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!