[Guide] Agility or attack power? (no maths)

(This guide was created by Haimun, level 70 dwarf of the eu server, Die Todeskrallen. All credit is due to him for this wonderful guide. Date: 22/07/2007)

When should one focus on stacking agility, and when is stacking attack power better than stacking agility? This thread answers these questions.


As we all know, one can choose between X agility vs. 2*X attack power. The X agility provides X attack power and also increases crit chance a bit (other benefits of agility are not considered in this guide, as it discusses benefits for DPS only). To answer which one is better, one must understand the following first:

BOTH, crit chance and attack power, scale:

* Crit chance scales with attack power (the more attack power you have, the more
is crit chance worth).

* Attack power scales with crit chance (the more crit chance you have, the more
is attack power worth).


Hence:

If you have too much attack power, then:
Increasing you crit chance is much more worth than increasing your attack power.

If you have too much crit chance, then:
Increasing your attack power is much more worth than increasing your crit chance.


When do you have to much crit chance or to much attack power?

It is very hard to tell, as it depends on many things: your gear, your spec, your current crit chance and attack power. Every hunter must calculate his damage for his own. No guide in the world can bring up a solid formula, which is correct for everybody

The best thing to do is finding the median for attack power and crit chance. Many hunters think, this is achieved by just stacking agility (as agility gives both). This is not true. Depending on your current stats, it may be better to focus on crit rating or to focus on attack power alone.