It should also be said that gear with Hit Rating on it generally (key word there, generally) has a better spread of stats than gear that doesn't. Spending itemization points only on Str and Agi is going to result in overall lower amount of stats than if you were to spend the same itemization points on Str, Agi AND Hit. Swapping to gear that has Hit Rating on it will generally give you more overall stats, and result in a DPS increase.

I think the main impetus of this perceived "anti-Hit Rating" atmosphere is that early in TBC raiding, many Enhancement Shamans were using Hit Rating gems in gear whereas it's better to use straight Str or Str/Crit gems instead.

No one is saying stay away from Hit Rating as if it were the pox. Just that when you have a choice to put an 8 Str gem or an 8 Hit Rating gem, the Str one is the better option.

I don't know why AEP/EP equivalency systems are so frightening to people, I'm fairly poor at maths myself, and AEP/EP is just about one of the most intuitive ways to present information to such a dumbarse.

Anyway, my commiserations to all the Shamans in this thread, I read it off and on here and there (level 65 Enhancement Shaman alt), I can only begin to imagine the horror of finding posts like that every day.

I would run something like Demon for this.

No, from an ilevel standpoint, 3 agi = 3 crit rating = 3 hit rating = 3 haste rating = 6 ap = 3 str (assuming that the item starts with 0 stat points invested).

Is it time for Enhance Shaman: The Collected Works of Theorycraft, Vol II?

...195 pages of excellent info for us before getting a nice rework in 2.3. How about a fresh start Malan?

**EDITED**

Did some tests in BT using FT. I was an avid hoper that "theory" would be proven wrong. It was not. Tests in 25 man raid content showed FT as "viable" dps used on a fast OH weapon, however it was not superior to DW WF on 2 slow weapons.

As some backup test data for those interested in Blasted Lands as a base example:

16.15% hit / 35% Flurry haste / 5.76% spell crit was used across the board using Rising Tide MH with WF.

Merci Axe OH w/WF
2033 AP / 32.77% crit
White: 64%
WF: 35%
881.6dps in 6 min
320k dmg done

Umbral Shiv OH w/FT
2077 AP / 32.57% crit
White: 66%
WF: 21%
FT: 12%
844dps in 6 min
307k dmg done

As Disquette well pointed out, WF benefits more from +AP than FT does because our spell dmg is a % of that AP. IE. WF scales better with AP. The only way to scale FT better is with an inordinate amount of haste. I used 5% Flurry haste, not quite 5% true haste, to lend some of that credit to FT. Due to the haste nerf and itemization I have to retract all ideas and questions I made to FT being an equal or better alternative. RL testing proved true the theories in here from what I did in BT and from what a very simple test in BL backed up. Thanks for the previous work on this matter Disquette, Malan, and others.

I swapped over to Ele/Enhancement spec since I was intrigued by it from an earlier post. 16/45/0 I've been Enhance/Reso since I started my toon, so this is a 1st time change and test.

In BT tonight I found my total shock damage to be 17% of my total damage done using FT in my OH. In 2.2 with Resto side spec it was only 9% of my total damage done using WF in my OH.

I went to Blasted Lands and did a small test. I used a lil bit of human error, messing up GCD slightly here or there, to better simulate actual real %'s that would match my playstyle.

16.15% hit / 35% Flurry haste / 5.76% spell crit / 32.77% crit / 2033-2457AP (I should have taken off my relic/trinket due to procs)

White: 46%
WF: 30%
SS: 8%
ES: 8%
FS: 8%
1374.9dps
654k dmg done

16% of my damage done was Shocks versus a mob with no real resists to speak of. In a raid environment my Shock damage is a higher %. Probabaly a longer test result would have helped. Plus I will Shock even when out of melee range for whatever reason in actual game play. So 17% of my total damage with 16/45/0 spec appears to be Shock damage in 2.3

I don't plan on respec'ing - I like my -10% dmg from fire/frost/nat too much. Is there any shaman who is Resto side spec'd who can tell me what % they're getting who has similar gear? T5/T6 equiv mix.

Blasted lands mobs are no longer reliable for hit mechanisms, NG is quite useless against them due to level difference. Any test on them would give great advantage for elemental.

Well about the new patch changes:My guild did a SSC keying run from some new guys so i went there as 2/45/14 with NG.First of all i must say the new totem is very good! On every second shock it was up and sometimes even during continuous shocks.The mental quickness is now a great talent no doubt about that since my shocks cost now 181mana (\o/),and with the new shamanistic focus i shock spam every 6 seconds.Also noticed sme really nice damage form shocks like 2563 crit 2456 etc whcih is lol :P.The thing i couldnt go well with and wont ever go well with is the stupid,irritating,noobish,WINDFURY AND STORMSTRIKE DODGES!I almost NEVER miss and im low on the meter because of that issue...53453534543 dodges.Gief expertise -.- ..This doesnt mean i look only to dps since i first make sure that i fulfill my support role appropriately..If we get expertise then our dps will go skyhigh,we will hit all the time :P.

P.S. 34AP+16hit is better than 17str+116int and Malan does a damn good job with advice for all enhancement shamans out there..Keep up the good work!

Razzan

Blasted lands has not been a reliable mechanism for testing anything, since we were level 60 and only when we didn't want to test against circumstances that would come up in a 40-man raid. You can't value stats when you're fighting hit/crit factories and when AP is exaggerated due to level difference and lack of armor mitigation.

For instance, how are you going to model the 30% of AP that is now translated into spell damage, compared to AP that is translated into physical damage when you're not fighting a mob with the same armor, glancing and dodge of a raid boss? Shocks aren't mitigated by armor.

So logically AP now has more value than it did prior to 2.3 because it increases 2 types of damage. Plus, crit will have more value for longer fights where mana might become an issue, to keep up the 60% reduced mana cost. Of course crit will then have a different “ideal value” depending on if you have 5 or 6 second shocks. (Probably doesn’t matter if you twist though.)

After spending last night in the back half of BT, I can say without a doubt: This patch is awesome. If the only change we got was the Shamanistic rage -30% damage, I'd be a happy clam. In a trash situation, being able to become a fury warrior on demand makes for a much more aggressive play style and I love it. Taking damage off Veras's Deadly Poison, Shahraz's beams, Reliquary's auras, etc was lovely.

But, I think the biggest difference wasn't in any of our changes, but rather in the expertise change for tanks. I went from having to hold back significantly on council using the Vashj trinket to going full bore with shocks/haste pots etc and only hitting 90% of tank threat. Teron especially used to be bad for threat, but between new spirit weapons and expertise, I only came close during lust/haste/drums.

Here's Teron through Illidan +comedy DST lottery on Gruul. Shabadu - WWS

SR has clearly changed the game for us. Threat is a total non-factor and our dps got boosted (conveniently hidden from meters)

These are instances where I have been truly grateful about Shamanistic Rage.

EoS - P1 tanking. P3 with the seethe/ae spam is also so smooth now.
Gurtogg - if you get focused or hit by poison
Mother - Ports are completely harmless now.
L5 beams from council robot bastards.
Rogue focus, blizzard, flamestrike on council.

It is amazing. Shamanistic Rage has to be one of the top 2-3 PVE skills for any class in the entire game. But most importantly our mana burden is so low now that we can save SR to use it reactively.