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  Give caster DPS a 4th stat in Cataclysm. |
11/16/09 12:09:46 AM
Patch 3.2.2a
Froogle |
As we all know by now, in Cataclysm,
there will be a gear revamp moving Spirit to exclusively-healer
oriented items. As well, Mastery will be introduced as a 3rd
universal stat (much like crit and haste) that gives you different
benefits depending on your talent point allocation.
However, this poses a difficulty for DPS casters. Already, we're
limited to 4 stats from which to choose between on gear: Hit, Crit,
Haste, and Spirit. Spellpower, int, and stam are on our gear in
relatively inflexible amounts, and the other 4 show up in varying
magnitudes, 2 at a time, on all of our gear. The problem is that
once we reach the hitcap (which is achievable with only 2-3 pieces
of gear in the current tier of content already), we can only choose
between 3 stats, and since spirit is generally inferior, caster
gear with Crit and Haste on it is nearly always a very good item
and desirable by everyone. That's simply how the gear works.
With spirit essentially being replaced by Mastery in Cataclysm,
we'll likely have the same woes: One of the 3 stats will be the
most inadequate, and gear with the other 2 stats will be very
highly sought after by every caster dps spec in the game.
Looking at melee, they have 5 additional DPS stats, consistent
between agi and strength classes: Hit, Crit, Haste, Expertise, and
ArPen. As such, there's more variety between the gear and getting
some balance between the stats is more important. Though I'm fairly
certain that at this point nobody actually likes balancing gear
around caps (hit or expertise) since every point above the cap is
just wasted itemization but it's the best stat below the cap, so
balancing it with every gear upgrade can be extremely aggravating.
However, I'm not offering a suggestion to fix that here, though I'm
sure it would be something myself and a lot of players would be
interested in.
What I'm suggesting is to give spell dps another secondary stat on
gear around which to balance. I don't know what it could be, or
what it could do, I just think it would be a good idea to have a
4th secondary stat so that it doesn't feel like there's such a
disparity between Best in Slot (has crit/haste and possibly more
sockets on it) gear and substandard gear (crit/spirit,
haste/spirit, hit/spirit, anything with hit over the cap).
Oh, and I'm saying this from a Shadow Priest perspective, BTW. I'm
not positive that every class works this way, and I know there are
some BiS pieces with spirit on them. I'm making generalizations
here.
(also, de-homogenize our gear from healers in some way besides
regen vs. hit because you not only get every dps caster but healers
too fighting over crit/haste gear)
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11/16/09 11:09:37 AM
Patch 3.2.2a
Ghostcrawler
<Lead Systems Designer> |
Q u o t e:
Unless I'm mistaken, the Cata gear stats will break down like
this:
Melee: Hit, Crit, Haste, Expertise, Mastery
Ranged: Hit, Crit, Haste, Mastery
Caster: Hit, Crit, Haste, Mastery
Healer: Spirit, Crit, Haste, Mastery
You are not mistaken. Everyone also gets stamina, armor, and their
primary stat (Str, Int or Agi). Resilience and Spell Pen will
continue to be PvP stats.
This is not set in stone either. Cataclysm isn't finished.
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11/16/09 12:22:04 PM
Patch 3.2.2a
Ghostcrawler
<Lead Systems Designer> |
Q u o t e:
The post you cited left out tanks, which have at least one more
stat: block rating, and possibly bonus armor above and beyond the
AC value derived by the item level and it's base type.
So we'll have 6 desirable stats to everyone else's 4 (assuming
dodge and parry rating cleanly replace crit and haste).
I'm curious to know what will be happening there, particularly
regarding block rating, which itself is a stat that only 2 of 3
plate tanks can use.
Tanks will also have block (but not block value), dodge, parry and
perhaps armor.
It isn't super important how many stats everyone has. Melee for
example need hit and expertise, but casters need more hit. It only
gets to be a problem if for example you can't piece together a set
that has all the stats you need in the amounts you want. Many tanks
for example will happily sacrifice hit and expertise for more armor
and stamina.
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11/16/09 12:23:36 PM
Patch 3.2.2a
Ghostcrawler
<Lead Systems Designer> |
Q u o t e:
So, I'm guessing the current plan is to get rid of the Spirit >
Other Stat talents completely?
It's too early to tell. It would be nice to get rid of them for say
mages and warlocks given that their gear generally won't have
Spirit. We can't get rid of conversion talents completely. For
example, Enhancement and Retribution will need some way to derive
spell power from attack power and need a way to get mana back
without Int or Spirit.
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