Holyssa

*logs onto Kaerina* /target Perthes /use Tranquilizing Shot *logs off* Granted, monsters took a huge baseball bat to the knees with these changes. But the encounters themselves still require very precise coordination and teamwork to properly defeat without a full-scale zerg, Vashj and Kael being the worst of a bad lot. Yea, it'd be awesome to roflstomp T6 content with the HP nerf and all our new tricks (lol @ blowing up Molten Core in just under 1 hour last night), but learning through progression seems to be the best path for now, and people will need the gear from farming T5 to survive what awaits us in Hyjal/BT. We still got a whole month to play in the Outlands! Just think of all the stuff poor Maube has to talk us through also if we rush blindly in: -PvP Trinkets on Winterchill. -Azgalor add control. (this was an utter pain in the @$$) -Staying out of Archimonde fire. Oh, Tears. Don't get me going on the Tears. -Burana becoming Supremus's new b*tch. -Gurtogg's debuffs, Maube becoming reacquainted with him. I also hear he's bugged? -Gorefiend Constructs. -"Don't talk to Akama." -Reliquary interrupt timing... ...shall I go on?

My roflcopter went *fwoop-fwoop-fwoop* IRL at how insane the prices are. Then again, who remembers paying a fortune for pre-Hyjal/BT gems when BC first hit? Fanatical number crunching FTL. My wish list: Glyph of Sense Undead Glyph of Lay on Hands Glyph of Judgement Glyph of the Wise I got two other major glyphs for dirt cheap (ie - under 7g), luckily. Cresalia's Glyph wish list: Glyph of Slice and Dice Glyph of Safe Fall Glyph of Distract

Oh ya. Mine blew up real good. Only thing that gave me a lot of headaches was my chat window: I could not talk, read anything (including Trade or Guild chat) and anything I said except in /say went poof. It was just a white box with gibberish, and I could not edit the window. Found out it was CTMod after completely erasing & re-installing the damned thing, but now my bags sometimes "stick" (took multiple clicks to open without using B/Shift+B). Everything else seems okay...*knock wood*

There's a few Achievements which look more like cumbersome chores than anything else. But if you're one of those people who simply has to do 'em no matter how sucky the journey may be (like me!), then here's a few tips: Make Love, Not Warcraft - If you know a buddy on the opposite faction, this can be very simple. Or go to AV and make a beeline for the cave. AFKers are plentiful these days! If you're still stuck, make a /target macro on a player that seems to be easy prey, and follow it with /hug emote commands. Can be kinda tricky in BGs where players sometimes auto-release to get back into battle. Classic Dungeon Master - Pretty fun achievement to get, but Stockades is on that list. If you despise Alliance to the point where you refuse to roll an alt and tour Stormwind City... -Mount up just outside the front gates. Bring a Riding Crop. Approach the capitol from Westfall along the foothills so potential lowbies/Hogger victims don't spot you. -For tank types and rogues: stack avoidance gear. Guards are now L75, and CAN inflict crushing blows, possibly dismounting you as well. Agility buffs work nicely too. -Got a paladin buddy? Crusader Aura will make you one step closer to being a living lightning bolt. -A map of SW can be found here. Stockades is in the tower directly across the Mage quarter. Rep-based Achievements - If you're L60, these should be no stranger to you, but the worst ones to build up will be the Argent Dawn, Timbermaw, Cenarion Circle, and Hydraxian Waterlords. Most of those rep grinds reward the bare-minimum of rep for a high level player, and could potentially take WEEKS unless you hoard every quest turn in you find. Here's hoping your friends run Classic instances every now and then! The Ambassador Achievements can be done by going to L1 starter zones, which to this day award 150-250 rep per turnin...a nice alternative to gathering endless mounds of cloth. Don't grief lowbie players while finishing these tasks if you can help it. Always ask any nearby players if they require a quest spawn, or even help them out if you can. Mount Collections - If you got the Ambassador Achievement, congrats! You get a generous head start by accessing all the mount vendors, but now it's time to do shopping. Normal L30 mounts contribute to this as well, so don't feel ashamed if you need to plonk gold on that hideous Tallstrider or the overly-sized kodo. Food Achievements (It's Happy Hour Somewhere / Tastes Like Chicken) - Got a mage buddy? Ask them to conjure one of each type of food and water...give them a tip for their spare time too. Alcohol also contributes to this, but be careful not to go flying when smashed, or you'll have one mean case of motion sickness. You can also sample food from low-level vendors, but eat them in order of item level, or else you'll get the "A more powerful buff is already in place" error. If you maxed out cooking, make several low-level delicacies and snarf em down. Specialty food vendors help with this too, like the Arrakoa guy in Shattrath who sells nothing but fish. See, these vendors DO have a purpose! Well Read - Holy crap that's a lot of lore. Click the achievement title for a list of every book you'll need. Be aware, some books can only be found in the cities of your enemies, while others are exclusive to dungeons (like Scholomance). Also, this is NOT retroactive - if you read the books in the past, you will need to read them all over again. Pet Collections - The neutral AH is great for picking up a few strays exclusive to the opposite faction. Some pets are very rare drops, like the oozling and whelps. Here's a list of pets that can be found all over: Weapon Skills - Ok, so they nerfed the mobs in The Blasted Lands. Another good spot, while not as AFK-friendly, is the portal to Shadow Labyrinth which has endless spawns of semi-weak orcs endlessly pour out. If you kill things too quickly raising your unarmed skill, equip a Torch of Retribution from the Searing Gorge quest and fight critters. And if you're feeling adventurous - Gordok Spirits grant skillups as well. Happy hunting!

-Came home. -Began Blizz Downloader. It totally ignored all the data I had in my WoW folder, and downloaded the massive motherfarker from scratch. -Patch done, but keeps crashing 80% way through. Re-downloaded again after looking for mirrors. -Holy angry, so killed time on Wii. Megaman 9 is a godsend, but I checked the Shop once more for anything new. Secret of Mana = best brain cancer ever. -Holy still downloading patch fragments. Holy still angry. WTB very big gun to point @ Blizzard. Tired.

Inscriptions are coming! Some people may drop a current profession to try it out, or simply wait till the DKs appear so they don't have to lose something they may regret afterwards. This is going to be a compilation of facts & stuff from other sites in an effort to help you understand the new profession, and hopefully blast to 375 as effortlessly as possible. Q: I'm a nubcookie. What does this profession do? A: You can create... ~Stat Scrolls (like the ones which drop off random monsters). ~Recall Scrolls can also be built, but they share a cooldown with Astral Recall (sorry shamans!), cannot be used in combat, and port you to a random spot in the world if they "malfunction". They can also be used by Inscription only, so don't delete your hearthstone!! ~Vellums which can be used to store enchantments. Create an Armor/Weapon Vellum, store the enchants inside, and you can send the Enchant to a friend or put it on AH. Note that you need to be an enchanter to use the Vellums...kind of like how Alchemists are needed to transmute metagems for Jewelcrafters. L1 Vellums can be used to store Classic WoW enchants with no level restriction, like Fiery Weapon. L300 Vellums store BC enchants with L35 or higher restriction. L375 Vellums store endgame BC and WotLK enchants with L60 or higher restriction. Probably not the Vellum you want to plonk cash on if you're a serious twink. ~Glyphs which enhance the stats of spells. To use a glyph, walk next to a Lexicon of Power and use it, much like a forge (smiths) or mana loom (tailors). The glyph slots unlock with level (unconfirmed): Level 15 : 1 Major / 1 Minor Level 30 : 2 Major / 1 Minor Level 50 : 2 Major / 2 Minor Level 70 : 2 Major / 3 Minor Level 80 : 3 Major / 3 Minor ~Card decks for the Darkmoon Faire. Now you don't have to crawl L60+ dungeons to get some new duds! ~Rare and Epic off-hand Tomes. These are usually BoP. Q: What gathering profession will I need to make all this? A: Herbalism! To create items, you buy parchments from vendors (they function like vials for alchemists), and inks, which come from "milling" plants. Milling destroys the herb, but creates items for your profession, much like Prospecting for Jewelcrafters. Alabaster Pigment - Peacebloom, Silverleaf, Earthroot Dusky Pigment / Verdant Pigment - Mageroyal, Briarthorn, Swiftthistle, Bruiseweed, Stranglekelp Golden Pigment / Burnt Pigment - Wild Steelbloom, Grave Moss, Kingsbloom, Liferoot Emerald Pigment / Indigo Pigment - Fadeleaf, Goldthorn, Khadgar's Wiskher, Wintersbite Violet Pigment / Ruby Pigment - Firebloom, Purple Lotus, Arthas' Tears, Sungrass, Blindweed, Ghost Mushroom, Gromsbloom Silvery Pigment / Sapphire Pigment - Golden Sansam, Dreamfoil, Mountain Silversage, Plaguebloom, Icecap Nether Pigment / Ebon Pigment - Outland herbs Azure Pigment / Icy Pigment - Northrend herbs Q: I'm a very lazy ######. What's a good guide to blast to 375+? A: This one (I recommend for simplicity's sakes) or... El's Guide (the same El who taught us not to fail at fishing) or... This one (not recommended because stuff beyond 375 isn't set in stone just yet). Happy Inscribing, and don't get high off the ink!

Notes: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/test-realm-patchnotes.html I'm well-aware it's the Test Realm notes, but the PTR was shut down recently and Blizz may be a bit slow in updating their sites. Mondo-sized FAQ: http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=6178530502&sid=1. Should hopefully answer many questions. Here's a few common ones to help quell peoples' fears: So what will you do upon patch-day (besides cuss a storm after updating addons and toolbars with all the new crap)? I think I'll pay all the ol' pre-BC dungeons a visit to get the classic achievements off my back (including Stockades - gogo Crusader aura/Bubble!), plus work on that Explorer title. Oh, before I go, I just wanted to share what could possibly be the coolest Blue post since Tigole's emo-banfest in the Beta forums (some moron deleted the thread, but it involved CM Maaven saying this): o__o /##################################### |##################################### |##################################### \##################################### I'mma chargin' mah laser!

This looks like a very fun fight. I can't help but wonder how hard he is with all 3 adds up...

Count Cresalia in. Bear in mind folks: this and all other BC-related dungeons are getting adjusted in the form of a 30% HP reduction to all mobs, and this is a perfect opportunity to adjust to all our new class changes post-patch.

My favorite moments in no particular order: - Dying to Spout my very first time, and being splattered against a column directly behind me and taking some insane amount of fall damage. Think Wiley E. Coyote. - During Kael, Remmetta gets the Gaze call during P1. She's right next to Thaladred. Somewhere in the world, a bell just rang (skip to 7:41). - Orcala following Uglutz off the practice cliff in Hyjal. They both fall. Uglutz survives. - Cal padding the Hate Meter . - HYPNOTOAD. - Draegloth announcing over TS that his dog tossed it's cookies just moments before our first (I think) Archi kill. - Kadi and I DI'ing each other on Teron, both having the Shadow of Death debuff at some point. GG pally invincibility XD - "Necro gone stole mah TV!" - Eigun and Orcala's epic lulz over our first Treads of the Den Mother drop. - Harne being put on farm status by the SSC Elevator. - Me: "Why is Orcala in Shattrath?" Orcala: "goodnight everyone!" Me: "GTF back in here!"

I dedicate this victory to my beloved Orcala, who could not be there for personal reasons. In her honor, I had my /AFK tag up the entire night, even when we roflstomped Vashj, Al'ar & Winterchill. GJ folks, and enjoy the well-deserved break!

Oh I wouldn't doubt it. Hell, when I'm not playing WoW, sometimes it feels good to just nuke something during downtime. <3 Japan's endless army of toys.

Let's looksee... The Red Bearon / Big Battle Bear (click for Wowhead entry) With the removal of the Amani War Bear, this is probably gonna be Spectral Tiger 2.0: super expensive, simplistic (Look ma! No mask!), and...well, it's a bear. And bears are awesome animals. Here's hoping you have a fat credit card, or make nice with the owner of that card shop down the street. This is probably the better looking of the bear mounts out there since it isn't sporting a doofy mask or oversized armor. Although if you simply must have a pocket Feral Druid without shelling hundreds of dollars at eBay or the card shop, Northrend has a few alternatives for a modest amount of gold. Owned! / Flag of Ownership Great. Just what the PvP/Arena elitists need to play with. I can just imagine how many Night Elf huntards will be buying these in bulk. You impale your foe, and do a special emote. Although I gotta admit, the card artwork looks like a riot (WTF is with that gnome's boobs??). Slashdance / Party G.R.E.N.A.D.E.S. (Goblinoid Resonant Electro-Neural Automatic Dancing Emitter) Looks like a single-target version of the Disco Ball. You get a 1 minute debuff that makes you dance (not sure if movement cancels this), and some purdy confetti.

Q: What will Wrath's system requirements be? A: Assuming you still aren't using a dinosaur to play PC games with (and you've successfully deleted all that old pr0n to make room)... PC System Requirements OS: Windows XP (Service Pack 3), Windows Vista (Service Pack 1) Processor: * Minimum: Intel Pentium 4 1.3 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 1500+ * Recommended: Dual-core processor, such as the Intel Pentium D or AMD Athlon 64 X2 Memory: * Minimum: 512 MB RAM (1GB for Vista users) * Recommended: 1 GB RAM (2 GB for Vista users) Video: * Minimum: 3D graphics processor with Hardware Transform and Lighting with 32 MB VRAM Such as an ATI Radeon 7200 or NVIDIA GeForce 2 class card or better * Recommended: 3D graphics processor with Vertex and Pixel Shader capability with 128 MB VRAM Such as an ATI Radeon X1600 or NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT class card or better. Sound: DirectX-compatible sound card or motherboard sound capability Mac System Requirements OS: Mac OS X 10.4.11 or newer Processor: * Minimum: PowerPC G5 1.6 GHz or Intel Core Duo processor * Recommended: Intel 1.8GHz processor or better Memory: * Minimum: 1 GB RAM * Recommended: 2 GB RAM Video: * Minimum: 3D graphics processor with Hardware Transform and Lighting with 64 MB VRAM Such as an ATI Radeon 9600 or NVIDIA GeForce Ti 4600 class card or better * Recommended: 3D graphics processor with Vertex and Pixel Shader capability with 128 MB VRAM Such as an ATI Radeon X1600 or NVIDIA 7600 class card or better All Platforms Controls: A keyboard and mouse are required. Input devices other than a mouse and keyboard are not supported. Connectivity:You must have an active broadband Internet connection to play. Mouse: Multi-button mouse with scroll wheel recommended. Hard Drive Space: 15 GB free hard drive space. Don't be fooled: just because you can run BC or the Beta Client doesn't mean it's the same ol' game! Compared to Burning Crusade, this game just screams "That's a huge b*tch!". To see the old system requirements for Burning Crusade for comparison's sakes, go here (Blizzard's FAQ, scroll down a bit) or here (Wikipedia entry). Q: What items will be removed/changed by the expansion? A: The only items being removed are the Amani War Bear (the prize from completing Zul'aman's timed chest race, which will be gone from the chest's loot table), and the titles "Hand of A'dal" & "Champion of the Naaru". The quests to achieve these titles will still exist, however. Currently the 4th chest contains the same reward as the 3rd chest (a high level ring), but this is subject to change. Other mounts which are rare boss drops (Deathcharger's Reins, Zulian Tiger, Reins of the Raven Lord) will still exist and drop from their respectful encounters. Q: *looks up in the sky* Hey! Where is Naxxramas? A: The skies above East Plaguelands are now occupied by nothing but dreary clouds. To find the new, L80 entry-level raid version of Naxxramas, travel to Dragonblight. Q: Does WotLK have a Badge of Justice system? What can I do with my old Badges? A: Blizzard has introduced two new types of Badges in the expansion: Emblem of Heroism: The most common type of Badge you will probably see during endgame life. These drop from 5-man Northrend Heroics and 10-man dungeon raids. Emblem of Valor: Similar to the Heroism emblem, but these drop from 25-man Raid encounters only. Blizzard has confirmed they have no plans to alter the original Badges of Justice from Outland. Spend them wisely! EDIT: Fixed a few boo-boos. Oops.

Blizzard is teasing you, just like how God teased Moses in the desert! Why? Lookie: Shorter taunt cooldown? Me like. Bacon of Light? *nom-nom-nom-nom-nom-nom-nom~*

I can see it now. "Holyssa: Ok, sheep the one marked moon." Shaman: .... Holyssa: Uh...sheep the moon? Shaman: .... Holyssa: FFS, someone sheep the fu--*notices there's no mage*...sigh. Ok, frog the moon. Shaman: Kek."

For once, I spotted some advice on the Maintankadin forums that didn't have anything to do with...well, tanking. This gentleman provides some insight on the new spells, talents, and abilities which change the way everyone's favorite single-target heal/blessbot works without surfing through mountains of old patch notes. Oh, grab a snack: this is one long-@$$ read. But if you own a Holy paladin (or a paladin in general), it's worth the time.

*bump* (10/6/08) Added info on our attack rotation, and specific factions to grind for good tanking gear. If you plan to tank with a Death Knight, you may see some things you'll like as well!

Jasena? Tanking? All I gotta say is... (vºДº)> "lol wut?" /headpiano But seriously: despite the icky situation last night, I'm glad you guys did SOMETHING to end the night with a few laughs. Hopefully next week we can have some fun before the great patch nerfs these two 10-mans into oblivion. As for Orcala: Thanks folks for understanding our predicament. She's doing okay, but I'm not going into details out of respect for our favorite AFK'ing druid. Just offer her a hug next time you pass by her - it'll mean a lot for the both of us!

http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=19228.0 Many nerfs were undone - but there were still a few more that slipped between the cracks: Divine Plea sucks a lot less, Warriors and Druids get a ranged taunt, and shamans had many nerfs undone. And don't let the 100 yard range on Glyph of Holy Light trick you - it's a tooltip bug. Prot pallies can also cheer (again), since the great crab has delivered mitigation news: "Shield of the Templar now also reduces all damage taken by 1/2/3%." PWNSAUCE.

More than likely it is data from the PTR that is being obtained in advance. Blizzard tends to release this stuff in chunks via the Downloader for easier retrieval over a period of time, and if I recall, a similar download took place during one Tuesday night a few weeks back. There's a lot of amazing changes coming up: Stormwind Harbor & Tirisfal Zepplin Towers leading to Northrend teasers, much like the portal to Quel'thalas pre-BC) , Inscription previews, talents, and lots of spells. Although I can't help but act a bit concerned as to what else besides those things makes the update so damned huge... Oh a somewhat related note: I doubt it will be ready tonight or even this coming Tuesday. Talent trees are a god awful mess, and Blizzard has a lot of catching up to do. Speculation has been pointing at October 14th, the end of Season 4.

My life is complete. I got picked for constructs early for a change...and I did not fail at life. * * >.>

*spots a poorly geared dwarf hunter charging towards him* No...keep away! No...GAH! *gets hit with an arrow covered in gibberish and moon-speak scribbles* ...SEX LEG. *walks around in a trance* So beautiful!

By Bornakk: Not very surprising, considering all the massive changes our beloved game world has gone through (no down-ranking, buff stacking, potion sickness, yadda-yadda...). Sunwell Radiance also went baibai. I can't help but ask though: how will this affect our raids? I for one would like to enjoy the content (nerfs or none) while it's there alongside good friends, and marvel at all the cool purples that could make life easier in the cold north, even if they only last so long.

I see what you did there. Where's Karrock's macro when you need it? >.>