I’ve been wearing the Shawl of the Old maid for a little while now.
So I went looking for what would be considered an upgrade. Checked Shadow Priest.com’s gear list because thats just what you do.. and the Shawl is #15 on the list.
So I go oh dear, I hadn’t realised I had fallen that behind on BIS for Cloaks. I better not be passing on practically any Spellcaster cloaks in Ulduar – and to be honest I’m not sure I have actually seen many cloaks drop in general.
So there on that list at #7 is the Deathchill cloak – and It was in the AH for 600 gold, so I brought it – and Embroidered it and equiped it and had a look at my stats.
and by Equiping the Deathchill Cloak I lost
11 Spellpower
0.13 Crit
26 mana regen
and only gained
1.61% haste which works out to be
0.02 secs off my Mindblast/vt
and a 0.04 sec reduced time on my Mindflay
I don’t understand how it got ranked so much more higher, and I thought I understood the stat rating somewhat – but the effect of losing the Intellect and spirit from the Shawl – Is NOT worth 1.61 Haste.
So yeah.. Just wasted 600 gold..
( and yes I know 66-59 does not = 11) but thats what it did to my spellpower.. Im trying to find a current source that explains why but all my googalage brings up all the older stuff.
Provided by 
Pugnacious Priest's Warcraft Blog 
Yeah, that’s pretty strange.
now, it’s been awhile since I did any theorycrafting, but isn’t there a talent that converts spirit/int into spellpower? Since the Deathchill is missing any ‘standard’ stats, that might be where the 66-59=11 is coming from.
Also, the shawl of the old maid is an inherently cooler, just for the name.
I presume it’s beige and hand-knitted 😉
The 4 spellpower is lost from the 38 spirit and twisted faith I would imagine.
The haste gained on the deathchill is pretty significant. Int and spirit don’t add up to much dps wise… Shadowpriest.com has the math listed explaining their point system.
Only you know if you have enough mana during fights though. If you have mana problems, then obviously the added stats are more valuable.
I’m still using deathchill but secretly despise myself for it. I rate haste over spirit and intellect like a good shadow priest largely because theorycrafters tell me I should, but in my heart I know it’s not nearly as good for me as it should be on paper. I have a low frame rate, and a spikey lag, and my reactions aren’t what they used to be. But if you have a good computer and can play well that haste will do more for you than the spirit and intellect combined – especially if you don’t have mana problems to start with. That’s the theory, anyway 🙂 Here’s hoping we get some good news on haste from the class Q&A.
I did the same thing… And wore it for all of two minutes after embroidering it. I don’t see how haste is valued so highly, I guess I should theorycraft the numbers, but I personally value crit > > > > > haste.
In fact, I just snagged Sandals of the Ancient Keeper (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=45441) to replace my Arcanic Tramplers (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=40558) *shrugs*
Don’t worry! You made the right choice… I dislike takeing haste over crit as much as the next person but 53 haste over 11 sp, 6 crit, and the int is a good trade.
Keep an eye out for Asimov’s Drape in the AH.. it is a boe back that drops from Mimron 25.. its only rated slighly better than deathchill, but with crit and stats it sounds like it might fit your wants/play style better.
Plus we all love Isaac Asimov right?? 🙂
Yes, it looks like a bad trade on the face of it, but squiggly et al are right *IF* you generally have no mana problems.
So 600G for a near BIS item is pretty good – grats!
@Ironee & Oktrag – Yep its the spirit..
@Tamarind – No its green 😦 and clashes horribly with the rest of my gear so it stays hidden. The deathchill is alot more stylish..
@Squiggly – I’m crossing my fingers for my 4 piece t8 bonus shortly – then maybe the extra Haste will have even more of an impact but I can’t see how that smidgen of haste will help
@merlot – wait until next patch and see about mana problems.. but losing that much spirit/mana regen on its own probably isn’t such a big impact for Mana regen at this moment,
@Middea I haven’t sharded it yet! ( the Abyss crystal is so not worth what I paid for the cloak – So I will hold on to it – Crit is valued more highly – but If I can get enough haste then it will have more benifit .
@meltfacer Asimov’s cloak would be an upgrade – don’t think I have seen it though on the Ah – I thought I was past looking for upgrades on the AH for Epics – but I will look!
Angobar – but im not wearing it.. the 600 isn’t a major loss. But would have prefered it be useable 🙂
The gear after ilvl200 is just marginally better. 1.61% here, 0.8% there, I have 2400SP now. I had 1900 on the day I dinged 80. Considering that spells have their own effect (when naked), it increased my healing output by 20%. Gold spent on gear is a waste (unless you have a green or +hit for healer or something hideous like that)
Gevlon, I’d strongly disagree. I’d say gold NOT spent on good gear is a waste. I guess it depends on how you play. As a raider any upgrade is worth gold, be it an enchant or BoE item. This game is all about min/maxing. Minor adjustments can make major differences in a fight.
There is no shame in disagreeing with shadowpriest.com or any other site. That said, I just wanted to add that haste does not only benefit a perfect connection. The added haste still allows for more casts in a given period.
Well, Gevlon is known as a goblin that raids versus most raiders who are more known as raiders that farms. His guild is willing to carry the 20% of healing that he did not produces because he donates 5000g to the gb every week. Unfortunately, most raiders don’t have the money to do that, and thus their guilds don’t want to and won’t carry the 20%. Makes perfect sense. Also, I think the number can be as big as 100% for items after iLvl200. Compare a daily heroic dungeon’s item(especially the blues) to something that drops off uld25 hard mode and you’ll see quite a big difference.
Anyway, big fan of yours, Gevlon, keep up the apprentice program that you’ve started!
I hate to disagree with Gevlon – but I think his problem is playing a healing class. 🙂 Gear upgrades don’t matter much for healers atm. (assume infinite mana, ignore crit because it is unreliable, and ignore haste because lag > haste effect…then only spellpower matters, and it changes effectiveness slowly.) Well, stamina also counts.
The cumulative effect of gear upgrades for DPS and tanks is quite high. (2k-3k-5k-7k DPS for example)
While BOE epics are not available for all slots, it is possible to build a starter tank with about 34k unbuffed health and decent (50% avoidance) without any gear from any raids past sarth0 and the vault.
I found that BOE epics were very handy in my situation (rolled an alt prot warrior tank and noticed a few guildies grousing about alts rolling on gear in Naxx10…sob…we’re not very progressed) I ended up with a warrior tank with about 34k unbuffed health and decent (50% avoidance) without any gear that wasn’t acquired in the vault, sarth, or the AH. It became very handy when our MT went on vacation…
More generally, if you have the gold, buying BiS epics with gold speeds guild progression by letting you pass upgrades to other toons. It also speeds personal upgrades by letting you save DKP – which is very useful if you don’t raid a lot.
Well all you have to do is look at the cost and see how long you have to work at raising that much gold, and how long you have to work at raiding to acquire a similar item, then go with whatever is the lower cost. 9 times out of 10 buying the item costs less.
Now there is some opportunity cost. But then if you are raiding, and you arent saving money with the goal of using it to further raiding, what the hell are you saving it up for? Just to count it? I save my money to use later in life, saving is not an end in and of iteself.
As a raider we are supposed to pay as much money as required for an upgrade. ( those runed orbs are still way too expensive though and there has to be a line between a stupid expense ( 6-10k gold per piece of crafted gear for the Ulduar Pattern Belt and Feet) and a resonable expense. ( 600 gold) I’ve made the money back already, so the 600 gold isn’t a loss anymore
@Yunk there is always something to save for.. A Epic flying mount for an Alt – BOE epics for same said alt.. Frost lotus ( I think their spawn rate is broken on our server atm ) I like keeping a comfy cushion of gold – and since I’ve actually started using guild repairs Im making my money back alot quicker when I do spend it. I brought my Bike which was a loftier Gold goal, and Im not really interested in the mammoth