Evaluating Gear

Values and weights, but they are all wrong

Using programs like SimulationCraft and others, there are lots of people claiming Critical Strike is worth this, Spirit is worth that, etc. I'm here to tell you they are all wrong. In fact, I am going to post my own values for these attributes on this very page and I'm here to tell you that mine are wrong also! The problem with calculating exact numbers for each gear stat is that the stats relative worth changes as you change how much you have. Assuming some base set of attributes, you can determine their value, but everyone is geared differently and therefore will not match your assumptions. Complicate this whole mess with set bonuses and it gets even muddier.

All that being said, that doesn't make the effort of estimating their relative worth a waste of time. The important thing is not their exact value, but there "general" relationship to each other. If that relationship changed radically as you geared up, we'd have a problem, but it only changes slightly and gradually as you change gear (except when changing set bonuses).

To evaluate gear we must pick a starting point. A base gear set that allows for the evaluation of gear as we approach our objective of total uberness.

What base gear level did I use?

I assumed a high gear level with both T10 set bonuses. This is critical as we want to evaluate our "ideal outfit" and it is critical our stat relationship be calculated with the set bonuses available as we gear towards the ideal. The values below also contain the affect of many typical raid buffs. The effect of Twisted Faith is not included in the spell power as it is dynamically added to allow for Improved Spirit Tap and the Glyph of Shadow. If you are shocked by the spell power value, remember raid buffs have been added to that value and it started with 258 gear.

Our fictitious raid buffed character had:

Spell Power = 4090
Crit Percentage = 35.72%
Haste Rating= 862
Spirit = 774
Casting Delay = 400ms (Adjusted to 400ms on 3/14/2010 after in game testing was done during ICC 25 Bosses)

Stat weights as a unit of spell power

So here are my numbers all converted to Spell Power:

Gear Stat		Spell Power Equivalent	DPS	Comments
1 Spell Power	=	1.0000	1.4388	This value is guaranteed to be exactly right :)
1 Critical Strike Rating	=	0.9200	1.3237	CSD at 4.5%
1 Haste Rating	=	0.9005	1.2957	At 400ms interspell gaps (See Theory Crafting Details)
1 Intellect	=	0.2799	0.4027	Assumes a Kings Buff
1 Spirit	=	0.5787	0.8326	Assumes a Kings Buff
1 Hit Rating	=	-1.5135	-2.1776	See Spell Hit Worth

To evaluate gear you also need to convert a few other things to spell power. Using my software I calculated the value of several other important objects using the same base gear attributes. Here they are:

Bonuses	Spell Power Equivalent	Comments
T9-2set bonus alone	156.62
T9-4set bonus alone	69.03
T9-2 and 4 set bonuses together	228.32	57.08 per piece (4 pieces only)
T10-2set bonus alone	94.38
T10-4set bonus alone	291.62
T10-2 and 4 set bonuses together	384.60	96.15 per piece (4 pieces only).
T9-2 and T10-2 set bonuses together	253.91
Chaotic Skyflare Diamond*	148.41	99.51 if Blizz corrects it to match the tool tip

*NOTE: The Chaotic Skyflare Diamond provides 21 critical strike rating and 4.5% critical damage, not 3% as the tool tip states. The 3% crit damage bump is affected by Shadlow Power. This is also the case with classes containing similar talents (i.e. Mages). Try it yourself! The CSD 148.41 value above does not have anything subtracted from it to account for socketing purple gems as is typical on other web sites. Often with +7 socket bonuses, no sacrifice is necessary to meet the two blue requirement.

Choosing Gear

Ok, you've got all you need above, here is an example showing how to applying this data to two pieces of gear.

The Armbands of the Ashen Saint are worth (Int 58 * 0.2799) + (Spi 50 * 0.5787) + (Haste 50 * 0.9005) + 89 = 179.19
The Royal Moonshroud Bracers are worth (Int 58 * 0.2799) + (Spi 50 * 0.5787) + (Crit 42 * 0.9200) + 80 + 23 = 186.81
or
The Royal Moonshroud Bracers are worth (Int 58 * 0.2799) + (Spi 60 * 0.5787) + (Crit 42 * 0.9200) + 80 + 12 + 5 = 186.50

As you can see, the Royal Moonshroud Bracers provide more effective spell power when socketed with a Runed Cardinal Ruby (23 Spell Power) or Purified Dreadstone (12 Spell Power and 10 Spirit).

Let me follow up with an example involving Spell Hit. The first question I'll answer is "Do I need to be hit capped?" The answer is "hell no." That may surprise you, but basically as you gear towards the ideal, there are times when you will be able to gain enough DPS from a new gear piece to make up for missing the hit cap. The Spell Hit value above, (-1.4122) allows you to determine if you are making up for the misses. Look at the two pieces of gear below and follow my example to see what I mean.

In this example, in addition to calculating the value of both items above, we will assume that while wearing the Boots of the Crackling Flame, your character's total hit is 294 or 5 points over the hit cap. You know if you put on the Sandals, you will drop below the hit cap by 30 points. The question we will answer is "Should you?"

First the math on the two items:

Boots of the Crackling Flame are worth (Int 61 * 0.2799) + (Crit 51 * 0.9200) + 92 + 23 = 178.99
Sandals of the Grieving Soul are worth (Int 77 * 0.2799) + (Spi 51 * 0.5787) + (Crit 72 * 0.9200) + 109 + 23 = 249.31

Notice first, that the hit is not factored in at all for the boots. That is because Spell Hit does not add DPS, it prevents the loss of DPS. This point is key to properly analyzing the trade off. As I mentioned above, by putting on the Sandals you are now 30 points below the hit cap, how much in spell power is that costing you? Take 30 and multiply it by -1.5135 (value of Spell Hit in Spell Power). The result is -45.41 or the DPS loss (converted to Spell Power) for being 30 points below the hit cap is 45.41.

By putting on the Sandals you are gaining a raw 70.32 Spell Power, but are losing 45.41 for not being hit capped or a net gain of 24.91 effective Spell Power. In this case you will average more DPS by putting on the Sandals and missing from time to time, than remaining hit capped with the boots.

If the math just makes your head spin, go to my Equipment Comparison Tool. (Courtesy of Zorcerer)

Haste. Why it is worth less than critical strike

Calculating the value of haste during a tank and spank fight where you are perfectly cycling through your spell rotation is pretty straight forward, but that's not what happens in game. Many Shadow Priest players intuitively value critical strike rating a bit higher than haste - and they're right. Here's why.

The haste values calculated by SimulationCraft showing Haste on top are based on your ability to plant yourself in one spot and drill the target without interruption. In practice, that generally doesn't happen. In fact, their new Helter Skelter figures now confirm haste's "devaluing" as delays creep in. Although our numbers do not match exactly, as one one expect with slightly different assumptions and methodogies, their crit and haste values are now nearly equal. It's good to see them catching up on this topic. :)

Let me give you a contrived example to aid in explaining the data my software produced on the Theory Crafting Details page. Let's say against "Mr. Contrived Boss", you must move and can't cast but one spell every 10 seconds. The fight lasts 100 seconds, so you cast exactly 10 spells. Now, let's say I double your casting speed so that your casts go off twice as fast, but due to your need to move during most of the fight, you get only 10 spells off in 100 seconds. Yes, you cast them twice as fast, but what was the actual difference in damage done between the first slow cast fight and the second fast cast fight? Zero - obviously. In this case, Haste is worth nothing.

This extreme case doesn't happen in game either, but if you take this as one extreme and the perfect tank and spank value as the other, practical play lies somewhere in between. Every time you delay casting, the value of haste goes down slightly. The value above has been reduced slightly to account for practical play. If you want all the details about how this was done and other mathematical explanations go to Theory Crafting Details.

Ultimate Gear

This list shows the "best outfit" with the currently known ICC + Ruby Sanctum gear. Please provide feedback if you find a better item in game.