Rizzil's UI

A few of the guildies have been asking about some mods that I recommend and use when I play Warcraft. Here is a little picture of my UI that can help you all to see what I'm working with.

Happy Anniversary Arbiters!

Three years ago today, the Arbiters of Azeroth were formed under the command of Elderin. Some may remember Elderin and his vision of what a good guild could be. Nobody knew that three years later there would be 375 characters wearing the AoA tabard. Here are a few highlights of what has happened in the past 3 years...

• The first leaders of AoA broke away from a guild called Heroes Alliance. MUTINY!
  
• The AoA tabard was once colored pink (and it almost caused a disband!).
• AoA has had raiding alliances with Booty Brigade, Clan PooH, Holy Circle, House Atredeis, and Age of Kings.
• Past guild masters include Elderin, Twon, Macpeanut, and Maxima.
• The word Arbiter means...

  1.	a person empowered to decide matters at issue; judge; umpire.

  2.	a person who has the sole or absolute power of judging or determining.

• The guild master of Bloodthirsty Roaming Mob signed the AoA charter!
• Rizzil may be the oldest original Arbiter that is still a member.
  

Gruul is Defeated!

The Arbiters of Azeroth and Age of Kings have defeated Gruul the Dragonkiller! He did not last long as the Alliance was able to focus and kill him by the 3rd week of attempts. Congratulations to all who made out with some amazing gear from both the High King and Gruul!

With this recent kill, the Arbiters of Azeroth have jumped up in our WoWJutsu rating! Woot!

Raid Setup for High King Maulgar

Blindeye (Priest)

• 1 Tank
• 1 Healer
• Amplify Magic on tank
• Rogues need to stun heals if his Divine Shield is down
• Misdirect to tank

Krosh (Mage)

• 1 Mage tank
• 1 Healer
• Mage must run into melee range and then run out (to trigger Blastwave)
• Tank in the center of the room
• When Krosh cast Fire Ward Shield, the mage must spellsteal after a Fireball cast
• Blastwave is a 20 yard AoE effect

Olm (Warlock)

• Fel Hound tank
• 1 Tank
• 1 Healer
• When enslaved, use Spell Lock to halt damage.
• Enslave or Banish Fel Hounds as the spawn
• Shadow Protection on tanks

Kiggler (Shaman)

• Druid tank (immune to Polymorph)
• 2 Hunters
• 1 Healer
• Use Nature Resistance and Arcane Resistance (polymorphs)
• Knockback ability

High King Maulgar (Warrior)

• 1 Tank (15,000 health)
• 2-3 Healers
• Misdirect to tank
• Amplify Magic on tank
• Melee need to attack after a Whirlwind to minimize damage
• Fear Ward after Maulgar enrages
• Charge ability must be picked up by a tank and reset into position

High King Maulgar Is Defeated!

The air was thick with dust as members of the Arbiters of Azeroth and Age of Kings met to explore the depths of Gruul's Lair. Meeting for the first time, we had to exchange our greetings as a looming threat held our attention. The Alliance had been created for one purpose; to defeat High King Maulgar and Gruul the Dragonslayer. We were all skeptical of the outcome of the evening for many of the adventurers had never seen the legendary High King and his 4 minions. You could cut the tension with a knife.

The Lair Brutes that guarded the High King's domain were no match to the Alliance, bolstering our confidence in each other. That all changed when we all turned the corner to confront the High King himself.

Courageously, the Arbiters of Azeroth and Age of Kings stepped into the unknown and confronted the High King with blades and magic. After a frenzied battle, the Arbiters of Azeroth and the Age of Kings emerged victorious. The Alliance had prevailed!

Scattered around the High King were three magical pieces of armor for our comrades. Both Krellic and Cazooky claimed the Pauldrons of the Aldor while Itakecandle donned the Malefic Mask of the Shadows.

Congratulations to the Arbiters of Azeroth and Age of Kings for their first victory within Gruul's Lair. While this victory is sweet, the threat of Gruul the Dragonslayer remains... Let the Alliance prevail.

Socket To Me - Shadow Priest

Gems are an important part of setting up your character in the World of Warcraft. Socket To Me is a short run-down of recommended gems for specific classes and builds. I've researched the best websites out there to come up with this information. Check it out for some ideas!

The shadow priest was once a rare sight in the old world of Azeroth. Almost every drop that was meant for a priest only included healing, intellect, and spirit. Once the holy priests descended upon the Outlands, they proceeded to get thrashed by helboars. Everything changed when the priests revolted and turned to the shadows. They began to receive attention as excellent group members because of the mana and health regeneration that they brought to the instance. Now, the shadow priest is a staple in any successful Karazhan group and beyond.

Before we talk about the gems that shadow priests should socket, its necessary to discuss the major things a shadow priest needs to bring to an instance. If you boil it down to the basics, its only 3 things...

• Regenerate Mana
• Regenerate Health
• Impose ridiculous amounts of damage upon an unsuspecting mob
  

All the shackles, buffs, and coolness factor (hehe) that a shadow priest brings is an afterthought. Shadow priests are only as good as the DoTs that they cast. Period. That brings us to the number 1 stat a shadow priest needs to stack for raiding and 5-mans.

Spell Hit.

If your Spriest has 5 points in Shadow Focus, then all you need to land DoTs on any raid boss with 99% accuracy is 76 Spell Hit. Besides gear, you can socket these gems to bring you closer to lucky number 76...

Great Golden Draenite
Veiled Flame Spessarite
Great Dawnstone
Veiled Noble Topaz

Once your gear is boosted up enough to handle the spell hit on its own, you can start replacing your gems with Spell Damage. There is no limit to the amount of Spell Damage that you can have, so I suggest you ignore all your socket bonuses and stack this beautiful, lovely, sweet gem...

Runed Living Ruby

There is no real need to socket any gems that increase Spell Crit since only two of your spells can actually crit, Shadow Word: Death and Mind Blast. You're not like those fun frost mages that live for crits... Shadow priests need to have a steady stream of damage that returns the mana and health that the raid needs.

Now, for a Meta Gem, you're going to need something special. I personally suggest checking out this puppy...

Mystical Skyfire Diamond

If you install this gem, you'll be able to use Mind Flay in half the casting time. Talk about melting faces! Since this gem requires more blue than yellow gems, you'll need to install...

Glowing Nightseye

There you have it! These gems will make you the face-melter you've always set out to be. If you want to research further, I suggest you check out ElitistJerks.com. These guys at EJ do some amazing work thats worth a glance. If you have something to add, please feel free to leave a comment!

Mods! Give Me More Mods!

Mods. Addons. Whatever you want to call 'em works for me. Either way, I love these little things to death. A mod is a little folder that can be downloaded to change the way the game works, looks, or feels to you. For example, you can download Auctioneer to scan the auction house for deals. You can even download a threat meter like Omen to warn you if you're about to take aggro from your tank. All of these mods make the game a little bit more fun while sharpening your skills as a gamer.

But, what good is a mod if you don't know how to install it?

Here is a little run down of how to install a mod and activate it. I hope you're ready, because your gaming experience will be changed forever if you give mods a shot. Let's go!

First, you want to find something to download. Reputable sources are Curse Gaming, WoWInterface, and WowAce. All three of these sites are updated regularly with the most popular mods. WARNING: Always scan these files for viruses. Never install something with an .exe file. NEVER. You've been warned.

Go ahead and download the file. It should arrive in a .zip format. Unzip it with your favorite program and keep the folder handy.
Now you want to go into your Applications folder. Scroll down until you see the World of Warcraft folder. Go ahead and open it.
(Please note that I have Ventrilo installed. Cool people have Ventrilo installed. Are you cool?)

Now that you're inside the World of Warcraft folder, you want to search for a folder labeled Interface. This folder should look like this...
Click on that Interface folder and you'll get the one folder that were going to be working with. Ah yes... the AddOns folder! Go ahead and open it up. It looks a bit like this...
Now, grab the file that you just downloaded and drop it into the AddOns folder.

All done! You've just installed your first mod. Go ahead and close up your Applications folder and fire up the game. I know you want to. Just do it.

Once the game has loaded, you want to make sure that the mod is turned on. At the character selection screen is a little button labeled AddOns. It's located at the bottom left corner of the screen. Click it.

That will bring up the AddOn List that you see below. Click on Enable All to turn on your shiny new mod.
There you have it! Welcome to the land of the mods. I hope this helps a little bit as we talk about some mods in the future. Have fun in Azeroth!