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Patch 5.3: Item upgrades to return for PvE, not for PvP
Blizzard posted a blog today on the much-discussed return of the item upgrades to the game in patch 5.3. Lead Systems Designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street had commented in recent interviews that the system would be very unlikely to return for PvP, so there's no great surprise in that statement. There will still be upgrades available in patch 5.3 for season 12 gear, which was always upgradeable, at its original cost, so 750 Conquest for four item levels, useable twice. As the blog states, "no other PvP items are upgradable, and no new PvP items for the foreseeable future will use the upgrade system." This is a good thing. There are already potential issues emerging thanks to the item levels of the new gear, where the gaps in between the lower tiers and the upper tiers look to be too great, and adding item upgrades into the mix would only cause more problems. For PvE, as expected, the item upgrade system will be reappearing in patch 5.3. However, some changes have been made that iron out some issues the Blizzard team was unhappy with.
Lichborne: Patch 5.1 for death knights
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done. Patch 5.1 contains relatively few direct death knight changes, but those changes it has are large enough to talk about. PvE escapes relatively unscathed and gets a few nice goodies, but PvP takes a bit of a hit. Today, we'll talk about what patch 5.1 has in store for death knights thus far. The death of Death Strike in PvP? So far, there is one single class change for death knights in the patch notes, but it is a doozy. Death Strike's bonus healing from taking damage will no longer apply to damage received from PvP combat. This doesn't mean, of course, that death knights are completely without healing in PvP now. They should still successfully get the minimum heal and the shield it provides. It does mean, however, that they lose a lot of self healing, enough that a lot of people are working on their frost and unholy PvP skills once again.
Mists of Pandaria Beta: Item upgrade strings surface
Two interesting new client strings were unearthed early this morning on MMO-Champion related to the elusive item upgrade system that Blizzard has yet to completely flesh out for players. Valor points are changing their focus in Mists of Pandaria, to be used as a way to upgrade existing gear rather than being used to buy all-new pieces. This new system has yet be comprehensively explained, and these new client strings are our first hint at the system's actual implementation. The basic understanding of the item upgrade system is that justice points will be used to purchase the first pieces of gear from vendors, and valor points will be used to turn that gear into better gear. What this hopefully means is that rather than having two vendors selling the same items with different stats, we can have a justice vendor who sells you items and then upgrades them via some interface dealie with valor points. Hopefully, the number of vendors decreases, because right now it's sort of a pain. ITEM ITEM_UPGRADE - Item Upgrade ITEM_UPGRADE ITEM_UPGRADE_DESCRIPTION - Use your valor points to upgrade a weapon or piece of armor that is level 375 or higher. Honestly, I've been under the impression that Blizzard itself still had the system in flux, so anything being said about just wasn't set in stone. Now, with new client strings and references to upgrading your raid items, it looks like the system is closer to completion. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
