Epic Drops

Beta being beta… the compiler only kept like ten minutes of the video. The rest is gone. So I’m working on getting a new run to record.

Very sorry for the delay, folks.

I have to apologize for the sketchy updates. I’ve had a bit of a problem logging into the beta, but that’s mostly because in its current form the server 100% rejects you and crashes your client if you aren’t running the same build of the expansion.

I don’t use (because I hate) the WoW Launcher, but you have to if you’re in the Beta because it autodownloads the patches for you. Now that a nice GM helped me over email (go Blizzard! :D) I’ve got it all worked out. So new content is coming this time for sure, I promise. I’ve got quite a lot to write about.

The biggest surprise I’ve got coming for everyone is a full-sized video of an Utgarde Keep run. Group makeup was:

• Mage (terrible PvP/AoE experimental fire build)… me
• Warlock (Fire Destro)
• Druid (Resto)
• Rogue (Subtley)
• Paladin (Prot)

I’ve got that rendering (and possibly editting for length… :/) and should have it up to youtube or gvid or something soon. That was a previous, semicrappy build where fire wasn’t good.

I now love fire. And frost. Not so much arcane… but wow, is fire awesome. Living Bomb got useful, the Pyroblast changes are cool, great AoE synergy, and overall great DPS. I’m really enjoying playing the mage. Which is scary, because I no longer know what I’m going to do when Wrath goes live.

Real updates will be incoming shortly. Just have to write them.

I’m still working on how to get media on here to show everyone, but fear not: I’ve got some cool stuff coming. I’m planning on recording clips and uploading them here for everyone to see.

I will save you all the information you already have read from WotLK’s page from Blizzard. You already know what Death Knights are and what they do. What you haven’t seen yet is what happens when you roll one. The entire process is fairly simple: you create the character just as you would a Level 1 Troll Shaman (or whatever.) It just looks a lot cooler, and hides the helmet so you can customize the face that will be hidden behind lots of really cool armor.

Speaking of really cool armor, it’s lacking in the gear you start with. I was actually surprised by how different it was than the stuff you see in Alpha. Actually, the only thing you see from Alpha is your beginning rune sword. And you lose that around Level 57. But everything looks amazing. Especially the set of blues you gain throughout the quests.

As Blizzard promised, players interact with the Lich King early in the expansion. The first NPC you see when you roll your Death Knight is The Lich King himself. In fact, my friends and I joke he must be muttering to himself “I’m surrounded by idiots…” as players run around learning a class. I have to commend Blizzard on how they introduced the class. They knew that players would have no idea how to play this new class of theirs, and gave them relatively few spells to use in the beginning (Blood Strike, Plague Strike, Icy Touch, and Death Coil to begin with.) The quests helped introduce fighting with DK and flush out the lore.

But the most intelligent strategy they employed was how they give you talent points. When you first create the character, you have zero. You must earn them through questing. You get them through quest rewards. It works very well, and helps me to choose and think about where to put them. Also, you slowly get more abilities (I gained maybe 4 just by questing and getting talent points. [Yes, I'm levelling frost.])

The final quest is one of the most epic (though frustrating… I couldn’t really hurt anything.) things I’ve done in WoW before, but I will save that for when you level your Death Knight. Some of the plot unravelled there is really cool.

If I had any complaints, I’d say maybe further explain some of the new kinds of mounted quests. They were really fun, but slightly confusing. Also, there is a bug with Death Coil that makes it not use runic power. Therefore I can gain 40rp and spam it for 400-600 damage every 1.5 seconds. Hehe.

Coming– review of Howling Fjord and Borean Tundra. Archaea (using the alias Talcra in Northrend) is inspecting the two, on her way to Level 71.

I’ve just now received a WotLK Beta invite from Blizzard, from Blizzcon ‘07. I’m downloading the client and transfering characters right now! This means I’ll be writing here much more often. I’ve got things to write about, pictures to show you, and a bunch of new content. I’m really excited.

The Beta client is roughly 1.88 GB… and is slated to complete downloading roughly five hours from now. I’m transfering Archaea, my 70 mage and Ingeniut my 58 druid. Not high enought to see what druids can do. On top of that, I’ll be creating a Death Knight (of course.)

Not much else to post, right now. I will keep everyone posted. Good evening!

Earlier today, the WotLK F&F Alpha was publically released (is that a oxymoron?) And did it create an upset. Now, before I go into details, I have to mention that it’s still in alpha which is extremely new content and is subject to change at any time. I must also mention that I am not involved in this Alpha at any way, and simply conveying information through information already released onto the internet, not revealing new information.

All over the internet is leaked news from the Alpha. New talents, new abilities, and pictures/content. As I’m writing this, I’m listening to the new Intro music. Damn… it’s great. As for the talents, I don’t know what to say. Almost every class that has new talents so far seems to get drastically upgraded. There are three classes that I looked at specifically: Mages, Druids, and Shamans. The former two because they’re the classes I play and the latter because my friend plays Shaman and is constantly disgusted by their complete gimped-ness at L70.

Mages got a few new spells, which I am happy about. The first is Frostfire which seems to do damage based on which the target is currently more weak against. It does poor-to-decent (500-700ish) and a very small dot after this and seems to be instant cast. The next is an arcane bolt similar to a high base-damage ice lance. It’s got a 3 second cool-down, and seems to fit in which a AM or AB cast rotation. I’m not quite sure what to think of that. The last is an explosion. It deals damage to everyone around him, and finally explodes for a larger amount of damage later. Overall, it seems like Blizzard is trying to let Arcane be the PvE spec and is trying to push an Elementalist with bias on frost for PvP, though I could be wrong.

Next is druids, which have gotten buffs all around, though it seems like Balance got the biggest buff (followed by Resto and finally feral.) There is now a 3-rank talent called Improved Moonkin form which among other things adds spell haste rating. Wrathcannon here we come. A whole bunch of new abilities for CC and AoE are also added to Balance. Resto druids get a new spell and a new talent that come to mind: the first is Flourish which is another HoT that heals very quickly and then slows down as the duration runs out. The most notable resto talent gives the target a “seed” whenever a Swiftmend or Rejuvenation crits a target. The seed then blooms on the next melee strike. Feral got fairly standard buffs… nothing too new.

As for shamans, I don’t really know what to say. They only have three new abilities that are mentioned. There is a new shock that hits the target’s “mind” and the other abilities have “shock charges.” It seems like the entire Shaman class is being reworked. It’s rather interesting.

Other noteworthy points: Warlocks are now super-OP. Warriors get DW for two-handed weapons (again.. just like TBC Alpha). And priests get interesting spells.

Look for them all right here.

This is an issue that has always bothered me.

I’m a fire mage. I always have been. Well, except right now, but that’s because I was experimenting with the differences of fire and frost in arena. But when I hit 70 and figured out that the Spellfire set would be some of the best PvE gear I can find until SSC, I started to look into the mats needed for the set. Archaea was spellcloth spec, so that wasn’t the issue…

Primal Fires, oh Primal Fires. I need 16 alone for the Spellfire Robe. I could just buy them off the AH, but it’s much cheaper to farm them. At this point I tell you that I’m not a miner, so don’t tell me to go farm Fel Iron Ore.

Do you know where Primal Fires drop? That’s right - fire elementals. Do you know what fire elementals are immune to? That’s right - fire damage. What do fire mages use? Fire. Damage. So I’ve got an issue, here. Either spend way too long (and use too much mana) casting chain frostbolts or arcane missiles, buy them off the AH for too much money, or not get the set at all.

Right now, like I mentioned, I’m frost spec and taking full advantage of it. I won’t spec back to fire until I’ve got all the mats I need. But this is one of the biggest annoyances I’ve seen in WoW. And the worst part is I can’t figure out a way to fix it.

UI Review looks at user interface compilations and picks them apart. Each UI is judged based on it’s ease of installation, functionalness, and last but not least, prettyness.

CaithUI, or Caithlyn UI is a compilation based off mostly Ace2 addons. Caithlyn (who developed the compilation, in case you couldn’t figure that out) is a reknown designer in the UI community. Her addons have spread across the internet (and made at least one debut on www.omgphatloots.org. It’s the compilation I’m currently using, and the one I draw inspiration from when I use my own.

The compilation itself requires a little more effort on installation than most. The process is listed on the UI’s website. (Link provided at the bottom of this post.) However, it does require changing more than just Servername, Charactername, and Accountname. It is fairly straightforward, but I was worried that I would mess up when I was setting everything up. Installation: 8/10

As for it’s functionality, almost everything is perfect. Almost every action you need from your UI is covered by CaithUI. Almost nothing is left as it was in the default UI. Not only is everything covered, but it’s all covered well. Action Bars include 21 buttons (I used one for my mount, and set up 1-5 with all possible modifiers.) Bags are covered, though annoyingly not your bags. Unit Frames are some of the most useful (and gorgeous, but that comes later) that I’ve ever seen, and that’s what I believe makes the UI. Caithlyn uses Pitfull to it’s full potential, and it works very, very well.

Besides the basics listed above, even fairly obscure functions are also included. Omen, ORaid2, and even Proximo are all included. I’ve had a bit of trouble with default placement of Omen and Proximo, but that leaves you to place them yourselves (not a big issue, for me.) Functionality: 9/10

Last but not least, this UI is gorgeous. It makes me jealous that I can’t produce something this pretty, and I draw a lot of inspiration from CaithUI when I build my own. The textures are not gaudy… in fact, almost all textures are very close to textureless, but include a slight polish that brings everything together. The best part is the continuity: textures are constant through-out the UI and everything is extremely well put-together. Look: 10/10

Overall Grade: 9/10

What would I fix: I struggle giving anything 10/10. I also dislike using decimals in a 10-point scale. But if I did, CaithUI would be a 9.8 or better. But here’s what I would fix (at the same time, I’m not an addon developer, so I don’t even know if this criticism is even possible. :/)

• Perfect installation: An end user should only have to change three folder names in WoW/WTF. Not anything more, ideally.
• I had to reinstall Proximo and Omen. Make sure they work, or keep your UI updated so that old versions are not included in your compilation.