Spellpower 101, or how I learned to love unified attributes
by Eliah Hecht 
Oct 14th 2008 at 11:25AM
The big patch today is changing the way stats work in WoW. In its own way, it's as much of a change as combat ratings were in the pre-BC patch. Specifically, there are two major stat changes coming:
- Hit and crit rating will be will no longer have separate stats for melee and for spells. Both spell hit/crit rating and melee hit/crit rating will now simply be hit (or crit) rating. This will mostly benefit hybrid classes; for instance, +hit for a Paladin will make both their spells and their melee strikes more likely to land.
- +Damage and +healing are getting unified into one stat: spellpower.
This latter change could use a bit more explaining, and that's the main subject of this post.
I can't count the number of people I've seen in general chat complaining about how their +healing numbers are getting nerfed, or worrying that there will now be more competition for caster items. I think those people are misled. Here's a quick spellpower rundown:
- Anything with +damage and healing on it now will now have the same amount of spellpower, which will do the same as before for DPS casting.
- Anything with +healing on it will get about half as much in spellpower. For instance, compare Light's Justice in live versus how it will be when the patch drops.
- School-specific +damage (like +shadow damage) is also (mostly) being converted into spellpower, at a rate of about 80%.
- Healing spells will get double benefit from spellpower. Healers will, therefore, see no difference in the output of their healing spells in the same gear.
- The big gain is that healers will now be able to DPS competently in their healing gear, since they'll get much more benefit to their DPS spells than they currently do.
- There will also be fewer useless drops, since any caster item will be potentially useful to any caster (with the right armor type). There will still be some items with more mana regen on them that healers will probably prefer, but it won't be such a huge difference between healing and DPS caster items anymore.
- As far as the worries about more classes competing for drops, I argue that there are more drops that are useful to your class now. If a boss currently drops one item that's useful for a priest, and two that are useful for the two DPS cloth classes, it'll now drop 3 that are useful for all three classes. Each player has the same chance to get an item as they did before.
Any questions?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Me Oct 14th 2008 11:29AM
cOOL!
Ironhide Oct 14th 2008 11:31AM
so riddle me this.
As an enhancement shaman, will items with +hit and +crit benefit me for both my spells and my melee? I've seen quest rewards (i am low 60's right now) with +spell hit and misread them and snagged them.. in the future will they still be ok ?
Shaman in Beta Oct 14th 2008 11:41AM
Let me put it this way...
In Borean Tundra, there are 2 trinkets that grant a passive increase to crit as well as a seperate 'Chance on X' effect.
One has a chance to grant a stacking crit rating increase with every melee hit.
The other gives a chance on Spell crit to increase your crit rating by X for 10 seconds.
An Enhancement Shaman can use both for a fully stacked/procced increase of ~310 crit rating.
Only DK's, Ret Pallies, and Enhance Shaman can really get the benefit of both trinkets, as they are the only classes/specs that use both melee attacks and spells.
But yes, to answer your question, anything that says spell hit/crit/haste on it will effect melee/ranged stats, and vice versa.
Tokhand Oct 14th 2008 11:42AM
To shortly answer you: Yes.
The best example is if as a mage, I accidentally roll for & win a rogue dagger that gives +hit and +attack power, I can claim I purposely did that only for the +hit (the +attack power would be there too but I wouldn't use it). As an enhancement shaman, if you get a mace that give +hit and +crit, it gives the bonuses for both melee and spell/healing damage. Awesome.
Marc Oct 14th 2008 11:31AM
The spellpower change is amazing because caster-healer hybrids can simply respec and don't have to swap gear (for the most part) in order to be immediately effective as healer or caster DPS.
Shionia Oct 14th 2008 12:44PM
by "simply respec to be immediately effective" I assume you refer to the dual-spec ability that Blizzard has mentioned?
Because I have a restokin who has built up two sets of gear. By swapping between them I WAS able to be "immediately effective". This change will primarily freeup bag space, and trash hundreds of badges' worth of boomkin gear.
It's too bad that Blizzard doesn't treat badges as they do other vendor-purchased items, and allow us to "sell back" badge gear for 20% or 25% of the badge purchase price.
Shionia Oct 14th 2008 12:49PM
... meaning, sell a 60-badge item back to the badge vendor and get 12 badges for it rather than gold.
Marc Oct 14th 2008 1:16PM
Yes, I meant the quick respec feature that Blizz promised in a later patch. 'Immediately effective' is when you click a button and start DPS or heals. Not going to the trainer, putting points in new talents one by one and then putting on a new set of gear.
Jane Gray Oct 14th 2008 8:56PM
I'm guessing you wont be able to switch specs in combat, but it sure will be nice that if 4 healers go down the moonkin will be able to give some decent heals in his dps gear.
TiM Oct 14th 2008 11:33AM
So Blizz did it...they finally did it!!! With the folding together of spell hit and melee hit both pickpocket and distract get a severely needed and much deserved buff since they're both affected by spell hit!. No more resisted distracts in Hyjal resulting it demons stepping on my face on the way to the npc behind me ^^
akw Oct 14th 2008 4:14PM
As a I hunter, I am also happy since *I suspect* this will reduce my feign death resists, assuming those are determined by spell hit.
Phil Oct 14th 2008 11:35AM
Not all school-specific damage is getting converted - for example, Drape of the Righteous remains holy-only spellpower. http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=30642
stonehead Oct 14th 2008 1:13PM
But it affects holy damage AND holy healing.
mcclary Oct 14th 2008 11:37AM
Is this a correct statement?
A holy/resto talented player can DPS better than a DPS/shadow/elemental talented player can heal?
That was kindof the impression that I got, maybe not though.
Nijle Oct 14th 2008 11:47AM
That's not what he said, he said the holy/resto crowd will be able to dps better "in general" as their + spell damage (now spell power) will be increased.
Take my paladin for example. His Gladiators Salvation currently has 375 healing and 175 damage. After patch it will have 199 Spell power. That's going to equal the same amount of Healing power, and increase my damage by 24 on that one item. Now take all my healing gear i have and add it all up, i'm getting a big spell damage boost!
mcclary Oct 14th 2008 11:58AM
Thanks for the response Nijle!
I understand what the change is, but it just seemed like (in PVP for instance) you could spec resto/holy and have all the survivability of that tree and still have ~80% the DPS of pure DPS spec. It could be that the new spell coefficients for healing spells will balance it out though (such that a pure DPS spec would have ~80% the healing capability of a pure holy/resto spec)
Owl Oct 14th 2008 12:12PM
I take that as 'doing dailies will no longer completely suck for healers'.
Eopie Oct 14th 2008 1:09PM
I think you nailed it Owl.
Doing dailies on my holy priest will go faster now! w00t!
crsh Oct 14th 2008 11:41AM
So my spriest is going to lose about 20% spell dmg given the 5 pieces of +shadow dmg he's wearing then (3/3 Frozen Shadoweave, Rittsyn's Lost Pendant, Nethervoid Cloak) due to the conversion of single-school stat to generic spell power?
mike Oct 14th 2008 11:57AM
I'm in the same boat and the answer to the question is yes. Check wowhead's wotlk gear site and search for the fsw pieces.
20% nerf ;\