Chops
Soccer Dad
So I figured I'd follow along with other brackets and record some changes so far that might interest us. Starter accounts arent allowed on the PTR, so I logged my druid vet to check some things out.
TL DR - Alot of dungeon gear will be changing at it kinda shakes up what is and isnt BiS BUT it will also narrow the gap between new twinks and twinks in grandfathered gear almost completely.
As most of yall who read the forums are likely aware, proc enchants got hit pretty hard. Things like ele force, coastal surge, hidden satyr, etc are all eating a 40-60% reduction. Good for us, it narrows the gap between us and the P2P twinks. Unfortunately crusader still seems broken.
Brewfest trinkets havent started procing yet.
Quest blues and dungeon boss blues are scaling up to ilvl 25/26. This difference in ilvl appears random. My toon, for instance, has two Armor of the Fangs, acquired in back to back runs. one is ilvl 25, the other 26. Same for gloves and belt. There is no difference in stats between the two.
This bump in ilvl has mixed effects on gear. Some, like my cloak, saw no increase in stats. Others, like the chest, increased each stat by 1. Some pieces see an increase on just 1 or two of their stats. It really seems like its a bit of a crap shoot.
I checked Wowheads ptr database and discovered an oddity that perfectly illustrates this. Slime Encrusted Pads are 5/7/3/3 live right now. They will increase to 5/8/4/4 on the ptr.
Comparable caster shoulders Feline Mantle are 5/7/3/4 live, but only go to 5/8/3/4 on the ptr. So if you're a cloth caster, your BiS shoulders just changed. By one point of haste.
Further, BG crate gear hasnt changed. This means that awful, awful grind for BiS weapons and such has lessened. For some of us. For instance, theres no difference between the Haunting Blade and the BG crate axes of aurora for warriors. Same dps, same stats.
But, for others, its a little more frustrating. Thruks Fillet Knife, for instance, is 1 int less than BG crate gear. The Eerie Stable Lantern is equal in main stats if you dont mind the poor secondaries.
Shields however, wont change. Pour one out for our poor shaman bretheren.
I did copy over some ancient toons I had on a linked BNet account and it does seem to hold true that gear acquired before Legion will not scale up. So if you got a pretty old twink, youre gonna end up having a bit of a re-gear ahead of you. Now Im not sure of the exact cut off (word on the street is 7.3.5) but if you have a relatively new twink, you should see your gear scale.
On that note, I did compare some PTR items to my toons warforged Invasion gear. Granted, I dont know what, if anything, happens to that invasion gear on the PTR. As far as I can tell, it remains unchanged. But since I cant copy my F2Ps there... who knows.
Here's what I found. Your ilvl 26 dungeon drops will be comparable or just a hair behind ilvl 27 invasion gear (obviously, wont be near the ilvl 31 gear.) which is as you'd expect. Some pieces of invasion gear may give way to dungeon drops that now have similar stat rolls but more preferable secondaries. And while the ilvl 31 gear will still be preferable, its no longer by much. The gap between grandfathered and new twinks continues to narrow.
I'll poke around a bit more tomorrow but y'all feel free to share any findings you might have here.
TL DR - Alot of dungeon gear will be changing at it kinda shakes up what is and isnt BiS BUT it will also narrow the gap between new twinks and twinks in grandfathered gear almost completely.
As most of yall who read the forums are likely aware, proc enchants got hit pretty hard. Things like ele force, coastal surge, hidden satyr, etc are all eating a 40-60% reduction. Good for us, it narrows the gap between us and the P2P twinks. Unfortunately crusader still seems broken.
Brewfest trinkets havent started procing yet.
Quest blues and dungeon boss blues are scaling up to ilvl 25/26. This difference in ilvl appears random. My toon, for instance, has two Armor of the Fangs, acquired in back to back runs. one is ilvl 25, the other 26. Same for gloves and belt. There is no difference in stats between the two.
This bump in ilvl has mixed effects on gear. Some, like my cloak, saw no increase in stats. Others, like the chest, increased each stat by 1. Some pieces see an increase on just 1 or two of their stats. It really seems like its a bit of a crap shoot.
I checked Wowheads ptr database and discovered an oddity that perfectly illustrates this. Slime Encrusted Pads are 5/7/3/3 live right now. They will increase to 5/8/4/4 on the ptr.
Comparable caster shoulders Feline Mantle are 5/7/3/4 live, but only go to 5/8/3/4 on the ptr. So if you're a cloth caster, your BiS shoulders just changed. By one point of haste.
Further, BG crate gear hasnt changed. This means that awful, awful grind for BiS weapons and such has lessened. For some of us. For instance, theres no difference between the Haunting Blade and the BG crate axes of aurora for warriors. Same dps, same stats.
But, for others, its a little more frustrating. Thruks Fillet Knife, for instance, is 1 int less than BG crate gear. The Eerie Stable Lantern is equal in main stats if you dont mind the poor secondaries.
Shields however, wont change. Pour one out for our poor shaman bretheren.
I did copy over some ancient toons I had on a linked BNet account and it does seem to hold true that gear acquired before Legion will not scale up. So if you got a pretty old twink, youre gonna end up having a bit of a re-gear ahead of you. Now Im not sure of the exact cut off (word on the street is 7.3.5) but if you have a relatively new twink, you should see your gear scale.
On that note, I did compare some PTR items to my toons warforged Invasion gear. Granted, I dont know what, if anything, happens to that invasion gear on the PTR. As far as I can tell, it remains unchanged. But since I cant copy my F2Ps there... who knows.
Here's what I found. Your ilvl 26 dungeon drops will be comparable or just a hair behind ilvl 27 invasion gear (obviously, wont be near the ilvl 31 gear.) which is as you'd expect. Some pieces of invasion gear may give way to dungeon drops that now have similar stat rolls but more preferable secondaries. And while the ilvl 31 gear will still be preferable, its no longer by much. The gap between grandfathered and new twinks continues to narrow.
I'll poke around a bit more tomorrow but y'all feel free to share any findings you might have here.
