I Asked Mr Robot

I'm going to cover a little bit about Ask Mr. Robot.  This post is two-fold.  A Quick Start guide and a slightly more Advanced section.

What is Ask Mr. Robot?  Mr. Robot is a character optimization website.
Before you skip down to the good stuff, if you've never heard about Ask Mr. Robot, you might be missing out on some potentially powerful improvements.  What A.M.R. does is look at your character from the armory, Checks some filters (these are built in, but you can also customize anything you want), and then gives you data showing you how you can really optimize your character via reforging, enchanting and gems at the click of a button.

While there's many alternatives for optimization, I'm going to cover how to get the most out of A.M.R. for now.

At first Glance the AskMrRobot site can look quite intimidating, but it isn't as difficult as you might think. I wrote up this guide for a quick, easy visual tutorial to get you right into optimizing your character the right way, and fast!

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 ASK MR ROBOT QUICK START GUIDE

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More detailed information at the AskMrRobot Primer and FAQ
and also detailed info on "How does Mr. Robot's Optimizer work?"

1: Go to http://askmrrobot.com
2: Enter your Server and your character's name then click "Load".
3: Once your character is loaded you'll see it below. Click the character you want to optimize.

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4: Click Reload
5: Make sure you're in the right Spec and gear!! (If you are not in the right spec and gear, log out of WoW while in the correct spec and gear, then repeat the above steps). This is your character as seen in the Armory.
6: Click "Optimize!"

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7: A new tab appears, and Now you see what Ask Mr Robot is suggesting.
So: My Gear Optimized Score% - My Gear Score% = Difference%, the larger the Difference percent, the more you should reconsider optimizing. 

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8: Gear Optimization: Clicking on the Best In Slot button will show you your best in slot gear,but based on the options you selected.
It may suggest gear out of your current reach, so it is best to adjust your most realistic level of obtainable gear first in the options so that you have a realistic goal.
See Options below for adjusting these settings.

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Any time you've equipped new gear, gems and enchants, Check A.M.R. to make sure you're still optimized (Make sure you didn't drop below any important stat minimum requirements etc).  I don't recommend worrying too much about optimization until you're at level cap since you will be constantly replacing many, many gear items frequently.

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 ASK MR ROBOT
SLIGHTLY MORE ADVANCED START GUIDE

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There are two places you can adjust more advanced choices.

• Set Options and Filters
• Edit Stat Weights

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Set Options and Filters: (The Gears / 'Change' button)

• Did you just ding max level? Are you trying to prep for raiding? Are you already decked out in the latest and greatest?
• Maybe you don't have the cash or materials for epic enchants...
• Maybe you don't like to run fast because you have alternatives and would prefer pure stat enchants.
• Maybe you aren't quite in the latest tier gear yet so using epic gems too soon is a little silly.
• This is the place you want to set these filters and options!

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Editing Stat Weights

• Target Level Choose your target leve from the drop down.  This determines a few things in the AMR calculations.

• Edit Boxes can be manually edited or adjusted to Your specifications if you want to try something different.

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Thanks for checking out my Ask Mr Robot beginners and almost advanced user guide!

Summertime Strategies

Summer is creeping up, things begin to slow down in game, it's not unique to anyone, it just happens every year, and definitely more noticeable before a new expansion is on the horizon.  Rather than let yourself be bummed about it, there's still a lot of opportunity to keep things interesting. 

Changing things around with what you have:
It's a great time to check out those macros you've been a little nervous about trying out! You've heard someone talk about it here or there but maybe have been a little too nervous to break old habits yet.

Trying out some new hardware:
If you're feeling really adventurous it could be a great time to try out some new gaming hardware.
Maybe you've had your eye on that Gaming mouse but have been a little nervous about what you're going to do with all the extra buttons. 
Maybe you're looking at a gaming pad, or a new gaming keyboard.

Trying out a new Role:
Maybe you've done all of those things above, and instead, you want to try out a new role. Inbetween expansions can be a great time to get into a group in a new role as people take their breaks and are missing a given role for their group. It could even be a good time to secure that new raid spot and role by showing the raid leaders you're reliable, always there and ready to go.

Why is "Now" the time?
By this time, you're probably already pretty familiar with most or all of the current content.
At this point of an expansion there's very little difficulty in obtaining some potent gear for a new character.
Because of this, there is often a lot more room for error while you're learning, giving you more room to breathe while you adapt to a new kind of play regardless if its Trying out macros, new hardware or new roles.

Even if you're just into running fairly casual stuff, Break out of that mental autopilot mode and try out something new! By changing just a couple of things can often open new doors in how you play and new perceptions on ways to do new things and even improve your performance. Sometimes those little changes can feel like you're playing a whole new game.

Now is a great time to experiment with new things while the waters are calm.
The penalties for a learning curve are low, and the ease of acquiring some competent gear for your character is very accessible.

~Hoof