Triumph Badge Priority

[Waerlogah]

I'm going out of my mind trying to decide what to purchase next, and what overall direction to go. Between the non-tier lvl 245 haste shoulders, and the Ony 245 head, should I still go for the 4 piece T9.25 non-heroic, or will the dps increase from the Ony head and non-tier haste shoulders output more than 10% to Immolate and Corruption? Run on sentence ftl. Here is an armory link http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...all&n=Waerloga. A couple of notes: I have used Rawr, Simcraft, and RhadidTip (or whatever its called) addon, and read WoMB and EJ regularly to determine the best upgrade. I am also unguilded, so I don't have a regular raiding schedule, but like sooo many others, I have no problem clearing 10 and 25 toc, Ony and VoA. 10 Togc has been fail-ish. I have no intention of crafting Merlin's Robe or the other one for the fact that spending 6k on orbs when Icecrown Citadel is right around the corner seems silly. I'm looking for practical advice from other players and suggestions. My damage is near the top always, and I'd like to continue the trend. Thanks in advance for taking the time to look and respond.

[DreamOfTheRood]

You're a warlock. Honestly, they should be handing those things over to you like candy just for coming to their raid, so you should come out of a ToC run with all five trophies. It's only fair. However, I suppose you must be very forgiving - much more so than I - so I would replace the helm next. Do that, and then you can replace whichever of the tier 8s that you want.

The general rule of thumb is to not break a set bonus until you can replace it with a better set bonus.

[Nangz]

You're a warlock. Honestly, they should be handing those things over to you like candy just for coming to their raid, so you should come out of a ToC run with all five trophies. It's only fair. However, I suppose you must be very forgiving - much more so than I - so I would replace the helm next. Do that, and then you can replace whichever of the tier 8s that you want.

The general rule of thumb is to not break a set bonus until you can replace it with a better set bonus.

u know idk which is better for shit situation



or

[DreamOfTheRood]

Always go with Picard.

[Nam]

The 2pT8 / 4pT9 is worth about 250+ dps and therefore irreplacable. As the Onyxia-headpiece ist very strong, I suggest keeping both the T8-pieces until you can get two T9-pieces in one go.
I'm currently in the same situation: crafted Merlin's Robe for a very significant dps upgrade, currently waiting for the last ~40 Emblems to get 4pT9, carrying a Trophy, gems and enchants and the ready-to-go T9-pants with me all the time :-) There is no better way, unfortunately. Probably I should have invested money instead of emblems for the robe, but it's too late now :-)

[Waerlogah]

I appreciate the response from everyone. I didn't intend for my post to sound douchey or arrogant, I was feeling frustration more than anything at the time. My interest was to see what the lock community was doing and for people to share their thoughts and experiences.

[gherkin]

Based on what you have and your response to Merlin's Robe:

Don't upgrade anything.

Sell crusader orbs and just wait for drops. It's a douche move but at least you'll have the cash to buy all the stuff you want when ICC is released and the orbs there are 1k and Crusader orbs are 300g.

[Waerlogah]

I am collecting badges and trophies to purchase the third and fourth pieces of T9.25 in one fell swoop. Merlin's robes are sexy as hell, but orbs are still going for 800g - 1k on my server, and of course, I have alts...

[gherkin]

My question - Why bother? You don't want to have the best of the best (i.e. merlin's robe) so why do you care about 4pc T9? Just skip it altogether and go into ICC fully stocked with cash, and well geared alts.

[Waerlogah]

I hear what you are saying, but the T9 chest and shoulders are a clear upgrade from the 8.5, and I have been working towards those gear replacements anyways, though haste will be an issue. I am usually a min - max player, and I still may end up crafting the Robes depending on drops and prices. This post wasn't about my ignorance in realizing what items are BiS, and my commitment to my toon, it was about the non-tier haste shoulders and non-tier upgrades versus the T9 4pc bonus. Locks have a decent amount of choice for gear right now, and consulting the armory to look at different locks on my server has yielded no clear consensus on upgrade priority, including obtaining the T9 4pc.

[gherkin]

T9 4pc at iLVL 245 is what you want then. However based on your play style I still recommend not upgrading anything.


I raise an eyebrow at "usually min/max player" if a trivial thing like gold is causing you to change item choices.

[Deleted]

Picard never fails btw.

I don't get this, you have used several different programs to determine best possible gear and still refuse to craft merlin's robe? Hell I just pick up whatever is an upgrade and I even want merlin's robe...

And yeh, same opinion as most people. Why are you even bothering since ICC is just around the corner?

[Jenerena]

Gold is easily farmable. Yea one of my guildies offered to help pay for the Merlins robe so i owe them a great deal at the moment which is a pain, but i could get that gold in a week if i get off my arse. Do i regret it? No! The robe is awesome, and knowing my character is very very well geared and ready for what IC throws then i'm happy.

Go for the 4 piece T9. you'll be swimming in badges by the time IC comes out, so you'll have chance to get everything you need.

[Tanksenior]

Always go with Picard.

This.

And I think items with set bonus>items without, when they are the same iLvl. Unless it's a healer item ofc. >.<.

[Waerlogah]

I don't get this, you have used several different programs to determine best possible gear and still refuse to craft merlin's robe? Hell I just pick up whatever is an upgrade and I even want merlin's robe...

Most of the programs show the Royal Moonshroud as a better upgrade than Merlin's because of the insane amount of +Spirit since I am Life Tap glyphed. To answer the question, since I don't have a shot at the 25H T9 helm, my BiS is essentially the lvl245 helm from Ony 25, and if I craft the robes, then I lose on the 4pc T9.25 non-heroic set bonus. That was the point of this post to start. Grab the non-tier haste badge shoulders, crafted robe, and Ony head while keeping the 2pc T9.25 from legs and hands, or go for the 4pc bonus. I'm striving for the 4pc and the Ony 25 head right now, and I'm sure that will work out fine.

[gherkin]

You might want to consider the difference between Ony 25 and 245 T9 head pieces vs Crafted and T9 245 chest piece. I have a suspicion that the chest is so poorly itemized vs Merlin (or what have you) that it wins out by a greater difference.

[rfarris]

> I have a suspicion that the chest is so poorly itemized vs Merlin ...

This

[Waerlogah]

I agree on the itemization totally, hence my dilemma. It's ridiculous that the T9 lacks haste sans shoulders. Simcraft shows that spirit and haste return roughly the same dps, and since destro locks itemize hit>sp>haste, it places the Ony 245 Helm, T9 chest and crafted robes in the same ballpark. The Life Tap glyph gives a lot of extra sp on top of the IotDS, Dying Curse and Lightweave procs. The question remains if the 4pc 10% to immolate is < or > the haste/spirit/sp from Ony head, crafted Robes and non-tier haste shoulders. Like I said earlier, I see many locks making many different decisions and that is why I posted here on the forums. Thanks to everyone that responded. Badge and trophy collecting continues...