Thursday, December 2, 2010

Hoarders: Azeroth Edition - My Pet Rocks

Welcome to another week of Hoarders, Azeroth Edition! This time around I'd like to get into the topic that first actually got me thinking about doing a hoarders series, Dawn Moore's collection of rocks. Well, this segment maybe not specifically dedicated to her particular collection, but she was part of what inspired today's post! That, and earlier this week a Hunter buddy of mine threw a Happy Fun Rock to my Rogue, and needless to say it made my day/week/month. Now I have rocks on the brain.

Image found on Google. Does not belong to me!

Generally the average player doesn't think about rocks at all when they play WoW. Usually they're seen as a bother to have in one's bags or at best something to vendor. Have you ever taken the time to look at your bag of pebbles and realize that you may very well have a treasure in there? No two rocks are exactly alike after all.

There are many, many different types of rocks that one could collect from various places around Azeroth. Some are really fun, others are just "pretty"...one is even the type you may want to try to avoid if you're a bit superstitious. By now I bet you're just bouncing around anxiously, waiting for me to get to the list. I shan't make you want any longer then!

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Happy Fun Rock - Probably one of my most favorite items in game. No lies. This particular rock will drop off of various mobs in Dire Maul.

Pet Rock - Isn't he cuuuuute?!?! I so want one of these lil guys! Apparently the Pet Rock's drop zone is a bit mysterious, but he's definitely out there. I highly suggest reading the comments in the link for this one, it should provide you all with a few laughs.

Slap Rock - "Slap an egg between two slap rocks, BAM, you got breakfast. Slap a muffin in there, POW, you got a waffle." Yes, that's what really it says. Win.

A Pretty Rock - How can you tell? This rock drops off of mobs in various zones/instances. See the link for specific details.

A Very Pretty Rock - They get even prettier! Apparently you can't really tell the difference between this rock and the plain old pretty rock though. This one drops from mobs in Northrend.

Colorful Rock - I personally can't see it...maybe it's my lighting? This particular rock drops off of various mobs from a handful of different zones/instances. Check the link for more information.

Lucky Rock - Apparently you must be pretty lucky to get this rock. It supposedly only comes out of a Primitive Chest, which is located in the Ghostlands, and has a fairly low drop rate.

Very Unlucky Rock - I have one of these. I haven't seen a difference in my luck thus far, but then again my luck was pretty crummy to begin with! If you'd like to try to obtain this rock, pop on your fishing hat and grab your fishing pole. It drops out of a Bag of Shiny Things, which is a reward for various fishing dailies.

Rock - It's just a rock. Nothing terribly fancy. Somehow you fish this thing up in Northrend...with a hook. Takes some mad talent to fish up a rock!

Rock Chip - It's a regular chip off the old rock! Yeah yeah, I suck at making funnies. See the link if you're interested in knowing where to get a part of a rock.

Shattered Rock Fragments - I think these are bits and pieces from faulty Slap Rocks.

Pretty Pebble - They can be found all over the place!

Small Pebble - Most often found in a traveler's shoe.

Polished Pebbles - Considered "projectiles." These were once used by Hunters as bullets. I'm not sure if these are obtainable any longer (probably with the new ammo system they have been removed from the game).

Smooth Pebbles - Same story as the Polished Pebbles. Hunters stuck 'em in guns and blasted them at people, animals, and occasionally trees.

Shiny Polished Stone - A rock that can be picked up in Outlands and various places around Azeroth.

Banded Stone - Found in Northrend.

Black Stone - Found in both the Ruins and the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj. Has an item level of 60.

Cracked Stone - Found in Deepholm/Uldum once Cataclysm launches.

Glimmering Stone Chip - It's...shiny! Only drops off of Iron Rune Golems in Howling Fjord.

Jagged Piece of Stone - Can be found in various places. 'Tis why I give you a link!

Keening Stone - Another new rock to be found come Cataclysm. Drops in Deepholm and Uldum.

Lifeless Stone - Drops from pretty much everywhere. It's been a plague in my bags for years now.

Prismatic Stone Chip - Drops quite a bit in Northrend.

Pry Stone - Your guess is as good as mine...

Scintillating Stone Shard - Another Northrend rock.


Shattered Stone - The life of a Northrend rock must be hard.


Smooth Stone Chip - Fairly common bits of stone.


Translucent Polished Stone - Oooooh, preeetty. Can only be found from the Iron Rune Golems apparently.


Now we have our run of the mill stones that are mined by..well, miners. These are typically used by Jewel Crafters, Engineers, and Black Smiths. Rough Stone, Coarse Stone, Heavy Stone, Solid Stone, Dense Stone

Ice Chip - This item taught a player the Frigid Frostling pet, and item that dropped out of the Satchel of Chilled Goodies that Ahune the Frost Lord dropped, Midsummer Fire Festival 2010. It makes me a sad Shaman to not have this little guy! To see images of him, follow the "Frigid Frostling" link that is provided.

Pebble - Last, but definitely not least, we have Pebble. He's actually a non-combat pet! He will be the reward for the Rock Lover achievement in Cataclysm!!


There is actually quite a list of stones that one could come across, but unfortunately about half  of what I have seen are actually quest items, not collectibles. Therefor, you cannot find them in this list.

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So there you have it! Now that you have a rather large list of rocks for you all to go out and collect, I should expect to see some screen shots of some epic collections, right?

Oh! I have a random bonus item to share with you all today. Looking for rocks can often turn up some rather odd items. Rockin' Powder is such an item. I can only imagine what that may be used for...(read the tool tip, you may understand what I'm getting at).


Until next time, happy hoarding!

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

The Rack: Fishing Outfits

Whether or not you're a role player, chances are pretty good that you have some sort of a fishing outfit. Now, I personally don't have a ton of bag space for a whole outfit, but chances are that if I'm fishing, I'm found to be sporting my Master Kalu'ak Fishing Pole and my Weather-Beaten Fishing Hat.

Here's a list of a few different fishing outfit combinations. Most of these sets can be found via searching through Google, but I also attempted to do a few variations of my own. Click on the images to enlarge them.


Weather-Beaten Fishing Hat
Captain Sanders' Shirt
Blue Overalls
Knitted Sandals
Big Iron Fishing Pole


Lucky Fishing Hat
Brown Linen Shirt
Blue Overalls
Nat Pagle's Extreme Anglin' Boots
Bone Fishing Pole


Lucky Fishing Hat
Captain Sanders' Shirt
Azure Silk Belt
Seafarer's Pantaloons
Nat Pagle's Extreme Anglin' Boots
Fingerless Gloves
Basic Fishing Pole (Doesn't actually exist apparently)


Weather-Beaten Fishing Hat
Blue Overalls
Nat Pagle's Extreme Anglin' Boots
Sea-Bending Gloves
Arcanite Fishing Pole


Bloodsail Admiral's Hat
Bloodsail Shirt
Bloodsail Sash
Bloodsail Pants
Bloodsail Boots
Fishing Spear (NYI)


Weather-Beaten Fishing Hat
Deckhand's Shirt
Sea Dog Britches
Knitted Sandals
Dwarven Fishing Pole (No longer available)


Swashbuckler's Eyepatch (Not Shown)
White Swashbuckler's Shirt
Swashbuckler's Belt
Swashbuckler's Leggings
Swashbuckler's Boots
Jeweled Fishing Pole


Crimson Felt Hat
Red Swashbucker's Shirt
Tattered Cloth Pants
Tattered Cloth Boots
Mastercraft Kalu'ak Fishing Pole


Finally we have one item that every fisherman (or fisherwoman) should have - the Fishing Chair. I personally don't have this item (sad day), nor do I have an image of it to share with you all right this minute, but I assure you, it's the win.

What does your favorite fishing set up consist of?

WoW's 6th Anniversary

Dudley Dursley: [on Dudley's birthday] How many are there?
Uncle Vernon: 36, counted them myself.
Dudley Dursley: 36! But last year, last year I had 37!
Uncle Vernon: Yes, yes, but some of them are quite a bit bigger than last year.
Dudley Dursley: I don't care how big they are! 




There's so much QQ going on right now about players not receiving a new in game pet for the 6th anniversary. Needless to say, it kind of makes me want to put my head into a wall. Sure, I'm a bit bummed too, but for the most part I'm too busy running around trying to collect all the new vanity pets that came with the Shattering. Nothing irritates me more than someone who always has their hand out.

Give them an inch, they want the full mile and then some.



Anyways...

Happy birthday Azeroth! May you have many more happy years for us all to enjoy!!

Monday, November 29, 2010

The Most Epic Fight in the World

It's that time again already for another shared topic entry brought to us by Blog Azeroth. Apparently I had been a bit short on time with the deadline for the Legendary Weapon topic without even realizing it. It's all good though! This week's topic is brought to us by the blog creator of One More Alt.

"If you were a developer being asked to design a boss for Cataclysm, what boss would you create? Would it be a vicious warrior, a crazy shaman, a cheating rogue, an overpowered mage, or a mix of all of these? What would his more lethal skill be? What type of lair would he have?"


Boss fights: no matter what we do in World of Warcraft, most of the gaming population has experienced a boss fight on some level. Whether it's defeating Deathwing, taking on some lesser known dungeon boss, or simply attempting to down Hogger, we've all have come across some foe that was bigger, badder, stronger, and supposedly smarter...it usually takes five or more folks to down a boss after all.

Now, if I were to design a boss, how would I go about it? What could I give this boss that would sincerely mess my day up, but not be completely impossible to beat? What kind of creature could I concoct to make me salivate at the thought of having to get to that fight...the fight of the night?

I could make some kind of plant abomination (for a model, think Princess Theradras but more plant like than a four-armed pig) that pooped out beds of flowers...flowers that resembled roses, but quickly grew out in vines, entangling players, causing thorn damage and incapacitating the player until damage was done to the vines.

Maybe I'd make some kind of water spout boss (think Ichoron, but more epic and less obnoxious). His big moves could be Hydro Pump-which would toss people randomly into the air, and Bubble Beam-which would blast people in the face with...well, bubbles.

Sure, I could rehash a ton of the numerous other bosses that already exist in WoW and just give them new skins, new abilities that have already been used somehow but have different names, and new loot. That's not quite what I have in mind though.

By this point you're more than likely thinking about the image that's posted up near the begging of this entry. My dear reader, you are on to part of my plan. Please don't get ahead of me quite yet though!

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Picture, if you will, an Emerald Dream raid. Now, I could easily begin to design a whole raid around the Emerald Dream (or more precisely, the Emerald Nightmare), and it would be horribly fun, but that is sadly not the focus of this post. No, I am here to lay out for you but one fight in this raid. This encounter would be the prequel to the actual end boss to this raid...think of it as the fight against Sara just before you get into the main part of the Yogg-Saron fight in Ulduar, but better. Much better.

To begin this encounter, you and your team simply walk into a room and someone speaks with an NPC. From a story perspective, the player(s) are expressing the need to slip into the realm of the Emerald Nightmare of their own mind to defeat the nightmares that have been driving the player mad. In order to ready themselves for the actual end boss they must first defeat their inner demons, for if they don't, they'll surely go insane and never manage to save the world from the terrors of the Nightmare.

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Phase One
Once the encounter has begin, each player will be phased out from the rest of the group. Yes, this encounter is on an individual basis at first. They leave the brighter, hazy green of the encounter room and slip into a much more sinister, darker area.

Once the player has slipped into his or her own "mind" they will be pitted against none other than themselves, albeit the other "self" will be shown as either a member of the opposing faction or perhaps simply a more sinister rendition of the player. The NPC will have identical stats/gear/specs to the player, and will likewise utilize any and all abilities the player would/could use. Essentially, this fight would be a PvS (Player vs Self) type of deal.

"This idea sucks, it sounds almost like that crappy ToC encounter..."

I hated the Faction Champion encounter too. Believe me, I'd be happy never to see that encounter again. RNG was horrible, and even though they had the disadvantage in numbers, they were OP as all get out maneuver wise (I'm looking at you, Mr. Rogue). Never, ever again do I want to deal with that again. To help combat the issues of making this too much like the Fact Champs fight, the NPCs will always be on par with your character. They won't have a more powerful advantage stat wise, they will follow any PvP rules (such as those exist for CC...likewise your character will follow the same rules), but they will have the advantage of computer calculation. You are fighting an AI version of yourself after all.

For this fight players must rely on the knowledge of their class and quick reflexes. Now, this event would have some sort of time cap on it, for if there wasn't Malcolm the Mage may be done in under a minute, while Sandy the Resto Druid may be trying to out do herself with Insect Swarm but is stuck in an endless battle thanks to HoTs, and half the raid would be sitting there impatiently. I'm thinking maybe of a 7-10 minute cap (perhaps lower) for phase one. All players must defeat their corrupted selves in this time limit. If they do not, they will become mind controlled, enter an extreme rage state, and wipe the raid.

The specs/roles required for this particular encounter would not have a requirement. What this means is that just because the rest of the raid requires (for a ten man instance) 2 tanks, 3 healers, and 7 dps, this fight will allow players to play in any spec they desire. You could have 9 healers and a DPS if you so chose. Whatever people feel most comfortable with spec wise, they may play as.


Once all of the players in the raid have defeated each of their individual demons, phase two can be engaged.

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Phase Two
This would be the actual "boss" fight. I'm thinking something along the lines of the end boss being N'Zoth (or is it N'Zath?), the old god that is possibly behind the Emerald Nightmare itself. He'd be a tentically pile of soup, much like how Yogg and C'Thun are, but he'd have a bit more of a Shadow Priest look/feel to him.

Abilities:
Mind Control - N'Zoth has gained control of your mind. Just like Yogg, you have a certain "sanity" thresh hold. If you fail to keep your sanity above a certain level, you will become mind controlled and will begin attacking your raid mates.

Wither - causes all vegetation to wither at a x% rate (the vegetation is part of the mechanic that leads to his defeat).

Day Terror - creates a small nightmare portal beneath the player's feet. If the player fails to move out of the portal in x seconds, he/she will be ported into the "nightmare realm." If this happens, the player must defeat three apparitions that resemble themselves and their class. These apparitions are relatively weak. Must defeat all three apparitions before reaching the "insane" thresh hold (similar to Yogg's insanity mechanic).

Mind Freak - temporarily causes everything to seem as it is not; friends become foes, plants seem to attack. Must find a Seed of Sanity (looks like an acorn on the ground) and consume it before losing too much sanity. 

Fear Lash - a raid wide fear effect. During this time N'Zoth will lash out with his tenticles, randomly grabbing and squeezing various members of the raid.

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Okay, so how do we defeat this baddie?

As I said, the vegetation is the true key to ending this fight. Around you in your raid setting there will be various trees, vines, and flowers. These need to receive healing effects in order to "grow." Once fully grown they will imprison N'Zoth, digest him, and ultimately destroy him. So...if your raid set up doesn't have any healers thanks to phase one, how are you going to heal the plants?

Ah hah! This is were class mechanics come into play, as well as using your surroundings. Yes, healers may directly heal the flora around them, but other classes have splash healing effects as well. If a Enhancement Shaman brings out her Spirit Wolves, not only will they heal her, but they'll help heal the plant life around them. Likewise with a Shadow Priest's Vampiric Touch, a Feral Druid's Leader of the Pack, etc. Essentially, if you're not specced as a healer, any abilities that heal you will also help to heal the vegetation.

While your team is busy trying to heal up plants, you must also be aware of a few other things. The big problems will be Day Terror (for those who are void zone impaired. The void zones also tend to spawn a bit fast, so players must always be on their toes) and possibly Mind Freak (you lose the ability to control your own abilities, but you still can move your character and click on a Sanity Seed...you may still end up throwing a spell or two at a raid member if you happen to be facing them). Fear Lash could also cause some issues if the tenticles are not DPS'd down fast enough after the initial fear wears off.

Added onto all of this, N'Zoth must be at a certain weakness level for the flora to be able to properly encapsulate him. Tanks are not needed for him, but if one of your raid members happens to take on this encounter as a Tank, and there's concern about how much damage he/she puts out, there are other means for them to apply a bit of damage pressure to the old god. Perhaps some kind of giant vine sling-shot can be made available so that Tank-types can hurl large bolder at one of N'Zoth's many eyes.

N'Zoth would have an eventual enrage timer. If he's not defeated in x number of minutes (maybe like 15 or so), he will get royally miffed at the raid, become huge and red, sprout a bunch of extra tentacles that shoot out at the raid, and squeezes everyone to death.

Image "borrowed" from wow-europe.com, thiefed from Google Search.

Essentially the fight break down is this:
- Fight with yourself, win
- Weaken N'Zoth
- Heal the plants so they can capture and eat N'Zoth
- Watch out for void zones
- Eat acorns
- Don't lose your sanity
- Kill off N'Zoth's tenticles
- Don't lose your sanity
- Moar healing!
- Pew Pew
- Watch plants eat N'Zoth
- Profit with shiny epics.

Not necessarily in that order, but I think you understand what I'm finally getting at ^_^

All in all, this would be an epic (pain in the ass) fight in my book...as it should be. You'd be fighting a bloody old god, one that's caused all kind of havoc for thousands of years! It would be a long and tedious fight, but I think it would be pretty awesome. I'm also a huge fan of the mechanic that would allow you to be able to fight a boss as your chosen spec. I know it always bums me out a bit when I can't DPS like I want to, so the off kilter mechanic of this fight allowing anyone to more or less do anything would kind of be really, really neat.

Anyways, that's my idea!

If you accidentally read "testicles" anywhere in this entry instead of "tentacles," I'm very sorry. I had been running a spell check and uh, accidentally used the wrong word replacement for my horrible attempt at spelling tentacles. Anything dealing with an old god's testicles would be awkward, to say the least...

I Cannot Brain Today, I Have the Dumb

Ahhh brain fry, how you plague me so! All day it seems that I have been severely affected by the dumb, which has incapacitated my ability to brain. Lost? Good, me too.


In other news, I'm still here! No groans from the peanut gallery now. Weather's been holding me in, and I'm kind of thankful for it. That's not to say that the weather's been terrible, or that I'm here to stay for good (I wish it where true! The staying part that is...), but I'm here for possibly a few more days. Having a broken windshield wiper motor is kinda pro /sarcasm. Who knows for sure how long I'll remain here though. Needless to say, the weather has been working in my favor. Let's hope it stays that way.

Game wise, not a lot has been going on. I've attempted to do the quest line to obtain the new Flamefly, but of course a part of the line bugged on me (har har, I made a pun), I've been taming beasts like crazy on the Hunter, farming Anzu like it's my job, and pretty much just messing around. I also finally redid Saz's gem set up despite the fact that Cataclysm is just weeks away and there's not a snowman's chance in hell I'll get to raid before it launches. I have my reasons behind it though, so I'm not 100% mad. It's kinda nice to see 8k steady on the dummy again, even if Searing Totem is being a wanker.


Further exploration has taken place in the Ruins of Gilneas. Anything Worgen-related architecturally is just simply too fantastic. I'm completely in love with all of the Worgen settlements I've come across. I'm really hoping that there's some big plans for them once Cataclysm goes live, because if it was truly meant for just baby Worgen and/or PvP, it would be a huge waste. Also, the underwater image above? There's a Shadow Priest hiding in it. See if you can spot her, all Where's Waldo style.


Apparently I didn't wait long enough to bring my Rogue back out into public. Today she got feathered...needless to say I was strutting around being highly amused for the duration of the transformation. Ahhh holidays.

Completely random image for the day: The bear taunting the cat instead of the mob.


I absolutely love Google and its image search function.


One last thing...the new Saltspray Gull pet? One of the most random, idiotic, badass pets ever. If I decide not to be the idiot who only raids with spirit beasts or if I happen to decide against using my wolf Gingervitus, this just may be the pet I will use. The boyfriend named him. Kinda win if you ask me.



Less random crap coming soon, I promise!

Saturday, November 27, 2010

We Are Legendary

I'm really becoming a fan of the shared topics over at Blog Azeroth. Each week there's a different topic, and they all so far seem to get me thinking about a different aspect of the game or of myself that I seem to always over look. This week's topic is brought to us by the blog creator of Specced For Drama

"What would be the perfect weapon for your character(s) and why? Is it something already in game? Is there lore or a roleplay reason that you'd use this weapon? Would you wish for a completely new item to be implemented in the game just for you? What would it look like? Would it have special abilities? Is there a story behind how you got it? Does it have a fancy name like Frostmourne?"

Ah legendarys; so many of us and so few of you. There have been many legendary weapons introduced to World of Warcraft over the years, instilling fear into the hearts of those who have tasted the blade or have had to combat the bubble or feel the spell power of one of these rare items. There seems to exist a legendary for every type of role, but I feel a gap. A missing niche. I'm feeling a certain lack of love for those of us who dual wield without the aid of a titan's grip.

Let us go down the list of legendary weapons that have made their way into various players' hands over the years.


Wrath of the Lich King

Shadowmourne - The most recently added legendary weapon to the game. Intended for those melee classes who use two-handed weapons and love strength. Could also be used as a tanking weapon for Death Knights.
Used By: Fury/Arms Warriors, Death Knights, Retribution Paladins

Va'anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings - The first legendary in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion to grace us with its presence. Intended for any and all healing classes, but was especially effective in the hands of a raid healer.
Used By: Restoration Shaman, Restoration Druids, Holy Paladins, Holy/Discipline Priests


Burning Crusade

Thori'dal, the Star's Fury - One of three legendaries available in the Burning Crusade expansion. Intended for Hunters, though I suppose it could also be equipped by a Warrior or Rogue for their item slot.
Used By: Hunters, but also Warriors and Rogues

Warglaive of Azzinoth (Right) -A slow main hand weapon from the Burning Crusade expansion. Intended for Warriors and Rogues, but can also be equipped by Death Knights. Requires the off-hand counter part in order to activate its bonus features.
Used By: Fury Warriors, Rogues, and now also Death Knights

Warglaive of Azzinoth (Left) - A fast off-hand weapon from the Burning Crusade expansion. Intended for Warriors and Rogues, but can also be equipped by Death Knights. Requires the main hand counter part in order to activate its bonus features.
Used By: Fury Warriors, Rogues, and now also Death Knights


Vanilla WoW

Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian - A caster staff from the original World of Warcraft. Each class received their own version of this staff (see link for specific info on the different "forms" Atiesh took). No longer obtainable.
Used By: Priests, Druids (Caster), Mages, and Warlocks

Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker - A fast one handed sword from the original World of Warcraft. Most famously known for it's name constantly being spammed in Trade chat in game. Can be used by dual wielding classes and one-handed tank classes.
Used By: Protection/DPS Warriors, Hunters, Rogues, Protection Paladins, and now Death Knights.

Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros - A slow, two handed mace from the original World of Warcraft. It's the MC hammer!
Used By: DPS Warriors, Retribution Paladins, Feral Druids, Enhancement Shaman, and now Death Knights.


As you can see from this list, there is nearly a weapon for everyone...everyone except for those of us who prefer to wield slow, one handed weapons (in the 2.50 range, give or take). Sure Rogues have had their chance at the Warglaives of Azzinoth, and Enhancement Shaman could use (and often did) Sulfuras, Hand of Rangaros. These items just don't feel proper to me to my chosen class/spec. Quite frankly neither do any of the other amazing items on this list.

Now, the next legendary to be released is rumored to be yet another casting staff, much along the lines of Atiesh. This upsets me slightly, but at the same time I can see that it's been a while since casters have seen some love. Wrath was mainly about the healers and two-handed meleers after all (excluding Ferals...I may have to do a part two to this entry to get some polearm love up in here). If I had things my way though, things would be different. Yes, they certainly would be. I would concoct a set of weapons that would be enjoyed by every Enhancement Shaman, all Rogues who like it slow, and perhaps even Hunters.


I love axes, plain and simple. A set of slow axes would be amazing, and I'm sure Orc Shaman would particularly enjoy this pair of legendaries due to their racial Axe Specialization.

The image above is simply an idea starter. Those axes are actually Lionhead Slashers, which are fast Rogue/Hunter axes that can be found in Trial of the Crusader (Lord Jaraxxus). Aesthetically the legendaries would look similar, but I'd prefer if they had a bit more earthy grit to them. Maybe make the blades a bit spikier and have the bodies have more of an elemental theme as opposed to having the Alliance Lion embedded on them.


Emberblade, Blade of the Old Gods
Binds when picked up
One-Hand                               Axe
1005-2900 Damage                Speed 2.60
(650 damage per second)
+ 215 Agility
+ 300 Stamina
[  ] Red Socket
[  ] Red Socket
Improves Critical Strike rating by 175.
Improves Haste rating by  175.

The Twin Axes of the Old Gods
Emberblade, Blade of the Old Gods
Emberblade, Blade of the Old Gods

(2) Your attacks have a chance to increase your haste by 900 for 10 seconds.
(2) Your attacks have a chance to increase your attack power by 2000 for 10 seconds.

Each time you deal an attack, you have the chance to summon elemental spirits to your side. These spirits will grant you healing and aid you in your fight against the great evil. Heals for 5% of your health over 15 seconds, does equal to 15% of your damage done to the mob (can only happen once every 45 seconds).


Emberblade, Blade of the Old Gods
Binds when picked up
Off-Hand                                 Axe
1005-2900 Damage                Speed 2.60
(650 damage per second)
+ 215 Agility
+ 300 Stamina
[  ] Red Socket
[  ] Red Socket
Improves Mastery rating by 175.
Improves Haste rating by  175.

The Twin Axes of the Old Gods
Emberblade, Blade of the Old Gods
Emberblade, Blade of the Old Gods

(2) Your attacks have a chance to increase your haste by 900 for 10 seconds.
(2) Your attacks have a chance to increase your attack power by 2000 for 10 seconds.

Each time you deal an attack, you have the chance to summon elemental spirits to your side. These spirits will grant you healing and aid you in your fight against the great evil. Heals for 5% of your health over 15 seconds, does equal to 15% of your damage done to the mob (can only happen once every 45 seconds).


The last benefit mentioned could possibly happen even if you've only managed to acquire one of the two legendaries in this set, while the bonus of having both would of course only happen if you have both the main and off-hand counter parts. The stats are naturally a bit off and probably over powered (I wouldn't mind keeping it that way!), but this is generally my dream set right here.

Now if only I could get these to the design team and manage to get my hands on them...

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Minor Update on Things and Stuff

Just as the title states, this is yet another update post : P

For those of you who may have been interested in this week's installment of "The Rack," I'm terribly sorry that I didn't get around to it. I've been semi busy and incredibly unorganized. Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll be able to get to that.

Yes, you read that right: weeks.

Later on tonight, weather permitting, I should be heading home once again. This means no more internet for a bit. I'm not a fan, but sadly that's how things are. Therefor it may be a few weeks before you see another post from me.

I know I know, I can hear all your hearts breaking. Don't you fret though, I always return!

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WoW-wise I've been keeping busy. New fishing/cooking dailies, more exploring, new pets are being tamed daily...you know, the usual pre-Cataclysm activities.

If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend going out to Gilneas to explore. Sure it's a ghost town, but it has some beautiful structure to it and amazing little details galore (creepers in the windows, news papers blowing down the streets, etc). I've also decided that Greymane Manor is mine. Seriously, I want to live there.

 Greymane Manor entry hall.

 Streets of Gilneas

 Creepers in the windows.

 Accidents happen. Gravity works.

The Cathedral


I wish more than anything that I could present these images to you in a higher quality. The details of this place must be pretty spectacular in a higher resolution. All the more reason for you all to go spend a bit of time exploring this place for yourselves  : P

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Hunter pets...yes, I've been more than a bit obsessed lately, but can you really blame me? I'm a hoarder after all, and there's just soooo many new pets to claim as my own. The latest added to the collection? Why, a monkey of course!


This is Zulu. He came with me to explore Gilneas. He's kinda cool, though I may just like the fox a bit more. Neither of the new guys can beat my spirit beasts though!

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If you haven't already, go check out some of my new tabs that are located up on the top of my blog. All of them are now live, and I have a pile of screen shots all put into nifty slide shows over in the Photo Gallery. You can certainly expect more to be added later on in that department : )

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Well, that's it from me for a bit. Hopefully luck will shine upon me and I'll return sooner than expected. Until then though, keep collecting and have fun!

/waves

Hoarders: Azeroth Edition - So Long, and Thanks For the Fish!

Welcome to yet another week of Hoarders! This week has been a mighty special one, with Deathwing bursting from his hiding place and all. His awakening has created earthquakes, massive fissures, and of course tidal waves. Thanks to the massive amounts of water recently finding its way onto shore, there has been a drastic increase in the number of fish to be found around beaches of Azeroth. These fish, my dear readers, make for very fine weapons.

You heard me: weapons.


There are multitudes of fish out there just waiting to be hooked, and once you catch these monsters, you may use them to run up to your friend Leggolas and smack him upside the head. It's mighty good fun ;  )

Curious as to where you can find these bad boys? Well, let us get to our list than. Shall we?

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 One-hands

Dark Herring - Fished up in Northrend and part of the One That Didn't Get Away achievement for the 'Salty' title. Can be used as an actual weapon, seeing as though it is a dagger capable of 109.9 DPS.

Shatterscale Mightfish - A blue (as in item quality, I'm not sure of it's actual color) one-hand fishy weapon. No details yet as to where it's fished from, but I can only assume that it will be from one of the various bodies of water found in the new Cataclysm zones.

Rockhide Strongfish - Another DPS weapon bringing in a whopping 26.7 damage per second. Also part of the One That Didn't Get Away achievement. Can only be fished from the pools of tastyfish which only spawn during the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza.

Steelscale Crushfish - 12.9 DPS and yet another fish required for One That Didn't Get Away. Caught in Ashenvale, Hillsbrad Foothills, and the Wetlands.

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Offhands

Old Crafty - If you're Alliance, good luck trying to catch this guy. He's fished up in the waters of Orgrimmar.

Old Ironjaw - If you're Horde, you may have a bit of trouble going after this one. He's fished up only in Ironforge.

Enormous Barbed Gill Trout - This can be found in various areas in the Outlands. No pools needed to nab this one.

Feralas Ahi - Part of the Nat Pagle, Angler Extreme quest (assuming that it's still there of course). This can be fished up from the Verdantis River of Feralas.

Huge Spotted Feltail - This particular fish can be obtained in various Outland zones, and can also be occasionally found in a Barrel of Fish, an item you receive from the Outland fishing daily.

10 Pound Mud Snapper - Found in Elwynn Forest, Durotar, or Mulgore.

12 Pound Mud Snapper - Only found in Mulgore.

15 Pound Mud Snapper - Part of the achievement On That Didn't Get Away. Seems to be acquired through various low level area ponds.

15 Pound Salmon - Fished up in Scholomance, Alterac Valley, and perhaps what once was Zul'Gurub.

18 Pound Salmon - 'Tis a mystery to me for the moment as to where this one's from.

22 Pound Salmon - Found in Winterspring, Eastern Plaguelands, and possible Deadwind Pass.

25 Pound Salmon - Another mystery!

29 Pound Salmon - Part of the achievement One That Didn't Get Away. Very rare catch in Wintersrping, Plaguelands, and a few other select areas where Salmon are known to spawn.

32 Pound Salmon - It's a mystery, and it's heavy. I'm going to assume that it can be found where the other Salmon play.

19 Pound Catfish - Fished up in Darnassus, Stormwind, Ironforge, The Deadmines, Blackfathom Deeps, Scarlet Monastery, and strangely enough, Arathi Basin.

22 Pound Catfish - Found in the Scarlet Monastery, Wailing Caverns, and apparently Arathi Basin.

26 Pound Catfish - Where you can fish it up from, I'm unsure. I do know that it's edible!

32 Pound Catfish - Another fish for One That Didn't Get Away. There's a long list in the comments in the wowhead link provided telling of all the different areas this one's caught in. I know, I'm being lazy : P

34 Pound Redgill - This one can only be fished up in Maraudon.

37 Pound Redgill - Listed as only dropping in Sunken Temple, it apparently can rear it's head in various other zones as well.

42 Pound Redgill - Un'goro and Moonglade are the only two confirmed areas that this fish can be fished from (say that one five times fast!), but I'm thinking there may be a few more areas as well.

45 Pound Redgill - You have encountered an informational error. No specific data for "45 Pound Redgill." Please try again later. (I assume it can be found wherever other redgill can be found as well.)

49 Pound Redgill - Feralas. That's all I have for you.

52 Pound Redgill - Aha! Dataz. This is yet another fish needed for One That Didn't Get Away. Again, in the comments in the link provided has a nice long list of where this guy can be found, but it seems like he still likes Feralas, Un'goro, and Moonglade (along with a slew of others) just like his other not-so-light friends.

70 Pound Mightfish - Bay of Storms in Azshara. Bring a wagon...and maybe a boat.

85 Pound Mightfish - You may need a friend to help you with this one. No specific data on wowhead, buuuut I'm gonna assume that he's from Bay of Storms as well.

92 Pound Mightfish - Weighing in at roughly the same poundage as a pre-teen human child, we have the 92 Pound Mightfish! Again, no real data, but I'm thinking Bay of Storms. I'm always right when I guess anyways, so just roll with it. /sarcasm

103 Pound Mightfish - The heaviest of the offhand fish!  Also on our list for One That Didn't get Away and weighing as much as I do in real life...holy wah. That's pretty darn heavy for a fish. Best bring a team to help you reel in this bugger...Caught in Azshara (Bay of Storms).

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Did I mention that many of these fish can be used as weights? Or that you may need a heavy-duty cart to hall them in?

That's all for this weeks folks. Hopefully you enjoyed the content more than the smell! I assure you, it'll start to fade after about a month or so of washing.


Happy hoarding!



~Salty Saz

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

I'm Praying For Tidal Waves

Warning, this video contains language not suitable for young ears or the work place.

This song listed above has more or less been my theme song for the past 24-48 hours, and for good reason.


Today we saw Armageddon in Azeroth.


Zul'Gurub is now empty, Booty Bay is cloaked in seaweed, Menethil is mostly underwater, and Stormwind has had a make-over. There's new animals to tame, new adventures to be had, and new area's to explore. It's a whole new world, haunted now by a giant molten dragon.


I have yet to see Deathwing myself, but there has been sightings of him already. The newly redesigned areas are gorgeously done as far as I can tell (low settings ftl), and there's certainly many new touches added to Stormwind. I reeeeally cannot wait to be able to fly around Azeroth and explore everything properly.


In the world of Hunters, there's a handful of new tamable pets now available. Apparently Deathwing's wrath has brought many critters out of hiding. As you can see from the image above I now have a fox! Her name is Erin. Pretty neat pet in my opinion.


Today also unlocked several new class/race combinations. Pictured above is my new baby Troll Druid, Trançe. I'm not sure at this moment whether or not I'll ever get her to 85, but it would be kind of fun to have a kitty with a mohawk to raid on once in a while.

Thanks to my old pal lag I have yet to properly explore everything. So far though Deathwing's influence on the world as we knew it has my approval. Perhaps more to come soon on a few of the in game changes and my take on them ; )

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Goodbye, Hello

Well, today was my last venture into Zul'Gurub on my Shaman, assuming that the shattering happens on Tuesday that is. I have to say that I'm pretty disappointed and just a bit crushed that I no longer have any more opportunities to try to get the tiger and raptor that I've been seeking for well over two years now. Ah well I suppose...


Farewell Zul'Gurub, you've been fun while you lasted!!

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Today certainly was not all bad though. No, not even by a long shot. After waiting for the past week, and multitudes of hours logged camping one spot, Arcturis finally spawned!


There was only another Hunter in the area was a Hordie, and thanks to my macro (which was set up wrong, you can see it spamming me the fact that YOURNAME isn't playing) and twitchy fingers, I managed to tag and tame this guy within seconds of NPC Scan screaming.


His name is Cammy, and he's a badass.

Now I'm in hot pursuit of Skoll and Gondria. I have a slight lead on Skoll at least, but Gondria is still a mystery as to when she's going to spawn. Hopefully I can get these guys soon so I can move on to the Basin to nab a few other rares : P

I guess I'm off to seek Skoll for a bit now. Perhaps more later!

More Adventuring

Hooo boy, the past few days in Azeroth have been a bit busy. This post may end up a bit more lengthy than my usual posts, and will most certainly be image heavy.



Once again my Priesty friend had an idea for an adventure, and we set out to go exploring. She had heard about a hidden farm out the Eastern Coastline of Hillsbrad Foothills. So, off we went!


It was a quiet little farm run by two male ginger Dwarves. They had a little house, a pen for their rams, a plethora of cats, and a ton of rodents. The outhouse smelled of roses. The Dwarves had an amazing dock, which sadly was devoid of any boats or chairs.


Wanting to see more hidden places around Azeroth, we set out to find Quel'Thalas. And find it we did!


Soon she left me to go see Harry Potter, but of course my adventuring didn't stop there. I went off to ZG, then proceeded to attempt to farm for Nuramoc some more. Soon I grew weary of Netherstorm though, and decided to move on to Northrend. Since then I've been attempting to camp Arcturis, and when I bore of waiting for him, Gondria. Sadly, neither have yet to spawn, but I did acquire one new pet!


His name is Mikey, named after my WoW buddy who had passed away a few months ago. I must say, I've never much fancied Wind Serpants until now, but I think this guy is really freaking cool. I got him on one of my rounds through Zul'Drak while looking for Gondria. Speaking of Zul'Drak, I've been making an awful lot of Horde Hunter buddies out there. One even logged over to a level 1 Alliance toon to say hi to me! They've been very sweet so far, wishing me luck and /waving. It's things like this that makes me happy to be on a PvE server : D

In other news, I've been slowly working on both my Death Knight and my Rogue. Not much to report on them, other than I got to do the quest where you have to save the baby Murlocs over in Borean Tundra on the DK! It's pretty much my most favorite quest ever. Baby Murlocs are the cuteness. If only they stayed that way....


My Rogue had a run in with the Elemental Invasion of Stormwind the other day. Thankfully stealth allowed her to simply look on without getting nuked.


Yesterday saw the finishing of the red portion of the Scepter of the Shifting Sands quest line (WHOOO HOOO!!!). I have some of the most awesome of WoW friends, and they helped me get through the torture chamber that is Blackwing Lair. While in BWL there was a spot of trouble with two of the three Elementium Ingots that dropped: only one ended up in my bags. Thankfully a GM was able to restore them to me this morning, and off I went to the Swirling Maelstorm to take on Maws!


So the most epic quest line of all quest lines is now complete. Even though I didn't get to bang the gong, get a uber nifty mount, or a fancy dancy title, I still had quite a bit of fun.


Since I have been driving myself a bit mad with farming Spirit Beasts on the Hunter, I decided to do a bit of lag PvP on Saz. I honestly should have ran a heroic or two before hand just to get used to my new HealBot bindings. I had some rather unnecessary deaths simply due to me not knowing my dispel combination or using the wrong heal in the wrong situation. Over all I did okish despite not really being able to go after objectives due to excessive lag. I managed to score some killing blows though and after the first rocky BG I was able to stay in the top 5 with healing done. 


A word of advice: If you lag, don't attempt to do AV. Most of my deaths were caused by lag. I simply couldn't heal in time/run away. It's also incredibly headache inducing, and I'm not just talking about the 12 year olds bickering about why we're losing because everyone's bad...it actually makes me motion sick if I lag too hard for too long. I should only have to suffer through a few more lag BGs though before I have my tabard that I'm needing. Hopefully I can be done with that either later on today or Monday.

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I think that's all I have to report for now on the adventuring front. Blog-wise, the "Projects" tab is now live and I should be updating that regularly, both the "About Me" and "Contact" tabs are completely live, and the "Photo Gallery" is slowly being brought up to fully being live. I should be getting these finished completely in the next few days.

Stay tuned for more adventures, articles, and updates!