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Warlords of Draenor: LFR gear to have unique set bonuses
Traditional class tier sets will no longer be available in LFR difficulty in Warlords of Draenor. You'll need to run normal, heroic, or mythic to get your hands on tier 17 gear. That doesn't mean LFR-exclusive raiders will be entirely without set bonuses. In the latest beta build, Blizzard has added some new set bonuses which are exclusive to LFR gear. These bonuses are not class specific, but are instead armor class and role specific. For example, enhancement shamans and hunters share the same set bonuses. Like traditional armor sets, there are 2-piece and 4-piece bonuses. The 2-piece bonuses are all simple stat increases, but the 4-piece bonuses are a little more interesting. All of the LFR set items are item level 655, which is slightly higher than non-set LFR loot. These armor sets also have different artwork from the class tier sets. You can view the artwork by using Wowhead's model viewer at the below links: Cloth: Ebonflame Raiment Leather: Sootfur Garb Mail: Ashlink Armor Plate: Blacksteel Battleplate After the break we've also got the full list of set bonuses.
Warlords of Draenor: "Creative" set bonuses
Much of the tier gear sets in yesterday's alpha build had bonuses attached to them for the first time. This is great news for the development of the game, and shows that Blizzard is moving steadily along. However, as many noticed, the bonuses were rather run of the mill and not anything super special. People also started to complain about thoughts on balance and other problems the bonuses will create. Now besides the fact that kind of feedback without testing is putting the cart before the horse, there also is the matter that this is the alpha and things change all the time. Celestalon made this crystal clear in his tweet last night, explaining that most of these are just placeholders for the real thing to come. And those real set bonuses? They'll be "creative." I'm personally looking forward to this creativity! Also, a note regarding set bonuses getting datamined. Most of those are temporary while we make more 'creative' ones. - Celestalon (@Celestalon) June 11, 2014
Combine your consoles and get new ships in Star Trek Online's expansion
If you've already purchased the very expensive Legacy Pack for Star Trek Online's first expansion, there's good news to be had -- you just got more for your $125 investment. For one thing, you've got access to a new ship, the Haakona Advanced Warbird, an assault craft capable of separating into two units for maximum versatility. For another, you've got a set of uniforms based off of the Romulan outfits from the original series, if you want to really hit that "legacy" button as hard as you can. Whether or not this entices you to drop some additional money, the latest development blog on the official site details the bonuses for slotting Romulan refit consoles together in Legacy of Romulus. These include buffs to turn rate, energy weapons, and defensive systems based on speed. The net result is that owners of both refit and retrofit versions of these vessels can access a new playstyle for the class, a new trick to surprise opponents of the Romulans. Which is apropos. %Gallery-28615%
Patch 5.2: Tier set names
The new tier sets for patch 5.2 finally have names -- well, most of the sets do. Wowhead managed to dig up the names for all of the tier 15 models, with the exception of the rogue t15 set. While rogue set items are currently using the t14 name, all other t15 sets have been changed over. However, the models for all of the sets are nearly complete, and some sets have some pretty neat animation on the shoulder models. Death Knight Battleplate/Plate of the All-Consuming Maw. The shoulders for this piece are two sets of jaws that occasionally open and flick their tongues in the air. Druid Armor/Regalia/Battlegear/Vestments of the Haunted Forest. This model features small fireflies that dart around the branches on the shoulders. Hunter Battlegear of the Saurok Stalker. Mage Regalia of the Chromatic Mage. Monk Fire-Charm Armor/Battlegear/Vestments. Paladin Battlegear/Plate/Vestments of the Lightning Emperor. This set flickers with blue lightning. Please note that the model for this set doesn't quite appear to be complete. Priest Vestments/Regalia of the Exorcist. The hood for this model also appears to include a translucent veil over the eyes. Neat! Rogue Battlegear of the Thousandfold Blades. This is a placeholder name for now. Shaman Battlegear/Regalia/Vestments of the Spiritbreaker. Warlock Regalia of the Thousand Hells. Warrior Battleplate/Plate of the Last Mogu. Take a look through our gallery for a closer look at all of the t15 sets, or head over to Wowhead and use the modelviewer there for a look at the unique animations. %Gallery-177311% Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.
Patch 5.2 spell changes and tier 15 for warlocks
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology, and destruction warlocks. This week, Megan O'Neill thought the druid T15 was the warlock tier originally, and she thinks that the Season 13 warlock gear looks like a cross between Shannox and a Faceless mob. My apologies, fel-slingers and fiendish friends. I stepped through the Dark Portal to visit family and when I returned, my hard drive had dead clusters, almost as if someone came by and Frost Nova'd the lot of it. Maybe dropped a few Nether Tempests while he was at it. I blame the mages. I've already had my flu shot, so they must've realized they had to get at the latest Defender of the Dark Arts electronically. Silly mages -- I'm a warlock, so of course I backed up my stuff. But Patch 5.2 wasn't going to wait for my new hard drive, so let's look at the changes so far.
The Dangers of Datamining: A cautionary tale of a not-so-evil Magister
Some time last month, I was chatting with a friend about various story bits in WoW when we wandered onto the subject of the blood elves and what they're up to in the story. I pointed out the short story In the Shadow of the Sun for more recent sin'dorei lore, adding that of course the story took place prior to Wrath in the time line, so it really wasn't the most up-to-date bit of lore, although it was a wonderful read. My friend asked if I thought we'd see anything with the blood elves in Mists, and I replied that I didn't think so, but then we didn't really know that much about storylines in Pandaria yet. "Well, yeah," they replied. "But what about Rommath? I mean, he's part of the Twilight Cult and all." I paused for a moment, confused, and then realized what they were referring to. "That was a set of datamined voice files that never made it to game," I clarified. "Well yeah, but he's evil," they insisted. "No, he's not -- as far as the game and the lore is concerned, that conversation never happened, and Rommath is still the same old Rommath. A little cranky and snooty, but definitely not evil. Until proven otherwise." They pondered this, and the conversation moved on from there. I've had this conversation again and again -- in game, on Twitter. And this, my friends, is just one example of the many dangers of datamining.
Patch 4.2: Druid tier 12 revealed, new tier armor information and models
Wowhead has put up some excellent shots of the previously unseen druid tier 12 armor set called Obsidium Arborweave, as well as new information about the names of other classes' tier 12 sets. Also, we were anxiously awaiting the new molten giant model -- and lo and behold, it is awesome and is definitely the source of inspiration for the warrior tier 12 set.
Patch 4.2 PTR: Warrior tier 12 and recolors
Though it hasn't had an official preview yet, the tier 12 set for warriors is available in the patch 4.2 PTR files, and Wowhead dug it up along with recolors for all of the other already-previewed tier 12 sets. You can even model them on the race and gender of your choice with the 3-D model viewer. If you can't see from the above picture, yes, those are molten giant heads on your shoulders, which is fitting, given the set's name of "Molten Giant Battlegear." When you're done modeling your set on your character of choice, be sure to check out the preliminary tier 12 set bonuses to go along with it. The news is already rolling out for the upcoming WoW Patch 4.2! Preview the new Firelands raid, marvel at the new legendary staff, and get the inside scoop on new quest hubs -- plus new Tier 12 armor!
Patch 4.2 PTR: Tier 12 set bonuses
While the tier 12 sets on the patch 4.2 PTR aren't even technically sets yet, their set bonuses were still buried in the game files for observant folks. Blizzard told the truth -- these bonuses are pretty unique and a lot of them seem based thematically on Firelands, designed to fix some raiding spec issues, or both. Check them out below and after the cut! Death knight DPS 2-piece Your Horn of Winter ability also grants you 3 runic power every 5 sec for 2 min. 4-piece Your critical strikes with melee abilities deal 15% additional damage as Fire damage over 4 sec. Death knight tanking 2-piece Your melee attacks cause Burning Blood on your target, which deals 800 Fire damage every 2 for 6 sec and causes your abilities to behave as if you had 2 diseases present on the target. 4-piece Your Dancing Rune Weapon grants 15% additional parry chance.
Cataclysm Beta: Tier 11 set bonuses revealed
Another week sees another beta patch, this one build 12942, and it's a doozy. Why do I say that, you ask? Well, for example, we've got our first look at the Tier 11 set bonuses thanks to the mighty dataminers at MMO-Champion. You'll notice that the death knight sets are officially blood and DPS now (enshrining blood's status as the DK tank tree), that a great deal of these set bonuses seem to increase either straight damage or critical strike chance for DPS sets, and that yes, there really is going to be an effort to push Templar's Verdict for paladin DPS. (You may notice other things, as well.) Step behind the curtain for a sneak peek.
Elemental Shaman Tier 10 bug causes 7-day lockout
A nasty bug with the 2-piece Tier 10 bonus for Elemental Shamans reared its ugly head recently when a player attempted to use Elemental Mastery. The bonus, which is supposed to reduce the cooldown on Elemental Mastery by 2 seconds each time Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning is used, instead puts the 31-point Elemental talent on a whopping seven day cooldown. This is akin to the bug found with the Hunter ability Call Stabled Pet, which puts the ability on an even more staggering 25-day cooldown. Ghostcrawler immediately responded to the concern as raised on the official forums, stating that the problem happens only in cross-server instances and that raiding shouldn't be affected. Elemental Shamans sporting two pieces from the Frost Witch's Regalia would probably do well not to activate Elemental Mastery while in a dungeon using the Dungeon Finder until a fix is found. Ghostcrawler stated that Blizzard is working on the issue.
Are set bonuses outdated?
Well now, here's an interesting thought to consider this weekend: Zemeny on Barthilas suggests that maybe it's time to do away with a gear mechanic that Blizzard has used since Diablo. He thinks that set bonuses deserve to be put out to pasture. He doesn't go into his reasoning much, but we can probably fill that in; not only do set bonuses tend to either be overpowered or too weak (as in, you usually need to have a specific set bonus to make or break a class), but they make gear choices uneven, usually leaving you to choose between an upgrade or a set bonus. Zemeny suggests we do away with the whole thing -- create one set bonus per tier, leaving upgrades for the gear itself, or just turn the set bonus into an extra gem or inscription slot and give us more power that way. Ghostcrawler shows up in the thread and says that the game would be pretty boring if set bonuses weren't included -- I presume he means that you'd just upgrade your gear according to iLvl, and that would be that. He even says that he wishes the tiers varied more, but players really want to see "unambiguous upgrades" to their items. People need rewarding when they move up, so GC can't mix things up with the various bonuses as much as he might like.
Lichborne: The latest Patch 3.3 PTR death knight changes in depth
Welcome to Lichborne, WoW.com's death knight column. Remember when I said that it looked like Patch 3.3 was going to be relatively quiet for us? I may have spoken too soon. There's been a pretty major shakeup to Unholy DPS (again), and there's one or two other changes we might want to discuss, including news of some armor tier bonuses. Let's get to it. Scourge Strike Rebalancing: The Neverending Story So before we delve into this change, let's take a moment to review the star-crossed history of Scourge Strike. Scourge Strike is meant to be the basic Frost/Unholy attack of an Unholy death knight, and the hardest hitting of their attacks. In theory. Here's the thing with Scourge Strike: It does shadow damage. That means it completely bypasses all armor, meaning it does a lot more effective damage than you might guess just from glancing at the tool tip. The problem back in the early days of the class is that it was doing far too much, easily outstripping Obliterate. So, Blizzard nerfed the damage, and all was well for a while.
Lichborne: Emblem of Triumph Gear for Death Knights
Welcome to Lichborne, your look into the issues of the moment for the death knight class. Ah, Emblems of Triumph, the new hotness. Even if you're not running the coliseum, you still have chance to grab them in the heroic daily, and by now, surely most of us have at least had the opportunity to save up enough to buy something. Deciding what to buy, however, is a whole different question. Let's take a look at the badge loot and see what's in it for a death knight.
Patch 3.2: Tier 9 set bonuses changed in new PTR build
The Patch 3.2 PTR has been updated to a new build, and the set bonuses for many Tier 9 sets have been changed or updated. In the update, they made the priest set bonuses not terrible! And the updated Elemental shaman ones aren't terrible now either!I guess the feedback from the threads Ghostcrawler posted has been going to good use. But don't forget -- if you're still unsatisfied, say so on the proper forums and make your voice heard.Otherwise, check 'em out below! Thanks to WOTLKWiki.info for mining these so quickly.
Priest T8 set bonuses clarified
As of the latest PTR build we now have access to most of the set bonuses for the tier 8 gear that's going to drop in Ulduar, including the bonuses for both priest sets, shadow and healing. In case you haven't seen them before, the bonuses are as follows: Healing: Two-piece: Increases the crit chance of your Prayer of Healing by 10% Four-piece: Casting Power Word: Shield also grants you 250 spell power until cancelled. Shadow: Two-piece: Increases the damage done by your Devouring Plague by 15%. Four-piece: Your Mind Blast also grants you 240 haste rating until cancelled. The parts listed in bold up above are new; these numbers are just placeholders in the PTR client right now, but Ghostcrawler has clarified that the intended values are somewhere along those lines. No word yet on what "is cancelled" is supposed to mean, as far as I know.
Tier 8 set bonuses hit the PTR
A new build has hit the patch 3.1 PTR, and with it has come something that many people have been waiting on most of all: Tier 8 set bonuses! We have all of them listed below, but keep something in mind while you read them: They are probably not finished, just take this as a preview. Set bonuses always shift and change before they go live, and I can guarantee that some of these will. At the very least, they'll have some typos and grammatical issues cleaned up, and we'll find out where the missing percentage symbols are supposed to go.Death Knight DPS 2Piece Bonus -- Increases the critical strike chance of Death Coil and Frost Strike by 5%. DPS 4Piece Bonus -- Increases the bonus damage done per disease by 20% on Blood Strike, Heart Strike, Obliterate, and Scourge Strike. Tank 2Piece Bonus -- Increases the damage done by Rune Strike by 5%. Tank 2Piece Bonus -- Increases the damage done by Rune Strike by 10%.
Patch 2.3: Let's play Gladiator Mix-n-match!
Tom Chilton is pretty busy this weekend talking with players about all the updated PvP items in Patch 2.3, and he's revealed another interesting new tidbit of information about coming changes to the Gladiator PvP sets earned from fighting in the arenas:As of patch 2.3 all items in the gladiator season 1, 2, and 3 sets will be part of the same set, so you can use those items interchangeably and keep the set bonuses (ie: you can wear the season 2 shoulders along with the season 3 helm, chest, legs) and retain the 4 piece set bonus.The separate sets for separate specs are going to stay the same, but now the set bonuses for each spec will be upgraded to work the same as the new 2 and 4-piece bonuses that are coming out, regardless of season. So for example, your class and spec's dps set bonus will work no matter which season your arena dps gear comes from. If I were an arena gladiator, I would be jumping up and down for joy right now. As it is, I still think that's pretty neat.[edited for clarity -- the set bonuses will work between seasons, but not between different specs, so healing sets and dps sets won't combine together. Also, the arena season 1 gear will still be moved into the honor system once season 3 comes out]
