Random Thoughts About 8.3

A new patch has hit us square in the face like a baseball bat, and I have ThOuGhTs!

• Okay so I was slightly disappointed at the lack of hunter changes over the course of the 8.3 PTR, but honestly having played Fuhai exclusively since the patch dropped (because fuck doing those dailies more than once a day) hunters didn’t need anything!
• okay maybe survival does but eh I don’t play that.
• TENTACLES GALORE. *looks around Vale* oh N’zoth, I love what you’ve done with the place, it looks very homely.
• Ny’alotha looks like it’s gonna be one of the most fun raids I’ve experienced (bearing in mind I’ve raided since Siege of Orgrimmar on and off, then since Hellfire Citadel regularly), some of these bosses look really interesting! The glorious return of Il’gynoth also makes me happy, he was my favourite boss in Legion.
• It’s nice to see Uldum and the Vale used again, even if they are now covered in purple junk/large bugs. Can’t help but feel we’ve made Taran Zhu’s life just full of constant disappointment and annoyance since he met us though.
• “for the love of… we JUST finished rebuilding this place and NOW IT’S COVERED IN TENTACLES. Taoshi, Cho,  pack your bags, we’re leaving. We’re going to Ironforge, nothing happens there except Brewfest.”
• Speaking of WoW holidays, mein gott it’s almost time for the yearly Love Rocket disappointment.
• 
• oh let’s be honest, they won’t be.
• Um excuse me, where is my pandaren heritage armour? Please thanks?
• Honestly shocked that humans don’t have a set either but humans are boring tbh.
• Horrific Visions are pretty cool I guess. Can’t wait for Torghast in Shadowlands though, I’m gonna be in there a LOT. Love me some roguelike mechanics, I do.
• Still forever disappointed that the pandaren intro questline doesn’t conclude with you knocking Anduin on his arse like you did Varian, but I suppose I’ll get over that.
• IT’S BEEN THREE YEARS I’M NOT OVER IT.

Other Stuff?

I’ve been replaying Disgaea 2 recently. It’s one of those games that came out back in 2006 on the PS2, and upon release I sunk HUNDREDS of hours into it, almost obsessively, then when it got an upgraded rerelease on the PSP three years later, I bought it again and threw hundreds more hours of my life into it. Just sheer amounts of level grinding, reincarnating, level grinding more, felony farming, item upgrading, seeing just how high I can push the damage numbers or my stats.

There’s something about the Disgaea games that really just catch me in the right way. It’s a grindy game and it’s unashamed about it, and it’s a grind I will forever enjoy because each step is rewarding in its own way, as opposed to all the satisfaction coming right at the end.

Also:

still the best, most ott attack in disgaea 2 pic.twitter.com/5QLKlN4Bfv

— 🐼💛Infernoble Knight Panda Steve💛🐼 (@ItsPandaSteve) January 20, 2020

gig's not in 5 sadly so this is all that comes close pic.twitter.com/w1ZvDOI8vq

— 🐼💛Infernoble Knight Panda Steve💛🐼 (@ItsPandaSteve) January 20, 2020

Numbers numbers numbers, love me some numbers.

Darling It’s Better Down Where It’s Wetter

TAKE IT FROM MEEEEEEEEEE

So we’ve been traipsing around Nazjatar and Mechagon since the end of June now, helping fish people, jumping on jellyfish, camping for rare spawns that drop mounts, and other general shenanigans, but what have we learned so far?

TIMELESS ISLE-STYLE CONTENT IS FUN!

The last main content patch of Mists of Pandaria brought the Timeless Isle for us to play with, and honestly if we hadn’t had to spend half a million years there it might have been remembered slightly more fondly. Yet, that was possibly one of the best pieces of content (in a patch that brought us a brilliant raid and the flex raiding mode) in one of the best expansions to date. Freeform, exploratory content, with places to go, things to collect, rares to kill and methods of gearing up not just yourself but alts too. The closest we’ve had to that since is Mechagon and Nazjatar. Argus and Tanaan Jungle were lacking that special something (I think it might be “colours other than fel green”) but these two zones we have now are just so fun to roam around in!

PLATFORMING SUCKS

I hated it in Spires of Arak. I hated it when the Kirin Tor tried to make a game of it. I hate it now in northern Nazjatar. Sorry little jellyfish, but you’re gonna have to fucking stay up there.

PUZZLES DO NOT SUCK

every world quest should just be this one

forever pic.twitter.com/NauF0DIFWs

— 🐼💛Infernoble Knight Panda Steve💛🐼 (@ItsPandaSteve) July 1, 2019

Wow what a wise tweet from a wise man, everyone should go follow him like right now or something.

RAIDING IS FUN

The Eternal Palace is, so far, a bloody fantastic raid. Okay, the Blackwater Behemoth is a bit of a boring dud, and Za’qul is a horribly complicated (but fun!) mess of a fight, but honestly it’s one of the best raids they’ve released! The sound effect for Dribbling Ichor on the Orgozoa fight is absolutely horrifying though. Makes me feel all odd and not in a good way.

Best boss: Lady Ashvane, mainly because it’s satisfying to finally bring her down after she’s plagued us all expansion.
Worst boss: Blackwater Behemoth, because YAWN.
Fishiest boss: Azshara, obvs.
Deja vu boss: Radiance of Azshara. Didn’t we kill you in Legion? Go away!

ROGUES LOOK COOL

ALEA IACTA EST pic.twitter.com/gYySd18Jr5

— 🐼💛Infernoble Knight Panda Steve💛🐼 (@ItsPandaSteve) July 21, 2019

Look at how Fujikomine throws those dice! Watch her only get one buff, and the worst possible one!

MM, THE WAY TO GO

Having been a warlock for part of the expansion, I changed mains to my hunter, and I was MM for a while, until having to dance around Bwonsamdi broke my poor little brain and I went BM because EVERYTHING CAST WHEN MOVE. Now I feel comfortable going back to MM in Azshara’s house, and I’m having a whale of a time.

Thanks to having 2 on-use trinkets AND an Azerite ability, I have like 10 buttons I need to press on a regular basis too.

1, 2, 3 and 4 are main rotational abilities, 5 is my Azerite ability, 6 is a trinket, 7 and A4 are defensives, R is my AoE, M5 is a once per fight dealio, A1 and A2 are cooldowns, A3 is another trinket and M4 makes me fly backwards. I use all of these quite a lot.

And they said MM was a 2 button spec. Damn.

DARK IRON DWARVES LOOK HELLA COOL

Fuckin’ look at her!

THE MIGHTY YOPAAT

I AM PANDA, HEAR ME ROAR

Actually no, please leave.

Yopaat is the storm personified. Yopaat is power and strength, Yopaat is the fire that burns in the centre of the world and the winds that rage around it. When Yopaat calls on the elements, they OBEY. Except for the times they don’t, but let’s not focus too much on that okay? That was a really tough time for me and I would appreciate you not bringing it up.

YOPAAT.

I AM THE ROAR OF THUNDER
I AM THE CRACKLE OF FLAME
I AM THE TREMBLING OF THE EARTH BENEATH YOUR FEET no not because I’m fat, how very dare you

THE MIGHTY YOPAAT needs not such petty things as “humility” or “depth perception” or “an indoor voice” for I am the master of the elements! (except I totally took the Storm Elemental talent)

EAT MY TOTEM, YOU ABSOLUTE END-PIECE.

THEY COME

The Old Gods are coming! The Old Gods are coming! THOQ FSSH N’ZOTH! ETH’RAZZQI WORG ZZ OU! A̭͍͕̦̠̭̿͌̓̆Q̣͚͎̭̤̣Ě̬̮̙̰̣̻͌V́̅ͮ̍ A̯̯̪̱ͥ̌̓͊̆ͪ̚Q̘̖̰̺͉̪̭͎ͫ̆̄͑͊̎E̜̘̲̱̮̘̯͇ͭ͑͊̎ͥ͒V̜͙̥͇̺̰̰̾͆ A͈̩̼͚̗͓̖͒Q̗̪̻͉ͫ͛͜͝E̴̢̥̲̻͎̦̞̣͐̿ͩ͌ͅV̧̛͓͇̄͡

I mean, probably.

Things I Love In The Prepatch So Far

• 8.0 Demonology is honestly the best, most fun iteration of Demonology I have ever played! It combines the demon summoning of Legion (but cuts out the boring Demonic Empowerment spam) with the Molten Core gameplay of Mists (but cuts out the stupid Metamorphosis weaving) and honestly, it ends up being something just supremely fun and interesting! Plus, the chance to summon Prince Melchezaar is just lovely. Give me Jaraxxus too and I’ll never change spec again.
• Sticking on the Warlock front, 8.0 Affliction is actually rather interesting too. Reap Souls has thankfully gone into the bin (sadly so has Soul Flame but we can’t have everything our way), and I enjoy the Deathbolt gameplay so far. Going back to a casted filler rather than a channelled one feels a bit better as well. No more do I feel like a bargain basement Shadow Priest.
• STORY. MORE STORY. It’s not exactly going the way I’d like it to so far, but I am confident there’ll be some interesting twists and turns. REMEMBER PEOPLE, this is just the prologue to the expansion, there’s a shitload more stuff to come, and I fully expect some of it to be tentacular.
• I like that Mistweaver Monk has the castable Soothing Mist back, and you can do instant Vivify/Enveloping Mist through it. Makes it a little different to other healers. Plus I love Fistweaving, and a few of their new talents gives that gameplay style a very tidy little boost. Can’t wait to test it out in a raid environment!
• The anticipation everyone has for the new expansion. It’s so close!

Also I am enjoying levelling this minx up

Things I Hate In The Prepatch So Far

• Something feels like it’s “missing” from Destruction. Probably the lack of fire-spewing portals from the artifact. I liked those.
• “Your talents have been reset” nooooooo now I have to look things up!
• I, like many, many others, am a little miffed at the events that have transpired in the story recently. Still, there’s another week to go, and I suspect the Alliance will get a satisfying retribution. For all the moaning that the Alliance is losing an important racial capital on Kalimdor, it’s important to remember the Horde are losing their only bastion on the Eastern Kingdoms too. Whether or not that is a like-for-like is up to you to decide, but this whole faction conflict does not seem entirely one-sided. Shame it has to be the Horde ACTING, and the Alliance REACTING yet again though.
• Inxy, the lovely Goblin up there, is currently flying around the WoD zones, levelling via bonus areas and collecting treasures, and rocketing her way to level 100. Kinda wish that was viable in Legion content too. Powerlevel via exploration!
• Sylvanas’s movie needed a sea shanty like Jaina’s. Yo ho ho and a bottle of plague, that sorta thing.

The Long March to New Stuff

The time has come. We have a new expansion looming (well, it’s actually a long way away but still), and it’s time for Panda Steve to get all his ducks in a row and sort out what he wants to do, and when he wants to do it by. And maybe who he wants to do it on. Let’s start with the main, shall we?

Shokei

Sitting at a juicy 930, Shokei the Demonology Warlock is by far my most geared character. Aims?

• Get to at least level 75 on the artifact. This’ll be really easy, as she’s who I actively play as, and who I’ll be taking into Antorus every week.
• Complete the Affliction mage tower challenge. Apparently I need a particular legendary for this, Sacrolash’s Dark Strike. I’ve tried without it and I get absolutely mullered, so I throw myself onto the mercy of RNG. Still, having got both the Destruction AND Demonology appearances, getting the Affliction one would complete the set!
• Finish off Balance of Power I suppose? And maybe the Illidan stuff with Xe’ra? And get the class mount?

Lunchi

Having been used quite a lot in the Nighthold, alongside Yopaat the Shaman, both their progress has sort of been halted by the resurgent Shokei. I may use Yopaat on and off in the future, but Lunchi’s a character I definitely want to get up to speed again, if only for the usefulness of having a backup healer in the guild. Current item level is a shocking 904, artifact level (Mistweaver) 50. Aims!

• Crank that item level up. Argus content will help with that.
• With the ever-increasing AK level we’re getting, firing up her weapon will also be relatively straight forward.
• Attempt the mage tower challenge on her again. It went very badly the last few times.
• If we get the opportunity for Antorus alt runs (and let’s be honest, we’re looking at another 9-12 months until BfA, so we definitely will), drag her along and throw magical mist clouds at people.

Well, that’s the Alliance sorted, but with two separate levelling experiences for Alliance and Horde next expansion, it behooves me to level up another character, one that can see the other side of the story, over there in Zandalar. Say hello to:

Ellesario

Panda Steve’s token Horde representation is here in the form of Holy Priest Ellesario. She’ll gladly heal your wounds, for a price! While levelling her in BfA is not a priority (getting Shokei to 120 and raid ready is), she’ll be the side project, the one I play in downtime, when I wanna see the other half of the story. Priorities here:

• Getting her to level 110. She’s 29 at the moment, and dungeon spamming. She loves it when Warlocks and Hunters leap off ledges in Gnomeregan without dismissing their pets. Please drag EVERY ENEMIES to us, it’s so fun.
• Getting her to a decent item level and artifact level. I’m gonna settle for a tidy 920 and eventual 70.
• Getting her some priest tier sets! Gotta look fabulous at all times!
• Taking more screenshots of her, because hot DAMN goblins are almost as photogenic as pandaren. Almost.

Battle for Azeroth is literal decades away, but it doesn’t mean we can’t start readying our characters for the transition! New content ahoy! Sort of!

THE MIGHTY YOPAAT: A Day in the Life

This post is me taking part in Z & Cinder’s Blog Challenge 20: A Day in the Life of Your Toon because for fuck’s sake I need to blog more often

The Mighty Yopaat, Farseer of the Earthen Ring

Has quite a ring to it, doesn’t it? It makes you think of power and dignity and other assorted stuff like that, right? Well let me tell you, I sure don’t feel it right now.

I seem to spend my time dogsbodying for that lazy mage Khadgar, performing meaningless errands for the disparate groups that pepper the Broken Isles, or babysitting so-called “champions,” telling them where to go and what to do. It seems the Kirin Tor are more interested in playing games with barrels than fighting the legion.

Let’s take today. I went to Aszuna. I freed some of those morose demon hunters and killed their captors. I picked some weird fel flower. I extracted murloc eyes from their heads and stole a hydra’s egg. I killed a ghost, which is surely impossible as they’re already dead. Another ghost gave me a box with nothing of interest inside. Tomorrow I may well end up in Val’sharah doing other pointless errands.

Ah, but you’re not here to hear me complain about my lot in life, are you? Yes, I do try and relax sometimes.

I spend a lot of time in The Legerdemain Lounge. They do the nicest coffee on Azeroth, you know. A rich, dark Kun-Lai roast, none of this icy Highmountain rubbish. I enjoy the kick, it gives me the spark I need to make my own brews. Not coffee, mind, but potions. See, in my spare time I indulge in a bit of alchemy. I refuse to pay those scalpers at the auction house for herbs, mind, so I go and pick my own. I’ve got quite the knowledge of herbs now, though I still occasionally disintegrate Starlight Rose. Fat furry fingers, you know?

The alchemy shop being opposite Like Clockwork is an annoyance though. Explosions and robots fighting day in, day out. At least I’m able to make potions without Deucus’s supervision.

I still see Thrall occasionally. He likes to ask me if I’m taking good care of Doomhammer. Haven’t the heart to tell him it’s collecting dust in the care of some goblins, along with Sharas’dal. Sure, hitting things with a hammer is somewhat cathartic, but I don’t want to fall into that trap of “if all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.” I much prefer to keep my distance, less chance of being bludgeoned myself, you know?

I don’t tend to socialise much. My fellow shamans tend to be rather stuffy and constantly in a state of elemental reverence, which is fine and all but take a break sometime, yeah? Not that other groups are better. The warlocks freak me out, the mages and paladins are full of themselves, the death knights and demon hunters are too… you know? Just too. Too much. And the druids? Worse than shaman! That said I do have a few friends I see every so often. There’s a warlock that seems less weird than the others, there’s a pretty cute monk I see meditating in Dalaran occasionally, and I know a rogue that opens locked boxes for me, and in return I give her potions. She’s got a missing eye too. Maybe I’ll ask her story one day?

Maybe not. She seems like that might be a sore point for her.

My eye? Oh it’s silly, really. You don’t wanna know.

Warlock Hotfixes Actually Happened?!

Apparently they did! Let’s start with a general hotfix (*salute*) first.

Secondary Stats

Haste is now 11.1% more effective. What this means is you need 90 Haste rating to gain 1% Haste, whereas before you needed 100. This is a boost for damn near all classes and specs, as it’s pretty much FREE HASTE RATING YAY but the warlock spec it benefits most is Affliction, Haste being one of its best secondary stats along with Mastery. It only really amounts to around a 1% damage boost that everybody gets, but hey! Enjoy it.

Demonology

• Mastery: Master Demonologist‘s effects have been increased by 33%

Whoa. 33% is a large number! Those that play Demonology are saying their Demonbolts hit like crazy now, and Demonology is a very very good turret spec, like Arcane Mages. Thing is, unlike Arcane, Demonology will also be very good at movement DPS, not as good as melee or hunters, but still a lot better than the other casters, so did we just see Demonology become the best spec in the game when you factor in every aspect of an encounter?

@gahddo @Rygarius @WarcraftDevs It's 1/3. 1% per point.

— Celestalon (@Celestalon) January 13, 2015

It’s safe to say that this is a pretty healthy buff. 10-15% higher DPS some people are saying. Gosh!

Destruction

Ah yes, my spec of choice.

• Devastation now causes the Warlock to gain 15% (up from 5%) of the Critical Strike stat from all sources.

As an example! Raenah, my Warlock, currently has 1006 Critical Strike from her gear. 5% of this is 50.3, which is rounded to 50 and added on to her total to give her 1056 Crit. It takes 110 Crit rating to give a 1% boost, which means Raenah has a 14.6% chance of a crit, when you factor in the 5% baseline Critical Strike rating.

With the new buff, 15% of 1006 is 150.9. I assume this gets rounded up to 151, and not rounded down, making her have 1157 Crit. This converts to a 15.5% Critical Strike chance, which is a boost of 0.9, which is a 6.16% increase from the previous number!

The workings out for those who care?

It’s basically nothing to be too excited about at this point, but as gear gets better and stats get larger, you’ll see more and more of an effect from this buff. Obviously it will boost Chaos Bolt damage slightly too, and higher crit means more embers and better AoEing, but for now it’s still a relatively small boost. We’ll see how well this shines when the gear scales upwards!

Merry (LATE) Christmas, fellow Warlocks!

Loot Guide: Heroic Bloodmaul Slag Mines

There’s four bosses in this place, and why not see what they have for the discerning Warlock of taste.

You’ll notice that quite a lot of the armor you can get here are also available in other Heroic dungeons. It seems to be weapons, trinkets and the like that are exclusive, whereas other slots can drop from multiple bosses.

Makes my life easier, I guess.

Roltall

Cloak of Arcane Mysteries
Back
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+63 Haste
+63 Mastery

Haste and Mastery are both tasty stats for any spec, so if you don’t have the legendary cloak (believe it or not, it’s still best in slot at this point!) this is a good alternative.

Drape of Frozen Dreams
Back
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+66 Critical Strike
+57 Mastery

Cloak of choice for Destruction, barring the legendary cloak.

Felbone Drape
Back
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+72 Critical Strike
+48 Haste

Decent third choice if you haven’t got the legendary cloak, and the Haste/Mastery one doesn’t drop.

Forgeflame Greatcloak
Back
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+65 Versatility
+60 Multistrike

You really want the Arcane Mysteries one. Not this one.

Felflame Sandals
Feet
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+89 Critical Strike
+76 Haste

Good backup for any spec.

Frost-Touched Boots
Feet
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+74 Haste
+90 Versatility

These frosty boots leave me feeling COLD. Again, Versatility is a bit of a waste at the moment.

Lightbinder Treads
Feet
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+80 Haste
+86 Mastery

Best for Demonology and Affliction thus far.

Sandals of Arcane Mystery
Feet
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+64 Critical Strike
+96 Mastery

Well hello Destruction!

Sandals of Swirling Light
Feet
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+84 Versatility
+84 Multistrike

You know by now what I am going to say.

Slave Watcher Chrushto

Bracers of Arcane Mystery
Wrist
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+63 Critical Strike
+63 Haste

Affliction all the way!

Bracers of Swirling Light
Wrist
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+55 Versatility
+67 Multistrike

Nope.

Felflame Bracers
Wrist
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+49 Haste
+71 Multistrike

Good as a second choice.

Frost-Touched Wristwraps
Wrist
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+48 Critical Strike
+72 Mastery

Demonology and DEFINITELY Destruction want this one!

Lightbinder Wristwraps
Wrist
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+57 Haste
+66 Versatility

Versatility sounds so good on paper, but every other secondary is just way better.

Felflame Legwraps
Legs
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+87 Versatility
+126 Multistrike

Whopping chunk of Multistrike which is lovely. That’s nearly 2% worth!

Frost-Touched Legwraps
Legs
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+120 Haste
+98 Versatility

A good chunk of Haste, but really any other stat would be preferable to Versatility sadly.

Leggings of Swirling Light
Legs
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+106 Mastery
+115 Multistrike

Best choice for Affliction and Demonology, and a good second choice for Destruction because MASTERY.

Lightbinder Leggings
Legs
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+118 Critical Strike
+101 Mastery

A brilliant piece for Destruction.

Trousers of Arcane Mystery
Legs
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+111 Critical Strike
+111 Haste

No Mastery, but these are still a good drop for all 3 specs.

Crushto’s Runic Alarm
Trinket
+159 Intellect
+159 Critical Strike
(Potential Bonuses!)

Potential bonuses? Yes, this item can potentially be Warforged (6 item levels higher), have a Prismatic socket, Leech, Speed, or Avoidance. THEORETICALLY, you could get a Warforged item with an extra socket and one of the mentioned bonus secondaries, but I really wouldn’t get too obsessed with trying to get that, it would be ridiculously rare. That said, Crit is good for Destruction, so go wild.

Gug’rokk

Felflame Hood
Head
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+111 Versatility
+111 Multistrike

Nope!

Frost-Touched Hood
Head
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+116 Critical Strike
+103 Haste

Not bad if you can’t get one with Mastery!

Hood of Arcane Mystery
Head
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+98 Critical Strike
+120 Mastery

Here’s the one you want for Destruction. Passable for the other specs too.

Hood of Swirling Light
Head
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+121 Haste
+95 Mastery

Good for Haste lovers.

Lightbinder Cover
Head
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+90 Haste
+124 Versatility

Please no.

Felflame Spaulders
Shoulder
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+76 Critical Strike
+89 Mastery

Something worthy of the “fel” name! Destruction.

Frost-Touched Shoulderpads
Shoulder
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+92 Haste
+70 Mastery

Affliction? Demo? Go for it.

Lightbinder Shoulderpads
Shoulder
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+91 Critical Strike
+72 Haste

Good as a backup for any spec.

Mantle of Arcane Mystery
Shoulder
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+82 Haste
+85 Multistrike

Another good backup. Multistrike is looking pretty good for Affliction, you know.

Mantle of Swirling Light
Shoulder
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+84 Versatility
+84 Multistrike

Literally any other shoulder would be better.

Darkflame Loop
Ring
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+60 Haste
+65 Mastery

Affliction and Demonology ring of choice. Nice for Destruction too!

Diamondglow Circle
Ring
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+66 Critical Strike
+57 Haste

The, um, other ring of choice.

Golem’s Gleaming Eye
Ring
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+69 Critical Strike
+52 Versatility

Crit makes it okay if you can’t get anything else.

Mark of Ice
Ring
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+63 Critical Strike
+63 Multistrike

Destruction wants this. 

Signet of Shifting Magics
Ring
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+49 Versatility
+71 Mastery

You probably can guess what I may say about Versatility by now, but the Mastery on this item makes it nice for any spec at a push.

Gug’rokk’s Grandmother
Off-Hand
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+57 Versatility
+66 Multistrike

Awesomely named item, underwhelming inclusion of Versatility.

Gog’duh & Magmolatus

Felflame Grips
Hands
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+84 Versatility
+84 Multistrike

Usual Vers advice.

Frost-Touched Gloves
Hands
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+80 Versatility
+86 Mastery

Mastery is always good.

Gloves of Arcane Mystery
Hands
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+70 Haste
+92 Mastery

Certainly best for Affliction and Demonology. Maybe Destruction too.

Gloves of Swirling Light
Hands
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+76 Critical Strike
+89 Multistrike

Destruction is loving Crit, and Multistrike is always fun to see, let alone use.

Lightbinder Gloves
Hands
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+96 Critical Strike
+64 Haste

Possibly a better choice than the above. Marginally.

Felflame Robes
Chest
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+106 Versatility
+115 Mastery

Mastery! Versatility. There’s better out there.

Frost-Touched Robes
Chest
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+113 Critical Strike
+109 Versatility

No.

Lightbinder Robes
Chest
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+95 Haste
+121 Mastery

Demonology? Affliction? Go for this one.

Robes of Arcane Mystery
Chest
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+127 Critical Strike
+85 Haste

Probably best for Destruction. Sad there’s no Crit/Mastery robe.

Robes of Swirling Light
Chest
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+103 Critical Strike
+116 Multistrike

Your second choice for all 3 specs.

Loot Guide: Heroic Auchindoun

In this guide, I will go over what each boss drops for you in Auchindoun on heroic difficulty, and I’ll try and highlight particular pieces to aim for based on their stats! Things change, however, and so do stat priorities. If things change massively, I will obviously edit this and future guides, but at the moment, the best secondary stats for each spec in Warlords is as follows:

• Affliction: Mastery ~ Haste > Crit ~ Multistrike > Versatility
• Demonology: Mastery > Haste > Multistrike ~ Crit > Versatility
• Destruction: Crit = Mastery > Haste = Multistrike > Versatility

Also, it’s important to note that a lot of these pieces of gear drop from more than one boss! Weapons and trinkets appear to be tied to specific bosses, but other gear types can drop from many.

So with that in mind, let’s start with:

Vigilant Kaathar

Remember, all heroic dungeon drops are item level 630!

Kamui’s Crystalline Staff of Wizardry
2h Staff
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+118 Versatility
+958 Spell Power
+101 Mastery

There’s better weapons out there, probably.  

Cord of Arcane Mystery
Waist
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+72 Critical Strike
+91 Haste

Good in a pinch for any spec if you can’t get anything better!

Cord of Swirling Light
Waist
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+84 Versatility
+84 Mastery

Every spec likes Mastery! Every spec doesn’t really care about Versatility.

Felflame Belt
Waist
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+74 Critical Strike
+90 Multistrike

Possibly good for Destruction.

Frost-Touched Cord
Waist
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+86 Critical Strike
+80 Mastery

Great for all specs! Destruction in particular.

Lightbinder Girdle
Waist
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+89 Haste
+76 Multistrike

Tasty for Affliction in particular

Darkflame Loop
Ring
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+60 Haste
+65 Mastery

Affliction and Demonology ring of choice. Nice for Destruction too!

Diamondglow Circle
Ring
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+66 Critical Strike
+57 Haste

The, um, other ring of choice.

Golem’s Gleaming Eye
Ring
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+69 Critical Strike
+52 Versatility

Crit makes it okay if you can’t get anything else.

Mark of Ice
Ring
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+63 Critical Strike
+63 Multistrike

Destruction wants this. 

Signet of Shifting Magics
Ring
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+49 Versatility
+71 Mastery

You probably can guess what I may say about Versatility by now, but the Mastery on this item makes it nice for any spec at a push.

Soulbinder Nyami

Soulcutter Mageblade
Main Hand Sword
+72 Intellect
+107 Stamina
+51 Critical Strike
+42 Haste
+956 Spell Power

If you’re going for a 1H/OH combination instead of just plumping for a staff, this is good for all specs, but Teron’gor later on drops something better. ’cause Mastery.

Alc’s Pendant of Fiery Dreams
Neck
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+64 Mastery
+61 Multistrike

Every spec likes Mastery, and Affliction is liking Multistrike most at the moment. Item of choice for Affliction!

Demonbinder Cabochon
Neck
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+72 Haste
+48 Versatility

Have a guess. You can do better.

Magister’s Chain
Neck
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+63 Critical Strike
+63 Mastery

Demonology necklace of choice.

Necklace of Endless Shadow
Neck
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+67 Critical Strike
+55 Versatility

Every stat is so much better than Versatility at the moment.

Felflame Robes
Chest
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+106 Versatility
+115 Mastery

Mastery! Versatility. There’s better out there.

Frost-Touched Robes
Chest
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+113 Critical Strike
+109 Versatility

No.

Lightbinder Robes
Chest
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+95 Haste
+121 Mastery

Demonology? Affliction? Go for this one.

Robes of Arcane Mystery
Chest
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+127 Critical Strike
+85 Haste

Probably best for Destruction. Sad there’s no Crit/Mastery robe.

Robes of Swirling Light
Chest
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+103 Critical Strike
+116 Multistrike

Your second choice for all 3 specs.

Azzakel

Bracers of Arcane Mystery
Wrist
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+63 Critical Strike
+63 Haste

Affliction all the way!

Bracers of Swirling Light
Wrist
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+55 Versatility
+67 Multistrike

Nope.

Felflame Bracers
Wrist
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+49 Haste
+71 Multistrike

Good as a second choice.

Frost-Touched Wristwraps
Wrist
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+48 Critical Strike
+72 Mastery

Demonology and DEFINITELY Destruction want this one!

Lightbinder Wristwraps
Wrist
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+57 Haste
+66 Versatility

Versatility sounds so good on paper, but every other secondary is just way better.

Felflame Grips
Hands
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+84 Versatility
+84 Multistrike

Usual Vers advice.

Frost-Touched Gloves
Hands
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+80 Versatility
+86 Mastery

Mastery is always good.

Gloves of Arcane Mystery
Hands
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+70 Haste
+92 Mastery

Certainly best for Affliction and Demonology. Maybe Destruction too.

Gloves of Swirling Light
Hands
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+76 Critical Strike
+89 Multistrike

Destruction is loving Crit, and Multistrike is always fun to see, let alone use.

Lightbinder Gloves
Hands
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+96 Critical Strike
+64 Haste

Possibly a better choice than the above. Marginally.

Teron’gor

Dagger of the Sanguine Emeralds
Main Hand Dagger
+72 Intellect
+107 Stamina
+36 Haste
+956 Spell Power
+54 Mastery

I mentioned this weapon above. If you favour a 1h/offhand setup, then this is your weapon of choice for Demonology and Affliction.

Cloak of Arcane Mysteries
Back
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+63 Haste
+63 Mastery

Haste and Mastery are both tasty stats for any spec, so if you don’t have the legendary cloak (believe it or not, it’s still best in slot at this point!) this is a good alternative.

Drape of Frozen Dreams
Back
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+66 Critical Strike
+57 Mastery

Cloak of choice for Destruction, barring the legendary cloak.

Felbone Drape
Back
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+72 Critical Strike
+48 Haste

Decent third choice if you haven’t got the legendary cloak, and the Haste/Mastery one doesn’t drop.

Forgeflame Greatcloak
Back
+94 Intellect
+141 Stamina
+65 Versatility
+60 Multistrike

You really want the Arcane Mysteries one. Not this one.

Felflame Legwraps
Legs
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+87 Versatility
+126 Multistrike

Whopping chunk of Multistrike which is lovely. That’s nearly 2% worth!

Frost-Touched Legwraps
Legs
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+120 Haste
+98 Versatility

A good chunk of Haste, but really any other stat would be preferable to Versatility sadly.

Leggings of Swirling Light
Legs
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+106 Mastery
+115 Multistrike

Best choice for Affliction and Demonology, and a good second choice for Destruction because MASTERY.

Lightbinder Leggings
Legs
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+118 Critical Strike
+101 Mastery

A brilliant piece for Destruction.

Trousers of Arcane Mystery
Legs
+167 Intellect
+251 Stamina
+111 Critical Strike
+111 Haste

No Mastery, but these are still a good drop for all 3 specs.

Felflame Sandals
Feet
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+89 Critical Strike
+76 Haste

Good backup for any spec.

Frost-Touched Boots
Feet
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+74 Haste
+90 Versatility

These frosty boots leave me feeling COLD. Again, Versatility is a bit of a waste at the moment.

Lightbinder Treads
Feet
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+80 Haste
+86 Mastery

Best for Demonology and Affliction thus far.

Sandals of Arcane Mystery
Feet
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+64 Critical Strike
+96 Mastery

Well hello Destruction!

Sandals of Swirling Light
Feet
+126 Intellect
+189 Stamina
+84 Versatility
+84 Multistrike

You know by now what I am going to say.

ALERT, ALERT! The 6.0 PTR Is Up!

6.0 PTR Live!

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/14279268439#1

What does this mean?

• The PTR will mimic what the Warlords 6.0 pre-expansion patch will be like. It’ll have the stat squish in effect, but no Draenor just yet.
• Presumably this means it’ll focus on the pre-expansion questline in the Blasted Lands.
• Level 90 is still the cap.
• Garrosh Heirlooms will be a 100% drop in 6.0, but will stop dropping when Warlords go live.
• The Feat of Strength associated with the Garrosh normal kill will be unobtainable, meaning the Kor’kron War Wolf mount will be unavailable.

I mention those last 2 points as a bit of an urgency warning. If you wanna get the Feat of Strength and the mount, then you better do so quickly within the next 3-4 weeks. You still have a while to collect heirlooms, but they will drop more readily!

Need a bit of advice on preparing for 6.0, and what is vanishing? Wowhead has a guide for you!

We’re entering the home straight, folks. Keep your head up!

Warlock News

FYI about the Shadowbolt change: That was done a while back to get spell ratios closer to right. Demo damage still will come back up.

— Celestalon (@Celestalon) September 9, 2014

We just have to be patient, fellow warlocks!

#warlords #wow #PTR