True dat.

I was originally a caster back in vanilla. Though I could see how my tank would have some compelling choices to make even with the homogenized gear, the caster in me was kind of bummed when the changes to gear were announced. I figured, though, that homogenization couldn’t be THAT bad. Gear choices would still matter, right?

Here we are a few months into Cata and I am unabashedly bored with gearing up my mage. Back in Vanilla, I found gearing to be one of the more compelling things to do. I caught so much flak for having < 2,000 HP in my raiding set back then (my robes had 0 stam on them, my dual rings of spell power had no stats other than SP), but nobody gave me any guff when I continually topped the damage meters and (through smart play and knowing my class) I managed to avoid deaths. Gearing remained a compelling choice for casters even in TBC. Crafted epics provided an option for casters to capture additional power at the cost of being extra squishy.

While I was busy maxing my SP, though, there were other players who took a more prudent approach. They chose items with intellect, spirit and stamina to have more longevity (where I was constantly chugging potions) and survivability. These were real choices.

It wasn’t until Wrath that we started to get the impression that all caster gear was the same. There were few times when a new piece of gear, for example, would be anything but a clear upgrade over something from the previous tier. Even then, though, I thought the choices were at least somewhat compelling. There were more opportunities for stats to vary within a tier.

In Cata, though, every piece of gear has the same stam and intellect (unless it has a socket or two) and then 2 secondary stats. Reforging makes these secondary stats even less meaningful than they might have been. Aside from juggling the hit cap, most casters don’t really have much else to do than maximize crit (if it’s not there then reforge it, if it is there then do nothing).

BORING!