The debate over whether Death Knights should get a free hand up on their primary professions continues to rage, but what actually interests me most are some of the arguments put forth by those opposed to Death Knights getting "free" tradeskills. Some of them are saying that it doesn't matter that Death Knights have to wait, because people should wait until max level to deal with professions anyway.
This is a completely alien concept to me. On any new character, the first thing I do upon hitting level 6 is run to the nearest profession trainers to learn my chosen professions. I like being able to doing something about those herbs and mineral nodes I see while I'm leveling. I can go do some tradeskilling if I start getting bored of leveling, and I can use the final product for my own leveling process, or sell the raw materials on the AH for a nice chunk of change.
I can't really fathom waiting for maximum level before I started a profession in earnest. Why go back to Elwynn forest to harvest bushels of Peacebloom at level 70 when you could have done it from level 1-11 while you were there?
So here's something that may be considered somewhat of a companion question to yesterday's profession question: Do you level your professions while you level up, or do you leave them until after you've leveled up?
With Wrath's release inching closer and closer, we've had a flood of profession information coming in. The latest Blizzcast gave up some insight into the future of professions, and we've seen rumors and recipe lists for quite a few professions. Even gathering professions aren't immune to the fun, with some nice little innate bonuses being granting to mining, skinning and herbalism.
So, with Wrath coming, it's the perfect time to take inventory of your tradeskills and decide which way you're going to go. Will you drop Leatherworking now that you don't need the drums for raiding? Will you head over to Inscription so you can trick out your own spells and skills? Will you go strictly gathering for the buffs and for selling off raw materials to everyone trying to level their professions?
In short, what profession will be your primary pursuit in Wrath of the Lich King?
Over the last few days, we've been given some exciting new details for craftsmen everywhere. Haven't been keeping up? Here's a quick summary of some of the more interesting developments:
The alchemical discovery system might become a feature of all professions, although it would likely be restricted to "fun" recipes.
Daily quests awarding tokens to craftsmen to use at a special vendor selling recipes might be implemented. In this way, there would be a bit more individuality between players.
The best items you can craft for any given slot will be available around 350 instead of 375, as in The Burning Crusade.
The list goes on. In fact, there are several interesting and fun abilities and recipes on the horizon for all professions. Which changes are you most excited about? Are you thinking of switching trades because of some of the upcoming goodies? If you don't currently have a crafting profession, are you considering getting one? Edit: The best items you can craft for any given slot in The Burning Crusade came at the skill cap (375) and Blizzard now feels this was too late. In Wrath, you will acquire them earlier.
Blizzcast episode 4 is now live and available for listening, and with it, of course, has come a wealth of new World of Warcraft Information. Some of it is stuff we've gotten wind for before, but there's some interesting insights into the whole game. You can listen to it here and read the transcript here, or join us after the break for a breakdown of the juiciest information from the Interviews
It was perhaps one of the most unexpected and controversial changes to hit Wrath Beta: Potion Sickness, the debuff that spelled the end of chain-chugging by allowing only one potion to be quaffed per combat and no more. Some people loved, since it would cut down on pre-raid farming and perhaps allow for bosses to be balanced more around classes and roles and less around Haste, Ironshield, and Destruction potions. Some saw it as a major nerf to Alchemists and to casters who were used to chaining mana pots to stay in the blue.
Recently in the Wrath of the Lich King beta, Alchemists were given a Passive ability called Alchemical Blood. More recently it was renamed to Mixology. Mixology's tooltip states, "You receive an increased effect when you drink any elixir or flask you are able to make."
Not bad! I mean, it sounds not bad. It doesn't really say what that effect is. A few guildmates and I decided to do a little bit of testing to figure it out, though. Using a few high-end Burning Crusade elixirs and low-end Wrath elixirs, we came to the conclusion that the bonus is around 25%. I would say 25% on the dot, but we ran into some conflicting numbers. Nearly 30% in one case, a little under 25% in another. That was probably the result of talents altering the outcome.
With the same 25% applying to flasks, that would add another +20 Damage to the Caster DPS flasks. Flask of Pure Death, for example, would now supply +100 Shadow, Fire and Frost damage. Not a bad deal, really. 20 damage doesn't quite match up to an Enchanter's ring enchants, but I think Wrath's Crazy Alchemist Potions will make up for that. Wild Magic, anyone?
[1.Local] serves up a smattering of reader comments from the past week, from the sublime to the ridiculous.
This week at WoW Insider, readers pulled up a keyboard to chat about a fairly wide-ranging selection of topics. They dreamed up WoW comics they'd most be interested in reading. They groused about the upcoming expansion's anticipated new travel hub. They debated the reasoning behind Wrath's restrictions on chain-potting.
For some truly entertaining comments, check out some of the replies to our Winter's Veil In July contest -- so many different angles we couldn't share just one. And finally, we wrap up this look back at the week's comments say with a standing O for one reader's reply to a post speculating on recent spottings of Varian Wrynn -- an applause-worthy thread-stopper, indeed.
Join us after the break for this week's meatiest reader comments here at WoW Insider. Be sure to dive into the comments area of each thread (not this one!) and add your own thoughts – unlike your mama, we like us some hot, fresh backtalk.
Part of the allure of drums in raids has been the ability to overlap the effects of different types of drums by having several leatherworkers drumming at a time. One member might boost attack power and spell damage for party members in range, while another might restore health and mana.
With the new Tinnitus debuff, any targets affected by drums are immune to the effects of all other drums for two minutes. While this sounds like a nerf, it might actually have a balancing effect.
In fact, other professions are seeing similar changes. Potions will create Potion Sickness, which will prevent the consumer from using more than one in any given encounter. Players will have to rest out of combat in order to refresh the privilege.
So far, this also is affecting mana gems and similar items, although it is unclear if that particular effect is a bug or not. What does this mean?
Bad (good?) news for Alchemists and the people that love (hate?) them. The latest Beta build has introduced something called Potion Sickness. The tooltip reads as follows: "Unable to consume potions until you rest out of combat for a short duration."
In other words, you can drink one potion per encounter. The debuff itself has absolutely no duration. It sticks on you until you drop combat. This is largely meaningless to the casual player, but what it will do to raiding will be rejoiced as well as reviled. Alchemists are going to take a huge hit to their income if this goes live. Yeah yeah, I know most Alchemists will say their profit is from Herbalism, but after seeing the insane prices on Haste Potions, Super Mana Potions and Flasks, I beg to differ.
There's nothing stunning, I'm afraid; more like some nice upgrades to current favorites. But I certainly expect be popping flasks and pots in Naxx at least as much as I currently am in Zul'Aman. Anyway, let's see what we've got. I'll compare to the BC or old-world versions where appropriate.
Another fun little addition for tradeskills and crafters straight from the Beta realms is the ability to peruse the recipes that someone else knows. It works very simply, too. The crafter links his tradeskill like it were an item. You click on that link and a regular tradeskill window pops open, minus the option to craft, create or enchant what you're looking at. You can see all of their recipes and the materials required for them.
This seems like it's going to be especially useful for the tradeskills that have a large variety of things that people need. Jewelcrafting, Enchanting, et cetera. It would be much easier to link a guildmate the list of what I can do rather than look up everything they need myself. "Can you do Savagery? Vitality? Spell damage to bracers? MP5 to chest? Strength to gloves?" Maybe! Here, check and see!
Linking your recipe book over the Trade channel should help sell enchants and inscriptions as well, hopefully replacing the endless spam of three paragraph advertisement macros. Okay, so maybe those macros will never go away, but we can hope can't we? By the way, you can click on the image to the right to make it bigger, in case you can't see it very well as it is.
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.
Last week, Insider Trader examined the factions that a new tailor in Outland will need to buddy up to, including what recipes they had to offer, and how far you'd need to go.
Today, we will continue through the series with the following guide to faction recipes for alchemists in Outland. Here is the quick breakdown of what you will need to grind:
Honored with Honor Hold or Thrallmar.
Honored with the Violet Eye (Kara).
Revered with Kurenai or Mag'har. *This one may not be worth it.
Revered with Scryers. Aldor has nothing for alchemists.
Seeing as how Alchemy is not yet officially implemented in the Wrath beta, we don't know all of what's in store for the masters of elixirs, flasks, potions, and transmutation. However, we can get some idea, given that the spells themselves seem to be in the game files, so we know the names of some alchemy spells and products, if not their actual effects (though some recipes are easy enough to guess).
The Burning Crusade did quite a bit to make tradeskills useful. While some were more powerful than others, almost all of them got something pretty nice, even the gathering skills. Tailors and Blacksmiths got a bit of an edge in gearing up for higher content, Leatherworking drums are one of the single most desired crafted items around for raids, Engineers got fantastic goggles and a pretty cool mount, Herbalists can pick powerfulconsumables, et cetera, et cetera. This is a major step up from life in vanilla WoW, where any tradeskills except Herbalism, Alchemy and Enchanting were almost entirely worthless.
Still, though, it kind of feels like crafting in WoW is... empty. The tradeskills are useful now, but I'm a strange fellow. The tradeskills need heart. They need flavor. I like my tradeskills having a larger effect on how you play. Leatherworking is actually a good example of this, from a conceptual point of view. I love the idea of drums having an active effect on things. It isn't just a passive stat increase that you equip or cram in your mouth. It's something you need to be conscious of, something you need to actively use. I don't really know how you could do this for all tradeskills, but I'd love to see more of it. No, those crappy nets don't count.
Another thing I'd like to see expanded from The Burning Crusade is location-specific crafting. Making my Spellcloth, Primal Mooncloth and Shadowcloth every few days seemed like an adventure, if a tedious one. Spellcloth was especially fun! You had to arm and prepare yourself before you hit the 'create' button until your gear was good. Fishing before The Burning Crusade was not nearly as useful as it is now, but I liked time of day and season having an effect on things. Stocking up on Grilled Squid in the appropriate season and using it to negotiate deals with rogues and hunters was great fun, I think. I'd like to see that come back in some form in Wrath, though maybe not as extreme.
What would you like to see out of crafting in Wrath? Are you hoping for something more dynamic, or are you a (wo)man of simple pleasures and all you need is a great big sword to be happy?
There's a new game in town, and Artirius of the Aerie Peak server has noticed it, and admittedly, so have I. With attunements gone, it is now possible for any level 70 to go in and see tier 5 and 6 content whenever they want. Of course, they don't generally have a prayer of actually downing bosses unless they have 20-24 well geared people to help them out.
That's where gold comes in. With a few thousand gold, you can buy your way into a tier 6 group that doesn't need the tier 6 armor and go along for the ride. A few hours later, you come out on the other end with Illidan dead and a few shiny new drops, even if you've never set foot in Karazhan.
It's not just people trying to buy these slots in the trade channel either. As Artirius observes, many raid groups are actively soliciting for buyers for their raid slots. On my own server, one Horde group is trading tier 6 runs for large quantities of certain herbs, promising that all but a few select drops will go to the people who buy their slots with stacks of Netherbloom and Ghost Mushrooms.
The debate over whether Death Knights should get a free hand up on their primary professions continues to rage, but what actually interests me most are some of the arguments put forth by those opposed to Death Knights getting "free" tradeskills. Some of them are saying that it doesn't matter that Death Knights have to wait, because people should wait until max level to deal with professions anyway. 
It was perhaps one of the most unexpected and controversial changes to hit Wrath Beta: 
Recently in the Wrath of the Lich King beta, Alchemists were given a Passive ability called Alchemical Blood. More recently it was renamed to 
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