In the beginning there were priests. Then Blizzard said “Let there be other classes!” Things have been a lot more complicated ever since. Fortunately, there is Spiritual Guidance, WoW.com’s bi-weekly guide for priests. On Sundays you can enjoy discussion on discipline, holy, and healing in the company of Dawn Moore. We don’t have cookies here, but only because we call them biscuits, and serve them with tea, sandwiches, and scones. Did you want one lump, or two?

A couple of months ago I found myself talking to a non-priest about the gems I had slotted on my character. He was of the understanding that disc priests wanted nothing but crit, and thought it was strange that I had gemmed straight spellpower on all my gear. Figuring he was behind on the times, I happily explained to him that I was using the standard gem set up for shield spamming disc priests, which works around the premise that if the majority of what we do is cast shields, then we should stack as much spellpower as possible in order to make our most used spell (Power Word: Shield) absorb more. This is the standard practice advised to shield spammers throughout the priest community, and I’ve advised it here on Spiritual Guidance before as well.

The non-priest still didn’t understand though. He kept insisting “but crit …” which inclined me to gently stroke back his hair and say “there there, poor little confused non-priest, it’s all right.” I allowed him his dignity though, and instead went on with my explanation. I told him that alternative stats like crit and haste didn’t do much for shield spamming since Power Word: Shield can’t crit, and Borrowed Time removes the necessity for haste since the talent carries us down to the 1 second GCD soft cap whenever we cast Power Word: Shield. The non-priest still didn’t understand, so I explained to him that a disc priest’s primary interest in crit was Divine Aegis, a talent which applies a second shield whenever one of your spells crits. “But shields don’t crit,” I reiterated. “The heal from the Glyph of Power Word: Shield can, but that would only add say … 500 extra absorption from Divine Aegis. The spellpower is still better.”

As I typed out those last words, they boomeranged back and hit me square in the face. Startled, I peeled the sans serif off my nose and and reexamined the limp letters in my hands. Suddenly I wondered, “is that really true?”

Continue reading Spiritual Guidance: Shield spam and Divine Aegis, a theorycrafting story

Filed under: Priest, (Priest) Spiritual Guidance

Spiritual Guidance: Shield spam and Divine Aegis, a theorycrafting story originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 05 Sep 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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My example is, of course, the above video. It’s not a WoW roleplay thing, but it’s still a pretty good illustration of my point. The LARPer is taking the part of Baron Samedi, who is attempting to convert some snake-worshipping vampires to his own religion. I don’t know enough about the game dynamic to evaluate it on anything except the obvious; the video’s creator is performng a parody of the Old Spice commercials in a very in-character manner. (Thanks to OWbN for the example.) In my opinion, the creator did a pretty good imitation of the vocals, and mirrored the Old Spice commercials pretty well.

With the technical evaluation out of the way, we’re left to wonder if it makes sense that an ancient vampire god really spends that much time cruising YouTube. But on the other hand, the video’s kind of funny, and probably some people had fun with it. Isn’t that kind of the point of roleplay?

Continue reading All the World’s a Stage: Pop culture and its impact on roleplay

Filed under: All the World’s a Stage (Roleplaying)

All the World’s a Stage: Pop culture and its impact on roleplay originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 05 Sep 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Comic News:

Last, but certainly not least, Kelly Aaron’s, and WoW.com’s, Byron, the Tauren Rogue, has debuted its finale.

• Fourth Wall: Mojo.
• Slash AFK: The Rogue. Also: Get in Mah Bellie.
• Tales from the Crossroads: Fanning the Flame.
• NPC: Appreciation Decimation. Also: Ego Maniac.
• Complex Actions: Rogue in Training.
• Teh Gladiators: The Whi… Wailing Caverns. (1/2 – hit next!).
• Check out the latest from Out of World. Ever so slightly, possibly, a little bit, NSFW.
• Beyond the Tree: Shield Shocked. Also: Woe to the Conquered.
• Away From Reality: Prickly.
• WoW, eh?: All Comes Tumbling Down.
• Torment of the Week: The Next Step.
• The Warcraft Hero in: No Contest.
• Dark Legacy Comics: Undercover.
• LFG #387 and #388.
• Daily Quests: One More for the Road. P.S. I will totally take care of that mount for you.
• Coffin Comics Minis: Decision 2010.
• Coffin Comics: Goblin Motorrad.
• Guilded Age has a somewhat NSFW one-year anniversary issue up!

Last week’s featured comment: Tokkar said…

Continue reading Sunday Morning Funnies: Even the sticker is shoddy

Filed under: Humor, Comics, Sunday Morning Funnies

Sunday Morning Funnies: Even the sticker is shoddy originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 05 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been a few weeks since my last beta post. I feel like I’m back in grammar school at good ol’ St. Louise de Marillac, “forgive me readers, it’s been four weeks since my last beta post. Since then I’ve been mean to my guild, and I tried to kill my own priest.” In game priest, in game! I can’t wait to read the letters to the editor about that slip up. Oh well, at least I didn’t use the word “casual.”

Moving right along to important topics that everyone cares about: beta changes for enhancement shamans! Well, I suppose “everyone” excludes people that are not interested in beta spoilers. Great, two paragraphs in and I’ve already offended Catholics, priests, and people not interested in beta spoilers. Look on the bright side: at least I didn’t use an offensive font this week!

If you are interested in the latest beta changes as they relate to enhancement shamans then please read on. Please note that beyond this point, this post will not further offend your good, wholesome middle Azerothian sensibilities.

Continue reading Totem Talk: Enhancement beta update

Filed under: Shaman, (Shaman) Totem Talk

Totem Talk: Enhancement beta update originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 04 Sep 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Each day, WoW.com takes you through all the blue posts and other Blizzard news from around the internet. From the latest posts from Ghostcrawler (lead systems designer) to the lowdown on StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3, we’ll keep you informed.

In which a weekend post of The Daily Blues is put forth.

Table of contents

• Ghostcrawler
• Other
• StarCraft 2 / Diablo 3 / Activision-Blizzard news

Continue reading The Daily Blues

Filed under: The Daily Blues

The Daily Blues originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 04 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blizzard’s been hard at work adjusting a lot of WoW’s game systems for Cataclysm, and one of the biggest changes in the pipeline is the overhaul of the inscription profession. You may remember the Path of the Titans alternate advancement system was axed in favor of making inscription, well, better. On top of other changes and a new UI, part of this task is adding a new tier of glyphs — called prime glyphs — on top of the already-existing tiers of major and minor.

Ghostcrawler recently had this to say about the new glyph system:

Ghostcrawler

Several classes have had their glyphs worked on and updated as of this beta patch, but only rogues and shaman glyph passes appear to be “done,” so we’ve listed glyphs for those two after the break.

Continue reading Cataclysm beta: New glyphs for rogues and shaman

Filed under: Rogue, Shaman, Cataclysm

Cataclysm beta: New glyphs for rogues and shaman originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The latest patch to the Cataclysm beta has finally added in the revamped glyph UI, sporting the newly implemented Prime Glyphs, a selection window and awesome new convenience features. The new interface has a search box for quickly finding glyphs, expanding categories of prime, major and minor glyphs, and even shows you what glyphs you have not yet learned.

Personally, I think that the new glyph interface is one of the coolest Cataclysm revamps. The old system of glyphs was an awesome first step, but it has been refined and polished in ways we never could have expected. Check out the gallery of shots below to see what the glyph UI looks like while empty, sporting some glyphs, and using the search feature.

Filed under: Cataclysm

Cataclysm Beta: The new glyph UI originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Who likes contests? Everyone likes contests — heck, it’s a chance at free goodies. Even if you don’t win, you aren’t really out anything. Here are some pointers to various WoW-related contests that are currently running here and there:

• Would you like to be in the Cataclysm beta? NowGamer is giving away a staggering 1,000 Cataclysm beta keys. Check out the site for details — and I hope you like Twitter.
• Attending BlizzCon in the flesh? You can get free passes to the pre-screening of The Raid, a Blue Loon film about the world of raiding and what it means to be a raider. There are a whole slew of people in the WoW community giving away passes to this event; you can check the full list of giveaway sites on The Raid’s official site.

Filed under: The Daily Quest

The Daily Quest: Gimmie gimmie gimmie originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Your armory makes me cringe. Drop the MP5 and SP gems and the MP5 enchants. Utter garbage. Gem pure int with 1 Nightmare Tear in the helm.

This is the major point where I differ with what I see as established Holy paladin theorycraft. Most high-end paladins gem, and even enchant, pure intellect. Personally, I like getting socket bonuses, so I use SP/Int, Int, and Int/MP5 gems. So far I haven’t had any issues with mana. But if I was to change anything, this would be it.

I’m not really sure what MP5 enchants are being discussed. The only MP5 enchants I have are the faction head/shoulder SP/MP5 ones. As far as I know, MP5 is considered better than crit, so these enchants are the ones to use.

Get the 245 libram from Triumph Emblems. It’s BiS.

I use [Libram of Renewal]. My loyal reader suggests using [Libram of Veracity] instead. I am somewhat puzzled by this. The point of gemming full Intellect is to spam Holy Light. Holy Light spam costs a lot of mana, and reducing the cost of HL by 10% is very powerful. Plus HL spam tends to have high overheal, so extra spellpower often just increases your overheal.

Pick up another 400 Haste. Stop wearing MP5 gear. Crafted legs are BiS. 60 Frost gloves are BiS. Crafted boots are BiS

These are pretty good suggestions. To be honest, I kind of just take gear as it drops. I don’t do 10-mans, though, so I’m relatively behind on badges.

Consider a 51/5/15 spec for better HPS and efficiency.

I use a 51/20/0 spec for Divine Guardian. I think Divine Guardian is a really powerful cooldown that is extremely useful.

Drop Glyph of BoL, it’s garbage. HS or FoL is the way to go.

I disagree here, Glyph of Beacon of Light is a better choice. It saves a bit of mana, saves a GCD every so often, and most importantly, staggers your BoL and SS refreshes. Taking two GCDs in a row to refresh buffs is a long time between heals. As for the other two, HL is the spell of choice, so buffing the other two is less valuable. Better to buff the spells you use most often, and Beacon is always up.

Drop enchanting for JC.

My second profession is already Jewelcrafting. Seems kind of silly to drop Enchanting at this point.

Seriously, after you got denied from Reclaimed I thought you would at least try to fix your !@#$. It just bothers my soul that you have a blog and give people advice when your own character is such a wreck. I feel bad for your guild. You at least owe it to them to research your class and play correctly.

Heh, Reclaimed was two years ago. I’m somewhat surprised that someone would remember and consider it important enough to reference. Or take time to look up my armor, make notes, create a character on my server and send me an anonymous mail with advice.

Still, the “bothers my soul” line is a tad over-wrought.

It’s always useful to see what better players are doing. Let’s take a look at Diamondtear of Paragon.

The immediate difference I see is that Diamondtear gems and enchants pure intellect, and does gear for haste (though she uses the same legs that I do). Otherwise, we use the same faction enchants, use the same libram, and have similar specs and glyphs.

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Zach enjoys PvP in all its forms, thus celebrating when some form of PvP was introduced to the Facebook game Pirates Ahoy!

Let’s continue from last week’s handy guide which was titled intentionally to play on the various meanings of “good.” This week, we’ll go through a few pointers at how to win at everything. Or, at the very least, to put up a decent fight and not go down in a terribly embarrassing fashion. That’s all one can really ask for — that one puts up a fight. Note that in most cases, the victor won’t care because a win is a win, especially in PvP. There are no moral victories in PvP, but there are educational defeats. If you’re going to lose, at the very least learn from it, right?

The first rule to winning is to think you can win. If you don’t give yourself a chance to win by thinking you’re outmatched, then unless your opponent is a total buffoon, she’s already won. Don’t worry too much about class or your level differential. You must go into the battle thinking you can win or, if you’re a healer, at least survive indefinitely. It doesn’t matter if you can actually win or not, especially when you’re clearly outmatched, such as when you’re many levels below your opponent. In such cases, your opponents already expect to win, so if you surprise them with some resistance or maybe even bring them dangerously low, then you will have put some doubt into their heads. As I mentioned last week, most griefers don’t actually look for a challenge. So there, the most important rule: Believe you can win.

Continue reading The Art of War(craft): A handy guide to winning at everything

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, PvP, The Art of War(craft) (PvP)

The Art of War(craft): A handy guide to winning at everything originally appeared on WoW.com on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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