Are you sure that belt is made out of cloth?

Did you spot the difference? Have another look at me down there on the bottom right corner of your screen. That’s right. I’m not longer dressed in last season’s fashion and now I finally fit in with the trendy Tier 9 crowd. You probably think I’ve just been a bit too lazy to update the website, but you’re wrong! 20 thousand DKP for four piece Tier 9.5, a belt and a necklace in 2 days. How’s that for fast?

I know you can’t tell that I’m a Priest just by looking at my avatar anymore and that makes me a little sad. I guess I’ll just have to stay in Shadowform more often. At least then I won’t look like all the Human Mages and Warlocks running around the place. Perhaps I should Photoshop some shadows on to my HoTs & DoTs screen avatar until this phase in Blizzard Tier Design has ended.

News Flash: I’ve identified an emerging armor design trend. It’s not just about the giant, spiky, flaming shoulders anymore. It’s not about the helms you can’t actually see out of (ok, that’s still around in next season’s collection). It’s about the belt. Have you seen the belts in Trial of the Crusader and the belts being modeled with the Tier 10 gear? A little over the top don’t you think? No, I have not been taking too much sugar with my tea. Cassandri is not pregnant. But I’m sure even the current WBO heavyweight title holder would be impressed with the size of my new belt.

Actually the armor model for my belt is slightly misleading – and not just in size. The model only shows one glowing gem on it. But it actually has two sockets. Three when I add an Eternal Belt Buckle. Three! That’s a lot of extra spell power right there.

The reason my belt has so many jewel sockets is probably because it dropped in 10 man ToGC. Heroic versions of the 10 man items (and perhaps this is true of 25 man heroic items, too) tend to be exact replicas of the normal versions with 1 extra gem socket thrown on. And the gear in regular 10 man ToC tends to have sockets on it already. So that’s even more sparkles in whatever flavour you like: spellpower, critical strike, haste, you name it. I like it.

After my recent vow to gear up a bit more quickly I started to accumulate a significant number of gems from honor and Emblems and stored them in the bank. Now I have only one Runed Cardinal Ruby left. The Shadow Priest gemming rule up until now has been:

1. Chaotic Skyflare Meta and 2 Spellpower/Spirit gems to make it work
2. Spellpower everywhere else

Simple huh? But I didn’t have enough orange gems!

I find that I’ve been choosing Spell Power/Crit gems more and more often for my yellow sockets to try and bring my Critical Strike chance up a bit (up to 23% now). I still feel that is a little low for my gear level.

I suspect I might end up completely re-gemming my gear set when Patch 3.3 is released. I think the changes to apply Haste to DoTs will make a significant difference to how we value different item stats as Shadow Priests but I’m waiting for someone cleverer than I to work that out. And I’m not going to take anything seriously until we’re close to releasing the Patch on the Live servers.

Anyway it’s almost raid time, I’ve had the most awesome day (started it with ice cream for breakfast and filled it with lots of sunshine, friends and a great movie) and I’ve just got this feeling that tonight we’re going to get Heroic Twin Val’kyr down tonight. I’ve even stuck a special post-it to my computer monitor to remind me to cast Shadow Word: Pain!

4 Pieces: Your Rejuvenation spell automatically announces to the raid that you were previously cool, but now you suck.

Lathere, who is usually so cool and calm when it comes to loot, wasn’t this week. Back when I was slipping behind the curve going into Yogg-Saron 25 with my 10 man Naxxramas weapon, she talked me out of a my-gear-is-so-bad-I-shouldn’t-be-doing-this-boss mild freak out with this advice:

“You’re not going to lose your raid spot over it, just keep coming to raids and you’ll get a new weapon and everything else on your wish list.”

Her advice all those months ago was spot on. So when the first boss goes down in ToGC after Tuesday’s patch I was slightly surprised when she kept bidding well past the previous going “rate” for a Trophy of the Crusade. She got upset when another raider mentioned that they had 200 Emblems of Triumph saved and over 100 on another character. She was even more frantic when the second, and the last for the night, Trophy dropped.

“I need it!”

She explained to me that the Tier 8 Restoration 4 set bonus had been severely nerfed with the latest patch, which, though expected, had come onto the live servers weeks earlier than she had planned. Now I don’t know exactly what the 4 set bonus used to be, but apparently in its current form it renders her Tier 8.5 gear worthless.

I found this a bit hard to believe. A good healer is a good healer. It’s not like Blizzard set all the Stamina, Spellpower, Critical Strike, Haste, Intellect values on the Resto Druid Tier 8 to zero. I tried quoting her advice back to her:

“You’re not going to lose your raid spot over it, just keep coming to raids and you’ll get trophies eventually.”

I don’t think my advice calmed her at all. I can only think that somehow my usually level-headed sister has been afflicted with some kind of post-patch nerf anxiety disorder.

Our Paladin tank, perhaps slightly stricken by the same bug, commented before the first pull “I’ll tank the other guy. I feel a bit squishy tonight.”

Our Elemental Shaman has been crowing about his buffs (Flame Shock and Lava Burst got boosted I believe). He’s been talking about giving the pures in the guild a run for their money and talking up a good game. Then just before the first go at Heroic Northrend Beasts he starts to agonize in party chat: “What if my damage is shit this attempt?” Apparently it applies to those who have been buffed too.

Of course Lathere healed as well as usual. Our tanks didn’t unexpectedly die. Our Ele Shaman did great damage. In the end it was me who wiped us during that first attempt. Doesn’t take a patch to fail at running. That’s the last time I try the mouse-pivot and run forward. Strafe ftw.

Oh yeah. Shadow Priests got a slight 10% extra from spirit buff this patch. Unfortunately it’s so slight as to be completely unnoticeable. Now I’m sad.

New gear for Alliance and Horde Shadow Priests in 25 man ToC

It’s always hard to get your head around what gear/upgrades are the smartest to make when a new bunch of gear is released in game. This post is for:

1. The 25 Man raider who plays a Shadow Priest as their main spec
2. The 25 Man healing Priest who intends to gather a offspec Shadow set
3. The raider who also completes 10/25 hard or heroic modes
4. Me

My weightings are based off the theorycrafting work done by Shadowpriest.com (with some personal preference to how Haste and Hit are valued). This list showcases the best items available to you – as a 25 man raiding priest – with a Hit/Haste/Crit option per slot.

Tier 8 and 9 Set Bonuses Compared

Tier 8 (Conqueror’s Sanctification from Ulduar)
Tier 8 Items and set bonus/s
2 set bonus = 122 dps or 61 dps per item
4 set bonus+2 set bonus = 231 dps or 58 dps per item

Tier 9 (Velen’s/Zabra’s Triumph)
Tier 9 items and set bonus/s
2 set bonus = 133 dps or 66 dps per item
4 set bonus+2 set bonus = 259 dps or 65 dps per item

As you can see with both Tier sets you’re really not gaining a significant boost in DPS for your investment when you wear 4 pieces of Tier gear. Basically I translate this into: if you get a really really awesome piece of gear that’s going to drop you down to 3/5 Tier 8 or 9… take it.

I plan to be wearing a 2 piece Tier 8 and 2 piece Tier 9 set for a while.

Weakest Piece in Tier 9
If you do intend to try the Tier 9 4 set bonus (and I’d still like to try it) the helm is the least desirable item in the set. The Priest healing Tier 9 helm or, cheaper still, the badge option are better.

Weakest Piece in Tier 8
In Tier 8, the Shadow Priest legs are the weakest piece in the set.

Hit (Cap) and Haste

The gear goals are:

• About 11% haste
• 263 hit rating (Heroic Presence) or 289 hit rating (No Heroic Presence)
• Heaps of Spellpower and Critical Strike

Gear List

View the list at LootRank.com. Excluded items from hard, hard, hard modes – but they’ll show up if you click through to Loot Rank.

Not all ToC 10 and 25 Heroic loot has been announced and some of this may be incorrect.

Helm
Velen’s/Zabra’s Cowl of Triumph ToC 25 Heroic (Crit)
Hood of Fiery/Smouldering Aftermath 75 Emblems of Triumph (Hit/Haste)
Helm/Hood of Clouded Sight 75 Emblems of Triumph (Crit)
Velen’s/Zabra’s Cowl of Triumph ToC 25 (Crit)

Neck
Cry/Wail of the Valkyr ToC 25, Twin Val’kyr (Crit/Haste)
Pendant of Fiery Havoc Ulduar 25, Flame Leviathan HM (Hit/Haste)
Pendant of the Shallow Grave Ulduar 10, Thorim HM (Crit/Haste)
Darkbane Amulet/Pendant ToC 10, Twin Val’kyr (Hit/Crit)

Shoulder
Velen’s/Zabra’s Mantle of Triumph ToC 25 Heroic (Tier 9/Crit)
Mantle/Pauldrons of Catastrophic Emanation 75 Emblems of Triumph (Hit/Crit)
Velen’s/Zabra’s Mantle of Triumph ToC 25 (Tier 9/Crit)
Amice of Inconceivable Horror Ulduar, Yogg-Saron HM (Haste)

Back
Cloak/Shroud of Displacement ToC, Faction Champions 25 Heroic (Hit/Haste)
Drape of Mortal Downfall Ulduar, Iron Council 25 HM (Hit/Crit)
Cloak/Shroud of Displacement ToC, Faction Champions 25 (Hit/Haste)
Pennant Cloak OS, Sartharion +2 or +3 Drakes (Crit/Haste)
Drape/Shawl of the Refreshing Winds ToC, Northrend Beasts 25 (Haste)

Chest
Merlin’s Robe Crafted (Crit/Haste)
Velen’s/Zabra’s Robe of Triumph ToC 25 Heroic (Crit)
Velen’s/Zabra’s Raiments of Triumph ToC 25 Heroic (Tier 9/Haste)
Skyweaver Vestments/Robe ToC 25, Twin Val’kyr (Hit/Haste)
Velen’s/Zabra’s Robe of Triumph ToC 25 (No Tier bonus/Crit)
Flowing Vestments/Robes of Ascent ToC 25, Northrend Beasts (Haste)
Velen’s/Zabra’s Raiments of Triumph ToC 25 (Tier 9/Haste)

Wrist
Bejeweled Wizard’s Bracers Crafted (Crit/Haste)
Dark Essence Bindings ToC 25, Twin Val’kyr (Hit/Crit)
Grasps of Reason Ulduar 25, XT-002 HM (Haste)
Armbands/Bindings of the Ashen Saint ToC 25, Anub’arak (Haste)

Hands
Velen’s/Zabra’s Handwraps of Triumph ToC 25 Heroic (Tier 9/Hit/Crit)
Gloves/Handwraps of the Lifeless Touch ToC 25, Anub’arak (Crit/Haste)
Velen’s/Zabra’s Handwraps of Triumph ToC 25 (Tier 9/Hit/Crit)

Waist
Belt/Cord of Biting Cold ToC 25 Heroic, Faction Champions (Hit/Crit)
Belt/Cord of Biting Cold ToC 25, Faction Champions (Hit/Crit)
Belt/Cord of the Tenebrous Mist ToC 25, Northrend Beasts (Haste)
Cord of the White Dawn Crafted (Crit)
Sash of Ancient Power Crafted (Hit/Haste)

Legs
Velen’s/Zabra’s Pants of Triumph ToC 25 Heroic (Tier 9/Hit/Haste)
Breeches/Leggings of the Deepening Void ToC 25, Anub’arak (Hit/Crit)
Velen’s/Zabra’s Pants of Triumph ToC 25 (Tier 9/Hit/Haste)
Leggings of the Soothing Touch ToC 25, Jaraxxus (Haste)

Feet
Boots/Sandals of the Mourning Widow ToC 25 Heroic, Faction Champions (Haste)
Treads of the False Oracle Ulduar 25, Yogg-Saron HM (Crit/Haste)
Boots/Footpads of the Icy Floe ToC 25, Anub’arak (Hit/Haste)
Boots of Fiery Resolution Ulduar 25, Flame Leviathan HM (Haste)
Sandals of the Silver Magus/Sunreaver Magus’ Sandals ToC 10, Faction Champions (Hit/Crit)
Boots/Sandals of the Mourning Widow ToC 25, Faction Champions (Haste)

Finger
Nebula Band Ulduar 10, Algalon (Crit/Haste)
Band of Deplorable Violence/Lurid Manifestation ToC 25, Anub’arak (Crit)
Band of the Invoker 35 Emblems of Triumph (Haste)
Signet of Manifested Pain Naxx 25, Kel’Thuzad (Crit/Haste)

Trinket
Reign of the Dead ToC 25, Anub’arak
Rumored to drop from Anub’arak in ToC 25 man. Sounds sweet!
Flare of the Heavens Ulduar 25, General Vezax HM
Eye of the Broodmother Ulduar 10, Razorscale
Illustration of the Dragon Soul OS 25, Sartharion
Dying Curse Naxx 25, Multiple Bosses (Hit)

2 Handed Weapon
Excluded because the ToC 25 maces and daggers are vastly superior.

1 Handed Weapon
Sunreaver Disciple’s Blade ToC 10 Heroic, Faction Champion (621 Spellpower/Crit/Haste)
Val’anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings Ulduar (621 Spellpower/Crit/Haste)
Misery’s End/Suffering’s End ToC 25, Anub’arak (621 Spellpower/Crit/Haste)
Barb/Blade of Tarasque ToC 25, Northrend Beasts (621 Spellpower/Hit/Haste)

Off Hand
Symbol of Transgression/Talisman of Heedless Sins ToC 25, Lord Jaraxxus (Hit/Crit)
I’m so glad I spend DKP on this!
Chalice of Searing Light/Mystifying Charm ToC 25, Twin Val’kyr (Crit)
Chalice of Benedictus/Lightbane Focus ToC 10, Twin Val’kry (Hit/Haste)

Wand
Rod/Scepter of Imprisoned Souls ToC 10, Northrend Beasts (Crit/Haste)
Scepter of Lost Souls Ulduar 25, General Vezax (Crit/Haste)
Brimstone Igniter 25 Emblems of Triumph (Hit)
Scepter of Creation Ulduar 25, Ignis (Crit)

Lathere and I came somewhat late to the raiding game in Burning Crusade, dipping our toes into Karazhan several months later than the serious raiding guilds on Barthilas. We were pretty noob. We wiped, oh man, we wiped. But, in our casual two-nights-a-week way, we understood we would be forever playing catch-up, and we didn’t mind. We kept raiding and trying to kill bosses at our level.

Greater rewards for more difficult challenges? Nah.

At the near end of the Burning Crusade, Blizzard created a ton of purchasable items for players using Badges of Justice, the precursor to Emblems, in order to bring newcomers and recently turned level 70s up to Tier 6 item stats (the items were equivalent in stat level – not actual Tier armor pieces) and therefore have a chance to participate in Mount Hyjal and Black Temple raiding. They also removed the attunements so you didn’t have to complete the Tier 5 raids – a significant challenge on its own.

Well at the time I can tell you that I was absolutely a “casual” player. And I ran Karazhan over and over again for Badges in order to upgrade my gear. Did it push us to do Tier 6 raiding as a guild? Not really. All we did was spend more and more time collecting badges.

Sunwell Plateau, the final raid instance of the expansion, was released at the same time as all this new Badge gear. I knew that I would never be skilled, geared and committed enough to enter Sunwell Plateau. Guilds who cleared Black Temple each week impressed the heck out of me. But I thought, if we could just get a bit better and wipe less, maybe one day we’d be good enough a group to gain entry into those raid zones.

Let me repeat, when the rest of us were clawing our way to Tier 6 equivalent items, the leading guilds were given a shiny new raid zone with depth to experience. We’re not talking just one or two bosses here completed in a hour or two.

When Wrath of the Lich King was released it only included one Tier level, Tier 7, implemented in the game. Naxxramas, whilst having a ton of bosses, was simply too easy/quick to complete. Obsidian Sanctum and Eye of Eternity are both really really short – 1 boss. You could do the three combined within a few raid nights per week.

Ulduar has satisfied me as a raider (and as a semi-serious raider at that). The early fights are easier than the last bosses. There are unusual challenges along the way. The instance itself is a good length to clear in the space of a lockout week once you’ve downed each boss. Friends who have beaten some of the tricky hardmodes earn my respect.

We’ve been in Ulduar for about 4 months. In that time our casual friends from Burning Crusade have talked about doing 10 Ulduar on and off but it never seems to happen. Doesn’t really surprise me, because they tend to organise events on the spur of the moment based on who’s online. You could have 8 people ready to go and then one person will change their mind and say they’re going to log off to watch some TV.

In comes Patch 3.2. Theoretically I knew that Emblems of Conquest were going to be made freely available, instead of limited to Ulduar bosses, but the reality is much more disturbing than I thought. Two points of view:

Option A – Miss Dedicated

• “Experience” Ulduar as soon as it is released
• Attend as many of your guild raids as possible and be patient when you wipe. Make time to do 10 mans as well because Emblems of Conquest drop there too and it takes weeks to get enough Emblems for a Tier armor token.
• Consider splashing out gold to get Runed Orbs to upgrade your belt and boots… nah too expensive
• After 4 months be content with your gear – it’s not the hardmode stuff, but it’s good, and sprinkled with Naxx 25 items anyway

Option B – Mr Patient

• Know that eventually you and some mates will go check out Ulduar when you’re ready
• Run raids when you feel like it, DC when you’ve had enough
• Consider splashing out gold to get Runed Orbs to upgrade your belt and boots… nah too expensive
• Hope you’ll get lucky and get the BiS Naxx stuff – Torch of Holy Fire ftw!

After four months. If only WoW were a fashion parade...

Now, 4 months later, all Mr Patient has to do is run alot of heroic instances (something he finds pretty darn easy) and he too can get Ulduar equivalent gear and three pieces of Tier 8.5 armor. If he got those BiS Naxx/OS/EoE stuff, well his gear models might not match as prettily as someone wearing 5/5 Conquerors, but the stats will be as good.

I’m not being stereotypical here. Mr Patient is my brother. I live with him. When I’m up 4 nights a week to dutifully complete my raids and not leave before raid’s over, he’s watching TV. On the weekends he’ll make an effort and PuG Naxx, but after a couple wings he’ll DC and take a break. In the last few days he has earnt more Emblems of Triumph than I, does daily dungeons while I raid, and has already gotten his Tier 8.5 helm.

He has been running the new dungeon – the 5 man Trial of the Champion – on normal and heroic and has picked up several great epics including the tanking one that my guild’s main tank – in full Ulduar gear – is desperate for. Even I swapped out Cosmic Lights for a new neckpiece from the heroic for my healing set. And the heroic wasn’t hard.

It’s as simple as this. You can’t compare the difficulty of Ulduar and Heroics and give out the same rewards.

This is a complete turn around from Blizzard’s stance at the launch of Wrath of the Lich King. When it was announced that each raid instance would be tuned for 10 man group (normal) and 25 man groups (heroic) they made it clear that the item level of dropped loot would be different, just as the Emblems would be different. And the rewards would be commensurate.

People are not jumping from Tier 4 to Tier 6 here. They’re going from the easiest, entry level raid (Naxx – Tier 7) to the next tier of gear (Ulduar – Tier 8). Is this the way of the future? Wiping the slate clean with each new patch?

Has nothing been learned from the Badges of Justice days?

So my brother, Mr Patient, can close the gear gap now. That’s true. Is it going to open up “doors” for him and allow him to experience Ulduar and other end-game raids? Nope. He’ll just keep running heroics and Naxx 10. Why not?

I wouldn’t be so disappointed by this if it weren’t for the new raid instance: Trial of the Crusader. We’re being given 1 new boss per week. And if that doesn’t satisfy you, you can’t try it on Heroic mode until you’ve cleared the whole place on Normal. The Northrend Beasts encounter was fun. But it took up 1 hour of our time. Then we headed back to Ulduar, uncertain if it was worth pursuing Ulduar hardmodes at all. Trial of the Crusader is where our next Tier upgrades are after all.

So, other than Algalon, I’m pretty confident that I’ve experienced all the end game bosses available in Wrath. Yet I have nothing left to strive for. Blizzard can dream up a new boss and drip-feed it to us each week in the Trial of the Crusader and until they believe it’s gone on long enough. And then they can open up Heroic mode.

In the days of Burning Crusade I knew it was my skill that held me back. Now there is no boss/raid to anticipate and strive towards implemented in the game, Blizzard will give it to us when they’re ready, not when we are.