Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.

If you've ever spent any time sitting in trade chat, you could probably make a list of some of the most popular enchants. Requested frequently, any enchanter possessing the the knowledge to imbue a weapon or piece of armor with the proper stats stands to make a fair amount of gold.

For example, a healer seeking Major Healing, or a meleer seeking Mongoose, will know the materials, and gather them. Each time they replace their respective weapons, back into trade they will go to request the enchant.

Today, Insider Trader presents a list of some of the most requested enchants with information about how to obtain them so that you can offer them to friends, guildmates, and your server.

It is by no means a complete list, but it will get you off to a shining start and provide you with quite a to-do list. Check out the comments section for helpful details as well.

Drop rate data was gathered from the Armory, and Blizzard uses ranges such as Very Low (1-2%). This is narrowed down with data from Wowhead where appropriate, but keep in mind that some bind on pick-up recipes can only be seen by enchanters, and Wowhead cannot filter out that data, making their estimate much lower than the actual drop rate.

In the next couple of weeks, I'll be working on the faction recipes series, focusing on enchanting, so stay tuned.

A lot of people who read Ask a Beta Tester regularly have been asking about how easy Burning Crusade heroics will be at level 80. Can they be 3 manned? Can they be duo'd? This one's for you, guys. I decided it's worth a mention all on its own.

Three players, two Death Knights and a Priest, have recently trio'd almost the entirety of Karazhan, minus only Nightbane due to not having completed the quest needed to summon him. Admittedly both Death Knights were using a deep Unholy build which is tuned a little high now, but they're not wearing any high end gear, either. The spec that the tank used is a bit unusual for an Unholy Tanking build. They didn't take Bone Shield, and I suspect Magic Suppression being bugged had something to do with its exclusion, though that may have been fixed and I missed it. A fun little detail they discovered is that Gift of Arthas, which procs a disease, is counted as one of your diseases as a Death Knight and augments abilities that scale depending on how many diseases you have active such as Death Strike.

So there's your answer, ladies and gentlemen. Karazhan can be 3-manned before any raid gear is available, so Burning Crusade heroics will surely be able to be duo'd if you're still hoping and praying for Anzu come level 80.

[ via DeathKnight.info ]

Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them. This week John Patricelli, the Big Bear Butt Blogger, takes a trip down memory lane, and looks once more at the crazy hijinks Druids get up to.

In the months before Burning Crusade was released, when players knew that the raiding rules were about to change and a new game-changing patch was imminent that would cause everyone to re-examine their specs and gear choices, many guilds eased up on the raiding focus a bit.

As the focus on raiding changed for some guilds, and players suddenly had a bunch of extra time on their hands, folks that had been raiding relaxed and looked for new ways to have fun.

Being WoW players, the desire to try new and wacky things just for the heck of it flourished.

Dire Maul tribute runs, Baron Rivendare speed mount run competitions, naked gnome raids on Hogger, and many other antics were seen.

Of all the classes out there, though, In my opinion, players that roll Druid style just seem to look for more fun and crazy ways to goof around and try to take on stuff together.

Sure, I'm biased. But while there are plenty of hybrid classes in the game, it just seems that it's always the Druids that I hear about going off and trying crazy things together.

For example, look at the evidence of Druid fun and games, from before the Burning Crusade as seen in this video from back in November of 2006.

More recently, of course, we had the infamous Murder of Crows that swept Dark Iron, terrorizing the Horde server wide. As far as I know, the Penny Arcade Alliance of guilds remain unchallenged after that one.

Doesn't that look like a lot of fun?

Well, here we are at the same point in the life of the game, where a new game-changing patch is imminent, a huge expansion of goodness is coming soon, and some raiders are relaxing a bit in anticipation... and looking for different ways to have fun.

Continue on after the break for more neat all Druid hijinks!

Welcome to Ask a Lore Nerd, the column that answers your questions about the story and lore of the Warcraft universe. Click the Comments link below (or e-mail us!), ask your question, and blogger/columnist Alex Ziebart will answer your question in a future installment!

Without further ado, let's get to the questions. Justin of Firetree-US wrote in to ask...

Along the coastline in the Swamp of Sorrows there are skeletons of giant turtles with structures built onto the back of their shells. Is this a nod to the Gnome submarines used in Warcraft II? If I remember correctly, they were turtles as well.

While yes, the Gnomes did use the turtles as submarines in Warcraft II, they aren't the only ones that have made use of them. According to a few quests in Darkshore, the Naga have put the Giant turtles to work as transports. Also, in Wrath of the Lich King, the Tuskarr use giant turtles with carriages on their backs as transportation as well. In fact, you can use them to get from one end of Northrend to the other. Edit: I was wrong, the Gnomes didn't use the turtles. It was a Horde unit. Same answer applies, though.

Dark Haven on Baelgun actually killed our buddy Illy D this week, but we liked this picture on their website better. Yes, they're coming for you, Defiler.

This week's Guildwatch is chock full, as always, of drama, downed, and recruiting news from around the realms. If you've got some to share with us, about your guild or anyone else's, feel free to send it along to wowguildwatch@gmail.com. Click the link below to see what's going on this week in guild news.

The American Psychological Association has released a study of surgeons (why they chose surgeons to study, who knows) that says surgeons who play World of Warcraft and other video games can make them a better surgeon overall. Not only does controlling a game character give you better motor skills, but playing an involved and complicated game can, not surprisingly, can make you a better analytical thinker and problem solver. Surgeons who played videogames (though they don't mention how much or how often) were faster at advanced surgical procedures and make fewer errors than surgeons who didn't.

So does this mean that playing videogames can replace education entirely? Not so fast, back to schoolers -- apparently playing games also makes things not so complicated seem not so interesting. While leading a pickup group in Karazhan will definitely help your problem solving abilities (though probably not your stress levels), it will make it harder for you to do things like settle down and study a book. As with everything, moderation is the key.

It's strange how just one little action or one little phrase can completely unravel a whole guild ingame. Of course, you could argue that guilds are ad hoc organizations anyway, and that it shouldn't be surprising that it doesn't take much to knock down a house of cards built only through text on a screen. But for a lot of people, their guildies are good friends and fellow players, and yet one misplaced phrase or piece of loot given out the wrong way can make those ties snap right apart.

There's plenty of that in this week's Guildwatch, along with better news (downings from around the realms), and your chance to get in on some of those weak ties (recruiting notices). Click the link below to see the 'Watch, and send your tips to wowguildwatch@gmail.com. Because as weak as these ad hoc ties may be, they're still worth having.

Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.

After a brief hiatus, Insider Trader is back and ready to take on the faction world. As you progress through Outland as a leatherworker, it will be helpful to know the factions with which you will need to be in high favor.

Here's a quick summary:

• Honored: Ashtongue Deathsworn, Sha'tar, Keepers of Time.
  
• Revered: Consortium, Kurenai/Mag'har, Lower City.
  
• Exalted: Cenarion Expedition, Honor Hold/Thrallmar, Aldor/Scryers, Violet Eye.

Alright. Let's call a spade a spade. I nubbed last week's installment by putting down Agility as a stat. Agility is good -- still not a Retadin's primary strength (pun intended), but definitely part of the equation. An informative article can be found on WoWWiki comparing Strength to Agility and determining the point where investing points in Agility gives better DPS returns than investing in Strength. Unlike Rogues or Hunters, who will never reach a point where Strength gives better returns, there is a certain point for Paladins (or Shamans and Warriors, for that matter) where it becomes better to invest in Agility. It's quite a bit of math, but suffice it to say that the equilibrium point is pretty high and not achievable by a fresh 70 gearing up for Karazhan.

I also dismissed Expertise (pfft, why make one mistake when you can make two!), a new stat introduced in Patch 2.3, which reduces the chance a mob will Dodge or Parry your attacks. If you can manage it, you should always attack from behind, negating Parry to begin with, but barring that, Expertise is a good stat to pursue after you're Hit capped. In fact, as some readers pointed out, the Shard of Contempt is the best melee DPS trinket in the game right now as it prevents even yellow, or special, attacks from being Dodged or Parried. With all the technical stuff out of the way, let's move on to the last part of this series, where we'll take a look at all the permanent enchants, gems, and even consumables that you'll need to do a good job in Karazhan.

Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them. This week John Patricelli, the Big Bear Butt Blogger, tries to roll a bunch of feral druid advice together to help new druids get up to speed in Karazhan.

"Hi, I'm Windshadow, and I'm a Feral Druid."

This is a statement of pride, not of shame.

I am absolutely, now and forever, a feral Druid, unable to be restrained or 'tamed'... although I'm aware some folks suffer from a case of wishful thinking.

In the past, I've released a bunch of articles about gearing up for Karazhan.

Breaking them up by spec like I did, I'm afraid some folks might get the wrong idea about how we play our class.

The assumption may be that only one of those sets is important to you... if you are a feral Druid, you only need a bear tanking set, for example. Even some of those that play Druids may start to think, we have only one fixed role in a run.

That's not the impression I wanted to give.

Alright. So you got your weapon. I can't stress enough that this is the single most important piece of equipment in a Retribution Paladin's possession. Then there's your armor. Your armor pieces are only slightly more important than the stuff we'll be covering if only because 1) they confer larger stat bonuses, and 2) having a matching set makes you look cool. And Retadins must always look cool. It's bad enough that the pre-Wrath population laughs you out of raids and 5-mans. When the expansion hits, of course, you'll smash all their faces with the Divine Storm just to put them in their place. Until then, you gear up.

Today we're looking at the last few pieces of the puzzle. Amulets, cloaks, librams, rings, and trinkets. Unlike the weapons or armor pieces, where the real meat is Strength, you can have a little creativity with these slots because many items confer non-stat bonuses. Strength is obviously a premium, but it all comes down to taste. Once you've filled about half your gear slots, you should be ready enough for Karazhan and not gimp the raid.

Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.

Last week, Insider Trader examined the factions that a new tailor in Outland will need to buddy up to, including what recipes they had to offer, and how far you'd need to go.

Today, we will continue through the series with the following guide to faction recipes for alchemists in Outland. Here is the quick breakdown of what you will need to grind:

1. Honored with Honor Hold or Thrallmar.
2. Honored with the Violet Eye (Kara).
3. Revered with Kurenai or Mag'har. *This one may not be worth it.
4. Revered with Scryers. Aldor has nothing for alchemists.
5. Exalted with the Cenarion Expedition.
   
6. Exalted with Sporeggar.
7. Exalted with Lower City.
8. Exalted with Shattered Sun.
9. Exalted with the Sha'tar.
10. Exalted with the Keepers of Time.