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An exclusive peek at EverQuest II's aerodome races
Flight: It's the dream of every mammal and a few unfortunate ground-bound birds. It's only through technological ingenuity that we have soared to the heavens, and we have the gnomes to thank for that. Well, at least when it comes to EverQuest II, which is hosting the Gnomish Aerodome Races as part of the new Destiny of Velious expansion. Player pilots are invited to test their luck and skill at three challenging courses: Butcherblock (the most dangerous), Tenebrous Tangle (the longest) and Lavastorm (the trickiest). Each race track puts players at the wheel (so to speak) of a Gnomish aircraft to maneuver around and through various obstacles in an attempt to net prizes. Winners will receive a special title and the ability to pilot the craft for a short time thereafter (although it cannot be taken out of its respective zone). Check out this one-day event in EQII and make sure to look over the vehicles and courses in our early exclusive gallery below! %Gallery-116188%
Ammo controversy in 3.3 already
Patch 3.3 is only barely out on the live realms, and already, there's a controversy with the new epic ammo recipes. Lassirra says that hunters are concerned that the requirements to make the ammo are just too high. Blizzard had promised to make getting epic ammo easier, and this still has the requirement of having a high level engineer, with the extra charge of requiring a Goblin engie for the bullets, and a Gnomish engie for the arrows. And even after you find a 450 Engineer in the right spec, you still have to get a couple of Crystallized Shadow or Earth together. That doesn't sound "easier" to me, either. Let's not forget, however, that this is cutting edge (no pun intended) ammo -- this isn't the kind of vendor junk you just fire while leveling. It's a 30 point DPS gain from the previous high level ammo, and that kind of increase probably does justify a little tougher requirement to make. Of course, it'll probably work out so that other classes get that increase normally through their itemization, but that's just the way it works for hunters. If you want the new ammo, you'll have to find an friendly engie of the right spec with the right skill Honored with the new Ashen Verdict faction, and then keep them supplied with as much Crystallized Earth and Shadow as you can find.
Insider Trader: Patch 3.2 keeps getting better
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.I love it when a content patch includes some professions love. As the details keep surfacing, patch 3.2 is looking better than ever. In fact, with the upcoming patch, Engineers will finally be able to drop their Gnomish and/or Goblin specialties ("for a fee")! This has been one of those issues, like ugly and buggy cat forms, that has dragged on and on. The materials for Jeeves have also been updated (get the schematic!). If you're wondering just what you should be saving, hop on through the break for that and other patch 3.2 news!
The state of Engineering in 3.1
In case you missed the memo, the short list of changes to the Engineering profession that have been posted for patch 3.1 are all you are going to get come patch day, like it or not. Bornakk confirmed that Blizzard feels that the "perks work out" compared to what other professions offer, and that they "have no changes planned at this time."The relevant forum thread has grown to over 1300 replies and more than 50,000 views, suggesting that while Blizz might be satisfied, much of the Engineering community is not. In fact, many are threatening to drop the profession and take up Jewelcrafting, which is something I hear about a lot. Of course, if your profession is really, honestly inferior to all others, then why is everyone trading up to the same one? Pass through the break for a list of the upcoming changes, the major gripes, and a comparison of Engineering to other professions in order to put this all into perspective.
Gnomes or Dwarves: Which would be better to attach to a bottle rocket?
I don't know if it's just the kid in me that likes to blow things up, but I always find myself aiming to make a few explosions happen around this time of year. As I've grown older and understood more about physics, chemistry, etc., I've come to make the explosions even larger. For instance, putting a bunch of fireworks in a barrel, lightening them all on fire at the same time, and then funneling the explosion towards the ground usually has a humorous result. Humorous might be a few missing fingers, but they can be reattached. And really, who needs their middle finger for anything good? This year I'm going to try to attach things to bottle rockets, perhaps 10 to 20 all tied together in a bundle. My goal is to see how high I can make things go up in the air. It's going to be a grand ol' time. And after all, what better way to celebrate the birth of America than to blow your own little part of it up? All this talk about blowing things up has got me thinking though, which race would fit better on a rocket, and which would fly farther? Gnomes or Dwarves? Let's look at the strengths and weaknesses of both. %Poll-16438%
Renunciation: the trials, tribulations, and terrors of respecialization
Or:"Are you sure you want to do this? Really?"In last week's lecture we discussed factions and reputations an Engineer might find beneficial for their career progression. In that lecture, it was mentioned that the only real decision to be made for an Engineer is between the Goblin Engineering school, known as the Goblin Experimental Engineering Korporation, or the Gnomish school, known as the Mechanical Engineering Guild, Associated. Making this choice is an important step in the career paths of many Engineers. It involves a lifelong oath of loyalty, a considerable investment of time and resources, and it steers the direction your tinkering will take for the rest of your career.Well, almost. One can renounce one's affiliation with M.E.G.A. or G.E.E.K. but at a cost. Perhaps a cost too terrible to bear for many Engineers. The life expectancy of an Engineer is short, and thus his lifelong loyalty can be considered a less than permanent thing. Even so, the memory of an Engineer is long, and it is no simple task to convince those who were once your sworn (and "lifelong") rivals that you are now their sworn (and "lifelong") ally.You should know before you even consider this the drawbacks involved. Other professions allow a change of specialization with relative ease and minor expense. It is, for many of them, simply a matter of purchasing a new school. They are not like the Engineers, though. The Dragonscale leatherworkers are not foes of Elemental leatherworkers, not to the same degree as are Gnomish and Goblin Engineers. For the Engineer a sacrifice must be made, in order to demonstrate to your prospective new associates that your intentions are good, and your commitment to them firm.Herein we will discuss the method of changing one's specialization within Engineering.
Excerpts from the Book of Gears: The mysticism, mayhem, and madness of mechanics
It is often said that the Gnomes are the least spiritual of the races of Azeroth. The wonders of their world are mechanical in nature, technical in design, and largely owed entirely to their own hands. Gnomes have little chance to become healers of any stripe, and some say this is due in part to their willing isolation from the world of the spiritual and the touch of the divine.But there exists in many other races the desire to connect to the source of all creation. To reach out and touch the infinite. To some Engineers, a function of their artifice is to access the forces which power all of creation, and, once there, to perhaps make just a few minor adjustments, maybe tighten up a gear or two. The cataclysmic danger of any Engineer able to do any such thing does not, as a rule, occur to such Engineers. Those who might naysay such grand designs as heresy, madness, or more commonly A Really Bad Idea For Too Many Reasons to List are not generally included in conversations on the topic. Engineers, perhaps Gnomish Engineers in particular, are not easily dissuaded from a task they have set themselves. In light of this, they do not often invite others who might try. It seems a waste of energy all around.It is the spiritual side of Engineering we will discuss today, using notes provided by Chief Engineer Geargrinder.
A Tinker's Personal Protective Equipment: specialties and specifications of sartorial safety
Or"We can dance/ We can dance/ Wearin' the Safety Pants!"Engineering is a dangerous line of work. At every turn there's caustic chemicals, grinding machinery, explosive reagents, angry law enforcement officials, disgruntled fire brigades, out of control dragonlings, and steam tonks running amok. Many an Engineer has lost track of a finger or two from time to time, and many others have put considerable research, born of necessity, into the design of prosthetic limbs to offset such professional risk.But there's no need for such damage to occur to a right-thinking Engineer. While we're no great hand (or hoof) at stitching together many garments, there exist plenty of items which can be worn not only for protective purposes, but also great aesthetic effect. Herein, we will discuss the varieties of Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE, available to Engineers, with an eye to not only safety, but fashion.Head Protection: You'll shoot your eye out, kid.Headgear is where we'll start with this lecture, as it's the part of your PPE gear you're likely to be able to make yourself. Of course the signature of the Engineer's look has long been thought to be the goggles. This is the easiest part of the PPE ensemble to obtain. A monocular goggle is better than nothing at all, but any number of goggles exist which provide better coverage as well as better utility. Remember, always keep your head on a swivel, and keep that swivel calibrated to within acceptable limits of swivelocity. For those Engineers who are unwise Goblin enough to be unconcerned with the eyes, there is also the pair of Foreman's Helmets: the Enchanted version for spell slingers, and the Reinforced version for mail wearers. Even the most staunch M.E.G.A. member must admit that the head is also important, though some Taurens in the workshop have never quite understood the need to protect their already well-protected (and some say solid bone) heads. The production of the Foreman's Helmets is left to those of you who are members of G.E.E.K. Hoof and Horn, as ever, disavows all knowledge, responsibility, or even vague understanding of the Goblin Engineer's craft.
Playing chicken: A frank discussion of poultrification
With Minor Allusion to Related Sciencesor"Now You're Really Clucked!" The Gnomish Poultryizer, among the more technically advanced devices produced by the Mechanical Engineering Guild, Associated, which we shall hereafter refer to as M.E.G.A., is a device of some controversy among Engineers Gnomish and Goblin alike. In this lecture we shall examine the Poultryizer and discuss its flaws and its merits, and how one might indeed become the other. The creation of a Gnomish Poultryizer requires a pair of Hardened Adamantite Tubes, two Khorium Power Cores, ten Arcane Dust, and two Large Prismatic Shards. Breaking this down further, we see that the pair of tubes will require a total of six hardened adamantite bars, themselves requiring ten adamantite bars per, for a total of sixty adamantite bars for the tubes. The Khorium Power Cores will require a total of six bars of khorium and two Primal Fire. As for the Dust and Shards, none of you present here need be instructed on obtaining such. The device, once produced, is worn as a trinket, and when used will require a cooling down period of five minutes before it can be used again.
/silly postponed until Thursday
Sorry to start your Tuesday morning with such horrid, gut wrenchingly bad news, guys and gals. This week's /silly comic is a longer work of sequential art then the ones I've posted previously, and its taking a bit more time to complete then I intended. So I'm going to have to take the next few nights to finish the comic up and have something for your optical enjoyment by Thursday. In the mean time, I offer up the above page out of my sketchbook to tide you over, a concept I had dreamed up for Gnomish racial armor. I figured that each piece of the set would have its own on click ability, something odd and most likely electricity based with a chance of completely backfiring upon yourself and/or your entire party. Fun times to be had by all!Until Thursday!
Phat Loot Phriday: Gnomish Mind Control Cap
So for this PLP, I tried to come up with what I thought was the funniest looking hat in Azeroth. There are some funny looking hats out there (and I almost wrote up the Druid's Tier 4 hat because it makes me laugh every time I see it), but I eventually ended up choosing this Engineering toy with a fun proc.Name: Gnomish Mind Control CapType: Cloth HeadArmor: 50Abilities: +14 Spirit And here's the fun part: on Use (see restriction below), "engage in mental combat with a humanoid target to try and control their mind." If you succeed, you get a little hunter bar (not like the Priest's MC) to play around with your new pet. Unfortunately, it's not as fun as it used to be. The MCC only works out of combat now, so while it's still possible to use it on players with hilarious consequences, you have to plan out your attack. And over level 60, this thing gets a much reduced chance to work, in accordance with Blizzard's wishes of making CC less effective overall in BGs. But in some of the early twink battlegrounds, you can have a lot of fun with it. Plus, look at it! It's a funny hat! How to Get It: You've got to be an Engineer of any spec, level 215 (BoE) to wear this one, although if you just want the hat without the MC ability, you can always go get the Ghaz'ridian Detector, which is not nearly as fun, but looks just as funny.Anyway, you have to be a Gnomish Engineer, at least 235, to make it-- the recipe can be obtained from Oglethorpe Obnoticus in Booty Bay (he's the guy you talk to for the quest to become a Gnomish tinkerer, after it starts in Rachet or Ironforge, depending on your faction). It ain't cheap: 10 Mithril bars, 4 Truesilver bars, a Gold Power Core, 2 Star Rubies, and 4 Mageweave cloth are necessary to roll this one together, but when you do, you'll be able to MC to your heart's content. Well, once every 30 mins. And then only out of combat, and only sometimes. In fact, at this point, the mats probably don't make this worth it, unless you really like that proc enough to wait for it. But it does look funny, right?Getting Rid of It: Now hold on now, this is something you keep forever. But just in case you do want to throw it away, a vendor will give you 55s 2c for it, or you can DE into a Dream Dust, Large Radiant Shard, or Greater Nether Essence. But before you do, take a look at this spinning wheel right here, please. Are you feeling sleepy? No? Me neither...
