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Spiritual Guidance: Holy 101
Every Sunday (and the occasional weekday) Spiritual Guidance offers holy and discipline priests advice on how to wield the holy light and groove to the disco night. Your hostess Dawn Moore will provide the music.
There is this priest trial in my guild right now. He applied as a discipline priest but what we were looking for at the time was a holy priest. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to play holy, so I'm exploiting my veteran status and making him learn it. Coincidentally, the big bosses also want all of us here at WoW.com to work on these 101 columns, so this kills two anything-but-birds with one stone. I really like birds, by the way.
The following is meant to be an introductory guide to the priest holy tree. It is not going to tell you what to do step by step (at least not until you get to the enchants section) instead it intends to show you some options from which you can get started. If you're already a veteran holy priest, feel free to add anything I left out in the comments so readers who use this column as a resource can get as much help as possible.
Continue reading Spiritual Guidance: Holy 101
Filed under: Priest, (Priest) Spiritual Guidance
Spiritual Guidance: Holy 101 originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Categories: WoW News
All the World's a Stage: You can't be a vampire
It's not my goal to discuss whether or not there are actually vampires in WoW. The Crimson Halls certainly seems to support the idea that the Cullen-crowd can get their bite on in Azeroth, maybe even cuddled up against the vampire LARPers. But even with the Sanlayn rocking the vampire thing in Northrend, there still aren't any playable vampires in WoW. (Blood death knights are arguably similar, but they still don't sprout fangs and lay the nom down on unsuspecting victims.)
Yet, people still yearn to play vampires. It happens. And I don't actually mind people playing these type of characters in the free-form style roleplay you see in Goldshire and Silvermoon, because that tends to be the sort of place where anything goes. And I'll admit. In a former life I've LARPed a vampire.
But in troupe-style roleplay, there are usually particular character conventions. A roleplay guild focused on defending Ashenvale from the encroaching Horde, for example, would have some trouble accepting a Draenei Shaman who is actually roleplaying an apologetic ex-Eredar making amends for his crimes.
It falls on the leaders of these troupes and guilds, therefore, to talk to the person playing an outside-the-box character. You don't want to just leave your junior vampire going down a bad track, leaving him without folks with whom to roleplay. Even worse, it can lead to backbiting, disruption in the troupe, and other negative things. Roleplay groups are fragile enough -- don't leave a wingman hanging, when you can help them with the trouble.
Take a look behind the jump, and let's see how you can help bring an Edward Cullen back into Azeroth, while still making everyone as happy as possible.
Yet, people still yearn to play vampires. It happens. And I don't actually mind people playing these type of characters in the free-form style roleplay you see in Goldshire and Silvermoon, because that tends to be the sort of place where anything goes. And I'll admit. In a former life I've LARPed a vampire.
But in troupe-style roleplay, there are usually particular character conventions. A roleplay guild focused on defending Ashenvale from the encroaching Horde, for example, would have some trouble accepting a Draenei Shaman who is actually roleplaying an apologetic ex-Eredar making amends for his crimes.
It falls on the leaders of these troupes and guilds, therefore, to talk to the person playing an outside-the-box character. You don't want to just leave your junior vampire going down a bad track, leaving him without folks with whom to roleplay. Even worse, it can lead to backbiting, disruption in the troupe, and other negative things. Roleplay groups are fragile enough -- don't leave a wingman hanging, when you can help them with the trouble.
Take a look behind the jump, and let's see how you can help bring an Edward Cullen back into Azeroth, while still making everyone as happy as possible.
Continue reading All the World's a Stage: You can't be a vampire
Filed under: RP, All the World's a Stage (Roleplaying)
All the World's a Stage: You can't be a vampire originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Categories: WoW News
Lich King Weapons Changes, Blue posts
Upcoming Lich King Weapon Changes
A couple of days ago a message was posted on the official Korean site to announce upcoming changes to the weapons dropped by the Lich King, as far as I know these changes affect both normal and heroic versions of the weapons. Thanks to locriani for the help with the translation!
Quote from Blizzard staffGood morning from the WoW community team.
Some of the weapons from the Lich King are not as good as we had hoped. To encourage you to want these new weapons, we have decided to change some of the old combat ratings over to better ones. We have obtained a preview of these changes, for your perusal, on behalf of the Beijing development team.
25-Man
10-Man
Lich King Video by Might
Might (US - Turalyon) released their video of the Lich King encounter in 10-man. If you check the first seconds of the Part 2 you will see the Frostmourne room that we couldn't see in the first video I posted.
Blue posts
Quote from Blizzard staffLovely Charm Bracelet from killing blows only
You can get these from any mob "of worth" so you can do any sort of kill quest to get these including from killing any mobs involved in daily quests. [...] Yes, it comes from killing blows. On my healing character, I've had no issues with getting these, (other than when I forgot to have empty space in my bags for them.)
[...] I did not get them from instances. It's pretty easy to grab a bunch of mobs and kill them solo and just as easy to get them via daily quests (or even normal questing) that you are working on as you're doing them.
The event just started so, no, there are no current plans to change the functionality of this. Should we feel it's necessary to make a change, we'll let you know. (Source)
Tanking Cooldowns
One caution is you have to be really careful in how you factor in cooldowns to estimates or simulations of tank survivability. Some attempts just assume that e.g. Barkskin is responsible for X% of damage not done over the course of the encounter. That might be true on some encounters, but it definitely is not on others. When you can or need to use those abilities makes a big difference. On some fights, those cooldowns just give you a little slop room if the healers have a lot on their plate or have to move or something. On others you just aren't going to survive without a cooldown. (Source)
Dispells in Cataclysm
We'll talk more about the Cataclysm dispel design when we get a little closer. Overall the philosophy is that a dispel should be a counter. That means, to us, that you should have to consider when it makes sense to use. Dispels shouldn't be a test of how quickly you can mash that key when you see the icon pop up. Dispelling at the wrong time should cost you. We also don't want to see such extremely different outcomes depending on the class of dispeller you have with you. (Source)
Itemization in Cataclysm
Actually, we aren't trying to make gear choices easier. We like when it's a hard call on whether to upgrade vs. stick with what you have, etc. In designer parlance terms, that is an "interesting decision." Non-interesting decisions are typically no-brainers.
We want to remove some of the confusion over a complicated stat system, which we think we can do without reducing the system's depth. In fact, the other motivation for the stats overhaul was to solve some of the problems where a certain stat trumps all or a certain stat is always junk. If we nail that, then gear choices will actually be harder in Cataclysm, not easier.
As an example, when you aren't close to a crit cap and when buffs don't provide so much crit and talents don't provide so much crit, then haste vs. crit can be a pretty interesting choice. Haste lets you cast spells faster, but crit makes those spells you cast hit harder. At a very basic level you are choosing more spells vs. bigger spells, but because of a number of other factors, it's not that cut and dried. Haste may provide a dps increase for a caster according to a spreadsheet, but it depends and it might cause you to change your rotation. If you have spell A that hits so hard that you need to use it on cooldown, and spell B gets boosted by haste, then you can run into the situation where more haste on B isn't an improvement because you can't squeeze in another B before it's time to use A again. If you aren't able to capitalize on the extra haste, then more isn't always good for you. (That's in an ideal world. The way stats work in Icecrown, if you like haste, it's nearly always a no-brainer stat for you.)
Comparing armor pen vs. say attack power is much mathier, because they really just both buff melee damage in pretty much the same way. The only time it matters is when you're near a cap or if you're a spec that does a lot of spell damage. But you learn pretty quickly for your spec whether armor pen is an awesome stat for you or just an okay stat.
Many of your gear choices in Cataclysm should come down to haste vs. crit vs. mastery. You may still have one of those you like the most, but it shouldn't be double the value of the other stats, so you may have to look at the total package of stats on that item (Do I need more hit? If I take that hit, can I swap it out somewhere else?) Add in set bonuses and procs, and I'm not sure the gear choice will be all that easy, but it should be easier to understand. (Source)
Rogue
Vanish
We tried a different approach to fix Vanish in a recent patch while it was up on the PTR. It didn't fix the problem (which has everything to do with spells already being in the air) and let rogues use Vanish as a second Cloak, which wasn't the intent. When we backed out that change, we said we were going to try a different approach where we calculate when spells are launched on the server side. Nothing has changed since then and I really can't give you any more information than that. Making more "Lol Vanish doesn't work" threads isn't going to speed that process along, and will just continue to annoy other forum participants.
The MMO Report
It looks like the MMO Report is going to become a weekly thing here. Here is this week's episode!
A couple of days ago a message was posted on the official Korean site to announce upcoming changes to the weapons dropped by the Lich King, as far as I know these changes affect both normal and heroic versions of the weapons. Thanks to locriani for the help with the translation!
Quote from Blizzard staffGood morning from the WoW community team.
Some of the weapons from the Lich King are not as good as we had hoped. To encourage you to want these new weapons, we have decided to change some of the old combat ratings over to better ones. We have obtained a preview of these changes, for your perusal, on behalf of the Beijing development team.
25-Man
- Royal Scepter of Terenas II: MP5 replaced with Haste Rating
- Archus, Greatstaff of Antonidas: Critical Strike Rating replaced with Haste Rating
- Heaven's Fall, Kryss of a Thousand Lies: Armor Penetration replaced with Haste Rating
- Fal'inrush, Defender of Quel'thalas: Haste Rating replaced with Armor Penetration
10-Man
- Stormfury, Black Blade of the Betrayer: Armor Penetration replaced with Expertise
Lich King Video by Might
Might (US - Turalyon) released their video of the Lich King encounter in 10-man. If you check the first seconds of the Part 2 you will see the Frostmourne room that we couldn't see in the first video I posted.
Blue posts
Quote from Blizzard staffLovely Charm Bracelet from killing blows only
You can get these from any mob "of worth" so you can do any sort of kill quest to get these including from killing any mobs involved in daily quests. [...] Yes, it comes from killing blows. On my healing character, I've had no issues with getting these, (other than when I forgot to have empty space in my bags for them.)
[...] I did not get them from instances. It's pretty easy to grab a bunch of mobs and kill them solo and just as easy to get them via daily quests (or even normal questing) that you are working on as you're doing them.
The event just started so, no, there are no current plans to change the functionality of this. Should we feel it's necessary to make a change, we'll let you know. (Source)
Tanking Cooldowns
One caution is you have to be really careful in how you factor in cooldowns to estimates or simulations of tank survivability. Some attempts just assume that e.g. Barkskin is responsible for X% of damage not done over the course of the encounter. That might be true on some encounters, but it definitely is not on others. When you can or need to use those abilities makes a big difference. On some fights, those cooldowns just give you a little slop room if the healers have a lot on their plate or have to move or something. On others you just aren't going to survive without a cooldown. (Source)
Dispells in Cataclysm
We'll talk more about the Cataclysm dispel design when we get a little closer. Overall the philosophy is that a dispel should be a counter. That means, to us, that you should have to consider when it makes sense to use. Dispels shouldn't be a test of how quickly you can mash that key when you see the icon pop up. Dispelling at the wrong time should cost you. We also don't want to see such extremely different outcomes depending on the class of dispeller you have with you. (Source)
Itemization in Cataclysm
Actually, we aren't trying to make gear choices easier. We like when it's a hard call on whether to upgrade vs. stick with what you have, etc. In designer parlance terms, that is an "interesting decision." Non-interesting decisions are typically no-brainers.
We want to remove some of the confusion over a complicated stat system, which we think we can do without reducing the system's depth. In fact, the other motivation for the stats overhaul was to solve some of the problems where a certain stat trumps all or a certain stat is always junk. If we nail that, then gear choices will actually be harder in Cataclysm, not easier.
As an example, when you aren't close to a crit cap and when buffs don't provide so much crit and talents don't provide so much crit, then haste vs. crit can be a pretty interesting choice. Haste lets you cast spells faster, but crit makes those spells you cast hit harder. At a very basic level you are choosing more spells vs. bigger spells, but because of a number of other factors, it's not that cut and dried. Haste may provide a dps increase for a caster according to a spreadsheet, but it depends and it might cause you to change your rotation. If you have spell A that hits so hard that you need to use it on cooldown, and spell B gets boosted by haste, then you can run into the situation where more haste on B isn't an improvement because you can't squeeze in another B before it's time to use A again. If you aren't able to capitalize on the extra haste, then more isn't always good for you. (That's in an ideal world. The way stats work in Icecrown, if you like haste, it's nearly always a no-brainer stat for you.)
Comparing armor pen vs. say attack power is much mathier, because they really just both buff melee damage in pretty much the same way. The only time it matters is when you're near a cap or if you're a spec that does a lot of spell damage. But you learn pretty quickly for your spec whether armor pen is an awesome stat for you or just an okay stat.
Many of your gear choices in Cataclysm should come down to haste vs. crit vs. mastery. You may still have one of those you like the most, but it shouldn't be double the value of the other stats, so you may have to look at the total package of stats on that item (Do I need more hit? If I take that hit, can I swap it out somewhere else?) Add in set bonuses and procs, and I'm not sure the gear choice will be all that easy, but it should be easier to understand. (Source)
Rogue
Vanish
We tried a different approach to fix Vanish in a recent patch while it was up on the PTR. It didn't fix the problem (which has everything to do with spells already being in the air) and let rogues use Vanish as a second Cloak, which wasn't the intent. When we backed out that change, we said we were going to try a different approach where we calculate when spells are launched on the server side. Nothing has changed since then and I really can't give you any more information than that. Making more "Lol Vanish doesn't work" threads isn't going to speed that process along, and will just continue to annoy other forum participants.
The MMO Report
It looks like the MMO Report is going to become a weekly thing here. Here is this week's episode!
Categories: WoW News
[1.Local]: An Ensidia-free zone
Reader comments -- ahh, yes, the juicy goodness following a meaty post. [1.Local] ducks past the swinging doors to see what readers have been chatting about in the back room over the past week.
Grab a cushion, flop down and give your weary dogs (puppies?) a rest. The photo above notwithstanding, rest assured that the rest of [1.Local] this week is an Ensidia-free zone. (So is the world-first 25-man Lich King kill, for that matter.) Can you imagine having to hash that out yet again? What a relief that [1.Local] isn't merely a tally sheet for comments from stories with the most views -- or even the stories with the most comments, or the most positive comments, or (as comment trolls hold fast to believing) the most negative comments ... We can follow our own little quirky path through the conversation of the past week.
Let's bite into the rest of this week's goodies just like we all like it: nice and meaty, with a little bit of hot, runny juices from the odd little beasts we discovered just down yonder, off the beaten track...
Grab a cushion, flop down and give your weary dogs (puppies?) a rest. The photo above notwithstanding, rest assured that the rest of [1.Local] this week is an Ensidia-free zone. (So is the world-first 25-man Lich King kill, for that matter.) Can you imagine having to hash that out yet again? What a relief that [1.Local] isn't merely a tally sheet for comments from stories with the most views -- or even the stories with the most comments, or the most positive comments, or (as comment trolls hold fast to believing) the most negative comments ... We can follow our own little quirky path through the conversation of the past week.
Let's bite into the rest of this week's goodies just like we all like it: nice and meaty, with a little bit of hot, runny juices from the odd little beasts we discovered just down yonder, off the beaten track...
Continue reading [1.Local]: An Ensidia-free zone
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, [1.Local]
[1.Local]: An Ensidia-free zone originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Categories: WoW News
The Light and How to Swing It: Essential addons and macros for holy
Every Sunday, Chase Christian of The Light and How to Swing It invites you to discuss the finer side of the paladin class: the holy specialization. This week, we examine the addons and macros that can be used to make your life easier.
Holy paladins have come a long way since our days in vanilla WoW. Back then, we were a three button class: Cleanse, Flash of Light, Holy Light. The infamous addon Decursive even did all the dispelling for us, leave the human user simply casting Flash or HL for hours on end. Seals and Judgments were for retribution and protection: we were standing 40 yards away filling up life bars. Things didn't improve much in TBC either: while Holy Shock was fun to finally use, we ended up being purely FoL bots in most raid situations.
Blizzard took a new approach to healing in Wrath, including completely revamping each existing healing tree to make sure each one was balanced, viable, and most importantly, enjoyable. Holy paladins now enjoy a complexity that is multiple times more entertaining to play than anything that we've seen in the past. However, with this added functionality comes added complexity. To help us lighten the load, we can use a few amazing addons and macros manage our "holy 3.0" paladins; this allows us to focus on keeping people alive.
Holy paladins have come a long way since our days in vanilla WoW. Back then, we were a three button class: Cleanse, Flash of Light, Holy Light. The infamous addon Decursive even did all the dispelling for us, leave the human user simply casting Flash or HL for hours on end. Seals and Judgments were for retribution and protection: we were standing 40 yards away filling up life bars. Things didn't improve much in TBC either: while Holy Shock was fun to finally use, we ended up being purely FoL bots in most raid situations.
Blizzard took a new approach to healing in Wrath, including completely revamping each existing healing tree to make sure each one was balanced, viable, and most importantly, enjoyable. Holy paladins now enjoy a complexity that is multiple times more entertaining to play than anything that we've seen in the past. However, with this added functionality comes added complexity. To help us lighten the load, we can use a few amazing addons and macros manage our "holy 3.0" paladins; this allows us to focus on keeping people alive.
Continue reading The Light and How to Swing It: Essential addons and macros for holy
Filed under: Paladin, (Paladin) The Light and How to Swing It
The Light and How to Swing It: Essential addons and macros for holy originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Categories: WoW News
Love is in the Air achievements retroactive?
If you were like me and had the wonderful fortune last year to complete the Love is in the Air meta-achievement Fool for Love, there is some interesting news for you. Upon logging on this morning I noticed that the achievements for Charming, Nation of Adoration, and Dangerous Love were completed for me on the date I had originally earned the meta-achievement, last year. Is this a bug or Blizzard's way of allowing those of us who already completed the meta-achievement to not worry about the new holiday tasks?
We would love some more confirmation from people who completed the Fool for Love meta-achievement last year, but at this moment, it seems like we have a little less work to do this holiday season. More love rockets for me to annoy my raids with...
Love is in the Air achievements retroactive? originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Categories: WoW News
Sunday Morning Funnies: Epic win
First of all, I would like to congratulate Keyra for winning the virtual cookies! This batch is vegan upon request, comes with a nice tall glass of cold soy milk, and I'll even throw in some fresh berries. Khloe Kardashian was the right answer to last week's impromptu trivia question!
Watch out for this week's trivia question, buried in amongst the comics.
Unfortunately, I didn't receive any new comic tips, but I don't think you'll be disappointed!
On a side note, I feel very lucky that photographing one's collection of My Little Ponies is a relatively popular occurrence, for how else would I have found such a lovely epic pony? I had more to choose from than I would have imagined, but I finally narrowed it down to the lucky pony on the right.
Watch out for this week's trivia question, buried in amongst the comics.
Unfortunately, I didn't receive any new comic tips, but I don't think you'll be disappointed!
On a side note, I feel very lucky that photographing one's collection of My Little Ponies is a relatively popular occurrence, for how else would I have found such a lovely epic pony? I had more to choose from than I would have imagined, but I finally narrowed it down to the lucky pony on the right.
Continue reading Sunday Morning Funnies: Epic win
Filed under: Humor, Comics, Sunday Morning Funnies
Sunday Morning Funnies: Epic win originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Categories: WoW News
Around Azeroth: Goodbye, cool world
This screenshot is the last remaining image of the infamous ice mage David. It was taken on Saturday, shortly before he was beaten into unconsciousness by enraged, frozen residents of Washington, DC. His limp body was then levitated to the top of the Washington Monument and displayed as a warning to any further bringers of blizzards.
Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!
Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, Val'kyr on mounts, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran. Older screenshots can be found here.
Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!
Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, Val'kyr on mounts, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran. Older screenshots can be found here.
Gallery: Around Azeroth
Filed under: Around Azeroth
Around Azeroth: Goodbye, cool world originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Categories: WoW News
New seasonal vanity pet, the Toxic Wasteling
Vanity pet collectors, rejoice! The Crown Chemical Co. apothecaries not only drop some pretty nice necklaces, they're also the source of a new vanity pet, the Toxic Wasteling. You may think this looks a lot like the Disgusting Oozeling, but there's a major difference -- rather than a debuff applied to your character, the Wasteling is a hungry little guy. So hungry in fact, that he'll eat random critters, and as he does, he grows in size.
Check out the video to see the Toxic Wasteling in action -- and for those pet collectors wondering about the Truesilver Shafted Arrow for the Perma-Peddle achievement, he's now available on holiday vendors for the low price of 40 Love Tokens.
Filed under: Events
New seasonal vanity pet, the Toxic Wasteling originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Categories: WoW News
Breakfast Topic: What are your plans for Love Is In the Air?
The yearly holiday Love Is In the Air went live today, and with it a host of new features -- a new boss in Shadowfang Keep, several revamped achievements, and overall a lot of spit-and-polish on a holiday that had been extremely frustrating to many players in 2009. Last year, your ability to get the meta Fool For Love done was entirely dependent on dumb luck over a 5-day period. Blizzard's looking to blunt the impact of RNG this time around by extending the holiday and introducing a much less painful means of getting the achievements.
So what are your plans for Love Is In the Air? Does your main already have the meta from last year, or were you among the unlucky souls doomed to keep getting the same candy drops? Are you planning on hitting the new boss in Shadowfang Keep? And are you, like me, just ecstatic that you don't have to spend days hoping for a Peddlefeet pet to drop?
Note: A few of us were around as soon as the holiday went live, and our FAQ on Love Is In the Air and OverAchiever on the holiday's achievements have now been updated to reflect the 2010 event. They'll be expanded later today with more information on the holiday questline and the new Shadowfang Keep encounter.
So what are your plans for Love Is In the Air? Does your main already have the meta from last year, or were you among the unlucky souls doomed to keep getting the same candy drops? Are you planning on hitting the new boss in Shadowfang Keep? And are you, like me, just ecstatic that you don't have to spend days hoping for a Peddlefeet pet to drop?
Note: A few of us were around as soon as the holiday went live, and our FAQ on Love Is In the Air and OverAchiever on the holiday's achievements have now been updated to reflect the 2010 event. They'll be expanded later today with more information on the holiday questline and the new Shadowfang Keep encounter.
Filed under: Breakfast Topics
Breakfast Topic: What are your plans for Love Is In the Air? originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Categories: WoW News
Tough Love: How to kill the Crown Chemical Co. apothecaries
Update: We've added an overhead video to help you understand how the immunities work. Now, back to your regularly scheduled strategy guide.
Want to do the Love is in the Air holiday bosses? Short version: don't stand in things.
Longer version, you say? Sure, we can do that. First off, while there is a quest chain that leads you to Shadowfang Keep, you do not have to have done any of those quests to engage the evil Crown Chemical Company apothecaries: there's a helpful NPC, Investigator Fezzen Brasstacks who will give you the quest and items necessary for the fight. Like previous holiday bosses, you'll be able to engage the apothecaries once per player so yes, you can chain in alts and keep repeating the fight over and over again. (I believe we killed them roughly eight times before people started getting sleepy.)
Want to do the Love is in the Air holiday bosses? Short version: don't stand in things.
Longer version, you say? Sure, we can do that. First off, while there is a quest chain that leads you to Shadowfang Keep, you do not have to have done any of those quests to engage the evil Crown Chemical Company apothecaries: there's a helpful NPC, Investigator Fezzen Brasstacks who will give you the quest and items necessary for the fight. Like previous holiday bosses, you'll be able to engage the apothecaries once per player so yes, you can chain in alts and keep repeating the fight over and over again. (I believe we killed them roughly eight times before people started getting sleepy.)
Continue reading Tough Love: How to kill the Crown Chemical Co. apothecaries
Filed under: Events
Tough Love: How to kill the Crown Chemical Co. apothecaries originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 06:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Categories: WoW News
Fool for Love just got easier
Love is in the Air on most servers by now, and players should notice a substantial change in the way the event is being run this year. No longer do you have to furtively log on each hour on the hour during the course of the event in the hopes that you'll get that candy bag with that ONE piece of candy you need for the Be Mine! achievement. The candy bag, as well as all other random rewards from previous years are available on vendors in each capital city, and purchased with Love Tokens. How do you get the tokens? Well, you certainly don't have to run around begging people to give you cards and building gifts. This year, the tokens are available through daily quests. Since it's the first day of the event, we may not have seen all of the possible dailies, but here's the rundown on two of them:
Remember the Gifts of Adoration? This year, faction leaders are looking for jewelry. You can turn in a Lovely Charm Bracelet to the faction leader of your choice for a Lovely Card that will give you an hour long buff, and 5 Love Tokens. The method used to obtain these bracelets? Kwee will give you a Lovely Charm Collector's Kit with the following flavor text: "Pliers, bone saw, scalpel and sundry other tools allow for the collection of Lovely Charms from worthwhile enemies. Collect 10 charms to make a bracelet!"
Yes, you read that correctly. You murder beasts and creatures in your level range, and hack Lovely Charms off of their corpses.
I'm thinking I love this event already.
Other ways to obtain Love Tokens include the daily quest "A Perfect Puff of Perfume," which requires you to hose down ten players or NPC's with perfume. Vendors and city guards will work just as well as other players, so don't worry about running out of people to spray. This quest will also earn you 5 tokens.
The changes so far to the event make it much, much simpler to get that coveted Fool For Love meta achievement, and should provide a welcome change to players used to the same old grind from previous years. Check out the gallery below for the complete list of items available on the vendors, and stay tuned for more Love is in the Air info as it comes in!
Gallery: Love is in the Air 2010 Vendors
Filed under: Events
Fool for Love just got easier originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 05:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Categories: WoW News
Loot is in the air
Love is already in the air on the European realms and MMO Champion has the details on the loot which drops from the three new Love is in the Air bosses. Three apothecaries have taken up shop in Shadowfang Keep: Baxter, Hummel and Frye. They'll be there for the duration of the holiday as daily quest bosses and following is a list of what they drop (mouseover for their stats):
Stay tuned for more Love is in the Air info as it comes in.
- Winking Eye of Love
- Heartbreak Charm
- Shard of Pirouetting Happiness
- Sweet Perfume Broach
- Choker of the Pure Heart
- Forever-Lovely Rose
- Vile Fumigator's Mask
- Toxic Wasteling
- The Heartbreaker
Stay tuned for more Love is in the Air info as it comes in.
Filed under: Events
Loot is in the air originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Categories: WoW News
Love is in The Air - Apothecary Trio
Love is in The Air - Apothecary Trio
The Love is in the Air world event just started and tons of stuff have been added to the event this year! The most interesting change is the addition of 3 bosses in Shadowfang Keep, for a headless-horseman like daily quest.
All you have to do to fight them is go to Shadowfang Keep in the Silverpine Forest.
Loot Table
ilvlTypeSpecSlotItem226Misc.Spell MP5NeckWinking Eye of Love226Misc.SpellNeckHeartbreak Charm226Misc.TankNeckShard of Pirouetting Happiness226Misc.Phys.DPSNeckSweet Perfume Broach226Misc.Melee.DPSNeckChoker of the Pure Heart1Misc.Misc.HeadForever-Lovely Rose1Misc.Misc.HeadVile Fumigator's Mask1Misc.Misc.PetToxic Wasteling1Misc.Misc.Misc.The Heartbreaker
The Heartbreaker on use effect just makes your character cry. The Toxic Wasteling seems to have a couple of abilities and might be an interesting pet!
According to the Big Love Rocket achievement, Apothecary Hummel also drops the Big Love Rocket Mount
Skills
Apothecary Baxter Irresistible Cologne Inflicts 1620 to 1980 Nature damage to nearby enemies every second.
5 yds. Instant Chain Reaction Inflicts 8550 to 9450 Fire damage to nearby enemies.
5 yds. 30 sec cast Irresistible Cologne Spray 3150 to 3850 Nature damage inflicted every 1.0 sec to enemies in a cone in front of the caster.
5 yds. Instant Apothecary Hummel Alluring Perfume Inflicts 1620 to 1980 Nature damage every second.
5 yds. Instant Alluring Perfume Spray 3150 to 3850 Nature damage inflicted every 1.0 sec to enemies in a cone in front of the caster.
5 yds. Instant Chain Reaction Inflicts 8550 to 9450 Fire damage to nearby enemies.
5 yds. 30 sec cast Apothecary Frye Lingering Fumes Tosses vials of perfume or cologne around the caster. Caster cannot be controlled.
15 yds. Instant Crazed Apothecary (Add) Unstable Reaction Inflicts 2375 to 2625 Nature damage to nearby enemies, but kills the caster.
6 yds. Instant
Strategy
The fight might be confusing the first time but isn't that hard (to give you an idea, I could heal it without too much problem with a rare-geared shaman alt that I rarely play).
The Standard Apothecary Serving Kit contains two potions :
The radius of the [html]
The Love is in the Air world event just started and tons of stuff have been added to the event this year! The most interesting change is the addition of 3 bosses in Shadowfang Keep, for a headless-horseman like daily quest.
All you have to do to fight them is go to Shadowfang Keep in the Silverpine Forest.
Loot Table
ilvlTypeSpecSlotItem226Misc.Spell MP5NeckWinking Eye of Love226Misc.SpellNeckHeartbreak Charm226Misc.TankNeckShard of Pirouetting Happiness226Misc.Phys.DPSNeckSweet Perfume Broach226Misc.Melee.DPSNeckChoker of the Pure Heart1Misc.Misc.HeadForever-Lovely Rose1Misc.Misc.HeadVile Fumigator's Mask1Misc.Misc.PetToxic Wasteling1Misc.Misc.Misc.The Heartbreaker
The Heartbreaker on use effect just makes your character cry. The Toxic Wasteling seems to have a couple of abilities and might be an interesting pet!
According to the Big Love Rocket achievement, Apothecary Hummel also drops the Big Love Rocket Mount
Skills
Apothecary Baxter Irresistible Cologne Inflicts 1620 to 1980 Nature damage to nearby enemies every second.
5 yds. Instant Chain Reaction Inflicts 8550 to 9450 Fire damage to nearby enemies.
5 yds. 30 sec cast Irresistible Cologne Spray 3150 to 3850 Nature damage inflicted every 1.0 sec to enemies in a cone in front of the caster.
5 yds. Instant Apothecary Hummel Alluring Perfume Inflicts 1620 to 1980 Nature damage every second.
5 yds. Instant Alluring Perfume Spray 3150 to 3850 Nature damage inflicted every 1.0 sec to enemies in a cone in front of the caster.
5 yds. Instant Chain Reaction Inflicts 8550 to 9450 Fire damage to nearby enemies.
5 yds. 30 sec cast Apothecary Frye Lingering Fumes Tosses vials of perfume or cologne around the caster. Caster cannot be controlled.
15 yds. Instant Crazed Apothecary (Add) Unstable Reaction Inflicts 2375 to 2625 Nature damage to nearby enemies, but kills the caster.
6 yds. Instant
Strategy
The fight might be confusing the first time but isn't that hard (to give you an idea, I could heal it without too much problem with a rare-geared shaman alt that I rarely play).
The Standard Apothecary Serving Kit contains two potions :
- Cologne Neutralizer makes you immune to Apothecary Baxter's attacks / green clouds.
- Perfume Neutralizer makes you immune to Apothecary Hummel's attacks / purple clouds.
The radius of the [html]
Categories: WoW News
Arcane Brilliance: The state of the mage, volume 4 of 72
It's time again for another Arcane Brilliance, the weekly mage column that would like to present, once again, its multi-annual state of the mage address. My fellow mages, we are awesome.
First of all, you might be wondering why only 72 volumes. I'll be honest: it has to do with the great zombie apocalypse of 2037. I don't want to give too much away, but let's just say it severely impairs my ability to write. To be frank, the last 15 parts are pretty much just "braiiinns...warlocks....suuuuck...brains...braiiiins..." repeated over and over for a thousand words or so. After that, my zombie-self just loses interest. Some of you may wonder how those columns will be any different from the ones I write now. To you, I say bite me.
I've extolled upon the state of mages on three previous occasions. It's actually interesting to go back and look over those ancient texts from our current perspective. Oh, the silly things we were worried about back then! Fire PvP... ha! Spirit, less than useful? What a ridiculous concern! Oh... how far we've come.
Ignore my sarcasm. I'm not actually unhappy at all with the current state of mages. We are, as I stated in the opening blurb, awesome. Join me after the break and we'll look at where we are as a class in 2010.
First of all, you might be wondering why only 72 volumes. I'll be honest: it has to do with the great zombie apocalypse of 2037. I don't want to give too much away, but let's just say it severely impairs my ability to write. To be frank, the last 15 parts are pretty much just "braiiinns...warlocks....suuuuck...brains...braiiiins..." repeated over and over for a thousand words or so. After that, my zombie-self just loses interest. Some of you may wonder how those columns will be any different from the ones I write now. To you, I say bite me.
I've extolled upon the state of mages on three previous occasions. It's actually interesting to go back and look over those ancient texts from our current perspective. Oh, the silly things we were worried about back then! Fire PvP... ha! Spirit, less than useful? What a ridiculous concern! Oh... how far we've come.
Ignore my sarcasm. I'm not actually unhappy at all with the current state of mages. We are, as I stated in the opening blurb, awesome. Join me after the break and we'll look at where we are as a class in 2010.
Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: The state of the mage, volume 4 of 72
Filed under: Mage, Analysis / Opinion, (Mage) Arcane Brilliance
Arcane Brilliance: The state of the mage, volume 4 of 72 originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 06 Feb 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Categories: WoW News
Totem Talk: Enhancement 101
Axes, maces, lightning, fire, frost, and wolves, and best of all, Windfury. It can mean only one thing: enhancement. Rich Maloy (aka Stoneybaby) loves it and lives it. His main spec is enhance. His off-spec is enhance. And he will be penning the enhance side of Totem Talk.
It seems 101 guides are all the rage these days, which makes enhancement shaman 101 a convenient place to start with my inaugural WoW.com post. Playing an enhancement shaman, and playing it well, means dealing with the most extensive spell rotation in the game, having two caps to hit in gearing, and a dozen cooldowns to track. Not to mention the need to run out of fires, avoid whirlwinds, and generally dodge all that hate on melee. It's safe to say enhance is one of the most complex specs to play. It's also one of the most fun.
My favorite part is that we're right up front making a mess of things with both physical and magical damage-to deadly effect. You want to play enhancement? Let's dive right in to get you started!
Continue reading Totem Talk: Enhancement 101
Filed under: (Shaman) Totem Talk
Totem Talk: Enhancement 101 originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 06 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Categories: WoW News
Know Your Lore: Malfurion Stormrage
The Warcraft timeline of events is a constantly shifting mass of lore information, and while some events and characters remain constant, others have changed significantly over the five-year run of the game. Malfurion Stormrage is one of those characters; noticeably absent from the World of Warcraft scene, his history was dramatically altered with the release of the War of the Ancients trilogy by Richard A. Knaak in 2004. Not only were the events of his youth altered, there were additions and changes made to the war he participated in that directly contradicted events presented in previous Warcraft games. In light of the impending release of the Stormrage novel, also penned by Richard A. Knaak, we're going to take a look at Malfurion, his history in games and novels to date, and what he's been up to so far in the World of Warcraft.
Please note: As the events of the Warcraft novels are considered canon according to Blizzard, I will be using those events as a basis for his history. Keep in mind there is an alternate timeline, but that timeline is no longer applicable -- and if you've got a problem with it, blame Chromie and the rest of the Bronze dragonflight.
Who: Malfurion Stormrage, aka Shan'do (honored teacher) Stormrage, aka the baddest druid that ever druid...ed.
What: Night elf - no demonic presence here!
History: Malfurion Stormrage was one half of a set of twins, Illidan Stormrage being his brother. The two had a fairly idyllic childhood along with their close friend Tyrande Whisperwind. As they grew older, the three elves found themselves having to choose their individual paths as adults. While Tyrande joined the priesthood of the Sisters of Elune, Malfurion and Illidan found themselves with a very different sort of teacher -- the demigod Cenarius, who was attempting to teach both of the twins the ways of druidic magic. Druidism was not something that the kal'dorei had previously followed, so the magic that Cenarius was teaching the twins was entirely new to them. Malfurion showed an amazing aptitude for the druidic arts right off the bat, while Illidan, despite being powerful in his own right, couldn't seem to grasp the spells and nuances of nature magic. Cenarius informed Malfurion that his brother was meant to follow a different path (and boy howdy what a path that was), and that it was Malfurion that was destined for the path of the druid, then showing him how to walk the Emerald Dream.
Malfurion had always been a different sort of night elf -- while the kal'dorei that surrounded the Well of Eternity were followers of sorcery and arcane magic, tending towards more flamboyant dress and speech, Malfurion was much more simple and humble. He dressed in a subdued manner, and the magic that he practiced was pretty much the direct opposite of the sorcery of the night elves. He also tended to question the ways and actions of night elf society and of Queen Azshara. These questions left him with few friends and few associates -- but it turns out Stormrage was right to question things, as his first trip into the Emerald Dream was a vision of the Well of Eternity and something terrible going on with the waters surrounding the palace of the Queen.
Please note: As the events of the Warcraft novels are considered canon according to Blizzard, I will be using those events as a basis for his history. Keep in mind there is an alternate timeline, but that timeline is no longer applicable -- and if you've got a problem with it, blame Chromie and the rest of the Bronze dragonflight.
Who: Malfurion Stormrage, aka Shan'do (honored teacher) Stormrage, aka the baddest druid that ever druid...ed.
What: Night elf - no demonic presence here!
History: Malfurion Stormrage was one half of a set of twins, Illidan Stormrage being his brother. The two had a fairly idyllic childhood along with their close friend Tyrande Whisperwind. As they grew older, the three elves found themselves having to choose their individual paths as adults. While Tyrande joined the priesthood of the Sisters of Elune, Malfurion and Illidan found themselves with a very different sort of teacher -- the demigod Cenarius, who was attempting to teach both of the twins the ways of druidic magic. Druidism was not something that the kal'dorei had previously followed, so the magic that Cenarius was teaching the twins was entirely new to them. Malfurion showed an amazing aptitude for the druidic arts right off the bat, while Illidan, despite being powerful in his own right, couldn't seem to grasp the spells and nuances of nature magic. Cenarius informed Malfurion that his brother was meant to follow a different path (and boy howdy what a path that was), and that it was Malfurion that was destined for the path of the druid, then showing him how to walk the Emerald Dream.
Malfurion had always been a different sort of night elf -- while the kal'dorei that surrounded the Well of Eternity were followers of sorcery and arcane magic, tending towards more flamboyant dress and speech, Malfurion was much more simple and humble. He dressed in a subdued manner, and the magic that he practiced was pretty much the direct opposite of the sorcery of the night elves. He also tended to question the ways and actions of night elf society and of Queen Azshara. These questions left him with few friends and few associates -- but it turns out Stormrage was right to question things, as his first trip into the Emerald Dream was a vision of the Well of Eternity and something terrible going on with the waters surrounding the palace of the Queen.
Continue reading Know Your Lore: Malfurion Stormrage
Filed under: Know your Lore
Know Your Lore: Malfurion Stormrage originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 06 Feb 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Categories: WoW News
Love Is In the Air FAQ
Update: This article is being heavily modified as of 3:00 am Eastern Standard Time on Sunday, February 7th. Please bear with us while our intrepid author runs around Azeroth getting information!
The 2010 Love Is In the Air holiday doesn't much resemble its 2009 version; Blizzard's eliminated much of the frustration surrounding RNG and item drops, and overall things are a lot more fun This FAQ covers all of the questions we think will be most helpful to readers concerning the holiday's mechanics. If you have any questions not answered here or in our OverAchiever guide to the holiday's achievements, please drop a comment below and I'll try to make sure it gets answered!
Help! Where do I go to get started?
Head for any of your faction's major cities in Azeroth (Stormwind, Ironforge, the Exodar, or Darnassus for Alliance, and Thunder Bluff, Orgrimmar, Undercity, or Silvermoon for Horde). New goblin NPCs (most from the Crown Chemical Company) will have popped up around the more heavily-trafficked areas (read: AH/bank) with quests and information.
The 2010 Love Is In the Air holiday doesn't much resemble its 2009 version; Blizzard's eliminated much of the frustration surrounding RNG and item drops, and overall things are a lot more fun This FAQ covers all of the questions we think will be most helpful to readers concerning the holiday's mechanics. If you have any questions not answered here or in our OverAchiever guide to the holiday's achievements, please drop a comment below and I'll try to make sure it gets answered!
Help! Where do I go to get started?
Head for any of your faction's major cities in Azeroth (Stormwind, Ironforge, the Exodar, or Darnassus for Alliance, and Thunder Bluff, Orgrimmar, Undercity, or Silvermoon for Horde). New goblin NPCs (most from the Crown Chemical Company) will have popped up around the more heavily-trafficked areas (read: AH/bank) with quests and information.
Continue reading Love Is In the Air FAQ
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Achievements
Love Is In the Air FAQ originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Categories: WoW News
WRUP: Why am I still awake edition
It's four in the morning -- so why, exactly, am I still awake to write WRUP? Personally, I blame BioWare and Mass Effect 2. Not that the game has secret mind control powers (that we're aware of), even though a vast majority of our staff seems to have been sucked into the game this week. Give us a bit of time, and I'm sure we'll all find our way back to Northrend, though. But in the meantime, here's a run-down of what we're playing at WoW.com HQ this weekend and -- in honor of the upcoming holiday -- we talk about our favorite in-game events.
Continue reading WRUP: Why am I still awake edition
Filed under: WoW Insider Business
WRUP: Why am I still awake edition originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 06 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Categories: WoW News
Around Azeroth: Fishing for trouble
Tauren shaman Shocktopus, of our very own <It Came From The Blog> on Zangarmarsh, has already managed to explore the entire world at only level 14. But low-level exploring can lead to unwanted attention from the local wildlife. Looks like his new title is about to be "Thresher Food Shocktopus."
Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!
Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, Val'kyr on mounts, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran. Older screenshots can be found here.
Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!
Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, Val'kyr on mounts, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran. Older screenshots can be found here.
Gallery: Around Azeroth
Filed under: Around Azeroth
Around Azeroth: Fishing for trouble originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 06 Feb 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Categories: WoW News
