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[firex]

I've said my peace about the Tier .5 sets already, and just thought I'd give others the chance to weigh out whether or not it's all worth it. If you have a raid guild with epics that can blaze through the 45min Baron Run it might be cool, though having to do it with raid-equipped guilds kind of defeats the point of having a armor quest chain for non-raiders. I understand that they don't want to give people "free" epics though....OTOH I kind of wish things were more easily pug-able.

I hope that when Karazahn comes out in the expansion, that it will be doable by 10 man groups of level 70s (like they say it's intended for) without a lot of raid epics, and I hope it'll give epic drops.

Really, no matter what Blizzard says, no item type is ever going to remain out of the hands of casual players after awhile. Not that I'm saying in one patch or two they're just going to make it so anyone can get all purples, I just mean that as the expansions go and they add in legendaries, artifacts and so on, there will have to be epics and maybe even legendaries that will be attainable without raiding or spending a lot of money. Though, just IMO, legendaries right now should be the only item type that's hard to get. Maybe if Blizzard would fix the honor system so it doesn't reward constantly playing that'd help.

And it's mainly the disparity... I mean, in a raid guild, you may be impressed at any purple drop early on, but eventually you're going to find epic drops to be unimpressive. For the average player who doesn't go on raids, there's stuff that guilds shard for nexus enchants that would be good upgrades over their blues.

In a way, I think this is the major drawback of the bind on pickup system. Blizzard originally put it in because in beta, people were farming SM and selling the rares to other players for lots of gold. It's not bad to have BOP items (as they give the player who gets that drop a sense of reward for finishing the content), but at the same time, if raid epics were BOE so they could be sold, then you could at least proceed with endgame gear by getting enough money to afford it. That's probably not the best idea, it just came into my head. My thought is things like the Angelista's items, or Earthshaker, etc. would be sold, but not the sets (and pseudo-sets like Bloodtinged, Annihilation and so on). Stuff that a regular raider probably won't want at all, but a non-raider would pay for, or even drops that a raider would want, but already has, so you have the option of sharding it for nexus crystals, or selling said weapon on the AH.

 

[hobart]

As with all things in this game, the tier 0.5 set is just something to do. I like it, regardless of whether it's really worth it to upgrade.

Yep. For me it's a return to solo questing, which is AWESOME to do, for me, a L.60. Makes me realize just how much I missed questing (solo) on my main.

It's TOTALLY different from questing with an Alt... and... feels just as rewarding. Sure, it's expensive as hell... but that's part of high level questing. It's fun and the gear isn't bad AT ALL.

 

[explodet]

Just finished the 45-minute Stratholme Baron run - my group had to run it three times to get it right. First time we wiped to a bad pull before Maleki. The second time we got to the Baron with 10 seconds to spare, but we were so life and mana depleted after the fight with the skeletons guards we wiped horribly. Watching the Baron execute the hostage was worth it, though. Third time was the charm, got there with 7 minutes to spare.

And now I get to sink more cash into all these mats people want.
Yeah, it's expensive, but agreed - it's something to do. The questing is nice, but the parts where I buy stuff from the AH to give to some guy I can do with less.

 

[ManaByte]

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?FN=wow-general&T=7787923&P=1

We're pleased to announce that the keyring functionality has been completed and will be in place for patch 1.11. When a player first acquires a key, they will automatically acquire a keyring that will hold permanent dungeon keys. The size of this keyring will increase as the player goes up in level -- as seen below.

Level 1-40 = 4 slots
Level 41-50 = 8 slots
Level 51-60 = 12 slots

 

[SaitoH]

Just finished the 45 min Baron run with a PUG. It can be done. Just have to hope you have people that know the route and have at least tried it once before.

=D

 

[firex]

I wonder if they're going to include equippable "keys" like the UBRS ring, or the drakefire amulet, with those keyrings? Probably not. But at least it'll save some of the space in my bank that's taken up with instance keys.

 

[border]

45 minute UD Strat route, for those interested:

If this is faster, I wonder why it's not the conventional route for all groups?

 

[fallout]

If this is faster, I wonder why it's not the conventional route for all groups?

That's always been the route people on my server take.

 

[ManaByte]

Fuck, can't login. Going to miss AQ40 tonight.

 

[border]

The game was down for hours last night so they could do maintenance on the Authentication servers.....yet they're still fucked up tonight.

That's always been the route people on my server take.

Weird....on my server everyone has always gone counter-clockwise, starting at Nerub'enkan. The map here tries to dissuade you from pulling any of the mobs near bosses.....I wonder how safe that really is?

 

[Ramirez]

I think all of the servers that were down for migration just came back up and there's probably a million people tryin to log on at the same time right now...:|

 

[ManaByte]

Almost 3 hours and still can't login.

 

[Teknopathetic]

How many times are you going to Fake-quit WoW, Manabyte?

 

[ManaByte]

How many times are you going to Fake-quit WoW, Manabyte?

I've quit a couple times. But I'm playing right now because my guild moved past ZG/BWL and is starting AQ40.

But I can only really raid two nights a week, and tonight is one of the nights and it pisses me off that Thursday and Fridays always seem to be the nights when the servers don't work.

 

[border]

I was having trouble logging on early in the evening, but eventually got in and haven't left since I'm scared I won't be able to get back in.

I was able to solo the quest chain for Smokey's Drape by cheesing my way around the nasty Elites -- (naked death + rez near quest objective) x 8. Now I'm around 140 Fire Resitance and counting. Is it worth getting the +15 FR enchant on this cloak, or should I wait until I can get an Onyxia Scale Cloak? The guild that just accepted me is capable of doing Onyxia runs, but I don't think they have downed her yet. Onxyia Cloak has 2 less Stamina, 6 greater Fire Resistance and a Shadow Flame protection buff. In the current market, I think the enchant would probably run me about 180g (60g x 3 Nexus Crystal, 15g x 4 Essence of Fire, don't need to buy shards). I guess I could ask the guild bank for some of the mats, but it seems a little impolite to start demanding stuff after they've just admitted you Is there a generally accepted time limit that you should wait before you start asking for stuff?

In other good news, it looks like the market for Arcane Crystals is starting to calm down. Lowest buyout for them is now 28g, down from 40g (before the patch it was 19g, give or take).

Foror's Compendium of Dragon Slaying is back up to 1100g Buyout.....I guess I was lucky enough to hit a brief lull in the market and take advantage.

 

[firex]

Don't bother with an FR enchant on anything that isn't ony scale. You'll have to use that in BWL anyway, may as well make it your FR cloak too.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

Get the cheap +7 FR enchant.

 

[border]

Well the guild I'm in is at Ragnaros, but hasn't downed him yet. I'm not expecting to hit BWL for a while. In the meantime I think I have bought pretty much everything you can buy for Fire Resistance (excluding corny "Of Fire Resistance" green items).

My current setup is as follows:


Fire Resistance:
Drakefire Amulet -- +15 FR
Dark Iron Shoulders -- +10 FR
Smokey's Drape -- +10 FR
Hydralick Armor -- +10 FR
Firey Plate Gauntlets -- +10 FR
Elemental Plate Girdle of Fire Resistance -- +10 FR
Jasper Link of Fire Resistance -- +19 FR
Hematite Ring of Fire Resistance -- +13 FR
Blazing Emblem -- +15 FR
Royal Seal of Eldre'Thalas -- +10 FR
Draconian Deflector -- +10 FR
Heroism Set Bonus -- +8 FR

Total : 140 FR

180g seems like a lot for an extra +15 FR, I will admit. Is there anything else I should be looking to buy or farm for? The bracers from Lord Incendius would make me lose my Heroism set bonus, and Gyth's Skull seems too random (you have to bet that it will drop, and bet that it will have a Fire Resist when it does). I had Gyth's Skull when the patch hit, but it didn't take on any resistance at all =( I'm 500 rep points away from the Argent Dawn +5 FR enchant, so I'll be getting it after another Scholo/Strat run probably.

Mats for Dark Iron gear are too expensive....I'll probably just have to wait until the guild will front me some Lava Cores or Firey Cores.

 

[Ramirez]

Well,once you got buffed with the UBRS buff you'd have about the right amount I think,plus MOTW...but yea,get the +7 to cloak,no need to waste money on the 15 for smokey's drape...

 

[SaitoH]

Group buffs, plus UBRS buff should sit you at almost 300 FR. I wouldn't waste money on the +15 FR either, and I have an Onyxia cloak.

 

[Ferrio]

Heh my guild has never used the UBRS buff. Mainly cause theirs a bunch of people that just don't pay attention, go afk while buffing, don't understand where to go.

Too much a hassle.

 

[Tamanon]

From the Wow forums:

Well, right now we're in the process of working on the talent review for the mage. Some of the aspects we're looking to improve include easing a mage's downtime between fights a bit and making a Fire/Frost build a more viable combination than it is right now. (Currently most magi feel that having anywhere between 11 to 21 points in the Arcane is a "must").
To accomplish this, it's likely that we'll take a few of the "must have" abilities from Arcane, and make them available to all magi. (Some likely candidates are the talents Evocation and Improved Arcane Explosion.) From there, we'll also look at ways for players to be able to create interesting combos between the Fire and Frost trees. Hopefully, these changes will further polish the general play experience of magi while also opening some new, interesting talent builds.

Don't have the link, they're blocked at work, but looks pretty interesting thus far for mages. I could really go for Evocation being a skill I've been tempted to go Frost/Fire with my mage but the Arcane skills are just TOO useful sometimes.

 

[explodet]

Yeah, the arcane tree is practically a requirement for so many builds - nowadays I can't imagine a build without IAE and Evocation, and improved counterspell is also incredibly useful for pvp and some pve mobs.

I can't quite see how they would create combos between frost and fire - currently there's no synergy at all between them, and let's face it, they're two very different styles. It looks like they'll have to heavily rework the trees.

I don't mind the downtime between fights so much - we get free food and water, after all. It's downtime during fights that concerns me. In order to keep myself with enough mana during Ragnaros, I have to pop mana potions, mana gems, and the occasional demonic/dark rune to keep myself going.

I'm a Horde mage, so no Blessing of Wisdom, and I can't rely on a shaman being nearby for a gimpy mana tide totem or its even gimpier younger brothers. Without Evocation, I'd be screwed when the Sons of Rag spawn and couldn't blizzard them because I'm out of mana.

 

[hobart]

Hearing that they are looking to make items in the Arcane tree available to all brings a smile to my face. They are heading the right path as far as I'm concerned. Fixing the Arcane tree was #1 on my (and many of my Mage friend's) list.

As far as Fire/Frost combos... hmmmm... I wasn't preparing to combo them until the expansion. Interested as to seeing where this goes.

As a side note... Arcane Power mages are kinda Shit outa luck here... they still need to put those "freed" talent points back into whatever Blizz decides to add into the Arcane tree.

 

[Tamanon]

Hearing that they are looking to make items in the Arcane tree available to all brings a smile to my face. They are heading the right path as far as I'm concerned. Fixing the Arcane tree was #1 on my (and many of my Mage friend's) list.

As far as Fire/Frost combos... hmmmm... I wasn't preparing to combo them until the expansion. Interested as to seeing where this goes.

As a side note... Arcane Power mages are kinda Shit outa luck here... they still need to put those "freed" talent points back into whatever Blizz decides to add into the Arcane tree.

Well realistically, they wouldn't be losing anything at all, since they still get the skills, they'd just get new ones to choose to get Arcane Power

 

[explodet]

Also from the forums:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?FN=wow-shaman&T=491801&P=1

1.11 is a talent revamp for both mages AND shamans.

 

[ManaByte]

Also from the forums:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?FN=wow-shaman&T=491801&P=1

1.11 is a talent revamp for both mages AND shamans.

 

[fallout]

http://images.hasbro.com/nerf/images/logo.jpg

:lol

Anyway, there are more important matters to the shaman than our "overpowering" nature in PvP. I blame it mostly on the psychological nature of burst damage, but meh, nerf us all you want if we get some kind of totem fix and possibly a talent tree that doesn't consist of so many useless talents.

 

[Ramirez]

Improved Firebrand weapon is awesome I don't know what you're talking about :lol

Shaman's aren't overpowered,yea they destroy casters 1v1,but in group pvp if they get focus fired they go down just like any other class,more than I can say about a paladin.

 

[Azwethinkweiz]

Paladins are a lot more overpowered in pvp than shamans, if used correctly. Yeah they don't do dick for damage but they can sit there and heal their whole party for hours on end and just bubble up if they're ever in danger of dying. I don't think shamans even put their healing spells on their action bar, because I sure as hell never see any shaman heals coming my way.

 

[Fragamemnon]

Shamans aren't that bad even for casters once you get decent endgame gear-it's actually a very fun, technical fight for both sides. Much like Paladins, they peak well before 60 where as other classes hit the peak of their power curve a good bit before then. They actually take a good bit of skill to really kickass with, too.

I wouldn't think of them getting nerfed or buffed, they'll probably just revamp the weaker aspects/talents and leave the stronger ones well enough alone.

 

[fallout]

Improved Firebrand weapon is awesome I don't know what you're talking about :lol

I know man, but Improved Stoneclaw Totem was just beckoning to me!

And actually, just to comment on the destroying casters in PvP, that's a problem with the debate surrounding all classes. As soon as one class is better than another in a certain situation, they need to be nerfed apparently.

I don't think shamans even put their healing spells on their action bar, because I sure as hell never see any shaman heals coming my way.

Lesser healing wave is sitting right at number 2, but since I'm not resto-specced, it's not that efficient. Still, I throw heals down whenever I'm not being pummeled.

 

[Fragamemnon]

Shaman vs. Priest is, believe it or not, one of the more entertaining fights you can get. It looks lopsided on paper but it's a very fun fight in the endgame.

Before that, though, shamans absolutely rape priests.

I'm glad they are looking at mages. Very, very weak class, practically unchanged since the middle of beta and it is really showing compared to some of the classes that have gotten buffed since release.

 

[fallout]

I'd say the most boring PvP fight I've ever had was me 1 on 1 against a druid. It's just a battle of making them run out of mana and useing your spell interrupts as efficiently as possible. If you tried to go all out DPS on them (as most shamans do), you don't stand a chance (unless you're geared out the wazoo).

 

[border]

Group buffs, plus UBRS buff should sit you at almost 300 FR. I wouldn't waste money on the +15 FR either, and I have an Onyxia cloak.

What's the UBRS buff? Never even heard of it, or run into it after running UBRS dozens of times...

 

[Tamanon]

What's the UBRS buff? Never even heard of it, or run into it after running UBRS dozens of times...

Wasn't there a buff you used to be able to get from one of the mobs when you Mind Controlled them?

 

[explodet]

It's a buff that you get from Orc Spellbinders, you actually can get it in LBRS.
It's a big FR buff, like 80 or so, which you can use on your own party if you mind control them.

It's a crutch, but it's a damned effective one.

 

[hobart]

Well realistically, they wouldn't be losing anything at all, since they still get the skills, they'd just get new ones to choose to get Arcane Power

Point is... AP mages won't be getting the same benefits as Frost/Fire mages... AP mages need to keep talents within the tree, while Fire/Frost mages have the benefit of putting them elsewhere (that they would have had in Arcane --> IAE, Evoc. etc.)

I'm not an AP mage so I don't give a shit

 

[Tamanon]

Point is... AP mages won't be getting the same benefits as Frost/Fire mages... AP mages need to keep talents within the tree, while Fire/Frost mages have the benefit of putting them elsewhere (that they would have had in Arcane --> IAE, Evoc. etc.)

I'm not an AP mage so I don't give a shit

Well AP mages are pretty much the majority right now They're still getting a buff from it since it frees up at least 6 points to use in the Arcane tree, even on the new abilities they'll add. I like the idea because it allows for more options with regards to talent trees. I kept on trying to make my mage an Elemental one but I kept on having to go back to Arcane......

 

[hobart]

Well AP mages are pretty much the majority right now They're still getting a buff from it since it frees up at least 6 points to use in the Arcane tree, even on the new abilities they'll add. I like the idea because it allows for more options with regards to talent trees. I kept on trying to make my mage an Elemental one but I kept on having to go back to Arcane......

And that's the basic "problem" with mages right now. We are so wedded to a single tree that, in effect, we could be considered "broken." I'd love to see a new spell in there somewhere pre-expansion... but I haven't heard of anything yet.

It really depends on what they add to the Arcane tree... whether or not it will be worth it for them (if they add anything... it's still a nice tree regardless).

Solid point... but I can't see how AP mages can, in effect, become elemental even after this patch. If anything... and I think this is what you are saying... it allows more choice within the Arcane tree. Again.. this isn't bad at all... but it still weds you to one tree.

I guess there really isn't a point in speculating as of now... we'll all know for the better in a week or two.

 

[firex]

yes! now I'm really looking forward to 1.11. Talent updates for 2 classes I really like, and a new raid dungeon I actually want to go through...

 

[ManaByte]

yes! now I'm really looking forward to 1.11. Talent updates for 2 classes I really like, and a new raid dungeon I actually want to go through...

Is it yet another raid dungeon? I was hoping for a new five-man.

 

[explodet]

Yeah, you'll probably have to wait for the expansion for new five-man content. Naxxramas is supposed to be harder than Blackwing Lair.

And I've got a 60 mage and a 60 shaman, so I'm gonna be heaps busy next patch.

 

[hobart]

5-man content would rox my sox.

I think it really is possible to make it hard/long enough to give good gear in it too. Fingers crossed when/if it happens.

 

[Sirpopopop]

Haha, you're very funny. NOT!

If you want me to, I could go into an in-depth explanation of why shamans need a vast talent reimagining, but I doubt someone who wets their bed late at night over crackpot conspiracy theories would actually get it. I guess I'll have to try with a basic explanation.

Shamans are naturally just a very strong class with lots of different innate ways to kill someone. The problem is talents don't really help them in PVE (see: having to spec more than 35 points in resto just to get the effective pve talents - mana tide and purification) and if you spec so heavily into resto that you can't get some talents that help you keep with the Jones' at level 60, you are effectively fucked in pvp.

I'm a resto specced shaman, and I've specced so heavily into it that I can't even get the talent for 2h weaps. All I get out of the resto tree are some marginal improvements that don't compare to what druids/priests/paladins get. Even worse, some of the talents we have to spec into just to get mana tide have pretty much offer no use in the game at all.

 

[Hero]

Haha, you're very funny. NOT!

If you want me to, I could go into an in-depth explanation of why shamans need a vast talent reimagining, but I doubt someone who wets their bed late at night over crackpot conspiracy theories would actually get it. I guess I'll have to try with a basic explanation.

Shamans are naturally just a very strong class with lots of different innate ways to kill someone. The problem is talents don't really help them in PVE (see: having to spec more than 35 points in resto just to get the effective pve talents - mana tide and purification) and if you spec so heavily into resto that you can't get some talents that help you keep with the Jones' at level 60, you are effectively fucked in pvp.

I'm a resto specced shaman, and I've specced so heavily into it that I can't even get the talent for 2h weaps. All I get out of the resto tree are some marginal improvements that don't compare to what druids/priests/paladins get. Even worse, some of the talents we have to spec into just to get mana tide have pretty much offer no use in the game at all.

Frost shock what?

 

[Sirpopopop]

Frost shock what?

Heh.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

Haha, you're very funny. NOT!

NeoGAF is not 2nd grade.

 

[fallout]

Could we nerf LKBAP?

 

[Hero]

Heh.

Sorry, I just really hate shamans. As a rogue, all they do is kite me to death. Not as badly as hunters, but pretty close. Plus switching targets to take care of your stupid, annoying totems removes combo points and just makes me /angry.

Plus with any sort of lag, as long as you run in a straight line, I'll never catch you.

Rogue review better be godly! ><