WOW Guide Mogrin's Mausoleum  

ello travelers, adventurers, heroes and dwellers of Azeroth. Over the years, I have seen many lands, had many adventures, faced many dangers and enjoyed many triumphs. However, my true purpose has always been secrets. Yes, you heard right; secrets. I traveled the globe seeking masters of secrets and tips of the trades. After revealing their secrets to me, I made sure their secrets died with them (with the exception of my knowledge, of course). Their souls would wander the ethereal plane, however, so I needed a place for their corpses. Thus, my Mausoleum was built, where the keepers of the secrets dwell after death.

I have decided to let you marvel in my magnificence as I reveal the secrets I have hoarded over the years, and I have now allowed entry to Mogrin's Mausoleum of Tips and Tricks.

As time goes by, I will reveal more secrets to help you on your journey in Azeroth. From UI Mods to money management and more. I trust that you will put them to good use. And if you ever have any secrets that you would like to share... there is always more room, in the Mausoleum.

Fire Resist: Molten Core. Molten Core requires Fire resist for a bunch of the bosses, and mostly for Ragnaros - the big baddie at the very end and the toughest guy to beat. On your server Auction House, there may be fire resistance rings on sale for cheap because they provide 10-20 fire resist, but have a low level requirement. To newbies, they look like trash that they are lucky to get a couple of gold for, but anyone needing that Fire-resist will appreciate low prices for those rings. Other items that give fire resist:

• Onyxia Key (neckpiece)

• UBRS Key

• Pair of Bracers (Drop off Lord Incendius, in Blackrock Depths, almost a guaranteed drop with different types including plate, mail, leather and cloth).

• Libram of Resiliance offers a fire resist enchant.

• All class-specific books in Dire Maul begin a class quest which rewards the character with a class trinket and all trinkets include a fire resist bonus.

*Be sure to check for any other fire resist gear suitable for your class*

Warsong Gulch: When capturing the flag, Ninja type carriers excel at getting in and out with flags, Armor types can take the beating on the way back, and General types perform above average. Shamans have a speed buff but if they are being attacked while getting into it, they will have trouble getting it off, and they are vulnerable while running. Mages frostnova/blink spamming has been known to work well sometimes.

Flag Carriers in WSG:

• Ninjas: Druid/Rogue

• Armor: Warrior/Paladin (Better as support, but Paladins with speed buffs can do above average)

• General: Shaman/Mage

While any character CAN take the flag, you'll have more success using the types listed and getting it back to your territory safely.

Each of the three battlegrounds have their own rewards. Casters can usually find some cheap items that restore both HP/Mana. The big thing is Bandages: They are available for ALL three battlegrounds and are 72 silver per 20, which is much cheaper then making Runecloth bandages (both heal the same - 2000 HP over 8 seconds).

Also, if you are rank 6 or higher, you can buy Combat Health and Mana Potions from your respective PvP area (ex. That special instance in Orgrimmar across the Flight Tower that only Rank 6+ can enter). These potions are like 6 silver each, with a limit of holding five on you at a time, but are great for PvP.

First few moments of a Battleground: When you first enter a Battleground, one of the most overlooked but key things is buffing. If your class has a buff that is associated with it (Ex: Priest - Power Word: Fortitude, Mage - Arcane Intellect, Druid - Mark of the Wild.etc), toss it on fellow players as well as yourself. Sure, it can eat up mana and what not, but it will give your side a large advantage in the first clash in the middle. A fully buffed group is much more efficent then one without. On that note as well, self buffs and carrying the required reagents for your own abilities will boost your preformance as well. If your a Rogue for example, have at least Crippling Poisons on you at all time, Flash Powder is another essential, and Blinding Powder is always handy to have.

Arathi Basin: Ninja Tip. If you are a Rogue or Druid, or somehow otherwise hidden, you can try to ninja (which is a word meaning steal) a node by sapping or somehow crowd-controlling an enemy who is guarding the flag and stealing it. As a Rogue, look at where the major group of the opposing faction are and where they will be ressurecting after they die. Find a node that is quiet (away from the action) and study it. Look for any stealthers around, and time it right so that people who might ressurect at the graveyard leave before you attempt the steal. Use sap, and then hit the flag quick. Beware of Shadowmelded hunters and their stealth pets.

On PvE servers you needn't worry about being 'ganked' by a player from the other faction. You must elect to engage in PvP voluntarily; by attacking an NPC of the opposing faction, by attacking a player from the opposing faction already engaged in PvP, by assisting an ally flagged PvP with buffs/heals/rezzes/etc, or by setting yourself to PvP by typing /pvp. To remove your PvP 'flag' you must wait 5 minutes with no PvP activity. If you've set your flag manually with /pvp, you must unset it by typing the same command and then wait the 5 minutes.

On PvP servers you are at risk when you are in enemy territory which is denoted by the area text being 'red'. You are always flagged PvP in these areas but your enemy is not. They must attack you first. If you are in contested zones where the area text is 'yellow' then everyone is flagged PvP and is fair game... watch your back. And when you're in friendly zones where the area text is 'green' the enemy cannot attack you, you must attack them first.

You can tell if you are flagged for PvP by a small shield icon that will appear to the left of your character portrait image. And be warned, if you're at risk when you toggle the /pvp flag as it leaves you permanently in the pvp state until you turn it off AND wait 5 minutes.

Use any method of stopping or slowing your target down that you can, it can be the difference between an axe in the face and an Honorable Kill.

If your a ranged class attacking a melee class, try to use the terrain to force your enemy to walk a long way to get to you. A good example would be shooting off of a high cliff or out of the window of a building. Be sure to avoid situations where you may lose line of sight of your target for too long.

If your a melee class attacking a ranged class, try to use the terrain to your advantage as well. A rock or wall can break LOS, making it harder for your opponent to attack you and allowing you the opportunity to close the gap and go in for the kill.

When you are in small battle PvP, always prioritize your targets. Naturally, Priests and Druids go down first (as healers). Next go Mages/Warlocks, and then work your way up to Rogues, Hunters, Shaman, and then finally Warriors/Paladins.

NEW: Reputation points can be earned (and lost!) depending on who you choose to fight. Raising your reputation with a group can get you great benefits down the road so pay attention to your combat log to see if you're gaining or losing points on certain mobs.

Before you group, be prepared. Be sure you have any reagents, potions, or quest items you may need in your inventory. Take care of any 'real life' issues beforehand. Repair your equipment. Then confirm any looting rules or other guidelines BEFORE you head off. This little bit of preparation will save time and grief and make for a better grouping experience.

Rank matters. Sergeant rank (the third rank you can achieve in PvP) gives you 10% off on goods bought from your racial faction on top of the 10% off you get from being honored within that faction. When you're stocking up on food and ammo and such, that can add up quick.

Maximize your bag space. You'll find it easier to manage the goods in your bags if you organize them. Only carry items you'll need, put everything else in your bank. Try to keep your main backpack available for loot items so selling to a vendor is quick and easy.

Setting up a 5 man group (PVE): When organizing a 5 man group ingame, the most effect group will usually a fall around the format of: 1 heavy healer (priest), 1 tank (warrior), 2 damage dealers (ex: rogue/mage) to kill the foe, and a support class (ex: shaman/pally) to boost overall effectiveness through buffing, damage and healing. The beauty of WoW however, is you can mix and match from there easily; you do *NOT* have to follow a set party setup.

How many times have you wiped in an instance just to find out the Druid didn't have his reagent for rezzing, or the Shaman didn't have his ankh for self-ressurection? Whether it be Portal runes, flash powder, whatever - keep it in high stock. I always keep everything in bulk in my inventory, and even more so in my bank. I can always just visit my bank quickly if I'm near one (Ratchet, Booty Bay, Gadgetzan all have banks and are not main cities).

When buying bags, whether it's for an alt or for your main - be smart about it. Personally, for alts - I buy 8 slotters to start them off (8 slotters are an awkward bunch, so they are usually much cheaper in the AH then 10 slotters). Then, when the need arises, I skip 10 and 12 slot and go directly for 14 slot or even 16 slot. If you can find a 16 slot bag for less then 14 gold, jump on it (Varies depending on server economy). Otherwise, just grab 14 slotters. Thing is - on mains, you eventually get 16 slotters, so it could be a waste to get 14 slotters (unless they are cheap).

However, if you get 10-12-14 slot bags cheap, you can always use them and re-sell them (most are not soulbound) at the same cost, or even a bit higher. Use discretion, and don't feel the need to spend tons of gold upgrading 2 slots at a time. Save up, and buy in bulk when it's cheap.

When grinding or killing monsters for a quest, most people just loot everything off a mob's body. They sell the junk afterwards, keep the important items. Looting can take a lot of time away from killing or resting, and you can save a lot of time by using Quickloot, or Loot-all. Simply hold shift and right click a corpse to loot all its contents instantly. You also get to see the contents of the loot box briefly before it automatically switches to your inventory.

NEW: Tired of the same old looking interface? Install a custom one. Sites like WoW Interface have custom designed UIs for WoW to change the look for you. They're easy to install and don't eat up any resources. My favorite: Undead theme by Tom King.

Tired of reading the quest logs and watching it slowly crawl to the end? Well wait no longer. Simply go into your Interface Options and click Quick Quest Text to make the quest text show up immediately.

Wanting to film that great WoW movie but see the character names and guild tags in the way? Go to Interface Options (Advanced tab) and turn off character names. The most popular program for filming WoW movies is called Fraps

Trying to get a clean screenshot? alt+z will remove the interface from view. Character names will still be there, if you want them gone, see the tip above this one.

Your hotbar taking up too much room? Can't see the forest for the inventory bags? To make your User Interface smaller just hit [1], go to Video Options, and in the top toggle on UI Scale option. Then use the slider to the right to get the size just right for you.

"I can't do that yet." "I don't have enough energy." "I don't have a target!" Sick of hearing 'Bitching Betty' when you're in combat? No problem, turn it off! Hit [2] to get to your menu then go into Sound Options. From here just click off Enable Error Speech. No more nagging!

UI mods can often lag your game and cause lower framerates. Try to stay away from huge compiled UI's (like Cosmos) and simply download the individual mods you need. There is always a stand-alone download for a UI feature that you need, so cut down on what you don't need and try to keep the number of UI mods down.

From time to time, the Mausoleum will recommend a UI (which is based on personal observations only – this is not an advertising campaign). This week, we have decided to spotlight TitanBar, a UI mod that adds a very spiffy bar along the top of your game. The bar is very stylish (fitting in with the interface). At a glance, you can see your XP rate, time to level, map co-ordinate, current amount of gold you have and much more (customizable options). There is a small (if not non-existant) effect on interface lag or framerate, so it should be fine on any machine that can otherwise run WoW fine.

UI Mod: CT_Raid Assist is *THE* tool for anyone who plans on PvE raids. Many high end guilds require this add-on as it allows large raids to co-ordinate healing rotation, main-tanking of mobs, and general direction for DPS and control. CT-RA is widely accepted as the standard for raiding, and is handy for any end-game PvE raiding.

Rogues and the infamous stun-lock. Rogues have very high DPS but it doesn't do you much good if your opponent beats you to a pulp before you can use it. Rogues are limited to nothing better than leather armor so that makes them quite vulnerable. But the rogue has in his arsenal the ability to stop those attacks. With abilities like cheapshot, gouge, and kidney shot you can keep your enemy dazed and confused while you rip him to shreds with that DPS.

Many people, Priests in particular, tend to change their talent specs end-game. This can be the biggest mistake you ever make. Though leveling a Restoration spec'd Druid or a Defensive Warrior may be hard, it tends to pay off in the long run. Many people who go from their solo spec to their instance spec seem to be sub-par. This is the Warrior that has trouble holding aggro, the mage that uses Arcane Power every time it's up, or the Warlock that that does nothing but fling Shadowbolts. You learn your class from 1 to 60, and when you change everything about your class in one fell swoop, you suddenly find yourself playing a whole new character.

NEW: Earn more money with those green items that never garner much in the AH. Pick up Enchanting as one of your skills and simply use the disenchanting option. No need to level it up, and the reagents you get from disenchanting items very often bring in more money than you could get from the item itself. A lot more.

Don't need an herb anymore but you still see it all over the place? Mines no longer producing what you need? Get it anyway. Many people don't collect for their production skills and other production skills use collection items in too low a quantity to warrant the player taking that collection skill. What does all this mean? There's money to be made on your surplus herbs, ore, skin and more in the Auction House.

If you're going to do a profession, start it early. There's nothing worse than being told you're too low a level to skin or collect herbs or mine ore. Seek out the profession trainers early so you can make items that are useful to you at the level you are at.

• Onyxia Key (neckpiece)
• UBRS Key
• Pair of Bracers (Drop off Lord Incendius, in Blackrock Depths, almost a guaranteed drop with different types including plate, mail, leather and cloth).
• Libram of Resiliance offers a fire resist enchant.
• All class-specific books in Dire Maul begin a class quest which rewards the character with a class trinket and all trinkets include a fire resist bonus.

Flag Carriers in WSG:
• Ninjas: Druid/Rogue
• Armor: Warrior/Paladin (Better as support, but Paladins with speed buffs can do above average)
• General: Shaman/Mage