I can't seem to find anything existing in the forums which answers this question directly, so here goes.
I'm just about to hit 50 and so far, in terms of gear, I initially focussed on Int until I started finding spell damage gear, then I went for as much spell damage as I could.
I'm levelling Fire, cos I like the big crits (but my levelling spec, which most say should be frost, is not really the basis of this question).
The question is, should I be focussing on Int or Spell damage (or a combo of both - in which case how do I decide what the right balance is).
My fire damage atm is around 200 at level 48 ... my Mana pool is just short of 4000.
The main reason which prompted me looking for answers is that currently, alot of gear I can find for my level is a HUGE upgrade in the Int department, and almost nothing in the spell damage department, actually in some instances .. a large step backwards in spell (specifically fire) damage. However, if I want to stick with fire damage gear, I'm going to land up with some gear almost 15 levels old (some more) by the time I hit 50, which isn't too far away.
This led me to think that the reason there isn't that much spell damage gear which has int on it ... is because you're not meant to gear like that at that level.
For a bit of clarity .. all (well 90%) of my fire damage gear is the Cindercloth stuff ... I took up tailoring on the advice of Millions of people ;-)
Some of my guildies have even told me to dump the spell damage stuff, respec frost for levelling, and make sure I have the biggest mana pool possible, this will allow me maximum control and quicker levelling. I should then re-evaluate when approaching level 70 for the end-game, for which I would most certainly go (or respec back to) fire.
Thoughts, suggestions ... any and all are much appreciated.
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Int or Spell damage while levellingFollow
id say i really doesnt matter what route you take, at 57+ you can equipp outland gear and then alot of gear is +spellpower. the right way to go when you start to get the higher + numbers.
what i mean is, quests are so easy it really doesnt matter what gear you have, and leveling is so fast now that there isnt any need to try and make it faster.
hit 58 last night and replaced alot of my gear finaly, among others i finaly replaced my hypnotic blade :P
when it comes to speed i thing int vs power is about the same, just a diffrence in playstyle, power=faster killing + more drinking
int= less downtime + slower killing
my personal vote would be on spellpower tho since higher numbers are fun and and a faster kill might sometimes save your life :)
what i mean is, quests are so easy it really doesnt matter what gear you have, and leveling is so fast now that there isnt any need to try and make it faster.
hit 58 last night and replaced alot of my gear finaly, among others i finaly replaced my hypnotic blade :P
when it comes to speed i thing int vs power is about the same, just a diffrence in playstyle, power=faster killing + more drinking
int= less downtime + slower killing
my personal vote would be on spellpower tho since higher numbers are fun and and a faster kill might sometimes save your life :)
You know, in the old days, I would have said, without a doubt, Int/Stam/and a bit of Spirit until Outlands gear. But patch 2.3 has gone and ruined all my old notions. There is a lot of good gear with both stats and spell damage on it for leveling now.
Get the stuff with both good stats and good spell damage when you can, and just the stats when you can't.
Get the stuff with both good stats and good spell damage when you can, and just the stats when you can't.
I echo Poldaran.
I would have said Intellect and not even think about Spell Damage until 58+, but now that itemization is different, I'm not sure anymore.
Remember that at a broad perspective, stacking any one stat is less beneficial to you as a whole than to have less of more types of stats. That isn't to say that you should have each number equal, not at all- but there should be a golden ratio of stats that suit your exact spec and spell rotation.
If you don't understand what I mean, a very basic way of showing suddenly appeared to me while playing a Use Map Settings game in Starcraft, called Tank Defense (not very fun).
Each tank did 5 damage, plus 5 damage for every upgrade. Upgrades cost 20 minerals each time, and each new tank costs 10 minerals.
I started out with 6 tanks, meaning 30 damage total. I received 20 minerals at the end of the first round. I could buy 1 upgrade, meaning each of the 6 tanks would now do 10 damage instead of 5 damage. That would equal 60 damage total.
Or I could have bought two more tanks, meaning 8 tanks times 5 damage was 40 damage total.
Therefore, I chose to upgrade.
Second round over, I had 40 minerals won that round. I could get 2 upgrades or 4 tanks or 1 upgrade and 2 tanks.
2 upgrades: 6 tanks times 20 attack equals 120 damage.
4 tanks: 10 tanks times 10 attack each equals 100 damage.
1 up/2 tanks: 8 tanks times 15 attack equals 120 damage.
Well now, looky here. I struck something, I could choose either one. I went with the 2 upgrades anyway.
Third round over, 20 minerals won.
1 upgrade: 6 times 25 attack equals 150 damage.
2 tanks: 8 tanks times 20 attack equals 160 damage.
Well now- if I had stacked only upgrades on my tanks, then I would have done less total damage than if I choose to get more tanks. Therefore, I made a balance of stats -2 tanks to 5 damage- so that it would maximize damage, rather than just flat-out upgrading the tanks, or having loads of tanks with little damage. This basic example is comparable to Spell Damage versus Spell Crit Chance, but of course, there are many other factors like mana returns and effect procs to take into account.
Also, stats themselves are weaker, the more you have of them. If you have a 5% crit chance, getting 5% more crit chance doubles your chance to crit, really helpful. At 10% crit chance, getting 5% more increases your crit chance by 50%. At 15% crit chance, getting 5% more increases your crit chance by only 33%. At 20% crit chance, getting 5% more increases your crit chance by only 25%. 25% -> 30% = 20% increase.
Lastly, itemization formulas involve exponents when calculating how much of a stat is to be put on a single item. If you get a helmet of Intellect, and a tunic of Strength, you would get less total stats (in numbers) than if you were to have a helmet of the Gorilla and a tunic of the Gorilla.
I would have said Intellect and not even think about Spell Damage until 58+, but now that itemization is different, I'm not sure anymore.
Remember that at a broad perspective, stacking any one stat is less beneficial to you as a whole than to have less of more types of stats. That isn't to say that you should have each number equal, not at all- but there should be a golden ratio of stats that suit your exact spec and spell rotation.
If you don't understand what I mean, a very basic way of showing suddenly appeared to me while playing a Use Map Settings game in Starcraft, called Tank Defense (not very fun).
Each tank did 5 damage, plus 5 damage for every upgrade. Upgrades cost 20 minerals each time, and each new tank costs 10 minerals.
I started out with 6 tanks, meaning 30 damage total. I received 20 minerals at the end of the first round. I could buy 1 upgrade, meaning each of the 6 tanks would now do 10 damage instead of 5 damage. That would equal 60 damage total.
Or I could have bought two more tanks, meaning 8 tanks times 5 damage was 40 damage total.
Therefore, I chose to upgrade.
Second round over, I had 40 minerals won that round. I could get 2 upgrades or 4 tanks or 1 upgrade and 2 tanks.
2 upgrades: 6 tanks times 20 attack equals 120 damage.
4 tanks: 10 tanks times 10 attack each equals 100 damage.
1 up/2 tanks: 8 tanks times 15 attack equals 120 damage.
Well now, looky here. I struck something, I could choose either one. I went with the 2 upgrades anyway.
Third round over, 20 minerals won.
1 upgrade: 6 times 25 attack equals 150 damage.
2 tanks: 8 tanks times 20 attack equals 160 damage.
Well now- if I had stacked only upgrades on my tanks, then I would have done less total damage than if I choose to get more tanks. Therefore, I made a balance of stats -2 tanks to 5 damage- so that it would maximize damage, rather than just flat-out upgrading the tanks, or having loads of tanks with little damage. This basic example is comparable to Spell Damage versus Spell Crit Chance, but of course, there are many other factors like mana returns and effect procs to take into account.
Also, stats themselves are weaker, the more you have of them. If you have a 5% crit chance, getting 5% more crit chance doubles your chance to crit, really helpful. At 10% crit chance, getting 5% more increases your crit chance by 50%. At 15% crit chance, getting 5% more increases your crit chance by only 33%. At 20% crit chance, getting 5% more increases your crit chance by only 25%. 25% -> 30% = 20% increase.
Lastly, itemization formulas involve exponents when calculating how much of a stat is to be put on a single item. If you get a helmet of Intellect, and a tunic of Strength, you would get less total stats (in numbers) than if you were to have a helmet of the Gorilla and a tunic of the Gorilla.
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