You have zero DPS when you are dead. Staring at the floor of the dungeon admiring how much detail Blizzard put into the room. You are trying to avoid that one percent wipe. Since you are a fantastic DPSer you know how to stay alive. A Shadow Bolt leaves your fingers, but your screen shows…
Miss
Well that is not good. You have to HIT the boss to DPS the boss.
For warlocks (all casters, I guess that includes mages... but whatever) it is really easy… we have to pay attention to the hit rating on our gear.
WoWpedia.com tells us that no matter what level our chance to hit and miss is the following.
| Boss level | Chance to Hit | Chance to Miss |
|---|---|---|
| +2 (5-man) | 94% | 6% |
| +3 (10/25-man) | 83% | 17% |
Today you can reach 100% hit. If you reach the hit cap it is possible for your spells to never miss. (Prior to 3.0 you would hit cap at 99%.) Warlocks did have talents to increase your hit percent (Suppression and Cataclysm), but as of 4.0.1 there are no more talents hit increase.
You will need to stack hit rating to reduce your miss chance further in your gear and augments.
Each percentage of hit requires 102.446 hit rating at level 85. To hit cap you will need to round up so that you have 100% hit or more.
| Chance to Miss | Hit Rating | Hit Cap Rating |
|---|---|---|
| 1% | 102.45 | 103 |
| 2% | 204.89 | 205 |
| 3% | 307.34 | 308 |
| 4% | 409.78 | 410 |
| 5% | 512.23 | 513 |
| 6% | 614.68 | 615 |
| 7% | 717.12 | 718 |
| 8% | 819.57 | 820 |
| 9% | 922.01 | 923 |
| 10% | 1024.46 | 1025 |
| 11% | 1126.91 | 1127 |
| 12% | 1229.35 | 1230 |
| 13% | 1331.80 | 1332 |
| 14% | 1434.24 | 1435 |
| 15% | 1536.69 | 1537 |
| 16% | 1639.14 | 1640 |
| 17% | 1741.58 | 1742 |
So what is your hit rating goal at level 85? It depends. *grin*
Goal – 5 mans
We need enough hit to overcome a 6% miss rate. From the above table that is a 615 hit cap rating.
Goal – 10/25 mans
We need enough hit to overcome a 17% miss rate. From the above table that is a 1742 hit cap rating.
| Boss level | Chance to Miss | Hit Cap Rating |
|---|---|---|
| +2 (5-man) | 6% | 615 |
| +3 (10/25-man) | 17% | 1742 |
Keep in mind what your personal situation is when you play. Pick the number that is right for your game time. Anyone who tells you that 17% is the ONLY hit cap is W.R.O.N.G. and now you know why.
Also NOT having a 100% hit rate is not bad. We survived all of BC at level 70 being at 99%. Lots and lots of bosses died in that time. Don't sweat about it. If you do, you will start stinking up the place. I have enough trouble with all the undead locks around here. They need to keep their mucus to themselves is all I am saying.
