Elemental Shamans and the Hit Cap

I know there have been many posts about this topic but since this is a new blog I have decided to touch on it one more time. I can not stress enough how important being hit capped is to maximizing your dps as an Elemental Shaman. It really is simple but so many people take it for granted they can skip a little on hit rating for spellpower, haste or crit. If you don't believe me take a look at the armory sometime when you are on the WOW shaman forums. If you do not understand why you should be hit capped before anything else think about it this way.

If you miss a cast then your dps will be less and stacking spellpower, haste or crit means nothing if you can't land a damage spell.

OK now we know why we should be hit capped then how do we get there and how much hit rating do you need? Well that depends on a couple factors and we will go over the scenarios and rating % you need for each one. The Hit Rating cap is 17% for shamans (16% for Dranaei because of Heroic Presence).

First and foremost you need to be talented with Elemental Precision. If you read my last couple posts on which talents to spec in then you already understand this talent but I am going to recap it. Elemental Presicion provides you with a base 3% hit rating. Ok now we have 3% base hit rating we need to get the rest from gear and/or other class talents. If you are a raider you should have a shadow priest and boomkin in your raid. If not get one right away. Each of those classes provide a spell/talent that will give you another 3% hit rating for a total of 6%. Now you need to get the remaining 11% from gear and gemming if needed. Again hit rating is more important than another stat a gem can provide.

Lets break down the numbers at level 80:

26.23 hit rating per 1% hit

289 hit rating for 11% hit - this is the number you should be aiming for

367 hit rating for 14% hit - this is the number you need without a spriest or boomkin

Through a mix of talents, gear, and other classes you shouldn't have a problem becoming hit capped. This is the first and most important stat to a dps caster something you should cap before you ever step into a heroic raid. Good luck and remember don't miss!!!

I recently posted about gear to fill out your hit rating you can read by clicking here.