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Ghostcrawler weighs in on shaman feedback

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The beta has been under way now for some time, as have the feedback posts on the official forums. Shaman have had a few major changes to their repertoire, as well as a few more minor ones, but the general feeling from reading the posts made in the forums is that these changes don't go far enough. Shaman, it appears, don't feel like they're getting what they need to be viable, let alone competitive, and the unique nature of a lot of their abilities seems to continue to be as much a hindrance as it is a help.

But arriving like the white knight in medieval-styled dramas, just as the situation feels dire and unsalvageable, is Lead Systems Designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street. The shaman feedback post has finally had the equivalent of a Blizzard seal of approval, in the form of a blue post from the bluest of blues.

So what did the big GC address in his post, and what still remains outstanding for beta shaman?

One big complaint that many shaman brought up was glyphs. I recently tweeted fellow WoW Insider writer Joe Perez about this very matter, namely, that shaman glyphs were a mess. They felt either very lackluster or very penalty-heavy. A few patches ago, before the recent changes, I was playing my shaman with two empty glyph slots, because none of the glyphs felt worth using. This is a Bad Thing. A recent patch went some way to repairing this, but with it, a host of new problems appeared, some of which GC addresses after the break.

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Filed under: Shaman, Mists of Pandaria

Become a master chef on the shores of Pandaria

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The people of Pandaria take their food almost as seriously as their beer. Those of us who like to keep up on our cooking skill in World of Warcraft have our work cut out for us in the upcoming expansion. Rather than simply leveling to the skill cap and calling it a day, the process has become a little more involved: Pandaria offers six different cooking specializations, or Ways, which can eventually all be completed by one person.

The latest Mists beta patch has implemented a pair of awards for those who complete all six: the achievement Master of Pandaren Cooking and the title Master of the Ways to go with it. Move over, Savior of Azeroth. Being a master chef is where it's at.

It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!

Filed under: Mists of Pandaria

The Light and How to Swing It: Glyph of Inquisition and the myth of the no-brainer

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Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Seasoned ret paladin Dan Desmond is here to answer your questions and provide you with your biweekly dose of retribution medicine. Contact him at dand@wowinsider.com with any questions, concerns, or suggestions!

Back in October, the blues issued a challenge to themselves, a goal for their new talent system in Mists of Pandaria -- there would be no mandatory talents, zero "no-brainers" or similarly choiceless situations. The same has been said for glyphs in the past, straight from the mouthparts of the head crab himself.

Now we all know that there has always been a chasm of varying width separating what the designers intend for a system and what we as players experience. Sometimes the devs do really well and the gap is but a crack in the sidewalk, while others look more Springfield Gorge, and others still like Valles Marineris on Mars. Even so, we can hardly blame them -- we players, as a whole, are a fickle bunch. It is only natural that a group numbering in the millions would have diverse opinions on what works and what doesn't, particularly when it pertains to how each of us play the game.

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Filed under: Paladin, Analysis / Opinion, (Paladin) The Light and How to Swing It, Mists of Pandaria

Know Your Lore: Archimonde the Defiler

The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft.

Let this scar signify the first blow against the mortal world. From this seal shall arise the doom of men, who, in their arrogance, sought to wield our fire as their own. Blindly they build their kingdoms upon stolen knowledge and conceit. Now they shall be consumed by the very flame they sought to control. Let the echoes of doom resound across this wretched world, that all who live may hear them and despair.

He came to destroy the world, and he nearly did. If not for the combined efforts of the orcs of the Horde and their allies under Warchief Thrall, the human refugees led by Jaina Proudmoore, and the night elves under Tyrande Whisperwind, Archimonde the Defiler would have walked up to Nordrassil, the World Tree that sits atop Mount Hyjal, and he would have consumed it utterly. With it, he would have gained all the power of the Well of Eternity that has seeped up the tree's massive roots over tens of thousands of years, making him quite possibly the most powerful entity Azeroth has ever seen, even including beings like Deathwing, the Old Gods, and potentially even Sargeras himself.

In the end, however, the mortal races banded together in a desperate alliance and held Archimonde and his Burning Legion away from the tree long enough for Malfurion Stormrage to play a final, desperate plan that Archimonde couldn't anticipate, because it involved self-sacrifice, the loss of the night elven immortality. For Archimonde, who had lived for more than 25,000 years constantly coveting power, the idea of giving it up was unthinkable. Combined with his ego and arrogance, he was effectively blind to the danger, and so he died.

We hope. Make no mistake -- Archimonde, of all the Burning Legion, came the closest to actually destroying Azeroth. Neither Sargeras nor Kil'jaeden ever walked Azeroth bodily. Archimonde did. Neither Sargeras nor Kil'jaeden ever set eyes on the Well of Eternity. Archimonde stood mere yards from it, drawing the power from Nordrassil. The Defiler very nearly did exactly that to all of Azeroth.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Lore, Know your Lore

Pandaren Mount Revealed: Dragon Turtle

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Blizzard has announced today the pandaren mount coming in Mists of Pandaria is called the Dragon Turtle. They're large, scaled turtles with a bit of a dragon-like feel to them. They are ground mounts, which will be needed to roam around Pandaria while leveling from 85 to 90.

While Blizzard doesn't explicitly say that these will be obtainable by other races through a reputation grind, it's safe to assume that'll be the case. I for one can't wait to get one on my human warlock.

Check out Blizzard's full announcement post after the break.

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Filed under: News items, Mists of Pandaria

Encrypted Text: 3 Diablo monk moves that WoW rogues should steal

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Every week, WoW Insider brings you Encrypted Text for assassination, combat and subtlety rogues. Chase Christian will be your guide to the world of shadows every Wednesday. Feel free to email me with any questions or article suggestions you'd like to see covered here.

Like many of you, I've been playing a monk all week. Every minute of my free time has been spent using my fists to dole out some serious justice. I've been alternating between twirling a staff and a pair of bladed fist weapons. Monks are a lot of fun to play.

I'm not talking about our furry panda friends from Pandaria, but rather the master martial artists from Sanctuary. While there are plenty of pandaren monk abilities that I wouldn't mind borrowing, the Diablo III monk's arsenal is quite appealing. Due to our mutual focus on martial arts, several of their techniques would fit right into our toolbox. There might not be any poisonous strikes or sneaky stabbing going on, but we're adept at kicking and punching as well.

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Filed under: Rogue, (Rogue) Encrypted Text

The Queue: Help me, Queue, you're my only hope!

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Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky (@adamholisky) will be your host today.

Queue, I need your help. I need the heroic Lightning Rod to drop for my warlock tonight. See, the problem is that it dropped once and went to a player who has subsequently not raided. Not complaining about that, he's a nice guy. But ... it's like it's not going to drop for me, ever. I'm sitting at the top of the EPGP charts by far, and when this baby drops, it's going to be mine.

So can you all send some good loot love my way and make it drop tonight when we kill Ms. Wolf Hat?

If you do, I promise to write you another Queue tomorrow. And if it doesn't drop ... you're getting that LOLcat Queue I promised a while back.

PhilDGiles asked:

Have you ever answered a Q4Q with "absolutely" or "absolutely not" and it turns out to be the opposite? XD

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Filed under: The Queue

Around Azeroth: Mother of dragons

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"Ambassador to Blackmaw? Really?" queries submitter Marcao of Blade's Edge (EU-H). "Black with a slight touch of orange clearly indicates that these robes are meant to be worn by the Ambassador to the Black Dragonflight. I've complemented the robes with couple of light swords, just in case the end of the dragon age needs to be hastened."

Want to see your own screenshot here? Send it to aroundazeroth@wowinsider.com. We strongly prefer full-sized pictures with no UI or names showing. Include "Azeroth" in the subject line to ensure your submission dodges email spam filters; if you'd like to be credited, also include your name, guild and realm.

Filed under: Around Azeroth

Breakfast Topic: What's your favorite shapeshift in the game?

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Druids, man -- they have all the fun. They get to be bears, big cats, sea lions, birds, and, umm, owlbeasts? I'm not sure on the last one. Let's just stick with moonkin.

But some of the rest of us can shapeshift, too! If you're a worgen, the animation shifting between your true form and your human form is pretty cool, and that's a shapeshift that doesn't require druidic skills. But there are many other shapeshifting opportunities in WoW. You can be a skeleton, if you're lucky, with a Noggenfogger Elixir. You can be a bat, as per the header image, with a Bat Costume. You can be a pirate with a Savory Deviate Delight or a huge Naga with Bones of Transformation.

There are a many other shapeshifting effects, but my very favorite has to be the Potion of Illusion. I loved it before I read Anne's article, and I love it even more since then! What's brilliant about it is stealing other people's appearances -- transmogs, character looks, you name it. I love using it in raids on people who are AFK and /dancing with them. One day, I'm hoping my entire raid will steal one character's identity for a photo.

What's your favorite shapeshift? Were you also converted to the Potion of Illusion by Anne's writeup? Are you a die-hard fan of the Noggenfogger's pot-luck powers? Or is it the pirate life for you?

Filed under: Breakfast Topics

WoW Insider Show Episode 244: Sacco is a wizard

Every week, join us as we present you with The WoW Insider Show podcast -- an hour's worth of WoW community discussion covering everything from the week's top stories here on WoW Insider to emails from our readers and what's been going on with our particular characters in Azeroth.

Want to have your question answered on the air? Email theshow@wowinsider.com!

Get the podcast:

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Listen here on the page:


Filed under: Podcasts, Podcasting, WoW Insider Show

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