Results tagged “Loot”

So, last night was the Raven's first trip back to Naxx in a while ... and looked very precarious for a while. Of the 9 sign-ups only 7 were online at the appointed time (the 8th had forgotten but got online as soon as he was called) and the ninth was called away by a family emergency. Never ones to ignore a challenge, we decided to take a crack at the Arachnid Quarter anyway, expecting to get brutalized. We were pleasantly surprised.

Anub'Rekhan took two attempts (as in the first the healers got silenced and it all got messy at that point) but Grand Widow Faerlina went down like a sack of spuds (as usual), thanks to the fact the dps and tanks were putting out about 8k of DPS, so with a full team we'd had sailed through. Maexxna proved a bit much for us to 8-man (we only had 2 healers) so we decided to check out the Obsidian Sanctum, the first time there for many of us.

This was somewhat harder work, but we 8-man cleared to the first mini-boss and then roped in another guildy for a the attempt. We bounced a few times as we learned how it all worked, but eventually prevailed. More badges for the collection!

Loot wise it was DPS-tastic - 2 pieces of caster loot (gloves from AR and off-hand from Faerlina), and 2 of melee loot (a dagger from AR and, if memory serves, some boots). Though I was the only clothy present, the caster items were only greed for me (having the Ebenweave gloves and the badge off-hander) so they went to our friendly neighbourhood battle-tree Leafshine. Our rogue, Almaron, got the melee gear (and very happy he was too!)

All in all a good night, despite the ominous start, and shows that we can get things done (and surely will once we get back up to strength). Go us! 

 

There's a point at which balance shifts - the tipping point - and it applies equally to the loot obtained from dungeons. Last night saw us venturing into Drak'Tharon Keep, a 74-76 dungeon on the border of Grizzly Hills and Zul'Drak, and Andro's gear "tip" considerably. Between quest rewards and loot drops I picked up six items that may well replace outland epics, and a run through the arena quest chain in Zul'Drak netted me a staff that, when enchanted, will certainly replace my current dagger-offhand combo (for a while at least).

The loot was:

[Robes of Novus] (replacing [Tormented Demonsoul Robes] which was Shattered Sun badge loot) - a drop from Novos. The switch from crit to haste (-50 crit but +53 haste) will be interesting (as will the loss of 8 points of spellpower) but it adds 23 int (which is worth 345 mana and about 0.25% crit)

[Crystal Pendant of Warding] (replacing [Shattered Sun Pendant of Acumen] which was a Shattered Sun item) - a drop from Novos. A debateable switch - +17 int and +9 stamina, but 7 less spelldamage (and no arcane zap)

[Stable Master's Breeches] (replacing[Legwraps of Sweltering Flame] which was Shattered Sun badge loot) - a drop from King Dred. Again, less spelldamage (-8) but a bucketload of stats (+15 stam, +25 int, +22spi). The legwraps still have the edge in boss fights though due to their hit rating (25).

[Kurzel's Angst ] (replacing [Violet Signet of the Archmage] from Kara) - a quest reward. A +10 gain in spellpower and stats (+4 sta, +10 int), but a loss of crit (-17) though there's the addition of 10mp5.

[ Shroud of Temptation] (replacing [Reinforced Velvet Helm] which I'd acquired from Prince Keleseth in UK) - a quest reward. A slight reduction in stamina (-3) and int (-3), but 18 more spellpower and 16 more spirit.

[Shameful cuffs] (replacing [Fury of the Ursine] from Zul Aman) - a quest reward. +11 spellpower (and +15 stamina and +17 int) but -16 spirit and -17 crit. Again, there's the addition of 10mp5

[Chilly Slobberknocker] (replacing [Merciless Gladiator's Spellblade] and [Fetish of the Primal Gods] which were Season 2 and badge rewards respectively) - a quest reward from The Champion of Anguish. The one clear-cut "pure gain" item (+15 stamina, +27 int, +35 hit, +30 haste, +19 spelldamage)

In essence, there's some choices to make: spelldamage or int? Int or crit ... if I used them all  believe that'd leave me with four Outland epics (boots, trinket, wand and ring) though I'm in two minds on some of them. Decisions, decisions ...

Coming back from Kara last night I took a ride through Stormwind (you know the drill; hearth out then realize the quest hand in was back at the instance) when I spotted this chap. Now, as someone who has a substantial collection of mounts I was entranced and a bit of investigating showed me it was [Swift Spectral Tiger], only available (boo!) as a result of a uber-rare (1 per 500 boosters) loot card from the CCG.

(The odd picture angle is because I'd ridden past before the uniqueness of the mount and I didn't want to run back and gawp like some sad mountaholic. Oh, too late ...)

So I finally managed to pick up [Gladiator's Spellblade] at the weekend which in conjunction with [Fetish of the Primal Gods as given me a bit of a boost in the non-boss DPS department.

(If you're wondering, I'm experimenting with linking to Wowhead with tooltips as shown by Feather Duster)