Savage, Hateful, and Deadly
by Zach Yonzon 
Sep 17th 2008 at 8:00PM
Right now it's too early to tell if this is really how PvP loot will be distributed, although a faction-locked raid boss really does provide a good incentive to participate in Lake Wintergrasp. It might simply be a way to quickly distribute Arena PvP gear in Beta for more testing. For one thing, it's highly likely that Archavon will be dropping tokens rather than the pieces themselves. Furthermore, this leaves the Arena system without any rewards left to give -- though Deadly Gladiator weapons have yet to show up. It's pretty safe to assume that the way these items are distributed will change greatly between now and November 13.
What is pretty clear and confirms earlier reports is that PvP gear will be tiered. This will ideally allow PvP gear to match PvE progression without falling too far behind. It's likely that the higher tier gear such as Deadly Gladiator will require steeper requirements in terms of Arena ratings and / or Honor. I'm interested to see how the tiers will be distributed, the timing of their release, and exactly what will be available through the different modes of PvP play -- Arenas, Battlegrounds, and Lake Wintergrasp.
I wonder how Blizzard plans to solve the PvP / PvE conundrum of the zone considering that Alterac Valley needed to be tweaked over the course of four years. Personally, I'm just happy to see Lieutenant Murp back in action. I imagine tiered gear distribution can be a really tricky thing. Lake Wintergrasp is so unfinished right now that it's just hard to say anything conclusive. A lot of the items seem unfinished, too.
More than anything, though, I'm looking forward to seeing the official skins of all this PvP gear. Wrath will see a return to the distinctive look of PvP gear that sets it apart from PvE. Right now, all the items are recolored versions of Season 4 or Sunwell items, mere placeholders for what I hope will be mind-blowing designs. When those are finally released, you can bet we'll take a drooling look at all of them. Until then, however, you can head on over to Wowhead or MMO-Champion for all the savage, hateful, and deadly details.
Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Wrath of the Lich King, Battlegrounds, Arena
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Max Sep 17th 2008 8:09PM
You can also check: http://www.worldofraids.com/news/299.html
They posted about it on September 16.
NoTomorrow Sep 17th 2008 8:15PM
Personally, I think savage gladiator sounds pretty cool.
On the topic of distribution, I don't know why PvP items are being distributed through a raid boss, even though it does require pvp to get to it. If I understand this correctly ( and correct me if I am wrong,) your faction has to have complete control over wintergrasp to unlock the raid boss. But, (again, correct me if I'm wrong) since it is a non instances area, couldn't you just go and take control when there are no opposing faction members there? Doesn't seem to be too hard. One thing I don't know: are there bosses at each capture point like in AV? If so it would add a bit more challenge, but again comes up the pvp gear from pve.
Feel free to correct me, I'm not entirely sure what I'm ranting about.
Shadiix Sep 17th 2008 9:03PM
Wintergrasp is a battle that lasts around 45 minutes or so where you try to take the keep form the faction that controls it. After either the defending team suceeds to defend the caste and keeps control or the attacking team takes over the castle and controls it the next battle doesn't start for 4 hours. This means for 4 hours it is under the winner's control and there is nothing the other team can do about it till that 4 hours is up.
NoTomorrow Sep 17th 2008 9:38PM
Thanks for the correction, I said I wasn't sure. One other question about it: is it instanced or open?
Thanks again for the response.
nbcaffeine Sep 18th 2008 12:26PM
@notomorrow
It is wide open, everyone in the area can come and participate, as long as they are 77 (you have to fly to the zone to enter)
Fareet Sep 17th 2008 8:24PM
No rewards from arena?
One would think that easy points for gear is fine.
And the really good players still earn the special looking shoulders,the mount, the title and their statues in the fall of fame.
Lemons Sep 17th 2008 8:38PM
I've been looking some of the deadly gladiator gear over and I'm thinking: what's the deal? Where are the really juicy stats?
Being a rogue I started out with s1 and s2 gear which only gave +crit, +ap, and +resil. Finally s3 came out and gave us rogues some +ignore armor and some sorely needed +hit (if you know anything about rogue pvp you know it takes exactly 79 hit rating to never miss a special attack on a fellow lvl 70 player (excluding blind and deadly throw, ranged attacks always have a 1% chance to miss)).
Again in s4 we got even more hit. I assumed this trend would continue, but it looks like I assumed wrong!
But now we're back to square 1 with these hateful and deadly glad sets. Guess I'll be socketing +hit gems again. Thanks Blizzard!
sharkeater75 Sep 17th 2008 8:42PM
or they can just simply balance the game the way it was built... around pve and leave pvp as the minigame that it is. please go play warhammer you harcore pvp people. you eiher have no skill or lots of it. but neither fits in the pve realm which is what warcraft is.
ty cya.
Fayt Sep 18th 2008 2:03AM
Give the elitist PVE/Raider attitude a rest. The game is not the same way anymore. After playing in Beta, it's clear it's not 99% pve and 1%pvp. It's not 50/50, but it's close considering the work and way they've been handling the game. For example, I don't see how fast a guild can clear SWP in e-sports. There's more than enough for pve'ers and pvp'ers. Enjoy both sides of the game, and if you don't, no reason to hate on people who enjoy the opposite side of you, as you still have your game, they have theirs.
Jolmer Sep 22nd 2008 8:02PM
A lot of the lore of this game is based around the conflict between the alliance and horde. What better way to put this into an MMO then to let the players fight it out themselves. You saying this is one of the most biased and stupid opinions I have ever heard. You can have fun in your instanced dungeons. I dont get how people who are fighting out in Wintergrasp are gonna be bothering you when you are farming your PvE epics on 10 man Naxx.
stuff Sep 17th 2008 8:53PM
Dunno why it wasn't mentioned, but premade 80's on murmur start off with a hateful and a deadly glad ring.
Zep Sep 17th 2008 9:27PM
So effectively 4 hours and 45 minutes between wintergrasp games....
24 / 4.75 = 5 possible games in a day, assuming you don't have a job.
Gonna get laggy, I think.
Taytayflan Sep 17th 2008 10:45PM
Wait, when was i mentioned that Lieutenants get put back into action?
Jack Sep 17th 2008 11:05PM
For the picture, plate gear has always been Warrior/Paladin, just as mail has been Hunter/Shaman, leather has been Rogue/Druid, and cloth has been Mage/Warlock/Priest no matter who the piece was tailored for.
Zach Sep 18th 2008 11:05AM
but remember there are Death Knights who wear plate, too. In theory they should be on the list, as well.
Eliseth Sep 18th 2008 10:29AM
Yup. I kept trying to convince my mage friend to get all mooncloth pieces, but he never went for it. :( But a MAGE! With HEALING! It would have been awesome.
Matt Sep 18th 2008 1:36AM
I really do hope they lower the 4 hour cooldown a lot for live.
Currently on the beta there's 30 minutes between battles, which is, in my opinion, VERY GOOD.
It keeps the place alive, nobody will bother on live realms (unless they're on full population i guess) if its an 4 hour resets.
I do realise it would be a little too easy to attain gear this way though, hopefully they'll lower the rewards a little but still keep the balance so people will bother with it.
I really don't want this zone to flop like Halaa did, it needs to be an active pvp zone, and putting a 4 hour cooldown on it is definately not the way to go if they wish this to be successful on a lot of realms.
Raaj Sep 18th 2008 9:20AM
I haven't managed to make it into the beta yet, but a 30 minute break between battles sounds good to me. I fully agree with you that if there's a 4 hour gap in between games, a lot of people (including myself) won't even bother with it.
Have we learned nothing from the Terokkar spirit towers? 99% of the time, there's a lone person from each side trying to capture the towers. Let's not repeat that mistake again.
zedwards Sep 18th 2008 3:48AM
Simple fighters hate, a true warrior understands his enemy therefor can conquer them consistently. Blizzard should know this but are more catering to the lower common denominator. But maybe for future expansions (after the nordic theme) they will go "east".
Deep Sep 18th 2008 4:22AM
I think the author of this piece has it wrong. I doubt the drop from this Lake Winter PvP place will only be a badge. It would be so much more fun if it would drop 1 epic piece randomly. That way you are holding up the interest of players much and much longer. You could include a second drop of 1 "general badge" drop, but let him drop 1 very shiny and nice epic item.
That should let the players keep coming back to LW dozens of time.
Say 30 kinds of possible drops, spread all over the classes and with all kinds of gear (PVE and PVP). I would be camping over there for the next few months.
And they can adapt the loot in that famous 6 months recycle they used in TBC. That way the place will always be active.
I think a 4 hour relaunch well certainly be good enough, because it lets guilds be prepared. The 4 hour world buff it generates could be even more than the bland +5% damage in dungeons etc. How about a 10% against NPC's(!) when raiding a capitol !!!
That way you can go for the new achievements of "killing Thrall" or "Lady Proudmoore" in this 4 hour time span!!!!
Good PvP idea I think