Odd choices for gear changes in 2.3
by Matthew Rossi 
Oct 25th 2007 at 6:30PM
I was browsing the MMO-Champion list of gear changes in 2.3 when I noticed something odd.
A lot of the changes to gear in 2.3 are welcome upgrades, especially in the lower level instances like Shadowfang Keep or Razorfen Kraul. But why, when changing loot in Blackrock Spire, did they change the Warmaster Leggings from tank to DPS pants? Why are three of the better paladin drops in Blackrock Depths being changed to generic DPS plate? It could be a sign of future thinking on the way Retribution Paladins are itemized, it could be intended towards leveling Death Knights (as is suggested in the comments), or there could be some other reason I'm not even remotely close to guessing. (Smarter folks than I suggest that this is just a case of gear that wasn't really good for paladins or warriors at that level getting brought more into line with other item budgets.)
Some changes have clear goals - the Bloodmoon Cloak is clearly now aimed at casters. I've had two warriors that wore it for the stam it used to have, but that's clearly no longer going to be the case. Similarly, a great many items like the Embrace of the Wind Serpent from the Temple of Atal'Hakkar, several items from Maraudon and even more items from BRD are having their stats adjusted by removing their various resistances and adding direct stat boosts like agility and crit. These are changes that make sense to me, but why change the Warmaster's or remove plate geared for paladins?
Have any of the other gear changes made you scratch your head? Do you think this is just a case of items getting improved item budgeting or are changes ahead for how certain classes/specs use certain items?
Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Leveling
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Adam Oct 25th 2007 6:54PM
Retribution benefits much more from STR (and other AP increases) than Spell Damage. This is why they're removing Spell Damage from the Ret s3 set on the PTR. Now instead of these pieces not being worn by anyone (except Shockadins maybe), they are great for both DPS warriors and Ret paladins.
Stephen Oct 25th 2007 6:59PM
The warmaster leggings change makes sense. Honestly, the only way anyone leveling up will see Rend is with at least one person from vanilla Wow who has an UBRS key. The leveling character will generally want DPS gear for the leveling grind over tanking gear. If an UBRS drop will help a player level up, a guildie will be more inclined to them run through it. Of course I'm excluding the 1% of players who will still farm for an UBRS key (or Ony, BWL, Naxx, etc) when leveling.
Argent Oct 25th 2007 7:00PM
i actually chuckle at people thinking that removing all the INT off of plate will actually help ret paladins. losing the spelldamage just makes it less useful for other pally specs as well. that said, if they do in fact tweak ret a little to allow them to get more bang out of generic DPS plate, that can only be a positive.
but i think theres a pretty simple reason why they are streamlining all the plate in lower instances: death knight leveling.
Dave Oct 25th 2007 7:04PM
They were there before as taking equipment because you needed to gear up to... tank.
Since you're not running UBRS as a precursor to doing ZG/MC/etc, I'm not sure why they'd need to be tanking gear anymore. I can't say for pally loot, I have no idea how to level one of those beasts, but as for warrior stuff, i'd say if I got tanking gear before the mid-60's it would be surprising.
Paladung[Mike] Oct 25th 2007 7:14PM
I'm angry I'm losing holy paladin gear that I've worked hard for. I'm level 52 on my paladin and now I lose it all due to "Ret Paladin" possibility changes. I levelled holy for a reason- to be a healer on my server who knew his role and did it well. Now I'm forced to go back to clothie gear to do my job properly.
Bravo Blizzard for being ignorant to the holy spec.
Angelus Oct 25th 2007 7:45PM
Characters who are not done leveling are likely to be DPS Spec to aid in leveling. So these changes make sense to me.
mizatt Oct 25th 2007 7:15PM
I think it probably has to do with the fact that players who are still leveling and slaving their way to 70 are usually in a DPS spec like retribution or enhancement for Shamans or whatever, so this helps players in that stage of the game more
Kyle Oct 25th 2007 7:20PM
I was actually personally suprised by some of the upgrades in lower instancess. For example: the shoulders that drop off of the wolf guy in SFK went from white to blue with rather nice stats. Rahk'zor's Hammer from Stockades, same thing...white to blue with decent stats. Of course its good, but it seemed a tad bit overdone. Now that gear will last WAAAY longer then it used to or even should IMO.
Dan Oct 25th 2007 8:23PM
Thank god my prot aoe-ing ass is already 62. I have the foreman's helm and I'd be pissed as hell if they changed it on me back while I was using it. The new stats are crap as far as prot aoe/holy paladins are concerned.
So basically no reason to go to BRD except maybe the tanking trinket for Prot spec pallys. My 28 pally definitely won't waste any time in there if I continue level her.
Blame it on the death knights, blame it on the retardins - but who cares, it just sucks for the rest of us.
Aquen Oct 25th 2007 10:26PM
My guess for why the changed it...
Since end-game (not the guild on Laughing Skull) is at 70 and not 60, people running the former end-game instance would be looking for leveling gear over tanking/healing gear. Just a guess.
Bobby Hansen Oct 26th 2007 1:08AM
@7: Rahk'zor's Hammer was a common drop from Rahk'zor in Deadmines - it's good that it will no longer bite. Especially since I have several of them on a bank alt - they haven't sold because, well, they suck. And being white, they can't disenchant. And I hate vendoring. So I just held onto them - well now they'll be worth something.
Ben Oct 26th 2007 3:20AM
@8:
Let me spell this out. This gear drops in instances. The instance group is likely to have a tank and a healer. In virtually every instance past Gnomer, a tank and healer are far more effective if they are at least GEARED as tanks or healers. If they are in an instance where this changed gear drops, you have positive evidence that they run instances, and that the tank and healer run instances AS tanks and healers.
In many cases, tank and healer gear is being replaced with generic DPS gear. The one that's killing me on my PTR lowbie priest is the near-removal of the Spirit stat. A healing priest now has VERY little incentive to run these instances, and if you aren't running instances there's very little incentive to spec holy.
They might as well disable the non-solo trees until 60, if this is the route they're taking.
caylee Oct 26th 2007 3:33AM
@5 Go to outlands duh
RogueJedi86 Oct 26th 2007 8:59AM
To copy my post from the other topic, that fits more here:
On that matter, where's all the +spell damage leather for Balance Druids? Zul'Farrak has 2 leather pieces with high +spirit that Druids really don't need. Could they drop the +spirit and replace it with +spell damage like all the cloth?
These 2 items in ZF, by the way:
Jinxed Hoodoo Skin: http://www.wowhead.com/?item=9473
Jinxed Hoodoo Kilt: http://www.wowhead.com/?item=9474
Acceptable Risk Oct 26th 2007 10:55AM
I'm concerned that they're removing mass amounts of spirit in favor of spell damage. As a mid-level priest, I'm going to lose nearly half of my spirit when 2.3 goes live.
I agree, spirit is the least useful stat for most classes, but many priests live and breathe by it. Anyone have a list of spirit gear that isn't being changed?
Phil Butcher Oct 26th 2007 11:28AM
You may have also seen the FR disappear off of every item from these instances that possessed them. Since no one does MC anymore (why retool and reduce the number of people needed to run when you can just obsolete huge expanses of content, I always say), let alone BWL. I also noticed the same happening to NR, effectively doing the same to AQ.
I guess it makes sense though, since they already obsoleted so much of the gear by almost any level 60 green dropped in the outland, and are now just getting around to emphasizing how much they don't care about that content...
Oh well.
And I know obsoleted isn't a word.
Mike Oct 26th 2007 11:57AM
Actually... Obsoleted is a word...
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/obsoleted