Thursday (15 Dec) - Loot Rule Updates

Thursday (15 Dec) - Loot Rule Updates

Blizzard hot patched the Looking for Raid (LFR) loot system on Wednesday. The key change is that many of the items that drop in LFR raids have been reclassified with "class only" tags. For example, Wildshard won the trinket [Seal of the Seven Signs] in a DS LFR raid. Before this recent change, any class that used +int had a chance to win the trinket, including classes such as warlocks, who could rightly make a case that they use both the +int and +haste buff stats on it. Now, that trinket can only be won by a healer class: druid, paladin, priest, shaman. Wild of course can still use this trinket. However, if a warlock had this trinket, won fair and square according to the loot rules at the time, that warlock will no longer be able to equip it. Blizzard doesn't seem to be offering players an equivalent, usable item. However, players that find they have LFR gear that they can no longer equip can petition to get back the item that was replaced.

I went through the complete list of gear that have loot restrictions that changed. Some of those restrictions favor Wild, giving him a better chance of winning them. The even better news is that no items that Wild could want are denied to druids.

Blizzard hopes this will result in better loot placement and less frustration among players trying to make good decisions on loot drops as well as players frustrated at any delay in their march through the raid.

This is one step of many they are trying to implement to make loot awards more appropriate to class and role - and eventually spec as well.

Oh, the changes are now being called the LFR Need Plus system. We have to have a name for everything.

All of these rules apply only to LFR raids, not to normal or heroic raids.

Wild is doing more than talking about loot rules. On Thursday Wild ran two more random dungeon runs. The runs went pretty fast with some DPSers that were rolling out insane numbers, like over 40k DPS. It was funny when the lowest DPSer complained a little that his numbers were so low because the other DPS had like i390 gear scores. We all laughed. Don't you want us to go all out? they asked him. Of course we did. 

Wild got one drop, i378 pants that would have been a serious upgrade if Wild didn't already have the i397 T13 pants. Wild will end up disenchanting them for the maelstrom crystal. Happy is making a lot of money from Wild cracking maelstrom crystals into two heavenly shards, but as more and more gear gets DE'ed with all these dungeon runs, that price is likely to fall pretty far.

Wild is two random dungeon runs away from being able to buy his i397 boots (1650 VPs), which should happen sometime Friday. Wild was a little torn, since he will be upgrading an i378 piece while still having four i365 items to replace. Wild came very close to buying an i397 relic for 700 VPs as it would be upgrade his current i365 relic. The stats didn't fit well, however, and the overall benefit was better by waiting to get the boots. Wild had a miniature epiphany, though, when it occurred to him that he could buy the i378 relic with Justice Points, which Wild had little need for.

Wild now has a new relic, which has upped his gear score to i379. He was so proud he just had to check the gear on the player that has the gear level Wild aspires to: Silver. Gulp. Silver's equipped gear score is i387. Ok, back to work.