The Edge of the Blade

Klaatu... Berata... Nick... cough

2009-05-11T12:08:00.000-07:00

More movies... Mrs. Blade and I like our movies.
There's a pair of NPCs on the second floor of the Alliance inn at Honor Hold (Anchorite Barada and Anchorite Klaatu).
Now... there's a little something extra to this pair...
Yes, their names are two of the three words Ash utters (or attempts to utter) in order to obtain the Necronomicon in Army of Darkness... but he is by far not the first one to do so...
The phrase itself... "Klaatu Barada Nikto"...

HA!

Did I catch you saying it?
Will there be an opening in the fabric between dimensions ushering in a horde of zombies and horrible nightmarish creatures?

*evil orc laugh*

While we wait for the chaos to overwhelm this dimension, a little background...
The phrase itself was first spoken in the 1951 movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still". The alien, Klaatu, arrives on earth with a message for Earth's world leaders... of course his presence is less than welcome... anticipating that things could go very wrong, Klaatu teaches a human woman the phrase in case something should happen to him...
Which, of course, it does. Klaatu is killed and his associate - Gort - unleases his robot force and begins to start destroying the earth. The phrase: "Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!" communicates *something* to Gort... in any event, Gort stops wrecking the planet, resurrects his buddy Klaatu and the movie ends on a high note.
But...
Those 'three words' have become so ingrained into our subconsciousness... or maybe it's the fact that it's an awesome pop-culture classic-cult-movie phrase... that they appear (in some form or other) all *over* the place!
In television: Farscape, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, and The Monkees;
There are appearances in movies such as: Return of the Jedi, Galaxy Quest, Tron, Willow, Toys, and of course the slightly-altered version in Army of Darkness... Keanu Reeves also utters a phrase very like it in the remake of "The Day the Earth Stood Still", but the movie executives disallowed a direct translation, apparently...
There are appearances in the cartoons Darkwing Duck, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Jimmy Neutron and a spoof-version in The Simpsons;
The music band Klaatu named themselves after the character;
Those of you that are running Firefox can type about:robots into your page line for a little extra treat...
Webcomic appearances of the words include PVP Online, Van Von Hunter, and Sinfest;
In video games, there are appearances in Duke Nukem, Myth II: Soulblighter, Sacrifice, The Lost Vikings 2, and, of course, our beloved World of Warcraft... interestingly enough... as a side note, if you *kill* Anchorite Barada, *another* character named Colonel Jules (friendly to Horde and lying in front in the bed) will start floating - He will float into the middle of the room and back into the bed.
If you speak with Colonel Jules, he says the following:
"Be gone, ! Leave us be, or we will enter you next and show you true despair!"
Hmm... is the Draenei praying for our Colonel Jules... or is he trying to stop whatever is possessing Jules from coming into this world?
Thoughts to ponder...

'Appy Mudder's Day, Wot!

2009-05-11T12:07:00.000-07:00

I had *had* the thought to make this podcast contribution a tribute, as it were, to Mother's Day... but I could only find two designated 'mothers'...
Mother Smoulderweb in Lower Blackrock Spire
and Mother Shahraz in Black Temple...
Neither of which I'd classify as mothers that one should try to emulate... one beng a great huge spider, the other being a concubine for... well lI dunno *what* she's a concubine for...
So...
This week, I'm thinking I'll honor Mother Blade in a slightly different way...
One macro for each healer class...
... for all the times mom has been there to pick your butt off the sidewalk, put a bandaid on your scraped knee and make you suddenly feel a whole lot better.
Shamans - Purge or Cleanse (Which will Purge or Cleanse depending upon the criteria it sees when you mouseover your intended target... be careful though... it will remove a paladin's bubble so far as I know...)

#showtooltip

/cast [target=mouseover,harm,exists] [target=target,harm,nodead] [target=targettarget] Purge

/cast [target=mouseover,help,exists] [target=target,help,nodead] [target=targettarget,help,nodead] [target=player,help,nodead] Cleanse Spirit

One for Trees... (pretty self-explanatory... Nature's Swiftness makes it an instant-cast heal...)

/cast Nature's Swiftness

/stopcasting

/cast [help] [target=player] Healing Touch

One for Priests... and because I tossed a few healing macros out there before... I made *this* one easy... it "loads" the heal spell into your cursor (the glowing hand)... all *you* have to do is click on the recipient - either in your fancy-dancy healbot addon or on the side of your screen when you're ina casual group... or heck... even in any situation where you can toss random heals around.

/cast [target=none] Flash Heal

and one for Healadins... This one has you saving the butt of whoever the boss is targeting... *you* target the boss, it redirects the spell to the boss's target. Well... not exactly... in order, this macro heals *you* if you right-click, or else it will heal your target (if they're friendly) or else it heals the target of your enemy target (when you're targeting the boss) or it will give you the 'glowing hand' targeting cursor if you don't already auto-self-cast.

#showtooltip Flash of Light

/stopcasting

/cast [button:2,target=player][target=target,help][target=targettarget,help][target=none] Flash of Light

The best thing about these macros is that they're interchangeable between classes and spells... you can substitute any spell of *your* class (or any different spell) that would fit (be it a big heal or heal-over-time)

I don't seem to have it in me for spellcasting... maybe...

2009-05-11T12:06:00.001-07:00

It's mudders' day... and Ol' Blade had to cobble together this edge real quick... but before I get to it... I just want to say a big thanks to Linai, Auttikin, Cloud and Malanus for dragging my sorry excuse for a 62 healer priest through Steamvaults...
K... yeah... I know what yer thinking... 'Steamvaults is a level 70 dungeon, Blade!'
Yeah... I know... I realised that after we started in and I actually moused over an enemy... eek!
... come to think of it, that's *probably* why I got two-shotted a couple times... Warlock Soulstone ftw!
We churned through the entire place and only got stymied at Warlord Kalithresh until a timely assist by another guildie (Malanus) turned the tide.
Other than that - what with the summer semester starting - I haven't been doing much... got my druid to 65 and - barring my getting *really* bored - there he will stay... 'cause 65 is the level you need to start doing the higher-level (as in Northrend) skill patterns of professions... and I just can't get into the druid for some reason... it feels off... on a rogue, you are gear-dependent... the higher dps you have on your daggers, the more damage you will do... with a druid that's all different, though...
Maybe I've just played gear-dependent classes for so long that anything else seems a not quite complete fit... which is probably why I've been taking so long leveling my caster classes...
Ah well...
Anyone have any suggestions on how to more-successfully level some squishy casters... short of what I'm already doing - which is logging in and hoping someone will be running a dungeon around my level...?

Sick 'em!

2009-05-06T10:47:00.000-07:00

Something for Warlocks... these are mainly for pvp... 'cause a little bug in my ear told me that Warlock is one of the more-desirable classes in a 3v3 arena team... whether I'll get around to pushing my warlock to 80 is anyone's guess, tho...
Not having actually *done* any arenas on any characters to any success (one failed attempt at 70 with a mage was more than enough to leave a discernably bad taste in my mouth for it), I can only speculate, but these macros should help you whether you're in a 3v3, any *other* arena team combination, battlegrounds or in pve:
/cast Corruption
/cast [pet:Felhunter, target=teammate]Devour Magic
/cast [pet:Felhunter, target=yourname]Devour Magic
/cast [pet:Felhunter]Devour Magic
This one is fun... we're taking advantage of multiple cooldown factors here again... one press casts Corruption on your target and either causes your Felhunter to devour one magic debuff affecting a teammate (useful for getting rid of a polymorph, hammer of justice or similar spells in arena combat... if you're not a fan, take the line out) if your teammate isn't suffering any magical malady, it will turn your Felhunter in *your* direction and consume any debuff that *you* may be suffering from... and if *you're* not 'under the influence' of a magic effect, the Felhunter will devour a beneficial buff that currently affects your target.

This one's for anyone with a pet... and Ol' Blade's probably gonna get a /slap from some Shamans for this one...
/petattack
/petattack [target=Healing Stream Totem]
/petattack [target=Mana]
/petattack [target=Tremor Totem]
/petattack [target=Grounding Totem]

In a nutshell? Substitute whatever names of Totems you like... add as many lines as necessary to fill out the list and put your highest priority at the bottom.
What's it do? Aims your pet at the ever-so-irritating totem(s) and lets you focus on the task of dotting your target down.
The nice part about this one is that *any* class with an attacking pet can use it... so not only Warlocks, but Hunters and Death Knights as well.
... and you lot thought that Ol' Blade /hated DKs... not so! With this totem-smashing macro, it might even free up a spot on your action bar so that you can add *another* skill or talent to your /facerolling auto-success!
Feel the love?

'Bring your orphaned kid to work' week...

2009-05-06T10:34:00.001-07:00

Things are moving ever-onwards for Ol' Blade... a level on an alt here, a few daily quests there...
Noblegarden has come and gone... and now it's 'Bring an orphaned child to work' week...
Anyone *else* find it a little cruel to drag an orphan across the countryside, eat sweet treats in front of them (but not give them any), place them in hazardous combat situations (both trying to attain specific (ridiculous) feats in various battlegrounds and taking down King Ymiron in Utgarde Pinnacle) then taking the orphan *back* to the orphanage to say 'Thanks for the achievements! See ya next year, squirt!'
Personally, I think that we should at least have to pay gold for the privelage.
Also... what about choosing your orphan's race for a little faction rep at the end? Maybe letting people do it once for each race for the rep reward?
I mean... why is it always an orc kid? Three years in a row I've dragged an orc kid around Azeroth... Are there really no Tauren orphans? All the troll kids are safely tucked in their voodoo beds, then, are they?
Are you telling me that there are no Gnome children orphaned refugees from Gnomeregan?
(Not that we'd know... they're probably small enough that Ol' Blade might have used them for floss to clean the Stormwind Canal grit from between his toes! Or maybe THAT's what those two Deeprun Tram NPCs (Monty and Nipsy) have got in those boxes of theirs... they aren't Deeprun Rat Kebobs at all!
By the Beard of my old Uncle Throgg!
Gnome Kebabs are *real*!
I *KNEW* it!

Mechanical toads can remember dreaming of robot sheep...

2009-05-06T10:30:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Blade's been challenging your favorite Loremaster again... she said: 'Find me something obscure, yet contemporary..."
Hrmmmm.....
After dodging large, heavy cooking implements whilst reading love poetry to her (props to anyone who just got *that* reference), Ol' Blade set to the task of finding her something "obscure".
How's the 'Life-like Mechanical Toad' for obscure?
See... this little engineering wonder (Engineering 265 required to learn the skill, the pattern being a random world drop with the best results from any of the five world dragon bosses of old-world Azeroth) is a reference to the movie Blade Runner...
Well... no... actually it's a reference to the book "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" by Philip K. Dick which was the *basis* for the movie Blade Runner. In the book, an incredibly life-like toad is found that turns out to be merely an ersatz animal.
(Ersatz meaning 'artificial' or 'synthetic').
While on the subject, when walking by the refugees in Shattrath City's lower gate, one of them can be heard saying "Hey, Man? Got some money? I got five kids to feed!". This is a line uttered by Benny the cab driver in "Total Recall", the movie adaptation of the short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale". Guess the author of the book! You betcha - Philip K. Dick.

Experiencing technical (chemical?) difficulties...

2009-04-22T13:20:00.001-07:00

Sorry guys!
Yeah... I haven't posted much... missed the latest CtrlAltWoW episode, too...
Have I mentioned how much I dislike Chemistry? /sigh
If I haven't... see it here... http://twitter.com/TheBladedEdge
We will return to our regularly scheduled posting (and possibly a treat for the next podcast) tomorrow or Friday at the latest... (exam's today)
On the topic of a return, though... anyone know how to extend an audio clip in Audacity so that it will loop or repeat in the background while a certain vocal personality reveals secrets to living on the edge of the blade?
Most of my segments are 7-10 minutes long... maybe a little less if I cut them apart and only do them individually...
I'll play with it tomorrow some more, but it'd be a lot easier if I had someone telling me how to do it... lol
Blade

There is no spoon (anymore)...

2009-04-14T15:14:00.000-07:00

So... the matrix is dead.
WoWMatrix, the 'one lazy-ass click and you get all your mods updated in one fell swoop' program/app... is no more... or at very least life has become a helluvalot more difficult for its users.
In a brazen move, both Curse Gaming and WoWInterface brought the hammer down on wowmatrix, issuing a joint statement and fixing their sites so that the matrix can't leech their posted mods (and bandwidth) anymore.
'Good for them!' I say.
This affects Ol' Blade NOT ONE SINGLE IOTA.
Why? Ol' Blade downloads each and every app (and update) he uses *from the site of origin*.
Hell... I even backtrack it as far back to a source as I can... and click on an ad when I get there.
That's just good business... Ol' Blade tips his servers, too: 15 to 20%.
The mods are a service - and their free... so I can suck it up and click on an advertisement (and then shut the browser when I'm done)... my spyware and security software stops any of the crap from getting through, so no harm, no foul.
I hate to say "I told you so..." so I won't... I'll let others do my egocentric strutting and boasting for me... (Please, gentle, reader, allow Ol' Blade his customary /snicker, though...)

Read all about it here:
http://www.myextralife.com/wow/?p=665

Ia! Ia! Cthulhu, fhtagn!

2009-04-05T18:40:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Blade and I have been watching more obscure movies of late... and in one, Ol' Blade pointed out 'Hey that's got a reference in Warcraft!"
Now... to give you all a little background, Mrs. Blade is much more the scholar than Ol' Blade is... and put forth a challenge to him... "Any references to some really obscure literature in your game?" she asked... "Anything from Coleridge or Lovecraft?"
First, a little cultural history lesson:
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was the author that wrote the nigh-infamous (and often misquoted) Rime of the Ancient Mariner in 1797 - a poem about a sailor lost at sea.
H. P. Lovecraft was one of the forefathers of fantastic literature - his more famous works involve the mythos and chaos surrounding an entity known as Cthulu - who wrote a number of different works in the mid-1930s that heralded a new age for science fiction and fantasy literature that resonates to this very day...
On with the treasure-finding!
There's a Horde quest in Borean Tundra - from Waltor of Pal'ea at the Coast of Echoes - that involves you taking down some Kvaldir Mistweavers in order to obtain a horn to summon a questmob named Orabus who has been a thorn in the collective side of the recently placed Horde forces and the Kalu'ak that live there. The quest (and the quest item) are both named 'Horn of the Ancient Mariner'... in reference to Coleridge's poem...
Second up... H. P. Lovecraft... these references are a little obscure... and by 'obscure' Ol' Blade means they're scattered hither-and-yon across the game... but there a good number of them once you get them all together...
The story "Shadows Over Innsmouth" details a race of marine creatures called 'Deep Ones' that worship entities known as the 'Old Ones'... Firstly... the similarities in appearance between Lovecraft's Deep Ones and our beloved Murlocs (and now the Gorlocs in Sholazar Basin) are far too numerous to be mere coincidence... and in one particular quest chain - the step entitled "The Star, The Hand and the Heart" you are required to summon something the Murlocs have been worshipping called Dagun (off the coast north of Theramore in Dustwallow Marsh).
That quest starts in the Badlands... there's an NPC questgiver there... Theldurin the Lost... who is three cards short of a deck, if you know what I'm saying... he's seen something and that something drove him crazy (or as the Brits say: "Round the twist")... a fate very typical to the characters in Lovecraft's writings... He starts a questline with you retrieving the Tablet of Ryun'eh from the caves just outside the entrance to the Uldaman dungeon.
Lovecraft also wrote a story called 'At the Mountains of Madness', which details a descent into an ancient city, deep within the frozen mountains of Antarctica, where the unfortunate researchers discover a race of vaguely insectoid creatures... sound familiar? Here's a bit of a hint... think Azjol-Nerub and Ahn'kahet.
In closing...
"Ia! Ia! Cthulhu, fhtagn!"
Which my trusty gnome servant tells me roughly translates to "Yes! Yes! Cthulu dreams!"
How did I get him to reveal this to me?
It's best not to ask...

Star Wars and the Masters of the Universe...

2009-04-05T17:11:00.000-07:00

This one's a two-parter...
Back to Shattrath with you... I'm sure by now, everyone has (at very least) seen the Alliance Battlemaster by the name of 'Adam Eternium' - a not-so-subtle reference to the Masters of the Universe character 'He-Man' (real name Adam). His companions reinforce this reference - a green battle-tiger pet (Cringer or Battle-Cat from the series) and a Gnome associate named Oric Coe (Orko the magician).
When you talk to him, Adam has the following to say:
"I came to Outland hoping to discover powerful artifacts to assist the League of Arathor against the Defilers in Arathi Basin... but all I've found is this smashing magical loincloth, a ridiculous gnome sidekick, and an egomaniacal undead stalker who insists I've stolen his grey skull, or some such. In any case, would you care to join the League in their fight while I continue my search?"
Keldor the Lost (the Horde Battlemaster and counterpart to Adam Eternium) continues the reference. "Keldor" was apparently the identity of He-Man's arch-nemesis, prior to his transformation into the evil Skeletor. Keldor the battlemaster's hood, glowing eyes, dark blue attire, skull-tipped staff and undead face all help to hammer this reference home.
And in continuation of the Star Wars references...
I missed something in The quest "Picking Up Some Power Converters". The quest itself will reward you with a Power Converter. The two descriptions on the item itself are both references to Episode IV: "Use: Destroys technological terror constructs." is from Darth Vader's quote "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed," and "The next best thing to going to the Academy" is because Luke's always talking about going to the Academy. The Power Converter shoots off a red rocket that many think looks like the missile Luke fires to destroy the Death Star.

Save Yer Mana for those 'Special' Occasions...

2009-03-29T17:09:00.000-07:00

This week it's all about mana preservation... not that I'm yet concerned on my Mage... but I know some raids are time-intensive... and if you can have an edge (like an extra source of mana replenishment) then you don't have to be so frugal with your spellcasting... one extra heavy-hitting spell may be all it takes.
This one uses the mana gem you have in your inventory, and casts your preferred mana gem if you don't have one. Be aware (I'm sure if you play a Mage, you're *already* aware) that since 3.0.8 Mana Gems are 'Unique 1' meaning you can only have one in your inventory, full stop. Also... for varying levels of Magi... Patch 3.0.2 has Blizzard changing all the casting names of the various levels of gem (Citrine, Ruby, Emerald, etc.) to read 'Conjure Mana Gem'... so it doesn't matter which gem you use, the spell will choose your highest-level one for you. Simply change the name of the actual Mana Gem (in lines 1 and 2) to the one you're using at your level.

#show Mana Ruby
/use Mana Ruby
/cast [nocombat] Conjure Mana Gem

Here's another one for higher levels (and it's correspondingly convoluted as a result)...

/run for b=0,4,1 do for s=1,GetContainerNumSlots(b),1 do local n=GetContainerItemLink(b,s) if n and string.find(n,"Mana Emerald") then PickupContainerItem(b,s) DeleteCursorItem() end end end
/cast Conjure Mana Gem

What's it do?
Finds your current Mana Emerald in your inventory for you... and if it has less than 3 charges, tosses it out and casts a new one. This macro is more for 'preparation' than anything else... 'buffing up' so to speak... Ol' Blade doesn't quite have the technical acumen to combine those two macros into a workable one-button super-mana-gem macro... if anyone else does, then by all means toss me an email - the credit (and the kudos) will be yours!

DPS is teh Easy Modez! Yarly!

2009-03-29T17:08:00.000-07:00

It's funny how real life rears its ugly head now and again to prevent one from playing during one's regular times... so I found myself coming in and playing either really late or really early.
During one of such times this week, I was able to participate in a truly landmark event... Aprillian's taking down Gruul *and* Magtheridon!
For such an event, I dusted Ol' Blade off and brought him out in all his rogueish finery, and dps'd.
I'm willing to bet I wasn't doing *nearly* as much damage as some of the heavy-hitters that were there, but I'd bet I do a respectable amount... and now having both tanked and dps'd Gruul and Mags, I stand by my previous comment. DPS is *easy*.

Droids, swinging lightsabers and a whiny Jedi-to-be...

2009-03-21T17:20:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Blade and I recently sat down and pulled a bit of a marathon... watched all six Star Wars movies over two days... well... that's not quite correct... we slogged through the first (meaning the latest) three, then sat back and cleansed out minds with the original three.
It seems some folks at Blizzard are quite the fans as well... from the obvious weapons-that-look-like-

lightsabers (the Argent Avenger, the Blade of Wizardry and Teebu's Blazing Longsword for example...) to the not-so-obvious... but once you find them, you wonder how you didn't catch them earlier:
- Upon death, and if they spent their talent points correctly (Tier 5 in the Holy tree), a Priest can become the Spirit of Redemption, which is a feature in which the Priest (if struck down in combat) can continue to heal for 15 seconds or so before actually dying. The spell description reads "You have become more powerful than anyone can possibly imagine".
Obi-Wan Kenobi uttered very similar words to his pupil Darth Vader in Star Wars IV: A New Hope... "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine..." moments before Vader strikes him down.
Of course... he didn't appear as a Spirit Healer that way a Priest character will...
- For you Alliance types... in the same movie, a young (and whiny) Luke Skywalker utters a line to his uncle: "But I was going to Toshi Station to pick up some power converters!"... conveniently, the Alliance area known as Toshley's Station in Blade's Edge Mountains has a conveniently labelled quest for him... I mean you... "Picking Up Some Power Converters".
- Also in the Blade's Edge Mountains is another NPC (R-3DO) a cute reference to the to droids R2-D2 and C-3PO. When spoken to, it states that it knows "more than two languages", a reference to 3PO's oft-repeated phrase of "I am fluent in over six million forms of communication."

Ultra... COMBO!!!

2009-03-21T17:18:00.000-07:00

Let's talk super-combos...
There's a reason Mages are both hated and so often the target of "QQ-nerf-Mages-QQ" forum threads...
Here's one you probably already heard of... everyone must have used this one... I know *I* did...

#showtooltip Pyroblast
/cast Presence of Mind
/cast Arcane power
/use 13
/use 14
/cast Pyroblast

Pretty self-explanatory... Presence of Mind makes it intant, Arcane Power ups the damage significantly and Pyroblast... well... it's a one-shot 'hey-how-ya-doin-oops-I-done-

blowed-you-up' macro... enjoy!

And here's one that wowwiki supplied (props to the writer)... Ol' Blade loves his Frost Mage...

/script UIErrorsFrame:Hide();
/console Sound_EnableSFX 0
/use 13
/use 14
/cast Icy Veins
/cast [nopet] Summon Water Elemental
/cast [pet] Freeze
/petattack [target]
/console Sound_EnableSFX 1
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear();
/script UIErrorsFrame:Show();

As an aside, all the /script functions block any error messages from suddenly popping up and ruining your 'Ultra-Combo!'
It's a bit tricky to pull off... the first click pulls out your Water Elemental, pops one of your trinkets and casts Icy Veins... the second press of this rather convoluted macro pulls up the targeting reticule for your pet's Freeze attack and set your pet to attack your target. Here's where it gets tricky. As quickly as possible tap the mouse button to drop your pet's Freeze attack, then cast your Frostbolt, followed rather rapidly by your Ice Lance.
The end result? At *least* two attacks that have a rather large chance of critting... if you're lucky, you might be able to squeeze out a second Ice Lance... adding it all up, and assuming all your spells crit, you should be able to drop any enemy of your level with this macro. If you don't, you still have your *own* Frost Nova in reserve... which will net you another chance at a Frostbolt + Ice Lance critical combo.

Auctioneer Addon and the collapsing market...

2009-03-21T17:15:00.000-07:00

In this trying time of collapsing financial markets one thing has grabbed my attention... two actually...
Now this isn't meant as an addon plug or anything... just my casual observations...
See... with the help of a guildie (Miy) I finally figured out some bonus features of the new(er) Auctioneer addon... and it's made a world of difference to auctioning...
Two things... one. There's a double-arrow at the top of the auction screen when you talk to an auctioneer with your addon loaded... this is your 'quick scan' feature... what *used* to take twenty minutes or more is now done in three... that makes the process *SO* much faster, it isn't even funny. I literally hop onto my banking alt, check his mail, scan the AH (called the 'getall' feature), put whatever didn't sell back onto the AH and log in about five minutes or so.
Second... the Appraiser function. It's the button at the bottom of the window. It shows you (on the left) a list of all the stuff in your bags... and as you click on each item, the display will show you how many items are currently on the AH (thanks to your getall scan mere moments ago) and will suggest a price for your items... it ALSO lets you change your stack size (if you want to sell stuff in less than full stacks) and allows you to select less than your total number of items... if you're clever, you won't glut the market with tons and tons of items... less of your items up on the market gives you a better chance of selling them at a reasonable price, believe it or not. Put your stuff up there a few at a time... cause you KNOW someone's gonna undercut you in an attempt to sell her... I mean *their* items instead.

And... Altoholic... By the Beard of my old Uncle Throgg is this a useful addon!
Everything is there for my alts... how long they've played, how much money they have, what's in each of their inventories, in their banks, what they're wearing, their professions (which are even linkable into chat, so I can instantly answer someone's request for a Master Blacksmith, even if I'm not playing my smith at the time). Now that I have it, I cannot imagine not using it.
Ol' Blade loves it, he does.

The Avengers...

2009-03-14T17:07:00.000-07:00

I assume you've all been to Vengeance Landing at some point... if you didn't stay very long, head on back and stop in at the inn... there's a picture hanging on the wall that's an obvious /nod to the painter Grant Wood and *his* rather-famous painting of 1930 entitled "American Gothic"...
And... this ones for you comic-book fans... from Ol' Blade to you in a sort-of 'honor to the superhero-genre' of movies that have come out of late... and are coming soon!
Specifically, the Paladin spell Avenger's Shield - the 41-point talent in the Protection tree. The TCG card has the flavor text "Those who oppose the shield must yield.".
Interesting, no? This is a /nod to the Marvel superhero known as Captain America. From the action of the spell (one of Captain America's trademark tricks was to hurl his shield at his enemies and have it ricochet off them before returning to him...), to the name of the spell itself (Cap was a member of fthe superhero team known as the Avengers...), to the card's caption...
Waaay back in the 1960s there was a short-lived (and rather poorly animated - even for the '60s) animated Captain America show with the following verse as a theme:
"When Captain America throws his mighty shield
All those who chose to oppose his shield must yield
If he's led to a fight and a duel is due
Then the red and the white and the blue'll come through
When Captain America throws his mighty shield!"

In Defense of the Frost Mage post-Patch 3.0.9...

2009-03-14T17:06:00.000-07:00

In defense of the Frost Mage... yeah yeah... I know what you're thinking... 'But Blade... Arcane iz pewpew now... do not need Frost kk thx'.
Ah... but how soon you all forget. I'd bet even money that 75% or more of you leveled to where you are now as Frost... some of the more pvp-minded went the way of the Fire Mage... but the majority of you were Frost.
Some of us *stayed* Frost.
Back in the day... only Frost Mages had their really cool 'damage mitigation' tricks like Ice Block... then someone inevitably QQ'd and said 'No fair why can't fire mages turn into blocks of ice?' (Let's ignore the obvious lack of logic in that statement, shall we?)
The end result was... all Mages can now turn into blocks of ice. Instead of a talent, it's now a spell...
The good thing is... this [Emergency Ice Block] macro still works...

#showtooltip Ice Block
/stopcasting
/cancelaura Ice Block
/cast Ice Block

Basically... it stops whatever you were casting before... great as a 'O-Crap!' button... and freezes you solid... tap it again and it dismisses the ice Block... so this one isn't one you'll want to spam.
Ah... but back to the cold-as-ice Frost Mages... our Water Elemental pet is one of the nicer talents... that and the super-huge crit potential we have against frozen targets...
Try this [Water Elemental / Frost Nova Macro]:

#showtooltip Summon Water Elemental
/cast [nopet] Summon Water Elemental
/click PetActionButton5
/cast Frost Nova

What's it do? Summons your Water Elemental if it's down, casts your Water Elemental's Frost Nova and if THAT is down, drops yours...
Now add this [Point-and-Shoot Ice Lance] macro as well:

#showtooltip Ice Lance
/cast [target=mouseover,harm] Ice Lance; Ice Lance

Now you're in business... I'd put this macro on a button on your mouse... like Right-Click with the Ctrl key down or something... cause you'll be using it a lot... and it will also free up a key on your hotbar that way.

DPS is teh Easy Modez!

2009-03-14T17:05:00.000-07:00

I tried a few things this week... did a little pvp... only enough to remind myself how much I detest it...
Also tried a little 10-man raiding... people have assured me that 'Once you find a good group of people you know and like, it will be very different'... but ya see... here's the Catch-22... how do you *find* these people if they're all already in raid groups of their own?
Kinda like 'How do you get experience tanking a raid if all the raids only want raid-experienced tanks?'
So all in all... I haven't done a lot on Skull for that reason. I'm already geared enough for Heroics and 10-Raids... I realize I'll have to juggle gear around to push my hit-cap and expertise higher for 25-raids, but if I never get enough 10-raid drops, I won't get to see the 25-raid stuff.
I've been playing Wolf this week a little more... went to Howling Fjord and picked up that quest that has you don a worg disguise in order to talk to another questgiver for another two or three quests... but I kept the disguise... it fits with my 'character' so when I'm in the Fjord on Wolf, I pull out his Worg pet (Goremaw - the elite from Grizzly Hills) and the two of them run the hills of Howling Fjord as wolves across the snow-covered plains.
Also... I got back on my Mage (Greymalkyn) and dps'd Utgarde Keep!
Wow!
You dps-types have it EASY! All you have to do is point and click!

Nah... I know each role requires its own degree of skill specific to the situation... and we *did* have a 80 bear druid tanking it... so the entire run was super super easy... but still... dps sure beats the heck out of tanking in terms of worrying about threat and mob positioning and marking and healer aggro and... and... and...
This week I'll find a level-fair group of 70s and see about doing it again... that way I don't get lazy.

Dammit, Bones, I'm an Epic Adventurer, not a Witch!

2009-03-07T17:04:00.000-08:00

To Dalaran with you! In the Sisters Sorcerous shop, your proprietors are named Endora Moorehead and hagatha Moorehead... appropriately 'witchy-shounding' names...
Well they ought to be... Endora was the mother of Samantha Stevens in the 1960s television show Bewitched... with Hagatha being Samantha's seldom-seen aunt.
There was another aunt... Enchantra... I wonder where she's gotten off to...

For you Alliance types... this on'e s a kind of a two-parter... Admiral Odesyus is a level 60 questgiver located at Odesyus' Landing in the Draenei stating zone of Azuremyst Isle. Firstly... his name... Odysseus (a character in Homer's epic saga The Iliad and the title character of the following saga The Odyssey) was also a captain of a vessel with a penchant for shipwrecking on strange islands... but that's not the only thing neat about him...
During one of the quests, you have to return to him with the makings of a trap. His response to you is "I love it when a plan comes together." which is a line spoken in almost every episode of the 1980s television show The A-Team by Hannibal Smith

He also shares a bit of a humerous dialogue with another NPC:

Admiral Odesyus says: Hey, Cookie! What's for dinner tonight? And don't say chicken!
"Cookie" McWeaksauce says: Yarr, Admiral. Let me think about it... Arrr... It be comin' into focus.
"Cookie" McWeaksauce says: It looks like it be succulent pork ribs basted with its own delectable juices and a side o' Captain Sander's Secret Sauce - fer dippin'.
"Cookie" McWeaksauce says: And fer dessert we be havin' cheesecake, flown in fresh from Stormwind on the wings o' angels...
Admiral Odesyus says: Wow! Really?
"Cookie" McWeaksauce says: No. Not really...
<"Cookie" shoots a chicken>
"Cookie" McWeaksauce says: It be chicken...
Admiral Odesyus says: I hate you so much, Cookie.

After completing the Netherstorm quest A Little Extra Kick, the giver and receiver of this quest (B.O.O.M. Master Mixologist Boots) dies. A goblin paramedic rushes in to stimulate his heart. After a couple of shocks, the paramedic screams "Dammit Boots, I'm a doctor, not a priest!"... a nice little /nod to the original series of Star Trek and the ship's doctor Leonard "Bones" McCoy and his often quoted and misquoted line "Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not a ".
Oh... another gem... the zone of Netherstorm has similar colors and chaotic theme as the Delphic Expanse (you Star Trek fans will know exactly what I'm talking about). Did you know that... prior to patch 2.4... warlocks were unable to summon into Netherstorm in a similar way that certain starship functions do not work in the Delphic Expanse of Star Trek.

Concussion Blow Redux...

2009-03-07T17:03:00.000-08:00

This one's another one of those 'space saving' macros multiplpe skills that don't share a cooldown... Specifically for Concussion Blow... back in the day, if I recall, this didn't do any damage... just a nice 5 second stun... but it lost its place on my toolbar because of Shockwave... being an aoe it became much more useful overall and Concussion Blow took a backseat and eventually lost its spot on my hotkey bar...
Dunno if anyone else is in the same situation, but here's a macro that brings it back...
#showtooltip? Shield Slam
/cast Shield Block
/cast Concussion Blow
/cast Shield Slam
Obviously, it's more recommended to use this when you have a few points of rage to spare... as using the two skills together is a nice, hefty 32 rage loss... but snapping your target for Concussive Blow damage and Shield Slam damage... plus a stun if your target *can* be stunned...
Oh... if you used Charge or any other stun previous to this macro... be aware of diminishing returns... so Concussion Blow will only last for around 2.5 seconds... but that's still a 2.5 second stun OFF the global cooldown... and even if you used Shockwave as well... that's still a second or so where your opponent will be not attacking you and causing you damage...
But... playing Devil's Advocate... keep in mind that Concussion Blow is another 15 rage to have to spend... so you might save this macro for multiple targets, during fights where you have a fairly decent amount of rage coming in or as an additional spell interrupt to stop casters dead in their tracks.

Through the Glass Ceiling...

2009-03-07T17:02:00.000-08:00

Ashayo asked about the Loken fight in Halls of Lightning... yeah... you know that dance you have to do to avoid his incredibly-gross aoe explosive 'gonna-kill-yer-tank-with-one-

shot' attack?

It's hard to avoid - even harder when your tank is a noob to the instance and has no idea where to go... we wiped on him once before the switch of group members, twice afterward and decided to call it there... remember my 35 gold repair bill... that was with *nothing* damaged to the point on seeing it on the little paper doll that appears when your armor is getting close to broken.
Someday I may force myself to spirit rez a bunch of times and wipe out the durability on my armor... just to see how much I'll have to pay for the 100% repairs... but I'm gonna get my epic flight skill first.
I guess I've crossed some sort of line... or managed to achieve some sort of hidden mark of quality or capability... as soon as I started tanking Heroics... I've been asked virtually non-stop to do them!
Well... not so much... but I've done one each time I've been on long enough to run an instance...
Once, it was commented that I was crazy... hehe they musta been talking to my Ol' Uncle Throgg... because it was noted that my DPS was rather high for a tank...
1000 dps to be precise...
Personally, I didn't really put any mind to it... and after a quick check (read: slog through the comments from idiots to hopefully find what you're looking for...) I found that 1000 dps is apparently right on par with where I am in instance-running... maybe even a little low... with raid-buffs and appropriate food buffs, an epically-geared warrior tank can expect to clear 1500 dps easily...
Meh... if the rest of the party takes little to no damage through the entire fight, then I did my job... I could care less how much damage I did.
Though I gotta say there is a little boost of ego when I'm #2 on the dps list when we check Recount.

Onward...

I'm now on 'The Other Side' in terms of tanking gear.
I hit the Defense minimum of 540 (vaulted right past it, actually) and now I've been collecting various pieces of gear and mixing-and-matching them to get the best benefit for the situation... be it extra threat, pushing closer to the hit cap, more stamina or whatever... and so long as my Defense never drops below 540, I'm golden.
There's something to note, as well... I am wearing very little if any Instance-gained items... the majority of my gear is from solo-able or small-party quests and crafted gear.
Not only is it possible to get to 540 Defense and 27000 health all by yourself, but it wasn't all that difficult to do... just a little either time-consuming (if you farm your own materials) or costly (if you don't).
In either case... check the AH prices... sometimes the cost of materials is vastly out of proportion to the cost of the item...

Simpsons and Aladdin and Earbiters...

2009-02-28T16:51:00.001-08:00

Mrs. Blade's birthday has come and gone... and with Winter Veil passed us as well, I find myself surrounded by quite a few seasons of the Simpsons. Which got me thinking... maybe folks might not know about a few Simpsons-esque references in our beloved World of Warcraft... I'm sure there are more to be found... but here's some to whet your appetite
Groundskeeper Wyllithen in Eversong Woods (68,46)
Seymour in Lower City (63,66)
Speaking of high-profile celebrities... in Nagrand, at the arena, you have the distinct honor of being able to interract with one of the moguls of mayhem and sport violence himself... Don King!... err... I mean... "King" Dond. Yeah... that might have been a bit of a stretch... were it not for the nearby Ogre named 'Earbiter'...
Ooh... and one more for you tailors out there... there's apparently a Majestic Flying Carpet that can be crafted at Tailoring 425. This, by its very description, is a spiffier version of the 'normal' flying carpet... and is the epic flight speed version.
Nothing so specific about this one... but wait... read the buff you get when you hop on your carpet...
"Don't you dare close your eyes."
Ha. A not-so-subtle reference to the Walt Disney movie 'Aladdin'.

Stance Dancing...

2009-02-28T16:51:00.000-08:00

Here's a couple of macros swip-err... *copied* from various sites including, but not limited to tankspot and wowwiki... these ones are mainly for you 'fledgeling' warrior tanks (at least the tanks that haven't hit 80 yet and are still leveling)... but all warrior tanks I think will find these macros to be of use... I used the first one against the pre-bosses in Halls of Lightning... extra threat is always a good thing right out of the gate!
#show Retaliation
/cast [stance:2] Battle Stance; Retaliation
/cast Defensive Stance
Be aware that it's a bit of a button spam... you have to hit it more than once (unlike most of the macros I've detailed thus far)... Basically, this one jumps you into Battle stance if you weren't there already, pops Retaliation, then jumps you back into Defensive Stance (three taps).
I was great to use when I wanted to make sure I had more threat coming out of the gate... and automatically attacking each and every time I was hit seemed to work just fine... it's a 5-minute cooldown, though... but it doesn't share the cooldown with Shield Wall anymore... so if you need to use your uber-defense skill, it's there when you need it.
The alternative for the Fury-minded among you:
#show Recklessness
/cast [stance:3] Berserk Stance; Recklessness
/cast Defensive Stance
What's the deal with these two macros?
Extra dps. Retaliation has you attacking back every time you are attacked, and Recklessness has the next three special ability attacks you use have 100% chance to crit... but for the next 12 seconds, you take 20% extra damage.
They were taken off the timer with their counterparts (Recklessness, Retaliation and Shield Wall) and given a 5 minute cooldowns specifically (instead of the 30 minutes we had way back in the day). Be aware, though, they have a 10 second cooldown with respect to each other... so you can't spam them all at once... also... it was recommended that you insert a /cast Shield Block in the Recklessness macro to offset any incoming damage... but we've done that anyway with our uber-Charge macro.

30k health? Almost...

2009-02-28T16:48:00.001-08:00

Oh... Skullblade hit 80, too! And my goal to reach 30,000 health? I can do it... but I sacrifice Defense to get there... with any luck, the few missing pieces to my Beginning Raiding Defense Plate Armor collection will balance me out... as it stands now, 530 Defense and 26,900 health leave me *just a little* shy of Raiding calibre...

Oh... talking about achieving stuff... my very first delve into a Heroic dungeon happened the other day!
Halls of Lightning! I think I did ok as a tank in there... in my defense it was a 'trial by fire'... I had never been in the Halls of Lightning - Heroic or otherwise... so we wiped on a few trash encounters... one time we got extra adds... you know... the standard "WIpe on the trash, one-shot the bosses" kind of run...
We did ok, too, overall... until we got to the end-guy Loken... we had to swap out members mid-run for their sceduled Naxx raid - which had us at (if I recall correctly) an entire 5-man group in a Heroic dungeon with zero experience with Halls of Lightning other than wowwiki.
It hurt.
35 gold in repairs to be precise... ah well... "Welcome to Epic Level" I suppose...

Sarathstra, Scourge of the North.

Dictionary Definition: 'Cocky'
~ arrogant; pertly self-assertive; conceited; see also: Skullblade
Yeah... that was me after the three Dragonblight elite fights... so I'm thinking "Huh... she's *only* a 5-man... I wonder how hard she can be..."
PWNED.
In my defense, I managed to get her down to about 75% of her 265 thousand health before she handed me my butt...
So... yeah... Sarathstra solo? Not so much.
Later that day I did join a small group (me - 77 warrior, an 80 warlock (Shavonne) and a 74 tree-druid... whose name escapes me... feel free to lambaste me in gchat) and we went around Dragonblight hammering down all the elite quests we could find... including the Scourge of the North. In fact... our druid didn't have the quest series... so we ended up killing her twice!
What a rush! It's one thing to be in a 5-man... it's another thing to be in a group where there's only a ranged dps... if not for the warlock pet, it almost looked like I was standing toe-to-toe against a dragon! No wonder a lot of tanks have egos... we think we're unstoppable!
Having a healer is dangerous for me... I was rushing into groups of mobs with absolutely no fear... like 'Huh... there's another small group of three mobs... let's get them *too*... that makes what... six I'm tanking?... not worried! I haz a healzor!'

I haz Kitteh!

2009-02-28T16:48:00.000-08:00

Got some pretty spiffy news, though - and a shout out... see... I was playing a little later than usual the other night when a guildie sent a message over gchat saying 'Anyone that wants Loque'nahak, I'm found him'.
By the Beard of my old Uncle Throgg!
That cursed Spirit Beast!
The super-rare everyone-seems-to-want-him-

but-he-spawns-only-when-he-feels-like-it ultra-hunter pet!
It must have been foretold by the Earth Mother... I was in flight and almost at an inn when Karius announced his finding... I dropped out of Skullblade and onto Wolftusk... verbally cursing the speed of my computer... logged into Wolf and managed to have the forethought to dismiss my temporary gorilla pet before I mounted up and took off like a shot towards Karius's position...
My usual place of logging for Wolf was a semi-regular spawn point of the Spirit Beast... just like 95% of the hunters in Sholazar Basin... so when I logged in and grouped up with Karius... I took off towards him... and flew past at least four hunters on my way...
Thanking the Earth Mother that they didn't up and follow me... they probably thought I was being a noob for leaving my camping-spot...
I recall as well regretting not taking the hunter talent that increases mount speed... 300% flight speed seemed far... too... slow...
Finally land near Karius... and there he was...
Loque'nahak! in all his glory!
Of course... I'm super-hyped up at this point... I lost track of where my freeze trap was... found it... dropped it to set up the tame... pull Loque over, he hits the trap... oh... my... nerves... *I CAN'T FIND MY TAME BEAST SKILL* AHHHH!
Then Loque'nahak BREAKS the trap... I'm sweating bullets... he's pummelling me and I'm starting to feel like a scratching post... AHA! Found it!
Start taming him...
Holy heck this Tame Beast thing takes a long time... my health is falling faster than the economy...
... and managed to get him with like 3000 health to spare!
WOOT!
So yeah... after great grovelling thanks to Karius and giving him the most expensive thing I had in my inventory in appreciation (a stack of Adder's Tongue), I am now the proud companion of Loque'Nahak.
So there's my shout out... Karius rocks.
Only one problem now... I have *no* idea what to name Wolftusk's new companion!

I, Terminator...

2009-02-21T16:46:00.000-08:00

When in the Wetlands, either you're Alliance and you have quests there, or you're Horde and you have to do that thrice-cursed mind-numbing run from Hammerfall in the Arathi Highlands to Kargath in the Badlands...
Yeah... we've all done it...
Personally, I say we Horde should commandeer the elf-boats from Auberdine, and conquer Menethil Harbour! Save ourselves a lot of needless running...
Well... at least they put in a little something along the way... so to all of you who haven't yet made the 'epic journey' from teenager to adulthood... I mean... Arathi to Badlands... this one's for you.
On the broken side of the bridge (from the south-side - you Alliance-types will need to come here anyway to find the body of a missing dwarf... you will have to go inside the bridge. In the room where the dwarf is found you will *also* find a mechanical arm in a glass container near the wall... look closely, the arm even twitches now and then...
All in all, a pretty nifty /nod to the 1991 movie Terminator 2... but then that brings up a question... if the Dark Iron Dwarves blew up the bridge... does that make the Alliance gnomes agents of Skylab?
I *knew* we had to cull their numbers for a reason! Our very future is at stake!
Speaking of robotics... let's move all the way out to Area 52 in Netherstorm... through a quest series, you're led to a goblin near town named Doctor Vomisa, Ph.T. who gives you a quest involving a robot...
What's so special about this guy?
Reverse his name. The quest name "You, Robot" is also a big clue...
This proud goblin's name is an homage to who else but Isaac Asimov, one of the fore-fathers of science-fiction literature.

Crowd Control...

2009-02-21T16:45:00.000-08:00

As I approach the end-level of 80, I've been thinking more and more about raiding and epic dungeons... and how it could be made a bit more efficient in terms of crowd control...
I'm sure we've all encountered a scenario (as whatever class) of having multiple mobs attacking, with the tank fighting to control all the aggro, the healer fighting to keep the tank up... and the dps running about willy-nilly drawing aggro from additional mobs and then running away... (stand still, already! ... but that's a rant for another time...)
Here's a macro that might help sort things out... this one's all about Crowd Control...
(Dunno who wrote it, exactly, so props to wowwiki.com where I found it)
/focus [target=focus, exists, nodead] focus; [btn:2] [] target
/cast [target=focus] **insert crowd control spell here**
When I think 'crowd control', I think 'sheep'... but Shackle Undead or any other 'pull the mob out of the combat' spell will work just fine. So put this macro where your crowd-control spell would be.
Once the target is identified for control, another target can be selected for damage or to be healed, with the crowd-controlled target available to be controlled until it's time to take it down properly.
Wowwiki also states that it's common for people to add a shout line to warn off would-be sheep-breakers:
/y Controlling >>%t<<... You spank it, you tank it!

Here's another utilitarian macro that more than one style of class might find use for:
/cast [target=mouseover, exists] [] **Name of spell**
Basically, this one lets you mouse over (but not click!) any enemy or group member or NPC and cast the chosen spell with a click of the macro button... this might make raid healing just a bit easier... mousever then hit the button saves you from clicking each raid member independently before you cast... and with some of those bosses hitting super-hard, a second might make all the difference between some nice epic drops and a wipe...
Atternately, this could be used by dps with multiple-target spells... or by the tank to drop some threat onto a second mob without shaking up your button rotation to do so... or tabbing (which might cause you to tab something completely *not* in the combat at the time... a potentially hazardous situation... I've done it... it sucked...

I r leet!

2009-02-21T16:44:00.000-08:00

I was up rather late Friday night, so late that I did my dailies for the Wyrmrest Accord when a call-to-arms, of sorts, came... a guildie (Mujitsu) needed help with the 'big three' in Dragonblight. For those of you not *quite* there yet, there are three quests from Agmar's Hammer that involve an inevitable group as they want you to dispatch a trio of level 74 elites (each with around 100,000 health or so) across the zone.
As I was on Skull (my tank) I rose to the occasion!
Maybe I'm patting my own back a little much, but Muji and I two-manned the elites down easily... granted we were both level 76 (me a warrior tank and Mujitsu a feral druid)... but it seemed that I took very little, if any damage from them... does the level-comparison thing scale *that* much... was it my 'mad tanking skillz'? Or was it the fact that my health bar didn't seem to go down all that fast due to my having 20,000 health unbuffed?
Well *I* thought it was pretty impressive... I'm told reliably that 27,000 is a mark to achieve for heroics and raid tanking...
I'm making it a personal goal to exceed 30,000 once I hit level 80.

"There can be only one" Sweeny Todd...

2009-02-15T16:43:00.000-08:00

Following my recent warrior-theme, there comes a time in every warrior's career (level 30) when you learn how to truly harness your rage into a palpable force... and gain the Berserker Stance.
Who better, in Ol' Blade's opinion, to teach you the art of warfare than an Islander? (Highlander)
The guy you all will have to speak to in order to get your Berserker stance is on Fray Island... his name... Klannoc Mcleod the Islander.
I'd bet that if you could ask this guy where he was from, he'd probably say "Lots of different places".
One wonders if there are any more like him in the world... will there be a great epic battle if there are? Or can there be only one?

Speaking of movies... here's one for you Alliance types...
Around Duskwood, there's a fellow by the name of Antonio Perelli (he's a Travelling Salesman)... he's on the route from Goldshire to Sentinel Hill, Darkshire to Lakeshire (so far as I know)
Be wary when you meet this guy... and watch out for maniacal barbers...
You see... Signor Adolfo Pirelli is the Italian hair-tonic snake-oil salesman that Sweeny Todd kills at the beginning of the film...

Warrior Hotbar Cleanup III...

2009-02-15T16:42:00.000-08:00

I've started back in on Skullblade finally... it seems like forever since I played him... and it shows... every three or four fights if I get into a bit of trouble, I'll hit my 'Vanish' button - and my Battle Shout goes off... or I maneuver to set myself up for an attack and hit my Stealth button... and I end up Charging into the enemy... and Pickpocketing on a Warrior is completely out... don't even try it, I can verify with 100% certainty that it won't work...
But I will persevere!
I had a discussion with a guildmate the other day... and I realized that I haven't given a lot of love to the other classes... all I've been talking about is *my* main three - Warrior, Rogue and Hunter...
Would you like a macro suggestion for your class? Would you like a nifty hint or trick to make your class that much more cool to play?
Let me know!
If it's out there... I'll find it!
For now, though... I discovered that I made a serious error!
Victory Rush and Defensive Stance won't work together. That macro I gave will work just fine for Berserk Stance and Battle Stance... but there's no love for that macro for tanks.
Terribly sloppy of me... sorry 'bout that guys...
To make up for it, here's a macro just about anyone can use:
It's a simple one - /cast and /use is all it's about... fill as many lines as you want with your various self-healing methods
Rogues could also submit [/cast Evasion] here... Hunters might even use [/cast Feign Death]...
[/use Major Healthstone] (or Super Healing Potion, or Fel Blossom, or Nightmare Seed, Lifebloom... et cetera... et cetera...)
You *could*, if you are a caster with healing spells, toss a heal into this mix... but I'd advise against it... I'd keep your spells separate so that you can keep track of the mana expenditure...
Warriors *could* place [/cast Last Stand] - but it might not be the best idea if you're leveling or playing solo...
See... here's another discovery... this one I caught *before* I sent it in...
Using Last Stand prohibits you from using a health potion in combat... Recall the recent change where you can only drink one potion per combat? And where the 1 minute cooldown for potions starts the second you aren't in combat anymore?
Well... Last Stand counts as a 'self-heal', so it counds against you if you use it... "No potion-soup for you!"
So... for all you less-than-epic warrior tanks out there... the 30% health boost is awfully spiffy, but as it disappears on you (usually, in my experience, at a crucial moment), you're better off using a health potion unless you have a healer watching your butt...
Or make a separate macro and drag-and-drop it into the action bar (or set-up action bar #2 for when you're grouped) so that it's ready if/when you need it... or you could set up a protocol to have it go off when you hit Ctrl as well as your hotkey...
So that line would look like:
/cast [modifier:ctrl] Last Stand
That should do it...

Oh... and here's a quick freebie... remember that Charge/Taunt macro I use?
I added /cast Bloodrage and /cast Shield Block to it... it seems they aren't on the same cooldown, either... but they are on the global... so you'll periodically have to hit the button to have one or more of them go off... but you'll be hitting it *anyway* as you'll be taunting every six seconds or so...
As a quick-fix to let you know when Sheild Block or Bloodrage are up, simply put their buttons on the hotbar about your number bar... so you can instantly see when they're ready to go...

Loremaster Blade

2009-02-15T16:40:00.000-08:00

"News of your accomplishments has traveled far.
The winds of turmoil howl through our lands.
Those who stand to challenge evil are our only hope.
Only those who listen to the winds understand the debts our fallen heroes have paid to protect our people.
May a hero such as yourself live long to tell the tales of your adventures.
For only then will we remember just how much we have to be thankful for.
Our appreciation runs deep, Loremaster.
For the Horde!"
- Cairne Bloodhoof

'Nuff said.

Seradane and Warrior Kittens...

2009-02-08T16:39:00.000-08:00

Deep into Northrend in the area of death and unliving voodoo called Zul'Drak lives a formidible individual... Wodin the Troll Servant... this guy's working with Gurgthock at the Ampitheatre of Anguish (which is basically the Ring of Blood (from Outland) version 2.0)
What's so unusual about this Wodin fellow? It is the fact that his goblin chum Gurgthock is riding on a really small mammoth calf?
Actually, it's Wodin's pet-companion... none other than Zena, Warrior Kitten!

Now... this next one is a bit odd...
In the northeast of the Hinterlands, there's an area called Seradane - one of the four locations of the portals that connect Azeroth to the Emerald Dream. Like the other three, it is an area populated with dragons and dragonkin... but that isn't the interesting part of this particular area.
If you follow a path northeast into the mountains, you will come across what looks like a large dragon skull partially surrounded by a circle of rocks, accompanied by the ubiquitous humanoid skeletons and skulls littered around the area.
Look at the rocks closely... do they have faces etched on them? Also... the tallest of the rocks seems to be radiating a blue aura around its base...
We've seen this sort of rock configuration before... in Arathi Highlands at the various Circles of Binding... but what is the explanation for the circle of stones and bones where it is located at Seradane?
I don't know the answer to this one... but I *do* know that it's been around since before either of the expansions...

Warrior Hotbar Cleanup II...

2009-02-08T16:38:00.001-08:00

More love for the Warriors... mainly 'cause I've been thinking a lot more about tanking once I finish the achievement thing with Bladetusk...
That said... this one's a no-brainer...
/cast Revenge
/cast Heroic Strike
Basically, it's a quick and dirty way to snag a bit more threat... if you're like me, and have your keybindings already mapped... #2 is Devastate (plus Victory Rush, as I mentioned in a previous episode...), #3 is Shield Slam, and #4 is Revenge... there's not a lot of room for extra stuff... especially if you add Charge, Thunderclap and any other tricks... or trinkets... or 'Oh Crap' health-recovery macros...
So... slip Heroic Strike into the mix underneath the Revenge button... which means if your Revenge isn't up, then Heroic Strike will go off... but here's where you will have to pay a little attention... it's not overly wise to use Heroic Strike with impunity unless you have more than... say... 50 Rage... doing so might throw off your 'shot rotation' and leave you short on Rage when you need it for a bigger-threat skill like Shield Slam. So basically, don't spam the button right away... Heroic Strike *replaces* your regular 'white' attack... and thus instead of gaining rage (as you would with a normal white attack), you actually *lose* rage. Doing that too often too quickly has the distinct possibility of shaving down your rage rather quickly... so... I wouldn't spam the button until you've gone through your rotation completely at least once (you should have enough rage built up by then)... after that... remember where it (your Heroic Strike key) is... and also remember that if you have the Glyph of Revenge, your next Heroic Strike costs no rage... so you can ignore everything I just said...

Loremaster Achievement is a SLOG...

2009-02-08T16:38:00.000-08:00

I have to say... it is SO nice to be back in Northrend again, gaining *real* experience and *real* quest gold now that I've successfully completed not only the Loremaster of Eastern Kingdoms, but that of Kalimdor and Outland as well!
As of this email, I have less than 200 quests to go... then I'm going to give ol' Blade a needed break and start tanking again with Skullblade.
Oh... and level 80 completely snuck up on me, too... I wasn't even paying attention until I went to change my reputation experience bar to the Kalu'ak again from Netherwing... and I noticed my *actual* xp bar was a solid blue streak... a quick mouse-over... and I had less than 30,000 xp to go!
Whoa!
So... yeah... Ol' Blade's officially at the proverbial end-game... meaning I can't gain anymore official xp...
But the gold gets better now... from my brief calculations, it looks like a bonus of probably 25% from what one *would* have gotten before level 80.
So... from less than 500 gold yesterday... to just under 2000 gold today.
Granted, I *have* been pickpocketing like a mad fiend... so it's not *all* quest gold... but the majority of the Zul'Drak quests were netting me more than 12gold a pop... and I had quite a few left to do.
Lots of gold... oh! And a little surprise in the mail once you hit 80!
(Not telling, though...)

Cannibal Babysitters and the many faces of Dax...

2009-01-26T16:13:00.000-08:00

Now... you all recall that Ol' Blade's been wandering back and forth across the worlds trying to accomplish what I've almost decided isn't possible at all... more on that later...
But in my travels, I stumbled across a great find!
Accessible only by flying mount is a day care! Right in Nagrand!
The mountain range just north of the Laughing Skull Ruins hosts this tranquil area... Orc, Human and Blood Elf children running and playing outside, while the matron of this day-care - a troll named Challe - keeps watch over the sleeping infants (of all races) within the tent behind her.
A perfect place to drop off your little sproglet before heading down to go hunting with Nesingwary!
... wait a second... where's the dog that belongs in the doghouse beside the hut...?
And... why are there only scraps of meat and bones in it...?
And... why is there what seems to be a goblin explosive in the sandbox?!?
And... what is kept in the cages behind the hut?
And... is that a small humanoid skeleton in one of the huts?!?
On second thought... maybe this might not be the best place to leave your little sproglets...

Hmm moving on...
Oh... here's a question:
Just how much of a Trekkie *are* you?
Remember the character 'Jadzia Dax' from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine?
Recall that she was a Trill... and the symbiote was named Dax, while the host was named Jadzia?
Ever wonder what happened to the previous hosts?
Betcha you'd have never thought to search for them in the Draenei main city...
Yup. in the Museum area of The Exodar, you can find Audrid, Tobin, Curzon, Torias and Emony... bonus points if you put them in order...

Warrior Hotbar Cleanup...

2009-01-26T16:12:00.000-08:00

Dunno about any of you, but Ol' Blade has too many buttons on his display... every time a new skill was learned from the trainer or off the talent tree, I'd evaluate its usefulness and try to find a place for it on my button bar...
Eventually... that makes for a really cluttered display... and, naturally, I forget to use some skills because they aren't readily at my fingertips... but what to do?
Use an addon that moves your buttonbars around?
You *could*... but you'd end up just having buttons all over the place...
Or an addon that changes the size of your button bars?
Sure... but then what if you actually have a use for your buttons... squinting at your screen to find the skill you're looking for isn't very practical...
Hence, Ol' Blade's attempts to clean up your button bars by having multiple skills in each button...
My latest one - for Warriors - is Victory Rush.
Not a bad skill... if you attack something within 20 seconds of defeating a target worth experience or honor, you get an Instant Attack (Victory Rush) that does a respectable amount of damage.
Now that there is once again a reason to be grinding on mobs that give experience points... and now that protection spec warriors are all the rage (Hey! Another punny!) I figured I'd find a way to slip Victory Rush into your attack schedule without it disrupting the rest of your button bar...
/cast Victory Rush
/cast Devastate
Simple, no? Spamming this key attempts to cast Victory Rush, but once it does (or if you pass the 20 second mark) it will default to Devastate.
Naturally, you warriors that are specc'd in a tree OTHER than protection can substitute your preferred attack in place of Devastate... so Bloodthirst or Mortal Strike... heck... you can use *any* skill, really... I just used the 'Big Three' as examples.

Patch 3.0.8

2009-01-26T16:10:00.000-08:00

Overall, the 3.0.8 patch has not yet affected me *at all*.
As far as Rogues go...
Cheap Shot and Fan of Knives?... I don't really use them.
An interesting bonus to Feint Rank 8... useless in solo play, good for raiding and dungeon-running... as often as I'm in dungeons (as in "not at all" lately...) So that one's a null, too...
The only change I can see *possibly* affecting me is the last one:
Kidney Shot: This ability now has diminishing returns against all other stuns.
What does this mean?
Here's a clarification for those who might be wondering the same thing - but did not want to appear 'noobish' by asking...

*Diminishing Returns* is a lessened effect on the mob if you use the skill or effect more than once on them... such that you have full (100%) effect the first time, then it drops to 50%, then 25% then it becomes immune.
This diminishing return effect resets 15 seconds after the last effect was applied.
Before the patch, Cheap Shot shared the diminishing returns (specifically the stun effect) with other skills like Deep Freeze, Intercept, Shockwave, Hand of Justice, etc...
Now, it is Kidney Shot that shares those returns.
What does *that* mean?
If you are in a group - or deep into PVP - and your Warrior tank associate hits the enemy in front of you with his Shockwave attack... and you - a rogue - are still in Stealth and manage to Cheap Shot the target right after - you would have found that the length of time your attack lasted for was lower than you had expected it to be... or maybe you were too focussed on the thrill of combat that you didn't even pay attention...
Trust me... it was there... ever have your Hand of Justice last for only 2 seconds, Paladins? I bet dollars for donuts that someone *else* stunned the mob just before you did.
That's "shared diminishing returns".
How does this affect anything?
Not a lot in solo play, that's for sure... if you have to Vanish in order to try to start your stun-lock combinations of Cheap Shot and Kidney Shot again, the mob's health resets to 100% once you're out of combat (which is where Vanish takes you)... so you really won't see much of this except possibly in dungeons and definitely in pvp.
In dungeons... if you are repeatedly using Kidney Shot on *any* mob that the tank is focussed on (taking needed rage or threat potential away from the tank) I'm going to sneak up behind you some day and slap you with a fish.
In PVP... the lack of diminishing returns on Cheap Shot now means that you can stealth and re-apply it to full effect.
But... in Ol' Blade's opinion...
If you really have to apply Kidney Shot more than once, you're not doing it right...

Finding stuff that's really out of the way...

2009-01-17T16:35:00.001-08:00

As everyone knows by now, Ol' Blade's been doing some exploring... and some of the more out-of-the-reach places have hidden things to find if you look hard enough...

For example... when flying between Elwynn Forest and Burning Steppes, if you look down, you can see some campsites along the banks of a small river or stream that eventually feeds the waterfall in Northshire... you can't get to this place from Elwynn FZorest, but there's a path that leads right up the mountains to it from the Burning Steppes... I recommend being high enough level to not drawn aggro from the level 50+ monsters in this zone...
From up here, there's some pretty spectacular views of Elwynn Forest... and another little curiosity... near the banks of the stream, there's a school of fish you can fish from... but you don't catch fish... you catch peaceblooms...

Also... if you swim south from Menethil Harbor in the Wetlands (or technically north from Stormwind Harbor) you will come to a spot on the coastline called 'Newman's Landing'.
Now... I know what you're thinking... who goes THERE?
Apparently not many people... it *does* seem to be a pun of the phrase "No Man's Land" after all...
Not a friendly place... there's skeletons all over the place... it looks like the last time I pvp'd against the Alliance... there's even a signpost with a skull balanced on an axe embedded in the post.
From what I hear, this place used to be completely abandoned... maybe a long-forgotten pirate treasure-burial site? Who knows?
High Admiral "Shelly" Jorrik might.
He's the goblin that - with a few guards - has recently come to the area... maybe to dig for pirate gold?

Hunter Assistance...

2009-01-17T16:35:00.000-08:00

For the Hunters... a two in one... 'cause... if you're like me on Wolftusk... not the *best* Hunter in the world... but not so clueless as to be called a 'Huntard' (those are the ones that let their pet Growl the aggro off the Tank... you know who you are...)
The rest of us get tarred with a nasty brush every time one of you jokers goofs up in a dungeon... so hopefully this two-shot of macros will help that from happening a little less often...
Two-shot... see what I did there? I made a punny!

Step one:

/Focus Target

Manually select your target (player, pet, or even a mob) you want as a focus, and hit the macro. They now have a shiny glow around their character picture, showing them as your focus... and yes, your focus can also be an enemy mob; you may be on CC (crowd control) duty and assigned to chain trap a particular mob. This macro does its part by making the mob your focus... making it easier to keep track of your enemy.

Now... step 2...

/Target Focus

/Assist Target

/Cast Auto Shot

(or whatever... some folks like to have an instant-cast shot like Arcane Shot in here... it's personal preference, really... some prefer a slower-acting shot like Serpent Sting to allow the tank to generate a little Threat before the damage starts...)

Assuming that you used the macro we just mentioned to choose the Tank as your Focus, this macro will allow you to /assist your focus (the tank) and let fly with one of your attacks.
If you *remove* the third line and don't have an attack launched at the tank's target as soon as you hit this macro, then you select the tank's target as your own (that's what /assist does) and you wait... this might be a wise thing to do depending on the situation... it lets the tank generate the threat they need to keep the mobs from focussing on you!
But then... there's something to be said about waiting a few seconds while the tank does their thing...
Whatever you do... don't use Aimed Shot... if you do, I'll track you down and call you a Huntard myself...

You gotta use what you got...

2009-01-14T12:13:00.000-08:00

Yeah... I'm making a tank.
I've had Skullblade sitting in drydock for a while now... moved to a new server, tried a priest, leveled a new series of professions, did the pvp shuffle for a while on Bladetusk...
... and now I'm thinking Skull needs to return to his roots.
I originally rolled him to be a tank for the guild he was in.
That guild is now dead... (technically so is Skull... but I digress)
I want to remake him and try the tanking scene once again...

This will hopefully be a relatively in-depth series (if sporadic) on how things are going, views on tanking... what I tank... how I spec with him... good gear... gear I find... bad gear... possible comparisons between gems, enchants and gearsets... and any news that relates to tanking...

We'll have to see how it all unfolds...

Blade

Running the Deeprun Tram

2009-01-14T12:09:00.000-08:00

So there I was... wandering through Grizzly Hills on my way to snapping up my Northrend Explorer achievement... while listening to Episode 96 (specifically the emails section)... when I came across some critters in the pvp area of Venture Bay.
Four deer and four mice!
So... to answer the question: yes, I did know about them (about fifteen minutes before I heard it mentioned in Episode 96 of the CtrlAltWoW podcast)... but Ol' Blade's not so egotistical to not be able to admit when he doesn't know something about something...
WHY those critters are there, specifically... and why they're in the configuration they're in - four deer and four mice... and why they have multiple groups of them all climbing the hill every thirty seconds or so from 20,77 to 20,72 (I saw two distinct paths of them)...
I have NO idea.

As mentioned, Ol' Blade's been travelling hither and yon across the world of Azeroth (and Outland) striving towards a few achievements - partly because the best way to experience the game is by going there.
So I went.
To Stormwind.
And took the tram to Ironforge... but not before jumping off midway to catch a look at Nessy the Sea Serpent!
Also... what's the deal with the gnomes in the Deeprun Tram tunnel? One's named Haggle... he seems to be a /nod to the movie Labyrinth and the character 'Hoggle'... he was short and ugly too... but there's a second gnome... Monty... and he's got three boxes behind him... perhaps a 'Let's Make a Deal' Monty Haul reference... the problem is... each of those boxes is full of rats... and as this Monty fellow is a 'Rat Extermination Specialist'... I somehow doubt there's a wad of cash in Box Number Three.
Onward... to Ironforge... fished up my Fishing Diplomat achievement while I was there... and nearly ran afoul of some over-eager Alliance players that thought I would be easy-pickings as a PVP target.
Needless to say... I remained unscathed.
Took a few screenies of the Dwarf bankers I mentioned before... just so I can say I did it...
And by the time this episode airs, I'll have gone back at least once more to try to fish up Old Ironjaw one more time.
That is... unless the randomly wandering, stealth-detecting level 80elites in Stormwind and Ironforge don't catch me first.
('Cause you Alliance players don't seem to be able to... ZING!)
But yeah... I haven't moused over the patrolling NPCs in Orgrimmar or Thunder Bluff in a while... but last I knew WE didn't have level 80 goons all over OUR major cities...
For all I know, we do... but even if we do... somehow I doubt we have anywhere near as many.
Ah well... those super-elites are probably a good thing... they're probably the only thing stopping ol' Blade from setting up in Stormwind as my hometown... that and the lack of a friendly innkeeper.

(The Haze of) Winter Veil

2009-01-14T12:07:00.000-08:00

With the Winter Veil festivities all week long in real life, ol' Blade hasn't spent a lot of time in Azeroth... so nothing's really changed...
I DO have a Dwarf Guardian character in Lord of the Rings Online, though... a result of someone's valiant effort to show ol' Blade that there are other games out there... other than WoW...
... but Ol' Blade wasn't fooled for a second...
What with presents-giving, nog-drinking and visiting of little-sprog relatives... Ol' Blade hasn't had a lot of extra time to throw together a long narrative-style email like I usually do...

The Deeprun Tram...

2009-01-11T16:58:00.000-08:00

As mentioned, Ol' Blade's been travelling hither and yon across the world of Azeroth (and Outland) striving towards a few achievements - partly because the best way to experience the game is by going there.
So I went.
To Stormwind.
And took the tram to Ironforge... but not before jumping off midway to catch a look at Nessy the Sea Serpent!
Also... what's the deal with the gnomes in the Deeprun Tram tunnel? One's named Haggle... he seems to be a /nod to the movie Labyrinth and the character 'Hoggle'... he was short and ugly too... but there's a second gnome... Monty... and he's got three boxes behind him... perhaps a 'Let's Make a Deal' Monty Haul reference... the problem is... each of those boxes is full of rats... and as this Monty fellow is a 'Rat Extermination Specialist'... I somehow doubt there's a wad of cash in Box Number Three.
Onward... to Ironforge... fished up my Fishing Diplomat achievement while I was there... and nearly ran afoul of some over-eager Alliance players that thought I would be easy-pickings as a PVP target.
Needless to say... I remained unscathed.
Took a few screenies of the Dwarf bankers I mentioned before... just so I can say I did it...
And by the time this episode airs, I'll have gone back at least once more to try to fish up Old Ironjaw one more time.
That is... unless the randomly wandering, stealth-detecting level 80elites in Stormwind and Ironforge don't catch me first.
('Cause you Alliance players don't seem to be able to... ZING!)
But yeah... I haven't moused over the patrolling NPCs in Orgrimmar or Thunder Bluff in a while... but last I knew WE didn't have level 80 goons all over OUR major cities...
For all I know, we do... but even if we do... somehow I doubt we have anywhere near as many.
Ah well... those super-elites are probably a good thing... they're probably the only thing stopping ol' Blade from setting up in Stormwind as my hometown... that and the lack of a friendly innkeeper.

Civil War Bridges and Cooking Rats...

2009-01-11T15:08:00.000-08:00

For all you Lore Buffs out there... it's fairly common knowledge that the Thandol Span Bridge (between Arathi and the Wetlands) was destroyed by the Dark Iron Dwarves. There is a corpse underwater beneath the bridge that starts a (so far as I know) Alliance-only quest called 'Sully Balloo's Letter' (You deliver the letter to Sara Balloo in Ironforge)
Now... here's where things get interesting... Sullivan Ballou was a soldier during the U.S. Civil War who sent a letter to his wife Sara on July 14, 1861. The in-game letter is a reference to the real-life letter written by Sully (Sullivan) to Sara. As another interesting parallel, the dwarves of Ironforge and the Dark Iron dwarves have been at each others throats since THEIR civil war... approximately 200 years ago, gametime.

And for something a little more light-hearted? A little-known quest in the Barrens. Just outside Crossroads along the road to Ratchet, there will be a hut on the north side of the road... outside you will find a Tauren vendor of bread (Tarban Hearthgrain) and a small Orc boy named Gruk. Inside, though, are two individuals - Duhng, a Cooking Trainer, Guard Taruc (feasting on a bench at the back) and Grub, who gives you a quest called "Dig Rat Stew". It's not a very difficult quest, but the fun part is Grub's comment at the end.
"You can't call yourself a seasoned adventurer until you've spent some time killing rats! Haw!"
Most MMOs (WoW included) are known to force starting players to kill trivial creatures like rats or insects during the first few levels of play. With this little tongue-in-cheek homage, Blizzard makes reference to this little factoid and also provides a recipe to COOK the rats!
Yum!

Pickin' Pockets...

2009-01-11T15:07:00.000-08:00

Back to Rogues again... this time we're being extra-especially sneaky.
As you may all suspect, Ol' Blade doesn't make ALL of his money by questing or even playing the Auction House Stock Market... a respectable chunk of Ol' Blade's finances are gotten via the "five-finger discount"... for those not already aware... I pickpocket every chance I get.
Some of the higher level mobs in Northrend are netting me upwards of 50-75 silver per pickpocket. Go through a couple dozen of them at a time... especially if you can find a host of (non-aggressive) Neutral ones.
Here's another macro fit for saving space on the hotbar:
/cast Sap
/cast Pick Pocket
The benefits of this little combo are obvious. If, for some reason your pick pocket was to fail, you pop out of stealth. Tapping this combo lets you at least have a sap on the mob allowing you a decent chunk of time to simply run out of aggro range long before the sap wears off.
Quick and dirty.

Serve the Public Trust and Lumberjacks...

2009-01-03T15:12:00.000-08:00

Ol' Blade and Mrs. Blade have been watching some older movies of late... and one sorta stuck in my head... because it reminded me of the Arcane Protectors in the starting lowbie-Blood Elf zone... it seems both they and Robocop have the same Prime Directives... "Serve the Public Trust"... "Protect the Innocent"... and "Uphold the Law"...

Also... the Alliance zone of Elwood Forest is home to many things... Hogger, the level 11elite Gnoll that is the bane of all Alliance players over level 10... as you will inevitably get at least one /tell asking you to 'Hlp kill Hoger plz' as you pass through the zone...
... but did you know there's a Lumberjack in Elwood Forest? One that 'is ok' and 'works all day'...?
As a Horde, I don't think I can get him to talk without sticking a shiv between his ribs... but I'm sure you Alliance types could get a few words out of him... he's at the Eastvale Logging Camp. He's named Terry Palin... after Terry Jones and Michael Palin, the Monty Python members and writers of the 'Lumberjack Song'...

AOE Tanking for Warriors...

2009-01-03T15:11:00.000-08:00

Following the macro thread I started before... something for Warriors... specifically the Protection-specc'd tanks out there... with the Night of the Living Deathknights (aka Wrath of the Lich King) having spawned all kinds of new and OP tanks, plus Paladins have been spoon-fed their tanking greatness for a while now (wait for it... there's more coming for them in the 3.0.8 patch... a ranged taunt!)
Ridiculous, I say.
Warriors seem to be being left in the proverbial dust. We / they did get a little bit of a pat on the back with the Protection talent tree revamp in 3.0... quite a few warriors are now leveling as Protection-spec tanks now... but how to make it just THAT much more /awesome?
Ol' Blade's got your back, he does...
So here's some love for the First-Among-Tanks... the Original and (in Blade's not-so-humble opinion) Best... The Warriors.
It's a simple macro... more for saving space on your hot-key bar... and it's great now that Charge can be used in combat... no more stance dancing!
/Charge
/Taunt
Yep. That's it. Again... they're on different timers, so you end up Charging in guns a-blazing, and drop a taunt pretty much the moment you hit the mob. Nifty!
Spam it again in six seconds... you can't charge (cause you're too close) but Taunt works just fine!
Let's add to it... just to spice things up...
Toss in a /cast Thunder Clap as a third line... it won't cast it the first time (when you initiate combat), but any successive times you cast your Charge/Taunt macro, it will Thunder Clap all the nearby mobs... this one's a bit tricky... as TC is on a separate timer, it will Thunder Clap WHEN you hit the macro... if you're too low on Rage to have TC go off, it's fine... all other times, you'll look like you just got blasted away from your Thunder Clap... good for dropping a large chunk of threat on the mobs surrounding you as you speed off to intercept the aggro off the healer...
Voila. You're now a Paladin (get it? aoe attack spam?)... without all that mamby-pamby healing 'Oh noes! I'm getting attacked! /bubble /hearth' nonsense.

Bankers, Punchcards and the Circus...

2008-12-23T16:25:00.000-08:00

With everyone doing achievements and running hither-and-yon across the old world doing the old-world dungeons, you will inevitably find yourself in Gnomeregan. As an Alliance, it's easy to get there... get yourself to Ironforge, exit the main entrance and run west. As a Horde, you've either got one heckuva run ahead of you, or you can do a small quest chain starting at the Engineer shop in Orgrimmar. First you have to take the quest 'Rig Wars' from Nogg, then Sovik (the goblin engineer) offers a second quest that sends you to Booty Bay to talk to another engineer there (Scooty)... from Scooty you get a little device (Goblin Transponder) that will 'port you to Gnomeregan. Getting back is an entirely different matter, though.

While killing mobs in Gnomeregan, you will eventually happen across a White Punch Card. These are used to access different areas in Gnomeregan based upon their colors. You can change the colors of the cards by using special machines called 'Matrix Punchographs'... but that's not the secret.
Each color of card has a different string of binary code on it. I'm not going to type them all out here... but I *will* give you the translations...

White Punch Card: Thrall and Jaina sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G

Yellow Punch Card: If you can read this, you're standing too close.

Blue Punch Card: The gnome king wears night elf underwear.

Red Punch Card: Help! I'm trapped in a binary punch card factory!

Prismatic Punch Card: Message to Castpipe: your laundry's ready for pickup.

Second... I know Ol' Blade's been a little hard on the Alliance of late... so I found this little goodie to follow the theme of last week's bank NPCs... All you Hordies out there will have to roll lowbie Alliance toons or sneak into Ironforge like I did...

There's three bankers... all of the Stonemantle Clan... nothing noteworthy about the name Stonemantle... but wait... it's a first-name thing again, isn't it!
Very astute, my young apprentice... their names are Barnum, Bailey and Soleil.
Barnam and Bailey are probably the more commonly known... from Barnam and Bailey's Circus, naturally... Soleil is from the Cirque du Soleil - an acrobatic circus.

This gets me thinking, though... how much respect can I truly give the Alliance faction... when they have former circus clowns as bankers?

Hunter Nerf QQ Solution...

2008-12-23T16:24:00.000-08:00

In my quest to optimize my characters with well-put together macros, I hit a stumbling block.
Also... there's a bit of a snag coming up for hunters in patch 3.0.8... we / they are losing a fair chunk of dps.
Yeah yeah... I know there arer some hunters out there that are saying 'It's not THAT bad'... but I will counter this naivete with 'It's bad enough when they're buffing a class like Deathknights... making it even easier to /roll your face across your keyboard to win.
But I digress... Ol' Blade's not here to rant about silly things out of his control... I'm here to give an edge to the players that still like a little bit of challenge to their game.
Those of you that have interracted with me in game will probably know that I vastly prefer to play my Hunter over my Deathknight... because I find the Hunter more challenging. (Seriously! There's are two two-handed tanking swords out there!)
That said... of late I was playing around with some macros in anticipation of the upcoming nerf... attempting to figure out how to keep my hunter's dps in the acceptable range...
Aspect of the Beast. Have you noticed the new changes to it?
It used to be a pretty useless Aspect... only making you untrackable... useful in PVP, I suppose... but not anywhere else.
NOW, however... it's got an extra little boost. +10% to pet damage.
THIS changes everything. I have that little treasure up almost all the time now.
I've also jury-rigged some macros together to cast different Aspects when I used different attacks or items...
For example... whenever I mount up on a land mount or my flier, I cast Aspect of the Viper... I won't be in combat ANYway, why not get a big mana regeneration boost while I'm moving from Point A to Point B?
The problem came when I linked the macros to the spells I wanted to cast... I'd cast the spell once, and all was good, then I'd cast ot again and the Aspect would turn off!
What to do?

I searched and searched and finally found my answer deep in the archives of some long-forgotten tome in Ironforge...
(Not really, but it sounded good, didn't it?)

An Exclamation Point. !
Put an exclamation point in front of your macro text... what this does is makes the command 'sticky' and will cast it only if it's not on/active already.
For example... here's the one I've put together for pet attacks:
/cast Hunter's Mark
/cast !Aspect of the Beast
/PetAttack

The exclamation point in the second line keeps the Aspect going no matter how many targets you send your pet after... and as Aspects cost no mana, all you'll see is the Aspect popping again and again as you switch targets.
If you leave out the exclamation point, you will toggle the aspect on and off each time you switch targets.

Here's another one in the event you're hopping on and off your mount, but not in combat...
/cast !Aspect of the Viper
/cast Swift Green Wind Rider

This will keep your Aspect on whether you hop on or off your particular mount of choice.

Oh... as a final tip for hunters? To get used to the upcoming nerf, play almost 100% with Aspect of the viper on... the huge damage reduction will make the 3.0.8 patch seem not so bad.

Once again from the breach...

2008-12-16T11:07:00.000-08:00

So I jumped servers... with my mains, that is... moved 'em to Earthen Ring.
Alea Iacta Est Guild.
The long and the short of it? I don't have the time to dedicate to running a guild properly, what with full time school, work and a full-time life... and most of my in-game friends I made on the servers I 'grew up' on either went back to playing Alliance or disappeared completely.
I sent emails to the ones whose emails I knew...
I didn't, however, see a point in shelling out $25 bucks this time around and transferring Tahrzaan... so I rolled him again.
Lv34... took more screenies, too... and he managed to get a yellow leopard (Dishu - rare spawn from The Barrens)... that should keep me until I get to level 36 with him and finally get him his black gorilla companion...

Admittedly, I've been leveling my main (Bladetusk) and alts... scouring Sholazar Basin for Loque'nahak on my high-level hunter... that sort of thing... once I get one or two toons to 80, though... and the novelty wears off a bit... I'll be back on Tahrzaan...
Oh... to add another point of interest, I decided to follow in Rotgut's footsteps... and rolled a naked troll warrior... named him Knukkashango...
We'll see how well that goes... lol

More later...

More Efficient Stepping of Shadows...

2008-12-16T11:04:00.001-08:00

Ol' Blade loves his fellow rogues... which is where I'm leading with my tip... a macro specifically for the more-subtle among the rogues... the Shadow Step.
Now, if you've used Shadow Step, you'll know that it poofs you directly behind your target - the utility of it is clearly of the most benefit for anyone that uses daggers, though I have heard of its use in Garotting someone as well - which is not dagger specific.
You non-dagger folks can adapt this macro to suit your needs.
If you're specc'd enough into the Subtlety tree and use daggers, then Improved Ambush is a must-have due to its fairly massive bonus crit potential... and you will most likely have Premeditation (a talent that adds 2 combo points to your target instantly).
Here's the macro I've been using to a great deal of success:
/cast Premeditation
/cast Shadow Step
/cast Ambush
Seems simple enough... and they're not all on the same timer or global cooldown, so when I pop it, and they're all ready to go, I instantly poof behind my target, and BAM! Ambush them (most likely a crit) for an easy 4 combo points!
Add a final combo point here if you prefer, I do or don't depending on how much health my target has... Kidney Shot, then zip behind them (cause here you should have upwards of 80 or more Energy) and Backstab them twice... if they aren't yet dead, they're pretty darn close!

To sum it up... it's a macro that has helped me immensely... I get awesome burst damage and have MUCH more survivability than I did when I was using two swords in the combat tree. Seriously... I theorycrafted it and attacked combat dummies and everything!

Sewer Surfin'...

2008-12-13T15:03:00.000-08:00

Now... Ol' Blade's been doing some looking around... and has decided - for all you folks that have found your way to Dalaran and are less than impressed at how laggy it is... - to take you on a tour of the sewers...
Why?
It's a little less congested with mindless drones running around bogging up the server... and THAT's just the NPCs!
(See? I didn't say ANYthing nasty about Alliance players there at all! "Diplomacy" for the win!)

So... find the stairs up to the flightpath... see the hole-in-the-wall beside it?
That leads down. There's a few of these tunnels scattered around Dalaran...
Beneath the hustle-bustle of the lag-infested metropolis that is Dalaran, there is a different place...
Lots of darker-looking wizardy types like these guys... personally I think they've read one too many Harry Potter books (whatsit... "Nock-Turn Alley?")... but that's just me... they're dressing to fit in, you see...
The Dalaran sewers is a darker, quieter place where Ol' Blade and other rogues and nefarious ne'er-do-wells like me can relax... kick back... and not have to pretend we're 'For the Light' or other such nonsense...
We're creatures of shadows... and the sewers is a nice dark place...
However...
You'll want to be aware of where you step in the sewers... there's enough water here to hold a shark (probably for any unwary goodie-goodies that stray too far in the wrong direction... or maybe someone needs to 'get rid' of something... either way... Segacedi's been here long enough that the locals NAMED him...
There's huge sewer rats... and alligators waiting to take a snap at you...
Dunno what's in that area with the big chunks of meat... maybe it's something we use to spook the tourists...

Lots of rats, though... I caught one unfortunate fella while I was trying my hand at fishing... caught a couple of these Magic Eaters, too... don't know what they do yet...
Oh... while we're on the subject of 'Mysterious Things with Unknown Properties', you may in your visit to the sewers find one of these 'Underbelly Elixirs' sitting around on the ground... they have unknown properties and only work in the city of Dalaran... I've heard they have transformative properties...
Speaking of transformations... I've been meaning to talk to the locals about this level80 rat I saw... it seems he's gathered four level 1 turtles to him and they've all been exposed to whatever oozes are on the ground in the sewers here...
Maybe he'll teach them some form of combat training... and they'll grow up to become master rogues... 'ninja' turtles, if you will...
All he has to do is name them... I'll suggest a list of Renaissance Painters as possible choices for him... Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael come to mind...

Yep... we rogues all stick together... for example... I've been meaning to talk to Nisstina here about her stealthing skill... it's not quite so effective when your pet worg pup is standing out in plain sight for all to see...

Dalaran and Bankers...

2008-12-13T15:02:00.000-08:00

Something I just noticed... when you're in the sewers of Dalaran... pull up your map. It says 'Circle of Wills' in the center... anyone know anything about real-life human anatomy? The 'Circle of Willis' is a collection of arteries at the base of the brain that provides a number of different supply routes for blood (and nutrients) to GET to the brain... Interesting that the circular hub (with lots of fluid) beneath Dalaran is named very similarly... perhaps the 'mind' of Dalaran could not exist without the 'Circle of Wills' in the sewers providing sustenance to it?

This one's for the Hordies out there... if you're an Alliance player (and you know who you are...) you will either have to be really sneaky or roll a lowbie Horde toon to see this. Inside the bank in Undercity the four bankers are named Ophelia, William, Randolf and Mortimer respectively. The sneaky thing here is the fact that they all have the same name: 'Montague'.
Is it a reference to Shakespeare? (You know... the Montague family in 'Romeo and Juliet')
Ah, my friends... that is what we call a 'red herring'... the REAL secret is in their FIRST names...
'Randolf' and 'Mortimer' were the big shot banking brothers in the 1983 movie Trading Places with Dan Ackroyd and Eddie Murphy. 'Ophelia' was the love interest character played by Jamie Lee Curtis. 'William' is a probable reference to Eddie Murphy's character 'Billy Ray'.

The Earthen Ring...

2008-12-04T18:07:00.000-08:00

Yup... I moved... or rather am in the process of moving...
More to come.

Bambi and Smoking

2008-11-30T16:31:00.000-08:00

A hit...
Bambi... sorta... here's a couple of screen shots... of Bambi(na), Bambina's Mom, Bambina's rabbit pal, Thudder... and their skunk pal Flora...

I can honestly say I contributed to the Disney thematic by killing the parent of a character...

A quick little FYI for you all though... clearly those characters are a not-so-subtle reference to the characters Bambi, Thumper and Flower (and of course Bambi's mom)... but here's something you may not have known... a fellow by the name of Felix Salten wrote the book Bambi in 1923... Disney eventually made it into a movie in 1942.
Which... is a long time ago... 66 years to be exact.

And a miss...
This is one you'll have to take ol' Blade's word for everybody... this is apparently no longer in the game...
(Ol' Blade hasn't talked turkey with a troll in some time...)
If you played Horde... (if you haven't you should... if you don't... well... let's just say there's a special place for you...) anyway...
If you played Horde previous to Wrath of the Lich King... we're talking a while ago now... you will have toyed around with the races and their emotes... to see which ones you like or prefer... and you will probably know about the male troll's predisposition to sound not a little - let's call it - "rastafarian".
Typing a slash-silly command, you might have heard the following:
"I kill two dwarfs in the morning. I kill two dwarfs at night. I kill two dwarfs in the afternoon, And 'den I feel all right.
I kill two dwarfs in time of peace and two in time of war. I kill two dwarfs before I kill two dwarfs. And 'den I kill two more."
If you look hard enough, I'm sure the interweb will provide you with that very quote...
This a reference to the Toyes' song "Smoke Two Joints"... it was apparently removed owing to "legal reasons" presumably related to copyright, although it is also possible that Blizzard was pressured to cut the joke because of the content that referenced a song that made reference to drugs...
Censorship fail!

Tricks of the Trade...

2008-11-30T16:30:00.000-08:00

A Rogue skill you get at level 75... reads as follows:
"The current party or raid member becomes the target of your Tricks of the Trade. The threat caused by your next attack and all actions taken for 6 sec afterwards will be transferred to the target. In addition, all damage caused by the target is increased by 15% during that instance."
That's pretty nifty... naturally... you all can clearly see the benefit in a raid... the more uber-dps you are as a rogue... pop all of your damage boosting trinkets and skills... build up the charge, then pop this on your tank... shaboom... you literally FEED your tank a ton of threat!
But... here's one to ponder about... does anyone know if this works on SPELLS?
Like the majority of Paladin threat?
Or other spells... specifically healing spells? Hmm... well... yeah... that puts an awful lot of potential threat on your healer... but who says you even have to attack during that 6 seconds of time? Drop that on your caster, and stop attacking for 6 seconds... they, in turn get 30 seconds of +15% healing? Hmmmm!
Got one of those super-damage glass-cannons known as Mages? Heck... anything that is insta-cast (or fast enough to cast a few times within the 30-second window) should benefit from this buff...
Or... if you have a darn-good tank, who's to say you can't use this on yourself? Or on another dps who might be a little lower on the damage list than you, my fellow 'shankers from the darkness'...
The possibilities are endless...

Shiny Dinglehoppers and the Old Man and the Sea...

2008-11-17T16:07:00.001-08:00

I've read somewhere that if you pickpocket a naga... there's a chance to loot 'A Shiny Dinglehopper'... though... I have to say... none of those Nagas look anything like Disney's Little Mermaid...

Oh... because it's an interesting quest in Stranglethorn Vale (and worth a fair chunk of xp)... and then a second set of quests in Nagrand (of course I'm referring to the Nesingwary quest chains...)
Here's a little tidbit about them you may or may not have known:
'Hemet Nesingwary' is a a sort of anagram of 'Ernest Hemmingway' (there's one more 'm' in Hemmingway... but it's close enough)
Hemmingway (like our pal Nesingwary in Stranglethorn Vale) was also a hunter and a writer - and one of Hemmingway's more-famous works was a book entitled 'The Green Hills of Africa'.
Hrm... the Blizzard employees must really like Ernest Hemmingway... there's ANOTHER reference to him... this time in Booty Bay. The fishing vendor is named 'Old Man Hemming' - a probable reference to Ernest Hemmingway and his book 'The Old Man and the Sea'.

And speaking fo the sea... here's a bit of a mystery for you:
Nat Pagle... not only does he appear in Dustwallow Marsh as the Artisan Fishing trainer... (and the questgiver that lets you eventually fish up Gahz'Ranka in Zul'Gurub)... but he ALSO appears in the credits of the game!
Whoa.
Is he a real person? Hm... must love fishing...

Northrend...

2008-11-17T16:07:00.000-08:00

What can I say... but Northrend is an awesome sight to behold... here's a couple of screen shots from Wolftusk to show you Coldarra... and a really REALLY big tower.
And Malygos.
I'm feeling disproportionately inconsequential... despite the fact that I'm starting to get recognition for my contributions to the podcast from guildies!
(Woot! Minor celebrity status ftw!)
What else can I say? Northrend is awesome... the zones are huge - they will seem even moreso when the majority of people gain levels and spread out a little... it seems more balanced, though... so you don't truly appreciate JUST how many people are in the zone with you... as you only ever see maybe a dozen at a time in specific areas due to how well spread out the quest-areas and quest-givers are.
But gaining the levels between 70 and 80? For the "average, casual gamer", it's gonna take a while... 1.5 MILLION experience points to get to level 71. And with 'complete' quests averaging 20 thousand... it's a bit of a slog... but with determined focus, some are hammering away at the levels... I've seen some Death Knights in their 73s and 74s... and I've heard of a few 80s already in guild and outside...
The best I've managed is level 71 on Bladetusk, most of the way through 70 on Skullblade... and 74 on Wolftusk... the reason for which I will hopefully be able to share next week...

I admit, I rolled a Death Knight... and it's an interesting take on things to start as a Scourge and then break free of the Lich King's grip and start down a purported 'path of redemption'... oops... was that a spoiler?
First impression?
DKs are WAY too overpowered.
Seriously. I've said it before... I started playing on the DK and decided to come back to playing Wolftusk (the hunter) to give myself a challenge. (Note to all those that missed the irony: hunters are considered - as Ashayo and Aprillian have mentioned a few times on the podcast - as the 'easy button' class...)
I had NO idea what I was doing in one of the first quests with the DK... I had to fight another guy (I won't spoil it by saying WHY) but all I was doing was literally button-mashing... so I'm betting I didn't even have all the tricks at my disposal... hm... come to think of it... I haven't spent any of his talent points, either... I still pasted my opponent into the ground and curb-stomped him three-ways from sunday... (I got to fight a Gnome... maybe it was pent-up aggression...)
Come the next time I play, I'll do a bit of reading about the skills and put the Death Knight together properly... so I can have some REAL tanking-dps goodness!
Oh... and for the record? My opinion? The term 'hero class' is not (I repeat NOT) because it's supposed to be bigger, badder, rougher and tougher than the other classes... it's a 'hero' class due to the story arcs and lore that surround it.
So... expect a nerf as soon as enough DKs hit the battlegrounds and enough non-DK players QQ about how OP the "hero" class is.
As far as lore is concerned... the Death Knight story arc feels very 'lore-intensive'... so it's something I will not be doing unless I have the time to sit back and appreciate the hard-work that went into it.
Speaking of story-arcs and spoilers... there is a large quest chain in Dragonblight that you will be doing when you are around level 72-73... and though I wasn't entirely clear what was going on at the time (I sent a few queries through /gchat with mixed results) once things started HAPPENING (emphasis there... big happening) I clammed up.
This is something you truly have to experience.
No... I'm not gonna spill the beans and spoil it for anybody... if anyone WANTS to know about it, I'll tell them or direct them to websites (like the AIE forums for example) that have the cutscene link for anyone to see... I just don't want anyone QQing all over the place... I left my rain-gear in Zangarmarsh.
All I will say about it is... THIS questline, story arc and resultant cutscene is the reason I have supported Blizzard to the exclusion of all other MMORPGs over the time I've been playing WoW.
I was awe-struck for a good half-hour... and as a fellow guildie says in the forums about the scene "I forgot how to blink".
Absolutely amazing.
So...
Oh... speaking of Q's (queues)... anyone else notice that they're gone?
Last week? I was #979 and had a huge waiting time... I felt very insignificant... this week?
Not a queue to be found... it let me right in... I felt like I was on the 'A' list...

Hunting for the Not-Yet-So-Knowledgeable...

2008-11-09T15:35:00.000-08:00

A few hints on how to more-easily tame your various and sundry pets that you can now get as a result of the new Beast Mastery talent tree...
The first one... something obvious for those level 20 and above... Freezing Trap... if it doesn't resist, your future pet will be immobilized and 3/4 or more through the Taminig bar before it even has a chance to attack you... very very easy way to do it...
And for those of you not quite at level 20 (the level at which you learn Freezing Trap) have faith!
There's a quest in Sen'jin Village at level 5 (the lowbie Troll area in Durotar) wherein you have to go and gather 'Intact Makrura Eyes' and 'Crawler Mucus' for Master Vornal. The REWARD for this quest is something called 'Really Sticky Glue'. Toss this at your future pet and then hit the Tame button right away... the critter will be held fast to the ground where you hit it with the glue... voila! A new pet!
(I hear this stuff is really awesome to use in PVP as well! Woot!)
Of course... there are other ways of snagging or 'rooting' a future pet... Netherweave Nets... Gnomish Net-Guns... the list goes on... but these two methods can be used - specifically by lowbies - to catch pets with little-to-no risk of harm.
Happy hunting!

Silence of the Snakes on a Plane...

2008-11-09T15:34:00.000-08:00

In Nagrand, at the Nesingwary Safari site, there's a crashed plane nearby... if I recall correctly, it should have an engineering vendor right next to it named 'Pilot Marsha'. I wonder what those snakes are doing crawling all over the plane... is this a reference to anything...?

Now... back to Thunder Bluff with you... head to the Pool of Visions and talk to Clarice Foster (if I recall, she gives you a quest to take a necklace to her husband's grave in Silverpine Forest... but notice her name? Now harken back a few years (to 1991) and the movie Silence of the Lambs... and Jodie FOSTER's character... CLARICE Starling...
Oh... look closely at the NPC... her lips are sewn shut - perhaps an homage to the movie poster?
Hmm...

Mrs. Blade, Goblin and Sprite...

2008-11-09T15:30:00.000-08:00

Now... Ol' Blade works hard at his job and at school... and I don't think it'd have been possible for me to have gotten Bladetusk or any of my alts to lv70 or beyond without someone as understanding as Mrs. Blade.
Before you ask... no she doesn't play, yes she does listen to me rant about the few things that might irritate me in the game (mainly how I think there should be a curfew for Alliance toons)... and she does so with one-part patience and two parts skepticism... yeah she'll listen - and even offer advice now and then... but By The Fist of My Old Uncle Throgg is her tongue sharp!
So I get support... she reads and does her own projects while Ol' Blade is mercilessly cutting down beasts and Alliance in Azeroth... but I'd better have the dishes done before I do...
That leads me to our two 'kids'... kittens we named 'Goblin' and 'Sprite'... ironically, the names had nothing to do with the World of Warcraft... Goblin is a jet-black kitty, and Sprite his little sister... When they want attention, they will stop at nothing to get it... clutching at cables, crawling on keyboards... and crawling up Papa Blade's back... the list is endless...
We chose their names because of the fact that we have a fey-like garden in our backyard with ponds and flowers and trees... 'mystical' the elves would call it, I guess...
Though I have to say... Ol' Blade cuts down the grass just as mercilessly as he mows down the Scourge...

Hunters and Pets...

2008-10-26T15:29:00.001-07:00

I reworked my hunter's talent tree into the new Beast Mastery tree... and it's got to be one of the coolest things I've seen in a while...
I believe I have heard on more than one occasion the 3.0 patch being referred to affectionately as 'The Hunter Patch'.
Some things about the patch are good - Wolftusk's new wasp pet named 'Sikorsky'... and 'Fluffy' the two-headed white Corehound... to add to the stables with my very first-ever pet in the game... Cuddles the (used to be named 'Death Flayer' Durotar scorpid). As a frame of reference, I picked up Death Flayer/Cuddles when the pets all had their own attack speed... he was a rare and valuable pvp one, as he was considered a 'tank' (high high armor) and had poison to stop stealthing rogues... AND had a 1.6 attack speed... faster than some cats (and most other pets) way back then...
So be adventurous! Play with the pet trees... and find a few pets that really suit your style of play...
Oh... just one thing...
If you DO happen to get yourself a Corehound pet... either outside of or from inside Molten Core.. please please PLEASE dismiss it when you're in a city... there's nothing more irritating than standing at the Auction House and watching your screen shake and tremble as some noob Hunter runs by with his newly acquired Corehound pet... for some reason, the Corehounds shake the ground when they walk... but the T-Rexes don't (and they're easily twice as big)...
Ah well... to each their own, I suppose...

Yarrrr!

2008-10-26T15:29:00.000-07:00

To that end... I've spent what time I have had in the game this week both learning and being amazed by the new talent trees (which I will get into shortly) and avoiding the major cities like (and because of) the plague...
Happy Hallow's End! Just don't kill the glowing green cockroaches...
First... as per usual... a weird and wacky tip...
There's an achievement that is listed under the 'Feats of Strength' for those that had pre-existing toons... I'm not sure if it's visible for newer toons, but I'm told that it's still possible to get this achievement...
But it's more about the non-combat pet:
The Bloodsail Parrot...
See... this one's easy... don't do ANY goblin quests (Ratchet, Booty Bay, Winterspring, etc) and avoid any contact with them... that will leave you at Neutral rep with the Goblins and Hated rep with the Bloodsail Buccaneers.
From there (yes, you'll have to be at least level 65 to have a hope of getting this accomplished...) open your reputations tab on your character sheet, click on the Booty Bay rep tab and click 'At War'
Now kill the goblins in the towns they're in... the bruisers are worth something like 25 reputation each... any civilians are worth 1 rep each.
From Hated, you have to push your way all the way to Friendly... not too far... only about 1080 (or was it 1800?) goblin kills or so...
Which is why you almost want to plan this in advance... it's another 1300+ f you have to start from the bottom of Hostile.
Note: this is probably NOT advisable if you want to ever a) be an engineer or b) participate in the Sunday Weekly Fishing Extravaganza... so be SURE your mind is made up...
Be aware... the bruisers in Booty Bay can net you, they have rifles for ranged attacks if you get too far away from them and they hit like trucks... they can also knock back and stun on occasion... so you're in for a bit of a fight... probably a suicidal mission for any cloth-wearing players out there... I'm sure it's possible... but I'd be prepared for a little bit harder a time if you aren't on the better side of 'elite'...
Also (there's more?) when you become 'Hated' with Booty Bay, a bruiser will spawn when you attack a civilian (so I'm told) making that kill THAT much harder... so be especially cautious when taking down civilians... but at 1 rep each, they probably aren't worth the effort anyway...
Assuming you have the patience of a proverbial buddhist and manage through sheer force of will to get your reputation with the Bloodsail Buccaneers to Friendly, go and talk to "Pretty Boy" Duncan on the beach outside Booty Bay. He'll give you a quest to talk to Fleet Master Firallon who will give you a task of some difficulty... as if this wasn't difficult enough...
Oh well... you've made it THIS far... time to go kill Baron Revilgaz and Master Seahorn (the two Booty Bay 'bosses' above the inn - right next to the Horde flightpath)
Assuming you are successful, hit the water swimming, head back to the Fleet Master and he'll give you one of the more rare items in the game: the Bloodsail Admiral's Hat.
I'm betting that it will be something of a novelty on just about any server you could play on... mostly because most people aren't insane or simply don't have the time it would take to accomplish this goal...
But for those that do... they get a nifty red-and white trimmed admiral's hat with a skull-and-crossbones motif... that lets you summon a non-combat pet!
The Bloodsail Parrot!

Paladin Ranged Weapon...

2008-10-07T15:26:00.000-07:00

Yeah... I know what you're thinking... 'but Pallys can't USE ranged weapons...'
Ahh... but there's a way around that little snag... let's call it a 'convenient oversight'...
First... your character will have to be at least level 47 to start the quest chain... and no, you don't have to be a paladin specifically... I just mentioned it as a 'paladin ranged weapon' as most paladin players that push their way through this quest are more than happy with the end-result.
Head to Un'Goro Crater... and snoop around (62,68)... or for those who don't have coordinates, it's an area in the southeast... little mini-lakes and lots of raptors...
You're looking for a Wrecked Raft... it's the quest giver (of sorts)...
The quest is called "It's a Secret to Everybody".
Accept the quest and then turn around and look in the body of water right next to you and the boat... you'll find a small pack.
Open the contents of the pack, then go talk to a gnome named Linken (44,8) at Marshal's Refuge.
Linken will be all confused and send you to talk to Donova Snowden (31,45) in Winterspring... she will give you the Videre Elixir quest.
Next go to Ferelas, talk to Gregan Brewspewer (45,26) who wants you to go north and get some Evoroot... but there's a catch! It's guarded by a gnoll and it seems impossible to get past him... you can do one of two things... either a: buy some bait from Gregan or b: sneak up around the back way jumping up and over the wall... yes, it's possible, I just did it the other day...
Here's a link for you... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oI3iefJ3_w
Yes, it's technically an exploit... but it seems to be legitimately possible... in either case... you can buy the bait from Gregan... so both ways will work.
Back to Gregan with you... and get the Videre Elixir from him.
So... with your Elixir, go all the way back to Winterspring and talk to Donova again...
Now go all the way south to Tanaris... to the graveyard outside Gadgetzan... and drink the elixir...

You die!

Mwah hah hah hah haa haa haa!

Now... would ol' Blade be so cruel as to send you all over the map just to kill you off?
Well... yes... but I DID promise you a paladin ranged weapon... so don't rez right away, but instead take your ghost-self and run north to (53,23) and find a fellow spirit named Gaeriyan... then back to your body, resurrect yourself and right-click on the tombstone in the graveyard... mouse over them if you don't see it right away.
Now... head back to Linken in Un'Goro Crater again, then up and into the cave to talk to J.D. Collie (41,2)
She sends you to Felwood to talk to Eridan Bluewind (50,82)... who sets you the task of collecting Silvery Claws from the local predators (bears and wolves)... they're around lv47-50ish... I found what I needed around the area slightly north of the road to Bloodvenom Post...
Now head up to the Irontree Woods and kill Irontree Stompers for the heart you will need... the trees are slightly higher level then the wolves and bears... once you have it, head back to Eridan Bluewind
Now... this part's a little involved... head to Tanaris (70,49) - the area just past the pirates - and open the backpack that Eridan gave you... stand in the circle of rocks and use the Book of Aquor
Aquementas will appear... he's lv54 if memory serves me correctly... but you don't have to kill him... you receive the Silver Totem of Aquementas as soon as you engage him... you can run if you're not high enough level to take him down (or if you didn't bring a few high-powered friends to clean his clock...)
Return to J.D. Collie with the Silver Totem and then to Linken.
Now comes the tough part... the mob you have to take down is named Blazerunner and he's at the top of the volcanic mountain in the center of the zone... it might be a wise idea to equip the totem in your offhand and drag it to an open slot on your toolbar or a hotkey... you'll most likely be needing to use it more than once...
Ya see... Blazerunner has a blue aura around him... when that aura is up, he takes NO damage.
None. Nada. Nil. Zip. Zero.
The totem, however, dispels the aura... so as soon as you start the fight, use the totem on him!
Oh... be wary of his knockback ability... he can easily punt you right off the mountain to your death if you position yourself wrong... some say to fight him inside the cave... but so long as you have your back to the wall or to the cave opening (as opposed to having your tail wagging in the breeze and facing him while HE is in the cave) you should do alright...
Hmm... at this point... I feel it's only right to mention that not only is he completely invulnerable with his blue aura... even when you disenchant his buff and make him susceptible to damage... he's STILL a 56 named elite... and hits like a truck... so bring a few friends... and be careful of the adds up here... lv55ish fire elementals... plus the lava will burn you if you decide to take a swim...
When he finally dies, head to the back of his cave and loot the chest that appeared to obtain the Golden Flame... and return to Linken.
You've done it! Now for the part you were all waiting for...
You have the choice between a 33.3 dps mainhand sword or an offhand that increases healing and spell damage by 20...
Not bad items, overall... but you'll probably be getting much better very soon once you hit Outland in a very few levels...
However... the item we've just criss-crossed the continent a dozen times to get?
Linken's Boomerang!
It's a trinket! When you use it (3 minute cooldown), it flings a magical boomerang toward the target causing 113-187 damage... and it even has a chance to stun or disarm them!
Yeah... ok... it's not a ranged 'weapon' per se... but it's quite the addition to a paladin's arsenal... considering they only get one ranged spell (and that's a talent)...

And this week's easter egg? I should think it'd be obvious... but for those that have never played it, the ENTIRE quest chain is an homage to Nintendo's Zelda and Link characters...
Linken is Link
The Golden Flame looks suspiciously like a triforce...
The act of baiting the gnoll is actually something you do to get past a guard in the very first Legend of Zelda game...
Even the quest names share the theme... "It's a Secret to Everybody"... "It's Dangerous to Go Alone"...
Oh... and with each part in the quest chain granting around 5000xp... we're talking in excess of 60,000xp JUST for completing the chain... that's NOT including any xp from killing mobs or discovering any areas in zones you haven't been to yet...

Polymorphing...

2008-10-02T15:25:00.000-07:00

Now... on to the topic of transformation...
Specifically... Ashayo mentioned he's like to know how to get the Polymorph: Pig spell for his mage...
Be ready... for it is a quest chain frought with peril the likes of which...
Ahh... who am I kidding... it's actually pretty easy...
At level 60, go to Archmage Xylem in Azshara, he'll have a quest called 'Warlord Krellian'... besically, the Archmage has sensed another source of magic (a Prismatic Shell) and wants YOU to go and get it (and of course kill the creature that has it)...
Warlord Krellian is at 41,52 in a temple... if I remember correctly, he has a single guard and is a lv55... so not terribly difficult to kill solo...
Take the shell back to the Archmage (the guy that was too lazy to go get the shell himself)... and he'll give you another quest... this time to TEST the shell's magic power...
Carry the shell with you and polymorph the Spitelash Nagas that you will find at the ruins below the Archmage's tower... after a few seconds, some clones will spawn... they move FAST, so as soon as you see them, drop them with a Frost Nova or Arcane Explosion... AOE the little sheeplets... the shell will collect their essences...
You can even use Arcane Explosion level1... the clones die THAT easily...
After 50 essences (and the completion of the quest), go back to the Archmage and he teaches you the Polymorph: Pig spell.
Yeah... it's THAT easy.

Oh... here's something to whet your appetite for the upcoming expansion... MORE Polymorph variations for Mages!
Specifically... Endora Moorehead (an NPC in Dalaran) will sell the Tome of Polymorph: Snake and Tome of Polymorph: Black Cat for the low, low bargain price of only 2500g each! Be wary, though... these are rep-dependent and will be of limited quantity... so hopefully they will be BoP items to stop people from simply buying them and dropping them onto the AH at a ridiculous markup...
Also... for those that will take Inscription as a profession... there will be a Glyph that will alter your Polymorph spell to produce a Penguin instead of a Sheep!

It Puts the Lotion in the Basket...

2008-10-02T15:24:00.000-07:00

In Dire Maul North, when doing a tribute run, you are required to create an ogre suit to fool one of the guards. The quest requires you to get an Ogre Tannin out of a basket; once the tannin is removed, an ogre will run down the steps yelling "It puts the tannin in the basket, or else it gets the club again!"
This is a reference to the movie 'Silence of the Lambs' during a scene involving the killer and his captive. If you're not old enough to have seen this movie... ask someone about it. (See? Ol' Blade can be PC when he needs to be...)

Also... there's a ring that drops (I think it's in the Scarlet Monastery)... it's a blue... binds on equip... has some +stamina and some +attack power... but what's REALLY noteworthy is it's name... Mark of Kern.
Named after... the man... the legend... the World of Warcraft Team Lead... Mark Kern!

Firefly in Steam Pump Flotsam...

2008-09-14T15:57:00.000-07:00

From pools of Steam Pump Flotsam in Zangarmarsh, you have a small chance of catching either 'Broken Engine Parts' (Horde only, sells for 10g) or 'Strange Engine Parts' (Alliance only, starts a level 55+ quest)
The engine part has a caption that reads "It reads 'Capissen 38' on the bottom." which is a subtle reference to the television series 'Firefly' and the movie 'Serenity'.
The ship Serenity's engineer, Kaylee, is quoted as saying "Don't ride in anything with a Capissen 38 engine, they fall right out the of the sky."
As a cute tribute to this, the Alliance NPC that you turn the part in to (for a scaling reward of 2g20s up to 9g79s at level 70) is named K. Lee Smallfry.

Turtles, turtles, rah rah rah...

2008-09-14T15:56:00.000-07:00

In the theme of fishing and transformation... how about you Mages out there being able to polymorph your opponents into something OTHER than the standard sheep?
How about a Polymorph: Turtle spell?
This will take some doing... you will have to be able to enter Zul'Gurub... without the ability to stealth or feign death, it might be wise to go in with a small crew of your bestest friends or guildies... Zul'Gurub (before the Burning Crusade) was one of the end-game dungeons... and a full 20-man raid was required to successfully complete it.
Now, a single group of decently-geared 70s should be enough to waltz through.
It's a bit complicated to get where you're wanting to go... but at the back left of the center temple, there's a spot with a tent, some supplies and bottles scattered on the ground.
(The bottles give you Darkmoon Special Reserve... so crack open a cold one!)
The area is known as 'Pagle's Point'.
Be careful of the crocolisks hereabouts... you may think you can pull and kill them individually, but each group of them is just that... a group... and 6 level 60 elite crocs do much more damage than one... (trust me... I learned this the hard way when I stealthed in there solo...)
Oh... watch out for the fish in the water, too...
The object of your ultimate search at this time is the 'Battered Tackle Box'. You may have to mouse around if you're too high level to see the little exclamation point about the object.
From here, you will pick up an item (and a corresponding quest) called 'Nat's Measuring Tape'.
Take the measuring tape back to Nat Pagle (in Dustwallow Marsh) and complete the quest... this will unlock the ability to purchase a 'Mudskunk Lure' from Nat.
It's a barrel... you'll understand why shortly. It might be a good idea to buy more than one of these lures... just in case... but hopefully you won't need to summon Gahz'Ranka more than once.
Gahz-who?
Let's go find out.
Back into Zul'Gurub with you... and all the way back to the same area (Pagle's Point)... now... remember the Weather-Beaten Journal that allows you to find pools of fish?
It's very useful here, too... you're going to be fishing for Zulian Mudskunks!
Where? Out of pools of 'Muddy Churning Water'! Where else?
Catch five of these little darlings and load them into the Mudskunk Lure.
Now... have your party be ready for a fight... and when you're all mana'd and buffed up... cast the line into the water.
In a scenario that reminds one not a little of the movie Jaws and fishing with big barrels, your lure bobs a bit... then Gahz'Ranka emerges!
The little-known extra boss of Zul'Gurub.
The reason he's not often seen?
You need to be at least level 60 to get INTO Zul'Gurub, and you need a fishing skill of 330+ (around 425 to stop fish from getting away).
It's a fair point that the fishing skill of 330 isn't difficult to attain... but most people don't have the patience to take it that far...

He drops a few blues, a few purples... and has around a 14% chance to drop the Tome of Polymorph: Turtle!
THAT's the beauty we're after... and from what I can see, it's not a bind on equip... so you MAY even be able to sell it on the AH! (I've never seen it though... either it's THAT rare or THAT valuable!)

The Fishing Extravaganza!

2008-08-25T21:18:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been a little jealous of your druid friends for their ability to shapeshift into other forms?

What if I told you that it was possible for ANYONE to become a fish?

It takes some luck... and not a small degree of skill... but it's possible.

Before you embark on this journey, you must have the following:

Fishing skill (minimum 130, preferably 225+)

Character level at least 10 (to get the fishing skill minimum), preferably lv35+ to defend yourself from the mobs that will be around the areas you will be...

Booty Bay and Stranglethorn... for the weekly Fishing Extravaganza!

This particular weekly event is also very popular with lower-level pvp toons for the extra gear (with boatloads of Stamina on it) that you can obtain...

In Stranglethorn Vale... at 2:00 PM server time, Riggle Bassbait (he's the little green goblin near the big hanging fish and the inn) will announce "Let the fishing tournament begin!" which will trigger a whole ream of Ally and Horde toons running full-bore out of Booty Bay towards their mutual destinations.

The pools along the shore.

For two hours (2:00 PM to 4:00 PM server time) ALL of the pools in Stranglethorn Vale will become 'Pools of Tastyfish' for the purposes of the contest.

All you have to do is fish 40 tastyfish from these pools – before anyone else – and get them to Riggle Bassbait – before anyone else.

Sound simple?

It is and it isn't.

It can be challenging if you don't quite know the ins and outs of your fishing skill... an don't have a few tricks up your sleeve beforehand.

Firstly... remember that the Tastyfish are in pools... and to FIND these pools, your job will be made infinitely easier if you have learned the ability to track pools on your minimap courtesy of the Weather Beaten Journal I discussed previously.

(You see? There's method to ol' Blade's madness...)

So off you go to find some pools along the beaches of Stranglethorn Vale... remember that most mobs along the beaches here are in the 35-40+ range (raptors, basilisks, pirates, etc.), so having the ability to defend yourself against attacks is crucial. Bring a friend with you if you don't think you'll be able to survive a crocolisk attack on your own... or if you're on a pvp server where the contest can become deadly in its competitiveness...

Now... as a lot of people will be trying to win this contest, having a few strategies set up beforehand can only help...

Equip your fishing gear before the contest even starts... that's pretty much a no-brainer...

I, personally, have my Fishing Skill (the button-click to cast a line) on a second hotbar... so that instead of clicking (or double clicking if you have an addon that allows it) the water, all I do is tap my hotkey... this helps when I'm trying to cast into a pool and miss it... one click and I'm tossing the line in again.

Also... it's probably advisable to have a straight fishing skill – that is... nothing that you have to put on your fishing line each and every time in order to increase your skill (like lures or aquadynamic fish attractors, for example) as these take TIME to put on... and in this contest, time is of the essence...

One more thing... knowing that you will be potentially runing up and down the beaches in Stranglethorn, it'd probably be a good idea to set your Hearthstone to Booty Bay... as it is there where you turn in your Tastyfish once you catch them...

All set? Get fishing!

Oh... a few more things...

Riggle (and his companion the Fishbot 5000) will spawn about an hour before the contest starts (around 1:00 PM) and despawn about an hour after the contest closes (around 5:00 PM)... which is good... as the Tastyfish you just caught have a 4 hour timer... they'll go bad!

As an added bonus, your Tastyfish (even if you didn't win the contest) can be turned in for gold!

The price scales as you level... up to something around 1g12s per batch of 5 fish at level 70.

Yep... the quest actually makes you money while you're competing! How much better can it be?

At the end of the contest, quite a few people continue to fish the Tastyfish pools for more Tastyfish as well as the rare spawn fish that can be caught and turned in to Fishbot 5000 for so EXTRA items!

Each of these rare fish has about a 1% chance of being caught at any one time and they aren't unique... so you can catch more than one! Plus, they won't 'go bad' like the Tastyfish will... so if you have to, you can keep them in your inventory for later!

Brownell's Blue Striped Racer can be turned in to receive Nat Pagle's Extreme Anglin' Boots (Cloth boots, 36 armor, +5 Fishing Skill, +12 Stamina)

Dezian Queenfish can be turned in to receive High Test Eternium Fishing Line which (so far as I know) is a permanent 'enchant' for your fishing rod to give it +5 skill bonus to Fishing

Keefer's Angelfish can be turned in to receive Lucky Fishing Hat (Cloth, 43 armor, +15 Stamina, +5 to Fishing Skill)

There is also a rare fish that Fishbot 5000 won't want... but YOU might... as it makes a rather formidable weapon! The Rockhide Strongfish is a level 40 bind on equip green, and acts as a one-handed mace, 46-87 damage, 2.5 speed (26.6 dps) with a +8 stamina bonus!

Imagine the look of incredulity on the faces of the Alliance in the battlegrounds when they get slapped in the face with a fish!

But... the main rewards... the rewards ONLY the winner of the contest may choose from are a selection of either...

Arcanite Fishing Pole (minimum Fishing Skill 300 to use, +35 to Fishing Skill – the highest bonus in the game thus far...)

or...

Hook of the Master Angler... a trinket which allows you to turn into a fish, allowing a slight speed increase and water breathing!

Of course, it's not as versatile as other shape changing... if you are struck in combat or cast a spell, you will revert back to normal... but it still beats swimming normally... plus it marks you as a previous winner of the Fishing Extravaganza!

How to catch Mr. Pinchy...

2008-08-12T21:15:00.000-07:00

Mr. Pinchy is only found in pools called "Highland Mixed School".
These pools are ONLY found in Terokkar Forest... and ONLY in three specific lakes... all of which can only be reached by flying mount (or by warlock summon).
- Lake Jorune (above Stonebreaker Hold),
- Lake Ere'Noru (above Allerian Stronghold), and
- Blackwind Lake (near Skettis)

As a note, the first two are usually referred to as 'cherry picking' lakes, as there are no mobs in them... so they're very safe to park alts at and subsequently are the most frequently fished.
The Blackwind Lake location is the one with the water elementals, the Skettis Skyguard rep quests and the huge elite tree wandering around. Due to the fact that there's more 'risk' involved in fishing this lake, there's a corresponding greater number of Highland pools that can spawn.

Now... before you leave on your mega-fishing adventure, there's a few things you need to know...
To have a chance at successfully fishing the Highland Mixed Schools and catching the rarest of rare drops, Mr. Pinchy, you will have to have a fishing skill of AT LEAST 405.
Yes.
405.
That's the bare minimum... and as the skill of fishing caps at 375 currently, you will have to gear up with special items and equip special fishing lures on your fishing pole in order to achieve this skill level.
I'll leave the details of how you add skills to your fishing up to you, or maybe put them into an upcoming email... suffice to say... at least 405 is required to attempt to catch any fish out of fthe Highland pools... and *500+* is required to prevent any fish from 'getting away'.
(As an aside... this was previously nerfed from 430 minimum and 525 respectively)
Also... the pools seem to be on a timer and do not often spawn for upwards of 2 hours at any given location... so you may have competition once a pool spawns.
In addition... as if all this wasn't enough of a deterrent... good ol' Mr. Pinchy is rumored to have a drop rate around 0.2%.
That's two out of every thousand casts... presuming you successfully fish something out of every cast.
So be prepared to be there a while.

If you DO manage to catch Mr. Pinchy, be aware that he is Bind on Pickup and will grant you three wishes, with a two day "cooldown" between wishes. The description reads:
"Use: Speak with Mr. Pinchy and be granted a Wish! Maybe something good...maybe something bad...Mr. Pinchy does not know!"

Using Mr. Pinchy triggers the spell cast "Make a Wish".

The Make a Wish spell will have a variable result. It could:

- Summon a non-elite guardian (Benevolent Mr. Pinchy) that assists you in battle for 10 minutes.
- Bestow a gift box with up to 5 Super Healing Potions and 5 Super Mana Potions.
- Bestow a Magical Crawdad Box containing a Magical Crawdad non-combat pet.
- Grant "Mr. Pinchy's Blessing" which increases your health by 500. The buff persists through death and is considered a flask with a 2 hour duration.
Or... you MIGHT make Mr. Pinchy ANGRY! Which will spawn Furious Mr. Pinchy... a non-elite that attacks you!
Furious Mr. Pinchy has around 5560 health and is easily killed... plus... his corpse cannot be looted.

I managed to catch him once... and got the 500 health buff twice followed by an Angry Mr. Pinchy... so it seems to be random as to what you might get from any given wish...

Hope that helps!

The First Rule of the Undercity...

2008-08-12T14:59:00.000-07:00

Ever see the movie 'Fight Club'?
Worry not, the two main characters of the movie survived the undead plague!
Head to the Undercity... specifically to the War Quarter. There you should find a group of fighters... two of whom are named Edward and Tyler.

Fishing Tricks...

2008-08-05T21:10:00.000-07:00

Specifically... the Weather-Beaten Journal that will allow you to 'track' fishing pools on your minimap - much like the hunter's tracking ability or the tracking of minerals and herbs.
You will need a Fishing skill of 100 to use it, and the journal binds on pick-up, so you will probably have to use the journal yourself... BUT... there IS a way to trade the journal to another character... I'll detail that in a moment.
In order to find the journal, you will have to fish up a trunk or a crate, specifically Curious Crate, Heavy Crate, Heavy Supply Crate, Iron Bound Trunk, Mithril Bound Trunk, Watertight Trunk or Tightly Sealed Trunk.
The best drop rate seems to be from Curious Crates - which are caught from any pool in Outland at around a 4% catch rate. There's no specific pool in Outland that drops Curious Crates more than any other, so the higher chance of having the journal is offset by a low drop rate.
Personally, I found the greatest success in Stonetalon Mountains... in the Venture Company goblin area... there are pools of wreckage all along the river there... and it requires a fairly low skill level to fish them (55 if I recall, higher skill to prevent fish from 'getting away')... The drop rate for the journal in any crate or trunk in Azeroth is approximately 20%... so you have a 1 in 5 chance of getting the book when you fish up a trunk.
Also, it didn't take me a great deal of time, as all the pools of wreckage are along the river... and it's a smaller stretch of land - there wasn't far to travel between pools... it's fairly easy to fish up quite a few trunks in a short amount of time... as the mobs are around level 16-18 (with 2 wandering shredders at around level 22), being high enough level to be able to handle those mobs easily makes for a quicker time fishing trunks.

Oh... once you learn the skill to be able to Find Fish, you will no longer be able to see any new journals you might fish up in subsequent crates or trunks... so how will you know if the trunk has a journal in it or not?
How do you send a journal to an alt if it's bind on pickup?
Worry not!
It is said that the trunk does not disappear when looted if it has the journal in it... you just won't be able to see it.
I, personally, don't trust this feature and just send all of my newly-fished trunks to other toons as soon as I catch them... I don't even open them. The TRUNK isn't bind on pickup... only the Journal that might be inside is.
There's a catch (haha pardon the pun)... in order to see the journal in the first place, the character that opens the trunk must be able to fish (ie. have the fishing skill at least level 1) and not have previously learned the Find Fish skill from the journal... so send the trunks to a level 5 alt that you know you won't be taking out fishing... learn the fishing skill and let THEM open all the trunks.
As an aside, as it's a bind on pickup item, the journal is difficult (at best) to sell over tradechat (and nigh impossible to sell on the Auction House)... as most people interested in fishing will have already found it, and if not, they will not be willing to pay a great deal of money for it.
You might be able to get a few gold for it, but I doubt it... My resounding lack of success selling the journals I found resulted in my saving the extra ones I did find (that I can't use, as all my alts have one) for guild distribution... maybe an in-guild contest or something...

So there you have it... a fairly quick way of learning a skill that will invariably help you later in your fishing adventures... by pointing out on your minimap all the special pools that will make your fishing for that very specific kind of fish THAT much easier.

Naked Melee Hunter FTW!

2008-07-29T18:34:00.000-07:00

Holy snap!
It's been a long time since I dug ol' Tahr out of the mire he's in...
Listening to a podcast (Ctrl Alt WoW... found at http://ctrlaltwow.blogspot.com/ also on the iTunes store) and entering the adventures of Tahrzaan into a pod-contest detailing the weird and wacky alt things we do...
I have to admit, I wasn't expecting to win.
So kudos to Aprillian and Ashayo for making an excellent podcast... (not that anyone seems to have read this blog at all or anything, but with newfound mention and fame, who knows? If/when it happens, I want to credit the ones responsible!)
So a brand-spanking shiny new Blizzard Authenticator is heading my way!
Yay! (Thanks Aprillian and Ashayo!)
I've also been inspired to actually get off my duff and get moving a little on Tahrzaan's leveling... especially now that he has a new pet!
(Sabor! RRawr!)
Notice he's translucent? That's not a bad image... thanks to the aforementioned podcast, I decided the ghostly cat from the figurines in northern Darkshore would make a nice choice for my next kitty pet! (I was inspired from CAW Episode 72).
The best part is, he's all spotty like a leopard! =)
Yeah, ok... he's white-ish... so TECHNICALLY he'd be a snow leopard... but hell... Edgar Rice Burroughs wasn't exactly envisioning a pompous blood elf as a protagonist either, was he? lol

On the Subject of Battlegrounds...

2008-06-01T20:50:00.000-07:00

Seriously?
I don't consider myself enough of a tried-and-true expert of all things BG in the World of Warcraft...
I don't obsess over them... I don't bust a gut trying to get every single piece of gear...
What I HAVE done is read Sun Tzu and Machiavelli... and what I DO have is common sense and a knowledge of how the game works...
This I impart to you, oh loyal readership.

**Spoiler Alert!**

Zerg.
Yeah... that's it... the term for mad-rushing an enemy in order to vanquish them by sheer overpower... derived from the alien race in Starcraft...
That's how Alliance wins... pretty much every time.

Think on these kernels of wisdom:
Warsong Gulch... an over-affected game of capture the flag... how do you get the flag? Inevitably, one lone stealthed toon sneaks in to the enemy base, the rest of their team mad-rushes (zergs) the base and the sneaky toon grabs the flag and high-tails it to safety as quickly as their Speed Potion-induced feet will carry them.
How do you get your flag back? Same thing... mad rush and hammer the opponent's team and make them drop it.
This whole 'lets put 4 on D' thing doesn't work, guys.
Do the math... 4 on Defense versus 8-10 Offense?
Don't be stupid.

Arathi Basin.
5 'nodes'... not quite enough on your team to cover them all effectively... so we 'settle' for holding 2 and valiantly fighting for the third node...
Idiocy.
This particular battleground works on timers - no matter
Team up with 7 or 8 of your closest friends... and hammer the hell out of the Alliance at each and every node...
They'll be too busy playing catch up - especially if you're fast enough - to put up much defense initially... and when they DO, it will be by reacting the way WE usually do... some stay HERE to defend THIS node... one or two sneak away and hopefully don't get caught and cap THAT node over there.

Alterac Valley.
This isn't so much a 'zerg' phenomenon as the others... mainly because there is a fail-safe in place to prevent such from happening... the 4 towers/tower guards that each main boss has in their stronghold.
You need to eliminate the guards by destroying the towers.
Do you need to Defend at Galv?
Yes and no... it's awfully nice to put a huge dent in the initial zerg that Alliance inevitably does on him... they seem to reach Galv about 5 seconds before our fastest reach Balinda... and I've rarely seen any Alliance defending her.
Do we need to defend Drek?
No.
No?
No.
If we have towers up, not a soul alive (so far as I know) can tank him AND two of the tower guards he has...
SO you NEED to keep two towers. The easiest two seem to be Ice Blood and Tower Point.
Why those two and not the more obvious Frostwolf towers?
Alliance can cap Frostwolf Graveyard without drawing the adds... inevitably causing a bit of a problem late ron in the game... also... the technical 'choke point' at Ice Blood Graveyand is a hindrance if it is Alliance controlled... any Hordethat dies south of that area must run PAST
IB GY to get to the north and Stormpike Stronghold.
If you lose 3 towers, it's game over... haul your ass north to Vann and get him down before the Alliance drops Drek... 'cause you KNOW they'll inevitably be better geared than you are.
Oh... another interesting fact... as a player of a rogue, I have sometimes found myself with the capability to snag a Mine or two during the course of the battleground play.
Be wary of this... from what I have seen, when it says 'the Mine's reinforcements will be added to yours'... it doesn't increase your numbers any... so capping a Mine in a desperate attempt to forestall the 'loss by lack of reinforcements' often backfires... as the pre-existing mine denizens often pick off quite a few of your 'new' NPCs in reality LOWERING your reinforcement count.
On the flip side... once Alliance caps a mine... THEN it's the perfect time to grab it for the Horde...
but try your best to clear it out first... go spelunking and scrape the Alliance out - there are quite a few reinforcements in each Mine... and I've actually won an AV by slaughtering the Alliance that were inhabiting a mine... I don't have an exact count... but they usually group in 3's and I must have mowed down nine or ten groups or more... so 30+ reinforcements.
Also... it bumps you WAY up the damage dealt part of the end-game tally.

Eye of the Storm.
SO many noobs think that if we cap only two towers and then farm the flag that we'll win every time.
Yes and no, grasshopper.
It is entirely possible to play the two-towers-each game of capture the flag... but if all you're going to do is swap the flag back and forth, go play WSG.
Seriously.
This is another battleground where Zerg = Win... Don't believe me? Try it.
Take a look at HOW you win... it's like the pvp-optional towers in Terrokar Forest... the more of your team that stand near them, the faster they will cap.
So... let's extrapolate... if the tower caps at 'X' speed with one of you standing near it... then the tower will cap 8x as fast if eight of you stand near it.
Probably not a direct translation of the mathematics behind the programming, but you get my point.
An example of play:
Zerg rush Blood Elf Tower... then as soon as it caps, rush the Draenei Ruins... then Mage Tower... then Fel Reaver Ruins... rinse and repeat.
If you really feel like it after a run or two of this chaos-riddled madness-become-winning game, then you can grab the flag on your way through. I think it'd be absolutely hilarious to be beaten down BY the flag carrier and his nine closest friends.
As added incentive, capping the flag while you hold all four towers is worth a tidy *500* points.
Yeah... a quarter of the game gone in one fell swoop.
Now do you see why it's a good idea to grab as many towers as possible?

This piece of elementary Battleground play brought to you by:
A Little Common Sense... dripping caustically from the Edge of the Blade...

Hypocrisy Part the First... or "Just how many toons DO you have, anyway?"

2008-06-01T18:30:00.001-07:00

It suddenly occurred to me that I contradicted myself by saying I've been slowly gearing away from pvp in one post... then saying I've been pvping in another...
It's both, actually...
My main - what I'd call my co-main... is a 70 Forsaken Warrior (Skullblade)... I've been running battlegrounds and dealing with the inanity of the average Horde player in Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin, Alterac Valley and the Eye of the Storm for what seems like an eternity... and I have half of the items I need in order to be completely pvp geared. Only about 80 more AB, 40 EotS and 30 WSG losses and I'll have all the marks... and however long after THAT to gain about 130,000 honor.
Yippee.
I made him a Miner/Blacksmith... and have gone through the pangs of specialty switching in order to make things a little more viable... he's now a Swordsmith and has made the epic craftable 1handed sword (and am well on my way to upgrading it to lv2);
My OTHER main... technically the first Horde toon I ever rolled and developed (not counting the Tauren druid I made when I first started playing WAAAAAY back in early 2005)... is a 70 Orc Rogue (Bladetusk)
I also have a 70 Blood Elf Mage (Greymalkyn) who is the woefully undergeared-for-arenas subject of my previous post...
Amongst the prime three, I also have an Undead Priest (Stitchblade), an Orc Hunter (Wolftusk) and a few other toons I've tried who - for the most part - are bank alts holding the various and sundry crafting materials I've inevitably collected over the past three years)

So yeah... I have a pvp-geared toon (the Warrior) and I tried pvp in arenas with the Mage.

Hopefully that's a little more clear...

Pee Vee Pee

2008-05-30T21:55:00.000-07:00

Not something I'm a terribly great fan of...
Truth be told... I can't really stand it.
Not to say that it isn't a great feature and people that are fans of it aren't right to be so...
But it's not for me... in a 3v3 I can't even beat a 1200-1500 team.
Granted I was on my Mage... and The Great Mother knows I don't have anywhere NEAR the pvp-quality gear necessary to be viable... but still... in 10 games I was the first to die 9 times... and I didn't kill a single opponent.
So to all you fans and participants of PVP - both Arena and Battleground...
You're welcome to it.

Gearing Up from the Depths of PVP...

2008-05-30T00:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry?
Yeah... I've been pvping... now I'm making a tank...
Why?
I'm curious about it... have been so for a while now... and want to give it the ol' college try...
Sadly, the lack of a progression-mined raiding guild has left me with little recourse but to keep hammering away in my collected pvp gear until i get something better... strapping on the occasional +Defense item when I find it... gemming blues for stamina and the ubiquitous +defense/+stamina yellow gems...
More as it happens... more as I collect it and more as I encounter more information that I can share as gospel, rumor or just plain scuttlebutt...

Peace,

Blade

Still alive...

2008-04-01T17:34:00.000-07:00

A few things...

A good friend coaxed me into moving servers... and so far it's been working out splendidly!
Well... for my other toons, anyway... I decided to try a priest (as I've never actually leveled a healer)... so I've been hammering away on him for a bit... leveled my main Main (orc Rogue) to 70... caught up on a few missing details (engineering flying machine ftw!)
Stuff like that...

Unfortunately, that has left our intrepid loincloth wearing hunter without play... so after his adventures with Isha Awak, he's been benched... but not permanently.
I'm going to sort out some details with the guild I joined... maybe respec my warrior into a tank (as we seem to be light on meat-shields at the present time...) and other noteable things like daily-quest-for-cash grinding or gearing up my combat rogue with pvp gear...
But before long, I will re-establish Tahrzaan as my preferred alt-to-play once again!

So I moved the entire hoard of Horde toons I have... cost me a little bit, but what the hell... I consider it an investment - much like buying a new putter or preventative maintenance on a mountain bike... it's one of my favorite hobbies and I take steps to ensure that I continue to enjoy it.

Though... there is always a nagging question or two... in this case, some might (and have) asked why I coughed up the $25 to move a lv26 toon...
I reply with 'Do you know how LONG it took me to GET him to lv26?!?'
'Sides... fates willing he won't be lv26 for very much longer...
... and as I had been using Tahrzaan as a banking alt (as he had a ton of bag space in comparison to my other toons)... considering the boatload of boe blues, stacks of herbs and gems and other goodies he was carrying... he, too, came along for the ride!

Meh... and it's only $25... I'll forego my Starbucks for a week... maybe... >.<

How to be taken seriously in a world of cynicism...

2008-02-09T17:00:00.000-08:00

"What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing."
- Oscar Wilde

Yeah... I've been getting a few /lol's, a few /wtf's... some people looking at me askance... it comes with the territory of flying against the wind.
Got some good solid supporters in my few loyal guildmates, though... one even stopped using her uber-paired axes for a while and equipped weenie daggers in a show of solidarity!
Go team! /lol

As a side note, I'm thinking I ought to put up some screenies of my (mis)-adventures... just so you all can know I'm not pulling a fast one...

So expect some pics of my exploits in the days to come!

Stay tuned...

Isha Awak!

2008-02-09T16:50:00.000-08:00

Wow.

Unbuffed... and, yes, ungeared with anything more than the hunter 0.9 dps starting dagger, a skinning knife and some weenie throwing blades, I killed Isha Awak.
Admittedly, it took me three tries to do it... and ol' Numa bit the biscuit right at the end, too... Isha's at literally 1% health and the cat up and dies on me...
AIEEE!
But... Raptor Strike ftw! and down goes the sea serpent!
I'm thinking I could NOT have done this as a regular melee fighter without my trusty (and oh-so-much-more-powerful) pet companion... but I did it.
Naked, standing side-by-side with my trusty cat... we trounced Isha Awak for the Barrens quest...
A mob that's 5 levels higher (at 27) than I was (at 22)...

O.O

Yeah... 'holy crap!' is right...
What does this mean?
Honestly, I dunno... it DID give me a little ego boost, though... so many people (even since the patch where Isha Awak was made a 'normal' from the 'elite' it was before) are asking for help on the quest over the general channel...
... and I manages to kill it 'solo'... if a hunter ever really DOES solo...

Whoa.
Maybe this whole 'naked melee' thing CAN be done...

Onwards!

Stay tuned...

Wewt! Lv20!

2008-02-07T13:15:00.000-08:00

Yeah baby!
Dual wield!
Ok... ok... it's not as awe-inspiringly significant as you might think... it's actually only the Skinning Knife as an offhand weapon... which seems to only increase my dps by 50% or so...
(every now and then I see my offhand slash for 5-6 damage... go me!)

At least I can run faster with him now (Aspect of the Cheetah ftw!)... so there's the psychological impact of 'saving travel time'... the flip side is now all the quests are 'go to this OTHER zone and...' so whatever travel time I think I've saved is lost when the distance I need to travel is 5x what I had to before... /sigh

Truth be told... it's getting tougher and tougher to NOT simply pick up a random weapon equivalent to my level (or 2, now that it's possible) and start seriously hammering away at stuff... you know... like a cookie-cutter hunter...
Not to mention armor... I'm starting to dread aoe attacks /lol
It's about the possibility of what can be done... so I persevere...

Stay tuned...

Tahrzaan on the Armory!

2008-02-04T10:48:00.000-08:00

Level 17 and counting...
Admittedly, I put some points initially into Beast Mastery... and I will continue to do so while I still have the convenience of having BM talents that also benefit ME as a melee combat toon...
Also, it's a matter of convenience, really... I'll definitely be going as far as Bestial Swiftness... 'mainly 'cause it's irritating that my pet can't keep up with me on foot...
Naturally, I'll respec once I get Aspect of the Pack... but that's not for a while...

Check me out!

http://www.wowarmory.com/search.xml?searchQuery=tahrzaan&searchType=all

Hehe... naked melee hunter in the public eye!

Stay tuned...

Horde needs Elephant mounts...

2008-02-03T13:05:00.000-08:00

Kinda like Brewfest let ANYone get a Ram mount if they busted their butts for long enough...

I've decided in the meantime to work on Tauren rep...
Through a little misadventure, I got summoned over to Orgrimmar (another friend - Boadicea - wanted some help running Rage Fire Chasm... we ran it with another guy's lv70 Shaman friend... quick and dirty and I could honestly have made better xp by solo grinding... but it's all about having fun with friends, right?)

So here I was in Orgrimmar... and I thought to myself...
'Hey... Kodos are close enough to elephants...'

So I'll be on a Kodo when I hit lv40 (unless Blizzard decides to have some quest or other than allows me to have an elephant mount)... and I'll pay for it with all the money I saved not paying for armor repairs! LOL

Stay tuned...

Got my pet!

2008-02-03T13:01:00.000-08:00

With the help of a friend, yesterday I hit level 10 and got myself a pet cat!
Called her Numa... I hope all you Burroughs fans will appreciate the reference...

and... omg!

It's SO easy now... I'm soloing mobs 2 levels higher than I am... just like a 'regular' hunter...
Albeit... I'm using liberal amounts of 'Mend Pet', but I'm doing ok...
I probably lose about 20% speed owing to the fact that a regular melee attack for me causes an average of 9-10 damage...

I feel a little like a Warlock... strong pet, weak physical defense... only I'm a 'lock that only uses his wand... lol

Stay tuned...

Level 5... and a sudden discovery...

2008-02-02T15:14:00.000-08:00

Well crap... got to level 5 after a bit of time...
The first few levels passed rather uneventfully, really... considering the gear every toon starts with...
However... here's the bad news...
The skinning knife is NOT considered a 'weapon' for the purposes of skills and talent such as 'Raptor Strike'... o.O

I wonder why?... Was it an oversight on the part of the developers?
What makes a 1.3 dps skinning knife that much less of a weapon than the 0.9 dps starting dagger?

Ah well... I'll stick with my starting dagger... though I have to say things are already starting to slow down a bit as I don't have my ranged dps or the pretty mana-intensive skills that kill a mob before it even reaches me...

Stay tuned...

WTF!!!1!

2008-02-02T14:55:00.000-08:00

Yeah... you read the title correctly.
Out of sheer (boredom? curiosity? insanity? pick one) I have decided to try something...
After reading various blogs about melee hunters and the naked troll project... (great blogs, by the way and I very much encourage you to read them...

I have decided to merge the concepts... and I rolled a blood elf hunter... I called him Tahrzaan...
I'm sure you picked up why by now... if not, then I urge you to keep playing your cookie-cutter builds and raiding.

In deference to the late Edgar Rice Burroughs, as well as to the 'phonetically-minded' among you, the name relates to the character in Mr. Burroughs' series of books...

What does that have to do with anything?
Quite a bit... read on...

Ol' Tahr is naked (well... 'cept for his shorts)... I sold all of his items except his starting dagger... and THAT weapon, folks, is the one he will use...
At level 5 is where he gets professions... skinning (naturally) and herbalism... seems more apropos to the 'character' than mining or the like... I MAY morph him into a leatherworker in the future... but I think I like the thought of a pure gatherer...
Level 5 is also his weapon upgrade... to a skinning knife! LAWL!

A good friend of mine said that Burroughs' 'Tarzan' character used an axe in the novels... and if I come across one (and think of it) I may upgrade him...

And, no, I'm not on an RP or RP/PVP server... I add the 'flavour' of the character development simply for the enjoyment of doing so...

The Big Question... WHY?!?

I dunno... to prove it can be done... to see what kind of challenges there are when I can't rely on either my ranged skills nor my attribute bonuses...
(Yeah... I understand fully that I won't be invited to raids, or groups often and pvpers would see me as a 'free HK'... but (obviously) that's not what this is about...)

On the flip side... I doubt I'll ever be 'oom'... lol

Stay tuned...