Loot Priority in World of Warcraft Classic

In this video, I go over why loot is prioritized in classic wow and how to do it fairly.
00:00 Why Loot Priority Is Necessary
05:30 Class / Spec Prio
16:30 Player Priority
32:51 General Suggestions and Examples
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[@MMA-mh9uv]

100% the reason I gquit my first guild in classic was the officers were giving all the items from Molten Core to the player that'd be the "biggest upgrade", which basically amounted to gearing out themselves and their IRL friends first since they couldn't be bother to farm their pre-raid BiS. I was a mage back then and had nearly full-BiS pre-raid, and was farming dungeons endlessly for other guildies to get upgrades. I got passed over 3 times for a Mageblade and they all went to officers and their buddies who raid logged. 15 of us quit on the same day and created our own guild.

[@bomberwarren]

I had a similar thing but with a binding for thunderfury, I was super loyal and did heaps for other guildies our second garr binding drops and they have it to another tank he then quit the guild the next day because he didn't want to be behind the main tank, guild basically fell apart after that.

[@brandonkruse6412]

Tbh Vanilla is a different game. Unlike Wrath, you don’t have any many options for weapons, armor and especially trinkets in phase 1. Most of the loot drama in this game came from Vanilla. When they added in the emblem vendors, you wouldn’t have to wait two months for a pair of bracers

[@vexprimal]

This comment gives me "deja Vu" :)

[@13Shadeslayer]

same, I was the top performing rogue in full BiS and they kept feeding gear to the idiots who literally showed up to raids wearing int/agi lvl 45 BoE rings and green questing weapons - not even trash blade. because it "helps the guild the most". I finally quit after they gave Nightstalker Bracers to a guy who already had 5 tier pieces while I had like 1, because "he is a pvp nut and really wanted it for pvp"

[@MMA-mh9uv]

@Epictetus I dislike pugs because of the slow clear times and random skill level of the raiders. I settled into a guild in BWL and have been with them since. Pure /rolling is not a good loot system lol

[@Everesteful]

Thanks for the video. Looking forward to the WOTLK P1 loot prio.

[@maloiik]

So incredibly based! Everything you talked about in this video is absolutely the right way to think about loot, from a point of view of fairness and long term success of any guild

[@slimegolem]

I thought you did a very good job of explaining the point that WoW - and especially coordinated guild activities - is predominantly a social game. You have to be very aware of this, even more so than being aware of who is the best player. I think my guild in Vanilla Classic did a great job at it. The Loot was distributed based on a wishlist in combination with attendence to raid days. If you were there every raid night and put an item on top of your list. It was highly probable that you'd get it (Items like Gressil were obviously highly contested among our 55% melee dps setup). However, some exceptions were made for incredible players doing things outside raids as well. We had one guy who was incredible at the game but was also always online Mindcontrolling people in to give Warchiefs Blessing buff to as many ppl as possible for speedrun days. He got the first Gressil because of this dedication to support the raid before it even started.

[@brandonkruse6412]

Loot priority is a very important thing that players should understand. Take a screenshot of your bis list and memorize it. Don’t always look at item level increases and assume it’s an upgrade. I remember in MoP, I raided as an Arms warrior for most of the expansion. Arms received a buff towards the end of the expansion and they were (just short of Locks & Hunters) the best AoE spec in the last patch. I had my 4-set T16 from normals already, however, as anyone who’s played DPS warrior in any expansion understands, you just can’t make Fury work without a minimum amount of crit rating. Even more so in MoP because our mastery gave us % damage increase while enraged. Enrage activated when our Bloodthirst crit. I remember my raid leader getting upset that I rolled on this Crit/Mastery chest that I needed to play Fury even though it was the same ilvl as my tier chest. Had to explain that item level doesn’t matter, stats do and that I couldn’t play Fury unless I was allowed to roll on more Crit gear 😂

[@darylsdog9521]

Stat weights are the most important thing

[@2Siders]

Watching this after losing 5 rolls in a row to a single player in a PUG raid. 2-3 items were leather, he was a DK, I was a cat. At least 1 item was BiS for me. He also won a 6th item, a Plate of course. I’ve been trying to avoid this exact situation but no matter how much I recruit, we don’t have enough players for a guild raid. I got mocked for suggesting Class Armor should be prio, both in game and on forums. At this point I am so frustrated I want to quit. Why can’t people understand that you don’t get four times as much cloth and leather items as plate?

[@Zatar]

Most leather items are bad for dk. They really like strength. Just a selfish or ignorant player, unfortunately they are very common.

[@2Siders]

@@Zatar Thanks for your understanding, yeah, from what I’ve read all of Unholy and Frost BiS items are Plate to begin with in the current phase. Unfortunately this was just as much of the raid leaders’ fault as it was the DK’s. It’s crazy because the raid lead was a guild master. I can’t imagine not caring about Class Armor prio in a guild, not to mention not using a fairer loot distribution system from Suicide Kings or any method you have mentioned in this video.

[@william4996]

Something small I don't think you mentioned is just being likable. Players who are just enjoyable to be around are often given gear even if they're not perfect. Don't be annoying, be the guy people can come to for help or conversation. Social butterflies help keep guilds running and people reward that.

[@Zatar]

Yeah, I should have mentioned that for sure. Social stuff is important as well.

[@Dualities]

that divides the guild tho. need or greed is the most fair. if u need u need. and u roll for it

[@william4996]

@@Dualities That's the lazy way to divide loot and not the most 'fair'. Loot distribution needs to be multifaceted and not left up to random rolls.

[@Dualities]

@@william4996 ransom rolls are the most fair tho

[@Ashanthala]

@@Dualities Example: - Guy 1 does everything he can for the guild, top performer and never skips a raid, never causes drama, all around great guy. - Guy 2 just shows up (when he does), never helped anybody unless it profited him, bad performer and generally clueless, doesn't even know what items are best suited for his spec. You place them on the same level and have them roll in total randomness How is that fair? Do you know what fair means? I can only understand a take like that if you are among the laziest officers that do 0 work for their guild and just want to reap benefits of their role or* You're the shitter Guy 2 and you know you'll never get items before somebody else except due pure randomness Either way: step down from any leadership position if you don't want to put the time in and/or learn to play, it's an easy game Edit: typo

[@temporaryname8905]

I have known multiple guilds that geared their inner circle or their love interests even if those people only raided like once a month. At the end of the day the drama is the biggest reason DKP became prevalent. Leadership that could set rules and stick to those rules without letting personal stuff interfere were the only dependable guilds regardless of how far they actually got into raids.

[@Dualities]

biggest reason for DKP is the lack of time.a nd greedy mofos

[@Amanda-gt4ln]

Any ETA on when the loot prio guide is coming out? Wondering if it will be out in time to go through it all before the weekend when we have our LC meeting or need to start looking at making notes for ourselves on this phase.

[@axelkriborg3153]

+

[@Zatar]

I will probably release it this weekend

[@bomberwarren]

This happened to me in ICC. Was waiting for this healing shield on my shaman, after what felt like forever it dropped and they didn't even roll it they gave it to this pug to say thankyou for coming. I quit wow and never played retail full time again

[@lvsoad22]

Did you communicate to them how much you were wanting it?

[@bomberwarren]

@@lvsoad22 yeah I was in line for it lol.

[@lvsoad22]

@@bomberwarren damn

[@thunderh0rse961]

good takes, you know what you're talking about

[@Michael----]

It's important not to get ahead of yourself. First you must decide: what is the purpose of our loot priority system? Judging by your pre-conceived notions it seems to be "to ensure the guild keeps raiding and does so more efficiently each week". This is where you should start your thinking process in order to gain clarity. Because it all sounds fine and dandy but when you actually get down to the root of things, it turns out you're treating this like a job. "To ensure the continuation of your employment and your company, while trying to work more efficiently each day". But I guess that's the nature of a game where the goal is to make your character stronger through stronger equipment. In such a game the reasoning and logic of guilds will naturally be one of "giveth the most to the ones who increase the speed and efficiency at which we get more equipment".

[@Zatar]

Using loot lists or wish lists helps you distribute loot to people who would enjoy certain items more. Can help make loot distribution more fun.

[@nv8639]

Hey zatar, very nice video. I agree to almost everything you said but one; the way you look at your guild's goldbuyer tryhards. Let me explain. So, from phase 1 already, there is the one item that separates the tryhards from the yolo lazy ones. Talking of course about the DMC for physical here. I couldn't treat those two players the same, no matter how the tryhard bought the trinket. I just feel it would be totally unfair for everyone. For me, until the lazy player (or even a legit player who slowly farms gold) gets his DMC, big loot should go to the tryhard goldbuyer. As a caster officer, I've treated the same to the casters who did not have the spellstrike crafts on TBC ph1. No loot prio until they get them. In the end, only one caster didn't make them and he got kicked. What's your take on this?

[@Zatar]

Depends on the level of the guild, but these are my thoughts. I think if a player shows that they working towards the darkmoon card, that is good enough for me. Honestly, I don’t want my raiders wasting their gold on week 1 dmc. I would rather they wait a faire or 2 to save money, especially because p1 is a joke. The way you describe it, if I was in your guild, I would feel like I had to p2w gear from the guild, especially if I wouldn’t be considered for big items until I got the card.

[@AB-gj2gh]

We had no trial phase at all and only had one guy leaving after getting decked out.. I think its a matter of recruiting quality not timespans imo

[@Max-dv1kq]

zatar is it possible for you to share all the links to the created gear sets (like p1 pre bis; p1 bis; ulduar bis etc to phase 3?) would be huge since ive only learned by watching your videos and some written guide

[@Zatar]

For what spec / class

[@Max-dv1kq]

@@Zatar prot warrior for p1-p2 and p3 fury (if thats a reasonable choice)

[@Dualities]

good luck getting all those pieces

[@Zatar]

Prot Warrior Phase 1 Bis Gear Breakdown kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z4u8gXx8qquhhM0 P3 fury you can just go off past info, the new sims are not really accurate yet. I don’t hand bis lists ready for future phases for prot yet.

[@todesrolle2393]

@@Zatar how about holy paladin and prot paladin?

[@kreatine957]

Yeah of course it seems that way with officers because they get handed the BIS stuff or are first in line for legendaries so why would they fret the small stuff.

[@Zatar]

I was referring to big bis items.

[@haldir108]

The example of a feral kitty doing lots of physical damage isn't technically untrue, but because bleeds are a significant portion of their damage, the benefit of ArP isn't quite as high as for a warrior.

[@todesrolle2393]

great video

[@DizzyDiso]

P1 Loot Prio sheet when? 🙏🏿

[@zurcarak]

the title doesn't say wrath classic so i got a bit confused idk if it was made on purpose, maybe is just me im dumb

[@grimshadow415]

This is sodapoppin

[@bombtobasco]

god i miss long hair zat he was so dreamy

[@Preacher_.]

29:41 TRRUUEEEEEEE

[@Crookqt]

pre bis topic is stupid for me because i wouldnt look to punish person for not farming prebis, simply if you dont have prebis->no inv. fair game

[@Gquigz]

Skill matters. My guild gave Warglaives to a rogue who showed up all the time, but they continued to be 10-12th best dps in the raid. We struggled to get past Kalecgos till prepatch.

[@Ashanthala]

that's unfortunate, but hardly 1 unskilled dps fault. More like lack of direction in organising portals that being said, fuck rogues

[@TheRealCHIMShady]

Honestly in my boomer guild if you buy gold you are lesser prio because there is a higher chance of getting banned and its a gateway drug to botting.

[@elite1234564]

Whats your take on EPGP lmfao

[@Zatar]

I don’t like the loot system. Not fun passing loot holding out for a big item or feeling like if you take an item you are punished.

[@elite1234564]

@@Zatar 100% was in a guild at the start of tbc and finally left at the end of p2 (for other reasons too) because it wasnt fair that pretty much all you had to do was show up and you would get loot. people who suck would be getting gear and people with bad attendance would also eventually get gear too.

[@shaunybonny688]

If your guild doesn’t have loot rules in writing and or doesn’t follow their loot rules the get the fuck out.

[@Dualities]

if your guild has anything else then need or greed get the f out

[@mistercurbappeal1651]

not to be weird but your voice has a weird asmr aspect to it. say uhhmmm more often please lol

[@13Shadeslayer]

failed at not being weird

[@T1T021]

isnt this like a Opinion?? lol

[@Dualities]

u either need or u greed. idk why people wanna make it more complex

[@Zatar]

Find out by watching the video!

[@Dualities]

@@Zatar u are a guild leader aint you? i would rather stick with need or greed. otherwise guild leader and his friend always get best lot. f that. and it doesn't matter how fair you think u are. the most fair think is need or greed in most cases. and u have to be considerate to. if it is just a small upgrade.. mybe u should let some1 else have it. even tho most wotlk items will be big upgrade for everyone anyway. loot prio can divide the guild tho. need or greed is the most fair. if u need u need. and u roll for it

[@Zatar]

What do you think about the first 2 examples I gave? Do you think a brand new member should be able to roll against a trusted veteran on a very important item? Should warriors and rogues be able to win rolls on the best ranged weapon before a hunter gets it?

[@Dualities]

@@Zatar warrior/rogue rolling on bow over hunters is just greedy imo. mybe if it is a really big upgrade otherwise u are just being a dick and people will hate you. me personally I would feel bad about it. and there is a chance people will kick you out of the party or don't wanna group up with you. but some dont care about that I guess. generally speaking, I feel need/greed is the most fair. and u roll for item. loot prio can divide your guild. be careful of that. you don't wanna your guild members hate each other. good way how to destroy your guild. that is also a important factor when it comes to loot prio dissusion. but some cases are really hard right. u have that veteran guy who raid with you every week and really want and item u know how it is... it is not just white and black. u cant always win. sometime u have to make a choose and move on

[@Amanda-gt4ln]

@@Dualities we put it to a vote in our guild, but started as MS>OS. Then after the phase was over we took another vote if the guild wanted to keep it or try another system. It was nearly unanimous to keep loot prio. It sounds like unfortunately you might have been in guilds with shitty/selfish leadership. I can tell you as the ret gm I have spent entirety of TBC joking as I watch the videos, joking about "f" ret because we were near the bottom on mostly everything we REALLY wanted. During the LC meetings when we were setting prio the group actually tried shoving me higher on several pieces and we just followed the notes. Worked like a dream. Helps make sure greedier players arent wasting others bis for their own temp upgrades, also limits downtime in between bosses and more time for prog on harder raids.

[@brettlayzell3172]

Be careful, when distriputing ranged weapons you should also consider that hunters should ONLY get prio on the BIS bow. If the 2nd BIS bow is also warrior/rogue DPS BIS or 2nd BIS you should give it to them as once the true bis bow drops for the hunter they would throw the warrior/rogues BIS/2nd BIS on the ground. If your undertaking a loot lootcouncil system I'd research more than these mostly correct generalisations.

[@Kelsper]

But there's no guarantee the BIS bow will drop, and even more so for x amount of hunters that you have. Because I can say after doing Sunwell since it came out we have seen one Thoridal, but many Golden Bows. We have more than one hunter. Seems strange to let hunters keep using their previous raid tier bow when they get unlucky with loot drops.

[@Zatar]

Most the time I actually disagree. It depends on how many hunters you have, and Good of a stat stick it is for the Melee. In most cases it is going to be more beneficial to give a big temporary upgrade to a hunter, especially because you can never count on the best in slot bow even dropping. This is especially true if you have more than one hunter, as At that point you would need multiple bis bows to drop before the second weapon is wasted. A lot of players obviously want to achieve best in slot, but early in a tier a big upgrade can actually help the guild progress even if it delays true bis.

[@jus10cool]

disagree. under your logic, is the opposite also true? I guess melee should only get prio on BIS and nothing else. Give those melee weps to the hunters

[@BH-zo4nq]

@@jus10cool this is a very good point

[@william4996]

Except in extreme circumstances I'd always give the ranged weapon prio to hunters. Even if it's an equal dps gain there's something to be said about your MAIN weapon and how it FEELS to upgrade that. I can guarantee 99% of warriors and rogues feel good getting their bis melee over bis ranged.

[@bossaudio12]

Wow Hitler here

[@13Shadeslayer]

found the green geared raider who wants to roll on every single drop and have an "equal chance"

[@Dualities]

this comment is actually really funny xd

[@spaceorbison]

Don't ever participate in a guild with loot council

[@samg8939]

EPGP. The end.