The Weekly Marmot - The Future of Tier Sets

[Eevaa]

Holy Paladin tier sets were actually interesting in Cata. In Tier 11 I didn't bother with the tier pieces on because there was not enough haste on them, and the set bonuses were average. Tier 12 was amazing. And currently in Tier 13 I still use 2 pieces of tier 12 gear for certain fights because of the amount of mana I get back (up to 25% of my mana back in a fight).

I agree it would be nice to feel like there is a choice of bonuses in some ways.

When tier pieces were no longer available through valor points, I thought it would mean they would feel more like an epic reward for raiding. Instead, the fact that you could get the bonuses through LFR made them feel much less epic.

[Jierda117]

My main issue with with set bonuses at the moment is things like the hunter t13 2pc which actually made it so rotation was interesting and not just almost constant cobra shots to gain focus, and losing that in MOP is going to suck. When the bonuses get to a level like this it means that the game actually changes around them, and because of how great this bonus was their is now a huge call to try and get it made baseline in pandaria. I think that the basic number bonuses while boring to a great way to avoiding the problems that can be caused with the hugely powerful bonuses like t13

[Hellfrost]

Off Topic; I really do not want to be disrespectfull because, I love the weekly marmot and PST but I feel like... well Lore is becoming a bit too much of a complainer. Tier sets are boring, heroic fights are boring and super easy, lockouts should work differently. So eeehm sup bro?

On topic; I think some of the set bonusses are really cool, others less cool. The retardin one is a bit boring yes but the Elemental shaman one is bazinga!

[moosaba]

The fact of the tier bonus being simple is nothing new. People seem to overlook with every expansion the new tier was simple bonuses, and ramp up with each patch. Its a way to help boost ppl while they are having to relearn their class again and once ppl r more set in their rotations then they add new tiers with flavor though some r not as good as others, but they all change up how people play their class to some degree. Plus you can bet the next ex-pac after mist, the tier bonuses will be same again, just being a damage bonus. thus the cycle of wow tier gear bonuses.
Have to agree with hellfrost's offtopic! And again whats up bro?

[Bythedar]

Talents never change (for the most part) so they need to be interresting. They are an intrisct part of your character.

Gear, however, is transient. It comes and goes. And if you make the set bonuses too good, then people feel compelled to keep them around too long. And I do not think Blizzard wants to see a Thunderfury type fiasco again. I am OK with flat increases on tier set bonuses.

[Theotherone]

the 4pc bonuses were lame and required to prevent pallies from being the only tank brought. The 4pc bonuses were not interesting in the slightest.

I don't see that really. The DK 4 piece tank bonus basically gave us a Rallying Cry; and the Warrior 4 piece basically gave us a Divine Guardian. The warrior 2 piece gave us a Blood Shield basically; the Pally 2 piece gave us a Blood Shield and the DK 2 piece gave us an increased chance for a Death Strike when health got low.

The bonuses just seemed to homaginze the plate tanks. The only bonus that didn't trade abilities so to speak werethe pally 4 piece and the DK 2 piece.

[Knighterrant81]

I nerded out on Jabberwocky for about 20 minutes instead of watching the show.

Then I came back and watched.

I see where you're going, but I don't think there's much room for super-creative set bonuses. Back in ICC, some classes loved their set bonuses and others hated them - so much they wouldn't wear their 4pc's. I don't think that feels very cool, because I always look forward to to seeing a new bonus. They also try out new mechanics that way, and it is always fun to see a set bonus go full-time.

Shadow's 4pc didn't sound that great this time around, but turned out to be pretty awesome. The healer bonus, for Priests and Druids, anyway, were pretty boring and worthless, and Balance's bonus was outright wimpy.

I think it would be nice if they avoided the 5% crit type bonuses, at least for 4pc bonuses. Shadow's 4pc was a lot of fun, but I miss t12 4pc, and t10 4pc. They should have more bonuses like that that just slightly change your rotation. I like to look forward to new bonuses, even though wearing them isn't really a choice right now, but a requirement. Not having a choice sucks, but so does having wimpy bonuses or no bonuses at all.

[Katarn]

I don't see that really. The DK 4 piece tank bonus basically gave us a Rallying Cry; and the Warrior 4 piece basically gave us a Divine Guardian. The warrior 2 piece gave us a Blood Shield basically; the Pally 2 piece gave us a Blood Shield and the DK 2 piece gave us an increased chance for a Death Strike when health got low.

The bonuses just seemed to homaginze the plate tanks. The only bonus that didn't trade abilities so to speak werethe pally 4 piece and the DK 2 piece.

The fact they went with a raid design that involved a pretty overwhelming amount of raid damage meant they had to give the other tanks raid CDs to prevent Paladins from being the only raid tank. That's pretty boring imo.

[Kagitaar]

I have to ask, why were you reciting Jabberwocky?

[Ion]

I have to ask, why were you reciting Jabberwocky?

Probably was reminded of it by the bad lip syncing song he was quoting in his "hidden frame" message.

[tala77]

As a Discipline priest, I am currently progressed 6/8 Heroic DS (4/8H pre-20% nerf) and I am still wearing my Firelands tier. Each piece is heroic. The 4piece bonus (extra healing, smart-heal too I might add) was too good to pass up for the 'new' tier. It was simply a question of breaking this awesome 4piece for whopping 6 ilvl upgrade, maybe a few extra socket spots. No thanks. I think that the Tier 13 bonuses (for healing priests) are powerful, but they don't exactly fit into my playstyle. I don't think I will upgrade out of heroic tier 12 until I can get the heroic versions of tier 13. I'm the 346th geared priest on my server but I am right up there in content cleared. I don't know what it proves, but it doesn't say much for fancy pants tier bonuses.

I also think that across the board, Blizzard has made some sets very similar. A while back, they made healers very similar, with a fast, expensive heal; a big, slow, powerful heal; and an average low cost heal. Now, it seems like the set bonuses are "use a cooldown and you can save some mana, except it will only be effective if you cast lots of spells." So, if I don't cast all these spells, is this tier bonus wasted? Seems very boring and forces a player into a certain corner. I prefer to innervate myself and just let the regen come, not use 10 rejuvs in the next 15 seconds.

I think tier bonuses should be interesting and unique on a class-by-class basis, and should be more powerful with each upcoming tier. I feel as though when I raid and bypass 'upgrades' because I know that the piece will not be as useful or powerful as the prior tier.