3.3.5a Enhancement Shaman - How to determine upgrades.
First, a brief introduction. I am a veteran retail WoW player, and cleared nearly everything in Wrath, save for RS and the end of HC ICC. I played all 3 Shaman spec during that time (Naxx and most of Ulduar was Resto/Ele, end of Uld to end of ICC was Enh/Resto). After establishing myself as one of the premiere Enhancement Shaman on the server, I started a small group of Enh Shaman, who traded ideas, theorycrafted and generally just passionate Enh players, across several servers. What I'm about to detail is based on my experience in retail, so please forgive me if certain Molten mechanics make any of this information slightly inaccurate, and once pointed out (politely, please) I will work to correct it.
This guide is intended to give you the tools and the knowledge needed to determine what pieces of gear are going to be upgrades for you, as an Enhacement Shaman, and which ones are not. Be prepared, as an Enhancement Shaman, to need more than 1 piece of gear to actually make a swap for upgrades. (Example: If you have 4/5 T8.5 [Ulduar], T9 is worthless, and T9.5 is only an upgrade when you have 4/5 - the set bonus sucks, mostly) I will not be going over Enhancement's ability priority, just how to weigh two pieces of gear against each other. It's not as straight-forward as one would hope.
The first thing you need to learn is to ignore ILevel. I know 99% of Molten is obsessed with GS, and it just shows how little they understand certain classes/specs (yes, GS matters to a degree, but a 6k GS Enh Shaman doesn't necessarily out DPS a 5.5k GS Enh Shaman - it's all about stat balance, not ILevel). I want to say this again, ITEM LEVEL MEANS NOTHING. Higher Ilevel typically means higher stats, but what is far more important is what stats the gear gives. If you have ANYTHING with Armor Penetration on it (ArmPen from here on), try to replace it immediately. ArmPen is by far the worst statistic for an Enh Sham as it only buffs a small portion of your dps, where as haste, crit, and attack power buff all of your dps.
"So, if ILevel is meaningless, how do I know what gear to take?"
First things first, you need this program: EnhSim. (http://enhsim.codeplex.com/releases/view/36993 this version is based on patch 3.3, when Fire Nova was introduced. You can google "enhsim guide" for help with this program - please don't ask me for help using it.) The function of this program is two-fold. The first, and main function, is to simulate your DPS in optimal conditions. The second function, the one we will use, is to calculate which statistics, given your current stats, will provide the most increase in your DPS, rated by what is called EP. To calculate this, enter your stats into the simulator (An addon called ShockandAwe can help you copy/paste your stats for easier use). Once this is done, you will notice EnhSim will give you an EP value (commonly called a scale) for each statistic. Once you have calculated your EP scales, you're ready for the next step.
"Ok, I see a lot of numbers, how does this help me weigh gears against each other?"
To figure out how "good" a particular item is going to be, you calculate it's total EP by multiplying each stat by it's appropriate scale, then adding it all together. Higher EP = more DPS. Here are some example scales, and we will use these values to show exactly what it all means. Please note these numbers are total fabrications, and are just for examples.
attack power: 1
haste: 0.9
crit rating: 1.5
hit rating: 1.8
intelligence: 0.7
AP is, and always will be a scale of 1. This means for every point of attack power, you give the gear one EP. Simple enough, right?
The rest of the scales are based on AP; notice that Crit has a scale of 1.5. What this means is that 1 point of Crit will provide as much DPS as 1.5 points of AP. Hit rating and expertise, if not at cap, will ALWAYS return more DPS than other stats, per point.
Example: You killed a boss, and a pair of gloves drops (Gloves B), but you don't know if it's going to be better than your current gloves (Gloves A). Let's make up some stats to calculate the EP.
Gloves A: 150 AP, 70 Crit -VS- Gloves B: 160 AP, 80 Haste.
At first glance, Gloves B seem clearly superior, but let's calculate the EP before we make a decision.
Now, AP is always 1:1, so no math there. Gloves A has 150 EP from the 150 AP, and Gloves B has 160 EP from the 160 EP. The easy part is done.
Now we need to compare the crit against the haste. Our Crit rating scale from above is 1.5, so multiply that by the amount of crit. 70 x 1.5 = 105. Add that to the AP, and you have a total EP of 255 (105 + 150). For Gloves B, we'd get haste, and the scale is 0.9. 0.9 x 80 = 72. Add that to the 160 AP for a total of 232 EP. In this example, the gloves you are wearing (Gloves A - 255 EP) will return more DPS, based on your current gear (i.e the scales) than what the boss dropped (Gloves B - 232 EP).
EVERY time you change a piece of gear, recalculate your EP scales.
Can't be stressed enough. Your EP scales are determined by your total stats, and when they change, even by just 1 point in something, your EP scales change.
Now, this all seems a bit complicated, and well, it kinda is. The good news, however, is once you have established your EP scales, the rest is just basic math, and it's really easy to keep up with.
If something isn't clear, or I missed something, please politely let me know and I'll fix it when I can, or elaborate where necessary.
Note about BiS Enhancement Gear Lists
They are extremely hard to find, as Ensidia's (one of the world's former best WoW progression guilds) BiS list seems to have vanished. I do not trust ElitistJerks, as I always found them to be a step behind when it came to Enh Sham in 3.X (this is to say nothing else about their guides). What tips I can give you for BiS is that the best T10 chest is NOT the BiS chest-piece, so save the EoF's for the other 4 pieces. The BiS chest-piece is Ikfruss Sack of Wonder, HC, obtained from downing the HC LootShip in ICC, and HC Black Bruise is one of the BiS weapons. I wish I could give you more BiS info than this, but I no longer have my trove of Enh Sham data.
Thanks for reading this and happy hunting!
