Diablo 3 - Hotfix, Treasure Goblin Analysis, Barbarian Guide, Wizard DPS Calculator, and Machinima Contest

Armored Druid Forms Preview
In Mists of Pandaria Druids will get the Incarnation talent, which allows them to change into an armored version of the form for their spec. The images below show the different colors of the armored forms.

Armored Bear Forms



Heroic Scarlet Halls Video Preview
The last beta patch enabled many of the Heroic difficulty level instances, including Scarlet Halls, which is a combination of the old Armory and Library wings of the Scarlet Monastery.



Mists of Pandaria Quest Voiceovers
Blizzard added a lot of voice acting for questlines so far and the latest patch added even more! Here are a few samples of what to expect while leveling.

Shokai Questline




White Tiger Temple Event




Bold Karasshi Questline



Computers - Setup of the Month (by chaud)
Each month or every 2 months, depending on the hardware evolutions, the lovely chaud will work on a couple of hardware setups for those of you who are thinking of upgrading their computer!

This month
Hard drive prices are slowly declining, but are still above the pre-flood prices, so now is still a good time to buy a SSD. The current SSD prices are still moving downward, with sales bringing the cost to under $1 per gigabyte. A few sales are even nearing 50 cents per gigabyte, so look for something on sale!

If you are building today and don't go for the upper range of overclocking (past ~4.5Ghz) then you are better off buying Ivy Bridge. If you want to go for the maximum overclocks or have to save money, the 2500k is $25 cheaper. Unless you are doing a lot of video encoding or something that is similarly multithreaded, you do not need the 3770K and should spend that money elsewhere.

Make sure to keep your AMD and Nvidia drivers up to date.

Don't hesitate to post any feedback in the comments of that news post, and don't forget to visit the Computer Forum for any extra questions! If you are interested in Folding@home, take a look in our team's thread.


Peripherals/Monitors
ComponentPuppy Dolphin
MonitorAcer V223W EJBD 22-Inch Widescreen - $146ASUS VW246H 24-Inch Widescreen - $190
KeyboardMicrosoft Digital Media Keyboard 3000 - $25Cyborg V.5 - $46
MouseLogitech G400 - $41Razer Deathadder - $44
SpeakersLogitech S220 2.1 Speaker System - $23Logitech Z313 Speaker System - $40
ComponentNarwhal Unicorn
MonitorASUS VE276Q 27-Inch - $267HP ZR2440W 24-inch (IPS Panel) - $375
KeyboardLogitech G110 - $61Razer BlackWidow (Backlit)- $72 ($114)
MouseLogitech G500 - $58Razer Naga (Buttons on the Side) - $74
SpeakersLogitech Z323 2.1 Speaker System - $54Logitech Speaker System Z523 - $82


Puppy and Dolphin
Overclocked Puppy will outperform Dolphin when multiple threads are in use (Not WoW) and come close in most other cases.
Mix and match anything but the CPU/Motherboard combo between Puppy and Dolphin. Pick one of the two CPU/Motherboard combos.
Mix and match anything between Dolphin and Narwhal.
ComponentPuppy Dolphin
CaseNZXT GAMMA Classic - $36NZXT GAMMA Classic - $36
Power SupplyCorsair CX500 V2 - $57OCZ ZS Series 650W - $70
CPUAMD Phenom II X4 960T Black Edition- $142Intel i3-2100 - $110
HeatsinkCooler Master Hyper 212 Plus - $26Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - $29
MotherboardASUS M5A97 AM3+ 970 - $102Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H - $129
Memory4GB PNY Optima DDR3 10600 - $258GB G.Skill DDR3 12800 - $56
Graphics CardGigabyte GTX 550 Ti - $120XFX 6870 or EVGA GTX 560 - $140 / $155
Hard DriveWestern Digital Caviar Blue 500GB - $65Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB - $115
DVDAsus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW - $22Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW - $22
Total$595$715


Narwhal and Unicorn
All of these parts can be mixed and matched to create a build between Narwhal and Unicorn. SSDs are always optional.
ComponentNarwhal Unicorn
CaseCooler Master HAF 912 - $60Cooler Master HAF932 - $130
Power SupplyCorsair 650TX V2 - $90Corsair 750HX - $135
CPUIntel i5-3570K - $240Intel i7-3770K - $388
HeatsinkThermaltake Frio - $59Noctua 6 NH-D14 - $83
MotherboardASUS P8Z77-V LK - $152ASUS P8Z77-V - $190
Memory8GB G.Skill DDR3 12800 - $568GB G.Skill DDR3 12800 - $56
Graphics CardMSI 7850 Twin Frozr - $260Sapphire 7970 OC OR EVGA GTX 670 FTW - $480 / $420
Hard DriveWestern Digital 1TB Caviar Black - $115Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black - $115
SSDCrucial 128 GB m4 (Review) - $114
OR
Corsair Force Series GT 120 GB - $130
SAMSUNG 830 128GB (Review) - $145
OR
OCZ 120 GB Vertex 3 (Review) - $105
DVDAsus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW - $22Asus 24X SATA DVD+/-RW - $22
Total$1054 - $1184$1539 - $1744
This article was originally published in forum thread: Armored Druid Forms, Scarlet Halls Video, MoP Quest Voiceovers, Setup of the Month started by chaud View original post
Comments 75 Comments
  1. chaud's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Murkas View Post
    Why do you take the Gigabyte Z77-D3H for a core i3-2100? Why not the H77-D3H? It is the same, but without the overclocking-functions.. and I think they are not important for this CPU.. saves money^^
    It allows someone to upgrade to a better CPU in the future and overclock it.
  1. Logwyn's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by caninepawprints View Post
    Is Incarnation optional? I prefer the unarmored models.
    Yes, Its a talent.
  1. 9cf19422's Avatar
    Bears with armour looks great. They look more tanky and that's what they are supposed to do, but I'm not sure about the whole armoured boomkin and cat form thing. As a cat, you are supposed to be silent and stealthy. With all the equipment on, they look heavy and bulky. Same goes for the boomkin.
  1. Scyl's Avatar
    Hide armor for druids please.
  1. conjohnson6's Avatar
    I'm excited!
  1. Lyctam's Avatar
    Okay, two armored forms was acceptable but seriously using production time for 50 different god damn forms is absolutely ridiculous. The artists or commissioner must have some serious favoritism towards druids. Give mages some rainbow fireballs, rogues cooler looking poisons, and warriors different color blood.
  1. The Glitch's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Lyctam View Post
    Okay, two armored forms was acceptable but seriously using production time for 50 different god damn forms is absolutely ridiculous. The artists or commissioner must have some serious favoritism towards druids. Give mages some rainbow fireballs, rogues cooler looking poisons, and warriors different color blood.
    Its just the same armor, cept its been shown on all the different colours of forms that are currently in game, so only 6 different armors, 2 for bear alliance and horde, 2 for cat, alliance and horde and 2 for moonkin alliance and horde.
  1. Granyala's Avatar
    WHy does Chaud never do Sound cards?

    I need a new sound card, any suggestions?
    http://asia.creative.com/products/pr...&product=19749

    But only if you use high quality headphones with ~300 Ohms Impedance.
    (I use these: http://europe.beyerdynamic.com/shop/..._from_store=de)

    If you use 600Ohms you will need an amp, just go Onboard (optical out of course) + dedicated DAC/Amp for better Sound quality.

    If you use crappy 50€ Headphones or some PC-Speaker set just stick to onboard sound like Chaud suggested.

    It allows someone to upgrade to a better CPU in the future and overclock it.
    Wrong target audience for overclocking. He is right, Peeps who buy low end stuff don't care about expensive OC options.
  1. valiorik's Avatar
    For Unicorn build to offer only 1080p resolution is like to offer Volkswagen Golf for racing car. Have a look at decent panels like those:
    Apple Thunderbolt MC914B/A
    Dell UltraSharp U2711
  1. Winterstrife's Avatar
    Moonkin form...
    Helloooo Captain cock piece... WTF IS THAT?! :\
  1. Daez's Avatar
    First wave heroic dungeons are not designed to have "interesting" boss fights. They are designed to be farmed and to provide gear for entry level raiding. TBC was the only expansion that provided decent challenge and mechanics in the lower level heroics, and that is simply because it was the first expansion to have heroics, and the heroics were over tuned. Karazhan was easier than many of the heroics all the way through the expansion.
  1. slurp's Avatar
    Been asking for bear tank armor since vanilla.. it's taken this long, really? Other forms with armor look completely stupid..
  1. b1366876's Avatar
    hope there will be an option no to show armor for druid forms..
  1. Beefhammer's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by b1366876 View Post
    hope there will be an option no to show armor for druid forms..

    You guys really need to learn how to read. This comes when Druids pop Incarnation. It lasts for 30 sec and then its back to normal.
  1. JaoStar's Avatar
    Cat druids should have been more leather than wood. Too bulky looking.

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