Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian

[Surfd]

I think the point is that this time around, Naxx is the end, there is nothing after that. So once it is complete, and everyone has their Tier sets, the next thing to do it get Atiesh for each of the available users.

Oh, no doubt people will run it and re-run it to death. That's not really the point. The point is that it is probably an average 3 months investment per individual staff, on the minimum. Even assuming there are dozens of Naxx raids happening per week (possibly highly unlikely), it is going to be YEARS before a significant portion of the Naxx raiding community even comes close to completing them. Not to mention the amount of burnout and people just quitting over time. I mean, I might be a bit fuzzy on how many pieces of loot each boss drops, you could probably fully gear your entire raid in Naxx gear before you even complete your second staff. How many people are going to stick around to help get Mages/Locks/Priests/Druids a staff when the other half of the classes in the game will have nothing further to get from the raid by then?

[Afrospinach]

Saying that everybody who wants one theoretically can get one is missing the point a bit: You needed to farm like 40 of those staff fragments. If you were INSANELY lucky, maybe you might get 3 or 4 of them per full clear of Naxx. That means that on average, it took you nearly 3 months to complete a single Staff Handle. If you are unable to Full clear naxx, it takes even longer.

Given the amount of people who will be competing for this thing, and the fact that the total number of people capable of raiding Naxx is going to be a limited, finite amount, you will be lucky if you see more than a dozen of the things within the first year of Naxx being available. Sure, everyone who wants one will eventually be able to get one, but it's not like it is going to be a Fast process, since splinter drops per raid is going to be a severely limiting factor.

I mean, 9/10ths of Naxx raids are likely going to be "Atiesh Splinters reserved for Bob, don't like it, make your own", and honestly, how many simultaneous Naxx raids do you really think a single Classic Server is going to be able to realistically support at once? I guarantee you that number is not going to be very high.

I agree with everything you have said.

I think it will be harder to get a naxx raid together in Classic than it was in vanilla but we shall see. This will likely be a very rare item - which is awesome because that was a lot of what vanilla was about.

I will leave my friends , I will leave my girl , I will leave my family, i will leave job . Just for this staff . This staff worth as my life .

I think you are ready for classic raiding!

[Kathandira]

Oh, no doubt people will run it and re-run it to death. That's not really the point. The point is that it is probably an average 3 months investment per individual staff, on the minimum. Even assuming there are dozens of Naxx raids happening per week (possibly highly unlikely), it is going to be YEARS before a significant portion of the Naxx raiding community even comes close to completing them. Not to mention the amount of burnout and people just quitting over time. I mean, I might be a bit fuzzy on how many pieces of loot each boss drops, you could probably fully gear your entire raid in Naxx gear before you even complete your second staff. How many people are going to stick around to help get Mages/Locks/Priests/Druids a staff when the other half of the classes in the game will have nothing further to get from the raid by then?

Don't underestimate people's addiction = )

It certainly will take a long time, and I don't expect to see 1/2 the players in major cities flaunting their Atiesh. But I can see seeing a few here and there.

[avitush]

Is the staff that much better than anything else? What classes benefit most from it?

I remember hearing people say that it lasted well into T4 raiding, at least for mages. Not sure how accurate that is though. Nobody on my server actually got one. Our top guild could clear Naxx up to KT but never actually downed him.

I mean, I guess it's canonically a mage staff too, so I would imagine it has to be insanely strong for mages. I've always wondered more about the Karazhan portal myself. I guess it was cool as a flavor thing, but I can't imagine any practical use for it in Classic.

[Kathandira]

Stats for each staff are shown on this site.

https://wowwiki.fandom.com/wiki/Atie...ardian_(druid)

https://wowwiki.fandom.com/wiki/Atie...uardian_(mage)

https://wowwiki.fandom.com/wiki/Atie...rdian_(priest)

https://wowwiki.fandom.com/wiki/Atie...dian_(warlock)

[RealRevChris]

Okay, your point is?

Just like real classic, 90% of "raiders" will do MC and Ony and that's it.

But 100% of those will prove you wrong & raid AQ & Naxx.

[solinari6]

Weird ... why do the druid and priest versions of that staff not have a group buff?

[jackofwind]

you couldnt be more wrong. this staff requires nothing special. getting the rod from cthun happens without any more effort than what it takes to kill the boss, same for the headpiece from kelthuzad. getting the 40 splinters is basically the same.... it just requires u to raid naxx as you would normally do until u have all 40 pieces...
then u need a grp of aq40 geared ppl to go into stratholme and kill 1 boss. thats it.
comparing that to the things needed for thunderfury, sulfuras, the hunter staff/bow or anethema/benediction or even the scarablord title
atiesh doesnt even require any noteworthy gold or anything.. it just requires u to raid as you normally would and if u do it for long enough, u can take a detour to stratholme and get the damn thing. so simple.

My dude people will burn out LONG before they ever get 40 splinters. I didn't say it requires especially difficult things you need to do, I said it requires vastly more work -which it absolutely does. There's going to be a fuckload of people wanting the staff and an equally long reservation list for shards in every guild. It takes about 3 months to make a single staff, assuming the person actually keeps playing that whole time, gets decent RNG, and shows up to full clear every raid (and this assumes guilds are even full clearing Naxx at all.) Good luck with that if you think you're going to get one in your raid with 20+ m/w/p/d.

You can't buy/RNG your way to Atiesh like you can with Sulfuras, and you can't RNG/ezPugraid your way to it like TF. Benediction and Rok/Lok aren't even legendary items so I don't know WTF you're on about there.

- - - Updated - - -

Weird ... why do the druid and priest versions of that staff not have a group buff?

They do, Druid has MP5 and Priest has Spell DMG.

[solinari6]

They do, Druid has MP5 and Priest has Spell DMG.

Oh, I missed that, because the Mage/Warlock has 3 on equip effects, and the druid/priest ones only have 2. So why's that? lol

[Oakshana]

Oh that's right.

And each classes version had a different coloured ribbon on the staff.

• Mage - Red
• Warlock - Blue
• Priest - Yellow
• Druid - Green

[Celista]

And each classes version had a different coloured ribbon on the staff.

• Mage - Red
• Warlock - Blue
• Priest - Yellow
• Druid - Green

Yeah I think that's why my memory got confused. You're totally right

[Surfd]

you couldnt be more wrong. this staff requires nothing special. getting the rod from cthun happens without any more effort than what it takes to kill the boss, same for the headpiece from kelthuzad. getting the 40 splinters is basically the same.... it just requires u to raid naxx as you would normally do until u have all 40 pieces....

LOL. Yep. Just raid Naxx and 40 splinters will simply fall into your lap. So simple.

Did you perchance completely forget that this is VANILLA LOOT here? Personal loot does not exist. "Quest drops for everyone" does not exist.

In order to get 40 splinters, you first have to convince roughly 3 months worth of Naxx raids that YOU are more worthy of the splinters than the other 20 odd priests/mages/warlocks/druids in that raid who will also personally believe that THEY are more deserving of them then you are. Unless you manage to start and lead 3 months worth of regular Pugs with the up-front stated rules goal that "All splinters belong to me", that means that at best, you might be rolling against HALF your raid for splinters.

Care to guess your odds on completing a staff in 3 months when rolling against 20 odd other players? (here's a hint: expect your staff to be completed some time shortly after the rapture occurs).

Assuming you raid with the same group of 40 people for the entire 3 months you are working on the staff, more than half your raid will be fully kitted out in Naxx gear before you even complete the damn thing. How many of the Non MPWD people are going to stick around and continue raiding naxx indefinitely to get other people Splinters when they are basically fully geared with nothing left to get out of the raid?

[Alvito]

That's true, but there are also lots of people on P servers that are all about raiding (like, shitloads) and are well aware of the prep requirements as well. Many of them have even raided through Naxx on every server that has gotten to that point. Even on those servers there are only a handful of people that end up with Atiesh across both factions.

The big difference between classic and private will be how the raid/zone wide buffs roll out, the pace WB are up, how quickly nodes for herbs/ore spawn, dot/hots double dipping on spell power, just to name a few. Both the prep to raid and the time in the raids are easier on private servers. Not by a ton, maybe, but more than enough to make the worst parts of vanilla seem better. Having more flasks/pots and zone buffs will also make a huge difference on how many people down content, with the removal of some of those things raids fizzle out.

- - - Updated - - -

Weird ... why do the druid and priest versions of that staff not have a group buff?

They do, mp5 for druids and spell power for priests.

[blahdiblah]

LOL. Yep. Just raid Naxx and 40 splinters will simply fall into your lap. So simple.

Did you perchance completely forget that this is VANILLA LOOT here? Personal loot does not exist. "Quest drops for everyone" does not exist.

In order to get 40 splinters, you first have to convince roughly 3 months worth of Naxx raids that YOU are more worthy of the splinters than the other 20 odd priests/mages/warlocks/druids in that raid who will also personally believe that THEY are more deserving of them then you are. Unless you manage to start and lead 3 months worth of regular Pugs with the up-front stated rules goal that "All splinters belong to me", that means that at best, you might be rolling against HALF your raid for splinters.

Care to guess your odds on completing a staff in 3 months when rolling against 20 odd other players? (here's a hint: expect your staff to be completed some time shortly after the rapture occurs).

Assuming you raid with the same group of 40 people for the entire 3 months you are working on the staff, more than half your raid will be fully kitted out in Naxx gear before you even complete the damn thing. How many of the Non MPWD people are going to stick around and continue raiding naxx indefinitely to get other people Splinters when they are basically fully geared with nothing left to get out of the raid?

you dont seem to understand how loot is distributed in vanilla. youre not gonna roll for every shard. thats an absurd idea.
youre gonna be in a raidguild that you raided with from mc/ony days all the way up through BWL, AQ40 and finally naxx. there will be a set order of who gets the staff and every splinter that drops, will be funneled onto 1 person at a time. at a 20-30% drop chance for 12 bosses, roughly 2-5 splinters drop everytime u clear the raid.
youre living in lalaland mister.

[Surfd]

you dont seem to understand how loot is distributed in vanilla. youre not gonna roll for every shard. thats an absurd idea.
youre gonna be in a raidguild that you raided with from mc/ony days all the way up through BWL, AQ40 and finally naxx. there will be a set order of who gets the staff and every splinter that drops, will be funneled onto 1 person at a time. at a 20-30% drop chance for 12 bosses, roughly 2-5 splinters drop everytime u clear the raid.
youre living in lalaland mister.

I know exactly how loot was normally distributed in vanilla, thank you very much. I raided in one of the top Horde Guilds on Tichondrious during Naxx.

Yes. What you say is true. If you are raiding Naxx with a guild, that is basically how Atiesh will likely be distributed. At a thoroughly generous 4 splinters per full clear (not likely to happen for the first month or so of Naxx raids), that would still take you 10 full raids, or 2.5 months to finish ONE staff.

Now answer the blindingly obvious question: What the hell makes you think the average individual player is ever gong to see one of these things? Pretty much the only person who will even have a chance at getting it will be their top player (probably a mage), if it doesn't degenerate into stupid guild drama. At an insanely generous 2.5 months for a SINGLE staff, what do you think the chances are of some random schmuck without a full guild feeding him splinters ever seeing one of these things? And entire guild, funneling all of their splinters to designated people will still, if they are stupidly lucky, complete 4 of them in somewhere around a year. 4. If you end up anywhere other than second on that "set order", you might as well just straight up forget about ever seeing a staff. And considering that you WILL be competing against probably half your raid for a spot on that "list", unless you are sleeping with the GM or literally gods gift to "insert class here", you might as well forget about it.

All of which basically directly contradicts your "just raid naxx, and atiesh will fall into your lap" bullshit. Unless you are one of the elite, privledged few who secure their spot at the top of their guilds funnel list, you aren't going to see shit, no matter how long you "just raid naxx".

People burn out after only a handful of months stuck with the same raid content. You honestly think people are going to stick around for YEARS, long LONG after they have full BIS gear from Naxx, just to get the 6th or 8th person on the "list" a staff?

That, myfriend, is lalaland.

[jackofwind]

The big difference between classic and private will be how the raid/zone wide buffs roll out, the pace WB are up, how quickly nodes for herbs/ore spawn, dot/hots double dipping on spell power, just to name a few. Both the prep to raid and the time in the raids are easier on private servers. Not by a ton, maybe, but more than enough to make the worst parts of vanilla seem better. Having more flasks/pots and zone buffs will also make a huge difference on how many people down content, with the removal of some of those things raids fizzle out.

Agreed, which furthers my point that Atiesh is going to be very exclusive based on the extremely long-term time commitment required.

[Zuvio]

You must first collect the 40 shards. This will from the frame of Atiesh. They drop from randomly from bosses in Naxxramas.

After forming them, u need to visit Anachronos in Tanaris. He will as you to get 2 items:
You must kill Kel'Thuzad: The most powerful mob in the game to date. He drops the Head of Atiesh, and is the final boss in Naxxramas.

You must kill C'Thun, the final boss of AQ40. He drops the tail of Atiesh.

Finally, after obtaining all three parts, you must go to Stratholme to exorcise the evil spirit of Atiesh. This evil spirit drops a legendary 1H sword during the encounter. It can only be used in Stratholme and will disappear if its wielder logs out for more than 15 minutes. The sword has +600 Attack Power. The spirit more specifically, is called: Atiesh <Hand of Sargeras>

I hope someday I'll get it on my mage!

[jackofwind]

you dont seem to understand how loot is distributed in vanilla. youre not gonna roll for every shard. thats an absurd idea.
youre gonna be in a raidguild that you raided with from mc/ony days all the way up through BWL, AQ40 and finally naxx. there will be a set order of who gets the staff and every splinter that drops, will be funneled onto 1 person at a time. at a 20-30% drop chance for 12 bosses, roughly 2-5 splinters drop everytime u clear the raid.
youre living in lalaland mister.

Are you going to raid Naxx for two years straight, never missing a raid, in order to be the ~8th person to get a staff? Is your guild going to want to even raid Naxx anymore since all the non-casters will have long been geared out? What if you get bad RNG and it takes 3 years to even go from #8 to #1 on the list, which is completely plausible?

How is it going to feel when one of the people that gets Atiesh in your guild invariably quits because they're finally fully geared and sick of raiding Naxx?

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I hope someday I'll get it on my mage!

There's an extremely high chance that you won't even play Classic long enough to collect half the splinters.

[Villentretenmerth]

My Goal is to get my Warlock Atiesh and a full T3 Set. I just need to position myself as the Caster-Topdog until Naxx comes out.

[jackofwind]

My Goal is to get my Warlock Atiesh and a full T3 Set. I just need to position myself as the Caster-Topdog until Naxx comes out.

Have fun waiting for all your guild Mages to get it first.