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Raid Rx: Leveling tips for Cataclysm healers from 80 to 85
Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand pooh-bah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a WoW blog for all things UI-, macro- and addon-related. If you're looking for more healing advice, check out the Plus Heal community. A few more days before Cataclysm -- and I don't know about you, but I'm excited! I've already got my plans and strategies in place. I'll try to answer a few frenzied questions for leveling healers as well ... questions such as the following: Where should I go level? Should I bury myself in dungeons and chain heal (not the spell) that sucker until I fall over? When do I replace my gear? Do I power my professions as I go? What consumables should I stack up on?
Countdown to Cataclysm starts now!
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, the game's third expansion (and biggest one yet), is releasing in just six days. To help you prepare, we've got articles to last you all the way through launch day and beyond, starting tomorrow. We'll be covering all aspects of the expansion for all types of players. Here are some of our helpful Cataclysm articles to get you started; be sure to keep an eye out for more in the days to come! New around here? Learn about Cataclysm and nab some tips and tricks for lowbies from WoW Rookie. Remember, you can play Cataclysm at midnight PST on Dec. 7 no matter how or where you buy it! Want to turn your character into a goblin or worgen? You're in luck -- race changes to the new races are available on launch night. Learn more about rated battlegrounds in this FAQ. Ghostcrawler and the design team have some notes about DPS spec design, and changes and notes for tanks, too. Coming back after an absence? Check the new system requirements for 4.0.3 and Cataclysm. If you're excited to get into heroic dungeons and raids, check this progression chart for the expansion's intended progression. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion (available Dec. 7, 2010), from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.
Cataclysm Beta: Chromaggus tameable by hunters
Here's some pretty awesome news from the maven of all things hunter pet-related, Mania: Chromaggus is tameable on the beta servers. Chromaggus is a boss in Blackwing Lair known for keeping healers on their toes with a variety of debilitating debuffs, for making magic users curse his name thanks to a shifting resistance shield, and for dropping the coolest-looking shoulder armor in the entire game. You need be a beastmastery hunter to tame him, as he is a member of the exotic Core Hound family. Not only is he a great pet for a nostalgic, old-world raider, he also has a very nice-looking, unique skin, and he'll be in high demand for certain raiding groups, as Core Hounds now provide Ancestral Hysteria, a Heroism replacement. For my own part, if he remains tameable when Cataclysm goes live, I know I'll eventually be pulling my old hunter out of the mothballs and calling in a few favors. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion (available Dec. 7, 2010), from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.
The Queue: End of the world
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Today's edition of The Queue is one of mourning. My request to change WoW Insider over to Zelda Insider so I could gush about Zelda music all day long was denied. Instead, I will simply embed a YouTube video. Elmo asked: Is there any zone you think came out not so well in Cataclysm as far as story/quests?
The Queue: Nah nah nah-nah-nah-nah, nah-nah-nah-nah nah nah nah nah
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. Yeah, so maybe I've been playing a little Rock Band 3. Dath asked: Are the Dragons of Nightmare still in Cataclysm? Yes, but only half of them. Lethon and Emeriss are canonically dead, but Ysondre and Taerar make appearances. I won't go into detail as to the nature of the appearances because it's best experienced.
The Queue: Hope
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. We'll be seeing a lot of this lady before too long, though she'll go by a different name. Saroc asked: Will the flight paths we have from vanilla WoW be removed in Cata or will they automatically changed to their new appropriate flight masters? You'll keep any unchanged flight paths, changed flight paths will update to their new location, and you will not automatically know paths that are completely new for Cataclysm.
Raid Rx: Answering your Cataclysm healing questions
Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand pooh-bah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a WoW blog for all things UI-, macro- and addon-related. If you're looking for more healing advice, check out the Plus Heal community. I've been receiving a steady amount of email and questions in regards to healing for the expansion. Rather than coming up with something boring, I decided to gather up what I had and answer them all here. In my classes, I know that when one person asks a question, a good number of the students are thinking the same thing. It just so happens that the one guy who raised his hand has more guts than everyone else (although personally, there have been times where I wished that one guy would just keep his hand down so we could all leave class on time -- but I digress). The answers I'm issuing here are based on personal experience and a fairly small sample size. Take it with some salt (or if you're like me, soya sauce).
Totem Talk: Cataclysm consumables for choosy elemental shaman
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Totem Talk for elemental, enhancement and restoration shaman. Get some Fulmination with your Lightning Bolts! Sort the shocks from the flames with Totem Talk: Elemental, brought to you by Sarah Nichol, otherwise known as Pewter from The 'mental Shaman and the Obscurecast podcast and founding member of TotemSpot. Please pardon me if I am a little food-obsessed this week. I've been watching The Great British Bakeoff, and they recently did a bread-making episode, so I'm getting a little fixated on the idea of some proper bread and butter. Ah, the simple things in life. Then Joe decided to cover alchemy consumables for restoration shaman this week, and my thoughts immediately turned to buff food, because quality bread and butter would considerably buff my happiness stat right now. Consumables aren't likely to be the first thing on the minds of many adventurers, as they traverse the depths of Vashj'ir, but I think it is well worth have a look at the choices we'll have along the way and the materials that are worth holding on to. Stocking up a raid bag on the way to level 85 is an good way to ease the occasional pains of levelling and can save time and effort later on. In Wrath, my bags were well stocked with raid consumables by the time I reached 80, allowing me to get on with gearing, gemming, enchanting, and getting mixed up in that Sons of Hodir business. Consumables make up a larger proportion of our total stats at the start of an expansion and thus have a bigger impact on the success of early raids in any expansion. If you're new to raiding and Cataclysm has drawn you in, consumables will be a big help to your initial raiding experience. Ensuring you have the right consumables can seem a bit stressful the first couple of times, but don't worry -- learn to love those snacks and light refreshments for the DPS candy they are.
The OverAchiever: Cataclysm achievements FAQ
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. This week, we are pleased to discover that a certain noncombat pet's going to be a lot more fun to obtain. Hey folks. This edition of OverAchiever was initially meant to cover archaeology achievements, but we've been getting so many questions on Insane in the Membrane and other problematic achievements that I decided to pre-empt the archaeology article. The Queue comments also tend to host a lot of achievement questions, so I want to answer as many of them as I can here. I apologize in advance to anyone who already knows some, most, or even all of the answers contained herein. If you have a question concerning disappearing achievements, reappearing achievements, achievements that are being altered, or [insert issue du jour], hopefully you'll find the answer here. Additionally, there's some information on the Razzashi Hatchling that pet collectors might want to hear about (fair warning: It involves a Cataclysm spoiler related to Northern Stranglethorn content), in addition to notes on what's going on with the Shen'dralar, Dire Maul, Molten Core, and city reputation tabards. I ran both an Alliance and Horde character ragged on the beta to confirm everything in this article personally, and the information should be accurate as of the most recent beta patch.
The Queue: I am serious about that last question
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. The Queue is as good a place as any to solicit feedback, right? Sure, why not! Readers, in addition to whatever questions you might have for us to tackle, we would appreciate any suggestions or recommendations for Cataclysm content you'd like to see either before or during the expansion's launch. Is there anything you're dying to know? Something you just don't feel prepared for the expansion without? We'd love to hear it! Now, to the Q&A! JoJa asked: I have a trio of level 80 characters decked out in a mix of ICC, TOC, and badge gear. I've recently returned to playing a favorite alt, however, and I'm thinking about making it my main in Cataclysm. I keep reading about how hard the mobs hit in the leveling zones of Cataclysm. Will I be able to take my alt in a mix of quest greens and dungeon blues directly to the first Cataclysm starting zone? Or will I have to grind for iLevel 232 badge gear just to stay alive in the new zones? Hyjal and Vashj'ir aren't too bad as far as damage is concerned. You don't start getting your face rocked off until Deepholm. Taking Wrath greens into the two starting zones won't be an issue at all. You'll replace all of your Wrath greens with Cataclysm greens before you're done with them, and then you'll be prepared for Deepholm.
Cataclysm dev chat on Best Buy forums this Thursday
Want to ask Tom Chilton and J. Allen Brack questions about Cataclysm? Well, you can, this Thursday on the Best Buy gaming forums. Straight from Best Buy: This Thursday, Nov 18 at 4pm Pacific (12am GMT) Best Buy is hosting a live chatroom Q&A with Blizzard's Tom Chilton (Game Director) and J. Allen Brack (Production Director) about World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. The event is open to the public but is limited to 500 participants. The chatroom will be hosted on the Best Buy Forums here: http://bbyurl.us/CataclysmCHAT. A forum account is required to participate. If you don't make it in under the 500-user limit, check out the overflow broadcast on Ustream: http://ustream.tv/channel/wowdevchat Might be a good time to ask about your pet issue, like worgen females, ret paladin DPS, or cosmetic slots. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion (available Dec. 7, 2010), from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.
Officers' Quarters: The great raid-size debate, part 3
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook, available now from No Starch Press. Welcome to the third and final column exploring the various pros and cons of raid size in WoW's upcoming Cataclysm expansion. Before we talk about the final category, let's recap. In part 1, I examined the various gameplay considerations that come along with the different sizes. Gameplay We can only speculate about relative difficulty. 10-man raids offer fewer options for dealing with specific boss abilities and/or adds. Position-based abilities are easier to deal with in 10s. Player deaths are not as crippling in 25-mans. It's easier to cover for someone else's mistake with 25 players. In part 2, I talked about the logistics involved in running each size and the rewards you can obtain from them. Logistics A 25-man raid requires an intense recruiting effort. "Cat herding" is flat-out easier in 10-man raids. More raiders mean more attendance issues and technical issues. Subbing is easier in a larger raid. Scheduling difficulties are easier to manage with more players. Loot is easier to distribute in 10-man.
The Queue: Turtles, horses and name origins
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Today is another one of those days where I just can't think of something interesting to say as an introduction. So ... how about that Q&A, huh? Croe asked: Are the sea turtles you fish up in Northrend going to be useful for getting around in Cataclysm in the initial stages?
The Queue: Alexander Q. Ziebart, I owe you
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. What, he gets to use my full name but I can't use his? Thanks for covering for me yesterday, Alex. Red-eye flights suck. Raful asked: I don't know if this have been answered before, but will the honor and justice points that we get at level 80 be reset when we're at 85? They won't reset, though the cap of 4,000 may be lifted when Cataclysm launches, since that's only like ... an item and a half, with badge gear prices at 85 in mind.
Arcane Brilliance: Frost mage Cataclysm talent analysis
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we're discussing the ins and outs of the frost tree, the mage tree wherein you learn to conjure delightful snow cones from the air around you, and then how to hurl those icy treats into your opponent's face at 1,000 feet per second. It's like a winter miracle that kills you. Whenever I do these kinds of things, where we explore each of the three mage trees on consecutive weeks, it seems like the frost tree always goes last kind of by default. In the English-speaking world, we read left to right, we tend to organize things on a page in left-to-right fashion, and until Simon's Quest came along and screwed everything up as awesomely as possible, we played our video games from left to right. Frost's the tree on the right, so it always ends up last, while arcane somehow always gets to go first. It isn't fair, so what we're doing here is giving the usual way of things a big middle finger. Last week, we hit the fire tree, and this week we're going frost. Arcane will have to wait until next week. Take that, conformity! I feel like we've really done something here. Society will be better because of this column. I really believe that. After the jump, we'll look at each and every talent in the frost tree in turn, picking them apart for nutrients, then squeezing the rest into a fine paste to use as a crude adhesive. Yes, once we're done with the frost tree, we should have the raw materials to feed our family and also to build a small hut.
The Queue: Michael Sacco Jr., you owe me
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. As I write this, it's 3:15 a.m. here in Wisconsin. About 30 minutes ago, I was comfortably in bed, drifting off to sleep. Then I heard a familiar sound coming from my iPhone -- someone was sending me instant messages over AIM! You see, I keep AIM logged in on my phone just in case the staff needs me in a hurry, especially on weekends. So I rolled over and groped blindly for my phone. What happened? Did WoW Insider burn down while I wasn't looking? Did we get news of another domain change? Did someone put a hilarious .GIF in our virtual war room? It was Michael Sacco. "Hey Alex, can you write The Queue for me tomorrow?" "I'm in bed, Mike. I am literally in bed. Right now. Sleeping." "Yeah. OK. Can you write it?" So here I am. Writing The Queue. Because that's what friends do. bubbap51 asked: What will be the best way to grind worgen/goblin rep?
Raid Rx: Comparing 10- and 25-man raid healing in Cataclysm
Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand pooh-bah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a WoW blog for all things UI-, macro- and addon-related. If you're looking for more healing advice, check out the Plus Heal community. I've been having a blast lately on the Cataclysm beta. I managed to sneak into a few raids on both 10- and 25-player raids. Even better? I got to do it as holy! While I was interested in seeing how I could cope with the new healing mechanics, my primary purpose was to evaluate what the overall healing game would be like in a raiding environment. It isn't enough for me to see the posts and see the numbers or the discussion. I myself need to be in there and do it. I figured while I was at it, I could record a video of a few encounters and do direct comparisons between 10s and 25s, along with detailing the challenges with both.
The Queue: Hotlanta
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. Honestly, I have no idea if it's hot or not. I'm writing this Queue from the Atlanta airport at 6:30 in the morning after a red-eye from California, and I still have another flight to go. Pancakes asked: What's to become of draenei paladin chargers (or at least, what happened on beta)? I know we're getting elekks when 4.0.3 rolls around, but do we get to keep our horsies? No, your horses turn into elekks. If you're concerned, don't be -- the Great Exarch's Elekk looks really cool.
Cataclysm's best leveling improvement: no more clown suits
One of the many nice things that Cataclysm is doing for the low-level quester is finally getting rid of the level 1 to 60 "clown suit." Every 10-level range has its own specific set of matching quest rewards, giving you a unique look every handful of zones. And they don't look half bad! In fact, some of the sets look pretty darn cool. Speaking from experience, leveling from 1 to 60 in the beta was a lot more exciting, not just due to the new quests and mechanics, but also because I couldn't wait to see what my new gear would look like when I hit a new leveling milestone. Check out the full picture with all of Cataclysm's low-level armor sets, courtesy of reader Frez, after the break.
Race changes to worgen and goblins will be available on launch night
Short and sweet here, folks: Blizzard has announced that race changes to goblins and worgen will be available immediately upon Cataclysm launch. That's 12:01 a.m. PST Dec. 7. Additionally, there will no longer be any achievements for being the first of your race to hit level 85; the achievements are now class-only. Great news for people who want to switch from their terrible male night elf druid into a dashing (literally) male worgen druid, or basically anyone who's tired of playing a troll of either gender.
