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WoW Archivist: An ultrasafe history of engineering
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? If you're an engineer, you're accustomed to the chance of failure. The state of the profession throughout WoW's ten years is a bit like a goblin device. Sometimes engineering has succeeded incredibly well. The shiniest of rewards showered down on the profession from Blizzard's workshop like Thorium Grenades of Joy. During other eras, the profession has backfired, blasting shrapnel in players' faces like so many Explosive Sheep. No one would argue that engineering is in a pretty good place right now, especially considering the newly revealed Sky Golem. It's one of the sickest mounts in the game, it transforms, it lets you harvest herbs without dismounting -- and it's only craftable by engineers. In the family of primary professions, engineering has always been the weird uncle. No other profession makes such a diverse and bizarre array of products. Engineers can make ranged weapons, a shield, armor of all four kinds, consumables, pets, mounts, trinkets, utility items, "enchantments," "gems," "keys," feasts (yep), fishing lures, portable crafting stations, and specialized bags. It's also the only remaining profession that is still divided into exclusive specializations: goblin and gnomish engineering. Let's look back at the early days of the profession and how it has evolved through the last four expansions.
The wait continues for Pierre and the Skyclaw
The mystery of Pierre and the Sky Claw continues. These creations burst onto the scene in the patch 5.2 PTR patch notes back in January, when we were enthralled by Pierre's cooking capabilities, and the Sky Claw's two-person mount potential. Engineers were thrilled at their appearance, but alas, it was not to be. When we last heard from our potent pair, they had been recently removed from patch 5.2, for undisclosed reasons. This last update came our way in early March, and we have had no word since. Until now. Blizzard Lead Content Designer Cory "Mumper" Stockton tweeted the following: @tasenilein Not in 5.3 - Cory Stockton (@mumper) April 23, 2013 What has happened to Pierre and the Skyclaw? Have we sent out a search party? Are they in Vashj'ir, solving underwater crimes? Is it simply that Lil' Ragnaros is jealous and has banished Pierre to the Elemental Plane, and the Skyclaw is trying to build up the stones to fly down and snatch him out? Or is it possible that something more sinister is afoot... WoW Insider recently made mention of a new contender for engineers' hearts and pockets, the Bad Robot, due to grace our screens in 'a future patch'. Could it be that the bad robot has lived up to his name and put paid to Pierre and the Skyclaw? Could this be the darkest hour for our dynamic duo? Who will help them now?
Sky Claw and heirloom shields join Pierre in the coming soon pile
WoW Insider posted recently about the removal of engineering pet and cooking stove combo Pierre from patch 5.2. We weren't sure why he'd gone, but in more bad news for engineers, the Sky Claw mount is also absent, as Ghostcrawler confirms below: @blehninja It's not. We had to pull it at the last second. Hopefully we can fix it and it will return. - Greg Street (@Ghostcrawler) March 6, 2013 Not only that, but heirloom shields are also not going to be coming with patch 5.2, as Senior Community Rep Zarhym confirms in a forum thread: Zarhym Heirloom shields were originally planned to be added in patch 5.2, but, unfortunately, due to a late-breaking bug with these items which prevented them from properly scaling with level, we had to remove them. We still want to get these shields in the game and plan to do so in a future patch. source It's always a shame when much-anticipated items can't make it into the game, especially when they're as cool as the Sky Claw. We hope for their speedy repair, and to see them soon.
Mists of Pandaria Beta: Engineering gets more fun toys
Engineers, keep getting excited for Mists of Pandaria, because we've just got even more toys to make our favorite profession unequivocally still the best profession. With the recent beta patch, we've seen some new datamined recipes for engineering goodies such as Blingtron 4000, a fabulously wealthy robot companion who gives people gifts, and the Depleted-Kyparium Rocket, a new rocket mount built by engineers. The real treat, however, is the Thermal Anvil, a new item that drops a portable anvil and forge at the engineer's feet. Yes, you read that right -- engineers are going to be able to deploy a portable anvil. But wait, there's more. Did you want to slap some Watergliding Jets on your shoes to make swimming a breeze? What about a brand new Wormhole Generator for the Pandaria continent? Maybe you've like to pair a gathering profession with your engineering to make the best use of some brand new Mist-Piercing Goggles? Engineers, Blizzard has heard our call for more fun stuff and it is delivering. I can't wait to see what's next. Engineering -- best profession! It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
The OverAchiever: Mountain O' Mounts from professions
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. Today, we are convinced that archaeology's RNG won't apply to us. There are a number of interesting (and by interesting, perhaps I mean "occasionally very expensive and likely to drive you insane via RNG-laden accessibility") mounts available from professions, though for some of them, you'll have to be a practitioner in good standing before you'll ever be able to learn them. Regrettably, I am the bearer of some very bad news this week concerning the Vial of the Sands for all those of you who like circumventing the highest costs in the game. Also read: Combining The Ambassador and Mountain O' Mounts Mountain O' Mounts in Outland Mountain O' Mounts in Northrend Mountain O' Mounts in 5-man dungeons Mountain O' Mounts in raids Mountain O' Mounts from achievements Mountain O' Mounts from PvP
The Engineer's dilemma
After a recent article on how the Engineering motorcycles of Wrath are going to be BoE items usable even by non-engineers, there's been a lot of commentary both here and on the forums about many Engineers' preference for the mount to be BoP -- or at least usable only by fellow Engineers. Last night we heard from reader Deftek who made the following three points: a). the motorcycle would be the only mount in the game beside your own faction's that doesn't require a rep/token grind or a profession; b). the vast majority of Engineering's gadgets have always been for Engineers only, and; c). everyone is going to have one if all you have to do is buy the reagents on the AH and track down an Engineer.It's an interesting conundrum. Profitability and accessibility seem to be zero-sum in the game, and Engineers have complained for years that the profession was a complete money sink because they could sell so few items or services. I'm leveling Engineering on my Warrior right now and it became apparent pretty early that the profession lacked the usual lucrative items available to others; there's no real equivalent to Tailoring's bags, Leatherworking's armor kits, or Alchemy's raid potions. I've made money selling Mechanical Squirrels and that's it. So while I understand where Deftek's coming from, I still think the profession would benefit greatly from the addition of marketable BoE items, and Engineers have just been handed something that basically sells itself.Having said that, a mount isn't an equivalent to, say, super mana potions or golden spellthread; you buy the motorcycle once and you never need to replace, consume, or update it, so the market for it will never extend beyond these one-time purchases. So while Engineering needs more moneymaking items, from an economics perspective the mount isn't a good choice and possibly should be BoP. But it sure looks cool, and I'd love to have one on my (non-Engineering) main.
Engineering motorcycles to be BoE
I met a player in the beta a few nights ago riding one of the brand-new Engineering ground mounts, and he was kind enough to pose for a few pictures and chat with me about it. At the time he confirmed that the mount was being sold in Dalaran for a fraction of its actual value, presumably for the sake of testing its passenger function (which unfortunately still seems to be bugged, so don't count on hauling a buddy along if you run out and buy one right now). He also said the mount was BoE, which both I and Alex had a hard time believing would remain a permanent feature. Blizzard seems to keep most engineering gewgaws in the family, as it were.Well, it looks like we were wrong; CM Valnoth has confirmed that the new Engineering-made ground mount for Wrath is going to be Bind on Equip, so I'd advise making friends with a good Engineer sometime soon (by the way, don't miss Jaylynn's #68 comment on the next page of the thread). We're not sure how expensive the mats are going to be once Wrath goes live, although the player I spoke to estimated it would be less than the current cost of a Turbo-Charged Flying Machine (though quite likely to be more expensive before the Northrend-fueled economy settles somewhat). Daniel Whitcomb's also observed it's likely to remain BoE as having one of these babies is linked to the achievement Get to the Choppa!, so with any luck Engineering is going to be a somewhat more lucrative profession in the expansion.
Whirligig: the generation, jury rigging, and joys of the gyrocopter
...And associated technologyOr:"IT'S WHISPER QUIET!"Since the very dawn of sentience, since the first daring Gnome looked skyward and said "Hey what's up there," since the first drink addled Goblin fell back near-insensate and said that those birds weren't so great, anyone could fly if they had a mind to, before falling into a Dark Iron Ale-induced coma, it has been our dream.Since the first parachute cloak failed to deploy (Engineer 2nd Class Amplebottom regrets packing her bloomers in that pack, and points out respectfully that the quantity of cloth involved did slow Engineer 1st Class Plummetorque's descent somewhat), we have held out hope.Since the first Engineer took flight in Outland, we have dreamed, demanded, planned, protested, and raised our voices (amplified or otherwise) as one, crying out to the great Engineers, the Blue Gears of the World, for succor. Let us, we have cried out, slip off at last the line and mooring, the chain and the anchor. Let us, we called from Shattrath and Stormspire alike, cast off into the air, in machines we have made ourselves, and trusting only our craft and our skill, reach out to touch the skies themselves!Ahem.Many of us, however, died in the process. Turns out our craft and our skill are not always the most trustworthy of companions, much less copilots, much less sole source of support between our posteriors and the unforgiving, unresilient ground below. However, after much research on both flight and gravitational acceleration, Engineers have at their disposal two crafts for aerial flight. Herein we discuss the components required for each model of the Engineers' Flying Machines, and possible advantages therefrom derived.
Insider Trader: The rhyme and reason of crafting
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.With news of new recipes and crafting tweaks in patch 2.4 flooding in, it's hard not to get excited about what Wrath of the Lich King might hold for our favorite professions. The trades in WoW aren't currently necessarily aging very gracefully, yet fresh directions seem perfectly attainable with a little design effort. In the meantime, plenty of new players (and new characters) set off on the trade road every day. Many of them naively believe that a trade that complements their chosen class will provide them the gear and cash they need for the road to 70 and beyond. But with today's accelerated leveling curve slingshotting players past Old World content into gear that's positively steroidal compared to crafted options, crafters often don't see any significant return on their investment until the end game.So why pick up a trade? We've got three good reasons, immediately ahead.
Engineers having fun: Eject! Eject!
Every once in a while, along comes an roleplaying idea that's so incredibly fun that even those who normally scoff (or worse!) at roleplayers sit up and set up new emote macros. Konge of Kargath shares this Macro of Much Merriment with fellow engineering mount drivers on the official forums:/say No brakes, no brakes! /say Eject! Eject! /panic /dismount /use X-52 Rocket Helmet Make sure to equip your X-52 Rocket Helmet and allow for its 30-minute cool-down period, Konge reminds, and you're good to go. (And for those of you who vendored your helmet, you can ask the Chief in Area 52 for a new one.) Take note that using the helmet activates a fairly nasty little fire DoT called "To Infinity and Above!" (a reference to Buzz Lightyear's motto from the movie Toy Story). The DoT takes off about half your health in three ticks when you activate the helmet, and it affects other players around you. Use with care!Players inspired by Konge's post have been putting their own spins on the idea, using their own lines such as "She canna take any more! Eject!" and adding time delays to the process for added effect (and even more emotes). Lots of good times to be had ... Now, if only there were such a thing as a Gnomish Fire Extinguisher!
Blizzard posts engineering mount gallery and Hallowe'en costumes
If you haven't checked the World of Warcraft official site in a few days, some new goodies have popped up that you might enjoy. Blizzard added a gallery for photos of players dressed up in WoW-themed Hallowe'en costumes, including several cute pictures of children (can you say baby murloc?), and some nifty ideas. They also added an engineering mount gallery, to both the engineering and the flying mount pages. Of course, the WoW Insider turbo-charged flying machine gallery was up first, and we're not gloating about it. No; we're merely linking to Blizzard's! Actually, they've compiled some unique and truly beautiful shots, so it's definitely worth perusing. Although Blizzard is always open to receiving your screenshots, at the moment, they're quite interested in shots of the new Cenarion Expedition mounts. Check out our mini-guide to taking screenshots if you're not sure of the technicalities, and then mount up for the camera! Alternatively, start grinding in Coilfang, and begin saving your gold. If you fancy one of the flying hippogryphs, it'll set you back some 2000g. If heading out and snapping some fantastic shots is not your style, or if you simply do not have the time, then perhaps you should head over to our Caption This contest page and try your hand at winning a 60-day WoW gamecard. %Gallery-10309%
Gallery: Turbo-Charged Flying Machine
Patch 2.3 injected a whole lot of new life into the game -- from unexpected class buffs to nasty jungle trolls, the latest patch from Blizzard gave a whole lot of bang for the buck. When it comes to bang, however, arguably the loudest, most spectacular one comes from the new Engineering flying mount. This whirling, sputtering thingamajig -- which Blizzard poster Drysc has called "the best flying mount in the game" had Engineers scrambling to get their Hula Girl Doll from that purportedly perfidious peddler Griftah as soon as 2.3 went live. Don't believe the hype? Check out our latest gallery to get up close and personal with the Turbo-Charged Flying Machine. Don't get too close, though. That exhaust can get really nasty.%Gallery-10309%
New toys for Engineers
Amanda M. had a tiny mention of this in her big Engineering post earlier, but I felt it deserved another mention. Our friend Boubouille at MMO Champion has discovered that there are new toy models coming for Engineers in 2.3: a rocket chicken (yes, really), a paper gyrocopter and a paper zepplin, and this crazy model above, a dragon kite.Now, I don't mean to rain on Engineers' parades-- they definitely deserve all the love they're getting, and I can't wait to see all the cool stuff they're making out there on the realms. But here's the thing: wasn't the whole problem with Engineering that they were stuck making toys instead of useful items? The Epic Mount is awesome, but is anyone else surprised to see that an "Engineering revamp" includes papercraft toys? This is just more Mechanical Squirrels, which is what Engineers were disappointed with in the first place.An unweighted Companion Cube would be hilarious (Portal has my game of the year vote right now, until I get to check out Mass Effect). But I thought the whole point of beefing up Engineering was to get past these pets. Will letting them do some papercraft really bring the profession up to speed?Update: Or maybe they're not all for Engineers. The Rocket Chicken certain seems like Engineering, but there's speculation floating around, according to our illustrious commenter Kyle, that these are rewards from the new Upper Deck loot cards.
Engineering: 2.3 and beyond
It would be an understatement to say that engineering as a profession has been sorely lacking for quite some time. Although there are those among us who have remained optimistic (and a touch crazy), the upcoming changes in patch 2.3 will do wonders to lift the spirits of browbeaten inventors everywhere. Yet, the forums are still rife with creative new ideas for the direction of the profession, as well as glaring issues that have yet to be addressed. Today I will be summarizing some of the more ingenius and workable proposals for the future of engineering, highlighting some of the changes that Blizzard has promised to make, and bringing some much-needed attention to the problems that still plague this profession. Even if you aren't an engineer yourself, many of the suggestions for craftable goodies make for an interesting read.
Insider Trader: Professions 2.3 -- The Way I Are
Insider Trader is your weekly inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.What's in store for your profession in patch 2.3? Without further ado, Insider Trader is here to update you on what craftspeople should be looking out for, now on the test realm. (Sure, you could read the official PTR patch notes -- but then you wouldn't get links to all our helpful posts at WoW Insider!)The big news for professions, of course, is the new engineering mounts. Now that the mats list for these sweet little rides is out, we know you're all revving your engines to get those last engineering skill points. Early next week, we'll run a special engineering leveling guide with some inside advice on that brutal stretch of leveling from 300 to 375. Until then, here are the collected notes for profession changes in patch 2.3.
PTR Notes: Griftah's back in town
Blizzard is apparently captivated by Griftah, the snake-oil sales Troll in Shattrath, because they've changed him yet again in 2.3. He's back inside the city, so apparently that investigation the Peacekeeper was doing dug up nothing. And he's gotten a bigger role in the game than ever-- not only does he now have a quest for you to do (that leads into Zul'Aman), but apparently one of the ingredients for the Engineering mount, a hula doll (don't ask), is sold by him for a whopping 100g.I like Griftah, and I'm glad that he's back-- that jerk Scryer going through his things was none too kind to the shifty Troll while he was gone. And my guess is that Griftah isn't done being vindicated-- I think it would be really funny if, in an upcoming patch, Blizzard changed that old 30g necklace Griftah sold to have a really cool proc or effect put on it, sort of a reward for those who've stood by Griftah the whole time.On the other hand, I hope this "guinea pig" of progressive content is really helping Blizzard learn how to do it-- seems a little strange to waste updates like this on just one Troll when we could be seeing real progressive content elsewhere in the game. Still, every little step counts-- it's just another update in the whole saga of Griftah the Troll.
2.3 PTR screenshots rolling in
2.3 is up on the PTR, and both MMO Champion and World of Raids have broken out the Model Viewer and are ripping the new patch to pieces. Man, that bear mount looks awesome. And the engineering mount! And Zul'jin!Spoilers ahead, as well-- these guys are pulling out all the weapons from Zul'Aman, so if you don't want to see what all the new drops look like yet, don't look now. If you want to know what I think, I'd rather see this stuff in-game rather than diving in with the Model Viewer-- it's like reading the last page of a brand new novel, in that you might not know exactly how you get there, but you'll already know just what it looks like. The bear mount above isn't that big of a spoiler-- we already know it drops from. But the weapons and armor-- a big part of me wants to wait and see them in Zul'Aman itself.Still, if seeing the patch laid out in screenshots is your thing, both MMO Champion and World of Raids are going at it, and I'm told we'll be diving in later this evening. 2.3 ahoy! Go test those bugs on the PTR so those of us on the live realms can get it quick!Thanks, Atryd!
