naxxaramas
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Thaddius encounter recreated in StarCraft II
Ever wonder what happens to raid bosses when they get bored? For Thaddius, it seems he has been spending some time moonlighting over in StarCraft II. While he was there, it also seems like he's picked up a few more tricks and upgraded his armor. After all, Naxxramas was only a setback! IIam4 used Thaddius as an inspiration for his entry into the custom ability contest on SC2Mapster by recreating his Polarity Shift. While he was recreating this ability, he also decided to add a few new features of his own. Shocking Grasp A random target will be paralyzed and take damage over time. If any other unit comes within range of the afflicted unit, Shocking Grasp will jump. This can create a chain reaction. Spawn Volatile Spark Two volatile sparks are spawned, serving as summoned adds that should be DPSed down right away. These abilities combine to create a very interesting and creative boss battle using the StarCraft II editor. The amount of micromanagement required to keep all of your units alive adds a nice level of complexity to the boss encounter. I personally like that Thaddius is a giant Maruader unit. This video is a nice showcase of the tools that were available even in the beta and exactly what could be done with enough motivation. StarCraft II is set to release on July 27, 2010. While I'm absolutely certain it will be a fantastic game in its own rights, I can't help but wonder if we will see any more player-created World of Warcraft crossovers with the tools that are shipping with SC2. Can you imagine a campaign where the end boss is casting Defile while you try to micromanage all of your units safely around it? How about navigating your troops into position for a Shatter or managing Burning Adrenaline. Maybe a little Doomfire for good measure! This could bring a whole new level of fun to Tower Defense and Mastermind-style game mods! So, if you could recreate any one boss or ability from WoW in a StarCraft II fight, what boss would it be?
Phat Loot Phriday: Digested Hand of Power
Now this is a real offhand! The stats aren't so great, but wait until the next expansion -- surely the most disgusting item in the game will get a nice upgrade, right?Name: Digested Hand of PowerType: Epic Offhand Hand (Ha! Wowhead, Thottbot, Armory)Damage/Speed: N/AAbilities: +10 Stamina, +14 Intellect. Restores 10 mana per 5 seconds. Which isn't great in this day and age, but was pretty nice back at 60, when this thing first came out. But don't worry -- considering that Naxx will be updated, chances are that either the stats will change or that we'll see another version of this one. Looks like, well, a disembodied, digested hand. And considering who did the digesting, yeah -- that's pretty gross. But here's what I'd like to know: whose hand is it? How to Get It: Drops from Gluth, the Abomination boss in Naxxaramas. He's not very appetizing at all, though I don't think he's quite as disgusting as the Abominations in the Undead side of Stratholme -- those guys are really gross. Still, Gluth is no pushover.And as you probably already know, Naxxaramas is being retooled to work as one of the first endgame dungeons in Wrath of the Lich King, which means Gluth will likely find new life, and hopefully his loot along with him. Right now, this offhand (Ha! again) gets dropped at around 15%, though of course we have no idea how the new version of the loot will work.Getting Rid of It: Sells for 9g 13s 52c, and disenchants into a Nexus Crystal (remember those?). Here's hoping we'll see this baby again in the future -- in fact, let's shake on it.
Changes to old Azeroth coming in the next expansion
In the last expansion, all we did was walk through a portal and find a new world -- the old one was left pretty much unchanged overall. But in this coming expansion, Blizzard has made it pretty clear that almost nothing is off limits -- Northrend is getting added to Azeroth, and we're not traveling across space to get there. And considering that Arthas' story echoes throughout almost all of the old world (and that the whole thing is named after him), things are definitely going to change once Northrend appears on the world map.So we've put together a gallery of just what will be different about the old world after the Wrath of the Lich King comes upon us. To be fair, some are set in stone (we know for sure that Naxxaramas is exiting stage left for a bigger part later), and some are little more than speculation (Uther played a huge part in Arthas' life, so his tomb seems like a good stage for an event at some point), but odds are that by the time we've all reached level 80, all of these places in Old Azeroth will look very different.%Gallery-25018%
The best of WoW Insider: April 15-22, 2008
When news (or your graphics card) breaks in the World of Warcraft, Joystiq's sister site WoW Insider is right there to pick up the pieces. The image above is actually a bad graphics card, but doesn't it look like a mix of Azeroth and The Matrix? Check out more glitchy images in the Around Azeroth link below, and hit any of the links to see the best posts in the past week of WoW Insider. News New Wrath of the Lich King screenshots leakedEventually they were all found to be from the beta at Blizzcon, but here's the biggest look we have at the expansion so far. Outland Reputation BattlegearLoved by NPCs in Outland? Go get your free gear! This comprehensive gallery shows you what's what and where. Bornakk hints that Tier 3 might be removed from the gameNaxxaramas, the last major raid pre-expansion, is moving to Northrend and getting retuned. Does that mean the Tier 3 gear in there is disappearing? Brutal ratings requirement for Brutal Gladiator items?Rumor has it that season 4 gear will have an even steeper ratings requirement than previous Arena seasons. Why PvE has been, and always will be, the only real gameOr why, PvP, popular as it is, will always have to play second fiddle to the real World of Warcraft. Features WoW, Casually: Finding groups fastQuick ways to get yourself in a group, whatever you'd like to do. Guildwatch: We're $#*&ing good at this game, tooOur guild drama and news column has some good stories in it this week, including a Vent recording that can't be missed. Ready Check: BrutallusOur raiding column takes on the big ugly monster in the Sunwell Plateau. Spiritual Guidance: Thirteen dos and don'ts of a holy raiding priestSpiritual Guidance, the priest column, makes its triumphant return, now hosted by blogger Matticus. And he starts up with a good advice column for anyone raiding. Around Azeroth: GlitchstravaganzaGlitches everywhere! Players send in some of their weirdest screenshots of all time.
WoW Insider Show live tomorrow afternoon on WoW Radio
The WoW Insider Show returns to the virtual airwaves tomorrow afternoon at 3:30pm EST as usual, and this show is going to be a good one: not only will Turpster and I be on, but Eliah Hecht (he of the great Death Knight review posted recently) will appear via voice, as will the one and only Matthew Rossi. And we'll be chatting about all the news in the last week of Warcraft, including but not limited to that silly rabbit who tried to trick the GMs, Naxx maybe going bye-bye, and Chilton's nonsense about nostalgia.And we'll be answering your questions and queries as well -- you can email the show at theshow@wow.com, or just join us live in IRC over at irc.mmoirc.com. Listen live tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 pm EST over on WoW Radio -- with Rossi and Hecht on, it's sure to be a barnburner.
Naxx will be entry level raid dungeon in WotLK
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Naxx_will_be_entry_level_raid_dungeon_in_WotLK'; Bornakk, who apparently looks like Abe Lincoln, has revealed that Naxx will be an "entry level raid dungeon" in Wrath of the Lich King, and EU CM Vaneras adds that unlike Kael'thas (who exists in two places at once ingame), it will be moving whole hog up to Northrend -- the 40 man dungeon that we have now will no longer exist.Very interesting. Unfortunately, we're not quite clear on what "entry level" means -- it seems unlikely that Naxx would be a level 71 dungeon (or that there will be any "raid dungeons" before level 80 at all). And the fact that he uses the word "raid" definitely means it's either 10 or 25man, then, though whether it will be the new Karazhan or Gruul remains to be seen. Bornakk also says that attunement isn't solidified yet -- a lot of players are hoping that all that Argent Dawn rep doesn't go to waste, but he says it's a matter of balancing "special quest lines" with opening up content to many players.Finally, the Ashbringer gets a mention -- apparently it will be discussed in the next Blizzcast. It's great to finally be hearing some official information about Wrath of the Lich King, vague as it may be. Hopefully there's lots more to come, sooner rather than later. %Gallery-20386% Check out more information on WoW's upcoming expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, including Blizzard's recent interview about Northrend and the new creatures that infest of Northrend.
No attunement for the new Naxx (and counting your chickens before they hatch)
When Byrthor asks whether folks attuned for the old Naxx will be attuned for it when it returns in Wrath, Drysc answers with what will sound like music to most raiders' ears: there is no attunement planned for the new Naxx. Blizzard learned their lesson in Burning Crusade about wacky attunements, and so while they're likely not gone from the game completely, there will probably be fewer barriers to raiding, especially early on in progression.There is something else about this thread that irks me a bit, however. In the past day, the CMs have been hit with tons of questions about Wrath of the Lich King, and in almost all cases, the answer has been the same: maybe. Why don't they know what's going on? Because all indications are, guys, that Wrath hasn't even been designed yet. Blizzard hasn't determined if Atiesh will show up, or if flying mounts will work, or if we'll each get our own Arthas windup doll, because the expansion is still way into the planning stages. It's fine to be ready for 2.2, or excited about 2.3, or interested in what we might see in the Sunwell. But if you're excited to find out what's in the next expansion, have a seat and take a deep breath, because it's going to be a long, long time before the CMs can even know anything worth not telling us. Ya dig?That said, I can't fault players for being excited about upcoming content, no matter how far off it is. But it does make me wonder about Blizzard's focus. They could just as easily had us playing Zul'Aman or even the Sunwell at BlizzCon-- both of those will show up long before Northrend will. With Wrath so far away, why did they push it so hard at BlizzCon? Why didn't they just announce it, and leave the rest of the hype to something we'll actually see before the Beijing Olympics?
Atiesh and the new Naxx
Considering that Kel'Thuzad is basically "the boss of shipping WoW" (according to Metzen at BlizzCon), then Atiesh, the Legendary caster item that once belonged to Medivh, is the greatest item in levels 1-60. But we're at level 70 now, and when we get to level 80, Atiesh, a Legendary item, might end up looking more like a stick than anything else. So Asheen asks, knowing that Naxx is set to be "repurposed" for our trip to Northrend: will Atiesh make a return?It's a cool idea. Bornakk says, "Maybe." There are a few tangles in the plan: currently, Atiesh requires a trip to C'thun in AQ to get the base (I believe because Brann Bronzebeard put it there), which is a 40 man raid that most guilds don't want to bother with. And of course the stats would need some updating-- it's a nice staff, but not exactly a Legendary level 80 any more. And finally, the staff provides a portal to Karazhan, and at level 80, will that really be as amazing as it used to be?Bornakk also says the lore needs to be set in place, but that's a copout-- Blizzard can do whatever they want (what if the Kirin Tor decided to repurpose Atiesh and combined it with a new base that didn't need to come from AQ40?). But the biggest issue with bringing back Atiesh is that there's so many other good items that could just replace it. Medivh's staff is hardly the most important item in the game any more, and as Bornakk points out, even though Medivh had great power, it didn't necessarily all come from his staff.I can't wait to see Naxx's new purpose in WotLK, but there are too many old items floating around for Blizzard to worry about updating. I'd rather see new legendaries, and maybe even some artifacts, come out of the new Naxx and Northrend.
Death and Taxes 5-mans Loatheb
Our Guild of the Year for 2006, Death and Taxes, hasn't wasted any time in 2007, either. At a time when most guild are trying to keep their raiding numbers up, D&T doesn't bother-- they just go in with less people. And now, reports Curse, they've downed Loatheb with just five people-- three shadow priests, a warlock specced with Nether Protection (or maybe not, see comments), and a warrior.The official announcement is over on their forums. They don't say specifics on attempts or how long it took them, but apparently they've got 15 gigs of video from FRAPS on the kill. That means, of course, that a video is coming soon, but as one of the guys says, we probably don't need to see a video to know what happened: "Just imagine a shadowbolt and 3 blue lines flying in the air for 40 minutes."
