(WoW) Mostly Tankadin Gearing, 3.2
I'm not going to delve into this fully at the moment, but I was asked to look into feral druid DPS rotations. This post seems to be fairly updated, and contains a priority list for the build that may work:
http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=54761.0
So... Patch 3.2 for WoW is a big deal as far as equipment goes. Prior, my main was about as well-geared as I could expect until getting into 10-man raids. While the guild has been growing, it's not that size yet. Then the patch hit and suddenly there are upgrades available for almost every gear slot available via the new 5-main dungeon (mostly on heroic), Emblems of Conquest (now dropping from all heroic dungeons), and Emblems of Triumph (I won't see the drops anytime soon, but can earn 0 or 2 per day by doing the heroic dungeon daily quest).
It's been one week now. My schedule has limited how much I've been able to do. I currently have 28 Emblems of Conquest, 6 Emblems of Triumph, and precisely zero tank drops from heroic (or normal) Trial of the Champion.
Trial of the Champion
I believe the only thing I want from normal is The Black Heart, a stamina trinket that would be an upgrade from the old Darkmoon card I'm using, and beats out Essence of Gossamer from heroic Azjol'Nerub that I haven't seen drop yet. Otherwise, I think I have equal or better equipment across the board.
On heroic difficulty, it's a different story. The drops seem to be (I'm still confused, but leaning toward this take on it) item level 219 - equal to early Ulduar 10 drops, and superior budget-wise to anything available in other 5-mans. There are several items here that would be upgrades. The Warlord's Depravity (necklace), Mark of the Relentless (ring), Regal Aurous Shoulderplates, and Helm of the Crestfallen Challenger are all modest upgrades from what I have now. The one standout piece I really want to get is the Peacekeeper Blade, because I don't see any other pre-raid tanking weapon upgrades at this point. The Blade trades off Defense from the Red Sword of Courage I have now, so it would take a little juggling to keep over the threshold, but ultimately worthwhile.
The Heart and Blade would likely last me a while. Pretty much everything else would be an intermediate step toward something better.
Emblems of Conquest
Most gear at this level is of item level 226. Before the patch, it was basically top-tier equipment, now available to those of us who aren't serious raiders. The tier 8 (8.5) helmet and chestpiece (Conquerer's Aegis Breastplate and Faceguard) tokens are available for 58 emblems a piece, and are clear upgrades at this point.
There are also a number of non-tier pieces that are good such as the Wyrmguard Legplates (39 Emblems), Gauntlets of the Royal Watch (28), Shieldwarder Girdle (28), and the Shard of the Crystal Forest (19). The Legplates are shield block-oriented, which... I'm a little biased against. Even though paladins are shield-users, I prefer dodge and parry when I can get it to block. The Gauntlets are pretty good. The Girdle feels like a minor upgrade, trading a few points in dodge from what I have in exchange for some stamina, strength, and hit. The Shard is a good tanking neck that I probably won't see an improvement from until in 10-man raids, possibly on hard modes of encounters even.
Emblems of Triumph
Access to the best stuff, and slow in coming. it's going to be a while before I can afford one bit of gear at this level, much less all I'd want. Five pieces of "Conquest" level (first of three sub-tiers, item level 232) tier 9 are available for Emblems alone. The higher sub-tiers require either the addition of a Trophy of the Crusade (dropped in 10-man heroic and 25-man versions of the new raid) or specific tokens from the 25-man heroic version, as I understand. These Emblems also offer a number of non-tier items at item level 245.
While I'd love to be decked out in everything of this gear level before the next patch, I don't think that's realistic. If I keep averaging 6 Emblems a week, that's well over half a year just for the tier 9 bits. So... let's not worry over that so much and consider some more unique things.
25 Emblems of Triumph gets the Libram of Defiance, probably my primary purchase at this level. Librams are nice little paladinly things with specific abilities, and it's increasingly hard to find useful ones, it seems. A chance to proc 200 additional dodge for 18 seconds when using one of my tanking mainstay abilities (Hammer of the Righteous)? Yes please. Clutch of Fortification is a nice ring for 35 Emblems. After that, it would be on to tier 9 or non-tier armor pieces.
Other Notes
And that's just for my Protection spec. Aieee!
I recently got someone to craft (after I collected materials) the inappropriately-named Spiked Deathdealers, great tanking boots (item level 226) that will probably let me ignore that slot while working on other things.
Strangely, I see a distinct lack in tanking cloak and bracer upgrades. Back-wise, I'm either looking toward a Platinum Mesh Cloak available for Emblems of Valor (which makes it lower priority, since I'd have to trade emblems down) or something dropping from a raid (even Naxx 10). I will probably see if I can get crafted the Saronite Swordbreakers (item level 245) to cover the bracer slot, but that's going to depend on finding someone with the pattern and being able to acquire four Crusader Orbs which only drop in the 3.2 raids, and will be bloody expensive on the secondary market for a while. So I don't expect that anytime soon. If my gold is up and orbs become attainable, I might look into the crafted chestpiece later, too.
Disclaimer: While I mention item level a lot, and it does provide a general idea of upgrade "path," a higher item level does not always equal a better piece. This is especially true when considering the whole of a gear set. The Peacekeeper Blade is a great example. I want a better weapon, and that is one, but if I can't keep my Defense up over 535/540 while using it, the stats it has aren't worth the trade-off.
Additionally, some items simply aren't itemized well for a particular build. For example, a piece of plate armor that has loads of shield block rating/value may be good for warriors and paladins, but those stats may as well not even be there for a death knight.
http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=54761.0
So... Patch 3.2 for WoW is a big deal as far as equipment goes. Prior, my main was about as well-geared as I could expect until getting into 10-man raids. While the guild has been growing, it's not that size yet. Then the patch hit and suddenly there are upgrades available for almost every gear slot available via the new 5-main dungeon (mostly on heroic), Emblems of Conquest (now dropping from all heroic dungeons), and Emblems of Triumph (I won't see the drops anytime soon, but can earn 0 or 2 per day by doing the heroic dungeon daily quest).
It's been one week now. My schedule has limited how much I've been able to do. I currently have 28 Emblems of Conquest, 6 Emblems of Triumph, and precisely zero tank drops from heroic (or normal) Trial of the Champion.
Trial of the Champion
I believe the only thing I want from normal is The Black Heart, a stamina trinket that would be an upgrade from the old Darkmoon card I'm using, and beats out Essence of Gossamer from heroic Azjol'Nerub that I haven't seen drop yet. Otherwise, I think I have equal or better equipment across the board.
On heroic difficulty, it's a different story. The drops seem to be (I'm still confused, but leaning toward this take on it) item level 219 - equal to early Ulduar 10 drops, and superior budget-wise to anything available in other 5-mans. There are several items here that would be upgrades. The Warlord's Depravity (necklace), Mark of the Relentless (ring), Regal Aurous Shoulderplates, and Helm of the Crestfallen Challenger are all modest upgrades from what I have now. The one standout piece I really want to get is the Peacekeeper Blade, because I don't see any other pre-raid tanking weapon upgrades at this point. The Blade trades off Defense from the Red Sword of Courage I have now, so it would take a little juggling to keep over the threshold, but ultimately worthwhile.
The Heart and Blade would likely last me a while. Pretty much everything else would be an intermediate step toward something better.
Emblems of Conquest
Most gear at this level is of item level 226. Before the patch, it was basically top-tier equipment, now available to those of us who aren't serious raiders. The tier 8 (8.5) helmet and chestpiece (Conquerer's Aegis Breastplate and Faceguard) tokens are available for 58 emblems a piece, and are clear upgrades at this point.
There are also a number of non-tier pieces that are good such as the Wyrmguard Legplates (39 Emblems), Gauntlets of the Royal Watch (28), Shieldwarder Girdle (28), and the Shard of the Crystal Forest (19). The Legplates are shield block-oriented, which... I'm a little biased against. Even though paladins are shield-users, I prefer dodge and parry when I can get it to block. The Gauntlets are pretty good. The Girdle feels like a minor upgrade, trading a few points in dodge from what I have in exchange for some stamina, strength, and hit. The Shard is a good tanking neck that I probably won't see an improvement from until in 10-man raids, possibly on hard modes of encounters even.
Emblems of Triumph
Access to the best stuff, and slow in coming. it's going to be a while before I can afford one bit of gear at this level, much less all I'd want. Five pieces of "Conquest" level (first of three sub-tiers, item level 232) tier 9 are available for Emblems alone. The higher sub-tiers require either the addition of a Trophy of the Crusade (dropped in 10-man heroic and 25-man versions of the new raid) or specific tokens from the 25-man heroic version, as I understand. These Emblems also offer a number of non-tier items at item level 245.
While I'd love to be decked out in everything of this gear level before the next patch, I don't think that's realistic. If I keep averaging 6 Emblems a week, that's well over half a year just for the tier 9 bits. So... let's not worry over that so much and consider some more unique things.
25 Emblems of Triumph gets the Libram of Defiance, probably my primary purchase at this level. Librams are nice little paladinly things with specific abilities, and it's increasingly hard to find useful ones, it seems. A chance to proc 200 additional dodge for 18 seconds when using one of my tanking mainstay abilities (Hammer of the Righteous)? Yes please. Clutch of Fortification is a nice ring for 35 Emblems. After that, it would be on to tier 9 or non-tier armor pieces.
Other Notes
And that's just for my Protection spec. Aieee!
I recently got someone to craft (after I collected materials) the inappropriately-named Spiked Deathdealers, great tanking boots (item level 226) that will probably let me ignore that slot while working on other things.
Strangely, I see a distinct lack in tanking cloak and bracer upgrades. Back-wise, I'm either looking toward a Platinum Mesh Cloak available for Emblems of Valor (which makes it lower priority, since I'd have to trade emblems down) or something dropping from a raid (even Naxx 10). I will probably see if I can get crafted the Saronite Swordbreakers (item level 245) to cover the bracer slot, but that's going to depend on finding someone with the pattern and being able to acquire four Crusader Orbs which only drop in the 3.2 raids, and will be bloody expensive on the secondary market for a while. So I don't expect that anytime soon. If my gold is up and orbs become attainable, I might look into the crafted chestpiece later, too.
Disclaimer: While I mention item level a lot, and it does provide a general idea of upgrade "path," a higher item level does not always equal a better piece. This is especially true when considering the whole of a gear set. The Peacekeeper Blade is a great example. I want a better weapon, and that is one, but if I can't keep my Defense up over 535/540 while using it, the stats it has aren't worth the trade-off.
Additionally, some items simply aren't itemized well for a particular build. For example, a piece of plate armor that has loads of shield block rating/value may be good for warriors and paladins, but those stats may as well not even be there for a death knight.
Awesome link, thanks! Yes, that priority list will help immensely. Now to analyze it some and do some dummy practice.
ReplyDeleteCovered: Boots: Spiked Deathdealers (crafted 226) Belt: Indestructible Plate Girdle (crafted 226) Trinket: The Black Heart (stamina) Ring: Mark of the Relentless (alas, good ring but no Defense, so I'll need to juggle a bit) Necklace: The Warlord's Depravity Chest: Conqueror's Aegis Breastplate Drop Priority: Sword: Peacekeeper Blade (heroic TotC) Other placeholders in heroic ToTC EoC Priority: Probably... Hands: Gauntlets of the Royal Watch ... That or the helm, though saving another 58 emblems before getting anything may be harsh. Neck: Shard of the Crystal Forest (since Warlord's dropped, this gets pushed down a bit)
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