World of Warcraft

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Grand Master

Bawx

Posted
Posted
Opened a ticket, told them what's up, GM moved the ticket to a specialized guy, he's going to take care of it for me. He asked which item I wanted, so I'm assuming they'll just mail it to me. :)

Woke up this morning, got mail from Blizzard, it's the Battle Mage Baton. :] Awesome customer support.

post-71722-1235326145.jpg

Grand Master

Slane

Posted
Posted

Anybody got a good guide to level JC? Been wanting to do it for awhile now on my Warrior and with me slowly leveling up my DK's mining skills, i'm starting to stockpile enough ore or able to quickly farm the mats needed to power level it. Google, got me a bunch of seemingly outdate guides or gold farmer websites. :(

Collaborator

___DaviD___

Posted
Posted
Anybody got a good guide to level JC? Been wanting to do it for awhile now on my Warrior and with me slowly leveling up my DK's mining skills, i'm starting to stockpile enough ore or able to quickly farm the mats needed to power level it. Google, got me a bunch of seemingly outdate guides or gold farmer websites. :(

http://www.almostgaming.com/wowguides/wow-...burning-crusade

Try that i used that website for the blacksmithing guide found it good.

Grand Master

Slane

Posted
Posted
http://www.almostgaming.com/wowguides/wow-...burning-crusade

Try that i used that website for the blacksmithing guide found it good.

Came across that guide with the same exact format at like 10 other sites. Don't really wanna follow a guide where every other paragraph is a link to a gold guide. I was following Highlander's guide from the WoW EU forums, just wasn't sure if there was anything comparable or cheaper to follow. Farming most of the mats, or at least as much as I can while I level mining/skining on my DK, but I'll now I'll have to buy some eventually.

Proficient

Art3x

Posted
Posted
Could anyone post a good unholy build to level/tank with? Currently level 64 and leveling as blood, want to try unholy out.

Get your ghoul pet, that'll give you between 250-300 more dps. You will lose some survivability, but dps output is alot higher so it depends on your playstyle.

Grand Master

the evn show

Posted
Posted

It's been a while since I've played. I logged in to continue working on a deathknight that I started months ago: grinding away at instances with friends who are now working on their third or fourth level 80 character.

Without the draw of difficult end-game content it's very hard to be motivated to play at all. I kinda miss the confusing cluster-**** of learning to raid in Molten Core and I still really miss Sunwell. My guild has moved all 'real' raiding to PTR: they're planning to 'practice' the 3.1 content so that they can complete it very quickly when it goes live.

I'm hoping that I hear back that it's very challenging and that we'll spend months clearing it. Unfortunately it sounds like that won't be the case. Also sad to hear that we have yet another 'vehicle' fight. Not only do they completely eliminate character progression, If I wanted to play as a firetruck (or whatever vehicle they decide to make) I wouldn't have rolled a priest.

Has anybody been to MC lately?

I've heard that Domo is pre-spawned now and you no longer need to bring the water to douse the runes. If that is the case can you skip directly to Domo and then summon Rag?

A few friends have been tossing around the idea of making level 60 AV twinks. A full avenger's paladin swinging a Hand of Rag, a Conqueror's warrior with Dark edge, or a Netherwind Mage with an Acolyte Staff would be amazing a fearful thing. Plus they'd make a bad-ass looking bank-alt.

I'm partial to the idea of farming AQ gear because you 'know' what's going to drop every week. Hoping to get the right Tier 2 tokens from Onyxia/Rag and BWL sucked then as much as hoping for your set tokens sucks now.

Grand Master

Slane

Posted
Posted
I'm hoping that I hear back that it's very challenging and that we'll spend months clearing it. Unfortunately it sounds like that won't be the case. Also sad to hear that we have yet another 'vehicle' fight. Not only do they completely eliminate character progression, If I wanted to play as a firetruck (or whatever vehicle they decide to make) I wouldn't have rolled a priest.

Has anybody been to MC lately?

I've heard that Domo is pre-spawned now and you no longer need to bring the water to douse the runes. If that is the case can you skip directly to Domo and then summon Rag?

The first boss is going to blow, and then if you leave towers up it becomes more challenging, err I mean annoying.

And you just don't need water to douse the runes. Once you the boss(s) assoicated with the rune it automatically douses itself.

It's good to see you back though Evn. :)

And grats Spookie.

Proficient

Art3x

Posted
Posted
It's taken me months and months to get this character to level 70.

How in Gods name do people have 3 and 4 level 80 characters?

You could get a character to 70 with about 10 days played or less before wotlk, its even faster now.

I've gone from 55-72 in less than 2 days 10 hours, and that's with quite a bit of wasted time.

Grand Master

gigapixels Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted
It's taken me months and months to get this character to level 70.

How in Gods name do people have 3 and 4 level 80 characters?

It's your first character, correct? Once you get used to it, you get better at leveling quicker. And using addons like QuestHelper help with that as well, as it shows you a good path to take to finish as many quests as you can before turning them in. And after your first character, you spend less time discovering stuff and running instances, which makes leveling take longer.

I only have 1 level 80 and 1 level 70 (hit 70 before the expansion came out) and I'm working on another at 74 right now. This latest one is going a bit slower as I'm trying to run all the Northrend instances, rather than only do them later as heroics.

Grand Master

Bawx

Posted
Posted (edited)

Yeah that makes sense, sometimes I just run around and discover stuff.

I only have 13 days played on this guy, with a lot of wasted time latey 'cause I don't have WOTLK. :[

I kind of what to start a new guy and level it as fast as possible just to see how fast I can do it.

(extra key anyone?)

Would this staff be good for my mage at level 77? 86g on AH seems like a bargain, look at that spell power!

17293500.th.jpg

Edited by Bawx
Grand Master

Slane

Posted
Posted
I kind of what to start a new guy and level it as fast as possible just to see how fast I can do it.

(extra key anyone?)

Multiple characters per account (50 total 10 per server). Why do you need a key?

Staff's fine and it's cheaper than you will usually find it. But to be honest I wouldn't worry about buying any gear at all. Plenty of quests rewards, dungeons, heroics that will give you far better gear and make you raid ready.

Grand Master

Xilo

Posted
Posted
Yeah that makes sense, sometimes I just run around and discover stuff.

I only have 13 days played on this guy, with a lot of wasted time latey 'cause I don't have WOTLK. :[

I kind of what to start a new guy and level it as fast as possible just to see how fast I can do it.

(extra key anyone?)

Would this staff be good for my mage at level 77? 86g on AH seems like a bargain, look at that spell power!

TBH, AH gear really isn't worth buying until you get to 80 or are making a twink. You usually will replace it pretty quick from either quest rewards or instance drops.

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    • Creative Sound Blaster AE-X PCIe review: your headphones will love it

      By Jaybonaut · Posted

      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 P. · Posted

      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.
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