Just a story about WoW stuff. Nothing we don't already really know.
All about epics
By Duane M. George
Pacific Daily News
dmgeorge[deleteme]@[deleteme]guampdn.com
When you get your character to level 70, it all becomes a matter of gear. You have access to the same talents and abilities as other level 70s of your class, so the only way to rise above them (besides your skill as a player) is to get better weapons, armor and trinkets.
Now rare, blue items are nice, but it really all comes down to epic gear. That's where you get the best damage, the best stat boosts and the coolest-looking stuff. Epic gear won't make you a better player -- you still need to have skills and know how to best play your character -- but it certainly does help.
And for the more difficult raids, the better geared you are, and your guildmates are, the better your chance is to survive, triumph and get even BETTER gear!
There are some epics that are "world" drops -- they can be loot from any number of monsters, demons, beasts, or bad guys you kill in the normal course of gaming. But there are five primary ways of getting the good purple stuff.
Crafting
If you choose a crafting profession -- blacksmithing, tailoring or leatherworking -- you have a chance to make your own epics, many of which are "bind on pickup," meaning only you can use them. Treebrother, my level 70 night elf druid, has a three-piece set of epic leather gear, the Windhawk set, that he made. He also has an epic hood, a Windscale Hood, that is "bind on equip," which means he can make it and sell it or give it to others. So some items you can make only for yourself; others you can sell to or buy from others.
But most epic crafted gear requires primal nethers, and that means you have to run heroic instances, as they only drop from final dungeon bosses, though you also can buy them from a vendor in Shattrah City using Badge of Justice x10.
Reputation
Several outland factions offer you the chance to buy epic gear once you've reached "exalted" status. However, faction vendors don't offer a lot of different epic gear, so you might need to get exalted with several different factions, and even then the items might not suit your class or your specialization.
Heroic dungeons
Another good place to get epic pieces is from the bosses in heroic instances, of which there are quite a few. Check wowhead.com or another World of Warcraft site to see what kind of epic loot the various bosses drop.
The one problem is that the bosses don't always drop the same loot, or that others in your party might roll for the same item you need. I know a lot of players who have run instances over and over again hoping the item they want will finally drop, only to be constantly disappointed. But I've also known players who got lucky and got the epic item they wanted on their first heroic boss kill.
Player vs. player
The arena, which offers 2 vs. 2, 3 vs. 3 and 5 vs. 5 options, is a great place to gear up, especially if you like player-vs.-player (PVP) action. Build up the points and you could soon be epic-heavy with some great weapons and armor. You can also rack up honor and badges on the battlegrounds to build up your gear.
Raids
For the most part, you need to be a part of a quality guild to do regular raid instances, which require either a 10-man or 25-man run in outland. There are 40-man runs from pre-Burning Crusade, but those items won't suit your level 70 very well.
The bosses of Karazhan, Serpent Shrine Cavern, Tempest Keep and Black Temple drop a variety of very cool epic gear, including some items which can be turned into Aldor or Scryer vendors for class-specific and specialization-specific gear, known as Tier 4.
That's what I'm working on (hoping for) with Treebrother right now -- getting some good drops from Karazhan and other raid instances. I'll keep you updated with the progress.
Duane M. George is editorial editor and chief copy editor of the Pacific Daily News and a World of Warcraft addict. Write him at dmgeorge[deleteme]@[deleteme]guampdn.com.
Source:
http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071031/LIFESTYLE/710310332/1024/CUSTOMERSERVICE02 |
