Having the correct trinkets on your character is among the most impactful gearing elements in all of WoW. The only item that may matter more is a weapon, but there, the specific weapon generally matters much less than the item level of the weapon, meaning there are more competitive options from different dungeons.
The Problem
Trinkets drop for specific specs and roles only, and it is rare for a trinket to be on the loot table for every class and spec. This has the result of making them drop substantially less frequently than items like rings and necklaces, which are on everyone’s loot table. Even if a ring and a trinket have the same chance to drop for you (and I’m not 100% sure that every item does have the same drop rate), you will always see more rings and necks drop because every class and spec can use them.
Plus, a trinket that might be best in slot for one spec might be F tier for another, even though they both have the same chance of getting the item to drop. Trinkets are also uniquely frustrating because it’s harder to be able to trade them. You need to have two trinkets of the same or higher item level to be able to trade them. Item level is not very useful in determining the power level of trinkets–many high item level trinkets are massively weaker for a given spec than a lower item level trinket that is also on that spec’s loot table.
One of the most heartbreaking things that happens in this game is getting a rare and elusive trinket that is bad for your spec and great for your friends spec, and not being able to trade it to them even though you have no intention of using it.
Multiple guildies of mine have been farming keys for specific trinkets the last two weeks. After dozens of runs and some still have never seen it drop at all, let alone for them.
This is a really frustrating, and really common, problem. There is often a trinket that is so impactful that you feel incomplete without it, and it can be very, very time consuming to farm them. It is also really unpleasant to run the same instance over and over and over for a drop, as compared to being able to mix it up and still seek that very powerful item.
Suggestions
There are plenty of threads asking for deterministic gearing in some form or another (i.e., Dinar from Season 4 Shadowlands), so I won’t rehash that again here. I’m proposing something a little different that would still give you the excitement of getting the drop you want at the end of a dungeon, with the goal of making it less painful to actually get the specific thing you are trying to get.
Here’s my idea: Instead of having specific trinkets drop in keys, have “trinket tokens” drop. These would then be exchanged for a trinket of your choosing from a vendor. The trinket token would be on the loot table for every spec, and could be exchanged for an appropriate item level and upgrade track trinket from any mythic+ dungeon. I think this strikes a good balance between the RNG of gear dropping, and the excitement people experience when they get a drop they want, with the realities of gear acquisition and the amount of time it would otherwise take to get certain really specific items that are not really replaceable (like a belt would be).