DrainingSouls.net

Just about everyone who played WoW before BC came out remembers the huge, huge jump in gear quality that came with the Outlands. Nearly every piece of gear that I had on my warrior was replaced by the time I was done questing in HFP, and even my GM sword was replaced around level 65. (Just in case you’re curious, the Mag’hari Fury Brand was the replacement.) Blizzard has said they don’t expect the Wrath gear jump to be quite so big, but I’m curious as to what exactly we can expect.

So, now that we’ve got some good data coming in from the Beta, let’s take a look at some Northrend starting-quest greens and see how they compare to the current gear available.

Melee Weapons

Here’s a selection of weapons available in BC from each of the level Tiers:

T4 - Spiteblade - 87.6 DPS

T5 - Netherbane - 96.5 DPS

T6 - Blade of Infamy - 100.2 DPS

SWP (T6.5) - Hand of the Deceiver - 114.4 DPS

And now let’s take a look at some of the Green quest rewards from the starting Northrend zones.

Coldstone Cutlass - 84.8 DPS

Ice-Rimed Dagger - 84.6 DPS

And then here is a Blue drop from one of the bosses in Utgarde Keep, which is the first dungeon that players in Northrend will encounter (the equivalent of Ramparts in HFP).

Arm Blade of Augelmir - 99.8 DPS

So just looking at the raw weapon DPS, the starting quest Greens are essentially equal to T4 weapons, and the Blue dungeon drop is better than T5 and just a shade under T6. The exact stats on the weapon will make them more or less valuable to certain classes/specs, but the DPS level is generally a solid indicator of the weapon’s value.

Caster Weapons

Now let’s look at some caster weapons. The best stat to look at here to compare item quality is Spellpower. From BC:

T4 - Nathrezim Mindblade - 203 SP

T5 - Fang of the Leviathan - 221 SP

T6 - Tempest of Chaos - 259 SP

SWP (T6.5) - Sunflare - 292 SP

And now some starter quest Greens from Northrend:

Vicious Spellblade - 168 SP

Pacifying Pummeler - 173 SP

And a Blue drop from Utgarde Keep:

Keleseth’s Blade of Evocation - 233 SP

So again with the caster weapons, we see that the starter Greens are a bit below T4 in quality, while the Blue drop is in between T5 and T6. Again, some classes/specs will value the other stats differently (such as Spell Hit and Crit), but the spellpower is a pretty solid indicator of the item’s value.

So What’s All This Mean?

From looking at those numbers, it’s possible to make several estimates about the gear coming in WotLK. If you aren’t geared in at least Kara epics when you come to Northrend, expect to replace most to all of your gear fairly quickly. Just about everything you will see from quests will likely be substantial upgrades.

If you are geared in T4 or T5 gear, then you will probably not find too many upgrades from the quests, but the Blues dungeon drops will be at least sidegrades for you (i.e., the DPS/SP will be essentially the same, but the other stats may be more attractive to you).

T6 and SWP geared people will likely not find much at all in the starting zones or dungeons to upgrade to. These people will probably stick with their gear for several levels, and if what we saw in BC repeats itself, upgrades for that gear will start coming around level 75 or so (just as my pre-BC best-in-game-sword was replaced by a quest reward that you can obtain at level 65.)

 Subscribe in a reader

Great video sent in by one of my readers. Ever wonder what your toon is doing when you log him out in that inn?

 Subscribe in a reader

Picking up where we left off, you just received a letter from Khadgar in Shattrath. I’m going to spoil the surprise and tell you what’s in the letter: He wants you to come talk to him. And when you do, all he says is you need to talk to A’dal. Who is two feet away. Why A’dal was too busy to send his own letter I don’t know. Maybe supreme beings of the Light don’t like to use the mail. I’m sure he has his reasons.

Anyhoo, A’dal will now give you three quests to do. They can be completed in any order, and when you have all three done, he will give you one more. Separate from A’dal’s quests, there is also another quest that you must do to obtain the CotN title. This quest is picked up from a naga in Heroic Slave Pens, and can be completed independently from A’dal’s quests. I’ll discuss A’dal’s quests first and then talk about the other one.

Trials of the Naaru

The first three Trials of the Naaru are Strength, Mercy and Tenacity.

Trial of the Naaru: Strength - The Strength trial is pretty straightforward. You have to clear Shadow Labs and Steamvaults, both on Heroic, and loot an item from the last boss of each.

Trial of the Naaru: Mercy - The Mercy trial gets a bit more complicated. It requires you to clear Heroic Shattered Halls and then kill the Shattered Hand Executioner, who is located behind Kargath Bladefist, the last boss of the instance. The tricky part is that you are on a timer - a 55 minute countdown begins as you leave the room of the 1st boss (the Warlock) that leads to the execution of the first hostage. However, despite the quest text saying “not one drop of blood” on the axe, you can still complete the quest if you just save the third hostage. So you actually have 85 minutes to complete the dungeon (55 + 15 + 15).

Trial of the Naaru: Tenacity - The Tenacity trial is also a bit complicated. It essentially requires you to clear Heroic Arcatraz, but with a twist. Millhouse Manastorm, who spawns during the Harbinger Skyriss event from the second prison, must be kept alive throughout the entire event. He brings a good bit of DPS to the fight, so keeping him alive, if possible, is always a good strategy, but this time he must survive to complete the quest.

After you have completed all three of these quests, A’dal will give you the final Trial.

Trial of the Naaru: Magtheridon - This Trial is just what it sounds like: go kill Magtheridon and you’re done here.

The Cudgel of Kar’desh

The Cudgel of Kar’desh - The Cudgel of Kar’desh is the last quest needed for the CotN title. The quest is started by Skar’this the Heretic, who is imprisoned in the Slave Pens, shortly after the first boss (and he only appears in Heroic). This quest requires you to kill Gruul the Dragonkiller in Blade’s Edge Mountains, and Nightbane in Karazhan, and loot an item from each. This quest is also completely independent of the Trials, and can be picked up and completed at any point once you’re level 70.

Once you’ve turned in both the Magtheridon and the Cudgel quests, you are awarded the Champion of the Naaru title!

 Subscribe in a reader