Ok, the class mechanics can be somewhat spread out across the WoW forums (Who wants to go to that place anyways) so I looked around a bit and I'm going to list all the hit caps and stuff like that.

• For all caster classes, you can stack all the hit gear you like, but you will never reach 100% chance to hit (Ever wonder why the lvl 1 critters resist? >.>). Every caster class is capped at 99% chance to hit, melee classes can reach 100%.
• Approaching 99% chance to hit will greatly improve your dps, because if you aren't hitting something you aren't... hitting it. Mathematically speaking your hit rating typically acts as as you base multiplier (Which means it will have a large effect on your dps).

CASTER MECHANICS

The Hit Cap

1. You'll want to itemize for boss fights, as thats what matters most in raiding.
2. Bosses are calculated as being 3 levels above you.
3. Your base chance to hit on a boss is 83% ( Source )
4. This means +hit is effective until you reach +16% hit. (Or 202 hit rating)
5. At level 70 12.6 hit rating = 1% hit. (Which is cheaper itemization than crit rating)
6. So for hit rating you will need [202-12.6H] hit rating, where H = % hit you gained from talents. For example elemental precision would be equal to 6.

Crit

1. Crit will often act as a second multiplier.
2. Crit plays an important roll in certain specs such as fire mage, or destruction warlock, and should not be neglected.

This is an extremely simplified equation and should not be used for calculating dps. It accounts for no talents or special class mechanics. It is meant to give a general idea of what spells go through.

SpellDamage = D (700 SpellDamage = .... 700)
Spell Coefficient = M (83% coefficient = .83)
Hit Decimal = H (99% hit [capped] = .99)
Crit Decimal = C (15% crit = 1.15)

(D*M*H*C)

Caster Addons

1. For ANY CASTER I would strongly recommend Quartz
2. For any caster with a damage over time, I recommend Dotimer

PHYSICAL MECHANICS

1. You'll want to itemize for boss fight, as thats what matters most in raiding.
2. Bosses are calculated as being 3 levels above you.
3. Here are some numbers:
   
   1. Base Melee Miss (Dual-Wielding): 28%
   2. Base Melee Miss (2H/1H+Shield/Special Attacks): 9%
   3. Base Ranged Miss: 9%
   4. Hit % = hit rating / 15.8

• This means without ANY TALENT a dual-wielding class requires 442 hit rating to be “Hit capped”
• A non-dual-wielding class (2H/1H+Shield/Special Attacks) requires 142 hit rating to be “hit capped”

I'm not even going to pretend I know enough about physical classes to provide even a basic formula.

TANKING MECHANICS

As a tank in a raid situation, you'll want to obtain a substantial amount of health and avoidance, as well as several crucial caps.

• First is becoming immune to critical hits. Becoming immune to critical hits (200% dmg) cuts back on the spike damage, and is mainly achieved through defense.

Crit-immune “cap”

1. Without ANY TALENTS you need 490 defense.
2. With Anticipation (Warrior or Paladin) you still require 490 defense (Total is displayed in your character sheet), but you will need less from gear.
3. With Survival of the Fittest (Druid) you require 415 defense.
4. It is possible to use resilience to replace defense (Only useful concerning the crit-cap), but it is only common practice for druids. If a druid does this they just need to maintain -2.6% chance to be crit when defense and resilience are added together (This can be found by mousing over each in your character sheet).

Second we have the crush-immune cap (Only applicable for warrior and paladins, unless you manage to stack around 3000 agility as a druid)

Crush-immune “cap”

A crush (150% damage) has a 15% chance to occur when a boss is striking a player. A crush is located near the end of the roll table, which means you'll need a good amount of avoidance to push it off the table. The good news is that block counts towards pushing it off the table (Druids cannot block despite their faces being flat like shields). Warriors and paladins require different amounts of avoidance to become crush-immune due to shield block and holy shield having different strengths.

Warrior

1. Counting the 75% block from Shield Block your dodge/block/parry/chance to be missed must be equal to 102.4%
2. So your base dodge/block/parry/chance to be missed must be > or = to 27.4%
3. Once you reach 27.4% or more you are immune to crushing blows while under the effects of Shield Block.
4. Shield Block's strength is that you require less avoidance to become crush immune.
5. Its weakness is that the 2 charges can be consumed in an unlucky string

Paladin

1. Counting the 30% block from Holy Shield your dodge/block/parry/chance to be missed must be equal to 102.4%
2. So your base dodge/block/parry/chance to be missed must be > or = to 72.4%
3. Once you reach 72.4% or more you are immune to crushing blows while under the effects of Holy Shield.
4. Holy Shield's strength is that it is harder for it's charges to be consumed early because it has a substantial amount of them.
5. Holy Shield's weakness is that you must stack much more avoidance than a warrior to become crush-immune

Druids

1. Stack 3000 agility

HEALER MECHANICS

Ok, we're in the home stretch. Now we come to the guys that keep you alive (usually), the healers. Unlike the the other classes, healers have no “caps”, but they do have several sweet spots to shoot for. In addition to gear, a Super Mana Potion is a healer's best friend (Second best if you count the tank who prevents the healer from tanking).

For raiding the initial 25mans (Gruul/Mag) the following stats help you keep up with the damage well, though they “will” definitely vary between classes. These are raid-buffed stats.

1. 150-175 Mp5 (And Mana Pots)
2. 1250-1400 healing
3. 9k-11k mana pool

That is a general area to shoot for gear-wise, for techniques clicky Here.

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So there you have it, a condensed version of class mechanics found all over the forums. The caster and tank parts are the largest because that is where I have personal experience, sorry melee dps... I don't apologize to hunters because you all sicken me with your dispel shot...

I made this with the help of a few people specializing in their areas as well as reading over forums.

If you have anything you would like to contribute please tell me and I'll edit it in (If you can provide a source or substantial backup to support it).

Hunters are overpowered.

Good night everyone, Happy New Year, and all that other stuff too, and here's to late nights. (=