Cook me this

Two more weeks until pilgrim's bounty starts. Are you prepared yet?
And, in the theme of all good things, be sure to get this one for the fun of it.

For myself (and oh hey, there's a list of all alts n such) I started working on getting all those alts up to par for cooking. In my case, that means I'm currently working on the lower three to get on par with the fourth, and then to get all four of those up to 385. In short, I need lots and lots of meat and fish!

* level Name cur Max Needs

* 80: Zurgat 450 450 x
* 80: Belzur 385 450 Great feasts
* 70: Elrath 385 450 Great feasts
* 70: Targash 385 450 Great feasts
* 70: Neruhe 385 450 Great feasts
* 71: Arthul 285 300 raw whitescale salmon / darkclaw lobster / large raw mightfish
* 80: Tikasar 125 225 raw sagefish
* 72: Geshrat 114 150 boar ribs / crawler meat / raw sagefish
* 20: Nefaria 130 225 boar ribs / crawler meat / raw sagefish

Guess I'll be leveling my fishing skill, or looking for cheap stacks of fish on the AH. Though cooking skill has at least some use, I've only raised fishing on one character. Blizzard really should add "something" to that profession to make it worth raising imo.


It was worth a try

Random "where did you get that mount" whisper #236
After a while it gets old, really. Actually, it got old after the first 3-4, but after a dozen and some you start making up stuff on where to get it. Some fall for it, some don't.

Today, I figured I'd try out the ole engineering.

* [19:31:53][W From] [Himagain]: were did you found your mount?
* [19:32:08][W To] [Himagain]: [Practice Lock]
* [19:32:18][W To] [Himagain]: wanna buy some?
* [19:32:19][W From] [Himagain]: cool
* [19:32:31][W From] [80:Himagain]: there in you found your mount?
* [19:32:37][W To] [80:Himagain]: Yep, totally.
* [19:32:40][W To] [80:Himagain]: Get em all the time really.
* [19:32:46][W From] [80:Himagain]: owmuch?
* [19:33:02][W To] [80:Himagain]: 10g per box?
* [19:33:06][W From] [80:Himagain]: no


Also Interesting

You might like this Elona Shooter. At first glance it's "yet another" one of those side shooter, defend the whatever last stand till your mouse breaks games. But, this one's got a bit more depth than the usual muck among those. Just, give it a try I guess. If you don't like it, too bad :P

I've spent a good few hours on getting a bunch of those trophies so far.
Don't bother trying to get ragnarock until you've reached level 50 or whatever, and at the least have a chalice ready.
Oh, and aim for the head. Gives bonus damage.


Poll end

The previous question: Are you sick of badges yet?
* Yes.. ugh.. - 29 (63%)
* No, gimme more! - 17 (36%)

Closed up, and opening a new question:
* Did you check out the Icecrown Citadel Spoilers yet?


And Finally

In three days we should get the onyxia whelpling in the mail for the WoW 5th anniversary. It's also the last day you can log in normally, after that you'll need to merge with your battle.net account to be able to play WoW.

Halloween no more

And Halloween is over. Hope you got your achievements by now. Glad I did mine last year ugh.

All but one that is. Though I suspect I'm not alone in that. It's just ten points anyhow, and not needed for the meta achievement. See MMOC for a bit more details. It's really a small "event" if you can call it that.

Speaking of ten points, this sunday and monday you can get Dead Man's Party. It's quick, dead easy (haha couldn't resist that pun...) and there's a vendor that sells you an extra Cooking recipe.

Personally I'm on 164/169, and in no more than two weeks time there's the Pilgrim's feast event starting that should allow everyone to get another five.
* Cranberry Chutney
* Candied Sweet Potatoe
* Pumpkin Pie
* Slow-Roasted Turkey
* Spice Bread Stuffing


If you're only a few recipes away from Chef de Cuisine, those few might get you there.

(Also, you get a cookie if you can guess where that screenshot was taken)


Remember the Sunwell?

Sheesh what's up with the silly puns today?

The sunwell, I'm sure some of you readers have been there during the time that it was actually "hard" still, and not just a place to go to pick up an achievement. Back in that time it was rather controversial as it had a unique buff added by blizzard. Namely Sunwell Radiance, yeah that's a nasty buff. And, all bosses in there had it. Actually, not just bosses but every single mob in that damn instance had it.

Blizzard's excuse at the time was something like "we've given you too much evasion, so this allows us to make bosses hit less hard". Something along those lines anyway. But it sort of made druids - who's main defence was dodge, rather redundant.
Other tanks could drop dodge and start stacking parry and block, but druids, well, couldn't. Lots of unhappy players, but most still managed and got a good way into the instance before WotLK suddenly made the instance redundant.

That's the way of endgame instances sadly. Blizzard makes them useless before you've really had a chance to do them proper. TAQ and Naxx back in Pre-TBC had the same issue.

Anyway, I digress. The point being, that exact same damn buff is going to be active in Icecrown Citadel(aka ICC). Of course It'll be named differently, but it's the exact same buff. -20% dodge on all players, and mobs get an extra +5% chance to hit you.

Basically it's like this.
Players have gotten too much evasion, so instead of making bosses hit 2x as hard and potentially one or two shot any tank, they're killing your dodge so that bosses can hit you more often. This means they don't need to buff the boss' damage output too much, and they don't need to nerf our gear or evasion ratings either. (Like they've done to rogue agility etc) The reason to that was this - rogue tanks!



One must miss those days *sniff*

It'll remain to be seen whether this makes druids cry again.
Patch 3.3, I don't know about you, but it's looking rather interesting so far.
Hopefully we'll get a chance to complete it this time, yet, Cataclysm is getting closer, and THAT is also looking rather good.

Oh the dilemma...

Cheap news

Winter time!
Clocks in Europe are moved one whole hour backward.
Ugh, going to be hard to get some sleep adjustment then.

So, recently there was this "Twitter thing" where the Blues answered some stuff most of us already knew for people who didn't know yet. It's twitter seriously. Most of them are half brain dead talking about poo. Either way, I spent most of my day farming ToC 5 man normal, and trolling newgrounds so there's not "that" much interesting to post this weekend.


Cataclysm

Q: Will Path of the Titans be as time consuming as obtaining Sons of Hodir reputation?
A: Sons of Hodir was easy, we're thinking more along the lines of Argent Dawn rep actually. JK! As a matter of fact, we don't want the paths of the titans to feel grindy at all so we're trying to make sure that each step along the way feels more like a great quest, or a key achievement (like killing all the bosses in a new raid zone). So, it should be more oriented around accomplishing something that feels important rather than grinding.

Q: What’s Deathwing’s current relationship with the Old Gods?
A: In facebook terms, I'd list it as "It's Complicated". "Single" or "Married" are probably too extreme in this case.

Q: Will there be Wintergrasp-like capturable zones in Cataclysm?
A: Yes, there is an island off the coast of the Eastern Kingdoms named Tol Barad. Players will fight for control of the island and its famous prison. However, while the battle for Tol Barad is not in progress, players will find that it will remind them much more of the Isle of Quel'Danas, in that it'll be a major daily quest hub with quite a bit of random world pvp (presumably).

Q: Thousand Needles is getting a big change in levels; how has the Cataclysm affected it?
A: As a result of the Cataclysm, Thousand Needles has been completely flooded with water!

Q: With Cataclysm revisiting the old world, any plan to make the old reputations worthwhile again?
A: With each expansion, we introduce new reputations with new rewards. Sometimes we introduce reputations that are obviously related, such as Argent Dawn/Argent Crusade and Cenarion Circle/Cenarion Expedition. We don’t update the rewards for existing reps, as we don’t want to put new characters at such a significant disadvantage.

Q: With the removal of defense in Cataclysm, will plate gear still have avoidance stats or will tanks and dps be sharing?
A: Tanking gear will still have avoidance stats, they just won't have the defense stat anymore. So to answer your question, tanking and dps gear will not be the same.

Q: Any plans of doing anything with Grim Batol in the Wetlands?
A: Yes, we currently plan for Grim Batol to be one of the raid zones in Cataclysm. =]

Q: What are the plans for the current Goblin-run towns after Cataclysm is out?
A: Most Goblin-run towns will continue to operate as normal. In general, the existing Goblin cartels tend to be self-serving, and therefore aren't taking sides.


Patch 3.3

Q: There's plenty of great endgame content, what about some new early/mid content to keep new players entertained?
A: We actually have some small changes to the early game going live in 3.3.0 to help eliminate some new player confusion. This is not content specific, it is more focused around easing the new player pain.

Q: Will leveling from 80-85 be like leveling from 70-80?
A: It's too early to say. We base our leveling more around how much quest content we have and how good the reward pacing feels. If we have as many quests as we did from 70-80 and if it feels like your character is getting a reasonable amount of new stuff for the time invested, then it could end up being similar.

Q: Will players be able to do 'old world' quests after Cataclysm is released?
A: Only "old world" quests that we don't change. However, once the Cataclysm happens, it happens for everyone and there's no going back.

Q: How will you handle beginning characters and higher level friends after Cataclysm? WIll they be out of phase?
Players will not be out of phase. The Cataclysm changes the world for everyone.

Q: Are Worgen going to have mounts?
A: Both Worgen and Goblins will have new, racial specific mounts.

Q: Will there be events where ally + horde players have to work together to kill a boss?
A: Generally speaking we don't do this because we prefer that the horde and alliance feel like enemies rather than a big happy family working together to defeat a common foe. If anything, we want tension between the sides to rise.

Q: Will Hyjal be made for exploration in Cataclysm?
A: Yes.


Raids & Dungeons

Q: Love the steps taken to making high-end content accessible to casual players. How committed are you to continuing this?
A: This is something we talk about on a regular basis. There isn’t a line in the sand we have made, it’s much more on a per piece of content basis. We do like the way the regular modes are shaping up to be more casual friendly, while the hardmodes are a way to reward very hardcore play.

Q: Ulduar had one kind of hard mode(triggered).. ToC had another (ToC vs TOGC).. Ony has none. What will ICC have?"
A: ICC's hard modes will be triggered, but via in-game UI (much like how you toggle between normal and heroic modes today) rather than triggered by game mechanics (like not killing the three drakes before you attack Sartharion).

Q: For Cross-realm LFG if the group is composed by members of other realms do they have to go on foot or will they be teleported?
A: The current plan is for players using the LFG system to be automatically teleported into the instance, similar to how battleground queuing works today. This is active on the PTR now, and we plan to host a community event around this feature soon!

Q: Any chance to have LFG menu to show classes you're looking for I.E just showing all tanks or healers currently qued in LFG.
A: The plan right now is to allow players to register for roles they are capable of filling, then have the queue system make the best decision possible for the player. This is to give all classes an equal chance at participation. We also have plans to diversify the class makeup in a future PTR update.

Q: With T10, are we going to see tokens like in Ulduar? or like CC? CC style had every class and spec rolling on same thing.
A: With t10 we're going to see a hybrid. The tier 10 items (the ones with item levels you'd find in the 10-player raid) will be purchased with Emblems of Frost.

The tier 10.5 items (the ones with item levels you'd find in the 25-player raid) will be obtained by getting a token (one that is specific to 3 or 4 classes, much like the ulduar tokens) and using it to upgrade the tier 10 item that was purchased with emblems of frost.

Q: Will there be anymore epic storylines with cinematics like the wrathgate questline?
A: We have big plans for additional in game cinematics! We are happy with how the Wrathgate questline worked out, and want to do more lines like this.

Q: May I create a group with 4 friends and then use the LFG interface to gain the random dungeon reward?
A: Yes. In fact, you can join it with a full group of 5 and still get the random dungeon reward. The reward is for doing a random dungeon, not necessarily for having random members.

Q: Crowd control is all but dead in raids. Is that something you plan on bringing back?
A: Like say... with the Faction Champions encounter in ToC? ;]

Q: Are there any plans to open the other "sanctums" in Wyrmrest (i.e. Obsidian Sanctum, Azure Sanctum, Emerald Sanctum)?
A: Possibly. =]

Q: Are hardmodes going to get anything to make them feel like a different fight visually or auditory
A: I find the hard modes very different visually. Much more black and white imo.

Q: Any chance that the hybrid system that is going to be implemented for T10, could be retro fitted to all WotLK raids?
A: I'll take that as a good reaction to the t10 system. =] However, it unfortunately won't be retroactively applied.

Q: Will 10-man raiding guilds see Legendary quality weapons (items) drop in their raids anytime soon? Or in Cataclysm?
A: Our current plan is to reserve Legendary weapons for the 25 person encounters, I wouldn’t rule it out in the future though.

Q: Any plans for a gated system in IIC like in Colliseum that prevents us from doing hardmodes from day 1?
A: We do have a system that unlocks bosses similar to how we handled TOC and Sunwell. We are restricting hard modes to raid leaders that have defeated Arthas in regular mode.

Q: In the future will hard modes have greater fidelity like Sarth, Sarth+1, Sarth+2, Sarth+3 rather than the Binary Normal/Hard?
A: Generally we have learned that hard modes should be more binary, but that doesn’t mean we will never do something like Sarth 3 drakes again.


Misc.

Q: When Race change is live will we be able to change to any race in our faction no matter what class we are?
A: No, you can only Race Change to a race that allows your specific class.

Q: Any chance the Legendary items will grow stronger as players level up as heirlooms? Its too much work, just to ditch after a patch.
A: This is something we have talked about a great deal. One of the concerns about making a weapon “best in the game” that scales up, is that players will continue to do old, outdated content in order to obtain the weapon. This ends up being not very fun for the other participants. While obtaining a legendary weapon is an incredible accomplishment, it is important cycle out weapons on a somewhat regular basis to make sure players are always playing new content.

Q: Any chance of being able to link more then one authenticator on one account? (in case I lose or break one)
A: We are talking about the authenticator and how to make it a better experience. Your suggestion is one we are talking about.

Q: Do you have plans to have acheivement points redeemable?
A: Achievement points are a prestige reward only. There are no plans to turn them into some kind of currency.

Q: Any plans on adding bonuses to certain titles your character obtains? Like "...of the alliance" gives +5 to all stats
A: We have no plans to introduce combat advantages to titles. Titles in World of Warcraft are very specifically set up as prestige rewards only.

Q: Can locks have a summonable flying mount now please
A: Now? As in right this second? No.

Q: Will Alliance ever get an ingame band like the Hordes L80ETC?
A: Sure, if somebody knows of an awesome Alliance band...

Q: When do hunters get to tame druids?
A: Right after druids get a hunter form.

Q: What will happen to Mankrik's Wife? Please don't tell me she's gobbled up by the lava?
A: You'll have to wait and see. =]


Last question!

Q: Who are the two developers answering these questions?
A: Game Director Tom Chilton and Director of Production J. Allen Brack.

Also see: mmoc.

Weapon skill

Ah, such a frustrating mechanic.

Back in the "old" days where it was still a desirable skill for melee classes it at least made some amount of sense to have to raise it manually. Having +5 or +10 extra weapon skill on top of the base 300 meant that you ended up with a LOT less glancing blows. As a rogue, that meant loads of white damage extra.

Weapon skill got changed. A few times even.
Currently it's equivalent is called Expertise. But in 4.0 (The cataclysm) it'll get removed yet again.

However, we still have Weapon skill. No longer as a bonus stat, but still as a dated mechanic that we need to work through on every character when they gain a level. Be it mains or alts.

Unarmed skill, Axes, Defence, Maces, Polearms, Swords, Two-Handed Axes, Staves, Wands, and more.

Warriors, rogues and hunters have it especially bad as they got nearly a full range of weapons to choose from. And luck would have it, you'll end up wielding each weapon every so and then as you upgrade them from greens, to blue, and epic. Or in the modern days of alts from Hierloom to dungeon blue, to raid epic.

At 1/400 weapon skill you'll miss, miss, miss, miss.
Starting from 350 or so, you'll hit more, but only do 1% of the weapon's damage if you hit. And you can forget about getting crits. Those numbers steadily increase as your weapon skill increases, but... So does the time in between gaining skill points in that skill. If your class doesn't have any instant attacks - Such as rogues training bow or crossbow skill, well damn, you'll be taking HOURS for those last few skill points.

Luck would have it though, you've found this post!
Personally I'd prefer weapon skill to be removed entirely, but for a lack of that option I'll give you a few weapons with a "fast" attack speed so you can hit mobs more often, and get skill points more often. Indeed, weapon speed increases the rate at which you gain skill.


So, let's see:

If you run into a nice epic / blue item that nobody during a dungeon run is interested in don't be afraid to roll greed for it. After all, it'll save you hours of time at any point in your character's development stage. On overall though, you should be able to find most weapons easily on a vendor. Simple white junk you can grab and re-sell again later. You also want as low dps as possible, since the monster you're trying to raise your skills on will then survive for longer, and thus give you more skill points.

Daggers:
* Poignard. Can't beat this one really. Low dps and widely available.

Fists:
* MH: Dalaran Knuckles
* OH: Left-Handed Brass Knuckles

Axes:
* MH: Dalaran Axe
* OH: Marshfang Blade Axe
* OH: Biting Axe
* OH: Icy Quick Edge
* OH: Tomahawk

Maces:
* Furious Saronite Beatstick
* Dalaran Cudgel

Swords:
* Dalaran Sword

Polearms:
* Ethereum Phase-Spear
* Dalaran Spear

Staves:
* Dalaran Stave

Two handed Axes:
* Mag'hari Battleaxe
* Dalaran Great Axe

Two handed Maces:
* Manual Crowd Pummeler
* Dalaran Hammer

Two handed Swords:
* Barovian Family Sword
* Dalaran Greatsword

Bows:
* Dalaran Bow

Crossbows:
* Frigid Crossbow
* Dalaran Crossbow

Guns:
* Dalaran Rifle
* Moonsight Rifle

Thrown:
* Dalaran Dart

Wands:
* Consecrated Wand
* Cookie's Stirring Rod
* Wand of Onyx


Dr.Z's cooking tips

The trick is to get your meat to turn crispy brown.
If you are ending up with 'crunchy', then you should really pull it from the pan sooner.