Armor Set Collecting: Dungeon Set One
Set collecting is one of those things that you either love or hate -- either the thought of running around in old gear is curiously nostalgic, or you simply don't care to fill your bank with a lot of useless junk. With the introduction of Cataclysm, a lot of these old dungeon sets appear to be changing or disappearing entirely, making them a hot commodity for set collectors. Since a lot of players these days picked up the game in the BC or Wrath eras, not everyone knows where these pieces come from and how to get them.
The first of these sets is the Dungeon Set One. Obtained through various level 60 instances, these blue armor sets were the top of the top before the days of Molten Core and purples everywhere. Originally, these sets had very boring graphics, until a patch was implemented in which all sets got a shiny new graphics update. In the early days of vanilla, these sets were pretty much all players needed to farm for, and the +8 to all resistances that served as a set bonus for each was handy in places like Molten Core, which was nothing but a fun fire factory in which you wanted to stack as much fire resistance as possible. There are nine sets to collect, and each set is class-specific. All set pieces can be found in Stratholme, Scholomance and Blackrock Spire (both lower and upper).
Dreadmist Raiment (warlock)
The Dreamist Raiment set is for warlocks. The most difficult piece to obtain in vanilla was probably the Dreadmist Mantle. Jandice Barov was a pain to clear to and a pain to kill in the early days, largely due to her annoying habit of splitting into a million clones. These days, she's pretty easy to knock over solo at level 80.
Dreadmist Belt This BoE belt has a small chance of dropping off of mobs in Scholomance and Stratholme.
Dreadmist Bracers These BoE bracers have a small chance of dropping off of mobs in Blackrock Spire.
Dreadmist Leggings These drop from Baron Rivendare in the undead side of Stratholme.
Dreadmist Mantle These drop from Jandice Barov in Scholomance.
Dreadmist Robe This drops from General Drakkisath, the last boss in Upper Blackrock Spire.
Dreadmist Sandals These drop from Baroness Anastari in undead Stratholme.
Dreadmist Mask This drops from Darkmaster Gandling, the last boss of Scholomance.
Dreadmist Wraps These BoE gloves drop from Lorekeeper Polkelt in Scholomance.
Battlegear of Valor (warrior)
The Valor set is primarily found in Stratholme, but other pieces can be found in other areas. In vanilla, probably the most difficult piece of this set to obtain was the boots, because they dropped from a boss that was pretty optional unless people were on the quest to kill him.
Belt of Valor This BoE belt has a small chance of dropping off of mobs in the undead side of Stratholme.
Boots of Valor These boots are dropped by Kirtonos the Herald in Scholomance.
Bracers of Valor These BoE bracers have a small chance of dropping off of mobs in Blackrock Spire.
Breastplate of Valor This drops from General Drakkisath, the last boss in Upper Blackrock Spire.
Gauntlets of Valor These BoE gloves drop from Ramstein the Gorger in the undead side of Stratholme.
Helm of Valor This drops from Darkmaster Gandling, the last boss of Scholomance.
Legplates of Valor These drop from Baron Rivendare, the last boss of the undead side of Stratholme.
Spaulders of Valor These drop from Rend Blackhand in Upper Blackrock Spire.
Beaststalker Armor (hunter)
The Beaststalker set was the first in a long set of "stalker" armor for hunters. The hardest piece for hunters to obtain was usually the gloves, because War Master Voone was located in a fairly out-of-the-way area in Lower Blackrock Spire.
Beaststalker's Belt This BoE belt has a small chance of dropping off of mobs in Lower Blackrock Spire.
Beaststalker's Boots These drop from Nerub'enkan in the undead side of Stratholme.
Beaststalker's Bindings These BoE bracers have a small chance of dropping off of mobs in both the live and undead sides of Stratholme.
Beaststalker's Cap This drops from Darkmaster Gandling, the last boss of Scholomance.
Beaststalker's Tunic This drops from General Drakkisath, the last boss in Upper Blackrock Spire.
Beaststalker's Pants These drop from Baron Rivendare, the last boss of the undead side of Stratholme.
Beaststalker's Mantle This drops off of Overlord Wrymthalak in Lower Blackrock Spire.
Beaststalker's Gloves These BoE gloves drop from War Master Voone in Lower Blackrock Spire.
The Elements (shaman)
Prior to The Burning Crusade, only the Horde had to worry about the location of the Elements set, as they were the only faction that had shaman. Luckily for shaman, most of their set pieces were on bosses that people wanted to kill anyway.
Cord of Elements This BoE belt has a small chance of dropping off of mobs in Blackrock Spire.
Boots of Elements These drop from Highlord Omokk in Lower Blackrock Spire.
Bindings of Elements These BoE bracers have a small chance of dropping off of mobs in Stratholme and Scholomance.
Coif of Elements This drops from Darkmaster Gandling, the last boss of Scholomance.
Gauntlets of Elements These BoE gloves drop from Pyroguard Emberseer in Upper Blackrock Spire.
Kilt of Elements This drops from Baron Rivendare, the last boss of the undead side of Stratholme.
Pauldrons of Elements These drop from Gyth, the mount of Rend Blackhand in Upper Blackrock Spire.
Vest of Elements This drops from General Drakkisath, the last boss in Upper Blackrock Spire.
Lightforge Armor (paladin)
Again, prior to The Burning Crusade, only one faction had to worry about this set. Alliance was the home of the paladin, and thankfully, the paladins didn't have to worry overly much about any of their set pieces, as they all dropped off of bosses that needed to be killed to move on in the instances.
Lightforge Belt This BoE belt has a small chance of dropping off of mobs in Stratholme.
Lightforge Boots These drop from Balnazzar, the last boss of the live side of Stratholme.
Lightforge Bracers These BoE bracers have a small chance of dropping off of mobs in Scholomance.
Lightforge Breastplate This drops from General Drakkisath, the last boss in Upper Blackrock Spire.
Lightforge Gauntlets These BoE gloves drop from Timmy the Cruel in the live side of Stratholme.
Lightforge Legplates These drop from Baron Rivendare, the last boss of the undead side of Stratholme.
Lightforge Spaulders These drop from The Beast in Upper Blackrock Spire.
Lightforge Helm This drops from Darkmaster Gandling, the last boss of Scholomance.
Magister's Regalia (mage)
Poor, poor mages. Once upon a time, the boots for the Magister's set dropped from Postmaster Malown, a boss that pretty much nobody ever wanted to kill. This was because it took a crazy amount of time to get him to spawn -- so most mages had to go without their boots until the drop was changed to the Hearthsinger, who was much easier to find and destroy.
Magister's Belt This BoE belt has a small chance of dropping off of mobs in Scholomance, Stratholme and Blackrock Spire.
Magister's Bindings These BoE bracers have a small chance of dropping off of mobs in Blackrock Spire.
Magister's Crown This drops from Darkmaster Gandling, the last boss of Scholomance.
Magister's Gloves These BoE gloves drop from Doctor Theolen Krastinov in Scholomance.
Magister's Leggings These drop from Baron Rivendare, the last boss of the undead side of Stratholme.
Magister's Mantle This drops from Ras Frostwhisper in Scholomance.
Magister's Robes This drops from General Drakkisath, the last boss in Upper Blackrock Spire.
Magister's Boots These drop from Hearthsinger Forresten, a rare boss in between live and undead Stratholme.
Shadowcraft Armor (rogue)
As with the hunters, rogues had a hard time with a piece of their set because of its out-of-the-way location. In this case, it was the gloves that dropped from a boss in a remote location in Lower Blackrock Spire.
Shadowcraft Belt This BoE belt has a small chance of dropping off of mobs in Blackrock Spire.
Shadowcraft Boots These drop from Rattlegore in Scholomance.
Shadowcraft Bracers These BoE bracers have a small chance of dropping off of mobs in Stratholme and Scholomance.
Shadowcraft Tunic This drops from General Drakkisath, the last boss in Upper Blackrock Spire.
Shadowcraft Spaulders These drop from Cannon Master Willey in the live side of Stratholme.
Shadowcraft Pants These drop from Baron Rivendare, the last boss of the undead side of Stratholme.
Shadowcraft Gloves These BoE gloves drop from Shadow Hunter Vosh'gajin in Lower Blackrock Spire.
Shadowcraft Cap This drops from Darkmaster Gandling, the last boss of Scholomance.
Wildheart Raiment (druid)
Druids luckily had a fairly easy time with their sets in vanilla, because most bosses that dropped their set pieces were also objects for quests in the various dungeons.
Wildheart Belt This BoE belt has a small chance of dropping off of mobs in Scholomance and Blackrock Spire.
Wildheart Boots These drop from Mother Smolderweb in Lower Blackrock Spire.
Wildheart Bracers These BoE bracers have a small chance of dropping off of mobs in Stratholme and Scholomance.
Wildheart Cowl This drops from Darkmaster Gandling, the last boss of Scholomance.
Wildheart Vest This drops from General Drakkisath, the last boss in Upper Blackrock Spire.
Wildheart Spaulders These drop from Gizrul the Slavener in Lower Blackrock Spire.
Wildheart Kilt This drops from Baron Rivendare, the last boss of the undead side of Stratholme.
Wildheart Gloves These BoE gloves drop from The Unforgiven, a ghost boss that spawns on the live side of Stratholme.
Vestments of the Devout (priest)
And then we have the priests. Much like mages, priest had a terrible time trying to get their shoulder armor due to their dropping from a boss that could only be spawned by doing an event. Nobody ever wanted to do the event.
Devout Belt This BoE belt has a small chance of dropping off of mobs in Blackrock Spire.
Devout Sandals These drop from Maleki the Pallid on the undead side of Stratholme.
Devout Bracers These BoE bracers have a small chance of dropping off of mobs in Stratholme.
Devout Crown This drops from Darkmaster Gandling, the last boss of Scholomance.
Devout Gloves These BoE gloves drop from Archivist Galford in the live side of Stratholme.
Devout Mantle This drops from Solakar Flamewreath in Upper Blackrock Spire.
Devout Skirt This drops from Baron Rivendare, the last boss of the undead side of Stratholme.
Devout Robe This drops from General Drakkisath, the last boss in Upper Blackrock Spire.
The Postmaster (cloth, all classes)
This set is a little ... unique. It was the only blue set other than the class sets, and it didn't have a class specification. All pieces dropped in Stratholme from Postmaster Malown, who I mentioned earlier. The reason this set is so hard to obtain is the sheer amount of annoyance in getting Malown to spawn. First, you have to travel to live side Stratholme and kill the Stratholme Courier, who will drop keys to various mailboxes throughout the area. Next, you have to travel to the mailboxes and open them, which will spawn several elite mobs. You must do this three times; when you open the third mailbox, Postmaster Malown will spawn. Kill him, and he will drop a piece of the Postmaster set. While most of the set pieces drop relatively frequently, the Postmaster's Band only has about a 5 percent drop rate, so you have to keep resetting the instance, killing the Courier, killing Malown, and praying. The completed set looks snazzy and grants a lot of set bonuses; if you have the full five pieces, you get a 5 percent boost to run speed, presumably to help you deliver the mail that much faster. Be warned, it takes a crazy amount of time to farm this set -- so unless you're a serious set collector, you can probably skip it.
Although it hasn't been confirmed, the bosses that drop these various set pieces are changing, as well as the instances they live in currently, so these set pieces may simply disappear upon Cataclysm's launch. If you're looking for unique gear that may prove to be even more unique in the years to come, be sure to pick up these old armor sets before they vanish.