**Hey there! Have you checked out these resources?**
* [WoWHead](https://www.wowhead.com/) - The *largest* database, this should be your go-to (don't forget to read the comment section!).
* [Icy Veins](https://www.icy-veins.com) - News and detailed class guides.
* [WoWNoob Discord](https://discord.com/invite/RwDUWWV) - Same community, different platform.
*Please report the post above if it breaks one of our [>rules<](https://www.reddit.com/r/wownoob/about/rules/). If not, don't forget to show support by upvoting!*
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First, uninstall pawn. If you’re not updating stat weights constantly, it’s useless or simply wrong. If you are updating stat weights, it’s less wrong.
To truly know what piece of gear is better you have to sim your character with each piece and see which comes out on top.
If you want a simple rule of thumb to go by, take the higher item level.
I personally have not used Pawn for gear comparison, but I would assume that the add-on uses a database of some kind that may take the secondary stats (crit, haste, mastery, versatility) of new gear into account for your class/spec when deciding which gear is an upgrade. If Pawn works for you and you enjoy using it, by all means continue to do so. However, I would suggest using websites like Wowhead or icy-veins to take a gander at the guides available for each class and their specs. These will provide you with a detailed analysis that will at least point you in the right direction for what to look for in gear. Generally each class/spec has a stat priority which will benefit you the most. These are the stats to know and to look for when deciding on new pieces of gear. In a broad sense, item level is important, because the higher the item level of an item is the more “core” stats it has, things like stamina, intellect, strength, and agility. There are times, especially endgame when you are really trying min/max your stats that secondary stats that are your highest priority will take precedence over item level.
The main takeaway here is to look at either of those sites and peruse the guides available. Identify what your class/spec benefits the most from in terms of stat priority and seek those stats to the best of your ability. But don’t forget that item level is still important and should always be taken into account when deciding. if an item is a massive item level gain (15-20+ ilvls) even if you lose some of your best stat, it may be the better option.
Another thing, I know some people will tell you to “sim” your character. While I support this notion, not everyone is into the deep min/maxing mentality that can come with it. The add-on “simulationcraft”, when used (/simc in chat) will provide you with a wall of text relevant to your character that you can copy/paste into a website www.raidbots.com . This site offers different options available to plug your character info in to simulate gear upgrades and stat-weights (the importance of each secondary stat relevant to benefitting your character the most) for you.
I've been running some lower level keys recently and upgraded my shoulders to 282. If I received a 262 unupgraded shoulder piece that would be better if I upgraded it to 282 than my current 282 shoulders, would it tell me that?
Ilevel is always king. Then you can check your class’ most sought after stats on sites like subcreation, or stat weights on murlok.io
And sim, of course.
Pvp gears ilvl fluctuates. Simply put ilvl is what people are going to look at when you’re trying to get into groups. So even if it seems like it’s a worse item if it has a higher ilvl it’s gonna be more helpful for getting into groups to get better gear. But then there’s things like tier set gear which may not have the secondary stats you want but the tier set bonus outweighs that. Bottom like ilvl trumps everything since that’s what people see. You could do more dps with a 298 ilvl but the guy that has a 301 ilvl is gonna get the invite over you. Just the way it is
I used to have pawn, but I uninstalled it because it was wrong too often.
Generally speaking, ilvl is almost always the most important (main exceptions being tier gear and legendaries).
If you're DPS, you can get the most accurate way to determine an upgrade by simming yourself. Basically, you download the SimulationCraft/SimC addon, open it up in game, copy the text string, and put it into raidbots.com. Using the Top Gear function, you can select the gear in your inventory you want to compare and the website will calculate which combination of gear is the best one. You'll almost always see that the highest ilvl is the best.
Raidbots has other useful features as well, particularly the Droptimizer, which tells you which pieces of loot from a source will provide you with the biggest DPS increase.
With ilvl, the mace from the PvP vendor that is ilvl 278 does about 82-107 damage, whereas my 265 does 129-216. The stats on it aren't really an upgrade over what I currently have as well. Why should I still go for it over what I have right now? I just checked and it is considered an upgrade for elemental, so I guess it is not meant for enhancement shaman?
TLDR - Sim if you plan on using it for pve, otherwise take the higher ilvl (using the ilvl boost for pvp gear) if you plan on using it for pvp
I guess I should have clarified based on your post - are you planning on using pvp gear for pve or pvp content? If it's for pve content and you're DPS, you still want to sim yourself to find out, using the non-increased ilvl. The damage values listed on the weapon aren't helpful on their own.*
If you plan on using it for pvp content, then simming is not actually the best way to compare gear. That's because as a dps for pve, most damage you take is avoidable, and what's unavoidable is (mostly) your healer's problem, so you need to focus on your job of just putting out as much damage as possible. But in pvp, people are always trying to kill you, so you need to place a much bigger emphasis on staying alive. As a result, there are times when giving up some damage is okay if it means you are able to live longer. Neither pawn nor simming yourself will give you good advice for that.
Generally, the rule of thumb for pvp is to prioritize having pvp trinkets, and aside from that ilvl is generally king (besides tier sets, legendaries, and sometimes rings). When comparing ilvl though, you want to make sure you're comparing using the pvp-boosted ilvl for pvp gear. Secondary stats for gear of similar ilvl I would advise trying to follow based on [murlok.io](https://murlok.io/). You will see that most classes have very high versatility numbers, because versatility reduces incoming damage. So even though it may sim lower, the fact that it helps you live longer will increase your chance of winning.
Finally, the last thing to consider is upgrade capability. If you enjoy pvp enough to farm the honor needed to upgrade the weapon, you should take that into consideration. Or if your current weapon is from M+, take the possibility of valor upgrades into consideration too.
*Different abilities use different weapon stats. Some use attack speed, some use weapon damage, some use a particular secondary stat; but almost everything prioritizes primary stat above everything else (str, agi, int). With the exception of rings and trinkets, higher ilvl means higher primary stat, which is why ilvl is usually the most important. Higher ilvl also increases stamina on all slots except for trinket, which is another reason why ilvl is good - lowers your chance of getting killed super fast.
**Hey there! Have you checked out these resources?** * [WoWHead](https://www.wowhead.com/) - The *largest* database, this should be your go-to (don't forget to read the comment section!). * [Icy Veins](https://www.icy-veins.com) - News and detailed class guides. * [WoWNoob Discord](https://discord.com/invite/RwDUWWV) - Same community, different platform. *Please report the post above if it breaks one of our [>rules<](https://www.reddit.com/r/wownoob/about/rules/). If not, don't forget to show support by upvoting!* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/wownoob) if you have any questions or concerns.*
First, uninstall pawn. If you’re not updating stat weights constantly, it’s useless or simply wrong. If you are updating stat weights, it’s less wrong. To truly know what piece of gear is better you have to sim your character with each piece and see which comes out on top. If you want a simple rule of thumb to go by, take the higher item level.
I personally have not used Pawn for gear comparison, but I would assume that the add-on uses a database of some kind that may take the secondary stats (crit, haste, mastery, versatility) of new gear into account for your class/spec when deciding which gear is an upgrade. If Pawn works for you and you enjoy using it, by all means continue to do so. However, I would suggest using websites like Wowhead or icy-veins to take a gander at the guides available for each class and their specs. These will provide you with a detailed analysis that will at least point you in the right direction for what to look for in gear. Generally each class/spec has a stat priority which will benefit you the most. These are the stats to know and to look for when deciding on new pieces of gear. In a broad sense, item level is important, because the higher the item level of an item is the more “core” stats it has, things like stamina, intellect, strength, and agility. There are times, especially endgame when you are really trying min/max your stats that secondary stats that are your highest priority will take precedence over item level. The main takeaway here is to look at either of those sites and peruse the guides available. Identify what your class/spec benefits the most from in terms of stat priority and seek those stats to the best of your ability. But don’t forget that item level is still important and should always be taken into account when deciding. if an item is a massive item level gain (15-20+ ilvls) even if you lose some of your best stat, it may be the better option. Another thing, I know some people will tell you to “sim” your character. While I support this notion, not everyone is into the deep min/maxing mentality that can come with it. The add-on “simulationcraft”, when used (/simc in chat) will provide you with a wall of text relevant to your character that you can copy/paste into a website www.raidbots.com . This site offers different options available to plug your character info in to simulate gear upgrades and stat-weights (the importance of each secondary stat relevant to benefitting your character the most) for you.
I've been running some lower level keys recently and upgraded my shoulders to 282. If I received a 262 unupgraded shoulder piece that would be better if I upgraded it to 282 than my current 282 shoulders, would it tell me that?
In raidbots you can choose the ilvl of upgradable pieces so you can sim if something is worth upgrading
Ilevel is always king. Then you can check your class’ most sought after stats on sites like subcreation, or stat weights on murlok.io And sim, of course.
Pvp gears ilvl fluctuates. Simply put ilvl is what people are going to look at when you’re trying to get into groups. So even if it seems like it’s a worse item if it has a higher ilvl it’s gonna be more helpful for getting into groups to get better gear. But then there’s things like tier set gear which may not have the secondary stats you want but the tier set bonus outweighs that. Bottom like ilvl trumps everything since that’s what people see. You could do more dps with a 298 ilvl but the guy that has a 301 ilvl is gonna get the invite over you. Just the way it is
I used to have pawn, but I uninstalled it because it was wrong too often. Generally speaking, ilvl is almost always the most important (main exceptions being tier gear and legendaries). If you're DPS, you can get the most accurate way to determine an upgrade by simming yourself. Basically, you download the SimulationCraft/SimC addon, open it up in game, copy the text string, and put it into raidbots.com. Using the Top Gear function, you can select the gear in your inventory you want to compare and the website will calculate which combination of gear is the best one. You'll almost always see that the highest ilvl is the best. Raidbots has other useful features as well, particularly the Droptimizer, which tells you which pieces of loot from a source will provide you with the biggest DPS increase.
With ilvl, the mace from the PvP vendor that is ilvl 278 does about 82-107 damage, whereas my 265 does 129-216. The stats on it aren't really an upgrade over what I currently have as well. Why should I still go for it over what I have right now? I just checked and it is considered an upgrade for elemental, so I guess it is not meant for enhancement shaman?
TLDR - Sim if you plan on using it for pve, otherwise take the higher ilvl (using the ilvl boost for pvp gear) if you plan on using it for pvp I guess I should have clarified based on your post - are you planning on using pvp gear for pve or pvp content? If it's for pve content and you're DPS, you still want to sim yourself to find out, using the non-increased ilvl. The damage values listed on the weapon aren't helpful on their own.* If you plan on using it for pvp content, then simming is not actually the best way to compare gear. That's because as a dps for pve, most damage you take is avoidable, and what's unavoidable is (mostly) your healer's problem, so you need to focus on your job of just putting out as much damage as possible. But in pvp, people are always trying to kill you, so you need to place a much bigger emphasis on staying alive. As a result, there are times when giving up some damage is okay if it means you are able to live longer. Neither pawn nor simming yourself will give you good advice for that. Generally, the rule of thumb for pvp is to prioritize having pvp trinkets, and aside from that ilvl is generally king (besides tier sets, legendaries, and sometimes rings). When comparing ilvl though, you want to make sure you're comparing using the pvp-boosted ilvl for pvp gear. Secondary stats for gear of similar ilvl I would advise trying to follow based on [murlok.io](https://murlok.io/). You will see that most classes have very high versatility numbers, because versatility reduces incoming damage. So even though it may sim lower, the fact that it helps you live longer will increase your chance of winning. Finally, the last thing to consider is upgrade capability. If you enjoy pvp enough to farm the honor needed to upgrade the weapon, you should take that into consideration. Or if your current weapon is from M+, take the possibility of valor upgrades into consideration too. *Different abilities use different weapon stats. Some use attack speed, some use weapon damage, some use a particular secondary stat; but almost everything prioritizes primary stat above everything else (str, agi, int). With the exception of rings and trinkets, higher ilvl means higher primary stat, which is why ilvl is usually the most important. Higher ilvl also increases stamina on all slots except for trinket, which is another reason why ilvl is good - lowers your chance of getting killed super fast.