Raid Loot Itemization: Why is it wrong?

#1 - Feb. 11, 2015, 9:24 p.m.

TL;DR Raiding in WoD doesn’t provide a feeling of progression because itemization is messed up.

Downing a boss and then using his loot to become more powerful so you can take down the next boss is fundamental to making players feel rewarded and that they are making progress through the end game. So why in the world is itemization so wrong in Highmaul? How could Blizzard have messed up this most basic of raiding principles?

Well let's look at itemization for the class I've chosen to play, Hunter, and see what went wrong. High Maul Normal Items are listed below, but Heroic and Mythic have more of the same kinds of stats.

Flechette-Riddled Chain (neck)
Item Level 655
Neck
+119 Agility
+178 Stamina
+86 Haste
+68 Versatility
Drop: Tectus

Reaver’s Nose Ring
Item Level 655
Neck
+119 Agility
+178 Stamina
+75 Critical Strike
+82 Haste
Drop: Ko’ragh

Crystalline Branch of the Brackenspore
Item Level 655
Ranged: Bow
795-1478 Damage
+211 Agility
+123 Mastery
Drop: Brackenspore

Cloak of Creeping Necrosis
Item Level 655
Back
52 Armor
+119 Agility
+178 Stamina
+88 Versatility
+64 Multistrike
Drop: Brackenspore

Magic-Breaker Cape
Item Level 655
Back
52 Armor
+119 Agility
+178 Stamina
+83 Critical Strike
+73 Haste
Drop: Bind on Equip Zone Drop

Grips of Vicious Mauling
Item Level 655
Hands
128 Armor
+158 Agility
+237 Stamina
+116 Critical Strike
+88 Haste
Drop: Kargath Bladefist

Treads of Sand and Blood
Item Level 655
Feet
141 Armor
+158 Agility
+237 Stamina
+120 Versatility
+80 Mastery
Drop: Kargath Bladefist

Hood of Dispassionate Execution
Item Level 655
Head
167 Armor
+211 Agility
+316 Stamina
+158 Haste
+110 Mastery
Drop: The Butcher

Living Mountain Shoulderguards
Item Level 655
Shoulders
154 Armor
+158 Agility
+237 Stamina
+118 Critical Strike
+85 Haste
Drop: Tectus

Moss-Woven Mailshirt
Item Level 655
Chest
205 Armor
+211 Agility
+316 Stamina
+153 Critical Strike
+120 Haste
Drop: Brackenspore

Bracers of the Crying Chorus
Item Level 655
Wrists
90 Armor
+119 Agility
+178 Stamina
+88 Critical Strike
+64 Haste
Drop: Phemos and Pol

Belt of Imminent Lies
Item Level 655
Waist
115 Armor
+158 Agility
+237 Stamina
+116 Critical Strike
+88 Haste
Drop: Phemos and Pol

Leggings of Broken Magic
Item Level 655
Legs
180 Armor
+211 Agility
+316 Stamina
+157 Critical Strike
+113 Multistrike
Drop: Ko’ragh

Face Kickers
Item Level 655
Feet
141 Armor
+158 Agility
+237 Stamina
+113 Critical Strike
+93 Multistrike
Drop: Bind on Equip Zone Drop

Belt of Inebriated Sorrows
Item Level 655
Waist
115 Armor
+158 Agility
+237 Stamina
+115 Critical Strike
+90 Mastery
Drop: Bind on Equip Zone Drop

Flenser’s Hookring
Item Level 655
Finger
+119 Agility
+178 Stamina
+86 Haste
+68 Mastery
Drop: The Butcher

Spell-Sink Signet
Item Level 655
Finger
+119 Agility
+178 Stamina
+70 Critical Strike
+85 Haste
Drop: Ko’ragh

Scales of Doom
Item Level 655
Trinket
+216 Agility
Equip: Your attacks have a chance to grant 1743 Multistrike for 10 sec. (Approximately 0.92 procs per minute)
Drop: The Butcher

Captive Micro-Aberration
Item Level 655
Trinket
+228 Agility
+134 Haste
+134 Mastery
Drop: Imperator Mar’gok

Only 4 out of 19 items have Multistrike, the most preferred secondary stat for Hunters. However, 11 out of 19 items have Critical Strike, which is the least preferred stat for Beastmaster, middle of the pack for Survival, and second preferred stat for Marksman until 43% Crit and then it drops to least preferred.

But Grund, you might say, the weightings are all about the same so therefore any increase in ilevel will result in a DPS increase! Well, that has not been my experience from DPS testing so far. I have found that in many cases it is actually preferable to use a lower ilevel piece of gear if you can trade Multistrike for Crit. Does that sound like progression to you?

My recommendation: Look at your stats and spec Marksman if Crit is your highest stat. I have found a +3000 DPS increase simply by switching from Beastmaster to Marksman for a 5 minute fight (the difference is even higher for fights lasting less than 5 minutes due to the way BM bursts using Bestial Wrath).

I haven’t done this analysis with other DPS classes but I suspect from what I’ve been hearing that Hunter is about the middle of the field, with some classes having worse itemization and some having better better itemization. But this begs the question: Why don’t all classes have good itemization?

Bashiok

Community Manager

#12 - Feb. 11, 2015, 9:43 p.m.

Itemization isn't necessarily a science of providing the absolute optimal stats at all times for your character, but usually as an art of creating a progression path throughout the game. In any case though once you've bested Highmaul you'll want to move on to Foundry, and to your point, progress by equipping new items and becoming more powerful.

Bashiok

Community Manager

#151 - Feb. 12, 2015, 8:14 p.m.

02/12/2015 10:47 AMPosted by Draclonis
02/11/2015 01:48 PMPosted by Fairaday
Also saving for when people say they need reforging for optimal stats.

Their original reason for removing Reforging was the fact that everyone was using it solely to maintain Hit and Expertise cap. with those two stats gone, I legitimately see no reason why Reforging cannot be brought back and used in the way it was originally designed for.

That was one part, but the bigger part was that it doesn't actually improve the game experience. There are still soft caps for some stats, but ultimately Reforging just didn't provide any engaging gameplay to get an item and then reforge it to whatever your best stat is based on a sim or recommendation from a website. That's not creating engaging gameplay. If the desire for Reforging is based on "I'd like to make my items better by picking the stats I want more." the simpler answer there, and the one that does create engaging gameplay and interaction with the game world and other players, is "Get better items."

Bashiok

Community Manager

#198 - Feb. 12, 2015, 9:58 p.m.

02/12/2015 01:38 PMPosted by Oin
my haste was still higher, and I was stuck with a crappy haste buff from food. I finally managed to fix that last week with a nice trinket drop that was loaded with mastery.

The moral of my story is two-fold: a) the food buff system needs to be revisited, so that people don't have to remove gear to get the buff they want (or not get it even if they do, as the case may be); and b) reforging needs to make its return, so that people don't get sad when they get new gear.

Why weren't you making/buying food with the specific buff you wanted? You don't have to eat feasts.

Anyway, there have been other sources of items than purely through drops, and other gearing sources are probably what you would have wanted to look at. But that all coalesces a bit back towards focused boss drops with the release of Foundry, which has larger drop tables and thus more items with a wider variety of stat focuses.