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Embracing the Sith in Star Wars: The Old Republic
Everyone is worried about the Jedi player population when it comes to Star Wars: The Old Republic, but the Sith are in every way a likely -- if not moreso -- threat. With franchise analogs like Vader and Maul, there's going to be a lot of people auto-running around the game to the tune of Imperial March.Even BioWare seems to think the Sith are kind of a big deal in this new developer blog promoting the greatness of embracing the darkness within us all. We're not even exaggerating in this case, the blog really does go on for quite some time about how awesome dark Jedi are -- so don't be too shocked when legions of Sith roam the battlefield looking for Republic blood.
Patch 3.3 PTR: Minor Warrior changes
Okay, now that we know that the Patch 3.3 PTR will be out soon, and what it will entail, let's go over the changes to warriors. If you've been hornswaggled by fake patch notes purporting big changes to Titan's Grip, well, such is not the case. So what has changed? Warriors Victory Rush: This ability is now trainable at level 6. Talents Protection Damage Shield: This ability will no longer trigger any chance-on-hit effects from the warrior or the opponent it damages. The Victory Rush change seems aimed as part of Blizzard's move to make leveling easier in patch 3.3 while the Damage Shield change is a trifle puzzling to me. Is this aimed at removing a chance for Damage Shield to proc a Deep Wounds on someone hitting the warrior? As long as it doesn't affect other warrior abilities tanks are still going to spec up to Impale/Deep Wounds, so I can't understand why you'd make that change. Is Damage Shield proccing a lot of trinkets and that's bad? I don't imagine it having a big effect but I'm still puzzled. I'm sure one of our readers will point out where I'm missing the point.At any rate, another patch where warriors see minimal changes at best. I guess we can take some comfort in our obvious perfection, right? Yeah, I laughed bitterly too. Still, I'm informed that the Victory Rush change was in for Worgen Warriors when folks tested them at Blizzcon/PAX, so that's a sign that this was in the works for a while.
Patch 3.2.2 changes for Warriors
Are you ready for big, exciting changes? Are you all set to be floored, destroyed, blown away even by all the tweaks and adjustments to the Warrior class in Patch 3.2.2? I hope you're ready for a tectonic shift all told. Here we go! Please, brace yourselves, I can't be responsible for your safety once you digest this critical new information. Warriors Talents Arms Sword Specialization: Now has a 2/4/6/8/10% chance to proc an extra attack, up from 1/2/3/4/5%. Protection Critical Block: This talent now grants a 20/40/60% chance to block double the normal amount instead of 10/20/30%. As I said to a friend recently, you paid for the whole seat, so I suggest scooting back there. You've got lots of room. To any with heart conditions or delicate constitutions, I apologize if you just weren't prepared for a mind altering paradigm shift like the one these patch notes provided. Such senses shattering power wasn't meant for mortals.Should I keep going or was that enough sarcasm? I honestly can't tell. I know that these are both buffs, really I do. And the Critical Block change is nice: I mean, you're going to take the talent anyway in your prot build, so having it be twice as likely to proc is pretty sweet. Of course, even if you stack all the block value you possibly can, block's still a fairly weak tanking stat against bosses who hit for 27k.
Breakfast Topic: The one-of-every-class club
A friend of mine just dinged 80 again the other day, and it put him into a community that we joked about: the "one-of-every-class" club. Like a few of our readers (including William B, who emailed us a while back), he now has ten 80s, one of every single class in the game. It's not something I'd ever do, or ever want to do, but certainly there are probably quite a few people out there who've gone all the way to the highest level with every single class.As Turpster would say, it definitely gives you a nice overview of how all the classes work and what their strengths and issues are. And of course it'd be handy to run instances with -- you can roll into endgame instances playing whatever role you want or your guild needs to have.
Breakfast Topic: The You that you can't leave behind
I have been playing a human warrior for almost five years now. So I'm looking at the new faction (and upcoming race) change feature with a different eye than some.I've played other characters, of course... I have three Shamans now, a DK, a Paladin, a Warlock I occasionally log onto and stare forlornly at, and of course several other warriors scattered around various servers, two of which even hit max level... but in one capacity or another, I have logged onto that Human Warrior for the past five years and run five mans, done quests, raided, crafted, even occasionally fished on him. I've done every single instance in the game on him at this point. I even did Naxx 40 on him. He's been a tank, he's been DPS. He was even just a "Hey, guys, what's everyone up to?" toon for a few months when I tried my level best to switch to Horde. (I'm sorry, guys, but as much as I love Tauren I can't really like playing Horde when I keep running into quests that have me poisoning prisoners of war, or even my own people. I'm the kind of guy who ends up with butterflies and halo's over my head in Fable, even when I start out determined to ravage the land as a force of pure destruction.)
BlizzCon 2009: The Future of Tanking
We tanks are apparently living in interesting times. Whether you're a Druid, Paladin, DK or Warrior tank, how you do your job is in for some serious changes. Itemization is about to take some serious twists and turns in Cataclysm, and stats we've come to depend upon simply won't exist anymore. What does this all mean for those of us who generally go about our game 'lives' keeping the ire of our enemies focused on us and away from the more fragile sorts?With Attack Power on gear gone, and classes more directly gaining AP from stats (which to be fair is pretty much how most tanks do things now) and even more importantly, with Defense gone and all tanks gaining their critical strike removal from talents as Druids do now, we could very well be looking at the end of tanking gear entirely. It's possible, perhaps even likely that in Cataclysm your DK, Warrior or Paladin tank will wear the same gear (perhaps switching in a shield in the case of warriors/paladins) to tank as he or she does to DPS. For an idea of what this might look at, we can consult the current itemization of Druids with the Survival of the Fittest talent.
Stealth Computer kicks and shoves its Warrior 2000 rugged tablet out the door
Stealth Computer isn't exactly going for much subtlety with a rugged laptop line called "Warrior," but subtlety is hardly part of the equation when we're talking about a convertible tablet that's protected from repeated drops, shocks, dust, water, and, um, lint. Like most such ruggedized computers, however, all that comes at some expense to performance, although this new 13.3-inch Warrior NW-2000 model is certainly still more than adequate with a 1.06GHz low-voltage Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and a built-in DVD burner, not to mention optional 3G, GPS, and all the usual security measures like a fingerprint scanner and various password protection options. Oh, and a starting price of $4,895.
Which class gets invited as what?
Veritable Avarice, a new blog on moneymaking in WoW, took a break from financial discussion and looked at class representation in tank, DPS, and healing roles by filtering and comparing data available from WoW Popular. Spec population was then checked against class population data available from Warcraft Realm's census and three live realms. Data differences, according to VA, weren't statistically relevant, and he/she is pretty sure that the numbers are at least a ballpark representation of which class is most likely to be filling a particular role within a group. I play a Druid, so that's really what I feel comfortable commenting on here. While I can't speak to the ultimate accuracy of the numbers, I do a lot of pugging and have to admit that VA's data seems pretty close to what I've seen on my own server. The tank numbers are also consistent with a few things Ghostcrawler's mentioned recently concerning the overwhelming population advantage still held by Warrior tanks, although I wonder whether the Feral statistics are somewhat inflated here by the overlap between Bear and Cat specs. Feral tanks have all but vanished from 5-mans on my server, and it's not uncommon for me to get comments from healers that I'm the first Bear they've healed in months. Less surprising is the representation advantage held by Druid healers. Trees are insanely good in Ulduar, and between this, the rise of the Death Knight, and the de-suckaging of the Protection Warrior spec, that probably accounts for the gradual disappearance of the Bear. Also thought-provoking is just how few Druids hold a share of the DPS pie.I'd love to hear from members of other classes on the data and how closely it dovetails into their own experience. There's a quick note for Warrior players (or anyone interested in the DPS graph) past the cut, as there's a small mistake on the relevant graph.
Rage as a liability
Rage is a problematic mechanic, and has been since its implementation. It can be a lot of fun, but it can also be frustrating, and it contributes to Warriors' gear dependance. Blizzard is probably working on a way to redo rage entirely, but in the mean time, I'd like to highlight this suggestion for a rage revamp from Alveredus, a commenter on a recent post of mine. Here's a quick rundown of Alveredus's proposal: Rage increases over time by itself. The more rage you have, the lower your attack speed, but the higher your crit chance. When your rage is at maximum, you start losing resilience. Your abilities vent rage instead of costing rage - same thing really, but a different way of looking at it. I'm not certain about the specifics of it, but I like the general idea of rage being something you want to get rid of instead of something you want to spend. It makes sense: being in combat makes you angry; when angry, you may be less accurate, more vulnerable, or generally imbalanced. On the other hand, a system like this runs the risk of feeling like Rogue energy with a penalty. Rogues get their resource back at a constant rate and use it on abilities, but nothing bad happens to them when they cap their energy (aside from losing out on some potential DPS). The comparison could feel unfair for Warriors, who already have their share of penalties for core abilities. But rage definitely could use some work, and I'd like it to stay an interesting mechanic.
The Daily Grind: Are you tired of the "Holy Trinity" yet?
Rogue, Warrior and Cleric -- or in other words DPS, tank and healer -- have been with MMOs since the very start. Since those humble beginnings, some MMOs have eschewed the classic three-role dynamic. Shooters have definitely been the most common variant, but puzzle-focused titles are also another example. It's only a matter of time until an entirely generation of MMOs move away from the system. In fact, that seems to be happening right now, although it may be too early to say.What we're wondering though, is this: Do you think the change will, or should be, permanent?Beyond even that, do you care how your MMO gets its combat on? We're sure some of you just want great games, and there's nothing wrong with that sentiment at all. Our guess is that those of you most adamant about something new, something fresh, are probably more seasoned players. Don't worry, the same is true of us as well. After almost ten years of the trinity, we're itching for something to take us by surprise. Wonder who or when that'll be...
Solution sought for Heroic Strike/Maul
In the context of a follow-up to the Warrior Q&A, Ghostcrawler mentioned something that he's touched on a few time before: Heroic Strike is a problem. I know what you're thinking: Eliah, you don't have a level 80 warrior! What would you know? Well, that's true, but I do have a Druid tank, and Maul is essentially the same as HS. So I know your pain. For those who don't, the problem with HS/Maul is basically that it's obnoxious to use in a raid situation. You tend to have roughly infinite rage, so you want to use the ability as often as possible, which contributes to the fact that your main tank sounds like a woodpecker is attacking his keyboard (or mouse) when he pushes his Vent talk button. It's monotonous, but you have to do it to maximize your threat. Recognizing a problem doesn't mean they have a solution yet, though. One idea GC had is to make it consume more rage the more you have (like Execute). Personally, I might like it if it just automatically activated above half rage (or so). Others have suggested that the key act as a toggle, which continues casting HS as often as possible until you toggle it off. What's your preferred solution?
Phat Loot Phriday: Last Laugh
This is probably my favorite name for an item in the game.Name: Last Laugh (Wowhead, Thottbot, Armory)Type: Epic One-hand AxeDamage/Speed: 192-357 / 1.60 (171.6 DPS)Attributes: +37 Strength, +73 Stamina. Interesting -- I don't know if I've ever seen a weapon where the attribute numbers are reversed like that. Probably not done intentionally, but it's an interesting little quirk. %Gallery-33600%
Warrior Q&A Analysis
Well, the warrior Q&A is finally here. if you play a warrior and you were hoping that this would be the beam of sunshine that would fix your issues with the class, I'm sorry to tell you that it probably won't be. This isn't a huge surprise... so far the entire Q&A series has been fairly conservative and this one's no different... but let's go over it anyway.First off, of course, we have the intro to the class, which contains this interesting sentence: The warrior class has been a very tricky one to balance, largely due to the way rage converts into damage (which converts into rage, which converts into damage...), and we haven't completely nailed that design just yet. I think it's fair to say that anyone who remembers Rage Normalization trembles just a little bit when they see sentences like that. It's so very easy to render warriors absolutely impotent by tinkering with our rage generation, so I'm going to say right now that I desperately hope they test whatever changes they make very, very thoroughly.
Class Q&A: Warrior
Just days after the Druid Class Q&A, the blues have seen fit to post the Warrior edition. Look for in-depth analysis from our very own Warrior expert, Matt Rossi, soon. This purpose of this post is to get the news out there to you, dear readers, as fast as possible. Here's my very brief summary: Historically, Warriors have been dominant in tanking and competitive in DPS and PvP. Balance is in a "fairer place" now. Arms and Fury need a "hard look." They are happier with the Prot tree. "Arms is supposed to be about weapons and martial training and feel 'soldierly.' Fury is supposed to be about screaming barbarians in woad." They still want to get rid of stance penalties (like increased incoming damage in Berserker) eventually. In the future, Prot warriors will generate more rage through doing damage. Long-term, they need "a better solution to rage generation." "Block needs to be a percentage of damage blocked in order for the stat to do what we want" (though the frequency of block, and avoidance in general, would probably have to come down to compensate). They want tanks to not ignore DPS stats quite so much. Warriors have too much downtime when leveling. Read on for the full Q&A with Ghostcrawler and friends.
AT&T mobile users to get MapleStory on their phones
Normally we'd be somewhat cynical when talking about an MMO going to a phone. World of Warcraft on an iPhone just seems complicated, while Second Life on a phone just seems unusual. But for MapleStory going to a phone, well, we just can't see much wrong with that. It just seems to make sense, with the 2-D side scrolling action being perfectly at home on a mobile device.However, don't jump for joy just yet, it's only a version of that's making it to the MapleStoryAT&T media mall. MapleStory: Warrior is the same MapleStory gameplay, just condensed down for your phone. It's sadly not online, but it does connect to your MapleStory account to give you a brand new in-game item. So if you ever need that MapleStory fix and you're just not anywhere near a PC or internet connection, now you have options. Downside, those options are all warrior-based options.
Patch 3.2: Horde Tier 9 plate armor set gallery
After doing some digging in Patch 3.2's latest PTR files, I've assembled a gallery of the new Horde Tier 9 plate sets. The shoulders are slightly unfinished, or at least looked like they were in WoW Model Viewer. The gallery includes Death Knight, Warrior, and Paladin themed sets. In a move that bodes well for Alliance mail armor, the Horde Paladin sets are blood elf themed, so we'll see how that goes for our Draenei Shaman friends (read: me).I'm not too upset about the looks, myself. They look very Horde, even if the helm screams "Onslaught", and the colors are quite different for each class -- even more so than on the Alliance plate pieces.Have a gander and enjoy! I'll dig through every new PTR patch that comes out looking for the Horde cloth and Alliance mail and leather sets, so keep your eyes open for updates here. %Gallery-67758% Patch 3.2 will bring about a new 5, 10, and 25 man instance to WoW, and usher in a new 40-man battleground called the Isle of Conquest. WoW.com will have you covered every step of the way, from extensive PTR coverage through the official live release. Check out WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2 for all the latest!
Delving into the archetypes and specialty classes of Aion
The folks over at Ten Ton Hammer have been cranking out a number of features that examine the various class archetypes and specialty classes of Aion. So far, they've produced two game guides showcasing the Priest and Mage archetypes and had four interviews with NCsoft discussing the Gladiator, Templar, Ranger, and Assassin specialty classes.When creating a character in Aion, you must initially choose one of four available archetypes. Anyone who has played a fantasy MMO or RPG in the past decade or so will find them quite familiar. They are the Warrior, Scout, Priest, and Mage.Once you reach level 9, you're sent on a quest to discover your true identity and ascend to daevahood. The quest is like Red Bull - it gives you wings. At this point you must choose a specialty class defined by your original archetype. Warriors become Gladiators or Templars. Scouts become Rangers or Assassins. Priests become Clerics or Chanters. Mages become Sorcerers(esses) or Spiritmasters.By our count, TTH has covered half the archetypes and specialty classes so far, so keep your eyes peeled for the second half coming soon. We'll also bring you our own impressions of these classes when beta permits. So far, we've been limited to testing some pretty low level characters.
The Digital Continuum: Vacationing in Vana'diel part 2
Since my static group is only around level 10 -- and it only took me around five hours to hit that mark thanks to Fields of Valor tasks and a smoothed leveling curve -- I decided to switch from Warrior to Monk for a little while. br> Never underestimate the power of having one character who can switch between all available classes, at least after earning the advanced ones at your discretion.
Unspecified Warrior damage buffs in the works
The devs have been promising some buffs to warrior DPS for a while, but there haven't been any specifics. Today is no change. There are "buffs planned" for Arms and Fury, but there are no details announced yet. Ghostcrawler does mention that "there is almost no chance of a Titan's Grip change at any time in the near future," so don't hold your breath about that. My guess would be they're simply tired of making changes to that talent. The only other piece of new information in the post is that the impending DPS buffs "might come with PvP nerfs," since they're seeing a ton of Warriors in the arena right now. The Juggernaut nerf that went live today might address that some, as well. What do you think Blizzard should do to buff warriors in PvE, without making them (more) overpowered in PvP?
PTR patch 3.1.2 build 9889: Juggernaut, Auriya's cats nerfed
A small new build was pushed to the patch 3.1.2 PTR today. The majority of the changes were relatively minor, but one is headline-worthy: the Arms Warrior talent Juggernaut now gives your next Slam or Mortal Strike an additional 25% chance to critically hit if used within 10 sec, down from 100% chance. Forum posters have been asking for a Juggernaut nerf quite vocally recently; they ought to be pleased with this one. Warriors also got a second small nerf: the Glyph of Rapid Charge is being changed from a 20% cooldown reduction (3 seconds) to a 7% reduction (1 second). Other changes included some small tweaks to the Ulduar encounters Iron Council and General Vezax. Auriya's cats took a good hit from the nerf bat, with the damage from their Savage Pounce ability being cut in half. Finally, Priests' Divine Hymn, which was completely reworked in patch 3.1, had its bonus healing to affected targets nerfed from 15% to 10%; I never use the spell, so I don't much care.
