Leatherworking for Shaman - worth it or not?
I've been looking ahead to the endgame gear for my elemental Shaman and have been really debating whether or not I want to level Leatherworking. I play on a PvE server, 1 Paladin 4 Shaman, and I'll be doing some PvP but mostly focused on 5-mans / heroics. I will of course be doing an arena team for free epics, but I'm looking to PvE-centric items for the majority of my gear at least for now.
Basically the 4 things I see that LW gives, are the Hurricane Boots, and Netherstrike Armor set. So, lets compare the options.
Hurricane Boots : http://www.wowhead.com/?item=30043
-vs-
Treads of Booming Thunder: http://www.wowhead.com/?item=33537
With 2x Potent Noble Topaz, the Treads of Booming Thunder have: -3 stam, +7 int, -1 spell crit, +11 spell damage, -6 mp5. Since 3.6 int is equivalent to 1 spell crit rating, it seems that these are quite clearly the superior choice.
Netherstrike Breastplate : http://www.wowhead.com/?item=29519
-vs-
Hauberk of the Furious Elements : http://www.wowhead.com/?item=33965
Hmm, tougher to compare. Socketing 3x Potent Noble Topaz give 12 crit rating and 15 damage, the Hauberk has +5 sta, +11 int, -21 spell crit, +2 damage, -8mp5 and +35 haste rating. Lose a bit less than 1% spell crit, but I gain over 2% faster spell casts... hmm.
Netherstrike Belt : http://www.wowhead.com/?item=29520
-vs-
Stormwrap : http://www.wowhead.com/?item=33536
Both socketed with Potent Noble Topaz. Stormwrap gives +11 sta, +9 int, +3 spell crit, +7 spell damage, +13 spell hit, -9mp5. Well, give up 9mp5 and the spell hit is nearly worthless, but still, Stormwrap is much better IMO.
Netherstrike Bracer : http://www.wowhead.com/?item=29521
-vs-
Earthquake Bracer : http://www.wowhead.com/?item=33535
Socket with Potent Noble Topaz - but it is irrelevant as they both get yellow with +2 damage bonus. So, Earthquake bracer gets +6 stam, +8 int, -17 spell crit, +6 damage and +2 mp5. I think these are roughly equivalent, with a slight edge to NS even.
Instead I think I'd actually go with the leather piece Armwraps of the Kaldorei Protector : http://www.wowhead.com/?item=33578
Which give +6 sta, +9 int, +3 crit rating, +6 damage, -6 mp5 and -178 armor, which is straight up better.
Of course if I'm stepping down to leather gear, then Starfire Waistband (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=33559 ) kicks either the Netherstrike or Stormwrap belts.
So it seems that the badge gear is better than the equivalent crafted LW pieces.
On the downside, 230 badges will take me some time to farm, probably 3-4 weeks.
Probably, I should look at what else I could buy with badges, to fill in the non-LW slots... anyone already done that analysis? :D
