Raid Loot from the Beta: Naxxramas, 10man

Premonition has cleared the 10-man version of Naxxramas in the Beta. With the clear of this raid instance comes a lot of new information regarding loot drops and boss encounters. Of particular note are the hunter-esque items making an appearance and, more importantly, how these new pieces compare to the epics we’re already sporting. Many players are concerned about how “high powered” the new raid gear will be in Wrath when compared to the items we’re already wearing. Let’s take a look at the offerings!

Tunic of the Lost Pack vs Tunic of the Ranger Lord

First, keep in mind that the item levels are drastically different, which will account for the drastic jump in certain stats. This isn’t intended as a comparison of “Which is better?” (the answer should be obvious), but more of a comparison reflecting what kind of itemization changes we can expect, and just how much higher the new stats will be. I chose to compare this piece to the Tunic of the Ranger Lord because both pieces are itemized similarly.

One thing that immediately stands out in this comparison is that the Agility score from one piece to the next isn’t as big a jump as some of the other stats. Fear not, young huntlets, this is merely the result of odd tuning on the new chest piece. Agility positively drips from most of the items I’ve seen thus far in the Beta.

Pauldrons of Havoc vs Pauldrons of Primal Fury

(Worth noting: the Pauldrons of Primal Fury have two sockets–red and yellow–whereas the Pauldrons of Havoc do not; and the Pauldrons of Havoc have haste that the Pauldrons of Primal Fury lack.)

Item levels between introductory raid loot at level 70 and level 80 differ by roughly 70. Item levels between introductory raid loot at level 60 and level 70 differed by roughly 62. If this is any indication, you’ll see roughly the same increase in stats going from level 70 raid gear to level 80 raid gear that you did when making the transition from level 60 raid gear to level 70 raid gear. (Which is to say, those in current raid gear likely won’t find item replacements until their mid- to late-70s.) As would be expected, this indicates a steady increase in attributes from one expansion to the next, which is as it should be, but also begs the question: “Where will it end?”

Many players have expressed concern that Blizzard will continue to raise our level cap and stats such that eventually our characters will appear “God-like”, despite the fact that the difficulty of the encounters we face are also ramped up accordingly. However, the alternative offers us little opportunity for character development and growth, which makes for boring game-play. Who wants to continue collecting side-grades indefinitely? Not I. At the moment, stats continue to trend upwards in proportion to past upgrades, and we’ve got a slew of new shinies to ogle.

Let us explore what else the new Naxxramas has to offer us:

Armor:

• Arc-Scorched Helmet
• Spectral Rider’s Girdle
• Trespasser’s Boots
• Rusted-Link Spiked Gauntlets
• Bands of Anxiety
• Gem of Imprisoned Vassals
• Sealing Ring of Grobbulus

Weapons:

• Ranged: Nerubian Conquerer
• Ranged: Accursed Bow of the Elite
• Melee (2H): Claymore of Ancient Power
• Melee (2H): Wraith Spear

Hunter Set:
The as yet unnamed Naxxramas 10 Hunter Set, which features five items: chest, legs, shoulders, head and gloves (like the current Tier sets, with the exception of T6 which saw additions when Sunwell was released). This set boasts the following (compared to T4 stats):

• Armor: 5095 (T4: 3435)
• Agility: 299 (T4: 129)
• Stamina: 312 (T4: 129)
• Intellect: 217 (T4: 139)
• Haste: 204 (T4: 0)
• Hit: 40 (T4: 15)
• Attack Power: 620 (T4: 320)
• Ignore Armor: 399 (T4: 0)
• Crit: 77 (T4: 19)
• Sockets: 3 Red, 3 Blue, 1 Yellow, 1 Meta (T4: 2 Red, 2 Blue, 2 Yellow, 1 Meta)

Major differences: The T4 set has 17mp5 on it, the Naxx set has none. The Naxx set has 204 Haste, the T4 set has none. The Naxx set has 399 Ignore Armor, the T4 set has none. Whether these changes are the deliberate result of combat mechanic changes, or purely incidental, has yet to be determined, but the new gear does provide some insight into what we can expect from the new encounters (notice there’s a lot of Stam there?).

Thanks to MMO-Champion for compiling list after list for us to drool over! You can view the posts referencing the material described in this article here and here. Don’t forget to subscribe via RSS or Email (if you haven’t already) using the links in the sidebar to stay current on hunter changes coming to us in Wrath!