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ok, so I have a shadow priest and I pvp pretty heavily. I understand how the math works on the +dmg gear. That has been illustrated pretty clearly in a variety of posts here.
What I don't understand is why someone would give up a significant difference in +Int for +Dmg.
For example, if I have the choice between something with +29 Int, lets say Glowing Brightwood Staff, or something with only +10 Int and +44 dmg like the Ironbark staff...
That is a difference of 19 int, which would equate to at least 1 mind blast extra over time i am guessing.
So, lets say with the Iron Bark I have enough mana to cast 10 MB, with Glowing Brightwood, 11. Lets also say that each MB does 800 dmg base (without the + dmg)
things you have to ask yourself is:
Do I always get to use All of my mana before it is reset (death)?
Do I want (in case of Yes in the question above) to spread that damage out over 55 seconds (~148,9 DPS) or over 60.5 seconds (~145,5 DPS)?
As I have almost solely played a warrior, I know very well what it's like not being able to show your full potential before the green bar has turned both yellow red and transparent.
well, seeing as how shadow priests are extremely mana inefficient in that the shadow spells cost TONS, yes, I often do drain the hell out of my mana bar... OFTEN, especially in hard fighting.
Initially, I did go for the +dmg gear and I do notice a difference, but in bg's I kept running out of mana.
In my experience, the +dmg gear seems to only serve me well in one case... duelling, and that seems to be it.
In pvp tho, you dont just fight one person, it is pretty much a constant series of people with virtually no time for the 5sec rule to pass for long enough.
For example:
my SP has 303 unbuffed int at level 52 with no +dmg gear
a friend has a SP at lvl 54 with 258 int with +200 dmg or something like that
yet, I always end up higher on the KB list, with more HKs and less deaths. If I could chaulk this up to "I am a better player" or "he is a crappy player" that would be one thing, but I can't. The truth of it is, he is probably a much better player than I am... and yet my performance by far outstrips his when we go head to head.
In a duel, he whips me, but in the bg's... different story.
I was just wondering if I missed something or if I was mistaken somehow because I see all this pvp rep gear with + dmg on it, but don't understand why giving up the +int of the pve stuff would be beneficial?
well, it has been a couple days since this has been posted and, so far, no one has really challenged my math to show me why +dmg is better than +int. That means I will keep doing what I am doin!
So by non-response, I am going to assume that +int > +dmg...even for pvp.
If you're in a group pvp setting, you should drink (or suicide if you lack money and haven't run across a friendly mage that session) when OOM. One or two mindblasts rarely make the difference.
I've always emphasized stam>AC(in gobs - Ironweave, rend trinket, rank 8 chest and legs, enchanting trinket; only the trinkets lack other key stats)>damage>int for my shadowpriest in a pvp context. The only times I ever run out of mana before health when facing one or two enemies alone is when they are T2+ geared hunters who utilize viper sting and healing potions, or if I get jumped as I am about to drink. I probably go through my mana faster than the norm, too, as I like to keep the top rank PW:S on myself whenever possible.
My blue pvp/instance gear provides me with stamina and int just shy of 300, +120ish damage, and enough armor to have the absorption of a shaman with shadowform and inner fire. I still get completely hosed by T2+ physical classes one on one if they get the jump on me, and a good warlock with the puppy out spells doom.
If you have a good team in mass pvp, you should be healing regardless of spec, and int becomes more valuable. Hasn't happened much for me, though.
Well, for PVE, the int would most definitely be more important that +dmg. Without a doubt. There are too many other non-damage based things for you to do as well to give up the int... buffs, defuffs, shields, VE, heals if needed, CoW, etc etc.
If I am going for full bore damage & all the other stuff, I usually go OOM after every other group of mobs in an instance... a lot of times, I end up functioning as OT with my PW:S, VE, DP, and mind flay to kill the runners... it's fun, I love to do it, and yes, I know how/when not too (so dont give me poop.)
I just want to drop every mob ASAP, so I am inefficient as hell with my mana on a toon that is already highly inefficient LOL...
i figure tons of free magewater > repair bills all around.
I have two sets of gear for my priest--int gear and damage gear--and I have a lot of PvP experience with both. Generally, the +int gear will do better over the long haul. I use the +damage gear when defending a node or the flag and expect to have limited fights with down time in between to drink. If I am on offence and expect to do extended fighting, I swap in the +int gear maximize my mana (and in this case I usually regen mana in the graveyard).
In PvE soloing, I use shield and shadow word:pain and wand everything to death (I may have to repeatedly cast them with a heal for tough mobs). This leaves me a full mana pool if something goes wrong (like an enemy player tries to gank me or a second mob aggros). I use +damage gear because I am not burning a lot of mana and want maximum DPS if I need it in an emergency.
Im not a shadowpriest but you have to remember the cooldown of mind blast too. While mind blast gets around 43% of the bonus, mind flay which is channelled over 3 seconds only get around 45% (don't know the exact value). This would make it seem like int is better, but I personally prefer killing people fast in pvp. Burst damage is important. You have to kill the opponents before they kill you...so I would go for +dmg mostly without gimping my int too much. Try to find the right balance!
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