Many of my long-time readers will be shocked and appalled to discover: I’ve received my fair share of emails from woefully ignorant folks asking me how they might improve their gear, and when I checked their Armory pages to see what they were working with… I could only shake my head in disbelief. Spell Power. Lots of it. Really? Really. I kid you not. And I’ve received such emails as recently as a few weeks ago. Honest injun. And I thought to myself, “How could this be? They’ve obviously read my site, if they’re taking the time to email me and ask for my help.” And then it dawned on me. It’s been quite some time indeed since I’ve covered anything so basic, and it’s possible these wayward souls simply missed the memo somewhere along the line. Well, today, it’s time to rectify this oversight.

Now, before I dive right in, I’d like to take a moment to address a short missive to those of you who are now, or have in the past, been caught with your pants down, so to speak, with Spell Power items equipped:

It’s okay. I promise. You simply didn’t know any better. Ignorance is perfectly acceptable, and that’s what we’re here to fix today. From this point on, you’ll be able to lift your head high and proclaim loudly and proudly: I have seen the light! No more Spell Power for me, and I know exactly why!

With that out of the way, let’s get into the nitty gritty, shall we?

What Do Stats Do For Me?

Funny you should ask! If you’ve ever played any other MMORPG or table-top RPG before, you’re already familiar with the basic concept of stats and can probably surmise what most of them are good for, at least in a general sense. For those who are entirely new to gaming, simply put: stats improve your character’s performance in the role(s) it’s best suited to.

In the case of Hunters, that role is dealing damage, and as such, all of the stats you choose to increase (through itemization and talent choices) should directly contribute to the increase of your damage output.

In WoW, there are tons of different stats you’re bombarded with and it can be hard to keep track of all of them and what they do. Additionally, you’ll hear discussion of “caps”, “ratings” and “percentages” and all of this can quickly get confusing. Today, I’ll attempt to briefly explain each of your character’s stats, what they do (how they help you) and which ones, as a Hunter, you should be most concerned with.

Primary Attributes

Strength (STR) – Increases Attack Power with melee weapons.

Agility (AGI) – Increases Attack Power with ranged  and melee weapons. Increases armor. Increases critical strike chance. Increases dodge chance.

Stamina (STA) – Increases total health.

Intellect (INT) – Increases total mana. (With Careful Aim, increases Attack Power with ranged weapons.)

Spirit (SPI) – Increases health and mana regeneration.

Secondary Attributes

Attack Power (AP) – (Both melee and ranged) Increases the damage of an equipped weapon.

Critical Strike Chance (Crit) – Percentage of attacks that will result in a critical strike (increased damage).

Hit Chance – Increases chance to hit with weapons or spells.

Haste – Decreases the time between attacks.

Armor Penetration – Reduces the target’s armor value when damage from attacks are calculated.

Expertise – Reduces the enemy’s chance to dodge or parry attacks.

Spell Power (SP) – Increases damage and healing done with spells.

Spell Penetration – Reduces the target’s resistance to spells.

Mana Regeneration – The rate at which mana is restored, both in and out of combat.

Dodge – Increases chance to dodge incoming melee attacks.

Parry – Increases chance to parry melee attacks with a melee weapon.

Block – Increases chance to block melee and ranged attacks with a shield.

Block Value – Increases damage blocked by a shield.

Defense – Increases defense skill.

Armor – Decreases physical damage taken.

Resistance – Decreases damage taken from spells.

Resilience – Decreases chance to receive critical hits, reduces critical strike damage and reduces DoT (Damage over Time) damage.

What Stats Matter to Me?

Each class has particular primary and secondary attributes that are particularly helpful to them, making them better at their chosen job: dealing damage, healing or tanking. Hunters are no exception. So, when you’re looking at an item that drops, how do you know if it’s right for you?

First: Hunters are able to wear Mail (at level 40), Leather and Cloth armor. Which type is best?

Cloth itemization is horrible for Hunters, and you should never find yourself hmm’ing over a piece of Cloth armor that drops. The primary and secondary attributes on all pieces of Cloth armor were not intended for us. Overlook them.

Leather, on the other hand, is an entirely different story.

Beyond level 40, when we do finally learn to equip Mail items, many Hunters find themselves desperately looking to replace all the pieces of Leather they’re wearing. Don’t fall into this trap.

I’ll let you in on a little secret: It doesn’t matter if you’re wearing Leather or Mail.

Here’s why: the major difference between Leather and Mail is the armor value on the items and as a Hunter, you should rarely be getting hit with attacks. (In groups, your tank will be taking most of the damage and while you solo, your pet will be taking the brunt.) That being the case, the increased armor value on Mail items is insufficient to sway your decision in terms of which item is actually “better” for you.

Which brings me to the crux of the issue: what stats should you, as a Hunter, be focused on increasing through itemization?

1. Hit
2. Agility
3. Attack Power
4. Intellect (especially if you have Careful Aim)
5. Crit

Beyond these five stats, you can also look for Stamina, Haste and Armor Penetration as well. For PvP Hunters, you’ll also want Resilience. Any other stats can be ignored.

Based on itemization trends, there are certain tell-tale stats on items that can immediately cross it off your list as a potential upgrade:

1. Strength
2. Spell Power
3. Spirit

These three stats are typically found on items whose other stats are also not highly beneficial, and there are always items that are better for you. Any time you see an item drop with any of these three stats, skip it.

Now, let’s see if you’ve been paying attention, shall we?

Which item would you rather have?:

Both items are Mail, but one has stats more befitting a Hunter. Can you tell which?

Now, let’s try another one:

One is Mail, the other is Leather. Can you tell which item is better for a Hunter from these two?

In both cases, the correct answer was item 2. Why? In the first case, we had two Mail items; one with Spell Power (a stat useless to Hunters) and the other with Attack Power (something highly beneficial to Hunters). In the second case, again we’re confronted with Spell Power vs Attack Power, however one item is Mail while the other is Leather. Still, you must keep in mind that Attack Power is of greater importance to us than armor, and so the Leather item is still preferable.

Recap

Stats to avoid:

• Spell Power, Spell Penetration (Hunters don’t use spells)
• Defense, Armor, Block, Dodge, Parry (Hunters don’t hold aggro)
• Strength (Hunters don’t attack with melee weapons)
• Spirit, MP5 (Hunters don’t need Spirit for mana regeneration)
• Expertise (Ranged attacks cannot be dodged or parried)

Stats to look for:

• Hit
• Agility
• Attack Power
• Intellect
• Crit

Stats that can also help:

• Stamina
• Haste
• Armor Penetration

Now, I realize that for many of my readers, none of this is new information. But, having received several emails from folks that have fallen into the trap of poor itemization, it seemed to me that it was time to brush up on some of the basics. After all, we’ve all been there before, have we not? And didn’t we all wish someone would kindly take the time to help us sort through the confusion?

I know I felt like a real dumbass when I was caught wearing my Mystic Sarong years ago when I was leveling for the first time. What items have you been caught wearing that made you hang your head in shame?