So....why the change from Hstr? Or has it always been Hdex? If so, why have H(insert other stat other than dex here) augs in the game, even? Is there any empirical data to support Ddex as being the base stat for ALL melee...including tanks? Or is this just another DBG manufactured annoyance where you have to completely reset your character?
Monk chiming in - an hDex chaser. Here are my assumptions towards heroics so far. I would love to either get some proof behind 'em, or some corrections. I used to run equal hDex / hStr / hAgil. Switched to hDex and noticed an increase in DPS. Going purely on the Heroic Mods on the Stats page, hDex increases Accuracy and Combat Effects (procs) - two offense. hAgil increases Avoidance and Strike Through - one offense, one defense. hStr increases Damage Shielding and Damage Shield Mitigation - not really sure to classify these as offensive or defensive, but they're not the greatest in either category anyway. With the increase in proc damage with the EoK, any increase to the rate of the procs is going to have a noticeable impact on your DPS. And if increasing that also increases your accuracy, the better you're going to be. I've heard that heroics increase your base stats as well, which would imply that more heroic strength = more strength = harder hits... but I think the majority of us are already at (and well beyond) the base stat caps, so increasing these more would have zero impact. Again, I don't have anything to back this up though - it's just an assumption. I would love to know exactly what each heroic does beyond what's noted on the Stats page.
I've heard some people say that some classes are better off with hstr because of the attack power bonus but the increase to crit chance from hdex is pretty good. in regards to tanks. HDex is the best for group content but HAgi is the best for mitigation in raid content. As has been pointed out in several posts, mobs have 100% strikethrough for dodge parry and riposte in raid content. so HDex doesn't do anything for avoidance, but, HAgi adds to your avoidance AC as well, going from all type 5 HDex augs to all HAgi augs, its about a 3% increase to your miss chance based on my parses. which aint a lot but it's something. this has lead some tanks to go for HSta instead since it is a known quantity but I still say HAgi is the way to go for maximum damage resistance in raids.
I was a hstr chaser when I raided (still am to an extent, too lazy to really care about augs). I think that the only recent expansion that truly complimented hstr melee was tds (before they nerfed mob ac). Haven't really paid attention to the extra combat mods since I was on muy way out when they implemented it
Well it's a semi long story but I'll try to make it short. A few years ago HStr and HDex were pretty evenly matched as for offensive gains. Str adding ATK and +1 damage for every 10 HStr you had. Dex adding melee crit % and proc rate. Then DGB decided to consolidate all the mod2 effects like accuracy ect and roll them into Heroics. When they did that they sandbagged HStr bad. They added 2 of the offensive mod2's to Dex (accuracy and Combat effects) and none to Str. So now Dex has like 4-5 offensive gains and defense gains VS Str which still only has 2 offense gains and 0 defense gains. ( Str does have one small defense gain - Shield AC - however melee dps like us don't use shields so I don't count that.) Some will say Dex was better even before the stat consolidation but I would disagree. I use to be 100% Str monk and I would out DPS every Dex monk. However, after the mod2 change I now do 3/4 Dex and 1/4 Str build. ATK is still a great thing as it is your ATK VS the mobs AC. But Dex has way to many gains to ignore now. Pound for pound, Dex is once again the GOD stat for Melee. Providing 2x more gains overall than any other stat in the game. The best part is they added the 3d offensive mod2 Strikethrough to AGI instead of Str. Damage shield and damage shield mitigation are a joke is today's game. Really Str should have got 2 offense gains and Dex should have got 1 in order to help even them out in total gains. Which I brought up in the thread but the devs didn't listen as usual. Go figure. Also rouges have a lot of damage procs so again Dex is the way to go for the most part.
I really liked the way it was before. If you were in a group with less adps, hstr generally let you do very well, and hdex seemed more ideal for perfect circumstances, so you could put your eggs in a basket so to speak. I like that there was depth to the decision vs just a which is better situation. Now it's just about that dex =/.
If you look at just the DPS aspect itself, you're totally splitting hairs on picking to go all HStr or a similar split between the two like Drop mentioned he now uses when it comes to Rogues. Rogues do crit a lot so on burns - our all HStr Rogue edges the split stat Rogues usually on burns. The majority in RA use the split stat build. If you look at sustained DPS through out an entire event, this is where the hairs are really split. Take the defensive gains and extra dps gains as Drop suggested with his split build imo he is wise!
I am very very heavy Hstr and My Burn DPS is just barely in the top 10. Interestingly though I'm in the top 5 for the entire raid night. I am slowly shifting to Hdex and watching the two senarios (burn /vs/ sustained) closely.
There is clearly a benefite when you balance Hdex and Hstr as a rogue. Keep an eye out on those "next amount to next point" numbers. They are the key to most bang for your buck.
