Dress yourself completely in Badge loot
by Zach Yonzon 
Feb 18th 2008 at 9:30PM
Our awesome friends over at MMO Champion have discovered more about the new loot that have been previously uncovered, revealing the prices of Badge of Justice loot from the much-awaited Patch 2.4. Prices start at 45 Badges for off-hand frills, a moderate price jump from the 25 Badges of the original loot and 35 for the two new items from Patch 2.3. The as-of-yet-unnamed rings (creatively named "Sunwell Badge Loot - <insert class archetype here> Ring") cost 60 Badges while it takes 75 Badges to purchase belts or gloves. The high prices are a precedent set by Patch 2.3 with such items as the Amani Mask of Death or the Battlemaster trinkets (75 Badges).Of course, with better gear comes a higher price, and some armor pieces go for a whopping 100 Badges. What's truly cool about the new Badge loot, however, is the availability of Main Hand (and Two-Handed) weapons, which top the price list at a staggering 150 Badges! The good news is, Badges of Justice are dropping everywhere now, with the patch notes stating that all raid bosses now drop Badges of Justice, including the 25-man ones, who drop 2.
More Badge loot-y goodness after the jump.
The Badge weaponry now makes it possible to very nearly completely to gear oneself entirely through obtaining ridiculous amounts of Badges of Justice -- from armor to rings to cloaks to trinkets and now to main hand weapons. Because Badges are easily obtainable through Heroic runs, the new Patch is proving to be the most casual-friendly update that Blizzard has ever come out with. The new loot allows players who never get the chance to experience 25-man content to obtain comparatively good gear. The Badge system is looking great so far, and we might still see it in some form or the other in Wrath of the Lich King, despite what Blizzard says. Of course, as Daniel wrote, these prices can still change from the PTR to the live servers. What's sure, though, is that it's probably a good idea to start running those Heroics (and 10-man raids, or course) right now!
Filed under: Patches, Items, Blizzard, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Azureblood Feb 18th 2008 9:40PM
this sucks for casual people who barely have enough to get a few of the rewards right now... they should lower the prices. >_>
Eamara Feb 18th 2008 10:01PM
I hope you're being sarcastic.
Azureblood Feb 18th 2008 10:05PM
lol duh. who the F wants more welfare epics O_O
Balasan Feb 19th 2008 4:20AM
If you're casual you're going to get that gear EVENTUALLY. Like, if you do one heroic a day you'll get around 4-5 (daily quest included) - that allows you to buy a MH weapon in 30 days.
If you want the item faster, you raid BT/MH.
This is very very reminiscent of the change of R14 weapons to a more casual system.
I approve with this system. And I'm in a MH/BT guild too!(just killed archi yesterday, yay!) :)
Ugkul Feb 18th 2008 9:43PM
Not sure if I'll really bother with going for badges. Running heroin instances is getting kinda boring and I don't really raid that much.
Just release wotlk already!
Slayblaze Feb 18th 2008 10:19PM
I am definitely NOT liking the new major grind for badges that will need to be done to purchase these items. It just adds another grind to the game, yet you don't have a choice that doesn't force you into a group to get it done. And some of those "prices" are simply insane, or at least translate into an insane number of instance runs - over and over again - to get the badges required.
I guess there must be those who love doing and redoing heroic and raid runs, but I'm not one of them (anymore).
Warcloud Feb 18th 2008 10:39PM
So... don't purchase the items then! Sheesh..
afadam Feb 19th 2008 3:24AM
Look at it this way: rather than focusing on grinding for badges, let them come naturally - better rewards will require more time, but it'll be worth it
Itomeshi Feb 19th 2008 7:36AM
See, I don't see BoJ as a horrible grind. Compare it to the BG gear (non-Arena PvP) and it becomes a cakewalk.
Look at it this way:
* A kara run with most bosses is about 20 badges.
* A ZA first three bosses (as many guild don't go farther) is 6.
* SSC and TK should each drop 10 and 8, respectively. (2.4)
* Gruul's should drop 4. (2.4)
* Hopefully, we'll do easier Mag, which should be 2. (2.4)
* The average heroic gives 4 badges.
* Toss in the daily for 2 more.
Ignoring the heroics, daily, and hard bosses in the raids, that's still 30-40 badges per week. Beyond that, you set your level of involvement. You want it faster? Do some heroic Mech or Ramps....
This helps remove the 'barrier to raid entry'; ie, I'm in a guild that has a group of 25-30 core raiders. They get pretty obvious dibs on gear (I help in SSC and TK, get no chance on T5. Did get a T4 drop though.) Problem in this type of guild is that all it takes is X people - especially healers - to not be available on a certain night, and then no raid occurs.
This makes it more practical to boost my healing set to be able to offheal. Not in main raid? Just run some heroics, and use it on healing gear. Don't worry about getting yelled at in PUGs for grabbing healing gear.
And that's also not to say the tanking and cat form gear don't look good too. ;)
Anywho, you have 2-3 weeks AT LEAST to farm still - 2.4 needs to be released, then the vendor unlocked.
kalel Feb 20th 2008 5:34PM
If you aren't willing to put in the work, then you don't deserve good gear.
Khallah Feb 18th 2008 10:35PM
Giving casuals equivalent gear to BT gear is a bit absurd. It's considerably harder getting to BT than it is clearing Karazhan. (sigh)
Beaverius Feb 18th 2008 10:52PM
yeah because casuals grind 500+ badges...
Zach Feb 18th 2008 11:05PM
On the other hand, denying players who spend as much time playing but are unable to find the proper Guild or schedule to raid isn't quite fair, either. For the most part, people doing Heroics have nowhere else to go and nothing else to do. Giving gear to work towards is a really good addition that extends the life of the game to people who might never find an endgame raiding Guild.
Varshak Feb 18th 2008 11:13PM
/agree with Zach... and also, it allows looking-for-guild players to gear up to possibly join a raiding guild and run stuff like BT. After all, what BT raiding guild is ever going to let a guy in Kara gear in?
Liel Feb 18th 2008 11:25PM
Everybody pays the same 15 bucks so who cares.
Pzychotix Feb 18th 2008 11:47PM
So wait. How does someone spend as much time as raiders on line, but not have the time to raid?
Then there's the fact that what does a non-raider need BT/Hyjal gear for?
theRaptor Feb 19th 2008 12:04AM
@12
Maybe because they don't play in 3 hour plus blocks of time? Or play while cooking dinner/minding the kids/other chores etc, and so can't devote the concentration required to raid high end.
People need the gear because gear is character progression at max level. And character progression is the main hook of this game. Brand new players don't need BT level gear, but someone who has been playing casually since release is probably geared out in the best casual gear available.
Khanmora Feb 19th 2008 10:49AM
I play 2-3 hours a night, about 4 nights a week and probably 4-8 on weekend days. Since 2.3 I have gathered and spent about 300 badges of honor on two characters. It's not difficult to get them. If Shattered Halls is the daily I can get 7 badges just from that one run and do it in about 1.5 hours. Not to mention a Kara clear in around 3 hours for 22 badges.
ILP Feb 22nd 2008 2:56PM
I myself am a very casual player, so being able to grind for this type of gear becomes the ONLY option, as I work, and even though I'm in a good guild,I have yet to go on a Kara/Gruul/ZA run since they start way before I can even login.
Looking forward to it.
ShuManFu Feb 18th 2008 11:31PM
Yay nice gear for my army of alts.