transmogrification
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How I made 3,000 gold by level 30
I rolled an alt a few weeks ago -- nothing special like the Ironman Challenge, but I had a moment where I wanted to level a character from 1 to 85 on another realm just for the heck of it. So I picked a random realm, medium population, and rolled a worgen. Why a worgen? Well, it had been a while since I'd played through the worgen starting zone, and since I'd recently seen just about everything the Horde had to offer on the 1-to-60 front, I wanted to replay the Alliance experience again. So I rolled a worgen -- no heirlooms, no gold from outside sources, just me and the quests, like the old days of vanilla WoW. The most important part to me was that I was going to forgo buying any upgrade gear from the Auction House, instead using only what dropped from quests or instances. Call it a moment of vanilla nostalgia if you will, but that's exactly what I had to do on my first character back in 2004, so I was going to do it again. I expected it to be tough; I expected it to take a while before I could even afford a mount at level 20. I was so, so wrong. By the time I hit level 30, I had a little over 3k gold on my random alt, with little to no effort on my part. And I'm going to tell you exactly how I did it. It all started with a pair of boots.
How to go tribal with transmogrification
Do you like hugging trees? Did you want to see more of D.E.H.T.A. in Wrath of the Lich King? If you answered yes to either of those questions, this week's transmogrification guide is for you. This week, we're going to be exploring that super-chic tribal look the tauren of Azeroth love so much. So if you happen to be a druid who wants to look more the part (or just want to be a rogue who inflicts cognitive dissonance), keep reading. First off, you should know that at the end of the day, there's a lot of flexibility to this outfit. Anything with wood, leaves, feathers, animal hide, fur, or antlers has the potential to be swapped in. Just be mindful of how you incorporate color. When using earthy-looking armor models, you want to try and keep the earth tones in the same color family. So for example, if your chestpiece is a mustard-colored brown, you may want to make sure most of your browns have a similar hue. When it comes to accents and contrasting color, try to make all of those little details match. So if you get a red headband, trying using a red belt or weapon to tie it all together.
Breakfast Topic: Are sexy transmog sets OK in your raid group?
I used to be notorious in my raid group for showing up to fight in as little as possible, mostly to embarrass and annoy key members of the office corps and the other tanks in tank chat. Transmogrification is one of those systems that caught me by surprise, considering I had thought it was a concept that would never, ever make it into World of Warcraft. Once I got to see the system in action on the PTR, I was hooked. Does your guild have any rules about transmogrification outfits in raids? Showing up in goofy clothing and wacky outfits is par for the course in video games with outfit customization, and people love to joke around and have a good time. Many raiding guilds take things a bit more seriously, though. And what do you do about someone with an inappropriate outfit and complaints? How does your guild deal with revealing transmogged outfits?
Transmogrify your character into a dark ranger, take 2
Sylvanas' dark rangers are bow-wielding marksmen, which you would think belong firmly in the hunter class. However, they aren't anything like a hunter at all -- in fact, all dark rangers in-game are currently wearing leather sets. If you take a look at Dark Ranger Vorel above, she's wearing the leather Opportunist's Battlegear set available during The Burning Crusade. All other dark rangers are wearing variations of that particular set, except the dark rangers we covered last time on this particular guide. So what's a hunter to do if they want the dark ranger look? Well, there's no way to recreate the exact armor sets of the dark rangers, because they don't exist in mail form. So if you're looking for an exact replica that you can transmogrify, you're out of luck. However, we can still build a pretty classy -- and dark -- mail hunter set using transmogrification. While it may not be an exact replica, today's set captures the feel of the dark ranger minus all that bothersome leather.
Transmogrification, the hottest new game of dress-up
If you're anywhere near as addicted to transmogrification as I am, you've likely been collecting gear and creating multiple sets ever since the feature was introduced. Likely, your bank is full of sets, and your void storage may very well be full of sets too. In the last post of the Cataclysm post-mortem series, Ghostcrawler (lead systems designer Greg Street) talked about what worked with the expansion as well as what didn't -- and transmogrification was firmly on the amazing feature list. According to Ghostcrawler, it opened an entirely new avenue of gameplay, and more and more players are jumping into old dungeons and raids looking for the perfect look for their characters. But what transmogrification has really accomplished is that it's given us a way to customize our characters in a unique and profound way. Let's face it -- the character creation screen in WoW doesn't exactly have a ton of options to choose from. No matter how unique you think your character looks, in a game with millions of people playing, there are likely millions of players out there with exactly the same hairstyle and face choices. And with tier sets becoming so prevalent, particularly in Cataclysm, all the characters had started looking like carbon copies of each other. Transmogrification allows players to get that thing that they've been after since the early days of WoW -- a distinct and unique look for their characters.
WoW Meets Nintendo: Make your group stand out with transmogrification
Back when I used to cosplay, I absolutely loved cosplaying in a group. Not only does it ensure you'll always have a friend to help you get through doors, but cosplay ensembles are guaranteed showstoppers. There's just something about strength in numbers that gets the one-up over even the most expertly crafted costume. So the other day I had this thought: Why not transmog as a group? With your guild or maybe just a few friends, you could pick out a transmogrification theme and then do some activities together -- maybe hit up the Raid Finder and carry the group with your sheer awesomeness. As for a theme, it could be anything that suits your fancy. Maybe a novel series, or a historical era. Hmm ... Maybe your favorite video game characters?
A case for transmogrification and reforging engineering pets in Mists of Pandaria
I want to get this idea out there, in hopes that some friendly designer smiles upon it: Transmogrification and reforging bots for engineers in Mists of Pandaria. It might seem like a little trivial, given that these are just a matter of hearthing back to the city to do right there, but that's not always a good and viable option. When raiding, you don't have a ton of space to do things for only yourself, and you need to take into account the rest of the group's time. Reforging pets, in particular, would be a boon for raiders. Often times, a new piece of gear can be quickly enchanted and gemmed (I know I always carry a few extra gems and enchanting mats on me when I expect to get a big new piece of gear); however, the reforging and "thinking time" (or Ask Mr. Robot time) that's necessary for high-end raiding isn't easily done. People can try to hearth and do it quickly during a scheduled break, but that's rarely practical. Transmogrification pets would be less critical but would fit nicely into the engineering motif of providing unique gadgets and toys that provide at least some level of usefulness and/or fun. Engineers already have their own special teleportation generators and can make some fun pets and whirligigs. Letting them and others transmog their gear at a remote location, possibly through a Jeeves-like item, would be a nice addition to the engineer's toolbox. So what say you, Blizzard, can we have some mogging and reforging pets, please? We promise to only transmog to look like Whitemane (and maybe the Stormwind or Orgrimmar guards).
Hi, my name is Anne and I'm addicted to transmogrification
I have a problem, and its name is transmogrification. I like collecting gear sets. I like picking up different pieces of gear and putting them together. I like making my character look unique and pretty, and I cannot stop. Every time I think I've found the perfect outfit, I keep it for about a week or two until someone in my guild invariably links a piece of gear that is just so cool that I have to find it and build another set around it. You'd think void storage would have solved my bank woes, but it really hasn't. In fact, transmogrification has only made the issue worse -- and it all has to do with quest rewards. See, once you complete a quest and get the reward for it, you can't get that reward back again if you delete it to make room for things. Unfortunately, a lot of the nicest sets out there are floating about in 1-to-60 zones as part of quest chains that you cannot redo if you happen to lose that quest item. So if you want to continue to use it for transmogrification, you have to keep it. Forever. You see the inherent problem here?
Transmogrify your character into a dark ranger, take 1
Sylvanas' dark rangers first popped up in WoW during Wrath of the Lich King. These ladies aren't quite hunter, and they aren't quite rogue -- they're a mix somewhere in between. The first models we were shown were over in Howling Fjord, where a group of dark rangers handed out quests to leveling Horde members. These rangers are in leather gear suitable for a rogue -- and it's easy enough to obtain their look. Since rogues are losing their ranged slot in Mists, this is a limited time opportunity to snag the look of a dark ranger, bow and all. Of course as with most NPCs, there will be bits and pieces of the look that you simply cannot obtain. Obviously the dead, pale skin and glowing red eyes are right out, and unfortunately, the boots are out as well; the one look-alike that existed for those boots was available in the original 40-man version of Naxxramas, and it was removed from the game when Naxxramas was moved. The hood is also an NPC-only model, but fear not! There's another hood that is just as suitable, in a place most players have long forgotten about.
How to assemble coordinating transmog gear sets for your hunter or shaman
In fashion, coordinates are matching pieces of clothing that are meant to be worn together. Think of a matching suit jacket and pants, or a prom dress and shawl sold together in the same color. Typically, coordinates are for people who work in offices and need to look professional or people who can't dress themselves. In WoW, there are coordinates too, and they can be used strategically to pull together seemingly unrelated pieces of gear into different looks. This week, I'll be showing you three different looks for your mail-wearing hunter or shaman, all oriented around three easy-to-obtain mail coordinates.
Transmogrifying an homage to Bolvar Fordragon
Bolvar Fordragon is one of the coolest figures in Warcraft lore (check out our Know Your Lore: Bolvar Fordragon for a detailed rundown). While he was once a noble lord of Stormwind, Bolvar's story throughout the course of Wrath was an epic tale of nobility and heroism in the face of damnation. Today, we're going to create a look based on Bolvar. No, not the extra-crispy, end-of-Wrath version -- and not the shining vanilla-era Bolvar, either. And definitely not the in-between Bolvar that is comprised mostly of Alliance PvP gear. While I was looking at olden-days Bolvar, I realized his look could not be recreated; his armor is pretty unique, and it isn't something players can obtain in game. But as I was looking at Bolvar then and Bolvar now, I had a idea. What if we take a little of Bolvar's fate and apply that to the look of the shining hero of yesteryear? Take that distinct, filigreed, gold and silver plate look and tarnish it just a little, a reflection of what Bolvar's been through in the course of his lifetime?
How to transmogrify your clothie into High Inquisitor Whitemane
I don't like to assume that I know much in this world, but when it comes to World of Warcraft there is one thing that I am truly certain of: People really like High Inquisitor Whitemane. I guess it's hard for anyone to miss though. Since vanilla WoW, I've been reading comments about the High Inquisitor in almost every cathedral PUG I've ever run. "This is my favorite boss in the game," or "I love this fight," they say. When I flip through fan art galleries, it feels like I can't go through 10 pictures without one of them being of her. Plus, have you ever been to a BlizzCon? I've attended three, and every time, I've seen more than a few girls cosplaying as her. And who knows why? Maybe it's because we all love Scarlet Monastery. Maybe it's the Sephiroth-effect (white hair + villain = fans). Whatever it is, this relatively minor character commands a huge fan base among players. Because of that, I'm going to show you how to make your character look like her with transmogrification.
Transmogrify your gear into a Thisalee Crow look-alike
Thisalee Crow is one of the new NPCs of Cataclysm, encountered in Hyjal. A member of the Druids of the Talon, Thisalee's unique personality immediately set her apart from her fellow druids -- and so does her unique set of threads. Thisalee's a fashionable sort, whether she's sitting quietly on the sidelines or holding a dagger to a harpy's neck. It's her gear that sets her apart in this case. You're not really going to see that particular set of gear on a player character, and there are a few good reasons for that. Thisalee's model has a few distinct characteristics that can't be recreated with transmogrification. First off, she's wearing a Feathered Breastplate as a shirt, with another leather chestpiece on top of it -- something we can't do at all. Secondly, those gorgeous, white leafy shoulders? Sadly, we can't get those in game. However, that doesn't mean Miss Crow's look can't be cleverly replicated with a little transmogrification ... albeit in a slightly different color scheme.
Transmog your way to a roguish look
I used to play a lot of Dungeons & Dragons in college, back when v.3.5 was all the rage. At the time, a series of companion books was being released with titles like Complete Adventurer or Complete Divine; these books listed additional abilities and classes that players could use to expand upon the core classes in the original D&D rule books. Warlocks, for example, were added in Complete Arcane as a spin-off from the mage core class. Instead of using classic D&D mage spells like Magic Missile, they used invocations, which the book provided. What I liked most about these books is that they made you think outside the box about your class. A warrior wasn't just a guy with a sword and a lot of armor proficiency; he could be a swashbuckler of the high seas or a graceful, dancing dervish. Both classes were warriors, but they fought in distinctively different ways. So when it comes to WoW and transmogrification, I think a lot about the possible archetypes certain classes could have and try to explore those in different outfits. Leather wearers, for example, don't always have to look like members of the Defias Brotherhood or the audience at a Grateful Dead concert. They could also be mud-splattered bandits, solitary rangers from the Hinterlands, or sneaky Warsong scouts. Oddly enough, today's outfit might just work for all three.
The man who gave away 1,000,000 gold
Since the launch of patch 4.3, transmogrification has been big business for players on the Auction House. But it's a hard market to get a logical handle on, like building an empire on selling classic oil paintings or finely aged wines. How do you know what a piece of gear is worth based on looks alone? How can you make money by dealing, essentially, in random world drops? Instead of muddling through the topic myself, I decided it would be smarter to go straight to the expert. No one knows more about making money in the transmogrification market than Keelhaul of Proudmoore (US) -- or as he's affectionately known around the internet, the Mogfather. His goal was simple: Prove that the transmogrification gear market was profitable. Forty-five days and 1 million gold later, it's safe to say his point has been successfully proven. But if you think banking a million gold in 45 days is remarkable, wait until you hear what he did next: He gave it all away.
Transmogrify your way into the Orgrimmar guard
So maybe you don't really want to be an esteemed member of the Stormwind guard, or maybe you just don't play a plate-wearing class. Well, there's good news for you -- if you happen to wear leather, that is. The Orgrimmar guard -- not to be confused with the Kor'kron that watches over the Undercity -- has been a fixture in Orgrimmar since the days of vanilla, well before Garrosh's makeover of the city. And the guards all wear the same distinctive outfit, though it isn't anywhere near as fancy as the plate of the Stormwind guard. Back in the early days of Warcraft, Stormwind was one of the first cities developed, and it got a lot of attention to detail -- like the guards and those fancy helmets they wear. In contrast, Orgrimmar changed several times before finally getting to what we saw in vanilla. Alpha videos of Orgrimmar show how much the city developed between alpha and release. The Orgrimmar guards don't really have any special pieces of gear, nothing that is unique to their particular model like the Stormwind guard. And back in vanilla, there were a lot of player complaints about how Orgrimmar wasn't really fancy at all, compared to majestic city streets of Stormwind. Regardless of favoritism complaints, there's one good thing about the somewhat bland looking Orgrimmar guard -- they are incredibly easy to copy. In fact, every piece of gear on the Orgrimmar models was taken from armor available to players ... which means it's easy to get your hands on.
Breakfast Topic: Thank everything for transmogrification
If not for transmogrification, my worgen would look like he escaped from the bargain bin at a dirt mall. Now, my worgen is an alt and one I can't spend the time with to gear up like my main, so in the past, I was simply used to having a mismatched set of gear. Some of it looked cool, but even when I was in full epics, the pieces often didn't match like when I had two pieces of tier 10, two pieces of DK look-alike gear and the rest from various 5-mans. Now, thanks to transmog, I always look how I want. I cycle between three or so sets on this guy (tier 2, BC-era PvP gear, and tier 10) and am perfectly happy with them. Others use transmog more proactively than I do to create a specific look. I just use it so I have a unified look. I absolutely love my complete BWL set look; it makes me so happy. If you know me as Ol' Grumpy, writer of bitter, trenchant cynicism and curmudgeonly scowls, you may not be aware that I can feel happiness. I was surprised too! So how about you? Are you making use of transmog? Do you use it to design unique looks, or are you like me, just happy to finally not have to wear mismatched pieces of gear? 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.
How to look like a priest with transmogrification (even if you're actually a mage)
In high fantasy, the archetype of the priest is a patient, powerful figure whose strength comes from his vigilance and his faith. This iconic archetype exists in World of Warcraft as well, manifesting in the form of inspiring heroes like Tyrande Whisperwind or Prophet Velen. Want to follow in their footsteps? Well, you'll have to roll a priest ... At least, that's what you had to do prior to patch 4.3. Now, thanks to transmogrification, all cloth wearers can finally "take the cloth." This week, I'll be showing you how to create the look of a traveling, battle-ready priest. With the draped hood and cloth foot wraps, I want to call on the idea of a medieval monk or friar sent to a far-off land on a divine errand. The set is wearable by all cloth wearers, so even mages and warlocks can get in touch with their holy side. Most of the key pieces come from a recolored version of the Absolution Regalia (priest tier 6), with a few twists to make the outfit look less crisp and uniform.
Transmogrifying your way into the Stormwind Guard
If you've spent any time in Stormwind at all as an Alliance player, you're likely well familiar with the Stormwind guards that respond to emote commands. And if you're a Horde player who's stormed the walls of Stormwind, then you're definitely familiar with the Stormwind guards, although not in a friendly capacity. The uniform of the Stormwind guard is an iconic look that's been around since vanilla -- classic steel plate armor with blue accents, a shield emblazoned with the Stormwind lion, and the iconic plate helm all make up the look of the Stormwind guard. With transmogrification, you can morph yourself into one of these classic uniforms as well. Even better than that, almost all the pieces of this particular outfit can be crafted via blacksmithing, without need for endless farming. Though donning this set as a Horde player won't make the guards any less hostile, if you've ever wanted to try and fool people into thinking you're an NPC, it's incredibly easy to do.
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: 2011's warrior in review
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Care and Feeding of Warriors, the column dedicated to arms, fury and protection warriors. Despite repeated blows to the head from dragons, demons, Old Gods and whatever that thing over there was, Matthew Rossi will be your host. In the past, I've done Year in Review columns and liked them well enough. The first one I wrote was in 2007 and discussed rage normalization, which to my eyes was the biggest and worst change the warrior class had undergone in The Burning Crusade. Flash forward four years. Here we are in 2011, and rage normalization has been with us for a year and the sky didn't fall. This has me in a contemplative mood. The future is Mists of Pandaria and a new talent system, but right now, it's time to look back at what were the biggest developments for the warrior class. I don't necessarily mean good or bad, here. These are simply profound changes, things that may have also affected other classes but which definitely affected us. While 2011 was a year we made contact (because we're melee, we have to make contact) it was also a year of a great many changes. Mastery I've talked about it before, but mastery really has been a game-changer for warriors this past year. Fury warriors got so much out of the stat before patch 4.1 that the amount of mastery they have at base was nerfed from 8 points to 2 points. It worked, after a fashion, because until patch 4.3, it became impossible for fury warriors to assemble enough mastery to make them interested in the stat again. It may be possible with Dragon Soul gear for TG fury, but with arms the dominant DPS spec for warriors in Dragon Soul raids right now, it's not likely to be tested exhaustively.
