stamina
Latest
Raid Rx: Cataclysmic stat changes for healers
Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a new WoW blog for all things UI, macro, and addon related. Welcome to the special Blizzcon edition! I was on the floor listening into the first set of changes being announced and I managed to catch all the healing changes. Here's what we got! Whew! What an exciting day at the convention for healers! This is just day one! Okay, let's break down all the major changes that will be affecting healers.
Phat Loot Phursday: Onyxia Scale Cloak
Special edition of Phat Loot Phriday this week, on a Phursday! Why? Because tomorrow is gonna be full of fun in the California sun.We did Quel'serrar a while back, so with Onyxia headed back to the game, we'll look at the other piece of gear that involved the black dragon we love to hate.Name: Onxyia Scale Cloak (Wowhead, Thottbot, WoWDB)Type: CloakArmor: 43Abilties: +7 Stamina, +16 Fire resistance. Ah, the days of level 60, they seem so far gone now. Compare this to a prime tanking cloak nowadays, and take a look at just how far we've come. On equip, protects the wearer from being fully engulfed by something called Shadow Flame. What is Shadow Flame, you ask? Here's where this item really gets interesting: sit back and enjoy a tale of old level 60 raiding. Shadow Flame is actually an ability used by Nefarian, Onyxia's brother, and a few other bosses in Blackwing Lair. He casts a huge unblockable AoE during his fight -- unblockable, that is, unless you're wearing one of these cloaks (although since then, Ice Block and Divine Shield will both stop it). %Gallery-33600%
Phat Loot Phriday: Constellus
Not all of us get to run around with Val'aynr. But for you mace casters out there who aren't first on your guild's Legendary list, here's another sweet mace to hunt down.Name: Constellus (Wowhead, Thottbot, Armory)Type: Epic Main Hand MaceDamage/Speed: 93-298 / 1.80 (108.8 DPS)Attributes: +55 Stamina, +54 Intellect Blue socket with a +5 Spell Power bonus Improves crit strike rating by 29, restores 19 mana per five seconds, and improves spell power by 587 %Gallery-33600%
Phat Loot Phriday: Fang of Oblivion
We haven't done a dagger in a while, if my memory serves. Plus, this one is made of stars.Name: Fang of Oblivion (Wowhead, Thottbot, WoWDB)Type: Epic Unique One-hand DaggerDamage/Speed: 271-407 / 1.80 (188.3 DPS)Attributes: +47 Agility, +54 Stamina, and a Yellow Socket, which will probably let you add to crit, hit or haste, depending on what you need more of, with a +4 Agility socket bonus. +1869 Feral attack power, so you can do more damage in your new kitty form. %Gallery-33600%
Insider Trader: Profession-specific buffs part 3
Mining Miners are given Toughness, an ability that at max rank, awards +50 stamina. This is a lovely bonus for tanks! A tank's talents will take this well beyond +500 hp, and stamina is also multiplied by buffs and talents such as Blessing of Kings (and not all stats are). This is also going to be helpful in PvP, where stamina is especially important. Herbalism Herbalists get Lifeblood, a self-heal, that at max rank, awards +2000 HP over 5 seconds on a 3 minute cooldown. This can be used in or out of combat, and the spell effect entails flowers sprouting up from the ground all around the character. It is difficult to gauge the actual benefit of this ability across classes and in different situations. In the last few seconds of a close fight, where it is you or them, even a small boost in HP could bump you up to victory. Then again, tanks benefit more from stamina due to talents that factor in your total stamina to then award you with extra stamina (Sacred Duty), increased power (Touched by the Light), and other benefits. It is also difficult to say whether an extra boost in damage might also be worth more than this small heal in a tough spot. Almost all classes find this ability helpful while leveling and soloing. Raiders will often use it to top themselves off or buy some time until their next heal. Skinning Skinners become Masters of Anatomy, and gain 32 critical strike rating, which is equal to 0.70% crit. This is especially useful to classes who have talents that boost stats based on your crit rating, increase your crit by a %, or where your crit rating actually grants you other stats, such as mana for holy paladins. The Skinning and Mining bonuses equate to about 2 gems worth of stats, and Lifeblood is all about how you use it.Conclusion and ComparisonAs you can see, for most of the professions, the benefits and stat increases are approximately equal. Let's use spell power to demonstrate this: JC: +39. Enchanting: +38. Inscription: +37. Tailoring: 250 SP for 15 seconds of every 45 seconds+. This averages to +83 SP in ideal conditions (meaning, it procs on your next heal after the cooldown is up). In fact, it will likely always be under, though somewhat near, this ideal. A more realistic average is +75 SP. LW: +37. Blacksmithing: +38. Engineers: +18 and a parachute. Alchemy: +37. As you can see, the profession bonuses are basically equivalent, and this is true across each stat. There are some exceptions. As I noted earlier, the Engineering enchants are not only meant to increase your stats, but also combine your gadgets, absorbing them into your everyday armor. Without this absorption, the only way to use them would be to take off your super special raiding/PvP gear in favor of a piece of gear or trinket that you carry around for special occasions. Because of this convenience, they seem to eat up itemization points. Still, there are several that are still worth taking, even over other options available for that slot. The Tailoring enchant noted above is currently being debated as OP, and may be subject to tweaking in the future. It is also worth noting that because this is a passive proc, it is not always going to be utilized. You might proc it near the end of a fight, for example, or when you're topping someone off between pulls, and waste most of the added spell power. Each week, Insider Trader takes you behind the scenes of the bustling sub-culture of professional craftsmen, examining the profitable, the tragically lacking, and the methods behind the madness. Check out part 1 of this Guide to Profession-Specific Buffs!
DuPont crafts ultra longevous OLED materials, which likely won't be affordable
DuPont's been dabbling in OLED advancement for years now, and while the world waits for the introduction of market-ready big-screen OLED HDTVs, engineers at the miracle-working company are toiling away to make sure those very sets last quite some time. For anyone following the OLED TV scene, you'll know that luminance longevity has been a nagging issue, but if new developments pan out, stamina will be the least of our worries. In fact, the firm has crafted a green light-emitting material that can purportedly push onward for over a hundred years... continuously. Furthermore, the same scientists have engineered a new blue light-emitting material with a luminance half-life of 38,000 hours along with a red light-emitting material with a life of 62,000 hours. Unfortunately for the laypeople out there, we can't imagine this stuff being even marginally affordable -- but hey, it's great news for the sybarites!
Totem Talk: Is Enhancement too squishy?
Yes, that's Thoralius the Wise from the Howling Fjord starting quests. When I saw him get up and start zoning out to his smoke brazier, the look on his face just meshed too well with today's subject matter, which is the health of shamans in melee. We talked about shaman health in PvP a while back, now it's PvE's turn.I don't play my shaman in a melee role in raids right now, because I basically don't have the gear for it. My resto set's a lot better so that's what I go as, but that only means I often notice how difficult it is to keep enhancement shamans on their feet. There are several possible culprits for the disparity, although in most cases I believe the killer to be aoe damage, so wearing mail really isn't the issue: rogues aren't nearly as hard to keep up as shamans, for instance, because rogues have cooldowns and abilities that allow them to avoid or escape damage. (If you've ever seen a rogue go sprinting through several mines on a Mimiron kill you'll know what I mean.) No, excepting those giant whirlwinding maniacs in Razorscale and Thorim, what's generally killing shamans in melee is AoE damage, and the problem here is twofold in my experience. Most enhancement shamans who are not in Tier gear are wearing hunter mail, which is not tuned to higher stamina values. Even shaman tier gear lacks in stamina, however. In order to take talents that would reduce incoming damage, shamans are asked to not take talents that would allow them to produce meaningful DPS.
Phat Loot Phriday: Stormedge
This one's by request this week -- Twitter's own @Random_Tangent recommended it to us. We've done a few Ulduar items lately (we'll have to go phat next week), but here's another nice one.Name: Stormedge (Wowhead, Thottbot, Armory)Type: Epic Two-hand AxeDamage/Speed: 594 - 892 / 3.50 (212.3 DPS)Abilities: Um, it's badass? +106 Strength, +125 Stamina. Which means this is a straight-up 2h DPS weapon -- the Strength adds a huge damage bonus to Warriors, Death Knights, Feral Druids (edit: well nevermind then), and Paladins by giving them a +212 attack power just from the weapon alone, not to mention other places Strength is used. Shamans also get a buff -- not quite as big, but still nice. %Gallery-33600%
Phat Loot Phriday: Ironsoul
As much as Martin Fury would have been appropriate here today, we'll stick to actual player items for now. Here's a nice big scary mace to hope for from Ulduar's first boss this weekend.Name: Ironsoul (Wowhead, Thottbot, Armory)Type: Two-hand Epic MaceDamage/Speed: 594 - 892 / 3.50 (212.3 DPS)Attributes: +105 Strength, +126 Stamina Improves crit strike rating by 69 and armor penetration rating by 84. %Gallery-33600%
Hunter solos Utgarde Keep
Tribunalx sent us this great video about something that's fallen out of fashion lately: Hunter soloing. Back in the day, when Mend Pet was still affected by plus healing (back when there was plus healing), Hunters would routinely take down Azuregos by themselves, but they've since had to sit on the sidelines while other classes stepped into the solo arena. But now, with Mend Pet and Bestial Wrath glyphs, a Hunter stacking Stamina in PvP gear, the new version of Deterrence, and pets with their own Tenacity talents, Hunter soloing is possible yet again.As Tribunalx says in the video, it's not really easy, and there's a lot you have to keep track of (and Hunters definitely aren't the only class that can do this -- there's probably a Paladin soloing UK and/or a Death Knight out there as well). But it is definitely possible, as you can see above. Maybe we're experiencing a renaissance of Hunter solo possibilities -- next up, The Nexus? Good luck with the Ormorok gauntlet.
Phat Loot Phriday: Death's Bite
Another Twitter recommendation for Phat Loot Phriday this week, this one from @MEA_Alex. Probably our last piece of Naxx gear, too -- next time we'll get into Ulduar, as there is some really awesome stuff in there, too.Name: Death's Bite (Wowhead, Thottbot, WoWDigger)Type: Epic Two-Hand AxeDamage/Speed: 554-831 / 3.40 (203.7 DPS)Attributes: +101 Strength, +114 Stamina Improves hit rating by 62, and crit strike rating by 90. %Gallery-33600%
Phat Loot Phriday: Cowl of Sheet Lightning
Lots of the endgame cloth headpieces look the same actually, but it's a good look -- the pointy head, the glowing eyes. And nothing says power than a name like "sheet lightning."Name: Cowl of Sheet Lightning (Wowhead, Thottbot, WoWDigger)Type: Epic Cloth HeadArmor: 244Attributes: +67 Stamina, +68 Intellect Meta and a Yellow socket, with a socket bonus of +9 spell power Improves Haste rating by 48, and spellpower by 85 %Gallery-33600%
Phat Loot Phriday: The Soulblade
We said we'd do a Warlock item this week, so here you go.Name: The Soulblade (Wowhead, Thottbot, WoWDigger)Type: Epic Main-hand DaggerDamage/Speed: 87-258 / 1.80 (96.0 DPS)Attributes: +39 Stamina, +44 Intellect, +42 Spirit And yes, that Spirit makes this about as Warlock as daggers come, nowadays. %Gallery-33600%
Phat Loot Phriday: Staff of Trickery
Yes, I'm pretty sure this is the second Feral Druid piece we've done in a row (even though last week was technically a combination of PvP gear). We'll do a Warlock piece next week -- or if there's something you're specifically wondering about, speak up in the comments. But look at that staff -- how could we pass this up?Name: Staff of Trickery (Wowhead, Thottbot, Wowdigger)Type: Epic StaffDamage/Speed: 358-537 / 2.40 (186.5 DPS)Abilities: +89 Agility, +133 Stamina Adds 1843 Feral Attack Power Increases attack power by 180
Scattered Shots: A PvE gem and enchant guide for Hunters
Welcome to this week's edition of Scattered Shots, which is dedicated to shiny things and dust.So by now you've seen our normal dungeon gear guide, our heroic dungeon gear guide, our reputation gear guide, and our holiday gift guide. Between all of them, you should be able to put together a nice solid set of gear that should let you tackle 10-man Naxxramas pretty easily. But grabbing the gear is the easy part. To go the extra mile, you need to grab those gems and enchantments. Let's look at some of the best gems and enchantments you can take along to secure your place in the DPS charts in Naxxramas.
Titanguard weapon enchant gone after all
Ok, so you remember how Titanguard, the 75 stamina weapon enchant, disappeared from 3.0.8? Apparently, that was intentional. Ghostcrawler spoke out yesterday on the rationale for removing it. In short, it was just too good. That 75 Stamina would have made it far and away the best tank enchant, and would have locked them into creating higher and higher tiers in future patches and expansions so tanks wouldn't just stick with Titanguard and be done with it. Not only would this lead to less variety in game, but the developers would be stuck specifically designing future encounters with the assumption that every single tank had that extra 75 stamina.Blizzard's certainly shied away from making certain enchants too powerful before. For example, the Crusader enchantment was given diminishing returns after level 60 specifically so it wouldn't overshadow any other weapon enchants. With that in mind, this move does fit in with Blizzard's modus operandi. And if nothing else, it's good that this was nerfed now, before it made its way onto the live servers. While some tanks may not be happy with the outcome, this is certainly an instance where the PTR testing process worked.Death Knights will still get to keep the +2% stamina on their Rune of the Stoneskin Gargoyle, in part to make up for the lack of a shield and a solid defense sigil. Ghostcrawler also did not rule out the possibility of future tanking enchants, but only if they could find out a way to prevent the same problems that caused them to take out Titanguard.
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%
Phat Loot Phriday: The Fleshshaper
Running Heroics? Want to stab stuff? Keep an eye out for this dagger.Name: The Fleshshaper (Wowhead, Thottbot, Wowdigger)Type: Epic One-hand DaggerDamage/Speed: 206-310 / 1.80 (143.3 DPS)Abilities: +22 Agility, +58 Stamina Improves hit rating by 27, and attack power by 76 %Gallery-33600%
A holiday gift from Age of Conan
Massively has mentioned that Age of Conan is giving away in-game items all month as part of a seasonal contest they're running. But the latest Age of Conan newsletter let us know that everyone's received a free gift automatically, as of December 18th. Funcom's given all players a new virtual item -- the Kosalan talisman of clarity. It boosts stamina and mana for its wearer, with a faster rate of regeneration for those traits. While it's not as über as the items obtainable at higher levels, it's not bad for a freebie. Age of Conan players can claim the Kosalan talisman by simply typing "/claim" in-game. Having fun in Conan's homeland? Make sure to check out all of our previous Age of Conan coverage, and stick with Massively for more news from the Hyborian Age!
Lichborne: Basic defense gearing for the Death Knight tank
Welcome to another edition of Lichborne, which this week is so epic, so mind-blowing, that we just couldn't release on a lazy day like Sunday, which is why it is a day late. That is my story and I am sticking to it.So you're level 80 and you want to respec to a tank build and head straight into tanking 5-mans. In order to be the best tank you can be, there's a very definite first step you should take, which we have discussed before, but which bears repeating: Get 540 Defense. This will make you immune to critical strikes from level 83 mobs, making it much easier to heal you in pretty much every situation, and it's really a prerequisite for serious tanking before any other stat. Unfortunately, Death Knights are at a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to getting maximum defense. We don't get to wear shields, block rating gear is right out useless for us, and two-handed weapons aren't itemized for defense. Still, it's possible to hit that magic number, even without dual wielding tanking weapons. This week's Lichborne is meant to showcase a variety of defensive options for Death Knights that require a minimum of dungeon grinding to get. By picking and choosing from this list, you should be able to get that 540 defense skill cap, and hopefully then be able to tank a few of the more difficult normals and beginning heroic dungeons on your own.As a reminder, defense skill is not the same as defense rating. Rather, you need defense rating to get defense skill. Specifically, you will need approximately 690 defense rating to gain the 540 defense skill you need to gain critical strike immunity against level 83 mobs.
