For the long time raider it becomes very intuitive what stats to look for, what pieces of information you need and what gear to find.  However for the newer player they are bombarded with veritable cornucopia of stats.  It all seems easy at the start… you start at lower levels with only really the core choices.  For hunters people say stack agility as high as you can get it.  For mages they say, Int is king and spell power if you can get it.  For warriors or paladins they look at you and say, hey grab as much stamina and strength as you can find. 

However as time progresses the layers begin to grow.  I was sitting down next to my wife just the other day when she said, “I’m just not sure how to evaluate if this new piece of gear is better.  It just doesn’t have the stats I’m used to seeing.”  I took a peek over her shoulder and noticed immediately that the piece had a lot of the stats we use for raiding on a regular basis.  My wife was a late comer to the game and never had the opportunity to see raiding gear in the end of Burning Crusade.  She literally dinged 68 about four days after Wrath of the Lich King came out.

So how does one find out what stats mean?  Well by asking, Whats that Stat?  The focus of this initial post is to examine the core stats of Strength, Stamina, Agility, Intellect, Spirit and Armor and their impact on the core characters.  Future posts will be dedicated to combat stats, defensive stats, and caster related stats. (more…)