Patch 3.3 PTR: The new tier 10 purchasing model
by Matt Low 
Nov 18th 2009 at 2:30PM
That will not be the case here. Tier 10 purchasing has been streamlined further, and I think this is the best solution as it contains elements of both tier 8 and tier 9 models.
Now when you want to buy tier 10, you have to use Emblems of Frost to purchase the item level 251 variants. This is the lowest version of tier 10 you can get. In order to get the next level which is item level 264, you'll need to get a class specific token which presumably drops from Icecrown Citadel on 25. It could drop from Icecrown Citadel 10 after taking down Arthas or doing some heroic versions of bosses. We have no idea yet.
In other words, if I want to get item 264 versions my shoulders, I have to first spend 60 Emblems of Frost to get the Crimson Acolyte Shoulderpads. Then I have to raid and patiently wait for a Conqueror's Mark of Sanctification to drop (Paladin, Priest, Warlock). Once I get the mark, I visit the tier vendor in Dalaran and turn both of them in exchange for the Sanctified Crimson Acolyte Shoulderpads.
In other news, tier prices also released. Gloves and shoulders can be bought for 60 Emblems of Frost, while the Helm, Legs, and Chest can be had for 95.
Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.Filed under: Patches, Items, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Nazgûl Nov 18th 2009 2:33PM
Perhaps this new system will silence the waves of people complaining about how easy T9 was to obtain.
George Nov 18th 2009 2:36PM
Doesn't seem so much harder to get the tier items... Just more emblems, but does that necessarily translate into harder?
Ralod Nov 18th 2009 2:39PM
I doubt it. Frost badges will be much easier to get for the casual player then Triumph badges were. The bitching will continue.
Finnicks Nov 18th 2009 2:42PM
The time investment is definately increased, but not really the "difficulty".
The only difference now is that instead of having to use a Trophy and X number of badges for your T10.5 piece, you have to buy the T10 piece (for roughly double what T9 cost) then exchange it w/ the class-specific "Trophy".
A diligent player can expend about 30-45 minutes a day doing a random heroic for 14 badges, and then spend about an hour once a week doing the weekly raid, for a net of 24 Frost Badges a week, w/o so much as setting foot in ICC (unless, of course, the Weekly Raid happens to be Marrowgar).
So... 4 months or so would see a person more or less completely decked out in Tier 10, as well as completely decked out in Triumph gear from all the hundreds of Triumph badges they'll get in the interim.
Como Nov 18th 2009 2:48PM
T9 239 and 245 were easy to get that was the point, try getting your 258 t9 and then say how easy it is lol. I'll put it this way if you got full 258 t9 your clearing heroic anub a lot.
jasonablackburn Nov 18th 2009 2:49PM
except that heroics and old raids won't be dropping Emblems of Frost, they will be dropping Emblems of Triumph.
Eternauta Nov 18th 2009 4:15PM
Why would we like Tier pieces harder to get?
I like this new system because it gives a sense of "progression" in gear. Instead of wearing different armors, you wear an armor that gets "sanctified" (upgraded).
curtisrutland Nov 18th 2009 4:20PM
@jason
Except that using the Dungeon System will award 2 Frost Emblems for the first random dungeon (replacing the "daily heroic").
Cephas Nov 18th 2009 10:46PM
Minor errata for Finnicks' post, The weekly raid quest has been nerfed to 5 Frost and 5 Triumph. That brings it down to 19 Frost/week. If I'm doing my math correctly it'll be almost 5 months before anyone who only goes into Icecrown to kill Marrowgar gets full T10.
Wyred Nov 19th 2009 5:16AM
I like this system as it removes a lot of the problems with the T9 system. My guild doesn't work on DKP, it works on ranked rolls (rank being decided by raid attendance, performance etc). Except with T9 being good for all classes/specs, if we'd used that for T9, it would've gone only to the higher ranks, which wasn't the intention of the loot system. Instead we ended up with an informal loot council system, which has worked ok, but obviously wasn't ideal. Also, people would hoard their badges to have enough to spend on ilvl245, while looking down on the 232 tier, potentially holding up progression, if it weren't for normal TotC25 being fairly easy. This system looks like it will solve all of those problems in on stroke. Elegant solution Blizz, well done.
Rob Nov 18th 2009 2:36PM
Holy crap that's alot of badges! Have fun farming them.
Jinx Nov 18th 2009 2:52PM
you can get 15 badges a week doing your first heroic a daily, and the raid "weekly" quest. so just by doing that it would take you one month to get your first peice, if you never even stepped inside ICC.
Boz Nov 18th 2009 3:12PM
@Jinx
If you play every single day, it will take you a month to get a single piece of tier armor. That's a lot of emblems for casuals with limited play time, which seems about right.
The more you play, the more you are rewarded. Pretty consistent with the existing game structure.
Mithraeus Nov 18th 2009 4:14PM
You can 24 Frost emblems per week. 10 for the weekly raid and 14 from the random heroic each day.
storment Nov 18th 2009 6:52PM
@Mithraeus
It's 5 frost and 5 triumph from the weekly raid quest, not 10 frost.
Kuno Nov 18th 2009 4:56PM
Except farming was never fun.
Turning on Background Downloader and going back to Dragon Age: Origins and CoD Warfare Second. C ya around peeps :)
Josin Nov 18th 2009 2:40PM
I like it. Still accessible to those who aren't hardcore raiders, but requiring actual effort in raiding, which should satisfy the raider crowd.
But... what about the next season of Arena gear?! ;)
Mithraeus Nov 18th 2009 4:17PM
Dunno, but the paladin PvP armor they put up instead of Tier 10 by mistake is the absolute SHIT. That stuff looks amazing. Gotta level my paladin now!
jcguerrero_32 Nov 18th 2009 2:49PM
wonder how this gonna work out?
Zach Nov 18th 2009 3:27PM
I think it will work out quite nicely, at least better than T9. I'm not interested in the stupid easy-to-obtain / hardcore vs. casual debate about new gear. I'm just glad that it's straightforward ilvl progression now. In T9, quite a few of my guildies bought the 232 tier gear and then didn't get trophies (at least not at first), since they already had the 232 tier. This will alleviate any risk of "wasting" emblems on lower level gear, since you'll need to buy the lower level tier anyway before you can get ilvl 264. I like it.