Daggers: Main Hand Edition

This article comprises Part 2 of our Daggers analysis, where we focus on casters who will be looking to transmogrify their Main Hand. Since we've already covered the basics in Part 1, we're going to get right to the charts and our Editors' Picks here in Part 2.

Differentiation Analysis: Daggers Eligible for Main Hand

We have adjusted our rankings in the chart to the left (click for larger image) based on transmogrifying weapons onto a single Main Hand Dagger.

If you've reviewed our chart for dual wield items, you'll notice a few weapons here have been downranked. The item we called out in Part 1 of our Daggers review, the Dagger of the Rising Moon, if you recall, was ranked as "exclusive", whereas here it has been downranked.

Daggers: Dual Wield Edition

Welcome back to Disenchanting Azeroth!

First off, thanks to our readers! Y'all have been great and we appreciate your support and readership. We also appreciate your patience as we took some extra time to get our Daggers review completed. There were a few events that slowed our process a bit over the last week that are worth mentioning.

We learned from our testing on the PTR that items without "stats" appear to be eligible for transmogrification. We were about halfway through compiling our charts when we learned this, so we had to step back and retool some of the values we had compiled. We also found that with Daggers in particular, the 1H/MH/OH rule made for some extremely tricky navigation to get to our final results. And last but certainly not least, I personally had to step away from the team for a few days for the birth of my son! Exciting times!

Differentiation Analysis:  Daggers Eligible For Dual Wielding

With that said, onward to our Daggers review. We found that in navigating the 1H/MH/OH rule, there really was a clear need for reviewing Daggers from the two angles listed below. We realize this also applies to One-Handed Swords and One-Handed Maces and we'll likely step back and review those with greater scrutiny if the measures we have taken here review well with our readers.

- Melee that can equip two (2) Daggers and may wish to dual wield the same model.

- Casters that can only equip one (1) Dagger and need to know what their MH/1H options are.

Two-Handed Axes: Stuck In the Middle With You

Welcome back to Disenchanting Azeroth!

Thanks again to our readers who participated in our previous article poll, from which we determined Two-Handed Axes was next in line.  We've seen a lot of sustained interest in our polls for Daggers, Polearms and Bows, but it appears our voters are heavy on 2H melee.  As such, we're going to forgo a poll for our next article and jump right to our review of Daggers, giving an editors' bump to the near-winning effort the voters put in on the previous poll.  In the meantime, though it's time for a showdown to see if the Hunters want to see their bows or if they're willing to give way to the rest of our Polearm-wielding audience.  It's Polearms vs. Bows, cast your votes now. And with that said, onward to today's article:  Two-Handed Axes.

The goal of our evaluations is to determine just how much visual parity there is among weaponry in the World of Warcraft, and where the niches lie that players can leverage as a means to visually differentiate themselves from their peers with Transmogrification in 4.3.

The chart you see to the left (click for larger image) represents every Epic, Rare and Uncommon Two-Handed Axe model currently available in-game that can be transmogrified.

One-Handed Maces: Avoiding the Central Mass

Welcome back to Disenchanting Azeroth!

First off, thanks to those of you who participated in our previous poll.  We had over 350 participants and it was a close race up until the last day, where it was One-Handed Maces that made its final surge towards the finish line.  A great finish, which leads us into our next evaluation in our progression towards patch 4.3 and Transmogrification:  One-Handed Maces:

Differentiation Analysis:  One-Handed Maces (v1.0)

The goal of our evaluations is to determine just how much visual parity there is among weaponry in the World of Warcraft, and where the niches lie that players can leverage as a means to visually differentiate themselves from their peers with Transmogrification in 4.3.

The chart you see to the left (click for larger image) represents every Epic, Rare and Uncommon One-Handed Mace model currently available in-game that can be transmogrified.

We have already removed a few items that Blizzard has deemed ineligible, so if you're looking for the Spider Splatter Mace, which is a great-looking frying pan complete with eggs, unfortunately Blizzard isn't going to let you humiliate Deathwing with it.  Nor will they enable you to PvP with models of fish, such as the Rockhide Strongfish.  In addition, some models may be categorized as being more "unique" than you believe they are.  This is likely due to the fact that some of the recycled skins don't actually have any stats.  And from what we gather, an item must have stats on it in order to be eligible for transmogrification.

Read on for our initial conclusions, our visual positioning analysis, the editors' picks and our map key to identify and link to the items reviewed here.

Two-Handed Swords: A Challenging Landscape

Our readers have spoken, and so we humbly present our next visual analysis in our progression to patch 4.3 and Transmogrification:  Two-Handed Swords. The chart you see below maps every Epic, Rare and Uncommon model currently attainable in-game (click for larger image).  And if you've had the Corrupted Ashbringer locked away in your vault for safekeeping, it's time to dust it off.  Scroll down to the base of this article to see where your unattainable prize ranks in our visual positioning.

Differentiation Analysis:  Two-Handed Swords

For the rest of our analysis, our visual positioning exercise and links to the actual models, read on after the jump. 

One-Handed Swords: Avoiding the Red Ocean

Our next visual analysis in our progression to patch 4.3 and Transmogrification is on One-Handed Swords. The chart you see below maps every Epic, Rare and Uncommon model currently attainable in-game (click for larger image).

For the purposes of this visual analysis, we've arranged the models horizontally by expansion and vertically by how often the model is recycled for entirely different weapons.  The goal of our entire analysis is to determine just how much visual parity there is among weaponry in the World of Warcraft, and where the niches lie that players can leverage as a means to stand out among their peers.

Since this is a review of design language and form, the recycled models with varying differences in color and texture have been removed.  The grayscale map key at the end of the article will enable you to link the images you see here with an actual root model on WoWhead. From there you can determine which skin of the model you prefer and where you will need to go hunting in order to attain it.  For the rest of our analysis, our visual positioning exercise and links to the actual models, read on after the jump.

Staves: Purity vs Parity in 4.3

Our next visual analysis in our progression to patch 4.3 and Transmogrification is on Staves.  We're going to be splitting each category's Differentiation analysis from its Visual Positioning analysis going forward as a means to lighten the load on our readers, so stay tuned for the secondary analysis on Staves due out this weekend. So this will be Part 1 of 2.

The chart you see below (click for larger image) maps every possible Staff model currently attainable in-game (Epic, Rare, Uncommon).  Read on after the jump for further analysis and a grayscale map key identifying links to every model shown here.

For the rest of our analysis and links to the actual models, read on after the jump.

Shields: Maximizing Personalization in 4.3

With patch 4.3 and the introduction of Transmogrification coming to the Azeroth, it begs the question: If the majority is fair game, how can you avoid looking like everyone else?  More on this below and a real eye opener to the potential future of shield design for the next expansion.

This question about personalization resonated with me because as a professional, my job is to crack such codes. WoW has always fascinated me in this regard for certain reasons, and I've finally decided to step into the ring and see if I can offer a fresh take on the topic.

Differentiation Analysis 2.0:  Shields

The chart depicted here (click for larger view) illustrates all of the Epic, Rare and Uncommon shield models currently attainable in-game.  For a list of items to link to WoWhead, scroll down to the bottom of the article.  Since this is a form study, excess model samples have been removed so we can focus on the differences from model to model, rather than color to color and model to model. Once you identify a model you'd like to review further, just skip on over to WoWhead and see what other color schemes might be available.

For the purposes of this visual analysis, I've arranged the shields horizontally by the expansion in which the model was originally released and vertically by wireframe uniqueness. So the Blackskull Shield from vanilla WoW, for example, which shares its model with another 27 shields in-game is bottom of the barrel in terms of uniqueness, and as such I've placed it in the pile of parity in the lowest band of the chart. Conversely, the Skull of Ruin from Wrath of the Lich King is truly unique, reserving its model unto itself, and as such I've showcased it in the highest band of the chart.  More on this analysis and our conclusions after the jump.