Hunter gear best-in-slot list

I've been wanting to do this post for a while. Here's a list of the best hunter gear in the game. I base the gear off three things - their stats, their sockets, and their green stats (crit, hit, etc.) The best gear on the list will usually have the highest stats, sockets (where applicable) and hit, crit and attack power as their green stats. I'll also list where the item is dropped, and the best enchant for that appropriate item slot.

While I understand Haste is important - especially for Surv and MM - I value hit and crit above haste. So, without further ado...

Head
Unfortunately, there is no helm with my three valued stats, so we'll have to look at a few.
Hyaline Helm of the Sniper - The only ilevel213 helm with hit on it, you'll want to get this if you're still working toward the hit cap. Drops from Sartharion-25.
Valorous Cryptstalker Helm - Tier 7.5... really goes without saying. Drops from Kel'thuzad-25.
Blue Aspect Helm - Highest itemlevel mail physical dps helm, disappointing that it has less agi than the previous two mentioned. It instead spends the points in lots of attack power. Would be great for BM hunters, if only the haste was hit. Drops from Malygos-25.

Enchant: Arcanum of Torment from Knights of the Ebon Blade

Neck
Favor of the Dragon Queen - Gemmed with a 16agi, it is undoubtedly the best physical dps neck for any class. Quest item from Sapphiron/Malygos-25.

Shoulder
Valorous Cryptstalker Spaulders - Tier 7.5, again goes without saying. Drops from Loatheb-25 or bought with 60 Emblems of Valor. Upstanding Spaulders comes very close though.

Enchant: Greater Inscription of the Axe from Sons of Hodir.

Back
Drape of the Deadly Foe - As with the neck mentioned above, the best in slot for physical dps. Drops from Kel'thuzad-25.
However, if you're looking for alternatives... Hammerhead Sharkskin Cloak is pretty good and bought with 25 Emblems of Valor.

Enchant: 22 Agi. Contact your friendly neighbourhood enchanter!

Chest
Tunic of Masked Suffering - The boatload of Agi on this one makes it the clear winner, even over Tier 7.5. The tiered chest does have hit though, so if you still need that, the tiered chest is a close second. Drops from Noth-25.

Enchant: +10 stats.

Bracers
Slime Stream Bands - All of my favourite stats, a socket, and it's BoE to boot! A real no brainer for this one. Drops from Grobbulus-25.

Enchant: 50 attack power.

Hands
A bit of a toss up on this one...
Gloves of Calculated Risk - All my favourite stats, but no socket compared to Grotesque Handgrips and tier 7.5. Drops from Patchwerk-25.

Enchant: 20 Agi.

Belt
Torn Web Wrapping - Another no-brainer, despite the lack of socket. Also BoE! Drops from Maexxna-25.

Enchant: Not an enchant, per se. Get the belt buckle and slap in a 16agi gem in there.

Legs
Leggings of Failed Escape - All the good stuff, even compared to the tier 7.5 legs. Gothik has been giving me grief over these for the past few months...

Enchant: 75 ap, 22 crit.

Boots
Boots of the Renewed Flight - Unfortunately, it wastes some points on the armor penetration, but otherwise, because of the amount of agi and ap on it, it's the best. Crippled Treads from Noth-25 is a good substitute though. (and they look better!) Drops from Malygos-25.

Enchant: 16 Agi.

Rings
Strong Handed Ring - Awesome stats on these, even with the haste. Drops from shared loot table from first bosses in all four wings in Naxx.
Surge Needle Ring - All my favourite stats, and again, another BoE! Great for if you hate doing Malygos.

Enchant: (assuming you're an enchanter) 32 attack power.

Trinkets
Darkmoon Card: Greatness - 90 agility flat out from this trinket... what's not to like? Be prepared to spend a lot of gold on this one though... even I don't have it. Created by Scribes.
Fury of the Five Flights - Once you get the stack up to 20, it will keep refreshing itself throughout the fight. It's practically a free 320 attack power! Again, not just the best for hunters, but all physical dps classes as well. Drops from Sartharion-25.
Mirror of Truth - One of the first epic trinkets you will probably get. No brainer, really. Bought with 40 Emblems of Heroism.

Melee weapon (otherwise affectionately labelled stat stick)
Black Ice - I like this one for its hit, mostly. Drops from Malygos-10.
The Undeath Carrier - Since patch 3.0.8 opened up druid staves as viable hunter stat sticks, we've had more options to choose from just the usual two handed swords and polearms. This is probably the best for Surv hunters, who can take advantage of the Stam to AP conversion. Very nice amount of crit on it too, compared to Black Ice. Drops from Heigan-25.

Enchant: 110 ap.

Ranged weapon
Envoy of Mortality - You probably knew this one already! It has the appropriate stats for its itemlevel, and has the highest tooltip dps. My only complaint is that it doesn't have any hit. Drops from Kel'thuzad-25.

Enchant: 40 ranged crit.

Hope this helped, feel free to email with any questions. ^^

Itemisation Talk - Crit vs. Haste

NOTE! Keep in mind that this post is written from a very subjective standpoint. I have no head for numbers, and really don't care too much for such in depth theorycrafting. If you're into that sort of thing, I suggest paying the EJ Surv Hunter thread a visit.

I've "mentored" a few hunters in my time (in the game of course). One of the most common questions that come to me are - which piece of gear is better? *links two different gear*

Well folks I'm here to clear that up. In the era of Wrath, Haste has become a very commonplace stat on gear. It even shows up on greens from quest rewards!

The simple debate here is which is better, Crit or Haste? Let's look at several possibilities. Keep in mind that Steady Shot can only be hasted down to 1.4 seconds, and that the hunter global cooldown is not affected by haste whatsoever. Crit is, of course, always welcomed in copious amounts.

Say you're a BM hunter. With the Serpent's Swiftness talent, you will reach the haste cap without stacking it on your gear at all. In this case, Crit > Haste.

On the other hand, if you're a Marks or Surv hunter, you want to take a look at your SS cast time and your crit rating before making a decision. If you are a new-to-80 hunter with an abysmal amount of crit, you'll want that over haste. As you collect more gear, haste becomes more abundant and commonplace, especially on the Tier 7 sets. Put it this way, every piece of Tier 7 has haste on it. Several other hunter-centric mail have haste as a socket bonus as well.

From personal experience, the haste cap is not hard to reach even for Marks or Surv hunters, without even trying. My current SS cast time is 1.5 seconds, which really is not too shabby. With Heroism it drops down to 1 second, and with Rapid Fire it's 1.1 seconds.

So what's our lesson of the day?

Crit always > Haste

Gem and enchant guide for Surv coming tomorrow!