Blizzard is heavily nerfing crafted gear in WoW Patch 10.2

Blizzard is about to shake up WoW Dragonflight’s gearing meta with a huge wave of nerfs set for Patch 10.2.

Earlier today, a list of changes were released by the WoW devs detailing how almost all of the game’s most popular embellishments will be nerfed by at least 30 percent, completely changing the way players prioritize certain items in their characters’ builds. 

In Patch 10.2, 12 different embellishments are going to receive heavy nerfs, making the crafted gear that these embellishments are placed on much weaker than they are now. With embellishments receiving a relative decrease in power, players should be less incentivized to place them at the top of their priority list when creating builds. 

Embellishments such as the Fang Adornments, Frostfire Belt, and Healing Darts are all receiving a 35 percent healing/damage nerf. The game’s most popular boot options—Acidic Hailstone Treads, Toxic Thorn Footwraps, and Slimy Expulsion Boots—are also having their effectiveness nerfed by 35 percent in the upcoming patch. This change should allow leather-wearers to breathe a sigh of relief, considering they’ve probably been wearing the same pair of crafted boots since the start of Dragonflight season one. 

Flexibility in players’ builds has been relatively similar across the board throughout the majority of the expansion. Regardless of your class, almost every player who competes with it in raids or Mythic+ dungeons is going to have a similar loadout that features the same two crafted pieces, four tier items, and the same best-in-slot rings and trinkets. This is especially true at the high end of the Mythic+ spectrum or Mythic raiding community. This season, the gearing curve was elevated immensely, as most players were able to finish their characters’ builds early on in the new patch cycle thanks to the introduction of Shadowflame Crests.

With these upcoming nerfs, players should feel less obligated to build crafted gear, and more importantly, they shouldn’t be pigeonholed into building the same crafted items each season. Particularly strong items like the Elemental Lariat (season one) and the Undulating Sporecloak (season two) have a tendency to transcend class boundaries and even affect the meta of multiple specs and roles. This season, the Sporecloak was the most-used back slot item for all healers, and all but four ranged DPS specs, according to WoW stats site Subcreation. 

While the concept of a best-in-slot build is nothing new in World of Warcraft, the lack of variability that crafted gear has brought to the game in Dragonflight has definitely crippled the way players are able to customize their characters’ endgame gear. However, as embellishments lose some of their power in Patch 10.2, players should expect to feel less restricted in the way they approach their loadouts.