Post-2.4 is tailoring still a "must have"?

[Morganfaey]

Not all that long ago I was a warlock... Despite being an "alt" I invested a lot of time and money into her tailored gear. She had the full FSW set before she hit 70, Spellstrike not long after, and then right before I retired her I made the Boots of Blasting.

Now I am leveling my second clothie, a mage on a pvp server where I had no pre-existing stashes of cash. To avoid being totally poor I went with mining and skinning but I had planned on getting tailoring at 70. Now with new badge gear and Magister's Terrace loots I am not sure if I can talk myself into it.

Let's look at some of the gear. I'll be using C'Pimp's guide even though I know mages and locks obviously have different needs this is more of a general profession discussion. Plus, I am looking at pre-raid gear not any raid drops.

Spellstrike Hood - Still probably the best bet but it is BoE. Nethers are now easily obtainable and depending on the economy of your server buying the spellcloth and farming something else to sell may be easier than making your own cloth, especially when the leveling of tailoring is taken into account.

FSW Shoulders - Better than the Fel-Tinged Shoulders from Heroic MagTerr but not by a huge amount.

FSW/Spellfire Robes - Scarlet Sindorei Robes from Heroic MagTerr and the new 100 badge robes are both arguably better or at least equivilant.

Sunfire Robe - Best in Game. This may justify tailoring on it's own but how many people will have the oppurtunity/gold to get this pattern?

Spellfire Belt - Belt of Blasting is a bit better and (somewhat) easily obtainable now.

Spellfire Gloves - New/old badge gloves or the Gloves of Arcane Acuity are a decent alternative though not quite as good?

Spellstrike Pants - BoE, I'll definately be getting these made.

FSW Boots - Replaced by the Boots of Blasting which are also tailored BoP. However, new Boots of Incantations are a good alternative for those with the badges.


So I guess my question is do we still really "need" tailoring? If someone already has it I'm certainly not advocatinmg dropping it. I just want to know if I can justify (more like talk myself into) leveling it on a new toon.


(I know that Wrath of the Lich King profession items are a ways from being announced and I may very well want it then. I'm not worrying about that atm)

[Valcoris]

I think in the end it depends how much badge grinding your willing to do. It's going to take longer to get all that badge gear for most people than it would take to level tailoring. If your in a position where you can run many heroics a day and badges flow like water then no tailoring is probably not a need but I still think it is nice to have.

[Theleb]

Right now?

It very much depends on what your situation and requirements are I guess.

If you're on a PvP server then your first choice is always PvP gear, but creating an "Instance/Raid" set is probably a very good idea if you plan on getting much use out of it, but its not essential if you can gather enough badges/gold to offset the need. Spellstrike is BoE, the BoJ rewards are wonderful, the Belt of Blasting is BoE....you can very easily create a set thats as nearly as good (and arguably surpasses in some areas) as the Tailoring Epics.

I gess the short answer is "no".

[Morganfaey]

Originally Posted by Theleb

It very much depends on what your situation and requirements are I guess.

Well my guild is doing Hyjal and BT so I don't think I'll be raiding with them right away I don't know if they'll be doing SSC or TK on off nights.

However, my server is kind of odd, from my past experience at least, in that Kara, Gruul, Mags and sometimes ZA are run pretty regularly as PuGs. So I am kind of looking towards gear that will both help me in these raids and provide alternatives to things that may well never drop. If nothing else I see Kara as a chance at much needed badges.

I'm just dreading the thought of tailoring. Plus I figured this might cook up some decent discussion.

[thewiz]

I'm fighting with this right now as well. I was in the same situation. rolling first toon on a new pvp server. I took engineering and mining with the thought that I would drop mining at 70.

I have been scouring forums near and far and so far I have found I do not need tailoring but it would make life a little easier in the beginning.

Apparently on this server, Mannoroth, you have to be full epics to get in Kara pugs. I am waiting until I get 800+ damage unbuffed before I start begging to get into kara runs for the badges.

Chest seems to be the hardest to get and the most badges if you go that route. There are alot of boots available in heroics, cheap badges, etc that will do.

Shoulders, worst case, the arena shoulders or even S1 shoulders are very nice.

Thanks to Canadian's list and the warlock spreadsheet by the guy whose name I forgot (Leuiler?) I have a list that will put me at or near 1200 damage 25% crit and hit capped without tailoring and never setting foot in a Raid, not that this is my goal, I want to raid but the server is passed the raiding I am geared for and I am in a guild with some RLFs and we do not have the people to raid so I have to try and catch up to T5 T6 content without the benefit of T4 gear.

[badkarma138]

huh. I hadnt really thought about this, but I just replaced the last of my FSW set (robes) last night so I suppose I could drop tailoring now and pick up herbalism. I had seriously been considering dropping enchanting for herbalism, but after reading this I may drop tailoring.

Worst that happens is I Power level tailoring back up if I need it anyway, I suppose.

[gimmpy]

I leveled tailoring up as I leveled my warlock. I had no funds as this was my first on this server, so I relied on prudent spending, making my own gear, and herbalism to tide me through. Fsw, spellstrike, and girdle of ruination were acquired shortly after I hit 70 and I still was able to buy my flyer as well. My point I guess is that a non-gathering profession doesn't have to mean that you'll be broke while leveling. It just means you research where gear/mats drop and don't buy from the auction house everytime there is something better. I also get the advantage of crafting high end patterns for money, turning cloth into cheap greens to de, or my steady income off of bags and shirts. It also allows me to have the set bonuses that come with tailored gear for that extra bang. It doesn't have to just be a money sink, it provides you with quick epics, good bonuses , and a moderate income. Is it worth powerleveling? Up to you and what you want to do with your time.

[Bodhisage]

When I make my 10k gold level 80 robe 7 months from now you'll be sorry you dropped it

But seriously tailoring is still good to have. It's not as powerful as before the new badge gear and instance, but it's much better than pvp stuff for raiding and worth it if you have $ and don't want to wait on drops.

[Kiralyn]

I think it comes down to your character goals. You said it yourself, there are a lot of alternatives now for non-tailors, which are on par with tailored gear in most cases. So if your goal is to hit 70 with some cash and be able to get good gear, your fine.

If, however, you are a min/max best-in-slot type player, tailoring is still going to offer a huge reward. If you are leveling in a BT guild, you may very well have access to the sunwell chest pattern, which is best in slot right now.

You also need to look past what is currently available. If you are planning on leveling this character in Wrath of the Lich King, it's likely you'll want tailoring, as I can't see Blizzard going away from their current plan of viable crafted epics. I don't think they'll be to the level that the gear was for The Burning Crusade, as they have already admitted that they over-tuned that gear, but I still expect there to be some worthwhile rewards for people who are still holding onto the crafting professions.

[Pernicious]

I don't think Tailoring has ever been a "Must Have." I guess it depends on how far into the game you intend on going. Sure Tailors get a big advantage with clothing options, but so do other professions in their own way. It takes a lot of work to get tailoring to a point where it is worth it, and even still you can eventually get gear that replaces tailoring making it obsolete until the next big patch or expansion. While other professions such as Alchemy aid you the entire journey and continue doing so even at the end game.