transmogrification-guide
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Arcane Brilliance: Taking your mage transmog beyond tier sets
Every other week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. Stacey Landry is the resident mage here, bender of space and time, conjurer of delicious confectioneries and expert at dressing well while setting things on fire. She also maintains the mage blog, Manalicious. I haven't written about transmog here yet, which is really a terrible oversight. It was always in the works, though, there's just been so many other things to talk about. But I find myself at liberty to do something a little more light-hearted this week and so let's talk about fashion! Many potential transmog enthusiasts might find themselves getting a bit overwhelmed when it comes to choosing what to wear. You don't need an article that tells you "tier sets look good," because it's kind of a given. They were designed to match each other, so yes, an entire tier set isn't necessarily a wrong choice. At the very least it'll look cohesive, and mages have some great tier sets. But it isn't necessarily an original choice, either, and it won't set you apart in a sea of cloth-wearers or even mages wearing the entirety of Tirisfal Regalia. So what we're going to talk about, for anyone who might be less confident in their transmogging, is how you can take your transmog to the next level and what you should consider as you do. We'll look at color and contrast, how to build a set around a unique piece, or take a potential theme and make it your own.
Shado-Pan transmog and player-created games
The coolest things to come out of Pandaria's multitude of reputation grinds were the rewards that players could reap at the end of what was sometimes an excruciatingly long journey. It was your treat for weeks, sometimes months of endless dailies. The rewards are fairly extensive -- mounts, new pets, items for your farm, trinkets and toys -- but none were quite as well received as one lone item from the Shado-Pan: the hat. A transmog-only stat-less item, the Replica Shado-Pan Helmet was created specifically for use with transmogrification. There was one minor problem with that, however. Shado-Pan armor was most definitely not included. This left players with the task of building outfits to go along with the sets. And due to this, players got ridiculously creative with solutions to the problem, sorting out which color schemes would look best with that unique red bandana and hunting down the various pieces, one by one.
Wowhead releases BoE set armor guide
If you're a fan of transmogrification, you're no doubt familiar with the difficulties of trying to keep track of all those green BoE sets out there in Azeroth. Over at Wowhead, that process has just been made a lot easier with a transmogrification guide put together by Perculia, detailing BoE sets in cloth, leather, mail and plate. Specifically covering those pesky world-drop greens, the guide has model views of each set that you can see with a simple mouseover. BoE green drops have long been a hit-or-miss for transmog fanatics, but Wowhead's guide is an easy, quick reference to help not only with tracking down obscure sets, but offering alternate pieces of gear with the same models as well. The mouseover visuals are incredibly handy for anyone looking for color-matching items, and of course Wowhead is its usual helpful self when it comes to finding out the best place to find all the gear your transmog-addicted heart desires. While you're checking out the BoE guide, you may want to take a look at Wowhead's other guides as well, covering everything from your typical tier armor sets to lookalikes, quest rewards, dungeon sets and more. If you've been looking for a new look for your character, going back to the sets of old for inspiration isn't a bad idea at all.
How to get started with transmogrification and be the most stylish newbie on the block
When I first created my gnome monk, I immediately noticed that while the other class options had stylish starting gear, my monk had a sleeveless black shirt, plain black pants, and no shoes. I assumed that, as a monk, my gnome valued simplicity over flash -- but, really, a sleeveless shirt and bare feet in the endless Dun Morogh snow just seemed impractical. Wouldn't she get cold? Did I need to be concerned about frostbite? What if my poor gnome stepped on something sharp? Fortunately, I soon found a long-sleeved shirt and a pair of boots and was able to stop worrying about it. Until level 64 when, questing in Hellfire Peninsula, I received a pair of boots that was a huge upgrade from my old boots, but weren't quite boots. Instead, they were bright green bands that wrapped around the ankle and covered the top of the foot, but left the bottom bare: Hardly practical footware for exploring the demon-infested Outland. It was this that finally drove me to figure out WoW's transmogrification system, which lets you make one piece of gear (armor or weapon) look like another. Though this feature seems primarily designed for high level players who have had the time to collect numerous pieces of gear, you can start transmogrifying at any level. The only downside to starting early is that you'll be tempted to find and buy gear just for its looks -- which can be pricey! But if you're a savvy auction house trader, you can use everyone else's transmogrification obsession to make some cash.
Transmogrifying a Maiev lookalike set
One of the most frequently requested sets for transmogrification has to be the unique look of Maiev Shadowsong. Unfortunately, it's also one that is impossible to duplicate. Although Maiev's armor and weapons are utterly stunning, there are no player equivalents anywhere in game. The only place you can find the armor is on NPCs, and they aren't going to share their wardrobe. That hasn't stopped players from trying to recreate it, however. And this week we got an email submission from reader Krainz, who managed to put together a surprisingly reminiscent version of Maiev's unique look, using in game armor with the same color palette. Although it's not an exact match by any means, it's close enough that it definitely looks like a Warden outfit. And it was honestly too cool not to share with you all.
Prepare for Pandaria: Transmogrify your way into Hellscream's Vanguard
It's almost time to hit the seas and head to Pandaria, so why spend these last few weeks pulling together a set to look the part? Last time, we covered the unique look of the Ravenholdt elite, a black and blue leather number with a snazzy sword to boot. This isn't just a Ravenholdt uniform. It's also used by the Blacktalon Watchers that work as the eyes and ears of Wrathion the Black Prince in Mists of Pandaria. Speaking of Pandaria, in order to head to Pandaria's shores, players must complete quests in their respective capital cities. From there, you hop aboard an airship and make your way to the mysterious, mist-cloaked isle. For the Horde, this means a trip with General Nazgrim and a select force of Hellscream's Vanguard, whose black, brown and gold set makes a pretty distinctive look. If you're going to head to Pandaria as part of Garrosh's forces, you may as well find a uniform that fits -- if you're a plate wearer, that is. Thankfully, most of this set is quite easy to obtain, with one glaring exception that can be substituted with something similiar, with a little creativity.
Reminder: Scholomance and Scarlet Monastery prepped to change for good
Everything is about to change -- again. Mists is nowhere near as world-changing as Cataclysm, but there are still going to be a couple of significant changes to the old world. Both Scholomance and Scarlet Monastery are being revamped into far more streamlined, efficient versions in preparation for their heroic iteration. Because of this, some bosses will be removed for good or changed in a significant way. Although it has not been noted in the official patch notes for 5.0.4, players can access the lower-level version of the new Scholomance and Scarlet Monastery currently on the PTR. We don't know if this means this content will be included in the 5.0.4 patch on Aug. 28, because it's not specifically mentioned in the official patch notes, but both are playable on the PTR realms. In cases like this, it's better to be safe than sorry. Before any world changes happen, you may want to farm for any items you've been craving. So what does that entail exactly? Here are a few suggestions.
Transmogrify your way into the Ravenholdt elite
Ah, Ravenholdt. Besides being the object of frustration for rep farmers worldwide, Ravenholdt is more importantly home to an elite organization of rogues. Who are they allied with? No one in particular. Why, they might even be allied with you -- if you had the right amount of coin, that is. Ravenholdt Manor is perched high in the peaks of Hillsbrad Foothills. Home to rogues all over the world, the organization is a loose one. It never really seemed to hold any real purpose in World of Warcraft other than squabbling with the Syndicate. That is, of course, until we saw the introduction of the legendary quest chain for Fangs of the Father in patch 4.3. At that point, Ravenholdt stepped from a handy place to grab a recipe for Thistle Tea to a full-fledged, bustling area with its own fascinating storyline. And while Wrathion has now flown off for greener pastures, Ravenholdt remains for any who choose to visit or grind endless amounts of reputation. The guards of Ravenholdt have seen a facelift in recent years, and now have a snazzy uniform that highlights leather pieces largely from The Burning Crusade. With transmogrification, any rogue can show allegiance to this shadowy organization in perfect style.
Become a Guardian of Hyjal with transmogrification
Players expecting the Cenarion Circle to show up in Hyjal might have been a little surprised to find the Guardians of Hyjal patrolling around up there instead in Cataclysm. These defenders of the world tree Nordrassil aren't actually the Cenarion Circle at all. While some may be members of the Cenarion Circle, the Guardians of Hyjal are their own organization in their own right. This is why you'll see druids roaming around as well as warriors in full plate standing guard at Nordrassil's roots. The Guardians of Hyjal are actually a collaboration between the druids of the Cenarion Circle and the Green Dragonflight. They've banded together to protect Hyjal from any would-be villains and to ensure Nordrassil's survival. With the uprising of Ragnaros in the region, it would seem that the group is sorely needed -- and as a faction in Cataclysm, players can join up with these guys and cash in on reputation rewards. And if you really like the look of Hyjal's plate defenders, it's actually pretty easy to replicate it with transmogrification!
Wanna catch 'em all? Themed transmogrification for Pet Battles
Pet Battles was released on the beta servers earlier this week, and it's ridiculously fun. Not only can you train a team from your corral of existing pets, you can also wander out in the world and capture even more pets to level up. Needless to say, I've been having an incredibly good time with the new feature, and I'm looking forward to playing it on live servers when Mists hits. Of course, the obvious statement at BlizzCon when this feature was announced was that it bears a remarkable similarity to Pokemon. The truth is, there are a ton of these critter battle-themed games out there, and this one just happens to have that Warcraft flavor we all know and love. That said, why not use transmogrification to deck your character out in Pokemon style? It's a little tricky to do, but we've got some cloth sets that may fit the bill.
Transmog into the Masters of the Universe
Some of my fondest childhood memories involve plunking myself down along with my brother and sister and happily watching a few hours of incredibly cheesy cartoon shows. I grew up with classics like Thundercats, He-Man, Transformers and many more. While these days those old cartoons seem incredibly outdated and more than a little silly, for me and my siblings, they were amazing feats of animation that sparked our imaginations and creativity. Not so coincidentally, imagination and creativity are two things that work incredibly well with transmogrification. After delving into the world of comic book superheroes, I decided to try my hand at recreating some of the looks worn by the heroes and villains of those beloved old cartoon shows. After all, there's already a version of He-Man and Skeletor in game. Although Adam Eternum and Keldor the Lost look spot-on in game, they're wearing combinations of different armor types -- something that doesn't work for transmogrification, unfortunately. But a little mixing and matching goes a long way toward creating decent enough looks that will have you evoking the power of Grayskull in no time flat.
Man of Steel? Dark Knight? Transmogrifying DC's greatest superheroes
I think I've mentioned before that while I love comics of all sorts, I'm a DC girl at heart. While I've got a ton of obscure titles, I think my favorite from the DC portion of my collection has to be The Killing Joke, which I picked up when it was released. It was a horribly violent story, but the interplay between Batman and the Joker was an oddly chilling moment that showed more about both characters than any comic I'd seen before it. Batman is one of those utterly iconic figures. Dark and brooding, the Dark Knight has his own methodical way of handling situations that is a direct contrast from his millionaire playboy persona. Batman's a manmade hero, but his counterpart, Superman, is an alien from another world whose heroic deeds and super strength can be attributed to his otherworldly origins. Both of these characters are instantly recognizable, and hopefully with today's transmog tricks, your character will be instantly identified as one of DC's finest as well.
Transmog your way into a classic plate DPS clown suit
Being that I'm a huge transmog junkie, I'm awfully jealous of Dawn and Anne and their cool transmog posts. But I don't generally go around trying to look like an Avenger or a member of the Stormwind Guard or even Deckard Cain. This had me despairing for a bit, because it meant I couldn't really come up with a hook for a transmog set. Then, while farming Molten Core for the left Binding of the Windseeker (it didn't drop, although the right one did -- again), I got the Flameguard Gauntlets, a pair of gloves I've probably vendored more times than I can remember. And suddenly, it all clicked. I knew exactly what I would do with my transmog post. I would recreate the look of the classic WoW raiding DPS warrior. I would resurrect the clown suit. The clown suit was the cobbled-together, not at all coordinated, not-matching-well-at-all set of epic DPS gear almost all warriors threw together in classic WoW raiding.
Remixing the Stormwind Guard for transmogrification
There are few NPCs in WoW more iconic than the Stormwind Guard. Even if you're Horde, it's hard not to like the striking contrast of blue and silver metals paired with the golden lion's head emblem. OK, so maybe not if you're Horde, but I digress. I've always loved the look of the Stormwind Guard, yet when it comes to transmogrification, I find the look is a bit outdated for my own character. The older armor models just don't hold a candle to the new ones in the game, and I like for my character to keep up with the latest stuff coming out. So I thought to myself, "Why not mix it up and make an outfit inspired by the Stormwind Guard?" I imagine this is what it would look like if a member of the Stormwind Guard decided to become a PC instead of an NPC. Very breaking the fourth wall, right? OK, maybe no to that one too ...
Wonder Twin Powers, Activate! More superhero transmogrification
There is plenty of WoW machinima out there, and there's plenty on my favorites list. Up there on the list is Aquaman's Lament, put together by Spiff and based on a song by Mark Aaron James. It wasn't just the catchy song that caught my eye; it was the WoW twist on several different superheroes. This was, of course, before the days of transmogrification, and several of the sets shown used mismatched armor types for a surprisingly effective look. Now that we've got transmogrification, we can take these looks and use them for our own, with a few tweaks here and there to make sure each set fits under one armor type. I love comics, I love superheroes, and I love World of Warcraft, so Aquaman's Lament hit a home run for me. And figuring out how to make the sets featured actually work with transmogrification is about as much fun as wearing the sets themselves!
Transmogrifying the women of DC comics
I love comics. I have a monstrous stash of comics carefully bagged, boarded, boxed and stacked in my closet. It runs in the family -- my father collected comics when he was a kid, and he has a particularly painful tale of how he collected Superman from day one. He actually owned Action Comics #1. However, when he left home and joined the military, his mother (bless her heart) decided to throw away all his old comics while cleaning house. Sometimes my dad looks at what that #1 issue sells for today, and he gets a little sick to his stomach. However, while I do enjoy reading Marvel, I have to say I'm a DC comics girl at heart -- much to my father's dismay. Last time, we looked at ways to transmogrify characters into beloved comic book figures and tried our hand at transmogrifying looks for some of the Avengers. Well this week, it's the ladies turn. While we can't get exact replicas of many of the DC comics sets, I've tried to put together three looks here that recall some of DC comic's most heroic and devilish women.
Avengers Assemble! Transmogrify your own superhero team
Transmogrification isn't just for making your character pretty or wearing old sets. Where's the fun in that? There are thousands of pieces to choose from for your look, and there's no reason you can't make it a distinctive one -- paying homage to video games or popular comics is just as much fun as being pretty. Today, we've got an iconic foursome of characters who have been staples in Marvel comics for decades and recently made a smashing success with the film The Avengers. Though Warcraft's armor doesn't contain exact replica's of Ironman's iconic armor or Captain America's easily recognizable shield, you can still use transmogrification to compile a look that screams Marvel Comics. Just because the Hulk doesn't wear anything more than a pair of pants in the comics doesn't mean we can't capture his look through some well-placed camouflage. And even though we can't get our hands on Mjolnir, there are more than enough warhammers lying around to find a good replica.
Transmogrifying a tribute to engineering
We've talked a lot about creating transmogrification looks that mimic other characters -- in-game NPCs that we adore like Thisalee Crow or even looks that pay homage to characters from other beloved video games. But there's absolutely no need to limit yourself to mimicking other characters with transmogrification. It can be just as fun to create an homage to a favorite mount, pet -- or in today's case, a profession! Today we've got two looks based on the beloved profession of engineering. I actually stumbled onto this look while trying to create a monochromatic piece for the heck of it, but I was pleased enough with how it turned out for me that I decided to share it with all of you. In addition to my own leather number, I've put together a cloth outfit as well -- and I'll see what I can do to create a mail and plate version in the following weeks.
Transmog Inspirations: WoW meets Nintendo, part 2
I give up. I can't for the life of me create a transmog for Princess Peach. I've tried and I've tried, but there just aren't enough pink clothes in the World of Warcraft to piece together a convincing Peach. I'm sorry, Mario, but you're going to have to settle for some other princess. Princess Poobah? Princess Theradras? Princess ... I can't think of any more. Someone call Anne! Anyway, this week I decided to put together a few more transmogs based on Nintendo characters. A lot of readers were asking for more, so I made one for Princess Zelda, Toad, and Roy (you know, from Fire Emblem and Super Smash Bros. -- everyone loves Roy!).
Transmogrify your blood elf into the druid of your dreams
OK, look. We know according to current lore, blood elves cannot be druids. The quel'dorei left behind Nordrassil and any tree-hugging ways they might have had when they were banished after the War of the Ancients, thousands and thousands of years ago. Blood elves are all about the arcane, not about nature magic. But apparently, there's a huge contingent of people out there that would still like to be able to play them in game. It's doubtful we will ever see that particular race and class combination come into play. However, the magic of transmogrification can at least give you the look you're going for. There's no shape-shifting or nature spells with this look, and you'll need a leather-wearing class to pull it off -- for blood elves, that pretty much means a rogue. But if you're dead set on blood elf druids and you'd still like the look of one, even if you can't play the class ... well, this combination ought to do the trick!
