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Phat Loot Phriday: Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian
Veteran readers of the blog will remember when the world first of this baby dropped, but now that everyone's 70, maybe you too can get a raid rolling in Naxxaramas, and obtain for yourself the legendary (literally) weapon of Medivh.Name: Atiesh, Greatstaff of the GuardianType: Legendary StaffDamage/Speed: 130-243 / 2.90 (64.4 DPS)Abilties: There are actually four different versions of the staff-- Warlock, Mage, Priest, and Druid. You can see all of them over at WoW Wiki-- they all increase spell damage and/or healing of the equipper (the Druid one increases AP in feral forms as well), but they also have a party bonus, too. The Druid gives 11mp5, the Mage increases spell crit strike of the entire party, the Warlock grants 33 spell damage to the party, and the Priest gives 62 healing to everyone in the party. Additionally, all of the versions will do something very special: create a portal to Karazhan. Nowdays, players go to Karazhan all the time, so it's not that big a deal, but back when this staff came out, no one had ever been there, and so cracking open a portal was pretty cool And the staff grants various amounts of Stamina, Intellect or Spirit, depending on the version you have. Unfortunately, the stats are no longer that great-- they're incredible for level 60, but at level 70, it's pretty easy to come by equivalent (or even better) stats, and therefore, not really worth the trouble to obtain the staff. But then again, there is an immense amount of value in the lore of this item, considering that it was owned by Medivh himself. Why, might you ask, does something so awesome look so plain? Don't judge a book by its cover, son-- that model, though plain, matches the models used in Warcraft 2 and 3. This is a legendary item, and real power is inside. Also, spectral birds sometimes appear flying around the staff. So that's kind of cool. Also, the Shade of Aran (who is of course Medivh's father) will be kind of surprised if you show up to fight him with this thing on How to Get It: In many ways, this is the final goal of shipping WoW. To get the item, you have to first collect 40 Splinters of Atiesh, which drop from different bosses in Naxxaramas, which means you need to run the place a few times. Then, once you've got those together, you can combine them to make the Frame of Atiesh. Once you've got that, you head off to Anachronos, the great big dragon near the Caverns of Time in Tanaris.He'll send you in search of the Staff Head of Atiesh, which Kel'Thuzad has gotten his grubby little hands on. He's trying to put the staff back together, and the Argent Dawn is fighting against him, so if you can nab the Head away from him, more power to you. And the Base of Atiesh is the other item you'll need, and it drops from C'thun, the end boss of AQ40. See what I mean about this being the final goal?After you've done all that, Anachronos will reassemble the staff for you, but wait! It's corrupted! (Figures.) You then take it into Stratholme, and run an event in which you can vanquish the evil spirit from the staff. Along the way, you can pick up another legendary item, a 1h sword that's freakin' awesome, but disappears after only a few minutes. After you defeat the spirit, you're then allowed to claim the staff, giving you the world's phattest loot-- of 2006.Getting Rid of It: The Greatstaff of the Guardian! The staff of Medivh himself, shattered when Archimonde destoryed Dalaran! Reassembled from shards dropped by ancient demons and cleansed by the most powerful of Azeroth's heroes! And a vendor will give you 18g 45s 58c for it. Go figure.
Shifting Perspectives: If you were a druid, what would your life be like?
Druids have some of the best lore in the Warcraft universe. Unlike any other class, this lore is often a binding area of common ground between Alliance and Horde druids, and many druids say that they will help each other regardless of their faction. Certainly this is partly because the Cenarion Circle is the official druid organization in which both tauren and night elves work together peacefully, but also this has to do with the spirit of loving nature -- a sense we bring from our real life experience that nature requires her champions to put aside other differences in order to keep the balance. Many of us who play druids in the game share a genuine concern for the environment of the earth, and the symbols used for druids in the game have a real meaning to us. I'm a roleplayer, so learning background information about druid lore and visualizing what my character's life might have been life is useful to me. But for any player, whether you roleplay or not, it can help you get a more immersive feeling out of your game if you can really imagine yourself in your character's skin,... or fur, as the case may be. So, if you were a druid in Azeroth, what would your life be like? The one certainty would be that a strong connection to nature would have been your primary concern from a very young age, whether as a night elf or as a tauren, but your path to becoming a druid would have been very different depending on which race you were, with great changes coming to you and your people in the very recent past.
A spec guide for classes that aren't yours
Nowadays, you lucky kids have the Armory, and you can, on demand, look up the point-by-point spec of any player in the game. You can see who's Fire, who's Affliction, and who's Resto at a moment's notice, and gone are the days where you had to guess what spec a player was from the spells they cast.Or are they? I'd hazard a guess that most players don't have the Armory on quick dial, and yet all players still encounter different specs of classes every single time they play. In an Arathi Basin, by the time you've looked up the other guy's spec on the Armory, the game is over.So it's still valuable to know specs just by glancing at the spells players are casting, and this is a guide to help you do that. Want to know at a glance whether your main tank laying down Mortal Strike is really specced Protection as he says, or if he's got a few extra points in Arms than he should have? Want to know if that Warlock who sent a Felguard after you in the battlegrounds is specced Demonology or Destruction?I've put together a handy guide to spotting specs of classes that aren't yours-- there are a few telltale spells in each class that will giveaway a player's spec at a glance, and save you the momentary trouble of having to punch their name into the Armory. I've also given you a short brief on what each spec can and can't do for you (so you're not asking priests in Shadowform to buff you with Divine Spirit). To check it out, hit the link below.
WoW Moviewatch: Moonfire Cannon!
So what happens when you take five Moonkin and put them in an arena together? Obviously you wind up with five sets of moonfires, five sets of starfires, five sets of summonable treants... In general, this video makes the combination, while unorthadox, look pretty painful.Previously on Moviewatch...
Breakfast Topic: Yay Druids!
We've congratulated and encouraged every class but two now, so the time has come to tell druids what we love about them! You know druids can do just about anything you might want them to, and very likely are seeing druids in prominent roles now more than ever before. Whether you play as a druid, with a druid, or against a druid, Elune knows there's lots to love -- but have you told your druid friend how much you love their druidic skills? Today's the day to say it! It's Druid Day and it's time for an encouragement innervate! What do you appreciate most about the druids in your midst?
Shifting Perspectives: How to group with a Druid part 3
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them, brought to you by David Bowers and Dan O'Halloran. This it the last in a series of features talking about How To Group With A Druid. I've already covered bear tanks, cat druids and Moonkin. Today, I will be exploring what Restoration druids bring to a 5 man group as well as what they don't do. If you feel I've left out any important points, be sure to leave a comment below! We love comments like healers love aggro control. WHAT TO EXPECT FROM A RESTORATION DRUID HEALING: Druids are built to be solid healers in both regular and heroic 5 man instances. They don't have to drop 40+ talent points to be good at it. Don't be surprised if you're druid healer is actually specced 31 points in Balance and 30 points in Restoration. That's more than enough for them to get you through alive. On the other hand, don't be screaming for healing non-stop if you are not the main tank. It's your job to control your aggro, not the healers job to blow half his mana on non-tanks. I understand mistakes happen, wandering mobs appear out of nowhere, the MT gets overwhelmed and loses control of an add or two. But if the healer is dumping more healing on you than the MT for every encounter, you need to scale back your dps or talk to your tank about their taunt tactics.
Arena stats from the second season start
Caster has posted his "first successful pull" of an exhaustive list of arena PvP stats about class and spec over on the forums. There are tons of stats to play around with here-- for each bracket of 5v5, 3v3, and 2v2, he's got the average, minimum, and maximum of specs for each class, wins and losses, the low, average, and high of hit points, and even a breakdown of who's grouping with who.Not surprisingly (though I was surprised back when Arenas first started up), Warriors and Paladins are topping the charts in terms of numbers, so it seems a good way to win 5v5 Arenas is simply to stay alive. Apparently 2v2 teams are the most volatile (since people switch around with them all the time), but the numbers there are the most interesting-- Warlocks and Priests top the charts there (thanks a lot, Fear), and it turns out Druids might have actually have a place in Arena PvP-- as long as it's right alongside a Lock.And the big loser is apparently Hunters-- their numbers are down to single digits in 2v2 and 3v3 (as in 1 and 2 total), which means players are not taking their Hunters into the arenas. Is that because Hunters aren't useful or viable enough in the smaller teams? I'll leave that one up to you.[ via WoW LJ ]
The absolute worst class duo
Our reader Josh wrote to us with an common and practical question, saying that he said that he and his girlfriend are looking forward to starting two new alts together and they would like to know what the best classes would be for leveling exclusively together, with no solo play in between. He said, and I quote: "what would the greatest, most face melting/ass kicking/uber pwnage duo in WoW look like?"Now, fortunately for Josh and his girlfriend, we've actually been asked this question before, and anyways this sort of topic comes up lots and lots and lots of times in one way or another. I'm happy to refer them, and all interested parties of two, back to those posts with comments from our insightful readers. Of course if you feel something has changed since those topics last came up and there's a new best duo in the game, feel free to let us know here!But in order to give this post some kind of interesting spin, how about we advice them what not to do! What would be the absolute worst class combination imaginable for two people to level with? It's not as easy as you think -- As our class encouragement breakfast topics have shown so far, each of the classes has their own form of face melting, ass-kicking uber pwnage, and they all seem to have abilities that complement each other, no matter who they're paired with. Still... there has to be a less-than-optimal combination in there somewhere, right?Ideologically, you'd think that paladins and warlocks just would not mix at all, but no, that's not true! Actually they work great together. From my own experience, I remember practicing as a 2vs2 arena team with a mage friend, who is an excellent player, but we still didn't do very well at all. I know it could be just because I may be a terrible druid, or my gear may not be good enough, but it's actually the only time in this game that I've ever paired up with a friend only to feel that maybe our class abilities didn't complement each other well. I thought that if I could level my rogue to join her we might be a lot more successful, but my friend thought that I just needed more practice. Maybe there is no worst class duo! What's your experience?[Check out the girlfriend's answer in the last panel of this great Penny Arcade comic above, and take it as a warning not to choose for your duo a new class that you like toooooo much, or else you might not be able to resist soloing with it when you have free time and your partner doesn't!]
Shifting Perspective: An introduction to making macros for a druid
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them, brought to you by David Bowers and Dan O'Halloran.Macros used to be a very mysterious thing, involving lots of "if" clauses, "/script" commands, and parenthetical programming language that lots of people don't understand. For some, of course, it's exciting to try and figure it all out, but many people play for a long time before realizing that macros even exist, and then get intimidated by them once they do.When WoW 2.0 was released, however, so much of that changed. Many of the most complicated scripting functions were disabled, but many simpler functions were put in to help common people get a better sense of how to use them. There are still strange elements in it sometimes, but overall it's much easier for an amateur to understand. I managed to learn the basics and design some of my own shapeshifting macros to replace both my old copy/pasted macros, as well as an addon I had used originally to help make shapeshifting more manageable. I love being able to tailor my macros to my own play style.So today I'm going to share with you some examples of handy shapeshifting macros to illustrate how to work with your own, and give you some resources to continue using macros if you are interested. For those of you who are expert macro users and just want a list of macros you can copy/paste into your game, have a look at this excellent list. Some of you may already be very familiar with macro construction, but to many of us it is enlightening to discover how to use macros to do several things in one step, activate different abilities in different situations with a single button, or even make existing functions more efficient and useful. You'll get a good sense of how macros can work from these few examples and be ready to go out and find some more that you might like to use, or even design your own. (Non-druids interested in getting started with macros might like this too.)
Mysterious Mysteries: Arakkoa superhero, or druid in disguise?
Refugees dwelling in the Bone Wastes not far from the blasted ruin of Auchindoun have reported seeing a bird-man Arakkoa soaring through the sky! Kirrik the Awakened at the refugee caravan gave a speech today regarding the momentous significance of this sighting: "This is none other than Superarakkoa, the prophesied super-hero of the Arakkoa, come to reform the Arakkoa people and finally get our caravan moving again!" Superarakkoa is widely known among Arakkoa to be the invincible savior of "Truth, Justice, and the Arakkoa Way," only vulnerable to the deadly "dark crystals" or "Thraptonite," from the mythical planet of Thra.A night elf standing nearby said that the superhero is a hoax. This elf, named Jared, claims to know the hero's secret: "There is a quest for the Skyguard called 'A Shabby Disguise' in which you disguise yourself as an Arakkoa to buy a book from some guy. Well, I discovered that Druids can use their forms while in this disguise and it doesnt change their appearance." Showing us pictures he himself took of the hero (Superarakkoa's personal photographer, apparently), he claimed that the druid in question tried using his epic flight form while disguised, and was thereby able to fly about looking like an Arakkoa. "The disguise can only be used in Terokkar," he said, "but I still think it is a neat trick."Many thanks to our reader Jared for providing us with the inside scoop on this mystery! We wonder who Superarakkoa's secret identity is... but while we investigate that, what other mysterious uses have you adventurers found for other quests and disguises?
Shifting Perspectives: How to group with a druid part two
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them, brought to you by David Bowers and Dan O'Halloran. Two weeks ago I talked about grouping with Feral druids. This week I promised to focus on Balance (Moonkin) and Restoration (Healing) specs. But when I started writing about the Balance druids, the article grew quite large. So apologies to the Restoration druids out there looking for their day in the sun, you will have to wait two more weeks for my next column. Today's article is focusing squarely on the ups and downs of grouping with our Boomkin brothers. WHAT TO EXPECT FROM A MOONKIN DRUID: DPS, baby. And plenty of it. Moonkin spec got a nice, fat dps boost with the Burning Crusade expansion. Their current arsenal includes two dots, two different flavored nukes, an AE damage dealer, 5% crit aura, damage-boosting and crit-boosting talents plus the treant pets if the druid took the 41pt talent. Before the expansion, all this firepower would drain the druid's mana in no time, but the days of Oomkin are no more. Between mana-saving and mana-regenerating Talents plus better itemization, Balance druids can conserve mana with the best of ranged damage dealers. Welcome to the Age of Boomkin. Emergency Healing. Like any other non-healing druid spec, Balance druids are more than capable of off healing in a pinch. They must shift out of Moonkin form to do it, but when the group's health stabilizes, the druid can always shift right back and help with the clean up work. Who wouldn't want a mage who can group heal?
Around Azeroth: Flying over Shattrath
Sure, once you get a flying mount, these previously unusual overhead angles of locations in Outland become old news -- completely boring and uninteresting. But try to remember for a moment the excitement of you first took off on that flying mount and started zooming around Outland, taking screenshots of absolutely everything. That's what this screenshot, sent to us by Addie, is all about.Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth. %Gallery-1816%
Shifting Perspectives: Awesome tanking gear and how to get it easily
Bears make some of the awesomest tanks around. There are advantages and disadvantages to having a druid tank as opposed to a warrior, or maybe even a paladin, and we can leave the discussion of which is best for another day. You are probably aware, though, that one of a druid's main advantages in tanking is the extremely high armor he or she can achieve in bear form. Shifting to bear form increases the armor of a druid by 400%, and there are a number of leather items out there which have a higher-than-average armor that can send our physical damage mitigation through the roof.Let's just assume that you're leveling up your feral druid, thinking about when you reach 70 and wondering what kind of gear you're going to need going into the high-end 5-person instances and raiding. The thing you might not know is, as you're leveling up towards 70, some of the best of these high-armor items are easily available through quests. These may be "just green" in some cases, but that armor rating makes them extremely valuable for a druid for a long time. They often outshine their bluer or purpler counterparts in their bearish tanking power. Continue reading for a short guide to these what these items are how to get them.
WoW TCG: Interview with Mike Hummel, Senior Game Designer
Mike Hummel has been playing collectible card games since the beginning. As leader of the R&D team at Upper Deck, he created the Marvel/DC VS system, as well as worked on Yu-gi-oh, one of the most successful CCGs of all time. And he's one of three main designers behind the World of Warcraft card game. So when I asked for a demo game, and he sat down to play across from me, I was suitably intimidated.It didn't help that I had never actually played the game before. But Hummel knows card strategy in and out (he should know this card game-- he made it), and so I followed his instructions as I laid down my first quest cards and resources. I took his advice in choosing my first allies and playing my abilities. I was given a Warlock deck to start with, and it became a classic PvP duel when his Druid dropped into Cat Form and started ripping me apart.
Around Azeroth: Ca-caw.
Imagine this: you're a Druid who's just finished his or her flight form quest. What do you do?! Well, according to the screenshots that land in my mailbox, you start looking for amusing places to take screenshots of yourself -- as shown in this shot by Satarus of Khaz Modan. I can agree with the feeling: ca-caw!Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth. %Gallery-1816%
Shifting Perspectives: How to group with a druid part 1
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them, brought to you by David Bowers and Dan O'Halloran.No one likes to be told how to play their class. We've each learned through trial and error what works and what doesn't. Yes, there is room for improvement, but, I swear, if one more person screams "HEAL PLZ" then I'm gonna make a macro that spams "TAUNT PLZ", "DPS PLZ" and "CONTROL YOUR AGGRO PLZ". And I shall refrain from uttering "Does your daddy know you're on his account?" No, really. I will. Ok, after tonight. I promise.My point is, when you group with a warrior, you know what to expect. Same with a rogue, mage or priest. They all have clearly defined roles. But druids, oh my, you never know what you're going to get. Will you get the guy who refuses to shift out of cat form to spot heal when the priest is OOM and the tank is going down for the count? Will you get the overcaffeinated shifter who can't decide if he is dps'ing, off-tanking, patch healing or nuking? Or what about the b00mk!n that insists he can tank Illidan because he has high armor rating even though he lacks significant dodge, resilience or snap aggro?I'm not saying these play styles are wrong or bad. There are many situations where these tactics are valid. I'm saying that groups need to know what kind of druid they are grouping with so they can all have an enjoyable and profitable pick up group. And to help you do that, I'm going to cover the major play styles of different kinds of druids and what you should and should not expect them to do for you. I'm going to start with the feral spec.
Loot balance
Alright, this might just be me, but leveling my Rogue in Outland, I noticed one thing: there's a lot more Druid leather than there is Rogue leather, as far as quest rewards go. It seemed like for every Rogue piece, there were three Druid pieces, one for each talent tree. Never one to go with speculation where math would do the trick, I looked through 200 quests available to Alliance in any Outland zone to count the number of rewards for Rogues, Feral druids, Balance druids, and Resto druids. (I chose the first 200 quests in alphabetical order, which should be reasonably random.)If a reward seemed fairly viable for both, I counted it for both -- many pieces would work for Rogues and Feral druids, for instance. I'm only looking at leather armor here, not weapons, cloaks, or jewelry; arguably, this is a bit of a flaw, as weapons are a pretty big deal for Rogues (and a less big deal for Druids). But, well, let's see what the numbers say: Rogue: 11 pieces Druid: 21 pieces Feral: 11 Balance: 10 Resto: 1 So it seems my pre-math impression was a little off -- the ratio of Druid to Rogue is 2:1, not 3:1. But the point that really gets to me about this data is that Balance druids have almost as many rewards available as Rogues as a whole. That's one spec, as opposed to an entire class. Does that seem right to you?
WoW Moviewatch: Druids Gone Wild!
It seems like someone ought to keep records of things like this: number of times that annoying punk Fandral Staghelm has been killed, longest train of festive holiday gnomes, and, of course, most dancing Druids in one place. I somehow doubt this video is proof of a record -- someone's bound to have gathered up more dancing Druids at some point, even if they didn't record it -- but such all-druid affairs never fail to bring a grin to my face (and the catchy music doesn't hurt). Haven't gotten your fair share of Druidry today? Then watch on!Previously on Moviewatch...
Shifting Perspectives: How fun is a druid?
Welcome to Shifting Perspectives! This is a new feature here on WoW Insider, which will bring you various perspectives on shifting forms as a druid, from David Bowers one week, and Dan O'Halloran the next.I'm here kick off our little druid feature for this week with a simple pair of questions to answer: "Is playing a druid fun?" and "should I play a druid?" I reply to both with a resounding yes, of course. "But why?" you ask. "What has the Druid class got to offer me that other, so-called 'superior classes' haven't got?" The answer is, naturally, everything! Well mostly everything. You see, more than any other class, druids have such a variety of abilities and can specialize in these abilities to such a degree that there are many very different play styles available to each druid player. The Druid is the ultimate class for the player who wants to tank sometimes, stealth and kill sometimes, heal sometimes, and then sit back and nuke things from a distance for a few months in order to get a change of pace. A druid can alternately be very good at healing, tanking, dealing up-close melee damage, or dealing far-away nuking damage, filling the roles of a priest, warrior, rogue or mage -- all in one class!
Phat Loot Phriday: Earthwarden
Mmmmmm feral druid gear. (Yes, in a Undead rogue's hand for some reason, but still.)Name: EarthwardenType: Epic Two-hand MaceDamage / Speed: 142-279 / 3.20 (65.8 DPS)Abilities: 500 Armor. Yes, on a 2h mace. Hawt. +39 Stamina. Increases defense rating by 27, feral skill combat rating by 24, and attack power by 556 in Cat, Bear, Dire Bear, and Moonkin forms only. Yes, 556 attack power. 14 AP = 1 DPS, so this baby gives an extra 39 DPS when in those forms. Whoah mama. There are a few better Druid items floating around out there, but the armor on this especially makes it perfect for Bear tanks. Boy is it perfect-- Blizz wasn't kidding when they said, way back when, that feral gear would show up in BC. And you don't even have to raid to get it! How to Get It: It's a rep reward from Cenarion Expedition in Zangarmarsh (one of the easier Outlands rep grinds, if you ask me). The only real problem is that you've got to get to Exalted. While it's pretty easy to get to Revered (a few runs through Slave Pens and Underbog, a few turn-ins, and a few quests after you reach Honored), Exalted will require quite a few run through Steam Vaults (although Heroic Slave Pens and Underbog will also give the rep you need). You can also turn in Coilfang Armaments, and since those are BoE, it is possible, if you've got the cash, to buy your way up to this item.Don't spend all your money though-- even with the rep, you'll have to shell out 265g 68s 17c for it. Although if your guild is in need of tanks, maybe you could convince them to help you pick up the tab?Getting Rid of It: If you're a Bear tank, you won't, at least until Serpentshrine Cavern, which is a long way off for most people. But a vendor will eventually give you 53g 13s 63c for it.
