Season 3 (s3) versus Tier 5 (t5) in PVEFollow

Here we go. Because I answered someones question about s1 and t4 gear with an answer to my own question about s3 and t5 comparisons totally ignoring the fact that their question was not mine so my answer was not theirs. Confusing? Hopefully this isn't and please please please feel free to add your analyses on all the holes I will leave.

This comparison will assume that you are going to use s3 for PVE so the gems I slot will be according. Also I have seen a lot of links with the sets and their bonuses but never side by side with the gems I figure most hunters would be using slotted. If these aren't your gems then you can redo this whole thing on your own time. I am doing this for myself, just posting it because it may help others. Red gems 8 agility. Yellow Gems 8 crit. Blue gems 4 agiliy and 6 stamina.
Gem bonuses noted in parentheses at top. Attack power also has agility added to it. Crit DOES NOT have agility factored in.


s3 Gloves versus t5 gloves

33 Agi vs. 34 Agi
52 Stam vs. 29 Stam
15 Int vs. 20 Int
19 crit vs. 0 crit
O hit vs. 19 hit
73 AP vs. 102 AP
5% dmg bonus on multi vs. 0%
21 Resi vs. 0 Resi

s3 Legs versus t5 Legs (8 Agility)

34 Agi vs. 48 Agi
64 Stam vs. 39 Stam
18 Int vs. 26 Int
25 crit vs. 2 crit
12 hit vs. 18 hit
94 AP vs. 140 AP
0 mp/5 vs. 7 mp/5
84 Armor Pen. vs. 0 Armor Pen
33 Resi vs. 0 Resi
0 Gems vs 1 Red Gem
0 socket bonus vs. 2 crit socket bonus

s3 Chest (16 Agility, 8 crit gems ) versus t5 Chest (16 crit, 4 agility and 6 stam gems)

43 Agi vs. 48 Agi
63 Stam vs. 46 Stam
21 Int vs. 19 Int
37 crit vs. 16 crit
12 hit vs. 19 hit
81 AP vs. 128 AP
0 mp/5 vs. 7 mp/5
84 Armor Pen. vs. 0 Armor Pen
21 Resi vs. 0 Resi
2 reds, 1 yellow gem vs. 2 yellows, 1 blue gem
4 crit socket bonus vs. 4 Agi socket bonus

s3 Helm (8 agility gem ) vs. t5 Helm (8 crit gem)

41 Agi vs. 40 Agi
61 Stam vs. 42 Stam
22 Int vs. 25 Int
22 crit vs. 8 crit
12 hit vs. 0 hit
99 AP vs 122 AP
0 mp/5 vs. 10 mp/5
84 Armor Pen. vs. 0 Armor Pen
26 Resi vs. 0 Resi
1 red, 1 meta vs. 1 yellow, 1 meta
4 rese socket bonus vs. 6 stam socket bonus

s3 Shoulders (8 agility, 8 crit) vs t5 Shoulders (16 Agility)

43 Agi vs 42 Agi
49 Stam vs 30 Stam
12 Int vs. 24 Int
16 crit vs. 0 crit
0 hit vs. 13 hit
73 AP vs. 84 AP
0 mp/5 vs. 0 mp/5
0 Armor Pen. vs. 0 Armor Pen
24 Resi vs. 0 Resi
1 red, 1 yellow gem vs. 2 red gem
3 resi socket bonus vs. 4 stam socket bonus


TOTALS:

194 Agi vs. 212 Agi
289 Stam vs. 186 Stam
88 Int vs. 114 Int
119 Crit vs. 26 Crit
36 Hit vs. 69 Hit
0 mp/5 vs. 24 mp/5
252 Armor Penetration vs. 0 Armor Penetration
125 Resi vs. 0 Resi
5% dmg bonus on multi vs. 0% dmg bonus on multi
4 red, 2 yellow + meta gem vs. 3 red, 3 yellow, 1 blue, + meta gem
7 resi, 4 crit socket bonus vs. 2 crit, 4 agi, 10 stam








Edited, Dec 12th 2007 12:59pm by ithikul

Ok sure the whole set is better for PVE, it's a PVE set. But I would swap out the PVE helm for the PVP anyday. It has more of what I need, which is Iwhy I compared all the rest as well. I will see all of these pieces but whether I will ever get to own one through the dkp system makes some pieces of s3 inevitable, so I have to make a choice.

Either way I would take the s3 helm over the t5 helm. The gauntlets are also arguably better.

I can make these calls because I am not nearly as mana dependent as MM hunter or SV hunters. The difference is we always have a SP in our party while raiding so Int and mp/5 is wasted.


Edited, Dec 11th 2007 7:01pm by ithikul

It probably also depends on what you're able to get. S3 may be more accessible than T5 for you, depending.

All BM hunters use a 1:1 shot rotation, but it's not necessarily Steady/Auto only. Some use a Multi + Arcane priority rotation with Steady when they're on cooldown because it's more dps. It also means that BM is almost as mana inefficient as Marks, moreso if the hunter has talented Imp. Hunter's Mark over Efficiency.

Kinda nice to see it all laid out, although I would have liked a "summary" part as well.



Doesn't S3 also have a boatload of crit, though? 119 vs 26, in a quick count. I'm not sure what PvE we're talking about here, but at least in Heroics I could see this as being good for DPS (forgive me, for I raid/instance not at all). Also, T5 only has 18 more agility than S3; not a huge difference, right?

And unless I missed my guess, I thought that what arena gear usually lacked was the +hit and mp/5 stuff that PvE gear had. That's the primary difference I'm seeing.

Not saying S3 is great for PvE; of course it isn't the best. But it does look decent overall, in my eyes.

I am BM and when my mana isn't an issue, such as trash, 5 mans, not long duration bosses or a shadow priest in group. I use 1:1 arcane/multi priority, which is often. I did comaprisons with just steady auto and I do quite a bit less dps with just auto/steady. So as long as mana isn't an issue and you have time to drink. Even on some long duration bosses I can somewhat afford arcane/multi since I chug Fel mana pots, when there is need for it. I also always use Hawk.

As far as clipping, I seem to have no problems with continuing 1:1 in almost all cases. I use macro but also switch to manual when needed, such as after adding arcane or multi, I do manual steady, then go on with macro.

Edited, Dec 12th 2007 4:12pm by Elustriel

T5 helm and chest are rare drops. Few guild farm Vash and Kael.

Most guild will farm all the other T5 gear in plenty while learning Vash and Kael for months on end. So if you plan on raiding and pvp go for those first.

if you can get it, t5 i better!

I recently filled out Cheeky's spreadsheet and found exactly how much more dmg potential Arcane Shot includes in your rotation. I also added a video card that nearly triples my framerate hopefully giving me a more exact picture of what is going on. The reason I mainly held to a Kill Command, Steady, Auto rotation is that the chance of clipping your Auto-Shot is virtually nil. All you have to do is spam one button, not hard.

Now seeing how much Arcane can add to my DPS, basically bringing me from three digits to four digits (am right on the cusp =). I will have to see if my natural latency (or bad timing) still clips my auto shots. Theoretically it shouldn't be more then a .5 second pause after my global cooldown is up before I spam steady again.

Using Arcane Shot does take a lot of mana though. If it does overcome the inflow of Mana from the group's Shadow Priest then more t5 gear is indeed what I will end up aquiring. I am still not sold on mp/5 though and try to avoid it all costs. With two rogue pieces still from Kara though my hit rating is way too high. Will need to replace those before I get more t5 or I will be way above the cap and wasting item stats.