Posts with tag dual-spec

Another week, another series of raids into Ulduar.

I'm not going to talk about it this week... I'm waiting for more T8 level gear (just got my pants last night) but in general, I'm moving from 'mild discontent' to 'frothing nerd rage' at the state of fury right now. The main reason isn't even my own DPS, which is going up... it's that other classes and specs that aren't 'pure DPS' are now bumped up to where my spec was before patch 3.1, when the reason for my spec's nerfs was stated as that level of DPS being 'too good' for a class that had options besides DPSing. If a class can tank, heal and DPS why is it okay for them to do the damage I used to do when I can only tank and DPS?

But that being said, I've discovered a unique joy in the past week, and that's the Dual Spec system. Ironically, I still respec about twice a week. In fact, I may even respec more now than I did before dual specs were available.

Sometimes the title of the post says it all. Is your raid leader requiring dual specs? If not, is he or she planning to?

While I've retired from my raid leading responsibilities, back in the day I probably would have "asked nicely" a few people to pickup dual specs, even going as far to have the guild pay for it. Of course the people that I asked would have likely been doing it on their own anyways. For instance I had an awesome Paladin tank who did just as good as DPS.

Right now the primary situation where dual specs are useful revolve around 10-man groups. Some fights are quite healing intensive and less of a DPS race. Those would benefit from having a hybrid switch from DPS to healing. An elemental shaman switching over to resto to heal the raid can make a major difference.

So how about it, is your raid leader making you dual spec?

Talent bugs have plagued players since patch 3.1 hit, with its dual spec system, last Tuesday. Blizzard knows this better than anyone; unfortunately, it's going to take a content patch to fix a lot of the weirdness that has been transpiring. Fortunately, they're working to get that patch out the door as soon as possible. The way they've been talking, my money's on patch 3.1.1 coming probably tomorrow, or failing that, next week.

Eyonix just posted that "in the next upcoming minor content patch," all talents are going to be wiped, but not glyphs. So (as he reminds us) make sure you put the right talents with the right glyphs, or you'll have to respec/reglyph to fix it. I would recommend waiting until tomorrow morning on any respec plans you might have (unless they're for tonight's raid), because there's a good chance you'll get it done for free in the morning.

A few weeks ago, when it looked like Oufitter was dead and Blizzard's Equipment Manager was on the way, I did a rundown of some alternatives to Outfitter. Now patch 3.1 is here, dual spec is upon us, and the situation is reversed: Outfitter is still in action, and Equipment Manager is not (yet).

As a gear switcher makes dual spec even easier, I thought it would be helpful to do a quick rundown of support for dual specs in the various gear switchers that are out there.

• Outfitter fully supports dual specs, letting you select gear sets to automatically swap into when you activate your primary or secondary talents (see screenshot).
• For ItemRack, you can set up a custom event to switch gear when you switch specs.
• ClosetGnome can do it with the SwapSpecs plugin.
• WardrobeAL doesn't seem to have particular support for dual spec.

For users who don't already have a favorite gear switcher, I recommend Outfitter for dual-spec purposes; it's quite easy to use, and has dual-spec capabilities built in. Are there any other good options out there I'm missing?

Dual spec is very handy, and I've already started relying on it for increased flexibility in setting up my 10-man raids. However, as may be expected with a new feature, it is not without its bugs. From extra talent points to missing talent points to things not switching correctly when you swap specs, I've seen a lot of errors pop up over the last few days.

Fortunately, most dual-spec errors can be fixed by one of the following steps:

• Reload your UI.
• Log out and back in.
• Reset your UI entirely (I haven't seen this help anybody with dual spec issues, but the blues are suggesting it, as always).

Of course, if none of this works, a GM can usually set it right. Ancilorn is also suggesting some work-arounds for specific issues, so go check his post in case you're having resistant issues.

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If you are a Scribe who has not yet stepped into the glyph market since patch 3.1 went live on Tuesday, April 14th, then you'd better hustle!

As we discussed pre-patch, the glyph market is undergoing a radical shift. For a limited time, perhaps very limited, it is soaring to epic heights. Unfortunately, this will not last, and I expect the market to take a sobering downturn in the next couple of weeks.

This upswing is also affecting related markets, such as those for inks and herbs, and although we will likely see a bit of a price crash once the glyph market deteriorates, these should stabilize relatively quickly.

Today, I will be reviewing why and how the glyph market is changing, and make some predictions for the future. I will also discuss how you can earn some of this post-patch wealth, as well as ways to continue making some profit even after the demand for glyphs drops. I will also be pointing you to some interesting stories around the web of how other Scribes are cashing in this week!

Not to be outdone by TalentChic, the folks at 3D Armory also sent us their lists of what the most popular builds are in the game after patch 3.1, and since everybody seems to be build-hungry lately (and why not -- we each get two!), here they all are.

Warrior: Fury 18/53/0.
Paladin: 0/0/0, which means you need to log in, Paladins! Also 51/5/15 for Holy.
Hunter: 0/0/0 wins here, too, but Survival (6/14/51) comes in next.
Rogue: Combat 15/51/5.
Priest: 14/57/0 for Holy.
Death Knight: 17/0/54 Unholy.
Shaman: Elemental 57/14/0.
Mage: 0/53/18 Fire.
Warlock: 0/41/30 Destruction.
Druid: 14/0/57 Restoration, which surprised me.

Keep in mind that these are from only a small sample of the game, so they're not the most popular specs in the game, just the most popular among those surveyed by the 3D Armory. And unfortunately, unlike TalentChic, it doesn't look like there's any way to see where the points are going, just the distribution of points among the trees (though that reminds us that Blizzard probably has some amazing point-by-point stats on how popular talents are).

The Armory has been updated to reflect the new dual spec feature given to us by patch 3.1. It now shows both talent specs for characters that have bought dual spec, and shows equipped glyphs on the talent view.

There's also been a bit of a facelift overall, with new buttons for the various sections of a character's profile, and some achievement statistics shown on the main profile page. The "Last Updated" date is a nice touch, although recently I find the Armory usually contains fairly fresh info [edit: apparently this is not a new feature].

I was having some display problems, but it turns out that disabling Adblock Plus on Armory fixed it, so if anyone else is seeing elements display in the wrong places, try that. And yes, I am enjoying playing with Shadow, thanks. Quite a bit, actually.

[thanks to multiple tipsters]

Every Wednesday, Chase Christian of Encrypted Text invites you to enter the world of shadows, as we explore the secrets and mechanics of the Rogue class. This week, we discuss the how to properly bind your abilities to the keyboard.

While on a Sartharion 25 raid this past weekend, I noticed one of the other Rogues in the group moving very peculiarly. It took me a second to put my finger on it, but I figured out what was happening. He would be running around normally, and would then stop in place for two seconds every time he used Fan of Knives. I sent him a friendly whisper, asking why he was pausing when using Fan of Knives. He replied back that he had to stop moving and click the FoK button on his action bars, of course. I asked why he didn't simply bind FoK to a key for easier access, and he replied with "My 1-9 keys are already full!"

Many Rogues spend hours choosing between different gems and weapon choices, when often the difference is less than 1% of their DPS. I see the control aspects of the class as more important than gear choices (not that gear is unimportant!). Without the ability to perform your rotations and combinations with finely-tuned timing, you could be losing as much as 25% DPS on certain fights. Making proper use of key binds and user interface addons are crucial to maximizing your DPS and reaction times in PvP.

It's been a long old twenty four hours but the US servers have had Patch 3.1 running life for a little while now. I can just imagine the thousands of people swamping Ulduar, the Argent Tournament and every class trainer from Azuremyst to Thunderbluff will be stood on by thousands of toons trying to dual spec.

Now over the last few weeks Breakfast Topic has been, quite understandably, a little Patch 3.1-heavy. We've asked about your most anticipated feature, whether your guild is ready and where your toon will be when the realms restart (just in case you were wondering, Serisa is waiting outside Ulduar to see if the above happens on live as well).

So if you're lucky, you've had a few hours to poke around and take a look, I want to know what your impressions are of The Secrets of Ulduar now that it's gone live?

Our own Elizabeth Harper has been hard at work gathering together all of the most frequently asked questions that we've received over the last few weeks regarding patch 3.1. Now that the realms are finally coming up, it's a good time to get these out to you all because many of you will probably be asking them soon, too!

Our FAQ is listed below, and if you ever want to find it again just bookmark this page. It will always be there, and should there be a need to update it at any point, we'll be sure to do so! Thanks for sticking with us today, ladies and gentlemen.

Servers are still down for maintenance due to Patch 3.1, so now would be a great time think of the list of things you'll have to do once you log in. Let's see ... you've bought all the gems enchants you need; you've got your talent calculator all ready to go; you've parked yourself in an old-world capital city to buy dual-spec as soon as you log in. You're ready to go!

But the question may remain -- what exactly are you going to pick for your offspec?

Don't worry, we've got you covered! We've compiled dual-spec guides for each of your classes.

Death Knight • Druid • Hunter • Mage • Paladin • Priest • Rogue • Shaman • Warlock • Warrior

Get crackin' and be ready to raid (or whatever it is you'll be doing) when servers come up. Remember: being prepared takes class!

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Patch 3.1 is live and it takes us into Ulduar, delivers us dual specs, and brings significant changes to all the classes! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1 and the official patch notes!

One of the biggest new features in today's patch 3.1 is dual spec capabilities. It's been through many iterations on the PTR, and there's a lot of information floating around (check out our full guide to dual specs), but here's the abbreviated version.

1. Go see your class trainer. Bring 1,000g and be at least level 40. Make sure the glyphs you have on right now are the ones you want to be associated with your primary talent spec.
2. Ask your trainer nicely for dual-spec capabilities, and pay that 1,000g.
3. All your talents are now reset, and you now have access to a second set of them. Set up your talents as you wish, buy new skills as required, and add glyphs to your second spec.

Congratulations! You may now switch specs any time you're out of combat (except in arenas). The video above shows the process of switching specs; doing so also switches your action bars and your glyphs (you store a separate set of glyphs for each spec). Switching specs does not require a Lexicon of Power. In fact, Lexicons of Power are not required for anything any more, not even glyphing. Each of your two sets of talents can be reset just like you're used to resetting talents; resetting one does not disturb the other. Happy talenting!

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Patch 3.1 is live and it takes us into Ulduar, delivers us dual specs, and brings significant changes to all the classes! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1 and the official patch notes!

Here we are ladies and gentleman, the official patch notes for the live version of patch 3.1. Features of this patch include:

• Dual Specs
• Ulduar
• Argent Tournament
• Major Class Changes
• Swimming Mounts
• New Inscriptions

A few reminders about these notes. First, they were obtained from the official patch files. Secondly, the notes are subject to change at the whim of Blizzard. If they do, you'll be able to find the changes here. Third, not everything on the PTR makes it into the live patch – and not everything in the live patch was on the PTR.

The full notes are after the break: Part I and Part II.

For a concise listing of everything we've written on the patch, check out WoW Insider's Guide to Patch 3.1.

Every week, Spiritual Guidance will offer practical insight for priests of the holy profession. Your host today is Alex Ziebart who doesn't have as many cool links to plug up here as Matticus does but will try anyway. This week we get our Shadowform on..

Dual specs are coming, probably only a week away, and I suspect that many Holy and/or Discipline Priests out there will be picking up a Shadow build as their second spec. Priests, like most classes, can have many little build variations to fit your playstyle: Raiding, soloing, doing Battlegrounds, doing arenas, all of that. I'm going to look at a couple of good PvE specs to use in patch 3.1, but unfortunately avoiding the PvP specs for you arena junkies in our audience. Trust me, you don't want to take my advice there. Discipline PvP maybe, but not Shadow.

PvE Shadow - Raiding
MMO-Champion has a great tool for setting up talent specs, because you can include your glyphs as well, so we're going to be using that. This spec (14/0/57) will be a fairly cookie-cutter raiding build in patch 3.1, with only very minor variations from person to person. The Shadow tree isn't a very complicated one. Either a talent boosts your DPS, or it does something else. For a raiding spec, you want all of the DPS talents and you can skip all of the 'something else' talents unless they're mandatory for a DPS talent. It's pretty straightforward. Even in the Discipline tree the ultimate goal is to pick up the DPS talents, Twin Disciplines and Improved Inner Fire. Meditation isn't a direct DPS talent, but having no mana is certainly a DPS hit.