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Encrypted Text: Job perks
I love the profession system in WoW, but sometimes it strikes me as odd that we're basically paying money to go to work. I wouldn't run around the world and skin animals, pluck feathers, find rare threads and cause massive environmental destruction for a leather jacket in real life, but I'll gladly do all that to make an epic leather chestpiece in WoW. Nevertheless, it's a good idea to pick up a crafting profession in WoW, just for the perks. (Unless you want to be one of those ultra-capitalists who take two gathering professions.) We've covered this in general terms before, but today we're going to focus on the crafting profession-specific BOP items and abilities that can really help out rogues in the end-game. Alchemy Honestly, alchemy doesn't have a lot of good BOP stuff. It's good for money-making and as a support profession for an alt (someone has to get all those transmutes done), but it doesn't offer a lot of enhancement for your main, unless you count "Being the guy at the raid who sucks up to everyone by giving them pots" as an enhancement. Which, for rogues, is not a bad thing -- there's enough of us out there that being an alchemist can help get you that coveted raid spot. But for pure min/maxing, it might be better to buy herbs off the AH or farm them on an alt and then have a guildie make you your pots. Particularly useful pots include Flask of Relentless Assault, Haste Potion, Insane Strength Potion, Fel Strength Elixir, Elixir of Major Fortitude, Onslaught Elixir and Super Healing Potion. The Alchemist's Stone is one of two items that are only usable by alchemists, and though it's a good starter trinket, it'll be quickly eclipsed for everyday wear by more rogue-specific trinkets. It really shines for hybrid classes and mana-users, but rogues shouldn't be popping healing potions like bubble wrap in PVE. If you are, you have bigger problems than your trinket selection. The other alch-only item is the Mad Alchemist's Potion, which restores health and mana and gives you a random buff. Nice, but not reliable when you need it.
The Light and How to Swing It: Levels 41-50
This week I'm going to continue the class guide by talking about levels 41-50. This is the level range I dislike the most when playing most of my characters (more specifically, 45-50), but I'm going to include suggestions to help you get through it as fast as possible. Since you got your mount at 40, you'll notice a distinct drop in travel time, but please be careful when mounted -- enemy mobs can still hit you, potentially knocking you off your mount to make your escape on foot. You may have chosen to respec at 40 to Protection or Holy, but I'm continuing as Retribution for leveling purposes (though Prot grinding is also quite fun). As such, certain quests / areas may be harder for some specs than others, so I've tried to offer alternative zones when possible just in case you start having trouble.If you missed the last two installments of the leveling guide, you can find 1-20 here, and 21-40 here. Before we get started on level 41, I have a couple of recommendations: First, make sure your First Aid skill is leveled up and you have a nice stock of bandages, as sometimes you'll be low on mana and a bubble/bandage can save your life. Second, always carry around a stack or two of the best water (and maybe food) you can get, and if you've leveled cooking, try to keep yourself food buffed as much as possible. Third, take a deep breath -- some of the zones you have to quest in at this level range are notorious ganking grounds on PvP servers, and many have tough mobs that may give you trouble (especially if they have a level or two on you). You will likely find yourself running back from the graveyard a lot, and that's always frustrating. Just keep on at it, and you'll get through it.
Encrypted Text: Levels 21-40
Welcome to another edition of Encrypted Text! This week I'm continuing the class leveling guide started by Elizabeth, covering levels 21 to 40. I've only leveled characters on a PvP server, so I know when I hit 20 or so it's time to abandon the safe land of Care Bears for the contested areas where the opposing faction is just waiting to kill you. Luckily, you're a Rogue and thus have an advantage: since you generally keep a low profile, killing quickly and stealthing from target to target, you are hard to spot unless someone much higher level gets right on top of you.When leveling, especially on a PvP server, use this to your advantage. Unless there's a good reason (like traveling long distances or killing a mob), you should stay in stealth. Even if you're spotted, you still stand a decent chance of getting away -- try throwing something in their face to Blind them, then Sprint away until you can restealth. Well, let's get started. I'm going to assume you've read about levels 1-20, have a good idea of how your Energy and Combo Point mechanics work, and have at least a few points in the Combat tree. If so, read on -- if not, go back and read about your first 20 levels!
The Light and How to Swing It: Levels 21-40
Over here at The Light and How to Swing It, we've gotten behind on our class guide. If you missed the first installment and have just rolled a Paladin, check out Elizabeth's guide on levels 1-20. As Elizabeth said in her article, until you hit 40 or so, Retribution is probably the best talent tree for solo leveling unless you're doing a lot of instances where you are healing or tanking. Even so, Prot and Holy specs get far more effective at 40, so my advice is also to stay Ret until then, as it really will speed things up.Be prepared -- going from 20 to 40 will take you a lot longer than going from 1-20. If you're on a PvP server you'll have to level in a contested area (this means you are automatically flagged for PvP), and that means you are likely to be ganked by opposing players who will often be a much higher level than you. If you're on a PvE server there is no threat of ganking unless you flag for PvP or wander into an area held by the opposing faction, but the difficulty level also ramps up here as well. Mobs have more health and do more damage, and you will probably find quests are harder to complete. Generally, you won't need to group up for quests (your bubble and your ability to heal yourself is invaluable), but in many zones it's not a bad idea. Since Blizzard increased the amount of experience gained from quests in this level range, it may be advantageous to group up and finish a quest quickly, rather than do it solo.
CoX: player-written guide updates
CoX Community Coordinator Ex_Libris would like to remind y'all that the Player Guide Section in the official forums is in need of updating, and they'd like to have all updates completed by the end of the month. That being said, if you've built a guide, please make sure that it's both up-to-date and listed in the Guide of Guides section.Aside from assisting your fellow spandex-clad heroes and spangle-bedecked villains, building a guide is a great way to make sure that you're rock-solid on everything that you need to know about your specific archetype. And please remember, if you need to delete an old or incorrect version of your guide, send a message to Zombie_Man, and he'll take care of it for you.
TTH guide to the Ojasa Colony
As with all of TenTonHammer's guides, the latest one for Tabula Rasa's Ojasa Colony (located on the planet Arieki) is an invaluable tool in taking on the nasty Atta. Each one is filled with helpful tidbits like navigations tips (The geography is basically four quasi-circular areas that are interconnected via tunnels) and combat tips (never crouch or stand still when fighting Atta up close. They have a nasty melee attack that can be avoided if you are always on the move) that will get you through the toughest missions.I've been hooked on TR since beta, and I was fortunate enough to score the world exclusive review for this epic, sci-fi MMO. The more time I put into the game the more I enjoy it. Thankfully, I'm also finding as more and more of these helpful guides are made, the more intrigued (some would say obsessed - semantics) I become by this game.These guides, usually created out of a fan's passion for a particular game, really epitomize what massive multiplayer games are all about - teaming up, cooperating and sharing... all for the greater good. TenTonHammer has a ton of guides for a plethora of games, so be sure to check them out if you need a helping hand.
Behind the Curtain: Learn 2 Play
I should probably start this week's column by apologizing for missing last week. I won't, but I probably should. I'm sure your world kept turning despite a lack of my wittering on for 500-odd words, so let's crack on, shall we?Assuming some of you managed to stay safe from the murderous robotic Santa this year, you may well have received gifts of new MMO games, and are sitting at home (unlike me) with your feet safely ensconced in new slippers, wracked with indecision over what new vista of unexplored gaming potential you should be delving into. Fortunately, my friends and family understand that my tastes in gaming are (relatively) more esoteric than theirs, meaning that they usually plump for the always welcome gifts of booze or vouchers. What this means is that I will finally be able to pick up Bioshock and the Orange Box – seriously, if I have to dodge one more spoiler for Bioshock or Portal, I may have to stab someone in the mouth. But that's beside the point; let us get back on topic. With most of the big MMOs having been around for a good while now, the sheer amount of content available across these games is a daunting prospect – where do you start, how do you decide? Do you jump straight in and hope that you'll make it?
TR beginner's guide to the Spy
IGN's TRVault has the first part up of a new series covering the major classes of Tabula Rasa, and first up is the Spy. It's reasonably concise, as primers go. For those who don't know, Spies are TR's version of the rogue class. They're stealth armored, blade wielding killing machines that can do everything from polymorphing into an enemy soldier, to causing hostile foes to turn traitor, to calling in bombing runs.Currently, Spies are not only the most popular class in the final tier, but arguably the most powerful too. Spies are the only class that can tank, heal, resurrect, and DPS as the situation requires -- though some of these may change if Polymorph gets the rumored bug-fix in 1.4. Spies are great for experience multipliers when played properly, too.Spies are amazing at PvP as things stand, so I can see the temptation to level one built for PvP. But unless you're in a very active PvP clan, the better option is to level yourself as PvE, gather as many clone tokens as possible from Targets of Opportunity, then clone yourself a pure PvP Spy when relevant updates are implemented. Tabula Rasa Capture The Flag, anyone?
Christmas gifts for your Second Life resident
Oh Gods of Yummy Things ... it's that time of year again, isn't it? Love it or loathe it, it's Christmas trotting toward you, antlered head held high and the glint of consumer-related malice in its eye. Regardless of your personal belief system, chances are you'll have to buy at least one gift for someone simply because it's traditional. Well, if that someone also happens to be a Second Life resident, then let this post help you in deciding what to get someone who has everything -- virtually.The Casual/Work AcquaintanceMaybe you have a supervisor or boss that spends time in SL, but you don't know their tastes well enough to know what they'd like as a gift (and consequently feel warm and fuzzy toward you enough to give you a raise). I suggest one of the fine guides to Second Life to be had on Amazon.com. In fact, one of them was co-authored by Our Aimee Weber! And if you can't trust a Massively blogger, who can you trust?
The Light and How To Swing It: Surviving 1-20 as a pally
A lot of people want a high-level paladin to heal, tank, or (as of 2.3) smash faces, but aren't sure how to get up to the point where it becomes fun. Does it get beyond Seal of Righteousness, Judge, Seal of Righteousness, Judge, heal? How can I make the same content I've done five times interesting? When are people going to stop laughing at my blood elf? Read on, as The Light and How to Swing It takes you and your paladin to level 20. First off, you should know what to roll. Four races -- human, dwarf, draenei and blood elf -- can be pallies. If you're Horde, your choice is limited to one. Alliance have more choices, so you need to look at the racials of the classes and what races you've already played. If you haven't made a draenei yet, I would recommend them, as the 1-20 content will be new to you. Plus, the 1% hit aura is pretty nice. The human Diplomacy racial is killer if you're planning on doing heroics, and both Sword and Mace specialization come in handy if you're going Ret. As for dwarves ... well, dwarves have Stoneform, which is nice for PvP. There aren't a whole lot of benefits to being a dwarf paladin, but they are kind of cool-looking, especially female dwarves.
D&D Online Game Guide winners announced
The anticipation is over, and for those of you eagerly awaiting the results, Dungeons & Dragons Online has finally released the list of winners for its Game Guide contest.Want to know the best way to acquire information in the game? Just use the lessons learned when MysticTheurge teaches you how to Ask a Loremaster. Need more assistance? SableShadow lands a sneak attack with Notes from a Dancing Rogue, and LostLeader helps you get to where you need to be with The Lost Quest Guide. As well, there are an additional seven runners up who will also have their game guides published in the DDO.com compendium. And don't forget that you're not limited to just these ten entries: the full list of top-rated and most useful guides is available in its own forum category, and they range from general information to quest-specific rewards.When Dungeons & Dragons Online first opened its contest on September 20, they stated that they were looking for the best guides from the most knowledgeable participants. The guides were posted to their online User-Written Guides forum, and participants were allowed to nominate their favorites.If you've ever needed a reason to learn more about Dungeons & Dragons Online, or to enjoy the wit and wisdom of other players, here's your excuse.
Patch 2.3 on WoW Insider
Did you hear that? A sound like thousands of voices crying out in joy? It was patch 2.3-- the first content patch in a long time is coming to World of Warcraft today.If you're a WoW player, you're probably already straining at the bit to get the chance to play Zul'Aman, put stuff into your guild's bank, or get your Engineering up and build that new flying machine. Fortunately, our sister site WoW Insider, the mavens of all things Azeroth, has you covered. We've posted a huge guide to everything patch 2.3 over there, and you can find even more on WoW Insider's tag page for patch 2.3. No Hunter dead zone? New UI improvements? Wondering what Blizzard did to the old pre-60 instances? It's all there for your perusing pleasure while you're waiting for the realms to come back from maintenance this morning.The world (of Warcraft) will never be the same. Now if only they could figure out a way to make those Shamans happy...
Everything you wanted to know about Zul'Aman
Patch 2.3 drops tomorrow, and with it, what will surely become the most popular instance in Azeroth. Blizzard has yelled from the rooftops about how much players are playing Karazhan, and Zul'Aman is a brand new 10-man for groups who conquered Karazhan to find their way through.In preparation, WoW Insider has compiled everything everyone knows about the new troll city. From history, to quests, to bosses, to loot, it's all here. We've gotten great information from MMO Champion, World of Raids, WoW Wiki, our own Zul'Aman playthroughs and research, and guides all over the internet. We're all going to be headed to Zul'Aman tomorrow, so here's your chance to know everything you need to know today. It all starts after the jump.%Gallery-5517%
Tabula Rasa crafting 101
Over at Stratics, there's a good guide for learning how to craft, modify and disassemble items in Tabula Rasa.Crafting was relatively broken in the Tabula Rasa beta, so I'm looking forward to creating enough paint to drive Dulux out of business. Delicious, delicious paint.Several TR veterans have also recommended you start disassembling weapons for their components immediately -- whilst it loses you some credits in the short term, it'll give you a wider range of modification ingredients when you're a higher level and with a Supersonic Rocket Launcher Flamethrower of Doom that you want to upgrade. Try it out.Be sure to read the end of the guide too, if you've been curious what the numbers next to a weapon attribute mean!EDIT: fixed link, tricksy blogsmith
The Rift loot guide part three lists Minstrel, Lore-master goodies
Ten Ton Hammer has been giving us the lowdown on all the shiny new gear LotRO players can acquire in The Rift of Nûrz Ghâshu, the new raid instance Turbine added to the game in the Book 11 update. First they listed the coin rewards. Second, it was the gem rewards for Guardians and Champions. They've just launched part three and this time they're covering all the sweetness Minstrels and Lore-masters can acquire with the elusive gems that drop in the instance.Lore-masters can get a new armor set awesomely and appropriately called "The Elder Days," which gives mad stat boosts as well as some shadow damage mitigation. Minstrels can gather up the pieces of a suit of armor called the "Armour of the Wandering Bard," which provides similarly sweet stat bonuses and tactical critical modifiers. There are new weapons for both classes as well.It's excellent gear, and all this on top of all the other lovin' Minstrels and Lore-masters got in Book 11. We'll let you know when part four of the guide hits the streets.
Brandywine Realty is open for business
Player housing has gone live in Lord of the Rings Online with the Book 11 patch. But how do you buy a house? How do you pick which one is right for you? Where do you start? You can start with LotRO's Official Guide to Housing.This guide created by the LotRO team walks the very fine line of between being RP and informational. And we think they do a brilliant job. Short, funny, in-character and conveying all the basics to searching for, paying for and losing a house. Yes, you can be foreclosed on if you don't pay the weekly maintenance. But you can pay up to 6 weeks in advance.The basics are: you need to be at least level 15, you need to be able to pay the weekly maintenance fee, any race can live in any other race's neighborhood and if you don't pay the upkeep, you first lose the house, then a week later you lose all the items from the house that were put in escrow. In-game housing is fun, but some of this is bordering a little too much on real life!
Twelve handy links for EVE Online newbies
CrazyKinux has decided to help all those struggling to get a foothold in the complex EVE Online, by providing a list of links which will get you on your way. Originally there were 10 websites linked to, but the list has grown to 12.The featured sites range from the official player guide at EVE's homepage, to help with character creation, to various information-packed wikis, and even an EVE Online humor site. It can be extremely daunting to start up in EVE Online, as it is quite far removed from the standard MMO fare and also unforgiving of mistakes, so if you are thinking of trying the game then follow the link below and get bookmarking.
I know selling leveling guides isn't new, but who in their right mind would BUY one?
So, I'm sitting here today, looking for news to steal, I mean report on. When I see a blog post about an Alliance powerleveling guide. It's an innocuous one-sentence post that says, " I found a World of Warcraft Leveling guide that includes everything you need to power level any Alliance character." Following the link brought me to a site that claims: "World of WarCraft leveling is both an art and a science. It is an art because getting to the next level requires much creativity." To help you unleash your chained-up creativity there's a link to a leveling guide. My first reaction to that line was side-splitting laughter. Leveling in WoW requires creativity like playing Whack A Mole requires a Masters in Fine Arts. Now, I love me some leveling guides. I inevitably hit those weird spots where a zone is too low-leveled and the one next to it is too high-leveled. Having a site that listed zones appropriate to my level range was a boon leveling up. There's one, small difference between the links in this paragraph and the one above it: mine are free. His is not.I've got two, hopefully easy questions: what sort of a snake oil salesman sells these guides, and who in their right mind would buy something that a quick Google on "world of warcraft leveling guide" should provide for free? What do you think? Is there any way in Azeroth you'd ever buy these things? And if so, I've got a lovely bridge for sale over the Hudson River for sale.
Petopia looks at pet feeding
Petopia has posted a nice guide to feeding your Hunter pet, from the basics all the way up to the math behind each pet feeding tick. If you've ever played a Hunter, you already know that when your pet gets unhappy, you need to feed it, but did you know that the difference between your pet and the food's level affects just how happy the food makes it?The guide also has some interesting info about "raw fish" and "raw meat," two food categories recently added to the game. At this point, apparently raw fish and meat are interchangeable with their cooked counterparts, but in the future, Blizzard may create pets that only eat raw food, or that are only interested in eating cooked food.Anyway, if you've played a Hunter all the way to 70, most of this will be very familiar to you (even if you only knew that an unhappy pet wanted food). But as a very general overview of pet feeding tips and resources, it's a good one.
More raid boss strat guides than you can throw a ret pally at
Raiding is a coordinated dance of precision, strategy and not having anyone go afk unannounced. Not that I have done that. Ever. No, really. Ok, that one time, but it's not like we couldn't recover from the wipe in time to try again, right?Anyway, the first time you attempt a raid boss, it's great fun seeing what the event has in store for you. But after that first time, it's incredibly irritating to wipe out time and again. There are strat guides for boss kills here and there about the Internet, but I found one site that collects them all in one place.For every raid target in the game, BossKillers.com presents strat guides three different ways: they have an extensive strat guide written for their site; they have links to other popular strat guides for that boss; and they also have links to kill movies for each boss. For their own guide, it covers each phase of the fight including diagrams showing player placement, class roles with notes for different specs and gear requirements along with recommended buffs and consumables. If you don't agree with the strat, check out the many others they link to. Still having a problem visualizing the fight? Click on the many movie links they offer.So next time you get ready to raid, you'll have no excuse to be unprepared for the big fight. If no one went afk unannounced.
