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Two Bosses Enter: Eregos wreaks havoc to claim season title
Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy death matches. Ladies and gentlemen, gnomes and ghouls ... We have our season champion: Ley-Guardian Eregos of The Oculus! In the hotly contested finals of the Wrath Original Five-Man season, Eregos tipped the scales to triumph over Anub'Arak, 48% to 42.6%. Such was the confusion that spectators hardly knew which way to look, with nearly 10% of them throwing up their hands to declare the death match a tie. In fact, the Ley-Guardian's time inside the Two Bosses Thunderdome was anything but routine.
Two Bosses Enter: Anub, Eregos meet in finale; search for judges
Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy death matches. We're moving from the quarter-finals into the semi-finals of the Original Five-Man Wrath of the Lich King season. Grab a seat, and let's get ready to rumble! Anub'Arak scuttled King Ymiron and his longboats last week, 60.8% to 35.9%, to advance to this week's season finale of the Original Wrath Five-Man season of Two Bosses Enter. In the highly anticipated finals, Anub'Arak will burrow into the Thunderdome to face the dreaded Ley-Guardian Eregos. If you've never participated in a Two Boss Enters match before, please be sure to read the Thunderdome ground rules before casting your vote. Visit the comments first to get as broad a view of the match as possible before deciding whose pennant you'll be waving in the stands. But first: We're taking a new angle inside the Thunderdome for upcoming seasons of Two Bosses Enter, One Boss Leaves. Each match will be decided by a distinguished panel of judges -- and you're invited to sit on the panel! Details after the break.
Tough Love: How to kill the Crown Chemical Co. apothecaries
Update: We've added an overhead video to help you understand how the immunities work. Now, back to your regularly scheduled strategy guide. Want to do the Love is in the Air holiday bosses? Short version: don't stand in things. Longer version, you say? Sure, we can do that. First off, while there is a quest chain that leads you to Shadowfang Keep, you do not have to have done any of those quests to engage the evil Crown Chemical Company apothecaries: there's a helpful NPC, Investigator Fezzen Brasstacks who will give you the quest and items necessary for the fight. Like previous holiday bosses, you'll be able to engage the apothecaries once per player so yes, you can chain in alts and keep repeating the fight over and over again. (I believe we killed them roughly eight times before people started getting sleepy.)
Loot is in the air
Love is already in the air on the European realms and MMO Champion has the details on the loot which drops from the three new Love is in the Air bosses. Three apothecaries have taken up shop in Shadowfang Keep: Baxter, Hummel and Frye. They'll be there for the duration of the holiday as daily quest bosses and following is a list of what they drop (mouseover for their stats): Winking Eye of Love Heartbreak Charm Shard of Pirouetting Happiness Sweet Perfume Broach Choker of the Pure Heart Forever-Lovely Rose Vile Fumigator's Mask Toxic Wasteling The Heartbreaker But the drop from Apothecary Hummel that I am most excited about is the Big Love Rocket Mount. It's pink, it has zhevra seats and a naughty, naughty name. Naughty. Stay tuned for more Love is in the Air info as it comes in.
Phat Loot Phriday: Mystifying Charm
Here's a spooky looking offhand for current endgame casters. If you have an item you'd like to see here next week, shout it out in the comments below, please. Name: Mystifying Charm (Wowhead, Thottbot, Armory) Type: Epic Offhand Damage/Speed: N/A Attributes: +65 Stamina, +65 Intellect, +57 Spirit Improves crit strike rating by 57 and spell power by 100. %Gallery-33600%
Creators of Epic Advice working on Epic Plan encounter planner
Now this is interesting. Our old friend Jesta, who made the EpicAdvice.com site not so long ago, is working on a new project at EpicPlan.com, and while it's still hidden away in pre-alpha, you can see what they're up to in this thread on EA. It's a slideshow/diagramming web app, basically -- you can take maps of the game's instances, lay out icons and symbols on them as you wish, and then animate and caption boss fights and encounters. The end result is a very clear way to show off different raid strategies, and we're told the slideshows are embeddable on other sites as well (you may even see some here eventually on WoW.com). Unfortunately, they're only taking signups for the beta of the service right now, and while you can watch a show in action on the technology demo, you can't make your own quite yet. But it seems like a very impressive tool for raidleaders, both to share plans with the public and players seeking help, as well as your own raid members. It'll be great to be able to make a quick and easy visual display of where to stand and what to do during boss fights and instance encounters.
Breakfast Topic: Too powerful
I like Nibuca's little writeup recently from her blog asking what happens when we become just too powerful to care? Just like her, I've played a full, months-and-months, session of D&D before, and by the time your characters start to flirt with level 20 (the maximum level in that system), you're so powerful that the story barely makes sense any more -- you're crossing planes of existence, unweaving and re-weaving the fabric of reality, and taking down gods, more or less. Once you've vanquished evil from the earth four or five times, yet another threat doesn't bother you so much. And to a certain extent, that's exactly what's happening with World of Warcraft -- when the game first started, the devs casually threw out there that it would take 40 level 80s to take Arthas down, which was of course a guess based on what raiding was at the time. But nowadays, we're all level 80, you only need five people to go after Arthas, and very soon, even someone like Deathwing will seem conquerable. In the next expansion, we already know that we're going to transverse some planes of existence, and when you're a being that can do that, why bother fighting frost wyrms? Just escape their reality and/or will them out of yours.
Guildwatch: No tabard, no loot
Some stories of drama on the realms aren't directly guild-related, but they're just too good to pass up. The one above is just such a story -- one of our tipsters was just flying around Azeroth one day when a conversation in General caught his eye. One unlucky Time-Lost Proto-drake seeker ran into his very own Griftah, and ended up with 425 less gold and a very "unusual" toy item. That story and more in this week's Guildwatch, which starts right after the break. If you have downed, recruiting, or drama news for us, feel free to send a tip in to guildwatch@wow.com, and you might see it here in the future. Read on for more!
WoW Ratings lets you rate anything in Azeroth
I had an idea like this one -- a site that would allow you to rate anything at all (from a new movie to the casserole your aunt makes), and then let other people share their own opinions about whatever you rated. My idea never got off the ground (standard operating procedure for the idea mill I call my mind), but reader Antoine apparently had the same idea, and built it specifically for the WoW universe. WoW Ratings is kind of a silly site with some interesting outcomes: basically it's a database of everything in the game, from bosses to zones to game features or what have you, and you can come along and rate whatever you want on a scale of 1 to 5. The ratings don't actually mean anything (though Antoine has them listed as qualities from Uncommon up to Legendary), so it's really just a broad temperature-taking of the World (of Warcraft) at large.The most interesting screen is probably the "Best and Worst" screen (which you can reach by clicking on the toolbar at the top of the homepage -- note to Antoine: permalinks are your friend, scale back on the javascript), where, as of this writing, Hakkar the Soulflayer is sitting on top of the heap, and the Voice Chat patch and Darnassus are sitting in the bottom 10. No Fandral Staghelm yet, strangely, but I'm sure things will get shaken up after all you readers head over there (and if the site's a little shaky under the flood of our link, give it time to get back on its feet). Sure, it's a little silly, and it's not so much a "resource" as it is just a free-for-all of player opinions, but it is interesting to see kind of a meta-overview of what players do and don't like. Useless features for the loss, old school raid bosses for the win.
New raid testing schedule posted: Festergut, Rotface, and the Gunship battle
Blizzard has posted the schedule this week for testing of the new bosses in Icecrown Citadel on the patch 3.3 PTR. Here's what Slorkuz on the EU forums says is going down: US PTRs October 21 at 7PM EDT / 4PM PDT - Festergut October 22 at 7PM EDT / 4PM PDT - Icecrown Gunship Battle EU PTRs October 21 at 19:30 CEST - Rotface (this test is already over, unfortunately) October 22 at 19:30 CEST - Icecrown Gunship Battle As always, these schedules and everything else on the PTR is subject to change at a moment's notice. You can find short descriptions of what we know about the bosses after the break. Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to the Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.
The Daily Grind: National Boss Day edition
It's National Boss Day today, which means you should probably be doing something nice for your boss (which might include not browsing the web while you're at work, but that's not our call). However, if you're a frequent player of MMOs -- or video games in general, at that -- you have a very different definition of boss. And after years of playing MMOs -- or even for a few months -- there are certain bosses who hold a soft spot in your heart for whatever reason. Perhaps they were a truly challenging fight the first time you faced them, maybe they just looked impressive and they stuck in your mind, or it could even be something as simple as getting exactly wanted from them the first time you went through the encounter. In honor of National Boss Day, we're asking you what boss holds the nearest and dearest spot in your memories. If you were sending a missive to one of your personal favorite bosses, who would it be? What would you say? Would you thank them for being generous in their drops when you fought them, or would you offer consolation at how easy they are to kill these days? And if you want to get creative and phrase it like a greeting card, on this day, it's certainly appropriate. Just take a moment to give thanks to the bosses... before you go back to killing them for loot, anyway.
Guildwatch: Have a nice day baddie
I live a good part of my life on the Internet -- I work on the Internet, and throughout the years, I've learned to play quite a bit on the Internet. So I realize that once I post something everyone can see, it's not necessarily mine any more -- once I share it with the public at large, I can't really lay much claim to it being mine and mine alone. That said, I understand Ravenmeow's problem above -- Deathlymorg of Endless Fury on Nagrand purportedly stole her tips off of her guild's website and reposted them (without credit, we assume) on his own. Sure, they were on the Internet, and nothing you really post on the Internet, especially in a forum, can ever be locked down again. But I see the complaint, especially when Deathlymorg isn't even the least bit grateful for the information, not to mention that he is pretty condescending to boot.That drama and much more in this week's Guildwatch (which you really shouldn't go reposting in full on your guild's forums, but hey, can I really stop you?), along with the usual downed and recruiting notices as well. To share something from your guild (or a bit of drama you've noticed elsewhere), send us an email at guildwatch@wow.com. Read on for more.
Guildwatch: It was my friend
Of course the issue is supposed to be fixed now, but after getting booted off their mains in Ulduar, Dark Haven on Baelgun had had enough, and made a dancing line of cows to display their displeasure. Pretty funny.Lots more guild shenigans in this week's Guildwatch as usual, including some drama (both good and bad), some downed news, and some recruiting posts. Tune in after the break below to see what's going on around the servers. And if you have a tip, from your guild or something you saw on the forums, send it along to us at guildwatch@wow.com. Thanks!
GuildOx implements 10-man strict rankings
GuildOx sends an email to tell us that they've set up 10-man strict ratings on their guild progression website. They've always offered 10-man ratings, though a lot of guilds run both 10- and 25-man content, and it's not quite legit to stack the "10-man only" guilds up against the guilds who occasionally do 25-man content (and thus have chances at better gear, no matter how much of a difference it makes). Hence, enter the "10-man strict" ratings -- these are guilds who have not run any 25-man content, according to a set of criteria that GuildOx has put together?What is that criteria? You won't be allowed to earn any Coliseum normal kills or Ulduar 25 hard-mode kills. You are still allowed to PuG those fights, though the limit is 10 players over time, or five in the same fight (in other words, if 10 players of your guild accomplish a kill in 25-man Coliseum, or five of them do it in the same raid, you're off the 10-man strict list). That's designed to make sure that the list stays as clean as possible. You'll have to watch recruits, too -- anyone who enters your guild with a certain achievement has it counted towards that total of 10 players as well. All the other info you need to know about the listings are over in their FAQ. Players may find other ways around the limit (there is, of course, higher level gear now available from Emblems that 10-player guilds are still able to get), but for now, that's where GuildOx is putting the limit, so if you want to stay on the list, follow their rules. Good luck to all of the strictly 10-man guilds out there.
Guildwatch: Into the Coliseum
Word from the Argent Tournament front is that the Coliseum is being crushed -- we're getting lots of news here in GW that bosses are being downed, and with the last boss in this week, world firsts are happening already. Of course, for us, a down is a down, so we're happy to report on any kills, whether they be in Naxx, Ulduar, or the ToC. But from what we've heard, there's quite a few raiding groups out there that have trounced what the Argent Tournament has thrown at them, so we guess we'll just have to wait and see what challenges there are to come.Meanwhile, you can find this week's drama, downed, and recruiting news all after the break. Have a tip for us? Please do send us an email at guildwatch@wow.com, and you just might see it here next week. Thanks! Hit "Read More" for, well, more.
Guildwatch: "ur name is remembered"
Boyd of Order of the Oak was tooling around Storm Peaks on the Shadowsong server when he saw a pile of dead rhinos and swooped done to skin them. No sooner did he do that than he noticed a little AFK Mage of Riders of the Apocalypse sitting there, and when the person got back from AFK, as you can see above, they were quite angry. Quite angry indeed. Over two Rhino skins. We wonder whose reputation was hurt worse by this little transaction.Many more drama stories in this week's Guildwatch, which we apologize is a little bit late thanks to the BlizzCon aftermath here on the site. But worry not -- we've got your drama, your downed, and even your recruiting news. Sorry you didn't get it earlier, but maybe it'll be a little pick-me-up this late in the week. Want to send us a tip? Please do? Email it to guildwatch@wow.com!
Guildwatch: Easy as 1 2 3
Here's another fun guild kill shot, this one from Carpe Incursio, a raiding guild on Eitrigg. The guild actually has its own Flickr account, where you can see lots of other fun shots and pictures. Pretty groovy. Plus, we can't really pass up anything with that many voodoo Gnomes.Lots more fun guild stuff in this week's GW, including yet another YouTube Vent recording, and more Yogg Saron downings than you can shake an ilvl 226 stick at. Hit the link below to read on.
Latest Champions Online trailer shows who's boss
Where would a superhero story be if it didn't include a cast of dastardly supervillains for the good guys to face off against? In Champions Online, the Nemesis system will allow players to customize their own ultimate enemy boss -- but that doesn't mean that there aren't top tier villains already built into the game's lore, planning evil deeds and waiting for brave heroes to challenge them. The game's latest trailer (located past the break) introduces some of these big bosses and shows groups of players in combat with them. Qwyjibo, Kigatilik, Grond and Dr. Destroyer make up the roster for the video, and from the looks of things, each of them will put up a mean fight when cornered on their home turf.Hit the jump to see these four pillars of evil-doing in action.
Ghostcrawler: There will (not) be at least 31 bosses in Icecrown
Ghostcrawler has posted an interesting little hint at the next patch (we know of) headed to the game. In response to a discussion about "tanking niches," he talks about Icecrown Citadel over on the forums, and just happens to mention that people might think of tanks as waiting outside until "boss 4, 17 and 31 (yes, IC is that big)." 31 bosses? More like Icecrowded, am I right?Blackrock Depths is the largest 5-man in the game, if not the largest instance, and it boasts over 40 bosses (that's mostly counting encounters, though -- you wouldn't count The Seven, for example, as seven different bosses), including lots and lots of optional bosses and even a holiday boss. Ulduar, by comparison, has about 14, and Karazhan is about that same size (though that depends on how you count random bosses, like the Opera Event). No matter how you slice it, 31 raid bosses is a ton of bosses to go through -- Icecrown could be a return to a really epic, large-scale instance.Of course, there will likely be wings involved (Naxxramas' Quarters have worked out pretty well, I think), and with the new changes to raid lockouts, Blizzard no longer needs to squeeze the raiding experience into an average of two or three nights a week (which is what it seemed like they were usually aiming for before). If yours is the kind of guild that likes to clear everything in one night, though, you might want to start freeing up some time now.Update: GC now says he didn't mean the instance would have 31 bosses, he was just throwing in some ridiculous number to prove a point. Our question: why did he say "yes, IC is that big" if he didn't mean it would be that big?
Guildwatch: He makes everything better
Can you tell what's so awesome about this picture of Anarchy of Ravencrest's 10-man Yogg Saron down? Nope, it's not the fact that they killed one of the hardest bosses in the game, and it's not even that cool type effect on the title. It's the naked Gnome. Trust us, Horde or Alliance, every guild should have a naked Gnome standing front and center in their kill shot.Lots of naked Gnome-less downed bosses in this week's Guildwatch (which, we promise, has lots more actual text than the early version you accidentally saw today). We've also got drama and recruiting news as well -- hit the link below to read this week's column.
