by Its_Immanis - 9 years ago     show comments

With the opening of the first wing of LFR for Blackrock Foundry, members of the community have noticed some interesting items dropping from the Blast Furnace encounter.

Previously, all difficulty levels of raids (LFR, Normal, Heroic, and Mythic) dropped the same armor sets but with varying stats and colorations, based on the difficulty level they were obtained in. This included tier set armor for Tiers 13-16 during Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria.

With the launch of Tier 17, Blizzard is shifting their philosophy. Moving forward, the class-specific tier armor sets will only have 3 sets available; one set will be available for each non-LFR difficulty level, with each set being visually different depending on the difficulty is was obtained from. As an example, in the Tier 17 Paladin armor sets below, the first set on the far left is for Mythic difficulty. This set has a slightly different look than the Normal and Heroic sets to the right of it.

T17 Paladin Armor

Since traditional class-specific sets of armor no longer drop from LFR, Blizzard has implemented armor-type tier sets with unique art in their place which can only be obtained from LFR. Pieces from these armor sets are 5 item levels higher than other gear which drops in this difficulty (655 rather than 650 for Blackrock Foundry).

Cloth-wearers will receive pieces from the Ebonflame Raiment set (Head, Shoulders, Chest, Gloves, Pants, Boots).

Leather-wearing classes will receive Sootfur Garb (Head, Shoulders, Chest, Gloves, Pants, Boots).

Mail-wearers will receive Ashlink Armor (Head, Shoulders, Chest, Gloves, Pants, Boots).

Plate-wearing classes will receive Blacksteel Battleplate (Head, Shoulders, Chest, Gloves, Pants, Boots).

Along with having a different set of armor, each player will receive a set bonus specific to their current spec/role (Tank, Healer or DPS) while wearing two or four pieces of their armor set.

Those set bonuses are:

• Cloth Armor
  • LFR T17 Cloth DPS 2P Bonus: Intellect increased by 100.
  • LFR T17 Cloth DPS 4P Bonus: Your damaging spell casts have a 10% chance to cause a Shadow eruption under your target.
  • LFR T17 Cloth Healer 2P Bonus: Spirit increased by 125.
  • LFR T17 Cloth Healer 4P Bonus: Casting a healing spell has a 5% chance to cast Wave of Light.
• Leather Armor
  • LFR T17 Leather Melee DPS 2P Bonus: Agility increased by 100.
  • LFR T17 Leather Melee DPS 4P Bonus: Your special attacks have a chance to increase your Energy regeneration rate by 30% for 6 sec. (Approximately 1.00 procs per minute)
  • LFR T17 Leather Caster DPS 2P Bonus: Intellect increased by 100.
  • LFR T17 Leather Caster DPS 4P Bonus: Your direct damage spells have a chance to imbue you with Nature’s Fury for 10 sec. (Approximately 1.00 procs per minute)
  • LFR T17 Leather Healer 2P Bonus: Spirit increased by 125.
  • LFR T17 Leather Healer 4P Bonus: Your healing spells have a 10% chance to drop a Chi Sphere at the target’s location, healing all allies within 8 yards for 1 after 4 sec.
  • LFR T17 Leather Tank 2P Bonus: Bonus Armor increased by 125.
  • LFR T17 Leather Tank 4P Bonus: You have a chance when being hit to increase your dodge chance by 10% for 6 sec. (Approximately 0.85 procs per minute)
• Mail Armor
  • LFR T17 Mail Agility 2P Bonus: Agility increased by 100.
  • LFR T17 Mail Agility 4P Bonus: Your special attacks have a 10% chance to impale the target with metal spikes, dealing 1 Physical damage.
  • LFR T17 Mail Caster 2P Bonus: Intellect increased by 100.
  • LFR T17 Mail Caster 4P Bonus: Your damaging spells have a 10% chance to summon an electric orb at the target’s location for 8 sec, causing 1 Nature damage to all enemies within 6 yards every 2 sec.
  • LFR T17 Mail Healer 2P Bonus: Spirit increased by 125.
  • LFR T17 Mail Healer 4P Bonus: Your healing spells have a 10% chance to reduce the cooldown of all of your spells by 2.0 sec.
• Plate Armor
  • LFR T17 Plate Melee 2P Bonus: Strength increased by 100.
  • LFR T17 Plate Melee 4P Bonus: Your attacks have a chance to increase your damage dealt by 12% for 12 sec. (Approximately 1.00 procs per minute)
  • LFR T17 Plate Tank 2P Bonus: Bonus Armor increased by 125.
  • LFR T17 Plate Tank 4P Bonus: You have a chance when taking damage to reduce all damage taken by 12% for 6 sec. (Approximately 0.85 procs per minute)
  • LFR T17 Plate Healer 2P Bonus: Spirit increased by 125.
  • LFR T17 Plate Healer 4P Bonus: Your healing spells have a 10% chance to unleash a Ray of Light at an injured ally.

Each armor piece can be obtained from the bosses listed below.

• Legs: Blast Furnace (available right now)
• Chest: Flamebender Ka’graz (opens February 24th)
• Boots: Kromog (opens February 24th)
• Shoulder: Operator Thogar (opens March 10th)
• Gloves: Iron Maidens (opens March 10th)
• Helm: Blackhand (opens March 24th)

The LFR-specific sets are a solid reward for people who aren’t able to raid in higher difficulties, while also providing an incentive for Normal/Heroic/Mythic raiders to show up in order to get a unique appearance. And for players who are making the transition from LFR to Normals, the set bonuses will be a leg-up. Perhaps most importantly, having the class-specific sets locked to Normal+ difficulties provides an additional incentive for players to try and make that transition, whether by applying to a regular guild or looking for pick-up groups using the Group Finder board.