Don't Go Shardin' Those Purps
Posted by 
Bastosa on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 - 12 Comments Tags: disenchanting, epic, hydross, loot, shard, tank, void crystal
Bastosa on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 - 12 Comments Tags: disenchanting, epic, hydross, loot, shard, tank, void crystal 
This may seem obvious to many of you, but I thought I would share a bit of insight that I learned the hard way. No matter how much you want to free up that extra bag slot, you should always think twice (or maybe 3 times) about destroying your hard earned pieces of loot. I know it is hard to see a use for those boots you got in Kara when you have a shiny new piece of tier 5 sitting in your bags, but chances are you will need it again.I learned this lesson the hard way when it came time for our guild to take on Hydross in SSC. This fight requires that the main tanks deck themselves out in full resist gear, while still remaining uncritable. I, of course, was elected to be the guilds frost tank, meaning I needed to have both 365 frost resist, and 490 defense. This is not an easy task, and I found myself having to get creative to keep my defense up. This meant regemming many of my lower level Kara items and blues to maximize defense.
As I began this long process I came to realize that there were a few items that I had long ago disenchanted that would be perfect for this! There was the trinket from Shadow Labs, that belt from Moroes, and those boots from Chess that would have put me right where I needed to be with minimal effort. Of course I had stupidly decided that I would rather have a void crystal to sell than a “useless” piece of gear, so I went ahead and did what any good enchanter would do and sharded it all.
Next thing I know, I need this gear again and I'm back in Kara rolling on loot! While getting this stuff is fun and exciting the first time around, the second time it turns into a real grind. There is nothing like keeping your fingers crossed that some loot will drop that you already won months ago! Lucky for me I have a great guild, that was very understanding in the matter, but still there was a lesson to be learned here.
I think this may be a timely reminder with WotLK breathing down our necks. As we all hop on the first boats out to Northrend, I'm sure we will be seeing all sorts of new gear finding its way onto our toons. There is no doubt that we will eventually replace all we have, but take a second look before you get rid of anything for good. I know there are still vanilla WoW trinkets that are used in TBC end game, and I have no doubt there is a piece or two we have now that will have its situational use for a long time to come.
Think twice about getting rid of your gear, particularly If you are a tank, but I imagine the same goes for others as well. You never know when the next fight, the next unexpected gear drop, or a creative application of an ability can change your whole set of priorities when it comes to important stats!
Reader Comments (12)
The same thing always happens to me - finding it out the hard way was so embarrasing... also 1st
This is a good lesson. I have at the very least 99% of the epics I got in TBC (I was a total noob pre-TBC, so finally getting epics was significant for me).
Not only is it fun to reminisce and walk around in that old gear, it does come in handy. Much like the author's gemming for hydross, I've brought in some old gear for Mother Sharaz. That fight requires a lot of Shadow Resist, but you also want to maintain your other stats. I don't have the medallion of karabor, which means that I needed to get extra shadow resist in other places. To balance this a little more, I got the shadow resist buff on my T4 helm that I wasn't using any more.
It can come in handy, and at least it looks cool too. Although it's a blue, it took me 2 years to get the Hourglass of the Unraveller trinket. You won't see me DE or trash that, or any of my other gear.
I just started a tank a few days ago, so, good to know :P
Having a bank choked full of old gear and various bits and pieces I've picked up over the years you can tell I suspected as much from the get go.
I still have MC level gear because current iterations of similar effects are lacking in one respect or another. I regrettable no longer have my T2 helm and pants but oh well.
Unfortunately Blizz tends to "forget" certain items for long level stretches making replacements, or equivalents difficult to find. (example, Uther's Strength, other trinkets may have similar effects but none are Exactly like it - till at least level 80). Blizz also makes droprates on certain items extremely low which doesnt help.
I'm hoping with Wrath theyll set up a system where we can just go to vendors to buyback old items we may've vendored (like pets, trinkets, and unique or unusual gear items ex - the offhand that makes you run faster).
Yeah my mage is an enchanter same thing happened to him... Its very tough to get through this.
i play a holy pally
my old guild wanted me to tank so they got me the gear and such
i realized i HATE tanking and de'd all the gear
i got like 20 void crystals :D
To Conxcore
Epic Win my friend.
Oh and WotLK Still looks awesome.
I like to DE my stuff after I get an upgrade, and I DE'ed something I wanted later. Luckily blizzard found it (I had to think of the approximate time I DE'ed it) and was able to mail me a new one, they said you can get 3 items back or something like that.
LoL hunter FTW all we ever have to do is MD, the only other thing we can be asked to do is to tank "Flying" mobs and to do that the best available is PVP, so to any hunter' worried about sharding, go ahead we have it easy!
That's good to know, Bastosa. Thanks for sharing your experience with others, such as myself, so we don't need to learn it the hard way.
I had the same exact problem with my off tank set for Hydross. Even harder as a Bear tank def rating wise.
Oh trust me, I haven't found a lot in Northrend (beta) that's an upgrade. My priest was still wearing her t4 hat to heal at 77 (replaced in a quest chain in Sholazar Basin) and I have no doubt that the shiny hat I got in ZA from Hexx will prolly still be on my head at 80 when I sally forth into Naxx to shackle and heal my way thru (or be a laser chicken all the way thru if I swap mains)