[WoRBot]

Tier-10 Armor: Just Put A Bag On It

While we've only seen four classes from Blizzard and a fifth from MMO-Champion, the armor we have seen really begs the question of the art direction for the tier. Some of it makes sense, some of it not so much and some of it never really follows the tier's direction -- it just exists. The warrior set for the most part looks fine, sans the boar-themed shoulders coupled with what I would assume is a bull horn helmet, which don't really go well together.

The death knight armor -- regardless of the tier -- is always going to have skulls, horns and spikes, so the only real question is what color scheme will be used. It looks like for Icecrown it'll be a combination of reds and greys, blues and greys, purples and greys, or purples and greens... with of course lots of skulls. And I do mean lots -- the most so far of any death knight tier set. Soon death knights will wear a giant skull as their armor, and it will be upgraded to a giant skull with a giant horn on it.

What doesn't make sense is the druid set. The color scheme is typical for druids: lots of browns, greens, purples, etc. However the theme itself leaves a lot to be desired. The helm has what looks like the product of antlers mating with a briarpatch, and doesn't fit well with the shoulders -- which are probably the best part of the set -- but at the same time seem like they would have been better as tier-8 shoulders, with the Yogg-Saron "mouth" they have going.

The two that do make sense (at least somewhat) are the hunter and rogue sets. The hunter set is clearly designed with a nerubian theme in mind -- including a cryptlord-like horn on the helm, though its textures make it look more like leather (and thus more fitting for rogues) than mail. In addition to that the shoulders and chest are quite plain -- especially for the armor set being the last of the expansion (yes, Sunwell armor... I know, don't get me started). Then you get to baghead -- the rogue set. A geist looks relatively cool as an NPC in the game, but as player armor? Not so much. The shoulders are the saving grace for the set, but it's overshadowed by the questionable helm: a bag with a glowing hole where your face should be.

I can certainly see that the goal is to make the sets look evil and/or scourge related, but so far it's made either all or aspects of most of the sets unattractive. At the same time, I now wonder what the other classes will look like. Mages and warlocks will no doubt have lich and necromantic themes, but what about the others? Are there any reasonable options for shaman, priests and paladins? I could see something related to Cult of the Damned for priests, but paladins seem like a difficult class to design evil armor around.

But the true question, since I'm only one person in a sea of players, is are you happy with the designs of tier 10 that we've seen so far? And for those of you whose classes have yet to be revealed, are you more- or- less excited about your set after seeing these?

[Puffah]

The rogue head looks fine tbh. It is supposed to resemble a guy who got hanged (hence the rope..) Dunno about the hole in his face though, maybe he's rotten or whatever.. But it looks scary, and - to be honest - rogue'ish.

[Braxxis]

Quite honestly I dislike the design of the Hunter T10. To me and most others I've brought it up to, it looks like they simply did a slight design and recolor of Cryptstalker and then gave us that hideous helm.

I mean, back when we were all getting the T6/S3 helm, the general opinion was "Why the retarded horn sticking out to the side?". Now we get a new, bigger horn, and this time it sticks out the front. Yes, you can simply not show the helm, but dammit I like it when the helm looks decent enough to show.

[Euryale]

I registered to respond to this. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the T10 sets but I'm also very worried. Locks have had good luck with their sets in the past but there have also been some questionable set designs. As an Art Director, I can say that more effort needs to be put into what people want to see represent their class in tier design. Tier sets need to be mind blowing. They need to look awesome.

Design is subjective but when you get an overall negative response from something, you should take that as a constructive crit and elevate your thought process. Talking to you Blizz. Get a fashion designer, possibly someone with a background in art history to help you along. I could be wrong and you might already have resources like this... But if you do, simply put, you guys need to design tier sets better.

This post has been edited by Euryale: 09 October 2009 - 07:00 PM

[Kody]

Puffah said:

The rogue head looks fine tbh. It is supposed to resemble a guy who got hanged (hence the rope..) Dunno about the hole in his face though, maybe he's rotten or whatever.. But it looks scary, and - to be honest - rogue'ish.

Interesting take on it for sure. It's not quite as bad when looking at it from that point of view, but that combined with the shoulders is what makes it odd for me.

[Overweight]

Honestly, I'm hoping they go with a kind of executioner style judgment throwback for our T10 (Black, Red, Gold and badass)

As for the druid set, i think they we're going for a "badass pirhana plant on my head" look which works if you get it , and looks awful if you dont, but hey, at least its not moose (read shoveltusk) antlers?

[Kilani]

Once again, I am so very happy that druids shape shift, losing all their armor. In truth only two druids sets have really looked good to me. The current Tier 9, mainly because I enjoy patriotizing myself to the alliance, but also because its simple, and pleasant to look at. Second was the Nordrassil set, it was again, simple and looked very in tune with nature.

T10 shoulders and helm look as though their made of corrupted elements of nature, something no self respecting druid would EVER do, sacrificing ideals for power is not something that fits into a druids ethos. The robes, belt and gloves however work fine, theyre down to earth and humble, but the shoulders are God awful.

[Kody]

Kilani said:

Once again, I am so very happy that druids shape shift, losing all their armor. In truth only two druids sets have really looked good to me. The current Tier 9, mainly because I enjoy patriotizing myself to the alliance, but also because its simple, and pleasant to look at. Second was the Nordrassil set, it was again, simple and looked very in tune with nature.

T10 shoulders and helm look as though their made of corrupted elements of nature, something no self respecting druid would EVER do, sacrificing ideals for power is not something that fits into a druids ethos. The robes, belt and gloves however work fine, theyre down to earth and humble, but the shoulders are God awful.

I was actually going to comment on the fact that it's a good thing forms hide the armor art, but figured I'd err on the side of being constructive where possible.

[Kilani]

My apologies for not being constructive, I have merely been so very disappointed I didn't think to make any kind of suggestion!

Perhaps something withered and dying, or something like Nordrassil where something seemingly lifeless sprouts flowers and grows, but certainly not something that looks like it was plucked from Felwood.

[Kody]

Kilani said:

My apologies for not being constructive, I have merely been so very disappointed I didn't think to make any kind of suggestion!

Perhaps something withered and dying, or something like Nordrassil where something seemingly lifeless sprouts flowers and grows, but certainly not something that looks like it was plucked from Felwood.

Oh no, feel free to share your thoughts -- I just figured I'd try to stay as unbiased as possible while still giving my opinion in the article. I was mostly explaining my reason for not mentioning it.

I agree with you completely about it being a good thing the forms hide the armor art for this particular set. I just didn't think it would be a proper thing to say on the front page. I actually had it in the original draft of this but after reading it a few times, decided to remove it -- mostly because I was already a bit negative on the fact that all DK armor has skulls on it (I guess you could say I was negative anyway).

[Sparkledoom]

Rogue armor is based on Geists. Looks ok as far as the helm goes. The shoulders are a bit of a "huh?"

Hunter armor looks to be based on Nerubians. Kinda goofy, but I see what they did there.

If I had to venture a guess, Warrior is based on the undead Vrykul, but the shoulders do make you say "Wtf o_0"

DK I'm find with. Skulls, death. I get it.

Druid is the one that stands out as neat to me from an art pov

This post has been edited by Sparkledoom: 09 October 2009 - 07:46 PM

[Azahel]

Ok, I had to register just to answer this.
Although I hated the rogue set, I agree that it does make sense, you always look like what you're fighting in an expansion, always.
But the druid set makes a lot more sense than all the others.
Forget all you know about druids, one thing is true, blizzard has been hinting about arthas and the emerald nightmare for quite some time now. They almost implied that the corruption affected him, or something like it, we'll even have a captured green dragon in ICC.
So what you see when you look at the druid set? The emerald Nightmare!
Just like that.

[WorldofNothin]

Too be honest I have been quite sad with the armor sets! Mages in my opinion are getting screwed over and over on ugly armor. Besides for Tier 7 (Heroic) without the bug head piece wasn't bad, but I haven't enjoyed a set since Tier 5 lol and I'm having trouble with the druid, hunters and rogue designs right now! I have a hunter friend who hasn't like an armor set since like Tier 2 or 3 lol but that's just one persons opinion! I'm excited and very worried about how bad the next mage set might look

[Senka]

I have no real constructive input, but I figure any input is always welcome to spur discussion.

So.. I think they all look fine, some better than others. I totally disagree with you, but I often respectfully disagree anyway.
The Druid helm is a little awkward, but Scourge stuff isn't supposed to make sense. The Scourge is literally something out of a nightmare, so the tier sets should somewhat reflect a nightmarish scene.
I'm a rogue, and I am excited about this tier set. Ever since TBC, Rogue helms have been just stupid and unappealing for every tier except Assassination and Wastewalker (to me, at least) until now, with tier 10.
The "body" part of tier 10 looks great, but so does tier 9's body. The shoulders indeed look especially good, but spikes are nothing new. The geist helm is just really cool to me. I'm going to enjoy being a geist. You call it a bag; I call it a new, creative hood or even an actual helmet for once.

This post has been edited by Senka: 09 October 2009 - 08:32 PM

[Kody]

Senka said:

I have no real constructive input, but I figure any input is always welcome to spur discussion.

So.. I think they all look fine, some better than others. I totally disagree with you, but I often respectfully disagree anyway.
The Druid helm is a little awkward, but Scourge stuff isn't supposed to make sense. The Scourge is literally something out of a nightmare, so the tier sets should somewhat reflect a nightmarish scene.
I'm a rogue, and I am excited about this tier set. Ever since TBC, Rogue helms have been just stupid and unappealing for every tier except Assassination and Wastewalker (to me, at least) until now, with tier 10.
The "body" part of tier 10 looks great, but so does tier 9's body. The shoulders indeed look especially good, but spikes are nothing new. The geist helm is just really cool to me. I'm going to enjoy being a geist. You call it a bag; I call it a new, creative hood or even an actual helmet for once.

The rogue helms have definitely been pretty bad since TBC (tier 4... ugh), so I can agree with you that when looking back at previous helms, tier 10 isn't so bad.

And of course, I'm always happy when someone disagrees with me -- mostly because it's healthy for discussion like you said.

[Flayne]

Kilani said:

T10 shoulders and helm look as though their made of corrupted elements of nature, something no self respecting druid would EVER do, sacrificing ideals for power is not something that fits into a druids ethos.

I see it more as only the druid being capable of "taming" the wildest aspects of nature or possibly even redeeming the corrupted elements.

That said I can't look at those druid shoulders without thinking of Audrey 2...

[Kody]

Flayne said:

I see it more as only the druid being capable of "taming" the wildest aspects of nature or possibly even redeeming the corrupted elements.

That said I can't look at those druid shoulders without thinking of Audrey 2...

Haha, Leviathonlx said something similar earlier today on MSN.

[Brakkyn]

I think people complain too much about tier artwork--it's just looks, although people would rather look "cool" than "stupid".

I'm waiting to see paladin T10. And I must disagree with my blood elven comrade above and hope they do NOT go back to a Judgment-esque style of armor.

Death knights wear black and masks, not paladins.

[Dch48]

I can't agree with you, I think for the most part, T 10 is awesome. Everyone in my Guild thought the Druid set was "Badass". My Hunter set is just okay except the shoulders look a lot like recolored T7 and overall I prefer T9.

The T 10 Rogue helm is horrible. It looks like a glowing eyed cyclops with a pressure cooker on his head.

[fizyx]

I have to admit that when I first saw the rogue set, I did NOT thin geist. My first thought was that they were going for a sort of "condemned man" feel. I started reading all the posts about it, and that's when I actually saw the connection with the geist mobs... but looking at them, I still think that the intent is to portray the restless bodies/souls of men condemned to die. With that in mind, I find the rogue t10 entirely appropriate for the class, and I personally really like the looks... even the helm