THE guide to farming BiS BoE greens

[DigitalChemyst]

TL;DR,

Here is a Wowhead search listing ALL BiS greens for 39's. Enjoy!
BiS Search

*EDITED FOR MORE CLARITY*

These observations apply to all green BoE's in the 1-49 bracket(and potentially beyond).

First off, let's begin by saying MOST greens DO NOT drop as req. x9, ilvl +5(req. 39, ilvl 44, so on and so forth). Best reason I can come up with for this is has to do with the items ORIGINAL item level.

Working from that assumption, I have come to observe that the items will scale in increments of 3 from the original item level, based on the level of the character that received the item. This means that items WILL NOT scale to req. 39, ilvl 44. Reasons for this are unclear. Therefore given an item that is sufficiently far from your optimal item level(for 39s that would be ilvl 44), an item will instead scale in increments of 3. Examples include the following drops on both 39,43, and 44 characters:
Thaumaturgist Staff dropped as req. 39, ilvl 42
High Chief's Shield dropped as req. 39, ilvl 42
Glorious Gauntlets dropped as req. 36, ilvl 39
Glowstar Rod dropped as req. 34, ilvl 37

This means items like Cabalist Cloak, Champion's Cape, and Tracker's Belt will be Best in Slot(BiS) for level 39, because they were originally +5 item levels above 39(ilvl 44). If the items scales, it will not be BiS because it only gets +3 item levels(ilvl 42). Therefore my theory is that ALL +5 ilvl items, up to ilvl 54, will be BiS up to level 49 (excluding blues and purples).

Now how to get these items to drop for you.

Due to the conclusions above, I can say that chest farming is THE most efficient way to farm these items. Treasure chests drop loot that is UNSCALED, i.e. ORIGINAL item level. Grab your favorite treasure hunting addon, and go to the different zones and dungeons that would have been for the 30-40 range before all of the scaling happened in patch 7.3.5. My favorite dungeon to do this in is Uldaman, as the chest at the end of the instance typically drops 1-3 greens.

As for farming out in the world like in Silithus or Burning Steppes, I DO NOT recommend bringing a lvl 42-44 XPoff character to farm due to the fact that loot will only scale +3 item levels.

 

[ShinyHero]

Good guide I would’ve made this if I had the time to do that

 

[necroaqua]

This means items like Cabalist Cloak, Champion's Cape, and Tracker's Belt will scale to Best in Slot(BiS) for level 39.

I'll note that those items default to BiS ilvl 44 req lvl 39. I don't actually know if things can scale to level 39. At 19, nothing seems to scale to a level 19 required green anymore (but it apparently did for a while? Its confusing).

Farming chests is probably the ideal way to farm the items that default to ilvl 44, as you want them to NOT scale.

 

[Zerofoxtrot]

There are no plate items in that search bud.

 

[ShinyHero]

There are no plate items in that search bud.

There were no green BoEs level 39 originally in the game all of them were originally level 40+

 

[DigitalChemyst]

@Deumadora Yes that is by design. Because of the old system that used to require players to be level 40 before they could equip plate, there are no ilvl 44 green plate items that also req. lvl 39. The Chromite set is an example of this, being a remnant of this old system, and still requires lvl 40 to this day. You will NOT find Ilvl 44, req 39 BoE green plate items. The best you will find will be Ilvl 39. Sorry to disappoint all the plate wearers out there...

 

[Zerofoxtrot]

@Deumadora Yes that is by design. Because of the old system that used to require players to be level 40 before they could equip plate, there are no iLvl 44 green plate items that also req. lvl 39. The Chromite set is a remnant of this old system, and still requires lvl 40 to this day. You will NOT find Ilvl 44, req 39 BoE green plate items. The best you will find will be Ilvl 39. Sorry to disappoint all the plate wearers out there...

So, req 36, ilvl 39 will be the highest attainable green boe items?

 

[DigitalChemyst]

I'll note that those items default to BiS ilvl 44 req lvl 39. I don't actually know if things can scale to level 39. At 19, nothing seems to scale to a level 19 required green anymore (but it apparently did for a while? Its confusing).

Farming chests is probably the ideal way to farm the items that default to ilvl 44, as you want them to NOT scale.

Ah yes, you're right man. I simply used that phrasing to get my larger point across, but if a lot of people are confused by that, I'll reword it.

And there is still a lot of science that remains on testing out how the scaling system works, and how individual items respond within that system!
[doublepost=1542135004,1542134728][/doublepost]

So, req 36, ilvl 39 will be the highest attainable green boe items?

Unfortunately, based on my testing that statement is accurate. The best lvl 39 plate gear comes from dungeon blue drops, BG crate gear, MAYBE some quests, and BoE epics.

 

[Mythic Al]

...

One way I have found success in obtaining these items is through chest farming. Treasure chests drop loot that is UNSCALED, i.e. ORIGINAL item level. Grab your favorite treasure hunting addon, and go to the different zones and dungeons that would have been for the 30-40 range before all of the scaling happened in 7.3.5. My favorite dungeon to do this in is Uldaman, as the chest at the end of the instance typically drops 1-3 greens.

As for farming out in the world like in Silithus or Burning Steppes, that is a bit more complicated. Given that these items like to drop in 5 Ilvl increments, and usually 5 below your level (based on the item range described earlier), you will want to get a character to level 44 then lock xp. A level 44 XPoff character has the best chance of obtaining these lvl 44 BiS greens. Now I personally don't run my level 44 with farming groups usually, mostly because if a blue or epic item drops, it will NOT drop at or below req. 39.

TL;DR,

Here is a Wowhead search listing ALL BiS greens for 39's. Enjoy!
BiS Search

Nice Guide! I love all things Treasure Chest related! In fact: it's one of the two only high level sources a level 20 Starter Edition Player like me can loot (the other being fished up Crates). Do you know what the best Zones would be to search for those Treasure Chests?

 

[Enno]

Says the man who wrote a Treasure Chest guide . More seriously, I'm not 100% sure myself on chests that low if you're trying to find a few in a small area and phase over and over to farm them.

Eggcellent write-up Axxon, feels like a lot of us in the farming scene have been getting bombarded with the i44 green questions lately. Good to see it written up so we all don't get blue in the face repeating things.

 

[Swoops]

Awesome, I started putting info together for a guide on these but this works even better.

There are also some dungeon bosses that always drop an unscaled green from around your level. I know the last bosses in Wailing Caverns (gross) and Gnomer drop them, haven't gotten around to a full loop of dungeons to find more like that. It seems like they drop from within 5 levels of you, needs some more testing though.

Uldaman is definitely excellent, almost every good item is on the loot table in those chests (Bloodwoven Bracers are the only major exception I've come across). There are a couple regular chests (usually locked) in there right on the way to the end too, I can pop those on a map later tonight if you want.

Could you share more about your results on your 44? Kind of along the lines of posts in this thread? Are you always getting 39/44s, or is it a mix of those and scaled 36/39s and 41/44s? Any differences between weapons and armor? Doesn't have to be exact numbers, kinda curious about range of drops that you get though.

 

[Enno]

It's going to be a mix @Swoops for sure. I've personally experienced the different iLvl and Lvl requirements that Axxon mentioned. I'm not 100% on weapons/armor, although I know majority of people won't be looking for weapons, I do believe they follow a similar scaling pattern, except off by a few iLvls incrementally.

Also, you're correct about the last boss dungeon drops. I just wouldn't do Gnomer/WC personally. A compendium of all the dungeons with guaranteed green drops would be nice.

 

[Mythic Al]

Says the man who wrote a Treasure Chest guide . More seriously, I'm not 100% sure myself on chests that low if you're trying to find a few in a small area and phase over and over to farm them.

Eggcellent write-up Axxon, feels like a lot of us in the farming scene have been getting bombarded with the i44 green questions lately. Good to see it written up so we all don't get blue in the face repeating things.

Hehe, my guide is sort of more geared for 20s. But I've been toying with the idea of clearing out my banks of the useless gear or holiday frills I have saved and stocking up on equipment requiring level 39. All just in case my Starter Edition Account ever gets screwed by some stealth game time to ruin all my 20s work.

 

[enzy]

Nice write up, Ax. I can certainly confirm a number of things posted here from my own personal testing to back up your guide:

• The +5 ilvl greens all seem to drop pertaining to their ORIGINAL levels, like you said. It's the very reason why you won't see a req. 39 ilvl 44 Tracker Cloak - that's not it's original level before scaling. IF this item were to drop from a mob and NOT a chest, it will randomly scale to any number of levels (31, 34, 37, etc) and be ilvl +3 of that level.
• Plate gear is 40+. Just the way Blizzard itemized these items originally. BiS for plate is mostly BoA's and dungeon boss drops because of this.
• While Uldaman is definitely good for this, it does seem to have a certain drop table. I am only basing this on Wowhead's database. But when you have some 38,000+ recorded drops and you don't see a Lunar Mantle or Bloodwoven Bracers, they likely won't come from it, but many other great items do. I've done probably hundreds of Uldaman runs and I can't tell you how much I want to smash my computer if I get another fucking Sniper rifle gun...

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Edit: this will net you +3 ilvl greens. No good!

As others have said, the last boss of Gnomeregan drops unscaled greens, as well. I hear that the Wailing Cavern murloc boss does as well but screw that nonsense, that place takes FOREVER to run. I've done probably at least 50+ Gnomeregan runs testing this out with a 110 and a 39. The last boss drops greens outside the Uldaman chest table (good) but all that really proves is how insanely huge the drop table is. However, it also drops some other cool stuff: I got a Discombobulator Ray schematic that is selling for 60k+ on my server. Good stuff. I imagine the best way to do this is with a 1 high level char and 4 39s. You can take a straight shot right to the boss. It probably actually takes longer to walk outside than it does to get to the boss. Not every item you loot will be 39! You will of course loot plenty of other green items < lvl 39 as well.

Edit: let me clarify on the above - the Gnomeregan boss will drop unscaled greens for any level 39 character. When you loot the boss on a 110 (in my example of what I was using to blast through the dungeon) you will get a random assortment of lvl 50+/60 green items (the highest level the dungeon scales to) so you can't loot unscaled greens on a high level char this way like you can the Uldaman chest (probably just some difference in their loot/drop system between chests vs. boss drops, I'm guessing).

 

[Enno]

On the other hand, I was convinced that with the right level you COULD farm with a higher toon. The level variability on the greens proves the point that its about finding the perfect balance in terms of scaling. I think it was just about finding the best level to xpoff (42/43/44).

About your Steppes comment: imo it's worse than Silithus, your loot will frequently overscale like you mentioned moreso than the other spot. Current testing is being done with 3 monks and a higher character in the back stack for greens with the extra monk. The hope is that you reduce the amount of wasted loot on that character and capitalize on keeping the 39s in the main stack with the other two monks.

If you're just going for capes, I think Uldaman is probably the most surefire way, although that sounds horrible to say about something so RNG.

 

[Swoops]

As others have said, the last boss of Gnomeregan drops unscaled greens, as well. I hear that the Wailing Cavern murloc boss does as well but screw that nonsense, that place takes FOREVER to run. I've done probably at least 50+ Gnomeregan runs testing this out with a 110 and a 39.

Yeah, full clearing Wailing Caverns is awful. Any chance you've seen Bloodwoven Bracers or any other usual Kalimdor drops in Gnomer? I'm kind of afraid that they only drop in WC based on how loot tables get split by continent sometimes, looks like 44s could save us from that though.

 

[Enno]

At least clearing Gnomer yields engi patterns, Vibroblade, and the vers ring if your 39 wants one.

 

[enzy]

I'm kind of afraid that they only drop in WC based on how loot tables get split by continent sometimes, looks like 44s could save us from that though.

I've never actually thought of that. I'll keep on eye out when I farm it some more.

 

[DigitalChemyst]

Screenshots for those who are interested, although I forgot to do them right as they dropped.

 

[Enno]

TL;DR if it's not on that list, it won't scale to i44 req39.