Guest Post: 3.0 Professions for the Priest (and Clothies)

This is a guest post written by Galadria.

Hello Matt’s Readers!  For those of you who remember me, I’m back playing WoW and writing my blog again.  For those of you who don’t, I’m Galadria and I write Galadria’s Corner (yes I renamed it… again) formerly The Light and The Dark formerly The Holy Light.  I’ve got raiding experience on 2 level 70 Priests, one Holy and one Shadow, and I’m now rolling new toons on a new server, another Priest and now a Warlock (they’re both 40ish at the moment).  Without further ado, here’s my thoughts on Professions in Wrath!

Professions have taken a slightly different flavor in WotLK. Each has its own unique benefits, even the gathering professions. It seems to me that Blizz decided to balance not only classes, but professions. Tailoring was so incredibly OP for casters that I felt I didn’t have a choice but to learn Tailoring or be horribly gimped in raid.  With each profession having something special, the selection of your professions requires a little more thought (especially if you’re leveling new toons like I am!). The information included is from the Beta and WoWHead’s WotLK site. Since WotLK isn’t live yet this data isn’t set in stone there are likely to be a few changes. When the expansion goes live I’ll let you know what changed and how (over at my blog, or course, so add me to your reader if you haven’t already!  /shameless plug off). With the disclaimers out of the way, here we go!

Alchemy

• Double duration on Flasks and Elixirs
• Increased effects of Flasks & Elixirs (it appears that the increased effects are 37 spellpower for flasks and 19 spellpower for Battle Elixirs, not sure about Guardian Elixirs)
• BoP trinket (Mercurial Alchemist Stone) that will increase effects of Pots by 40%. The highest mana potion grants 4200 to 4400 and we’ll assume that the average is in the middle. Adding 40% gives 6020 mana.  Let’s assume for simplicity’s sake that boss fights are 5 mins (I’ve heard as low a 3 and up to 8).  Over a 5 min boss fight, the unbuffed mana pot gives 71.5 MP5, the buffed is 100.3 MP5.  Using the same logic for health pots, with the largest being about 3600 plus 40% gives 5040, giving 12 HPS unbuffed and 16.8 HPS buffed (I’m not sure how meaningful that statistic is, but there you go… I did the math for you!)
• If PvP is your thing, there are also craftable Arena potions.

The Bottom Line: Alchemy can be a great profession for anyone. The double duration will save you money and I think the Alchemy stone will be very valuable with the potion changes (my gut is telling me that this is going to be one of the more powerful profession benefits available, but nothing is set in stone yet).  It can also be a money maker if you can get your hands on some of the rare or discovered recipes.  If you are going to be an Alchemist I highly recommend Herbalism to go with it so you don’t have to purchase Herbs.

Blacksmithing

• Extra Socket for Bracers and Gloves
• Entry level BoP Epic Weapon

The Bottom Line: I can’t recommend Blacksmithing for any caster since we can’t use the majority of the crafted products.

Enchanting

• Enchanter only Ring enchants that give 19 spell power or 24 stamina

The Bottom Line: I think we’ll find Enchanting to be less tedious to level and make money off of than it used to be with the introduction of scrolls.  A friend told me that she was actually able to make a little money selling the enchanted scrolls that she made while leveling Enchanting.  While it’s a pain to level, Enchanting requires no gathering profession and therefore pairs well with Tailoring or any gathering profession for money making.  To me the ring enchants aren’t enough to make me level the profession, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good option for any caster (as it has always been!)

Engineering

• Mounts
• Utility enchants for gloves (rocket launcher, haste)
• Portable Mailbox and Vendor
• Epic Helmets - This is a level 72 helmet, I’m sure there will be a level 80 one but I can’t anything on WoWHead right now.

The Bottom Line: I’m not sure Engineering is a great choice for a caster… but I don’t think it’s a bad one either.  The Repair Bot brings a lot of utility to raid and there’s no denying the mounts are really cool.  If Engineering is your thing I can’t knock you for it.

Herbalism

• Lifeblood: a self HoT that scales with Herbalism level, costs no mana, and does not trigger the GCD. At it’s current incarnation Rank 6, available at 450 Herbalism grants 2000 health over 5 seconds with a 3 min cooldown. If used every time it’s available it averages out to 11 HPS.
• Fire Seed: increases spellpower by 200 for 10 seconds with a 1 min cooldown. It also increases damage taken by 10% and reduces all resistances to zero. Shares a cooldown with other crafted consumables (Drums and Grenades but not Pots, Healthstones, or Mana Gems)
• Herbalism provides the raw materials for the crafting professions of Alchemy and Inscription

The Bottom Line: As far as gathering professions go, Herbalism is my favorite and the 2 crafting professions Herbalism benefits are both useful to a caster. If you need a profession to make money for you Herbalism can be a good choice, especially since there are now 2 crafting professions that benefit from it and therefore more demand.  Also, Lifeblood has saved my tail more than once!!

Inscription

• Scroll of Recall - consumable hearthstone with a 20 min cooldown that is separate from regular hearthstone
• BoP Off-Hands - There’s a PvP oriented one (or Lock tank) and a general caster one.  Both look to be pretty good.
• Scribe only Shoulder enchants - these are MUCH better than the reputation versions
  • Crag (spell power and MP5) - Craftable and Reputation
  • Storm (spell power and crit) - Craftable and Reputation
• The extra Glyph slot was taken out.

The Bottom Line: I can tell you from personal experience that the Scroll of Recall is HIGHLY useful, but it’s not a raid benefit.  The shoulder enchants are much better than the reputation versions and don’t require a rep grind on top of it. I’m leveling Inscription on my Priest and really liking it!  If you are going to have Inscription for a profession I recommend Herbalism to go with it so you will have easy access to the raw materials for Milling.

Jewelcrafting

• Slightly better epic gems - you can equip up to 3 and they are prismatic to match any socket color.  The JC only gems have 7 crit, haste, or hit, 3 MP5, 11 sta, or 9 sp more than their counterparts.  These are epic gems so to see this benefit you’ll need gear you’re willing to put epic gems in!
• Entry level BoP trinkets - Healer, or Caster DPS

The Bottom Line: Jewelcrafting can be a money maker if you can get the high-end patterns, though it is very expensive to level (second only to Blacksmithing).  If you are going to have this as a profession I would recommend Mining to go with it so you have easy access to the ore for Prospecting.

Leatherworking

• Bracer enchants that are substantially better than other options
• Drums appear to be removed.

The Bottom Line: Leatherworking is like Blacksmithing, I can’t recommend it for a caster

Mining

• Health bonus that scales with mining level
• Mining provides the raw materials for the crafting professions of Blacksmithing and Jewlecrafting and is recommended for Engineering.

The Bottom Line: If you are a Jewelcrafter, Mining is a good choice for your second profession.  Also not a bad idea to accompany Engineering.  I also know several people that have paired it with Enchanting to make money

Skinning

• Bonus to Crit rating (now that Crit is a uniform stat this will benefit melee as well as casters)
• Skinning provides the raw materials for the crafting profession Leatherworking.

The Bottom Line: If you need money Mining or Herbalism will make you a lot more money and Leatherworking just doesn’t benefit us.  However, if you are going to have 2 gathering professions for leveling or on an alt skinning pairs well with the others since you can’t track herbs and mineral nodes at the same time.

Tailoring

• Tailor only Leg enchants with cheaper mats.
• Tailor only Cloak enchants
• Bonus cloth drops
• BoP Flying Carpet Mount
• Entry level raiding gear

The Bottom Line: It appears that Tailoring won’t be practically necessary for clothies this time around. Yay! I have never really liked Tailoring, the only reason I had it was to get the gear. That said, Tailoring is nice because it requires no gathering profession and can be easy to level while you level your toon since you are always picking up cloth. Bags can be a money maker on some servers (my experience is that it will be more profitable on low-pop servers).

There you have it!  You can look at the BOP benefits of each and see which suits your playstyle best.  I think we’ll see a lot more variety in professions this time around.  I’m really looking forward to seeing where the expansion takes us.

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Space Goat Live (Shadow and Light): Another healer blog

Don’t have the time for a real coherent post right now since I’m in school (learning about the Youth Criminal Justice System). Got an email from Naelum shamlessly plugging a series of posts. Its an overview of all 4 healing classes at the end of Burning Crusade displaying their individual strengths and weaknesses.

Check it here.

Note: I don’t mind it when people send me links to read via EMail or otherwise. I’ve got so much stuff on my plate that I don’t have time to search things out or clean out my reader. With that being said, if someone goes through the trouble of EMailing or PMing or Morse Coding me a page or blogpost they thing is awesome, I’ll read it. Yes, that is right, I’ve started to outsource my blog reading :(.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ll read everything eventually. If the title’s boring, I’ll mark as read. If the intro paragraph doesn’t hook me, I’ll pass. But the ones that catch my attention usually jump to the top of the line because a simple EMail makes all the difference. And if I like what I read, I’ll try to share it here. I know I don’t do a good enough job shining the spotlight on other starter blogs or even to the more established ones. Thats a failure and a mistake in my own right and I apologize for not recognizing the work and effort of my blogging colleagues.

Matticus Interviewed

It all started with a PM from Blog Azeroth which exploded into a full fledge interview. Had lots of fun answering this one from the WoW Blogger. Go read it!

Most important question asked?

Will the blog still be going? For that matter do you foresee WoW itself still alive in a decade?

The blog itself will be up. I chose this name so that it wouldn’t exactly be limited to just World of Warcraft. It’s World of Matticus and whatever happens to be contained in that world will be up to me. Blizzard’s stories have been compelling in every game they’ve produced. If they keep up story telling and designing the games the way they are now there is no reason to see WoW even remotely slowing down at all.

I’m back! (kinda)

As I mentioned here this time last week, I had a blog in the works.  Well, the Wordpress template has been wrestled into submission, and it is now officially up and running.  So, after evading Matt’s prodding for a sneak peek, I’d like to welcome everyone to World of Snarkcraft. 

Snarkcraft is something that Seri (my class lead) and I had been poking around with the idea of starting for a few months now.  SYTYCB was what finally convinced me that I might actually be able to pull a blog off.  Seri’s still nervous and facing a big case of stage fright.

As is probably obvious from the title…  it’s not going to be World of Matticus.  We’re not about power through knowledge and reason as much as we are about equal portions education and opinion (by rant and snark).

So..  welcome.  Put your feet up, have some tea and cookies, and enjoy.

 

DISCLAIMER:  World of Snarkcraft© is not affiliated in any way with World of Matticus© (despite similar “World of” names and color scheme).  The opinions expressed are solely to be attributed to Jov© or Seri© (though rarely both at the same time) and not to Matticus©, Wynthea© or Sydera©, or any other contributor or guest contributor to World of Matticus©.  The views expressed in World of Snarkcraft© do not necessarily represent the views or policies of World of Matticus© or any of it’s contributors.  Some restrictions apply, void where prohibited by law.  Please use responsibly.

Thank You

This is going to come across a bit acceptance-speechy I fear (which is weird, since I’m not accepting an award or anything), but I just wanted to toss a post up here and say a few things off-topic before I retire to “guest contributor” status.

1. It was a huge honor to participate in this. From the start, I was doing this explore my own writing and ideas, as well as my nerve to post it for Matt’s large fanbase. I’ve come to several conclusions: the best tree won, new friendships are awesome, I can actually pull this sort of thing off, and I’m definitely going to keep in touch.

2. I AM going to be starting a blog. There’s actually already one in the works, but it’s still in the “wrestle with the blog template” stage, so I’m not tossing it out just yet. However, Matt’s promised (threatened?) to alert you all and WI when it goes live. I might just flee in terror now.

3. I’m going to kinda miss the last-minute panic of trying to get a post up by the deadline. Matt can vouch for my sometimes very last minute turn-ins.  Guest-Judge pointed out that my IDS post is really only half-done, so I’m definitely going to finish that sometime in the (fairly) near future.

4.  I wanted to toss a special thank-you to everyone involved in the process.  First to Matt and Wyn, who both started WoM and held this competition.  Even when I don’t agree with y’all, I had a lot of fun.  To Sydera, you did an awesome job throughout the competition, and your posts regularly blew me away.  I look forward to seeing what you come up with in the future.  To Jen, Vedela, Crutch, Tulani, and Rusco, I didn’t have a lot of interaction with some of you (which I look at as being a bad thing) but I hope that changes in the future.  I’ll catch y’all around PlusHeal and keep poking around for your blogs.  I hope those of you who don’t have blogs already will get up and do something about that ;)  (And Crutch, good luck in the interview ;)  I’m rooting for ya.)

Deja Vu? What Happened

The more attentive readers will understand that I had some recent downtime yesterday. I don’t know what happened. Things worked fine in the morning before it came to a crashing halt. I spent the entire afternoon trying to isolate the problem (which I thought was a theme, then a plugin, then the installation) before calling it for the evening and raiding. That ended up in me getting my Vestments of Absolution.

A few more head bashing hours later, I came really close to just throwing in the towel and retiring entirely because I was extremely pissed and frustrated. My other blogs were working. Plusheal was working. But for whatever reason, this blog wasn’t. I tried wiping the database and restoring the backup earlier from the day. No dice. I tried wiping the entire WP install and restoring it again. Nothing.

Ended up wiping the install AND the database. Restored the database from Wednesday before Syd’s and Joveta’s post went up. That’s why you’re seeing them there again because I had to manually post theirs.

All I can say is, I won’t be renewing my contract with my current host. I have another year remaining. World of Matticus will be an unrestricted free agent blog next summer.

SYTYCB

Critiques will come out later tonight. Result will be released tomorrow. Next week, you’ll find out more about the latest addition to the WoM crew.

Twisted Nether: Wynnicus Podcast Now Available

Clocking in at under 90 minutes, the Bre, Fim, Wyn, and Matt show is now available for download from the TNB website. If you were unable to catch the whole show (consider yourself lucky ^^), you can grab the edited and pared down version.

Highlights

• Beta talk (lots of it)
• Blogosphere highlights
• Wyn
• An saga tale

Don’t miss the epic saga

A tale of two Priests. . .

A broken promise. . .

A friendship tested. . .

More drama than the loss of a Hunter bow to a Rogue. . .

A betrayal that no one would have believed possible. . .

This is the must listen Podcast of the year. If you download only one podcast this season, make it The Twisted Nether Blogcast: Episode 16.

Note: I ran out of movie cliches. Anyone got any?

World of Matticus Gets a New Face Lift

Of course, sneaky tech savvy blog readers (or even Google RSS readers) would have been able to access the blog while I was undergoing upgrades. That flimsy placeholder page does absolutely nothing to restrict people. Need to find me a maintenance mo

If my blog was my toon, I’d go all out on it trying to maximize rep and getting all the necessary gear to make it better. Looking at it now, I think I did a pretty good job! You can tell what how much a blogger loves their work by not only the way they write but how they present it.

Let’s discuss the set bonuses features about the new look, eh?

Front page

• Same blue Matticus: The blues are staying. It’s the official colors of the Alliance and it’ll be the official colors of Matticus.
• Featured video: On the right side, Wyn and I have the option of embedding interesting videos there that we think our readers would love. They don’t have to be necessarily WoW related. For example, if you play it now you’ll recognize the tune from the Macbook Air commercial (which I believe is very fitting for the occasion).
• Individual author avatars: This wasn’t a problem months ago as I was the only writer. But with the embrace of a coblogger and accepting guest posts, identity becomes much more important. Cemented with 110 x 110 pixels of writers.
• Headline ticker: Don’t miss out on the latest highlight reel posts. You’ll notice the massive billboard-like plugin at the top. It will cycle through 5 recent posts that we think you’ll enjoy!
• Advertising: Yes, advertising has become a little more prominent. They won’t interfere with the content (due to tactical and strategic placement). However, if you don’t want to be exposed to them, why not subscribe to my RSS Feed or via EMail above instead?
• Expanded blogroll: The recommended reading on the sidebar has been expanded to encompass more blogs. Criteria? Bribery.
• Tag cloud: Categories have disappeared from the side. Instead, you can find random “streams of thought”. The cloud functions as a keyword type thing. Actively discussed topics are the ones that are in large fonts.
• Refined categories: Instead of being on the side, categories now appear at the top beneath the pages. Mousing over them reveals a javascript powered drop down menu that will take you to the posts that match what you’re dying to find out more of.

Article page

I’ve not only refined the look of the blog, but I’ve taken care to add extra details to the post pages themselves. Take a gander:

• Breadcrumb trail: Never get lost again! A breadcrumb trail at the top of each post will let you know where you are at all times.
• Related Articles: Not sure where to go after you’re done? At the bottom of every post has a list of suggested reading to follow up on.
• Share this: If you like a particular article or post, why not share it with a friend or guildmate? Supports multiple avenues like Digg, Stumbleupon, and Technorati. You can even share it on your Blogger or Wordpress blog (Twitter and Typepad too!)
• Gravatar support: Gravatar support has finally been implemented. Now you can have your own cool image to help distinguish you from the rest!
• Comment and trackback separation: In the past, I found it confusing to read through comments and click on trackback links from other blogs. Sometimes I would forget to visit the other blogs because I was so enamored with the comments. No more! When viewing posts, you’ll see the comments by readers first and then link backs from other blogs and sites at the bottom.
• Commentluv support: Not exactly new, but I never announced it either. If you’re a blogger who posts a comment, the blog will automatically try to pull the latest headline from your blog.

Temporary

• Banner and header: That will change. I’m going to try and enlist the design skills and support of the same guy that designed the Plusheal banner.
• Twitter: I found a nifty spot for it in the top right corner. I did a lot of changes to it but I can’t see the little Twitterbird icon. I hope it shows up. Otherwise people will wonder what that random block of text means.

Whew. Time spent? Well over 20 hours. Now I can stop tinkering, coding, and tweaking and get back to the real fun stuff of writing posts!

Actually, I’m late for my raid. Oof!

SYTYCB: Week 2 Cuts

I wish I could keep everyone. The standard this week has improved so much that it’s becoming more difficult to choose. I knew it would be hard, but I didn’t anticipate it would be this hard. Every blogger (yes, you are now all bloggers) deserves their own blog. Reading and editing these posts has shown me that they can blog just as well as the rest of us out there.

Who knows why they aren’t doing that already?

In any case, it’s with a heavy heart that with I announce who will be leaving us this week.

Crutch

You did well, my friend. But the competition really pushed it to the extreme. I know when we were chatting, you mentioned briefly about the desire to start writing no matter what would happen. I want to see you pursue that desire. And when you do start blogging under your own name, make sure you send me a link. You have great talent, and I know the blogosphere would benefit greatly from your experience and your voice.

State of the Blog Address

My friends,

It’s been a rough few days here in the World. First week of school, blog randomly breaking for reasons yet unknown and so forth have kept me frantically working to keep this ship afloat. The theme you see right now is only temporary. But I’m also excited. The great blogtastrophe could very well be a blessing in disguise. I’ve wanted to do a new layout for the new year and spent most of my time scheming, planning, and drawing. Alas, I can’t wait until the Fall semester is over to put my plan into motion. What you see right now is a temporary look designed to keep blog functionality going. I have a very limited window here since exams and assignments start piling up towards the end of September and late October.

On a side note, if you have two midterms, how does that work if they’re supposed to be done during the middle of term?

Anyways, with that in mind, I’m setting an extremely ambitious plan to have a functional blog layout operational by Monday the 8th. With luck, I’ll finish in time before my hockey fantasy draft (Ovechkin or Crosby first pick?)

Schedule

Friday

0600: 20 Questions with Veneretio (tankingtips.com)
1000: SYTYCB Bloggers critique and bottom 3 announced (and an explanation on Tulani’s absence which I’m sure many of you have noticed)
1800: SYTYCB cuts announced
2130: TNB Podcast (Live!) hosted by Fimlys and Breana (Matticus and Wyn guesting)

By around that time tomorrow night, I should have a theme ready to go.

Saturday

0600: Responding to the Where the hell was I? meme from Gamedame
1200: Assigning Healing Strategy: Part 5 of 5 - Things to Watch For

Blog logistics and other minor and trivial details need to be handled. Certain categories will be axed and remade. Lots of retagging and reorganization of posts will be happening. I have like a billion posts. This is going to take a while :(.

Sunday

Blog will be in maintenance mode for the entire day which means it will largely be inaccessible. I have to raid from 1630 onwards until 2100 which means I may not be able to finalize deployment just yet. If all goes according to plan, then you’ll see the 4th reincarnation of the World.

I’d like to take a moment to recognize Lassirra for her tremendous support and technical expertise in troubleshooting the majority of the cataclysms affecting World of Matticus recently. Thanks Lassirra!

I have to confess. I came *really* close to throwing in the towel and calling it a career. That feeling only happened for a split second but it was long enough. Of course, I needed only to look up at the Feedburner counter to realize that I had at least 731 reasons to keep pushing.

All I ask is for more patience.

In the mean time, here’s a trip down memory lane:

Version 1: This theme ran from early August until late September. I didn’t care much about the layout at the time. I focused more on writing as much as I could.

Version 2: I opted for something new and fresh. Something that was more vibrant. Something more… me! This one was live from September on until towards the end of December.

Version 3: The longest lasting theme thus far, this theme served me well from the start of 2008. My only regret is that I could not make it work long enough for the whole year. This was by far my favourite and I’m disappointed that I have to retire it earlier than usual.

Go beyond what’s asked of you. Never settle for just being “good enough”. This new theme will be better than the old one. It has to be. I won’t be happy with anything less. I will do whatever I can to make sure it reaches that point. My readers deserve no less.

Thanks for sticking it out this long.

Your friendly Priest blogger,
Matt L.

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