Sharpening Stones, Mana Oils gone in Wrath
by Eliah Hecht 
Oct 31st 2008 at 9:00AM
It didn't really hit me until I saw this post about it, but there are no sharpening stones, weightstones, or mana or wizard oils in Wrath of the Lich King. Verimonde, a blue name that's unfamiliar to me, confirms that this is by design, saying "While they were something nice to use once in a while for most people for many raid guilds they were simply another burden to the cost of raiding." This is essentially my reaction to the change, although some other Insiders are of the opinion that it's another step in the oversimplification of WoW. I'm happy that typical raid consumables will be down to flasks and food.There's another problem with this plan, though. Unless they remove the current stones and oils, progression-oriented raiders are going to be running back to Outland and farming up the mats for old stones and oils all the time. This is nothing new really; dedicated raiders have been going to great lengths for buffs since the days of mind-controlling fire resistance off UBRS mobs to go to MC and BWL. Still, I don't think it's what Blizz had in mind in removing them, so my bet is that old stones/oils will either be removed, or prevented from working on players over level 70 (like the Riding Crop).
Update: Looks like they went the latter route. Stones/oils will not work on post-70 items.
Filed under: Raiding, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
bmiller Oct 31st 2008 9:07AM
I hope they don't remove them I have a couple stacks of oil in my bags!
bumble Oct 31st 2008 9:17AM
it'll be good for leveling still
Gottalot Oct 31st 2008 9:18AM
Im in the same postion as bmiller except I love my wieghtstones to my mace. My question is similar.
Will Blizz delete my stacks of wieghtstones or can I use them grinding to 80? Anyone got a clue?
Tinwhisker Oct 31st 2008 9:08AM
There's now a limit on the iLevel that certain stones/oils can be applied to. Nobody is going to be farming low level mats for oils to use in level 80 raiding.
Raaj Oct 31st 2008 9:09AM
I really hate when they do stuff like this. It's not because I raid, it's because I'm the guy that's out farming the older materials when I don't want to deal with the "spawn-taggers" at the popular farming locations. I guess I don't have a choice when Wrath hits.
Raaj Oct 31st 2008 9:13AM
No I won't, read what I said again.
Nadrysta Oct 31st 2008 9:09AM
*covets her new and improved spell and firestones*
Rich Oct 31st 2008 9:36AM
Hell yeah, Warlocks like a MFer!!
Lina Oct 31st 2008 11:05PM
this
RetPallyJil Oct 31st 2008 9:09AM
Hurrr I just got World of Warcraft. Duhhhh what all dese buttons for? Me can't rememberize dat many button! Me no like! Me go play Minesweeper instead!
(Blizzard comforts Tardonoob)
(Blizzard casts Idiot-Proof MMORPG)
Hey! Dis good game, yessir!
Ametrine Oct 31st 2008 9:32AM
And that's how Arenas were invented.
Vendrill Oct 31st 2008 12:59PM
You, know... I'm not happy about this. I love my mana oils and wizard oils. They are taking away from the depth of the game. The costs were minimal, and the buffs made a difference! I love how they persist through death, and I would select +spellpower buff or a +mp5 buff depending on my situation.
And no more sharp/weight stones? Well, I guess blacksmithing is even MORE useless now!
Lemons Oct 31st 2008 2:21PM
Guess what? I'm happy they're taking away mage oils. It gives casters an unfair advantage in DPS that really pisses me off.
Say I'm a rogue, which I am, I have to choose between my poisons or a sharpening stone in BGs because one will overwrite the other. And, as any decent rogue will tell you, you can't pvp without crippling poison, so ipso facto, I never get to use sharpening stones! While my mage buddy just slaps on the wizard oil without thinking twice about it.
It's unbalanced when you think about it. Casters get to use everything at their disposal PLUS wizard oil, while rogues have to sacrifice their poisons to use sharpening stones. This makes rogues have a dps tradeoff that casters don't have, i.e. we lose some dps (our poisons) to gain a little more, while casters simply gain dps. Period. So in the end casters benefit from oils WAY MORE than rogues benefit from stones.
Blizz should of just allowed rogues to use stones AND poisons, but taking both oil and stones away will have to do. I for one, am happy about it.
Driphter Oct 31st 2008 4:41PM
I'm sorry, but do you seriously think that Blizzard hasn't designed around the DPS from poisons? Hell, now that they scale with AP they're even better. Any melee class in the game would love to have our poisons.
According to my spreadsheet with Deadly Poison and Wound poison (MH, OH) I'm at 3026 DPS. Throw on some of those crazy sharpening stones, 2679 DPS. And as a base: no temporary enchant, 2612 DPS. I'm pretty sure the data speaks for itself.
~Driphter
stevens.ce Oct 31st 2008 5:24PM
"It's unbalanced when you think about it. Casters get to use everything at their disposal PLUS wizard oil, while rogues have to sacrifice their poisons to use sharpening stones. This makes rogues have a dps tradeoff that casters don't have, i.e. we lose some dps (our poisons) to gain a little more, while casters simply gain dps. Period. So in the end casters benefit from oils WAY MORE than rogues benefit from stones."
Hmmm - I've thought about it, and it's balanced just fine, rogueboy :-). You can apply a poison, which provides an additional effect beyond your base weapon damage, or you can apply a stone, which stacks additional damage to your weapon. I can apply mana oil, which provides me with an additional effect beyond my base weapon (mana regen), or I can apply wizard oil, which stacks additional damage to my weapon (well, to my casts, since my weapon is nothing but a shiny stick/piece of metal that I never hope to swing at anyone). In both cases, you have a choice and I have a choice, and the choice to do one negates the option of the other.
"Blizz should of just allowed rogues to use stones AND poisons, but taking both oil and stones away will have to do."
Absolutely - and they should allow them to fly and tank too. Every class has a buff/mod tradeoff - every class. As it is, other classes are losing stones and oils, and you're keeping your stones - quit your whining.
Bunyipee Oct 31st 2008 9:11AM
too much simplification is going on, I prefer if there was some dedication needed for the raid to actually perform well.
the e'ko, firewater, felwood items, blasted lands buffs, etc.... were a little too much, but I would like there to be some way outside of raid that I could prepare for it better.
Wow is becoming a bit too simple really, another example is the end of setting up groups in raids.
onetrueping Oct 31st 2008 11:17AM
Who said Raids were gone? As far as I remember, they had announced 10-man and 25-man raids for post-Heroic goodness.
Vicerious Oct 31st 2008 11:28AM
He means the strategic choices of putting different classes and specs in specific groups in order to maximize the output of buffs and abilities limited to the group.
Enh shammy with the rogues and DPS warriors, lock with an imp and a tree druid in with the tanks, boomkin with the mages, that sort of thing.
slimj091 Oct 31st 2008 3:28PM
"too much simplification is going on, I prefer if there was some dedication needed for the raid to actually perform well."
comming in the "The Burning Wrath of the next Bad Guy!" expansion. we are removing the need to have gear equipped to do any of the raid dungeons. we felt that the need to have any gear equipped (including weapons) was too costly, and time consuming for the average raider. so raid bosses will now only hit for at max 50 damage per hit, and have a whopping 1500 hp. however don't fret you will get vanity gear to put on to look pretty, but it will have no stats whatsoever, and will just serve a function of letting other players know you downed the boss. furthermore we are changing the name of the game to Habbo hotel.
Stormscape Oct 31st 2008 9:10AM
Yes because a 6g Wizard Oil once every 1.5 days is so much money compared to 2 50g Flasks per night.