Cataclysm Beta: New blacksmithing items revealed

From armor to weapons, there's a wide assortment of gear already datamined by the folks at MMO-Champion and I have to say some of this stuff is astonishing. We've talked about gear resets before when previous expansions come out, but when you're looking at such a massive DPS increase between an epic weapon dropped by the heroic Lich King and the crafted weapon you can equip at level 81, it seems like this expansion is really serious about it. Just one example is this level 80 blue tanking hat with 290 stamina on it, a clear sign of the increase in health pools we were told we'd be seeing. The new design paradigm of Cataclysm is definitely showing up in these items. It's safe to say that if you haven't been raiding, you'll probably catch up quickly, and even if you have you'll be replacing items pretty early on.
Filed under: News items, Cataclysm







Reader Comments (Page 2 of 4)
Jez Jul 1st 2010 7:14AM
Haha.. Saint it right.
Voted up! D
Possum Jul 1st 2010 7:44AM
I prefer two handed maces, don't just chop dudes up, pulverize them into a sad pile of meat and bone that you can use to fertilize your garden!
oaclo Jul 1st 2010 1:55AM
anyone else see the couple of "light elementium" pieces with intellect...and HIT!!!1!! If anyone would care to speculate on this topic, come on in.
GrumblyStuff Jul 1st 2010 2:02AM
Hmm.. that is interesting. Level 85 required, too....
Natsumi Jul 1st 2010 2:13AM
Obviously you have a miss chance for your heals now. :D
Fletcher Jul 1st 2010 3:00AM
Spellpower is going away from almost everything bar a few rings, necks and trinkets; its bonus to damage/healing is being folded in to intellect. Thus things with int/hit are DPS caster gear, much the way things with sp/hit are currently.
Similarly, attack power is becoming agility or strength on most items.
Me, I'm most excited about the demise of weapon skills. It sucks getting a new weapon and having to flail ineffectually at a random critter for fifteen minutes to be able to use it effectively.
GrumblyStuff Jul 1st 2010 4:33AM
@Fletcher
But... it's plate!
That said, I bet it's just a mistake and will become haste or mastery or crit.
Roy Jul 1st 2010 2:03PM
OK, so I am sure that the memo was missed on this... so they are tying some of the bonuses in healing to attacks. So, you may need to use Holy Shock on the boss to gain a 20% healing buff or something like that. I can't recall all the details, but I remember reading (I think on wow.com) that they will be mixing a little damage dealing into a healer's rotation... thereby you will need some hit.
JAREDO Jul 1st 2010 1:56AM
I thought Attack Power was being removed?
EasyAnswer Jul 1st 2010 2:57AM
Attack power, like spell power, is only being removed from armor, not weapons, because Blizz wants weapons to be powerful
Zanathos Jul 1st 2010 3:44AM
I don't think attack power on weapons is so much to make them powerful as it is to make them flexible.
jordan Jul 1st 2010 2:07AM
Could decapitator's razor also be what prot pally and prot warrior 1handed weapons will look like in the future? (with strength instead of ap of course)
Darky Jul 1st 2010 2:12AM
this lets me dive into dual weilding on my DK yay
Natsumi Jul 1st 2010 2:14AM
Have you seen the sweet new Frost build where you can use a 2h weapon and wtfpwn noobs?
Darky Jul 1st 2010 4:16AM
yup, but i like duel wielding :D
Theresa Jul 1st 2010 2:17AM
I have to say, even as someone wearing gear from ICC25 HMs, the gear re-set makes me grin. I love leveling and finding new and exciting quest rewards. Wrath, where my gear lasted me a good ways into the expansion, was boring on my main. Looking for whatever is going to vendor for the most money is a boring way to quest.
This way all those shiny new instances and quests will be providing me with shiny new gear as well. I will quite happily kiss my old gear goodbye, though I might keep my T10 for memory's sake.
gabriel.manis Jul 1st 2010 9:27PM
Kinda reminds you of Vanilla when the source of armor and weapons wasn't 99% boss drops. I think you are right - imagine doing a long quest line (with perhaps some drops from dungeons and other sources) that ultimately gets you that one piece of gear you need. This is neat for me to see the new items now as I'm leveling my 3rd toon to 80 and think about how the transition from BC raiding items to entry level Wrath gear was so shocking and what it is about to look like all over again.
ScytheNoire Jul 1st 2010 2:28AM
I'm already drooling over that two-handed axe. i can't wait for more info.
Dymphna Jul 1st 2010 2:49AM
Good to know I've been doing the right thing by just gathering heirloom gear and levelling alts, and not actually really raiding for gear at all.
Jdazzle Jul 1st 2010 6:55PM
I wouldn't say the point of raiding is to gear up for the next expansion, it's to experience the content and for the challenge of progressing in the current raid tier.