archbishop-benedictus
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The Dangers of Datamining: A cautionary tale of a not-so-evil Magister
Some time last month, I was chatting with a friend about various story bits in WoW when we wandered onto the subject of the blood elves and what they're up to in the story. I pointed out the short story In the Shadow of the Sun for more recent sin'dorei lore, adding that of course the story took place prior to Wrath in the time line, so it really wasn't the most up-to-date bit of lore, although it was a wonderful read. My friend asked if I thought we'd see anything with the blood elves in Mists, and I replied that I didn't think so, but then we didn't really know that much about storylines in Pandaria yet. "Well, yeah," they replied. "But what about Rommath? I mean, he's part of the Twilight Cult and all." I paused for a moment, confused, and then realized what they were referring to. "That was a set of datamined voice files that never made it to game," I clarified. "Well yeah, but he's evil," they insisted. "No, he's not -- as far as the game and the lore is concerned, that conversation never happened, and Rommath is still the same old Rommath. A little cranky and snooty, but definitely not evil. Until proven otherwise." They pondered this, and the conversation moved on from there. I've had this conversation again and again -- in game, on Twitter. And this, my friends, is just one example of the many dangers of datamining.
Two Bosses Enter: Murozond vs. Archbishop Benedictus
In Two Bosses Enter, WoW Insider's series of fantasy death matches, bosses, leaders, and powerful figures of World of Warcraft face off in the squared circle. Your vote determines who wins and claims the season title. It is no strange surprise that the Echo of Tyrande would retain the love, energy, and passion her fans bestow upon the night elf priestess, even here at the End Time, when Deathwing has taken what he felt was rightfully his. Wait. What? Tyrande lost? To Warlord Zon'ozz? By 43 votes?! We'll get to this hilarious (to me, anyway) upset in a little bit. There's another important matter to discuss, which is that we have two brand new competitors on Two Bosses Enter and what seems to be an epic match up in the works. Murozond, the twisted form of the aspect Nozdormu, has manifested himself in the End Time, ready to end all daring time travelers' adventures. As time itself bends around his gargantuan form, only the use of a magic hourglass can give even the most stalwart heroes hope of besting the great infinite. Up against Murozond is a fallen hero who wields the power of the Light unlike any other power on Azeroth. Once the leader of the Church of the Holy Light, now Archbishop Benedictus reigns as the Twilight Father, assisting Deathwing in ending all of our puny existences. Who wins, friends? Does the great infinite dragon best one of the most powerful wielders of holy and shadow magic? You decide! %Poll-73478%
Spiritual Guidance: Shadow priesting through the Hour of Twilight
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Spiritual Guidance for discipline, holy and shadow priests. On Wednesdays, shadow priesting expert Fox Van Allen comes from out of the shadows to bask in your loving adoration. He is also scientifically proven more beautiful than boomkin blogger Tyler Caraway. Players of World of Warcraft had been clamoring for quite some time: "We love escort quests! Give us more escort quests! We want a dungeon that's nothing but one big escort quest!" Well, good news, person who doesn't exist and never will -- Blizzard designed an instance just for you! Hour of Twilight is pretty much one big long escort quest involving Thrall. Dude's trying to deliver the Dragon Soul to Wyrmrest Temple, and a whole bunch of bad guys are trying to stop him. A whole bunch of bad guys with loot. I think that's the part I cared about the most. The loot. Saving the future was merely a side effect. Getting the loot requires you to put up with a lot -- one of the most annoying fights in Cataclysm, in my opinion. I'm talking of course about the Asira Dawnbreaker fight. Thankfully, though, her shadow priest frustrating silences are avoidable. Sort of.
Lichborne: Hour of Twilight tips for death knights
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done. With End Time and Well of Eternity down, the last dungeon we examine is the Hour of Twilight. This dungeon technically takes place in the present day, acting as a precursor to the Dragon Soul raid. Unfortunately, you do have to escort Thrall through the dungeon, but if you turn off the sound on the voice acting and squint, maybe you can pretend it is a cooler shaman like Nobundo or Mylra. For now, though, what we're most interested in is getting through this dungeon as a death knight, be that tank or DPS. It's a short, sweet dungeon, but there are a couple of tricks and gimmicks you'll want to know to make the fight as smooth as possible. As with the other two dungeons, the loot here will be mostly sidegrades to Firelands stuff, a great way to catch up an undergeared death knight for Dragon Soul. (For a more complete overview of the dungeon from all angles, be sure to check out WoW Insider's guide to Hour of Twilight.) Trash for Arcurion, the first boss, isn't too annoying -- just some run-of-the-mill elementals. The second pack comes at you from both sides, so you may either want to wrangle the single dude in with Death Grip or have one of your DPS CC it.
Know Your Lore: Archbishop Benedictus of the Holy Light
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 Church of Light. Central to the hearts and minds of most of the humans of Azeroth, it has stood as a bedrock of philosophy and faith for humankind throughout the madness of the orcish invasion, the war to restore Stormwind, and to the present day. The heroes who have borne the standard of the Light are many: General Turalyon, Uther the Lightbringer, Tirion Fordring, Alonsus Faol. It has endured betrayals from some of its best and brightest, such as Prince Arthas Menethil. It has sunk its roots into the very souls of humanity and been their beacon and their deliverance from evil. In Stormwind today, the heart of the Church of Light is the grand Cathedral that dominates the eponymous district. The head of the Church of Light is Archbishop Benedictus, successor to Alonsus Faol, and it is Benedictus who has served as the rock of the faith. During the years that King Varian Wrynn was missing, when dragons and orcs menace Stormwind, Benedictus stood as a shining example, sending young heroes across the sea to root out the Scourge in Razorfen Downs. Even after the King's return and the assault of the very elements on Stormwind, Benedictus used his faith in the Light to defend his city and his people. The following post contains spoilers for Patch 4.3, especially the Hour of Twilight dungeon and the novel Thrall, Twilight of the Aspects.
Patch 4.3 5-man bosses in 5 seconds or less
I love new 5-mans, but I hate having to explain them -- and as the tank or occasionally the healer, it usually falls to me to do so. I can't count the number of times I've typed up tracts explaining new bosses in excruciating detail, only to discover that my fellow puggers are drunk, stoned, or otherwise incapacitated by the siren call of the glue bottle. Let's face it, folks: You don't want or need sophisticated explanations for these players. You just want to make sure they don't get you or anyone else killed in the fight, and I had them in mind when I started a little feature called Explain the boss in 5 seconds or less in our patch 4.3 5-man guides. The 5 Seconds or Less guides won't give you an in-depth understanding of the encounters (and they're not as suited to our tanking and healing brethren as a result), but they should be able to help you muddle through an encounter's most dangerous mechanics safely enough. Enjoy!
WoW Insider's guide to Hour of Twilight
Hour of Twilight is chronologically the last of the three new 5-man dungeons in patch 4.3. However, both it and End Time have been available for far longer than Well of Eternity, so most of us have wound up having a lot more experience with the former than the latter. As with our other guides, I've continued to include the new Explain it in 5 seconds or less feature, for all those glue-sniffing players you'll encounter through the Dungeon Finder. Have fun with them! If you want the quickest possible guide to all the new 5-man boss mechanics, read Patch 4.3 5-man bosses in 5 seconds or less.
Cataclysm faction traitors revealed!
As alluded to in other sound files data-mined from the Cataclysm beta, traitors from the Horde and the Alliance are defecting from their respective factions to the new Twilight's Hammer cult. Previously, the identities of these traitors have remained unknown, but new sound files indicate we just might know now who is turning away from their own. Spoilers and sound clips after the jump. WARNING: This post contains spoilers about the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion Cataclysm. Do not read further if you do not wish to be spoiled on major plot points.
Ask a Lore Nerd: Faith and religion
Welcome to Ask a Lore Nerd, the column that answers your questions about the story and lore of the Warcraft universe. Click the Comments link below, ask your question, and blogger/columnist Alex Ziebart will answer you in a future installment!Two weeks ago, when I was going through my queue of questions, one stuck out as especially complex. Sean Riley inquired about the beliefs and practices of the various Azerothian religions. This topic really excited me as I kind of have a thing for analyzing religion and faith. I would never claim to be an authority on theology, but it's stlil something that is very interesting to me. Warcraft lore combined with theology? Yes please! Obviously this isn't really the place to analyze and debate religion, but taking time out to research the gaps in my knowledge on this particular topic was incredibly fun for me.Unforunately, I didn't have the space in that week's column to fit the answer to that question in, nor did I really have the time. It was a broad question and needed to invest a hefty amount of time into it. This one question has filled today's column, and while that may be disappointing to some that are waiting their turn, I hope it's an interesting read regardless.
Breakfast Topic: The unsung NPC heroes
We all know the major NPCs of the World of Warcraft: Thrall, Jaina, Tyrande, Saurfang, and all the others that rule the cities, have won great battles, give out the most epic of quests, and all that good stuff. They have followings, sycophants, and all that. Life is good for them. But what about the other guys? What about the NPCs that stay with us day after day or week after week, repairing our gear or giving us all the little simple quests that help us level up or get gold or just being a little bit of flavor while we're standing around looking pretty in our favorite capital city? I know I'm not the other one who has an NPC or two that he considers to be pretty awesome.
