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Big set of icons from the WoW comic
Popehippo on WoW Ladies LJ was kind enough to post these 59 icons, directly from the World of Warcraft comic. They actually come from all over the place, including the comic itself, as well as from cover and concept art. And there's all kinds of different stuff in here, from Orcs to dragons to Druids to Naga.They're meant, of course, to be used on Livejournal, but they work, I'd imagine, for all kinds of icons, from Twitter and IM to even the comment profiles right here on this very site. If you've been poking around for a Warcraft-themed online identity, look no further, odds are that there's a cool piece of art you'll find in this big layout Popehippo's assembled.
The Arena is about to get diseased
As we're already starting to see, our good friends the Death Knights juggle some abilities centered around an as-of-yet unrepresented PC damage type: Disease. There is a variety of plagues and diseases which will obviously have direct application in the arena. I wonder if, as PvP-guru Zach put it, Death Knights might be the rock to the Druid's scissors. This isn't the first time we've seen Blizzard willing to put a strong counter to Resto Druids in the hands of a single class. (Arguments about Hunters/Druids being the strong counter to Warrior/Druids are kind of aside here - both comps still have Druids.) You don't see how this new damage type is the Druid counter? It's pretty simple -- Druids don't have a cleanse that works against Disease.If Death Knights become a favored arena class, then the presence of Disease in the Arena could help provide solid reason to go Paladin or Priest over Druid. Of course, that assumes the disease effects are significant enough to matter. And cleansing all that Disease is still going to be a pain even for our Paladins: they can only cleanse one at a time, and they'd blow through quite a few global cooldowns trying to clear their partners.I don't know if this dynamic was intentional, but I would find it hard to believe that Blizzard's ignorant of it. They tend to have an idea about what's going on. We don't know what new gear will be available to combat diseases (Resistance? Resilience?), and it's still way early to be hedging bets -- but introducing the Death Knight and their diseases should certainly mix things up.Edit: I've not forgotten about Shamans, but I was mostly focused on Druids in this article. My apologies to any Shaman who issued a rightful reminder for the call out.
"We're going to need a montage."
I hate arena. I'm pretty sure I realized I wasn't going to like it right around the time in Season 2 when I hit a nasty Priest/Warlock combo. They outgeared my own little team massively and knew it. Six of our ten games that week were versus this charming pair, and they reached a point somewhere around the fourth game where they'd kill my partner, Mind Control me, heal me to full, and then Fear me around endlessly while reducing my health inch by agonizing inch. A lot of PvP has the potential be extremely frustrating (she said, eyeing another Arathi Basin match with 4 Horde versus 15 Alliance), but that night was one of the few that has left me wondering whether bursting into tears or just going AFK for a sandwich while they amused themselves were the better option.So you might say that arena and I have had an uneasy relationship. I need arena for some PvE gear and to get people off my back about doing arena (it's a vicious cycle). Arena quite patently does not need me. And yet -- it remains the last great challenge before Wrath hits. It is the part of the game that I have yet to conquer, or even do anything other than suck horribly at. I'm a Druid, right right? Isn't there some sort of vague, hazy strategy involving HoT's and Travel Form and possibly Cyclone that makes us never, ever die? Some crap like that. And I owe it to the rest of my class to put a badly-played Druid back in arena to see if we can convince people to stop screaming for nerfs.So. I'm going to commission someone to write some compelling montage music for me, I'm going to BG every day for Season 2 gear, and I'm going to find me a partner with a (um) generous approach to what constitutes "advancement." There's a lot of talk around the forums about the gear gap being too horrible to overcome and the ratings requirements being a barrier to newbie entry. I'll play your game, you rogues. Let's see whether a total scrub still stands a chance. Ratings Watch: 1500
Resto4Life interviews Druid artist Andrige
I could have sworn that we interviewed Andrige here on WoW Insider, but I can't seem to find it in the archives, so I guess Resto4Life beat us to it. Phaelia has posted an interview with the artist (and machinimist) behind some of the best WoW fan art out there, and to the surprise of no one I'm sure, he seems like a fun, down to earth kind of guy.He talks about his fascination with both the Horde and Druids, why he loves Feral, and what he's been up to lately -- he's planning to do a piece of the Night Elf bear and Tauren cat fighting each other, which should be awesome. He's also awaiting the art change in Wrath of the Lich King -- like a lot of players, he's tired of the sci fi and can't wait to get back into the old sword and sorcery style. He wouldn't turn down a job at Blizzard (who would?), but he humbly says that he's got a lot of work to do before he steps up to that level. Good for him. Finally, he shares some good advice about how to make machinima (the script for his film was actually written by a few people on IRC), and a few good ideas about Druid forms. A "Runic Wolf" -- I love it.Nice interview, and good to hear from the guy behind the art.
Shifting Perspectives: Poledancing and you
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them. This week, Michael Gray fills in for John Patricelli, to discuss more about mobility for healing Arena Druids.Allison Robert wrote a pretty solid summary of a Druid's life in PvP as a moving target. This week in Shifting Perspectives, I'm focused on a specific aspect of your life as that moving target. I'm talking about one of the most quintessential Resto-Druid skills in small-group Arena play: Poledancing.
The best of WoW Insider: June 3-10, 2008
It's heating up outside, but the World of Warcraft is growing ever colder, as we get closer and closer to the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. And as usual, Joystiq's sister site WoW Insider is covering every temperature drop that goes down -- from interviews with world-first guilds to the latest rumors and updates on what we'll find in Northrend, WoW Insider is there. Here's our most popular posts from the last week in WoW. News WoW Insider interviews SK Gaming about downing Kil'jaeden, the Sunwell, and why to stack +hasteThe world first guild to down the last boss of the endgame talks with us about high-end raiding. Blizzard changes the description of the Death Knight treesBlizz clarifies (or makes more vague, depending on how you look at it) what the Death Knights will do in the expansion. No pure +damage gear in Wrath, claims KalganA fundamental change to the way caster gear improves spell damage and healing stats. The Brewfest Kodo and what it may mean for Wrath's release dateAn October holiday mount is hidden in the expansion's files, which means we may see a release before then. Ten Druids go on nom spree in KaraHalf of Karazhan is brought down by ten Druids all on their own. Features Guildwatch: Open your face jellyfishA wacky drama queen in our weekly look at guild drama spawns a new catchphrase. Illusionary Tactics: Orb of DeceptionOur new weekly column examines items and spells that can change your appearance. Know Your Lore: The Scarlet CrusadeKYL examines the enemy faction that's probably been killed the most in-game (well, except for the Alliance). Tank Talk: Do you feel lucky, punk?Our new column for raiding tanks covers everything from armor to threat control. The Art of War(craft): DotA-style battleground in WotLK?Think you've seen the last of Defense of the Ancients (a.k.a. "Dhota")? Think again.
Ten Druids go on nom spree in Kara
First the bears danced. Then the cats tapped their paws. Then all heck broke loose with the moonkin and the trees and the ahhhhhhh! Then the ten Druid team from Immortal Trust on Anvilmar decided they'd better go inside the actual Karazhan instance and make with the serious killin'. Attumen the Huntsman and Midnight went down in cloud of feathers, fur, and branches. Then the druids took a dinner break, feasting on skeleton bones and the occasional orange. Their bellies (or whatever trees have) full, they invited an unsuspecting Moroes to join them, the druids telling him, "We're only here to serve Moroes." Mu-hahahaha! They dumped his bones in a vat of soup, declaring it a chunky brand. The Maiden of Virtue could not resist the Druids' musky allure and she also succumbed. Much posing and dancing ensued. Even little Peanut could not contain his joy at the victory. Alas, their tryst with Julianne was not to be. What sweet sorrow having no spell interrupts in any of the Druid talent trees. But next time, some way, somehow, she and Romulo will be theirs!And the most astonishing thing about this run? The screen-capturing druid using the default UI! Huzzah![Thanks, Shethornclaw!]%Gallery-24361%
Shifting Perspectives: PvP as a moving target
Every week, John Patricelli of Big Bear Butt presents a well-researched, educational, and entertaining look at the state of the Druid class in WoW today. This week we said, "Screw that," and got someone off the street. Veronica: Look at you, all helpful.Logan: Your peskiness being unleashed on Connor brings me joy. Annoy, tiny blonde one! Annoy like the wind!-- Veronica Mars, "An Echolls Family Christmas" With apologies to Diane Ruggiero, the writer of the episode quoted above, but I find Logan's snarky comment (did he even have another kind?) to be a perfect, albeit general, means of describing successful Druid PvP.Let us be frank; I am not, nor am ever likely to be, a hardcore PvPer, and to a great extent this post is directed mostly at people like myself. If you're one of those Druids carrying a 2K+ rating in full Vengeful, then I invite (nay, implore) you to leave comments and corrections based on your own experience, but the article's mostly for regular folks like me, who may not even particularly like PvP but recognize that it is desirable or perhaps necessary, given our ingame goals. As such, most of this applies to battlegrounds, and on a later date we're going to get into arena. Today, we are simply going to talk about how to avoid letting your PvP experience turn you into a miserably unhappy player who would rather undergo an appendectomy via Roto-Rooter than set foot in another EOTS.
How to convince tanks to PuG
I'm getting back to WoW Insider after a month's real-life-related absence and have been spending some time playing catch-up on the site. One of the articles that caught my attention was Matt Rossi's popular "One reason tanks won't PuG," in no small part because I play a tank and my own PuG runs have been few and far between of late. My main, a Tauren Druid, respecced from balance to feral at level 69 because there were so few tanks on my server, and I literally spent months and months tanking PuG's to get experience and gear. During that period I saw everything from rogues rolling on +healing maces to warlocks needing on tanking cloaks, and I learned that you never can tell what you're going to get from a PuG. Yes, you'll get hunters who can't trap, mages who never resheep, rogues who mistakenly believe they leveled a warrior, and priests who Power Word: Shield you straight off the pull -- but you'll also find people who know their class well, or are in the process of learning just like you are, and who are fun to be around. I have now killed Illidan with a contingent of people who showed up to my PuG's back when I was a wee lolbaretank in quest greens and Heavy Clefthoof, so as a matter of personal experience I think PuG's are a somewhat underrated way to meet people who will later turn out to play crucial roles in how you experience the game.I don't PuG as frequently anymore due to time constraints and increased time spent leveling alts, but I still hang out in LFG from time to time for the pure enjoyment of meeting new people. Yes, it is often difficult to PuG tanks and healers (I would submit, as someone who typically tanks or heals in dungeons, that it is also difficult to PuG skilled DPS), but a lot of people could make it easier on themselves than they do. If you're having problems finding a tank or healer for your PuG's, try these.
The best of WoW Insider: April 29-May 6, 2008
All the crows you see above are actually players. A bunch of Druids in crow form (as part of the Penny Arcade Alliance on WoW's Dark Iron server) decided to recreate "The Birds" in the game You'd think this is pretty awesome (and it is), but really, this is just another story on Joystiq's sister site WoW Insider. If something cool happens in the game of Warcraft (like, oh I don't know, controlling the game with your eyeballs), we're there every day to cover it. Here's our best from the last wek. News Season 4 items unveiledThe next Arena season's items are slowly leaking out on the servers -- find out the gear you'll be wearing if you can pull off that Arena rating. Level 70 Elite Tauren Chieftain featuring an orphan on air guitarIt's Children's Week in Azeroth (you can check out our Horde and Alliance walkthroughs as well), and a little Blood Elf girl learns to shred with Blizzard's band. M'uru world first kill by SK GamingThe next boss in the Sunwell Plateau goes down for the count. Can WoW be beaten?World of Warcraft is doing great lately, and a looming expansion only means bigger things are coming. Or will two big competitors take a bite out of Azeroth's population? Diablo3.com acquired by BlizzardBlizzard takes over what might be the new website for the Diablo sequel we've all been waiting for. Features Guildwatch: The aftermathThe best part of playing an online, massively multiplayer game: the backstabbing, lying, and drama. New M'uru items dataminedA gallery of new gear from the M'uru encounter. Shifting Perspectives: Druids just wanna have funA flock of Druids descends into havok in Nagrand, to hilarious results. Officers' Quarters: We love you, but L2PIf you're raiding, sooner or later, you'll have to make sure you (and everyone you raid with) knows what they're doing. Build Shop: Shaman 18/43/0Our talents column takes a look at a kickass Shaman Enhancement build. You want to Shock and Awe with your totem dropper? Here you go.
WoW Insider Weekly
Looking for something to read. Look no further -- here's the best of our weekly features from the last seven days, presented in a handy roundup format. If you missed it the first time, don't make the same mistake twice. Guildwatch: The aftermathThe messiest part of guild drama comes after it happens. And when the bank has been ninja-d the last gquit has been typed in, and the last wipe happens -- that's when Guildwatch appears. Shifting Perspectives: Druids just wanna have funCaw! Some Druids in the Penny Arcade alliance pull off a little fight-or-flight terror, The Birds-style. He Said, She Said: HypermasculinityAmanda and David wonder why your mage is so incredibly buff. Build Shop: Shaman 18/43/0Pound for pound, one of the best melee DPS dealers in the game -- the Enhancement Shaman enters the Build Shop. More great weekly features after the break, including an in-depth look at Cooking, and a must-read post for every Hunter.
Leather on a Shaman and cloth on a Druid
Obstruce brings up a topic that seems obvious to some people but can drive others crazy: healers wearing less sturdy gear than they can just for the stats. I won't lie -- I've got a few pieces of leather on my restoration Shaman for the stats, but in general, I don't think it's a bad thing that healers and casters sometimes wear cloth for the stats, given of course 1) that they're not taking it from someone else who needs it, and 2) that there's not a better piece of normal gear for them to be wearing (it's an upgrade).Obstruce's aunt disagrees, especially with Shamans and Druids -- if for some reason they pull aggro, wearing leather or cloth will only make things harder on the group. Which is true -- if I'm wearing leather (or even cloth) on my Shaman, I'm not going to have near as much armor as I would wearing the mail I'm supposed to wear. But in a group where all members are doing what they should be, I should never get hit anyway. If a healer's getting hit, it's a good 80% of the time not their fault -- it's the tank's or DPS' fault for not keeping aggro where it belongs.So no, I don't see any problem with a Druid or Shammy (or even a Paladin, though there's a lot of nice healing plate out there anyway) wearing less than they're meant to. Warriors are definitely not in the same situation -- while yes, some of that Hunter mail may have lots of Agility on it, and that will help out your crit percentage, you get so much more bonus from Strength and Armor that it's just not worth it. Casters can steal Mage and Priest gear (as long as they're not actually stealing it from actual Mages and Priests) if it's an upgrade, but Warriors almost never have a reason to slum it up in mail.
The best of WoW Insider: Patch 2.4 special
Today is one of the highest holy days in the world of Azeroth -- yes, that's right, it's Patch Day! Patch 2.4 is now coming to the live servers (they supposedly came back up at 11:00 a.m. PST), and WoW Insider has every square inch of the patch notes covered like a quilt, from the brand new Sunwell Isle zone to all the new daily quests, and class information for everyone out there. It's time for patch 2.4 (the last big content patch before the expansion), and if you want to know about it, we can tell you. News Patch 2.4 Notes, Live versionHere's Blizzard's official live realm notes for Patch 2.4. All of today's changes, all in one post. Top 5 must-dos in Patch 2.4Wondering where to go and what to do first? Worry not -- we've got your agenda planned. Magister's Terrace round-upEverything you need to know about the game's brand new five-man instance, Magister's Terrace. The seven most fun trinkets in World of WarcraftSeven great trinkets, in or out of patch 2.4, that make the game more fun. The WoW Insider DirectoryJust in time for the new patch, our brand new browsable archive of guides, columns and tips opens up for business. If it's on our site, you'll find it in here, too. Features Sunwell Isle world quest walkthroughThe first major world event since the invasion of the Scourge is going down on Sunwell Isle, starting today. Shifting Perspectives: 2.4 badge-a-palooza, Druid styleBadge loot in 2.4 for shapeshifters. Encrypted Text: Gear me up in 2.4What should you wear as a rogue in the new patch? Our weekly rogue column tells you. Hunter changes in patch 2.4What's new for rangers and their pets on the live realms today. Welcome to 2.4, WarriorMatthew Rossi runs down everything warriors need to know about all the new changes to the game. And there is much, much more to be found about the new patch over at WoW Insider. If you log in to find that your character's abilities are different and your addons don't work, come on over -- we've got you covered.
Netherstorm summoning restriction to be removed
To accompany the information about patch 2.4 regarding the ability to summon into instances, Tigole popped into the Elitist Jerks forums with another handy detail.The restriction on summoning in Netherstorm is going to be removed entirely! Hooray! While this change won't vastly alter gameplay, it's another nice little convenience thing. Those are usually the most enjoyable changes, I think. This far into the game, there really isn't much need to keep Tempest Keep restricted to those with flying mounts. Plus, as all of the level 68 Druids with their Flight Form have displayed, you don't need to be top level to do some damage in most of Tempest Keep either.This seems like it might be another change with the intent of opening the game up to more players and speeding up the content to prepare for Wrath of the Lich King, but most people I know never liked the summoning restriction anyway. I, for one, am glad to see it go.
WoW Insider Show goes live tomorrow afternoon
The WoW Insider Show, our podcast is back live again on WoW Radio tomorrow afternoon at its usual time of 3:30pm EST. This week, myself (Mike Schramm), Turpster, and John Patricelli (our Druid blogger) will sit down and chat about all the craziness that has happened in the last Week of Warcraft. From how to be an Azerothian pacifist to the changes going down in Alterac Valley, it's sure to be a rousing listen. Join us, won't you?And don't forget to jump in and say something on the show yourself-- we'll also be live at irc.mmoirc.com in the #wowradio channel, so you can talk to us directly and give live input on the show, and we'll be reading emails from the email address: theshow@wow.com. If you've got a question or an insight to share, we're all ears.So make a note: tomorrow afternoon, Saturday, January 12th, starting at 3:30pm EST. It's the WoW Insider Show's 20th episode, live on the air!
Feral druid range bug and graphical issues
For a very long time now, druids have been bemoaning the "feral range bug," which makes it so that feral special attacks sometimes don't work, even though the regular auto attacks are fine. I've always thought this bug caused special attacks to have a shorter range than auto attacks (and I wasn't alone), but some videos demonstrate that the bug (as shown above, and also here) has to do more with positioning than the actual range between the druid and the target. I play a feral druid, and I can't say that I've noticed this bug very much, but I tend to shy away from PvP situations where it would be likely to show up most -- mainly because I find feral druid PvP to be very difficult (though I keep trying now and then). Perhaps this bug is one of the reasons for that, but everything is just too fast-paced for me to see?In any case, Vaneras on the European WoW forums responded to a poster in order to let us know that the developers are indeed aware of this "concern," and they ... well... that's it. They're just aware. Nobody knows if they'll actually fix it or not, though I would assume they will at some point.In addition, Vaneras says the developers are aware of the some graphical imperfections in some druid feral forms, and they also "like the idea of new graphics and models for the Druid forms, however there are no plans for such in the immediate future." The key word here is "immediate," which implies that the not-so-distant future might be quite different! Is there hope for feral druid graphical updates in Wrath of the Lich King, perhaps?[Update] I just got back from testing this in PvP, and sure enough I found my special abilities weren't landing, even though I was on top of my enemy. Click on the link below to see a video of this bug in a PvP situation.
Forum Post of the Day: Lookin' good
If you've been reading our Shifting Perspectives druid column, then you'll probably remember our discussion of the way druids look as they level up and get newer gear. The druids over in Europe have found a new way to show Blizzard how they feel about it on their forums: in a post by Rawr, entitled "[Screenshot] Season 3 Set Looks So Awesome," they've not only highlighted how druids look in the latest arena gear (as pictured above), but they've shown compiled pics very much like all the the different gear they've had leveling up, from level 10 to level 70.My druid looked something like this at level 10, which as you can see, is pretty drab. But once I got to level 45 or so, I completed a set I thought looked pretty nice. Now at 70, I have three sets for Bear form, for Cat form, and for healing. I don't mean to brag or anything -- my gear isn't the best in the world -- but one day I hope my druid can look like Xgeno does in his armor!There are many players out there who may think druids' opinion on their looks is a petty issue that doesn't matter, but when you think about it, there are lots of people out there with very strong opinions on class-specific issues that other classes don't understand in the least. In an age when some players stage riots on their servers or spam forums to protest class problems, these druids have once again demonstrated that there are alternative ways to share your feelings on a particular issue. For anyone out there who feels extremely angry, happy, or whatever, about any particular class issue, it makes sense to stop and think how you want to look in the eyes of other players before posting on the forums about it. Do you want them to get really frustrated because you're disrupting their gaming in some way? Or do you want them to read your post, then grin and say, "I see what you did there?"[Thanks Lewi!]Edit: Apparently the European thread Lewi brought to our attention has its roots in the US. The level 20 druid Pando showed everyone what her animal form looked like, and invited everyone to show theirs. Classic. [Thanks Delkral!]
Is Druid insta-shifting overpowered?
Serennia, a gnomish warrior on Tichondrius, believes that the changes to druid shape-shifting [shown in the video clip above] in patch 2.3 make it too easy for druids to get out of snares without being caught in their vulnerable caster form. She puts it very eloquently:In 2.3, druids can shift from any form to any form (ie cat to bear; bear to travel, etc) without having to enter human form. But, it gets worse, they can shift from the same form to the same form also (bear to bear). Why is this significant? It's basically a free snare removal without ever having to expose themself in human form, making it much more difficult for anyone to kill them. It still costs them mana to do it, yes, but it's an easy trade-off for never being locked in caster form with no armor anymore to get away from a melee. So much for those well-timed caster-form kidney shots, right? Druids needed help in 5v5 with a bit better caster form survivability, and they got that with the new Natural Perfection changes and a bit more utility. However, they did NOT need to be even harder to kill with this short-sighted change. Melee might as well not even attempt to catch a good druid anymore, and well, casters never could to begin with. She says that this may or may not be what Blizzard was intending when they decided to go ahead with this change, but for my part, I think it's a buff druids really need, especially feral ones, who are likely to get the most use out of insta-shifting between forms. I've said before that, although restoration druids enjoy a lot of success in PvP, it's very hard for many feral druids, and personally, I think this sort of mobility can help make up for other areas where the druid is not as strong, and can provide more synergy between the druid's different forms and abilities without some of the risks that made this synergy impractical before. What do you think?
Shifting Perspectives: That special versatility
It's often been said that druids are the three-in-one class: we can mimic warriors, priests, rogues (and even mages), but can't fulfill their respective roles as well as they themselves can. While in recent times druids have been able to gear up and perform as well as their parent classes in many respects, we are far from "warriors with stealth" or "rogues that can heal" or "priests that can off-tank in a pinch."Our problem as druids is that we cannot but neglect the full breadth of our abilities when we must specialize in only one aspect of our class. Of course, any class works best in situations where most or all their abilities might be needed to succeed, sometimes even in the course of a single fight -- it's just that for druids these abilities include tanking, damage, and healing all together. If you're playing with an experienced group, each player is likely specialized to one of these three roles, and his or her whole purpose is to minimize the chance that backup tanks, healers, and damage-dealers will be needed. That leaves druids trying to compete with warriors, rogues and priests (and mages), trying to do just as well at the same task, but with fewer abilities to call upon in the fight. Locked into these smaller roles, we must gear up and spend our talents in such a way that even if we were to shift out of our main role into another when the need arose, we wouldn't be able to do very well at it at all. This brings me to the adventure at hand: Today we will go on an journey of the imagination together, exploring the potential future of druids, considering how this problem of specialization versus versatility might be approached. Indeed, as I gaze into my crystal-ball-shaped paper-weight, I see two possible futures: one, called "The Path of the Pandering Pedant," seeks nit-picky perfection in a class designed for breadth and scope, while the other, "the Way of the Multitudinous Master" brings the full manifest of all our abilities into harmonious use with one another.
Rawr, a gear application for tanking Druids
Amanna has mentioned an awesome little tool for tanking Druids with a great name: Rawr. It's a completely separate application for Windows (sorry Mac users) that will pull down your gear from the Armory, and help you not only see your tanking strengths and weaknesses, but help you choose upgrades, both in terms of gear and gems on it.Astrylian of Kilrogg put it all together, and it looks like a really amazing tool for bears. Unfortunately, no other classes or Druid specs are supported yet (Astrylian says cats are next on the list), but if you're a bear who's been trying to make some good gear choices lately, this could be just what you need. Rawr is still in beta and available as a free download on the Druid wiki.
