Originally Posted by MessiQ
Mastery is still important but with the changes it is no longer the MOST useful stat to go for over everythign else. What the OP means is that if you choose to stack mastery or choose to stack Haste or choose to go for hit/Exp then the actual damage numbers beign produced are not actually that much different meaning that it isn't just a case of stacking mastery and neglecting everything else.
The main difference between now and 4.2 is the emphasis being placed onto direct damage, and while our Bleeds will still do a large portion of our overall damage, our direct damage abilities will account for much more than they do right now, meanign misses hurt our dps more than they do currently and more haste means faster energy regen and therefore more energy available for more direct attacks sooner. Therefore hit/exp and haste become more important than they are right now and you gain less advantage per point from stacking extra mastery than you do now. Much of our damage is directly tied to our weapon damage, meaning that other stats are not as important (i.e. less damage increase per stat point than other classes get) and if you struggle to get hold of an adequate weapon then your dps will suffer more than any other class (save for a hunter getting a gun/bow upgrade) so we're being forced into using PvP weapons if they are an upgrade which I personally dont agree with.
Hope that helps...
One thing I am confused about is the benefit of the Agility weapon enchant as opposed to the direct dps output from Avalanche. I've seen some talk of Avalanche being the better dps boost over the Agility enchant (although I have the agility enchant to help my dodge for tanking - i've only got one Malevolence). Some clarification if this is correct would be appreciated.
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I always thought mastery was a bit overrated anyway. Most fights require a lot of movement for melee dps, other than low level fights such as Tol Barad dailies. And even in low level fights, I have never been able to stay behind my target more than a small percentage of the fight. So I have never completely ignored hit or expertise. Missing hits is frustrating, even with the reduced amount of energy cost.
That said, I can't afford to play like a rogue, putting all my bonus stats in hit, crit and exp. I'm pretty sure that cats rely on bleed damage more than anyone else, as rogues rely a lot on poison instead for their dots.
So, once again, we see that druids are a smooth curve class on the damage graph and our main goal should be to make the overall height of the curve greater. Meaning, for me, that green and purple gems with combination stats, such as agility and mastery, work pretty well.
06/27/11, 3:02 AM
