Book collection rewards nerfed: the two neck pieces drop from Rare to Uncommon
· ForeverDB
In the October 2 beta build the 10-book reward necklaces Erudite's Amulet and Scholarly Pendant were changed from Rare to Uncommon, with lower item levels and smaller stats. The two 20-book rings stayed Rare but lost item level, and one lost its Rogue-only restriction.
Collecting books around Azeroth and handing them in gives rewards, and in the October 2 beta build (client build 1.60.1.70170) Blizzard made those rewards weaker. The two necklaces you get for 10 books were dropped from Rare to Uncommon quality, with lower item levels and smaller stats. The change is in the game files; there is no Blizzard post about it.
Reported, not confirmed by Blizzard. Parts of this article come from Wowhead, not from Blizzard's posts or the game files. We say who reports what where it comes up.
These are beta changes read from the client files, build 1.60.1.70170 (dated October 2, previous build 1.60.1.70124). Anything here can still change before launch.
The 10-book necklaces, now Uncommon
Both neck pieces moved from Rare to Uncommon quality. Their item level dropped from 25 to 23, and their stats were cut by about half:
- Erudite's Amulet: now +3 Stamina and +2 Agility (was +6 Stamina and +4 Agility).
- Scholarly Pendant: now +3 Stamina and +2 Spirit (was +6 Stamina and +4 Spirit).
The 20-book rings, still Rare but lower
The two rings handed out for 20 books kept their Rare quality, but their item level fell from 40 to 35. One of them also lost a class restriction:
- Field Researcher's Loop: now +7 Stamina and +7 Agility (was +7 Stamina, +7 Agility and +7 Strength), and it can now be used by any class (was Rogue only).
- Philanthropist's Ring: now +5 Intellect and +10 Spell Power (was +6 Intellect and +10 Spell Power).
How the books work
Wowhead reports that players can hand books found around the world to their Faction Librarian no matter their class. Handing in 10 books gives the quest Friend of the Library, whose reward is the pair of necklaces above, and 20 books gives one of the rings. Wowhead covered the necklace nerf on October 3. Our own data records both reward tiers as seen in the beta.
The hand-in mechanic and the quest name Friend of the Library come from Wowhead and from play on the beta, not from a Blizzard change or statement. The quality, item level and stat numbers are from the client files.
Wowhead notes that reaching 20 books was a stretch at the old level 20 cap, and should be easier now that the cap is 30. For that change see our write-up of the level 30 build.