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The Queue: Smithing, garrisons, and more
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Best weapon ever? Yes. Very yes. BapoThe-Paladin asked: Anyone else hope they bring back specializations for blacksmithing? I'm leveling another alliance toon, and the Jinyu town has a waterforge, and I really wish they brought back specializations :(
Insider Trader: Armorsmiths vs. weaponsmiths part two
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Last week, I began the column by answering a reader's question regarding the two specializations of blacksmithing. The player had been considering switching, and I discussed his reasons for doing so. I also began to compare the armorsmithing items to their non-crafted counterparts, to showcase how strong they really are. This week, I'm finishing up that analysis as well as giving weaponsmithing the same treatment. Each item from either specialization tends to surpass its tier 5 counterpart, and strongly rival the tier 6, Black Temple pieces. Unfortunately, if the itemization is exactly right for your class, race and spec, the cost and effort spent to make any given piece is probably not worth it. Still, for players who may never see the Black Temple, for whatever reason, can still work towards a strong epic piece to complement their PvP, dungeon and/or raiding gear.It is also important to note the difference between blacksmithing and other gear-crafting professions, tailoring and leatherworking. Blacksmith specialists essentially create one piece, or in the case of dual wielders, two pieces, that are roughly tier 6 equivalent. The other two professions can make more pieces, but the quality ranges from tier 4 to tier 5, although any gear choice is subject to individual circumstances and preference. These pieces are bind on pick-up and cannot be sent to alts, so keep that in mind when you choose. There are many other blacksmithing patterns and drops that are BoE, but the specialty items, as with tailoring and leatherworking, can only be worn by the crafter. In addition, should you make, for example, a sword and then switch to armorsmithing, you will no longer be able to wield the sword, as doing so requires that you have the correct specialization.
The Light and How to Swing It: Gearing up your Retadin for Karazhan part I
So you're finally 70. Welcome to the select order of masochistic players who endured the tedious grind (or, if you leveled as Protection, the happy AoE grind) to max level with a class sometimes considered to be a WoW developer's afterthought. The Paladin class, popular as it is, has traditionally had a slow development cycle. That said, one can choose to see it as a blessing (pardon the pun) rather than a curse, in the hopes that developers will build Paladin talents adaptively and from the lessons provided by other classes. Don't hold your breath.Anyway, so you're Level 70. You're now ready to enter Karazhan. Well, ok, not really. Right about now is when you should be gearing up for Karazhan, The Burning Crusade's entry level and most popular raid instance. With the removal of the attunement process in Patch 2.4, you won't even need to have The Master's Key, but you'll need to have a friend who can open the gate for you. More than a few Holy Paladins will have an easy time getting into a group for Karazhan because let's face it, everybody loves a healer. Then there are the Paladin tanks who'll get that loving invite to visit Deadwind Pass because, again, everybody loves a tank. But you, the vindictive 2-hander-wielding, Judgement-spamming, Crusader Striking champion of truth and justice... well, nobody loves you.
