epics
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Patch 2.3: Twinks become gods
As you know, in patch 2.3, many of the previously ho-hum mid-level dungeon drops are set to actually become useful, worth the trip you make to go get them in the dungeon (in most cases). Overall, this is a blessing for players everywhere, either starting out with their first characters, or leveling up long-forgotten alts.Twinks, however, are going to become a much greater nuisance than they were before. Some of their old items are going to be upgraded by default as the new patch comes in and the old items all around the world get replaced with the new. New twinks, however, will have the privilege of setting their sights on the best of the best items for their particular class and level bracket, putting an even further distance between them and other players who just want to enjoy a bit of PvP as they level up. This is particularly true with new low-level epics such as the Deadman's Hand which, at level 29, seems designed to be the pet dream of twinks everywhere, regardless of race or class. Does Blizzard intend to support twinking? And what's the whole point of twinking anyway?
Is the Horseman too easy?
Now, a little while ago, Blizzard implemented an Arena points system, where as long as you ran 10 arena matches, you could stock up points and then use them for Arena weapons. So raiders (who didn't PvP much, but wanted the weapons) would save up their points even if they lost, and buy the weapons once they'd saved enough. Arena players, however, cried foul-- they said the Arena weapons had become "welfare epics." So Blizzard required a good Arena rating to buy those weapons.As of Tuesday, it's Hallow's End in Azeroth, and there is now a Headless Horseman event in Scarlet Monastery's Graveyard. Everyone I know (including me) has run the event multiple times, and Epics are dropping like Hallow's End candy. So here's the question: should Blizzard really be giving out Epics for an event that takes just a few minutes and only a modicum of skill? Aren't these as "welfare epics" as they come? Is the Horseman event too easy to be giving out loot like this?Now, obviously, the rings and helm that the Horseman drops are hardly the Arena weapons that Blizzard had to put behind a rating. Though they are Epic, they're not that amazing-- one trip through Karazhan could probably replace all of them. But Karazhan is a ten main raid, and this is an event that can be done with as little as three people once every day (and I wouldn't be surprised to see it soloed by some ambitious Paladin before long). Already, three days into the event, my guild was running a 66 Mage in there just to get a "free" epic ring for him to use, four levels from now. Isn't that a bit much?
Tempest Keep and SSC loots buffed on PTR
According to our friends at MMO-Champion, several items that drop in Tempest Keep and Serpentshrine Caverns have been upgraded on the PTR. In addition, there's apparently a new shield added to the loot table in either Mount Hyjal or Black Temple based on its item level. Speculation abounds as to whether this is the first of many new items or not.I personally have no idea if this is being done to balance TK and SSC with Arena Season 3, if this means that Season 3 is coming with the patch or not, and what that means as to how good Season 3 items will be. None of the upgrades is so enormous as to make or break having a weapon, but they are nice little bumps if you happen to already have, say, World Breaker or the Twinblade of the Phoenix.Void Reaver over there is just thrilled that his loots are getting a boost. Look at how happy he is. That great big smile in no way is caused by panic at hordes (or alliances) of adventurers coming to crack him open for the succulent treats inside.
Ask WoW Insider: What's the best of Ask WoW Insider?
Fridays are a time for early happy hour quiet contemplation and reflection upon the past, and in that spirit we're taking a look back at some of the best posts from over the lifespan of Ask WoW Insider. Now that we're all older and wiser -- who *did* end up being the top PvP classes at 70? Best duo for PvP or grinding"What team of classes make the best duo for PVP or for grinding?" Top PvP classes at level 70Just after Burning Crusade came out, we speculated on which classes would dominate in PvP. Were we right? Would you change the answer you gave then? Best ways to make money in Burning Crusade"What are some good ways of making money for levels 60-70 in Burning Crusade? Are there people making money from jewelcrafting yet, should I pick that up? What about good mobs to grind or drops that sell well to vendors or on the AH?" Best way to get instance invites"What are your tips and tricks for convincing a group you've got the goods despite not having seen the inside of the dungeon?" Why are you overpowered?"Dig deep, self-examine and admit it: what makes your class overpowered?" How's WoW performance on a Mac?"I play Wow on a PC, and am looking towards a new computer purchase. One thing that influences my purchase is how well WoW will run on my new computer. I'm leaning towards a Mac, but how well does WoW run on a Mac?" Best way to power level alts"What's your strategy for the quickest power leveling? How do you maximize your time with your alts?" How would you design your own battleground?"What if you could design your own battleground? What would you do different or better than what is currently in the game?" When is it fair to upgrade an epic?"All DKP ideas aside, when is it fair to upgrade an epic over an epic?" Best healing class"Which class would you roll for a purely healing role? Which would you roll for a powerfully healing hybrid who might want to take on other roles from time to time? Relatedly, which healing class is the worst?" Best DPS class"Which classes can dish out the most DPS and which ones make the least amount of DPS?" Favorite WoW podcasts"There are a ton of WoW-themed podcasts out there now -- which would you recommend? What are your favorites?" Great ding stories"Any fun or interesting stories to tell about hitting the level cap? Or more generally, any memorable or unusual dings at any level?" We see that look in your eye, and we know it means you want to send us questions. Ask WoW Insider needs 'em -- send them to us at ask AT wowinsider DOT com!
Ask WoW Insider: When is it fair to upgrade an epic?
Welcome back to Ask WoW Insider, where each week we publish one of your questions. Last week we had some fun imagineering new battlegrounds, and this week we turn our attention once again to an issue near and dear to our hearts: loot. This week's question comes from Chris, who wants to know about etiquette regarding rolling or bidding for an epic drop to replace an item in a slot that is already an epic: All DKP ideas aside, when is it fair to upgrade an epic over an epic? Here is the situation: We are running Karazhan and the Staff of Infinite Mysteries drops. I, being a mage, have the epic spell blade form Thrallmar and epic off hand I got from turning in badges of justice. In addition to my weapons I have dropped all money making professions to take up tailoring and enchanting and power leveled them up to get the best gear and enchants possible to make raiding easier. Everyone else has just started doing the same thing finally and are a bit slow in the progress. Now, every DPS squishy wants the staff because it's an obvious upgrade to their blue weapon and I want it because it's an upgrade for boss fights because of the +hit and secondary stats. Would it be fair to roll for the staff seeing as how I have worked hard to get where I am at and still consider the staff to be an upgrade? Or should I just let the people that haven't worked as hard to get geared out take it in hopes it helps out the raid progression a bit faster. My opinion is that passing on loot to help those less geared out is like taxing the smart to help the dumb. Perhaps you have a better theory. What say you, readers? What factors should you consider when bidding or rolling on an epic drop that will replace a piece of gear on your character that is already shiny purple? Should you gear up those in blues first to help your guild, or is your dkp yours to spend on whatever you like with a free conscience? How much of an upgrade does it need to be to justify taking it over the lesser-geared? Join us next week for another Friday edition of Ask WoW Insider, and don't forget that we need your questions to make it happen! Send us what you want to know at ask AT wowinsider DOT com.
Battleground rewards meant to be "a tier behind" arena, PvE gear
Hellaciouss asks why there is no epic set for level 70 Battleground honor rewards, and Drysc, in answering, reveals quite a bit about how Blizzard views the arena PvP, raid, and battleground experiences.Drysc says the high-end arena gear is "intended to always be about on-par with the current tier players are progressing on." That means that if you play well in Arenas, you can earn gear that's just as good as what the hardcore raiders are earning in PvE. But Battleground gear, says Drysc is actually intended to be not as good. Because Arena and raiding take "quite a bit of effort, interaction, etc" (and BGs apparently do not), the gear for regular honor just isn't as good.I'll let you decide whether that suggestion is true or not, but I've been playing in the BGs, and there are large numbers of players sitting there AFK just to earn honor-- I reported a few of them. That definitely doesn't match up even close to the effort the best teams put into the arenas. But then again, it takes a lot of coordination and effort to lead a winning Horde team through AV, and if I'm able to do that, shouldn't I get rewarded for it? Just because it's easy for some people to exploit the BGs and earn lots of honor doesn't mean Blizzard has to treat all of the people playing in the Battlegrounds like second class citizens. Instead of gimping the gear, how about upping the effort required, and ditching the AFKers?
PTR notes: Arena weapons buffed slightly
In the wake of the sweeping PvE epic buffs in a recent PTR patch, we've expected corresponding buffs to the PvP epics. Well, they're here (partly), but they don't correspond as well as I would like. While Karazhan epics were buffed by 15 item levels, taking them from ilvl 100 to 115, Arena weapons were buffed by a mere 2, going from ilvl 115 to 117. Essentially, this puts them between T4 and T5, much closer to T4.Stats-wise, this seems to mean a gain of under 1 DPS (depending in the weapon), as well as sometimes small quantities of other stats (I'm talking things like 2 AP here). No question, gladiator weapons did not get buffed anywhere near as much as raid epics. As far as I can tell, the gladiator armor has not been buffed yet, but I'm sure it will be. What do you guys think about this? Reaction in the forums ranges from outrage to smug satisfaction, apparently based on whether the poster PvPs much or not.[via Shadow Gaming]Here's all the new stats on the weapons:%Gallery-3107%
PTR notes: Mass quantities of epics retuned
It's a common complaint that level 70 epics are too marginal of upgrades over dungeon blues; heck, I've even kept some quest reward greens over Karazhan epics. It looks like a lot of that is set to change with patch 2.1. According to reports from the PTRs almost every 70 epic has had its stats buffed in tonight's PTR patch, and fairly considerably, too. World of Raids is reporting that Tier 4 gear has had its item level ("ilvl" for short) bumped from the current 105 up to 120; Tier 5 has gone from 120 to 133; and the rest of the epic loot has been increased a corresponding degree -- T4-level stuff has gone up by 15 ilvls, and T5-level stuff by 13.What's all this ilvl nonsense, you ask? Well, the math is pretty complicated (1.5th roots are involved), but in short, ilvl represents how "good" an item is. An item's equip level is used to be determined by its ilvl, back before BC (specifically, it was ilvl minus 5, with a cap at 60), but other than that there's no way to directly see ilvl in the default UI (mods can show it). Items that are supposed to be comparable have the same ilvl: all T4 gear has the same ilvl, every Jazeraint Helm, regardless of suffix, has the same ilvl, and so forth. That is all to say, ilvl is a way of measuring "how much" stats a piece of gear has. For more details on ilvl calculation, see the WoWWiki page on the subject.So, getting back to the subject at hand: level 70 epics are getting better. Their ilvls are getting boosted, which means they get to have more stats. And for examples of specifics, head over to World of Raids, where they're keeping a constantly updated directory full of new item tooltips, in alphabetical order. Edit: MMO-Champion also has a very good listing of new stats. There are also a few reagent changes for some craftables. World of Raids reports:Blacksmith changes (5-7-07) - Tier 3 weapons require 5 nether vortex. - Tier 2 weapons require 8 primal nethers. Engineering changes (5-7-07) - Goggles now require a primal nether.(Image courtesy of the International Mountain Bicycling Association)
Forum Post of the Day: I have never looted an epic
I am impressed by EU forumgoer Yippi. Despite having two characters at level 70, one at level 69, two more at 60, and a host of lower levels, Yippi has never even seen a world drop epic. That's enough to make you wonder if the darn things even exist! Even though, in my experience, I have to say that they do -- while leveling, I've gotten Robes of Insight, an Underworld Band, a Jeweled Amulet of Cainwyn, and I've seen (though I didn't win) a Krol Blade. Maybe I'm as lucky as Yippi is unlucky? But, I don't know... like the guys over at Penny Arcade say -- green is the new purple. Maybe missing out on those world drop epics isn't that bad after all.Interested in more forumgoer opinions? Take a look at previous forum posts of the day!
PTR notes: get your epic BoEs crafted now
Wow, I sure am glad I came across this in my internet travels yesterday, since I seem to have missed it in the patch notes. But there it is: when 2.1 goes live, "The Epic bind on equip Blacksmith weapon recipes now require more materials to make." How much more, you ask? The image above (via World of Raids) shows the new recipes. Here's how they compare to the old: Khorium Champion: Four more Primal Nethers Felsteel Reaper: Ten Khorium bars (no Khorium required previously), four more PNs Hand of Eternity: Ten Khorium bars, two more PNs Felsteel Longblade: Ten Khorium bars, four more PNs Eternium Runed Blade: Four Felsteel changed to ten Khorium and four Hardened Adamantite; two more PNs Dirge: Ten Khorium bars, two more PNs Fel Edged Battleaxe: Ten Khorium bars, two more PNs Fel Hardened Maul: Ten Khorium bars, four more PNs Runic Hammer: Ten Khorium bars, two more PNs Guess I better get a move on farming the mights for my Hand of Eternity. The price impact of this change will vary depending on the crafters you know, but based on the rates I've seen should be a few hundred gold. Fortunately, it doesn't look like the patch is going up today, so we have at least a week to get our mats together.
Unwanted BoE Epics on the black market
Here is, as she says, an interesting "moral quandary" from jumpingjessflash. She was making her way through Maraudon (one of my favorite instances) with a few guildies, and the BoE epic Icemail Jerkin dropped. At first, she thought it was an upgrade for her Hunter, so rolled Need and took it she asked for Need, but then eventually won it with Greed (see note below). But on second thought, she didn't like only +5 Agility-- turns out it wasn't the Jerkin for her.So she's left with a choice: wear it anyway, or auction it and risk suffering the wrath of her guildies.I've been in (almost*) the same position, but (especially with guildies), if I'm not sure whether I'll use something or not, I'll usually let everyone else in the group know that it's iffy for me-- usually they'll let me take it anyway, to keep as a sidegrade or a piece of a different set. If I want to be really nice, I'll sometimes let them reroll on it if I decide I don't want it, and then send it away to the winner. Another option is to sell it, and then split the gold.Of course, you could also go the other way and send it to an unguilded alt to sell it anonymously. That way, you get the cash and no one is the wiser. Like I said, usually I don't care, but I'll admit that sometimes I'm a stickler-- if someone happens to roll Need on a BoE that I think is a questionable call, I have in the past asked them to put it on so I can see them wearing it via /inspect (I haven't ever done that to guildies, but in a PUG everything is fair game as far as I'm concerned).Still, I don't have a problem with selling a piece picked up accidentally, if someone thought it was a good piece and then had second thoughts. If you did that and then put it on the AH, no one would accuse you of being a ninja-- would they?*Update: As a few people have pointed out (including the livejournal poster), it seems like I did misunderstand her original post. She wasn't ninja-ing at all-- she asked for Need, but eventually won it rolling greed. Her concern was that someone may have passed because she asked for Need, not because she rolled Need and then decided she didn't need it. Because she rolled greed and won it, the piece was hers.Anyway, I still think the issue of second guessing something that you roll Need on is an interesting one. That's not what the original post was talking about, but it's what I am talking about in this story, and I think it's worth a discussion.
The goggles do nothing!
A much-vaunted part of 2.1's Engineering "review" has been the 11 new epic goggles. Blizzard haven't exactly been forthcoming about their stats, and Thottbot's test database doesn't have most of them yet, but with a little scouting around I've managed to collect the stats on 10 out of the 11 goggles (I couldn't find anything on the cloth healing ones). Part of the reason this information is a little hard to find is that even if you're an Engineer of appropriate skill level, you only see the goggles corresponding to your armor type on the trainer, so no swapping down to leather goggles for Hunters if you like the stats better.Anyway, for the most parts, the stats look like they only slightly beat out most easily available stuff, which is honestly a little disappointing, when compared to professions like Tailoring or Blacksmithing that let you craft some pretty awesome items. On the other hand, the material requirements aren't that extreme. The reason behind these pieces' sub-incredible stats, I've heard, is that they only require 350 skill to create, and therefore have a lower item level than pieces that require 375 skill, resulting in a lower itemization budget. It'd be nice if they were upgradeable, like some of Blacksmithing's stuff, so you could start out with a small investment and build on that over time to something truly extraordinary.Well, see for yourself; the stats are after the cut. DPS Warriors, don't worry; unlike G'eras's stuff, there's one here for you, as pictured above. And if anyone finds the info on the cloth healing goggles, please drop it in the comments and I'll edit it in.
Use the Armory to find WoW's worst player
I may have to retract my reward to Lynyrd-- Yougotserved (how appropriate) has found an interesting, fun, and fairly mean use for the Armory. He puts forth a challenge for WoW's new online catalog of players and their talents and armor: Find the worst player in the game, based on spec, professions and gear.Ouch, look at that spec and those greens. Oh my-- look at that neckpiece. Like I said, it's pretty mean. Yougotserved says it doesn't have to be level 70, but the really good ones are-- how you make it all the way to the end of the game without replacing all your gear at least once from the quests in Outland, I have no idea.Is it wrong to use the Armory to make fun of players? Probably. But they shouldn't take it personally-- heck, that warrior in mostly greens has a Grand Marshal weapon (enchanted with Icy Weapon, but still), so he must be doing something right. So have at it-- dive into the Armory and see if you can find WoW's worst player. Maybe other players who made the same mistakes will learn something. And before you get all clever and start looking me up, I'll save you the time. [ via krmtdfrog ]
Return of the addons to Azeroth
My guild headed back to raiding last night (seems a lot of guilds are taking a vacation lately, with the patch and the expansion giving a one-two punch to the PVE game), and while BWL wasn't quite ready for us-- the Razorgore orb was bugged, and our MT couldn't see a pet bar for him-- we finally got back in the groove in MC. We'd been at a loss with new specs and a lack of our usual mods, but tonight, with various means and instruments, we were able to finally down some of our old farm targets and pick up some epic gear.Decursive, as I said last week, was the big one. Apparently it was number one on the devs' hitlist, and for good reason, because it definitely took a lot of work out of cleansing decurses (like the one Lucifron throws out). But we've found alternatives that are "good enough." One of our mages now swears by Grid, an addon that works with 2.0.1 (I haven't tried it, but it comes highly recommended). And even more people benefited from this macro, posted in the Forums. It seems that if you create a macro that says "/cast [target=mouseover] Remove Lesser Magic" (or whatever decursing spell you want to use), you can then run your mouse over players or their raid icons while spamming the macro button, and you've got a reasonable facsimile of what Decursive used to do. In fact, this is even better-- Shaman (like myself) can create a mouseover Purge macro, run your mouse across a group of enemies in PVP while spamming the button, and never have to put up with a buff or renew spell ever again.Speaking of my Shaman, when I asked for help last week, you all gracefully answered. I was extremely frustrated with the changes to addons (I lived by all the extra info redHeart gave me), but when I finally tried out and used Clique, I finally felt back at home. It's simple to set up and use, and makes things almost as easy as they were pre-2.0 (the author even has a video up showing how simple it is to use). Finally, the brand new version of CTRaid, 1.621 (I think that's the third version they've released since the patch) finally gets rid of that extremely annoying "clicking" noise the patch added to raids. A few things are still bugged in a few raid instances, but finally, raiding is getting back to normal.
5-player epics confirmed in the expansion
In a post on the beta forums, Tigole has confirmed that we will see epic drops in 5-player dungeons on "hard" mode. Level 70 dungeons on "hard" will have epic loot tables and lower level dungeons on "hard" will have level 70 loot tables. Of course, without solid information (yet!) on what drops and where, raid dungeons may still be contain the very best items -- but for now you can look forward to finding some very nice gear without gathering more than 5 other players. Anti-social folks like myself are no doubt rejoicing at this very moment.[Thanks, Chris!]
Gear-brackets in Battlegrounds?
Battlegrounds are already divided up by level - but even with equal levels, gear can dominate, especially at level 60, where you get a mix of players who have just started traversing 5-man dungeons and players in guilds who are farming Naxxramas. This post in the general forums proposes a radical solution to this problem - give everyone a standardized set of gear when they enter a battleground, and leave the rest to player ability. However, far more interesting than the original idea is the fact that it received a CM response, with Drysc chiming in that they wouldn't want to eliminate the hard work players put into acquire the best gear, but were working on a "player matching system" which might help nudge players into appropriate battlegrounds. No further details on how such a system might work, though Drysc does let us know that it won't be coming before the expansion.
Attempting Strat 45
I've had the quest for the 45-minute Stratholme run for a while now, but never managed to get a group together until yesterday. Having read about the run I was reluctant to try a pick-up group, so I jumped at the chance to join members of my raid group to rescue poor Ysida from the evil clutches of Baron Rivendare.Most of my usual Strat runs have been slow-paced, with careful pulling and crowd control, but this Strat 45 was very different. Our group composition was interesting; we had a mage tanking, a druid healing, with a paladin, feral druid and hunter as everything in between. It strikes me that an experienced and versatile group is really a must for the challenge, especially a group used to working together.
Work or fun?
Compulsory nightly raids and a DKP system you can't understand without a PhD in mathematics (which, fortunately, your guild leader has)--WoW's endgame can get pretty serious, especially for top guilds. Gaming Steve posted recently on the similarities between WoW and a job, and what surprised me was the difference between these commenters' thoughts:When you end up playing for stats or the satisfaction of getting that one thing, instead of playing for fun, its not worth it. (Varsity, on GamingSteve.com)It can get pretty intense and demanding, but if you are working towards something you want, it makes it all worth it. (Lonin on Joystiq)It depends on whether you find the acquisition of the latest Tier 2 piece "fun" or not, I suppose; what side of the work/fun line do you play on?
