November 24, 2011

IntPiPoMo: Differences

I've always loved the small details that help me feel immersed when I'm travelling around. Cities feel different and I think it's the effort that designers have put into details that make this happen.

L-R: Exodar, Darnassus, Ironforge (Tinker Town), Ironforge, Stormwind

I think the most obvious difference is the mailboxes - you use them so often you can't fail to notice. They're all influenced by the architecture and attitude of the races they belong to. Oddly, the more 'prominent' races have flag devices on theirs, with gnomes and draenei using more nondescript mailboxes.

Stormwind, Ironforge (The Great Forge) and the Exodar

Forges differ from city to city as well, but not as much. The squat, solid stone forge is used in both Stormwind and Darnassus - I've always wondered why the older night elf race don't have their own style of forge. It's possible that the humans copied theirs but I feel like the night elves' forges would have looked more decorative and ornate. The Great Forge in Ironforge is actually two giant pools of magma, one each side of the central bridge and an impressive sight when you visit for the first time! Exodar forges have typically draenic purple crystals - are these decorative or heat-generating?

Exodar, Darnassus, Ironforge and Stormwind

Finally the lights in each city, noticed less now people can fly straight overhead. I think they reflect the races they belong to well - the Exodar and Darnassus lights are magical whilst those of Ironforge and Stormwind seem to generate more of an earthly light.

Gladly at The Ready Check has done a great Horde roundup of differences! Check it out!

November 22, 2011

4.3 Holy Paladin Gear List


If you've ever taken a look at my 'About' page, you'll know that I sometimes moonlight as a holy paladin. The heals are just so sparkly! With 4.3 and the Raid Finder coming up I've decided to gear my paladin up as a viable raid healer, in case a druid healer is not what my guild needs on a boss. I really enjoy being a healadin too! Possibly more than druid healing but that's a post for another day.

LuĂ­seach is quite poorly geared so I'll be after VP gear and drops from the three news 5-mans - two 378 weapons and a shield? Hell yes! - before I move onto LFR and hopefully guild 10-mans. I will be following a Intellect > Haste => Spirit > Crit/Mastery priority system which means I'll reforge from crit/mastery to spirit on any gear that doesn't have spirit already and reforge from crit/mastery to haste on any gear without haste. I thought I'd share the pre-Heroic gear that's out there waiting for us in case it's a helpful resource for other healadins :)

Items are in rough order of item level but aren't ranked in any other way and all drops are from bosses in Dragon Soul unless otherwise specified. I've also included the two Blacksmithing craftables you could acquire although the recipes are raid drops so you may need to hunt for someone who can create these for you!

If you're looking for more information after this, Kurn's Corner has some in-depth commentary on the 397 items which will also apply to LFR 384 items and Healbot also has a purely 397 list. Over at WoW Insider there's a good discussion of which upgrades to aim for and on the MMO-Champion forums is a handy list of suitable gear ordered from 384 to 416.

This list has been updated with live 4.3 details now but as always, if I've missed anything or you have any suggestions please drop me a comment! Thanks to WoW Insider for the link! <3


Helm
Helm of Power - Minor Cache of the Aspects, Well of Eternity
Headguard of Radiant Glory -T13 token (LFR), Warmaster Blackhorn
Headguard of Radiant Glory - T13 token, Warmaster Blackthorn

Neck
Petrified Fungal Heart - Morchok (LFR)

Shoulders
Pauldrons of Conviction - Archbishop Benedictus, Hour of Twilight
Mantle of Radiant Glory - T13 token (LFR), Hagara the Stormbinder
Mantle of Radiant Glory - T13 token, Hagara the Stormbinder

Cloaks
Cloak of Subtle Light - Asira Dawnslayer, Hour of Twilight
Drapes of the Dragonshrine - BoE trash drop, Hour of Twilight

Chest
Breastplate of Despair - BoE trash drop, End Time
Breastplate of Radiant Glory - T13 token (LFR), Ultraxion
Breastplate of Radiant Glory - T13 token, Ultraxion

Wrists
Heartblood Wristplates - Yor'sahj the Unsleeping (LFR)
Heartblood Wristplates - Yor'sahj the Unsleeping
Soul Redeemer Bracers - Blacksmithing (BoE)

Hands
Gloves of Radiant Glory - T13 token (LFR), Warlord Zon'ozz
Gauntlets of the Golden Thorn - Spine of Deathwing (LFR)
Gloves of Radiant Glory - T13 token, Warlord Zon'ozz
Gauntlets of the Golden Thorn - Spine of Deathwing

Waist
Waistguard of Lost Time - Echo of Baine/Jaina/Sylvanas/Tyrande, End Time
Dragonfracture Belt - Ultraxion (LFR)
Girdle of Soulful Mending - BoE trash drop, normal mode Dragon Soul 

Legs
Time Altered Legguards - Murozond's Temporal Cache, End Time
Greaves of Radiant Glory - T13 token (LFR), Yor'sahj the Unsleeping
Pyrium Legplates of Purified Evil - Blacksmithing (BoE)
Greaves of Radiant Glory - T13 token, Yor'sahj the Unsleeping

Feet
Pillarfoot Greaves - Morchok (LFR)
Silver Sabatons of Fury - 1650 VP (BoE)

Rings
Horned Band - Peroth'arn, Well of Eternity
Ring of the Riven - Hagara the Stormbinder (LFR)
Signet of Suturing - All Bosses Except Deathwing (LFR)
Ring of the Riven - Hagara the Stormbinder
Signet of Suturing - All Bosses Except Deathwing

Trinkets
Foul Gift of the Demon Lord - Minor Cache of the Aspects, Well of Eternity
Seal of the Seven Signs - Warlord Zon'ozz (LFR)
Windward Heart - All Bosses Except Deathwing (LFR)
Heart of Unliving - Spine of Deathwing (LFR)
Bottled Wishes - 1650 VP
Reflection of the Light - 1650 VP
Seal of the Seven Signs - Warlord Zon'ozz
Windward Heart - All Bosses Except Deathwing
Heart of Unliving - Spine of Deathwing

Weapons
Crescent Moon - Echo of Tyrande, End Time
Scepter of Azshara - Royal Cache, Well of Eternity
Vagaries of Time - Morchok (LFR)
Maw of the Dragonlord - Madness of Deathwing (LFR)
Maw of the Dragonlord - Madness of Deathwing

Shields
Ward of Incantations - Echo of Jaina, End Time
Timepiece of the Bronze Flight - Warmaster Blackhorn (LFR)
Timepiece of the Bronze Flight - Warmaster Blackhorn
NB: Timepiece of the Bronze Flight has been hotfixed and now has one red socket with a +10 Int bonus. Change is not showing on in-game tooltips yet.

Off-Hands
Demonic Skull - Quest: The Path to the Dragon Soul, Well of Eternity
Ledger of Revolting Rituals - Ultraxion (LFR)
Dragonfire Orb - BoP trash drop, normal mode Dragon Soul

Relics

November 18, 2011

Pilgrim's Bounty 2011


Autumn is here! In theory, that would mean vibrant colours on the trees, crisp blue skies and switching my drinks preference from refrigerated coke to hot chocolates. In Leeds, it's meant lots of slippery leaves on the dark walk home, constant grey skies for weeks and consequently not enough sunlight to keep my half-plant system running. Pilgrim's Bounty starts on Sunday 20th November though and I need 4 more achievements to get my <Pilgrim> title. Not to mention the adorable turkey pet I missed out on last year.

There are 9 achievements per faction for this holiday and all 9 will be required to get the meta achievement and glory. There's no holiday boss but this festival has long been the perfect chance to level your cooking skills! Two of the achievements require you to cook all 5 of the Pilgrim's Bounty dishes so your first priority should be getting cooking to 280 on any character you want these achievements for.

Achievements:

FOOD FIGHT!

It's as simple as it sounds. Sit yourself at a Bountiful Table, found outside any of the faction capitals. There must be another player sat at the same table. Target them (this bit is important) and then 'pass' any of the foodstuffs to them. Do this a few times and you'll get your achievement. 

Now We're Cookin'

You'll need to cook each of the following dishes (requirement in brackets):

All ingredients can be bought from Pilgrim's Bounty Vendors near the feast areas but some can only be bought in one city (see Pilgrim's Progress for locations). You'll be cooking these dishes for the daily quests so consider it a bonus!

Pilgrim's Progress

For this achievement you need to complete each of the Pilgrim's Bounty dailies at least once. You see? Two achievements for the price of one, my friends. The dailies are:

The main ingredient for 4 dishes can only be bought/hunted in one zone:
  • Pumpkins (Stormwind/Tirisfal Glades)
  • Cranberries (Ironforge/Orgrimmar)
  • Potatoes (Darnassus/Thunder Bluff)
  • Turkeys (hunted in Elwynn Forest/Tirisfal Glades)

    Possible Alliance order: Buy pumpkins in SW. Take to DS, hand in quest. Buy sweet potatoes there. Take back to SW, hand in potatoes then hunt turkeys. Take these to Ironforge, hand in turkeys and stuffing, buy cranberries. Take these to SW, hand in and finish.

    Possible Horde order: Hunt turkeys and buy pumpkins in TG. Take to OG, hand in turkey quest and buy cranberries, also do stuffings quest. Take pumpkins to TB, hand in pumpkin quest and buy sweet potatoes. Go back to TG (via OG if easier), hand in the cranberry and sweet potato quests.

    Pilgrim's Paunch

    Simply acquire the Spirit of Sharing buff from each of your 4 faction capitals. This means you stuff your virtual face with each of the 5 foods at a table and are rewarded with a 10% reputation gain buff for 1 hour. Make sure you do FOOD FIGHT! while you're sat at one of the tables. I would space completion out to give yourself a full 4 hours worth of the buff - I'll pick mine up just prior to raids and other reputation-granting activities throughout the holiday!

    Pilgrim's Peril

    I know what you're thinking. Peril? Peril?! They've all been very peaceful so far but true to form, you're getting sent into enemy territory. Not to bring back crucial information or assassinate a key leader - to sit at their feast tables in your finest attire. That'll learn 'em.
    The daily quests (which you have to complete for Pilgrim's Progress anyway) each reward a choice of items. Make sure that you take at least one of the following:
    • Pilgrim's Dress
    • Pilgrim's Robe
    • Pilgrim's Attire
    Put your chosen finery on and visit each of the 4 enemy faction capitals. You only have to sit in a chair to meet the achievement criteria so it's ok if you die immediately afterwards.

    Sharing is Caring

    Rest easy, fellow feasters. After the stress of taunting the enemy at their own feast tables we're back to something easier. Simply pass one of each dish at one of your Bountiful Tables to pick this one up.

    Terokkar Turkey Time

    You're likely feeling a little full right now. Let's walk (or fly) it off with a journey to Outland! Head for Sethekk Halls, the dungeon in the east side of Auchindoun, Terokkar Forest. It's a 69-72 dungeon on normal so take the necessary amount of friends for your level. You must defeat Talon King Ikiss, the last boss of the dungeon, whilst wearing two items of festival clothing:
    • Pilgrim's Hat
    • Pilgrim's Dress/Robe/Attire
    Since you already needed the second part for Pilgrim's Peril this isn't a big ask. If you can, run this dungeon in heroic mode so you also get a chance to farm Anzu (a heroic-only boss) for the much-coveted Reins of the Raven Lord. 

    The Turkinator

    For this one, you must kill 40 Wild Turkeys without dropping your stacks of the buff this gives you. This achievement is a little bit of an RNG-game but there are a few things you can do to improve your chances. Alliance routes that seem to work well are to run a circle around Eastvale Logging Camp or Westbrook Garrison, both in Elwynn Forest. For the Horde it seems that the area south of the Scarlet Monastery in Tirisfal Glades is a good spot. (NB: Elwynn Forest/Tirisfal Glades are the spawn areas for the Wild Turkeys. Turkeys elsewhere like Fjord Turkey or Highlands Turkey don't count for this achievement).
    Instead of killing the turkeys as soon as you spot them, spend a few seconds locating the next one, and kill the one you're at just before the stacks drop. There is nothing worse than killing all the turkeys you can find and then failing while you futilely search for others - trust me on this, it's the reason I don't have it yet! Lastly, I've seen a quite a few people recommending Tracker Snacks and I'll be trying those out this year myself. 

    Turkey Lurkey 

    Lastly, the old favourite - finding race/class combinations to prank. For this festival the prank is turning them into turkeys using Turkey Shooters and it's happening to everyone's favourite class. Rogues! Here are the ones to look out for:
    • Human Rogue
    • Dwarf Rogue
    • Night Elf Rogue
    • Gnome Rogue
    • Troll Rogue
    • Orc Rogue
    • Undead Rogue
    • Blood Elf Rogue
    I'm hoping to get this by hovering around Stormwind and Orgrimmar as I do for other festivals but if pickings are slim I'll head into some battlegrounds and check out the opposition. The downside to this achievement is that the Turkey Shooters are rewards from the dailies and each is single-use so you'll need 8 of them. A neutral faction capital was also a big help in the past. I'm interested to know which way people find this easiest so drop your stories into the comments if you'd like to!
    Tips so far: Rades suggests checking out the Molten Front daily quest hubs or the Firelands raid entrance as safer places for finding enemy rogues.

    Summary

    • Level cooking to 280 or you won't be able to complete this meta. Now is a cheap and easy time to do it.
    • You'll need to do a minimum of 10 daily quests (and at least one of each) in order to complete all the achievements as you need 10 items from them: 8 Turkey Shooters, 1 Pilgrim's Hat and 1 Pilgrim's Dress/Robe/Attire.
    • Make sure you put your festival clothes on before starting any achievement runs or visiting any enemy tables!
    • Run Sethekk Halls on heroic if you can for a chance at Anzu's mount.

    Cooking Guide

    Follow this mini-guide for easy cooking success! Thrill even your enemies with the power of your tasty dishes!

    • Spice Bread Stuffing - make from 1-100
    • Pumpkin Pie - make from 100-160
    • Cranberry Chutney - make from 160-220
    • Candied Sweet Potato - make from 220-280
    • Slow-Roasted Turkey - make from 280 until it goes grey at 355.

    From 0-355 in one festival. That's time worth putting in. Pro tip: Tracker Snacks requires cooking 400 so you aren't far off that with this guide. If you can cook them it might be worth putting some on the AH in the early days but demand will drop off quite quickly.

    That's Pilgrim's Bounty! Let me know how you get on or if I can help you in any way. I'm Hellfire-EU (A) and can indeed cook Tracker Snacks if you need some ;)

    Good luck!
    Ara

    There will be pictures here, I promise! Just waiting for the festival to start...*taps feet*

    November 15, 2011

    IntPiPoMo: Glitchness

    Angelya of Revive & Rejuvenate has proposed International Picture Posting Month (IntPiPoMo). The goal is to post 50 pictures during November - a picture is worth a thousand words, you know - which can include game screenshots or real-world pictures. Click here to see my other IntPiPoMo posts!

    I have an idea I need screenshots for and a buttload of chores to do this week. Disappointed in my flat for needing so much attention but it can't be helped. So today I present you with my favourite glitch shots! You might have noticed that my screenshots so far aren't carefully posed and edited. I hope you don't mind that - I'm enjoying sharing these archive shots while I collect some themed ones for later on.

    Campfires can use water-walking potions too, you know.


    Lagging a little as I flew into Grizzly Hills, there was about 10 seconds where there were shadows cast by no trees. I think it looks kind of beautiful and open regardless.


    All pictures hosted at scrntag.com

    November 14, 2011

    IntPiPoMo: Light

    Angelya of Revive & Rejuvenate has proposed International Picture Posting Month (IntPiPoMo). The goal is to post 50 pictures during November - a picture is worth a thousand words, you know - which can include game screenshots or real-world pictures. Click here to see my other IntPiPoMo posts!

    There are some beautiful moments I've experienced in-game when light has filtered in a certain way or it's just the right time of day for a beautiful sunset. I can never resist catching a snapshot.


    Green sky during flight, Feralas



    Worgen in front of stained glass window, Gilneas



    Therazane's Throne, Deepholm

    November 12, 2011

    IntPiPoMo: My guild is all grown-up!

    Angelya of Revive & Rejuvenate has proposed International Picture Posting Month (IntPiPoMo). The goal is to post 50 pictures during November - a picture is worth a thousand words, you know - which can include game screenshots or real-world pictures. Click here to see my other IntPiPoMo posts!

    This week got away from me, a little. Hectic evening schedules and no screenshots folder at work means that I've fallen behind! Four pictures posted when I should be on fourteen - have some extras today as an apology, if you will. This is the story of how my lovely guild has gone from a startup of 7 to the triple-figure guild with 10-man raiding roster that it is today :)


    We started Discombobulated not long after Cataclysm was released. All of the original 7 members were in the same guild previously and today 6 of those members still have active characters in the guild. This screenshot was taken after we finished the last heroic for our Cataclysm Dungeon Hero achievements on 24/03/11 after nights of learning, wiping and improving. Setesh, we still hate you!


    About a month later we found ourselves in Blackwing Descent, raiding for the very first time. It took us three nights to down Magmaw but I'll always remember how great it felt when he collapsed, vanquished, at our feet. Magmaw taught us a lot; the importance of placement (and what happened if you stood too far out!), how to watch the boss and stay ready for another event, switching targets, effective AoE usage, timing cooldowns, watching our feet for fire/bad stuff, clicking the Lightwell (seriously, just click the darn thing)...we've been building on the things we learnt during those first nights ever since.


    It took us about 3 months to take down all of the Tier 11 bosses and get our <Defender of the Shattered World> titles. By that point, we'd started Firelands and had been doing trash runs for upgrades, not to mention there had been huge T11 nerfs. That didn't take anything from it though - we had become the guild that could and we loved it!


    We downed 4 bosses in Firelands pre-nerf and 2 post-nerf. Majordomo Staghelm was a one-shot, something we were totally unprepared for! That aside, we were suddenly 6/7 while it was current content and it felt good. All that was between us and our first ever full tier clear was Ragnaros...and he's still there. It's the hardest, most demanding fight we've ever tackled together, as it should be. We've started to hit Phase 3 though and it's only a matter of time before we get that elusive kill. Keep an eye open for my victory post! ;)


    We'll get you yet, Firelord...

    November 07, 2011

    IntPiPoMo: Passing on a story

    Angelya of Revive & Rejuvenate has proposed International Picture Posting Month (IntPiPoMo). The goal is to post 50 pictures during November - a picture is worth a thousand words, you know - which can include game screenshots or real-world pictures. Click here to see my other IntPiPoMo posts!

    I've got some plans to travel Azeroth and show you pictures of my favourite places. There will be sweeping vistas, stunning views, scintillating sights! For now I'd like to show you all some treasured, unedited shots from my screenshots folder, both old and new.

    An Ogre caught dancing in Feralas! Would you believe it?

    Passing on the tale, a year later, to a new friend.

    Click to embiggen! See you tomorrow for two more.

    November 06, 2011

    IntPiPoMo!

    With National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) upon us, a huge amount of people seem to have taken up the challenge. 50,000 words in a month! It's a crazy, brave thing to take on. You can find out more about it here.

    Now, I don't deal in words so when Angelya proposed International Picture Posting Month (IntPiPoMo) I confess to a certain amount of relief! This is a challenge that I can tackle. The goal is to post 50 pictures during November - a picture is worth a thousand words, you know - which can include game screenshots or real-world pictures.


    Other IntPiPoMo participants so far:

    My pictures will likely be from WoW only and will be hosted on scrntag.com. 25 days left, 50 pictures. I make that two per day so let's get started, shall we?

     Sunset flight over Wetlands

    Deathwing returns to Orsis