Heya Guys,

I have recently come back to WoW after a year and a half break....

I find myself unable to solo well as a resto druid so have finally taken the plunge and gone feral. I am shocked at how well I can solo now. I mow through mobs!!

Recently I came accross several identical items with the exception of 1 having strength and one having attack power. Understanding very little about Feral druids ( only been one for 3 days ), I have no clue which is a greater benefit. I mostly solo and spend the majority of my time in cat form. I searched the forums for any discussion of str vs ap and didn't find a good answer.

Can someone break it down Barney style for me? I don't know which to use and which to drop.

In case it's relevent I just hit 63 and here is my build
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/druid/talents.html?0000000000000000000005030321303221153 0125105500001000000000000

Thanks in advance!!
Sil

+str gives kitty a little over 2 AP (depending on talents). So, take the item with +str if the +str*2 is more than the +AP on the other item.

For solo kitty questing, I treat both +str and +agi as being worth 2 "item points" and AP is worth 1 "item point". If the item's total point value is greater than the existing item I replace it. I use +sta, +crit and +hit as tie-breaker type stats. If the new item has a 1-8 less "item points" but has more +sta, I'll take the one with more sta. Same with +crit and +hit. But, I always keep a set of gear with max +hit in my bags just for boss fights.

I don't have a "item point" scheme for bear or healing items, yet.

Awesome explanation. Thank you!!!

How does AGI compare to STR I've found I receive +2 AP from 1 point of STR and that I receive +1 AP from 1 point AGI. If I'm looking strictly at DPS wouldn't STR be more benifical for DPS then AGI? I know AGI also gives +dodge,+armor, and +crit but does this outweigh the +AP from STR?

What are your thoughts

Also can you go into a little more detail about your "item point" system. Thankyou

There was another discussion elsewhere on these boards, and if I recall correctly, what was decided was that if you have less than 1000AP that Str > Agi. If you were in the 1000-2000AP range that Str ~= Agi and if you were over 2000 that Agi > Str due to the increase in crit with Agi.

Assuming PvE Kitty....

Due to the beneficial affects of +crit to cats (primarily from Primal Fury) agi is actually more important than +str. Though until you reach lvl ~62 (when you'll probably reach 1000-1200AP) I'd focus more on maximizing total AP than worrying about crit. So, prior to lvl 60, I treated +str as "2 points" and agi as 1. Once I reached 60-62, I treated +agi as 2-2.4 points and +str as +2 points. +hit rating is ~1.1 points, etc. (see Rawr and/or Emmerald's link below). Add up all of an item's points. the item worth the most is the best. Though if the difference is minor, I take the item with more +sta. And put the other one in the bank.

If you want to get all geeked out wrt to theorycrafting I suggest reading...

http://druid.wikispaces.com/Articles
http://druid.wikispaces.com/ToskksDPSGearMethod (check out the tool at the bottom, it is neat)
http://www.emmerald.net/forum/
http://elitistjerks.com/f31/t16902-feral_druid_megathread/

Here's a list of gear who's point values (using Emmerald's math) have already been computed...

http://www.emmerald.net/

Make sure you read and understand his notes on the front page.

Agility is the better stat for most situations, especially questing and soloing. As you say this is due to the extra crit chance it gives you. It only takes 25 agility for a feral druid to gain 1% crit chance at level 70. I typically go for agility over strength if it's a one-to-one ratio. It is best to mix and match though, and I would take 25 strength over 22 agility..


-Annikk