potion
Latest
The Daily Grind: Do you hang on to boosters?
The other day I had a terrible realization: I'm a complete and utter packrat in MMOs. Easily half of my bag space in Lord of the Rings Online is constantly filled with stuff that I deem absolutely essential. But that's not really true. I have an unhealthy supply of boosters, buffs, pills, and sports energy drinks in there for when I really, really need them. I never know when I might need their artificial aid in overcoming a tough moment, after all. Unfortunately, even when I do face tough situations, I keep thinking that there will probably be tougher in the future and that I still should not use my boosters. So they continue to accumulate and my bags pay the price for my folly. Are you the same? Do you hang on to boosters too long instead of just, y'know, using them? Do they make you feel more secure, just knowing that they are there? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Gold Capped: Alchemy in Cataclysm
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Basil "Euripides" Berntsen aims to show you how to make money on the auction house, and Insider Trader, which is all about professions. Email Basil (new address is basil@wowinsider.com; old one no longer works) with your comments, questions or hate mail! Alchemy is, again, a money-maker this expansion. The market isn't as straightforward as it was in Wrath of the Lich King, but it's definitely worth the slot on a character. One of the nice things about alchemy is that there is no alchemy vendor in Twilight Highlands who refuses to come out and do business until you clean up the first quest area at level 84. Now if only I had known which professions would require that and been able to stack them on a smaller number of characters than I did ... Today, we're going to talk about how to make money using flasks, potions, and transmutes. Two pieces of vital information: First, specialization procs account for as much as 20% extra product from the same mats. Second, while you can only have one specialization per character, you can change it for 150g by visiting the appropriate NPCs in Outland (one to unlearn, one to learn). Assuming you do your business in batches, this is probably cheaper than wasting another character's profession slot on a second alchemy tradeskill. If you need help with this badly documented process, just look up the mastery you are unlearning, and revisit the NPC that trains it to unlearn it.
Final Fantasy XIII 'Elixir' beverage headed to Japanese inventories this winter
The release date, price, and reveal of a PS3 bundle for Final Fantasy XIII were big news, sure, but the real megaton out of the Final Fantasy XIII Party was the announcement of a tie-in beverage from Final Fantasy XII Potion partner Suntory.Like the Dissidia beverage, Final Fantasy XIII "Elixir" will come in 16 collectible cans, each with a different character on it. It will be available sometime this winter, either in single cans (of Lemon or Aloe-flavored Elixir), in packages with collectible figurines, or in a collector's box with all 16 cans. No, we don't know why the logo uses the Star Trek movie font.You may have noticed the repeated reference to collecting. Anyone who tried the FFXII Potion will tell you that these drinks are for collectors only -- as in, people who aren't going to drink them.
Patch 3.2: More profession changes
We've picked up some more details about professions in Patch 3.2. Some of the changes were covered a few days ago by Eliah. The notes made today elaborate more on engineering, alchemy, fishing and cooking changes. Alchemy Stackable potions now stack to 20. Five new epic gem transmute recipes are available from the Northrend trainer. The recipe for transmuting a Cardinal Ruby can be learned from a quest, given by Linzy Blackbolt in Dalaran. Rage potions can now be used by druids. I have an entire guild bank tab filled with nothing but Mana Injectors. I was both saddened and delighted when I heard that potions now stack to 20. Big plus to Potion of Speed and Potion of Wild Magic since those will be stackable now. But are they going to be completely useless? Nope! Wait until you see the Engineering changes. It means I don't have to make any more injectors! New epic gem transmutes are on the way too! More profession changes after the jump.
Insider Trader: Profession-specific buffs part 2
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Last week, Insider Trader discussed the profession-only bonuses associated with Inscription, Jewelcrafting and Enchanting. This week, I'm going to walk you through the rest of them, and include a final summary and comparison at the end. Tailoring Perks Tailors have the ability to enchant their own cloaks. Other players can get cloak enchants from Enchanters, although the Tailoring ones are superior in many cases. Darkglow Embroidery: Chance to restore 300 mana on spell cast. There seems to be a 60 second internal cooldown, with a proc rate of 35%, which is equal to 25 mp5. Lightweave Embroidery: Chance on spell cast to increase your spellpower by 250 for 15 seconds. Swordguard Embroidery: Chance for melee and ranged attacks to sometimes increase your attack power by 300 for 15 seconds. There seems to be a 45 second internal cooldown on Lightweave and Swordguard, meaning that for 15 seconds out of every 45 seconds (+, if you don't proc it on the next hit, but they do seem to proc within a hit or three), you have the effect. This averages out to 83 SP, and 100 AP respectively, in ideal conditions. Depending on your luck with procs, the average decreases the longer it takes you to proc it again.For example, after 45 seconds, each spell has a chance to proc the effect. If you managed it at the 50 second mark, the average becomes +75 SP. Casters who are not Tailors can currently choose between Enchant Cloak - Wisdom and Enchant Cloak - Greater Speed. Wisdom grants you a measly 10 spirit, as well as a now obsolete 2% threat reduction. The +23 haste rating is nice, but provides neither mana nor spellpower. Enchant Cloak - Major Agility grants you +22 agility to cloak. Agility is inefficient to everyone except rogues, hunters, shamans and druid cats, who would get +22 AP from it as well as the crit/dodge/armor. In terms of attack power alone, the Swordguard enchant is the clear winner.
Insider Trader: Farming recipes in Northrend
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.This week, Insider Trader will be listing the locations and mobs that will drop recipes to help you complete your collection and expand your knowledge to boost sales. Because this list is meant to be a reference for planning out your next farming expedition, I will not be including "world drops" that can drop from nearly any mob in a given zone or from a specific level of mobs across zones. UlduarThere are several epic crafting recipes that will drop in Ulduar. They have a chance to drop from each of the bosses on Heroic mode (25-man), although 10-man groups can also acquire them by downing the bosses on Hard mode. Currently, there are two Enchanting formulas, six Blacksmithing plans, eight Leatherworking patterns and four Tailoring patterns that fall under this category.Given Ulduar's close associations with Engineering, many people have been quite vocal about the lack of schematics in the dungeon, although many of the mobs can be harvested for parts and vendor junk.
All the World's a Stage: So you want to be an Alchemist
This installment of All the World's a Stage is the twenty-sixth in a series of roleplaying guides in which we find out all the background information you need to roleplay a particular race or class (or profession!) well, without embarrassing yourself. Too many people roleplay alchemy as a glorified fast food restaurant, with typical phrases such as, "Would you like some healing potions to go with your strength elixir?" or "If you give me just one more herb I could throw in a mana potion too..." Of course, the game mechanics often put us in the salesman position. Limited supply and demand force us to compete with other alchemists for herbs and customers, so to some extent we may have to deal with the capitalist food chain to matter what we do. But there's so much more to an alchemist than just magical boosts and bonuses! An alchemist has the potential to be the other mad scientist! Why should they let engineers have all the fun? Just because engineers can craft their own vehicles and whatnot doesn't mean that alchemists don't have something (or someone) of their own to experiment on. Today we shall take a closer look at the depths of madness which alchemists are capable of reaching, if only they dig a bit into the unlimited supply and demand of the imagination.
More Final Fantasy means more Potion
Another year, another Final Fantasy, another Potion. That's how things work. Square Enix seems to love making branded beverages with partner Suntory, assaulting gamer tastebuds across all of Japan. This year's collection is obviously Dissidia-themed. There are 16 cans to choose from, 8 that represent "Chaos" and 8 that represent "Cosmos." According to 1UP, the "Chaos" side is dark muscat grape-flavored, while the "Cosmos" side is astringent grapefruit-flavored. Yum?There are a number of pictures for you to click through over at Neocrisis. We're wondering how long it'll take for these drinks to end up on eBay.
Ask a Beta Tester: The Alchemist
Apologies to Paulo Coelho fans for borrowing his title, but we have two Alchemy-related questions to start us off today, in addition to questions on Blacksmithing, cinematics, and dailies: Horizons asks... Do the alchemy specializations in wrath still work the same way as they do now in BC? For example, will I still have a chance of getting 5 wrath potions even when I'm leveling starting at 375 such as Wrath Elixirs or Icy mana potions? And will transmute spec ever be fixed? Yup, alchemy specializations work the exact same way in Wrath. As a potions master, I've already procced a few, but don't expect to see the Runic Mana or Runic Healing potion recipes until...I want to say it's 410 Alchemy. You'll skill up on the array of new elixirs like Elixir of Mighty Thoughts and Elixir of Mighty Agility until then, but do save mats for the new Alchemy trinkets that become available at (I think) 400, like Mighty Alchemist's Stone. We'll have more information soon on materials you'll start getting in Northrend that you'll want to set aside for crafting.
Forum post of the day: Dueling debate
Like any other form of PvP, you either love dueling or you hate it. Dueling is a great way to learn how to maximize abilities and test combos and macros. There are very few established guidelines for how to appropriate ly duel. Borkovic of Caelestraz asked in the official forums if it is acceptable to heal in a duel. Fliara of Terenas stated that protocols vary depending on server and faction, and suggested that rules should be established beforehand. The first response, by Mlcho of Kirin Tor who takes an "all's fair in love and Warcraft" approach, was met with considerable agreement throughout the thread: Use everything in your power to produce a win. Who cares if you use a pot? Who cares if you bandage? If they whine, it's because they weren't prepared.
Scattered Shots: Got mana?
Scattered Shots is temporarily subtitled "Scattered Thoughts" this week, as David goes off on a speculative tangent. Perhaps all this expansion leakage is causing a leak in his brain too, but hey, a little bit of intellectual pondering never hurt anyone, right? This column is for hunters, by the way -- but, yeah... you knew that.After writing last week's article about hunter problems and predictions, I got to thinking about how hunters use mana, and reflecting on the question of whether hunters should be using mana or not. Hunters have many things in common with classes like rogues and warriors, such as doing physical damage, and yet they have much in common with mages and warlocks as well, such as being vulnerable to mana-draining abilities. This issue is vague enough that my observations here can only be considered personal opinions, and they won't be of interest if all you want from this column is a list of the greatest gear and talent builds. But for the speculative among us, there's lots to discuss here.
Insider Trader: Discovery zone
Insider Trader is your weekly inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products. If you're an alchemist, you either love the discovery system – or you despise it and wish to blast it back to the depths of Developers' Hell (that's one of those rock-and-lava zones, right?). Implemented with The Burning Crusade expansion, the discovery system gives alchemists a small (err, very small ... ok, very, very small ... ok, infinitesimally small) chance of discovering a new recipe every time they make a potion, elixir or flask. Players seem split between considering it a creative new mechanic or an annoying contrivance and roadblock, but after several patches and adjustments, the system seems here to stay. Let's jump right in with your most burning question: Just how small (err, very small ... ok, very, very small ... ok, infinitesimally small) actually are your chances for making a discovery? Pretty darn small. Prior to patch 2.1, the most commonly cited figure floating around was 0.01%. (Discoveries were disabled via hot-fix for a short time just before patch 2.1, reportedly to prevent an exploit in which alchemists who repeatedly tried to create potions with no bag space could make discoveries without actually creating a potion or using potion ingredients.) In patch 2.1, Blizzard noted that discovery rates were increased "significantly," but nobody seems to have performed (or published) an extensive enough analysis to pinpoint an honest number. One popular guesstimate puts the current discovery rate at 0.1% -- but really, your guess is as good as any. (Cauldron discovery rates are on a different table and run much higher than the general rate. Players report making cauldron discoveries, estimated at about 30%, as frequently as every one to five batches.)
Insider Trader: Dope raid-doping (or, consumables for raiders)
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Now that the furor over patch 2.1 changes to elixirs has died down, most raiders have settled into a routine with their favorite fix of consumables. A few reluctant players are still debating whether pots, flasks and elixirs should be expected for raiding at all, but most have come to accept consumables as part of the raiding experience. Flasking up and "chugging" pots every two minutes is widely accepted as common practice when learning new encounters: healers chug mana pots, tanks chug for armor, DPS casters chug destruction pots, melees chug haste ... Once content is on farm status, most raiders ease off the throttle and drop pot-chugging and routine flasking.Raid consumables lists used to resemble literary epics. The sheer variety of possibilities and combinations was overwhelming. Players felt whiplashed by the increasing speed of the treadmill and accelerating investments of farming and gold, as growing awareness of these performance-enhancers drove expectations higher at all levels of raiding. Patch 2.1 changed all that, standardizing the types and timers for elixirs and limiting the number of performance-enhancers that could be used at any given time. This simplified the possibilities for frazzled raiders who were lugging bags stuffed with a virtual cornucopia of consumables.Still, for new raiders, figuring out what to bring and what to use can be a daunting task. A huge proportion of these boosters are player-made items from various professions. Insider Trader is here to help you comb through the possibilities, bringing you an outline of the basic principles of raiding consumables plus links to an exhaustive list of performance-boosters. Read on for the most dope performance-dopers for raiders.
Mario tote for toting whatever people tote
First, a confession: we have no idea what people use tote bags for. Toting things, obviously. But what? They're too big to be purses and too small to be overnight bags. However, we like totes because they're called "totes" and give us a reason to say the word "totes." This one's got a Mario pocket on it, and some appliqued Super Mario Bros. 2 items. It's great work, available from Etsy seller TheFennec for a scant $10. The Sub-Space version looks just like this one, but black, and full of coins. Also, like all of Sub-Con, it's just a dream.[Via Wonderland]
Save your gil for the Square Enix online shop
If there's one defining characteristic of the Square Enix fanbase, it's that they love buyin' stuff. How else would you explain the myriad re-releases of Final Fantasy games? Square Enix hopes to facilitate these fans' insatiable need to fill their inventories. They've set up a website that will, in the near future, be the home of an official Square Enix shop. Will they have lots of expensive figurines? No doubt! Will you be able to buy the Potion drink there? Possibly! How about Tidus's pants, as seen above? Why, there's no end to the kinds of pants they could sell!Not literally. If they never ended, there'd be no holes to put your feet through. [Via 1up]
A hollow Chocobo head for your beverages
If you're planning to drink some of Suntory's execrable Final Fantasy Potion, you may as well do it in style, by pouring it into an adorable Chocobo-head mug. Or you could skip the Potion and fill the mug with something that you may actually enjoy. It really depends on what's more important to you: flavor or Square Enix product synergy.Now when you sit down on your Chocobo cushion to play some Chocobo Tales, you can have up to 15 ounces of, uh ... if not Potion, how about "choco-late" milk? It's less thematically appropriate, but it's phonetically appropriate, and has the added benefit of being delicious.NCSX is taking preorders for this $18 mug, to ship in July. While you're shopping, check out the other Square Enix preorder of the day: cool Dragon Quest Monsters toys.
Consumables in druid forms? Maybe... not.
I don't think I'd want to be in a room with these very angry druids... On the live realms at present druids cannot use consumables in forms -- the lack of useful things like health potions and healthstones is certainly an annoyance, but after playing a druid for a while you start getting used to the trend of shifting out of feral forms whenever you need to do anything important. However, on the beta realms Blizzard dangled a carrot: for a brief period of time, "certain consumables were flagged as usable in some forms, and that has since been reversed." Drysc claims this was a bug and a mistake -- but even after his comments, countless druids insist that he is uninformed and that the change can't be a bug, pointing at recent changes to the text of Thistle Tea (restores energy) and Rage Potions (restores rage) to include druids under their class restrictions. And while I admire so many druids for believing so whole-heartedly in the power of their dreams, I wonder how much hope there is for a change after it's been confirmed as a bug.[Thanks, Atrius]
Upcoming Potion Changes?
Well, maybe. In response to a posted complaint about health and mana potions sharing a delay, Eyonix tells us that the mechanics of consumable items are currently being re-evaluated. According to this explanation, he goal seems to be to categorize items based on their effects and then have cooldowns based on category. This is an interesting change which would have repercussions on both PvP and PvE content - but we'll have to wait to see how these suggested changes show up in finalized form.
