Patch 5.3 interview with Ghostcrawler
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The latest patch 5.3 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsDress 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 2 of 3)
jtrain Feb 18th 2008 11:30PM
Do we have any stats on this stuff yet? I'm interested to see where this gear falls in the grand scheme of things...slightly better than the current badge gear? Slightly worse than BT gear? Somewhere in between? Just curious if it'll be worth the incredible number of heroic runs to get several pieces...
BillDoor Feb 18th 2008 11:32PM
They're all up for your perusal at mmo-champion.com. In general, they're of a higher quality than the current badge options, but aren't direct replacement. You can often get better stuff in BT/Hyjal/Sunwell, but you're dependent on it actually dropping.
BillDoor Feb 18th 2008 11:30PM
I love the badge loot, they really open up gear progression options for me and my friends. We're a group of working adults with families and other responsibilities, and we really only have time to raid two or three nights a week. We've got Kara on farm, and are starting to work on ZA. The badges let us gear up while we're working on ZA, which will only help us clear it more easily. Yay for progression.
I'm not sure if that classifies us as "Casual" or not. We're all pretty serious about the game. We know our class well, we optimize our gear and actions for the best possible output, and we are serious about the raiding time that we do have. This kinda stuff is great for us.
Rich Feb 18th 2008 11:38PM
Honestly, WoW needs to drop the random drop thing for gear and go to this system more.
Lightspell Feb 19th 2008 12:52AM
I have just over 200badges at the moment and nothing to spend them on. I haven't grinded them, just simply accumulated them over time - mostly frequent ZA and kara runs. And in 2.4 badges will drop from 25man bosses as well.
So I don't think it will be a grind for most people to purchase this stuff, and it's certainly better than grinding rep or gold for gear, where you don't have much chance of getting other good stuff along the way, and you have to do it outside of your normal raiding. At least this way you can continue raiding as you always have, get loot from that, and sooner or latter purchase some other good stuff as well. Doesn't sound like a grind t me at all!
darth_hacker100 Feb 19th 2008 12:56AM
I kind of like this change. It allows raids to fill gaps in gear that never seems to drop for them, but it gives the causals a hard goal to work towards. Plus all of this stuff will be useless for WotLK, so why not let the causals have a chance at good gear?
Zemalf Feb 19th 2008 1:10AM
I like this change too, mostly because I love heroics (and some raiding). The "prices" seems reasonable as getting those 100 badge pants will take some time, not too easy, but still reachable.
Good_Idea Feb 19th 2008 2:06AM
Getting BT level epics for heroic badges will have no impact at all. By the time you get them, BAM, the expansion will be out, which is exactly what Blizz wants.
Bearskunk Feb 19th 2008 4:04AM
There is no need to grind badges. These items pretty much just fill gaps in your T5/T6 equip if you have been unlucky with drops. And if you are running SSC and up you'll soon enough drown in badges.
These items are definitely not needed if all you do is run heroics or Kara.
Dwarfbane Feb 19th 2008 4:10AM
This is not just for casuals. Raiders will now pickup 10 or so badges per raid. They are going to be able to gear up for the sunwell much quicker.
And its good for us casuals, I play 5 nights a week for 4 hours, but its late after all the guild raids have started. Also if my kids wake up i have to go afk which isnt popular.
Dipstick Feb 19th 2008 5:05AM
I can get two items (chest and legs) for my warlock. This would cost me 200 badges. I also need Fire Resistance gear from the Shattrath NPC, that will cost 100 badges.
I don't ever see myself getting that many - but it's nice to have the option to go full out badge grinding in preparation.
Snailking Feb 19th 2008 5:21AM
So all you need to do is kill SEVENTY-FIVE *raid* bosses to get ONE item?
Is that all?
sephirah Feb 19th 2008 5:39AM
No, you can kill 75 heroic bosses, or less than 40 raid bosses.
And doing the heroic daily, you get 2 more BoJ.
So in a week, you could get:
~20 from Karazhan
14 from daily heroic
20-30 from one heroic a day
Total: 50-60 BoJ a week...
Mity Feb 19th 2008 6:08AM
im thinking this is an american thing...the instant reward for showing up. "come on down and win a car" ...it must be, because pretty much all european players dislike this free epics stuff, the ones i know ofc. and those are everything from the very casual, to the top echalon hardcore. everone feels it belittles the game, and takes away the "magic" of getting epic'ed out after alot of hard work.
I know people who will simply take a 6 month break when wotlk comes out, so they can get back to endgame after 1 month of levelling and epic'ing out. i wish they where wrong, and they wish they where wrong, even.
we are all wondering why Blizzard does this, cheapen the game, and the value of upgrades... hence my asking if its an american thing. its certainly not european.
Mity Feb 19th 2008 6:19AM
and 29... u clear ssc & tk in 1 nite, thats 18 badges, u clear Mh & Bt to council, thats 24 more the day after (we are talking a hardcore guild here) u finish of BT and do...3 in SW? 10 more the third day. u do a maggy/gruul run, thats 6 more, and clear ZA for ...its 14 now. adn a latenite drunken kara is another 24.
if u really motivated, u also do 5 heroics /day+ thats average 4 /run, x 5 =20+2 = 22. thats 154 /week.
sum total= 240 badges in a week. u can do more, if u run ALL heroics each day.
Jamarrrythm Feb 19th 2008 6:43AM
Im not sure who this new badgeloot is for. If you are running Kara, Gruul, ZA, Tempest Keep etc, what will be your reward if you are already in tier 6 similar gear? This inflation removes a very basic part of the game - upgrading yourself for progress, so you can down the next boss, and upgrade yourself for further progress. Killing the Gruul the first time will feel a little empty when your epics outshine the tokens he drop. (I guess)
Anyway, i might be old and bitter, but i have yet to see tier 5, and being in tier 6 when i get there seemes a little odd to me.
Descent Feb 19th 2008 7:56AM
I am so glad that I quit WoW last week.
sephirah Feb 19th 2008 8:09AM
I'm glad too to not have the chance to meet you anymore.
I'm hoping for more angry players to quit (and actually stop posting on forums too). The game will be better for the others.
Peace and love!
Angry Joe Feb 19th 2008 9:12AM
I'm not quitting!
Elmo Feb 19th 2008 8:02AM
this allows me to get proper gear much faster and not having to raid a lot to get some DKP.
all in all this should help progress a lot.