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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsWhy Hit is a "sexy stat"
by Mike Schramm 
Aug 13th 2009 at 1:00PM
This post on Gray Matter has some pretty insightful thoughts about the much-maligned Hit stat. We've posted quite a few times about Hit with the various classes, and yet it's still fairly hard to get a handle on -- most people know their class has a "hit cap" that they have to reach to keep any of their swings or shots from missing, but other than that, they haven't really tangled with the stat much the way they might have some of the more core stats for their class. But Grey Matter argues that "Hit is sexy" -- despite the fact that, unlike other stats, Hit is required just to make your class do the right thing (rather than doing it better), Graylo still likes the idea, and actually likes the balance that Hit requires. No matter what ilvl your gear, you still need a certain amount of Hit on it, and the balancing job of keeping your hit cap met versus providing other stats on your gear is what Gray seems to like about Hit. While other stats just go up and up, Hit is the great limiter -- having more of it frees up space on other gear for more pressing stats, but you still have to balance out the pieces you wear to try and meet the cap.To that extent, I agree. I do think that Hit is a relatively arbitrary stat (we know what it means in real life to be Stronger or have more Intelligence, but Hit is really just designed to keep game levels in line), but on the other hand, Gray's right -- because you need a certain amount of hit in your gear, it does become an interesting balancing game of "do I need this more powerful piece of gear, or this weaker piece of gear with some extra Hit on it?" It does a nice job of mixing things up as an endgame-balancing mechanic.
Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, Classes, Buffs
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 5)
Noscy Aug 13th 2009 7:43PM
I share the same sentiments on Hit on plate gear, my warrior needs more. I think the gear is orientated towards fury as Precision helps balance it, this isn't good for me as an arms warrior I am substantially below the hit cap but have an absurd amount of armor pen.
Neirin Aug 13th 2009 2:40PM
When I was reading Graylo's article yesterday I thought it screamed WoW.com.
For people who don't like hit and think it's just an annoyance: that's the point (and why Graylo likes it). Blizz wants us to think about gearing up, not just take the next shiny purple thing that comes along.
Draelan Aug 13th 2009 3:41PM
I agree. Hit rating forces you to think about your gear a bit more.
And besides, I think some of the people here are over-complicating it. Unless you're in one of the world's best raiding guilds and they freak out at you to L2P because you're 1 point over hit cap when you've got a Draenei in the group and a Moonkin with Faerie Fire, then you don't NEED to worry so much if you've got a gear set that's hit-capped for bosses, and a gear set for trash, and a gear set for when the moonkin comes, and... etc.
If you can be 100% sure that you'll always have a Draenei in the group when you raid, aim for the hit cap that reflects that. If you can't be sure you'll always have a draenei around, then gear as if you don't. If the Draenei comes to the raid then, sure, you'll be over hit-cap. However, if the draenei doesn't show up you won't be forced below the hit-cap, and you don't have to stress yourself out over having another set of gear to plan around that possibility. I mean, who really cares if you're a bit over the cap? So long as you don't gear/gem/enchant your gear to the point where you're drastically over the cap to the point where you're neglecting other stats, then it's not going to make-or-break you. This philosophy may not work as well for the REALLY hardcore raiding guilds, but for most, it's fine.
That said, I do agree that Hit shouldn't become COMPLETELY useless beyond the cap. Some aspects of hit are just beyond our control. (Will we have a Draenei? Will we have a Moonkin?) But it seems too much of a hassle to me to have gear-sets for different scenarios. (Realistically, it shouldn't be necessary beyond being dual-specced) I like the idea Gnosh had about Hit increasing crit after you reach the Hit-cap. As you become more accurate, it is easier to hit vital organs and particularly crippling points on your target. Of course, this benefit should be less-ideal than stacking Crit Rating or Agility. The point is to make it so Hit isn't completely useless if you're a bit beyond cap, not make Hit THE stat to stack to increase your crit rating. It would still be beneficial to keep as close to the cap as possible, but if you go over a bit because your guild just recruited a Balance druid, then being over-cap shouldn't be as big a deal.
SoundScape Aug 14th 2009 10:48AM
It's all well and good to give us something extra to think about when gearing, but what Blizzard fail at is itemizing Mail and Leather caster gear with hit rating. Boomkins and Elemental Shamans know exactly what I'm talking about. The rest of you, I challenge you to find some outside tier gear and PvP (PvP gear with hit rating? Seriously?).
If they're going to force this stupid extra cap down our throats, at least give us some sort of chance of reaching it.
If you can't already tell, I effing hate hit rating.
Chmmr Aug 13th 2009 3:07PM
@ melvv
Healers that want to roll/bid on items purely for the healing stats, "despite" the item having +hit, are likely in a raid for which they are undergeared. That, or they are unwilling to admit that there are items in the game not appropriate for their role, even though those items have a few of the stats they'd want. People in general will take an upgrade even if someone else would benefit twice as much for a similar jump in item level as they're getting.
Chmmr Aug 13th 2009 3:13PM
You often need to take an upgrade that puts you over the hit cap, so that you can take another upgrade *later* that lets you replace a +hit item in a different slot with one that has less or no +hit.
This is why I tend towards items that have a little bit of as many desirable stats as possible, so that replacing it later isn't a pain. i.e., removing that item doesn't destroy my +hit if the replacing item is tons better but doesn't happen to have +hit. This is also why i hate the titansteel dps helm with no stamina, and mostly str/hit.
psactionman Aug 13th 2009 3:15PM
To me, WoW before hit and expertise was boring and lame. I would get the same stats everytime, Agi, AP, crit, rinse and repeat. Now it is a challenge that I welcome. It keeps things interesting as I have to keep re-evaluating my gear, my enchants, and my gems. The thing is that blizzard has designed a game that allows you to make choices and make decisions so that you are not exactly the same as everyone else. Every piece of gear with a higher ilevel will always be better, you may have to swap some enchants out, but that is part of the game to keep it from being repetitive. If you are too lazy to have to think about things like this maybe you should be playing something else.
As for expertise, it is not as bad as you people make it out to be. I have found on my gear (I roll with an enhance Shaman) I get enough of the necessary stats, with enough gem slots and opportunities for enchants to keep my cap and have room for other stats. Yes, on lower level gear it was harder, but I am Spell hit capped, Expertise capped, and have over 4k AP and 30% crit self buffed. Blizzard is not stupid in this regard, they give you enough stats to be good, the extra makes you awesome. It is not forced, it is your call whether or not you want to be awesome or just good.
nekorion Aug 13th 2009 3:14PM
I've always liked a game where side grades were heavily used. It's not always about the next shiny drop. it's about mixing it up and customization.
It's why I like sockets and metagem bonuses and such.
thebvp Aug 13th 2009 3:17PM
@Milk
I've taken two semesters of it, thanks much. Of course what I said wasn't meant to be taken literally, but I suppose you missed that part. That's fine.
My point was that stat optimization is needlessly complicated, especially for melee dps. Trying to navigate the quagmire or stat caps and matching the best gear for each fight that is more annoying than it is fun for most players. The end result is that it turns many off to pve raid progression.
thebvp Aug 13th 2009 3:17PM
Sorry... @Mike.
mikwolf6 Aug 13th 2009 3:53PM
You should ask the school for their money back.
Fozz Aug 13th 2009 3:53PM
There is unnecessary complaining and muddying of waters here regarding
how complicated melee stats are.
For melee, there are three stats that have a cap which you do not want to exceed.
Going over the threshold on these stats means the overflow stat is worthless:
Hit (depends on your class/spec)
Expertise (6.25% or 6.5% depending on which math you believe)
Armor Penetration (100% armor pen = 1232 ArP rating, assuming no talent benefits)
There is no need to get lost in the swirl of the other stats,
since they have no cap. Every stat has a single other stat that is either on par
with and/or better than the above three. (Rogues and agility, for example).
As a melee, just know your caps and don't exceed them, and be aware of any
incremental points where the benefit of these stats decay.
ie: Rogues have a yellow hit, poison hit, and white hit caps, and as you pass
by the first two points, the value of your next point of hit decreases.
To sum up, there are 3 stats with a cap you have to worry about as melee.
The intellectual effort this requires to understand is somewhere between Hello Kitty Island Adventure and particle physics.
MechChef Aug 13th 2009 4:13PM
I'm a rogue, and while hit used to be THE stat to have in BC, it's become a bane of my existence.
w Aug 13th 2009 5:04PM
I can't stand hit. It overcomplicates an already complicated stat system which at launch was boasted as being "an easy to understand stat system". well they've gone and complicated the hell out of it. Then again, blizzard's B- list designers are at the helm so i'm not surprised.
t0xic Aug 13th 2009 5:23PM
How did we go from hypothesizing about a "B" development team to being so absolutely certain?
/facepalm
Draenors Aug 13th 2009 5:42PM
I'm not sure I like that hit is a necessary stat, and yet is a stat that - for many classes/spec, but not all - needs to be capped, and yet there's "random" buffs that give. A buff that gives attack power or crit is just a welcome bonus (though they may sometimes still be crucial for raiding), but some classes need to have their hit capped. I usually raid with Shadow Priests/Boomkins (3% spell hit) and I'm a Draenei myself (1% hit), so I usually need the same hit from gear. However, I will occasionally find myself without a Boomkin/SPriest, and then I have to change one gear-slot... I even (and this is surely an issue for others) forget to do this change, and I think it might be a bit silly that my gear and talents aren't enough to make me capped by themself.
Of course, you could also argue that it's nice that players have to actually think about their stats and which gear to wear and which classes they are in raid with.
bigjonno Aug 13th 2009 6:52PM
I hate juggling gear to stay hit-capped. I loathe and detest it. It's not that you have to maintain a certain level of hit, that's fine, it's just that any extra is useless.
It's not so bad if you're a rogue; you make sure you're over the poison cap, but anything over that is still giving some benefit. For hard-capped classes, it's a pain in the arse.
Sleutel Aug 13th 2009 6:56PM
For all the people complaining about balancing Hit on their gear...
Imagine a situation where going below the Hit cap didn't just mean your DPS would go down, but you would die, and you'd probably take the rest of the raid with you.
Now you know how Warrior, Paladin, and DK tanks feel about Defense. :D
bigjonno Aug 13th 2009 7:12PM
Defence is still useful beyond the cap. It can be a pain to get to the cap when you've just dinged 80, but you can never have too much. For most DPS classes, once you've reached the hit cap, it does nothing, which is much more annoying.
Sleutel Aug 13th 2009 7:17PM
Yes, Def does now give additional benefits beyond 540. However, my point was that even 539 Defense is deadly. IMO, a cap under which you die is worse than a cap over which points are useless.