Patch 5.3 interview with Ghostcrawler
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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 3 of 3)
sephirah Feb 19th 2008 8:05AM
Anybody here has an item that never drops for him, be it in heroics, Kara, SSC/TK or MH/BT? Do you prefer to wait months hoping for it to drop, or be certain that after months you get surely an item with badges?
Or anybody who cannot progress anymore for many reasons and it's tired of not having seen an upgrade in months, just for a change?
Or anybody who wants to get items for offspecs but leaves that drops to others specced for those?
There are many reasons why better badge rewards are good. And if not for you, maybe for a guildie, a friend, a partner...
bub Feb 19th 2008 9:22AM
This is so guilds that skip SSC and TK when the patch drops can go straight to MTH/BT while having an actual chance of dowing a boss. It seems to be about letting as many people into BT as possible who never got the gear-ups from months ssc and TK.
Spiritofire Feb 19th 2008 9:42AM
You all forget, this was unlocked on the pve test server in just around 2 weeks of 200-500 BT/MH geared players, when 2.4 is finally live this could take single realms a month or more to unlock the progression in retaking sunwell Isle.
Spiritofire Feb 19th 2008 9:43AM
You all forget, this was unlocked on the pve test server in just around 2 weeks of 200-500 BT/MH geared players, when 2.4 is finally live this could take single realms a month or more to unlock the progression in retaking sunwell Isle.
jtrain Feb 19th 2008 9:57AM
Been hearing a lot of talk regarding 'casuals' in this thread...maybe my definition is different, but does 'casual' mean anyone not running BT or the Mount?
IMHO, if heroics don't present much of a challenge to you, and you're running at least the first several raids on a regular basis, you might not be a casual.
I'm all for this idea, but to say it's 'casual friendly' might be pushing it.
Wolftech Feb 19th 2008 12:54PM
For all of you 'hardcore' players out there QQing about 'welfare epics' for casuals you need to do well to remeber that casuals make up the BULK of WoW subscription fees and without us, you wouldn't have this game to play in the first place.
So shut your yap and be happy.
kenney Feb 19th 2008 1:05PM
Karazan: Let my people go!
I am sad that there is no end in sight of running karazan 2-3 times a week (I oftentimes have to run alts to fill slots so that every main in the guild gets a run), after having it on farm for 7 months.
On the other hand, I am happy to see that Blizzard is really committed to letting more guilds see the endgame before WOTLK. I think this phased easing of barriers is being incredibly well done, and is one of the few truly innovative approaches to MMO design that I have seen in a long time. And I am happy to see some plate that has threat statistics in addition to mitigation.
Draineye Feb 19th 2008 1:06PM
"with the patch notes stating that all raid bosses now drop Badges of Justice, including the 25-man ones, who drop 2."
If so does that mean we can farm old world dungeons as well?
Illyria Feb 19th 2008 2:49PM
@46 That is completely random and I would really like to know. Might give some life back to old content besides just killing Onyxia for kicks
Dean Feb 19th 2008 5:35PM
Here's a thought: you're a SSC or BT raider. So you think heroics and Kara are easy, 1hr heroics 2hr Kara full clears so hence all the casuals will get the loot really easy.
Except you'll only be clearing that quick if you have SSC gear.
Does it never occur to you that heroics and Kara are still actually still a challenge for casuals? That just cause you can farm the badges in 2 weeks doesn't mean everyone else can.
Second, no you can't just get badge loot and go straight into BT. Don't be daft. There's a couple of problems: notably a lack of helms, shoulders, wrists, cloaks, waists, feet and trinkets. Are you seriously suggesting that guilds will be able to skip SSC/TK and go right into BT with thier chest, legs, hands, weapon and single ring, and the rest tier 4? Don't be bloody stupid. It'll give guilds already doing this stuff a handy boost, it might help break the back of that tough boss that's blocking your progress. But until they start offer full sets of BT quality loot, stop whining. 3 pieces isn't going to change much.
Lightspell Feb 19th 2008 6:49PM
Well said Dean, I would like to add that these rewards are hardly easy rewards for casuals either: 150 badges for one of the best caster weapons in the game? Anyone that has time to farm 150 badges, and then many more for other pieces of gear is not playing casually. Or if they are, they'll be lucky to get many pieces before WotLK.
Brendig Mar 7th 2008 4:06PM
The key is here, you may not want to do the badge grind or may say it is too much to do. Im a Raider in my guild and I dont do Heroics, yet I want some of the new gear. This is how I look at it, If I do Kara, I get 25 badges a week, then ZA, you get what 10ish on average for my runs, plus my hroic daily which is 4 to 5 a day. In a week I i have 70 badges without even counting the changes they are making to the raids. Add in the fact that they are making every boss drop 2 tokens, Im killing Gruul and Mag each week for a extra 6 badges, as well as the 5 bosses in TK/SSC we kill and Im getting 86 to 90 badges a week with no work. These are not going to be bad. IF you look at it in two weeks Ill have my hammer and almost another piece of gear completely. I like the prices, these are not meant to be welfare epics but meant to help the Raider more importantly in my eyes.
Jesus Garcia Mar 17th 2008 4:09PM
All of you post-BC WoWers sicken me. Back in the day of 40man raids (when individual player skill was important), It would take years for the average player to get fully geared. WoW has become so uncompetitive and casually playable that its not much of a mmo game anymore, but should be an offline "play-in-the-nude" style game. If you disagree with this, its all fine and dandy, but when it comes down to it: you who bitch about it being "too hard" to get EASY gear (its practically being given away! hell, PvP sets are nearly better then t6 which is absurd), should seriously go play a different game. Maybe you could try "The Sims" and try to keep your family alive. Most likely they would all die cause "feeding them is toooooo hard". And Finally: WOW, WoW post-bc is Easy Mode.
con-man Mar 19th 2008 9:09AM
Okies I'm OK with having BT quality badge gear, so long as they dont drop the badge prices. 150 badges for a weapon is just right. Any lower and you get welfare epics. The prices are high enough to require significant effort while low enough to allow casual players to aquire badges on their own timetable