You Lost Me At It Costs Emblems

In episode 22 of the Hunting Party Podcast we answered an e-mail from a listener asking  if they should save their emblems to buy four pieces of T10 or get the Herkuml War Token. The answer we gave was to acquire the four pieces of T10, and every other badge piece first.

Prior to patch 3.3's release we took a good hard look at all of the gear that was coming out, and what would reasonably be available to us based on the content we'd be running.

We gave the Herkuml War Token a lot of consideration and even took one out for a test drive recently (you can buy one and return it).

The gating issue for us was not its performance, but that we were running ICC (10) and ICC (25) and likely to get Whispering Fanged Skull and Deathbringer's Will (both superior items). The trinket also costs emblems, and the list of badge gear that we prioritized above this trinket was quite extensive. Let's take a look,

1. Ahn'Kahar Blood Hunter's Spaulders (purchased)
2. Ahn'Kahar Blood Hunter's Tunic (purchased)
3. Recovered Scarlet Onslaught Cape (purchased)
4. Logsplitters (purchased)
5. Primordial Saronite for a pair of Rock-Steady Treads (we bought three with badges and a couple from the AH).
6. Ahn'Kahar Blood Hunter's Headpiece (purchased)
7. Ahn'Kahar Blood Hunter's Handguards (not purchased and will only buy if Toravon refuses to cooperate).
8. Band of the Night Raven (not purchased, and may not get).
9. Herkuml War Token (not purchased and no longer needed).

The first three items and the boots are ones that we may very well be taking into Cataclysm. The Logsplitters and Band of the Night Raven will be replaced once we have four pieces of 264 T10, and that may take a while.

Now in the course of gathering our badges we killed Lady Deathwhisper ten times and she dropped Whispering Fanged Skull twice. We killed Deathbringer Saurfang nine times he dropped Deathbringer's Will five times.

Had we purchased a Herkuml War Token it would now be replaced and we'd be sixty badges behind where we want to be. So while the math may show that the Herkuml War Token is surprisingly good, for us, as a gear choice, it was surprisingly bad.

If you're running ICC 10/25 then we recommend patience as these trinkets do drop. If you're not running ICC, that probably means you're running heroics in which case the fights are too short, and badges are in such short supply that it doesn't justify getting it either.

Bottom line, think long and hard about this trinket, and try before you buy.

ICC Preview: Deathbringer Saurfang

This is real simple, if you don’t want to know squadoosh about the Icecrown Citadel raid then don’t bother reading this article.  My definition of a spoiler, however, is going into a raid encounter not knowing what to do, so I’ve been doing a little homework on the first four bosses that will be available when patch 3.3 is released.

Today’s article is about Deathbringer Saurfang, the fourth boss you’ll face.

There wasn't a whole lot of testing done on this encounter, so any strategies are very preliminary at this point.  The video floating around is of a failed attempt.  That being said, it looks like Hunters may play an important role in this encounter.

During the encounter some very dangerous adds will constantly spawn and it looks like they'll need to be handled by ranged dps.  Frost traps, Distracting Shot, and kiting might all come into play here.  The goal is not only to kill the adds, but to make sure nobody gets hit by them. There are a ton of things that can happen that will heal the boss in this encounter.

This fight may end up being a lot like the Gluth encounter in Naxxramas.  It could be very easy or extremely hard.  In Gluth, if the back of the room couldn't control the Zombie Chow then you'd fail miserably.  If they could then it was a very easy fight.  I suspect that the Deathbringer Saurfang encounter will have a similar feel to it.

Resources

• Wow.com article
• Tank Spot Pre-guide

My Thought for Hunters

• Hunters will play a very big role in this fight.  This may be our moment to shine outside of the meters.
• We'll have to constantly lay down our frost traps to keep the adds slowed.
• We'll need to dps and kite the adds.
• We may need to keep distracting shot at the ready to peel off adds from other players.
• Two hunters may be needed, and those hunters may have to coordinate with each other during the encounter.
• If there's one fight I'd choose to study it's this one.

Loot

Things a hunter might want.

Item	iLevel	Item Type	Slot	Source
Hauberk of a Thousand Cuts	251	Mail	Chest	10-man
Saurfang's Cold-Forged Band	251	Miscellaneous	Finger	10-man
Bloodvenom Blade	264	Sword	One-Hand	25-man
Deathbringer's Will	264	Miscellaneous	Trinket	25-man