The Crest of the Valiahd is a tank only earring or ring that drops from the Valiahd Faruq Hakim encounter in the plane of fire, a tier 7 encounter. It's current stats are as follows:
AC: 19
Ferocity 3
STR: +12 STA: +12 DEX: +8 CHA: +10
HP: +150 MANA: +120
+8 SAVES TO ALL
Looking at the entry on the wiki for this item, it is obvious that is has been buffed significantly since first placed on the wiki. I currently feel that this item is very overpowered for its tier and needs to be nerfed to be brought into line with the risk versus reward and progression aspect of loot itemization. To illustrate this, I am going to compare it with Talon of the Roc an earring dropped by The Generals encounter in Tot, a tier 10 encounter.
Crest of the Valiahd compared to Talon of the Roc
AC: +2
General Stats: -26
HP: -15 MANA: -10
Total Saves: +1
Talon of the Roc has an effect of Recovery 7. Whether this is better than Ferocity 3 is conditional but I feel that for tanks, who almost none are capped atk, the 15 additional attack would be preferable for the increased damage which yields increased aggro generation.
Looking at the comparison, even in light of the worn effect, the Talon of the Roc is still a slightly better earring. I don't feel that it is an increase indicative of having gone from tier 7 to tier 10. This is not a problem of Talon being underpowered since if you compare Crest of the Valiahd to any tier 9 earring wearable by tanks, you see that the upgrade to the tier 9 loot is marginally better. People should note again that Crest is wearable only by tanks while I was unable to find a tank exclusive earring or ring to compare against in the higher tiers. Still, I don't believe that class restriction to only tanks should mean that Crest of the Valiahd should be nearly equivalent to tier 9/10 loot.
(I choose to ignore the Crest's ring slot since the vast majority people wear it is an earring due to the clear ring upgrades present in the higher tiers.)
AC: 19
Ferocity 3
STR: +12 STA: +12 DEX: +8 CHA: +10
HP: +150 MANA: +120
+8 SAVES TO ALL
Looking at the entry on the wiki for this item, it is obvious that is has been buffed significantly since first placed on the wiki. I currently feel that this item is very overpowered for its tier and needs to be nerfed to be brought into line with the risk versus reward and progression aspect of loot itemization. To illustrate this, I am going to compare it with Talon of the Roc an earring dropped by The Generals encounter in Tot, a tier 10 encounter.
Crest of the Valiahd compared to Talon of the Roc
AC: +2
General Stats: -26
HP: -15 MANA: -10
Total Saves: +1
Talon of the Roc has an effect of Recovery 7. Whether this is better than Ferocity 3 is conditional but I feel that for tanks, who almost none are capped atk, the 15 additional attack would be preferable for the increased damage which yields increased aggro generation.
Looking at the comparison, even in light of the worn effect, the Talon of the Roc is still a slightly better earring. I don't feel that it is an increase indicative of having gone from tier 7 to tier 10. This is not a problem of Talon being underpowered since if you compare Crest of the Valiahd to any tier 9 earring wearable by tanks, you see that the upgrade to the tier 9 loot is marginally better. People should note again that Crest is wearable only by tanks while I was unable to find a tank exclusive earring or ring to compare against in the higher tiers. Still, I don't believe that class restriction to only tanks should mean that Crest of the Valiahd should be nearly equivalent to tier 9/10 loot.
(I choose to ignore the Crest's ring slot since the vast majority people wear it is an earring due to the clear ring upgrades present in the higher tiers.)
