Ailis in Hunterland

It would appear Patch 3.2 will drop very soon as final testing for the Coliseum is underway/finished and Blizzard is focusing more on minor bug fixes than any more class changes or item implementation.  The loot tables are still being finalized and I’m busy scouring them for possible upgrades and to see where Blizzard is taking my class in terms of stat focus and overall gear itemization.  I’m hoping to complete my gear wish list soon, but, for now, let’s focus on the Tier 9 set.

For ease of comparison, we’ll be looking at the Totally Triumphant set, which will be the highest iLevel set you can attain (258).  Keep in mind, there are two other sets that are slightly lower than this one.  However, Blizzard has tried to drive home the concept of raiding progression paths so Ulduar 25 should easily transition into Coliseum 25 with minor hiccups.

First thing’s first.  Here is the new Tier 9 set for the Alliance.  I’m going to focus on the alliance because that’s what I play but, as for me, I’m glad we have a skirt instead of pants as the Horde do.  Clicky for larger version.

Shaman T9 Enhancement 2P Bonus - Adds an additional 3% chance to trigger your Static Shock talent.
Shaman T9 Enhancement 4P Bonus - Increases the damage done by your Earth Shock, Flame Shock, and Frost Shock spells by 25%.

For comparison, here is the Tier 8 (25 man) set and bonuses (again, clicky for larger, readable version):

Shaman T8 Enhancement 2P Bonus – Increases the damage done by Lava Lash and Stormstrike by 20%.
Shaman T8 Enhancement 4P Bonus – Increases the frequency of Maelstrom Weapon being triggered by your melee weapon attacks by 20%.

Bonuses

For me, I’m still not completely convinced that the bonuses are better than the current Tier 8.  The current 2 piece bonus is just sick as SS is our constant damage dealer, how we regen mana, and enables us to do far more damage overall.  That versus a minor additional percentage for Static Shock doesn’t seem like an “upgrade” at all.  Maybe a sidegrade.

I could see, however, how the four piece bonus would be slightly more desireable.  In PvE, we only ever use Earth Shock so that damage compared to the instant cast damage of Lightning Bolt when MW stacks to 5 is a little more appealing.

Most people will probably have the 2 piece bonus from both for a little while, which means you’re giving up the MW stack percentage for Static Shock percentage.  If you’ve glyphed into Lightning Shields and have taken Improved Shields, this could be a beneficial combo of bonuses.

Design

Personally, I think the Alliance Tier 9 Shaman set looks like a jelly bean factory exploded onto Shredder’s costume.  How can I be expected to be taken seriously as a bringer of pain in such a colorful regalia?

What I like most about the current design is that, in the transition period between Tier 7.5 to 8.5, you don’t look like a complete goofball.  The coloring is similar and everything looks relatively alright together (not perfect but bearable).  The transition from Tier 8 to Tier 9 is just going to be, well, goofy.  Red and fiery mixed with crazy pastels.

Stats

Other than the poor design elements and the somewhat questionable set bonuses, the stats on the new Tier set are pretty solid as you can see in this comparison.  It is quite stat gain in just about every category.  I’m not overly thrilled that I’m losing a red socket and two yellow sockets for three more (somewhat useless) blue sockets, but it’s manageable.

We will be losing 6 expertise overall from set to set, which comes out to roughly .73 point (every 8.2 Expertise Rating = 1 Expertise), so nothing to be alarmed about.  Keep in mind, though, that the expertise in the Tier 9 set is only found on the gloves; whereas, the current expertise on Tier 8 is split between the gloves and shoulders.  Try to be mindful of that as you upgrade.

The interesting one is the huge reduction in overall Haste – 115 points.  Is this Blizzard’s attempt at making Haste a lesser stat for Enhancement Shamans?  Or will we see more haste on non-tier items?  Haste, right now, seems to be a personal taste stat.  I’ve seen some people gem out every available slot with Haste; I’ve seen some people avoid it like the plague and go for straight AP and/or Crit.

As the loot tables are finalized for the live servers, I’ll be taking a look at non-tier items to see how the overall itemization is proceeding, particularly in terms of this Haste reduction.  As for right now, I’m going to keep after my final pieces of my Tier 8 and a few more Runed Orbs to get some boots made.