Gear Changes in Patch 5.4.8

[Archmage Alodi]

that' would be really helpful to help us take last few bosses down . Gj BLizz

[announced]

this is actually decent news. ive been vp capped and at all 574 gear so.. hurray for 582 gear lol once this comes out.

[Deleted]

They need to remove the weekly cap tbh ffs.

[Spotnick]

I know it's world's first problem, and that a very tiny part of the player base cares about this, but it's a bit sad they are totally killing the idea of the Cutting Edge FoS by not removing it.

Maybe they should do like Herald of the Titans and put an iLvl maximum to get it, so it actually still means something until 6.0 for people getting it.

[threads]

The best part is that they seemed to not have put any thought into what this will do to alts, pugs, world pvp, etc. Didn't they just add new pvp gear to close the gear gap? Lol now that's gone. Can't get to that 550 ilvl to pug Flex? I'm sure it'll be 565+ after this. Have fun playing alts when they're 50 ilvls behind.

[JemiS]

Alts are one thing, new/returning players are the ones that are really screwed, imo.

[psyquest]

I know it's world's first problem, and that a very tiny part of the player base cares about this, but it's a bit sad they are totally killing the idea of the Cutting Edge FoS by not removing it.

Maybe they should do like Herald of the Titans and put an iLvl maximum to get it, so it actually still means something until 6.0 for people getting it.

unfortunately FoS means nothing. If they removed special mounts/titles of the past completely then may be. But currently FoS means nothing.

[justflayin]

I honestly can't see how this is changing anything for anyone. If anything it just makes farm quicker, pugs more bearable. Raging to rage IMO.

[Dasani]

So, it's basically the "SoO nerf" without actually nerfing SoO, so I like it.

Exactly. It's like a meager attempt at reverse psychology. Instead of nerfing the instance, they buff all the gear across the board and people act like they're getting stronger instead of the raid getting weaker. Sad thing is, anytime they do shit like this, people eat it up.

I'm a bit sad though that these SOO nerfs are going to allow even more people to get the feats for doing garrosh normal as well as garrosh heroic who couldn't have earned it otherwise. Why bother having limited time achievements and rewards if they're just going to make it so anyone can get it? Might as well leave it so anyone can get it at all times.

- - - Updated - - -

They need to remove the weekly cap tbh ffs.

Until I started selling challenge mode runs, I was also annoyed by the weekly cap and wished it did not exist so people who played more could get more stuff, as it should be.

However, after I started selling challenge modes, combined with valor from bosses I would earn over 5,000 valor per week just through rather casual (time wise) playing.

Although I suppose you could argue there's no reason to gate valor since you cant use it to buy gear that is worth a shit so it's kinda pointless aside from upgrading items. But still.

[Deleted]

All I can think of when reading this is, my main's gonna love this, and my alts are gonna hate it with the fire of a thousand suns.

Haha cant be more agree on that. My main will really love it because he is VP capped, have around 70k timeless coins. So first week i can upgrade 8 items and next reset instantly upgrade 2 more with coins and Garry boy will go down faster than he ever imagined he could do it
But my alts will have very hard time. It will feel like back when item upgrades were introduced for first time and they costed 750 for a single upgrade. I had to plan my next upgrade and save VP for the following ones. Now it will be even harder, because my alt will actualy need 1 000 VPs to upgrade a single item and we all know that this is the weekly cap. So my brand new shamy im leveling now will need rougly 15 weeks to upgrades his SoO gear.
WoW... just ... WoW

[IxilaFA]

How do you figure? I have to upgrade my gear again, which means I need VP. I can upgrade 6 of my current 15 items with the VP cap I currently have. That means I need an additional 5k VP, which is 5 weeks grinding. How exactly do I not have to grind VP?

Full-clearing Siege of Orgrimmar is enough to give you 560 valor alone. Doing a couple of Heroic Scenarios would take you half an hour, at max. If you consider a half hour - hour of work grinding, then you probably didn't play any older MMOs.

Explain to me how it's better? Because you feel like you're progressing? You aren't. You're artifically progressing by spending a currency which serves no other purpose than to gate your power gain. It's a ridiculous solution to both problems ("SoO is too hard" and "There's nothing new until WoD in 6 months")

Nerfing the content changes the way that the fights work. If Sha's Swelling Pride no longer does significant damage, you don't need to pop CDs for it, etc. That's just one quick example. Buffing players means they still have to find ways to handle the mechanics and deal with the fight, since gear alone will never down a boss for you.

Because I'm a progression raider, which means I do everything possible to make my main character the best it can be, whether I like doing it or not. The end justifies the means, but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy grinding content which serves no purpose other than being a time sink. Does anyone enjoy crushing Heroic Scenarios in 4 minutes? I don't.

I actually enjoy it a lot. Maybe it's because I'm a healer and love being able to go DPS and smash things. But seriously, you signed up to be a progression raider and admit yourself that you do anything you can to make your main character the best. Grinding 1k valor every week is hardly the most annoying thing that progression raiders have ever had to deal with.

i'm not even going to upgrade gear on alts unless I'm 3k capped or have a BiS piec after seeing this.

Exactly this. I don't get all of the alt complaints: I understand that you want your alt to be well-geared, but when it comes to alts you're either A) Playing them enough that grinding valor isn't really an issue, or B) Don't play them enough, at which point you don't really need to upgrade their gear anyways.

Upgrades are a way of nerfing content and making your gear better, it's not an enchant or a gem that is absolutely essential to get so that you will get accepted into PUGs, etc.

unfortunately FoS means nothing. If they removed special mounts/titles of the past completely then may be. But currently FoS means nothing.

The entire point of the FOS being added was so that people who downed an end-tier boss before it was nerfed would have something to show for their efforts. Now that the people going into Heroic Garrosh after 5.4.8 have 10% more power than other guilds who completed it before them, the achievement should be taken away.

[Maddoc]

Exactly. It's like a meager attempt at reverse psychology. Instead of nerfing the instance, they buff all the gear across the board and people act like they're getting stronger instead of the raid getting weaker. Sad thing is, anytime they do shit like this, people eat it up.

I'm a bit sad though that these SOO nerfs are going to allow even more people to get the feats for doing garrosh normal as well as garrosh heroic who couldn't have earned it otherwise. Why bother having limited time achievements and rewards if they're just going to make it so anyone can get it? Might as well leave it so anyone can get it at all times.

- - - Updated - - -



Until I started selling challenge mode runs, I was also annoyed by the weekly cap and wished it did not exist so people who played more could get more stuff, as it should be.

However, after I started selling challenge modes, combined with valor from bosses I would earn over 5,000 valor per week just through rather casual (time wise) playing.

Although I suppose you could argue there's no reason to gate valor since you cant use it to buy gear that is worth a shit so it's kinda pointless aside from upgrading items. But still.

I agree with you (only 3/14 HC myself). Even though adding the extra ilvls no doubt will be of use, I feel kinda bad for the guys fighting to get the FoS, if we can come and get it with much less struggle... But it's still PTR, so this might change, hope they remove the FoS

[Mormolyce]

So, it's basically the "SoO nerf" without actually nerfing SoO, so I like it.

Yeah it's a cool system and keeps VP relevant for longer. Wonder how they'll do it in WoD.

- - - Updated - - -

Exactly. It's like a meager attempt at reverse psychology. Instead of nerfing the instance, they buff all the gear across the board and people act like they're getting stronger instead of the raid getting weaker. Sad thing is, anytime they do shit like this, people eat it up.

I'm a bit sad though that these SOO nerfs are going to allow even more people to get the feats for doing garrosh normal as well as garrosh heroic who couldn't have earned it otherwise. Why bother having limited time achievements and rewards if they're just going to make it so anyone can get it? Might as well leave it so anyone can get it at all times.

Cheer up emo kid? This is a better system than nerfs.

You realise that every week after HM SoO opened the content got easier because you got better gear? The upgrades just continue this curve of "nerfs". If you want to do the content at its original difficulty, join Paragon and do it on week 1.

Or like, vendor all gear upgrades after the first week the raid opened and refuse to use the upgrade system lol. CONGRATS BRO YOURE NOW HARDCORE!

[nekobaka]

All I can think of when reading this is, my main's gonna love this, and my alts are gonna hate it with the fire of a thousand suns. I really hope Blizz does something for those who are acquiring new gear to catch up without having to literally spend a week's worth of VP on a single item.

Not specifically because you are going to hate it but the gear upgrade system is there in place of the nerfs because of the grinding aspect. Blizzard isnt looking in getting an extra month from players from them being excited over a nerf, they are looking over getting an extra month or two from players having to grind and be active in content that has to also be done on other characters which could net maybe another month. Maybe a player gets reinvigorated and gears up another alt which could add another month there which could then add up to maybe three or four months that overs more than a quarter and effectively two quarters worth of reports.

So far no idea when this patch hits, but having it timed for meeting the quarterly subscriber deadlines wouldnt be out of the picture.

[Didacticus Syntacticus]

The entire point of the FOS being added was so that people who downed an end-tier boss before it was nerfed would have something to show for their efforts. Now that the people going into Heroic Garrosh after 5.4.8 have 10% more power than other guilds who completed it before them, the achievement should be taken away.

The "entire point" of the FOS is to do it while the tier is still current. It has nothing to do with whether any changes/nerfs/other gear options have been added.

If you have a normal mode Garrosh kill during this tier you are in and will remain in a fairly small group of players.

[Deleted]

Funny how ppl can moan about everything.
These are nice changes, guilds/players who are still struggling with progression will be able to get a little boost quite easily (upgrading weapons/trinkets, other stuff is not really that vital).
Noone is being forced to grind valor or anything - if you were able to kill hc garrosh before, u dont really need to upgrade ur gear. If you weren't - well, there's a chance for you.
Either way, noone should complain. But yet I see players having a problem with not being able to instantly upgrade full gear on their 7th alt OS.

[xenogear3]

This is different from SoO nerf.

1 More $15 for Blizzard. More WORK for players. Good JOB.

2 PvP players are secondary class. (Blizzard's meta is Raid first right now.)

[Saphyron]

To those who is whining about the feat of strength, do i need to remind you what it says again?

Defeat Garrosh Hellscrean on 10/25-Player Normal/Heroic difficulty, prior to the release of the next tier of content.

It has never said anything about defeat this boss before it gets nerfed. it has allways said defeat this boss before next raid tier comes out.

So please stop being a special snowflake. Cause the feat of strength you belieave in does not exist.

[Artemol]

I FRIGGING LIKE IT

(Mostly because if you're smart,you'll be at 9k when the patch comes out)

[Marxman]

Noone is being forced to grind valor or anything - if you were able to kill hc garrosh before, u dont really need to upgrade ur gear.

This statement shows a staggering lack of understanding about how progression raiding works.

I understand why this is being done. It gives players something to do while they wait for the long, LONG overdue expansion and it helps what few remaining non-14/14 heroic raiding guilds are left get through the content slightly easier. It keeps people playing, even if it is a completely underhanded and absolutely transparent ploy to do so.

Here's the problem with the above paragraph though: if you're still raiding now, your subscription was likely fairly safe from Blizzard's POV. It's not heroic raiders leaving the game, it's casual players who are tired of running the same LFR for 10 months. Those kinds of players have no use for item upgrades, so I fail to see how this keeps them playing. All it does as I said before is help what remaining non-14/14 heroic guilds are left get through the content and add another grind for established players... which is completely unnecessary.