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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe Queue: Twilight cultists are everywhere
by Michael Sacco 
Jul 29th 2011 at 11:00AM
Is there no one the long tendrils of the Twilight's Hammer can't touch? Not even Holiday, my friend Caitlyn's cat, could withstand their siren song. She's currently in the running to be the next elemental ascendant of catnip.
jrj_paladin asked:
I play a lvl 85 Holy pally as my main and I am as well geared as I can get without doing raids. I was told that with the last patch they said that the old raids are now pugable but I have always been very scared to do them. So how easy are the old raids compared to the what they use to be?
They're 20% easier or more, depending on the boss! Damage and abilities from the tier 11 bosses was nerfed by at least that much, in most cases. You still need to understand the way the fights work and respond to fight gimmicks appropriately, but it's considerably less punishing to you and the raid if you do mess up. Educate yourself on the fights and go with other educated people (or fast learners), and you should be fine.
Matt Krotzer asked:
"Our internal standards for those things are right around (and in some cases, greater) than those of traditional print media."
Bah... start using Oxford commas, and we'll talk.
I never stopped fighting for the Oxford comma and eventually Lisa did relent on her edict. Writers here have the option to use it or not use it, at their discretion.
Will asked:
With the advent of big Cata health pools and the move away from encounter designs that emphasize a tank's ability to soak up big hits, a lot of tanks are starting to move away from +stam gems and enchanted in favor of mastery and avoidance. My question is, has this carried over to flasks and pots? Are people still finding their raids better served by a stamina boost than by, say, the boost to threat and DPS from potting/flasking for strength?
It's going to vary from tank to tank and the gear you have. Ideally, you should keep in mind two things when you're flasking: what stats benefit you the most, and what stats you're missing. If you're low on HP, you should definitely use a stamina flask. But if your stamina looks okay for the content, you can try flasking for another stat that benefits you greatly, like mastery.
Lheim asked:
Actually, regarding the mobile version of the site - is there any way to make links to articles from it actually take you to the mobile versions as well? It ain't happening, for me.
We're looking into it.
Antagony Incorperated asked:
When I open the Auction House, all my gold is displayed in a little panel off in the bottom left of the interface. If I click on this Gold Counter, a little window opens up asking me the 'Amount to Pick Up' and how much Gold, Silver, or Copper to input. If I do, it makes a little icon parceled with what I have to assume is the money, but I cant seem to actually DO anything with it. What is this feature? What outdated purpose does it serve?
You can use that to drop money onto a person to trade it to them, just like you'd drag an item from your bag to someone else to perform the same function.
Arrohon asked:
Has the ret paladin column replaced the warlock column as the defense against the dark arts column? We were all excited for the new blogger and he seems to have disappeared after only two articles. I'm currently following Rossi as an angry guy with 2 large axes but I still like to follow ret news.
Fret not, more ret columns are on the way from Durin.
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 8)
Bronwyn Jul 29th 2011 6:15PM
Don't feel silly. Cats are wonderful creatures (well, usually) and they deserve every bit of missing you give them.
Sidone Jul 29th 2011 11:14AM
erm mastery flask? arent there only primary stats flask ( and hp instead of stam) minus spirit for cauldrons?
(cutaia) Jul 29th 2011 11:24AM
http://www.wowhead.com/item=58148/elixir-of-the-master
It doesn't persist through death, so you need to keep a stack or two, but it's so cheap to make, that's not a problem.
The extra bonus is that as a battle elixir, you can also use a guardian elixir such as:
http://www.wowhead.com/item=58093 or http://www.wowhead.com/item=58143
Thiron Jul 29th 2011 11:15AM
Is it intentional that we can't Hearth out of TB when the battle is going, or a bug?
It's so much worse than WG, you have no way of exiting it except by using the bridge.
loop_not_defined Jul 29th 2011 11:16AM
Dear Anne Stickney,
Is it possible that the Trolls and Tauren share roughly the same origins as fleshy elementals like the Flamewakers? Elementals...Old Gods...Curse of Flesh...predate Titans...three fingers... I want to say "yes" but don't know if there's any info I might be missing, something that might kill this hypothesis. I know the last CDev stated that, of the two, only Trolls existed as "sentient" beings before the Titans arrived, whereas the Halls of Stone imply the Tauren were at least sentient before the Titans left.
I promise I'll shut up about this on The Queue after today. Pinky swear.
loop_not_defined Jul 29th 2011 11:18AM
(Anne is answering today's questions tomorrow, FYI)
loop_not_defined Jul 29th 2011 11:24AM
EDIT: Halls of Lightning. Why do the Halls of Lightning have a stone section, and the Halls of Stone do not? Urgh.
Lou Gagliardi Jul 29th 2011 11:30AM
That's actually a good tinfoil hat!
And the way you described it makes total sense to me.
Jimson Jul 29th 2011 11:32AM
"EDIT: Halls of Lightning. Why do the Halls of Lightning have a stone section, and the Halls of Stone do not? Urgh."
*Jerry Seinfeld Voice*
Why do you drive on parkways and park in driveways?
loop_not_defined Jul 29th 2011 11:55AM
I figured that with the Taurens' own mythos stating they "came from the earth" they could be Earth Elementals affected/experimented with an early Curse of Flesh. We already know the Curse affects stone and metal - the Titans' own creations were made from elements of earth.
The Flamewakers' existence as fleshy "fire elementals" means there's a possibility that the Curse of Flesh can affect more than just creatures made from earth. Or experimental versions of the curse. Think of the Forsakens' plague and how much work it took to make it only affect specific creatures.
Finally, the Trolls have a history of trouble with Neptulon, especially with an artifact that would eventually turn it's possessor into a water elemental. Is Neptulon trying to reclaim them? Maybe Neptulon's efforts against Ragnaros and the Old Gods are out of vengeance for experiments that resulted in the Trolls. Or he just really hates fire, being water and all.
Hollow Leviathan Jul 29th 2011 12:45PM
Alternate tinfoil hat tauren origin: cows that found the Kaja Cola ingredient before goblins.
Storm Eagle [Planeteer | Power of Phoenix Wrights Colloquial Catch Phrase - OBJECTION! and Captain Planets Second in Command] Jul 29th 2011 1:22PM
@Jimson
Why is something transported by car called a "shipment", but something transported by ship called "cargo"?
loop_not_defined Jul 29th 2011 1:43PM
(Sorry in advance for taking your comment too seriously)
/puts on mansplaining hat
A "shipment" is the act of sending goods elsewhere, which isn't vehicle-specific. "Cargo" are the actual goods being shipped, and also isn't vehicle-specific.
/takes off mansplaining hat while wondering how it survived the last burning
Silversol Jul 29th 2011 1:56PM
"(Anne is answering today's questions tomorrow, FYI)"
Well I won't be impressed until she answers tomorrows questions today.
/unimpressed face
murmaiderxx Jul 29th 2011 7:24PM
@Jimson
*Seinfeld voice*
"Why do they call New York, "New" York anyway? It's over 200 years old! Last time I checked, that's not that new."
Hal Jul 29th 2011 11:17AM
First, that costume is adorable. If you can, tell us where your friend found it.
Second, I'm given to understand that Stamina is still the stat du jour for fights with non-physical damage. For example, on Maloriak, the boss tank would want to emphasize stamina while the add tank would want to emphasize avoidance/mitigation. That said, it'd be nice if Blizzard's approach to item buffs kept in line with this. Mastery flasks don't last through death; Stamina does. If a tank takes a flask from a cauldron, it's always Stamina. Mastery is (generally) considered a tank's best friend, but the Cata-feasts grant a tank Dodge.
MattKrotzer Jul 29th 2011 12:32PM
Stamina is king if you're a bleeding edge progression guild who tend to do the hardest fights while being undergeared.
For everyone else, Mastery's the most reliable way to go, at least for the shield tanks.
Manasseh Jul 29th 2011 11:23AM
Neither of which persist through death.
I'm just saying, probably the only class that would "flask" something other than stamina is a bear, because 300 AGI is pretty hot for a bear tank, while 300 STR doesn't mean much for a paladin, warrior, or DK.
(cutaia) Jul 29th 2011 11:28AM
"I'm just saying, probably the only class that would 'flask' something other than stamina is a bear"
You're getting caught up in semantics. You can tell because you were forced to put scare quotes around "flask" to make your point.
Manasseh Jul 29th 2011 11:30AM
The semantics are important, given that the difference between flasks and elixirs are important.