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Ulduar on the Patch 3.1 PTR: The Flame Leviathan
The developers sent us for a bit of a loop today, putting an Ulduar boss up for testing with very little notice immediately after PTR maintenance. Matticus, ever reliable, threw together a quick 10-man raid and welcomed me along to try out the Flame Leviathan. Unfortunately, Michael Sacco (who walked you through Hodir and the Iron Council) wasn't able to go with us this time around. I think he did it on purpose so I couldn't make any jokes about his inability to perform, if you know what I mean.The Flame Leviathan is the boss (or one of the bosses) that uses siege vehicles in its encounter in the outdoors portion of Ulduar. For the safety of those that do not wish to be spoiled on anything Ulduar related, I'll put all information on the encounter beneath the cut below.Again, if you do not want to be spoiled, do not click the link below.
Spiritual Guidance: Too many Disc Priests?
Every Sunday (usually), Spiritual Guidance will offer practical insight for priests of the holy profession. Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of PlusHeal, a new healing community for all restorative classes. Are there too many Disc Priests? Is it becoming overwhelming? The popularity of Discipline has started to spread. I don't believe it's been entirely adopted just yet. There's still a few hold outs who continue to think that Discipline is not able to hold it's own against the other specs and classes. By hold its own, I mean stand up and compare to. Now obviously other healing classes will believe that their class is superior and they should because we do have a certain loyalty to ourselves. I respect the capabilities of Paladins, Druids, and Shamans. I don't think they're inferior. But I'm still going to be a Priest for life. There can never be enough Disc Priests! I am proud to be a Discipline Priest. It is not just a style. It is not a simple technique. It is a way of life. I know that there are closet Discipline Priests out there. I get emails and messages from them often. There's always questions out about differences between a Holy Priest and a Disc Priest.
Raid Rx: Addons for the healing lead
Raid Rx has returned from retirement! Every Thursday (usually, unless there's a PTR soon), 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 PlusHeal, a new healing community for all restorative classes. This week it's all about the tools of communication! You've just been promoted. You've been granted supreme authority over the rest of the healers in the guild. Your guild leader has placed you in charge and made it clear that you are responsible for quarterbacking the healers in the raids. Your healers start looking to you relieved that someone who has a general understanding of the different strengths of the healer classes will be instructing them on what to do. So now what? Assigning healers can be a huge headache. I know I've done it and I keep some pain relievers on hand. We haven't gotten to the multiphasic-switch-healing fights yet. We're still waiting on Ulduar for that. This is a great time to get acquainted with different addons and methods for healing assignments.
Raid Rx: Help! How do I start organizing my healers?
Raid Rx has returned from retirement! Every Thursday (usually), 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 PlusHeal, a new healing community for all restorative classes. This week I explore a few questions that new healing leaders have. This is a question that caught my attention on the Plusheal forums. Julanna just became their guild's de facto healing lead and had some important questions to ask. So, I have become our de facto healing lead. We have very little structure. We need some. I am not sure how to get some coordination going between our healers. How do you communicate with your healers? How much do they expect from you in terms of instructions or advice? Is it before the raid? During? How can you get the raid leader to understand that healing assignments other than "don't let people die" are important and make things go better (especially if it is a tank with a healer alt)? I am not positive about assigning other classes of heals, and I am the only holy priest. Any resources out there I should look at? That may inform me of other classes basic skills, spells, etc? Or any advice you may have from a newb officer, newb healing lead, newb progression raider from a new guild? I'll break up these questions individually and answer them based on my own experience.
Breakfast Topic: 3.1nticipation
Only a few changes have been announced so far, but I know you're all excited. I know I am. Patch 3.1 promises to be a big one -- it'll contain Ulduar, some class balance changes, and maybe, just maybe, dual-specs. That's a really fat patch right there. Yesterday, Eyonix announced some of the changes coming to Priests, Rogues, and Shamans. Some of the changes were kind of a surprise to me, actually, like Divine Spirit becoming a baseline ability. On the other hand, our very own Matticus seems to have pulled a Nostradamus and foresaw Power Word: Barrier making its way into the game.Sure, it might not turn out to be a 51-point talent (it'll likely replace the 21-point Divine Spirit in the Discipline tree), but that's as close as anyone can get to guessing Blizzard's next move. So hey, it's Breakfast Topic time! Let's play a little game since I know you're about as bored as I am and equally excited to find out what's on Blizzard's agenda. Whip out your wish list crystal ball and toss up what changes you think are going to be announced next. Do you think 3.1 is when they'll finally remove the Mage class? I don't think so, either, but it just might be the patch where all Warlocks are turned into vanity pets. Patch 3.1 brings us Ulduar, dual specs, significant changes to all the classes, and more! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1.
A look at the stated Priest changes for patch 3.1
By now you've seen that Eyonix has started announcing some class changes for the upcoming patch 3.1. Priests were actually the first class up to bat this time around, and there are a handful of really cool changes in there. Some of them way cooler than they really need to be, so we'll see how things work out. Let's take a look, eh? Divine Spirit - this spell is now a core ability available to all Priests. Adding Divine Spirit to every Priest's repertoire is, by itself, a pretty fantastic change. Now that Spirit is used by more classes than just the Priests themselves, Divine Spirit has awesome group utility. I suspect Improved Divine Spirit will remain a talent, but even without the improved version of the spell, it's a great little boost. I love this change so much that I'm actively looking for problems with it, so I can curb my enthusiasm. Hmm. Oh, I know! This will make me spend more money on reagents. Ugh, clearly this is just another money sink. How dare they! Slap in the face!Nah, it's pretty cool.
Gear yourself or gear your guild?
It doesn't sound like it should be a hard question, but once you get into the trenches of raiding you begin to understand exactly how hard of a question it is. Do you continue raiding with your guild, doing the same bosses over and over again when you know you aren't going to get anything for it while your guild-mates get the gear, or do you just worry about yourself, dropping out of the raids once your appropriately geared up?Tobold is tackling this issue over at his blog, balancing two posts from two very different gamers. On one hand you have Matticus, a guild leader who just lost a paladin because he was overgeared and wished to take a break from the game until a harder dungeon came along, and on the other you have Gevlon, the owner of "The Greedy Goblin" who defends the position of said paladin. It's an interesting and thought provoking discussion worthy of checking out, especially if you have any character in a guild officer position or are deep in raiding with your favorite MMO.
Why healing meters suck
Matticus also has a guest blogger on his site (I posted about Phaelia's guest blogger earlier today), and he's got a great post up too, about healing meters and why they just aren't helpful to anyone. Damage meters are well known to be disliked by many players -- while they can often show some DPSers where they fit in the general rankings, they're usually still not a great indicator of performance (and when DPS gets really involved in beating the meters, then things go bad quickly).But healing meters are even worse. Given all of the crazy mechanics in the game (from armor and self-heals to situational abilities and AoE heals), they are very rarely (if ever) a valid interpretation of who's doing the healing and whether they're doing it right or wrong. And as guest blogger Ulkesshern says, more healing doesn't make a better healer anyway -- overhealing and spamming big heals do not mean you're a good healer, though they may get you higher on the healing meters.There is one good word for healing meters, and that's to give the healer an ego boost after you show off the DPS meters at the end of the instance (usually they're on the bottom of DPS, and so when you switch over to healing, they're happy to be back on top again). But Ulkesshern makes a good point: for anything worth tabulating or tracking, healing meters are not to be trusted or followed.
The Queue: Shields, forums, and more on raid difficulty
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft.I have an extra-special request for all of you! We've had a few people asking for recommendations on other class-specific blogs, and I think that's a good thing to light the Reader Signal for. So in addition to your questions and feedback, recommend class-centric blogs in the comments below! Personally, I read A Dwarf Priest and World of Matticus when I'm looking for something Priestly. Now, to the questions... shadowsun asked...I have yet to get Wrath (I know, "PRAISE BE") although I am getting it this Thursday. I was wondering about the new raiding system. Which is harder, 10-man or 25-man? For example is the 10-man easier in the point that you need less players but harder as in they need to be more well geared? Or is the 25-man harder?
The Queue: Feasting and Fishing
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft.Welcome back! Since yesterday's picture of Malygos was so awful, I decided to give up on his righteous beard and take a picture of his lightning breath instead. Yeah, see that up there? It hurts. It hurts a lot. Just trust me on that. Let's get into the Q&A now, eh?Goorguy asked...Why is it that tanks are always the group leaders? Why are we always expected to mark mobs? Every time I get in a group to tank for it I will always get thrown the leader. I don't really mind, but at least once I want to get in a group where someone else was willing to mark for me, instead of the other way around.
Matticus' powerleveling tips for shooting to 80
Our good friend Matticus is one of the WoW Insider bloggers who's already gotten up to level 80 (we've got three or four of them floating around), and over on his own site, he's shared a few powerleveling tips for those of you who'd really rather just get right on back to the endgame again.A lot of it is common sense, but it's mostly "go fast, and go big." Get as many quests as you can, and do them all at once. Pop all your cooldowns whenever they come up, and even while you're looting something, be looking for the next quest target or the next thing to kill. Professions are out the window, of course, and reading quest text will just slow you down, so just click accept, and read what you're supposed to find while you're running out to find it.In case you're wondering, no, I don't recommend playing the game like this (it's fine to be a slow leveler), and even Matt admits that you'll miss out on pretty much everything pre-80, including all of the lore and story Blizzard's baked into the game this time around. But if getting to 80 is your only goal, his tips will help.
WoW Insider Show Episode 63: Healing for fun and phat loots
It was all healers all the time this past week on the WoW Insider Show. Special guest tree Druid Phaelia joined us from her site, Resto4Life.com, and our good friend Matt "Matticus" Low brought his priestly insights from World of Matticus (and our own Spiritual Guidance column), and our producer Elizabeth Harper brought some Paladin judgement to the table. We chatted about how healing is going lately in the game, which classes are doing well lately (and which are doing not so well), and what Ghostcrawler might do for healers to make things more fun than whack-a-mole. We also talked about the 3.0.3 patch, and where we've been in the beta, and where we're going first on launch day.Additionally, we talked with Phaelia about how she started in WoW and decided to start blogging about it, and we answered your emails, including what's up with those dragon heads you sometimes see outside of Stormwind and Orgrimmar, and the best glyphs for healers. If you've got a question or comment for the show, send it along to theshow AT wowinsider dot com, and you might even hear it on next week's show.Lots of ways to listen to the show after the break -- don't forget that the earliest you can listen to the show is on Saturday evening: we've got the Ustream recording up right after we finish making it. But the best time to listen to the show is during, because every Saturday we do this live on our Ustream page (and you even get to attend the non-recorded aftershow). If you've never been, check it out next week.Get the podcast:[iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show directly in iTunes. (will be updated soon)[Ustream] Listen to the unedited recording in Ustream.[RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator.[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.Listen here on the page:
Spiritual Guidance: Dispersion just wants to love you
Welcome to Spiritual Guidance, where each week Matt Low talks about the ins and outs of the Priest class. Now and then one of our resident Shadow Priests, Alex Ziebart, hits Matt over the head and hijacks the column. This is one of those occasions. Dispersion is a talent that Shadow Priests talk about a lot. The vocal majority hates it. The vocal minority loves it. The general populace... uh. Who knows. They don't talk. Me? I'm not awed by it. I also don't hate it. In fact, I've spent talent points in it and will continue to do so, and I find it fairly useful. It just doesn't amaze me.Dispersion definitely has a PvP slant to it. If you arena or BG, you're going to see it as much, much more awesome than people who PvE almost exclusively. In the arena, it's just a good talent, especially once they changed the talent to be able to be used while stunned, feared and silenced. Foiling a stunlock or an assist train can be enough to take the wind out of your opponent's sails. Obviously it requires your partner(s) being able to play off of it as well, but I'm fine with that. PvP should be about the team, even if you're just in a battleground.
The best of WoW Insider: September 30-October 7, 2008
BlizzCon is almost upon us -- this weekend, thousands will descend on Anaheim to celebrate Blizzard and its games, and Blizzard developers will share their wisdom with us about Wrath of the Lich King, Diablo 3, and Starcraft II. And WoW Insider will be there: if you're going, make sure to come by our big reader meetup on Thursday night at The Lost Bar, and if you're not going, stay tuned to the site all weekend long for live-on-the-scene coverage. News Raids rebalanced for patch 3.0.2Even Burning Crusade raids are getting a facelift, considering how much is changing in the upcoming expansion. Patch 3.0.2 release date revealed (probably)Set your calendars for October 14th -- that's when you'll get to try out all the new talents and skills. BlizzCon schedule and interactive mapBlizzard announces what's going down at their third BlizzCon event in Anaheim, CA. Blizzard wins $6 million in court case against GliderThe botting company loses big time in the ongoing lawsuit. Tigole confirms dual specs are still in the worksPlayers are still begging for a way to switch specs more easily, and we might just get it. Features Tips for new Death Knights from a fellow melee, part 1Trying out the new Death Knight class? Here's a quick review on how to stab things. Don't Panic: Paladin changes in beta build 9014Pally developments in the latest Wrath of the Lich King beta build. Ask a Beta Tester: Soundtracks, trinkets and travelOne of our beta testers answers all your questions about what's going down in the beta version of Northrend. Tenacious D discovered Northrend firstThink the frozen wastes came from the mind of Chris Metzen? There's a secret to be told. Spiritual Guidance: Everything you ever wanted to know about raid healing at level 80And then some -- our priest blogger Matticus lays down the facts on what's up in the Wrath raids.
The Daily Grind: Your game world ends in five hours
Its the one thing no MMO player wants to hear -- the news that their favorite game world -- the place where they've sunk years of time and care into a character (or host of characters) -- is being shut down. This idea actually comes to us via Matticus, who originally asked this question during an interview some time back. Others have picked up Matticus' question as well, so this morning we thought we'd ask you all what you thought. If word came down that your favorite MMO was shutting down in five hours, which one would it be, and what would you do with your last moments in that world?
Breakfast Topic: What glyphs would you like to see for your class?
We don't know a ton about the specifics of Inscription and the Glyphs it supplies since the Wrath beta doesn't have very many of them yet, but we at least know what they are. If you don't know what they are, glyphs are almost like enchantments, but for your spells instead of your armor and weapons. Their effects are usually a little more substantial, even if they don't change combat very much. You're allowed up to six glyphs, split amongst the varying strengths of glyphs in a configuration that may or may not be the same come retail.We got a litlte preview of glyphs via some Druid glyphs that were posted on MMO Champion a few days ago, and they do some pretty neat things. Things like "your Swipe ability now hits 1 additional target" and "changes the appearance of your bear and dire bear forms to that of a polar bear" are both pretty big effects! That's only really the beginning of them, too.Pulling a little inspiration from our friend Matticus, why don't we take a minute and make a few guesses at what types of glyphs our classes will get? Heck, even if it's unlikely we'll get it, what type of glyph would you like to get? Personally, I'm holding out for "Glyph of It's About Time - Increases the range on Mind Flay to 30 yards" for my Shadow Priest. A guy can hope, eh?
Wrath Beta patch notes: Priest
My main is a Priest. A Shadow Priest, to be precise. While I started out Holy, my Priest has always been my main and probably always will be. The only thing that could possibly draw me away is my Protection Paladin, should my raid ever need another. Obviously, the very first thing I looked at in the Wrath Beta patch notes were the Priest notes. I've talked about what we saw in Alpha, and I was cautiously optimistic at the time. After seeing these notes... well... yeah, I'm still optimistic. I am (dare I say it?)... excited, even!I'll tuck my analysis behind the cut, but here are my three favorite notes out of the Priest notes: New Talent: Improved Spirit Tap (Shadow) - Gives you a 50/100% chance to gain a 50% bonus to your Spirit after gaining a critical effect chance from your Mind Blast or Shadow Word: Death spells. For the duration, your mana will regenreate at a 25% rate while casting. Lasts 8 sec. Lightwell (Holy): Cast time reduced to .5 sec, down from 1.5 sec. Charges increased to 10, up from 5. Now breaks from any attack that hits you for 30% or more of your total health. Cooldown reduced to 3 minutes, down from 5. Shadowform (Shadow): Now has an innate 30% threat reduction. Now has a shapeshift UI.
Breakfast Topic: The world ends in five hours...
Matticus was originally asked this question, and he's been asking it of people around the WoW blogosphere, so we'll ask it here, too: Assuming that Blizzard suddenly announced that the entire World of Warcraft would be shut down in just five short hours, what would you do with your time?Automagica would head for World PvP in Hillsbrad. Eye for an Eye would head into the Horde cities for a final extermination. Destructive Reach would do some old-fashioned exploring, both in instances and out, and get contact information for a lot of ingame friends. And Double Bubble, after one last Kara run, would go back to a favorite fishing hole with a favorite pet, and serenely wait for the world to end.As much as I love instances, I've already run them so much, and I worry that most of my five hours would be taken up with trying to find a group, so I'd probably quest solo (assuming the servers would actually stay up). My Hunter, at 65, would probably too far behind to finish off at 70, so I'd probably do a mad dash for 70 on my Rogue, currently 68. And I'd end the world just as I dinged the highest level on my second 70, which I would consider a proud accomplishment. What would you do with your last five hours in Azeroth?
WoW Insider Show live on the air tomorrow
Once again, the WoW Insider Show is returning to the virtual airwaves, and this show is taking place in a very different world than last week: Turpster's Shadow Priest is 70, dogs and cats are living together, and I am out for the week. But worry not -- the very capable John "BigBearButt" Patricelli is stepping in to take on the hosting duties, and joining him will be the raid-ready Shadow Priest himself, Turpster (John, could you do me a favor and ask Turpster when he's going to start leveling his Paladin now?), along with another man with his own popular WoW blog, Matt "Matticus" Low. I'm sure they'll chat, as we always do, about all the big news from the World of Warcraft in the last week, including level 30 mounts, the various talent changes that have come down, and what's on deck for the Midsummer Fire Festival next week. Since I'm not around, they probably won't talk about Shamans at all, so you can look forward to that.And if there's anything else you want to ask them, it's easy and free -- just drop them a note at theshow@wow.com, and they may even answer your question live on the air. During the show, you can even join them in IRC for a live chat -- point your IRC client to irc.mmoirc.com in the #wowradio channel and make sure to say hi for me.Should be a "hum-dinger," as they say in the business. Well maybe they don't say it in the business, but I'm sure they say it somewhere. Tune in to WoW Radio tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 Eastern to hear BBB, Matticus, and Turpster take on the past week in Warcraft.
WoW Insider Show, Episode 41: Arenas, healers, and Blink for Hunters
This past week on the WoW Insider Show (a recording of which is now available over on WoW Radio), we were honored to welcome Matt "Matticus" Low to the show to talk about his career in WoW and his experience healing endgame raids. Amanda Dean was also in attendance with some Arena opinions, and Turpster and I rounded out the crew. We talked about: The fact that Turpster is now 69 on his Shadow Priest, and that next week, after the show, he's going to ding at a live event (stay tuned tomorrow for more details on how that's going down). How Blizzard changed the Death Knight descriptions, and whether that matters this early in the game Amanda's thought that Arena is broken, and how it might possibly be fixed again (as well as the various class representations in there and what's up with those) What we thought was interesting in the latest Blizzcast Plus, we answered reader email (including taking a little Blizzard-inspired quiz) and chatted with Matticus about how the popular Spiritual Guidance column is going. All in all, good show -- check it out on WoW Radio's website right now, or listen in (and feel free to give us a review, good or bad as long as it's honest) over on iTunes.And if you've got something you want us to talk about on the show, drop us an email at theshow@wow.com. We'll be back next week with Turpster's big ding event, and another show next Saturday afternoon at 3:30 Eastern.
