dual-spec
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Spiritual Guidance: Handling Incoming AoE as Discipline
Every Sunday (usually), Spiritual Guidance will offer practical insight for priests of the holy profession. Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of PlusHeal, a new healing community for all restorative classes. Matt's got awesome raid healing tips to share as Discipline along with some thoughts for dual spec! The first week of Ulduar is almost done! For those in there, how far have you managed to go? I've found it to be a test and a challenge for not only myself, but for the crew I raid with. Thank goodness for dual spec as it's saved me both time and money for switching between different roles. I wanted to share a few tip I picked up in my experience so far as a raiding Discipline Priest.
Gear changers for dual spec
A few weeks ago, when it looked like Oufitter was dead and Blizzard's Equipment Manager was on the way, I did a rundown of some alternatives to Outfitter. Now patch 3.1 is here, dual spec is upon us, and the situation is reversed: Outfitter is still in action, and Equipment Manager is not (yet). As a gear switcher makes dual spec even easier, I thought it would be helpful to do a quick rundown of support for dual specs in the various gear switchers that are out there. Outfitter fully supports dual specs, letting you select gear sets to automatically swap into when you activate your primary or secondary talents (see screenshot). For ItemRack, you can set up a custom event to switch gear when you switch specs. ClosetGnome can do it with the SwapSpecs plugin. WardrobeAL doesn't seem to have particular support for dual spec. For users who don't already have a favorite gear switcher, I recommend Outfitter for dual-spec purposes; it's quite easy to use, and has dual-spec capabilities built in. Are there any other good options out there I'm missing?
Dual spec issues and how to fix them
Dual spec is very handy, and I've already started relying on it for increased flexibility in setting up my 10-man raids. However, as may be expected with a new feature, it is not without its bugs. From extra talent points to missing talent points to things not switching correctly when you swap specs, I've seen a lot of errors pop up over the last few days. Fortunately, most dual-spec errors can be fixed by one of the following steps: Reload your UI. Log out and back in. Reset your UI entirely (I haven't seen this help anybody with dual spec issues, but the blues are suggesting it, as always). Of course, if none of this works, a GM can usually set it right. Ancilorn is also suggesting some work-arounds for specific issues, so go check his post in case you're having resistant issues.
Insider Trader: The patch 3.1 glyph market
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.If you are a Scribe who has not yet stepped into the glyph market since patch 3.1 went live on Tuesday, April 14th, then you'd better hustle! As we discussed pre-patch, the glyph market is undergoing a radical shift. For a limited time, perhaps very limited, it is soaring to epic heights. Unfortunately, this will not last, and I expect the market to take a sobering downturn in the next couple of weeks. This upswing is also affecting related markets, such as those for inks and herbs, and although we will likely see a bit of a price crash once the glyph market deteriorates, these should stabilize relatively quickly. Today, I will be reviewing why and how the glyph market is changing, and make some predictions for the future. I will also discuss how you can earn some of this post-patch wealth, as well as ways to continue making some profit even after the demand for glyphs drops. I will also be pointing you to some interesting stories around the web of how other Scribes are cashing in this week!
Top 3.1 specs so far from 3D Armory
Not to be outdone by TalentChic, the folks at 3D Armory also sent us their lists of what the most popular builds are in the game after patch 3.1, and since everybody seems to be build-hungry lately (and why not -- we each get two!), here they all are.Warrior: Fury 18/53/0.Paladin: 0/0/0, which means you need to log in, Paladins! Also 51/5/15 for Holy.Hunter: 0/0/0 wins here, too, but Survival (6/14/51) comes in next.Rogue: Combat 15/51/5.Priest: 14/57/0 for Holy.Death Knight: 17/0/54 Unholy.Shaman: Elemental 57/14/0.Mage: 0/53/18 Fire.Warlock: 0/41/30 Destruction.Druid: 14/0/57 Restoration, which surprised me.Keep in mind that these are from only a small sample of the game, so they're not the most popular specs in the game, just the most popular among those surveyed by the 3D Armory. And unfortunately, unlike TalentChic, it doesn't look like there's any way to see where the points are going, just the distribution of points among the trees (though that reminds us that Blizzard probably has some amazing point-by-point stats on how popular talents are).
The best of WoW Insider: Special patch 3.1 edition
The day World of Warcraft fans have been waiting for has finally come: Patch 3.1 is out today. There's new content, a new raid, a brand new dual spec system (for the first time, we'll be able to switch between character specs on a whim, with minimal costs), and tons of class changes, UI updates, and secrets to find. It's a whole new game! Wondering what's new in the patch? Check the links below for everything you need to know. WoW Insider's Guide to Patch 3.1Want to drink straight from the firehose? This is everything we've ever posted about patch 3.1, from the earliest hints and rumors to the final patch notes and galleries from the PTR. If it's in the patch, it's on this page. World of Warcraft Patch 3.1 Official patch notesAll of Blizzard's changes... that they want to tell you about. Patch 3.1: Secrets of Ulduar in picturesDon't like reading? View everything new about the patch in pictoral form. WoW Patch 3.1: Class changes roundupFrom Mages to Death Knights, here's all of the class changes you'll be dealing with when the patch is live. Patch 3.1 Secrets of Ulduar roundupEverything we've unearthed about the new Titan-related raid. Dual speccing in three easy stepsUnsure how to get your two specs going? Here's a quick and easy guide, backed up with everything we know about the system at release. The awesome weapons of the Argent TournamentBecause despite all of the fun features and new environments, we're really in it for the loot, right? Official Ulduar cinematic revealedThrall! Jaina! Wrynn! All of our heroes (except Saurfang, unfortunately) show up in this video prequel to the new content.
Armory updated for dual specs
The Armory has been updated to reflect the new dual spec feature given to us by patch 3.1. It now shows both talent specs for characters that have bought dual spec, and shows equipped glyphs on the talent view. There's also been a bit of a facelift overall, with new buttons for the various sections of a character's profile, and some achievement statistics shown on the main profile page. The "Last Updated" date is a nice touch, although recently I find the Armory usually contains fairly fresh info [edit: apparently this is not a new feature]. I was having some display problems, but it turns out that disabling Adblock Plus on Armory fixed it, so if anyone else is seeing elements display in the wrong places, try that. And yes, I am enjoying playing with Shadow, thanks. Quite a bit, actually. [thanks to multiple tipsters]
Encrypted Text: Tips for key binding your Rogue abilities
Every Wednesday, Chase Christian of Encrypted Text invites you to enter the world of shadows, as we explore the secrets and mechanics of the Rogue class. This week, we discuss the how to properly bind your abilities to the keyboard.While on a Sartharion 25 raid this past weekend, I noticed one of the other Rogues in the group moving very peculiarly. It took me a second to put my finger on it, but I figured out what was happening. He would be running around normally, and would then stop in place for two seconds every time he used Fan of Knives. I sent him a friendly whisper, asking why he was pausing when using Fan of Knives. He replied back that he had to stop moving and click the FoK button on his action bars, of course. I asked why he didn't simply bind FoK to a key for easier access, and he replied with "My 1-9 keys are already full!"Many Rogues spend hours choosing between different gems and weapon choices, when often the difference is less than 1% of their DPS. I see the control aspects of the class as more important than gear choices (not that gear is unimportant!). Without the ability to perform your rotations and combinations with finely-tuned timing, you could be losing as much as 25% DPS on certain fights. Making proper use of key binds and user interface addons are crucial to maximizing your DPS and reaction times in PvP.
Breakfast Topic: What do you think of 3.1
It's been a long old twenty four hours but the US servers have had Patch 3.1 running life for a little while now. I can just imagine the thousands of people swamping Ulduar, the Argent Tournament and every class trainer from Azuremyst to Thunderbluff will be stood on by thousands of toons trying to dual spec. Now over the last few weeks Breakfast Topic has been, quite understandably, a little Patch 3.1-heavy. We've asked about your most anticipated feature, whether your guild is ready and where your toon will be when the realms restart (just in case you were wondering, Serisa is waiting outside Ulduar to see if the above happens on live as well).So if you're lucky, you've had a few hours to poke around and take a look, I want to know what your impressions are of The Secrets of Ulduar now that it's gone live?
WoW Insider's Patch 3.1 FAQ
Our own Elizabeth Harper has been hard at work gathering together all of the most frequently asked questions that we've received over the last few weeks regarding patch 3.1. Now that the realms are finally coming up, it's a good time to get these out to you all because many of you will probably be asking them soon, too!Our FAQ is listed below, and if you ever want to find it again just bookmark this page. It will always be there, and should there be a need to update it at any point, we'll be sure to do so! Thanks for sticking with us today, ladies and gentlemen.
Classy dual-spec guides
Servers are still down for maintenance due to Patch 3.1, so now would be a great time think of the list of things you'll have to do once you log in. Let's see ... you've bought all the gems enchants you need; you've got your talent calculator all ready to go; you've parked yourself in an old-world capital city to buy dual-spec as soon as you log in. You're ready to go!But the question may remain -- what exactly are you going to pick for your offspec? Don't worry, we've got you covered! We've compiled dual-spec guides for each of your classes. Death Knight • Druid • Hunter • Mage • Paladin • Priest • Rogue • Shaman • Warlock • Warrior Get crackin' and be ready to raid (or whatever it is you'll be doing) when servers come up. Remember: being prepared takes class! Patch 3.1 is live and it takes us into Ulduar, delivers us dual specs, and brings significant changes to all the classes! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1 and the official patch notes!
Everything you wanted to know about World of Warcraft: The Secrets of Ulduar but were afraid to ask
This morning the World of Warcraft is eeriely silent as the latest mini-expansion The Secrets of Ulduar (aka Patch 3.1) goes live across US and Oceanic servers (with Europe to follow tomorrow). In a few short hours the servers will reopen, along with the doors to Ulduar, the newest dungeon, but if you're not au fait with the ways of Azeroth all this information is likely to leave you a little purplexed but fret not as we've put together a little guide to what you need to know about the latest patch.
Clear your schedules, World of Warcraft Patch 3.1 is live
If you're a frequent visitor to the fantasy-filled environs of Azeroth (and its Outlandish suburbs), brace yourself for a number of huge changes which are being implemented in the game as we speak type -- World of Warcraft's much-anticipated Patch 3.1 is going live on all servers today.Some of the new features 3.1 will bring to the table include the long overdue "Dual Spec" functionality, the introduction of the terrifyingly difficult Ulduar raid, and a number of changes to every single class in the game. There's more meat on them there bones than we could ever describe in a single post -- luckily, our ninja-looting sister site WoW Insider has been tracking the update for months. We suggest studying up with their comprehensive Guide to Patch 3.1 in order to more thoroughly complain about how your class got "totally nerfed."[Update: Hey, US-based WoWers, having trouble downloading the patch? No worries – we've got it up on the fast and the free-ious Big Download.] Download World of Warcraft v3.1 Patch [US] (617 MB)Download World of Warcraft v.3.1 Patch for Mac [US] (739 MB)
Dual speccing in three easy steps
One of the biggest new features in today's patch 3.1 is dual spec capabilities. It's been through many iterations on the PTR, and there's a lot of information floating around (check out our full guide to dual specs), but here's the abbreviated version. Go see your class trainer. Bring 1,000g and be at least level 40. Make sure the glyphs you have on right now are the ones you want to be associated with your primary talent spec. Ask your trainer nicely for dual-spec capabilities, and pay that 1,000g. All your talents are now reset, and you now have access to a second set of them. Set up your talents as you wish, buy new skills as required, and add glyphs to your second spec. Congratulations! You may now switch specs any time you're out of combat (except in arenas). The video above shows the process of switching specs; doing so also switches your action bars and your glyphs (you store a separate set of glyphs for each spec). Switching specs does not require a Lexicon of Power. In fact, Lexicons of Power are not required for anything any more, not even glyphing. Each of your two sets of talents can be reset just like you're used to resetting talents; resetting one does not disturb the other. Happy talenting! %Gallery-45780% Patch 3.1 is live and it takes us into Ulduar, delivers us dual specs, and brings significant changes to all the classes! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1 and the official patch notes!
World of Warcraft Patch 3.1 Official Patch Notes
Here we are ladies and gentleman, the official patch notes for the live version of patch 3.1. Features of this patch include: Dual Specs Ulduar Argent Tournament Major Class Changes Swimming Mounts New Inscriptions A few reminders about these notes. First, they were obtained from the official patch files. Secondly, the notes are subject to change at the whim of Blizzard. If they do, you'll be able to find the changes here. Third, not everything on the PTR makes it into the live patch – and not everything in the live patch was on the PTR.The full notes are after the break: Part I and Part II.For a concise listing of everything we've written on the patch, check out WoW Insider's Guide to Patch 3.1.
Spiritual Guidance: Shadow as a secondary spec in 3.1
Every week, Spiritual Guidance will offer practical insight for priests of the holy profession. Your host today is Alex Ziebart who doesn't have as many cool links to plug up here as Matticus does but will try anyway. This week we get our Shadowform on.. Dual specs are coming, probably only a week away, and I suspect that many Holy and/or Discipline Priests out there will be picking up a Shadow build as their second spec. Priests, like most classes, can have many little build variations to fit your playstyle: Raiding, soloing, doing Battlegrounds, doing arenas, all of that. I'm going to look at a couple of good PvE specs to use in patch 3.1, but unfortunately avoiding the PvP specs for you arena junkies in our audience. Trust me, you don't want to take my advice there. Discipline PvP maybe, but not Shadow.PvE Shadow - RaidingMMO-Champion has a great tool for setting up talent specs, because you can include your glyphs as well, so we're going to be using that. This spec (14/0/57) will be a fairly cookie-cutter raiding build in patch 3.1, with only very minor variations from person to person. The Shadow tree isn't a very complicated one. Either a talent boosts your DPS, or it does something else. For a raiding spec, you want all of the DPS talents and you can skip all of the 'something else' talents unless they're mandatory for a DPS talent. It's pretty straightforward. Even in the Discipline tree the ultimate goal is to pick up the DPS talents, Twin Disciplines and Improved Inner Fire. Meditation isn't a direct DPS talent, but having no mana is certainly a DPS hit.
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Waiting for the patch
I had originally intended to talk today about changes to protection in patch 3.1, especially since we're coming closer and closer to it (I wouldn't be surprised if it dropped this week) but then I actually stopped and thought about it, and honestly there's really not all that much to talk about. Last Stand gets a reduced cooldown, which is good. Defensive Stance reduces the damage you do by 5% instead of 10%, which is also good. Glyph of Shield Wall will let you use Shield Wall every 3 minutes instead of every five (every 2 minutes with Improved Disciplines) which again, is nice. But none of this is going to change the way tanking works, so it seemed kind of odd to try and go in depth with so little to go in depth on. We could talk about how Deep Wounds will no longer gain bonuses from effects like the enrage from Improved Defensive Stance, but it still doesn`t change the fact that a lot of prot warriors are going to take Deep Wounds for the DoT when their Damage Shield, Cleave, Thunder Clap or even Shockwave crit. In the end, protection saw the absolute least changes of any warrior spec and for the most part, there`s almost no reason for prot warriors to alter their playstyle or gearing significantly.So then, if we`re not going to talk about that (well, I guess we just did) then what are we going to talk about?
Anti-Aliased: From Captain America to the whirling dervish, dual-specs discussed
It's not too often that I actually get mail dropped in my box. My column is usually so loudmouthed that people just usually complain in the comment box instead of taking the time to send me a well worded e-mail. However, one of our intrepid readers, Patrick, actually sent along a question to my inbox, which I'll happily relate to you now."Do you have any thoughts on dual specs in WoW? I thought this was ugly towards the *World* of Warcraft - anyone could be anything at any time with no real choice / consequences for those choices. Blizzard is moving further and further away from an immersive game to being a game about 'gaming the system' behind the game. Additionally, it seems like Blizz spends more time on shifting mechanics (and keeping players occupied with adapting) than in making really interesting and rewarding (not loot, but the more ephemeral 'rewards') content for their players."Actually Patrick, I've been milling over this for some time now. While the initial concepts of dual-specs were put in place to alleviate the gold crunch and hassle of re-specs, the system has evolved much further beyond its initial structure. Some of those things I wholeheartedly welcome, but others I'm wary of. So let's talk about dual-specs, and why the system is beginning to really, really break.
Triple specs appear to be at least possible
Many people have mentioned this before in conversation about Dual Specs – why not just allow triple specs? We've all speculated for a while that the technology is already there and is just a matter of further implementation.Today Bornakk, a blue community poster, said that right now all Blizzard intentionally wants is to have two specs be available, but that they "...want to see how the system works out first," before considering triple specs. I think it's pretty safe to read between the lines here and take it to mean that it's possible and has at least been discussed by Blizzard to some extent if community people (and not a developer like Ghostcrawler) are already talking about it. Remember here that community folks usually don't talk about development related things without running it by or hearing it from a developer first.Triple specs would offer even more flexibility to play the class in whatever way is possible. A druid would be able to switch between a healer, tank, and caster role in a single instance / raid. A paladin would have the same amazing flexibility. While each class right now has at least two specs that can really shine in specific situations, triple specs would allow three-role hybrids to become amazingly powerful characters.
Insider Trader: All about flasks in 3.1
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Patch 3.1, for all of its grand changes, has also dedicated itself to imposing smaller tweaks aimed at making some mechanics more convenient, logical, and fair. The application of applying a glyph is one of the latest in a line of positive changes that we'll be seeing on patch day. While the old (current) process is an annoying charming ritual, the new method is better for the Azerothian on the go.Currently, applying a glyph requires that the player be standing in front of a Lexicon of Power, usually found in main cities. With patch 3.1, this will change, and we will be able to re-glyph at will. This means that if you asked your buddy to hook you up for the raid that night, and it arrives in the mail a few minutes before go time, you can just switch it in without having to hearth and be re-summoned. Heck, I'll just be happy to be able to do it from the mailbox rather than having to ride through the city!While some may complain that this makes the process less special, it might be wise to consider the glyphing change that is accompanying dual specs. Once we glyph our main and off-spec, we will not need to glyph again unless we change our minds on which glyph we want, or spec to our third spec.The only hitch is that you cannot switch them during combat, in Arenas, or in Battlegrounds once the fight has started, which sounds perfectly reasonable to me.Another major, and welcome change, relates to flasks, which brings us to our topic of the week. I will be addressing the new mechanics of flask creation, and discussing the benefits of the new system.
