jewelcrafting
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On Needing and Greeding
Some of you may remember, as I do, a time when there was no Greed button, only a dice and pass options on looting. Either you wanted the item, or you didn't. Or, it was BoP loot, in which case, as I remember, everyone was supposed to pass, and then you all decided what to do-- though it was so long ago, I can't quite remember why that was...At any rate, that time is over, and now we have the option to Need or Greed roll on loot that shows up, so it's pretty clear what to do when loot drops-- if you need it, roll Need, and compete with other Needers. If you just want, roll Greed or pass, and everybody's happy.Except, as with everything, there are exceptions. Nesp from Lightning Blade brings up one of the most common-- he's a jewelcrafter, and he's wondering if he should roll Need or Greed on gems-- sometimes, he's the only one in the party that can cut them, but then again, anyone can use them after they're cut. Likewise, I think there's a little confusion about things like Fel Armaments and Arcane Tomes as well-- yes, people of the opposite faction from Aldor or Scryer shouldn't roll on rewards they don't need, but should the right factioned people all roll Need or Greed? Likewise, everyone needed things like Corrupter's Scourgestones-- should everyone in that case roll Need, or just roll Greed?As Blizzard says (sensibly) in the thread, the best policy is to actually decide on a policy within the party before you have to-- nothing worse than losing an item to someone who can't use it, or taking an item accidentally that you don't really need. My plan is probably the default most players use: if you need it (as in, you can wear it or turn it in ASAP), roll need. If you don't (or you're going to sell it at the AH or DE or vendor it away), roll greed, and live with the consequences (there's always more loot to gain). But whatever works for you is what works best.
Making the most of socketed items
Is it just me, or are socketed pieces a ripoff? Most players were excited when Blizzard announced that in the Burning Crusade, we'd be able to socket various pieces of armor with extra stats-- I have fond memories of pimping out my armor in Diablo II with extra gems, and couldn't wait to do the same in Outland.But now that I've gotten a few socketed pieces, they, well, suck. At 62, I got this awesome vest for my Shaman from a quest reward-- +44 spell damage and healing, 6mps, 21 stam, and 15 int. Then, at 64, when I took down Mennu the Betrayer in the Slave Pens, I got this baby-- the Vest of Living Lightning, complete with red, yellow, and blue sockets.And after hunting around for gems a little bit, I am unimpressed. At the gem merchant in Thrallmart (yes, Thrallmart, for all your Outland needs), the best I could find was a little +9 healing and a little int and spirit-- even with those bonuses, the socketed vest doesn't match up to the quest reward. And even at my Aldor vendor, I couldn't find any gems that came close to making me switch away to the new vest. In the end, I vendored the socketed item. Likewise, the pictured item sucks even with three yellow gems in it when compared to what I'm wearing, the Scaled Legs of Rumination.Now, I'm still in the low levels of socketing, so it's very likely that both the socketed gear and the gems will get better (I didn't check the AH at all for gems, which I probably should have). I've already seen the Tier 4 pieces, and those have amazing stats and sockets, which definitely makes them amazing. But for standard, mid-60s socketed pieces, it just doesn't seem worth it to run around looking for gems, when other non-socketed items are so much better.Update: Apparently I should have checked the AH-- there are lots of great gems in the game if you're willing to hunt, mix, and match. I'm still not sure it's worth the time to make a lowbie socketed item better (I'll probably wait for the higher stuff), but if you want tips, check the comments.
Vacaloco's complete jewel guide
One of the new puzzles I've had in the Outlands is figuring out just how good that socketed item is. For instance, Chemise of Rebirth without any gems in it is obviously worse than Goldweave Tunic. But what gems are available, and how much might they bump up the Chemise? Enter Vacaloco's complete jewel guide. It purports to be a list of every gem currently in the game, showing in easy-to-read format their color and what stats they give, as well as whether they're crafted, bought, dropped, or PvP rewards. I've had this list open in a browser window constantly for the past few days.Personally, what I'd like to see is an AddOn or web tool that would do the thinking for me. I want to be able to mouse over an item, or input the number and color of sockets on a web page somewhere, and get back the maximum stat boost, for my chosen type of stats, that I could get out of the item with gems socketed. That would make a lot of comparisons much easier. Unfortunately, I don't know any Lua, nor am I very familiar with WoW's API, so writing that AddOn is probably beyond me.In any case, Vacaloco's page is a great resource. Have you found any ridiculously useful references for this brave new world?
Draenei have left the Exodar!
EVERYBODY PANIC! Actually, it seems as though everyone else wanting to quickly level a Draenei did just what I did. They got off of Azuremyst Isle as quickly as possible, and headed back to comfortable and familiar hunting grounds. In my case, that was Goldshire. I can only imagine how those poor humans felt as they saw a half-dozen squid-faced monsters earth-shocking their way through the Fargodeep Mine. Sure, the puny humans fled, but that's because they understood the might of the Draenei when we had a raid of 2 to take down Hogger. The wide-open spaces of your Goldshire amused us, and soon we were taking over logging duties in Eastvale, also slaying those silly little murloc things by the dozen. GLURGLURGLELURGLE indeed. Running back into Stormwind, I was constantly accosted by people saying things such as, "How's the weather up there?" and "Nice face, blue face." Do they not realize that we're only barely taller than night elves, WHO ARE ALSO BLUE TINGED? Words hurt, people, words hurt. However, one funny soul decided to follow me around asking "Can you make trinkcits?" Yes, "trinkcits." No, I cannot make your "trinckits" yet. I can make a little golem who spits healing love at me. I can even make copper rings if you ask nicely, and give me some money for this weekend party the Naga are having. I think the point I'd like to make is that yes, we're Draenei, yes we're new to you, but we're not new to us. We've been traveling around in our spacesh...interdimensional vessel.. for quite some time, and if it weren't for those accursed elves (blood not night, we love you, really we do) we'd have continued past your Scourge-infested world and on to happier times with the Naaru and the warmth of the light. So please, ask your children not to tug on our tentacles, do not call us "squidbillies" behind our backs, and do not assume we all know jewelcrafting (even if we do). We're regular folk, just like you and that gnome over there, and we're here to help you fight the Burning Legion. Now, can I get a summon?
Secrets of the Burning Crusade minisite
Blizzard has posted a brand new Burning Crusade mini site, and it's pretty spiffy. After a quick intro (how can I have missed that the Blood Elf mount is now called the "Hawkstrider"? What was wrong with the other name, Co-- ohhh, I see.), the music starts and you can enter the lush world of... a flash website.There's not much news in it, if you've been paying attention to BC previews at all. It runs you quickly through all the new content-- flying mounts, the new jewelcrafting profession, the new races, Arena PVP, and the new world of Outland, and even has a few good writeups of the different dungeons and factions you'll see in Outland. Overall, nothing really new, but there's good music throughout, and it's easy to check out. If you're already excited for BC (and how could you not be?), this will only add to the trembling in expectation.Oh, almost forgot-- there's a secret minigame hidden among all the content. Poke around, if you like-- Blizzard has hidden some secret clicks in there that allow you to eventually access top secret content. It's not hard to figure out, but if you really don't want to bother with it, we'll even provide you with a walkthrough after the jump.
The Burning Crusade: Preparing for the Expansion
With exactly two weeks to go, I'm left feeling a little blah about what to do in the World of Warcraft. Not quite enough time to get another character to 60 (well, maybe my shammy), not really in the mood for raiding when my gear is soon to be replaced anyway, and the PvP grind is wearing me out a bit. Fortunately for me (and for you!), I came across a posting on TenTonHammer from about a month ago. So while it may be "old news" to you, I think that it's well worth the read, given that we're so close to launch. The article covers the following topics with some good hints and tips:
