Bows: The Definitive Review

Hey y'all, welcome back to Disenchanting Azeroth and our next weapon category review: Bows! Let's get right to it. The chart you see below (click for larger image) represents every Epic, Rare and Uncommon Bow model currently eligible for transmogrification - including those no longer attainable!

Yes this is the definitive review, where everything eligible is up for discussion. So if you've got it, flaunt it. If you don't, envy others but only for a moment because we've got the scoop on where you can head for other options that are still among the visually elite.

Differentiation Analysis:  Bows

One key change we have implemented here is the gray horizontal band across the top. For the purposes of determining what's currently attainable for transmogrification, Bows that fall in this row are actually no longer in the game. But they are technically still eligible for transmogrification.

In addition, we've highlighted one item in particular that shifts in value depending on your faction. The Blackwood Hunter's Bow in the "exclusive" row was introduced in Cataclysm as a means to share what once was the Horde-only model with the Alliance. So technically it's a Vanilla model introduced in 1.1, but we wanted to point out that the Alliance-only model was revealed as part of Cataclysm and is actually pretty unique for Alliance-side transmogrification.

And as always, our Visual Positioning Analysis, Editors' Picks and a Map Key identifying every model reviewed here can be found at the base of the article.

Concerning Playable Naga

We're big fans of WoWWiki. Have been for a long time. It's an easily accessible resource for gathering a more in-depth background on the people, places and things you encounter in Azeroth. The content is also easily digestible, making it a desirable diversion for many players during the grind of work or school when they can't get in-game. To help piece our theory together here, we're going to be leveraging some content directly from their site. It's just easier than posting link after link and expecting our readers to shift between pages, so credit text in italics below to them. These are facts and some speculation that have added some fuel to our own hypothesis concerning playable Naga in a future expansion.

From WoWWiki:  "Metzen has stated as far back as the Burning Crusade expansion^[25] that he would like naga to be playable one day along with ogres and goblins..."

Projected Progression of Naga Mutation

PvP Season 11 Weapons Revealed

Just a brief post to share some models we stumbled upon this evening in the PTR files. They're labeled PvP Cataclysm S3.  Check them out below...

(top) One-Handed Axe
(bottom) Two-Handed Axe

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.

Transmogrification Testing on the PTR

Hi folks, this is just a brief post to share our experience with transmogrification on the PTR to help clarify a few points and answer some lingering questions.  Keep in mind this is from the PTR, and is subject to change.

Weapons without "stats" are eligible

1) All of the items (Epic, Rare, Uncommon) without "stats" (Chance on hit, On equip, etc.) that we have tested appear to be eligible for transmogrification.  The items can be used to transmogrify the weapons you are using, and they can also be transmogrified, themselves.  Below is an example where we've transmogrified Nightblade with Destiny.  So it's likely the majority of these items will be eligible. We'll be updating all of our charts going forward to reflect this.

2) You can vice-versa transmogrified items. We were able to transmogrify Nightblade into the Destiny model, and then equip Destiny and transmogrify it into the Nightblade model and both transmogrifications were intact. So even if you transmogrify a weapon, like Nightblade, with another weapon, like Destiny, you can still use Nightblade to transmogrify another weapon.

Emerald Dream and The Life Aquatic

It's been staring us in the face and we simply hadn't recognized it.  There may be a major aquatic component coming in the next expansion.

[Update 9/28/11:  Since the release of this article, we've learned from our readers that the Emerald Dream and an aquatic theme could potentially coexist in a single expansion with the introduction of N'Zoth, an Old God responsible for the "spark" that created the Emerald Nightmare.  He is also the being that is largely responsible for Deathwing's corruption and current state.  The speculation is that he is somewhere beneath Azeroth's oceans, perhaps in a sunken city.]

On the 24th we released a 90 second video to You Tube offering a brief view into the rationale behind our hypothesis that the next expansion in the World of Warcraft would be the Emerald Dream.  The minute we released it, though, something didn't feel quite right about it.  Within 30 minutes of posting it to You Tube, we were already second-guessing ourselves and posting more rationale in the comments.  I personally felt it was rushed, and it's been nagging at me since we posted it and I hadn't been able to figure out why.