Season 4 Brutal Gladiator gear guide
by Zach Yonzon 
Jun 24th 2008 at 3:20PM
Now that Season 4 has finally arrived, it would probably be good to take a look at the Arena gear you'll be purchasing with all those stored Arena points. Even though most people have concurred that the new Brutal Gladiator gear is appropriately brutally ugly, a lot of the pieces are excellent and many players will need to purchase them in order to stay competitive in the latest, harshest Arena season.
Most of the Brutal Gladiator armor sets and equipment require personal ratings in order for players to be able to purchase them, so the new Season 4 gear will not flood the community the same way past seasons did. Even Honor-bought items such as bracers, boots, and rings will require participation in the Arenas in order for players to qualify for purchasing them.
We've put together a review of all the Brutal Gladiator armor sets for you to review, with a brief analysis of each piece and an assessment of whether it's worth the Arena points and the bother to grind for the personal ratings. We've also compared Season 4 gear with their equivalent Vengeful Gladiator pieces so you can tell at a glance how much of an improvement each piece is from its predecessor. Take a look after the jump at our extensive gear guide.
Click on the links below to take you to the armor set you want to review. Each link will take you to a post with a preview of the armor as well as a table showing the Arena or Honor point cost of the item and the personal rating required to purchase them. Each armor piece will have its stats displayed with a number in parentheses to represent the improvements over their Season 3 equivalent. At the end of each item description is a small commentary assessing the worth of the item for purchase. I've used a 1-5 rating system to grade each piece based on how good they are for each class and spec, as well as the cost and rating required:
DISCLAIMER: Note that these grades are based purely on my own opinion and an overview of traditional class representation in Arenas and not an actual mathematical valuation of each item. In the end, you should purchase the Brutal Gladiator or Guardian gear that you feel suits you best.
DRUID [Restoration] - Brutal Gladiator's Refuge
DRUID [Feral] - Brutal Gladiator's Sanctuary
DRUID [Balance] - Brutal Gladiator's Wildhide
HUNTER - Brutal Gladiator's Pursuit
MAGE - Brutal Gladiator's Regalia
PALADIN [Holy/Healing] - Brutal Gladiator's Redemption
PALADIN [Holy/Shockadin] - Brutal Gladiator's Aegis
PALADIN [Retribution] - Brutal Gladiator's Vindication
PRIEST [Holy/Discipline] - Brutal Gladiator's Investiture
PRIEST [Shadow] - Brutal Gladiator's Raiment
ROGUE - Brutal Gladiator's Vestments
SHAMAN [Restoration] - Brutal Gladiator's Wartide
SHAMAN [Enhancement] - Brutal Gladiator's Earthshaker
SHAMAN [Elemental] - Brutal Gladiator's Thunderfist
WARLOCK [Affliction/Demonology] - Brutal Gladiator's Dreadgear
WARLOCK [Destruction] - Brutal Gladiator's Felshroud
WARRIOR - Brutal Gladiator's Battlegear
Looking for more Season 4 info? We've rounded up everything you need to know about the Brutal Gladiator season right here.Filed under: Druid, Battlegrounds, Guides, PvP, Analysis / Opinion, Items, Warrior, Warlock, Shaman, Rogue, Priest, Paladin, Mage, Hunter, Arena
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Nick Jun 22nd 2008 5:11PM
Just gonna say first because the placeholder is here and no article.... or my internet sucks - gogo sprint!
David Jun 24th 2008 3:44PM
No rogue love yet...
J. A. S. Jun 24th 2008 3:45PM
loling at the brutal gladiator's war edge. My level 25 hunter has a more impressive looking axe than that.
William Jun 24th 2008 3:45PM
hahaha... love the disclaimer. Good idea or someone woulda sued you for Arena Pts when they messed up. :D
David Jun 24th 2008 3:46PM
No rogue love yet...
Zali Jun 24th 2008 3:58PM
I believe I speak for the oft-ganked masses when I say, there will never be love for rogues, you back stabbing, pick pocketing, thief. May you be required to stealth barefoot on the tips of an infinite number of poisoned blades for eternity.
mcclary Jun 24th 2008 3:52PM
Could someone please remind me... do shields bear the same weapon personal rating requirements? Or are they different?
(I realize this is easily researched, but my work computer blocks just about everything.)
Thanks in advance!
Badger Jun 24th 2008 4:36PM
Personally, I don't think these armor sets are 'brutally ugly.' They're functional, and they have taken on an entirely new aesthetic, rather than following in the blood-soaked footsteps of the previous Seasons and simply throwing new colors onto old armor models.
Besides, think about gladiatorial combat. It's dark, dirty, blunt, jagged ... all adjectives that apply to the new armor designs. It fits perfectly.
No matter what anyone says about Arena 'reviving' or 'killing' the game, it's become its own mechanic, and has developed its own community following. It deserves its own look and feel.
Smurk Jun 24th 2008 4:38PM
No increases to Resilience? Any chance this deeply crappy mechanic gets phased out in the expansion? You won't be picking up +resil greens at level 74.
STereo Jun 25th 2008 2:12PM
The gear is really stupid looking. Ugly would be ok, but you look like a moron with that galactus helmet on.
Baluki Jun 24th 2008 4:53PM
Awww...Droods look sad! Poor droods!
double9s Jun 24th 2008 5:20PM
Well first I looked like every horde warlock out there. Then I looked like every warlock period. Now I'm going to look like every mage and priest too.
I don't know, these designs just wreak of laziness.
Preston Jun 24th 2008 6:45PM
What do you expect? This game is dying.
larsiezwei Jun 24th 2008 8:07PM
I like the look of my character with just a clock on better than all of these gear sets. WTF....
Kitteh, Twilights Hammer EU Jun 25th 2008 2:55AM
Lol @ Preston.
Most of the WoW developers are working on the expansion. This is something they cobbled together in a weekend and got the work experience kid to do.
It's pretty much been confirmed by Blizz themselves (tho without the above embelishments).
However, if you're one of the folks that are happy to jump on ANYTHING negative - what are you still doing here? There's plenty of much less well done games out there you could be getting depressed and emo at.
Ryan Jun 25th 2008 10:25AM
I think the point is that gear sets and the looks were something we once revered and looked forward to.
Look at Tier 2 compared to the season gear.
Look at the old Warlord sets and the level 60 pvp sets compared to what they are now, they were different. there was care put into them. It is silly.
Lazaria Jun 26th 2008 4:54AM
Gear diminished in quality looks wise since TBC imo but I think it fits the theme of TBC in general as its very spacey etc. Northredn promises to go back to the gothic styling we love and if I was a blizz developer I would be saving major designs for the upcoming expansion not for an S4 that probably wont last long enough. I believe its a good choice. I love it when people forget that Blizzard is a business and a successful one at that. People need some business sense S4 is definitely not the time to release major armor set designs look at what happened with Naxx
glaci3r Jun 27th 2008 3:13PM
after completing this assignment is zach off the hook for writing articles for a few weeks?