transmogrification
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Wonder Twin Powers, Activate! More superhero transmogrification
There is plenty of WoW machinima out there, and there's plenty on my favorites list. Up there on the list is Aquaman's Lament, put together by Spiff and based on a song by Mark Aaron James. It wasn't just the catchy song that caught my eye; it was the WoW twist on several different superheroes. This was, of course, before the days of transmogrification, and several of the sets shown used mismatched armor types for a surprisingly effective look. Now that we've got transmogrification, we can take these looks and use them for our own, with a few tweaks here and there to make sure each set fits under one armor type. I love comics, I love superheroes, and I love World of Warcraft, so Aquaman's Lament hit a home run for me. And figuring out how to make the sets featured actually work with transmogrification is about as much fun as wearing the sets themselves!
What do you think deserves an update?
The story is always the same: I find a particularly intriguing piece of transmogrification gear, one that will totally make that midnight blue set I've been working on piecing together. And the piece is pretty easy to get, relatively speaking; it's a drop off of a boss in one of those old Burning Crusade-era heroics. Easy enough to solo at level 85, so it should be a snap to get, right? Well ... not quite. Because for some reason, all of these old heroics still have their old lockouts in place. Despite the fact that you really don't get anything of consequence from these dungeons and you haven't been able to for years, you still can't repeatedly head into these dungeons. Now I realize there is a five-dungeon-per-hour limit to keep people from excessively farming, and I get that. I really do. But when you introduce a game feature that encourages farming old content, it seems silly that you not only have to cross your fingers that the item drops, but you can only attempt to get it once a day. And really? That's not the only thing that could use an update in today's World of Warcraft.
Breakfast Topic: Do you transmog to fool enemies?
Cynwise has written an excellent guide to misrepresenting your gear level in PvP using transmogrification and other nefarious techniques. Of course, the old standby of Noggenfogger Elixir works well for confusion, as do items such as Kalytha's Haunted Locket. But these options don't disguise the level of your gear. While transmogging your gear can give you almost any look you want, dressing up like Ironman is also not going to make your gear appear less than it is. These techniques are just a red flag that further investigation is needed in order to determine your armor quality. Cynwise suggests to transmog your armor into something that is obviously undergeared, yet still believable. This deception may keep enemy players from investigating further, and they may underestimate your ability to stay alive. Do you transmog your PvP armor in order to fool the other side? Or do you just go for something fun and make opponents work to determine how good your gear is? Many casual PVPers don't worry about their look -- they're just there to play and earn goodies. Is that you?
Transmogrifying the women of DC comics
I love comics. I have a monstrous stash of comics carefully bagged, boarded, boxed and stacked in my closet. It runs in the family -- my father collected comics when he was a kid, and he has a particularly painful tale of how he collected Superman from day one. He actually owned Action Comics #1. However, when he left home and joined the military, his mother (bless her heart) decided to throw away all his old comics while cleaning house. Sometimes my dad looks at what that #1 issue sells for today, and he gets a little sick to his stomach. However, while I do enjoy reading Marvel, I have to say I'm a DC comics girl at heart -- much to my father's dismay. Last time, we looked at ways to transmogrify characters into beloved comic book figures and tried our hand at transmogrifying looks for some of the Avengers. Well this week, it's the ladies turn. While we can't get exact replicas of many of the DC comics sets, I've tried to put together three looks here that recall some of DC comic's most heroic and devilish women.
Enjoying the spoils of progress
I enjoy a lot of aspects of World of Warcraft, and one of those aspects is the actual playing of the game. I like combat, whether I am tanking or DPS, the active working through of encounters and even the unfolding of trash pulls. I like learning what new mechanics do, how fights unfold and how they can be successfully completed. I love all of that -- but what I also love is the period after mastering content. I shamelessly admit it here. I love when content goes on farm. I was ecstatic as Firelands went from hard to easy. I love feeling my gear improve, seeing my DPS or health go up, looking at my avoidance and mitigation and realizing that yes, I actually can get passive unhittable just through gear. (I'll miss that when the two-roll combat system comes out.) I like going back, months down the road, and tearing Baleroc in half like wet tissue paper. Remember me? Part of this is simply because I like WoW best when I'm killing stuff. I don't like to sit idle in Stormwind or Orgrimmar, and I'm not terribly moved to stand around hawking my crafting wares or playing the Auction House. These are fine activities, to be sure, but they're most certainly not what I like to do in the game. No, the reason I played seven years ago is the reason I play now, because I like to hit things in the face with the largest possible things I can. And taking their stuff -- I mustn't forget how much I like taking their stuff.
Diablo 3 Transmog Outfits for WoW: Deckard Cain, Leah, Witch Doctor, Barbarian
In honor of the release of Diablo III earlier this week, I've decided to dedicate my next two transmogrification articles to recreating the cast of the game. We'll start with the barbarian first -- but before we dive in, I have to tell you a quick story. I used to know a mage who wore an enchanted Chef's Hat during raids. The first day he wore it to raid, someone asked him to take it off, but he wouldn't; it was his new favorite hat and he intended to wear it. This annoyed several people in the raid, who repeatedly told him to take the hat off, so the mage told them this: "When someone does more damage than me, I will put my other helm back on." That day never came, so the hat stayed until he got bored of it. I mention this story because you'd think with all the plate bikinis and mail hot pants in WoW, the task of assembling a barbarian's costume for a warrior or paladin would be simple. Alas, loincloths don't seem to be that popular with plate wearers, so you'll either have to put on some pants or convince your raid leader that you don't need pants to do your job.
Scattered Shots: Hunter transmogrification inspiration
Every Thursday, WoW Insider brings you Scattered Shots for beast mastery, marksmanship and survival hunters. Frostheim of Warcraft Hunters Union and the hunter podcast uses logic and science (mixed with a few mugs of dwarven stout) to look deep into the hunter class. Mail your hunter questions to Frostheim.or ask him on Google+. We're going to take a break from the tumult of Mists of Pandaria beta news and give some attention to one of the most popular end-of-expansion doldrums activities: preparing the new badass look that you'll be wearing into pandaland. Transmogrification has become an immensely popular subject in WoW. WoW Insider has a transmog resource list for general transmogrification information, and Tabana has a far more hunter-specific and extensive hunter transmogrification resources compilation over at the WHH that collects all the hunter transmog info from across the web. Today, we're going to take a look at some of the awesome transmog looks that hunters have put together, complete with where to get the gear you need to grab the look for yourself.
The Queue: Friday night invasion
Whoa whoa whoa, why is Alex doing The Queue on Friday? Nobody likes that guy! Get out of here, Alex! Never. vocenoctum asked: I know a lot of folks that don't currently play Warlocks will try it with Mists, hopefully the changes make it fun enough to play for many. Do you think the changes are big enough that some current lock's will leave the class? (I didn't play a paladin pre-cata, but know a couple ret pal's that just ditched the class as "being too different".)
Avengers Assemble! Transmogrify your own superhero team
Transmogrification isn't just for making your character pretty or wearing old sets. Where's the fun in that? There are thousands of pieces to choose from for your look, and there's no reason you can't make it a distinctive one -- paying homage to video games or popular comics is just as much fun as being pretty. Today, we've got an iconic foursome of characters who have been staples in Marvel comics for decades and recently made a smashing success with the film The Avengers. Though Warcraft's armor doesn't contain exact replica's of Ironman's iconic armor or Captain America's easily recognizable shield, you can still use transmogrification to compile a look that screams Marvel Comics. Just because the Hulk doesn't wear anything more than a pair of pants in the comics doesn't mean we can't capture his look through some well-placed camouflage. And even though we can't get our hands on Mjolnir, there are more than enough warhammers lying around to find a good replica.
WoW Meets League of Legends: Transmogrify your hunter into an AD carry
As a raider, I've come to hate the MOBA genre over time. My guild was raiding Icecrown Citadel when Heroes of Newerth first came out, and within a few weeks, I quickly noticed the effect it had. Being in a progression guild, my guildmates were usually patient, focused, and committed when putting in the long hours needed to secure not just server firsts but the highest possible world rankings we could. After HoN came out, however, it all changed. Core members of the raid were frequently dodging raid nights, and a few times the raid leader even called the night early when progression on a boss fight wasn't up to his satisfaction. The reason? He and half the guild were more interested in playing HoN than raiding. In the past six months, I've noticed the same thing happening again with League of Legends -- only it's a hundred times worse, because it seems like everyone and their mother is playing this game. As such, I have developed a potential solution to dodgy guildmates. Using transmogrification, your guildies can now transform themselves into two of the most popular League of Legends characters, Graves and Ashe. Who knows? In doing so, maybe they'll actually work on last hitting the damned boss for a change.
Transmogrifying a tribute to engineering
We've talked a lot about creating transmogrification looks that mimic other characters -- in-game NPCs that we adore like Thisalee Crow or even looks that pay homage to characters from other beloved video games. But there's absolutely no need to limit yourself to mimicking other characters with transmogrification. It can be just as fun to create an homage to a favorite mount, pet -- or in today's case, a profession! Today we've got two looks based on the beloved profession of engineering. I actually stumbled onto this look while trying to create a monochromatic piece for the heck of it, but I was pleased enough with how it turned out for me that I decided to share it with all of you. In addition to my own leather number, I've put together a cloth outfit as well -- and I'll see what I can do to create a mail and plate version in the following weeks.
Breakfast Topic: How far do you go for coordination?
I believe I may have mentioned on more than one occasion that I am pretty much a slave to transmogrification. I can't help it -- there's something inherently fun about playing dress up with my various characters. What I haven't mentioned, however, is exactly how far I go with my transmogrification choices. For me, I like building sets that either contain a bunch of pieces from matching sets, a color theme that trickles through pieces of non-set gear, or a simple, themed outfit of some sort. It's the third that has my attention currently captured, a simple set with tunic, ratty pants, giant, clonky boots and gloves and a set of goggles. The whole thing screams engineer in a way that I'm terribly pleased with. But see, I don't just stop with the outfits. Every time I change my outfit, I choose a new land and flying mount from my stable of assorted mounts, two that thematically match whatever outfit I've built. In the case of the engineer outfit, I've got my Turbo-Charged Flying Machine and my Mechano-Hog bound to hotkeys to use. When I change outfits, I change mounts. It occurs to me that perhaps I am a little overboard in my zealousness. But given the number of transmogrification blogs out there, I don't think I'm as alone as I sometimes feel. So I ask you all, how far do you go for coordination's sake? Do you simply put together matching sets? Do you color coordinate with mounts and pets? Or do you happily wander around in a clown suit, avoiding the curiously addictive nature of transmogrification altogether? Patch 4.3 lets you transmogrify your gear to look like any other gear your class can wear -- but you have to collect it first. Check out our coverage of transmogrification and start running those old dungeons!
Should transmogrification change the way lockouts function?
I've admitted to my transmogrification habit on a few occasions now. One of the things that it's brought to my attention is that I really, really hate heroic lockouts on content I can easily solo -- like all The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King heroic 5-man dungeons, for instance. Let me tell you a true story. I have been running heroic Azjol-Nerub once a day for a week now. Every day, I zone in, kill everything in my path like an unstoppable juggernaut of death, reach Anub'arak himself and crush his carapace with wrenching blows from my two gigantic swords, then peel open his husk to find the same exact drops, none of which are a plate helm. It's annoying because it only takes five minutes to do, but I can't devote, say, a half-hour to doing it six times because it's a heroic and locks me out for an entire day. I find this absurd. I especially find it absurd because it's not as if older heroics get a lot of at-level use nowadays. People who ding 80 don't queue up for heroic Azjol, they go to Hyjal or Vashj'ir. Nowadays, these older dungeons serve purely as repositories of fashion, clothing dispensers we run in order to assemble a look. Well, OK, some of them also serve as a source of frustration when a mount doesn't drop. At any rate, what purpose does it serve to lock up these dungeons behind the mantle of "heroic" and apply the lockout to them when no one runs them when they're anything like a challenge anymore? There's already a system in place that keeps you from running a dungeon too many times within an hour; that should be sufficient for these dungeons. I understand leaving raid lockouts in place, but not 5-mans. Yes, there could be twinking imbalances here for people who froze their XP, but frankly, if some level 70 or 80 twink can get a level 85 or 90 (in Mists) to carry him to gear, it doesn't really bother me. We've already stated numerous times that the game isn't balanced for PvP at lower levels, let's embrace it. These dungeons aren't heroic anymore. Let's let reality reflect the changing game -- and more important, let's let me get my freaking hat. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.
Transmog Inspirations: WoW meets Nintendo, part 2
I give up. I can't for the life of me create a transmog for Princess Peach. I've tried and I've tried, but there just aren't enough pink clothes in the World of Warcraft to piece together a convincing Peach. I'm sorry, Mario, but you're going to have to settle for some other princess. Princess Poobah? Princess Theradras? Princess ... I can't think of any more. Someone call Anne! Anyway, this week I decided to put together a few more transmogs based on Nintendo characters. A lot of readers were asking for more, so I made one for Princess Zelda, Toad, and Roy (you know, from Fire Emblem and Super Smash Bros. -- everyone loves Roy!).
Breakfast Topic: Who is that guy in the tapestry?
I was doing my weekly blast through Karazhan for transmog purposes when I noticed that tapestry in the screenshot. Who is that guy? Is that guy Medivh? The same tapestry is hanging in Medivh's bedchamber if you go up and check it out, so it would kind of make sense, but I don't recall Medivh rocking the bare-chested look. Seriously, all that guy needs is a big gold medallion and a panel van. There are actually quite a few such portraits of various people in various places in WoW. I recall paintings in BRD, a portrait or two in Stratholme, various and sundry in Stormwind ... It makes me wonder who these portraits are of and who makes all of them. I kind of wish I could get a game portrait of my characters -- but of course, since I don't have any place to put it, that would be kind of meaningless. Then again, with the amount of time I spend in Karazhan, I could almost say I live there. What about you? Seen any strange or interesting art lately in game? World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.
Transmogrify your blood elf into the druid of your dreams
OK, look. We know according to current lore, blood elves cannot be druids. The quel'dorei left behind Nordrassil and any tree-hugging ways they might have had when they were banished after the War of the Ancients, thousands and thousands of years ago. Blood elves are all about the arcane, not about nature magic. But apparently, there's a huge contingent of people out there that would still like to be able to play them in game. It's doubtful we will ever see that particular race and class combination come into play. However, the magic of transmogrification can at least give you the look you're going for. There's no shape-shifting or nature spells with this look, and you'll need a leather-wearing class to pull it off -- for blood elves, that pretty much means a rogue. But if you're dead set on blood elf druids and you'd still like the look of one, even if you can't play the class ... well, this combination ought to do the trick!
Breakfast Topic: Your evil, animatronic late-night pugging is back
Why hello, insomnia. Fancy seeing you around here again. It's been what, a week? I guess that's enough sleep. As is my wont, I tend to log onto WoW and do ridiculous things when I'm tired, like run Dungeon Finder groups over and over again. I don't need the points, as I usually cap valor just by raiding, and I don't need the gear. Sometimes I tank, sometimes I DPS. (I have yet to figure out how to queue my warrior as a healer.) I've figured out, to some extent, why I do this. I test out build ideas in PuGs. That prot spec with all the threat talents, or the other one that cherry picks for Second Wind and Blood Craze. (Yeah, I tanked with that one. It worked OK, but man, I missed Blood and Thunder.) My fury spec that has both SMF and TG for no good reason aside from switching between Gurthalak and Souldrinker every few minutes. (Gurth's way better, in case you were wondering.) I like killing things in video games. No real surprise there. I indulge my transmog jones. There's something about running Well of Eternity in tier 2, then going back and transmogging into level 40 greens and running it again. It amuses me. I get to feel like a superhero. Seriously, a lot of the time I get dropped into a run halfway through that's struggling on Azshara or Murozond, and I can just kind of go completely and utterly bonkers on said boss. Yes, one of the reasons we collect all this gear is so we can feel powerful. I don't go around posting meters or bragging; I often say very little aside from an occasional joke. Number 4 up there is the easiest one to be obnoxious about, so I try never to be that guy going on about how awesome his DPS is or pulling threat because he couldn't wait for the tank. Yeah, I could probably do more if I opened up sooner, but I don't feel like it's necessary. I'm there because it feels good to show up and help lift a group over obstacles, not to become an obstacle. I did enjoy the one group where everyone was very encouraging to see exactly what I could do, though. It was fun to just cut loose on Dawnslayer for once. How about y'all? Ever up at ungodly hours? If so, and you see that guy above, he might be me. (I change looks by the hour.) World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.
Breakfast Topic: I will kill the Curator as many times as it takes
You hear me, Curator? I don't care if I have to end you weekly for the next six years -- I will do it. Just ask Ashkandi. I don't stop until I get the drop, so if you decide to be parsimonious with my tier 4 token, I can keep farming you from now until the end of time. I'm OK with it. Just ask General Rajaxx. That dude just would not listen ... and now? Now he's dead for the 10 billionth time, and I have a Manslayer of the Qiraji. Fool of a boss. This could have been over a long time ago. Yes, this is because of transmogrification. I don't know if a single feature yet introduced has managed to alter my play habits as much as this one. I search obsessively for gloves, boots, belts, capes to match whatever current set I'm trying to build. (At the moment, I'm vacillating between season 1 and tier 4). I even did some Arenas and RBGs in order to grind up a Cataclysmic Gladiator's Greatsword faster, not to use in PvP, but because I wanted to use it for mogging. Yes, I did PvP because I wanted to look pretty. So now for you. Have you found yourself doing something you never would have, farming a drop, running instances, PvPing, maybe even raiding -- just for the 'mog? World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.
Guide to transmogrification resources
You just spent 13,000 gold on a pair of purple boots. No, not purple quality -- purple as in the color. What? It matched the subtle detailing on your tier 2 shoulders perfectly. OK, maybe not perfectly, but it's close enough. Wait, maybe you can find something closer? Better go look again. We get it. You're addicted to transmogrification. Your void storage is packed full of gear that you haven't worn since level 9, and your friends are planning to stage an intervention. You want more -- no, you need more. Fortunately, we're here to help. Like a best friend who brings you a batch of her famous marshmallow chocolate chunk cookies two days after you start a diet, we've compiled a list of transmogrification resources you may find useful in getting your next fix -- I mean, outfit.
3 robeless transmogrification looks for the fashionable caster
Once upon a time, most of the gear a distinguishing caster had to choose from was robes. If you wanted to wear the best gear available to you, your choice was pretty much a robe and some sparkly shoulders. There are very, very few sets, if any at all, that are modeled around pants and tops. This eventually led to the creation of the infamous video above by Cranius. Forget classy pants -- if you want to fling fireballs, a dress is pretty much your only option. Or rather, it was your only option. With transmogrification, cloth-wearing casters suddenly have a whole host of options open to them that don't involve robes at all. Male characters who would like to look super-manly now have the opportunity to do so. And female casters who are tired of fighting dragons in skirts? Well, you've got plenty of options, too -- and today, we're highlighting three snazzy cloth looks with nary a robe in sight. My fellow casters, it's high time to drop your skirts and take a look at just a few of the looks out there to nab.
