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Phat Loot Phriday: Prairie Dog Whistle
Since PLP has been very Outland-focused lately, I promised we'd do something that came from the old Azeroth this week, and considering the holiday, I thought this was apropos.Name: Prairie Dog Whistle (summons Prairie Dog)Type: Noncombat PetDamage / Speed: N/AAbilities: Can somehow accurately predict the weather every spring. Ok, no it can't-- this Prairie Dog just doesn't have the stuff that Punxsutawney Phil has-- he predicted an early spring this year. But he does look cute and is a pretty easy noncombat pet to come by. Bonus Trivia Fact: Did you know that groundhogs can whistle when alarmed? So when you use this whistle, it's not so much that you summon a prairie dog as you call him out of the ground, ready to either see or not see his shadow. How to Get It: If you're Horde, all it takes is a trip to Thunder Bluff-- just to the left of the bridge on the way back across from the Hunter Rise is a small shack in which the Prairie Dog Vendor (named Halpa) sells these little guys for 50s a piece. They come in any color you want, as long as it's brown.Alliance can get these too, but it's going to take a little more time and money-- you'll have to create a Tauren alt, run him to TB, buy the prairie dog, and then sell it through the Neutral AH (probably your best bet is to do a ghostrun to Tanaris).Getting Rid of It: Sells for 12s 50c to vendors, and will bind after you use it to summon the little guy for the first time. Happy Groundhog Day!Update: qsh points out that the Ratchet to Booty Bay trip would be much easier than ghostriding the whip (if you know what I mean) down to Tanaris. Good call.
Phat Loot Phriday: Staff of Beasts
The loot is still so phat in Outland, we still don't know which one to pick (although don't worry, lowbies, we'll do an Azeroth item next week for ya). Fortunately, reader Adam sends in his favorite new Outland item, something that embodies all the great stuff the expansion has to offer: great looking items, fun quests to get them from, and items that are perfect for those offspec folks.Name: Staff of BeastsType: Rare StaffDamage / Speed: 144-252, 3.30 (60.2 DPS)Abilities: +31 Strength, +30 Agility, +45 Stamina Here's Adam's favorite part: On Equip, it grants you 298 Attack power in Cat, Bear, Dire Bear and Moonkin forms. That's a terrific item for feral druids, either for soloing or playing non-healer roles in groups. Plus, just look at it, man. That's a B.A. staff! I pity the fool! How to Get It: Actually, like most of the amazing stuff in Outland, it's not hard to get at all, but you'll need a few friends who know what they're doing. It's a quest chain at the "Ring of Blood" arena, in the northeast corner of Nagrand. The chain's level is 67, but all the quests call for a group, so bring a couple guildies and you can do it all at the same time. Basically, the questgiver runs you through five arena battles against NPCs, each progressively harder. Beat the fifth quest, "The Final Challenge," and you'll get your choice of six awesome rewards (including a 81.5 DPS two hand axe that looks amazing, and a +160 healing mace that my Shaman would love), one of which is this very nice Druid staff. Just remember the wise words of Alamo: cat durid dosen't fite!Getting Rid of It: Sells to vendors for 9g 96s 92c (gotta save up for that mount!). No one has been dumb enough to get one of these quest rewards and disenchant it, so couldn't tell you what it D/Es into yet. What are you still doing here reading? Go get it!
Phat Loot Phriday: Tenacious Defender
Blizzard really went over the top with the loot in Outland-- just when you think the loot can't get any phatter, it does. But early on in one of the first instances there, a lot of players are chuckling about this Warrior belt.Name: Tenacious Defender (Tenacious D for short)Type: Rare Plate BeltArmor: 491Abilities: This is one of the first socketed items you'll come across, which means you can put jewels in it for extra abilities. This one takes two red jewels, and when they're both in, you get +3 Resilience. +15 Strength, +14 Agility, +19 Stamina Oh, and one more thing: in the tooltip for the item, we're told that "It has the power... to move you." Yes, this is a sly Blizzard reference to the band that wrote the Greatest Song in the World (which isn't actually anything like this song), Tenacious D. Jack Black and Kyle Gass' legendary music lives in Outland! A few players think it would be nice to eventually see a Pickaxe of Destiny, but I'd get more benefit from a Junior Western Bacon Chee. That's a JUNIOR western bacon chee-- I'm trying to watch my figure. How to Get It: This is one of the drops from Omor the Unscarred, one of the two end bosses in the first Outland instance, Hellfire Citadel's Ramparts. Actually, most people I've run it with do Omor first and the dragon, Nazan, last-- Omor's the big Doomguard fella off by himself. Finish him, wait for this to drop (it's showing up at about 11%), and you too can be Wonderboy. You could kill a yak, maybe even from 200 yards away.Getting Rid of It: It's BOP, and sells for a measly 2g 40s 92c to vendors. I'm not sure if socketing it raises its price (because I haven't socketed anything yet), though-- anyone have insight on that one?
Phat Loot Phriday: Quel'Serrar, the High Blade
Big swords are cool, and this one is no exception. Plus, it gives you a reason to run an often overlooked endgame instance. A lot. Like, over and over again.Name: Quel'Serrar a.k.a. "The High Blade"Type: Epic Main Hand SwordDamage / Speed: 84-126, 2.00 (52.5 DPS)Abilities: Only obtainable by Warriors and Paladins, sorry Rogues Chance on Hit: Grants the user 20 defense and 300 armor for 10 seconds (an ability like that just screams Main Tank Weapon) Looks pretty, like an Epic Elven Blade should. How to Get It: This one actually has a quest behind it-- before you start, you'll need to be in or with a guild that is running Onyxia. Nowadays, that's actually hard to find, so make sure you've got that before you start the quest off.What you'll need is actually another item, called "Foror's Compendium of Dragon Slaying." It's a book (about dragon slaying, natch) that drops in Dire Maul-- reports say it's about 1% random drop from all the bosses, but in reality, it's probably less than that. As in, this is a really, really rare drop. However, it is not BOP, so you can sometimes find it in the AH-- usually it'll run you about 300 gold, but it's been known to sell for thousands before.Once you've got the book, you want to go to Lorekeeper Lydros in the Dire Maul Library-- it's inside DM North, and he's the same guy you get the Dire Maul enchants and the Mage water quest from. He'll give you something called an Unfired Ancient Blade, and that's where Ony comes in-- you've got to get her to breathe on the blade to forge it for you. In combat, you drop the blade in front of her, and then when she's dead, you use the blade on the corpse, and then boom, you've got... the Treated Ancient Blade. One more FedEx quest back to the librarian, and you've got the shiny sword. Now hit stuff with it!Oh, and I forgot-- all the quests involved give some pretty good XP. So you might make a note now, and then look this one up on your way to 70.Bonus Useless Trivia: If the name of that book looks familiar to you more veteran players, it's because yes, the name comes from Blizzard's Furor: he's a former Everquest player who now works as a WoW Quest Designer. He must know a lot about slaying dragons.Getting Rid of It: The quest item itself is BOP, of course. Sells to vendors for 7g 59s 70c.
Phat Loot Phriday: Doomulus Prime
Lots of players love getting this big red-and-black hammer as a quest reward when raiding for the first time. But not all of them know who it came from-- a WoW player who announced some sad news recently.Name: Doomulus PrimeType: Rare Two-Hand MaceDamage / Speed: 158-265 / 3.80 (55.7 DPS)Abilities: It's not quite as good as the inset above: the real version gives you only +22 to both Strength and Stamina. On equip: Increases your hit rating by 10. Came from a newspaper comic! Yes, the Doomulous Prime was originally envisioned by Bill Amend, the cartoonist behind the comic strip Foxtrot. He's had a running joke in his series about "World of Warquest," a game that one of his characters plays that bears a striking resemblance to our favorite game. Allakhazam's got a lot of the strips, and even an interview (Amend plays a Night Elf, but we like him anyway). Unfortunately, he's taking a break-- Amend announced this week that starting Sunday, his comic will only appear on Sundays. A darn shame. But our good friends at Joystiq have discovered what he's going to be doing with his time from now on: playing WoW, of course. How to Get It: After the mace appeared in the paper, Blizzard included it with the Ahn'Qiraj patch, so you've got to go to Silithus to pick this quest up. It's called The Perfect Poison, and it'll send you to kill Kurinaxx in AQ20 and Venoxis in ZG. Both bosses are early on in the instance (and two of the easiest raid bosses in the game), so for the effort, this is one of the best quest rewards in the game. And it's just one choice of many, many good quest rewards-- if your guild is running raids at all, do this quest! Right now!Getting Rid of It: BOP (because it's a quest reward, dur). Sells to vendors for 6g 41s 37c. Kudos to Amend for thinking up this great hunk of spiky red and black metal in the first place-- now that he's got more free time, maybe he'll be able to get his Druid up high enough to get it!
Phat Loot Phriday: Preserved Holly
Come the Feast of Winter Veil, Smokeywood Pastures descends on Azeroth and offers up all sorts of neat seasonal loot. But of the fun things they can give you, this is probably the best.Name: Preserved HollyType: Quest RewardDamage / Speed: N/AAbilities: Use: Transforms your mount into "something more festive." AKA a freakin' reindeer! Yes, your mount turns into Metzen the Reindeer, complete with a shiny nose. Some would even say it glows. How to Get It: As you might guess, yes, it is a quest reward. If you want this mount, you'll have to join in on Blizzard's reindeer games. In the capital cities of each faction (Org and Ironforge), there is a Christm-- err, sorry, Feast of Winter Veil tree with a few goblins standing by it. One of them will be giving out quests this holiday season, and you want the one called Metzen the Reindeer. Now, all the research I've found says the quest is level 60, but on my 51 rogue I was able to obtain it. Your mileage may vary on lower levels-- post in the comments if you have trouble. Since it is a mount, I'd assume you need at least level 40.Anyway, get the quest, and you'll find it requires you to seek out one Metzen the Reindeer (named, yes, after Blizzard's "Head Architect" of World of Warcraft). Read the notes given you to, and it'll be pretty obvious that you'll find him in Tanaris, in south part of the pirate camp along the coast (in among the buildings south of the big bonfire). Talk to Metzen, sprinkle the fairy dust on him that you're given, and boom, it is a Christmas Miracle! Your mount is a reindeer! Wait, I mean it's a Feast of Winter Veil miracle. Never mind.There's one more way to get this item, but it's not nearly as much fun as finding Metzen. Near the goblins, there is a machine called a "Holly Preserver"-- just stick some Deeprock Salt and 5 gold in there, and voila, Preserved Holly. But why do that when you can save a reindeer?And I can't resist telling you: this item first appeared as an exclusive last year right here on this very website. Go us!Getting Rid of It: You want to get rid of the reindeer? You grinch! Preserved Holly doesn't expire, but the buff does-- you get 5 charges for completing the quest, so use them wisely. Also, there's a bug in the game right now, where if you have buffed your mount to look like a reindeer, and then try to dismount, you'll get an error that says "You are mounted." Well no duh. To get off the reindeer, you have to right click and remove the buff.
Phat Loot Phriday: The Ravager
Blades of Light! In one of the best-loved (and most traveled) instances in the game, you'll find this axe with what might be the most fun proc in the game.Name: "The" Ravager (it's actually just Ravager, but this weapon is so cool it deserves to be singular)Type: Rare Two-hand AxeDamage / Speed: 104-157 / 3.50 (37.3)Abilities: For the down and dirty on today's Phat Loot, we're going straight to Isobelle over at Not Addicted, who says, "Why do I have such a stiffy for this Radiant Shard in Waiting? Take a look at that proc!Chance on hit: You attack all nearby enemies for 9 sec causing weapon damage plus an additional 5 every 3 sec.Are you kidding me? ALL NEARBY ENEMIES? Whirlwind hits only four additional enemies, has a ten second cooldown, only works in berserker stance, and has a cost of what some might call "much rage". This thing costs zero rage, works in any stance, and will hit as many enemies as you can get into melee range before it procs." Yeah. She loves it. And we do too. The only problem? Whenever it procs, you stand there spinning for the whole nine seconds, whether there are enemies around when you're done or not. We're talking endless entertainment here. Isobelle: "It procs All Day Long. It procs procs, which then proc a proc. We've seen it go 4 times in a row, which can be a good thing, or a bad thing. That's like 20 seconds of whirlwind vortex love (when it re-procs, the 9 second timer resets, so you don't get a full 4x9 out of it), but sometimes you want to turn it off. You can't." And Isobelle didn't mention it, but we will: the thing looks darn cool, too. As part of Herod's Scarlet set, it goes especially well with his helm and half-shoulder, too. How to Get It: No quests, just lots of elite, instanced killing. The Ravager drops from Herod, the last boss in the Armory part of the Scarlet Monastery (to get inside there, you'll need the key from the end of the Library wing, but everyone runs SM all the time, so it's likely someone you know will be able to get you in with or without the key). The drop rate stands at about 12%, which isn't bad, but the fact is that this axe is great for anyone who can use a two-hander, so if you have any other heavy melee classes in your group, it's likely you'll have to win a roll for it.Oh, and if you haven't noticed yet, Herod yells "Blades of Light!" a lot. Isobelle recommends setting up a macro to /yell that phrase whenever this procs, and we concur.Getting Rid of It: BOP, Disenchants into a Small Radiant Shard, sells to vendor for 1g 89s 23c.
Phat Loot Phriday: Dartol's Rod of Transformation
Blood Elves and Draenei haven't shown up in the game yet, but today's piece of sweet loot lets you play that other new race, the Furbolg.Name: Dartol's Rod of TransformationType: Quest ItemDamage/Speed: NAAbilities: Transforms you into a furry, angry looking Furblog for three minutes Furbolg form even has its own animations for fighting and casting spells. As long as you don't take any damage, you could run raids looking just like the picture above. So far, I don't believe a dance has been implemented yet, but no matter where you are, everybody loves a Furbolg! One minute cooldown - taking damage will interrupt the spell Unlimited charges! How to Get It: Sorry Hordies, this one's Alliance only. Around level 28 or so, Alliance can find a Night Elf named Raene Wolfrunner in the inn in Astranaar. She starts off a long quest chain that ends with a mission where you are given this rod, and told to use it to speak to a Furbolg (the local population has been cursed, and you're supposed to find out why). But via a nice little loophole, you don't actually have to turn in the quest, and the quest item never expires, so after completing the chain up to the point you recieve the Rod, just never talk to Raene again. She'll get over it (she's got two big cats to talk to), and you'll get Dartol's Rod.Fun, completely unnecessary lore fact: Dartol apparently was a Wizard interested in druidic magic. He hung around Astranaar for a while trying to figure out why, you guessed it, the Furbolg had gotten corrupted. He created this rod to move among them and speak to them, but unfortunately, tragedy struck when he was found out.... and killed by the Furblog. But hey, now you've got his Rod, and you can run all over Azeroth looking just like his murderer!Getting Rid of It: Well, you could just turn in the quest (seeing as it's a quest item, it's unique, soulbound, and vendors won't take it). At the end of the chain, you've got your choice of a nice green axe or mace, but seriously-- how are you going to choose a standard quest reward over an item that you can use again and again all the way to 60?
Phat Loot Phriday: Robes of Insight
After today's discussion about looking good, I figured we'd go fashionable this week. Male cloth-wearers may complain about having to wear a dress from time to time, but when the girls put this one on, there aren't any complaints at all.Name: Robes of InsightType: Epic Cloth ChestArmor: 74Abilities: +25 Intellect, +15 Spirit Use: Reduces the cost of your next spell cast within 15 seconds by up to 500 mana (basically a free cast). 15 minute cooldown. Could be (and is considered by many players to be) the best looking "dress" in the game-- especially on human females. Hawt! How to Get It: Unfortunately, beauty ain't cheap. This thing is an Epic World Drop, which means it drops randomly, at an extremely low drop rate, on almost any mob in the world, which means you're just as unlikely to get it while in a group as you are tooling around by yourself. Farming it is like searching for a miniature needle in a hayfield, so you're likely going to have to depend on luck to get it in a drop.Or, more likely, you could just buy it. Most AHs, when they carry it, will have it at anywhere from 150g up to 400g (most average around 200-225g). It's only a level 47 item, however, which means that unless you're an alt, by the time you have the gold to buy it with, you probably won't need it anyway. But on the other hand, it is a really cool looking dress... How much would you pay to look like Leia in Empire?Getting Rid of It: If you're not that fashion-minded or don't wear cloth and are lucky enough to find this, by all means, put it towards that epic mount, and drop it on the AH for mucho moola. A vendor will give you 1g, 25s, 66c for it when you're ready to start wearing the next season's fashions.Update: And if you like the style but can't wait for the drop (and have a raid of 40 going into AQ), commenter Spyder points you to the Robes of the Guardian Saint, a drop from Fankriss in AQ40.
Phat Loot Phriday: Goblin Jumper Cables XL
Of all the professions, it's probably Engineering that offers the wackiest stuff. Sure, it's nice to make your own weapons or armor, but Engineering can hook you up with abilities some classes only dream of.Name: Goblin Jumper Cables XLType: TrinketCooldown: 30 minutesAbilties: Requires Engineering (265) to use Use: Will sometimes (the sometimes is key) shock a dead player back to life. Also has a chance of blowing up, or just not working at all. Perfect for classes like Hunters and Rogues that can escape a wipe, but can't usually ressurect other players. Who needs a soulstone or an ankh when you've got these around? Unfortunately, they don't always work, but as of a recent patch, they will no longer destroy themselves when they fail, so once you've made this trinket, you'll always be able to use it. As for success rates, most players say they've seen about a 50% success rate on rezzing. Some have seen less, however, and some have seen more. Finally, don't confuse these with the easier to obtain Goblin Jumper Cables (not "XL"). While Cables Jr. will still rez (sometimes), they're not as reliable as the XL type. How to Get It: The schematic drops off of Plugger Spazzring, the bartender of The Grim Guzzler, the bar in Blackrock Depths. He's the little gnome walking around the bar in the corner, the guy you buy the beer from to get the Phalanx event going. Normally, he's neutral to players, but of course if you stab him once or twice, he'll give you a fight.Soloing him is possible with a rogue (he also drops the Barman's Shanker, a nice rogue dagger that looks like a broken bottle, so if you farm him, you'll hopefully see that too), but it's even easier with a rogue and a druid duoing to him. To actually learn the plans, you'll have to have specialized in Goblin engineering, so Gnomish engineers need not apply. To use the trinket, you need a 265 skill in engineering, but don't need to be Goblin necessarily.Finally, the ingredients list isn't too demanding, but you will need a good amount of thorium: 2xThorium Widges, 2xTruesilver Transformers, 2xFused Wirings (these might be the hardest thing to find, as they are not a vendor bought or player made item-- they only drop from mechanicals in Gnomeregan), 2xIronweb Spider Silks, and 2xStar Ruby. Get all that together and your eng skill up, and you'll be able to rez just like a priest-- but only 50% of the time.Getting Rid of It: Sells for 20s to vendors. You can sell it on the AH, but prices will probably be all over the place-- some players don't understand you need the Engineering skill just to use it. If you have the skill, you should probably just keep it-- you never know when a rez just might make the difference between a wiped group and a successful one.
Phat Loot Phriday: Sword of Serenity
This week, Phat Loot Phriday is all about choices. Alliance can get one of their best weapons from a Scarlet Monastery quest, but will you choose it or one of the other rewards?Name: Sword of SerenityType: Rare One Hand SwordDamage / Speed: 48 - 86 / 2.20 (30 DPS)Abilities: +9 Stamina, +4 Spirit Looks like a good RPG sword should-- well made, strong, and ready to take on any monsters that cross your path, be they murlocs or marauding demons. (Doesn't actually glow blue-- the SoS in the pic above is enchanted) But the real test in this sword is your ability to make the choices around it... How to Get It: Starting at level 40 or so (although you can obtain it at 33), Alliance can get a quest from Raleigh the Devout in Hillsbrad called "In the Name of the Light." It's your introduction to one of the best instances in the game, the Scarlet Monastery, and after you've killed four bosses in the instance, you'll return to Raleigh who'll offer you-- a choice.There's the Bonebiter, a great 2h axe with lots of Strength and Stamina. Or the Black Menace, a one-hand dagger with a Shadowbolt proc, or a caster offhand with an Intellect and Spirit bonus. Or this, the Sword of Serenity.This is one of the first times, I believe, that Blizzard starts making you choose for min/maxing. If you're a Warrior, do you go for this sword, with the great Stamina bonus and damage (for its type)? Or do you go for the two hander, practically useless in most instances, but perfect for soloing your way up to 60. If you're a rogue, do you get the sword and spec swords, or pick up the dagger for the proc? If you're a caster, you're probably grabbing the offhand, but any other class starts having serious choices to make.For the record, I'll stand by the Sword of Serenity as a terrific choice, unless you're a Warrior who's never doing the quest for the Whirlwind Axe (you should be doing that quest anyway, because the Axe is better than the Bonebiter). For rogues, it's up to you whether you want to start in on daggers or stick with swords. And for a hunter, this sword is a no brainer-- pair it with the Vanquisher's Blade from the Razorfen Downs quest from around the same level, and you'll be a dual wielding force to deal with.Then there's the other choice-- Horde or Alliance? Because Alliance get this sword as a reward for their SM quest, but Horde get the very cool Sword of Omen. That's right-- HOOOOOO!Getting Rid of It: BOP, as pretty much all quest rewards are. Sells to vendors for 1g 87s 14c. DE to Greater Eternal Essence or Small Radiant Shard.
Phat Loot Phriday: Smoulderweb Hatchling
Technically today's item is called the "Smolderweb Carrier." But this item is most useful not for what it is, but for what it summons-- one of the best coolness factor-to-effort noncombat pets in the game.Name: Smolderweb CarrierType: Noncombat PetDamage/Speed: N/AAbilities: Truthfully, there ain't much to this thing. It doesn't grant any abilities, it doesn't affect your playing style. All it does is summon a little spider that follows you around, from Menethil to Molten Core. On the other hand, it summons a little spider that follows you around, and that's pretty cool. You could even name him if you wanted to! I call mine Peter Parker. How to Get It: But the reason why this noncombat pet is so phat is the relatively small amount of effort involved to get it. For most cool noncombat pets, you've got to pay money, or gold, or be really lucky on a drop, or have bought the collector's edition. To get this one, though, all you have to do is a quest: "En-Ay-Es-Tee-Why," given by Kibler in the Burning Steppes. It requires you to go into Lower Blackrock Spire, and crack open a few spider eggs there. It's not hard at all if you've got a careful party-- you'll need to clear out lots of spiders first, and then opening each egg gives a chance of more spiders, but with enough AoE and healing you'll be dandy. Run your spider eggs back to Kibler and you've got this baby.In fact, Kibler also gives "Kibler's Exotic Pets," which is another easy-to-do LBRS quest that will give you your very own Worg Pup, another cool looking noncombat pet. Personally I like the spider better, but considering how easy the quests are, there's no reason to have both. And if you're a druid or a rogue, Dianius on Terenas-EU has written up a comprehensive guide to how to do both quests solo using stealth. It's got pictures and everything (and check out the last picture on the page of all his pets!).Getting Rid of It: Peter Parker sells for 15s to vendors. But you know what happens when you sell your spider pet, right? Let's just say your spider ends up in noncombat pet heaven.
Phat Loot Phriday: Hydrocane
If you're a Warlock (or a Shammy with Shiny Fish Scales), you won't have much use for this item. But for the rest of us, it's the perfect equip in certain wet situations.Name: HydrocaneType: Rare StaffDamage / Speed: 48-73, 2.80 (21.6 DPS)Abilities: +21 Frost resistance, which might be nice in Naxx if there weren't about five million better weapons to take to that instance. But the real draw of the Hydrocane is this: Equip: Allows underwater breathing. Yup, equip this staff, and that annoying "drowning" thing becomes a nonissue. Do "Deep Ocean, Vast Sea" with ease (well, relative ease-- it still sucks). Pick up the Big Iron Fishing Pole by farming those traps without coming up to breathe. And explore all of underwater Azeroth at your own pace, not the pace of that stupid little blue meter that slowly ticks your life away. Neat little item to have, whether you're level 27 (required) or beyond. How to Get It: If there is a catch with this thing, here it is: you have to go into Gnomer to get it. In fact, this might be the only reason to go into Gnomeregan at all (ok, Techbot made me laugh, so he's worth it, too). The item drops from "Viscous Fallout," a named poison elemental at the bottom of the very first room in the instance. Because he's so close, he's easily farmable by a rogue or druid (and of course Gnomer is soloable for most any higher levels, as well). Drops at 18% or so, so farm him a few times, and you should be amphibious.Getting Rid of It: BOP. Sells to vendors for 82s 10c. Disenchants into Small Glowing Shard.
Phat Loot Phriday: Nat Pagle's Extreme Angler FC-5000
Want yet another reason to be Horde (you know, besides that the people are nicer, the characters look cooler, and you can be a Shaman-- at least until January)? Try this pole on for size.Name: Nat Pagle's Extreme Angler FC-5000Type: Rare Fishing PoleDamage / Speed: 93 - 140, 3.00 (38.8 DPS)Abilites: Requires Fishing 100 skill Equip: Increased Fishing +25 That's right, not only is this the rod to fish with, but it's not too shabby for a two-hander, either. Of course, by level 50 there's lots better weapons out there, but there's a certain charm to beating someone in the BGs to death with a fishing pole Oh yes, and it's a "Limited Edition"-- check below to see why How to Get It: Bad news, Alliance, this thing comes from a quest, and currently it is Horde only. Starting at level 44, you can get "Snapjaws, Mon!" from Katoom the Angler at Revantusk Villiage in the Hinterlands. Just kill 15 49-50 level turtles in the area and the Extreme Angler is yours, along with +25 fishing skill whenever you want it.If you're Alliance, you can always go for the Big Iron Fishing Pole (found in shellfish traps off the coast of Desolace), but the bonus on that is 5 less than the EA FC-5000, so no matter what you do, you can't match the Horde for fishing skill. Of course, with the expansion, that might change-- all skills are getting a boost, and there's no telling what extras Blizz will have in store for profession skill. But until January, this is the rod to have when you're angling.Auction Price: BOP from the quest, of course. Doesn't disenchant at all, so the best thing to do is keep it (I've still got all of mine sitting in the bank). You never know when you might catch the fishin' bug.Update: I thought I was missing something. Trusty commenter zerostars (Thanks, Z!) informs me that both Alliance and Horde can get an even better pole from the Fishing Tournament, starting every week at 2pm on Sunday in Booty Bay. That pole (the Arcanite Fishing Pole) adds +35 fishing, but then again, it requires 300 fishing to use. So until you max out fishing skill, advantage: Horde.
Phat Loot Phriday: Linken's Boomerang
There are all kind of cultural and gaming references within this huge world we play in. But for a lot of players (especially us old school Nintendo gamers), this quest line this reward comes from is definitely one of the best. (No, the screenshot above is not from World of Warcraft, but seeing as this is a trinket, I figured that would be more interesting then a stats screen.)Name: Linken's BoomerangType: Rare TrinketDamage / Speed: 113-187 / NAAbilities: Flings a magical boomerang at an enemy, damaging them and giving a chance to stun or disarm them. Remarkably powerful with the disarm proc-- some people say it can even be used against bosses, and there's rumor that even Rag can lose his hammer when hit with this thing. And of course, this is a special item for Pallies, because the ranged attack makes this the only ranged ability they have at all. It's not much, but it's all they got. How to Get It: With this one, the joy is in the journey to get it. It's a long series of quests (quests that some players call the best in the game) that starts at about level 50. In southeastern Un'goro, there's a little raft sitting on the edge of a pond. Click it, and it'll send you to the bottom of the pond looking for a pack. From there, you'll be off to Marshal's Refuge to meet Linken, a gnome who's lost his way-- and he'll send you all over the world, just like a hero in an old movie-- or an old videogame.Because if you haven't guessed by now, the Linken quests are basically a huge homage to the old Legend of Zelda Nintendo games. The first quests are called "It's a Secret to Everybody"-- a phrase the old man told Link (Zelda's main character) in the first game. Later quests are called "It's Dangerous to Go Alone"-- another reference to the old man's wisdom. Aquementas was a villian in the old game, and also makes a "cameo" (if you can even call it that) in Azeroth. The other quest reward Linken gives when you finally finish the chain (you'll eventually have to defeat Blazerunner on Fire Plume Ridge in Un'goro after debuffing him with a special item), is Linken's Sword of Mastery, which is very close to Link's Master Sword. And then there's this little trinket, a nice bonus for Pallies everywhere, and just another reminder of the care that Blizzard has taken in filling this game with culture, art, and wit.Getting Rid of It: BOP, 62s 3c to a vendor. Disenchants into Illusion Dust and or Greater Eternal Essence, with a small chance of a Large Brilliant Shard.
Phat Loot Phriday: Elementium Reinforced Bulwark
When Tseric asked this last week on the forums which shield players like the best, this one got a surprising (to me, anyway) number of votes. It may not look like much (no flaming skulls or sparkly bits), but the ERB gets the job done... and how.Name: Elementium Reinforced BulwarkType: Epic Off-hand ShieldArmor: 2893, 54 BlockAbilities: +23 Stamina Increases the block value of your shield by 19, and Increased Defense +7 To quote the players who loves this shield, it "looks like a car door," but blocks like a "chunk of wall." It's de rigeur for an MT up through BWL. Sure other warriors may have something flashy like the Drillborer Disk, or something a little classier like the Draconian Deflector. But when you want to block a lot of stuff and don't care what you look like doing it, ERB is it. Also, it's spiky and metal. That's hardcore. How to Get It: Easy-- drops from Chromaggus in Blackwing Lair. At a 5% drop rate, you'll have to farm him a few times (which means, of course, you'll need a guild geared to the hilt), but the good news is that this shield is as "warrior drop" as warrior drops get. Without Int or any other Pally or Shammy bonuses, ERB is just for those who like getting hit hard.Auction Price: BOP again. 9g 80s 56c to a vendor-- has anyone ever vendored this stuff? At this level, doesn't everything like this just get DE'd?
Phat Loot Phriday: Deathcharger's Reins
Oh, yes. The Phattest of the Phat. The most enviable of the enviable loots. All accounts we've read say that there will be a ton of new, sweet mounts in Burning Crusade, available from almost all the different types of gameplay. But no matter what you'll be able to take to the air with, on the ground, this extremely, hopelessly rare mount will probably still reign supreme.Name: Deathcharger's ReinsType: Epic MountAbilities: Summons and dismisses Baron Rivendare's (the wacky emo boss at the end of UD Stratholme) Deathcharger mount. This is a very fast mount (meaning it's got 100% speed bonus, just like normal epic mounts) Look at this thing! It's all glowy! And what is it? A horse with horns? A gazelle? A very scary looking, death gazelle? Whatever it is, it's rideable by all races, even Tauren. Even those hardcore raiders decked out in 8/8 9/9* Tier 3 will turn their head and /nod when you ride by on this baby. A few people who are lucky enough to have it say they don't like to ride it all the time, just because they get so many tells about it. Guilds have broken up over the looting of this thing. It's an instant status symbol, and yet it's really just a sign that 1) you can make it to the end of Strat (big deal), and 2) you're very, very, very lucky. How to Get It: So how lucky do you have to be after you make your way through Stratholme and down the good Baron Rivendare? Most places that track that stuff say it's .1% drop rate, but I think it's because that number is the lowest their system can go. One source even puts the drop rate at a staggeringly low "2 in 15,553" (that's .0001% for those of you non-math geeks)-- how that's calculated, I don't know, but I'd wouldn't be surprised if it's true. I've been running Baron quite a bit lately (trying to get my warrior's legs and the Runeblade, a very phat and rare item on its own), but I don't guess I'll ever come close to seeing this thing come up for grabs. If you see it drop, roll Need. Period. Don't argue, and don't let anyone tell you different-- some player will argue that if you already have an epic mount, you should pass on this, but you can tell them Phat Loot Phriday doesn't agree. It's out there-- a few of them have been seen on the various servers. But if it shows up, consider yourself one of the very, very small and lucky few.Oh, and as of 1.12.1, you'll now also need the Journeyman riding skill to hop on this baby. So if you don't have that already, you'll still have to pay 900g (less with rep) to use it. Of course, if that's not worth it, feel free to invite me into Strat if everyone in your group passes...Auction Price: Of course it's BOP, and as usual anyone that sells this should probably just go ahead and uninstall WoW, because you're never going to see a random drop this good again. A vendor will give you 2g 50s for it, but I sincerely hope that's never happened.*Thanks Eliah, good luck with Raggy.
Phat Loot Phriday: Cruel Barb
Since pretty much all of our phat loot so far has been crazy awesome endgame stuff, I thought it might be nice to take a look at some lower level lewts. And so here's this, a dual sword twink's favorite weapon.Name: Cruel BarbType: Rare One-Hand SwordDamage, Speed: 30-57, 2.80 (15.5 DPS)Abilities: On Equip: +12 Attack Power Usable at level 19, this sword is a no brainer for WSG twinks. It's not the only weapon you could choose to equip your overpowered lowbie with, but with a respectable drop rate, a nice attack power bonus, and the ability to dual wield them for a double bonus, it's an easy choice for any melee class. How to Get It: If you've ever made it past level 20, you've probably already gotten it already. Cruel Barb is dropped by the great Van Cleef (VC, if you're LFG in Westfall), the main boss of the Deadmines, the game's first major instance (can we consider Ragefire Caverns major? I'll let you guys decide that). There's a droprate of around 13%, so if you don't see one after eight runs through or so, you're just really unlucky. Keep in mind that it's BOP, though, so while it's tempting to run your high level alt through Deadmines to get it, you won't be able to pass it off to your twink... unless you bring a friend and have them reinvite you into the instance, of course. Ah, the pleasures of twinking!Auction Price: Would probably be high if you could actually put it on the AH. But instead you'll have to settle for 29s 64c to a vendor-- or just go ahead and DE it. After all, how else are you going to be able to do that +15 agility enchant on both your weapons?
Phat Loot Phriday: Piccolo of the Flaming Fire
So last night we were in Stratholme and had just finished the live side when the mage in our group asked for us to kill a named and try and get his tier 0 boots. Unfortunately, he didn't get them (we'll have to go back), but after the loot roll was over, I had my favorite new item in my possession...Name: Piccolo of the Flaming FireType: Rare TrinketArmor: NAAbilities: Use: Causes nearby players (and you) to dance. Yup, use of this trinket (it's on a 60 second cooldown, starting on use) causes every other player around you who's not moving to dance like it's 1999. Even, as I found out last night while using this thing in the Ironforge bank and AH, if they're seated or mounting. There's nothing funnier to me than a Nelf rogue in full tier 2 dancing like a madman. Except maybe a female human pally sitting on a horse doing the macarena with her arms. HA! Lots of players hate this thing, and not only does it draw attention when you use it in populated places (raids, instances, towns, AH), but players might think you're a noob-- it's completely useless other than for the comedy of making other players dance. Either you think it's one of the greatest trinkets in the game, or you think it's completely useless. Obviously, I'm the former. Unfortunately it doesn't work on NPCs (so no Katrina Prestor boogie or Thrall throwdown), mobs, or players of the other faction. But maybe that leaves room for more gimmick trinkets in the expansion? Blizzard, you listening? How to Get It: If you share my appreciation for moving to music (I like to play a little techno whenever I hit this while scanning the AH), getting the Piccolo is easy. It drops from Hearthsinger Forrester in Stratholme-- he's usually just past the rat gate in there, and he's a pushover. In fact, there are numerous strategies around to solo this guy as a rogue or druid, so he's easily farmable if you're playing one of those classes. If you're not, it still won't take long to farm him, but you'll have to pull your way to him (like grinding more AD rep is a bad thing). The Hearthsinger, as I said above, also drops the mage's tier 0 boots, so just tag along with your guild mage when he's farming for epics, and you'll probably be able to pick up one of these.Auction Price: It's BOP, so if you want it, you'll have to loot it yourself. A vendor will pay you 1g 7s 34c for giving up the chance to get down, get down with your fellow players. Dance, monkeys, dance!
Phat Loot Phriday: Bad Mojo Mask
It's Friday, and you know what that means-- time to break out the booze! If you're 21, I mean. But before we do that, let's take our weekly look at a neato piece of gear somewhere in Azeroth.Name: Bad Mojo MaskType: Rare Cloth HeadpieceArmor: 54Abilities: +24 Intellect Increases damage done by Shadow spells and effects by up to 14 Looks awesome, especially on gnomes! And if you like the look but want to wear leather, the Big Voodoo Mask looks almost exactly the same. Unfortunately for gnomes, the stats make it a better fit for a shadow priest. But while it's not ideal for a warlock (because they can get as much mana as they need from Life Tap), it would work for them too. And check this awesome TCG art featuring the mask How to Get It: As much as I want this on my 60 Shaman, the last version of this mask I could find drops in Zul Farrak (if anyone knows of a mail level 60 version of this thing, let me know, and if there isn't, Blizzard, get on that for BC). To get the BMM, you've got to loot it from Shadowpriest Sezz'ziz, who spawns at the very end of the fight down the stairs (when the NPCs are helping you out). He's got a few bodyguards with him, but if you've survived the big temple fight and have a few NPCs left, you won't have any trouble at all. There's about a 17% drop on it, so six runs (less if you're lucky, more if you're not) should do ya.Auction Price: It's BOP, a vendor will give you 78s 58c. But if I were you, I'd keep this thing around at least for another month or two. How else are you going to get candy on Halloween?Update: Jeremy also points out the sweet Hexxer's Cover, a nice ZG piece with better stats and a slightly different look. Although it doesn't really have that rustic, made-by-hand look that this one pulls off so well...
