Patch 5.2 and Inscription Staffs

Patch 5.2 and Inscription Staffs

Time is running out.

 

Blizzard has announced that they will be removing the item upgrade vendors in patch 5.2. The purpose of this is to encourage players to get the new patch gear in favor of trying to upgrade the patch 5.1 gear. This action will have a direct impact on the BoA Inscription Staffs in the game. These are:

Inscribed Crane Staff

Inscribed Serpent Staff

Inscribed Tiger Staff

It is important to remember that these staffs, once created, are bind on account and can be used by all toons on a players account. These staffs are considered some of the best weapons available for new level 90 players. At starting item level of 476 these weapons are upgraded up to two times. An example of this is the Inscribed Serpent Staff:

Inscribed Serpent Staff
Item Level 476
Upgrade Level 0/2
Binds to Battle.net account
Two-Hand
4895 - 7343 Damage
(1854.2 damage per second)
+1522 Stamina
+1015 Intellect
+677 Hit
+5813 Spell Power
+677 Mastery

Inscribed Serpent Staff
Item Level 480
Upgrade Level 1/2
Binds to Battle.net account
Two-Hand
5080 - 7622 Damage
(1924.6 damage per second)
+1579 Stamina
+1053 Intellect
+702 Hit
+6033 Spell Power
+702 Mastery

Inscribed Serpent Staff
Item Level 484
Upgrade Level 2/2
Binds to Battle.net account
Two-Hand
5273 - 7912 Damage
(1997.7 damage per second)
+1839 Stamina
+1093 Intellect
+729 Hit
+6262 Spell Power
+729 Mastery

As you can see from the above example these staffs can be upgraded twice for a total item level increase of 8 item levels. This is a significant stat increase on these weapons. This puts these staffs as best in slot and only sees a replacement when one replaces them with other weapons found in the Terrace of Endless Springs raid in normal or heroic modes. An upgraded inscription staff is superior to similar weapon drops from raid finder groups.

While the item level 476 staffs can be made after patch 5.2 drops we will no longer be able to upgrade them. The removal of the upgrade vendors will thus severely limit the usefulness of these weapons. It is therefore worthwhile to create and upgrade the staffs prior to the release of the patch.

Blizzard has hinted that they may bring the upgrade vendor back later in the game. Possibly as early as patch 5.3. However we don’t know when or if they will be brought back. Thus it would be in everyone’s best interest to create and upgrade these items now, even if you don’t plan on using them in the immediate future.

A single upgrade of the staffs costs only 750 valor points each. Costing a total of 1500 valor to max upgrade them. Fortunately since they are bind on account we are not restricted to upgrading them on one toon. These items can be mailed to one toon to be upgraded the first upgrade and then mailed to a second toon to receive the second upgrade. They do not need to be equipped or even equippable on a specific toon for that toon to be able to upgrade it. This gives us an easy opportunity to upgrade the staff.

While you may plan to use these weapons on you main or alts it is important to upgrade them now. If you are like me, then you have multiple characters of various classes and specs, and thus have a need for all three staffs. For those of you with only one character who can use these weapons you will only need to focus on one staff. The number off staffs you need as well as your play time will factor in to your ability to upgrade these.

With patch 5.2 expected to drop on Tuesday, February 26^th, we have about one and a half weeks to upgrade. Each person will have to arrange their playtime to earn sufficient valor in that time frame. You may need to run raids, dungeons, scenarios, and dailies every day on a single or multiple toons to achieve this. Decide on your goal and work towards it. Time is running out.







Jafo