Valor Point Purchase Planning

[swelt]

I thought it'd be worth doing a fairly generic overview of the Valor options as a starting point. Naturally, everyone's priorities will be slightly different depending on the favors of the loot gods. I'll order by lowest cost first and add comments relevant for strength based tanks. You can see the full list of valor purchases on wowhead by looking at the vendor.

Ranged/Relic slot. 700 points. Upgradeable. BOP
There will be no other way to get an item in this slot. For paladins/DKs/druids who were clearing T11 heroic modes, this is likely to be the biggest raw ilvl slot choice as well, as there were no T11 heroic relics. Warriors are in a similar position, with agi bows losing a some of their appeal. It will be possible to upgrade to a heroic version with a crystal. (Deflecting star was BOE for a week, but subsequently hotfixed).

Necks. 1250 points. Not Upgradeable. BOP
Strength tanks have other options here. There's a very easily obtainable neck from the molten front dailies - http://www.wowhead.com/item=70107 and the BOE trash drop http://www.wowhead.com/item=70929 which IS upgradeable to heroic where is will become best in slot. It's a bit of a shame, as the valor reward is nicely itemised - probably beating all the alternatives until the upgrade - if it becomes upgradeable later it would be very good.

Wrists. 1250 point. Not Upgradeable. BOE
Since these are BOE, chances are that most serious raiders will get these from an alt or buy them on the open market rather than waste early valor points on them. Plate tanks will probably prefer the drop from Staghelm (parry/mastery), but these are decent enough to use in the mean time (or to keep for pure avoidance gearsets) given how easy they should be to pick up.

Rings. 1250 points. Not Upgradeable. BOP
There are 3 rings available in this tier - the faction ring at exalted, the BOE trash drop named after Theck and this ring. Of the 3, this has the nicest itemisation for a shield tank, but given the lack of an upgrade might get replaced in the long run.

Tier Gloves 1650. Upgradeable. BOP
Tier Chest / Legs 2200. Upgradeable. BOP

As with recent tiers, the legs/chest/gloves are purchased through valor points. We can expect that gloves and legs will also drop from the new Baradin Hold boss Occu'thar. We will also be able to upgrade them to heroic versions, and just as with tier 11, you will need both the original version and the upgrade token. Upgrade tokens: Crown dropped by Ragnaros, Shoulders dropped by Majordomo Staghelm, Chest dropped by Alysrazor, Gauntlets dropped by Baleroc, Leggings dropped by Shannox. (src http://www.icy-veins.com/ )

Personally, I normally think going for Tier items first makes sense, except if there is a slot that you got unlucky with in the previous tier, or where the new option is simply awesome. This time around, I observe the following:
- T11 heroic to T12 normal step up is fairly small. If you have to choose, probably smart to prioritise your T11 normal gear slots. This might mean grabbing relic slots early?
- Exploit the BOEs. The BOE bracers can give you a decent upgrade if you don't get lucky with the drops. The BOE thrown for Warriors is a great bonus (no idea why they did this just for warriors)
- Consider your sets. Do you care about your set bonuses? They don't look game changing. How long do you give yourself to 'get lucky' with Baradin Hold? Which non-set item will you get? How long til you start on heroic bosses and which first?

[swelt]

Valor points income.
Very easy to get a weekly cap of 980 points, even if it means getting really sick of the sight of trolls. I knocked up a simple spreadsheet that lets you work out a plan. What you can see is that it's Week 7 before you could have all 3 tier pieces (assuming you want all 3, you may not) and that provided you cap points each week, you'll have 700 spare points (enough for a relic) in week 7 as well. If you want to prioritise getting the 2 piece bonus, you would be best to wait on the relic purchase and go chest -> gloves -> relic. If not, it doesn't make a big difference if you buy it straight away (2 piece in week 5 instead of 4)

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spre...I2dHc&hl=en_US

The first tab is locked, you should be able to edit the 2nd. Add values to the 'spent' column, leave the other columns alone. (Can't seem to lock down specific columns in google docs, unless I'm missing something?)

[Halandir]

Yea you can't use "data validation" in google docs. Or excel web app either for that matter.

[theodisius]

For pallies at least, the 2pc bonus is for threat. It's a lot of threat, but I not convinced that threat is a priority.

For me, the ring is a bigger upgrade per valor point than T11=>T12 so I might get that first (wearing the Therazane mastery/expertise ring currently).

[Fetzie]

Normal and Heroic versions of Deflecting Star now correctly bind when picked up.

Hotfix that went in last night.

[klausi]

Thrown: To late, already got mine with a twink ASAP Wouldn't bother with it until you got everything else you want/need, the upgrade from the gun is only ~ 30 stamina + 50 defensive ratings (assuming you won't waste heroic upgrade tokens on your ranged slot anytime soon).

Tier Tokens: Even while hands/pants are awesome itemised i'd delay them for another 2-3 weeks (unless you pick up a heroic token from eg Shannox anytime soon) and go for the pvp boss on 25 man, hoping for some RNG in your favor. Chest is awesome and almost on par with Beth'tilac (even while favoring mastery rating heavily).

Neck: There's a neat 365 exp/mastery piece for one day worth of dailies, i'd replace it with the boe (It's the only one you can upgrade).

Finger: It's pretty well itemised (only slightly behind both 391 rings) and if you don't have two 372+ rings yet it's a good investment after purchasing tier tokens.

[Sarris]

I recently got a 4-piece T11, and I didn't think I would like it as much as I do. So I was thinking of grabbing the offset items first, like the ring and ranged, though the ranged isn't too exciting at all.

Any advice for me?

[klausi]

If a 12 seconds shieldwall couldn't save you in the first place a 18 seconds shieldwall might not help as well. But you can run the new Tol'Barad boss every week for a chance on pants/gloves (try forming a 25m raid to increase your odds!) and start replacing the items you really don't like at all. If you don't raid a lot getting loot from anything behind Shannox/Beth'tilac might be no real option for you. They drop a neat chest and ok'ish pants.

[Sarris]

If a 12 seconds shieldwall couldn't save you in the first place a 18 seconds shieldwall might not help as well

Ha! Good point, though it has come in handy in ZA/ZG lately I'll probably get the chest, and then the other off set items and hope BH is kind to me, even though I rarely see a pve item from there.

[Fetzie]

I'm going for

Ring (done)
Relic (done)
Chest (need another 1220 VP)
Gloves
Legs
Neck I bought the FL trash one for 10k so I can upgrade it to 391
Wrists I looted the staghelm ones.

I still had two 359 rings (isn't loot RNG evil?), so that and the relic were the biggest stat point upgrades I could get, all the other items are only 6 ilvl higher. I reckoned a 19 ilvl boost on two slots (so a total of 38) is better than a 6 ilvl boost on one slot.

The tier slots may change priority depending on how fast we kill Raggi and Shannox heroic (hope raggi dies on monday then Shannox on Weds) and depending on which tier item Shannox drops (i think it is the legs).

[veksen]

The Valor ring stays BiS, it's slightly superior to Heroic Theck's Emberseal.
The thrown/relics are such minor upgrades they're not worth it over tier pieces.

And, I understand not everyone has the chance to rock 4p t11 372, but it's a downgrade on most fights to break the 4p. The next upgrade is 4p t12 378.

So, to me, best upgrade route? Save Valor points, hope for luck in BH (we run split 2 alt/main groups to maximize chances), go for 4p, then ring, then thrown.

[Fetzie]

4P T11 is great for when you need the full duration, but on which fights do you need the 6 extra seconds of shield wall cooldown?

Beth'tilak hasn't got 18 seconds of hitting you until the widow's kiss comes up (which doesn't deal any damage)
Shannox - riplimb tank has about 6 seconds of dog contact until the next spear is thrown. MT could find it useful sub 30%
Rhyolith has hardly any tank damage anyway, the main danger is the raid dying to a stomp, which can be eliminated by handling of volcanos.
Alysrazor's ground phase lasts about 13 seconds, before and after which you take zero damage for 10 - 20 seconds
Baleroc does 90% health with DecBlade regardless of cooldowns, inferno blade lasts 15 seconds so could be useful there.
The only really dangerous point at Majordomo is when he transitions from cat to scorpion and you still have 1-2 spirits up, but that doesn't last 12 seconds, let alone 18.
Ragnaros P2 and P3 tanking is where a CD would be likely used, although most of the time the last 6 seconds of the 18 would be "wasted" on the DoT damage.
From the PoV of a paladin tank of course, your experience may vary.

Don't overestimate the 4p_T11, it isn't always as awesome as it might look at first sight.

[veksen]

4P T11 is great for when you need the full duration, but on which fights do you need the 6 extra seconds of shield wall cooldown?

Beth'tilak hasn't got 18 seconds of hitting you until the widow's kiss comes up (which doesn't deal any damage)
Shannox - riplimb tank has about 6 seconds of dog contact until the next spear is thrown. MT could find it useful sub 30%
Rhyolith has hardly any tank damage anyway, the main danger is the raid dying to a stomp, which can be eliminated by handling of volcanos.
Alysrazor's ground phase lasts about 13 seconds, before and after which you take zero damage for 10 - 20 seconds
Baleroc does 90% health with DecBlade regardless of cooldowns, inferno blade lasts 15 seconds so could be useful there.
The only really dangerous point at Majordomo is when he transitions from cat to scorpion and you still have 1-2 spirits up, but that doesn't last 12 seconds, let alone 18.
Ragnaros P2 and P3 tanking is where a CD would be likely used, although most of the time the last 6 seconds of the 18 would be "wasted" on the DoT damage.
From the PoV of a paladin tank of course, your experience may vary.

Don't overestimate the 4p_T11, it isn't always as awesome as it might look at first sight.

I agree for some of those, but it's more than this. First of all, a longer duration lets you pre-SW without wasting too much of it. You want it for Heroic Beth'tilac. 2 of the 3 transitions as I'm going up the web, I Shield Wall before getting to the boss, wasting maybe 1-2 seconds, but it's there for quite some time and smooths the damage. No amount of offset 6 ilvl rating increase will outscale a 6 second extra 50% DR that works on bleed and magical. There's more than Alysrazor's ground phase, enraged Hatchlings plus a tick or two from the Lava Spew, etc. Then Heroic Rhyolith has some pretty insane tank damage, a 18 second SW is wanted here, magic damage on top of that, plus in the phase 2 burn, as the whole raid is getting destroyed, you want it there too.

I'm not overestimating the 4p t11, but we shouldn't be overestimating the 2p t12 when threat is a non-issue, and a 6 ilvl stat upgrade if you talk about offpieces. To me, the 4p t11 is more valuable.

[swelt]

I see your point, but I wonder how unlucky you'd have to be with drops for your valor purchases to be the only reason you are considering breaking your set bonus. If you had 4pc T11hc then you were killing heroic nef and/or chogall and that probably means you weren't struggling too much with normal mode T12 either. At that point, you are unlocking ragnaros and heroic t12 drops which are going to start being worthwhile upgrades. Even if you are just working on normal modes as I am, it's still very easy to get material upgrades.

Anyway, probably as always the answer is "have multiple sets". I still maintain a "T11 4pc" set in my item rack, I also have a 'threat' set for trash which has 2xT11 an 2xT12 bonuses, and a mastery heavy set and a normal set...

[klausi]

There's more than Alysrazor's ground phase, enraged Hatchlings plus a tick or two from the Lava Spew, etc.

On Alysrazor there's almost no damage coming around, even on heroic mode. This fight is only about proper execution and avoiding unneccessary damage (bushfire/meteor/fieroblast/lava spew). Just checking our logs, our 3 healers combined only have to heal for less then 25k hps and my highest damage intake spike is laughable 15k dps. And don't forget: 2 piece t12 makes up for 4% of my total damage done and ticks for about the same damage as rend. Compare that to your deep wounds damage on the same fight which actually (and sadly) isn't increased from the Imprinted debuff.

Then Heroic Rhyolith has some pretty insane tank damage, a 18 second SW is wanted here, magic damage on top of that, plus in the phase 2 burn, as the whole raid is getting destroyed, you want it there too.

When and where? Unless you love standing in Magmaw Flow lines there's nothing to worry about. Pop TB trinket + Shieldblock for Sparks, if things get messy (ie missed an active volcano) a 12s timeframe of -40% damage should be enough to stabilise the situation or your raid will be dead anyways.

I'm not overestimating the 4p t11, but we shouldn't be overestimating the 2p t12 when threat is a non-issue, and a 6 ilvl stat upgrade if you talk about offpieces. To me, the 4p t11 is more valuable.

It's not about the bonus, it's about itemisation. I can't see why you would want to wear up to three worse (pants, shoulders or even helmet) over way better itemised items.

I use 4 piece t11 on heroic baleroc 10m so my two healers can get more sparks at the beginning of the fight. But i'm not really sure if i really want to keep it this way, his regular melee damage is just insane and gearing for avoidance don't work to well for me.