Monday, August 3, 2009

[Druid] General list of all items for 3.2 - later

Patch 3.2 is going to come out - tomorrow!. And typically I have a shiny loot list for you to tear up, digest happily and take you through the rest of your day.

And I do...kinda sorta. The thing is...that list is incomplete. It doesn't have all the Naxx gear, all the Ulduar gear, and is missing a lot of the 3.2 gear because it's not on Wowhead.

And it's significantly harder to do a gear ranking without the gear being in the ranking system.

That being said, I can make some early pointers to get you through the next couple of days. We do know a few things that'll make it a bit easier:
  1. The trial of the Champion is the new 10 and 25 man raid. And in the first week...one boss will be available. That boss will be the deadly "Not one but TWO Jormungar" Northrend Beast encounter. So...we'll only focus on that loot for right now.
  2. The trial of the Crusader is the 5-man instance. It will drop Champion Seals on heroic difficulty as well as Emblems of Conquest. It will also be in the rotation for the daily heroic. All items that drop from it are ilvl 213, and are significantly better-itemized than a lot of Naxxramas gear. And because almost all of it has been previewed, I can actually talk about almost all of it; this article will focus on it quite a bit.
  3. While there won't be new arena gear for a bit that you can get with arena rating(that'll be happening soon) there will be new Wintergrasp rewards and a new Wintergrasp boss. All evidence points to that boss dropping Relentless-level PvP gear. Even if he doesn't, the new Titan-forged gear is still competitive and often better than what you can get via emblems of conquest, at least for bears.
  4. While there are some very sexy new craftable pieces, you can't get them in the first week; they require both a rare drop to happen and a rare orb from the bosses to happen.
  5. There will be no hard mode raids available for the first week. Or really, the first 5 weeks.
  6. Epic gems are coming out - and they will cost honor (10k per gem), emblems of heroism (20 for the red,yellow and blue, 10 for the green, orange and purple), can be prospected from Titanium Ore and can be transmuted once a day by an alchemist. Note Alchemists must transmute all 5 other types before they learn how to transmute reds.
  7. Because the maximum amount of emblems of triumph you can earn in the first week is 18 (2 per raid boss on any difficulty), you cannot mathematically buy any T9 gear in the first week. So don't worry about it! You should, if it drops from the raid boss, try and get the Trophy of the Champion if possible - you absolutely will want tier pieces. But you don't need to worry about it too much.
Anyway, from that we can actually start looking at gear a bit. Again, these aren't perfect ratings that are mathematically super awesome; these are basically me eyeballing things and telling you what to look for on the loot tables. I'll do the math when wowhead's been updated.

This will also be for bear and cat - I'll give a 'ranking' for each in slot, based on what I know of the item tables (and if I can do it, based off of the loot ranking I've used in the past). Also, the first item listed is the alliance version of the piece, the second is horde. They're identical save the name and model of the item.

25-man Coliseum:


Leggings of the Broken Beast/Legwraps of the Broken Beast (legs) - drops from 25-man Northrend Beasts.(#1 cat, #1 bear)- these are almost exactly the same as the T9.245 legs - same stamina, same agility, same AP, and same hit rating. They're slightly better than the T9 for cats because of the haste, but cats want that 2p and 4p bonus (at least so far), so it's not like it's a big upgrade. I'd still roll on these anyway if possible for bear; they will beat every single item from Ulduar that you can think of. Depending on how you do your set bonuses though, you may want to skip on this for cats. They're a significant upgrade over most things in Ulduar (not over hardmode Yogg's legs though) and they may not be worth losing out on a set bonus if you have to.

Drape of the Untamed Predator/Cloak of the Untamed Predator (back)- drops from 25-man Northrend Beasts (#2 cat, #20ish bear) - these have the highest base agility so far on a cloak, and have significant crit, haste and AP. What they don't have are sockets, making Drape of the Faceless General significantly better. Still, good cloaks are hard to find, and this is a good one. For bears, of course, it's useless.

10-Man Coliseum:

Acidmaw Boots/Acidmaw Treads (feet) - drops from 10-man Northrend Beasts (#6 bear, #4 cat). This is currently the best foot option available for cats; while there will be others down the road, this is the best at the first week's inception. They're a bit weak simply because of all that hit and expertise - for some cats, they'll be great, but for others it'll be a waste. On the Bear side, they're not quite as good overall as Runed Ironhide, but they're a great threat piece and will remain so for a while.

Collar of Ceaseless Torment/Collar of Unending Torment - (neck) - drops from 10-man Northrend Beasts (#3 cat, #20ish bear). This ranking isn't super great, but note that the neck does beat out most things from Ulduar and only loses to Seed of Budding Carnage and Pendulum of Infinity. Heck, and that 'loss' is by a whopping .4 points or so. It's definitely a nice piece and may be better than anything short of hard modes, given that the other piece that is known doesn't have armor pen. Obviously for bears it's not that useful.

Wintergrasp:

Titan-Forged Leather Leggings of Triumph (legs) - obtained from 40 Wintergrasp Marks of Honor (#30ish cat, #7 bear). These aren't the best ever and aren't as good as T9, but they are better than any piece in Ulduar save Leggings of Cunning Deception (hardmode Yogg-25) and are better than the 232-level T9 gear. That being said, they're not that significant of an upgrade over Conqueror, and are worse than Furious Legs. Only get it if you're really desperate or have WG marks to burn.

Titan-Forged Armwraps of Triumph (wrist) - obtained from 15 Wintergrasp Marks of Honor (30ish cat, #8 bear) - much like the legs, these are decent and better (barely than some pieces in Ulduar, but not as good as the hardmodes in Ulduar, not as good as other pvp pieces, and not really exciting.

Heroic Trial of the Crusader (5-man):


Mark of the Relentless (ring) - obtained from heroic trial of the Crusader (bad for cat, #6 for bear). This is a pretty solid tanking ring, especially given that it's so low item level. It beats out everything save Fate's Clutch. If you're wondering why, it's simply the socket - a blue socket in a tanking ring that also gives stamina? It's just a huge stamina ring for bears, basically. It's just barely better than Leviathan's Coil and doesn't have big armor, so it might be a situational thing, but you should likely grab it unless you have two rings that can have more stamina than this.

Treads of Dismal Fortune
(feet) -obtained from heroic trial of the Crusader (#8 for cat, #13 for bear). A shockingly decent piece, again. Not stellar for bears - Ulduar gear beats it handily, as do Polar pieces and a few Naxx pieces - but for cats, it's about 10% below Runed Ironhide thanks to that great socket. If you've been unlucky, this isn't the worst piece.

Mask of Distant Memory (head) - obtained from heroic trial of the Crusader (#17 for bears, #13 for cats). This isn't that bad either. It's actually better than the T7.25 head for bears, and better than the T8.10 for cats. Don't kill yourself to get it, but consider it if you're not super well geared.

Armbands of the Wary Lookout
(wrist) - obtained from trial of the Crusader (#14 for bears, #6 for cats). That's right - while these are about 10% better than the Valorous gear token turnin bracers for bears, they're great for cats; they're better than anything in Ulduar save Fluxing Energy Coils. They're very good and shockingly well-itemized. If you're looking for something to drop in the 5-man, this is your piece - at least if you're a cat.

Ancient Pendant of Arathor
(neck) - obtained from heroic trial of the Crusader (#40ish for bears, #10 for cats). A serviceable cat neck, it's not nearly as good as the conquest-badge neck (about 20% worse) - so don't bother unless you're really hurting for a good piece here.

The Warlord's Depravity (neck) -obtained from heroic trial of the Crusader (#40ish for cats, #20ish for bears). Really, just don't - there are plenty of other pieces that are better.

Marrowstrike
(weapon) - obtained from heroic trial of the Crusader (#30ish for bears, #20ish for cats) - This is on par with many of the weapons from Naxx-25 for cats; it's around Black Ice/Inevitable Defeat levels. If you need something around that level, this is a good piece to try and grind. For bears, note that there are a lot of other options that are better and easier to get, such as the Champion Token weapons.

Normal Trial of the Crusader (5-man):

Gloves of the Argent Fanatic (hands) - obtained from normal trial of the Crusader (20ish for bears, 20ish for cats). Not horrible, but there are better obtained from Emblems for both. Only if you're really desperate.

Leggings of Brazen Trespass (legs) - obtained from normal trial of the Crusader (20ish for bears, 15 for cats). Oddly decent for cats. Still, better can be found for Emblems.

Shoulderpads of the Infamous Knave (shoulders) - obtained from normal trial of the Crusader (20ish for bears, 15 for cats). Oddly decent for cats. And until you get enough Triumph emblems to get Duskstalkers, these may be your best bet, sadly, for cat. They're only slightly worse than T8.10 shoulders, if you're curious.

Belt of Fierce Competition
(waist) - obtained from normal trial of the Crusader (20ish for bears, 12 for cats). This was another surprise, though vendors have a better belt that's easily obtained. Still, if you're broke this isn't a bad piece given the armor pen.

Uruka's Band of Zeal (ring) -obtained from normal trial of the Crusader (40ish for bears, 30 for cats). Even with all the ring problems I've had I'd still turn this down. Just badly itemized for either. Skip it.

Banner of Victory (trinket) - obtained from normal trial of the Crusader (50ish for bears,?? for cats). I'm not quite sure how valuable this is. It's not nearly as good as (for example) Grim Toll; it gives 84 consistent armor pen instead of about 150 armor pen over time. However, the proc rate, if it's similar to Grim Toll, may make this better than or at least equivalent to Darkmoon Card:Greatness. I'd definitely grab it if you're running this and/or are under the armor pen cap, and I'll try and figure out how great it is later. Rawr, for instance, ranks it as #5 behind Mjolnir, Grim, Comet's Trail and DM:G, and about 40 points higher than Mirror of Truth.

The Black Heart (Trinket) - obtained from normal trial of the Crusader (?? for bears, 50ish for cats). Another one I'm not quite sure how good it is. While it gives less stamina than Royal Seal of King Llane, the proc is exceptionally nice against hard-hitting mobs. Currently the theorycrafting says that the proc rate/cooldown is around 10 seconds for 45 seconds, meaning that you'd get roughly 1700 armor from this. Rawr ranks this as better than any trinket currently in the game. Definitely go after this one.

Anyway, hope that helps for either tomorrow or next Tuesday. A longer list will be coming, honest. :)

17 comments:

Unknown said...

Howdy! I've been a fan of your anti-tank analysis and I am hoping you may revisit the concept again. With agility and dodge changes in 3.2 and considering the itemization of new feral druid gear, are you more or less inclined to explore and anti-tank (cat/bear hybrid) build?

Kalon said...

Hey, Randy - thanks for coming by.

The problem with the Antitank idea is simply that it's low on stamina due to using all that low-stam jewelry, enchanting and not a lot of stamina gems. Before this was okay because of the higher multiplier on stamina overall, but now that doesn't work as well. The nerf to agility actually makes agility less valuable than it was before and makes stamina more valuable to stack than before. Add to this that bosses hit ridiculously hard and...well, it's not a good time for antitanking.

If the bosses in Coliseum favor more avoidance and less stam-stacking, it's possible that this will come into favor. As is if the tank must put out some obscenely large amount of threat. So far, that's not been the case; it's a lot of magic damage, some ungodly large hits, and not a lot else.

So for now, I think it's pretty well dead. Sorry :(

Alaron said...

Kalon, I wouldn't call anti-tank "dead," at least in terms of talent spec. It's very possible to create a bear build that drops NSS+MSS and Imp. Mangle to pick up the key cat talents. I'm currently specced 60/11 on my Druid, and the only talent that I really wish I could squeeze in the points for is PI. I can tank at 99% effectiveness in that spec, and still flip over to cat and do probably 85-90% of what a full cat spec could do (This assumes, of course, putting on appropriately chanted/gemmed cat gear and reglyphing). I can also tank all heroics without a problem in cat gear, which I typically do (when I'm working with a healer I know) to increase my DPS/TPS. Not viable for hard-modes, of course, but since my guild isn't at that level, that really isn't an issue.

BTW, looking forward to your loot lists. I think you've hit the nail on the head with assessing items not only according to their itemization but also by their emblem costs. I wish I wasn't at work so I could actually see your itemization scales. :( I think my first purchase will be the Corruptor idol, then getting my cat spec 2pT8.

Anonymous said...

@Kalon,

Long time, firts time etc.

Really apreciate your blog and analysis.

Apart from some very handy gear cheat sheets a lot of your ideas get me to think deeper about the class, its purpose and mechanics.

This blogging business surely takes a fair bit of your time but rest assured your readers apreciate it.

Alaron said...

Ack! Put the wrong URL on the first comment...should be http://thefluiddruid.wordpress.com. for my blog. The other leads to some random pagan site. :(

Kalon said...

Alaron, you're right - antitank spec isn't really dead. There's simply not that many points that are essential for any given fight for a bear for all situations. Infected Wounds and Feral Aggression are both coverable by other tanks, imp mangle and NS/MS are just threat boosts, etc. Lots of points to play with.

But the antitank bit wasn't just about being able to have one spec to tank and dps well in; it was about being able to use the same gear for both interchangeably. And that has basically died.

Thanks for the comment, Anon. :)

Torosso said...

I have managed to pick up "The Black Heart" in my first normal ToC run gratz me.

I have an interesting question. Is this trinket better than DMC:Greatness?

On certain fights I can see myself replacing my DMC with it, but for general usage I can't.

I have Heart of Iron as my other trinket.

I will probably have a play in some heroics with the trinket to determine it for myself. I was just interested in everyone's views on it.

Unknown said...

Hey mate,

great blog, been looking a lot at your beautifull list to check the items that dropped this week.

looking forward to more ! \o/

Anonymous said...

One small comment: you've switched around the names of the raid and the 5-man. The 5-man is Trial of the Champion and the raid is Trial of the Crusader.

Anonymous said...

Also, alchemists do NOT have to transmute all five types of gems to learn the transmute for the red gem, they just have to do any 5 transmutes. Either way, this process takes a good five days to complete due to the 20 hour cooldown.

Kalon said...

Torosso, thanks for coming by. Rawr ranks the Black Heart as better than all pre-Coliseum trinkets possible by a fair margin. I think it really depends on what you're doing; right now, I'm using it over heart of iron and with DM:G in my standard set, then I put it in instead of Defender's Code in my Algalon set. It's great mitigation over time, though it's not on use like I'd like it to be.

Ruben, thanks for the kind words. I'll update the list with Lord Jarraxus today. With the full loot list out, I should be able to do an actual real list here soon.

Anon - thanks for the correction. You're right - it's any 5 transmutes, and that's how I got my blue gems for my tanking set. :) By now everyone should have done their dailies and be able to do red gems, which are...shockingly cheap on my server. The market's just hugely flooded.

Ironhyde said...

any update on the loot list for 3.2?

Kalon said...

Ironhyde, there's a new post as of today. :)

SrDegenerate said...

Hey Kalon, basic question for you as this is something I have been pondering myself. I notice that on your tank set you have chosen to primarily stack stam gems over stam/agil or just agil.

Is there some type of logic that is driving your decision to gem your gear that way?

-empty


______________
The Jaded Bear

Kalon said...

emptywords, good question. Partially it's due to the fact that avoidance feels like it's at an all time low in terms of usefulness; healers routinely have to overheal every tank, damage intake is huge and there aren't many debuffs out there that you'd want to avoid. Partially it's my role as a tank in my guild; I don't regularly tank aside from hard mode Thorim tries and trash, sometimes on 25 man, and on 10 man the health helps.

But mostly, it's that the large bear advantage comes from high stamina and armor and effective health, so instead of being a tank that can tank everything okay, I'd rather specialize and be more focused on having huge EH for when EH is needed.

This has only been more reinforced by agility's benefit dropping relative to what it was before.

That's not every guild, and I think that's fine. But it's mostly the logic of playing to your strengths and not seeing a big cap on required health. That may change come icecrown or even hard modes for ToC; we'll see. My bet is that it won't change until the next patch.

Nice blog, btw. :)

SrDegenerate said...

Kalon, thanks for the response, I really appreciate it.

I can completely understand the situational use of your EH on hard modes in Ulduar and ToC. Knowing the content that you are engaging brings some good clarification to why you're gemmed they way you are.

As for me, I'm still running through the earlier stages of Uld25 and yet to really take on many hard modes. I can see myself making the same decision if I were in the same situation as you.

Thank you for the kind comment regarding the blog, as of now it's more for me and helps me process and gather my own thoughts.

-empty


______________
The Jaded Bear

Anonymous said...

Hi Kalon,

Totaly off the record. Blizzard made the following statement to patch 3.2.2:
"Feral Combat

Predatory Strikes: This talent now also causes the druid’s finishing moves to provide a 7/13/20% chance per combo point to make the next Nature spell with a cast time below 10 seconds instant cast."

I know that this is ment for PvP but I cant help seeing big oportunities in PvE.
If I read it right then every time you use Rip with 5 Cp you will give a 100% chance that the next nature spell is instant cast. I belive that all druid spell - more or less - are nature.

My question:
Will we see Starfire (1028-1212 damage) or Moonfire (406-476 +800 damage) as part of the new feral druid rotation?
Will feral druid be expected to cast Healing touch (3750-4428 healing)?
What will the value of Naturing Instinct (healing spellpower = 70% of agility) and Improved Leader of the Pack (8% mana back when critting) be with the new patch?
How will a kitty or hybrid spec look like if you include Naturing Instinct and Improved Leader of the Pack - and how much DPS will you loose if you choose those talents? (Feral Aggression is really weak as it only improves DPS by 1,5% IF 10% of you damage is caused by Ferocious Bite. For a kitty spec loosing 3 points in this talent wont change the DPS at all (RNG is much bigger then the 0,5% DPS you loose). But how will a hybrid spec look like?).

PS: King of the Jungle now reduces shifting cost by 60%. Put together with Improved Leader of the Pack then you can shift alot without going oom.

Thoughts?