Hunters and Melee weapons

Disclaimer: This is strictly for PvE. I make no attempt to discuss the relative merits of the 26 stamina on Lok'delar because it doesn't mean squat when you raid.

Hunters, frankly, have picked up a bad rep when it comes to weapons. Too many novice players assume that, because they can equip a dagger, it must be a good weapon to use. When it comes to PvE, though, melee weapons are just stat placeholders, and we need to make sure we choose weapons intelligently so that we don't isolate ourselves from guild leadership such that we never get any.

In short, Hunters thrive on Agility. Since that contributes to both Attack Power (AP) and Crit chance, those are good, too. I'll assume, further, that we only care about Ranged Attack Power (RAP) and will not further distinctly note that it's all I'm talking about. To a lesser extent, we also like chance to hit gear. That, however, is easy to have enough of for ranged combat in the end-game, so I'm skipping it here (the math is also far trickier, since around 6% the benefits of hit stop scaling linearly and around 9% caps off entirely).

Understanding the math

The core problem is relating our three stats: Agi, RAP, and Crit. How much Agi is 1% Crit worth? Most of us know that 52 (give or take, but this is the number I'll use) Agility gives you 1% crit. However, 52 Agi also provides 104 RAP. So the real question is, in terms of DPS, how much agi is 1% crit worth? How much agi is 1 RAP worth? We need a unified metric, and we can achieve one. Mine is Equivalent Attack Power, hereafter EAP.

Core rationale

Crit is the tricky part to analyize, as it's a percent of total DPS. AP is much easier because it's linear; going from 899 to 900 AP is the same as from 1499 to 1500 AP. Here are the quick relationships:

• Crit is 100% bonus shot damage (130% with talents)
• AP is 1/14 damage per second

We can, fortunately, ignore talents like Ranged Weapon Spec because they affect the end result, not an intermediate stage.

Formulas

1% crit yields 130% bonus damage to an average shot 1% of the time, or (over time) 1.3% of an average shot's damage to every shot. Knowing the damage per shot (DPshot) of crit, we divide by the weapon speed (ignoring the quiver bonus) for the damage per second (DPS) of crit. Our assumed DPshot is from the paper doll sheet, (top end + bottom end) / 2

The DPS of AP is more complicated; it's 1/14 most of the time. AP, though, also benefits from your existing crit chance and crit bonus damage. 14 AP, then, is worth 1 DPS all of the time and an additional (1 + crit bonus) DPS crit % of the time. To move from DPS to EAP, then, we multiply by 14, plus the additional multiplication noted above.

• The EAP of 1% crit is [(DPshot) * 0.013 / (weapon speed)] * 14
• The EAP of 1 AP is 1 * (1 + [(crit %) * 1.3])
• The EAP of 1 Agi is EAP(1/52 crit) + EAP(2 AP): [(DPshot) * 0.013 / (weapon speed)] * 14 / 52 + 2 * (1 + [(crit %) * 1.3])

Also shown on the table (by hovering over the EAPs for %hit and %crit) are the EAgis, or Equivalent Agilities, for the metrics. These are simply EAP(metric) / EAP(Agi).

Now we've got a metric to analyze melee weapons (or any other gear) based on stats that contribute directly to ranged damage. Of course, we should also consider enchants: one-hand weapons get +15 Agi, two-hand weapons get +25. Finally, there are a couple more concerns: for one, speccing to Lightning Reflexes gives up to 15% bonus Agility, which must be factored in. For two, Alliance hunters get a 10% bonus from Blessing of Kings. The Horde's Grace of Air totem doesn't matter here because it's added to final agility at a flat rate, not as a percentage.

Show Me the Weapons!

I've got a few charts here, both based off my current gear (Giantstalker's plus a lot of ZG pieces elsewhere, such as the ring set). One is a 5/31/15 spec, the other a 0/21/30 to show the effects of Lightning Reflexes. Also shown is a quick estimate of a Survival Spec with Blessing of Kings, though the DPshot isn't updated to reflect the extra damage dished out as a result of BoK.

While not shown, these charts add the 15 agi to all 1H weapons and 25 agi to all 2Hs. Both assume the 30% crit damage bonus, 2.9 speed weapon (namely, Rhok'delar), and about 1340 RAP self-buffed. For 1H sets and all 2H weapons, I've averaged and halved, respectively, their EAPs for a "one-hand equivalent" for easier comparison. In the case of set items, the EAP column shows the non-set value of the item (so that you can evaluate a mix-and-match). However, sets are sorted by the average item value assuming the set bonus exists (the EAP per-hand column) to demonstrate where the set as a whole ranks. On this chart, EAP (no-hit) is superfluous. It matters on the worksheet only.

5/31/15 Trueshot Aura spec

0/21/30 Lightning Reflexes spec

Lightning Reflexes + Blessing of Kings

What does it mean?

The two specs are, surprisingly, fairly close. Here's why: The best weapons balance crit and AP. They're either the mixed-stat pieces like the Core Hound Tooth or the straight Agi pieces like the Scythe of the Unseen Path. The just-AP weapons like Ashkandi don't give big crits often and the just-crit weapons like Lok'delar don't give enough extra punch to their crits.

However, it's important to remember that the EAPs between specs (particularly between Marksmanship and Survival) are meaningless. EAP is useful only within a spec because I make no attempt to manage talents like Ranged Weapon Specialization or Killer Instinct. They're omitted because, within a given spec, they affect all variables equally.

Pre-MC

The Dal'rend set are the best blue hunter weapons in the game. Very close behind is the Barbarous Blade, which has the same AP and only 5/52% crit less. For a spec with Lightning Reflexes, the Bone Slicing Hatchets jump into the same ballpark (and for Alliance with BoK, come out on top). However, these are charts with MC gear, and a LR spec won't do as much damage as Marks in blues.

Of particular note, Crit weapons like Dawn's Edge are vastly overrated at this and any point in the game. Note that on the charts above, a Dawn's Edge trails a green level 55 "of agility" weapon that costs perhaps 1/10 of a DE at the auction house. Note further that this is with around 1340 RAP in the calculations -- when you're in the 50s shopping for DEs, or Krol Blades, or whatever, you're not hitting that hard, and crit is a significantly smaller contributor to DPS. Most hunters, while levelling, are better off buying green weapons from the AH.

Everywhere else

The best easily-reached weapons are both from Hakkar in ZG: The Warblade of the Hakkari mainhand and the Fang of the Faceless, both 1% crit and 28 AP. Interestingly enough, these are the same stats you get from High Warlord / Grand Marshal weapons.

Technically better (by 2 AP) is the Silithid Claw from deep in AQ40. Also worth note are the Barb of the Sandreaver and the Eye of Nerub. For all Marks hunters, and for Horde LR hunters, they trails the dual-wielding combos mentioned above. For Alliance LR+BoK hunters, they come out on top. Of course, they've also got that 20-30 Stamina for everybody, and hit like a truck, so they may well be the best choices for everybody, even if it takes a few EAP off your ranged damage.

Doing it yourself

Hit my hunter item worksheet to run these calculations for your own character! Now online, instead of downloading potentially unsafe Excel files. Use your best estimate of "normal" for the degree to which your listed stats are buffed: if you only care about your damage when you've got Winter Squid, a Mongoose potion, and Improved Grace of Air, throw it all in. Play with the numbers! See where they go!

Additionally, I've scraped together a ten-second rotation number cruncher for ranged weapons, with everything 30+ DPS listed. For those who eschew the TSR, I also list the average damage values of each shot (Aimed / Multi / Auto) so that you can better judge burst damage.

Feedback? I'd love to hear it. Write me at lomn75@gmail.com. Love, Calimehtar <Wanderlust>, Whisperwind.