Project Lore

Along with all the new content that each of the major WoW content patches brings, it seems that Blizzard also is putting more and more emphasis lately on players continuing to enjoy and benefit from the older content, as well. Patch 3.3 continues along this tradition in a very big way. First, we've got the implementation of Frost badges for the newest, shiniest vendor-bought gear yet. But it'll take a while for even the best-geared players to gather enough of those to actually redeem them. Then, there's the upgraded emblem drops from heroics. Instead of Emblems of Conquest, now all heroic dungeons completed through the new Daily Random Dungeon finder will drop two Emblems of Triumph. In case you missed it in those long and detailed patch notes, here's exactly how the new system works:

• The Heroic Wrath of the Lich King Daily Random Dungeon option will award two Emblems of Frost no more than once a day.
• The normal Wrath of the Lich King Daily Random Dungeon option will award two Emblems of Triumph no more than once a day.
• Continuing to complete Wrath of the Lich King Heroic instances using the Daily Random Dungeon option will award players two additional Emblems of Triumph each time.

So that means, if someone were to go absolutely ALL OUT in one day and complete all 16 heroic dungeons (including the three new ones) plus one random regular dungeon, here's what they'd get.

• 2 Emblems of Frost for that first random heroic.
• 30 Emblems of Triumph for the remaining 15 random heroics.
• 2 more Emblems of Triumph for the first regular random daily.
• And all that's in addition to one emblem you get per EACH of the 60 heroic bosses.
• Add it up, and that's 92 Emblems of Triumph just for running random dungeons. In one day!
• ...Then, have someone else start forming groups so you can bypass the dungeon lockout period (I wonder if that'll get fixed...)

Not that I would recommend trying to cram all that into one day, but I'm sure someone out there is going to do it, if it hasn't been done already. Here's what I do recommend: It seems that love it or hate it, the emblem system probably is going to stick around for a while. So if there's still Triumph gear that you need, or reputation that you need to grind (also purchasable with Triumph badges), you may as well take advantage. Chain up random heroics whenever you have a free 30-45 minutes in game. Especially if you're pairing that with continuing regular 10- and 25-man ToC, Onyxia and VoA runs, they'll add up pretty quickly. My personal goal is to get that full PvP set. I wasn't really planning on it, but I'm not going to let my emblems go to waste, either. Got the helm, just 250 badges to go! As for my remaining Conquest badges, I'm downgrading them all to buy gems for my new gear. Sad in a way, but it works. Anyone else planning to stock up on Triumph badges now that they're easier to come by?