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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsPatch 4.3: Zarhym clarifies tier 13 drop methods
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Sep 19th 2011 at 8:00PM
- All pieces will drop from multi-class set tokens. Ten-man raids will see a slight buff to drop rates to compensate for the lack of purchasable tier pieces.
- Valor point gear will feature a wider array of gear for a wider array of slots, meant both for people who are having trouble with token drops and for people who don't raid at all.
- There will be three tier 13 sets for each class: Looking For Raid level, normal level, and heroic level. Each will have a different item level, but you'll be able to mix and match pieces from all three sets for your set bonuses as needed.
ZarhymThe way tier 13 pieces will be obtained in the 4.3 raid won't be unlike raids past, meaning players will still need to roll on multi-class set tokens. That said, we'll be tweaking the tier 13 10-player drop rates a little bit (for the better) relative to the 25-player version, given that these tier pieces can't be purchased from vendors for Valor Points.
In addition, due to tier pieces not being offered for Valor Points, another thing you'll see in patch 4.3 is a much wider array of desirable non-set loot (covering more slots than prior patches) available from the vendors, for those players who are unlucky with specific token drops, or who aren't interested in raiding -- although, once you get more details about the Raid Finder, we hope you'll find interest in having a go.
I felt this warranted its own response in a separate thread, but for those who missed it, here's my response to the original thread about tier 13 pieces being raid drops only:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/3196022133?page=23#456
Quote:
Keep in mind we do intend to allow tier 13 set pieces to drop for those using the upcoming Raid Finder. Similar to the difference between normal and Heroic versions of tier sets, the Raid Finder set will have a lower item level than the normal and Heroic counterparts.
Set pieces from all three difficulty levels can still be mixed and matched for the 2- and 4-piece bonuses.
Keep in mind we do intend to allow tier 13 set pieces to drop for those using the upcoming Raid Finder. Similar to the difference between normal and Heroic versions of tier sets, the Raid Finder set will have a lower item level than the normal and Heroic counterparts.
Set pieces from all three difficulty levels can still be mixed and matched for the 2- and 4-piece bonuses.
Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Look at what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back! Filed under: Blizzard, News items, Raiding
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 5)
Grayswindir Sep 19th 2011 8:33PM
"Making the next set of tier gear completely unobtainable by non-raiders and substituting in a few extra lesser pieces on the side makes me sad."
Agreed.
But I know that the LFRaid tool will help with this, by allowing people who dont have time to 'serious' raid - still be kept in the loop.
BUT a question to the forum - will the LFRaid Raid that you are placed into...it will have a lockout? and once you have done it-you are locked out of it for the week? OR is it like Random LFG Heroics, where if its Random--there is no lockout for it and it can be run ad nauseum?
I am just afraid of the LFRaid groups just falling apart soo easily and then your screwed for the week.
Calaana Sep 19th 2011 9:32PM
From the sound of it, you'll be able to get LFR level epics from the 5's/valour, but they won't be tier. So you won't have the set bonus.
It's really not that big of a deal.
watspr02 Sep 19th 2011 11:52PM
Slight clarification:
GC said in the TenTonHammer interview that the LFR gear would be above the new heroics and below the new raid. How much above or below I don't know. Also how well itemized the VP gear will be is up for debate too. We'll have to wait and see.
Boozard Sep 20th 2011 2:25AM
on the other hand, i believe there is a significant number of people who feel that raids simply lost their epicness due to the fact that equivalent ilevel purples were easily obtainable through non-raiding means. why even raid at all when you could grind dailies and heroics to get the same level items? there was simply no reason to jump into the next level of content.
LFR is obviously blizzard's compromise solution and i think it has potential.
blazenor Sep 19th 2011 8:23PM
Raid gear you can only get by raiding?!?! What will they they think of next?
I feel the tusmani of QQ coming.
Marolas Sep 19th 2011 9:01PM
Are you too busy running Heroic Ragnaros right now to post an actual, constructive comment?
(Also, "tsunami.")
furrama Sep 19th 2011 9:13PM
Constructive comment? For a news article?
I thought the comment was funny and to the point, misspelling or no.
emberdione Sep 19th 2011 8:24PM
So no more alts in tier gear? *bleh*
What is it with Blizzard and taking steps backwards in this expac? Are we getting attunements back? Maybe out of combat rezzers? The ability to use more than one potion per combat?
And to all the people who are like "good! leave raiding gear for the raiders!" you have obviously never tried to get into a pug raid on your alt before. The only way I was ever able to is by having spent a stupid amount of time farming it up.
DracoSuave Sep 19th 2011 8:33PM
You make it sound like pugging a raid is going to be hard, rather than easy.
Are you not aware that there is a tool called 'Looking For Raid' that will allow random pugs to raid with ease? Are you not aware that the raid difficulty will be lower, thus making the LFR tool the new 'randoms' that you grind for tier gear?
It's like you think that you're not going to have the ability to grind randoms, when, in fact, you'll be grinding randoms.
Drakkenfyre Sep 19th 2011 8:39PM
Hey, the ability to use more than one potion per fight was a good thing.
It was rather dirty how they implemented it. First by using a debuff called "Potion Sickness", then removing the debuff, making people think they changed their minds, then it turned out, the debuff is just invisible.
emberdione Sep 19th 2011 8:51PM
@DracoSuave - Yeah cause you know, that worked out SO WELL for the Trollroics didn't it?
I am still gonna want to run pug normal raids on my server. I am still not going to want to farm 25 man idiot raids to get a chance to roll and win a token. RNG is a terrible terrible thing and makes the entire loot system suck. At least with a few pieces available to purchase for valor, if I was unlucky (and I always am) I would eventually get a few of the pieces regardless.
@Drakkenfyre - Yeah I threw that in there as hey if we are going to move backwards can we at least get the good things back instead of all the terrible ones?
Andrew Sep 19th 2011 9:46PM
Emberdione: I don't see why you wouldn't be accepted into pugged raids. You can still farm up VP gear equal to the iLevel of tier, you just won't have the tier pieces with bonuses.
Arrohon Sep 19th 2011 10:00PM
The Raid Finder achievement might become a requirement to prove you know the fight and can execute it to an extent. I'll actually be very surprised if it doesn't.
Erebos Sep 19th 2011 10:00PM
@Ember
I kind of have to agree with you. I can only imagine that pugging a raid will be horribly frustrating (yes, I'm aware it's a lower difficulty, but I still see people wiping on the nerfed t11 raids, not to mention the horrible times I've had in ZA/ZG and even regular heroics). I have to assume that using the LFR tool will be like doing the troll heroics, but with 20 more people, and that sounds horribly unappealing.
I also like being able to buy my tier through valor, since, like you said, it eliminates RNG (except, again, pugs one has to deal with).
I'm wary of this, to say the least...
Boobah Sep 19th 2011 10:01PM
You'll have to excuse me while I vomit all over the idea of multiple potions per fight. Or, more to the point, having the content balanced for people that constantly chug the things.
Maybe you can convince Blizzard to let you stack as many elixirs as you can swallow, too. Because that was fun gameplay.
Or rather, more to the point, being forced to get the piles and piles of consumables necessary was horrible.
Sleutel Sep 19th 2011 10:16PM
If you're not raiding on your alt, why do you need tier gear?
DarkWalker Sep 19th 2011 10:27PM
Increasing the RNG element in gearing (and increasing the fighting over gear drops, more so in PUGs) are, for me, definitely steps backwards. Loot rolls is one of the things I hate the most in raids. If the tendency is a shift away from individual rewards (JP/VP currently) and towards rewards that must be rolled against the rest of the raid (the new armor tokens), I'm that further away from ever wanting to raid again (apart, perhaps, from a single LFR run just to see the history).
goldeneye Sep 20th 2011 11:33AM
I remember the weekly raids in Wrath. They were adequate enough to let me see some of the raids I'd missed. So I'm not all too concerned what LFR will bring.
DracoSuave Sep 19th 2011 8:26PM
Occu'thar is actually really easy to kill. Not to mention you have two trash pulls before hand that teach you the -exact- skill necessary to defeat this guy. He's puggable, but you absolutely have to weed out the bad players who don't understand what 'raid mechanics' are.
First, when forming your group, advertise that you're kicking paste-eaters who don't stack and AoE. This is more important than ilvl. This is the difference between downed boss and wipe. You might get some eager guy who hasn't done it before and wants to prove himself. That's fine. That guy is MORE likely to do what needs to be done.
Before the first trash pull, you /rw Stack for trash AoE for easy downing. Then you see who doesn't stack and single targets.
Then you kick that guy, cause he's replacable and doesn't listen to simple instructions, and he can singlehandedly wipe your raid.
Hunters get a pass here because they can either AoE OR Stack, but can't really do both.
Then the second pull. Do it again. And if someone doesn't stack and AoE? Again, another kick. It doesn't matter that you don't -have- to for that trash. Fact is... that's what they have to do to prove they know the fight.
You should, in a ten man group, kick people for failing at this raid mechanic. That guy will be causing you to wipe. He'll be causing nine/twenty-four other players to take on unnecessary repair bills. It's not cruel to kick him for wiping your raid. It's cruel to more people to leave him in.
Don't assume they know what they're doing tho. Tell them what you expect, and tell them you expect to boot those who don't comply.
Revynn Sep 20th 2011 9:45AM
- "Hunters get a pass here because they can either AoE OR Stack, but can't really do both. "
It's not all that hard to do both actually. BM has AoE capable pets that don't require the hunter to be out of the dead zone and SV can be the last person to stack up and Multi-Shot as he's running into the group to spread Serpent Sting around. All three specs can simply watch the timers on DBM and drop an Explosive trap on the stack point right before Eyes go out.