EU+US Gearing up at 99

[docturphil]

So I'm currently leveling a new ret paladin to 99 for twinking purposes for instanced PvP and I have a few questions.

First is about gearing.

For BiS it looks like I do quest chains in each Broken Isle zone to obtain 4 armor pieces that are ilvl 800. Gloves, belt, pants, and chest. Is it possible for these to warforge or titanforge?

Scanning plate wearers through the 99 armory list on this forum, I noticed the highest ilvl for shoulders and bracers was 715 using the highest ilvl you can get from warlords crafted gear. Is there anything you can get for these slots that is a higher ilvl?

As for every other item slot, it looks like the highest you can get is ilvl 746. I've been reading these can only be obtained as random world drops. Is this correct? If so, is this "murloc cave" still the best place to farm them?

What about dungeons? Are dungeons worth doing for gearing up? Can you do mythic dungeons or does that require 110?

Lastly, what does class balance look like in instanced PvP at 99? Are ret paladins a decent good choice? And are there a lot of other active 99s in this bracket PvPwise? Arenas?

 

[DeLindsay]

Nobody has seen any of the 4 Pillar Quest items WF/TF or otherwise proc a Socket or Tertiary. The Murloc Farm was nerfed into oblivion. Yes 746 is the highest you can get from Legion World Epics, this includes (for Plate) Helm, Chest, Gloves, Belt, both Rings, Neck, Cloak and 1 Trinket. Since you are doing this for iPvP you can also get 746 in every single other slot since Paladins can wear everything. If you want to stick with Plate only and Str as Main stat then 715 is indeed the highest you can get in any slot not mentioned above.

99's can't do shit for PvE content honestly. We're stuck with 2 normal Dungeons and anything from MoP and before. As for Class Balance, Retadins at 99 are King of the mountain for iPvP.

 

[docturphil]

Nobody has seen any of the 4 Pillar Quest items WF/TF or otherwise proc a Socket or Tertiary. The Murloc Farm was nerfed into oblivion. Yes 746 is the highest you can get from Legion World Epics, this includes (for Plate) Helm, Chest, Gloves, Belt, both Rings, Neck, Cloak and 1 Trinket. Since you are doing this for iPvP you can also get 746 in every single other slot since Paladins can wear everything. If you want to stick with Plate only and Str as Main stat then 715 is indeed the highest you can get in any slot not mentioned above.

99's can't do shit for PvE content honestly. We're stuck with 2 normal Dungeons and anything from MoP and before. As for Class Balance, Retadins at 99 are King of the mountain for iPvP.

Yeah, sticking with all plate gives you a much bigger stat boost than a few extra item levels will.

Thanks or the info. I was going to play a retadin either way, but it's good to know they're doing well.

Yeah I read the murloc farm was nerfed. Is it still a good farm spot after the nerf though or are there better spots now?

Oh and what about artifact relics? Where do you get BiS for those?

 

[DeLindsay]

Yeah, sticking with all plate gives you a much bigger stat boost than a few extra item levels will.

Thanks or the info. I was going to play a retadin either way, but it's good to know they're doing well.

Yeah I read the murloc farm was nerfed. Is it still a good farm spot after the nerf though or are there better spots now?

Oh and what about artifact relics? Where do you get BiS for those?

Relics = Quests if you hope for epic +6 iLvL. Dungeons drop +4 Blues than cannot proc epic. AP at 99 is an uphill battle, that's all there really is to say about that. Also you might want to check on the 5% Str for full Plate vs the 93 iLvL diff the Shoulder/Bracer/2nd Trinket would be. That should give you roughly 6% Stat boost which effects more than just Str. However it's not as simple as that and Blizz's algorithm probably doesn't follow logic so if you can find a pair of Shoulders/Bracers/2nd Trink cheap enough (gl getting them in the first place) you can grab them up and at least test the diff.

 

[Warglaive]

the 93 iLvL diff

All my 99 are around 730 ilvl or better keeping in their proper class-type armor, i'm not sure how you're going to get them to 820 when the best non-4-quest drops are 746. I have not, however, played more than 2 games on any to verify.

 

[DeLindsay]

All my 99 are around 730 ilvl or better keeping in their proper class-type armor, i'm not sure how you're going to get them to 820 when the best non-4-quest drops are 746. I have not, however, played more than 2 games on any to verify.

93 iLvL diff, not average iLvL. As in you take (3) 746's and subtract (3) 715's and you get 93 iLvL or an ave of 5.9 iLvL.

 

[Warglaive]

But it's not... is it? your average ilvl would have to increase by 60 for 6% increrase, no? 1 average ilvl per 0.1 % stat increase? Is that not how it actually works? Mostly going off the pre-legion information in my head.

Apparently there's ilvl thresholds in place as well, where your stats wont change before you hit them.

I'm not up on that whatsoever, just recall 60's (and 19 moreso) working it out at 7.0 prepatch.


edit- hey! it let me edit a post for the first time in weeks! yay!

 

[docturphil]

93 iLvL diff, not average iLvL. As in you take (3) 746's and subtract (3) 715's and you get 93 iLvL or an ave of 5.9 iLvL.

If it's a 5.9 iLvL difference then that's a 0.59% stat increase if I'm not mistaken. 0.59% more stam and 0.59% more str is not better than 5% more str.

Or Am I missing something?

 

[DeLindsay]

ah shit, my brain isn't working, yes 5.9 ave iLvL is 0.59%

 

[Warglaive]

I am probably going to focus on 99 primarily pretty soon because i'm just not finding any reason to keep improving the 101s i have. Even if you get the best gear.... there's still not much to do with them. Even less to do with 99, but at least the PvP bracket should be more "twink-like" with the artifact disparity.

Basically, at least if i farm up epics on my 99 they are going to be 99... not 759ilvl 835 epic wannabes.

And yeah, phil... word is the murlocs got nerfed. =/ Any place with lots of mobs decently spawned should do tho. There's a quest hub with kvaldir in stormheim that people used to farm early on. Probably still do. Just off the road before the bridge to gates of valor.

 

[docturphil]

And yeah, phil... word is the murlocs got nerfed. =/ Any place with lots of mobs decently spawned should do tho. There's a quest hub with kvaldir in stormheim that people used to farm early on. Probably still do. Just off the road before the bridge to gates of valor.

Thanks for the tip. I'll check it out. Just have to get my dude to 99 first

 

[docturphil]

And yeah, phil... word is the murlocs got nerfed. =/ Any place with lots of mobs decently spawned should do tho. There's a quest hub with kvaldir in stormheim that people used to farm early on. Probably still do. Just off the road before the bridge to gates of valor.

Thanks for the tip. I'll check it out. Just have to get my dude to 99 first

ah shit, my brain isn't working, yes 5.9 ave iLvL is 0.59%

Word

 

[penicillin]

...Are ret paladins a decent good choice? ...

Some info.

Bracers and shoulder will be 715 indeed. Max ilvl staying plate is 757. It's not worth filling shoulders or bracers with a non plate 746 item.

Ret paladins are a decent choice. At max ilvl in bg's with the right traits and talents 4 dk levelers will die trying to kill it (as an example), self healing through Justicar's Vengeance is high. You can solo NL or other dungeons (not as fast as 101's). No mythic. No random legion dungeons (you can que for specific ones). You will have about 255k hp and 2659 str in bg's (depending on race?).

 

[Warglaive]

Any suggestion on trait path direction? initially? Like would ashes to ashes be a better start to couple with JV?

 

[Stump]

Don't forget to pop a greater draenic flask before you head into the battlegrounds as you cant on the inside

 

[AlisterCrow]

Getting epic BoEs on a 99 is a lot like farming shadowfang.....actually a lot like farming 4-5 shadowfangs.........for one character......with no instance lockout.......

 

[DeLindsay]

Getting epic BoEs on a 99 is a lot like farming shadowfang.....actually a lot like farming 4-5 shadowfangs.........for one character......with no instance lockout.......

I'm even doing it on multiple unique AH's and I think I'll get TLPD before I complete a single LvL 99 with full 746's (for what they can wear). More so, I'd wager I'll get every older Legendary in the game on every Class that can wield it while simultaneously getting all <1% Mount drops in all of WoW.... and the TGC Turtle, before I get full 746's with Sockets and Tertiary on a single 99 >.<

 

[penicillin]

Any suggestion on trait path direction?

go straight for ashes to ashes the long way round (you will benefit from all traits along the way)

 

[Recoupe]

go straight for ashes to ashes the long way round (you will benefit from all traits along the way)

Definitely a good path, the automatic 5HP gain makes 2 TV's in 4 GCD's (5 if you judge;recommended) which is great for openers.

 

[docturphil]

go straight for ashes to ashes the long way round (you will benefit from all traits along the way)

Considering how long it takes to get AP at 99 beyond 13 points, wouldn't going straight for ashes to ashes the short way make more sense for instanced PvP? Seems like generating 5 holy power instantly on a 30 sec CD is waaaaay better than anything else. Plus you get unbreakable will on the way, which is great for PvP.

For PvP, this would seem to make the most sense to me. Not sure where to go after that, but I feel like that's the best path to start.

Also, what about going for embrace the light? I feel like 45% extra healing on flash of light would make a huge difference in PvP. That would require 16 points if you went straight for it, but 16 doesn't seem unreachable. Plus you would pick up some great stuff on the way.