Mechanics · Attack stats

Strength, Agility and Attack Power

Compare class conversions, weapon-damage contributions and the mechanics behind a useful stat choice.

Reviewed 4 October 2026 · Client data and official beta notes

Strength, Agility and Attack Power are connected, but they are not interchangeable for every character. Start with the attack you want to improve: a melee swing, a ranged shot, a weapon-based ability or a spell. Then check which stats that attack actually uses.

Data checked: 4 October 2026 · Forever beta build 1.60.1.70205. The conversions below come from this build's client tables and character-sheet code. They describe the client's configured rules; they are not combat-log measurements or a complete damage simulator. Values can change during beta.

What Strength and Agility add

The beta client contains these direct Attack Power conversions. Each entry is the gain from one additional point of the attribute, before buffs, talents, forms or other overrides.

These are the matching build's ChrClasses values. A zero means no direct AP conversion in that column. It does not mean the attribute has no other benefit. This is a class conversion table, rather than a stat-priority list for every specialisation.

Cat Form needs a separate rule. The beta character sheet describes one melee AP per Agility in Cat Form, alongside the Druid's Strength conversion. Do not apply the table's zero Agility conversion to a cat, or apply the cat rule to a caster or bear. The same character-sheet code distinguishes melee and ranged AP for Hunters, Rogues and Warriors. Beta character-sheet source

For an unmodified Paladin, +10 Strength therefore contributes +20 melee AP. +10 Agility contributes no direct AP, but can still improve weapon critical strike chance. For a Hunter, +10 Agility contributes +10 melee AP and +20 ranged AP. Comparing only one of those numbers would miss part of the item's value.

Agility's critical strike conversion also depends on your class and level. The beta table predicts that +10 Agility adds about 1.72 percentage points of weapon crit to a level 10 Paladin, and 0.935 percentage points at level 30. Those are added chances, not relative increases to your existing crit. This is the direct weapon-crit contribution, before other effects. PlayerExpectedStat, build 70205

What Attack Power changes

The beta character sheet uses 14 AP per point of weapon DPS for its AP tooltip. That is an AP contribution to weapon damage; it is not a promise of one extra point of total combat DPS after misses, armour, movement and ability use. Dual wielding, off-hand penalties and shapeshift attacks need their own treatment. Beta AP tooltip calculation, matching client load order.

Consider the ordinary, unhasted single-weapon model. A weapon's average damage is its DPS multiplied by its listed speed. The AP contribution per swing is:

extra damage per swing = AP / 14 × weapon speed in seconds

With +280 AP, a 2.8-second weapon gains 56 damage per swing in that model. A 1.4-second weapon gains 28. Both gain 20 DPS from AP before mitigation: the faster weapon delivers the smaller bonus twice as often. This worked example assumes no modifiers, misses or special effects.

A slower weapon can still suit a particular ability better because its base damage per hit is larger. However, an ability can use a different AP coefficient or a normalised weapon calculation. Do not reuse the autoattack equation for every button. The same warning applies to procs: attack speed alone does not establish their proc rate or damage.

There are concrete Forever examples. Blizzard's 1 October beta notes set Bloodthirst's AP ratio to 45% and specify 3% AP scaling for Druid Swipe. They also warn that Swipe's tooltip will not reflect the fix until a later update. A familiar tooltip or an old Classic coefficient can therefore miss a documented change. Blizzard beta development notes

Haste changes attack timing. It does not add Strength or AP. Compare it with the full attack pattern, including time spent moving or casting, rather than multiplying every damage source by the haste percentage.

Why +10 Strength can beat +20 AP

For a Paladin with no modifiers, they provide the same direct melee AP. Now suppose a buff increases Strength by 10% and does not affect flat AP. In that simplified example, the item contributes 11 Strength, which converts to 22 AP. The +20 AP item still contributes 20.

The result depends on what the modifier affects. A bonus to an attribute, a bonus to total AP, and a bonus to damage are different operations. Check the actual talent rank and buff, and account for the game's rounding. This example demonstrates the distinction; it does not assert that every percentage bonus stacks in the same way.

A Paladin comparing melee and spell-focused gear must also separate the damage components. An AP increase is not automatically an equal increase to a Holy spell. Conversely, an ability or passive can explicitly convert AP into spell power. Check the named effect rather than assuming the words “Holy damage” settle its scaling.

Spell ranks: more damage is not always more efficient

A spell's coefficient is the fraction of the relevant bonus stat added to a particular effect. If an effect has a verified 0.20 spell-power coefficient, +100 relevant spell power adds 20 damage before other modifiers. That does not establish the coefficient of another rank, a triggered effect, or every tick of the same spell.

Use the spell's exact rank and effect. A raw coefficient field can belong to a weapon effect or an aura; a value of 1 is not automatically “100% spell-power scaling.” Talents and triggered spells can also change the final calculation.

Two hypothetical ranks show why damage per cast and damage per mana answer different questions:

The higher rank deals more damage per cast; the lower rank is more mana-efficient in this example. Neither is a recommendation for a real spell. Cast time, cooldown, overkill, threat, healing requirements and mana recovery can change the useful choice.

For an item comparison, ask three concrete questions: which attacks improve, by how much, and how often will I use them? The best stat for your current rotation and level can differ from the best stat for another build.