The Warlocks Den - WoW Warlock Discussions

One of the ways Blizzard has decided to help close the cap between hardcore raiders and more casual players in The Burning Crusade is the introduction of Badges of Justice. By collecting badges, you can purchase gear from vendors that is comparable to raiding gear. This can help round out your gear if you are not able to get some drops in raid instances, or can help a newer 70 acquire a workable set of gear for raiding. As you probably know, Badge of Justices drop off bosses in heroic dungeons and raid dungeons, and you can also acquire them randomly by doing daily quests. These are turned in at G'eras in Shattrath City and Smith Huathaa at the Isle of Quel'Danas for epic rewards.

Sifting through the 15+ pages of items you can buy can be a daunting task. How do you know what to choose, and in what order do you spend your badges? That's what this simple guide is for. A list and discussion of every heroic badge item, while also showing how these heroic badge rewards stack up against alternate items you could pick up from Karazhan through SSC/TK.

The list will be divided into three sections. There will be the high priority items that I consider must-have unless you are deep into MH/BT or in Sunwell. The next list will be the decent items but not must-have. These are good to have once you are covered everywhere else, but usually there are equal or better alternatives elsewhere. The remaining rewards are ones with low priority that you should avoid. These items are just plain horrible or have much superior alternatives. The items in the list are of no particular order - I'm just ordering them alphabetically in each list.

Don't treat this as a static list though. Go by what is going to be the biggest upgrade for you personally. A big upgrade is almost always going to be a better investment for your badges than a slight upgrade. I omitted 3 items that can be purchasable with badges because they are for PvP - the PvP Battlemaster trinket and the two PvP cloaks purchasable. Be sure to also check out my Gearing Your Warlock guide, which is a much more comprehensive list of all warlock gear. This list is just to breakdown Badge of Justice rewards.


High Priority Items
Fetish of the Primal Gods - 35 Badges/Orb of the Soul Eater - 25 Badges
Analysis of alternatives:

• Big upgrade over Manual of the Nethermancer
• Big upgrade over Karaborian Talisman
• Clear upgrade over Talisman of Nightbane
• Equal to Jewel of Infinite Possibilities

Discussion: Getting an off-hand is a cheap, yet long-lasting investment with badges. For Affliction, the Orb is slightly better, but if you plan to go Destruction in the future, going with the Fetish of the Primal Gods is the long-term plan. Either one is fine though, and I prefer it to the one off Netherspite in Karazhan because spell hit can come from so many other slots.

Fused Nethergon Band - 60 Badges
Analysis of alternatives:

• Big upgrade over Seer's Signet
• Big upgrade over Violet Signet of the Archmage
• Clear upgrade over Ring of Recurrence
• Clear upgrade over Ashyen's Gift

Discussion: This is the best badge reward in my opinion, and even many locks who have been clearing MH/BT might want to pick this up. There is a ton of spell hit on this ring and it complements Ashyen's Gift very well. There are only a three rings in the game better than this one.

Enslaved Doomguard Soulgrips - 75 Badges
Analysis of alternatives:

• Big upgrade over Voidheart Gloves
• Clear upgrade over Handwraps of Flowing Thought
• Clear upgrade over Soul-Eater's Handwraps
• Slight upgrade over Gloves of Arcane Acuity
• Slight upgrade over Studious Wraps

Discussion: These are another best in-slot item until MH/BT unless you count Doomwalker's BoE gloves. Expensive, but really pretty much must have and the extra stats make it worth it over the Studious Wraps.

Icon of the Silver Crescent - 41 Badges
Analysis of alternatives:

• Big upgrade over Xi'ri's Gift
• Slight upgrade over Eye of Magtheridon
• Slight upgrade over Quagmirran's Eye
• Equal to Scryer's Bloodgem

Discussion: This is a trinket that will pretty much last you all of 70. There are really only 3 trinkets clearly better than this one (Hex Shrunken Head, Darkmoon Card: Crusade. Skull of Gul'dan), and neither of those are necessarily easy or cheap to get. Pick up this trinket as soon as you have the badges, it's in every one of my gear sets and is also a great Affliction item.

Runed-Spell Cuffs - 35 Badges
Analysis of alternatives:

• Big upgrade over Bracers of Havok
• Equal to Vindicator's Silk Cuffs
• Slightly worse than Mindstorm Wristbands
• Slightly worse than Fury of the Ursine

Discussion: This is a rather cheap upgrade if you haven't started raiding yet. The PvP bracers are a popular choice but I personally like to keep my PvP socketed and enchanted for PvP, and leave my PvE gear to PvE.




Medium Priority Items
Boots of Incantations - 75 Badges
Analysis of alternatives:

• Big upgrade over Boots of Foretelling
• Slight upgrade over Frozen Shadoweave Boots
• Equal to Boots of the Shifting Nightmare
• Slightly worse than Boots of Blasting

Discussion: Not a bad way to break out of your FSW boots, but then again these aren't that big of an upgrade. Given that there are some alternatives in the Tier 5 instances, I don't consider this a must-have item, although it can be nice if you are a non-tailor.

Carved Witch Doctor's Stick - 25 Badges
Analysis of alternatives:

• Clear upgrade over Nesingwary Safari Stick
• Equal to Eredar Wand of Obliteration
• Slightly worse than The Black Stalk
• Slightly worse than Tirisfal Wand of Ascendency
• Much worse than Wand of the Forgotten Star

Discussion: This is a pretty nice wand, but I think a lot of people tend to overrate it. The reason why I don't think it's all that great is that there are 3 other wands that are about equal to it. Get it if the other wands aren't easily accessible to you and if you have the badges - it's pretty cheap.

Corrupted Soulcloth Pantaloons/Legwraps of Sweltering Flame - 100 Badges
Analysis of alternatives:

• Big upgrade over Trial-Fire Trousers
• Big upgrade over Voidheart Leggings
• Big upgrade over Pantaloons of Arcane Annihilation
• Clear upgrade over Legwraps of Sweltering Flame
• Slightly worse than Leggings of the Corruptor
• Worse than Spellstrike Pants

Discussion: Not a shabby pair of pants by any means. I definitely prefer the crit ones to the hit ones here. The only reason I don't consider this a must-have is that Spellstrike Pants are not too bad to farm and are clearly better than these.

Scryer's Blade of Focus - 150 Badges
Analysis of alternatives:

• Clear upgrade over Jaded Crystal Dagger
• Clear upgrade over Gladiator's Spellblade
• Slight upgrade over Nathrezim Mindblade
• Equal to Fang of the Leviathan
• Equal to Merciless Gladiator's Spellblade
• Slightly worse than Wub's Cursed Hexblade

Discussion: This is another item that people tend to overrate. This weapon simply isn't good enough to warrant the 150 badges. The Merciless Gladiator's Spellblade is farmable through PvP and is of same value. Getting that one is a much easier and cheaper option than blowing 150 badges on this.

Tormented Demonsoul Robes/Shroud of the Lore'nial - 100 Badges
Analysis of alternatives:

• Big upgrade over Frozen Shadoweave Vest
• Big upgrade over Voidheart Robe
• Clear upgrade over Robe of Hateful Echoes
• Equal to Scarlet Sin'dorei Robes
• Equal to Robe of the Corruptor
• Much worse than Vestments of the Sea-Witch

Discussion: Again, I prefer the crit version to the spell hit one for the robes. These robes are thebest you can obtain without raiding, but they come at a steep price of 100 badges. That wouldn't be too much of a problem but the Scarlet Sin'dorei Robes are a very viable and easy to get option. They drop in Heroic Magister's Terrace off Kael'thas and honestly are on par with these robes. I definitely recommend that if farming 100 badges that isn't really needed isn't your thing.

Voodoo-woven Belt - 60 Badges
Analysis of alternatives:

• Big upgrade over Adal's Gift
• Big upgrade over Nethershard Girdle
• Big upgrade over Malefic Girdle
• Clear upgrade over Girdle of Ruination
• Slightly worse than Cord of Screaming Terrors
• Much worse than Belt of Blasting

Discussion: Definitely a good belt, but with the Belt of Blasting and Nether Vortexes being BoE, that's definitely a better option since the BoB is much better than this.




Low Priority Items
Khadgar's Knapsack - 25 Badges
Analysis of alternatives:

• Big upgrade over Manual of the Nethermancer
• Big upgrade over Karaborian Talisman
• Clear upgrade over Talisman of Nightbane
• Equal to Jewel of Infinite Possibilities

Discussion: This is a stupid badge purchase unless you're a mage who respecs often. The Orb and Fetish are clearly superior. Stay away.

Mana-Binders Cowl - 50 Badges
Analysis of alternatives:

• Clear upgrade over Evoker's Helmet of Second Sight
• Slight upgrade over Uni-Mind Headdress
• Worse than Voidheart Crown
• Worse than Vengeful Gladiator's Felweave Cowl
• Much worse than Spellstrike Hood

Discussion: Spellstrike is clearly much better than this and is probably less painful to farm for. The Tier 4 helm and the S3 PvP helm are also superior options. Stay away from this one.

Manasurge Pendant - 25 Badges
Analysis of alternatives:

• Worse than Brooch of Unquenchable Fury
• Much worse than Rittsyn's Lost Pendant
• Much worse than Brooch of Heightened Potential
• Much worse than Adornment of Stolen Souls

Discussion: This neck is absolutely atrocious and I'm sure that there are some better itemized greens than this. Stay away from this at all costs.

Pantaloons of Arcane Annihilation - 75 Badges
Analysis of alternatives:

• Big upgrade over Trial-Fire Trousers
• Slight upgrade over Voidheart Leggings
• Much worse than over Corrupted Soulcloth Pantaloons
• Much worse than Spellstrike Pants

Discussion: These pants, while not absolutely horrible, are still a waste of 75 badges. If you don't want to farm the Spellstrike Pants, you'd be much better off to just farm 25 more badges and get the pants that cost 100 badges.

Ring of Cryptic Dreams - 25 Badges
Analysis of alternatives:

• Worse than Seer's Signet
• Worse than Violet Signet of the Archmage
• Much worse than Ring of Recurrence
• Much worse than Ashyen's Gift
• Much worse than Fused Nethergon Band

Discussion: This ring is another bad item that you should never buy. It does have decent crit I guess, but the other options listed are much better long-term items.

Shawl of Shifting Probabilites - 25 Badges
Analysis of alternatives:

• Clear upgrade over Sethekk Oracle Cloak
• Worse than Brute Cloak of the Ogre-Magi
• Much worse than Cloak of the Betrayed
• Much worse than Ruby Drape of the Mysticant

Discussion: Like the Ring of Cryptic Dreams, this cloak has some decent crit on it, but the damage is very low and it isn't a great item. Look to regular Magister's Terrace for an easy upgrade off the third boss, or Prince drops another better alternative.

Studious Wraps - 60 Badges
Analysis of alternatives:

• Big upgrade over Voidheart Gloves
• Clear upgrade over Handwraps of Flowing Thought
• Clear upgrade over Soul-Eater's Handwraps
• Slight upgrade over Gloves of Arcane Acuity
• Slightly worse than Enslaved Doomguard Soulgrips

Discussion: For 15 more badges, you get a superior pair of gloves which is the reason why these gloves are obsolete. If you have them now, it's definitely not worth upgrading to the new badge gloves, but if you are looking for gloves from badges, spend the extra 15.

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