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Oh, the cleverness of me!
I'm not in the beta. I'm kind of uncomfortable with the notion of spoiling myself completely, and I'm a terrible leveler. I have the lurking feeling that leveling my main to 80 before Wrath actually went live would wreck a leveling pace that might otherwise have been driven by exploration and discovery. I want Wrath to be a fantastic new experience that will recapture the sense of wonder I felt leveling my first toon in a strange new world. Also I never got a key, but the other reasons are more important and influential.Yeah, even I don't believe me.While I'm certain I'll never make a Death Knight my main, I'm sure I'll enjoy leveling one. I'm sure I'm not going to enjoy trying to level one alongside 50,000 other people and their cousins and their friends and their friends' dogs and their friends' dogs' fleas leveling a Death Knight. So it's occurred to me that, OK as I am with the notion of waiting a few months to get started on my bouncing baby bundle of risen-corpsified merriment, I can capitalize on the coming rush of Death Knights in a completely different fashion simply by exercising a little foresight. All Death Knights are melee, right? None of them can really heal, right? People are already noticing un peu problem in the beta in this vein, right? And I can't level an alt worth beans, right right? Right. What's the one buff that makes all melee salivate, provided by an excellent healing class, during a time in which healers will never have to worry about finding a group or a tank?Bingo. I'm getting a resto Shaman to 58 and parking him in Eastern Plaguelands to twiddle his thumbs in anticipation of the descent of the Death Knight legion come Wrath's release. See you there!
Ask a Beta Tester: Enchanting, legacy content, and a beta medley
Welcome back to Ask a Beta Tester, wherein WoW Insider's stable of beta testers answer as many of your Wrath Beta questions as possible! Today we'll start off with burton888's question...Is there a "magic number" for Enchanting, in that you can disenchant everythng in the game (currently 275 for pre-WotLK content)?My 375 Enchanter was able to start disenchanting blues as soon as I hit Northrend shores, so I can't say for sure what the minimum level is. However, we can take some guesses based on what we saw in The Burning Crusade. As a few readers said, to disenchant epics it actually requires 300 Enchanting. 300 was the profession cap in WoW Classic. Assuming that trend continues, you will need 375 Enchanting to disenchant everything in Wrath. In the expansion after Wrath, it will probably take 450. Getting to 375 is a pretty safe bet.Red asked... How is spell damage affecting a Paladin's Ret Aura? Is it reduced like a standard DoT tick or even further? What are the numbers looking like with tested spell damage?
Shamans in Beta build 8885
Well, since I think we're all pretty aware at this point what a spoiler is, and how reading this post is going to create some for you, I'm not going to try and obfuscate too much in this header paragraph. There are good things, bad things, and still quite a few buggy things held over from the previous build in build 8885. For instance, weapon imbues like Windfury Weapon can be applied to weapons from Northrend again! That's good. Ancestral Spirit, the shaman's res spell, can no longer be cast on dead targets. That's bad. (And it's a bug, based on the comments I did not make this clear. My apologies if I scared anyone.) Purification works (good) but Healing Way doesn't (bad). And none of this even covers the changes, just the bugs that have and haven't been addressed. Also, I'm pretty sure we didn't get any Frogurt but that's just as well, as it might well have been cursed. Well, let's go on to the choice of toppings... er, I mean talents and skill changes. You can scroll down here for some patch note goodness, and I'll be discussing the changes after the jump. The jump does not contain monosodium glutamate.
Totem Talk: What will Patch 3.0 mean?
Well, this week we found out that we're going to get a taste of the new talents and skills for Wrath of the Lich King, which wasn't exactly a surprise, as we got a similar content patch before the launch of The Burning Crusade. However, as we've been getting quite a bit of mail asking what, exactly, it means for shamans when patch 3.0 goes live. While I always try to avoid Wrath spoilers, in this case I feel like we're not talking about expansion secrets: there are changes that will be affecting you in your day to day playing before you set foot in Northrend. So a brief overview out in the open seems warranted.For starters, we know that the new skills and talents for each class will be implemented. What does that mean for your shaman? Well, as best as we can tell at this point, this will be your talent tree.At level 70 (since new levels and skills that require those levels will not be unlocked) you will be able to spend 61 points, placing the 51 point talents within reach. It means that the spell power changes are certain to be implemented, since many of the talents require that new mechanic. (This is of course subject to change, but there's been no sign that Blizzard's thinking differently about the change.) It means that totems will most likely be raid wide, that Windfury Totem and Wrath of Air Totem will change to the haste mechanic, that enhancement shamans will now gain 1 AP per point of strength, 1 AP per point of agility, and will be able to gain 1 AP per point of Intellect as well, changing their ideal itemization. (This may actually increase the attack power of some shaman tier gear.) And there will be entirely new abilities open to shamans of all three talent builds. (As pointed out in the comments, we'll also get Earthliving Weapon.)Please keep in mind that there will be changes to these trees. There's already discussion of changes to Anticipation, Shamanistic Focus and Windfury Weapon in recent blue posts and any such changes are inherently going to be reflected in patch 3.0.
Hybrid Theory: Yet another spell power discussion
Welcome to Hybrid Theory, where we discuss all things hybrid in the World of Warcraft. Hybrid Theory is brought to you each week by columnist/blogger Alex Ziebart. Last week we talked a bit about gear and spell power, and various related things. I mostly approached it as supplying my personal experiences, but a lot of people wanted numbers. Specifically, how your current gear will translate into the new spell power mechanic.A kind fellow named Dan helped us out with a little bit of that in the comments section last week, so let's expand upon it somewhat. Again, this will focus mostly on the Healer and Caster aspects of the Hybrids. You Melee guys don't really need to worry about how spell power will change your gear.Alright, so the question is this: If you have a choice between taking +Damage gear or +Healing gear in the current game right now, which would be a better choice for taking with you into Wrath of the Lich King leveling? Let's make liberal use of Wowhead, shall we?
Hybrid Theory: Healers, gear, and entering Northrend
Welcome to Hybrid Theory, where we discuss all things hybrid in the World of Warcraft. Hybrid Theory is brought to you each week by columnist/blogger Alex Ziebart.Remember a few weeks ago, I mentioned how if you want to be extra-cautious about preparing for Wrath of the Lich King, you should figure out a calm, easy way to farm gold that won't burn you out? After having hit the current level cap on the beta realms... I still recommend that, if you want to be extra prepared. If you're a very casual, don't worry about it too much, really. It's not that big of a deal. Leveling will get you enough for the bare necessities. If you're the type that wants to start leveling professions and gearing up immediately upon hitting the level cap though, think about going into Wrath with at least a couple thousand in your pocket, which really isn't that hard of a task.Moving past that, though, a lot of people have asked about gear across all classes, but mostly Hybrids. Hybrids have asked because all of the Healing classes are amongst them, and if you're a Healer you may not necessarily have a set of DPS gear. My first comment on this: Don't worry. Really.
Totem Talk: Restoration in the Wrath Beta
I was all set to tell you that I'd had a couple of interesting PuG runs in the beta testing out restoration spec, and that all was relatively well. The new spells are interesting and even powerful, at least at the five man level, I was about to say. I would have told you about successful and unsuccessful runs in both Utgarde Keep and the Nexus. All of this would have been what I wrote about today.However, for most of yesterday the beta was inaccessible and when it finally came up again, it was patched, and that patch kicked me in the metaphorical testicles. I don't think I've been as shocked by a change to the game, especially one that's apparently intended like this one is. My first thought was that I'm not going to be using rank 1 healing wave to stack healing way on a tank before a pull anymore. In fact, several of the pieces of advice I gave back last September (wow, it's really been over a year) on beginning to heal as a shaman are now outdated.I understand that this change isn't just aimed at Resto shamans nor does it just affect them, but it's a big change for at least how I heal, so I'm going to discuss it along with other aspects of the class that I've observed. Note that most of these are from before patch 8788 but they should still be valid... well, as valid as any observations about a patch on a beta server can be.
Hybrid Theory: State of PvP in the Wrath beta
Welcome to Hybrid Theory, where we discuss all things hybrid in the World of Warcraft. Hybrid Theory is brought to you each week by columnist/blogger Alex Ziebart.Before I start, while you read this remember that the Wrath beta does not currently allow you to hit the level cap. Everyone is level 77, and there's a lot that is unfinished. This is more anecdotal about the state of things, and not really analyzing how things will look in the end. You still with me? Good.I decided to try out incredibly, insanely buggy Lake Wintergrasp when the beta realms went up yesterday, and later on I gave the new Battleground a whirl, too. Through all of this, there was one constant: Holy crap Ret Paladins are OP. No, really. I know, it blew my mind, too. Retribution Paladins. Overpowered. Hell has frozen over.
Totem Talk: Beta Impressions
Totem Talk's Matthew Rossi is in the beta now, and has been playing his shaman around the Howling Fjord as much as he could get away with. Today he'll be talking about his experiences with the quests, the drops, and the mobs leading up to Utgarde Keep. It's kind of a precarious situation to discuss things like this. On the one hand I'm sensitive to the idea of spoiling content for people who want to experience it firsthand, and on the other I am also sensitive to the demands of those who want to know what's coming. The easiest way to deal with it is to load up on spoiler warnings (and in this case, not much I talk about in this column will be a spoiler, it's all things that have been revealed in other places) and to post behind the jump, which for the most part will be the tactics employed here.First, however, let me say this much: I have seen my character, a shaman with Kara/T4 quality mail, take a large jump in his DPS. His attack power is up by an easy 300 points. If you are a shaman who has collecting what we used to call 'hunter mail' you will see a serious reward for equipping it in Northrend. The chestplate in the screenshot is what I'm wearing now: on live it grants 88 AP. On test, it's granting 156 AP, since I have the talent that converts int to AP. Clearly (and yes, I'm aware it's an unfair comparison, as that quest reward is leather) you're not going to be dumping your epics for the first quest rewards you come across.
Hybrid Theory: Spell Power hands on
Welcome to Hybrid Theory, where we discuss all things hybrid in the World of Warcraft. Hybrid Theory is brought to you each week by columnist/blogger Alex Ziebart.We've chit-chatted about the new Spell Power mechanic off and on, but we've never gone into serious detail about it yet. Why? Well, we didn't really know how it worked. We knew what it does but very few of us had a real hands-on experience with it. That has since changed.Spell Power has done very very good things for the Hybrid classes, pretty much across the board. Obviously it will not drastically change Feral, Enhancement or Retribution, but it actually does add to those last two as well to some extent. Primarily it changes the Healing and Caster specs of the Hybrid classes, obviously. It brings back a lot hybridiness* to classes that... really haven't felt that way in quite awhile.
Totem Talk: How will you grow?
First off, some news that may be good, may be bad: Paralysis is going away. As we remember, Paralysis was the deep elemental talent that added bonus spell damage and a chance to paralyze to your lightning and chain lightning. At this time, I have no idea what they're replacing it with or why it's being taken out: Since there's a deliberate change to the coefficient on lightning spells in Wrath as well, described as being there to balance out new abilities that provide a nature school debuff (whereas previously LB and CL had a higher coefficient because there weren't many such abilities), I find myself wondering if Paralysis simply wasn't scaling well enough to be of use. Since I can't test this (curse you, Beta gods) I'll just have to take it on faith that Paralysis' removal is a good thing.Obviously this isn't a huge deal... it's beta, stuff gets changed... but it does have me thinking about how leveling from 70 to 80 is going to feel. To a degree, leveling a shaman is like being starving at an all you can eat buffet: you have so many choices that you might end up not being able to choose at all. Even as someone who really, really enjoying leveling enhancement (so much so that I did it twice) the pull of trying out a restoration spec under the new spell power rules has its appeal, or just ouright committing to the pew pew of elemental combat. (Part of it is that I just like typing elemental combat. In my head it's like the theme song from the Mortal Kombat movie, only with Neptulon and Ragnaros instead of Sub-Zero and Johnny Cage.)
Totem Talk: The Wrath of the Shaman part 3 - Restoration and Synergy
As I promised you, our look at Wrath talents and skills for Shamans (started here and continued here) concludes with a roundup of restoration talents and skills and then a discussion of what all these new abilities mean for shamans in the expansion. I know how much you guys love discussion. For instance, the picture accompanying today's post is most likely of a resto shaman who is, for whatever reason, attacking a shovel tusk. Now, with the changes to spell power that are coming, that resto gear probably packs a good deal more punch than it currently does with the healing/damage rates it has now. Nevertheless, resto shaman, attacking defenseless wildlife, I have no idea why. He looks cool doing it, though.First off, of course, I will talk about Earthliving Weapon. Now, we all know I love this (despite a lot of naysayers who look at it as similar to the Fel Reaver's Piston and call it undesirable) but let's be fair: we have no idea how good it will be at 80. All of the current ranks are the same as rank one. The reason I linked to the comments was to show user defektunge's estimate for how it will look at rank 6. Assuming he's in the ballpark, at rank 6 it will be an extra 102 healing plus a chance to proc roughly 1400 healing over 12 seconds. Depending on how high stamina values are on gear by then, and how often the proc really contributes to healing, the HoT of Earthliving could be a gimmick or it could be pure awesome. It's definitely an attempt by Blizzard to address the shaman's lack of any kind of heal over time while remaining true to the Windfury 'random proc' mechanic. I personally hope that this estimate is low. By level 80 I expect stamina values to be significantly higher (a well geared T5/T6 tank can have well over 22k health, as much as 26k on some right now, so I expect tanks in blues to be easily pushing 19k by the time we're all 80) so I'd hope for double both those numbers. But I'm still excited for Earthliving, especially for leveling shamans or shamans who need to heal in a pinch. Throw on your healing weapon and imbue it for extra oomph.
Wrath Beta patch notes: Shaman
With the Wrath of the Lich King beta upon us, we now have a plethora of new information about where shamans are going in the expansion, and one thing is clear: totems are changing. And for some folks, those changes may be seen as pretty bad. If you're a DPS warrior, you're not going to like the change to Windfury Totem."Windfury Totem is now a flat 20% melee haste totem. All ranks have been modified."The up side for shamans is that our own Windfury Weapon ability seems to be unaffected, according to MMO-Champion. In fact, there's no reason that the two efffects couldn't co-exist, meaning that an enhancement shaman could get the benefit of Strength of Earth (with its new strength and agility benefits), Windfury Totem (with the flat melee haste) and Windfury Weapon allowing for the damage of two extra attacks with increased attack power. We can talk more about the changes inside, shall we?
A Star is Born getting 6K makeover: is it worthwhile?
While many film lovers across the universe are still itching to watch something in 4K, studio execs are already eying the next best thing -- or are they? The 1954 A Star is Born will soon be undergoing a 6K restoration makeover prior to its release on Blu-ray, and while this may sound impressive to those not in the know, industry experts have varying opinions on the worthiness of such an undertaking. According to Lowry Digital Images' Chief Technical Officer John Lowry, the 6K transfer "is just an attempt at marketing position," noting that "everything on film is captured at 4K." Listening to The Film Preserve's Robert Harris could make you believe otherwise, as he asserts that while there is only a "slight" advantage to preserving the film in 6K, it's still important to "get every last drop you can." (Not surprising considering his occupation.) Nevertheless, we'd recommend hitting up the read link for a few interesting viewpoints on 6K, and get on down to a 4K theater before it becomes "so last year."
Hybrid Theory: Gold and the road to Wrath
Welcome to Hybrid Theory, where we discuss all things hybrid in the World of Warcraft. Hybrid Theory is brought to you each week by columnist/blogger Alex Ziebart.It's a little early to get nervous about not being prepared for the upcoming expansion, but it's never too early to start the preparations. If you start ahead of time, you'll never even need to worry about it coming down to crunchtime. Plus, if you finish getting ready ahead of time, you can take those last few weeks before Wrath nice and easy. Something I noticed a lot as we neared The Burning Crusade, everyone and their mother spent eight hours a day in battlegrounds that final month before the expansion, and by the time we could go through the Dark Portal most of them were burned out on playing WoW.The absolute number one thing we can be sure you'll need in Wrath is gold. It doesn't matter what they do to your gear or your class, gold will be needed. Even if gold won't be worth as much as it is right now, you'll need it. You can be sure of that. Heck, even if you don't need gold for anything at all in Wrath by some miracle, it's cool, don't worry. 10,000g can buy you roughly 6,666,666 bottles of Moonglow when the Lunar Festival comes around. Think about that, man. Moonglow is awesome....Hm, I hope that math is right.
Hybrid Theory: PvP viability
Welcome to Hybrid Theory, where we discuss all things hybrid in the World of Warcraft. Hybrid Theory is brought to you each week by columnist/blogger Alex Ziebart.A pretty substantial point of debate when it comes to Hybrids is their place in PvP. The thought that only one spec is viable per class is most problematic in the context of Hybrids for a couple of different reasons. Some argue against every spec being arena viable, some argue in favor of it.The argument in favor of each spec being viable that I feel is the strongest is the fact that each Hybrid spec is vastly different from all of the others. In the arena, an Enhancement Shaman isn't doing the same thing as an Elemental Shaman. They are doing similar things like dropping totems and casting Shocks, but the role they play is different. Enhancement is in your face, Elemental throws lightning at your face, and Restoration is healing your face. This is not like Rogues in which all three specs are about hitting you until you fall down, just in different ways.Why is it a problem that all three of them aren't viable? It essentially feels like a forced block on your chances at success. "Just spec Resto" isn't really a valid answer, because it means you are not able to play your preferred role. Someone who rolled a Shaman to Stormstrike people's faces off are told to go get some Elemental gear, and that isn't very fun. To be successful in the arena, they are more or less forced out of how they want to play the game.
Breakfast topic: Problem paradigms
My main is a resto Shaman, but I've been spending my spare time either leveling a Rogue or gearing up my Ret Paladin. It is a completely different experience. I've spent hours in the battlegrounds and have managed to earn the honor for the Merciless Gladiator's Greatsword. Thus far is has been a real challenge for me. I have a harder time with the Paladin than the Rogue. In the battlegrounds my first reaction when I see someone going down is to heal them. I do drop an emergency heal here and a bubble there, I know that my heals are generally crummy. I should just keep swinging my sword and leave the healing to the healers. With the Rogue, there is no option for healing, so I just keep Slicing and Dicing away through the levels. On top of that, I'm used to trying to get away from my opponent, not trying to stay on top of them. The whole paradigm shift has been difficult for me, but I've learned a lot from it. How do you feel when you play something totally different from your main?
Hybrid Theory: Healers, hit, and homogenization
Welcome to Hybrid Theory, where we discuss all things hybrid in the World of Warcraft. Hybrid Theory is brought to you each week by columnist/blogger Alex Ziebart.Brace yourselves, ladies and gentlemen. Today's Hybrid Theory is purely guesswork and speculation. In no way will I pretend that these are facts, and you should not take them as such. It's a topic that grabbed my interest, and it's something I really enjoy trying to figure out despite the missing pieces of information we don't have yet. I welcome all of you to add your thoughts on it in the comments section below. Perhaps we can get a decent idea of what's to come.Let's get started, shall we? In the previous weeks of Hybrid Theory, we've discussed all we knew about some of our favorite classes. During this discussion, matters of itemization often came up. Most notably, the new Spellpower mechanic. This would allow healers and DPS classes to use the same gear, but Healing spells would get twice the benefit.First thought is that DPS and healers will share gear. Right? Well... maybe. Possibly. There are a lot of factors we don't really know yet. While it isn't always the case, for some classes there is a pretty large divide between gear that is good for a caster and gear that is good for a healer, and the deciding factor isn't how much damage or healing is on that item. In some cases you'll be able to switch seamlessly from DPS spec to Healing spec and not need to change your equipment, but trying to optimize your gear in both cases is not going to be so easy.
Brutal Gladiator's Wartide
The Brutal Gladiator's Wartide is the armor set for Restoration Shamans. It is a ringmail, or mail armor usable only by Shamans and is usually matched with Guardian's Ringmail armor pieces. The armor set can be purchased from Big Zokk Torquewrench in Netherstorm and Ontokk Shatterhorn in Shattrath City. The matching Guardian items may be purchased from Doris Volanthius in the Hall of Legends and Lieutenant Tristia in the Champion's Hall. Brutal Gladiator's Ringmail GauntletsThe Brutal Gladiator armor piece for the hands are the cheapest and easiest Season 4 Arena gear to obtain. With no personal rating requirements, most players will be able to purchase this piece and is the Arena gear likely to be most widespread as soon as the season begins. Its bonus is the same as all other Shaman armor, an increase to the range of Shock spells. The gauntlets have the following stats (number in parentheses are the improvements over its Season 3 equivalent): 694 Armor (+55)+53 Stamina (+6)+28 Intellect (+5)+29 Spell Critical (+4) +22 Resilience (+0)+86 Healing / +29 Spell Damage (+9 / +3)Improves the range of all Shock spells by 5 yards.Classes: Shaman WoW Insider says: Because it's so easily attainable, with no personal ratings requirements, it's easy to see why the gauntlets are a good purchase. It is identical to the Mail Gauntlets with the exception of +Healing. The only drawback is that the Shock spell range bonus isn't particularly useful to Restoration Shamans.Brutal Gladiator's Ringmail LeggingsThe leg armor possesses a personal rating requirement of 1550, a feasible target for Restoration Shamans. While not as accessible as the gloves, the leg armor is highly visible on a character and is also likely to be a popular purchase, even at 1875 Arena points. The leggings have the following stats (number in parentheses are the improvements over its Season 3 equivalent):971 Armor (+77)+71 Stamina (+7)+38 Intellect (+5)+34 Spell Critical (+5)+33 Resilience (+0)+110 Healing / +37 Spell Damage / Healing (+11 / +4)11 Mana / 5 Secs (+2 / 5)Classes: ShamanWoW Insider says: The lack of sockets on this armor piece mean that the only customization that can be done will be through Tailoring or Leatherworking enchants. Overall, the improvements from its last season equivalent are moderate, with a lower +Heal upgrade than other healing sets, making the chest piece a better purchase for the same point cost.Brutal Gladiator's Ringmail ArmorWith three sockets, the chestpiece is the most customizable Arena armor piece. In PvE, the chest armor is traditionally a drop from the final boss in a series (Magtheridon drops Tier 4 chest token, Kael'thas drops Tier 5 chest token, Illidan drops Tier 6 chest token, etc.). Arenas are different in this regard, but the item level of the chest is identical to PvE chest pieces. Sunwell Plateau breaks from tradition in that the final boss, Kil'jaeden, does not drop chest tokens or armor. However, the Brutal Gladiator chest armor is equivalent to the drops from Entropius and is the best combination of cost and restriction among all the armor pieces. The armor has the following stats (number in parentheses are the improvements over its Season 3 equivalent):1110 Armor (+88)+61 Stamina (+7)+36 Intellect (+6)+36 Spell Critical (+6)+26 Resilience (+0)+92 Healing / +31 Spell Damage (+13 / +4)11 Mana / 5 Secs (+2 / 5)Socket Bonus: +4 Spell CriticalClasses: ShamanWoW Insider says: Restoration Shamans should have no trouble attaining a modest 1600 personal rating to get this piece. The only drawback is two Yellow Sockets, which might have been better if they were Red. Yellow opens up possibilities for +Haste, however, and that's always a good thing. Because of its PvE equivalent, obtaining the Brutal Gladiator chest armor is almost like killing Entropius in Sunwell Plateau. Well, ok not really, but if you don't raid, that's about as close to a raid drop as you're going to get.Brutal Gladiator's Ringmail HelmThe helm is very likely the last Brutal Gladiator armor piece that many players will obtain. With the shoulders at an extremely prohibitive 2200, most players will only manage 4/5 of Season 4. 1700 is a fairly achievable goal for Restoration Shamans. With a personal rating attached to it, the Brutal Gladiator helm might be one helm graphic that players would like to leave on. It is also identical in model to the pieces that drop off Kil'jaeden in Sunwell Plateau. The helm has the following stats (number in parentheses are the improvements over its Season 3 equivalent):902 Armor (+72)+74 Stamina (+7)+34 Intellect (+6)+31 Spell Critical (+6)+33 Resilience (+0)+97 Healing / +33 Spell Damage (+13 / +5)Socket Bonus: +4 Resilience RatingClasses: ShamanWoW Insider says: The +13 Healing upgrade and overall improvement from the previous season's helm is a very good reason to try and achieve 1700 personal ratings. Healers can also use the Red Socket for more healing oomph.Brutal Gladiator's Ringmail SpauldersThe 2200 personal ratings requirement for the shoulders are almost Gladiator-level for most Battlegroups, and will likely be a very rare sight in most realms. Although it is the cheapest item after the gloves, it is also the most difficult to get. Blizzard's reasoning for this is that the shoulders are the most "visually impacting" armor piece, confirming Blizzard's opinion that PvP achievements should be on display. The spaulders have the following stats (number in parentheses are the improvements over its Season 3 equivalent):832 Armor (+66)+47 Stamina (+4)+27 Intellect (+4)+24 Spell Critical (+4)+21 Resilience (+0)+64 Healing / +22 Spell Damage (+9 / +3)8 Mana / 5 Secs (+1 / 5)Socket Bonus: +3 Resilience RatingClasses: ShamanWoW Insider says: Brutal Gladiator shoulders are purely for show. The minimal improvement over the previous season's spaulders make it less compelling. The Vengeful Gladiator spaulders also look so much cooler. Guardian's Ringmail GirdleBecause it is a visual match for the Brutal Gladiator's Wartide, and because it comes with no personal ratings requirement, the belt is most likely to be the most widely distributed Season 4 gear. It is purchasable with Honor points, so even players who do not participate in Arena PvP can obtain it. The girdle has the following stats (number in parentheses are the improvements over its Season 3 equivalent):624 Armor (+49)+49 Stamina (+6)+34 Intellect (+4)+34 Spell Critical (+5)+27 Resilience (+0)+75 Healing / +25 Spell Damage (+9 / +3)Classes: Hunter, ShamanWoW Insider says: Like most belt pieces in Season 4, the Guardian's Ringmail Girdle is one of the best purchases players can make. The low Honor cost and no personal ratings requirement make the piece a no-brainer. It is identical to the Mail Girdle except for the higher +Healing.Guardian's Ringmail BracersThe only other Guardian piece with a socket is the amulet, which doesn't have a personal rating requirement. Bracers are also not visually impacting, hidden away underneath gloves or robes, making them non-essential to a set. They also have a modest 1575 personal rating requirement, necessitating some success in Arenas. The bracers have the following stats (number in parentheses are the improvements over its Season 3 equivalent):471 (+39)+33 Stamina (+4)+20 Intellect (+3)+24 Spell Critical (+3)+15 Resilience (+0)+57 Healing / +19 Spell Damage (+6 / +2)Socket Bonus: +2 Resilience RatingClasses: Hunter, ShamanWoW Insider says: A 1575 personal rating seems like a reasonable challenge to obtain another Yellow Socket, despite the minimal improvements from last season's gear. Although healers might prefer a Red Socket, the option to pursue Haste makes these bracers a good upgrade.Guardian's Ringmail SabatonsThe most visually important match of all Guardian items, the boots are a big jump from a 1575 personal ratings requirement and is as demanding to get as the head piece at 1700 personal ratings. It is also as expensive to purchase as the belt, which has no ratings requirement. The sabatons have the following stats (number in parentheses are the improvements over its Season 3 equivalent):763 Armor (+61)+49 Stamina (+6)+34 Intellect (+4)+34 Spell Critical (+5)+27 Resilience (+0)+75 Healing / +25 Spell Damage (+9 / +3)Classes: Hunter, ShamanWoW Insider says: Even with a 1700 personal ratings requirement, the boots are a good purchase as its a good improvement overall from the last season. It is also, like the helm, the most attainable Season 4 item outside of the weapons and shoulders. %Gallery-25440% Looking for more Season 4 info? We've rounded up everything you need to know about the Brutal Gladiator season right here.
Shifting Perspectives: Gearing your Resto Druid for Kara Part 2
Every week, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them. This week John Patricelli, the Big Bear Butt Blogger, presents the second part to the Resto Druid gear guide to help you prepare for Karazhan, with the haelp of the lovely and talented 4 Haelz. Welcome to the second and final part of our guide to gearing up your Resto Druid in preparation for entering the fabled black gate of Karazhan. Today we pick right back up where we left off last week, by jumping into gear lists, starting with Belts and carrying on through until we're done. Whether you are a hopeful raider looking for ways to improve your gear, or a seasoned raider about to take a nostalgic trip through the past items you've now grown out of, I hope there will be something of use for you in the lists still to come. So let's head on in and take a look!
