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Epic gems are 15 Badges after all

Remember a few weeks ago when it was discovered that the Armory was listing the new Badge of Justice-reward epic gems at 10 badges each? Yeah, turns out that was just an Armory bug (which we knew was a possibility). They're 15 Badges after all, as they were on the PTR. The way we know this now is that Proudmoore-US, first in all things Shattered Sun, has done Discovering Your Roots enough times to unlock Shaani, the vendor who sells you the gems. Thanks, Proudmoore! Grinding for knowledge. And everyone else, get on that quest. It's a fun one -- everyone gets a pet so they can pretend they're a hunter for a little while -- and you'll help your server along.

Assuming the epic gems sell for around 500 gold, which seems reasonable given the order-of-magnitude increase in price between uncommon and rare gems, this yields a 33 gold per Badge conversion rate (if you buy gems with your Badges and sell the gems; they're not bind-on-pickup). That's right on target in terms of gold per hour. I figure it takes about 20 minutes on average to earn a Badge, which means 100 gold per hour -- pretty much the same rate I make through dailies or grinding. And given that any activity that earns you Badges (i.e. raiding or heroics) gives you a chance at gear as well, it looks like the PvE endgame is fairly rewarding right now.

Epic gems dropped to 10 Badges?


Among the many fine things that can be bought with Badges of Justice in this post-2.4 world of ours are epic gems, the same kind that drop in the Black Temple and the Sunwell Plateau. They are sold by Shaani, who appears once your realm reaches phase four, and the uncut, un-BoP gems sell for 15 Badges of Justice each. Or at least, that's what we thought. Sharp-eyed tipster Herid noticed that according to the Armory (screenshot above), the price of the gems is 10 Badges of Justice -- a 33% reduction in price before they even go on sale yet!

Of course, this could just be an Armory bug, so I did my level best to check it out for myself, by logging on to Proudmoore, the only server yet to have reached phase four. However, I learned that although Shaani spawns when phase four is activated, she doesn't sell gems until the Alchemy Lab is completed, much like Smith Hauthaa and the Anvil. So I can't confirm this with anything more than the Armory data at the moment. Proudmooreans, get going on Discovering your Roots, so we can uncover the truth of this gem-price-drop rumor.

If it's true, Badges of Justice might be worth more gold than we thought, depending on what the price of these epic gems stabilizes at.

Inscriptions hidden in patch 2.4

Blizzard has included the first look at inscriptions via hidden entries in the patch 2.4 data files. Inscription will be a new profession that will be released with Wrath of the Lich King. We are treated to an early glimpse at the Demonic Runes inscription that will increase fire damage done by the Mage Fireball spell by 50 additional points. The data is courtesy of WoW Head.

There are two important things to realize from this newly discovered information. First, it shows that Blizzard is hard at work on Wrath of the Lich King, and is already starting to include content in the patch files. We saw this same behavior in patch 2.0 with Jewelcrafting recipes.

Gallery: Wrath of the Lich King

New AgamandLikely Westguard KeepMore Westguard KeepNorthrend Alliance TownNorthrend zone

Continue reading Inscriptions hidden in patch 2.4

PTR Notes: Stones, gems, and models


I already went over what's changed for the classes in the latest PTR build (not much); here's what's new in the items:
  • Mats for the new Alchemist Stones have been reduced. Old mats were Alchemist Stone, 2 Nether Vortices, and 16 primals; new mats are reduced by 10 primals, i.e. Alchemist Stone, 2 Nether Vortices, and 6 primals. Which primal is required varies based on the stone in question: Assassin's = Shadow, Guardian's = Air, Sorcerer's = Fire, Redeemer's = Life.
  • The Philosopher's Stone is now a trinket requiring level 35, and gives +5 to all stats.
  • Jewelcrafters can get patterns for four new epic gem cuts (Reckless Pyrestone, Steady Seaspray Emerald, Quick Lionseye, Forceful Seaspray Emerald) both from the Shattered Sun Offensive at Revered and from the Scale of Sands (the Mount Hyjal faction) at Honored.
  • The models have been changed for Vanir's Right Fist of Brutality, Crossbow of Relentless Strikes (pictured), Vanir's Left Fist of Brutality, Vanir's Left Fist of Savagery, Gavel of Naaru Blessings, Grand Magister's Staff of Torrents, Vengeful Gladiator's Pummeler, and Vengeful Gladiator's Bonecracker; see MMO-Champion for screenshots.
It looks like the new Philosopher's Stone is a cool little trinket; I don't remember there being much competition for that slot that early in the game. It's an interesting move to make those cuts available from two factions, and should appease the hardcore types who, presumably, are at least Honored with Scale of Sands by now. Looking at the Primal requirements for the Alchemist Stones, most of those are easy primals, but Air is significantly more expensive. Rogues get it easy. And all those new models look groovy; a good set of changes overall.

[via MMO-Champion]

PTR Notes: Undocumented changes

Today a big new build went up on the patch 2.4 PTR, and every change that was in the patch notes was detailed here. However, inevitably, there were some changes that didn't make it to the patch notes, and for that we have the intrepid researchers at MMO-Champion and World of Raids. Here's what they've managed to tease out of the realms:
  • Most of the Tier 6 belts, boots, and bracers found in the Sunwell raid have had their Stamina removed, and other stats increased to compensate. The exception is the Warrior tanking set, Onslaught Armor. Edit: And the Paladin tanking set, Lightbringer Armor.
  • The five epic BoP jewelcrafted trinkets we learned about previously have had patterns added; they're available at the Revered level from the Shattered Sun Offensive quartermaster.
  • In what must be a bug of some sort, rank 1 of the Warlock talent Emberstorm now increases the casting speed of Incinerate by 2%, as well as its previous effect of boosting all fire damage by 2%. Other ranks of the talent are unchanged.
That's everything discovered so far. Seen anything else that wasn't mentioned in the new patch notes?

PTR Notes: Miscellaneous changes

In addition to the big change of Nethers not being BoP anymore, some other changes were pushed to the PTR tonight:
  • Commendation of Kael'thas has had its dodge rating bonus reduced from 380 to 152
  • Five epic trinket jewelcrafting recipes have been added, all with passive benefits and on use effects. See this MMO-Champion screenshot for materials.
    • Crimson Serpent: +33 Int, + 49 Stam, use: +150 damage/healing for 20 sec (2 min cooldown)
    • Empyrean Tortoise: +42 def rating, use: +165 dodge rating for 20 sec (2 min cooldown)
    • Shadowsong Panther: effective stealth level increased by one, +80 attack power, use: +320 attack power for 15 sec (2 min cooldown)
    • Khorium Boar: +84 attack power, use: summon the Khorium Boar to fight for you for 30 sec (5 min cooldown)
    • Seaspray Albatross: +18 mp5, use: restores 900 mana over 12 sec (3 min cooldown)
  • New gem cut: Regal Nightseye, +4 dodge rating, +6 stam, matches red or blue
  • Warlocks' Drain Mana buffed by 50%; top rank now drains 300 mana per second (was 200). But remember that resilience now affects mana drain, to the tune of -20% at 400 resil.
  • Paladins' Holy Shock damage buffed by about 35%, healing buffed by about 75%. Top rank now deals 721-779 damage or heals for 931-987 (was 530-574 damage or 530-574 healing).
That's a lot of changes. And now that I look at those numbers, those are big shifts for Drain Mana and Holy Shock. Is anyone now reconsidering those spells? Do you think those buffs will last through testing?

[via MMO-Champion]

Remember your gems


Once again, it's the first of the month, and that means it's your gem payday from the Consortium! Get your butt out to Aeris Landing and click on Gezhe for your Membership Benefits, which means a package of free gems to help you pimp your new season 3 gear or Zul'Aman epics. Depending on your Consortium reputation level, you get one of the following:
I meant to get my rogue up at least to Revered since last month, but alas, real life stepped in, so it's another Unmarked Bag for me. What's your haul for December?

Blue Notes: Profession tidbits and new Darkmoon cards

The game changes are starting to come in faster and faster, as 2.1 approaches (my bet's on a PTR next week). From the European forums we have two new and interesting blobs of information. Ommra:
  • Jewelcrafting: The cooldown times on Earthstorm and Skyfire Diamond transmutes have been reduced to one day.

  • Herbalism: The chances to find a Fel Lotus while picking an herb have been increased.

  • Tailoring: The Spellfire and Shadoweave tunics have been changed to robes.

  • Primal Nethers may now be puchased from G'eras for Badges of Justice.
These changes will take place in the next patch, 2.1.0.

The previous cooldowns on Earthstorm and Skyfire Diamonds were two days, so this halves that cooldown. Fel Lotus is the new Black Lotus, in that it's used in all the new flasks. But unlike Black Lotus, it doesn't have its own plants. Rather, it has a small chance to spawn off any plant in the Outland. That chance is currently 1-2% depending on the quality of the plant you're picking. In theory, more Fel Lotus should mean cheaper Fel Lotus, which in turn should mean cheaper flasks. The Spellfire and Shadoweave changes are something tailors have been asking for ever since BC's release. And as for the Primal Nether change, it's...interesting. I guess it'll give me something to spend my badges on once I get my trinket. I wonder how many badges they'll cost, though. Edit: word on the street is the exchange rate will be four Badges for one Nether.

And secondly, Aeus brings us news that the Darkmoon Faire will be offering new and better trinkets for new types of cards:

After the upcoming content patch you will have the chance to find additional Darkmoon cards (Lunacy, Storms, Furies and Blessings) on high level creatures in Outlands, which you can turn in to the Darkmoon Faire to make powerful new Darkmoon card trinkets.

This is nice, because the Faire is somewhat useless currently for level 70 characters (although I know at least a few people that are still using Twisting Nether cards). I wonder if they'll convert all the current card drops in Outland to new cards -- I've gotten quite a few old-world cards that I've just vendored because they're relatively worthless now.


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