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The latest patch 5.4 newsThe Queue: Good morning Azeroth!
by Adam Holisky 
Feb 23rd 2009 at 11:00AM
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky will be your host today.
Welcome to this edition of The Queue. It's 11:00 a.m. Do you know where your children are? Hopefully they're firmly planted in some sort of edumacation. I am so smart, S. M. R. T., I mean S. M. A. R. T.
AlexW573 asked...
"How many reasonably geared (entry 80 raiding) people does it take for TBC 25man raids?"
AlexW573 asked...
"How many reasonably geared (entry 80 raiding) people does it take for TBC 25man raids?"
That depends. Mount Hyjal and Black Temple were being cleared with 15 to 20 fully Sunwell geared players right before Wrath came out. I did a number of these raids myself. They were more difficult, sure, but when you had 15 or 20 players that had done the fights hundreds of times for a year, well, it's really second nature to many folks.
Sunwell was a different animal due to some of the DPS / Tanking / Healing checks throughout the instance. You'd have been hard pressed to do Brutallus with anything less than 22 people – and even that would be pushing it for most top-of-the-top-end guilds (pre nerf).
If you are going in with people that truly have been there for a year or more, I would expect it could be 10-maned easily. If the players are really top notch, the kind of god like players that you kind of wonder if they're cheating they're so good, you could probably see a 5-man clear MH/BT. For everyone else I'd recommend between 15 and 20 players.
Kara, Gruul, Mag, SSC, and most of TK can probably be 5-maned without too much hassle. I would say however that with Kael'thas you might run into significant problems. And remember too that several fights have legitimately hard mechanics which require extensive study and practice (ie: Kale'thas and Vashj). Even though the bosses might not hit hard, the actual encounters themselves still require coordination.
Jasuess asked...
"While I understand it's called WoW Insider, I'm curious on what everyone at WoW Insider thinks about the upcoming Blizzard releases of StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3? Also, any plans for a StarCraft Insider and Diablo Insider?"
Everyone here is excited about both those titles, and we're gonna be first in line to get them. I personally had the chance to sit down and play them for several hours at BlizzCon thanks to the press room, and I can say that they're truly amazing games.
I don't think there are any plans for specific sites in the future, but I can't really say one way or another. We do already have excellent coverage of StarCraft II and Diablo 3 over at JoyStiq and Big Download. For some more coverage, check out the interview I did with Chris Sigaty (lead producer of StarCraft II) and some gameplay impressions of StarCraft II. Also take a look at Daniel Whitcomb's coverage of the Diablo 3 Class Panel and Diablo 3 Art and Lore Panel.
Have questions about the World of Warcraft? The WoW Insider crew is here with The Queue, our daily Q&A column! Leave your questions in the comments and we'll do our best to answer 'em!Filed under: The Queue
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 5)
Stanglered Feb 23rd 2009 12:07PM
I'm a Master transmute alchemist and I was wondering if there is a equilavent of the BC's primal might coming for WOTLK.
Thanks
Quorn Feb 23rd 2009 12:06PM
Death Knight question!
I'm late to the DK party, having just completed the starting quest chain and made it to Outland. I'm really psyched about the idea of dual-wielding, but of course my current weapon is the two-hander that you get at the end of the starting chain. My questions are:
1. Any recommendations for two 1H weapons that I can use to start dual-wielding at level 58? Are there decent one-handers that I can get through quest chains or on the AH? (A quick check of the AH this weekend revealed nothing useful.)
2. What's a good dual-wield leveling build? Can I just start working on the standard 32/39 build, or is that more for raid DPS?
Thanks!
Dirrk Feb 23rd 2009 1:14PM
If your Alliance http://www.wowhead.com/?item=25825
If your Horde http://www.wowhead.com/?item=25823
You will easily get Honored if you start your questing in Hellfire.
Slavic Feb 23rd 2009 12:08PM
As a lock I'm being told I'm not geared for raids, my armory page says my SP is 1343, however when I'm self buffed with Fel Armor it's more like 1667 SP. I politely point this out to raid leaders but I'm just ignored. I'm I really under geared or am I getting unfairly jilted?
zappo Feb 23rd 2009 12:18PM
And how much spell hit do you have? Being hit capped is generally the first thing anyone looks at (and rightly so).
Arcaria Feb 23rd 2009 12:48PM
You have to ask yourself this question. What reason do they have for wanting to jilt you?
Unless you have a bad rep on your server it's unlikely you're being jilted and more likely you really don't have the gear for raids yet.
You should have your spell hit capped for your spec. Also, your SP is usually determined before your buffs. Damage in the 1600's is pretty low with buffs applied.
A raid leader is not going to turn people away that are capable of raiding. They want the raid filled with people who are able to contribute to defeating the encounter and if it's PUG which I think it is, then they want the raid filled ASAP.
Check out Elitist Jerks and head to the class mechanics forum and then warlocks for the best possible source of information to help you start running those raids.
lightningjynx Feb 23rd 2009 1:18PM
Another thing to look at is your spec. They may be all full of the spec you are, it may not be the best spec, etc. And like everyone above me stated, get hit capped ASAP! Also, try to get rid of as many greens as you possibly can, even if you have to whore yourself out for heroics, that will also make a good impression as well.
steve Feb 23rd 2009 1:18PM
Agreeing w/ @zappo and @arcaria. Its too bad you aren't getting feedback on why you aren't getting invites. Raid leader probably asked a lock or lock-knowledgeable person to armory you. They'll be looking for things like this to make sure you are serious:
hit capped (363 is a safe number, but varies w/ talents and raid comp, see the "What's the Hit Cap, Mr. Wolf?" article at Warlock's Den)
spell power (1343 is at low end)
a raid friendly spec
appropriate gems and enchants for the gear you do have; head enchant; shoulder enchant
Good pre-raid gear: BOE stuff from AH or crafting (e.g. ebonweave set, hat of wintry doom), rep rewards, and heroic drops if you don't have raid drops yet
Good luck with gearing up and getting invites. Some guilds will carry under geared people, some won't (my guild is somewhat split, one RL will, two won't). Check out the "Dots and you" thread at Elitist Jerks forum and the number of good articles at Warlock's Den.
DiscoStu Feb 23rd 2009 1:29PM
@ Arcaria ; Fel armor is hardly a raid buff, it´s duration is more than enough to last through any raid fight and any good warlock knows to re-freshit before it runs out.
I had the same problem when i started raiding, even though i was hitcapped. Most people just looked at the armory and said.. "too low"
Good thing I found a good raid leader that actually understood what fel armor s and, that being hitcapped was more important than my 1350 sp "unbuffed"
unvme331 Feb 23rd 2009 2:05PM
I agree with everyone else, but the thing i don't agree on, is going into raids before you have done at least every heroic if not several times. I mean the heroics are there so you can get ilvl200 items and be "ready" for raids. there is a hit this SP and you ok to raid. I hate when i see people just gem and try and hit high spell power then they think they can jump into things. The gear you get not only bumps you spell power but stam, int. spirit, etc.
Now of course if you are carried by your guild i understand but if your looking to get into raids and impress a the RL put your time in and built your gear, then when you go into the raid you will be putting out good numbers and helping the raid, not just hitting the lowest and will be accepted. With crafted BOE and all the nice gear from Rep, and Heroic 5-mans there is no reason a raider can't be at least half epics before stepping in a raid.I know some disagree but just my 2 cents.
The other thing is i notice, as a healer or tank if i am under geared, it could cause wipes. As a DPS you just hide at the bottom of the damage list and they get to sneak into runs much easier.
Why not gear out nicely then get into the raid and put out some good dps and show you are going to make a difference over then next guy. Plus read/watch strats, no one likes to have to explain the fight to someone that's not prepared(not to mention your wasting 9/24 others time).
TL;DR - gear out, read strat, impress = WIN!
Hendrata Feb 23rd 2009 4:42PM
Unfairly jitted.
As a lock, I can say that 1300 sp is enough for 10 man raids.
Point him/her to your imba page and say that imba thinks you're good enough for 10 man.
Trepidprism Feb 23rd 2009 12:13PM
My holy pally is quickly leveling through outland 65 now. Is there any items I should be picking up in outland so I can successfully heal UK easily when I walk of the boat at 68?
vocenoctum Feb 23rd 2009 12:15PM
Not "off the boat", but you should do the first bit of quests. The gear is quickly upgraded, and nothing you can casually grab in Outlands while leveling is worth keeping long.
bob Feb 23rd 2009 3:25PM
Get the libram from the ring of blood quests, it is solid and will be of use until you can get better.
Freedomfighter Feb 23rd 2009 12:41PM
Will there be a return of raid reputation factions in Ulduar?
Deathknell76 Feb 23rd 2009 6:23PM
Greetings, I have a very experienced player that has cleared all current content with my guild and has been playing since release, but recently during a pug I found ... lets say an interesting turn of events.
I saw a 25 man OS in the LFG channel looking for a tank, so i messaged them that I was a Prot pally & had tanked all sorts... they told me to hang on, then that the spot had been filled, but if i respeced to Ret i could come along as DPS, this I did, at 50g expense to me (let me just be clear i dont care about respec fees).
Upon downing the boss, the old "main spec rolls" thing was posetd, again which i have no problem with. Of course the first piece of loot was a better that 7.5 piece of tank legs, so I roll - and am immediately told to go to hell as I'm ret.... by the group leader... who happened to be the only other plate waringing tank in the grp. I was told it was not fair for me to roll, and when I stated that I had been asked to respec to ret for the run, I was told to shut it, and the legs were given to the Warr. I was polite in my annoyance, but till felt that I had been wronged.
So - should main spec only count as the spec that you aer currently in, or if ppl know you have respecced for the pug, should that be taken into account?
Darxide Feb 23rd 2009 12:49PM
G'day,
as a warlock who is tweaking his dots to give the best DPS i was wondering if there was an addon that told me when my target was at 25% or lower health ?
i dont want to change my UI settings to show a % instead of solid numbers as im looking for a notification addon.
god knows being affliction is tough enough without hovering my mouse over my targets health bar to check its health %.
thanks in advance
lightningjynx Feb 23rd 2009 1:20PM
I use X-Perl for my UI setup, and I have both numbers and % up for the target I am currently attacking. There are two sources that may be a good place to search for warlock addons. One is elitist jerks and the other is Warlock's Den. If I remember correctly, there may actually be an addon that you can configure to make it so that something will pop up, and there is another that you can configure to make a sound whenever drain soul ticks, that way you aren't cutting off right before the damage is applied.
steve Feb 23rd 2009 1:21PM
Yes, the addon is called DrainSoulTimer -- it flashes a raid warning and plays a sound when your target hits 25% so you'll know when to work Drain Soul into the rotation.
Avan Feb 23rd 2009 1:28PM
How can the PTR copy wait time keep going up if you can't copy any characters over? The button is greyed out, there's no realm to copy them to, but the time keeps going up, which tells me that people are still finding way to queue their copies.