Go to the following URL in order to be eligable for the WotLK beta:
https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account/beta-opt-in.html

Good luck getting in!

Since the servers were down I thought I would toss a quick leveling guide together to sate the appetites of all my fans. It's rather short for right now since I only worked on it for a few minutes, but I can definitely expand it and answer some Q&A =D.

On with the show!

I'm guessing your computer desk probably looks like mine did before WoW came along and ruined it.

But in fact, its the users desk and human environment that holds them back from leveling more than anything else! I'm going to show you how to fix it =)

Step 1:

Add some Post-It notes with encouraging phrases to help keep you focused and having fun!

Step 2:

Another of the things that keeps you from leveling quickly is time spent Away from Keyboard (or AFK as we like to call it). Now, most of us have jobs and familys that demand constant attention during normal day time hours, so the obvious solution is to cut sleep out of our daily routines! For this, you'll want to have you desk look something like this -

Step 3:

Now that your *fully* awake, you need to keep your attention focused and also to prevent people from bothering you. Here are just a few options in a slew of things you can try

3a:

METAL

Keep small children at bay with screaming vocals and double bass that will send them screaming for Mommy. Good bands for accomplish this are:

3b:

Show them that you mean business by packing some heat! If someones not afraid of this look, they have bigger issues.

3c:

You can also keep people away by just making them not want to be by you. This is a great way to make people feel uncomfortable around you, as seen in Heth's desktop:

That sums up the first installment of the Waho Leveling guide! Hope your on your way to a more productive WoW leveling career.

Waho

Raiding & Invites

See Here

Standby

Full Post

• People on standby for a 25 man raid receive DKP equal to those in the raid
• To receive DKP you must do several things
1. Whisper Alyrra (The Standby Officer) and let her know your intention to be on standby.
2. Once she has confirmed you to be on standby, you must join the channel sndstandby
   
   • Please leave sndstandby when you leave standby or the raid ends. This helps alleviate confusion.
3. You must be able to zone in within 5 minutes so the raid does not have to wait for you.
4. NOTIFY THE STANDBY OFFICER (Alyrra) WHEN YOU LEAVE STANDBY.

DKP

Our loot system is DKP, where you earn points based on attendance.

For specifics and information please see This

Guild Event Manager (GEM)

The majority of our raids are scheduled using GEM, an in-game calender.

Steps to setting up GEM:

1. Download Gem From This Site
2. Extract to World of Warcraft/interface/addons (Do not extract while WoW is loaded)
3. Log in to World of Warcraft, and look for the GEM icon on your minimap, and click on it to open the menu
4. Go to the options tab (Tabs are at the bottom)
5. Set up the channel:
• Channel: joint
• Password: broggok
6. Look for the check box "Use Server Time" and make sure it is checked
7. Change the mini-map icon to something alchohol-related
8. Profit

General Idea Raiding Videos

SSC

Hydross ( WoWWikki )

The Lurker Below ( WoWWikki )

Leotheras The Blind ( WoWWikki )

Fathom Lord Karathess (Not the same add kill order as we use) ( WoWWikki )

Morogrim Tidewalker ( WoWWikki )

Lady Vashj ( WoWWikki )

Mount Hyjal

Rage Winterchill ( WoWWikki )

Anetheron ( WoWWikki )

Raiding Addons

• Wow Ace Updater Technically not a mod, it updates Ace2 mods.
• WowAce Addons - Download from list
1. Big Wigs __ Provides timers for every boss fight. If you get nothing else get this.
2. Omen __ Displays your threat on your target in relation to raid members (The Tank)
3. oRA2 __ Allows voting and does several general raid functions
• Perfectraid (Healers or for raid awareness) __ Displays compact raid frames.

Here's a couple of links to Shaman related information that I frequent rather infrequently.

• The WoW Shaman Forum is usually just full of "waahhhh we suck" and "I quit since blizz keeps nerfing us, roflcakes" useless crap. But sometimes you can find a good post or two.
  
• Elitest Jerks Enhancement, Resto, and Elemental Spec threads are generally accepted as the best place for quality information. And a major plus in the fact the forum is almost totally devoid of "QQ."
  
• The Resto4Now Resto gear list and calculator spreadsheets are well designed and easy to use. It doesn't include the newest badge loot and sunwell gear yet, but you can add it in yourself if you absolutely need to.
  
• WowWiki's Useful Shaman Macros page has a nice list of commonly used macros that you can copy and paste into WoW. How easy is that?

If anyone else has seen Shaman sites they like, please add them in here for the benefit of the rest of us =)

Waho

Ok, the class mechanics can be somewhat spread out across the WoW forums (Who wants to go to that place anyways) so I looked around a bit and I'm going to list all the hit caps and stuff like that.

• For all caster classes, you can stack all the hit gear you like, but you will never reach 100% chance to hit (Ever wonder why the lvl 1 critters resist? >.>). Every caster class is capped at 99% chance to hit, melee classes can reach 100%.
• Approaching 99% chance to hit will greatly improve your dps, because if you aren't hitting something you aren't... hitting it. Mathematically speaking your hit rating typically acts as as you base multiplier (Which means it will have a large effect on your dps).

CASTER MECHANICS

The Hit Cap

1. You'll want to itemize for boss fights, as thats what matters most in raiding.
2. Bosses are calculated as being 3 levels above you.
3. Your base chance to hit on a boss is 83% ( Source )
4. This means +hit is effective until you reach +16% hit. (Or 202 hit rating)
5. At level 70 12.6 hit rating = 1% hit. (Which is cheaper itemization than crit rating)
6. So for hit rating you will need [202-12.6H] hit rating, where H = % hit you gained from talents. For example elemental precision would be equal to 6.

Crit

1. Crit will often act as a second multiplier.
2. Crit plays an important roll in certain specs such as fire mage, or destruction warlock, and should not be neglected.

This is an extremely simplified equation and should not be used for calculating dps. It accounts for no talents or special class mechanics. It is meant to give a general idea of what spells go through.

SpellDamage = D (700 SpellDamage = .... 700)
Spell Coefficient = M (83% coefficient = .83)
Hit Decimal = H (99% hit [capped] = .99)
Crit Decimal = C (15% crit = 1.15)

(D*M*H*C)

Caster Addons

1. For ANY CASTER I would strongly recommend Quartz
2. For any caster with a damage over time, I recommend Dotimer

PHYSICAL MECHANICS

1. You'll want to itemize for boss fight, as thats what matters most in raiding.
2. Bosses are calculated as being 3 levels above you.
3. Here are some numbers:
   
   1. Base Melee Miss (Dual-Wielding): 28%
   2. Base Melee Miss (2H/1H+Shield/Special Attacks): 9%
   3. Base Ranged Miss: 9%
   4. Hit % = hit rating / 15.8

• This means without ANY TALENT a dual-wielding class requires 442 hit rating to be “Hit capped”
• A non-dual-wielding class (2H/1H+Shield/Special Attacks) requires 142 hit rating to be “hit capped”

I'm not even going to pretend I know enough about physical classes to provide even a basic formula.

TANKING MECHANICS

As a tank in a raid situation, you'll want to obtain a substantial amount of health and avoidance, as well as several crucial caps.

• First is becoming immune to critical hits. Becoming immune to critical hits (200% dmg) cuts back on the spike damage, and is mainly achieved through defense.

Crit-immune “cap”

1. Without ANY TALENTS you need 490 defense.
2. With Anticipation (Warrior or Paladin) you still require 490 defense (Total is displayed in your character sheet), but you will need less from gear.
3. With Survival of the Fittest (Druid) you require 415 defense.
4. It is possible to use resilience to replace defense (Only useful concerning the crit-cap), but it is only common practice for druids. If a druid does this they just need to maintain -2.6% chance to be crit when defense and resilience are added together (This can be found by mousing over each in your character sheet).

Second we have the crush-immune cap (Only applicable for warrior and paladins, unless you manage to stack around 3000 agility as a druid)

Crush-immune “cap”

A crush (150% damage) has a 15% chance to occur when a boss is striking a player. A crush is located near the end of the roll table, which means you'll need a good amount of avoidance to push it off the table. The good news is that block counts towards pushing it off the table (Druids cannot block despite their faces being flat like shields). Warriors and paladins require different amounts of avoidance to become crush-immune due to shield block and holy shield having different strengths.

Warrior

1. Counting the 75% block from Shield Block your dodge/block/parry/chance to be missed must be equal to 102.4%
2. So your base dodge/block/parry/chance to be missed must be > or = to 27.4%
3. Once you reach 27.4% or more you are immune to crushing blows while under the effects of Shield Block.
4. Shield Block's strength is that you require less avoidance to become crush immune.
5. Its weakness is that the 2 charges can be consumed in an unlucky string

Paladin

1. Counting the 30% block from Holy Shield your dodge/block/parry/chance to be missed must be equal to 102.4%
2. So your base dodge/block/parry/chance to be missed must be > or = to 72.4%
3. Once you reach 72.4% or more you are immune to crushing blows while under the effects of Holy Shield.
4. Holy Shield's strength is that it is harder for it's charges to be consumed early because it has a substantial amount of them.
5. Holy Shield's weakness is that you must stack much more avoidance than a warrior to become crush-immune

Druids

1. Stack 3000 agility

HEALER MECHANICS

Ok, we're in the home stretch. Now we come to the guys that keep you alive (usually), the healers. Unlike the the other classes, healers have no “caps”, but they do have several sweet spots to shoot for. In addition to gear, a Super Mana Potion is a healer's best friend (Second best if you count the tank who prevents the healer from tanking).

For raiding the initial 25mans (Gruul/Mag) the following stats help you keep up with the damage well, though they “will” definitely vary between classes. These are raid-buffed stats.

1. 150-175 Mp5 (And Mana Pots)
2. 1250-1400 healing
3. 9k-11k mana pool

That is a general area to shoot for gear-wise, for techniques clicky Here.

__

So there you have it, a condensed version of class mechanics found all over the forums. The caster and tank parts are the largest because that is where I have personal experience, sorry melee dps... I don't apologize to hunters because you all sicken me with your dispel shot...

I made this with the help of a few people specializing in their areas as well as reading over forums.

If you have anything you would like to contribute please tell me and I'll edit it in (If you can provide a source or substantial backup to support it).

Hunters are overpowered.

Good night everyone, Happy New Year, and all that other stuff too, and here's to late nights. (=

This is just a blog entry to hold links to all sorts of topics I want to be able to refer back to easily.

Warrior:

• 2.3 Warrior Gear Guide
• Tank Theory Links
• Warrior ordered gear list
• Tankspot - tanking website
• Spell reflectable skills
• Protection Warrior guide on Elitist-Jerks
• Tanking warrior spreadsheet. Gear ranking and customize based on your weighings of tps/mit/avoidance.
• DPS warrior spreadsheet. Find your best gear upgrades / talents / etc.
• Tankspot Warrior Reference Guide

Priest:

• Drunkie's Drunken Damage Deleting Guide
• Priest Holy Raiding in 2.4 compendium
• Healing priest spreadsheet.

Rogue:

• Rogue Gear Spreadsheet
• Rogue DPS Spreadsheet
• Shadowpanther. Good general rogue resource with specs / gear / etc.
• World of Ming. Mainly pvp focused blog on rogues.

General:

• MaxDPS.com. A website with a simplified spreadsheet type approach to maxing your dps.
• ZA Strategy Guide
• Darkpower's Big List of class mechanics
• Gem finding wizard
• Best forum for WoW Theorycraft
• DnD website built-in search page

Cool page I came across that has all of the past patch notes and shows how Blizzard changed WoW balance over the years:
http://madnesslabs.com/wow/classnotes.html

So, here I am, working at the bar... as I write this even. Its the day after the 4th of July, its 80s night, and I am the DJ. Summer has been slow at all DJ events, and tonight is no different. The bar has 5 clients.. 3 of them employees. Jason is behind the bar, and DJ Pope is in the DJ booth... (my DJ moniker is The Pope) Normally, I am either taking requests, downloading songs I don't already have, flirting with the ladies, or working the crowd.

However, tonight... I am not feeling it. Maybe I am pissed off that I had to work on the 4th. Maybe I am pissed off that I am doing two nights straight, when I have a 6 day weekend for my day job.

Then the thought occurred to me.. Why didn't I bring my spare laptop? I could be playing warcraft RIGHT NOW. Yes, I would much rather be working on getting my Kara attunement, than sitting here in an empty bar, getting paid to drink. Next time gadget, next time! (pop culture reference) I would love to be doing Warsong Gulch or Alterac Valley right now. Yes, I said WSG.. Out loud. Ok its not my fav, but I do need 5 more honor tokens for my next piece of armor.

Here is a Dark Pope to you guys! (1 part tequila, 1/2 part cran, 1/2 part blue curacao shaken and shot!) I think I will also drink a jager bomb or 7, and my other favorite drink... the Wired Tarantula (tarantula azul, with energy drink like red bull) I am thinking of redesigning this Dark Pope... I like the black, but for some reason not everyone likes the flavor. If mixed properly, it tastes like grape. If not mixed properly... tastes like when you mix all the alcohol in your parents liquor cabinet together. Since I am not the bartender tonight.. dark popes are not working out so well. Maybe a splash of sprite...

I have been having fun leveling Mierda. Such flexibility with the druid. I got mangle early. I like it. Hit your target with a pounce, then mangle, then rake... Thinking about changing her career to engineering, simply for the fact that if I had goblin jumper cables, I could have 2 res's per 30 min. Will I respec to tree form? I dunno. I thought they were kidding when they said they would give the druid tree form. Then I see all these damn trees walking around WSG. I was hoping to get her into Outland this week. I have already cheated, and my home is currently in Shat. I think I should be able to kill a few of the things at 57. Maybe I will try it.. although its a long ass walk to honor hold.

Anyhow, thats all my random thoughts for now. Its good to be back playing full time. Hordies, just you wait... I have a lot of fun stuff coming in through the dark side. A priest, a warrior, a mage.. I am not going to continue leveling the hunter though. I am tired of hunters. The world has too many, and I need to learn to play a more useful class. People seem to be big fans of CC and AOE... also big fans of healers and tanks.. so go figure.

.......*sigh* it's late, i need to sleep and yet, i just want to level, i just want to do one more quest. just one more killing, one more try at surviving the crazed harpies. but i'm going to bed maybe tomarrow >.> ok maybe on the 4th. holidays are the best days to lock yourself in your bedroom with your boyfriendl, a hot pocket, a glass of dew and enough smokes to turn our room into a smoker.....mmmm jerky....and play some never ending WOW. god i love this game.

At last, the plight of the Timbermaw has been resolved and their agitation quelled. Literally thousands of Furblogs have succumbed & fallen to the might of Starlix, yielding no less than 1400 feathers (approximately 2000 since rep gains were 25 then 50 btwn patches) to appease the great mean, furry, & cuddly furbies of Felwood. At which point I freed the demented ones from the evil corrupting them and consequently gained King Magni's approval. Check out my pics under the DnD gallery for a record of such feats!