Patch 3.1... PTR... The Big Nerf!!!

To Nerf is to make something that was real into something that is not really as powerful.

Well, I love Blizz's sense of humor.

They put in Foam Swords.

Someone linked this in Trade Chat and well, see for yourself......




Not sure how you get them yet, but it should be tons of fun.

Look for more Patch 3.1 info

MOD SPOTLIGHT - Dresser
Since I have a normal pic of the dressing room, thought I would mention Dresser, gives zoom ability and so much more! Check it out today.

Dual Specks... the debate

Wow is there a big debate going on right now in the wow community about Dual specks and what they will do to the game.

First off, the basics on Dual specks -
It will cost 1000 gold from your trainer to activate it. It can be activated at level 40. You can switch specks when not in combat, so in instances, pvp, etc. It is a 5 second cast.

The debate now is dps classes will now be excluded from raids because they can bring a hybrid. Raid leaders will force hybrids to dual speck, etc.

First off, this may happen with some guilds, but I know many guilds that people already have 2 specks and they are paying a 100g a day to change the speck based on what is requested of them. Many raids will port and summon a person back to handle these things. So, really, this dual speck system will pay for itself in 10 days compared to the old method.

Over at Eternity Matters, we will not be forcing anyone to dual speck, but we will be encouraging all tanks to dual speck. This is because the current content only has room for 2 tanks in 10 mans (1 tank in eye), and 3 tanks in the 25 man, sometimes having for 4 or 5 helps out, depending on the rest of the make up. So we are having our tanks take turns each week as to who will speck dps for the day.

Enough of the debate. How does this work?

Ok, first visit your trainer and talked to him about it. He will ask you for a 1000g and bam, you are in the dual speck world.

Ok, before you start playing with it, activate this new setting -

This preview allows you to mess around before you commit the changes.

Ok, so open up the talents window. Hit the second tab and pick the activate. I was off on my screen shots, I already activated my second tab, so I switched back to my primary tab for this shot.


Fill out all your talents

Hit the Learn button and answer the question


Bam, your dual speck is setup. Go get some glyphs and put them in (notice the glyph tab is now on this box) and you are all set. Switch back and forth as you (or your Raid Leader) see fit.

MOD Spotlight - Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
This takes scrolling combat text to the next level. Allows you to specify multiple windows and redirect all those messages to the windows. Has Spam suppression so you don't see a ton on HOTs or DOTs. Ya, check it out if you want to give your Scrolling Text a bit of bang!

OOPS....

I was wrong about the gear mod.

If you hold Alt Key, it gives you the option to change the gear and have the slot be ignored.

Anyway, get prepped for tomorow's post on the duel specking system.

Oh and the new quest tracking window also holds the achievement tracking as well. So it is a pretty nice bit for those that do not use mods.

PTR patch 3.1.... a mod look

Ok, taking a break this afternoon to write my blog since during lunch I was busy...

So, they released 3.1 to PTR and have patched it already.

First impression, it does not deliver. The promised new talent to replace Kings in the prot tree is missing.

So, I am not going to talk about the game play stuff, instead, we will focus on the UI and "new" built in mods.

The first is a revamp of the quest tracking system. They have an advanced tracking system that allows you to resize and place anywhere in your ui. In addition, it adds to the tooltips the number of critters you need to kill when hovering over a critter that is needed for a quest. Not bad for those not using questhelper or questfu or any of the other great quest mods out there.

Second is the new gear switching utility. I like to call it the, I wish I was as good as closetgnome, itemrack and outfitter mod.
So this is what they have done - you get a new icon on your character sheet. You click it and you get 10 spots you can save your setup to. It pops up a similiar box to the choose an icon and name for macro. You get to pick from all the icons but none that match the gear icons. You then can drag that icon to your action bar. I assume you can key bind as well, but did not look to closely at it.

The other big disappointment with this is it was complete outfits. You can't make partial outfits and just have it swap one or 2 pieces. I hope they change that.
The last disappointment is editing one or deleting it is kinda confusing, no clear cut bit with this. They did not take enough of their code from their macro interface.

Overall opinion - Will work for most people for the Duel Speck system, but us wardrobe hogs better stick with the other mods.

MOD SPOTLIGHT - Go get yourself Itemrack :-) Talked about it before, but I cannot say enough good things about this mod. Along with Trinket Menu. These mods will never die unless blizz buys the code and puts them in themselves.

First look at Ulduar

Holy Batman! Ulduar looks awesome.

	English (US) English (EU) Español (AL) Español (EU) Deutsch Français Русский 한국어

Professor Plumb in the Library with the Candlestick....

Half the time I wonder if anyone has a Clue to what is going on.

Many people are just after their Professor Plumbs so they can pew pew more with their Candlesticks in the library....

Ack, stop with the analogies Therigwin and get to the point.

Ok in plain wow english. Are people so focused on getting Epix Gear (purple color, thus Professor Plumb) so they can be better dps (pew pew) using their spells (Candlestick).

Ya I know, it was a stretch, but recently we have been trying to change our focus in Eternity Matters Raiding from that of get the gear to spend time with friends. We have some very talented players and Honor's code calls it, we are essentially a 10 man end game raid content guild. The biggest problem we were facing is that people got mad and felt like we did not like them when they were excluded from the 10 mans. So we started doing the 25 mans. It allowed us to get more people in, but we have yet to clear Nax 25, so we are not at the end game content in that case.

Well, we did our second attempt on 10 eye of eternity with a hand selected 10 for over all group balance. We made it to phase 3, so we are getting better. The problem was not everyone could go and we had to make choices as who got invited. Those choices led to having to pick classes over player to balance it out and one of my favorite friends in game had to sit out. Well, last night we go to do our 25 man and I ask if he and his wife plan on coming. I get the response that he wasn't good enough cause he didn't get picked to go to eye and another player did. Then he logs off before I could respond.

At first I was really really mad. That hurt my feeling. I never said he wasn't good enough. I calmed down and we as a leadership looked at what we are doing as guild and tried to figure out if we are doing something wrong. We talked about what are we about, are people having fun, why are people leaving the guild. We discussed our reputation as a gear up quickly guild and teach people to play so then they can go hardcore raiding guild. We talked about the fellowship aspect.

So in my mind today, it came down again that when we try to do the 10 man progression, it becomes all about the gear and dps and the numbers, and not about spending time with friends. 10 man raids are harder than 25 man, because it requires everyone to be top of their game and group balance. While Blizz preaches bring your friends and not the class, 10 man eye of eternity requires specific class balance to work. That being the case, we had to pick multiple classes and we excluded bring more of class if we did not gain additional buffs. Ack, it is so frustrating organizing 10 man runs at the end content.

I hate 10 man runs. I love 25 man because I can include more people.

So I am very hesitant to ever schedule the 10 man run again. I don't want to hurt peoples feelings again cause I really care about them as people and not their silly avatar in the game.

Will we still do the 10 man eye of eternity? Yes, until we have the 25 man available.
There is gear in there that I want people to have access to.

Anyway, I have blogged enough for today.

Those that read, I ask that you say a prayer for Eternity Matters that we can work through these things and that people have a true understanding of what is going on.

**MOD SPOTLIGHT**
EGC - Easy Guild Check. It shows changes in the guild roster. I think I mentioned it before, but I wanted to mention it again.

Crazy Day, so more happy videoes

So it was a crazy day at work with no time to post and blog.

So for today, I leave you with a classic video that I think all Mages appreciate.



Hopefully I can blog about something better tomorrow :-)

Fun Videos

A new trend is happening in the wow video market. People are using the wow 3d model viewer to export the models to other 3d animation tools.

This has allowed for 2 excellent videos to come out in the past 2 months.

The first is a the best Rogue Video out.... Craft of War Blind.


The Craft of War: BLIND from percula on Vimeo.

The next is a very Gnome EMO song that is very cute and should inspire all the gnome loving or hating grin.


Kim Lukas - Cloud 9 from Zim Tower on Vimeo.

Anyway, no mod spotlight for today since I need to head out to work and the van should be warm by now. I may still post a blog at lunch, but I doubt it as work is going to be killer.

Where dat gear come from.......

So you have reached 80 and you want some awesome gear.

You also notice the two achievements Blizzard has in place -
Superior - Item level 187 or higher
Epix - Item level 213 or higher

So what is this item level? Item level is an internal number Blizzard assigns to gear.
The higher item level more things they have put into that piece of gear. Each stat, each number on the gear contributes to the item level.

Misconception - Epixs are better than blues. This is not always the case. Many of the blues are item level 200 and they are just as good as Epix counterparts that are the same item level.

Ok, so where does all this stuff come from?

Item Level 187 - Normal Instances that are level 78-80 drop this level gear as well as getting Honored with many factions you can purchase this level gear. There are also crafted pieces that are this item level.

Item Level 200 (Blue and Epix) - This gear drops in Heroic Mode of all the Northrend instances, with one Epix (200) dropping off the final boss. Exalted rep with factions can get you an Epix (200) item as well as crafters can create a few pieces as well. Next there are the Emblem of Heroism Tokens that can purchase this level of Epix gear. Then there is the 10 man Normal difficulty level of raids on Nax (all but the last boss) and Obsidian Sanctum. The pvp raid 10 man, Vault of Archavon, has a chance at dropping the PVE set pieces that are item level 200 and the pvp sets. These are all the locations you can get this level item of gear. Oh and their are some BOE world drops as well. Oh and back to the Emblems, all normal 5 man instances on heroic mode, the bosses drop the Emblems. All 10 man versions of the raids, the bosses drop them as well.

Item Level 213 (Epix) - Ok, now we are talking the better epixs, but not the best, but where do we get on hands on these? First, there are a small subset of crafted pieces that resist gear. Next there are a few BOE items you can get on the AH. Ok, on to raids - the Final boss, Kel'Thuzad, in Normal 10 man Nax drops item level 213 epix gear. The 10 man Eye of Eternity raid drops 213 epix level gear. The Obsidian Sanctum with 2 drakes up drops 1 epix 213 piece of gear. Nax (Heroic) 25 man raid drops item level 213 gear. The Vault of Archavon in heroic 25 man mode drops the pve tier pieces and pvp gear that is 213. Next, you can buy gear using the Emblem of Valor. These drop in all the 25 man raids right now.

Tier 7 and 7.5 - Ok, here is something to consider - T7 is item level 200 and is called Heroism and goes with the Emblem of Heroism. T7.5 is item level 213 and is called Valorous and goes with the Emblems of Valor.... go figure... But wait, there is a better level yet. Item level 226 which goes beyond the Valor.

Item level 226 - This is beyond the epix achievement. This gear drops in the following places -
25 Man Nax, Final Boss, Good Old KT. Eye of Eternity 25 Man. 2 Drakes up in Obsidian Sanctum 25 man.

What is Uldar bringing?

Here is my guess - 10 Man will be item level 213 Valor based. 25 man will be item level 226 and they will introduce a new Emblem and T8. They may make the 10 Man a new item level like 216 or something with 2 new Emblems. Hard to say.

So the question, where does that gear come from? Item level 200, Heroics 5 mans, rep, and the occiasional piece in Nax 10. This will get you your Superior achievement. If you have the Superier Achievement and the majority of the pieces are item level 200 (Blue or Epix), you are set for the 25 man content to get the 213 gear.

** Mod Spotlight **
Rating Buster
This Mod provides more information in the tooltips that allow you to compare gear. It even lists the internal Item Level of the gear! Looks like a great mod to go with this post.

I have been Tagged....

So I missed out on my lunch blogging because of a car shuffle dance during lunch and find out when I got home I was tagged!

Enok tagged me and now I must post my 6th picture in my screen shot folder.



This is from Shadow Labs, Time for Fun. Back when I was holy and fighting Taylore from the looks of it.

Now, I wanted to dig deeper than that. So I tapped into our archive of even older photos.

Here is the sixth screenshot from my original pc -


Looks like a Strat UD run.

Ok, and here is one from my wife's PC

A very low level Daraia.

Ok, no mod posting tonight, I want to log in and play!

Get back to work!

I am writing this blog with 2 minutes left in my lunch.

I came back to have my projects all changed around and I am now doing new stuff that a fellow coworker was doing, but he is a brand new daddy.

So, this topic is about getting back to work. What does that mean for a tank?

It means tanking with your head on straight.

In a raid situation, there is a main tank and there are co tanks. I really don't like the term off tank, because there is nothing off about them.

Our jobs as tanks is to work at keeping the team alive and moving forward. The main tank may take the big beatings, but the co tanks keeps the strays in place that can cause wipes.

It is important that the tank team is really a team and works well together. This will help things go smoothly and people will have fun.

MOD Spotlight -
Fishbringer -
This mod tells you how many more fish to you level, what your level is and what percent rate you will catch the fish. Great mod for any fishing wow person.

Was it something I ate?

Well I found myself loosing the medicines I took to combat the flu this morning. Seems that the bug has entered phase 2 and the family is fleeing from me.

My prayer is I will be well enough to go back to work without couging, sneezing, or any other icky stuff happening tomorrow.

Anyway, I took it easy from WOW again, but we had our 25 man raid. We did not keep any drakes up cause we were short on healers and dps, but we did get some nice loot. Then that group went and did the 25 man Arch and I got my Valorous Redemption Handguards

Mod Spotlight
Ackis Recipe List
This mod keeps track of what recipes you need to learn and where to get them. For the most part, its data is fairly accurate. Only a few did I find it was not accurate, but they may have been fixed as it was updated today.

Is it hot in here?

Well, I guess it is not hot, but I have been fighting the flu all weekend and still getting over it. I think I finally got rid of the 100 degree fever.

That has left very little time for play in WOW.

Though, I did manage to squeeze in some 10 man action for 2 bosses and got my T7 shoulders.
GO GO POWER RANGERS!!!!

Mod Spotlight -
Combuctor
This is a bank and bag replacement mod. Allows you to select a view by type, rarity, search, etc.
On top of it all, it allows you to search all your alts bags and banks as well.

Love is in the Air

So, yes, I am a geek and in typical geek fashion, I had a virtual picnic with my wife yesterday.

I also spent plenty of time with my boys (who all are sick) and got their cold from them.

Anyway, I am reminded that God commands us to love everyone, even our enemies. Love is a choice and not a crazy emotion. So spend some time with those you love and show them that you love them.

Boy am I tired.....

What a night we had last night in Nax 25. We continued our push into this for the first time as a guild. Overall we did pretty good.

We 1 shot all the bosses except the horseman. They decided to give us some difficulty and we finally called it quits so we could try fresh the next day.

Many people got some good upgrades. Some nice tanking pants dropped, but I already had Dragon Brood Legguards
so I let our warrior tanks roll for it.

My wife ended up getting enough badges to get her rogue T7.5 pants.

Ya, overall it was a great night, that lasted way way too long.

I am quite proud of those that refrained from rolling on stuff to allow others a chance to get stuff.

However, the morning awaited with our 4 boys and 4 inches of snow to shovel. So this pally got his morning workout.

*** Mod Spotlight ***
Achieved!
This handy mod moves the achievement popup to a different spot in your UI (with mine, it was going over my buttons, making it hard to fight while getting achievements.)

Heroes

It is what is in the inside that counts.

God brings things into your life, the refiner's fire, that reveals the true you. It can be a painful process, but in the end, God has a person that he wants.

The world is filled with heroes. People wanting to be heroes. World of Warcraft caters to this idea, to be part of something bigger than ourselves.

In my life right now, God is applying the refiner's fire and it has been a struggle. We are not out of it yet, but God is purifying me and making me stronger.

I know he is doing the same with others in our guild, working in their marriages and relationships. One of the blog's I read alot is Honor's code (see the links to the left) and he has on his site a link to various Christian resources (nothing like Christian Paladin tanks). This one caught my eye - Fireproof the Movie

Here is the trailer. I know that my wife and I will be getting this video ourselves.


*** Mod Spotlight ***
OmniCC

I love this mod. Anywhere a cooldown happens, it adds a numerical value on it, be it character sheet, buttons, etc. It helps with knowing when you can do stuff.

Wuv is in the air

It is the valentines season again in wow and all the crazy quests are happening. Many are caught up in those festivities, working on the achievements.

Myself, I took a break yesterday. I found this great video on Warcraftmovies.com

It is about a cheese vendor that dreams of being a paladin. Very well done video.


PAL.MPG

***MOD SPOTLIGHT****
Mapster
Mapster is a mod that modifies your world map and brings it to a movable window. It also will reveal the entire map and you can set the areas you have not explored as a different color that overlays the map.

Be very very quiet.....

....... we be hunting dragons.

Last Night EM did a guild first. We downed Sartharion with 1 drake up.

We had some help from awesome pugs that have been with us the past few weeks.

The sad thing was my Off Tank was having internet issues and DCed at the last 20%. We also had to DE a Mail Helm cause we had no hunters or shamans running with us.

Funny things from last night..... Our main healer leaned over her laptop and pulled the boss.... That will always stick in my mind as something funny.

Anyway, I guess today's blog is just tons of Random Thoughts......

On a positive side, EM is growing again, we just got a slew of new members, a couple of paladins, a druid, and a few others. We are looking pretty strong to start our Nax 25 push this coming next week. We took one of those new members in on a Caverns of Time Strat Run. My wife has been after Greed for the longest time and had not gotten it. So she has been looking for her good luck person. It has been claimed, that Daraia is Ziggy's lucky person to run with. Whenever Ziggy needs something, he pulls Daraia into that instance and he gets the drop. So last night, we pull in our new Paladin member, Qum. And Greed dropped for my wife. I guess Qum is destined to always be dragged along with Daraia whenever my wife needs a drop.

All said in done, yesterday was pretty good. Oh, and I got a new Cloak as well. Let the re-gemming begin!

**MOD SPOTLIGHT**
Overachiever - You want to know how you are doing on your achievements? In an area and wonder if there is an achievement you can accomplish? This mod is for you. (Lunas, stay away from this mod.... I just beat you in achievement points... buhahahaha)

Patch 3.0.9

So we got a patch today with a couple of changes.

The Big one is that even the updated Minna Plan is broken and doesn't work, so my mod for the day just keep your eye on for an official update from the author.

Oh and Paladin 30 Minute Seals is a good thing

Teamwork - makes it happen

So last night, we headed back in to face KT. Things did not go well the previous night, people were tired, they did not know where to stand, who to heal, not interupting spells, etc

So with a fresh plan I posted with placements, we went in and 1 shot KT.

It happened because everyone knew what they were supposed to do. Everyone worked as a team. It was a great feeling.

The T7 head piece dropped. I lost it to our healing lead. That is ok, I will have plenty of times to get the helm. Plus we are going to start looking at doing the 25 man, so there is always that opportunity.

The big point is, when your guild works together as a team, things happen.

**Mod Spotlight**
MinnaPlan - This mod makes planning out raid placement very easy. If everyone has it, you can broadcast the plan to the entire raid. Make coordinating things for new fights easier.
The link provided above has only BC maps. I hope soon they add the WoTLK maps that a fan updated with here.

New Beginnings

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Praise God for that verse. This past week was a killer and we have a fresh new week ahead of us. Being a new week, it got me thinking about the transforming miracle does in the lives of believers. We become new creations.

So if the old is gone, why do we still do the junk that we do? My reasoning is that we are truly not submitting our will to God's will and plan for our lives and trusting him. Much of this may come out in game when we start disrespecting each other and then misunderstanding each other.

In a Christian Guild, we have a big Bull's eye on our foreheads. The Devil (the divider) will do whatever he can to disrupt us. He will turn best of friends against each other over silly things, that are just in game.

I am here to say that we don't need that. We are new Creations in Christ, the old is gone, here is the new. The new is the loving, respecting people that can witness for Jesus in a virtual reality world and impact lives for Christ.

So yes, this should really be like a Sunday blog, but you guys get some preaching today on Monday.

God bless!

**DAILY MOD SPOTLIGHT**
Today I am spotlighting Dresser

Dresser adds tons of functionality to the dressing room, from equipping the target's gear on yourself, zooming in, undressing, using your target as a paper doll, etc. Really good mod to find out if you really want to equip that new epix, or will you look like a clown.

Raiders of the Lost Leaders......

Dun dun dun dah, dun dun dun.... (Indiana Jones theme song)

So I have been absent this week in game because of being on call for work, but tonight, I am finally available once more.

So today's post is what does it take to be a good Raid Leader?

The most important thing about being a good Raid Leader is being able to lead and respect those that you are leading. Know your groups abilities so you can use them in the fights. Know what each class and specifically what each speck is bringing to the mix. Lastly, delegate authority. You may know what each person can do, but assign tank lead, healing lead, and dps lead. They will coordinate with their respective areas.

Ok, the next important thing about Raid leading is group balance. This ties into my first point. You want a balance of healer types, ranged and melee dps. Tanks, it depends on the fight, but any of the 4 types should work.

The fights! Yes, you should know the fights. Tankspot.com is excellent for this.

So there you have it. Know your troupes and know the fights, and get others to help you.



**MOD SPOTLIGHTS**
Ready Check Announcer - This announces the results of a Ready Check to the raid. A Nice Raid leader tool.


Guild Check - This is keep my eye on the guild mod. It lets me know each time I log in any time a guild roster change has happened.

Friday... blessed Friday

Sigh, what a week it has been. The majority of my time has been dedicated to my real life job.

As it stands, I have just 5 minutes to blog today.

So tomorrow will be much longer.

I am just going to cover a few more handy mods.

TradeTabs - This mod make switching between your tradeskills very easy.


Anyway, that is all I got for today. Tomorrow will hopefully be a nice long post on leading raids.

Ooooh Purdies!

So yesterday was about Gems and today we will continue. There are two more types of gems out there that can be confusing, in addition to what gem slots are all about.

On to the last two types of gems you can put in gear.
The first is prismatic gems. Prismatic gems match all color gem slots. Currently, only Jewel Crafters can socket prismatic gems in their own gear. The exception are 2 gems from WotLK and 2 gems from BC. These are the +stats and the +resist gems. So as far as counting for socket bonuses, they count as a yellow, blue, and red gem.

Meta Gems are unique special gems that can add a even better bonus than a normal gem. They do have an activation cost. In the description of the meta gem it will state what is required for it to be active. Things like 1 blue, 2 red gems or more yellow than blue, etc.
Many people get confused by this. So remember, it is the combined color of the gems that are socketed in the gear that you are wearing. If the piece of gear is in your bag, it does not count. If the socket is yellow and you put a red gem in it, it counts red.

WAIT!!!! OUCH!!!! BRAIN HURTS!!!!

Here is something people don't realize. You don't have to match up socket colors to put gems in them. The reason you do match colors is for socket bonus. You have to determine if the socket bonus is worth more than putting a diferent color in.

Example, say I have a yellow socket. I could put a +16 defense in that socket, but I am defense cap already. Now if I was struggling for stam, I could put a +24 stamina (which is blue) into it. Now say the socket bonus is +6 stamina. Is it worth it? So is +16 defense/+6 stamina > +24 stamina? So you need to figure out what you need and make it happen.

So that is the basics of gems. Gem so your metas work, that you get the socket bonus if it is worthwhile.

Again, Gem slots are about granting bonus. If you are a blacksmith, you can add gem slots to your gear. They just allow you to add another gem, so it does nothing to the socket bonus.

yeah, that covers Gems.

Is it nap time yet?

MODS - Gem Quota This mod adds a drop down to your character screen stats that shows how many of each color gem you have equiped and if the meta gem is active. A really good mod for helping you keep track of your gems in your gear.

Gems are a players best friend

Today I am writing to explain the awesomeness of Gems, the struggles of Jewelcrafters, and how to get the shinies in your gear.

First, lets talk some basics. Jewelcrafting was introduce in BC. The epix gems that you can get from BC have less stats than the green gems you get from Northrend. So if you are shopping on the AH, don't buy the epix gems, buy the greens.

Next, not all Jewelcrafters are equal. While many of the recipes are available via rep, the majority of them recipes are available via jewelcrafting tokens that are from doing the daily jewelcrafting quest. Normal gem cuts cost 3 dailes, meta cost 5, jewelry costs 4 to 6. I am still working my way through learning all the normal cuts for blue quality gems myself and I do know the epix tanking ring.

Colors - Did you know that each set of stats is attached to one of the primary colors of red, blue, or yellow? That the mixed colors have two stats consisting of the base stats?

Red is the color of Strength, Spell Power, Parry, Dodge, Expertise, Attack Power, Agility, Armor Penetration.

Blue is the color of Spirit, Mana per 5, Stamina, Spell Penetration

Yellow is the color of Intelect, Resillance, Hit Rating, Critical Strike Rating, Haste Rating, Defense Rating.

So if you need Strength, put a red, orange, or purple gem in it.

Anyway, lunch is over, I will continue this blog later.

Click Casting is where it is at

Work kept me from wow yesterday, but that is ok. I had already figured out various topics I wanted to blog about over the next few days. Today is going to hopefully be a good balance of wow techno geek meets practical application of game play.

So Click Casting, what is it? It has been around as part of Mods since 1.0 in WoW, and many mods have used it. To understanding Click Casting, you need to understand the interface and how everything works. So lets break it down into the basic components.

First there are unit frames. What is a unit frame? A unit frame is a box, picture, etc in the UI that you can click on to do stuff. Typical unit frames are Yourself, your target, your target's target, pets, party and raid. All of these have built in click functions, like setting raid icons, trade, duel, etc.

Enter in click casting. Click casting overrides the default behavior and allows you to assign a spell to your clicks of your mouse. Now this can be very frustrating if all you are trying to do is trade with someone and you end up casting Lay on Hands. So many click casting mods provide their own unit frames to use with specific funtions in the frames.

Some examples of this is Decursive, Pally Power, and Smart Buff / DeBuff. They provide their own unit frames where when you click them it will either buff the unit, remove a curse, etc.

Taking it even farther is Healbot. Healbot is it's own unit frame with tons of options for visual appearance. It allows you to assign a spell or macro to 5 mouse buttons, including when holding shift, alt, or control.

Now, a blog about Click Casting would not be complete without a discusion about Clique. Clique allows you from your spell book to assign any spell to any type of mouse click to any unit frame you have in your ui. Many use it with the GRID unit frame. This offers the most flexibility of all the systems. The majority of the time, click casting is used for healing. But Clique allows you to extand that ability to your enemies, allowing you to go crazy but clicking on the enemies unit frame to dish out damage.

Now, right now the blog is without links to these mods listed, I will add that later tonight as my lunch is over and I need to get back to work.

**Update** Mods linked now.

*Mod spotlight* - Capping. Capping is a pvp mod that shows timers in battlegrounds and other nice pvp things. I again will link it later tonight.

Another new week

Well, it is a start to a new work week and soon a new week of raiding.

Since I took a break yesterday because it was Sunday, lets catch up on some of the random WOW thoughts and things going on in this paladin's crazy head.

First our guild is hurting for consistent healers. So I was Holy all day Saturday. Did all my dailies specked Holy, got a few rep pieces for my healing set. So I decided to Pug 25 Man Arc and got the paladin T 7.5 Ret Gloves. Then it is on to Nax. We manage to finish up the Construct wing with me healing. It was fun, but boy do I miss tanking. Saph was not as kind to us, so we saved that for Sunday.

Sunday I am back to tanking and we have a few alts and off specks healing it. Our best attempt got him down to 30%, but after around 100+ gold in repairs, we called it.

Unfortunately, I am on call for work this week so tonight I will not be able to Raid at all. Hopefully they will give it another shot and be successful.

Mod wise, I left off quite a few mods I use that are not visable, so I will take a small part of my blog each day this week to cover the missing ones or go over some I glossed over.

Today will be Auctioneer. This mod adds so much to the whole auctioneer, Enchanting, prospecting, etc experience. The only part we do not have installed of this pack is their error collection mod, since we use BugSack. In a nutshell, this mod will allow you to use the Auctionhouse to get great deals in buying and selling your stuff. It also adds values to the tooltips so you know which quest item to pick for the best DE value or pure vendor price. So check it out. It is a bit memory usage hog compared to other addons, so those pushing your memory limits may want to avoid using it.