It finally happened.

http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=12730404058&sid=1&pageNo=1#15

As I knew would happen eventually, WoW Account hackers have started using Man in The Middle attacks to compromise the keyloggers.

Good Night, and Good Luck

So I Hit 71.

Did it probably 2 weeks ago. I'm really getting burnt out on this game, can't be arsed to do anything anymore. Oh well, I love this game but it's been a good run.

Path of a Hero

Watch your characters "grow up" with Path of a Hero. PoaH allows you to create a blog for your character and submit pictures documenting their quests and events. With each post the site queries the WoW Armory and delivers a snapshop of equipped gear, so you and your friends can see how far you've come. The site also picks up the gear score from Be Imba, displaying it above your gear loadout. You can also add your friends as "rivals", allowing you to keep tabs on their own trials and tribulations.

Plus the creator of the site is a real swell guy, check it out!

Mingonashoba's Entry

Radio Free Gnomeregan's 3rd Annual "Winter Veil" Broadcast!

Live Broadcast: TBA
Rebroadcast: Christmas Eve, time TBA.

Once a year, Mingonashoba dodges dwarven guards and fights his way into the depths of Gnomeregan. He sets up shop alongside holdout gnomes in the Clean Zone, and broadcasts a special show to everyone and anyone who tunes their hearthstones in. Even in days of brutal conflict across worlds he tries to bring Alliance and Horde together in one day of relative peace with relaxing music.

What you'll hear:

• Holiday standards from Frank Sinatra & Bing Crosby
• Selections from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite
• Peppy and relaxing jazz numbers
• The Vince Guaraldi Trio ("A Charlie Brown Christmas")
• A few hidden gems that might make you think "what the heck did I just hear?"

Join DJ Mingo and Radio Free Gnomeregan this December!

Blizzcon '08, The Real Recap. Really.

Nothing really new from Warcraft in regards to classes, expansions, etc.
The movie is still in the works, no news.
Patch 3.0.2 to go live tomorrow.
L80ETC put on a great show and I still say they need to release an album.
Video Games Live was awesome as usual. I need to get to one of their full shows next year.
There will most likely be a patch to download right after you finish installing WotLK.
I got a blow up Frostmourne sword.
I got a second Vasco Go6 Blizzard Authenticator as part of the goodie bag.
I also got a Vasco rep to verify my compromise theory was valid, if a bit sophisticated. I felt special.

I do wish Blizzard would curtail the "Blizzcon Exclusive" ingame goodies, as I believe that is what is causing the rush on the servers and the inability for everyone to have an equal chance at buying a ticket. The only reason I was able to get mine was because I was unemployed on the day they went on sale. This allowed me to hammer the server along with the rest of the world.

Hunter talents have been changed again since I posted my musings on BM and MM builds a few weeks ago. I'll have to attempt throwing some new ones up when I get a chance.

Blizzcon '08 Recap. Kind Of.

I'll discuss my convention experience in more detail later. Typing on the Wii only using the Wiimote is a pain.

Can't Talk, Busy Drinking. Brewfest.

Sorry for a lack of posts. Between the stress of the new job and Brewfest I've not been experiencing much new content these days. I'm currently busting tail working for the Steamweedle Cartel to get enough tokens so I can pick up the Brew of The Month membership form and the Brewfest boots. The boots are needed for this awesome WotLK Achievement: Disturbing the Peace, and the membership form for Brew of the Year.

It's-a Mingo!

No no, it's not me. Besides, I actually have mottled black and white fur, not reddish-brown. I actually visited the LA County Fair this last weekend. Pity the Jersey cows never turned around to give me a look..
*sob* Just like when I was training back in Bloodhoof!

More Thoughts on BM Builds

Ok to throw a different build idea out, here is a 51/20 BM/MM build. It is nominally the same as the 53/18 I described yesterday, except I have removed 2 points from Cobra Strike and added them to Improved Hunter's Mark.

Decent BM and MM Builds

BM-Spec Ideas:
A 53/18 BM/MM build. It's your standard 41 point TBC build but with some of the key WotLK talents added, such as:

• Aspect Mastery -Hey, 30% AP bonus is nothing to sneeze at.
• Invigoration - At 2/2 you have a 100% chance to regen 1% of mana when your pet crits. Which considering the crit chance of pets at raiding levels, could be very useful in boss battles.
• Cobra Strikes - At 3/3, there is a 60% chance to make your pet's next two attacks crit, and when those two crit attacks hit, you'll get 2% of your mana regenerated due to having 2/2 Invigoration. Hey hey!
• Separation Anxiety - At 5/5 if you maintain at least 20 yards from your pet during combat, it gets a 20% damage buff. When you're within 20 yards, there's a 10% buff for running. This is a very important talent. It's Blizzard telling hunters to stop frickin' meleeing. It seems from my highly unscientific and mod-free testing that SA is a stackable buff. SA is great for PvP situations as it gives hunters an extra 10% kick in the pants to get range back.
• Careful Aim - MM talent in the second tree. At 3/3 it increases your RAP by 100% to your total intellect. Boom.

A 51/20 BM/MM build. Here are the main changes from the 53/18:

• Removed Invigoration.
• Removed 1 point from MM talent Rapid Killing.
• Improved Hunters Mark - At 3/3 you get a 30% bonus ontop of your normal Hunter's Mark, and reduces the cost of the mark by 100%. They've removed the melee buff that your fellow party members and raiders loved. Pity.

I am not a MM-Spec hunter. Never have been. However since we're going to be able to have two talent trees that we can switch back and forth between, here's my idea for an MM-Spec:

A 17/54/ MM/BM build. It's a bit all over the place, but I think it makes sense. There are very few new WotLK talents in this build interestingly:

• Rapid Recuperation - At 3/3 reduces mana cost of all shots and abilities by yourself and your pet by 60% while using Rapid Fire. Plus, you get 3% of your mana every 2 seconds for 6 seconds each time Rapid Killing is triggered. This talent will prove itself to be quite useful for leveling and instance trash pulls. Less downtime drinking or chugging mana potions.
• Marked For Death - At 5/5 increases damage on marked targets by 5% for yourself and your pet. Also gives a 10% critical damage bonus to Aimed Shot, Steady Shot, Kill Shot and Chimera Shot. Very nice.
• Chimera Shot - A very interesting shot. Triggering it will deal deal 125% weapon damage to the target while refreshing any stings on it and triggers an effect:
• Serpent Sting - Instantly deals 40% of the damage done by your Serpent Sting.
• Viper Sting - Instantly restores mana to you equal to 60% of the total amount drained by your Viper Sting.
• Scorpid Sting - Attempts to Disarm the target for 10 sec. This effect cannot occur more than once per 1 minute.

Chimera Shot matched with Improved Stings will make hunters very happy.

Well, that's all for right now. Sorry I don't have any builds for you folk, I'm trying to figure out how Survival hunter talents work.

WotLK: The Beta

I have to admit, I feel bad about not playing the beta much at all. I was so excited to get the key and go bouncing through it. Then I realized something, I was alone.

I had no friends in the beta, and the few people from Cenarion Circle I knew were all Alliance side. It was boring. I enjoyed beta testing and bug reporting the starting Death Knight zone and quests, but once that was done, I was spit back out into the world at 58 to go level through the Outlands. The grinds for quests and leveling was horrible because there was no one to socialize with. That's what made getting to 60 and then 70 tolerable.

Maybe if I was getting a stipend, say for every X number of hours I get X amount of money off my next months subscription? I'd seriously have spent more time on the beta.

So there. The game is two months from launch, and I pretty much wasted my beta key. Oh well.

11:13:08 -- We Are Not Prepared.

Well, no actually we are. Collectors Edition was also released for pre-order, bought my copy via Gamestop's online site. My friends are getting theirs at places like Target, Walmart, Best Buy, and so on day of. Me? Last time I tried to do that for TBC I was lucky to snag one of the last copies in town. What a pain. I consider the extra fees to get it shipped to me a "peace of mind" tax.

WotLK Pet Talent Trees 1/3: Tenacious

Wrath of the Lich King Pet Talent Tree: Tenacious (spelled out to help search bots).

Possible spoilers ahead. There is no NDA for the beta so I am ok to discuss this. This is still a beta so things may change.

Hunters still only have 2 stable slots. All skills and talents for each pet is learned "naturally" as you progress and level. No more scouring the land to find and train the newest Bite or Scorpid Poison. This is great in saving time, but personally it kind of takes away a little bit of fun from the class. I'm not too concerned.

There are now three pet classes:
Ferocious (DPS) - IE cats and high damage pets
Tenacious (Tank) - IE turtles and high armor/stamina pets
Cunning (Utility) - IE spiders and mixed ability pets

I have a Warp Stalker named Gaz that falls into Tenacious, and a cat named GIR that's Ferocious. I do not have a Cunning class pet but I will be getting one soon. Each pet class has a separate five level talent tree so you cannot train a Ferocious class pet in Tenacious talents and so on.

Tenacious Tree Breakdown:
A level 70 pet will have 13 points to use in the tree, with seven more as you hit 80. If you go all the way down to the BM 51 talent point "Beast Mastery" you will be granted an additional 5 pet skill points, bringing your total up to 25 . The first tree is roughly what every other pet can get ingame right now:

Natural Armor
Great Stamina
Dash (depends on pet)
Cobra Reflexes

Once you hit the second tree, things change. There are talent spells that increase damage output and an armor/dodge buff, but the jewel of the tree for me is Blood of the Rhino, giving a 1/2% stamina buff and a 20/40% increase in healing effects.
Third tree contains Avoidance, a +growl buff, and Lionhearted (2/2); a 15/30% reduction in all fear/stun effects. shocked me when I came across this talent:

Intervene (1/1) - 40 focus; 30s cooldown; instant - Your pet runs at high speed toward a group member, intercepting the next melee or ranged attack made against them.

Tank pets have intercept. INTERCEPT. The fourth tree only has two talents:

Grace of the Mantis (2/2) Increases your pet's dodge/hit chance by 2/4%.
Great Resistance (3/3) Pet takes 3/6/9% less damage from Arcane, Fire, Frost, Nature and Shadow magic.

Nice, all very nice. Now we come to the fifth and final tree. Reading these talents make me very giddy:

Last Stand (1/1) - 6m cooldown; Instant -Your pet temporarily gains 30% of its maximum health for 20 sec. After the effect expires, the health is lost.
Taunt (1/1) - 3m cooldown; Instant - Your pet taunts the target to attack it for 3 sec.
Roar of Fortitude (1/1) - 100 Focus; 5m cooldown; Instant - Your pet roars, increasing the total health and Dodge chance of all party members within 20 yards by 10%. Lasts 40 sec.

The Tenacious pet tree has thrilled me to no end and has also made me start looking around my button bars to find what things I can get rid of so I can make Intervene macros.

To learn more instead of reading my ramblings, you can always check out Petopia.

My Prayers Answered.

See you in Northrend!

Still Hoping For a Key..

Have three horses in the race:

1. WoW Account
2. Blizzard Store Account
3. Blizzcon'07 Beta Key

Keeping fingers crossed.

It's not hard to be a competent hunter.

Your competency is not represented by your guild's progression.
Your competency is not represented by your epic collection.
Your competency is not represented by your arena rating.
Your competency is not represented by your pet.
Your competency is not represented by your DPS meter.

DPS meters and raid logging programs are only of use by two kinds of people, raid leaders and ePeen strokers. A DPS meter can help a hunter find problems in their playstyle and gearing but so can websites like be.imba.hu and mods like Ratings Buster. At that point is a meter really needed? As long as the trash is dying, the bosses are dying, and there are few (if any) wipes then the group is doing FINE.

Your competency is directly, DIRECTLY represented by two things. Your skill in playing the class, and your ability to consistently not be a stupid hunter. Why so many people are unable to be a competent hunter is beyond me. I'll even cut a break for the people that can't master the jumpshot:

• Unless your pet is tanking, offtanking, or the main tank requests you do so; DO NOT enable growl in an instance or with a party.
• Unless you have absolutely no choice, DO NOT melee. An instance is no place to be leveling your staff skill, do that on your own time.
  
• Unless you are trapping behind the party, DO NOT run away from a mob that's aggroing on you. Use "feign death", freezing trap, your pet's intimidate (if talented for it), or just drag the mob back to the main tank.
• Learn to jumpshot. If for whatever reason you can't, learn to use maximum range, traps, distracting and concussive shot to kite as much as you can.
• DO NOT forget to bring at least one stack of food for your pet at all times.
• DO NOT forget to bring at least one stack of health potions, mana potions, and your own drinks.
• For the love of pete, DO NOT FORGET TO BRING ENOUGH AMMO FOR THE ENTIRE RUN.
  
• +SPI and +STR is not a hunter's friend. I understand that while leveling you will end up being dressed like a clown but please stay away from Spirit and Strength. If you need mana regen that bad look into buying wizard oils to apply to your weapons.
  

It's not hard to be a good hunter. Not hard at all.

WotLK Beta Up, Invites Going Out Soon.

I've got three horses in this race:

1. Blizzcon Beta Key
2. WoW Account Opt In
3. Blizzard Store Account Opt In

Really hope one of the three pans out. I haven't been in a beta since EA's failed Multiplayer Battletech:3025.

Activating the Authenticator

On the 14th I finally got my token and as I sat down to do a nice big writeup with pictures, I nosed over to WoW Insider and found one of my friends there had already done such a post. Well heck there's really no sense in me doing what's already been done, so here are a few paragraphs from Amanda Dean's post "Activating The Authenticator" and a link you can follow to the full post:

The Blizzard Authenticator is currently sold out on the Blizzard Store. I'm sure there will be plenty more to come, when they're ready. I bought one as soon as I heard they were available. Although my experience with the Blizzard Store was not great, it was certainly better than some others. After my order was placed, every time I checked on in, I what appeared to be a rag doll murloc who informed me that an error occurred on the page.

My authenticator has arrived. Thanks to the free shipping from the Blizzard online store, I saved $0.59 in United States Postal Service postage. To be honest, I'm just glad to have my security token. The token come with a single piece of documentation, which directs the user to the security token FAQ page.

I expected the authenticator to be slightly larger. It's approximately the same size as the clicker for my Mustang. I have not yet devised a tether for it, but the device will soon be leashed to my computer.

Continue reading Activating the Authenticator

Blizzard Authenticator Unboxing

For giggles I broke down and ordered an authenticator when they were first released, and it should be arriving in the next day or two. I'll have pictures and usage writeups as soon as I can.