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WoW Rookie: All you needed to know about stats, part 3
In today's continuation of our series on what the various stats in World of Warcraft do for you, we're going to be discussing caster stats. And, while a long-time player probably knows everything I'm talking about here, someone who's newer to the game might find spelling all of these things out to be handy. Curious as to how gear with +spell damage helps you out? Not quite sure how useful gear with mana per five seconds on it is for your class? You're in the right place.However, before you keep reading, it's well worth it to check out part 1 (covering the five main game attributes) and part 2 (covering statistics effecting physical damage). Coming up our next installment we'll talk about defensive statistics (armor, dodge, parry, resilience, etc), so stay tuned!
Adventures in Azeroth: Introducing Cat
Last time we talked about my adventures as a newbie hunter running around Zangarmarsh with my pals in WoW Insider's It came from the Blog guild, I was a newly minted level ten trying to figure out what pet to tame. And knowing little of what I was doing, I asked for your advice on what I ought to tame. From the image above and the title of the post, I'm pretty sure you can guess what the results are, but I'll break it down for you anyway. Out of a total of 762 votes, cat won out with a total of 198 votes. However, boar was very close behind with 190 votes. And in third place, the noble owl, with 82 votes. (If you want to see the full results, check here.)So, as you can see, I went out and tamed a cat in Eversong Woods -- and I have to say, it's a completely different game after getting a pet! With a pet doing the tanking, I didn't have problems with monsters rushing up into melee range, where I can't use my bow, and beating on me. (Really, I'm hopeless once something gets into melee range!) And if something does get into melee range? I can just call my faithful cat in to pull it away. Oh yes, it seemed like the game was going to be eeaassssy sailing from here out. But of course nothing's ever easy...
WoW Rookie: All you needed to know about stats, part 2
For those of you who have been playing World of Warcraft since launch, this information is going to be ancient history. However, for players newer to the game, I imagine that many of the stats you'll find on armor and weapons remain something of a mystery -- and it's for the new players in the audience that this post was written. That said, if you haven't read our recent post attempting to explain the five basic attributes, you ought to start there, because the basic stats all impact the more advanced stats we'll be discussing here.In part 2, we're going to be talking about stats that improve physical DPS -- if that sounds interesting to you, read on!
WoW Rookie: All you needed to know about stats, part 1
I don't know about you, but when I first started playing World of Warcraft, I couldn't have told you the difference between strength and spirit. I equipped every piece of gear I found without regard for what statistics it had. Intellect for my rogue and strength for my warlock -- why, yes, that sounds almost exactly the way I must have started my adventures in the land of Azeroth. But, yes, I did learn eventually. I read my class forums a lot, took advice from fellow players, and finally figured out what all of those funny numbers meant on my gear -- and whether they were good for my class and playstyle or not. But I imagine there are some new players in the audience who haven't gotten to that phase yet -- and this is written to help them out. Curious to see what the five base statistics -- agility, intellect, spirit, stamina, and strength -- actually mean? (Note: there are many more statistics to consider than these base five, like attack power and critical rating, but all of the other statistics are influenced by the main five -- so we'll discuss these today and the rest later this week.) Keep reading to find out all about them!
Breakfast topic: I never knew that
I know that we've covered stuff like this before, but this forum thread, about what players have learned for the first time after two years of WoW, still threw me some curveballs. I never knew players had trouble with the "eating and drinking at the same time" thing-- were people really confused about that? I learned about the shift-clicking to buy certain amounts of items while I was buying poison stuff for my rogue, but I didn't know that alt-clicking automatically buys a full stack of it (in fact, not having tried it yet, I would still be surprised to find out it does).And crocolisks have six legs! I never noticed!I never knew that warlock trick of Fear / Curse of Recklessness / Curse of Agony either, but then again, I've never played a warlock. So what do you know that's new, even after we've all been playing WoW for so long?
Japan Airlines offers DS Lites in-flight
Japan Airlines has announced that first and executive class passengers on its flights will be able to request a DS Lite simply by yelling HOLD IT! at the nearest flight attendant. Actually, they'd probably prefer that you ask politely, but as far as we're concerned they get what they deserve by failing to stock each plane with a hundred copies of Phoenix Wright. One of the numerous terms and conditions lists the fact that the DS Lites for JAL will be specially manufactured without Wifi. Apparently, a bit of multiplayer gaming isn't worth messing with the pilot's ability to fly the plane.Other amusing T&Cs: "Please read the game manual carefully before playing" - zOMG n00bs. "The service is limited to one console per passenger." - jeez, I can play at least three consoles simultaneously... in my sleep. "The Civil Aviation Law prohibits the use of these consoles during takeoff and landing." - good luck to the flight attendant tasked with retrieving two dozen DS Lites from a plane full of people claiming that they're "nearly at the next save point!" "If you do not experience at least seven bucket loads of fun after kicking Princess Peach's ass in Mario Kart DS, then you forfeit your right to be present on the aircraft. If you find yourself in this situation, please exit out of the nearest emergency exit. This T&C brought to you by Nintendo Corporation." - possibly a bit harsh, but we can see where JAL's coming from. See also: Scandinavian airline offers in-flight PSPs and Airports vending GBA, PSP portables
Breakfast Topic: The N-word
There's one word that gets my goat in WoW: "noob". With spellings as diverse as "nub", "n00b" and "nubcakes", dropping the N-bomb is seen by many players as a way to enhance their own social standing -- often with the opposite effect.I'm tired of "noob" being the default insult -- of Trade, General, LFG and local channels filling up with the word time and again. Of being called a "nub" for reasons as diverse as refusing a duel, wanting to find a group and capturing the flag in WSG. Of course, sometimes we do behave in ways that deserve reprimand -- but can't anyone come up with a more original insult? Perhaps that should be the next Blizzard competition.
