If you were hoping Dual Wield will make a comeback.. we may actually be surprised!

“Next major patch.”  is our response to a plea by Erregant from Terenas.

There is no more info at this time, so we can only speculate to what changes may come our way. But if you were missing the flailing of your 1handers – pull them outta the bank and sharpen them. Your time may come sooner than later~

Skeleton Jack over at skeletonjack.com is quitting. He’s citing the reasons most of our fallen brethren do. Stop by the site and say your goodbyes. WoW takes up a lot of time, running a website takes up more time. Add in work, sleep and any other obligations and you run out of time pretty quickly. It’s extremely important to try and balance yourself so that you aren’t burnt out and you don’t feel like you’re missing out on that much.

I really hope SJ writes one hell of a novel, and I hope he finds that he’s able to continue on without the addiction that is WoW on his back. He’s had a great website for quite awhile now, and I’m sad to see him go.

I really doubt you read PC jack, but if you do, I’ll miss ya.

-Brandon “Hymn” King

Our first look at Ice Crown raiding is an in depth commentary on the first boss of Ice Crown Citadel, what will become the final frontier for Wrath of the Lich King raiding. I had the unique privilege of flying across the landmass commonly known as the US of A to interview a few Blizz developers, who treated me like the god that I am. So we sat down and I had pretty limited time so I got right to brass tacks about this new boss.

Plaguechill: So Ice Crown Citadel’s going to be full of about a million undead baddies right? I mean can we expect that like Naxxramas, most bosses will be undead?

Nameless Dev: Well yes that’s to be expected! There will be a few surprises however to add flavor. I’m sure everyone remembers The Maiden’s hallway in Karazhan well ICC will include a full on brothel area, in which lusty undead will be after more than your souls.

Plaguechill: Wow that sounds… pretty creepy. So what can you tell me about the first boss of this instance of undeath?

Nameless Dev: Well graphically speaking we’ve really intended to push the bar in this instance. The first boss will be a completely new sprite. An undead crab.

Plaguechill: You mean… a Ghost Crawler?

Nameless Dev: [Laughs] Exactly.

Plaguechill: So what can we expect of this boss which I’m sure it’s going to generate a ton of buzz just for what it is? Will it be hard or just a nice way to kick off the first raid night of the week?

Nameless Dev: It will be very challenging; we want to make sure that players reaching the ICC level of play have sufficient challenge even on normal mode. Incidentally this boss will have an extremely challenging hard mode.

Plaguechill: Can you share with PC viewers a boss ability or two?

Nameless Dev: We’re still hammering out a lot of that, but conceptually there should be an ability in which some classes will become either extremely powerful or extremely weak for a portion of time. Swapping roles and DPSing during these times will be critical. We’re thinking of calling it Unbalanced Game Mechanics, with the buffs/debuffs being called Temporary Buff/Nerf.

Plaguechill: I see wut u do thar. Lemmie guess he has a Timestop ability called “Lag?”

Nameless Dev: You should see what happens when he uses “Rolling Restarts”

Plaguechill: Well it’s been wonderful talking to you, can I steal some of your pens?

Nameless Dev: Yeah. They aren’t mine.

Plaguechill: Great! I’m probably going to take this mouse too, the ones you guys sell cost like a million dollars.

Nameless Dev: You should probably leave.

About then he called Security and I was escorted off the premises. I got away with the pens.

Edit: The pens will be on ebay tomorrow.

P.S. if you haven’t guessed by now, I’m bored and this is fake. Blizzard dev’s don’t talk to me, I don’t fly to California, I’m not that charming in person, and most importantly Blizzard doesn’t give out those kind of details or let you steal their pens. So don’t spam them about this, it’s a joke.

The Plaguechill Screenshot Contest is now only *FIVE* days from a close. Please send in your funny screenshots with or without captions to contest@plaguechill.com for your chance to win a kickass comic.

Being mainly a healer in online games, there’s something I’ve always told my friends: Don’t Piss Off The Healer.

Healers are generally one of the quietest in a raid setting. Unless you’ve got someone particularly chatty or maybe a raid officer, from my own experience anyway, healers just keep to themselves. But what do they really do in the shadows besides making health bars green? But most important, how do they feel?

When someone makes an impression on a healer, they dont really forget it. Have you ever been a smartass to your healer in a 5man? Did you find yourself taking more close calls after that – or maybe just recieving a record amount of ressurections in a single instance? Healers have more control than people give them credit for, an amazing healer can make a horrible pug successful. Terrible healers can even make geared tanks and dps look bad.

So, what makes happy healers??

DON’T call people by their class – it’s pretty rude to any type of player role in my opinion. “hey druid” isn’t a very good start to someone’s instance. Even if someone has a ridiculous name, just cut it short and call them that or ask what to call them.

DON’T demand heals either. It’s one thing if the healer isn’t doing their job – it’s another if they’re trying to keep a bad tank alive and can’t get to you yet. If everyone is dying or the healer is undergeared, then get someone else. But please don’t take your bad day out on someone who wants to just play a game.

DON’T pull when you’re not the tank!! This is probably one of my biggest in game peeves, I can’t stand when the tank or I aren’t ready and others purposely pull (especially in a raid setting). If you want the instance to go faster, than just request/say you don’t have much time, but don’t pull and make yourself look like an ass.

DO have Awareness: Like Hymn has already pointed out – don’t stand in the fire. Be prepared for what possible damage can kill you and take steps to avoid it. (LOTS of great survival tips in there, if you haven’t read Hymn’s article yet please do!)

DON’T run to the middle of nowhere/Behind a wall. Healers can only go 40 yards – this seems like a long range but honestly I’ve seen many people keep running while they have a debuff on themselves to the point that nobody can save them. Also don’t run behind walls and stand there expecting to get topped off – if you’re on stairs or dealing with strange terrain then make sure you stay in LOS at all times.

DO use Health Stones: Of course you need a warlock for this – but seriously pick up healthstones whenever you see a soulwell or if you already are a user and need a new one – please kindly ask in raid/party chat for a new one. It’s one thing if the Lock is a jerk, it’s another to miss an opportunity to save yourself.

DO use Bandages: Everyone should have first aid imo – no matter what role you are. Use them during combat when you have a few seconds to spare. Ulduar has a lot of AOE damage so it might be hard to get off more than a tick in certain situations – but that tick may mean enough time for a healer to heal you!

DO drink/eat between pulls: This also goes for all you locks who life tap to dead and then expect big heals while your healer is drinking. Use a bandage or some food while there is downtime! It’s in the game for a reason ;( (Another thing you can use is an Intravenous Healing Potion – purchasable in Dalaran)

DO use Lightwell if you see one. This is a Holy priest only talent, that many priests do not take simply because many DPS refuse to switch targets because they want to top meters. Most don’t seem to realize that death = no dps. Lightwell is actually pretty good now and it’s a shame it’s not utilized more often.

DON’T take unnecessary damage because you want to prove a point. Yeah yeah.. you’re a DK and you can stay in an Overload now and then, but don’t do it unless you give some warning or let someone know. You’re just gonna get yelled at and probably some healer eyerolls in your direction – after they had a heart attack.

DO use your special abilities and cooldowns. Lifeblood (Herbalist), Rune Tap, Mark of Blood, Icebound Fortitude, Anti-Magic Shell  – unlike the previous advice, if you didn’t get out in time by accident, use whatever you can to cushion the blow.

If everyone does their best to stay alive during any instance then the healer(s) has an easier time keeping their tank alive & you in the long run. A happy healer is a good healer and won’t discriminate your health bar. Good luck and stay safe in Ulduar!!

The Plaguechill Screenshot Contest is now only 10 days from a close. Please send in your funny screenshots with or without captions to contest@plaguechill.com for your chance to win a kickass comic.

I went into 3.1 thinking I’d be looking anywhere but Blood for my spec options. I tested it on the PTR and hated it. I tested it on live realms and hated it. Even working on the Blood guide where I spent a bunch of time researching and testing it, I still didn’t like it very much.

At the same time I was testing Unholy with some pretty respectable numbers, though with all the AoE and movement in Ulduar I found the gargoyle a nuisance. After my buddy XT dropped me a sigil I played around with frost and simply couldn’t pull the greatest DPS. My frost set is somewhat lacking, where I had gathered up a pretty decent blood set in Naxx after I’d given up on DW to pursue some time as diseaseless. So I finally put some extra effort into perfecting a blood gear set, did a lot of testing last weekend and I’ve got to say, I’m pretty happy right now.

Originally the change to DRW made me hate it, but with ulduars frequent but short “burn phases” it feels almost too-perfect. While DRW takes a bit of foresight to set up correctly with other CD’s and maximizing the RP going into it without wasting much or losing GCD’s, getting the practice in is certainly improving my damage.

So I guess what I’m saying is for an all around Ulduar spec, I really like Blood. Between burn phase burst and versatility, ability to do burst damage without diseases up (Death Strike) on low health adds, and frequent self healing, I’m pretty much in love with blood on every fight but Thorim, who really favors the constant steady stream of AoE I can deliver with my dual spec, Unholy.

Viewing a recent application to my guild, I’ve decided to take a minute to go over application etiquette.

When you apply to a guild, it might not be as important to you as a job application but you have to remember that any guild worth its weight probably gets a lot of applicants every week. Even if it doesn’t everyone wants to feel like you respect them, and the best way to show respect is with your time.

A typical application consists of a series of questions which usually cover the basic W’s in some form. “Who are you?” “Where are you from?” “What do you do?” “Why are you here?” “How can we use you?” and It’s important to give each of them the respect it deserves.

An application is intended to let a guild know as much about you as possible in the least amount of time. They’re looking for whether or not you’ll fit in with the crowd, as well as how talented you are, not one or the other (usually). Skimping on your application sends a lot of signals, none of which are good. Guilds will think you are lazy, ignorant, disrespectful or immature.

So how does one go about applying in a way to turn heads?

Step One: Know who you’re applying to. If you’re applying to the best guild on the server, know that they are getting a lot of applications. You can expect that they’re looking for someone with good gear and experience, but they may be swayed by an excellent personality. Don’t just tout your skills, make sure to play up that you are a good, intuitive person. If you have a sketchy reputation with one of the members, be ready for a confrontation because you can bet that they’ll voice their opinion on you to whoever is in charge of reading applications.

Step Two: Take your time. Read every question fully and then answer it thoroughly. Be careful not to skip any portion of the question or leave out any blemishes on your record, they will usually find them out anyway. You don’t need to write an essay for each question, but show that you’ve written a full, intelligent answer.

Step Three: Spell Check. I can’t stress this enough, if your application is posted with a load of errors, you’re going to look lazy or stupid or both. Write the application in Word if you need it’s spell-checker, reread carefully and even have a friend look it over once before you hit “submit.”

Step Four: Format. The usual format for an application consists of copy and pasting a list of questions and then entering your answers below them. If their application is not already bold when you copy it, bold their questions to separate them from your answers. Use spaces and paragraphs if necessary to make sure it is legible, no one likes to read a wall of text. You can even go so far as to use color to accent points or highlight their questions, do not go overboard on this.

Step Five: Check Back. Once you’ve submitted your application the guild probably isn’t going to message you in game groveling for you to join them immediately. They may have follow-up questions or simply expect you to contact them. Responding to their questions or suggestions promptly is a great way to get off on a good foot with new people. If you’re blanketing (submitting an application to several guilds at once) make sure you make a note of each that you’ve applied to so that you can check back with all of them.

My final note is that some guilds are prone to refuse anyone applying to them who is still guilded with their previous guild. It’s a sign of disrespect to your guild in a lot of peoples eyes, and your new guild isn’t going to see this and think you’re a stand-up-guy.

Turning your Blizzard default UI into a raiding machine, in the shortest time possible.

This guide assumes that you are not a clicker or wish to become a keyboard binder. A section is included to help you get used to binding your buttons. This guide also focuses on being a DPS, I’m not going to suggest mods or tips specific to tanking or healing, that doesn’t mean this won’t be useful for non-DPS but you will have to do some of your own research as well.

Before we start messing with your add-on folder and your add-on settings, I suggest you take the thirty seconds to back up your current settings. Go into your wow directory, select your interface folder, right-click and hit copy, then create a new folder named Back up (Right click a black area in the folder and hit right-click and select New -> New Folder from the options). Once the folder is successfully backed up, go into the interface folder, and then the AddOns folder and delete everything inside it. You’re ready to install some new mods.

Before we begin installing anything, let’s do some downloading to get all the mods you’ll want, then install them all at once.

Spartan UI – This is a collection of mods configured for function, and it doesn’t look half bad either. The UI is focused on the lower portion of your screen, you won’t need to be glancing all around to check your health bars, map position, targets or even see your action bars.

Omen Threat Meter – This is a little more in-depth than the built in threat meter and lets you push it to the limit, ranged DPS are capable of going over the tank in threat before they pull agro, melee are not, it should really give you a nice idea of when you need to back off.

Grid – This is a Raid UI mod which has incredible versatility, it’s not just for healers, it has uses for EVERYONE.

DKIrunes – This one’s just for the DK’s, but I like having the flexibility this provides in placement of my runes, look and feel.

NeedToKnow – This baby tracks debuffs and buffs for you, letting you watch your diseases and buffs.

Rating Buster – This breaks down the stats on gear into percentages and gives you a sum of stats+ratings in the form of a percent at the bottom of the tooltip; it makes comparing gear a heck of a lot easier on the fly.

Recount – This isn’t just a contest for who has the biggest e-penis; it’s full of useful information on what happened last boss attempt. It’s like a portal combat log.

Deadly Boss Mods – This is the heart of raiding Add-ons. If you take nothing else from this guide, download this if you don’t have it. It provides timers on countless raid encounters, warns you when you’re about to explode and even puts raid icons on targets with important buffs/debuffs.

Now that you’ve got everything downloaded, throw it into your interface -> AddOns folder. Start up World of Warcraft, log in and before you get into the game, click the AddOns button at the bottom of your character select, make sure you’re loading everything (you may have to check “Load out of date AddOns”).

The awesomeness that is SpartanUI will be visible instantly as it comes pre-configured. It may however feel too large or too small for you. First type /sui maxres to auto-resize it, and then if it still needs some tweaking hit ESC and go into your video settings, then move the slider titled “UI Scale”

Now that Spartan is good to go, there are a couple of things that are going to need placement. Number one will be your chat window; there are two good options here. Depending on your UI scale you may be able to fit your chat window in next to the action bars on the UI panel at the bottom, increase the chat windows opacity so that it covers up the black box built into the UI panel. If this isn’t going to work for you because of resolution, and it very well may not, your best bet is probably going to be to put it directly above the UI panel. If this is the case you will need to go into your SpartanUI settings and disable your normal party frames as they occupy this space normally.

Next up you’re going to need a good position for your grid. I’d suggest the opposite side of your screen from the chat window. It’s been trendy for awhile to have your combat chat panel separated from your normal chat frame and positioned opposite it. This isn’t going to provide a lot of useful information while you’re fighting so I would forgo this option. Entering your grid options and playing with them for awhile is a good idea as it has a ton of customization, and I can’t feasibly write everything that can and should be done in this guide.

Now you’re going to want to join a raid group. Make sure grid works well with additional raid members (simulate this by putting someone in group 5 inside the raid to display the maximum size grid will reach in a 25man raid. This is a good time to set up the positioning on your Omen and recount. Omen should be easily visible with as little eye movement as possible. You don’t want to have to add too much effort to see this, or it will either become a distraction or it will get ignored altogether. Recount on the other hand can be placed a little more out of the way, it’s got a lot of use, but if you’re spending too much time watching your DPS during the fight, that’s a distraction you don’t need.

Treat DKIrunes’ placement with some respect, you’re going to spend some time looking at this, if it’s too far away that’s time spent not looking at your character or your surroundings. Don’t put it somewhere that’s going to b a distraction.

You’ll probably need to fight a few things to decide how you want to place your NeedToKnow to get it at a place where it’s useful and not obtrusive, make sure it’s covering all the buffs/debuffs you want it to.

A final note to configuring placement, try and imagine you’re fighting when you set it up. Don’t clog up your screen, you want as much visual room as possible, but that doesn’t mean it’s ok to banish everything to the sides or top of your screen because a lot of it is really useful at a quick glance.

Assuming your UI is all configured and seems streamlined enough, get into a raid and see how it works for you, if you find a problem with it, take note of it and improve on it after the raid or during down time.

Now onto keyboard bindings: This has a lot to do with how you like to do stuff, and changing this is going to take some serious getting used to. But if you’re a clicker, you should see some improvement in your mobility and DPS if you switch to key bindings once you’re used to the hand gestures.

My solution is about maximizing the number of buttons your fingers can easily reach, it’s an extremely drastic change even from someone who pushes number buttons, but it’s a lot less hand movement. It’ll reduce stress on your hand after some practice and should feel pretty good.

So here’s what I change

Movement Keys: ESDF instead of the traditional WASD. Moving these over one creates several new buttons your fingers have access to with minimal movement.

Action Bar Binds: 3QWRTYAGHXCV these keys are all positioned lovingly around your hands home base, ESDF. Because your pinky finger is probably your least honed, it moves less and your index finger moves more often. I find binding the most used spells to R, G, and V will minimize hand stress in combat.

Mouse Bindings: I’ve got a mouse with two extra buttons, and I’ve long since bound something to them and clicking the middle mouse. The middle mouse button works great for a cool down, which often gets positioned away from your normal buttons as well as a short duration buff or anything else you use frequently in combat that just doesn’t fit on the other buttons.

UI Binds:

“Tab Targeting”: 4, I find that either moving my whole hand, or stretching my pinky to hit tab is a little much in a hectic fight, and if I’m tabbing it’s probably hectic. I positioned this at four because that uses my middle finger, which is most unlikely to be somewhere else when I need it.

Respond to Whisper: Tab, This one was a no brainer for me. R is used in my action bar bindings so I was forced to rebind it, and it happens that if once you’re pressed R in the normal UI, pressing tab will scroll through the names of other people you’ve recently whispered with. It keeps this functionality so it just seems to work well for me.

Monster Nameplates: J, This is a little difficult to reach, but it’s not so far out of reach that you’ll have a problem hitting it in combat if you need it.

Auto-Run: B, this is easy to reach which lets you toggle it on and off if you ever have more important things to worry about while running.

Here’s a screenshot of Amyliz’s UI, sporting most of those sexy addons. Unfortunately I don’t have one of my UI right now.

And Finally here’s a few more Add-ons you might enjoy, but that probably won’t improve your raiding expirience

Cellular – An instant messenger like mod to contain your whispers, it’s unobtrusive and helps maintain whispers without them being lost to other conversation. Never miss a whisper again!

Prat - A Chat frame mod which helps organize the window with colors and a more legible font. Try it out and you’ll never be able to live without it.