Avesther
New Member
Molton Core may well be the easiest of the 40 man raid instances, it may well be easier then the two 20 man raid instances. But, if you walk into MC without the proper gear, you'll make MC harder then necessary. As a matter of fact, you could become a liability to the raid.
In our level and quest grinding trek to level 60, we tend to focus in on only that one thing: 60. Alas, turning 60 does not automatically grant you the right to step into the hardest of game content. From level 55 on, while you grind your way to 60, don't forget to be on the look out for the gear you need to progress at 60.
Why isn't the gear that most people have that gets them to 60 not adequate enough to progress them into MC and beyond? Simple game progression mechanics. Gear that you attain in Zul'Furak, Sunken Temple and Maraudon is designed to assist you in progressing through BRD, BRS, DM, Scholo and Strath. And as you are progressing through the high level 5 man instances, you will be collecting gear that will help you through Molton Core and ZG. The blue and quest gear you get from ZF will not keep you alive against the first pull in Molton Core.
During our grind to 60, we often only have to visit the high level dungeons a few times to complete our quest, rarely do we ever have to go back more then 5 times. But in order to get all of the best gear you need from these instances, you need to go back to them over and over and over again, yes, basically you need to farm them dry. SamuraiJ is knowledgable in the concept of farming, having been on a baron run over 80 times. 80 times is excessive, but it can happen. During a period last summer I myself was logging on getting into a UBRS group, then a Scholo group, then a Baron run all in one night.
This very well means, getting into the dreaded pick up groups. The guild can't run every instance at everybodies whim. There are only so many priests and so many druids and the like. If you can get a few guildies to join you and start a PUG from there, then do so. Yes, PUGs can be and are more often then not, more trouble then they are worth at times. And that is just the way they are going to be. 5 egos all getting stepped on at once. I've been in PUGs that fell apart at Father Flame in UBRS, or fell apart at Jandice in Scholo. Go back to IF or SW, join another, go again. Remember to show Christs love in the group you are in and to keep your eye on the ball: to get geared up for end game content.
Is the difference between green gear and blue gear really big enough to make a difference? There are three answers to that:
Mercuiral Pauldran of the Falcon (lvl 57 green item)
Armor: 249
+14 Agility
+13 Intellect
Item Stat value = 249+14+13=276
Bone Golem Shoulders (lvl 57 blue item)
Armor: 274
+19 Agility
+9 Intellect
+9 Stamina
Item Stat Value = 274+19+9+9=311
Item Stat Value difference = 311-276=35
While it may appear on the surfacde that there isn't much of an upgrade on this one item, you have to keep in mind that most new level 60's don't even have level 57 greens yet as they only drop off level 57 and higher mobs. So the actual one item differnce may be much larger, especially if you still have level 52 greens.
Also remember, you are looking to upgrade all your items. Lets take this one level 57 green to level 57 blue upgrade of 35 points and do the same over 5 items. You'll have 175 points in upgrades. Just upgrading level 57 greens to level 57 blues will increase your survivability, your longevity and up your DPS. Again, most people will be looking at upgrading items that aren't even a level 57 upgrade yet. We could easily push up the point value in upgrades to 350 over 5 pieces going from level 50 to 55 greens to level 57 blues. At this point, the difference is now going from dieing in one shot from a molton giant to lasting 3 or 4 shots so that there is time for a heal to be thrown your way.
And if everybody in the raid has these upgrades, it means going from 2 minutes to kill a firelord to 60 seconds. From taking 10 minutes to do Lucifron to 5 minutes. From taking 3 months to get to Golemagg to 1.5 months. Spending the time to upgrade your greens now means getting your blue to epic upgrades faster down the road, not just for you, but for the whole raid.
Please, for the sake of the progression of the raid, don't use MC to upgrade your level 45 - 55 green gear to level 60 epics. We all want to tweak our toons, the epics will be their. Please make it easier for everybody by spending some time farming for better gear during the week.
Also, on top of farming for better blue gear, also be on the look out for fire resist gear. As we delve deeper into MC, the requirement for fire resist gear goes up. When it comes to FR gear, there are green items that are better then blue items. Finding, keeping and using a green FR rings that has +20 FR on it is very good. Having +200 FR unbuffed, even if its all greens, means you will be taking alot less damage from the mobs that dwell deep in MC. Lets face it, if you are resisting 100% of the fire damage 75% of the time, you'll be alive longer then somebody who has all blues and is resisting 50% of the damage 25% of the time. You will be gaining some FR gear as you progress through MC, but don't rely on MC to get you all the FR you need.
==edit==
I guess in summary what I'm trying to say is: If you are eyeing MC in the near future, please start farming for the gear that will help you survive in MC. Getting most of your item slots filled with level 52 and higher blues is very important. Sure you might have one or two greens when you first walk in, thats fine, so long as all the other gear is sufficient. Use the time between MC runs to upgrade those last few items.
In our level and quest grinding trek to level 60, we tend to focus in on only that one thing: 60. Alas, turning 60 does not automatically grant you the right to step into the hardest of game content. From level 55 on, while you grind your way to 60, don't forget to be on the look out for the gear you need to progress at 60.
Why isn't the gear that most people have that gets them to 60 not adequate enough to progress them into MC and beyond? Simple game progression mechanics. Gear that you attain in Zul'Furak, Sunken Temple and Maraudon is designed to assist you in progressing through BRD, BRS, DM, Scholo and Strath. And as you are progressing through the high level 5 man instances, you will be collecting gear that will help you through Molton Core and ZG. The blue and quest gear you get from ZF will not keep you alive against the first pull in Molton Core.
During our grind to 60, we often only have to visit the high level dungeons a few times to complete our quest, rarely do we ever have to go back more then 5 times. But in order to get all of the best gear you need from these instances, you need to go back to them over and over and over again, yes, basically you need to farm them dry. SamuraiJ is knowledgable in the concept of farming, having been on a baron run over 80 times. 80 times is excessive, but it can happen. During a period last summer I myself was logging on getting into a UBRS group, then a Scholo group, then a Baron run all in one night.
This very well means, getting into the dreaded pick up groups. The guild can't run every instance at everybodies whim. There are only so many priests and so many druids and the like. If you can get a few guildies to join you and start a PUG from there, then do so. Yes, PUGs can be and are more often then not, more trouble then they are worth at times. And that is just the way they are going to be. 5 egos all getting stepped on at once. I've been in PUGs that fell apart at Father Flame in UBRS, or fell apart at Jandice in Scholo. Go back to IF or SW, join another, go again. Remember to show Christs love in the group you are in and to keep your eye on the ball: to get geared up for end game content.
Is the difference between green gear and blue gear really big enough to make a difference? There are three answers to that:
- Yes
- Yes and
- YES
Mercuiral Pauldran of the Falcon (lvl 57 green item)
Armor: 249
+14 Agility
+13 Intellect
Item Stat value = 249+14+13=276
Bone Golem Shoulders (lvl 57 blue item)
Armor: 274
+19 Agility
+9 Intellect
+9 Stamina
Item Stat Value = 274+19+9+9=311
Item Stat Value difference = 311-276=35
While it may appear on the surfacde that there isn't much of an upgrade on this one item, you have to keep in mind that most new level 60's don't even have level 57 greens yet as they only drop off level 57 and higher mobs. So the actual one item differnce may be much larger, especially if you still have level 52 greens.
Also remember, you are looking to upgrade all your items. Lets take this one level 57 green to level 57 blue upgrade of 35 points and do the same over 5 items. You'll have 175 points in upgrades. Just upgrading level 57 greens to level 57 blues will increase your survivability, your longevity and up your DPS. Again, most people will be looking at upgrading items that aren't even a level 57 upgrade yet. We could easily push up the point value in upgrades to 350 over 5 pieces going from level 50 to 55 greens to level 57 blues. At this point, the difference is now going from dieing in one shot from a molton giant to lasting 3 or 4 shots so that there is time for a heal to be thrown your way.
And if everybody in the raid has these upgrades, it means going from 2 minutes to kill a firelord to 60 seconds. From taking 10 minutes to do Lucifron to 5 minutes. From taking 3 months to get to Golemagg to 1.5 months. Spending the time to upgrade your greens now means getting your blue to epic upgrades faster down the road, not just for you, but for the whole raid.
Please, for the sake of the progression of the raid, don't use MC to upgrade your level 45 - 55 green gear to level 60 epics. We all want to tweak our toons, the epics will be their. Please make it easier for everybody by spending some time farming for better gear during the week.
Also, on top of farming for better blue gear, also be on the look out for fire resist gear. As we delve deeper into MC, the requirement for fire resist gear goes up. When it comes to FR gear, there are green items that are better then blue items. Finding, keeping and using a green FR rings that has +20 FR on it is very good. Having +200 FR unbuffed, even if its all greens, means you will be taking alot less damage from the mobs that dwell deep in MC. Lets face it, if you are resisting 100% of the fire damage 75% of the time, you'll be alive longer then somebody who has all blues and is resisting 50% of the damage 25% of the time. You will be gaining some FR gear as you progress through MC, but don't rely on MC to get you all the FR you need.
==edit==
I guess in summary what I'm trying to say is: If you are eyeing MC in the near future, please start farming for the gear that will help you survive in MC. Getting most of your item slots filled with level 52 and higher blues is very important. Sure you might have one or two greens when you first walk in, thats fine, so long as all the other gear is sufficient. Use the time between MC runs to upgrade those last few items.
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