Posts Tagged ‘epic bracer’

13
Dec

Gearing Up For Heroics

   Posted by: WoWGrrl    in Adventures In Battlegrounds

As I worked my Frost Mage to 70, I did a lot of reading and researching on gearing needs for running Heroics and gearing needs for maybe, perhaps, on occasion, filling in for someone in a Karazhan raid some day.

Shadoweave Tailor - Frozen Shadoweave set

So, when I hit 70 I started working on “epicing” out my equipment set, using the 3-piece Shadoweave set as the basis of it all.

I fished ALL 38 Primal Water in Nagrand myself since they sell for around 25g each. (Collection of Poached Bluefish for my Mage and Grilled Mudfish for my up-and-coming Rogue is restocked as well) I transmuted about half of the cloth myself, but relied on the cooldowns of others with materials I bought from the Auction House for the rest.

Socketting My Gear

I socketted up my gems with semi-expensive ones (~35-55g each) first - dumb move, because I ended up replacing a bunch of those after finding out they were best for 25-man raid teammates, or PvP players. Now I’m using the “cheap” gems (1-3g each) that are better tuned for what I need - +damage above all else, bug +crit over +hit, and ZERO +spell penetration (except as wanted for PvP gear).

Filling In The Gaps

The Shadoweave set only fills in three slots, so I had to do some research and learn from others about where to fill those. Soulcloth Gloves was easy and I got it done before my first Shadoweave piece, but my attempt at getting the PvP bracers Vindicator's Silk Cuffs was fouled by my confusion and I bought Vindicator's Mooncloth Cuffs instead, so I need to PvP more than I had planned (that’s okay, it’s a great skill-builder to fight while dancing).

I see there’s a nice epic 1h Mage Sword that’s reputation for Exalted with Thrallmar… and a nice wand in Heroic Underbog…

Heroic Statistical Goals

All I’ve been aiming for in gearing up for Heroics is to get to 500 frost damage. Fortunately my gear gives significant Stamina as well, so I’ve got nearly 6.5k health unbuffed before I decide on enchants to go on top of my +damage +hit or +stamina gems.

And, that is where I was when I got into my first Heroics group that went through the daily Heroics dungeon of the day, Blood Furnace. I went in with 6.7k hp unbuffed and came out with 6.9k, and went in with 464 frost damage and came out with 650.

But that’s another entry for another day!

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Now that my Troll Mage is level 70, I have been working at gearing up to level 70 equipment that brings my stats up high enough to be a good contribution to Heriocs dungeons every time I go in, instead of being the weaker link.

I did a wee bit of research on our realm for guilds recruiting for Karazhan teams, and talked to the Mage Lead of a “casual”, “adults”, “raiding guild” that I knew my toon would not yet qualify for. This Mage Lead gave me some advice on my equipment and gems, answered my questions and gave me basic numerical goals to strive for in order to get myself equipped up far enough to join someone’s Kara team, if I ever choose to.

PvPing for Epic Cloth Bracers (socketable)

Holding The Warsong Gulch Flag

As a result of chatting with this Mage Lead, I headed directly towards the Battlemasters and begun the task of accumulating enough Warsong Gulch tokens (20) and Honor in general (just under 12k worth) to be able to afford the Vindicator's Silk Cuffs which I’ll be using to upgrade my current Level 66-green, Consortium Bracer of the Owl.

This epic cloth bracer that is restricted to Priest, Mage and Warlock use is apparently the best bracer and the easiest to get for a solo Mage player, pre-Karazhan, and some Mages have told me they would keep it past Karazhan as well.

PvPing For The Honor and Letting Fun Decide

I found that getting the 20 WSG tokens was much easier than getting the 12k honor, but that just meant I had more choice about my Battlegrounds after I had accumulated the 20 WSG tokens, and could therefore have more fun with the process.

I’ve taken the time to learn the Eye of the Storm battleground for the first time since it was released and have quite enjoyed playing it although it doesn’t garner as much honor per round as Alterac Valley does.

I’m still learning about what changes have occurred with Alterac Valley battleground itself as well - I played it for a number of months a year ago in order to earn my epic land mount, the Frostwolf Howler, but Blizzard has implemented various changes to the battleground since then and it’s changed some dynamics.

I haven’t spent much time in Arathi Basin this time for no particular reason…

At any rate, some rounds are great and I’m part of a team that pounds the Alliance into the ground, but some rounds are long and painful (especially in WSG!) and full of annoyed players whining on the Battleground line.

In the end, however, I will have my fourth epic level 70 piece that won’t be replaced until Karazhan or the Expansion pack, whatever comes first!

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