Announced at BlizzCon 2009, the statistics system for World of Warcraft is undergoing a radical redesign. Many of the stats you have known to love or even hate are being moved into one of the core stats or even removed completely. Below you can read a overview of everything you can expect to see as we approach the next expansion pack.
Why?The most obvious question these changes raise is "Why are stats being changed, and why now?" As the game has matured, we've run into increasingly complex issues with the current stat system. Many stats are inherently confusing, and the way they interrelate can feel convoluted. Attack Power, for example, currently translates to damage, but so does Armor Penetration. Defense provides five different statistical benefits of varying utility. Mana regeneration involves understanding multiple stats and rules and often ends up being irrelevant anyway. In addition, the difference between a "good stat" for a class and a "bad stat" can be extreme. Some casters want Haste but not Crit; hunters want Armor Penetration but not Haste. There are other overarching issues, as well, such as Intellect not being very exciting for casters despite it being a core stat -- and these are just a few examples.
Our ultimate goal is make gear a more interesting (and less confusing) choice by making each stat valuable to more players. While the reasoning behind some of the following changes may be clear, we understand that you may have questions about some of the less obvious alterations, and we'll do our best to answer any questions you may have here on the forums.
Item StatisticsWhat You’ll See on GearStaminaWith the redistribution of stats to Strength, Agility, and Intellect, non-plate wearers can expect an increase in Stamina.
SpiritSpirit will only be found on healing gear. With the exception of elemental shamans and balance druids, casters will no longer see it on their gear.
IntellectIntellect will now provide spell power. To compensate, it will also give less mana than we are used to seeing.
HasteHaste is becoming more attractive for melee users. Blizzard wants it to allow them to "do more stuff".
Block RatingBlocked attacks will now all have their damage reduced by 30%, and block rating will improve block chances. Block chance will be lower overall than it is today.
ParryParry no longer resets your swing timer. It now reduces the damage from the parried hit by 50% and from the next attack by 50% (compared to dodge rating, which is 100% avoidance).
Mastery See here:
http://www.wowhead.com/guide=cataclysm&masteryArmorOverall armor levels will be lower than before. The difference in mitigation between different armor types will be less dramatic.
ResilienceThis will only affect damage done by players, crit damage included. It will not impact crit chance, mana drains, or any other such effects.
Being Removed from ItemsAttack PowerAttack Power will no longer be present on gear. Strength and Agility will provide these bonuses instead, generally at a rate of 2 AP per point in Agility or Strength (depending on the classes favored stat).
Spell PowerThis stat has been combined into Intellect, as mentioned above. One exception: you will still see it on caster weapons, so they can be balanced the same way melee weapons are.
Armor PenetrationNo longer exists on items. Will be part of some talents.
Shield Block ValueNo longer exists on items. Will be part of some talents.
Going Away CompletelyMP5This stat will be removed from the game completely. Holy paladins and restoration shamans will be balanced around Spirit as their regen stat.
DefenseThis stat will be removed from the game completely. Tanks will become uncrittable using abilities like Defensive Stance, Bear Form, Frost Presence or Righteous Fury.
Spell RanksSpell ranks are being removed. Instead, spells will automatically scale in effectiveness to your level. To help fill in the gaps, some spells will be moved around and a few new ones will be added.
Weapon SkillGone completely! You no longer need to learn or train weapons in order to use them.
OtherCombat RatingsRating caps will grow in each tier of content. Each new tier of content will have a new "cap" for crit and hit.
ReforgingAllows you to change one stat to another, with some restrictions.
GemsSome gems will be changing colors. Hit, for example, will be blue instead of yellow.
Changes to Existing ItemsAs with previous expansions, we plan to roll out these changes and modify all existing gear shortly before Cataclysm launches, though it's still too early to say exactly when. For the most part, the gear you have will still be good for you, though there will be exceptions, such as warriors using leather and mail armor.
Tanks (non-Druid)No more Defense on gear. Existing Defense becomes Dodge, Parry, or Block Rating.
No more Block Value on gear. Existing Block Value becomes Block Rating.
You'll have as much Stamina as you're used to, though you may notice your tanking plate has a bit less Stamina than a comparable piece of DPS plate, since we tend to take the gem budget out of your most attractive stat.
Bonus Armor on gear will go down slightly.
Melee/Druid Tanks/HuntersA lot more Stamina. Bear-form Stamina scaling will be lowered as a result.
Strength if you wear plate. Agility if you wear mail or leather.
Existing Attack Power becomes Agility and Stamina. Armor Penetration becomes Haste or Crit.
No Intellect on melee gear. Hunters won't need Intellect (since they will no longer use mana). Shamans and retribution paladins will get mana and spell damage in other ways.
DPS CastersA lot more Stamina.
All of your Spell Power converted to Intellect and Stamina.
No Spirit. You won't miss Spirit, though, because you won't need it for DPS or mana regen.
HealersA lot more Stamina.
All of your Spell Power converted to Intellect and Stamina.
Spirit instead of MP5. You'll probably be happy with Spirit, though, because mana regen is going to matter more than it does currently. Healing paladins and shaman will benefit more from Spirit than they do currently.
Balance Druids and Elemental ShamanYou will still share gear with restoration druids and shamans.
Your gear will have Spirit on it. It won't have Hit on it.
You will have a talent that converts Spirit to Hit. We will adjust talents accordingly so that you want about as much Spirit as, say, a warlock wants Hit.
Hit on rings and other such gear will still benefit you.
Raid buffs will no longer boost Spirit, so you shouldn't find yourself unexpectedly over the Hit cap because of buffs.
Many lower-level items with nonsensical combinations of stats, such as Agility and Spirit, will be changed. Quest rewards, trade skills, and loot drops will support better itemization for class builds that weren't widely available or used prior to The Burning Crusade (such as balance druids).
