### Archives For Mailbag

I’ve received a few questions over the last couple weeks — and this one made me think that a bunch of people might have similar questions…

Cassz wrote:

Hi Morynne.

First off, thank you for a wonderful site. When I first started playing WoW, about 6 months ago, I heard of WHU.com and read it religously. Now, I find myself checking your site daily!

I just had a quick question. I’ve asked guildies and looked upon websites and have gotten many crooked answers. I have ENG & JC. JC because of the large Agility numbers from Chimera Gems and ENG because the gloves, which add 480 Agility for 10 seconds, with a 60 second CD ( so a 50 sec
CD).

Is LW more of a boost with the bracer enchants at 130 Agility (+80)?

There’s really not a clear-cut answer.

Epic gems are on the horizon in 4.3 (if implemented at all), and if history repeats itself, the profession bonuses will be buffed to come with it — so keep in mind this is as of 4.2 that we’re comparing the two professions.

First off, you’ve made a great choice by choosing Jewelcrafting — it nets the highest amount of agility bonused of all the crafting professions (81 vs 80 — only one, but I know there are some nit-pickers out there).

The choice between Synapse Springs or Draconic Emobssment – Agility is really a question of how you’ll be using it.  Synapse Springs gives 480 Agility over a 10 second period, whereas Draconic Embossment – Agility gives +130 Agility total, 80 more than the normal enchantment to bracers.

Agility is one of those stats that it’s always better to have more of — it boosts our Attack Power, and makes our shots hit harder — so neither one clearly outweighs the other.

So let’s do some math:

If you were to average out the impact of the agility for Synapse Springs over a full minute, you’d end up with this:

$480/6=80$

That’s 480, averaged out across the 6-10 second increments in a minute.  So if you use Synapse Springs every time it’s up, you’ll effectively have an additional 80 Agi all the time — exactly the same as Draconic Embossment.

Here’s the kicker — you control when you use Synapse Springs.  If you use it in conjunction with Heroism, or Rapid Fire, you’re likely to get even more gain out of it than just the 80 Agi over a minute because you’ll be shooting faster, and ultimately resulting in higher DPS — especially if you’re running Marksman and pounding out those Aimed Shots.

I also run JC/Eng, but not because of the utility of the burst damage.  I like the other toys Engineering gives me, so I tend to macro Synapse Springs into my Steady Shot and Cobra Shot – depending on what spec I’m playing.  It gets used every time it’s off cooldown, and I net my average of 80 Agi during combat.  If I’m lucky enough to have it go off during a hasted phase, my DPS jumps a little higher than it normally would, but I don’t consciously worry about it.  It’s one less button I have to push.

Really what it comes down to is 1. what your play style is like, 2. what you’re looking for in a bonus, and 3. do you enjoy the rest of the profession.

If it were me, I’d keep engineering and revel in the fact that I have my own mailbox, portal to Northrend, personal butler, and a sweet helicopter, on top of saving the gold to level leatherworking.

Good luck!