I’ve received a few questions over the last couple weeks — and this one made me think that a bunch of people might have similar questions…

Cassz wrote:

Hi Morynne.

First off, thank you for a wonderful site. When I first started playing WoW, about 6 months ago, I heard of WHU.com and read it religously. Now, I find myself checking your site daily!

I just had a quick question. I’ve asked guildies and looked upon websites and have gotten many crooked answers. I have ENG & JC. JC because of the large Agility numbers from Chimera Gems and ENG because the gloves, which add 480 Agility for 10 seconds, with a 60 second CD ( so a 50 sec
CD).

Is LW more of a boost with the bracer enchants at 130 Agility (+80)?

There’s really not a clear-cut answer.

Epic gems are on the horizon in 4.3 (if implemented at all), and if history repeats itself, the profession bonuses will be buffed to come with it — so keep in mind this is as of 4.2 that we’re comparing the two professions.

First off, you’ve made a great choice by choosing Jewelcrafting — it nets the highest amount of agility bonused of all the crafting professions (81 vs 80 — only one, but I know there are some nit-pickers out there).

The choice between Synapse Springs or Draconic Emobssment – Agility is really a question of how you’ll be using it.  Synapse Springs gives 480 Agility over a 10 second period, whereas Draconic Embossment – Agility gives +130 Agility total, 80 more than the normal enchantment to bracers.

Agility is one of those stats that it’s always better to have more of — it boosts our Attack Power, and makes our shots hit harder — so neither one clearly outweighs the other.

So let’s do some math:

If you were to average out the impact of the agility for Synapse Springs over a full minute, you’d end up with this:

$480/6=80$

That’s 480, averaged out across the 6-10 second increments in a minute.  So if you use Synapse Springs every time it’s up, you’ll effectively have an additional 80 Agi all the time — exactly the same as Draconic Embossment.

Here’s the kicker — you control when you use Synapse Springs.  If you use it in conjunction with Heroism, or Rapid Fire, you’re likely to get even more gain out of it than just the 80 Agi over a minute because you’ll be shooting faster, and ultimately resulting in higher DPS — especially if you’re running Marksman and pounding out those Aimed Shots.

I also run JC/Eng, but not because of the utility of the burst damage.  I like the other toys Engineering gives me, so I tend to macro Synapse Springs into my Steady Shot and Cobra Shot – depending on what spec I’m playing.  It gets used every time it’s off cooldown, and I net my average of 80 Agi during combat.  If I’m lucky enough to have it go off during a hasted phase, my DPS jumps a little higher than it normally would, but I don’t consciously worry about it.  It’s one less button I have to push.

Really what it comes down to is 1. what your play style is like, 2. what you’re looking for in a bonus, and 3. do you enjoy the rest of the profession.

If it were me, I’d keep engineering and revel in the fact that I have my own mailbox, portal to Northrend, personal butler, and a sweet helicopter, on top of saving the gold to level leatherworking.

Good luck!

#### Morynne

Morynne is an avid hunter, and prefers Marksmanship. She has co-hosted the Hunting Party Podcast, and appeared on the Twisted Nether Blogcast. For more information, click here.

### 5 responses to Mailbag: Synapse Springs or Draconic Embossment?

1. Thank you for cutting it as clear as can be!

I DO enjoy the engineering perks (even if the rocket boost sometimes takes a bite out of my health).

Since ten seconds of the Synapse Springs is in use, and the CD becomes 50 seconds, does that give it an advantage?

• A cooldown is defined at the point the item/ability is used, starting the timer. Your Rapid Fire is a 15 second use ability, but it has a 5 minute cooldown, not a 4 minute 45 second cooldown.

Synapse Springs always has a 60 second cooldown, no matter what — and it starts at the beginning of when you use the ability, though I could understand why you'd say it has a 50 second timer — because that's the time it's not active.

One add-on that might clear this up a bit is specifically there to show you the internal cooldown timers of items and abilities right on the buttons. OmniCC just adds a countdown on the ability in your action bars, and might help you make sense of how things operate — or are commonly referenced in this way.

The question you're asking is a perception difference, not necessarily a mechanic difference.

2. Thank you Morynne!

That takes care of that.

Do you PvP? Would you ever include PvP articles or strategy guides?

Since raiding only takes place certain days of the week, I find myself more often doing PvP.

At first it was tough goings. After finding my rotation and working out what works best (as well as earning the 371 gear), it's become really fun. I can't wait to deck myself out in the conquest gear (wich looks amazing by the way).

But that would be icing on the "web site" cake if you could explain with your awesome and detailed explanations, just some tips and tricks of the PvP game!

And I can't say it enough Morynne, thanks for your dedication to the Hunter Community!

3. While it's true that 480 / 60 = 80, almost never will you only average 80 agility from your Synapse Springs.

Let's say you kill Baleroc in 4 minutes and 20 seconds. You'll have Synapse Springs active:

0:00 – 0:10

1:00 – 1:10

2:00 – 2:10

3:00 – 3:10

4:00 – 4:10

That's 50 seconds of +80 agility over the course of 260 seconds, or 92.3 agility on average.

For all possible fight durations between 0:00 and 6:00 minutes, 95% of them will see Synapse Springs average out to more than 81 agility of benefit. This is, of course, without factoring in buff stacking.