If you are using the LFD tool frequently and have looked at what specific dungeons you can queue for at any point, you have probably seen the blocks not allowing you to get into some instances without a certain average iLevel of gear. However, there is a secret about this. It was incredible when I looked at it and finally noticed it and I'm sure you will flip out when you figure it out as well. Ready to learn the secret of the LFD tool in Cataclysm.
You Don't Have To Have The Gear On
That is right. Looking at the character pane, I noticed that while in my moonkin set, which is still mostly iLevel 277 gear from ICC (with about 25% left to go until 84 and not a lot of good replacements still) that my average iLevel number kept going up, despite me not replacing any pieces. The character pane iLevel is what determines what dungeons you can get into to. Reading the tooltip for the iLevel, it states that the average iLevel is determined by only your best combination of gear that you currently have. Not necessarily gear you have on.
So what does this mean. If you are a clothie, your average iLevel is only determined by your cloth gear. However, the higher up in armor you go (leather, mail, plate), you can use any lower armor type to count for it, not necessarily your armor type. However, the bigger thing is that it helps you determine what gear to disenchant/sell. Look at your average iLevel on the character pane. If the gear iLevel is less than that of the average iLevel number, disenchant/sell it (with the obvious exception of if you are actually using it). If it is higher than the number and is not an usuable armor (like for druids, mail and plate can be disenchanted or sold), hold on to it to keep your iLevel going up.
The more interesting thing in all this goes back to yesterday's blog post. I mentioned that GearScore is getting more specific with the ability to look at spec to determine the quality of an upgrade for you. While GearScore is going forward with looking at spec, Blizzard stepped backwards and made it non-specific to your spec and made it just about the gear.
So the take home message in all of this is hold on to your higher iLevel gear even if you don't actually use it. It will make it much much easier to get into the 5 man dungeons down the road.
3 comments:
The problem with cheating the LFD system is that you'll be going into those dungeons wearing gear that isn't appropriate for it, and has the possibility of hurting your group if you are running a random (for guild runs, gear is less important).
@Lissanna
I completely agree with that for the most part. Since I had mostly 277 tier 10 gear, it was really hard to find upgrades prior to 333. Just having some iLevel upgrades in my bag that I didn't necessarily use was a lifesaver in the early levels. I also was still topping charts while leveling with my 277 gear in LFD or tanking effectively. If I wasn't performing well, I absolutely would agree. Now that I'm starting heroics, I have really started looking for upgrades everwhere, whether rep rewards or justice points.
Haha this cat's face is too funny, where do you find pictures like that.
Gearscore can be a bad indicator and might not mean that your higher gearscore means better DPS or tanking or healing.
Post a Comment