Stormreaver
Latest
Know Your Lore: Garona: A Study on Stealth and Treachery, part 1
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 stories of battle and victory have always been told, and in the past, it was up to the leaders of each assault to document the past. While fine leaders in war, these chieftains lacked the ability to convey those actions with written words. I present as an example: "Thok go through shiny hole. Then me fall down, but me good. Me find many good things to eat. We find village. We mash them and eat their food. Thok stop now. Head hurt from write." The fact that I am of both Orc and Human lineage, combined with the skills and schooling I have acquired from my journeys, has elevated me to the position I now hold. As chief interpreter to the Shadow Council, the duty of preserving the accounts of our conquering of this world and the eventual crusade into the land of Humanity, has fallen now upon my shoulders. I, Garona, now humbly present that history. . . -- The Destiny of the Orcish Hordes What kind of terror courses through you when your body will not respond to the thoughts in your mind? Garona Halforcen was originally introduced in Warcraft: Orcs & Humans. Throughout the course of the story, Garona continually referred to herself as half human. Garona's heritage was something that had been brought into question on more than one occasion in Warcraft lore. Since humans hadn't been seen on Draenor at that point in time, how could Garona be a full-grown half-orc by the time the Horde stepped through the Dark Portal? Garona's life was relatively lonely on Draenor. She spent most of it traveling and learning the culture of the orcs. This caught the attention of the Shadow Council, which marveled at her intelligent and cunning. Judging her an invaluable asset, they recruited her as Gul'dan's personal spy and assassin. Despite her standing, she was still vastly alone; as a half-orc, she held no particular allegiance to any clan. It wasn't until she arrived on Azeroth with the rest of the orcs that her keen intelligence and mixed blood came into play.
Exploring Eberron: Soupdance!
Although my wife doesn't know it yet, if we ever have another child, there's now a very real chance that we're going to call him or her Brawnpits, after my new favorite character in DDO. I think our entire group became enamoured with that name, but can you blame us? I don't think you can, especially after you meet Mr. or Ms. Pits (I have a theory it's a "she") in the first quest of the new Phiarlan Carnival chain that came in Update 5. On Wednesday night, our Massively DDO guild OnedAwesome set aside time to conquer this module, mostly because I was bouncing on the tips of my toes saying, "Can we? Please? Please? Pleeeeeeease?" until everyone capitulated just to shut me up. One of the things I love about DDO is that these newer quests are pretty innovative and varied, and I don't think you can get much different than a thespian giant, an illusionary pig, and toilets that double as rest shrines. Let's take a quick trip through the first two chapters of The Maleficent Cabal quest chain to see if it's worth your time -- and money. I say it is, if only to experience the majesty and jaw-dropping awe that is soupdance.
PTR Notes: The first four bosses of Mount Hyjal
The lucky ducks of the guild Impervious on Stormreaver had a fun night on the public test realm Tuesday. With the help of a GM, they faced the first four bosses of Mount Hyjal. The GM deathtouched two of the bosses at a certain percent so that Impervious could test the next fight. The first boss, Rage Winterchill, is a lich with a Death & Decay spell. Impervious got him to 30 percent before the GM deathtouched him. He dropped some resto shaman bracers and rogue boots. Anetheron is a dreadlord whose abilities include Carrion Swarm, which hits for 6k and reduces healing done by 75 percent for 15 seconds; Vampiric Aura, which causes him and his adds to get 300 percent healing from melee damage done; and Inferno, which summons infernals pretty much constantly throughout the fight. Impervious got him to 50 percent before the GM asked them to move on (sorry, no deathtouch and therefore no loots.) Next up was Kaz'Rogal, a nasty-looking Kazzak thing with an interesting ability: he mana drains you for 600 periodically, and if you don't have enough mana, you take 10k damage. This ability gets sped up as the fight goes on, so it looks like you have to burn him down fast. According to Impervious, they actually did kill this boss on their own on the second attempt, receiving a nice healing mace and a tanking shield. However, they did get a bit of help from the lovely giant Tauren Flaskataur, who sold them a ton of consumables including the Flask of Flaskocity (I am not making this up.) The final boss Impervious faced was the pit lord Azgalor. Azgalor was sort of a hyped-up warlock -- he had a Rain of Fire, a Howl of Terror, and some sort of Curse of Doom-like thing that spawns a Doomguard upon your death. His aggro was highly tetchy, so Impervious called it a night and went to bed.
EU Server Transfers Announced
Thundgot has announced upcoming server transfers and new transfer-only realms to be introduced over the next month. These are still subject to change, but hopefully will give EU players an idea of what to expect.April 17th - 21st Shattered Hand and Ragnaros --> Frostmane (new realm) Bladefist and Daggerspine --> Outland (new realm) April 24th - 28th Warsong and Skullcrusher --> Stonemaul (new realm) Burning Legion and Stormscale --> Grim Batol (new realm) May 1st - 5th Dragonmaw and Spinebreaker --> (to be decided) Burning Blade and Stormreaver --> (to be decided) May 8th - 12th Zenedar and Ravencrest --> (to be decided) Dunemaul and Deathwing --> (to be decided)
