ALT : ernative

The Second Stormwind Guides before their weekly Polearm Skills lesson.
(from http://www.easington.gov.uk)

In life, there is a great deal to be said for being prepared. Of course, it's impossible to cover every eventuality, but on most days you can accurately predict what to take with you, what the weather will be like, and what you'll need to make your day run smoother. The same is of course true in game. With 3.1 possibly only a few weeks away, it's becoming increasingly simple to guess what you're going to need to make sure you're ready for Ulduar, and for the awesomeness that is Dual Speccing.

Bearing this in mind, I have put together this shoddily-constructed and impromptu guide. Enjoy!

5 Things every Girl Guide (or Tauren or Gnome) should do to prepare for 3.1

1. Read the bloody Patch Notes, you Nublet.

I cannot reiterate this enough times. Well I could, and then I'd guaranteed there'd STILL be someone who didn't RTFPN. This is a MAJOR content patch. It introduces a dungeon, an entire new questing area, debuts a new Arena season plus literally dozens of class, profession and world changes. It will forever change the way the vast majority of people play their characters. It affects YOU.

It's also available right now for you to look at. Yes, it is likely to change several times between now and release but really that's not an excuse to pretend it doesn't exist. If you want to be properly prepared for 3.1, go take a look. It will tell you what mats you'll need to collect to make new items, what new glyphs you can look out for to improve your character, what changes you'll be getting in your Talents and will mean that clams finally stack correctly. \o/

2. 5 Minutes Planning will save Hours on Patch Day.

Take a screenie of your current talents. They're going reset on Patch Day so it will be vital you have a copy somewhere, even if you don't do anything about it now. What you ought to do before the patch hits is pop over to one of the many Talent Calculators updated with the latest PTR spell builds and look at what has changed. As things are still being tested it's early days to work out where you'll be placing those points, but if you wanna be raiding or 5 manning come the night 3.1 arrives you need to have an idea of what to expect. Plus if you plan to be Dual Speccing this is a good opportunity to go look at your second spec and work out exactly what spells you'll need to be taking. Don't be afraid to steal someone else's current spec either, just remember it'll all change come the actual patch.

Don't worry either about messing up your spells on the day and having to spend gold when you misplace a point on your talent tree either. Blizzard have this covered, with their new feature which will allow you to preview your talents before you spend any gold. They think of everything!

3. Make your Money and Items for Dual Spec NOW.

Dual Spec will cost you 1000g. This not an impossible amount to make. I've just done it in five days. This will not involve you spending every waking hour at your computer either. If you have an 80 toon and you've not yet completed all your quests, then the simple act of spending some time doing those and selling your rewards (or if you're a DE-er selling the dust and shards that your rewards can become) will net a lot of cash. Go do dailies. Yes I KNOW you hate them but really it's the best way. Hey, you can do Wintergrasp and make money as well if it's all too much, or failing that spend an hour clearing out your bank and stick some stuff on the AH.

I guarantee you'll have trouble making 1000g the night before 3.1 hits. That's why you need to do it NOW.

You'd also be well advised to decide which Glyphs you'll be using for your second spec and finding a friendly Inscriber to make them. AH prices will be even more ridiculous than they already are come Patch Day: yes there will be new glyphs but for now you really don't want to be wandering around with nothing in your spellbook. Again, a bit of research will pay dividends.

If you're PuG-ging the phrase 'I'm needing that for Dual Spec' really should not be coming as a surprise to you. Of course if it's a Tank needing leather you should be ready to bitchslap them into next patch: if you're playing with friends or your Guild it might be a good idea to introduce a 'DS Rule' about now. Don't DE it, look at it and see if it has benefit. Yes, even if it is a L78 item. Start thinking about what you should be searching for.

Maybe if you have enough Elbows, it's time to actually buy some epic DS items as well.

4. Nobody Loves you if you Don't Augment.

You may be lucky enough, if you sort everything above out before Patch Day, to get to go into Ulduar for a first play at the new content. If you do, it might be an idea to make sure you have the materials you will need to upgrade any weapon or piece of armour you might snag to keep yourself in prime fighting condition. Currently there's some absolute bargains on the AH on the Enchanting Scrolls front (and there are because people like me are selling them in anticipation of the patch :P). You could go farm some content for greens and get them DE'd in preparation. I'd certainly make sure you have the cash to go buy a Sons of OhDear Shoulder enchant, and maybe a head enchant from your rep vendor of choice. You could even buy them now and stick them in the bank you sensibly cleared out in order to make the cash for your Dual Spec...

(Of course, if you also want to make a fast buck on patch day, you could start stockpiling all the stuff above to sell to the ~~nublets~~ players who were foolish enough not to prepare themselves beforehand.)

5. Be Ready for ANYTHING!

Now is the time to check your computer is in fighting shape. Now is the time to download the latest video drivers. Now is the time to start checking your favourite add-on sites and see if the developers are going to have a 3.1 Mod ready for you to pick up before the patch. With Blizz' new policy on addons some of these may change or stop being updated altogether. If the site's not been updated for a while it's time to find a replacement. If you're having to do all this on the day you're going to suffer delays, and frustration. Trust me, I know.

Follow these simple steps, and you will soon have your 'Ready for 3.1' badge to hastily sew onto your Swagdog Guild t-shirt. So what are you waiting for? Don't just sit here reading this mediocre blog, off you go and get ready!!!

Labels: guides, new stuff, patch, patch notes, strange

So, I decide yesterday to go do some mining for M's Blacksmithing Odyssey with M my gatherer. Best bet has always been Winterspring for me, especially in the morning as it's deserted. First call was the cave at Mazthoril which has 2 spawn points, one buried deep inside the cave. I was then rather surprised when I was mining away happily and then teleported suddenly to the entrance of Drywhisper Gorge... A quick look at my chat window and it appears, albeit briefly, I was mining in Hyjal :o

Looking at the action log it appears I managed to pick up the No Man's Land debuff by accident. I was probably in Hyjal for less than a second. It's the first naughty thing I've ever done in the game almost four years, and it was completely accidental. Gutted.

Monday Night's Naxx 10 was something rather special. Having finally knocked off the 4 Horsemen we went and 2-shotted Sapph. The achievement was deliberately planned, and we coped with 2 and a bit healers with reassuring ease. The second achievement was the most fun I have had in a boss fight in a VERY long time. The healing was beyond awesome and we killed a ridiculous number of Abominations in the last 20 seconds before Big K attacked. It was CHAOS, pure and simple, but I am proud to be GM of a Guild where people can do that, first time, and work so well together as a team. /respect

Last week in IF it was a guy with 20 Huge Feasts, all laid out in front of the IF Bank (screenie failure, I was gutted). This week, American Politics 101. Next week I predict a re-enactment of 'Watchmen' with Dr Manhattan played by a Night Elf...