Onyxias-Lair
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Naxxramas Raid Deck and Treasure Packs now available
Following the success of their previous raid sets, Onyxia's Lair, Molten Core, Magtheridon's Lair, and the Black Temple, Upper Deck has released the first Wrath-themed event pack with the Naxxramas Raid Deck and Treasure Pack last December 22. Unlike their previous raid offerings, however, the Naxxramas Treasure Packs are stand-alone products which can be used separately from the raid deck. According to Dan Bojanowski, Upper Deck's World of Warcraft TCG Senior Brand Manager, the stand-alone approach "was created as a direct result of customer feedback." Aside from containing the standard content such as exclusive foil cards, the set would also include "alternate art heroes featuring heroes from the Drums of War block in Naxxramas-themed gear and settings." The Raid Deck, which is available for $29.99, contains a 110-card raid deck, 15 oversized boss cards, a 16-card Treasure Pack, and a UDE points card (or Loot card) and rulebook. Treasure Packs retail for $9.99 apiece and contain 15 random foil Treasure Pack cards out of a total of thirty collectible cards, a hero in Naxxramas-themed armor, and a UDE points card or Loot card. Hero cards are drawn from the Drums of War expansion set with variant art, with a total of ten cards with new art to collect. Each Treasure Pack also has a chance to contain a random Loot card from the Fields of Honor expansion set.
The OverAchiever: What Feats of Strength can you get now?
One of the easier ways to distinguish an older character from a reroll or alt is the presence (or absence) of a Feat of Strength. Feats of Strength, remnants of "the past glories of Azeroth," are among the most difficult achievements to get, and that's when they're even possible at all. Most, like the presence of an old-school PvP title, one of the original 100% mounts, or the Vengeful Nether Drake, are impossible to get these days, and are a sign that the person who has them is an experienced player. But with a little luck and a lot of elbow grease, even a new player can accrue some of these supposedly "past" glories. I started playing WoW shortly after Burning Crusade launched and didn't expect to have a shot at most Feats, but a surprising number of them are still available. After getting The Fifth Element recently and being surprised to discover that: a). It's a Feat, and b). The original quest isn't even in the game anymore (man, I'm glad I'm such a quest packrat), I started nosing around the list of Feats to see what else a player could do even if they're new to the game. Moreover, there are two achievements you can get right now that will become Feats in 3.3, so let's get cracking.
Raid Rx: Healing Onyxia
Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a WoW blog for all things UI, macro, and addon related. Onyxia's the latest raid boss to challenge healers. Here's some phase-by-phase tips to help you get through the ordeal. I finally managed to heal this fight through a lag infested night when patch 3.2.2 landed. Onyxia was a pain in the butt to heal at level 60. Have things changed since then? No, not by much. In some of the pickup Onyxia groups I joined on my alts, I've seen tanks drop several times. I don't want to guess who the blame should go on to (tank or healer) but I'll provide some pointers and observations for all the healing classes to help streamline the entire healing process. My colleague, Matthew Rossi, has written a fairly detailed piece on what the entire raid can expect throughout Onyxia's various phases. While the encounter is easy in terms of theory, in practice it can still be challenging for healers if they let their guard down. Do not take Onyxia too lightly.
Raid Rx: 14 patch 3.2 trinkets to check out
Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a WoW blog for all things UI, macro, and addon related. It's been a while since I looked at trinkets. What options are there available since then? Yes, the linked article goes to the Priest column on trinkets. Not every healer's going to use them. But truth be told, there aren't that many new options for healers in the current game since Ulduar and Trial of the Crusader opened up. Let's look at everything available since Malygos. So what do we have to work with?
Patch 3.2.2 Onyxia achievements
The newest Patch 3.2.2 PTR build which came online this morning has some hot new achievements for our favorite brood mother. The Onyxia achievements are as we expected - pulled straight from the classic NSFW Onyxia Wipe Animation.Of particular note is the Level 60 Onyxia Achievement – that is now a Feat of Strength as it will be unobtainable after Patch 3.2.2 releases and Ony becomes a level 80 raid. In my opinion, guilds should be doing nightly Ony runs to get their alts the achievement. Nothing says awesome like some good old level 60 Feats of Strength.The full list of Level 80 Onyxia Achievements after the break
BlizzCon 2009: The Return of Onyxia
It's not just Cataclysm that we're hearing about at BlizzCon: in addition to Icecrown Citadel, we're also seeing news about the upcoming revamp to Onyxia's Lair. As we previously reported, Onyxia will be retooled as a 10/25 man raid with an updated loot table consisting of classic Tier 1 and 2 skins with stats in line with Wrath of the Lich King levels. A fitting return since her dad's totally going to come beat us all up in Cataclysm.We have a gallery below, but be warned: Onyxia's not going to be the same fight as she was at level 60. New spells and abilities are promised to help keep the fight fresh and interesting for new players. All in all, a fitting return for the Brood Mother just before her flight takes center stage in the next expansion. However, with a sweet mount available (and a cute pet for just logging on during the event) as well as all that gear, I'm sure we're all eagerly awaiting our turn to handle many whelps.%Gallery-70746% BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
Phat Loot Phursday: Onyxia Scale Cloak
Special edition of Phat Loot Phriday this week, on a Phursday! Why? Because tomorrow is gonna be full of fun in the California sun.We did Quel'serrar a while back, so with Onyxia headed back to the game, we'll look at the other piece of gear that involved the black dragon we love to hate.Name: Onxyia Scale Cloak (Wowhead, Thottbot, WoWDB)Type: CloakArmor: 43Abilties: +7 Stamina, +16 Fire resistance. Ah, the days of level 60, they seem so far gone now. Compare this to a prime tanking cloak nowadays, and take a look at just how far we've come. On equip, protects the wearer from being fully engulfed by something called Shadow Flame. What is Shadow Flame, you ask? Here's where this item really gets interesting: sit back and enjoy a tale of old level 60 raiding. Shadow Flame is actually an ability used by Nefarian, Onyxia's brother, and a few other bosses in Blackwing Lair. He casts a huge unblockable AoE during his fight -- unblockable, that is, unless you're wearing one of these cloaks (although since then, Ice Block and Divine Shield will both stop it). %Gallery-33600%
European weekly maintenance: 19th August 2009
Greetings folks, the middle of the week beckons once more! Only a few more days until BlizzCon and the Big Reveal. Excited yet? Come on, be honest, we're all friends here. As the rest of Team WoW.com boards their planes, trains, automobiles and - in Turpster's case - boats to rendezvous in sunny LA, some of us (eg me) has to stay behind and cover things remotely. While it would be nice to be there, I get to watch all the cool stuff from the privacy of my own living room come office, enjoy my Grunty (in six to eight weeks) and work in a brightly lit room on a comfy chair. Oh, and no blisters.So, it's maintenance time. Thankfully, it's a brief week with a live maintenance (yes folks it's rolling restart time) for all realms between 5:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. CEST. As per usual every realm will receive the customary fifteen minute notice prior to being restarted. There we go, nice and simple. If my beloved cats let me (ha!), I'm sleeping right through this one but if you happen to be up an about, don't forget there's a lot to catch up on this week from the return of the Broodmother to the appearance of the patch 3.2.2 PTR servers.See you on the other side!
Breakfast Topic: Which boss would you revamp for level 80?
With news that the Broodmother herself is returning for WoW's fifth anniversary and patch 3.2.2, it got me thinking about other old world bosses which could be revamped. Now don't get me wrong, I totally get that Onyxia is a one-time thing this expansion. All fun and no lore, to paraphrase one of our commentators, Maxim. But the concept is ripe for a Breakfast Topic, after all Onyxia is a classic raid but she wasn't the only one. Granted, she remains the most popular and the most legendary, the raid itself was almost a reward for completing what has to be the game's most epic quest chain. And then there was the loot, the lovely legendary (if not in colour) loot. Excuse me while I drool.So lets say, hypothetically, you could bring back any lower level boss for a short time period aimed at level 80s. Which would you choose? Personally I'd love to see the Dragons of Nightmare, simply because they were so epic. Indeed, they are still a challenge to down today, especially with that annoying debuff. I also live in hope of seeing something of the Emerald Dream soon but that's for another day. So, constant readers, if you could have one boss return revamped for a hardcore level 80 raid, which would it be?
Patch 3.2.2 PTR: First impresssions of Onyxia
Onyxia. Pictures, text and video cannot express the emotions associated with this classic boss fight. I'm going to try nevertheless, though. Announced mere days ago, the idea that Onyxia will be revamped into a level 80 10 and 25 man raid (for a limited time) has suddenly become reality with the return of PTR testing for patch 3.2.2. Everyone and their best mate is currently swarming Onyxia's Lair, determined to dispatch the Broodmother once more. This time for kicks and enhanced loot.Her name is reverberating around the PTR right now. In fact, within three seconds of logging on with my premade I was asked if I wanted to join a 10-man raid to kick her scaly butt. Of course I accepted and found myself once more outside the scary gates of the Broodmother's lair. Let's me be straight about one thing, the only things which have been changed about this fight are the suped-up uber-trashkin and Onyxia herself. There's no need for a key or attunement, you just grab a raid and walk right on in. The cavern leading into her lair is the same as it ever was, except the trash now have the power to kick serious butt against level 80's wearing full epics. Such is the case, our group wiped the first time we pulled two of the dragonkin.%Gallery-70078%
PTR Patch 3.2.2: New pets and mounts revealed
Once again, our friend Boubouille over at MMO Champion has been a busy boy. With the surprise announcement that the PTRs were up for the testing of the WoW Anniversary Patch (aka patch 3.2.2), he's been digging deep into the patch files and guess what he found?Well the big news is aptly summed up in the image above. Yes, it's the Onyxia mount (though not actually the Broodmother herself). A picture really does say a thousand words, doesn't it? However that's not all he's found by datamining. There are yet more mounts, including a Spectral Tiger cub! I suspect this little cub may well be from a future TCG expansion. After all, where did this little guy's parent come from? Ditto the rather awesome Tuskarr kite.On top of that there are some regular mounts in the form of a Little White Stallion and yet another dino-centric mount, this time a Little Ivory Raptor. Boubouille also found the Onyxia Whelping, which is the pet everyone who logs in during November will recieve (think the Blizzard Bear). Ain't it a cutie?However the oddest thing he uncovered was a collection of Mohawk themed spells. These relate to the now memorable TV advert in which Mr. T creates his own class, the infamous Night Elf Mohawk. From the spell descriptions, I can't help thinking this is not some hint towards a new class in the next expansion but, rather, will be some kind of NPC or quest-related summonable pet. Either way, it sounds awesome.
Whither Quel'Serrar?
I am hugely, massively, ridiculously excited about the new level 80 Onyxia raid. Completely, dementedly gleeful. But one small thing does nag at the back of my head: what happens to Quel'Serrar? Will Warriors and Paladins still be able to obtain it? And what about the Mature Black Dragon Sinew? Will Hunters be able to complete their Lok'delar and Rhok'delar? Or will these quests become relics, no longer able to be completed?On the one hand it would seem very odd to go through the rest of the quest chain for Quel, then take the Unfired Ancient Blade in to level 80 Onyxia to complete The Forging of Quel'Serrar in order to run back to Dire Maul and pick up a 20 level out of date tanking sword, no matter how cool it looks. But since the quest doesn't specify what level she is, it might be possible (It was possible to complete a Naxxramas quest from before TBC launched in the current 25 man Naxxramas). However, unless Ony will continue to drop the sinew, I can't see how folks could possibly complete the epic Hunter quest chain. Does that mean those quests will be gone from the game?Since I don't play a Hunter and I already have Quel'Serrar, this is all kind of academic to me. But I do wonder: my dearest hope is that they actually update the Quel quests (or make an entirely new one) which allows you to get an updated Quel'Serrar. Perhaps Quel'Zaram? I guess I might as well dream big while I'm at it. Bornakk's post certainly hints very strongly that there will be a successor to Quel dropped from Onyxia.
Breakfast Topic: What do you think about Onyxia's return?
Onyxia is one of the greatest NPCs of vanilla WoW, from a lore, quest chain and raid perspective. Hands up how many of you have done the quest line to completion? Who visited Blackrock Spire? Who unmasked Katrana Prestor as the giant black Broodmother she truly was? Who got the key and then headed into the depths of Dustwallow Marsh? Who survived? Given my dragon fixation/interest/obsession, I was always keen to kill her. I would have completed the quest chain but for a little bug on the final quest. Still, it was easy enough to nip in once the need for a key and attunement was dropped. Then Varian Wrynn finished her off.And now she's back. I don't understand it either but finding out is certainly going to be exciting. Plus there's finally a 310% dragon mount that I actually want. So, constant readers, what do you think about this revelation? How do you think she will be brought back into the picture? Is it just something to keep us entertained until patch 3.3 or could it be part of the bigger picture? After all, this announcement has come just over a week before BlizzCon. It's gotta mean something, right?
Onyxia's Lair getting revamped for WoW's 5th anniversary
When World of Warcraft first launched in 2004, Onyxia's Lair was the toughest challenge that players at the highest level (back then, it was 60) could take on. Now that the game has been flooded with more difficult -- and ultimately more rewarding -- content, players rarely visit the flame-toungued Brood Mother. In order to stave off her draconic loneliness, Blizzard is planning on revamping the encounter in time for the game's fifth anniversary, returning it to the pinnacle of difficulty it once represented.This update, which will appear in the upcoming patch 3.2.2, will change the dungeon into a more difficult 10-man and heroic 25-man dungeon. Loot will be improved to compensate for the enhanced challenge -- Blizzard even promised that "a normal drake-sized 310% speed flying mount modeled after Onyxia" will be included as a boss drop. Man, that's adding insult to injury, isn't it? "Yeah, we just killed you. Now, we're going to ride you."There's no release date attached to the patch, but it's assumed to come before the game's November 23 birthday.[Via WoW.com]
Onyxia returns in Patch 3.2.2
You read that right. In honor of WoW's 5-year anniversary, in the upcoming Patch 3.2.2, Onyxia will make her triumphant return to the world of Azeroth! The patch will convert Onyxia's Lair to a 10- and 25-player dungeon, along with new items whose models match the old-school gear available in the vanilla instance, like Tier 2 helms. Additional rewards include a 310% speed flying mount modeled after Onyxia herself!As a bonus, anyone who logs in during the 5-year anniversary event in November will get an Onyxia Whelpling pet. The full announcement after the break!
Blizzard releases preview of World of Warcraft comic #9
If you're a Lore Nerd like Alex and I are, you've probably at least been following the storyline of the World of Warcraft Comic, and you know it's likely going to have a pretty big impact on WoTLK lore, as King Varian Wrynn returns and we finally get an end to the Missing Diplomat Storyline. Issue #9 continues the journey of Lo'gosh and his companions as they travel toward Ironforge and brings a familiar old villain into the light as well. Blizzard has posted the first few pages of the issue on the official WoW site. I have to admit, I have one major reservation about the story.
