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T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
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I. Information [Intro1]
II. Warlock Class [Class1]
III. Affliction Talent Tree [Tree1]
IV. Demonology Talent Tree [Tree2]
V. Destruction Talent Tree [Tree3]
VI. Credits And Special Thanks [Spctnks1]
VII. Legal Information and Closing [Linfo1]

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I. Information [Intro1]
================================================================

I decided to make this guide a few days ago, back when I noticed that
that there aren’t any talent guides on the Burning Crusade board.
with that in mind, and the fact that I main a Warlock this guide was
born. Readers expect a few more guides to come out, I plan to do many
more talent guides for this game over the course of the next few
weeks.

More than likely, I will have to update this guide whenever a new patch
or whatever comes out. This is mostly due to the fact that blizzard will
change the talent tree(s) at any given time whenever they see fit, so
to keep this guide recent patchly updates are needed :P.

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II. Warlock Class [Class1]
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Now I know what you’re all thinking… Warlocks are so (o x 100) OP’ed
(Over-powered) but this is far from the truth. I won’t lie and say that
warlocks are UP’ed (Under-Powered) but we aren’t the best either.
Roughly, about 1/3 of the current classes can utterly destroy us,
these classes being: MS Warriors, Rogues, and BM hunters.

Warlocks mainly dominate other main spellcasters, Druids and Shamans.
However a Warlock’s main strength is the impressive CC (Crowd Control) that
we have access to, or the massive damage over time that we can potentially
pull off.

This being said, you’ll find that the most impressive damage can be done
by either the Affliction or Demonology spec. Before I get bashed, while
destro (Destruction) CAN pull off high criticals, I feel that it changes
a Warlock into a “Mage wannabe” which isn’t cool at all. Plus,
while Destruction allows A warlock to do quick burst damage, you’ll find
that Destro Warlocks lack survivability and tend to have a lot more down
time than Affliction or Demonology Warlocks.

It is for that reason that I recommend that a person that is new to the
Warlock class go Demonology or Affliction first, as Destruction tends to be
a spec for someone who is more experienced.

when you’re playing a Warlock a key point to remember is for you to look
for specific bonuses when choosing gear. Always look for: Stamina,
Intellect, and +Spell Damage in that order specifically. Adding Stamina
is always important for a Warlock due to the fact that the Warlock has
many “convert health into mana” abilities.

Stamina = +10 points of health
Intellect = +15 points of mana

Below when I list the talent trees, I will also list 1-5 stars by the
name of the talents. One star means that the talent is utterly worthless,
while 5 stars means the talent is highly valuable.

Some key terms to remember are:

(DoTs) DoTs stand for “Damage Over Time Spells” which are a Warlock’s key
form of doing damage.

(Drain Tanking) When a Warlock uses the Drain Life spell to gain back
life from their enemy while their enemy hits on them. The object is to
stack DoTs on their enemy then repeatedly use “Drain Life” to heal back
health quicker than the enemy can make you lose it. Since Drain Life heals
more health per DoT on the enemy, it is neccesary to stack as many DoTs
as possible.

(OP’ed) Over-powered

(UP’ed) Under-powered

(Spec’ed) Talent specialization

(Mobs) Monsters, or enemies inside of the game.

(Grind) Killing multiple mobs as quick as possible to gain massive exp,
gold, or items.

(SS) Soul Shard

(Proc’ing) When a random effect from an ability or talent occurs.

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III. Affliction Talent Tree [Tree1]
================================================================

(Suppression) ***

Rank 1/5: Reduces the chance for enemies to resist your affliction spells
by 2%.
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/5: Reduces the chance for enemies to resist your affliction spells
by 4%.
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/5: Reduces the chance for enemies to resist your affliction spells
by 6%.
(3 talent points invested)

Rank 4/5: Reduces the chance for enemies to resist your affliction spells
by 8%
(4 talent points invested)

Rank 5/5: Reduces the chance for enemies to resist your affliction spells
by 10%
(5 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: Don’t invest into this unless you have extra talent
points lying around, which is almost never.

(Improved Corruption) *****

Rank 1/5: Reduces the casting time of your Corruption spell by 0.4 sec.
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/5: Reduces the casting time of your Corruption spell by 0.8 sec.
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/5: Reduces the casting time of your Corruption spell by 1.2 sec.
(3 talent points invested)

Rank 4/5: Reduces the casting time of your Corruption spell by 1.6 sec.
(4 talent points invested)

Rank 5/5: Reduces the casting time of your Corruption spell by 2.0 sec.
(5 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: This is one of the most valuable talents that you
can spec into. This makes your Corruption DoT (damage over time) spell
an instant cast so you can cast it while moving without it interrupting.
You’ll definitely need this as an instant cast spell if you intend to
grind in the future.

(Improved Curse Of Weakness) *
~Requires 5 points in Affliction Talents~

Rank 1/2: Increases the effect of your Curse of Weakness by 10%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/2: Increases the effect of your Curse of Weakness by 20%
(2 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: This is not worth it at all. Even when you’re fighting
a foe who has a lot of attack power, it’s usually better to apply a real
curse (Curse of Agony) to do tons of good damage, rather than simply
reducing their damage by a small amount.

(Improved Drain Soul) *****
~Requires 5 points in Affliction Talents~

Rank 1/2: Returns 7% of your maximum mana if the target is killed by you
when you drain it’s soul. In addition, your Affliction spells generate
5% less threat.
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/2: Returns 15% of your maximum mana if the target is killed by you
when you drain it’s soul. In addition, your Affliction spells generate 10%
less threat.
(2 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: This is another valuable talent that no Warlock can
be without. This talent basically allows you to return a good sum of
mana back into your mana pool, which enables you to keep on spellcasting
without having to sit down and drink. Definitely a talent that you’ll
want to spec into.

(Improved Life Tap) ****
~Requires 5 points in Affliction Talents~

Rank 1/2: Increases the amount of Mana awarded by your Life Tap spell by
10%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/2: Increases the amount of Mana awarded by your Life Tap spell by
20%
(2 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: Not so important if you decide to spec into full
Affliction, because the “Dark Pact” spell is arguably better in every
way. However if you plan to totally eliminate your down time, then
you should grab this.

(Soul Siphon) *****
~Requires 5 points in Affliction Talents~

Rank 1/2: Increases the amount of health drained by your Drain Life spell
by an additional 2% for each Affliction effect on the target, up to a
maximum of 24% additional effect.
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/2: Increases the amount of health drained by your Drain Life spell
by an additional 4% for each Affliction effect on the target, up to a
maximum of 60% additional effect.
(2 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: Grab this if you want to be a drain tanker.

(Improved Curse of Agony) *****
~Requires 10 points in Affliction Talents~

Rank 1/2: Increases the damage done by your Curse of Agony spell by 5%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/2: Increases the damage done by your Curse of Agony spell by 10%.
(2 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: Grab this just for the extra damage it brings. Note
that you can potentially raise the damage of your Curse Of Agony and
all of your others spells by stacking +Spell Damage bonuses, but
you don’t get too many good +spell damage bonuses without running instances.

(Fel Concentration) ****
~Requires 10 points in Affliction Talents~

Rank 1/5: Gives you a 14% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage
while channeling your Drain Life, Drain Mana, or Drain Soul spells.
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/5: Gives you a 28% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage
while channeling your Drain Life, Drain Mana, or Drain Soul spells.
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/5: Gives you a 42% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage
while channeling your Drain Life, Drain Mana, or Drain Soul spells.
(3 talent points invested)

Rank 4/5: Gives you a 56% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage
while channeling your Drain Life, Drain Mana, or Drain Soul spells.
(4 talent points invested)

Rank 5/5: Gives you a 70% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage
while channeling your Drain Life, Drain Mana, or Drain Soul spells.
(5 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: This is so-so, it’s good if you don’t want those
important spells to break before they are supposed to be over with.
However, you may not want to put the full 5/5 points inside of this talent
because more than likely 3-4 points should suffice. Getting 56% will ensure
that these spells won’t break more than 3/8 of the time.

(Amplify Curse) ***
~Requires 10 points in Affliction Talents~

Rank 1/1: Learn the “Amplify Curse” spell.

Amplify Curse:

Increases the effect of your next Curse of Doom, or
Curse of Agony spells by 50%, or your Curse of Exhaustion spell by 20%.
Instant cast, 3 minute cooldown, Lasts 30 seconds.

“Personal Opinion”: I never get this spell, because usually it doesn’t
make enough difference to matter much. You’ll only see use of this spell
on bosses, because random regular mobs are easy enough to take out.
A cooldown of 3 minutes ensures that you won’t be using this as often as
you would like to, this spell would be more useful if the cooldown was
about 75% less. But seeing as how the cooldown is long, you won’t be
using it, due to you forgetting that you have it available.

(Grim Reach) *****
~Requires 15 points in Affliction Talents~

Rank 1/2: Increases the range of your Affliction spells by 10%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/2: Increases the range of your Affliction spells by 20%
(2 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: This is definitely a talent that you would want to
spec into. Giving your Affliction spells +20% more range, means you’ll
be able to hit targets who are farther away.

(Nightfall) *****
~Requires 15 points in Affliction Talents~

Rank 1/2: Gives your Corruption and Drain Life spells a 2% chance to
cause you to enter a “Shadow Trance” state after damaging the opponent.
The Shadow Trance state reduces the casting time of your next Shadow bolt
spell by 100%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/2: Gives your Corruption and Drain Life spells a 4% chance to cause
you to enter a “Shadow Trance” state after damaging the opponent.
The Shadow Trance state reduces the casting time of your next shadow bolt
spell by 100%
(2 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: I can’t begin to tell you how useful this talent is
and no doubt that you’ll be seeing a lot of proc’ing from this talent.
No casting time for a shadow bolt equals extra quick damage, which is
certainly welcome.

(Empowered Corruption) ****
~Requires 15 points in Affliction Talents~

Rank 1/3: Your Corruption spell gains an additional 12% of your
bonus spell damage effects.
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/3: Your Corruption spells gains an additional 24% of your
bonus spell damage effects.
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/3: Your Corruption spell gains an additional 36% of your
bonus spell damage effects
(3 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: You won’t notice much from this talent until level 65
or so, mostly because you gain most of your +spell damage boosts from
higher level equipment. That being the case, I wouldn’t spec into this
until you’re level 70 so that you can really see a big difference in
damage.

(Shadow Embrace) ***
~Requires 20 points in Affliction Talents~

Rank 1/5: Your Corruption, Curse of Agony, Siphon Life, and Seed of
Corruption spells also casts the “Shadow Embrace” effect onto the enemy
which reduces physical damage caused by 1%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/5: Your Corruption, Curse of Agony, Siphon Life, and Seed of
Corruption spells also casts the “Shadow Embrace” effect onto the enemy
which reduces physical damage caused by 2%
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/5: Your Corruption, Curse of Agony, Siphon Life, and Seed of
Corruption spells also casts the “Shadow Embrace” effect onto the enemy
which reduces physical damage caused by 3%
(3 talent points invested)

Rank 4/5: Your Corruption, Curse of Agony, Siphon Life, and Seed of
Corruption spells also casts the “Shadow Embrace” effect onto the enemy
which reduces physical damage caused by 4%
(4 talent points invested)

Rank 5/5: Your Corruption, Curse of Agony, Siphon Life, and Seed of
Corruption spells also casts the “Shadow Embrace” effect onto the enemy
which reduces physical damage caused by 5%
(5 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: This ability is okay I guess, but it’s situational.
It’s only good against melee characters for starters and you must fully
spec into it to reduce the damage of the enemy by a “decent” amount.
The saving grace of this talent, is that the “Shadow Embrace” effect
causes Drain Life to heal you more, because it’s counted as an Affliction
effect.

(Siphon Life) *****
~Requires 20 points in Affliction Talents~

Rank 1/1: Learn the “Siphon Life” spell.

Siphon Life:

Transefers X amount of health from the target to the caster every 3 seconds.
Lasts 30 seconds, Instant, 30 yard range, X amount of mana, rank 1 spell.

“Personal Opinion”: This is one of the best DoTs that you will get,
and for good reason. This spell gives you health back WHILE you’re
destroying your enemy slowly. Tied into the fact that this and Drain
Life stack, also knowing that Drain Life gives you more health since
this is counted as an Affliction effect… you’ll enjoy this.

(Curse of Exhaustion) **
~Requires 20 points in Affliction Talents~
~Requires 1 point in Amplify Curse~

Rank 1/1: Learn the “Curse of Exhaustion” spell.

Curse of Exhaustion:

Reduces the target’s speed by 30%, only one curse per Warlock can be
applied on any one target.
Lasts 12 seconds, 30 yard range, 123 mana, rank 1 spell.

“Personal Opinion”: Not the best talent, because it requires you to learn
another talent first. It’s a form of CC but compared to a Warlock’s main
CC, Fear, it’s obviously second-rate. Take this if you plan to PVP, because
only in PVP is it highly valuable.

(Shadow Mastery) *****
~Requires 25 points in Affliction Talents~
~Requires 1 point in Siphon Life~

Rank 1/5: Increases the damage dealt or life drained by your shadow
spells by 2%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/5: Increases the damage dealt or life drained by your shadow
spells by 4%
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/5: Increases the damage dealt or life drained by your shadow
spells by 6%
(3 talent points invested)

Rank 4/5: Increases the damage dealt or life drained by your shadow
spells by 8%
(4 talent points invested)

Rank 5/5: Increases the damage dealt or life drained by your shadow
spells by 10%
(5 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: Extra damage and extra health drained from an enemy
is always good, so don’t pass this up at all.

(Contagion) *****
~Requires 30 points in Affliction Talents~

Rank 1/5: Increases the damage of your Curse of Agony, Corruption, and
Seed of Corruption spells by 1% and reduces the chance your Affliction
spells will be dispelled by an additional 6%
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 2/5: Increases the damage of your Curse of Agony, Corruption, and
Seed of Corruption spells by 1% and reduces the chance your Affliction
spells will be dispelled by an additional 12%
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/5: Increases the damage of your Curse of Agony, Corruption, and
Seed of Corruption spells by 1% and reduces the chance your Affliction
spells will be dispelled by an additional 18%
(3 talent points invested)

Rank 4/5: Increases the damage of your Curse of Agony, Corruption, and
Seed of Corruption spells by 1% and reduces the chance your Affliction
spells will be dispelled by an additional 24%
(4 talent points invested)

Rank 5/5: Increases the damage of your Curse of Agony, Corruption, and
Seed of Corruption spells by 1% and reduces the chance your Affliction
spells will be dispelled by an additional 30%
(5 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: This is most definitely necessary and a very good
talent to invest into. A good 45% of the classes have dispelling abilities
and the extra damage is good.

(Dark Pact) *****
~Requires 30 points in Affliction Talents~

Rank 1/1: Learn the “Dark Pact” spell.

Dark Pact:

Drains X of your current pet’s Mana, returning 100% of the mana you
stole from them to you.
30 yard range, instant cast, rank 1.

“Personal Opinion”: If you don’t get this talent, then I feel sorry for
you. This talent is highly necessary for grinding and it allows you to
grind tons of mobs without having to sit down and drink.

(Improved Howl Of Terror) **
~Requires 35 points in Affliction Talents~

Rank 1/2: Reduces the casting time of your Howl Of Terror spell by
0.8 seconds.
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/2: Reduces the casting time of your Howl of Terror spell by
1.5 seconds.
(2 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: Not really needed, only if you plan to pvp a lot,
as mobs generally don’t strike hard enough to cause too much interruption.
If you’re going to be a PvP fiend, then you should generally get this
unless you got Curse of Exhaustion earlier, if you didn’t get CoE then
get this without a doubt.

(Malediction) *
~Requires 35 points in Affliction Talents~

Rank 1/2: Increases the damage bonus effect of your Curse of Shadows,
and Curse of Elements spells by an additional 1%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/3: Increases the damage bonus effect of your Curse of Shadows,
and Curse of Elements spells by an additional 2%
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/3: Increases the damage bonus effect of your Curse of Shadows,
and Curse of Elements spells by an additional 3%
(3 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: Honestly.. when are you ever going to need that
extra 3% of damage? You would be better off with Curse of Agony than this,
Curse of Agony will potentially do way more damage than that extra 3%
will net you.

(Unstable Affliction) ****
~Requires 40 points in Affliction Talents~
~Requires 5 points in Contagion~

Rank 1/1: Learn the “Unstable Affliction” spell.

Unstable Affliction:

Shadow energy slowly destroys the target, causing X amount of damage over
18 seconds. In addition, if the Unstable Affliction is dispelled it will
cause X amount of damage to the dispeller and silence them for 5 seconds.
30 yard range, X amount of mana, 1.5 second cast, rank 1.

“Personal Opinion”: Yay another DoT spell!…. if only it were instant
like the rest, sadly it’s not. But this spell still is very useful, if you
don’t waste your time casting this on Melee characters and just focus
on the casters. If a caster dispels this, then they are pretty much a
goner for those five seconds.

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IV. Demonology Talent Tree [Tree2]
================================================================

(Improved Healthstone) ***

Rank 1/2: Increases the amount of health restored by your Healthstones
by 10%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/2: Increases the amount of health restored by your Healthstones
by 20%
(2 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: I’d say putting one point into this should suffice,
sure putting in both points is worth it, but there’s usually something
else that you’re better off putting those valuable talent points into.

(Improved Imp) ****

Rank 1/3: Increases the effect of your Imp’s Firebolt, Fire Shield,
and Blood Pact spells by 10%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/3: Increases the effect of your Imp’s Firebolt, Fire Shield,
and Blood Pact spells by 20%
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/3: Increases the effect of your Imp’s Firebolt, Fire Shield,
and Blood Pact spells by 30%
(3 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: No matter what spec you’re going for, this is always
welcomed. The imp’s extra dps, Stamina, and Fire shield are good enough
to always get the job done. Not to mention that the Imp has the fastest
mana regen rate of all of your pets, and since it doesn’t cost a soulshard
this makes the Imp the best pet to be used for Dark Pacting.

(Demonic Embrace) ****

Rank 1/5: Increases your total Stamina by 3%, but reduces your total
Spirit by 1%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/5: Increases your total Stamina by 6%, but reduces your total
Spirit by 2%
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/5: Increases your total Stamina by 9%, but reduces your total
Spirit by 3%
(3 talent points invested)

Rank 4/5: Increases your total Stamina by 12%, but reduces your total
Spirit by 4%
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 5/5: Increases your total Stamina by 15%, but reduces your total
Spirit by 5%
(3 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: Well seeing as how Spirit is near useless for a
Warlock, and Stamina is very important to a Warlock, this should be
a no brainer right? The reduction in Spirit is small and you’ll barely
notice it, however you’re guaranteed to notice 15% extra health for your
Stamina points.

(Improved Health Funnel) ***
~Requires 5 points in Demonology Talents~

Rank 1/2: Increases the amount of health transferred by your Health Funnel
spell by 10% and reduces the health cost by 10%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/2: Increases the amount of health transferred by your Health Funnel
spell by 20% and reduces the health cost by 20%
(2 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: Unless you plan to let your pet do most of the work,
I would generally suggest you put your talent points into something better.
However if you want your pet to tank higher leveled mobs, this talent might
be a bit viable.

(Improved Voidwalker) **
~Requires 5 points in Demonology Talents~

Rank 1/3: Increases the effectiveness of your Voidwalker’s Torment,
Consume Shadows, Sacrifice, and Suffering spells by 10%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/3: Increases the effectiveness of your Voidwalker’s Torment,
Consume Shadows, Sacrifice, and Suffering spells by 20%
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/3: Increases the effectiveness of your Voidwalker’s Torment,
Consume Shadows, Sacrifice, and Suffering spells by 30%
(3 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: While this is very valuable early on, the use of this
particular talent slowly diminishes over time. Voidwalkers are used quite
a bit early on, but when you get the Felguard you’ll find that the
Voidwalker isn’t too good or needed as much as before.

(Fel Intellect) ****
~Requires 5 points in Demonology Talents~

Rank 1/3: Increases the Intellect of your Imp, Voidwalker, Succubus,
Felhunter, and Felguard by 5% and increases your maximum Mana by 1%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/3: Increases the Intellect of your Imp, Voidwalker, Succubus,
Felhunter, and Felguard by 10% and increases your maximum Mana by 2%
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/3: Increases the Intellect of your Imp, Voidwalker, Succubus,
Felhunter, and Felguard by 15% and increases your maximum Mana by 3%
(3 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: Put it this way, with more mana your pets can get in
more attacks and use their abilities more. The extra mana won’t hurt you
either.

(Improved Succubus) ***
~Requires 10 points in Demonology Talents~

Rank 1/3: Increases the effect of your Succubus’ Lash of Pain and
Soothing Kiss spells by 10%, and increases the duration of your
Succubus’ Seduction and Lesser Invisibility by 10%.
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/3: Increases the effect of your Succubus’ Lash of Pain and
Soothing Kiss spells by 20%, and increases the duration of your
Succubus’ Seduction and Lesser Invisibility by 20%.
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/3: Increases the effect of your Succubus’ Lash of Pain and
Soothing Kiss spells by 30%, and increases the duration of your
Succubus’ Seduction and Lesser Invisibility by 30%.
(3 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: This talent is worth it, I recommend putting at
least one or two points into this as the extra seduce time will come
in handy when you’re running instances. The only time that this wouldn’t
be a useful talent to keep is when you get the Felguard.

(Fel Domination) ****
~Requires 10 points in Demonology Talents~
~Requires 5 points in Contagion~

Rank 1/1: Learn the “Fel Domination” spell.

Fel Domination:

Your next Imp, Voidwalker, Succubus, Felhunter, or Felguard Summon spell
has it’s casting time reduced by 5.5 seconds and it’s Mana cost reduced
by 50%
Instant cast, Lasts 15 seconds, 15 minute cooldown.

“Personal Opinion”: Take this, without a second thought. This is highly
useful because even when your pet dies, you can summon a second one in
a quick second. If you take this, you must definitely take
Master Summoner.

(Fel Stamina) *****
~Requires 10 points in Demonology Talents~

Rank 1/3: Increases the Stamina of your Imp, Voidwalker, Succubus,
Felhunter, and Felguard by 5% and increases your maximum health by 1%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/3: Increases the Stamina of your Imp, Voidwalker, Succubus,
Felhunter, and Felguard by 10% and increases your maximum health by 2%
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/3: Increases the Stamina of your Imp, Voidwalker, Succubus,
Felhunter, and Felguard by 15% and increases your maximum health by 3%
(3 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: Take this, extra health equals more survivability.

(Demonic Aegis) *****
~Requires 10 points in Demonology Talents~

Rank 1/3: Increases the effectiveness of your Demon Armor, and Fel Armor
by 10%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/3: Increases the effectiveness of your Demon Armor, and Fel Armor
by 20%
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/3: Increases the effectiveness of your Demon Armor, and Fel Armor
by 30%
(3 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: This is one of the few talents that makes other talent
trees jealous. While Demon Armor is useless once you get Fel Armor,
Fel Armor’s +spell damage and additional healing effect is increased
majorly by this.

(Master Summoner) *****
~Requires 15 points in Demonology Talents~
~Requires 1 point in Fel Domination~

Rank 1/2: Reduces the casting time of your Imp, Voidwalker, Succubus,
Felhunter, and Felguard Summoning spells by 2 seconds and the Mana cost
by 20%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/2: Reduces the casting time of your Imp, Voidwalker, Succubus,
Felhunter, and Felguard Summoning spells by 4 seconds and the Mana cost
by 40%
(2 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: Honestly, who wouldn’t take this? Who doesn’t
want quicker summoned pets? This talent is godly.

(Unholy Power) ****
~Requires 15 points in Demonology Talents~

Rank 1/5: Increases the damage done by your Voidwalker, Succubus,
Felhunter, and Felguard’s Melee attacks and your Imp’s Firebolt
by 4%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/5: Increases the damage done by your Voidwalker, Succubus,
Felhunter, and Felguard’s Melee attacks and your Imp’s Firebolt
by 8%
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/5: Increases the damage done by your Voidwalker, Succubus,
Felhunter, and Felguard’s Melee attacks and your Imp’s Firebolt
by 12%
(3 talent points invested)

Rank 4/5: Increases the damage done by your Voidwalker, Succubus,
Felhunter, and Felguard’s Melee attacks and your Imp’s Firebolt
by 16%
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 5/5: Increases the damage done by your Voidwalker, Succubus,
Felhunter, and Felguard’s Melee attacks and your Imp’s Firebolt
by 20%
(3 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: Saying this talent is “fairly useful” would be a
very drastic under-statement. This talent helps out majorly with pet
based DPS and will definitely help you take out enemies faster. You’ll
see a big difference with your Imp and Succubus’ damage if you went
with improved Imp and Succubus’ as well as this.

(Improved Enslave Demon) **
~Requires 20 points in Demonology Talents~

Rank 1/2: Reduces the Attack Speed and Casting Speed penalty of your
Enslave Demon spell by 5% and reduces the chance that they will resist
your Enslave Demon spell by 5%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/2: Reduces the Attack Speed and Casting Speed penalty of your
Enslave Demon spell by 10% and reduces the chance that they will resist
your Enslave Demon spell by 10%
(2 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: If I were you, I wouldn’t touch this. Sure, the bonus
is a “bit” (a tiny bit) nice, but this is “Demonology” spec, meaning
you’re going to be relying on the pets you get naturally to do damage.
There are talents in this tree to boost your own natural pets, so why
waste time on pets you only get for like 5-10 minutes? Felguard is
arguably better than any pet you can enslave anyway. Infernal is the only
good enslavable pet, but you won’t have him till roughly 60ish and
the penalty from Enslave Demon won’t really hurt him.

(Demonic Sacrifice) ***
~Requires 20 points in Demonology Talents~

Rank 1/1: Learn the “Demonic Sacrifice” spell.

Demonic Sacrifice: When activated, sacrifices your summoned demon to grant
you an effect that lasts 30 minutes. The effect is canceled if any Demon
is summoned. Below are the effects gained from which pet you sacrifice:

Imp: Increases your Fire damage by 15%

Voidwalker: Restores 2% of your total Health every 4 seconds.

Succubus: Increases your Shadow damage by 15%

Felhunter: Restores 3% of your total Mana every 4 seconds.

Felguard: Increases your Shadow damage by 10% and restores
2% of your total mana every 4 seconds.

“Personal Opinion”: I don’t know if this is a good enough talent to
warrant wasting a talent point in. The only GOOD reason to take this
is because “Soul Link” is right below it, thus you HAVE to get this talent
to get Soul Link. Is it a good spell to learn? No. Is it necessary to
learn? yes.

(Master Conjuror) *
~Requires 20 points in Demonology Talents~

Rank 1/2: Increases the bonus Fire damage from your Firestones and the
Firestone effect by 15% and increases the spell critical strike rating
bonus of your Spellstone by 15%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/2: Increases the bonus Fire damage from your Firestones and the
Firestone effect by 30% and increases the spell critical strike rating
bonus of your Spellstone by 30%
(2 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: Seriously, don’t touch this.

(Mana Feed) **
~Requires 25 points in Demonology Talents~

Rank 1/3: When you gain mana from Drain Mana or Life Tap spells, your
pet gains 33% of the mana you gain
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/3: When you gain mana from Drain Mana or Life Tap spells, your
pet gains 66% of the mana you gain
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/3: When you gain mana from Drain Mana or Life Tap spells, your
pet gains 100% of the mana you gain
(3 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: Well seeing as how you don’t have Dark Pact, this
spell really isn’t too necessary. However I only see extreme use for this
if you plan on going 50/50 in Affliction and Demonology to get both this
and Dark Pact.

(Master Demonologist) *****
~Requires 25 points in Demonology Talents~
~Requires 5 points in Unholy Power~

Rank 1/5: Grants both the Warlock and the summoned demon an effect
as long as that demon is active. The effects are below:

Imp: Reduces threat caused by 4%

Voidwalker: Reduces physical damage taken by 2%

Succubus: Increases all damage caused by 2%

Felhunter: Increases all resistances by 0.2 per level

Felguard: Increases all damage caused by 1% and all resistances by
0.1 per level.
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/5: Grants both the Warlock and the summoned demon an effect
as long as that demon is active. The effects are below:

Imp: Reduces threat caused by 8%

Voidwalker: Reduces physical damage taken by 4%

Succubus: Increases all damage caused by 4%

Felhunter: Increases all resistances by 0.4 per level

Felguard: Increases all damage caused by 2% and all resistances by
0.2 per level.
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/5: Grants both the Warlock and the summoned demon an effect
as long as that demon is active. The effects are below:

Imp: Reduces threat caused by 12%

Voidwalker: Reduces physical damage taken by 6%

Succubus: Increases all damage caused by 6%

Felhunter: Increases all resistances by 0.6 per level

Felguard: Increases all damage caused by 3% and all resistances by
0.3 per level.
(3 talent points invested)

Rank 4/5: Grants both the Warlock and the summoned demon an effect
as long as that demon is active. The effects are below:

Imp: Reduces threat caused by 16%

Voidwalker: Reduces physical damage taken by 8%

Succubus: Increases all damage caused by 8%

Felhunter: Increases all resistances by 0.8 per level

Felguard: Increases all damage caused by 4% and all resistances by
0.4 per level.
(4 talent points invested)

Rank 5/5: Grants both the Warlock and the summoned demon an effect
as long as that demon is active. The effects are below:

Imp: Reduces threat caused by 20%

Voidwalker: Reduces physical damage taken by 10%

Succubus: Increases all damage caused by 10%

Felhunter: Increases all resistances by 1 per level

Felguard: Increases all damage caused by 5% and all resistances by
0.5 per level.
(5 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: Highly worth it. Increases the importance of your
pets by two fold, and makes a talent like “Demonic Sacrifice” worthless.

(Demonic Resilience) ***
~Requires 30 points in Demonology Talents~

Rank 1/3: Reduces the chance you’ll be critically hit by melee and spells
by 1% and reduces all damage your summoned demon takes by 5%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/3: Reduces the chance you’ll be critically hit by melee and spells
by 2% and reduces all damage your summoned demon takes by 10%
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/3: Reduces the chance you’ll be critically hit by melee and spells
by 3% and reduces all damage your summoned demon takes by 15%
(3 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: This is actually a pretty good talent to have if you
want your pet to last awhile. The bonus that you get from this, while
minor, still amounts to something.

(Soul Link) *****
~Requires 30 points in Demonology Talents~
~Requires 1 point in Demonic Sacrifice~

Rank 1/1: Learn the “Soul Link” spell.

Soul Link: When active, 20% of all damage taken by the caster is taken
by your Imp, Voidwalker, Succubus, Felhunter, Felguard, or enslaved demon
instead. That damage cannot be prevented. In addition, both the demon and
the master will inflict 5% more damage. Lasts as long as the demon is
active and controlled.
100 Yard range, instant cast, 16% of your base mana, rank 1.

“Personal Opinion”: The best talent learned spell of the demonology tree
by far. Definitely get this, or you’re simply crazy.

(Demonic Knowledge) *****
~Requires 30 points in Demonology Talents~

Rank 1/3: Increases your Spell Damage by an amount equal to 5% of the
total of your active demon’s Stamina plus Intellect.
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/3: Increases your Spell Damage by an amount equal to 10% of the
total of your active demon’s Stamina plus Intellect.
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/3: Increases your Spell Damage by an amount equal to 15% of the
total of your active demon’s Stamina plus Intellect.
(3 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: Extra spell damage means extra damage, right? That’s
proof right there that this is a most worthy talent to invest in.

(Demonic Tactics) ***
~Requires 35 points in Demonology Talents~

Rank 1/5: Increases Melee and Spell Critical strike chance for you and
your summoned demon by 1%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/5: Increases Melee and Spell Critical strike chance for you and
your summoned demon by 2%
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/5: Increases Melee and Spell Critical strike chance for you and
your summoned demon by 3%
(3 talent points invested)

Rank 4/5: Increases Melee and Spell Critical strike chance for you and
your summoned demon by 4%
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 5/5: Increases Melee and Spell Critical strike chance for you and
your summoned demon by 5%
(3 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: I personally don’t see anything too good about this
talent, I find it a waste of talent points myself. But everyone has
their own opinions on things, so what I find useless others might find
useful.

(Summon Felguard) *****
~Requires 40 points in Demonology Talents~

Rank 1/1: Learn the “Summon Felguard” spell.

Summon Felguard: Summons a Felguard under the command of the Warlock.
10 second cast, requires a soulshard, 1538 mana, rank 1.

“Personal Opinion”: One of the best pets available, certainly better than
any other melee pet. Arguably the Imp is the only pet you are going
to have use for after aquiring this.

================================================================
V. Destruction Talent Tree [Tree3]
================================================================

(Improved Shadow Bolt) ***

Rank 1/5: Your Shadow Bolt critical strikes increase Shadow damage dealt
to the target by 4% until 4 non-periodic damage sources are applied.
Effect lasts a maximum of 12 seconds.
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/5: Your Shadow Bolt critical strikes increase Shadow damage dealt
to the target by 8% until 4 non-periodic damage sources are applied.
Effect lasts a maximum of 12 seconds.
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/5: Your Shadow Bolt critical strikes increase Shadow damage dealt
to the target by 12% until 4 non-periodic damage sources are applied.
Effect lasts a maximum of 12 seconds.
(3 talent points invested)

Rank 4/5: Your Shadow Bolt critical strikes increase Shadow damage dealt
to the target by 16% until 4 non-periodic damage sources are applied.
Effect lasts a maximum of 12 seconds.
(4 talent points invested)

Rank 5/5: Your Shadow Bolt critical strikes increase Shadow damage dealt
to the target by 20% until 4 non-periodic damage sources are applied.
Effect lasts a maximum of 12 seconds.
(5 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: This is a fun talent, but over-all I’d say that
putting 5 points in Cataclysm is better. I suggest you wait till
later on when you can stack tons of +Spell Critical before spec’ing in
this talent.

(Cataclysm) *****

Rank 1/5: Reduces the Mana cost of your Destruction spells by 1%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/5: Reduces the Mana cost of your Destruction spells by 2%
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/5: Reduces the Mana cost of your Destruction spells by 3%
(3 talent points invested)

Rank 4/5: Reduces the Mana cost of your Destruction spells by 4%
(4 talent points invested)

Rank 5/5: Reduces the Mana cost of your Destruction spells by 5%
(5 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: One of my favorite destruction talents and for good
reason. Destruction is the “Mana-burn” spec of a Warlock, thus this
particular talent comes in handy. This reduces the cost of over 55% of
your total spells. Not bad, eh?

(Bane) ****
~Requires 5 points in Destruction Talents~

Rank 1/5: Reduces the casting time of your Shadow Bolt and Immolate spells
by 0.1 sec, and your Soul Fire spell by 0.4 sec.
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/5: Reduces the casting time of your Shadow Bolt and Immolate spells
by 0.2 sec, and your Soul Fire spell by 0.8 sec.
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/5: Reduces the casting time of your Shadow Bolt and Immolate spells
by 0.3 sec, and your Soul Fire spell by 1.2 sec.
(3 talent points invested)

Rank 4/5: Reduces the casting time of your Shadow Bolt and Immolate spells
by 0.4 sec, and your Soul Fire spell by 1.6 sec.
(4 talent points invested)

Rank 5/5: Reduces the casting time of your Shadow Bolt and Immolate spells
by 0.5 sec, and your Soul Fire spell by 2.0 sec.
(5 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: I’d have to say that when I first took a glance at
Soul Fire (I’m full Affliction spec mind you) I thought that it sucked
very much. This talent actually makes Soul Fire a lot more useable.
I recommend this talent if you are keen to snipe people with Shadow Bolts
and Soul Fires that do tons of damage.

(Aftermath) ***
~Requires 5 points in Destruction Talents~

Rank 1/5: Gives your Destruction spells a 2% chance to daze the target
for 5 seconds.
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/5: Gives your Destruction spells a 4% chance to daze the target
for 5 seconds.
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/5: Gives your Destruction spells a 6% chance to daze the target
for 5 seconds.
(3 talent points invested)

Rank 4/5: Gives your Destruction spells a 8% chance to daze the target
for 5 seconds.
(4 talent points invested)

Rank 5/5: Gives your Destruction spells a 10% chance to daze the target
for 5 seconds.
(5 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: At max talent points invested, this talent gives you
a 10% chance to cause a “daze” effect for 5 seconds. That means in roughly
1 out of 10 spells that you cast (destruction spells) you’ll daze your
target. Whether or not a 10% chance is good enough, is in the eye of the
beholder.

(Improved Firebolt) ****
~Requires 10 points in Destruction Talents~

Rank 1/2: Reduces the casting time of your Imp’s Firebolt spell by 0.25
sec.
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/2: Reduces the casting time of your Imp’s Firebolt spell by 0.5
sec.
(2 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: I always take this when I’m going Destro because
I always tend to have the Imp out with me, because the Imp is a fire
creature and Destruction Warlocks use Fire a lot… makes sense right?
Else wise, quicker casting time on the Imp’s Firebolt spell equals more
“pew-pew” action.

(Improved Lash Of Pain) *
~Requires 10 points in Destruction Talents~

Rank 1/2: Reduces the cooldown of your Succubus’ Lash of Pain spell by
3 seconds.
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/2: Reduces the cooldown of your Succubus’ Lash of Pain spell by
6 seconds.
(2 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: This just reduces the cooldown… it would be better
if it actually made the attack stronger, but seeing as how it doesn’t
it’s a tad too mediocre to spec into.

(Devastation) ****
~Requires 10 points in Destruction Talents~

Rank 1/5: Increases the critical strike chance of your Destruction spells
by 1%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/5: Increases the critical strike chance of your Destruction spells
by 2%
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/5: Increases the critical strike chance of your Destruction spells
by 3%
(3 talent points invested)

Rank 4/5: Increases the critical strike chance of your Destruction spells
by 4%
(4 talent points invested)

Rank 5/5: Increases the critical strike chance of your Destruction spells
by 5%
(5 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: Obviously this talent is useful to spec into, because
Destruction spec is all about stacking +Spell critical strike to dominate
your enemies with Criticals. Every little bit counts, and +5% is more than
you think.

(Shadowburn) *****
~Requires 10 points in Destruction Talents~

Rank 1/1: Learn the “Shadowburn” spell.

Shadowburn: Instantly blasts the target for X amount of damage to
Y amount of damage. If the target dies within 5 seconds of Shadowburn,
and yields experience or honor, the caster gains a Soul Shard.
Instant cast, Uses A Soulshard, 15 second cooldown, 20 yard range, rank 1.

“Personal Opinion”: I like this spell, and I don’t know why. It has a
chance to give you back your Reagent if you predict the right casting time.
You shouldn’t ever be spamming this spell every chance you get unless you
have a sufficient amount of Soul Shards, or you know for a fact that you’ll
get your Soul Shard back.

(Intensity) **
~Requires 15 points in Destruction Talents~

Rank 1/2: Gives you a 35% chance to resist interruption caused by damage
while casting or channeling any Destruction spell.
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/2: Gives you a 70% chance to resist interruption caused by damage
while casting or channeling any Destruction spell.
(2 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: This is like the extremely poor guy’s version of
“Fel Concentration” from the Affliction talent tree. I will advise you
to definitely put at least one point into this, but I wouldn’t put both
points into this unless you’re sure that you’re going to be using Hellfire
and Rain of Fire a lot.

(Destructive Reach) ****
~Requires 15 points in Destruction Talents~

Rank 1/2: Increases the range of your Destruction spells by 10% and
reduces the threat caused by your Destruction spells by 5%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/2: Increases the range of your Destruction spells by 20% and
reduces the threat caused by your Destruction spells by 10%
(2 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: If only “Grim Reach” (from the Affliction talent
tree) did as much as this talent does. Longer Destruction spell range
with an additional threat reduction? That’s a godsend. This should and
will help out tremendously in raids and dungeon runs.

(Improved Searing Pain) *
~Requires 15 points in Destruction Talents~

Rank 1/3: Increases the critical strike chance of your Searing Pain spell
by 4%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/3: Increases the critical strike chance of your Searing Pain spell
by 7%
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/3: Increases the critical strike chance of your Searing Pain spell
by 10%
(3 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: Honestly, who ever uses Searing Pain? Lets ignore the
fact that it does about 35% less damage than Shadow Bolt, but you can’t
ignore that it causes about double the normal threat, that a regular old
Shadow Bolt would cause. Higher threat and lower damage mean a bad spell
indeed.

(Pyroclasm) ***
~Requires 20 points in Destruction Talents~
~Requires 2 points in Intensity~

Rank 1/2: Gives your Rain of Fire, Hellfire, and Soul Fire spells a 13%
chance to stun the target for 3 seconds.
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/2: Gives your Rain of Fire, Hellfire, and Soul Fire spells a 26%
chance to stun the target for 3 seconds.
(2 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: I tend to go for this, only because of the chance
that Soul Fire and Rain of Fire will randomly stun someone. It’s rather
easy to snipe someone with a Soul Fire (especially if put talent points
into the valuable Bane talent) and if you’re good at hiding. Rain of Fire
is sort of unreliable but I find that if you use the “Howl of Terror” spell
before you channel your Rain of Fire, you’ll more than likely hit the
enemies on the way back to you. Pray that one gets stunned.

(Improved Immolate) *****
~Requires 20 points in Destruction Talents~

Rank 1/5: Increases the initial damage of your Immolate spell by 5%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/5: Increases the initial damage of your Immolate spell by 10%
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/5: Increases the initial damage of your Immolate spell by 15%
(3 talent points invested)

Rank 4/5: Increases the initial damage of your Immolate spell by 20%
(4 talent points invested)

Rank 5/5: Increases the initial damage of your Immolate spell by 25%
(5 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: I shouldn’t have to tell you that this is a very
good talent to spec into, the stars tell it all.

(Ruin) *****
~Requires 20 points in Destruction Talents~
~Requires 5 points in Devastation~

Rank 1/1: Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Destruction
spells by 100%
(1 talent point invested)

“Personal Opinion”: This talent is so full of win that I can hardly
describe it with words. Get this to notice an extreme change in damage
when you score a spell critical.

(Nether Protection) ** / ****
~Requires 25 points in Destruction Talents~

Rank 1/3: After being hit with a Shadow or Fire spell, you have a 10%
chance to become immune to Shadow and Fire spells for 4 sec
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/3: After being hit with a Shadow or Fire spell, you have a 20%
chance to become immune to Shadow and Fire spells for 4 sec
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/3: After being hit with a Shadow or Fire spell, you have a 30%
chance to become immune to Shadow and Fire spells for 4 sec
(3 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: Notice how this talent got my first ever double
rating. This is mostly because this is a situationally reliant talent.
This talent is useful in PvP mostly; when you’re against Shadow Priests,
Fire Mages, and other Warlocks. In PvE you won’t find too much use for
this unless you’re in certain dungeons. So take that as you will.

(Emberstorm) ****
~Requires 25 points in Destruction Talents~

Rank 1/5: Increases the damage done by your Fire spells by 2%
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/5: Increases the damage done by your Fire spells by 4%
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/5: Increases the damage done by your Fire spells by 6%
(3 talent points invested)

Rank 4/5: Increases the damage done by your Fire spells by 8%
(4 talent points invested)

Rank 5/5: Increases the damage done by your Fire spells by 10%
(5 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: Get this, no explanation needed.

(Backlash) ****
~Requires 30 points in Destruction Talents~

Rank 1/3: Increases your critical strike chance with spells by an
additional 1% and gives you an 8% chance when hit by a physical attack
to reduce the cast time of your next Shadow Bolt or Incinerate spell by
100%. This effect lasts 8 seconds, and cannot occur more than once every
8 seconds.
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/3: Increases your critical strike chance with spells by an
additional 2% and gives you an 16% chance when hit by a physical attack
to reduce the cast time of your next Shadow Bolt or Incinerate spell by
100%. This effect lasts 8 seconds, and cannot occur more than once every
8 seconds.
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/3: Increases your critical strike chance with spells by an
additional 3% and gives you an 25% chance when hit by a physical attack
to reduce the cast time of your next Shadow Bolt or Incinerate spell by
100%. This effect lasts 8 seconds, and cannot occur more than once every
8 seconds.
(3 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: Highly useful in PvE as well as PvP. This talent
pretty much ensure that if you’re hit, 1/4 of the time you’ll be able
to counter with an instant Shadow Bolt.

(Conflagrate) ****
~Requires 30 points in Destruction Talents~
~Requires 5 points in Improved Immolate~

Rank 1/1: Learn the “Conflagrate” spell.

Conflagrate: Ignites a target that is already afflicted by Immolate,
dealing X amount of Fire damage to Y amount of Fire damage and
consuming the Immolate spell.
10 second cooldown, Instant cast, 30 yard range.

“Personal Opinion”: It’s rather fun to stack up damage by doing the
standard combo of: Immolate –> Incinerate –> Conflagrate.

(Soul Leech) ****
~Requires 30 points in Destruction Talents~

Rank 1/3: Gives your Shadow Bolt, Shadowburn, Soul Fire, Incinerate,
Searing Pain, and Conflagrate spells a 10% chance to return health
equal to 20% of the damage caused.
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/3: Gives your Shadow Bolt, Shadowburn, Soul Fire, Incinerate,
Searing Pain, and Conflagrate spells a 20% chance to return health
equal to 20% of the damage caused.
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/3: Gives your Shadow Bolt, Shadowburn, Soul Fire, Incinerate,
Searing Pain, and Conflagrate spells a 30% chance to return health
equal to 20% of the damage caused.
(3 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: Very useful for grinding or PvP, highly increases
your chance of survivability.

(Shadow And Flame) ****
~Requires 35 points in Destruction Talents~

Rank 1/5: Your Shadow Bolt and Incinerate spells gain an additional
4% of your bonus spell damage effects.
(1 talent point invested)

Rank 2/5: Your Shadow Bolt and Incinerate spells gain an additional
8% of your bonus spell damage effects.
(2 talent points invested)

Rank 3/5: Your Shadow Bolt and Incinerate spells gain an additional
12% of your bonus spell damage effects.
(3 talent points invested)

Rank 4/5: Your Shadow Bolt and Incinerate spells gain an additional
16% of your bonus spell damage effects.
(4 talent points invested)

Rank 5/5: Your Shadow Bolt and Incinerate spells gain an additional
20% of your bonus spell damage effects.
(5 talent points invested)

“Personal Opinion”: This is simply amazing, without a doubt. You see,
this increases the regular damage of your Shadow Bolt and Incinerate
spells thus obviously increasing their critical spell damage as well.
Keeping this in mind, I wouldn’t hesitate to invest all five points into
this talent.

(Shadowfury) *****
~Requires 40 points in Destruction Talents~
~Requires 5 points in Shadow and Flame~

Rank 1/1: Learn the “Shadowfury” spell.

Shadowfury: Shadowfury is unleashed, causing X amount of Shadow damage to
Y amount of Shadow damage and stunning all enemies within 8 yards for
2 seconds.
20 second cooldown, 0.5 second cast, 30 yard range, rank 1.

“Personal Opinion”: One word describes this spell, and that word is
awesome. Try pairing this spell with Howl of Terror to reap the full
benefits of it’s 2 second stun effect.

Before I get into my special thanks I highly recommend that potential
level 70 Warlocks either get a 31/30 build, or an SL/SL build. The
31/30 build goes down to Dark Pact in the Affliction line, to Master
Demonologist in the Demonology line. SL/SL build is a cookie cutter
build that will give you an easier time. For an SL/SL build, you go
down to Siphon Life in the Affliction line and down to Soul Link in the
Demonologist line.

——————————————————————————-

[Current Patch Version -- v1.12.1]

October 2nd, 2006
Version 1.00 — The basic “completed” form of the guide.

——————————————————————————-

Table Of Contents:

(1) Introduction — Welcome to Azeroth!
(2) About Shamans…
(3) Choosing Your Racial Identity
(3a) Orcs
(3b) Tauren
(3c) Trolls
(4) Choosing Your Talent Specialization
(4a) Elemental
(4b) Enhancement
(4c) Restoration
(4d) Sample / Model ‘Talent Builds’
(5) Ready For Some Training?
(5a) Level 1 ( - 3 ? )
(5b) Level 4
(5c) Level 6
(5d) Level 8
(5e) Level 10
(5f) Level 12
(5g) Level 14
(5h) Level 16
(5i) Level 18
(5j) Level 20
(5k) Level 22
(5l) Level 24
(5m) Level 26
(5n) Level 28
(5o) Level 30
(5p) Level 32
(5q) Level 34
(5r) Level 36
(5s) Level 38
(5t) Level 40
(5u) Level 42
(5v) Level 44
(5w) Level 46
(5x) Level 48
(5y) Level 50
(5z) Level 52
(5aa) Level 54
(5bb) Level 56
(5cc) Level 58
(5dd) Level 60
(6) Shamanistic Equipment
(6a) Dungeon Set 1 — Elements
(6b) Dungeon Set 2 — Five Thunders
(6c) Tier 1 Raid Set — Earthfury
(6d) Tier 2 Raid Set — Ten Storms
(6e) Tier 3 Raid Set — Earthshatter
(6f) PvP — Rare
(6g) PvP — Epic
(7) F.A.Q.s
(8) Contact Me

——————————————————————————-

(1) Introduction — Welcome to Azeroth!

——————————————————————————-

Howdy! And welcome to my Shaman guide! Before going any further, allow me to
state that, in no manner, do I consider myself an expert on the Shaman class.
The thing I find most entertaining about World of Warcraft is that, no matter
how much you feel you know about the game, there’s always something new to
explore or discover. Just goes with the saying: “You learn something new every
day!”

With that taken care of, a short personal introduction. My name’s Aaron Larson,
as made evident in the copyright title. As of this moment, I’m a 19 year old
college student, majoring in Music with a concentration in Vocal Performance.
So in all fairness, the time I put into this guide should be spent on studying
and rehearsing and practicing and, well, all that jazz! But let’s just keep
this between us, and not mention it to my professors, eh? Thanks a bunch!

As for my ‘WoW’ history and experience… I first played the game on a friend’s
account, over a year ago. I tried out a Human Warlock — and didn’t really get
what I was doing [at all]. Zoom about eight months later, and I finally ‘return
to Azeroth’ as a Tauren Shaman. Over the time that I’ve spent working on this
toon, I tried out a Human Paladin… wasn’t really my style, too defensive…
tried out a Night Elf Rogue… as offensive as it is, there were no real magic
capabilities… and most recently, I attempted an Undead Mage, and all that
insane power was definitely a blast (no pun intended), but the lack of any real
offensive strategy left me hanging. Not to mention, an absence in self-healing
spells, too. No kidding!

So after all this time, I’ve returned to the Tauren Shaman… now, I’ve yet to
try all the classes, and it may be a difficult struggle in deciding once I work
on an Undead Warlock I can’t wait to get going, but at this specific moment,
Shaman has been my favorite class to play thus far. That said, throughout the
guide, I’ll be careful to separate or note my own personal bias in the words.

To anyone even remotely interesting in finding me online…

Character Name — Kasim
Server Name — Twisting Nether (RPPVP)
Description — Tauren Male Shaman

FOR THE HORDE!

——————————————————————————-

(2) About Shamans…

——————————————————————————-

First, let’s start with the basic information about the Shaman class. This is
an excerpt from the World of Warcraft Game Manual that came with your copy of
the game (or at least, I hope it did!)…

(World of Warcraft Game Manual, Pg. 82)
“Shamans are the spiritual advisors of the Horde. The shaman is a versatile and
flexible class that fulfills many roles in an adventuring party. While other
classes are pure fighters or spellcasters, the shaman enjoys a happy medium in
between. The shaman is an effective spellcaster, but can also fight extremely
well with mace and staff.”

That said, it should be noted early on that Shaman (at this time) happens to be
a Horde-exclusive class. Much like Paladin (at this time) turns out to be an
Alliance-exclusive class.

Now, when you consider the versatility and flexibility of the Shaman class, you
may also realize an immediate downfall with a simple fact: that Shaman are, in
fact, a ‘jack of all trades’. They don’t particularly excel or fall behind in
a specific territory; they are simply in the middle of them all. This plays a
small issue when forming groups…

* If a group is seeking a pure healer, a Priest may be chosen over a Shaman.

* If a group is seeking strong ‘DPS’, a Rogue may be chosen over a Shaman.

* If a group is seeking high burst damage, a Mage may be chosen over a Shaman.

* If a group is seeking a main tank, a Warrior may be chosen over a Shaman.

… the bottom line, basically, is that if a group needs one specific or
individual role filled, there are other classes designed for such tasks, and
can perform at greater rates.

This considered, if at any time a group is in need of any combination of the
above, a Shaman is more likely to find a home amongst the crowd. With that
‘jack of all trades’ mentality does come the convenience of having a “2-in-1″
or even a “3-in-1,” depending on what is needed.

Of course, there are many other factors to consider. For example, are you
attempting a standard ‘5-man dungeon,’ or will you be entering a ‘raid dungeon’
of 10-, 20-, or even 40-man stature? While some guilds may call for a specific
limitation on your character originality (a major desire for Restoration
spec’d Shamans, off the top of my head), there will always be a place for
Shamans. This will, of course, depend on the opposition your group is about to
face. Better safe than sorry?

This all said, I recommend to everyone, avoid in limiting your resources!
Any time you need additional materials or information to refer to, I strongly
recommend a visit to the ‘WoW’ community site!

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com

… now let’s get a touch more specific…

——————————————————————————-

(3) Choosing Your Racial Identity

——————————————————————————-

While the faction of choice should be relatively clear by now, you still have
to decide under which banner you will gain your honor, reputation, and pride!

(Note: The -gender- of your race does -not- affect the character in any way,
shape, manner, or form, aside from appearance; both genders are equal.)

There are three races to choose from: Orc, Tauren, and Troll. (This leaves out
Undead, in case this isn’t clear.) When choosing your race, there’s always the
easiest way to decide, and that’s the look or feel. Do you like how your toon
looks? Do you feel ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ about deciding on one race over another?
For the basic or more casual player, I recommend starting off with whichever
you simply enjoy looking at most — chances are, you’ll be staring at your
choice several hours from now.

When it comes to strategically mapping out your long term progress in the game,
the racial deciding factor still includes personal preference. However, there
are a number of differences to consider. Here is a brief list of factors to
consider when making the final call…

* Which talent tree or specialization are you going to follow?

* Which racial traits benefit you most as a Shaman?

* Which racial traits benefit you [least] as a Shaman?

… without going into a long list, we will look at and contemplate each
specific possibility. At this point, let’s start with a brief explanation of
the three different talent trees or specializations. And believe it or not,
this consideration starts off with your actual stats themselves, versus your
talent choices (or where you put your talent points)…

* For Elemental spec’d, your primary attributes are:
[] Stamina, Intellect, Spirit

* For Enhancement spec’d, your primary attributes are:
[] Strength, Agility, Stamina

* For Restoration spec’d, your primary attributes are:
[] Stamina, Intellect, Spirit

… now, this is rather limiting, and in reality, each stat can be just as
important as the next. However, we will begin dealing with specifics as we get
through each respective race.

###############
(3a) Orcs
###############

As an Orc, your starting stats are as follows:

|——|——|——|——|——|——|——–|——|
| Str. | Agi. | Sta. | Int. | Spi. | Arm. | Health | Mana |
| | | | | | | | |
| 24 | 17 | 23 | 18 | 25 | 48 | 77 | 73 |
|——|——|——|——|——|——|——–|——|

When it comes to primary attributes, the order of greatest to least is:
[] Spirit
[] Strength
[] Stamina
[] Intellect
[] Agility

With Spirit being your highest attribute, and Agility being your lowest, at
first glance, an Enhancement spec appears less effective. However, this can
immediately be altered with gear — so this is a very small factor to consider,
if one you bother to look at, at all. Not to mention, if you follow the route
of an Enhancement spec, the Spirit attribute becomes “less important,” thus
effectively placing both Strength and Stamina at the top of the list.

And now, let’s look at the Orc racial traits…

###############

* “May enrage, increasing damage but diminishing ability to be healed.”
——-
[] In game, this translates to:
——-
Blood Fury (Racial) — Instant cast / 2 min cooldown
* Increases base melee attack power by 25% for 15 sec and reduces healing
effects on you by 50% for 25 sec.
——-
[] Opinion: There are two different ways you can look at this. The first, it
increases attack power — excellent for Enhancement, still pretty good for
Elemental and even Restoration. The second, it halves your own healing,
for a longer time than the ‘attack bonus’, which can have a negative
impact, in case your enemy hasn’t fallen by the time you need your next
heal. This second point also goes half-and-half with a Restoration build:
Your main focus is healing, so your heals are extra powerful, in the first
place… yet at the same time, they are still halved, and both your spell
and melee capabilities are not as specialized as they would’ve been in
another tree, possibly calling for additional time healing and / or new
defensive strategies. Up and down, for the most part.

###############

* “Resistant to stun effects.”
——-
[] In game, this translates to:
——-
Hardiness (Racial Passive)
* Chance to resist Stun effects increased by an additional 25%.
——-
[] Opinion: An increased resistance to Stun effects benefits every class,
regardless of actual style or capabilities. That said, while this is a
plus for any Shaman, the more common Stun scenarios will occur in melee
range (not all, but more commonly). A Shaman with Enhancement spec gets
that lil’ extra edge, since they are consistently at risk here. Still, any
Shaman could use this racial trait.

###############

* “Damage done by pets increased.”
——-
[] In game, this translates to:
——-
Command (Racial Passive)
* Damage dealt by Hunter and Warlock pets increased by 5%.
——-
[] Opinion: All you need to read, really, is “Hunter and Warlock pets.” For
the simple fact that Shamans do not have pets, they receive no benefit
from the racial trait. Definitely not helpful to a Shaman, and a waste.

###############

* “Skill with Axes increased.”
——-
[] In game, this translates to:
——-
Axe Specialization (Racial Passive)
* Skill with Axes and Two-Handed Axes increased by 5.
——-
[] Opinion: As this deals with your weapon, it only benefits you in the case
that you are using either an Axe or a Two-Handed Axe. This has a balance
to it, in that you can’t use a Two-Handed Axe as a Shaman unless you spend
at least 11 talent points down the Enhancement talent tree, anyway, so you
will already be working on improving your weapon skills. The other end of
the balance, however, is if you’re not going to invest points in that
tree, you’re going towards either Elemental or Restoration — both are
which, not as concerned about the weapon you use, as much as the stat
bonuses or increases you receive from the weapon. And then, it only works
on a single weapon. Not a deciding factor unless you’re going melee.

###############

Personally speaking (with my own opinion / bias), I feel a better class choice
for an Orc would be either a Hunter or Warlock. “Command” becomes a huge
deciding factor, in it either being completely useful or completely useless.
As a Hunter, the Orcs can also send their pets to ‘fight battles for them’,
so the usage of “Blood Fury” is not as negative, so long as their damage is
lessened. (On the flip side, “Blood Fury” is relatively useless for a Warlock.)

These factors still considered, the offensive capabilities of an Orc Shaman are
indeed great. Though they could possibly benefit a Warrior just a bit more,
considering they are all melee and no magic (or healing spells). The issue of
“Blood Fury” is only a matter if you’re going to use it; if not, Enhancement
is less primary, and Restoration is more effective. (At the same time, if you
skip using this racial trait, you are essentially creating another useless
spot on your toon.)

###############
(3b) Tauren
###############

As an Tauren, your starting stats are as follows:

|——|——|——|——|——|——|——–|——|
| Str. | Agi. | Sta. | Int. | Spi. | Arm. | Health | Mana |
| | | | | | | | |
| 26 | 15 | 23 | 16 | 24 | 44 | 81 | 71 |
|——|——|——|——|——|——|——–|——|

When it comes to primary attributes, the order of greatest to least is:
[] Strength
[] Spirit
[] Stamina
[] Intellect
[] Agility

With Strength being your highest attribute, and Agility being your lowest, at
first glance, either an Elemental or Restoration spec appears less effective.
At the same time, with Agility being at the bottom, an Enhancement spec may
receive a slight blow to its ego. However, this can all be altered with gear –
so this is a very small factor to consider, if one you bother to look at, at
all. Not to mention, if you follow the route of an Enhancement spec, the Spirit
attribute becomes “less important,” thus effectively placing two of the major
attributes for Enhancement — Strength and Stamina — at the top of
the list.

And now, let’s look at the Tauren racial traits…

###############

* “May stomp, stunning nearby opponents.”
——-
[] In game, this translates to:
——-
War Stomp (Racial) — 0.5 sec cast / 2 min cooldown
* Stuns up to 5 enemies within 8 yds. for 2 sec.
——-
[] Opinion: Almost immediately, you will find this to be your best friend.
In the long run, popping this off and stunning any number of enemies for
two seconds can go a long way. Two points into Improved Ghost Wolf makes
it (’Ghost Wolf’) a 1 sec cast — War Stomp + Ghost Wolf. Lesser Healing
Wave, at any rank, is a 1.5 sec cast — War Stomp + Lesser Healing Wave.
Or if you’re trying to get off another spell, yet your instant casts are
still in cooldown, even a Lightning Bolt at Rank 8 can be brought down to
a 2 sec cast (via 5 points into the Elemental tree talent ‘Lightning
Mastery’) — War Stomp + Lightning Bolt. There are a number of different
possibilities, and this racial trait combined with core Shaman abilities,
makes this a ridiculously useful ability. Not at all something to just
gloss over.

###############

* “Maximum health increased.”
——-
[] In game, this translates to:
——-
Endurance (Racial Passive)
* Total Health increased by 5%.
——-
[] Opinion: More health is always a wonderful thing, regardless of class.
And since you can also heal as a Shaman, and eventually equip Mail armor,
the more health you have will simply make you even harder to kill. What
can seem so little as +4.05 Health at the start of the game, can decide
whether the next spell that targets you is a killing blow or not. Huge
bonus for all classes, Shamans being no exception.

###############

* “Herbalism skill increased.”
——-
[] In game, this translates to:
——-
Cultivation (Racial Passive)
* Herbalism skill increased by 15.
——-
[] Opinion: This racial trait only affects your Herbalism skill. Note that
this only matters if you are taking Herbalism as a primary profession in
the first place. If not, this is completely useless. If so, this benefits
in picking some herbs a little earlier than normal; though in the grand
scheme, this doesn’t play much a role once you hit 300 with your skill.
Not an important factor.

###############

* “Resistant to Nature damage.”
——-
[] In game, this translates to:
——-
Nature Resistance (Racial Passive)
* Nature Resistance increased by 10.
——-
[] Opinion: I suppose this is only half effective, in terms of what it does.
Against Druids or other Shamans, it still leaves you at a Poor defense
rating for some spells — still, it’s better than nothing. While not a
complete waste, it’s only a minor factor. (That said, I’m unsure as to
whether reflected spells consider or ignore the Nature Resistance in
damage calculations.)

###############

Personally speaking (with my own opinion / bias), I feel the best race choice
for a Shaman is in fact Tauren. With the exception of “Cultivation” (and maybe
“Nature Resistance”), the lack of situational occurrences allow for a solution
in most any situation. Whether it’s running a flag in Warsong Gulch, or fleeing
from a Rogue that got a little too close for comfort, the abilities work out
almost perfectly.

Everything considered, however, it’s important to note the high capabilities of
a Tauren Warrior. While definitely similar in design, combining a Warrior’s
innate abilities with the Tauren racial traits make for an extremely deadly
unit. (’Charge’ alone, for instance.) This mentioned, I wouldn’t recommend a
Tauren Hunter, as Orcs appear to have racials more attuned to that class.

###############
(3c) Trolls
###############

As an Troll, your starting stats are as follows:

|——|——|——|——|——|——|——–|——|
| Str. | Agi. | Sta. | Int. | Spi. | Arm. | Health | Mana |
| | | | | | | | |
| 22 | 22 | 22 | 17 | 23 | 58 | 67 | 72 |
|——|——|——|——|——|——|——–|——|

When it comes to primary attributes, the order of greatest to least is:
[] Spirit
[] Strength / Agility / Stamina
[] Intellect

With Spirit being your highest attribute, and Intellect being your lowest, at
first glance, no single spec appears more or less effective than the other.
However, note how the most important attributes to an Enhancement spec are all
equal, and only a single point under Spirit. The low count in Intellect can
immediately be altered with gear — so this is a very small factor to consider,
if one you bother to look at, at all. Still, it seems clear a focus on a more
melee based style of toon is in order for this race.

And now, let’s look at the Troll racial traits…

###############

* “Berserk, increasing attack and casting speed.”
——-
[] In game, this translates to:
——-
Berserking (Racial) — 3 Mana + Instant cast / 3 min cooldown
* Increases your casting and attack speed by 10% to 30%. At full health
the increase is 10% with a greater effect up to 30% if you are badly
hurt when you activate Berserking. Lasts 10 sec.
——-
[] Opinion: There isn’t any negative or down side to this ability; can be
used well any talent tree specialization. For Elemental, this allows for
faster Lightning Bolts; for Enhancement, this allows for faster attacks,
possibly increased rate at ‘weapon bonus procs’; for Restoration, if you
are in need of healing, the speed at which your healing spell goes off
will be faster, the more in need of it you are. This is, in a sense, as
good as the Tauren’s Racial “War Stomp,” except for the major factor that
this doesn’t affect enemies. Meaning, even if your spells cast at a 30%
increased rate, a consistent barrage of attacks may still interrupt your
chance of successful casting. Not to mention, depending on your talents,
your spells may already have reduced casting times, and would benefit more
from having surrounding opposition stunned versus just more speed.

###############

* “Regeneration increased.”
——-
[] In game, this translates to:
——-
Regeneration (Racial Passive)
* Health regeneration rate increased by 10%. 10% of total Health
regeneration may continue during combat.
——-
[] Opinion: Depending on how you look at it, this is half beneficial and
half unnecessary. If it increased your -Mana- regeneration rate, then we’d
be in business. However, as a Shaman, you have healing capabilities. The
‘in combat’ clause sounds nice on paper, but when damage being dealt is
negating any basic health recovery, you’ll most likely be turning back to
your healing spells, either way. That said, it also reads like it works
with the high Spirit attribute; however, your greater concern as a Shaman
will be in your Mana efficiency — something this doesn’t help at all.

###############

* “Damage increased versus beasts.”
——-
[] In game, this translates to:
——-
Beast Slaying (Racial Passive)
* Damage dealt versus Beasts increased by 5%.
——-
[] Opinion: This is very situational, and only effective against Beasts. The
up to this, is having some sort of advantage over a specific type of
enemy — at the same time, it is [just] a single type. Minor plus, but not
a huge deal for Shamans.

###############

* “Throwing and Bow Weapon skills increased.”
——-
[] In game, this translates to:
——-
Throwing Specialization (Racial Passive)
* Skill with Throwing Weapons increased by 5.
Bow Specialization (Racial Passive)
+ Skill with Bow Weapons increased by 5.
——-
[] Opinion: While it certainly looks nice, that if you create a Troll, the
single description splits up into two separate racial traits. So what’s
the problem? Shamans can use neither Throwing Weapons or Bow Weapons. As
such, this (or these) racial traits are completely useless to a Shaman.

###############

Personally speaking (with my own opinion / bias), I feel a better class choice
for an Orc would be either a Hunter or Rogue. “Berserking” is definitely nice
in a spell scenario, but imagine the insanity of a Hunter or Rogue with haste.
Emphasis can be placed on the Rogue, considering how quick your standard Rogue
already is (not considering “Dagger spec’ced”).

The main problem with the racial traits is the emphasis on situational
factors. The increased weapon skills are useless, in the first place.
“Regeneration” is slightly misplaced, if anything, and “Beast Slaying” is nice
against only a specific group; when it comes down to farming certain instances,
you may not notice it or even bother to try to.

——————————————————————————-

(4) Choosing Your Talent Specialization

——————————————————————————-

Before even attempting to force yourself to understand the ugly talent design
I’m gonna try to use, I highly recommend either referring to the in-game talent
sheet, or using a Talent Calculator online somewhere. For instance, from the
‘WoW’ Community Site…

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/shaman/talents.html

… which should make it a lot easier to understand; or even, if you like, feel
free to skip past the talent design and read the ‘opinions’! Though the route
is up to you. For now, a brief explanation of how they will look.

[] Example #1

|——-| |——-| |——-| |——-|
| A / 3 | | B / 5 | | C / 2 | | D / 1 |
|——-| |——-| |——-| |——-|

* Each individual talent will appear with both a letter and a number.
* The letter is simply for reference to the talent description below.
* The number is how many points can be invested in a specific talent.

|——-| |——-|
| E / 1 | >>>>> | F / 5 |
|——-| |——-|
V
V
V
|——-|
| G / 1 |
|——-|

* The ‘>’ and ‘V’ are arrows demonstrating specific paths. Some talents call
for prerequisites to be met; in the above scenario, you can’t learn -G-
without first learning -F-… and you can’t learn -F- without first
learning -E-… so on and so forth.
* Each level of descent, regardless of a path or not, is considered the next
“Tier”. (The very top is Tier 1, the next one down is Tier 2, below that
is Tier 3, etc.)
* The following Tier cannot be reached until a minimum count of 5 talent
points has been invested per Tier level desired. For example, to reach
Tier 4, a minimum of 15 points are needed: 5 for Tier 1, 5 for Tier 2, and
5 for Tier 3. (Note that you do -not- have to spend 5 points in -each-
Tier; where you spend isn’t important in reaching the next Tier, just that
you actually -invest- them somewhere.)

[] End Example

… that all said, I will once again include the link to the official talent
calculator from ‘WorldofWarcraft.com’! …

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/shaman/talents.html

… it will be -much- easier to read, I can almost completely assure you. But
with the explanation out of the way, let’s jump into the mess, eh?

(Note: I plan to include my own personal opinion for each talent in the near
future. In the end, though, it’s important to decide on its overall benefit to
you versus whatever I say. I will attempt to look at more sides than just one,
or just my own, as well. This said, if you completely neglect some abilities,
then regardless of how awesome they are, the points will be wasted. Y’know?)

###############
(4a) Elemental
###############

|——-| |——-|
| A / 5 | | B / 5 |
|——-| |——-|

|——-| |——-| |——-|
| C / 2 | | D / 3 | | E / 3 |
|——-| |——-| |——-|

|——-| |——-| |——-|
| F / 1 | | G / 5 | | H / 5 |
|——-| |——-| |——-|
V
V
V
|——-| |——-| V |——-|
| I / 2 | | J / 3 | V | K / 3 |
|——-| |——-| V |——-|
V
V
V
|——-| |——-| V
| L / 2 | | M / 1 | V
|——-| |——-| V
V V
V V
V V
V |——-|
V | N / 5 |
V |——-|
V
V
V
|——-|
| O / 1 |
|——-|

* Elemental Shaman Talents

####### [] Tier 1 #######

|——-| * Convection
| A / 5 | Reduces the mana cost of your Shock, Lightning Bolt and Chain
|——-| Lightning spells by ___%.
[] ___ 2% ___ (Rank 1 / 5)
[] ___ 4% ___ (Rank 2 / 5)
[] ___ 6% ___ (Rank 3 / 5)
[] ___ 8% ___ (Rank 4 / 5)
[] __ 10% ___ (Rank 5 / 5)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Concussion
| B / 5 | Increases the damage done by your Lightning Bolt, Chain
|——-| Lightning and Shock spells by ___%.
[] ___ 1% ___ (Rank 1 / 5)
[] ___ 2% ___ (Rank 2 / 5)
[] ___ 3% ___ (Rank 3 / 5)
[] ___ 4% ___ (Rank 4 / 5)
[] ___ 5% ___ (Rank 5 / 5)
* Opinion
…

####### [] Tier 2 #######

|——-| * Earth’s Grasp
| C / 2 | Increases the health of your Stoneclaw Totem by ___% and the
|——-| radius of your Earthbind Totem by ___%.
[] ___ 25% ___ / ___ 10% ___ (Rank 1 / 2)
[] ___ 50% ___ / ___ 20% ___ (Rank 2 / 2)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Elemental Warding
| D / 3 | Reduces damage taken from Fire, Frost and Nature effects by
|——-| ___%.
[] ___ 4% ___ (Rank 1 / 3)
[] ___ 7% ___ (Rank 2 / 3)
[] __ 10% ___ (Rank 3 / 3)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Call of Flame
| E / 3 | Increases the damage done by your Fire Totems by ___%.
|——-| [] ___ 5% ___ (Rank 1 / 3)
[] __ 10% ___ (Rank 2 / 3)
[] __ 15% ___ (Rank 3 / 3)
* Opinion
…

####### [] Tier 3 #######

|——-| * Elemental Focus
| F / 1 | Gives you a 10% chance to enter a Clearcasting state after
|——-| casting any Fire, Frost, or Nature damage spell. The
Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next damage
spell by 100%.
[] ___ (Rank 1 / 1)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Reverberation
| G / 5 | Reduces the cooldown of your Shock spells by ___ sec.
|——-| [] ___ 0.2 sec ___ (Rank 1 / 5)
[] ___ 0.4 sec ___ (Rank 2 / 5)
[] ___ 0.6 sec ___ (Rank 3 / 5)
[] ___ 0.8 sec ___ (Rank 4 / 5)
[] ___ 1.0 sec ___ (Rank 5 / 5)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Call of Thunder
| H / 5 | Increases the critical strike chance of your Lightning Bolt and
|——-| Chain Lightning spells by ___%.
[] ___ 1% ___ (Rank 1 / 5)
[] ___ 2% ___ (Rank 2 / 5)
[] ___ 3% ___ (Rank 3 / 5)
[] ___ 4% ___ (Rank 4 / 5)
[] ___ 6% ___ (Rank 5 / 5)
* Opinion
…

####### [] Tier 4 #######

|——-| * Improved Fire Nova Totem
| I / 2 | Reduces the delay before your Fire Nova Totem activates by ___
|——-| sec. and decreases the threat generated by your Magma Totem by
___%.
[] ___ 1 sec. ___ / ___ 25% ___ (Rank 1 / 2)
[] ___ 2 sec. ___ / ___ 50% ___ (Rank 2 / 2)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Eye of the Storm
| J / 3 | Gives you a ___% chance to gain the Focused Casting effect that
|——-| lasts for 6 sec after being the victim of a melee or ranged
critical strike. The Focused Casting effect prevents you from
losing casting time when taking damage.
[] ___ 33% ___ (Rank 1 / 3)
[] ___ 66% ___ (Rank 2 / 3)
[] __ 100% ___ (Rank 3 / 3)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Elemental Devastation
| K / 3 | Your offensive spell crits will increase your chance to get a
|——-| critical strike with melee attacks by ___% for 10 sec.
[] ___ 3% ___ (Rank 1 / 3)
[] ___ 6% ___ (Rank 2 / 3)
[] ___ 9% ___ (Rank 3 / 3)
* Opinion
…

####### [] Tier 5 #######

|——-| * Storm Reach
| L / 2 | Increases the range of your Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning
|——-| spells by ___ yards.
[] ___ 3 yards ___ (Rank 1 / 2)
[] ___ 6 yards ___ (Rank 2 / 2)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Elemental Fury
| M / 1 | Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Searing,
|——-| Magma, and Fire Nova Totems and your Fire, Frost, and Nature
spells by 100%.
[] ___ (Rank 1 / 1)
* Opinion
…

####### [] Tier 6 #######

|——-| * Lightning Mastery
| N / 5 | Reduces the cast time of your Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning
|——-| spells by ___ sec.
[] ___ 0.2 sec ___ (Rank 1 / 5)
[] ___ 0.4 sec ___ (Rank 2 / 5)
[] ___ 0.6 sec ___ (Rank 3 / 5)
[] ___ 0.8 sec ___ (Rank 4 / 5)
[] ___ 1.0 sec ___ (Rank 5 / 5)
* Opinion
…

####### [] Tier 7 #######

|——-| * Elemental Mastery
| O / 1 | (Instant) — (3 min cooldown)
|——-| When activated, this spell gives your next Fire, Frost, or
Nature damage spell a 100% critical strike chance and reduces
the mana cost by 100%.
[] ___ (Rank 1 / 1)
* Opinion
…

###############
(4b) Enhancement
###############

|——-| |——-|
| A / 5 | | B / 5 |
|——-| |——-|

|——-| |——-| |——-| |——-|
| C / 2 | | D / 5 | | E / 2 | | F / 3 |
|——-| |——-| |——-| |——-|
V
V
V
|——-| V |——-| |——-|
| G / 2 | V | H / 1 | | I / 5 |
|——-| V |——-| |——-|
V
V
V
|——-| |——-|
| J / 5 | | K / 5 |
|——-| |——-|

|——-| |——-| |——-|
| L / 2 | | M / 3 | | N / 1 |
|——-| |——-| |——-|
V
V
V
V |——-|
V | O / 5 |
V |——-|
V
V
V
|——-|
| P / 1 |
|——-|

* Enhancement Shaman Talents

############### [] Tier 1 ###############

|——-| * Ancestral Knowledge
| A / 5 | Increases your maximum Mana by ___%.
|——-| [] ___ 1% ___ (Rank 1 / 5)
[] ___ 2% ___ (Rank 2 / 5)
[] ___ 3% ___ (Rank 3 / 5)
[] ___ 4% ___ (Rank 4 / 5)
[] ___ 5% ___ (Rank 5 / 5)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Shield Specialization
| B / 5 | Increases your chance to block attacks with a shield by ___% and
|——-| increases the amount blocked by ___%.
[] ___ 1% ___ / ___ 5% ___ (Rank 1 / 5)
[] ___ 2% ___ / __ 10% ___ (Rank 2 / 5)
[] ___ 3% ___ / __ 15% ___ (Rank 3 / 5)
[] ___ 4% ___ / __ 20% ___ (Rank 4 / 5)
[] ___ 5% ___ / __ 25% ___ (Rank 5 / 5)
* Opinion
…

############### [] Tier 2 ###############

|——-| * Guardian Totems
| C / 2 | Increases the amount of damage reduced by your Stoneskin Totem
|——-| and Windwall Totem by ___% and reduces the cooldown of your
Grounding Totem by ___ sec.
[] __ 10% ___ / ___ 1 sec. ___ (Rank 1 / 2)
[] __ 20% ___ / ___ 2 sec. ___ (Rank 2 / 2)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Thundering Strikes
| D / 5 | Improves your chance to get a critical strike with your weapon
|——-| attacks by ___%.
[] ___ 1% ___ (Rank 1 / 5)
[] ___ 2% ___ (Rank 2 / 5)
[] ___ 3% ___ (Rank 3 / 5)
[] ___ 4% ___ (Rank 4 / 5)
[] ___ 5% ___ (Rank 5 / 5)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Improved Ghost Wolf
| E / 2 | Reduces the cast time of your Ghost Wolf spell by ___ sec.
|——-| [] ___ 1 sec. ___ (Rank 1 / 2)
[] ___ 2 sec. ___ (Rank 2 / 2)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Improved Lightning Shield
| F / 3 | Increases the damage done by your Lightning Shield orbs by ___%.
|——-| [] ___ 5% ___ (Rank 1 / 3)
[] __ 10% ___ (Rank 2 / 3)
[] __ 15% ___ (Rank 3 / 3)
* Opinion
…

############### [] Tier 3 ###############

|——-| * Enhancing Totems
| G / 2 | Increases the effect of your Strength of Earth and Grace of Air
|——-| Totems by ___%.
[] ___ 8% ___ (Rank 1 / 2)
[] __ 15% ___ (Rank 2 / 2)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Two-Handed Axes and Maces
| H / 1 | Allows you to use Two-Handed Axes and Two-Handed Maces.
|——-| [] ___ (Rank 1 / 1)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Anticipation
| I / 5 | Increases your chance to dodge by an additional ___%.
|——-| [] ___ 1% ___ (Rank 1 / 5)
[] ___ 2% ___ (Rank 2 / 5)
[] ___ 3% ___ (Rank 3 / 5)
[] ___ 4% ___ (Rank 4 / 5)
[] ___ 5% ___ (Rank 5 / 5)
* Opinion
…

############### [] Tier 4 ###############

|——-| * Flurry
| J / 5 | Increases your attack speed by ___% for your next 3 swings after
|——-| dealing a critical strike.
[] __ 10% ___ (Rank 1 / 5)
[] __ 15% ___ (Rank 2 / 5)
[] __ 20% ___ (Rank 3 / 5)
[] __ 25% ___ (Rank 4 / 5)
[] __ 30% ___ (Rank 5 / 5)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Toughness
| K / 5 | Increases your armor value from items by ___%.
|——-| [] ___ 2% ___ (Rank 1 / 5)
[] ___ 4% ___ (Rank 2 / 5)
[] ___ 6% ___ (Rank 3 / 5)
[] ___ 8% ___ (Rank 4 / 5)
[] __ 10% ___ (Rank 5 / 5)
* Opinion
…

############### [] Tier 5 ###############

|——-| * Improved Weapon Totems
| L / 2 | Increases the melee attack power bonus of your Windfury Totem by
|——-| ___% and increases the damage caused by your Flametongue Totem
by ___%.
[] __ 15% ___ / ___ 6% ___ (Rank 1 / 2)
[] __ 30% ___ / __ 12% ___ (Rank 2 / 2)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Elemental Weapons
| M / 3 | Increases the melee attack power bonus of your Rockbiter Weapon
|——-| by ___%, your Windfury Weapon effect by ___% and increases the
damage caused by your Flametongue Weapon and Frostbrand Weapon
by ___%.
[] ___ 7% ___ / __ 13% ___ / ___ 5% ___ (Rank 1 / 3)
[] __ 14% ___ / __ 27% ___ / __ 10% ___ (Rank 2 / 3)
[] __ 20% ___ / __ 40% ___ / __ 15% ___ (Rank 3 / 3)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Parry
| N / 1 | Gives a chance to parry enemy melee attacks.
|——-| [] ___ (Rank 1 / 1)
* Opinion
…

############### [] Tier 6 ###############

|——-| * Weapon Mastery
| O / 5 | Increases the damage you deal with all weapons by ___%.
|——-| [] ___ 2% ___ (Rank 1 / 5)
[] ___ 4% ___ (Rank 2 / 5)
[] ___ 6% ___ (Rank 3 / 5)
[] ___ 8% ___ (Rank 4 / 5)
[] __ 10% ___ (Rank 5 / 5)
* Opinion
…

############### [] Tier 7 ###############

|——-| * Stormstrike
| P / 1 | (204 Mana / Instant cast) — (9 yd range / 20 sec cooldown)
|——-| Gives you an extra attack. In addition, the next 2 sources of
Nature damage dealt to the target are increased by 20%. Lasts
12 sec.
[] ___ (Rank 1 / 1)
* Opinion
…

###############
(4c) Restoration
###############

|——-| |——-|
| A / 5 | | B / 5 |
|——-| |——-|

|——-| |——-| |——-|
| C / 2 | | D / 3 | | E / 5 |
|——-| |——-| |——-|

|——-| |——-| |——-| |——-|
| F / 3 | | G / 5 | | H / 1 | | I / 3 |
|——-| |——-| |——-| |——-|

|——-| |——-|
| J / 5 | | K / 5 |
|——-| |——-|
V
V
V
|——-| V |——-|
| L / 3 | V | M / 1 |
|——-| V |——-|
V
V
V
V |——-|
V | N / 5 |
V |——-|
V
V
V
|——-|
| O / 1 |
|——-|

* Restoration Shaman Talents

############### [] Tier 1 ###############

|——-| * Improved Healing Wave
| A / 5 | Reduces the casting time of your Healing Wave spell by ___ sec.
|——-| [] ___ 0.1 ___ (Rank 1 / 5)
[] ___ 0.2 ___ (Rank 2 / 5)
[] ___ 0.3 ___ (Rank 3 / 5)
[] ___ 0.4 ___ (Rank 4 / 5)
[] ___ 0.5 ___ (Rank 5 / 5)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Tidal Focus
| B / 5 | Reduces the Mana cost of your healing spells by ___%.
|——-| [] ___ 1% ___ (Rank 1 / 5)
[] ___ 2% ___ (Rank 2 / 5)
[] ___ 3% ___ (Rank 3 / 5)
[] ___ 4% ___ (Rank 4 / 5)
[] ___ 5% ___ (Rank 5 / 5)
* Opinion
…

############### [] Tier 2 ###############

|——-| * Improved Reincarnation
| C / 2 | Reduces the cooldown of your Reincarnation spell by ___ min and
|——-| increases the amount of health and mana you reincarnate with by
an additional ___%.
[] __ 10 min ___ / ___ 10% ___ (Rank 1 / 2)
[] __ 20 min ___ / ___ 20% ___ (Rank 2 / 2)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Ancestral Healing
| D / 3 | Increases your target’s armor value by ___% for 15 sec after
|——-| getting a critical effect from one of your healing spells.
[] ___ 8% ___ (Rank 1 / 3)
[] __ 16% ___ (Rank 2 / 3)
[] __ 25% ___ (Rank 3 / 3)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Totemic Focus
| E / 5 | Reduces the mana cost of your totems by ___%.
|——-| [] ___ 5% ___ (Rank 1 / 5)
[] __ 10% ___ (Rank 2 / 5)
[] __ 15% ___ (Rank 3 / 5)
[] __ 20% ___ (Rank 4 / 5)
[] __ 25% ___ (Rank 5 / 5)
* Opinion
…

############### [] Tier 3 ###############

|——-| * Nature’s Guidance
| F / 3 | Increases your chance to hit with melee attacks and spells by
|——-| ___%.
[] ___ 1% ___ (Rank 1 / 3)
[] ___ 2% ___ (Rank 2 / 3)
[] ___ 3% ___ (Rank 3 / 3)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Healing Focus
| G / 5 | Gives you a ___% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage
|——-| while casting any healing spell.
[] __ 14% ___ (Rank 1 / 5)
[] __ 28% ___ (Rank 2 / 5)
[] __ 42% ___ (Rank 3 / 5)
[] __ 56% ___ (Rank 4 / 5)
[] __ 70% ___ (Rank 5 / 5)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Totemic Mastery
| H / 1 | The radius of your totems that affect friendly targets is
|——-| increased to 30 yd.
[] ___ (Rank 1 / 1)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Healing Grace
| I / 3 | Reduces the threat generated by your healing spells by ___%.
|——-| [] ___ 5% ___ (Rank 1 / 3)
[] __ 10% ___ (Rank 2 / 3)
[] __ 15% ___ (Rank 3 / 3)
* Opinion
…

############### [] Tier 4 ###############

|——-| * Restorative Totems
| J / 5 | Increases the effect of your Mana Spring and Healing Stream
|——-| Totems by ___%.
[] ___ 5% ___ (Rank 1 / 5)
[] __ 10% ___ (Rank 2 / 5)
[] __ 15% ___ (Rank 3 / 5)
[] __ 20% ___ (Rank 4 / 5)
[] __ 25% ___ (Rank 5 / 5)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Tidal Mastery
| K / 5 | Increases the critical effect chance of your healing and
|——-| lightning spells by ___%.
[] ___ 1% ___ (Rank 1 / 5)
[] ___ 2% ___ (Rank 2 / 5)
[] ___ 3% ___ (Rank 3 / 5)
[] ___ 4% ___ (Rank 4 / 5)
[] ___ 5% ___ (Rank 5 / 5)
* Opinion
…

############### [] Tier 5 ###############

|——-| * Healing Way
| L / 3 | Your Healing Wave spells have a ___% chance to increase the
|——-| effect of subsequent Healing Wave spells on that target by 6%
for 15 sec. This effect will stack up to 3 times.
[] __ 33% ___ (Rank 1 / 3)
[] __ 66% ___ (Rank 2 / 3)
[] _ 100% ___ (Rank 3 / 3)
* Opinion
…

|——-| * Nature’s Swiftness
| M / 1 | (Instant) — (3 min cooldown)
|——-| When activated, your next Nature spell with a casting time less
then 10 sec becomes an instant cast spell.
[] ___ (Rank 1 / 1)
* Opinion
…

############### [] Tier 6 ###############

|——-| * Purification
| N / 5 | Increases the effectiveness of your healing spells by ___%.
|——-| [] ___ 2% ___ (Rank 1 / 5)
[] ___ 4% ___ (Rank 2 / 5)
[] ___ 6% ___ (Rank 3 / 5)
[] ___ 8% ___ (Rank 4 / 5)
[] __ 10% ___ (Rank 5 / 5)
* Opinion
…

############### [] Tier 7 ###############

|——-| * Mana Tide Totem
| O / 1 | (20 Mana / Instant cast) — (5 min cooldown)
|——-| ___ Tools: Water Totem ___
Summons a Mana Tide Totem with 5 health at the feet of the
caster for 12 sec that restores 170 mana every 3 seconds to
group members within 20 yards.
[] ___ (Rank 1 / 1)
* Opinion
…

###############
(4d) Sample / Model ‘Talent Builds’
###############

These are a few sample templates that can be followed when choosing what to
invest your talent points into. Of course, you’re not required to follow these
point-by-point, so feel free to go against the grain and pick up some different
abilities. However, these are basically general ideas, going in to the world
of talent specialization. (This said, feel free to submit your own to me!)

###############
[] My “Kasim” Build v1.0 (Initial Spec)
* Enhancement / Restoration — 0 / 30 / 21

[] Elemental Talents
___ Tier 1 ___
* …

[] Enhancement Talents
___ Tier 1 ___
* Ancestral Knowledge (Rank 5 / 5)
___ Tier 2 ___
* Thundering Strikes (Rank 5 / 5)
* Improved Ghost Wolf (Rank 2 / 2)
* Improved Lightning Shield (Rank 3 / 3)
___ Tier 3 ___
* Two-Handed Axes and Maces (Rank 1 / 1)
___ Tier 4 ___
* Flurry (Rank 5 / 5)
___ Tier 5 ___
* Elemental Weapons (Rank 3 / 3)
* Parry (Rank 1 / 1)
___ Tier 6 ___
* Weapon Mastery (Rank 5 / 5)

[] Restoration Talents
___ Tier 1 ___
* Tidal Focus (Rank 5 / 5)
___ Tier 2 ___
* Totemic Focus (Rank 5 / 5)
___ Tier 3 ___
* Nature’s Guidance (Rank 3 / 3)
* Healing Focus (Rank 1 / 5)
* Totemic Mastery (Rank 1 / 1)
___ Tier 4 ___
* Tidal Mastery (Rank 5 / 5)
___ Tier 5 ___
* Nature’s Swiftness (Rank 1 / 1)

###############
[] My “Kasim” Build v2.0 (Tentative Re-spec)
* Elemental / Restoration — 30 / 0 / 21

[] Elemental Talents
___ Tier 1 ___
* Convection (Rank 5 / 5)
* Concussion (Rank 5 / 5)
___ Tier 2 ___
* …
___ Tier 3 ___
* Elemental Focus (Rank 1 / 1)
* Reverberation (Rank 5 / 5)
* Call of Thunder (Rank 5 / 5)
___ Tier 4 ___
* Eye of the Storm (Rank 1 / 3)
___ Tier 5 ___
* Storm Reach (Rank 2 / 2)
* Elemental Fury (Rank 1 / 1)
___ Tier 6 ___
* Lightning Mastery (Rank 5 / 5)

[] Enhancement Talents
___ Tier 1 ___
* …

[] Restoration Talents
___ Tier 1 ___
* Tidal Focus (Rank 5 / 5)
___ Tier 2 ___
* Totemic Focus (Rank 5 / 5)
___ Tier 3 ___
* Nature’s Guidance (Rank 3 / 3)
* Healing Focus (Rank 1 / 5)
* Totemic Mastery (Rank 1 / 1)
___ Tier 4 ___
* Tidal Mastery (Rank 5 / 5)
___ Tier 5 ___
* Nature’s Swiftness (Rank 1 / 1)

###############
[] My “Kasim” |negative| Build v-1.0 (Discarded Re-spec)
* Elemental / Enhancement — 30 / 21 / 0

[] Elemental Talents
___ Tier 1 ___
* Convection (Rank 5 / 5)
* Concussion (Rank 5 / 5)
___ Tier 2 ___
* …
___ Tier 3 ___
* Elemental Focus (Rank 1 / 1)
* Reverberation (Rank 5 / 5)
* Call of Thunder (Rank 5 / 5)
___ Tier 4 ___
* Eye of the Storm (Rank 1 / 3)
___ Tier 5 ___
* Storm Reach (Rank 2 / 2)
* Elemental Fury (Rank 1 / 1)
___ Tier 6 ___
* Lightning Mastery (Rank 5 / 5)

[] Enhancement Talents
___ Tier 1 ___
* Ancestral Knowledge (Rank 5 / 5)
___ Tier 2 ___
* Thundering Strikes (Rank 5 / 5)
* Improved Ghost Wolf (Rank 2 / 2)
* Improved Lightning Shield (Rank 3 / 3)
___ Tier 3 ___
* Two-Handed Axes and Maces (Rank 1 / 1)
___ Tier 4 ___
* Flurry (Rank 5 / 5)

[] Restoration Talents
___ Tier 1 ___
* …

——————————————————————————-

(5) Ready For Some Training?

——————————————————————————-

To keep it short and sweet, you are definitely going to want to upgrade your
abilities with every chance you get. That said, with the exception of Levels 2
and 3, new spells or abilities will become available with every other level.
(For example, Level 4, 6, 8, 10, 12…)

As for where you can learn new Shaman abilities, you will want to find a Shaman
Trainer in either the Orc capital of Orgrimmar, or the Tauren capital of
Thunder Bluff. Most upgrades cannot be purchased without having obtained the
previous ranking. Then again, why wouldn’t you already have it, anyway? There’s
nothing to lose and everything to gain, so be sure you save up for your next
visit to a trainer.

Now, specific abilities correspond to an individual type of combat. The three
categories are Elemental Combat, Enhancement, and Restoration. To say the
least, they correspond for the most part to each respective talent tree. That
said, nothing is stopping you from learning every Shaman ability, as this is
separate from your actual talent point investments. Buy ‘em out!

Starting note — there is one ability, immediately available to learn once you
start your new toon. While it is readily available, feel free to wait until
Level 4 to purchase it, along with the rest of your abilities. Either way, you
start with a couple spells (included below), so you should be perfectly fine
until then, and even beyond, for the most part.

(Those starting abilities are included below for organization / clarification.)

Now, the costs are standard prices without discounts. This said, there are two
separate 10% discounts you can obtain in the game. One 10% discount can be
obtained by reaching the Honored status in reputation with a specific faction.
After, anything purchased from a member of that faction will have 10% marked
off. (This said, the only factions this will help you with in terms of Shaman
training, will be Orgrimmar and Thunder Bluff.)

The second 10% discount can be obtained by reaching the Sergeant status in
terms of Honor and / or Battlegrounds. These include Warsong Gulch, Arathi
Basin, and Alterac Valley (though there are other methods of gaining Honor).
Once you have hit the Rank of Sergeant, any item you purchase anywhere in
Azeroth will have 10% marked off.

That all said, these discounts -do- in fact stack to a total of 20% off. With
the faction reputation, you will permanently keep that 10% off unless you
manage to lose reputation within your faction (and to be honest, I haven’t
personally found any way to do this). With the Honor, your Rank can fluctuate
if you’re not consistently participating in Battlegrounds. At any time your
Rank drops below Sergeant, you will lose the 10% discount instantly. (Anything
purchased thus far will not suddenly charge you that 10%, fortunately.)

Something serious to consider, once the abilities start costing you gold!

###############
(5a) Level 1 ( - 3 ? )
###############

[] Lightning Bolt (Rank 1) — *YOU START WITH THIS*
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 15 Mana / 1.5 sec cast — (30 yd range)
* Casts a bolt of lightning at the target for 13 to 15 Nature damage.

[] Rockbiter Weapon (Rank 1) — Cost: 10 copper
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 15 Mana / Instant cast
* Imbue the Shaman’s weapon, increasing melee attack power by 29 and
allowing melee attacks to cause additional threat when using that weapon.
Lasts for 5 minutes.

[] Healing Wave (Rank 1) — *YOU START WITH THIS*
[] Category: Restoration
[] 25 Mana / 1.5 sec cast — (40 yd range)
* Heals a friendly target for 34 to 44.

###############
(5b) Level 4
###############

[] Earth Shock (Rank 1) — Cost: 1 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 30 Mana / Instant cast — (20 yd range / 6 sec cooldown)
* Instantly shocks the target with concussive force, causing 17 to 19 Nature
damage. It also interrupts spellcasting and prevents any spell in that
school from being cast for 2 sec. Causes a high amount of threat.

###############
(5c) Level 6
###############

[] Earthbind Totem — Cost: 1 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] ???? mana / Instant cast — (15 sec cooldown)
___ Tools: Earth Totem ___
* Summons an Earthbind Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster for 45
sec that slows the movement speed of the enemies within 10 yards.
???? The mana cost is not specific; it is roughly 4% of your maximum mana.
(This calculation has not been proven, nor has it been tested to check
whether or not increasing your maximum mana and / or decreasing your spell
costs affects the overall mana cost in any manner.)

[] Healing Wave (Rank 2) — Cost: 1 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] 45 Mana / 2 sec cast — (40 yd range)
___ Requires: Healing Wave (Rank 1) ___
* Heals a friendly target for 64 to 78.

###############
(5d) Level 8
###############

[] Earth Shock (Rank 2) — Cost: 1 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 50 Mana / Instant cast — (20 yd range / 6 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Earth Shock (Rank 1) ___
* Instantly shocks the target with concussive force, causing 32 to 34 Nature
damage. It also interrupts spellcasting and prevents any spell in that
school from being cast for 2 sec. Causes a high amount of threat.

[] Lightning Bolt (Rank 2) — Cost: 1 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 30 Mana / 2 sec cast — (30 yd range)
___ Requires: Lightning Bolt (Rank 1) ___
* Casts a bolt of lightning at the target for 26 to 30 Nature damage.

[] Stoneclaw Totem (Rank 1) — Cost: 1 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 15 Mana / Instant cast — (30 sec cooldown)
___ Tools: Earth Totem ___
* Summons a Stoneclaw Totem with 50 health at the feet of the caster for 15
sec that taunts creatures within 8 yards to attack it.

[] Lightning Shield (Rank 1) — Cost: 1 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 45 Mana / Instant cast
* The caster is surrounded by 3 balls of lightning. When a spell, melee or
ranged attack hits the caster, the attacker will be struck for 13 Nature
damage. This expends one lightning ball. Only one ball will fire every few
seconds. Lasts 10 min.

[] Rockbiter Weapon (Rank 2) — Cost: 1 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 25 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Rockbiter Weapon (Rank 1) ___
* Imbue the Shaman’s weapon, increasing melee attack power by 58 and
allowing melee attacks to cause additional threat when using that weapon.
Lasts for 5 minutes.

###############
(5e) Level 10
###############

[] Flame Shock (Rank 1) — Cost: 4 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 55 Mana / Instant cast — (20 yd range / 6 sec cooldown)
* Instantly sears the target with fire, causing 21 Fire damage immediately
and 28 Fire damage over 12 sec.

[] Flametongue Weapon (Rank 1) — Cost: 4 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 30 Mana / Instant cast
* Imbue the Shaman’s weapon with fire. Each hit causes 4.2 for 13.0
additional Fire damage, based on the speed of the weapon. Slower weapons
cause more fire damage per swing. Lasts for 5 minutes.

[] Strength of Earth Totem (Rank 1) — Cost: 4 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 25 Mana / Instant cast
___ Tools: Earth Totem ___
* Summons a Strength of Earth Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster.
The totem increases the strength of party members within 20 yards by 10.
Lasts 2 min.

###############
(5f) Level 12
###############

[] Fire Nova Totem (Rank 1) — Cost: 8 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 95 Mana / Instant cast — (15 sec cooldown)
___ Tools: Fire Totem ___
* Summons a Fire Nova Totem that has 5 health and lasts 5 sec. Unless it is
destroyed within 4 sec., the totem inflicts 48 to 56 fire damage to
enemies within 10 yd.

[] Purge (Rank 1) — Cost: 8 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] ???? Mana / Instant cast — (30 yd range)
* Purges the enemy target, removing 1 magic effect.
???? The mana cost is not specific; it is roughly 7% of your maximum mana.
(This calculation has not been proven, nor has it been tested to check
whether or not increasing your maximum mana and / or decreasing your spell
costs affects the overall mana cost in any manner.)

[] Ancestral Spirit (Rank 1) — Cost: 8 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] ???? Mana / 10 sec cast — (30 yd range)
* Returns the spirit to the body, restoring a dead target to life with 65
health and 120 mana. Cannot be cast when in combat.
???? The mana cost is not specific; it is roughly 70% of your maximum mana.
(This calculation has not been proven, nor has it been tested to check
whether or not increasing your maximum mana and / or decreasing your spell
costs affects the overall mana cost in any manner.)

[] Healing Wave (Rank 3) — Cost: 8 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] 80 Mana / 2.5 sec cast — (40 yd range)
___ Requires: Healing Wave (Rank 2) ___
* Heals a friendly target for 129 to 155.

###############
(5g) Level 14
###############

[] Earth Shock (Rank 3) — Cost: 9 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 85 Mana / Instant cast — (20 yd range / 6 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Earth Shock (Rank 2) ___
* Instantly shocks the target with concussive force, causing 60 to 64 Nature
damage. It also interrupts spellcasting and prevents any spell in that
school from being cast for 2 sec. Causes a high amount of threat.

[] Lightning Bolt (Rank 3) — Cost: 9 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 45 Mana / 2.5 sec cast — (30 yd range)
___ Requires: Lightning Bolt (Rank 2) ___
* Casts a bolt of lightning at the target for 45 to 53 Nature damage.

[] Stoneskin Totem (Rank 2) — Cost: 9 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 60 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Stoneskin Totem (Rank 1) ___
___ Tools: Earth Totem ___
* Summons a Stoneskin Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster. The
totem protects party members within 20 yards, reducing melee damage taken
by 7. Lasts 2 min.

###############
(5h) Level 16
###############

[] Lightning Shield (Rank 2) — Cost: 18 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 80 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Lightning Shield (Rank 1) ___
* The caster is surrounded by 3 balls of lightning. When a spell, melee or
ranged attack hits the caster, the attacker will be struck for 29 Nature
damage. This expends one lightning ball. Only one ball will fire every few
seconds. Lasts 10 min.

[] Rockbiter Weapon (Rank 3) — Cost: 18 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 50 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Rockbiter Weapon (Rank 2) ___
* Imbue the Shaman’s weapon, increasing melee attack power by 88 and
allowing melee attacks to cause additional threat when using that weapon.
Lasts for 5 minutes.

[] Cure Poison — Cost: 18 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] ???? Mana / Instant cast — (30 yd range)
* Cures 1 poison effect on the target.
???? The mana cost is not specific; it is roughly 6% of your maximum mana.
(This calculation has not been proven, nor has it been tested to check
whether or not increasing your maximum mana and / or decreasing your spell
costs affects the overall mana cost in any manner.)

###############
(5i) Level 18
###############

[] Flame Shock (Rank 2) — Cost: 20 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 95 Mana / Instant cast — (20 yd range / 6 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Flame Shock (Rank 1) ___
* Instantly sears the target with fire, causing 45 Fire damage immediately
and 48 Fire damage over 12 sec.

[] Stoneclaw Totem (Rank 2) — Cost: 20 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 30 Mana / Instant cast — (30 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Stoneclaw Totem (Rank 1) ___
* Summons a Stoneclaw Totem with 150 health at the feet of the caster for 15
sec that taunts creatures within 8 yards to attack it.

[] Flametongue Weapon (Rank 2) — Cost: 20 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 55 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Flametongue Weapon (Rank 1) ___
* Imbue the Shaman’s weapon with fire. Each hit causes 6.2 to 19.2
additional Fire damage, based on the speed of the weapon. Slower weapons
cause more fire damage per swing. Lasts for 5 minutes.

[] Healing Wave (Rank 4) — Cost: 20 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] 155 Mana / 3 sec cast — (40 yd range)
___ Requires: Healing Wave (Rank 3) ___
* Heals a friendly target for 268 to 316.

[] Tremor Totem — Cost: 20 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] 60 Mana / Instant cast
___ Tools: Earth Totem ___
* Summons a Tremor Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster that shakes
the ground around it, removing Fear, Charm and Sleep effects from party
members within 30 yards. Lasts 2 min.

###############
(5j) Level 20
###############

[] Frost Shock (Rank 1) — Cost: 22 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 115 Mana / Instant cast — (20 yd range / 6 sec cooldown)
* Instantly shocks the target with frost, causing 89 to 95 Frost damage and
slowing movement speed by 50%. Lasts 8 sec.

[] Lightning Bolt (Rank 4) — Cost: 22 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 75 Mana / 3 sec cast — (30 yd range)
___ Requires: Lightning Bolt (Rank 3) ___
* Casts a bolt of lightning at the target for 83 to 95 Nature damage.

[] Searing Totem (Rank 2) — Cost: 22 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 45 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Searing Totem (Rank 1) ___
___ Tools: Fire Totem ___
* Summons a Searing Totem with 5 health at your feet for 35 sec that
repeatedly attacks an enemy within 20.0 yards for 13 to 17 Fire damage.

[] Frostbrand Weapon (Rank 1) — Cost: 22 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 60 Mana / Instant cast
* Imbue the Shaman’s weapon with frost. Each hit has a chance of causing 35
additional Frost damage and slowing the target’s movement speed by 25% for
8 sec. Lasts for 5 minutes.

[] Ghost Wolf — Cost: 22 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 100 Mana / 3 sec cast
* Turns the Shaman into a Ghost Wolf, increasing speed by 40%. Only useable
outdoors.

[] Lesser Healing Wave (Rank 1) — Cost: 22 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] 105 Mana / 1.5 sec cast — (40 yd range)
* Heals a friendly target for 162 to 186.

###############
(5k) Level 22
###############

[] Fire Nova Totem (Rank 2) — Cost: 30 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 170 Mana / Instant cast — (15 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Fire Nova Totem (Rank 1) ___
___ Tools: Fire Totem ___
* Summons a Fire Nova Totem that has 5 health and lasts 5 sec. Unless it is
destroyed within 4 sec., the totem inflicts 102 to 116 fire damage to
enemies within 10 yd.

[] Water Breathing — Cost: 30 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 50 Mana / Instant cast — (30 yd range)
___ Reagents: Shiny Fish Scales ___
* Allows the target to breathe underwater for 10 min.

[] Cure Disease — Cost: 30 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] ???? Mana / Instant cast — (30 yd range)
* Cures 1 disease on the target.
???? The mana cost is not specific; it is roughly 6% of your maximum mana.
(This calculation has not been proven, nor has it been tested to check
whether or not increasing your maximum mana and / or decreasing your spell
costs affects the overall mana cost in any manner.)

[] Poison Cleansing Totem — Cost: 30 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] ???? Mana / Instant cast
___ Tools: Water Totem ___
* Summons a Poison Cleansing Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster
that attempts to remove 1 poison effect from party members within 20 yards
every 5 seconds. Lasts 2 min.
???? The mana cost is not specific; it is roughly 7% of your maximum mana.
(This calculation has not been proven, nor has it been tested to check
whether or not increasing your maximum mana and / or decreasing your spell
costs affects the overall mana cost in any manner.)

###############
(5l) Level 24
###############

[] Earth Shock (Rank 4) — Cost: 35 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 145 Mana / Instant cast — (20 yd range / 6 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Earth Shock (Rank 3) ___
* Instantly shocks the target with concussive force, causing 119 to 127
Nature damage. It also interrupts spellcasting and prevents any spell in
that school from being cast for 2 sec. Causes a high amount of threat.

[] Frost Resistance Totem (Rank 1) — Cost: 35 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 75 Mana / Instant cast
___ Tools: Fire Totem ___
* Summons a Frost Resistance Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster
for 2 min. The totem increases party members’ frost resistance by 30, if
within 20 yards.

[] Lightning Shield (Rank 3) — Cost: 35 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 125 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Lightning Shield (Rank 2) ___
* The caster is surrounded by 3 balls of lightning. When a spell, melee or
ranged attack hits the caster, the attacker will be struck for 51 Nature
damage. This expends one lightning ball. Only one ball will fire every few
seconds. Lasts 10 min.

[] Rockbiter Weapon (Rank 4) — Cost: 35 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 75 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Rockbiter Weapon (Rank 3) ___
* Imbue the Shaman’s weapon, increasing melee attack power by 129 and
allowing melee attacks to cause additional threat when using that weapon.
Lasts for 5 minutes.

[] Stoneskin Totem (Rank 3) — Cost: 35 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 90 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Stoneskin Totem (Rank 2) ___
___ Tools: Earth Totem ___
* Summons a Stoneskin Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster. The
totem protects party members within 20 yards, reducing melee damage taken
by 11. Lasts 2 min.

[] Strength of Earth Totem (Rank 2) — Cost: 35 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 65 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Strength of Earth Totem (Rank 1) ___
___ Tools: Earth Totem ___
* Summons a Strength of Earth Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster.
The totem increases the strength of party members within 20 yards by 20.
Lasts 2 min.

[] Ancestral Spirit (Rank 2) — Cost: 35 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] ???? Mana / 10 sec cast — (30 yd range)
___ Requires: Ancestral Spirit (Rank 1) ___
* Returns the spirit to the body, restoring a dead target to life with 150
health and 260 mana. Cannot be cast when in combat.
???? The mana cost is not specific; it is roughly 70% of your maximum mana.
(This calculation has not been proven, nor has it been tested to check
whether or not increasing your maximum mana and / or decreasing your spell
costs affects the overall mana cost in any manner.)

[] Healing Wave (Rank 5) — Cost: 35 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] 200 Mana / 3 sec cast — (40 yd range)
___ Requires: Healing Wave (Rank 4) ___
* Heals a friendly target for 376 to 440.

###############
(5m) Level 26
###############

[] Lightning Bolt (Rank 5) — Cost: 40 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 105 Mana / 3 sec cast — (30 yd range)
___ Requires: Lightning Bolt (Rank 4) ___
* Casts a bolt of lightning at the target for 125 to 143 Nature damage.

[] Magma Totem (Rank 1) — Cost: 40 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 230 Mana / Instant cast
___ Tools: Fire Totem ___
* Summons a Magma Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster for 20 sec
that causes 22 Fire damage to creatures within 8 yards every 2 seconds.

[] Far Sight — Cost: 40 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 80 Mana / 2 sec cast — (50000 yd range)
* Changes the caster’s viewpoint to the targeted location. Lasts 1 min. Only
useable outdoors.

[] Flametongue Weapon (Rank 3) — Cost: 40 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 80 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Flametongue Weapon (Rank 2) ___
* Imbue the Shaman’s weapon with fire. Each hit causes 9.3 to 28.6
additional Fire damage, based on the speed of the weapon. Slower weapons
cause more fire damage per swing. Lasts for 5 minutes.

[] Mana Spring Totem (Rank 1) — Cost: 40 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] 40 Mana / Instant cast
___ Tools: Water Totem ___
* Summons a Mana Spring Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster for 1
min that restores 4 mana every 2 seconds to group members within 20 yards.

###############
(5n) Level 28
###############

[] Flame Shock (Rank 3) — Cost: 60 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 160 Mana / Instant cast — (20 yd range / 6 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Flame Shock (Rank 2) ___
* Instantly sears the target with fire, causing 86 Fire damage immediately
and 96 Fire damage over 12 sec.

[] Stoneclaw Totem (Rank 3) — Cost: 60 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 55 Mana / Instant cast — (30 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Stoneclaw Totem (Rank 2) ___
___ Tools: Earth Totem ___
* Summons a Stoneclaw Totem with 220 health at the feet of the caster for 15
sec that taunts creatures within 8 yards to attack it.

[] Fire Resistance Totem (Rank 1) — Cost: 60 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 75 Mana / Instant cast
___ Tools: Water Totem ___
* Summons a Fire Resistance Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster
for 2 min that increases the fire resistance of party members within 20
yards by 30.

[] Flametongue Totem (Rank 1) — Cost: 60 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 90 Mana / Instant cast
___ Tools: Fire Totem ___
* Summons a Flametongue Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster. The
totem enchants all party members’ main hand weapons with fire if they are
within 20 yards. Each hit causes 6.4 to 19.6 additional Fire damage, based
on the speed of the weapon. Slower weapons cause more fire damage per
swing. Lasts 2 min.

[] Frostbrand Weapon (Rank 2) — Cost: 60 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 85 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Frostbrand Weapon (Rank 1) ___
* Imbue the Shaman’s weapon with frost. Each hit has a chance of causing 53
additional Frost damage and slowing the target’s movement speed by 25% for
8 sec. Lasts for 5 minutes.

[] Water Walking — Cost: 60 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 95 Mana / Instant cast — (30 yd range)
___ Reagents: Fish Oil ___
* Allows the friendly target to walk across water for 10 min. Any damage
will cancel the effect.

[] Lesser Healing Wave (Rank 2) — Cost: 60 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] 145 Mana / 1.5 sec cast — (40 yd range)
___ Requires: Lesser Healing Wave (Rank 1) ___
* Heals a friendly target for 247 to 281.

###############
(5o) Level 30
###############

[] Searing Totem (Rank 3) — Cost: 70 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 75 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Searing Totem (Rank 2) ___
___ Tools: Fire Totem ___
* Summons a Searing Totem with 5 health at your feet for 40 sec that
repeatedly attacks an enemy within 20.0 yards for 19 to 25 Fire damage.

[] Astral Recall — Cost: 70 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 150 Mana / 10 sec cast — (15 min cooldown)
* Yanks the caster through the twisting nether back to their home location.
Speak to an Innkeeper in a different place to change your home location.

[] Grounding Totem — Cost: 70 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] ???? Mana / Instant cast — (15 sec cooldown)
___ Tools: Air Totem ___
* Summons a Grounding Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster that
will redirect one harmful spell cast on a nearby party member to itself
every 10 seconds. Will not redirect area of effect spells. Lasts 45 sec.
???? The mana cost is not specific; it is roughly 4% of your maximum mana.
(This calculation has not been proven, nor has it been tested to check
whether or not increasing your maximum mana and / or decreasing your spell
costs affects the overall mana cost in any manner.)

[] Nature Resistance Totem (Rank 1) — Cost: 70 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 75 Mana / Instant cast
___ Tools: Air Totem ___
* Summons a Nature Resistance Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster
for 2 min that increases the nature resistance of party members within 20
yards by 30.

[] Windfury Weapon (Rank 1) — Cost: 70 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 90 Mana / Instant cast
* Imbue the Shaman’s weapon with wind. Each hit has a 20% chance of granting
you 2 extra attacks with 46 extra melee attack power. Lasts for 5 minutes.

[] Healing Stream Totem (Rank 2) — Cost: 70 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] 50 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Healing Stream Totem (Rank 1) ___
___ Tools: Water Totem ___
* Summons a Healing Stream Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster for
1 min that heals group members within 20 yards for 8 every 2 seconds.

[] Reincarnation — Cost: 70 silver
[] Category: Restoration
___ Reagents: Ankh ___
* Allows you to resurrect yourself upon death with 20% health and mana.

###############
(5p) Level 32
###############

[] Chain Lightning (Rank 1) — Cost: 80 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 280 Mana / 2.5 sec cast — (30 yd range / 6 sec cooldown)
* Hurls a lightning bolt at the enemy, dealing 191 to 217 Nature damage and
then jumping to additional nearby enemies. Each jump reduces the damage by
30%. Affects 3 total targets.

[] Fire Nova Totem (Rank 3) — Cost: 80 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 280 Mana / Instant cast — (15 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Fire Nova Totem (Rank 2) ___
___ Tools: Fire Totem ___
* Summons a Fire Nova Totem that has 5 health and lasts 5 sec. Unless it is
destroyed within 4 sec., the totem inflicts 184 to 208 fire damage to
enemies within 10 yd.

[] Lightning Bolt (Rank 6) — Cost: 80 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 135 Mana / 3 sec cast — (30 yd range)
___ Requires: Lightning Bolt (Rank 5) ___
* Casts a bolt of lightning at the target for 172 to 194 Nature damage.

[] Purge (Rank 2) — Cost: 80 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] ???? Mana / Instant cast — (30 yd range)
___ Requires: Purge (Rank 1) ___
* Purges the enemy target, removing 2 beneficial magic effects.
???? The mana cost is not specific; it is roughly 7% of your maximum mana.
(This calculation has not been proven, nor has it been tested to check
whether or not increasing your maximum mana and / or decreasing your spell
costs affects the overall mana cost in any manner.)

[] Lightning Shield (Rank 4) — Cost: 80 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 180 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Lightning Shield (Rank 3) ___
* The caster is surrounded by 3 balls of lightning. When a spell, melee or
ranged attack hits the caster, the attacker will be struck for 80 Nature
damage. This expends one lightning ball. Only one ball will fire every few
seconds. Lasts 10 min.

[] Windfury Totem (Rank 1) — Cost: 80 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 115 Mana / Instant cast
___ Tools: Air Totem ___
* Summons a Windfury Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster. The
totem enchants all party members main-hand weapons with wind, if they are
within 20 yards. Each hit has a 20% chance of granting the attacker 1
extra attack with 122 extra melee attack power. Lasts 2 min.

[] Healing Wave (Rank 6) — Cost: 80 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] 265 Mana / 3 sec cast — (40 yd range)
___ Requires: Healing Wave (Rank 5) ___
* Heals a friendly target for 536 to 622.

###############
(5q) Level 34
###############

[] Frost Shock (Rank 2) — Cost: 90 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 225 Mana / Instant cast — (20 yd range / 6 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Frost Shock (Rank 1) ___
* Instantly shocks the target with frost, causing 206 to 220 Frost damage
and slowing movement speed by 50%. Lasts 8 sec.

[] Rockbiter Weapon (Rank 5) — Cost: 90 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 100 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Rockbiter Weapon (Rank 4) ___
* Imbue the Shaman’s weapon, increasing melee attack power by 211 and
allowing melee attacks to cause additional threat when using that weapon.
Lasts for 5 minutes.

[] Sentry Totem — Cost: 90 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 65 Mana / Instant cast
___ Tools: Air Totem ___
* Summons an immobile Sentry Totem with 100 health at your feet for 5 min
that allows vision of nearby area and warns of enemies that attack it.
Right-Click on buff to switch back and forth between totem sight and
shaman sight.

[] Stoneskin Totem (Rank 4) — Cost: 90 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 115 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Stoneskin Totem (Rank 3) ___
___ Tools: Earth Totem ___
* Summons a Stoneskin Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster. The
totem protects party members within 20 yards, reducing melee damage taken
by 16. Lasts 2 min.

###############
(5r) Level 36
###############

[] Earth Shock (Rank 5) — Cost: 1 gold
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 240 Mana / Instant cast — (20 yd range / 6 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Earth Shock (Rank 4) ___
* Instantly shocks the target with concussive force, causing 225 to 239
Nature damage. It also interrupts spellcasting and prevents any spell in
that school from being cast for 2 sec. Causes a high amount of threat.

[] Magma Totem (Rank 2) — Cost: 1 gold
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 360 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Magma Totem (Rank 1) ___
___ Tools: Fire Totem ___
* Summons a Magma Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster for 20 sec
that causes 37 Fire damage to creatures within 8 yards every 2 seconds.

[] Flametongue Weapon (Rank 4) — Cost: 1 gold
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 105 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Flametongue Weapon (Rank 3) ___
* Imbue the Shaman’s weapon with fire. Each hit causes 14.9 to 45.8
additional Fire damage, based on the speed of the weapon. Slower weapons
cause more fire damage per swing. Lasts for 5 minutes.

[] Windwall Totem (Rank 1) — Cost: 1 gold
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 115 Mana / Instant cast
___ Tools: Air Totem ___
* Summons a Windwall Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster. The
totem protects party members within 20 yards, reducing ranged damage taken
by 32. Lasts 2 min.

[] Ancestral Spirit (Rank 3) — Cost: 1 gold
[] Category: Restoration
[] ???? Mana / 10 sec cast — (30 yd range)
___ Requires: Ancestral Spirit (Rank 2) ___
* Returns the spirit to the body, restoring a dead target to life with 250
health and 420 mana. Cannot be cast when in combat.
???? The mana cost is not specific; it is roughly 70% of your maximum mana.
(This calculation has not been proven, nor has it been tested to check
whether or not increasing your maximum mana and / or decreasing your spell
costs affects the overall mana cost in any manner.)

[] Lesser Healing Wave (Rank 3) — Cost: 1 gold
[] Category: Restoration
[] 185 Mana / 1.5 sec cast — (40 yd range)
___ Requires: Lesser Healing Wave (Rank 2) ___
* Heals a friendly target for 337 to 381.

[] Mana Spring Totem (Rank 2) — Cost: 1 gold
[] Category: Restoration
[] 60 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Mana Spring Totem (Rank 1) ___
___ Tools: Water Totem ___
* Summons a Mana Spring Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster for 1
min that restores 6 mana every 2 seconds to group members within 20 yards.

###############
(5s) Level 38
###############

[] Lightning Bolt (Rank 7) — Cost: 1 gold 10 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 165 Mana / 3 sec cast — (30 yd range)
___ Requires: Lightning Bolt (Rank 6) ___
* Casts a bolt of lightning at the target for 227 to 255 Nature damage.

[] Stoneclaw Totem (Rank 4) — Cost: 1 gold 10 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 75 Mana / Instant cast — (30 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Stoneclaw Totem (Rank 3) ___
___ Tools: Earth Totem ___
* Summons a Stoneclaw Totem with 280 health at the feet of the caster for 15
sec that taunts creatures within 8 yards to attack it.

[] Flametongue Totem (Rank 2) — Cost: 1 gold 10 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 140 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Flametongue Totem (Rank 1) ___
___ Tools: Fire Totem ___
* Summons a Flametongue Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster. The
totem enchants all party members’ main-hand weapons with fire if they are
within 20 yards. Each hit causes 9.1 to 27.9 additional Fire damage, based
on the speed of the weapon. Slower weapons cause more fire damage per
swing. Lasts 2 min.

[] Frost Resistance Totem (Rank 2) — Cost: 1 gold 10 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 120 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Frost Resistance Totem (Rank 1) ___
___ Tools: Fire Totem ___
* Summons a Frost Resistance Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster
for 2 min. The totem increases party members’ frost resistance by 45, if
within 20 yards.

[] Frostbrand Weapon (Rank 3) — Cost: 1 gold 10 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 110 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Frostbrand Weapon (Rank 2) ___
* Imbue the Shaman’s weapon with frost. Each hit has a chance of causing 84
additional Frost damage and slowing the target’s movement speed by 25% for
8 sec. Lasts for 5 minutes.

[] Strength of Earth Totem (Rank 3) — Cost: 1 gold 10 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 125 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Strength of Earth Totem (Rank 2) ___
___ Tools: Earth Totem ___
* Summons a Strength of Earth Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster.
The totem increases the strength of party members within 20 yards by 36.
Lasts 2 min.

[] Disease Cleaning Totem — Cost: 1 gold 10 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] ???? Mana / Instant cast
___ Tools: Water Totem ___
* Summons a Disease Cleansing Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster
that attempts to remove 1 disease effect from party members within 20
yards every 5 seconds. Lasts 2 min.
???? The mana cost is not specific; it is roughly 7% of your maximum mana.
(This calculation has not been proven, nor has it been tested to check
whether or not increasing your maximum mana and / or decreasing your spell
costs affects the overall mana cost in any manner.)

###############
(5t) Level 40
###############

[] Chain Lightning (Rank 2) — Cost: 1 gold 20 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 380 Mana / 2.5 sec cast — (30 yd range / 6 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Chain Lightning (Rank 1) ___
* Hurls a lightning bolt at the enemy, dealing 277 to 311 Nature damage and
then jumping to additional nearby enemies. Each jump reduces the damage by
30%. Affects 3 total targets.

[] Flame Shock (Rank 4) — Cost: 1 gold 20 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 250 Mana / Instant cast — (20 yd range / 6 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Flame Shock (Rank 3) ___
* Instantly sears the target with fire, causing 152 Fire damage immediately
and 168 Fire damage over 12 sec.

[] Searing Totem (Rank 4) — Cost: 1 gold 20 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 110 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Searing Totem (Rank 3) ___
___ Tools: Fire Totem ___
* Summons a Searing Totem with 5 health at your feet for 45 sec that
repeatedly attacks an enemy within 20.0 yards for 26 to 34 Fire damage.

[] Lightning Shield (Rank 5) — Cost: 1 gold 20 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 240 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Lightning Shield (Rank 4) ___
* The caster is surrounded by 3 balls of lightning. When a spell, melee or
ranged attack hits the caster, the attacker will be struck for 114 Nature
damage. This expends one lightning ball. Only one ball will fire every few
seconds. Lasts 10 min.

[] Windfury Weapon (Rank 2) — Cost: 1 gold 20 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 115 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Windfury Weapon (Rank 1) ___
* Imbue the Shaman’s weapon with wind. Each hit has a 20% chance of granting
you 2 extra attacks with 119 extra melee attack power. Lasts for 5
minutes.

[] Mail — Cost: 1 gold 20 silver
[] Category: Mail
* Grants Mail armor proficiency.
???? In-game states “Requires Mail,” but this skill basically allows you to
equip armor of the Mail type; an upgrade in armor versus your spellbook.

[] Chain Heal (Rank 1) — Cost: 1 gold 20 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] 260 Mana / 2.5 sec cast — (40 yd range)
* Heals the friendly target for 320 to 368, then jumps to heal additional
nearby targets. If cast on a party member, the heal will only jump to
other party members. Each jump is 50% as effective as the previous target.
Heals 3 total targets.

[] Healing Stream Totem (Rank 3) — Cost: 1 gold 20 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] 60 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Healing Stream Totem (Rank 2) ___
___ Tools: Water Totem ___
* Summons a Healing Stream Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster for
1 min that heals group members within 20 yards for 10 every 2 seconds.

[] Healing Wave (Rank 7) — Cost: 1 gold 20 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] 340 Mana / 3 sec cast — (40 yd range)
___ Requires: Healing Wave (Rank 6) ___
* Heals a friendly target for 740 to 854.

###############
(5u) Level 42
###############

[] Fire Nova Totem (Rank 4) — Cost: 1 gold 60 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 395 Mana / Instant cast — (15 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Fire Nova Totem (Rank 3) ___
___ Tools: Fire Totem ___
* Summons a Fire Nova Totem that has 5 health and lasts 5 sec. Unless it is
destroyed within 4 sec., the totem inflicts 281 to 317 fire damage to
enemies within 10 yd.

[] Fire Resistance Totem (Rank 2) — Cost: 1 gold 60 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 120 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Fire Resistance Totem (Rank 1) ___
___ Tools: Water Totem ___
* Summons a Fire Resistance Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster
for 2 min that increases the fire resistance of party members within 20
yards by 45.

[] Grace of Air Totem (Rank 1) — Cost: 1 gold 60 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 155 Mana / Instant cast
___ Tools: Air Totem ___
* Summons a Grace of Air Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster. The
totem increases the agility of party members within 20 yards by 43. Lasts
2 min.

[] Windfury Totem (Rank 2) — Cost: 1 gold 60 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 175 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Windfury Totem (Rank 1) ___
___ Tools: Air Totem ___
* Summons a Windfury Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster. The
totem enchants all party members main-hand weapons with wind, if they are
within 20 yards. Each hit has a 20% chance of granting the attacker 1
extra attack with 229 extra melee attack power. Lasts 2 min.

###############
(5v) Level 44
###############

[] Lightning Bolt (Rank — Cost: 1 gold 80 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 195 Mana / 3 sec cast — (30 yd range)
___ Requires: Lightning Bolt (Rank 7) ___
* Casts a bolt of lightning at the target for 282 to 316 Nature damage.

[] Nature Resistance Totem (Rank 2) — Cost: 1 gold 80 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 120 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Nature Resistance Totem (1) ___
___ Tools: Air Totem ___
* Summons a Nature Resistance Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster
for 2 min that increases the nature resistance of party members within 20
yards by 45.

[] Rockbiter Weapon (Rank 6) — Cost: 1 gold 80 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 125 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Rockbiter Weapon (Rank 5) ___
* Imbue the Shaman’s weapon, increasing melee attack power by 393 and
allowing melee attacks to cause additional threat when using that weapon.
Lasts for 5 minutes.

[] Stoneskin Totem (Rank 5) — Cost: 1 gold 80 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 160 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Stoneskin Totem (Rank 4) ___
___ Tools: Earth Totem ___
* Summons a Stoneskin Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster. The
totem protects party members within 20 yards, reducing melee damage taken
by 22. Lasts 2 min.

[] Lesser Healing Wave (Rank 4) — Cost: 1 gold 80 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] 235 Mana / 1.5 sec cast — (40 yd range)
___ Requires: Lesser Healing Wave (Rank 3) ___
* Heals a friendly target for 458 to 514.

###############
(5w) Level 46
###############

[] Frost Shock (Rank 3) — Cost: 2 gold
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 325 Mana / Instant cast — (20 yd range / 6 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Frost Shock (Rank 2) ___
* Instantly shocks the target with frost, causing 333 to 353 Frost damage
and slowing movement down by 50%. Lasts 8 sec.

[] Magma Totem (Rank 3) — Cost: 2 gold
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 500 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Magma Totem (Rank 2) ___
___ Tools: Fire Totem ___
* Summons a Magma Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster for 20 sec
that causes 54 Fire damage to creatures within 8 yards every 2 seconds.

[] Flametongue Weapon (Rank 5) — Cost: 2 gold
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 130 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Flametongue Weapon (Rank 4) ___
* Imbue the Shaman’s weapon with fire. Each hit causes 24.4 to 75.0
additional Fire damage, based on the speed of the weapon. Slower weapons
cause more fire damage per swing. Lasts for 5 minutes.

[] Windwall Totem (Rank 2) — Cost: 2 gold
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 170 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Windwall Totem (Rank 1) ___
___ Tools: Air Totem ___
* Summons a Windwall Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster. The
totem protects party members within 20 yards, reducing ranged damage taken
by 50. Lasts 2 min.

[] Chain Heal (Rank 2) — Cost: 2 gold
[] Category: Restoration
[] 315 Mana / 2.5 sec cast — (40 yd range)
___ Requires: Chain Heal (Rank 1) ___
* Heals the friendly target for 405 to 465, then jumps to heal additional
nearby targets. If cast on a party member, the heal will only jump to
other party members. Each jump is 50% as effective as the previous target.
Heals 3 total targets.

[] Mana Spring Totem (Rank 3) — Cost: 2 gold
[] Category: Restoration
[] 80 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Mana Spring Totem (Rank 2) ___
___ Tools: Water Totem ___
* Summons a Mana Spring Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster for 1
min that restores 8 mana every 2 seconds to group members within 20 yards.

###############
(5x) Level 48
###############

[] Chain Lightning (Rank 3) — Cost: 2 gold 20 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 490 Mana / Instant cast — (30 yd range / 6 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Chain Lightning (Rank 2) ___
* Hurls a lightning bolt at the enemy, dealing 378 to 424 Nature damage and
then jumping to additional nearby enemies. Each jump reduces the damage by
30%. Affects 3 total targets.

[] Earth Shock (Rank 6) — Cost: 2 gold 20 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 345 Mana / Instant cast — (20 yd range / 6 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Earth Shock (Rank 5) ___
* Instantly shocks the target with concussive force, causing 359 to 381
Nature damage. It also interrupts spellcasting and prevents any spell in
that school from being cast for 2 sec. Causes a high amount of threat.

[] Stoneclaw Totem (Rank 5) — Cost: 2 gold 20 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 105 Mana / Instant cast — (30 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Stoneclaw Totem (Rank 4) ___
___ Tools: Earth Totem ___
* Summons a Stoneclaw Totem with 390 health at the feet of the caster for 15
sec that taunts creatures within 8 yards to attack it.

[] Flametongue Totem (Rank 3) — Cost: 2 gold 20 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 200 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Flametongue Totem (Rank 2) ___
___ Tools: Fire Totem ___
* Summons a Flametongue Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster. The
totem enchants all party members’ main-hand weapons with fire if they are
within 20 yards. Each hit causes 12.3 to 37.9 additional Fire damage,
based on the speed of the weapon. Slower weapons cause more fire damage
per swing. Lasts 2 min.

[] Frostbrand Weapon (Rank 4) — Cost: 2 gold 20 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 135 Mana / Instant cast
___ Frostbrand Weapon (Rank 3) ___
* Imbue the Shaman’s weapon with frost. Each hit has a chance of causing 134
additional Frost damage and slowing the target’s movement speed by 25% for
8 sec. Lasts for 5 minutes.

[] Lightning Shield (Rank 6) — Cost: 2 gold 20 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 305 Mana / Instant cast
___ Lightning Shield (Rank 5) ___
* The caster is surrounded by 3 balls of lightning. When a spell, melee or
ranged attack hits the caster, the attacker will be struck for 154 Nature
damage. This expends one lightning ball. Only one ball will fire every few
seconds. Lasts 10 min.

[] Ancestral Spirit (Rank 4) — Cost: 2 gold 20 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] ???? Mana / 10 sec cast — (30 yd range)
___ Requires: Ancestral Spirit (Rank 3) ___
* Returns the spirit to the body, restoring a dead target to life with 400
health and 600 mana. Cannot be cast when in combat.
???? The mana cost is not specific; it is roughly 70% of your maximum mana.
(This calculation has not been proven, nor has it been tested to check
whether or not increasing your maximum mana and / or decreasing your spell
costs affects the overall mana cost in any manner.)

[] Healing Wave (Rank — Cost: 2 gold 20 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] 440 Mana / 3 sec cast — (40 yd range)
___ Requires: Healing Wave (Rank 7) ___
* Heals a friendly target for 1017 to 1167.

[] Mana Tide Totem (Rank 2) — Cost: 11 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] 40 Mana / Instant cast — (5 min cooldown)
___ Requires: Mana Tide Totem (Rank 1) ___
___ Tools: Water Totem ___
* Summons a Mana Tide Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster for 12
sec that restores 230 mana every 3 seconds to group members within 20
yards.
???? Mana Tide Totem (Rank 1) can only be obtained by spending a minimum of 31
talent points into a Restoration spec; in the final Tier.

###############
(5y) Level 50
###############

[] Lightning Bolt (Rank 9) — Cost: 2 gold 40 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 230 Mana / 3 sec cast — (30 yd range)
___ Requires: Lightning Bolt (Rank ___
* Casts a bolt of lightning at the target for 347 to 389 Nature damage.

[] Searing Totem (Rank 5) — Cost: 2 gold 40 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 145 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Searing Totem (Rank 4) ___
___ Tools: Fire Totem ___
* Summons a Searing Totem with 5 health at your feet for 50 sec that
repeatedly attacks an enemy within 20.0 yards for 33 to 45 Fire damage.

[] Windfury Weapon (Rank 3) — Cost: 2 gold 40 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 140 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Windfury Weapon (Rank 2) ___
* Imbue the Shaman’s weapon with wind. Each hit has a 20% chance of granting
you 2 extra attacks with 249 extra melee attack power. Lasts for 5
minutes.

[] Healing Stream Totem (Rank 4) — Cost: 2 gold 40 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] 70 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Healing Stream Totem (Rank 3) ___
___ Tools: Water Totem ___
* Summons a Healing Stream Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster for
1 min that heals group members within 20 yards for 12 every 2 seconds.

[] Tranquil Air Totem — Cost: 2 gold 40 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] ???? Mana / Instant cast
___ Tools: Air Totem ___
* Summons a Tranquil Air Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster. The
totem reduces the threat caused by all party members within 20 yards by
20%. Lasts 2 min.
???? The mana cost is not specific; it is roughly 6% of your maximum mana.
(This calculation has not been proven, nor has it been tested to check
whether or not increasing your maximum mana and / or decreasing your spell
costs affects the overall mana cost in any manner.)

###############
(5z) Level 52
###############

[] Fire Nova Totem (Rank 5) — Cost: 2 gold 70 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 520 Mana / Instant cast — (15 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Fire Nova Totem (Rank 4) ___
___ Tools: Fire Totem ___
* Summons a Fire Nova Totem that has 5 health and lasts 5 sec. Unless it is
destroyed within 4 sec., the totem inflicts 396 to 442 fire damage to
enemies within 10 yd.

[] Flame Shock (Rank 5) — Cost: 2 gold 70 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 345 Mana / Instant cast — (20 yd range / 6 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Flame Shock (Rank 4) ___
* Instantly sears the target with fire, causing 230 Fire damage immediately
and 256 Fire damage over 12 sec.

[] Strength of Earth Totem (Rank 4) — Cost: 2 gold 70 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 225 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Strength of Earth Totem (Rank 3) ___
___ Tools: Earth Totem ___
* Summons a Strength of Earth Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster.
The totem increases the strength of party members within 20 yards by 61.
Lasts 2 min.

[] Windfury Totem (Rank 3) — Cost: 2 gold 70 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 250 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Windfury Totem (Rank 2) ___
___ Tools: Air Totem ___
* Summons a Windfury Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster. The
totem enchants all party members main-hand weapons with wind, if they are
within 20 yards. Each hit has a 20% chance of granting the attacker 1
extra attack with 315 extra melee attack power. Lasts 2 min.

[] Lesser Healing Wave (Rank 5) — Cost: 2 gold 70 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] 305 Mana / 1.5 sec cast — (40 yd range)
___ Requires: Lesser Healing Wave (Rank 4) ___
* Heals a friendly target for 631 to 705.

###############
(5aa) Level 54
###############

[] Frost Resistance Totem (Rank 3) — Cost: 2 gold 90 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 180 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Frost Resistance Totem (Rank 2) ___
___ Tools: Fire Totem ___
* Summons a Frost Resistance Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster
for 2 min. The totem increases party members’ frost resistance by 60, if
within 20 yards.

[] Rockbiter Weapon (Rank 7) — Cost: 2 gold 90 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 150 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Rockbiter Weapon (Rank 6) ___
* Imbue the Shaman’s weapon, increasing melee attack power by 554 and
allowing melee attacks to cause additional threat when using that weapon.
Lasts for 5 minutes.

[] Stoneskin Totem (Rank 6) — Cost: 2 gold 90 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 210 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Stoneskin Totem (Rank 5) ___
___ Tools: Earth Totem ___
* Summons a Stoneskin Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster. The
totem protects party members within 20 yards, reducing melee damage taken
by 30. Lasts 2 min.

[] Chain Heal (Rank 3) — Cost: 2 gold 90 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] 405 Mana / 2.5 sec cast — (40 yd range)
___ Requires: Chain Heal (Rank 2) ___
* Heals the friendly target for 551 to 629, then jumps to heal additional
nearby targets. If cast on a party member, the heal will only jump to
other party members. Each jump is 50% as effective as the previous target.
Heals 3 total targets.

###############
(5bb) Level 56
###############

[] Chain Lightning (Rank 4) — Cost: 3 gold
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 605 Mana / 2.5 cast — (30 yd range / 6 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Chain Lightning (Rank 3) ___
* Hurls a lightning bolt at the enemy, dealing 493 to 551 Nature damage and
then jumping to additional nearby enemies. Each jump reduces the damage by
30%. Affects 3 total targets.

[] Lightning Bolt (Rank 10) — Cost: 3 gold
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 265 Mana / 3 sec cast — (30 yd range)
___ Requires: Lightning Bolt (Rank 9) ___
* Casts a bolt of lightning at the target for 419 to 467 Nature damage.

[] Magma Totem (Rank 4) — Cost: 3 gold
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 650 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Magma Totem (Rank 3) ___
___ Tools: Fire Totem ___
* Summons a Magma Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster for 20 sec
that causes 75 Fire damage to creatures within 8 yards every 2 seconds.

[] Flametongue Weapon (Rank 6) — Cost: 3 gold
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 155 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Flametongue Weapon (Rank 5) ___
* Imbue the Shaman’s weapon with fire. Each hit causes 32.4 to 99.9
additional Fire damage, based on the speed of the weapon. Slower weapons
cause more fire damage per swing. Lasts for 5 minutes.

[] Grace of Air Totem (Rank 2) — Cost: 3 gold
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 250 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Grace of Air Totem (Rank 1) ___
___ Tools: Air Totem ___
* Summons a Grace of Air Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster. The
totem increases the agility of party members within 20 yards by 67. Lasts
2 min.

[] Lightning Shield (Rank 7) — Cost: 3 gold
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 370 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Lightning Shield (Rank 6) ___
* The caster is surrounded by 3 balls of lightning. When a spell, melee or
ranged attack hits the caster, the attacker will be struck for 198 Nature
damage. This expends one lightning ball. Only one ball will fire every few
seconds. Lasts 10 min.

[] Windwall Totem (Rank 3) — Cost: 3 gold
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 225 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Windwall Totem (Rank 2) ___
___ Tools: Air Totem ___
* Summons a Windwall Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster. The
totem protects party members within 20 yards, reducing ranged damage taken
by 64. Lasts 2 min.

[] Healing Wave (Rank 9) — Cost: 3 gold
[] Category: Restoration
[] 560 Mana / 3 sec cast — (40 yd range)
___ Requires: Healing Wave (Rank ___
* Heals a friendly target for 1367 to 1561.

[] Mana Spring Totem (Rank 4) — Cost: 3 gold
[] Category: Restoration
[] 100 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Mana Spring Totem (Rank 3) ___
___ Tools: Water Totem ___
* Summons a Mana Spring Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster for 1
min that restores 10 mana every 2 seconds to group members within 20
yards.

###############
(5cc) Level 58
###############

[] Frost Shock (Rank 4) — Cost: 3 gold 20 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 430 Mana / Instant cast — (20 yd range / 6 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Frost Shock (Rank 3) ___
* Instantly shocks the target with frost, causing 486 to 514 Frost damage
and slowing movement speed by 50%. Lasts 8 sec.

[] Stoneclaw Totem (Rank 6) — Cost: 3 gold 20 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 140 Mana / Instant cast — (30 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Stoneclaw Totem (Rank 5) ___
___ Tools: Earth Totem ___
* Summons a Stoneclaw Totem with 480 health at the feet of the caster for 15
sec that taunts creatures within 8 yards to attack it.

[] Fire Resistance Totem (Rank 3) — Cost: 3 gold 20 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 180 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Fire Resistance Totem (Rank 2) ___
___ Tools: Water Totem ___
* Summons a Fire Resistance Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster
for 2 min that increases the fire resistance of party members within 20
yards by 60.

[] Flametongue Totem (Rank 4) — Cost: 3 gold 20 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 275 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Flametongue Totem (Rank 3) ___
___ Tools: Fire Totem ___
* Summons a Flametongue Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster. The
totem enchants all party members’ main-hand weapons with fire if they are
within 20 yards. Each hit causes 15.8 to 48.7 additional Fire damage,
based on the speed of the weapon. Slower weapons cause more fire damage
per swing. Lasts 2 min.

[] Frostbrand Weapon (Rank 5) — Cost: 3 gold 20 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 160 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Frostbrand Weapon (Rank 4) ___
* Imbue the Shaman’s weapon with frost. Each hit has a chance of causing 175
additional Frost damage and slowing the target’s movement speed by 25% for
8 sec. Lasts for 5 minutes.

[] Mana Tide Totem (Rank 3) — Cost: 16 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] 60 Mana / Instant cast — (5 min cooldown)
___ Requires: Mana Tide Totem (Rank 2) ___
___ Tools: Water Totem ___
* Summons a Mana Tide Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster for 12
sec that restores 290 mana every 3 seconds to group members within 20
yards.
???? Mana Tide Totem (Rank 1) can only be obtained by spending a minimum of 31
talent points into a Restoration spec; in the final Tier.

###############
(5dd) Level 60
###############

[] Earth Shock (Rank 7) — Cost: 3 gold 40 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 450 Mana / Instant cast — (20 yd range / 6 sec cooldown)
___ Requires: Earth Shock (Rank 6) ___
* Instantly shocks the target with concussive force, causing 517 to 545
Nature damage. It also interrupts spellcasting and prevents any spell in
that school from being cast for 2 sec. Causes a high amount of threat.

[] Searing Totem (Rank 6) — Cost: 3 gold 40 silver
[] Category: Elemental Combat
[] 170 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Searing Totem (Rank 5) ___
___ Tools: Fire Totem ___
* Summons a Searing Totem with 5 health at your feet for 55 sec that
repeatedly attacks an enemy within 20.0 yards for 40 to 54 Fire damage.

[] Nature Resistance Totem (Rank 3) — Cost: 3 gold 40 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 180 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Nature Resistance Totem (Rank 2) ___
___ Tools: Air Totem ___
* Summons a Nature Resistance Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster
for 2 min that increases the nature resistance of party members within 20
yards by 60.

[] Windfury Weapon (Rank 4) — Cost: 3 gold 40 silver
[] Category: Enhancement
[] 165 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Windfury Weapon (Rank 3) ___
* Imbue the Shaman’s weapon with wind. Each hit has a 20% chance of granting
you 2 extra attacks with 333 extra melee attack power. Lasts for 5
minutes.

[] Ancestral Spirit (Rank 5) — Cost: 3 gold 40 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] ???? Mana / 10 sec cast — (30 yd range)
___ Requires: Ancestral Spirit (Rank 4) ___
* Returns the spirit to the body, restoring a dead target to life with 600
health and 800 mana. Cannot be cast when in combat.
???? The mana cost is not specific; it is roughly 70% of your maximum mana.
(This calculation has not been proven, nor has it been tested to check
whether or not increasing your maximum mana and / or decreasing your spell
costs affects the overall mana cost in any manner.)

[] Healing Stream Totem (Rank 5) — Cost: 3 gold 40 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] 80 Mana / Instant cast
___ Requires: Healing Stream Totem (Rank 4) ___
___ Tools: Water Totem ___
* Summons a Healing Stream Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster for
1 min that heals group members within 20 yards for 14 every 2 seconds.

[] Lesser Healing Wave (Rank 6) — Cost: 3 gold 40 silver
[] Category: Restoration
[] 380 Mana / 1.5 sec cast — (40 yd range)
___ Requires: Lesser Healing Wave (Rank 5) ___
* Heals a friendly target for 832 to 928.

——————————————————————————-

(6) Shamanistic Equipment

——————————————————————————-

The basic concept I’ll present here is that you only have two hands (or paws,
or claws, or whichever). This said, you are either going to equip a main hand
or one hand weapon along with a shield, or a two-handed weapon. As a Shaman,
you start out with the capability of using One-Handed Maces and Staves.
However, you can expand your weapon arsenal by training in new weapon skills at
each respective weapon master. (This said, the weapon master in Thunder Bluff
has nothing for you to train in, normally.)

You can learn One-Handed Axes, Daggers, and Fist Weapons from the weapon master
in Orgrimmar, named Sayoc, at 10 silver a piece. (The Troll next to him,
Hanashi, will only teach you One-Handed Axes. Seems pointless to me.) Also, you
can learn Daggers from the weapon master in Undercity, named Archibald. On both
accounts, if you invest enough talent points into Enhancement, you can enable
training in both Two-Handed Axes and Two-Handed Maces. Sayoc in Orgrimmar can
train Two-Handed Axes, and Ansekhwa in Thunder Bluff can train Two-Handed
Maces, respectively. 10 silver each as well.

Now below are listings of the major, high end ‘Lv 60′ armors you will get as
you progress towards more end game content. Some can be more beneficial than
others, depending on your playstyle or more importantly, your talent build. You
can always mix and match, though you get bonuses for wearing more of each set.

###############
(6a) Dungeon Set 1 — Elements
###############

|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Equipment | Armor | Str. | Agi. | Sta. | Int. | Spi. | Lvl. Req. | Binds On |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Head | 297 | +7 | | +13 | +23 | +12 | Req. Lv57 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Shoulders | 266 | +6 | | +14 | +15 | +6 | Req. Lv55 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Chest | 370 | | | +13 | +20 | +20 | Req. Lv58 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Wrist | 148 | | | +7 | +10 | +10 | Req. Lv52 | Equip |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Hands | 218 | +9 | | +4 | +10 | +16 | Req. Lv54 | Equip |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Waist | 193 | +9 | | +6 | +17 | +7 | Req. Lv53 | Equip |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Legs | 315 | +12 | +6 | +7 | +15 | +20 | Req. Lv56 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Feet | 240 | | +9 | | | +17 | Req. Lv54 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|

[] Additional Stats
* (NONE) * — …

[] Equip Bonuses
* (NONE) * — …

[] Set Bonuses
* (2) * — +200 Armor.
* (4) * — Increases damage and healing done by spells and effects by up
to 23.
* (6) * — Chance on spell cast to increase your damage and healing done
by up to 95 for 10 sec.
* (8) * — +8 All Resistances.

###############
(6b) Dungeon Set 2 — Five Thunders
###############

|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Equipment | Armor | Str. | Agi. | Sta. | Int. | Spi. | Lvl. Req. | Binds On |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Head | 314 | | | +22 | +21 | +12 | None | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Shoulders | 286 | +10 | | +11 | +11 | +10 | None | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Chest | 387 | +12 | | +17 | +17 | +16 | None | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Wrist | 167 | | | +10 | +9 | +9 | None | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Hands | 223 | +9 | | +12 | +14 | | None | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Waist | 214 | +10 | | +11 | +11 | | None | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Legs | 339 | +10 | | +17 | +17 | +16 | None | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Feet | 266 | +12 | | +13 | +12 | +10 | None | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|

[] Additional Stats
* (NONE) * — …

[] Equip Bonuses
* Head * — Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 14.
— Improves your chance to get a critical strike with spells by
1%.
* Shoulders * — Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 12.
* Chest * — Improves your chance to get a critical strike with spells by
1%.
— Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 14.
* Wrist * — Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 8.
* Hands * — Restores 4 mana per 5 sec.
— Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 12.
* Waist * — Restores 4 mana per 5 sec.
— Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 12.
* Legs * — Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 11.
* Feet * — Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 12.
— Restores 4 mana per 5 sec.

[] Set Bonuses
* (2) * — +8 All Resistances.
* (4) * — Chance on spell cast to increase your damage and healing done
by up to 95 for 10 sec.
* (6) * — Increases damage and healing done by spells and effects by up
to 23.
* (8) * — +200 Armor.

###############
(6c) Tier 1 Raid Set — Earthfury
###############

|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Equipment | Armor | Str. | Agi. | Sta. | Int. | Spi. | Lvl. Req. | Binds On |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Head | 343 | | | +24 | +23 | +13 | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Shoulders | 317 | | | +17 | +18 | +10 | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Chest | 422 | | | +17 | +27 | +13 | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Wrist | 185 | | | +10 | +17 | +11 | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Hands | 264 | | | +14 | +13 | +15 | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Waist | 237 | | | +12 | +21 | +7 | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Legs | 369 | | | +18 | +19 | +21 | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Feet | 290 | | | +15 | +10 | +22 | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|

[] Additional Stats
* Head * — +10 Fire Resistance.
* Shoulders * — +7 Shadow Resistance.
* Chest * — +10 Fire Resistance.
* Hands * — +7 Fire Resistance.
* Waist * — +7 Fire Resistance.
* Legs * — +10 Shadow Resistance.
* Feet * — +7 Shadow Resistance.

[] Equip Bonuses
* Head * — Restores 6 mana per 5 sec.
— Increases healing done by magical spells and effects by up to
22.
* Shoulders * — Restores 4 mana per 5 sec.
— Increases healing done by magical spells and effects by
up to 18.
* Chest * — Improves your chance to get a critical strike with spells by
1%.
— Increases healing done by magical spells and effects by up
to 22.
* Wrist * — Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 6.
* Hands * — Improves your chance to get a critical strike with spells by
1%.
— Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 9.
* Waist * — Restores 4 mana per 5 sec.
— Increases healing done by magical spells and effects by up
to 18.
* Legs * — Restores 6 mana per 5 sec.
— Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 12.
* Feet * — Increases healing done by magical spells and effects by up to
18.

[] Set Bonuses
* (3) * — The radius of your totems that affect friendly targets is
increased by 10 yd. Does not stack with Totemic Mastery.
* (5) * — After casting your Healing Wave or Lesser Healing Wave spell,
gives you a 25% chance to gain Mana equal to 35% of the base
cost of the spell.
* (8) * — Your Healing Wave will now jump to additional nearby targets.
Each jump reduces the effectiveness of the heal by 80%, and
the spell will jump to up to two additional targets.

###############
(6d) Tier 2 Raid Set — Ten Storms
###############

|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Equipment | Armor | Str. | Agi. | Sta. | Int. | Spi. | Lvl. Req. | Binds On |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Head | 392 | | | +20 | +24 | +12 | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Shoulders | 362 | | | +23 | +17 | +8 | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Chest | 482 | | | +17 | +31 | +16 | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Wrist | 211 | | | +13 | +16 | +9 | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Hands | 301 | | | +15 | +17 | +13 | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Waist | 271 | | | +13 | +18 | +11 | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Legs | 422 | | | +16 | +18 | +20 | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Feet | 332 | | | +17 | +16 | +16 | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|

[] Additional Stats
* Head * — +10 Frost Resistance.
— +10 Shadow Resistance.
* Shoulders * — +10 Fire Resistance.
* Chest * — +10 Fire Resistance.
— +10 Nature Resistance.
* Hands * — +10 Shadow Resistance.
* Waist * — +10 Shadow Resistance.
* Legs * — +10 Arcane Resistance.
— +10 Fire Resistance.
* Feet * — +10 Fire Resistance.

[] Equip Bonuses
* Head * — Improves your chance to get a critical strike with spells by
1%.
— Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 9.
— Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 18.
* Shoulders * — Improves your chance to get a critical strike with
spells by 1%.
* Chest * — Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 23.
* Wrist * — Restores 6 mana per 5 sec.
* Hands * — Restores 6 mana per 5 sec.
— Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 8.
— Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 15.
* Waist * — Improves your chance to get a critical strike with spells by
1%.
— Increases healing done by magical spells and effects by up
to 26.
* Legs * — Improves your chance to get a critical strike with spells by
1%.
— Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 29.
* Feet * — Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 20.

[] Set Bonuses
* (3) * — Increases the amount healed by Chain Heal to targets beyond
the first by 30%.
* (5) * — Improves your chance to get a critical strike with Nature
spells by 3%.
* (8) * — When you cast a Healing Wave or Lesser Healing Wave, there is
a 25% chance the target also receives a free Lightning Shield
that causes 50 Nature damage to attacker on hit.

###############
(6e) Tier 3 Raid Set — Earthshatter
###############

|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Equipment | Armor | Str. | Agi. | Sta. | Int. | Spi. | Lvl. Req. | Binds On |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Head | 449 | | | +26 | +30 | | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Shoulders | 306 | | | +24 | +19 | | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Chest | 576 | | | +26 | +32 | | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Wrist | 242 | | | +17 | +18 | | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Hands | 346 | | | +21 | +28 | | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Waist | 311 | | | +18 | +25 | | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Legs | 484 | | | +28 | +30 | | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Feet | 372 | | | +20 | +25 | | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Finger | | | | +16 | +16 | | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|

[] Additional Stats
* (NONE) * — …

[] Equip Bonuses
* Head * — Restores 8 mana per 5 sec.
— Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 68.
* Shoulders * — Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to
42.
— Restores 6 mana per 5 sec.
* Chest * — Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 59.
— Restores 12 mana per 5 sec.
* Wrist * — Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 33.
— Restores 4 mana per 5 sec.
* Hands * — Restores 6 mana per 5 sec.
— Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 35.
* Waist * — Restores 7 mana per 5 sec.
— Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 42.
* Legs * — Restores 9 mana per 5 sec.
— Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 59.
* Feet * — Restores 6 mana per 5 sec.
— Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 37.
* Finger * — Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 37.
— Restores 6 mana per 5 sec.

[] Set Bonuses
* (2) * — Reduces the mana cost of your totem spells by 12%.
* (4) * — Increases the mana gained from your Mana Spring totems by 25%.
* (6) * — Your Healing Wave and Lesser Healing Wave spells have a chance
to imbue your target with Totemic Power.
* (8) * — Your Lightning Shield spell also grants you 15 mana per 5 sec.
while active.

###############
(6f) PvP — Rare
###############

|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Equipment | Armor | Str. | Agi. | Sta. | Int. | Spi. | Lvl. Req. | Binds On |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Head | 337 | +6 | | +24 | +16 | | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Shoulders | 311 | +5 | | +16 | +10 | | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Chest | 398 | +17 | | +18 | +18 | | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Hands | 242 | | | +15 | +9 | | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Legs | 348 | | | +18 | +17 | | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Feet | 266 | +13 | | +14 | +12 | | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|

[] Additional Stats
* (NONE) * — …

[] Equip Bonuses
* Head * — Improves your chance to get a critical strike by 1%.
— Improves your chance to get a critical strike with spells by
1%.
* Shoulders * — Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 15.
— Improves your chance to get a critical strike with
spells by 1%.
* Chest * — Improves your chance to get a critical strike by 1%.
* Hands * — Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 13.
— Improves your chance to get a critical strike with spells by
1%.
* Legs * — Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 21.
— Improves your chance to get a critical strike with spells by
1%.
* Feet * — Increases the speed of your Ghost Wolf ability by 15%.

[] Set Bonuses
* (2) * — +40 Attack Power.
* (4) * — Improves your chance to get a critical strike with all Shock
spells by 2%.
* (6) * — +20 Stamina.

###############
(6g) PvP — Epic
###############

|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Equipment | Armor | Str. | Agi. | Sta. | Int. | Spi. | Lvl. Req. | Binds On |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Head | 382 | +11 | | +35 | +19 | | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Shoulders | 353 | +17 | +9 | +18 | +18 | | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Chest | 470 | +9 | | +35 | +20 | | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Hands | 353 | +17 | | +18 | +17 | | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Legs | 396 | | | +23 | +23 | | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|
| Feet | 311 | | | +18 | +17 | | Req. Lv60 | Pick Up |
|———–|——-|——|——|——|——|——|———–|———-|

[] Additional Stats
* (NONE) * — …

[] Equip Bonuses
* Head * — Improves your chance to get a critical strike by 1%.
— Improves your chance to get a critical strike with spells by
1%.
— Increase damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 9.
* Shoulders * — Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 16.
* Chest * — Improves your chance to get a critical strike by 1%.
— Improves your chance to get a critical strike with spells by
1%.
— Increase damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 9.
* Hands * — Improves your chance to get a critical strike by 1%.
* Legs * — Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 27.
— Improves your chance to get a critical strike with spells by
1%.
— Improves your chance to get a critical strike by 1%.
* Feet * — Restores 5 mana per 5 sec.
— Increases damage and healing done by magical spells by up to
20.
— Increases the speed of your Ghost Wolf ability by 15%.

[] Set Bonuses
* (2) * — +20 Stamina.
* (4) * — Improves your chance to get a critical strike with all Shock
spells by 2%.
* (6) * — +40 Attack Power.

——————————————————————————-

(7) F.A.Q.s

——————————————————————————-

… and the problem with this section is that, well, having just sent it out,
I haven’t really received any questions, let alone been asked any frequently
enough to list here. Erm, so feel free to ask away? ^^;;

——————————————————————————-

|World of WarCraft Item/Set Item Stat FAQ|
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

A World Awaits…

Enter the World of WarCraft

This FAQ was started on Monday, July 18th, 2005.

This FAQ was written by Mike Zielinski. My E-Mail address is
globalops21@yahoo.com. E-Mail any questions or comments you may
have on the brilliance that is World of WarCraft. Also any
requests for a certain item that may not be contained within the
FAQ should also be E-Mailed to me.

Keep in mind that there is a VAST amount of items contained
with World of WarCraft and to make navigation of this FAQ easier,
I recommend using the Ctrl-F shortcut. Hitting this button
combination will bring up a window prompting you to type in a
keyword. Doing so will browse the entire document bringing up
the word you typed in and its location in the FAQ.

If any of you have any submissions you would like to make (you
have an item’s stats that I don’t have in the FAQ) feel free to
E-Mail them to me and I’ll update accordingly, with proper credit
to you of course.

One last thing, I have a 60 Mage (Human, Male) on Sargeras, a
51 Priest (Troll, Female) on Illidan, a 40 Rogue (Undead, Female)
on Frostmane. I also have some lower level characters: 22 Druid
(Night Elf, Female), a 20 Warrior (Night Elf Female) both on
Sargeras and a 6 Hunter (Orc, Male) on Illidan. Their names:

60 Mage on Sargeras - Faceless
51 Priest on Illidan - Awake
40 Rogue on Frostmane - Orkhid
22 Druid on Sargeras - Serrenity
20 Warrior on Sargeras - Spirall
6 Hunter on Illidan - Badmagick

Feel free to add me to your Friends List or whatnot, and don’t
be afraid to whisper me. More than likely, I’ll be looking to
party if we’re similar in level. Also, if you have ANY questions
whatsoever, don’t hesitate to message me them in-game and I’ll
answer them to the best of my ability. I’m playing with my
Priest (Awake on Illidan) the most right now, so if you’re on
Illidan, don’t hesitate to message me and tell me you’ve read my
FAQ or something.

–>Version 1.0 (July 18th, 2005): I have completed the
Introduction, and Stat Explanations portions of the FAQ. I have
also started the Epic Set Item Stats/Set Bonuses section; I
completed the Druid’s Cenarion and Stormrage Raiment sets as well
as their set bonuses. I have started on the Hunter Giantstalker
set.

Version 1.1 (July 19th, 2005): I completed the Hunter Giantstalker
set as well as 3/4s of the Hunter Dragonstalker set.

Version 1.2 (July 21st, 2005): I completed the Hunter
Dragonstalker set as well as the Mage Arcanist set, the Mage
Netherwind set and the Paladin Lawbringer set.

Table of Contents:
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

I. Introduction
II. Stat Explanations
III. Epic Set Item Stats/Set Bonuses (Tier 1 and 2)
IV. Rare Set Item Stats/Set Bonuses
V. Rare Armor (Cloth, Leather, Mail, Plate) Item Stats
VI. Rare Weapon (Swords, Daggers, Axes, Maces, Staves etc.) Item
Stats
VII. Uncommon Armor (Cloth, Leather, Mail, Plate) Item Stats
VIII.Uncommon Weapon (Swords, Daggers, Axes, Maces, etc.) Item
Stats
IX. Trinket (Epic, Rare, Uncommon) Stats
X. Credits

I. Introduction:
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

This FAQ, for the most part, is intended as a guide to what
exactly most (hopefully all eventually) items’ (Epic, Rare, and
Uncommon) stats are. Every item in the game contains stats;
these stats, and what they mean are explained in the section
below. Some items contain more and better stats than others.
Epics and Rares generally tend to have much better stats than an
Uncommon item (+ “X” more Intellect or + “X” amount more Fire
Resistance for example) Some items have special bonuses as well
such as increased healing and effects done by “X” amount.
All of these stats will be outlined in this FAQ; the Epic
Set Items will be listed first alphabetically as well as by what
type of item it is (armor or a weapon) as they are the most
popular; regular, non-set epic items will be listed after that
followed by rare sets and regular rare items. After those will
be Uncommon armor, and weapon stats as well. It sounds
confusing, but once you dive into the FAQ, it will all make
sense. Also included next to the stats of an item will be its
vendor price. This number represents the amount of copper,
silver or gold you will receive upon selling it to a vendor; the
vendor price, or how much the vendor will sell it back to you
for, will also be displayed.

II. Stats Explanation:
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

There are six main stats an item can have to go along with
it (there are + to Resistances, but those are generally only
found on Epic items). These six main stats are:

-Strength
-Agility
-Stamina
-Intellect
-Spirit
-Armor

To go along with these six main stats items possess, the
different + to Resistance stats should also be noted. Many epic
items (some rare ones as well) have a certain amount of
Resistance bonus to them. These help the character to take a
reduced amount of damage from that particular resistance
(Resistances also help the character to dodge certain types of
magic attacks). The five main Resistances are:

-Arcane
-Fire
-Nature
-Frost
-Shadow

–> Strength - Increases your attack power with melee weapons.

Classes that put Strength to the best use:

Warriors and Paladins put Strength to the best use as
it increases their attack power with melee weapons (with them
being mostly melee, this helps a great deal). Strength can also
benefit Shaman, Hunters as well as Feral specced Druids. Shamans
are a combination spell/melee class and with added Strength,
their weapon attacks do more damage. Hunters who do not rely on
ranged as their main damage output, could use a bit of Strength
to add more damage to their weapon attacks. Druids who are Feral
specced could use a lot of strength as they are mostly there for
additional damage (Bear Form specifically).

–> Agility - Increases your attack power with melee weapons.
Improves your chance to score a critical hit with all weapons.
Increases your armor and your chance to dodge attacks.

Classes that put Agility to the best use:

Rogues, Hunters, Warriors and Paladins could benefit
from a high agility bonus. Rogues need a lot of agility because
of their absolute dependency on melee weapons and the improved
chance to score a critical hit with all weapons. Most Hunters
used ranged attacks and high agility means some massive damage
with a good gun equipped. Warriors and Paladins don’t really
need to crit a lot as they are mostly there for tanking so high
agility isn’t essential. Casters have absolutely no need for
agility as their main purpose is to cast spells not get up close
and melee.

–> Stamina - Increases your health points.

Classes that put Stamina to the best use:

Every single class in World of WarCraft should try and
acquire items that add as much Stamina as possible while trying
to retain what type of character build they are aiming for.
Tanks (Warriors, and sometimes Paladins/Shaman) should have an
especially high Stamina stat as they tend to need the most HP
(Hit Points). Casters (Mages, Warlocks and Priests) need as much
Stamina as possible as well because of their ability to only wear
Cloth items (this makes them very fragile). When casters do take
aggro, it is essential for them to survive the attack and the
best way to do so is to have as many Stamina stat points as
possible. Druids, Hunters, and Rogues need Stamina as well, but
it is not imperative for them because of their relative
“inability” to draw aggro in a party.

–> Intellect - Increases your mana points and your chance to
score a critical hit with spells. Increases the rate at which
you improve weapon skills.

Classes that put Intellect to the best use:

Every caster in the game should have as much Intellect
as physically possible. Mages, Warlocks and Priests are
absolutely dependent on their mana pool. A Priest with no mana
equals the party wiping without a backup healer. Druids/Shaman
should also have plenty of Intellect as they are mainly used as
backup healers (or even main healers at times) in the endgame.
Warriors and Rogues don’t even have mana, so Intellect is
completely worthless to them. Hunters and Paladins use mana, but
not nearly as much a caster; Intellect for these two classes is
not important. In my opinion, Priests and Mages need more
Intellect than say a Warlock, because of their more active role
in a party.

–>Spirit - Increases your health and mana regeneration rates.

Classes that put Spirit to the best use:

Again, like Intellect, casters are mostly dependent on
Spirit. While not as important as Stamina or Intellect, Spirit
can definitely change the tide of battle providing the player has
enough of it. Among casters, Spirit makes the biggest difference
to a Priest as they are constantly healing throughout battle, and
with a high enough Spirit stat, their mana constantly recharges
at a faster rate. Spirit is also very useful for Druids as they
are mostly used as backup healers in the endgame and a steady
flow of mana recharging is immensely beneficial. Hunters,
Paladins, and Shaman don’t necessarily need to rely too heavily
on mana, so Spirit should almost be considered an afterthought
for them. Warriors and Rogues aren’t very dependent on Spirit
either as they have no mana to use and their health is constantly
being replenished by the healer in the group (or at least their
health should be).

–> Armor - Decreases the amount of damage you take from
physical attacks. The amount of reduction is influenced by the
level of your attack.

Classes that put Armor to the best use:

Warriors, Paladins and Shaman should be most dependent
on Armor as they are usually a tank if not the main tank in
endgame parties. Warriors and Paladins can also wear Plate
armor, so Armor for them should not be a problem. Shaman can
only wear Mail, but with a high Armor shield, they should be
fine. Hunters, Rogues and Druids aren’t entirely dependent on
Armor, so it should not be their main focus. All casters in the
game can only wear Cloth, so Armor should not be a factor in
their overall character build whatsoever.

III. Epic Set Item Stats/Set Bonuses (Tier 1 and 2)
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

This section will start off the bulk of what this FAQ is all
about. Below I will list each and every Epic Set Item as well as
their stat bonuses upon completing the entire set. It is
important to remember that there are two Epic Sets for each
character class. They are generally referred to as Tier 1 and
Tier 2. Tier 2 sets tend to have a tinier bit better stats than
Tier 1. The list will be in alphabetical by the class names.
The Set pieces will be listed in the order of: Head, Shoulder,
Chest, Wrist, Hand, Waist, Leg, and Feet. Let’s now whisk away
to the brilliant itemization Blizzard has created for its
masterpiece that is World of WarCraft.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
|Druid Tier 1:|
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
–> Cenarion Raiment:
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-Cenarion Helm:

Binds when picked up.

Head Armor Type: Leather
163 Armor

+26 Stamina
+28 Intellect
+13 Spirit
+10 Fire Resistance

Classes: Druid
Requires: Level 60

Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 12.

Sell to vendor for 3g (gold) 49s (silver) and 46c (copper)
Buy from vendor for 17g 47s 46c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-Cenarion Spaulders:

Binds when picked up.

Shoulder Armor Type: Leather
150 Armor

+13 Stamina
+20 Intellect
+10 Spirit
+7 Shadow Resistance

Classes Druid
Requires: Level 60

Equip: Restores 4 mana every 5 seconds.
Equip: Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 18.

Sell to vendor for 3g 18s 59c
Buy from vendor for 15g 92s 98c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-Cenarion Vestments:

Binds when picked up.

Chest Armor Type: Leather
200 Armor

+23 Stamina
+24 Intellect
+16 Spirit
+10 Fire Resistance

Classes: Druid
Requires: Level 60

Equip: Restores 3 mana every 5 sec.
Equip: Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 22.

Sell to vendor for 4g 64s 39c
Buy from vendor for 23g 21s 95c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-Cenarion Bracers:

Binds when picked up.

Wrist Armor Type: Leather
88 Armor

+13 Stamina
+14 Intellect
+13 Spirit

Classes: Druid
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 6.

Sell to vendor for 2g 29s 72c
Buy from vendor for 11g 48s 64c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Cenarion Gloves:

Binds when picked up.

Hands Armor Type: Leather
125 Armor

+17 Stamina
+18 Intellect
+15 Spirit
+7 Fire Resistance

Classes: Druid
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 18.

Sell to vendor for 2g 30s 55c
Buy from vendor for 11g 52s 75c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Cenarion Belt:

Binds when equipped.

Waist Armor Type: Leather
113 Armor

+10 Stamina
+22 Intellect
+10 Spirit
+7 Fire Resistance

Classes: Druid
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Restores 4 mana every 5 sec.
Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 9.

Sell to vendor for 2g 22s 21c
Buy from vendor for 11g 11s 9c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-Cenarion Leggings

Binds when picked up.

Legs Armor Type: Leather
175 Armor

+18 Stamina
+19 Intellect
+20 Spirit
+10 Shadow Resistance

Classes: Druid
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Improves your chance to get a critical strike with spells
by 1%.
Equip: Restores 4 mana every 5 sec.
Equip: Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 22.

Sell to vendor for 4g 23s 15c
Buy from vendor for 21g 15s 75c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Cenarion Boots

Binds when picked up.

Feet Armor Type: Leather
138 Armor

+16 Stamina
+13 Intellect
+15 Spirit
+7 Shadow Resistance

Classes: Druid
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Restores 3 mana every 5 sec.
Equip: Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 18.

Sell to vendor for 3g 43s 39c
Buy from vendor for 17g 16s 97c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Cenarion Set Bonuses:
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

-3 pieces of the set:

Damage dealt by Thorns increased by 4.

-5 pieces of the set:

Improves your chance to get a critical strike with Nature
spells by 2%.

-8 pieces of the set:

Reduces the cooldown of your Tranquility spell by 5 min.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
|Druid Tier 2:|
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
–> Stormrage Raiment:
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Stormrage Cover:

Binds when picked up.

Head Armor Type: Leather
183 Armor

+20 Stamina
+31 Intellect
+12 Spirit
+10 Frost Resistance
+10 Shadow Resistance

Classes: Druid
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Restores 6 mana every 5 sec.
Equip: Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 29.

Sell to vendor for 5g 41s 11c
Buy from vendor for 27g 5s 55c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Stormrage Pauldrons:

Binds when picked up.

Shoulder Armor Type: Leather
169 Armor

+23 Intellect
+12 Spirit
+15 Stamina
+10 Fire Resistance

Classes: Druid
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 29.

Sell to vendor for 5g 45s 7c
Buy from vendor for 27g 25s 37c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-Stormrage Chestguard:

Binds when picked up.

Chest Armor Type: Leather
225 Armor

+23 Intellect
+32 Spirit
+16 Spirit
+8 Strength
+5 Fire Resistance
+7 Nature Resistance
+6 Frost Resistance

Classes: Druid
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Increases damage done by Arcane spells and effects by up
to 7.
Equip: Increases damage done by Nature spells and effects by up
to 7.
Equip: Increases healing and done by spells and effects by up to
11.

Sell to vendor for 7g 13s 51
Buy from vendor for 35g 67s 51c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Stormrage Bracers:

Binds when picked up.

Wrist Armor Type: Leather
98 Armor

+11 Stamina
+15 Intellect
+12 Spirit

Classes: Druid
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 33.

Sell to vendor for 3g 66s 6c
Buy from vendor for 18g 30s 30c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-Stormrage Handguards:

Binds when picked up.

Hands Armor Type: Leather
140 Armor

+13 Intellect
+25 Spirit
+8 Stamina
+8 Strength

Classes: Druid
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Increases damage done by Nature spells and effects by up
to 7.
Equip: Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 33.

Sell to vendor for 3g 59s 40c
Buy from vendor for 17g 97s 0c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-Stormrage Belt:

Binds when picked up.

Waist Armor Type: Leather
126 Armor

+25 Intellect
+12 Spirit
+13 Stamina
+10 Shadow Resistance

Classes: Druid
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 26.

Sell to vendor for 3g 64s 72c
Buy form vendor for 18g 23s 61c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Stormrage Legguards:

Binds when picked up.

Legs Armor Type: Leather
197 Armor

+26 Intellect
+23 Spirit
+17 Stamina
+10 Fire Resistance
+10 Arcane Resistance

Classes: Druid
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 48.

Sell to vendor for 7g 24s 51c
Buy from vendor for 36g 20s 79c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Stormrage Boots:

Binds when picked up.

Feet Armor Type: Leather
154 Armor

+17 Intellect
+11 Spirit
+15 Stamina
+10 Fire Resistance

Classes: Druid
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Improves your chance to get a critical strike with spells
by 1%.
Equip: Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 26.

Sell to vendor for 5g 37s 9c
Buy from vendor for 26g 85s 46c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
Stormrage Set Bonuses:
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

-3 pieces of the set:

Reduces the mana cost of your shapeshifting spells by 150.

-5 pieces of the set:

Reduces the casting time of your Regrowth spell by .2 sec.

-8 pieces of the set:

Increases the duration of your Rejuvenation spell by 3 sec.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
|Hunter Tier 1:|
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
–> Giantstalker Armor:
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

-=-=-=–=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-Giantstalker’s Helmet:

Binds when picked up.

Head Armor Type: Mail
343 Armor

+23 Agility
+15 Intellect
+8 Spirit
+23 Stamina
+10 Fire Resistance

Classes: Hunter
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Improves your chance to get a critical strike by 1%.

Sell to vendor for 4g 7s 59c
Buy from vendor for 20g 37s 96c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Giantstalker’s Epaulets:

Binds when picked up.

Shoulder Armor Type: Mail
317 Armor

+24 Agility
+14 Stamina
+5 Intellect
+9 Spirit
+7 Shadow Resistance

Classes: Hunter
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Improves your chance to hit by 1%.

Sell to vendor for 4g 12s 37c
Buy from vendor for 20g 61s 87c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-Giantstalker’s Breastplate:

Binds when picked up.

Chest Armor Type: Mail
422 Armor

+26 Agility
+23 Stamina
+11 Intellect
+10 Fire Resistance

Classes: Hunter
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Improves your chance to get a critical strike by 1%.

Sell to vendor for 5g 41s 48c
Buy from vendor for 27g 7s 42c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-Giantstalker’s Bracers:

Binds when equipped.

Wrist Armor Type: Mail
185 Armor

+20 Agility
+11 Stamina
+6 Intellect
+5 Spirit

Classes: Hunter
Requires Level: 60

Sell to vendor for 2g 75s 64c
Buy from vendor for 13g 78s 24c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Giantstalker’s Gloves:

Binds when picked up.

Hands Armor Type: Mail
264 Armor

+18 Agility
+12 Stamina
+7 Fire Resistance

Classes: Hunter
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Improves your chance to hit by 2%.

Sell to vendor for 2g 77s 62c
Buy from vendor for 13g 88s 10c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Giantstalker’s Belt:

Binds when equipped.

Waist Armor Type: Mail
237 Armor

+18 Agility
+16 Stamina
+9 Intellect
+4 Spirit
+7 Fire Resistance

Classes: Hunter
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Improves your chance to get a critical strike by 1%.

Sell to vendor for 2g 76s 63c
Buy from vendor for 13g 83s 17c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Giantstalker’s Leggings:

Binds when picked up.

Legs Armor Type: Mail
369 Armor

+32 Agility
+15 Stamina
+6 Intellect
+8 Spirit
+10 Shadow Resistance

Classes: Hunter
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Improves your chance to get a critical strike by 1%.

Sell to vendor for 5g 45s 43c
Buy from vendor for 27g 27s 15c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-Giantstalker’s Boots:

Binds when picked up.

Feet Armor Type: Mail
290 Armor

+28 Agility
+14 Stamina
+6 Spirit
+7 Shadow Resistance

Classes: Hunter
Requires Level: 60

Sell to vendor for 4g 13s 82c
Buy from vendor for 20g 69s 11c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Giantstalker Set Bonuses:
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

-3 pieces of the set:

Increases the rang of your Mend Pet spell by 50%.

-5 pieces of the set:

Increases your pet’s life by 150 and all spell resistances by
100.

-8 pieces of the set:

Increases the damage of Multi-Shot and Volley by 15%.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
|Hunter Tier 2:|
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
–> Dragonstalker Armor:
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Dragonstalker’s Helm:

Bids when picked up.

Head Armor Type: Mail
392 Armor

+27 Agility
+26 Stamina
+16 Intellect
+8 Spirit
+10 Frost Resistance
+10 Shadow Resistance

Classes: Hunter
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Improves your chance to get a critical strike by 1%.

Sell to vendor for 6g 46s 63c
Buy from vendor for 32g 33s 63c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Dragonstalker’s Spaulders:

Binds when picked up.

Shoulder Armor Type: Mail
362 Armor

+23 Agility
+14 Intellect
+8 Spirit
+15 Stamina
+10 Fire Resistance

Classes: Hunter
Requires Level: 60

Sell to vendor for ???
Buy from vendor for ???
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-Dragonstalker’s Chestguard:

Binds when picked up.

Chest Armor Type: Mail
482 Armor

+34 Agility
+14 Intellect
+6 Spirit
+17 Stamina
+10 Fire Resistance
+10 Nature Resistance

Classes: Hunter
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Improves your chance to get a critical strike by 1%.

Sell to vendor for 8g 94s 96c
Buy from vendor for 44g 74s 82c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Dragonstalker’s Bracers:

Binds when picked up.

Wrist Armor Type: Mail
211 Armor

+23 Agility
+6 Intellect
+6 Spirit
+13 Stamina

Classes: Hunter
Requires Level: 60

Sell to vendor for 4g 24s 81c
Buy from vendor for 21g 24s 5c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Dragonstalker’s Gauntlets:

Binds when picked up.

Hands Armor Type: Mail
301 Armor

+20 Agility
+13 Intellect
+6 Spirit
+17 Stamina
+10 Shadow Resistance

Classes: Hunter
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Improves your chance to get a critical strike by 1%.

Sell to vendor for 4g 32s 75c
Buy from vendor for 21g 63s 79c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-=-=-=
-Dragonstalker’s Belt:

Binds when picked up.

Waist Armor Type: Mail
271 Armor

+20 Agility
+13 Intellect
+11 Spirit
+15 Stamina
+10 Shadow Resistance

Classes: Hunter
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Improves your chance to get a critical strike by 1%.

Sell to vendor for 4g 26s 37c
Buy from vendor for 21g 31s 87c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Dragonstalker’s Legguards:

Binds when picked up.

Legs Armor Type: Mail
422 Armor

+31 Agility
+10 Intellect
+11 Spirit
+17 Stamina
+10 Fire Resistance
+10 Arcane Resistance

Classes: Hunter
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Improves your chance to hit by 2%.

Sell to vendor for 8g 59s 17c
Buy from vendor for 42g 95s 88c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-Giantstalker’s Breastplate:

Binds when picked up.

Chest Armor Type: Mail
482 Armor

+34 Agility
+14 Intellect
+6 Spirit
+17 Stamina
+10 Fire Resistance
+10 Nature Resistance

Classes: Hunter
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Improves your chance to get a critical strike by 1%.

Sell to vendor for 8g 94s 96c
Buy from vendor for 44g 74s 82c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
Dragonstalker Set Bonuses:
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

-3 pieces of the set:

Increases the Ranged Attack Power bonus of your Aspect of the
Hawk by 20%.

-5 pieces of the set:

Increases your pet’s life by 200 and all spell resistances by
130.

-8 pieces of the set:

You have a chance whenever you deal ranged damage to apply an
Expose Weakness effect to the target. Expose Weakness increases
the Ranged Attack Power of all attackers against that target by
450 for 7 seconds.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
|Mage Tier 1:|
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
–> Arcanist Regalia:
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-Arcanist Crown:

Binds when picked up.

Head Armor Type: Cloth
83 Armor

+35 Intellect
+8 Spirit
+14 Stamina
+10 Fire Resistance

Classes: Mage
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 15.

Sell to vendor for 2g 73s 59c
Buy from vendor for 13g 67s 97c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Arcanist Mantle:

Binds when picked up.

Shoulder Armor Type: Cloth
76 Armor

+24 Intellect
+5 Spirit
+10 Stamina
+7 Shadow Resistance

Classes: Mage
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Restores 4 mana every 5 sec.
Equip: Increases damage done by Frost spells and effects by up to
11.

Sell to vendor for 2g 55s 91c
Buy from vendor for 12g 79s 58c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-Arcanist Robes:

Binds when picked up.

Chest Armor Type: Cloth
102 Armor

+33 Intellect
+14 Spirit
+19 Stamina
+10 Fire Resistance

Classes: Mage
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 16.

Sell to vendor for 3g 42s 53c
Buy from vendor for 17g 12s 69c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Arcanist Bindings:

Binds when equipped.

Wrist Armor Type: Cloth
44 Armor

+20 Intellect
+8 Spirit
+6 Stamina
+7 Fire Resistance
+4 Frost Resistance
+4 Arcane Resistance

Classes: Mage
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 6.
Equip: Restores 2 mana every 5 sec.

Sell to vendor for 1g 71s 92c
Buy from vendor for 8g 59s 63c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Arcanist Gloves:

Binds when picked up.

Hands Armor Type: Cloth
63 Armor

+18 Intellect
+10 Spirit
+17 Stamina
+7 Fire Resistance

Classes: Mage
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Restores 4 mana every 5 sec.

Sell to vendor for 1g 73s 22c
Buy from vendor for 8g 66s 12c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Arcanist Belt:

Binds when equipped.

Waist Armor Type: Cloth
57 Armor

+26 Intellect
+10 Spirit
+10 Stamina
+7 Fire Resistance

Classes: Mage
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and
effects by up to 9.

Sell to vendor for 1g 73s 88c
Buy from vendor for 8g 69s 41c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-Arcanist Leggings:

Binds when picked up.

Legs Armor Type: Cloth
89 Armor

+24 Intellect
+13 Spirit
+23 Stamina
+10 Shadow Resistance

Classes: Mage
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Improves your chance to get a critical strike with spells
by 1%.
Equip: Increases damage done by Frost spells and effects by up to
14.

Sell to vendor for 3g 39s 90c
Buy from vendor for 16g 99s 53c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-Arcanist Boots:

Binds when picked up.

Feet Armor Type: Cloth
70 Armor

+15 Intellect
+14 Spirit
+13 Stamina
+10 Shadow Resistance

Classes: Mage
Requires Level: 60

Equip: Improves your chance to get a critical strike with spells
by 1%.
Equip: Increases damage done by Frost spells and effects by up to
11.

Sell to vendor for 2g 58s 85c
Buy from vendor for 12g 94s 25c
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Arcanist Set Bonuses:
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

-3 pieces of the set:

Damage absorbed by Fire Ward and Frost Ward is increased by
10%.

-5 pieces of the set:

Increases the duration of your Polymorph by 15 sec.

-8 pieces of the set:

Decreases the threat generated by your spells by -15%.

WWWWW WWWWW WWWWW WWWWW
WW WW WW WW
WW WW WW WW
WW WW WW OOOOOOO WW WW WW
WW WWWW WW O O WW WWWW WW
WW WW WW WW O O WW WW WW WW
WW WW WW WW O O WW WW WW WW
WWW WWW OOOOOOO WWW WWW

World of Warcraft Zul’Gurub Guide

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
PC Version
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

===============================================================================

+——————-+
| Table of Contents |
+——————-+

I. - How to Contact Me
II. - Version History
III. - Copyright Info. and Legal Information
IV. - Purpose/What This Guide Will Cover
V. - Zul’Gurub Instance
A) Trash Mobs
B) High Priestess Jeklik
C) High Priest Venoxis
D) High Priestess Mar’li
E) High Priest Thekal
F) High Priestess Arlokk
G) Bloodlord Mandokir
H) Jin’do the Hexxer
I) Hakkar
J) Edge of Madness
VI. - Credits

===============================================================================

+——————————–+
| Section I. - How to Contact Me |
+——————————–+

Name - Josh Eaton
E-mail - jjeatonusa1@netscape.net
AIM - Charys Joshy

===============================================================================

+——————————-+
| Section II. - Version History |
+——————————-+

Version 0.00 - (July 07, 2006) - Started.
Version 1.00 - (July 09, 2006) - Finished version 1.
Version 1.10 - (July 14, 2006) - Added third Arlokk strat.
Version 1.15 - (Sept 11, 2006) - Altered the Copyright Info to state policy
regarding posting this on your guild forums.

===============================================================================

+————————————————+
| Section III. - Copyright Info. and Legal Info. |
+————————————————+

Alright. Here’s how it works. This guide will first be publicized on GameFAQs.
It is Copyright 2006 to me, Joshua J. Eaton. You, the reader, may use it for
whatever you want, but only here on GameFAQs.

You may NOT take it and place it on your own gaming website, nor may you print
it and give it out to anyone. At present, the only gaming/codes/FAQs website
that this guide is only allowed to be posted on is: www.gameFAQs.com . DO NOT
my personal consent. If you see this guide on any other website other than the
said one above, please contact me about it. Furthermore, my consent to post my
guide on another GAMING website other than the said one will NOT be given at
the current time, so please do not E-mail me to ask.

HOWEVER… if you wish to take this guide and post it on your guild’s forums
for you and ONLY YOUR GUILD’S USE, you may. Again, this guide may not be posted
on any gaming website other than GameFAQs, but you may post it on your guild’s
forums to help progress and/or for quicker access. I only ask that, if you do
this, you please do not alter the actual guide (you don’t have to post all this
legal crap and the purpose, etc, just don’t alter what you do post). Thank you.

===============================================================================

+————————————————–+
| Section IV. - Purpose/What This Guide Will Cover |
+————————————————–+

This guide for the PC game World of Warcraft will cover the high-level instance
known as Zul’Gurub, or ZG for short. It will take you through the instance boss
by boss, give you the best strategy for that boss, and ensure that your group
obliterates this place. This guide will also briefly cover some of the harder
trash mobs in the instance and the most effective ways to kill them. Loot won’t
be covered here, but every possible thing that can drop from the bosses can be
found at thottbot.com or at wow.allakhazam.com simply by typing in the boss’s
name. Enjoy the guide, I hope it helps you and your guild beat this place with
ease.

===============================================================================

+———————————+
| Section V. - Zul’Gurub Instance |
+———————————+

First a foremost, a bit of information about Zul’Gurub. This is a 20-man in-
stance raid designed to gear players up past your average UBRS or Stratholme
group. The vast majority of items found in ZG (Zul’Gurub) are not as good as
items that you’ll find dropping off of trash and bosses in Molten Core and are
nowhere near the quality of Blackwing Lair. For guilds who have the two latter
instances mentioned on farm status, ZG is most likely a joke to them and this
guide isn’t needed. ZG starting guilds though, ZG can be as challenging as try-
ing to 3-man Stratholme or 5-man UBRS.

Zul’Gurub has a plethora of bosses and since patch 1.11, even more loot and
even better quest rewards! The vast majority of quests involving Zul’Gurub are
found at Yojamba Isle located off the Stranglethorn Vale coast. It is the very
tiny island in the very north-west of the zone. Coordinates for those who use
them are approximately (15,16).

Now… do you remember way back when you did the Sunken Temple instance and ab-
solutely everyone wanted to kill Hakkar? Well, if you notice, that’s not the
real Hakkar. It’s merely his avatar. Zul’Gurub is controlled by the real Blood
God, the real Hakkar. In order to kill him, you have to kill five High Priests
within Zul’Gurub. There are a couple more bosses located inside Zul’Gurub with
very, very nice loot, but in order to do Hakkar, the five High Priests listed
below must be killed first or else Hakkar will have some VERY overpowered
skills that pretty much make him impossible.

A. - Trash Mobs
——————-

Before I move on to some of the bosses in ZG, I’m going to tell you a bit about
some of the more difficult trash mobs and how you can most effectively handle
them. So let’s begin a little with those now.

Blooddrinkers
————-
These mobs are single trolls wielding two-hand weapons and are dressed in all
red armor. You attack them like you would any regular enemy, but there’s a
small catch. Around 40% health, they like to do a little AoE (area of effect)
move that, like their name implies, drinks your blood. It hits for about 250
damage, but it hits everyone, so the Blooddrinker basically heals to full HP.
To prevent this, simply have your rogues stun the hell out of it when it gets
to about 50% life. A couple syncronized 3-5 point Kidney Shots should do it.

Bat Riders
———-
These are found before “the bat boss”, Jeklik. There are several pulls that
have a Gurubashi Bat Rider in them and 5-6 smaller regular bat enemies around
them. Your tank is suppose to grab the Bat Rider and tank it away from the raid
while your mages and warlocks AoE the hell out of the smaller bats. The Bat
Rider can then be damaged down like any other enemy, HOWEVER, at about 40%, it
will say in your chat that it’s eyes glow with fire or something as it goes
crazy. As of that point, you have about three seconds to get everyone away from
the Bat Rider before it explodes, killing itself, and doing about 5000 damage
to anyone near it. So really… don’t be near it at that time.

Raptor Packs
————
A few places within the instance have small packs of raptors (five to seven)
that can’t be separated from one another. There are two ways to handle these
packs. One way is to have enough mages and druids to put them to sleep and kill
them one at a time. The other way is to have enough mages and warlocks to AoE
them to death. The second way is much, much faster, but you will need a lot of
healing on those AoE’ers. The druids could also throw in a Hurricane for each
raptor pack since it’s on a short cooldown.

Gurubashi Beserker
——————
These are the huge, hunched over blue/purple hairless gorilla mobs that patrol
around the instance. They have a lot of HP, randomly AoE knockback people, and
run to new targets very fast. At low health, they Beserk. They take more damage
but also do more, so the idea is to down them fast. You should only ever have
one Beserker on your raid at a time, so it’s fairly easy to handle them as long
as no one pulls too much aggro. For newer guilds, I’d advise letting your tank
have about five seconds alone on these before other people attack.

Warlock Imp Packs
—————–
When your guild gets near the Madness side of ZG or decides to actually go in
it, you’ll encounter several of these mobs. They are basically very high-damage
output imps, but they come in groups of three. They’re easy to handle if you
have at least two warlocks to enslave one each while the raid kills another.
The catch to these imps, however, is that when they die, a red portal opens up
and three voidwalkers come through. They have no special abilities, so just
kill them before releasing and killing another imp.

Jin’do Troll Packs
——————
Near the boss, Jin’do the Hexxer, are several pulls of about ten Undead Trolls.
Because they are Undead, you can’t sap them or sheep them. I mention these for
two reasons. One, they put a debuff on you that increases damage taken by up to
500. It’s a curse and needs to be taken off of the mages and warlocks who are
AoE’ing the group of trolls immediately. The second reason I mention them is
because in a few of the pulls, there are female Gnome warlocks who do A LOT of
damage with their Shadowbolts and also can summon several infernals. These
gnomes are humanoids though, and therefore can be sapped and sheeped. Have fun.

Okay, that just about covers the difficult trash mobs of the instance, so let’s
move on to the real fun: the bosses!

B. - High Priestess Jeklik
——————————

Jeklik is one of the harder bosses here in Zul’Gurub because of all the little
painful things she can do. Once her entire room is cleared (all the bat rider
pulls and such) and your whole raid is fully buffed, take note of one thing.
Face her cave that she is standing in, then turn around and look back in the
direction that you came. Note that you walked under a very large “arch” or so
to speak and that on the left and right each are very big weeds. This part is
important to note because if the person with Jeklik’s current aggro pulls her
past this point, Hakkar (last boss of the instance) will see it as a trap, heal
Jeklik to full health, and she will reset herself back into the cave. This can
be beneficial if your group is going to wipe, but it can be disasterous if you
have her at 1% and pull her over that line.

Anyway, how to beat this big bat… she has two phases. Phase 1 begins the very
second your tank runs up to her cave and pulls her with his ranged weapon. He
should run back to the center of the room with her following and tank her there
in bat form, phase 1. During this phase, Jeklik can charge people who have high
aggro and has a 10-yard AoE that hits for about 1000 damage and silences every-
one it hits for about eight seconds. Basically… no caster should be near her.
Another point to make during this phase is that she summons a group of bats
from her cave that charge down to the group. Your offtanks needto blow their
Challenging Shouts on these so that the mages, warlocks, and druids can AoE
them. This small summoning happens only about 3-4 times and only in phase 1.
(My guild only has it happen once, but that’s because we have a lot more damage
output than beginning guilds.)

At exactly 50% health, Jeklik will change from bat form into human form. Her
armor is now significantly less and her health will go down faster. During this
phase, you need to now note two different things. One, at 30%, she summons
bomb-bats. They can’t be attacked or anything, but they fly over everyone heads
way above and drop bombs on random people. You should move immediately out of
the smouldering fire that remains on the ground after the bomb hits. It hurts.
The second thing to note in this phase is that she can heal. Her heal has a
long casting time and is easy to take care of, but don’t get careless. Rogues
need to kick her when this heal starts and mages need to Counterspell. The heal
is very easy to see, her hands glow a very, very bright yellowish-white color.
This phase continues all the way down to 0% health when she’s dead. If you keep
in mind the things I mentioned, it’s a piece of cake. Enjoy the loot.

C. - High Priest Venoxis
—————————-

This boss is a very simple one. The pull is complicated, but cake if it’s done
correctly. Venoxis stands in the middle up the stairs. On each of his sides, he
has two regular blue snake adds. They can’t be separated, but they can be con-
trolled. The snakes can be slept by druids and polymorphed by mages. This is
done and the snakes are killed one at a time while the main tank grabs Venoxis
and drags him behind the huge fire in this room so everyone is out of range of
his chain spell. Once the adds are killed, the real fight begins. Take careful
note that if you leave this room, you will reset the boss, just like with Jek-
lik.

Your tank should have sufficient aggro on Venoxis by now for full damage to
open up. Damage to Venoxis must be done at only two ranges: melee and max. Hun-
ters, mages, warlocks, shaman, priests, druids, and paladins have to be at
least 30 yards from Venoxis while the rogues and warriors have to be right next
to him. He has a holy damage spell that works like Chain Lightning from a Sha-
man, but it gets stronger as it goes. If casters are nearby, they’ll literally
be one-shotted if hit last. So they stand far away. One tiny thing you need to
note though: in this human form, Venoxis has a Renew spell he places on himself
that can be seen if a mage keeps Detect Magic on him. Priests need to dispel
this.

At exactly 50% health, phase 2 begins. Venoxis changes into snake form and his
armor increases slightly, as does his attack power. He can’t heal anymore, so
don’t worry about that. What you DO need to worry about is the poison clouds
that he drops on the ground that tick damage for a whole hell of a lot. Your
main tank has to move Venoxis out of this cloud that he periodically drops and
the melee attackers have to be cleansed of that poison. Take note also of the
tiny snakes he sends away to the casters. They have 1 health, but hit for about
200 damage. Just AoE nuke them once.

At 20%, Venoxis will enrage. His attack speed and output damage will go way up
and heals will have to be spammed on the maintank as well as poison cures be-
cause he will still be dropping the clouds now and then. Otherwise, the fight
is pretty simple. Enjoy the loot.

D. - High Priestess Mar’li
——————————

Now here’s an easy boss. Just keep something in mind: Like the other bosses,
if you run far enough away, Mar’li will reset completely. The point that this
happens is the ramp that you came up into her room from. Don’t go down it or
you will screw the raid. Something else to note: Do not stand on top of any of
the eggs/rocks in this room. If you do, and you pull aggro, you will Evade-
glitch her and she’ll heal to full health. Now with warnings out of the way,
let’s get down to business.

Your maintank charges in and grabs the boss, Mar’li, while the raid kills the
speaker right in front of her. Now Mar’li has two forms, like all of the five
priests do. Her’s is spider form and she goes into it randomly. Mar’li also has
a poisonbolt volley (hits lots of people) that she does, so poison curing and
cleansing has to be at it’s best. You will need an offtank for this fight as
well, a good one. Occasionally, Mar’li will root everyone around her to the
spot with a spider web and will run off to the rest of the raid to kill people.
The offtank’s job is to grab her when she does this and take her back to where
the maintank was tanking her.

Pay attention to the smaller eggs around Mar’li’s standing place. Every now and
then, they will break open and a few spiders will attack the raid. When this
happens, those spiders are priority. They constantly grow in size and get
stronger until killed, so kill them as quickly as possible and then go back to
killing Mar’li. At low health, in humanoid-form, Mar’li may stop everything and
attempt to heal just like Jeklik. Her hands will glow a bright yellowish-white
and it must be stopped by rogues and mages. Other than the above, this boss is
beyond easy. Enjoy. =)

E. - High Priest Thekal
—————————

The “tiger boss”… now here’s a complicated fight if you ever saw one. Okay,
once Thekal’s entire room is cleared of the trash mobs and such, you’ll face
him and get ready for the pull. It is absolutely neccessary that your raid have
three tanks (one main, two off) for this fight. You will also need at least two
rogues and a mage helps immensely. You’ll notice that to Thekal’s left is ano-
ther troll named Zath and to the right is another named Lor’khan. I’ll tell you
right now: Zath is a rogue and Lor’khan is a shaman.

Now the trick to this fight is knowing when to stop damaging one target and to
start on another, then making sure all three of them die within ten seconds of
each other. If this does not happen, your raid will wipe. If you have ever been
to Molten Core and up to the first and second boss, you know how Corehound
Packs work… this is the same. If one of them dies too soon or too late, they
will self-res and res the others as well at full health and you’re screwed. So
just take note now that they have to die within ten seconds of each other for
phase 2 to start.

The pull is just like any other, just wing it. However, a warrior must grab
Thekal, one must grab Zath, and another must get Lor’khan and separate them all
about five or ten feet. The two little tigers that come with the pull can easi-
ly be taken care of. Have your mage sheep one, kill the other, kill the sheeped
and get ready to DPS down Zath only. Now someone in your raid is going to need
a health-percent mod because it’s neccessary to know when to slow down and when
to stop DPS on Zath: 15%. Once Zath only has 15% health, no one at all should
attack him. The warrior who was tanking him needs to stop autoattacking and
just Revenge when it comes up to hold aggro sufficiently. Now and then, Zath
will Gouge the warrior and run off into the raid to attack people. This is what
you have a rogue on Zath for: to Kidney Shot. Zath is immune to Gouge and Blind
so your rogue will have to get a few combo points on him in order to do this
Kidney Shot when the warrior gets Gouge’d, but that’s okay, it’s very little
damage for 1-2 combo points.

After Zath is down to 15%, the entire raid except that offtank and rogue (and
the tank on Lor’khan) needs to attack Thekal. You will DPS him down now, slow-
ly but surely to exactly 10% before stopping. He has to extra abilities like
Zath’s Gouge or anything, so you should be okay. Just make sure that you stop
damaging him at 10% and your raid moves on to Lor’khan. The tank who was on
Thekal is going to need a large amount of aggro still on him, so make him con-
tinue to auto-attack and at least Sunder Armor now and then.

Now the raid moves to Lor’khan, the shaman. Now like shaman, Lor’khan heals.
This is why he’s last to be DPS’d and not Thekal, as to make handling his heals
easier. This is why you have another rogue and mage: to Kick and Counterspell.
If one of Lor’khan’s heals get off, your fight just got a whole hell of a lot
harder. It looks just like Mar’li and Jeklik’s heals: bright yellow hands and
long cast time, so don’t let it happen. Anyway… your whole raid is going to
now DPS Lor’khan down to 5%, while stopping his self heals at the same time (he
won’t heal Thekal or Zath). Once Lor’khan is at 5%, your tanks on the three of
them need to bring them all very close together, right next to each other and
everyone who can AoE has to. Remember, it is important that they all die within
ten seconds of each other, so make sure it happens so that phase 2 can begin.

Once phase 2 starts, Thekal will resurrect after yelling “Shi’bala, fill me
with your rage!” and will be in tiger form. NO ONE in the raid except the main
tank should attack him at this point. Your tank needs to grab him and place his
own back against a wall. Thekal has a very large AoE knockback ability in this
form and your tank can pretty much avoid having to constantly run around if his
back is to a wall so he goes nowhere. While your tank picks up Thekal and does
this, the rest of the raid is going to attack the two little tigers that spawn.
They are easily killed, but spawn several times during phase 2, so watch out
and kill them as they come. Once the tigers are dead, your raid can damage and
eventually kill Thekal. Just watch out for his charge thing and his large AoE
knockback. Anyone who has Heals Over Time needs to have them on the tank incase
they get knocked back during a heal. Otherwise, phase 2 is a piece of cake.
Enjoy the loot!

F. - High Priestess Arlokk
——————————

Yet another pretty complicated fight. You won’t even see Arlokk until you sum-
mon her. You’ll know you’re in the right room when you’re at the very bottom of
the temple and a large golden gong is against one wall. Rightclicking that gong
will lock everybody in the room and summon Arlokk. Now about this fight: Arlokk
has two forms, humanoid and panther. During panther form, only the main tank
should be near her. She has a very powerful cleave that will three-shot rogues
and make healing difficult on other warriors. In humanoid form, feel free to go
all out. Arlokk has no healing spells whatsoever.

The catch of the fight? Arlokk constantly is summon little panthers and LOTS of
them from each pen. If they are not handled somehow, your raid will wipe. There
are 3 ways to control these panthers most effectively: One, you can designate
three people to each pen (a DPS-warrior, a druid, and a shaman/paladin) to han-
dle the panthers are they spawn. How? Your Shaman/Paladin has to AoE with a
totem or consecration to at least grab aggro on the panthers as they spawn.
Lightning Shield (shaman) or Retribution Aura (paladin) needs to be on so that
the shaman/paladin can still damage all the panthers. The druid is going to be
healing the shaman/pally and innervating them when needed. The warrior is to
help kill the panthers quickly.

What’s the second method to dealing with the panthers? Well, once Arlokk is in
humanoid form, the only reason she will ever go to panther form is to quite
literally Vanish. She will be Vanished for at least a minute and there is NO
way to bring her out of it. When she comes out of stealth on her own, she will
most-likely open up with an Ambush-cleave, so it’s important to spread out. Now
the second way to deal with the panthers here is to simply wait for her to Van-
ish before going AoE crazy on them all until she comes back. When she DOES come
back, she will be in panther form and will need to be picked up by the tank
again. Melee DPS’ers need to bow/gun in this form and keep spawning panthers
off the casters and healers until she goes into humanoid form. Then you DPS her
like no tomorrow. The fight goes on like this until she’s dead. There’s no
healing from her whatsoever, so that’s nice. You’ll want to make the fight fast
though if you’re using the second panther control method… your mana-users and
AoE’ers won’t like constantly being low on mana and drinking pots.

The third method of dealing with pathers is to basically have a warrior stand
at the entrance to the pen. When panthers spawn, he needs to pick them up with
a single Sunder and then should be spamming Demoralizing Shout and Piercing
Howl. Each Demoralizing Shout causes the same aggro as about 1/4 of a Sunder,
so spamming it is enough to keep aggro after a single Sunder. A paladin/shaman
will also need to be in the pen to keep this warrior up. The panthers do very
little damage, so one healer should suffice. =) Enjoy the loot!

G. - Bloodlord Mandokir
—————————

Now here’s a FUN fight! Bloodlord isn’t one of the five priests that must be
killed in order to fight Hakkar, but he sure as hell has equal or better loot
and is located very, very close to Mar’li, the spider boss and may as well be
killed on your way to or back from her. Bloodlord is a difficult fight to mas-
ter because of his hard-to-control aggro, but some of the loot is definitely
worth it (one of the best tanking swords, a bow that will have your non-MC hun-
ters drooling, and much more, including a dark-green epic raptor mount!)

Now here’s how Bloodlord works. Once you kill the speaker at the bottom of his
stairs, Bloodlord yells something about feeding your souls to Hakkar and runs
down the ramp on his raptor mount, dismounts, and the fight begins. You are go-
ing to need at least two tanks for this fight. You will need one for the pet
raptor and one for Bloodlord. Make sure that the tank who will be on Bloodlord
has his Shield Wall ready to go if you choose to kill the raptor rather than
offtank it for the entire fight. Now something to know about Bloodlord: every
time someone dies, he literally gets stronger. If too many people die, he will
level-up and gains a ton of health and hits very, very hard. He also grows in
size. Once he’s about twice the size of a human, it’s pretty much impossible to
win.

Good news though! When the fight begins, spirits spawn all around the room and
will constantly res people if they die so that they will have as many shots at
Bloodlord as possible! Another very, very important thing to note this fight is
that Bloodlord will be yelling things. He will be yelling in chat that he is
watching someone. When he yells this, a debuff will go on the person that he is
watching and if they continue to attack him, heal, do ANYTHING in the time that
he is watching, he will ignore all aggro, charge them, and quite literally kill
them in one hit. It is very important to, if you get watched, to stop every-
thing you are doing, press the Escape key to de-target him, and to just wait
for the debuff to run out. Then you can resume whatever you want.

Bloodlord has a ton of health and the fight will be difficult the first few
times, but it’s fun all the same. Your raid should also take note of the dam-
aging Cleave-type move that Bloodlord does every now and then. You cannot aff-
ord to have people dying, so the extra melee attackers who are on him must both
bandage themselves and receive a bit of healing. Occassionally, Bloodlord will
wipe almost all aggro and will charge at someone and attack. Your tank will
need to be on his feet in picking him right back up as to avoid raid deaths and
Bloodlord getting stronger. Furthermore, you don’t want a clothie to get charg-
ed, cleaved, and have two people die, so it’s nice if you spread out a lot.

If you choose to offtank Ohgan (the raptor) the whole fight, the tank on him is
going to need A LOT of healing due to the fact that Ohgan has an armor-reducing
move that will screw the tank a lot. What I believe is a better way to win this
fight is to have two tanks on Bloodlord while you kill Ohgan. Doing this sends
Bloodlord into a rage and he hits much faster, much harder. The two tanks on
him should generate as much aggro as possible and blow their Shield Walls to
reduce the damage they take until his rage is over and the fight can progress
normally. It’s a hard fight to master, but trust me, the loot is well worth it.
Enjoy.

H. - Jin’do the Hexxer
————————–

It is highly unlikely that a guild new to ZG or a pickup group is going to kill
Jin’do. Not only does the fight require tons of skill and coordination, but it
also requires a bit of luck. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, either. If
none of your DPS or DoT’ers get cursed, the shades can’t go down. If he lays
too many healing totems instead of mind-control ones, it’s harder. If the main
tank gets hit with the mind-control, it’s harder. If the main tank is ported to
the skeletons, it’s harder. All luck.

Anyway, once Jin’do’s room is clear, you can get ready for the pull. Jin’do is
very easily tanked and only requires one, so have your best ready. The hard
part about Jin’do is the coordination and the priority. He has several differ-
ent skills. One: he ports a random player to the skeleton pit in the corner and
they all attack that player. In this case, a mage has to run in and throw a few
Arcane Explosions to take them out (really low health). Two: Jin’do throws down
two different kinds of totems, healing and mind-control. Your best DPS have to
kill these totems as quickly as possible. The MC one isn’t that bad, but it
still sucks. The healing one heals Jin’do for 10,000 health every 3 seconds, so
take it out fast.

Jin’do’s third skill is a curse that he places on several random players at a
time. This curse is GOOD. Anyone in the raid who can de-curse must NOT de-curse
at all this entire fight. Ever. For every person that gets cursed, one Shade
gets spawned. The Shades are immune to AoE attacks and can’t be damaged unless
you can see them. This curse does nothing else but allow you to see them and do
damage to them. The best way to deal with the Shades is to hope to have your
Warlocks and Priests get cursed so they can DoT as many Shades as possible. The
Shades don’t have much health (about 1000, I’d say), but they are the number
one priority this fight because even if you can’t see them, they see everyone
and attack everyone.

Priority in this fight is as follows: Shades (if cursed), Healing Totems, Mind-
Control Totems, Jin’do. It is a very long fight and very hard to master, espec-
ially if you get unlucky. Before Blackwing Lair, Jin’do is actually harder than
any boss in the game for his level and raid size. The Shades must be dealt with
first, then Healing Totems, then Mind-Control totems. My guild doesn’t bother
draining Jin’do’s mana and neither should yours. Your priests are better off
healing and DoT’ing Shades and so are the warlocks.

I suggest placing your best, highest damaging rogue solely on Jin’do to ignore
priority with the main tank. Have every other hunter and rogue on totems unless
there are none. Tell your rogues even if they are on Jin’do with combo points,
it doesn’t matter. The Shades and totems MUST be dealt with as quickly as poss-
ible. If they don’t want to waste combo points, tell them to use Slice and Dice
as they run to the Shades/Totems. Remember the skeleton pit also. If you are
using Ventrilo or TeamSpeak, the person being teleported to the pit can tell
the raid because it will seem to them like a huge lag spike before they appear
in the pit, so have your mage ready.

One last thing… besides the names or using your V key to see names, you can
tell the difference between the totems pretty easily. Remember that the Healing
ones must be taken down first because they heal for so much. They are a more
orange color and glow. The Mind-Control totems are much more green and will al-
most immediately have a large green beam coming from the top of them and going
to one of your raid members. It’s a slow and steady fight. With a tad bit of
luck and the right coordination and priority-following, you can down him. His
loot is beyond incredible. Your paladins and shaman will drool over Jin’do’s
Hexxer and damage dealing casters will absolutely love Jin’do’s Judgement and
the Bag of Whammies. Jin’do is the caster-loot version of the melee-loot Blood-
lord Mandokir. Enjoy the loot!

I. - Hakkar
—————

Provided you actually make it past all the bull**** on the way up the temple to
Hakkar, well… you’re here now, feel good! Hakkar is one hell of a fight. It’s
a simple strategy, but it’s very long and difficult to execute it. Hakkar is
fought way up on the platform that he stands on all day whispering the players
in your raid with stupid threats. You will need two well-geared tanks for this
fight and two hunters rather than one makes all the difference. You will also
need at least one or two mages.

Now… do you remember how you weren’t allowed to cure curses on Jin’do? Well
Hakkar is the exact same, but you’re not allowed to cure the poison you get
from the Sons of Hakkar that you kill. EVER. If you cure that poison, you are
healing Hakkar, period. How? The poison does what it says: it poisons your
blood. Every 1.5 minutes, Hakkar uses a move that drains the entire raid’s
blood in an attempt to heal himself. When this occurs, the entire raid (except
the main tank) MUST have the poison so that they harm Hakkar, not heal him. If
you do not have the poison or cure the poison, you are ****ing up and deserve
to be kicked from the raid. =)

Anyway, your main tank runs in and grabs Hakkar, followed by the offtank. No
one else should attack for about ten seconds. It’s important that the two tanks
generate a lot of base aggro on Hakkar due to the blood-sapping stun and the
length of the fight. It is also very important for the mages to watch the two
tanks. The sole purpose of the offtank is to pick up Hakkar when he mind-
controls the main tank. When this occurs, your mages must all polymorph the
tank who got MC’d. I, and my guild’s mage leader, strongly advise not using
your highest rank polymorph as it may last two long. Use rank 1, or 2 at the
most. You just want to prevent the tank from tearing the raid apart from the
MC, not keep him sheeped so long that the offtank gets MC’d and no one can grab
Hakkar.

It is also imperitive that the two tanks on Hakkar burn their AoE fears the
second the fight starts. It is NOT fun having the whole raid get feared by a
Mind-Controlled warrior who could have prevented it in a single button push.
Now, about the blood drink thing… Hakkar performs this every 1.5 minutes. The
purpose of the two hunters is to run down the stairs on either side and pull up
to the raid a Son of Hakkar. The raid has to kill the Son of Hakkar and stand
in it’s poison that it drops for at least one second in order to get poisoned.
The offtank must do this as well. The maintank should NOT move at all, he has
to keep Hakkar stationary. When Hakkar performs his blood-drink, everyone hit
will be stunned for a few seconds. Not everyone will be hit though. I’d suggest
throwing as many Heals Over Time on the main tank before the sap takes place so
he heals during it.

After this, your hunters should wait 30-45 seconds before going and getting the
Son of Hakkar on the other side. Your raid kills it and the process repeats.
The last thing you must note about Hakkar is the AoE poison he puts off. It
touches anyone withing five yards of the target that he selects and ticks for,
I believe, 200 damage every two seconds. Because a lot of the time, your
raid will have the Son of Hakkar poison, this poison shouldn’t be cured. Just
throw your raid a Heal Over Time spell now and then. They can bandage when not
poisoned. More on how this aura-poison works: Hakkar will give it to a random
target. Everyone who is within five yards of that guy will also get the poison
as well. To best avoid it, just have everyone who is DPS’ing Hakkar spread out
around him. He has a large melee radius, so the melee can easily do this.

It’s a very slow and steady fight and it takes some getting used to. The only
catch to him is that it must be finished and he must be dead within ten minutes
or else he enrages and will pretty much start one-shotting everyone. Don’t
worry about this though, it’s highly unlikely that it will happen. Just DPS him
down, spread out around him if you’re melee (all ranged should be by the stairs
where Sons are killed), pull Sons every 40 seconds, get poisoned, don’t cure
poisons, and sheep the Mind-Controlled tank. Enjoy the loot, there’s some VERY
sexy stuff, and congratulations on owning Zul’Gurub! =)

J. - Edge of Madness
————————

What? More? Yes, there’s a bit more to ZG for you. Remember the imp packs I
talked about in the A. section of this guide? Over near them is a path into a
very dark side of Zul’Gurub. Depending on the week and instance you’re in, one
of four bosses can be summoned. In order to do so, an Alchemist must make the
potion that extinguishes the fire. A 300 Alchemist can learn how to make the
potion by reading the large tablets on the walls behind the fire. The materials
needs for the potion are:

1x Blood of Heros
1x Massive Mojo
6x Powerful Mojo
1x Black Lotus

Anyway, once the flame is put out, your raid should back way, way up while the
boss gets summoned. It is a random boss and you won’t know which one it is un-
til you summon it, so wait before charging in. Below are the simple strategies
for each boss.

———–
Gri’lek
———–
This boss is very simple. Every 30 seconds, he enrages and grows about ten
times the size you see him when he’s summoned. You can’t miss it. When this
happens, his movement speed decreases A LOT, but his attack power multiplies by
some insane number and his regular hits are for about 15,000. So while he’s en-
raged, just kite him around. When he’s not, just beat the crap out of him. It’s
a very simple fight. Enjoy the blue loots. =)

————-
Wushoolay
————-
Another easy boss. He has a lightning storm spell just like a Druid’s Hurricane
but on a much lower cooldown. The tank has to face him away from the raid so
that not a lot of people get hit by his Chain Lightning. The tank also has to
just move Wushoolay away from the Hurricane he does so not all the melee are
getting hit. Simple fight, low health boss. Enjoy. =)

————-
Hazza’rah
————-
Like the other two bosses, very easy. The main tank and melee just DPS him down
near where he is summoned. The casters and ranged DPS have to stay at maximum
range. Every now and then, Hazza’rah will AoE sleep a ton of people for a few
seconds. He also may summon a few “Nightmares” that hit for a TON of damage but
have very little health. You’ll need your hunters and mages to take them out as
quickly as possible before resuming DPS on Hazza. Have fun. =)

————
Renataki
————
Okay, probably the easiest of the Madness bosses. He’s a crappy rogue, to say
the least. He has an AoE Gouge ability that he can use and then will go for
someone who isn’t Gouge’d. Just heal whoever it is and keep damaging him down.
Renataki may also randomly Vanish like a rogue, but like all rogues’ Vanish, it
sucks compared to Hunter’s Mark, so gg. =P Just watch out for his Ambush, say
goodbye to a random cloth-wearer. Enjoy the loot, he’s cake.

And that’s it for Zul’Gurub! Congratulations on destroying the place, I hope
this guide helped you through it. Enjoy the loot, good luck in future instances
in the World of Warcraft! Check out my other guides, I’ll most-likely be writ-
ing more! =)

===============================================================================

+———————–+
| Section VI. - Credits |
+———————–+

I’d like to thank a few sources who inevitably helped me write this guide. They
are as follows:

1. GameFAQs for posting (hopefully) this guide on their site.
2. Blizzard, for making such an awesome game!
3. Tigrane, level 60 Paladin, Frostmane US, for reminding me about a lot of the
difficult trash mobs.
4. Wrrand, level 60 Hunter, Frostmane US, for reminding me that Hakkar has to
be killed in ten minutes.
5. JTHM, for his e-mail telling me about the third method to dealing with the
panthers during Arlokk.

===============================================================================

World of Warcraft v.2.1.2

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| | / _ \\ \ / // _ \| | __) || (_) | | |\/| | / _` | / _` | / _ \
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|_____|\___| \_/ \___||_| |_____| /_/ |_| |_| \__,_| \__, | \___|
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| __ ) / ___| | _ \ __ __| _ \ / ___| _ _ (_) __| | ___
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|____/ \____| |_| \_/ |_| \____| \__,_||_| \__,_| \___|

TABLE OF CONTENTS

[1] Introduction and FAQs
1.1 Whom is this guide intended for?
1.2 Why is this guide so long?
1.3 Why should I PvP in this bracket?
1.4 I don’t play a mage in this bracket now, should I start one?
1.5 Does this guide offer help on twinking my mage?
1.6 About the Author
1.7 About This Guide
1.8 About My Video

[2] Mage Class Overview
2.1 Strengths
2.2 Weaknesses
2.3 How to Become a Good PvPer in BG
2.4 How to Become a Good Mage

[3] Mage Spells
3.1 Arcane Spells
3.2 Fire Spells
3.3 Frost Spells

[4] Mage Talents
4.1 Arcane Tree Talents
4.2 Fire Tree Talents
4.3 Frost Tree Talents

[5] Miscellaneous Information
5.1 Race / Racial Traits
5.2 Profession
5.3 Other Useful Items
5.4 My Keybinding
5.5 My Talent Spec
5.6 Add-Ons

[6] Defeating Other Players
6.1 Druid
6.2 Hunter
6.3 Mage
6.4 Paladin
6.5 Priest
6.6 Rogue
6.7 Warlock
6.8 Warrior

[7] Playing in the Battleground
7.1 Playing in a Pickup Group
7.2 Playing Against a Premade Group

[8] Warsong Gulch
8.1 Getting to the Flag
8.2 Getting Away with the Flag
8.3 Holding the Flag
8.4 Returning the Flag
8.5 Defending the Flag
8.6 Escorting and Guarding the Flag Carrier

[9] Arathi Basin
9.1 Assaulting a Resource Node
9.2 Defending a Resource Node

[10] Other Resources
10.1 Video
10.2 Links to Other Guides

[11] Acknowledgement, Version And Copyright Information
11.1 Acknowledgement
11.2 Version
11.3 Copyright Information

===============================================================================
============================================================= =
[1] = Introduction and FAQs = =
============================================================= =
===============================================================================

Thank you for your interests in this guide, I hope that you will find this
guide helpful and informative. Although I suggest you to read the sections in
this guide in sequence, each section is mostly self-contained and you are very
welcome to jump to the specific section that suits your needs. I’d also like to
inform you that there is a video clip accompanying this guide, you will find
more information about it under the “Other Resources” section.

(1/11/09) Please note that this guide was written when World of Warcraft was at
version 2.1.2, so if you are reading it now you may find some information to be
inaccurate. The section most affected will be the one concerning the mage
talents, but other sections should be mostly fine. Although it is my wish to
keep my guide as current as possible, I have neither the time nor the desire to
pick up World of Warcraft at this moment, therefore I am unable to update the
information contained within this guide. I apologize for the inconvenience in
advance.

——————————————————————————-
——————————————————————————-
1.1 Whom is this guide intended for?

As the title suggests, this guide is primarily intended for all mages who
have a reasonable familiarity with the class and are interested in PvPing
in the 20-29 bracket, mostly as a part of a Pickup Group (PuG). This means
I should expect you to know the basics of the class and of the WoW game
mechanisms; but if you do not, there are still plenty of resources
available online that will bring you up to the level of knowledge you are
assumed to have to get the most out of this guide.

In addition, I will assume that as a mage you will be actively working on
the match objective instead of “getting the best score”. This almost
certainly rules out spamming-Fireballs-behind-a-bush type of play, because
getting the objective done demands not wasting mana on non-essential kills;
and chances are most of the time you will be operating alone thus your
targets will close in on you too fast for you to use any long casting
spells. But don’t worry if that’s what you do currently, I will fill you in
on the details if you keep reading.

Finally, even if you do not play a mage, you can still benefit from this
guide. In particular, the section “How to Become a Good PvPer in BG” and
“Defeating Other Classes” should provide you with some useful information.

——————————————————————————-
——————————————————————————-
1.2 Why is this guide so long?

Simply put, this is the most comprehensive guide on the subject of BG PvP
for lvl 20-29 mages. A glance at the Table of Contents will tell you that
everything you need to know to become an effective player is covered here,
therefore once you have finished reading this guide, there is no need for
you to look for other written materials of similar nature.

Certainly, reading this whole guide is a daunting and time-consuming task.
But know that, unlike so many other guides, there is no extraneous and
superficial information (such as statistics) included in this guide. So I
can assure you that everything written here is definitely worth reading. In
addition, you are always welcome to digest the contents of this guide in
small chunks, going over one section at a time.

I hope that’s enough motivation for you =) .

——————————————————————————-
——————————————————————————-
1.3 Why should I PvP in this bracket?

The 20-29 bracket has become the second most popular bracket (next to the
70 bracket) for many reasons, some of which are:

- Leveling to this bracket requires very little time, it is not uncommon
for someone to have multiple characters in this bracket.

- In contrast to the 70 bracket, the equipment you can use in this bracket
is very much fixed. Once you obtain the armors and weapons that you
like, you do not have to worry about upgrading them in the future.

- All classes have gotten their core spells and a fair number of talent
points by level 29. This addresses the imbalance often seen in the
10-19 bracket and offers some variety in talent builds. This also means
that skills are factored into the outcome of a game more than they do
in the 10-19 bracket.

- As such, there are many dedicated and skilled PvPers in this bracket,
organized matches are not uncommon for those seeking the ultimate
challenge and fun.

- From my experience in playing in virtually all PvP brackets, I find that
one-on-one PvP encounters tend to last the longest in the 20-29. Unless
you are very much out-geared or the other person is very lucky, you
generally have a good 30 seconds or more before one of you drops. This
is a very good thing because it saves the frustration of dying without
even having a chance to defend yourself or retaliate.

- If you play a mage, there are some added bonuses: in this bracket,
warriors do not have Intercept, hunters do not have Bestial Wrath,
warlocks do not have Felhunter, and shamans do not have Windfury. All
of these factors directly enhance your survivability.

——————————————————————————-
——————————————————————————-
1.4 I don’t play a mage in this bracket now, should I start one?

Absolutely! Regardless of what class you played in this bracket, once you
have tried a mage I think you will agree with me that the mage class can
contribute more to winning a game than any other class. As a summary, you
are great at carrying/returning flags in Warsong Gulch (WSG), great at
assaulting/defending resource nodes in Arathi Basin (AB), and you have many
abilities that can be used to assist your teammates in group PvP.

Last but not least, a mage can do all this without spending the time and
hundreds of gold on twinking. So if you want a class that offers the most
amount of fun and return with minimal investment, mage is perfect class for
you.

——————————————————————————-
——————————————————————————-
1.5 Does this guide offer help on twinking my mage?

Short answer: No.

Long answer: No.

- Gear and skill are two different things, and it is often the latter that
is lacking.

- As mentioned above, one great thing about playing a mage in this bracket
is that you can do remarkably well without twinking. If you find you
need twink gears to survive and compete, then you can probably find
other areas to improve first (and that’s what this guide is for!).

Again, this does not mean that as a twink mage you won’t benefit from
reading this guide. But it does mean that everything written here is from a
non-twink player’s perspective, and that I will not devote a section on
twink gears. If you need help in that area, you can always check out the
equipment guide on WoW’s official PvP forum (please refer to the section
“Other Resources” for the URL).

——————————————————————————-
——————————————————————————-
1.6 About the Author

Well, I started off as a heavy raider before burning out after a mere six
months. I figured there was no point in trying to get the “best” gear, so
PvE was not for me. I began to PvP with a newly made human warlock, since
at that time it was one of the most underplayed classes and probably also
the hardest (This was when Will of the Forsaken (WotF) still lasted a whole
20 seconds, those were the days). By the way, I encourage anyone serious
about PvP to play a warlock before switching to the class of his or her
choice, since warlock teaches multitasking better than any other class in
this game.

Anyway, I have been a PvPer ever since, but shifted my focus from world PvP
to BG PvP, playing mostly in the 20-29 bracket. If you can find and join a
group of similar-minded people as I have, you will find BG PvP to be
extremely fun and rewarding.

All in all, I have had eight 29s PvPing in this bracket (seven of them are
still here), scattered among Stormrage and Emerald Dream. I also had a
priest that only stayed in this bracket for a few matches before leveling
out, as there is no fun in healing PuGs that don’t work on the objectives.
Of all these, my favorite class is of course the mage, which I have four in
total, currently at level 29, 29, 49 (my first one), and 60 (used to play

at 29).

——————————————————————————-
——————————————————————————-
1.7 About This Guide

I have rarely played WoW after the release of The Burning Crusade. The
guide might reflect that, but the information contained here is current as
of patch 2.1.2. However, I will admit that I do not have a lot of
experience in fighting shamans in the 20s (though I have plenty in the
40s), and I do not have a lot of PvP experience from after Blizzard changed
the PvP trinkets to remove Polymorph effects for all classes. I apologize
for this but I simply do not have the time to play often enough to amend
these deficiencies.

I welcome any suggestion from you, and you can reach me at
luximus.ed@gmail.com. However, I probably will not have the time to reply
to you, so please allow me to thank you in advance here. I will also assure
you that I will properly attribute your additions to this guide, as it is
the least I can do.

——————————————————————————-
——————————————————————————-
1.8 About My Video

When I started this guide, I never intended on making a video to accompany
it. But as time goes on, I feel a video would be a very useful medium in
illustrating some of the techniques and strategies that are written here.
For one, it is a lot easier for readers to understand them with the help of
a visual representation rather than mere dry words. And secondly, readers
would be more readily engaged in a video than in a guide, which would spark
a greater attention and interest in the subject. At first I tried to find
an instructional video for level 29 mages on the Internet, but most of
those I found are twink mage videos showing off “big crits” with a glaring
lack of skill and sense of BG objective. The few better videos are
unfortunately too short that they only cover one or two aspects of the BG
PvP, which would not go well with a guide as comprehensive as this one.
Thus my video was born.

Please do understand that I only have a very short time in shooting the
videos (probably 60 hours or so over the course of a month), so the
selection pool for the clips that made into my final video is rather
limited. Some of the clips in the final video may not be the best
representation of the strategies I will mention in this guide, but they
should give you a good idea of them.

I’ve also decided to make the video from the perspective of an
average-geared mage rather than my twinkier mage, because my intended
audiences are really those who do not want to spend too much resource on
their mages, for whatever reason, but still want to contribute to the game.
You will find that almost all my equipment are either bought in the Auction
House (”of the Eagle” greens), purchased from BG quartermasters, or
begotten from quests that you can easily do without the help of a high
level character. The only “twinkier” piece that I have is Beguiler’s Robes
with a +100 HP enchant which, incidentally, is a gift from a good friend
and shouldn’t cost you a fortune to obtain. I have no other stamina or any
spell damage enchantment otherwise. (You can check out my profile at
armory.worldofwarcraft.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Emerald+Dream&n=Luximus)

What this means is that, contrary to most, if not all, PvP videos out there,
I will die quite often in my videos when facing a strong opposition. But I
think an accurate representation of your fragility is conducive to your
learning and thus I have included them without any regret. On a broader
scope, the clips I’ve selected are purely based on their instructional
values rather than tendencies to portray me as a “god”.

You will also see in my video that despite all that I know in theory and
nearly two years of playtime, I still make mistakes. Frankly I don’t think
they are avoidable, but you should be able to minimize the number of
mistakes by acquiring more experience. And I hope this video, as well as
this guide, will showcase some of the finer details you’ll learn only from
months or years of playing.

===============================================================================
============================================================= =
[2] = Mage Class Overview = =
============================================================= =
===============================================================================

Before we delve into the gory details and intricacies of the mage class, it
would be prudent to first understand its strengths and weaknesses, so we can
familiarize ourselves with the capability as well as the limit of this class.

——————————————————————————-
——————————————————————————-
2.1 Strengths

- High Mobility
Theoretically speaking, if you take all the talents into account, mage
is the fourth fastest class in 20-29 (behind druid, hunter, and
shaman). But in reality mages fare much better than that. Because not
only can you travel at a respectable speed with Blink, you can also
slow your enemies with Frost Nova, Frostbolt and Cone of Cold. Combine
this with the fact that you can easily remove stuns and roots with
Blink; and remove other movement impairing effects with either your
racial trait or trinket, there is almost nothing that can stop you once
you get going. As such, mages are excellent flag carriers (FC) in the
Warsong Gulch; and they are also vital in Arathi Basin matches, where
players often need to cover long stretches of lands to assault or
reinforce a resource node.

- Crowd Control (CC)
You have two forms of crowd control: Polymorph and snares. Polymorph is
simply an incredibly useful spell that unfortunately doesn’t get
utilized nearly as often as it should. Its advantage in group PvP
encounters is self evident, but I find it equally appealing when you
are soloing and do not want to engage a target in combat (perhaps to
save mana, or maybe to buy some time). For example, if there is a sole
defender at a node in AB, you can simply Polymorph him and capture the
flag before dealing with him. A more creative use of Polymorph is to
use it as a spell interruption when your Counterspell (CS) is on the
cooldown. Regardless of how often you’ve used Polymorph at this point,
it’s safe to say that the more you play in Battlegrounds (BG), the more
you will appreciate this simple yet effective spell.

The other form of crowd control comes from your snares. Although snares
are not usually seen as a form of CC, indeed they are. Offensively,
your slowing spells will delay an enemy flag carrier and allow your
teammates to catch up. Defensively, if you see your flag carrier is
being chased by a group of rogues and warriors, a Frost Nova will stop
all of them for a good eight seconds. As for casters and hunters, most
of them cannot break snare and root effects without using the PvP
trinket, so there is a good chance that your carrier will run out of
their range before the snare breaks. It is also for this reason that
mage is a very good support class in escorting and guarding flag
carriers, more on this later.

- Spell Interruption (aka Counterspell)
The reason I list Counterspell as a strength of this class is to
emphasize how important this ability is. Given its long cooldown, you
don’t really notice Counterspell until you lose it. It stops heals;
Fear; Polymorph; Entangling Root; and all other spells you don’t want
your enemy to cast. Simply put, the correct and timely use of this
spell will win you many games. Bind it to a most accessible key.

- Ranged Magical Damage
There is no shortage of players with high amount of armor in 20-29, but
your spells will bypass this defense completely. The advantage of this
will become very apparent when you are fighting a twink druid in bear
form — good luck if you are a physical damage based class.

——————————————————————————-
——————————————————————————-
2.2 Weaknesses

- Low Survivability
As you know, mage doesn’t have a lot of armor; and your health is, if
not the lowest, one of the lowest of all classes. To compound the
matter, with the high mobility of the mage class, you can often charge
in a group of four or five, cause some confusion and damage, and get
out alive. These fun and daring escapades may give you a sense of
invulnerability, but unfortunately it is purely illusionary. If you
have average equipment (around 1400 hp), two coordinated twinks with
the right spec and available cooldowns will drop you in a matter of
seconds regardless what you may try. Actually even one good twink could
very well get you if you are a bit unlucky and don’t play perfectly. It
is also for this reason that I don’t advice you to hold the flag when
you are facing a team of many twinks. You and your team will be much
better off if you hand the flag to someone more durable and re-adjust
yourself to a supporting role.

- Mana-Dependent Damage and Survivability
Since all of your spells other than Evocation and Light Fall use mana,
a mage without mana is as good as dead. What this means is that as a
mage you should be very careful about where and when you spend that
limited reserve. To give you a rough idea, if you have average gear
(i.e., some high level “of the Eagle” greens and some BG rewards), a
full mana bar is good for killing about one and a half equally geared
players, and it may or may not be enough to kill one twinked player. If
your mana is depleted, it takes about 45 seconds to 1 minute to regain
that amount in entirety, which is a lot of downtime for the fast-paced
BG matches you will be fighting in. So my suggestion is that, as
someone who works on the BG objectives, you should avoid all the
players if you can, and Polymorph those that you can’t; expend mana
only when it is absolutely necessary. In line with this, save your
Evocation for the most critical moments, don’t use it if it doesn’t
help your team in a significant way (example: use it when the resource
node you are guarding is about to be overrun if you don’t regain your
mana quickly).

——————————————————————————-
——————————————————————————-
2.3 How to Become a Good PvPer in BG

- Know Your Class and Role
This should be a given for any player going into a BG, but sadly it’s
not the case. You see druids that don’t know to shift out of Polymorph,
rogues that keep poking at a healing priest without using Kick,
paladins that don’t heal and die with a full mana bar. Don’t be those
players.

- Know Other Classes
You can’t efficiently and convincingly defeat an enemy if you don’t
know what that class can do. The best way to gain knowledge about a
class is to simply play it yourself. But if you don’t have the time or
will for that, you can remedy the situation by watching PvP videos and
playing more in the BG. But keep in mind that your average players
won’t play the class to its maximum strength, so video is probably a
better choice here.

- Know and Work on the Objective
As much as I’d like some deathmatch or king-of-the-hill type BGs, they
are not what’s been offered in WoW. Therefore when you zone in a WSG or
AB match, you should be doing one of the following two things only:
getting the flag or defending the flag. Anything else you do, such as
killing and dying endless number of times in the middle, has no bearing
to the outcome of the game, so don’t do it. This is especially true for
a mage as the class has so many ways to avoid unnecessary combat.
Another thing, never chase after a single target unless it will have a
direct impact on the outcome of the game. It’s infuriating how common
it is for three or four people to chase after a lone druid, mage or
hunter, whom they simply cannot catch, instead of doing something more
productive.

- Be Observant
If you are working on the objective of the match, you should have no
problem tracking the flag/resource nodes at all times. But to “be
observant” goes beyond such simple tasks. For instance, you should know
where your teammates and enemies are, what they are doing (wasting time
in the middle/going after your flag carrier, etc.), whether your flag
carrier is losing health, and so on. Once you have this information,
you can move onto the next step.

- Think
This is what separates a good BG player from a great BG player. To
illustrate this, I will outline some very typical scenarios you will
encounter in a BG, you need to choose either A or B.

1. You notice that your flag carrier is being chased by a bunch of
enemies, he is losing health fast. But thankfully you are not too far
away from him. Do you:

A: Run into the enemies, slow them first, and then take free shots
at them (as you are not their primary target) to kill them or
relieve the pressure off your flag carrier.
B: Run into the enemies, slow them first, and then follow your flag
carrier closely.

2. You are in WSG and you are one of the two players from your team who
are halfway across the field. You see that enemy flag carrier has just
exited your base’s tunnel, while their flag is still in their base. Do
you:

A: Run to their base and try to get the flag.
B: Run toward the enemy flag carrier and try to stop him.

3. You are in WSG and you are holding the flag. More than half of your
team have gone to the other side to kill a twink flag carrier and his
support. From the map and health bars you see that they are fighting it
out in the flag room; but in the meantime, a large enemy force has also
entered your base to retrieve the flag from you. Do you:

A: Run out to the Graveyard (GY) for reinforcement, and possibly
dropping down to the hut to heal yourself.
B: Run around inside the base for as long as you can.

4. A similar scenario to the last one, but this time you and some
teammates are chasing after their flag carrier who’s running around in
their base. He is down to half hp and is running up the ramp to the
roof. You notice that your flag carrier is also losing health. Do you:

A: Go to the enemy flag room and stand near the capture point.
B: Help your teammates and go after the enemy flag carrier.

5. You are in AB and notice one of your nodes is unguarded. Do you:

A: Guard that node yourself.
B: Leave the node to teammates who are coming up from behind you.

My usual choices would be B, A, B, A, A. Here are my reasons:

The first one is obvious when you read it here, but in an actual match
most people don’t do it and would try to stop/kill all the enemies by
themselves. Inevitably some enemy gets through and kills the flag
carrier and returns the flag.

For the second one, running to their base and taking the flag first is
usually a much safer choice.

As for the third one, I would just run around the base for as long as I
can while staying close to the capture point. Twink isn’t invincible,
if many of your teammates are onto him then he will probably drop soon,
and when that happens you want to be as close to the capture point as
you can.

The answer to the forth question should be obvious after answering the
last one. Since your teammates are already chasing after the flag
carrier, you should run straight to the flag capture point and retake
the flag should your flag carrier goes down before theirs does.

I chose A for the last question mostly out of experience. In general
you can assume that people won’t defend a resource node, so you should
do it yourself or explicitly tell them to (and pray that they listen).

Of course, the scenarios outlined here are merely to illustrate the
point that there is a lot of thinking involved in a BG match. I know I
probably wasn’t specific enough in my descriptions for you to make a
choice. In fact it is actually a good thing if you can’t make a choice
between the two options — it shows you are thinking about all the
other variables I didn’t mention. For example, in the second case, if
you also know that their team is turtling in their flag room, then
obviously you should go after the flag carrier directly.

The point I am trying to make is that you will face many such scenarios
during the course of a game (a lot more if it’s a very competitive
one), you will have to constantly evaluate the situation, combine the
information you have with intuition and past experience, and then
determine your best course of action. BG is very much a thinking man’s
game, and great players know how to be at the right place at the right
time. If you find yourself always saving your team in the nick of time,
you are doing something right.

- Communicate
BG is a team game after all, you can’t do everything by yourself.
That’s why communication is so important. Let your teammates know where
you are going if you have the flag (i.e., either you are going tunnel
or ramp); where their flag carrier is going; whether their flag carrier
is about to go down (to help your flag carrier prepare for the
capture); how many people are coming to assault the resource node you
are guarding, etc. If you don’t have the time to type, you should at
least pin it on the mini-map. Or you can make some macros to save some
typing. And for god’s sake, don’t say “left”/”right” in WSG. Use either
“ramp”/”GY” or “East”/”West”.

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2.4 How to Become a Good Mage

- Watch Your Cooldowns
Mage class is very different from other classes in that it has many
spells with short cooldown times, and these spells also constitute the
core arsenal for a mage. You should constantly monitor the time left on
Fire Blast; Frost Nova; Blink; and Counterspell, so as to maximize your
damage and survivability. This is a bit harder than it sounds, since it
is very easy to develop “tunnel vision” when there are a lot of actions
going on in the middle of your screen. You could use a mod to help you
in this area, or you could just play more and eventually you will
develop a sense of time as to when your cooldowns are about to expire,
so that you don’t have to watch them constantly.

The other aspect of “watching your cooldowns” is knowing when to use
them, especially for your Frost Nova, Blink and Counterspell. For
example, in most cases you don’t want to blow both Frost Nova and Blink
in short succession because after that you will have very little
defense left. Similarly, you may not want to use Counterspell at your
first opportunity, but reserve it for the more critical moments. The
same goes for other cooldown-related abilities such as racial traits
and PvP trinkets, I will say a few more words about them in later
sections.

- Move
Even though you are a caster and many of your spells require you to be
stationary to cast, you shouldn’t just stand at one place without
moving an inch the whole time. On the contrary, moving is an integral
part of mage combat because you need to constantly adjust the distance
and facing between you and your enemy to take advantage of terrains and
make sure your spells can hit him but he would have a hard time hitting
you. This isn’t just for when you are up against melee classes. For
example, if you can run in circles around a caster such as a priest,
he will have a very hard time in landing a spell on you due to facing
requirement, while you can still blast him with your instant spells.
The general rule is that you should be moving whenever your Global
Cooldown (GCD) is up.

- Learn to Multitask
There will be plenty of times when you (and perhaps your teammates with
you) face multiple opponents, and this is where multitasking comes in:
you need to juggle between doing damage; crowd control through
Polymorph and snare; Counterspelling; moving; and staying alive. To
accomplish this you have to be quick in the eyes and fast at hands,
shifting targets and spells constantly to meet any challenge your
opponents throw at you and your team. This isn’t something you can
learn overnight just by reading some guides or watching some video
clips, you really need to be in those situations to learn to not to
panic and cast the correct spells under pressure. As I’ve stated in the
Introduction, the warlock class offers some great training on
multitasking, since you will be controlling both your character and
your pet and coordinate between the two. If you can juggle three mobs
or two players effortlessly on a warlock, then you are well on your way
to become a good multitasker.

- Develop Fast Reflex and Good Anticipation
These two are sort of tied together in that good anticipation will help
you to react quicker. As an example of what I mean by “anticipation”,
let’s say you are fighting a priest and all of a sudden he runs toward
you, you should realize at this point that he is about to use Psychic
Scream so have your finger ready on that trinket or WotF key. As for
“fast reflex”, any PvP mage should be able to Counterspell a 1.5 second
cast under any circumstance. A mage with great anticipation and reflex
such as Saerdna can Cold Snap and Ice Block within under a second after
he senses a potential killing blow is coming.

- Create an Efficient and Effective Keybinding Scheme
I won’t get into the whole “Clicker vs. Keybinder” argument, because
there is simply no debate whatsoever that keybinding is absolutely
essential when it comes to PvP. To create a good keybinding scheme, I
suggest you to look at the spells you want to use, and the keys you can
most comfortably and reliably reach during the heat of battle, then
assign the most accessible keys to those spells that you use the most.
You also need to think about what spells you may need to use while you
are on the move, so that you can assign them to keys that you can still
press easily while you are running. It will take a bit of work to get
everything right, but you will be amply rewarded for your effort. This
whole process varies from person to person, but if you need some ideas,
you could check out the movie Sorrow Hill 5 from Otherguy, or you check
out a later section (5.4) where I put down what keybindings I use.

- Watch Mage Videos and Learn
One of the best ways to become better at a class is to learn from the
masters. Over the years a few names stand out from the rest, they are
Otherguy, Saerdna, and Vurtne. Even though their videos are mostly
about World PvP, I strongly recommend that you watch them, because
everything I’ve said in this section, such as “Watch Your Cooldowns”,
“Move”, etc., is all superbly demonstrated in these videos. For more
information about these videos, refer to the video section later in
this guide.

===============================================================================
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[3] = Mage Spells = =
============================================================= =
===============================================================================

Here I will say a few words about the spells you will most certainly use in
PvP.

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3.1 Arcane Spells

- Arcane Explosion (AE)
AE is very mana intensive and therefore should not be used against
single targets unless you have a really good reason to (For example,
when you are chasing an enemy FC you could use AE to do damage while on
the run). For revealing rogues and druids, you should use rank 1 AE
instead to minimize the mana cost.

- Arcane Missiles (AM)
AM is a curious spell. On one hand it offers the highest DPS to mages
(unless you stack on +spell damage gear, then spells like Fireball and
Frostbolt start to take over); and with talents, almost uninterruptable
DPS. In addition, since it shoots out one missile every 0.8 second, it
is great in stopping spellcasts. Therefore it is a nice spell against
hunters and casters. But on the other hand, it is very mana
inefficient; it requires you to stand still to use; and while
channeling, you run a very high risk of getting interrupted by
Counterspell or similar skills. I used it from time to time back in the
old days, but since I am no longer an Arcane mage, I find myself almost
not using this spell at all.

- Blink
A life saving spell. One thing that I really miss when playing most
other classes is the ability to get out when I am surrounded — Blink
does exactly that. In addition, you can use it to remove Cheap Shot,
Hammer of Justice (or any other kind of stun effect); Entangling Root,
Frost Nova (or any other kind of rooting effect). But you shouldn’t be
mechanical about it. For example, if you are fighting a druid and see
he is casting a root on you, and you have both Blink and Counterspell
up, let him finish the cast and come to you before Blinking out. This
way he’s wasting time while you are blasting him with spells, and you
are saving the CS for when he starts to heal. To cite another example,
let’s say you are facing toward a paladin and he stuns you with Hammer
of Justice, if you Blink right away you will be right next to him —
not a good idea. Instead, let him come to you first before Blinking
out.

An equally important bit of knowledge to possess when using this spell
is knowing where you can Blink and where you can’t. The coding of this
spell has come a long way since the game was first released, although
you don’t need to worry about “falling through the world” these days,
there are still plenty of places with peculiar terrain geometries that

prevent Blink doing what it is supposed to do. In general, you should
not Blink at connecting terrain tiles that are different or are at
different elevations (stone road and bridge, stone slab and dirt road,
you get the idea). You also shouldn’t Blink at places where the angle
of geometry changes suddenly (the ramp in the tunnel leading up to
Alliance’s flag room in WSG is a good example). In addition, there are
some objects that you can Blink through (like the fences in AB) while
others that you can’t (like the flag poles for resource nodes in AB).
When you play in BG, you need to be very mindful of these
peculiarities; otherwise they could be annoying in the form of a
wasted Blink, or downright serious in the form of a flag capture in a
competitive match.

- Counterspell
I feel I’ve said enough about this spell already in the previous
section, so here I have just a few short remarks. First, use CS
thoughtfully, use it when it matters the most. Second, you can use CS
to put your target into combat, which is a very useful trick against
warriors (who then can’t Charge) and rogues (who then can’t stealth
unless using Vanish). I find that network latency may still allow the
warrior to Charge even if you casted CS “first”. To fix this problem,
run laterally or diagonally to the direction the warrior is going,
instead of meeting him head-on.

- Dampen/Amplifying Magic
Unless the PuG you are with know what they are doing (which isn’t
likely these days), most of the time you will be operating solo. If
that’s the case, put the Dampen Magic on yourself to reduce damage
taken from other spell casters, every little bit helps. On the other
hand, if you are holding the flag with a healer and the opposing team
is sending in a lot of rogues and warriors, you should use Amplifying
Magic instead. Though this is an unlikely scenario.

- Detect Magic
Has its uses in PvE and in higher level PvP, but it’s useless in 20-29
as far as I know, especially in a PuG.

- Mana Shield
Mana Shield has become much more useful after Blizzard changed it to
absorb magical damage as well as physical damage. Under most
circumstances you shouldn’t put it up when you have close to full hp,
since mana is arguably more important to your survival at that point.
The one exception to this rule is when you expect to take a lot of
damage in a very short amount of time, that you probably won’t have the
chance to cast this spell as you frantically try to cast other spells
to survive. One instance of this is when you are carrying the flag back
to the base and are expecting some rogues to show up along the way. The
other use of Mana Shield is of course to eliminate spell interruption
due to damage, but I really don’t recommend you to put this up just so
you can cast a 3-second Fireball — you won’t have enough mana left
after that. Try use spells with shorter casting times like Scorch and
Fire Blast as much as you can if you are taking damage. Lastly, you
should see this spell as a balancing mechanism for your hp and mana.
Meaning that if you still have a lot of hp left but are very low on
mana, cancel the Mana Shield if it is still up. Remember, a mage
without mana is a dead mage.

- Polymorph
I think I have said enough about this spell in the sections above. To
reiterate, you could use this spell to interrupt long spellcasts,
although it might not come natural to you at first.

- Remove Lesser Curse
You won’t be needing this often, but you should still have it hotkeyed.
You want to remove warlock’s Curse of Agony, but don’t worry if you
have to let it tick for a while, since half of the damage comes from
the last 1/3 of the spell’s duration. Similarly, you should remove
Curse of Tongues if you need to cast spells with a casting time. Oh,
and remember that you can use it on your teammates too, your paladins
and priests will thank you.

- Slow Fall
This spell comes in handy in AB at times, such as when you need to
quickly reinforce Blacksmith from Lumber Mill or reinforce Goldmine
from Blacksmith. But if you are good at Blink you could almost ignore
this spell completely, as you can just Blink right before you hit the
ground and come out unharmed. I find myself couldn’t pull this trick
off in AB, probably due to lag. You could try it if you feel lucky, it
might save you a few gold in Light Feather’s cost if you play in AB
often enough.

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3.2 Fire Spells

- Fire Blast
It suffices to say that when you are doing damage you should use Fire
Blast whenever the cooldown is up. Talent in the Fire tree extends its
range to 26 yards, which is one more than that of Warrior’s Charge.
Therefore theoretically you could use Fire Blast to put a Warrior in
combat, thus preventing him from Charging you. But due to network
latency it’s practically impossible for this to work, so use CS
instead. But if you have the Imp. Fire Blast talent, you could forever
keep a Warrior in combat, which is a useful gimmick if you want to save
your Blink and Frost Nova for other uses; but again, this isn’t always
practical.

- Fire/Frost Ward
They are quite useful against mages, warlocks, and shamans. Also worth
mentioning is that Fiery enchant is considered Fire damage, so you
should put a Fire Ward up when you see a melee class with the Fiery
Weapon enchantment.

- Fireball
It does a bit more damage than Frostbolt, so most likely you will be
using this as the opener after casting Polymorph. When playing against
melee classes, you could follow this spell with a rank 1 Frostbolt to
apply a snare to your target as well. Technically you could use the
rank 1 Fireball as a quick Damage over Time (DoT) spell, but I haven’t
found it to be that useful. For one, the DoT only lasts eight seconds,
and secondly, you could always use rank 1 Blizzard or rank 1 Arcane
explosion to achieve the same effect.

- Flamestrike
Flamestrike is one of the few mage spells that I can’t find a good
reason to use in PvP. It consumes a lot of mana, has a long casting
time, and about half of its damage come from DoTs. As far as I am
concerned, it would be simpler and more reliable if you just went in
and spammed AE. I suppose you could use it at strategic points to
reveal rogues/druids, or in high density areas, but you still need to
deal with the 3 second casting time. Maybe you can find some use for it
but I didn’t even purchase this spell for some of my mages.

- Scorch
In my opinion this should be the staple DPS spell for any (non-twink)
mage. First popularized by Otherguy, it excels in practically every
area. It has a very short casting time; it has the 2nd highest DPS with
the amount of + spell damage gear a non-twink is likely to have at this
level; it can trigger Impact and Clearcasting; and it is very mana
efficient. Use it, worship it.

——————————————————————————-
——————————————————————————-
3.3 Frost Spells

- Blizzard
I have seen Frost mages with Imp. Blizzard in this bracket and they
were able to slow a group en mass. But I am still not convinced that
it’s worth the talent points and mana costs. My philosophy is that any
spell, like Blizzard, that requires you to stand there for a long time
to cast, is not something you want to use in a PvP environment, even
though Blizzard could be useful at chock points like the tunnels in
WSG.

On the other hand, I would say that rank 1 Blizzard is very useful in
revealing rogues and druids that have just gone into stealth, or Night
Elves who are staying Shadowmelded — most of them won’t be expecting
this move so it could potentially be very profitable. You do need to
bind rank 1 Blizzard to an easily accessible key for that move to work,
as you are trying to hit a moving target with a spell that doesn’t have
a very large radius of effect. In addition, you need to channel the
spell for about one second for the first wave of blizzard to come down;
if you cancel the channeling before that, it won’t do anything. Lastly,
if the target is already very close, you should either run or use
Arcane Explosion while running, standing still in that situation is a
bad idea.

- Cone of Cold (CoC)
CoC is a very useful spell, but it is also the hardest one to use in
fast-paced combat. There is no good indication of its direction and
range, so the correct use of this spell is mostly from experience. I
suggest that you don’t use it when your target is too close to you,
since CoC may miss due to lag. The level of proficiency you want to
reach with this spell is that you can run, jump, turn 180 degrees, CoC
the targets behind you, then turn another 180 degrees before you land.
This way you can slow your pursuers without losing any time yourself (I
think you fly at the same speed of running). Other times you might use
this spell are when your target just breaks free from Frost Nova (FN);
or when you need to reveal a rogue that runs toward you and has just
used Vanish. Keep in mind that CoC costs a lot of mana, so don’t use it
on single target if you can help it.

- Frost Nova
A very nice area effect (AE) root spell, but the cooldown is quite
long, so use it only when you really need it. One thing you need to
watch out for is trinket or Escape Artist, which removes the root
effect. Therefore don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are safe
just because your Frost Nova has hit the target, and be prepared for
your enemy’s next move. Lastly, rank 1 of this spell is good enough.

- Frostbolt
Frostbolt is a favorite spell among twinks, but it isn’t all that great
until you put some related talent points in. The problem with it is the
2.5 second casting time, which is too long for most circumstances
(unless you are of the type who just sit back and nuke, but where is
the fun in that). With talents it becomes a decent spell, especially
against melee classes. Regardless of your stance on Frostbolt, rank 1
Frostbolt should definitely be on your hotbar for getting off a quick
snare, which comes into use all the time.

===============================================================================
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[4] = Mage Talents = =
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===============================================================================

I won’t discuss every talent here, only the ones you might consider. Nor will I
give you a “definitive” spec, because your spec really depends on your
equipment and how you play.

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4.1 Arcane Tree Talents

My suggestion is that you should stay away from a heavy Arcane build, as
this tree really offers very little when compared to the other two trees.

- Arcane Focus (Reduces opponents’ chance to your Arcane spells by 2%.)

I don’t know how many mages put points into this talent, but I feel the
number is not large enough. I think you will agree with me in that this
talent is a really good choice once you remember the two most important
spells you have, Polymorph and Counterspell, are both Arcane. So, what
do two points in this talent give you? Almost un-resistible Polymorph
and Counterspell (recall that an equal level opponent has a default 4%
chance to resist any spell, I am not sure if you can actually reduce it
down to zero. But even if not, the chance to resist won’t be higher
than 1% with two points in this talent). There are times you simply
can’t afford your Polymorph or Counterspell to fail — for instance,
when you are trying to return the flag and a priest is trying to heal
the flag carrier. And given how much you use Polymorph and
Counterspell, two points in here are well worth the investment.

Do note that this talent does nothing against regular resistance you
get from gears/racial traits, so you will still see resists on gnomes
(unlikely) and hunter’s pets (quite often).

- Imp. Arcane Missiles (Gives you a 20% chance to avoid interruption while
channeling AM.)

This is one of the better talents in this tree, although it’s still not
that useful given how often you want to use AM (hint: not very often).
Before Blizzard gave Instant Arcane Explosion to mages for free, I was
an Arcane mage (solely for the IAE), so I have some experience about
this talent. One place where I found this talent to be useful was
against hunters, as they and their pets tend to interrupt your spell
castings a lot, and they don’t really have a silence spell. Another
good thing about using imp. AM against hunters is that you won’t have
to worry about the facing any more when they try to circle around you
in melee range. Similarly, it could be useful when you are fighting
feral druids, but in that situation you should also be thinking about
getting out the melee range to reduce the damage you take.

- Arcane Concentration (Gives you a 2% chance to reduce next spell’s mana
cost to 0.)

This talent is mostly for PvE, where you have the leisure to switch
from a low mana cost spell to a high cost one when this talent procs.
In a PvP environment you will find that you won’t have many
opportunities to take full advantage of this talent, unless you are the
kind of mage who just stay behind your teammates and spam one or two
spells.

- Imp. Mana Shield (Reduces the mana lost due to damage by 10%.)

It’s certainly useful, but it should be better for a tier 4 talent.
After you work out the math, two points in here will allow you to take
about 300 more damage if you start out with a full mana bar.

- Imp. Counterspell (Gives your CS a two-second long silence effect.)

Again, a useful talent, albeit a bit limited. Most people haven’t honed
their reflex to the point where after they get CSed they can
immediately switch to another school of spell. So in effect your
regular CS has an about 2-3 second silence effect attached to it. But
where this talent comes in handy is when you want to silence your
enemies preemptively. Two cases come to mind. One is when you are
fighting a priest and he is about to go down, it’s a good idea to CS
and silence him before he can shield himself (or use something like
Desperate Prayer). Another instance is when you see a shaman coming at
you but you don’t want to fight him, and you know that if you cast
Polymorph directly you will get Earth Shocked. In this case you can CS
him and then Polymorph. Now I admit that the last example is a bit
contrived, as the ES effect only lasts two seconds. This trick is a lot
more useful in higher bracket, where shamans with Earth Shock,
Grounding Totem, Stormstrike, and Windfury can be a real danger if your
first Polymorph gets interrupted.

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4.2 Fire Tree Talents

This is a good talent tree to spec into, especially at this level. Many of
the first and second tier talents in this tree offer great utility without
needing too many points invested into them.

- Imp. Fireball (Reduces casting time of your Fireball by 0.1 second.)

If you are one of those mages that chain casts Fireballs (mostly only
twinks do that), then this is a good talent to invest in. Otherwise you
should put the points elsewhere.

- Impact (Gives your fire spells a 2% chance to stun for 2 secs when hit.)

I quite like this talent, because most of the time I alternate between
Scorch and Fire Blast, so during the course of a fight there is a
reasonable chance for the stun effect to proc. Impact also gives you
the ability to stop someone while on the move with Fire Blast, even
with a 10% chance it’s still better than nothing. In my video you may
spot me using Fire Blast on targets that I have no intention to kill, I
do that just for the stun chance which would buy me or my teammates
some time.

- Ignite (Critical strikes from fire spells cause an additional 8% of the
damage.)

While quite good at higher levels, at 29 you simply don’t have a high
enough critical chance to make the most out of this talent (you have
about 6% spell critical chance at this level). So I’d suggest you to
pass on this.

- Flame Throwing (Increases the range of your fire spells by 3 yards.)

Longer range is always a good thing, because the default ranges on Fire
Blast, Scorch and Fireball are often too short when you and your
targets are constantly moving. You should definitely take this talent
if you have reached tier 2.

- Imp. Fire Blast (Decreases the cooldown time of Fire Blast by 0.5 second)

I like this talent quite a bit, because there are many situations where
you don’t have the luxury to stop and cast spells (e.g., when chasing a
mage flag runner, or getting chased by a rogue). If you need to do
damage while on the run, then your selection of spells is very limited
— it comes down to Fire Blast, Arcane Explosion, and maybe CoC — and
in many cases Fire Blast is the only damaging spell available since the
other two require you to be fairly close to your target.

- Incineration (Increases the critical strike chance of Fire Blast and
Scorch by 2%.)

This is a fairly good place to put your talent points in if you use
Scorch and Fire Blast a lot. But as most talents, it comes down to
personal choice. I like some of the talents in the other two trees more
so I didn’t pick this one.

- Pyroblast

Although Pyroblast is the most destructive opener you have, it is a bit
unwieldy without Presence of Mind (PoM), which you won’t get at this
level. The six-second casting time is often too long to be practical,
so its use will be limited. Also keep in mind that a Pyroblast only
does about 45 more damage than your Fireball, which has a 3.5 second
casting time without talents. So you can cast about two Fireballs in
that time frame for more damage at the expense of higher mana cost.

- Burning Soul (Reduces the chance your fire spells get interrupted by 35%)

It is my strong opinion that as a mage you need some spells that can’t
be interrupted easily by damage, otherwise you won’t be able to cast
anything when there is a fast hitting opponent (such as druids in cat
form with their obscenely fast attack speed) or more than one opponent
on you. Arcane Missile with the imp. AM talent fits the bill, but this
talent is also worth taking even though it maxes out at 70%, since
Scorch is such a short casting spell to begin with.

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4.3 Frost Tree Talents

The frost tree affords you with more survivability than the other two, but
the drawback is that you really need to put many points into this tree for
its talents to be truly effective. Most twink mages go for 20 points in
this tree, which is still not enough if you ask them.

- Imp. Frostbolt (Reduces the casting time of your Frostbolt by 0.1 second)

Same as imp. Fireball, more useful to twink DPS mages than flag
carrying mages. But if you do go heavy frost this talent is essentially
required, as you don’t have any other spell that can avoid losing
casting time when you take damage. Also, one-second Frostbolt is very
useful and very hard to CS (due to lag).

- Elemental Precision (Reduces the mana cost and chance targets resist your
frost and fire spells by 1%.)

Before Blizzard nerfed this talent from 2% down to 1%, it was probably
the best tier 1 talent out there from any class. It is of course still
very good for the same reason Arcane Focus is good, just imagine what
would happen when your Frost Nova gets resisted by a twink rogue =P .

- Ice Shards (Increases the critical strike bonus of frost spells by 20%.)

As a frost mage, ideally you would have five points in this and five
points in Shatter. But at this level if you do that you won’t get
Arctic Reach, so something has to go. I suspect most frost mages would
put five talent points in here and three in Shatter. This talent is
mostly for the tried-and-true combo of FN + Frostbolt (+CoC), which
could give you very good burst damage. But keep in mind that this
talent only works for frost spells and it almost requires you to use FN
offensively, leaving you rather vulnerable for the next 20 seconds. My
personal opinion is that given the limited number of talent points you
have, you will be better served to put those points in talents like
Elemental Precision.

- Frostbite (Gives your Chill effects a 5% chance to freeze the target for
5 secs.)

I play a few melee classes myself so I know how annoying and useful
this talent is. Even though the proc now shares diminishing return (DR)
with FN, it is a very good talent that will almost certainly save you
in tight spots as a flag carrier. This talent is especially effective
in this bracket due to the large number of rogues you will encounter.

- Imp. Frost Nova (Reduces the cooldown of your Frost Nova by 2 secs.)

I wish this talent were a little better (maybe 3 secs per talent
point), but it’s still decent and should be an automatic choice for
most frost mages since it opens up Shatter.

- Permafrost (Increases the duration of chill effects by 1 sec and reduces
the target’s speed by an additional 4%.)

On one hand, if you put two or three points here you will definitely
notice the difference, the enhanced slowing effect could save you the
trouble of switching targets or switching spells (to rank 1 Frostbolt)
constantly to keep your targets snared. On the other hand, you really
need to think carefully about the benefits of this talent vs. those of
the other talents, because this talent doesn’t offer that much for a
single point. I don’t have much experience on this talent in this
bracket, so you will have to try it out yourself.

- Piercing Ice (Increases your frost damages by 2%.)

The extra damage granted by this talent is negligible at this level,
put your points elsewhere.

- Cold Snap (Instantly finishes all cooldowns on your frost spells.)

I feel the cooldown for this spell is a bit too long, and without Ice
Block or other nice frost spells at this level, it’s a bit hard to
justify one talent point for something you only use once every 10
minutes (and probably solely for FN, though you can activate it for an
extra CoC too).

- Imp. Blizzard (Adds a chill effect to your Blizzard so that it lowers the
target’s speed by 30%.)

As I said in the Mage Spells section, mages really don’t get many
chances to use Blizzard. If you want an AE snare spell just use CoC.

- Arctic Reach (Increases the range or radius of your frost spells by 10%.)

Just put two points in here if you’ve come this far down the frost
tree, nothing else needs to be said.

- Frost Channeling (Reduces the mana cost of your frost spells by 5%.)

This is more of a PvE talent than a PvP one, as mana efficiency isn’t a
big concern in PvP.

- Shatter (Increases your spell critical strike chance on frozen targets by
10%.)

This talent is quite good when you can put five points in here and
another five in Ice Shards, it’s almost as though you get a PoM once
every 21 seconds. But again, don’t get too carried away with spamming
FN the first chance you have for that big critical hit, you might need
it later when things don’t go as planned.

===============================================================================
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[5] = Miscellaneous Information = =
============================================================= =
===============================================================================

There are a few things that don’t quite fit into the other sections, but I feel
they should be laid out first before we go into the real PvP section of this
guide.

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5.1 Race / Racial Traits

If you are starting a new mage, then I’d suggest you to roll a Gnome for
the Alliance side and an Undead for the Horde side. Escape Artist and Will
of the Forsaken are both immensely more useful than the racial traits you
get from other races. A few words about these two abilities:

- Escape Artist
Its incredibly short 1-min cooldown means you can almost use it
whenever you like, and you can go for the flag more frequently and have
a much easier time when you do. The only drawback of this spell is
that, unlike the Insignia, it shares the same GCD as the rest of your
spells, you will find that to be very restricting at times.

- Will of the Forsaken
Gone are the days when it granted a full 20 seconds of immunity against
Fear/Charm/Sleep, but you almost always use it for breaking the effects
so it’s no big deal. Most of the time you want to activate it after you
have been feared/charmed, but some situations call for its preemptive
use. Example, you are carrying the flag and don’t want to lose any time
and current heading, then you should activate it before you get feared.
But know that the next fear will last its full duration, so you should
take that into consideration too when you use WotF this way.

Finally, sometimes it’s just better to not break the Fear/Seduction (at
least not initially). When you are under the fear effect you run faster
than you normally would, so it could get you out of a troubled spot if
the heading is right. Similarly, enemies might ignore you when you are
being charmed, if that’s the case you can just let the charm effect run
its course and break out when you think the time is right.

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5.2 Profession

- Engineering

If you are serious about PvPing in this bracket, then you should
definitely take Engineering as your profession, just for the Iron
Grenade (though the profession offers some other goodies too). Here are
some of the engineering items you may find useful:

Iron Grenade: If you have a main farming the ore/stone/cloth for you,
it won’t take you more than an hour to get your engineering up to
the level required for creating Iron Grenade. It’s cheap to make,
and come in handy in every battle. Use it when you are chasing
someone, when you are being chased, when you try to interrupt a
spell, or when you want to give yourself some extra time to cast a
spell. But its most spectacular use comes in AB, where a single
Iron Grenade can stun every person who’s trying to capture a
resource node. It’s 3-yard blast radius takes a while to get used
to, just keep throwing it and eventually you will understand how to
use it correctly.

I can only offer one advice regarding its use: the game seems to
account for some latency between clients and server. What this
means for Iron Grenade is that when used against a moving target,
you shouldn’t aim for the spot that he will be in 1.5 seconds, but
slightly behind it (relative to his direction of motion). If you do
it this way, it should hit him; if you don’t, I guarantee you that
the grenade will miss even though it explodes right on top of him
on your screen.

Goblin Rocket Helm: Available only to Gnomes due to its 235 engineering
requirement. It offers excellent amount of hp for flag carriers,
and its charge ability has the potential of changing the outcome of
a game. Its long cooldown (20 min) isn’t too big of a concern,
because as a mage you are quite fast so you only need it in the
most dire situations. Just for the record, the charge counts as a
Disorient effect and thus shares the DR with skills like Gouge, and
the effect can be dispelled.

Gnomish Net-o-Matic Projector: Normally it’s a risky item to use, but
since mages can blink out of the net (Escape Artist works too), its
adverse effect is almost a non-issue. I find it to be moderately
useful, not as much as the Goblin Rocket Helm’s charge by
comparison.

Goblin Sapper Charge: This explosive device produces a very high amount
of damage that could very well surprise your targets. I haven’t
tried it myself since my mage doesn’t have much hp to begin with,
but if you have the hp to spare it could be a useful asset.

Catseye Ultra Goggles: This item greatly increases your stealth
detection, to the point that you can spot a rogue about 5-8 yards
away. But keep in mind that if he has specced into Master of
Deception then he can get a lot closer to you before you can see
him, probably too close for you to react.

This item isn’t as essential to mages as it is to some other
classes, since you have many AE spells that break stealth. But
there are times you want to see the rogues sooner so that you can
control them before they get into melee range, so it is still
useful.

You should also know that these goggles are not strong enough in
seeing through the “Improved Stealth” state rogue enters when he
hits Vanish, in that situation use your AE spells instead.

- Herbalist (Alchemy)

There are quite a few potions that will aid you in PvP when used at the
right moments. Other than the usual healing or mana potions, having a
few Swiftness Potion and Free Action Potion (FAP) on hand would never
hurt anyone. As a plus, you can find all the necessary herbs in areas
fairly accessible to players in the 20-29 range. My take on potions is
that most PuG games aren’t worth the effort/gold for potions like FAP,
but if you are serious about the BG and are well funded, then go for it
— I’ve seen people who chug potions like there is no tomorrow.

- Jewelcrafting

Unfortunately, some decent items produced by this profession have level
requirement, like the Golden Hare figurine, which requires you to be
level 35 to use. Notable exceptions to this are the statues. I don’t
have the expansion pack so I can’t be sure, but from the look of it you
should be able to use Dense Stone Statue at level 29 (since it only
requires 225 Jewelcrafting). If so then it could be quite useful, as it
heals for over 1000 hp, and unlike bandage, it is not interrupted by
damage.

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5.3 Other Useful Items

- Anti-Venom
Created from Small Venom Sac, this patch instantly removes any poison
effect on you, perfect for countering the Crippling Poison from rogues
when you want to save your trinket for other uses. This is treated as a
bandage, so you will get a 1-min long “Recently Bandaged” debuff, which
should expire soon enough. You can go to Stonetalon Mountains to farm
the Small Venom Sac; the spiders in Loch Modan may drop them too,
though you should ascertain that at places like WoWHead.

- Jungle Remedy
Dropped by those doctors at the NE corner of Stranglethorn Vale, this
potion also removes any poison effect. It’s less desirable than the
Anti-Venom patch since it shares cooldown with other potions, but
nothing says you can’t have both.

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5.4 My Keybinding

I mentioned previously that a good keybinding scheme will make or break
your mage, so here I will list the keys I use just for your reference and
consideration. For a more elaborate and efficient keybind, check out
Otherguy’s Sorrow Hill 5.

I use two rows of the main hotbar (row one and row six according to the
game), and use three more to the sides. You can get a clearer picture of
this after watching my video.

Note that some spells (like Polymorph) appear on more than one bar. Those
are the spells that I want to be able to use regardless of which hotbar I
am currently on. So in a more efficient keybinding scheme I should move
them to one of those fixed hotbars (2, 3, 4 in my case), and reserve the
slots in row one and row six only for those spells that I want to use some
of the time. I have used this scheme for quite a while now for all my mages
so I am a bit reluctant to change it. But if you are a young, aspiring mage
you should definitely consider what I just said and try not to have
repeated spells on your hotbars.

- Row One (Home Row)
1 - Fireball
2 - Rank 1 Frostbolt
3 - Rank 1 Frost Nova
4 - Polymorph
5 - unused
6 / Shift+E - Rank 1 Arcane Explosion
7 / Shift+D - Blink
8 / Shift+C - Mana Shield
9 / Mouse 3 - Fire Blast
0 / Mouse 5 - Arcane Explosion
- - Arcane Intellect
= - Frost Armor

- Row Six
1 - Fire Ward
2 - Frost Ward
3 - Remove Lesser Curse
4 - Polymorph
6 / Shift+E - Blizzard
7 / Shift+D - Blink
8 / Shift+C - Mana Shield
9 / Mouse 3 - Fire Blast

- Bottom Right Bar
Q - Frostbolt
E - Cone of Cold
C - Scorch
F - Counterspell
G - Arcane Missiles
X - Rank 1 Blizzard

- Other
Shift+R - Iron Grenade
Shift+F - Mana Gem
Ctrl+Spc - Anti Venom
Z - Will of the Forsaken / Insignia of the Alliance
Shift+Spc - Insignia of the Horde / Escape Artist
Mouse Wheel Up - switch to Row Six
Mouse Wheel Down - switch to Row One
A - Strafe Left (Strafing allows you to move at maximum speed while
casting spells on those that are behind you)
W - Forward
S - Backward
D - Strafe Right
Mouse 4 - Auto Run

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5.5 My Talent Spec

Before Blizzard gave Instant Arcane Explosion to mages for free, I had a
heavy Arcane build. Currently all my 29 mages are specced 2/14/6 as such:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=RMZVMh0bZMho

The reason for going with this spec should be clear if you’ve read the Mage
Talent section. Basically I try to get as many utilities as possible out of
the 20 points I have. Two points in Arcane Focus is definitely well spent.
I put 14 points into fire to get the stun, longer range on my fire spells
(mostly Fire Blast and Scorch), ~20% shorter cooldown on the spell that I
use all the time, and a chance for my fire spells to resist damage
interruption to some extent (good to have since I don’t have Imp. Arcane
Missiles). For the frost tree, I went for lower resist rates again, and one
point in Frostbite to make my life a bit easier against melee classes.

The best part about this spec is versatility. The fire talents will make it
easier to cast something while being hit (such as when I go return the
flag), while the arcane and frost talents will allow me to CC more
effectively and survive longer. Although it is by no means a perfect spec
(if there is such as thing), it suits my role in the BGs very well.

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5.6 Add-Ons

I am one of those minimalists that try to keep the interface as clean as
possible. I think human eyes and brains can only process information at a
certain rate, and if you overload them by clustering your screen with
non-essential information, you may very well miss something important along
the way.

Therefore I pretty much just use the default interface, with enemy casting
bar and combat text turned on (the one that shows the damage you are
taking, not the combat log, which I normally have it off unless I am
shooting a PvP video). The two add-ons that I use are:

- Class Viewer
It will display your target’s class as a draggable icon, I find it to
be very handy since I switch my targets very often and I simply don’t
have the time to look at the tooltip on the lower right corner every
time.

- Omni Cooldown
It will overlay a numerical value on spells that are on cooldown. This
will make it easier for you to see which spells are on a cooldown and
help you to time your spells better.

Together they use about 50KB of memory.

Recently I’ve added Skinner as my third mod. It just makes the default
interface look prettier with semi-transparent panes with a glossy black
background. It uses about 1 MB of memory.

===============================================================================
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[6] = Defeating Other Players = =
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===============================================================================

Even though you should avoid most hostile encounters to save time and mana,
they are inevitable, therefore you should know how to handle them. Here I will
give you some general strategies on how to beat each of the classes in this
game. I also mark the difficulty of these classes with one, two, or three
stars, with three stars being the most difficult. This ranking system assumes
their equipment is on equal footing with yours (i.e., average), and they have
average skill. All twinks can be assumed to be of “hard” difficulty.

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6.1 Druid (**)
You will find more feral druids than restoration druids. Restoration
druids shouldn’t pose too much trouble since most of them just spam a
few Moonfire and maybe heal when needed, so just nuke away and CS when
they are low on health. Feral druids are a bit different. Because they
can shift out of Polymorph, I generally just open with Fire Blast and
continue with Scorch. When they get close, either FN or CoC to get some
distance. The only thing you need to worry about is their attack speed
in cat form, which is once per second without counting the special
movies (but of course your Frost Armor will slow them a bit), that’s
why having some spells that are hard to interrupt is vital when
fighting a druid. In Bear Form they can probably root you with Feral
Charge and stun you with Bash. You can blink out of both, but generally
I save my Blink for Bash, since some of them will try to shift out and
heal when you are stunned. Basically you just gradually DPS them down
with your instant and fast spells, you could use Mana Shield if you are
frost specced, but it will drain your mana at an alarming rate under
the cat form’s DPS, so beware.

Twink Druid
Basically treat them the same as regular druids, but watch for your hp
as they can dish out some damage fast if you are not careful. Watch out
for the impending Feral Charge when they are in Bear Form and suddenly
retreat from you, as it interrupts your spellcasting and applies a mini
CS effect on that school of spell. Keep your distance for as long as
possible, which means run from time to time while waiting for your
cooldowns to finish.

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6.2 Hunter (***)
Hunter is always hard to deal with due to their range, damage, and pet.
When you see one, run toward him so he is about 20 yards away, then
Blink in. If his pet is right next to him, FN; otherwise you might want
to wait for a few seconds for that pet to get close to you before using
FN. While staying in the dead zone, try to Polymorph the pet to make
your life a bit easier, but don’t be surprised if it resists your
Polymorph. If it does resist, you are probably better off forgetting
about the pet and focus on the hunter, as the FN is going to break
soon. While the hunter is still being rooted, use a snare like
Frostbolt on him so he can’t run away easily. Thereafter you should
just stay close to him, preferably in the dead zone but within melee
range is also acceptable. Have your CoC, rank 1 Frostbolt, or Blink
ready when he trinkets. It will be a pretty close fight, but you should
come on top at the end. As a final note, it might be a good idea to use
Mana Shield at times, but you should watch your mana and don’t allow it
to go too low — you will need it.

Twink Hunter
Now this is getting really tough. Unless you are twinked too I don’t
think you can survive this, so I strongly recommend you to Polymorph
the hunter and just run. There are two kinds of twinked hunters:
Marksman and Survival. If anything, the Survival variant is even more
dangerous for reasons you will see shortly. Both of them do tremendous
amount of ranged damage (Auto Shot and Arcane Shot crit in the range of
300), and you can expect they keep boars as their pets, as they have
the charge ability that temporarily stops your movement. What you do,
as usual, is Blink in and FN him and the pet. Try to Polymorph the pet,
and open up on the hunter. The hunter will melee you at first, at least
to apply Wing Clip. If he’s Survival this could get really ugly because
his Wing Clip might have a chance to root you and his Raptor Strike may
very well crit for over 400+ damage. Assuming you can move, try to slow
and follow him for as long as you can — you don’t want to allow him to
use his ranged weapon on you. But don’t just run right behind him in a
straight line, as there is a good chance you will get frozen by the
trap he’s just laid down while running. Instead, follow him but run
along side of him, this way you can see the trap as well as avoid it.
Quite frankly, your chance is minimal against a hunter with 2000+ hp
while you only have about 1400, just do as much damage as you can, use
Iron Grenade when needed, and pray for the best.

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6.3 Mage (**)
Mage vs. Mage is evidently a balanced fight, and quite a fun one too. I
almost never open with Polymorph, because that will just give the other
side a chance to CS me, plus my Fireball or Frostbolt doesn’t do that
much more damage than a simple Fire Blast. So normally I just open with
Fire Blast, and put up Fire Ward (which is usually more useful than
Frost Ward) to absorb some incoming damage. After this I just spam
Scorch and Fire Blast, use FN and CoC when needed. I find that many
mages will try to Polymorph you, if that’s the case, just CS him. You
should also CS any Arcane Missiles he may cast, as it’s a fairly
dangerous spell. One thing to keep in mind is that you need to be
mobile. If he is wasting time to cast something like Frostbolt, run
around him a bit and cast instant spells while circling him.

Twink Mage
If you know what you are doing, most twink mages won’t present more
trouble than regular mages because they can’t take full advantage of
their high spell damage against a fellow Mage, as you can just CS any
long casting spells like Frostbolt. Just use Scorch, Fire Blast, and
move when your spells are on GCD. If you get FNed, Blink out. If you
have used your CS on their Frostbolt and he is switching to something
like Arcane Missiles, use your Iron Grenade to interrupt him and give
yourself some breathing room. You can also Blink behind him right
before he finishes spells like Fireball to confuse him, but be careful
of the FN so don’t get too close to him either. Another thing you can
try is faking Polymorph to bait his CS; if he fell for it, you could
cast anything you like in the next 20 seconds or so.

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6.4 Paladin (*)
Paladins don’t present much threat, since they have to get close to you
to do some decent damage. Just Polymorph, open with your big spells,
cast a rank 1 Frostbolt to see if he knows to counter with Blessing of
Freedom (BoF). If he does, you can either run and cast Fire Blast while
waiting for the BoF to expire, or you can just stand there and cast
your regular spells to make things go faster — though I suggest you to
run/kite a bit if he is using weapons like Corpsemaker. Most paladins
only start to heal with Holy Light when their health drops down to the
30% range, a CS and a few instants should be able to finish them off in
that case.

More experienced paladins may Flash of Light themselves when they are
around 70% or so, and keep their health around that level throughout.
This could be problematic because you may run out of mana before they
do. One thing you could try after they’ve healed back to full health is
Polymorph them, regain the distance and cast your opener again. Repeat
a few times to see if there is a noticeable drop in their mana. If so,
you are winning the fight. If not, they are probably not worth the
trouble anyway, just wait 15 seconds to reset the diminishing return,
Polymorph, then ignore them.

If you really have to kill the paladin, try to use an Iron Grenade
before he starts to heal, and cast your damage spells. This could do
400-500 damage, which should represent 30-40% of his health. If the
paladin bubbles, you should count for about four seconds while running
away from him, and then start casting your opener - it should hit him
the right after the bubble fades.

Twink Paladin
Unless you are twinked, you won’t have enough mana to take down a twink
paladin that heals. So the smartest thing to do is just Polymorph and
run. If you have to take him down, wait for a teammate to do it with
you. One thing you need to watch out for is that twink paladin at this
level does a lot of damage, think them as an unkitable twink warrior
with healing spells, so try to stay out of melee range for as long as
you can.

Another thing, there are many twink paladins that play support roles
only, you can usually tell by their glowy mace and a shield. If that’s
the case, you should be CC them while you or your group is focused on
the main target, since those paladins are extremely tough to take down
unless your teammates are very coordinated. So just do whatever you can
— Polymorph, CS, Iron Grenade, etc. — to prevent them from healing
your primary target.

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6.4 Priest (*)
Priest is another one of those classes you may or may not have the mana
to take down. Their damage output is very poor in this bracket, so you
shouldn’t have much trouble in killing an average priest if he decides
to stay and fight. If he runs, keep up with him by using your snares
and Blink. Things get more interesting if the said priest constantly
heal himself with Renew and Flash Heal, in that case just do what you
do against a healing paladin, but you may run out of mana first before
it’s over.

Most of the time you will see the priest stays behind a group. In that
case you should try your best to prevent him from healing. For example,
if you are unloading your DPS on one target, change your camera angle
so that the priest is within your view as well. As soon as you see him
starts to heal, switch your target and CS. If you are specced into
Imp. CS, use it when he is low on health so he can’t shield himself.
Finally, if you see a priest closes in on you, prepare to break out the
impending Psychic Scream.

Twink Priest
One of the toughest and smartest players I’ve fought was a twink
priest. No matter what I try, he manages to keep both his health and
mana bars close to full. He has so much mana regeneration that the
usual Polymorph trick doesn’t work. You may also see a twink priest
that just puts a DoT on you then proceeds to wand, which is
surprisingly effective. In most situations you won’t have to kill the
priest, just the person he’s healing. If your group’s DPS isn’t that
high, you should zerg the priest first. Otherwise, you should try to
keep the healing under control.

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6.5 Rogue (**)
Rogue is one of the most popular classes in this bracket, and the good
news is that most rogue players aren’t that great. But that doesn’t
mean you should under-estimate them, because a rogue is highly
dangerous if he is willing to use a few cooldowns.

The fight against rogues that don’t use cooldowns is fairly
straightforward. If he opens with Cheap Shot, just Blink out and
Polymorph. If he opens with Ambush you can either Blink or FN, but
Blink may be a bit safer just in case he trinkets out of the FN (or
uses Escape Artist). Once he’s Polymorphed, you should wait for the
Crippling Poison to expire before casting your opener. The best opener
for most mages is Fireball, which does a bit more damage than Frostbolt
at this level and applies a short DoT. If you open with that, be sure
to follow up with a rank 1 Frostbolt to keep him snared. Here is an
important but obvious fact: that unless the rogue is within melee range
he can’t hurt you. So keep rotating between rank 1 Frostbolt, FN, CoC
and maybe even Blink to stay away from him. If he is running toward you
and you want to Polymorph him, turn your back toward him so you can’t
get Gouged, but don’t do it too early either or he will just Backstab
you. If you keep kiting, he should go down fairly fast.

Now, the fight against a rogue with cooldowns a lot more technical,
the critical thing to remember here is that you should try to keep at
least one of your FN or Blink up at all times, move away a bit to run
down the timers if you must. Assuming he opens with Ambush, Blink out
and try to Polymorph. If he vanishes, you could either try to run
toward his last known location and spam rank 1 AE, or run away to let
your health regenerate a bit and wait for the cooldown on Blink to
expire. If you are fast, you can even use rank 1 Blizzard after he
vanishes. But he will be very close to you even if your Blizzard
reveals his location, so be prepared. Regardless of what happens, once
you see him again try to snare him and get some distances before
Polymorph, which should land. There is no benefit for him to trinket
out right away since he is still in combat and can’t stealth, but if he
does trinket out when you are casting your opener, then Blizzard or use
CS to keep him in combat before re-applying Polymorph. Now do your
opener and the usual snare, and basically kite while doing damage
intermittently with Fire Blast, Scorch and Frostbolt. If during this he
vanishes while being fairly distant away from you, see above for what
you should do. If he vanishes right next to you, either use CoC in his
direction, FN, or rank 1 AE and Blink. If he uses Sprint, you can’t
hope to outrun him. In this case just FN and freeze him when he gets
close enough; or you can use Polymorph if he hasn’t lost much hp up
till that point, which should land right before he reaches you. One
last note, I don’t know why but only a very small fraction of the rogue
population use Kick, which is a mini CS and should be one of the most
useful skills a rogue has. You should still watch out for it since you
don’t want to have your Arcane tree or Frost tree locked down at the
most critical moment, so be mindful your long casts.

Everything above assumes the rogues open on you first. But if you see
the rogue first, you could just CS him to prevent him from going into
stealth or use Blizzard if he does.

If the rogue catches you with Crippling Poison, there are a few ways to
remove it. You can 1. trinket out; 2. drink a Jungle Remedy potion; 3.
apply the Anti-Venom patch; or 4. use Escape Artist if you are a gnome.
But you should be very careful as to when to use them, because they all
have their associated cooldowns, and they won’t help you much when the
rogue isn’t slowed or rooted himself.

Twink Rogue
You have to play very well to fend off or kill a twink rogue. First,
location is important. A big open field is good for you, as it affords
plenty of spaces for you to kite; while a closed quarter, such as
inside a WSG flag room, is much better for him, because he can exploit
the line-of-sight (LoS) to restrict your spellcasting and has an easier
time to restealth. Second, twink rogue does a lot of burst damage and
won’t be afraid to use all sorts of cooldowns (including engineering
items) when the situation demands it. Therefore you should monitor your
health closely, put up a Mana Shield when it falls below half; and
ideally you should have things like Iron Grenade and items that remove
the Crippling Poison to even out the playing field. As to the specifics
of the encounter, treat it the same as rogues with cooldowns. The only
thing different here is that you shouldn’t be afraid to run when the
fight isn’t going your way, such as when he lands a big opener or uses
a few cooldowns. Remember that his cooldowns aren’t short and his
damage is very much dependent on luck. So you may very well have a much
better chance of defeating him after you have run away and replenished
your health and mana.

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6.7 Shaman (***)
As mentioned in the introduction, I have a lot more experience fighting
shamans in the 40s (a pure nightmare, hehe) than in the 20s, but
shamans are easier to deal with in the 20s anyway. With Lightning
Shield, Shocks, and a big 2H weapon, shamans can do a fearful amount of
DPS while retaining the ability to heal themselves, hence I consider
them to be of “hard” difficulty. There is only one rule in fighting a
shaman — don’t allow them to melee you. You should always keep a snare
effect on him. If you get slowed by Frost Shock or Earthbind Totem, use
FN or Blink to get away. Almost all shamans I’ve seen are offensive
minded, so they won’t start healing until their health is fairly low,
which presents a perfect opportunity for CS. You can also put up a Fire
Ward or Frost Ward to mitigate some damage from either the totems or
the shocks, but they could be purged so you can’t rely on them to
reduce damage: the only sure way to reduce damage is staying out of the
melee range.

Twink Shaman
Twink shamans don’t offer anything new, other than a bit more hp and a
much better weapon, so the same strategy applies. You may want to fake
a Polymorph at the start to let him use Earth Shock, after which you
can Polymorph without being interrupted (though he might be within
melee range by now). If you have imp. CS, you can also CS right away
and then Polymorph. If you do that, I suggest you to wait a while
before nuking him so that your CS won’t be on cooldown for too long
when the fight starts.

(Contributed by Deeps of the Emerald Dream server, the very same one
that you see in my video toward the end of the section on AB)

Some shamans love to Purge every buff you have, if that’s the case you
can apply Rank 1 Frost Armor to yourself after each Purge to keep him
casting Purge each time. The advantage is that it costs you almost no
mana for the Frost Armor but repeated Purge will put a heavy drain on
his mana.

(My response) I think I’ve tried it before and if I recall correctly,
Purge doesn’t cost that much mana for this to be a real profitable
move. But you as the reader should definitely try it out, as Deeps is
easily one of the most innovative, experienced, (and skilled, I might
add =) ) PvPers I’ve known.

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6.8 Warlock (*)
Warlocks are rather easy at this level. You can remove his Curse of
Agony (CoA) or Curse of Tongues with Remove Lesser Curse, and use Fire
Ward to counter his Immolate or Searing Pain. If he tries to cast Fear
or Shadow Bolt, CS him (in fact you should almost always CS when he’s
casting a shadow spell, this way he can’t spam Fear either). So a
warlock really doesn’t have a lot of ways to hurt you. The pet he uses
does add some variations to this fight.

If he uses the Imp, it’s better to Polymorph the warlock and kill the
Imp first, since it’s high speed of attack will interrupt your
spellcasting.

If he uses a succubus, you could either kill her or keep out of melee
range by using CoC and FN. Ideally you should kill her first, but you
may run into mana problems later depending the gears you and your
opponent have.

As for the Voidwalker, it has too much health and does almost no
damage, therefore you can just leave it alone. Now there is a chance
that the warlock will Sacrifice his Voidwalker, in which case you won’t
have enough mana to take down that shield. If that happens just run
away, he has no way of catching up to you.

Twink Warlock
They generally stack on + Shadow Damage gear and DoT people to death.
+200 shadow damage in this bracket isn’t unheard of, it is therefore
imperative that you remove the CoA (you can still let it tick once or
twice, since most of the damage won’t come in until later). If he uses
Drain Life, either CS that or, if you don’t want to use CS or don’t
have it up at that moment, use Arcane Missiles. Finally, if your health
is getting a bit low, put up a Mana Shield to absorb some of that
magical damage. You should trinket (or WotF) out of the fear or
seduction the first time you are under such effect, because it has the
longest duration. Subsequent fear/seduction usually don’t last long
enough for your to use cooldowns on unless the warlock has a lot of
+ shadow damage gear.

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6.9 Warrior (*)
Warriors should be quite easy for most mages, but again, never
under-estimate their damage once they get close. In many cases you will
see the warrior before he gets a chance to Charge you, if so, just CS
him to put him in combat, Polymorph, then kite. As with rogues, the
warrior may choose to use trinket or racial trait to remove the snare,
so you should always have a backup spell at your disposal, such as CoC
or FN. The only trick that a warrior has is the Intimidating Shout,
which freezes you in spot thus buys him some time to either get out of
FN or get close to you. But the effect is broken by any damage and has
a fairly short range, so generally he can only use it at the start,
right after he charges you and you use FN. The skill is on a 3-min
cooldown hence warriors won’t use it all the time, but you need to be
prepared just in case.

If the warrior manages to Charge you first, just Blink out (if you use
FN you may run into the problem mentioned above and may be forced to
trinket early). Polymorph, let the Hamstring expire, then kite.

If you time it right, you can also Blink the moment he Charges, which
won’t give him a chance to Hamstring you so you can safely Polymorph.

Twink Warrior
You can expect twink warriors to have more than 2000 hp, while some of
the very well geared ones could get to about 2400 without a shield. You
may just have enough mana to take him down if you don’t use Mana
Shield, but it could be rather risky since once you get below 20% hp he
can use Execute, which does quite a bit of instant damage when his rage
bar is full. On top of this, twink warriors typically have an about 15%
critical hit rate and crit for 400+ on cloth. But your strategy against
a twinked warrior remains the same, that as long as he can’t reach you
he can’t hurt you. Just be extra careful when you kite, once he gets
close to you and puts on a Hamstring, you and he are pretty much at the
same speed regardless of what snares he has on him.

===============================================================================
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[7] = Playing in the Battleground = =
============================================================= =
===============================================================================

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7.1 Playing in a Pickup Group

I reckon that 90-95% of the time that I spend in a BG is with a PuG, so I
have a few words to say about this, to say the least.

On one hand, playing in a PuG is a great way to meet new people, allies
or enemies alike. It is also a very good for you to improve your skills
if you are a newcomer, since most people in a PuG have regular gear, just
like you; and have below average to average PvP skills, just like you
when you first start out. Even after you get better at PvP, the few
twinks in a PuG would offer greater challenge for you to elevate your
skills to a higher level. And if your PuG is organized and work on the
objective, it will provide a very smooth and fun experience that will
make you beckon for more.

But, most PuGs aren’t organized, and you can’t expect them to work on the
objective. Most players in a PuG would just defend in the flag room
(euphemism for “turtle”) or fight endless in the middle if they were in
WSG; or move from resource node to resource node like Merry-Go-Round in
AB. You could do things yourself, but there is no guarantee that they
would help. You could give them directions, but there is no guarantee
that they would listen. And it only takes a few matches like this to
leave you utterly frustrated at BG.

As such, there are a few observations and guidelines that might help you
to get through the ugly part of the PuG experience.

- Never rely on other people to get anything done, unless those people
have proven otherwise. This means that in WSG you have to get the flag,
return the flag, and escort your flag carrier; and that in AB you have
to defend a resource node.

- Never think that your teammates will help or listen. PuGs are
unorganized by definition, thus you either have to do everything
yourself, which isn’t really possible; or do as much as you can and
somehow convince or coax the others to do the rest. For example, you
may have to deliberately carry the flag into your PuG to gain some
protection rather than expecting them to come and help you.

- Communicate often. You can’t hope to order people around in a PuG, but
you can instill a believe in them that you are in control of the game
and thus they should probably listen to what you say. You can do this
by saturating the BG channel with useful information. For example, when
you are going to get the flag, tell them which way you will coming out.
When you get the flag, tell them to stop the enemies chasing after you.
When your flag is taken, warn them to watch for the enemy flag carrier.
And let them know when they do something right, a little encouragement
goes a long way.

- Only consider giving up the match when you are the only one who’s
trying. The reason for this is that you simply can’t do everything
yourself in a 10-man or 15-man BG. If you are the sole player battling
over the objectives, your effort will come to naught at the end (and I
speak this from experience). So in that situation the harder you try,
the more disappointed and frustrated you will be. It’s therefore much
better to save the energy and resources (like Iron Grenade) for matches
that they will make a difference in. But on the other hand, never
concede the match when there is at least another person on your team
who’s trying. Sometimes two good and determined players is all it takes
to win a match.

I don’t want you to take this the wrong way. Even though I say this, I
still often fight till the very last minute in hopeless battles. I
think it’s good to push yourself to the limit from time to time to
expose any areas you may need to improve upon, and you certainly will
gain some valuable experience along the way. All I am saying is that
you shouldn’t reach the point where you can’t take any more of this
game. A game is supposed to be fun and enjoyable, never forget that.

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7.2 Playing Against a Premade Group

Here premade refers to a group of very well geared and coordinated players
(usually of the same guild) from the same server. They provide the greatest
challenge and fun you can possibly have from PvP.

Of course, if you are not twinked, you will probably die many, many times.
But that doesn’t mean you don’t belong or you can’t contribute to the team.

When you are playing against premade (whether you are in one or not), you
probably need to adjust your role from primary objective taker to support,
that is crowd control. The reason for this change is simple: you won’t
survive very long if you are holding the flag or are the sole
defender/attacker on a resource node. But if you let the more durable
classes and players to do the heavy lifting, you won’t be under too much
pressure thus you can utilize your Polymorph, snares, CS to their maximum
effect.

But of course there are always exceptions. If you are a well very geared
mage you can still be a very successful flag runner, or some other role you
desire. Just do what you think is best for your team.

===============================================================================
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[8] = Warsong Gulch = =
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===============================================================================

Finally we’ve come to the crux of this guide. Though this and the following
section on Arathi Basin may constitute a disproportionately small part, they
demand the mastery of every bit of knowledge and skill written before them if
you want to be truly successful in the BGs. I’d also like to point out that
part of that knowledge and skill is gained from playing in the BG, so you
should see these two sections and those above as having a parallel relationship
rather than a purely linear one.

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8.1 Getting To The Flag

This step is usually very easy. Since most of the time the center of the
map is heavily contested, my normal route after jumping off from the GY is
running along the edge of the map. You can use the foliage and other
obstacles to further conceal yourself. I feel this step is slightly
easier for the Horde since their path is much dimmer, but the differences
should be minor. Once you get to the other side, walk up the ramp and enter
the enemy base through the 2nd floor. In more competitive matches, you may
want to vary your point of entry a bit and enter through the tunnel.
However, in most games this is a poor choice because you will be spotted
halfway up the tunnel, and it is very easy to set up a bottleneck in the
tunnel.

Once you get to the flag room (FR), and assuming you are on the 2nd floor,
you could first use one or two Blizzard to reveal any hidden hunters and
rogues if you know they are guarding the flag. Otherwise just jump down and
take the flag. There used to be an imbalance between the two bases: the
Horde players could just jump down from the 2nd floor and take the flag
while in mid-air, while you couldn’t do that as Alliance. This has been
fixed in a most recent patch (to my dismay, hehe), now both sides have to
walk to the flag area to take the flag.

Now, once in a while you will find that the center of the map is crawling
with hunters, making getting to the other side almost impossible. If that’s
the case, you could either ask your stealthier friends to go to the other
side, or try to get through while the enemies are occupied. In all these
years I don’t recall a single group that completely locks down the center
from start to finish, so there always are some openings, you just need to
be patient. However, in situations like this you also need to think about
how you are going to get the flag back to your base once you have it,
because then you will be a very visible target.

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8.2 Getting Away With The Flag

Here comes one of the hardest parts of this game, that is to return to your
base with the flag. You have to remember that chances are your teammates
aren’t going to offer much help, so you have to be self-reliant and plan
your path and strategies accordingly.

Before we go any further, I want to emphasize two things that will be
paramount to your success in getting away with the flag.

- Know When to Hold and When to Run
Your objective is to get the flag to your side, but that doesn’t mean
you should just run straight back to your base as fast as possible. A
fairly common scenario you will face when playing against a superior
team is that you have the flag but your entire team is wiped out and
sent back to the GY. If you run out with the flag now, you will almost
certainly meet the entire enemy force as they carry the flag back to
their base while you are cut off from your teammates — not a good
position to be in. Therefore in this situation you should just hold the
flag in a concealed position and tell your teammates where to meet you.
Generally speaking the roof or ramp are good choices, as most players
tend to walk up the tunnel when they have the flag.

- Look Behind!
You simply can’t be a successful flag runner if you don’t know what’s
chasing you. Looking behind will allow you to time your cooldowns and
counter potential dangerous moves made by your enemy. If you watch my
video you will see that I probably spend more time looking behind me
than ahead of me.

Now we get those two points out of the way, let’s talk about how to get the
flag back to your base. Starting from the enemy base, you have three routes
to choose from to get back to the other side: the tunnel, the ramp, or the
graveyard. They offer different advantages and disadvantages.

- The tunnel leads directly to the center of the map, which is usually
where the enemies are. It is also very possible that there will be a
hunter or a rogue waiting for you at the other end of the tunnel whom,
due to the incline and the width of the tunnel, you can’t see until you
actually get out, by which time it may already be too late. The upside
is that it is the fastest way out of the enemy base, and the speed
boots can be extremely helpful when you are running from the defenders.
Just remember that it might be a good idea to run diagonally for a bit
right after you are out of the tunnel to avoid any danger that lurks
near the tunnel exits. Lastly, if you see a hunter laying down a trap
in the tunnel, Blink over it.

- The ramp is usually my first choice. Its immediate benefit is that right
after you get the flag you can turn left and exit through the doorway
on the 2nd floor, which offers some protection against ranged attackers
like hunters and mages (due to LoS). Once you are outside, you get a
vantage point to survey the battleground, which allows you to refine
your escape plan. Thereafter you can just run along the side of the
map, where the houses, catapults and trees will conceal your movement
from cusory examination. Furthermore, it is also the path farthest from
the spawn point of your enemies (which is to say the GY), so it would
take them longer to get to you. The disadvantage associated with the
ramp path is that it takes the longest time to get the flag back to
your base, since you are moving laterally a lot. It also means that the
enemies in the center of the map can simply run to the entrance to your
tunnel and cut you off before you can enter it.

- The GY path could be quite risky because it goes right through where the
enemies spawn: if you were unlucky your little venture would end right
there. One thing you can try is to walk along the very northern edge of
the map until you hit the western wall, then jump down. Most people
won’t bother to look behind after they resurrect so you can probably
get away unnoticed. If you have depleted too much health or mana in the
flag room, you can also replenish them at the hut. This route is faster
than the ramp path; it doesn’t put you right in the middle of the map;
and it may very well surprise your enemies if you have kept on using
the other two exits in a long match.

My order of preference goes: the ramp > the tunnel > the GY. But this is as
much a reflection of the conditions inside a normal BG as the layout of the
BG itself. You should be flexible in choosing which path to use, and
shouldn’t be afraid to change the course when things aren’t going as
planned.

At this point (or indeed maybe even earlier) you may have noticed that I’ve
skipped a step, that is what you do when there are defenders inside the
base. I will answer that question here since it is also the problem you
will be facing once you get out of the base and into the open.

The basic principle is that you don’t want to waste any time when you have
the flag, so you will be CC any and (if possible) all enemies you encounter
along the way. Secondly, watch the cooldowns on your lifesaving
spells/items and don’t use them lightly, or you may find yourself in a
tight spot and completely without defense. Thirdly, if you knew the task
would be difficult, you should get as much help from your teammates as
possible. Usually this comes down to getting the flag when your teammates
are engaging the defenders in the enemy base, or running toward them when
you have the flag. Both of these require you to check your map and
communicate often, so form the habit of doing so. With these in mind, here
is a rough idea of what you can do against the enemies that come into your
way, categorized by class.

- Druid
If both of you are in the base, you only have to worry about the
annoying Moonfire spam. Some better druids will change to bear form to
charge you, but refrain from using spells like FN and Blink if you can,
since druid doesn’t do that much damage. You can use CoC or even
Polymorph on them, just to see what they would do. Once you are
outside, you should watch out for Entangling Root, so keep him in your
sight. You can counter the root by using either CS or Blink, depending
on the situation. For instance, if you also see a paladin, CS the druid
and save the Blink for the Hammer of Justice.

- Hunter
Combining range, speed, damage and slowing effect, this is your most
dangerous pursuer, thus must be stopped at all costs if you want to get
the flag across. In most situations, you should find a way to get close
to them (turning back a bit if you must) and Polymorph. If you can’t
Polymorph in his dead zone, put up a Mana Shield first or you will be
mostly dead before your Polymorph goes off. If he trinkets out, do it
again; but if he somehow gets out of it the second time, you will have
to think of something else. You can try FN and Blink, or use Iron
Grenade when you want to stop the hunter without losing any time
yourself. Sometimes if the hunter is having the Aspect of the Cheetah
on you may get enough time to get away by merely hitting him once with
Fire Blast to daze him. You could also run into your teammates and ask
them to stop the hunter for you. If it’s a low level hunter away from
his GY, it may be easier just to kill him first. As a reminder, watch
out for the traps when you are close to the hunter.

- Mage
Mage is fairly dangerous if the person knows what he is doing. A mage
will do two things: Polymorph you or slow you with Frostbolt, Frost
Nova, or CoC. You only have one CS so you will have to figure out which
school to counter. There isn’t any rule or magic formula for this, you
have to think for yourself for the situation at hand. For example, if
the mage is trying to sheep you, you can CS right away and Polymorph
him instead, unless of course you don’t have the time to stop and cast
Polymorph, in which case trinketing out of the Polymorph and CS any
Frost spell he may cast is more sensible. If he is getting close to
you, save the Blink for the possible FN. Conversely, if he just Blinked
right next to you can cast FN to root him in place. If it is a lone
mage you are fighting and have the time to spare, you could just
Polymorph him right away. Even if it gets CSed the first time, and he
trinkets out the second time, he can’t stop the third Polymorph to
land, which would still last a good six seconds.

- Paladin
Paladins can only stun you with Hammer of Justice, so just save the
Blink for it. Most of the time it won’t be necessary to Polymorph them,
unless you think they might put up a Blessing of Freedom on some other
enemy that you are trying to slow.

- Priest
Priests won’t offer much resistance either. Most of them will try to
run into you and hit Psychic Scream. Shadow priests may try to use Mind
Flay to snare you, but its range is limited and they can’t move while
channeling it, therefore just move away and they won’t be able to catch
up.

- Rogue
Rogue could be both very easy or very hard. They are easy in the sense
that if you choose your path carefully and they don’t have cooldowns
available, you can probably outrun most of them just by Blinking from
time to time. If you think there are some rogues lurking ahead, it
might be a good idea to put up a Mana Shield and save your Blink for
the occasion. It becomes harder if the rogue activates Sprint, which
you can still counter with either Polymorph or FN. The tenacious ones
will use Ambush (Blink), Iron Grenade (FN), trinket, Sprint all in one
go, which could spell serious trouble for you. Your best bet in this
case is Iron Grenade and then Polymorph, if you Polymorph right away
you might get Kicked.

There are also some tricks that you might find when dealing with
rogues. One, try to spam a few rank 1 AE a few seconds after you use
Blink near a bottleneck, I’ve known some rogues (including myself when
playing mine) that like to hang around near the tunnel since that’s
where flag carriers generally go. Two, when you see a rogue running
toward you, you can jump right outside of the melee range, turn 180
degrees so that your back is toward him, then anther 180 after he
passes you. This is to prevent him from Gouging you. Three, press down
the forward key instead of using auto run when you are being chased by
a rogue. This way if he uses Distract you won’t be stopped cold in your
track. You can also avoid Distract by keeping yourself in combat, if
you have the corresponding talents, a Fire Blast every time it’s up
will do.

- Shaman
Most of the time shamans will come to you in the Ghost Wolf form, which
is a blessing because you can Polymorph him in that form while he can’t
do anything. Better shamans will shift out as soon as they are within
range, and will Earth Shock your Polymorph if you try it. I suggest you
to Polymorph anyway — even if they used Earth Shock, you don’t have to
wait for long to resheep, and it means they can’t use Frost Shock in
another 6 seconds or so. Some shamans will use Earth Shock to interrupt
you and Earthbind Totem to slow you, but as long as you have the shaman
Polymorphed you should be fine. Of course, the shaman would probably be
on your heels again soon enough, but by then hopefully you would be in
your base. If not, just redo the routine.

- Warlock
Warlock doesn’t have a snare at this level and they can only run at the
normal speed, so you don’t even have to pay attention to them to leave
them behind. The only thing you need to watch out for is
Fear/Seduction, have your CS/WotF/Trinket ready when they do that.

- Warrior
Warrior represents one of the bigger threats you will face. By
themselves they aren’t troublesome — a simple Polymorph or FN will
stop them. But they become a very big headache when there are others
involved as well. Charge once every 15 seconds from 25 yards out, and a
snare that lasts 15 seconds without diminishing return will allow
others to catch up to you very fast if you can’t control the warrior.
Therefore, just like when dealing with hunters and mages, pay extra
attention to them.

In reality, about half of the time you need to run away from two or more
opponents rather than just one, this makes the escape much more dynamic,
complicated, and technical. I cannot give you a rule for countering every
combination of classes, and indeed in some cases there is no counter
without help from your teammates. Rather, I will list three combinations as
examples of what you should do with them.

- Hunter + Hunter
A very challenging combination. It’s practically impossible to
Polymorph with both hunters and their pets on you, so your best hope is
somehow get them bunched together then FN to trap them all, after which
you can Polymorph one if you want. But do know that they will catch up
to you pretty fast, so run to your nearest teammates as soon as
possible. If you can’t FN both of them, try FN one and Blink. If they
are behind you, use your Iron Grenade to stun one.

- Hunter + Warrior
Put up a Mana Shield and Polymorph the warrior, run, then Polymorph the
hunter. With Blink you should be able to get out of the range of Charge
so the warrior won’t be able to catch up to you again.

- Rogue + Mage
You should keep the mage targeted to counter any Polymorph or snaring
spells, and just FN / CoC the rogue when he gets close.

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——————————————————————————-
8.3 Holding The Flag

Great, you’ve made it back with the flag, now you just need to hold it
until your flag is returned. This could either be very long and boring, or
be even more exciting than getting the flag.

In truth, I don’t think mage is the best flag holder in this bracket,
probably not even in the top three if you consider feral druid, paladin and
warrior. Your advantage in mobility is diminished due to the constrained
layout of your base, you rely more on your cooldowns for survival, and your
weakness in low armor and health is highlighted when everyone is focused on
you. So my opinion is that if you can hand off the flag to someone more
durable, do that and protect that person instead (provided that person
knows what he is doing). This way you have very little pressure on you when
you need to cast spells, hence you’d be much more effective at CC the
enemies. Just remember to spam a few AE to make sure there aren’t any
stealthed enemies nearby before handing off the flag.

But if you must hold the flag, I suggest you to go to the roof. The
advantage is threefold. One, there is only one way up, so you will be able
to see every non-stealth unit coming up and get a fairly accurate
assessment of the threat they pose at a glance; it would also be easy for
your team to set up a strategic bottleneck. Secondly, you still reserve the
escape routes that would be available had you hold the flag elsewhere.
Namely, you could jump down to the second floor or you could jump down
straight to the FR. There you could either kite by running back up to the
roof or run out to the GY for help. Lastly, staying on the roof allows you
to quickly reach the capture point once your flag is returned. The last
point must be emphasized, because I see many flag carriers hold the flag
nowhere near the capture point. For a flag retriever nothing is more vexing
than seeing his flag taken time and again because the flag carrier couldn’t
make to the capture point fast enough. And in a tight match a wasted
opportunity is devastating both strategically and psychologically.

Assuming the enemies are attempting to relieve the flag from you, you have
to make a choice between staying and fight or running/kiting. Your best
choice is usually quite evident: if there are way more enemies than guards,
you better run while you still can; but if there is only one or two
attackers, you might as well just kill them on the roof. You have to
monitor your health and mana very closely, especially if you decide to
fight. If you are running/kiting and your teammates are engaging their flag
carrier, you should try to run inside the base for as long as you can. For
example, you can jump to the 2nd floor from roof, go down the incline and
run back to the FR, down the tunnel and up to the roof again (grabbing the
boots if they are up). Or you can just jump down from the loft to the FR,
run up the ramp to the loft again. This way you won’t be too far from the
capture point when your flag is returned. Beware that as you are running up
the ramp leading to your roof, warriors and druids can charge you from
below if you are too careless in choosing your path. Therefore you should
run along outer rim of the bend once you are half way up the ramp.

If you decide to fight, do keep an eye on your healer if you can spare the
attention. Smarter enemies might go straight after your healer first so you
should try to keep him alive as well using Polymorph or FN. If you are
running, you should tell your healer beforehand (that is before the enemies
come up the ramp) that you will be running so he can be prepared to run
with you. In addition, during the course of kiting, if you see he is
casting healing spell on you, wait a few moments for it to land before you
turn to the next corner or jump to a different level.

If there is imminent, grave danger or you are losing health fast, run to
your GY as soon as possible, this way it’s easier for your teammates to
help you. You also have the option of dropping down to the hut to
regenerate your health.

Lastly, if you know you are going down, try to run to your teammates so
(hopefully) they can pick up the flag when you drop it. I’ve seen on many
occasions that our flag carrier would just keep on running when being
chased, and we just couldn’t catch up to him. So when he dropped the flag
it would be returned immediately, giving his teammates no chance to reclaim
it. Don’t be that person. (This really goes back to the subsection on
“Think”)

——————————————————————————-
——————————————————————————-
8.4 Returning The Flag

Returning flag is fairly easy in that you only have two important tasks at
hand: slow the appropriate enemies (usually the flag carrier) and CC the
healers. Mage is the only class that can accomplish these two tasks with
ease and they generally will keep you busy enough, so you can leave the
bulk of the damage to others and supplement it with your instant and short
casts such as Fire Blast. As I said, most of the time you want to snare the
flag carrier so your melee classes can catch up to him. But there are times
where you want to snare his support instead, which might allow you to
isolate the carrier. As for healers, Polymorph them at the start and CS
them when the carrier is about to go down. You can also use Iron Grenade
(or even the rocket helm if you have it) if one CS is not enough.

Again, going back to the beginning of this guide, if you are in their base
and see your carrier is losing health, go to their flag room so that you
can retake the flag should your carrier goes down. You should be prepared
to FN to prevent the enemy carrier from reaching the capture point, you
might also want to activate WotF before you take the flag if you know there
are priests or warlocks around.

——————————————————————————-
——————————————————————————-
8.5 Defending The Flag

Mage is reasonably good at defending the flag, but I suggest you to leave
the task to your rogues or hunters since they are very good at it. You
should help your defenders when the situation calls for it, but you should
be more focused on getting the flag instead.

If you are defending somehow, I would very much recommend *against*
defending in your flag room by yourself, because you run a very high risk
getting swarmed or CCed (such as sap). In addition, the layout in your flag
room isn’t very conducive to spellcastings, the terrain problem can
severely restrict your use of Blink; and should you die, who knows when
you will be resurrected by the spirit healer.

If you have to defend in your base, you *must* keep an eye on the speed
boots and take them whenever they are up (this happens once every three
minutes), so that the enemy can’t use them. Also, you might want to stand
at a spot where you won’t be easily targeted/CCed, such as on the second
floor or under it (but not in that little room).

But most likely you will find yourself “defending” the flag outside, in the
middle of the map. This should be your preferred defending area since you
are in a position to both stop the enemy carrier and assist your own flag
carrier. You need be ready for the enemy flag carrier whenever your flag is
taken. This entails keeping an eye on your side of the map at all
times and announce his location as soon as you see him.

Once you (and your teammates if there are any) get to him, you should do
exactly as what you do when trying to return the flag in their base. That
is you should mostly crowd control and prevent his healer from healing him.

If you died during the course of play and your side is carrying the flag
back to your base, you should go back to defend your flag after you
ressurect.

Defending against druid and mage carriers present a special challenge which
I will address here. In a nutshell, you can’t hope to keep up with a feral
druid once he goes into cat form and shifts often. If you two start head to
head, you can stay with an average-skilled druid for about 45 seconds
(three Blinks) with rank 1 Frostbolt, FN, CoC, Fire Blast (with Impact) and
Blink before he runs out of your range. But if you can keep up for that
long, you have slowed him down long enough that maybe your teammates can
catch up. In the process, you will also drain quite a bit of his mana so
that he probably can’t shift his form or heal for much longer. Just do the
best you can in staying with him and force him to waste mana. Also note
that druid carriers tend to run down via the ramp, if that’s the case, you
should try to stay near the center lane of the map rather than chasing
directly behind them. This way you will get another opportunity to
intercept them when he approach the tunnel. Finally, if you see the druid
is very swift in shifting in and out, don’t bother wasting your time in
casting your Frostbolt, just run after him with Blink so you won’t be left
too far behind once he gets to their FR.

You can catch up to a mage if you weren’t too far behind at the start, but
you have to be careful and selective in the spell you use. For example, if
you are barely keeping up with him, stopping and casting
Polymorph/Frostbolt is obviously a bad idea. In this case your best bet is
the Iron Grenade (or things like rocket helm if you have it). If he isn’t
too far off, you can try Polymorph or Frostbolt, just be mindful of a
possible CS or Blink that puts him out of range. Thus if that mage is very
good you should Polymorph only when your Blink is already on a cooldown. On
the other hand, I find 1-second Frostbolt is very hard to CS due to lag, so
if you are specced in that, it would be a good spell to use at any time. If
he has just used Blink and isn’t too far from where you are, you can FN him
to trap him in place for a while, possibly giving your teammates enough
time to catch up.

——————————————————————————-
——————————————————————————-
8.6 Escorting and Guarding The Flag Carrier

When you are escorting or guarding your flag carrier, you have more time in
choosing your spells than you do when carrying the flag yourself. Therefore
you should really evaluate the situation and think before you cast
something, as an ill-timed FN or Blink may very well put your flag carrier
in jeopardy a few seconds down the line.

When your teammate just got the flag, check your map to see which route he
is using. Once you meet him, just follow him and slow or CC any enemy that
comes into his way. Just as when you are the flag carrier yourself, you
should pay special attentions to hunters, warriors and mages, as they pose
the greatest threat to your carrier.

If you believe your FC isn’t in immediate danger, you can just run along
side of him and keep a 20-yard distance in-between. This way you can shield
him from incoming enemies and use the 20 yards as a buffer zone. If he gets
into trouble, you are never a Blink away to assist.

But if your FC is of a low level (never a good idea to begin with) or you
believe there is imminent threat, you should stay very close to him, maybe
within 5-10 yards or so. This would allow you to avoid some AE effects but
also close enough so that you can pick up the flag should he drop it.

One thing of note here is that if your FC is going down and there are
enemies in the vicinity, you could throw an Iron Grenade onto your FC so
that any enemy next to him will be stunned for a short duration, giving you
the time to pick up the flag.

When you are guarding a FC, you should contribute as much damage as you
can, while doing your usual job of CC the enemies. I feel this should be
obvious to you at this point =) .

===============================================================================
============================================================= =
[9] = Arathi Basin = =
============================================================= =
===============================================================================

This will be a short section, because unlike WSG, AB is very much a team game
– in the sense that in WSG if you have one good FC and one good flag retriever
it may just be enough to win the game. But obviously this is not going to work
in AB, therefore you should probably stick to other players if you can. The
basics (like CC) still apply here, but I will not bore you by repeating them
again.

The only general advice I can give you here is that you should be checking your
map often to see which resource nodes need reinforcement, and which ones held
by the enemy could be attempted. Most of the time you will be relegated to the
defending duty (PuGs…), which could be very boring and not as glamorous as
getting HKs or assaulting nodes, but someone needs to do these tasks if you
want to win the game.

——————————————————————————-
——————————————————————————-
9.1 Assaulting a Resource Node

If you are assaulting a node by yourself and there is only one defender
(other than hunter or warlock) at the flag, you can just Polymorph and
capture the node first before dealing with the defender. Most of the time
you want to Polymorph when both the defender and you are right next to the
flag, since you can click on the flag right after the Polymorph lands.
Other times (such as when facing classes that don’t have a reliable ranged
attack like paladin) you can Polymorph some distance away from the flag
then Blink there.

If you are assaulting a node as part of a group, you can try clicking on
the flag while the enemies are engaged and not paying attention to it. It
works more times than you would think.

Sometimes you may want to loot the corpse of an enemy before you attempt to
convert a resource node to prevent him from resurrecting there. There is no
way for you to know that it will pay off, it could very well just be a
waste of time. But you should be aware of this move, especially in more
competitive matches.

One word of caution. When you are in the process of converting a flag,
never face the flag pole. The reason for this is that unlike other objects
such as the fence, you cannot Blink through it. Thus if a rogue Cheap Shots
you there, you’d be in some real trouble.

——————————————————————————-
——————————————————————————-
9.2 Defending a Resource Node

Defending resource node is an often boring but absolutely necessary part of
AB. Unfortunately, most PuG players won’t bother to defend, so it’s very
likely that you will have to take up that task yourself.

The most important thing to remember when defending a resource node is that
you ought to constantly check the flag to make sure no enemy is attempting
to steal it while you are occupied. It isn’t that uncommon to see a group
of enemies tries to draw you away from the flag while their rogue or druid
goes behind you and steal the flag.

When you are defending, make sure you do *not* stand right next to the flag
pole, or it will be very easy for a rogue to Sap, take your flag, then
restealth before you regain control of your character. Instead, you should
stand about 10-20 yards away from the flag, this way rogue won’t have
enough time to capture the flag after Sap, and the flag is always within
the range of your Fire Blast.

Mage has a distinctive advantage at defending a resource node in that they
have ranged attack, AE attack, and can get back to the flag quickly when
needed. For example, if a couple of enemies all try to capture the resource
node, you can just use Arcane Explosion or Blizzard to stop them all.

Iron Grenade is also very useful when you are some distance away from the
flag but need to stop a group of enemies who are capturing your flag fast.
I’d say the Iron Grenade is never more useful in any other situation than
it is here.

Lastly, if you died while defending, it might be a good idea to run
straight to your corpse and resurrect there if the timer on the spirit
healer is too long. In light of this, if you know you will go down, try to
get as close to the GY and resource node as possible, so that your corpse
run won’t be too long. There are two things you need to note here. One, if
an enemy loots your corpse and overtakes the resource node while you are
away from the GY, it would be a very long walk to the next GY under your
control. Two, even if you manage to get to your corpse, it may take a long
time (a few minutes) before you are allowed to resurrect there, which
happens when you’ve died more than once recently. If that’s the case you
will be forced to run back to the GY again, possibly missing the
resurrection timer. So there are definitely high risks associated with this
move.

There are a few things you can do to minimize the risk. From my experience,
the enemy is more likely to loot your corpse when there are many of them
and only a few of you (or perhaps just you). The risk of getting caught “in
the middle” is lower when you died in a one-on-one situation, and lower
still if both sides had roughly equal numbers when they met.

Second, you should know better than anyone else of when you last died. If
the event happened fairly recently, you should just stay put at the GY.
Though I have to say, if you are a stealth class, it might be a good idea
to run to your corpse regardless of when you died last time, especially if
your corpse is at a rather inconspicuous location. You can wait there,
resurrect, and possibly retake the flag when the time is right.

===============================================================================
============================================================= =
[10] = Other Resources = =
============================================================= =
===============================================================================

——————————————————————————-
——————————————————————————-
10.1 PvP Video

Here is a list of mage videos I’ve seen and liked. Although they focus on
high level pure PvP rather than low level BG PvP, they will certainly help
you in becoming a more skilled mage. As for BG PvP, you can check out the
video I made specifically for this guide. Do note that this is by no means
an exhaustive list of the “best” videos, it’s merely a list of videos I’ve
seen and benefited from myself. I hope they will be equally valuable and
enlightening to you.

- Sorrow Hill 1-9 (Otherguy - Arcane/Fire, Elementalist)
One of the first PvPers, and one of the best. When he released his
first video two months after WoW went retail, no one had any idea how
to PvP, yet he already had complete understanding of his class and
other classes. The only criticism for his videos is that most of his
opponents are only averagely skilled, but that’s not something he can
change. Watch his videos for his movement, control, and timing (i.e.,
use of spells that have cooldowns).

http://www.warcraftmovies.com/pv.php?l=otherguy

- Saerdna 3 (Saerdna - Elementalist)
From what I have seen, Saerdna is the best mage captured on video —
absolutely incredible reflexes and anticipation against skilled PvPers.
My favorite clips include the surprise encounter with a rogue at BRM,
the duel with an undead mage in front of Org., the duel with a SL
warlock, the 1vs2 action against a warlock and a druid, and the duel
with a paladin and a mage at the end. (He has three videos, but I’ve
only seen the last one)

http://www.warcraftmovies.com/movieview.php?id=14360

- Francis (Francis - Frost)
Another very old video. In the days when everyone was a fire mage,
Francis showed the control and survivability a frost mage could have.
Probably because of the play style, this video is not one of my
favorites, but should worth a look if you are going heavy Frost.

http://www.warcraftmovies.com/movieview.php?id=1880

- Vurtne (Vurtne - Arcane/Frost, Elementalist)
One of the younger generation mages, and hailed by many to be better
than Saerdna. I guess what impressed most people is his masterful use
of engineering gadgets. He is certainly one of the very top mages and
you should definitely watch his videos to see what a mage can do, but
I think Saerdna is still slightly better.

http://www.warcraftmovies.com/viewauthor.php?id=6093

- Dysic (Dysic - Elementalist)
Just stumbled upon it a few months ago, though I’ve heard the name
before. An Alliance mage, and does very well when under pressure from
multiple targets. This is also one of the more recent videos (shot
right before 2.0), which could be a good reason to check it out.

http://www.warcraftmovies.com/movieview.php?id=33637

- Level 29 Mage BG PvP (Luximus - Hybrid)
A video made by the author of this guide. I had to recycle some of the
music pieces from other videos since my favorite genre, classical,
doesn’t go very well with an action packed video =) . This video is a
bit long (20 min), but much like this written guide, it’s hard to
condense the materials when there is so much to cover.

- Full Quality Download (wmv, 341MB):
(requires premium account at warcraftmovies.com)

http://www.warcraftmovies.com/movieview.php?id=45770

- Slightly Lower Quality Download (H.264 in mkv, 230MB):
(free download; lightly lower quality as this is transcoded
from the original wmv file, but hardly noticeable. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matroska and
http://www.h264info.com/playh264.html if you need help.)

The video may be unavailable from time to time (as FileFront likes
to delete files without warning), I will keep uploading it for as
long as I can.

http://files.filefront.com/Mage+Video+Fullmkv/;13366408;/fileinfo.html

Same video file split into five different parts with WinRAR, you can
use 7-Zip to stitch them back together. Thus this requires a bit of
work, but since the files are hosted on Microsoft Skydrive, they
won’t be deleted any time soon.

http://cid-e18da31fef518ef2.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/.Public

- Stream (three parts):
(high quality stream available. Part 3 music changed from the
original due to copyright.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he5aPTxk3Pw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxY_kE1awWg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye9RaySbzTs

——————————————————————————-
——————————————————————————-
10.2 Links to Other Guides

Links are accessible as of 1/11/09.

- “Guide to 20-29 Twinks” (Sinira - Eredar)
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=75311143&sid=1

- “Tired of Losing WSG? Read This.” (Thortok - Bonechewer)
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=67837905&sid=1

- “Tired of Losing AB? Read This.” (Thortok - Bonechewer)
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=81920309&sid=1

===============================================================================
============================================================= =
[11] = Acknowledgement, Version and Copyright = =

============================================================= =
===============================================================================

——————————————————————————-
——————————————————————————-
11.1 Acknowledgement

I am grateful to my guildmates in , with whom it’s always been
a delight to play this game (though I wish they’d play in the 20-29 more
often!).

I thank my fellow Horde PvPers from Emerald Dream, in particular those from
the guild , for the many wonderful games in the past.

I also would like to thank my opponents from both ED (especially those from
, , and ) and other
servers in the Shadowburn battlegroup, for the challenges they provide,
which have always forced me to become a better player.

Lastly, I am indebted to Otherguy and Saerdna: your videos have been truly
inspirational, and without your guidance this mage FAQ would not have been
written.

——————————————————————————-
——————————————————————————-
11.2 Version

1.01 - 01/11/09
- Added new links to my video.
1.01 - 11/24/07
- Added a small section on Jewelcrafting under 5.2.
- Added a contribution on fighting shamans under 6.7
- Small additions and corrections here and there
1.00 - 08/26/07

Best viewed in 9-point courier.

Table of Contents
A. Warsong Gulch Guide
Overview
Tips
Common Warsong Abbreviations
Winning an Unbalanced Game
A2.///Khalua’s Advanced Warsong Gulch Guide\\\
Important Trinkets and Gear
B. Arathi Basin Guide
Overview: Nodes
Blitzkrieg
Holding Three Nodes(to come)
C. Alterac Valley Guide
Overview
Tips for a Low-Level Player
C2. ///Viskahn’s Nub Guide to Alterac Valley\\\
D. Myths about PvP
E. Custom Keyboard Set-up
F. Macros
G. RPing in a PvP Setting
H. ///Khalua’s Guide to Targetting\\\
I. ///Greenman’s Guide to the Honor System\\\
J. Queuing Tricks

This guide is written from a Horde perspective but should be useful to
members of the Alliance as well. There is also some information that’s
obviously more useful to mages than anyone else, but I will try to add more
general info as time goes on.
So, I know lots of you are interested in fighting in Thrall’s army, but
are afraid to get into the hot and heavy because you’re intimidated by the
prospect. This is a short and simple guide to PvP to help you get started, and
take some of the mysticism out of it.
One thing I’d like to emphasize is the importance of an offensive
strategy. The battlegrounds are supposed to be fun and exciting, but Warsong
Gulch and Alterac Valley can go on for an indefinite amount of time if both
sides are evenly matched. I implore new players not to be afraid to take risks,
and not to be afraid to lose as long as you’re trying something new or having
fun. Sometimes you lose, even when you’re playing your hardest. But hanging
onto the battle by your fingernails when there’s no hope of a comeback for two
hours is a waste of both teams’ time. Always have an offense, even in the
hardest times. Take that last stab at the enemy instead of hiding in your shell.

Respect your opponents. Winning isn’t everything. Strength and Honor.

_______ _______
/ / \ \
/______/ A. Warsong Gulch \______\
/ \
/ \
/__________________________________________\

*OVERVIEW*
The easiest way to get started on player versus player combat is to try
it. By far the easiest battleground to learn is Warsong Gulch, so it’s a great
place to begin your military career. The goal of Warsong Gulch is essentially
to steal (right-click) the blue Alliance flag from it’s pedestal inside the
Alliance base and run all the way south to the pedestal inside the Horde base.
If the red flag has also been captured, you can’t capture the blue flag until
the red flag has been returned to its home in the Horde base. (So if someone is
standing on the horde pedestal with the blue flag wondering why it won’t
capture, this is why.)
When you first enter the battleground, someone will most likely have
started the raid and will invite you into their group. If someone is giving out
orders and organising your raid, they probably know what they are talking about
and should be listened to. In general, when the game begins the majority of the
Horde will exit through the right doorway in the base and run or ride through
midfield into the Alliance base. Your job is to follow these people and help
them remove or avoid the Alliance in their way until they get to the Alliance’s
Flag Room. Someone will run up to the pedestal and grab the blue flag by
right-clicking on it, and the Alliance will do everything in their power to
stop him from getting away by slowing him with spells and trying to kill him.
Your role in protecting the flag carrier (the Horde player who picked up the
flag) depends on your class. For example, as a priest, your job is to heal,
shield, and uncurse him to prevent him from dying. As a mage, you’ll want to
frost nova the masses of Alliance who chase your flagcarrier and sheep the
especially intimidating ones. No matter what class you are, if you see the
flagcarrier dying, you’ll want to right-click furiously on the spot where he’s
about to fall. If you’re nearby and fast enough, when he dies and drops the
flag, you will pick it up and be able to continue running it to your base.
The other role of a player in Warsong Gulch is to defend the home flag.
Your job here is to watch the red flag and make sure the Alliance doesn’t pick
it up. The flag is on the south pedestal, but it’s actually better to hang
around the northern side of the flag room or even outside the base when
defending, because some classes, especially mages, can be in and out of the
flag room before you can blink. If someone does manage to get away with the
flag, type onto the raid channel which exit they went out of. The left exit
leads to the “GY” (for graveyard) or the ramp and the left side leads to the
tunnel. Although it’s extremely important to defend the flag, it’s also
important that battles start and end in reasonable amounts of time, so there
should always be more offenders than defenders. 3 defenders and 7 offence is a
reasonable and balanced ratio.

*TIPS*
FULL-FIELD MAP: A neat trick relatively unknown to players is that
shift-clicking the red icon on the minimap will produce a small map of the
battlefield in the lower right of the screen. This map shows the position of
all your teammates and also shows topographical features on the map. It’s
useful because it shows the ENTIRE field, not just a small radius around your
character.
Of course, the most useful map is the full screen map which you can see by
simply pressing the “M” key.

CATCHING A DROPPED FLAG: The best way to pick up a flag off of a dying teammate
or return a flag off of an enemy FC is to furiously click on the place where
you think the flag will drop. It can be difficult to guess exactly where it
will fall, but if you wait for the flag to actually be visible on your screen,
chances are that one of your enemies will already have grabbed it.

DEALING WITH ESCORTS: Sometimes, a huge mass of enemy players will bulldoze
into your flag room and make off with the red flag. Your first reaction may be
to kill the FC and only the FC in order to return the flag. Although this is a
good idea, you might want to first kill off healers that are escorting the FC.
If you’re a hunter, mage, shaman, or have any type of slowing abilities, you
might want to drop them on the ESCORT, but not the FC. That way, you can delay
all of the flagcarriers support, and your teammates will be able to slaughter
the unaided flagcarrier as he or she runs off into midfield with the prize.
As an FC yourself, this brings you to mind of the importance of knowing
when to stick with your escort and when to make a break for it. It’s
case-by-case. If you can survive, hoof it. If not, stay with your teammates so
they can heal you or retrieve your flag when you fall.

COMMUNICATION: Communication is key in Warsong Gulch. Even if you don’t plan on
trying to lead your group, you should call out significant things you see. If
you see the red flagcarrier sneaking around the west side of the field unseen,
for instance, call out “Red FC west, no escort!” or something similar to alert
your fellow players to busting his tush. If you see a huge mass of enemies
running toward your tunnel “Alliance zerg, 6ish, coming our tun” will let your
side’s flagcarrier know to perhaps take the ramp in.

TEAMWORK: When possible, stick close to your fellow battlers. We’re the Horde,
we stick together and move as groups. Forming a concerted effort will keep you
all alive and allow you to move through contention that may have otherwise
slain you.
There are times when you’ll need to work alone. Sometimes you’re the only
person in position to catch the enemy flag carrier, or perhaps your team is too
busy defending their own base to capture the blue flag, and you’ll have to get
it yourself. Still, communicate your intentions and help everyone know what’s
going on and what you’re planning.

DYING IS NO BIG DEAL: Death and resurrection is a fact in the battlegrounds.
Just get used to it. As a mage, I die so often that my death counts rack up
into the thirties and forties. But because I make influential moves returning
flags and catching them from our own fallen FCs, I make a fair impact on the
game anyway. In fact, once you die, you’ll be resurrected with full mana and
health, so it may be advantageous to run into a zerg of Alliance throwing out
Arcane Explosions until they slaughter you. Keep mental track of the
resurrection timer or put a stopwatch on your desk, and try to die within ten
seconds of the resurrection time. (Cut it any closer and lag may deny you a
revival.)

DISTRACTION AND DELAYS: Knowing that death is no big deal, what do you do when
you’re trying to clear an enemy’s home FR, or are running through an enemy
graveyard? If you kill them, they may respawn within seconds of their death.
Sheeping, slowing, or otherwise delaying the Alliance is far better than
killing them in instances when you’re nearer to their base than yours. A good
high level sheep spell can keep an Ally out of combat for over thirty seconds
and has the bonus of being disorienting for the player.
If you’ve become notorious in your bracket, it may come to the point that
a contingent of the Alliance will track and slay you on sight. Instead of being
irritated by this, use it to your advantage. Distract them from your troops’
movements by running them into unimportant areas of the map. If five Alliance
players are chasing you around the field while your team rushes into your base,
you’ve done a greater service to your team than by killing them or by joining
the attack.

HONORABLE KILLS: Simply put, honorable kills mean nothing. Just don’t bother.
“Kill-farming” is pointless, because once you’ve killed a player four times, he
or she stops giving you honor. Even when players do give you honor, the amount
you can get during a battle is piffle compared to the 1000 honor you get for
winning a game. Just don’t bother. Play the game like it’s meant to be played.
In Warsong this is especially true, because there are only ten players on
each side. You’ll shoot through the honor boosts of the ten players in no time,
and in any case the most honor you can really make off of them is around 400,
as the same team will be queuing up over and over.

GRAVEYARD CAMPING: This is probably the single most dishonorable thing you can
do in the game. Although there is no in-game penalty for it, it is such a
despised tactic that groups that have been GY-camped will boycott the
battlegrounds to avoid you. Anyone I catch doing this in one of my matches, I
warn, then kick, then blacklist on the forums, and apologize to the enemy
general for the offending combatant. Just make our lives easier and don’t do it.
In Warsong Gulch, graveyard camping is a little hazy to define. There’s
only one GY for each side, and they are elevated on a ledge. My rule is that
it’s perfectly all right to loiter below the opposing side’s graveyard, because
if they drop down it’s their choice to fight you. It’s also OK to fight in
their graveyard if the flag carrier is hiding there. So GY-camping is a little
fuzzy in Warsong. If your team has an obvious numbers or level advantage,
though, and you decide to start killing players before they can leave the
graveyard, this is obviously a dishonorable and illicit tactic.

*COMMON WARSONG ABBREVIATIONS*
“tun” - tunnel
“ped” - flag pedestal
“FC” - flag carrier
“FR” - flag room
“GY” - graveyard
“catch” - the FC is dying and needs someone to right-click the flag when he/she
dies in order to keep it running
“zerg” - massive group of attackers
“cap” - capture
“MT” - mistell
“turtling” - keeping all or most of your players in your base, protecting a
captured or home flag. Generally causes long, boring games.

*WINNING AN UNBALANCED GAME*
Sometimes you’re just doomed from the start, it seems. The first game of
the day on the Scarlet Crusade server, for example, is almost always a 4 Horde
versus 8 Alliance game. (A couple times I’ve even had to fight all of them
alone!) What to do under these conditions? A few rules specific to unbalanced
games: If, after the two minute period before the battle starts, the number of
players is less than five on one side or the other, the game will begin a
five-minute timer to end the battle. Every minute you’ll see it counting down
in yellow text (like a server shutdown) until the battle ends. When the battle
does end, the winner is determined by who has the most capped flags. If neither
side has capped a flag, the side that’s carrying a flag wins. If both sides are
carrying a flag, or if no one has one, the game is a draw. A draw game is the
worst possible outcome of a Gulch run. It’s worse than losing, in terms of game
logistics. You gain no honor. You don’t get a mark. And to add insult to
injury, you get a deserter flag. So sometimes it’s better to surrender one of
these broken little games at the end, if you’re after the honor and feeling
generous to your opponent.
So, onto strategy. The first game of the day is one situation in which I
would actually recommend turtling. If you can hold on for awhile, other
soldiers may trickle in. Say you have four players. Figure out who your most
professional flagcapper is. Is it a shaman who can ghost wolf in seconds? A
rogue who’s so sneaky that he can hide the flag for hours on end? A frost mage
who is out of the FR so fast no one can tell which exit he used? This player
should fly solo out of the FR at the start of the battle and try to make it to
the enemy base to capture the flag. If he can just pick up the blue flag and
hide with it, for example inside the crook of the door in the Alliance base,
then the defenders can protect the red flag for the next five minutes. If the
blue flag is being held and the red is on the pedestal when five minutes are
up, Horde wins.
How to play the ninja flagcarrier: If you want something done right, you
have to do it yourself. When the battle starts, the Alliance is going to
immediately ride out to your base to slaughter your teammates. You want to get
to their base without being seen. The east side of the field is best for this.
You can hide behind stumps and terrain features in order to avoid being spotted
on the way. Enter the base off the side, using the secret entrance up the east
side of the ramp. Go in and hide on the balcony, scouting out the room. If you
encounter an enemy, things are going to be more interesting. If you can
incapacitate or confuse them somehow, go for it. If their alone and you can
kill them quickly, do that. The most important thing is that they don’t know
your position. If it’s empty, grab the blue flag, and break for it.
Now that you have the flag, the question is what to do with it. If you
have five grumpy dwarves chasing after you trying to remove your kneecaps, the
obvious answer is to run like hell out of the base (you might want to do the
tunnel-roof-fr circuit once to throw them off you). You’re going to need all of
your cooldowns, potions, and fancy gadgets to get the flag back, so use them
wisely. Try to avoid huge groups of alliance players on the way back. There’s
no one to save you this time, so be careful. If you make it to midfield, call
for one of the defenders (a spawner from the doomed battle to save the home FR,
most likely) to come meet you so she can either pick the flag off your corpse
or give you a hand.
If you’ve managed to grab the flag without being seen, you have a few more
decisions to make. If you know you won’t make it back to the base, find a place
to hide and sit tight until the field clears up. The Alliance roof is a good
place, as are the little crannies inside the doors or the far east crook
outside the Alliance ramp. This can be an especially good idea if the Alliance
has your flag, and you end up being the last line of defense. If you can return
the Horde flag and still be holding the Alliance flag when the battle ends, you
win.
Use your best judgement here. It’s always better to cap the flag than be
trying to hold the accursed thing; the reason I suggest it here is that it’s an
unexpected strategy that could throw your enemies off, and because time is so
tight in these battles.
Another strategy: You can also try to have a pure zerg run. A zerg of…
four players. Sounds silly, but if the Alliance is overconfident they may be
scattered and disorganized. The four of you can steal the blue flag quickly and
maybe kill the red FC on the way out and back to home base.
One last strategy: Cross-faction dance party! Stretch it, Galandrial! A
little bit of goofing off and emote tossing can lighten the mood here. After
all, it’s a five minute nub game. Does it really matter who wins? Be chill mons!

______ ______
\GUEST\ /GUIDE/
\_____\ /_____/
||_\||__||__||__||/_||
| KHALUA’S ADVANCED |
|WARSONG GULCH GUIDE |
|____________________|
By the wild hearted and fiery-haired Khalua of The Darkspear

“Warsong gulch can play out several different ways. Reading through the guide
provided by Aster, the standard Warsong Gultch Strategies for the Horde are
present to get familiar with the game. Advanced Horde tactics tend to revolve
around minimal or no Defence strategies. This is a game of capture the flag..
you can’t win if you don’t take the flag, right? Now this advanced strategy
does apply more to the 40’s + bracket as mounts are now in the picture. Form
two groups one primarily rogues or DPS classes and the other with alternate
travel forms, Druid/Shaman and priests. Move as distinct Groups and stick
together. The DPS group charges ahead, mounted and engages opposition
immediately. Thus keeping them stuck mid field or at the foot of their base.
Flag Carrier Group rushes roughly 30 sec. after the initial wave of DPS
group… staying mounted, they blow right by the mid-field into the opponent
Flag room. DPS group calls out in raid chat the best possible exit based on
which side of the field they have migrated the front lines. It is best for the
DPS group to pull the opposition to one side or the other instead of hanging
out in the middle.

As the flag is being carried back all folks who resurect and DPS group meet up
midfield… with the exception of the flag carrier and priest escort. Their
job is to slow the opponents chasing the flag, or to recapture their flag if
any opponents were able to sneak through. Once re-caputred, the Flag Carrier/
priest will post the flag and meet up with their group to begin the cycle
again. This advanced approach requires teamwork and is hard to execute in a
Pick up Group where others may not listen to coordinated leadership.

Remember.. Offence wins games.. Working together wins many!

Oh, and a tip/tactic for certain Shaman builds. If you have Natures
Swiftness… Ghost Wolf is a qualifiying nature spell for instant cast. For
flag running… Earthbind totem in their base when you have the flag, Natures
Swiftness in the short span to the area outside their base and ‘Insta-Wolf’
(patent pending) once outside. That will give you a head start on any
opposition that wishes to chase after you.” -Khalua

*IMPORTANT TRINKETS AND GEAR*
As a Horde flagcarrier, two particular trinkets come to mind here. The
[Insignia of the Horde] and the [Defiler's Talisman].
The [Insignia of the Horde] is an amazing little doodad that removes
certain stun and sheep effects, especially ones that reduce your speed. A must
for a flagcarrier. You obtain it from the true entrance of Warsong Gulch, for
having freindly reputation.
The [Defiler's Talisman] absorbs damage on the order of a couple hundred
HP, depending on the level you purchase it at. This is an excellent item for
cloth wearers and will save your rear-end both in and out of the Gulch. One
thing to note is that you can have more than one Talisman, as long as they’re
from different levels, so you can double your damage absorb. The [Defiler's
Talisman] is obtained by being friendly with the Defiler’s and purchasing it
from the true entrance to Arathi Basin.
As a low-level spellcaster in your bracket, the [Rune of Perfection] might
also be handy. It drastically reduces resistances against your spells. Consider
it if you’re being resisted left and right. Two [Rune of Perfection] of
different levels stack.
Handy potions to keep an eye out for are the [Swiftness Potion], [Free
Action Potion], and any healing or mana regen potions.
The [Swiftness Potion] is made from the relatively low level herbs
[Briarthorn] and [Swiftthistle] which, fittingly, can be found right outside
the true entrance to Warsong Gulch. It drastically increases your speed and is
best used in a close battle when you need to break away from your pursuers.
Using Alliance speed boots, [Swiftness Potion], and Horde speed boots will take
you all the way from the Alliance base to home before anyone can blink.
[Free Action Potion]s are harder to come by. You need to catch [Oily
Blackmouth] fish to make them and convert them into oil to use as a reagent.
The [Free Action Potion] prevents any spell or effect from slowing you down,
although the effect can be dispelled. A player who quaffs one is surrounded by
a glowing halo at her feet.
[Invisibility Potion]s can also be a hoot. Just remember that turning
invisible whilst holding the flag will force you to drop it.
General healing potions are also good stuff. You can obtain very nice
potions from vendors near any of the Battleground entrances, although the
potions are only useable inside the PvP matches. Weaker potions that can be
used anywhere can be found inside the officers’ barracks once you make Stone
Guard. Of course, the best potions are made with the Alchemy skill.
One item I’ve used before is the [Spider Belt]. I have to say that it
appears to be singularly useless. It’s supposed to prevent movement altering
spells, but it doesn’t seem to work reliably or, in fact, ever.
[Slumber Sand] is a pretty good item. It freezes an enemy in place for
20ish seconds. You only find it once, from a special quest, and I think it has
been discontinued and made soulbound for those who have it, but if any is left
lying around in your bank it’s great for classes with no sheep/charm abilities.
Shame you only get five.
I’ll add more items here as I find them.

_______ _______
/ / \ \
/______/ B. Arathi Basin \______\
/ \
/ \
/__________________________________________\

*OVERVIEW: NODES*
The second battleground you’re likely to frequent is Arathi Basin, or AB.
This is my favorite battleground in the game because of its resource-imposed
time limit. No matter what, this game isn’t going to last much longer than half
an hour. It’s also a pretty battleground with a dynamic and interesting design.
Have fun with it; I know I do.
AB differs from Warsong Gulch in that the goal is to capture a number of
resource nodes around the field in order to obtain 2000 resources before the
opposing side. In addition to providing resources, each node has a graveyard
with a spirit healer. If a node belongs to your team, your faction will be able
to resurrect there. If a node is contested or untouched or Alliance-controlled,
the spirits of dead players will default to the nearest graveyard or the
original graveyard to the far south (which is very inconvenient).
To capture a resource node, you must “open” the node’s flag by
right-clicking on it, and then channelling the opening action for about five
seconds. If you move or are hit, the opening action will cancel and you’ll have
to try again. Once you’ve “opened” the flag, it will become neutral. After a
few minutes, it will convert to your side if no Alliance tag it. Then the node
will begin producing resources for your team. After a node has been captured,
an Alliance player can contest it by opening it. If they succeed, it will
become neutral again, and every player who dies from then on, and every ghost
waiting in the graveyard, will teleport to another GY. If you’re already dead
and you can see the node being tagged, you might want to leave the GY to avoid
being teleported. If your corpse is still nearby you can wait to rez there or
wait for a teammate to recapture the flag, instead of trekking from another GY.
If a Horde player opens the flag before it changes to an Alliance flag, it will
immediately revert to Horde without any sort of delay period. So if a flag is
contested, it’s important to run to it, kill, sheep, charm, or run off the Ally
there, and open the flag.
The five nodes are the Farm, which is the node closest to the Horde base,
the Stables (Stabs), which is closest to the Alliance, the Lumber Mill (LM), on
the western or left side of the battlefield, on top of a hill, the Mine in east
or right side, in a depression, and the Blacksmith (BS), dead in the center and
surrounded by a moat.
All of these nodes have their own strategic significance. The Farm and
Stables are most notably the easiest for Horde and Alliance to defend. You’ll
often find that only a few defenders bother to hang around these points,
commonly one or even none at all. This makes the Stables node a great place to
have sneak attacks at. As a Horde player, owning the Lumber Mill node is
helpful, because it’s easiest to sneak around the western side to hit the
Stables flag.
The Lumber Mill is also the most difficult node to get to. You have to
hike up to the LM on either the north or south side.
The Mine is easier to reach because you can jump down the depression to
get to the mine and even featherfall directly to the node.
The Blacksmith is probably the single most important node, however,
because it provides an extremely convenient resurrection point for either side,
from which they can reach any of the other four nodes. As such, it is heavily
contested and should be fought hard for. That said, it is still not essential,
and intelligent Horde leaders should know when to let the Alliance have the BS
and attack, say, the Stables.
When you enter the battleground, everyone should call out the node they
want to take. If players don’t do this, some of the nodes are likely to be
forgotten or tagged too late. I’ve seen a number of games in which no one
remembered to hit the farm, and it was captured five minutes after the Alliance
captured their stables. Listen to what nodes others choose and try to have tag
teams for each of the five nodes. There usually isn’t enough time to organize
proper number games on who goes where; as long as there’s one person going to
each node, your team will at least know what the Alliance is doing.
One very important thing to remember is to fight at the FLAGS. Bridges,
crossroads, buildings, none of these are important. They’re all eye candy. The
flags are what you must defend. As a mage or warlock, AOE them until they’re
captured or when they’re being opened, and sheep or charm full-health players
that are causing trouble for your teammates. If you come to an enemy flag that
has a swarm of Alliance, Blizzard/Flamestrike from a distance or run right into
them to Frost Nova and Arcane Explosion to soften them up. You WILL die, but if
you pop your Defiler’s Talisman you’ll at least live until you run out of mana.
As a mage or other mana-dependent class, you can really abuse the resurrection
system in order to keep nodes and kill off enemy players.

*BLITZKRIEG*
One thing you’ll often hear in the Basin is “hold three nodes”. The three
most important nodes to the Horde are the Farm, LM, and BS, and these are
typically what players will go for. Although this is a valid and solid
strategy, I recommend this alternative: blitzkrieging the opposing team by
attempting to capture all five flags very quickly. Capturing four nodes results
in a drastic increase in productivity, and capturing five will win the game
nearly instantly (in about 30 seconds, perhaps?) As a well-structured Horde
team, have one player hit the farm and remain there, three go to the mill,
three go to the mines, four or five to the blacksmith, and the rest to the
Stables, from the western side. You can shuffle these numbers as much as you
want depending on the other side’s movements. Your goal here is to box in the
Alliance and force them all into the stables. After you’ve beaten down
contention at the LM and Mine, take the BS and quickly push all your troops to
the stables. Leave 1, perhaps 2, players at each node, but have the main thrust
of your raid in the western stables to take their last flag. The resurrecting
Alliance players will pour out of the north, some going east, some west, and
some heading for the flag. Pester anyone who tries to recapture the stables
flag, and attempt to kill or sheep anyone who tries to get past to the south.
You should be able to win the battle within ten minutes.
This strategy has its downsides. Sometimes Allies will get past you into
the rest of the map. Although your guards will be able to warn of the
approaching raiders, one or two horde won’t always be enough to defend.
Also, the push to the stables, boxing the Alliance in, sometimes devolves
into graveyard camping as the Horde closes in on the source. My rule is to keep
near the flag, and not to kill players until they make a break either east or
west. It could be argued that aggressively holding the stables is already GY
camping. Use your own discretion here. Is the Alliance on your server OK with
five capping, or does your server’s Geneva Convention have rules against it?
In any case, this strategy could win you a lot of games nearly before they
begin. Even in a tough battle, it’s better to be dynamic and have a goal in
mind than to just decide to hold three. From a purely mechanical perspective,
pestering nodes cuts off their flow of resources temporarily. Attacking the
Alliance in unexpected places also allows you to manipulate and harry them;
psychological warfare is a powerful tool.

_______ _______
/ / \ \
/______/ C. Alterac Valley \______\
/ \
/ \
/__________________________________________\

*OVERVIEW*
Alterac Valley is the most complex and confusing battleground in the game.
You won’t want to step into here until you already have a good idea of how
Arathi Basin works, as the flag system is similar. You’ll only be able to get
into Alterac Valley after you reach level 51, so you won’t be seeing it until
you’ve already had quite a bit of experience with your class. Level 51-60
players all go to the same battleground, so as a level 51 player checking into
AV is a way to meet the Champions and Warlords of your server. (Although as a
level 51 player, you won’t be much use at anything but taming wolves.)
The basic goal of Alterac Valley is to slay the enemy general, who lives
far north in the heart of the Alliance base, across the bridge and inside the
keep. The enemy general is essentially a raid boss. This sounds simple enough,
but between you and him are hundreds of Alliance NPCs, archers, and players.
Your team will be divided into two sides, offense and defense. Again, as an
aggressive player, and one who likes to see a battle end before 3:00am in the
morning, I highly recommend having a far stronger offense than defense. There
will be forty players at your disposal; 30 on offense and 10 on defense, or
similar numbers, will give some contention for the Alliance without making the
match a tiresome slugfest.
Again, when you enter the battle, one of the seasoned veteran players of
Alterac will probably begin to start giving orders and advice. Listen to her,
as this battleground is confusing and someone needs to be in charge to keep
things organized.
The most important thing to do in this BG is to capture the flags leading
north to the Alliance base. A captured graveyard gives players a place to res
farther north. Your ultimate goal is to capture Stonehearth (SH) and then march
from there onto Stormpike (SP), the graveyard closest to the Alliance base
(aside from the relief hut).
Let me say right now that Viskahn’s Guide to Alterac is FAR superior to
the junk I’ve written here. Just go down and skip to the next section,

*TIPS FOR A LOW-LEVEL PLAYER*
As a low-level player who has just been introduced to the valley, here are
some simple tasks for you to do.

TAME AND GATHER FROSTWOLVES:
This quest is incredibly easy as it puts you away from any combat
whatsoever, but helps to summon a powerful offensive force to the battle. To
the southeast corner of the field is a wooden mesh cage with two nearby
questgivers. The female frostwolf gives you a quest to tame wolves and the male
frostwolf gives you one to kill rams and collect their hides.
After you talk to the woman, she’ll give you a bridle to capture the
wolves with. Put the bridle in one of your action-bar slots. Move up to a wolf
and target it. Put up any shields or defense mechanisms you have and then hit
the action key for the bridle. You’ll begin channelling an action to capture
the wolf. The wolf will immediately begin to attack you. However, the
channelled action completes relatively quickly and isn’t interrupted by damage.
Just hold still and don’t cancel the action and the wolf will become tame. (The
wolves don’t do nearly enough damage to pose a threat, besides.) You only get
one bridle, so if you screw up you’ll have to kill the wolf (shameful!), cancel
the quest entirely, and talk to the female frostwolf again. After you’ve tamed
the wolf, return to the female frostwolf and give her the wolf. Then speak to
her again to retake the quest. (The whole thing is rather a tedious pain. Make
sure you have instant quest text on and just skip through as fast as possible.)
All your time with this quest is essentially spent on clicking and moving
around. Just get good at finding the wolves quickly (they’re all in the south)
and taming and returning them as fast as you can.

COLLECT RAM HIDES:
This quest is more difficult as Alterac Rams are to the north in Alliance
territory. You’ll have to contend with Ally players attacking you and NPCs
spotting you in order to kill the rams. As a low-level player, you’ll want to
have coordinate with the rest of the group. By the time you’ve completed taming
wolves, higher level players will hopefully have already gathered most of the
ram hides.

ESCORTING THE FROSTWOLVES:
When you’ve captured enough wolves and killed enough rams, the Frostwolf
Riders will be released and will sweep across the field. The Alliance players
will attempt to kite them away from their main objectives, like flags and
towers. Use your snares to root, freeze, or slow them, forcing them to fight
the Frost Wolves instead of merely teasing them and running. Very few Allies
can survive 15 extremely fast orcs beating on them at once.
If the wolf riders survive to make it to the bride, this can be a great
time to strike out and storm the Alliance stronghold. The NPCs add an extra
level of confusion for your enemy which could be just what your team needs to
take the field and kill the Alliance general.

THE SHREDDER:
I’m hazy on the details of this quest, but there’s a questgiver named
Zinfizzlex in Frostwolf. If you complete his quest, you get a shredder useable
for three game days. The shredder is a 60 elite that replaces your character:
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=40354
I have heard tell the matts cost 10G, but it’s a way to upgrade your level 51
character into a killing machine, at least temporarily.

______ ______
\GUEST\ /GUIDE/
\_____\ /_____/
||_\||__||__||__||/_||
|VISKAHN’S NUB GUIDE |
| TO ALTERAC VALLEY |
|____________________|

NOTE: This is a guest section by Viskahn (with some commentary by Venks) and is
100% not written by me. You can find it here, as a forum post on US forums:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?FN=wow-pvp&T=443356&P=1
and here as a forum post on Europe Forums:
http://forums-en.wow-europe.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-pvp-en&t=169804&p=1

“Angry Troll Studios presents

Viskahns Nub Guide to Alterac Valley

Introduction to Alterac Valley

Im going to say it now, and again at the end;
THIS THREAD IS NOT TO DO WITH THE BALANCE OR IMBALANCE OF ALTERAC VALLEY, OR
EXPLOITS PLEASE DO NOT WHINE ON THIS THREAD.

Moving swiftly on then..

I decided to write this since ive seen a lot of posts asking what to do in AV,
what various items are used for etc, and there is currently no guide on the
forums to answer these questions.

Alterac Valley (AV) is a battleground located in the Alterac Mountains. Its
capacity is 40 horde players and 40 alliance, fighting across a pretty big
battlefield littered with graveyards, bunkers and various other features.
The main thing which distinguishes AV from the other battlegrounds is the
strong NPC presence, as well as the secondary objectives and quests which can
be done inside it. Some people dislike the concept, others such as me, love it.
This gives AV a different style of play completely to the other battlegrounds,
as you have to overcome not only the enemy players but also the NPCs and static
defences which are in place.
A typical game of AV (PuG vs PuG) can range from anything between 4-20 hours,
though usually something like 5-8. Hence it is not something to do if you just
want a quick fight, AV is a serious timesink and if you expect any reasonable
amount of reputation or honor from it (though honor is better farmed elsewhere)
then be prepared to stay for at least 3-4 hours.

The Basics

OK, as with all BGs, AV is divided roughly into two halves, the alliance
controlling the northern half with their main base at the top, Dun Baldar. The
horde control the southern area with their base of Frostwolf Village. Each
bases is defending by 2 towers/bunkers (explained more later) as well as
ridiculous amounts of NPCs. The objective of the game is to kill the enemy
general, who is basically a raid boss, who resides right at the end of the
enemy base, in his fortress. Each base also boasts a graveyard, along with
various NPC vendors, quest givers and of course, crates.

Moving out of the base, each team has another graveyard pretty close to their
base, situated along the main road, and there is also an NPC controlled Mine
near each teams base (details later). Moving even further on there is a line of
static defences and NPC guards (there are guards patrolling pretty much
everywhere) as well as another graveyard for each team.
Now we are in the middle of the battlefield, on the Field of Strife, with a
neutral starting graveyard, Snowfall, which can be claimed by whichever team
captures it first.
On the northern and southern edges of the field of strife is also an Outpost
which houses each sides captain, who provides periodic buffs as long as he/she
is alive. There is also a 4th and final tower for each team situated between
the outpost and their graveyards near the field of strife.

A pretty good map of AV is available here:
http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/battlegrounds/map-alterac.html
The only things not up-to-date is the central graveyard which used to be horde
controlled, but now starts neutral. And on the mid eastern and western sides of
the battleground, the 2 caves no longer exist (update plx blizz).

Most people go to Alterac Valley only to gain reputation with Stormpike or
Frostwolf. You can see a list of rewards at different reputation levels here:
http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/battlegrounds/rewards-alterac.html

The fastest way to get reputation is to win, and destroy all towers, capture
all graveyards, kill all lieutenants/commanders/captain and basically “do”
everything.
You automatically gain 1 reputation every time somebody hands in an item in the
battleground, as well as recieving small amounts for doing quests, destroying
towers, defending towers, ditto for graveyards and so forth. Basically, pretty
much everything which helps your team will get you reputation.
Beware of “leechers” who will just sit somewhere with an anti-afk macro on,
getting reputation from everyone elses hard work without doing anything
themselves. If you find one, report him to a GM and hope that they will
actually do something about it.”
“The Quests

Quests perhaps isnt the right word, but there are several missions that you can
undertake in AV to help your team in various ways. Whenever someone in the
battleground (on your team) does one of these, everyone in the battleground
will usually receive a tiny little bit of reputation with your battleground
faction.
Also bare in mind that all quest items except for the Headhunting ones will
disappear when you leave the battleground, so try to hand them in before you
leave. They disappear to prevent someone spending a week hoarding quest items,
then going into a battleground, unleashing every single NPC attack/upgrade
available all right at the start and instantly creaming the enemy with an
unstoppable push.
Note that killing NPCs can also yield most of these items.

Blacksmith Supplies
For either team, when you kill an enemy you can effectively loot their corpse
by right clicking it. You get a couple of silver and some quest items, and
sometimes a grey junk item with a humorous name (Broken IWIN button for
instance) which serves no purpose. One of the things you are likely to find is
armor scraps. You get about 5-10 of these per player usually, and in your main
base your blacksmith NPC will accept stacks of 20 of them. When you and your
team-mates have handed in enough of these scraps, you will have the option to
upgrade your NPC guards and patrols. You should do this immediately since there
is no real downside to doing it.
The guards have 4 levels of upgrade Default (no rank), Seasoned, Veteran and
Champion. Obviously, the more upgraded they are, the stronger. Even after you
have champions you can still hand in armor scraps just for the reputation.

Headhunting
Whenever you loot someone, they will always drop an item relating to their
race. This is tauren hooves, human bone chips, gnome hair, troll mojo etc. In
your base, or in a nearby location, there are 4 NPCs who will collect these and
award everybody 1 reputation per turn in. There are no extra benefits of doing
this other than the reputation, so these items do not disappear when you leave
the battleground and can be handing in later.
(( Aster: this has been recently removed from the game. ))

Elemental Lords
Sometimes when you loot an enemy player, you will find either a Storm Crystal
(for alliance looting horde) or a Stormpike Soldiers Blood (for horde looting
alliance). When you have handed in a LOT of these (500 or so I think? Not sure)
then in your base, the Primalist for horde or Archdruid for alliance, will yell
for assistance. He and an escort of shamans/druids will then proceed towards
the field of strife. Once they reach the outskirts, they will begin a summoning
ritual. They will then require 10 players to come and help the summon (the same
as a beefed up warlock summoning). After the ritual is done, an elemental lord
will enter the field of strife. For alliance this is Ivus the Forest Lord, and
for horde it is Lokholar the Icelord.
These 2 bosses will remain on the field of strife for roughly 20 minutes before
heading towards the enemy base, obliterating all in their path. These things
are extremely tough to take down, and virtually impossible if the other team is
good at healing/buffing them. The best way, owing to a pretty stupid AI, is
simply to have a hunter pull the boss all the way back to your teams general,
who will then annihilate the puny elemental lord.
Note if the primalist/druid is killed before they can start the summoning
ritual, then that is the end of it, and you have just wasted a lot of
blood/storm crystals, and will have to wait for a pretty hefty respawn time.

Cavalry!
To get your teams cavalry onto the field requires 2 things. Firstly, some of
your team will have to spend some time taming wolves for horde or rams for
alliance (you are given the taming thing with the quest) and returning them to
the stable-master NPC who you got the quest from. For alliance he is at the
back of Dun Baldar, for the horde he is outside of the base on the eastern side
of the BG, south of the entry portal.
The other part of this is to collect ram or wolf hides. This means you have to
kill the opposing teams beasts (ie if you are horde you kill rams and vice
versa) and loot a Alterac Ram Hide or Frostwolf Hide. Once you have collected
25 wolves/rams and 25 ram/wolf hides respectively, you can give the order to
let loose the cavalry. They will march out to the field of strife and remain
there patrolling a set route until told otherwise. However, if you have some
reputation with your Alterac faction (honoured I think) you can then talk to
the cavalry commander and tell him to attack. This will then cause your cavalry
to charge towards the enemy base. Cavalry can prove deadly against the enemy
zerg, and should be used wisely since once the commander is dead he has a long
respawn before you can start collecting stuff again.
Another note is that by killing the enemy cavalry commander, this will
automatically force the enemy cavalry to attack in the same way as if the
attack order was given. This is useful just if you have the enemy cavalry
patrolling and want to get rid of them quickly before the other team can use
them at a better time.
Venks: When taming animals for your faction make sure you don’t move while
taming, otherwise the taming is canceled and you have to abandon the quest and
get the quest again to get a new taming device.

Aerial Support
Another thing you may loot from time to time is either Frostwolf Medals (for
alliance killing horde) or Stormpike Flesh (for horde killing alliance, not to

be confused with the blood required for the icelord). There are 3 different
types and they appear to be dropped pretty much at random. Until you have
rescued your wing commanders, there is nothing you can do with these.
Each team has 3 wing commanders, all of which have been captured and are being
held prisoner by the enemy. For the horde these are as follows Wing Commander
Guse is in Icewing Bunker, Jeztor is in the Stormpike Lumber Mill, and
Mulverick is in the Dun Baldar North Bunker. For the alliance, I dont know the
names, but they are in Tower Point, a little hut near the gate of frostwolf
village, and in frostwolf villages western tower.
When you have found them, you can talk to them and tell them to go back to
base. This they will do, and it is up to you to protect them until they get
there. If they are killed along the way then thats it, they dont respawn. This
means that it is a really bad idea to try to free one when he is in the middle
of a tower with loads of NPCs guarding him, as he will just be slaughtered by
the guards immediately.
Once they are back in base however, the wing commanders will accept a certain
type of medal/flesh depending on which wing commander they are. Once you have
handed in enough of whatever they want, you will be able to do 2 things.
1) Obtain a beacon, which must be planted somewhere on the field of strife and
protected for 1 minute. After this minute is up, a bat rider or gryphon rider
(depending on faction) will come and fly around the field of strife. You can
get one of these for each wing commander, and having 3 of these things flying
around battering the enemy is a nice advantage.
2) Tell the wing commander to attack, upon which he/she will mount up on
his/her bat/gryphon and fly to a specific location, after which they will act
pretty much like a normal bat rider but a lot tougher and more powerful.
You can do each of these things for each wing commander, so there is no sense
in telling a wing commander to attack before you have gotten a beacon.
Also note after the wing commander is out flying, there is then no use
whatsoever for her specific type of flesh/medal, so you can destroy it.

Mines and Infantry Assaults
Near each teams base is a mine. At the start of the game this will be
controlled by neutral NPCs. At the centre of each mine is a named neutral NPC
boss, and if killed, your teams NPC miners will then come to the mine and start
mining. The neutral boss isnt too hard, and a stealth team should easily take
him out. The mine will then be under your control for about an hour until the
neutrals come and reclaim it. Whilst the mine is under your control, supplies
will begin to spawn. In your base you can get a quest to gather these supplies
in bundles of 10. Once enough supplies have been turned in, you will have the
option of sending an infantry attack (reavers for horde, commandos for
alliance) which are much like the cavalry. You will need to get the attack
orders from an NPC in your base and give them to your infantry commander, who
should be on the field of strife somewhere waiting for you. After you have
given them to him, he and his infantry will start their attack.
Note that it is perfectly possible to claim the opposing teams mine, and
supplies gathered there are a lot more valuable to your team than those
gathered from your home mine, but naturally the trip is a long longer and far
more perilous.
It is also possible to capture a mine directly from the opposing team. To do
this, do exactly the same as if it were controlled by neutrals, and kill the
named NPC at the centre of the mine. Capturing a mine is instant once the NPC
is dead (explained with towers/graveyards later).”

“Lieutenants, Commanders and Captains
Scattered around the battlefield in each teams halves are 6 lieutenants, 4
commanders and a captain. Each of these provide the enemy with various uses-
-The lieutenants control various NPC spawns, so by killing them you prevent the
respawn of certain enemy NPC guards.
-The commanders are in towers and bunkers, and also command NPC spawnpoints.
Hence they offer the same benefits for killing as a lieutenant, but also need
to be killed if you plan on taking the enemy towers.
-The captains, as mentioned earlier, provide a periodic battleshout buff to
everyone on their team in the battleground. They are heavily guarded in their
outposts, and pretty tough to take down. Killing them will also grant you an
extra battleshout buff (assuming your captain is alive still) and prevent the
respawn of the NPCs near the outpost. The Hordes captain is called Galvanger,
and is a melee fighter with various warrior skills, whilst the Alliance captain
- Balinda - is a mage.

So basically, these guys are all worth taking out. The best way I find is to
just pull and kite them into your teams zerg, and then spam /attacktarget and
hope people will pay some attention. It doesnt require a huge amount of effort
to kill them and they dont respawn.

Towers, Bunkers and Graveyards

Basically, towers and bunkers provide static defence points as you would
expect. They are manned with NPC archers/bowmen who have a nice range and are
pretty good at sniping and annoying, so it is worth taking out the towers to
eliminate these guys. Most towers also have a commander at the top, who is a
pretty tough cookie, and some have captured wing commanders. There are also
some anti-stealth units.
Towers are controlled by flags. At the top of every bunker or tower is a
flagroom, well defended with guards of course. In order to destroy an enemy
tower (note you cannot capture them, only destroy them) you must first take the
flag, which requires you to open it for 10 seconds. After this, you must then
hold the tower for 5 minutes and prevent the enemy from taking it back. After
these 5 minutes are up, the tower will burst into flames and it is destroyed.
Obviously, if the enemy has any sense they will try to reclaim it when they see
that a tower is under attack (it is broadcast across AV whenever something
important happens). If you want to reclaim a tower under attack, you must
similarly open the flag for 10 seconds, and if done successfully then the tower
will be back under your control and the NPCs will respawn pretty shortly.
Thats pretty much all there is to towers.

Now graveyards, these provide a place for you to resurrect when you die. As
with other battlegrounds, the spirit healer will resurrect all the ghosts in
the graveyard every 30 seconds.
The graveyards are controlled by flags similarly to towers. The flag will be
defended by 4 NPC guards and sometimes a lieutenant. Same as with towers, if
you manage to capture a flag, it will be 5 minutes before the graveyard comes
under your control. Notably however, whilst the graveyard is under
attack/contested, the enemy will be unable to resurrect there.
When you die and release your spirit, your ghost will appear at the nearest
graveyard controlled by your team and you will recieve a countdown to
resurrection. When the countdown reaches 0, you are resurrected with full life
and mana and your pet alive, at the graveyard.
You are ALWAYS ressed at the closest graveyard owned by your team, so if an
alliance side controls ONLY frostwolf graveyard and the entry tunnel (there are
spirit healers at the entrance/exit portal to the battleground) then if you die
at say, iceblood, you will be nearer to frostwolf and be transported there when
you release. You can still run to another graveyard owned by your team and res
there if you like, but never at a contested or enemy owned graveyard.
The only other thing worth mentioning about graveyards is Snowfall (SF) and
Korrak. Before 1.8 (I think) Korrak roamed the field of strife and had a quest
to kill him. It caused too much annoyance however, that everyone was constantly
asking to OMG KILLZ KORRAX PLS I NEED QEUST and not actually fighting, so
blizzard removed the quest, made Snowfall start neutral and put Korrak and some
elite trolls there to guard it. And thats how SF starts, neutral and guarded by
elite trolls. These are easily enough killed, but Korrak is still a pain in the
ass. The only realistic way to capture snowfall is by kiting korrak away from
the flag whilst someone else captures it. This makes the first 30 mins of any
AV match usually a case of each team trying to lure korrak into the enemy zerg
whilst they capture the flag and so forth.
Korrak will remain there even after you capture snowfall, and whilst he
provides some good extra defence, he is still hostile and will attack you when
you have just resurrected. This means snowfall is a bit of a pain in the ass in
general.”
“Tactics

OK now you know what AV is all about, lets discuss what you actually may want
to do.

The Zerg
Usually since it is 40 vs 40, the vast majority of players will join one large
zerg of players and slug it out with the opposing zerg constantly (think world
war 2 trenches). This is just a fact of AV and isnt going to change.
However, if you are an intelligent player who doesnt want to just be part of
the zerg, then good for you, and there are other things you can do.
Try to get a group of 5 people who you know can play, who you trust, and who
arent idiots. With 5 good men in an organised group, you should be able to take
down a bunker, graveyard or mine with ease. So do this, go around killing
lieutenants, commanders and attacking towers and graveyards etc.
If there is really nothing available, then join the zerg and PUSH. A single
warrior supported by 2 healers can easily push forward 50 yards within a few
seconds. The zerg mentality prevents them from doing this much, but if they see
you a warrior charging forward and not dying, a fair few might join in, and the
rest will follow. This is how you push.
If you cant get a nice 5-man group going, do something else useful. Go and farm
materials for your cavalry, gather supplies for your infantry and so forth. It
might not be especially interesting, but its how to win the game.

Play Your Class and I cannot emphasise this enough. If you are grouped with
someone, you share honor with them. This means that if you are a priest and are
grouped with a warrior, you will BOTH be better off if you heal him instead of
going shadowform and trying to kill stuff. If you arent in a group as a healer,
then join one or make one, and do some healing. If you are healing people in
your group, they last longer and get more kills, so you all get more honor.
Everybody wins.

Similarly, if you are a rogue like me, try to get some other rogues and a druid
or two, and do stealth attacks on towers, graveyards and the likes. To get
through how useful this can be, here is an example;
I was in an AV match and we were losing badly, the enemy was in our base and we
were only just holding on to our final graveyard. Me and a couple of other
rogues stealthed right up to the other end of the battlefield and captured
stormpike graveyard. Gradually more and more alliance came back to try to take
it back off us, whilst more horde came up to help us defend it. Eventually the
alliance didnt have enough people left in our base to kill anything, so the
remaining defending horde pushed out of our base and we captured the other
graveyards and suddenly the entire situation was reversed. We were then at
THEIR base, most alliance quit just out of sheer anger, and we won easily. None
of that wouldve happened if not for our little stealth attack on stormpike.

Finally, mages and warlocks, use AoE! You may not get quite as many kills and
you may die a bit more (but AV isnt for honor farming) but you will push
forward far better. A team of 3-4 mages can literally destroy an entire zerg of
20-30 people if they all blink in and start spamming nova/ae/blast wave and so
forth. Druids can also use hurricane for AoE when the enemy zerg is nicely
compact in a tight area. Hell as a rogue i used to do stealth-sprint runs into
the enemy zerg and use my chained essence of eranikus
(http://www.thottbot.com/?i=5073) which was rather amusing. The bottom line is
if you have AoE, use it!

Want an example? Back a while ago i was in a pretty evenly matched AV when in
came a rank 14 warrior (damn you jimmeh) along with a couple of paladins
healing/buffing/cleansing him. the guy was unstoppable, he just charged in,
immune to snaring thanks to blessing of freedom and racked up about 50 kills
within 5 mins. and the paladins being equally as hard to kill because they are
paladins meant there was no easy solution. eventually i resorted to just
sapping/stunlocking jimmeh whenever i saw him, but it didnt help much. they
pushed us back to our base in no time at all.
If jimmeh and the paladins had not been helping each other out, jimmeh would
get creamed (ish) and the paladins wouldnt be able to kill anything anyway.
teamwork.

Coordination is everything

Regardless of what you think of the balance of AV as a battleground, one thing
remains true a well organised team will always beat a badly organised team. If
there is no raid group, start one up, if nobody knows what to do and you have a
tactical mind, start giving some orders. Not many people will listen to you at
first (I know from experience) but gradually people will begin to see it is
working and listen to you. Get a stealth group to go take stonehearth bunker,
move 10 men back to defend iceblood whilst the rest try to kill balinda.
Whatever, the point is, if everyone knows exactly what they are doing and work
as a team, you will win.
Similarly, communicate. If you see 5 people headed towards one of your towers,
say it in the general channel that they are attacking and you will need help.
Same if people are going to a graveyard or your captain or WHATEVER.
Information doesnt hurt anyone, so make sure you always let people know what is
going on.

To give another example, I became quite well known on deathwing as an AVer who
knew what he was doing basically. I might not be a high pvp rank but eventually
I DID get some respect in AV. One time when I entered the battleground and
joined the raid group, I was immediately made leader and some people asked me
what they should do. Now I was as shocked as anyone would be at that, since, no
offence to anyone, I am used to just utter stupidity in AV. But we got
organised and flattened the alliance in no time, it WORKS.
Finally, if there is someone who is already giving out tactics and you disagree
with him, dont start a petty argument in the general channel, whisper him and
give him some suggestions, and just try to work as a team and be constructive.
Really, thats all there is to winning AV, coordination, communication and
organisation. Simple.”
“In Conlusion

Well thats all ive got for now, ill try to update this when I think of more
stuff to say, but until then, I hope some people find this thread useful.
And let me just say it one more time:
IF YOU WANT TO WHINE ABOUT AV BEING IMBALANCED OR ABOUT EXPLOITS, THIS IS NOT
THE THREAD, PLEASE TRY TO KEEP IT WHINE-FREE.

- Viskahn Out”

/ \*________________________ /*\
-* - - *-
/ * \ D. Myths /* \
\* */ \ * */
- *-_________________________- -
\ / *\ /

Myth: PvPers are all twinks
In terms of all PvPers being well-geared and clever players, adept at tricks
and secrets that allow them to play their class to the max, not at all. You may
think that because you’re an RPer, that makes you automatically not as good at
PvPing, and that everyone you go up against will be a master of the BG. The
BGs, especially in seasons 20-49, are filled with clueless Alliance who are new
to the whole thing. Even some of the ones who are seasoned vets are missing a
few tactical tricks that would make them truly dangerous fighters.
In addition, don’t be too intimidated by a player’s rank. All you need to
get a high rank is persistence and time. It doesn’t measure anything about your
skill or character.

Myth: PvPers speak in 1337speak and are generally dumb
PvPers range everywhere from computer geniuses to 12-year-olds, but all of
these people deserve respect and shouldn’t be judged on the basis of whether or
not they type with capital letters and proper punctuation. I’ve never seen
PvPers speak in 1337speak, either. The PvPers who are active chatters are
generally intelligible and intelligent.

Myth: PvPers do not RP
Even the most hardcore PvPers are at the very least tolerant of RP. Although
it’s not always possible to be completely in character in the BGs, most players
are happy to play along with you if you start spinning yarns of old war stories
or shouting personalized battle cries. One of my favorites is to run across the
bridge in Alterac Valley, throwing out Arcane Explosions and yelling things
like “Fools, strike me down! I shall only return, more powerful than you can
ever imagine!” Pretty soon, a bunch of people will have joined in with their
own witty hollerings.

Myth: You have to be the highest level in your bracket to be a good PvPer
I regularly PvP in battlegrounds in which I am the lowest season player.
Currently, I’m a level 51 character fighting in the 50-59 bracket, and I’m
still one of the most influential players in the battle. Being persistent, and
at the right place at the right time, is more important than level or gear.

/ \*_______________________________ /*\
-* - - *-
/ * \ E. Custom Keyboard Set-up /* \
\* */ \ * */
- *-_______________________________ - -
\ / *\ /

One of the most fun and useful parts of setting up a PvP character is writing
up a set of macros that will make it easier to perform your role.
Unfortunately, being a good PvPer or macro user requires having LOTS of
commands for your character. I’ve personally already filled up every single
command slot on my screen. You’ll soon find that clicking on a command to issue
it is completely useless.
The game defaults you with only 12 command issuing keys, the numbers 1
through 0 on your keyboard, and the - and + characters. You’re going to need to
do better than that to instantly throw out a Presence of Minded, Arcane Powered
Flamestrike, a Frost Nova, Polymorph, a Blink spell, swiftness potion, and mana
jade in the space of a few seconds while carrying the flag away from a mob of
seven angry Alliance base defenders! The way I’ve set up my keyboard currently
is to leave the top row of numbers as the default command prompts, but to also
slave the second row above it to SHIFT-#s, and the side screen row to ALT-#s.
For example, “3″ on my keyboard activates a macro which shoots a PoM AP
Frostbolt (for slowing down and possibly killing an enemy FC) whereas “SHIFT-3″
activates a macro which berserks and casts Fireball (for pulling mobs), and
“ALT-3″ activates a low ranked Frostbolt for kiting. The rest of my commands
are similarly set-up, with each relevant fire spell above the matching frost
spell. This is an easy and intuitive setup that anyone can utilize, no matter
what their class. You can set up many of these alternate bars, using SHIFT,
ALT, COMMAND, CTRL, and FUNCTION, or combinations like SHIFT-ALT. If you have a
nice, spacious keyboard, you might want to consider getting rid of a number of
the more useless commands that are mapped to the letter keys. Who needs to be
able to immediately pull up their talent or social pane, neh? Then you can even
map combat abilities to your main keys. If you have a number pad, you can map
all movement to it, including strafing and swimming up and down, to localize
this type of activity to your right hand, leaving your left free to spastically
throw out attacks.
Take some time and work out a convenient setup. Intuitive controls have
saved my bony butt many a time. There’s nothing more frustrating than dying
because you couldn’t click your potion button in time.
One more tip: The toolbar is defaulted to cycle up or down when you type
“SHIFT-UP” or “SHIFT-DOWN.” This will be the death of you if you use Shift-# to
cast spells. Disable this in Keyboard Bindings and save yourself a few
accidental croaks.

/ \*_______________________________ /*\
-* - - *-
/ * \ F. Macros /* \
\* */ \ * */
- *-_______________________________ - -
\ / *\ /

Macros are an amusing and useful part of the PvP experience. As an RPer, macros
also allow you easy ways to put some flavor into your characters’ fighting
style. The best way and easiest way to get macros is to check the class forum
for your particular class type on WoW.com. Macros are written in a language
very similar to C, so if you’re familiar with that language you have one foot
in the door. Another useful website is:
http://www.wowwiki.com/World_of_Warcraft_API which completely which lists all
the commands and syntax useable in macros in the game.

RANDOM VOICE/EMOTE MACRO: (use by: any class/race)
/cast Charge(Rank 1)
/script s={”",”roars at %t!”,”",”"}; SendChatMessage(s[math.random(getn(s))],
“EMOTE”)
/script s={”Strength and honor!”,”For Doomhammer!”,”",”",”",”",”"};
SendChatMessage(s[math.random(getn(s))], “SAY”)

For now, here’s my favorite style of macro which says or emotes a custom
command randomly, but only occasionally, when issuing an attack. (This is to
prevent irritating repetitions when pressing a button more than once in a row.)
This particular macro is for a low-level warrior, and will randomly either
EMOTE, SAY, or both.
To personalize it for your own use, choose a command or attack that you’d
like to add a macro to. I recommend a command with a cooldown that you’ll only
use once or twice in a battle, to keep it from becoming repetitive. Change the
/cast line to the particular spell or ability you want to use. (All abilities
are “casts”.) Spell it exactly as it appears, including capitals and spaces.
Now, put a begin-parenthesis immediately after the ability’s name and type Rank
(with R capitalized), a space, the rank number of the ability, and an
end-parenthesis.
Now think of something clever for your character to say or do. Something
that you don’t mind him or her over and over is generally good, because no
matter how seldom you program it to run it will be repeated at least a few
times a day.
Remember you can change macros whenever you want. When I’m feeling
particularly creative, I’ll change my macros every day.
You can also use multiple toolbars, one with emote macros and one without,
so that you can shut your character by simply clicking up or down on the
toolbar, without having to replace every single macro with normal spells.
Another thing to note is that the EMOTE function doesn’t translate for the
Alliance (unless you are a mindcontrolling priest.) So you have to use a
different function to use non-custom emotes.

INSTANT CASTINGS: (use by: any class/race)
/cast Arcane Power
/script SpellStopCasting();
/cast Presence of Mind
/script SpellStopCasting();
/cast Frostbolt(Rank 6)

This works with spells that have no global cooldown. I replace my normal
frostbolt with this macro. This works for anyone but you have to change the
particular spells/abilities.

CAMERA FLIP: (use by: Mages mostly, but anyone who wants to see behind their
derrier)
/script SpellStopCasting();
/cast Blink
/script FlipCameraYaw(180);

This will flip the camera behind you as well as cast a spell, preferably
movement related. I set this macro to ALT-#, where the default key is where I
keep the non-camera-flipping version. Great for seeing who is behind you as an
FC in the BGs. You don’t really need the spell line in there, sometimes it’s
more useful just to yaw the camera. If you have smart camera on, rear view
becomes the default when you press it once. Pressing it again switches it back.
Try it, very useful.

DECURSIVE: (use by: Mages)
/target Aster
/cast Remove Lesser Curse
/script TargetLastEnemy();

Invaluable little dude. Self casts a spell, then defaults to your enemy
target. Change the spell to use this command for bandages or other self-casts
and buffs.

SAFE COUNTERSPELL: (use by: Mages)
/script if UnitClass(”target”)==”Warrior” or UnitClass(”target”)==”Rogue” then
CastSpellByName(”Polymorph(Rank 2)”) else CastSpellByName(”Counterspell”) end;

One of the few unique macros I’ve written myself. This one saves you the
embarassment of counterspelling warriors and rogues, and tries to sheep them
instead. If you’re running around, it won’t even sheep them and will give you a
message about spells while moving. Pretty useful, since it can be hard to tell
a warrior from a paladin.

REST: (use by: anyone)
/script UseContainerItem(0, 2);
/script UseContainerItem(0, 1);
Just put water in slot 1 of your main bag and food in slot 2. Eats both at
once. Eliminates the need to waste to buttons on this, essentially.

/ \*_______________________________ /*\
-* - - *-
/ * \ G. RPing in a PvP Setting /* \
\* */ \ * */
- *-_______________________________ - -
\ / *\ /
One of the keys to successful RPing in World of Warcraft is to keep your
character simple and visceral. In other words, play a cliché, a character-type
that is instantly recognizable. This may sound like a hindrance, but it’s
really just a gateway to creating a vibrant and expressive character. Remember
that this is a cartoon world, and it pays to exaggerate. You never know if
you’re going to be meeting someone twice, and you want to make a lasting
impression on your first go. The mad scientist, the brooding fatalist, the zen
warrior, all of these stereotypes can be expanded on and used to create a
character that sticks out.
Add a couple little notable quirks for your character. Perhaps he’s always
sucking on candies and has the faint air of peppermint around him, or spouts
idioms but never gets them right, or uses awful pick-up lines to try to pick up
women.
Having a personality that people can pick up on quickly also makes it easy
for people to interact with you. For instance, my character is an ancient and
crotchety troll mage who speaks with eccentric, flowery language and mixes
drinks. The moment I let loose a “Back in MY day…” everyone in the
battleground knows what kind of character I’m playing, and can easily respond
by either humoring him or saying “Yeah, right!” This can lead into a discussion
about what the good old days WERE really like, with a number of the raid
members joining in to add their two cents or sarcasm.
If you want to have little story arcs for your character, make these
recognizable as well, short and easy-to-decipher. No one is going to spend five
minutes prying a backstory out of your character or trying to solve a mystery
about them unless you give them some really good leads. One classic trick to
pull is to establish your personality with a group of players over a week, and
then drastically change your character’s personality with very little
explanation. My mage, for example, stopped speaking in metaphor and
alliteration and became very precise and mathematical about everything. The
only clue to this situation was that he had been attempting to join a Gnomish
scientific institute, and they’d sent him a mechanical squirrel as a gift.
These little puzzles are easy to figure out but still provoke a little “Aha!”
emotion when your friends make the connection.
Your character will probably have a sort of default reaction to certain
races or classes of people, but you should think carefully about what kind of
relationship to have with each of your friends’ characters. Friendly rival,
respected teacher, partner-in-crime, unrequited lover, every significant
relationship should be a unique archetype. Have fun developing relationships in
unexpected ways and use situational humor to your advantage. If you go for
anything racy or antagonistic, make sure that your friends know it’s only
in-character, and that there are no hard feelings (or romantic intentions!) in
real-life. (If you need further discouragement for seriously trying to hit on
other players, remember that you can never be certain what gender someone
really is! I know guys who play female characters and women who play bishounen
male characters, so keep it light and don’t embarrass yourself!)

______ ______
\GUEST\ /GUIDE/
\_____\ /_____/
||_\||__||__||__||/_||
| KHALUA’S GUIDE TO |
| TARGETTING |
|____________________|
By the ravishing femme fatale, Khalua of The Darkspear

“TAB key is your friend to target the nearest enemy, with the exception of
stealth.. need to see them to target them. Rapid TAB strokes will cycle
through many nearby targets. I mostly use this to pick a specific target or
cycle through the enemies with Damage over Time spells and Hexes or Curses.
This tactic also works well for Dispell and Purge.

When in a group you can coordinate your efforts to quickly bring down a
specific target using the F key. Select a member of your team or group who
will be targeting an enemy, or in an instance pulling a target. Select that
group member as your target. When the enemy is in range, or your ally is about
to pull, tap the F key and you will automatically select the target of your
ally. This can also be helpful to allow the ‘puller’ to target an enemy for
you to sap, mind control, sheep.. etc.

A more tricky method, and sneaky depending on the circumstances is to craft a
(/target Name) macro. In the Warsong Gultch capture the flag game nothing bugs
me more then our team not being able to find the opponent who’s stolen our
flag. Set up the macro for the name of the opposing player who stole the flag
and when in range of the individual they will be selected as your target. Some
running around and frequent keystrokes may be needed. Since they’re usually
hiding that doesn’t solve the whole mistry, but as a priest a little Mind
Vision does the trick and a hunter can send his pet and follow to the target.

Side note: this last tactic can also be of aid against named NPC’s who use
illusions or other means of decieving you as to selecting them as a target… a
certain NPC in Scholomance comes to mind…

I hope that helps a little. Of course, please feel free to ask if there is
anything else that your curious about, be it a problem like this.. or just
something you would like to be a little smoother or more proficient at.
*winks* I’ve put in enough time to have a few tips and tactics up my sleeve.”
-Khalua

______ ______
\GUEST\ /GUIDE/
\_____\ /_____/
||_\||__||__||__||/_||
| GREENMAN’S GUIDE |
|TO THE HONOR SYSTEM |
|____________________|
(Also by Aragone)

NOTE: This is a guest section by Greenman and is not written by me. You can
find it here, with superior formatting and links to other resources:
http://www.wowwiki.com/Formulas:Honor_System
The Guide is protected under the following license:
http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html

“Ok, I have been doing a lot of research in my spare time and have crunched a
few numbers and I think I finally made sense of the honor calculation system
Blizzard has in place. I hope this thread will shed a little light on exactly
how leveling and the honor system works. Please feel free to add things to this
post about the honor calculations because there are still a few areas that are
hazy to me and that I don’t have difinitive answers to.

If there has already been a thread like this I apologize in advance. I didn’t
see one anywhere so I thought I’d share my own findings. Here it is.

The Basics:

1. Honor points are accumulated each time you take part in the killing of a
player of the opposing faction.

2. You are penalized if your level is less than 60 (meaning you don’t gain as
much honor for a kill as a level 60 does).

3. Your total amount of honor points are added up at the end of each week
(during server maintenance).

4. Your total honor for the week determines your standing on the server for
that week. Obviously, with standing #1 being the highest you can achieve and so
forth.

5. Your standing determines what share of rating points you will recieve for
that week. The higher the standing, the larger share you get.

6. Your rating points are points that you earn (different than honor points)
each week based on your overall standing on the server for that week.

7. Your total amount of rating points determine your rank: Rank 14 is 60,000
and above, rank 13 is 55,000-59,999, rank 12 is 50,000-54,999 and so on.

8. If you finish standing #1 on your server for the week, the largest amount of
rating points you can earn is 13,000.

9. Each week you automatically lose 20% of your total rating points (Honor
Decay) to start the week. You have to pvp enough to make up the 20% you lose
every week not to lose rating. What gets kind of confusing is the cap for
rating loss when you don’t PVP at all or not enough to come close to making up
what you lost. The cap is 10% but cannot exceed 2500 in this case. So, the most
rating points you can lose is 2500 for the week. So, in essence, if you don’t
PVP at all or finish high enough in standing for the week to earn back the 20%
you lost, your total amount of rating points will decrease.

Example A:

# Player A has a rating of 52,000 in the previous week. Player A does not pvp
at all in the current week. Player A will lose 5,200 (10%) rating points
essentially, but it is capped at a maximum of 2500 loss for the week. So player
A would only drop from a rating of 52,000 to 49,500 (Rank 12 to 11).

Example B:

# Player A has a rating of 12,000 in the previous week. Player A does not PVP
at all in the current week. Player A will lose 1,200 rating points (10%). The
2500 cap will not apply here because the 10% does not exceed 2500. So no rank
is lost in this sceanrio but Player A does fall to 10,500 rating points for not
PVPing at all in the new week.

Where it gets hazy is, “How do I know what standing I need to maintain my
current rating”. I don’t quite have a formula to answer that question, but any
help on this would be much appreciated.

The Skinny:

So, with all this info I have put together a chart to show you how to go from
rank 0 to rank 14 and how long it will take you to do it under absolute PERFECT
conditions.

The chart below shows what would happen if you started to pvp from scratch
(Rank 0) and you finished #1 on your server every week, and you earned the
maximum of 13,000 rating points each of those weeks (remember that is under
optimal conditions which I will explain more after the chart). Here it is:

Week 1: 13,000 Rating Rank 4

Week 2: 23,400 Rating Rank 6

Week 3: 31,720 Rating Rank 8

Week 4: 38,375 Rating Rank 9

Week 5: 43,700 Rating Rank 10

Week 6: 47,960 Rating Rank 11

Week 7: 51,368 Rating Rank 12

Week 8: 54,094 Rating Rank 12

Week 9: 56,275 Rating Rank 13

Week 10: 58,020 Rating Rank 13

Week 11: 59,416 Rating Rank 13

Week 12: 60,533 Rating Rank 14 (Grand Marshal/High Warlord Woot!)

So, it IS possible to go from rank 0 to 14 in 12 weeks.

Now, like I stated above, this is only possible under OPTIMAL conditions. Those
conditions being that you finish #1 on the server every week, you are allotted
the maximum rating points each week (13,000), and you are level 60.

The Grey Areas:

Here are the things I am either not sure of or have no data on at all.

1. Blizzard states that your faction’s participation in pvp as a whole also has
bearing on the total amount of rating points to be given out for the week (the
total rating pool). So, I’m not sure how much the faction has to pvp in order
for the #1 standing to receive 13,000 rating points. I don’t know if it’s a
certain amount of honor or what. Any clarification on this would be a help.

2. The only constant I am aware of for rating points earned is the 13,000 per
week maximum. I do not have any data to help me calculate what each standing’s
maximum per week is after standing #1. So I’m not sure if it’s percentage based
or what. For all I know the maximum rating points that can be given out for a
week for standing #2 is 12,000 (just throwing a number out there). I don’t have
any idea how these are calculated, but from researching many threads and other
sites, I assume it is % based. Any help on this would also be appreciated.

3. Also, from what I have read in the forums, I have come to the conclusion
that it IS possible to go from rank 13 to 14 even if you finish as low as
standing #3 for the weeks leading up to your rank 14. I have not heard, seen,
or read anything lower than this. Please post if you have info regarding this
issue as well.

Common Misconceptions About Honor Points:

The common misconception about the honor system is the honor point total you
accumulate for each week. The amount of honor you accumulate for the week is
not the end-all be-all. This is because it is all relative to what other
players have done for the week. I’ll give you an example:

# In week 1 Player A busts his hump and receives 400,000 honor, but he only
finishes 15th on the server in his faction for that week.

# The next week, he doesn’t pvp quite as much and still gets 350,000 honor, but
he finishes 9th in his faction on the server.

# How is this possible you ask? Simple. Honor points are only a measuring tool
to show how well you did compared to other players of your faction on your
server. So, in week one of our example, Player A just happened to be amongst
others who pvp’ed heavily for that week. In week 2 when he thought he wasn’t
pvp’ing as much, neither were his peers, and that reflects by his standing for
the week.

In Closing:

I hope this guide has helped people understand a little bit more about the
honor system and how Blizzard calculates ranks.

If there is anything I left out of if anyone can add to my findings it would be
much appreciated. I will try to update this post with any new information I get.

Also, If I am totally wrong in my findings please let me know. I don’t want to
be posting bad info up here.

Please bump this post if you found it useful and informative so others can see
it too. Thanks all!” -Greenman and Aragone

_______ _______
/ / \ \
/______/ J. Queuing Tricks \______\
/ \
/ \
/__________________________________________\

QUEUING REMOTELY
One trick I’m fond of is adding people to my party and queuing them as a group.
To do this, have the group leader talk to a battlemaster and hit the “Queue as
Group” button on the left of the pane. If the leader was previously queued, he
can right-click the red icon on the bottom-left of the minimap and hit “Change
Battle” for either Warsong of Arathi in order to bring up the same pane. This
has tons of applications, including teleportation and resurrection. When you’re
summoned to a battleground as a ghost, you’re brought back to life. (I’m not
sure whether you still take 10% equipment damage, though. Being rezzed in a BG
does only about 1% damage.) After the battleground ends, you’re sent back to
wherever THE LEADER queued you. If the leader queued you at a major city
(Undercity, Thunder Bluff, or Orgrimmar) you’ll appear next to the battlemaster
there. If the leader queued you at the true entrance OR queued you from the red
icon on the bottom-left of the minimap, you will go to the true entrance of the
BG. (Between Ashenvale and Barrens for Warsong Gulch, Arathi Highlands for
Arathi Basin.)
On my home server, Scarlet Crusade, there are a few PvP channels (”Gulch”,
“PvP50″, and “AVRaider”) in which friendly Horde will queue you remotely by
adding you to their party, putting you in the line, and kicking you so you’re
free to quest without being in a raid. This is useful if you’re in, say,
fishing in Desolace, or have forgotten to hit featherfall when jumping off the
lip of Un’Goro crater, leaving your body halfway between rock and a hard place.
Obviously, if you wanted to, you could use this system to teleport to any of
the three major cities and two major entrances anytime you wanted. Of course,
you would have to wait for a battleground to load for it to work, and anyone
who I catch leaving a BG without helping us fight will be paddled mercilessly.