Thursday, April 30, 2009

The Ulduar Raiding Gear List: Part 1

Update: This post now includes all of the Ulduar Gear available as of 7/10/09. These rankings are based upon a pre3.2 Lunar rotation. It requires a lot of data entry to create these posts so I am sure there are some errors involved. Please let me know if I have an incorrect link or a valuation seems wrong.

I've done my pre-naxx gear list. I've also done my Christmas Wishlist. Now it is time for my Uber gear raid gear list.

Part 2 can be found here.

A few comments:
1. This post and the next one are designed after Kalon's Bear gear lists (1 , 2) over at Think Tank. I liked his format so I've stolen it.

2. These rankings are purely based upon DPS. Yes, Stam and Mp5 have value, but there is no way to directly translate them into DPS. By the same token Intelligence and Spirit have both mana and DPS benefits, but only the DPS is considered.

3. Finally, I absolutely DO NOT recommend you trying to get evey #1 item on this list. If you did you would have over 17% hit from gear alone. This list should be used to see how the different pieces relate to each other. Is there a comparable item? Which is the best slot to break the tier set? The items I would pick for my personal set are marked with an (*). Picking up these items will put you at or just over the Hit Cap an provide you with a good combination of DPS stats.

4. T7 Set Bonuses: The 2T7 is ignored because it's impact is minimal at best. The 4T7 is valued as if it was 229.5 / 4 Crit rating.

5. T8 Set Bonuses: First of all, there is currently a bug where your current SF cast will consume a 4T8 proc if it procs while you are casting. I am assuming that that is not intentional and that blizzard will fix it. My analysis shows that the 4T8 set bonus will be worth about 293 DPS if this issue is fixed. Also, my analysis shows that 2T8 and 4T7 are very similar in value, but that is in a perfect environment. Therefore I am valuing 2T8 as if it was 4T7 but devaluing it by 30% to account for wasted eclipse procs. Therefore the the T8 set peices gain an extra 82 points in the third column rating.

6. DO NOT use column three as a reason to use all 5 Tier pieces. It shows you why you should use at least four, but after those four use column one and two to evaluate gear choices.

Assumptions:
1. I've chosen a very high gear level for this analysis. My hypothetical moonkin for this post has 2900 Spell Power, 41% Crit chance, 29.4% haste (16.2% from gear), and a 99.96% chance to hit. This maximizes the value of Crit Rating and Haste Rating, but Minimizes the value of Spell Power and Hit Rating. The main reason I did this is because if you follow the list your stats will be similar to these.

2. To rank the items I've used the values generated by my stats model that you can find here.

3. I assume that all socket bonus will be met. This is how I socket each gem: Meta = [Chaotic Skyflare Diamond], Red = [Runed Scarlet Ruby], Yellow = [Reckless Monarch Topaz], Blue = [Purified Twilight Opal]. Yes, ignoring socket bonus will improve some of the items. However, the shifts would be small and it's easier manage this way.

4. Finally, my BiS choices are based upon a Night Elf having a Draenei in his group. Taurens and Night Elves with out a Draenei will probably choose something different to pick up a little more hit.

Ranking Legend:
Black - DPS stat ranking
Red - DPS stat ranking minus Hit rating
Blue - DPS stat ranking with Set bonuses
Green - DPS stat ranking with Set bonuses minus Hit rating
* - My pick for BiS

Legs:

































*Leggings of the Enslaved Idol 383.2 264.2 383.2 264.2
Leggings of the Wanton Spellcaster 352.7 213.3 352.7 213.3
Overload Legwraps 348.7 211 348.7 211
Conqueror's Nightsong Trousers 331.3 231 417.4 317.1
Valorous Nightsong Trousers 307.7 215.9 393.7 301.9
Leggings of Atrophy 282.7 197.7 282.7 197.7
Legwraps of the Defeated Dragon 272.3 177.1 272.3 177.1
Leggings of Profound Darkness 265.4 265.4 265.4 265.4
Zodiac Leggings 263.6 263.6 349.6 349.6
Conqueror's Nightsong Leggings 249.5 249.5 249.5 249.5
Wildstrider Legguards 247.9 247.9 247.9 247.9
Legwraps of the Master Conjurer 246 246 246 246
Leggings of the Lifetender 245.4 245.4 245.4 245.4
Leggings of Mortal Arrogance 243.1 243.1 243.1 243.1
Leggings of Lost Love 235.9 235.9 235.9 235.9
Valorous Nightsong Leggings 232.6 232.6 232.6 232.6
Valorous Dreamwalker trousers 227 216.8 265.3 255.1
Legguards of the Boneyard 224.5 224.5 224.5 224.5
Leggings of the Unstable Discharge 218.6 218.6 218.6 218.6
Distorted Limbs 212.2 212.2 212.2 212.2
Heroes' Dreamwalker Trousers 202.2 192 240.5 230.3
Desecrated Past 202.1 202.1 202.1 202.1
Leggings of Sapphiron 199.5 199.5 199.5 199.5
Leggings of the Instructor 197.6 197.6 197.6 197.6
Legguards of Composure 194.7 194.7 194.7 194.7
Leggings of the Winged Serpent 193.5 193.5 193.5 193.5
Splint-Bound Leggings 193.4 193.4 193.4 193.4
Woven Bracae Leggings 189.6 189.6 189.6 189.6
Windripper Leggings 188.2 188.2 188.2 188.2
Earthgiving Legguards 158.6 158.6 158.6 158.6
Skirt of the Old Kingdom 129.2 129.2 129.2 129.2

I go with the Leggings of the Enslaved Idol here, because the stats are awesome. However, my guess is that most people will pick up the Conqueror's Nightsong Trousers first and then pickup the LotEI when they havea full set of T8 and are working on Hard Modes.

Head:




























Collar of the Wyrmhunter 428.4 341.7 428.4 341.7
*Conqueror's Nightsong Cover 416.8 314.8 502.9 400.9
Cowl of Icy Breaths 415 299.4 415 299.4
Valorous Dreamwalker Cover 400 328.6 486 414.6
Valorous Nightsong Cover 394.8 301.3 394.8 301.3
Crown of Luminescence 379.9 379.9 379.9 379.9
Headpiece of Reconciliation 357.8 357.8 357.8 357.8
Conqueror's Nightsong Headpeice 357 357 357 357
Hood of Rationality 355.8 355.8 355.8 355.8
Unwavering Stare 355.2 355.2 355.2 355.2
Heroes' Dreamwalker Cover 353.8 292.6 392.1 330.9
Cowl of Dark Whispers 352.6 352.6 352.6 352.6
Cover of the Keepers 346.9 346.9 346.9 346.9
Cowl of Vanity 342.9 342.9 342.9 342.9
Valorous Nightsong Headpiece 339.9 339.9 339.9 339.9
Gothik's Cowl 338.3 338.3 338.3 338.3
Lifespark Visage 332.7 332.7 332.7 332.7
Cowl of the Absolute 332.1 185.9 332.1 185.9
Enamored Cowl 330.5 330.5 330.5 330.5
Headpiece of Fungal Bloom 306.7 306.7 306.7 306.7
Noth's Curse 295.8 295.8 295.8 295.8
Cowl of Winged Fear 294.6 294.6 294.6 294.6
Cowl of Sheet Lightning 294.4 294.4 294.4 294.4
Faerlina's madness 269.3 170.7 269.3 170.7
Cowl of the Perished 209.5 209.5 209.5 209.5
Cowl of the Innocent Delight 166 166 166 166

The Collar of the Wyrmhunter is a better helm by itself but Conqueror's Nightsong Cover wins out because of its set bonuses. If you can pick up the CotW on the cheap I would recommend it so that you can use it until the 4T8 set bonus is fixed.

Shoulders:





























Soot-Covered Mantle 235.7 147.3 235.7 147.3
Valorous Dreamwalker Mantle 218.4 158.9 256.7 158.9
Shoulderpads of Dormant Energies 211.8 211.8 211.8 211.8
Amice of Inconceivable Horror 210.3 210.3 210.3 210.3
Mantle of the Corrupted 210.2 147.3 210.2 147.3
Mantle of the Fatigued Sage 193.7 134.2 193.7 134.2
Heroes Dreamwalker Mantle 190.3 141 228.6 141
Malleable Steelweave Mantle 187.6 187.6 187.6 187.6
Conqueror's Nightsong Spaulders 187.5 187.5 187.5 187.5
*Conqueror's Nightsong Mantle 184.3 184.3 270.4 270.4
Mantle of Dissemination 177.4 177.4 177.4 177.4
Mantle of Wavering Calm 175.6 175.6 175.6 175.6
Mantle of the Eternal Sentinel 175.4 175.4 175.4 175.4
Mantle of the Unknowing 175.2 175.2 175.2 175.2
Spaulders of Catatonia 174.9 174.9 174.9 174.9
Underworld Mantle 174.3 174.3 174.3 174.3
Valorous Nightsong Spaulders 173.8 173.8 173.8 173.8
Valorous Nightsong Mantle 171.8 171.8 257.9 257.9
Shoulderguards of Assimilation 166.8 166.8 166.8 166.8
Mantle of the Preserver 165.3 165.3 165.3 165.3
Iceshear Mantle 164.9 164.9 164.9 164.9
Mantle of the Locusts 163.3 163.3 163.3 163.3
Mantle of Shattered Kinship 160.6 160.6 160.6 160.6
Sympathetic Amice 142.5 142.5 142.5 142.5
Miasma Mantle 139.3 139.3 139.3 139.3
Spaulders of the Monstrosity 137.7 137.7 137.7 137.7
Mantle of the Expansive Mind 128.1 128.1 128.1 128.1

Some of you may be asking "How can you pick Conqueror's Nightsong Mantle as BiS when it is so far down the list?" Well, five of the items ranked above it are only there because they have Hit Rating. Another two are just bearly above it. So, the T8.25 shoulders aren't as bad as this list makes them look. When you include the Set bonuses as a part of there value they quickly jump to the top.

Chest:































Raiments of the Corrupted 328.4 192.4 328.4 192.4
Gown of the Spell-Weaver 308.5 186.1 308.5 186.1
Vestments of the Blind Denizen 286 286 286 286
Heigan's Putrid Vestments 280.7 197.4 280.7 197.4
Robes of the Umbral Brute 268.9 268.9 268.9 268.9
*Conqueror's Nightsong Vestments 258.6 258.6 344.7 344.7
Conqueror's Nightsong Robe 255.2 255.2 255.2 255.2
Ebonweave Robe 253.6 138 253.6 138
Raiments of the Iron Council 249.2 249.2 249.2 249.2
Gown of Blaumeux 248.9 172.4 248.9 172.4
Phaelia's Vestments of the Sprouting Seed 246.2 246.2 246.2 246.2
Valorous Dreamwalkers Vestments 244.2 244.2 282.6 244.2
Vest of the Glowing Crecent 241.3 241.3 241.3 241.3
Valorous Nightsong Vestments 240.8 240.8 326.9 326.9
Valorous Nightsong Robe 238.3 238.3 238.3 238.3
The Sanctum's Flowing Vestments 226.8 226.8 226.8 226.8
Vesments of the Piercing Light 221 221 221 221
Heroes' Dreamwalker Robe 216.5 216.5 254.9 216.5
Digested Silken Robes 216.2 216.2 216.2 216.2
Robes of Mutation 215.2 215.2 215.2 215.2
Tunic of Pregudice 212.2 212.2 212.2 212.2
Spellweave Robe 210.6 210.6 210.6 210.6
Vest of Vitality 205.7 205.7 205.7 205.7
Blanketing Robes of Snow 195 195 195 195
Fungi Stained Coverings 190.8 190.8 190.8 190.8
Sympathy 180.4 180.4 180.4 180.4
Robes of the Crackling Flame 161.1 161.1 161.1 161.1
Robes of the Hoarse Breaths 161.1 161.1 161.1 161.1
Moonshroud Robe 160.1 160.1 160.1 160.1

Again the tier piece is my choice for BiS. There are better chests but the Set bonuses are worth the drop in stats.

Hands:


































Pulsar Gloves 283.5 188.3 283.5 188.3
Pharos Gloves 247.7 247.7 247.7 247.7
*Conqueror's Nightsong Gloves 243.4 146.5 329.5 232.6
Static Sharge Handwraps 227.9 125.9 227.9 125.9
Handwraps of the Vigilent 226.1 226.1 226.1 226.1
Valorous Nightsong Gloves 224.7 136.3 310.8 222.4
Gloves of the Frozen Glade 206.5 206.5 206.5 206.5
Gloves of Grandeur 202.5 137.9 202.5 137.9
Handguards of Potent Cures 190.6 190.6 190.6 190.6
Ebonweave Gloves 188.2 101.5 188.2 101.5
Conqueror's Nightsong Handguards 181.6 181.6 181.6 181.6
Handwraps of Plentiful Recovery 180.8 180.8 180.8 180.8
Grips of the Unbroken 180.2 180.2 180.2 180.2
Constructor's Handwraps 178.5 178.5 178.5 178.5
Touch of the Occult 177.4 177.4 177.4 177.4
Grips of the Secret Grove 175.1 175.1 175.1 175.1
Gloves of the Fallen Wizard 173.9 131.4 173.9 131.4
Handwraps of Resonance 173.8 173.8 173.8 173.8
Valorous Nightsong Handguards 169.1 169.1 169.1 169.1
Gloves of the Dark Gestures 166.9 124.4 166.9 124.4
Valorous Dreamwalker Gloves 165.3 165.3 203.6 165.3
Gloves of the Dancing Bear 163 163 163 163
Gloves of Token Respect 157.7 157.7 157.7 157.7
Gloves of Peaceful Death 154.6 154.6 154.6 154.6
Spellweave Gloves 154.3 154.3 154.3 154.3
Heroes' Dreamwalker Gloves 148 148 186.4 148
Gloves of Glistening Runes 147.4 147.4 147.4 147.4
Wraps of the Persecuted 141.9 141.9 141.9 141.9
Contagion gloves 140.7 140.7 140.7 140.7
Handgrips of Turmoil 131.9 131.9 131.9 131.9
Overlook Handguards 118.1 118.1 118.1 118.1
Moonshroud Gloves 117.4 117.4 117.4 117.4

The T8.25 gloves have a good amount of hit on them raising them to number two on the list just by stats alone. However, the gloves from Algalon are quite awesome also.

Wrists:


The Grasps of Reason are great and will get even better once we know the socket bonus. However, the wrist slot is a greate place to pick up a small amount of hit if you need it. As our gear improves most of our hit items will have a very large amount of hit. Therefore an item with just a little hit may be desireable to pick up those last 20-30 points you need. Finally, if your guild is still running Sarth 2D or better you may want to pick up the Unsullied Cuffs.

Belt:


The Crafted belts are very nice and will probably be worn by lot of Moonkin. However, if you can get Algalon down the Star-Beaded Clutch is great.

Boots:


The Treads are still an very good item but the Boods of Fiery Resolution benfit from having a large amount of Haste and the new and improved Spirit. However, I wouldn't be suprised if the Treads became my first choice again after more is known about what a BiS moonkin looks like at the end of Ulduar.

Notes:
Ok, that is all of the primary armor evaluated. My next post will be out early next week and list all of the Jewelry and weapons.

Once again, as you can see there are a lot of links and values in this post. It is quite possible that I messed some of them up. If you find an incorrect link or a valuation just doesn't look right, please let me know so that I can correct it.

The Ulduar Raiding Gear List: Part 2

Update: This post now includes all of the Ulduar Gear available as of 5/19/09. It requires a lot of data entry to create these posts so I am sure there are some errors involved. Please let me know if I have an incorrect link or a valuation seems wrong.

Here is part 2 to the gear ranking. This post focuses on the jewelry and weapons available to moonkin. Please refer to part 1 to see how the list was built.

Back:


The Drape of Mortal Downfall is awesome if you can get a hold of it. If you were able to pick up the Pennant Cloak before Ulduar then you are going to be wearing it for a while. The lack of spirit and gem socket make it awesome. In reality there is only the Drape of Mortal Downfall is better and it drops off of a hard mode. That said, the Deathchill Cloak is perfect for alts and offspecs since it is so easy to obtain.

Neck:

The quest rewards are still great, but they are loaded with hit rating. At this point I think it is better to get hit rating from other sources and therefore SAoR is best.

Trinket:


First of all, I urge you to use this trinket ranking with a little bit of skepticism. Most of the new trinkets haven’t been tested to my knowledge and how their procs work is unknown. In most cases I assumed that they would work in a similar manner to the trinkets we had in the 3.0 version of WoW. In cases like the Vanquished Clutches of Yogg Saron I had to ignore the proc completely because I have no clue as to how it works. I will update this list as more information is known.

The updated Flare of the Heavens is an awesome trinket. It is a clear upgrade to our current non-hit trinkets. The Illustration of the Dragon Soul is still an awesome trinket and is increadibly easy to get since it drops off of Sarth 0D. Imagine how good it would be if they hadn't nerfed it.

Finally, I want to make one little comment about hit trinkets. I generally don’t recommend using hit trinkets after early raiding. The reason is they just have way to much hit on them. A single trinket can provide 45% of the total hit rating you need. Unfortunately that makes you very inflexible and forces you to skip some other awesome trinkets that provide a ton of Spell Power, Crit rating or Haste rating.

Rings:

The Signet of Manifested Pain is still an awesome ring. The Pyrelight Circle as almost identical stats to make it an awesome ring also. However, the two best rings currently available are the Conductive Seal and Nebula Band. The first is a Yogg hard mode drop, the second an Algalon 10man drop.

Off Hand:


Blizzard added only 3 Off Hand items in Ulduar. It is clear that Blizzard is pushing staves with the new staff enchant and the lack of MH/OH options. However, making the transition from MH/OH to Staff can be a little troubling. If your still using a MH/OH combo your Naxx Off Hands will still serve you well. In my pre-Naxx gear guide I recommended that you pick up the Ward of the Violet Citadel. It is still very highly ranked and is incredably easy to get.

One Hand Weapon:

I want to make one thing very clear up front. The Val'anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings legendary Mace is a healer weapon. It is near perfectly itemized for a moonkin, and I've seen some people suggest that we should be able to get one, but I have to disagree. The proc is a healing proc, it is cleary best for healers. I have only included it on the list because I there are Resto Druids out ther that have a Moonkin secondary spec and will pick up this item.

Once again, Val'anyr is a healer weapon, and I don't want to hear any QQ about how your guild won't let you have the mace or its fragments. I agree with them. Giving this mace to a DPSer is a good way to break up a guild and look like a fool on websites like WoWInsider and MMO-Champion.

Since, my last update Starshard Edge and Constellus have been added loot tables. They make the MH/OH combo viable once again but I still prefer the staff below. these two weapons are nice because they are of 239 iLvL with 587 spell power. Soulscribe is also a great weapon if you can't get hour hand on the staff.

Two Handed Weapon:

















Intensity 845.8 641.8
*Staff of Endless Winter 782.5 782.5
Unraveling Reach 758.2 564.4
Greatstaff of the Nexus 743.4 581.9
Icecore Staff 741.9 741.9
The Lifebinder 725.5 725.5
Rapture 706.9 706.9
Devotion 632.8 632.8
Pillar of Fortitude 606.9 606.9
Damnation 600.2 600.2
Staff of Restraint 592.7 592.7
Sulfur Stave 589.6 489.3
Spire of Sunset 587.2 587.2
Staff of Draconic Combat 545.4 545.4
Charmed Cierge 545 545

For years I've said "don't use a staff." People have come to me and said "what about this staff? Its awesome." I respond "don't use a staff."

Well, much like they did with Eclipse, Blizzard is forcing us to use staves. Blizzard has provided very few MH/OH options in Ulduar and created some awesome staves. Couple this with the new two-handed spell power weapon enchant and you can see why I am now saying: use a staff. Just be careful how you make the transition. Not all staves are created equal, and you MH/OH combo may be better then some of them. That said, the Staff of Endless Winter is a truely awesome weapon if you can get your hands on one.

Relic/Idol:
There arn't enough relics to really rank them, but I'm sure somebody would ask about them if I didn't put a section in the guide about them. I like most Moonkin go with [Idol of the Shooting Star] because it affects Starfire. Some will choose [Idol of Steadfast Renewal] if their rotation focuses on Wrath, but I don't recommend this. The [Idol of Crying Wind] is not a good option at anytime in my opinion. You can find my math here.

I also don't recommend using any of the idols from TBC. Both of the WotLK idols currently available will be purchaseable with Emblems in 3.1 and are much better then anything we found in Outland.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

The Graylo Interview on TNB

If you were unable to attend the live taping of the Twisted Nether Blogcast last Thursday, the recorded version of the interview is now available. You can find it here. We talk about all sorts of things from Moonkin, to Theorycrafting, to Ulduar, to why I spell it "Gray" instead of "Grey".

Anyway, I had a lot of fun. It's amazing how quickly time can go. I was worried before hand that it might be a really short interview, but instead I turned out to be a wind bag and they couldn't shut me up.

Thanks again to Nebuca and Fimlys.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Mailbag: The Moonkin Haste Cap

Is there such a thing as a haste cap?

I wouldn't have even thought of this question until last night when I was guild raid in Naxx 25 for a break from ulduar and a new mage asked me what my haste was. Uh... 597 atm, why do you ask? He replies not to tell me how to play my character but I may want to consider replacing my JC gems for SP since the haste cap for moonkins is 400. He said he got this info from EJ but I can't find any mention of it even in the haste mechanic forums. By no means do I mind switching out 81 haste for 93 spell power IF the cap is as that guy suggested (btw he says his main is a moonkin on another server). Also, when he said 400 the number flipped a switch in my brain because I remember watching a video on Foofy's Cupcake Factory that lists a 400 maximum for haste if you are using the Solar rotation - but I could never figure out why she gave the number of 400! So confusing >.<

So in the end maybe I just overlooked someone in one of the forums or another moonkin site of the 400 spell haste cap for us but I am just not sure enough to change out my gear (I have crit heavy gear I can switch out in my bank to get closer to that 400 number). Can you help me?


Yes, there is a Haste cap for moonkin, but it is not a hard cap like Hit rating.

The Global Cooldown (GCD) starts at 1.5 seconds, but has a minimum value of 1 second. The cast time of any spell can technically go below this level, but you can't cast a spell while in the GCD so the affective minimum cast time is 1 second.

So, when people refer to the Haste Cap they are referring to the level at which a spells cast time goes below 1 second. This primarily affects instants and spells with short cast times like Wrath. Spells with long cast times like Starfire are rarely impacted if ever.

Assuming that you have Celestial Focus (3%), Improved Moonkin Aura (3%), Wrath of Air (5%), and Natures Grace (20%) up. Then you only need 12.21% haste from gear to reach the cap. (1.5/(1.03*1.03*1.05*1.2) = 1.122138) Since it takes 32.79 to get 1% haste you can see that 400 haste will get you the 12.21% you need. Therefore the Haste Cap for Wrath is 400 Haste Rating.

For Starfire with the same buffs the Haste cap is 4080. If you add Heroism/Bloodlust it drops to 2382. Obviously, these levels are unreachable except in the rares of occasions. Therefore, you don't need to worry about the SF haste cap.

The Haste cap only really matters if you use a Solar rotation. If this is the rotation you use then after 400 you should focus on Crit a little more then Haste. Haste will still have some value because SF is still a part of your rotation and NG won't have a 100% uptime, but its value is significantly reduced. Basically, If your using a Solar rotation you don't want to stack haste beyond 400, but you don't want to avoid it at all costs either.

If you use a Lunar rotation there is no real reason to worry about the Haste cap. Haste scales very well with Starfire for all reasonable levels of gear currently available. Since Starfire is your primary spell in a Lunar rotation Haste works very will with it also. Yes, Wrath is a significant part of a lunar rotation as well, but it isn't enough to devalue the stat to below Crit Rating.

Gemming for Haste:
I want to say a quick thing about gemming for haste. The only time I would ever gem for haste is if it is a yellow socket and I wanted the socket bonus. In which case I would socket a Reckless (SP/Haste) gem. Other then that, it is never a good idea to gem for haste.

In The Burning Crusade there was a point where Haste became more powerful in terms of DPS then Spell Power. On top of that we were able to raise our Spell Power levels so high that at some points it made sense to gem for haste instead of Spell Power. That point currently does not exist in Wrath of the Lich King.

How we play a moonkin in WotLK is very different then how we played our Moonkins in TBC. In TBC we basically Starfire spammed and refreshed Moonfire when it dropped off. This was great for haste because SF and Haste work so well together. On top of that, we weren't able to get any significant amount of haste gear until ZA and Tier 6 came out. So our Spell Power levels got very high while our haste levels remained very low. Neither of these facts are true for WotLK.

In WotLK, Wrath is a significant part of our rotation, and haste has a very limited value for Wrath after 400 haste rating. On top of that, we are able to picking up tons of haste gear from quest rewards and Heroics. Combine this with the fact that the itemization cost of Haste is still higher then that of Spell Power and you can see how the break even point for Haste and Spell power is pushed out of reach.

TL:DR
1. If you use a Solar rotation then the cap is 400, but don't worry about going above it. Haste still has some value.

2. If you use a Lunar rotation don't worry about a haste cap at all. You can't reach it for long periods of time.

3. Don't gem for Haste unless you have a yellow socket and you want the socket bonus. In which case use a Reckless Gem that provides both Spell Power and Haste Rating. Don't eat haste food either.