Sunday, September 23, 2012

Pre-raid Warlock Gear

Everyone likes gear. No one wanders through this game, sees an item drop for them and says "Eww, an upgrade! I don't want that crap!" Whether you're the most casual of the casual or the hardest of the hardcore, you probably still like the idea of your character being more powerful. Personally, I love gearing up. I like making the shopping lists and gathering mats, comparing which items are available to me and going after them. Even on my fifth or sixth character to reach level cap, if I'm even remotely interested in doing organized play with them, I still get excited about picking out weapons or trinkets. So, naturally, I've been looking at loot tables and reputation factions in order to get an idea of where to go and what to do at 90.
 
I've picked out some options for each slot that you may want to track down for your own use. I've focused mostly on gear that is relevant to level 90 characters getting ready to raid, so I'm not looking at drops from normal mode Temple of the Jade Serpent, for instance. Know that some are locked beind rep grinds or will be ludicrously expensive for several months, so plan accordingly. I'm also including Brewfest drops since it will be active as most of us are still leveling and gearing. I should note that this isn't a complete list since a lot of items on Wowhead's database have little to no information about how to go about getting them.
 
Yup, it's a boring gear list. If you're trying to gear up and raid on the first week, just grab what you come across rather than trying to focus on building a "best in slot" set. Knowing what is "best" is helpful, but with the RNG of drop rates and the fact that rep grinds will always take a certain amount of time, it's unrealistic to expect that you'll be able to get all (or even most) of it in the short time you have. Go for what's in front of you and try for the better stuff when you have time.
 
Helm:
  • Breezeswept Hood - Drops from Wing Leader Ner'onok in Heroic Siege of Niuzao Temple.
  • Whitemane's Embroidered Chapeau - Drops (of course) from High Inquisitor Whitemane in the new Scarlet Monastery dungeons.
  • Barovian Ritual Hood - Drops from Jandice Barov, the second boss in the revamped version of Scholomance. The Hit rating will be important early on for any DPS caster. You'll also want to match that blue socket with an Intellect/Hit gem. The +1801 Intellect socket bonus is way too good to pass up.
  • Lightweight Retinal Armor - A great option for Engineers if you can afford the Living Steel.
  • Firecracker Corona - Your best pre-raid option, but getting revered with the Shado-Pan to buy it means first being revered with the Golden Lotus.
 
Neck: 
  • Skymage Circle - Made by Jewelcrafters. Check the AH since you'll probably see quite a few in the early weeks as people level up their professions.
  • Necklace of Jade Pearls - Rep item from being Honored with the Golden Lotus.
  • Pendant of Precise Timing - Drops from Saboteur Kip'tilak in Heroic Gate of the Setting Sun.
  • Mindbreaker Pendant - Drops from the Sha of Doubt in Heroic Temple of the Jade Serpent.
  • Temperature-Sensing Necklace - Drops from Flamereaver Koegler in Heroic Scarlet Halls.
  • Anarchists Pendant - Drops from Instructor Chillheart in Heroic Scholomance.
  • Wire of the Wakener - Rep item from the Klaxxi.
  • Burning Necklace of the Golden Lotus - Quest reward from The Final Power, which isn't available until you're exalted. You'll probably be grinding Golden Lotus to unlock Shado-Pan anyway so you may as well continue to get your Riding Cranes and an awesome pre-raid item.
  • Dorian's Necklace of Burgeoning Dreams - BoE World drop. You may get extremely lucky and come across one of these while out and about, but it's far more likely that you'll see it on the auction house for an obnoxious amount of money. Considering it's thirteen item levels below the Golden Lotus quest item, I would advise against buying it unless your bank alt is Bill Gates.
 
Shoulders:
 
There's surprisingly little in this slot. Other items will probably show up in quest rewards or the JP vendor, but information is still sparse.
 
Chest: 
 
Cloak:
 
Bracers:
 
Gloves:
 
Belt:
 
Like shoulders, there's . . . not a whole lot here to choose from.
 
Legs:

Boots:
  • Soulbinder Treads - Drops from Xin the Weaponmaster, the last boss in Heroic Mogu'shan Palace.
  • Scarlet Sandals - Drops from Armsmaster Harlan in Heroic Scarlet Halls.
  • Void Flame Slippers - More rep gear. This one is from being revered with teh August Celestials.
 
Rings:
 
Trinkets: 
  • Vision of the Predator - Drops from Striker Ga'dok in Heroic Gate of the Setting Sun. The 30 second duration is very attractive, but the 105 second ICD isn't. Over long fights it will average out to about 30% uptime.
  • Flashfrozen Resin Globule - Drops from Vizier Jin'bak in Heroic Siege of Niuzao Temple. A 2-1/2 minute cooldown is going to prevent you from stacking it with Dark Soul more than once or twice a fight, but the static Hit rating is going to be extremely valuable early on.
  • Mithril Wristwatch - One of the most accessible options there are considering how heavily Coren is farmed for mounts and other goodies.
  • Relic of Yu'lon - Darkmoon Faire trinkets are typically two things. Awesome and Expensive. The Intellect proc on top of static Intellect means that this will likely be a best-in-slot item, possibly even into the next tier, but I'm fully expecting to see these going for 100,000G or more for several months.
  • Zen Alchemist Stone - Given our many options for restoring our own health or mana, the bonus to potions is a bit wasted but the stats are very competitive. Alchemists should make a priority of this one.
  • Ghost Iron Dragonling - You may notice that there is no actual Engineering requirement on this, meaning that anyone can use it as well as the cogwheels that go in it. Reports are that the Dragonling it summons is kind of . . . not good, but a total of 1800 secondary stats will be pretty appealing.
  • Dreadful Gladiator's Badge of Dominance - If you're gearing up a PvP set and hurting for a decent PvE trinket, you might consider grabbing this for double duty. The two minute cooldown lines up nicely with Dark Soul.
  • Blossom of Pure Snow - The only pre-raid item that is on par (in terms of item level) with normal mode raid drops. However, like the Firecracker Corona, it's a Shado-Pan item which means a lot of rep grinding before it's available to you.  
 
Staves:
 
1H Weapons:

OH:

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