tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69534156105703999022024-03-12T18:16:29.707-07:00MagenomicsTricks of the Trade, Conjuries of the ClassExpopphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00882394780917365657noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953415610570399902.post-86038197583235094252008-07-24T18:03:00.000-07:002008-07-24T18:08:57.067-07:00Awesome Spell Idea for WrathOn the mage forum, Adiema <a href="http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=7475678261&sid=1">suggested</a> a sweet new mage spell idea.<br /><blockquote>While an enemy player is casting a spell, "Intercept Magic" steals the current spell being cast and kicks the pool for 2 seconds, once the spell has been stolen you have 2 minutes to cast it. Casting speed for the stolen spell remains the same as it was for the player it was stolen from. 3-5 min cooldown.</blockquote>That would be freakin' awesome. :-)Expopphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00882394780917365657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953415610570399902.post-43634313915324419812008-01-26T18:19:00.000-08:002008-01-26T15:34:14.154-08:00Mage Arena WeaponsWhen looking at arena weapons, you are confronted with a choice between getting a two-handed weapon or getting a one-handed weapon plus and offhand. Here is a breakdown, for each of the three seasons.<br /><br />Season 1:<br /><table class="collapseTable"><tbody><tr><td></td><td class="tdThinBorder">2 Handed</td><td class="tdThinBorder">1 Handed + Offhand</td></tr><tr><td class="tdThinBorder">Stamina</td><td class="tdThinBorder">48</td><td class="tdThinBorder">49</td></tr><tr><td class="tdThinBorder">Intellect</td><td class="tdThinBorder">35</td><td class="tdThinBorder">32</td></tr><tr><td class="tdThinBorder">Spell Hit</td><td class="tdThinBorder">21</td><td class="tdThinBorder">0</td></tr><tr><td class="tdThinBorder">Spell Crit</td><td class="tdThinBorder">36</td><td class="tdThinBorder">0</td></tr><tr><td class="tdThinBorder">Resilience</td><td class="tdThinBorder">25</td><td class="tdThinBorder">33</td></tr><tr><td class="tdThinBorder">Damage</td><td class="tdThinBorder">199</td><td class="tdThinBorder">218</td></tr><tr><td class="tdThinBorder">Cost</td><td class="tdThinBorder">27,000 Honor<br />+<br />40 AV</td><td class="tdThinBorder">34,200<br />+<br />40EotS</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Season 2:<br /><table class="collapseTable"><tbody><tr><td></td><td class="tdThinBorder">2 Handed</td><td class="tdThinBorder">1 Handed + Offhand</td></tr><tr><td class="tdThinBorder">Stamina</td><td class="tdThinBorder">55</td><td class="tdThinBorder">54</td></tr><tr><td class="tdThinBorder">Intellect</td><td class="tdThinBorder">42</td><td class="tdThinBorder">37</td></tr><tr><td class="tdThinBorder">Spell Hit</td><td class="tdThinBorder">24</td><td class="tdThinBorder">15</td></tr><tr><td class="tdThinBorder">Spell Crit</td><td class="tdThinBorder">42</td><td class="tdThinBorder">0</td></tr><tr><td class="tdThinBorder">Resilience</td><td class="tdThinBorder">29</td><td class="tdThinBorder">45</td></tr><tr><td class="tdThinBorder">Damage</td><td class="tdThinBorder">225</td><td class="tdThinBorder">258</td></tr><tr><td class="tdThinBorder">Cost</td><td class="tdThinBorder">3,261 Arena Points</td><td class="tdThinBorder">3,717 Arena Points</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Season 3:<br /><table class="collapseTable"><tbody><tr><td></td><td class="tdThinBorder">2 Handed</td><td class="tdThinBorder">1 Handed + Offhand</td></tr><tr><td class="tdThinBorder">Stamina</td><td class="tdThinBorder">62</td><td class="tdThinBorder">61</td></tr><tr><td class="tdThinBorder">Intellect</td><td class="tdThinBorder">46</td><td class="tdThinBorder">41</td></tr><tr><td class="tdThinBorder">Spell Hit</td><td class="tdThinBorder">0</td><td class="tdThinBorder">17</td></tr><tr><td class="tdThinBorder">Spell Crit</td><td class="tdThinBorder">46</td><td class="tdThinBorder">0</td></tr><tr><td class="tdThinBorder">Resilience</td><td class="tdThinBorder">29</td><td class="tdThinBorder">44</td></tr><tr><td class="tdThinBorder">Damage</td><td class="tdThinBorder">247</td><td class="tdThinBorder">282</td></tr><tr><td class="tdThinBorder">Spell Penetration</td><td class="tdThinBorder">35</td><td class="tdThinBorder">0</td></tr><tr><td class="tdThinBorder">Cost</td><td class="tdThinBorder">3,750 Arena Points</td><td class="tdThinBorder">4,275 Arena Points</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Hopefully this helps in your decision making.Expopphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00882394780917365657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953415610570399902.post-39064472405623402732008-01-25T17:51:00.000-08:002008-01-25T18:34:57.612-08:00Proximo Doesn't Show UpFor the longest time, I've had trouble with the addon Proximo. One day, it just completely stopped showing up.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_o79RLJ01iT8/R5qajSGwJRI/AAAAAAAAABs/XObbMC5pLX8/s1600-h/proximo.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_o79RLJ01iT8/R5qajSGwJRI/AAAAAAAAABs/XObbMC5pLX8/s400/proximo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5159606254052582674" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I searched and searched, completely unable to find out how to fix it. Finally, today, I emailed the addon's creator, Grayhoof. Here's what he said:<br /><blockquote>When not in the game, delete the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Proximo.lua</span> file from your saved variables folder. It should be in:<br /><br />C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\WTF\Account\ACCOUNT_NAME\SavedVariables</blockquote>I tried it, and it worked! Special thanks to Grayhoof for personally responding to my inquiry. The world needs more people like you. :-)<br /><br />For those of you who don't know, Proximo is an addon that helps you in arenas. It gives you a frame (shown above), that gets populated with your opponents. Whenever you, or anyone on your team with Proximo installed, hovers over or targets an enemy in an arena, that enemy gets added to the list. You can then select any enemy by clicking on his/her name in the Proximo window.Expopphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00882394780917365657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953415610570399902.post-52960973461426517542008-01-16T10:54:00.000-08:002008-01-16T11:24:03.072-08:00Resistance?So the other day I was running Heroic Botanica. We downed one of the early bosses, and an epic gem dropped that had something like +4 resist all, or +6 resist all, something like that.<br /><br />Four out of the five of us in the group uttered their own variation of "/sigh, crap lootz" etc.<br /><br />And then a mage in the party said, "I'm rolling need on that. I'm resist specced."<br /><br />I lol'ed at first, and then all of a sudden, he rolled /need! I thought to myslef, "Is this guy serious?" So I inspected his gear, he had all sorts of resist gear, and all his sockets were filled with resistance gems!<br /><br />Everybody else in the party was thinking the same thing: wtf is resist spec? The mage went on to say that he resists lots of spells, and gets mana back every time he does (Magic Absorption talent).<br /><br />Has anybody seen or heard about that before? There's no way that build has any kind of success!<br /><br />Is there?!Expopphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00882394780917365657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953415610570399902.post-81380614664763304572007-12-12T16:37:00.000-08:002007-12-13T03:56:51.005-08:00Another Change to Gems<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Mages</span>' <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">mana</span> gems are receiving another change in the next patch. The range of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">mana</span> returned will be narrowed, giving us a more consistent boost. On live realms, the best gem gives 1136-1364 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">mana</span>. The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">PTR</span> previously showed a change: it was increased 1800-3000. Now it has been changed again to 2340-2460.<br /><br />I think this is a buff. Consistency is almost always a good thing in general. Right now, when raiding, we <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">mages</span> (and other <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">mana</span>-using classes) will wait until our <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">mana</span> pool is 3000 away from the maximum before using a <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=22832">[Super <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Mana</span> Potion]</a>. That way, even if the pot gives its maximum return of 3000 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">mana</span>, we receive the full benefit.<br /><br />With the upcoming changes, we can use these gems when we are 2500 (2460 to be exact) away from maximum <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">mana</span>. Couple that with the <a href="http://magenomics.blogspot.com/2007/11/mana-gem-improvements.html">other <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">mana</span> gem change</a> (each gem having three charges), we will be potting earlier in boss fights, but I think we'll be potting about the same number of times.<br /><br />Overall, I think we are only getting consistency, which will serve to make us better raiders.Expopphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00882394780917365657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953415610570399902.post-65809840850001274092007-12-07T20:46:00.000-08:002007-12-07T22:44:55.414-08:00How to Begin PVPOver on <a href="http://www.wowinsider.com/2007/11/29/pvp-reward-inflation-leaves-newcomers-in-the-dust/">WowInsider</a>, David Bowers presents an interesting conundrum. The gist of the article is that characters who hit 70 usually have greens and blues. If they want to PVP, it can take a very long time before they stand a chance against other characters who have been PVPing for a long time because these veterans generally have multiple epics. He goes on to ask, "How would you advise a new level 70 to get into PvP?"<br /><br />I think there are a few solid ways that fresh level-70 characters can jump into the PVP game.<br /><br />1. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Do battlegrounds</span>. The team in a battleground is much bigger than an arena team, so the fact that you are personally undergeared doesn't have as large an effect. Also, be sure to do the daily battleground quest for additional honor.<br /><br />2. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Craft your own epics</span>. Choose professions according to your class, and craft away.<br /><br />3. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Do arenas anyway</span>. They don't care arena gear "welfare epics" for nothing. Get in the ring and battle with the big dogs. The points will come slowly at first, but they will add up. Your feelings might get hurt by how badly you'll do, but you definitely will not regret it.<br /><br />4. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Socket your gear with Stamina gems and Resilience gems</span>. I highly recommend <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=33782">[Steady Talasite]</a>. They sell for 20g+ on the Auction House though, so if you can't afford those, I suggest <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=23118">[Solid Azure Moonstone]</a>.<br /><br />Other than that, you're on your own! Good luck, and don't give up!Expopphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00882394780917365657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953415610570399902.post-76422627331963999812007-11-27T19:00:00.000-08:002007-11-27T15:19:24.813-08:00Trainable Ice BlockFor the longest time, we mages have been pigeon-holed into one spec depending on whether we wanted to excel at PVE or at PVP.<br /><br />If we wanted to PVE, we needed to spec fire. Reason? Arcane had terrible mana efficiency and Frost had poor DPS.<br /><br />If we wanted to PVP, we needed to spec frost. Reason? Frost had <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=11958">Ice Block</a>, which gives us survivability so we can last longer than 3 seconds in an arena.<br /><br />This will all change in a couple weeks when the 2.3.2 patch hits.<br /><br /><a href="http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=2968115908&sid=1">Eyonix writes</a>:<br /><blockquote>There are a few nice improvements we're making to the mage class in patch 2.3.2 (a small patch that will be on the public test realms soon) and we wanted to share them with you. First, we'll start out with two changes affecting all mages. Ice block will become a core ability, trainable by all mages at level 30. Additionally, conjure mana (rank 6) will restore 1800-3000 mana and will now have three charges, meaning you can use it three times before having to create a new one.<br /><br />To be sure we're clear here, yes, the same cooldown will still apply between usages. :P<br /><br />Cold snap will be moved to Ice block's position in the talent tree and its cooldown will be reduced. As a side note, it will no longer reset the cooldown on fire ward. Moving in to Cold snap's spot will be a brand new ability called Icy Veins. This new ability will decrease casting time for all spells by 20% and increases the chance that chilling effects freeze the target by 25%. It's an active ability, lasting 20 seconds and has a 3 minute cooldown.</blockquote>The <a href="http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/test-realm-patchnotes.html">2.3.2 patch notes</a> are up, further clarifying these imminent changes.<br /><br />That's right. Trainable Ice Block. Pretty soon, fire will be a viable choice for arena PVP. This will be a HUGE change for non-frost mages everywhere.<br /><br />And how about Icy Veins? The cast time bonus will give a much-needed boost to frost DPS for PVE. The freeze chance bonus will be amazing for PVP.<br /><br />I have more on the mana gem improvements <a href="http://magenomics.blogspot.com/2007/11/mana-gem-improvements.html">here</a>.<br /><br />What do you think about these mage changes?Expopphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00882394780917365657noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953415610570399902.post-39243448075158979032007-11-27T18:15:00.000-08:002007-11-27T15:15:18.934-08:00Mana Gem ImprovementsWe mages can create mana gems. Our first gem is craftable at level 28, and it restores 375-425 mana. Our latest gem is craftable at level 68, and it restores 1136-1364 mana. And there are several gems in between.<br /><br />The catch is, we can only carry one gem of each type at any given time. In other words, we can't conjure up 5 of our best gem. Many of us have resorted to conjuring our highest ranked gem and our next-highest. We do this so we can use two gems in a single boss fight, if necessary.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_o79RLJ01iT8/R0iaJPsF3hI/AAAAAAAAAAM/XLpPv7W4lgw/s1600-h/gems.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_o79RLJ01iT8/R0iaJPsF3hI/AAAAAAAAAAM/XLpPv7W4lgw/s400/gems.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5136524858637016594" border="0" /></a><br />It's almost pointless to create a third or fourth down-ranked gem though, because the amount of mana restored decreases with each lower rank.<br /><br />The latest gem improvement, announced <a href="http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=2968115908&sid=1">here</a>, will change all that. The improvement is two-fold:<br />1. The highest ranked gem will restore 1800-3000 mana (the same as the highest mana potion, <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?item=22832">[Super Mana Potion]</a>).<br />2. The gem will have 3 charges, so we can use it three times before having to create a new one.<br /><br />What does all this mean? First, it means that you won't need to buy as many mana potions. You'll only need to burn a potion when you've first burned through all 3 of the ones you can conjure.<br /><br />Secondly, it means that you won't need to conjure up lower-ranked gems in order to have multiple gems on hand at once. Essentially, we will be able to carry three of the highest ranked mana gems at once.<br /><br />Thanks Blizzard. :-)Expopphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00882394780917365657noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953415610570399902.post-28102682965665758952007-11-27T07:10:00.000-08:002007-11-27T04:14:09.742-08:00Hi, My Name is ExpoppGreetings! Welcome to Magenomics. My name is Expopp and I'll be your host. This blog will be about my adventures in World of Warcraft, as a mage. I will also discuss World of Warcraft issues, especially ones that affect mages.<br /><br />This is me sitting on the Stormwind Bank steps in the moonlight.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_o79RLJ01iT8/R0wGQ_sF3iI/AAAAAAAAAAU/ehxekSUp7ZA/s1600-h/SWsteps.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_o79RLJ01iT8/R0wGQ_sF3iI/AAAAAAAAAAU/ehxekSUp7ZA/s400/SWsteps.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5137488163966934562" border="0" /></a><br />So if you see me around, give me a holler. I am on the Spirestone realm. I hope to meet you some day. :-)Expopphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00882394780917365657noreply@blogger.com0