Posts with tag mage-transmog

Every other week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. Stacey Landry is the resident mage here, bender of space and time, conjurer of delicious confectioneries and expert at dressing well while setting things on fire. She also maintains the mage blog, Manalicious.

I haven't written about transmog here yet, which is really a terrible oversight. It was always in the works, though, there's just been so many other things to talk about. But I find myself at liberty to do something a little more light-hearted this week and so let's talk about fashion!

Many potential transmog enthusiasts might find themselves getting a bit overwhelmed when it comes to choosing what to wear. You don't need an article that tells you "tier sets look good," because it's kind of a given. They were designed to match each other, so yes, an entire tier set isn't necessarily a wrong choice. At the very least it'll look cohesive, and mages have some great tier sets.

But it isn't necessarily an original choice, either, and it won't set you apart in a sea of cloth-wearers or even mages wearing the entirety of Tirisfal Regalia. So what we're going to talk about, for anyone who might be less confident in their transmogging, is how you can take your transmog to the next level and what you should consider as you do. We'll look at color and contrast, how to build a set around a unique piece, or take a potential theme and make it your own.

I haven't played the pre-expansion event yet, but I heard Jaina Proudmoore is having a really bad week in it. Apparently someone threw a surprise party at her house and left the place trashed, then when she went to the salon later they completely botched her dye job. I feel so bad for her! The poor girl just hasn't been able to catch a break since that awful mess with Arthas. Still, trying to go three shades lighter all in one go ... She brought that one on herself.

Anyway, in honor of the Mists of Pandaria pre-expansion event, I thought it fitting to feature Lady Jaina Proudmoore for this week's transmog outfit. Sadly, Jaina's new, unique model can't be replicated by players, but you can get pretty close to making her old one.

I became aware of the existence of the Journeyman's Vest a few weeks ago while working my way through the hundreds of entries for WoW Insider's first transmogrification contest. Two contest participants, Malkil (Ysera-US) and Natalie (Borean Tundra-US), used the cloth chest piece in their entries and spoke similarly of the item's unique model.

To quote Natalie (AKA Classy of Classy Plays WoW), "HOLY MOLEY this thing has a micro-skirt!"

As you can see, the Journeyman's Vest doesn't follow the conventions of other chest pieces and robes in the game -- Journeyman's Vest don't care. It extends below the belt, and flares out in a way that makes it look like a skirt or tunic. The vest displays similarly on both male and female models, so how it looks will come down to what you pair it with in the end. Interesting ... Very interesting!

Last week we showcased the runners-up for WoW Insider's first Transmogrification Contest. Today, we've got the winners to show you. As I said on Thursday, there were over 400 outfits submitted to the contest, with entrants aiming to create the best possible outfit using a single piece of gear as the central theme. Picking winners out of that lot was not easy!

Our first winner is Ranjiku from Daughters of the Horde (Bronzebeard-US). Here's what she had to say about her outfit.

Before mogging was even a glimmer, I won a roll for the Robes of Rhonin in an achievement guild run, and the robe was way too gorgeous to ever let go. So when [transmogrification] finally became a reality, I knew I'd use this robe first ... Then I found the [helm] pictured and BOOM, "Evil Queen from Snow White!"

My favorite dress in WoW is the Arachnidian Robes. The first time I saw them was right after patch 3.0.2 had hit live servers, when achievements were added. I was storming through the front gates of Stormwind in a For the Horde raid, when I spotted a human female wearing the robes near the auction house. She must have been some sort of bank alt, because that's all she was wearing, but I was so impressed by her that I stopped to inspect her amid the battle.

I eventually tracked down the dress for myself four or five months later, but once I had it, I really had no idea what to do with it. It was pretty enough on its own to be a stand-alone outfit, and years before transmogrification, there was no compelling reason to try and match it to anything -- at least until recently, when my boyfriend followed up on a promise to take me to Serpentshrine Cavern. I had never seen the place and wanted an escort who had raided it when it was still new. While we were there, I picked up a pretty little tanking mace called Mallet of the Tides, which just so happened to match the Arachnidian Robes perfectly. Thus, a transmog outfit was born.

With that as my introduction, I decided I'd do something a bit different for this week's transmog column. Just as I did, I now want you to create a transmogrification outfit of your own that builds on or complements a single piece of gear (armor or weapon) that you like. Submit your outfit by Aug. 20 at 11:59 p.m. EDT and you'll have the chance to win fabulous prizes and have your outfit featured here on WoW Insider. More details after the jump.

For those of you who don't know, there is a subreddit for transmogrification. Though the community is relatively small, it's a wonderful place to go if you want to show off your latest transmog or ask for help with an outfit that isn't quite coming together. I like to visit this particular subreddit quite often, and earlier this year, there was one amazing outfit that I just couldn't get out of my head.

The outfit was put together by Hedgewocket on Lightbringer (EU) and is a close replica of the outfit worn by Chromie. Chromie is, of course, the best NPC in the game lovable bronze dragon who frequently takes on the form of a female gnome.

Anyway, when I first saw Hedgewocket's transmog, I knew right away that I'd have to feature it on WoW Insider one day. Fortunately for you (because I know you all love Chromie), that day is today.

It's been two weeks since Diablo III was released, and if you've got some time to spare, I've got three new transmogrification outfits that might interest you. If you'll recall, two weeks ago we learned how to recreate the witch doctor, barbarian, Leah, and Deckard Cain in WoW. As promised, this week we'll be taking a stab at the monk, demon hunter, and wizard, starting with the wizard.

Making a convincing wizard outfit in WoW is surprisingly easy, provided you keep a few things in mind. First off, you need to be very aware of your character's silhouette. Bulky gloves, spiky helms, and big shoulder armor are essential, and fortunately, they're all in ample supply on Azeroth. Knowing that, you just need to keep an eye on colors. If you look at the sample outfit, you should notice right off the colors don't quite match; the golds are different hues. Let that serve as a lesson on why it's important to leave yourself a lot of options when selecting the right piece for an outfit. Mismatched hues can sometimes break an outfit if it's not balanced right.

In honor of the release of Diablo III earlier this week, I've decided to dedicate my next two transmogrification articles to recreating the cast of the game. We'll start with the barbarian first -- but before we dive in, I have to tell you a quick story.

I used to know a mage who wore an enchanted Chef's Hat during raids. The first day he wore it to raid, someone asked him to take it off, but he wouldn't; it was his new favorite hat and he intended to wear it. This annoyed several people in the raid, who repeatedly told him to take the hat off, so the mage told them this: "When someone does more damage than me, I will put my other helm back on."

That day never came, so the hat stayed until he got bored of it.

I mention this story because you'd think with all the plate bikinis and mail hot pants in WoW, the task of assembling a barbarian's costume for a warrior or paladin would be simple. Alas, loincloths don't seem to be that popular with plate wearers, so you'll either have to put on some pants or convince your raid leader that you don't need pants to do your job.

I give up. I can't for the life of me create a transmog for Princess Peach. I've tried and I've tried, but there just aren't enough pink clothes in the World of Warcraft to piece together a convincing Peach. I'm sorry, Mario, but you're going to have to settle for some other princess. Princess Poobah? Princess Theradras? Princess ... I can't think of any more. Someone call Anne!

Anyway, this week I decided to put together a few more transmogs based on Nintendo characters. A lot of readers were asking for more, so I made one for Princess Zelda, Toad, and Roy (you know, from Fire Emblem and Super Smash Bros. -- everyone loves Roy!).

You just spent 13,000 gold on a pair of purple boots. No, not purple quality -- purple as in the color. What? It matched the subtle detailing on your tier 2 shoulders perfectly. OK, maybe not perfectly, but it's close enough. Wait, maybe you can find something closer? Better go look again.

We get it. You're addicted to transmogrification. Your void storage is packed full of gear that you haven't worn since level 9, and your friends are planning to stage an intervention. You want more -- no, you need more. Fortunately, we're here to help. Like a best friend who brings you a batch of her famous marshmallow chocolate chunk cookies two days after you start a diet, we've compiled a list of transmogrification resources you may find useful in getting your next fix -- I mean, outfit.

Back when I used to cosplay, I absolutely loved cosplaying in a group. Not only does it ensure you'll always have a friend to help you get through doors, but cosplay ensembles are guaranteed showstoppers. There's just something about strength in numbers that gets the one-up over even the most expertly crafted costume.

So the other day I had this thought: Why not transmog as a group? With your guild or maybe just a few friends, you could pick out a transmogrification theme and then do some activities together -- maybe hit up the Raid Finder and carry the group with your sheer awesomeness. As for a theme, it could be anything that suits your fancy. Maybe a novel series, or a historical era. Hmm ... Maybe your favorite video game characters?

I don't like to assume that I know much in this world, but when it comes to World of Warcraft there is one thing that I am truly certain of: People really like High Inquisitor Whitemane.

I guess it's hard for anyone to miss though. Since vanilla WoW, I've been reading comments about the High Inquisitor in almost every cathedral PUG I've ever run. "This is my favorite boss in the game," or "I love this fight," they say. When I flip through fan art galleries, it feels like I can't go through 10 pictures without one of them being of her. Plus, have you ever been to a BlizzCon? I've attended three, and every time, I've seen more than a few girls cosplaying as her.

And who knows why? Maybe it's because we all love Scarlet Monastery. Maybe it's the Sephiroth-effect (white hair + villain = fans). Whatever it is, this relatively minor character commands a huge fan base among players. Because of that, I'm going to show you how to make your character look like her with transmogrification.

In high fantasy, the archetype of the priest is a patient, powerful figure whose strength comes from his vigilance and his faith. This iconic archetype exists in World of Warcraft as well, manifesting in the form of inspiring heroes like Tyrande Whisperwind or Prophet Velen. Want to follow in their footsteps? Well, you'll have to roll a priest ... At least, that's what you had to do prior to patch 4.3. Now, thanks to transmogrification, all cloth wearers can finally "take the cloth."

This week, I'll be showing you how to create the look of a traveling, battle-ready priest. With the draped hood and cloth foot wraps, I want to call on the idea of a medieval monk or friar sent to a far-off land on a divine errand. The set is wearable by all cloth wearers, so even mages and warlocks can get in touch with their holy side. Most of the key pieces come from a recolored version of the Absolution Regalia (priest tier 6), with a few twists to make the outfit look less crisp and uniform.