Say the tank runs ahead and starts the next group of mobs. I was left behind looting all of the cloth from the mobs (GO tailoring!) and catch up a few seconds behind everyone else.
I start to cast Arcane Blast, and do not enter combat until my cast goes off and hits the target. Time in combat starts ticking away.
Now, say I have a string of huge crits and the tank was slacking off. The mob runs towards me and I hit Invisibility. I go out of combat and invisible before the tank pulls the mob back. Time in combat stops counting.
I start to cast Arcane Blast, and do not enter combat until my cast goes off and hits the target. Time in combat starts ticking away....
In addition to the example above, keep in mind the following information. DPS and total damage done as presented by these addons are (as mentioned above) statistics. Not a picture of the entire fight. The following are examples of
GOOD things to do which NEGATIVELY impact your DPS and damage done.
- staying out of the fire
- silencing the target
- crowd control
- kiting (and having to stay in range)
- threat-reducers (invis, etc)
- healing oneself (pots, self-heals, etc)
- changing targets