[PVP Ret] Mastery vs Versatility optimization : where does it really lead ?

[Strear]

I see both when i watch top players in ladders. Some go mastery, some go versatility.

I know versatility brings " survivability " and some damage.

What I'd like to know is :

1) Someone gears and enchants Versatility all the way : does it bring a huge damage reduction (let's say > 10 % ?)
2) Someone gears and enchants Mastery all the way : even without the survival advantage of versatility, does he do MUCH more damage than with the " Versatility all the way " gear ? How much ?

I'm actually gearing Mastery because I want to hit like a truck in Bgs/Rbgs, and even using Seraphim in CTF games. May I be wrong ?

Thanks in advance

[Strear]

Can somebody tell me if tools like Rawr still work so that I can make some kind of simulation with Mastery vs Versatility gear ?

[Deleted]

Can somebody tell me if tools like Rawr still work so that I can make some kind of simulation with Mastery vs Versatility gear ?

I think Simcraft is what you want. It's very complex under the hood, but very simple to use at the most basic level: you can just download the app, upload your character from the armory and sim out your dps. It simulates dps no problem, and does dpts for tanks at least - so hopefully you can get that for other specs too. I am new to it and haven't quite figured out easy ways of changing gear (e.g. to compare mastery and versatility) but you can probably figure that out yourself with some digging. I know you can export a character from Ask Mr Robot to simcraft, so that would be one simple way of comparing gearsets.

Let us know what you find out - it's an interesting question for sure.

This thread has an interesting post advocating versatility:

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/to...0170980?page=1

- - - Updated - - -

OK, I just ran a generic 620 honor geared paladin through Simcraft. I assumed a heavy movement fight and an average level of skill. I compared enchanting versatility compared to mastery (i.e. switching 275 mastery rating to 275 versatility). I disabled all buffs except the mastery one we can give ourselves.

Mastery: 10342 dps (0.49% higher)
Versatility: 10292 dps

In pvp, the 620 gear would be scaled to 675 so absolute dps would be higher, but the relative values may not be far off.

Simcraft does not report dtps for dps specs, but it reports % heal/damage versatility and shows the 275 points of versatility gives 2.01% more of it than the default mastery geared paladin. As I understand it, 1% versatility gives you 0.5% damage reduction. So enchanting versatility should give 1% more damage reduction.

If those numbers are right, in a pvp context, I can see why some rets gem mastery and some gem versatility. Choosing between 1% damage reduction or 0.5% higher dps seems close to me. I'd probably value attack slightly more than defence in pvp, but whether it's 2x more, I'm not sure. If you can rely on a healer, yes, If not, I'd weight them closer and probably prefer to enchant versatility for pvp.

Versatility will also boost your own healing, which is not insignificant in pvp.

[Revellion]

What about haste? And what is overall stat priority atm?

[Deleted]

What about haste? And what is overall stat priority atm?

I'm not a theory crafter or pvper of any calibre, so I am supremely unqualified to answer but I think haste falls behind mastery. It already does in pve. I suspect it falls further behind in pvp, as you are not there standing around tunnelling a target so it's less important to reduce global cooldowns for more holy power. Crit and MS might be better than haste in pvp, but they've apparently been halved in effectiveness for pvp relative to pve, so I would not rate them highly.

So, personally, I would go:

versatility>=mastery>haste>crit>MS

for ret pvp. I don't know if the pro arena people would agree.

[Beartastic]

For basically anything ret is doing atm, the stat to go for is mastery.