Patch 4.3 PTR: Gear levels revealed for Dragon Soul raid

by Mathew McCurley Oct 26th 2011 at 2:01PM

The newest updates to the patch 4.3 public test realm have revealed the new item levels for gear acquired from the valor point vendors as well as the loot dropped from Dragon Soul bosses. With Dragon Soul, Blizzard is introducing a brand new difficulty tier in raids called Raid Finder, aimed at providing a new difficulty curve for new raiders and players who want to pug these raids.

Valor point vendors now have a piece of armor for every slot, mitigating that whole "no shoulders drop except tier shoulders" problem that warriors had this recent patch, among other classes. You will be able to fill every slot with new gear from valor points but will not be able to purchase set pieces. The new gear ilevels for Dragon Soul are as follows:

Raid Finder drops ilevel 384 (just a bit better than normal Firelands).
Normal Dragon Soul drops ilevel 397 (just a bit better than heroic Firelands).
Heroic Dragon Soul drops ilevel 410 (the best around).

As with other valor point tiers of gear, the boots and bracers on these vendors will be bind on equip, allowing players to purchase these items with valor points and send them to alts, sell them on the Auction House, or help out a guildmate in need.

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!

Tags: breaking, dragon-soul, dragon-soul-ilevel, dragon-soul-raid, ilevel, patch-4.3, raid, raid-finder, raiding, world-of-warcraft-patch-4.3, wow-patch, wow-patch-4.3, wow-patch-4.3-news, wow-patch-news

Filed under: Raiding, Cataclysm

Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)

Boobah Oct 26th 2011 3:16PM

Dude, it's gonna have lower stats than a regular deathwing weapon (iLvl 403 vs iLvl 397). And you won't care, because the proc is what makes it a legendary weapon. There's a reason procs don't usually scale with anything... when they do, they tend to overpower stats.

Microtonal Oct 26th 2011 2:59PM

Asking after it from the other direction: do we know yet what the average item level threshold is for being able to queue for DS via the raid finder?

Shrikesnest Oct 26th 2011 6:20PM

Tough to call. I'm guessing somewhere between 365 and 378. If that sounds high, consider that the new heroics drop 378 gear, so between that and the Firelands gear available for JP I'm sure people will be able to hit that without any raiding. Heck, I'm 365 right now and I haven't set foot in Firelands at all.

Buffles Oct 26th 2011 3:03PM

So if I'm reading this correctly, the VP armor will still have the look of the tier armor, just no set bonus?

TonyKP Oct 26th 2011 3:06PM

Huh. It's kinda weird, but after the Mists of Kung Fu Panda announcement 4.3 is a little anticlimactic. I feel like I'd rather just see Cata over and done with so we can get on to the next expansion.

Zaet Oct 26th 2011 3:32PM

There are no pants for sale in the VP vendor, nor shoulders

Boobah Oct 26th 2011 3:35PM

Y'all left out that Deathwing (part the second) drops gear that is a half-tier better than the rest of the drops; 390 for LFR, 403 (presumably) for regular, and 416 for heroic. None of the regular versions of the Fall of Deathwing drops seem to have made it in yet.

Noah Oct 26th 2011 4:29PM

Does anyone know what ilvl you have to be to use the raid finder and get into Dragon Soul? It'd really suck if you needed like, 370 ilvl, everyone would have to get into firelands were that the case.

Nacirema Oct 26th 2011 6:21PM

IF that were the case everyone would simply be able to gear up with the new 5-mans which will drop 378 gear. Firelands would not be a requirement.

Shrikesnest Oct 26th 2011 6:22PM

Not necessarily. Keep in mind that the current slate of VP gear will be available for JP when 4.3 hits, plus the new heroics drop 378 gear. If you're lucky with drops you might be ready for the raid finder inside a week or two.

Matthew Oct 26th 2011 7:34PM

Can I do the new 5 mans with ZG gear?

VioletArrows Oct 26th 2011 10:58PM

Maybe if you save up all the valor points you've gotten from running it and bought Firelands gear. But 353/9? That'll only get you into the new 5 mans, which drop 378. *Those* will get you the raid.

Alexbroadxhead Oct 26th 2011 7:54PM

Can you do one raid, while using the random raid finder, as many times as possible, even though you get saved, just as long as you still queue in for a random raid? Like the dungeon finder....i.e, I queue fit a random zandalari, I get za, I down one boss....im saved, but I can queue in for another random zandalari and still get za.

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