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5 abilities your monk is not using enough
Every class has its core abilities -- skills you rely on to get you through every fight or to save you in an emergency. These are all bound to hotkeys within easy reach, on a primary button bar, and you're so used to them being there that your fingers move towards the right keys without any thought. But you also have abilities you reach for less often... or that might not be on your button bars at all. But not all of these abilities are as useless as you might think they are. Almost every ability in a monk's toolbox is useful in some situation, even though some abilities may not seem useful at first glance. To help you unlock the power of these lesser-used skills, we'll take a look at five abilities you might not be using and discuss how -- and when -- they can come in handy.
So you want to play a brewmaster monk?
Interested in trying out the new monk class, but can't tell your Tiger Strikes from your Tiger Palms? Written by Chase Hasbrouck of World of Monkcraft, WoW Insider's new monk coverage will get you kicking in no time! Last week, I covered windwalker monks and how to fly around kicking butt like a kung fu master. This week, I'm delving into the "spirited" version, the brewmaster. One caveat, though: Because this is still beta, things will likely change somewhat between now and live. We'll have a full 101 guide that covers things like enchants, gems, and stats when Mists is released, but this will cover you until then. What is a brewmaster monk? Monks have three role options: damage, tanking, and healing, of which brewmaster is the tanking role. How do brewmaster monks work? Brewmaster monks have two primary resources, energy and chi. Energy replenishes at a constant rate and is used to power your basic moves and abilities. These attacks generate chi, which is then used to buff your survivability. What is this "stagger" thing? Stagger is a new mitigation mechanic that is exclusive to brewmaster tanks. For every physical attack taken, a percentage of the damage is not taken immediately but instead is turned into a damage over time effect that stacks. In and of itself, this does nothing except spread out the damage taken a bit. However, brewmasters also have Purifying Brew, which completely eliminates the Stagger DoT effect. Depending on the fight, you may have enough chi to use PB often, or you may need to let Stagger stack a bit. Many abilities buff Stagger, such as the Shuffle effect from Blackout Kick.
Video: Provoke's cellphone concepts make us squirm
Ew. We're not sure what it is about watching a video of Provoke's Touch concept that creeps us out. Nevertheless, we're not feeling the "deep communication" the phones are meant to create between lovers. Instead, we're drawn to images of a bandaged, reptilian baby pustulating to the songs of a heavy-cheeked woman singing from inside of our radiator. You too? Decidedly less-freaky Express concept also video'd after the break.
Provoke's 2012 concepts head to New York, Nokia hopes nobody notices
If you want to see the future of Nokia handset design then you have to go to the source. Finnish-based Provoke Design is one of Nokia's main design contractors. As such, take a close look at the three concepts it's showing off in New York at the HARDCORE New Finish Design exhibition starting May 17th. According to Provoke, its Express, Share, and Feel concepts (pictured left to right) represent its 2012 vision of mobile handset design. Each will be presented as fully functional prototypes "demonstrating the core innovation" proposed. The look of the Express concept can be changed electronically and customized to your personal tastes. The Feel handset pair are meant for couples and feature a specialized UI and touch simulation to enable, uh hem, "deep communication." The Share concept allows cults and anarchists to communicate in personalized code formed in subgroups of like-minded weirdos... or something like that. Read for yourself in the press release posted after the break.
