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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.
World of WarCrafts: Cataclysm's Edge
Every Thursday, Shelbi Roach of The Bronze Kettle guides you in creating WoW-inspired crafts using real world mats with World of WarCrafts.Ever wanted to wield an epic weapon from the game in real life or at least put one up on display to promote your geekdom? With a few simple supplies from your neighborhood hobby merchant and a bit of elbow grease you could be the proud new owner of your very own Cataclysm's Edge... replica. Or you could just spend close to 4 Benjamins and order this fine piece of weaponry. Here is what you will need: Balsa Wood x2 Wood Shapes (squares) Spray Paint (black, red, silver, orange/yellow) Acrylic Paint (black, brown, silver) Paintbrush Xacto Knife (with new blades) Ruler Wood Glue Click on the images below to view a gallery of step-by-step instructions. %Gallery-27921%
Phat Loot Phriday: Cataclysm's Edge
No messing around here. Just a big, bad sword. This is why half of us are playing a sword and sorcery game in the first place, right?Name: Cataclysm's Edge (Wowhead, Thottbot, WoWWiki, WoWDigger)Type: Epic Two-hand SwordDamage/Speed: 386 - 580 / 3.50 (138.0 DPS)Abilities: +75 (!) Strength, +49 Stamina Equip: your attacks ignore 335 of your opponent's armor. And that's not a proc, that's an equip. Wild. The math around that is complicated to say the least, but suffice it to say that whenever you attack anything with the sword, you treat the opponent like it has 335 less armor than it really does. Which means even more damage. And all that strength adds damage as well, since strength adds to attack power, which adds to melee damage, too. In short, when something gets hit with this sword, it feels it. And I always get called out and shown up when I make statements like this, but according to WoWWiki, this is the highest DPS melee weapon in the game. Theorycrafters, if you would like to challenge that, feel free to do so in the comments below. WoWWiki shows that the Axe from the Illidan Kael'thas (you're right, I'm drunk) event does more damage, but that's a summoned axe, and not a player-useable weapon. Same deal with the Artifact Twin Blades of Azzinoth. So I'm standing by the original claim. Prove me wrong if you must. How to Get It: Drops from Archimonde, the last boss in Mount Hyjal (and arguably, the game itself). It's a 10 to 15% drop, so you'll need to get him down a few times for the odds to fall in your favor. And you'll have to fight all those Mortal Strike warriors and ret pallies for the roll, since everybody who likes chopping things in half will be after this one.But the good news is that this will last long after the "gear reset" coming in the expansion. I hesitate to say that it will actually be able to challenge Frostmourne (because who knows how they'll implement that in the game), but odds are that if you're lucky enough to get this now, you'll be chopping things with it for quite a while.Getting Rid of It: Are you nuts? If you have so many of these things laying around that you have to get rid of one, go talk to Matthew Rossi, our warrior writer-- I'm sure he'll want one. But if you must vendor it, you'll get 19g 57s and 38c for it. Disenchants, as usual, into a Void Crystal.
