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Addon Spotlight: Raiding essentials for DPS
Each week, WoW Insider's Mathew McCurley brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience: the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your addons folder will never be the same. Yesterday, we prematurely learned that the Raid Finder coming in patch 4.3 would feature a new difficulty level associated with randomly putting together a 25-man raid group and allowing players who normally would not be privy to raiding content to see these awesome locations and epic boss battles. A lot of new people will be flooding into the raiding game come patch 4.3, so why not take a few minutes early on and get ready for the day when you too might just be able to come face to face with the denizens of the Firelands, leaders of Deathwing's armies, and even the former earthwarder himself? Raiding is getting more accessible, but you're still going to need tools to do the job right. These raiding essential guides are meant to get players who might be new to the whole raiding game up and ready for the new difficulty of raiding coming in the next big update patch. We will discuss why certain addons are good to have, example fight mechanics, and basic tips to make sure you're running your addons smart.
Patch 4.3: Rogue legendary, new raid difficulty, and other details
The afternoon, The Escapist published an interview with World of Warcraft's Lead Producer J. Allen Brack on all things patch 4.3. Some of the topics discussed are topics we already know quite well: the nature of transmogrification, how void storage works, and so on. However, the interview also includes juicy bits we didn't know. For example, patch 4.3's legendary weapon, which was initially stated to have a "narrow audience" in the tanking edition of the Ask The Devs series, will be a rogue dagger. Brack states that they haven't settled on a name, lore, or any such thing for the weapon, so who knows what its quest chain may bring. That is actually a very interesting detail in itself: If Brack is being truthful and Blizzard doesn't know anything about the dagger's design yet, are we as close to seeing patch 4.3 on the PTR as the armor previews suggest? Or will Blizzard need to cobble it together in a hurry late in the patch's development cycle?
Breakfast Topic: Raid Finder, take me away ...
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. The introduction of the Raid Finder in patch 4.3 probably means little to players who raid on a weekly basis with their guild. You get on at a predesignated time and attend the raid. Sure, it might be great for alts or doing older content, but for those of us who have stuck with our old guilds, trying in vain to grab at embersilk tatters, it could be a real guild-saver. I have been running a guild that re-formed at the beginning of Cataclysm. I have watched players leave by the score to join higher-level guilds. They want in for the perks and the mere chance that they may be selected to be an alternate for heroic or new content, even if it's only once a week. Given our shifting playerbase, we have not been able to hold on to a full team that is raiding consistently. Our ability to progress through content has suffered. It seems most of the time our new members either don't have the time to raid or have no experience and very little willingness to put in the time to learn. So what does the Raid Finder mean for us? The way I see it in my wildest dreams is -- autopilot.
Raid finder coming in patch 4.3
It seems like only yesterday the blues were giving hints at a beefed-up raid finder coming in a future patch or expansion. According to an interview with Kotaku: Finally, Chilton and Chris Metzen, vice president of creative development at Blizzard, explained a new feature coming with the patch called "Raid Finder". The Raid Finder essentially operates like a dungeon finder, automating the search for fellow players on the hunt for a good raiding party. It will be built into the game's updated user interface when the patch hits, they said. The Kotaku article doesn't call it a "cross-realm" raid finder, but I think it's safe to assume that it will be -- otherwise, it'll just be like the one that's in game now (you remember that one, right?). There's no more details on the interface or accompanying restrictions on the new raid finding, but expect that information to be discovered or announced soon. Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Look at what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back!
The Queue: In which protection paladins really aren't that great
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky be your host today. We'll dive right into The Queue today. No fliffity fluff gobbley gloucke. Straight up answers. Erika asked... "Will we be able to go back to classic zones at 80-85 or will it be changed permanently for us?"
