wow Official Benthic Gear Preview

[Starym 3,800]

 

Here comes the official look at the new Benthic gear coming with patch 8.2. You'll be able to acquire the upgradable gear in Nazjatar and it'll fill that void up to Heroic raid level (or just shy of it, at ilvl 425), but it's main feature is special bonuses that apply while you're in Nazjatar.

You can get some pretty standard buffs, like elemental resistances, increased damage to specific enemies etc, but here are some of the really special effects you'll be able to get on the gear, and you can check out all the currently available ones from the PTR in our Benthic gear guide.

• Trader's Stock
• Sea Floor Acrobatics
• Swimmer's Legs
• Intra-Ocean Navigation
   

Benthic Gear (source)

The odds are stacked against you in Queen Azshara’s home territory—but with the right equipment, you can turn the tides in your favor.

In Rise of Azshara, we’re introducing a new type of equipment called Benthic gear, which you’ll earn and collect while adventuring in the naga domain of Nazjatar.

As you explore Nazjatar, you’ll collect Prismatic Manapearls—soulbound currency you can spend to purchase Benthic tokens and upgrades. These bind-to-account tokens can be used to gain a piece of upgradable Benthic gear specific to your armor type (cloth, leather, mail, plate), starting at item level 385. With enough time and effort, players can dedicate their hard-earned Manapearls to upgrade pieces to ilvl 425, just shy of Heroic-level raid gear (ilvl 430).

Speak with Voidbender Zorlan in Newhome (Horde) or Voidbinder Sturzah in Mezzamere (Alliance) to upgrade your Benthic gear.

Besides purchasing Benthic tokens with Manapearls, you’ll also sometimes find them in treasure chests and on enemies throughout the zone.

Each piece of Benthic gear boasts a thematic bonus that applies in Nazjatar and the upcoming Azshara’s Eternal Palace raid. These bonuses might provide effects that boost your damage, slow down your foes, or even increase your mount speed while adventuring through this perilous region. Customize your character with up to six unique bonuses. Put together pieces to create a powerful set for combat, collect a set optimized for exploration, or mix and match to have the best from both worlds. Additionally, each piece has predetermined secondary stats which allow you to have more control over your character’s build.

Benthic gear is currently available for early testing on the Rise of Azshara Public Test Realm, so make sure you jump in to check it out!

[Rag 16]

Seems like a solid upgrade on a gear catch up mechanic.

[Sharknad0 67]

I hate that I like this. I used to hate that people could be close, if not fully, heroic geared without stepping foot into a heroic raid. Unfortunately, I am stuck on satellite internet until century link pulls 6 miles of cable to me from the nearest town that has it, which has no set time frame. It was worth the trade-off to get a beautiful house in the mountains, but I can no longer raid with the terrible satellite latency. Luckily, I can still do solo stuff, and this will keep me close enough to my guildees to rejoin the group when I finally get hard line internet or, at least, 4G.

[Seksi 208]

Right. there's also the notion of time. Heroic raiding will get you to heroic gear levels (or actually, above, because of Titanforging) much, much faster than farming this sort of gear and its upgrades. But eventually everyone can get there if they play enough.

[Stan 5,239]

I like this. It offers progression for players who don't have time to raid and do Mythic+0 at best.

[Ragingwolf 310]

Watched a youtube vid by Belular last night that talked about this and the main currency of Manapearls.  I am interested in this due to the gear itself and the ability to upgrade it.  Only downside I saw is the extensive time to move from point A to B to find the objective for certain quests and or bounties.  It's not necessarily like emissary quests but the grind in itself can be tedious.  Also the gear may not be on par of that of the new Raid gear itself however I can see possibly using pieces as a place holder till something better comes along to replace it.