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Zach of WoW.joystiq.com/category/the-art-of-war-craft/”>The Art of War(craft) enjoys PvP in all its forms, which includes competitive sports, martial arts and the considerably less badass and infinitely geekier miniature wargaming. Like Warmachines. Or maybe it’s because he kind of just likes anything with the word ‘”war” tacked onto it.

Last week we took a look at WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/23/the-art-of-war-craft-the-shape-of-cataclysm-battlegrounds-pvp/”>the delicious possibilities that Cataclysm will bring to battlegrounds PvP. It’s going to be pretty brutal out there, and you’re going to need friends. While there is a whole bunch of cool stuff all over, the best thing about Cataclysm for battleground enthusiasts will be the rated battlegrounds. Unfortunately, one of the things this will contribute to is the decline of solo play. In order to get the most out of your battleground experience, you’ll need to be part of a group so that you’ll reap the benefits of rated matches.

The new Vicious Gladiator gear for arena Season 9 (or rated battlegrounds Season 1) is listed on MMO-Champion, and I’m sure avid battlers are drooling in anticipation of how these sets look. Then again, it could just be me. At any rate, there’s a whole load of gear waiting to be claimed through honor and conquest! Most importantly, one thing that separates itemization this upcoming PvP season — and this is a game-changer — is the availability of personal-ratings-free weapons and armor through the new system. That marks the first time that max-level PvP weapons will become obtainable by players of all skill levels and the first time that top-tier PvP armor will only have a cosmetic distinction separating them from their ratings-free counterparts. You read that right: PvP gear with ratings requirements will have the exact same stats as PvP gear with no ratings requirements.

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/30/the-art-of-war-craft-building-your-battleground-kill-crew/” rel=”bookmark”>Continue reading The Art of War(craft): Building your battleground kill crew

Filed under: WoW.joystiq.com/category/analysis-opinion/” rel=”tag”>Analysis / Opinion, WoW.joystiq.com/category/pvp/” rel=”tag”>PvP, WoW.joystiq.com/category/the-art-of-war-craft/” rel=”tag”>The Art of War(craft) (PvP)

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/30/the-art-of-war-craft-building-your-battleground-kill-crew/”>The Art of War(craft): Building your battleground kill crew originally appeared on WoW.joystiq.com”>WoW Insider on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I’ve WoW.com/2010/07/08/the-art-of-war-craft-what-the-new-talent-overhaul-means-for-pv/”>said it before, but low level PvP is going to be insanely fun come Cataclysm. It will be so much fun, in fact, that it will almost be worth rolling alts for and maybe even turning off XP gains to stay in the lower brackets just a while longer. The big change is because of the bonus abilities players gain when choosing a tree to specialize in. Although every character gets one big, signature spell, they are bundled with complementary abilities or skills that define the spec.

When I first reviewed the initial talent overhaul, the developers hadn’t settled on exactly what abilities to give to classes at level 10. Several builds into the beta, we have a better picture of how the various specs will look, and it’s not very likely that these will change much when the game goes live, considering that each spec basically revolves around these core abilities. For the purposes of this post, we’ll take a look at the first two battleground brackets — 10-19 and 20-29 — mostly because characters get talent points every other level now, so these two brackets should cover the first two tiers of each tree. We’ll try to be general for now because everything is in such flux, so expect a few errors as abilities get moved around from one beta iteration to the next.

WoW.com/2010/08/08/the-art-of-war-craft-low-level-pvp-in-cataclysm/” rel=”bookmark”>Continue reading The Art of War(Craft): Low level PvP in Cataclysm

Filed under: WoW.com/category/analysis-opinion/” rel=”tag”>Analysis / Opinion, WoW.com/category/pvp/” rel=”tag”>PvP, WoW.com/category/the-art-of-war-craft/” rel=”tag”>The Art of War(craft) (PvP)

WoW.com/2010/08/08/the-art-of-war-craft-low-level-pvp-in-cataclysm/”>The Art of War(Craft): Low level PvP in Cataclysm originally appeared on WoW.com”>WoW.com on Sun, 08 Aug 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: WoW.com/category/analysis-opinion/” rel=”tag”>Analysis / Opinion, WoW.com/category/pvp/” rel=”tag”>PvP, WoW.com/category/the-art-of-war-craft/” rel=”tag”>The Art of War(craft) (PvP)

I’ve WoW.com/2010/07/08/the-art-of-war-craft-what-the-new-talent-overhaul-means-for-pv/”>said it before, but low level PvP is going to be insanely fun come Cataclysm. It will be so much fun, in fact, that it will almost be worth rolling alts for and maybe even turning off XP gains to stay in the lower brackets just a while longer. The big change is because of the bonus abilities players gain when choosing a tree to specialize in. Although every character gets one big, signature spell, they are bundled with complementary abilities or skills that define the spec.

When I first reviewed the initial talent overhaul, the developers hadn’t settled on exactly what abilities to give to classes at level 10. Several builds into the beta, we have a better picture of how the various specs will look, and it’s not very likely that these will change much when the game goes live, considering that each spec basically revolves around these core abilities. For the purposes of this post, we’ll take a look at the first two battleground brackets — 10-19 and 20-29 — mostly because characters get talent points every other level now, so these two brackets should cover the first two tiers of each tree. We’ll try to be general for now because everything is in such flux, so expect a few errors as abilities get moved around from one beta iteration to the next.

WoW.com/2010/08/08/the-art-of-war-craft-low-level-pvp-in-cataclysm/” rel=”bookmark”>Continue reading The Art of War(Craft): Low level PvP in Cataclysm

WoW.com”>WoW.com” style=”float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0″ />WoW.com/2010/08/08/the-art-of-war-craft-low-level-pvp-in-cataclysm/”>The Art of War(Craft): Low level PvP in Cataclysm originally appeared on WoW.com”>WoW.com on Sun, 08 Aug 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

WoW.com/2010/08/08/the-art-of-war-craft-low-level-pvp-in-cataclysm/” rel=”bookmark” title=”Permanent link to this entry”>Permalink | WoW.com/forward/19581518/” title=”Send this entry to a friend via email”>Email this | WoW.com/2010/08/08/the-art-of-war-craft-low-level-pvp-in-cataclysm/#comments” title=”View reader comments on this entry”>Comments

Filed under: WoW.com/category/analysis-opinion/” rel=”tag”>Analysis / Opinion, WoW.com/category/pvp/” rel=”tag”>PvP, WoW.com/category/the-art-of-war-craft/” rel=”tag”>The Art of War(craft) (PvP)

I’ve WoW.com/2010/07/08/the-art-of-war-craft-what-the-new-talent-overhaul-means-for-pv/”>said it before, but low level PvP is going to be insanely fun come Cataclysm. It will be so much fun, in fact, that it will almost be worth rolling alts for and maybe even turning off XP gains to stay in the lower brackets just a while longer. The big change is because of the bonus abilities players gain when choosing a tree to specialize in. Although every character gets one big, signature spell, they are bundled with complementary abilities or skills that define the spec.

When I first reviewed the initial talent overhaul, the developers hadn’t settled on exactly what abilities to give to classes at level 10. Several builds into the beta, we have a better picture of how the various specs will look, and it’s not very likely that these will change much when the game goes live, considering that each spec basically revolves around these core abilities. For the purposes of this post, we’ll take a look at the first two battleground brackets — 10-19 and 20-29 — mostly because characters get talent points every other level now, so these two brackets should cover the first two tiers of each tree. We’ll try to be general for now because everything is in such flux, so expect a few errors as abilities get moved around from one beta iteration to the next.

WoW.com/2010/08/08/the-art-of-war-craft-low-level-pvp-in-cataclysm/” rel=”bookmark”>Continue reading The Art of War(Craft): Low level PvP in Cataclysm

WoW.com”>WoW.com” style=”float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0″ />WoW.com/2010/08/08/the-art-of-war-craft-low-level-pvp-in-cataclysm/”>The Art of War(Craft): Low level PvP in Cataclysm originally appeared on WoW.com”>WoW.com on Sun, 08 Aug 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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“The summer season on Azeroth seemed to call back many of the frostbitten adventurers of Northrend,” writes submitter WoWarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Lightbringer&cn=Stabaa”>Stabaa of <Perdition> on Lightbringer (EU-H). “With the glory of the fallen Lich King at their backs, many returned to a hero’s welcome. With the comforting smell of Toasted Smorcs in the air and the Fiery Brew flowing freely, this summer in Orgrimmar would surely be like no other.” Well, except for the moping orc in the foreground, who looks like his girlfriend just dumped him on prom night.

Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We’d love to see them on WoW.com/category/around-azeroth/”>Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as emailing WoW.com”>aroundazeroth@WoW.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!

Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word “Azeroth” in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing — use Alt Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, Val’kyr on mounts or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran. Older screenshots can be found WoW.com/gallery/around-azeroth/”>here.

Filed under: WoW.com/category/around-azeroth/” rel=”tag”>Around Azeroth

WoW.com/2010/07/22/around-azeroth-dont-be-sad-flying-ace/”>Around Azeroth: Don’t be sad, flying ace originally appeared on WoW.com”>WoW.com on Thu, 22 Jul 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Okay, who pulled the damn plug? After twenty minutes we’re all finally ready to go, and one of you sneaky bastards — rogues, I’m looking at you here — swam down there and unstopped the ocean while I was getting my sandwich. Now the shamans are going to have to spend the rest of the night in here with their water totems just to be able to raid tomorrow. Great work, guys, really stellar performance. When they named the expansion they must have been thinking of our raid group. (Thanks to Pokeadot for the screenshot!)

Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We’d love to see them on WoW.com/category/around-azeroth/” target=”_blank”>Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as emailing WoW.com” target=”_blank”>aroundazeroth@WoW.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!

Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word “Azeroth” in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing — use Alt Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, Val’kyr on mounts or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran. Older screenshots can be found WoW.com/gallery/around-azeroth/” target=”_blank”>here.

Filed under: WoW.com/category/around-azeroth/” rel=”tag”>Around Azeroth

WoW.com/2010/07/20/around-azeroth-beta-edition-down-the-drain/”>Around Azeroth Beta Edition: Down the drain originally appeared on WoW.com”>WoW.com on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Each day, WoW.com will take you through all the blue posts and other Blizzard news from around the internet. From Ghostcrawler’s latest posts to the lowdown on StarCraft II and Diablo III, we’ll keep you informed.

Ghostcrawler talks today about tank effective health and why people don’t gem for dodge. Something about dragon breath hurts.

Table of Contents

• WoW.com/2010/07/20/the-daily-blues/#ghostcrawler”>Ghostcrawler on the effective health of tanks
• WoW.com/2010/07/20/the-daily-blues/#battlegrounds”>Battleground extra honor and how it works
• WoW.com/2010/07/20/the-daily-blues/#maintenance”>Maintenance and the reason for its odd time
• WoW.com/2010/07/20/the-daily-blues/#other”>Other
  

WoW.com/2010/07/20/the-daily-blues/” rel=”bookmark”>Continue reading The Daily Blues

Filed under: WoW.com/category/the-daily-blues/” rel=”tag”>The Daily Blues

WoW.com/2010/07/20/the-daily-blues/”>The Daily Blues originally appeared on WoW.com”>WoW.com on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 00:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The citizens of Storm Peaks can’t afford to pay Batman to come save them in times of trouble, so they’ve settled on the cheap knockoff known as WoWarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Duskwood&cn=Waynebruce”>Waynebruce of <Immortal Order> on Duskwood (US-A). I guess it’s sort of like those “Spader-Man” action figures I saw for sale on the street in California. (No, they did not look like James Spader in Secretary.)

Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We’d love to see them on WoW.com/category/around-azeroth/”>Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as emailing WoW.com”>aroundazeroth@WoW.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!

Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word “Azeroth” in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing — use Alt Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, Val’kyr on mounts or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran. Older screenshots can be found WoW.com/gallery/around-azeroth/”>here.

Filed under: WoW.com/category/around-azeroth/” rel=”tag”>Around Azeroth

WoW.com/2010/07/21/around-azeroth-a-hero-takes-a-fall/”>Around Azeroth: A hero takes a fall originally appeared on WoW.com”>WoW.com on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by WoW.com/2010/02/03/the-new-WoW-com-guest-blogger-program/”>Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com.

There’s obviously a certain understanding based on shared experience among the various WoW races, classes and specs, no matter what your faction. When you meet, even if you can’t understand each other in chat, you might tip your hat, wave or do some other emote that signifies your recognition of a fellow traveler who is just like you were, are or will be. True, sometimes it’s more of a rivalry, with the occasional threat, challenge or insult. But just as often (if not more so), there is flirting, cheers and exchanging of baby spice and hugs.

I think this is even more true for druids and particularly feral druids. My main is an Alliance bear/cat, and often when I bump into another druid while going about my business, we start dancing or roaring at each other, or some other emote/interaction occurs that doesn’t normally happen with every passing stranger (if it did, we’d never get anything done, I guess). The resulting hijinks are often quite comical, but even more so if we are both in an animal form.

This seems to happen just as much when I meet Hordies as anyone else. Maybe not in a battleground (probably a good thing), but when I see another feral in passing, it seems like we become alert to each other’s presence and make a quick little event out of it, then go on our way. The other races and classes are there, sure, and they certainly command my awareness and interaction as the case may be. But first and foremost, I’m checking out the other ferals. It seems there’s something about ferals that makes us want to interact, be it a playful romp, chase or even the occasional threatening/rude gesture to show who’s boss or who doesn’t want to be messed with. It makes me wonder if this is how a dog feels in the park.

WoW.com/2010/07/21/breakfast-topic-the-feral-bond/” rel=”bookmark”>Continue reading Breakfast Topic: The feral bond

Filed under: WoW.com/category/druid/” rel=”tag”>Druid, WoW.com/category/breakfast-topics/” rel=”tag”>Breakfast Topics, WoW.com/category/guest-posts/” rel=”tag”>Guest Posts

WoW.com/2010/07/21/breakfast-topic-the-feral-bond/”>Breakfast Topic: The feral bond originally appeared on WoW.com”>WoW.com on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zach Yonzon believes in social media and thinks that WoW.com/tag/real-id/”>Real ID is the new battleground.

Oh man. We knew Cataclysm was going to change everything, but I don’t think any of us really expected that Blizzard meant everything everything! Yesterday’s WoW.com/2010/07/07/cataclysm-class-and-mastery-systems-explained”>bombshell of an announcement regarding the talents and masteries threw everyone for a loop. When talent trees from the alpha started appearing in WoWhead.com/talent”>WoWhead and MMO Champion, some of us wondered why most of the unexciting, passive talents were still there despite the developers’ mentioning that they’d be removed in Cataclysm. Granted, the game was too early in its development to have concrete trees, but I don’t think any of us thought they’d be pared down the way they would be. Let’s review some of what Blizzard said.

WoW.com/media/2010/02/blizzimg4.jpg” alt=”" /> Zarhym

Talent trees will have around 20 unique talents instead of today’s (roughly) 30 talents, and aesthetically will look a bit more like the original World of Warcraft talent trees. The 31-point talents will generally be the same as the 51-point talents we already had planned for Cataclysm. A lot of the boring or extremely specialized talents have been removed, but we don’t want to remove anything that’s going to affect spell/ability rotations. We want to keep overall damage, healing, and survivability roughly the same while providing a lot of the passive bonuses for free based on your specialization choice.

While leveling, you will get 1 talent point about every 2 levels (41 points total at level 85). Our goal is to alternate between gaining a new class spell or ability and gaining a talent point with each level. As another significant change, you will not be able to put points into a different talent tree until you have dedicated 31 talent points to your primary specialization. While leveling, this will be possible at 70. Picking a talent specialization should feel important. To that end, we want to make sure new players understand the significance of reaching the bottom of their specialization tree before gaining the option of spending points in the other trees. We intend to make sure dual-specialization and re-talenting function exactly as they do today so players do not feel locked into their specialization choice.

WoW.com”>source

WoW.com/2010/07/08/the-art-of-war-craft-what-the-new-talent-overhaul-means-for-pv/” rel=”bookmark”>Continue reading The Art of War(craft): What the new talent overhaul means for PvP

Filed under: WoW.com/category/analysis-opinion/” rel=”tag”>Analysis / Opinion, WoW.com/category/pvp/” rel=”tag”>PvP, WoW.com/category/the-art-of-war-craft/” rel=”tag”>The Art of War(craft) (PvP), WoW.com/category/cataclysm/” rel=”tag”>Cataclysm

WoW.com/2010/07/08/the-art-of-war-craft-what-the-new-talent-overhaul-means-for-pv/”>The Art of War(craft): What the new talent overhaul means for PvP originally appeared on WoW.com”>WoW.com on Thu, 08 Jul 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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