Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Spend some of those shards on your twink!

I decided to go see what Blizzard had added in the 1-19 bracket, courtesy of WoWHead, in Wrath of the Lich King. When I saw the list, my hand immediately flew to my forehead and my eyes rolled. How could I have forgotten about the heirloom items that were so talked about a few months ago? Anyhow, with the help of another handy dandy WoWHead tool, the in game link, I was able to convert the stats to level 19 to see if they were worth the time and the shards or emblems for purchasing them.

Balanced Heartseeker 40 emblems of heroism
one hand speed 1.70
17-33 Damage
(15.o damage per second)
+2 agility
equip - +8 attack power
equip - +1 hit

This does not match up to the ultimate dagger, the Assassin's Blade. It does beat the runners up, though. Unless you are desperate, I'd pass this up. The others are easy enough to get with a run through Deadmines or Wailing Caverns.

Battleworn Thrash Blade 200 Spirit Keeper's Shards
one hand speed 2.4o
25-46 damage
(15.0 damage per second)
equip - +3 resilience
Chance on hit - may grant extra attack on next swing.

Depending on the proc rate, this may be a nice purchase. The dps is significantly lower than Rowena's Shadowfang, but on par with the next best choices. If Shadowfang eludes your grasp, this might be a worthy runner up. Unfortunately, only enchants this baby will take are those without level requirement.

Charmed Ancient Bone Bow 65 Emblems of Heroism
29-54 damage speed 2.40
(15.0 damage per second)
equip - +5 attack power
equip - +1 critical attack
equip - +1 hit

Rowena has her Throat Piercers. There isn't really all that much at this low level with worthy stats when it comes to a ranged weapon. This is superior for the extra 3 attack and the extra .73% crit chance. But the agility also provide me with .48% dodge. It's a toss-up. If you have the extra emblems, go for it. This would be on the bottom of my shopping list.

Exceptional Stormshroud Shoulders 200 Spirit Keeper's Shards
69 armor leather
3 agility
6 stamina
equip - +8 attack power
equip - +4 resilience
equip +10% experience per kill

1 more armor point, 6 less agility, and 6 more stamina. I'm looking at adding a bit of attack, and a bit of health, at the cost of crit rating and the loss of almost 1.5% dodge. What does .32% resilience do at this level? I'm not sure I'm willing to trade out what I have. This item, in my opinion, is too costly.

Inherited Insignia of the Horde 250 Spirit Keeper's Shards
trinket-unique
equip - +6 resilience
use - removes movement impairing effects and effects that cause the loss of control of your character (5 min cool down)

HUZZAH! A trinket!! This one would fly to the top of my list for that reason, and the fact that before Wrath, the Insignia of the Horde was not attainable by under level 20 characters, at least as far as I remember. Now that I have done the search for the equivalent, I may go get some honor and get the lower item.

Sharpened Scarlet Kris 200 Spirit Keeper's Shards
one hand speed 1.50
15-29 damage
(15.0 damage per second)
4 stamina
equip - +6 attack power
equip - +3 resilience

Another dagger. I'm not a dagger rogue, but for those that are, this one falls short. It's fast. It has attack power, and stamina. All these things you can get from the Scout's Blade. What you lose in .2 attack speed and 2 stamina you gain in .54% crit and .96% dodge. Not worth it, in my opinion.

Stained Shadowcraft Spaulders 40 Emblems of Heroism
69 armor leather
4 stamina
equip - +14 attack power
equip - +4 hit
equip - +10% experience per kill

Have I mentioned how I love agility? Sure, these babies have a lot to offer. But my Serpent's Shoulders have all that yummy agility...1.22% crit rating and 2.15% dodge, and the 9 attack power all in one small handy package. Another pass for me.

Swift Hand of Justice 50 Emblems of Heroism
Trinket
equip - +6 haste rating
equip - heals you for 2% of maximum health per kill that yields experience or honor.

Another TRINKET! This one is not unique, and I'm sure the second effect doesn't stack. Still worth it for the haste rating. Not many 19 twinks bother with haste rating, but there are some enchants and items available to help in that area, and more haste = more attacks. That, and this may be by far easier to get than two of the Arena Grand Master trinkets. I say put this on the shopping list as a must have!

Upgraded Dwarven Hand Cannon 325 Spirit Keeper's Shards
30-56 damage speed 2.90
(15 damage per second)
equip - +3 attack power
equip - + 2 crit rating
equip - + 1 resilience

Umm...on the fence with this one. I like the .48% dodge the Throat Piercers give, but the extra attack power and crit rating are enticing here as well. I'm gonna put this one on the "if I have too many shards" list.

Venerable Dal'Rends Sacred Charge 40 Emblems of Heroism
Main hand speed 2.90
30-56 damage
(15.0 damage per second)
3 stamina
equip - +3 attack power
equip - +3 crit rating

Slower than what I have, less top end damage than what I have. Eh. If you cannot get something better, get this for the crit. There are better swords out there for less effort. Save your emblems.

So, to wrap this up, this is some very cool stuff Blizzard has given us the opportunity of owning. New twink trinkets, and some pretty promising ranged weapons. The weapons and armor only seem to really be desirable if you are just unable to get anything else, and really, you CAN get better. 19 is not a hard level to reach, as I know from my accidental "let's see what the daily PvP quest can do for me?" re-roll after the dungeon gear upgrade.

Please, leave me a comment. I'd love to hear thoughts, or debates, on my opinion piece! :)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Those weapons are actually awesome! Being bind on account, you can pass them to your lower level toons when you don't need them anymore and they level as you do. Also, they lack durability, so they never degrade. If you could in some way get an entire set of gear of that stuff, you would never have to fix!! :D

The biggest problem I have with them is the inability to enchant them. My husband got one for his low level DK alt. He couldn't rune it and when we tried to chant it, that didn't work either.

Other than that one drawback, that stuff is great! A good investment, in my opinion.

ShawndraKai said...

Mae, they are certainly awesome in the regards that they are bind on account and tradeable to your other toons, but in some cases, not so great to just sit on a twink character, as there are so many much better alternatives :)

Now, where it comes to that warlock you are working on, there are items I would definitely buy, to keep on a caster twinklette! The staff and the trinket come to mind readily, but I haven't looked at everything.

Holidays...busy baking.