A few links for you to read, if you mind.
A view of TBC raiding at lvl 80 on A Secret Agent Cat. It ends with the same point I've already talked about here several times. Challenge is lacking in Wrath. The sense of achievement we could have in earlier raids is not really here anymore, just because bosses fall one after another, and you clear content in about a month. I like the idea of 10-Man & 25-Man raids a lot, it is not a matter of difficulty, but of raiding style. A small bounded group is a stronger human experience and really requires everyone to do their best. But I really hopes that Ulduar, hard modes at least, will give us a little more challenge than Naxxramas.
I was listening to episode 1 of A View from the Top this weekend. In this podcast from VirginWrolds they interview successful raid guild leaders, and the guy said: "We need to fail if we want to better ourselves." This is so true ! Exactly why I think what we need is a difficulty that pushes us a little more to improve.
Sach Yonzon pusblished on WoW Insider today a view of patchnotes for patch 3.1 from a paladin point of view. Though the analysis is interesting, it lacks all undocumented changes. I'd advise you to read the analysis I made before, here, especially if you're holy.
Now if you're a French speaker, I'd advise you to read that post from Rominet on his blog about HL10 vs HL25 : un bilan. It tries to address the strong debate on the EU forums about the difficulty of 10-Man vs 25-Man. A lot of people think that 10-Man is too easy compared to 25-Man (most of these people are doing 10-Man content after having cleaned and geared in 25-Man, go figure). And some people are even advocating for no epic in 10-Man content (go figure more ... pseudo-elitist people).
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Open Pandora's Box !
A new huge and shiny and so-powerful trinket appeared on the PTR after the first downs of heroic, 25-Man, Mimiron.
Pandora's Plea is a clear winner on a power perspective, with 34 more intellect, and a spell power boost (probably 45s hidden cooldown, as most proc trinkets now).
There is another trinket for healers that drop on Kologarn, the Spark of Hope, it gives a 100 spirit bonus. Clearly the spark is itemized towards Druids and Holy Priests, the Pandora's Plea being more a Paladin and Disc Priest thing.
Now, with the changes of 3.1 towards spirit, expect a lot of people to need on Pandora's Plea. And here come's the root of the name.
Pandora's Box is an old greek legend that has already been used in a lot of video-games, you can read the article on wikipedia. Pandora's Box is said to contain evils to be unleashed on mankind and finally hope.
Now take Pandora's Box and Divine Plea (the so contested and already two-times nerfed in fight mana regen ability of paladins), and you get Pandora's Plea (you could get Divine Box but that's for a future item :p).
If this item is clearly by it's name targeted towards Holy Paladins, expect a lot of fights over it as many many people will want it, from healers to mages or warlocks. My fellow paladins, we will be hated for the loot fights over this one, as we are already for all the kills our ret brethen have made in PvP during the 3.0 overpower period. Evil will happen before this item gives hope to a raid. You can mark my words ...
Pandora's PleaI'm still using the jewelcrafting one myself (Sapphire Owl), just for the intellect with 2 yellow intellect gems (+16int) the trinket gives you +74 intellect, and a 2340 mana regen each 5mn which I really enjoy up to now.
Trinket
+108 Intellect
Equip: Your spells have a chance to increase your spell power by 850 for 10s.
Pandora's Plea is a clear winner on a power perspective, with 34 more intellect, and a spell power boost (probably 45s hidden cooldown, as most proc trinkets now).
There is another trinket for healers that drop on Kologarn, the Spark of Hope, it gives a 100 spirit bonus. Clearly the spark is itemized towards Druids and Holy Priests, the Pandora's Plea being more a Paladin and Disc Priest thing.
Now, with the changes of 3.1 towards spirit, expect a lot of people to need on Pandora's Plea. And here come's the root of the name.
Pandora's Box is an old greek legend that has already been used in a lot of video-games, you can read the article on wikipedia. Pandora's Box is said to contain evils to be unleashed on mankind and finally hope.
Now take Pandora's Box and Divine Plea (the so contested and already two-times nerfed in fight mana regen ability of paladins), and you get Pandora's Plea (you could get Divine Box but that's for a future item :p).
If this item is clearly by it's name targeted towards Holy Paladins, expect a lot of fights over it as many many people will want it, from healers to mages or warlocks. My fellow paladins, we will be hated for the loot fights over this one, as we are already for all the kills our ret brethen have made in PvP during the 3.0 overpower period. Evil will happen before this item gives hope to a raid. You can mark my words ...
Patch 3.1 Ulduar PTR testing, part 16
Tests of the weekend :
22th - Flame Leviathan - Canceled
21th - Auriaya - Canceled
20th -
Iron Council - MMO Champion(loot), World of Raids
Mimiron - MMO Champion, World of Raids
Mimiron seems still fairly hard, little information has been given on his loot as very few guilds were able to down him. He drops the T8 glove tokens.
Iron Council hard mode has been buffed, Meltdown will be fun to "experience", I think.
The Holy Paladin loot list will be updated with new drops during the day.
22th - Flame Leviathan - Canceled
21th - Auriaya - Canceled
20th -
Iron Council - MMO Champion(loot), World of Raids
Mimiron - MMO Champion, World of Raids
Mimiron seems still fairly hard, little information has been given on his loot as very few guilds were able to down him. He drops the T8 glove tokens.
Iron Council hard mode has been buffed, Meltdown will be fun to "experience", I think.
The Holy Paladin loot list will be updated with new drops during the day.
Yet a few more blogs & some Arena scoring rant.
Ok, so my weekend activities mostly don't contain blogging, at least not writing here. But I've played some more WoW: advancing my warrior a little more towards 80 (she's 73 now), doing the first part of our weekly clear of heroic Nax, and playing too much arena on 2v2 and 3v3 for ma sanity with my holy paladin.
I really don't like the new scoring/pairing system of the arenas, not only do you fight against insanely high ranked teams, as it was the case before. But you even never get any point ... all our loss give us something like -15 to -25 pts and our wins are 4 to 12 pts ... please tell me why >.< We had two matches against the same team at some point, we lost the first and lost 19 pts, and won the second ... for a 7 pts win ... yay Blizzard Arena scoring system. *deep sigh*
On a more rejoicing point, I've read a few fun blogs this weekend, as I try to take some time each weekend (aka the only part of the week I have some) to read a few new blogs.
I'm sharing the most fun or interesting blogs I've read this time with you.
A warlock blog, Killing 'em Slowly has a fun article on the interaction of WoW and our real life.
On Aspect of the Hare, the story of a dreadful PUG that finally is all about friendship and trying your best.
And a last one for the holy paladins around here, a very good article about macros on HolyPaladin.net.
Have a good week everyone, and let us all hope for Ulduar soon, Nax really isn't appealing anymore.
I really don't like the new scoring/pairing system of the arenas, not only do you fight against insanely high ranked teams, as it was the case before. But you even never get any point ... all our loss give us something like -15 to -25 pts and our wins are 4 to 12 pts ... please tell me why >.< We had two matches against the same team at some point, we lost the first and lost 19 pts, and won the second ... for a 7 pts win ... yay Blizzard Arena scoring system. *deep sigh*
On a more rejoicing point, I've read a few fun blogs this weekend, as I try to take some time each weekend (aka the only part of the week I have some) to read a few new blogs.
I'm sharing the most fun or interesting blogs I've read this time with you.
A warlock blog, Killing 'em Slowly has a fun article on the interaction of WoW and our real life.
On Aspect of the Hare, the story of a dreadful PUG that finally is all about friendship and trying your best.
And a last one for the holy paladins around here, a very good article about macros on HolyPaladin.net.
Have a good week everyone, and let us all hope for Ulduar soon, Nax really isn't appealing anymore.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Ulduar *Holy Paladin full loot list* compilation
(updated 04/28 - added several new items from hard modes and Yogg-Saron first kills, a few changes to best in slot)
(updated 04/17 - added new live loot, new best in slot shield to replace KT25)
I'll start be restating the net change from full T7 to full T8 that was nicely detailed on Banana Shoudlers:
+46 Stam, +41 Int, +39 mp5, +203 Armor, -45 Crit, +46 Haste, +72 Spellpower, plus a change in gemming (1 red & 1 yellow going to 2 blues).
As I've stated before, these changes are just bad for us, and if you add them to set bonuses that are worse than T7, I expect T8 to not be used much. So then, what replacement could you find if you're not full T7, or if you want to change a few pieces?
The answer is given by analysing the Ulduar loot available to us.
note: All slots have not been discovered yet, every boss in Ulduar drops a healing plate item, either in 10-Man or 25-Man and the list don't have them yet. I'll try to update this list with upcoming loot.
Ulduar Holy Paladin loot:
(I won't cheat and only target plate armor, no mail, no leather, no cloth !)
Razorscale
Breastplate of the Afterlife (Plate Chest - Spell MP5) - 10-Man
Eye of the Broodmother (Trinket - Spell crit)
Guiding Star (1H Mace - Spell Haste MP5) - 25-Man
Razorscale Shoulderguards (Plate Shoulders - Spell Haste MP5) - Razorscale-25
XT-002
Pulsing Spellshield (Shield - Spell crit haste) - 10-Man
Armbands of the Construct (Plate Bracers - Spell crit MP5) - 10-Man
Breastplate of the Devoted (Plate Chest - Spell) - 25-Man-Hard
Charm of Meticulous Timing (Neck - Spell Haste MP5)
Horologist's Wristguards (Plate Bracers - Spell crit MP5)
Ignis
Pauldrons of Tempered Will (Plate Shoulders - Spell crit haste) - 10-Man
Lifeforge Breastplate (Plate Chest - Spell crit MP5) - 25-Man
Pyrelight Circle (Ring - Spell crit haste) - 25-Man
Vezax
Belt of Clinging Hope (Plate Waist - Spell haste MP5) - 25-Man
Bracers of Righteous Reformation (Plate Bracers - Spell haste MP5) - 10-Man *new 03/25*
Cloak of the Dormant Blaze (Cloak - Spell crit mp5) - 10-Man *new 03/25*
Drape of the Spellweaver (Cloak - Spell crit haste) - 10-Man *new 03/25*
Shroud of Alteration (Cloak - Spell haste MP5) - trash mobs 25-Man *new 03/25*
Pendant of Endless Despair (Neck - Spell crit MP5) - 10-Man *new 04/17*
Aesuga, Hand of the Ardent Champion (1H Mace - Spell crit haste yellow socket) - 10-Man hard *new 04/28*
Flame Leviathan
Energy Siphon (Trinket - Mana) - 10-Man
Glowing Ring of Reclamation (Ring - Spell crit + spirit) - 25-Man
Freya's Choker of Warding (Neck - Spell haste MP5) - 25-Man
Hodir
Ice Layered Barrier (Shield - Spell haste MP5) - 10-Man hard *updated 03/25*
Frostplate Greaves (Plate Legs - Spell crit MP5) - 25-Man
Auriaya
Runescribed Blade (Sword - Spell crit + spirit) - 25-Man
Greaves of the Rockmender (Plate Boots - Spell crit MP5) - 25-Man
Ring of the Faithful Servant (Ring - Spell crit MP5) - 25-Man
Libram of the Resolute (Libram - Holy) - 25-Man *link fixed 04/17*
Kologarn
Gloves of the Pythonic Guardian (Plate Hands - Spell crit MP5) - 25-Man
Unfaltering Armguards (Plate Bracers - Spell haste MP5) - 25-Man *new 04/17*
Iron Council
Radiant Seal (Ring - Spell haste MP5) - 25-Man
Unblinking Eye (Neck - Spell crit +spirit) 25-Man
Ancient Iron Heaume (Plate Head - Spell crit haste) - 25-Man *new 03/21*
Pauldrons of Tempered Will (Plate Shoulders - Spell crit haste) - 10-Man *new 03/21*
Lady Maye's Sapphire Ring (Ring - Spell haste + spirit) - 10-Man *new 03/21*
Watchful Eye (Neck - Spell haste +spirit +yellow socket) 10-Man hard *new 03/21*
Sapphire Amulet of Renewal (Neck - Spell haste + spirit) - 25-Man hard *new 04/28*
Freya
Legplates of the Flourishing Resolve (Plate Legs - Spell crit MP5) - 10-Man
Fire Orchid Signet (Ring - Spell haste MP5) - 10-Man hard *new 04/28*
Mimiron
Pulse Baton (1H Mace - spell crit MP5) - 10-Man *new 03/21*
Asimov's Drape (Cloak - Spell crit + spirit) - 25-Man *new 03/21*
Pandora's Plea (Trinket - int + proc spell power) - 25-Man *new 03/21*
Cable of the Metrognome (Plate Waist - Spell haste MP5) - 10-Man *new 04/28*
Conductive Seal (Ring - Spell haste + spirit) - 25-Man hard *new 04/28*
Thorim
Wisdom's Hold (Shield - Spell crit haste) - 25-Man hard *new 04/17*
Pendant of the Shallow Grave (Neck - Spell crit haste) - 10-Man hard *new 04/28*
Sif's Remembrance (Trinket - Spell power, mana regen) - 10-Man hard *new 04/28*
Gauntlets of the Thunder God (Plate Hands - Spell crit haste red&blue sockets) - 10-Man hard *new 04/28*
Yogg-Saron
Shawl of Haunted Memories (Cloak - Spell crit spirit) - 25-Man *new 04/17*
Faceguard of the Eyeless Horror (Plate Head - Spell crit MP5) - 10-Man *new 04/28*
Sanity's Bond (Ring - Spell haste MP5) - 25-Man *new 04/28*
Show of Faith (Trinket - Spell power, mana regen) - 25-Man hard *new 04/28*
Signet of Soft Lament (Ring - Spell crit + spirit) - 10-Man *new 04/28*
unknown
Shawl of the Caretaker (Cloak - Spell haste MP5) - 10-Man *new 04/17*
BoE Crafts:
Plans: Girdle of the Righteous - Flame Leviathan - 25-Man
(Plate Waist - Spell haste MP5)
Emblems of Conquest (25-Man):
Legguards of the Peaceful Covenant (Plate Legs - Spell Haste MP5)
Girdle of Unyielding Trust (Plate Waist - Spell crit MP5)
Gauntlets of Serene Blessing (Plate Hands - Spell Haste MP5)
Evoker's Charm (Neck - Spell haste + spirit)
Frozen Tear of Elune (Neck - Spell crit MP5)
Now, for my view on these items.
First of most of the emblems items are just crap, more haste, no crit, that will for sure not complement a T8 already crit deprived, pass them but for the waist.
The BoE craft waist is mostly bad too, same reason, get the emblems one.
Now, on the Ulduar loots. My point is simple: T8 already has plenty of haste, we only need a little more than 600 haste rating in a raid environment if we play correctly, so get more is just a waste of item points. I'll always go for +crit first then mp5, haste. I'll also always pass on +spirit items if there is a choice on the slot, just because spirit is worth crap for us.
Best in slot list:
T8 or -
Head - Ancient Iron Heaume - Iron Council 25-Man
Spell crit, spell haste, good socket color, nothing to rant about this helm, grab it!
Shoulders - Pauldrons of Tempered Will - Ignis 10-Man / Iron Council 10-Man
they are inferior to the 25-Man but 1% crit is nicer than MP5, unless perhaps on fights like Vezax if MP5 works
Chest - Breastplate of the Devoted - XT-002 25-Man-Hard
is a clear winner, no choice, but hard mode
Lifeforge Breastplate - Ignis 25-Man
isn't that shabby either
Hands - Gloves of the Pythonic Guardian - Kologarn 25-Man
not much choice for now, we will probably see more than one of these items soon
and choice appeared :
Gauntlets of the Thunder God - Thorim 10-Man hard *added to list 04/28*
with the two sockets they have more potential than the Kologarn ones, though it's hard mode and Kologarn isn't that hard if you have a good Ulduar 25 raid
Legs - Frostplate Greaves - Hodir 25-Man
very nice legs, great for mana regen
out of set -
Bracers - Horologist's Wristguards - XT002 (25-Man?) *added to list 04/01*
Waist - Girdle of Unyielding Trust - Emblems of Conquest
Boots - Greaves of the Rockmender - Auriaya 25-Man
Neck - Charm of Meticulous Timing - XT002 25-Man
another very close candidate (with slightly more crit and less of others)
Pendant of the Shallow Grave - Thorim 10-Man hard *new 04/28*
or (slightly inferior but easier to get and has spell crit)
Frozen Tear of Elune - Emblems of Conquest
Cloak - Asimov's Drape - Mimiron 25-Man
Some spirit but still a very good healer cloak, and the only one up to now. Besides, if you don't know Asimov, go read some good SF asap !
a very good 10-Man cloak has been added now:
Drape of the Spellweaver - Vezax 10-Man *new 03/25*
Spell crit, spell haste, a good deal of intellect, that's a very good candidate until you can get to Asimov (that healers using spirit should get before you).
Trinkets - not much choice
Eye of the Broodmother - Razorscale
Energy Siphon - Flame Leviathan 10-Man, this one is outdated on the mana regen and should be replaced by one of the two following trinkets:
Sif's Remembrance - Thorim 10-Man hard *new 04/28* and even more
Show of Faith (Trinket - Spell power, mana regen) - Yogg-Saron 25-Man hard *new 04/28* (basically a good upgrade of Sif's Remembrance)
Pandora's Plea - Mimiron 25-Man
Pandora's Plea is *the best* trinket that Holy Paladin can get, 108 int is a massive boost to our mana, regen, and crit, no discussion grab it if you can !
Other healers have a +100 spirit trinket on Mimiron, so try to leave them this one and get the int one.
Rings -
Pyrelight Circle - Ignis 25-Man
Ring of the Faithful Servant - Auriaya 25-Man
Fire Orchid Signet - Freya 10-Man hard *new 04/28*
Sanity's Bond - Yogg-Saron 25-Man *new 04/28*
They are all good candidates, chose depending on your need (crit/haste/mana regen).
Shield - Ice Layered Barrier - Hodir 10-Man
According to the ilevel, I'm not sure it drops on 10-Man, it's haste/MP5, so not I really like, but the other alternative (Pulsing Spellshield) is just plain bad (way too much stam).
Wisdom's Hold (Shield - Spell crit haste) - Thorim 25-Man hard *new 04/17*
This is now the clear best in slot, but Thorim 25-Man hard mode, get to work on it people.
Kel'Thuzad Voice of Reason is still a very good shield anyway.
Weapon -
I'm rather sad with the weapon choice up to now (I won't talk about the legendary mace,Val'anyr, Hammer of the Ancient Kings, of course if you can go for it, then go)
1H Sword Runescribed Blade - Auriaya 25-Man
Nice but spirit points are wasted for us.
1H Mace Guiding Star - Razorscale 25-Man
Haste and MP5 ... no crit, sad pally.
1H Mace Pulse Baton - Mimiron 10-Man
Crit and MP5, not a bad mace, but 10-Man is inferior to Kel 25.
Aesuga, Hand of the Ardent Champion - General Vezax 10-Man hard *new 04/28*
Now we're talking, this mace has all the stats we want and a nice yellow socket. I won't say it's clearly superior to KT sword, but with the gem it has a slightly better allocation with less stam and haste for more spell power and crit potential.
If you have Kel'Thuzad sword The Turning Tide, stick to it I'd say.
Thank you to MMO Champion for all the data that I used to compile this list.
If you have any remark, feel free to post a comment.
(updated 04/17 - added new live loot, new best in slot shield to replace KT25)
I'll start be restating the net change from full T7 to full T8 that was nicely detailed on Banana Shoudlers:
+46 Stam, +41 Int, +39 mp5, +203 Armor, -45 Crit, +46 Haste, +72 Spellpower, plus a change in gemming (1 red & 1 yellow going to 2 blues).
As I've stated before, these changes are just bad for us, and if you add them to set bonuses that are worse than T7, I expect T8 to not be used much. So then, what replacement could you find if you're not full T7, or if you want to change a few pieces?
The answer is given by analysing the Ulduar loot available to us.
note: All slots have not been discovered yet, every boss in Ulduar drops a healing plate item, either in 10-Man or 25-Man and the list don't have them yet. I'll try to update this list with upcoming loot.
Ulduar Holy Paladin loot:
(I won't cheat and only target plate armor, no mail, no leather, no cloth !)
Razorscale
Breastplate of the Afterlife (Plate Chest - Spell MP5) - 10-Man
Eye of the Broodmother (Trinket - Spell crit)
Guiding Star (1H Mace - Spell Haste MP5) - 25-Man
Razorscale Shoulderguards (Plate Shoulders - Spell Haste MP5) - Razorscale-25
XT-002
Pulsing Spellshield (Shield - Spell crit haste) - 10-Man
Armbands of the Construct (Plate Bracers - Spell crit MP5) - 10-Man
Breastplate of the Devoted (Plate Chest - Spell) - 25-Man-Hard
Charm of Meticulous Timing (Neck - Spell Haste MP5)
Horologist's Wristguards (Plate Bracers - Spell crit MP5)
Ignis
Pauldrons of Tempered Will (Plate Shoulders - Spell crit haste) - 10-Man
Lifeforge Breastplate (Plate Chest - Spell crit MP5) - 25-Man
Pyrelight Circle (Ring - Spell crit haste) - 25-Man
Vezax
Belt of Clinging Hope (Plate Waist - Spell haste MP5) - 25-Man
Bracers of Righteous Reformation (Plate Bracers - Spell haste MP5) - 10-Man *new 03/25*
Cloak of the Dormant Blaze (Cloak - Spell crit mp5) - 10-Man *new 03/25*
Drape of the Spellweaver (Cloak - Spell crit haste) - 10-Man *new 03/25*
Shroud of Alteration (Cloak - Spell haste MP5) - trash mobs 25-Man *new 03/25*
Pendant of Endless Despair (Neck - Spell crit MP5) - 10-Man *new 04/17*
Aesuga, Hand of the Ardent Champion (1H Mace - Spell crit haste yellow socket) - 10-Man hard *new 04/28*
Flame Leviathan
Energy Siphon (Trinket - Mana) - 10-Man
Glowing Ring of Reclamation (Ring - Spell crit + spirit) - 25-Man
Freya's Choker of Warding (Neck - Spell haste MP5) - 25-Man
Hodir
Ice Layered Barrier (Shield - Spell haste MP5) - 10-Man hard *updated 03/25*
Frostplate Greaves (Plate Legs - Spell crit MP5) - 25-Man
Auriaya
Runescribed Blade (Sword - Spell crit + spirit) - 25-Man
Greaves of the Rockmender (Plate Boots - Spell crit MP5) - 25-Man
Ring of the Faithful Servant (Ring - Spell crit MP5) - 25-Man
Libram of the Resolute (Libram - Holy) - 25-Man *link fixed 04/17*
Kologarn
Gloves of the Pythonic Guardian (Plate Hands - Spell crit MP5) - 25-Man
Unfaltering Armguards (Plate Bracers - Spell haste MP5) - 25-Man *new 04/17*
Iron Council
Radiant Seal (Ring - Spell haste MP5) - 25-Man
Unblinking Eye (Neck - Spell crit +spirit) 25-Man
Ancient Iron Heaume (Plate Head - Spell crit haste) - 25-Man *new 03/21*
Pauldrons of Tempered Will (Plate Shoulders - Spell crit haste) - 10-Man *new 03/21*
Lady Maye's Sapphire Ring (Ring - Spell haste + spirit) - 10-Man *new 03/21*
Watchful Eye (Neck - Spell haste +spirit +yellow socket) 10-Man hard *new 03/21*
Sapphire Amulet of Renewal (Neck - Spell haste + spirit) - 25-Man hard *new 04/28*
Freya
Legplates of the Flourishing Resolve (Plate Legs - Spell crit MP5) - 10-Man
Fire Orchid Signet (Ring - Spell haste MP5) - 10-Man hard *new 04/28*
Mimiron
Pulse Baton (1H Mace - spell crit MP5) - 10-Man *new 03/21*
Asimov's Drape (Cloak - Spell crit + spirit) - 25-Man *new 03/21*
Pandora's Plea (Trinket - int + proc spell power) - 25-Man *new 03/21*
Cable of the Metrognome (Plate Waist - Spell haste MP5) - 10-Man *new 04/28*
Conductive Seal (Ring - Spell haste + spirit) - 25-Man hard *new 04/28*
Thorim
Wisdom's Hold (Shield - Spell crit haste) - 25-Man hard *new 04/17*
Pendant of the Shallow Grave (Neck - Spell crit haste) - 10-Man hard *new 04/28*
Sif's Remembrance (Trinket - Spell power, mana regen) - 10-Man hard *new 04/28*
Gauntlets of the Thunder God (Plate Hands - Spell crit haste red&blue sockets) - 10-Man hard *new 04/28*
Yogg-Saron
Shawl of Haunted Memories (Cloak - Spell crit spirit) - 25-Man *new 04/17*
Faceguard of the Eyeless Horror (Plate Head - Spell crit MP5) - 10-Man *new 04/28*
Sanity's Bond (Ring - Spell haste MP5) - 25-Man *new 04/28*
Show of Faith (Trinket - Spell power, mana regen) - 25-Man hard *new 04/28*
Signet of Soft Lament (Ring - Spell crit + spirit) - 10-Man *new 04/28*
unknown
Shawl of the Caretaker (Cloak - Spell haste MP5) - 10-Man *new 04/17*
BoE Crafts:
Plans: Girdle of the Righteous - Flame Leviathan - 25-Man
(Plate Waist - Spell haste MP5)
Emblems of Conquest (25-Man):
Legguards of the Peaceful Covenant (Plate Legs - Spell Haste MP5)
Girdle of Unyielding Trust (Plate Waist - Spell crit MP5)
Gauntlets of Serene Blessing (Plate Hands - Spell Haste MP5)
Evoker's Charm (Neck - Spell haste + spirit)
Frozen Tear of Elune (Neck - Spell crit MP5)
Now, for my view on these items.
First of most of the emblems items are just crap, more haste, no crit, that will for sure not complement a T8 already crit deprived, pass them but for the waist.
The BoE craft waist is mostly bad too, same reason, get the emblems one.
Now, on the Ulduar loots. My point is simple: T8 already has plenty of haste, we only need a little more than 600 haste rating in a raid environment if we play correctly, so get more is just a waste of item points. I'll always go for +crit first then mp5, haste. I'll also always pass on +spirit items if there is a choice on the slot, just because spirit is worth crap for us.
Best in slot list:
T8 or -
Head - Ancient Iron Heaume - Iron Council 25-Man
Spell crit, spell haste, good socket color, nothing to rant about this helm, grab it!
Shoulders - Pauldrons of Tempered Will - Ignis 10-Man / Iron Council 10-Man
they are inferior to the 25-Man but 1% crit is nicer than MP5, unless perhaps on fights like Vezax if MP5 works
Chest - Breastplate of the Devoted - XT-002 25-Man-Hard
is a clear winner, no choice, but hard mode
Lifeforge Breastplate - Ignis 25-Man
isn't that shabby either
Hands - Gloves of the Pythonic Guardian - Kologarn 25-Man
not much choice for now, we will probably see more than one of these items soon
and choice appeared :
Gauntlets of the Thunder God - Thorim 10-Man hard *added to list 04/28*
with the two sockets they have more potential than the Kologarn ones, though it's hard mode and Kologarn isn't that hard if you have a good Ulduar 25 raid
Legs - Frostplate Greaves - Hodir 25-Man
very nice legs, great for mana regen
out of set -
Bracers - Horologist's Wristguards - XT002 (25-Man?) *added to list 04/01*
Waist - Girdle of Unyielding Trust - Emblems of Conquest
Boots - Greaves of the Rockmender - Auriaya 25-Man
Neck - Charm of Meticulous Timing - XT002 25-Man
another very close candidate (with slightly more crit and less of others)
Pendant of the Shallow Grave - Thorim 10-Man hard *new 04/28*
or (slightly inferior but easier to get and has spell crit)
Frozen Tear of Elune - Emblems of Conquest
Cloak - Asimov's Drape - Mimiron 25-Man
Some spirit but still a very good healer cloak, and the only one up to now. Besides, if you don't know Asimov, go read some good SF asap !
a very good 10-Man cloak has been added now:
Drape of the Spellweaver - Vezax 10-Man *new 03/25*
Spell crit, spell haste, a good deal of intellect, that's a very good candidate until you can get to Asimov (that healers using spirit should get before you).
Trinkets - not much choice
Eye of the Broodmother - Razorscale
Energy Siphon - Flame Leviathan 10-Man, this one is outdated on the mana regen and should be replaced by one of the two following trinkets:
Sif's Remembrance - Thorim 10-Man hard *new 04/28* and even more
Show of Faith (Trinket - Spell power, mana regen) - Yogg-Saron 25-Man hard *new 04/28* (basically a good upgrade of Sif's Remembrance)
Pandora's Plea - Mimiron 25-Man
Pandora's Plea is *the best* trinket that Holy Paladin can get, 108 int is a massive boost to our mana, regen, and crit, no discussion grab it if you can !
Other healers have a +100 spirit trinket on Mimiron, so try to leave them this one and get the int one.
Rings -
Pyrelight Circle - Ignis 25-Man
Ring of the Faithful Servant - Auriaya 25-Man
Fire Orchid Signet - Freya 10-Man hard *new 04/28*
Sanity's Bond - Yogg-Saron 25-Man *new 04/28*
They are all good candidates, chose depending on your need (crit/haste/mana regen).
Shield - Ice Layered Barrier - Hodir 10-Man
According to the ilevel, I'm not sure it drops on 10-Man, it's haste/MP5, so not I really like, but the other alternative (Pulsing Spellshield) is just plain bad (way too much stam).
Wisdom's Hold (Shield - Spell crit haste) - Thorim 25-Man hard *new 04/17*
This is now the clear best in slot, but Thorim 25-Man hard mode, get to work on it people.
Kel'Thuzad Voice of Reason is still a very good shield anyway.
Weapon -
I'm rather sad with the weapon choice up to now (I won't talk about the legendary mace,Val'anyr, Hammer of the Ancient Kings, of course if you can go for it, then go)
1H Sword Runescribed Blade - Auriaya 25-Man
Nice but spirit points are wasted for us.
1H Mace Guiding Star - Razorscale 25-Man
Haste and MP5 ... no crit, sad pally.
1H Mace Pulse Baton - Mimiron 10-Man
Crit and MP5, not a bad mace, but 10-Man is inferior to Kel 25.
Aesuga, Hand of the Ardent Champion - General Vezax 10-Man hard *new 04/28*
Now we're talking, this mace has all the stats we want and a nice yellow socket. I won't say it's clearly superior to KT sword, but with the gem it has a slightly better allocation with less stam and haste for more spell power and crit potential.
If you have Kel'Thuzad sword The Turning Tide, stick to it I'd say.
Thank you to MMO Champion for all the data that I used to compile this list.
If you have any remark, feel free to post a comment.
Patch 3.1 Ulduar PTR testing, part 15 & Battle.net
New night, new Ulduar tests on the PTR.
Kologarn testing (US) was up last night, report on World of Raids.
Freya (EU) has seen one more testing phase, report on World of Raids.
Kologarn body hps were nerfed in the 25 men version, though he got an aoe that he'll do around the tank (yeah, that's for your melee people).
Freya is, according to WoR, unchanged.
On a side note of the PTR, Blizzard is asking for more feedbacks from the Argent Tournament, seems that they're starting to get enough on Ulduar Bosses.
Here is a list of all the tested bosses:
Last note, Battle.net has been updated in the US, read this article on WoR. It should be up in the EU soon too, and will most probably become required for WoW relatively soon (Battle.net 2 should be out for the launch of Starcraft 2 and is supposed to be when it'll become mandatory for WoW too).
Kologarn testing (US) was up last night, report on World of Raids.
Freya (EU) has seen one more testing phase, report on World of Raids.
Kologarn body hps were nerfed in the 25 men version, though he got an aoe that he'll do around the tank (yeah, that's for your melee people).
Freya is, according to WoR, unchanged.
On a side note of the PTR, Blizzard is asking for more feedbacks from the Argent Tournament, seems that they're starting to get enough on Ulduar Bosses.
Here is a list of all the tested bosses:
- Flame Leviathan
- Ignis the Furnace Master
- Razorscale
- XT-002 Deconstructor
- The Iron Council
- Kologarn
- Auriaya
- Freya
- Hodir
- Thorim
- Mimiron
- General Vezax
- Yogg-Saron, end boss of Ulduar
- Algalon the Observer, special hard mode boss
Last note, Battle.net has been updated in the US, read this article on WoR. It should be up in the EU soon too, and will most probably become required for WoW relatively soon (Battle.net 2 should be out for the launch of Starcraft 2 and is supposed to be when it'll become mandatory for WoW too).
Thursday, March 19, 2009
PTR Build 9704, Paladin Tier 8
All details can be found on MMO Champion and World of Raids.
The most interesting point is the addition of the Tier8 bonuses. I'm giving you the paladin ones below:
The ret bonuses are sub-part, increasing damage of Exorcism and Hammer is nice, but will ret paladins really have enough mana (especially at tke end of a fight) to use them regularly in their rotations ? Besides, boosting Crusader Strike is never a good choice, just because it is such a lack-luster ability at start.
The prot bonuses are good, the first one is free damage & aggro, never bad. The second is a little less interesting, as shield block is so lame right now, but another ace for paladins to aoe trash tank (sigh).
Holy bonuses now, the first one just rocks, it's a very nice complement to Tier7 2P Bonus, that was increasing Holy Schock crit chance by 10%. The Tier 8 4P is much less good, and I think most Holy Paladins will go for 3 T8 and 2 T7.25 pieces.
edit:
Siha of Banana Shoudlers posted a very in-depth analysis of the Tier 8 compared to the Tier 7, you can find it here.
These numbers made me wonder :
I will add the fact that we move from 3 red sockets, 2 yellow sockets, 2 blue sockets to 2 red sockets, 1 yellow socket, 4 blue sockets.
Gaining 72 spell power and 42 Int is neat. But trading 45 crit, 1 red socket and 1 yellow socket for 46 haste and 2 blue sockets seriously hursts >.< style="font-style: italic;">But then ... if they remove us our mana "endurance", what will be left as an edge for paladins over other healers, when we are so weak on movement and aoe raid healing ?
I do not like what Blizzard is doing with paladins right now, they really can't handle PvP & PvE for us, a tank/contact dps class with mana is really something they don't know how to handle anymore.
The most interesting point is the addition of the Tier8 bonuses. I'm giving you the paladin ones below:
RetributionMost of these bonuses are ok to good. I'm a bit sad about some of them though.
2P Bonus -- Increases the damage done by your Exorcism and Hammer of Wrath abilities by 10%.
4P Bonus -- Increases the critical strike chance of your Divine Storm and Crusader Strike abilities by 10%.
Protection
2P Bonus -- Increases the damage done by your Seals by 10%.
4P Bonus -- Shield of Righteousness now increases your shield block value by 225 for 3 sec.
Holy
2P Bonus -- Your Holy Shock critical heals now also place a periodic healing effect on the target, healing for 15% of the Holy Shock's heal amount over 9 sec.
4P Bonus -- Increases the damage absorbed by your Sacred Shield by 10%.
The ret bonuses are sub-part, increasing damage of Exorcism and Hammer is nice, but will ret paladins really have enough mana (especially at tke end of a fight) to use them regularly in their rotations ? Besides, boosting Crusader Strike is never a good choice, just because it is such a lack-luster ability at start.
The prot bonuses are good, the first one is free damage & aggro, never bad. The second is a little less interesting, as shield block is so lame right now, but another ace for paladins to aoe trash tank (sigh).
Holy bonuses now, the first one just rocks, it's a very nice complement to Tier7 2P Bonus, that was increasing Holy Schock crit chance by 10%. The Tier 8 4P is much less good, and I think most Holy Paladins will go for 3 T8 and 2 T7.25 pieces.
edit:
Siha of Banana Shoudlers posted a very in-depth analysis of the Tier 8 compared to the Tier 7, you can find it here.
These numbers made me wonder :
Net effect of upgrading all 5 pieces: +46 Stam, +41 Int, +39 mp5, +203 Armor, -45 Crit, +46 Haste, +72 Spellpower, plus a change in gemming (if you socket for color).Ok what really counts is : +41 Int, +39 mp5, -45 Crit, +46 Haste, +72 Spellpower
I will add the fact that we move from 3 red sockets, 2 yellow sockets, 2 blue sockets to 2 red sockets, 1 yellow socket, 4 blue sockets.
Gaining 72 spell power and 42 Int is neat. But trading 45 crit, 1 red socket and 1 yellow socket for 46 haste and 2 blue sockets seriously hursts >.< style="font-style: italic;">But then ... if they remove us our mana "endurance", what will be left as an edge for paladins over other healers, when we are so weak on movement and aoe raid healing ?
I do not like what Blizzard is doing with paladins right now, they really can't handle PvP & PvE for us, a tank/contact dps class with mana is really something they don't know how to handle anymore.
Patch 3.1 Ulduar PTR testing, part 14
New day, new bosses tested. In fact only one, and nothing much new.
Kologarn testing (US) was canceled, as new build is deployed on the PTR.
Razorscale (EU) has seen one more testing phase, reports on MMO Champion and World of Raids.
Razorscale is still fairly bugged and too easy according to these reviews, let's hop they can fix that. On a side note, it's a fire based fight (all of Razorscale abilities do fire damage).
I'd also like to point a post from Honors that you can read on Honors Code. He's talking about two potential issues for pally tanking in Ulduar, more precisely Auriaya’s Horrifying Screech, and General Vezax’s Aura of Despair.
(from MMO Champion)
Horrifying Screech - The screech strikes fear into the hearts of all nearby enemies, causing them to flee in horror for 5 sec.
Aura of Despair (Prevents mana regeneration from nearly all natural sources. Aspect of the Viper, Judgements of the Wise, Shamanistic Rage, and Spiritual Attunement remain at least partially effective. Also reduces melee attack speed by 20%.)
Obviously fear on a 8s cooldown can be pretty tough for a pally tank and any tank with a long cd on fear break. And mana regen is mandatory for all paladins tanking, or they don't tank more than a bettle ... if Spiritual Attunement is gimped on Vezax, no paladin is ever going to tank him.
We'll see how it goes, it'd be sad if a paladin couldn't tank Ulduar in 10 men because of these two bosses.
Kologarn testing (US) was canceled, as new build is deployed on the PTR.
Razorscale (EU) has seen one more testing phase, reports on MMO Champion and World of Raids.
Razorscale is still fairly bugged and too easy according to these reviews, let's hop they can fix that. On a side note, it's a fire based fight (all of Razorscale abilities do fire damage).
I'd also like to point a post from Honors that you can read on Honors Code. He's talking about two potential issues for pally tanking in Ulduar, more precisely Auriaya’s Horrifying Screech, and General Vezax’s Aura of Despair.
(from MMO Champion)
Horrifying Screech - The screech strikes fear into the hearts of all nearby enemies, causing them to flee in horror for 5 sec.
Aura of Despair (Prevents mana regeneration from nearly all natural sources. Aspect of the Viper, Judgements of the Wise, Shamanistic Rage, and Spiritual Attunement remain at least partially effective. Also reduces melee attack speed by 20%.)
Obviously fear on a 8s cooldown can be pretty tough for a pally tank and any tank with a long cd on fear break. And mana regen is mandatory for all paladins tanking, or they don't tank more than a bettle ... if Spiritual Attunement is gimped on Vezax, no paladin is ever going to tank him.
We'll see how it goes, it'd be sad if a paladin couldn't tank Ulduar in 10 men because of these two bosses.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Patch 3.1 Ulduar PTR testing, part 13
Short update on the PTR state. Several bosses are seeing a second pass at testing.
Thorim (EU) and XT-002 Deconstructor (US)
MMO Champion, World of Raids Thorim, World of Raids XT-002
Ignis the Furnace Master (US) and General Vezax (EU)
MMO Champion, World of Raids Ignis, World of Raids Vezax
Most bosses hps were buffed, both in normal 10 men and heroic 25 men versions, some enrage timers were lowered too, and a few new abilities added. Seems the first versions were a little too easy. The only boss having been nerfed so far seems to be Hodir.
Still hoping for enough difficulty ^^
Thorim (EU) and XT-002 Deconstructor (US)
MMO Champion, World of Raids Thorim, World of Raids XT-002
Ignis the Furnace Master (US) and General Vezax (EU)
MMO Champion, World of Raids Ignis, World of Raids Vezax
Most bosses hps were buffed, both in normal 10 men and heroic 25 men versions, some enrage timers were lowered too, and a few new abilities added. Seems the first versions were a little too easy. The only boss having been nerfed so far seems to be Hodir.
Still hoping for enough difficulty ^^
Raid Healing Analysis & Dual-spec for Healers
I'll start with a very good post from Khaeli on Shadow Weaving. It is about analysing a WWS parse report. I guess all experienced raiders should know how to do that. But in case you're still a bit confused with the amount of information in these logs, Khaeli gives us a lot of very meaningfull advices from a healing point of view.
Ambrosyne from i like bubbles wrote a post about dual-spec. How will you use dual-spec as a raiding healing paladin ? Ambrosyne tries to answer this question, considering also the side of a disc priest. For me it'll be prot most probably, just in case we're short a tank as my guild is sort of low on tanks, as we don't want to have to make them sit aside during r25 nights.
As a side note, small good news for retribution paladins on WoW insider, the bug about Sheath of Light not contributing to Sacred Shield should be corrected soon. Not huge but he, in these times a buff is a buff.
Ambrosyne from i like bubbles wrote a post about dual-spec. How will you use dual-spec as a raiding healing paladin ? Ambrosyne tries to answer this question, considering also the side of a disc priest. For me it'll be prot most probably, just in case we're short a tank as my guild is sort of low on tanks, as we don't want to have to make them sit aside during r25 nights.
As a side note, small good news for retribution paladins on WoW insider, the bug about Sheath of Light not contributing to Sacred Shield should be corrected soon. Not huge but he, in these times a buff is a buff.
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