The Best In Slot Concept

Many of you will know this term: Best in Slot (or BiS for short). It's the ultimate list of items that everyone wants to get, for which there are no better items (lesser substitutes are oft frowned upon). What does this term really mean, and is it that important?

Most times, Best in Slot lists are created as some hypothetical listing of items, ignoring progression, availability, and armour slots. There will be much argument as to what exact combination should be on this ultimate listing, and to accompany this there will be the endless "should I go with X or Y?" questions.

Generally, there will be a list of constraints to work around, but often these will be limited to two things: Set Bonuses and Magic Numbers. Sets are fairly self explanatory, although in some situations the set bonuses themselves are not exactly desirable. Magic numbers, on the other hand, covers the multiple hit caps (there's four different values for Elemental shaman) and other min/max stat requirements (eg: avoiding or getting certain crit or haste figures).

About the only way to actually define anything close to a best item list is to quantify the stats, and use these to compare individual items. Generally the way I do this is to generate two values, one that will include values to satisfy my Magic Number requirements, and one that does not. From there I can identify items which minimise the value difference between the two values to keep, and then once the requirements have been met I can ignore those in favour of items on the second list.

Currently on the Shaman forum there is talk about using Drape of Mortal Downfall, Frozen Loop and Conqueror's Worldbreaker Headpiece (that's the Resto helm). On the other hand, there could quite possibly be Pyrelight Circle, Pennant Cloak and Conqueror's Worldbreaker Helm (this is the Elemental one). Certainly the first set looks better, giving more hit so we get to the cap easier, and the helm looks like it's itemised slightly better.

The real trick is to look at it and figure out whether there is a difference between the two at all. Assuming that there is 81 hit left before the hit cap (draenei with moonkin/shadow priest debuffs) the first set takes us over the hit cap slightly with 87 hit, while the second leaves us 21 hit under the cap. For the quick of thinking, you've probably guessed that I'm going to be going for the second combination for a simple reason: I can gem up 21 hit easily (24 hit to be accurate) and get two yellow sockets matched for the socket bonuses very easily.

While there still may be a slight numerical "advantage" to the first set, there are a few extra bonuses to the second. Firstly, you don't need to take so many hit items from other casters, which will reduce item competition in those slots, and allowing you the flexibility of having the four piece bonus without requiring all of the other four items (especially since the helm is available on the conqueror badge vendor).

In the end thought, there isn't really any difference between the two setups. So why do people argue for a single "best in slot" set? It may be because many people focus on the minute differences between items & item combinations, using these as a basis for how they gear up. Other players will follow another route, understanding that there are other players in the raid that have similar gearing needs, which is why you will see a few Elementals using the some-what sub-par Earthshatter four piece bonus, as it lets the rest of the casters get their best cloth items first.

If there aren't any really definite best in slot lists possible, why is there a demand for them? The answer is quite simple, the average player doesn't want to think to hard about what he (or she) needs to do their job, they just want a simple shopping list of items to go on. Unfortunately, gearing around requirements is more of a puzzle than a clearly defined list, and when you master this "gearing puzzle", you'll be a better player because of it.