Patch 4.3: Official preview of priest tier 13
by Mathew McCurley 
Sep 28th 2011 at 12:30PM
So far, tier 13 armor design has been less about the instance and the game itself and more about the free-form ideas that the class and armor designers want to play with. Artists are having a good time coming up with all sorts of crazy ideas without having to necessarily be set in any motif. I think it's a great exercise and is providing some of the coolest, potentially most iconic armor sets to date.
Check out images from the priest tier gear retrospective in our gallery.
Priest tier 13 - Vestments of Dying Light
Adventurers will be tested like never before in 4.3 as they take on Deathwing and his minions, emerging with powerful new treasures. Please enjoy this preview of the priest tier 13 set, as well as a visual guide to tiers 1 through 12 for Transmogrification purposes.
Vestments of Dying Light
Priests (and paladins for that matter) are often the most challenging classes to design 'badass' armor sets for, in contrast to the death knight and warlock, whose underlying concepts demand the unquestionably cool dark and sinister approach.
In this instance, however, the design asked for a bold, two-tone, 'Venetian carnival style with creepy, soulless black eyes,' which gave me a powerful, potentially edgy direction to explore. The set's 'Dying Light' theme was visualized as a spiked, setting sun motif.
Vestments of Dying Light
Priests (and paladins for that matter) are often the most challenging classes to design 'badass' armor sets for, in contrast to the death knight and warlock, whose underlying concepts demand the unquestionably cool dark and sinister approach.
In this instance, however, the design asked for a bold, two-tone, 'Venetian carnival style with creepy, soulless black eyes,' which gave me a powerful, potentially edgy direction to explore. The set's 'Dying Light' theme was visualized as a spiked, setting sun motif.
Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Review the official patch notes, and then dig into 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!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Tirrimas Sep 28th 2011 12:33PM
Priests won the Tier Oscar for Armor Design, I think.
This is quite as iconic as Pallies' Judgement.
Dominic Hobbs Sep 28th 2011 1:18PM
I still think the Paladin set is better but this is pretty awesome. Shame the warlock set is seemingly the joker in the deck.
On a side note I want to show my complete support for the decision to make the tier items about the class and not the tier. T9 (particularly for Alliance) was an embarrassment the designers would do well to learn by; glad to see that maybe they have. Looking through the retrospectives really gives a sense of which sets have been iconic and they always scream something about the class.
Oh, and /wave to the WoW Insider warlock community.
Dominic Hobbs Sep 28th 2011 1:27PM
Huh, the end of my comment went away, may have been the 'less than' symbol that was making the heart.
...
Heart to fellow shadow-casters
/rasp to pants
jfofla Sep 28th 2011 2:38PM
Every Priest in my Guild thinks this Tier is hideous.
That boggles my mind! I think it is as good a Tier Set as Blizzard has ever done.
SR Sep 28th 2011 2:45PM
Reminds me of a Queen from a chess piece, I first thought.
Then, I noticed the beard. This tier set just screams of a Bishop now.
Do Spriests get a damage boost if they wear this set and DPS diagonally?
Seraph Sep 28th 2011 5:41PM
Ironically, yes, you do get a DPS buff by moving (not necessarily diagonally) with the 4pc.
Mr. Crow Sep 28th 2011 12:34PM
I'm a shadowpriest, and I say this to you now: DOES WANT.
Erebos Sep 28th 2011 1:07PM
I think this says a lot about the difficulty of priest tier armor. I feel like the hardest part, besides designing badass armor for a big healing class, is designing armor for a healing class that is also capable of melting faces, and trying to make it attractive to the healy and shadowy brethren alike. Priests, I think, have this difficulty more than other hybrid classes.
That said, and as a healing priest myself: I LOVE THIS SET.
I think we win T13 :D
Lucidique Sep 28th 2011 5:03PM
Absolutely. This set is one of the best looking of all the sets in the game. Up there with Judgment and Bloodfang. It's amazing.
Natsumi Sep 28th 2011 6:05PM
@Erebos
I'm gunna let you finish, but.... Warrior T13 is the best Tier ever made.
Nopunin10did Sep 28th 2011 12:35PM
I get an Eyes Wide Shut vibe from the mask.
I wish it was Janus-style, with a face in back too. It would render right for hunched-over races, but it'd look sick on elves and humans.
Welshy Sep 28th 2011 12:37PM
Wish I had a priest. Looks awesome.
Devin Sep 28th 2011 12:38PM
I like it. I can't wait to get it and rip it to shreds so my forsaken priest can wear it.
Mortenebra Sep 28th 2011 12:58PM
I fiddled around with the 3D model viewer on Wowhead and it looks AWESOME on an undead, especially an undead female (which is what my priest is). It makes me monumentally glad I didn't race change.
Shaobito Sep 28th 2011 12:39PM
I like it, but I feel like the shoulders are to big.
Cyno01 Sep 28th 2011 12:45PM
Isnt that true of every tier set for every class ever?
Mr. Crow Sep 28th 2011 12:47PM
The shoulders look pretty big on the Human Male. Actually, shoulders are kinda huge on every male.
So, I expect it'll look sweet on my BE girl. ^_^
blanchard1992 Sep 28th 2011 1:00PM
True, I found that with my T11 shoulders on a Draenei Male that I'm roughly 3 times the width of a female Human. O_O
blanchard1992 Sep 28th 2011 1:00PM
True, I found that with my T11 shoulders on a Draenei Male that I'm roughly 3 times the width of a female Human. O_O
Marshal Sep 28th 2011 12:39PM
First thought that came into mind was Big-O. Love this set.