For a while now it's been telling me to gem my elemental shaman for expertise... How does that even make any sense at all?
For a while now it's been telling me to gem my elemental shaman for expertise... How does that even make any sense at all?
Expertise=hit for casters, been like that since the launch of MoP
When I last played several months ago, it was apparently a 'thing' to gem some expertise for casters. Not only was AMR doing it, but other sites were as well. I never understood why. But at any given time, I could inspect any number of geared casters in Stormwind, and sure enough, there would be one or two expertise gems and/or reforges.
I'm from AskMrRobot. The reason you might want to gem EXP even when capped, is that it opens up other possibilities like reforges. So you might be able to reforge hit into something better, or your worst secondary stat into your best one (instead of hit).
If you see the 'guaranteed optimal' message in the stats section, that means you have the single best solution, according to the given stat weights
Ask Mr. Robot Human Minion
To further clarify what Zoopercat says, AMR has set the 2ndary stats to more than half the value of intellect, by default. This means it will favour pure secondary gems along with expertise+2ndary stat gemming rather than int+2ndary gems. If you don't want this, then you can just raise the value on Intellect on the stat sheet.
You should just stick with the default weights though if you don't know enough to play with them.
And what are you gaining in return?
AMR is not a simulation tool. It uses the values YOU ENTER in order to make YOUR CHARACTER optimal. If you haven't done the research into the stat weights etc, going with the default weights is good enough for 95% of people at least.
In exchange for what?
Does your Int, Mastery and/or Haste go up?
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Precisely.
AMR is just a tool, so you need to know how to use it for optimum results. The default weights aren't bad for Shaman but aren't perfect either, so adjusting those can make a big difference. Ultimately you have to rely on your best judgement, however, to make a good call.
In addition to what everyone else has already mentioned, keep in mind the socket bonuses. It might just be that a gem with expertise (red) is more ideal, to match a socket bonus, than a gem with hit (blue). And, AMR may mix and match them (based on the stat weights you selected), to hit that ideal spot.