Learning Something New

So! I learned something new about shadow priesting (and presumably gear in general). Back when I played my rogue almost exclusively in TBC, there was a clear line of gear upgrades for me. I didn't have to juggle stats and gems. There were solid numbers I needed, and things just fell right in line.

Either I was just copying other people's gear, or things are very different in WotLK! I've read threads upon threads about what stats are good and necessary, and what can be changed out for various upgrades, what you have to give up to get to the hit cap, how much spellpower is enough, etc., etc., and all I have come up with is:

There is no perfect priest gear list. The things with the highest hit rating aren't necessarily the ones with the best overall gear rating, but you HAVE to have hit, and it HAS to come from somewhere, which means you HAVE to get lucky with drops if you want to get the perfect balance.

For example, the Valorous Garb of Faith set gives a grand total of 452 spellpower, 91 hit, 166 crit, and 91 haste. Compare with the items I currently have in those slots: 354 spellpower, 136 hit, 167 crit, and 177 haste. The set bonuses on valor gear really aren't worth losing the hit rating, since that's the most important thing for me stat wise.

You're thinking "Ooo that's 100 spellpower you could have that you don't! True, but unless I want to sacrifies all the +hit I already have, the only smart set pieces to get would be the chest and shoulders, as they both have +hit, which is a must. I'm still not quite at 288.5 or whatever, but I'm at 285, and I am not replacing ANY of my +hit gear unless I get a significant amount of the stuff from other pieces of gear.

So while I have a few upgrades I could get, generally I need to keep my hit at or above what it currently is. If I replaced everything else with some hit gear, I would CONSIDER getting full valor, but honestly, I don't think I will.

Lesson learned: gear with a higher numerical ranking does not necessarily mean it's an upgrade.