Latest info on the status of sims and Raidbots features.
I also wrote answers to a bunch of Raidbots Shadowlands FAQs.
Updated: Dec 6, 2020
As always, Blizzard is definitely going to adjust/tune things over the next few weeks! Sims are only one tool in the toolbox — I highly recommend staying up-to-date with theorycrafters, guide writers, class experts, and actual in-game logs to provide analysis and context when making big decisions.
Make sure to grab the latest version of the SimC addon — this is always better than using the Armory for character lookups.
Also, for the love of Azeroth, don’t solely rely on Raidbots/sims to determine which covenant you should choose in these early weeks — that way lies madness. Sims are likely to be a bit unstable for the first few weeks of an expansion and, even if sims were perfect, Blizzard is going to change things. Consult multiple sources and build your own conclusions.
Known Issues
- Tooltips will frequently not be up-to-date with the most recent hotfixes. This is a display issue only — Raidbots/SimC use their own item/spell databases that is separate from the Wowhead tooltips.
- All Custom APLs will be cleared on Dec 1st to ensure old APLs are no longer being used.
- C̶r̶a̶f̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶i̶t̶e̶m̶s̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶s̶i̶m̶m̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶s̶e̶c̶o̶n̶d̶a̶r̶y̶ ̶s̶t̶a̶t̶s̶.̶ ̶I̶’̶m̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶S̶i̶m̶C̶ ̶f̶o̶l̶k̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶f̶i̶g̶u̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶.̶ This now works with the latest version of the SimC addon (9.0.2–06, update now) and when using Armory lookups.
- “Load from Armory” will not sim your covenant/soulbind. This will be fixed as soon as Blizzard fixes the Soulbind API. (But really just use the SimC addon — it’s better in every single way)
- D̶r̶o̶p̶t̶i̶m̶i̶z̶e̶r̶ ̶m̶a̶y̶ ̶f̶a̶i̶l̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶s̶p̶e̶c̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶s̶w̶a̶p̶ ̶b̶e̶t̶w̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶1̶h̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶2̶h̶ ̶w̶e̶a̶p̶o̶n̶s̶ ̶(̶W̶W̶ ̶m̶o̶n̶k̶s̶,̶ ̶e̶t̶c̶)̶.This has been fixed
- T̶e̶m̶p̶o̶r̶a̶r̶y̶ ̶e̶n̶c̶h̶a̶n̶t̶s̶ ̶(̶w̶e̶a̶p̶o̶n̶ ̶o̶i̶l̶s̶,̶ ̶s̶t̶a̶m̶i̶n̶a̶ ̶p̶a̶t̶c̶h̶e̶s̶)̶ ̶d̶o̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶U̶I̶ ̶y̶e̶t̶.̶ Update Dec 6: Temporary enchants can now be set under “Simulation Options”
- G̶e̶a̶r̶ ̶C̶o̶m̶p̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶d̶o̶e̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶c̶u̶r̶r̶e̶n̶t̶l̶y̶ ̶s̶u̶p̶p̶o̶r̶t̶ ̶S̶h̶a̶d̶o̶w̶l̶a̶n̶d̶s̶ ̶L̶e̶g̶e̶n̶d̶a̶r̶i̶e̶s̶.̶ Updated Dec 5: You can now set up legendary items in Gear Compare — search for the base item (Umbrahide, Grim-Veiled, Shadowghast, etc) and choose the power and secondary stats.
Major Things to Know
- Covenants, Soulbinds, Conduits, and Legendaries all have initial support in SimC. Most DPS specs have decent support for new systems, healers and tanks are less well developed — this link has more high-level info: SimC Shadowlands Status. For more details about your class/spec, I recommend joining your class Discord and keeping up with discussions there. Raidbots Discord will also have a decent amount of information/discussion but class Discords will go more in-depth.
- Not all dungeon/raid gear with special effects (primarily trinkets) have been implemented in SimC.
- Azerite armor and essences are disabled.
- Covenants, Soulbinds, and Conduits can be compared in Top Gear — this UI shows up when the character is level 60 and has an active covenant (you can fake this by editing your own /simc input but don’t forget you’ll still be wearing level 50 gear).
- Great Vault (the new weekly chest) items are detected by the SimC addon and will show up in Top Gear — you can then quickly run a comparison to see which sims the best (only 1 Great Vault item will be allowed in a combination).
- Top Gear can now add up to 6 sockets at once and fill them with a single gem.
- Droptimizer has been updated with the new raid (Nathria), the new M+ dungeons, Shadowlands world bosses, and PVP gear (Honor and Conquest). Weapon tokens in the new raid are automatically converted into the weapons that your class/spec can use.
- Many settings have been reset to default values, mostly things like gem/enchant choices and other consumables.
- The following specs are unmaintained in SimulationCraft and cannot be simmed: Holy Paladins, Holy Priests, Discipline Priests. SimC is open source and developed entirely by volunteers in the community so if you are interested, please look into contributing to SimC.
Shadowlands Systems on Raidbots
Here’s a quick parade of images to show some of the new Shadowlands features:
