Jeez, holiday weekend here in the US and I go away, so much to catch up on!
The bear has a ton more innate avoidance than you do, so he will have (far) fewer stacks of Infected Talons. This is where most of my damage comes from on that fight, due to such low avoidance. Provided you can and do cover each Rake with a ShotR, I use HoPur and leave DivProt Unglyphed to help with the DOT and to soak pools. We swap at 2 stacks as usual, and I use no CDs for the 2nd hit outside of ShotR, unless I have like 6+ stacks of debuff.
Feather is tits, I use it and spark HC and love them both. Reforging hit to haste (obv) still leaves you a good hit bank, which means you can pick up Haste/Stam gems for socket bonuses (if you are so inclined).One last thing I also got Fabled Feather of Ji-Kun today on normal and I currently have a fully upgraded normal spark (obviously gunna keep that) and a Brutal Talisman of the Shado-Pan Assault (not sure which is better), anyone have any idea which is better or if theres not a lot of difference between them? Im only going to the expertise soft cap so expertise isn't a huge problem
---------- Post added 2013-05-28 at 02:57 PM ----------
Hmmm, you sure it was me? I don't use AMR, I just reforge manually with my own priority. Hit (7.5) > Exp (7.5-15) > Haste > Exp (to 15, if not) > Mastery >> Crit >>>...>> D/P.
Been touched on, but no, nothing changed for us. Anything he "feels" differently is simply a flux in play more likely. 5% less dmg when ShotR is up is extremely hard to notice unless you are VERY perceptive and VERY familiar with the fight and damage profile.
Both of these are true. Some people avoid socket bonuses totally (@Choice), but others (like me) try to pick up STR/STA bonuses where possible. Even so, EXP gemming to be able to reforge more haste will always have a net benefit over STR.
Also, DPS meta.
Most of our gear (if you get the "good pieces" is going to have STR bonuses anyhow. Some people ignore these, which is fine, but if you can use the color to get some tweak room for caps (like Exp/Haste in reds), you'll get free STR. Sure, it's not much, but it's increased AP (esp when not tanking, if you ever don't) and minor free parry. I wouldn't sweat it over 60 Str, but 120 isn't bad. Obviously avoid avoidance bonuses unless you just get them (even though I felt dirty picking up the parry bonus on the tier helm lol). Also, remember that Stam is blue and Haste/Stam is a good choice in those sockets if you're already hit capped (hi2u Feather).
This is of course viable, but mostly only at heroic gear levels. Below 522ish, you'll have a hard time meeting caps with this method.You can also bruteforce it and only socket 320 Haste into everything. Works too. If you have too much hit/exp and you absolutely don't care about stamina or mastery, thats fine too.
This. Sounds more like EBKAC, given that youre doing his reforges for him, if we're honest.
Windsong is OK I guess, but Y U NO Dancing Steel? 50% uptime, even if it IS just STR, is still pretty damn good. I just find windsong underwhelming now, given that the crit is pretty meh, mastery is pretty meh, and the haste is decent but never guaranteed. And, yes, Colossus in 25m is just a waste now, sadly