Secondary stats don't matter in pve...or do they?

Community General Discussion
1

For several years now I’ve been hearing “ilvl/main stat over secondaries”, however, taking the following list into account:

Restoration Shamans: Crit>Vers
Ele Shaman : Haste>Vers (Windspeaker’s legendary)
Blood DH: Vers>=haste
Havoc and Vengeance: Haste>vers
Guardian Druid: ilvl/vers>haste
Fire Mage: Haste>vers OR mastery
Brewmaster: Vers>crit
Mistweaver: haste>vers (dung) and crit>vers (raid)
Windwalker: vers>mastery
Protection paladin: Haste to 20%, then vers AND/OR mastery (both are good)
Outlaw and Subtlety: vers>crit
Protection warrior: haste>vers

These values come from the WoWhead guides. 14 specs favor versatility as a secondary stat.

There is almost absolutely no incentive for these specs to gear up via Mythic+ except for trinkets, when so few pieces give the desirable stats, if point for point, the pvp gear has more value which are easily found in PvP vendors. The endgame for most players is heroic raiding and so getting to a rating of 1600 is not something out of reach for most players. Pushing to a rating of 1800 requires a bit more team organization, but most casuals should be able to reach that. . The Mythic+ upgrades coming with 9.0.5 end at ilvl 220, which is the same as Rival gear,

If you put a 213 piece with bad secondaries and a 210 piece with BiS secondaries, the above specs will go for the 210. I am a consumate stat-holic and I almost always aim for the perfect pieces to the point of obsession. (That’s not to say I would equip a 210 over a 220, but it is physically and mentally painful to see my bis secondary stats fade away.)

This is one of the reasons why I believe secondary stat reforging should come back as a feature. It’s quite ridiculous that competent PvE players are forced into PvP for maximum sims and ideal stats.

2

Ilvl over secondaries is a thing if the ilvl is high enough difference (historically 10, but possibly 6 now)

Basically it’s a case by case basis though. If you want to optimal you need to sim every piece.

3

i like the idea of reforging. bring that back or rain gear down on me again. id take either one tbh.

4

Secondary stats have always been of significant importance since I started playing endgame in Cata.

ilvl / Primary Stat is important, but only ever trumps good secondaries if it has enough of a raw stat boost to overcome using “good” stats.

also, you can get almost every stat combo on every slot in M+. There’s just not a good way to target upgrades since only vault rewards matter now. In BfA, base drops were good (too good, tbh, I understand why they were nerfed), so it was best for targeting upgrades.

5

“Main stat” is intellect, agility or strength. Secondary stats are Crit, Vers, Mastery, Haste. Tertiary stats are speed, avoidance, leech.

6

For the most part you always go for higher ilvl because they provide more primary stats. You only really worry about secondary stats if you have two items of the same ilvl. The main exception to this are neck, rings, and trinkets.