Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Raiding Hunter Loot in 3.2

My original idea for this was such a considerable success that I figure I had better repeat it (and the requests helped, as well). I admit this coming late due to my extreme reluctance for 3.2 to come at all.

Fortunately, the Trial of the Crusader patch has considerably less loot than Ulduar, however, it is rather confusing with the new "hard mode" levels of the instances and two names for the same item. Hopefully, I can help sort this all out.

All new items will be listed here (except for the unremarkable 5-man loot), but only the third level of the tier piece will be listed. Tier gear is weird this time. To get the base level (232) tier can be brought with either 30 (shoulders, gloves) or 50 (helm, chest, pants) Emblems of Triumph. Triumph only drops from the new 10 and 25 mans, and are the reward for the heroic daily. The second level of tier gear (245) requires both 45 (shoulders, gloves) or 75 (helm, chest, pants) Triumph plus a Trophy of the Crusade. The Trophy drops in both 10 Heroic (?) and 25 man, but, just like a tier piece, there is only one per raid, not one per individual like a badge. The highest level of tier gear (258) can be acquired from turning in five Regalia of the Grand Protector, which only drops in heroic 25 man. Unlike all the other tier systems we have been used to, this one tier token will buy any tier piece, not just the chest like the icon might suggest.

Another complication is that there are multiple item levels of the same piece of gear. They have the same name, same base stats, and drop off the same boss, but they differ in the range of those stats based on what level of difficulty you kill the boss. For example, there is a gun that drops from the Twin Valkyrs 10 that has 35 agility, and the same gun drops from the Twin Valkyrs Hard that has 40 agility. There will be duplicates of this sort for nearly every item that drops from the normal bosses except for the loot from the Tribute Chest, which is available only on Heroic mode.

And finally, there is the issue of differing faction names for the same item. This makes listing the gear particularly annoying for me because I have to find both the Horde and Alliance equivalent. But I'll grit my teeth and bear it, just because I love (killing) you squishy Alliance so much :). I will also try my best not to rant about the differences in names between Horde and Alliance...

At the time of this posting, many of these items are not on Wowhead yet, so they are linked using the MMOChamp system. I will change the links once Wowhead updates their Hard Mode loots.

Helm
Coif/Helm of the Brooding Dragon - 75 Emblems of Triumph
Helm of the Silver Ranger/Sunreaver's Ranger Helm (232/245) - Faction Champions 10 (Heroic)
Windrunner's Headpiece of Triumph/Triumph (258)

Neg's Notes: The tier piece is the clear winner, though the off set isn't bad if the hit is needed. The badge one.. eh, I'm not a fan of haste, even when seductively paired with ArPen.

Neck
Ancient Pendant of Arathor - Crusador/Confessor Cache 5 Heroic
Collar of Unending Torment/Ceaseless Torment (232/245)- Northrend Beasts 10 (Heroic)
Charge of the Eredar/ Demon Lord (245/258) - Jaraxxus 25 (Heroic)

Neg's Notes: The 5-man drop is just a little bit below Broach of Wailing Night, whereas the NB10 drop trades a bit more crit and AP for the ArPen - it will be nice to snag on Heroic, certainly. While the Jaraxxus drop is tempting for the socket, once again, icky haste.

Shoulder
Pauldrons/Epaulets of the Devourer - 45 Emblems of Triumph
Pauldrons of Concealed Loathing - Confessor's Cache 5 Heroic
Pauldrons of the Shadow Hunter/Timeless Hunter (232/245) - Anub'arak 10 (Heroic)
Windrunner's Spaulders of Triumph/Triumph (258)

Neg's Notes: The irony of a potential BiS being purchased for a mere 45 badges is not lost on me.. While the tier piece is considerably better this time around, it's not particularly great if you don't need the hit. I'm saving up my badges for the Pauldrons first.

Cloak
Cloak of Serrated Blades/the Silver Covenant - Tribute Chest 10
Cloak/Drape of the Untamed Predator (245/258) - Northrend Beasts 25 (Heroic)
Sylvanas' Cunning/Vereesa's Dexterity - Tribute Chest 25

Neg's Notes: The cloaks are a tricksy thing. For one, some of these cloaks are only available if you are very good at the Tribute Run (i.e. one shot). Obviously the named cloak is where it's at, but the Tribute10 is a close comparison. The Beast25? Eh, haste....

Chest
Chestguard of the Ravenous Fiend - Champions Cache 5 Heroic
Cuirass/Breastplate of Cruel Intent (245/258) - Northrend Beasts 25 (Heroic)
Crusader's Dragonscale Breastplate - Leatherworking made
Windrunner's Tunic of Triumph/Triumph (258)

Neg's Notes: Once again, the tier chest and helm will make up your certain 2-piece... which also looks like maintaining the T8 set bonus will prove rather annoying...

Bracers
Crusader's Dragonscale Bracers - Leatherworking made
Bracers/Armbands of the Northern Stalker (232/245) - Northrend Beasts 10 (Heroic)
Bracers of the Silent Massacre/Untold Massacre (245/258) - Faction Champions 25 (Heroic)

Neg's Notes: LW-made for the hit, Faction champions otherwise.

Gloves
Gloves of the Dark Exile - Black Knight 5 Heroic
Windrunner's Handguards of Triumph/Triumph (258)

Neg's Notes: I snagged the 5-man gloves as soon as they dropped. Sadly, it doesn't look like we have many other options (unless there are some surprises yet), since, once again, the tier gloves are particularly weak when compared to the other tier pieces.

Belt
Waistguard/Belt of Deathly Dominion (245/258) - Anub'arak 25 (Heroic)

Neg's Notes: Talk about swimming in options. Fortunately, this is not a bad item in the slightest.

Pants
Leggings/Legguards of the Lurking Threat (245/258) - Anub'arak 25 (Heroic)
Windrunner's Legguards of Triumph/Triumph (258)

Neg's Notes: Whatever you can get, both are good. Tier would be a better priority to get that 4-piece, but the offset would make an acceptable filler piece until that time.

Boots
Warsong Poacher's/Sentinel Scouting Greaves (232/245) - Jaraxxus 10 (Heroic)
Greaves/Sabatons of Ruthless Judgment (245/258) - Twin Valkyrs 25 (Heroic)

Neg's Notes: As much as I appreciate memoralizing my favorite battleground on my ankles, that haste stands out. They have a lot of crit, but I'm going to go with the Valkyrs25 piece.

Rings
Band/Ring of Callous Aggression (245/258) - Faction Champions 25 (Heroic)
Planestalker Band/Signet - (232/245) - Jaraxxus 10 (Heroic)
Dexterous Brightstone Ring - 35 Emblems of Triumph

Neg's Notes: One of our other hunter is going for the badge ring for his first purchase. Eh, I suppose it's alright (*cough* haste *cough*), but the real gem here is the Planestalker.

Trinkets
Banner of Victory - Confessor's Cache 5 Normal
Death's Choice/Verdict (245/258) - Twin Valkyrs 25 (Heroic)
Shard of the Crystal Heart - 35 Emblems of Triumph
Mark of Supremacy - 35 Emblems of Triumph

Neg's Notes: Being stuck with the Mirror of Truth since time untold, I quickly snagged the 5-man trinket. The two badge trinkets are hit/haste, so I don't recommend them, but I do find it amusing that it took them this long to come out with a comparable trinket to Greatness. Yes, it is better (yay!) so you will no longer be stuck with a permanent i200 piece.

Stat Sticks
Marrowstrike - Confessor's Cache 5 Heroic
Attrition/Paragon's Breadth - Tribute Chest 10
Edge of Agony/Reckoning (232/245) - Twin Valkyrs 10 (Heroic)
Anguish/Fordragon Blades (232/245) - Anub'arak 10 (Heroic)
Fleshrender/Decimation - Tribute Chest 25
Twin's Pact/Lupine Longstaff (245/258) - Twin Valkyrs 25 (Heroic)
Hellion Glaive/Archon Glaive (245/258) - Anub'arak 25 (Heroic)

Neg's Notes: Like all stat sticks in my life, I can never get the one I need that doesn't have hit. Marrowstrike simply refuses to drop for me. Anyway, all the 10-man ones are out unless you are particularly desperate (like one of our other hunters, who is eyeing Freya's Hard Mode cache hungerly). The TC 25 for the the hit-stick, and the Glaive for the OMG GIMME. Everything else has haste.

Range
True-aim Long Rifle - Black Knight 5 Heroic
Frenzystrike Longbow/Rhok'shalla, the Shadow's Bane - Tribute Chest 10
Widebarrel Flintlock/The Diplomat (232/245) - Twin Valkyrs 10 (Heroic)
Darkmaw Crossbow/Baelgun's Heavy Crossbow (232/245) - Anub'arak 10 (Heroic)
Death's Head Crossbow/Talonstrike (245/258) - Jaraxxus 25 (Heroic)
Fezzik's Autocannon/BRK-1000 - Tribute Chest 25

Neg's Notes: OMFG they give the god forsaken Alliance the second RHOK?! What did they do to deserve that?! *twitch*
The Tribute Chest gun is your best bet, being both slow and high DPS. Else, the Jaraxxus crossbow is a perfectly acceptable substitute.

Horde tier set (258): Totally Triumphant Windrunner's Pursuit
Alliance tier set (258): Totally Triumphant Windunner's Battlegear

WTF is up with these sockets? So few red-gem slots out there, it's like they don't want us to socket one stack any more. Not that the socket bonuses are all that great, but they do provide wiggle room at times.

As for the tier, it's kind rough, as the gloves are lack-luster and the shoulder has a better alternative that isn't covered in hit. I think I would suck it up and go with the gloves for the four-piece.

Once again, any glaring mistakes, please tell me!

7 comments:

Kordwar said...

I adore the look of the cannons

dangphat said...

i wish BRK was a horde weapon... oh well,
thanks for doing such a great roundup again i look forward to hearing your thoughts

Jaedia said...

Pain in the butt listing gear, let alone for 2 separate factions isn't it? I recently went through my pre-raid gear list and added all of the new items available outside of raiding (including Emblem of Triumph rewards because they are available to non-raiders at the end of the day).

Stewart Storrow said...

I got the crossbow Talonstrike last night from Lord Jaraxxus 25 normal, ilvl 245. I love it, it has the alliance emblem(a lion) on it, and it's huge!

Torgall said...

The very first night the patch dropped I graciously gave Marrowstrike to my guild kitty Druid since I got the very first piece of gear that dropped (for our guild) following the jousting bosses. I was thinking it'll always drop again. And she needed it much more than me.

/regret

Forget about it dropping, I can't even get Paletress to show up for the fight anymore. It's been that blinded by the light guy everytime since then. lol

Criven said...

Neg, here's an additional twist I'm wondering about myself: Tier piece purchase order and levels.

The current tier system is fairly complex, we now have 3 variant items for each tier 9 slot with differing currencies and costs for each.

Given the current scarcity of Triumph emblems, and the new unslotted regalia, what level and slot do you think the average Marks hunter will want to aim for as their first two pieces?

Getting a Trophy last night has thrown me for a loop as I'm now considering the 245 Tier spaulders rather than the non Tier Pauldrons. The 30 Triumph reduction in cost makes them tempting as a cheap step towards Tier 9 2 piece. Plus it saves the (eventual) Regalia for the real pieces.

Negathle said...

@ Criven

The catch is the lack of a better gloves alternative. The tier gloves simple overshadow every other option, regrettably (unless there is a leather piece out there, but I don't particularly like items without Int). Personally, I would just keep saving up the badges for one of the higher-cost 9.25 pieces once you buy the gloves. If you are fortunate to get two Trophies back to back like you imply, I would be patient and not spend the badges quite yet.