I'vewantedtodiscussgearinginWrathsincewewereinterruptedacoupleofweeksago.Granted,we'vebeeninterruptedbyawesomenewsliketheabove,butstillitseemslikeadecenttimetogetbackintolookingatwhatgearwe'llbepickingupaswelevelthroughNorthrend.Andfrankly,ifwedon'tstarttalkingaboutthatagain,thisentirecolumnwillprobablybemetyping"Titan'sGripaarrgh5%ahminakilleverythinggaaaaa"andnobodywantsthat.Well,maybeyoudo,Idon'tknowwhatyou'reinto.ButI'mprettysurethatIshouldtryandmovepast"YouwillknowIamthewarriorwhenIlaymyvengeanceuponthee"rantingasideandgetonwiththecolumn.
We'vecoveredgearthroughfactionsandgearthroughcraftingalready.Sothisweekwe'lllookatinstancedrops.Keepinmindthattheprevioustwocolumnswerewrittenfromtheperspectiveofa15%misspenaltyonTG,andthusaremoredirethantheywouldbeifwrittentoday:thenewmisspenaltyismuchlessdifficulttogearfor.Expecttheretobeatleastonemoresuchcolumnafterthisone.
Chestplates
Whatwillthefashionconsciouswarriorbewearingonhisorherchest?Ihavenoidea.Ilookatstats.ItcouldbelimegreenwithahappyfaceinblazingpurpleandtrailglitterbehindmeforallIcare,whatstatsdoesithave?CanItankinit?CanIDPSinit?Good,givemeTheEarthPony'sPrecociousCarapaceOfAnnihilationandgetoutofmysparklingtrailofdeath.
Thatbeingsaid,mostarmormodelsinWrathlookprettysweet.There'sagoodselectionofgearfromquests,whetheryou'relookingforDPSortankingoptions,especiallyifyou'rewillingtoripoutaguy'stongue.Hey,IjustsaidI'dtakearmorfromatalkingmagicalponyifithadgoodstats,I'msurenotgoingtobalkatsomegoodnaturedtongueripping.Fearnot,there'salsoinstancedropsifforsomeoddreasonyou'readversetopryingtonguesoutofpeople'sheadsforgear.Plentyofchoices,really.AndheroicdropsonlyseemtocontinuethispatternwithgoodoptionsforDPSortanking.ThatBreastplateofUndeath?Wow.That'salotofagilityandaverysoliddoseofhitrating.
Helmets
Firstoff,let'slookatsomehelmets.Thedifficultyindoingacompleteguidetogearintheexpansionisthatit'simpossible:gearisadded,changedandremovedevenatthisdate.Butwhileitwon'tbepossibletogiveyouanexactlistofallthestuffyou'llbetryingtogetthere'satleastafewgoodexamplestohighlight.Forinstance,takethePlanetaryHelm.It'sprettyobviouslyadropfromaheroic(HallsofStoneorLightning,I'dguess,althoughIhaven'tseenitdrop)andit'sasolidDPShelmforeitherspec(probablybetterforfury,finallysomehitgear)andcouldevenserveasatankinghatifyouweredesperateforhit.Thenagain,I'dsaytheGroundTemorHelmherewouldbeyourbettertankingoption,withaheftydoseofdefense.TheArcane-ShieldedHelm,anotherheroicdrop,wouldalsoserveandI'minterestedtoseetwosimilarlypurposeditemswithadifferentspreadofstatslikethis,makesmeconsiderhowyou'llassembleyourtankingtoolkitasyouprepareforraiding.ForDPS,andsocketedsoitcanbecustomizedforArmsorFury(I'dgivethenodtoarmsoverfury,butjustbarely)wehavetheChitinShellGreathelm.
It'sgoodtoseethatnotallitemizationrequiresrepeatedheroics.Questshelpfillthegap.Granted,it'sUtgardePinnacle,andyou'llbeatleastlevel79whenyougetthishat,Andit'shardlytheonlysuchquesttobefoundasyoulevelthroughthegame.Someoftheserewardsarecomparabletoheroicinstancedrops.whileothersarestillprettydecentformid-rangecontent.Istillwearthishatonmytaurenjustforthatreallysoliddoseofcritratingonit
Iwouldn'tmindalittlemorediversityingearmodels,however.
Shoulders
YouwillfindarmorontheAHwhichwillserveyouwellsteppingintoNorthrend(probablynotaconcernformostwarriorscurrentlyat70,butforthefuture)andinstancedropsasyoulevel.Therearequestdropsandmorequestdropsaswell.(IreallylikethoseTundraPauldrons.)Asyoulevel,you'llfindavarietyofshoulderpieceswithhitratingwhichwasveryhardtofindonreputationandcraftedpieces.You'llbeabletogettankingshouldersviaquests,alleviatingthathorribleperiodweallknewinTBCwherewewererunningaroundwiththesehorriblelookingthingsonbecausewewerewaitingforthatsadisticfiendMurmurtogiveupourset.
ShoulderarmormodelsinWrathareprettysweetonthewholebutagain,couldwehavemorethantwoofthem?(Thisisaminornitpickatbest.)