Project Lore

Okay boys and girls.  Let's get those thinking caps on.  Today we will be following up Bastosa's excellent Tanking Stats Series with a discussion on Level 80 DPS numbers.  I am admittedly writing this for the benefits of PvE rogues, but the forthcoming discussion encapsulates information for any melee DPS class.  That being said, the importance of some facts can shift depending on spec, gear, and general class differences.  I will try to avoid pigeon-holing this entirely for the friends of the shadows, but all melee DPSers are asked to chime in on the differences for their class.

The first thing I did after hitting 80 was to begin preparing for raids.  I completed my homework - looking up the needed hit/expertise ratings and the gear setup I would need to obtain them - and begin my instance and heroic grinding to prepare for Naxxramas.  I was attempting to be a well prepared guildie, turns out they didn't care what I was.  At that time, I did not feel that I was adequately prepared gear-wise, but they wanted an all guild run more than a well-geared tenth man.  Boy, did my numbers show it.

It doesn't matter how hard you could hit or how much attack power you stack, if you aren't actually connecting with your target.  Melee DPSers separate their hit cap into three categories, two of them are obtainable and directly beneficial to strive for.  To guarantee that you will never "Miss" a mob you, a dual wielder would need an insane amount of Hit Rating, 886 to be exact.  This is assuming you have no +hit talents and no Draenei in your group.  For example, SolidSamm's Precision (5% extra hit chance) and a Draenei buddy (an additional 1% hit chance) would allow him to never miss with only an additional 689 hit rating.  Still, this is way out of reach.

What is in reach is the 9% hit that is required to allow all of your special abilities to connect with boss mobs.  This cap is known as the Yellow Hit Cap (YHC) and is easily achieved.  A total hit rating of 295 will give any dual wielder all the hit rating one needs to cover the YHC.  This number becomes incredibly low, just 99 additional hit rating, if you have Precision or something like it that gives you 5% extra chance to hit.  Past that, hit rating is just gravy, tasteful, and helpful gravy.

Poison users need to push their hit rating much further to guarantee that all their poisons - which are treated as spells - land with their yellow damage.  315 hit rating (this assumes you have Precision) is much more difficult to reach than 99, but is achievable outside of raiding gear via a collection of Heroic, crafted and quest items.  If your hit rating gets past 315, you may want to look at re-gemming or swapping around some gear.  At that point, other stats become more beneficial than making sure you get every bit of white damage.

Let's recap with an "at a glance" guide for those who just need a refresher.

Dual Wielders:

Yellow Hit Cap = 295 Hit Rating (total) This is essential.  It guarantees that all of your abilities will land on Wrath of the Lich King's boss mobs.  Numerous talents and the Draenei passive can bring this number substantially lower.  Roughly 33 Hit Rating equates to 1% to hit.

Poison (Spell) Hit Cap = 446 Hit Rating (315 with Precision)
The more poison heavy your setup is, the more important this cap is.  Hit this cap, and I promise that your poisons from abilities will land on boss mobs.  It is crucial for Mutilate builds to strive for this.

White Hit Cap = 886 Hit Rating (total)
This unobtainable cap guarantees that all of your hits would land, ability and auto-attack damage.  Poison users can see some benefit past 315, but it is often more important to stack other statistics.  If you crunch the numbers, this means that dual wielders need 27% hit for our auto-attacks to land.

Single Wielders:

Yellow Hit Cap/White Hit Cap = 295 Hit Rating (total)
This is essential.  It guarantees that all of your abilities will land on Wrath of the Lich King's boss mobs.  Numerous talents and the Draenei passive can bring this number substantially lower.  Roughly 33 Hit Rating equates to 1% to hit.

Yes, single wielding toons have it a bit easier.  Their YHC and WHC are the same.

That covers one of our most important stats.  Next time I will go over the Expertise stat in-depth, which can be a bit more confusing as it pertains to a mobs ability to dodge and parry.  Tanks can check out their specifics for Expertise in Bastosa's posts.

Note: We don't know th exact way all of this is calculated in game, it is all anecdotal evidence.  Therefore some things are disputed.  The YHC, for example, is disputed by many to be closer to 8% than 9%.  I went with 9% because it guarantees you will land those attacks.