6.2 Bear Stat Priority

[FecalLord 0]

With the buff to savage defense, can we expect to see crit and/or haste being of more importance? Seems like having increased rage generation will be good to make sure there is always rage to spend on SD. Will versatility go down on the priority as a result? Or will FR giving us rage back for overheals negate that? 

[Tarazet 144]

It's a bit early to say exactly what the new stat weightings will be. I can point out that Critical Strike would still be our #1 stat, as it was throughout Mists of Pandaria, except that we no longer get a huge multiplier to Crit on our gear, so we simply don't get as much per point. Also, the armor increase from Bear Form is also getting buffed, so I can only see Bonus Armor becoming even more desirable compared with anything else.

[Shedim 13]

Hi FecalLord

 

In Guardian's current state (patch 6.1) we have plenty of rage, more than enough to make sure we never cap on Savage Defense charges. The buff to Savage Defense doesn't mean we're going to use it more often, as you should already be using it as much as possible. Therefore the changes won't affect how strong crit and haste is. 

 

However, the stat weights could change slightly for other reasons. Currently the class trinket in 6.2 has a similar effect to our mastery, which could mean mastery loses some of it's value. The 25% reduced damage on melee hits during Savage Defense (when not using Guardian of Elune) could also mean that mastery diminishes slightly in value. 

 

@Tarazet, if I understand you correct, you're saying that crit is currently our best stat? That is not the case at all. Crit is one of our weakest stats at the moment. You want to go all in on bonus armor and mastery for mitigation. Next comes versatility and multistrike, with multistrike being the best stat if you want increased dps or if you're dealing with hard hitting magic abilities.

 

Also, bonus armor and simply armor are two different things. The armor increase to bear form doesn't mean we will have more bonus armor. Armor is passively obtained on most pieces of gear, while bonus armor is found on necks, trinkets and rings.

Edited April 25, 2015 by Shedim

[Tarazet 144]

Critical Strike is indeed one of our weakest stats and I don't see that changing. If the increase in Rage production you get from Critical Strike outweighed the benefits from Bonus Armor, Mastery, Multistrike and Versatility, then we would still stack it, but it doesn't anymore - not without the old multiplier to Critical Strike gained from gear that we used to have in MoP and with the attractive benefits from the new stats and redesigned Mastery.

 

The main benefit to Critical Strike in MoP was that with an excess of Rage, you could keep your charges of SD rolling and still use FR and Maul as often as you liked, plus our DPS was excellent. It was great while it lasted, but at the same time, we were unbalanced as a class due to our inability to soak very large hits, which hurt us in encounters such as Heroic Dark Animus. Using stats that had benefits for passive mitigation, such as Stamina, Mastery or Dodge, always hurt your DPS. It's good that this is no longer the case and all secondary stats benefit both survival and damage capability.

[Shedim 13]

 

 

Critical Strike would still be our #1 stat

 

 

 

Critical Strike is indeed one of our weakest stats

 

I am getting a little confused here, are you trolling me? :)

[Tarazet 144]

I am getting a little confused here, are you trolling me?

Perhaps English is not your primary language and you don't know the precise meaning of the word "would." My point is that the way Critical Strike benefits us hasn't changed, but the amount we get per point from gear was vastly reduced in 6.0. That was when they removed the passive that multiplies Bear Form Crit and Haste - the name escapes me.

[Pinkis 12]

Perhaps English is not your primary language and you don't know the precise meaning of the word "would.

Sorry, but I'll intervene. English is not my primary language, but I know the meaning of the word "still". By saying "would still be #1" you're implying that it was #1 in the past, and will be #1 in the future.

My job here is done.

[Tarazet 144]

Sorry, but I'll intervene. English is not my primary language, but I know the meaning of the word "still". By saying "would still be #1" you're implying that it was #1 in the past, and will be #1 in the future.

My job here is done.

 

Please find this word in my post above and you should understand what you missed:

 

except