Ailis in Hunterland

I wanted to take a moment and expand on a subject I touched upon briefly in my previous post outlining the new changes coming next year with Cataclysm.  I realize we have, at minimum, a year to wait for the new expansion and there’s a couple of raids in between now and then; however, I wanted to attempt to get a discussion going because I’m honestly curious to hear your thoughts on the matter.

There was a blue post a few days ago that caught my attention regarding the stat changes and the accusation that it was over-simplifying everything:

I find many of these arguments to be elitist. This is not a “catering to the casuals” issue. This is an issue that even some of our most educated and math-savy players could not make gear decisions without the help of external tools. We’re much less concerned about more casual players because the specific choice of upgrade will mean less for them (skill outweighs the contribution of stats for all but the absolute best players) and they often choose pieces based on things like art over stats.

I’m talking about very hardcore raiders who no longer could eyeball a piece of gear with any degree of authority. I might believe that some very few of you are so proficient with the math as to be able to eyeball the stats, but I think you are vastly overestimating the number of players who can or do. Remember, the formula to convert armor penetration into damage was so complicated that we had to take the unusual step of actually spelling out how it was calculated.

With this change will you still have to make hard choices about upgrading? Absolutely. Will there still be quasi-religious debates about which neck is best in slot for a given spec? Of course. Will you still need to understand the mechanics to make the best choice for your character? We think so. One of our overall design philosophies for WoW (and Blizzard) is to be simple but have a lot of depth. Some people mistake needless complexity for depth.

Meanwhile, we think there is a lot of benefit of getting rid of problematic stats like defense and accomplishing things like letting casters improve by focusing on throughput over mana pool.

Here’s the breakdown.

After Cataclysm, there will be multiple things that will effect your output as a tank/dps/healer:

1. Gear (and, with that, Gems, Reforging and Enchants)
2. Build (with Glyphs)
3. Professions
4. Mastery
5. Path of the Titan

Right now, you can go to any number of popular websites and find THE build and gear setup for your particular class that will make you the best you can be.  If you follow X template, you are the best.  Period.

I think this has led to the issue that the Blue mentions above when they say that players are getting to the point where they memorize a list of BiS and go for those items to the exclusion of everything else because someone told them it was the best.  It’s taken the thought out of gearing and balancing.  I realize a lot of this had to do with the vast number of stats we have to balance to achieve and optimal level of performance, thus the “over-simplification” of stats in the upcoming xpac.

Does this mean cookie cutter specs and BiS lists will go away with Cataclysm?  I don’t think so but my hope is we’ll have a couple of lists instead of one list.  Something like:

“If you went with X Path of the Titan and Y Mastery, then here’s a BiS gear list for you, but this is purely dependent on your reforging and profession buffs.”

And so on.  This means a helluvalot more theorycrafting coming from the think-tanks, which is all well and good and, yes, I will still read it all.  But here’s my hope.

I hope that, with the vast number of combinations of Paths, Mastery, Builds, Reforging, Gear combinations, Gems, Enchants, Profession Buffs and more, people will start to make their own choices.  The simplification of stats allows for this and even encourages it.  There is a whole new glyph system with your chosen Path; a whole set of Mastery tools for your build; possibly new Profession buffs to correlate with the stat changes; and more.  What I’m hoping is that, instead of Cookie Cutter Spec A being used by every Enhancement Shaman in a progressive raiding guild, you’ll have something more akin to the “Top Ten Enhancement Shaman Systems.”

But I want to know your thoughts on it.  Do you think we’ll still have set in stone cookie cutter specs for everyone or do you think a significant change is coming?  Is this good or bad?

I, like many other WoW players, read Elitist Jerks obsessively.  I’m not the number cruncher that most of them are and some of their formulas and theories go way over my head but I like finding the nuggets of information and using their information (what of it I can actually understand) to help hone my character(s) as they progress to and through the end-game.

One post I’m deliciously addicted to is their Enhancement Shaman BiS thread, in which they talk about The Wishlist (as I like to call it).  Every tier that is released, they put together a list of the absolute Best-In-Slot (BiS) gear/gems/enchants/glyphs and build for your enhancement shaman.  I call it my Wishlist because this list is only available if you have access to every possible option of raiding – including hard modes.

With Tier 9, in case you didn’t know, all the loot is faction-specific.  Stats are identical but names and skins are different depending on your faction affiliation.  EJ wrote up their list from a Horde’s perspective so I thought I’d give some of you guys a hand and rewrite the basic gear list from an Alliance perspective.  I’m also going to write this without any profession buffs so keep in mind you’ll have an extra boost to one of your stats with Jewelcrafting, Leatherworking, Enchanting, Inscription or Blacksmithing.

To make this easy to follow we’ll do item slot followed by name of piece, the gems in order of slots available, and proper enchant (similar to EJ’s table but without the table).

• Head - Nobundo’s Faceguard of Triumph – Chaotic Skyflare Diamond/Wicked Ametrine – Arcanum of Torment
• Neck - Charge of the Demon Lord – Precise Cardinal Ruby
• Shoulders - Nobundo’s Shoulderguards of Triumph – Precise Cardinal Ruby – Greater Inscription of the Axe
• Back - Vereesa’s Dexterity – Precise Cardinal Ruby – Greater Speed
• Chest - Breastplate of Cruel Intent – Bright Cardinal Ruby/Nightmare Tear/Wicked Ametrine – Powerful Stats
• Wrist - Bracers of Dark Determination – Precise Cardinal Ruby/Bright Cardinal Ruby
• Hands - Nobundo’s Grips of Triumph – Bright Cardinal Ruby – Crusher
• Waist - Belt of Deathly Dominion – Wicked Ametrine/Bright Cardinal Ruby/Bright Cardinal Ruby – Eternal Belt Buckle
• Legs - Nobundo’s War-kilt of Triumph – Balanced Dreadstone/Bright Cardinal Ruby – Icescale Leg Armor
• Feet - Sabatons of Ruthless Judgement – Wicked Ametrine/Wicked Ametrine – Icewalker
• Finger - Ring of Callous Aggression – Bright Cardinal Ruby
• Finger - Planestalker Signet – Wicked Ametrine
• Trinket - Comet’s Trail
• Trinket - Death’s Verdict
• Main Hand & Off Hand - Remorseless – Wicked Ametrine – Berserking
• Relic - Totem of Electrifying Wind
• Glyphs – Windfury/Stormstrike/Feral Spirit (This is also best set up for Tier 8 as well so go ahead and get these glyphs now if you don’t already use them)
• Build – 18/53/0 (This is only for Tier 9 – for Tier 8, current Max DPS build is 16/55/0)

You will notice that the vast majority of these items come from places like the 25-man Tribute Chest, 25-man Algalon and other hard modes.  Like I said, wishlist and only available if you have access to (and succeed at) every possible level of raiding.

It will still be my wishlist because you never know but I will try over the next week to put together a 10-man version of this for those of you in 10-man guilds (as I know there are a lot) for your BiS given what you have available to you.

Happy hunting!

Happy Patch Day!

As promised, I’ve updated the Gear Post for 3.2.  In it, I’ve included all purcheaseable items from every quartermaster, as well as any BoE epics available, and all crafted items.

I’ll be updating the links throughout the day as WoWhead updates their database so don’t freak out at the unlinked items.  If you want to know their stats now, head over to MMO-Champion and look it up.

This next part is at the end of the post so you can read it here or there or both if you feel like reading it twice.

Now, some points to consider before you look at the list and go “Holy crap!  I’m 80 and it’s Christmas!”

1. Always maintain your hit and expertise caps.  If this means taking a “lower level” piece to do so, do it.  Your DPS is nothing if you’re missing or being dodged most of the time.
2. Keep an eye on Tier Bonuses.  You have 2 pieces of Teir 8 and 4 pieces of Teir 7 to pick from.  Mix and match bonuses combine with stats on non-set items to get the best combination of stats pre-raid that you can.
3. Skill and Knowledge > Gear a lot of the times.  For me personally, as a raid leader, I’ll take a player who is knowledgable, skilled and knows how to function in a raid who may have a few blues over an unskilled, unprepared player in full epics.  With the changes in the emblem system, a LOT of people will be running around in Tier 7-9 quality gear and a LOT of them won’t have the first clue how to properly use it.  Don’t be that guy.
4. Research boss strats, practice your spell priority until you’re comfortable with it, make sure your gear is properly gemmed and enchanted, and download any required (and helpful) addons.  For those of you who want an easy to mark goal – 1.8K DPS minimum is good for Naxxramas; 3K minimum is good for Ulduar.
5. A word on BoE epics – they may not always be available on your server or, if they are, they are at outrageously inflated prices.  Consider these pieces bonus pieces – i.e. if you get one, hey, bonus.  If not, you have exceptionally adequate alternatives.
6. Craft a Frost Resist Set for fights like Sapphiron and Hodir.  Before you scoff and say they aren’t needed, I tell you “perhaps not” but it’s about perception.  You show up prepared.  You went that extra few pieces and, trust me, that goes a long way with a raid leader.

Now, how much longer will they extend maintenance, you think?

Continuing in the change to make relics purchaseable with emblems (thank god), 3.2 will allow you to purchase your sigil/libram/idol/totem with the new Emblems of Triumph.  So, far the totem choices for Shamans appear to be pretty nice.  They are iLevel 245 so a definite upgrade from Ulduar 25 totems.

The Enhancement totem is Totem of the Quaking Earth and I could see this being pretty popular based on the straight AP it gives every time you use Lava Lash.  Some initial testing done on the PTR showed that this totem procs constantly, so it’s looking like PvE enhance shamans actually have a good totem for once and don’t have to rely on PvP ones.

However, given the overall reduction in Haste from Teir 8 to Tier 9, I could see some Enhance Shamans possibly going for the Elemental totem in order to maintain a higher haste rating.  Elemental shamans who have done testing with this on the PTR do not seem overly thrilled and are, so far, calling this inferior to the current Totem of Hex.

Update: While Elemental shamans are still discussing the stats on this totem, Enhancement Shamans are leaning towards (again) the Elemental Totem given the fact that we sling Lightning Bolts more often than we sling Lava Lashes.  Initial testing shows almost a 100 DPS increase over the Enhancement totem, making the Electrifying Wind totem (for now) the Enhancement winner.