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The OverAchiever: Mountain O' Mounts in 5-man dungeons
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. This week, we continue our Mountain o' Mounts grind by beating the crap out of various bosses in the hopes that they'll barf up some transportation. This week's article addresses the mounts you can find in 5-man content, of which there are quite a few. However, please note that I haven't included special holiday mounts like the Headless Horseman's mount or the Big Love Rocket. Even though they technically drop from 5-man content, they're only available under special circumstances, so they'll pop up in a later guide. As a note to anyone following the Mountain o' Mounts series, I'll be preempting it for two weeks to run full guides on the Noblegarden and Children's Week 2011 holidays, which begin on April 24 and May 1 respectively. We'll return to Mountain o' Mounts on May 5. Also read: Combining The Ambassador and Mountain O' Mounts, Mountain O' Mounts in Outland, and Mountain O' Mounts in Northrend.
The Tattered Notebook: Velious itemization and flying Gnomes
With the launch of Destiny of Velious rapidly approaching, EverQuest II fans are starting to hear a lot more about what this expansion will bring. This past week was filled with new lore, new screenshots, and another live Webcast with Senior Producer Dave Georgeson, Lead Designer Rich Waters, and Itemization Developer Salim Grant. As in previous webcasts, the hosts talked about flying mounts, launch day events, and othmir, but the main topic they discussed was itemization and gear progression. There is no level cap increase with Destiny of Velious, and because of that, many players wondered what items would look like, especially since a lot of Sentinel's Fate gear was already loaded with procs, wards, and effects. In this week's Tattered Notebook, we'll look at how the developers tackled this difficult area and what changes players should expect to see with the arrival of Destiny of Velious.
Ask a Lore Nerd: Speculative speculation
Welcome to Ask a Lore Nerd, where each week blogger and columnist Alex Ziebart answers your questions about the lore and history of the World of Warcraft. Ask your questions in the comments section below, and we'll try to answer it in a future edition.Today's edition of Ask a Lore Nerd is a bit heavy on the speculation side, so be warned before you start reading. We've had a lot of questions recently that we don't yet have answers to, but are asked frequently enough that I suppose I should see what I can say!vyx asked..."Okay, so speaking of life and death, this has bugged me for a while -- how do we explain the fact that some characters (Horde and Alliance legends for example) have died, but yet every Priest, Pally, Shammy and Druid can rez people anytime they want?I realize it's a game and it wouldn't be so much fun if you died and then had to reroll a level 1, but there needs to be some type of lore explanation as to why people can be rezzed, but also can 'really die.' Are we supposed to just not worry about this or is there an explanation?"
The funny, morbid, and sad coins of the Dalaran fountain
Level up fishing so you can fish in the Dalaran fountain. I'm serious. This completely nonsensible and illogical statement is brought to you by the 53 tiny lore moments you'll get if you'll just sit yourself down somewhere and level up fishing. Yes, it's boring having to fish up dozens of useless fish to get to the good stuff in Outland and Northrend. Yes, you could be farming up gold or materials that will help you level in Wrath. I don't care. Go fish.You see, while you'll be fishing up a lot of equally useless fish in the Dalaran fountain, you'll also get coins. No, not in the sense that you'll be fishing up ingame money, but you'll fish up coins tossed into the fountain of this very old city by 53 people, many of whom will be known to you if you've played the game for any length of time. Some of them, perhaps most of them, are funny. Some are serious. Some are heartbreaking. I admit to a touch of being a lore geek, and it was wonderful being allowed a peek into the irreverent or hopeful or sad heads of Jaina Proudmoore, Thrall, or Stalvan Mistmantle. It is idiosyncratic little touches like this that make WoW hopelessly fun to play, and it is my fondest wish that whatever person at Blizzard who thought this up is pulled off whatever they're doing right now and chained to a desk until they come up with more stuff like this.So, if you don't do anything else with your time between patch 3.02 hitting and Wrath going live...level up fishing so you can fish in the Dalaran fountain. But don't read any further if you're not interested in Wrath spoilers, because there are a few here...
Guildwatch: "10 guilds kicked me in a row"
The above screenshot is a little hard to read, and for that we apologize. But it comes from Diablo of Stormscale -- apparently they had a healer who /afked in the middle of a raid for about 30 minutes, and when he got switched out of the raid for a Resto Shaman got a little testy. He says he's going to go do his dailies while he adds up the "pros and cons" of staying with the guild, and the GM solves his problem fast: "Here's the con." /gkick.We have to admire that kind of quick decision making. After the break, more stories of guild drama and woe, and some good news, too -- downed reports and recruiting notices. Make sure to send in any guild news you see to wowguildwatch@gmail.com, and click the link to see this week's GW.
Tank Talk: The irresistible fight
Tank Talk is WoW Insider's raid-tanking column, promising you an exciting and educational look at the world of getting the stuffing thrashed out of you in a 10- or 25-man raid. The column will be rotated amongst Matthew Rossi (Warrior/Paladin), Adam Holisky (Warrior), Michael Gray (Paladin), and Allison Robert (Druid). Our aim is to use this column to debate and discuss class differences, raid-tanking strategies, tips, tricks, and news concerning all things meatshieldish. Since Tank Talk began, we've gotten a few questions from people about raid fights that require tanks to use resist gear. With all of Burning Crusade's raid attunements now removed, and with lots of guilds testing the waters in Tier 5 and Tier 6 before Wrath hits, I figure now's as good a time as any to discuss what resist sets you're going to want if your guild is intent on progression. The resist gear issue is nowhere near as dire as it was in vanilla WoW (Molten Core, anyone?) and in general the raid as a whole rarely needs to worry.Tanks are special. But you knew that already, didn't you?This guide covers all of the existing 10-man and 25-man content in the game outside of Sunwell Plateau:
Guildwatch: The Robin Hood of Gurubashi
Now that's a good looking website. There aren't many around, and while, sure, you don't really need a great looking website as a guild (it's probably better to actually be downing bosses ingame than building resources outside of it), a good-looking website doesn't hurt when getting your guildies excited about being a part of the group.Lots more guilds and websites (including the drama, downing and recruiting news you're here for) in this week's GW, which starts right after the jump. Don't forget to send us your tips at wowguildwatch@gmail.com -- whether it's your guild or someone else's, we want to hear about it here!
Tank Talk: Do you feel lucky, punk?
Tank Talk is WoW Insider's new raid-tanking column, promising you an exciting and educational look at the world of getting the stuffing thrashed out of you in a 10- or 25-man raid. The column will be rotated amongst Matthew Rossi (Warrior/Paladin), Adam Holisky (Warrior), Michael Gray (Paladin), and myself (Druid). Our aim is to use this column to debate and discuss class differences, raid-tanking strategies, tips, tricks, and news concerning all things meatshieldish. At least, that's what the others said they were doing. I intend to use it mostly as a soapbox to complain. Absolute power tends to......something something.Welcome to Tank Talk. I am your bear Druid hostess for this week, with a topic that occurred to me while reading a recent article here on the site. Eliah Hecht wrote that his guild is facing a not-uncommon tank shortage and that he has considered the possibility of leveling a tanking class to 70 before Wrath, or tanking on a Death Knight afterwards. A number of people on my server and in my guild have talked about doing the same thing, or switching mains once Wrath hits. With so many people playing Death Knights, I think it's very possible that more people will discover they enjoy -- or at least, don't mind -- tanking, and may seek to do so in a raid environment without necessarily knowing what they've really signed up for. From those of us who have tanked raid content in vanilla WoW or BC, here are the 10 questions you'll want to ask yourself if you're considering the possibility of tanking serious raid content:
Guildwatch: "Makes it sound like Teapot Dome up in here"
Menzoberranzan on Tichondrious-H decided recently that after a spat of drama, they were going to go on hiatus until Wrath, so their GL cooked up this video to show off some of the highlights of the guild. Most of it is just a slideshow of screenshots (so we're using it as the header shot this week), but jump up to 7:19, because there's some funny kids dancing.Lots (and I mean lots) of drama in the GW this week (including the "corrupt loot council" that spawned that gem of a title), so make sure to click the link below to read it all. And don't forget to send your own tips in -- wowguildwatch@gmail.com is the email address. We want your downed, drama, and recruiting news, so send it all.
Why Mount Hyjal and Black Temple attunements still matter
The dust has settled on most of the servers, and the Fury of the Sunwell has been a success across the board. One of the lingering issues however is attunement. It has been noted before that Onyxia is now the hardest attunement in the game. This has occurred with the removal of the Karazhan, Black Temple, and Mount Hyjal attunements. However this creates a false impression that these instances are no longer worthy of attunements, and thus these quests are no longer worthy of the care and time that's necessary to push forward into them.You want to get your Vashj and Kael vials, you want to complete your Mount Hyjal attunement, and you want to complete your Black Temple attunement. If you're in a guild that isn't running those instances anymore and is focusing squarely on the Tier 6 content, then you still want to go back and get the attunements. Why?I'm glad you asked.
Picking apart the patch for Tabula Rasa 1.6
Ever since patch 1.6 dropped, we've been diving back into Tabula Rasa, milking that sweet sweet experience modifier for everything it's worth. Scanning the air-waves though, we've been hearing about a few wonky things from the patch. Nothing big, mind you, and nothing serious. Just a few things that have stuck out to players that any enterprising player would probably be keen on knowing. Blades now do physical damage with their alt attack. - Players in general chat have been emphatic about this one, noting how the Spy's alt attack (hitting F while wielding a blade) still does type damage, and not physical damage as promised. Evidently, this is already being looked at. Powerful Kael can now leap long distances in pursuit of their target. They do not utilize this at close range, but will do so to prevent their enemies from escaping. - Be prepared to be a little frightened by this one. Kael have gotten a fairly substantial buff. Kael used to be big brutes who you could kite around and destroy with a pistol, but with this and the addition of a new stun attack, they will close distance in a blink and make quick work of you. The only circumstance where you cannot interrupt a reload is when you manually reload a weapon that still has some ammo left in it. - With this thread as our witness, this is not true. You can still interrupt a manual reload. For our money, this seems like a good bug to keep in - who wants to die while reloading? All in all, a pretty good patch with some neat new tricks and no game breaking unfun.
Why is Kael a bad guy again?
A few days ago, Allison posed an interesting question: Why is Kael a bad guy? The answer is pretty clear to me, there's a definite path you can follow to Kael's corruption and downfall. It isn't very well laid out for you in the World of Warcraft, there's some connect-the-dots you need to do, but I think the answer is there. Be warned, there are some spoilers for patch 2.4 ahead, so be careful if you're trying to dodge them.As Allison detailed, a lot of things had happened in Kael'thas's life just prior to Warcraft III, and during it. The captain of the football team steals his girl, kills his pops, and massacres the people of Quel'Thalas. Dalaran gets destroyed, and the remnants of his people are slowly falling into sickness for unknown reasons. Despite this, Kael'thas forges ahead and steps up to lead his people and protect them, no matter what it takes. This may mean allying himself with the remnants of Lordaeron, the people who indirectly caused the fall of Quel'thalas. This may mean allying with the Lady Vashj and the naga, described by Allison as "vicious," despite being what they are. For the good of Quel'Thalas and the Sindorei, anything goes.
Why is Kael a bad guy?
Lore-wise, I can't say I understand the direction they've taken with a number of characters from classic Warcraft games in BC, but I suppose that's the reason that the term "lorelol" was coined in the first place. Mike Schramm's pointed out that the canon can probably take the abuse, but there's one character in particular whose upcoming story arc kind of appalls me.If you're trying to stay unspoiled for patch 2.4 -- why are you reading WoW Insider anyway? -- I'll slap the rest behind a cut.
Magisters' Terrace Walkthrough
Yesterday I was able to get my warrior copied over to the PTR. I proceeded to head up to the new 5 man instance, Magisters' Terrace, and see what it was all about. Its a pretty cool place over all. It feels a lot like the Blood Elf city, and has a couple cool encounters. Including Kalecgos!Of course to get to the Terrace you first have to have your character copied over to the PTR. For a little while, Blizzard was letting new people through. But lately it seems that the PTR character copy queue is again backed up.Take a look after the break for lots of pictures of the place, a good walk through, and my first impressions of each boss fight.
Patch 2.4: Hyjal and Black Temple attunements removed
Blizzard announced the following important four lines in their 2.4 Patch Notes: Players will no longer require an attunement quest to enter Hyjal. Players will no longer require an attunement quest to enter the Black Temple. Players who have completed the attunement quests for Black Temple and Hyjal will be granted the title of "Hand of A'dal". You may now fight Prince Kael'thas and Lady Vashj without first killing all the other bosses in their respective dungeons. I have to say, despite the difficulty of Vashj and Kael'Thas, I am quite surprised to find that Blizzard has removed the attunement requirements from Patch 2.4. Naxx, Blackwing Lair, and even Molten Core still require people to become attuned. Now seemingly, two of the hardest and most revered raids do not. While the removal of the attunement is obviously a way to get more people to see their new raid zone, the Sunwell Plateau, all is not golden. Many, many, many raiding guilds and players who have already made the brutal trek through Vashj and Kael will be quite upset. On the other hand players who are not yet able to, but perhaps ready for, the first few bosses of MH and BT, will undoubtedly rejoice.What are your opinions of this change? How do you think it will affect the raiding landscape?
How to stop Vashj and Kael from destroying your guild
Last week our own Marcie Knox pointed out in her Ready Check column the daunting task that's given to raiders when they face Lady Vashj and Kael'Thas Sunstrider. These two bosses have earned their reputation as a guild killer, and are some of the hardest encounters in the game. While there is a plethora of information out there on how to defeat the technical aspects of the fights, very little is written on the social aspects these fights give us. Examining what can be done to keep a group of raiders together during this difficult time is critical to success.Lets take a brief look at why these two encounters are so difficult. When it comes down to it, Blizzard is testing our ability to deal with two different skill sets. The first being immediate and unknown change, and that comes with Vashj during phase two and three: which side will the Naga spawn, where will the Tainted Element appear, how many times is your main tank going to get rooted and bat poison dropped on him, which way will the tanks need to drag the Naga around to avoid getting the melee cleaved, etc... On the flip side to Vashj's unknown factors exists Kael'Thas. Kael is definitely a scripted encounter. We know what order the advisers are going to come up in, we know (sans gaze) where they'll go, we know what Kael will do when he reaches 50%, and we know what order we need to get the weapons down. This fight is all about repetition of a scripted encounter.
Guildwatch: Fish food
I don't know what Vashj did to you guys, but there must have been something, because she is getting dropped more and more often lately. Nobody likes the Naga, I guess. And Kael is pretty much shaking in his boots-- nearly every guild that has downed Vashj is throwing him angry looks for being next.This week's GW starts right after the jump-- click the link below to check the week's drama, downed and recruiting news, all tipped to us by you, dear readers. If you have news for Guildwatch (especially drama, because who doesn't like that?), send it along to wowguildwatch@gmail.com. Enjoy!
Ready Check: Breaking through Kael'Thas Sunstrider
Ready Check is a new weekly column focusing on successful raiding for the serious raider. Hardcore or casual, everyone feels good about a boss kill. Get your questions answered and turn those dreaded repair bills into epic loots.Kael has an infamous reputation among the raiding community. If someone made a t-shirt with the classic phrase "work is a four letter word" and replaced "work" with "Kael," I would quickly buy two shirts. Many people feel the same way about this Prince of the Blood Elves when they are stuck on him. He is the gatekeeper to the paradise of epics that lies in Hyjal and the Black Temple and is considered the wall that separates the serious raiding guilds from the endgame raiding guilds. In order to defeat him, it takes hard work, excellent communication and coordination, and lots and lots of wiping. The goal of this article is to shorten the learning curve with this boss and get over the hump quickly, before raiders start to get the dreaded "burnout." On average it takes most guilds about a month to kill Kael.
