Thanks for the email, Alex. Recount and Skada both pull the same data from the same data feed that WOW provides damage and healing addons for parsing and usage. Technically, the information both addons receive is the same, but the time at which each addon begins to record the data is different. This is why you see different numbers for both Skada a...

I figured I might as well open with what's truly become one of the defining items for the rogue class. The Red Defias Mask has been found by nearly every new Alliance rogue as they worked their way through Westfall. It was actually one of the very first class-specific items put into the game and one of very few outside of our tier sets. Nobody else...

I have a slightly different UI for each of my character classes (the UI differs only in buffs/debuffs), but I'd like to show you just my warlock UI. First thing you'll notice is that buffs do not appear on the target or focus. Pretty simple reason for that: I don't need them to. Download a mod called Locknotes; I have this mod installed on every ar...

Oren.1 is the paladin interface, showing all of the pertinent buffs on the target at the bottom of the Grid frame, with built-in timers from the excellent addon OmniCC. Bati is the priest Grid setup, displaying shields, Weakened Soul, Prayer of Mending and other vital priest information right on the Grid frame. Paired with a POM counter addon, this...

Luca, I have two pieces of advice for you. First, learn how and when to use automation. Auctioneer's Snatch tool can be a huge source of lost profits and wasted time if you use it incorrectly or don't keep it up to date. This is true of any automation, but especially true when it comes to buying. Selling has an undo button of sorts, as you can canc...

While there's only one fight in the game currently that requires holy paladins to use their full throughput (Valithria), Cataclysm will destroy that paradigm. We may keep a set of gear featuring critical strike rating and spirit for lengthy encounters and a set of haste and mastery gear to handle situations when throughput is of the utmost importan...

The alternative to having a speed-boosting mechanic would be having powerful slows, which is something that we're actually lucky enough to have at our disposal. Crippling Poison, while one of the strongest slowing effects, is still not perfect. Poisons are able to be dispelled by all of the four healing classes in some way, which leaves our prey fr...

So when Blizzard says it wants mana to be an issue, I'm guessing that means gear in the future expansion is going to help, but it's not going to guarantee you won't go OOM anymore. I think mana is likely to be something you get a grasp of for a little while, and then lose again something we'll always be working against, and all the gear in Azeroth ...