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'Overwatch' will let you rewatch your matches from any angle
Blizzard is on a bit of a relative tear when it comes to major Overwatch updates. Soon after adding the Workshop customization tool, it's offering players the chance to watch back their matches from any perspective with a handy replay feature. It's available through the PTR test server on PC now, and Blizzard says it's coming to consoles soon.
PC players can try the next 'Overwatch' map early
Hot on the heels of the deathmatch modes added to the main game today, Overwatch is allowing players to try out the game's next map, Junkertown, on the PTR servers. While only PC owners get to play on the test servers, they'll get some time to explore the hero shooter's payload map before it hits the game proper.
'Overwatch' tests server browsing and retains CTF
Blizzard's roster of games have all evolved from their initial versions through periodic updates tweaking rules and adding content, but only after extensive testing on the studio's end. To let players in on the fun, some of the titles have opened up temporary beta servers called Public Test Realms to fiddle with proposed changes before they're fully implemented into the games. Hero shooter Overwatch is finally getting its own PTR today which PC players can use to try out the new Server Browser and Capture The Flag mode, along with a few character alterations.
39 Things About Patch 6.1 with TradeChat
When a new patch is on the horizon, news is fast, furious, and ever-changing. So we couldn't blame you if you're having trouble keeping up with all the patch 6.1 news (and the changes to that news). Fortunately for all of us, TradeChat has pulled together a list of 39 things you should know about patch 6.1 to get you up to speed on everything that's coming to the game in the next patch. Sure, it could all change at a moment's notice, but you'll be caught up for now. If you enjoyed the show, make sure to subscribe to TradeChat, leave a comment, and come back next week for the next episode!
Chauffered Chopper heirloom mount coming in patch 6.1
Sure, with heirlooms you can deck your alts out in great gear and make the leveling process a lot easier. But what about getting around? Your mounts may be shared across all of your characters, but you still can't ride those mounts when you get started -- which leaves your new alt stuck running around the world. How undignified! Enter the Chauffered Chopper, which is currently on the patch 6.1 test realm. Like the name implies, this is a motorcycle-style mount with a driver (currently orc Koak Hoburn, likely a nod to Driving Miss Daisy chauffeur Hoke Colburn). Having your own chauffeur means that you can ride around in this chopper at any level, making it a must-have for alt-a-holics on the move. You can pick up your own by nabbing the Heirloom Hoarder achievement for collecting 35 heirlooms. The mount isn't currently working on the PTR, so it appears to be a work in progress. Also, it's more than a little odd to have an orc chauffeur for a distinctly alliance-styled mount, so we wonder if its look might be changing before it goes live. We'll keep an eye on the PTR for more info when it's there!
Patch 6.1: The latest on Draenor fishing
Patch 6.1 is on the horizon and if the patch notes are any indication, there are a lot of changes coming our way. Fishing, in particular, is slotted to get a lot of tweaks -- and there have already been some changes to the changes announced in the last patch notes. With the latest changes, fishing throughout Draenor will be streamlined for everyone... though it will still take up an awful lot of inventory space, so be sure to clear your bags before heading out fishing. Here's the current state of fishing: Fish caught in Draenor can be automatically filleted with the Bladebone Hook, a new consumable you can buy from fishing vendors in Draenor. The hook lasts for one hour. Though this was intended to be automatic for everyone without a consumable, negative feedback on the feature seems to have changed Blizzard's mind. Different sizes of Savage Piranha have been consolidated into Savage Piranha and can be consumed directly for the transformation effect. Players can now always catch enormous fish from pools, regardless of skill. Fish that have already been caught can be converted to the appropriate amount of flesh. Draenor fishing bait now lasts for 10 minutes (up from 5 minutes). Bait will not spoil, which was originally in the patch notes. Nat Pagle (Level 3 Fishing Shack) will give you any of the standard baits if you ask nicely. Lunkers can now be caught from fishing pools and have an improved catch rate with higher fishing skill. Summoned Cavedwellers now drops random fish flesh and drops less Worm Supreme. Fish Eggs used as turn-in for the Fishing Shack Daily quest are now bind on pickup and no longer have a sell value. Happy fishing!
Patch 6.1 PTR: A Legendary follower for your garrison
The 6.1 PTR isn't even live yet, but datamining continues apace, and the folks at Wowhead have certainly dug up a doozy for us. Apparently as part of the legendary questline, we'll be getting the first ever legendary follower, namely Garona Halforcen, the infamous Shadow Council assassin. If you're curious about what a legendary follower gets, it's impressive. It's very interesting to see the quest open up in this way, really . It broadens the idea of the kinds of rewards you can get from a legendary chain, and it also makes me hope that we might see other such followers. Perhaps my hope that Maraad can make a comeback isn't entirely unwarranted.
Patch 6.0.2: No Brawler's Guild until Warlords
If you're still working on your Brawler's Guild achievements, get a move on - you have until Patch 6.0.2 to get that all done, because as soon as that drops, the Brawler's Guild will be closed until Warlords of Draenor comes out. Blizzard - Patch 6.0.2 patch notes Season 1 of the Brawler's has come to a close and associated achievements have been converted into Feats of Strength. Fights will be unavailable while the Brawler's Guild is being refitted in preparation for Season 2 (available after Warlords of Draenor has launched.) Account-wide membership in Brawler's Guild will carry over to Season 2. Once a brawler, always a brawler! source All current Brawler's Guild achievements will become Feats of Strength, and the fights won't be accessible until we get all new ones for Warlords of Draenor. But if you're a member, you don't have to worry about getting another invite, at least -- membership is for life.
Patch 5.4.7 PTR: More changes discovered
The latest build on the PTR for patch 5.4.7 was datamined today over at Wowhead, and there are a number of potentially interesting features to be seen, including some rogue and warrior changes: Classes: Nerve Strike (Rogue talent): A successful Kidney Shot or Cheap Shot also reduces the damage dealt by the target by 50% (25% on player targets) and healing done by the target by 50% for 6 sec after the effect fades. Charge (Warrior spell): Charge to an enemy, rooting it for 1.50 sec. Generates 0 Rage. Mounts: Dread Raven: Summons and dismisses an Armored Dread Raven. This mount changes depending on your Riding skill and location. NPC Abilities: Charge Stun: Charge an enemy, generate rage and root it for 1.50 sec. Miscellaneous: Battle Fatigue: Dealing damage to another player in battle causes them to receive 60% less healing. Battle Fatigue: Dealing damage to another player in battle causes them to receive 60% less healing. Fortitude: Increases PvP Resilience by 5280. In addition, there are a number of strings relating to the Battle.net store as well as some upcoming features, such as the professions boost for level 60+ characters that's piqued our interest lately. Profession boosts would be great, but I'm just excited about that awesome raven mount! Editor's note: Holinka has chimed in on Twitter to clarify the charge change for Warriors. @Dalmasca7 @ExhilMD @thebghero The datamining gave an incomplete glimpse into the overall change. Warbringer is now a 3 second stun. - Holinka (@holinka) January 31, 2014
Patch 5.4.2 PTR: Patch notes update for December 5
The patch notes for the 5.4.2 PTR have been updated with new information for the next patch. This round of additions are mainly bug fixes and tweaks for classes, items and quests. Also included are some adjustments for the Siege of Orgrimmar raid that address a few bugs as well. In the Galakras encounter, a situation that caused demolition NPCs to stop opening the door to the towers has been resolved. An issue causing players not to receive credit towards the Drop It! and Drop It Now! achievements has been resolved. Crashin' Thrashin' Flyers and MiniZeps should now be able to damage each other while in sanctuary areas. You can see the full list of patch notes at the official site, but if you'd just like a list of the new changes, follow after the break for a consolidated list.
Patch 5.4.2 PTR: Karazhan cleanup efforts underway
Patch 5.4.2 is on the PTR now and it has some interesting additions, like the ability to send account-bound items in the mail cross-server. But some as-of-yet unexplained changes in Karazhan have left us scratching our heads. A revised version of the Burning Crusade-era raid has stripped the abandoned castle of many of its cobwebs and skeletons. Is someone going to be moving in? Are the ghosts moving out? Or is this perhaps just an alternate, earlier Karazhan we might have a chance to visit? Hopefully Blizzard will clue us in soon, because we're very curious -- but in the meanwhile, Wowhead has a lot of screenshots capturing Karazhan on the live and test realms for comparison purposes, including the Romeo & Juliet skeleton scene in the screenshot above. Have your own theories about just what's going on in Karazhan? Let us know!
Patch 5.4 PTR: Siege of Orgrimmar raid testing Tuesday and Wednesday
There's more raid testing on the PTR for the Siege of Orgrimmar as the release date for patch 5.4 creeps steadily closer. Coming up this week is Heroic, 25-man testing for Galakras, Malkorok, Paragons of the Klaxxi, Sha of Pride, Spoils of Pandaria, and Thok the Bloodthirsty. So if checking out new raid encounters is your idea of good fun, there's plenty coming up in the next couple of days. Here's the current schedule: Tuesday Galakras: 10:30 PDT (13:30 EDT, 19:30 CEST) Malkorok: 13:30 PDT (16:30 EDT, 22:30 CEST) Paragons of the Klaxxi: 16:00 PDT (19:00 EDT, 01:00 CEST) Wednesday Sha of Pride: 10:30 PDT (13:30 EDT, 19:30 CEST) Spoils of Pandaria: 13:30 PDT (16:30 EDT, 22:30 CEST) Thok the Bloodthirsty: 16:00 PDT (19:00 EDT, 01:00 CEST) But the schedule is subject to change. According to Watcher: Watcher As always, this testing schedule is very fluid and subject to the realities of a beta environment. We might have to change the time of a testing session, change the boss being tested, or cancel a test entirely, due to bugs, server hardware issues, etc. source For more details, head to the PTR forums. Happy testing!
Patch 5.4 PTR: Shaohao reputation preview on Wowhead
You've heard about Shaohao, the last Emperor of Pandaria, and patch 5.4 brings us an Emperor Shaohao faction on the Timeless Isle. No, this isn't another painful series of daily quests you'll have to grind through: instead Emperor Shaohao faction will be gained by killing things on the Timeless Isle and offers vanity loot in exchange for Timeless Coins, which you also collect by killing things on the Timeless Isle. For those hungry for more info, Wowhead has posted a guide to Emperor Shaohao reputation as it exists on the PTR. So check it out and be ready to dive into Timeless Isle grinding when patch 5.4 hits the live realms on September 10th.
Patch 5.4 PTR: Legendary questline walkthrough from Wowhead
Looking to finally be finished with Wrathion's lengthy quest chain and walk away with your legendary reward? When patch 5.4 hits the live realms, you'll have your chance with Judgment of the Black Prince. If you've kept up with the questline, CM Lore has already told us that anyone who's caught up with the quest should be able to grab a legendary of their own fairly quickly, but if you aren't caught up now's a good time to get working on it. Wowhead's quest walkthrough will guide you through the quest chain from start to finish, including the latest patch 5.4 steps as they currently exist on the PTR. So what do you have to look forward to? Hitting up the Timeless Isle to collect 5000 Timeless Coins and then defeating 4 world bosses. While we wait for patch 5.4 to arrive, why not get ready to pick up your legendary by catching up on the legendary questline? Your own legendary cloak will be a big help through the Siege of Orgrimmar.
WRUP: There's always something new around the corner
The nice thing about the PTR is that there's always something new around the corner. You have the excitement of each new build, deciphering that data, and generally getting excited about what's to come. It's like getting ready for Christmas every single time. So, of course, our bonus question this week was to ask our intrepid WoW Insider staff about their feelings on the PTR. Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey) I'll be guesting on the Justice Points podcast this weekend - it's not a live show, but I'll be mentioning the podcast on Twitter once it's up for downloading and all that jazz. Other than that, I may try to get some more valor points farmed this weekend. I really can't wait for 5.4 to go live - the Timeless Isle is AMAZING. I like fiddling around with it on the PTR, but I'd rather be playing it on live!
Patch 5.4 PTR: Patch notes update for August 7
A new round of patch notes have hit for the patch 5.4 PTR. This time around, there seem to be very few class changes, but plenty of updates for professions. In addition to the numerous profession updates and tweaks is one update to Wrathion's legendary quest chain that ought to make those working to catch up very, very happy. The first eight bosses in the Siege of Orgrimmar raid all have a chance to drop a Sigil of Power, Sigil of Wisdom, Secrets of the Empire, or Titan Runestone. This is in addition to their normal loot table, and the items will drop according to what step of Wrathion's quest you happen to be completing. Items that were formerly obtainable with Valor Points that have been changed to cost Justice Points, as well as gear from new PvP recipes or plans will now disenchant into Sha Crystal Fragments. Multiple Fragments can be combined into a Sha Crystal. Fishing fanatics, don't worry -- the Jewel Danio formerly swimming happily in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms have now been relocated to the Timeless Isle. You can see the full list of patch notes at the official site, but if you'd just like a list of the new changes, follow after the break for a consolidated list.
Patch 5.4 PTR: Patch notes update for August 2
Another round of patch note changes been released for the patch 5.4 PTR. Vengeance has once again received several changes that tanks should probably look over, as well as the usual round of minor class updates. More importantly, two changes have been made to current content that ought to be interesting for players looking to get caught up to the latest raid. Vengeance now has diminishing returns while tanking multiple targets -- each additional target grants progressively less Vengeance. All enemies in the Throne of Thunder now have a debuff called Shado-Pan Onslaught, which reduces their health and damage by 20%. Heroic Scenarios no longer have a minimum ilvl requirement to enter. You can see the full list of patch notes at the official site, but if you'd just like a list of the new changes, follow after the break for a consolidated list.
Patch 5.4 PTR: Celestial Tournament and legendary questline details
Wowhead's brought us more details on the Celestial Tournament and legendary questline. The tournament, live on the patch 5.4 PTR now, has some added details: the stands are full of spectators and decorated with banners, vendors sell booze and noodle bowls, and brightly-colored Sky Lanterns are available for purchase for the steep cost of 7500 Timeless Coins. In legendary questline news, Wowhead has compiled some useful updates from Lore that clarify questline questions. The most interesting, we think, is that players who have been keeping up with legendary questline from patch to patch should be able to quickly complete it to get their legendary cloak once 5.4 has been released. This will let players use the cloaks to progress through the Siege of Orgrimmar raid. Handy!
Patch 5.4 PTR: Countless cosmetic items on the Timeless Isle
If you're one of the many players who don't like to spend real cash on virtual items (like Blizzard's recently added cosmetic helms), you'll be glad to know that patch 5.4's Timeless Isle is packed with cool cosmetic items that won't cost you anything but time. And by time, we mean grinding -- though with the array of interesting events and rare spawns to be found on the Timeless Isle, it could be more entertaining than your average grinding experience. So what's on offer? Mounts, pets, vanity gear, disguises, and odd gizmos of all sorts. There's so many, in fact, that it's hard to narrow the list down to our favorites, but these are some of the most interesting: Weather stones -- which come in sunset, rain, blizzard, and ashen varieties -- can be used to change the weather in the area. Cauterizing Core, an item with 20 charges which allows you to resurrect on death with 20% health and mana. Pi'jiu Brews, which summon a spectral monk -- mistweaver, windwalker, or brewmaster -- to fight for you for 10 minutes. Faintly-Glowing Herb, which restores 50,000 health per second for 10 seconds. If that sounds overpowered, it's probably because it's a BoA and has a duration of only a day -- so if you want them, you'll have to farm them yourself. As to how to get this gear, a lot of it comes from rare drops, rare spawns, or events, but some is bought with Bloody Coins or Shaohao reputation. And this list is only scratching the surface -- check out Wowhead for the full list of vanity items you're likely to find on the Timeless Isle as well as how to get them for yourself come patch day.
Patch 5.4 PTR: More details on the Celestial Tournament
If you're interested in knowing more about patch 5.4's Celestial Tournament, Wowhead has the full details on this PTR petstraviganza. And while PTR details are always subject to change, here's what we know so far: You can compete in the tournament once a week through the quest The Celestial Tournament. The tournament has two rounds: in the first you fight against 3 pet trainers with 3 legendary battle pets each and in the second you're up against 4 legendary elite battle pets. These opponents are random and will change week to week, but expect to see familiar faces like Blingtron 4000 and Wrathion. For winning, you get a Celestial Coin, which can be used to buy unique pets and other items. Pet battle enthusiasts will also be pleased to know that patch 5.4 is packed with new battle pets: Wowhead has found over 20. Of the many new available pets, though, we're most on the lookout for our own Lil' Bling, who will clearly dazzle opponents into submission. Need even more juicy details about pet battles on the PTR? Check out Wowhead and WarcraftPets for the rest.
