Heya guys!!  Rawr!!  No really…Rawr!!  heh  Want another tool to help you pick out your item upgrades?  For those of you who have not heard of Rawr, this was a computer tool developed originally for Feral Druids to pick out their optimal gear.  Since then it has expanded greatly.  While I never had much cause to use it before now, the relative lack of hardcore number crunchers out there pushing numbers and cracking secrets about DK’s have caused me to check back into it again.

There is a decent post about the Rawr Model Development (v2.1.4 released on 12/13) here, and then you can also directly download this tool here.  For those of you who missed my Pawn Scale mod post, you should also take the time to go back and read this post: Pawn Death Knight Scales for picking out your best in slot items.  So wondering why I don’t just sign off on Rawr and tell you guys to use it to pick your gear?

It still needs some work.  For example it’s listing Paladin gear for our T7 and T7.5 pieces, heh.  Also, something about Rawr is that it picks the best in slot items for you based off of your current gear.  It does not pick out the best in slot items in an ideal world.  What’s the difference you ask?

If your gear is currently underpar then it may give one stat too much weight.  Meaning if you only have 5% hit, then Rawr will tell you that items with lots of hit will be the best upgrades.  Which, for your personal dps at that moment and time they will be.  But especially if you are spending DKP to gain items in Raids, sometimes you need to make sure you spend your DKP only on certain specific upgrades.  Buying 2-3 items for the same slot can kill your DKP totals.  Unsure about DKP?  Read: DKP – what it is, what it can be, and how it can affect you.

Otherwise however, if DKP is not an issue, Rawr will tell you which items will currently and most likely give you the greatest DPS increases.  Some of the items seem a little off however, as I’ve seen them rate haste rating a little too well imo.  One trick is to select some of the best in slot items and to make sure that it has hit capped you and that your expertise is at least around 15 or so skill total with spec.  If you’re not sure about Hit/Expertise caps please read here: Death Knights? Hit and Expertise – sounds cool, what’s it about? 

This will usually avoid some of the pitfalls Rawr will lead you into without realizing it.  Always remember if losing one item will bring you under the hit cap, the upgrade for it will likely not be a best in slot item as Rawr will be trying to keep you at hit cap with that one slot. 

Generally speaking, using both Pawn and Rawr will allow you to pick out the best items in game for your character for pure Raid PvE DPS.

• WoW Head - A site resource where you can look up any item easily.
• Atlas Loot Enhanced – This allows you to see any in game item easily for Pawn Scale comparison.
• Rawr 2.1.4 – A simulator program that determines best in slot items for your current gear, not best in slot items in game.
• Pawn – This allows you to use scales to see the in game APE value of any item.  Please read my post here: Pawn Death Knight Scales for picking out your best in slot items.  It has the scales you will need.

You guys didn’t think I forgot about raid PvE dps content did you?

 

P.S.  I fell asleep watching TV… >.<  So you guys get my backup plan.  Yes, I do sometimes pre-write posts just in case something like this happens and I can’t write what I planned to.  -.-  Anyways, Frost PvP spec info will be incoming tomorrow after I get off of work.  Sorry for the delay.

Pawn?!?!  WTF SJ!?  This isn’t chess…you gonna move your rook now??  This isn’t Karazan…

Heya guys!!  You asked for it, so now you get it.  Sort of.  What are you best in slot items?  Will this item you’re staring at be an upgrade?  What do you pick?!!?  Zomg!!!  I’ve got it easy mode for you.

OK, so…most of you readers out there don’t look at the addons I use.  Bad move.  As I’ve pointed out a few of them so far, they always tend to be…well…damn useful.  I’m not an addon fan myself.  So when I actually go get one, it’s because it’s probably really helpful.  Now, I realize sometimes better ones come out that I should upgrade too…  But then, no one’s perfect.  Not even me.  Shocker I know…heh.

So today, if you want to make life easy as hell on yourself you are going to listen to what I have to say and do as I tell you.

 

PAWN

Pawn is an addon that you can find at several different places probably.  However I personally trust Curse Gaming, so I will send you there to download it.  What is Pawn?  Well, basically this mod adds up the stats on an item and gives you a total number.  That’s the simple version.  But to explain this, I need to explain APE, or Attack Power Equivalency.

All melee have Attack Power, or AP.  So eventually the major theorycrafters out there came up with the idea to try to count how much dps an item was worth.  And when you consider the fact that just about every attack is based upon AP, it became the basis for measuring dps gained from items.

The easiest way to figure out how much an item would improve your character would be to equate all stats into AP.  Obviously some stats would be worth more than 1 AP, while others would be worth less.  For Death Knights 1 point of Strength converts (unmodified) into 2 AP.  So with such a simple basis in front of you, you can see where the rest leads.  xAgi = 1AP, yCrit = 1AP, and so on…

Now I’m not going to tell you how these numbers were figured out…because…I don’t know.    I’m not a math wiz here.  I’m just good at understanding things and applying them.  So here is where we give a MAD SHOUT OUT TO ELITEST JERKS FORUMS!!!!  One of the best WoW resources on the net, with a compilation of some of the greatest minds in the WoW player base.  If you’ve not read about your class here, then you’re doing yourself a diservice.

Anyways, when you use Pawn you basically tell the mod what these numbers should be.  How much they are worth.  Or, as you will hear me often say, how much weight you give them.  Once you’ve done this, the mod will always tell you the numerical worth of an item if directly converted into Attack Power.  So this value would be an Attack Power Equivalency, or APE.

Now, this is paramount to remember.  These numbers assume several basic facts:

• You are using an optimal raid spec for DPS.
• You have a balance of stats, not overstacking or ignoring anything.
• You are in entry level LK epics.

This scale is effectively a Tier 7 scale of weights.  It will weight your gear as if you were picking out T7 gear.  So this means that until you’re picking up epics, you have to use that grey matter some.  If you know this item you’re looking at is worth 50 more AP than you’re current item, but you’ll go over hit cap, well it’s probably not good.  If you’re hit is only at 2%, and you’re thinking about giving up an item with 1% hit on it for something worth 50 more AP…also a bad plan.

Too much of any one stat, or too little, is always a bad thing.  Hit caps at 9%, and Expertise caps at 21 skill (or 15 skill as Blood).  Not counting racials.

 

OK SJ.  I understand already, tell me how to make this work already!!

Pushy much?  Sheesh…

All right.  Install the mod into your Addons folder:

C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\Interface\AddOns

For those of you with WoW installed elsewhere, well you more than likely know wtf to do anyways.  Once this is installed, if you really want to learn the ins and outs of this mod, go into the folder and read the README file.  It’s detailed, and goes into a lot of the options/features.  It’s in depth however, so don’t bother unless you really want to spend the time learning about it.

Then just log into WoW.

“I already did that SJ.  Nothing looks different.”

WoW…gonna get you some Ritalin…damn!  Right, so open up your character screen and you will notice a small box that says PAWN on it at the bottom right of the character screen.  Click on it.  It will pop up this new Pawn window.

Of note there are FIVE tabs on the bottom:

1. Scales – Read after.
2. Compare – Simple drag and drop.  Once you have installed a Scale, this will compare any 2 items you drag their icons into.  The major upside here is that even enchanted/gemmed items put into these slots will be compared as if not enchanted/gemmed.  So you can really compare them.
3. Options – Read this.  If you understand what it’s saying, feel free to change things.  If you’e not sure, leave this stuff the hell alone until you have a clue as to what you think it will do by changing the options.
4. Getting Started – READ THIS
5. About – meh

 

Now click on the first tab named “Scales”.  To the top left you will see “Add a scale” and then directly under that you will see “Current Scale”.  It should be something like Pawn, Pawn scale, or whatever such nonsense built in.  Make sure it is selected, and then delete it.  It’s crap.

Now, back here on this site.  Below will be three different Scales for Pawn.  Copy the entire scale for each one (ONE AT A TIME) that you will use.  Highlight the text including the opening and closing parenthesis.  Use “Cntl-C” to copy it.  “Cntl-V” will paste it.

 

**EDIT**

Due to an HTML issue, when you copy these scales, the quotes get messed up by “dumb internet coding BS”.  That’s the lay man’s terms for it anyways…  >.<  In each three at the start of the scale are the words Blood, Frost, and Unholy.  They are surrounded by quotes ” “.  These quotes are borked.  When you paste the scales in hit the HOME key on your keyboard.  It’ll bring you to the beginning of the scale.  Simply move your cursor to delete the 2 quotes and then retype them.  It should look exactly the same as before.  The spacing, the quotes, etc.  Just the copied ones don’t work.  I don’t know why.

Blood

( Pawn: v1: “Blood”: ArmorPenetration=1.0456, RedSocket=40.912, CritRating=1.1453, ColorlessSocket=40.912, Strength=2.557, ExpertiseRating=1.7023, Agility=0.7336, HitRating=2.6609, BlueSocket=17.899, YellowSocket=25.9161, TwoHandDps=8.9665, HasteRating=0.564, Ap=1 )

Frost

( Pawn: v1: “Frost”: ArmorPenetration=0.7628, RedSocket=37.84, CritRating=1.1894, Strength=2.365, ColorlessSocket=37.84, HasteRating=0.4978, Agility=0.7336, HitRating=2.4046, BlueSocket=16.555, YellowSocket=24.8808, TwoHandDps=10.361, ExpertiseRating=1.2453, Ap=1 )

Unholy

( Pawn: v1: “Unholy”: ArmorPenetration=0.544, RedSocket=39.7552, CritRating=1.12, Strength=2.4847, ColorlessSocket=39.7552, HasteRating=0.621, Agility=0.7336, HitRating=2.474, BlueSocket=17.3929, YellowSocket=25.2329, TwoHandDps=7.567, ExpertiseRating=1.391, Ap=1 )

 

Once you’ve copied the scale you wish to use, go back in to WoW and the open Pawn window.  The 4th red button on the right side of “Add a scale” will say “Import”,  Click this and it will open up a new window.  Hit “Cntl-V” and it will paste the copied scale in.  Hit OK.  Once you have done this immediately reload your UI or log out and back in.  If your game crashes before this happens, none of this will be saved.  /rl reloads your UI for most modded versions of WoW.

Now, for those of you who would like all of these loaded up, but don’t necessarily want all three popping up on your items you have an option.  On the very same main page of “Scales” for Pawn (from the character screen), you select your “Current Scale” from the drag down window.  If you put in say all three, you should see the three names, Blood, Frost, and Unholy.  Select one.  Now towards the bottom of the Pawn window there should be a box that says “Show this scale in tooltips”.  If it is checked it will appear on items.  If it is not checked, it will not appear on items.  I personally only show Unholy all the time (my spec), and only turn on Blood/Frost if I need to for whatever reason.

 

Things to know!!

These scales assume that the best in slot gems are:

1. Red: Bold Scarlet Ruby
2. Yellow: Perfect Inscribed Huge Citrine
3. Blue: Perfect Sovereign Shadow Crystal
4. Colorless: Bold Scarlet Ruby

Which…they are the best in slot gems.  HOWEVER, Pawn will tell you the value of the item if you were to slot it with the best possible gem, even if that means ignoring the socket bonus and the color.  Currently the Inscribed and Sovereign rare gem cuts are not yet implemented in WoW (NYI).  Why?  No one is sure.  But this basically means that you’re almost always going to put a Bold Scarlet Ruby in any socket available ALWAYS, unless meeting a metagem requirement.  /sigh

Pawn is a great mod, and if you took the time to get this I also highly recommend you pick up the mods Rating Buster and Atlas Loot Enhanced.  They accentuate each other very very well.

Once you are Hit/Expertise capped (or perhaps a little before that happens) you probably want to reset the values of Hit/Expertise to 0.  Simply open up the PAWN window, select the scale you wish to modify, and then scroll down to Hit and Expertise both.  Change their values to 0, and you’re set.  Again logging out, exiting the game, or reloading the UI is required for these changes to become permanent.  If your WoW crashes, these changes will not save.

 

 

IF YOU DIDN’T DOWNLOAD THIS MOD READ THIS!!!!!

I really recommend you take the time to go back, install this, and use the Scale weights listed here.  It will make you realize gearing mistakes you have made, or might make.  And it makes it very easy to choose future items.  Pawn doesn’t take much in game memory at all.

Not using this is only hurting yourself.

“Thanks SJ!!!  We heart you!!!”

Aww…I hope it was still beating when you cut it out!!  Take care guys!!