Games Convention WoW News

Teza at World of Raids has posted a great summary of all the WoW news released at the Games Convention. For those who were not able to keep up with all the news released, here is all the compiled information.


"Games Convention information report

General

- The art for the expansion will look more like classic Warcraft (gothic fantasy), and less like Outlands art (high fantasy). (4)
- WotLK will have "just as much" 5-man instances as TBC and more 10-main instances due to the popularity of Karazhan. (4)
- The world map is rough and players can expect the map to change and new things on the map will be revealed over time. (Source)
- When asked about class balance, they said they had no plans for any major changes to classes. (4)
- Future hero classes could be Demon Hunter, Arch Mage, and Blademaster. (1)

Leveling

- Current plans are for a pre-expansion change to the experience curve and gain. (Source)
- Levels between 20 and 60 are going to have the experience required per-level reduced, and the experience rewarded by quests is being increased by around 30%. (3)

Heroic Badges

- In addition to the new items added in 2.3 to the heroic badges vendor, Blizzard might add new armor sets to that vendor. (3)

Flying Mount Level

- From a design standpoint, we don’t want people to just fly over continent and skip things when they are leveling up. Instead we want people to explore and experience the environment around them when they first reach the shores of Northrend. You will walk (or ride) from one quest to another as the zones unfold before you instead of just flying over it without batting an eye. At some point though you will definitely be able to fly in Northrend. We are currently thinking around level 78, but haven’t made a final call on this yet. (Source)

Dustwallow Marsh

- A new goblin town with several new quests will be added to Dustwallow Marsh. (3)

PvP

- A new PvP area called Lake Wintergrass ('roughly the size of Westfall') will combine world PvP with the new siege weapons and destructible buildings. The faction that controls this zone may receive an effect that not only applies to the zone, but to the whole continent. (4)

Dungeons

Sunwell Plateau (3)
- Sunwell Plateau will be released before the expansion "Wrath of the Lich King", Tigole said its planned for a patch after Zul'Aman (so it might be 2.4 minimum to get it). Sunwell Plateau is a new instance which can be found in Quel'Thalas (forest region north of the continent of Lordaeron). The instance is divided in 2 parts, one of them is designed for a 25-man raid instance (said to be the most diffcult in WoW, harder than Black temple), the other part is a 5-man instance (Normal and Heroic Modes).

Zul'Aman
- Zul'Aman will be released as soon as voice chat comes off the PTR and will be after the next patch before appearing on the PTRs. (Source)

Nexus (3)
- Tigole talked about a new instance "Nexus" located in Borean Tundra, it should be the first instance you will zone in when entering Northrend by Borean Tundra; this instance will be divided into three wings:
* A 5-man instance for level 70-71 called Ice Caverns
* A level 80 instance
* A 25-man raid instance where you will encounter Malygos (the blue dragon), that instance is located at a rift in the sky

Caverns of Time: Stratholme (1)
- There will be a new Caverns of Time instance: Stratholme, which one will be a level 80 instance 5-man. You will travel to the past before Arthas was corrupted and help him rid the city of demons and burn it down.

Utgarde Keep (3)
- Utgarde Keep which is located in Howling Fjord, will be a winged dungeon with two instances: the first wing is a level 70 instance for players to level up in (we already know about that one) and the second wing for level 80 players is called "Utgarde Pinnacle". Both instances will have Normal and Heroic modes.

Naxxramas (5)
- Tigole confirmed than Naxxramas will be retuned to be 25-man raid instance in Northrend, also he said it will be the first 25 player raid instance in the next expansion. They want as many players as posible to have a chance to see one of the best instances so far. Some encounters will be reworked to adapt them to a 25-man raid.

Professions

Inscription (3)
- The Inscription profession will do more than increases effectiveness of spells and abilities. Tigole said the team working on it wish for Inscription to be more versatile such as increasing more elements like range, duration (for example: Frost Nova having a wider radius).

Woodworking (3)
- Blizzard is considering a Woodworking profession, it will allow Hunters to create their own arrows.

Classes

Death Knight

- Death Knight requirements: According to Tigole, you won't need to be level 80 to unlock the Death Knight, it would rather be between level 55 and 60. Players can then create their Death Knights and have to go through a trial in order to be able to play their Death Knights.

- Death Knight's resourcing system (Runes): Runes are engraved by the Death Knight into his weapon (sword or axe). There will be three different kind of runes: Unholy, Blood and Frost. The Death Knight will obtain various abilities, depending on how the DK combines the runes, the number of runes than you can combine is limited to six (for example: 2 of every rune type or 4 Unholy and 2 Blood runes type), you can change your rune combination to change your playstyle/role (Tank, Dps or PvP combination mixing both with less power). Upon using his abilities, the DK consumes his runes. One DK skill example using runes: a DK skill called "Army of the Dead", which summons Ghouls, requires Blood and Unholy rune types, therefore you would not be able to use this ability with only Frost runes carved into your weapon.

Hunter

- Blizzard is considering a Woodworking profession (hunters will be able to create their own arrows),and a Mortal Strike-like shot that will reduce healing effectiveness on the target of the shot (the purpose of this idea is to increase the desirability of hunters in arena). (3)

Priest

- In the playable Wotlk demo at Games Convention, the priest spell "Pain Suppression" has been changed, the cooldown has been reduced to 1 minute and you can cast it on a friendly target up to a 20yards range. (Source)"

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Bioshock Hands-On

The long-awaited Bioshock has finally been released and does not disappoint. Bioshock is a FPS released by 2K Games.


Introduction



When the first few trailers came out for this game many people were very excited, including me. The game is set in Rapture, a very interesting and science fiction type world. The main protagonist Jack is immediately thrown into this underwater setting after his plane crashes into the mid-Atlantic ocean. Jack spots a large tower jutting out of the surrounding water and when he enters it, he finds a lift which takes him down below the water into Rapture. Jack is given a speech via video by Raptures creator Andrew Ryan. Ryan rejected all of the ideas like communism and democracy and built a self sufficient city where every man received what he deserved, but when Jack finally reaches the city he finds that it is not what it once was. With the man waiting for his arrival is killed by some kind of mutated human being, Jack is assisted through radio by a man named Atlas. Atlas tells Jack that he was separated from his family and believes Jack is the only way he will be able to be reunited with them. This is where the game really begins and the player must begin to fight his way through Rapture.

Gameplay



Jack continues through Rapture with Atlas’s assistance and finds a wrench which he uses for melee attacks. Jack continues threw Rapture until he finds a needle containing Plasmids. When he injects the needle into his arm, his genetic code is rewritten and he obtains a new ability such as shooting lighting bolts or fire from his hands. The player uses many combinations of Plasmids and weapons throughout the game to defeat his enemy’s. The main objects in Bioshock are Adam, Eve, and Money. Adam is used to increase the characters ability’s. Eve which is what many residents of Rapture are after is used for plasmids. Money is used to buy new weapons or upgrade them. These bring a nice RPG feel to the game. There are also many ways to use plasmids to your advantage or disadvantage in certain environments. If the enemy is standing in a pool of water and a lighting Plasmid is shot into the water, the enemy is electrocuted and killed. If an enemy is hit with fire he can run to the nearest source of water and put himself out. Later in the game the character can use electricity to use enemy machines for his own uses. The many possibilities of all these abilities make Bioshock very exciting to play.

Characters and Enemies.


The character interaction in Bioshock is very unique. The residents of run-down Rapture are either working under Andrew Rain, Psychotic, or after ADAM. The enemies called the “little sisters” can harvest Adam and are protected by the “big daddies” who everyone else fear. You can often find Characters fighting each other over ADAM or other resources. The game can also be very eerie when you run into the psychotic enemies. Many of the residents of Rapture have a low grip on reality and are stuck in the past when Rapture was thriving, and will do anything to survive or get what they want, so when you come across these enemies they will usually attack you for what you have.

Rapture



Rapture is an awesome place to be in and explore. The game is set in the 1960’s, but Rapture has a very 1920’s feel to it. Having started to decay around that time when Adam was first being created, and having no ties to the outside world, Rapture was stuck in that time period. Most of the technology and music has a very 1920’s look and feel to it which makes Rapture such a unique place. The game also does a great job of immersing the player into Rapture which makes the game much more exciting.

Final Thoughts

Bioshock is a great example of the storytelling capability's games are beginning to achieve. The game sets single-player FPS games to a higher standard and is really a great game. I would recommend fans of FPS or even general gamers to go out and play this game.


This is a video of me playing through some of the beginning of Bioshock. Its a great example of the storytelling, gameplay, and some of the character interactions. Dont worry, no real spoilers.


Download This Video! FileFront

The Bioshock demo can be downloaded here: Gameshadow

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New Metal Gear Solid 4 Trailer

Game Convention 2007 Trailer for Metal Gear Solid 4. Crazy new enemies, possibly the new bosses? They seem to have a connection to Psycho Mantis's ability's. Possibly given to them through genome therapy or the nanomachine's in Foxdie? The enemy's almost seem half or maybe even full machine, maybe they are been controlled through the nanomachines like the other soldiers in previous trailers. Crazier things have happens in MGS's history!

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Fighting Hunters in PvP

I plan on doing an article on every class in WoW to help you beat them in PvP. These guides will not be based on specific class vs class, but more on how to identify what talent spec your opponent is, the dangers of his spec, the weaknesses, and how to defeat them.

Hunters
All hunters can be defeated by taking advantage of the dead zone. The dead zone is the area a few yards around the hunter. You want to be in this area as much as possible. All hunters have to deal with this regardless of spec. Once inside the dead zone, use all skills available to you to keep the hunter as close as possible. Be aware you will be wing clipped if you get into melee range, which is similar to a warrior's hamstring.

All hunters also have access to traps. Traps commonly used in pvp are frost trap, freezing trap, and snake trap. Freezing trap entraps your character in a block of ice, preventing all actions from you until damage has been caused. Once broken, you must close the gap fast in order to stand a chance of beating the hunter. Frost trap places a patch of ice which slows down movement of all enemies standing upon the patch. This trap also has a chance to snare your character if the hunter is specced with the appropriate talent in the survival tree. Snake trap releases many low level snakes that cause poison damage to whoever they land on, usually used on healers to make them focus on cleansing themselves.

Other notable skills all hunters have regardless of spec are concussive shot, viper sting, flare, and hunter's mark. Concussive shot slows down your character shortly, but also increases the damage of steady shot for the hunter while concussive shot is active on you. Viper sting drains mana fairly quickly, and should be removed ASAP if you are able. Flare will take stealth classes out of stealth if you are close enough to the flare. Hunter's mark will also allow the hunter to see you in stealth, however it is not a big deal for classes that do not have stealth.

Identifying the spec of the hunter.

I recommend you read all specs, due to hybrid specs. However if you ever see a 41 talent point ability used, you can rule out 21 talent point skills of another talent tree.




Beastmaster

Pet damage will be higher than other hunters. Also look for how fast skills like claw are occuring. Beast mastery gives hunters a talent granting their pets increased energy regeneration. While Marks hunters get a similar effect, it's not as consistent as beast mastery.

Beast mastery also gets 2 unique skills; Intimidation and Beastial Wrath/The Beast within. Intimidation is a 3 second stun, and when cast, a blue-ish aura will radiate from the pet. Beastial Wrath/The Beast Within is easily seen. Once cast, both the pet and hunter will grow in size, and become red. Once this happens, the hunter and pet are immune to all CC's and get increased damage.




-=- Defeating Beast Mastery Hunters -=-

A significant source of DPS from beast mastery hunters comes from the pet. In group pvp such as the arena, it may be worth your time to kill the pet. Stuns should be used whenever possible on the hunter. While the hunter is stunned, he cannot cast bestial wrath and trigger the beast within, or intimidation. You're going to want to kill beast mastery hunters quickly, and avoid the beast within at all costs.

If the beast within is triggered, you have to either stay in the dead zone, or somehow get away for 18 seconds. Hunters with the beast within active are very deadly. It's basically a god mode for hunters. Some classes can escape the hunter pretty easily though. Rouges can Cloak of Shadows and vanish, or frost mages can double ice block, if you chose to use those cool downs. A good healer should also be able to manage to keep you alive as well.

Overall, once the beast within is gone, beast mastery hunters shouldn't prove to be that tough to take down.

Marks

Marks spec hunters are not easily identifiable visually, however they have some unique skills that can be easily seen. Burst damage is a lot more common with marks hunters, if you're hit by a 3.6k aimed shot followed by a 1.5k multi shot, you're most likely facing a marks hunter. Pet damage is low, unlike beast mastery hunters. Casters can immediately a marks hunter if they are ever interrupted by Silencing Shot.

-=- Defeating Marks hunters -=-

Marks hunters are somewhat glass cannons, due to most stacking high Agility and attack power gear to get the most out of their damage. Once you close the dead zone for the first time, expect to be scatter shot and possibly trapped. If you are trapped, once again close the gap and use all possible CC's to keep the hunter slowed down. Ranged classes are going to want to avoid being nuked by the hunter, due to the high burst damage that is possible.

Marks hunters don't have as many options for survivability as the other specs, however, skilled marks hunters offer the highest threat to you. Avoid letting them get far away from you, and they should fall easily.

Survival Hunters

Survival hunters are generally more PVE oriented and pose the least threat to you as a PVP opponent, unless they are extremely well geared. Survival hunters have increased trap durations, and all traps can snare you with the entrapment talent.

Survival hunters have 3 abilities that can be activated by them; Deterrence, Wyvern Sting, and Readiness. Deterrence increases the hunters chance to dodge and parry by 25%. Deterrence can be easily countered by staying behind the hunter, making it imposable to dodge and parry. Wyvern sting is more of a PVE CC ability. Once shot, you will remain sleeping for 12 seconds, then get a DOT which causes 942 nature damage. Any damage will awaken you. Readiness acts just like rogue's preparation. Readiness will put all of the hunter's cooldowns back to 0, so expect some trap abuse.

-=- Defeating Survival Hunters -=-

Once again, due to survival being PVE oriented, you can generally just use simple hunter tactics to beat them. Get in the dead zone, keep them there, and drop them. However readiness allows the hunter to use some unique strategies, such as chain trapping. If chain trapping occurs, you should trinket out of the second trap, not the first, then close the distance. If you trinket out of the first trap, you may run into the 2nd one right after, and have wasted your trinket. Using your trinket on the 2nd trap will insure you cannot be trapped again for another 30 seconds. I recommend you get some add on that will alert you of the use of readiness, such as Natur Enemy Cast bar.

All specs of hunters are best taken down quickly. If the hunter is ever at a distance from you, and you have no skills off cooldown to reach the hunter once again, consider yourself dead. Identify the talent spec, expect and deal with abilities the hunter has available to him, and remain in control.

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New CS Guide, Aiming and Firing Tactics!

The 2nd of our Counterstrike: Source video guide series. This one focuses on aiming and firing. If anyone has requests on videos they would like to see made, reply in a comment.






Download Aiming and Firing Tactics

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Rare Spawn Mobs can be a great moneymaker.

In the World of Warcraft, nothing is more important than gold. It allows you to do all of your everyday activities, such as repairing, and you can never have enough of it. I've found some rare spawn mobs that can be farmed for easy gold.

The mobs I'm talking about are:

The Razza - http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=11497
Skarr the Unbreakable - http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=11498
Mushgog - http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=11447

These mobs always drop 1-2 BoE blues which can be sold on the Auction House for a good amount of money. All 3 mobs also have a chance to drop the Orb of Deception (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=1973), which can be sold anywhere from 100-1000 gold, depending on the server's economy.

To get to these mobs, you first need to travel to Feralas.


Dire Maul is in the middle of Feralas, and the Arena that these mobs spawn in is located directly in the middle of the inside of Dire Maul. There are a few 55-60 mobs blocking the way, but if you are 70, you can just run past them.


The mobs spawn in the Arena approximately 6 hours after they are killed, which makes them easy to farm. They share a spawn time, meaning no two will be there at the same time. The exception to this is Mushgog, who will spawn along with one of the other two mobs, making him considerably harder to kill.


The mobs share a teleport ability that will port the player to the middle of the arena, so a kiting tactic is not possible here. I can easily solo them as a level 70 Paladin, keeping up Seal and Judgement of Wisdom. Feral Druids can solo this by going in to bear form and just tanking the mobs down. Most other classes can DPS fast enough to kill them within a few seconds, so they shouldn't be a problem at all. If you are getting low on health, a good tactic is to kite the mob to the side of the arena, so when they port you to the middle, you will have a chance to bandage uninterrupted. The Orb of Deception is around a 10% drop rate, so if it doesn't drop your first kill, don't give up. I have made oodles of money using this method, and I hope that you can, too!

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Control Your Character Like A Pro!

One way to drastically and instantly increase your skills in WoW is to have a comfortable control setup and be efficient using it. In this guide I will cover how to turn the default WoW UI into one I have found effective and efficient in all aspects of WoW.

First off, we have to make some adjustments to the default UI. Open your interface settings by hitting escape, then clicking interface options. Check Buff Durations, and then click the advanced options tab. from there, check "enable floating combat text" and any options you feel you would like to see. Buff durations will put a countdown underneath the buff once it is cast upon you, allowing you to see exactly how much time is left on that buff. Floating Combat text will show numbers above your head when you take damage, dodge, parry, etc.







Now we will discuss the default UI. I personally hate the default UI, I feel it doesnt give you enough information and has too much excess crap you don't need on it. Once all your bars are filled with icons, it takes up a decent portion of your screen as well. Luckily, add ons can solve these problems.

Add ons are basically third party interface additions that can do many things from giving you more information to making it easier to change gear sets. There are literally thousands of add ons available for download. There are some add ons I consider a must have for any WoW player.


Natur Enemy Cast Bar - Shows the cast bars of your enemies, cooldowns of your enemies, duration of your debuffs on your enemy, and much more. WoW has incorporated this feature into their own UI, but I feel Natur does it better.

Some form of Player/target frames - New frames can clean up and provide more info than the default frames. I recommend AG unit frames or Perl Classic Frames. AG unit frames seems to not be updated as fast as Perl though.

A bar mod - These add ons will give you more action bars to place icons on and allow you to move them around, scale them, etc. I personally use Bartender3. Bartender also lets you hide current parts of the UI, like the bag bar and mini help bar.

Those 3 add ons I couldn't play without. I play with other add ons as well, but none that drastically change my UI such as those listed above. To install these add ons, simply create a folder in your interface folder named "addons" The default path for this folder is C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\Interface\addons.

Once you have found add ons you like, place and configure them in a way that is comfortable to you. I personally like my bars in the bottom right corner, chat box lowered in the lower left, all frames showing the bare necessities, and my enemy cast bars in an easy spot to read quickly.



Next, key bindings. If you currently click your skills, stop. Even if you are comfortable doing it and can click your skills without looking, stop. Anyone efficient with key bindings will always be faster than you. You could also miss an important spell interrupt which could cost you a loss in an arena game because you click your spells and abilities. Key bindings take some getting use to at first, but once you are comfortable with them there is no going back. I highly recommend getting a mouse with some side buttons on it, to bind more skills to your mouse hand. Another option is to get a gamepad, such as the Belkin Nostromo Speedpad n52. I have no personal experience with one of these pads, but some players love them.


Onto key bindings themselves. I recommend on your main action bars you have keys set up as 1-5, then SHIFT + 1-5, then 2 mouse side buttons to replace "-" and "=". This set up allows your never to have to adjust your hand from its position. Movement with this setup should be done by clicking both the right and left mouse button simultaneously. WASD is fine for moving when you're not in combat. If you're using a bar mod, you can set another bar with more key binds. I use SHIFT + SPACE for actions I use a lot, such as bloodrage, stealth, or hunter's mark. Alt+1-5 is also easy to hit on the fly, as well as SHIFT + mouse buttons.



To set key bindings, hit escape then key bindings. If you're using bartender like me, your main bar will be labeled "Bartender3 Bar 1" Click each red button and then press the button you would like to assign that button to. Other bars are found at the bottom of the keybinding list if you are using Bartender3.

Player preference will be a huge factor in setting up a UI, so experiment and try to find what works best for you. I feel the above UI is basic enough for any player to use, but also efficient for veteran players.

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Design Change Incoming! You can help!

We have decided to create our own custom design for CAE gaming. However, we have little experience designing websites, so please bear with us while we undergo this change. Also, if anyone wants to help, feel free to post some links that may help us in the comments!

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World of Warcraft Population Summary

A program has been created to analyze World of Warcraft level 70 characters.

Okoloth of http://okoloth.blogspot.com/ has created a program to parse the data from the World of Warcraft Armory service (http://armory.worldofwarcraft.com/#index.xml). He compiled a list of level 70 characters, their specs, and their professions. Here are the results:

Druid 5592 level 70 analyzed

* Balance: 10%
* Feral: 59.92%
* Restoration: 30.08%

Most Popular Combination of Professions

* Alchemy & Herbalism 30.23%
* Leatherworking & Skinning 23.82%
* Enchanting & Herbalism 4.72%


Hunter 5752 level 70

* Beast Mastery: 33.83%
* Marksmanship: 58.52%
* Survival: 7.65%

Most Popular Combination of Professions

* Leatherworking & Skinning 28.22%
* Engineering & Mining 15.03%
* Alchemy & Herbalism 13.33%


Mage 7704 level 70

* Arcane: 32.57%
* Fire: 38.34%
* Frost: 29.09%

Most Popular Combination of Professions

* Enchanting & Tailoring 34.42%
* Alchemy & Herbalism 15.41%
* Herbalism & Tailoring 10.13%


Paladin 4663 level 70

* Holy: 83.4%
* Protection: 7.18%
* Retribution: 9.41%

Most Popular Combination of Professions

* Blacksmithing & Mining 30.02%
* Jewelcrafting & Mining 12.83%
* Alchemy & Herbalism 12.46%


Priest 6998 level 70

* Discipline: 7.14%
* Holy: 51.54%
* Shadow: 41.31%

Most Popular Combination of Professions

* Enchanting & Tailoring 34.28%
* Alchemy & Herbalism 17.23%
* Herbalism & Tailoring 12.3%

Rogue 6361 level 70

* Assassination: 18.16%
* Combat: 63.26%
* Subtlety: 18.58%

Most Popular Combination of Professions

* Alchemy & Herbalism 19.75%
* Leatherworking & Skinning 17.66%
* Engineering & Mining 10.57%


Shaman 4230 level 70

* Elemental: 22.06%
* Enhancement: 27.14%
* Restoration: 50.8%

Most Popular Combination of Professions

* Alchemy & Herbalism 22.05%
* Leatherworking & Skinning 14.45%
* Jewelcrafting & Mining 13.59%

Warlock 6066 level 70

* Affliction: 54.52
* Demonology: 25.12%
* Destruction: 20.36%

Most Popular Combination of Professions

* Enchanting & Tailoring 33.21%
* Alchemy & Herbalism 13.22%
* Herbalism & Tailoring 9.87%


Warrior 7984 level 70

* Arms: 39.17%
* Fury: 14.88%
* Protection: 45.95%

Most Popular Combination of Professions

* Blacksmithing & Mining 54.98%
* Alchemy & Herbalism 8.4%
* Engineering & Mining 4.21%

Summary courtesy of http://worldofraids.com/

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Gearing Up For Arena

With the release of TBC, the arena is no doubt the most successful thing to have been released in a while. It has established WoW as an E-sport, and tournaments are popping up everywhere for the top teams. In order to be successful in the arena, you're going to need some gear. This guide will help you get the best possible non-raiding gear to insure your success in the arena.

First off, stats. Resilience is HUGE in arena, and should be your primary focus going into arena with no gladiator sets. Resilience cuts the damage of crits and reduces the chance you will be crit. 39.4 resilience rating gives you a 1% chance to not becrit, and 2% less damage taken from crits. Fortunately, resilience gear is easy to acquire before your team has the points for gladiator sets.

Stamina is also important in arena, and all of WoW for that matter. What's the use of your great 30% crit rate or 2.5k attack power if you die in seconds? Dead players do no DPS and cast no heals. In my opinion, stamina should be taken over attack power/agi/str. Once you get some gladiator armor pieces, the high DPS will come. The main thing about gladiator sets is that they also have nice stamina/resilience, so you can afford to start focusing on increasing your DPS.

Crit rating should also been taken by DPS classes. Higher crit allows you greater burst damage, which is the best kind of damage for arena. Any good healer can heal their teammate getting a constant source of small number damage, such as warlock dots. But it would be significantly harder to heal that same teammate when he or she is getting hit by 5k+ damage in a matter of seconds. Crit rating, unfortunately, isn't extremely easy to find pre-raid gear, but some pieces are still out there for you to get.

Now onto the gear itself.

Head: You have 3 real solid choices here. You can opt for the Honor PvP Helm, your dungeon set 3 helm, or the helms from the quest-chain in shadowmoon.

PvP helm will cost you 16,065 honor points and 30 AV marks. Note the meta gem socket.
Dungeon set 3 helm also has a meta gem socket, and drop from various instances depending on your class.
The quest chain helms which are the easiest to obtain start with these 2 quests.
Alliance - A Ghost in the Machine
Horde - A Haunted History

Neck - Veteran's Pendant. Cost is 15,300 honor points and 10 EoS marks.

Caster DPS
Healer
Melee DPS


Shoulders: The PvP shoulders are the best to get here, resilience and decent stats.
PvP shoulders will cost you 10,098 honor and 20 AB marks.

Back - Sergeant's Cloak/Cape will cost you 9,435 honor points and 20 AB marks.

Caster
Melee


Chest: PvP Chest will cost you 16,524 honor points and 30 AB marks. Notable enchant here is +15 resilience, solid enchant and not too expensive.

Bracers- Veteran's bracers. They have a version for every class and spec. Cost is 11,794 honor and 20 WSG marks.

Hands - PVP gloves are almost a must for every class. Each gives you a special ability that is unavailable to you without the gloves equipped. Rogues' deadly throw gets a silence affect, simply a must have for any rogue serious about pvp. The cost for these gloves are 10,098 honor points and 20 AV marks.

Waist- Once again, the veteran's belt for your corresponding class and spec. Cost is 17,850 honor points and 40 AB marks.

Legs- PVP pants are 16,065 honor points and 30 WSG marks. There are some quest alternatives that offer higher DPS, but you would lose resilience.

Feet - Veteran's boots for your corresponding class and spec. Cost for the boots is 17,850 honor poitns and 40 EoS marks.

Rings- Get both the season 1 pvp ring and season 2 pvp ring. Season 2 rings cost 15,300 honor and 10 AV marks. Season 1 Rings cost 11,934 honor points and 10 AV marks.

Caster DPS - Season 2 Ring / Season 1 Ring
Melee DPS - Season 2 Ring / Season 1 Ring
Healer - Season 2 Ring / Season 1 Ring


A notable alternative are the rings from collecting 50 spirit shards. These however would take longer to obtain.
Melee
Caster

Trinkets: There are so many possible trinkets that will work well for arena that I couldn't possibly list them all without missing some. A lot comes down to personal preference too. You may like increasing your attack power with trinkets and another player of the same class may want to increase crit raiting. I'd recommend going to wowhead and browsing through the trinkets.

Weapons: Once again, same as trinkets. There are so many possible weapons to get that you may want to browse through them as well and see which are most accessible to you. Some of the best require heroic instance runs, such as the best ranged weapon and 1h mace pre-raid. Warriors however, have access to the best 2h weapons for a while. The weapon smithing exclusive weapons will last you a long time and each have an individual bonus to each of them, such as the sword's resistance to fear effects.

Anyone in a raiding guild will obviously have better gear accessible to them to choose from, so take advantage. Another thing that I would recommend would be to stack stamina gems and enchants, even if that means not getting a socket bonus. If the socket bonus is small like +3 agility, it may be worth it to put a stamina gem in the slot instead of the corresponding color. Also, be sure you at least get 2 pvp pieces for the +35 resilience set bonus. This will provide an easy boost to your resilience.

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Anticipated Upcoming Titles

Here are some summary's and references to some very anticipated soon-to-be-released Games.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Platforms: Playstation 3
Publisher: Konami
Release Date: Q1 2008

MGS 4 marks the debut of the series on the PS3. The game is set five years after Sons of Liberty with appearances from many characters such as Meryl Silverburgh, Otacon, Raiden, Vamp, and the player controlling a much older Solid Snake. While the games predecessors had a huge focus on Stealth and Espionage, MGS 4 has taken a “no place to hide” approach where Snake is caught in the middle of a war between two groups. Although many new features such as the camouflage upgrades and the “Solid Eye,” will keep the feeling of stealth intact.

E3 2007 Trailer



Gameplay Revealed



Assassin’s Creed
Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release Date: November/13/2007


Assassin’s Creed takes place in 1191. The player assumes control of Altair, an assassin whose goal is to stop those against the Crusades. The Three major areas in the game are Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus, and all the environments are interactive. Altair is an assassin so the player must move through each city without being suspicious. A large emphasis much be placed on stealth, while moving through each environment the player must use “free running” to travel across rooftops and many other obstacles to achieve goal.

Ubidays 07 Trailer



E3 2007 On Stage Demo Part 1,2,3(Jerusalem)








Mass Effect
Platforms: Xbox 360
Publisher: Bioware
Release Date: November/1/2007



Mass Effect is an Action RPG similar to Kotor which was released by the same company. It takes place in a futuristic 2183, where the player controls Commander Sheppard on his ship, Normandy. The game is planned to be a trilogy which will all be released on the Xbox 360. Since the game is an RPG there will be many class selections and available skills and upgrades. There is also a new take on character interactions with the player selecting a planned response during dialogue, also similar to Kotor but it is now much more interactive.


E3 2007 Trailer 1,2





Transmission Cinema

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Video Guide Series Started!

After making my smoke grenade guide, I have decided to remake it in a video tutorial. I will continue all counterstrike guides in video format from this point on. Download links will always be available from our site, but will be streamed on youtube as well.











Counterstrike Source Smoke Grenade Guide download.

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Counterstrike: Source Smoke Grenade Guide

Today I have written a small guide to better using smoke grenades to improve your source tactics.

Smoke Grenades Guide

Price: 300

Smoke grenades are buyable equipment that are thrown just like any other grenade in source. Once thrown, the grenade will release a smoke cloud around the landing spot. This cloud can provide cover for you to run across a hallway or corridor which may be watched by the enemy. Smoke grenades do no damage to any entity in source, but can be useful in the right situation. Be aware that enemies still can shoot you through the smoke, but the smoke grenade makes it near impossible to see your character. Smoke grenades are primarily a defensive tool.


Example Situation: You want to run across this hallway, but the corridor to your right is being watched.

Simply place a smoke grenade in the corridor to prevent the enemy from being able to see you.

Easy right? The smoke grenade is a very easy tool to use, but there is still a wrong way to use it. DO NOT THROW A SMOKE GRENADE AT THE ENEMY! Anyone standing within the smoke cloud is able to see through it, such as this.

What you see.

What they see.

Because of this it is possible to actually place a smoke grenade beneath yourself if you are defending a location. A common example is sometimes players will place a smoke grenade on a bombsite after the bomb has been planted. This makes it harder for the enemy to quickly find the bomb, and allows you to hide near the bomb to better defend it.

Hopefully, this guide has given you a better understanding and ideas on successfully incorporating smoke grenades into your source game.

-Snapu

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2.2 PTR Patch Notes

These are the current live PTR patch notes.



General


* Voice Chat - The new Voice Chat feature is now available in game. Players will need to go into the options menu under Sound & Voice to activate it. Volume sliders are available for the microphone, speakers, and game-audio fade (which automatically lowers the game audio when a voice communication is received), as is a “push-to-talk” setting. Right-clicking on a player’s name now includes the option to mute or unmute that player. Muting another player blocks all voice chat from him or her; the ignore feature now blocks both voice chat and text chat from that player.
* Chat Channels- New Chat Channel controls and functionality are now available under the chat tab in the Social Window of the interface. The interface will now show the channels players are in or are available, depending on the area of the world they are in, along with new private channel controls.
* A new feature for reporting players as being AFK in battlegrounds by right clicking has been added. When enough reports are registered, a 30 second debuff will begin to count down. Once the timer is up a new debuff will appear that will prevent the player from gaining any honor while it is on. This debuff can be negated as soon as the player engages in combat.
* Resilience Rating: The reduction to the percent chance to get a critical strike now also reduces the damage dealt by damage over time effects by the same percentage.
* Daze: Defense skill will no longer reduce the chance players have to receive the Daze effect when attacked from behind by enemies.
* Corrected the damage modifier calculation for Resilience when the attacker has bonus critical strike damage.
* Power Regeneration: Any effect which triggers a change in your rate of power regeneration (Mana, Rage, Energy, Focus) will now cause an immediate reward of some power at the old rate of increase, and then begin new “ticks” of power at the new rate approximately 2 seconds later. This was done to improve functionality of abilities such as Evocation and Innervate so that they did not have wasted “ticks”.
* Mac Movie Capture: the Mac client can now capture in-game video to QuickTime movie files using a configurable choice of codec , resolution, and frame rate. Two new entries have been added to the Key Bindings dialog for start/stop recording and for cancellation of a recording. For more detailed configuration options please see the Mac Options panel in game. Mac OS X 10.4.9 and QuickTime 7.1.6 or better are required. Not all machines have enough performance to smoothly capture video at high frame rates; end user experimentation will be required to find appropriate settings for each system.
* Pets are now affected by Paladin greater blessings.
* Non combat pets may not be selected as the target for spells or abilities.
* Non-combat pets now have the tag “Companion” instead of “Minion”.
* Being attacked by guardians, such as summoned Treants, will no longer automatically causes neutral guards to attack you.
* Meeting Stones can no longer be used to summon players that do not meet the level requirements.
* Damage and health leech effects always affect flying players even if they are immune to the rest of the spell’s affects while in flight.
* Dueling players may not use a Lightwell that they didn’t create themselves.


PVP


* Items that are indicated as quest items in their tooltips and have a “use” or “equip” ability will not work in PvP arenas.


Druids


* Cat Form (Night Elf) melee attack range was too short compared to Tauren Cat Form and other attack ranges. It has been increased.
* Cyclone: It is no longer possible to Cyclone two targets at the same time in the outdoor world.
* Cyclone: Paladin Auras, Trueshot Aura, and Aspect of the Pack will now be automatically reactivated when Cyclone wears off of a victim who had one of the abilities active.
* Enrage: If this buff is clicked off early, the armor penalty it causes will now be removed as well.
* Enrage and Furor should no longer initiate combat, though it will prevent rage decay for the duration.
* Entangling Roots: It is no longer possible to have Entangling Roots on two targets at the same time in the outdoor world.
* Entangling Roots: It is no longer possible to have more than one rank of this spell active on a player.
* Force of Nature: Using this spell in a neutral town will no longer cause its victim to be attacked by town guards. It also will no longer cause nearby party members to lose stealth.
* Hibernate and Entangling Roots duration against PvP targets has been reduced to 10 seconds.
* Hurricane: This spell is now affected by area damage caps. Its bonus damage coefficients have also been increased.
* Hurricane: A tooltip error in rank 3 has been corrected.
* Lacerate: The damage from this ability will now stack properly when two different characters are applying Lacerate to a target.
* Mangle: The duration remaining graphic will now display properly for Mangle after it has been refreshed on a target. It will also no longer sometimes apply the Mangle debuff to nearby targets when the Mangle victim is killed by Mangle.
* Nature's Grasp: This ability can now trigger while the Druid is sitting.
* Tree of Life: The party aura from this shapeshift now extends the full 40-yard radius as stated in the tooltip.


Hunters


* Aspect of the Cheetah: This ability will now cause Hunters to become dazed when struck while sitting.
* Aspect of the Pack: This ability will now cause party members to become dazed when struck while sitting.
* Aspect of the Viper: This ability has received a slight redesign. The amount of mana regained will increase as the Hunter’s percentage of mana remaining decreases. At about 60% mana, it is equivalent to the previous version of Aspect of the Viper. Below that margin, it is better (up to twice as much mana as the old version); while above that margin, it will be less effective. The mana regained never drops below 10% of intellect every 5 sec. or goes above 50% of intellect every 5 sec.
* Freezing Trap and Scare Beast duration against PvP targets has been reduced to 10 seconds.
* Hunter's Mark: The duration remaining graphic will now display properly for Hunter's Mark after it has been refreshed on a target, and will properly consume mana when recasting it to refresh its duration.
* Kill Command will not charge the hunter mana if their pet is on passive.
* Misdirection: Items used while Misdirection is active will now consume a charge correctly.
* Steady Shot: The tooltip stating the percentage of Attack Power gained by Steady Shot was inaccurate and has been corrected. The damage remains unchanged.
* Volley: This spell is now affected by area damage caps. Its bonus damage coefficients have also been increased. It also correctly consumes charges of Misdirection.
* Hunter Pets

o Raptors can now learn Dash.

Mages


* Arcane Missiles: Some procs were not triggered by this spell and now will be (such as Eye of Magtheridon). The tooltip for this spell will now update correctly when a Mage is affected by spell haste.
* Blizzard: This spell is now affected by area damage caps. Its bonus damage coefficients have also been increased.
* Dragon's Breath: The movement-slowing component of this spell is now properly considered a Snare. Immunity and clearing effects will now work properly with it.
* Frost Nova: This spell is now affected correctly by area damage caps.
* Molten Armor: This armor can now be triggered while the Mage is sitting.
* Polymorph duration against PvP targets has been reduced to 10 seconds.
* Slow: It is no longer sometimes possible to Slow two targets at the same time in the outdoor world.
* Spell Steal now receives the proper amount of points from a stacked aura.


Paladins

* Blessing of Freedom cooldown increased to 25 seconds.
* Blessing of Protection: This spell can no longer be cast on others when stunned. It can only be cast on self (to break the stun) under those circumstances.
* Blessing of Kings, Light, Might, Salvation, Sanctuary and Wisdom increased to 10 minutes.
* Blessing of Sacrifice now has a 1-minute cooldown.
* Consecration will now properly hit large creatures.
* Greater Blessing of Kings, Light, Might, Salvation, Sanctuary and Wisdom increased to 30 minutes.
* Guardian's Favor now increases duration of Blessing of Freedom by 2/4 seconds.
* Eye for an Eye: This ability can now trigger while the Paladin is sitting.
* Hammer of Wrath cast time reduced to .5 seconds, global cooldown reduced to .5 seconds.
* Illumination: Paladins will now correctly gain mana from this ability if they sit down to drink right after a healing crit, and receiving mana from this ability will no longer cause a Paladin who is sitting to stand up.
* Judgement: The Judgement spells will no longer cause triggered effects to go off twice.
* Redoubt: This ability can now trigger while the Paladin is sitting.
* Reckoning: This ability can now trigger while the Paladin is sitting.
* Righteous Defense: In some cases this ability would fail to work properly when the Paladin casting it had just been crowd controlled by a creature. That is now fixed.
* Seal of Righteousness: The tooltip for this ability has been improved. It now displays a different number for one-handed weapons and two-handed weapons, and adjusts to the speed of your current weapon. It displays a single number, rather than a range of numbers for different handedness and speeds.
* Seal of Vengeance: The damage from this ability will now stack properly when two different characters are applying Seal of Vengeance effects to a target.
* Seal of Vengeance duration increased to 15 seconds. In addition, when Seal of Vengeance strikes a target that already has 5 applications you will cause instant Holy damage.

Priests


* Focused Power: This talent now increases the hit chance of all components of Mass Dispel correctly.
* Inner Focus: This ability will no longer lose charges when Shadowguard or Touch of Weakness is triggered.
* Lightwell: The heals from this ability are now increased by the bonus healing effects on the Priest.
* Mass Dispel: The portion of this spell that removes immunity effects (Blessing of Protection, Ice
Block, etc.), now has a chance to be resisted, and will display correctly to the combat log. It will no longer cause Rogues and Druids in Cat Form to lose stealth.
* Mind Control: Creatures immune to this spell will now cause an immediate error message rather than make it seem like the spell succeeded with no effect.
* Mind Control duration against PvP targets has been reduced to 10 seconds.
* Pain Suppression: This talent will now reduce the chance for any buff on the Priest to be dispelled, rather than reduce the chance of dispelling buffs cast while it is active.
* Prayer of Mending: This spell can no longer jump to an Imp with Phase Shift active. It will also no longer cause the healed target to stand up.
* Prayer of Mending: This ability will now be triggered when a player takes damage from effects placed on friendly targets.
* Shadowguard: This ability will now work properly even when the Priest is stunned, fleeing, or incapacitated.
* Shackle Undead: It is no longer possible to have Shackle Undead on two targets at the same time in the outdoor world.
* Surge of Light: This ability now properly grants its effects to one and only one casting of Smite each time it activates. Interaction issues with Inner Focus have been fixed.
* Touch of Weakness: This ability will now trigger properly if struck while mounted.


Rogues


* Blade Flurry: This ability will now do damage to secondary targets when the primary target takes no damage due to a damage shield (such as Power Word: Shield).
* Master of Subtlety: The bonus damage from this talent is now properly removed when a Rogue loses stealth from zoning.
* Sap: It is no longer possible to Sap two targets at the same time in the outdoor world.
* Sap duration against PvP targets has been reduced to 10 seconds.
* Sword Specialization: This talent’s free extra attacks can no longer trigger additional extra attacks.

Shaman


* Earthbind Totem: This totem will no longer break Rogue stealth.
* Earth Shield: It is no longer possible to Earth Shield two targets at the same time in the outdoor world.
* Earth Shield is now canceled at logout.
* Elemental Focus: The free spell triggered by a Lightning Overload will no longer consume this effect.
* Flametongue Weapon: Damage lowered slightly on rank 6 so that it is never better than rank 7.
* Focused Mind (Restoration) now reduces duration of Silence/Interrupt mechanics by 10/20/30%.
* Lightning Shield: This ability will now work properly even when the Shaman is stunned, fleeing, or incapacitated.
* Nature's Guardian: This ability can now trigger while the Shaman is sitting.
* Totems: Totems that grant only friendly beneficial effects will no longer trigger attacks from neutral city guards.


Warlocks


* Banish, Seduction, Enslave Demon and Fear duration against PvP targets has been reduced to 10 seconds.
* Drain Life: The tooltip for this spell will now update correctly when a Warlock is affected by spell haste.
* Inferno: This spell will now cause the Infernal's attacks to put the Warlock into combat with neutral town guards.
* Intercept (Felguard) will now cause damage to targets that are immune to stun.
* Nether Protection: This ability can now trigger while the Warlock is sitting.
* Nightfall: This ability can now trigger while the Warlock is sitting.
* Rain of Fire: This spell is now affected by area damage caps. Its bonus damage coefficients have also been increased.
* Seed of Corruption: Dead targets will no longer be erroneously counted toward the damage cap on this spell.
* Shadow Embrace: The effect from this talent will no longer last indefinitely if applied while charmed by an NPC.


Warriors


* A Warrior's Overpower will properly become available when one of his Sword Specialization procs is dodged by another player.
* Bloodrage should no longer initiate combat, though it will prevent rage decay for the duration.
* Bloodrage: Warriors no longer remain in combat indefinitely if this ability is active while zoning.
* Devastate: The duration remaining graphic will now display properly for Sunder Armor after it has been refreshed on a target by Devastate.
* Intercept will now cause damage to targets that are immune to stun.
* Sword Specialization: This talent’s free extra attacks can no longer trigger additional extra attacks.


Items


* Adamantite Bound Chest: This chest found in the outdoor world now contain level-appropriate loot.
* Adamantite Bound Chest: These chests will no longer contain Adamantite Bars.
* Adamantite Figurine: This item is no longer affected by global cooldowns.
* Airman's Ribbon of Gallantry: The tooltip for this item now lists the effect duration.
* Ankhs now stack to ten.
* Avatar Raiment Set: The set bonus for Renew now increases the duration of Renew by 3 seconds instead of increasing the target's resistance.
* Black Qiraji Battletank: It is no longer possible to cast a spell while boarding this mount.
* Blazefury Medallion: This item will no longer trigger against targets affected by Sap.
* Blue Ogre Brew: This item now gives an error message when you attempt to use it outside of the Blade's Edge Plateaus.
* Cerebral Cortex Compound: This item's tooltip now indicates it counts as an elixir.
* Characters with a full inventory who turn in a Deathwing Brood Cloak to Sky Commander Keller in exchange for an Apexis Crystal will now receive the crystal in the mail.
* Corrected the sound made by many items when moved in players' inventories.
* Corruptor Raiment Set: The pet healing bonus from this set is now triggered from damage dealt instead of damage received, at a lower percentage. Damage over time spells will trigger it correctly.
* Corruptor Raiment: The heal from this set bonus can no longer be a critical heal.
* Crown of the Sun: This item now makes the correct sound when moved in inventory.
* Crystalweave Bracers: This item now makes the correct sound when moved in inventory.
* Darkmoon Card: Madness: This item will no longer trigger from using Demonic Sacrifice on a pet.
* Darkmoon Card: Crusade: This item can no longer trigger from Mind Soothe, Soothe Animal, or Mind Vision.
* Deathmantle Armor Pieces: These items now make the correct sound when moved in inventory.
* Defiler's Plate Spaulders: Honor cost of this item corrected to its intended value.
* Design: Mystic Dawnstone: This recipe for a +8 resilience-rating gem will now always have a copy on the vendor initially when Halaa is captured by a faction and when the vendor restocks.
* Enriched Terocone Juice: Using this item will no longer trigger a cooldown for using all other food and drink. Its purchase price has also been corrected.
* Essence Infused Mushroom: This item can now be disenchanted.
* Faceplate of the Impenetrable: This item now makes the correct sound when moved in inventory.
* Fel Reaver’s Piston: This item will no longer be triggered by the healing generated by Vampiric Embrace.
* Figurine of the Colossus: This item is no longer affected by global cooldowns.
* Figurine of the Colossus: This item is now useable when the user has no mana.
* Flasks: Various tooltips have been adjusted for consistency.
* Formula: Enchant Chest - Major Resilience: Corrected a tooltip error.
* Formula: Enchant Cloak - Dodge: This enchanting recipe is now available from the Lower City Quartermaster. The reagents required have been adjusted to match the level 70 content.
* Formula: Enchant Cloak - Greater Fire Resistance: The reagents required for this recipe have been adjusted to better match the level 70 content.
* Formula: Enchant Cloak - Greater Nature Resistance: The reagents required for this recipe have been adjusted to better match the level 70 content.
* Formula: Enchant Cloak - Stealth: This enchanting recipe is now available from the Cenarion Expedition Quartermaster. The reagents required have been adjusted to match the level 70 content.
* Formula: Enchant Cloak - Subtlety: This enchanting recipe is now available from the Thrallmar Quartermaster and Honor Hold Quartermaster. The reagents required have been adjusted to match the level 70 content.
* Formula: Enchant Gloves - Superior Agility: This enchanting recipe is now available from the Keepers of Time Quartermaster. The reagents required have been adjusted to match the level 70 content.
* Formula: Enchant Gloves - Threat: This enchanting recipe is now available from the Sha'tar Quartermaster. The reagents required have been adjusted to match the level 70 content.
* Formula: Enchant Weapon - Greater Agility: This enchanting recipe is now available from the Violet Eye vendor.
* Gizzard Gum: This item's tooltip now indicates it counts as an elixir.
* Greater Rune of Warding: Due to persistent bugs with its design, this item has been redesigned for patch 2.2. It now enchants a piece of chest armor so it has a chance per hit of giving you physical damage absorption.
* Grips of Silent Justice: This item now makes the correct sound when moved in inventory.
* Ground Scorpok Assay: This item's tooltip now indicates it counts as an elixir.
* Heavy Fel Iron Chest: These chests found in the outdoor world now contain level-appropriate loot.
* Incarnate Raiment Set: The Flexibility buff from this set is no longer removed by taking damage.
* Insignia of the Alliance: This item now indicates it removes effects instead of dispelling them.
* Insignia of the Horde: This item now indicates it removes effects instead of dispelling them.
* Kronk's Grab Bag: This bag will now always contain some item.
* Leggings of Beast Mastery: The stamina and armor granted by this item for your pet have been increased.
* Leggings of Divine Retribution: This item now makes the correct sound when moved in inventory.
* Lesser Rune of Warding: Due to persistent bugs with its design, this item has been redesigned for patch 2.2. It now enchants a piece of chest armor so it has a chance per hit of giving you physical damage absorption.
* Lionheart Champion: This item now has a sound effect on its proc.
* Lionheart Executioner: This item now has a sound effect on its proc.
* Lung Juice Cocktail: This item's tooltip now indicates it counts as an elixir.
* Mark of Defiance: This item is now triggered from landing harmful spells on a target, instead of just direct-damage spells.
* Marshal's Silk Cuffs: Critical strike rating on this item now the same as General's Silk Cuffs.
* Medallion of the Alliance: This item now indicates it removes effects instead of dispelling them.
* Medallion of the Horde: This item now indicates it removes effects instead of dispelling them.
* Merciless Gladiator’s Barrier: This spell damage shield has been added to the arena vendor.
* Merciless Gladiator’s Legguards: This item now appears as a kilt.
* Merciless Gladiator's Plate Helm: The melee hit rating on this item has been changed to hit rating (it now applies to melee and ranged).
* Merciless Gladiator's Plate Helm will now properly hide facial hair.
* Merciless Gladiator’s Redoubt: This healing shield has been added to the arena vendor.
* Merciless Gladiator’s Ringmail Helm: This item will no longer disable hair from being displayed.
* Merciless Gladiator’s Leather Spaulders: Critical strike rating was too low and has been fixed.
* Merciless Gladiator's Touch of Defeat: This item now has a fire shoot animation to match its damage type.
* Mr. Pinchy: Items received from Mr. Pinchy when your inventory is full will now be mailed to you.
* Netherblade armor now has the correct sounds associated with it.
* Oil of Immolation: Tooltip error corrected.
* Pendant of the Violet Eye: This item will now trigger properly from spells that cost a percentage of base mana.
* Power Infused Mushroom: This item can now be disenchanted.
* Red Ogre Brew: This item now gives an error message when you attempt to use it outside of the Blade's Edge Plateaus.
* Rift Stalker Armor: The pet healing set bonus now heals for a percentage of damage dealt by the Hunter.
* R.O.I.D.S.: This item's tooltip now indicates it counts as an elixir.
* Sagefish Delight: The buff from this item has been modified to work the same as all other mana per 5 buffs, including display correctly on the character sheet.
* Schematic: Fused Wiring: Vendors who sell this recipe will now properly restock it after a period of time.
* Sheen of Zanza: This item's tooltip now indicates it counts as an elixir.
* Shiny Red Apple: Druids in animal forms can no longer eat this food item.
* Shuriken of Negation: Item level and stats increased to match other items in from Gruul.
* Six Demon Bag: The damage spells cast by this item no longer benefit from a player’s bonus spell damage effects.
* Skyguard Rations: Tooltip error corrected.
* Skyguard Silver Cross: The tooltip for this item now lists the effect duration.
* Smoked Sagefish: The buff from this item has been modified to work the same as all other mana per 5 buffs, including display correctly on the character sheet.
* Spirit of Zanza: This item's tooltip now indicates it counts as an elixir.
* Spyglass of the Hidden Fleet: This item is now useable by shapeshifted Druids.
* Staff of Natural Fury: Tooltip clarified to indicate it reduces the base mana cost of shapeshifts, not the final cost.
* Stormstout: Corrected the tooltip due to capitalization inconsistency.
* Swiftness of Zanza: This item's tooltip now indicates it counts as an elixir.
* Talon of Al'ar: The bonus damage to all Shot abilities now provides the full bonus to Scatter Shot and Silencing Shot.
* Talasite Owl: The effect from this item will now last its intended full duration.
* The blood elf paladin quest reward Scourgebane now works against demons as well as undead.
* Trappings of the Unseen Path Set: The buff on your pet from this set bonus will no longer appear to be constantly running out and refreshing.
* Trogg Ale: Corrected the tooltip due to capitalization inconsistency.
* Unstable Talasite: The tooltip on this gem now indicates it counts as blue and yellow, and it behaves accordingly.
* Veteran’s Scaled Belt: Stats have been adjusted to correct budget.
* Veteran’s Scaled Greaves: Stats have been adjusted to correct budget.
* Voidheart Set: The tooltips for the two-piece bonuses have been adjusted slightly so that there is no longer a blank set bonus. The functionality of the set bonus was unchanged.
* Warbringer Armor Set: The bonus from Revenge will now apply correctly to Shield Slam.
* Wild Draenish Vest: This item now makes the correct sound when moved in inventory.
* Windrider Mounts: These items now make the correct sound when moved in inventory.
* Winterfall Firewater: This item's tooltip now indicates it counts as an elixir.
* World Breaker: The bonus from this item being triggered will no longer fade before it can provide its benefit.
* Wolfshead Helm: This helm will no longer give twice the rage it was intended to give.


Professions


* Various crafting recipes have been added to the Violet Eye faction vendor.
* Triggered Effects: Tradeskill recipes will no longer trigger items that are designed to be triggered by only combat spells.
* A new recipe for Steady Talasite is now available from the Halaa vendors, at the cost of research tokens. This superior green gem grants resilience and stamina.
* Blacksmithing
o Changed the set bonuses afforded by Fel Iron Plate to increased hit chance and Strength.
o Added a new recipe for Ragesteel Shoulders that drops from an unknown creature in Shadowmoon Valley.
o Reduced the number of pieces required to get the benefits of the Ragesteel set bonus.

* Enchanting
o Nexus Transformation: This recipe to transform a Nexus Crystal into a Small Prismatic Shard has been added to some Enchanting trainers.
o Small Prismatic Shards: This recipe to transform a Large Prismatic Shard into 3 Small Prismatic Shards has been added to some Enchanting trainers.
o Large Prismatic Shard: It is no longer possible to gain skill points in Enchanting from this recipe.

* Engineering
o Reduced the cooldown on the engineer-made Parachute Cloak.

* Jewelcrafting
o Added a recipe for Steady Dawnstone to the Halaa vendors. This new recipe requires Halaa Research Tokens to purchase and creates a superior green gem that grants Resilience and Stamina.


Quests


* Banish the Demons now rewards either a Darkrune or a Fragmented Darkrune. Five fragmented Darkrunes can be combined to create a Darkrune.
* During the quest, "The Smallest Creatures", the marmot's stealth ability is working once again.
* Firewing Warlocks are less likely to want to engage in melee combat.
* Fixed an issue wherein a character with a darkrune would not be able to turn it in to Gahk in return for a crystalforged darkrune unless they first completed the daily quest "Banish More Demons" that day.
* In the Bad Medicine quest in Stranglethorn, Jungle Remedies can now be found on Jungle Fighters.
* In Hillsbrad, additional Syndicate Papers were added to the Corahn's Dagger subzone Syndicate camp. Quest text was changed to reflect this.
* In the Bomb Them Again quest, the cooldown of the Skyguard bombs was decreased to 5 seconds (was 10).
* In the Relic's Emanation quest, the money reward was decreased while the Ogri'la faction reward was increased.
* Mawg Grimshot's flavor events have been fixed.
* Resolved issues with Obsidia, Rivendark, Insidion, and Furywing sometimes not responding to their eggs being used.
* The duration of the Apexis Relic and Apexis Monument beams was slightly reduced, to more easily separate 2 back-to-back beams.
* The following Quest Objects will no longer briefly despawn when looted: Mythology of the Titans, Compendium of the Fallen, Maiden's Folly Charts, Maiden's Folly Log, Spirit of Silverpine Charts, Spirit of Silverpine Log.
* Various issues breaking the "Showdown" quest fight have been resolved.


Dungeons and Raids

* Tempest Keep and Coilfang raid bosses will now all drop at least 3 items each.
* Auchindoun- Heroic Sethekk Halls
o Polymorph should no longer affect the main tank.
o Auchindoun-Shadow Labyrinth
o The recast time for the Shadow Word: Pain cast by Cabal Shadow Priests has been increased.

* Black Temple
o Saber Lash tanks will no longer be knocked back by Sinister Beam or hit by Fatal Attraction, even if they dodge or parry the attack.
o Mother Shahraz will now pick a new beam to cast after every 3rd beam instead of after every 5th. This means she is much less likely to cast the same beam many times in a row.
o Fatal Attraction now deals 750 damage on the first tick, 1500 on the second, 2250 on the third, and 3000 on all subsequent ticks.
o Prismatic Shield is now more fun. Specifically, Mother Shahraz now takes bonus damage from one school when she is resistant to its opposite. Her resistances now change randomly every 15 seconds and are capped at 25%.

* Caverns of Time- Battle of Mount Hyjal
o Faction and loot rewards have been added to non-boss mobs in the Battle of Mount Hyjal raid event. The faction awarded by bosses has been decreased to balance this.
o The health of Jaina and Thrall have been increased again from their temporarily lowered values. They should be able to absorb quite a bit more incidental damage during the event.
o Archimonde has received several adjustments and fixes to prevent some of the harder to counter combinations of his abilities. Archimonde's Soul Charge silence has been lowered in duration to 4 seconds, and the death of the Priest with Spirit of Redemption will no longer create two Soul Charges. The casting time of Archimonde's fear has been increased to 1.5 seconds, and he should now use his Fear ability on a much more consistent interval. Archimonde will also no longer cast Grip of the Legion on very far away targets.
o Archimonde will no longer cast Grip of the Legion on targets that have just been hit with Air Burst.

* Caverns of Time- Black Morass
o Increased recast time on Shadow Bolt Volley on Rift Keeper, also reduced damage on Heroic.
o Reduced hit points of Infinite Executioners on Heroic.
o Decreases the maximum possible stacks of Temporus' Mortal Wound from 10 to 7.
o Increased recast time for Temporus' Hasten spell on Heroic.

* Caverns of Time- Escape from Durnholde Keep
o When the limit on Thrall respawns after event failure has been reached, the Epoch Hunter will now properly despawn.
o The composition of the pulls around the barracks in Durnholde Keep is now more consistent. Players should no longer face more than two Riflemen, or more than one Warden.
o The group of guards underneath the bridge has been removed in Heroic difficulty.
o The Thrall escort event now allows 20 tries at completing the event instead of 3.

* Coilfang Reservoir: Serpentshrine Cavern
o Coilfang Priestesses no longer perform Spirit of Redemption.
o Underbog Colossus' Acid Spray is now somewhat less dangerous.
o Underbog Colossus' Spore Quake now has a shorter duration.
o Greyheart Tidecallers' Virulent poison is now less deadly.
o Serpentshrine Sporebats now charge less frequently.
o Greyheart Nether-Mages now blink less frequently.
o Serpentshrine Lurkers have had their damage output reduced.

* Hellfire Citadel: Shattered Halls
o The melee damage dealt by Shattered Hand Reavers, Shattered Hand Legionnaires, Shattered Hand Heathens, and Rabid Warhounds has been reduced.

* Human Illusion: This effect in Old Hillsbrad will no longer be applied to Dwarf and Human Priests when they exit Shadowform.


# Karazhan

* Nightbane's Distracting Ash can now be removed with Cloak of Shadows.
* Tinhead in Karazhan is now immune to bleeds.


# Scholomance

* Ras Frostwhisper's Frost Armor Chilled effect is now properly classified as a snare mechanic.


# Tempest Keep: Mechanar

* Raging Flames in the Nethermancer Sepethrea encounter have had their movement speed reduced slightly in heroic mode.


# Tempest Keep: The Eye

* The spells cast by High Astromancer Solarian have been extensively reworked. Wrath of the Astromancer is a now completely different in function. Mark of the Astromancer has been renamed to Light of the Astromancer and no longer reduces Arcane resistance. A player's Arcane Resistance now also provides normal damage mitigation to Solarian's spells.


User Interface


* Improved the handling of items with charges on the action bar.
* Fixed an issue where moveable frames would end up off screen after changing either to or from a widescreen resolution.
* Fixed an issue where moveable frames would end up off screen after changing the UI scale.
* Fixed issue where font strings would get clipped when the UI was scaled.
* The pitchLimit console command has been re-enabled.
* If you specify a target for a spell cast in a macro that does not exist, it will show an error instead of defaulting to your current target.
* Conditional macros with multiple targets will use the appropriate context sensitive target for visual range feedback.
* Conditional macro processing has been greatly optimized.
* Macros with specific cast targets will no longer cast on your current target if the specified target doesn’t exist.
* For additional notes on Lua and XML changes please visit the UI & Macros Forum. https://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.html?forumId=11114&sid=1


World Environment


* The following old-world factions have had their acquisition rate significantly increased: Cenarion Circle, Argent Dawn, Timbermaw Hold.
* Adjusted Yowler's level down to 20 (from 25).
* Adjusted the level of Redridge Bashers and Alphas.
* Arcane Missiles: When cast by creatures, this spell will now properly cause activation of pets set to defensive mode.
* Azuregos: The tooltip on this creature's Frost Breath now correctly indicates Frozen rather than impairing movement.
* Chieftain Mummaki: This creature can now be pickpocketed.
* Doctor Maleficus: This creature can now be pickpocketed.
* Dragonmaw Peon: The creature now has the correct pickpocket loot.
* Fixed an improper dialog option on Carolyn Ward, a Rogue Trainer in Undercity, when the player's Lockpicking was 300-324.
* Highlord Mastrogonde: This creature now always drops at least a good quality item.
* Minor Fairbreeze Village fixes: The general goods vendor was moved from home to the lower inn, the pet vendor was moved from the upper inn to home, the upper inn is now flagged as an inn.
* Mo’arg Doomsmith: This creature now drops Marks of Sargeras rather than Marks of Kil’jaeden.
* Monstrous Kaliri: This creature now has loot.
* Quest target Fel Spirits are now considered undead.
* Vindicator Aeus in the Aldor bank is no longer attackable by players who are members of the Scryer faction.
* Sethekk Ravenguard: The Howling Screech from this creature is now properly considered a Snare, and is clearable by Escape Artist and other abilities that remove Snares.
* Skettis Windwalker: The Cyclone effect from this creature can now be cleared by PvP trinkets and Bestial Wrath/The Beast Within.
* Skulloc Soulgrinder in Blade's Edge now correctly summons Sundered Ghosts to aid him in battle.
* Void Reaver: The Arcane Orb ability used by this creature will now correctly Daze players affected by Aspect of the Pack or Aspect of the Cheetah.
* Wyrmcult Blackwhelp: This creature now can be skinned but can no longer be pickpocketed.


Mac


* Additional graphic optimization utilizing AltiVec for PowerPC-Mac and SSE for Intel-Mac. This provides some performance benefit on systems where vertex animation shaders are either unavailable or disabled (recommended on systems with Intel integrated video).
* Mac Options dialog has been added to the primary options panel. This dialog offers configuration options for any features that are presently unique to the Mac client, such as iTunes Remote and Movie Capture.
* New iTunes Remote configuration options have been added to the Mac Options panel.



Bug Fixes


* Pets will no longer chase players that Vanish.
* Stacked items will no longer disappear from a player’s inventory when zoning multiple times.
* The WoW client on Windows no longer defaults to 800x600 video resolution if the WoW resolution is higher than the desktop resolution when going from fullscreen mode to windowed mode.
* The Temple Concubine's polymorph no longer has the pig icon appearing when it sheeps a player but now shows the proper sheep icon.
* Player using ranged attacks while under the shapeshift effects of the spell: Torment of the Worgen, will now play attack animations
* The Toxic Spore Bats in the Lady Vashj encounter will now properly despawn if the raid party wipes.
* Toxic Spores in the Lady Vashj encounter can no longer kill phase shifted imps.
* Anzu can no longer be kited far from his spawn point and will properly leash.
* The Doomguard Punisher will no longer hit players not involved in the Legion Ring Event.
* Dressing room models for females are now showing the correct head when transformed into a Fel Orc via the Dragonmaw Illusion.
* The trash pulls in the Grand Promenade will now shut off after the Blood Elf Council are killed.
* Players can now accept daily quests even after their daily quest limit has been reached.

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