My Favourite WoW YouTubers.

So I watch A LOT of YouTube WoW videos. Everything from Gold Farming (which I never follow) to PvP battles (which I rarely do) to Opinion Pieces on game changes etc, and of course Alpha/Beta/PTR videos on various subject.

So of course I have started subscribing to A LOT of channels. But I want to talk to you today about my 5 favourite ones. Heels Vs Babyface, Bellular Gaming, Asmongold, Wowcrendor and Taliesin & Evitel. Honourable Mentions: Preach Gaming, Lazy Peon, TradeChat, FatbossTV, Hellscream and Swifty.

*Not in any particular order (so don't get super excited Taliesin that you're first on the list)

1. Taliesin & Evitel (Twitter: @taliesinevitel)

These two lovely Brits are the newest kids on the block. (*not really kids) They bring a fresh FUN humourous look at WoW (and a bit of Overwatch) to YouTube that I found to be lacking in other videos of yore. They are a couple that play WoW together and only recently started videos a few months back. Evitel isn't in the videos as much (a shame really) and they are 95% voiced over by Taliesin. They make a lot off the cuff jokes, and many visual jokes in the videos that reference pop culture. (Diff'rent Strokes anyone?). The videos themselves are different in content from Things to Do Before Legion (below), a very LOOOOOOOONG review of Warcraft (the motion picture cinema film), and they even have a video thanking their new fans. I will continue to follow their videos as I find them refreshing in the YouTube WoW community. Also if you enjoy some salty language, Taliesin has some wonderful classy British swears. (He's not the only one on this list either)

2. Heels vs Babyface (Twitter: @heelsvsbabyface)

Speaking of Fun YouTube, we have HvB. This was the first every WoW Youtuber I started to follow. HvB has everything from Beta testing videos, Raid Boss guides, twitch stream highlights and my personal fav,  Emergency Az! (these get classy British salty too). I have learned a lot over the years about proper Raid strategy and wouldn't of got the Red Disc of Doom mount from MoP without them. HvB also just recently passed 100k Subs, and got a nifty plaque in the mail from YouTube (below). All in all, if you're a WoW fan and frequent YouTube, there is not reason why you shouldn't be subbed to HvB.

3. Asmongold (Twitter: @asmongold)

If you like WoW, and you like to see salty American's yell swears over WoW videos, then Asmongold is the YouTube channel for you. When I first found Asmongold on YouTube, I was not a fan. I wasn't sure but something about him and his videos rubbed me the wrong way. But the more I watched, the more I became intrigued. I found him to actually be right about a lot of the stuff he ranted about and found myself agreeing more with his PoV. Also his video for TimeWalking dungeon gearing was spot on (Below). I used his gear method and I now tear through TimeWalking dungeons like butter. 

4. Wowcrendor (Twitter: @omgfunny_tweets)

Do you like Pointless things? Do you like WoW Machinima? What about Hearthstone and Warcraft 3, yes I said Warcraft 3. Then Wowcrendor is the YouTube channel you've never heard of (well you most likely have as he has over 500k subs). This is another FUN youtube channel that I have insanely fallen in love with. The Pointless Top 10, in which he gives you fun pointless count downs, such as, Roofs (below), Mountains, Fires, Zones, etc. is my favourite of his series, closely followed by his complete playthrough of Warcraft 3. 

5. Bellular Gaming (Twitter: @bellulargaming)

Finally we come to our last, but not least channel, Bellular Gaming. This is my GO to channel. I check this one out more than all the others, as I find Bellular to have the most in depth, and researched videos out there. Bellular is a game designer himself, and looks at the game as not only a fan, but also someone in the industry and can view it from both sides. He is the least salty of the Brits on this list, but he can be salty when he needs too. He has in depth guides to classes, dungeons, design functions, and much more. I started a Fury warrior on Live because of his video on the new Super combo of death they are getting in Legion. I also find out of all the YouTubers on this list, his videos have the most polish to them. One of my favourite videos from Bellular is about his set up for creating his YouTube content. Check it out.

Anyways, that is it for another WoW blog. If I missed anyone that you think I might like, who is not on the main list or the Honourable Mentions, please comment below.

-Karlsson......OUT

PS: I finally after a bunch of year finally completed the Midsummer Festival meta achievement. Go Me!!

Legion Invasions and Legacy Servers...they're linked you know....

But how, you're asking.....well let's get to that shall we.

*NOTE THIS IS PTR BASED, Not Beta* (Blizzard hasn't given me a Beta Key) 

So this passed week the 7.03 Pre-Lauch content went up on the PTR, and I have been LOVING it. Included are all the class changes, new talents, UI improvements, and new Transmog System.

Let's look at the changes first, before we get to the Invasions.

I am playing a Ret Pally on the PTR (my Live main is a BM Hunter), and I am very mush enjoying this class again. Ret was my Vanilla/BC/Wrath main, and I just fell out of love with that toon. But with the new Talent tree and talents, I have fallen in love again. That old main Ret Pally has become an Alt and I still play it (just got legendary ring last week) and is doing roughly 35-45k DPS in WoD raids at ilvl 696. Now I didn't copy over this toon to the PTR and just created a lvl 100 PTR toon, and with the new talents and the Fel gear that's dropping in the Invasion's I am ilvl 691 and doing 85-90k DPS. It is super exciting to see this and I may go back to maining my Ret Pally, but I really do like shooting stuff, so who knows.

I also created a Surv Hunter, and I am not sure yet. Requires more testing.

Transmog changes are what I am loving the most so far though. The ability to be able to see a full set put together (without MogIt), and save the sets is nice. I haven't been into transmog a lot since it was introduced years ago, mainly because I didn't like the way the System was put together, and ALL the bag space it took up. But I got more into it in Diablo 3, and said from day one of transmog in D3, they need this in WoW to fix it. Low and behold next BlizzCon, Blizzard announced they were putting it in. I spent 3 hours on Saturday, just playing with creating outfits on my BM Hunter who I copied over to the PTR. I wish I had screenshooted some of the outfits, cause they would of been Fashion Police cringe worthy. But the system is smooth, although I am sure they haven't unlocked ALL the quest reward gear yet like they said they were going too. But I imagine they will get it all unlocked by the time it goes live. My only beef is still that I cannot Transmog my Hunter in Leather, and Pally in Mail. All toons should be able to Transmog into gear they can wear. Yes, I know seeing a Warrior in a Priest robe is wrong, but it could make for some fun Xmogs in the future.


Let's move onto the Invasion's now, so I can link it to Legacy Servers, sorta

So at two zones at a time, a Legion Invasion starts and you must go to the Zone and complete the 4 stages. You get a chest with Nethershards, ilvl 700, Weapons and Armour, and weapon upgrade token at the end of Stage 2 and 4. The Weapon with be ilvl 700 at start and the token with take it to stages 2-6 up to a max of 5 ilvls per token, to a max of ilvl 725. In each Zone is an Illidari Camp that has vendors to spend your Nethershards on Food buffs, ilvl 700 back cloak, rings, necks and trinks and full Cloth, Leather, Mail, and Plate armour sets. Each Invasion nets you around 240 Nethershards.

Stage 1

Defend <Enter Town/Area Here> (right now it's Kharano's, Ogrimmar Rear Gate, Tarren Mill, Westfall, Gadgetzan, Crossroads)
You and everyone else just kills stuff till the bar gets to 100%. This is usually the quickest Stage.

Stage 2

Kill the 2-3 Lieutenants and Commander attacking said town.

The 2-3 Lieutenants will spawn first and once you take them down the Commander will spawn and you take him down too. Then you get some Nethershards and a Chest, which contains the above mentioned items.

Stage 3

Defend Zone.

So a bunch of Legion buildings and demons will Spawn ALL over the Zone you're currently in, and you need to go take them all out. Each building is surrounded by Legion toons, that you need to kill to get near the entrance to the building. Once inside kill the Stone and building goes away. Keep doing this until the progress bar gets to 100% like Stage 1. This will take a LOT longer than stage one, and killing 5-6 regular non-elite Legion demons will only net you 1% on the progress bar. Elite's only give 6-8%.

Stage 4

World Boss Demon

You will be forced to fly back to Town you're defending and kill a bunch of regular demons until a World Boss spawns. The boss's HP will go up based on how many people are attacking. For example, I was in Westfall on my Pally. When the boss first spawned, it has 150m HP, by the time everyone started attacking it that was in the Zone, it was up to 292m HP. These world bosses do have mechanics you need to watch out for, cone attacks, player debuffs (one Eraedor had one that wouldn't let players heal, gross) etc. Once boss is down, you get more Nethershards and another chest with above items in it.

All in all these take roughly 20-30 mins to complete. Also my fav thing about this is that Alliance Players can do the ones in Horde Zones and vice versa. The guards in the towns go passive and bother Horde and Alliance work together to stop the Legion, no matter what town/area it is in.

So how does this link to Legacy Servers, sorta...

Well it brings back the sense of community that WoW hasn't had since Wrath. I firmly believe these invasions are one of many tests by Blizzard to see if the community will work together again, and how they feel about it. I for one saw many people on the PTR so happy that so many people were in one place. One thing the legacy servers will require is everyone working together again like the old days and these Invasions will be a great test for that.

The invasions made me miss old WoW more so than ever. I never played on Nostralious, but I did try a couple others (hated them cause they changes lvling mechanics and invented they're own specs and classes) and I must say they way the community worked together made me weep for the current non-social state of WoW, Thanks Obam....oh wait....not his fault.

Some side notes relating to other things.

I am working on a new layout for the blog. I may switch to WordPress and buy a domain. The new layout should launch (as of now) with the launch of Legion.

I am also considering making a Facebook fan page, and doing some live stream testing on it when Blizzard implements the Facebook API into all the games. Wouldn't be twitch like at the beginning. Won't be able to switch to Twitch until we move back to Ontario and I have a nice private office to work out of. Right now I WoW in the living room while the wife watches TV, so I cannot stream twitch style.

Let me know what you think about these changes.

Karlsson......OUT!

Legion Twitter Poll

Just dropped a poll on Twitter regarding what Hunter Spec I should play.

https://twitter.com/WowKarlsson/status/730774672627785729

Not that anyone reading this will vote, cause I am sure no one reads this blog.

Welcome to WoW Legion Beta....well at least for the rest of the world

So Beta for Legion starts today at 2pm PST, and guess what? I didn't get in. Whoa is me.

Some side notes.

Yes blog will be back up full swing. I have been taking a bit of a WoW break for the last little while Overwatch Beta, D3 Season 6). But with Legion Beta now live (hoping to still get an invite). I can make some posts and such.

-Stay Tuned


PS. I don't think one note really consists on side notes lol

It's been awhile....

So here I am, 3 months deep into Warlords and without any posts about it. I must apologize to the probably 5 people reading this as real life and well WoD have gotten in the way.

Let's bring you sorta up to speed.

I hit 100 very quickly. When the expansion hit, I like everyone else had a hard time getting in, but once I was in I was on the move. I spent the first weekend GRINDING and hit 100 in 2 days. This was when the actual fun began. I then took a week to properly lvl my Garrison up to lvl 3 (not including Pet Menagerie or Fishing Shack yet), and started Heroic's to get ready got the Highmaul Raid.

When the Highmaul Raid began I was already well into the Abrogator Stone's part of the Legendary Ring quest and have about 14 of the 125 required from my herb garden and mine and some follower missions. I am now well completed that and onto the Blackrock Foundry one's even though it also is not open. So I am finding my way into as many Normal and Heroic Highmaul runs as possible that can get past The Butcher or Brakenspore. But that seems to be HARD for people to get mechanics. Not everything can be a tank and spank.

I also have 2 more of my alt's up to 100 with the beginning 640 ring for the Legendary quest, working on the next part. I am also working on my Blood DK and have him up to 96 so far.

I won't list my achievements this post as well I have gotten a TON of new ones from WoD and a couple MoP ones as well for archaeology.

New stuff,

So back to the new stuff going on.

Like I said I am lvling a DK, and am waiting on Blackrock Foundry, but when I am not updating follower missions and such I am testing out PTR stuff and I am liking what I am seeing. Let's get into 6.1 shall we.

1) Heirloom Collections and Vendors

So they have the new Heirloom tab ready to go and I am loving what I am seeing. It works about the same as the toys's tab. You open your tab, you double click on the Heirloom you are looking for and it makes a copy in your bag. No more mailing heirlooms around.

Heirlooms as now are upgradable (except Garry Looms). All Heirloom's when first purchased start at lvl 1 as usual and got to lvl 60. You can then buy your first upgrade token to upgrade it to lvl 85 and then another to upgrade it to lvl 100. Once you have upgraded it in your tab it is that lvl in your tab and will not change for each toon.

The upgrade tokens can be bought at the new Heirloom vendors in EACH major City (SW, IF, DARR, EXO, OGR, UC, SM and TB.) They tokens on the PTR appear to cost 800g each. Loom's themselves seem to be priced between 500-800g also. These could just be PTR test prices. Final in-game prices won't show up till 6.1 goes live.

2) Flying

Not much is changing in the way of flying, except for 1 detail. You will no be able to buy Pandaria flying at lvl 85 instead of 90.

3) New follower ilvl max.

Right now you can only lvl your followers up a a 655 ilvl. This will increase to 670 when Blackrock opens, as to accommodate the higher dungeon requirements. *NOTE* This is being tested in the PTR but will happen in-game before 6.1 actually is released as Blackrock opens before 6.1 is go-live

4) Flight path improvement

So they are clearing up some the the unnecessary FP paths that make flying take WAY Too long and also on the PTR right now have an option for you to click the next landing point if it has multiple points and you may have picked the wrong place. Whether this stays in live to too be seen.

5) Garrison changes

Lots of Garrison related updates, couple of quick ones that are big, building Rush Orders. These are available at a lvl 3 building which will allow you to instantly finish 5 work orders. Whether these are limited to 1 a day  or week use is still up int he air. Also added is Scouting Missive's which are dailies to get more Apexis Crystals and Garrison resources.


Anyways, that was a much bigger update than I was aiming for. But if I am going to dive right back into this now that I have some time, why not go BIG!.

Keep up the grinding and see you in game.
-Karlsson

PS, yes I will be updating my avatar at the top as I look badass now in my new max lvl gear.

Hallows Eve Drops are BS

So of course everyone knows that Hallows Eve is upon us in WoW. I have run the Headless Horseman 18 times now (3 days x 6 lvl 90s) and have not got the Horseman's Reins drop yet. Now normally I would just go meh and carry on. HOWEVER when I ran it the first time the other 4 members of my group got it. Yep 4/5 people in the group got the mount an I was not one of them. Then the very next day 3/5 people again an again not me. This is bullshit Blizzard. I want my mount!!

When did Ordos get hard....

That is the question I pose to people today......

Last night I did and entire World Boss run, started at Galleon, then Sha, Oon, Nalak. Then once the group disbanded I went to get my Ordos kill for this week. He was HARD again. Not since I finally got my cloak has he been hard. Our group wiped twice, which has never happened. I am not sure Blizzard did a good enough squish on him.

Also let's talk about the stat squish a bit more.

I was talking with a co-worker (he plays horde *spit*) and we have both found the Timeless Isle (besides Ordos) got easier. Killing the snakes I used to get hit pretty hard from the 'Huge Fang' but now it barely touches me. I take down elite birds in two shots, and most elite Yaungol's in 3 or less. While yes this will make grinding to Exalted with Shao-Hao easier. It seems like it's not even worth the try now.

The weekend is upon us.....

Well another weekend is upon us and well it is Hallow's Eve in Azeroth starting tomorrow. I have all the achievements for this event done as of last year, however they have added a TON of new stuff for this year. So I will be doing mostly Hallow's Eve stuff, mount farming etc. But what I am REALLY looking forward to finding in the new stuff is the Lich King Costume. Yes they have added a wand that will turn you into Arthas. As soon as I get this I will be Arthas until I can't be anymore. Even though I am a hunter.

That's it for today, reminder there is no blog updates on the weekend and I will post all of this weekends WoW happenings on Monday.