The Queue: Simple things
by Alex Ziebart 
Aug 13th 2009 at 5:00PM
Today is a day of, apparently, quick questions and quick answers. Most of the questions asked were fairly straightforward and not particularly involved. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is really up to you, but it is what it is: simple. I planned to embed a cartoon at the top of this video, but the aspect ratio made it gigantic if I used our standard width, so there's a link instead.
whalt asked...
"Any idea if prior season PvP weapons will ever be available from honor/arena points and not require an arena rating like the old Glad weapons were back in BC?"
I don't think we've heard anything about this, so I think you'll need to wait for Blizzard commentary on that over on the official forums. If I had to guess, if they haven't been doing it for previous seasons, they won't do it for this one. Seems they like the weapons being a little more "out of reach" during this expansion.
Soryne asked...
"...What IS attack power? I cannot find an answer anywhere."
I don't think the comments section yesterday linked Wowwiki nearly enough, so here's a link! A very, very basic explanation of the stat is that it makes melee physical attacks hit harder. Follow the Wowwiki link for a more detailed explanation.
mrs_carth_onasi asked...
"Why is Lady Sylvanas's new voice less menacing and more cute? It really is awful. I want the old voice over back!"
If I had to guess, I'd say they changed her voice in Undercity because they're doing additional voice work for her later on in the expansion. If they couldn't get her original voice actor back to do the new lines, they would go back with the new voice actor to make the old lines match the new ones. It's unfortunate, because Sylvanas's old voice actor was pretty awesome. There's something to be said for consistency though.
peagle asked...
"How about any word on fixing Tuesday lag on XT-002? Every Tuesday same wretched lag during hard mode..."
I have never experienced this, so I wouldn't even know where to look on comments about it. Readers, have you experienced this?
Chaosclaws asked...
"When a person gets to the "last" boss in ToC, they discover that the Black Knight has crashed the party. If he didn't "crash" it, who would have the final boss in ToC? I was thinking that maybe the Death Knight champion might have been the final boss due to the fact we don't fight any DKs for dailies or even in the first fight in ToC. I think also because it could be a "lets practice fighting an old Lich King minion for experience."
Eadric and/or Paletress was the last challenge. After you beat them, those in charge of the Trial start to congratulate you on winning, and are about to send you on your way. That was it. Two rounds, good game, you win, go home. The Black Knight showing up extends it. If he didn't show up, that would have been the end of it.
Briory asked...
"Has there been any word on when the faction changes will be available?"
None. And there were a lot of other faction change questions for this edition of The Queue as well, but I'll hit them all at the same time as this one: We cannot answer most of them until Blizzard opens the service up to the public or posts a more in-depth Q&A on it. The WoW.com team doesn't know any more about that particular service than what Blizzard has already told us, and that isn't much.
Have questions about the World of Warcraft? The WoW.com 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: Analysis / Opinion, The Queue
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
Hendrata Aug 13th 2009 5:10PM
This may be over-generalization, but Attack Power is what Spell Power is for casters, it provides you a one-stop-all measure of your gear.
Rogue with X agility, Warrior with Y strength, Shaman with Z strengh, W agility and V intellect, who would do most dps? Just look at their attack power. Okay, that's a bit pushing it.
Basically, AP is something that you brag when you're LFG, just like Spell Power.
LFG, a mage with 2300 SP.
LFG, ret pally with 3k AP.
(you don't need to say how much strength you have because it's all been factored into AP)
Nathanyel Aug 13th 2009 5:49PM
Shamans now only get 1 AP from Strength, while also getting one from Agility. Streamlined the physical mail gear.
Hendrata Aug 13th 2009 6:03PM
Exactly. Rather than advertising: I'm a shaman with X strength Y agil and Z int, you just say I have XX AP, that captures it all.
I thought there's a talent that grants you AP from intellect, but I may be wrong.
Isendre Aug 13th 2009 6:08PM
Although groups usually care more about your average DPS than your AP.
Nathanyel Aug 13th 2009 6:08PM
No I'm saying you'll have X+Y AP :)
Int to AP is a hunter talent: http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=34484
Draelan Aug 13th 2009 6:17PM
@Hendrata
You are correct. The Shaman talent is called Mental Dexterity (http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=51885), and 3 points in it will increase Attack Power by 100% of their Intellect.
Hunters have an identical talent, Careful Aim (http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=34484) which does the exact same thing for their ranged attack power.
Feezee Aug 13th 2009 6:30PM
@Nathanyel
No, its X + Y + Z (or Z, W, V as stated in the original poster) (Strength + Agility + Intellect) not just X + Y (Strength + Agility) because shaman also have a talent that converts intellect to attack power, not just hunters
http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=51885
Withersby Aug 13th 2009 6:36PM
Kitty druids have an insane amount of AP compared to other classes (between 7-8k), so using AP to compare across classes might be a bad idea.
Gnosh Aug 14th 2009 9:27AM
Sigh.
Attack Power * (non-decimal Crit) * Base Weapon Speed * (1.Haste) * (%chance to hit, capped at 1.00). How about THAT.
4984 * 38 * 2.8 * 1.12 * 1.00.
Obviously that doesn't crank out an actual DPS number. But the value is fairly comparable between classes, although it doesn't factor in ArPen, because the various specs do various amounts of physical/spell damage, making it hard to judge how good it really is.
Gnosh Aug 14th 2009 9:28AM
now that I think about it, that formula massively over-values crit.
dabaum Aug 13th 2009 5:15PM
Topic = picture.
I knew exactly what that was from when I saw it... I liked that cartoon when I was a kid. :)
Ravenac Aug 13th 2009 6:27PM
It's Pluto right? From an older Disney I think... I love those too =)
twh Aug 13th 2009 5:16PM
Holy crap! I remember that cartoon, watching it as a kid!
Ah, the wonderfully sordid memories of my misspent youth.
Jon Aug 13th 2009 5:16PM
But what is spell power? I can't find an answer ANYWHERE!
Guessing there must be a shortage of good questions this week.
Torumin Aug 13th 2009 5:38PM
Spellpower, unlike attack power, is more of a pool of damage you draw from for your different spells. Every spell has a different coefficient (how much it draws from the pool) that is related to its cast time and function. i.e Fireball uses more spellpower damage than Frostbolt because it has a longer base cast time (and Frost has a snare), so it hits much harder. Instant cast spells generally use much less spellpower than ones with cast times.
While attack power is pretty static in its contribution and the melee special attacks generally use a percentage of weapon damage (which is modified by AP), spellpower = weapon damage (and not AP) in that the different spells use percentages of it for their damage.
http://www.wowwiki.com/Spellpower
Stone_Rhino Aug 13th 2009 5:52PM
Nice Torumin, I never thought of SP in that way. Nice to find a unique perspective on old mechanics now and then.
JKWood Aug 13th 2009 7:28PM
Most of the time, you can head to Wowhead and find the spellpower/whatever coefficient for any spells you're interested in. It can give you a good idea why certain spells hit harder for you, and what you should look at in times of desperation (do I heal myself before I finish the monster off, or will Exorcism do enough damage to take it out?)
Ian Aug 13th 2009 5:17PM
Since pvp weapons are hard to obtain now, to a person that has just turned 80 and is gearing for pvp, What should i do to fill the weapon slot for a warlock?
Hendrata Aug 13th 2009 5:21PM
Just get a PvE weapon. Boost your resils from hateful and deadly pieces in other slots. PvP weapon is very hard to get without good arena ratings these days.
defeated26 Aug 13th 2009 5:23PM
Epic Dagger from the 5 man ToC, Spectral Kris