Shaman Totem Bar Overview, BlizzCon 2009 Live Stream Orders Open, 2009 Regional Finals

Shaman Totem Bar

This is also available in the guides section, but I wanted to post it in today's news as this is a very handy new feature for the Shaman class.

When patch 3.2 releases, with it comes a new totem bar for the Shaman class. The bar sits above your action bars on the default UI, similar to other class bars (shapeshifting, stances, auras, etc.) and can either be clicked, or have keys bound to it by setting them in the Key Bindings options.

You can find these in the "Action Bar Functions" portion named "Drop All Totems 1," "Drop All Totems 2" and "Drop All Totems 3." You can also bind keys to specific totems on the bar, but the real power of the bar is allowing you to assign and drop four totems in a single global cooldown, with a single button press or click.

Visit your trainer and train the various Call abilities offered: Call of Fire (Level 30), Call of Water (Level 40) and Call of Air (Level 50). You can then assign a set of four totems to each of these spells in the totem bar. So for instance, you can set up Call of Fire to drop your four PvE totems, Call of Water to drop your PvP totems, and then Call of Air to drop another choice of four totems. The fourth call spell is actually Totemic Call. It's renamed to Call of Earth in the patch, and is also available on the totem bar, on the right.

The tooltips of the spells will probably be confusing to some players; they suggest that the higher level versions allow more types of totems to be dropped at first glance, but what it actually means is that Call of Water and Call of Air enable you to save another set of four totems, so that you have other options. You'll also notice that the mana cost of the call spell will update as you choose or change the totems the spell is assigned to drop. This mana cost is a combination of the totems you've chosen, so use the call spells with caution or you'll rapdily run out of mana!

The call spell does not have to be active on the totem bar to drop those totems -- the totem bar itself is primarily used to assign each set of totems to a call spell. You can also place each of the call spells on your action bars, if you so choose. In the end, this looks to be an extremely welcome addition to the user interface and gameplay mechanics of the Shaman class.

BlizzCon 2009 Live Stream Orders Open

Quote from: Eyonix (Source)

This year, for the first time, you'll have the opportunity to enjoy a live Internet stream of BlizzCon coverage from the comfort of your own home. The stream includes the same content as the DIRECTV pay-per-view event, but you do not have to be a DIRECTV subscriber to purchase it. It consists of over 16 hours of video, including interviews and commentary, main stage presentations, and tournament coverage. It’s now available to order for $39.95, and purchasers will also receive the BlizzCon 2009-exclusive in-game pet, Grunty the Murloc Marine (not available in all regions). Head over to the BlizzCon 2009 Live Stream website to get more information, to test video playback on your system, or to place an order.

http://blizzcon.rayv.com/

2009 Regional Finals Starts Friday

Quote from: Ancilorn (Source)

Starting this Friday, the 2009 Regional Finals featuring World of Warcraft Arena and Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, will take place in Cologne, Germany. The best players and teams from the US and the EU will compete to determine which of them will win a much sought-after spot at the Grand Finals at BlizzCon in Anaheim, California.

Watch the action in-person by joining us at the KOMED Meeting Centre in Cologne's MediaPark or follow the action from wherever you are through our official Regional Finals website.

http://eu.blizzard.com/rf09/index.xml

Additionally, we've prepared for you a brackets page with all participants, which will be updated throughout the event - http://eu.blizzard.com/rf09/brackets.xml . The newly added tournament schedule available from the Information Page will help you follow the action and our Community team will keep you updated during the entire event from our Forums.

http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=9520949808&sid=1

Stay tuned for more information about this exciting event and we hope to see you there!

Mtn Dew Game Fuel Online-Exclusive Commercial

Quote from: Eyonix (Source)

Horde and Alliance flavors of Mtn Dew Game Fuel are now in stores across the US. You many have seen the TV commercial featuring some epic grocery store PvP action, and it’s now available for online viewing as a Web-exclusive version. Watch it now on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRwNr9gp1jo

Blue Posts

Raids & Dungeons

The lore behind the Crusaders' Coliseum (Source)

The lore elements present in 3.2 (well beyond the new raid zone) are appropiately building up to the battle with the Lich King. If you enjoy lore, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

3.2 PTR - Patchwerk Tank Tests (Source)

There is going to be a "Patchwerk" on the PTR if there isn't already. Let him beat on you a little bit with different gear sets and rotations and report your numbers. We'll probably make a thread where you can post the numbers, but regardless we should be able to find them anywhere on these forums.

Mage

Current state of the class (Source)

On the topic of mages, we agree with many of your points. We have always really liked the class design because it almost defines "simple to learn, hard to master." Players who never play mages say "Lol must be hard to hit Fireball 1000 times." Yet if you look at the damage done by good mages and bad mages, even with the same gear, even in the same raid, you can see the difference that skill plays. You have to know when to use your cooldowns and maximize your procs. You need to know when to Blink, when to Evocate and (soon) when to go invisible. The mages I have raided with can do really high dps, but they also die a lot. :)

Share On: