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Warlords of Draenor Alpha: Transmog changes
On live servers you can't transmog polearms over swords, axes or maces (and vice versa), but on the Alpha it's a totally different story, as you can see in the header image above. No idea if this is an intended change or not (I hope it is) but it's certainly a welcome one for those of us who happen to carry a Hellreaver in our bags.
Encrypted Text: BlizzCon news for patient rogues
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Encrypted Text for assassination, combat and subtlety rogues. Chase Christian will be your guide to the world of shadows every Wednesday. This week, I'll be sharing my report from BlizzCon 2010 for rogues. As a member of our shadowy brotherhood, my duty to investigate and report on the rogue class is never over. Even though I was enjoying the festivities at BlizzCon 2010 and testing out the new demon hunter class in Diablo 3, I still made time to take care of business. The class Q&A panel is one of the best places to communicate directly with the WoW development team, and so I staked my place in line before the prior panel had even ended. When my turn finally came, I had to first pay my respects to the developers. I had asked them at the prior year's BlizzCon if we would ever see a Vanish fix implemented, and Ghostcrawler avoided promising anything. Fast-forward a year and we finally have a Vanish that I'm proud to call my own. I opened my time by giving them their much-deserved thanks. I then took the opportunity to ask about something near and dear to my heart: off-hand weapon speeds. Axes and daggers were simply never meant to be used at the same time. Their art styles don't even match!
Brewfest 2009: New piece of Direbrew loot enabled
A new piece of loot has shown up on the live realms today -- one that has all the servers abuzz. For the intrepid adventurers fighting off Coren Direbew they might be rewarded with a Bind on Equip 1H Mace that every budding Enhancement Shaman will want to get their claws on.The mace is an iLevel 226 item and has a DPS output of 171.5 -- making it on par with the very best 1H weapons out of 25-man Naxx. Full stats are in the picture above.It looks like, well, a tankard. Just like the other glasses that are in the game. I don't necessarily get why it's "O' Terror," that would sound like it belongs more with the upcoming Hallow's End than Brewfest, but that's just me. Either way it's quite a nice mace that's going to make a lot of Enhancement Shamans happy.It can also make your wallet a little fatter if you're lucky enough to get it (it does have a low drop rate). They're selling for between 4k to 5k gold. I would suspect that'll decrease substantially in the next few days however. If you really want it and don't want to spend that kind of gold, Brewfest is running for a while still -- you'll have until October 3rd to get your hands on one.For more Brewfest information, check out our Guide to the 2009 Brewfest Achievements and the rest of the updated level 80 Direbrew loot.
Raid Rx: Really cool Coliseum healing loot
Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a new WoW blog for all things UI, macro, and addon related. It's time to gear us up some healers! Let's take a look at all the phat loot the coliseum has to offer. The Crusader's Coliseum offers a wide variety of gear and equipment for both new and veteran healers. It's time for us to start equipping ourselves in order to be prepared when Icecrown Citadel hits. While we're not exactly going to be healing Arthas to death, it's a good idea to start working on our stuff now. We'll start with Trial of the Champion for the fresher 80s before we move to Trial of the Crusader where all the good stuff is.
Ask a Lore Nerd: Looking to the future
Welcome to Ask a Lore Nerd, where each week blogger and columnist Alex Ziebart answers your questions about the lore and history of the World of Warcraft. Ask your questions in the comments section below, and we'll try to answer it in a future edition.This week I have a special request: I want any questions you might have about potential future expansions. Any questions at all are welcome, but I'm on a speculation kick recently, so next week's column will probably focus on the future and then we'lll be back to our regular deal after that. So no matter whether you think the Maelstrom could be next or something else entirely, ask!Mark asked..."Any chance that the Vrykul will be a playable race in a future expansion?"
Phat Loot Phriday: Ironsoul
As much as Martin Fury would have been appropriate here today, we'll stick to actual player items for now. Here's a nice big scary mace to hope for from Ulduar's first boss this weekend.Name: Ironsoul (Wowhead, Thottbot, Armory)Type: Two-hand Epic MaceDamage/Speed: 594 - 892 / 3.50 (212.3 DPS)Attributes: +105 Strength, +126 Stamina Improves crit strike rating by 69 and armor penetration rating by 84. %Gallery-33600%
Phat Loot Phriday: Demise
Name: Demise (Wowhead, Thottbot, WoWDigger)Type: Epic Two-hand MaceDamage/Speed: 522 - 784 / 3.50 (186.6 DPS)Attributes: +90 Strength, +103 Stamina Improves hit rating by 49, which is excellent -- melee can almost always benefit from more hit And improves haste rating by 89 %Gallery-33600%
Legendary mace coming in patch 3.1
A brand new legendary weapon is coming to the game in patch 3.1. Val'anyr, the Gavel of Ancient Kings will be a new Atiesh-like weapon, formed from 40 "Fragments of Val'anyr," likely found within Ulduar. MMO-Champion also has the tooltip of what happens after the fragments are assembled -- you get a "Shattered Fragments of Val'anyr" that starts a quest, which will eventually reward a Paladin, Priest, Shaman or Druid with the hammer itself.We don't, however, have an actual tooltip of the mace itself, so while these tooltips suggest a healing mace, this could work the same way as Atiesh, where you could finish the quest to reassemble it by choosing one of four options, each with different stats for classes and specs. So while these tooltips show healers, there could also be a DPS and/or tank version of the mace as well. In fact, I'll say it right now: this is probably a Hunter weapon.But either way, there'll be another Legendary item in the game soon. to 5. Patch 3.1 brings us Ulduar, dual specs, significant changes to all the classes, and more! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1.
Analysis of stated 3.1 rogue changes
All right, rogues. So by now some of you have likely read our list of 3.1 changes for our bloodthirsty class, and if not, you should! Right now! Make no mistake, these are some very cool changes, and even if this is the whole list (it's not), I'm pretty happy with how things are shaping up--not just for rogues, but for all the classes mentioned so far. If you haven't read through them yet or if you're not a big theorycrafter, you can take a moment and read through our analysis of how 3.1 will (so far) affect you, the rogue.Let's have a look!
Breakfast Topic: What's your weapon of choice?
One of the nice things about WoW is that it allows you a variety of choices for your character. You really aren't pigeon holed into one thing or another. There are some cases in the upper echelons of the game and theory crafting where one weapon or armor choice becomes superior – but that's only if you want to take the game to such a level.And even then, min-maxing to that extent isn't really necessary to be successful in raiding anymore.I've come across this in my play recently. My weapon of choice (and hence the forever awesome Christopher Walken music video attached to this article).As a Shaman I have a choice of various slow 1H weapons, giving a variety of different stats that I'd like to have. When entering the starting zones of Wrath I can pretty much find any combination that I want to fit my needs. As a protection Warrior I've found the same thing, even at times finding it more advantageous to use a DPS based weapon over a Def based weapon.For the Shaman (which I need to point out is just my favorite alt at the moment) my weapon of choice has shifted away from slow maces to whatever sexy fist weapon I can pick up. The DPS output is roughly the same, if not better in some cases, and I just like the way it looks.Yes, I said it. And I'll take the beating that's about to begin.
Phat Loot Phriday: Verigan's Fist
Before Death Knights show up and take all of the Paladins' glory, let's take a look at the weapon that originally defined Human Paladins, the two-handed mace of heroes.Name: Verigan's Fist (Wowhead, Thottbot, WoWWiki)Type: Rare Two-hand MaceDamage/Speed: 65-99 / 3.20 (25.6 DPS)Abilities: +7 Stamina, +6 Intellect, +12 Spirit. A Paladin hammer of justice if there ever was one, and not just because it's only for Pallies. The quest you can get it at (see below) is at level 20, and the weapon is so nice for the level it'll easily last you most of the way towards the 30s. There's no two ways about it -- any Paladin poking around midlevel should be wielding this hammer. Unless you're healing all the time, this is the thing to hit bad guys with. As soon as you get it, enchant it, because odds are that you'll keep it for a while. And it's one of the best quest rewards before 60 -- in my opinion, one of the best for-the-level weapons in the game. How to Get It: You've got to be an Alliance Paladin, which means Human (Update: or Dwarf or Draenei, of course, thanks commenters. But you still have to go to Westfall to run the quest). And at level 20, you'll get a quest called The Tome of Valor from your Paladin trainer, which will take you on a journey to save a lovely lass, and into a few instances for the level to do some weapon material fetching. It's a nice, and fairly simple quest chain, it'll get you not only this sweet weapon, but a nice shield and the Sense Undead ability, and, most importantly, it'll teach you how to be a Paladin and stand up for the Light wherever darkness encroaches (which doesn't include, strangely enough, QQing about ret gear itemization).Blood Elf Pallys have a much easier quest, and can nab the Blood-Tempered Ranseur. But Verigan's Fist is a classic, so we're featuring that one. The Whirlwind Weapon is a good one for Warriors, but that's three different weapons -- no other weapon exemplifies a class, in our humble opinion, as much as this one. Disagree? Sound off in the comments.Getting Rid of It: Sells to vendors for 74s 59c. Disenchants into a Small Glowing Shard. But don't get rid of it -- good Paladins always walk softly and carry a big hammer.
One Shots: Mace to the face!
The stream of Age of Conan strangeness continues. It seems no sooner do we put up one oddball graphics bug, than another surfaces in our mailbox. This one has to be one of the stranger ones we've seen -- yes, stranger than missing bodies or tablecloth capes. Today's One Shots glitch screenshot from Age of Conan comes to us courtesy of Draimen from Blood of Crom, who tells us the following tale:[This is] a screenshot of one of my guildies from [our] grinding group. He got a glitch where his weapon in his alternate slot gets stuck as the model in his main hand. Then when he switched his alternate slot to a bow, he was using a bow but it showed his 2H mace. So, he was shooting 2H maces at people. It was pretty awesome.It certainly looks pretty silly... and like it would be painful. Although it could make for some interesting fatalities.Do you have some off-the-wall glitches you've seen in your day to day gaming? Have server lag or disconnects caused some strange things? If so, we'd love to see them and hear all about it. Just send those screens to us at oneshots AT massively.com! %Gallery-9798%
Build Shop: Warrior 31/27/3 for Season 4
Every Tuesday, Chris Jahosky contributes Build Shop, which takes a look into one of the many talent specs available to players. This week, Michael Gray guest writes to talk about the perennial Warrior build for the upcoming Season 4. If you're like me, you're looking forward to June 24th with almost breathless anticipation. New season, new ratings, new competition. And like hundreds (thousands?) of others, we have a Warrior sitting patiently at the stables, prepping for the gates to open. He sits there, foaming at the mouth, smiling nervously at his partner Druid or Priest, with Mortal Strike almost literally visible in his pixellated eyes.Build Shop has discussed Warrior hybrid builds previously, but that 28/33 build was focused on actual hybrid play - a mix of PvP and PvE. The classic Arena-based "Mortal Strike Hybrid" starts off with at least 31 points sitting in the Arms tree -- you can't have a "Mortal Strike Hybrid" without Mortal Strike. Mortal Strike is a foundation of the Arena build. While there's leeway earlier in the Arms and Fury trees for this build, the deeper in the trees you get, the more certain talents become "mandatory."After the break, let's talk about the talents and whirligigs that make the Mortal Strike Hybrid so popular and powerful in the Arena.
Pepper spray dispenser garners Spider-Man's approval
Although we doubt Peter Parker will ditch the day job in order to plug a new kind of pepper spray, we're sure the web slinger has a soft spot for Domonique Torrence's creation. This wrist-worn contraption enables individuals to keep mace within a finger's reach and secured to one's hand even if attacked, and we'd say there's a certain intimidation factor thrown in as an unintended bonus. Reportedly, the device is set to go on sale later this year for $30, but you know that inner superhero will force you to pick up two as you seek to live out those dreams of incapacitating baddies on the streets of New York. Just be careful where you aim, alright? [Via CrunchGear]
Phat Loot Phriday: Crystal Spire of Karabor
This incredible healing mace is actually changing looks in patch 2.2-- thanks to our friend MMO Champion for the comparison pic above.Name: Crystal Spire of KaraborType: Epic Main-Hand MaceDamage/Speed: 16-132 / 1.80 (41 DPS)Abilities: +22 Stamina, +15 Intellect Increases healing done by spells and effects by 486, which is high enough to make grown men cry Restores 6 mana per 5 seconds, which makes grown Shaman everywhere weep with happiness And if your target is below 50% health, direct heals will grant an additional 180 to 220 health to your target, which makes healers' mouths everywhere drop open. Which means if you're direct healing someone below 50% health, you get at least +660 healing just from this item. Of course, not all +healing translates directly into heals (and definitely not on the lower ranks anymore). But still, that's a lot of +healing. Trivia: The Black Temple was previously known (long ago) as the Temple of Karabor, the center of Draenei worship everywhere. The Spire of Karabor is likely a piece of the temple itself (or perhaps the Altar within), fueled by years of Draenei faith and prayer. Pretty cool. How to Get It: It drops from someone named Van Cleef in the Deadmines!No, only kidding. Loot like this doesn't come easy-- you've got to be prepared for this one. Illidan himself drops this baby, when you kill him in the Black Temple. We haven't seen all that many kills yet, so a percentage isn't certain yet, but odds are it's less than 20% or so, and possibly a lot less than that. And considering this is a great mace for every healer in the raid, you're going to have to be pretty good and really lucky to call it your own.Getting Rid of It: Sells for 14g 32s 71c, and disenchants into a Void Crystal, but come on now. Don't even think about it.
Phat Loot Phriday: Stinging Viper
Our It came from the Blog guild is going to be going into instances this evening, including (I hope) at least a few runs through Wailing Caverns. While they're in there, they can get this very nice and cool-looking lowbie (read: twink) mace.Name: Stinging ViperType: Rare One-hand MaceDamage/Speed: 30-57 / 2.80 (15.5 DPS)Abilities: Chance on hit: Poisons target for 7 Nature damage every 3 seconds for 15 seconds. For you non-math majors, my calculator says that's 35 damage to a proc. Unfortunately, there aren't any other stats on it, but it's still a nice weapon for the level (I had it on my Shaman for quite a while as I came up past 20). Especially good for offhand on Rogues, as the higher damage range and the proc help out DPS quite a bit. Pair this with a Cruel Barb or a Wingblade and you're set. (Update: also see good points for using this as a Main Hand in the comments below) How to Get It: Comes as a drop off of Lord Pythas, one of the four druid snake guys you have to put down in Wailing Caverns (in order to fight the giant Murloc, that is). Seems to drop all the time-- there's an 18% drop rate on it-- but as you all probably know, going in there specifically hoping for it to drop means it probably won't. Always seems to happen that way, right? What's up with that?Getting Rid of It: Vendors for 30s 18c, disenchants into a Small Glimmering Shard.
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.
Warrior mace spec hotfixed: fewer procs, more filling
A quick heads-up to anyone planning Warrior specs or gear: apparently the boys in Blue decided that the Warrior mace spec was proccing too often, and a hotfix is being issued "sometime soon". From Tseric:"The proc [after hotfix] should roughly be 11% with a 3.80 speed weapon, 8% with a 2.80 speed, and 4% with a 1.70 speed. The rage awarded should now be 6 points on proc."Apparently the proc rate pre-hotfix was along the lines of three times as high, though it only gave 2 points of rage per proc, a third as much as it does now. So the net effect of the fix would seem to be fewer stuns, but the same amount of rage, over time (in bigger chunks). If I'm calculating correctly, the new proc rate should be about 1.62 procs per minute. For comparison, a Crusader enchant is said to proc once per minute (on average).Any thoughts?
Saved by the Bell's Screech mugged
Dustin Diamond, aka "Screech" from the "hit" television series Saved by the Bell is going through some tough times. He hasn't had a "career" since his teen acting days, he's losing his house, and now... he's lost his precious PSP games (to quote "good games.") According to his account on a Florida radio station, a woman broke into his hotel room with some mace, grabbed his PSP games and ran out. He tried to stop her, but she yelled "rape" and ran away.If you feel sorry for the guy, go and buy a t-shirt from him.(This incredible non-news story was brought to you by our sister site, TV Squad. Let's never do a crossover with them ever again.)
