PvEers: Blizzard Wants You to PvP

Somehow I missed this whole PvP conspiracy in 5.1 and 5.0.  Even looking back it is hard to say it existed, even if you could make an argument that it did.  What am I babbling about?  It is easier to gear up for PvE by doing PvP than it is to gear up doing PvE, or at least it will be in 5.2.

Lets start at the get go and the evidence that we all have taken advantage of but thought nothing about which proves that it is easier to start the gearing process through PvP.

The crafted 450 gear.  It is dirt cheap to make and it is leaps and bounds better than the 429 and 437 quest items you might be sporting when you hit level 90.  The 450 crafted gear, based on its dirt cheap cost, is roughly the PvP equivalent of the PvEers quest gear.  The only difference is, for a few gold you can gear up 450 in every single armor slot through crafted PvP gear but even if you quest to the absolute last quest you will only get three 450 PvE pieces.

Remember, PvP and PvE gear of the same item level have the same stat allotment now, so the answer to the question of those that do not know is this.  No, 450 PvP gear is not worse than 450 PvE gear, they are the exact same, the only difference is PvP gear comes with bonus PvP stats on it for free, with no consideration of item level allotment.

Lets look at part two of the initial gearing up process.  Justice and honor gear.  Justice and honor are the same thing for their respective parts.  Justice is for low level starter gear in PvE and honor is for low level starter gear in PvP.  When the expansion came out, justice purchased 450 gear, honor purchased 463 gear.  So you could get better gear for PvE through PvP when you started.  This was noticed and adjusted, the 450 justice gear was upgraded to 458 while the PvP gear was lowered to that level to put it in line with each other.

There were two problems however that still existed that were completely ignored by blizzard.  One, you still needed reputation to buy the justice gear.  Two, there were only a few pieces available for justice but you could buy an entire gear set with honor.  So if you PvPed you could have all 458 gear but if you PvEed you could only get a few 458 pieces if you had the appropriate reputation.  Since then I believe the reputation for justice gear has been removed, but the fact still remains you can get more 458 pieces though PvP than you can through PvE only measures.

So those first baby steps into the game when you first reach 90 are easier if you embrace PvP, even if it is only with the concept of buying PvP 450 craftable gear.

The reason most of us, myself included, didn't notice that it was so much easier to gear through PvP was because it was subtle at the start of the expansion and as soon as we moved along some it was completely forgotten about.  As soon as the PvEers started dungeons, that 458 gear meant nothing, and we all started the second we hit 90 so it is quickly forgotten about, we got our 463s and never looked back.

That starting point, while minimally better through the PvP gear seems to have set the tone for the expansion. That tone is that PvP gear could, and most likely will, be used as the catch up gear of choice for the smart PvEer as the expansion goes on if something does not change.

Still as 5.2 comes out, unless something changes on the PTR, that 450 crafted PvP gear still will be the best option to get a super cheap start on your journey to gear up for PvE.  It will allow you to perform so much better than just quest gear will and anyone that cares even a tiny bit about how they do will take advantage of the PvP gear, something that there is no PvE equivalent of.

With the coming release of 5.2 when looking at how things currently are it becomes more apparent that PvP will be the way for a new comer to gear up.  5.0 Valor gear will be cheaper, but will still be locked behind a wall that people will feel could be insurmountable in the gearing up process because they are new to 90 and already so far behind.  That reputation will look like a huge cockblock and even more so when it seems like it is all grinding reputation to buy you subpar gear compared to the current level of gear in 5.2.  The 5.1 valor gear will be behind the same wall, a reputation one, as will 5.2 valor gear and that will be behind a raid reputation to boot.

So they will hit 90 and see that they need to run dungeons until their eyes bleed and hope to get lucky with drops until they are almost in all 463s and can start the LFRs to once again hope and pray they get drops to move up the LFR ladder.  They will slowly build up valor and have absolutely nothing to spend it on because all the gear it could buy is locked behind reputations and there is no upgrade NPC any longer making the valor they earn effectively useless.

Or... they can do as blizzard wants and start PvPing for their PvE gear.

In one nice long PvP weekend and you can gear yourself up in all 476 items come 5.2.  Unlike running dungeons where it is hope and pray that things drop, you will earn honor and buy the pieces you want, all the pieces you want, as you want them.  No luck involved, grind and earn, a beautiful way for gear progression if you ask me.

Lets just look at the gearing up process come 5.2 for the PvEer through PvE and PvP.

PvE:
1) Hit 90 and hope you have a 435 item level for heroics.
2) Buy a few 450 PvP pieces to get there if you are not. (yes, even in the pure PvE only way you still need PvP items)
3) Run heroics and...
a) Hope to get the dungeon you want, as you can only directly queue once a day.
b) Hope the item you want drops.
c) Hope you win the item you want that drops.
4) Rinse and repeat as needed, for hours or even days on end while working to get to a 460 item level to start the first set of LFRs.
5) Continue to run heroics for missing pieces and the LFRs and...
a) Hope you get lucky with the system giving you something.
b) Hope you get lucky with the coins, if you even have them, when the system does not give you something.
6) Rinse and repeat as needed, for hours, or even weeks as you can only run those LFRs once a week, while working to get to a 470 item level to do the next three LFRs.
7) Continue to run heroics and the 460 LFRs for missing pieces and the 470 LFRs and...
a) Hope you get lucky with the system giving you something.
b) Hope you get lucky with the coins, if you even have them, when the system does not give you something.
8) Try to earn some gold to buy some crafted pieces or BoEs of a higher item level so you can make it to 480 and the new LFRs.
9) Look back, now possibly many weeks later, and finally get to 480 item level to catch up with the current content at its lowest level, the LFR.
10) Look at all that wasted valor that you can spend on nothing unless you were grinding some reputations while doing all this as well.

Note:  Remember that you only get loot if you win, which means you could run into wipe fests that leave you frustrated and with nothing to show for it.

PvP:
1) Pound battlegounds for honor and buy 476 gear with it and be ready for the original 5 LFRs instantly without ever needing to worry about the luck of drops.
2) Buy some conquest gear, you earned while grinding your honor and some craftables or BoEs and reach that 480 item level ready to roll with the current PvE content at its lowest level, the LFR.

Note: Unlike PvE where a crap group means you get nothing, at least you will still get honor even if you lose in PvP so even a horrible effort still helps gear you up, even if a little slower.

Now lets say you are new to 90 once 5.2 hits, which sounds nicer?  Gearing up at will through running battlegrounds where you get honor win or lose or praying the loot god loves you and gearing up through heroics, many of them, where you get nothing when you get a bad group?

Bottom line is that blizzard wants people to PvP and they are doing it in a very subtle way, leaving up to us, the players, to notice that gearing up alts, or for new players, for PvE just became about PvPing and is no longer about PvEing.

Sure, you have the choice of still grinding reputations, and they do go by a lot faster now for people with alts and everyone should be at least honored with the klaxxi when they hit 90 if they enter the dread wastes as soon as they hit 89, even a first time player, so there will be at least one valor item they can buy without working on reputation really.

But unless you work reputations, you will have nothing to spend valor on, so earning it becomes useless, a waste, unless you convert it to conquest and buy some conquest gear with it, which will help you catch up in PvE.  Amazing how the only quick way to catch up in PvE now is to work reputations or PvP and the PvP option is better.  You can only get so much reputation in one day but you can grind from that first ding of 90 to full 476 gear in one day with PvP if you so wish.

So everyone out there that wants to gear up alts but does not want to do the reputation grind, dust off those old PvP skills, because the only easy way to gear up for PvE is through PvP.

I wonder how all these PvPers feel about the fact that PvEers will be PvPing just for the gear to get into PvE content.  Will they look at it as free honor, or ruining their experience because blizzard is funneling all these unskilled, unmotivated, and uninterested people into PvP, into their world?

I know that come 5.2 I plan on gearing up all my alts I have not played with much yet, or have not hit 90 with yet, through PvP.  Maybe I'll get lucky, one day running PvP to get my item level over 470, run the 5 older LFRs and hopefully get lucky, and then get into the new 480 item level LFR with a price of some crafted gear or some lucky drops and then be all caught up.

All caught up in one weekend, all thanks to PvP.  There is no way you can do that with PvE.  Yes, no doubt in my mind, blizzard wants you PvPing and they did an excellent job hiding that fact by locking out gear from new players that do not want to grind reputation.  It was a subtle way to push them into PvP if they wanted their gear faster.  Nice move blizzard, nice move.

Even if you did grind reputation, it still comes down to this, all 476 gear in one day through PvP or one 489/496 piece every two weeks grinding valor and reputation.  It could help to boost item level even if you only get one piece every two weeks and the smart player will at least try to add that to the mix, but it is a boost to get to the new content, nothing more.  PvP to gear up for PvE is just a better option.  Hands down.  The gear might be lesser item level wise, but it catches you up a lot quicker.

Shouldn't you need to PvE to get the best catch up gear for PvE quickly?  Nope, you should PvP.  Blizzard said so.