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Wrath 101: The battle for Wintergrasp continued
CannonsWhile cannons aren't technically siege vehicles, they certainly play a huge part in siege warfare as these are Wintergrasp Fortress' primary form of defense. For attackers to have any success, it is imperative to take out these cannons, as they deal massive damage to players and siege vehicles alike. Cannons have extremely long range so can deal damage even before attackers reach the keep.Cannons are mounted between destructible walls, and a pair on each fortress tower. It's good to note that the three Southern towers, belonging to the offense, also have four cannons mounted on top, making them defensible. RP-GGAlso part of siege warfare are the RP-GGs found on the floor in front of Goblin Workshops. These rockets can be carried in stacks of five and it's always a good idea to carry them around. Firing the RP-GG is a 5-second cast spell, and deals about 5,000 damage per hit to vehicles and splash damage to players. While players can deal more DPS to siege vehicles, the RP-GG has a long, if unpredictable, 150 yard range, allowing players to defend similar to tower gunners. The RP-GG is also usable while riding a Demolisher, extending its range of attack. If you kill a player carrying an RP-GG, they will drop it and the rockets can be picked up from the ground.Goblin WorkshopsThe siege vehicle workshops are the key to many Wintergrasp battles. There are a total of six workshops throughout Wintergrasp, two are housed inside Wintergrasp Fortress, on the East and West sides. These workshops cannot be captured but can be destroyed. Two workshops, the East and West on the Broken Ring and Sunken Ring zones respectively, are right outside the fortress and can be captured or destroyed. Two workshops on the Southeast and Southwest, called the Eastspark Workshop and Westspark Workshop respectively, are like the workshops inside the keep. They cannot be captured but can be destroyed.The number of workshops under a faction's control, whether intact or destroyed, determines the maximum number of siege vehicles that faction can deploy. Each workshop entitles a faction to four siege vehicles. Because each faction permanently controls 2 workshops, players can always create a minimum of 8 vehicles, up to maximum of 16 if they control both the East and West workshops. If a workshop is destroyed, it will no longer be able to produce any more vehicles. So while each side will always be allowed a minimum of eight vehicles, it's entirely possible to cut off vehicle supply. Capturing either the East or West workshop after it has been destroyed will repair it.Capturing a workshop is similar to gaining control of a tower in Eye of the Storm or the flag in Halaa. The more players of one faction are within the vicinity of the workshop, the more control shifts over to that faction. At the beginning of the game, the workshops inside the fortress as well as the East and West workshops are under the control of the defense. In order to mount an effective offense, with siege vehicles needing to travel a shorter distance to the fortress, attackers usually take control of the workshops at the start. Because of their proximity to the landing camps, the default spawn point for offense, East is usually susceptible to Alliance attacks and West to the Horde. Workshops have about 30,000 hp.Wintergrasp FortressThe main fortress is protected by walls and towers. Towers are extremely sturdy, with around 80,000 hp, making it difficult to take down with only one siege vehicle. It grants bonus Honor when partly destroyed at 50%, and again when completely destroyed. It's always best for attackers to focus fire on one point in order to break through as quickly as possible. Each tower is flanked by portals which defenders can use to enter the fortress. There is no physical way for players to enter Wintergrasp Fortress other than to use the portal or to break down the walls. Inside the fortress is a giant version of the portal, usable by siege vehicles to exit the structure.In order to get to the Titan Relic, attackers must break through three barriers -- the Wintergrasp Fortress Walls, the inner Fortress Walls, and the Wintergrasp Keep Door. Fortress Walls and the Fortress Door have about 40,000 hp. The walls will become partly destroyed when they reach 50%, although they do not grant any Honor. The Wintergrasp Keep Door will become partly destroyed when reaching 66-75%. Attuning the Titan Relic is a 10-second action that breaks when taking damage. The Titan Relic despawns when Wintergrasp is controlled.Wintergrasp NPCsIn Patch 3.0.8, when the battle begins, elemental mobs will despawn. In the current game, the elementals are something of a nuisance as they constantly aggro players and vehicles. There are constantly respawning Warsong and Valiance Expedition Level 76 elite NPCs at key points of the map, such as the ends of bridges and guarding towers. Players may kill these NPCs to gain rank, which enables even a sparsely populated Wintergrasp to see siege vehicles in play. Tower ControlIn Patch 3.0.8, Blizzard will introduce Tower Control, a buff that grants 5% more damage dealt, stacking up to three times. The Southern towers -- Shadowsight, Winter's Edge, and Flamewatch -- grant this buff to offense at the beginning of the game, giving attackers a slight advantage. Destroying these towers will transfer the buff to the defense, making towers a strategic part of the game and not just a source of bonus Honor. If both sides are equal in number, a 15% damage increase is a substantial buff. It also promotes a better offense, giving more opportunity for Wintergrasp to change control.TenacityBlizzard's answer to foreseeable faction imbalance is a buff called Tenacity. If a side is outnumbered, members of that faction gain Tenacity, a stacking buff that grants 25% more health and faster mana regeneration as well as 18% more damage. This buff stacks as many times as necessary, although it's not certain how much of an imbalance creates a Tenacity stack. There are Wintergrasp battles where players can possibly run around with over 50,000 hp. If you encounter a player with Tenacity of more than a few stacks, it's generally best to avoid them. Players with Tenacity should pick on solo players or even groups of 2-3, keeping in mind that crowd control can still overcome the buff. A stunned player with 50,000 hp isn't going to be doing very much. Wintergrasp is all about coordination, so even a player with 20 stacks of Tenacity won't be able to succeed against an organized bunch. Conversely, a small group of organized players with Tenacity can be brutally efficient.Now that we have a grasp of the basics of Wintergrasp gameplay, in the next part of this series we'll take a look at strategy on offense and defense. We'll also be going through the daily quests as well as Achievements in Wintergrasp. Whether or not you're a fan of PvP, we think you'll enjoy Wintergrasp. Blizzard's latest and greatest attempt at World PvP is one of the most fun aspects of Wrath of the Lich King, and the more people play it, the crazier it gets! Learn all about Wintergrasp in WoW Insider's complete guide.
Wrath 101: Wintergrasp zone overview
These days, my schedule revolves around partitions of two and a half hours. This is the time I allot for meals, errands, work, showers, and most other mundane things. In between those two and a half hours, I take a break from whatever I'm doing and play ten to forty minutes of Wintergrasp. Ever since I made my way into the zone, I've made it my second home in the World of Warcraft. I log out in Wintergrasp about as often as I do in Dalaran. I know I said that PvP is sort of pointless right now, but Wintergrasp is the most fun I've had in Wrath and the game in a while. Nowadays, whenever I dream, I dream of siege vehicles and exploding walls and towers.Wintergrasp is the smallest zone in Northrend, bordered by Sholazar Basin, Icecrown, and Dragonblight. It is a PvP zone, which flags all players entering it for PvP. This isn't an issue on PvP servers, but on normal or RP servers, this makes everyone in the zone fair game. There is no physical way to access Wintergrasp other than through a flying mount, creating a natural Level barrier of 77 although lower-level players can be summoned or take the portal from Dalaran. It is my favorite zone in Wrath of the Lich King, although it isn't without its flaws. %Gallery-39251%
Lume the Mad tackles Wrath of the Lich King (all of it)
World of Warcraft blogger Lume the Mad wrote up a massive post describing the most important changes in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion which will be released on November 13th. He lists just about everything, and even provides analysis of the expansion's implications.It's a must-read for WoW players, especially those unfamiliar with the breadth of the changes occuring in the expansion. And for those who already know their stuff, there's some good commentary on the consequences of Blizzard's choices. It'll especially be useful to guild leaders who want to be prepared.He had some particularly harsh words to say about the changes ("homogenization") to buffs in some classes. He argued that the changes will render some players' characters undesirable to raid leaders. But it's not all high-brow theoretical talk; there are bits about vehicles, siege warfare, and even the barber shop in there. One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!
Darkfall community Q&A reveals further juicy details
Will Darkfall see the echelons of frothing at the mouth PvP fanatics vying for territorial dominance? We sure as hell hope so. Darkfall's real-time, aimed combat, reactionary and tactical gameplay, free for all PvP have a lot of potential to stand out in a soon-to-be crowded PvP landscape. A lot of promises have been made, and Darkfall will breathe immersion if the developers can pull off the proposed city dynamisms. It could evolve the PvP genre or its attempt may be for naught as more big-budgeted PvP MMOGs like Warhammer Online enter the arena. Many questions surrounding the Darkfall's game mechanics remain shrouded in secrecy. Until now, more bits about the game are unveiled as 35 plus questions asked by the community are answered in this latest Q&A round by Associate Producer Tasos Flambouras and the Darkfall team. The questions run the gamut and range from basic game mechanics to increasingly popular siege warfare. Unfortunately, no information regarding a release date is given, but according to the site Darkfall is in its final closed beta testing stage before testing opens to guilds and "outside-the-office" play testers. [Via, Warcry]
Age of Conan: The siege warfare is a buggy lagfest
Age of Conan players should think twice about partaking in the lag-ridden siege action this weekend; they're better off waiting until this coming Monday's patch. The naysayers concerns from beta were certified two days ago, when Sinister took part in Age of Conan's first full on siege since the game went live. If you want the quick recap it was buggy and the performance was terrible; however, Funcom deserves kudos for responding as quickly as they did. Unfortunately, the only viable solution at this time is for players to crank down the graphics and wait it out. It's hard to tell from the picture but it shows 0.3 fps and a 3389 ping, with many players reporting similar results on their superior gaming machines. Since Funcom's response a player reported better performance on the second siege averaging about 15 fps on dual 8800 GTs.We'll see if Monday's patch improves the performance or not for all players involved. If you'd like to see some rough footage from the second siege battle Sinister has posted it on their website. (NSFW)
Erling Ellingsen shows off AoC PvP video
Those of you not currently enjoying the closed beta will want to take a look at this: Age of Conan's Product Manager Erling Ellingsen gives us a look at a couple of PvP mini-games in the latest "Hyborian Insider" video. While there isn't a ton of information in this video, Ellingsen does explain the game mechanics behind two PvP game types, Capture the Flag, and Team Annihilation.Capture the Flag is exactly as you'd expect, if you've ever played that type before. The object is to retrieve the enemy team's flag from their side and bring it back to your side; the team with the most points at the end of a predetermined set duration of time wins. The video shows off a few zones of combat that frankly appear very similar to each other, and could use a better color scheme to visually differentiate themselves.
Age of Conan hits exclusively open beta on May 1st
This is it! Funcom, in partnership with Eidos and IGN have announced the Age of Conan open beta, available at FilePlanet.com and other IGN partner sites. Now, being available on FilePlanet means it's more of an 'exclusively open beta' -- you will have to be a member to receive the download.Additionally, from the press release: 'Funcom would like to point out that the primary function of the Open Beta is to stress test Age of Conan prior to launch. This means that Funcom will not make the entire game available to the Open Beta testers, and a level 13 cap will be applied.' So no matter how quickly you progress through the content, you're not going to be able to see any of the higher-level stuff; this might mean no siege warfare, or city building, or ridable mounts. But you've waited this long for decapitation-related joy, and here it is!
