Spell Power vs Damage

Community General Discussion
1

Just wondering on a Ele Shammy should I equip a 2 handed Staff or one handed and shield?

The staff is a lower ilvl but says adds 22.5 Damage per second.

Does a caster now go by spell power OR damage?

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2

Casters just use spell power.

3

I killed someone with my staff in a BG when I runned out of mana one time.

Only could hit for like 1 - the guy had like 1 health left. That staff would’ve come in handy.

4

That has always been the case but a couple guild members said that changed in 8.0

5

As far as I’m aware, the Damage listing for a staff is simply what it will do if you use it to hit someone with it. It has nothing to do with its effectiveness for a caster. What you should be concerned with is its ilevel and stats.

PS: I think your guildies are pulling your leg. :grin:

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6

i use a shield i do good with it and look good to :grinning:

7

Power vs Damage.

Do I win a prize?

8

Dont about shaman, but mage can kill way more with the damage than with spell power.

I swear i saw gandalf killing way more orc by hitting them with his staff than by using spell…

9

I’m sorry, I’m very tired and keep singing under my breath “WwhooOOAAAAAA ele shammy… ABALAM, shammy have a staff or one hand” to the tune of “Black Betty”.

I add up the stats when comparing 1h/oh to a staff on any caster though and go with the one that benefits me most.

10

Weapon Damage does not affect the damage of spells in any way, nor has it ever in the history of WoW as far as I know.

Intellect/Spellpower are the only standard stats that add to the damage of spells.

11

What changed in 8.0 was lowering the reliance on weapon damage over attack power for mdps (and hunters) iirc. You still prioritize weapon damage over everything else generally, but it won’t be as bad as when your damage went through the roof off a 30 IL weapon upgrade.

12

If this were the case then caster weapons wouldn’t have significantly lower damage listings. Compare your staff’s danage to the damage on a strength or agility two hander at the same il. You will see it is far less. They did this because Enhancement Shaman were using caster weapons in the past because itemisation was better on them. So they nerfed the dammage making them useless for anyone but casters.

13

Sounds like you got, got.

Casters spells gain no value from weapon damage on live. Instead, Caster weapons have a higher amount of intelligence to compensate for ignoring weapon damage. In very specific cases, like Mistweavers or Resto Druids as an example, there will be a passives or spellpower -> attack power conversions baked into the kit.

Staves vs. Main Hand / Off Hand will have nearly identical intellect at equal item levels you only need to determine which is more desirable for you based on the secondaries available on each.

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