Thursday 18 November 2010

Priest PvP Gear: 4.0.1 Update

Post soundtrack: “Act of War” by Elton John and Millie Jackson

I’m still easing my way back into the game, but thought it was time to start getting my head around the changes Honor Points have made to buying PvP gear.  My old guide here still covers most of the available gear, but it’s now possible to buy items that previously required an arena rating (namely weapons and accessories).

Nothing to see here, move along.

I’m also expanding the list to include all available caster cloth (I’m not really up with the play as far as the preferred stats for different specs, so the math is up to you).  Basically these lists will tell you what is available, but it’s up to you which pieces you buy.

First, the PvP sets that are now available for purchase.  There’s not really any reason to purchase the older sets (unless you like the aesthetics of a particular set), so you should really save up for the best – however, you’re unable to purchase the Wrathful shoulders which still require an arena or battleground rating of 2000 (which can’t be earned until the next season, at which time this gear will be obsolete).  The difference between the two sets is (now, at least) that the Investiture set has spirit where the Raiment set has crit rating.

Savage
Inv/Rai
Hateful
Inv/Rai
Deadly
Inv/Rai
Furious
Inv/Rai
Relentless
Inv/Rai
Wrathful
Inv/Rai
Head 550 660 770 935 1100 1650
Shoulder 348 417 487 591 695 n/a
Chest 550 660 770 935 1100 1650
Gloves 348 417 487 591 695 1040
Legs 550 660 770 935 1100 1650
ilvl 200 200 213 232 251 270

You also now have a wide variety of weapons to choose from, as the lower tier of arena weapons are no longer require an arena rating to purchase.

Weapons and Accessories (ilvl264)
Wrathful Gladiator’s War Staff (Haste) 2550
Wrathful Gladiator’s Focus Staff (Hit) 2550
Wrathful Gladiator’s Battle Staff (Crit) 2550
Wrathful Gladiator’s Energy Staff (Spirit) 2550
Wrathful Gladiator’s Spellblade (Crit) 1830
Wrathful Gladiator’s Blade of Alacrity (Haste) 1830
Wrathful Gladiator’s Gavel (Spirit) 1830
Wrathful Gladiator’s Endgame (Crit) 70
Wrathful Gladiator’s Compendium (Haste) 70
Wrathful Gladiator’s Grimoire (Spell Pen) 70
Wrathful Gladiator’s Reprieve (Spirit) 70
Wrathful Gladiator’s Touch of Defeat (Crit) 260
Wrathful Gladiator’s Wand of Alacrity (Haste) 260
Wrathful Gladiator’s Piercing Touch (Spell Pen) 260
Wrathful Gladiator’s Baton of Light (Spirit) 260

And of course there are the accompanying accessories and non-set items available from the usual vendor.

Wrathful Gladiator non-set items
Cord of Dominance (crit) 945
Cord of Alacrity (haste) 945
Cord of Salvation (spirit) 945
Treads of Dominance (crit) 945
Treads of Alacrity (haste) 945
Treads of Salvation (spirit) 945
Cuffs of Dominance (crit) 600
Cuffs of Alacrity (haste) 600
Cuffs of Salvation (spirit) 600
Cloak of Dominance (crit) 725
Cloak of Subjugation (haste) 725
Cloak of Ascendancy (hit) 725
Cloak of Salvation (spirit) 725
Cloak of Deliverance (spirit) 725
Band of Dominance 725
Pendant of Dominance (crit) 725
Pendant of Subjugation (haste) 725
Pendant of Ascendancy (hit) 725
Pendant of Salvation (spirit) 725
Pendant of Deliverance (spirit) 725

It’s still possible to purchase Relentless and Furious non-set items, but for the minimal saving you may as well buy the best you can.  The Battlemaster’s trinkets are still available (along with an updated faction Medallion) and may have some use, along with the PvP shoulder enchant.

Medallion of the Alliance/Horde (ilvl264) 945
Battlemaster’s Ruination (int) 630
Battlemaster’s Fury (crit) 630
Battlemaster’s Vivacity (haste) 630
Battlemaster’s Precision (hit) 630
Greater Inscription of the Gladiator 165

Wintergrasp items now also cost honor points – a change that could be argued is long overdue,especially if your faction has had trouble winning or defending Wintergrasp.  Admittedly at this stage the only pieces worth bothering with would be the shoulderpads (at a stretch - the Relentless set shoulders are the same item level), and possibly trinkets.

Price ilvl
Titan-Forged Cloak of Ascendancy 280 245
Titan-Forged Pendant of Ascendancy 280 245
Titan-Forged Shoulderpads of Salvation 490 251
Titan-Forged Shoulderpads of Domination 490 251
Arcanum of Dominance 65
Inscription of Dominance 50
Flow of Knowledge 280 200
Titan-Forged Slippers of Dominance 280 200
Titan-Forged Slippers of Salvation 280 200
Titan-Forged Hood of Dominance 490 200
Titan-Forged Hood of Salvation 490 200
Titan-Forged Raiment of Dominance 490 213
Titan-Forged Raiment of Salvation 490 213
Titan-Forged Cord of Salvation 280 213
Titan-Forged Cord of Determination 280 213
Titan-Forged Rune of Audacity 280 213
Titan-Forged Rune of Cruelty 280 213
Titan-Forged Rune of Accuracy 280 213
Titan-Forged Rune of Alacrity 280 213
Platinum Disks of Sorcery 280 213
Platinum Disks of Swiftness 280 213
Titan-Forged Cloth Trousers of Salvation 490 232
Titan-Forged Cloth Trousers of Domination 490 232
Titan-Forged Cuffs of Salvation 280 226
Titan-Forged Band of Ascendancy 280 226

In any case, it’s now entirely possible to gear up in battlegrounds (now that weapons, off-hands and frills are available).

Hope this is helpful, now it’s not really neccesary.  (Will we have the Shattering next week?  I’m certainly hoping so!)

/wave

Wednesday 10 November 2010

Glyphmas Comes But Once An Expansion

Post soundtrack: “They Say It’s Spring” by Blossom Dearie (in honour of some glorious spring days of late)

Hmmm, has it really been so long? (Considering my last post was over three weeks ago, signs point to “Yes”)

Who else is waiting?

I haven’t fallen off the edge of Azeroth, at least not all the way down.  I’ve been taking a breather, and enjoying things outside of WoW, not least of which is a change of diet (tried buckwheat noodles for dinner tonight, and it was particularly yummy) and getting some exercise into my day (inspired by Xeonio’s progress).  I’ve also been reading about Stoicism, after coming across a link to a book review on the subject on Boing Boing a couple of months back.

In-game, I’ve been reaping the profits of being a Scribe; Glyphmas has been and gone, and I’ve made over 200k in sales (only 150k of that being profit, as I hadn’t prepared for it with anything remotely resembling diligence, and I missed the first couple of days).  I’ve also been spending some of my collected Justice Points to gear up Ringle and Mingle (Isn’t the new community site nifty? I’ll admit to a “They wouldn’t dare” moment when I saw my RL name displayed above my selected main character, but it appears to only show up for you when you’re logged in), despite the fact the gear will be replaced by quest rewards in under a month (and I definitely won’t be keeping it, especially that truly awful rogue T10).

I’ve also been farming crusader seals with Ringle (although not from jousting) in order to purchase the third hippogryph mount for her enjoyment (probably my favourite mount in the game); tomorrow will put her over the magic 150, which leaves me in search of a new goal.

And I’ve been roped into joining a guild which a friend is an officer in(ostentionably to help with guild leveling, but probably really because they just don’t have enough gorgeous dwarven women).  I’m keeping Pringle in OOTA as my banker (I really wish we had goblins on Alli side for that), but Dingle, Ringle and Mingle have all jumped ship.

I’ve been doing a little bit of writing for my arty project, but it’s still early days and I’m trying to decided what format to take it in.  (My inability to write accents doesn’t help, especially with the dwarf-heavy cast. Actually, writing dialogue at all is a challenge.)

For now, it’s time for more writing (although no NaNoWriMo for me, unlike other more talented writers), the occasional daily LFD, and the tail-end of Glyphmas.  Oh, and sleep.  [3AM Crits you for 100k]

/wave