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This is why heigan needs an enrage timer.

I liked the soft-enrage of the teleport tunnel (people dying would eventually lead to the eye-stocks getting out of hand and people sent there wouldn't make it out) and the gauntlet as punishment for failure was effective.

I liked the soft-enrage of the teleport tunnel (people dying would eventually lead to the eye-stocks getting out of hand and people sent there wouldn't make it out) and the gauntlet as punishment for failure was effective.

Not one person got sent to the teleport tunnel. Does it still happen?

God, I've been reading the past 4 pages or so and cannot fathom ever being as far as a lot of you are! I started last Tuesday with a tauren druid and just reached lvl 13 on to the Barrens. I really want to get into the expansion packs, it looks like those will be a lot more fun but damn, lvl 60 seems so far!

God, I've been reading the past 4 pages or so and cannot fathom ever being as far as a lot of you are! I started last Tuesday with a tauren druid and just reached lvl 13 on to the Barrens. I really want to get into the expansion packs, it looks like those will be a lot more fun but damn, lvl 60 seems so far!

Trust me you will be there in no time.. I just came back... don't even say a word evn..lol... and I had a 60 ac mage from my original account, and am at 66 right now, and honestly I have only played about 10 hours max.

God, I've been reading the past 4 pages or so and cannot fathom ever being as far as a lot of you are! I started last Tuesday with a tauren druid and just reached lvl 13 on to the Barrens. I really want to get into the expansion packs, it looks like those will be a lot more fun but damn, lvl 60 seems so far!

I know what you mean. It took me several (I don't even remember how many) characters to finally get one to 70. Sometimes it seems just so far away, but it's really not too bad once you look back. I've since quit (I play in cycles :laugh:) and they've raised it to 80 now... The one thing you can look forward to is that the whole game is going to be an adventure for you, and I would suggest you keep going on this one as that sense of discovery is definitely something that helps the game move faster.

Also, I would recommend you get an addon like QuestHelper or Carbonite, as those will really help you do what you need to do for different quests much quicker than without (even if you know the quests like the back of your hand).

I just hit 73.

It's really not that hard to level. Around 6-8 hours per level so far. I just did my first post 70 instance, The Nexus, and was kind of satisfied. I did 42% of all damage throughout the instance.* The boss fights were pretty good, some new stuff. However the last boss, I forget it's name, does an annoying debuff that stacks and thus does more DoT if you don't move around. I found jumping back and forth worked fine.

Also.. it's sad that as a hunter my Volley attack has me pushing 2300 DPS where as my other shots have me at 1700.

*I find this funny seeing as the group was me, a 72 rogue, 2 74 DK's and a 73 Holy Pally.

I hit 80, spent a week in mexico and then bounced around seeing friends family.

Tuesday will be my first time "real" raid week since 3.0 came out and made everything easy-mode.

Taking breaks is a good thing IMO.

Totally quoted wrong guy. :p

Think you need to sharpen up after that break!

Im not a hardcore raider lol so im just starting nax, not geared for it, its pretty hard to find heroic dungeon groups. Did get to 80 quickly in total about 3-4 days played but then account ran out and it seems everyone else caught up too lol.

Downed Patchwork on 3rd attempt, we didnt have enough dps and he kept enraging, on 3rd attempt was time to hit the auction house and buy buff food and elixirs. Had an increase of around 400-600dps on my hunter and finally downed him with like 1 second left on enrage timer.

Second guy in the quater was a pain, healing was fine but position is key to fight, kept wiping on that so we called it a day.

Oh and finally got my Black War bear mount aswell, feel chuffed!

so I am a hardcore longterm Questhelper user.. Whats the biggest difference between Questhelper and Carbonite? And what makes Carbonite better?

Just interested.. because if it has better features, or is actually more useful than Questhelper I would definately use it.

I know what you mean. It took me several (I don't even remember how many) characters to finally get one to 70. Sometimes it seems just so far away, but it's really not too bad once you look back. I've since quit (I play in cycles :laugh:) and they've raised it to 80 now... The one thing you can look forward to is that the whole game is going to be an adventure for you, and I would suggest you keep going on this one as that sense of discovery is definitely something that helps the game move faster.

Also, I would recommend you get an addon like QuestHelper or Carbonite, as those will really help you do what you need to do for different quests much quicker than without (even if you know the quests like the back of your hand).

Thanks for the suggestion. I just downloaded Carbonite and will be trying it out tonight. I had been only using Cartographer but found little use of it (though the map extras were good). I last played in January 2005 with a 20 priest and things certainly have become "quicker" since then. I don't find myself having to grind a whole lot now but I also know that playing as a priest was damn hard, especially since I tend to favor soloing more.

Any gear / spec requirement to do it or is she fairly easy at 80?

Here's my armory http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.x...&n=Deceived

Edit: Armory was updated.

I loaded up on my tank set to bump up my HP and stayed in Blood Presence. I'm using Glyph of the Ghoul, Glyph of Plague Strike, and Glyph of Death strike for major glyphs and Glyph of Horn of Winter, Glyph of Pestilence, and Glyph of Raise Dead for minor glyphs.

The first and third phase are a joke. Death Strike is more than enough to keep you fully healed. You'll need to be sure all your cooldowns are available during the second phase though when all the whelps come. What I did was keep the camera in first person mode. When she goes to second phase, move the camera up so you can stay under her and can reapply diseases and Death Strike. Soon as she stops moving after going into the air, pop Death and Decay, Unholy Blight, and Pestilence once the whelps start coming. With the Glyph of Pestilence, the diseases will be able to hit the whelps if you're right under Onyxia. If Anti-Magic Shell is up, use it when she casts her breath attack (not the Fireball) as it hurts pretty bad. Once you clear phase two though you're golden.

Edited by Xilo

I have to say that I've not played in about 3-4 months. I quit when my guild stopped raiding, same as usual Summer came along, news of the expansion and all of a sudden no one wanted to raid anymore. I stopped myself and lost all interest in the game and the Shaman.

I've since given the account to be used by my GM and told him to take all my gold (about 10k) I think.

Just don't have the desire to sink another year into it :(

As I said previously, I'm glad I started playing again.

Another opinion on the Post 70 (non-heroic) Dungeons, they are all relatively easy.

So far the most challenging is Azjol-Nerub. I can't explain it well enough to give a step by step walk-through but the boss fights occur very quickly after encounters. The group had better be on its toes or else it will find itself on its back, very quickly. The last Boss however is easy, we had 2 DK's a Priest, a mage and myself a hunter. The last boss puts a wall up as you engage. Our mage wasn't paying attention and ended up being a spectator. We 4 manned him pretty easily.

About 3/4ths the way to 74.

http://us.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xm...p;n=Dominatious

^ Me. :]

Edit: Armory has me with the bow off of attumen because half way through our Utgarde keep run my Badge bow broke.

I doubt I'll be getting out of any of my 70 Epics soon.

Hahahahaha. It's funny to read through that and just be like: "Yep."

Funniest one:

Barrens Chat

Refers to the conversation that occurs in the chat channels of The Barrens, a zone in Kalimdor. Barrens Chat is notorious for off-topic (and often totally random) conversation. Why this has occurred in the Barrens specifically, and not in any of the other zones of the game, has yet to be determined. Supposition suggests that Barrens Chat may be a result of distance and isolation: the Barrens is said to be one of the largest zones in the game, in terms of geographical area and mob level, and players are often so distant from each other that 'face-to-face' conversation is impossible. Another theory is that it is the only non-contested territory that is used by 3 races (Orcs, Trolls and Tauren) as a secondary "newbie" zone. Undead players often choose to quest in the Barrens rather than Silverpine, adding to the population. In addition, the Barrens encompasses quests for a larger level range than almost any other zone, which causes players to stay there for a much longer time than anywhere else. The chat is mostly geared toward, but not limited to, Chuck Norris.

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  • Posts

    • You literally have to do it on a desktop, which is incredibly annoying in our mobile-first world. What???
    • What part of "you can’t really depend on service providers to maintain features forever" is not clear enough?
    • Nope. That lack of surround sound capability (analog) won't fly with me. Sure, I use headphones most of the time, but still.
    • Creative Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe review: your headphones will love it by Steven Parker If you have been reading Neowin for any length of time, you may remember that I reviewed the Sound Blaster Audigy FX Pro back in April. I found it to be an excellent budget sound card, even though it lacked support for formats such as DTS over the included SPDIF port. Anyway, Creative reached out to me again asking if I was interested in reviewing the Sound Blaster AE-X. It is a card mainly targeted at headphone wearers, which I'll get into a bit later. Before we get underway, here is a disclaimer: Creative Labs provided a free sample without any review pre-approval. Here are the full specs of it: Creative Sound Blaster AE-X Dimensions: 179 x 126 x 18 mm Weight: 263g / 9.28 oz Platform: PCI-e DAC: ESS ES9039Q2M Connectivity Options Side: Rear: 1 x HD Audio Front Panel Connector, 1 x ⅛“ Headphone port, 1 x RCA Line-out (Left) port, 1 x RCA Line-out (Right) port, 1 x Coaxial SPDIF-out port, 1 x ⅛“ Mic in/Line-in port, 1 x TOSLINK SPDIF-in port Surround: No DNR / SNR: THD+N: 0.0001% Dynamic Range 130 dB Recording Resolution: PCM up to 32-bit / 192kHz (Stereo) Direct Mode: Line Out (Stereo): PCM up to 32-bit  384 kHz Coaxial SPDIF Out: PCM up to 24-bit 192.0 kHz Headphone Amp: PCM up to 32-bit / 384kHz (Stereo) Native DSD: DSD64, DSD128, DSD256 Output Impedance: 1Ω, Supported Headphone Impedance: 8–600Ω, IEM: 0.5Vrms, Low: 1.5Vrms, Mid: 3Vrms, High: 6Vrms, Maximum output power: 350mW @ 32Ω (High), Maximum output voltage: 6Vrms (High) Front Panel Headphone Amp: PCM up to 32-bit / 192kHz (Stereo) Native DSD: DSD64, DSD128 Output Impedance: 10Ω, Supported Headphone Impedance: 32–300Ω, Maximum output power: 40mW @ 32Ω, Maximum output voltage: 1.9Vrms ASIO: ASIO 2.3 Total Harmonic Distortion: THD+N: 0.0006% Dynamic Range: 114 dB Scout Mode: Yes EMI shielding: No (but it passed all the FCC emission tests) Operating temperature: 0–45°C Input Power: 12V⎓0.5A Warranty: 1 Year (MSRP) Price: $179.99 / £169.99 The Sound Blaster AE-X was announced at the end of May, and it becomes clear that it is mainly for headphone wearers. I should also note that the card does not support DDL/DTS encoding technology, but it is said to support decoding through the coaxial SPDIF port. I was able to test this working with the classic Windows Sound properties, but I could not get a DTS (decode) signal through my Logitech Z906, it defaulted to 3D sound whenever I played DTS content through Plex or Emby. In addition, this card only supports two channels (stereo) over the speakers. The surround support is limited to the Headphone Amp, so before I get underway, what we have here is a card mostly intended for headphone use, especially with its SPDIF In (Toslink) port where you could connect another device like a console. So what about the highlights of this card? The AE-X is powered by the ESS SABRE DAC (ES9039Q2M), which is capable of a 130 dB dynamic range. In addition, it supports 32-bit/384 kHz playback for deeper detail and clarity. The headphone amplifier delivers up to 350 mW @ 32Ω, which admittedly far surpasses standard onboard audio, offering support for studio-grade headphones. DSD256 and ASIO 2.3 are also supported. What doesn't it have? No support for What-U-Hear, Super X-Fi, or the SmartComms Kit No EMI shielding, but it passed all the FCC emission tests (from the FAQ) I also want to make it clear that I am no audiophile. For me, it's purely subjective and it should just "work" out of the box. First impressions As I said in the introduction, I was a bit sad to see that the AE-X only supports stereo output, meaning it would not be on par with my ALC1220 over my speakers, as I mentioned it seems like this card is marketed toward headphone users. Since I am not an avid gamer that would rule me out as a potential customer, but I can still test its capabilities! The card arrived in a nice-looking box, as shown above. It's quite a bit larger than the Audify FX Pro that I reviewed back in April, and at first I thought the covering meant that it was EMI shielded, but it isn't as mentioned above in the highlights section. What's in the box: 1 x Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe card 1 x 3.5 mm CTIA TRRS to Dual TRS Headset Splitter Cable 1 x Quick Start Guide Aside from the Quick Start Guide, which someone at my age (I guess) needs a magnifying glass to read thanks to the tiny fonts, Creative Labs also has the manual online, which first requires you to prove that you're human in order to access it (so I can't direct link it). Anyway, the box is mostly made up of cardboard, and the only plastic in it is the anti-static bag for the card itself. Design Top Bottom The card itself looks pretty cool and actually wouldn't look out of place in an all-white build. There's only one connector, and for some reason it is awkwardly placed on the side (front-facing) that is for the front panel audio connector, which will let you use the headphones through the front PC audio jack. Since the front panel Headphone Amp has fewer capabilities than the rear headphone port, I decided not to use it. Rear of card PCI-e interface The rear of the card is completely open and is normally where you would find the front panel connector. The PCIe interface side is completely covered, which initially made me think it was EMI shielded. I/O panel Side (front-facing) with Front panel connector On the outer rear bracket side we have the TOSLINK SPDIF in, Coaxial SPDIF out, RCA line out (Right), RCA line out (Left), Headphone out, and Mic/Line in ports. On the front facing portion of the card itself is the F-panel connector. Usage Test System Our test system consists of the following: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Gigabyte X870E AORUS MASTER (BIOS F12) Corsair RM1000x (2024) Thermal Grizzly Kyronaut (33x33x0,2mm) 2x 32GB Kingston Fury Beast RGB DDR5 6000MT/s CL36-38-38-80 T-Force Z540 2TB (PCIe Gen5) NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition (NVIDIA) Creative Sound Blaster AE-X Windows 11 25H2 Pro I installed the card into the Gigabyte X870E AORUS MASTER which includes the RealTek ALC1220 onboard audio. For our subjective listening tests, I used the Coaxial SPDIF port to my Logitech Z906 speakers. For headphone tests I used the OneOdio Studio Max 2 Wireless DJ Headphones that I reviewed last month. After installing the audio driver, I installed Creative Nexus, which is a relatively new app designed for the latest Sound Blaster cards. Then I discovered the AE-X needed both a driver update from 1.00.15.0001 to 1.01.09.000 and a firmware update from 1.00.06.0000 to 1.00.06.0002, then I was set to go. It should be noted that the card did not work without the driver (not Plug and Play). As you can see above, you can manage the firmware, driver, and inputs via Advanced Settings on the Device tab. By default Nexus enabled "Direct Mode". Upon clicking on Acoustic Engine, the Equalizer can be enabled and set to four different presets, which are: Gaming Music Movies Footsteps Enhancer There's also a dedicated Scout Mode for gamers. I mainly used Tidal and Spotify in the past week to listen to some of my Liked Songs (which now total over 700) in Shuffle mode; there were no pops or interference that I could hear. I also found a 5.1 Surround Music playlist on Tidal that sounded really great over Studio Max 2 headphones. When I reviewed the Audigy FX Pro, I went out and purchased a Logitech Z906 set second-hand for €100 specifically to use with the card, but in this instance all I could get on the AE-X was the 3D output of surround sound through Coaxial SPDIF and although it still sounded great, it isn't quite as good as DTS Interactive via my onboard Realtek ALC1220. Conclusion So what have I learned? The AE-X lacks multi-channel support for 5.1/7.1 setups and drops support for modern surround technologies like Dolby or DTS, functioning strictly as a stereo output device. So to really benefit, you will need Studio-grade headphones to "hear" the benefits of this card. With that being said, I can imagine it will appeal to gamers who are switching between console and PC. By utilizing the SPDIF in port, you could just plug your headphones into the AE-X (front or rear port) and then switch between PC and Console without having to move the headphones to a different port. As I said in the Sound Blaster Audigy review, the EQ in the Creative Nexus app offers safe presets, which allows a user to further tweak the lows, mids, and highs for a personal listening experience. Of course it all depends on the headphones you hook up to it. Speaking of headphones, I kind of wish I had higher-quality Studio-grade headphones to really test this card with; I'm not usually wearing headphones in my day to day duties. The only time I will wear them is if I want to listen to music very late at night and I don't want to disturb my neighbors, so my rating (verdict) is based on this fact. Someone with a PC/Console setup and wears headphone religiously to game, and consume media will benefit much more than I from the high-quality Headphone Amps that are included in the AE-X. Once again, I do feel like Creative could have gone the extra mile to support the S/PDIF port a bit more. Why include it if you're not supporting the main popular digital formats? It seems like the decision was more of a legacy-based one, offering uncompressed 2-channel PCM audio, for users with high-fidelity audio systems and external DACs. Maybe I will be lucky enough to review a card that truly includes all these features in the future. I am sure readers with far more knowledge on audio systems than me will correct me in the comments below. I'll just say I am happy to learn what I don't know! Where to buy The Sound Blaster AE-X is available to purchase now in preorder for $179.99 on the U.S. Creative website, or for £169.99 on the Creative UK website and will start shipping to customers from June 25.
    • $80 or 90%, anything else would be financial suicide one way or another.
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