WoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.comWoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gifWoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.comen-usCopyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only.Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/WoW Insider ShowEvery week, the WoW Insider Show brings you news and views from the World of Warcraft and the site that covers it all, WoW Insider. We introduce a panel of rotating guests, including bloggers from WoW Insider and other WoW blogs, and many popular personalities from around the WoW community. From the live listener chat and polls during the show, to the emails direct from listeners (reach us at theshow@wow.com), right on to the "meat" of the show -- in-depth discussion of the most popular news and posts on WoW Insider -- the WoW Insider Show is a terrific source of news and entertainment about what's going on with Blizzard and their World of Warcraft. Listen live every Saturday at 3:30 pm Eastern on our Ustream page (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wow-insider-show) or subscribe to the feed and let us know what you think by reviewing the show right here in iTunes.Mists of Pandaria Beta: Item upgrade strings surfacehttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/10/mists-of-pandaria-beta-item-upgrade-strings-surface/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/10/mists-of-pandaria-beta-item-upgrade-strings-surface/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/10/mists-of-pandaria-beta-item-upgrade-strings-surface/#commentsFiled under: ,

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Two interesting new client strings were unearthed early this morning on MMO-Champion related to the elusive item upgrade system that Blizzard has yet to completely flesh out for players. Valor points are changing their focus in Mists of Pandaria, to be used as a way to upgrade existing gear rather than being used to buy all-new pieces. This new system has yet be comprehensively explained, and these new client strings are our first hint at the system's actual implementation.

The basic understanding of the item upgrade system is that justice points will be used to purchase the first pieces of gear from vendors, and valor points will be used to turn that gear into better gear. What this hopefully means is that rather than having two vendors selling the same items with different stats, we can have a justice vendor who sells you items and then upgrades them via some interface dealie with valor points. Hopefully, the number of vendors decreases, because right now it's sort of a pain.
ITEM
  • ITEM_UPGRADE - Item Upgrade
ITEM_UPGRADE
  • ITEM_UPGRADE_DESCRIPTION - Use your valor points to upgrade a weapon or piece of armor that is level 375 or higher.
Honestly, I've been under the impression that Blizzard itself still had the system in flux, so anything being said about just wasn't set in stone. Now, with new client strings and references to upgrading your raid items, it looks like the system is closer to completion.
It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!

WoW InsiderMists of Pandaria Beta: Item upgrade strings surface originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 10 May 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>betagearjusticemistsmoppandariapointpointsupgrade-gearvalorMathew McCurleyThu, 10 May 2012 14:00:00 ESTTotem Talk: Solving the problem of Maelstrom Weaponhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/05/totem-talk-solving-the-problem-of-maelstrom-weapon/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/05/totem-talk-solving-the-problem-of-maelstrom-weapon/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/05/totem-talk-solving-the-problem-of-maelstrom-weapon/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

The default Blizzard power aura for Maelstrom Weapon
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Totem Talk for elemental, enhancement, and restoration shaman. Once a lonely tauren shaman in a bad Scarlet Crusade-themed transmog set, Josh Myers is now a female dwarf shaman with pigtails who raids using all three specs on a regular basis. He kept the same transmog set, though.

When I try to think of what enhancement's most iconic ability is, a few come to mind. Windfury Weapon is a definite contender, and three or four years ago it would have been my default response. Seriously, though, what is Windfury other than a glorified auto-attack with an attack power bonus and a lower chance to miss? Likewise, Stormstrike could be iconic, but it's essentially a melee attack with both weapons with an electric graphic and a debuff. It's enhancement's Mutilate or Obliterate.

To me, Maelstrom Weapon is the answer. If there's one ability that encapsulates what enhancement is -- a brutal melee class that weaves instant spellcasts between their weapon strikes to harm their opponent or heal themselves -- I believe it's Maelstrom Weapon. It's enhancement's Death Strike, Arcane Blast, Chakra, or Raging Blow -- abilities that, at a glance, offer an insight into what makes the spec different from other specs in their role.

There's a problem here, though. If Maelstrom Weapon is enhancement's iconic ability, why is it currently so awful?

Continue reading Totem Talk: Solving the problem of Maelstrom Weapon

WoW InsiderTotem Talk: Solving the problem of Maelstrom Weapon originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 05 May 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>elemental-blastenhancement-shaman-dpsenhancement-shaman-totem-talkfeaturedguide-to-shamansideas-for-a-better-maelstrom-weaponmaelstrom-weaponshaman-guideshaman-infoshaman-talentstotem-talk-enhancementtotem-talk-enhancement-shamanwhy-maelstrom-weapon-needs-helpwow-shamanwow-shaman-infoJosh MyersSat, 05 May 2012 16:00:00 ESTHow do you feel about warming the bench?http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/04/how-do-you-feel-about-warming-the-bench/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/04/how-do-you-feel-about-warming-the-bench/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/05/04/how-do-you-feel-about-warming-the-bench/#commentsFiled under: ,

You know how raid nights go. Sometimes you have the bare minimum of people showing up, and you're desperately trying to fill spots. And on some occasions, everyone inexplicably shows up at the same time. When you go from barely scraping by with eight or 22 to suddenly dealing with a glut of 15 to 25, obviously somebody's not making it into the mix. So how do you decide who?

Some guilds simply go by attendance numbers; if you've shown up consistently, you're in. If you just happen to be making an appearance for farm night, you're out. Some guilds pick based solely on performance in the raid itself; if you're consistently pulling high DPS and not standing in fire, you're in. If you can't find your way out of a poison cloud with a map and GPS system showing you the way, you're out.

But what do you do when you're the one being sat?

Continue reading How do you feel about warming the bench?

WoW InsiderHow do you feel about warming the bench? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 04 May 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>10-man-raiding25-man-raidingbenchwarmingcataclysmcataclysm-raidingleadershipraid-leaderraidssitting-outworld-of-warcraftwow-raid-leaderwow-raidingwow-raidsAnne StickneyFri, 04 May 2012 14:00:00 ESTDragon Soul: Power of the Aspects buff rises to 20% next weekhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/27/dragon-soul-power-of-the-aspects-buff-to-20-next-week/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/27/dragon-soul-power-of-the-aspects-buff-to-20-next-week/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/27/dragon-soul-power-of-the-aspects-buff-to-20-next-week/#commentsFiled under: ,

During maintenance next week, the Dragon Soul buff/nerf will climb to 20%. This shouldn't be too much of a surprise for anyone, since we've known all along it'll continue to increase. And personally, I'm looking forward to it. My guild has some new DPSers running with us, and this will be just the boost we need to get heroic Ultraxion down.

Remember that if you want to run without the buff, you can always turn it off by talking to Lord Afrasastrasz at the beginning of the raid.

Blizzard's full announcement is as follows:

Blizzard
At the completion of scheduled server maintenance during the week of April 30, the "Power of the Aspects" spell will grow more powerful, reducing the health and damage dealt of all enemies in the Dragon Soul raid by 20%. This spell will grow progressively stronger over time to reduce the difficulty and make the encounters more accessible. The spell will affect both normal and Heroic difficulties, but it will not affect the Raid Finder difficulty.

Don't need the help of the Dragon Aspects? The spell can be disabled by talking to Lord Afrasastrasz at the beginning of Dragon Soul.

We hope you continue to enjoy Dragon Soul, and that these changes encourage you to attempt a higher difficulty, or just keep pushing to down that next boss.

WoW InsiderDragon Soul: Power of the Aspects buff rises to 20% next week originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>dragon-souldragon-soul-buffdragon-soul-nerfdragon-soul-power-of-the-aspectspower-of-the-aspectsAdam HoliskyFri, 27 Apr 2012 13:00:00 ESTGuildOx player analysis highlights the warlock declinehttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/27/guildox-player-analysis-highlights-the-warlock-decline/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/27/guildox-player-analysis-highlights-the-warlock-decline/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/27/guildox-player-analysis-highlights-the-warlock-decline/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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The folks at GuildOx have gone through their database and done some simple filtering that reveals some fascinating things about who is raiding heroic Dragon Soul. GuildOx started with level 85 characters, filtered for characters with ilevel 400 gear, and then filtered out anyone with PvP gear. What you see in the chart above is the result of that work -- a representative sample of who out of the over 13 million level 85 characters in the GuildOx database is raiding heroic Dragon Soul.

If you remember the post about the complexity of systems and player retention that I made a couple of weeks back, you'll remember that I mentioned Cynwise's excellent posts about the warlock decline. Well, here it is again reflected in GuildOx's data. Warlocks are the least played class in heroic raiding.

Warriors aren't doing much better, really. Most other classes seem fairly healthy, with classes that have healing specs doing fairly well and rogues absolutely ruling heroic raiding despite being one of the least-played classes in the game overall. It gets even more interesting once we get to look at the GuildOx spec-by-spec breakdown.

Continue reading GuildOx player analysis highlights the warlock decline

WoW InsiderGuildOx player analysis highlights the warlock decline originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>ClassClass-RepresentationClassesDeath-KnightDragon-SoulDruidGuildoxHeroic-Dragon-SoulHunterMagePaladinPriestRaidingRogueShamanWarlockWarriorMatthew RossiFri, 27 Apr 2012 12:00:00 ESTWhat signals the end of an expansion?http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/23/what-signals-the-end-of-an-expansion/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/23/what-signals-the-end-of-an-expansion/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/23/what-signals-the-end-of-an-expansion/#commentsFiled under: ,

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Wrath of the Lich King ended on kind of a sour note for me, largely because I didn't get to participate in my guild's one and only 25-man heroic Lich King kill before Cataclysm launched. Part of the rankle was for personal reasons, but part of it was also that for me, that kill would have ended the expansion. Never mind that we didn't kill Halion on heroic -- that was filler content, as far as I was concerned. Wrath of the Lich King was all about the Lich King and seeing him die.

But really, it goes back farther than that. In vanilla, I had no idea what an expansion really was; my MMOG experience was limited to WoW, for the most part, with a brief dabble in City of Heroes. So terms like expansions didn't make any sense to me until a friend explained what it meant: a new game was coming, building off the game I was already playing. No, I didn't have to purchase it if I didn't want to, but I wouldn't be able to see any of the new stuff if I didn't. And then my friend showed me just a sampling of all the cool stuff to be seen in The Burning Crusade. A beta invite later, and I was thoroughly hooked.

But there wasn't an end to vanilla for me. One day, I was playing vanilla WoW; the next, I was tromping through the Dark Portal and headed to Outland.

Continue reading What signals the end of an expansion?

WoW InsiderWhat signals the end of an expansion? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>burning-crusadecataclysmdragon-soulicecrown-citadelmists-of-pandarianaxxramasraidingsunwell-plateauworld-of-warcraftwow-expansionwrath-of-the-lich-kingAnne StickneyMon, 23 Apr 2012 14:00:00 ESTRaiding: Weighing the benefits of 25-man raids vs. 10-man raidshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/20/raiding-weighing-the-benefits-of-25-man-raids-vs-10-man-raids/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/20/raiding-weighing-the-benefits-of-25-man-raids-vs-10-man-raids/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/20/raiding-weighing-the-benefits-of-25-man-raids-vs-10-man-raids/#commentsFiled under: , ,

25s 10s raiding graph
According to Wowtrack.com, the number of 25-man raiding guilds is several orders of magnitude smaller than the number of 10-man raiding guilds. Why is Blizzard spending so much effort balancing both the 10- and 25-man raid formats when the 25-man raiding community contains an incredibly low percentage of the raiding population?

Blizzard Community Manager Zarhym recently posted this on a forum thread about the subject:

Zarhym
We'll continue making adjustments as necessary to keep 10- and 25-player raids within a relative alignment, in terms of time investment, difficulty and rewards. It may never be perfect, but we still see interest in both raid sizes for different reasons. And ultimately we'll continue designing 25-player raids as long as there are a decent number of guilds interested in the format. We've seen no evidence as of yet that such interest is waning to any degree that should cause us great concern.

We tend to begin raid design around 25 players anyway before tuning for the various sizes and difficulties. That, when combined with our intent to carry on with 25-player Raid Finder group sizes, makes it very much worth our time to continue designing 25-player raids.

Regardless of what players' personal preferences or opinions are regarding the varied raid formats in World of Warcraft, we don't see removing options as a smart choice in the foreseeable future.

Continue reading Raiding: Weighing the benefits of 25-man raids vs. 10-man raids

WoW InsiderRaiding: Weighing the benefits of 25-man raids vs. 10-man raids originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>10-man10-vs-2510s25-man25sfeaturedguild-leadershipguild-managementguild-officersleadershipraid-formatwow-guild-managementwow-guildswow-leadershipzarhymBasil BerntsenFri, 20 Apr 2012 16:00:00 ESTIt came from the Blog: Casual raiding for all in The Insidershttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/20/it-came-from-the-blog-casual-raiding-for-all-in-the-insiders/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/20/it-came-from-the-blog-casual-raiding-for-all-in-the-insiders/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/20/it-came-from-the-blog-casual-raiding-for-all-in-the-insiders/#commentsFiled under: ,

Alysrazor kill by The Insiders Image
If you are into casual but organized raiding or would like to try out raiding in a comfortable, non-judgmental atmosphere, The Insiders on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) may be the guild for you. The Insiders is the sister guild of It came from the Blog, WoW Insider's event guild.

Every month, It came from the Blog holds an event to which all are welcome. These activities are for the widest level ranges possible, depending on what we're doing. Some players enjoy the events and want to hang out with WoW Insider readers on a regular basis, so they can join The Insiders -- a casual, max-level guild. The only players not allowed to join are funsuckers and those who can't follow the very simple rules, which include keeping the guild chat to PG-13 and no drama. Unlike It came from the Blog, not everyone can invite. But there are usually enough players online so that someone has the ability to let you in on the fun.

The Insiders have historically been a leveling guild, full of alts of people whose mains are on other servers. But they have been adding more and more scheduled raid nights, mostly for older content. This week, for example, they have four nights of Firelands raiding scheduled, a Sarth 3D fun run and a guild Raid Finder night.

So if you want to join WoW Insider readers in some non-stressful raiding, come join the gang. It may be the perfect antidote to the restlessness caused by the pre-expansion lull. If you just want to join us for our monthly events, stay tuned for the next It came from the Blog announcement -- which will be some time next week.
Please join us on Zangarmarsh (US-PVE-H) in It came from the Blog. Any rank can invite, so /whisper Roblinator or any online member. You are all welcome as long as you play by our simple rules -- basically, don't be a funsucker! Visit the guild FAQ for more details.

WoW InsiderIt came from the Blog: Casual raiding for all in The Insiders originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>casual-raidingfeaturedguild-eventguild-eventsscheduled-runsthe-insiderswow-com-guildwow-dot-com-guildwow-eventwow-eventswow-insiderwow-insider-guildwow-insider-guild-eventwowinsiderRobin TorresFri, 20 Apr 2012 15:00:00 ESTThe alt deficiencyhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/18/the-alt-deficiency/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/18/the-alt-deficiency/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/18/the-alt-deficiency/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

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Do alts even count as alts when half of them are the same class as your main and the other half are rarely played?

I have a troubling relationship with the concept of playing an alt. First off, I don't really get alts. I know people who have four or six or even eight level 85 characters, geared and kitted out for raiding or Arena/RBG play. One woman I know has completely filled up two servers with level 85 characters (full character window, a server she plays Horde on and a server she plays Alliance on) that can at least run a random Hour of Twilight heroic. I accept that this exists, but I can't imagine doing it.

See, I'm middling at best about my achievements in game, but there are things I've done that you can't do anymore. I mean, every time I ran the 5-man Zul'Gurub, I kept thinking about how I'm a hero of the Zandalar tribe. Shouldn't they at least try and talk me out of killing them? Shouldn't I at least have the option to say, "Hey, guys, it's me, can we chill out on this?" and then we could express our sorrow at having to come to blows?

I can't do that on an alt. Well, OK, I can do it on the other two warriors who are also heroes of the Zandalar tribe, but you get my point. An alt's not going to have all those titles I barely realized I was earning, or my Mimiron's Head, or a Sulfuras in the bank laughing at me every time I got to the trasmogrification ethereal and get a hit of sweet, sweet gear changery.

Continue reading The alt deficiency

WoW InsiderThe alt deficiency originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 18 Apr 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>achievementsAltschangeslevelingmainTransmogMatthew RossiWed, 18 Apr 2012 20:00:00 ESTThe unspoken etiquette of world boss encountershttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/17/the-unspoken-etiquette-of-world-boss-encounters/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/17/the-unspoken-etiquette-of-world-boss-encounters/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/17/the-unspoken-etiquette-of-world-boss-encounters/#commentsFiled under: ,

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World bosses are returning in Mists of Pandaria!

You know, my uncle, the legendary General Commandicus Brutallicus, told me stories of veteran players staying up at various odd hours of the day to challenge the emerald dragons, Lord Kazzak, and others. Even though I was but a young priest at the time, he told me that going after them was a hoot and experience in itself, especially if your home was on a PvP realm.

There was an unspoken etiquette among raid leaders who went after world bosses. Since world bosses are making a comeback, I wanted to share them.
  • You can't call dibs. The first group that arrives, is buffed, and ready gets to pull the boss first. No exceptions. You can't just stroll in there and call dibs when your entire raid group wasn't there or ready yet. Heck, you can't even physically contest the boss even if you did get there first. Back in my day, anyone who cried about seeing the boss first and losing out was generally laughed at.
  • You take turns. There was an unspoken level of respect between the top raiding guilds. Despite the hatred and the fierce competition, we never interfered with attempts that were already progress. To do so brought dishonor to the guild and would cause you to be blacklisted from the realm. In an era when realm and faction transfer never existed, it was a big deal -- not to mention, if you opened fire on one group, they would come back and wipe your attempts. This would go on back and forth before everyone got tired, but no one would give. Yes, which leads me to the next rule ...
  • Bring two raid groups. You had one raid group which would tackle the main boss. The second raid group was there to provide cover and to engage or otherwise tie up any hostile players who wanted to wipe your raid. These tended to be the PvP contingents within the various guilds. They were the players who didn't raid but spent all day grinding Alterac Valley for Grand Marshall and all that. This second group of players would hide behind a mountain or a tree or something and wait for instructions from the primary raid leader before engaging anyone.
  • Majority guild receives first picks on loot. This is more of a courtesy than anything else. If a raid group consisted primarily of a raiding group and it was demonstrable that they did most of the heavy lifting, they had the right to select one item they wanted out of the loot drops before opening the rest to free roll. However, since the loot method is going to change, this rule is no longer relevant.

Continue reading The unspoken etiquette of world boss encounters

WoW InsiderThe unspoken etiquette of world boss encounters originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>etiquettegalleonmists-of-pandariaraidraid-bossraidingrulesworld-bossMatt LowTue, 17 Apr 2012 17:00:00 ESTDrama Mamas: When casual raiding is neither casual nor raidinghttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/16/drama-mamas-when-casual-raiding-is-neither-casual-nor-raiding/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/16/drama-mamas-when-casual-raiding-is-neither-casual-nor-raiding/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/16/drama-mamas-when-casual-raiding-is-neither-casual-nor-raiding/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm.

There is a common misconception that "casual" is synonymous with being inconsiderate or incompetent. Perhaps this is because many raiding guilds that take long breaks, don't show up on time, and don't read strategies before new encounters call themselves casual. What category does the letter writer's guild fall into?
Hey dear drama mama's

I'll try not to make any mistakes in my language since English isn't my native tongue.

I've read your colum/posts for a long time now and I always praise myself lucky that I've been spared of that drama.

Unfortunatly I'm in a conundrum.

Continue reading Drama Mamas: When casual raiding is neither casual nor raiding

WoW InsiderDrama Mamas: When casual raiding is neither casual nor raiding originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 16 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>advicecasual-raidingdramafeaturedguild-adviceguild-dramainconsiderateplaying-wowprogressionwarcraft-advicewow-advicewow-dramawow-drama-guidewow-player-guidewow-q-and-aRobin TorresMon, 16 Apr 2012 12:00:00 ESTArcane Brilliance: A look at frost PvE in Mists of Pandariahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/14/arcane-brilliance-a-look-at-frost-pve-in-mists-of-pandaria/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/14/arcane-brilliance-a-look-at-frost-pve-in-mists-of-pandaria/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/14/arcane-brilliance-a-look-at-frost-pve-in-mists-of-pandaria/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Mage using Frozen Orb
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. Christian Belt is usually at the helm, but rumor has it Saruman has trapped him on the tower of Orthanc and he's awaiting rescue by a large, intelligent bird. Senior Understudy and Last Surviving Student Josh Myers has been charged with delivering the ring to the fires of Mount Doom and writing an article about mages in Mists of Pandaria. Chances are he'll only succeed at the latter.

I started my mage back in The Burning Crusade with the intent of playing arcane. Arcane wasn't really a feasible leveling spec back then, though, and I ended up switching to frost around the time I hit Thousand Needles. The moment I got my first real Shattered Frostbolt off, though, I was hooked. When my mage hit 85 in Cataclysm, all I wanted to do was stay frost. Thankfully, we were into patch 4.2 by this point, and frost was moderately PvE-viable at the time.

When it came time to test the beta version of frost out this week, I had high hopes. Despite my mage being fire for most of DS, frost still feels the most familiar to me, and I was able to slip back into it fairly easily. A lot of the core feeling of the spec remains unchanged, with Frostbolt, Fingers of Frosted Ice Lances, and instant Frostfire Bolts comprising much of your core rotation. There are some real noticeable changes, however, and a lot of them are for the better.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: A look at frost PvE in Mists of Pandaria

WoW InsiderArcane Brilliance: A look at frost PvE in Mists of Pandaria originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 14 Apr 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>betabeta-mopbrain-freezedeep-freezefeaturedfingers-of-frostfrost-in-betafrost-magefrost-mage-arcane-brilliancefrost-mage-mists-of-pandariafrost-mage-mopfrost-mage-pvefrozen-bombfrozen-orbguide-to-magesmage-guidemage-infomage-talentsmists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-betawow-magewow-mage-infowow-magesJosh MyersSat, 14 Apr 2012 20:00:00 ESTTotem Talk: First impressions of restoration shaman in Mists of Pandariahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/10/totem-talk-first-impressions-of-restoration-shaman-in-mists-of/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/10/totem-talk-first-impressions-of-restoration-shaman-in-mists-of/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/10/totem-talk-first-impressions-of-restoration-shaman-in-mists-of/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Temple Lodur
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Totem Talk for elemental, enhancement and restoration shaman. Want to be a sultan of swing healing? A champion of Chain Heal? Totem Talk: Restoration, brought to you by Joe Perez (otherwise known as Lodur from World of Matticus and cohost of the For the Lore and Raid Warning podcasts), shows you how

Well, I finally got my hands on some beta access for Mists of Pandaria, and the first thing I did was make sure good old Lodur got copied over for some healing experimentation. I mean, after all, that's what I live for. Before doing any healing, though, it was time to poke around and see how things have changed.

And boy, have they! Even though I expected it, it was quite jarring to log in to Mists and see that Lodur had a measly 100,000 mana to work with. Any of you out there would probably notice that this is almost half of what we're sporting on our final run-through of Dragon Soul. While it is daunting, it's something that we have to keep in mind will be compensated with mana regen and increasing the mana pool as we level up to 90.

Continue reading Totem Talk: First impressions of restoration shaman in Mists of Pandaria

WoW InsiderTotem Talk: First impressions of restoration shaman in Mists of Pandaria originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>featuredguide-to-shamansmistsMists-of-Pandaira-Talent-Calculatormists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-betamists-of-pandaria-talent-changesmists-of-pandaria-talentsrestoResto-Shamanrestorationrestoration-shamanrestoration-shaman-columnrestoration-shaman-totem-talkshaman-guideshaman-healingshaman-infoshaman-restoration-columnshaman-talentswow-shamanwow-shaman-infoJoe PerezTue, 10 Apr 2012 09:00:00 ESTThis Too Shall Pass: Balance and imbalance in World of Warcrafthttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/09/this-too-shall-pass-balance-and-imbalance-in-world-of-warcraft/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/09/this-too-shall-pass-balance-and-imbalance-in-world-of-warcraft/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/09/this-too-shall-pass-balance-and-imbalance-in-world-of-warcraft/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

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First off, we know that game balance is an eternal goal. As the game evolves and becomes more complex (as it does every expansion, because new abilities are introduced and new classes or races make their debut), balancing them all for every role they can fill and every aspect of the game (Arena PvP, BGs, 5-man instances, raiding) becomes ever more complicated. Abilities that seem minor in impact can mushroom in importance due to synergy with other talents or abilities. As an example, Vengeance in PvP became important enough to cause it to be turned off, as gear improved and health pools rose.

This has been the case in World of Warcraft since its debut. Heck, thanks to Indalamar, warriors got nerfed before the game went live. Balance is ephemeral. Your class may be on top one day, but your day will end. Anyone who's tanked for the past six years can attest to the roller coaster of which class is best at which aspect of the role. There was a time where paladins were the undisputed kings of AoE tanking, a time before Death and Decay or Blood and Thunder.

Continue reading This Too Shall Pass: Balance and imbalance in World of Warcraft

WoW InsiderThis Too Shall Pass: Balance and imbalance in World of Warcraft originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 09 Apr 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>balancebalancingClass-BalanceDPSExpansionsgame-balancehealPatchestankMatthew RossiMon, 09 Apr 2012 20:00:00 ESTTotem Talk: First impressions of elemental shaman in Mists of Pandariahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/06/totem-talk-first-impressions-of-elemental-shaman-in-mists-of-pa/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/06/totem-talk-first-impressions-of-elemental-shaman-in-mists-of-pa/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/04/06/totem-talk-first-impressions-of-elemental-shaman-in-mists-of-pa/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Outlandish's guild screencap of their victory over heroic madness
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Totem Talk for elemental, enhancement, and restoration shaman. Once a lonely tauren shaman in a bad Scarlet Crusade-themed transmog set, Josh Myers is now a female dwarf shaman with pigtails who raids as all three specs on a regular basis. He kept the same transmog set, though.

"Elamism, Savior of Azeroth" has a nice ring to it. For the first time in my time raiding, I'm officially done with a tier of raiding before the next has been released, and I'm pretty psyched about that. (The fact that I picked up two heroic No'Kaleds for my enhancement spec has me grinning ear to ear.) With Dragon Soul behind me, I can start focusing on the future, which makes it very timely that my invite to the Mists of Pandaria beta came last night.

Before my raid tonight, I got to spend some time playing elemental on the beta, and I have some good news and some bad news to report. The bad news? Not much has changed from live for beta elemental shaman. The good news? Not much has changed from live for beta elemental shaman.

Part of this is a level cap issue. Pandaria is only open for leveling up to level 86 at the moment, which means that you don't yet have access to any of the real game-changers being introduced in Mists of Pandaria. Ascendence, our new DPS cooldown and all-around coolest spell in the game, will be our prize for hitting level 87, and the tier of talents that includes Elemental Blast, Unleashed Fury, and Primal Elementalist isn't available until level 90. Since those talents are all complex and will all drastically effect your DPS, there's a lot to look forward to.

Continue reading Totem Talk: First impressions of elemental shaman in Mists of Pandaria

WoW InsiderTotem Talk: First impressions of elemental shaman in Mists of Pandaria originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 06 Apr 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>astral-shiftbeta-mists-of-pandariabeta-mopelemental-betaelemental-first-impressionselemental-mists-of-pandariaelemental-mopelemental-shamanelemental-shaman-totem-talkfeaturedguide-to-shamanshealing-stream-totemhealing-tide-totemshaman-guideshaman-in-mopshaman-infoshaman-talentsshaman-totemsshaman-totems-redesignedstone-bulwark-totemwow-elemental-shamanwow-shamanwow-shaman-infoJosh MyersFri, 06 Apr 2012 16:00:00 ESTArcane Brilliance: What the MoP beta means for arcane mageshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/31/arcane-brilliance-what-the-mop-beta-means-for-arcane-mages/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/31/arcane-brilliance-what-the-mop-beta-means-for-arcane-mages/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/31/arcane-brilliance-what-the-mop-beta-means-for-arcane-mages/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Mage casting something very arcane-looking
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This column is usually brought to you by archmage and former Hogwarts headmaster Christian Belt, but rumor has it he's still stuck in an alternate dimension where playing World of Warcraft is state-mandated but only offers you 10 different classes of warlocks to play. Senior Understudy and Last Surviving Student Josh Myers is covering his class this week. Arm your spitballs.

Throughout Cataclysm, the arcane spec has been a strange beast. At the beginning of the expansion, it was solidly the worst mage spec due to the absurdly high cost of Arcane Blast. After some quick patch 4.1 fixes, it became our top-performing spec, especially if we had access to Shard of Woe. From that point on, arcane was a source of potent damage. While fire has become the vogue spec for Dragon Soul, arcane still is a very viable and desirable spec. Going forward into Mists of Pandaria, that all could change ... or the spec could be made even better.

Part of the source of arcane's potency this expansion has been due to how incredibly well the spec scales with intellect. While intellect provides the same spellpower to arcane mages that it does to every other caster, arcane mages' Mana Adept mastery makes the mana increase from intellect critical. Arcane Blast, the pivotal spell in arcane's rotation, has a static mana cost that is only based on mage base mana and not their mana after gear. Because of this, the more intellect you have means the more Arcane Blasts you can fit in at higher mana levels, meaning more damage through mastery.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: What the MoP beta means for arcane mages

WoW InsiderArcane Brilliance: What the MoP beta means for arcane mages originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>arcanearcane-chargesarcane-magearcane-mage-arcane-brilliancearcane-mage-mopfeaturedguide-to-magesmage-betamage-guidemage-infomage-mopmage-talentsmanamana-attunementmists-of-pandariamopmop-betamop-changesmop-mage-changesmop-mage-spellsMoP-mage-talentsmop-talentsnether-attunementwow-magewow-mage-infowow-magesJosh MyersSat, 31 Mar 2012 20:00:00 ESTThe Dragon Soul -- a post-mortemhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/30/the-dragon-soul-a-post-mortem/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/30/the-dragon-soul-a-post-mortem/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/30/the-dragon-soul-a-post-mortem/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Technically, as I write this, the Dragon Soul isn't actually dead yet, nor do raids really die so much as either become outdated or revamped. (Zul'Gurub and Zul'Aman stand as examples of raid content that died to be reused, while Naxxramas was used again as an introductory raid.) But since we're closing in on our fourth month running the raid instance, I thought this was a good time to examine it critically. What were the Dragon Soul's main themes? How did it function both as a raid instance and as a platform to end Deathwing's story arc? And most importantly to me, did I enjoy the ride?

Dragon Soul as an experience was fascinatingly diverse compared to previous raids. It eschewed the static finding of some dark cave or towering fortress to instead create a raid wherein we traveled the world, with different environments for the bosses to suit the locations and set pieces for our transitions. One complaint I've seen is that by reusing the Dragonblight and Wyrmrest Temple, Blizzard's design team was cutting corners -- but frankly, I don't find that criticism very accurate. First off, Wyrmrest is where the dragonflights typically meet, as demonstrated by Malygos' assault during the Nexus War, so it makes perfect sense for it to be where Deathwing sends his full Twilight's Hammer forces to try and crush them.

Continue reading The Dragon Soul -- a post-mortem

WoW InsiderThe Dragon Soul -- a post-mortem originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 30 Mar 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>DeathwingDragon-SoulDragon-Soul-Raidfeaturedpatch-4.3RaidUltraxionworld-of-warcraft-patch-4.3wow-patchwow-patch-4.3wow-patch-4.3-newswow-patch-newsZonozzMatthew RossiFri, 30 Mar 2012 16:00:00 ESTMists of Pandaria Beta: First look at the new raid instanceshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/27/mists-of-pandaria-beta-first-look-at-mop-raid-instances/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/27/mists-of-pandaria-beta-first-look-at-mop-raid-instances/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/27/mists-of-pandaria-beta-first-look-at-mop-raid-instances/#commentsFiled under: ,

YouTube user WazopVids has dropped some of the Mists of Pandaria beta files into a model viewer and recorded the results -- our first look at the Mogu'shan Vaults and the Mantid raid zones. I must stress that these are works in progress and not running in WoW software, so take all of this with a grain of salt. However, what we have seen so far looks pretty damn promising. Check out the Mogu'shan Vaults up above and the Mantid zone after the jump.

Continue reading Mists of Pandaria Beta: First look at the new raid instances

WoW InsiderMists of Pandaria Beta: First look at the new raid instances originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 27 Mar 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>mantidmantid-raidmists-of-pandariamists-raidsmogumogu-shan-vaultsmogushanraidraid-finderraidingraidsvaultsMathew McCurleyTue, 27 Mar 2012 16:00:00 ESTTotem Talk: Level 90 talents for enhancement shaman in MoPhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/24/totem-talk-level-90-talents-for-enhancement-shaman-in-mop/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/24/totem-talk-level-90-talents-for-enhancement-shaman-in-mop/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/24/totem-talk-level-90-talents-for-enhancement-shaman-in-mop/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Screenshot of MoP's new Ascendance ability
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Totem Talk for elemental, enhancement, and restoration shaman. Once a lonely tauren shaman in a bad Scarlet Crusade-themed transmog set, Josh Myers is now a female dwarf shaman with pigtails who raids as all three specs on a regular basis. He kept the same transmog set, though.

It's here!

As I'm writing this, it's past midnight Thursday night on the east coast, which means I could be referring to two things. If you're a preteen or, like me, you have a very odd and indescribable man crush on Josh Hutcherson, I'm probably referring to the Hunger Games movie. More likely, though, I'm referring to the Mists of Pandaria beta, which was released in the middle of the night on Wednesday. Probably.

MoP beta brings with it a lot of things, and chief among them is our long-awaited level 90 tier of talents. If you remember correctly, the first incarnation of this tier was awful, and everyone hated them. Fortunately, Blizzard listened to feedback and scrapped those, but new talents weren't included in the updated talent calculator a month ago, and we've been living in a state of suspense since then.

These new talents are all game-changers. The cool thing about them is that every one of them is going to impact your rotation in a new and interesting way, and I can see uses for all three of them. Those are the sort of talent choices that have me jumping for joy, and I'm very excited to see how this all plays out.

Continue reading Totem Talk: Level 90 talents for enhancement shaman in MoP

WoW InsiderTotem Talk: Level 90 talents for enhancement shaman in MoP originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 24 Mar 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>elemental-blastenhancement-in-mopenhancement-mopEnhancement-Shamanenhancement-shaman-level-90enhancement-shaman-talentsenhancement-shaman-talents-mopenhancement-shaman-totem-talkfeaturedguide-to-shamanslevel-90-shaman-talentsprimal-elementalistshaman-guideshaman-in-mopshaman-infoshaman-mopshaman-talentstalents-in-mopunleashed-furywow-shamanwow-shaman-infoJosh MyersSat, 24 Mar 2012 20:00:00 ESTArcane Brilliance: Mage glyphs in Mists of Pandariahttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/24/arcane-brilliance-mage-glyphs-in-mists-of-pandaria-sat-i-thin/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/24/arcane-brilliance-mage-glyphs-in-mists-of-pandaria-sat-i-thin/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/03/24/arcane-brilliance-mage-glyphs-in-mists-of-pandaria-sat-i-thin/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Female mages of various races dancing in front of talent panes
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages -- unless, of course, Christian Belt is sucked into an timeway and is currently stuck fleeing from pterosaurs in the late Mesozoic era, allowing Josh Myers to claim his column. I won't say that's what happened this week, but don't rule it out.

The last time someone who wasn't the most Illustrious Archmage Christian Belt wrote an Arcane Brilliance, things didn't go over well. Part of that might be because it was written by that shady Tyler Caraway character, and part of it was because he secretly was a warlock disguised as a mage. I'm a DPS shaman posing as a mage, but I've got two things on my side: I raided progression as a mage through the latter half of tier 12 and the first half of tier 13, and I'm not a warlock. I'm not going to pretend I'm Archmage Pants, but I'm no squib either. Maybe Senior Understudy or Last Surviving Apprentice Josh Myers?

In totally exciting news, Mists of Pandaria's beta has opened up, much to the chagrin of my social life and my exercise routine. On Wednesday night, Boubouille from MMO-Champion set out to datamine as much information as he could glean from the install files, and thanks to his work, we were able to get our hands on a nice list of the updated glyphs currently in the beta. Spoiler alert: They're pretty awesome.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: Mage glyphs in Mists of Pandaria

WoW InsiderArcane Brilliance: Mage glyphs in Mists of Pandaria originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 24 Mar 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>featuredglyph-of-crittermorphguide-to-magesmage-glyphsmage-glyphs-mopmage-guidemage-infomage-mists-of-pandariamage-mopmage-talentsmists-of-pandariamists-of-pandaria-betamop-betamop-beta-speculationwow-magewow-mage-infowow-magesJosh MyersSat, 24 Mar 2012 17:00:00 EST