Raid Rx: Don’t be a hero

Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a WoW blog for all things UI, macro, and addon related. Ah, the hero healer. It reminds me of me. Have you been in a situation where it always seems to be that one same healer which steals the spotlight raid after raid? Its as if raiding groups can’t take down bosses without that one specific healer there. It gets progressively worse when that healer starts rubbing it in the faces of other healers whether directly or indirectly. Now don’t get me wrong. A healer should be proud of what they are capable of doing. But there are a few problems when it comes to being a hero. Hold off on the meters It gets really annoying if I have to endure a druid or paladin (or some other) healer consistently showing off how much healing they’ve done fight after fight. There’s no reason to echo that stuff throughout the raid. Not unless there is a legitimate healing problem, at least. (Note: Personally, I

You won’t get a pony, but prot will get sustained DPS increase

In a forum thread discussing the recent prot warrior block changes and Warbringer nerf and the state of prot warrior DPS (it’s basically acknowledged as the lowest DPS among the tanks) Ghostcrawler chimes in that they intend to buff sustained prot DPS while reducing burst in PvP. However, he quickly comes back to point that at this stage in the expansion they don’t want to make any sustained mechanical changes and so, don’t expect one. The sustained DPS increase will come from buffs to existing abilities. While I can understand the trepidation from prot warriors at this statement (no one is terribly excited about a buff to Devastate, not even me) it’s an unfortunate but valid point he makes here. You really don’t have the time to make drastic mechanical changes this far into the cycle. We might like a more drastic solution, but with Cataclysm looming on the horizon you don’t really want to see too much tinkering with the base mechanics. Still, please don’t just buff Devastate. Please. I’m begging you here.

Breakfast Topic: Caught between a rock

For a while I wasn’t sure if I’d continue playing World of Warcraft into the next expansion. I was by no means planning on giving up my gaming habit, but I really felt like I was ready for something new: either another MMO or one of the latest generation consoles. Many pros and cons were weighed, and I have decided to stick with WoW for at least one more expansion. It was a difficult decision for me but in the end it was the rocks that won me over. Yes, the rocks. You see, I am part of a small, but growing number of WoW players who collect rocks. For those of you who overlook this highly sophisticated hobby, I encourage you to give it some research. Blizzard has gone through great efforts to supply an expansive assortment of wonderful, prized rocks over the years and expansions. These items are really what separate World of Warcraft from other MMOs, by adding another dimension of enjoyment to the game. a. Rock b. Pet Rock c. A Very Pretty Rock d. Shiny Polished Stone e. Lucky Rock f. Happy Fun Rock g. A Pretty Rock h. Rock Chip Above you can see my treasured

Arcane Brilliance: Mistakes mages make

Welcome to another edition of Arcane Brilliance, the weekly mage column that would like to say to warlocks: Look… even when we’re alone, we outnumber you. We belong to the best class in World of Warcraft. I know this because I have a checklist. Do you want to see it? Too bad, you’re going to see it anyway: Access to enormous balls of flame: check Can solo ICC trash: check Can pull off wearing a dress and make it look sexy: check (see pic above) Has a wand (though two would be even pimper): check Can make a mean slushy: check Can create own strudel: check Can rock a pointy hat: chizzeck Can create more of self: check, check, and check. Oh, and one more check (also see pic above) Is not a warlock: check You see? Mages meet every criteria on the checklist. The fact that I just made the checklist up is unimportant; the important thing to take away from this is that mages are, indisputably, the best class in this game. But we aren’t perfect. We make mistakes. Five of them, to be precise. The introduction and ensuing popularity of random pugging has brought

The Daily Quest: Feral cat druid guides and goodness

We here at WoW.com are on a Daily Quest to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere. Today’s edition is brought to you by Dan O’Halloran, your resident WoW.com managing editor and founder of the WoW class news aggregation site, The Daily Druid. Feral cat guides on the internet seem harder to find than other spec guides, so I’ve collected a few here for those of you looking to claw faces with greater efficiency. WoW Wiki’s Feral DPS Guide: A very comprehensive guide for cat druids covering specs and glyphs, dps rotation, gear stat explanations, Rawr video walkthrough, enchants, gems, consumables and more. Melee hit table FAQ for feral druids: The Fluid Druid blog breaks down why cat druids need to hit the hit cap. Cat Druid best in slot gear list updated for Icecrown: Kalon has actually rated a long list of top items available to cat druids for each slot, but don’t we all just look at the best in slot and skip the rest? Best 3.3 non-tier cat gear: Kalon is at it again, this time listing the

WoW Magazine now shipping

Several people have told us via our feedback page that they have received theirWorld of Warcraft Official Magazine in the mail. Last month, we got to see the preview and now many subscribers already have them in hand. The WoW Magazine is a quarterly publication that is available via subscription only. U.S. subscriptions begin at $39.95 for a year and subscriptions are available to other countries at different rates. Our tipsters have described the magazine as having a graphic novel feel to them. Did you subscribe to the magazine? If so, have you received your copy? We would love to read your reviews in the comments if you have.

WoW Insider Show Episode 123: Goodnight everybody

The WoW Insider Show podcast aired once again this Saturday, with me and my guest hosts Matthew Rossi and Colby Moore delving into reader emails and this week’s top stories on WoW.com. Thrill as we answer the age-old question of “Is it worth it to skip bosses in random heroics?” Marvel as we say it’s pretty okay for Blizzard to help out the police! Gasp as I forget to thank my cohosts at the end of the show and pull a Yakko Warner! Goodnight everybody. As always, you can email us at theshow@wow.com with any questions or comments — we might even read yours live on the air. Get the podcast: [iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show directly in iTunes. [RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator. [MP3] Download the MP3 directly.

The Dungeon Finder and gear disparity

There is some confusion as to whether/how the Dungeon Finder matches characters according to internal gear score. To the best of my knowledge, it actually attempt to create a discrepancy between characters’ gear, so that you’re likely to wind up with a few heavily geared members ‘carrying’ lesser-geared members. This is directly contrary to a claim I’ve seen circulating that the system attempts to match internal gear scores. If the system doesn’t attempt to create disparate groups, it should, and if it does, I’m glad it does. It may be disheartening to see someone in your group in full blues or maybe even a couple greens, instead of the now-familiar suit o’ purples, but as some commenters pointed out in my post on Dungeon Finder bingo, we all started out in blues and greens at 80 (with the possible exception of some crafted gear and BoEs), and heroics were designed to be run with that gear. Where are the epics supposed to come from, for a pre-raid character? Furthermore, a less-geared character might actually need some of the gear