The Colosseum: Caylie the Priest

Michael Gray — Sun, 24 May 2009 23:00:00 +0000

The Colosseum takes us inside the world of the Gladiator (Brutal, Vengeful, Merciless, and otherwise), to interview some of the top Arena fighters in the battlegroups. Our goal is to bring a better understanding of the strategy, makeup, and work that goes into dueling it out for fame, fortune, and Netherdrakes.

Caylie is the Priest in a Priest/Warlock or Priest/Rogue team, "Esport Ballers." Currently sitting at 12th place for their battlegroup, the team has traditionally done well in previous seasons.

The player prefers to go by Cayley, due to his character names back in previous seasons. Despite having other options, he says he prefers the Warlock/Priest team for the sake of a challenge.

Check out what else Caylie had to say behind the cut.

Continue reading The Colosseum: Caylie the Priest

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, The Colosseum

The Colosseum: Caylie the Priest originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 24 May 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spiritual Guidance: Shield questions answered

Michael Gray — Sun, 24 May 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Every Sunday (usually), Spiritual Guidance will offer practical insight for priests of the holy profession. Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a new UI and addons blog for WoW. Today, Matticus looks at a few question on shields. More specifically, why Holy Priests should not shield tanks if Disc Priests are present.

One of the core spells in any Priestly arsenal is the use of Power Word: Shield. The primary purpose of it? To save lives and prevent players in your party or your raid from taking damage. I've seen a few questions and grumblings crop up regarding the use of it on a few blogs and I wanted to weigh in.

Continue reading Spiritual Guidance: Shield questions answered

Filed under: Priest, Tips, Raiding, (Priest) Spiritual Guidance

Spiritual Guidance: Shield questions answered originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 24 May 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ready Check: Hard modes and progression

Michael Gray — Sun, 24 May 2009 19:00:00 +0000

Ready Check is a weekly column focusing on successful raiding for the serious raider. Hardcore or casual, Archavon or Algalon, everyone can get in on the action and down some bosses. This week, we look at the hard modes in Ulduar.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a raiding guild, in possession of a good enough fortune to cover repair costs, must be in want of a challenge. Rather than make bosses difficult by default, the design of Ulduar is liberally sprinkled with the sort of challenge we only saw hints of before -- hard modes.

The idea behind hard modes is to cater for every type of raider. Whether you just want to see content, have difficulty killing it as-is, or fancy spending several evenings wiping to artificial constraints, you can do so. (Note that when I say 'normal mode' from now on I mean non-hard-mode, not 10-man.)

Continue reading Ready Check: Hard modes and progression

Filed under: Raiding, Bosses, Guides, (Raiding) Ready Check, Achievements

Ready Check: Hard modes and progression originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 24 May 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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[1.Local]: Making ourselves at home

Michael Gray — Sun, 24 May 2009 17:00:00 +0000

Reader comments - ahh, yes, the juicy goodness following a meaty post. [1.Local] ducks past the swinging doors to see what readers have been chatting about in the back room over the past week.

Welcome home to WoW.com. Moving into a new place can be hectic, but we think our new digs at WoW.com are pretty darn comfy. In addition to a fresh face and identity for WoW Insider, we've introduced the beta launch of WoW.com Profiles. Show off your characters with a profile on WoW.com. By downloading the WoW.com addon, you can also keep all of your friends up to date on what you're doing in game, and make blog posts and upload screenshots directly from your game client.

Not a big fan of the social media scene? You don't have to change a thing - WoW.com offers all the old content you know (and hopefully love) so well. "If I'm being honest, when I first saw that the site had changed, I didn't really 'feel it,'" commented reader Retropally. "After days of it sinking in, I'm loving it. The new theme is awesome -- and really, nothing has changed in the way of the posts that are written ..."

Join the [1.Local] gang and add your thoughts about our new look and social features -- and hop on across the fold to see what else readers were chatting about during the past week.

Continue reading [1.Local]: Making ourselves at home

Filed under: Gnomes, Analysis / Opinion, WoW Insider Business, Guilds, Features, Raiding, Factions, [1.Local]

[1.Local]: Making ourselves at home originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 24 May 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Around Azeroth: I got a tiki god

Michael Gray — Sun, 24 May 2009 15:00:00 +0000

So, it turns out that a Sen'jin Fetish is not only a perverse attraction to large troll tusks, but also a non-combat pet obtainable through the Argent Tournament. Our submitter Sean happens to have recently bought the latter. With a little help from an acquaintance, a Pet Biscuit and some Pygmy Oils, he's managed to turn his Fetish into an ill-fitting mask. His newly acquired Twisted Visage with Blood Draining enchant also adds to the voodoo effect. The dress still looks a little too druidic, though. Sorry, Sean, not everyone can be as cool as a troll.

Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!

Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, gold seller ads, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran.

Gallery: Around Azeroth

Filed under: Screenshots, Around Azeroth, Galleries

Around Azeroth: I got a tiki god originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 24 May 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sunday Morning Funnies: Sheep are like bricks

Michael Gray — Sun, 24 May 2009 14:00:00 +0000

We're nearing the end of May, and I'm trusting that all of you US players have been having a wonderful long weekend! For those of you who didn't get to go on vacation, or who snuck a laptop into your bags, here are the latest WoW-related comics.

Check out the latest from Cru the Dwarf.
Dark Legacy Comics: Evade.
Experience Points: Perhaps you have recently considered spending some more time outdoors? If not, you can always fake a disconnect.
Flintlocke vs the Horde: The guys are on a quest chain.
Check out the latest from LFG.
NoObz: My Big Brother.
NPC: Warcrack Game Thingy?
Check out the latest from Teh Gladiators.
The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf: The Monday Dregs.
World of Warcraft, eh?: Lions and Paladins and Bears - Oh My!

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Features, Humor, Comics, Sunday Morning Funnies

Sunday Morning Funnies: Sheep are like bricks originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 24 May 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Breakfast Topic: Are you using Blizzard’s addon replacers?

Michael Gray — Sun, 24 May 2009 13:00:00 +0000

One thing Blizzard likes to slip in every few patches is a new UI function that "replaces" a popular add-on or set off addons. They've done it with Scrolling Combat Text, Threat Meters, and most recently, with Equipment Managers.

The New Equipment Manager is nice, but it's also pretty basic. You choose to save a set, choose a name and icon for the set, and there you go. You can drag the new icon onto your toolbar for quick changes, at least, but there's not much else. You can't synchronize it with a talent change. You can't set events to automatically change sets. Because of this, or even because of straight up familiarity and the issue of remaking all your sets in the new system, I'm sure a lot of people will stick to addons like ClosetGnome and Itemrack (if it ever updates).

Continue reading Breakfast Topic: Are you using Blizzard's addon replacers?

Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, AddOns, Breakfast topics

Breakfast Topic: Are you using Blizzard's addon replacers? originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 24 May 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Arcane Brilliance: PvPing as a Frost Mage after 3.1

Michael Gray — Sun, 24 May 2009 01:00:00 +0000

Each week Arcane Brilliance brings you a column about Mages. This column used to be housed on Wowinsider, but now it's featured on some newfangled site called WoW.com. The url is a full seven letters shorter. It's crazy. where did those seven letters go? I don't know, but I blame Warlocks.

There's an old saying: you can please some Mages some of the time, but you can't please all Mages all of the time. Or something like that. Last week, several of you complained that I was spending too much time writing about PvP, while ignoring PvE completely. This will be the fifth PvP-related Arcane Brilliance in a row. Previous to that, you have to go back to October 25th of last year to find our last PvP-centric column. A short list of things that have happened since then:

Wrath of the Lich King was released.
Barack Obama became the president of these United States.
5 dollar foot-longs.
Arcane Brilliance brought you 24 PvE columns in a row.

Seriously, guys. Make up your minds. I don't know what you want from me anymore. Anyway, on to Frost Mage PvP.

Continue reading Arcane Brilliance: PvPing as a Frost Mage after 3.1

Filed under: Mage, Analysis / Opinion, Tips, PvP, Features, Guides, Classes, (Mage) Arcane Brilliance, Battlegrounds, Arena

Arcane Brilliance: PvPing as a Frost Mage after 3.1 originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 23 May 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Art of War(craft): Arena Season 6, rise of the Casual Gladiator

Michael Gray — Sun, 24 May 2009 00:00:00 +0000

I know, I know, most of you hate Arenas. I've been writing for WoW Insider -- ahem, I mean WoW.com -- long enough to know that you guys probably aren't the most avid of PvP players. But the fun thing about it is that at least I'm not preaching to the choir, right? Anyway, I have to admit that I've gotten pretty tired of Arenas myself. Aside from two to three weeks worth of games in Season 5, I skipped the season altogether, unhappy with the balance then and the constantly changing rating and matchmaking system.

That wasn't even the heart of it, really. In the past seasons where I'd had the most success, I played with particular classes and specs that were viable in that season's environment. More importantly, I teamed up with players who were focused on PvP and were expectedly competent at it. The downside was that our success as a team was proportional to my loathing of the players on my team, particularly our team leader who was prone to excessive nerd rage and finger pointing. It sometimes happens that the best PvP players aren't necessarily your friends, and working together towards high ratings is sometimes a marriage of convenience. At a certain point when the stakes were extremely high, where wins would net us measly gains and losses would tank us badly enough for us to lose titles, Arenas became more stressful than fun.

Continue reading The Art of War(craft): Arena Season 6, rise of the Casual Gladiator

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

The Art of War(craft): Arena Season 6, rise of the Casual Gladiator originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 23 May 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Forum post of the day: The end of big guilds

Michael Gray — Sat, 23 May 2009 23:00:00 +0000

Oldmaveric of Azgalor posed the question on the General Discussion Forum: are Big guilds on their way out due to easy WoW? He suggested that easier content on 10 man raids and regular content nerfs has led to the breakdown of some of the top guilds and caused players to quit the game.

Savvage of Spinebreaker quickly responded that big guilds have their place, but "People can now play in closer more tightly-knit groups..." For many players, raiding offers sufficient challenge while being more enjoyable than it once was. The raiding experience is not only more accessible, but also more fun. Smaller guilds can afford to be more selective of the online personalities of their membership, while still being able to to make progress.

Continue reading Forum post of the day: The end of big guilds

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Guilds, Raiding, Forums, Forum Post of the Day

Forum post of the day: The end of big guilds originally appeared on WoW.com on Sat, 23 May 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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