World of Warcraft War College: Getting Geared
by Mathew McCurley 
Feb 9th 2012 at 2:00PM
This week's discussion is all about getting geared up for PvP. Gear is important in PvP because of the resilience rating, which increases your effectiveness and defenses specifically against other players. Daxxarri asks players to discuss their best techniques and tricks to gear up quickly to be competitive in Battlegrounds and Arenas. Do you have something to share? Hit up the official thread on the WoW community forums.
World of Warcraft War College: Getting Geared
The battlefields of World of Warcraft are littered with the bones of those who have become casualties in the ongoing conflict between the Horde and the Alliance. You do not need to become one of them. One of the keys to victory is knowledge, and that is where the World of Warcraft War College enters the picture. In these discussions between players, you can learn and share strategies with other players to improve your tactics and improve your odds of emerging victorious from the field of battle.
Are you a veteran Gladiator with countless victories tallied? Are you new to World of Warcraft and striving to improve your PvP skills? In this weekly feature, we invite players of all skill levels to ask questions, share tips and tactics, and join a conversation dedicated to surviving and thriving in World of Warcraft PvP.
This week, the topic of discussion is:
Getting Geared – Whether getting ready to jump into PvP with a new character or preparing for a new PvP season, it's important to get enough Resilience on your items to be competitive. What are the best techniques you've found to gear up fast?
Join the War College forum thread here.
Are you a veteran Gladiator with countless victories tallied? Are you new to World of Warcraft and striving to improve your PvP skills? In this weekly feature, we invite players of all skill levels to ask questions, share tips and tactics, and join a conversation dedicated to surviving and thriving in World of Warcraft PvP.
This week, the topic of discussion is:
Getting Geared – Whether getting ready to jump into PvP with a new character or preparing for a new PvP season, it's important to get enough Resilience on your items to be competitive. What are the best techniques you've found to gear up fast?
Join the War College forum thread here.
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!
Filed under: PvP
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
MadMac10 Feb 9th 2012 2:30PM
Here's my Number One suggestion: stop spending your justice and valor points on BOE PVP gear for the Auction House. Spend those points on PVP gear instead. Justice points will convert to Honor & Valor will convert to Conquest. Way better idea than getting on the hamster wheel with those silly bracers & boots.
MadMac10 Feb 9th 2012 2:31PM
Oops! *BOE PVE Gear Imeen...
Blayze Feb 9th 2012 3:41PM
Number one tip: If you're losing, AFK out. Your patience is your most precious resource.
JattTheRogue Feb 9th 2012 4:08PM
I'm confused on how this can be an entire forum discussion. It's pretty simple: run BGs/arenas/rated BGs/do anything else that gives you honor or conquest, buy gear. As MadMac10 said, throw in your JP and VP to go even faster if you only care about PVP.
/thread
noel mcleod Feb 9th 2012 4:13PM
I recently dinged 85 on a Prot pally alt. Prior to this I had maxxed my HP and JP in lower level BGs, so I had about 3800 HP and 2500 JP. I also had about 3500 gold set aside and used this to buy, in priority: vicious chest, helm, legs, gloves, boots, shoulders, bracers from the AH. I used the HP to buy the PvP weapon, shield and relic. I convertted the JP back to HP and used it to fill in the trinkets (huge resilience gain there).
When I stepped into my first 85 bg I had almost 3500 resil and was able to contribute right from the start, and I filled in any missing pieces (except the cloak) in the first night.
Two nights of BGs later I have 1000 CP and two pieces of ruthless and my resil is at 3900.
(I still got owned by a shammy with mostly Cataclysmic gear and 4700 resilience, but his day will come).
The point is, I am geared for PvP AND to run random regs (the current PvP gear is more than good enough for that) which allows me to start gearing my PvE set. Doing it in the reverse order would take forever.
chuck Feb 9th 2012 5:05PM
I've been playing pop but my loom gear always seems better than anything I can buy for honor points. Any suggestions on what I am doing wrong?
JattTheRogue Feb 9th 2012 6:32PM
When leveling, ignore PVP gear. As you said, heirlooms are either as good as or better than most PVP gear you'll find, and since leveling goes so quickly these days, you'll out-level the PVP gear really quickly, wasting your honor. Just save all your honor until you hit 85 so that you can immediately buy a piece or two. For example, my hunter is level 60 and has more than 3,500 honor points already. When I cap honor I'll start converting it to JP. When I hit 85, I'll have enough combined honor and JP to start in on my PVP set.
CountBrass Feb 9th 2012 11:14PM
What if you don't have heirloom gear? Do you still recommend ignoring pvp gear until 85?
Scott Feb 10th 2012 4:03AM
For me, the easiest way to "start" is with crafted gear, preferably that which I craft myself. Cloth, Leather and Mail PvP gear is easily crafted with mats that, as a tailor or leather worker, you will be gathering anyway. The cool thing is, with each new patch, the ilvl for crafted PvP gear scales accordingly. It is still not as high in ilvl as honor gear but for starting out it is better than using PvE gear. Crafted gear also has a set bonus that adds 400 resilience that will definitely make a difference in your initial survivability.
Matheus314 Feb 10th 2012 7:34AM
What about gemming and enchanting for PVP?
As a dpser, should i try to max resilience or damage output?
Is it worth to spend money enchanting and gemming, even if your main interest is PvE?
bookworm13 Feb 10th 2012 2:37PM
I would try to balance both. You very rarely get the chance to whale away on anyone without being counterattacked, even (or especially) when you're trying to take down the other team's healer.
For gems, most of the socket bonuses are easy to match and pretty worthwhile so look for the gems that allow your dps stat (str, agi, int, mastery, etc) and resilience/stamina.
Is it worth spending money on enhancing your gear? I think even more than PvE you always need that edge to take out the flag carrier or pressure their healer or even just survive 1v1 battles. You don't need to go crazy, go for the cheaper enchants and green/blue gems. Nothing is more frustrating than to almost kill your target and see them get away.
If you need specific advise, check out askmrrobot.com for your spec and change your gearing strategy to PvP.
killabity Feb 10th 2012 1:40PM
for a few gold you can get your entry PVP gear from the AH or form fellow guildies or if you can craft your own. Gem for resilience until you feel you have enough to survive them gem for your spec or go Stamina. Main thing to learn in PVP is focus. Not on your spell but on what you are supposed to be doing. then your gear will matter. If you run into a flag position alone and there are 7 of your enemy i don't care what gear you have your dead LOL. Yes I see this every day. Gear is secondary to doing what you are supposed to be doing.