Patch 3.3: 1400 new PvE items on their way
by Michael Sacco 
Nov 21st 2009 at 5:00PM
Given the recent interview with Cory Stockton and our man GC, it seems like there's a lot of attention going into itemization for all of the Icecrown gear, and thus it's actually a little surprising that there's so darn much of it. And there's a ton of new kinds of procs, set bonuses, et cetera, building on the "Epic. Cool things. Proc'y stuff." mentality that GC says Icecrown items are all based on.
Then again, with what's going down with items in Cataclysm, fourteen hundred new items seem downright mundane in comparison. It must seem that way to Ghostcrawler, too, given that this whole comment off-handedly came out in a post where someone was loudly complaining about an itemization bug on a piece of Icecrown gear. That's casual conversation for ol' Greg. "Yeah, put the finishing touches on 1400 new items today. Figure later I'll get the number of that waitress at Applebee's. Tomorrow I personally reitemize all of the old-world quests for Cataclysm. I'll get up around noon, probably leave work at 3:30 or so."
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, News items, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Matt Nov 21st 2009 5:14PM
is this more alliance and horde have the same items by different names like TOC? figure each boss has 10 items on normal mode that would mean 140 Items in ice crown becomes 280. Then you figure in trash epics and hard mode epics the faction multiplication can grow the loot table very quickly.
I'm not saying they aren't working hard but this number is kinda meaningless after the loot table of the last patch.
ToyChristopher Nov 21st 2009 5:32PM
No, there is is no separate faction items this time around. Hopefully the loot isn't fully itemized yet as a lot of it seemed kind of copy paste with stats.
Otto Nov 21st 2009 5:34PM
Not to nitpick... but why is the Shadowmourne in the SS socketed with Parry/Stamina gems?
Because Parry suffers from higher diminishing returns than Dodge, there is no situation in any realistically attainable gearset in which any tank would want to gem for Parry, EVER. Dodge/Stamina gems would get you more avoidance. And if you were after threat, Expertise/Stamina would get you more threat and reduce your chance to be parry-gibbed.
There's no reason for any tank to ever use a Parry gem, with the diminishing return curves the way they are.
Kadamon Nov 21st 2009 5:47PM
Death Knight Tank.
And the reason might be that for some forsaken reason he has less dodge than what's being taken away in Icecrown, so instead of trying to reach above that 20%, he's going to add Parry.
DeathPaladin Nov 21st 2009 5:47PM
It wouldn't necessarily have to be the same situation as the Tournament where the same items have different names for the two factions. It's not just the Citadel. There are also 3 5-man dungeons being released, which will need to have both normal and heroic loot tables. Plus items awarded by Emblems of Frost. Plus 4 versions of Quel'Delar and 4 Quel'Delar-equivalent maces.
And just look at the tier sets. Every class has a tier set for every role they can fulfill, each tier set contains 5 pieces, and there are three levels for each tier set. So that's 15 pieces of gear for every role for every class. 15 for Rogues, Hunters, Mages, and Warlocks. 30 for Death Knights, Warriors, and Priests. 45 for Druids, Shaman, and Paladins. Tier pieces alone account for 285 individual PvE items.
There are items being added that are item level 219, 232, 251, 264, and 277. Plus one 284 (Shadowmourne). The number may also include the addition of any glyphs, bags, mounts, pets, quest items, and holiday items that are available through PvE.
Also this:
http://ptr.wowhead.com/?item=49917
Chris M Nov 21st 2009 7:58PM
People need to stop pretending/thinking there's any good reason why that Shadowmourne is gemmed as horribly as it is. Absolutely nothing warrants that terrible gemming strategy, and being a Death Knight tank is no reason to gem Parry, as a matter of a fact it's more of a bad reason than any other tank as they get parry from Strength; and their DR is much higher.
The only two reasons why that is gemmed the way it is are:
1) Trolled by a GM/CM
2) GM/CM has no idea how to gem their items
epic Nov 22nd 2009 8:02PM
i think you need to reeducate you self on parry....or diminishing returns...and for that matter its a fricken screenshot from the ptr they could have put mp5 gems in there...get a life
marco Nov 23rd 2009 11:58AM
Kadamon...I didn't know DKs could DW 2 handers.
Magma Nov 21st 2009 5:24PM
IT'S OVER 9..nevermind.
Moppentoff Nov 21st 2009 5:30PM
Logged in to say exactly this. Damn you, I say!
ToyChristopher Nov 21st 2009 5:30PM
Yet all the holy paladin Spellpower plate is loaded with Crit. I want haste and mp5 now blizzard!
I guess there is still time to find some haste/mp5 items for me. That is an awful lot of items. I guess they are kind of position ice crown as 2 (or maybe 3?) raids in one, especially considering the gating.
Nick S Nov 21st 2009 5:34PM
Holydins: We want Crit, stop giving us Mp5!!!
(Months pass.)
Blizz: Huh? Oh, okay!
MazokuRanma Nov 21st 2009 5:37PM
Actually, I'm not sure haste will be quite as vital as it was before. They're supposedly limiting spike damage in ICC, so I would assume that the urgency to get our heal cast before the tank gets decimated by a second hit will go down. They want it to be a bit less reactionary and a little more proactive. If they succeed is yet to be seen.
Nick S Nov 21st 2009 5:47PM
It depends, I think. I suspect that FoL-built Paladins will see a bit of attention in Icecrown, and that build values Haste. With spell power values so high and a promise to make damage spikes smaller, it seems like an FoL build could be nice.
Crit still just isn't that attractive as a stat, and when you can predict a bit better how much you're going to need to heal, it becomes even less attractive versus Haste.
All of this is supposition, of course, since I haven't gotten to heal Icecrown yet and I don't know just how far in the direction of "smaller hits, more often" Blizzard has gone. If it turns out that you can let the tank get to 20% before you start a Holy Light, then yeah, you're totally right.
Leviathon Nov 21st 2009 5:35PM
Technically it's around 700 items since he was counting the heroic versions most likely which is just the same item with a stat increase.
ToyChristopher Nov 21st 2009 5:42PM
Nick S -- I know right?
MazokuRanma -- But what other stat is there? I mean if the choice is between mp5, crit, and haste even without huge spike tank damage I am still going to want haste. Haste allows me to hit the raid faster, get in a melee weapon swing, take a step forward, etc... and I definitely wouldn't call my healing right now reactionary. I don't need haste because I am healing a huge spike of tank damage after the fact, but simply to increase the "tick" rate of my massive holy light "hot" on the tank. If tank damage is really significantly changed though maybe you will be right.
Nick S Nov 21st 2009 5:51PM
Haha, I've never heard someone call Holy Light a HoT before. It's sort of true, though. The only time I can heal tanks reactively is on outdated content. On hard modes, it's spam spam spam, DP, and spam some more.
Haste is still my favorite stat in terms of "feel", that's for sure. Being able to step out of fire without a tank dying is always nice.
Shadow Nov 21st 2009 5:57PM
I hope one of them is that 300 Gear Score shirt that GC said he wanted to see!!!!
Azizrael Nov 21st 2009 6:13PM
This has a high chance of turning out like that comment he made at Blizzcon (I think) about a ton of bosses in Icecrown - 31, was it? Either he's telling the truth and learned that he can't make jokes, or he's still messing with people.
Also, the Onyxia pets just got mailed out in the EU.
Icefire Nov 21st 2009 8:48PM
He made the comment on the forums, actually, and he intended it to be sarcasm and didn't think anyone would think he was being serious.
And I doubt he is lying.. :D
Just my 2 gold =]