Back on tuesday MMO-Champion released the new totem slot items that will be available in 3.3, along with the Death Knight, Paladin and Druid equivalents. It has become commonplace to release a new totem for each spec every major patch for Blizzard since Wrath's release.
The new totem, which as I write this appears to still be unnamed, was initially announced to have the following attribute:
Your Earth Shock, Flame Shock, and Frost Shock spells grant 73 critical strike rating for 15 sec. Stacks up to 3 times.
This was jumped on quickly by the online community, due to the fact that as it stood it was going to be near useless for us and overshadowed by the previously released totems of WotLK. A thread was soon put up on the Damage Dealing forums and, to my surprise, got a very quick response from Ghostcrawler who stated it would be haste rather than crit and the time would be extended to 30 seconds.
This changes things quite a bit. It took it from being awful to being slightly better than our current best in slot, the Totem of Electrifying Wind. We will have an almost constant 219 haste, although the stacking time will factor in slightly. It may become habitual (depending if there is an internal cooldown) to spam a couple of extra shocks on cooldown at the start of bossfights to build up your stack. The 30 second timer is a nice addition as well in that it gives us a little more lenience in movement intensive fights that is currently given by Electrifying Wind. Overall it looks to be the new BiS, but not by much. Like a deluxe version of what we are already using; few more bells and whistles but essentially the same thing.
The other change that has sprung up was the reduction in cooldown on our Reincarnate spell. It currently stands at 60 minutes, although it can be talented to reduce by 20 minutes via the Resto tree which we don't spec into. The PTR patch notes showed it being reduced to 50 minutes, and GC came out saying they are considering dropping this to 30 instead. This is to keep it fair with the buffs to other 'back from the dead' abilities like Druid's Rebirth and Warlock's Soul Stones, which had their cooldowns halved also. I will update on this once it is confirmed but I expect this to be the case.
Due to a hectic week I didn't get the ToC 10 Gear Guide out but I will be working on it every chance I get. The 25 man version should follow shortly thereafter.
-Puut
Showing posts with label Crit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crit. Show all posts
Friday, 16 October 2009
Friday, 4 September 2009
Gemming Guide
My first resource that I have posted in a while. This was originally intended to be posted some time ago but I figured I should wait until the release of 3.2, and consequently epic gems, so I wouldn't have to rewrite it to cover the new content.
A good place to start I feel is to give a layman's overview of gemming and jewelcrafting in general. Jewelcrafting was the new profession added with The Burning Crusade expansion (similar to Inscription in Wrath); a new profession that was widely considered the single best profession at the time. Not much has changed in fact: after numerous nerfs (including in 3.2) it is still extremely valuable for the bonuses it gives as well as the fact that it can be extremely lucrative in regards to making money off of it. Gems can be of 3 pure color types (Red, Blue and Yellow) and 3 hybrid color types (Purple, Green and Orange). The pure types offer benefits to a single stat, whereas the hybrids offer lesser benefits from the two color classes they draw from (eg: Orange, a mix of Yellow and Red, will provide a combination of the benefits from both a Red and a Yellow gem). Gems are installed in 'sockets' in gear, which also have a color designation of either Red, Blue and Yellow. Most sockets provide a 'socket bonus', a benefit you will receive for matching the gem and socket colors. For example, inserting a Blue gem in the commonly used [Wyrmrest Necklace of Power] would benefit you with the +5 Spell Power socket bonus, which a Red or Yellow gem would not provide.
I get asked about gemming quite a bit, which is surprising for me. Gemming is a relatively simple process for casters in general and we are no exception. Stacking our most valuable stat, Spell Power, is what the whole gemming process comes down to. For this, the [Runed Cardinal Ruby] is optimal; a Red, purely Spell Power based gem. Most of your gear should be studded with these if you are a serious raiding elemental shaman.
The other key consideration is our Meta socket. These sockets are located in head pieces. All tiers sets now have Meta sockets in their head slots as well as most epic quality level 80 head pieces. For us, the best Meta gem is the [Chaotic Skyflare Diamond] (there is no epic quality meta gems as yet, even going back to TBC-era). People have questioned this, as the [Ember Skyflare Diamond]'s +25 Spell Power would subscribe more to our theory of SP stacking. However, the bonus to Critical Strike damage is far, far more beneficial than the +2% Intellect as we should never be mana-starved and in need of the additional intellect. Additionally, the crit damage is a huge factor as we should be critting upwards of 35% of the time in a raid situation. 3% Increase to 35% (or, in most cases, more) of our damage simply trumps the benefits offered by the Spell Power over the Critical Strike Rating.
The issue with this conclusion is that the Chaotic Skyflare requires 2 Blue gems to 'activate' (i.e.: to provide its benefits). This doesn't support our stacking the Red SP gems, so we unfortunately have to go against our policy and add a couple of Blues in the most optimal fashion we can. The Blue gem you choose to use is fairly open. Luckily, the hybrid color gems that feature Blue traits (i.e.: Green and Purple) also work to activate the Meta so we can at least get some Spell Power benefit from these less optimal gems. The general consensus is to go with SP/Stamina combination gems, [Glowing Dreadstone] would be the best option here. However, I have seen good elementals elect for SP/Spell Penetration ([Mysterious Dreadstone]) or SP/mp5 ([Royal Dreadstone]) also. Basically, as long as it is has Spell Power it is reasonable and we accept that there will be little to no benefit gained from the gem's other stat.
A factor I see many shaman failing to recognize is the placement of the Blue gems. Most accept that these B-grade gems have to be there so they slap them in the first two places they see. If you search for a place where it can be used to also activate a socket bonus (either by itself or teamed with one of our Red gems) it gives at least slightly more benefit then it would otherwise. For example, my two Blue Gems are in my t8.5 [Conqueror's Worldbreaker Headpiece] and my [Lightning Grounded Boots]. This way, I integrate the gems in and can still activate their two socket bonuses giving an additional +16 Spell Power. Being aware of small opportunities such as this do add up in the long run and help you get the absolute most out of your DPS ability. Keep your eyes open for things like this in all facets of your gear orchestration; do not completely ignore socket bonuses.
I hope this has made the topic of gemming a little easier for you all to wrap your head around. Best of luck, and happy hunting.
-Puut
A good place to start I feel is to give a layman's overview of gemming and jewelcrafting in general. Jewelcrafting was the new profession added with The Burning Crusade expansion (similar to Inscription in Wrath); a new profession that was widely considered the single best profession at the time. Not much has changed in fact: after numerous nerfs (including in 3.2) it is still extremely valuable for the bonuses it gives as well as the fact that it can be extremely lucrative in regards to making money off of it. Gems can be of 3 pure color types (Red, Blue and Yellow) and 3 hybrid color types (Purple, Green and Orange). The pure types offer benefits to a single stat, whereas the hybrids offer lesser benefits from the two color classes they draw from (eg: Orange, a mix of Yellow and Red, will provide a combination of the benefits from both a Red and a Yellow gem). Gems are installed in 'sockets' in gear, which also have a color designation of either Red, Blue and Yellow. Most sockets provide a 'socket bonus', a benefit you will receive for matching the gem and socket colors. For example, inserting a Blue gem in the commonly used [Wyrmrest Necklace of Power] would benefit you with the +5 Spell Power socket bonus, which a Red or Yellow gem would not provide.
I get asked about gemming quite a bit, which is surprising for me. Gemming is a relatively simple process for casters in general and we are no exception. Stacking our most valuable stat, Spell Power, is what the whole gemming process comes down to. For this, the [Runed Cardinal Ruby] is optimal; a Red, purely Spell Power based gem. Most of your gear should be studded with these if you are a serious raiding elemental shaman.
The other key consideration is our Meta socket. These sockets are located in head pieces. All tiers sets now have Meta sockets in their head slots as well as most epic quality level 80 head pieces. For us, the best Meta gem is the [Chaotic Skyflare Diamond] (there is no epic quality meta gems as yet, even going back to TBC-era). People have questioned this, as the [Ember Skyflare Diamond]'s +25 Spell Power would subscribe more to our theory of SP stacking. However, the bonus to Critical Strike damage is far, far more beneficial than the +2% Intellect as we should never be mana-starved and in need of the additional intellect. Additionally, the crit damage is a huge factor as we should be critting upwards of 35% of the time in a raid situation. 3% Increase to 35% (or, in most cases, more) of our damage simply trumps the benefits offered by the Spell Power over the Critical Strike Rating.
The issue with this conclusion is that the Chaotic Skyflare requires 2 Blue gems to 'activate' (i.e.: to provide its benefits). This doesn't support our stacking the Red SP gems, so we unfortunately have to go against our policy and add a couple of Blues in the most optimal fashion we can. The Blue gem you choose to use is fairly open. Luckily, the hybrid color gems that feature Blue traits (i.e.: Green and Purple) also work to activate the Meta so we can at least get some Spell Power benefit from these less optimal gems. The general consensus is to go with SP/Stamina combination gems, [Glowing Dreadstone] would be the best option here. However, I have seen good elementals elect for SP/Spell Penetration ([Mysterious Dreadstone]) or SP/mp5 ([Royal Dreadstone]) also. Basically, as long as it is has Spell Power it is reasonable and we accept that there will be little to no benefit gained from the gem's other stat.
A factor I see many shaman failing to recognize is the placement of the Blue gems. Most accept that these B-grade gems have to be there so they slap them in the first two places they see. If you search for a place where it can be used to also activate a socket bonus (either by itself or teamed with one of our Red gems) it gives at least slightly more benefit then it would otherwise. For example, my two Blue Gems are in my t8.5 [Conqueror's Worldbreaker Headpiece] and my [Lightning Grounded Boots]. This way, I integrate the gems in and can still activate their two socket bonuses giving an additional +16 Spell Power. Being aware of small opportunities such as this do add up in the long run and help you get the absolute most out of your DPS ability. Keep your eyes open for things like this in all facets of your gear orchestration; do not completely ignore socket bonuses.
I hope this has made the topic of gemming a little easier for you all to wrap your head around. Best of luck, and happy hunting.
-Puut
Thursday, 7 May 2009
Understanding Stats
Elemental Shaman are casters. We cast spells that do damage to the enemy: Lightning Bolts and Lava Bursts and alike. It is the most important thing for us to make these spells as powerful as they can be and we achieve this by stats. All the gear you wear contributes to your stats.
The two tabs most that contain all the stats and numbers I am referring to are located under the Base Stats and Spell tabs on your armory page and in-game on your gear page.
Base Stats:
The majority of the gear we wear will have Armor, Stamina and Intellect and to a lesser extent Spirit. Armor and Stamina is not of much concern to us as they only affect how much of a beating we can take. In PvE we should not be tanking (shammy-tanking may be talked about later down the road but don't hold your breath) or taking much direct damage at all, so never aim to increase these stats. If you gear yourself reasonably these will always be at a healthy level.
Intellect (Int) is the only base stat that will directly affect your damage output. Firstly, and most importantly, Intellect will determine your mana pool. Mana is used to cast your spells and as such more mana = more spell casts available before you need to refresh. Every point of Intellect = 15 mana. Intellect also affects some of your spell stats: 1 Int = 0.00602% Crit Chance, or in a more user friendly form 166 Int = 1% Crit. Intellect also boosts your Mana Regeneration. Mana Regen. is commonly referred to as mp5 (Mana regenerated every 5 seconds), and is not really useful for us elementals as we generally have plenty of mana due to various abilities and features of our talent trees that provide us with abundant amounts of mana.
Finally, Spirit is sometimes attached to gear we will use. Spirit increases health and mana regeneration rates. This stat is awful for us in that, unlike almost every other caster class, we have absolutely no benefit from spirit. It should be avoided wherever possible; If you are wearing any gear with this keep your eyes peeled for comparable gear without this wasted stat as there is usually a better alternative out there.
Spell Stats:
Increasingly with top-end gear there will be 'green stats' or 'equip bonuses' on your gear (found under the base stats and all that other junk, preceded with the word Equip:). These will directly affect your spell stats.
Bonus Damage is the key stat that increases the amount of damage every spell does when it hits an enemy. It will be listed as spell power on your gear (ie. Equip: Increases spell power by x). This is a hugely important stat for us! As you become increasingly geared and we get to gemming and enchanting we will aim to increase this stat as much as possible. This spell power stat also increases your bonus healing which increases the amount every heal does, but this is only important for restos.
Hit Rating is the chance you will hit your target when you cast a spell. We can 'cap' this stat, meaning we have a 100% chance to hit our target. I will talk about this stat in the coming posts as I need a whole post to explain the calculations. Until we are capped this is by far our most important stat.
Crit chance, mentioned briefly earlier, is the chance we will deliver a critically damaging strike to our target. Critical Strikes (or simply 'crits') deal 150% damage. This stat is valuable to us as inherent talents in our tree make crits help conserve mana, and the bonus damage is pretty nice too!
Finally, haste rating increases the speed at which we can cast our spells. More spells = more damage, so this is pretty valuable to us. Back in the Burning Crusade expansion lots of top end elementals would stack this stat, although it is now not as beneficial.
So, in summary:
This concludes my basic overview of the stats you will see in your various elemental gear. These numbers will be used repeatedly in this blog as they control how good we can be.
For further info about these stats, check out WoWWiki (link in sidebar). They are a great resource for understanding all these numbers.
-Puut
The two tabs most that contain all the stats and numbers I am referring to are located under the Base Stats and Spell tabs on your armory page and in-game on your gear page.
Base Stats:
The majority of the gear we wear will have Armor, Stamina and Intellect and to a lesser extent Spirit. Armor and Stamina is not of much concern to us as they only affect how much of a beating we can take. In PvE we should not be tanking (shammy-tanking may be talked about later down the road but don't hold your breath) or taking much direct damage at all, so never aim to increase these stats. If you gear yourself reasonably these will always be at a healthy level.
Intellect (Int) is the only base stat that will directly affect your damage output. Firstly, and most importantly, Intellect will determine your mana pool. Mana is used to cast your spells and as such more mana = more spell casts available before you need to refresh. Every point of Intellect = 15 mana. Intellect also affects some of your spell stats: 1 Int = 0.00602% Crit Chance, or in a more user friendly form 166 Int = 1% Crit. Intellect also boosts your Mana Regeneration. Mana Regen. is commonly referred to as mp5 (Mana regenerated every 5 seconds), and is not really useful for us elementals as we generally have plenty of mana due to various abilities and features of our talent trees that provide us with abundant amounts of mana.
Finally, Spirit is sometimes attached to gear we will use. Spirit increases health and mana regeneration rates. This stat is awful for us in that, unlike almost every other caster class, we have absolutely no benefit from spirit. It should be avoided wherever possible; If you are wearing any gear with this keep your eyes peeled for comparable gear without this wasted stat as there is usually a better alternative out there.
Spell Stats:
Increasingly with top-end gear there will be 'green stats' or 'equip bonuses' on your gear (found under the base stats and all that other junk, preceded with the word Equip:). These will directly affect your spell stats.
Bonus Damage is the key stat that increases the amount of damage every spell does when it hits an enemy. It will be listed as spell power on your gear (ie. Equip: Increases spell power by x). This is a hugely important stat for us! As you become increasingly geared and we get to gemming and enchanting we will aim to increase this stat as much as possible. This spell power stat also increases your bonus healing which increases the amount every heal does, but this is only important for restos.
Hit Rating is the chance you will hit your target when you cast a spell. We can 'cap' this stat, meaning we have a 100% chance to hit our target. I will talk about this stat in the coming posts as I need a whole post to explain the calculations. Until we are capped this is by far our most important stat.
Crit chance, mentioned briefly earlier, is the chance we will deliver a critically damaging strike to our target. Critical Strikes (or simply 'crits') deal 150% damage. This stat is valuable to us as inherent talents in our tree make crits help conserve mana, and the bonus damage is pretty nice too!
Finally, haste rating increases the speed at which we can cast our spells. More spells = more damage, so this is pretty valuable to us. Back in the Burning Crusade expansion lots of top end elementals would stack this stat, although it is now not as beneficial.
So, in summary:
- Armor and Stamina increase survivability.
- Intellect increases mana pool; mp5 and crit to an extent.
- Spirit is bad!
- Spell power increases bonus damage, meaning more damage with every hit.
- Hit increases chance our spell will hit their target.
- Crit increases the chance we deal a critical strike.
- Haste increases the speed of our spell casting.
This concludes my basic overview of the stats you will see in your various elemental gear. These numbers will be used repeatedly in this blog as they control how good we can be.
For further info about these stats, check out WoWWiki (link in sidebar). They are a great resource for understanding all these numbers.
-Puut
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