by Olivia Grace

Getting Started

I’ve been talking about addon configuration quite a bit recently, with some criticisms of a couple of addons’ setup methods. Configuration is really, really important for addon use. It’s what people first encounter when using them, especially with healing addons such as these that you can’t really wade straight into with no setup.

Both Healbot and VuhDo do offer a standard configuration by healing class, which they now both automatically detect, but unless you’re a little psychic and — especially for priests — don’t need most of your spells, these won’t get you very far. The point I’m trying to make is that configuration is necessary for both these addons in order to use them effectively. Given how similarly they work, configuration is half the battle between these two.
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by Olivia Grace
You must have seen it coming, people. I’m the PvP columnist, and now the addon columnist, too. So, naturally, I had to eventually write a column about the addons I use for PvP. For clarity, I should state that the majority of PvP I do is in the arena. I am also on a couple of rated battleground teams, and do random battlegrounds to gear up my characters, but not once they’re geared beyond honor gear, thanks to the changes to the conquest point cap. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get started. I’ve got a lot of addons to talk to you about today.
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by Olivia Grace
This week we’re going to look at personal cooldown tracking! This, in contrast to last week’s column, looks at methods to monitor your own things, and not share them with other players. I touched briefly on this topic in an addon mailbag a while back, but my main recommendation is not behaving itself at all well at the moment, so I figure we ought to have a second look at this.
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by Olivia Grace

Getting Started

I’ve been talking about addon configuration quite a bit recently, with some criticisms of a couple of addons’ setup methods. Configuration is really, really important for addon use. It’s what people first encounter when using them, especially with healing addons such as these that you can’t really wade straight into with no setup.

Both Healbot and VuhDo do offer a standard configuration by healing class, which they now both automatically detect, but unless you’re a little psychic and — especially for priests — don’t need most of your spells, these won’t get you very far. The point I’m trying to make is that configuration is necessary for both these addons in order to use them effectively. Given how similarly they work, configuration is half the battle between these two.
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by Olivia Grace
PvP Season 12 has begun. First and foremost, where are the vendors with the PvP gear? They’re a little hidden away in Mists, that’s for sure, with the Alliance vendor on the Serpent’s Spine, the huge wall, level with the border between Vale of Eternal Blossoms and Valley of the Four Winds. There is a flight point there, but you won’t have it unless you happened to pick it up while looking for Bowmistress Li. The Horde vendor is also on the wall, but between Townlong Steppes and Kun Lai Summit, a short way west of the corner. Again, there’s a flight point there, but you likely won’t have it. For both vendors, you can reach them by getting up onto the wall at pretty much any point you can, and running along it. Of course, you’ll likely be 90 before you’re interested in hunting them down, so you can just fly on over!
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by Olivia Grace
With Mists of Pandaria, reputation has gone from being something you need a tabard for, to something that’s really quite a big deal. Currently, with patch 5.0.5, the only way to spend your valor points is to grind out reputations with the various Mists of Pandaria factions. Disregarding my personal stance on this, it seemed logical, after two consecutive weeks of Pet Battle addons, to move into a category of addon that actually helps you do something useful for your characters!

Not that pet battles aren’t useful, of course, they’re just not directly contributing to your character in the same way as reputation grinding. And they’re hopelessly addictive, unlike doing daily quests and other reputation grinds.

So, let’s get started. I actually think the default interface for reputation monitoring is quite good from Blizzard, as it’s a feature that’s existed for a really long while, I suppose they’ve had the time to get it working well. But there are always ways you can improve on it!

RepCalc Reputation Bars
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by Olivia Grace
For any readers who don’t know, Mists of Pandaria brought about a fairly substantial change in PvP gear. Resilience and Spell Penetration were removed, and replaced with two shiny new stats: PvP Power and PvP Resilience. PvP Resilience is essentially the same as the old Resilience stat, reducing your damage taken from other players. It’s active all the time, whenever you’re wearing your PvP gear.

PvP Power is not, as many believe, a direct 1 for 1 counter to PvP Resilience. PvP Power increases your damage against other players. So, if you’re a player who has 0 PvP power, hitting a player who has 50% damage mitigation from PvP Resilience, and your hit does 100 damage, it will only hit them for 50 damage.

Say you are that same player, only now you have a 100% damage increase against other players from PvP Power. Your 100 damage hit now hits another player for 200 damage. But, the player with 50% damage mitigation is still resisting 50% of that damage, so it hits them for 100 damage.

Of course, these values are not correct in-game, but we’re getting to that. They’re just for illustration!
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by Matt Low

Feng the Accursed

You’ll come across Feng shortly after you take down the Stone Guard. On normal mode, Feng has three phases with different abilities. The Spirit Bolts he casts will continue to occur throughout the raid no matter what phase he is in. The amount of healing you and your team have to do hinges upon the skills of your tanks. Can they interrupt the appropriate ability? Can they drop Nullification Barrier in the right area for the raid?
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by Allison Robert

Hallow’s End 2012 begins on Thursday, Oct. 18 and runs through Wednesday, Oct. 31 this year. As with most of the game’s holidays, Hallow’s End is required for the yearlong metaWhat A Long, Strange Trip It’s Been that grants the Violet Proto-Drake. Completing therequired Hallow’s End achievements will also award the title the Hallowed.

Last year, Blizzard added some major updates and improvements to the holiday, one of which completely eliminated the hassle behind one of WoW‘s most hideous RNG nightmares, and one of which left us with two very badass non-combat pets. In essence, Tricky Treats – once a vomit-inducing item that dropped in spades from the holiday boss, the Headless Horseman – are now a form of currency that players can use to buy pets, masks, wands, and other holiday items. 2011 also introduced a new set of quests associated with Hallow’s End, one of which sends you into an enemy city without the fear of ugly death.

Bottom line: If you weren’t around for last year’s holiday, a lot of stuff may interest you this year. If you were around for last year, you’ll still be interested, as the Headless Horseman’s set of dropped epics are a lot more compelling at the beginning of an expansion. Hardcore achievement hunters will also be pleased to note an additional 10 points in the form ofTricks and Treats of Pandaria.

As with most of our holiday guides, I’ve arranged the achievements in the rough order they should be completed, noting which achievements are required for the meta and which aren’t.
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