Stats Update

Stats simplification
What we were finding is that in many cases things had just become so complicated that players were not making intelligent decisions based on their knowledge of how various stats benefited them. That sounds like what you wanted to have happened, but it really wasn't. Instead players would pull up a BiS list, or plug the item into a spreadsheet. If the answer was "upgrade" they equipped the item. We could pretty much just give the items a name and art and make all the stats not displayed.

If you were one of those players who picked up a piece and understood how armor pen vs. attack power benefited you or whether defense was still worth collecting after you had hit crit immunity, then you were in the minority. Hopefully we can get back to a system where eyeballing an item's stats has some chance of being right.
(Source)
How exactly will choosing stats be hard in Cataclysm? If we analyze the new stat system (based on the information so far), we have:
  • MP5 removed, Spirit will be the regen stat for everyone.
  • Spell Power removed, Intellect will raise your damage/healing.
  • Attack Power removed. Leather/Mail armour will give Attack Power through Agility and Plate will give Attack Power through Strength.
  • Defense removed. Tanks will get it through talents, so they don't have to get 'capped' through gear.
  • Armor Penetration removed. It seems it's too hard "mathy".
  • Stamina: Players will notice more Stamina on gear as Defense, Spell Power, Attack Power and Armor Penetration are removed. 
  • Haste: Will also increase the rate at which you gain energy, runes, and focus. Retribution paladins and Enhancement shaman will have a talent that allows them to take advantage of this benefit.
With this, we have 5 main stats: Spirit, Intellect, Stamina, Strenght and Haste.

Can we think about this in a non-easy mode way, by any chance...? I mean, Warrior and Death Knight tanks will stack Stamina and Strength (and DKs will also stack Haste because of the quickest rune gaining); Paladin tanks will stack Stamina and Strenght (and Intellect? Not sure as I'm not into Pally tanks); Druid tanks will stack Stamina and Agility. Healers will stack Intellect, Spirit and Haste (considering Haste will stay the same for healers). As for DPS:
Rogues - Agility/Haste/(Stamina);
Hunters - Agility/Haste/(Stamina);
Mage - Intellect/Spirit(?)
...You see where I'm getting.

Am I missing something here, or is Blizzard intending to make those fewer stats much more complex than what was shown?

Note, I'm not whining on this post, I'm just looking at information and trying to understand it, based on what everyone knows so far. The ultimate difference between two players isn't their stats; it's skill. And Blizzard will never be able to change that. :)

Other than gear itself, the stat changes will also cause severe gem changes (and, therefore, Jewelcrafting changes). There's still not much to speculate on at the moment, because there was (close to) no information on this; we have to wait a bit longer.

Markco at Just My Two Copper made a good point 2 days ago, regarding these changes. He said that "Gems will either be destroyed or changed in some way".

I believe this change won't happen like the prismatic to coloured Dragon's Eye change, mainly because they wouldn't be able to change AP gems into Agility/Strength according to the player's will. These changes imply something bigger, something like destroying the gems themselves (removing them from the game), which means a demand boom for gems.

I'm 100% sure JC won't be negatively affected by these changes, and I'm confident that everyone will have to re-gem, meaning thousands of profit (some might be saying "Dream on!", but hey I'm a dreamer ^^). So, considering the information already given remains unchanged (ah, the usual gamble), it should be wise to start gathering Agility, Strength, Haste, Spirit and Intellect gems for that tiny little space in your bank tab named "For the not-so-far away future".

If you're too greedy to stockpile just yet, just wait for the Beta! ;) I'm making decent amounts of money from Jewelcrafting at the moment anyway! But hey, putting some gems "to the side" can't hurt, can it?
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3 comments:

  1. interesting point of view, however I'm pretty sure u forgot some stats that they won't be removing:
    Parry,Dodge,crit are the ones appearing in my head atm.

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  2. That's why I said "5 main stats". You see, Parry, Dodge, Crit and such are usually considered after the 'main' ones like Intellect for mana users, Attack Power for melee...etc

    Gear upgrades will be easier because you'll only have to look at a few stats. You won't need to balance stats as much as you currently do, because there will be close to class specific gear as I see it.

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  3. all plate wearing tanks are currently stacking stamina and strength as their primary stats with the various defensive stats coming in secondary (defense, dodge, parry, hit, expertise.) i don't see blizzard changing that method since they only have to come up with 2 gear sets instead of 5 or 6 based on everyone's different gearing needs - which is why they did it in the first place. my opinion as a tank: strength, stamina and secondary gems will get more value (in particular dodge, hit and expertise) unless they do something to change those as well that i haven't read about, which is entirely possible. i know i personally will need to replace quite a few gems that have some combination of defense +stat on them.

    (lavache)

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