Until any solid numbers are produced after the expansion goes live it is hard to say which one is best. This exact same debate pops up every time an expansion comes out (from what I remember) and usually it results in Blizzard stepping in and making sure WF\FT is the best, or having pre-emptively made sure it was better. When WotLK first went live a lot of people swore FT\FT with a Caster MH was the best but the damage meters always seemed to say otherwise (top dps records were always players using Slow\Fast WF\FT).

As Rouncer has said many times, wait for actual data before you make or accept claims.

I have been thinking recently that even though mastery as a passive stat on gear may be bad, it could be very powerful in the form of a cooldown. For example, the trinket Mark of Khardros has a 285 strength passive, and an on use of 1425 mastery with a 15 second duration and 1 minute 30 second cooldown.

That could end up being very powerful when used with deathwish. Though I will have to wait till 85 to do a real test.

I'm pretty sure they combat EP values are hardcoded (they were the last time I looked). To get assassination EP values you will have to type them in yourself. I suspect that auto-switching EP values is something that will be implemented later.

Having previously eliminated Slam from my rotation in 4.01, except during Deadly Calm, it seems to me like it's back to being prioritised over Heroic Strike in 4.03a.

After some (admittedly brief) tests on a level 80 dummy, HS was averaging around 6000 damage per hit while Slam came in just behind at around 5400 damage per hit. When you take into account the rage difference now (30 for HS and down to 15 for Slam) this gave me around 200 damage per point of rage for HS while Slam was well ahead at over 350 damage per point of rage.

Basically it seems to be working as Blizz intended again - i.e. Slam is the filler and HS is used when you get close to a full rage bar (and following an Incite proc for a guarenteed crit).

As an aside I'm slightly confused that the recent nerfs / lvl 85 balancing don't seem to have hurt my dps much, if at all, when comparing to my damage in the previous patch

Anyone finding anything similar or contradictory on either the Slam or dps front?

i have read through this post, and i must preface this w/ the fact that i am in no way nearly as intelligent as most of you folks, in the depths of the game that you all divulge into. and thats in no way a knock, its a warning to bare w/ me i play an undead lock, and im a dps whore. i want to kill kill kill. currently i feel im drastically underachieving. my good friend helps me through the game, as im not much of a numbers and this and that guy, all the depth of the game just confuses me and quite frankly, im ADD so i just dont pay attention long enough to soak it in. so in the best way possible, for some one like mw to understand, i come here to ask for your mercy, and help. lol.

my lock, destro build, who is only lvl80 as of just before halloween, due to my 3 year break starting prior to rotlk, is getting the gear, but not in icc yet. (my guid really is a group of lax casuals and raiding doesnt matter to them.) any how, iv capped out my hit, and im well over it now... iv switched out my hit gems, and i think iv made a huge mistake. iv replaced them w/ haste gems, per my friends recommendations. hes never steered me wrong before in game, and infact pointed me to this very post. in talking w/ some random lock in game, he told me i had it all wrong. said i need to worry about int, mastery and crit... and not to waste my time on our pastern(my friends and i's) which i understood to be in order of priority, hit - haste - int. now i can link my armory... i still have gear to replace, but whats the point w/ the new content coming out next week? i just want to start getting my self in the right understanding. my tree is built exactly to the t of this post. my cast sequence also, to the t. im not sure i understand the macro stuff, thats all japanese to me. but im concerned w/ where im spending my gem points and stats... mold me, craft me, help me. on a good day im happy to touch 7k dps... but im pissed when mages and druids are doing 10 to 12k... and this is just in heroics. help me to be all that i can be! please!

linked below is my armory, in which you can see my stats as well.

The World of Warcraft Armory - Hxcdoomsayer @ Velen - Profile

I have a small question.

For the Horde, Orc or Gobelin ?

AP + Exp or 1% Haste ?

Looks like the OP Glyph of Pestilence is actually pointing to Glyph of Resilient Grip - Item - World of Warcraft.

Also, thank you so much for compiling all of this. Much appreciated as always.

To be honest, leatherworking is going to be the most beneficial for a casual player as it provides you with a large quantity of good gear that you can obtain yourself. However, to get the full benefit of this while questing, you would either a) level up skinning and collect mats while you quest, then drop and pick up leatherworking, or b) drop mining and pick up leather working. That being said, there are some beneficial items for rogues using engineering. I would suggest researching the new crafting recipes listed on wowhead and decide for yourself which profession seems the most fun and useful to you.

This info. is very out dated and should likely be removed.

Engineering can provide some fun for casual use. I would recommend researching your professions choices over at wowhead.com to learn about what may be more beneficial to you and your play style.

Pretty simple question, what should dodge be at for 80 tanking?