Enchanting for DPS Classes

by on Feb 10, 2011

<p>Figuring out enchanting is always kind of a pain when a new expansion comes out. Common sense gets thrown out the window as classes change and familiar enchants are replaced with new ones.

Figuring out enchanting is always kind of a pain when a new expansion comes out. Common sense gets thrown out the window as classes change and familiar enchants are replaced with new ones. Luckily enchanting to optimize your DPS is about as easy as gearing gets.

Weapons:

Enchant Weapon Description Mighty Agility Two Handed Permanently raises agility by 130. Elemental Slayer One Handed Silences and damages elementals occasionally on melee strike. Heartsong One Handed Increases spirit by 200 when casting spells. Hurricane One Handed Increases haste by 450 for 12 sec on spell cast or melee hit. Avalanche One Handed Deals nature damage on melee strike. Landslide One Handed Increases attack power by 1000 for 12 sec on melee hit. Mending One Handed Weapon attacks occasionally heal you when striking an enemy. Power Torrent One Handed Increases Intellect by 500 for 12 sec on spell cast. Windwalk One Handed Increases dodge by 600 and movement speed by 15% for 10 sec.

 

What you put on your weapon will be largely a function of how much disposable gold you’ve got. If you’ve got the cash to shell out for the top tier DPS enchants then you’ll be using Landslide for melee DPS and Power Torrent for casters. If you’re a Hunter then there isn’t much of a choice (Landslide doesn’t proc from ranged attacks), you’re stuck with Mighty Agility and a 2h weapon.

If you want to cheap out then generally stick to Hurricane for both casters and melee as it gives good bang for your buck and haste is useful for nearly every DPS class.

Armor:

Enchant Armor Type Description Speed Bracer Enchants bracers to increase haste by 50 Precision Bracer Enchants bracers to increase hit by 50 Greater Speed Bracer Enchants bracers to increase haste by 65 Greater Expertise Bracer Enchants bracers to increase expertise by 50 Greater Critical Strike Bracer Enchants bracers to increasecritical strike by 65 Exceptional Spirit Bracer Enchants bracers to increase Spirit by 40 Dodge Bracer Enchants bracers to increase dodge by 50 Critical Strike Bracer Enchants bracers to increase critical strike by 50 Precision Boots Enchants boots to increase hit by 50 Mastery Boots Enchants boots to increase mastery by 50 Major Agility Boots Enchants boots to increase Agility by 35 Lavawalker Boots Enchants boots to increase movement speed by 7% and mastery by 35 Haste Boots Enchants boots to increase haste by 50 Earthen Vitality Boots Enchants boots to increase movement speed by 7% and Stamina by 30 Assassin’s Step Boots Enchants boots to increase movement speed by 7% and Agility by 25 Exceptional Spirit Chest Enchants chest to increase Spirit by 40 Greater Stamina Chest Enchants chest to increase Stamina by 75 Mighty Resilience Chest Enchants chest to increase resilience by 40 Mighty Stats Chest Enchants chest to increase all stats by 15 Peerless Stats Chest Enchants chest to increase all stats by 20 Stamina Chest Enchants chest to increase Stamina by 55 Critical Strike Cloak Enchants cloak to increase critical strike by 50 Greater Critical Strike Cloak Enchants cloak to increase critical strike by 65 Greater Intellect Cloak Enchants cloak to increase Intellect by 50 Greater Spell Piercing Cloak Enchants cloak to increase spell penetration by 70 Intellect Cloak Enchants cloak to increase Intellect by 30 Protection Cloak Enchants cloak to increase armor by 250 Exceptional Strength Gloves Enchants gloves to increase Strength by 35 Greater Expertise Gloves Enchants gloves to increase expertise by  50 Greater Mastery Gloves Enchants gloves to increase mastery by 65 Haste Gloves Enchants gloves to increase haste by 50 Mastery Gloves Enchants gloves to increase mastery by 50 Mighty Strength Gloves Enchants gloves to increase Strength by 50 Superior Intellect Off-Hand Enchants a shield or other off-hand  to increase Intellect by 100 Protection Shield Enchants shield  to increase armor by 160 Blocking Shield Enchants shield to increase block rating by 40

 

There are obviously a lot of enchants, the first thing to do when you’re trying to figure out what to use is to cross off stuff that is useless. Start with anything defensive like armor, block, parry, dodge, or Stamina. None of those things will do you any good if you’re trying to raise your damage.

Next you need to cross off stats that are useful for other classes and less useful for yours. If you’re a Strength class then you’re not going to be using Agility or Intelligence, and likewise for classes whose primary stats are Agility and Int. This is kind of a no-brainer.

The tricky part comes when you’re trying to decide which secondary stats are best for your class. This is more difficult because each spec in the game has certain secondary stats that are better for it, and these are not necessarily intuitive.

Enchanting and Reforging:

The first tip to take to heart is to consider Hit to be a sort of “Wild Card” stat. Nearly every DPS class in the game (especially ones that need to hit the Spell Hit cap which is 17%) will be short on hit in unenchanted gear that hasn’t been reforged. This means that they will be reforging for hit in order to get to the cap. Every time you reforge an item you are forgoing the opportunity to reforge that item to your best secondary stat.

Reforging and enchanting go hand in hand.

Here’s an example. You’re a Mutilate Rogue and your best secondary stat is Mastery. However, you need to be spell hit capped first! Critical strike is terrible for you, so you reforge your crit to hit until you reach the cap. If you’d enchanted your boots and bracers for hit however you could have reforged for mastery. When you think of it this way as long as you are under hit cap in your base gear then hit is essentially equal to whatever your best reforgeable stat is. This means that you should use hit when you can’t enchant your best stat on a particular item.

Knowing your Class:

Sometimes there will be situations where you’re choosing between two things that are difficult to measure and it will come down to how you play rather than raw numbers. The easiest choices to make are ones like chest enchant. Obviously you’re going to be using Peerless Stats to chest for DPS. There are no alternatives! A trickier problem would be one like deciding whether to use Lavawalker versus say Precision to boots as a caster. Is the movement speed worth the minimal amount of DPS you give up in stats? Maybe, maybe not. That’s something that no simulation can predict and is best left up to playstyle.

When you’re trying to choose between secondary stats this is another area where you need to know your class. There are typically 4-5 viable secondary stats per class. Melee classes have expertise, critical strike, haste, hit, and mastery. Casters have critical strike, haste, hit, and mastery.

Example: Assassination Rogue

Yellow Hit Cap > Spell Hit Cap > Mastery > Haste > Expertise >Critical Strike > White Hit

As you can see, stat interaction can be complicated. Not every class wants to stack their best stat and nothing else whereas others stack one stat to the exclusion of all others. The best general rule of thumb for any DPS class is to always pick your primary stat (Agility/Intellect/Strength) when possible. When forced to choose secondary stats pick either hit or the best secondary stat available. Going this route will get you the best bang for your buck and make for easy reforging.

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016