Prepping for Herald of the Titans

So, you've seen this nifty title around town, Herald of the Titans. You've looked it up, sort of, and have found out that in order to acquire this this title you must have a level 80 character. Beyond this little tidbit of information, you're finding yourself in need of a little help. This article is here to lend you a hand.

Edit: This achievement was temporarily bugged to where a group of 90s could gain this FoS/Title. DPSing down the boss before it could register the gear and levels of the group can be considered an EXPLOIT, as it is not intended for level 90s to be able to achieve this Feat of Strength. It should be known that using/attempting to use an exploit is a bannable offense according to the Terms of Service that Blizzard has in place, thus isn't something you should be attempting. This bug has also been hotfixed, so stop trying to find a way to circumvent the system that's in place.

The Herald of the Titans is a title acquired by a team of level 80 characters, all in gear of item level 226 or less, taking down this star guy called Algalon. Algalon is remembered as one of those bosses that straight up resonated with all players, both lore-wise and with his encounter. His is an epic fight to experience. Originally Algalon's encounter had a 1 hour time limit in which you could make attempts on taking him down attached to it, but this is no longer the case.

Herald of the Titans has been moved to a Feat of Strength. It is still obtainable however, and the title is account-wide. For a short while after the account-wide titles became a thing, it was thought that this was one title that would forever remain character bound. It turned out though that this was just a bug. Once you achieve the Herald of the Titans FoS, you unlock this nifty title for all of the characters on your account!

Locking Your Character at 80

Freezing your character's XP gain is fairly simplistic. If you're Alliance, you'll want to visit Behsten, who is located in the Stormwind Keep. For Horde, you'll want to speak to Slahtz, who is located in the Valley of Honor. Both of these fellas are stealthed level 19 rogues, though you shouldn't have much issue tracking them down if you click on the provided links.

If you wish to continue on leveling your character after you receive your title, you simply talk to these guys again to turn your XP gain back on. The cost to either toggle the XP gain on or off should only be about 10g.

Gear

In order for the group to qualify for the achievement, everyone must be sporting gear of an item leveling of 226 or lower in all slots, with an exception for weapons, which may be item level 232. Crafted gear, BoEs, and Justice Point gear can all fill gaps quite nicely, and in some cases turn out to be best-in-slot items.

Best-in-slot gear is not required for the achievement, but the more 226 gear you can get on your character, the better. Shoot for making your character sport at least all epic items prior to attempting this encounter.

Gemming

For this Feat of Strength it is preferred that all participating characters to be gemmed with the epic quality Wrath of the Lich King gems. For *most* classes, folks will want to gem their primary stat (Agility/Intellect/Strength) with the exception of possibly tanks and/or healers, who may prefer a mix of their primary and preferred secondary.

Enchanting

Like gemming, it is preferred that all participants have their characters enchanted with the best enchants available to them. It is understandable if a character is on a server that a player may not have a dedicated enchanter to provide materials/enchants for the Herald character (assuming that the Herald toon isn't an enchanter his or herself), however all participants should at least have some sort of enchant on every piece of their gear. Keep in mind that these days many enchants can and will scale. Here is a very useful spreadsheet detailing which enchants scale and in what ways to help you determine what may be best for your level 80.

Professions

Professions, while not 100% required, can be a huge help in both gearing and optimizing your Herald character. Like at max level, crafting professions (Tailoring, Enchanting, Jewel Crafting, Leatherworking, Black Smithing, Engineering, and possibly Inscription) are generally preferred over gathering professions (Herbalism, Skinning, Mining). Again, not something that is absolutely needed, though if you have the resources available to you to level up your Herald character's professions to the Cataclysm level, it can help out immensely.

Food

Cataclysm foods are permitted for the Herald of the Titans achievement. It is advised that you stock up on some Cataclysm foods in your primary stat for personal use in the event that a feast is not able to be provided.

Flasks/Potions

Again, for this achievement Cataclysm consumables (in this case, flasks) are permitted. Since group cauldrons are no longer a thing, it is advised that you come prepared with a few flasks in your primary stat.

Likewise you may use Cataclysm potions for this event. While a full stack of a potion of your choice (for DPS this would be a potion that provides your primary stat, for healers this may be a mana return potion, and for tanks this may be either a healing potion, an armor increase potion, or an Agility/Strength potion for increased DPS) probably won't all be needed, it is advised that you have several of these potions on hand. For those of you familiar with double potting, that will not be necessary for this encounter, as the time from entering combat and the time that Algalon actually engages is nearly the full duration of the initial pre-pot. Save your potions for the burn phase!

Reforging

For a Herald character, reforging can be a bit tricky. If you are aware of the exact number you need for your hit and/or expertise caps, using a site such as WoW Reforge can come in pretty handy. In the event that you're not completely aware of what your caps are, an addon called ReforgeLite can help you out greatly. If you need any help with figuring out how this addon works, you can refer to my ReforgeLite post.

Before you begin reforging, it is advised that you research which secondary stats your class/spec prefers. For most level 80 classes, Mastery tends to be the most powerful stat available regardless of the level 90 preference of said class/spec. However, for DPS specs it is incredibly important that you must first reach your hit and/or expertise caps before you begin to stack Mastery or any other secondary stat. Tanks, it is likewise advisable to look into how important it is to reach your hit/expertise caps for both threat generation and resource regeneration. Reforging no longer exists, but leaving this section in for now. You never know when Blizz may change their other mind!

Rotations

Spell priorities and rotations for most classes can be gleaned from their level 100 counterparts, and guides on these spell priorities/rotation may be found on various blogs and/or sites such as Icy-Veins. Naturally, as a level 80 you will not have all of the nifty spells that a level 100 does, but you should have most of the meat and potato spells for your spec. Make minor adjustments as needed.

The Gearing Process

There are several ways to begin the gearing up process, many of which may need to be employed depending on how lucky you are with drops.

1) Crafting - There are several pieces out there that may be crafted for a Herald character. However, these recipes are often subject to droprates, so if you personally or your guildmates do not have the recipe, it may be a bugger to find the right pattern. For 226 specific gear, there are belts and boots available for crafting. If you're in dire need of a chest and glove filler, 200 gear is likewise available for crafting, provided you have the recipes.

2) Wrath 5 Mans - Queuing up for heroic Wrath of the Lich King 5 mans is not necessarily the most efficient way to go about things, unless you have a ready-made group of five. The option is there, however, to have a level 100 solo these instances for you. While most of the heroic-mode 5 mans either sport gear that is rather low in item level (200 or so) or too high (the ICC heroics sport 232 gear), they can provide some decent fillers. Here are some instances that you'll want to focus on to get your filler gear:

Heroic ICC 5 Mans: While most of the gear in these heroics cannot be used for Herald of the Titans, what can be used are the weapon drops. Remember, weapons of ilvl 232 may be used! These heroics will provide that.

Normal ICC 5 Mans: The gear that drops in the normal version of these dungeons drop 219 gear, which is perfectly acceptable. Easily chain farmed if you have the time available to you.

Heroic ToC 5: This instance will provide you with 219 gear on heroic. Heroic ToC should be soloable by most classes/specs at level 100.

Regular ToC 5: Soloable by level 100 characters, ToC regular provides ilvl 200 gear. While not the most optimal, this instance provides Heralds characters with an easily obtained/farmable trinket. Most of these trinkets were desirable up into even Icecrown Citadel if a raider at that time was unlucky.

3) Cataclysm Dungeons
Justice Points can be used to purchase a variety of gear from the vendors found in Dalaran. Some of these purchasable items are BoE, so they can be bought by another character who has excess JP laying around. However, many of the items are BoP and will require farming on your Herald toon.

There are two Cataclysm dungeons that are available to level 80s: Throne of the Tides and Blackrock Caverns. Queuing up for these randomly, at least one per day for your daily boost in JP gain, is pretty much the best way to farm for your needed Justice Points.

Given the fact that you'll be farming these two Cataclysm dungeons over and over again, chances are you'll end up with two different sets of gear; one for farming, one for Herald of the Titans. It is perfectly okay to wear items that are above the 226 requirement while you are farming for your Herald gear. As a matter of a fact it's encouraged to have a higher item level set, especially if you're having a friend solo instances for you, as it greatly increases your chance of survival in some situations. If you're running with a gear group through Ulduar, wearing higher gear generally yields higher damage output, which naturally speeds up the farming runs a bit.

4) Ulduar
As mentioned in the previous paragraph, farming Ulduar for gear is another option. There are a few things to remember though:

- Ulduar 10 provides 219 gear from normal modes; 226 gear from hardmodes and Algalon
- Ulduar 25 provides 226 gear from normal modes; 239 gear from hardmodes and Algalon, which is not usable for Herald of the Titans
- Be sure to not save yourself to Algalon the week you plan on attempting the achievement. Remember, the lockouts have changed. If you kill Algalon on 25 man difficulty, you will also be locked out of Algalon 10 for the week.
- Be mindful of possible lockout issues if you were to participate in a partial run through Ulduar. While lockout issues should not occur if you were to say, kill 3 bosses and someone else cleared everything besides Algalon himself, it is possible that funky things could occur. Just play it safe during the week you plan on attempting the achievement.

If you happen to have either a second account with a max level character on it, you could very well solo a good  chunk of Ulduar for gear as well, with your Herald toon in tow. If this option isn't available to you, if you happen to have a friend who is generous with their time and is a capable soloist, they could potentially run you through the instance as you try to keep yourself alive. Again, a few things to remember before you attempt duoing this with a friend or yourself:

- Ulduar 10 should be soloable by any type of level 100 character.

- Ulduar 25 likewise should be soloable by any level 100 class/spec. Yogg can be problematic for some classes, but with some finagling just about any class can counter his tentacles.

5) Other Raids
If you really need gear with a quickness, do not forget to run Naxxramas 10 (ilvl 200) or 25 (ilvl 213), Malygos 10 (ilvl 213) or 25 (ilvl 226), Obsidian Sanctum 10 (ilvl 200/213 with bonus drakes) or 25 (ilvl 213/226 with bonus drakes), and Onyxia 10 (ilvl 232 weapons).

The tier 7 set bonuses are often decent and can/should be used if you're unable to get yourself a 2 and/or 4 set tier 8 bonus.

Naxx 10: Should be fully soloable by any level 100 class/spec
Naxx 25: Should be fully soloable by any level 100 class/spec
Malygos 10/25: Both versions of this instance should be easily soloable by any level 100 class/spec
Obsidian Sanctum 10/25: Both versions of this instance should be easily soloable by any level 100 class/spec
Onyxia 10: Easily soloable by all classes/specs over level 90.

6) BoEs
Remember to check the auction house if you've already tapped all of your raiding resources, because BoEs drop from Naxx, OS, EoE (Malygos), and even Ulduar itself. These BoEs can certainly fill in a space in a pinch, and generally only go for a few hundred gold at most these days.

7) Extra Sources of Justice Points
Edit: With making this guide, I completely forgot about the conversion of Honor Points to Justice Point. If you had leveled via PvP, you may trade your extra HP for JP at the Honor vendor in your faction's main city. Below is a quote from one of our commenters, Evlyxx, advising us on how to gain even more HP to trade over for JP:

However, 1 vital source of Justice Points is missing from the guide, the PVP quests in Venture Bay, which give 200 honor per day that can be converted into Justice Points every other day. Not a lot by level 90 standards but the return per minute is huge as the biggest unforseen problem I and my friends encountered was getting Justice Points as the Wrath dungeons didn't reward any.

The Fight

Alright, so you've got the gear and it's all dazzled up, you've got your required raiding consumables, and you're ready to get down to business. As it is with current end-game raiding, it's wise to look at the fight ahead of time. Here's the original Tankspot guide on how to tackle this encounter.

Looks a bit complex, eh? Try not to fret too much, as the encounter is actually much easier, thanks to our little friend called Mastery. That's right, because of this one little (and rather potent) stat addition, overall DPS *should* be higher than it was when Algalon was current content, healing throughput *should* be a bit stronger, and tanking likewise *should* be a bit smoother. I strongly accentuate the word should simply because often Herald toons are not sitting in full BiS 226 gear, nor at Herald toons generally a class someone plays as a main. Despite everything, Mastery as a whole tends to help make up the differences of both skill and lack of BiS gear.

While yes, the fight is much easier with a group of twinks and semi-twinks, do not allow yourself to be lulled into a false sense of "this is easy" however. For most groups, it will take several pulls before everyone is acclimated to how the encounter feels on their particular character. If everyone has prepared correctly though, the learning process and achievement gain should be fairly painless.

I hope that this post has helped a few of you out! As always, if you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to ask. I wish you all luck with your gearing. Now go have yourself some fun!

Hoarders: Azeroth Edition - It's Brewfest, Bro!

Happy belated Thursday all! As the title states above, it is indeed Brewfest once again. It's a time of drunken brawls, brew maidens, and sausages. The sound of whips hitting ram hide fills the air, the scent of hops and vomit linger about, and you never know when a drill filled with little men will pop up from beneath your feet. Ah yes, it is Brewfest indeed. Had the pirates stuck around for more than a day, they certainly wouldn't be asking "...but why is the rum gone?" because, well, they'd be far too tanked on the latest and greatest of Dwarven brews.

As it is with all of the major meta holidays that are offered up in Azeroth, Brewfest brings with it a title, a barrel full of achievements, and of course many items in which you can hoard away in your bank. Let us get to the list of collectables, shall we?


Title(s)
Brewmaster


Achievement(s)
Brew of the Month *
Brew of the Year
Direbrewfest *
Disturbing the Peace
Does Your Wolpertinger Linger? *
Down With the Dark Iron *
Drunken Stupor
Have Key, Will Travel *
Strange Brew (Alliance) / Strange Brew (Horde)
The Brewfest Diet *

* Indicates the achievements required to complete the Brewmaster/Brewmaster meta. The Brewmaster achievement is required for the What A Long Strange Trip It's Been (Alliance/Horde) meta achievement.


Trinket(s)
Bitterer Balebrew Charm - A stamina trinket that let's you summon the Black Brewmaiden! Unless you're in greens or Cataclysm starts to suddenly favor stam stacking (unlikely), this trinket is more for fun. Drops from Coren Direbrew.

Bubblier Brightbrew Charm - A stamina trinket that let's you summon the Brewmaiden! Like the trinket above, it's really just more for fun. The flavor of text and use on these trinkets are neat at least! Drops from Coren Direbrew.

Brawler's Trophy - Hey tanks, Blizz heard that you like dodge. They figured that since you were all brawlers, that they'd give you more dodge to dodge with as you dodged them boss smacks to the face. All in all not a bad trinket. Drops from Coren Direbrew.

Coren's Chilled Chromium Coaster - A blanket crit/attack power trinket for all melee DPS. Might be a good upgrade from a ilvl 333 trinket, but most 346 trinkets will beat out this trinket's DPS for most classes I think. Sad, but true. Drops from Coren Direbrew.

Mithril Stopwatch - A blanket crit/spell power trinket for all caster DPS. Overall not a terrible trinket, though certain caster types may find themselves reforging out of the crit in favor of a different stat. Drops from Coren Direbrew.

Petrified Pickled Egg -  An intellect trinket with a haste proc. While I'm not sure how this trinket holds up against 346 or 359 trinkets, it may very well be a solid upgrade for several folks depending on what you have access to, your play-style, your class, and what you are/are not stacking stat wise. Drops from Coren Direbrew.


Weapon(s)
Direbrew's Bloodied Shanker - BoP agility dagger. WHY ARE YOU BOP?!?! *Ahem* A relatively decent slowish dagger (2.00 speed) that drops from the Key-Shaped Treasure Chest that you receive upon your daily kill of Coren Direbrew. Not sure on the exact drop rate, but considering I've already received two of these at the time of writing this, I'm going to assume that it's not horribly rare. Not incredibly common, but not horribly rare.

Tremendous Tankard O' Terror - BoE agility mace. A decent weapon for an enhancement shaman or a rogue who is in the market for a 2.60 speed weapon. Drops from the Key-Shaped Treasure Chest that you receive upon your daily kill of Coren Direbrew. Not sure on the exact drop rate, but seems fairly common. Won't replace your 259 weapons, but is an alright upgrade over 353's.


Item(s)
Brewfest Keg Pony - When you use this item it will behave as it was a non-combat companion, taking the place of any non-combat pet you already had summoned (yes, his sloshing booze scares away even the ballsiest of Westfall Chickens). However, upon use he will not be placed into your spell book, taking residence along side your other non-combat pets. He will hog up a bag slot.

Brefest Pony Keg - It's a keg, what more could you want?


Costume(s)
Purple Brewfest Hat
or Green Brewfest Hat
or Brown Brewfest Hat
or Blue Brewfest Hat
+
Brewfest Regalia
or Brewfest Dress
+
Brewfest Boots
or Brewfest Slippers
=
Brewfest Garb, needed for the Disturbing the Peace achievement.

Belbi's Eyesight Enhancing Romance Goggles (Alliance Only)
Blix's Eyesight Enhancing Romance Goggles (Horde Only)


Mount(s)
Great Brewfest Kodo - 24% drop rate from the Key-Shaped Treasure Chest that you receive upon your daily kill of Coren Direbrew. You can only obtain one Treasure Chest per day. While I see people running around on this mount, I'm convinced that it doesn't actually exist.

Swift Brewfest Ram - 24% drop rate from the Key-Shaped Treasure Chest that you receive upon your daily kill of Coren Direbrew. You can only obtain one Treasure Chest per day.

Brewfest Ram - While this mount technically no longer exists, unless you managed to obtain it prior to it's removal of course, you can transform your current mount to temporarily mimic the look of this classic mount, or if you're horde, to mimic the look of a Brewfest Kodo. To do this simply purchase Fresh Brewfest Hops, or Fresh Dwarven Brewfest Hops/Fresh Goblin Brewfest Hops from your local Brewfest vendor via Brewfest Prize Tokens.


Pet(s)
Pint-Sized Pink Pachyderm
Wolpertinger

**Unless otherwise noted as a drop, all items listed here are purchasable with Brewfest Prize Tokens. These tokens are awarded through quests and dailies offered only during the Brewfest event. These tokens may be exchanged for goods with either Belbi Quikswitch (Alliance) or Blix Fixwidget (Horde).**

There are many, many items that I did not list here that you can find at the Brewfest vendors. Various brews and foods are available, all you must do is explore the Brewfest grounds! Well, so long as the Dark Iron Dwarves aren't invading that is, which happens at the top and bottom of every hour. For you leveling folk out there, also remember that you can get a 10% experience boost that lasts for two hours if you attend the tapping of the keg! This ceremony happens at 6:15am and 6:15pm of every day, so snatch up your extra xp while it's still available. Brewfest will last until October 6th.

That's all I have for this week folks. Until Brewfest is over please find yourself a designated driver and keep your ale cold. Cheers!

Hoarders: Azeroth Edition - A Salty Bloodsail Admiral

"I heard you want'd to see me, Admiral?"

"I did, helmswoman. The Capt'n wants Serenity out to sea by dawn's light. Have her sails been mended and her hull stocked?" inquired Bloodsail Admiral Kelebek.

"Aye, though what kind of crazy fish chase does the Capt'n have us on this time?"

The admiral took a moment's pause to stroke the blood red feathers of her favorite parrot, one of several who roosted about on the ship in question. With her attention still mainly focused on the bird she said "I don't rightly know. We could be chasin' after loot or we could be looking for some sort of legendary sea creature. I'm sure the Capt'n will let us know once we unfurl the sails and set a course." Kelebek ceased stroking the vibrant birds chest and looked the human in the eye. "Have the sacrifices to Neptulon been made? I don't want this ship and her crew to go through what it did last time."

"It has been done."

"Shiny. Get some rest, the Capt'n will be eager to set sail."

The dark skinned woman took her leave. Kelebek listened as the helmswoman's heavy booted footfalls thunked into the distance. She sighed and said to the bird "What do you think, Jane? This new little Kaelei seems to be doing well." The bird made an aggressive gesture. "Keep it up and I'll feed you to that River cat. This trip is going to be rough as is, ain't need you nor anyone else acting up, savvy?" The bird responded by ruffling up her feathers and then set off to roost somewhere on Serenity.

Kelebek took one final look at the sunset from her balcony at the Salty Sailor Tavern. With another sigh she thought to herself "My gut tells me that we're going to get a bit salty. Might as well get my bits of precious together and find the Capt'n. We got a job to do, even if I don't much care to find out what it is."

She turned gracefully in her black leather boots and crossed threshold of her quarters.

*******

Hello all and welcome to a very...errr...different type of Hoarders. I thought I'd take a bit of a break from my typical list style and try my hand a combination of wannabe role playing text, mixed in with a side of how-to. Chances are the lists that you all know and love shall be back soon enough, but if you all prefer this version of Hoarders to the standard set up, let me know!

Today I thought that we'd cover two different titles: Bloodsail Admiral and Salty. Both are summer flavored, fun, and a swashbucklin' good time to have.

Insane!

"Originally Posted by Lylirra (Source)

It's a question you've been asking us for a little while now. And, based on all the posts, emails, petitions, and letters we received following the announcement that the Insane in the Membrane achievement would no longer be in available in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, we started to wonder if maybe we had gone a bit loco.

So, we went back to the drawing board. After carefully reviewing all the feedback and discussing the matter amongst ourselves, we're now happy to report that we will be making the following changes to the Feat of Strength:

• Exalted reputation with Shen'dralar will no longer be required. As this is the only reputation that will be unobtainable in Cataclysm, we've simply decided to remove it as a requirement.
  
  For those who already earned Exalted reputation with this faction, don't worry -- we haven't forgotten about your accomplishments. In a future patch, we'll be adding in a separate Feat of Strength to recognize your deep love of Dire Maul.

• Bloodsail Buccaneer faction reputation will remain in-game. Also, to ensure that this change does not negatively affect Cataclysm quest progression in Stranglethorn Vale, Booty Bay Bruisers will now provide reputation up through Exalted.

This will ensure that players will still be able to attain Insane in the Membrane and "The Insane" title in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. Please note, however, that these changes will not take effect until The Shattering in patch 4.0.3a -- excluding the separate "Exalted with Shen'dralar" feat, which will be introduced in a future, but currently-undetermined patch.

And, of course, those who are already Insane in the Membrane will retain their title and current Feat of Strength. Shine on, you crazy diamonds."

So, I still have a chance to get Insane in the Membrane?!?! And I can potentially get exalted with the pirates and Steamwheedle? /UBERHAPPYDANCE!!!

Saz the Insane...has a nice, albeit ridiculous, ring to it. 

Ravenholdt will still be a pain in the bottom (gotta get my Rogue leveled!), as will Darkmoon Faire, buuuut...I still have a chance! 

This day is a happy one!!!