What GWJ WoW guild should I join, and what modifications?
Sunday, March 23rd, 2008 - 5:41pm
I just bought the game due to college fund problems, so I'm unloading my whole collection except for WoW on Ebay/our Trading Post. That being said, I'm finally getting into WoW and hopefully won't be completely and utterly lost.
My question is: Which GWJ WoW guild is more active, the Alliance or Horde? I want as much friends and help as I can get from the start so I don't feel foreign and get annoyed with the game almost immediately.
Also, what mods are necessary/make the game easier? It's common knowledge that I've despised most MMOs since Dark Age of Camelot so I want to give Blizzard's cash cow a fair chance before I go "Bah! Screw it."
Oogaba.
The GWJ Alliance side guild on Blackhand is, as far as I know, much more active than the Horde guild on Bael'gun, and sees 20-40 people active during prime time.
As for what mods I'd recommend for a new player, you can try:
Lightheaded:
http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info7017-LightHeaded.html
and it's companion mod:
http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info7032-TomTom.html
Together, these two mods will give you in game access to a cached copy of WoWHead's comments page for each quest that you're on. Almost all quests are covered, most with clickable waypoints (Via that second mod, TomTom), and it's a great help should you get stuck on something. Lightheaded's help would technically be 'spoilers', so if you're the kind of person who gets ruffled by that, then skip it.
Beyond that, there's a metric ton of addons depending on what you want to do with the UI. Feel free to experiment, just remember that no legit mod will ever need you to run an executable file. Try WoWInterface or Curse.com.
Quartz is an important mod for spellcasters and outside of that, a handy visual display of plenty of situational timing info.
Lots of people also like unitframe addons, which basically alter how the game displays info about you, your target, your party members, etc. A whole lot of different ones exist (check here). I use X-Perl but it's a matter of personal preference.
The other main visual thing to monkey with is action bars. Like the unitframes, this is another personal preference area. I use Bongos.
You really don't need to run any mods to play WoW, at least not until you get further into grouping/raiding, and what you need for that is largely related to threat information (knowing how much hate you have against a given target vs the tanks), coordination (especially among healers in a raid) and making sure people are buffed and at full effectiveness.
WoW Blackhand Alliance
70s: Nukanatrix (M), Braun (P), Boreali (Warrior)
Erissar - 67 Druid
Grumbar - 65 Hunter
Jergen - 65 Paladin
Heckfire - 63 Warlock
Thanks dude. I'll join the Blackhand Alliance guild. While looking through the guide as the patches install I've come to want to make a bald, pissed-off gnome rogue. Think you all will find a use for me?
Oogaba.
Ok, get bartender, atlas loot, atlasmine(if you go min/engy), poisinfu and durabilityfu for rogues (im an 35 orc rogue on kiljaeden).
*Legion* wrote:
Check the GWJ Alliance Primer too
Artesia Druid - Tank/mDPS ~ Cyrana Fire Mage - rDPS
BF2142 "Pod Six is jerks!"
XBL RichRambo
Don't forget Healbot. VERY useful. Also smartbuff is very useful too. Cartographer mixed with a little questhelper rocks, and also Titan panels kick ass. I use a ton of add-ons and they make the experience so much better.
I think I'm loaded up with enough. I got Atlas, a few of the Fu's, TomTom and its compatriot, Big Wigs, and the Gruul display thingy which sounds very important for when I am finally at a high level.
Oogaba.
Pick up Auctioneer and it's dependencies (normally come zipped together). While I very rarely use it to actually help with the AH, it's priceless for just letting me know how much stuff will sell for to a vendor. Especially when I complete a quest with useless items, and I need to know which one will net me more cash, or when I'm trying to decide what junk is more valuable for me to pick up, and what stuff I can destroy for more room when my bags are full.
IronClad Online: PurEvil
Oh, is there a mod for displaying all my bags in one giant window instead of having to look through all of them individually?
Oogaba.
Yes. I am using ArkInventory right now to lump all of my bags into one. (But there are others, I think Baggins is one)
It also lets you view your bank anywhere.
Also, it allows you to see what your alts have in their bank accounts.
This has proven very handy for me.
One other that is kinda useful once you have a few characters, is MoneyFu. It keeps track of the money you have between all your characters, and tracks your money gained/spent/profit.
Xbox Live : Aries GWJ PSN : AriesGWJ
I think I just got sold on ArkInventory. I'll have to pick that one up later.
IronClad Online: PurEvil
I'm a single track mind sort of guy, so I'll only have one character at a time. I'll only switch if/when I get to 70 and am forced to do nothing but raid. The whole raiding idea sounds like it would bore me to tears but who knows? I may stick with my 70 for a long time.
Years ago I heard from my one friend that played FFXI for over 100 in-game days that WoW didn't even start until you hit maximum level. This was before the expansion mind you, so I really don't know how much the game has changed over the patches.
Oogaba.
You'll definitely hear people say that, but I don't buy into it. There is plenty to experience between 1 and 70, and a lot of us like the old world content, so it shouldn't be hard for you to find groups amongst our alts. Certainly there's a lot of fun to be had at 70, between instance running, heroic instances, and raids (which I don't tend to run, but only because I tend to enjoy the smaller groups more), but don't rush up to 70 feeling like it's just a grind to get to the actual game.
Hell, you're half-way to Deadmines already, which is one of the best instances in the game (normally go in there with my characters around level 17). If I'm on when you decide to head in there, I've got about 4 characters in that range that can help out.
IronClad Online: PurEvil
To answer one of your questions from above. Yes, we can certainly find a use for your rogue. You have chosen one of the best end-game DPS classes and I love running with a good rogue. The fact that you are even shorter than my vertically challenged dwarf is just the icing on the cake.
Don't give up on raiding so easily. For me it is easily the best part of the game. Running instances with some of the personalities we have in this guild is a blast. The game actually got even better once I hit 70. Soooo many things to do I didn't miss leveling at all.
One small tip, though: create a "banker" alt so that you can have extra bag space and better organization for running auctions. You only have to play the second character long enough to get him/her into a capital city to stand next to the bank and auction house. Then you just park the character there and mail him stuff that you either want to put into long term storage or auction off. Once you get a little further out into the wild, this will save you a lot of time and money since you won't have to make nearly as many trips back and forth to a capital to do that sort of business. Also, you won't have to worry about cluttering your own bags and bank with things you are trying to sell or store for use far in the future.
XBL/PSN: zeroKFE | BHA: zeroKFE | Halo Stats
It's true, a good rogue is a fantastic addition to any five man or raid. They have great single target DPS when spec'd as combat swords. Just ask Coldcut or Bandolique. They both respec'd from daggers to swords and Coldcut I know for sure has seen a dramatic damage increase.
And remember, the Japanese aren't commercially whaling. They're conducting "research". Like "researching how delicious this whale is". - Paleocon
Deadmines is a truly classic instance. I remember running it as a troll mage, not an easy task mind you on a pvp server.
*Legion* wrote:
It's not too hard to run a L1 human or night elf to their capital.
So, you really don't need to play a banker alt much at all.
Your Quote Here!
Also, download the Omen threat meter. I was recently in a Kara Pug where a tank showed up without a threatmeter... it was ugly.
And remember, the Japanese aren't commercially whaling. They're conducting "research". Like "researching how delicious this whale is". - Paleocon
I knew I was forgetting one! I added Omen on as well last night, even though I won't need most of it for a bloody long time
Oogaba.
I think going from average 550dps to 798dps as of the last raid I was on is a dramatic increase. Now if only Loot Reaver would drop that stupid coil I could bump the hit and try to get over 800.
Another handy mod that you want to get comfy with is Recount. Not a big deal while levelling, but a HUGE help at 70 when it comes to tweaking gear and spec. Keep an open mind on raiding, sure sometimes its a tedious wipe fest, but most of the time it is a total blast. Find a weapon combination you are comfortable and familiar with. While combat swords is the prefered raiding spec, combat daggers and combat mace/sword combo hold their own on the meters.
Just keep in mind, at 70 WoW becomes an entirely new game. You have to worry about things like Hit rating, attack power, agility, crit, set bonuses, key rotation (3s/5r is the big one), etc. Enjoy leveling and hit up Shank at 70 for end game tweakage.
*Bandolique (70 Combat Rogue)
*Amara (70 Fire Mage)
*Zeus the Good Luck Dog making the Lords of Kara/SSC/TK cry whenever he is around
Inc lock
I'm just starting out, I've played a few toons before, even have a 60 lock sitting around somewhere from back in the beginning days. I've got the summer basically free, so I figured I'd use wow to kill some time. I found the site thru the podcast and if anyone sees me around, please say hi.
-Berg (Bergus)
We all get lost in this game. There is soooo much to learn. One thing I like about having Guild mates is that some of them are very helpful and willing to help others learn stuff, compare which armor is the best, and just figure out the whole wow deal.
And ... when we group it is a sweet deal. Lots of fun and patience with each other.
So, come learn with us.
see you around.
WOW: GWJ Alliance on Blackhand (BHA)
Quest helper is by far the best mod ever made. Just google WOW quest helper.
WOW: Bounce
Omen is a lifesaver from the moment that you start running instances (so long as the tank is using it too, anyway). It has the added bonus of giving you an idea for how well a pug is going to do... I've found as a rule of thumb that the more people are running omen, the better a run will go. I'm not sure how much that's due to Omen itself, and how much it's just a sign that people are thinking about threat etc.
I loooooove my QuestHelper.
"Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. I did an original sin. I poked a badger with a spoon." - Eddie Izzard