Note: thanks to my guildie Pharous for posting a similar post on the guild forums and inspiring me to write my own.
Now, this is not a chronological list, it just lists some options you can use to gear up, and how they rank compared to eachother. I'm assuming you have no arena rating or points.
Crafted Gear
The most basic gear here is the Eviscerator's Battlegear set. This is an eight-piece set with no sockets and a total of 350 resilience. However it's got a fair amount of stamina and it's not that expensive to get either. So buy the mats, find a leatherworker, give mats and tip, collect gear.
You can also supplement this set with some crafted jewelcrafting stuff (Emerald Choker, Scarlet Signet and Savage Titanium Ring or Titanium Impact Choker and Titanium Impact Band if you have more money to spend) and a crafted cape, the Frostguard Drape.
Regarding weapons, you can get a Titansteel Shanker crafted by a friendly blacksmith.
Emblems
You can trade Emblems of Heroism, Valor etc. for PvP gear. Emblems of Heroism give Savage Gladiator gear, which is a step up from the crafted set. I would recommend buying a Rolfsen's Ripper first, though.
Emblems of Valor get you Hateful Gladiator's Gear, which you can also buy for Honor. They are all the same iLvL as most of the Titan-forged gear from the Wintergrasp vendors.
Honor
Other than the Hateful set, you can also buy the Deadly non-set pieces for honor (that is, bracers, belt, boots, necklace and ring). The bracers and boots are better than the ones you can get through Wintergrasp, the belt is roughly the same.
You can also buy the Battlemaster's trinkets here (I chose Battlemaster's Conviction myself, but in retrospect I might've gone for the +crit one), and the Medallion of the Alliance/Horde, which you will definitly want unless you're Human.
Wintergrasp
Lots of PvP loot to be had here. The titan-forged helm and boots are on par with Hateful Gladiator gear, the belt and chest are on par with Deadly Gladiator gear. All of them are bought with Wintergrasp marks.
There is also an alternative to the medallion available, keeping the traditional trinket effect and replacing the resilience of the Medallion with another useful stat (crit/AP/haste/hit), a PvP version of the Mirror of Truth, and another trinket with passive resilience and an on-use AP or haste increase.
You can also buy some gems and enchants with Stone Keeper Shards. And a mammoth.
And last but not least, you can raid the Vault of Archavon for a chance at both PvE and PvP loot.
How to gear up
My guildie suggested this:
[STEP ONE]
(a) If you don't raid or you don't have any excess Emblems, get the crafted gear and go farm battlegrounds.
(b) If you do have Emblems to spend, do so. Just don't buy the chest.
[STEP TWO]
Grind honor and buy Hateful Glad pieces with them (but not the chest) until you have the 4 set bonus. Get the Belt and Boots from Wintergrasp Marks.
[STEP THREE]
Get the chest from Wintergrasp.
[STEP FOUR]
Get the bracers, two rings (Hateful and Deadly), necklace, cloak, and the Medallion for honor. Buy the cheapest things first.
Enjoy !
Excellent guide, I've been going through a similar process with a newly minted warrior alt (my rogue is already very well geared) and the steps you've outlined are pretty much exactly what I'm doing.
ReplyDeleteI'd add that while you're gearing up it's definitely worth losing ten games a week in arena for the ~300 points - that's almost enough for a hateful piece, which will cut down your honor grind significantly.
Note that the wintergrasp armor pieces all have +hit on it so depending on how much of it you buy you may end up with excess - which might affect decisions about which honor neck to buy, for example.
The Titan-forged Rune of Determination is by far the strongest option for PvP trinket and much better than the medallion.
Finally, the Argent Tournament offers a decent starting dagger which is suitable for either MH or OH as mutilate.
To add to chronic's post, teaming up with 4 others for a quick 10 losses in 5v5 nets you 344 points for the week. Take the 30 minutes and do this, preferrably before Monday (long queues).
ReplyDeleteThose 344 compounded points add up, especially in the time it will take you to fully gear for arena.
Lastly, do NOT spend arena points on hateful pieces. Ever. Take the extra time in battlegrounds to farm the difference in honor. MUY IMPORTANTE! <3
Excellent post! I have been, in the last few days in fact, researching the quickest ways to gear up for PvP, this was a link I found through wow.com and I am very pleased to have found it. Great info from both the author and the comments so far.
ReplyDeleteOne piece of advice I could give aside from the great data here is to keep an optimistic look at the time spent in the battlegrounds, or the Arena, and really enjoy it even if you are gearing for the other PvP venue.
I do this by not following a routine, if I feel like running AV that day, I'll do it. If I'm in the mood for capture the flag, I'll hop into WSG or EotS. Change up your pattern and really enjoy what your doing and it will make the benefit of the reward that much sweeter!
And after you're done getting all this gear you can look forward to being promptly raped by pretty much every other class.
ReplyDelete@chronic: Very good points.
ReplyDelete@GM: Yeah, I wouldn't buy Hateful stuff with arena points either.
@Rilandune: heh I noticed wow.com linked me, made my visits shoot up :p
I personally switch BGs unless I win - that is to say, if we win I will queue for that BG again, hoping we have the same group. Otherwise I will switch to another. Usually this means I cycle between BGs quite a lot *shrug* but more marks of everything = more honor :-)
@Lemonpoison: well, that's one way to look at it ^^ I personally feel we have a decent chance against most classes, provided the cooldowns are up.
I like the "switch BGs when you lose" strategy too. Concerted Efforts turnins are a decent way to farm honor, and as Rilandune mentioned the variety keeps the grind from grating on you too much.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of losing 10 games a week, 2v2 is around 260 points, 3v3 is around 300, and 5v5 is around 340. If it's an option, though, I highly recommend _winning_ 10 games instead ;]
@Lemonpoison - I definitely think rogues are solidly upper mid-tier at the moment. We don't have any glaring issues, and if you're getting raped by everyone then perhaps your teammates need to read up on "Bring The Player Not The Class" ;]