Trinkets, legendaries, and set bonuses aside, the idea of having a proc on any individual piece of gear has rarely been seen since the days of pre-expansion
World of Warcraft. It has been left to collect dust in the back of the itemization closet along with other "genius" ideas like Let's Put Spirit On Everything! and How About Negative Stats?
But last night I faced a dilemma that I haven't had to in a very long time:
to proc or not to proc?
The problematic item in question comes in the form of the
Heartpierce, one of several new weapons added to the game with Patch 3.3. I already have some of the greatest daggers in the game (both from Trial of the Crusader 25, but not the Heroic versions)
. Normally, any
new weapon would make my eyes light up and my ticker go all pitter-patter in excitement.
Deciding to upgrade is rather easy when you can eyeball the numbers and figure out which are greater on the spot, but the nebulous properties of a proc in lieu of straight stats will send you scrambling to the internet for advice for the experts.
My problem was exacerbated by the fact that we have a couple new raiding Rogues in the guild. Until recently, I was the only one, and thus gear was often just handed out to me for the minimum DKP bid because nobody else desired or could possibly use it. And it's not our guild's policy to pussy-foot around waiting for people when we pass out loot, so not only was I faced with direct competition for a hot new dagger, but a very limited time in which to decide whether or not I wanted to spend the points.
Seeing an EP rating (a convenient, weighted number assigned by the collective community that takes into account all of the piece's stats) higher than either of my current weapons, I took the leap and made off with Heartpierce for a mean 25 DKP. Hardly the worst deal anyone's ever got, but it still felt like a big gamble. It could mean the difference between me winning or losing something assuredly better later down the line.
Either way, I like kitsch gear. I still keep things like my
Carrot on a Stick around
just because, even though it doesn't even affect players above Level 70. If it's something unique or interesting, useful or not, it's staying in my bank (you should see my collection of daggers). The inevitable purge I'm going to have to carry out when
Cataclysm hits will be mighty painful!
So I'd have likely procured a Heartpierce one way or another.
But the problem is how much is it worth to me
right now? Was snatching it up the right decision? Even the other Rogues were confused as to its eventual value. And,
after much research, I've determined that the rest of the community is split on it, too.
Well, OK, not so much split. Not in terms of pure DPS. The theorycrafting whizzes over at Elitist Jerks have parsed the numbers as well as they can, and it seems that I made a respectable choice. Heartpierce
is somewhat of an upgrade to the
Gouge of the Frigid Heart (the one I had), but
not to the Heroic version of the same item.
Still, Heartpierce has a greater Item Level than either of those weapons, meaning that, on some plane, it
should be worth the upgrade no matter what. And I'm pretty sure Ghostcrawler said something about wanting to make proc weapons worth picking up when discussing ICC itemization, though I'm admittedly having trouble finding the quote at the moment.
Either way, proc items remain a point of controversy. As middling as Heartpierce might ultimately be, players do seem to like the idea of it enough to beg for a bigger buff, and I have to agree. If Blizzard doesn't jazz it up a little bit, it looks like I'm going to have to save up my DKP and make a run for the
Rib Spreader, a true best-in-slot that could land in my lap as early as next week's release of the
Plagueworks.
Has anyone else yet faced this dilemma while running through the new content? If you haven't, my advice would be to read up on the loot tables ahead of time so you're not stuck like me, making a split-second decision on a piece of gear that offers so foggy an upgrade, and a few more DKP short than you want to be.
Amatera
Trinkets, legendaries, and set bonuses aside, the idea of having a proc on any individual piece of gear has rarely been seen since the days of pre-expansion World of Warcraft. It has been left to collect dust in the back of the itemization closet along with other "genius" ideas like Let's Put Spirit On Everything! and How About Negative Stats?
But last night I faced a dilemma that I haven't had to in a very long time: to proc or not to proc?
The problematic item in question comes in the form of the Heartpierce, one of several new weapons added to the game with Patch 3.3. I already have some of the greatest daggers in the game (both from Trial of the Crusader 25, but not the Heroic versions). Normally, any new weapon would make my eyes light up and my ticker go all pitter-patter in excitement.
Deciding to upgrade is rather easy when you can eyeball the numbers and figure out which are greater on the spot, but the nebulous properties of a proc in lieu of straight stats will send you scrambling to the internet for advice for the experts.
My problem was exacerbated by the fact that we have a couple new raiding Rogues in the guild. Until recently, I was the only one, and thus gear was often just handed out to me for the minimum DKP bid because nobody else desired or could possibly use it. And it's not our guild's policy to pussy-foot around waiting for people when we pass out loot, so not only was I faced with direct competition for a hot new dagger, but a very limited time in which to decide whether or not I wanted to spend the points.
Seeing an EP rating (a convenient, weighted number assigned by the collective community that takes into account all of the piece's stats) higher than either of my current weapons, I took the leap and made off with Heartpierce for a mean 25 DKP. Hardly the worst deal anyone's ever got, but it still felt like a big gamble. It could mean the difference between me winning or losing something assuredly better later down the line.
Either way, I like kitsch gear. I still keep things like my Carrot on a Stick around just because, even though it doesn't even affect players above Level 70. If it's something unique or interesting, useful or not, it's staying in my bank (you should see my collection of daggers). The inevitable purge I'm going to have to carry out when Cataclysm hits will be mighty painful!
So I'd have likely procured a Heartpierce one way or another.
But the problem is how much is it worth to me right now? Was snatching it up the right decision? Even the other Rogues were confused as to its eventual value. And, after much research, I've determined that the rest of the community is split on it, too.
Well, OK, not so much split. Not in terms of pure DPS. The theorycrafting whizzes over at Elitist Jerks have parsed the numbers as well as they can, and it seems that I made a respectable choice. Heartpierce is somewhat of an upgrade to the Gouge of the Frigid Heart (the one I had), but not to the Heroic version of the same item.
Still, Heartpierce has a greater Item Level than either of those weapons, meaning that, on some plane, it should be worth the upgrade no matter what. And I'm pretty sure Ghostcrawler said something about wanting to make proc weapons worth picking up when discussing ICC itemization, though I'm admittedly having trouble finding the quote at the moment.
Either way, proc items remain a point of controversy. As middling as Heartpierce might ultimately be, players do seem to like the idea of it enough to beg for a bigger buff, and I have to agree. If Blizzard doesn't jazz it up a little bit, it looks like I'm going to have to save up my DKP and make a run for the Rib Spreader, a true best-in-slot that could land in my lap as early as next week's release of the Plagueworks.
Has anyone else yet faced this dilemma while running through the new content? If you haven't, my advice would be to read up on the loot tables ahead of time so you're not stuck like me, making a split-second decision on a piece of gear that offers so foggy an upgrade, and a few more DKP short than you want to be.
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