WoW XIX: This is my Artifact. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

[MCerberus]

I used Blood spec on that fight. It took about 7 minutes because the Lichking healed himself up to full.

Had more trouble with the 3 mobs + quest mob pull right before that honestly. As frost you just scythe those packs into oblivion

[Psyren]

Shadows play to their hearts content and still get outDPSed by Havoc Demon Hunters using their 4 skills (to be a little fair, the hardest part of Havoc DH is staying out of the fire due to your fighting style).

Wait, what? Shadow is the best ranged dps in the game right now and only a couple of specs have it beat overall. Havoc is decent but doesn't come close, and even melee Hunters have them beat right now.

Also, druids have some really complicated talents that play to the strengths of the other specs. The cat talent for passive run speed or the resto talent for passive healing might make a difference in your questing speed.

Can I just say I love that they did this? It really makes them feel like the hybridiest hybrid (if I can use that non-word) which in my mind is exactly how druids should feel.

I can actually quest in Resto spec with Balance Affinity because Moonkin form and Starsurge means it doesn't take me 2 years to kill everything.

[Spore]

I had somewhat a change of heart towards Shadow. Now that my own main has a decent item level and more importantly a bit more Haste the pieces are falling together. Their trash DPS is still ... trash. :)

I can actually quest in Resto spec with Balance Affinity because Moonkin form and Starsurge means it doesn't take me 2 years to kill everything.

Why wouldn't you quest in Balance Spewc with Resto Affinity? If you are not keeping a team of at least two friends alive I don't see the need of leveling in a healing spec.

[Psyren]

Why wouldn't you quest in Balance Spewc with Resto Affinity? If you are not keeping a team of at least two friends alive I don't see the need of leveling in a healing spec.

Oh I will - once I have the Balance artifact.

(Which is a general complaint I have about the artifact system in general - one of the reasons I main hybrids is because I don't want to do just one job. But alternate specs get shafted a bit by this system, never mind alternate characters.)

[Spore]

I agree. But at least for me it has created some sort of engagement with my main character that I haven't had with an MMO character in a long time. I value my gear and experience with my Priest. The last time I had this was with a High Priest in Ragnarok Online whose Korean origins intensified the grinding. Just to get to High Priest status meant months of grinding monsters. It has been eased up since then.

Now I am not saying that the lore behind the artifacts is pleasant for my immersion but it forces people to advance with a single character rather than doing all the basic stuff with 11 characters (as I did on WoD, only to be bored after 1,5 months).

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

Boy am I feeling RNG in a way I never have before. This is the fist expansion where I'm actually preparing to raid in release, and the game has decided that what a Prot Pally gets in drops is crit, crit, and more crit. My worst stat. Wheeeeee.

I've literally been replacing 840-845 crit gear with 850 crit gear, and only have 7.5% haste and 9% versatility (my best stats) on anything above 825. Alas.

[Haruspex_Pariah]

Boy am I feeling RNG in a way I never have before. This is the fist expansion where I'm actually preparing to raid in release, and the game has decided that what a Prot Pally gets in drops is crit, crit, and more crit. My worst stat. Wheeeeee.

I've literally been replacing 840-845 crit gear with 850 crit gear, and only have 7.5% haste and 9% versatility (my best stats) on anything above 825. Alas.

Unfortunately from the Q&A sessions Blizzard are convinced that RNG stats on gear are great for the game! Won't you feel super duper awesome when you finally get that drop with the stats you actually wanted? Players become sad when they can predictably map out their character's progression. Apparently.

[Djinn_in_Tonic]

Unfortunately from the Q&A sessions Blizzard are convinced that RNG stats on gear are great for the game! Won't you feel super duper awesome when you finally get that drop with the stats you actually wanted? Players become sad when they can predictably map out their character's progression. Apparently.

Wouldn't mind it so much if you could trade dungeon gear, but apparently that's something no one should be allowed to do if it's an iLvl increase. Who decided on that system I have no idea, but my Frost Death Knight buddy is swimming in Verse and Haste, and I have his Crit. We can't trade ever as it's always like a 5 level increase.

[The_Jackal]

Wouldn't mind it so much if you could trade dungeon gear, but apparently that's something no one should be allowed to do if it's an iLvl increase. Who decided on that system I have no idea, but my Frost Death Knight buddy is swimming in Verse and Haste, and I have his Crit. We can't trade ever as it's always like a 5 level increase.

It's because the personal loot system has a slightly higher drop rate than normal, so they don't want premade teams gaming personal loot to get itemized faster.

[Seerow]

It's because the personal loot system has a slightly higher drop rate than normal, so they don't want premade teams gaming personal loot to get itemized faster.

Yeah gearing up faster for premades is a big reason. The other side of it is in random groups, it doesn't feel good to be harassed to pass loot that is an upgrade for you to somebody else just because they might be able to make slightly better use of it. (and depending on the premade group, this applies even to some premades). The whole point of personal loot is when it drops, it's yours; but making it fully free tradeable would open up a lot of room for abuse and bad feelings. With the way it is, if an upgrade drops you can legitimately say "Nope, literally can't trade it sorry dude".

[The Glyphstone]

Weirdly, I've been seeing 'hey, I don't need this, anyone else want it'? in Mythic PUGs all the time.

[Psyren]

Now I am not saying that the lore behind the artifacts is pleasant for my immersion but it forces people to advance with a single character rather than doing all the basic stuff with 11 characters (as I did on WoD, only to be bored after 1,5 months).

Thing is though I actually want to do it on multiple specs, because each spec has its own storyline now. It's not like WoD where I'm a crappy commander of the same crappy garrison and liberating the Frostwolves every time regardless of class or race.

The very mechanic that makes me want to play alts is also making it harder :( They should just let me go get all 3/4 artifacts right away if I choose and then level the way I want to - it's not like the quests are all that artifact-specific once you've gotten it!

[Spore]

Thing is though I actually want to do it on multiple specs, because each spec has its own storyline now. It's not like WoD where I'm a crappy commander of the same crappy garrison and liberating the Frostwolves every time regardless of class or race.

The very mechanic that makes me want to play alts is also making it harder :( They should just let me go get all 3/4 artifacts right away if I choose and then level the way I want to - it's not like the quests are all that artifact-specific once you've gotten it!

So you're moping about the two hour wait between 100 and 102? Oh my. Yes, it is annoying to tell your friend that "No, healing now would be unwise because I haven't quested for the healing artifact yet" but other than that this is really a minor complaint.

Even skilling two or even three artifacts is not something that is that hard. My Priest has 14/15/15 now. Now if you want several toons with ALL of their specs skilled up you need more time. But then again, WHY are you doing this anyhow? If for the story, then a single spec suffices.

[Psyren]

So you're moping about the two hour wait between 100 and 102? Oh my. Yes, it is annoying to tell your friend that "No, healing now would be unwise because I haven't quested for the healing artifact yet" but other than that this is really a minor complaint.

Even skilling two or even three artifacts is not something that is that hard. My Priest has 14/15/15 now. Now if you want several toons with ALL of their specs skilled up you need more time. But then again, WHY are you doing this anyhow? If for the story, then a single spec suffices.

Chill out, I'm not "moping." I didn't realize that at 102 you could get all of the remaining ones instead of just one additional one. But since they're clearly okay with unlocking multiple secondary artifacts at once, they should just let you get them all at 100.

[Spore]

I didn't know you got offended by that. Sorry. Also considering your intricate knowledge of Pathfinder I thought you had known that.

[Tono]

If nothing else your class hall has some weapons you can buy and use until you hit 102.

[Psyren]

I didn't know you got offended by that. Sorry. Also considering your intricate knowledge of Pathfinder I thought you had known that.

I'm not offended either, though the attempts to divine/assume my mental state (rather than just asking me) are getting annoying :P

I also don't see what Pathfinder has to do with WoW?

If nothing else your class hall has some weapons you can buy and use until you hit 102.

This I didn't know, I actually ended up using my Broken Shore intellect staff (I healed my way through that scenario since I didn't feel comfortable tanking it) to nab G'hanir and the Scythe.

Speaking of G'hanir, I noticed you actually get a Title for picking up this artifact. Do any of the others do this?

[Requizen]

Hunters don't get the title until after the main questline. I dunno about other classes.

I caved and bought the hidden skin for Titanstrike. The bow is pretty cool even if it is a bit goofy looking. Would really like Serpentbite, though.

BM PvP is super fun. Summon 10000 animals, always move never stop, Disengage and laugh.

[Antonok]

So has anyone managed a legendary yet? And if so, where'd you get it?

[Icewraith]

So has anyone managed a legendary yet? And if so, where'd you get it?

Nope.

I did score a nice BoE 850 Mail headpiece in a Mythic (note to self- remember to throw that up on the AH), but so far nothing orange from this expansion.

Strategy question- for people who need gear, should I try and run heroics or regs with them, or tell them to do world quests first? Option two seems like I'm being a bit lazy and selfish, but I'm pretty sure I've gotten a lot more gear from world quests than I have from Reg/Heroic dungeons at this point. I can try running a world quests group, which I'm sure many dps will appreciate for dealing with Wardens bosses, but because some people will have done some of the quests but not the others it seems like a huge exercise in herding cats.

Any idea what recommended and "minimum" item levels might be for raids tomorrow?

[Delusion]

Did some more class tiral testing. This time as the affliction warlock. And I surprisingly loved it. Didn't expect to, but then again I really like multidotting. Just bit afraid that the lack of AoE unless specced into it and the low mobility might get tiring in the long run.

I'd be thinking about balance druid but afraid that the new starfall might take away that multidotting feeling.

[The_Jackal]

Did some more class tiral testing. This time as the affliction warlock. And I surprisingly loved it. Didn't expect to, but then again I really like multidotting. Just bit afraid that the lack of AoE unless specced into it and the low mobility might get tiring in the long run.

I'd be thinking about balance druid but afraid that the new starfall might take away that multidotting feeling.

I really like affliction, and given my current deep misgivings about the state of my beloved frost mage (I now dub thee: tickle mage), I'm sorely tempted to make the switch (the main thing keeping from doing so is that you can't make a night elf warlock). As for the lack of mobility, the only real downside to running (so long as you keep your dots refreshed with pandemic) is that you'll lose out on some channeling time on Drain Life/Drain Soul, and thereby some more Unstable Affliction damage. But in large part, the benefit of being DoT based is that movement hurts you the least of all caster classes.

[Antonok]

(the main thing keeping from doing so is that you can't make a night elf warlock)

Why would you be a would be mana addict Night Elf when you can be 200lbs of sheer awesome in a 3ft gnome?

Strategy question- for people who need gear, should I try and run heroics or regs with them, or tell them to do world quests first? Option two seems like I'm being a bit lazy and selfish, but I'm pretty sure I've gotten a lot more gear from world quests than I have from Reg/Heroic dungeons at this point. I can try running a world quests group, which I'm sure many dps will appreciate for dealing with Wardens bosses, but because some people will have done some of the quests but not the others it seems like a huge exercise in herding cats.

World quests is where I got most of my gear. Heroics are good but unless you have stupidly good luck, gearing thru upgrade procs takes a while.

Any idea what recommended and "minimum" item levels might be for raids tomorrow?

Usually normals are tuned for heroic gear, so I'd say 830ish for Normal; 840-845ish (mythic geared) for Heroic.

[Delusion]

I really like affliction, and given my current deep misgivings about the state of my beloved frost mage (I now dub thee: tickle mage), I'm sorely tempted to make the switch (the main thing keeping from doing so is that you can't make a night elf warlock). As for the lack of mobility, the only real downside to running (so long as you keep your dots refreshed with pandemic) is that you'll lose out on some channeling time on Drain Life/Drain Soul, and thereby some more Unstable Affliction damage. But in large part, the benefit of being DoT based is that movement hurts you the least of all caster classes.

Oh yeah that part of mobility was nice. I was just refering to how long it takes to jog from place A to place B.

[Legoshrimp]

So has anyone managed a legendary yet? And if so, where'd you get it?

I got one from the last nightfallen WQ crate.

It was the crit/haste ring. I am a fire mage so it isn't the best, but it isn't bad at least.

Raiding looks like it should be fun. It is going to be my first time raiding at launch.

Any idea how JC rings work? I have made a few, but I am not entirely sure what restrictions there are. Can you get a crit only roll on a crit ring? My guess is no, but I am not sure. Also JC is stupid you need level 700 to unlock the neck enchants .

[The_Jackal]

I got one from the last nightfallen WQ crate.

It was the crit/haste ring. I am a fire mage so it isn't the best, but it isn't bad at least.

Raiding looks like it should be fun. It is going to be my first time raiding at launch.

Any idea how JC rings work? I have made a few, but I am not entirely sure what restrictions there are. Can you get a crit only roll on a crit ring? My guess is no, but I am not sure. Also JC is stupid you need level 700 to unlock the neck enchants .

No matter how mediocre Legion crafting may be, it's a huge improvement on the suckwallow that was Warlords' crafting.

Oh yeah that part of mobility was nice. I was just refering to how long it takes to jog from place A to place B.

Did the Paladin or DK keep their bonus mounted speed? Otherwise, the Mage is the only real king of travel left.

[Delusion]

Did the Paladin or DK keep their bonus mounted speed? Otherwise, the Mage is the only real king of travel left.

Can't use mounts when indoors though. And my main is a demon hunter so I have been getting used to the awesomeness that is doublejump + glide.

[Spore]

IIt was the crit/haste ring. I am a fire mage so it isn't the best, but it isn't bad at least.

Aren't those Fire Mage's best stats though?

I'm not offended either, though the attempts to divine/assume my mental state (rather than just asking me) are getting annoying :P

I can't just ask any forum user about their mental state. Sometimes you gotta assume (Sense Motive yannow? :P).

I also don't see what Pathfinder has to do with WoW?

It is usual that people who inform themselves about one topic pretty well tend to inform themselves about most topics involving their person pretty well. But I guess my general assumption fails me here.

[Psyren]

I can't just ask any forum user about their mental state. Sometimes you gotta assume (Sense Motive yannow? :P).

Well you rolled a natural 1 here my friend.

It is usual that people who inform themselves about one topic pretty well tend to inform themselves about most topics involving their person pretty well. But I guess my general assumption fails me here.

Why yes, knowledge about a tabletop game that is based on static books/decade-old-rules and knowledge about a video game that can get (and indeed was) massively overhauled and crammed with brand new content in a single patch are totally comparable

No matter how mediocre Legion crafting may be, it's a huge improvement on the suckwallow that was Warlords' crafting.

From the brief exposure I've had to it, I'm supremely glad I skipped WoD. Requisitions? Needing to put profession buildings in your Garrison, and they're mutually exclusive with other buildings you might want? Ugh.

Speaking of WoD, I had a question for those leveling alts through it - I've found myself doing Frostwolves -> Arakkoa every single time up to 98 when I can go do Broken Shore. Is there another quest route or indeed anything else one can do for the 90-100 sprint? I got a couple of alts to 100 using the Invasions and really wish those were still going on.

Did the Paladin or DK keep their bonus mounted speed? Otherwise, the Mage is the only real king of travel left.

Paladin still has it and I'm pretty sure it applies to their indoor mount too. You can also talent into getting two charges of it and (in tank spec at least, I forget about the other two) halving the cooldown.

[turbo164]

Speaking of WoD, I had a question for those leveling alts through it - I've found myself doing Frostwolves -> Arakkoa every single time up to 98 when I can go do Broken Shore. Is there another quest route or indeed anything else one can do for the 90-100 sprint? I got a couple of alts to 100 using the Invasions and really wish those were still going on.

A common strat was to do 99% of a bunch of bonus areas (the yellow outlines that give gold/xp; if they ask you to kill 8 hydras and break 20 eggs, just kill 8 and break 19) and gather all of the Gorgrond monster trophies (Biolante/Roardan etc) without turning them in yet.

Once everything's almost done, drink an xp-increase potion, then turn in all of the items and do the final kill/click in all of the bonus areas. Gain multiple levels in 15 minutes, after some prep of course.

I usually did intro quests -> Arak as well, though. Home Away From Home gives a little bonus xp, full questline gives a bodyguard (not that you'll need him in Legion), cool lore etc.