Posted by iTZKooPA on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 - 20 Comments
Tags: hit cap, hit rating, melee dps 101, melee dps stats, number munchers, poison hit cap, rogue hit cap, white hit cap, yellow hit cap
Okay boys and girls. Let’s get those thinking caps on. Today we will be following up Bastosa’s excellent Tanking Stats Series with a discussion on Level 80 DPS numbers. I am admittedly writing this for the benefits of PvE rogues, but the forthcoming discussion encapsulates information for any melee DPS class. That being said, the importance of some facts can shift depending on spec, gear, and general class differences. I will try to avoid pigeon-holing this entirely for the friends of the shadows, but all melee DPSers are asked to chime in on the differences for their class.
The first thing I did after hitting 80 was to begin preparing for raids. I completed my homework - looking up the needed hit/expertise ratings and the gear setup I would need to obtain them - and begin my instance and heroic grinding to prepare for Naxxramas. I was attempting to be a well prepared guildie, turns out they didn’t care what I was. At that time, I did not feel that I was adequately prepared gear-wise, but they wanted an all guild run more than a well-geared tenth man. Boy, did my numbers show it.
It doesn’t matter how hard you could hit or how much attack power you stack, if you aren’t actually connecting with your target. Melee DPSers separate their hit cap into three categories, two of them are obtainable and directly beneficial to strive for. To guarantee that you will never “Miss” a mob you, a dual wielder would need an insane amount of Hit Rating, 886 to be exact. This is assuming you have no +hit talents and no Draenei in your group. For example, SolidSamm’s Precision (5% extra hit chance) and a Draenei buddy (an additional 1% hit chance) would allow him to never miss with only an additional 689 hit rating. Still, this is way out of reach.
What is in reach is the 9% hit that is required to allow all of your special abilities to connect with boss mobs. This cap is known as the Yellow Hit Cap (YHC) and is easily achieved. A total hit rating of 295 will give any dual wielder all the hit rating one needs to cover the YHC. This number becomes incredibly low, just 99 additional hit rating, if you have Precision or something like it that gives you 5% extra chance to hit. Past that, hit rating is just gravy, tasteful, and helpful gravy.
Poison users need to push their hit rating much further to guarantee that all their poisons - which are treated as spells - land with their yellow damage. 315 hit rating (this assumes you have Precision) is much more difficult to reach than 99, but is achievable outside of raiding gear via a collection of Heroic, crafted and quest items. If your hit rating gets past 315, you may want to look at re-gemming or swapping around some gear. At that point, other stats become more beneficial than making sure you get every bit of white damage.
Let’s recap with an “at a glance” guide for those who just need a refresher.
Dual Wielders:
Yellow Hit Cap = 295 Hit Rating (total) This is essential. It guarantees that all of your abilities will land on Wrath of the Lich King’s boss mobs. Numerous talents and the Draenei passive can bring this number substantially lower. Roughly 33 Hit Rating equates to 1% to hit.
Poison (Spell) Hit Cap = 446 Hit Rating (315 with Precision)
The more poison heavy your setup is, the more important this cap is. Hit this cap, and I promise that your poisons from abilities will land on boss mobs. It is crucial for Mutilate builds to strive for this.
White Hit Cap = 886 Hit Rating (total)
This unobtainable cap guarantees that all of your hits would land, ability and auto-attack damage. Poison users can see some benefit past 315, but it is often more important to stack other statistics. If you crunch the numbers, this means that dual wielders need 27% hit for our auto-attacks to land.
Single Wielders:
Yellow Hit Cap/White Hit Cap = 295 Hit Rating (total)
This is essential. It guarantees that all of your abilities will land on Wrath of the Lich King’s boss mobs. Numerous talents and the Draenei passive can bring this number substantially lower. Roughly 33 Hit Rating equates to 1% to hit.
Yes, single wielding toons have it a bit easier. Their YHC and WHC are the same.
That covers one of our most important stats. Next time I will go over the Expertise stat in-depth, which can be a bit more confusing as it pertains to a mobs ability to dodge and parry. Tanks can check out their specifics for Expertise in Bastosa’s posts.
Note: We don’t know th exact way all of this is calculated in game, it is all anecdotal evidence. Therefore some things are disputed. The YHC, for example, is disputed by many to be closer to 8% than 9%. I went with 9% because it guarantees you will land those attacks.
Related Posts: Threat, Shaman, Melee DPS 101: Expertise Breakdown, Melee DPS 101: Armor Penetration, Avoidance Tanks, Meet Your New Worst Enemy: Chill of the Throne,
By AggroLord on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Nice guide…this will surely help the melee classes get their dps up
By Ironhoof on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
What is the Hit cap for, let’s say a hunter? I am leveling 1 right now and i want to know how much hit rating i need to have at lvl 80.
By Nalamin on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Argh! THANK YOU I played a tankadin until recently so this will definately help with my overall damage.
By Cilraaz on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Yellow Hit Cap (and 2H or single-wield hit cap) is 8%. With 8.02% hit (263 rating), I do not miss with 2H white attacks or yellow damage.
By ThoMage on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
i wonder if u could do a similare just on spells.. ive had a giant discussion in my guild about hit capping and dps affection
By Kiayateo on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Hunters follow the same hit cap as 2H or single wielders for their ranged attacks. (295)
With Precise Aim (or whatever its called) it drops into the 160s.
By Drstealth on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Hunter is 8% which I believe is 263.
There is a Marksman talent called Focus Aim that can reduce this by 3%.
A hunters hit from gear/gems/enchants also transfer to his/her per, however, the Focus Aim talent does not.
What this means is that in a perfect world you should be hit capped from gear/gems/enchants and not use Focus Aim so both you and your pet are capped.
Also I believe the number is rounded down so if you had enough +hit rating to be 7.99%, that would be the same as 7%
By CappyG on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Don’t forget about food to push your +hit that last little bit. Northrend’s recipes give +40 hit, so keep that in mind when shopping for gems and enchants.
By Gene on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Oh my freaking goodness, Number Munchers! Man that ages me.
Anyway, awesome guide for the melee DPS in all of us. Gotta be able to always hit the guy with that 2k white damage you’re putting out.
By Torast on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Anyone know what the deal is for feral druids?
By iTZKooPA on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
@Gene - Kids these days could never get that far!
By Unholypally on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Did nothing on my rogue but stack hit and i just now got 311 hit.
By Alayea on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
By Sunalar on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 7:43 pm
So when you say “Single Wielders” you mean 2H as well? I was told by fellow players that the hit cap for 2H should be around 320.
By Mooshake on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
I play a deathknight now and i believe on deathknightbuilds it says we need to get ours to 232. Although I don’t see an increase from the last bit I pushed up from before that.
By Jason on Thursday, February 26th, 2009 at 5:42 am
This Is really nice, As a fellow rogue I was hoping for info to this effect.
I’m having trouble keeping my hit rate up. Most of the ear I have is the best you can get outside of raiding and not alot of it had hit ratings. But, if I stock up on food, then that’ll fix. I’m dreding getting rid of my chest peice, Crystal-Infused Tunic http://www.wowhead.com/?item=37165, with the 51+ hit and the 16+ yellow gem
By Rogue4Life on Thursday, February 26th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
great post. I knew hit and AP were still the ones to go, but just couldn’t find the magic number.
Also, kudo’s on the math munchers pic, /amithatold??
Thanks!!
By Dan on Friday, February 27th, 2009 at 1:04 am
I remember that math game in the pic from when I was in elementary school. o.o
By Slinkz on Wednesday, March 4th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Speak of the devil:
http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/03/04/obama-stimulus-rendered-retro-math-game-style
By Valcane on Friday, March 6th, 2009 at 7:21 am
Ok your guides are awesome about the numbers and thank you so very much for that…but I would love to know the proper dps rotation for my rogue I can’t find a good one anywhere