Why are these numbers important aside from determining a general stat priority? I'm going to use them to determine how much theoretical DPS each piece could give me by multiplying the stats on the gear by the number shown (because the weights themselves are expressed in terms of X DPS gain per stat point), and subtracting out the values from my previous piece of gear.

Keep in mind that this isn't an exact science. This method of comparison leaves some things out, like reforging or racial stat boosts, but it should be fairly close. Hit and expertise values will be calculated as if you are below their respective caps, and all values will be rounded to the nearest whole number.

So let's walk through the calculations for a piece on our list: Garalon's Graven Carapace vs Ghost Reaver's Breastplate.

Current: 855 Str, 500 Crit, 687 Mastery
855(2.71) + 500(0.95) + 687(0.85) = 3376 DPS

Upgrade: 1063 Str, 828 Crit, 578 Hit
1063(2.71) + 828(0.95) + 578(2.17) = 4922 DPS

Δ: +1546 DPS

Hopefully that all made sense. If you have any questions, please shout out in the comments below. Otherwise, let's get crunching!

Heart of Fear

Imperial Vizier Zor'lok
Hisek's Chrysanthemum Cape – Δ: +561 DPS
Warbelt of Sealed Pods – Δ: +0 DPS (already have it, booyah!)

Blade Lord Ta'yak
Ring of the Bladed Tempest – Δ: +353 DPS
Waistplate of Overwhelming Assault – Δ: -295 DPS

Garalon
Garalon's Graven Carapace - Δ: +1546 DPS
Necklace of Congealed Weakness – Δ: +14 DPS

Wind Lord Mel'jarak
Gauntlets of the Shadowy Conqueror (White Tiger Gauntlets) – Δ: +710 DPS (-1 socket)
Impaling Treads – Δ: +1000 DPS (+1 socket)

Amber-Shaper Un'sok
Leggings of the Shadowy Conqueror (White Tiger Legplates) – Δ: +825 DPS (-1 socket)
Shoulderpads of Misshapen Life – Δ: -311 DPS

Grand Empress Shek'zeer
Chest of the Shadowy Conqueror (White Tiger Battleplate) – Δ: +1054 DPS

Terrace of Endless Spring

Protector Kaolan
Bracers of Defiled Earth – Δ: +197 DPS
Shackle of Eversparks – Δ: +957 DPS

Tsulong
Dread Shadow Ring – Δ: +423 DPS
Patroller's Girdle of Endless Spring – Δ: +402 DPS (-1 socket)

Lei Shi
Shoulders of the Shadowy Conqueror (White Tiger Pauldrons) – Δ: +660 DPS
Patroller's Girdle of Endless Spring – Δ: +402 DPS (-1 socket)
Darkmist Vortex – See below

Sha of Fear
Helm of the Shadowy Conqueror (White Tiger Helmet) – Δ: +1239 DPS
Shin'ka, Execution of Dominion – Δ: +7179 DPS (see below)

Binds when equipped
Plated Locust Bracers (zone drop, Heart of Fear) – Δ: +0 DPS (already have them, second booyah!)
Ornate Battleplate of the Master (blacksmithing) – Δ: +1309 DPS
Bloodforged Warfists (blacksmithing) – Δ: +706 DPS

In order to determine the approximate DPS increase of Shin'ka, I used two additional numbers from SimC: 5.68 for weapon DPS and 349.48 for weapon speed.

Trinkets, such as Darkmist Vortex, aren't as simple to compare as other pieces of gear. It's pretty clear that Vortex would be a great upgrade to my Lessons of the Darkmaster, and even to my Relic of Xuen, but surprisingly it isn't the best trinket of the tier. Thanks to an unfortunately long internal cooldown of 105 seconds (source) this trinket falls behind a lower ilvl alternative, Lei Shen's Final Orders.

Finally, a note about coins. Naturally, you'll want to use your coins where you are most likely to get an upgrade, which means that you should consider the approximate amount of DPS gained as well as the number of items you could use off that boss. For example, if I were to stroll into Terrace of the Endless Spring and only had two coins to use because I've been slacking on my dailies, I would prioritize Lei Shi and Sha of Fear.

Do you guys and gals have your raid drops mapped out? Which pieces are you gunning for?

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The Light and How to Swing It teaches you the ins and outs of retribution paladins, from Ret 101 and how to gem, enchant and reforge your retadin, to essential ret pally addons.

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