FrostsimChoosing a tool
Use a WoW DPS simulator to compare gear and talents
A useful sim answers a specific question about your character. Frostsim offers several SimulationCraft tools, from a single baseline run to comparisons of gear and talent setups.
Quick Sim: establish your baseline
Use Quick Sim to see the result for your current setup under selected fight conditions. Start here after importing your character. Confirm the gear, talents, target count, fight length, and buffs before treating that run as your baseline.
Top Gear: compare items you own
Use Top Gear when you have several possible gear combinations. An addon export can include your bag items; an Armory lookup only supplies equipped gear. Select plausible alternatives and enhancements, then compare them together instead of assuming that the higher item level always wins.
Large selections create many combinations. Keep the search focused on the slots you are deciding between. Read the result's search and precision information before interpreting a small difference as a settled ranking.
Compare: test named setups
Use Compare when you want to test specific gear or talent variants against one baseline. Give each variant a clear name so you can connect the result to the change you made.
Hold fight settings constant to isolate a gear or talent change. To model a different encounter, make a separate comparison with that encounter's settings.
Droptimizer: evaluate potential drops
Use Droptimizer to estimate what individual drops could be worth relative to your current gear. Check the selected source, difficulty, and item level. A result estimates the modeled upgrade; it does not tell you the probability of obtaining the item.
Stat weights: examine your current setup
Advanced includes stat weights. These describe sensitivity around the simulated setup. They can change with your gear, talents, and fight settings, so compare complete items directly when deciding between upgrades.
Make comparisons you can trust
- Use a fresh export after changes in game.
- Keep the engine channel, revision, and fight settings consistent.
- Check uncertainty and increase precision for close results.
- Choose encounter settings deliberately; a single-target result does not answer every AoE question.
For engine and version details, read SimulationCraft in your browser or open Help.