% crit rate
--available with talents and/or a decent +crit collection
Non Ruin
240% ( 15 shadowbolts ) + 1.2 (85 shadowbolts) = 36 + 102 = 138 SB's
Ruin
360% ( 15 shadowbolts ) + 1.2 (85 shadowbolts) = 54 + 102 = 156 SB's
Non Ruin to Ruin damage ratio: 0.88 : 1
Ruin % damage increase 13.0
At 25% crit rate
--achieved by forsaking +damage equipment
Non Ruin
240% ( 25 shadowbolts ) + 1.2 (75 shadowbolts) = 60 + 90 = 150 SB's
Ruin
360% ( 25 shadowbolts ) + 1.2 (75 shadowbolts) = 90 + 90 = 180 SB's
Non Ruin to Ruin damage ratio: 0.83 : 1
Ruin % damage increase 20.0
At 50% crit rate,
--completely theoretical, not available in-game
Non Ruin
240% ( 50 shadowbolts ) + 1.2 (50 shadowbolts) = 120 + 60 = 180 SB's
Ruin
360% ( 50 shadowbolts ) + 1.2 (50 shadowbolts) = 180 + 60 = 240 SB's
Non Ruin to Ruin damage ratio: 0.75 : 1
Ruin % damage increase 33.3
Only at a ficitonal 50% crit does Ruin greatly surpass non-ruin builds. You get 10-15% at moderate crit rates, beyond that you are sacrificing +damage modifiers for crit on most all blue items.
When you run out of mana, you'll be sacrificing dps, time or life, to regain mana for more shadow bolts. When you run out of health, again your ability to damage the enemy drops. I'd rather the option to mitigate either life or mana loss, while retaining 80-90% of Ruin damage.
If I ever get epics that increase both my +shadow damage and my crit rate high enough, I'll respec to ruin... until then +damage equipment is clearly superior for straight % damage. Pushing shadowbolt damage from 500-->700 is a 40% increase without considering crits, while with talents and ruin, I'd be pushing about 13-17% increased damage (optimally).
I wanted to see how much damage in real numbers Ruin actually adds, and now I have. I'd need at least +8% to crit on equipment in addition to my +damage equip to really take advantage of Ruin.