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Posts with tag shaman

Choose My Adventure Live: Late 40s, early 50s dungeon

Choose the adventures of Robin Torres as Roblinator the goblin shamanator or join in with It came from the Blog on Zangarmarsh (US-PVE-H) every Wednesday at 1 p.m. EDT.

Today we are dungeonating again! Join Roblinator and probably Keleo Kelius, Darkrozee, and Prottal for some instancing fun. I'm healing this week -- but don't worry, there will still be rockets to the face! Watch the stream above, and participate in the chat after the break.

Update: The stream is now over. You can watch the video replay of Zul'Farrak by clicking on the image above.

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Filed under: It Came from the Blog, Choose My Adventure

WoW Insider reviews Christie Golden's Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects

Just under 10 years ago, on Oct. 1, 2001, a novel was released as a new addition to the Warcraft universe that would change the history and lore of the games forever. Lord of the Clans outlined the history and childhood of a young orc named Thrall. Son of Durotan and Draka, the former slave would break free from his imprisonment at the hands of Aedelas Blackmoore, step forward to unite the shattered and lethargic clans of the orcs, and lead the Horde in a manner that none that had played the original Warcraft games could possibly comprehend at that point in time.

Almost a year later, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos was released, and that orc's journey from the beleaguered, Scourge-ridden lands of the Eastern Kingdoms to the dusty and barren shores of Kalimdor was told in a tale that captured the hearts of players. No longer simply a character in a novel, Thrall's travels and ultimate triumph, united with the night elves and humans at the peaks of Mount Hyjal and working as one to defeat Archimonde, would forever seal his place as true Warchief of the Horde.

It is only appropriate then that the latest novel written for the Warcraft franchise, detailing the further journeys of Thrall, be undertaken by the woman who started it all -- Christie Golden. Not just an author with a host of Warcraft novels under her belt, Golden is the voice of the former Warchief, the author who gave him a life of his own. Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects continues the journey that Thrall began nearly 10 years ago -- and what a journey it is.

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Filed under: Lore, Cataclysm

Choose My Adventure Live: Questing in the Badlands

Choose the adventures of Robin Torres as Roblinator the goblin shamanator, or join in with It came from the Blog on Zangarmarsh (US-PVE-H) every Wednesday at 1 p.m. EDT.

This week, Roblinator is back questing in the Badlands, since she's still not 50 yet. I've got a solution to try for the slow questing problem, partially suggested by Kelius. Join us in game or by watching the stream above and participating in the chat after the break.

Update: The stream is now over. You can watch the replay of punching dragons by clicking on the image above.

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Filed under: It Came from the Blog, Choose My Adventure

Choose My Adventure Live: Balloons and level 45 to 49 PVP

Choose the adventures of Robin Torres as Roblinator the goblin shamanator, or join in with It came from the Blog on Zangarmarsh (US-PVE-H) every Wednesday at 1 p.m. EDT.

Welcome to the new day for Choose My Adventure Live. Today we have PVP as scheduled, but first, Roblinator is going to help a little orc boy find his balloons. Please join me in game or by watching the stream above and joining in the chat after the break.

Update: The stream is now over, you can watch the replay of the new balloons quest and Eye of the Storm by clicking on the image above.

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Filed under: It Came from the Blog, Choose My Adventure

Choose My Adventure Live: Late 40s dungeon

Choose the adventures of Robin Torres as Roblinator the goblin shamanator, or join in with It came from the Blog on Zangarmarsh (US-PVE-H) every Monday at 1 p.m. EDT.

This week, Roblinator the shamanator will be dungeonating with her regular dungeonators. We'll random as usual, and it is doubtful we will have to queue. Join us by watching the stream above and participating in the chat after the break. Also, there's another poll, so please vote.

Update: The stream is now over. You can watch the video replay of Dire Maul by clicking the image above.

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Filed under: It Came from the Blog, Choose My Adventure

Reader UI of the Week: Go hotkey crazy with Vardelm

Each week, WoW Insider brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which spotlights the latest user interface addons. Have a screenshot of your own UI that you'd like to submit? Send your screenshots along with info on what mods you're using to readerui@wowinsider.com.

There are some people who hotkey a few abilities into their interface, relying on the number row and some macros to take care of the brunt of the work when it comes to mashing abilities. Vardelm's UI, however, has taken the notion of "hotkey crazy" to a whole new level. Completely eschewing action bars for an invisible approach to hotkeys, Vardelm makes efficient use of his keyboard while keeping the UI comprehensive and cohesive. Suffice to say, I'm impressed with the hotkeys.

There is still something frightening to me about not having action bars readily available and in plain sight. Maybe they're my safety net while I perform the delicate trapeze of raid tanking, comforting me with their visual presence. Take away the net and I could panic so hard that I'd fall harder than Dick Grayson's parents. The upside would be becoming a rich dude's ward, so I guess that isn't so bad.

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Filed under: Add-Ons, Reader UI of the Week

Choose My Adventure Live: Questing in the Badlands

Choose the adventures of Robin Torres as Roblinator the goblin shamanator or join in with <It came from the Blog> every Monday at 1 p.m. EDT on Zangarmarsh (US-PVE-H).

Just like that, I've leveled out of the delightful Eastern Plaguelands (boo!) and am ready to quest through the Badlands. Join me in game or by watching the stream above and participating in the chat after the break. Also, there's a poll! Please vote.

Update: The stream is now over. You can view the video replay by clicking on the image above.

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Filed under: Choose My Adventure

Choose My Adventure Live: LFM level 45 to 49 battlegrounds

Choose the adventures of Robin Torres as Roblinator the goblin shamanator and join in with It came from the Blog on Zangarmarsh (US-PVE-H) every Monday at 1 p.m. EDT.

We're back and it's time for some battleground action. Join me in game if you are between the levels of 45 and 49 Horde on Zangarmarsh or just follow the stream above and the chat after the break.

Update: The stream is now over. You may watch the replay of three battleground losses (2 AV and 1 WSG) by clicking on the image above.

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Filed under: PvP, It Came from the Blog, Choose My Adventure

Enhancement shaman itemization and the end boss effect

As you may or may not be aware, I've started gearing up my enhancement shaman and have been having a really good time playing him. I enjoy enhancement for a lot of reasons, including how different it feels from playing a warrior or feral druid, the other two melee classes I'm familiar with.

However, finding weapons can be a bit of a pain. The best weapons for me outside of a raid are the two fist weapons in ZG, which drop from a randomly summoned boss. So you may not even get the boss who drops them, and the off-hand doesn't even drop from the same boss as the main-hand -- and in either case, it means I'm leveling archaeology on a fourth toon because half the time, no one can summon any of them.

As annoying as this is, for raiding, it can get even worse. Getting a 2.6 speed agility main-hand weapon from raiding means killing Nefarian and praying that this week he drops your axe. (You can get an off-hand from trash, but you can't use it in your main hand, meaning you need at least one Neffy axe). Blizzard has come out and said it's fine with this for now.

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Filed under: Shaman, Raiding, Cataclysm

Know Your Lore: The sources of magic, part 3

The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft.

Last week, we talked about arcane magic (including fel energy and shadow) and the magic of the Holy Light (which also has shadow as a kind of opposite force). If that's not confusing enough, this week, we talk about the magic of shaman and druids, either of which could in its own way be called natural magic.

In part 1 of this series, we talked about the various means by which magical energy can be tapped. One of these magical "fonts" is the Emerald Dream, a kind of palimpsest dimension that lays beneath and mimics Azeroth. It is, essentially, the first draft of creation, the blueprint to which the world would be returned to in the event of reorigination. It's Azeroth before the original Sundering, before intelligent life, as it was the second the Titans considered their creation complete. The reason Ysera of the dream is charged with protecting and safeguarding the Dream is that it is the world's base state.

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Filed under: Druid, Shaman, Analysis / Opinion, Lore, Know your Lore, Cataclysm

Rediscovering Alts: A private Cataclysm

I've been playing an enhancement/resto shaman since The Burning Crusade. I like my two shaman because they're not warriors; they have a different playstyle and instead of tank/DPS hybrids, they're healer/DPS hybrids. (Admittedly, they once kind of tanked, if you squinted.) Even to this day, I read Josh and Sarah and Joe every week.

Once Cataclysm came along, I was forced to put my shaman on the back burner for a while. Raid needed tank. Me tank. Me tank hard. (Okay, so I neither write or speak like that.) I also got to enjoying messing around with the various warrior DPS specs. But with the passing of time, as my warriors got geared enough to perform the roles expected of them, I got to missing my shaman.

My orc, I may never level again (at least not until I finally break down and buy a race change to tauren -- you can thank Garrosh "Where did my neck go?" Hellscream), but my draenei, I still enjoy a great deal. I know a lot of Alliance shaman players went dwarf, but I'm fond of my big blue. So I went back and started leveling him and quickly discovered a few things.
  1. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. A lot of the essentials of the class are still there, but a lot really has changed. Fire Nova works entirely differently now. Stat weights are entirely different. We have whole new abilities, and our older abilities were either redesigned, moved around, or in some cases removed entirely.
  2. Sentry Totem is gone. I won't lie: I cried.
  3. We have two forms of CC now! Two! Holy crap, I remember when Hex was barely even viable. Now, it's pretty solid.
  4. Mages have stolen Heroism. This also made me cry.

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Filed under: Shaman, Analysis / Opinion, Cataclysm

Reader UI of the Week: Naina's UI and comfortable clutter

Each week, WoW Insider brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which spotlights the latest user interface addons. Have a screenshot of your own UI that you'd like to submit? Send your screenshots along with info on what mods you're using to readerui@wowinsider.com.

Hello, friends. I hope you all had a nice three-day weekend (the Americans, at least) and ate all the ridiculous BBQ you could. I did, and it was glorious. I have a very special relationship with grills and grilling food, and we will leave it at that.

This week's Reader UI of the Week is dedicated to healers and clutter and finding the right amount of compromise to make a UI work. Clutter isn't all bad, you know. Sometimes we pride ourselves on getting the bare minimum of "stuff" on the screen. Others pride themselves on fitting the most they can. Today, we're going to take pride in making sense of simple yet substantial.

As usual, don't forget to send me your Reader UIs! I want to see everything from the most minimal concoctions to the biggest messes in need of some love. Send your submissions to readerui@wowinsider.com.

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Filed under: Add-Ons, Reader UI of the Week

Choose My Adventure Live: Mid-40s dungeon

Choose the adventures of Robin Torres as Roblinator the goblin shamanator or join in with <It came from the Blog> on Zangarmarsh (US-PVE-H) every Monday at 1 p.m. EDT.

With today being a U.S. holiday, we may have fewer people than usual or more than ever -- who knows? I will be healing or DPSing, depending on what we need for a shorter queue -- if we need a queue at all. I'm hoping that it will be another guild run, however. Join us in game or by watching the stream above and participating in the chat after the break.

Update: The stream is now over. You may watch the replay of our trip through Scholomance by clicking on the image above.

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Filed under: It Came from the Blog, Choose My Adventure

Raid Rx: How to combine Spirit Link Totem and Power Word: Barrier

Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a WoW blog for all things UI-, macro- and addon-related. Catch his weekly podcast on healing, raiding and leading on the Matticast.

I envy shaman.

A latest look at the front page of World of Logs shows that the new shaman totem of awesomeness (Spirit Link Totem) has a rather intriguing property to it. We've had it for a while now, ever since patch 4.1, and this totem is the new shaman defensive mechanic. Anyone standing within 10 yards of it reduces incoming damage by 10%.

Cool. What else?

Every second, the health of all the players standing within it also gets redistributed. The interesting part is that the health can be increased to count as healing. However, that sword swings both ways. It'll also adjust health downward, which counts as damage.

Even better? This damage can be both resisted and mitigated.

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Filed under: Raid Rx (Raid Healing)

Choose My Adventure Live: Questing in Eastern Plaguelands

Choose the adventures of Robin Torres as Roblinator the goblin shamanator, or join in with It came from the Blog on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H).

This week, Roblinator and her fellow adventurers in It came from the Blog will be adventuring in Eastern Plaguelands. Join us in game or by watching the stream above and participating in the chat after the break.

Update: The stream is now over. You can watch the video replay by clicking on the image above.

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Filed under: It Came from the Blog, Choose My Adventure

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