topbg

The Domination Podcast - Episode 1

Posted by Gavin in General Tips, Podcast, World of Warcraft

This week on the Domination podcast Gavin and Moneybagguns have a lot of ground to cover.  listen in while they talk about the new patch, Inscription, and answer a whole pile of questions from our readers.  They also have a special request for listener feedback.  Hit the play button below to listen, or you can download the entire show.

 
icon for podpress  Domination Podcast Episode 1 [25:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Have you subscribed to Dominate Your Server yet? Our subscribers are eligible for contests and giveaways that non-subscribers don't get access to. Click Here to Subscribe!

73 Comments » ~ ~ Random Post

DYS Goes On The Air!

Posted by Lawbringer in Podcast, World of Warcraft, WotLK

You heard that right.  Well, maybe it’s better to say you WILL be able to hear us right!  DYS is going to bring you a weekly podshow that you can get right through your RSS subscription and here at the site.  We’ve designed the show to make DYS an even more valuable resource tool for all of our readers.

Your hosts will be Gavingarrett, the Tauren Hunter, and Moneybagguns, the shameless capitalist Gnome Mage.  Every Friday, these two toons lay aside their differences (and try not to think about honorable kills) for a while and meet in their studio overlooking Booty Bay.  (We have a bruiser posted right outside the door to make sure things don’t go too badly).

Every Monday we’ll give you a chance to ask questions that we will answer during the podcast.  Then each Friday you can Get the answers straight from Gavin and Moneybagguns!

Gavin knows the game inside and out, and his alter ego from the game is ready to fill you in on how he completely Dominates every aspect of game play.  Moneybagguns (aka Lawbringer’s evil AH market mage) has agreed to let you in on his secrets to WoW wealth.

In their studio, under the hot Stranglethorn Vale sun (and no air conditioning we might add) they take their spots in front of the golden DYS mike and get in depth with your questions.

The DYS podcast will even bring you special guests.  We’ll find the latest breaking news and tidbits to keep you ahead of everyone else so you can truly Dominate.  Our two experts will be able to help you take your game to a completely new level.

The podcast will air every Friday once they’ve had a chance to review your questions.  Now, we can’t promise they will answer every single one, but they have assured us that they will do their very best to give everyone a chance to get their comments on the show.  You simply cannot get coverage this complete (or fun) anywhere else on the web.

Since this IS Monday, you might as well get started right away.  Post your questions below and we’ll send them to our hosts for the very first show this Friday!  That’s right, the first DYS podcast goes on the air this Friday!

Post your questions for Gavin and Moneybagguns in the comments below and then join us on Friday.  You just thought DYS was good, we’re about to give you to a whole new way to get informed, get bad, and get to Dominating.

Get those questions in now and we look forward to meeting you back here Friday for the first weekly edition of the DYS podcast show.  Gavin and Moneybaggins have also been kind enough to introduce themselves for you!  Just click the play below to listen right now.

 
icon for podpress  The Domination Podcast Preview Episode [6:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Have you subscribed to Dominate Your Server yet? Our subscribers are eligible for contests and giveaways that non-subscribers don't get access to. Click Here to Subscribe!

54 Comments » ~ ~ Random Post

Inscription Guide

Posted by Gavin in Auction House, Gold Building, World of Warcraft

Inscription went live on October 15th with patch 3.0.2, and a lot of our subscribers who have been paying attention to our advice made thousands of gold in a matter of a few hours.

We’ve leveled Inscription with every beta and PTR patch, and we know it like the back of our hands. We’ve done it more than 20 times through all the crazy changes, and farmed who knows how many herbs in the process. In a previous post, I reported that in just a little over 4 days I hit the gold cap of 214,000 gold selling glyphs in the Beta.

I’ve been telling you for a while that Inscription is going to be a huge gold-making machine. I’ve spent the last four years playing this game, and I look at World of Warcraft a bit differently than most players. I know how to spot tidbits in patch notes and see gold hidden between the lines. I know how to take advantage of special events and how to get prepared ahead of time. Inscription has the potential to make you more gold than anything else, ever. Period.

When I sat down to write this guide, I didn’t want some low-rent list of what to craft and in what order – those things are all over the internet (and already outdated, and most are dead wrong to boot!)

So we put our heads together and our noses to the grindstone, and when the smoke had cleared, we had a monster 40 page Inscription guide that teaches you what to make, when to make it, how to sell it, and how to squeeze every last gold coin out of the other players on your server.

Here Are Some Of The Things I Teach in my Inscription Guide:
·

  • Inscription Basics - I’ll talk you through exactly how Inscription works for the scribe from start to finish. If you know how it works before you try to work it you’ll be a master of the profession before you even hit 375
  • Why You Should Do Inscription - Learn how big this market is really going to be, and why it’s worth THOUSANDS of gold to you
  • Selling Glyphs - Understand exactly how to sell everything you make with Inscription
  • Mods you simply must have - Grab the tools you will need to make sure you stay on top of all the noob scribes and nutballs out there
  • Pricing Strategies - Learn how to price your glyphs to sell like mad and still make maximum profits
  • Maximizing Your Profits - Where you’ll learn how to position Major and Minor glyphs on the market to bury yourself in piles of gold and why Minor glyphs may be the best money maker in the game
  • Mastering Inscription - A step by step process where you will learn what herbs to buy, how to use herbalism the right way to farm specifically for Inscription, and how to hit skill level 375 in the shortest possible period of time
  • Printable Action Plan - Once you’ve read the report you can print out our action plan as a quick reference. Armed with all that information and a solid plan you can attack Inscription today knowing exactly what you need to do next to fill your bank with massive piles of gold.

This beauty is not just a profession leveling guide; It’s a personal tutorial that will teach you how to completely crush the Inscription market. With this guide by your side, it won’t matter how many other people on your server are Scribes – you’ll constantly be one step ahead of them.

You’ll learn:

  • Which herbs to really stock up on, it will surprise you (page 22)
  • Which Glyphs to sell for almost 300 gold the very first day (page 19)
  • A method of selling that will have people begging to send you their gold (page 15)
  • An herb farming location often overlooked for one of the hardest pigments to create (page 26)
  • When To Stop Right In The Middle Of Leveling To Run Straight To The AH And Sell (page 37)

I know there are lots of free Inscription guides out there. I’ve already seen most of them and you know what? They suck. They are outdated and poorly written, and NONE of them go beyond the basics. We have a saying here at the DYS office – “you can do the best you can, or you can be the best there is.” My Inscription Guide is the best there is…

Guaranteed
I’m so positive that you’ll absolutely LOVE this guide that I’m willing to guarantee it. Try my Inscription Guide out for a full 30 days. If you’re not happy with the guide, just email us here at DYS and I’ll happily give you a full refund.

Free Updates
Inscription is going to change significantly over the next few months. As those changes come, we’ll be updating the Inscription Guide regularly. You’ll receive each of these updates completely free of charge.

Instant Download
My Inscription Guide is a downloadable PDF file - you’ll have it on your hard drive in under 2 minutes.

Here’s the bottom line. This guide is your step-by-step battle plan for dominating your server when it comes to Inscription. Take a look at all the comments on this post from people who bought the guide and used it.

Mageblade wrote:

WOOT, bought the guide, logged in on patch day 4 hours after the server went live and was the first person on the server to hit 355. lvled in 3 1/2 hours and posted 1/2 on AH and sold other half in Org. I MADE 2,876g in 3 hours. THANK YOU!!!!

Go take a look at the gold sellers websites around the net - how much would 2,876 gold cost you? About $60. That doesn’t even take into account the hours of frustration you’ll save by knowing exactly how to level up Inscription - Mageblade started 4 hours after everyone else, and still beat them all to 355.

Even though my Inscription Guide will teach you how to earn thousands upon thousands of gold, we’re not charging an arm and a leg for it. In fact, the price is only $14. Remember, that price includes free updates, and your purchase is covered by our 30-day, 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Go read the reviews below this post - our customers LOVE our guides, and there’s a reason… they’re the best available.

Get your copy today by clicking this link:

Have you subscribed to Dominate Your Server yet? Our subscribers are eligible for contests and giveaways that non-subscribers don't get access to. Click Here to Subscribe!

207 Comments » ~ ~ Random Post

Herb Prices Jump

Posted by Lawbringer in Auction House, Gold Building, World of Warcraft

Word Finally got around about Inscription it seems.  I was doing a few final preparations for completely Dominating the inscription market last night (this morning, whenever - I’m not getting nearly enough sleep) on my banker.

Moneybaggins was browsing through the herb market just like he has been for weeks looking to pick up another couple dozen stacks of herbs, but the market has already gone rock hard.  It may just be an anomaly, but that is highly unlikely considering the hubbub that’s been taking place in every single forum you can think of.

You can see in the screen shot above that prices have gone even higher already than I expected.  I predicted a 300% increase, but six pages of herbs are averaging well over 500% increase in the last 24 hours alone.  Who can say what’s going to happen after the patch goes live?

What does this mean for you?  While Gavin and I put the finishing touches on Inscription the only thing we can all do is really sit back and wait a few more days.  Unconfirmed sources on the PTR say that patch 3.0.2 will go live with Tuesday updates on the 14th, although it could be just next Tuesday on the 7th.  Frankly we are hoping for an extra week.

But I have a couple of tips for all of you in the meantime.  First, for those of you who have been savagely hoarding herbs for weeks, be sure to run scans with AADV every day.  This is a must.  (And don’t make me get on my soapbox AGAIN about that one :)  )  Next, return to the article we did about LilSparky’s workshop if you haven’t already and get familiar with the interface and using that one.

Personally, if you don’t plan on doing Inscription (which is a HUGE mistake) you might start to trickle herbs onto the market now a few 5 stacks at a time at ridiculous prices.  This will help inflate things a bit even before the patch goes in and demand goes nutsoid.

Save the vast majority of your herbs until Thursday if you can stand it, and don’t flood them all into the ah at the same time.  If you’ve got 200 stacks of herbs, put about 5 a day into the market now at something like 5 to 10 times more than you bought them for.  They probably wont sell yet, but it will cause the lift you’re looking for.  People are Lemmings for the most part, and they like to play follow the leader.

Wait at least 24 hours after the patch and then start popping the rest of your flowers on the AH no more than 20 stacks at a time.  Try to stay at about 95% of the AADV market value if you can.  This may mean wiping your data and starting fresh (although it hurts my teeth to say that).  It would be better to keep your historical data, however, and just do a little manual browsing to look at the market rates as they go up.

If you can average a 300% markup and sell out everything you’ve got it would turn 5,000 gold worth of herbs into 15,000 gold.  Plus, you should be able to make that run in about a week.  To date, I’ve bought and/or farmed roughly 550 full stacks of herbs of all the various levels.

But not a single leaf is going on the AH.  I got plans for those little piles of plants, and selling them isn’t one of them.  But if you’re just about feeding your herbs back into the market for a good profit that’s just fine.  It’s not the best way to go, but you WILL make a lot of gold that way.  I just thought I would let you all know that the herb rush is on in my main server, and I expect it’s that way on almost all the others.  If not, it will be very soon.

And don’t worry, we’ll tell you what to REALLY do with all that stuff very soon.  Until then, grab every herb that any noob is selling for a decent price and get ready to Dominate!

Have you subscribed to Dominate Your Server yet? Our subscribers are eligible for contests and giveaways that non-subscribers don't get access to. Click Here to Subscribe!

37 Comments » ~ ~ Random Post

Motorcycles? Right On Man!

Posted by Gavin in Gold Building, Trade Skills, World of Warcraft

When I say the Beta is a wicked ride, you better believe it.  Here I am cruising with my level 80 drood past the Org bank on my sweet new pimpcycle.  During the last push, a whole load of peeps were able to get the new Mechano-hog for free in Dalaran.  Unfortunately, I missed that, but since I have made such an obscene amount of gold doing inscription, plopping down 5,ooo gold for one of these was no problem.

The hog is made by engineers, and looks pretty steep as far as the mats are concerned.  Expect to see a ton of these around before christmas, but also expect the price tag to be large.

If you have an engineering toon at 375 with mining, this will be a monster money-maker if you can be one of the first ones to go to market with it.  It’s the most fun anyone will ever have on a land mount by far.

Vanity mounts like this one and collectible pets even have achievements attached to them.  There are an unlimited number of non-combat pets and mount slots.  I bagged the penguin for a pet and the cycle.  It’s a whimsical and fun new twist to the character tabs.

The hog looks really cool and is very different from the animal mounts.  It actually seems to turn a bit better, so riding it around in the buildings in TB seems easier on the bike than a raptor (and certainly more so than a kodo).

The sound leaves a bit to be desired, more like a wicked lawnmower than a harley, but good enough.  It even has a dismount button named “leave Vehicle” that pops up when you get on the thing.  It took me a bit to figure out how to get off of it the first time!

But perhaps the coolest feature is that another toon can ride with you!  All you have to do is group up and you’re ready to go for a cruise.  This could come in really handy for those times where you are powerleveling an alt through instances.  Your main can just party with your alt (or anyone for that matter) and then speed off to the instance portal at epic land mount speed.  It will really cut down on running time for low level toons.  Imagine everyone asking you for a ride all the time (ack).

Lawbringer and I have been grinding away at some really serious things in the beta, but the hog stands out.  Inscription is going to be even better than you can imagine, and the new Naxx raids are amazing.  It’s good that we will at least get the inscription profession in the next patch.  Keep your eyes on your email box in the next few days for more on inscription, we’re almost ready to tell you all about it.

The hog is a great example of just one of dozens of really cool things that stand out in the xpac.  And DYS is going to keep you ahead of the rest of the WoW players out there.  The info is going to come fast and furious as the beta gets into the final stages, so stick around for all the tasty tidbits.  I guarantee you, if you will read the articles and get to work on the information, you really will Dominate your server - and the last word - will be yours . . .

Have you subscribed to Dominate Your Server yet? Our subscribers are eligible for contests and giveaways that non-subscribers don't get access to. Click Here to Subscribe!

23 Comments » ~ ~ Random Post

Glyphs - A First Look

Posted by Nameless Demon Hunter in General Tips, World of Warcraft, WotLK

Inscription is the new profession coming to WotLK. This will not be something that is optional for player enhancement; everyone will be using it in one way or another.

The common reason players will be subjugated to inscription is the need for glyphs. Glyphs are the main feature of inscription and what they do is power the player in certain abilities depending on what glyphs they decide to get.

Glyphs are kind of like gems and enchanting combined. They offer small enchants to certain aspects of a certain class. Unlike gems however, they are placed in their own little fancy UI (user interface), not on equipment or into sockets.

As of now, players can have a total of 6 glyphs (3 major and 3 minor). Major glyphs provide vital enhancement to spells and abilities such as an extra 5 yrd range to ambush or 50% to avoid interruption while casting wrath. Minor glyphs provide small and unique enhancement to spells and abilities such as lowering spell costs or changing an animation.

How glyphs differ from enchanting and gemming is that the enhancements are not a boost to stats. Instead, glyphs provide enhancements to abilities and spells. This is what will make inscription so unique and demanding, every player will need it.

Even at lower level glyphs are available. The number of glyphs able to use are lowered according to levels, as well as the types of glyphs used. Here is a list of what players should expect at what level:

· Level 1-14: None

· Level 15-29: 1 Major, 1 Minor

· Level 30-44: 2 Major, 2 Minor

· Level 45-59: 2 Major, 2 Minor

· Level 60 and up: 3 Major, 3 Minor

As for what glyphs to get, each glyph is made for a specific ability for a specific class. Here is a list of some glyphs to expect (1 of each class):

Glyph of Lifebloom – Increase the duration of lifebloom by 1 sec

Glyph of Steady Shot – Damage of steady shot increased by 10% when target is effect by serpent sting

Glyph of Death Coil – Increase duration of death coil by .5 seconds

Glyph of Blade Flurry – Reduce energy cost of Blade Flurry by 100%

Glyph of Dispel Magic – When you dispel the target it heals them for 6% of total health

Glyph of Healing Wave – Your Healing Wave also heals you for 20% of the effect when you heal someone else

Glyph of Fireball – Increase initial damage dealt of fireball by 5% but removes the DoT effect

Glyph of Flash of Light – Your flash of light heals 50% less, but also heals for 200% of initial effect over 15 sec

Just these few examples show how powerful glyphs can be. In a way, they are somewhat more of an improved talent point, furthering the specialization of how you want you to be. Glyphs bring a more unique feel of how you play your character.

Have you subscribed to Dominate Your Server yet? Our subscribers are eligible for contests and giveaways that non-subscribers don't get access to. Click Here to Subscribe!

22 Comments » ~ ~ Random Post

Back To BRD For Brewfest!

Posted by Nameless Demon Hunter in Efficiency Tips, General Tips, World of Warcraft

Blizzard holidays are never dull in the slightest. Aside from some of the neat and interesting activities they provide, there is usually a temporary boss that can also drop interesting items.

Right now the Brewfest is going on, and if you haven’t participated in the festivities you are missing out. Even if you are a party pooper and do not participate in the activities, there is a certain NPC that will interest you.

Coren Direbrew is out there, trying to ruin the Brewfest, and it is up to you to stop him. Even if you don’t feel up to doing the chain quest, you don’t have to. This holiday boss resides within Blackrock Depths (BRD). Oh yes, time to drag up those fond pre-BC memories.

Even though Coren is pretty far in, it is actually really simple to get there. Once you enter BRD, turn directly to the right. There will be 3 level 70 NPCs guarding these little contraptions. Take them out then right click on the doodles and be on your way.

You will be transported to the bar area in just a few seconds, (quite appropriate considering the theme). Once you land, there will be an NPC with the blue exclamation mark (!) over his head. This is a daily quest, you can fight Coren 1x per person. That means you will be able to fight him 5x per group.

Coren is fairly simple, not as easy as a regular boss, but just under the heroic level. Once you get the daily quest, talk to Coren and the battle will start.

There are a couple of things to watch out for. First off, there are additional mobs. Depending on how well geared your group is, you can literally ignore these. Having a paladin tank helps. If not, take them out, they are just regular mobs.

Coren has two abilities; the first is a whirlwind which deals a nice chunk of damage and also disarms melee ranged targets. This whirlwind is very slow and easy to avoid, so all melee classes be sure to evade this.

The second ability is this drill that will come up from the ground. Although this is harder to avoid at first, be sure to move once it comes up. Along with damage, the drill will pop the target back.

Coren also will spawn a female dwarf (Ursula or llsa Direbrew). These chicks can be kind of annoying. They will stun a target for 6 seconds from “Brewmaiden’s Stun” and also have another ability called “Barrelled,” which will disorient and slow the target for 8 seconds. This is troublesome for healers and can even cause a wipe.

The females are elite mobs, so they take a while to kill. It is actually wise to ignore both of them completely, focus dps on Coren and make sure your healer isn’t taking damage from adds. Follow these simple steps, along with avoiding his whirlwind, and you’ll be saving the Brewfest festival with ease.

Of course what everyone wants to know is what goodies Coren will drop. The answer is trinkets, lots of trinkets. There is a trinket for every necessity and an ‘extra’ one that is really fit for everyone. There is also an epic dagger called “Direbrew’s Shanker,” which looks like a broken glass bottle when equipped.

The trinkets compliment each spec: healing done, spell damage, attack power, block value, and then two stamina trinkets that can be used once every ten minutes. The two stamina trinkets either summon a brewmaiden who will smite your foes, or a brewmaiden who will bolster your party’s vigor.

The dagger is nice since the stats offer AP, agility, and stamina. It is a slow speed, 2.0, which is actually pretty rare. They are not unique so two can be wielded for those mutilate rogues out there. I enchanted one of mine with 7 weapon damage just to see if the glow would be seen and it did.

The equipment is on par with Karazhan epics, which is really nice for how easily they are obtained. Aside from the items that are used in battle there are, of course, some Brewfest items related to the whole theme.

A rare trinket which is dropped, called “Direbrew’s Remote,” will allow the party to teleport to the Grim Guzzler (where Direbrew is). This isn’t all that special, but more of a convenience for the festival. I wonder if it will still work when this is all over.

The last thing is really great for you rare mount collectors. There is a low drop percentage for the party to obtain either a Brewfest Kodo or a Brewfest Ram, a great way to compliment your character while running around naked in the Brewfest festival. (Role-playing?)

Holidays are always interesting in the World of Warcraft; it really does spice up the game.

Have you subscribed to Dominate Your Server yet? Our subscribers are eligible for contests and giveaways that non-subscribers don't get access to. Click Here to Subscribe!

19 Comments » ~ ~ Random Post

Fixing Your WoW Download Issues

Posted by Gavin in Efficiency Tips, General Tips, World of Warcraft

For those of you who already know the technical issues surrounding port forwarding this will be old hat.  But we recently had a guy comment that his 1.5 Mb connection was taking days to download patches.  So for you folks who are having serious downloading issues we thought it would be good to cover some basics and give you links to resources that will help you get your download speeds up to par with your connection.

Unless you are on dial-up, you should be able to grab patches and even full downloads in under and hour or two if you have your network ports properly configured.  In other words, if you are on any sort of DSL or Cable connection, problems with your download speed in relation to WoW stuff is not a matter of your connection, but something on your machine.

Now, we’re not going to be able to tell you exactly how to do this for Mac machines since I don’t currently have one to test with, but I may have to grab one and do an update for those later.

The first thing you need to do is figure out what you’re trying to fix.  Most people will get the message “Your computer appears to be behind a firewall.”  If you are getting any other message, just check out the link below to find the specific message you are getting from the Blizz Technical Support FAQ page.

Blizzard FAQ

http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=21275&categoryId=2316&parentCategoryId=&pageNumber=1

If you are getting this next specific message, you can use the link below for slow download speeds.  Most of the time slow speeds will be due to two factors that you can fix pretty easily once you know what to do.

Slow Download Speeds

http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=21065

In both of the scenarios we will deal with below, the problem is normally that the Blizz servers are having trouble talking to your system because something is in the way.  The two problem areas are in firewalls and routers.  In order to give Blizzard clean access to your computer you will need to make a path for them by opening some specific ports so that communication between your machine and Blizz doesn’t have something clogging up the process.

A big portion of the time, you windows users will be able to just open up ports on the internal Windows Firewall and that should do the trick.  Now, if you get the message about “it appears you are behind a firewall” don’t make the mistake of thinking that turning the firewall OFF will fix this.  Actually, turning the firewall off will usually make it worse, since it puts your entire internal network into the internet equivalent of safe mode.  Instead of only restricting certain things the way the firewall was designed to do, it will just restrict everything.  So turning it off won’t do you any good.

It’s really simple to open ports for WoW and anything else, you can check out the article at Blizzard here:

http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=21072

The other place you can get all gummed up is in your router if you are using one.  Routers can be particularly tricky because they are all different, there are thousands of them and some have internal firewalls that will also need to be dealt with.  Even though Blizzard has a little bit about working with routers to get ports open, there is a much better place to get the instructions you need.

Portforward.com is a massive database of highly specific information and guides on opening ports in almost any situation.  They have virtually every router ever made in their list, and if you can follow the links like breadcrumbs they will lead you to a pictorial walk-through of opening ports on YOUR router for WoW (and hundreds of other applications).  Talk about highly specific!  They also will help you deal with firewalls and their list of firewalls includes a much longer list than the Blizz page if you can’t find yours there.

Firewalls

http://www.portforward.com/english/routers/firewalling/routerindex.htm

Routers

http://www.portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/routerindex.htm

By using the tools above you should be able to get the proper ports and port ranges open to allow your downloads to flow much faster.  For those of you who may get Beta invites it’s going to take your downloads from several days to just a few hours.  If you lose your WoW file or something this will save you a ton of download time.  you can see from my download screen I was on pace to be able to download the entire up-to-date game client in about 4 hours (it would probably be less than that, but not bad).

We know this doesn’t have anything to do with playing the game, but you’ll understand why we wanted to cover this in a day or two.  And for everyone who has been living with those 9000 hour downloads this will certainly help you get your patches a ton faster.  The portforward site is a terrific resource - and YES this research site is completly up to date!

Have you subscribed to Dominate Your Server yet? Our subscribers are eligible for contests and giveaways that non-subscribers don't get access to. Click Here to Subscribe!

14 Comments » ~ ~ Random Post

WotLK Hunter Pets - Major Changes

Posted by Gavin in Hunter Pets, World of Warcraft, WotLK

When I say major changes I mean that more has changed than has stayed the same.  So many changes, in fact, that it’s going to be hard to do more than just hit the highlights in the space we have here.  But since we’ve had so many requests for info from the Beta, we can feel pretty comfortable publishing these since they seem about 95% locked in and will probably stay the same on release day.  So let’s get to it.

First, a LOT of the effort hunters used to have to put into pets is simply gone.  Training new pets and getting them up to speed is merely a matter of taming, and that’s about it.  Here’s a list of the things that just went “poof.”

  • Pet training points - these are gone, so you don’t have to worry about where to place those odd points that just don’t fit.
  • Pet Loyalty - axed for WotLK.  There may eventually be some sort of system to entice hunters to keep pets, but for now, it’s the equivalent of taming a pet with “Best Friend” status.  When training points disappeared, so did the need for loyalty.
  • Pet leveling - mostly gone.  Pets will still have to level to some degree, but it will be a lot more transparent than it is now.  A level 1 beast trained by a level 80 hunter will hop to level 70 instantly.  That way the pet isn’t completely useless while you try to work on levels.  So if you missed that ghost saber at level 22, it’s not such a big deal to go back and get one for the coolness factor.
  • Nearly everything associated with training points - you will no longer have to make hard choices (since training points are no more) between things like armor or resistances.  All pets now get base levels of resistance to all 5 schools of magic as they level, although you can still choose to increase these if you like through another method.
  • Learning new pet skills - completely gone.  Never again will you have to go train Bellygrub to get Gore 4.  Instead, all pets will know 3 basic abilities (and a number of talent skills, more on those later) and those skills are set in stone.
  • Having to keep an open slot at the Stable Master - all we can say is yeehaaw to this one.  Since you don’t have to train a trash pet to learn some skill or other, you will be able to put real pets in all your slots (the beta even shows an additional slot you can buy, which means you can have 5 pets).
  • Some of your Current Pet’s skills - sorry, but if your pet knows claw and bite, they are going to lose one for the reason mentioned above.  All pets will have a set number of things they can use, and they will not get more than one “Focus Dump” skill.
  • Crummy Pets - there is simply not a single pet in the game that will get you laughed at.  Up until now, there was a set of “caster” pets that had such awful stats that training points just couldn’t make up for how bad they were.  In WotLK if you can tame it, it will make a good pet.  There are even some pets that have surprisingly useful special abilities.  I mean, who would have ever guessed that they could make a moth a decent DPS pet?

That’s a good basic look at what’s gone, now let’s look at what those have been replaced with.  Personally, I like the new system a LOT more.  Pets will now be much more like your own character, and have a special talent point screen where you can select and customize that pet to be exactly what you want it to be.  This new system also has some wicked skills that don’t even exist now.  A level 70 pet in WotLK will be much better than a level 70 pet now.

  • Three Pet “Types” - All pets are now divided into three distinct “types.” Cunning, Ferocity, and Tenacity.  These types loosely correspond to Cunning pets normally having some sort of debuff or short duration Crowd Control, Ferocity pets have DPS skills that can buff themselves or even an entire party (or raid, we’re not sure with all the raid buff tweaks yet) and Tenacity pets generally have talents that will help it to tank well.  There is a LOT of mixing and matching in the special skills, so remember that these are merely generalizations.  Each type also gets a specific modifier % to Damage Armor and Health.
  • 31 Pet “Families” - All pets are further divided into 31 family groupings that determine the 1 “Special” skill that they will use.  Some of the special skills are simply incredible.  Rhinos get a skill called Stampede that knocks all enemies within 10 yards back 15 yards!  Warp Stalkers no longer warp toward their enemy, but they will instead warp the enemy away from them up to 30 yards.
  • Pet Talent Trees - there are so many awesome tricks in the talent trees you’re just going to have to browse through them for yourself.  But basically, not only can you have a decent tanking pet, but that tank pet will can also be given talents that will help it do good damage as well.  The talent trees as a replacement for training points is an incredibly awesome change.
  • ALL pets can now get a Speed increase skill - no longer will you be stuck with a pig to get charge.  All Tenacity pets can learn charge, and the other two pet types can all learn dash or dive.

It all boils down to a few really neat points.  Training pets is easier than ever, and you have a lot more control over what your pet can do.  There are more pet choices than ever, and more skills to choose from.  It is certainly going to lead to a lot more variety in the pets running around.  You will be able to customize your pet skills in a way that suits your needs, and do so with a lot less effort than ever.

All these changes will certainly make pets for MM and SV hunters more useful, but it may be even harder to leave BM behind when you see the simply wicked awesome firepower of a BM hunter with a core hound or devilsaur exotic ferocity pet.  The 51st talent point in the BM tree gives the hunter the ability to train pets from the 6 exotic pet families and 4 extra pet skill points to put into pet DPS skills, or other tanking skills for the rhino family.

Here are some convenient links to where you can dig a little deeper into the WotLK pet info for yourself.  But I warn you: don’t look at them if it’s going to make you ruin your keyboard drooling, you still have a rather long wait!

Pet Talent Trees:

Pet Talent Calculators:

Pet Types and Families

Extensive FaQ for nearly all Wotlk Pet changes

Have you subscribed to Dominate Your Server yet? Our subscribers are eligible for contests and giveaways that non-subscribers don't get access to. Click Here to Subscribe!

36 Comments » ~ ~ Random Post

The Ganking Ends Here! Now You’ll Be The One Laughing

Posted by Gavin in Efficiency Tips, General Tips, World of Warcraft

You already know how to play the game.  But you know you could get better.  You picked the PvP server on purpose to give yourself a challenge.  But it’s starting to get old.  I seems like everywhere you go you’re getting sand kicked in your face.  You win some, you lose some, and sometimes - you just get pwnd.

You think it might be just the fact that they have you out-geared.  But then another dude comes along and whips the guy who just ate your lunch, and made it look easy.  You know there’s a secret to it, but you’ve just never figured out what it is.

Well we’re about to tell you a little secret we use to Dominate every area of the game.

Being a great player is all about reaction times. Now, there is something to be said for being proactive, but there are just so many situations that require you to SEE what’s happening in the game and then USE the right spell or action.  When you get so fast you can respond to everything going on around you and have time to spare - that’s when you start making them react to you, and that’s when you begin to dominate.  Sure, you have to know WHAT to do and WHEN to do it, but you have to think fast, recognize fast, and cast fast.

When you get so fast you are waiting on the global cooldown for your next THREE spells, now we’re talking being ahead of the competition.  That’s when you can just yawn while you rip someone’s head off.

Rookie professional athletes talk about having to get used to the “speed of the game.”  Pros are just bigger, better, stronger, and way faster.  But that doesn’t mean you’re stuck with being a 100 pound WoW weakling forever.

Now, there is something to the gear issue.  You really WILL get your head knocked off in arena matches if you have vastly inferior gear.  Which brings up an interesting point: how do you get the gear to dominate if you can’t dominate enough to get the gear?

You Need An Edge

A little boost so that you’re not stuck grinding it out in the battlegrounds forever for season 1 welfare epix.  And even though we’re talking about PvP a lot here, it will make an even bigger difference in PvE.  You’ll be the first person people come to to start their groups.  The MVP of your raid and guild.

One of the best ways to get your speed kicked into warp gear is to use macros.  Have you ever looked at the poor schmucks on the forums trying to find a macro?  Unless you’re a whiz at that sort of thing, writing your own toon specific macros is probably going to end in frustration.  It did for me.  There are just way too many variables to give you a set of macros you can put on your 1-9 keys that will cover every situation.

But there is another way, and it’s simpler, easier, and far superior to macros and mods alone.  The Fang gaming pad can put you in the driver’s seat, and turbocharge your play speed.

We process things in the game visually.  We can’t really smell the ganker coming over the hill behind us, and unless you dropped serious bucks on sound cards and headphones you won’t hear them either.  So we rely on what we can see.

The best way to improve your reaction times is practice.  See what your opponent is doing and then counter that move.  It all starts when you’re a poor little level 1 lowbie.  You learn to react to a limited number of things mobs throw at you.  By the time you reach 70 you have a pretty good feel for what to do in a lot of situations, but you’ve just run out of simple ways of using what you know.

That’s where the Fang will become your best friend.  With this little weapon, you can put every single skill in your book at your fingertips.  After just a few hours practicing, your fingers will be hitting all the right keys so much faster than before it will amaze you.

The Fang has 36 programmable keys that you can hotkey to the action bars in WoW.  It also has the traditional movement keys right in the center including the strafe functions, but with bigger, better feeling buttons that really make moving better than it’s ever been.

How does it help?  You’ve probably heard some jerk elitist dork say “get rid of all that clutter on your screen, learn 2 play!”  I guarantee you there was a time (like 3 years ago) when he didn’t play without looking either.  So don’t listen to the turds.  Get you a mod like bartender and put ALL of your spells out where you can see them and then link them to the fang and your 1-0 keys - then get ready to rumble!

Next, just go out and work through some tough situations.  Do things that you have found difficult in the past.  Fight elite mobs, take on 5 mobs, go to a heroic instance, do some battlegrounds - in other words, Practice!

You will find that you will naturally group together certain types of actions on the fang in little clusters.  Now your right thumb becomes a lethal weapon against rogues - your pinky dots folks to death, and your middle finger?  Well you’re starting to see the point.

With the right tool and a little practice, your game will make a quantum leap in speed.  You will be able to see not only what the game is about to do to you, but make the keystroke NOW!  You’ll already have your counter spell in motion and the offensive spell ready before they knew what hit them.

Now, you can choose to spend a couple of hundred hours learning to be the best macro programmer you can be, good luck with that.  For those of you who DO use power macros - imagine having 36 situation specific macros to use!  We’re not knocking macros, but they are only useful if you can trigger them easily.

There is simply no better way to trigger skills and macros faster and with fewer keystrokes than a Fang.

Sure, you can do without it.  You can figure out how to to toggle 4 actions bars worth of buttons with four different keystroke modifiers and just use your right hand to click 2 or three buttons, but WHY?  That’s like walking around the block to get to the store across the street.

The easier you make it on yourself, the faster you will play.  Make it easy on yourself to Dominate and grab a Fang.

Use it for a month and you’ll never be able to live without it.  How much will that set you back?  About 30 cents an hour - and forever after that it’s absolutely free.  So what do you think?  Is it worth three dimes to absolutely spank everything in sight for an hour?  You’ll never miss a few bucks, but once you play with a Fang we guarantee you’ll know what you’ve been missing.

All you have to do is click the picture to check one out or grab one right away.  It’s time for you to Dominate.

Have you subscribed to Dominate Your Server yet? Our subscribers are eligible for contests and giveaways that non-subscribers don't get access to. Click Here to Subscribe!

34 Comments » ~ ~ Random Post

topbg

Page 2 of 5«12345»