New to Arenas - How to start gearing?

ydnandrew · December 01, 2007, 01:23 AM

I am starting to do some 2v2 arenas (maybe 3v3) with a Pally, mainly to get the spellblade since it's better than anything I can get in Kara or Gruul's. I plan to go SL/SL. What I need to know is, how should I start gearing? I'm very well geared for PVE, pre-Gruul's anyway. 1.2k shadow damage (counting 80 from darkmoon card) and hit capped. But that's not doing me much good for pve.

What I would like to know is, besides farming BGs to pick up some S1 gear, where else should I be looking for some gear that might help me in arenas to get my spellblade? Is it worth using the +stam (like +48 or higher) green rings, or should I stick with what I can find with high stam and spell damage? Is there any craftable gear (already have unyielding girdle) that might be useful in PvP? As SL/SL I'm not worried much about crit since my goal is survivability, dotting and draining with only the occassional nightfall SB.

I have some badges and run a lot of heroics. I figure I'll get the cloak since I heard it's probably the best pvp cloak in the game. I might also get the badge reward bracers since I'm currently using Bracers of Havok and also have the Harbinger Bands from Attumen. The Harbinger at least have some stamina, but the Runed Spell Cuffs from badges have spell haste and a tiny bit more damage (a little less stam though). Are there any other badge rewards or 5 man drops worth getting? I've also thought about getting the Mark of Defiance. It will probably do me more good than the Darkmoon Card. It's 32 spell damage and chance to restore mana on spell hit. I also have the Icon and Quag's Eye however, which both do more damage. I thought that the extra mana might help lifetap less for those really long fights. Or is there another trinket I should be looking at? I have the Lightning Capacitor and Airman's Ribbon too, as well as Xiri's Gift and probably a few others that I never use.

I know many hard-core PvPers probably hate reading posts like this from PvEers who want to get PvP gear without the PvP work. I guess I just want to be as prepared as possible without spending countless hours in the battlegrounds. I want to find the quickest route to the S2 spellblade.

vukodlac · December 01, 2007, 04:16 AM

well, why spend pve time getting something a little pvp worthy when you can spend that same time in bg getting something that is very pvp worthy? Hit cap is worthless in pvp. You're gonna need sta items. My team jumps all clothies first and chances are you have less than 7k hp. ? You will prob do fine in the <1500 range, but wont do much after that with no resilience and low hp. So if you dont want to put the pvp time in to get pvp gear, just do your 10 games a week, stay as high as you can and after 4 weeks you'll prob have enough for the blade. (i forget how much the blade is...like 1300?)

digimanbyte_ID · December 01, 2007, 05:04 AM

One of the biggest mistakes I see your going to make is getting pve gear, pvp gear is different because of the resilience, which means you will last a hell of a lot longer.

Heres my advice get the arena gear thats from the honor vendors, and work on getting the vindicator set, dreadweave seems to suit your build best, so any cloth armor with the word dreadweave is a must have for you.

This may mean spending a lot of your time in BG's particularly AV, with 2 hours or more I guarantee you will make 5k honor at the least a day.

Musqito · December 01, 2007, 05:44 AM

I'm a demonology specced lock with felguard. Play arena 2vs2 most the time... What would you suggest for me? Dreadweave, felweave, Vindicator or Gladiator,...? I'm also a shadoweave tailor...

Theleb · December 01, 2007, 06:24 AM

Tailoring fails for PvP unless you can get a cheap Unyielding Girdle ;p

If you're grinding honour, get the Vindicator's Belt/Ring/Boots/Neck and the S1 Armour, as well as the Heroic Badge trinket (75 Badges) and Cloak (60 Badges).

More realistically...

Get whatever is the largest upgrade. Gloves are a good place to start for the bonus and then build up as you accrue honour. Even at S3 prices the spellblade is still 2739 points so be patient and be prepared to get battered while you slowly upgrade your resilience/stamina.....that quick route might not be as quick as you think.

vukodlac · December 01, 2007, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by digimanbyte_ID

One of the biggest mistakes I see your going to make is getting pve gear, pvp gear is different because of the resilience, which means you will last a hell of a lot longer.

Heres my advice get the arena gear thats from the honor vendors, and work on getting the vindicator set, dreadweave seems to suit your build best, so any cloth armor with the word dreadweave is a must have for you.

This may mean spending a lot of your time in BG's particularly AV, with 2 hours or more I guarantee you will make 5k honor at the least a day.

He doesnt want to PVP. He just wants to get the s2 sword for pve. In which case, he doesnt need to get full arena gear. I would look at your gear. If you have a piece that has like 0 sta but 70 sd. replace it with an arena piece that has like 50 sta and 40 sd. I just say try to keep your team in the 1400s, do your 10 games per week, and after some weeks you'll have your s2 sword. Or if you want it fast, spend a weekend grinding AV and buy the S1 sword. Its like 20 or so sd less i think.

vukodlac · December 01, 2007, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Musqito

I'm a demonology specced lock with felguard. Play arena 2vs2 most the time... What would you suggest for me? Dreadweave, felweave, Vindicator or Gladiator,...? I'm also a shadoweave tailor...

Well, depends really. what is your arena score? The higher your score, the more people have higher res. If you are fighting someone with 400 res, your crit% is dropped by like 10-15% (without looking at exact numbers). So a lot like to go with the dreadweave and go down the aff tree after demo. I personally am FG specced, then down dest to shadowburn and rest in aff. I went with felweave and I like it. You gain like 150 crit and lose like 35 sta and 25 sd?? again not exact numbers. Sometimes I do get a good crit, but without ruin, eh...is it worth it? I dont know.

KrazyLock · December 01, 2007, 05:18 PM

Quote:

I'm a demonology specced lock with felguard. Play arena 2vs2 most the time... What would you suggest for me? Dreadweave, felweave, Vindicator or Gladiator,...? I'm also a shadoweave tailor...

Go dreadweave; your arena rating has absolutely nothing to do with how you should gear yourself. Felguard spec'd you want as much stamina and +spell damage as you can get and dreadweave is the way to go. + Crit is basically meaningless unless you're going to spec destruction. Go with the Vindicator's dreadweave gear since it is the latest gear available with the best stats.

It takes a while to acquire good gear so make certain to get the right gear for your spec.

neej · December 01, 2007, 05:25 PM

Hit is not worthless. Assuming 0/0 Supression you need 38 Hit Rating to have maximum success against normal targets. Theoretically more against enemies who have -hit (Cloak of Shadows ^^).

vukodlac · December 01, 2007, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neej

Hit is not worthless. Assuming 0/0 Supression you need 38 Hit Rating to have maximum success against normal targets. Theoretically more against enemies who have -hit (Cloak of Shadows ^^).

I didnt say hit is worthless.. I said hit cap is worthless.

December 01, 2007, 01:23 AM	#1 (permalink)
ydnandrew Member	New to Arenas - How to start gearing? I am starting to do some 2v2 arenas (maybe 3v3) with a Pally, mainly to get the spellblade since it's better than anything I can get in Kara or Gruul's. I plan to go SL/SL. What I need to know is, how should I start gearing? I'm very well geared for PVE, pre-Gruul's anyway. 1.2k shadow damage (counting 80 from darkmoon card) and hit capped. But that's not doing me much good for pve. What I would like to know is, besides farming BGs to pick up some S1 gear, where else should I be looking for some gear that might help me in arenas to get my spellblade? Is it worth using the +stam (like +48 or higher) green rings, or should I stick with what I can find with high stam and spell damage? Is there any craftable gear (already have unyielding girdle) that might be useful in PvP? As SL/SL I'm not worried much about crit since my goal is survivability, dotting and draining with only the occassional nightfall SB. I have some badges and run a lot of heroics. I figure I'll get the cloak since I heard it's probably the best pvp cloak in the game. I might also get the badge reward bracers since I'm currently using Bracers of Havok and also have the Harbinger Bands from Attumen. The Harbinger at least have some stamina, but the Runed Spell Cuffs from badges have spell haste and a tiny bit more damage (a little less stam though). Are there any other badge rewards or 5 man drops worth getting? I've also thought about getting the Mark of Defiance. It will probably do me more good than the Darkmoon Card. It's 32 spell damage and chance to restore mana on spell hit. I also have the Icon and Quag's Eye however, which both do more damage. I thought that the extra mana might help lifetap less for those really long fights. Or is there another trinket I should be looking at? I have the Lightning Capacitor and Airman's Ribbon too, as well as Xiri's Gift and probably a few others that I never use. I know many hard-core PvPers probably hate reading posts like this from PvEers who want to get PvP gear without the PvP work. I guess I just want to be as prepared as possible without spending countless hours in the battlegrounds. I want to find the quickest route to the S2 spellblade.

December 01, 2007, 04:16 AM	#2 (permalink)
vukodlac Member Character Info Vuko 70 Undead Warlock Eredar US PvP	Re: New to Arenas - How to start gearing? well, why spend pve time getting something a little pvp worthy when you can spend that same time in bg getting something that is very pvp worthy? Hit cap is worthless in pvp. You're gonna need sta items. My team jumps all clothies first and chances are you have less than 7k hp. ? You will prob do fine in the <1500 range, but wont do much after that with no resilience and low hp. So if you dont want to put the pvp time in to get pvp gear, just do your 10 games a week, stay as high as you can and after 4 weeks you'll prob have enough for the blade. (i forget how much the blade is...like 1300?)

December 01, 2007, 05:04 AM	#3 (permalink)
digimanbyte_ID Member Character Info Ceannon 70 Blood Elf Warlock Thaurissan Oceania PvP Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 0/41/20	Re: New to Arenas - How to start gearing? One of the biggest mistakes I see your going to make is getting pve gear, pvp gear is different because of the resilience, which means you will last a hell of a lot longer. Heres my advice get the arena gear thats from the honor vendors, and work on getting the vindicator set, dreadweave seems to suit your build best, so any cloth armor with the word dreadweave is a must have for you. This may mean spending a lot of your time in BG's particularly AV, with 2 hours or more I guarantee you will make 5k honor at the least a day.

December 01, 2007, 05:44 AM	#4 (permalink)
Musqito Lurker Character Info Musqito 70 Gnome Warlock Auchindaun Euro PvP Guild: Elemental Spirits Profile: Blizzard Armory Talent Spec: 6/44/11	Re: New to Arenas - How to start gearing? I'm a demonology specced lock with felguard. Play arena 2vs2 most the time... What would you suggest for me? Dreadweave, felweave, Vindicator or Gladiator,...? I'm also a shadoweave tailor... Last edited by Musqito; December 01, 2007 at 05:49 AM..

December 01, 2007, 06:24 AM	#5 (permalink)
Theleb Member Character Info Theleb 70 Human Warlock Shadowsong Euro PvE Guild: Original Talent Spec: 0/46/15	Re: New to Arenas - How to start gearing? Tailoring fails for PvP unless you can get a cheap Unyielding Girdle ;p If you're grinding honour, get the Vindicator's Belt/Ring/Boots/Neck and the S1 Armour, as well as the Heroic Badge trinket (75 Badges) and Cloak (60 Badges). More realistically... Get whatever is the largest upgrade. Gloves are a good place to start for the bonus and then build up as you accrue honour. Even at S3 prices the spellblade is still 2739 points so be patient and be prepared to get battered while you slowly upgrade your resilience/stamina.....that quick route might not be as quick as you think.

December 01, 2007, 05:25 PM	#9 (permalink)
neej Member	Re: New to Arenas - How to start gearing? Hit is not worthless. Assuming 0/0 Supression you need 38 Hit Rating to have maximum success against normal targets. Theoretically more against enemies who have -hit (Cloak of Shadows ^^).