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Ask WoW Insider: Is there a class/spec truly viable for both PvP and PvE?
Welcome everyone to this week's edition of Ask WoW Insider, where we throw your questions out to the wisdom of crowds. Last week we looked at how to approach PuGs when everyone can see your spec in one click, and this week we have another talent-related question. David wants to know if there are any truly great builds that are highly viable in both PvP and PvE: I'm on my second re-roll and finally have my character to 70, fairly well geared and have found myself in the exact same position as before... My PvE 5-man spec is entirely unsuitable for raids, or PVP, my raid spec is unsuitable for soloing or PvP, and my PvP spec is useless outside of BGs and Arenas! I was previously a Warrior, who needs to be Prot for tanking but Arms/Fury for Arena and I at least only had to bounce between two specs. Now I'm a Mage, and I have to consider bouncing between THREE specs to be what everyone expects me to be if I expect to be competitve! I know the common answer is "suck it up and pay to respec whenever you want to do whatever you want to do" because dailies give out so much free money, but this doesn't work for my mage with however many hundreds of gold and hours of work put into getting my Frozen Shadoweave set. The problem is, I rolled a mage for the exclusive purpose of not HAVING to fill two roles with one character and not having to respec every time I wanted to branch out and experience multiple aspects of the game. So, my question is this: Is there any class+spec out there, that is equally effective and in demand for 5-man instances, raids, solo play and PvP? You heard the man -- what's your answer? How do you find a balance between PvP and PvE-oriented specs, and how do you maximize your ability to enjoy all the types of content you want to enjoy without spending a fortune respeccing every 5 minutes? We know you've got questions, and Ask WoW Insider wants 'em! Send us your queries at ask AT wowinsider DOT com.
It's alive!
Fury has gone live, both in the US and as of today Europe as well, and players are eating up their free month of Immortal status like candy. Recently Ten Ton Hammer posted their first impressions of the game, which includes a rather innovative pay structure. It seems that everyone gets their free Immortal month -- yes, the first taste is free -- and after that in order to keep all the benefits of such ungodly rank you have to subscribe at $9.99 a month. Those that don't can still play the game, it's just with a few key features missing, like in-game VoIP. But that's not all players pay for.You can also buy abilities for your characters, starting a $5 bucks a pop. They call it the "Unlock All Abilities" feature, and it basically allows those people with money to burn and only a few hours to play to get access to all the abilities others would earn through gameplay. It's a risky move, in my opinion, but on the other hand, there is so much sale of virtual currency going on today, why not start out by selling your own stuff?
At last, Warriors, you will know the power of a Community Class Review
Warriors, turn and face the community! Once again Schwick has compiled a list of what the EU forums put forth as the issues of a specific class, this time our buddies in plate without mana, the warriors. You've seen what the community had to say about druids, about rogues, priests and hunters. What do they want to see changed for warriors? Here are a few highlights.Block valueCurrently Block values aren't affecting Warriors that much. An idea to make this stat more desirable could be to enhance the Threat levels of Sunder Armor and Devastate based upon Block values. This would also help with the aggro generation on mobs/bosses.I can't really say I disagree with this one. I'd like to see more done with block.Improved Mortal Strike While Mortal Strike is nice, this talent doesn't help much. Most Warriors agree that the reduced cooldown and more damage don't have much affect. Removing this with something more useful might help. I see a lot of warriors saying this, but while I get the logic that speccing that deep into the tree loses you fury talents like flurry, I still find myself agreeing with WarriorPWNS when he argues for Imp MS. The talent could maybe use a little buff, but it's hardly useless.If you're keep to see what the posters had to say (including what seems to me to be a lamentable focus on gutting fury of all its good PvP talents in exchange for, well, nothing) then take a look here, s'il vous plaît.
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Exploring the PTR
The Care and Feeding of Warriors just wanted to point out that the Headless Horseman dropped my beautiful hat last night. This doesn't have a lot to do with today's column, which is about warriors in 2.3 and beyond. Matthew Rossi is actually dancing with glee, which makes it damn hard to type.Before we get rolling I wanted to link to this site. He doesn't always have complimentary things to say but I find the candor refreshing, and it's nice to see this post. Yes, a paladin/warrior team does well in the arenas. No, it's not the end of the freaking world. Quite honestly, anything that gets paladins and warriors to cooperate is a good thing in my opinion. There are some good posts back in the archive there on PvP builds, various spec issues, patch notes and so on. And this post about Black Morass and Shattered Halls mirrors my own views exactly. If you're interested in warriors, especially arms warriors, you should go give it a look see.Now, to discuss the warrior. Specifically, the future of the warrior in 2.3, as I managed to port my horde warrior over to test this week and played around with specs as much as my limited gold allowed (getting an initial free respec helped). Things to tell you up front: a 41/5/15 arms/fury/prot build can tank heroics with average tanking gear now. I'm talking Latro's Shifting Sword as a tanking weapon average. I did heroic Mana Tombs and heroic Sethekk on test with minimal issue (the warlock pulled aggro a couple of times, nothing earth shattering, I got it back) and so far as I could tell without being able to use a threat meter because I forgot to install one, Mortal Strike is getting the threat bonus they promised from Tactical Mastery.So it seems to me that, if things continue as I've experienced them, we may be looking at the return of the Arms warrior as the default, cookie cutter spec. And to be honest, I don't know if I like that idea.
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: The Furious Ones
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more with The Care and Feeding of Warriors, or close the wall up with the dead of the other faction. We hate those guys! Matthew Rossi plays warriors of several races, which often leads to the cognitive dissonance of a night elf trying to take Stormpike Graveyard. It seems when the blast of war blows in his ears he cannot tell a tauren from a draenei.The problem with playing a warrior, and also one of the most satisifying aspects of the class, is that it can do three things exceedingly well. We can PvP. Some will say we can PvP too well, of course, but then again everyone thinks everyone else is overpowered in PvP... witness how Warlocks think fear has been nerfed to hell while everyone else thinks fear is overpowered. Except priests, who think they're the ones who get nerfed when locks pwn everyone. (I still remember when warriors got nerfed over fear. Ah, everyone was surprised in AQ20 when the warriors couldn't fear everyone anymore.) We can tank. Whatever you think about other tanks and their advantages, it cannot be denied that the single best tank for a boss fight is a warrior and that a protection specced warrior can tank any instance in the game hands down. We have the best itemization for tanking, we have some of the best mitigation on our gear and some of the best talents for getting and keeping aggro and some of the best moves for pushing our defense and heading for uncrushability. And we can DPS, of course. With the right gear and spec, a warrior is capable of rather impressive damage and can be entrusted with roles like solo killing all of the adds in Black Morass. In fact, yesterday I respecced from protection to fury/arms just so that I could help some guildies get their Karazan keys in three back to back to back Black Morass runs. Some nice stuff finally dropped, too.But that's also the rub for the warrior. Are we powerful? Yes, we're powerful, in our limited ways. Are we flexible? After a fashion we're flexible. But the key to our power and flexibility lies outside our gear and in the hands of something else. We have to respec to unlock our flexibility. You cannot, as a warrior, switch from tanking gear to DPS gear if you're specced full protection and expect to really do any significant damage. You simply won't have the tools you need to increase your AP, throw out instants and otherwise become a whirling wall of steel that hews your enemies down. A prot spec warrior is a tank, plain and simple, and one without much of a cannon on board. A fury specced warrior is a mobile gun, all damage and not much survivability against a boss or multiple elites. Arms is a baseline, a light tank with a decent burst weapon. You have to play with the talents if you're going to get the most out of your warrior, and that costs. I won't lie to you, if you want to go between dedicated tanking and PvPing, you may have to respec twice a week, going prot for your guild runs and going arms/fury for Arena and BG's. And if you're like me, and are in a guild where there's another excellent warrior who is more geared for tanking? (Hi Vish!) A guild where there's a feral druid who also wants in on the tanking? (Hi Vash!)Well, then sometimes you're going to be asked to come along on an instance run as pure DPS. Sometimes people will ask you to burn down the adds in Black Morass, or to help with offtanking and DPS in Shattered Halls, or to come along on a Slabs run because there's five people on and you're one of them. And that means respeccing fury, my friends. Say hello to the talent trainer. Bring 50 gold.
Fury unleashes Oct. 9, issues million dollar beta challenge
PvP MMO Fury will be be prepared to "unleash the fury" on October 9 (Oct. 12 in Europe). We did get a little hands-on time with the game at E3 and the beta has been going on since early last month. But before you go waiting until Oct. 9 to get your PvP MMO on, there's a little contest that'll happen in the Open Beta planned for next month.Auran Games, Gamecock and Codemasters Online are planning to do the "FURY Challenge," which will have one million dollars in prizes. The challenge will kick off Sept. 14 and be held over three consecutive weekends. First weekend is practice and the next two has the competition. There will be various ladders so even casual players stand some small chance. Customers who pre-order the game at GameStop are invited to the closed beta currently going on, so that's an option if you think you'll need a little more practice.%Gallery-4405%
Gamecock's E3 video roundup
Most people who spent time at the Hotel California with independent publisher Gamecock walked away with two major realizations. Gamecock actually figured out how to do this newly formatted E3 absolutely right, even though they technically weren't part of it. The Hotel California was an open door oasis with developers showing their games in casual living rooms as a breeze from the Pacific kept things cool -- the smell of BBQ also helped (which we didn't actually get to eat in all the running around). The other realization, the more important one, is that the games didn't look half bad -- actually, in many cases, they impressed us more than non-indie games we saw. Yes, the Gamecock name still confuses people and the two pseudo-NSFW videos we have after the break add to the things that turn some people off to the company's marketing -- but once those people understand Gamecock doesn't care, it'll start to roll off their backs and make more sense. As long as their games featured in the video above are fun and sell well, that's probably the only thing Gamecock really does care about. We're definitely curious to see how their first published titles like Dementium: The Ward and Fury, which goes into beta very soon, do at retail. And we really want more info on Pandora Legendary: The Box as soon as possible.
Unleash the Fury in a free preview weekend, July 27th
Come July 27th (12PM PT), Australian developers Auran will be opening the doors of Fury for a sixty hour weekend of sheer PvP insanity. Having walked away from E3 with positive impressions of the upcoming MMO title (including our own), publisher Gamecock has decided that now is the best time to get more players involved with the project.Though you'd better be quick on the draw. The weekend preview is limited to the first 200,000 sign-ups.%Gallery-4405%
Joystiq hands-on: Fury
We like it when a developer is straight-up with us about their game. The developers from Auran, who are working on the MMO Fury, were quite honest in saying, "It's WoW battlegrounds meets Guild Wars, with a bit of Unreal and Battlefield tossed in." This got our attention and the straight-talk express continued through the hands-on.Fury definitely has the Guild Wars look to it, but the gameplay is more Unreal with an intuitive WoW interface. The pace is like an FPS when in an arena battle, the only difference is that instead of just blasting the ever-living bajingus out of your opponent, you'll build up fury and unleash with special attacks, magic and you can always retreat and heal. Playing against three developers meant we didn't stand a chance and had absolutely no idea how to counter various moves -- but unlike an FPS against professionals, we could at least semi-grasp what was going on. Fury is definitely mental twitch play where if you used the right skills it's possible for a battle to last. If you had a basic grasp on what you're doing, it won't feel like a run-of-the-mill FPS where whoever has the most shields wins.The game releases Oct 9 and the original beta was postponed to later this month. We'll have the release about the beta next week to let y'all know about the exact date. The game is graphically on par with today's expectations and PvP players will probably enjoy it because that's clearly the game's focus. From our short time with Fury, developer Auran has done a good job. There are so many other elements to Fury, (it is an MMO after all) like realms compete against each other for the benefit of the entire server and there are numerous game types to do battle. Fury probably won't defeat the big MMOs out there because that's not what it's designed to do. The game is looking to give a solid PvP experience in an MMO environment, with a dash FPS elements -- to that end it succeeds. For MMO players who mostly play PvP it would definitely be worth checking out the beta later this month.%Gallery-4405%
E3 '07 trailer roundup: Day Minus One
E3 hasn't even officially started yet, and the trailers are already ankle-deep from Monday's appearances alone. Just wait until it's raining assets later in the week and you can't keep up with anything. You'll feel a bit like Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange. You won't want to watch anymore, but you won't be able to help it.Viddy everything that popped online Monday after the break, with the added bonus of the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare E3 trailer. Even though it came out a couple of days ago and is a total mouthful, it's well worth a second look.
Unleash the Fury, beta commences July 6
Looking to try out Fury, the in-development Player vs. Player MMO with FPS elements that claims to do away with level grinding? The first phase of closed beta testing is scheduled to commence Friday, July 6 at 9 pm ET; you can register at the game's website here. (Those who have already signed up can expect invitations in the coming days, according to a press release from developer Auran.)The game will be shown at publisher Gamecock's EIEIO party alongside Min-E3. New trailer embedded after the break.%Gallery-4405%
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: We are the champions... of the world!
Every week Matthew Rossi brings you The Care and Feeding of Warriors, a column dedicated to that guy who keeps Mortal Striking you in the arenas, Whirlwinding in Alterac Valley, popping Intimidating Shout in Arathi Basin, and standing there rooted, sheeped or sometimes Death Coiled in Warsong Gulch. Yeah, we all know you hate that we get to wear plate. We hate that you get to set us on fire, if it helps any.This week, instead of talking more about tanking (although you can expect a tanking article covering Protection spec in more detail soon, covering the abilities unique to that talent tree like Shield Slam and Defiance) I've decided we should talk about two related, but not identical, aspects of the warrior - PvE DPS and PvPing. There are some myths to dispel, and some good and bad news for those of us who enjoy the idea of gearing up in the heaviest armor and smashing things with a great two handed whacking stick. There's so much to cover that I expect I'll have to come back to each subject again in the future, but you have to start somewhere.First off, as most experienced warriors will tell you, PvE DPS is actually better if you dual wield. I say this as a devotee of the two hander, mind you. When I raided, I stayed Mortal Strike and used a Sulfuras as my weapon of choice, and I still put out very respectable numbers even in Naxxramas. But I could never match the damage of a dual-wielding fury/arms warrior. I sacrificed that damage for big crits and whirldwind damage which saw me top the charts in places like the suppression room where I could compete with the mages and at the same time I had much less threat than friends who used a Crul in one hand and a Thunderfury in the other. Granted, the proc on TF meant that we had some spirited debates about whether or not you should offhand it in a DPS role at all, or just tank with it, but I won't bore you with that specific and outdated a debate.
Gamecock details EIEIO party
In case you missed the information in our interview with co-founder Mike Wilson, the GameCock EIEIO party will be held at Hotel California, coinciding with Min-E3, at the following times: Wednesday, 11 July: noon until 6 p.m. Thursday, 12 July: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, 13 July: noon until 4 p.m. According to the press release, Gamecock suckers, accessible developers and food and drink will be available. Expected playable games include Fury (PC), Insecticide (PC, DS), Dementium: The Ward (DS) Hail to the Chimp, Mushroom Men (DS, Wii) and Dungeon Hero (PC, Xbox 360). If Wilson gets his way, there may also be a New Orleans- or Vikings-style funeral for E3. No word on if Old McDonald will host the event.[Update: corrected the months]
LoPresti's CLEARBLUE Bluetooth headset for pilots: roger, Roger
We're not going to pretend to know the first thing about cockpit communications. Still, given our experiences with janky Bluetooth gear, we're feeling a bit uneasy about the new CLEARBLUE bluetooth headset for pilots. Developed by LoPresti, the device is said to automatically prioritize communications between four simultaneously connected devices: 1) ATC/Radios (highest priority), 2) Intercom, 3) Cellphone (is that even legal?), and 4) the iPod. Apparently, the system will be ready later this year and is designed to work with LoPresti's Fury aircraft which uses the iPod as both an in-flight entertainment system and -- get this -- the flight data recorder. We know what you're thinking, "surely they can't be serious." They are, now quit calling us Shirley. [Via Bluetooth Source]
Build Shop: Warrior 17/41/3
Since Build Shop debuted, I've probably gotten more Fury Warrior builds than any other specific tree. So let's look at one. Thirx, of Eldre'Thalas, wearies of his current "hohum MS/ot build," and tossed me this gem, along with a MS/Flurry build that I won't be posting, since I only have space for one build, and I like Fury better. This build is for PvE damage, according to the author's description. Let's see what we can find.Due to Blizzard's decision to put the remnants of Tactical Mastery in the Protection tree, this particular distribution of talents -- 17 in Arms, 41 in Fury, and 3 in Prot -- is pretty much a given for any deep-Fury build. A point or two may move from Arms to Fury, but in general, Rampage is too good to pass up, TM is still a necessity (even though it's partially trainable), and that just leaves 17 for Arms.
Phat Loot Phriday: Retainer's Blade
Last week on PLP, we took a look at a great Aldor item, and this week it's Scyer time. By now, you've probably learned (if you've visited Shattrath City) that players get to choose one of two factions to follow, and each has its own items, recipes and rewards to try for. From the Scryer side comes this very fast, very excellent offhand dagger.Name: Retainer's BladeType: Epic One-Hand DaggerDamage / Speed: 94-142, 1.50 (78.7 DPS)Abilities: +21 Agility, +21 Stamina This is a terrific dagger for anyone who needs a fast offhand for procs-- dual wielding Shaman will benefit from it, but Rogues will probably get the most out of it, with the extra Agi and Stamina, not to mention the 1.50 speed that applies poisons almost faster than you can keep them on. And it can't hurt for Fury warriors either, especially if you've already grinded the rep necessary. How to Get It: Just like Aldor last week, you've got to do Scryer quests and bring them the turnins they ask for all the way to Exalted. You can find what you need to do by poking around the Scryer area in Shattrath, but mostly it'll involve getting Firewing and Sunfury Signets (and, eventually, Arcane Tomes) from killing various Blood Elves around Terrokar Forest. Once you've made your way to Exalted, head towards the Scryer Quartermaster in Shattrath, but here's the kicker: bring some cash with you. A lot of it, actually. This baby will set you back 198 gold and change.Getting Rid of It: When you find an upgrade (which might be tough if you're not looking in the right places-- this baby is one of the highest DPS offhand daggers in the game), a vendor will take it off your hands for 39g 74s 25c.
Gamecock: former 'G.O.D.' heads launch indie-friendly publisher
Former Gathering of Developers executives Mike Wilson and Harry Miller are buck-buck-bucking the trend of safe bets (major licenses and sequels), founding an "independent, artist-driven" game publishing company dubbed Gamecock Media Group. "At least they're not infringing on my trademark: Gamepecker," approved Joystiq's Chris Grant. The Gamecock brand is symbolic of Wilson and Miller's "keep it fun" attitude, explained a rep from the 'cock pen,' adding that "Gamecock will just be a little name on the back [of the box]." This is an effort to spotlight independent developers and offer these studios the necessary freedom and financial incentives to contribute original content to the industry. "[Things] are getting stale. We aim to change that," vowed Wilson. Gamecock has announced the following five titles, which it plans to publish during the next few years, spanning PC, consoles, and handhelds: Fury (Auran) - PvP MMO game for PC; scheduled for release during 2007 holiday season Insecticide (Crackpot Entertainment) - film noir action-adventure game set in a decaying world run by bugs; available for the 2007 holiday season on handheld (TBA) and PC Mushroom Men (Red Fly Studios) - set in an incredibly detailed, stylized world where mushrooms have taken on human-like features and are now embroiled in a civil war; slated for a spring 2008 release on a "next-gen" console and handheld (both TBA) Hail to the Chimp (Wideload Games) - impossible-to-classify party game based on politics in the animal kingdom; scheduled for release in spring 2008 for "next-gen" consoles (TBA) Hero (Firefly Studios) - a brutal, but comical romp through the "real" world of medieval dungeons; coming to a "next-gen" console (TBA) and PC in spring 2009 %Gallery-1590%
