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Warlords of Draenor cinematics, machinima, and more with Terran Gregory
If you've played World of Warcraft since the beginning, you've doubtless witnessed a slow evolution of story development take place in the form of in game cinematics and increasingly complex and beautiful patch trailers. The majority of these trailers can be chalked up to In-game Cinematic Project Director Terran Gregory, who has been toiling away on bringing us the very best of in game machinima since Burning Crusade. In Warlords of Draenor, those in game cinematics take a giant leap forward, featured in nearly every zone of the new expansion -- and with new models galore, they've never looked better. As the launch of Warlords marches ever closer, we had the opportunity to finally sit down and have a spoiler-free chat with Terran about the cinematics of Warlords -- as well as his beginnings with Blizzard, and the progress of cinematics from mere machinima trailers to in game marvels of technical prowess.
Soloing the Black Temple with Blizzard
Daxxari is back with another guide to soloing old raids, this time, The Black Temple. Whether it's transmog loot you're looking for, a chance at a warglaive, reputation with another faction (The Ashtongue Deathsworn) or just giggles, Black Temple has it all from Tier 6 sets and lookalikes to some of the coolest scenery the game's ever seen. Black Temple is by far one of my favorite raids. It's quite soloable by a max-level character -- the hardest fight is the Reliquary of Souls because you can easily do enough damage to yourself and the interrupts get brutal -- and it has some really awesome looking loot, cool fight mechanics, and some big lore deals like Teron Gorefiend and of course Illidan himself waiting for you. Daxxari explains the fight mechanics and how they work for a solo player, so head over to the official site and read up before heading into the Black Temple.
Warlords of Draenor: New achievement for warlocks
The enterprising folks over at Wowhead have dug up more information from the latest alpha client, including a new achievement specifically for warlock players. Breaker of the Black Harvest is an achievement specifically for warlocks that have completed the green fire chain at level 90, similar to the achievement introduced for Swift Flight Form. As a Feat of Strength, there are no achievement points rewarded -- but there are plenty of bragging rights involved. Warlocks have been able to get green fire for quite some time via a unique class quest line introduced in patch 5.2. When Warlords was announced, many players wondered if the quest chain would go the way of the dodo when the new expansion released, much like the epic flight form chain introduced for druids in Burning Crusade, or the original paladin and warlock mount quests from vanilla. While the chain is staying put, enterprising warlocks will want to act now and complete the chain before they hit level 91 in Warlords if they'd like the associated Feat of Strength. Wondering where to get started on the chain? Check out our complete guide to getting it done.
Low level dungeon and raid scaling technology complete
Blizzard's Game Director Tom Chilton and Lead Content Designer Cory Stockton have really gone out on a limb with interviews at Gamescom, spilling every bean and answering every question with the transparency and openness we're coming to expect from new look Blizzard. One question they were asked related to the up-scaling of low level dungeons. Tom responded as follows: That's something that we did actively work on and certainly the technology is pretty well in place at this point. We were also hoping to get the dungeons to a point where they were scaling, however we didn't actually end up coming up with a reward scheme that we felt fit correctly. I think it's important to remember that today, players can go back and do old content by soloing it and they usually do that to get the transmog gear, and I think if they were going to to go back and do it as a true 25-man raid of Black Temple, as an example, they'd would have to feel like they were getting something that was useful for it as well as transmog gear, and we still have to figure out what the right reward scheme for that is. We don't want it to compete with the new raid in terms of getting you the best possible gear, but at the same time, it has to be worth something. So that's something we haven't really resolved yet, so we won't be seeing scaling raids until sometime in the future. So what do you think they could offer as a reward for redoing old content "properly", in an upscaled raid or as downscaled characters? I feel like points, Valor, Justice, whatever, would be a good reward, along with the transmog gear and pets, but maybe also a low and random drop-rate of Garrosh-style heirloom weapons. What's your take on it?
Patch 5.2 Hotfixes for April 4
The hotfixes keep on coming! The latest batch are fairly minimal, but they don't make diamonds as big as bricks. They're addressing one particular bug which WoW Insider has seen mentioned several times on Twitter lately, specifically one which would strand players on a phased warship while trying to complete the quest Extended Shore Leave. Unable, it seems, to hotfix the unphasing of the warship, Blizzard's team pulled the quest for now. And Durumu has had a bit of a change. Interestingly, it's not to the purple-on-purple issue with his maze of purple death phase, but instead it's an increase in speed for the yellow eye cone. But, most excitingly, there's a fix in place for warlocks who have completed Seek the Signal and are stuck in the wrong Black Temple phase. Rejoice, in a warlocky way! Rygarius Quests Extended Shore Leave: This quest has been temporarily removed from quest rotation to address an issue with the Zandalari Warship. Raids, Dungeons, and Scenarios Fixed an issue where Warlocks remained in the wrong phase at The Black Temple after completing the quest Seek the Signal. Throne of Thunder Durumu the Forgotten During the Light Spectrum phase, Yellow Eye's cone now moves more quickly on Raid Finder difficulty. Items Darkmoon Card: Blue Dragon now has a reduced chance to activate its effect for characters that are level 61-69 and its effect no longer activates for characters above level 69. source
How to get green fire for your Warlock in Patch 5.2
Are you sure you don't want green fire? Quite sure? Positively sure? Absolutely, one hundred percent sure? Don't lie to me like that. You want it. You want to do the end of this questline, because it's so badass. I was spinning circles in my seat and giggling maniacally at how Kanrethad completely wiped the roof of the Black Temple with my body for two hours straight, because it was so much fun to be challenged not merely as a player, but as a whole warlock. You're going to use abilities you've almost never used before in this questline, and you're going to love all of it. I hope I don't have to say it too much, but spoilers ahead.
The Queue: Serpent racing, soloing Black Temple, and more
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. I'm stuck in downtown San Francisco until Friday. I apologize to everyone who lives in or around San Francisco, but this place kind of sucks. darkpanda asked: Did Cloud Serpent Racing never take off? (No pun intended). I've heard barely any mention of it since MoP launched. Whenever people talk about non Raiding activities, it's completely ignored. Did it get lost in the shuffle or was there never any longevity to it to begin with?
Warlock green fire quest reward and more
The exclusive warlock quest to nab green fire now has a quest reward to go with it. Not the expected green fire, but an actual piece of gear. MMO-Champion managed to dig up Akama's Seal of Courage, which is the reward for helping Akama out in the Black Temple -- presumably part of the Black Temple portion of the warlock quest. But how does a clever warlock obtain the quest in the first place? We don't really know just yet. We do know that according to Ghostcrawler's tweet pictured above, it's not going to be something that players can grab immediately. There is a peculiar and interesting aspect to this whole chain, however, and it's in the form of Deathwing's meddling kiddo. That's right, Wrathion is somehow involved in the chain, according to quest information found over on WowDB. Why, exactly, Wrathion is so invested and involved in what warlocks are up to is also up in the air. For more information on the quest chain, Wowhead has a detailed guide available -- beware, spoilers abound! Even though we don't have the total picture just yet, the bits and pieces that have been dug up via datamining are making it much harder to ignore my long-forgotten warlock alt. The thought of wielding green fire is pretty cool of course, but it's more the story potential in the chain that fascinates me. Just what are those shadowy masters of demonic entities up to, anyway? Time will tell. Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.
Why the Burning Crusade didn't suck
Yesterday, Brian Wood explored his thoughts on why Burning Crusade sucked. He did it in-character, playing the role of Grandpappy Frostheim, laying out his thoughts in the persona of a grumpy, crusty old dwarf telling the young'uns how bad things were back in his day. You can't take a persona like that seriously -- and you're not supposed to -- but the piece made me think about why I love Burning Crusade so much. Even after all of this time, it remains my favorite expansion, though Mists of Pandaria is pretty darn good. Yeah, Burning Crusade had its faults. It wasn't as well-balanced as most remember, it had more than its fair share of annoying gameplay mechanics, and the fact that the developers hadn't yet solidified the roles of 10- and 25-man raids was a real drag at times. If Burning Crusade were released this year, it would have a terrible reception. There have been so many quality-of-life improvements made since its release that players would never want to live as we did in Burning Crusade ever again. Despite that, it still had many elements that I loved, and still love. Many of these things are nebulous and completely up to personal tastes -- what I love, you may hate, and that's fine. That's how opinions work. Stranger in a strange land To me, Outland defined the Warcraft franchise's storytelling capabilities. Though Warcraft often utilizes the same fantasy tropes you see just about everywhere in the genre, it wasn't afraid to be different -- we went to a new, completely alien planet. The playable draenei were a race of people who traverse the stars. The ethereals were merchants from another plane of existence. Outland was not just a subcontinent of Azeroth, it was a new world entirely. While it has been done in fantasy, it isn't done very often.
WoW Archivist: Patch 2.1, The Black Temple
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? Blizzard ruined my intro. I was going to talk about how appropriate it was that patch 5.1 included a scenario for warlocks that took them to the Black Temple. Then they pushed it to 5.2. So fine. I'll just fall back to something generic. In terms of sheer content and changes, patch 2.1 was truly massive -- one of WoW's biggest patches of all time. It arrived in May 2007, five months into The Burning Crusade. Let's dive in! Illidan shouts at us in person We were ready, if not perhaps entirely prepared. After an ad campaign and a trailer that prominently featured Illidan, many players expressed disappointment that WoW's first expansion didn't launch with the Black Temple raid. In retrospect, those concerns seem silly today. If anything, the Black Temple released too early in the expansion, forcing Blizzard to add the ultradifficult Sunwell Plateau raid to fill the gap between expansions. The Black Temple was an enormous raid, and one of the game's most beloved. No matter where you went, everything was big and scary. In some areas, even clearing the trash felt epic. Nine bosses populated a vast indoor/outdoor instance. Many of them are still remembered fondly. Supremus and Reliquary of Souls were highly memorable encounters, the latter partly due its unforgiving awareness checks. Teron Gorefiend and Illidan were major lore figures able to be vanquished in WoW for the first time. BT wasn't the only raid that 2.1 introduced, however.
Patch 5.1: Razorgore, other old world bosses made easier
Blackwing Lair has long been my one of my favorite raids of all time. Not only did it have some fun, interesting, and even emotional boss fights back in its day, the weapon and tier gear graphics are still some of the best to this day. Unfortunately, going back in there for transmogrification gear has been a bit of a pain. This is because Razorgore, the first boss, must be done by at least two players: One to mind control him, one to kill the adds. Patch 5.1 ends that. Not only can Razorgore be soloed (in theory), but a couple of other older dungeon bosses have been tweaked just a little.
New scenarios datamined in Patch 5.1
Patch 5.1 is bringing us a heap of new content, and some of that new content is scenarios. MMO-Champion has datamined out a series of new scenario maps (including that snazzy Black Temple map above) many of which are involved with the new PvP hub in Krasarang Wilds. The Black Temple map, however, seems to me to be a likely place for us to finally get that warlock green fire they've been talking about doing forever. I have no idea if it is or not: it does seem likely that the Eye of the Storm we're hearing so much about has something to do with this scenario as well. We also have maps for a Vol'jin scenario, no idea what that will be yet but it seems to be related to this intensely spoiler-filled audio file that you shouldn't click on if you don't want spoilers. Did I mention the spoilers? Cause wow are they there. Looks like we'll be going back to the Black Temple, waging war on Pandaria, and engaging in all sorts of antics in scenarios once Patch 5.1 drops. Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.
Breakfast Topic: What characterizes WoW's best raids?
People disagree a lot as to what WoW's best raids have been, not least because it's tough to evaluate how "good" a raid was until after some time has passed. For example, an MMO Champion forum poll a few months ago selected Icecrown Citadel as the game's best "final raid," and yet, I remember lots of players complaining that it hadn't been anywhere near as good as Black Temple a the time. You also have to wonder about the extent to which accessibility plays a role. Most people who saw Sunwell at level 70 loved it, but that wasn't a lot of people. Anyway, three of the most frequently cited "best raids" of WoW are Karazhan, Black Temple, and Ulduar. I thought it might be worthwhile to ask -- what made them so good? Iconic drops or rewards Many of the drops from these places are instantly recognizable. Everybody wanted the "squid staff" off Illhoof and the Nightbane shield, and you can't swing a dead cat in trade chat without hitting another Black Temple transmog run. Even Ulduar, in the age of gear consolidation, had memorable drops. Atmosphere Karazhan was essentially an overgrown haunted house. Black Temple was a fortress full of Broken that would be hostile until you set Akama's soul free, with the brooding Illidan perched on top. Ulduar was an exceptionally beautiful fortress concealing its true purpose as a prison. At least one unexpected encounter You couldn't beat Kara without besting Medivh's ghost at chess, Illidan was one of WoW's most inventive fights, and, as nightmarishly difficult as it was, I still cherish my guild's first Yogg-0 kill. What made something WoW's "best raid" for you? What mechanics or features would you most like to see repeated in a future raid?
Why World of Warcraft lore matters
I started playing World of Warcraft with no real idea of the Warcraft universe. I'd played a lot of RPGs, but I wasn't a big RTS player and I was generally more into tabletop play. My gateway drugs for the MMO genre were games like Planescape: Torment. (Man, I loved Planescape.) As a result, my first time through the game, I barely paid attention to what I was doing, who I was fighting or why. It wasn't until I got to Molten Core that I started really thinking about what was going on. How did Thaurissan summon Ragnaros when he clearly had not intended to, and what was the Firelord up to? At the time, Ragnaros seemed astonishing to me, an entity of pure fire older than the whole world. The war between his Dark Iron servants and the dragons and orcs atop the Blackrock Spire became a central part of my game as I moved on to Blackwing Lair. I started paying a lot more attention to the dungeons and quests I was running. Once we hit Outland and I got to Shadowmoon Valley, I ran the Cipher of Damnation quest line (a quest that is all I could hope for in a long quest chain, frankly), and the end of that quest line raised so many questions that I often point to it as the beginning of my lore nerd status. What is the Cipher of Damnation? If it's the spell Kil'jaeden taught to Gul'dan that he used to raise the Hand of Gul'dan and sever the connection between the orcs and the elements, it's clearly not all it can do. Since using it summons Cyrukh the Firelord and since Oronok Torn-heart says it has been used "in the history of our worlds," I am now convinced that the Cipher is the spell that Thaurissan used to summon Ragnaros. But where did he learn it? It was also the spell Kael'thas used to try and summon Kil'jaeden through the Sunwell, which continued past Kael's death in Magister's Terrace.
How the Raid Finder changed Warcraft lore
I know what you're thinking: What's the Raid Finder got to do with Warcraft lore, of all things? I hadn't really given it much thought, either. Generally speaking, Warcraft lore is a wholly separate animal from game mechanics. After all, the endless carrying of flags in Warsong Gulch doesn't exactly tell a compelling story, and returning to the same dungeon repeatedly to kill the same bosses over and over doesn't really make sense from a lore perspective, either. When the Raid Finder was introduced, there were plenty of people curious about how it would turn out and far more who were excited about the possibilities of the feature. Along with cross-realm raiding, the Raid Finder has entirely changed the face of raiding as we know it. Much like the downsize from 40-man to 25-man with the release of The Burning Crusade expansion, the Raid Finder revolutionized raiding and changed it into something that far more easily accessible for players who don't necessarily have the time to dedicate to regular raiding. This isn't to say that the Raid Finder is a magical solution to everything, however.
Random raid factors and the high cost of failure
Klepsakovic over at Troll Racials are Overpowered has a thought-provoking post asking how Blizzard's advancing raid model is affecting players and how they relate to each other. In particular, he zeroes in on a point that I think a lot of players sense but never really articulate: Not every player in a raid is going to be equally stressed by a fight, and when the stressed party or parties is randomly determined, things get ugly fast. Compare this to encounters where the primary difficulty is role-specific or even player-specific. Good DPSers pushed their output to the limit on Patchwerk, healers learned to anticipate damage during Malygos' Vortex while one or two people got good at yanking sparks into the raid, and tanks grew experienced with fast pick-ups on Kael'thas. But the average raid group, even when experienced, probably tripped over and over again on encounters like Teron Gorefiend or Anub'arak. When you can't control who gets targeted by Shadow of Death or Anub'arak's spikes and when the randomness limits the experience that any one player can get ... Well, it's easy to see how certain fights acquire the nightmare moniker.
Transmogrification sets from Sunwell Plateau, part 2
Heading back to pick up some awesome armor sets from vanilla WoW or that dazzling weapon that'll have your enemies cowering in fear? Transmogrification makes it possible -- and we'll show you how! While you're blazing your way through the Sunwell Plateau, don't forget about the other items you can nab along the way. In addition to the gear and items that drop in the raid, bosses drop Sunmotes, which can be traded along with various loot drops in Sunwell Plateau for other loot items. To trade these items, look for the NPC Yrma aboard the boat in Sunwell Harbor. In addition, there is also plenty of unique-looking gear on Smith Hauthaa over in the armory section of the Isle. Unlike the other gear to be found on the Isle, everything that Hauthaa has can be purchased for justice points rather than fished out of an instance. If you've got a glut of justice points, it may be worth it to check out Hauthaa's wares and see if there's anything that catches your eye for transmogrification. %Gallery-140766%
Transmogrification sets from Sunwell Plateau, part 1
Heading back to pick up some awesome armor sets from vanilla WoW or that dazzling weapon that'll have your enemies cowering in fear? Transmogrification makes it possible -- and we'll show you how! Sunwell Plateau was one of those raids that nobody ever expected to see -- nor did they expect additional items for their tier sets. However, the raid was well received. Raiders turned their focus to Sunwell Plateau and the loot within, including three new additions to their tier 6 sets in the form of belts, boots and bracers. However, despite carrying the same name as these tier sets, the models on these items didn't really match the sets at all. But fear not -- if you're looking for a snazzy matching outfit, the Sunwell has some unofficial sets that are absolutely gorgeous. These are the sets that the belts, boots and bracers were made for, and they're perfect for transmogrification. Check the gallery below for the sets, and follow us after the break for strats and guides to Sunwell Plateau. %Gallery-140766%
Cleaning up Black Temple for transmogrification tier gear
Heading back to pick up some awesome armor sets from vanilla WoW or that dazzling weapon that'll have your enemies cowering in fear? Transmogrification makes it possible -- and we'll show you how! Trying to head through the Black Temple for transmogrification gear? Be sure to check out the previous two weeks of articles for the start of Black Temple. Illidan's stronghold holds a score of villains to fight your way through, but this week we'll be discussing the last three. A lot of raiders mistakenly thought that Black Temple was the last raid of The Burning Crusade, until they heard news of the Sunwell patch and yet more raiding content. For many players, however, Black Temple was a disappointment, not because it lacked in stunning visual scenery or interesting boss mechanics but because despite the changes to raid size, Black Temple was still not really widely obtainable. For many players, the closest look they'd get at Illidan Stormrage was The Burning Crusade trailer -- a pity, to say the very least. Nowadays, those players at level 85 can go back and experience that content -- and I suggest you do! The Black Temple contains a lot of interesting lore and events, and the Illidan fight, while ridiculously easy, does see the return of a familiar face from Warcraft III. %Gallery-136573%
More transmogrification gear from the Black Temple
Heading back to pick up some awesome armor sets from vanilla WoW or that dazzling weapon that'll have your enemies cowering in fear? Transmogrification makes it possible -- and we'll show you how! The Black Temple is a massive, massive raid zone featuring nine bosses, more than any other raid zone in The Burning Crusade. If you're headed into the Temple to farm up gear, be aware that every boss in this zone must be killed in order to get to Illidan. High Warlord Naj'entus opens a gate to the outer courtyard from the sewers upon his death. Supremus opens the way from the Illidari Training Grounds into the Temple proper. All four bosses in the lower level of the Temple must be killed to continue into the Den of Mortal Delights. Luckily, you don't have to run all the way to the top once Supremus is dead. As part of the Black Temple attunement chain, players had to speak to Seer Olum, located in Serpentshrine Cavern, for a quest to go speak with Akama in Shadowmoon Valley. In order to prevent Illidan from discovering Akama's plans, Olum sacrifices his life. His spirit can be found just inside the sewer entrance, and once Supremus is dead, Olum will teleport players to the lower level of Illidan's Citadel. %Gallery-136573%
