Not sure which gear checker to use/trust

[fussfuss]

Hey I like to have a 'worst to best' list of items on hand at all times. I used to use the Armory, but for a while there it didn't seem totally reliable, and definately not user friendly. So I tried a few others. My warrior is currently focusing on DPS

I loaded my warrior into RAWR and got 1 list of 'better' gear, but then I went to Maxdps.com and got another list. I looked in the wowarmory and then wowhead...

None of these 4 have the items in the same order. Not even close in some cases. So which do I believe?

For example, on RAWR my neckpiece I just got in Ulduar 10 is considered lower than 'Fool's Trial' (which I had months ago). But Maxdps thinks it is actually much better than my last neck from 10 MAlygos, which in turn is also better than foolstrial. The armory doesnt even list the 10 maly neck at all as an option for upgrade or downgrade. Wowhead put some necks from 10 man Trial lower than all the above mentioned, when each of the others put them near the top of the list...

I know that depending on my stats, some items are better for me at some times, worse at others, but certainly some items are clearly better than others? All the lists agree that my Conqueror's chest is clearly better than my Valorous chest. Why would other items have such major discrepancies?

Thanks for any help

[Foolish]

Because it's all about balancing stats, so as your gear changes certain items that used to be big upgrades may no longer be. I believe maxdps & wowhead just use preset weighting factors for stats, so they don't know whether you are hit capped or expertise capped, hence why Fool's Trial (which has hit rating) may show up higher on there than from other sites. Also, some other stats just become less important as your gear changes because that gear will have more of it already. And some, like armor pen, become worth more as you get more.

Out of the places you listed, I would believe Rawr since I believe it takes into account your current stats, whereas the others may not. I haven't checked maxdps in awhile, so I could be mistaken. The most accurate gear tools I've found are the spreadsheet from EJ and the warrior Simulationcraft tool from there as well.

[kemikalkadet]

Landsouls spreadsheet is by far the most accurate and most configurable, you can use it to find estimated DPS, an SEP weight of your stats and a list of upgrades you can rank by SEP. I think he's just finished updating it for 3.2 too: Warrior DPS Calculation Spreadsheet - Elitist Jerks

[fussfuss]

Thanks guys, I guess I knew deep down that with every piece I get, the priorities on my list would change. Kind of a pain to reload my characters every time I get new gear and re-analyze what I might need next. Blah.

Thanks especially for the EJ list, i hadn't seen that yet.

[Hades]

Call me impatient, or brainy, whichever lol. I just use the Ratingsbuster addon through Curse, and do the math in my head. Also, I look for items that might help in the Atlasloot addon (Also from curse) during downtimes. Much easier, and gives me something to do while the rest of the guild sleeps lol!

[Strit]

I ain't raiding yet, so I just use Lootrank.com for my gearing.

As I'm not all that smart with numbers and all, I just use a template created by others.

[Mert]

This is going to sound really boring, but the only gear checker you can ever really trust is yourself and the knowledge you have about how you play your class. People can craft up best-in-slot lists and tell you what to gem for etc and, in the most part, they're worth listening to but gearing up is all about knowing where your strengths are taking all your current gear into account. Take the time to learn about your playstyle, what you find affects you in the ways you feel improve you and go from there - you'll get a hell of a lot more from it that way