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[th3dude]

Hit 85 for the first time this weekend. This is a totally different game at max level. Now I actually care about gear!

So far have 2 purple level 359 items, and the rest low 300 blues/greens. So not great.

But it was cool to gem my purple gear. Now I need to enchant.

Started on heroic Cata dungeons, too. What a difference those are. So many wipes (especially since I'm still a noob tank)

Any overall advice on how to improve my gear?

Also, finally going back and leveling my mining/blacksmithing. Any tips on those?

 

[Angry Grimace]

Some people dont care about that and just use a mount they think look cool. And this one does.

It really doesn't matter how cool it is, if everyone has one, it just won't be that interesting to most people. It's not the ease of acquiring it, it's the fact so many other people are riding it.

 

[Bisnic]

Hit 85 for the first time this weekend. This is a totally different game at max level. Now I actually care about gear!

So far have 2 purple level 359 items, and the rest low 300 blues/greens. So not great.

But it was cool to gem my purple gear. Now I need to enchant.

Started on heroic Cata dungeons, too. What a difference those are. So many wipes (especially since I'm still a noob tank)

Any overall advice on how to improve my gear?

Also, finally going back and leveling my mining/blacksmithing. Any tips on those?

If heroics are too hard, you can still do some regular dungeons, i know there is only like 3 of them, but its still better than trying to tank heroics while still wearing greens. Or you could just queue heroics as DPS and save your justice points to buy tank gear. Don't forget tabards for rep either, there is some decent gear and helm/shoulder enchants you can get with that.

 

[C.Dark.DN]

Hit 85 for the first time this weekend. This is a totally different game at max level. Now I actually care about gear!

So far have 2 purple level 359 items, and the rest low 300 blues/greens. So not great.

But it was cool to gem my purple gear. Now I need to enchant.

Started on heroic Cata dungeons, too. What a difference those are. So many wipes (especially since I'm still a noob tank)

Any overall advice on how to improve my gear?

Also, finally going back and leveling my mining/blacksmithing. Any tips on those?

To get yourself raid ready in a few days:

Get an average item level of 346 as fast as possible through normal heroics then do troll heroics.

You can do the quest to save thrall for a 365 cape.

Pretty soon you'll have all the 359 Justice Point gear and all the 353 epic gear from troll heroics.

The only thing you can do after that is raid and buy Valor Point gear slowly. You'll reach the Valor Point cap by doing random heroics and you'll pretty much buy a piece of 378 gear every 2 weeks-ish.

4.3 may be out by that time and all that Valor gear will turn to Justice Point gear.

You'll farm 5 man heroics to buy said gear from Justice Point vendors, do the new 5 man heroics for gear, do Looking For Raid, buy the new Valor gear, hopefully do Normal raids.

(You could buy BOE gear but that'd be a waste this late in the tier. I'm not sure how fast you get a piece of gear from theMolten Front Dailies. Some takes over a month. There's a mount reward in the end.)
(As Bisnic said, you could do non-heroics if you need to learn strategies While it'll slow the process down, you're not gonna raid before 4.3 realistically anyway.)
(Another note: It'd probably be a good idea NOT to farm the current Justice Point gear so hard since there's going to be a new wave and you'll have to do it again. But, having a higher average item level will be a benefit when 4.3 hits. It'll get you in the new 5 man dungeons quicker, which will get you into Looking For Raid quicker. )

Profession Guide: http://www.wow-professions.com/profession-leveling-guides

 

[wonderdung]

Heroic Rag finally down tonight, first time I've finished a tier in this game. Post nerf makes it a little less sweet, but it's still a hard fight so hey.

 

[Pre]

I recently resubscribed after a year and a half off. My initial impression of Cataclysm was positive, but after finishing the Hyjal questline (which I quite enjoyed) I'm finding the rest of the new content to be underwhelming. The game has definitely jumped the shark.

I must say that Blizzard did a superb job redesigning the old world. The quest progressions are very smooth and there's lots of new content there. Leveling is also ridiculously quick, as in about two days I got a shaman to level 31.

I miss Burning Crusade.

 

[strafer]

The quest progressions are very smooth and there's lots of new content there. Leveling is also ridiculously quick, as in about two days I got a shaman to level 31.

It goes even faster with heirlooms. I reached 60 in about 5 hours with full looms.

 

[Bisnic]

It goes even faster with heirlooms. I reached 60 in about 5 hours with full looms.

1-60 in 5 hours with heirlooms? Now that's just a lie.

 

[TGMIII]

1-60 in 5 hours with heirlooms? Now that's just a lie.

If you know the zones and what quests give follow-ups and what don't I'd say it's possible. Full guild set + XP boosts means you're getting a 40% XP increase and you're going to be killing quest mobs super quick due to the item scaling.

 

[Bisnic]

If you know the zones and what quests give follow-ups and what don't I'd say it's possible. Full guild set + XP boosts means you're getting a 40% XP increase and you're going to be killing quest mobs super quick due to the item scaling.

Even then, i've been playing this game for years, been in a lvl 25 guild, with all heirlooms(except the ring from the weekly fishing contest), it sure doesn't take only 5 hours, especially when you don't have a mount for the first 20 lvls. What about the time you lose to go back to a city to see your trainers or even the AH? Yeah, i dont see how 5 hours is possible.

 

[Miletius]

Even then, i've been playing this game for years, been in a lvl 25 guild, with all heirlooms(except the ring from the weekly fishing contest), it sure doesn't take only 5 hours, especially when you don't have a mount for the first 20 lvls. What about the time you lose to go back to a city to see your trainers or even the AH? Yeah, i dont see how 5 hours is possible.

You don't need to go and get skills every level. Yeah, 5 hours seems a little unreasonable though. I think it's possible in 8-10 though.

 

[th3dude]

Thanks for all the tips for helping a new noob 85.

Keep em coming if you got any more

 

[yukonrye]

It goes even faster with heirlooms. I reached 60 in about 5 hours with full looms.

elaborate...

 

[kagete]

Maybe he did Recruit-a-Friend? I'm pretty sure I did the same 1-60 stretch in half a day with no heirlooms (I don't even know what these are tbh).

 

[CarbonatedFalcon]

Maybe he did Recruit-a-Friend? I'm pretty sure I did the same 1-60 stretch in half a day with no heirlooms (I don't even know what these are tbh).

Possible with RAF, not possible, afaik, with just heirlooms/guild perks unless cheesing in some unusual way.

Without heirlooms, as a veteran, it took me just over 2 days (around 50 hours) to do 1-60 on a warrior in the GAF guild with no bonus XP until maybe the very latter end of that. Even with bonuses, you could only cut that down in half, or a little less, if you chose a very efficient route.

 

[C.Dark.DN]

Maybe he means 5 hours after level 30?

 

[Alucrid]

I can't roll for shit.

 

[Painraze]

you can't go 1-60 in 5 hours. i think that's mathematically impossible in wow.

 

[lordmrw]

I can't roll for shit.

It's the story of my life. The most rage inducing had to be the sword that dropped off Onyxia. I lost the roll on the that a record 7 times in a row, both 10 and 25 man. It became a running joke with the folks I pugged it with every week. I wasn't in a guild at the time and no one was recruiting so I couldn't go back and do Ulduar, and I wanted it in preparation to do ToC, which once I actually did turned out to be relatively simple.

On the other hand I was extremely lucky when it came to VoA, usually I was the only rogue in the group and the tier pieces dropped frequently so not long after a new tier I would have half the set for no cost.

 

[th3dude]

To get yourself raid ready in a few days:

Get an average item level of 346 as fast as possible through normal heroics then do troll heroics.

You can do the quest to save thrall for a 365 cape.

Pretty soon you'll have all the 359 Justice Point gear and all the 353 epic gear from troll heroics.

The only thing you can do after that is raid and buy Valor Point gear slowly. You'll reach the Valor Point cap by doing random heroics and you'll pretty much buy a piece of 378 gear every 2 weeks-ish.

4.3 may be out by that time and all that Valor gear will turn to Justice Point gear.

You'll farm 5 man heroics to buy said gear from Justice Point vendors, do the new 5 man heroics for gear, do Looking For Raid, buy the new Valor gear, hopefully do Normal raids.

(You could buy BOE gear but that'd be a waste this late in the tier. I'm not sure how fast you get a piece of gear from theMolten Front Dailies. Some takes over a month. There's a mount reward in the end.)
(As Bisnic said, you could do non-heroics if you need to learn strategies While it'll slow the process down, you're not gonna raid before 4.3 realistically anyway.)
(Another note: It'd probably be a good idea NOT to farm the current Justice Point gear so hard since there's going to be a new wave and you'll have to do it again. But, having a higher average item level will be a benefit when 4.3 hits. It'll get you in the new 5 man dungeons quicker, which will get you into Looking For Raid quicker. )

Profession Guide: http://www.wow-professions.com/profession-leveling-guides

Saved Thrall for the 365 cape last night. Thanks for the heads up on that.

 

[RPGCrazied]

Warlock dinged 85 last night, treated him to this.

 

[Alucrid]

It's the story of my life. The most rage inducing had to be the sword that dropped off Onyxia. I lost the roll on the that a record 7 times in a row, both 10 and 25 man. It became a running joke with the folks I pugged it with every week. I wasn't in a guild at the time and no one was recruiting so I couldn't go back and do Ulduar, and I wanted it in preparation to do ToC, which once I actually did turned out to be relatively simple.

On the other hand I was extremely lucky when it came to VoA, usually I was the only rogue in the group and the tier pieces dropped frequently so not long after a new tier I would have half the set for no cost.

Yep. Most of my gear came from the fact that I was the only Hunter in FL with no Shamans and one warrior who didn't need anything. Only agil user too.

Now we have a Shaman and druid tank.

 

[theinfinityissue]

Yep. Most of my gear came from the fact that I was the only Hunter in FL with no Shamans and one warrior who didn't need anything. Only agil user too.

Now we have a Shaman and druid tank.

I know that feeling, being a rogue in a 10 man guild. the first part anyway.

I'm benched tonight because I've got 391's in almost every slot and we want to spread the gear around to some of the less geared stand-ins. I acted like I was making a big sacrifice. But really... skyrim. SKYRIM.

 

[Alucrid]

I know that feeling, being a rogue in a 10 man guild. the first part anyway.

I'm benched tonight because I've got 391's in almost every slot and we want to spread the gear around to some of the less geared stand-ins. I acted like I was making a big sacrifice. But really... skyrim. SKYRIM.

FUCK. That's what I want to do but I still need the agil trinket from Rags then I'm done for normal Firelands gear. Still, we have a few pugs and new people so it's not really going that smoothly.

No trinket again.

 

[ampere]

Warlock dinged 85 last night, treated him to this.

http://www.bwowg.com/upload/Shadowforge%27s%20Lightbound%20Smock%20h%20(1).jpg[IMG][/QUOTE]
BoE trash drop? That version (heroic) isn't available to players.

And just a heads up, spirit has 0 benefit for warlocks.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Warlock dinged 85 last night, treated him to this.

http://www.bwowg.com/upload/Shadowforge%27s%20Lightbound%20Smock%20h%20(1).jpg[IMG][/QUOTE]
That's a non-implemented item (i.e. a heroic version technically exists in the game files, but can't be accessed) and Spirit is not good at all for Warlocks, i.e. it does nothing.

 

[ampere]

Figured I'd whine about it a bit here, perhaps some of you know the feeling.

On Sunday, our second Dragonwrath was finished. The player who got it is a warlock, and a pretty awful player (and by luck the most geared player in the guild). He was very lucky to be second in line and should have been very grateful.

Perspective on how bad he is? I'm an elemental shaman, he plays affliction. This weekend, we both flew up on Alysrazor heroic and I beat him by a decent bit.
Shadow bolt is routinely his highest damage spell. He didn't have the glyph of Haunt until the other day when our GM scoured his spec/glyphs/enchants.

And last night he gquit. The funny thing is, he has 3 real life friends in the guild, one of whom is the raid leader, and he didn't even plan it. He just decided people were 'too hard on him about his damage' and quit.
He didn't even go to another guild, though he raided with another guild (5/7H) last night and died on every fight. At one point they stopped ressing him.

We're aren't a very hardcore guild, we won't bench someone for low damage if they try hard and are consistent (unless it's just abysmal, at the tanks or something stupid), but we still do decent progression on heroic 25s (4/7H), all things considered. The dude was just such a dick all the time it's very hard to feel sympathetic at all when he's near the bottom of the meters some fights with almost full 391s.

Sigh. The only positive is that he's gone, I didn't care for him at all. But it's very frustrating for all that hard work on the staff to go down the drain.

Sadly he doesn't even think he did anything wrong. Our raid leader told him "you stabbed me in the back, how could you?" and he replied "no I didn't."

Ugh.

/rant

 

[Rambaldi]

shitty warlock

Ugh, that sucks. Sorry!

Oddly enough, my crappy tank gquit tonight. It's a bit of a positive for us... except that our off tank feels he's better suited for DPS instead so now we're looking for two tanks. haha. Oh well. I could use the rest.

 

[RPGCrazied]

Yeah. You see. I'm not in a guild. I don't raid, I don't have the time for that anymore. But the chest armor was way better than my quest green I had. It wasn't that much either. I did gain a ton of intel and stam though. Yeah, yeah. I know warlocks don't need much intel, but whatevs.

 

[GasProblem]

Hmm, LFR is making me want to play again. Never raided because I'm not going to raid on designated hours etc. Being able to just join the LFR queue and actually raid is awesome.

 

[Bisnic]

Yeah. You see. I'm not in a guild. I don't raid, I don't have the time for that anymore. But the chest armor was way better than my quest green I had. It wasn't that much either. I did gain a ton of intel and stam though. Yeah, yeah. I know warlocks don't need much intel, but whatevs.

Wut? Intellect gives you mana and spell power, why wouldn't a warlock need it? It's much more useful than stamina.

 

[YakiSOBA]

okay, i hit 85 and got my ilvl to 360 (mix of T11, T12, and pvp gear) -- the problem is, most people see the 2-3 pvp items i have and go "no pvp, sorry *kick*"

This makes no sense to me, ie:

1 of my pvp items is a necklace that is better in everyway than the pve T11-level necklace... say what? does this mean i should upgrade my necklace to the valor point version?

 

[Bisnic]

okay, i hit 85 and got my ilvl to 360 (mix of T11, T12, and pvp gear) -- the problem is, most people see the 2-3 pvp items i have and go "no pvp, sorry *kick*"

This makes no sense to me, ie:

1 of my pvp items is a necklace that is better in everyway than the pve T11-level necklace... say what? does this mean i should upgrade my necklace to the valor point version?

People kick you from raids because of this? Well, if the pvp item is that much better, you can wear the "not as good" PVE one when you get the invite and switch to your PVP one later after the first trash pull. :lol

As long as your PVP gear doesn't prevent you from being at the hit cap compared to a PVE alternative, i dont see why its such a big deal.

 

[Miletius]

Yeah. You see. I'm not in a guild. I don't raid, I don't have the time for that anymore. But the chest armor was way better than my quest green I had. It wasn't that much either. I did gain a ton of intel and stam though. Yeah, yeah. I know warlocks don't need much intel, but whatevs.

Don't worry man, nobody is trying to be hard on you. The only thing you really need to do to look at what kind of gear warlocks 'should have' is go to the valor/justice point vendor and see what kind of gear they have in stock for you (the set pieces give you a good idea).

If you gained a lot of intel and stam by using that piece then it's probably an upgrade for you over what you were using before. Intel should always be your first priority for damage dealing.

 

[Number45]

Yeah. You see. I'm not in a guild. I don't raid, I don't have the time for that anymore. But the chest armor was way better than my quest green I had. It wasn't that much either. I did gain a ton of intel and stam though. Yeah, yeah. I know warlocks don't need much intel, but whatevs.

Now that you're 85, load your character into Ask Mr. Robot and it'll give you a good idea of what gear you should be going for (with enchants/gems and where to get them all). It's a nice easy to use tool, and I think it can be nicely customised once you know where you're going.

 

[Angry Grimace]

People kick you from raids because of this? Well, if the pvp item is that much better, you can wear the "not as good" PVE one when you get the invite and switch to your PVP one later after the first trash pull. :lol

As long as your PVP gear doesn't prevent you from being at the hit cap compared to a PVE alternative, i dont see why its such a big deal.

I would probably not allow a PvP geared player to raid either, really. PvP items are like 2 tiers behind PvE items of the same level in itemization. Unless it's S10 elite gear or something, you could easily find something better for that slot.

 

[Bisnic]

I would probably not allow a PvP geared player to raid either, really. PvP items are like 2 tiers behind PvE items of the same level in itemization. Unless it's S10 elite gear or something, you could easily find something better for that slot.

I dunno, between a PVE helm of 353 quality and a PVP helm of 378+ quality, maybe the PVP one is better to use. PVE Helms and shoulders are not as easy to get above 353 quality compared to everything else. Never understood why...is it just because they look "cooler" than pants or chest?

 

[Red UFO]

I just started playing this (I know, super late to the party), saw this topic and thought 'Great! Dudes to talk to about this." Holy balls, it's like you guys are speaking a different language in here.

 

[Number45]

Haha, it'll come don't worry. I'm pretty casual (I've never raided) but I've built up a good knowledge just by playing the game - I do recommend reading as much as you can about whatever class you end up deciding to play though (try many of them) so that you have a better levelling experience and you find that you'll get much less abuse in dungeons.

I read a lot on the official forums (stick to the stickies though, unless you just want to hear whining), and graduated to more specialist places later on when my needs were more specific. It's mind boggling when you first go in just how much there is to this game (and other MMOs) in comparison to most other games out there.

 

[TheYanger]

I dunno, between a PVE helm of 353 quality and a PVP helm of 378+ quality, maybe the PVP one is better to use. PVE Helms and shoulders are not as easy to get above 353 quality compared to everything else. Never understood why...is it just because they look "cooler" than pants or chest?

You'd be surprised. PvP items spend a TOOOOOOOOON of their item budget on resil. I'd say a 378 and a 353, the difference is still probably very close, certainly not an obvious win for the pvp item. It's going to have more str/agi/int whatever you fancy of those, but ~55% of the 'ratings' on the item are completely useless in pve, even the most lopsided stat weighted classes don't play well with that kind of loss.

 

[Angry Grimace]

You'd be surprised. PvP items spend a TOOOOOOOOON of their item budget on resil. I'd say a 378 and a 353, the difference is still probably very close, certainly not an obvious win for the pvp item. It's going to have more str/agi/int whatever you fancy of those, but ~55% of the 'ratings' on the item are completely useless in pve, even the most lopsided stat weighted classes don't play well with that kind of loss.

It's actually quite easy to figure out which is better; just plug your character into any decent sim and figure out what the stat weights are (I think most of the good sims can just directly tell you which item is better, too). The easier method, which I personally use, is just not ever using PvP items in PvE content.

My thought is just that if you're planning to wear a PvP item to a raid (particularly a PUG), it's not unfair to require you to justify it mathematically or logically. If your justification begins and ends at "item level," don't be surprised when you get removed.

 

[Kaper]

The pvp gear is pretty strong for some specs if you get the 2piece bonus for +70 to primary stat. For my arcane mage, a couple sims were showing 2piece pvp was stronger than 353 items.

 

[Liferebooted]

I'm new to PVE but askmrrobot also claims most of the PVP gear is best for pre firelands gear, atleast for my feral tank and enhance shaman.

 

[wonderdung]

Figured I'd whine about it a bit here, perhaps some of you know the feeling.

On Sunday, our second Dragonwrath was finished. The player who got it is a warlock, and a pretty awful player (and by luck the most geared player in the guild). He was very lucky to be second in line and should have been very grateful.

Perspective on how bad he is? I'm an elemental shaman, he plays affliction. This weekend, we both flew up on Alysrazor heroic and I beat him by a decent bit.
Shadow bolt is routinely his highest damage spell. He didn't have the glyph of Haunt until the other day when our GM scoured his spec/glyphs/enchants.

And last night he gquit. The funny thing is, he has 3 real life friends in the guild, one of whom is the raid leader, and he didn't even plan it. He just decided people were 'too hard on him about his damage' and quit.
He didn't even go to another guild, though he raided with another guild (5/7H) last night and died on every fight. At one point they stopped ressing him.

We're aren't a very hardcore guild, we won't bench someone for low damage if they try hard and are consistent (unless it's just abysmal, at the tanks or something stupid), but we still do decent progression on heroic 25s (4/7H), all things considered. The dude was just such a dick all the time it's very hard to feel sympathetic at all when he's near the bottom of the meters some fights with almost full 391s.

Sigh. The only positive is that he's gone, I didn't care for him at all. But it's very frustrating for all that hard work on the staff to go down the drain.

Sadly he doesn't even think he did anything wrong. Our raid leader told him "you stabbed me in the back, how could you?" and he replied "no I didn't."

Ugh.

/rant

Loot council and stop giving gear to baddies, the problem will solve itself (without wasting legendaries). The only problem is keeping an un-corrupt loot council... my guild did it all through Uld and ICC though and it worked pretty well. Now that we're in 10 we just need/greed and everyone trusts everyone else to not be retarded. (This works really well until we raid with trials.)

Although some people may be unhappy with the need/greed roles at the moment since I got the first heroic rag mount with a great roll the week after I got the legendary.

 

[CarbonatedFalcon]

I just started playing this (I know, super late to the party), saw this topic and thought 'Great! Dudes to talk to about this." Holy balls, it's like you guys are speaking a different language in here.

Yes, most of what we're talking about relates to endgame and is probably way over your head. We use a lot of abbreviations and acronyms though that's not unusual (most developed communities have their own "languages").

If you have any questions though, feel free to ask. I (and most others) don't mind explaining to newer players here almost anything about the game in more simple, clear language.

And if you want to share something you think is really cool, or whatever, that's fine too. Chances are we've probably seen it, but it's always fun to revel in some of WoW's best moments.

 

[th3dude]

I just started playing this (I know, super late to the party), saw this topic and thought 'Great! Dudes to talk to about this." Holy balls, it's like you guys are speaking a different language in here.

As new player myself (just got my first level 85), I can say that Falcon is spot on. Everyone is very helpful in this thread.

 

[TheYanger]

Officially casual now, hard to imagine! but better for the RL no doubt.

 

[Kaper]

Officially casual now, hard to imagine! but better for the RL no doubt.

It's truly a better place. Still raiding, casually?

 

[TheYanger]

It's truly a better place. Still raiding, casually?

Yeah, 3 nights (1 right now of course) which is a huge step down from 'however many it takes'

 

[Kaper]

Yeah, 3 nights (1 right now of course) which is a huge step down from 'however many it takes'

I hear ya. I made the switch at the start of Cata and I'm never going back. And as a plus, if you're doing 10 mans it's a lot easier to control the types of people you raid with.