Arcane Mage Upgrades - 4.3

Alright, I made this one for Artii so I figure I'll share it, but it could be pretty wrong. I don't know nearly as much about mages. This is based on Ask. Mr. Robot's stat-weights, being Mastery > Crit > Haste. It feels like it should be right though! Again, at work, so I'll throw up drop locations in a few hours.

Helm - Time Lord's Hood if at hit cap, Hood of Hidden Flesh otherwise
Shoulders - Time Lord's Mantle
Chest - Time Lord's Robes
Waist - Cord of the Slain Champion
Legs - Time Lord's Leggings
Feet - Janglespur Jackboots if at hit cap, Kavan's Forsaken Treads otherwise
Wrist - Bracers of Unconquered Power
Hands - Gloves of Liquid Smoke
Neck - Opal of the Secret Order
Rings - Infinite Loop, Ring of the Riven if at hit cap, Seal of the Grand Architect otherwise
Cloak - Nanoprecise Cape
Wand - Finger of Zon'ozz if at hit cap, Hungermouth Wand otherwise
Weapon - Ti'tahk, the Steps of Time (actually Dragonwrath)
Trinkets - Will of Unbinding, Insignia of the Corrupted Mind, Bottled Wishes, Cunning of the Cruel,

Hunter Upgrades - 4.3

This is a much shorter list as I'm at work, but I'll update with the full list of drops and all items again when I get home. Either way, these will be best-in-slot items for hunters. The trinkets are untested, but Wrath of Unchaining will undoubtedly be #1, and it's a race for #2 between the remaining three trinkets.

Helm - Wyrmstalker's Headguard
Shoulders - Wyrmstalker's Spaulders
Chest - Wyrmstalker's Tunic
Waist - Belt of the Beloved Companion
Legs - Wyrmstalker's Legguards
Feet - Treads of Dormant Dreams
Wrist - Bracers of the Hunter-Killer
Gloves - Sporebeard Gauntlets
Neck - Cameo of Terrible Memories
Rings - Signet of Grasping Mouths, Emergency Descent Loop
Cloak - Batwing Cloak
Weapon - Kiril, Fury of Beasts
Ranged - Vishanka, Jaws of the Earth
Trinkets - Wrath of Unchaining, Starcatcher Compass, Kiroptyric Sigil, Vial of Shadows

Feral Tanking Upgrades - 4.3

So I made this list for myself today, and thought I'd share it with the world. First is a list of each boss in Dragon Soul and what items they drop for a feral bear, followed by the best-in-slots for each of our openings. This list is intended for Normal modes, though of course the heroic equivalents will be better.

All bosses - Seal of Primordial Shadow (ring), Signet of Grasping Mouths (ring), Vial of Shadows (trinket), Indomitable Pride (trinket), Soulshifter Vortex (trinket)

Morchok - Underdweller's Spaulders (shoulder)

Warlord Zon'ozz - T13 Gloves, Belt of Flayed Skin

Yor'sahj the Unsleeping - T13 Legs, Spire of Coagulated Globules (staff), Interrogator's Bloody Footpads (feet)

Hagara the Stormbinder - T13 Shoulders

Ultraxion - T13 Chest

Warmaster Blackhorn - T13 Helm, Shadow Wing Armbands (wrist)

Spine of Deathwing - Molten Blood Footpads (feet), Wrath of Unchaining, Resolve of Undying

Madness of Deathwing - Kiril, Fury of Beasts (polearm)

VP:

Cameo of Terrible Memories (neck) - 1250 VP

Ripfang Relic - 700 VP

Batwing Cloak - 1250 VP

BiS List:

Helm - Nocturnal Gaze

Shoulders - Deep Earth Spaulders

Chest - Deep Earth Raiment

Waist - Belt of Flayed Skin

Legs - Deep Earth Legguards

Boots - Molten Blood Footpads

Wrist - Bladeshadow Wristguards (LW)

Gloves - Deep Earth Grips

Neck - Cameo of Terrible Memories

Rings - Seal of Primordial Shadow, Emergency Descent Loop

Trinkets - Resolve of Undying, Wrath of Unchaining (though untested, this is just personal opinion)

Cloak - Batwing Cloak (actually heroic Dreadfire Drape from Rhyolith)

Relic - Ripfang Relic

Weapon - Kiril, Fury of Beasts

Shroud for birthday boy

May your day be filled with hugs, kisses and birthday wishes
May your birthday not be forgotten
And that you be spoiled rotten
But most of all today is your birthday, so hip hip hooray!

[Shroud of Dark Memories]

4.3 Heroic Dungeon Guides – Hour of Twilight

The second of the three new heroic dungeons, Hour of Twilight, is now available on the PTR for testing. I had the chance to run it a couple times last night, and it’s a fairly enjoyable experience. Oddly, it actually takes place storyline-wise after the Well of Eternity instance, which is yet to be made available (and the one I’ve been looking most forward to), so the timeline is a bit mucked if you go straight from End Time to Hour of Twilight. Either way, the story behind Hour of Twilight is fairly straight forward – Thrall has recovered the fabled Dragon Soul, and is now heading back to Wyrmrest Temple in Dragonblight to rendezvous with the Red, Blue, Green, and Bronze dragonflights. The Twilight’s Hammer is doing all they can to stop him, and you and four friends must accompany Thrall on his treacherous journey through the frozen tundra.

Wyrmrest Temple, with influence by the Old Gods

Caution: Full spoilers are ahead of this point, so stop now if you don’t want anything ruined.

Just like End Time, Hour of Twilight is a three-boss instance. The bosses are always the same, so you’ll always know just what to expect going in here. Before I get to them, however, I’d like to point out that the instance won’t start until you speak to Thrall, and he will lead the way. If you get ahead of Thrall, you’ll be left out of the action, or jumped and attacked early. Stay a few feet behind Thrall, and attack trash as it spawns – no need to rush, everything is scripted. Now, the three bosses are Arcurion, recently renamed assassin Asira Dawnslayer, and a familiar face to many Alliance players, Archbishop Benedictus. Again, I feel like all three could use a buff, but I’m fairly overgeared for the instance, and that’s not what this article is about anyway. You all want strategy.

Arcurion – Arcurion is an ascended water elemental, and is a fairly straightforward fight. The battle takes place in an open area surrounded by cliffs, and when the battle begins Arcurion will summon other elementals (the same ones you’ve been killing leading up to him) to fight from the tops of those cliffs. They just throw down large ice spears, which will show as the traditional blue rune-circle before they land. Just step out if you’re in one and you’ll be fine. As the fight lasts longer and longer, the rate at which the spears are thrown will increase, so try not to take too long killing him. A note to healers, though – Arcurion will also cast Chains of Frost, which simply roots players in place. Dispel this asap so people can move out of the ice boulders. His other mechanic is an ice trap, but is not used against players. Arcurion freezes Thrall, and DPS must stop on the boss to break the World Shaman from his new icy prison. Finally, he enrages at 30% health and does a lot of frost AoE damage, so make sure to save your cooldowns until then. At that point, just continue to focus the boss and watch your feet and he should be dead in no time.

Asira Dawnslayer – Asira is a fun fight. She’s a blood elf rogue, and uses abilities that really feel like an assassin’s. The first is called Mark of Silence. This ability doesn’t actually silence, but as soon as whoever has the mark casts a spell, Asira throws a blade at said person. It will hit the first person it comes in contact with for a bit of damage, and if it hits the person with the Mark, it will also silence for two and a half seconds. Her second ability is called Choking Smoke Bomb. She unleashes a large smoky circle, and you cannot target into or out of it, and anyone inside takes 5000 damage every second. Just kite her out of it asap. They last a while and as the fight goes on there will be more and more, so ranged will have to watch their position to make sure the cloud doesn’t take them out of line of sight. Her only other ability isn’t used unless she gets low on health, and is called Blade Barrier. Any single attack that does less than 30,000 damage will be reduced to 1 damage, but any attack above 30,000 will break her barrier. Save big hits for this point. Once it breaks, she puts up a weaker, identical barrier for 25,000 damage, but the strategy is the same. A sidenote here – Thrall will be casting totems here called Rising Fire totems. Stand in them. They give you additional health and damage, and will help break that Blade Barrier at the end of the fight.

Archbishop Benedictus – Yes, the leader of the Church of the Holy Light in Stormwind City is a dirty, two-faced traitor. The Twilight Father himself is the last encounter in Hour of Twilight, and it takes place right in the middle of Wyrmrest Temple (for anyone that raided during Wrath, it actually takes place on the platform where the summoning stone is for the Obsidian and Ruby Sanctum raids). Benedictus has two phases, but they are more or less the same. The first phase is from 100-60% health and the second is the remainder of his life. He retains the same mechanics from phase 1 to phase 2 and they do the same amount of damage – the only thing that changes are the names and colors of his abilities. First, Benedictus will cast Righteous/Twilight Shear (Righteous in phase 1, Twilight in phase 2). It just damages anyone within 10 yards of the target and stacks, so everyone should be spread out at least 10 yards at all times. The second ability is called Purifying Light/Corrupting Twilight. In each instance, he summons three large orbs above his head, and periodically sends them out to attack players. If hit, they do 80,000 damage, so make sure to watch them and dodge if you get targeted. The final ability is Wave of Virtue/Twilight, and is just a wave mechanic. This is the only mechanic that changes between phases. In phase one, the wave covers the entire platform, and Thrall puts a protective bubble up somewhere that players must get in to avoid being hit. In phase two, there will be an opening in the wave somewhere, so just look for the hole.

If I had to rank them, I would put Asira as the most difficult of the three, followed by Benedictus, and lastly Arcurion. Either way, I found all three fairly easy. With a decent group and these strategies, you should have the Twilight Father regretting his betrayal quite quickly.

Janitorial crew unknowingly clears Firelands

STORMWIND--A cleaning crew hired to service the Firelands has unknowingly destroyed almost all the denizens of the Firelands, including major leaders of the realm.

"We are sorry," said 56-year-old Hector Fontaine, PR representative for Moss Contractors. "We have a strict policies against murdering people in their own homes, and we will make sure all our employees are aware of them in the future."

A raging Ragnaros demanded compensation for what he deemed "outrageously irresponsible behavior" of the cleaning service since the week of September 20th. "They kill my lieutenants and advisors, and even sprayed me in the face with hydrochloric acid. Do you know how much that shit burns?"

When reminded that he himself is a being of pure fire, Ragnaros promptly engulfed the interviewer in flames and demanded recompense of a thousand trees burned to the ground.

4.3 Heroic Dungeon Guides – End Time

Howdy folks! Seeing as how I don’t think anyone has written any strategy guides for the new 4.3 5-man dungeon End Time, I’ve decided to do it myself. It’s a fairly straightforward instance, and all of the fights minus Jaina are really well done. A few could use some buffing, but hey, that’s just my nitpicking.

The instance takes place in Dragonblight in a future where Deathwing defeats the denizens of Azeroth. However, it turns out he isn’t all-powerful and was only a tool being used by the Old Gods. His body is skewered upon the remains of Wyrmrest Temple, and it is up to you to stop such a future from ever coming to fruition.

So, is Skewered Deathwing going to be replacing my Skewered Eel for my buff food?

There are a total of five boss fights in this instance, but you only actually engage three of them per instance; the last boss is always Murozond, but the first two are a random choice of the remaining four familiar faces – Jaina Proudmoore, Sylvanas Windrunner, Baine Bloodhoof, and Tyrande Whisperwind. Each takes place at a different dragonshrine; Jaina at the Azure Dragonshrine; Sylvanas at the Ruby Dragonshrine; Baine at the Obsidian Dragonshrine; Tyrande at the Emerald Dragonshrine. There’s a bit of trash before each, but the only trash that is really “difficult” is Tyrande’s. The Dragonshrine is enshrouded in darkness, and all mobs take 90% reduced damage while in the dark. Luckily, beacons of light appear one at a time in a counter-clockwise circle around the Shrine. It’s basically just a gauntlet. Round up the adds, pull them into the light, aoe, rinse and repeat.

Now, on to the actual boss strategies! I’ve listed them here in the order I believe is most to least difficult. And yes, Murozond is absolutely the easiest boss in here.

Sylvanas – Attack her, don’t stand in black. When she goes up into the air and becomes immune, a bunch of ghouls spawn around her and are all attached with a purple beam. Everyone needs to focus one of the ghouls down asap to break the beam and get out. Leave the beam successfully, rinse and repeat.

Tyrande – Melee should stand on the rock with her, and it’s a tank’n'spank for them. Healers and ranged, on the other hand, have a few things to watch for. She shoots blue lines on the ground, don’t stand in those. Second, there are eyeballs that spawn around 75%, just stay 6 yards away from them. She gets slightly stronger at 80%, 55%, and around 25 or 30% she summons stars to fall. Just don’t touch those and you’re golden.

Baine – There are 4 platforms in this fight. Everyone should start the encounter on Baine’s platform, but stay spread out. He’ll target one person with a hammer, which will knock back; no big deal (if you can line yourself up so that you are in a direct line from Baine to the platform behind you, it may be possible to be knocked onto it rather than the lava. I’ve never tried though). You can pick the hammer back up though and throw it back at him for a bunch of damage and a stun. He’ll also periodically target a player and destroy the platform they are standing on – when that happens, just abandon ship and head to another platform.

Jaina – Interrupt the Frostbolt Volleys to help healers out. Otherwise, ranged/heals should just walk onto the fire traps she puts down asap. That’s it. Very, very easy fight, and definitely needs a buff of some sort.

Murozond – As with all dragons, he breathes all kinds of fire, so tanks should face him away. A large hourglass appears in roughly the center of the area. Designate somebody to click it about 5-10 seconds into the fight (so everyone can hit all their cooldowns) and then again every 20%. Stay out of the bubbles he puts on the ground and the subsequent explosions that pop out of them, and remember to re-hit all your CDs every time the hourglass gets used. Another really easy fight that could use some buffing, but the mechanics are awesome.

Transmogrification: The 11 Best-Looking Tier Sets

As many of you know, Top 10 lists are for cowards. Due to the fact that I am not a coward, any time I make a list like this, I always make sure to go to 11. Transmogrification is heavy on every WoW player’s mind right now, and I’ve decided to showcase what I believe to be the best of the best tier sets. If you play one of the classes listed below, you won’t find better than what’s on this list, so when patch 4.3 drops you’d better have the gear listed here. Of course, Blizzard has released most of the Tier 13 previews already, and they look amazing so far, so this will all be a moot point when 4.3 hits if Tier 13 is better than anything listed here. Finally, I’ve only included sets that are currently attainable in-game and are farmable (that means no T3, T11, or T12).

11. Rogue Tier 5 – Deathmantle: As cool as this set is, it’s the worst of the best. There are a lot of great rogue options available out there that were very close to making this list as well. Basically all of BC was fantastic to our sneaky friends, so you’re safe to bring out any armor from Tiers 4 through 6.

10. Priest Tier 5 – Avatar: This is one of those ones that’s going to be moot once 4.3 hits, because the new Tier 13 set is amazing. Like, drop-to-the-floor-drooling amazing. However, until you fill that Tier 13 set, this should be top of your priest’s list.

9. Hunter Tier 10 – Ahn’Kahar: So many spikes, so little time. I’m actually currently transmogged to this set on the PTR (well, the sanctified version of it – get this version if you can. The color scheme is way better). Brings me back to the good ol’ days, fighting Arthas, not taking shit from nobody… Good times.

8. Mage Tier 6 – Tempest: I was really, really torn on this one. It was very close between Tier 6 and Tier 2, but I went with the Tempest set. It’s gorgeous and really shows off what a mage is. Especially gorgeous on a draenei (as seen in the picture) or a gnome.

7. Warrior Tier 4 – Warbringer: One of the few Tier sets I really enjoyed out of Karazhan, and definitely the Warrior’s strongest. It boasts the strength of an ant in the body of a (insert race here), and it’s just terrifyingly powerful.

6. Paladin Tier 5 – Crystalforge: A lot of people are going to be rocking Judgement. And by that, I mean basically every Paladin in existence. It’s a nice set, but in my eyes it can’t hold a candle to the efflorescent purple glow of Crystalforge. Pick this set up if you want to look different than all the other Paladins.

5. Death Knight Tier 10 – Scourgelord: Just like how Paladins will be wearing Judgement everywhere, Death Knights will assuredly be wearing their starter set (either the blue or the green one, or even parts of both). Tier 10 is the Death Knight’s strongest tier set for sure, but I’d have to agree with the masses on this one – the starter set is superior.

4. Warlock Tier 2 – Nemesis: Another tough choice between Tier 2 and Tier 6, but I went with Tier 2 on this one. Malefic will be very frequently sported, while Nemesis just screams classic Warlock. Other very viable choices would be all of Burning Crusade’s tiers – like the Rogues, Warlocks received lots of love during WoW’s first expansion.

3. Shaman Tier 10 – Frost Witch: This set is awesome for two reasons. One, you’re wearing the skull of a poor boar on your face, and two, the shoulders. Although seemingly simple and basically hand-crafted (which just oozes shamanism), twin stags periodically proc from each shoulder in a beautiful, ghostly, luminescent aura of awesome. Everyone knows Warlocks for their Malefic armor’s giant wing proc, but to me, the Shaman’s Tier 10 is just much more elegant and peaceful; much more Shaman.

2. Druid Tier 7 – Valorous Dreamwalker: An update of druid’s Tier 3 set, and it’s just perfect. Everything about this set is gorgeous and just wonderful. However, that only applies to the 25-man Valorous version. The 10-man ugly purple-red version sucks, so don’t bother with that nonsense. 25-man or bust!

And the #1 best set in the game is!

1. Hunter Tier 2 – Dragonstalker: It is humorous by what a wide margin Dragonstalker won this little contest. It wasn’t even close. All the other sets combined don’t match the epicness of this set. Oh, hey there shaman, you’ve got some cool stags? I’ve got DRAGON FACES. Not scales. Not teeth or claws. Their whole damn faces. Three of them. If that doesn’t equate to a badass hunter, I don’t know what does.

Calvo obtains stick; Ragnaros missing

FIRELANDS—Autumn Sun junior officer Calvo received the coveted Branch of Nordrassil this past Tuesday.

"He earned it," said Ceipher, Calvo's senior officer. "I can't think of anyone that works harder at riding the backs of his fellow teammates."

The beautifully decorated wooden rod was recovered with a massive effort from Calvo's guild, spanning weeks of effort that will no doubt be taken for granted by the entitled gnome mage.

Witnesses at the scene described Calvo as "bald" and "efflorescent".

"I can't wait to get started on the next part!" said the elementalist, ignoring the audible groans from his raiding team in the background. "My favorite part of getting it was when I got it!"

-

In other news, the Firelord Ragnaros has been reported missing from his infernal abode in Sulfuron Keep. The whereabouts of the Father of Flame are currently unknown, but the police suspect a mature, friendly guild with 6 bank tabs. Any new information should be reported to PSI Investigators.

Feral Tank Stats and Reforging:

There are two schools of thought in terms of reforging as a feral tank. Depending which side of the coin you choose, the stat priority will change. You could reforge for Dodge or for Mastery/Crit. Dodge is generally considered the way to go as a starting tank, until your gear gets slightly better. Reforging for Mastery/Crit will help your Savage Defense shield grow, lowering spike damage. Plus it has the added bonus of allowing you to do a little more damage in cat form. The stat priorities are as follows:

Dodge Tank:

Agility > Stamina > Dodge > Mastery > Crit > Hit (up to 8%) = Expertise (up to 26 rating) > Haste

Mastery/Crit Tank:

Agility > Stamina > Mastery > Crit > Dodge > Hit (up to 8%) = Expertise (up to 26 rating) > Haste

Stat Breakdown:

Agility – Our go-to stat. Agility grants Attack Power, Crit, and Dodge. The former two will increase threat, while Dodge increases your survivability. Agility is the only stat that does both, and is easily our most valued stat.

Stamina – Higher stamina means higher health pools, and it scales wit Vengeance. The general thought with Stamina is to get enough of it to survive, and then enchant for agility.Dodge – Fittingly, increases your chance to dodge. It is the best secondary stat for a dodge tank, and scales incredibly well with feral tanks.

Mastery – Another amazing secondary stat, mastery will increase the amount your Savage Defense shield can absorb.

Crit – Obviously increases your chance to critically hit, but Savage Defense procs from critical strikes. The more crit you have, the more often you’ll have Savage Defense up.

Expertise and Hit Cap – Expertise reduces your chance to be dodged and parried, while hit reduces your chance to miss. These are the best stats for threat generation, which is generally a non-issue for bear tanks currently. However, if you seem to have problems holding aggro, reforge into this.

Haste – Increases threat generation, but not nearly as much as Hit or Expertise. Always a bear’s worst secondary stat.

Reforging:

Situation 1 – Threat:

If threat is ever an issue, put hit and expertise at the top of the stat priority. Reforge out of haste and crit, and into expertise or hit. With the new threat changes in 4.2, this should almost never occur, except in the rarest cases.

Situation 2 – Dodge Tank:

If you are a newer bear tank, I recommend reforging into dodge. Threat should not be a concern, so you should reforge out of haste, expertise, hit rating, and even crit where possible and into dodge. Do not, however, reforge out of Mastery. Even as a dodge tank, mastery is a valuable stat.

Situation 3 – Mastery/Crit Tank:

This is my current build, and I recommend it to most tanks. It gives great survivability with less spike damage, and gives a bit more damage if/when you switch to cat form. You’ll want to stack Mastery and, to a lesser extent, Crit. Reforge out of Haste, Expertise, and Hit Rating. Dodge is still a very worthwhile stat, so only reforge out of it if you have no other option.

Transmogrification: The Best Looking Hunter Weapons

There was an excellent post over on the Warcraft Hunters Union the other day, showing all the hunter tier sets and how awesome most of them are. That led me to thinking, "Alright, sure, those are some sweet sets. But what about all the weapons that go with them?". So, naturally, I spent a few hours looking through wowhead to find the best looking ranged weapons, staves, and polearms in the game.

Yes, this list is fully my own opinion, and I welcome you to find your own, but these are awesome models. Also, there's no way in hell I'm doing this for all the weapons - just finding bows, crossbows, guns, polearms, and staves sucked enough. Obviously, if you're playing a non-hunter, you're wrong anyway so this list should apply to the vast majority. I'm only looking at gear that is currently attainable (so don't ask where Rhok'delar is. Also,) and is not from any Cataclysm raids. I didn't even look at the PvP gear, but that's a small list you can narrow down for yourselves.

Guns

Blunderbuss of Khaz Modan - If you're a dwarf, I'll make this easy for you. This is your ranged weapon. Stop reading. You can skip right ahead to polearms and staves, if you want. Ignore the rest of the ranged weapons, because you've found yours. It can be yours from the Argent Tournament in Icecrown for 25 Champion's Marks.

Wolfslayer Sniper Rifle - It may just be my fondness for my favourite raid of all time, but this lovely little gun from The Big Bad Wolf event in Karazhan is just awesome. It's especially awesome on a Worgen hunter, who is apparently hunting himself.

Dragonbreath Hand Cannon - It's a little bit nonsensical, sure, but it goes really well with our Tier 2 set, Dragonstalker. It drops off Ebonroc in Blackwing Lair, which you'll be farming for the Tier 2 set anyway, so keep your eye open for this portal dragon.

Wrathfire Hand-Cannon - Yes, another cannon, but this one has FIVE BARRELS. Five. That's like four more than most guns. This thing is roughly five times more awesome than every other blue. A pretty easy grind in Shadow Labs, this bad boy drops off Grandmaster Vorpil.

Bows

Heartstriker - Another solid addition to Tier 2 if you're some girly elf-like creature that doesn't use a gun like a real hunter. Also drops in Blackwing Lair, so it's easy to farm while you're picking up your Dragonstalker set.

Zod's Repeating Longbow - It was one of my favourite models ever in the Icecrown days, and it still is. I generally hate using non-guns, but I was fine toting this bad boy around for 8 months. Drops in Icecrown Citadel, from Lady Deathwhisper on 25-man only.

Bristleblitz Striker - Not the easiest bow to farm, but damn is it nice. Drops off Archimonde in the Battle for Mount Hyjal. You'll probably need a group of at least 1 or 2 friends, but when you get to hold Archimonde's face in your hands, you'll see it's worth it.

Golden Bow of Quel'Thalas - Another gorgeous bow that is probably un-soloable, it drops off the Eredar Twins in Sunwell Plateau. If I ever decide to transmogrify into a bow (very unlikely, as guns are clearly the superior choice), it will probably be this one.

Thor'idal, the Sun's Fury - How good was Burning Crusade to bow models? I mean, come on! Beastly back in the days of ammo and still gorgeous today, Kil'jaeden himself is the man who drops this, at a mere 5% drop rate. Of course, Blizzard has said you can't mog from or into legendaries, but you never know...

Crossbows

Steelhawk Crossbow - Another entry from Karazhan and the first crossbow I remember seeing and really saying "wow...". A very easy-to-solo weapon that drops off Attumen/Midnight. Hey, you may even get to bring Midnight home with you. It's win-win either way.

Stoneshatter - Alright, I lied about the Hand-Cannon being the only blue item. I had to add Stoneshatter. It's freaking hilarious. The only one-handed crossbow in the game (that I can think of, anyway. Anyone know of others?), it is just unbelievably tiny. Makes me laugh every time. Drops from Prince Tortheldrin in Dire Maul.

Polearms

Black Ice - I'm sure it's not the most popular model, but something about this giant black stick thing stuck with me. It drops from the 10-man version of Malygos, which is technically soloable, but the lowest I've been able to reach is 14% before he enrages. Good luck if you try for yourself!

Hellreaver - A very different model, especially if you're sick of polearms. This thing is a straight up sword. Not just a regular sword, but a cool-looking one, like the kinds you see in animes that are obviously way too big for whoever is holding them. Drops from Nazan in regular Hellfire Ramparts (and ONLY in regular, non-heroic mode).

Shadowstrike - It's a trident. That's awesome. I have nothing more to say, other than it drops off Sulfuron Harbringer in the Molten Core.

Blackhand Doomsaw - Again, if you're sick of polarms, here's a sword. It's pretty damn cool-looking, but not nearly as cool as other swords nowadays. It drops from Warchief Rend Blackhand in Blackrock Spire.

Staves (yes, it's staves, not staffs)

Terestian's Stranglestaff - The second I read about transmogrification, I went to Karazhan and grabbed this staff off Terestian Illhoof. It is an amazing green octopus on top of a staff. This was another one of my first "whoah..." items, and is for sure what I'll be using on top of a staff. The same model has been used since, but the green is best for hunters, in my opinion.

Zhar'doom, Greatstaff of the Devourer - If for no other reason than to piss of Warlocks that don't have this staff. I'm sure lots of players will have this thing, so don't expect to be an individual if you have it. It drops off Illidan in Black Temple

Abracadaver - Another spell power staff, I really like this model. It drops from Festergut in 10-man, normal mode Icecrown Citadel.

Journey's End - Animal-themed, which makes it hunter themed. I remember rocking this stag back in Naxxramas. I felt so special... Anyway, it drops in 25-man Naxx, off Kel'Thuzad.

This is a very short list. There are literally thousands of models you can pick and choose from. I recommend hitting up wowhead to search for the one you personally enjoy, but these are my favourites. Feel free to add your own in the comments below!

And for those wondering, I intend to have on the Dragonstalker's Set (Tier 2), with the Blunderbuss of Khaz Modan, and either Black Ice or Terestian's Stranglestaff, depending on whether I have a polearm or a staff. Patch 4.3, and transmogrification, cannot come soon enough.

So You Wanna Play WoW Part 2 - Now That You're Addicted

I was on the fence about writing this article. Yes, WoW is awesome, and I enjoy bringing more people into the fold, but there are umpteen blogs and articles already on the interwebs about this very subject – what’s one more? However, my original post from last week has seen huge traffic, and is already climbing to the top spot for most viewed article, so I decided to follow it up. By now, you’ll have chosen your faction, race, class, and probably even quested a bit. Chances are high you’ve reached a main city, and have read all kinds of nonsense like “LF2M BD need GS 7500+ pst with spec” or other such jibberish. You may have run into a trainer who wants to teach you alchemy, skinning, mining, herbalism, or a plethora of other professions. That’s what I’m here for. Keep reading after the cut for tips on all kinds of things that aren’t questing or leveling related, just in case you get sick of the grind.

Reaching that level cap is a fun goal. It’s a ton of fun. It’s the main reason most people play WoW, because that’s when the real fun of the game begins; gearing up, learning raids, organizing groups of people to bring down the baddest of the bad. But it can be an awfully long, drawn out grind to get there. Professions are a fantastic way to ease that grind, and a whole subset of goals and achievements open up when you choose a couple professions. Any character can have 2 professions, as well as four secondary professions. The main professions are broken into two categories – gathering and crafting. Gathering professions are useful for gathering materials the other professions need, and are a great way to make money. Picking up two gathering professions will let you put all the materials you’ve gathered onto the auction house for 100% profit, but you’ll need to ask other people for help getting some of the better crafted items. Crafting professions take the materials from gathering professions (usually) and build things with them, whether they are armor, weapons, gems, mounts, or many other things. Taking two crafting professions ensures you’ll have access to some of the game’s best items and bonuses, but it will be expensive to level them, since you’ll need to buy all your materials off the auction house. The gathering professions are:

-Herbalism: See those flowers on the ground? Aren’t they pretty? Pick them up and put them in your bags.
-Mining: Use your pickaxe to smash all the minerals you see to bits, collecting the ore in the process.
-Skinning: Step 1 – Kill bad guys. Step 2 – Tear off their flesh. Step 3 – Profit.

On top of these gathering professions, there are eight crafting professions:

-Alchemy: An alchemist will use herbalism to gather herbs from across Azeroth, and create potions and elixirs to help strengthen their allies, as well as themselves.
-Blacksmithing: Blacksmiths use the ores they get from mining to create mail and plate armor, as well as weapons, keys, shield spikes, and belt buckles. They can also socket one-handed weapons, bracers, and gloves with gems, which are found on higher level items.
-Enchanting: Enchanters extract magical dust and essences from uncommon, rare, and epic items to enchant different attributes and bonuses to armor and weapons. Enchanting doesn’t use any gathering professions, but destroys some of those pesky green items you’ll undoubtedly run into in your journeys.
-Engineering: By far the zaniest of the professions, and one of the most fun. Use your mining skill to collect ore to build guns, trinkets, add zappers to your gloves, bombs, motorcycles, helicopters, parachutes, and a ton of other items. Though not as profitable as other professions, it is widely considered one of the most fun.
-Inscription: The newest primary profession, scribes will use herbs they gather to create pigments and ink, which in turn create glyphs for every class. This is a hugely profitable profession, since many glyphs sell at over 100g each, and at higher levels you can create Darkmoon Cards, which can lead to some of the best trinkets in the game.
-Jewelcrafting: Prospect through the ore you’ve collected to find different raw gems, then craft those into gems with many different attribute bonuses which can be socketed on higher level gear. You can also create necklaces and rings, and jewelcrafter-exclusive gems remain some of the most powerful item enhancements in the game.
-Leatherworking: Finally, a use for all those skins you’ve been collecting! Leatherworkers can craft leather and mail armor, different bags, and different cloaks. A very strong profession for a rogue, druid, or hunter, and profitable to sell high level items on the auction house.
-Tailoring: The last of the primary professions, and the second one that doesn’t require a gathering profession (and so pairs quite well with enchanting). Tailors use cloth found on many different mobs in the game, such as Linen, Wool, Silk, and so on, to craft cloth armor, bags, an exclusive Magic Carpet mount, threads, and much more. A great profession for any cloth-wearer.

You can always pick a profession, realize you don’t like it, and unlearn it to train in something else at any time. But be wary – doing this will cause you to completely forget everything about the profession you originally chose! Professions are a ton of fun to level, and often give great bonuses at the end of the game.

In addition to choosing two of the above professions, you may opt into choosing none, some, or all of the four secondary professions. Any character can learn them at any time, and they give strong bonuses to all classes. They are:

-Archaeology: The newest profession, archaeology is not something I’d recommend seriously trying until you are at least level 60 and can fly. It’s fairly complex and I may do a “How To” article on it at a later date, but until you can fly, it’s really not worth picking up. Note: Archaeology is incredibly addicting and gives some of the most fun bonus items in the game, and is definitely worth grabbing once you have a flying mount.
-Cooking: Using different meats found off the many creatures you’re sure to slaughter, you can add strong “Well Fed” buffs to your character to increase strength, agility, intellect, stamina, or other stats.
-First Aid: If you are a class that has no healing spells (i.e. Death Knight, Hunter, Mage, Rogue, Warlock, or Warrior), it may server you well to pick up First Aid. You use the same cloth as a tailor would to create bandages and anti-poisons, which heal you much more quickly than the traditional way of just eating. Still, First Aid is largely outdated and in serious need of an overhaul.
-Fishing: Quite simply, throw your lure into the water, pull out a fish. Pairs very well with cooking, as you can use all the fish you’ve collected to cook and eat.

Honestly, I generally don’t pick up any secondary professions, or at least not until I’m max level and have nothing else to do. They’re all huge time sinks with little to no benefit. The exception is archaeology. I mean, it is still a huge time sink with little to no benefit, but it is fun flying to different sites and digging up treasure. It also has a lot of extra flavour and lore behind it.

That having been said, primary professions are one of the best ways to make money while leveling, and can provide some of the best end-game bonuses around. I highly recommend picking up two as soon as you can, and if you just want cash, pick up two gathering professions (I like herbalism/mining as a combination, but any two of the three will work). Otherwise, try getting one of the Gathering/Crafting pairings above.

Another facet of WoW is the fact that everything has an abbreviation. There’s no way I’ll be able to think of them all here, but I’ll try to list as many as I can so that when somebody says something in trade chat you don’t quite understand, you can just come back here.

LFM - Looking for more, in reference to a dungeon or raid. With the new dungeon finder you don’t see this as often as you used to, but it’s still around.
CC - Crowd control. Any effect that can make an enemy unable to attack is CC. Examples include a mage’s Polymorph, a hunter’s Freezing Trap, a rogue’s Sap, or, one of my favourites and one of the least utilized, a priest’s Mind Control.
GS - Gearscore. Gearscore is an add-on that was created during Wrath of the Lich King, and has been a plague in the world ever since. It calculates a number based on your gear, basically telling anyone very quickly what level of play you’re at. Basically, ignore this until you’ve reached max level.
pst - please send tell. People will usually put this after trying to sell or buy something in trade. It simply means to send a private message, or whisper, to that person if you have the item he is looking for.
spec - Specialization. Simply means what talent tree you are in (for example, a Holy Priest vs. Shadow Priest).
A whole bunch of dungeon abbreviations – there’s a short way to list every dungeon in the game, and I’m not going to list them here, but if you see “LFM *characters*”, those characters are usually just the abbreviation of the dungeon they need more people in.
qq, or QQ – crying or whining. Refers to the fact that Q_Q looks alot like a person with tears coming out of his eyes, and it’s said often to people who can’t deal with a wipe, or a recent change, or something like that. Example:
Player 1 – OMG WTF WHY IS ORE SO DAMN EXPENSIVE!?
Player 2 – qq

I’m sure there are lots I’m missing, but if you see something you don’t know, feel free to ask in the comments! Google is also your friend. Hope this helps you get started! This will probably be my last WoW article for a bit, but I definitely plan to do more in the future. See you in Azeroth!

So You Wanna Play WoW...

It’s no secret I play World of Warcraft. Anyone that knows me will tell you I do, and I’ve stated it many times on this blog. With the launch of Cataclysm, WoW’s latest expansion, more and more of my friends have been asking me how they can get started and for invite codes to test the waters. Frankly, I figured it would be easier to make a simple how-to once on here and never have to worry about talking about it at length again. So, here’s my Beginner’s Guide to the World of Warcraft. I’ll be including descriptions of all the classes, races, factions, roles, and servers so that you can jump in and get started right away. I may do a follow-up to this article if there’s requests for it, including some simple add-ons to get, leveling and questing, and professions. Follow me after the jump for the full write-up.

First off – your server. Yes, WoW has over 12 million currently active subscribers, but that doesn’t mean you can see all 12 million at once. Servers, or “Realms”, are the collection of people you’ll be able to play with. You can only group up with friends if they are on the same realm as you, so if you know somebody that plays WoW and you want to join them, make sure you ask on which realm they play. Changing realms couldn’t be easier – on the character select screen (shown below) simply click the Change Realm button on the top right corner, just underneath your current realm. Once that appears, the list of realms appears. If you know what realm you want to play on, just sort alphabetically and select it. If you’re starting from scratch, however, it’s a little tougher.

Get used to this screen; You'll see it every time you log on.

There are three types of realms; Normal, PvE (player vs. environment), PvP (player vs. player), or RP (roleplay), and realms can have a low, medium, or high population. Only play on an RP realm if you intend to roleplay, and become the character. For most people, the choice will be either PvE or PvP. I highly recommend PvP, as you’ll learn a ton of skills you can’t pick up on a PvE realm, and world PvP is awesome. The main difference between PvE realms and PvP is the fact that on PvP realms, you can, at any time, attack members of the opposing faction (the two factions being horde and alliance). It’s a lot of fun to get into big open-world PvP battles, and learning how to defend yourself against an actual human being is much more difficult to learn on a PvE server. That having been said, PvE is much safer, and a far easier time leveling. If you play on a PvP realm, you’re going to have a tougher time leveling (and believe me, there’ll be times when a level 85 just camps your corpse), but you’ll be a better player once you reach that coveted level cap. One final note – all realms have in-game times based on different time zones, and you can’t see which time zone you’re in until you actually log onto the server. It’s best to try finding a server in the same time zone as you, but not mandatory or even necessary – I play on Illidan, which is 1 hour behind me.

The next thing you’ll need to do is figure out which Faction you want to play for – either the Horde – made up of Orcs, Tauren, Trolls, Forsaken (the undead), Blood Elves (introduced in Burning Crusade, the game’s first expansion), or the newly instated Goblins – or the Alliance – consisting of Humans, Dwarves, Gnomes, Night Elves, Draenei (who came to Azeroth with Burning Crusade as well), or Worgen (who are basically werewolves). In general, and this may not apply to all servers, I have found that Alliance are more friendly but less serious players, while the horde are generally older and more based on winning. I prefer Alliance, and you’ll find a great group of players no matter what side you choose, so take whichever you personally prefer. Another couple notes here – first off, if you have friends that play, you can only join them if you play on their faction. The Horde cannot communicate with the Alliance, and vice versa. Second, if you only have a trial version of the game or haven’t yet upgraded to Cataclysm, you will not be able to pick either Worgen or Goblins, so be wary. I’m pretty sure trials now include Burning Crusade, so you should be able to be Draenei and Blood Elves, but maybe not.

Once you’ve figured out what side you what to fight for, it’s time to figure out your class and role. Not all races can be everything (in fact, no single race can be everything), so figure out what class/role you want before you’ve settled on a race. The three roles are tanks, healers, and dps (or damage per second). Tanks are the meat shields of groups, who stand up to the bosses and take a healthy beating, keeping enemies focused on them so that everyone else can do their own jobs. Tanks are a coveted position, hard to play as, and are often the leaders of groups. Healers, on the other hand, heal tanks back to full health after a proper beating from the bad guys. Whether they use Nature to heal or the Light guides them, their job is to keep the tanks, and everyone else, alive. This leaves dps. Every class in the game can fill the dps role, so if you want to melt the faces off your enemies and watch them fall as quickly as possible, you can’t go wrong with any class.

The Character Creation screen, with a very sexy dwarf hunter (the sexiest combination in Azeroth)

There are nine different classes you can choose from, and although many fill the same roles, how they do so is quite different for each. The classes, in alphabetical order, are:

• Druid – The first of the two true hybrid classes, and the only class in the game that can tank, heal, dps from range, or melee dps. They use powerful nature and arcane based spells, are masters of shapeshifting, and can change forms to fill any role. However, they are one of the hardest classes for a beginner to play as, simply because there are so many options – it can be quite overwhelming.
• Hunter – Hunters are one of four pure dps classes in the game, meaning no matter what you do, you will fill the role of ranged dps. However, hunters are a pet class, and share a bond with their beastial companions that no other class shares. Right from level 1 you’ll have a furry (or scaly) companion to follow you around and help in any way necessary. Hunters are also considered the easiest classes to level, since their pets can act as a second character to help you attack at all times. Two is better than one!
• Mage – masters of fire, frost, and arcane magic, this spell-flinging ranged dps class is the second pure dps class. You’ll use magic to burn, freeze, or blast your enemies into the next dimension. Mages are not only strong at dps, they are well known for their crowd control (or CC) abilities – rather than kill enemies, they can simply turn them into harmless critters to be dealt with later.
• Paladin – the only class other than Druid that is a true hybrid and able to fill all three roles. Protection paladins, with a shield in one hand and a mace in the other, can tank as well as any other class, and are known to be the best multi-target tanks in the game. Holy paladins use their belief in the power of the Light to heal their comrades quickly and efficiently from a safe distance. Retribution paladins wield giant two-handed maces and run head-first into battle, as a powerful melee dps. Any way you shake it, paladins are good at what they do.
• Priest – priests are another hybrid class, but they are more well known to be healers, having two different healing specializations. Holy priests use big and small heals to get heals where they need to be, when they need to be. Discipline priests use shields of light to prevent damage from ever happening. Shadow priests, however, use their shadow magic to turn a shadowy-purple color, and use the spells they’ve learned to deal ranged magical damage. As a side note, priests have one of my favourite spells in the game: Mind Control. This spell gives the priest the ability to control enemies for short periods of time, making former friends destroy them. However, the best use of the spell is on PvP servers, when you can mind control your enemies into jumping straight off a cliff.
• Rogue – the third pure dps class, and by far the sneakiest class in the game. Rogues use shadows and stealth to approach their unaware enemies, and ambush them from behind, wielding two poison-tipped weapons for maximum damage. If you want a melee dps class that is sure to have the jump on any opponent, rogues are absolutely the way to go.
• Shaman – masters of the elements, shaman can heal, as well as dps from both a distance and melee. Elemental shaman use magic given to them by the elements of earth, air, water, and fire to blast their opponents from far. Enhancement shaman use melee weapons infused with the powers of those same elements to deal the damage right to the faces of their enemies. Restoration shaman use the gentle flow of water and nature to heal injured party members, and have one of the strongest multi-heals in the game.
• Warlock – using their control of demons, curses, and dark magic, warlocks are the final pure dps class. A sort of combination of hunters, with their pet control capabilities, and mages, with their long range magic attacks, warlocks use shadow and fire magic to burn and curse their victims. Warlocks use many damage over time spells, or dots, to ensure their enemies a slow, painful demise.
• Warrior – the last hybrid class, able to tank and melee dps. Protection warriors, with sword and shield in hand, soak in all kinds of incoming damage. Arms warriors deal huge damage with slow, hard hitting 2-handed weapons, and use mobility to overcome their opponents. Fury warriors, on the other hand, use berserking attacks and can dual wield two 2-handed weapons for maximum damage.
• The final class, Death Knight, is only available to players who have a level 55 character or higher, so I’ve excluded them from this guide, as it is intended for new players.

And there you have it! A short, simple rundown of every class in the game. Hopefully by now you’ve figured out what class you want to play as, and can make your final choice – your race. Each race has its own racial benefits in the forms of spells, being stronger with different weapons, or resistances. Honestly, I choose to ignore them. Racial bonuses aren’t very big, and in general, I’d rather be something I enjoy looking at, since you could potentially be spending quite literally hundreds of hours with this character. Choose what you like, not what will end up being a 0.01% increase in damage output. The different race/class combinations are as follows:

Druid – Alliance: Night Elf, Worgen
Horde: Tauren, Troll
Hunter – Alliance: Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Draenei, Worgen
Horde: Orc, Undead, Tauren, Troll, Blood Elf, Goblin
Mage – Alliance: Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Gnome, Draenei, Worgen
Horde: Orc, Undead, Troll, Blood Elf, Goblin
Paladin – Alliance: Human, Dwarf, Draenei
Horde: Tauren, Blood Elf
Priest – Alliance: Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Gnome, Draenei, Worgen
Horde: Undead, Tauren, Troll, Blood Elf, Goblin
Rogue – Alliance: Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Gnome, Worgen
Horde: Orc, Undead, Troll, Blood Elf, Goblin
Shaman – Alliance: Dwarf, Draenei
Horde: Orc, Tauren, Troll, Goblin
Warlock – Alliance: Human, Dwarf, Gnome, Worgen
Horde: Orc, Undead, Troll, Blood Elf, Goblin
Warrior – Alliance: Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Gnome, Draenei, Worgen
Horde: Orc, Undead, Tauren, Troll, Blood Elf, Goblin
Death Knights - Alliance: Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Gnome, Draenei, Worgen
Horde: Orc, Undead, Tauren, Troll, Blood Elf, Goblin

One day, you may be staring at the city you've protected countless times, too.

With the advent of Cataclysm, many new race/class combinations opened up, so chances are high you’ll be able to be the race you want with the class you selected (the two that don’t follow this pattern are druids and shaman. You’re pretty stuck with them).

I hope this answered some questions about WoW and helped you get started with your character. Next week I’ll be covering lingo, the different specializations, different professions, and maybe even some simple add-ons, since I had a lot of fun writing this article. The more people playing WoW, the better, imo. For details on what imo stands for, as well as many other abbreviations, come back next week. See you then!