Hey I’m a returning player (haven’t played since WoTLK) so the concept of ilvl is a bit new to me. I’m currently playing a Brewmaster Monk Tank. I’ve been chasing a BiS list of Mythic+ gear atm and sitting at an ilvl of 193. I keep seeing people say that you should prioritize item level over stat priority, but I don’t understand why. I have a few items that would be ilvl upgrades but they are missing things like versatility, or crit strike, which seems very important for a monk tank. Could someone explain to me why I would want to prioritize ilvl?
The current game design philosophy around gear is that an ilvl upgrade should always be an upgrade. That’s how blizzard has stated it should work.
In reality things can get a bit more complicated than that. For example, an item with a gem socket can be better than an item 7-10 ilvl higher than it because of the extra stats the gem gives. The reason for this is because if we think about what item level actually is, it’s just a higher stat budget for the item. If you can achieve more stats with a gem than the ilvl upgrade will give you, the gem slot is worth more than the ilvl.
The best place to go to get information from people who really know what they’re talking about when it comes to your particular spec would be the monk discord, Peak of Serenity. They’ll be able to point you in the right direction when it comes to specifics on Brew Master.
Best of luck!
1 Like
Zipster has said 99% of what I was going to suggest.
Beautifully stated.
I think I can offer some logic to help you OP. Higher ilvl is usually better because of the assumption that your primary stat should be prioritized above all else. Blizz tried to streamline this to make it higher ilvl is better, but it still has some designs from an era where ilvl did not exist and gear simply existed.
So, intellect > secondary stats. Gems complicate it by keeping the ilvl seemingly lower. So an ilvl 150 trinket has 20 intellect with a gem slot. 155 gives 25 intellect. But you can add a 10 intellect gem (to give an example).
The other headache are trinkets. Depending on a trinket’s effect, the effect it gives can be better than the 60 extra vers you’d get from another trinket or whatever. Some classes utilize the trinket much better, and can gain more out of it than one of higher level with a separate effect.
Icy-veins.com has good suggestions for each class/spec for items to fill trinket slots. They likewise make suggestions on best gems for each spec.
Think of ilvl as gearscore. Its the idea that the higher you number the better you are.
I’ve questioned this a little bit my self. What I generally do however is just compare the stat increases and possible decreases to see what I need high and what can be lower.