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Fireside Chat Episode 8 VoD, Weekly News Recap, The Burdens of Shaohao - Parts 4 & 5

Patch 5.4 - Tier 16 Hunter Armor Set
Keep in mind that this is just a preview and the final set may be different!





Flex Difficulty Feedback
Flex difficulty needs more testing and feedback, so be sure to give it a try if you have time this weekend!
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Many thanks for the excellent feedback thus far.

On Malkorok in particular, a bit more breathing room between the final Implosions and Breath wouldn't hurt (on Normal as well), and Blood Rage is actually doing more damage than it should be for our current Flexible tuning (a bug).

As for Flexible mode in general, we'll be reducing the overall difficulty relative to Normal across the board for our next PTR test. It's also quite possible (likely, even) that specific mechanics are overtuned on Normal as well, which will of course translate to excessive difficulty on Flexible as well -- we don't consider our Normal mode tuning final yet by any means.

I'd like to briefly clarify Flexible mode's target audience and what that means regarding how we tune the content: Flexible mode is primarily for roughly the audience served by 10-player Normal raiding in Wrath of the Lich King (10 Normal used to be a tier lower than 25 Normal). Not every guild that raids is a raiding guild, if that makes sense. I'd say that Flexible mode is for social groups that raid; Normal mode is for raiding guilds (and Heroic is for hardcore raiding guilds). That distinction consists of factors such as whether or not the group will ever recruit based on class needs, or remove someone based on performance (or even openly criticize them).

But a friends-and-family group is far from a ragtag pickup group. We're assuming that you have a leader running the show, are communicating, and are willing and able to coordinate a strategy and execute individual mechanics. Also, unlike Looking For Raid, which has a relatively flat difficulty level and which is designed to be successfully completed by all appropriately-geared players, Flexible mode entails progression. You'll learn and farm earlier fights to work your way up towards the more demanding ones deeper in the zone. A boss like Malkorok is Boss 9 of 14, and is generally designed as such. I'd compare him to bosses like Rotface or Festergut in Icecrown Citadel. Those certainly saw plenty of PUG action later in the 3.3 patch cycle, when the zone-wide Icecrown buff had ramped up a bit and the strategies were widely-known.

Now, will players form PUGs for Flexible Siege of Orgrimmar? Absolutely -- and we're excited at the prospect. But that's an organic process that will evolve over time, if we get the tuning right. I don't recall very many Trade chat PUGs waltzing into Icecrown Citadel in January 2010 and killing Festergut.

Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Legendary Cloak
In vanilla and every expansion before MoP we had legendary weapons to anticipate. Why isnt there any in MoP?
Weren't happy with the entitlement feel of DWrath and Fangs. If we do leg weapons again, we'd likely make them much rarer. (Source)
Either forget legendaries, or accept that people want OP items, and OP for some means unbalance so make it easy..
Legendary weapons are kind of OP by their nature. That's fine. Last few we just made it so every potential user could get. (Source)

I am thoroughly disappointed with the legendary being a cloak. All of this work throughout the xpac and we don't use it again.
What do you mean by "don't use it again?" (Source)
it disapp. me that now there's a leg. for everyone and it's a cloak thats shaped like a towel and clips models. Why no weapon?
We feel like we've done that a lot before. We want to keep things fresh. When rewards are too predictable they get boring. (Source)
Precedent is the problem. Ppl expected awesome weapons. Disappointed by dish towels (however awesome they may be)
Imagine the problems with this sentence: "I can easily predict what WoW will do next based on precedence." (Source)

Also is the proc. from the Tanking Cloaks working while in a DPS spec ?
No, you'll have to be a legit tank to benefit from the tank proc. (Source)

Why gate the new world boss using the legendary cape? Seems arbitrary and bad for alts.
I still struggle to understand wanting lots of alts but not having to play them as much as a main. Isn't that the point of an alt? (Source)

Reforging
And yet you think about changing reforging or even removing it.
My experience is that most players just use an add on or website to tell them how to reforge. (Source)
It probably works the best for healers, since sufficient regen is a feel thing, not something you can dictate. (Source)

I do like reforging to make poor items (haste trink for fury war) easier to swallow. I don’t like it for hit/exp though.
Yeah, the cascades where getting one new item causes you to reforge all are the worst. (Source)
Do you think it's more of a hit/exp-as-a-capped-stat issue then?
Certainly part of it, but we also don't like all the work that has to go into a drop before it's ready to wear. (Source)
Aren't enchants and gems and valor upgrades (and maybe transmog) enough? (Source)

Characters / Items
how do you feel having Pandaren shared between both factions has worked out? Would you do the same if new races were added?
Not a fan of it overall. We just didn't want to deny anyone Pandaren. (Source)

Was creating a humam char yday, all faces look awful! Compared with mop/cata races... new models can't get here fast enough.
Yep. Pretty much. (Source)

Can you please explain to me why the tier sets for tier 16 look so bland and tasteless? & why season 14 rogue looks like plate
Response to tier art is so ridiculously subjective that I long ago gave up trying to understand player reaction to it. (Source)
The advice I gave before is provide feedback on the kind of designs you'd like to see for future tiers and not just shout BAD. (Source)

Is the current Challenge Mode gear still going to be attainable next exp, or will it go away for good??
Current plan is you can still try to obtain it since it scales your gear. Not 100% sure though. (Source)

Random question, Do you think you'll ever have (8) set bonuses again?
I think it's unlikely in PvE. I'm not a fan of players ignoring all pieces except tier sets. Makes loot less interesting. (Source)

What is your opinion on the fact that when everyone can get 'Epics' the term 'Epic' is cheapened.
I feel like some of that is just standard mudflation. Would earning your way from blues to epics feel the same after 9 years? (Source)

of course they can be, but blizz prefers to ignore the storage space issue. Be lucky to see a fix even next xpac.
We aren't ignoring it. We just don't believe near infinite storage is necessary. We don't like e.g. 100 slot bags. (Source)

PTR notes: RPPM proc rates for items that proc haste, wont benefit from haste to proc more?? huh?
The interaction of RPPM with haste made those mechanics more powerful than intended. (Source)
We had cases where RPPM trinkets were a 10%+ damage increase and situations where no non-RPPM trinket would ever compete. (Source)

Any chance of Void Storage ever having the deposit cost removed? That's why I never use it. Withdraw makes more sense.
Transmog was originally conceived as a way to wear older tier sets. It has grown into much more though. (Source)
Given that, we don't think the current UI necessarily supports the feature as well as it could. (Source)

Computers - Setup of the Month (by chaud)
Each month or every 2 months, depending on the hardware evolutions, the lovely chaud will work on a couple of hardware setups for those of you who are thinking of upgrading their computer!

This month
The current SSD prices are stable, with most SSDs under $1 per gigabyte when on sale.

The new Haswell CPUs from Intel are here and they run a little bit on the warmer side. Depending on how much you want to overclock, you may need to spend a bit more for a better CPU cooler like the NH-D14 or H90.

Unless you are doing a lot of video rendering or something that is similarly multithreaded, you do not need the 4770K and should spend that money elsewhere.

Make sure to keep your AMD and Nvidia drivers up to date.

Don't hesitate to post any feedback in the comments of that news post, and don't forget to visit the Computer Forum for any extra questions! If you are interested in Folding@home, take a look in our team's thread.


Peripherals/Monitors
ComponentPuppy Dolphin
MonitorAsus VS229H-P 21.5" LED IPS Monitor - $135ASUS VS248H-P 24-Inch Monitor - $170
KeyboardKensington Pro Fit Media Keyboard - $18Cyborg V.5 - $47
MouseLogitech G400 - $47Razer Deathadder - $50
SpeakersCreative A220 2.1 Speaker System - $26Logitech Z313 Speaker System - $36
ComponentNarwhal Unicorn
MonitorASUS VE278Q 27-Inch - $260HP ZR2440W 24-inch - $370
KeyboardLogitech G510 - $90Razer BlackWidow (Backlit)- $60 ($121)
MouseLogitech G500 - $45Razer Naga (Buttons on the Side) - $70
SpeakersLogitech Z323 2.1 Speaker System - $59Logitech Speaker System Z523 - $70


Puppy and Dolphin
ComponentPuppy Dolphin
CaseNZXT Source 210 - $40NZXT Source 210 - $40
Power SupplyCorsair CX500 - $50XFX Core Edition PRO 550W - $50
CPUAMD FX-6300 - $125AMD FX-8320 - $145
HeatsinkCooler Master Hyper 212 Plus - $28Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - $33
MotherboardASUS M5A97 R2.0 - $100ASUS M5A99FX PRO - $120
MemoryKingston HyperX Blu 4GB 1333 - $358GB G.Skill DDR3 1600 - $70
Graphics CardXFX 7770 - $97ASUS 7870 2 GB or ASUS GTX 660 Ti - $200 / $199
Hard DriveWestern Digital Caviar Blue 500GB - $55Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB - $85
DVDAsus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW - $22Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW - $22
Total$552$765


Narwhal and Unicorn
All of these parts can be mixed and matched to create a build between Narwhal and Unicorn. SSDs are always optional.
ComponentNarwhal Unicorn
CaseCooler Master HAF 912 - $50Corsair Air 540 (Special Layout) - $140
Power SupplyCorsair 650TX V2 - $90Corsair 750HX - $110
CPUIntel i5-4670K - $219Intel i7-4770K - $330
HeatsinkThermaltake Frio - $57Noctua 6 NH-D14 - $77
MotherboardASUS Z87-A - $112ASUS Z87-PLUS - $165
Memory8GB G.Skill DDR3 1600 - $7016GB G.Skill DDR3 1600 - $137
Graphics CardMSI 7950 OR MSI N760 TF - $240 / $260MSI 7970 OR Gigabyte GTX 770 - $350 / $400
Hard DriveWestern Digital 1TB Caviar Black - $85Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black - $85
SSDSAMSUNG 840 128GB (Review) - $98
OR
Plextor 128 GB M5 Pro (Review) - $120
Corsair Neutron GTX 120GB (Review) - $125
OR
SAMSUNG 840 Pro 128GB (Review) - $130
DVDAsus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW - $22Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW - $22
Total$1043 - $1085$1492 - $1574


Weekly News Recap
Another busy week full of news, so here is your chance to catch up!

This article was originally published in forum thread: Tier 16 Hunter, Flex Difficulty Feedback, Blue Tweets, Setup of the Month, News Recap started by chaud View original post
Comments 92 Comments
  1. themightysven's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by kaldonir View Post
    Hunters are now lighthouses.
    Hunter 4 piece tier bonus: Gunshot noise replaced by Foghorn
  1. Soulfròst's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by themightysven View Post
    Hunter 4 piece tier bonus: Gunshot noise replaced by Foghorn
    At least they'll sound less annoying now.
  1. Garehn Vi-Brittania's Avatar
    i almost threw up when i saw that tier for hunters. Thank god for transmog.
  1. Nzx's Avatar
    "Why gate the new world boss using the legendary cape? Seems arbitrary and bad for alts.
    I still struggle to understand wanting lots of alts but not having to play them as much as a main. Isn't that the point of an alt?"

    This man is trying very hard to make me dislike him. It has been many, many years that I have watched the WoW community attack him for every single change that goes wrong with this game and not once have I blamed it on him. Yet with this tweet he is essentially saying he doesn't understand his own game.

    The idea of alts is to have something you can enjoy playing while your main has hit all of the random, stupid, pointless and arbitrary caps that Blizzard has set for a character's progression per week. However, most people who raid don't have the luxury of "alt runs" or server populations conducive to pugging raids, hence it becomes extremely difficult, time consuming and tedious to have to continously repeat the same grind for a legendary cloak that allows you to fight a boss you should already be able to fight. It makes no sense whatsoever at this stage of the game to not have the cloak be an account-wide flag to allow access to the boss. The RNG grind for sigils and runestones and secrets and all that rubbish is bad enough the first time (not to mention completely uninteresting, uninspired rubbish that you would expect to find in leveling quests, not legendary questlines) and is not something they should expect people to do twice, let alone three or four times if you have several alts.
  1. Sarix's Avatar
    That is one god awful tier set
  1. ben-'s Avatar
    I dont understand GC's war against alts. I quit playing because LFR on multiple characters is very unappealing ( get on the bus and look at the sights) and the population on my realm isn't conducive to trying to do normals on more than 1 character ( even thats not an easy thing to accomplish). Having those alts and being able to do stuff was something that kept me subbed for so many years. /shrug
  1. Airwaves's Avatar
    What the hell is with teirs not matching the classes. Rogue looks like plate armor and hunter looks like a rogue teir...
  1. Resentful's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Airwaves View Post
    What the hell is with teirs not matching the classes. Rogue looks like plate armor and hunter looks like a rogue teir...
    There not even trying anymore hahahaha all good I got transmog

    good excuse right.
  1. Strafer's Avatar
    That is not a good Hunter tier set. >.<
  1. Laylriana's Avatar
    That hunter tier set is awful. I remember that Cyclops helm from WOTLK, just can't remember which class had it. Hunters need light gear - gear they can move quickly in - not gear that looks like a deep-sea diving suit.
  1. Daws001's Avatar
    That Hunter tier set is bad ass.
  1. Airwaves's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by I make people mad View Post
    There not even trying anymore hahahaha all good I got transmog

    good excuse right.
    Oh I think the set looks cool... Just not for a hunter

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Laylriana View Post
    That hunter tier set is awful. I remember that Cyclops helm from WOTLK, just can't remember which class had it. Hunters need light gear - gear they can move quickly in - not gear that looks like a deep-sea diving suit.
    That would be rogue set from icc
  1. Maleagant's Avatar
    Not a fan of that Hunter set.If I could get Blizzard to design a Hunter outfit I would give them this as a starting point.No LED lights or animal head helmets.
  1. Treima6's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Maleagant View Post
    Not a fan of that Hunter set.If I could get Blizzard to design a Hunter outfit I would give them this as a starting point.No LED lights or animal head helmets.
    So...Van Helsing rip-off? No thanks.
  1. Mr. Smith's Avatar
    Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
    We aren't ignoring it. We just don't believe near infinite storage is necessary. We don't like e.g. 100 slot bags. (Source)
    Christ, I hate when they say this.

    I don't care that they want to solve the storage issue in a way more elegant than increasing bag space by x amount every expansion, that's fine.

    But despite the fact that they realize this is an issue, in MoP they added dozens of bank-space devouring toys and transmog sets and whatnot, it's like seeing a small fire, thinking to yourself,"Hm, I don't know how to handle this!", and then pouring gasoline on the fire while you try to figure out what to do.

    There really needs to be another Void Storage tab, or another bank slot or two, something to temporarily remedy the problem while they try and find this fabled Long-Term Solution.
  1. Eiznel24's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Smith View Post
    Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
    We aren't ignoring it. We just don't believe near infinite storage is necessary. We don't like e.g. 100 slot bags. (Source)
    Christ, I hate when they say this.

    I don't care that they want to solve the storage issue in a way more elegant than increasing bag space by x amount every expansion, that's fine.

    But despite the fact that they realize this is an issue, in MoP they added dozens of bank-space devouring toys and transmog sets and whatnot, it's like seeing a small fire, thinking to yourself,"Hm, I don't know how to handle this!", and then pouring gasoline on the fire while you try to figure out what to do.

    There really needs to be another Void Storage tab, or another bank slot or two, something to temporarily remedy the problem while they try and find this fabled Long-Term Solution.
    Well, I remembered when I played Rift, stacking went up to 99 for most items. Was suuuper convenient when it came to mats and made for less trips to a vendor
  1. phuzi0n's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Airwaves View Post
    What the hell is with teirs not matching the classes. Rogue looks like plate armor and hunter looks like a rogue teir...
    If anything, I would call it a paladin look, but really it is an Iron Man ripoff.
  1. notorious98's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by ironfists View Post
    i almost threw up when i saw that tier for hunters. Thank god for transmog.
    Yeah. It's thoroughly god awful.
  1. Kaleredar's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Kektonic View Post
    When those cloaks even sniff the stats of the legendary cloak feel free to let me know.
    So? You can't "instantly" get the legendary cloak; you'll likely have seen your cloak drop in between now and actually obtaining the number of whatevers from SoO required to upgrade it. Nor would this one cloak, even in legendary form, make up for otherwise poor gear... Are you going to bench a person in your dedicated heroic raid team in favor of a guy you saw parading around in the cloak and LFR gear?
  1. DeathbyFrostBomb73's Avatar
    That's gotta be the laziest looking hunter set I have seen in awhile.

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