Archive for gear

Will MoP Get More Alt-Friendly?

Posted in Main with tags , , , , , , , , on February 26, 2013 by Epic Diapers

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I have fun raiding, acquiring gear and rep on my main, but I also had fun doing it on my alts. My main was always better geared than my alts, but that gap was much narrower than it is in Mists of Pandaria. While I understand the philosophy of how Blizzard is handling alts in MoP, I personally enjoyed my alts more in Wrath and Cataclysm. Now, I can barely log onto an alt because of the time it takes to grind reputation, farm (literally) and raid on my main, and the fact that I know I can’t level more than 30 minutes a week on any given alt. We’re not even talking about touching pet battle or going on transmog runs!!

After 5 months in Cataclysm, I had 7 level 85s with about the same amount of playing time as I have today (6-10 hrs/week). After 5 months in MoP, I have one 90, and those other 6 alts are still sitting at 85 (disclosure, I RaF-boosted a Panda monk to 81 and leveled him to 85)…I haven’t been able to touch them.

As someone with limited playing time, I long for the days that I could quickly gear up an alt and experience a raid from a caster or healer point of view (frost DK is my raiding main). However, it’s not keeping me from the game, or is it a major complaint, just a disappointment, really. I still thoroughly enjoy MoP on my main, as my “main dish,” but I miss all of the alt “sides” that I used to be able to enjoy.

I personally would like to see an “alt leveling perk” system for every level 90 toon that you have. I’m not sure of the actual buff levels here, but maybe now that I have one 90, Blizzard could give me a permanent 25% leveling experience boost to all other toons on my account, and every additional 90 would boost my account an additional 5-10%. I would also like to see some of the reputation grinds lowered even more than it is currently (100% bonus to all server toons when you purchase a faction commendation at revered). I guess I’m a bit put off by doing even half of the same rep grind over again.

I’ve been playing WoW continuously since October 2006, but I will never be that player that claims to have walked uphill in the fel-tainted snow both ways to the auction house, I don’t care if things are easier for the newer players!

Do you like the way Blizzard has dealt with alts this expansion? Are you happy it’s not easier to level and gear up alts? Or, do you wish it was a bit easier to level and gear alts because that’s what you enjoy? Could Blizzard award leveling speed perks to alts for every 90 you have?

-Sihx

@epicdiapers

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Episode 32: DON’T Upgrade Your Gear (not with valor points, anyway)

Posted in Main with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 25, 2013 by Epic Diapers

upgrade

Click the play arrow above to hear the audio segment!

Upgrade vendors are going away with patch 5.2, and many players think that you should upgrade your gear before the patch hits. This sounds reasonable at first, but I took a deeper look into the numbers and the efficiency of this strategy, and with an exception, I believe you should NOT upgrade your gear.

Ok, nerd-alert!

It costs 750 valor points for a 4 item level upgrade, which equals the benchmark value of 187.5 valor points per item level. This is not a good exchange rate compared to most of the vendor gear you can purchase. I recommend you rep up with Operation Shieldwall or Dominance Offensive to get ilevel 496 gear for 4 different slots: a ring, trinket, waist and feet. Even at this rate (before patch 5.2), it would take amassing 6,500 valor points to purchase these 4 items, which would take you no less than 7 weeks with the 1,000 VP/week cap. Obviously, there are some exceptions to this advice: 1) if you have a best-in-slot piece that you are confident that you won’t be replacing for 6+ months, then you may want to upgrade. 2) If you have capped at 3,000 valor points and don’t have the rep anywhere to purchase gear, then you may want to burn 750 to bump your best piece 4 item levels (but sheesh, get going on some rep!!). 3) If you refuse to do ANY dailies, well then, yes, upgrade your gear I suppose, but it better be 476 or higher from LFR and regular raiding (You can upgrade blue gear with justice points).

All of my spreadsheet magic can be found here:

Bottom line: The math says that until you have only item level 483 equipment or higher left to replace, replace it with vendor reputation gear, UNLESS you have a best in slot item that you know that you won’t replace in the next 6 months. Additionally, in patch 5.2, 5.0 vendor gear, which is ilevel 489, will cost 50% less, and 5.1 gear will cost 25% less. Knowing this, you may only want to spend valor points when you reach the 3,000 VP cap and use whatever you save to immediately purchase discounted gear once 5.2 drops.

Sihx

@epicdiapers 

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Episode 19: “Moddable Gear”

Posted in Main, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , on January 17, 2012 by Epic Diapers

Orange is purple, and purple is green, and well, I'm colorblind anyway

Click below for audio:

I think I was level 10 when I got my first orange item, and I thought I had to check my jedi sage’s robe for stains. Well, much to my initial consternation, which turned into understanding and appreciation, Bioware has introduced a very interesting system in The Old Republic, Custom Items that are fully moddable. Moddable gear is colored with an orange border, but don’t confuse the color with legendary items from other MMOs. Orange gear is actually quite common and can be acquired as early as level 8 via quest rewards, heroics, drops, craftable items, and even through underworld trading. What’s unique about this system is that it allows players to potentially acquire a look that they desire and wear it all the way up to end game. To scale an items stats and power, it has several slots that you can insert mods into and extract from. These mods are acquired through rewards, drops and professions, and crafters can even reverse engineer their older mods to create blue and purple mods. Some green gear is also partially moddable, and end game epic, or purple gear, is also partially moddable, but not fully like orange. This has to do with gear progression and balance.

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Episode 18: “Darkmoon Faire”

Posted in Main, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , on January 17, 2012 by Epic Diapers

Come on down!

Click for the audio segment:

Who doesn’t love getting ripped off by overpriced booze, rigged carnival games, and trying to figure out which eye on that carny is a fake one, and if he’s staring at you or not, and if so, what are his intentions…

Anyway, the faire has been revamped and given it’s own island, but it’s a far cry from Coney Island…wait, no, they’re pretty similar on second thought.

The faire is a great way to add to your collection of mounts, pets, companions, achievements, and even a new way to obtain heirloom gear to quickly level your alts. You can earn tickets that are redeemable at a myriad of vendors on the island.

Now, the faire only comes around for one week every month, and there is a limit to how many tickets you can earn in a week. According to a blue post by Bashiok, you can earn a maximum of 135 tickets. Not bad, it’s good enough to earn three pets, or a mount and a pet, or 4 pieces of cosmetic armor, or an heirloom armor item and weapon. But if you want a full set of faire transmogrification gear, it will take you 4 weeks, or 4 faires or 4 months to complete a full set. The good news is that the replica armor and heirlooms are bind on equip, so you can have multiple 85s working on seperate pieces all at the same time.

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BoA Heirlooms…are they just hand me downs?

Posted in Alts, General, Main with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 4, 2011 by Epic Diapers

Choose wisely (from wowhead.com)

Audio Stream

Download the mp3 here

Bind on Account heirloom gear is the focus for the latest audio segment. If you are an alt-oholic like me, heirlooms have been a god-send. They can stack to a maximum of a 40% boost to your leveling speed. Most max out at 35% due to the difficulty in getting the fishing derby ring (+5%). Some heirlooms don’t provide a leveling boost, but they are blue-equivalent gear, level up along with you, and don’t require repairing. Plus, you can sell even more questing/dungeon gear that you acquire, saving you significant gold along your journey.

First, you pretty much need a max-level character (although you can earn heirlooms through the argent tournament, starting at level 77). The most common way to purchase them now is with Justice Points. There is a specific heirloom vendor in each main capital city. If you have multiple alts, try and consolidate your gear across multiple alts. For example, you can use agility leather for your hunter, enhancement shaman, and feral druid. The armor bonuses aren’t crucial, especially considering the grinding time you’ll save.

You can also spend your time pulling your fingernails out by grinding seals through the argent tournament, but personally, that’s not my recommended method.

Helms and cloaks are available through your guild vendor, and require reputation and quite a bit of gold. However these pieces work from 1-85, and all other heirlooms lose their benefits at 80.

You can follow me @epicdiapers and follow my blog and hear all of my segments at epicdiapers.com.

And remember, it’s hard to balance the pew pew with the poo poo.

Sihx

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Drop it Like it’s Relevant

Posted in Main with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 15, 2011 by Epic Diapers

Aw man, none of us wear this gear!

I’ve often wondered if Blizzard would ever implement a more targeted loot system in raids and dungeons. How many times have you been in a group when holy pally gear drops…and there’s not even a paladin in the group? Similar to that, we’ve had quite a streak of “Paladin, Priest, Warlock” tier gear dropping in Firelands. Although we do have a priest and a pally (no lock) in our raid, the gear has dropped so many times, they have both their main and offspec pieces already, while the DK token (me) has not dropped even once. We are sharding quite a few pieces in Firelands, yet our group still has a few gear spots to fill.

If I were grand poo-bah of Blizzard, I would consider implementing a system that would drop random loot, but only draw from a pool of loot that is relevant to not only the class composition, but spec as well. Let’s say you have an elemental shaman in the group, but no hunter. Well, this new system would drop intellect mail, but not agility mail. Ok, ok, of course some of you would prefer to have offspec pieces drop as well, so as a compromise, I suppose I would just restrict it to class so that would drop…sheesh. At least this would stop holy pally gear from dropping because I mean, who wears intellect plate?!

Share your stories of loot irrelevance.

Sihx

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Brewfest Loot Pinata….Gear Those Alts!

Posted in Alts, Main with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on September 29, 2011 by Epic Diapers

It's only my 9th stein of the morning, lad!

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Brewfest is back, baby! I know this guide might be a tad late, but all that in game drinking and whacking the loot pinata they call Coren Direbrew over and over has me in a tizzy. If you’re a fresh 85, his loot is a great way to boost your item level, and if you run him enough, you may even see a 365 dagger or mace drop, and if you have a cloverleaf tatooed on your rear end, perhaps you have even received a brewfest kodo or ram!

I took the many, many, many opportunities to run this guy almost every day with 5 toons, and all I got to drop was one tankard o terror. Not that I’m bitter or anything, but that’s besides the point. You altoholics out there need to take advantage and wrap up these last few days of brewfest by running this guy at least once a day for the dagger, mace and mounts, and until your eyes bleed on the last day of the holiday if you haven’t yet received your 365 trinket of your desired flavor.

By the way, I’m going to BLIZZCON BABY. So, hit me up if you’re on the block.

And remember, it’s hard to balance the pew pew with the poo poo.

Sihx

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Gettin’ Moggy With It

Posted in Main with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 25, 2011 by Epic Diapers

How will you mog?

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“to change in appearance or form, especially strangely or grotesquely; transform.”

“to change or alter greatly and often with grotesque or humorous effect”

“to change into a different shape or form, especially one that is fantastic or bizarre”

No, I’m not talking about how poorly your wife is aging….. (don’t write me angry emails, I keed)

These are all definitions of “TRANSMOGRIFICATION!”

Patch 4.3 will allow you to transmogrify your gear, that is, replace the look of your current gear with any other gear that has stats. Of course, there are a few restrictions: both sets of gear have to be of the same type, that is you can only transmogrify plate to plate, leather to leather, mail to mail, cloth to cloth, it has to have stats, it cannot be grey or a legendary, you have to own both pieces of gear, and it can’t be silly, such as a fish dagger or frying pan mace.

Ok, so there are a few restrictions, but this sounds like fun! Along with a new way to store your gear (80 slots in “Void Storage”), and a bit of gold, there are thousands of possibilities.

If you need a little help sifting through all the gear possibilities, I’ve found wonderfully organized guides on wowheadnews.com. With a few clicks you can narrow down your list of desired gear by PVE, PVP, class, tier, weapon type, armor type, and favorites.

Tier gear guide

Unique items, weapons, and more gear

Hopefully this will make your transmogrification shopping a bit easier and save what we all have so precious little of….time!

So, any ideas of what sets you will collect? As a DK, I’m stuck with T7 and after.   /sigh

Don’t forget to follow me and listen to my segments on The Instance and the AIE Podcast!

And remember, it’s hard to balance the pew pew with the poo poo.

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Best PVE Gear for Toons that Don’t Raid

Posted in Alts, Main, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 12, 2011 by Epic Diapers

You can still have chocolate cake if you don't raid!

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So, you’re level 85 and can’t raid, or you want to gear up an alt. you may not get the best gear in the game, but you can do pretty well without ever killing a boss in the Firelands, Here’s a quick guide on the best PVE gear you can get without raiding.

First, grab your 365 cloak from the Elemental Bonds quests, open to all level 85s. Next, head for the Molten Front. Upon completing all of the quests, most classes can get 365 gear for their neck, hands, wrist, waist, feet, rings, trinkets and relics, and blacksmithing patterns for weapons.

For level 378 gear, do your daily random heroics, as valor points can get you your neck, wrist, ring, relics, and your tier 12 chest, hands and legs. Don’t forget your weekly Occu’thar kill in Baradin hold for a chance at a 378 PVE piece or PVP 384 piece to drop.

Try and join a PUG to kill Firelands trash, and you can not only grind up rep with the Avegners of Hyjal to get a 378 cloak and belt, but you may also get lucky with a neck, wrist, waist, ring, or weapon drop.

If you’re rich, hit up the auction house for BoE 378s. Ask guildies if they have any 378 hand or boot patterns they’d be willing to craft for you…but make sure you pay them well.

In a nutshell, you can get item level 365 or 378 PVE gear for every slot except for your head and shoulders. If you have less than 359 gear here, just spend honor points for 371 PVP gear, which will be better in most cases.

You can find a more detailed spreadsheet of your options here.

And remember, it’s hard to balance the pew pew with the poo poo.

-Sihx

@epicdiapers

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3rd 85….and cheating the heroic system

Posted in Alts with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 12, 2011 by Epic Diapers

Good umpires aren't noticed...just like good players in heroics....

I dinged my 3rd 85 last week…a belf paladin. The thing is, I wanted to get him into heroics right away, as both my main and 2nd 85 (a mage) were able to do so with a little, well, um, going around the true spirit of the game, if you will.

The normal process for gearing up is through questing in Twilight Highlands, normal dungeons, and Justice Point vendor items. Quite frankly, I don’t have the time for that. If I’m going to run an instance, I don’t want 333 pieces (or even 316). I want my 346s right away. Also, with many PUGs now outgearing the content (at least comparatively to launch), and with more players knowing the encounters, I don’t quite feel as bad for inflating my gear score in a slightly unethical, but allowed way: purchased PVP gear! That’s right, most of the bloody/ornate blue PVP gear is cheap, and at ilevel 339, it’s perfect for buying a few pieces and raising your gear score to the minimum 329.

What’s the downside here? I mean, I get into heroics right away, which means a chance at 346 drops (and with a pally, it’s plate dps, tank, AND healer gear) and faster accrual of justice points. To be clear, I currently only queue as DPS as I clearly don’t have the gear to tank or heal heroics yet. Also, some of my equipped items are actually around 312-318 ilevel, as some of those pieces are of course, better than the 339 pvp healer gear that “counts” for a slot or two. Remember, they only need to be in your bag, you don’t actually have to equip them…believe me, I just tested this. Once I picked up a new 339 piece from my mail box, I would instantly watch my gearscore tick up. I’ve also purchased a couple of cheap 333/346 PVE blues off of the auction house. What’s the downside/risk to this? Well, my dps flat plain sucks at the moment. I’m used to 14k on my main DK, but this ret pally is pulling 5-6k right now. So far, I haven’t received any degrading comments in these heroics…probably because 1) I’m being carried, so my dps isn’t critical, 2) we are finishing the content, and 3) I stay out of the fire and do what I’m supposed to. Basically, I’m like a good umpire: I’m not noticed.

At the end of the day, I am asking the first dozen or so heroics to carry me, but I’m willing to risk the flaming from any group in order to take this shortcut, and eventually save tons of time.

Question is…I’m still not sure if I’m going to main spec holy, prot, or ret yet…so I’m hanging onto my justice points until I have an epiphany.

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