I got tired of trying to figure out whether a piece of TBC green/blue gear was an upgrade over a retail epic, and whether 10 hit rating was a good tradeoff for 14 agility, etc etc.
I did a bunch of spreadsheet work modeling warrior dps, and way that adding each stat interacted with my dps based on my current stats. I then did some more work modifying the spreadsheet so it could accept just about any stats I cared to input, any MH/OH weapon combo, etc etc. Anybody who's interested in the process, I will go into more detail at the end (I may even eventually release the spreadsheet, although it's currently in no form to be released).
Suffice to say, I developed a weighted point rating for each DPS-oriented stat on an item. The value of any piece of gear is then simply the cumulative value of the stats on an item multiplied by the point value for that stat. Point values are based off of the amount of that stat that needed to raise total (white AND yellow) dps 1% over a baseline. The baseline is set to a newbie lvl 70 raid-buffed DW warrior with 41+ points in the fury tree, equiped with good gear from retail and choice pieces from questing/instancing on the way to 70. I chose newbie 70 because that's what 99.9% of us are (those of you already on lady vashj may skip this post if you choose). I chose raid buffed, because that's when dps actually matters to most DW warriors, seeing as the build is fairly raid-centric in the first place. The proportional ratings between the different stats actually stay remarkably consistant even as you raise gear, get higher dps weapons, etc, with the exception of AP. AP, being linier in nature, declines in value compared to the other stats eventually, but the decline is fairly slight. The various items may shift a position or two as you change stats/talent specs, but in general the rankings stay fairly consistant.
As a side effect of this listing being a raid-centric listing, Stamina is a non-issue. DW warriors have long sacrificed HP for DPS, so this is nothing new. However, TBC's focus on decent HP pools means that while stamina is not included in the value rating of an item, I will however be making a note whenever an item contains no stamina or limited amounts of stamina.
Also, on the topic of non-plate gear. Some warriors feel that wearing any gear that isn't plate is a violation of the warrior code, or makes them too squishy, or some such nonsence. Regardless, I have included various pieces of mail and leather in each section, separated from the main list. These pieces are generally (though not always) either crafted, quested, or purchasable off the auction house, so that no hunter/druid/rogue can call foul when a warrior wants the piece. They are also generally of comparable or better value to the plate pieces in that section. The number in front of mail/leather items is where that item would fall in the main list. I.E. a leather item ranked (4) would be ranked higher than the plate item that currently contains rank 4.
Items selected are basically "ZG/AQ20 and higher" in most circumstances, as this is when decent DW fury itemization starts apearing. Since DW Fury is not primarily a pvp-oriented spec, and this list is raid-oriented, I only include pvp-derived items when they are specifically of better value to a DW fury build than other items at a similar level of progression/effort-to-obtain.
Items are scored by "DEP", which does not actually stand for anything in particular. Damage Equity Points I suppose if you really must think of something. The points-per-stat breakdown is as follows:
Before you look at those points and say that crit rating is underrated, remember that it takes more points of crit rating (and yet even more points of agility) to give you 1% crit than it takes points of hit rating or haste rating to give you 1% of either of those. Also, I realize that it looks like str/ap is over-rated, but remember it applies 1.5x (1.65x talented) to DW warriors white damage, and does a tremendous amount to pre-execute yellow damage, considering the portion of yellow damage that is dominated by BT.
Items are ranked by their UNSOCKETED scores, although I have usually included a score (in parenthesis) that shows that item's maximum potential value with the absolute best gems socketed. Because these gems require sometimes significant investment, because you may not have access to these gems, and because these gems may not always be the stats you need most, I didn't feel it fair to rank the item based on the socketed value, but it is there for your information/curiosity. Also, I work under the assumption that you socket matching colored gems in order to obtain the socket bonus. This will not always be the case in practice I am sure.
Gems used for the scores in parenthesis on socketed items are:
meta - Swift Skyfire Diamond - 24 ap / run speed
red - Bold Living Ruby - 8 str
yellow - Inscribed Noble Topaz - 4 str / 4 crit
blue - Sovereign Nightseye - 4 str / 6 sta
as these are the highest scoring gems, and represent the highest potential if you decide to color-match gems to sockets, although that is not to say these gems will always be the best choice.
A word on stats. As anybody who has played a DW fury warrior for any decent amount of time knows, a broad even mix of crit, hit, and ap is best. Therefore, selecting the highest DEP item you can get your hands on may not actually yield the best results in the long run. Sometime selecting an item that scored lower but has a better mix of stats to compliment the rest of your gear is more optimal.
I initially made the spreadsheet and gear listings for my own information, but the list involved so much work, that I figure it may be useful to many other people as well. Please feel free to ask any questions or suggest any gear additions to the list that I may have overlooked or that you would like to see.
I hope this list is of use to you.
*Thanks to Irok for help with source research and list formatting.
I look forward to seeing this... hopefully complete and updated. we fury warriors sorely need such a resource ;)
edit: interesting to see where Lionheart is..
what about:
Clefthoof Helm http://www.thottbot.com/?i=57681 ?
Binds when picked up
Head Plate
788 Armor
+22 Strength
+22 Agility
+33 Stamina
Equip: Improves hit rating by 21.
& when do I replace?
The Eye of Hakkar
Binds when picked up
Neck
Requires Level 60
Equip: Increases your critical strike rating by 14.
Equip: Increases attack power by 40.
and ?
Sylvanaar Champion's Shoulders
Binds when picked up
Shoulder Plate
747 Armor
+36 Strength
+22 Stamina
Durability 70 / 70
Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 20.
