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Live
PTR
12.0.5
PTR
12.0.1
Beta
Mainhand/Offhand or Staff
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Post by
361508
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Patty
It's a matter of whatever has the best overall stats. Previously, before spell power was converted into intellect, a MH/OH combo generally gave you more spell power than a staff, but less stats such as intellect, spirit, haste or whatever else. That's not always the case anymore, so again - whatever has the highest and most useful stats.
It's pretty clear that in this case, the staff would be best.
Edit: Thanks Donny, I completely forgot about the Offhand enchant, which is another 100 intellect. :/
Post by
donnymurph
Also keep in mind that using MH/OH you get an extra enchant compared to staff only. As Patty said, it really depends on where the stats are at, as well as what particular stats you need. Back in Wrath, I swore by staves, simply because of the haste I got. Now it's not so simple...
Post by
361508
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Patty
Indeed, and I edited when I remembered about the OH enchant. ;) Generally, an equilivant ilvl MH/OH will yield more than a staff, bearing in mind the 100 intellect boost.
Post by
Izichial
To elaborate on what Patty said, before the cataclysm stat changes staves generally gave you more primary stats, taking a chunk of the secondary stats (which were generally far more valuable) you'd get on mh/oh. The previously relatively forgiving mana situation didn't exactly help give intellect and spirit any value boost and trading anything for stamina as a healer in PvE never was the hottest pursuit imaginable.
There were some staves that a lot of people used for a long time but mainly because they were decent and accessible early (such as Staff of Endless Winter from Hodir hardmode in Ulduar and heroic Dying Light from Blood Queen in ICC, both encounters that usually were among the first hardmodes to be tackled by any given guild given their difficulty compared to the alternatives) but neither were BiS for anyone at the end of their tier, nor it's upgrade (heroic Archus, Greatstaff of Antonidas) in the case of Dying Light. While I'd have to look it up to be certain I believe this has always been the trend; the only exception I can recall is the Golden Staff of the Sin'dorei from Kil'jaeden which had superior stats to any mh/oh combination thanks to a higher item level.
I'm actually a bit surprised they didn't add any new staff specific enchants considering the 100 int on OH enchant. As far as I know the reason they added the staff specific enchants in WotLK was because as described here mh/oh combinations ~always wound up superior and being able to enchant a staff with a better enchant compensated for that somewhat - feels like someone should've remembered this when they designed new enchants, even if the actual reason was to remove any differences between shield and offhand users related to enchanting (since the 100 int enchant is for both). If the OH enchant hadn't been in, it would have been fairly close to balanced as illustrated by timo's comparison link in the OP.
Post by
TalonX
Yea I personally am disappointed they screwed over staffs again with that OH enchant and made them more useless now then ever before.
Post by
283705
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
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