northrend
Latest
The Queue: Northrend, annual pass, class changes, and worms
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky (@adamholisky) will be your host today. My question for the Queue today: What's your favorite type of coffee? Mine is not this $5 Folgers junk I bought at Walgreens because it was on sale. I have no idea what I was thinking -- I normally grind all my coffee (I have a grinder built into my coffee machine, it's pretty amazing, not gonna lie). So I need to get rid of this terrible coffee by drinking a ton of it and then buying new stuff this weekend. So tell me dear readers, what's your favorite kind of coffee? ThingWhatWoWs asked: Sis & I have hit Northrend. (Now 73) where should I make sure we go for the great story bits? It's her 1st time through.
Know Your Lore: General Nazgrim
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. The war between Alliance and Horde has been the thematic highlight of Mists of Pandaria. Certainly Pandaria itself has held its share of mysteries, but those mysteries have been repeatedly plundered, the continent's horrors unleashed, all in the name of war. It's a war that's been a long time coming -- tensions between the Alliance and Horde have been slowly rising ever since the wintery days of Northrend, the frozen peaks of Icecrown. And it was in the chill air of Northrend that we first met a character who would become one of the more important players of the Mists expansion. Nazgrim had an innocent enough start in the Horde storyline, simply one of many questgivers up in Northrend. But as the expansions continued to roll out, Nazgrim's role grew substantially, until, at last, he was found fighting for the wrong side, defending Garrosh Hellscream's citadel to his last inevitable breath. But who was Nazgrim, really? Were there any merits to his choices, given that they ultimately brought about his demise? Was Nazgrim's life, his career, a vain exercise in futility?
Know Your Lore: Lore summed up part 3 - Wrath of the Lich King
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. Part one covered the original launch game, and part two covered the Burning Crusade expansion. Part three is about Corgis Unleashed. No, no, I kid. Part three is of course about Wrath of the Lich King, when our titular king of the liches gets upset. Miffed. Irate. Angry, even. This one is going to be long - even longer than the BC recap, so long that I see no choice but to split it into two parts. The Lich King was a long time in coming - players were clamoring for him from the moment World of Warcraft launched, and when the expansion bearing his name finally hit, it changed everything. Like The Burning Crusade, WotLK started with an event. But unlike TBC, this particular event, the Scourge Invasion, was leaps and bounds more dramatic than expected. This time, the monsters were the players, so to speak. It began with mysterious boxes appearing in Booty Bay and other cities and towns, spreading across Azeroth slowly. The boxes appeared in capital cities, shipped from unknown locales... and slowly, all over the world, the curse of undeath began taking root. At first members of the Argent Dawn could keep ahead of the tide of plague, but as it continued, more and more of Azeroth's heroes succumbed. Soon an irresistible tide of undead threatened Orgrimmar, Stormwind, Ironforge, Undercity (yes, even the forsaken were not immune) and other locations. Some ran and hid in the countryside, avoiding major cities, because these undead seemed to possess a sadistic enjoyment and sought to infect as many as possible.
Crafting Azeroth recreates World of Warcraft in Minecraft
Just can't get enough World of Warcraft in your day? Then you're in luck, because the Crafting Azeroth project has created a full-scale reproduction of Azeroth, Kalimdor, and Northrend inside Minecraft. The replica spans over 500 (virtual) square kilometers and is constructed of over 100 billion -- yes, billion -- blocks. So what's the secret to creating such a large-scale copy of WoW? It's in a custom piece of software that converts WoW data into a detailed Minecraft replica. And we have to admit, the results are stunning... in a blocky, Minecraft-chic sort of way. The beta version of the map is available for download now -- but if you're not feeling that bold, you can check out their before and after gallery or explore the map online.
Know Your Lore: Is Garrosh Hellscream corrupt?
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. As the expansion rolls on, we are lurching towards something that we've known was coming since the beta for Mists of Pandaria -- Garrosh Hellscream's downfall and the Siege of Orgrimmar. Yet what we didn't know that day that were were informed of the expansions focus, is just how the new Warchief's reign would end. And as the patches have continued to roll out, we have more of an idea and a solid picture of both the Alliance and the Horde's place in this conflict. Make no mistake, Hellscream has made far too many enemies in his short reign, both within and without. Yet there are those who point out Garrosh's actions and the possibility that his actions may not be under his control. That perhaps he's been corrupted by the Sha while searching for power in Pandaria. Or perhaps the bones of Mannoroth that Garrosh uses as his throne still have some vestige of darkness that lingers within. Or that perhaps the Old Gods have been slowly leeching their influence into Garrosh. Regardless of the methods behind it, there are plenty of people all wondering the same thing -- is Garrosh Hellscream corrupt? Are we going to fight the Warchief, only to discover a far greater horror waiting for us?
The Queue: Vanessa VanCleef with the steel chair!
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. Vanessa remains one of my favorite World of Warcraft bosses of all time. Rarely are bosses so tied to our personal game experience, and rarely do bosses have so much personality. To this day, I'm a little sad she's already gone. Ricky_Gabriel_Bird asked: Question: If Titans created machine to create the original versions of Dwarves, Gnomes, Humans etc, why did they create female versions? I presume the races were created as workers/builders for the Titans and if the machine creates them, then presumably they were not intended to reproduce. Tol'vir women don't seem to exist for example.
Know Your Lore: The genesis of Garrosh Hellscream
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. Garrosh Hellscream is almost an enigma in his own right. You wouldn't think that, by first glance -- after all, right now he fits the bill of brutal orc bent on global domination. But Garrosh's story has had so many moments between the depressed and unwilling would-be leader of Garadar, and the bloodthirsty warleader of Mists of Pandaria that it's difficult to determine where, exactly, he went from point A to point B. I've been asked about it before by many, but KyleCaligiuri phrased it really well, so I'll reprint the question here. Is there some piece of lore I'm missing explaining Garrosh's actions between Cataclysm and Tides of War? Shattering helped put a *bit* of a positive light on Garrosh after WotLK, I felt, since he was remorseful about what happened with Cairne (in that he didn't want to win by cheating...) and I felt his leader short story did as well, if I remember correctly. I'm now playing through the Horde campaign finally, and the events in Stonetalon further point that he is all about honor and pride in the Horde. Also, Ragefire Chasm is all about defeating the dark shaman so that they don't end up with another threat like the Twilight's Hammer or Burning Blade. Yet, this is all contradicted in Tides of War, where he drops a bomb just as Krom'gar did in Stonetalon, and embraces the dark shaman. I'm only up to Desolace right now in the Horde campaign, so do we see his progression toward the more corrupt Garrosh, or is this still yet to be explained? It's that disconnect between moments that confuses people. Garrosh may be many things, but two-dimensional is not one of them. Who is Garrosh Hellscream, and how did he find his way to this path that flies in the face of his previous actions?
Alternative leveling in the Isle of Quel'Danas
I'm bored of Northrend. It is beautiful and has lovely music and is full of lore and I'm bored. It's the new Outland for me and my alts. Other ways to level abound, of course, but they all have their drawbacks and are various levels of "Been there; done that." as well. So I took Tizzi, the bored goblin mage, to a place where my aged druid spent many grindful days: the Isle of Quel'Danas. We complain about dailies now, but Quel'Danas (also known as the Sunwell Isle) was the land of too many dailies for our quest log. Grind, grind, grind we ancient Burning Crusade players did, so we could be of the Shattered Sun and get some lovely loot besides. When Quel'Danas was the in-thing, everyone was max-level, so there was no XP -- just the cash, gear, and camping. Oh, so very much camping. The Isle of Quel'Danas is vacant of players now, but is otherwise unchanged. It resides in a bubble in time, much like Outland, and the NPCs are still there to give quests or be slaughtered.
Saying goodbye to Cataclysm
I remember the first time I saw the trailer for Cataclysm. I will cheerfully admit I totally flipped out over it, largely because I was so excited to see Deathwing make a return. I've always been fond of the Dragon Aspects, and I was looking forward to an expansion that featured them in a way they'd never been featured before. We'd seen Alexstrasza and Ysera, of course, but with Malygos dead and Nozdormu missing, I knew something interesting had to happen on both of those fronts. The expansion itself was different than I'd expected, to be perfectly honest. Cataclysm wasn't exactly a bad expansion, really, and the old world quest revamp as well as flight being added were both welcome additions. But Cataclysm lacked the spark previous expansions had, and I can't quite put my finger on why, exactly. Despite the fact that it didn't knock The Burning Crusade out of first place on my list of favorite expansions, there's still something I'm going to miss about Cataclysm once we're wandering Pandaria.
Dress like Braggosh, your favorite orc warrior
I've always wanted to write a transmogrification article in the same vein as Dawn Moore and Anne Stickney, but I never could find the right theme that I wanted to tackle. As I kept trying to find a theme, it suddenly hit me -- no theme is needed! I'll just show you my two awesome transmog sets for my orc warrior, Braggosh. Who doesn't love Braggosh, the fiercest, most lovable orc warrior ever? No one, that's who! Both transmog outfits that I'm going to show you how to put together today are for plate wearers, and some of the set pieces, while warrior-specific, have alternate color versions available if you'd like to wear one of my cool sets.
Know Your Lore: The haunting legacy of Grom Hellscream
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. I chose Garrosh because he has the strength to lead our people through these trying times. For all my supposed wisdom, there have been moments that I've barely been able to hold the Horde together. The Wrath Gate and Undercity displayed that clearly. The Horde cries for a hero of old. An orc of true blood that will bow to no human and bear no betrayal. A warrior that will make our people proud again. Garrosh can be that hero. I did not make this decision lightly, Vol'jin. I know our alliances will suffer for it. I know the Horde will be irreversibly changed. But I made this choice with confidence that Garrosh is exactly what the Horde needs. I'm trusting you and the other leaders to not let this divide our people. You are stronger than that. Let's just cut to the chase here: It was revealed in the press event information that Garrosh Hellscream, current Warchief of the Horde, will have his reign abruptly ended in Mists of Pandaria. The son of the great Grom Hellscream will no longer be Warchief, and it's not only the Alliance that will be participating in his dethroning -- it's the Horde as well. Though it may seem like a rash course of action, in all honesty, this has been coming for a very, very long time. After all, he is the son of Hellscream.
Know Your Lore: The Shattering, part 1
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. On Nov. 22, 2010, millions of players logged in to World of Warcraft to view the old world one final time. Whether venturing to out-of-the-way spots, running around the park in Stormwind, or saying goodbye to Magni Bronzebeard and Cairne Bloodhoof, every player was well aware that the next day, these locations and people would no longer exist. As for me, my guild leader took those of us who wished to go on a romp around the hidden places in Azeroth that many had never before seen and would never see again. On Nov. 23, players logged on to find an entirely different, harsher world waiting for them. Orgrimmar was transformed into a bristling fortress of iron and steel. Stormwind's façade was forever marred by the charred claw marks of Deathwing, and the lovely park nestled in the corner of the mighty city had been torched and fallen away into the sea below. In Ironforge, the city was now ruled by a council of three; in Orgrimmar, a new Warchief sat on the throne. In Thunder Bluff, Baine Bloodhoof now stood in the place of honor once reserved for his father Cairne. For those who read the novel The Shattering by Christie Golden, all these events made perfect sense. For those who hadn't picked up the book, the resounding question asked was a simple "What happened?" Today's Know Your Lore contains pretty much every possible spoiler that exists for the novel The Shattering by Christie Golden. If you've been putting off picking up the book and giving it a read and would like to remain unspoiled, I would highly suggest turning away now.
First chapter of new Wolfheart novel free to read
The Sept. 13 publication date of Wolfheart, the newest WoW novel written by Richard Knaak, draws ever closer. We know surprisingly little about it at the moment. We know that it will take place on Kalimdor but will focus on King Varian Wrynn and his relationship with the wolf spirit Goldrinn and the new members of the Alliance, the Worgen. If you're eager for more information though, you're in luck. Shelfari, a book wiki run by Amazon.com, has the first chapter of the book available to read. Click here for your free sample chapter and choose the Read First Chapter Free button below the picture of the book cover on the left side of the page. You'll be able to read the first chapter, as well as the chapter titles for the book (by pushing the back arrow on the pages). There are going to be a lot of spoilers in both the chapter names and the chapter itself, of course, so read at your own risk. For a quick (spoiler-filled) summary and a discussion of the possibilities, check after the break.
Patch 4.3: Leveling 71-80 will be shorter
Blizzard community manager Zarhym is having a grand old time on Twitter this afternoon answering players' various questions about the game. One user asked if Blizzard will make any improvements to the time it takes to reach the level cap in preparation for the next expansion. The answer is ... yes! Zarhym We'll be decreasing the experience needed for levels 71-80 in patch 4.3. That's all I have for now. ;) source Whether you love Northrend or hate it, it's becoming more and more common to hear that Northrend is where alts go to die, even from some of us on staff here at WoW Insider. Leveling from 1 to 70 moves so quickly nowadays that the enormous leap in experience required to go from 71 to 80 is rather jarring. 71-80 may not have been a slog when we all first worked through it in Wrath of the Lich King, but that leap in XP required can certainly make it feel that way nowadays, especially when all you want to do is try a new class at the level cap. Reducng the XP required to get through Northrend and smoothing out that leveling process will be appreciated by many, we're sure. Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Look at what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back!
Blizzard comments on Outland and Northrend leveling in Cataclysm
Community manager Nethaera commented recently on players' concerns that the new Cataclysm leveling experience from levels 1-60 now severely overshadows the relatively old Outlands and even Northrend content. The gist? Questing and leveling in Outlands and Northrend is leaps and bounds better than the original World of Warcraft, and updating the 60-80 leveling experience is not high on Blizzard's priority list.
BlizzCon 2010: Outland and Northrend revamps eventually planned
One of the problems with changing the world in Cataclysm to bring all of the classic storylines up to date is that you suddenly go to Outland for an event that happened in the past. You also follow this up with going to Northrend and fighting back the undead which were already shown to have fallen back in the content before you ever went to Outland. Chris Metzen discussed the fact that this really doesn't mesh well and the internal Blizzard lore folks aren't really happy with it. They plan to eventually go back and make Outland and Northrend fit with the revised storyline. The problem they ran into is purely a lack of time. As an example, Wrath of the Lich King had around 1000 quests in Northrend. Cataclysm has 3500 quests without touching either Outland or Northrend. So, these changes to make the lore line up are planned, but there is absolutely no schedule as to when they will be implemented. BlizzCon 2010 is upon us! WoW Insider has all the latest news and information. We're bringing you liveblogging of the WoW panels, interviews with WoW celebrities and attendees and of course, lots of pictures of people in costumes. It's all here at WoW Insider!
Cataclysm Beta: New loading screen gallery
A new build of the Cataclysm beta just dropped, and with the update came a makeover for the loading screens for all four continents. They now feature the faction leaders for Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor, Maiev and Akama for Outland, and the most recent Lich King in Northrend. Check out the gallery below. %Gallery-99394%
The Road to Mordor: Frolicking in Forochel
Call me weird, but I am an absolute sucker for winter zones in MMORPGs. For me, the season of winter always evokes a lot of powerful feelings as the landscape is transformed, homes are a sanctuaries for warmth, and hardiness becomes a desirable trait. A zone filled with ice and snow screams to me desolation and death -- more so than a fire or volcano one -- but in a beautiful way. It's no wonder, then, that I've become entranced with Forochel in Lord of the Rings Online. Added to the game in April of 2008, Forochel became a bit of an anomaly in the LotRO experience. It was a (then) max-level area that was off the beaten path, created to cater to solo players seeking adventure. In fact, if the epic story hadn't taken us to Forochel in Volume 1 Book 13, I doubt many players would have sought it out on their own. It's a shame if that's the case, because Forochel offers both breathtaking vistas and a unique questing experience that should be encountered at least once in your LotRO career.
Frost Lotus drop rate increased
It's official -- Bornakk wrote on the official forums that Blizzard has increased the chance that a Northrend herb node will yield a Frost Lotus: The drop rate of Frost Lotus, from herbs in Northrend, has been increased by 50%. This will be a welcome change for many because with the increase in demand for raiding flasks that patch 3.3 brought, the supply of Frost Lotus on many servers has gotten quite low, which increased prices significantly. This change will go live on servers as they restart, so probably next Tuesday for most. The new drop rate should have an fairly quick effect on the number of Frost Lotuses listed on your auction house, however it always takes a few days of lower sales volumes before the big farmers start to drop their prices and undercut each other. My advice? Don't buy any Frost Lotus (or derivative flasks) unless you will use them the same day. Wait until the prices go down before stocking up! Also, if you are a herbalist, you can make a quick profit by spending some time farming now, and try to make some sales before the prices drop.
The Lore of Patch 3.3
In many ways Wrath of the Lich King can be considered the logical conclusion of one of WarCraft's major story lines. Arthas, the evil sovereign of the scourge, will meet his doom in Icecrown Citadel. Each Wrath patch up until now has lead to this defining moment -- the face off between Arthas and the players representing the next generation of heroes of Azeroth. Who will win? What happens after Arthas is defeated? Is Arthas defeated? These questions lend themselves to a spectacular conclusion to a great tale. In The Lore of Patch 3.3, Michael Sacco, Alex Ziebart, and I will take a look at all the various plots, characters, and environments that lead up to this grand confrontation with the Lich King. You'll want to know this story. You'll want to know this lore. For when you finally face off against the wielder of the Frostmourne, you'll know why you're going toe-to-toe against him, and why your fate can make or break the very face of Azeroth. This article, while containing essential lore, also contains heavy spoilers. Do not proceed if that bothers you.
