Blizzard’s been hard at work adjusting a lot of WoW’s game systems for Cataclysm, and one of the biggest changes in the pipeline is the overhaul of the inscription profession. You may remember the Path of the Titans alternate advancement system was axed in favor of making inscription, well, better. On top of other changes and a new UI, part of this task is adding a new tier of glyphs — called prime glyphs — on top of the already-existing tiers of major and minor.

Ghostcrawler recently had this to say about the new glyph system:

Ghostcrawler

Several classes have had their glyphs worked on and updated as of this beta patch, but only rogues and shaman glyph passes appear to be “done,” so we’ve listed glyphs for those two after the break.

Continue reading Cataclysm beta: New glyphs for rogues and shaman

Filed under: Rogue, Shaman, Cataclysm

Cataclysm beta: New glyphs for rogues and shaman originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Every Friday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting balance druids and those who group with them. This week, we are exploring two of the four wings in Heroic ICC. Be prepared to face some of the most challenging content the game has to offer, folks — it only gets real from here on out.

I know, I know: No one cares about ICC any more … Everything is all about Cataclysm … So why bother talking about it? That’s far from the truth, though. ICC still matters to many people. However, if you happen to be of the more pragmatic sort, then hear me out for a little bit. Most of the server-first and world-first kills may have already been claimed, but there is always loot to be had, gear that can be helpful for either soloing things now or leveling in the expansion. Beyond simple gear, heroic ICC is simply fun. People have argued that hard modes aren’t quite the same as a truly difficult raid encounter because they are the same as the standard encounters — perhaps true to a point, but heroic modes are really fun when they are done correctly. Heroic Putricide feels like a completely different encounter when done on heroic mode and is extremely fun.

Perhaps this issue is a little bit late in coming, and for that I apologize — but it’s better late than never, aye? To start with, the first order of business is to ensure that your guild is prepared to go against heroic encounters. The ICC buff can be very intoxicating to some players, and it may make you feel more prepared than you really are for these encounters. Perhaps, in some cases, you are, and perhaps in others, you are not. Not all heroic encounters are created equal; some are far more difficult than others. Since this issue will deal with the opening Lower Spire and the Blood wing, the three encounters you’d want to start with would be Marrowgar, Gunship and Blood Princes; Deathwhisper, Saurfang and Blood Queen Lana’thel would be the three more difficult encounters in these two sectors.

Continue reading Shifting Perspectives: Heroic ICC for balance druids — Lower Spire and Crimson Hall

Filed under: Druid, (Druid) Shifting Perspectives

Shifting Perspectives: Heroic ICC for balance druids — Lower Spire and Crimson Hall originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com’s daily Q&A column in which the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today.

/cast Conjure Bone
/cast Conjure Bone
/cast Conjure Bone
/cast Conjure Bone

Bui asked:

With the level cap having gone up to 85 now and I’m guessing plenty of beta testers have reached it whats the gear looking like from the quests and other sources ? I mean is it apparent that all the ICC stuff you got will be put to shame by the new greens? I know you’ve said that most of your gear will be getting replaced by around 83 but how vast is the gap between ICC and like an 85 green?

Uldum and Twilight Highlands aren’t itemized yet, so we don’t know. My ICC gear (non-heroic) was replaced handily by stuff in Deepholm and Hyjal before it; if not due to pure power differences, than because of mastery and much-needed stamina against the hard-hitting Cataclysm mobs.

Continue reading The Queue: Dog Wizard

Filed under: The Queue

The Queue: Dog Wizard originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com.

Early in August, <Hero Squad> of Bleeding Hollow (US-H) started a screenshot scavenger Hunt to distribute the five vanity items that are awarded when a Shadowmourne is created. The Shadowmourne chest contains five pretty sweet items. (Well, OK, maybe making a portal to Dalaran isn’t exactly the games greatest reward.) A chance at any of these items would have most players bending over backwards, and our raiders are no different.

A few months back, the officers sat down to figure out what to do with these items. We knew that we wanted to do something fun and memorable to hand out the first items. We brainstormed about 10 different types of games but eventually decided on a screenshot scavenger hunt.

Continue reading Guest Post: Heroes hunting for screenshots

Filed under: Guest Posts

Guest Post: Heroes hunting for screenshots originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Care and Feeding of Warriors is about warriors, who hurl themselves into the fray, the very teeth of danger, armed with nothing more than the biggest weapons and armored with the absolutely heaviest armor we can find. Hey, we’re not stupid — we’re just crazy.

Having spent the last few weeks more or less avoiding talking about Cataclysm, I’m now going to dive back into the discussion of our “soon” to come expansion. While the most recent beta push didn’t do much at all to our talents from previous beta builds, we did see some significant changes as the new glyph system was implemented. We also got actual plate models for a lot of green and blue quest drops so that my warrior now looks like he’s wearing a classic Roman-style gladiator helmet and chest in the screenshot above. At this point, there’s a lot to talk about in terms of how things are shaking out.

Continue reading The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Stream of Cataclysm consciousness

Filed under: Warrior, (Warrior) The Care and Feeding of Warriors, Cataclysm

The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Stream of Cataclysm consciousness originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

Friends are going to fight or at least disagree every once in a while. This really should be a private issue and not one that should spill over into a shared guild … in a perfect world. What actually happens is drama — awkward drama that affects the innocent bystanders and fellow guildies. At least that’s what happened in this week’s email.

Dear Drama Mamas,

I’d been playing in a guild with a couple of RL friends of mine and their friends/relatives. It was a nice, relaxed, casual environment to do some dungeons and 10-mans, and I very much enjoyed it. However, there had always been some sort of drama happening — the worst of which was last month when, just before a raid, I whispered one of those RL friends of mine with some advice for the fights we were about to do. He was playing a new 80 and he hadn’t done a raid in that role before. He immediately logs off, then logs back on a second later and says in raid chat, “DOES ANYONE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH ME!!! OTHER THAN [my name]!!!” We managed to get it sorted out, with appropriate apologies made from both sides, and continued with the raid.

Continue reading Drama Mamas: Friends fight and the guild suffers

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Drama Mamas

Drama Mamas: Friends fight and the guild suffers originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The latest patch to the Cataclysm beta has finally added in the revamped glyph UI, sporting the newly implemented Prime Glyphs, a selection window and awesome new convenience features. The new interface has a search box for quickly finding glyphs, expanding categories of prime, major and minor glyphs, and even shows you what glyphs you have not yet learned.

Personally, I think that the new glyph interface is one of the coolest Cataclysm revamps. The old system of glyphs was an awesome first step, but it has been refined and polished in ways we never could have expected. Check out the gallery of shots below to see what the glyph UI looks like while empty, sporting some glyphs, and using the search feature.

Filed under: Cataclysm

Cataclysm Beta: The new glyph UI originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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“Captain Taylor, he gained the day,” the tall orc intoned. The behemoth’s voice caught in his throat as he groaned out the last word.

“Walk him along,” Lolegolas said with a sorrowful voice. “Throgg, carry him along. Captain Taylor gained us this day.”

The orc hefted the captain’s favorite weapon. Captain Taylor’s Chopper was a simple board from the deck of his ship with a deck nail driven through it. “We’ll carry him to his burying ground where it’s stormy. And I will lower him to his rest with my own two hands.”

The pair reached the shallow grave and bent at the waist to lower the coffin with due solemnity. “Captain Taylor, he’s gone where the stormy winds won’t blow. Lower him down, Throgg.”

As the two finished the burial, Throgg hefted the axe in a fist like a ham. “On every inch, I will carve his name. And we will reckon him, reckon it along.”

The blonde elf threw an arm around his big friend as the two slowly walked away.

Captain Taylor’s Chopper
Type: One-Hand Axe
Vitals: 391 – 727 Damage,Speed 2.60; (215.1 damage per second)
Attributes:

• 65 agility
• 98 stamina
• Improves critical strike rating by 43
• Increases your expertise rating by 43

Getting rid of it: 15 gold, 61 silver, and 99 copper to sell it, but it can be disenchanted.

Filed under: Phat Loot Phriday

Phat Loot Phriday: Captain Taylor’s Chopper originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Some of us live by a code. This weekend, you must remember the code. Live by the code. What code? What other code could we possibly be talking about? We’re talking about Da Moonkin Code!

Voodooray’s Da Moonkin Code is one of my favorite videos about the druid class. Sure, I know they have a feral and a resto spec. I’ve heard you can turn into a tree. But when you have the options of rocking out with your beak out, how could you not reach for some of that sweet, sweet boomkin loving?

Filed under: WoW Moviewatch

WoW Moviewatch: Da Moonkin Code originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re having a great time sharing the voices of our readers on the site — and readers seem to be thoroughly enjoying both writing and reading our regular guest posts, from articles such as Long exposure WoWtography and Northrend truckers: A tale of WoW OTR to the countless Breakfast Topics that help us blink our way through bleary mornings over a cup of steaming coffee.

This week, we’re continuing the tradition with a new call for submissions about alts. Have you recently rerolled on a new-to-you class? Show us the other side of life as part of our “Confessions of a Noob: Class X” series, written especially by experienced players who are leveling a new class for the first time. Show us what you’re learning about your new class. What has surprised you? Is there something about your class that you’re having one dickens of a time remembering? How is your role in groups different? Have you gained a new appreciation for your new class — or others?

We’re not looking for narratives telling the story of what your character did while leveling. Instead, we’re looking for opinions, comparisons and observations about the process of playing a class that may be very different from the one you’re most used to. What are the facets of your new class that make playing this new character a compelling, enjoyable experience? Your title should clearly reflect the class of your new alt (for example, “Confessions of a Noob: Paladin”). Don’t forget to provide perspective by explaining what class and spec you’re most used to playing.

Continue reading Call for Submissions: Confessions of a noob

Filed under: WoW.com Business, Guest Posts

Call for Submissions: Confessions of a noob originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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