vial-of-the-sands
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Nice Guy Award: Player gives away two 50,000g mounts
Over on Reddit's /r/wow this morning there was a great post by a priest named Clearly_Unimpressed about a recent time he responded to a question in trade chat: "What would you do with 200,000g?" He replied that he'd buy a Vial of the Sands -- the Cataclysm archaeology item that gives you the Sandstone Drake mount. So what happens? The guy asking the question in chat finds Clearly_Unimpressed and opens a trade window with him, handing over the Vial. Clearly_Unimpressed was actually quite impressed, thanked the generous fellow for his gift, and mentioned that he wanted to give it to his friend who always desired one. The trade chat champion would have none of that. He scooted off to auction house and returned to Clearly_Unimpressed, giving him another Vial so he and his friend could have matching mounts. Too often we hear only about the bad people, the annoying things, the changes we don't like, etc... Hopefully today we can all take a minute and remember that there are a ton of great people in this community, like this trade chat hero.
5 great holiday gifts for World of Warcraft players
Ah, the Christmas Kwanzaa Hanukkah Winter Veil holiday -- a magical time of good cheer and giving gifts. WoW Insider has been in the holiday spirit ourselves with all the goodies we've been giving away for free in our 12 Days of Winter Veil promotion. But we know we're not the only ones out there itching to show how much we care -- you're looking to give gifts to the folks you love, too. But what's that, you say? You're stumped as to what to get your favorite World of Warcraft player for the holidays? There's not much time left to shop, but don't fret -- WoW Insider is here to help. We've thrown together a list of some great World of Warcraft gift ideas to get you started.
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
Arcane Brilliance: Professions for Cataclysm mages
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. Except last week, when the holidays aggroed us. But rest easy, we managed to sheep the holidays, so now we can all go ahead and nuke down the rest of the year. As long as nobody breaks it early, our sheep shouldn't expire on the holidays for about 12 more months, give or take. So you're a mage. You have a job, and that job is taking something that was previously intact and converting it into much smaller, bloodier, often frozen chunks of that same thing. You manufacture shattered mobs, and you take pride in your work. But you may also have a side project or two. Maybe you thought to yourself, "Self, perhaps when we aren't making warlocks explode, maybe we should spend our time sewing trousers. Or baking cupcakes. Or making necklaces." Well, your self is right. You should be using your downtime in between vicious warlock kills to learn a side trade. They offer bonuses in the form of cool gear, extra money, and bonus stats, plus a bit of catharsis to help you decompress form all that murder. But which professions should you choose? That's easy: anything but mining. What's that? You'd like a bit more detail? Oh, fine.
Cataclysm Beta: Patch notes, build 13117
We just received notification that a new patch is coming for the the Cataclysm beta. Build 13117 has just been datamined over at MMO-Champion. There are plenty of changes in store for almost every class. Among those changes are pretty nice buffs to combat rogues who get to look forward to the following changes Backstab now deals 200% weapon damage, up from 175%. Additional base damage increased by 33%. Revealing Strike now causes 125% of your normal weapon damage, up from 100%. Improved Sinister Strike now increases damage dealt by your Sinister Strike ability by 10/20/30%, up from 2/4/6%. Vitality (Passive) now also increases Attack Power by 15%. Protection warriors also get a nice buff to threat as Defensive Stance will now generate 125 percent threat, up from 100 percent. Pretty significant buff and one that will help keep up with the additional damage being dealt in the instances now. All of the hunter Masteries also saw some significant changes with what looks like a big decrease in bonuses across the board. Restoration shaman can look forward to Mana Tide Totem being changed to increase spirit by 350 percent, up from 200 percent. All around there are some big changes for just about everyone this time around. With all the class changes also comes some more news about professions. A slew of new enchants have been uncovered as well as a new recipe that I think every alchemist will be interested in. The recipe for Vial of the Sands has been uncovered, and if you're wondering what it is, this little potion will transform you into a Sandstone Drake! Not only do you get to become a really awesome looking dragon and fly very fast, but a friend can hop on your back and go for a ride. It is one of the more interesting concepts as far as mounts go, and I for one am looking forward to making and downing a Vial of the Sands as soon as I can. Keep in mind that all of these changes are based on the data uncovered from the Cataclysm beta, and can change at any time. Be sure to check back often for all the latest Cataclysm news. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.
