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Watcher clarifies ilvl distribution in patch 5.4
Players participating in patch 5.4's new Flexible Raids have noticed that the ilvl for Siege of Orgrimmar loot is set to 540 -- just below the 541 ilvl of current Heroic Thunderforged gear, but above current heroic gear from Throne of Thunder, which is set at 535 before any valor point upgrades are applied. To some players, it may seem as though Blizzard is now encouraging the same kind of multiple-instance running that occurred with the Trial of the Crusader raid and its many, many difficulties. A thread on the official forums points out that if Flexible Raid gear is better than heroic gear from the previous tier, players will be obligated to run both Flexible and Normal difficulty along with LFR in order to gear up more quickly -- since Flex difficulty doesn't share a lockout with normal modes, it's entirely possible to do so. While the arguments for and against have been both fast and furious, Ion "Watcher" Hazzikostas stepped in to clarify just what the reasoning was behind the different ilvls for the different difficulties, as well as the purpose of Flexible Raids.
Should valor upgrades be removed permanently?
I'm a raider at heart. Sure, I took a break back in Burning Crusade, but when I returned to raiding it was with a vengeance, albeit in a slightly less hardcore fashion. Mists of Pandaria started out with several different raids that are continuing to keep my guild occupied and will likely keep us occupied right up to patch 5.2's release -- and that's an excellent thing. Dragon Soul, no matter how interesting a few of those fights were, was simply not enough to keep my guild occupied right up until the end of Cataclysm. In fact, Mists of Pandaria started out with a whole flurry of activity to keep everyone well and truly busy for the first couple of months. Daily quests were something that I threw myself into without flinching -- partially out of interest for the stories and quests, but also, yes, because I wanted to make sure I upgraded my gear as quickly as possible. Doing this flurry of dailies meant that I was capping valor incredibly early in the week, and spending it as fast as I obtained it. But there's kind of a problem with that now, and it's being addressed to some small degree in patch 5.2. See, part of that whole raiding process is making sure you're in the gear you need. Now, it also includes upgrading your gear as quickly as you can, putting even more emphasis on capping valor just as quickly as possible. Is all that pressure a good thing?
Patch 5.1 official patch notes
Welcome to the beginning of war and the arrival of patch 5.1, Landfall. While this patch does not contain any new raid content, it is full of changes to pet battles and classes. And don't forget the new content -- an entirely new series of quests await adventurers in the heart of Krasarang Wilds, along with new scenarios to unlock. Included in the official patch notes: Scenarios now include Dungeon Finder queue features, including leaders, backfill, vote to kick, and deserter debuffs. Roles are still not required. Raid groups are no longer required to enter pre-Mists of Pandaria raid dungeons. Get to farming! Speaking of old raid dungeons, a variety of new pets have been added to old raid bosses. For fans of Pet Battles, be sure to check out the new Battle-stones, used to upgrade the quality of pets. Read on for the full list of patch notes for patch 5.1.
