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Shifting Perspectives: Raiding early Blackwing Descent as a balance druid
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat , bear , restoration and balance druids. Triple moonkin! All across the sky! It can only mean one thing, that's right kiddies: It's raiding time. Strap on your big boy pants -- things are about to get serious. Seriously. OMG, OMG, OMG it's here! Yay, I actually did something that I said I would do. This is such a drastic change for me that I think I'll write a whole article on how important this momumentous event is, instead of actually writing about boss tactics and annoying things like that. No? Not feeling it? I suppose I can go ahead with the normal plan, although I think the other idea was much better. Raiding thus far has been rather hit-or-miss, in my opinion. Perhaps I'm jaded, but many of the encounters feel a tad ... simplistic, or at least far easier than they should be. Certain encounters, and especially the end encounters of all three raids this tier, are tough and fun, but the in-betweens seem a little weak at times -- but again, that's just me. For example, I spent more time wiping on the first boss of Grim Batol when it showed up as my first heroic ever than I did on Magmaw. Maybe that's just us; I don't know. Whether or not you agree, raiding is about being prepared. We've covered gearing yourself up for raids to death, so let's get on with the second part of those preparations.
The truth about datamined WoW data
Right now I'm playing World of Warcraft as more of a pinch hitter than I am used to, in part because I also do things like make the calls for our raids and help plan out raid times. In essence, I find myself a guild officer in a guild just getting off the ground, so I don't have the luxury of gearing for only one role. I have to be ready to tank or DPS based on what's needed. This isn't a problem, exactly. But it means I find myself having to really pay attention to what either role demands at a moment's notice, and so the patch 4.0.6 changes are constantly on my mind. As such, I found this forum thread interesting not for what it contains but in what it reveals about how people use datamined information. The original post is based on information that is datamined, and as such, is not always fully in line with what is intended. In this particular case, as Zarhym points out, the Heroic Strike changes aren't new but are the same HS changes we've seen in every version of 4.0.6 that have been discussed to date. Datamining can be an awesome tool, to be sure. I've salivated over weapon models and reacted with consternation to class changes over and over again in the past, just like everyone else. I still remember sitting at my computer trying to will Ulduar into existence; got a heck of a nosebleed. But please, when dealing with datamined information, you have to keep in mind that it often (purely due to the limitations of the process) comes up short or deals with information that may have no bearing on what ends up in the live game. So when you see a tooltip change or hear about an ability going up or down in power based on it, it's best to wait and see a confirmation of the change from Blizzard before you panic. Datamined changes can be a good heads up, but they're not to be considered the same as officially released information. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.
Cataclysm hotfixes for Jan. 18
What with all the buzz about the PTR and the upcoming patch, it's been a while since we've seen some good old-fashioned hotfixes. Fear not, for blue poster Zarhym has posted with some new goodies for us all. Today's list of hotfixes seems to run the gamut from class tweaks to quests, but there are a few notable changes for raids and dungeons: In Blackwing Descent, Atramedes will no longer despawn when his tail passes through the area trigger in the entrance to his room. He will no longer despawn randomly during the fight. Pulling him out of his room will now cause him to reset. Also from Blackwing Descent, the damage of Chimaeron's Caustic Slime has been reduced for both raid sizes and dungeon difficulties. Over in Tol Barad, "The Leftovers," "Swamp Bait" and "A Huge Problim" can now be shared between members of the Alliance. In addition, these quests now award the correct amount of gold and faction for the Horde and Alliance as well. Follow us after the break for the full list of hotfixes.
Blood Pact: Warlocks in Blackwing Descent, part 1
Every week (when the regular warlock writer hasn't been eaten by a prince of hell or something, that is), WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology and destruction warlocks. For those who disdain the watered-down arts that other cling to like a safety blanket, for those willing to test their wills against the nether and claim the power that is their right, Blood Pact welcomes you and invites you to take a seat. There will be no silly wand-waving or worthless incantations in my class. The curse of the warlock writers on WoW Insider strikes once more. Your normal master of darkness, Adam, is still lost in the Nether, presumably off hunting some new, rare, malformed demon-spawn. The last fill-in, the dark conjurer Zach, has also become lost to the void. I assure you that both situations are merely a setback. For the moment, that leaves you with me -- a minor power in the demonic struggle, but hopefully with enough tricks hiding up my proverbial sleeves to share a trick or two. Warlocking (or is it warlockery?) is rough stuff. People expect a lot of you! You have to kill things, summon people, provide glowing hell-health fragments, command a vast array of demonic forces. Then there are the fight mechanics to worry about as well. You've gotten the first part of all that down, but each new raid brings new encounters with new mechanics to learn. It's a daunting task, but that's what I'm here to help with. Well, hopefully. It could also be that I'll just wind up getting you killed a horrible, gruesome, if not glorious, death. Either way, I'd say your prospects look good!
The crazy, hidden critter plateau
In northwest Mulgore, right on the border to Stonetalon Mountains, there is a small plateau area that is chock-full of prairie dogs, rabbits and mice. At first glance, this would appear similar to the icebergs in Northrend that were home to entire colonies of our small, suited companions. That is not the case here though, as these small critters house a deep, dark, and evil secret. At random intervals, the critters will mutate, growing to several times their own size, and will don weapons and armor in order to do battle or exterminate the competition. The prairie dogs get spiked pit helmets that they clearly stole from Commander Schnottz and break out daggers to run their enemies through! Rabbits break out the axes, clearly having spent way too much time with orcs, and holding them between their teeth charge for their enemies! The mice, however, seem to be the most prepared, wearing helmets made from the skulls of the dead and dual wielding shotguns. I don't know about you, but I would hate to walk around the streets of Ogrimmar only to be greeted by a gang of shotgun-wielding mice. If you want to go check it out, don't be dismayed if nothing is going on right when you get there. It takes a few seconds for them to mutate and start fighting, and you don't have to do anything but sit back and enjoy. Don't worry about them wanting to attack you; they are perfectly content to sit and war with themselves and ignore your presence. It's interesting to see little quirky things like this that made it to the live version of the game. The area is only accessible through flying, so one has to wonder what other things are hidden in the world for us to find. Special thanks to my friend Dan for letting me know about this place! World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.
The Queue: That's "Famous Titles"
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. Don't ask me why I was looking for pictures of Alex Trebek, but it was a fruitful search. Look at this picture of him and Zsa Zsa Gabor! What a weird combination. Smart dudes get all the ladies. Haha, well, no, that's not true at all. But dudes with rockin' 'staches definitely do. Crispn asked: Question, I remember reading about a feature that lets you view a boss abilities, loot, etc. Is this in game? If so, how do you use it, and if not, is it coming? That's the Enhanced Dungeon Map, and it's coming in patch 4.1, according to the devs at BlizzCon.
The Queue: All aboard the knuckle train to Fist Planet
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. I really hope the rest of you guys caught the Adventure Time marathon on Cartoon Network yesterday, too. There is no better time than Adventure Time. Darasen asked: Do items like Mithril Spurs and Carrot on a Stick make a worgen's running wild ability move faster (where level-appropriate, of course)? If so, am I the only one that finds the idea of kicking yourself to go faster or dangling a carrot in front of yourself humorous? I'm not sure mount speed enchantments or items even exist anymore, especially the Carrot; but if they do, yes, they would affect Running Wild. Crusader Aura does.
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Arms and the 4.0.6 patch notes
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Care and Feeding of Warriors, the column dedicated to arms, fury and protection warriors. Despite repeated blows to the head from dragons, demons, Old Gods and whatever that thing over there was, Matthew Rossi will be your host. Last week, we saw patch notes for the PTR and patch 4.0.6. Since then, we've seen updates to these notes. These updates mean that some of the things we talked about no longer apply. And then they went and updated them again. It would be fair to say I kind of groaned when I saw Blizzard do this, knowing I'd most likely have to basically spend another week talking about the notes. I was especially annoyed because I finally have my tank set to the point where I can tank in a raid or a heroic without feeling painfully undergeared, and I've gotten my DPS up to where I think it should be at the current gear level and talent spec design. In general, I think warriors are almost where they should be right now. We may be slightly weaker than I'd like as tanks, and arms is frankly pretty bad as a DPS spec right now. It's still good for PvP, although that's mostly due to its ability to chain stuns, which it will be losing somewhat in 4.0.6. With Slam still not scaling at all with haste, arms is going to need flat-out DPS increases to go along with the nerfs it's taking. Fury will probably be all right -- not the absolute top DPS, even among hybrids, but it will deliver in fights where melee is unduly punished for being melee. So let's go take a look at the cards we're going to be dealt in patch 4.0.6 as of the most recent update. If I had to sum up the entirety of the remainder of this post, it would be, "Okay, but why not buff arms for PvE?"
Arcane Brilliance: News and notes for mages from PTR patch 4.0.6
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, a magical journey awaits ... a fantastic voyage through a mystical realm. I speak, of course, of the Public Test Realm, and the wondrous patch notes that dwell therein. Now before we begin, I should make it clear that mages aren't getting anything even remotely earth-shattering in patch 4.0.6. It's not like Blizzard is letting us autofire while moving or anything. But a patch is still a patch. Things are going to change, and though mages have been left largely un-fiddled-around-with (at least in comparison to many other classes), we do have some incoming alterations to be aware of. So with our expectations in an appropriately subdued state, let's peek beyond the jump for an annotated look at what be happening, yo.
Patch 4.0.6 PTR: New restoration shaman spell animations
With all the changes up on the latest build of the PTR, something that wasn't documented is happening, and it is pretty awesome. Restoration shaman spells are now getting a different animation. Until now, our casting animation was very similar to that of druids. Green energy would glow around our hands and small leaves would form within that power. While it was nature-related, it wasn't very shaman-esque. A healing shaman's element has always been water, and now our spells are accompanied by that very element. Gone are the leaves and green; instead, our hands our now encapsulated in glowing blue orbs of water as we bargain with the element to heal our allies wounds. When Greater Healing Wave lands on a target, it has a water splash animation very similar to Riptide, and for now, Healing Surge and Healing Wave have had their leaves replaced with sprite-like things that fly up in a circle around the target. I wouldn't be surprised, though, if Healing Surge and Healing Wave get similar animations on target to Greater Healing Wave. I don't think anyone quite expected an update like this, but it certainly a welcome one. It gives us just a little bit more of a unique flair and really fits our style of healing. It also shows that even now, Blizzard is looking at all of those little things that make the game so awesome, like cool casting animations. What do you think? World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.
The Queue: Nothing
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. You people. I link you one of the year's best screenplays, and you spend four pages of comments talking about how Facebook is evil. All I did was link you a cool thing! So today I'm not even doing that. Today you get ... Nothing. Aerowannabe asked: Does anyone remember the devs talking about updating the professions at low level in order to make them more viable? I'm not expecting crafting gear to be better than dungeon stuff or anything, but it would be nice if there at least some things they could craft that help leveling. I'm not really sure what you mean -- craftable stuff at low level is still pretty good, from the blacksmithing armor with +hit on it to jewelcrafting pieces that have no real competition for several early level brackets.
Shifting Perspectives: PTR 4.0.6, balance and you
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat , bear , restoration and balance druids.This week, I'm going picture hunting. If you happened to send any in last week, chances are I didn't get them. Our emails over here recently changed, and I can now be reached at tyler@wowinsider.com. So send your pics! Okay, okay, so I know that I had originally promised to start doing the raiding guide this week, and I was so totally going to do that, but the information that's currently up on the latest PTR is just too juicy to pass up. Like the mythical GC pony, the raid guide will come next week, I promise. The PTR doesn't hold a lot of information for balance druids overall, but what it does hold is amazingly amazing. (Props to those who know where that one comes from.) There are a few nerfs, and they come in areas where we really needed buffs instead, but there are quite a number of buffs out there as well that can certainly whet the palate. There are also some important profession and general changes that will help everyone, including balance druids. I'm normally not a fan of huge balancing patches such as these that come out so soon after an expansion is released -- rage, what good was beta, and all that -- but at least we are finally getting these changes now. And what changes are those? Oh, why, I'm so glad that you asked.
Lord of His Pack live at Blizzard's community site
Do you like worgen? Sure, we all do! Well, I do, anyway. And if you liked the Gilneas starting zone and wanted to get to know more about the origins of the place and its independent-minded king, Genn Greymane, Blizzard has you covered. James Waugh's Lord of His Pack is all about the king himself, his relationships with allies and adversaries like Darius Crowley, and how they made the trip across the ocean to Darnassus following their flight from their homeland. The past and the present are both explored, and a fuller picture of the Gilneas that was and the Greymane that is come to light. Go check it out now.
The Queue: Know what's better than a million dollars?
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. That's right: the entire screenplay for The Social Network for free. A perfect companion to the DVD or Blu-ray that I hope you're planning on buying/watching. BlindWorg asked: So, when the next tier of raiding is launched, how it affects what gear we can by with justice/valor points? Will it be like Wrath that we can buy the the items that cost valor points now with justice points when it happens or how does it happen? In 4.1: JP items from 4.0 will still cost JP. VP items from 4.0 will cost JP instead. Items new to 4.1 will cost VP.
Guild experience changes in patch 4.0.6
The latest round of patch notes from the PTR have some interesting new information in the form of guild improvements. While running 5-mans with guild groups has always given guild experience, these changes seem to be focused on improving the rewards from doing so. Zarhym We have redefined the definition of a Guild Group for 5-player dungeons. If 3 out of 5 players in a group are members of the same guild, they will now be able to complete guild achievements and earn guild experience at 50% of the normal rate. If 4 out of 5 players in a group are members of the same guild, they will now be able to complete guild achievements and earn guild experience at 100% of the normal rate. If 5 out of 5 players in a group are members of the same guild, they will now be able to complete guild achievements and earn guild experience at 125% of the normal rate. Also note that Heroic dungeons offer a 1.5x multiplier on all guild experience earned. source Right now, in order to count as a guild group, four out of the five party members of that team must be from your guild. With these changes, a guild will be able to take three members along and still qualify for guild experience, albeit at a slower rate. What does this mean? Mainly that smaller guilds have more of a chance to reach that experience cap that larger guilds have been hitting without fail every day. The experience gain is only 50% of the normal rate, but at least doing dungeons with your guild members in smaller numbers will actually mean something. On the other end of the spectrum, if all five players in a dungeon run are from the same guild, that group now earns a staggering 125% guild experience. Why the change? It seems as though Blizzard is trying to encourage people to group with their guild members, by offering more incentives for doing so. This is all well and good, but if more guilds are running dungeon groups, this means less people using the dungeon finder and longer queue times for those who have to wait. We'll have to wait and see what the results from these changes look like once the patch hits live. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.
Ghostcrawler responds to heroic dungeon difficulty complaints
Lead Systems Designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street posted an entry on his blog yesterday called "Wow, Dungeons are Hard!" It's a rather lengthy (but worthwhile) read about the current state of Cataclysm heroics, Blizzard's philosophy on designing them, his impressions on their current difficulty level, and some advice for improving your performance. Like I said, it's an epic post, and we won't reprint the whole thing here. This, however, is the key takeaway: Wow, Dungeons are Hard! The bottom line is that we want Heroics and raids to be challenging, and that is particularly true now while the content is new and characters are still collecting gear. They're only going to get easier from here on out. We want players to approach an encounter, especially a Heroic encounter, as a puzzle to be solved. We want groups to communicate and strategize. And by extension, we want you to celebrate when you win instead of it being a foregone conclusion. On the other hand, we don't want you to stumble your way to victory. We don't want you to be able to overwhelm bosses without noticing or caring what they're doing. We don't want healers to be able to make up for all of the mistakes on the part of the other players. While at the end of the day, dungeons may just be gussied up loot vending machines, we want you to do more than push a button to get the loot. Ultimately, we don't want to give undergeared or unorganized groups a near guaranteed chance of success, because then the content will feel absolutely trivial for players in appropriate gear who communicate, cooperate, and strategize. source All that being said, though, is Blizzard really satisfied with its dungeon designs and their current level of difficulty? Hard heroics are indeed hard, but the updated PTR patch notes for 4.0.6 (which went live just yesterday at almost the exact same time Ghostcrawler was discussing heroics) indicate that a series of nerfs is coming our way. That will no doubt lead to player rejoicing, but remember -- heroics are naturally getting easier as people get more familiar with them and players continue to compile better gear, which makes completion even easier still.
Special version of the Cataclysm LP now available on iTunes
One of the best yet tragically unappreciated parts of Cataclysm is its new music. There's that awesome track where it's like, "dun dun DUN dunnnnn," and then that other one where it's like, "whooooooosh bah bah bahh bah bahhhh BAH," and the other one ... uh ... Yeah, so anyway, this doesn't work so well via text. But good news -- you can now enjoy it digitally in a way that doesn't involve my converting sound to text! The Cataclysm LP soundtrack -- 17 epic cuts full of "dun" and "bah" -- is now available at the iTunes store. And if that's not enough, you get all sorts of awesome bonus content. So says Blizzard: Cataclysm LP Now Available on iTunes Want to bring the music from the latest World of Warcraft expansion with you anywhere you go? The World of Warcraft: Cataclysm soundtrack is now available as an iTunes LP from the iTunes Store, featuring 17 eminently epic tracks as well as special bonus content including artwork, liner notes, and behind-the-scenes interviews. If you previously purchased a copy of the Cataclysm soundtrack album from iTunes prior to the release of this special LP version, don't worry -- you'll be able to receive the bonus content at no additional charge. For more information or to purchase the Cataclysm soundtrack LP, visit the iTunes Store. source And while you're there at iTunes, why not take a moment to subscribe to the WoW Insider podcast? Just saying ...
Cataclysm sells 4.7 million copies in one month
Proving that Deathwing wrecking up the joint can actually be a good thing, this recent press release from Blizzard shows us that after an initial burst of 3.3 million, Cataclysm went on to sell another 1.4 million copies over the next month. Blizzard Entertainment Press Releases "We created thousands of new quests, introduced new lands to explore, and extensively revamped the game world for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, making it our biggest and most ambitious expansion yet," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We've been floored by the community's response so far, and we'd like to thank them for their continued passion and support for World of Warcraft, and for helping Cataclysm reach this incredible milestone." source This pretty much cements Cataclysm's position as a huge seller for Blizzard and brings this expansion up above Wrath of the Lich King, the previous best seller. It's unlikely that anyone is exactly surprised by this news, but it bodes well for the game and its current success. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.
The Queue: Those were $500 sunglasses
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. I can't really think of any reason why you wouldn't be watching Mortal Kombat on Netflix Instant right now, like I am. Not a single one. cjivan asked: I've been soloing heroic UP on my hunter for the Blue Proto Drake lately, and today I noticed something odd. I got honor points for killing Skadi. Is this a bug or intended? Your faction controlled Wintergrasp, which made bosses drop Stone Keeper's Shards back in Wrath. Since that currency no longer exists, honor points are rewarded in its place.
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Testing 4.0.6 PTR changes
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Care and Feeding of Warriors, the column dedicated to arms, fury and protection warriors. Despite repeated blows to the head from dragons, demons, Old Gods and whatever that thing over there was, Matthew Rossi will be your host. If you're wondering where your heroic dungeon gear guide is, it's been eaten by the PTR. Frankly, I've been running heroics as DPS and as a tank for about a week straight now, and I'm kind of bleary-eyed anyway, so looking at something aside from a long list of gear might just be the way to go. Above, you may see my draenei warrior just after successfully getting his hands on a new offhand weapon and zoning out of Grim Batol, whereupon Deathwing immediately set him on fire. I mean, I wasn't even done loading yet. Or you may see me, this morning, waking up to the news of the patch notes for the PTR. Take your pick, I suppose. In an expansion that has already proven to be significantly melee-unfriendly (to put it mildly), today's notes make me a touch cranky. Some I understood the reasoning on; others I expected -- but they still didn't do much to make me feel like Cataclysm is going to stop dumping its particular form of love down on melee classes any time soon. So let's take a look at the coal Father Blizzmas is putting in our stockings, shall we? (Hey, I still have a tree up in my living room.)
