This means that, just like regular epic gems, Dragon's Eyes are a raid consumable of sorts, and will be purchased every time a jewelcrafter upgrades certain pieces of gear.If you are looking for easy money, cooldown style, this is the closest it gets. Each jewelcrafting daily, in addition to the smallish amount of gold you get for doing the quest, rewards you with a highly sought after commodity that you can choose to turn into gold immediately. On many servers, Dragon's Eyes sell for hundreds of gold.That fruit at the top of the treeOf course, the alternative is to not use your tokens for gold, but for those recipes I mentioned before. There are pros and cons for each side. If you "take the money and run", you're guaranteeing yourself a decent return on the 10 minutes you spend flying to and hearthing back from the daily quest. If you buy a recipe, however, you could use it to make more than that over the long run! This is "proactive" profiteering. You have to make a conscious effort to squeeze profits from the ability to cut a gem, but there's no artificial limit on your volume, like there is for selling Dragon's Eyes.If you want to know whether there's a recipe that's worth it, you'll need to do some research. Ideally you'd have a clear idea of what you can realistically buy the uncut gems for, an idea of what the cut gem goes for, and some sort of clue about how much demand there is for a cut. If you had all this info, you could make a very well informed decision about whether those tokens are worth more as gold in your hand now, or as the ability to cut a gem. Unfortunately, this information is probably harder to get than it's worth. I don't know of any easy way to export Auctioneer data to a file, and unless you happen to have Market Watcher installed and are storing the historic prices of all the gem cuts you're interested in (which, by the way, would probably be a ridiculous amount of memory and not nearly as helpful as it sounds), you're going to have to guestimate it.Some very useful data about gems can be found at the WoW Gem Finder, a nifty little site that lets you filter gems by basically any statistic, as well as WoW-Popular list of gems. Assume that the most popular gems will be the lowest margin, but if you look at what they're selling for on a Tuesday night, you'll see whether it's worth the competition. Also, some of the lower volume gems (the annoying off color ones we need to socket to activate our meta gems, for example) can sell at very nice margin when your competition forgets to keep theirs for sale on the auction house.Don't forget to look at the meta gems! These days, everyone is so caught up in the trendy high volume epic cuts market that they forget that every time someone gets a helm upgrade, they need to get a meta gem. If you have access to a friendly alchemist (ideally a transmute specialized one), you can transmute uncut meta gems out of base mats. From there, just look at that WoW-Popular link to see what people use.Working the anglesJewelcrafters all start somewhere. Specifically, at 1 skill. Getting from there to where they want to be is a long and, when done incorrectly, expensive prospect. How to do this profitably is another post, but today we'll talk about a big part of jewelcrafting's biggest money maker: Prospecting. This ability is the cornerstone of jewelcrafting, and is the main way that uncut gems enter the marketplace. Since there are a ton of places when you're on the way to 450 skill that you need uncut gems to level, the demand is quite naturally high. The angle is that regardless of the highest level ore you can prospect, there's money to be made prospecting lower level ores. Try out:Adamantite Ore Fel Iron Ore Thorium Ore Mithril Ore Iron Ore Tin Ore Copper Ore These can all be prospected into gems that may or may not sell for more than the ore you bought to make them. Take a look at the prospect tab on the Wowhead.com pages to get an idea of the yields, and then look up your uncut gem prices. If the yields times the gem prices are more than the ore, you're in the money. Some of these used to be so profitable that a single high demand, uncommon uncut gem would pay for the ore on its own, and the rest was all profit. There's a lot of management overhead in this business, however. You need spreadsheets, research, and constant buying and selling of a large quantity of different types of items.As good as your toolsAs always, your ability to play the AH profitably will depend on your tools. Addons and mods make the auctioneer! For this business, Auctioneer is (of course) very handy in that you can automate mass buying and selling of lots of types of product. Your snatch list should have all these ores on it with the threshold set to lower than what you make by selling the uncut gems. You can use appraiser to automatically mass post and price the gems. Don't forget, the demand for these are sporadic, but heavy. Every time a budding jewelcrafter makes their way through the ranks of old world mats, they will have to buy large quantities of gems. Even if your auctions are not the cheapest on the AH, they can still sell.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Want to get Gold Capped?
This column will show you how, and is written by Basil "Euripides" Berntsen, also of outdps.com, the Hunting Party podcast, and the Call to Auction podcast.Hi folks, this week we'll be going over jewelcrafting. Making money with jewelcrafting can be a challenge, but it's a rewarding one. In fact, very few professions have as much earning potential as this one does. We'll start with the easy part: if you have a jewelcrafter, where's the low hanging fruit? I like to call this "reactive" profits. Anything where you can get a fixed income sort of profit for minimal effort, but you can't grind falls into this category for me. Alchemy has daily epic gem transmutes, mining used to have a daily Titansteel cooldown, tailoring has a bag cooldown, etc. What does jewelcrafting have?Low hanging fruitAs Michael mentioned in a recent Insider Trader, each and every day, jewelcrafters can do the jewelcrafting daily quest. This will reward them with a Dalaran Jewelcrafter's Token, which can be turned in for a variety of recipes or a Dragon's Eye, which is importantly cut by jewelcrafters into their better than average epic gems. This means that, just like regular epic gems, Dragon's Eyes are a raid consumable of sorts, and will be purchased every time a jewelcrafter upgrades certain pieces of gear.If you are looking for easy money, cooldown style, this is the closest it gets. Each jewelcrafting daily, in addition to the smallish amount of gold you get for doing the quest, rewards you with a highly sought after commodity that you can choose to turn into gold immediately. On many servers, Dragon's Eyes sell for hundreds of gold.That fruit at the top of the treeOf course, the alternative is to not use your tokens for gold, but for those recipes I mentioned before. There are pros and cons for each side. If you "take the money and run", you're guaranteeing yourself a decent return on the 10 minutes you spend flying to and hearthing back from the daily quest. If you buy a recipe, however, you could use it to make more than that over the long run! This is "proactive" profiteering. You have to make a conscious effort to squeeze profits from the ability to cut a gem, but there's no artificial limit on your volume, like there is for selling Dragon's Eyes.If you want to know whether there's a recipe that's worth it, you'll need to do some research. Ideally you'd have a clear idea of what you can realistically buy the uncut gems for, an idea of what the cut gem goes for, and some sort of clue about how much demand there is for a cut. If you had all this info, you could make a very well informed decision about whether those tokens are worth more as gold in your hand now, or as the ability to cut a gem. Unfortunately, this information is probably harder to get than it's worth. I don't know of any easy way to export Auctioneer data to a file, and unless you happen to have Market Watcher installed and are storing the historic prices of all the gem cuts you're interested in (which, by the way, would probably be a ridiculous amount of memory and not nearly as helpful as it sounds), you're going to have to guestimate it.Some very useful data about gems can be found at the WoW Gem Finder, a nifty little site that lets you filter gems by basically any statistic, as well as WoW-Popular list of gems. Assume that the most popular gems will be the lowest margin, but if you look at what they're selling for on a Tuesday night, you'll see whether it's worth the competition. Also, some of the lower volume gems (the annoying off color ones we need to socket to activate our meta gems, for example) can sell at very nice margin when your competition forgets to keep theirs for sale on the auction house.Don't forget to look at the meta gems! These days, everyone is so caught up in the trendy high volume epic cuts market that they forget that every time someone gets a helm upgrade, they need to get a meta gem. If you have access to a friendly alchemist (ideally a transmute specialized one), you can transmute uncut meta gems out of base mats. From there, just look at that WoW-Popular link to see what people use.Working the anglesJewelcrafters all start somewhere. Specifically, at 1 skill. Getting from there to where they want to be is a long and, when done incorrectly, expensive prospect. How to do this profitably is another post, but today we'll talk about a big part of jewelcrafting's biggest money maker: Prospecting. This ability is the cornerstone of jewelcrafting, and is the main way that uncut gems enter the marketplace. Since there are a ton of places when you're on the way to 450 skill that you need uncut gems to level, the demand is quite naturally high. The angle is that regardless of the highest level ore you can prospect, there's money to be made prospecting lower level ores. Try out:Adamantite Ore Fel Iron Ore Thorium Ore Mithril Ore Iron Ore Tin Ore Copper Ore These can all be prospected into gems that may or may not sell for more than the ore you bought to make them. Take a look at the prospect tab on the Wowhead.com pages to get an idea of the yields, and then look up your uncut gem prices. If the yields times the gem prices are more than the ore, you're in the money. Some of these used to be so profitable that a single high demand, uncommon uncut gem would pay for the ore on its own, and the rest was all profit. There's a lot of management overhead in this business, however. You need spreadsheets, research, and constant buying and selling of a large quantity of different types of items.As good as your toolsAs always, your ability to play the AH profitably will depend on your tools. Addons and mods make the auctioneer! For this business, Auctioneer is (of course) very handy in that you can automate mass buying and selling of lots of types of product. Your snatch list should have all these ores on it with the threshold set to lower than what you make by selling the uncut gems. You can use appraiser to automatically mass post and price the gems. Don't forget, the demand for these are sporadic, but heavy. Every time a budding jewelcrafter makes their way through the ranks of old world mats, they will have to buy large quantities of gems. Even if your auctions are not the cheapest on the AH, they can still sell.
This means that, just like regular epic gems, Dragon's Eyes are a raid consumable of sorts, and will be purchased every time a jewelcrafter upgrades certain pieces of gear.If you are looking for easy money, cooldown style, this is the closest it gets. Each jewelcrafting daily, in addition to the smallish amount of gold you get for doing the quest, rewards you with a highly sought after commodity that you can choose to turn into gold immediately. On many servers, Dragon's Eyes sell for hundreds of gold.That fruit at the top of the treeOf course, the alternative is to not use your tokens for gold, but for those recipes I mentioned before. There are pros and cons for each side. If you "take the money and run", you're guaranteeing yourself a decent return on the 10 minutes you spend flying to and hearthing back from the daily quest. If you buy a recipe, however, you could use it to make more than that over the long run! This is "proactive" profiteering. You have to make a conscious effort to squeeze profits from the ability to cut a gem, but there's no artificial limit on your volume, like there is for selling Dragon's Eyes.If you want to know whether there's a recipe that's worth it, you'll need to do some research. Ideally you'd have a clear idea of what you can realistically buy the uncut gems for, an idea of what the cut gem goes for, and some sort of clue about how much demand there is for a cut. If you had all this info, you could make a very well informed decision about whether those tokens are worth more as gold in your hand now, or as the ability to cut a gem. Unfortunately, this information is probably harder to get than it's worth. I don't know of any easy way to export Auctioneer data to a file, and unless you happen to have Market Watcher installed and are storing the historic prices of all the gem cuts you're interested in (which, by the way, would probably be a ridiculous amount of memory and not nearly as helpful as it sounds), you're going to have to guestimate it.Some very useful data about gems can be found at the WoW Gem Finder, a nifty little site that lets you filter gems by basically any statistic, as well as WoW-Popular list of gems. Assume that the most popular gems will be the lowest margin, but if you look at what they're selling for on a Tuesday night, you'll see whether it's worth the competition. Also, some of the lower volume gems (the annoying off color ones we need to socket to activate our meta gems, for example) can sell at very nice margin when your competition forgets to keep theirs for sale on the auction house.Don't forget to look at the meta gems! These days, everyone is so caught up in the trendy high volume epic cuts market that they forget that every time someone gets a helm upgrade, they need to get a meta gem. If you have access to a friendly alchemist (ideally a transmute specialized one), you can transmute uncut meta gems out of base mats. From there, just look at that WoW-Popular link to see what people use.Working the anglesJewelcrafters all start somewhere. Specifically, at 1 skill. Getting from there to where they want to be is a long and, when done incorrectly, expensive prospect. How to do this profitably is another post, but today we'll talk about a big part of jewelcrafting's biggest money maker: Prospecting. This ability is the cornerstone of jewelcrafting, and is the main way that uncut gems enter the marketplace. Since there are a ton of places when you're on the way to 450 skill that you need uncut gems to level, the demand is quite naturally high. The angle is that regardless of the highest level ore you can prospect, there's money to be made prospecting lower level ores. Try out:Adamantite Ore Fel Iron Ore Thorium Ore Mithril Ore Iron Ore Tin Ore Copper Ore These can all be prospected into gems that may or may not sell for more than the ore you bought to make them. Take a look at the prospect tab on the Wowhead.com pages to get an idea of the yields, and then look up your uncut gem prices. If the yields times the gem prices are more than the ore, you're in the money. Some of these used to be so profitable that a single high demand, uncommon uncut gem would pay for the ore on its own, and the rest was all profit. There's a lot of management overhead in this business, however. You need spreadsheets, research, and constant buying and selling of a large quantity of different types of items.As good as your toolsAs always, your ability to play the AH profitably will depend on your tools. Addons and mods make the auctioneer! For this business, Auctioneer is (of course) very handy in that you can automate mass buying and selling of lots of types of product. Your snatch list should have all these ores on it with the threshold set to lower than what you make by selling the uncut gems. You can use appraiser to automatically mass post and price the gems. Don't forget, the demand for these are sporadic, but heavy. Every time a budding jewelcrafter makes their way through the ranks of old world mats, they will have to buy large quantities of gems. Even if your auctions are not the cheapest on the AH, they can still sell.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
what are we actually doing?
Something we may not always think about what our spells and abilities actually do in the setting of the game. Sure, for us, the tooltip tells us the basic information and we go on from there, but what are we actually doing? How does Arcane Shot work? Does the hunter just have a special magic arrow they shoot me with? Do they somehow wave the arrow around and it becomes magic, say a few words in Darnassian or Troll or whatever? Some abilities are pretty obviously spells, like almost everything a mage does, but for other classes the border between magic and skill can get pretty blurry... moves like Cloak of Shadows really beggar the imagination to explain in a non magical way.
A recent discussion on the forums about Thunder Clap and its being suppressed by silence effects (it always has, or at least has for s
o long that I've just accepted it) brings out Ghostcrawler to explain the reasoning. Quite frankly, it's a pretty reasonable explanation: if you're silenced, no one can hear the Thunder Clap going off, and thus, it doesn't do anything.
It's not due to the ability being magical or not, silences prevent spell casting by preventing the spells themselves from being uttered, they're not a dispel, so it makes sense in game that silences also prevent any other ability that needs to be heard from working. I know from tanking Raging Spirits on top of ICC that I also can't taunt when silenced, which makes sense. I can yell all the insulting words I want at the ghost, but he can't hear them. I'm honestly not sure if I can Shockwave in this situation (we have very fast dispellers) but some sources I've checked indicate that yes, Shockwave is also prevented by silence. (I really don't get silenced all that much. I'll run some tests later today.)
I find it very interesting to see the complexities of how abilities and conditions interact in game, and how abilities are changed by in-game world logic. One class obviously uses the Holy Light, while another is just getting by on brute force: the in game distinction creates new complexities.
A recent discussion on the forums about Thunder Clap and its being suppressed by silence effects (it always has, or at least has for s
o long that I've just accepted it) brings out Ghostcrawler to explain the reasoning. Quite frankly, it's a pretty reasonable explanation: if you're silenced, no one can hear the Thunder Clap going off, and thus, it doesn't do anything.It's not due to the ability being magical or not, silences prevent spell casting by preventing the spells themselves from being uttered, they're not a dispel, so it makes sense in game that silences also prevent any other ability that needs to be heard from working. I know from tanking Raging Spirits on top of ICC that I also can't taunt when silenced, which makes sense. I can yell all the insulting words I want at the ghost, but he can't hear them. I'm honestly not sure if I can Shockwave in this situation (we have very fast dispellers) but some sources I've checked indicate that yes, Shockwave is also prevented by silence. (I really don't get silenced all that much. I'll run some tests later today.)
I find it very interesting to see the complexities of how abilities and conditions interact in game, and how abilities are changed by in-game world logic. One class obviously uses the Holy Light, while another is just getting by on brute force: the in game distinction creates new complexities.
Activision quietly restructures senior management
An article from the LA Times reports that Activision Blizzard Inc. has quietly made some internal changes to senior management and internal organization. The company has apparently split itself into four units, one focused on the military game Call of Duty, another handling internally owned properties like Guitar Hero and the Tony Hawk series, and a third handling licensed properties.
Why these changes weren't relayed to investors or the press is still unknown, but it's likely due to the fact that they could be interpreted as a sign of weakness. Activision has seen flagging sales for two of its former cash-cow franchises, Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero, and a recent very public scuffle with Call of Duty creators Jason West and Vince Zampanella following their ejection from their positions as heads of Activision's Infinity Ward studio painted the studio in a negative light with gamers. This kind of restructuring could point to turmoil within the company, an image that an industry juggernaut like Activision would want to avoid.
So, what do these changes mean for Blizzard, and for World of Warcraft? Apparently nothing, from what can be gathered -- this is Activision's first major change since they merged with Vivendi in 2008 to create Activision Blizzard. While the new departments are interesting developments, Activision states that the fourth unit, Blizzard Entertainment, remains an independent unit, and as such, these changes don't really affect them directly.
Why these changes weren't relayed to investors or the press is still unknown, but it's likely due to the fact that they could be interpreted as a sign of weakness. Activision has seen flagging sales for two of its former cash-cow franchises, Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero, and a recent very public scuffle with Call of Duty creators Jason West and Vince Zampanella following their ejection from their positions as heads of Activision's Infinity Ward studio painted the studio in a negative light with gamers. This kind of restructuring could point to turmoil within the company, an image that an industry juggernaut like Activision would want to avoid.
So, what do these changes mean for Blizzard, and for World of Warcraft? Apparently nothing, from what can be gathered -- this is Activision's first major change since they merged with Vivendi in 2008 to create Activision Blizzard. While the new departments are interesting developments, Activision states that the fourth unit, Blizzard Entertainment, remains an independent unit, and as such, these changes don't really affect them directly.
Monday, March 29, 2010
The ghosts of Azeroth
I love ghost stories, and one of the nice things about WoW is that Azeroth is full of them. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that one of the nice things for us is that Azeroth's full of them, because lore-wise it's hard to argue that the existence of any ghost is a happy occurrence. While I could (and probably should) turn this into a giant feature cataloging all the ghosts in the game, I have my personal favorites:Caer DarrowThe inhabitants of Caer Darrow are my favorite ghosts, not least because you can't see them at all until you've done a bit of work on their behalf. The island seems utterly deserted barring the Sarkhoff couple...until you realize that it's not, and that there's an entire town full of people trapped on its "happiest day," going about its business, oblivious to how the world's moved on. That there's a ghostly vendor you can't otherwise talk to without a Spectral Essence is even better.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Guide to The Forge of Souls
The Forge of Souls is the first instance in the group of three that make up the Frozen Halls in Icecrown Citadel. These three new instances were just added in the 3.3 patch that added all of the Icecrown Citadel content to the World of Warcraft. You must complete them in order to open up each of the next two. Once The Forge of Souls has been completed you will be able to move onto the next instance in the Frozen Halls. This is so that you can see and follow the storyline involved in the three instances as it evolves.
The worst of the Devourer of Souls abilities is Mirrored Soul, which is cast quite often, or at least it seems like it. As soon as you see it then all DPS must stop and wait until it expires. A well geared group will kill the affected player in no time flat if they keep DPSing, and no matter how good the healer is they will not have a chance to keep the player alive. Once the effect ends start back in on the boss.
The worst of the Devourer of Souls abilities is Mirrored Soul, which is cast quite often, or at least it seems like it. As soon as you see it then all DPS must stop and wait until it expires. A well geared group will kill the affected player in no time flat if they keep DPSing, and no matter how good the healer is they will not have a chance to keep the player alive. Once the effect ends start back in on the boss.
Icecrown Citadel 5-man Attunement Quest Line Walkthrough
Do you need to the basics on how to down the bosses in the new 5-man instances that came with patch 3.3 in World of Warcraft? Want to know where Jaina or Sylvanas is? Our latest walkthrough takes you through the entire attunement quest line that nets you a nice sum of Emblems of Frost, a hefty pocket full of gold, and access to all three new instances. Don't struggle begging general for what to do. Let Ten Ton Hammer take you to the next level with our latest walkthrough!
Krick and Ick are weird, to say the least. Clear the area around Krick and Ick very well because adds will wander into the boss area frequently if you don’t. When you aggro him the fight will become a tank and spank with a little bit of a dance. He’ll throw poison on the ground which you’ll need to move away from and he’ll throw bombs on the ground (magic bombs) that will get bigger and bigger before they explode. They’ll follow your feet.
Krick and Ick are weird, to say the least. Clear the area around Krick and Ick very well because adds will wander into the boss area frequently if you don’t. When you aggro him the fight will become a tank and spank with a little bit of a dance. He’ll throw poison on the ground which you’ll need to move away from and he’ll throw bombs on the ground (magic bombs) that will get bigger and bigger before they explode. They’ll follow your feet.
Guide to the Pit of Saron
The Pit of Saron is the second of three instances that make up the Frozen Halls in Icecrown Citadel. It was added in the recent patch 3.3 which added all of the Icecrown Citadel content to the game. You must complete the three instances in order and until they are done you can not enter the next in the series which happens to be the Halls of Reflection. This is so that you can see and follow the storyline involved in the three instances as it evolves.
Once he has been defeated Krick will beg for mercy from Jaina Proudmoore (if you are Alliance) or Sylvanas Windrunner (if you are Horde). While it looks like they are about to grant it, the Scourgelord is less than pleased with Krick betrayal and silences the Grome for good.
Once he has been defeated Krick will beg for mercy from Jaina Proudmoore (if you are Alliance) or Sylvanas Windrunner (if you are Horde). While it looks like they are about to grant it, the Scourgelord is less than pleased with Krick betrayal and silences the Grome for good.
Guide to the Halls of Reflection
The Halls of Reflection is the third and final of the three new instances that make up the Frozen Halls in Icecrown Citadel. The Halls were added in patch 3.3 which added all of the Icecrown Citadel content to the game. You can only enter the Halls of Reflection once you have completed the other two instances: The Forge of Souls and The Pit of Saron. This is so that you see and follow the whole storyline involved with finding the Lich King himself.
Once you have defeated both bosses the door opens up to allow you to follow on to find Arthas. Once there you find that he is too strong and you must flee up the escape tunnel which forms the final fight in the instance. This is another gauntlet type event where you must defeat several waves of undead as your faction champion clears the way up the tunnel allowing you to escape to safety.
Once you have defeated both bosses the door opens up to allow you to follow on to find Arthas. Once there you find that he is too strong and you must flee up the escape tunnel which forms the final fight in the instance. This is another gauntlet type event where you must defeat several waves of undead as your faction champion clears the way up the tunnel allowing you to escape to safety.
Hunter Equipment
You’ve finally completed the long grind to maximum level, and as a level 80 Hunter you feel almost invincible and can hardly wait to start collecting some awesome gear. Regardless of if you prefer PvP, serious raiding, or just plan on doing some five mans you should have a basic idea in advance of what stats to look for, what enchants to put on it, and what gems you should socket your new gear with. This guide will attempt to answer all those questions in the simplest form possible, so when that new piece of gear drops, you know you want it, and once you get it you know exactly what enchant to place on it, or gem to socket it with.
While all Hunters are in the end, Hunters, each of the three available specs require slightly different stats. While this may seem unimportant, let me assure you that being sure you are picking up the best stats for your particular spec will aid you more than you can imagine. Plus, memorizing the basic stats you need to look for is far easier than remembering a long list of even longer item names.
While all Hunters are in the end, Hunters, each of the three available specs require slightly different stats. While this may seem unimportant, let me assure you that being sure you are picking up the best stats for your particular spec will aid you more than you can imagine. Plus, memorizing the basic stats you need to look for is far easier than remembering a long list of even longer item names.
Guide to Ice Crown Citadel
With the launch of Patch 3.3 for the World of Warcraft last week titled Fall of the Lich King, everyone is excited to get into the Lich King’s Citadel. What do you need to know to survive though? What bosses are there, what do you need to watch out for, and how do you avoid looking like a noob? All this is explained by our very own Byron “Messiah” Mudry.
The first fight is a fairly straight forward fight meant to get you into the raid and not scare you off right away. It is defiantly a coordination test for DPS as they need to hold off and let the tanks re-establish threat after a blade storm. If they don’t they will be one shotted as it seems to that his first attack out of a Bone Storm is his big Bone Lash attack. If it hits anyone but a tank (and preferably two stacked in front) they will be killed.
The first fight is a fairly straight forward fight meant to get you into the raid and not scare you off right away. It is defiantly a coordination test for DPS as they need to hold off and let the tanks re-establish threat after a blade storm. If they don’t they will be one shotted as it seems to that his first attack out of a Bone Storm is his big Bone Lash attack. If it hits anyone but a tank (and preferably two stacked in front) they will be killed.
Dungeon Finder Guide
Are you perpetually LFG in World of Warcraft? Well look for group (LFG) no more with patch 3.3's Dungeon Finder. Are you confused by the interface or have some questions like how is loot done, what's the new debuff, is it fair, and other details? Well our Dungeon Finder Guide is here to help.
There is something you should know about random dungeons, specifically heroics. If you are saved to a heroic then the tool could still allow you to replay that heroic you’re locked to. It makes its best attempt not to place you into an instance that you’re not already locked out of, but there will be instances that you’ll rerun the same heroic in the same day.
There is something you should know about random dungeons, specifically heroics. If you are saved to a heroic then the tool could still allow you to replay that heroic you’re locked to. It makes its best attempt not to place you into an instance that you’re not already locked out of, but there will be instances that you’ll rerun the same heroic in the same day.
Guide Portal Relaunch
You don't want to spend forever looking for guides and walkthroughs for World of Warcraft when you want to hurry up and get back into the game. We're relaunching our guides portal with many improvements to help you find the guide you need so you can get back to what really matters, playing the game. So check out our new guide portal and let us help you take your game to the next level.
Popular Mounts and How to Get Them!
Regardless of if you are an avid mount collector, or just desire that one special mount to make your character complete, there is one question that is shared by all. Where can I find that mount? This guide will give the answer to that question for some of the rarest and most sought after mounts in the World of Warcraft.
A player goes rushing by and in that brief second you find you have become sure of one thing; you must have that mount. Whether you’re an avid collector or just an average Joe struck by fancy to , you are willing to go to great lengths to obtain the mount of your dreams. If only you knew where it came from! This guide will attempt to help you collect the mount you so desire but be advised that some mounts will take more dedication than others, and to obtain some will prove nothing short of frustrating.
A player goes rushing by and in that brief second you find you have become sure of one thing; you must have that mount. Whether you’re an avid collector or just an average Joe struck by fancy to , you are willing to go to great lengths to obtain the mount of your dreams. If only you knew where it came from! This guide will attempt to help you collect the mount you so desire but be advised that some mounts will take more dedication than others, and to obtain some will prove nothing short of frustrating.
Mage Equipment Guide
Our Mage Equipment Guide for Mages in World of Warcraft is a sure fire way to make sure your Mage is well equipped. No matter if you're level 1, level 80, or a Night Elf Mohawk, our Mage Equipment Guide will tell you what's best for gearing up, what to gem, what to enchant, and everything else associated with gear.
While leveling up you’re going to want to focus on snagging gear with Intellect. Towards TBC when gear starts branching off between healing (spirit and haste) and damage (intellect and hit) you'll want to go for damage. Both sets have critical strike rating and for the most part neither bit of gear is bad unless you’re running random dungeons and taking the healing specific gear from the healer.
While leveling up you’re going to want to focus on snagging gear with Intellect. Towards TBC when gear starts branching off between healing (spirit and haste) and damage (intellect and hit) you'll want to go for damage. Both sets have critical strike rating and for the most part neither bit of gear is bad unless you’re running random dungeons and taking the healing specific gear from the healer.
Ashen Verdict Reputation Guide
The Ashen Verdict was forged out of an alliance between the formidable Argent Crusade, led by Highlord Tirion Fordring, and the Knights of the Ebon Blade, led by Highlord Darion Mograine. Reminiscent of the Shattered Sun Offensive these two different organizations have come together for a common purpose, to lead the final assault against the Scourge in Icecrown Citadel and bring about the fall of the Lich King.
The best description of the Ashen Verdict was probably given by Highlord Darion Mograine himself:
“The Ashen Verdict is a select group of the most talented craftsmen in the Ebon Blade and Argent Crusade. Its creation symbolizes the unity of our forces as we mount the final assault on the Lich King and his minions.
It is through the Ashen Verdict's efforts that we have discovered how to bend saronite to our will.”
Reputation
With limited quests available from this faction, your main source of reputation gain is going to be inside the Citadel itself. Inside you will be granted reputation each time you manage to bring down a monster. The reputation you receive will depend on what type of mob you kill. Most normal mobs will grant you 15 reputation, however harder elites, and named mobs will grant you more. Bosses inside Icecrown Citadel will grant you 250 reputation.
There are however a few quests that you can and should do as soon as Icecrown is fully opened. The Ashen Verdict, having learned to bend Primordial Saronite to their will, have set their smiths on an epic task; to repurpose Arthas’s former weapon Light’s Vengeance (discarded once he claimed Frostmourne) to forge a new weapon called Shadowmourne.
You will assist the Verdict’s smiths in forging Shadowmourne in what could be considered one of the most epic quest lines ever seen in game:
The Sacred and the Corrupt
Place Light's Vengeance, 25 Primordial Saronite, Rotface's Acidic Blood, and Festergut's Acidic Blood in Highlord Mograine's runeforge in Icecrown Citadel. (Rotface’s Acidic Blood and Festergut’s Acid may only be obtained in 25 player difficulty)
Shadow’s Edge
Gain Shadow’s Edge (2H Axe) after gathering all the materials from The Sacred and the Corrupt.
A Feast of Souls
Highlord Darion Mograine wants you to use Shadow's Edge to slay 1000 of the Lich King's minions in Icecrown Citadel. Souls can be obtained in 10 or 25 person difficulty.
Unholy Infusion
Highlord Darion Mograine wants you to infuse Shadow's Edge with Unholy power and slay Professor Putricide.
This quest may only be completed in 25 person difficulty of Icecrown Citadel.
Blood Infusion
Highlord Darion Mograine wants you to infuse Shadow's Edge with blood and defeat Queen Lana'thel.
This quest may only be completed in 25 person difficulty of Icecrown Citadel.
Frost Infusion
Highlord Darion Mograine has instructed you to slay Sindragosa after subjecting yourself to 4 of her breath attacks while wielding Shadow's Edge.
This quest may only be completed in 25 person difficulty of Icecrown Citadel.
The Splintered Throne
Highlord Darion Mograine asks you to collect 60 Shadowfrost Shards. Shadowfrost Shards may only be obtained in the 25 person difficulty setting.
Shadowmourne…
Highlord Darion Mograine asks you to bring him Shadow's Edge.
The Lich King’s Last Stand
Highlord Darion Mograine in Icecrown Citadel bids you to kill the Lich King.
The best description of the Ashen Verdict was probably given by Highlord Darion Mograine himself:
“The Ashen Verdict is a select group of the most talented craftsmen in the Ebon Blade and Argent Crusade. Its creation symbolizes the unity of our forces as we mount the final assault on the Lich King and his minions.
It is through the Ashen Verdict's efforts that we have discovered how to bend saronite to our will.”
Reputation
With limited quests available from this faction, your main source of reputation gain is going to be inside the Citadel itself. Inside you will be granted reputation each time you manage to bring down a monster. The reputation you receive will depend on what type of mob you kill. Most normal mobs will grant you 15 reputation, however harder elites, and named mobs will grant you more. Bosses inside Icecrown Citadel will grant you 250 reputation.
There are however a few quests that you can and should do as soon as Icecrown is fully opened. The Ashen Verdict, having learned to bend Primordial Saronite to their will, have set their smiths on an epic task; to repurpose Arthas’s former weapon Light’s Vengeance (discarded once he claimed Frostmourne) to forge a new weapon called Shadowmourne.
You will assist the Verdict’s smiths in forging Shadowmourne in what could be considered one of the most epic quest lines ever seen in game:
The Sacred and the Corrupt
Place Light's Vengeance, 25 Primordial Saronite, Rotface's Acidic Blood, and Festergut's Acidic Blood in Highlord Mograine's runeforge in Icecrown Citadel. (Rotface’s Acidic Blood and Festergut’s Acid may only be obtained in 25 player difficulty)
Shadow’s Edge
Gain Shadow’s Edge (2H Axe) after gathering all the materials from The Sacred and the Corrupt.
A Feast of Souls
Highlord Darion Mograine wants you to use Shadow's Edge to slay 1000 of the Lich King's minions in Icecrown Citadel. Souls can be obtained in 10 or 25 person difficulty.
Unholy Infusion
Highlord Darion Mograine wants you to infuse Shadow's Edge with Unholy power and slay Professor Putricide.
This quest may only be completed in 25 person difficulty of Icecrown Citadel.
Blood Infusion
Highlord Darion Mograine wants you to infuse Shadow's Edge with blood and defeat Queen Lana'thel.
This quest may only be completed in 25 person difficulty of Icecrown Citadel.
Frost Infusion
Highlord Darion Mograine has instructed you to slay Sindragosa after subjecting yourself to 4 of her breath attacks while wielding Shadow's Edge.
This quest may only be completed in 25 person difficulty of Icecrown Citadel.
The Splintered Throne
Highlord Darion Mograine asks you to collect 60 Shadowfrost Shards. Shadowfrost Shards may only be obtained in the 25 person difficulty setting.
Shadowmourne…
Highlord Darion Mograine asks you to bring him Shadow's Edge.
The Lich King’s Last Stand
Highlord Darion Mograine in Icecrown Citadel bids you to kill the Lich King.
How to play a Retribution Paladin
So you want to lay the holy smack down on the enemy? Want to prove that Paladins can dish it out as well as they can take it? Well, you have come to the right place. Retribution Paladins bring a lot of DPS to the table in a group, they also bring a lot of group benefits.
Probably the most important talents are your Crusaders Strike and Divine Storm, since they will form 2 of the 5 main attacks that make up your DPS rotation. For more information on that rotation skip down to the Attack Rotation section of the guide. Crusader's Strike is a single target attack with a short cooldown that will become a staple in all of your rotations, while Divine Storm hits multiple targets and factors in against groups of enemies.
Probably the most important talents are your Crusaders Strike and Divine Storm, since they will form 2 of the 5 main attacks that make up your DPS rotation. For more information on that rotation skip down to the Attack Rotation section of the guide. Crusader's Strike is a single target attack with a short cooldown that will become a staple in all of your rotations, while Divine Storm hits multiple targets and factors in against groups of enemies.
Death Knight Equipment Guide
Death Knights have many options when it comes to gear. This is due to the fact that they can choose to play as a damage dealer or as a tank. Even knowing their role, depending on their talent spec the priorities for gear can shift subtlety. Which gear is best, which stats are best, how about glyphs and enchants?
Tank – Tanking Death Knights need to worry primarily about Defense until they reach the relevant cap, which is 540 for level 80 raids. Beyond that they also need to focus on Hit, Expertise, Dodge and Parry. While many Tanks are tempted to only focus on Stamina to give them as big a health pool as possible, the better method is to balance Stamina with a good bit of avoidance, granted from your Dodge and Parry.
Tank – Tanking Death Knights need to worry primarily about Defense until they reach the relevant cap, which is 540 for level 80 raids. Beyond that they also need to focus on Hit, Expertise, Dodge and Parry. While many Tanks are tempted to only focus on Stamina to give them as big a health pool as possible, the better method is to balance Stamina with a good bit of avoidance, granted from your Dodge and Parry.
Rogue Equipment Guide
Our World of Warcraft Rogue Guide now has its own equipment page going over how to pick the best gear for your Rogue while gearing up. We've got the best gems, enchants, glyphs, and more so that you don't have to go hunting to see how to properly enhance your Rogue. While you're here be sure to check out our many other class guides, so even if you're not a Rogue, there is something for you here at Ten Ton Hammer.
Let’s talk weapons first, since Mutilate and Combat require two different weapon types. Combat Rogues will want to look for swords or axes which currently have the best talent (Hack and Slash). You’ll be able to easily find swords in heroics, on the vendors, and all over the place. You can do Mace Specialization, but it’s all up to you. Mutilate specs will need daggers, for obvious reasons. In Combat, Rogues will need a slow main hand and a fast offhand weapon, while Mutilate just needs a fast offhand.
Let’s talk weapons first, since Mutilate and Combat require two different weapon types. Combat Rogues will want to look for swords or axes which currently have the best talent (Hack and Slash). You’ll be able to easily find swords in heroics, on the vendors, and all over the place. You can do Mace Specialization, but it’s all up to you. Mutilate specs will need daggers, for obvious reasons. In Combat, Rogues will need a slow main hand and a fast offhand weapon, while Mutilate just needs a fast offhand.
Guide to Ice Crown Citadel
This Tuesday Icecrown Citadel is set to expand in the World of Warcraft, as another wing is opened in the Lich Kings lair. This week sees the lab and experimentation area of Professor Putricide called the Plagueworks open up for players. All of the fights in this wing are fairly complicated and being new do you know enough to survive? What bosses are there, what do you need to watch out for, and how do you avoid looking like a noob? All this is explained by our very own Byron “Messiah” Mudry to get you ready for the raid.
Professor Putricide is the last boss in the Plagueworks wing of the Icecrown Citadel. He is the insane Professor that created the two previous bosses and wants to cure us of all our flesh.
While not much is known just yet as the Professor was not officially tested in PTR we do know a few things. One mentioned piece of info is that the fight will require players to drink the various potions on his work bench to interact with things going on in the room.
Professor Putricide is the last boss in the Plagueworks wing of the Icecrown Citadel. He is the insane Professor that created the two previous bosses and wants to cure us of all our flesh.
While not much is known just yet as the Professor was not officially tested in PTR we do know a few things. One mentioned piece of info is that the fight will require players to drink the various potions on his work bench to interact with things going on in the room.
The Evolution of Raiding 3
What was Blizzard to do? Well, the answer to their dilemma came in the form of hard modes. Other games have them right? You see it in your shooters, platformers, and many other genres, so why not MMORPGs? Blizzard's first foray into the world of MMO hard modes was Sartharion. He has four levels of difficulty. Besides him, there are three mini-bosses in his volcanic domain: Vesperon, Shadron, and Tenebron. You can choose to kill one, two or all three of the mini-bosses before attacking the big dragon himself, or you can clear the trash mobs and attack him with the full force of the three other dragons to contend with. It seemed that Blizzard had found the perfect compromise.
However, with a player base as large as World of Warcraft's, Blizzard can never seem to please everybody. With the next content patch of the expansion came Ulduar, and Blizzard threw in enough hard modes to make any hardcore raider jump for joy. However, people complained about how they were implemented. Some said that Blizzard should have released easy modes first, and then enabled hard modes once the easy modes were cleared for progression purposes. Some said it should have been the other way around. Then with Trial of the Champions, Blizzard used a staggered release system for the five bosses in the instance, and then they enabled hard modes for all bosses with a 50 attempt limit per week. The fewer attempts a guild uses to clear the bosses, the better the loot. However, people still weren't happy with the attempt limit, and criticism abounded once again.
However, with a player base as large as World of Warcraft's, Blizzard can never seem to please everybody. With the next content patch of the expansion came Ulduar, and Blizzard threw in enough hard modes to make any hardcore raider jump for joy. However, people complained about how they were implemented. Some said that Blizzard should have released easy modes first, and then enabled hard modes once the easy modes were cleared for progression purposes. Some said it should have been the other way around. Then with Trial of the Champions, Blizzard used a staggered release system for the five bosses in the instance, and then they enabled hard modes for all bosses with a 50 attempt limit per week. The fewer attempts a guild uses to clear the bosses, the better the loot. However, people still weren't happy with the attempt limit, and criticism abounded once again.
The Evolution of Raiding 4
I can personally attest to being in both camps during my WoW career. For most of The Burning Crusade and the beginning of Wrath of the Lich King, I was in a middle of the road guild that cleared most of the encounters in the game at an average or below average pace. I had no complaints in TBC, but when WoTLK came out and we started raiding, we had lost a few key members, and our 25 man raiding team proved to be subpar. I am personally glad for the 10 man 25 man model that Blizzard employs now, because while our 10 man group, which was made up of some of the better players in the guild, blew through content, our 25 man group was sorely lacking. Sadly, even with the super easy raids, our 25 man group never even managed to kill Kel'Thuzad before our main tank/raid leader quit either out of frustration or burnout. After a while, I jumped the sinking ship that was my guild to one of the best guilds on the server. The difference was like night and day. We blew through Naxxramas without trouble, Malygos was only a slight bother, and the only true challenge came in the form of Sartharion with the 3 drakes in tow. But he too, eventually fell to our blades and spells, and we also got server fifth for the Twilight Zone achievement.
After experiencing what it was like to raid in a guild that was more than decent, I could definitely sympathize with the more hardcore guilds. However, I also can't forget the guild that I was with for a large part of my raiding career. As hard of a time as we had Naxxramas, I doubt that we were the only guild in the world who found it to be a bit of a challenge. It is was a wise move on Blizzard's part to account for those who find their raiding content more than a bit challenging, while keeping the option for a bit more challenging experience available for those who want it. In the ever changing landscape that is World of Warcraft raiding, our next foe will be the Lich King himself, the most recognizable figure in the Warcraft franchise. With such a prominent figure being the next one to go down, Blizzard has to promise both an epic and accessible experience. Perhaps they will finally find a raiding format in patch 3.3 that will make everyone happy and that they can stick with for the rest of the game's life. Only time, or maybe the Public Test Realm, will tell.
After experiencing what it was like to raid in a guild that was more than decent, I could definitely sympathize with the more hardcore guilds. However, I also can't forget the guild that I was with for a large part of my raiding career. As hard of a time as we had Naxxramas, I doubt that we were the only guild in the world who found it to be a bit of a challenge. It is was a wise move on Blizzard's part to account for those who find their raiding content more than a bit challenging, while keeping the option for a bit more challenging experience available for those who want it. In the ever changing landscape that is World of Warcraft raiding, our next foe will be the Lich King himself, the most recognizable figure in the Warcraft franchise. With such a prominent figure being the next one to go down, Blizzard has to promise both an epic and accessible experience. Perhaps they will finally find a raiding format in patch 3.3 that will make everyone happy and that they can stick with for the rest of the game's life. Only time, or maybe the Public Test Realm, will tell.
The Evolution of Raiding 2
So at first, after the most hardcore of the hardcore had downed bosses or after a boss proved nearly invincible, Blizzard would respond with nerfs that lowered the skill level needed to down bosses; however, they remained a formidable challenge for most, and the attunements were still there, as daunting as ever before, to the general gaming populace. Then, shortly after the release of the BlackTemple content patch, Blizzard removed the need for attunements altogether. With the advent of the Sunwell Plateau, Blizzard utilized daily quests to open the gate of the instance. The more people on your server that did the daily quests that were made available on the Isle of Quel'Danas, the quicker the gates were opened, which was a great compromise. However, what awaited you on the other side of that instance portal was perhaps the most diabolically difficult raid that Blizzard has created to date, garnering praise from those who could overcome its challenges and scorn from those who could not get past the first pack of trash mobs, who seemed to be as difficult to overcome as Kael'Thas and his lackeys at the end of Tempest Keep - which we all know was merely a setback for the great leader of the Blood Elves.
Then there was the patch, Echoes of Doom and the 20% health and damage nerf to all Burning Crusade raid bosses in addition the massive buffs to player damage and healing in the pre-expansion patch that, in hindsight, almost seemed to presage the easy mode raid dungeons that the expansion pack would bring upon release. Players jumped at the opportunity to faceroll through every instance in the Burning Crusade, and, when Wrath of the Lich King was launched, all the raid bosses then available in the expansion pack were cleared within three days of release. So previous raids were too hard, and the new raids were too easy.
Then there was the patch, Echoes of Doom and the 20% health and damage nerf to all Burning Crusade raid bosses in addition the massive buffs to player damage and healing in the pre-expansion patch that, in hindsight, almost seemed to presage the easy mode raid dungeons that the expansion pack would bring upon release. Players jumped at the opportunity to faceroll through every instance in the Burning Crusade, and, when Wrath of the Lich King was launched, all the raid bosses then available in the expansion pack were cleared within three days of release. So previous raids were too hard, and the new raids were too easy.
The Evolution of Raiding 1
No matter what you think about World of Warcraft, few can deny that it is an immersive MMO experience that manages to cover the many aspects of the genre with a level of polish that one would be hard pressed to find elsewhere in one package. Whether you are into PVE, PVP, or RP, you can find it all in WoW at a level that few games are capable of reaching (although, some RPers would adamantly argue that the lack of a housing system is one of the great pitfalls of the game that is yet to be rectified). However, my favorite aspect of the game is PVE; and, further still, raiding. There is nothing like getting together with 9 or 24 guildies - or maybe even a PUG if you are desperate or not willing to be tied down - and downing the great, big baddies that the game has to offer.
As someone who started playing the game during the second expansion, The Burning Crusade, I have only seen some of the evolutionary process that WoW has gone through over the years. However, the one thing that has remained a constant in all my time with the game is the hardcore versus casual raiding debate. This topic has sparked many a flame war in the WoW forums. Casuals believe that they should be able to experience the content that the more hardcore players do because it is part of the game that they are paying for - even if they lack the skill and/or time to commit that the more hardcore players do - and understandably so. During the Burning Crusade, there were long atunement quest chains, nigh insurmountable gear checks, and *gasp* skill - yes, skill - barriers that prevented them from doing so.
As someone who started playing the game during the second expansion, The Burning Crusade, I have only seen some of the evolutionary process that WoW has gone through over the years. However, the one thing that has remained a constant in all my time with the game is the hardcore versus casual raiding debate. This topic has sparked many a flame war in the WoW forums. Casuals believe that they should be able to experience the content that the more hardcore players do because it is part of the game that they are paying for - even if they lack the skill and/or time to commit that the more hardcore players do - and understandably so. During the Burning Crusade, there were long atunement quest chains, nigh insurmountable gear checks, and *gasp* skill - yes, skill - barriers that prevented them from doing so.
Trial of the Crusader 5
Phase 2: Run, Period.
Once underground, the raid needs to get as far away from Anub'arak while keeping a patch of ice between them and him.
Anub'arak once again uses Impale, but he will chase a specified target this time. Players targeted by Anub'arak will have a mark similar to Hunter's Mark above their heads. Anub'arak' spikes speed up the longer they are uninterrupted by a patch of ice. This phase ends after a certain amount of time, not the number of times Anub'arak will have to crash into the ice patches. If you want to practice for hard mode, kite the spikes around.
Throughout this phase, Swarm Scarabs will spawn around the raid. Everyone should attack these adds even if they're not a tank. Swarm Scarabs don't hurt a lot, but they have a stacking damage-over-time effect that really hurts once you reach 3 or 4 stacks.
Once the timer is up, it's back to Phase 1. Kill the Swarm Scarabs before going back to Anub'arak.
If you don't want him to enrage, Anub'arak should only go into this phase twice.
Phase 3: They'll Crawl All Over You
Once Anub'arak reaches 30%, he'll cast Leeching Swarm. There will be no more Nerubian Burrowers for this phase so you won't need the Frost Spheres.
Anub'arak will heal himself for 10% of the current health of each raid every second for this phase until his death, so DPS will need every skill they can muster. If your DPS can't keep up with Anub'arak, let their health drop to 75-50% to reduce the health drained by Anub'arak.
And with Anub'arak down, the Heroic version of your raid is unlocked.
Once underground, the raid needs to get as far away from Anub'arak while keeping a patch of ice between them and him.
Anub'arak once again uses Impale, but he will chase a specified target this time. Players targeted by Anub'arak will have a mark similar to Hunter's Mark above their heads. Anub'arak' spikes speed up the longer they are uninterrupted by a patch of ice. This phase ends after a certain amount of time, not the number of times Anub'arak will have to crash into the ice patches. If you want to practice for hard mode, kite the spikes around.
Throughout this phase, Swarm Scarabs will spawn around the raid. Everyone should attack these adds even if they're not a tank. Swarm Scarabs don't hurt a lot, but they have a stacking damage-over-time effect that really hurts once you reach 3 or 4 stacks.
Once the timer is up, it's back to Phase 1. Kill the Swarm Scarabs before going back to Anub'arak.
If you don't want him to enrage, Anub'arak should only go into this phase twice.
Phase 3: They'll Crawl All Over You
Once Anub'arak reaches 30%, he'll cast Leeching Swarm. There will be no more Nerubian Burrowers for this phase so you won't need the Frost Spheres.
Anub'arak will heal himself for 10% of the current health of each raid every second for this phase until his death, so DPS will need every skill they can muster. If your DPS can't keep up with Anub'arak, let their health drop to 75-50% to reduce the health drained by Anub'arak.
And with Anub'arak down, the Heroic version of your raid is unlocked.
Trial of the Crusade 4
Designations
You'll need two tanks, one for Anub'arak and one for the Nerubian Burrowers.
Assign one ranged DPS or one Death Knight to destroy the Frost Spheres floating above the raid for the duration of the encounter.
Phase 1: Tank-and-Spank
Your designated Sphere Breaker should take down at least 3 Frost Spheres during Phase One. These will create patches of Permafrost which will stop the Nerubian Burrowers from burrowing before the raid can kill them.
The main tank should tank Anub'arak near one of these patches. The off-tank should take the Nerubian Burrowers to the same patch used for Anub'arak.10-man encounters only see one Nerubian Burrower spawn every few seconds, so DPS should focus fire on every second Nerubian Burrower that spawns and then switch to area-of-effect skills to damage the Burrower and Anub'arak.
Anub'arak is a pushover to tank, dealing basic damage and stunning the tank every now and then. He also casts a damage-over-time spell on a few raiders, but it's nothing that can't be outhealed.
Nerubian Burrowers attack at a faster rate when they are near each other. One off-tank is often enough if the DPS can quickly kill those Burrowers.
If you have Deadly Boss Mods, the assigned Sphere Breaker should get to work 20 seconds before Anub'arak burrows.
And Anub'arak will burrow. No puny patch of ice will stop him.
You'll need two tanks, one for Anub'arak and one for the Nerubian Burrowers.
Assign one ranged DPS or one Death Knight to destroy the Frost Spheres floating above the raid for the duration of the encounter.
Phase 1: Tank-and-Spank
Your designated Sphere Breaker should take down at least 3 Frost Spheres during Phase One. These will create patches of Permafrost which will stop the Nerubian Burrowers from burrowing before the raid can kill them.
The main tank should tank Anub'arak near one of these patches. The off-tank should take the Nerubian Burrowers to the same patch used for Anub'arak.10-man encounters only see one Nerubian Burrower spawn every few seconds, so DPS should focus fire on every second Nerubian Burrower that spawns and then switch to area-of-effect skills to damage the Burrower and Anub'arak.
Anub'arak is a pushover to tank, dealing basic damage and stunning the tank every now and then. He also casts a damage-over-time spell on a few raiders, but it's nothing that can't be outhealed.
Nerubian Burrowers attack at a faster rate when they are near each other. One off-tank is often enough if the DPS can quickly kill those Burrowers.
If you have Deadly Boss Mods, the assigned Sphere Breaker should get to work 20 seconds before Anub'arak burrows.
And Anub'arak will burrow. No puny patch of ice will stop him.
Trial of the Crusader 2
Sphere Collection
As you go through the fight, light and dark spheres will appear at the edges of the arena. This happens before one of the Valkyr Twins casts a spell. Everyone in the raid should collect spheres that match their essence. They will take a little damage, but nothing compared to taking a sphere of the opposing element. If the bosses collect these spheres, it will add to their empowerment and once they've reached a certain number, will soft-enrage and deal considerable damage to the tanks for 15 seconds.
A popular tactic is to assign all ranged DPS to one essence and melee DPS with one healer to the other essence.
Ranged DPS should clump to the point that your character models overlap. During the sphere phase, the healer assigned to the melee DPS should filter any of the spheres that don't match the ranged DPS' essence. Melee DPS should do the same but to protect the tank in charge of their target boss. Ranged DPS will take in any matching spheres that are within 5-10 yards of their assigned position.
Once a player reaches 100 stacks of "Powering Up", they will gain Empowering Light or Empowering Darkness, increasing damage dealt. Any threat-direction skills that they have should be used on the tanks before the massive surge of damage pulls the boss from the tank.
As you go through the fight, light and dark spheres will appear at the edges of the arena. This happens before one of the Valkyr Twins casts a spell. Everyone in the raid should collect spheres that match their essence. They will take a little damage, but nothing compared to taking a sphere of the opposing element. If the bosses collect these spheres, it will add to their empowerment and once they've reached a certain number, will soft-enrage and deal considerable damage to the tanks for 15 seconds.
A popular tactic is to assign all ranged DPS to one essence and melee DPS with one healer to the other essence.
Ranged DPS should clump to the point that your character models overlap. During the sphere phase, the healer assigned to the melee DPS should filter any of the spheres that don't match the ranged DPS' essence. Melee DPS should do the same but to protect the tank in charge of their target boss. Ranged DPS will take in any matching spheres that are within 5-10 yards of their assigned position.
Once a player reaches 100 stacks of "Powering Up", they will gain Empowering Light or Empowering Darkness, increasing damage dealt. Any threat-direction skills that they have should be used on the tanks before the massive surge of damage pulls the boss from the tank.
Trial of the Crusader 3
Post-Spheres: Boss Skills
After the Sphere Phase, one of the bosses will cast either a Vortex or Twins' Pact. All players except the tanks should change their essence to match the boss casting the Vortex. Overheal the tank that doesn't have a matching essence. Twins' Pact is a 15-second cast that heals 20% of their total HP and cannot be interrupted until the boss casting it has their shield broken. Breaking the shield DOES NOT stop the cast, so give anyone who can interrupt the time to do so. If your DPS is good, you won't need to change your essence to take down the shield while using the setup mentioned in Sphere Collection.
There is no set pattern for the spells, but the spells cast by the bosses will not repeat until the two Vortexes and two Twins' Pacts have been cast.
Boss Encounter 5: Anub'arak
You can forget about the celebration for beating the first four bosses of the Trials. Just as everyone is about to get their mug of ale, the Lich King crashes the party and nerd rages at Tirion for not inviting him. As payback, he shatters the floor and sends you all plummeting into a pool of water while claiming the rights to your souls. He'd have done a better job if he hadn't forgotten about WoW's water physics.
At least the scenery beats the monotony of the Argent Coliseum. The frozen kingdom of Azjol-Nerub towers before you and at the far end of the frozen walls is Anub'arak, back to redeem himself after being such a mediocre five-man boss.
After the Sphere Phase, one of the bosses will cast either a Vortex or Twins' Pact. All players except the tanks should change their essence to match the boss casting the Vortex. Overheal the tank that doesn't have a matching essence. Twins' Pact is a 15-second cast that heals 20% of their total HP and cannot be interrupted until the boss casting it has their shield broken. Breaking the shield DOES NOT stop the cast, so give anyone who can interrupt the time to do so. If your DPS is good, you won't need to change your essence to take down the shield while using the setup mentioned in Sphere Collection.
There is no set pattern for the spells, but the spells cast by the bosses will not repeat until the two Vortexes and two Twins' Pacts have been cast.
Boss Encounter 5: Anub'arak
You can forget about the celebration for beating the first four bosses of the Trials. Just as everyone is about to get their mug of ale, the Lich King crashes the party and nerd rages at Tirion for not inviting him. As payback, he shatters the floor and sends you all plummeting into a pool of water while claiming the rights to your souls. He'd have done a better job if he hadn't forgotten about WoW's water physics.
At least the scenery beats the monotony of the Argent Coliseum. The frozen kingdom of Azjol-Nerub towers before you and at the far end of the frozen walls is Anub'arak, back to redeem himself after being such a mediocre five-man boss.
Trial of the Crusader 1
And it's almost over. The fourth and fifth boss encounters are much more epic than the previous encounters, actually reaching the difficulty of some Ulduar bosses.
Boss Encounter 4: The Twin Val'kyr
Before the bosses enter, designate who will take the Dark Essence or Light Essence buff.
When you start the encounter, the Dark Val'kyr will move south and the Light Val'kyr will move north. They will stop close to the northwestern and southwestern points of the star design on the Coliseum's floor. The essences will be on the northwestern, southwestern, southeastern, and southwestern.
You will need two tanks for these bosses. If you're relying on a Paladin tank, have them tank the Dark Valkyr. Paladin tank skills will have very little effect on the Light Valkyr.
The tanks should pick the essence that is the same color as their target boss to reduce the amount of damage that they take. Classes with threat- Ulduar. Surge of Light and Surge of Darkness will deal raid-wide damage directing skills will need to use those skills for the duration of the encounter.
This fight is healing-intensive, comparable to Ignis the Furnace Master in every two seconds from the very start of the encounter. You can minimize the damage from one of the surges by picking an essence. The damage from the opposing element will increase, but the overall damage is lesser than not picking an essence at all.
Boss Encounter 4: The Twin Val'kyr
Before the bosses enter, designate who will take the Dark Essence or Light Essence buff.
When you start the encounter, the Dark Val'kyr will move south and the Light Val'kyr will move north. They will stop close to the northwestern and southwestern points of the star design on the Coliseum's floor. The essences will be on the northwestern, southwestern, southeastern, and southwestern.
You will need two tanks for these bosses. If you're relying on a Paladin tank, have them tank the Dark Valkyr. Paladin tank skills will have very little effect on the Light Valkyr.
The tanks should pick the essence that is the same color as their target boss to reduce the amount of damage that they take. Classes with threat- Ulduar. Surge of Light and Surge of Darkness will deal raid-wide damage directing skills will need to use those skills for the duration of the encounter.
This fight is healing-intensive, comparable to Ignis the Furnace Master in every two seconds from the very start of the encounter. You can minimize the damage from one of the surges by picking an essence. The damage from the opposing element will increase, but the overall damage is lesser than not picking an essence at all.
Arena Seasons and Special Prizes
One very cool aspect of the Arena System is the introduction of seasons. Each season lasts several months, and at the end of a season, the top ranked teams are rewarded with some unique prizes such as special mounts, titles, or anything else the season's promoters deem worthy of the best gladiators.
The top 0.5% of Arena teams in each battlegroup will receive a Deadly Gladiator's Frostwyrm at the conclusion of the Arena season. This awesome mount travels faster than most normal epic mounts at 310% flight speed!
The current ladder season is Arena Season 6
Previous Arena Seasons
Arena Season 1 (February, 2007 - June, 2007)
Arena Season 2 (June - November, 2007)
Arena Season 3 (November, 2007 - June, 2008)
Arena Season 4 (June, 2008 - November, 2008)
Arena Season 5 (December, 2008 - April, 2009)
Arena Season 6 (April, 2009 - ?)
Seasonal RewardsThe start of every Arena season is accompanied by an all-new set of Arena rewards that are slightly more powerful than those of the previous season. For example, at the start of Arena Season 2, new Arena Season 2 rewards became available for purchase from the Arena vendors. Those who had arena points saved up at the beginning of the season could have purchased some of the new items right away. The previous season's items are still available to purchase at a slight discount. For the onset of Arena Season 4, Season 2's rewards are purchasable with honor points instead of arena points. This trend may continue in future seasons.
The newest season of Arena gear can only be purchased if you meet the requirements with your 3 or 5-player team rating. Rating requirements from 2-player teams can still be used to purchase the previous season of gear.
Arena Titles At the conclusion of each season, members of highly-ranked teams receive special titles to honor their achievements:
Gladiator (Top 0.5%)
Duelist (Top 0.5% - 3%)
Rival (Top 3% - 10%)
Challenger (Top 10 - 35%)
Beginning with Season 2, special titles are given to the #1 team in each bracket for each battlegroup. The special title was called "Merciless Gladiator" for Season 2.
Arena titles last until the end of the following season, at which time they are removed and redistributed to that season's top teams.
Beginning with season 7, players will no longer have access to the newest season's weapons or shoulder armor and will not qualify for the Gladiator title/rewards with ratings from the 2v2 bracket alone. Ratings obtained through 3v3 and 5v5 game play will be required for these rewards, while the rest of the newest season's items will remain available to players in all brackets (standard rating restrictions still apply).
The top 0.5% of Arena teams in each battlegroup will receive a Deadly Gladiator's Frostwyrm at the conclusion of the Arena season. This awesome mount travels faster than most normal epic mounts at 310% flight speed!
The current ladder season is Arena Season 6
Previous Arena Seasons
Arena Season 1 (February, 2007 - June, 2007)
Arena Season 2 (June - November, 2007)
Arena Season 3 (November, 2007 - June, 2008)
Arena Season 4 (June, 2008 - November, 2008)
Arena Season 5 (December, 2008 - April, 2009)
Arena Season 6 (April, 2009 - ?)
Seasonal RewardsThe start of every Arena season is accompanied by an all-new set of Arena rewards that are slightly more powerful than those of the previous season. For example, at the start of Arena Season 2, new Arena Season 2 rewards became available for purchase from the Arena vendors. Those who had arena points saved up at the beginning of the season could have purchased some of the new items right away. The previous season's items are still available to purchase at a slight discount. For the onset of Arena Season 4, Season 2's rewards are purchasable with honor points instead of arena points. This trend may continue in future seasons.
The newest season of Arena gear can only be purchased if you meet the requirements with your 3 or 5-player team rating. Rating requirements from 2-player teams can still be used to purchase the previous season of gear.
Arena Titles At the conclusion of each season, members of highly-ranked teams receive special titles to honor their achievements:
Gladiator (Top 0.5%)
Duelist (Top 0.5% - 3%)
Rival (Top 3% - 10%)
Challenger (Top 10 - 35%)
Beginning with Season 2, special titles are given to the #1 team in each bracket for each battlegroup. The special title was called "Merciless Gladiator" for Season 2.
Arena titles last until the end of the following season, at which time they are removed and redistributed to that season's top teams.
Beginning with season 7, players will no longer have access to the newest season's weapons or shoulder armor and will not qualify for the Gladiator title/rewards with ratings from the 2v2 bracket alone. Ratings obtained through 3v3 and 5v5 game play will be required for these rewards, while the rest of the newest season's items will remain available to players in all brackets (standard rating restrictions still apply).
Enchanting Leveling Guide 1-450
The Ten Ton Hammer staff has been working hard to bring many of our older World of Warcraft guides up to date. This week we proudly reintroduce the Enchanting Leveling Guide which has been revamped and updated for Patch 3.3. The updated guide will help take you from 1-450 in a blink of an eye with as little cost to you as possible.
We’ve found the recipes with the least amount of required materials, and used as many Trainer purchased formulas as possible. As mentioned above, Enchanting is still, really expensive to level, even with a guide like this. You can easily spend several thousand gold to reach max level, so be certain that this really is the profession for you before you begin.
We’ve found the recipes with the least amount of required materials, and used as many Trainer purchased formulas as possible. As mentioned above, Enchanting is still, really expensive to level, even with a guide like this. You can easily spend several thousand gold to reach max level, so be certain that this really is the profession for you before you begin.
The DPS Guide to Instances and Raids
Doing DPS in World of Warcraft can be a difficult task. Many players are constantly frustrated that even with better gear they're still unable to do the kind of DPS others are. Our latest guide to doing DPS in Instances & Raids provides a generic look at all of the fundamental basics that will make sure you're doing everything and can hit #1 on the DPS charts. Be sure to stay tuned as we provide more guides for tanks, healers, and DPS here at Ten Ton Hammer.
How much DPS does a dead person do? Zero. (the impending zombie apocalypse not withstanding) That’s another key rule to doing DPS. You need to be alive in order to beat something with your stick (or axe or hammer or fiery magic or whatever). How can you stay alive? By not standing in damaging environmental effects, or in front of bosses – in other words, being constantly aware of your surroundings.
How much DPS does a dead person do? Zero. (the impending zombie apocalypse not withstanding) That’s another key rule to doing DPS. You need to be alive in order to beat something with your stick (or axe or hammer or fiery magic or whatever). How can you stay alive? By not standing in damaging environmental effects, or in front of bosses – in other words, being constantly aware of your surroundings.
Basics and Combat
With all the changes to the Warrior class since the 3.0.2 patch, it's time for a major update to the class guide. So today Byron "Messiah" Mudry starts that update with a revamp to the class basics and combat pages. These pages now explain the new basics to the class and how it is played, including the basic stats, rotations, and abilities.
As a Warrior tank you are able to take quite a beating. With all that heavy plate armour, a shield, and your various skills and abilities you can last a while against anything. Even though you can last though, your party members can't. If they draw aggro from you they will most likely be killed in just a few hits. That makes your tanking rotation extremely important. You want to be able to generate as much threat as you possibly can as quickly as you can.
As a Warrior tank you are able to take quite a beating. With all that heavy plate armour, a shield, and your various skills and abilities you can last a while against anything. Even though you can last though, your party members can't. If they draw aggro from you they will most likely be killed in just a few hits. That makes your tanking rotation extremely important. You want to be able to generate as much threat as you possibly can as quickly as you can.
Profession Rewards
In World of Warcraft there are many different professions and bonuses that they provide. Which one is best for which class though? Which bonuses will make your character the best it can be in the end game? That is what Byron “Messiah” Mudry looks at in this new guide to Profession Rewards.
Blacksmiths get the ability to add two extra gem sockets to their equipment, one to their gloves and one to their bracers. This means that they can further customize their gear as required. This works out to a bonus of +46 Spell Power, +40 Strength, or +60 Stamina due to the extra slots. You could put any number of other bonuses into the slots instead.
Blacksmiths get the ability to add two extra gem sockets to their equipment, one to their gloves and one to their bracers. This means that they can further customize their gear as required. This works out to a bonus of +46 Spell Power, +40 Strength, or +60 Stamina due to the extra slots. You could put any number of other bonuses into the slots instead.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Patch. 3.3.3 trace
Patch 3.3.3 is live, and players all over are checking out all the new features -- I myself was busily exchanging battleground marks for honor points on all my various characters when I noticed something... odd. My level 70 pet had a new buff. Not just any buff -- Hellscream's Warsong, the buff from Icecrown Citadel. Upon further investigation, it appears that all player pets are currently running around with this buff -- demons, hunter pets and ghouls are all currently affected, although I didn't get a chance to peek at a mage water elemental. Alliance players are seeing the Alliance counterpart, Strength of Wrynn, also on all pets. While only the 5% version of the buff, players of every level are being affected -- I'm sure the level 42 hunter I saw running around with it was pleased. This is most assuredly a bug that will be fixed at some point in the near future, but pet classes? Enjoy it while you can. I know I will!
Just these!
Just these!
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