MMO-Champion has just posted information on the Tier 8 gear in the recent PTR patch (build 9704).
The sets:
First, let me say that the set does look better with a kilt than with pants, but I’m still pretty sad about the way this armor set turned out (compared with the awesomeness of the concept art, especially). This is one helm I won’t be showing, for fear of feeling like Thomas the Tank Engine.
Secondly, I’m disappointed: the Helm and Chest of the 25-man set are available on the Emblems of Conquest quartermaster, for 48 Emblems of Conquest each. However, logically the Emblems of Valor vendor should have two pieces of the 10-man set for Emblems of Valor, and they… don’t. Which makes it tough for people in 10-man teams who have poor luck with the RNG, or who pug and don’t get to rely on getting an equal shot at loot. I hope Blizzard will put the items on there.
That said, now let’s look at the stats.
For comparison’s sake:
- 10-man Tier 7: 299 Stam, 309 Int, 35 mp5, 9105 Armor, 184 Crit, 181 Haste, 391 Spellpower, 1 meta socket, 3 red sockets, 2 yellow sockets, 2 blue sockets. (Socket bonuses total: 5 mp5, 12 Haste, 4 Crit)
- 10-man Tier 8: 353 Stam, 363 Int, 74 mp5, 9432 Armor, 153 Crit, 214 Haste, 481 Spellpower, 1 meta socket, 2 red sockets, 1 yellow socket, 4 blue sockets. (Socket bonuses total: 28 Spellpower, 4 Haste)
- Net effect of upgrading all 5 pieces: +54 Stam, +54 Int, +39 mp5, +327 Armor, -31 Crit, +23 Haste, +90 Spellpower, plus a change in gemming (if you socket for color).
- 25-man Tier 7: 335 Stam, 345 Int, 40 mp5, 9335, 212 Crit, 203 Haste, 453 Spellpower, 1 meta socket, 3 red sockets, 2 yellow sockets, 2 blue sockets. (Socket bonuses total: 5 mp5, 12 Haste, 4 Crit)
- 25-man Tier 8: 381 Stam, 386 Int, 79 mp5, 9538 Armor, 167 Crit, 249 Haste, 525 Spellpower, 1 meta socket, 2 red sockets, 1 yellow socket, 4 blue sockets. (Socket bonuses total: 28 Spellpower, 4 Haste)
- Net effect of upgrading all 5 pieces: +46 Stam, +41 Int, +39 mp5, +203 Armor, -45 Crit, +46 Haste, +72 Spellpower, plus a change in gemming (if you socket for color).
It’s interesting to note that both armor sets nearly double their mp5 at the expense of Crit, and that the socket colors are an attempt to push people to socket more mp5 gems. I’ve never been more thankful to be a jewelcrafter, with my prismatic gems.
And the set bonus:
- Paladin T8 Holy 2P Bonus — Your Holy Shock critical heals now also place a periodic healing effect on the target, healing for 15% of the Holy Shock’s heal amount over 9 sec.
- Paladin T8 Holy 4P Bonus — Increases the damage absorbed by your Sacred Shield by 10%.
The 2P bonus sounds nice, but at 2k spellpower a crit Holy Shock lands for an average of ~6200, which means the HoT component only does 930 healing over a further 9 seconds, which is virtually insignificant.
The 4P bonus again sounds nice; at 2k spellpower your Sacred Shield will absorb 2200 damage instead of 2000 damage. (Sacred Shield absorbs 500 + 0.75*Spellpower.) Given that each Sacred Shield iteration will absorb that much, and it’ll trigger up to five times for one cast of the spell, this means you’re potentially gaining about 1000 damage absorption.
However, to be honest, both of these feel pretty underwhelming next to the Tier 7 set bonuses: 2pT7 is +10% crit to Holy Shock, 4pT7 is -5% cost to Holy Light. Unless I’m missing something, the T8 bonuses just aren’t in the same league.
And there’s a relic:
- Paladin T8 Holy Relic — Increases spell power of Holy Light by 160.
This is available for 25 Emblems of Valor, on the EoV quartermaster in Dalaran. However, I don’t think it’s superior to the Libram of Renewalfor 40 Emblems of Heroism – especially not given that Ulduar is meant to be a more mana-stringent raid. Still, if you’ve got spare EoVs lying around, it could well be useful for fast-furious-spam-frenzy fights where mana conservation isn’t an issue.
Wow. Looks like the only significant upgrades you get from 25-man t7 to 25-man t8 are the int and spellpower… and even so, 72 spellpower seems pretty small when you consider it’s spread out over 5 pieces of armor. With the crummy set bonuses as compared to t7, I’m not sure it’s going to be worth upgrading – especially if Ulduar is as mana intensive as it’s supposed to be. I can’t see that 39 mp5 being as much of a boon to my mana pool as the t7 4 piece.
Loss of crit, focus on mp5 and spellpower, creating fights that try to force us to use our most mana efficiant spells… I keep feeling like Blizzard is trying to push us back into being FoL spambots, without understanding that they’ve made a game where that playstyle doesn’t work anymore, and hasn’t since they released t6 content.
I’m not all that impressed either. I gem and gear for crit so now I’m not sure what I’ll do, move everything over to mana regen ?
ROFL
a dress? are kidding!
i can see a cloth dress, a leather dress and even a mail dress, but a plate dress??
guess i know which piece i WON’T be using for the 2 and 4 piece set bonus
ROFL
First let me thank you for the comparison.
Having said that…. These are terrible.
The stat itemization is awful. The set bonus is useless compared to the current 7.x gear. The only way that I could possible consider upgrading my set pieces is if they nerf the current set pieces and bonuses. (wouldn’t put it past them).
Other than that I am looking forward to the non-set plate from hard mode as my upgrades.
Thank you for this really good analysis.
The move from +crit to +haste and from red&yellow gems to blue gems is something that makes me a sad holy pally. This will hurt our mana regen, and the new libram is just another one that nobody will ever get (as was the one from Nax).
I feel that a lot of holy paladins will stick to T7, or take at most 2 pieces of T8, not more to have very strong Holy Shocks with the reduced cd glyph.
The set bonuses are ultra disappointing.. Why do I have to choose between stats and set bonus when I pick up new gear in Ulduar? I will most likely focus on getting a new helm and upgrading peripherals like rings, cloaks, weapon, shield first than taking a set token….
Bad enough that Blizzard is shoving mp5 itemization down our throats but bad set bonuses too? Welcome to TBC, part 2 =(
Not sure what’s up with the set bonuses, maybe they’re just not finished yet. The resto shaman bonuses are rather meh as well, especially compared to what I have on my current set of T7 gear (2 items for 10% stronger water shield, 4 items for 5% increased healing on CH and HW). I even have two T6 items gemmed and enchanted in case the mana cost reduction bonus to CH becomes viable with all the mana changes.
The resto druid bonuses on the other hand look rather nice, and some of the other DPS and tank set bonuses are quite good at first glance. Weird.
Kilt is nice though, I always wanted one when I raided with my paladin :) Although I’m not sure what’s up with the top. A bare belly for a plate wearer? It’s like a designer at Blizzard went something like “Let’s make it a belly dancer outfit for paladins! With candles on the shoulders!” ;-)
@Battleangel – Haven’t you ever seen paladin Tier 2? One of the most popular armor sets ever, looks-wise, and it’s got a plate skirt :)
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I think the plate skirt actually looks better than the pants for this set, but the naked midriff is ridiculous. What are we, mages?
Siha – that’s what tabards are for. And some of us might be used to it by now… I’ve been looking at belf belly button for months, since the non-set chests from 10 man and 25 man content are so much better than t7.
And let’s not give naked midriffs to mages, please – all the mages I raid with are undead males. :-P
The itemization in Ulduar is starting to frustrate me. Most of the gear in there is spellpower/crit/mp5, or spellpower/mp5/haste. I like my spellpower/crit/haste. If I want crit, I have to drop a ton of haste, if I want haste, I have to drop a ton of crit. It seems like they’re trying to force MP5 on us even if we don’t want it. That said, I plan on picking up the shoulders and the helm, maybe the chest but the gloves and pants can go to hell.
I Agree with you completely, the set bonus’ are a step back. However, if you spec into ret for a crit build (Which I do) you are going to gain a passive 3% crit with the new talents. While I do not like the idea of ‘upgrading’ from T7 to T8 and losing crit, overall my crit rate should improve with 3.1
and yea, that relic sucks.
The reference to the head looking like Thomas the Tank Engine made me chuckle. I think the look is quite nice. At least you don’t play mage atm… Thinking about still wearing my t7.5 robe so that I don’t have to wear pants…
Samownall – World of Warcraft Blogger
@Boot – where does this passive 3% crit come from? (Unless you’re talking about Sanctified Seals/Sanctity of Battle – but 51/0/18 +2 is the most popular build already; only paladins who’d specced into Prot for Kings but who aren’t going to take Divinity will be getting any extra crit.)
I think the team coming up with the 4 piece bonus wasn’t communicating with the team nerfing sacred shield…
I just hope the non-tier sp/crit/haste gear will be good enough to justify breaking Tier 7.5
I suggest the 4p set bonus be changed to triple (or double) Mp5 contribution from gear. Short of that, it will be really hard to convince the holy paladin community to move to MP5.
Not to sure what you are trying to say..I mean is it or is it not.
Anyhow I know I am rambling but try to see it from someone reading it the first time without thinking about it first.
_____________
Austin
[siha edit: removed gold seller link]
Just by looking at the pictures without reading, I thought the dress looks quite nice. It’s nice considering how fashion in wotlk sucks. Then I realized it’s paladin set. It’s made of plate – plate skirt is weird.
Nice midriff. /wolfwhistle
and no one has mentioned that for anyone with a lady toon this set puts giant headlights on the boobs???
also the hat is silly. lots of hats seem like they might hinder your toon’s vision but this is the first that seems to actually make it impossible for your toon to breathe or speak. hm.
and as for the skirt issue, it looks great on most paladins but mine is a belf man and if anyone has raided with belf men casters, the skirt cuts off right around the ankles which looks ridiculous. mages in pants and pallies in skirts. qq ;_;
i have no opinions on the stats. all i care about is how it looks ;)
Does the new change(see below) make a big difference then the 10% increase.
Paladin T8 Holy 4P Bonus (Class: Paladin) — Your Sacred Shield can now trigger its effect every 4 sec instead of every 6. (Old – Increases the damage absorbed by your Sacred Shield by 10%.)
Whish somebody would make an analysis of prot. Tier 8
anyway be happy that this only is tier 8.
so u got plenty of time to whine to Blizzard before Tier 9!
(siha pls tell me if u edit something)