Raiding! Gear Enhancements

So far, we’ve covered the basics, and went over the topic of gear pretty heavily. What happens though if you get the best gear you can, but still need/want more? For this post, we’ll talk about improving your existing gear through enhancements.

(NOTE: these posts typically have links in them that go to other websites that delve into deeper detail than I will, in case you’re curious to learn about the nitty-gritty.)

What Is An Augment?
Augments are kind of like enchants that don’t have to be applied by an enchanter. Actually, unlike enchantments, these are items that can be found on the auction house and can be traded. In addition, augments can be made by blacksmiths, leather workers, and tailors. Just like enchants though, augments do not stack with each other. (And won’t stack with enchantments either.) What kind of augments are there to choose from? (Primarily looking at TBC items here…)

  • Armor Kit: Augments that typically add armor or various other stats to various armor. Made by leatherworkers.
  • Glyphs: Special, purchasable kinds of enchantments that apply to head armor. The are purchasable for 100 gold through many different factions.
  • Inscriptions: A special kind of purchasable enchantments bought through Aldor and Scryer that give a wide-range of benefits to all classes.
  • Poisons: Used only by rogues to cause instant damage, damage over time, reduce movement speed and/or casting speed.
  • Scopes: Applied to bows, crossbows and guns to boost damage, critical strike rating or ranged hit rating. Made by engineers.
  • Sharpening Stones: Increases weapon damage and increases critical strike chance, made by blacksmiths.
  • Shield Spikes: Adds a spike to a shield that deals damage every time a hit is blocked. Made by blacksmiths.
  • Spellthread: Made by tailors that adds (magical) caster-class bonuses to leg armor.
  • Weightstones: Increases weapon damage, made by blacksmiths.

So, depending on your class/profession, the above options may work if you don’t want to mess with enchanting. Keeping in mind though, there are some really powerful enchants out there that may be a lot better than the above. But, if you’re just starting out and can’t afford the enchants, the above would be a good alternative.

Enchanting
This profession was made for enhancing gear. Pretty much, that’s all enchanters do; make your gear better. Enchanters actually get their materials from disenchanting any uncommon/rare/epic item. They get dusts, essences, shards and the like from them. They can then turn around and use those materials to complete an enchantment for you. The effects can be anything from higher spell damage, faster mana generation, better agility, etc. Enchanting pretty much covers the entire range of stat enhancement. For a full, extensive, list of what enchanters can, err, enchant, see THIS link.

What Else Can They Make?
In terms of raiding, enchanters can also make Superior Wizard Oil and Superior Mana Oil. (Wizard oil increases magical damage, while mana oil restores mana.) Both are applied to your weapon, do not stack, but does persist through death. For classes like healers, mages and warlocks, these oils come in handy. If nothing else, anything that helps our mana is a huge boon.

Where Can I Farm For Mats?
Err, you can’t. Actually you can, but you need to be an enchanter to do it. For most people who aren’t an enchanter, they will get their mats from another enchanter, or the auction house. Of course, that’s for the dusts and what not. Like for the oils, there are vials and herbs you would need. So, sometimes, yes, you can farm for the various other mats. For the most part though, the bulk of the enchantments, you’ll have to look to an enchanter to disenchant items.

Now, that being said, we have multiple enchanters in our guild that will gladly disenchant items for you. Just ask them in advanced if it would be OK to mail them items on a regular basis for them to disenchant and mailed back the materials to you. (NOTE! Soulbound items can not be disenchanted by someone else!)

Gems (Taste The Rainbow!)
With the Burning Crusade expansion, Blizzard introduced a new profession called Jewelcrafting. Among making powerful rings/necklaces, jewelcrafters could also cut gems. Those gems would then fit into sockets that would be in gear. (Primarily rare/epic items.) Just like enchanting, gems add different stats, and can be replaced with new gems if desired. (Also destroying the old gem, by the way.)

Gems come in come in four basic flavors: red, yellow, blue and meta. Any gem can be placed into any socket, however a small socket bonus will be gained if the gems match the sockets’ colors. The only exception to this rule is the very powerful meta gem, which can only be placed into a meta socket and you must complete the meta gem requirements in order to activate it, while you don’t need it to be activated in order to socket it into an item. Additionally no gem except a meta gem can be placed in a meta socket. So far, only high-end helms have meta sockets. Also note that Mixed-color gems (green, orange and purple), yeild the bonuses of both the primary colors associated with that gem.

Is There A List Of All Available Gems?
You bet there is! Red - Yellow - Blue - Orange - Green - Purple

Where Do I Get Gems?
Gems can come from a variety of places, such as mining, jewelcrafters, vendors, drops, quest rewards, etc. Some of the most valuable gems can be turned in for badges of justice. You can also find gems on the auction house. (Though, the higher-end gems can go for 400+ gold a piece!)

I Found A Gem, But It Doesn’t Have Any Stats/Won’t Socket?
Ah, well you may have found an uncut gem. Basically, these are gems in their raw form. They need to be cut by jewelcrafters in order for them to be turned into the final product. (So, think of uncut gems like mats that are used by jewelcrafters to turn them into cut gems, which will then give you bonuses and fit into a socket.)

Meta-Whah?
Meta gems. Pretty much, these are special gems that only fit into high-end helms.These gems have special requirements that must be met for the gem’s bonus to activate. For example, in order to gain the benefits of a [Destructive Skyfire Diamond] there must be a minimum of 2 gems of the listed colors (Red, Blue & Yellow in this example) between all the items currently equipped on the character.

Do I Have To Gem?
If you have a piece of armor with sockets, then it was designed for it not to be complete without gems getting socketed. (Especially armor with meta sockets.) Typically, even mid-range gems aren’t that expensive and boost your stats. If choosing gems is getting over-whelming, just ask a jewelcrafter, like Archaion, who will be more than happy to help you out.

This Could Get Expensive
Without a doubt, yes it could! Higher-end augmentation can get expensive, fast. Yet, it boils down the a simple question: If I can’t obtain better gear, and I still need to increase my stats, am I willing to do what it takes to make my current gear better? Raiding guilds on our server like Heaven & Earth, pretty much expect their members to have the best augments on their gear possible, even if that gear will, eventually, be replaced with something else. Many players however, balance between what the have to have, and what helps them in raiding.

Who Can I Get These From?
Well, it just so happens that there’s at least one person in the guild who can get you anything from the above categories. Usually, they will do it for free if you have the materials. (Always offer to tip as a courtesy!) Now our guild has hundreds of characters in it, so who do you know who to ask? Well, there’s a very handy way to check…

If you click HERE, it will take you to a page that will display all of the professions. What you’ll see under each profession, is a listing of the master crafters first, with the member names listed alphabetically. You can then click on their name to see what they can make. (Since not everyone has every recipe.) It will also give you the materials needed, so it will give you a rough idea as to what it will cost you to have something made/augmented.

Next up, augmenting yourself!

July 17 2008 10:40 am | Uncategorized

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