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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: Most frustrating non-drop
by Allison Robert 
Aug 6th 2009 at 8:00AM
Unless you are a Ridiculously Lucky Bastard, odds are good that you've gone the length of your time in the game without managing to get a particular drop you really wanted. It's been a running joke in my guild that, try as I might, I can never get Pillar of Ferocity to drop from Anetheron. It didn't once drop in the near-year I ran Hyjal during Burning Crusade, and it sure isn't dropping during our occasional fun runs now. I don't even know why I want it as badly as I do. It wasn't a giant upgrade back in the day given how oddly it was itemized for Druid tanks in comparison to the Wildfury Greatstaff, and it's sure as heck not an upgrade now. But every so often I find myself staring at Atlasloot in celebrated Captain Ahabesque fashion, being driven to the brink of madness over an elusive
A Restoration Shaman pal spent each Hyjal alongside me waiting for a pair of Howling Wind Bracers that never came (let's face it, Hyjal hated us), and our Holy Paladin colleague went more than a year in Karazhan without ever seeing a Shard of the VIrtuous. With gear consolidation in Wrath and generally smaller loot lists all-around, you get the slightly more exciting problem of being more likely to see a drop but losing it to someone else, possibly multiple times (see: Illustration of the Dragon Soul, enormous popularity thereof). Spill, folks; what are your horror stories?
Filed under: Items, Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 11)
Kemikalkadet Aug 6th 2009 8:26AM
Grim toll. I kill the bosses that drop it weekly and i've only seen it once.. and it went to a kitty druid with higher PR than me :( It's a marginal upgrade for me in PvE but it's a massive upgrade for my PvP spec so i guess it's more useful in the hands of the druid for progression.. but damn do i want it.
At this rate i'm more likely to get the mjolnir runestone from hardmode thorim as our guild have just started hardmode Ulduar.
brcarter479 Aug 6th 2009 8:30AM
that elusive succubus the turning tide
i ran naxx 25 every week from the time i hit 80 in december til ulduar was released. i never once saw it drop. then i go my sexy runescribe blade..but turning tide was a WAY more attractive sword imo.
RetPallyJil Aug 6th 2009 8:28AM
On the day Naxx (the Real Naxx) arrived to make life even more hellish in the Eastern Plaguelands than it already was, I looked at the loot lists (I was level 56 or 57) and said to anyone who would listen, "OMG look at that mace! Might of Menethil - look at the stats on it OMG OMG I'm gonna get that thing!"
(Insert the next 830ish days, none of which culminated in me even getting *close* to getting Might of Menethil)
Finally, the end was nearing for the Raid of Death, and some 70s of my acquaintance started going in for the heck of it.
Another three months-ish pass, and - despite regular instance clears - the mace did not drop.
With a scarce handful of lockouts left before it was wiped forever from the face of Azeroth, it dropped.
I rolled a 14. The silence in the raid was deafening.
Fortunately, I had long ago foreseen this ending, and had a bagful of cash. It wound up costing me 4100 (in pre-Wrath) gold, but I walked out of that raid with Big Blue. It's in my backpack even as I type, and there it stays, along with my Drakefire Amulet and Seal of Ascension.
Fools. I had 7500 gold with me, and they could have gotten every last copper piece.
Nevermindz Aug 6th 2009 8:29AM
Mhhh, I think it's even worse for me.
The item? The Cenarion Leggings. It was the last piece of my Cenarion set and never dropped during the TWO years we farmed Molten Core.
In the end, it dropped twice but I wasn't there. >_
SunwellVialist Aug 6th 2009 8:29AM
During BC, levelling up my hunter and druid at the same time, which meant I would run the same dungeons twice as many times, but I didn't care, since I had fun.
Until I wanted something and it would not drop.
The Coilfang needler was such a thing.
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=24381
I must have run the damn dungeon at least 20 times, on both my Hunter and my druid, and -each- and *every* time I took my druid in, the damn crossbow dropped, but never -once- when I took my hunter.
Same later with Black Morass, where I wanted Melmorta's Twilight Longbow, although, seeing how short that instance is, I did run it at least up to 40 times, and -never- once the damn thing dropped while I was on my hunter.
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=27987
Dover Aug 6th 2009 8:31AM
Essence of Gossamer, the only time it dropped for me a cat druid rolled and beat me.
Microtonal Aug 6th 2009 8:32AM
It took me about six months to replace my Nesingwary 4000. I was the only hunter in my old guild that never got a ranged weapon upgrade out of Naxx (but I still was the top hunter on the meter, so at least I have that). I finally managed to get Siren's Cry on my 3rd or 4th Auriaya kill.
And now, after three months of running Ulduar, I finally have something better than the t7.5 shoulders, and it came from frigging heroic ToC.
Grumble.
Gnosh Aug 6th 2009 8:38AM
Top DPS with a N4K?
Your guild should get cracking on gkicking all of the other hunters. And the rogues.
duskhawk Aug 6th 2009 8:50AM
Dude, I had the same problem. About 6 months after making my N4k, my first or 2nd time into our Uld-25 alliance run, Giant's Bane dropped for me. I don't think K'T has dropped a gun for us yet. (His healing mace has dropped maybe twice now for us.) Naxx-25 was just a wash for me entirely.
For me now it's bracers. Nothing is obliging. I should get to see Razorscale again tonight, so maybe eventually I'll get lucky. I've mentioned it in comments here before - Eaglebane are awesome, but I'd really like to get rid of them.
We have a shaman in our guild who ran Kara for... probably 8 months and never saw the mace off Maiden. It took me about that long to get the scope schematic off Attumen.
Microtonal Aug 6th 2009 10:05AM
@ Gnosh:
Dude. Relax. There are 16 other gear slots.
warigami Aug 6th 2009 8:34AM
@Patrick: I feel your pain about the Nathrezim Mindblade. Saw it drop exactly once and my lock didn't win the roll. Had to spend a few months grinding arenas to get the Season 2 blade. Frankly, I'd rather eat glass than set foot in another arena....
Ilhoof never, NEVER dropped the Stranglestaff for my feral druid after countless runs. And yet I knew it had to drop sometimes, because every other druid I would run into had it :(
PvtDeth Aug 7th 2009 1:58AM
First time I went to Kara on my Druid was right before the 3.0 nerf. Everybody in my guild was fully geared from there, but for some reason they decided to run it anyway. Badges, I think. I had heavy clefthoof and the like. I got 7 drops including t4 token. Also got 2 resto drops even though I had never, ever specced it.
I wanted Terestian's Stranglestaff so bad. http://www.wowhead.com/?item=28658 That was the one and only time I ran Kara on my Druid. It dropped. I nearly peed myself.
I will never, ever d/e that staff. I think I might take it out of the bank and wear it around Dalaran for fun. I'm sure I'll get about a hundred confused whispers.
If you don't know already, it's about the coolest looking druid weapon ever.
Blacksabre Aug 6th 2009 8:34AM
I was doing Uldaur in Frostsavage Boots, because NOTHING in cloth epic boots dropped...ever...where I could get a good roll for it. I finally replaced them with a set from Naxx that were BOE and I won the roll for. I turned down 3000g for that upgrade, and I figure I'm gonna be wearing them for a long time, given my luck.
macster Aug 6th 2009 8:34AM
As any Warlock will tell you, the answer is Pattern: Robes of Arcana.
Shakerag Aug 6th 2009 9:59AM
Oh god. I think I finally broke down and just bought the pattern off of the AH.
My own personal tale of woe is a good warlock headpiece. Great upgrades everywhere else, but I'm still stuck with the 10-man naxx tier hood.
Mugutu Aug 6th 2009 8:36AM
I had Ancient Measuring Rod on my mage from last December until about a week ago. I raided regularly, ran H OK and H AN nonstop, and even sacrificed a few small animals. Finally I had to settle for Contortion when it dropped in a Naxx clear.
Gnosh Aug 6th 2009 8:36AM
Beaststalker Mantle.
Three years ago. Ran LBRS what must have been 30 times. Dropped once, a shaman out-rolled me (need) by 1, discovered it wasn't an upgrade, and sharded it right there. He didn't even give me the shard.
That day, I understood where that Cloudsong guy's anger came from.
Shazza Aug 6th 2009 3:24PM
Fury of the Five Flights, I finally got it however it was no longer best in slot'. People keep reserving, ninja'ing, refuses to drop or people beat me in rolls.
In the end I just bought it for 500g...against a paladin that won. -.-
Evelinda Aug 6th 2009 8:39AM
Sunfury bow from malchezaar in kara for my hunter during bc... not once did the stupid thing drop for me. And every time my guild went to kara WITHOUT me, it WOULD drop. Ended up so that every raider who could use a bow (or so it seemed) had the damn thing, except for me. At the time i was being stubborn and clinging to a tiny piece of roleplaying for my char, refusing to learn guns, but i eventually just got so sick of not getting that damn bow that i ended up giving in and learning guns so i could use the wolfslayer sniper rifle... which i probably should have just been doing all along :)
Now, its drops for my druid... took me ages to get the war-mace from keri in h nexus for my healing set, and i never see the essence of gossamer from h an for my tank set... /sigh :P
souvlaki Aug 6th 2009 8:39AM
My warrior tank ALT is known to have very bad luck. Whenever I raid with my lock tank pieces are dropped and usually sharded. When i get on my warrior, if plate is dropped is either DPS plate or healing plate.
I was not considering investing on dual spec on him because i wanted him to be tank specced only. But my luck has forced me into the idea of dual speccing and i'm already collecting a second set.