Ask WoW Insider: Cashing out Badges
by Mike Schramm 
Sep 8th 2008 at 6:00PM
Time once again to put the considerable brainpower that you, dear readers, have to good use (and by good use we mean other than making funny things about the Failoc). It's time once again to Ask WoW Insider. This week we have a question for you from fordarkness over on WoW LJ -- it's about Badges of Justice, and just when and how would be best to cash them in before the expansion.Obviously, the expansion isn't going to bring in new badge vendors that we can use these for.... Epic level 70 gems will probably still be around and used for your intro raiding gear, but chances are they'll be replaced pretty quick too.So whaddaya think? If you have extra badges, liquidating them into Nethers and Vortexes isn't too bad an idea, since even Badge gear might be overtaken by green gear a few quests into Northrend. But then again, even crafted gear that uses those items might end up being useless within the first few levels, so what's a Badge hoarder to do?
I'm debating liquidating my badges into gems, nethers and vortexes and selling them on the AH. Of course, there's the issue of "how soon is too soon" and "what if the patch puts in some new vendor items", along with "I need to get the items out on the market before it becomes flooded and no one wants them due to the imminent release of the LK expansion"!
What's your plan for getting rid of the Badges you have left? Are you just going to spend them as you need them and see what solutions present themselves when Wrath arrives? It would be interesting if Blizzard, say, offered an XP reward in exchange for them after level 70. Or have you already liquidated your stock by selling out Primal Nethers on the AH? What happens to your Badges when the way to Northrend opens up?
Filed under: Patches, Items, Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Expansions, Ask WoW Insider, NPCs, Making money
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Jack Spicer Sep 8th 2008 6:06PM
Isn't the badge gear from the vendor in Sunwell Isle supposed to be equivalent to Black Temple gear? I could be wrong about that, but if it is indeed the case, then none of that gear will be replaced by quest greens, in fact you could still be using it when you reach 80 unless you do a ton of instancing.
Also, badge awarded trinkets, totems, librams, and idols are likely to remain useful for a long time, since those items are very rarely awarded through quests and don't drop that often in instances either.
Ærynn Lómëhtar Sep 8th 2008 6:55PM
Some of them (the SSO badge rewards) are (notably, some of the weapons), but not all—their iLevels are not the same as T6 but of T5.
Still, your basic argument is sound. Even some T5 gear (and equivalents) will not be so easily replaced until at least the late 70's IMHO.
rick gregory Sep 8th 2008 10:43PM
yes, it is, and Mike's comment that badge gear (even the T4 stuff in Shatt) might be obsoleted just a few quests into Norhtrend is either lazy or just flat out misinformed.
Do us a favor Mike - Put forth some effort. Anyone in beta could tell you that virtually none of the badge gear is going to be replaced in the starter zone, certainly not by the first few quests.
If you're in Kara epics or the equivalent you're good until 72-74 depending on the item and whether you're talking about just quest rewards or are including instance drops.
nooooooo Sep 15th 2008 10:41AM
Greens will replace Black Temple gear by level 76. Sunwell gear might get you to 78 before decisions start to get tough. And those are talking about greens. level 74 blues will probably be on par with BT gear, minus the t6 bonuses. Not only because the gear in general will be better, but changes to class mechanics with new talents might make changing stats more viable.
Celton Sep 8th 2008 6:06PM
Just use them for the gear you don't have yet and use that gear to help you level or to make things a little easier for whatever you're doing now.
If you have all the gear you want, exchange them and sell them as soon as you can while people are still using the stuff. There's no reason to wait until Wrath.
Mainstay Sep 8th 2008 6:08PM
Okay, well... the stuff from the Quel'danas vendor lasts for a long time, the original stuff though gets replaced really fast. The TBC epic gems though are still a little bit better then the new green ones, the new WotLK green gems are mostly equivalent to the TBC blue gems. However, like TBC, you don't start getting socketed gear till the late 70s, so liquidating your badges might not be such a bad idea.
amasen Sep 8th 2008 6:10PM
I have also heard talk (on wowinsider non-the-less) about certain items becoming "account bound". I would be interested to see if they did this with badges in 3.0.
Also I personally have the hope/belief that they might add in some new badge gear (now that SWP is on farm) to help out exisiting raiders push out the last bit of content before wrath goes live.
Nick S Sep 8th 2008 8:35PM
I will mail Blizzard my tears of joy if they makes BoJs account-bound. In a little glass vial.
Saelorn Sep 8th 2008 6:10PM
I buy epic gems and sell them as soon as possible. I am banking on the premise that most people won't be crafting reagent-heavy trade-skill items these day, (either people have progressed further into raiding and bypassed all easy craftables, or they are chilling out in blues and greens while waiting for the gear reset) but the former should at least still need better gems.
Keep in mind that epic level 70 gems will be weaker than uncommon northrend gems, so I doubt you could get more than 10G for these once the expansion hits.
John Gordon Oct 18th 2008 8:18AM
What do you base this on? I haven't seen any information about mining in Wrath, i.e. what kind of gem drops and prospecting.
Heilig Sep 8th 2008 8:43PM
"John Gordon said...
What do you base this on? I haven't seen any information about mining in Wrath, i.e. what kind of gem drops and prospecting. "
Quoted from the post below for clarity.
Answer:
Current epic red gem: +10 strength - http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=32193
LK green quality red gem: +12 strength - http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?item=39900
All the gems follow a similar linear progression. Double the stats on a BC gem of any quality and you get the LK gem of equivalent quality.
Ashvoyager Sep 8th 2008 6:10PM
I still use mine for gear.
Nick S Sep 8th 2008 8:39PM
@John
Weird reply, bro.
@Ash
Yeah, it's September. I have plenty of raiding to do before Wrath. Why wouldn't I spend BoJs on gear? I'll keep stuff like Angelista's Revenge well into Wrath, I'm sure.
Heilig Sep 8th 2008 8:45PM
Wow, that was odd. i just assumed he hit the wrong reply button, but I'm 100% certain I replied to the post above this and it put me here instead.
Nice software we got here.
Khanmora Sep 8th 2008 6:12PM
I'm definitely watching 3.0 PTR, it may be worth it for some classes (i.e. healing/spell dps classes) to go back and look over badge loot again. If spellpower changes make some previously not optimal loot a better choice you may want to spend badges on those to optimize for leveling in Wrath.
Blake Sep 8th 2008 6:13PM
Luckily I have an alt that just hit 70, so I'll probably be using the badges on my main for gems or primal nethers. I thought about turning them into gems and I have sold a couple of primal nethers bought straight from badges when someone asks in trade, but for the most part, I'll be using my main's badges to gear my alt until I get sick of playing and waiting for wrath.
Blake Sep 8th 2008 6:15PM
I just wish I could buy Hearts of Darkness with my badges. I have a couple of patterns I found on the AH that my alt would love to craft, but I'm not going to pay 500g+ for each Heart of Darkness as the gear it is used to create will be quickly replaced I'm sure in Wrath.
Chamual Sep 14th 2008 5:38PM
@ Blake
Simple answer- cash in your badges for epic gems, sell a couple for 250g a piece and you can afford to by HoDs from the auction house.
Brian Arnold Sep 8th 2008 6:25PM
I was considering liquidating, since I'm primarily a tank, and while there's a couple of badge pieces I wouldn't mind having, I assumed that it'd all be moot since the massive stat changes meant I'd be way over-mitigating.
However, now that we know tanking gear to be regeared stat-wise to the new tanking game, I'm excited, and will probably just keep slowly trudging towards the items I want.
It's not like cash is a big deal or hard to earn, so it might be a one-time nice influx of cash, but ultimately, not that big of a deal.
Kristy Sep 8th 2008 6:32PM
I'm putting Epic gems on the Auction House. But I am kinda keeping an eye out for 3.0.2 information.