newbie-guides
Latest
The Light and How to Swing It: The low level tank part 1
With the Light as his strength, Gregg Reece of The Light and How to Swing It faces down the demons of the Burning Legion, the undead of the Scourge, and helps with the puppet shows at the Argent Ren Faire up in Icecrown. For the next couple weeks we'll be taking a look at low level dungeon runners. Cross-realm instancing is coming in patch 3.3 and along with it will be the ability for low level characters to finally find those level appropriate groups for old world dungeons. Being that those parties will need tanks, we thought we'd take a look at what an up and coming paladin needs to know about dungeons as well as what types of gear and stats to be on the lookout for. We're going to start with tanking and then move on to healing and damage-dealing in the weeks to come.
Breakfast Topic: What tutorial would you add?
With the addition of sixty new tutorials for helping out new players starting out in World of Warcraft on the 3.3 PTR, I started thinking about what tutorials some of the level 80 players I've seen still need... like the above. There could be the "Hit rating is your friend" tutorial explaining that if you can't hit the boss, you can't DPS. There is also the "Stay out of the boss's cleave" for those people that want to stand next to the tank during Onyxia. Speaking of Onyxia, we could also just do a general "Dragons: Where not to stand" tutorial telling people to avoid the front and back. There is also one that most new healers run into "A dead healer can't heal the tank" explaining that you also need to keep track of your own health as AoE damage can kill the healer. While some of those were meant to be sarcastic, other ones we tend to take for granted. Some new level 80 characters have never experienced the game mechanics we often feel should be general knowledge. So, I take the question to you: What new tutorials do you think should be added into the game?
Patch 3.3 PTR: New tutorial gallery
As we've mentioned in a previous post, there are a new set of tutorials on the public test realm designed to help out new players when patch 3.3 launches. This should help smooth the overall experience for people who are completely new to the world of both MMOs as well as video games in general. While they aren't nearly as amusing as the fake one I posted above (although, that one needs to get added at some point), they do walk characters through a lot of the major tasks. Currently, there are sixty different tutorial windows explaining things from food to durability loss. There is still plenty of room for additions, but these are a great start. While my gallery may not show it, a lot of the tutorials highlight parts of your screen like your enemy health bars, your minimap, or your action bars themselves to help show what new players are supposed to be looking at. Just a reminder that this is the PTR and these might end up changing or getting re-worded before they hit the live realms. If you have any constructive feedback on any of the tutorials in the gallery, please be sure to hit the US PTR forum or the EU PTR forum and let Blizzard know your thoughts on what they've already done or should add in the future. %Gallery-76529% Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to the Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.
Adventures from the Back Row: World of Warcraft priestly resources
It would be a shame for December to end with just one chance to talk about what it's like to put your heal down. My technical problems have put a temporary hold on my series on healing in Tabula Rasa, but there's no reason we can't turn to the web for succor.I'm guessing a lot of you play World of Warcraft, right? Well, healing in WoW is just as hard as it is anywhere else. At the high end, the hoops you have to jump through ... well, you'd almost think that you'd need some sort of advanced strategy. Perhaps people could even make a hobby out of commenting on what it's like to play a priest?What do you know, both of those things are out there? Today's Adventures from the Back Row will try to offer up a few reliable resources for channeling the Light (or Shadow) in Azeroth. I'm also going to point out some bloggers who make it their business to channel the divine. Whether they're professional or kwai, upbeat or uber-cynical, everyone who wears the halo in World of Warcraft has one thing in common: idiot groupmates delusions of grandeur not enough mana.
