Why Sinister Strike is a more damaging Combo Point generator for fast weapons than Hemorrhage.
Many patches ago, Blizz came up with the concept of “Normalized Damage." I seem to recall it made itemization more diverse or something like that. One of the problems they had was some super slow weapons that were blue quality were sometimes more powerful than faster purple/epic weapons (i.e. 2.0 spd Barman Shanker from Blackrock Depths).
Anyway, Sinister Strike is a rogue attack that uses Normalized Damage. Hemorrhage was not “normalized.” So they have slightly different damage mechanics.
The Old Non-Normalized Formula – Still applies to Hemo and Ghostly Strike
Damage = base_weapon_damage + (weapon_speed * Attack Power / 14)
For Attacks that are “Normalized”
Dagger Base Multiplier = 1.7 regardless of speed
Swords, Maces and Fists = 2.4 regardless of speed
The Normalized Formula:
Normalized Damage = Base Weapon Damage + (Base Multiplier × Attack Power / 14)
Here is an example.
Merciless Gladiator Shanker (Main Hand Season 2 Dagger)
140-211 Damage, 97.5 DPS, 1.8 Speed. AVG HIT = 176
Assume 1300 Attack Power
Hemorrage: 176 + (1.8 x 1300 / 14) = 343 damage. Hemo is 110% x 343 = 377 Total
Sinister Strike: 176 + (1.7 x 1300 / 14) = 334 damage. SS is 98 + 334 = 432 Total
1.8 speed is about the slowest dagger you will have in Outlands. Illidan drops a 1.9 speed dagger. That’s it for lvl 70 endgame daggers slower than 1.8 speed J.
The faster the dagger, the more Sinister Strike outpaces Hemorrhage. Sinister Strikes fixed damage bonus of +98 also outpaces Hemorrhage’s 110% modifier on fast weapons due to their lower damage range.
Maces and Swords just get better and better for Hemorrhage. Many are slower than 2.4 (their normalized speed modifier). So there is a good itemization supply in the game.