Unbearably HoT

As promised, I’ve gone through the 3.2 DPS Gear Spreadsheet and updated it with all the new Coliseum items, including the crafted Leatherworking pieces. You’ll also find that some of the numbers look a little different than before—that’s because some of the stat values changed. Remember:

• Please to brain. Although gear is first sorted by the number of sockets, the number of sockets do not necessarily guarantee the best piece of gear.
• Armor Penetration is currently the best stat to stack at higher gear levels, so long as you have at least 50% Critical Strike chance and approximately 230 ArP. Generally speaking, your goal is to pick up ~600 ArP via gear and gemming and then pair that with Grim Toll, Mjolnir Runestone or the Banner of Victory.
• Because ArP requires varying quantities to hit the soft-cap (based on what trinket you have, for example), the spreadsheet prioritizes AGI over ArP. ArP is still awesome, so make sure you’re paying attention to that column.
• There may be errors. If you find any (or have another suggestion), please shoot me an e-mail via my Contact page so that I can fix the spreadsheet as soon as possible.

In the near future, I’ll also be providing four different gearing options (with and without tier gear and/or heroic loot) which prioritize ArP without sacrificing the rest of your stats. I’m holding this up until I can make a proper suggestion for 3.2.2. as well. For now, here are a number of other posts from around the blogosphere detailing different takes on ArP in 3.2.2. Please note that I am not of the “Fuck it, gem AGI” camp.

• The Fluid Druid’s ArP FAQ Part 1 and 2. This has a very accurate depiction of how ArP performs at varying gear levels and is generally where I’m leaning.
• Vallen’s “3.2.2. ArP Nerf & You.“
• Kalon’s “Cat’s 3.2. Coliseum Loot Ranking.” No, it’s not really about ArP, but it’s a similar loot ranking list. Relevant, I swear.

This post is now outdated. For up-to-date information and better gear recommendations, please go HERE.

As promised, I have compiled an Ulduar loot list for all the hot cats out there. Note that this list only includes loot that’s new in 3.1 and that it’s entirely possible that more loot is yet to be discovered. If there are leather items you know have dropped and they haven’t been included, do me a favor and drop me a line so that I can add them to the spreadsheet. When considering what gear I chose as a top choice, remember:

 

• Agility and Armor Penetration are the “best” stats to stack as a Cat right now. This doesn’t mean that you won’t benefit from Critical Strike, STR, or Haste. 
• You will want your two-piece T7/7.5 and two-piece T8/8.5 bonuses.
• Best-in-slot means nothing if you’re not Hit or Expertise capped (or at least fucking close); choose the proper gear accordingly.
• In most cases, 25-man Ulduar gear will be better than 10. Sorry, kids.
• I’m not including pre 3.1 gear. There’s a good chance you’re already wearing some sweet stuff. Make sure you do your research before assuming something in Ulduar is 100 percent better.
• Where my idols at? For DPS, you’re still going to be alternating between the Idol of the Ravenous Beast (especially if you stack ArP) and Idol of Worship.
• Trinkets? Do yourself a favor and go get that Darkmoon Card: Greatness. Pair that up with something like Grim Toll or Bandit’s Insignia or the Mirror of Truth, and you’re good to go.

And without any other further ado, here’s my DPS gear shortlist! For a full rundown of gear and stats, please download my 3.1 Gear List Spreadsheet here. 

As I was checking in with my RSS feed and browsing MMO’s latest fodder, Karthis happily informed me that they’d updated their Ulduar gear list and added a pretty awesome DPS staff: Twisted Visage. Supposedly this drops off Megatron in Heroic Ulduar and offers very competitive stats when compared to the previous victor: Lotrafen, Spear of the Damned. 

In fact, for anyone who hasn’t gotten lucky with Dawnwalkers, Belt of the Tortured, Tunic of Indulgence, or Leggings of the Honored, Twisted Visage offers a superior Hit Rating solution. If you’re already over-budget on Hit%, start setting your sights on Lotrafen for the boosted Armor Penetration. These totally sweet weapons almost make up for the tragedy that’s our Tier 8 armor set. 

On a more personal note, my focus will likely swing more toward Feral DPS in the near future rather than tanking because it’s what I’m going to be doing exclusively for awhile. 

This update has been cross-posted to Big Hit Box, a melee DPS blog of epic proportions.

If you’ve at all been following the PTR updates via MMO-Champion, you’ll notice that they’ve started a “Raids & Dungeons Loot List.” Awesome! This is helpful for the slackers that haven’t yet been able to do PTR testing! According to MMO, we DPS Ferals currently have two new weapon choices in the forms of a 2H Mace and a Polearm: Ironsoul (10-man Iron Council) and Lotrafen, Spear of the Damned (Heroic General Vezax).  With weight already shifting back toward AGI as the stat-of-champions for kittens everywhere, Lotrafen immediately looks to be the sexier option, but here’s a quick comparison, just in case: 

I’ve eliminated any stats not pertinent to straight-up DPS, and I’ve boosted the flat Armor Penetration ratings by 25% as per the “everyone gets more benefit from Armor Penetration” in the PTR Patch Notes. I’ll correct these numbers later when I get exact data, but this gives you a slightly clearer picture. Purple highlights indicate the highest stats per slot. 

Ultimately, the clear winner is Lotrafen, Spear of the Damned by a long shot. Journey’s End, however, continues providing ample bang for your metaphorical buck, especially if you’re set on Hit Rating. Do yourself a favor and outroll all your Hunter “buddies” on that one; it’ll still be worth it for awhile.