Gearing your pre-raid Bear Pt 1: Stats

There are a number of pre-raid gearing guides floating around out there. Some of them (like Ri's) are good. Some of the other ones (like people assuming parry-haste still exists) are not.

I've put together a gear guide for a "pre-raid" bear using Fasc's spreadsheet. You may not choose to believe me, but I've tried pretty much every viable combination including gems. I do not however claim it is perfect, and there may have been something I have overlooked. If you think something doesn't fit please do not hesitate to contact me and let me know (see the right hand side for how).

I've split this into two parts. Part 1 will discuss the various stats, what they do, and their relative values. Part 2 will have the actual gear list. So here weeee goooooooo!

Stats:

Agility:

Agility is the "bread n butter" stat of any Feral Druid, be they Cat or Bear. It increases Attack Power (AP), Critical Strike Chance, and Dodge %. The amount of Agility is mostly tied to the iLvL (Item Level) and quality (Uncommon / Rare / Epic) of the gear. There can be some variation but there usually isn't much. At entry-level raiding Agility is an amazing stat because it has such a huge impact on Savage Defense uptime and effectiveness. You will find yourself mostly gemming Agility in your gear, unless the socket bonus warrants otherwise. Actual stats below:

1 Agi = 2.5 AP (2.625 AP) [2.8875 AP]
1 Agi = 0.0030783% Crit (0.0032323%)
324.85 Agi = 1% Crit
1 Agi = 0.0041054% Dodge (0.0043106%)
243.58 Agi = 1% Dodge

Strength:

Strength is now the bastard step-sibling of Agility for a Feral Druid. It grants Attack Power but nothing else. In the past it actually granted more AP per point than Agility, but no longer. You will only find it on cross-class tanking accessories. However those accessories are generally sub-par when compared to an Agility-based accessory of the same level due to how awesome Agility is. For the most part avoid it like the plague unless the secondary stats on the item warrant it.

1 Str = 2.5 AP (2.625 AP) [2.8875 AP]

Stamina:

Stamina increases your health. It also has a side-effect of increasing the amount of Attack Power granted via Vengeance. So in a roundabout way it is a mitigation stat. However it is not as effective as actual mitigation stats like Mastery. Stamina is directly linked to the iLvL and quality of the item.

1 Sta = 17.1402 Health (17.99721)

Critical Strike Rating:

Critical Strike Rating increases the chance that you will critically hit an enemy. This makes it a valuable threat and mitigation stat for Bears as crits proc Savage Defense. It is generally the second most important secondary mitigation stat behind Mastery.

1 Crit Rating = 0.0055779% Crit
179.28 Crit Rating = 1% Crit

Haste:

Haste is garbage. Avoid it at all costs. It is the crappiest secondary stat for Bears by a factor of 4. STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM IT IF IT ALL HUMANLY POSSIBLE.

128.05701 = 1% Haste

Dodge Rating:

Increases your chance to Dodge. At a pre-raid level of gearing this will be the stat you Reforge to. Reforge everything except Mastery to Dodge. Mastery is the second most valuable secondary stat behind Dodge, and since every piece of gear will come with 2 secondary stats, you pick whatever isn't Mastery.

1 Dodge Rating = 0.005687% Dodge
176.71899 Dodge Rating = 1% Dodge

Hit Rating:

Increases the chance to hit your target. It also increases your White and Yellow crit caps. However that isn't something you have to worry about in a pre-raid environment. As Hit is only the 2nd least valuable secondary stat, reforge it into Dodge whenever possible. If you find yourself having threat problems, get more Expertise before you get more Hit.

Increases chance to hit.
120.109 Hit Rating = 1% Hit
1 Hit Rating = 0.0083256% Hit
8% Hit = 960.872 Hit Rating

Expertise Rating:

Expertise reduces the chance a mob will Parry or Dodge your attacks. Since Yellow attacks are on a "2-roll" system, it is actually more valuable for mitigation than Crit until you reach the Expertise "softcap" (6.5%). However since Expertise (specifically Expertise+Mastery) pieces are so rare, it isn't a stat you should be actively seeking out, let alone reforging/gemming for.

30.0727 Expertise Rating = 1 Expertise

Level 85 mob = 5.0% (Dodge) / 5.0% (Parry) = 601.454 (20) / 601.454 (20) Expertise Rating
Level 86 mob = 5.2% (Dodge) / 5.2% (Parry) = 631.527 (21) / 631.527 (21) Expertise Rating
Level 87 mob = 5.4% (Dodge) / 5.4% (Parry) = 661.599 (22) / 661.599 (22) Expertise Rating
Level 88 mob = 6.5% (Dodge) / 14% (Parry) = 781.890 (26) / 1684.071 (56) Expertise Rating

Mastery Rating:

Mastery increases the amount your Savage Defense bubbles absorb. This is great. You should be seeking it out on gear, and reforging whatever it comes with to Dodge.

179.28 Mastery Rating = 1 Mastery

Armor:

Armor decreases the amount of physical damage taken from attacks. It is directly tied to iLvL and quality of the item. You may see some items with a "green" value for their armor. If you see one of these, remember that the bonus portion of the armor does not get multiplied by the Bear armor modifier. The "regular" portion (which is directly tied to iLvL/quality) still does.

1 Armor = 3.2186 Armor (Bear + Thick Hide)
1 Armor = 3.282972 Armor (Bear + Thick Hide + Meta Gem)
Armor cap (75% DR) for Lvl88 Boss mobs = 97717.5 Armor

Your secondary stat priorities: Dodge > Mastery > Expertise(until softcap) > Crit > Hit = Expertise(after softcap) >>>>>>>>>> Haste.

This ends part 1.