Is versatility good for any spec?

[Zka]

Garbage boring stat that you can't even tell you have. I'd rather have hit/exp + reforging back.

Yeah I went there.

The uselessness of versatility doesn't make these shitty cap stats and reforging any better.

[Deleted]

versatility = resilience im guessing i should go multi/mastery for fury smf specc nobodys even answered my qwestion yet

[Aleksej89]

I hate hit/expertise, but the versatility is just god awful boring.

It does not matter to anyone, no one wants it - there are always at least 2 better stats than it.

You never aim for it, you are never happy to see it on an item, you are never sad to lose it compared to other stats (most specs).

[Pascal]

if you aren't sure, you're statistically likely to be correct if you just assume that vers is not one of your best stats.

[SlippyCheeze]

if you aren't sure, you're statistically likely to be correct if you just assume that vers is not one of your best stats.

You might as well say "you're likely to be correct if you assume that Blizzard have hit their design goal of making it good, but not the best, for any class", which also gives useful information about when this is likely to change (never), and why it happens.

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It's a blanket increase to damage, healing and a reduction to damage taken - what's BAD about it? That it isn't as noticeable as the other stats? That it's boring? Sure, I'll give you those but it isn't a BAD stat.

Is it even needed though? Perhaps not. It's place on gear could probably be easily filled with Haste, Crit, Mastery and Multistrike.

...and I think this is what so many people mean when they say that versatility is "garbage":

They imagine that if it wasn't present on an item, especially a raid reward, and double-especially their BiS items, then it would be replaced with something that would make it closer to a theoretical "best in slot" item with the perfect secondaries, etc. (Regardless of how close those are in practice; BM hunters who have more or less any secondary equal in value complain just as much about this.)

I think this is just the adaptation period as people get used to a reward design philosophy from Blizzard that doesn't match what it was in the past: previously, BiS was something that you got during a tier, and were happy with, especially when you could use reforging to redress the "garbage" stats of the day. Sure, you might not get exactly what you wanted in your BiS gear, and whine about it, but you definitely expected to have it, full stop.

Now, the philosophy is to bring more balance to rewards, and to provide a long tail where "BiS" is literally unachievable save for the sort of RNG luck that you should also buy every lottery ticket in the world with. Instead of "the right answer" there are a variety of answers -- do you prefer a different secondary to change gameplay? DPS cost is probably on the order of 100 DPS or so to stack it, so go ahead, enjoy.

Do you have an item that dropped WF, socket, and speed? Nice, might well stay better than the next difficulty up equivalent item until you get something similar ... but because we were trained by years of WoW to expect to get BiS, then replace it with BiS+1 from the next difficulty or tier, that feels wrong. Unfamiliar. Like you somehow got cheated out of the reward for doing the harder difficulty when, instead, you actually won the lottery on the lower difficulty, and should enjoy it.

So, yeah, "garbage" means "I don't like the long tail, I don't like secondary stats so close that the 'wrong' one is less DPS difference than RNG in a fight, and I don't like being forced to make choices about what I want between two stats I like, but maybe two that I like less on a sidegrade."

[Blufossa]

Garbage boring stat that you can't even tell you have. I'd rather have hit/exp + reforging back.

Yeah I went there.

And still, no one cares for it back. I'd rather see it become a main stat for some dps specs. Especially melee.

[Jester Joe]

And still, no one cares for it back. I'd rather see it become a main stat for some dps specs. Especially melee.

I'd rather see versatility be a tertiary stat, like leech and speed.

[ro9ue]

I'm not sure what's so hard to understand about the purpose of Versatility. It's helps you perform other roles in addition to increasing damage, so while it will probably never be the top secondary, that doesn't mean it isn't filling a purpose.

Players who want to do better at hybrid things take Versatility. If you don't know when those moments are useful then just don't take it.

[Notdev]

Pretty sure it simmed 2nd behind multistrike at some point as frost mage in mid highmaul for me.

The main problem with it is that its boring and doesn't interact with abilities in any way for any class.

[FluFF]

There's nothing worst than getting an item and seeing that it has your best 2nd stat along with versatility...

Pretty much this, I shudder on a prot pala when a piece drops with either haste/versa or mastery/versa cause versatility is 6th out of 7 in the ''stats ranking'' for me, likewise a crit/versa piece makes me cringe cause that versa could have been haste or mastery in previous expansions.

I don't see the point in either Leech, Versatility or Avoidance, I'm even gonna scrap avoidance straight away cause I have seen 1 piece of avoidance gear since the start of this xpac.
As for Leech and versatility, they need to be removed... Not because it doesn't rank high for my spec but because it doesn't fit in their explanation of ''removing boring and unclear stats ''

'' But it is good for my spec '' isn't a valid reason to keep it neither, either make versa good for everyone and not like 3-4 specs out of 20+ or axe it, armor penetration got the same ''it's gone '' treatment cause only really warriors and blood dk's used it in Wrath.

[Sunnydee]

It's good for any spec.

There is however, better stats, but its not BAD, being bad would mean decrease in dmg by using it.

[ro9ue]

Pretty much this, I shudder on a prot pala when a piece drops with either haste/versa or mastery/versa cause versatility is 6th out of 7 in the ''stats ranking'' for me, likewise a crit/versa piece makes me cringe cause that versa could have been haste or mastery in previous expansions.

I don't see the point in either Leech, Versatility or Avoidance, I'm even gonna scrap avoidance straight away cause I have seen 1 piece of avoidance gear since the start of this xpac.
As for Leech and versatility, they need to be removed... Not because it doesn't rank high for my spec but because it doesn't fit in their explanation of ''removing boring and unclear stats ''

'' But it is good for my spec '' isn't a valid reason to keep it neither, either make versa good for everyone and not like 3-4 specs out of 20+ or axe it, armor penetration got the same ''it's gone '' treatment cause only really warriors and blood dk's used it in Wrath.

The whole purpose of having a breadth of stats is to customize your playstyle to an extent. If you want to take haste to reduce GCD, go ahead. If you want Crit because it interacts with your spec, do it. Mastery for your spec is awesome? K. You want to be a superior offhealer or soak some damage? Take Versatility.

Otherwise what the hell is the whole point to stats at all? People act like if it's not the #1 on the stat priority for me on this guide I didn't make, then it's totally worthless and might as well not exist.

Just take away all the secondaries and just have +Str/Int/Agi so it's just a flat numbers increase then.

I think they actually made a good choice with Versatility. While the stat might seem boring, it enhances the role of your character. A Claws of Shirvallah Feral Druid can Rejuv the fuck out of people - or pair it with Heart of the Wild and be an even more effective tank during an oh shit moment. Ret Paladins can take it + Selfless Healer and be insane at offheals. I'm sure a Shaman can use it to help heal better.

It's not all about pushing the highest dps # all the time, there's ya know, playstyles and shit.

[Stormspark]

There's nothing innately wrong with versatility. It's not a *bad* stat. It's just a boring stat. It would be neat if Blizzard could do something to make it a little more exciting, but it is what it is.

[SlippyCheeze]

There's nothing innately wrong with versatility. It's not a *bad* stat. It's just a boring stat. It would be neat if Blizzard could do something to make it a little more exciting, but it is what it is.

I'm a bit puzzled about this, so maybe you can help explain by contrast:

How is Crit an exciting stat compared to Versatility? Multi-strike? Agi/Str? In what way are they any more exciting? Because I literally can't understand how, but you obviously think they are, so hey, if I ask I can learn.

[Stormspark]

I'm a bit puzzled about this, so maybe you can help explain by contrast:

How is Crit an exciting stat compared to Versatility? Multi-strike? Agi/Str? In what way are they any more exciting? Because I literally can't understand how, but you obviously think they are, so hey, if I ask I can learn.

What makes versatility boring is that it's just a flat dmg % increase/incoming dmg % decrease. Multistrike has some more interesting effects. Crit has more interesting effects. Agi/Str/Int do different things for different specs (agi increases dodge for leather tanks, str increases parry for plate tanks). Just things like that. These different stats vary wildly in how useful they are to different specs because of synergy with how abilities work. Versatility doesn't have any synergy with anything, it's just there.

[Illiterate]

It's good for a few specs in pvp like frost dks

[Deleted]

One of the main problems with versatility also (in PvE) is its damage reduction isn't 100% effective because you aren't taking damage 100% of the time unlike the DPS half of it where it's 100% effective. On top of that. 90% of the damage you do take is low ticking aoe and is countered by hots and passive raid healing.


What I mean by that last point is, even when it is reducing damage. A lot of the time it isn't saving mana.

[Clone]

It looks pretty good on paper for PVP. Only problem is that it's hard to get. But then again I am just talking out of my ass.

[Jessicka]

The amount of damage it reduces is pretty trivial for how much of the stat you actually have, especially at Mythic level where a lot of mechanics are 'avoid or die' type things anyway. It's usually more desirable all around to finish the fight/push the "difficult phases" faster.

[JaoStar]

I thought it was more of a PvP stat?