Deathbringer's Goodwill

It was almost the perfect end to a perfect weekend. For the last couple of weeks I've been working on gearing up my alt. hunter; My little blue-headed stepchild as it were.

On Friday I got my Sanctified Ahn'Kahars Blood Hunter's Handguards from VoA (25). This gave me my 2T10 and a nice stop-gap piece until I can get the Logsplitters. On Saturday I cleared one of the tougher hurdles and got my Windrunner's Headpiece of Triumph (the 245's). I already had the 245 legs from VoA. Also on Saturday I got my Ashen Band of Unmatched Vengeance giving me the ring proc.

Then came Sunday and a chance ICC (25) pug put together by some folks in a guild I was once part of. As a matter of fact, I still have some toons parked there.

We killed Deathbringer Saurfang and he drops Deathbringer's Will. I roll, I win and I receive the item. Another major gear hurdle cleared, or so I thought. Shortly after receiving the item, came the "I'll buy it from you tell."

Well long story short, I was on an alt., he was on a main, and while we've never met, we are on a first name basis. On the other hand, his toon is a feral druid and not a hunter. I deliberated for a bit and then I thought back to how poorly I handled a similar situation a few years back (see My Name is Pasquale). So, yeah I gave it to him for free.

Ah well, I probably would've vendored it at some point anyway.


Happy Hunting! Good Deathbringers' Will Hunting :P

Tales of the Galactically Stupid - Vendor Fail

Thank you for playing “Should we or should we not listen to the advice of the galactically stupid!” – A Few Good Men

So, I'm having this dream where I'm in a Seinfeld episode and the following conversation takes place.

Jerry: [discussing the possibility of Elaine moving into Jerry's building] You have no idea what an idiot I am. Elaine just gave me a chance to get out and I didn't take it.

Jerry: [Points to himself] This is an idiot.

George Costanza: Is that right? I just threw away a lifetime of guilt-free sex and floor seats for every sporting event in Madison Square Garden. So please, a little respect. For I am Costanza, Lord of the Idiots.

Darkbrew: OMFG! I just vendored Deathbringer's Will and I cant' get it back!

George Costanza: But suddenly, a new contender has emerged...

And then I wake up and realize that it's not a dream. I have vendored Deathbringer's Will, and I am indeed Lord of the Idiots.

So how exactly does something like this happen? I'm not a theory crafter, although I sometimes pretend to be one. Usually when I do things end badly. I'm kind of like a red belt in Karate. I have all the strength and power of a black belt, but none of the control.

It was early morning and in my pre-coffee state I decided I would do some testing on the Herkuml War Token. There had been some debate floating around the hunter blogs as to just how good or bad this trinket was for hunters. Based on this experience I can safely say that it's just pure evil and cursed, and I shall never go near one again. Ever. Your results may vary of course.

I purchased the trinket, opened my bags, right-clicked to equip and off I went to spend some time with the training dummies, or as I like to call it, family reunion time.

Just as I was wrapping things up, a guildmate of mine asked if I wanted to do a random, and I said yes. I hearthed back to Dalaran, and made my way to Frost vendor to hand in my trinket and reclaim my badges. I had about an hour left on the refund timer.

My guildmate happend to be a tank, which meant insta-queue for our random. I'm standing at the vendor, the enter dungeon box is up, the vendor window is open, and so is my character sheet. Trying to beat the dungeon timer I drag the trinket to my inventory, right-click to sell it back, and then right-click on DBW to equip it, and then click enter dungeon.

In case you didn't know if you have a vendor window open and your character sheet open and right-click on an item, the vendor window wins, and win it did. Now thankfully we have the buyback option from vendors. Unfortunately I didn't realize I had sold the trinket until after the run, and by that time the buyback option was no longer available.

I was mortified. As far as gear goes this is about as good as it gets for hunters, and once I realized it was missing I entered into the five stages of grief.

Denial - First I kept checking my inventory, character sheet and bank in hopes that I could find it there. I logged on and off several times too. Then I checked every vendor in Dalaran hoping that by some miracle of bad code one of them would sell it back to me. Alas, it was gone.

Anger - How could I be so stupid? Did I really need to test drive the Herkuml War Token? So what if other hunters are going to use it; I'm not. How could I be so stupid? Honey, I think you might want to hide the cats.

Bargaining - As I began filling out my GM ticket I started writing things like, If you just give me this one item back, I promise never to do it again. I'll take out the trash the night before. I'll start exercising and eating healthier. I wont stand in anymore void zones. I'll target the blood beasts and other adds. I'll turn off aspect of the pack and turn on Trueshot Aura. I'll put a speed enchant on my boots. I'll flask and eat dragonfin instead of fish feast. The list was endless.

Depression - I just vendored the most awesome trinket ever. To be honest, I think this was probably the first stage I entered.

Acceptance - I have more DKP than anyone else in my guild who needs this trinket. Sorry dude, but you're going to have to wait a little longer because I'm getting the next one that drops.

As it turns out this kind of stuff is rather routine for the GMs. Other than having to wait several hours for a response, the item was returned with a kind note signed - Happy Hunting ;). Me and my precious were happily reunited.

This is the kind of things the people write poems about. And one such person did.

Darkbrew's Folly by Arthemystia

The sun does not shine, though it was once mine
Before I sold Deathbringer’s Will
The streets all seem grey, I lost to a mage in the raid
Because I sold Deathbringer’s Will
The pain, it is wracking, Euripides is cackling
Because I sold Deathbringer’s Will
I had come so far again, I’d be pushing Kripparrian
But alas, I sold Deathbringer’s Will
I should give up, they say, re-roll a DK
Now that I’ve sold Deathbringer’s Will
But cry not for me, it was my own stupidity
That made me sell Deathbringer’s Will

Ah, poetry. Oh and as I'm writing this, I currently have a GM ticket open on my alt. hunter who inadvertently vendored a Njordnar Bone Bow when he meant to vendor a Felglacier Ice Bolter.

All hail the Lord of the Idiots!

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.