Wowpedia talk:Reference desk


 * The WoWWiki Reference desk was voted to be decomissioned on Sep 13 2006. Old unanswered question were kept below for archival / incoming external link purposes. Reference desk sections that actually had answers in them were also kept for the same reason.


 * All pages now have notices that this is not the place to ask new questions. Links to the reference desks are removed from the wiki. The remaining pages are placed in the Archives category.

Deletion vote

 * Delete:


 * Keep:

Comments

 * This is a vote to delete ALL PAGES RELATED TO THE REFERENCE DESK. See Wowpedia talk:Village pump.  --Mikk (T) 19:49, 8 September 2006 (EDT)

= Old, unanswered questions...= = Monsters Questions =

Wrath Phantoms
Hi everyone, Does anyone have any information on Wrath Phantoms? A guildy says he just saw a bunch of them in Orgrimmar but we have no idea what spawned them or why. They didn't last too long, apparently Thottbot has a spell to summon them but no more information on it.

Thanks, Milana 20:37, 22 Feb 2006 (EST)

= Modifications Questions =

Get Mana Cost of a Spell
How do you go about getting the mana cost of a spell?

For example, I want to find out what the mana cost is for each rank of my Healing Wave spells and then populate an array w/that information.

Someone on the WoW UI forums suggested to create a tooltip and parse the info to get the mana cost, but I have no idea where to begin on creating a tooltip.

--Shodin 11:17, 7 Jan 2006 (EST)


 * Have you browsed the API information here? -- &#8465;ilver&#167;&#8465;ide|undefined 23:40, 7 Jan 2006 (EST)


 * Yes. I've already written the rest of the addon, but the mana cost is just in static form right now.  Since the cost can vary b'n players, I'm needing get the info on the fly rather than setting it as a fixed amount.  I obviously haven't found a way to do this yet.  Come to think of it, I need to do the same thing for the max amount a spell can heal for as well.  --Shodin 13:11, 9 Jan 2006 (EST)

Beginning Hacker
Hi there. I don't know how to make the boxes mentioned in the main page would work, so feel free to fix this as needed. Once I've seen it look right, I'll do that for any page I post on. I've been interested in working on mods for quite a while now, and I have a few questions:
 * 1) How does one look at Blizzard's source code for a particular component (if that's possible)? For example, I want to make changes to the MessageFrame:AddMessage method, but I need to see how it works now to make reasonable modifications.
 * 2) How does one replace Blizzard's code with one's own? So, to continue the same example, what do I do with my re-written AddMessage to make it work instead of the Blizzard version?
 * 3) Has there been any progress with determining map coordinates correctly? It seems currently that all mods that record map coordinates use them from the most recently viewed map, rather than from the map for the current zone.  This is cool since we can get world coordinates as well as zone coords, but causes major problems with automatic data retreival.

Thanks for looking at my questions, and happy hacking!

--DJUrsus 23:13, 2 Dec 2005 (PST)

WHO_LIST_UPDATE event not always fired ?
I'm trying to gather information abotu characters that are not yet in my party/raid. So, I send a who request via SetWhoToUI(1); SendWho("n-\""..myQuery.."\""); and then I wait for the WHO_LIST_UPDATE event. With this system in mind, consider the following scenario:


 * 1) Send request for info about Fred
 * 2) Intercept the WHO_LIST_UPDATE event
 * 3) Assume that Fred is not onlie: your result set (that you traverse via GetWhoInfo) is empty
 * 4) Send request for info about John

Now assume that John is not online either. It seems that we never receive a WHO_LIST_UPDATE event for the second query.

I also suspect this to be a timing issue. If I waited long enough between the two queries, I would get the event for the second one. Anyone else encountered this problem ? I'm seeking confirmation and possible workarounds or alternatives.

Thanks, Krag

Post edit: moved this one down (I had erronously posted it at the top of the list)

--Krag 12:56, 17 Feb 2006 (EST)

Guild Roster
How do I tell if the Guild Roster is being displayed? I know that ToggleFriendsFrame(3) will hide/unhide it. I want to be able to see if it's already up, and if not, display it. As it is, if it's up, it will be hidden.

Thanks.

--Pachelbel 19:39, 17 Feb 2006 (EST)

Answers
First of all, what boxes? I am not quite sure what your talking about, lol (-:

Second, use # for numbered lists, as I have changed your above post to use

Now, to your questions: I myself am not a modder, I just do wikis (rofl) but sadly this community is in such a state of upheaval as things are set up and standardized (thanks to me, to sound a little conceited) that I am afraid nobody would see you post here! Usually, truly helpful members would have this page watched to help anybody who came along, but for now, I will refer a true modder here to help you out (-:

Also, make sure that you indent replies with ':' or '::' or ':::' or so on - the more the colons before the line, the farther it is indented. For instance, a reply to my post (this one) should have two colons infront of it - just trying to help a friend out (-:


 * [[User:SilverSide| Silver\Side]] 03:09, 3 Dec 2005 (EST)

I presume you cannot look at the source code for World of Warcraft components unless you are Blizzard employee of some sort.

However, if what you really want to do is create a UI mod (aka and AddOn), you should see Interface Customization.


 * --Fandyllic 8:54 AM PST 4 December 2005

HOWTO: View Blizzard's Interface Code explains how to get and read the code for blizzard's interface elements.

Finding new Wow APIs
Hi, i was wondering if i could get some explanations on how can you find the new APIs from patch to patch? I know there is a website that logs these changes, but i was more interested in the actual process of finding the APIs that Blizzard offers for UI customization.

Thanks for reading this.

--Tazio

How I did it for 1.12

 * Scan for all functions in-game (easily done in Lua)
 * Extract all strings from WoW.exe. This will include the names of all bona fide APIs (and lots of other things, of course).
 * Remove all functions that do not occur in the wow.exe string list


 * That's roughly it.


 * The scripts I used for 1.12 are up on User:Mikk/Scripts.


 * --Mikk (T) 10:59, 11 September 2006 (EDT)

= Gameplay Questions =

How to call a makro with a /slashcommand ?
is it possible to run a makro like an emote, if yes please tell me how Thanks...! (sry bad english) --dArE777 22:42, 6 August 2006 (EDT)

How to get a mapzone of specified unit?
The specified unit is player in a raid(or team), how can I get his mapznoe??

= Lore Questions =

Shamanism
What role shamanism in history Warcraft? Whether It is possible to give history and lore in Universe Warcraft on magics of the druidism, shamanism, voodoo, Necromancy, fel and arcane? (holy it is already described in this site)


 * The shaman's power is drawn from the Earthmother who is a tauren (now shaman) deity. It is beleived that she is in one way or another one of the Old Gods. Shamans haven't got a big role in Warcraft history. Orcs where a shamanistic race before they where corrupted and Tauren also were, hundreds of years before Warcraft I, but theres no history related to them because they aren't sufficiently significant to the story line.


 * Actually, that's incorrect. The Earthmother is just a deity (who hasn't been shown to actually exist, at least to the extent that Elune has) that is supposedly part of all of nature. Tauren shamans probably incorporate her into their shamanism, but Orcs and Trolls don't. Orc shamanism evolved on Draenor, and Troll shamanism is rooted in their Voodoo customs, and is heavily influenced by Orc shamanism.


 * Here are some links to pages in Lord of the Clans that explain shamanism pretty well:
 * 163, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180
 * --Bevans (FeldmanSkitzoid) 16:19, 25 Jan 2006 (EST)


 * --Haddon 14:31, 5 Dec 2005 (EST): Ner'zhul, the reason Warcraft exists (Along with Medivh and Gul'dan) was a great shaman on Draenor, and it was his idea to bring much of this about, and he destroyed Draenor. While the art of shamanism had little sway in Warcraft lore until Thrall's time, there were many shaman that did.


 * Ner'zhul was a shaman, but he dabbled in demonic magic and by the time the Orcs crossed over into Azeroth, he was probably more Warlock than Shaman.


 * Shamanism really only waned for about a generation or two, when the Shadow Council (and by association, the Burning Legion) was manipulating them.
 * --Bevans (FeldmanSkitzoid) 16:19, 25 Jan 2006 (EST)

Druids
Druids get their power from nature like how mages get there power from the magic in the world. So if nature was destroyed, it is conceivable that druids would lose their power. Night Elves were taught Druidism by Cenarius (usually thought of as the first druid) but The Ancients had druid-like powers as well.


 * --Haddon 14:31, 5 Dec 2005 (EST): Cenarius was given his powers from his father, Malorne, and his mother, who seems to be Ysera the green dragon. Whether or not Malorn taught any druids is unknown.


 * Actually, Cenarius' biological mother is Elune, but he was raised by Ysera. I doubt that Malorne had much of a hand in his upbringing; Malorne is an Ancient, and therefore more of a forest spirit than an actual physical creature.
 * --Bevans (FeldmanSkitzoid) 17:08, 18 Jan 2006 (EST)

Voodoo

 * Voodoo I think is a strange mix between the power of the shaman and of the warlock. I think they rely on dark nature powers and alchemy. This is only practiced by trolls.

--Haddon 14:31, 5 Dec 2005 (EST): Voodoo is the (as one of the voodoo priestesses explains) magic from around the world. energy of Azeroth itself, unlike Arcane, which is directly from the Twisting Nether. Voodoo just seems to be a different path that naturistic magics, druidism and shamanism, took.

Necromancy

 * Necromancy is similar to the power that warlocks use, but instead focuses on the study of death rather than demonology. They are capable of reviving living creatures from death to do their bidding as undead servants.

--Haddon 14:31, 5 Dec 2005 (EST): Necromancy is done in 1 of 2 ways, to my knowledge. Either thru demonic or arcane means, like necrolytes in Warcraft, or using the Scourge Plague. Necrolytes have a much weaker form of this, and their minions are theirs, whereas the Plague raises them for Lich Arthas' control.

Fel

 * Fel is the demon magics I'm pretty sure.

--Haddon 14:31, 5 Dec 2005 (EST): Fel just seems to be a name given to anything demonic in nature. Be it a demon, a taint, or a spell. Demonic magic comes from somewhere, it seems to be a twisted form of Arcane that the eredar created.

Arcane

 * Arcane is a form of magic. Magic is only found on certain worlds. If there is no magic there a mage is useless. They get their energies from the magic in the air.

--Haddon 14:31, 5 Dec 2005 (EST): Wrong. They get their magic from the Twisting Nether. It's fire and ice magic they get from the world, much like nature magic.

Garona
Question: Anyone know anything about Garona? Where is she?! She was in Ravenhold in beta, but she was removed. Any lore in the RPG books? --Haddon 14:31, 5 Dec 2005 (EST)


 * I haven't heard anything besides what you said. Clearly they intend to add her to the game at some point.


 * My personal theory goes something like this: The only Draenei we've seen in the game were apparently mutated by the explosion of Draenor. Since Garona was born before that happened (and was on Azeroth at the time), she is an unmutated half-draenei/half-orc. I don't think Blizz had actually designed the unmutated Draenei at the time of the game's release (though I'm sure they have by now, for inclusion in the Burning Crusade expansion), since the first time we ever saw the race was in Frozen Throne, and that was after their mutation.


 * If the Draenei are the new Alliance race, I think it would make the most sense if they were the unmutated version, since a large faction of the mutated ones are allied with Illidan, and therefore are somewhat allied with the Blood Elves.


 * Getting back to Garona: I'm guessing that they just used the female Orc model for her when she was in the game during beta. But by now they've decided what an unmutated Draenei looks like, so they'll probably have a new model for her (possibly just a slightly modified unmutated Draenei model).


 * I also think that she'll probably have a big part in the Expansion. Perhaps she'll want to get back to her original people (I'm assuming that the Sundering didn't mutate ALL of the Draenei, and that is where the new Alliance race could possibly come from). Neither the Humans or Orcs trust her anymore obviously. Or she could still be working for whatever remains of the Stormreaver clan. (If I remember my rogue's in-game mission lore correctly, all the Horde rogues are kinda part of the Stormreaver clan.)


 * So, that's what I think.
 * --Bevans (FeldmanSkitzoid) 16:58, 18 Jan 2006 (EST)

Garona
What is the current situation of Garona? Originally human/orc, from the first raids into human lands, this made a small bit of sense with the timeline. The timeline was retconned down from rouhgly 16 years to about 4 or 5, making her impossible. When this was realized, they retconned her from half-human to half-humanLIKE. medivh states "perhaps she of human heritage, or another humanoid from their homeworld" in The Last Guardian. She has since been stated to be half draenei, half orc, but why isnt she nasty and ugly like draenei? Retconned, so they are the lost ones and the broken ones, the real draenei are purple-blue with tentacles on their chins(does anyone else laugh when they think about that?)...so why is she human looking, light green, and non-tentacled. Was her father an orc or her mother? Obviously, nobody knows where she is, since she was taken out of wow, so maybe they retconned her look to be a blueish hue?--Haddon 06:21, 10 July 2006 (EDT)

Bronze Dragonflight
I'm a large Lore junkie, and lately I've been researching a lot about the Bronze Dragonflight. Particularly, I have two Major questions. First, I know that when Amant'Thul gave Nozdormu his power over Time, and as such, Aman'Thul also told Nozdormu exactly when, Where, And how he would die. I'm curious, if Nozdormu dies, Doesn't his past self still have influence in the future, to the point where he never ACTUALLY dies? the Second major Question is this. I've noted that there are only a couple of Bronze dragons listed by name as "Important." How exactly do more of this brood, or any other come about. I guess what I'm trying to ask is how exactly do the Flight repopulate themselves? Does the leader get all of the women? Are there specific high-ups, Like Anachronos, That are charged with repopulation? -- Kitsunei

Perenolde similarity
Such good theme and anybody here does not write. Let's try again. A question: Lord Aiden Perenolde (from Land of Magic) - the betrayer and the head of Syndicate, Lord Aliden Perenolde (from WOW) - the betrayer and the head of Syndicate, Lord Perenolde (from lunaforce) - the betrayer and Death Knight of Ner'Zul. Funny, it is one man, so where is mistaken? --Zato

Scarshield Legion
Hey, who are those Scarshield Legions? I just joined in the RP/PVP server of Scarshield Legion but I always want to know what the name means, I already watched the 'Realm Names and their meaning' wiki, I also know they're an orc clan that has something to do with Worgs... --Deodoran (Qrakk) 10:00, 27 Feb 2006 (EST)


 * I know that Lower Blackrock Spire (LBRS) is populated with Scarshield Orcs and some of them do have Worgs with them as part of the group, but I do not know the story behind them. EmeraldElement 03:33, 3 June 2006 (EDT)

= Other Questions =

Tooltip stats
I'm a 57 warlock with this talent build: here. I've got a Robe of the Void and a Soul Harvester, no other +dmg gear. The standard stats for ShadowBolt Rank 8 are "360-402 Shadow damage". My tooltip in-game says "410-457".

I ran the calculations myself
 * Only Talents applied to base spell: Shadow Mastery should give me 10%, which would be "396-442"
 * Talents and +dmg gear: "462-508" according to Formulas:Plus_damage_and_Plus_healing

Why is the tooltip so off from my calculations?

TIA! Laranth 00:06, 25 April 2006 (EDT)


 * For starters, I don't know enough to say with certainty, but I'm guessing you're seeing the same thing as I've seen the whole time up until a recent patch. Probably, the tooltip simply doesn't include the modifiers! It wouldn't be the first time that Blizzard would let something like that go. Just remember that the tooltip doesn't show the damage accurately, and that you need to add a certain value to it to make it correct. Schmidt 00:38, 25 April 2006 (EDT)

Philosopher's stone, level 40 requirement?
I'm a level 36 Druid. Have alchemy 225 (artisan) and have recipe for philospher's stone but get the 'can't use this item' message when I attempt to use it. What am I missing (too low level)? Any help much appreciated.

Thanks

Gingerrich 14:36, 23 Jan 2006 (EST)


 * It's probably a situation like I had some time back. When my pally was level 38 or so, I had been under the impression that you'd only need to be level 35 in order to do that. I thought I could go to the Theramore medical trainer, and he would teach me all the way up to 300. (Or however it goes.) Anyways, once I was level 40, I could use it. Yours is probably a similar situation. I hope that helps, although this is probably very late. Schmidt 06:38, 21 June 2006 (EDT)

Instance map mod?
Hi is there anyone outthere that could throw me a link too Instance Maps??.. In "the old" days there were a mod, that you could install too see ALL instances.. big help when raiding too see where the bosses are and so on .. but i cant seem too find one that works??

Plz Help)) - Chjort


 * You can get a mod called Atlas. http://www.atlasmod.com/ Schmidt 08:39, 27 June 2006 (EDT)


 * Atlas is probably the mod you used. I still use it and it seems to work, however, it is out of date.  http://www.worldofwar.net/cartography/ also has some nice instance maps, but it doesn't have any for Ahn'Qiraj.  It does have a boss map for Naxxramas, however you have to goto instance map index to find it because it is not on their drop down menu.  For Ahn'Qiraj you can get instances maps for both 20 and 40 at http://www.wowguru.com/ahnqiraj.php however I can't find an index to all their maps so I am not sure what all they have.  As far as I can tell there is no longer one place with everything that is up to date and easy to use, but these sites should give you everything and if you can't find what you are looking do a google search with:   and you should find what you need.--Ralthor 08:47, 27 June 2006 (EDT)

Increasing Graphic Quality and Visuals in WoW Beyond Maximum
Ok here we go... My first post so not sure if i am putting it in the right spot or not but here she goes anyway... I would like to pose a question/challange to the community to help me figure out how to go beyond the visual limitations set by blizzard in the Config.wtf file. All my video settings are currently maxed in the standard interface in WoW... I want to go beyond... Why must the terain be restricted to only load in a limited viewing range (i.e. FarClip range limit 170-777)? Does anyone have any suggestions on how to have everything in "Line of Sight" show even if is past the FarClip maximum? I already have emailed Blizzard about it and guess what? They told me to ask here... =)

Cheers--Xeraz