#1 - Jan. 10, 2022, 10:09 p.m.
The intent of this post is to get some insight on the upcoming patch and what the plans are with player power and gear acquisition.
Player Power
We’ll be leaving Shards of Domination behind and acquiring Tier sets and a 2nd legendary as we venture into 9.2.
Shards of Domination provided an insane amount of player power, more than we’ve pretty much ever had in a single patch system and as soon as we enter the next season of content it’s all gone. 10-15% of player power just removed. The replacement is Tier Sets which we’ll have to work towards and a 2nd legendary which has a wildly varying amount of power.
One of these legendaries is covenant locked which means players who want to optimise will no longer have freedom of expression in that regard as it’s not just covenant, its covenant + legendary. Some covenant legendaries provide utility, minimal power gains and some have huge synergies with the ability. There is a clear imbalance that has yet to be resolved from 9.1. Some work has been done, but we’re still a good way off from this expansion level system reaching its potential (in the final patch?).
If additional data is needed on this front I’m sure we can work to get data from various Theory players to support it.
The feeling from a pure numeric perspective is going to feel quite bad for the player. You go from doing say 11k DPS in 9.1.5 to doing 9.5k in 9.2. Your character is progressing through the expansion story and getting weaker. It just doesn’t feel right.
Acquisition
Tokens vs Armor Drops
Let’s take a bit of a deeper dive into the Tier sets. We have yet to see how they are acquired. The last time we had Tier sets we had Master Looter and Tokens.
When Master Looter was used you had tokens that you could freely distribute.
When Personal Loot was used you just received the armor piece.
I sincerely hope that we will have tokens as drops that you can click to turn into the armor (rather than auto-opening as it did with Personal Loot in Legion) else we’re going to have very awkward scenarios again where say if you are the only rogue in a raid team, you are the only chance of getting the gear.
During Legion (with Master Looter enabled) tokens dropped in the following arrangement:
| Type | Classes |
|---|
| Conqueror | Paladin, Priest, Warlock, Demon Hunter |
| Protector | Warrior, Hunter, Shaman, Monk |
| Vanquisher | Rogue, Death Knight, Mage, Druid |
So in this scenario, the rogue could get their Tier bonus from other DKs, Mages and Druids.
Loot Amounts
With Shadowlands we have seen the rate of gear acquisition reduced however with Tier as this represents such a huge power spike for people which they will desire and I’d very strongly argue need for their raid/pvp/M+ progression is this fair to lock behind the limitations we had so far this expansion?
Tier dropped as extra pieces of loot before when Master Looter was enabled so you would suffer from bad RnG which is the case for a lot of things this expansion (looking at you Painsmith Weapons). Whilst loot philosophy for this expansion at least was that the power gains are greater from each item therefore less are required to achieve the same end result as having more drops I don’t feel this should be extended towards Tier pieces as they’re such a core piece.
I know there’s a system in place to Convert items from M+/PvP into Tier pieces but this has yet to see the light on PTR yet. Is it possible to get more information on how this works? Does it require a certain amount of activity on Zereth Mortis?
Additionally, we previously had 6 slots of Tier to mix and match with before to obtain the bonuses faster however on the PTR this looks to be locked to 5. Is this going to expand to 6?
Armor Slots
Quite a few legendaries are only able to be crafted on slots that conflict with Tier. Players have had to recraft legendaries each Patch already and as some Legendaries conflict with all potential Tier slots this means that if you loot a Tier piece in your Legendary slot you have a choice:
- Spend a lot of gold and recraft the legendary (potentially multiple times) to get the Tier Bonus
- Not use the Tier bonus as you simply cannot afford to.
FAQs
A tier piece works for all talent specializations. When you swap your talent specialization, the stats of the gear piece and the tier set bonus automatically change to match your chosen specialization.
Did Shadowlands have tier sets? ›
Class Tier Sets are making a comeback in Patch 9.2. You can obtain them from Sepulcher of the First Ones, the Great Vault, and through the Creation Catalyst.
What are tier sets? ›
Tier sets, often shortened to simply tier, are class-specific armor sets that traditionally drop in raids. Tier added since patch 9.2 can also be obtained by converting other equipment at a catalyst. These sets offer powerful set bonuses and a unique visual appearance for each class.
How do you get class tier sets in wow? ›
Class Tier Sets consist of five armor pieces and can be obtained by collecting tokens. These tokens drop from the Amirdrassil Raid bosses.
How do armor set bonuses work? ›
Set Bonuses are related to and sometimes the superior forms of Effects, which are abilities granted to Link upon wearing individual pieces of Armor or by consuming certain Food. The Soldier's Set, Hylian Set and Well-Worn Outfit are the only Armor Sets that do not grant Set Bonuses.
What is the most played class in WoW Shadowlands? ›
It's no wonder that the Hunters are still at the top of the heap when it comes to popularity. This class is probably the easiest to level and play, and has been even from the days of Classic WoW. Plus, players can level and train a pet that they can find out in the wilds of Azeroth.
How to get tier 10 WoW? ›
Tier 10 sets come, like Tier 9, in three varieties: level 251, 264 and 277. The lowest version is obtainable using the new end-game raid emblems, Emblem of Frost, and the subsequent versions must be upgraded using Marks of Sanctification, and then once more using Heroic Marks of Sanctification.
Is Shadowlands worth leveling? ›
Shadowlands leveling is fine, the main issues people have with the expac is related to endgame (endgame story, systems, etc). One other positive is that each zone has unique ability tied to it, during the expac it was a way to try out the Covenant abilities before making your choice at max level.
What does B mean in tier? ›
B Tier is a tier in the game's meta. These builds are above average but not amazing. B tier is made up of builds that aren't extremely powerful or efficient, but are still better than most. Still viable, but far from outstanding. Expect most builds you see to be hovering around this range.
What gear can be converted to Tier Dragonflight? ›
However, only head, shoulder, chest, hand, and leg items will be transformed into tier set pieces that provide bonuses (2-set and 4-set bonuses). The remaining items can either be converted into transmog items like bracers, cloaks, belts, and boots, or equipped because they may offer better stats for some classes.
Tier 1 and tier 2 capital are two types of assets held by banks. Tier 1 capital is a bank's core capital, which it uses to function on a daily basis. Tier 2 capital is a bank's supplementary capital, which is held in reserve. Banks must hold certain percentages of different types of capital on hand.
Where to upgrade to tier set WoW? ›
There's a chance to get tier pieces from the weekly vault (from the m+ slots, you don't have to raid), otherwise you may use the catalyst, though it has limited charges that you can passively gain over time. You may convert conquest gear in the catalyst and they keep their pvp ilvl in arenas and battlegrounds.
What is the easiest class ranking in WoW? ›
Best Classes for Beginners (Easiest WoW classes)
- Hunter.
- Demon Hunter.
- Evoker.
- Warrior.
- Paladin.
Here's what you need to do in order to craft a Tier 3 piece:
- Loot a Lamented Crusader piece of gear from Zackett's Dented Gear tokens.
- Repair the Lamented piece of gear by using one of the cursed Naxx items (Cursed Cloth, Languished Leather, Scourged Scales, Undeath Metal).
For Guardian Druids in Season 4, our set bonus buffs our damage and rage generation from Mangle and Thrash and increases the damage done by Maul/ Raze whilst also increasing our health by 15%. The tier set bonuses are passively gained from just doing our normal rotation so nothing changes rotationally.
What is a tiered bonus? ›
A tiered bonus structure is a strategic incentive system that rewards executives based on performance tiers or levels. This approach typically offers escalating bonus percentages as executives achieve higher levels of performance or surpass predetermined targets.
What does activate set bonuses do? ›
A set bonus is some type ability, attribute, power or spell bonus that gets added when a character has some specified number of items from a set (usually armor) equipped. Sets can have multiple set bonuses depending on the minimum number of items in the set to activate the bonus (i.e. (2) Set: bonus, (4) Set: bonus).
What is the Evoker set bonus for Season 4? ›
Season Four Tier Set Bonuses for Preservation Evoker
4-Set - Reversion has a 2.5% chance per tick to make your next Living Flame instant and deal 50% more damage or healing.
