I’ve done quite a bit of reading about this subject and I’m aware that no one really knows the actual info. That said, the info I’m looking for is merely anecdotal. For instance, what are your experiences fighting in BGs and arena with a full set of high item level PvP gear when fighting those of not necessarily low item level PvP gear but on the lower end (entry level PvP gear you can get doing unrated BGs, etc)? I keep hearing conflicting info but someone a Reddit post stated that it’s still the same Legion item level changes such as 1% stat increase per 10 item levels but secondary stats such as crit now gives players an advantage? Any truth behind this?
Edit: basically what I want to know is… simply put… is the PvP in this expansion more of an equal playing field than Legion, less, or about the same?
i’m pretty sure high ilvl matters. i tend to feel really weak on new alts. perhaps the most clear difference though has been between my two rogues, where i feel like my main is quite a bit stronger.
you’re going to hear conflicting information because no one knows what’s going on other than blizzard.
i choose gear by taking what i know from pve and then feelcrafting it. i value ilvl a lot less than i would in pve, and think twice about if it makes sense when choosing traits especially. something doing higher dps in a pve situation isn’t necessarily relevant in pvp, because in pvp it’s a lot more important how the damage actually comes in. like if you’re playing a burst comp, you’ll probably want traits that help with that.
but yeah, this is just how i do it. who knows what’s actually right.
as for if it’s more or less equal than legion, it’s definitely less equal. having the right stats, traits and trinkets makes a pretty significant difference, whereas in legion it was always really minor unless you were comparing extremes.
I have no source, but for me it feels like they removed or at least decreased the effect of the scaling system a lot.
In the beginning of BfA gear wasn’t really important. You may have wanted to go for high IL azerite items (since the traits were directly and only scaling with the IL) and maybe high IL trinkets, but outside of that, you just went for low IL with best 2nd stats and if possible with a gem slot.
How ever, since there was a time where people just abused it like crazy (going for BC items and outdamage anyone), it seems like the effect is tuned down by a lot. Personally I just equip like I would in PvE. Going for highest IL but also look onto the traits and 2nd stats.
P.S.: I’ve recently heard that the effect of gear in Legion was higher than most people thought it was. Quote from another thread:
All I can say is, that gear in BfA even matters more. I replaced yesterday 2x 385 azerite items with 2x 400 items and I was kinda shocked how big the difference was, even in PvP.
Thanks for the detailed response. I think this is okay honestly… I always intended to do PvE content, so I don’t mind if that gear will serve me well in BGs.
I think Blizzard disabled PVP scaling and gear is very important now. I leveled my second druid to level 120 and started to do BG’s almost straight away. And my 325 ilvl druid with 100k hp get the same damage from players as my 390 ilvl druid with 190k hp. And a couple of times I was two-shotted by a MM hunter (he had 192k hp) which never happens on my 390 ilvl druid.