Tier 9... wut?

[Hitshade]

I seriously hope these are just placeholder bonuses... because a lot of them seem lackluster at best, and downright shitty at worst.





Death Knight

* DPS
o 2 piece - Your Blood Strike and Heart Strike abilities have a chance to grant you 180 additional strength for 15 sec.
o 4 piece - Your Frost Fever and Blood Plague abiltiies now have a chance for their damage to be critical strikes.
* Tank
o 2 piece - Decreases the cooldown on your Dark Command ability by 2.0 sec.
o 4 piece - Decreases the cooldown on your Unbreakable Armor, Vampiric Blood, and Boneshield abilities by 20.0 sec.

Druid

* Balance
o 2 piece - Your Moonfire ability now has a chance for its periodic damage to be critical strikes.
o 4 piece - Increases the critical strike chance of your Starfire spell by 5%.
* Feral
o 2 piece - Decreases the cooldown on your Growl ability by 2.0 sec and increases the duration of your Rake ability by 3.0 sec.
o 4 piece - Increases the damage reduction granted by Barkskin by 10% and increases the critical strike chance of Rip and Ferocious Bite by 5%.
* Restoration
o 2 piece - Increases the critical strike chance of your Nourish spell by 5%.
o 4 piece - Your Rejuvenation ability now has a chance for its healing to be critical strikes.

Hunter

* 2 piece - Reduces the focus cost of your pet's abilities by 50%.
* 4 piece - Increases the critical strike chance of your Steady Shot ability by 5%.

Mage

* 2 piece - Increases the armor you gain from Ice Armor by 20%, the mana regeneration you gain from Mage Armor by 10%, and converts an additional 25% of your spirit into critical strike rating when Molten Armor is active.
* 4 piece - Increases the critical strike chance of your Fireball, Frostbolt, Frostfire Bolt, and Arcane Blast spells by 5%.

Paladin

* Holy
o 2 piece - Increases the duration of your Judgements by 10 sec.
o 4 piece - Increases the critical strike chance of your Holy Light spell by 5%.
* Protection
o 2 piece - Decreases the cooldown on your Righteous Defense ability by 2.0 sec.
o 4 piece - Decreases the cooldown on your Divine Protection ability by 30.0 sec.
* Retribution
o 2 piece - Your Righteous Vengeance talent now has a chance for its damage to be critical strikes.
o 4 piece - Increases the critical strike chance of your Judgements by 5%.

Priest

* DPS
o 2 piece - Increases the duration of your Devouring Plague spell by 6 sec.
o 4 piece - Increases the critical strike chance of your Mind Flay spell by 5%.
* Healing
o 2 piece - Decreases the cooldown on your Prayer of Mending spell by 2.0 sec.
o 4 piece - Increases the critical strike chance of your Prayer of Healing spell by 5%.

Rogue

* 2 piece - Your Rupture ability has a chance each time it deals damage to reduce the cost of your next ability by 40 energy.
* 4 piece - Increases the critical strike chance of your Hemorrhage, Sinister Strike, Backstab, and Mutilate abilities by 5%.

Shaman

* Elemental
o 2 piece - Increases the duration of your Flame Shock spell by 6 sec.
o 4 piece - Increases the damage done by your Lava Burst spell by 0.021 sec.
* Enhancement
o 2 piece - Decreases the cooldown on your Lava Lash ability by -2.0 sec.
o 4 piece - Increases the critical strike chance of your Stormstrike ability by 5%.
* Restoration
o 2 piece - Increases the healing done by your Riptide spell by 20%.
o 4 piece - Increases the critical strike chance of your Chain Heal spell by 5%.

Warlock

* 2 piece - Increases the damage done by your Immolate, Corruption, and Unstable Affliction spells by 0.011 sec.
* 4 piece - Increases your pet's critical strike chance with its abilities by 10%.

Warrior

* DPS
o 2 piece - Berserker Stance grants an additional 2% critical strike chance, and Battle Stance grants an additional 6% armor penetration.
o 4 piece - Increases the critical strike chance of your Slam and Execute abilities by 5%.
* Tank
o 2 piece - Decreases the cooldown on your Intervene ability by 5.0 sec.
o 4 piece - Decreases the cooldown on your Shield Block ability by 20.0 sec.

[Firecrest]

Holy Pally's not too bad.

Tier 9 Item sets will have different models for each faction...

Nice touch.

[Hitshade]

As if the badge changes werent bad enough... People who have never set foot in a raid will be able to get tier 8 gear. People who have never set foot in a heroic will be able to get Tier 9. Blizzard is taking the casual push too fucking far. It is really driving home all the reasons I have begun to lose interest in this game.

[Archlight]

next aion beta is july 2nd, go reserve collectors edition (i promise the 20 bucks extra will be worth it)

[abecx]

As if the badge changes werent bad enough... People who have never set foot in a raid will be able to get tier 8 gear. People who have never set foot in a heroic will be able to get Tier 9. Blizzard is taking the casual push too fucking far. It is really driving home all the reasons I have begun to lose interest in this game.

They did the same thing in BC. You could get the previous instance item level gear with badges. Giving them the entire tier set for badge costs doesn't really bother me all that bad. I agree with you that it sucks to some extent, but its not a game breaker, they do it for PvP gear only fair that its done for PvE gear.

I'm enjoying Ulduar and the fact that it does require peoples ability to accomplish the hardmodes where the smallest mistake can end up in a wipe ( which is what it was like in Sunwell ). Giving players gear doesn't really mean anything if they cant do anything with it. Heres to Icecrown being worth the wait.

[abecx]

btw i like warrior t9 set bonus!

[Mikaelo]

Wow rogue 2pc is fucking amazing... 4pc is alright but what's with all the fucking blue sockets?

[Archlight]

btw i like warrior t9 set bonus!

jokes rite

[lawlerbation the hardcore squatter]

o 4 piece - Increases the damage done by your Lava Burst spell by 0.021 sec.

DMG BY TIME THAT IS FUCKING AMAZING

[Hitshade]

They did the same thing in BC. You could get the previous instance item level gear with badges. Giving them the entire tier set for badge costs doesn't really bother me all that bad. I agree with you that it sucks to some extent, but its not a game breaker, they do it for PvP gear only fair that its done for PvE gear.

I'm enjoying Ulduar and the fact that it does require peoples ability to accomplish the hardmodes where the smallest mistake can end up in a wipe ( which is what it was like in Sunwell ). Giving players gear doesn't really mean anything if they cant do anything with it. Heres to Icecrown being worth the wait.

Conqueror badges dropping in heroics and the new badges (triumph?) dropping from daily dungeon quests is just taking it too far. In BC you couldn't get the highest level gear by running non-heroic dungeons. It further removes the exclusivity of being a "hardcore" player. I don't fault Blizzard for wanting to cater to its much larger casual player base. If I was raking in upwards of $165,000,000 per month in subscription fees I too would do everything possible to keep that revenue stream.

I also like Ulduar, I think overall it has an excellent design and ties into the warcraft lore fairly well. My main issue with the direction of raiding as a whole is that the achievement system just isn't enough of a reward for me. A shitty title, or a mount and a couple pieces of gear just doesn't feel like enough. In BC, when you were decked out in tier 6 you were in what was still a relatively exclusive club. Particularly if you were wearing even one piece of Sunwell gear. People could tell just by your characters appearance that you were probably a skilled player (or at very least capable). Even more so than pre-BC raids, in which 20-25 skilled players could carry another 20 to tier. (The exception being AQ and Naxx in its original form)

Now, every idiot with a few hours to spare is/will be running around in gear that (as far as Im concerned) they didn't earn and don't deserve. It serves to further my frustration with anyone putting groups together for anything other than Ulduar with a "gear" requirement. Gear can no longer be associated with skill in the same way it used to be. Granted it was never the end-all-be-all measurement of a player. But that is beside the point.

Along with the game feeling dated in general, the new direction has been being driving me away. (Perhaps Im just looking for an excuse to leave, idk). Either way, Im beginning to feel like my time with this game is coming to an end. With Aion (possibly), SW:ToR and even FFXIV on the horizon I can say that its only a matter of time before I leave warcraft behind.

(Mind you of course, I said the same thing when Conan came out)