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Arcane Brilliance: Professions for Mages, the thrilling conclusion
Each week Arcane Brilliance brings you a column about Mages and all things Mage-related. That's right, Arcane Brilliance is nothing if not consistent. You won't find any server instability here. We're never down, we're always up, and you can always enter our instanced content. And the best part? Arcane Brilliance doesn't charge you 15 bucks a month. Although, donations are totally welcome.So how's everything? Did you make it through patch day unscathed? Did you log in, like me, and find that your Mage's face, forearms, and feet were gone, and there was a hole through his chest (pro tip: upgrade your video card drivers more than once every three years)? Are you running out of mana at an outrageous clip? Are your crit numbers from Molten Armor up or down? Did your guild manage to make it into Ulduar yet, and if so, did you manage to snag any phat loot? Did you dual spec your Mage so he can now both DPS and DPS? I went Frostfire/Firefrost, myself. When triple-specs hit, I'm taking a Frarcano-fire spec. Mark my words.All in all, I'd say 3.1 wasn't too bad. We have some new glyphs to play with, the Argent Tournament is good, clean fun, our mounts can swim, and we have a whole new batch of loot-pinatas to blow up. Our DPS seems to be down a bit, but we're still beating Warlocks, so I'm not going to mail any angry, expletive-laced letters to Blizzard just yet. I've written them--rest assured--but I'm not yet prepared to actually invest in stamps for them. Those things are like a buck apiece these days.So now we turn to the third and final installment in our guide to professions for Mages. If you missed them, the first two parts can be found here and here. This week we'll investigate the merits of Blacksmithing, Leatherworking, and Engineering. As an added bonus, we'll take a quick peek at the three secondary professions and enumerate the reasons for investing in them. Yes, even though you can conjure Strudel from the very air around you with but a word and a snap of your fingers, you still need to learn how to cook
The state of Engineering in 3.1
In case you missed the memo, the short list of changes to the Engineering profession that have been posted for patch 3.1 are all you are going to get come patch day, like it or not. Bornakk confirmed that Blizzard feels that the "perks work out" compared to what other professions offer, and that they "have no changes planned at this time."The relevant forum thread has grown to over 1300 replies and more than 50,000 views, suggesting that while Blizz might be satisfied, much of the Engineering community is not. In fact, many are threatening to drop the profession and take up Jewelcrafting, which is something I hear about a lot. Of course, if your profession is really, honestly inferior to all others, then why is everyone trading up to the same one? Pass through the break for a list of the upcoming changes, the major gripes, and a comparison of Engineering to other professions in order to put this all into perspective.
Giving Engineering a little self-buff
You may think, as I did upon first seeing this Engineering thread in the forums, that Engineers have nothing to complain about. They get some of the coolest and most-wanted items in the game exclusive to their profession. In fact, as a LW/Skinner, I'm thinking about dropping Skinning when I hit 440 LW just to pick up Engineering, and pour a whole ton of gold into it just so I can get the Roflcopter and all of the other great stuff they get.But after Wryxian gets everyone to settle down and give out just one suggestion for how to help Engineers, they all make a pretty good point: Engineering doesn't have that one self-buff that all the other professions seem to have lately. My Leatherworker can put a nice enchant on my bracers, Blacksmiths can add sockets to some of their items, and Tailors have spellthread that can be weaved into certain pieces of gear. Ashram, the original poster in the thread, actually has some good ideas along those lines -- "Electrified Armor" (reflect damage to chest) or "Laser Targeting System" (a +crit or +expertise head enchant). Other Engis just ask for their current "enchants" to stack with other enchants already on their gear.The flip side here, of course, is that Engi can't be overpowered One person asks for Engineering to have a "significant advantage" in some bit of gameplay, and that's not the way Blizzard is handling professions -- different classes may play better or worse in different situations, but since every class can choose any profession, they've got to work across the entire spectrum (yes, even Rogues with Tailoring). But it does seem like Engineering is missing that extra self-buff that other professions picked up in Wrath.
The Queue: Change we can believe in
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky will be your host today.No no no. I'm not being political here.The change I'm talking about is changing the game. We can all believe in changes to WoW because we're all reading a big flashy World of Warcraft news and information site. Namely change about Wintergrasp, audio settings, mob behavior, and craftables.Except changing Paladins. They don't need any change. /snickerMK asked..."I was wondering if there's been any noise coming out of Blizzard regarding fixing Wintergrasp?"
Phat Loot Phriday: Titansteel Shield Wall
This is one of the more legendary shields in the game at this point, even if it isn't actually Legendary. But it is for all you Blacksmiths out there looking for something to do.Name: Titansteel Shield Wall (Wowhead, Thottbot, Wowdigger)Type: Epic ShieldArmor: 7350Abilities: 211 Block, +36 Strength, +69 Stamina Increases defense rating by 64, and at this level, while I'm not a tank expert (I leave that to the pros), Defense is what you want. %Gallery-33600%
Crafted Death Knight tanking weapons removed from PTR
One of the initial changes in patch 3.0.8 was the inclusion of Death Knight tanking weapons that could be crafted by a high level Blacksmith. As of the latest 3.0.8 PTR update, these have been removed. And all indication is that they'll stay removed. Ghostcrawler doesn't want Death Knights to hang onto the weapons throughout their time in Wrath of the Lich King, which is apparently what Blizzard is afraid will happen. The other issue with providing 2H tanking weapons was that Blizzard would have needed to start itemizing (putting tanking stats on and crafting gear for) 2H tanking weapons overall, and that's something they didn't want to do.The Ghost also points out that the new sigil and runeforge enchant should be enough to get the Death Knight defense up to where it needs to be.
Steamwheedle Cartel holding a "Black Market" crafting event
I love this idea a whole lot. A group of folks on Steamwheedle are holding an RP even (which they've done before), but it's a different kind of event than the usual party or dueling tournament. Instead, it's going to be completely peaceful -- they're having a Saturday morning crafting bazaar. Down in the empty vendor stalls of Undercity, they'll have crafters of all types and levels, some with their mats, some where you'll have to bring your own mats, making items aplenty for players. On January 24th, they're holding a "Black Market", where you'll be able to get almost anything crafted that you want (providing you've got the goods). They're also having a raffle, and they'll be serving food and drink as well. What a great idea.In fact, I'd love to see something like this come to the game at large -- maybe Blizzard could provide a bonus to crafting when it's done at a certain time in a certain place, like create a "crafter's market" weekly on Saturday mornings (scheduled just like the Sunday fishing tournament), where crafters can make sure to be in a certain area ready to craft for any players who might need it, and can get bonus items or currency or mats for their trouble.For such a social game, combat seems to always end up being the only way for players to connect regularly (not that there's anything wrong with that, but the only way to bond in game seems to be killing things). It would be nice to see more of this type of connection encouraged by Blizzard, with players using the skills they've earned to help each other and both sides getting a nice reward for it.
Epic 2h Tanking Weapons from Blacksmithing
From our friends at MMO-Champion, we get this news: there will be two new tanking weapons from Blacksmithing, both of them 2h weapons. The Titansteel Deflector and Titansteel Defender will allow new DK's just gearing for raiding at 80 to craft themselves a spiffy 2h with enough defense or parry to help them out without making an instance drop useless for other classes. I admit I'm eyeing the Titansteel Defender for my fury warrior's OT set, but it's clearly made with DK's in mind. They even re-use the models for the starting DK weapons, which is fine by me, those are some hot weapons.However, does this mean any serious DK tank has to be a blacksmith now? These are listed at BoP weapons, which would mean you'd have to be a smith to get one. But then again, one of the two is listed as a sword yet certainly looks like an axe, so it's possible that we'll see these go BoE, which would mean that I'd probably set up shop as a DK tank's weapon supplier. Here's to hoping.
Gearing up for Season 5 continued
PLATE MELEEWarriors, Death Knights, and Retribution Paladins can all look forward to the Savage Saronite non-set, which is crafted by Blacksmiths. The recipes are available from the trainer, so all players have to do is look for a Blacksmith who has Blacksmithing at 425 and didn't scrimp on his training. The Plate PvP items have higher Stamina and Resilience overall compared to the other gear, making it an excellent investment for Northrend starter PvP.Savage Saronite SkullshieldSavage Saronite PauldronsSavage Saronite HauberkSavage Saronite WaistguardSavage Saronite LegplatesSavage Saronite WalkersSavage Saronite BracersSavage Saronite GauntletsThe materials to craft the Savage Saronite pieces aren't as straightfoward as the Leatherworking items, but they're still quite simple. It will take a total of 102 Saronite Bars (or a shade over five stacks), 2 Eternal Airs, 2 Eternal Shadows, 2 Eternal Waters, 1 Eternal Fire, and 1 Eternal Earth. All eight pieces confer a total of 559 Stamina, 360 Resilience, 380 Strength, and 340 Critical Strike Rating. PLATE CASTERFor now, Holy Paladins get a free ride in raids and dungeons because all Plate caster drops automatically go to them. Unfortunately, as far as crafted PvP gear is concerned, they get an awful compromise. The set has one piece with Strength, the belt, which is utterly useless for Holy Paladins. Some pieces also have token MP5 when it should simply have been Critical Strike. And there's a dearth of Intellect. Still, the key is Resilience, and this non-set has quite a bit of it.Ornate Saronite SkullshieldOrnate Saronite PauldronsOrnate Saronite HauberkOrnate Saronite WaistguardOrnate Saronite LegplatesOrnate Saronite WalkersOrnate Saronite BracersOrnate Saronite GauntletsIt's advisable to wear some pieces of PvE gear at the expense of Resilience in order to inflate the Holy Paladin's mana pool. All the pieces grant a whopping total 87 Intellect, an odd 44 Strength, laughable 36 MP5, and 567 Stamina, 355 Resilience Rating, and 139 Critical Strike Rating. Assuming you'd want to have the entire non-set crafted -- it's still 355 Resilience, after all -- you'll need the same materials needed for the melee version. It takes 102 Saronite Bars, 2 Eternal Air, 2 Eternal Shadow, 2 Eternal Water, and 1 each Eternal Earth and Fire.FILLER GEARTrinketsThe most important filler gear for any PvP situation is the all-important trinket. This should be your first priority in terms of gear, above and beyond any other piece of armor. The start of Season 5 introduced Level 80 versions of the Medallion of the Alliance and Medallion of the Horde. If you're serious about doing Arenas, this 49,600 Honor trinket is the first thing you should buy with Honor. It grants a massive 84 Resilience, almost double that of its Level 70 epic counterpart. You can purchase this at the Hall of Legends in or Champion's Hall.You can put anything else in the other trinket slot, but considering how it's only the beginning of the Arena Season, I'd recommend padding Stamina until you can get better from epic gear. Jewelcrafters have great options in the Bind-on-Pickup Monarch Crab and Ruby Hare figurines, both of which have over 60 Stamina. Both also have two sockets each, with a +9 Stamina socket bonus, making them incredible for PvP. Between the two, Ruby Hare would be the safest bet as you'll be able to use the sprint use more often than the Dodge of the crab trinket. Can't have Warriors and Death Knights insta-gibbing you.Alchemists have an awesome trinket in the Indestructible Alchemist's Stone, although the Dodge rating is terrible against the aforementioned classes. But +75 Stamina is +75 Stamina, and the added bonus of healing effects of potions is extremely useful. This brings to mind the only potions usable in Arenas... the Alchemist-only Endless Healing and Endless Mana Potions. Note that these aren't trinkets, merely endless charge items that stay in your inventory.Engineers can use a Sonic Booster, which is a melee trinket. But the sweet thing about this trinket isn't the proc but the amazing +81 Stamina. The caster version, the Noise Machine, provides no Stamina but has a defensive proc that just might prove useful against those pesky melee classes. If you're not a Jewelcrafter, an Alchemist, nor an Engineer, there's a perfectly good alternative which is the Essence of Gossamer, which is a great tanking trinket but works equally well in PvP. A whopping +111 Stamina from one trinket slot is insanely good. The proc is pretty sweet, as well. This beauty drops from Hadronox in Heroic Azjol-Nerub.RingsObviously, the best upgrades in the ring slot are the currently available Honor items. The Hateful Gladiator's Band of Dominance and Band of Triumph provide great Stamina and +33 Resilience Rating. The rings cost 38,000 Honor, which should be a good Honor sink for those who've capped at 75,000. Barring those, Jewelcrafters can make a Savage Titanium Band and Savage Titanium Ring, caster and melee rings respectively. Both have sockets and provide +32 Resilience.CloakLikewise, the Hateful Gladiator epic cloaks, which require no Arena ratings, also cost 38,000 Honor and are a significant upgrade from old PvP cloaks. There are eight versions of the cloak (which makes you wonder why there are only two rings), so it might get a bit confusing. The good thing is that players are certain to find a cloak that will fit their play style perfectly. We'll take a look at all the newly available Honor and Arena gear soon. For now, gear up and get PvPing!
The ethics of a botched deal, redux
"The ethics of a botched deal" turned out to be a much more popular article than I'd been expecting. I didn't really think the subject matter was going to result in that much commentary, but, having read all of the comments, I think I see why. Everyone's been on at least one end of a bad deal, and stuff like that is a lot more common in the early days of an expansion with new recipes, dungeons, and raids everywhere you look, with the attendant opportunities for costly mistakes.A few people quite fairly said it would be tough to make a call on the incident given the limited account I'd written in the original article. Others pointed out that you could probably draw an ethical distinction between the Blacksmith's decision to: a). accept a tip, and b). keep the gold gained from vendoring the 2H mace (and I think this is accurate, although it does raise another question. More on this in a bit). Commenters also observed that, the ethics of the Blacksmith's actions aside, you wouldn't necessarily want to be a repeat customer of his for reasons that hadn't been articulated in the original piece.So behind the cut is a more inclusive look at the issue, a little more background on what happened, and how other players responded to it ingame.
The ethics of a botched deal
My chat box isn't usually a wretched hive of scum and villainy, but on occasion it turns up a few statements that'll make your eyebrows execute a shuttle launch. One such morsel popped up recently in the form of an amused snicker from an acquaintance who'd applied to raid with my guild in Wrath. He'd just made himself a quick 38 gold off a blacksmithing deal gone awry and was having a laugh over his good fortune. A leveling player had asked him to meet in Orgrimmar to make a Saronite Mindcrusher and could provide both materials and a tip. The applicant obliged, ported to Org from Dalaran, made the mace, and then they discovered that it was BoP and thus unusable by the customer. The disappointed player thanked him for his time, tipped him anyway for making the trip, and went on his way (according to the person who shall henceforth be known as The Blacksmith)."So not only did I get a 25g tip," he concluded smugly, "but I also made 13g vendoring the mace."That dog won't hunt, Monsignor. "You did give the guy the 13g at least?" I asked. "I mean, those were his mats, the mace wasn't yours.""No. Why would I? It was his mistake."To quote everyone who has ever set foot on the internet ever, ORLY?UPDATE: The post got a lot more attention than I expected, so I've written an addendum here that gives a little more insight into what happened.
WoW Insider Show back live tomorrow afternoon
It seems like a long time since we've done our live podcast, and that's because it has been -- we talked to Felicia Day last week, but the interview was taped because of the holiday. So tomorrow afternoon, we're happy that we'll be back live over at Ustream to record our weekly podcast. On the docket tomorrow, we've invited Michael Zenke of our sister site Massively (it's like our site, but for all MMOs) -- he was kind enough to invite us on their podcast the other week, so we're returning the favor, and he'll be on to talk about what he thinks of Wrath so far (and we may even get in some MMO comparing, just in time for the gift season). Matthew Rossi will also be on board to talk about that Blacksmithing bug, and we'll have some good tips for reputation gear that all classes should be seeking out ASAP.The show starts at 3:30pm Eastern (time zone converter) over on our Ustream page, or we've even embedded the feed right after the break, so just come back here and you'll be able to listen, chat, take part in our polls, and join in on all of the fun live. And if you have a question or comment for the show already, just email it to us: theshow@wow.com is the address, and anything you send in, be they questions, comments, or whatever, might just end up on the show tomorrow afternoon.If you can't make it, the new show will be out in iTunes and here on the site Monday morning, so you won't miss the show itself. But you might miss our aftershow -- we've been hanging out for a few minutes after we turn the recording off, so if you can tune in live, please do so, and you'll have an exclusive chance to talk to us directly after the broadcast. See you then!
Don't unlearn your blacksmithing weapon specialzation
You will be unable to learn a new one. In a bug first noticed by new DK's wanting to craft an epic to bring to Northrend with them and later confirmed by other characters, if you go to Winterspring to pick up a weaponsmithing specialization the three NPC's do not give it to you. As a swordsmith myself, I'm not willing to unlearn my profession to test it out, it does seem very strongly corroborated at this point.While this isn't a major issue to those of us at 80 as there are currently no top end weapons that require one of the three specializations, it not only prevents these leveling characters from making the epic weapons it could prevent a character who currently is an armorsmith from being able to trade specializations. It's certainly not the end of the world for most of us, just don't try and retrain until it's fixed, but it's got to be a bummer for the people who intended to have a fun new toy in Northrend and will instead be staring at a pile of mats they won't have any use for.
The Queue: Can't get enough sockets
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft.Just a few questions today, because slow weekends are slow. Who wants to ask questions when you can be playing? Certainly not me. I will still answer questions, however. Let's jump right in with ender's question... What, in your own opinion, is the easiest faction to start to grind on for rep as a new level 80? I know there is the "championing" but with dailies etc, what seems to be the easiest?
Ask a Beta Tester: Dalaran coins, environment effects, and AoE tanking
I ran into two common questions last night on the Dalaran coin post, so I thought I'd start off by answering those here. I apologize if we haven't yet gotten to everyone's questions; most of them, like Gurluas' question concerning The Missing Diplomat and the high elves in Northrend, we're just not 100% sure of the answer to yet, but I'll keep trying. Keyra asks...Just curious...the gold coins all have "Use: Throw this coin back into the Dalaran fountain", yet I've seen people commenting (as well as the author) that they'll carry the coin in their packs. What happens when/if you throw the coin back in?When you toss a gold coin back into the fountain, you gain the "Lucky" buff for 2 minutes, increasing your chance to fish up any and all coins from the fountain (rather than fishing hooks or goldfish). You don't have to toss them back in if you don't want to, in which case they'll just occupy a bag slot like anything else, or you can sell them to a vendor (not for much). But most people throw the coin/s back in because fishing the coin up is enough to give you the Achievement for getting it. Particular coins would be carried solely for personal or sentimental reasons, i.e. I can definitely appreciate the irony and RP value of grimly hunting Arthas down like a dog while carrying a symbol of Sylvanas' wasted hopes.Rexigar asks...Question though, do we have to keep the coins for the achievement or does it count when we throw it back in?It counts as of the moment you've fished it up. No matter what you do with it afterwards, the Achievement's yours. The same mechanic is true of everything else; once the game "knows" you've done something and an Achievement's gained, nothing can take it away.
Ask a Beta Tester: The Alchemist
Apologies to Paulo Coelho fans for borrowing his title, but we have two Alchemy-related questions to start us off today, in addition to questions on Blacksmithing, cinematics, and dailies: Horizons asks... Do the alchemy specializations in wrath still work the same way as they do now in BC? For example, will I still have a chance of getting 5 wrath potions even when I'm leveling starting at 375 such as Wrath Elixirs or Icy mana potions? And will transmute spec ever be fixed? Yup, alchemy specializations work the exact same way in Wrath. As a potions master, I've already procced a few, but don't expect to see the Runic Mana or Runic Healing potion recipes until...I want to say it's 410 Alchemy. You'll skill up on the array of new elixirs like Elixir of Mighty Thoughts and Elixir of Mighty Agility until then, but do save mats for the new Alchemy trinkets that become available at (I think) 400, like Mighty Alchemist's Stone. We'll have more information soon on materials you'll start getting in Northrend that you'll want to set aside for crafting.
Insider Trader: Armorsmiths vs. weaponsmiths part two
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Last week, I began the column by answering a reader's question regarding the two specializations of blacksmithing. The player had been considering switching, and I discussed his reasons for doing so. I also began to compare the armorsmithing items to their non-crafted counterparts, to showcase how strong they really are. This week, I'm finishing up that analysis as well as giving weaponsmithing the same treatment. Each item from either specialization tends to surpass its tier 5 counterpart, and strongly rival the tier 6, Black Temple pieces. Unfortunately, if the itemization is exactly right for your class, race and spec, the cost and effort spent to make any given piece is probably not worth it. Still, for players who may never see the Black Temple, for whatever reason, can still work towards a strong epic piece to complement their PvP, dungeon and/or raiding gear.It is also important to note the difference between blacksmithing and other gear-crafting professions, tailoring and leatherworking. Blacksmith specialists essentially create one piece, or in the case of dual wielders, two pieces, that are roughly tier 6 equivalent. The other two professions can make more pieces, but the quality ranges from tier 4 to tier 5, although any gear choice is subject to individual circumstances and preference. These pieces are bind on pick-up and cannot be sent to alts, so keep that in mind when you choose. There are many other blacksmithing patterns and drops that are BoE, but the specialty items, as with tailoring and leatherworking, can only be worn by the crafter. In addition, should you make, for example, a sword and then switch to armorsmithing, you will no longer be able to wield the sword, as doing so requires that you have the correct specialization.
Wrath in pictures for your weekend
If you tend to be a strictly weekend-centric WoW Insider reader, you may have missed some of the best stuff to come out of the Wrath beta thus far: the eye candy! Class updates, mechanics changes, pfft, who needs that stuff? No no my friends, me, I'm all about the shinies. Okay, and I like all of that other stuff, too. Luckily, we have a little bit of everything, and in case you did miss our eye candy, let's take a look back at some of it, shall we? Be warned, however, that most of these galleries contain some minor spoilers. If you don't want to be spoiled, be careful! The Borean TundraThe Borean Tundra, accessed from either the Orgrimmar zeppelin tower or the Stormwind Harbor, is one of two starter zones in Northrend. The Tundra houses Valiance Keep, Warsong Hold, D.E.H.T.A. the Coldarra (home of the Blue Dragonflight) and much more. The Howling FjordThe Howling Fjord is the second of the two Northrend starter zones, accessed via Menethil Harbor or the Tirisfal zeppelin towers. The Howling Fjord is home to Valgarde, the Forsaken's Vengeance Landing, the Vrykul fortress Utgarde, and the Ember Clutch.
The latest blacksmithing patterns from Wrath
Blacksmiths received a happy surprise in the latest beta build that launched tonight in the form of a bunch of new craftable gear, including the ability to add a socket slot to belts, bracers, and gloves and some nice new epic items. So far, we're seeing epic helms and boots of three different playstyles: With defense: Tempered Titansteel Helm, Tempered Titansteel Treads, With crit: Spiked Titansteel Helm, Spiked Titansteel Treads With spell power: Brilliant Titansteel Helm, Brilliant Titansteel Treads The epic weapon options also have good variety, though they're missing an obvious tanking weapon. There's the Titansteel Bonecrusher (a one-hander with stamina and AP), the Titansteel Guardian (a level 80 spell power weapon with less spell power than what I'm wielding at level 70 -- open to guesses on who Blizzard expects to use this one), and the Titansteel Destroyer (the two-hander every Death Knight wants).That's all the epics, but if you want to see all of the recent additions, check them out in our blacksmithing gallery!%Gallery-29308%
New Blacksmithing patterns from the Beta
Elizabeth Harper was able to snap a few screenshots of the new Blacksmithing patterns from the game last night. The items all require at least level 75 and are of superior quality. That's good news for those that are looking to craft gear as they level – which can be a viable alternative to fill in certain missing pieces.You can browse through all the latest patterns below in our gallery. For a quick analysis however, take the piece that is featured in the right hand image of this article. They're tank legplates that have 1661 armor, 57 strength, 84 stamina, and 55 defense. No sockets or anything else like that. Let's compare it to the T6 warrior legs, which have 24 agility, 78 stamina, a red socket, 40 def, 41 parry, and 32 block value.%Gallery-28675%
