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  1. #1

    Epic gems patch 5.4?

    Ok so we know that patch 5.4 is the last raid tier and we always get Epic gems in the last raid tier patch. So the question is have they just not been data mined yet, or are they just getting rid of this?Also Epic gems have been hard to balance around as if you either have to proc them from a source, buy them from a vendor or mine them ( BC ) or as in cata a chance as you get an item that allows you to get a "chance" at a epic gem with a 100% rate from the last boss.


    Thoughts?


    ps I think they might be doing away with them as everything seems to be on accessibility as of late, and the extra stats are hard to balance if they make them too much of a RNG issue like with cata.

  2. #2
    The Insane Aquamonkey's Avatar
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    They're probably not going to bother with it anymore for the sake of profession perk balance.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Aquamonkey View Post
    They're probably not going to bother with it anymore for the sake of profession perk balance.
    I agree, but are they going to take backlash from the community? Which side of the community will have the big problem? Will people feel the pain of not having that kind of small upgrades over time or will the valor upgrades make up for this?

  4. #4
    Mechagnome
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    Quote Originally Posted by Purenight View Post
    I agree, but are they going to take backlash from the community? Which side of the community will have the big problem? Will people feel the pain of not having that kind of small upgrades over time or will the valor upgrades make up for this?
    I would rather see them keep the Valor upgrades in place then add in epic gems once more. Atleast not how they did it with Cata and getting them from DS in general. There was far to much RNG on the rate you could get them. I think they should (if they do add them again) be something you have to work for but clearing a Raid and turning in Mote of darkness and Deathwing stuff for a chance drop of epic gems really sucked when you get a very long string of bad luck and get nothing at all.

  5. #5
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    I couldn't care less about epic gems. They don't offer interesting gameplay, they just sink your gold.

    That, and I'm a JC so naturally biased against having my bonuses lowered even more.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Twansition View Post
    I couldn't care less about epic gems. They don't offer interesting gameplay, they just sink your gold.

    That, and I'm a JC so naturally biased against having my bonuses lowered even more.
    also epic gems screw with blue gem prices, which is bad. BAD I SAY

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Purenight View Post
    Ok so we know that patch 5.4 is the last raid tier and we always get Epic gems in the last raid tier patch. So the question is have they just not been data mined yet, or are they just getting rid of this?Also Epic gems have been hard to balance around as if you either have to proc them from a source, buy them from a vendor or mine them ( BC ) or as in cata a chance as you get an item that allows you to get a "chance" at a epic gem with a 100% rate from the last boss.


    Thoughts?


    ps I think they might be doing away with them as everything seems to be on accessibility as of late, and the extra stats are hard to balance if they make them too much of a RNG issue like with cata.
    Just a major note- Cata was the ONLY patch were the last raid tier was the ONLY source of epic gems. In TBC, while epic gems dropped from T6 content, you could acquire them through transmuting them. In Wrath, epic gems were made available during Ulduar, the second (out of 4) tiers in Wrath, and not from the raid, but from prospecting Titanium, and through transmuting em.

    The fact that Epic Gems were only available from DS, and that you would get, at minimum, one per clearing of the instance, probably irked alot of players and was another contributation towards DS being the worse tier in existance.
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  8. #8
    Never felt it was necessary before.

  9. #9
    Don't expect they'll return this xpac. As others have noted, DS left an ugly taste in some people's mouths as the ONLY source for them.

  10. #10
    With scary news about no gear for VP in 5.4, I am afraid that in order to preserve any value of VP, epic gems will cost some heavy chunk of VP.

  11. #11
    I think gear upgrading is the only thing they need here to "maximize" your end tier gear. Epic gems have always been added near the end of an expansion to give you the motivation to go further with your gear, and we have better mechanics for that these days.

    I hope, no epic gems. We'll see though.

  12. #12
    Mind if I roll need? xskarma's Avatar
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    If there were going to be epic gems we'd have heard about them by now, I assume. Don't think the many annoyanced epic gems brought were worth the tiny bit of fun of having epic gems in your gear. In the end it's just a minor thing that needed to be balanced for, we're of perfectly well without it.

  13. #13
    Doubt it, it'll probably just be the raid and that's it, no need to change anything or add extras in. Besides, if there were epic gems I would assume they'd have been datamined already.

  14. #14
    Doesn't look like it at this point.

    The whole JC vs. BS thing is a solveable problem, they could just make it so the BS sockets can only take blue gems, and buff the JC gems accordingly. Simple thing to do, I think the only reason they've never bothered is that they don't really care about profession bonus balance since it's such a small impact on your overall dps/hps/etc.

    But of course it's even easier not to have them at all.
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  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Twansition View Post
    I couldn't care less about epic gems. They don't offer interesting gameplay, they just sink your gold.

    That, and I'm a JC so naturally biased against having my bonuses lowered even more.
    Ever since they introduced profession bonuses in Wrath, when epic gems came out, they increased the amount of all profession bonuses accordingly as it gave blacksmiths an advantage. But still, epic gems were a pain to deal with anyway.

  16. #16
    I think there should still be epic gems, but they need to change the way they work.

    Traditionally they are just higher stats to their rare gem cousins, and yes, they throw off the balance of other profession perks, so why do they have to be stats?
    Why couldn't they be the same stats as the rare gems, but have procs on them? For example, the rare delicate gems have 160 agi, why couldn't the epic delicate gems have 160 agi and a chance to grant 1000 AP for 5 seconds on a successful attack?
    Or have a set bonus (ie 2 gems give you +100 of your highest stat)?
    Or have class specific bonuses (Rogue: Epic gem gives you 160 agility and increases Rupture duration by 2 seconds).

    Do any of the above, make them unique-equipped, and the problem is solved (even JC only gems won't be useless)!

    With so many options on the table, it seems silly to me that epic gems have to be removed because no one could figure out a better way to keep them in the game. Epic gems having static stats are the problem, not the gems themselves.

  17. #17
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    they should step back from the concept of epic gems imho. in the past they only served to force heroic raiders into spending tons of mony and handing it to dupers and rerollling from jc. also they dont add anything gameplaywise.
    it would work be okayish if you could only use a limited amount of epic gems and/or make them available through transmutes though.

  18. #18
    I doubt we'll ever see em again this late in an xpac.
    Its already confirmed there is no 5.5 planned at this point (they might make one, but its rather unlikely it will include a full raid tier, otherwise they would have said they where working on something already), and with an new expansion releasing spring 2014 it would really make for a short implementation anyway.
    I could imagine they will bring em back, either earlier in an expansion cycle (6.2/6.3) but not in a way we currently know.
    Maybe as a weekly quest (as the barren weekly currently) but not as a profession item.
    It was a pain anyway, insane pricings the first few days, hardly anyone crafting the non toptier gems causing weird price/worth issues and blue gems falling to vendorworth on the AH. Ive seen people sell em at a loss since they didnt take the AH cut into account while listing em.
    The statgains when fully gemmed where tiny compared to a blue gemmed char with the same gear so meh.

    Good riddance tbh.

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Purenight View Post
    I agree, but are they going to take backlash from the community? Which side of the community will have the big problem? Will people feel the pain of not having that kind of small upgrades over time or will the valor upgrades make up for this?
    This is quite honestly one of the first posts I've read about if epic gems will be in 5.4. Me thinks the majority don't really care, to be honest. Having purple color gems isn't going to be better or worse. Keep it as is, I say.

  20. #20
    Mind if I roll need? xskarma's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Smoketh View Post
    I think there should still be epic gems, but they need to change the way they work.

    Traditionally they are just higher stats to their rare gem cousins, and yes, they throw off the balance of other profession perks, so why do they have to be stats?
    Why couldn't they be the same stats as the rare gems, but have procs on them? For example, the rare delicate gems have 160 agi, why couldn't the epic delicate gems have 160 agi and a chance to grant 1000 AP for 5 seconds on a successful attack?
    Or have a set bonus (ie 2 gems give you +100 of your highest stat)?
    Or have class specific bonuses (Rogue: Epic gem gives you 160 agility and increases Rupture duration by 2 seconds).

    Do any of the above, make them unique-equipped, and the problem is solved (even JC only gems won't be useless)!

    With so many options on the table, it seems silly to me that epic gems have to be removed because no one could figure out a better way to keep them in the game. Epic gems having static stats are the problem, not the gems themselves.
    Interesting take on gems, but I'm going to assume it would be a nightmare to balance. Might be interestign if they want to spice up JC at some point.

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