What's New for the Armory 2010

EDIT: They have officially removed the Armory updates, but the FAQ links below still work. The information here was cut and pasted from the site while it was up. Enjoy!

I don't have much commentary here at the moment, just some breaking news about new features for the 2010 Armory directly from their website:

New Features: Model Viewer, Character and Calendar Feeds 

The Armory's character profiles have been redesigned and improved with several new features including a 3D model viewer, character activity and calendar feeds, and more.

• 3D Model Viewer: The 3D model viewer displays a character as he or she appears in-game. You can pan and zoom the camera, play animations, and save a default pose (for characters on the logged-in account) that will display for all visitors to the profile. Refer to the Character Sheet FAQ for more details.
• Character Activity Feeds: Each character's activity feed shows the most recent in-game actions of the character that can be recorded by the Armory. These include achievements, boss kills, item acquisitions, and more. Character feeds can be customized using our customization tool, then exported as RSS feeds to your RSS reader of choice. Refer to the Character Feed FAQ for more details.
• Player Calendar Feeds: Another new Armory tool allows you to export in-game player calendar data to calendar applications such as Outlook, or to online calendars such as Google Calendar. The tool can aggregate up to five characters on your account in a single feed, and is automatically synched with the characters' in-game player calendars. Refer to the Calendar Feed FAQ for more details.
• Character Profiles: Character profiles have been redesigned to accomodate these new features and with the goal of improving usability and clarity, such as the Gear List view for a character's items.

Character Feed

What is the character activity feed?

Each character's activity feed shows the most recent in-game actions of the character that can be recorded by the Armory. These include achievements, boss kills, item acquisitions, and more. Character feeds can be customized using our customization tool, then exported as RSS feeds to your RSS reader of choice.

How do I create a customized character feed?

Click the RSS icon on the character's profile page (the orange icon on the upper right of the recent activity summary) to go to the Character Feed Customization page. The options on this page allow you to create a custom RSS feed that you can export to an RSS reader.

• You can enter up to five characters to aggregate into a single RSS feed. Enter each character in a name@realm format. If you are logged in, you do not need to specify the realm - it will default to the currently viewed character's realm.
• Achievement categories can be individually toggled to filter them in or out of the RSS feed.
• Achievement criteria include any intermediate steps within an achievement, such as defeating a particular boss in an achievement to defeat every boss in a particular raid dungeon. Toggling this category off will turn off all achievement criteria globally, while turning it on will still follow the rules that you select in the Achievement category (for example, turning off Quests in the Achievement category will turn off the criteria in this category as well).
• The Boss Kills category includes any boss that is tracked in the Statistics tab of a character profile. These include the end bosses of classic and Burning Crusade dungeons, and every boss in Wrath of the Lich King raids.
• Loot acquisitions can be assigned different rarity thresholds to appear in the feed. You can specify a minimum item level as well.

How do I use the custom feed once I create it?

The URL for your custom RSS feed updates in real time as you change options and enter character names. When you are satisfied with the options and characters you selected, simply copy and paste the resulting URL into an RSS reader. Online RSS readers include iGoogle, Netvibes, and Pageflakes, to name a few. You can also import RSS feeds into Outlook and other e-mail clients. In addition, clicking the Facebook icon (which appears near the RSS icon on character profiles) allows you to integrate the Armory's feeds into Facebook.

Can I customize the feed that appears in the Character Feed tab of a character profile?

In contrast to the RSS feeds created on the Character Feed Customization page, the feeds that appear on character profiles (on the main page and the 'Activity Feed' tab) are intended to be an unfiltered feed of a character's recent activity and as such can not be customized.

Why isn't the Armory's custom feed page finding a particular character that I enter in the character name field?

Only characters on US realms are stored here, as this is the US version of the Armory. To switch to a different region, such as Europe, go to their regional World of Warcraft website and access the Armory from there. In addition, a character must be recently active and be at least level 10 to have a character feed. When entering character names, keep spaces in realm names ('Black Dragonflight') and make sure the character and name realm is spelled correctly.

Calendar Feed

What is the custom calendar tool?

The custom calendar tool allows you to export in-game player calendar data to calendar applications such as Outlook, or to online calendars such as Google Calendar. The tool can aggregate up to five characters on your account in a single feed, and is automatically synched with the characters' in-game player calendars.

How do I create a customized calendar feed?

Use the Armory's main menu or click the link on the top right of a character's calendar page to access the Calendar Feed Customization tool. The options on this page allow you to create a custom calendar feed that you can export to any compatible application or website. You can choose up to five characters on your account to aggregate into a single calendar feed. Simply select the characters you wish to appear in the feed from the drop-down menus. Event categories can be individually toggled to filter them in or out of the feed.

How do I use the custom feed once I create it?

The URL for your custom feed updates in real time as you select options and characters. Simply copy and paste the URL into an online calendar such as Google Calendar when you are finished configuring your custom feed. In addition, clicking on the URL from this page will download a file that can be imported into compatible applications such as Outlook

Is the calendar feed automatically synched with in-game player calendars?

Yes. Calendar feeds created with this tool should always be automatically up-to-date with in-game player calendars.

What is the 'reset security key' option used for?

Each calendar feed URL contains a unique security key appended to the end of the URL. This key is intended to keep your calendar data inaccessible to others. If you wish, you can reset your security key at any time by clicking the 'reset security key' button at the bottom of the page. If you reset your key, you must update the URL in your web-based calendars, or re-download the calendar file to use it with a calendar application.

So... what do you all think of the new changes? Sounds like there will be lots of new and exciting tools that players can use to show off what they are doing in game. Who knows, I may just link them to my calendar here. :)

Enhancement Shaman Gear, Part 1: Last of the Regular 5-Mans

So, I'm a big fan of Excel. So much that I even bothered to create a spreadsheet with drop lists for each of the bosses inside normal 5-man, heroics and even into the larger raids. So, I figured, why not post what I have so far on my blog? I've run into a sort of a standstill trying to sort through all of the gear that drops in Naxxramas, but I've been able to compile my list up to and including all Heroics.

This will be part 1 of a series outlining the gear for Enhancement Shamans. Part 2 and 3 will cover Heroics, and I'm not sure how many more segments will be necessary. I am not including any quest drops here, just straight up boss gear. Kill the boss, and you may be lucky enough to receive the following loot.

(Please note: I have not included any leather armor on this list. If you are the type of shaman who likes to wear leather or cloth instead of mail, I have otherwise ignored you. "Why hast thou forsaken me?" you ask? Because as a melee class, you should want to mitigate as much damage as possible, that's why. Besides, the options below provide a significant stat boost without sacrificing the armor rating that comes with mail. If you can find me an outstanding exception, please let me know.)

So here it is, my list of useful Enhancement gear from Gun'Drak to Caverns of Time: Stratholme:

Gun'Drak (level 76-78)

• Amulet of the Stampede (Neck) A nice little amulet with some Haste, Expertise and a moderate amount of AP. Might be an upgrade if you're lacking in these areas. Source: Gal'darah
• Cannibal's Legguards (Legs) AP and hit rating in addition to the STA/AGI/INT attributes you'll see on most enhancement gear. A better option is the Leather Braced Chain Leggings that drop in HoL (see below), but for most lower-levelled characters, these should be a significant upgrade. Source: Slad'ran
  

Ulduar: Halls of Stone (77-79)

• Embrace of Sorrow (Back) Stam and Agility here, nothing special. Definately roll need on this if it's an upgrade. This should be replaced by the Centrifuge Core Cloak from the Oculus if it drops. Source: Maiden of Grief
  
• Linked Armor of the Sphere (Chest) I wanted this to drop pretty badly until I ran Utgarde Pinnacle, which had a quest chain inside the instance that granted me a quest reward alternative in the form of the Gilded Ringmail Hauberk. Still, a good mix of stats, hit rating, and AP doesn't mean that you should hold out if it's an upgrade. Source: Tribunal of Ages
  

Utgarde Keep: Utgarde Pinnacle

• Tear-Linked Gauntlets (Hands) Best gloves outside of questing and/or crafted items at this point. Nice stats, hit rating and AP. Source: Svala Sorrowgrave
• Vestige of Haldor (Trinket) Now this isn't necessarily an Enhancement Shaman trinket, nor is it necessarily something you might actually need. It's a random damage proccing trinket that may or not give you another source of damage. It provides you with no stat boost (which is why I passed on it) but you might actually be interested in it. Source: King Yrimon

Ulduar: Halls of Lightning

• Leather-Braced Chain Leggings (Legs) Here's the upgrade I mentioned earlier, and the legs I am currently wearing at the moment. It even has socketses! Standard stats, crit and AP makes these sexy legs a winner. Source: Loken
• Tornado Cuffs (Wrist) You know how a tornado basically rips through a city, leaving a path of destruction... and you always see those houses next door that don't have a scratch? I'm the guy living in the unscathed house. I can't get these wrists to drop for the life of me, but they're the best instance loot for this slot pre-Heroics. Stats, crit and AP. Yummy. Source: Ionar
• Bjarngrim Family Signet (Ring) A very nice ring that drops from Mr. Bjarngrim. Best non-heirloom heirloom ring in the game. Stamina + Agility + haste + AP = good times. Source: General Bjarngrim (Duh)

The Nexus: The Occulus

• Centrifuge Core Cloak (Back) This upgrade was mentioned earlier, and has some nice stats to boot. Get it if you can. Source: Varos Cloudstrider
• Headguard of Westrift (Head) All the stats you'll need, another red socket, and some hit rating and AP. Very nice pre-Heroic upgrade. Source: Ley-Guardian Eregos
• Spaulders of Skillful Maneuvers (Shoulders) Very nice shoulders with haste and AP added in there for good measure. All the cool kids are wearing them. Well, until they find something cooler. Source: Mage-Lord Urom

Caverns of Time: The Culling of Stratholme

• Necklace of the Chrono-Lord (Neck) I'm not a big fan of jewelry. So if I had to wear some, I'd probably choose this one just because of the name. Agility, Stamina, Haste and AP means fun and bling for you and me! Source: Chrono-Lord Epoch
• Waistband of the Thuzadin (Waist) This just sounds like something a dwarf would wear. Yech. Lots of good stats, some crit and AP. Despite the name, something you should nab should it drop. Source: Salramm the Fleshcrafter

"But wait!" you cry. "That's not even a full set!" Well, fill in the pieces yourself. There are plenty of nice trinkets and rings and all sorts of goodies you can find by questing, crafting or even turning in emblems. But, if you happen to be dungeon-diving, this should serve as a pretty good guide to all the best loot available to before you decide to hit Heroics. Hope it was useful!