Meet The WoW Factor: Verenous

The WoW Factor: Verenous, Lightbringer (US)

Character: Verenous

Race: Human

Class: Warrior

Gender: Male

Character Status: Main

WoW Factor Prizes Earned:

• Round 1: 1,000g
• Round 2: 5,000g
• Round 3: 10,000g
• Round 4: 1 Blizzard Store collectible mount courtesy of Icy-Veins.com

What You Should Know: Don't judge this book by its cover. Verenous is the perfect example of a pervasive tier set that has been maximized to its absolute, fullest potential through transmogrification. Read on to learn about the numerous details Verenous used to compliment his T5 and the effort it required (it's a lot harder than it looks).

Keelhaul: Warrior T5 is a fairly common look these days, but you did some things that really complimented the look. But why start with Warrior T5 in the first place?

Verenous: I seriously thought I would never be asked this, and this is the first time I am telling anyone this, but this is a emotional story, to me at least, back in BC days, when I joined my first raiding guild, I was a freshly geared T4 tank, managed to get into a hardcore raiding guild by a leap of faith, quickly was recognized as a skilled player, and they geared me up starting with T5, at this same time, personally I was going through a lot, freshly moved out from home, new relationship, new job, it all sounds silly, but this set marked a new beginning for me, and I always feel a bit emotional, when I think about this, and am amazed I am even talking about it, it brings a smile to my face being all nostalgic, but that is the main reason I am hooked on it, its simply a bad ass set, I grow tired of hearing it is tier and so easy to obtain, but the truth is, I obtained it when it was un-obtainable by most, and held on to it for that reason, you will see many T5 warriors, but they are always missing, the hands, the boots, the belt, something silly and minor, but to the average person they seem fine, but to people like us, its screaming I'M INCOMPLETE AHHHHH. So you could say, besides the over worn warrior T6, the T5 in my opinion is one of the best warrior looking sets out there, and with the right items, I think its extravagant.


Keelhaul: There are a number of scimitar models in the game that you could have acquired, why use the Scimitar of the Sirocco? How long did it take you to acquire it?

Verenous: Well, from what I have researched, that is the only sword with that specific glow, not sure if you noticed, but when I move, it has a trail of flames, which in fact is not from the enchant but that specific sword model itself, that sword looks the same whether non-enchanted, or enchanted. It's also got a unique shape, it compliments the shield and the armor at the same time, which is another huge thing for me, again another small thing but overall, adds to the unique flow of the set.

I had the hardest time figuring out a good sword to go with T5, I had many options, including the extremely rare BOE red lightsaber, but in my opinion, that just looks goofy, it resembles more a light-saber. I first off wanted it because in my mind, it matched PERFECTLY, and secondly, it was extremely rare, it required hours, days, weeks of farming archaeology, from the ever rare Tol'vir digsites, which interested me more, it was going to be one of those you rarely see, and that was an added bonus to my set. I do not know how long per say, but I will put it this way, I started archaeology the day cataclysm hit, I obtained that sword 2 months ago, after over 450 solves from Tol'vir digsites alone, roughly takes 10-15 minutes per solve, if you get lucky with spawns. So, a very long time...

Keelhaul: Tell me a little bit about why you decided to go with the Fel Barrier, and how long did it take you to acquire it?

Verenous: A few reasons, first, because it was cheaper then buying the other version, second, because I do not like to be a follower, I like to be different, think outside the box, I mean yeah you could have 50 people with the same looking shield, but this one is actually different sort of thing, and I am amazed you guys picked up on that, its cool that you did. 

Thirdly, it matches perfectly, all the colors, including the flame just go beautifully with the T5, and the main reason, I wanted to show I took time to obtain this shield, anyone can buy it off the AH quick and simply, or check it once a day, but they are not really putting much effort into it, the AH is in a town, I had to fly out to the instance, clear a zone, for the 5% or so that this shield has at dropping, and I only got to do this once a day, so imagine me doing this daily for weeks, there was times I wanted to give up because the drop rate was terrible, but I just kept remembering, that it would complete my set, I was lucky this was a 5 man and I could solo it, was still a pain to fly to this out-of-nowhere instance.

Keelhaul: Tell me about that cloak, where did you acquire it? Did you seek it out knowing how it would blend with T5?

Verenous:  I acquired it from the Sunwell, in BC funny enough, I actually had it at one point in time, but ended up getting rid of it because I main spec for raid changed and I was tight on bank space as it was, since I am one of those people who keep gear, and figured its just a cloak I won't need it again, oh boy was I wrong... once I heard about xmog, one of the first things popped into my head was this cape to go with my T5, so you bet I was farming Sunwell with a group of people every week till it dropped again!

Keelhaul:  We certainly spotted a number of things, including your matching fire elemental and it's those details that got you all the way into the top 2. But could you tell me a little bit about WHY you put in the effort to round out your look with the things you did?

Verenous: Simply because, it flowed... not many people are a fan of tier, let alone T5, but besides all the greens you could AH, blues you could farm, epics mixed with blues greens to create a transmog set on some website, this set is one I have not seen ANYWHERE. There was no guide for what I had to do, websites show how to get your other sets, where to farm for them, so you check the ah daily for a certain green, cool beans, my set I actually spent hard work with 24 other good friends at the time, to bring down 1 boss, per item, on terrible drop rates it seemed, anyway not to get too far off subject, I had to search myself through my items I had, needed to do a lot of homework to find which fits best, because there are tons of items out there, but rarely anything ever goes perfectly with tier, I know T6 is missing a weapon to match the whole set, including the shield, T4 is just funky, I could go on and on, but on top of what T5 means to me, I just had to find a way, and I did.

Keelhaul: Why is it important to you that players not judge your look from a distance simply on T5?

Verenous: Because, many people wear tier sets, but never are they complete, they are always missing 1 piece, but like I said earlier, your average player does not pick up on this, they take it for what it is, people like us, notice every small detail, and like you guys did, noticed the hard work I spent into finding the right items to blend to make this T5 stand out from other T5's.

Keelhaul: Did we miss any details about your look you feel are important?

Verenous: Not entirely, but if you notice the cape, right under my helmet and between the shoulders on the front side, has 2 small symbols that compliment the chest piece graphics, I was just amazed at how each piece fit, color wise, graphic wise, overall wise, I will mog myself differently some weeks to try something new, and I always find myself going back to this, there is just something about it, how perfectly it all fits, that is mesmerizing, you noticed it as you talked yourself into it at the top 5, you have a taste of what I experience daily, its annoying!

Keelhaul: If they were to remove transmogrification from the game, what do you think you, personally, would lose?

Verenous: Really honestly.... nothing, I was getting by with the ugly mismatching warrior gear sets as Blizzard seems to have a hard time or plain not care, but do not mistaken me, I think the transmogrification is a brilliant idea, it has revived my interest and added a second way of playing to this game if you think about it, some play to play, some play to play AND look good.