Tier 9 to come in three quality levels
by Eliah Hecht 
Jun 24th 2009 at 6:00PM
| 10-man | ilvl | 25-man |
| Naxx | 200 | |
| KT, EoE | 213 | Naxx |
| Ulduar | 219 | |
| Ulduar hard | 226 | Ulduar, KT/EoE |
| CC |
232 | Ulduar weapons |
| 239 | Ulduar hard | |
| CC hard | 245 | CC |
| 258 | CC hard |
- 10-man normal (232) < 10-man hard (245) = 25-man normal (245) < 25-man hard (258)
Others (such as 10n < 25n < 10h = 25h) are logically possible, but to me, that's the most likely distribution that leads to three different ilvls. It's also the way Ulduar is done with normal and hard modes, apart from some differences in weapon ilvl.
Crusader's Coliseum on heroic is a bit different than Ulduar hard modes, though. It seems that when you do a heroic CC raid, you start out with a certain number of attempts (wipes), and the more attempts you have remaining upon defeating the final boss, the better loot you get. So will ilvl 258 gear be contingent upon beating CC-heroic in (say) fewer than half your attempts? I guess we'll have to wait and find out.
Of course, the really important question is: what the heck will we call the 3 different sets? T9.0, T9.33, T9.66?
Patch 3.2 will bring about a new 5, 10, and 25 man instance to WoW, and usher in a new 40-man battleground called the Isle of Conquest. WoW.com will have you covered every step of the way, from extensive PTR coverage through the official live release. Check out WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2 for all the latest!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
peagle Jun 24th 2009 6:04PM
T9.0, T9.33*, T9.66*
Repeating, of course.
Cramez Jun 24th 2009 6:31PM
Actually, I think T9, T9.25, and T9.5 make way more sense to me.
Helloimbob Jun 24th 2009 6:47PM
Surely for 3 tiers you'd have sub tier 1 2 and 3
But if 1/3 is 0.3333*
2/3 is 0.6666*
Then 3/3 should be 0.99999*
But 3/3 = 1
Therefore 0.9999*=1
Therefore, by example, t9.9999* = t10
t9 & t10 in one patch ;)
Autowand Jun 24th 2009 6:52PM
@ Helloimbob
Fail
Erdinger Jun 24th 2009 7:19PM
Just call them T9-, T9, and T9+. Pretty easy to imitate the US grading system here.
The Last Sand Merman Jun 25th 2009 8:37AM
T9, T9.5, T9.5H.
LilBanshee Jun 25th 2009 11:21AM
Regardless of what it's called, the tier 9 gear has dramatically more gear scaling than prior tiers. If the scaling of gear progression had remained consistent this new gear would have covered the entirety of tiers 9 and 10.
We've only progressed 26 ilvl points throughout the entire Lich King progression thus far. From T7 through T8.5 was only a progression from ilvl 200 to ilvl 226. Now all of a sudden the tier drops from CC alone cover a 26 ilvl range; this effectively makes raiders gear up as much from this single content patch as we did from the previous two tiers of raid content combined!
JDM Jun 26th 2009 8:11AM
I also agree with T9, T9.25, T9.5
zugy Jun 24th 2009 6:07PM
I wonder if the extra tier is actually for 5 man content? Or has it been explicitly stated tier 9 is from raiding only?
h3lladvocate Jun 24th 2009 6:08PM
The day tier drops from 5 man's is the day I stop playing this game
Xiol Jun 24th 2009 6:13PM
Your QQing sustains me.
Peter Jun 24th 2009 6:21PM
Funny, the day that happens is the day I play wow even more. Wierd how that works out...
Arcaria Jun 24th 2009 6:36PM
It's always funny when people think that random strangers care if they play or not.
jfofla Jun 24th 2009 7:15PM
How quickly people forget. Tier used to drop from 5 mans.
Exiton Jun 24th 2009 7:24PM
Well you better quit the game now
Dungeon set 1, 2 and 3 (aka teir 0, 0.5 and 3.5) already exist. I was sad when i heard that wrath would not have a new dungeon set.
Naix Jun 24th 2009 6:09PM
I can hear it now from the eleetists.
OMG! You mean someone else will have the same looking gear as me! This can't be!!!!!!
Dart Jun 24th 2009 7:25PM
We've been saying that since WoltK came out, that's Blizzards goal sadly.
xicarus Jun 24th 2009 6:11PM
a bit too complicated for my liking.
Erogroth Jun 24th 2009 6:11PM
I would say T9.10, T9.25, and T9.50
Autowand Jun 24th 2009 6:34PM
Or maybe it'll just be easier to say t9.1, t9.2, and t9.3.