Friday, October 31, 2008

Hallow’s End Ratshag

Ratshag here. I hit things with a really big ax.
I am a really virile orc.
In the World’s End Tavern my virility came up in a discussion with Hydra. Can gnomes cackle? Great googly moogly, it was awfully loud coming from such a small form. Some wimmen you just git to have a beer with.

Sometimes I put on a dwarc costume and hang out with a short little bugger. In this disguise I get a glimpse into shadowy world of darkness (aka Hydra’s world). Here I am shadow word paining with peanut.
I just a simple Orc, so I will let Galertruby tell you more about me virility.
Glaghalahl aggla gahl. Lagaha gahl gahah alahgl. Agrhh glagglha gha ghrallhalha aglh, aglha gallh gahll gahrrallah agglh ahghlagl.

Garahh gallh ga arhhh galahhl. Aghahll garhhr gallha gaah gaarrhl, agh agghal ghallalhah ah gllarh. Gllah gahr allahhgrl GhallaglGah.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Weather-Beaten Fishing Hat

It's finally mine.... Bahahaha. I have been doing the fishing quest everyday that I can since it first became available. I never received that hat or any of the baby croc pets. But with Wrath coming out in two weeks I FINALLY have my hat.

Legend of the Seeker Nov 1, 2008

Legend of the Seeker's first episode airs on November 1, 2008.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Invasion of Void Crystals

..until they remove it.We have been defending Azeroth from the Scourge Invasion. The leather set looks good on my druid and the chest piece would be an upgrade. So we have been farming the rares and elites.

I will not grumble about how much plate and cloth armor has dropped. Why will I not grumble? All the drops that no one can use can be disenchanted into void crystals.

BUT that is not all…

All the gear bought with the Necrotic Runes can also be disenchanted into void crystals. You can buy the purple gloves for 15 Necrotic Runes and get a void crystal.

Four of us went out to increase our reputation with the Argent Dawn. In an hour, Husband and fellow enchanter ended up with over 150 runes each and about six purples split between them. Pretty good for something you can solo farm.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Druid Facts of Life


I figured it was all the mail box dancing. Just not enough time in the day.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Drood Hai DING

First, I go to Maraudon. Long ago did this, but Hydra say tell you since she still never has. So I say HAI to grove spirit horse man.

When I reach 60 seasons I wait for Shammie and Huntard to ketch up in Hellfire. They say "WAAAAIT we skard. We level together. PROTECT US". I say they just like my cute bear and cat butt. It takes all kinds. I do anyway.

I start be bear tank (before 3.0.2 and continue after). I start at 60.
/Y Have BEAR. Need heals.

Hellfire Citadel: Hellfire Ramparts
Hellfire Citadel: The Blood Furnace
Coilfang Reservoir: Slave Pens
Coilfang Reservoir: The Underbog
Auchindoun: Mana-Tombs
Auchindoun: Auchenai Crypts
Auchindoun: Sethekk Halls
Coilfang Reservoir: The Steamvault
Auchindoun: Shadow Labyrinth
Hellfire Citadel: Shattered Halls

Yes I bear. Okay I have help on some cause groupies are meanies. Ugg. maybe bored but still MINE MINE MINE. Stop taking my mobs.

Aggro pulling Shammie needs to run faster. Doggies help sometimes but not always. (He don't know how my name sounds so he call me "Lun Cookie". Which is wrong name starts with and "i". Silly Shammie.)
Proof the One - Shadow Labs:
Proof the next - Ramparts:With update to swipe I get to make mob swirlies.

Mostly I got to have fun playing with lots and lots.

We no do Durnholde Keep yet. It be a long walk to get there. Say faster to kill in other places. But I will bear there too. I get first Kara and second Kara key fragment so we go there too. We will kill Black More-ass. I say so. We can get full key.

I also be helping kill Headless Horsieman. He die lots since he no seem to stay dead. You think we stop talking to pumpkin head. It's funny to see all the fire. I get rings for everything cause all have ones already. I even got a hat I can never wear cause I couldn't leave it there. *sad kitty* But tooth pick is good for kitty so I get happy.

After all this I quickly learned to fly before Aggro Shammie and Slow Hunter. I do just to do and show them I can and they NOT. They be on broom on the ground and I get to be on a broom in the air.



We do quests in Hellfire, Zangarmarsh, and Terokkar Forest. We do ALLLLLL the quest. I get to 70!! I ding by getting candy yummies! Nom Nom Nom.

*Note: I apologize to all that reached this point of the post.

Scourge Invasion

The Scourge Invasion is here.
Hydra at IronforgeIuncusia at StormwindIridium at Orgrimmar

What I go through to blog.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Guild Shirt Available

You can now create and order custom guild shirts from warcraft.swagdog.com. It was fun to play with the interface. I was happy with the ease of the creation screens.Hydra has been in two guilds ever. I know of many people who guild hop. This makes me wonder if you would wear a shirt for a guild that you are no longer in. I also see a lot of guilds with pink bunnies as the crest. May have to think about picking one up.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Maybe, Casual PvPer

Over a year ago I gave you my PvP honor kill counts. Lets update:


ThenNow
Hydrargyrum1447,528
Aurum4,21015,894
Iridium2,8086,785
Selenium1,1131,262
Artume01,869
Moly01,380
And a handful of alts with honor kills under one thousand. Actually every alt had honor kills.

I don’t think of myself as a PvPer.

*glares at the laughing people* Stop that. We can be casual raiders, why not casual PvPers.

Aurum has been on vacation for the last four months. (For those that care, her hair is green now.) Selenium has been relegated to Guild bank toon. She may have to come out of retirement for huntery goodness.

The skills needed in BGs and Arena are different. You can have a lot of success in BGs and none in Arena. I know that just in the 19 and 29 a spec can be faboo in BG and suck in Arena. Many people find the twink brackets as boring. I think they don’t know how to challenge themselves. Even more importantly they are not those that go back and analyze what they did in a fight to make themselves better.

I don’t have the time to put in the effort at max level PvP needed to be any good. Friends tell me that I am good. What I see is that I play for objectives. When I say Tower Point is mine, they know that it will be. When I say that Fel Reaver ruins is mine, it will be one of the lasts to be taken. (If you see me in-game those are the two places I will be. Come say hi.) I will work hard for my team. … which totally pisses off the “Just let them win.” players.

As for Arena, I do it for the fun. As soon as my ret pally friend wanted to try out his OPness in 3.0.2 we hit the rated games. I played Haunt. I played what I call a “squishy lock” and we still won lots of games. We even beat a ret pally/ret pally team! As we climbed higher than 1600 we started going up against Season 4 geared players. That was wild. I still do not understand why our personal rating is lower then team. At the end of the night I was under 1600 personal rating.

I don’t feel like it has changed…
Hydra does not PvP.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Shard it

I have never been in need of Enchanting material, for myself or any of my twinks. What I do is scan the AH and minimum bid on gear to be disenchanted. I laid out how I did this on Iridium over a year ago.I do a lot of my scanning manually. Just glancing though level 65-70 items for minimum bid opportunities. Depending on my needs I still use around three gold or less on my realm.

To get the level 60 enchanting items I search for 55-60 items BUT I sort by item level also. If the item level is below 80 it is something that should give me the lower material. I am always in need of this level of enchanting materials. So if the bid is under seven gold I check out if it is something I need to restock.

Don’t fall for the Twilight Trappings set. The Twilight Cultist Robe, Twilight Cultist Mantle, or Twilight Cultist Cowl do not disenchant.

I try to do this on Sunday and/or Monday after the most people have done dailies and instances. It is really easy to stock up on materials if needed.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Horsie Bahahahaha

Headless Horseman's Night Charger dropped and using my demon lock dice ...To my shock my new horsie is a ground mount AND a flying mount. The Flying Broom drops are also bind on pickup this year. I also picked up the Hallowed Helm. With the lock T5 shoulders, helm, and mount...

I haven't eaten any children
.
..
...
lately.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Husband’s Birthday

So tomorrow is Husband’s birthday. I always ask him “What do you want for your birthday?” As he always tells me “I buy my comics every week. I play WoW. You don’t complain at me about either. You don’t have to give me anything more.” *sigh*

(That is not totally accurate, I complain at him about organizing his comics and not providing me with my comics. I also made an “I don’t want to hear it” rule about being tired when he stays up till 2 AM playing WoW and has to be up at 6 AM. Except that is because he was complaining to me.)

Every year I have this problem. Last year I was brilliant! I mean how can you top off giving a man porn. More porn?

Well this year I am going with the pizza from his favorite pizzeria, Porky’s Pizza, with a great big side of garlic knots. I’m going to make sure his favorite soda is icy cold. If he decides to ignore my shower before WoW rule I will not tell those on vent. *shiver*

*thinks more* I guess I should get him some beer. We have not had that around for a while. Since I am going to the store, maybe some snacks? I have no idea what to get him.

I am hoping I can make it his idea that he wants me to tank more of Hellfire Citadel and start Coilfang Reservoir for his hunter. I tanked Hellfire prior to 3.0.2 with Mangle and I would like to see how Mangle and the new Swipe works together.

We received our heroic keys for Hellfire at level 61. I think we are a bit level impaired for Heroic but we bought our keys anyway. RAWR!

Pet Families for your Existing Twink

If you have been living in a cave let me tell you something. Hunter pets have changed. No more loyalty. No more in the wild ability training. No more loyally points. Yes to reduced experience for pet to level. Yes to pet talent points. To top it off we get two more stable slots.

The result? I need more pets on my hunters.

My hunter focus is PvP... well yea they are Twinks (or twinkish). I battleground with objectives. Arena skirmishes are just to fill in the queue times. So I focus on CC abilities and useful kiting skills. For an existing twink the pet must already be max level, 19 or 29, to be tamed. What choices do I have?

Level 19:
Hunters at level 19 do not get any pet talent points.
  • Serpent - Poison Spit, Cunning
  • Spider – Web, Cunning
  • Wind Serpent – Lightning Breath, Cunning
  • Carrion Bird – Demoralizing Screech, Ferocity
  • Cat – Rake, Ferocity
  • Hyena – Tendon Rip, Ferocity
  • Raptor – Savage Rend, Ferocity
  • Tallstrider – Dust Cloud, Ferocity
Pet families that you would have to level up for 19: Boars, Scorpids, Turtles, Bats, Birds of Pray, Dragonhawks, and Ravagers.

Level 29:
Hunters at level 29 will have three pet talent points.
  • Spider – Web, Cunning
  • Wind Serpent – Lightning Breath, Cunning
  • Cat – Rake, Ferocity
  • Hyena – Tendon Rip, Ferocity
  • Raptor – Savage Rend, Ferocity
  • Bear – Swipe, Tenacity
Pet families that you would have to level up for 29: Boars, Crab, Crocolisk, Scorpids, Turtles, Carrion Bird, Tallstrider, Wolf, Bats, Birds of Pray, Dragonhawks, Ravagers, and Serpent.

Without pet talent points at 19, I feel it is even more important to make sure your pet is at maximum level. As a twink you should show up with the best. It looks like there are not many color options but there is a lot of family options.

At 19 you do get the family special abilities. With prowl as one of the cat abilities, it is not likely a strong choice in WSG with so many other options. I like the possibilities of the Wolves’ Furious Howl now being a raid wide ability. The attack power would benefit every rogue in 45 yard area. Hyenas’ Tendon Rip with the movement speed reduction…maybe fun times.

At 29 you get fewer choices for an existing twink. I already see a lot of Wind Serpents and are still a good choice. Hyenas maybe another great choice here. Raptors’ Savage Rend maybe a great choice for combating those vanishing rogues.

Your choices depend on how you play and if you are in a premade. I enjoy playing my hunters. My goals in BGs are to occupy multiple enemies while a teammate caps and turns flags. Not to kill enemies to come back at full health/mana. So many will argue with my first choices.

...but...Have you ever left a Mage with no mana and under 20% health alive? Good times. *grin*

Have pet slots must fill!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Warcraft Patch Notes 3.0.2

I don't expect anyone to read this post, but the following is some things I care about and thoughts. Full notes are found elsewhere.

General
* All players will have their talent points reimbursed and will have access to new talents throughout their trees; this includes the 51-point talents. Several new spells and abilities have been added for all classes. Players will need to visit their class trainer to learn new spells. //Did they reset the cost to respect too? Or when I change my mind in two days will it be 50G.
* The Kirin Tor have made their move and so has Dalaran. Please watch your step around the crater that has been left behind!
* The Barber Shop has been implemented and you can now visit one of the Barber Shops in the major cities to change your appearance. Be sure to get your Shave and a Haircut!
* The all new Achievement System has been implemented and the Achievement panel can be accessed via the interface. While many achievements are not retroactive, we have done our best to credit as many as possible. Gamemasters will not be able to grant achievements for past accomplishements.
* Stormwind Harbor is now open for business.
* New towers have been added outside Of Orgrimmar and in Tirisfal Glades. Crews are currently at work to establish a new Zeppelin route to Northrend for your travel pleasure. Please no /spit off of the towers. //Horde get a Zeppelin route. That is so OP.
* A new entrance is now viewable in the Caverns of Time.
* Hit Rating, Critical Strike Rating, and Haste Rating now modify both melee attacks and spells. //Everything you knew is now different.
* Spell casting and spell channeling pushback has been changed to the following:
o When casting a spell:
+ The first and second hit will add .5 secs each to the cast time.
+ All hits after the second will have no effect.
o When channeling a spell:
+ The first and second hit reduces current duration by 25% of total duration each.
+ All hits after the second will have no effect.
o Spellpower: //Everything you knew is now different.
+ All items and effects which grant bonuses to spell damage and spell healing are being consolidated into a single stat, Spellpower. This stat will appear with the same values found on items which grant “increased spell damage and healing” such as on typical Mage and Warlock itemization.
# For classes which do not heal, they should see no change in the character sheet other than new tooltip wording.
+ Healing characters will see their bonus healing numbers on the character sheet decrease, however, all healing spells have been modified to receive more benefit from spellpower than they received from bonus healing, with a net effect of no change to the amount healed by their spells. Some talents have had to be rebalanced to accommodate this change, but the amount healed will remain roughly the same. In addition, some talents will provide only healing spell power.

Known Issues

* The current patch notes are incomplete, but will be progressively more comprehensive in each patch. //In other words we don’t remember everything we changed just assume everything you knew is now different.
* All classes are currently undergoing a balancing pass of all talent trees.
* Inscription is not fully implemented and still has non-functioning glyphs.

Druids

//Everything you knew is now different.

Hunters

//Everything you knew is now different.
* Stablemasters can now accommodate two additional pets. //YES!!! Lions, tigers and bears oh my!
* Pets now have their own trees. These can be accessed via the talent panel.
* Arcane Shot: No longer dispels magic effects.
* Aspects now no longer cost mana.
* Every hunter pet can learn Growl, Cower and either Bite or Claw (never both).
* Steady Shot now uses ammo. In result, its bonus damage has been slightly reduced. Players can notice a damage increase based upon what ammo they use.
* Steady Shot: Now has a 2.0 cast time, up from 1.5.
* Surefooted (Survival) now reduces the duration of movement impairing effects by 16/25/50% (instead of resist % chance).
* Wingclip: No longer does damage.
* …so many changes.

Mages

//Everything you knew is now different.

Paladins

//Everything you knew is now different.

Priests

//Everything you knew is now different.

Rogues

//Everything you knew is now different.

Shaman

//Everything you knew is now different.

Warlock

* Aftermath (Destruction) - Now a 2-point talent, down from 5.
* All demon abilities and spells will automatically be learned as pets gain levels. Demon Master trainers will be removed. //No more Tombs!
* Avoidance (Felguard): Now reduces damage taken from area of effect attacks by an additional 80% and is automatically learned for the Succubus, Imp, Voidwalker, and Felhunter at level 10.
* Bane now reduces the cast time of your Haunt spell.
* Blood Pact now works raid-wide (not just in party). //Reinforces raid makeup to only have one Affliction lock. =/
* Cataclysm (Destruction) - Now also increases your chance to hit with Destruction spells by 1% per point.
* Consume Shadows (Voidwalker): Duration reduced to 6 seconds, and effect increased 66%. Now also greatly increases all nearby allies’ stealth detection while channeled.
* Curse of Recklessness will no longer prevent Fear effects, only prevent NPCs from fleeing (e.g. at low health). //*lifts hand* Raise your hand if in PvP you were so excided that you just killed a nub lock that gave you CoR. *misty eyed* Good times.
* Dark Pact: Tooltip updated to be more consistent with other similar effects and now restores 200% mana leeched from your summoned Demon, up from 100%.
* Demon Armor - Now increases healing done by spells and effects by 20%, but no longer has in-combat health regeneration.
* Demon Skin, Demon Armor and Fel Armor are no longer Magic effects and cannot be dispelled. //I thought that was already changed. *shrug*
* Demonic Sacrifice: Succubus effect reduced to 10% increased shadow damage, down from 15%. Imp effect reduced to 10% increased fire damage, down from 15%. Felguard effect now increases Fire and Shadow damage, instead of just Shadow.
* Doomguard: Health increased 20%, mana increased 24%.
* Emberstorm now reduces the cast time of your incinerate by 0.1/0.2/0.3/0.4/0.5 seconds.
* Fel Armor - Now increases your spell damage equal to 30% of your total Spirit, but no longer increases healing done by spells and effects by 20%.
* Felguard: Health increased by 10%.
* Felhunter: Paranoia and Tainted Blood have been replaced with Fel Intelligence and Shadow Bite. //What. No more running paranoia?? But I know there is a rogue over there. What… maybe over here. OMG I am never leaving the CITY!! *rocks herself in a corner*
* Fel Intelligence (Felhunter): Increases total Intellect and Spirit of party and raid members by 3%. Lasts until cancelled.
* Fel Stamina (Demonology) has been merged with Fel Intellect into Fel Vitality.
* Howl of Terror now costs 15% of base mana.
* Infernal: Cooldown reduced to 15 minutes, down from 1 hour. Duration reduced to 1 minute, down from 5 minutes+. Health increased by 30%, damage increased by 60%, and armor increased by 30%. //*presses fingers to forehead* I foresee many good times in Goldshire.
* Imp: Health increased by 20% , Armor increased 16%, mana regeneration increased 200%.
* Improved Curse of Weakness (Affliction) is now "Frailty" - Increases the amount of attack power reduced by your Curse of Weakness spell by 10/20%, and increases the amount of armor reduced by your Curse of Recklessness by 10/20%. //All these spell name changes are going to mess with my macros. Grrrrrr.
* Improved Enslave Demon (Demonology) is now a Tier 5 talent, up from Tier 4.
* Improved Lash of Pain (Destruction) and Improved Firebolt (Destruction) have been merged into one talent, Demonic Power.
* Improved Shadow Bolt (Destruction) - Now increases damage by your next Shadow damage spells by 3/6/9/12/15%, down from 4/8/12/16/20%.
* Mana Feed: Tooltip updated to be more consistent with other similar effects.
* Master Demonologist (Demonology) - Most effects have been altered.
o Master Demonologist – Felguard (Demonology) - Now increases all damage by 1/2/3/4/5%, and reduces all damage done to you by 1/2/3/4/5%.
o Master Demonologist – Imp (Demonology) - Now increases Fire damage by 1/2/3/4/5%, and critical hit chance with Fire spells by 1/2/3/4/5%.
o Master Demonologist – Succubus (Demonology) - Now increases Shadow damage by 1/2/3/4/5%, and critical hit chance with Shadow spells by 1/2/3/4/5%.
* Nether Protection has been reworked. It now has a 10/20/30% chance when you’re hit with a spell to reduce all damage by that spell school by 60% for 10 seconds.
* New Talent: Demonic Empowerment (Demonology) - Grants your Summoned Demon power for a short time.
* New Talent: Eradication (Affliction) - Your Corruption, Siphon Life and Curse of Agony ticks have a 5/10/15% chance to increase your spell haste by 20% for 8 sec. This effect has a 10 second cooldown.
* New Talent: Improved Felhunter (Affliction): Your Felhunter gains mana equal to 50/100% of the damage done by its Shadow Bite ability, and increases the effect of your Felhunter’s Fel Intelligence by 1/2%.
* New Talent: Molten Core (Destruction) - Your Shadow spells and damage over time effects have a 5/10/15% chance to increase the damage of your Fire spells by 10% for 6 sec.
* Pyroclasm (Destruction) - Now also includes Conflagrate.
* Rain of Fire (Doomguard): A bug has been fixed which caused each tick of Rain of Fire to consume its mana cost.
* Ritual of Souls: Charges increased to 25, up from 10. //FINNALLY. Why this was not the case in the first place. No more “Let the tanks get cookies first.” As we know it never happens.
* Shadow Bite (Felhunter): Deals Shadow damage plus an additional 5% Shadow damage over time effect on the target. 6 second cooldown.
* Shadowfury (Destruction) - Can now be cast while moving. Stun duration increased to 3 seconds, up from 2.
* Soul Link (Demonology) is now an 11-point talent (used to be a 31-point talent), but the 5% bonus damage from this talent has been removed. In addition, the damage absorbed by Soul Link is now 15%, down from 20%.
* Soul Siphon (Affliction): Now also increases the damage of your Drain Soul.
* Soulstone now generates a log entry indicating who casted and received a soulstone. //oppies. Now people will know when I SS myself prior to a potential wipe.
* Spell Lock (Felhunter) global cooldown removed.
* Succubus: Health increased by 20%, armor increased 22%. //Will this make her less dainty. I don’t think it changes anything. You still have to Searing Pain first prior to casting Seduce. But you know that already.
* Summon Dreadsteed/Felsteed: Mana cost removed, global cooldown removed.
* Suppression (Affliction) is now a 3-point talent, down from 5. Now increases your chance to hit with Affliction spells by 1/2/3%, down from 1/2/3/4/5%.
* Unstable Affliction (Affliction): Silence effect reduced to 3 seconds, down from 5.
* Voidwalker: Health increased by 20%, Damage increased by 16%. The amount of attack power the Voidwalker gains from its master’s spell damage has been increased by 45%.

Warrior

//Everything you knew is now different.

PvP

* Arenas
o Buffs that have 30 seconds or less remaining will be removed once the game starts. However, the mage spell “Invisibility” is not affected by this change.

Professions

* New Profession: Inscription is available to train up to 375. //$$$$ *sings money song* $$$$

User Interface

* New Calendar feature: Players will be able to access the new Calendar feature by clicking on the new icon located in the top right corner of their mini map. The calendar will track in game events, allow raid scheduling, and more.
* New Vanity Pet and Mount changes: Players will now be able to access their non-combat pets and mounts by clicking on the pets tab in the Character Info panel. These pets and mounts will be now learnable much like spells or abilities. Once a vanity pet or mount is learned, the icon will disappear from within a player’s inventory andreappear in the appropriate tab under the pet tab under Character Info. Say goodbye to your vanity pets and mounts taking up bag and bank slots! //I still need a hat rack.
o Lost pets and mounts (one time quest rewards) can be recovered by visiting a stablemaster. //They are coming back from the wild.
* A new Agro Warning is now available and currently functioning in dungeons.
* Focus Frame is now available. Players will be able to right click on any unit frame and select “Set Focus”. The focus frame will only display when the focus is set. Players may also set a “Focus Cast Key” in the options/combat panel that can be bound to shift, alt, or ctrl. When holding the focus cast key and triggering an action, the action will be performed on your focus and not on your target.
* Lost tabards (one time quest rewards) may now be restored by visiting a tabard vendor. //I threw them away for a purpose. That is right. Bank space.
* Lost keys (one time quest rewards) may now be restored by visiting a blacksmith.
* Error messages should play less frequently.
* Tradeskills can now be linked by shift-clicking the tradeskill icon.
* Quests can be shared with party members at any distance.
* Quests can be shared with party members by linking the quest into party chat.
* Quests can be shared in raids but not battlegrounds.
* Randomized Daily quests may now be shared, but only on the same day as the quest is given.
* A 5 minute timer will appear over the player’s unit frame showing the countdown until your PvP flag is cleared. //Nice. I will now not have to /pvp until I get the message I want.
* The /cower emote now has an animation.
* Macros and key bindings are now saved server-side so there is no longer a need to reconfigure them when logging in using another computer. //As a user between two computers I sent much <3>
* Shift-clicking to loot mail: You can now hold Shift and click on mail in your inbox to automatically loot any items and gold without opening the mail. This default behavior can be changed via Auto Loot Mail in the Interface Options (Controls).
* Combat Log Changes:
o The combat log now differentiates between a spell failure due to resistance and spell failure due to missing the target. Where once both events reported as a resist; a spell missing the target is now reported as a miss.
o Overhealing is now reported in the combat log.
o When a source of damage is entirely prevented (by a shield block, a full resist, or a damage shield like Power Word:Shield, the prevented amount will now be displayed.

Items

* Druids and Shaman can now use items while shapeshifted. //My druid thanks you. Now my bear, boomkin, and trees can utilize that new 25 cookie distribution.
* The Abyss Shard has been changed to grant a passive 15 stamina bonus, but no longer removes the soul shard requirement from casting a voidwalker. //I have MINE still. *cry* I used this while running low level areas. This exponentially increases my level 80 soul shard collection worry.
* Devilsaur Eye now increases your pet’s attack power for a short duration instead of increasing its critical strike chance. It also provides a small amount of passive Agility.

End of Azeroth as we know it

The last moments of 2.3… we sang, we yelled, we got naked… okay maybe not the naked part. But I am sure if there was more time we would have gotten to the clothes off. Everyone got their last minute PvP in.

I also visited with a famous person, Mania from Petopia.

Post Patch Download

While this patch finishes downloading take a moment to remember all that The Burning Crusade was to you. There is only a few weeks left. I have done so much and I still have so much to do!

When the patch downloads and log in you will be treated to The Burning Crusade cinematic introduction.

/Y “You are NOT prepared!”

And and and… A DRAGON!!

Monday, October 13, 2008

Bandage Rogue

Twinks in the 19 and 29 bracket can train in First Aid up to 225. Thus only learning up to Mageweave Bandages.

With 225 first aid you can actually use Heavy Runecloth Bandage. You want to use the biggest bandages you can to get yourself back and ready to fight.

Any twink rogue worth their weight in enchants knows how to gouge and bandage themselves while the stun ticks. You will get 250 health back from each successful tick of the bandage. Trust me... this is a duel decider.

If you see someone using a bandage in battleground, interrupt the process. What is that QQ I hear... To far? I'm melee! /cry *smaks you upside the head* You don’t just equip those Throat Piercers for looks. Throwing weapons are meant to be thrown.

I will sometimes keep Runecloth Bandages around too. Since sometime I pick them up cheep off the AH when someone was leveling their own first aid. Good for when I know the next wave of Horde are coming. Or in a strange generous moment to give out in a battle.

With all the stuff I keep in my bags … uggg…. I ran out of food. But that is a whole different issue.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Twink Pants

WARNING: Leg armor kits are changing in the 3.1 patch to include a level requirement.

"Twink Pants – 5/5s for 19s, 9/9s for 29s, and 12/12s for 39s."

Whatca tanking about Aurum?

In my Twink Guild Bank post I used terminology that may not be common knowledge. If you don’t twink, then you would not be expected to know.

The 5/5s, 9/9s, and 12/12s stands for the MAX relative stat on bind on equip pants at that level.

A combination of Stamina with Agility/Intellect/Strength can make that Stockade drop be worth twenty times normal in the auction house. Just remember that spirit mail is worthless at 19 as it is at max level.

You need to watch the random enchants on the items closely. You will notice Scouting Trousers and Rigid Leggings both come with random enchants.
...of the Monkey +(4 - 5) Agility, +(4 - 5) Stamina
...of the Eagle +(4 - 5) Intellect, +(4 - 5) Stamina

So to maximize your stats (and gold) make sure the pants are 5/5s and not 5/4s. There can be four different pairs up in the auction house for 20 gold and not one of them have the 5/5 stats. To me 5/4s will not cut it for a top twink. I will not make fun of you but I will judge you. *grin*

This fuss is for BoE pants because anyone with a level 60 or higher can take those NOT ALREADY EQUIPPED pants and apply a leg armor. Most commonly for 19s and 29s is the Nethercleft Leg Armor. For those more adventurous is Nethercobra Leg Armor (but you are a glass cannon and shouldn’t touch my flags). Once the kit is applied to the pants they can be sent to the twink and THEN equipped.

Even if you are not twinking this is important to know. Because if you happen to come across a pair of Rigid Leggings of the Monkey with 5/5 stats on the Auction House for 70 silver… buy it out… and repost for 10-20 gold. Profit!

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Twink Guild Banks

A while back I took some screenshots to share with you what a twink guild bank looks like. I have access to Farstriders Elite but I can also peek into We Kill People bank.

WKP concentrates on level 19 twinking. Farstriders Elite focuses on 19 and 29, soon after I took these shots we (we as in FE… cause that is who I am tyvm) opened up the fifth bank tab. This allowed us to split up the gear for 19s and 29s.

We Kill People's Guild Bank (guests should always go first):
Farstriders Elite Guild Bank:

So what is in all those bank slots:
Twink Pants – 5/5s for 19s, 9/9s for 29s, and 12/12s for 39s.

Armor – Bracers, Gloves, and Waist. Stats are more varied on these items.

Rumsey Rum Black Label - Barkeep Kelly in the Old Hillsbrad Foothills sells this 19 and 29 twink food buff.

Training Books - Expert First Aid - Under Wraps, Manual: Heavy Silk Bandage, Manual: Mageweave Bandage, and Expert Fishing - The Bass and You.

Enchanting Materials - Large Prismatic Shards, Large Brilliant Shards, Greater Eternal Essences, Illusion Dust, etc.

Weapons - Throat Piercers, Twisted Chanter's Staff, Gravestone Scepter, Staff of the Friar, etc.

Consumables – Heavy Runecloth Bandage, Minor Wizard Oil, Minor Mana Oil , Fish Oil (for Water Walking), healing potions, and mana potions.

Now that Rumsey Rum Black Label is available at a vendor it should always be on your twink. As you can see both guilds try to keep some gear in the bank. Twinking is expensive. That doesn’t mean you should get ripped off.

As for how much all this is worth? I did mention that FE opened up the fifth bank tab didn’t I. *grin*

Monday, October 6, 2008

Leveling that Alt

Have you noticed how much alt leveling there is going on? My guild has had 14 or more individuals online at once. Each of us was on an alt.

Husband took 11 months to level his rogue. He leveled all his professions as he leveled, including his fishing. When we started talking about him leveling himself another toon I wanted him to avoid this long journey to max level. I remembered Nibuca mentioning the addon TourGuide.

I got him to start using TourGuide. Off he went and is leveling very steadily.

The add-ons we are using for leveling are:
Tourguide - Lists and shows which quests to pick up and in what order for efficient travel.
LightHeaded - Mini wowhead ingame.
TomTom - Simple waypoint arrow.

For a new player I would never ever recommend a leveling guide. Depending on the player I may suggest lightheaded with tomtom after the first 20-25 levels. If this player was already alt-tab researching to find quest information I would highly recommend them.

One of my guildies checked out TourGuide after he kept hearing Husband say “But the guide says to go here.” He was skeptical about the addon. This was his sixth alt he was planning to level. But Husband was using it and they planned on leveling together. He downloaded it to see what Husband was referring too. He started a shammie and used it from level 1 and is now in the mid-50s. He stating to me after the first 30 levels that he will never level another alt without this addon.

Honestly, more you use it the more you trust the guide. We stopped to do Raene’s Cleansing to get the Dartol's Rod of Transformation. The guide had us open the Noggenfogger Elixir, so we can go back and get more. We also got the Sprite Darter Hatchling and Mechanical Chicken. So I have been having a lot of fun doing the selected quests.

Friday, October 3, 2008

A Twig and a Cat

I, Iuncusia, am coming along quite fine. I will be hitting my 60th season quite soon.

When looking at weapon upgrades I was being really picky. I have been clinging to my Manual Crowd Pummeler for way longer then usefulness. Nothing came close until I found a Twig of the World Tree and enchanted it up nicely for some great kitty killing. The dripping blood is so nice it matches my claws after a good time.

I have been practicing kitty killing with the guidance of BBB. I even respec talents at 50 following BBB guide for leveling and talent points.

At level 42 I did finely get over to Darnassus to pick up my level 30 mount. I looked at an old tired grumpy spotted cat. Lelanai told me he was once a mount of a Night Elf huntard. I don’t know what that is, but apparently it is a terrible awful agonizing creature of deep oozing slime ... to top it off it is pink too. *shiver* Poor cat.

He didn’t want anything to do with me. So I picked him. I renamed him “Spot”. Spot wants to be left alone and I want to run alone. I keep telling him “We are almost done, and then I can dump you in a lake… I mean a meadow.”

Thursday, October 2, 2008

ZA Imp Pull

I randomly go to Zul’Aman. I have been doing the imp pull to the eagle boss, Akil’zon.

At the bottom, right of the ramp, where the pond is, I use my macro:
/target Amani'shi Tempest

I send up Naltog, he climes up the hill, and firebolts the Tempest and transfers the agro to me. The Tempest and two casters all come chasing after me. This pull lets us do the gauntlet without getting all the birds on the ramp up.
Imps work really well for this, but that doesn’t mean hunters cannot do it. I mean of the three with me … one was survival and we had two cats with us. Lazy hunters.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Honor … No Touchy

It looks like they cannot make up their mind on the honor points. So now they will NOT be reset.
We had hoped that the introduction of some new Honor rewards in the upcoming patch would give players a great opportunity to spend any of their remaining Honor. However, many players would still be surprised by an Honor and token reset as it isn’t something we’ve done in the past. As such, we've decided to not reset Honor or tokens upon the release of Wrath of the Lich King. Players who save their Honor will be able to spend it on level 80 rewards, although those rewards will be significantly more expensive than their level 70 counterparts.
I will not be responsible if they change their mind... yet again. To be on the safe side I would still go for items that you want prior to Wrath.