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Know Your Lore: Lore summed up part 6 - Cataclysm Ends
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. Let's be up front about this. The Cataclysm was Deathwing himself. The events were the result of Deathwing's assault on the world of Azeroth - his eruption from Deepholm, his rampage through the Twilight Highlands, his summoning of Ragnaros into Mount Hyjal, the machinations of his minions. Deathwing, in all his rampaging insanity, was exactly what he claimed he was. He was the end of the world, and had he not been stopped, Azeroth would be no more. From the Twilight Highlands to the depths of Vashj'ir, the events Deathwing set in motion unraveled the world. Let's look over the world, cast our eyes from the jagged peaks of Hyjal to the submerged depths of Vashj'ir, descend into Deepholm and then comb the deserts of Uldum for answers to the question - what did the mad dragon want? Why did his Twilight's Hammer erect their bastion in the Twilight Highlands, where the Maw of Iso'rath erupted from the very soil? The old gods seemed on the verge of their ancient goal, thanks to Deathwing.
Back in my day, it was all about patch 1.2
Patch 5.2 this, patch 5.2 that! Back in my day, we had real patches. Or rather, we had the very first content patch for the game -- patch 1.2. Daily quest hubs? Dailies didn't even exist back then. No, you got a dungeon -- a single dungeon -- and you liked it. And there was none of this silly heroic nonsense, either. All we needed was someplace to run in and smash a few centaur and we were perfectly happy. But seriously, it's actually kind of odd to think about, because I remember that very first patch with utter clarity. It was still 2004, less than a month after the game itself had been released -- and I had just gotten the hang of playing a druid, more or less. Well, I figured out what talent points were for, anyway. Hint: It wasn't just the game congratulating me for leveling up. I was such a noob back then.
Know Your Lore: Cataclysm lore for Dummies, Act I
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. Are you super familiar with Warcraft lore? Can you name all the dragon aspects, what they were created for, where they got their powers? Do you have a working definition of the Dragon Soul, what it is, what its other name is, and why it's important? Do you know who Sinestra was before she was a torn-up, reanimated corpse in the bottom of the Bastion of Twilight? Are you related to the Red Shirt Guy? Are you the Red Shirt Guy? Then this post is likely not for you. But if you've been running the Raid Finder like a fiend, killing dragons and elementals and minions left and right, and suddenly found yourself wondering why, exactly, you were fighting in Wyrmrest Temple, this is for you. If you're wondering why Thrall is suddenly pals with the Dragon Aspects, this is for you. If you're wondering why exactly Deathwing is such a huge major threat and what's with all this running around you have to do, this one is for you. Let's take a quick sweep through the entirety of Cataclysm and recap what's happened. Better yet, let's sum up.
WoW Archivist: World of Warcraft patch 1.2
The WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? What secrets does the game still hold? If you enjoyed Patches of Yesteryear, you're going to love this. Patch 1.2 was World of Warcraft's very first post-release content patch, way back in December of 2004. It was officially released on Dec. 18, less than a month after the release of the game. Patch 1.2's crown jewel was Maraudon, the first instance ever added to the game after its launch. You may all hate Maraudon now, but back in 2004, that twisty hellhole was the cat's pajamas. Patch 1.2 also included: Winter Veil The ability to turn off your helm and cloak A nerf to Daze The Great Kodo Nerf of '04 Let's dust off the patch 1.2 tome together, shall we?
WoW TCG: War of the Elements worldwide release April 26
Cryptozoic has just announced that War of the Elements, the first WoW TCG Worldbreaker expansion, will be released worldwide on April 26, 2011. The expansion is being released in four languages at the same time around the world, a first for the trading card game. War of the Elements also features loot cards, as usual, for WoW players to redeem cool pets, mounts, and other in-game items from WoW TCG cards. War of the Elements will include Landros' Lichling, Fool's Gold, and the Savage Raptor mount. War of the Elements will also feature two new dragonflights: the bronze and blue flights, with respective leaders Nozdormu and Kalecgos. What is interesting is that the TCG has solidified Metzen's statement that Kalecgos would become the new leader of the Blue Dragonflight and plays up the importance of these two flights in the coming patches and content in Cataclysm. %Gallery-119621%
WoW Rookie: A primer on Cataclysm reputations
There are eight new reputation factions in Cataclysm. Six of those reputations are available to the Alliance or Horde, respectively. Each of those factions offers different items or gear to adventurers who work their way through the reputations. Many offer epic gear to players who have achieved exalted reputation. You can pick up well over 1,000 reputation by wearing each faction's tabard into a level 85 dungeon; heroic dungeons grant a little more, of course. Some factions have daily quests that will help you fly through the ranks even faster. But the tough part can be deciding which reputations to work on first. Let's take a tour of those factions and see what kind of epics or notable gear is offered by each. If you see something that's especially appropriate to your class or role, that's probably a good hint that you should start there.
Cataclysm Daily Quests, Part 2: Deepholm and Therazane
This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. Welcome back to our Cataclysm Daily Quest Guide series! In Part 1: Daily basics and profession dailies, we went over the basics of daily quests and why to do them, and we reviewed the Stormwind and Orgrimmar profession dailies. This time, let's delve into the dailies targeted at high-level players, beginning in the very depths of the elemental plane of earth: Deepholm.
Lichborne: Pre-heroic Cataclysm gear for DPS death knights
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. Join World of Warcraft's first hero class as we head into a new expansion and shed the new kid on the block label. Now that Cataclysm's been out for around a week, a lot of us have managed to hit level 85, with more dinging every day. Now that you're 85, though, what do you do? If this were Wrath, you'd grab a few reputation or BoE blues, hit the minimum ilevel for heroics, and start queueing. In theory, you could do that for Cataclysm -- but to be honest, you'd probably fail hard. Dungeons are tough, and you won't have dudes in tier gear to drag you through. Almost everyone's going to be just about the same for the next few months: complete newbies who are still trying to get raid groups together and still trying to learn new rotations and stat weights for level 85. With that in mind, there is one thing you can do to give yourself an edge in heroics: Gear up. This week, we're going to look at various dungeon, quest, and reputation drops to find the stuff that'll do the best job at getting you ready for heroic dungeon runs. I've put the better stuff near the top of the list, though sometimes the second or third choice may be better for you based on your stat needs or spec. I have mentioned justice point items in these lists with the understanding that a lot of us stockpiled 4,000 justice points at the end of Wrath, and you can earn justice points for normal dungeons in the random dungeon finder. That said, don't feel like you need to stay in normal dungeons until you grab all the justice point gear. Just pick up some of the second or third choices and get to heroics, where you'll earn those points a bit faster.
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Cataclysm gear guide -- factions
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. Well, what do they say about plans and contact with the enemy? This week, I'd fully intended to write a Cataclysm 101 guide for prot warriors, but then Cataclysm actually happened and I immediately spent the time as fury. Since I'm going to start working on leveling my prot warrior soon as I get the fury to 85 (which I should have done by the time you read this) the protection 101 will be next week. This week, as I've been flitting around trying to decide which factions to grind rep with for which rewards, I've decided to share all that musing with you. Also I've been kind of running around like a chicken going 'woah' a lot, but you probably didn't need to know that. Yes, I was in the beta. I was in the beta on a four year old computer. Playing the expansion on a new machine has even my jaded warrior heart all aflutter. So far, I've kept my T10 pieces for the 2 set bonuses, which are boring but compelling (the two piece is now just all physical damage increased by 5%, while the four piece is all damage, period) but with Deepholm gear dropping I expect I'll be dumping set fairly soon. I've more or less replaced almost all my non set gear with blues and greens. So here's a sampling of the factions I'm looking at and the gear and arcanums they offer.
Cataclysm 101: Zone and instance progression
If you're sitting there at your keyboard right now violently coveting your upcoming Cataclysm experience and daydreaming of all the places you'll go, we here at WoW Insider would like nothing better than to aid and abet you in your wacky escapades. And since Cataclysm is launching on International Matthew Rossi's Birthday, who better to help you figure out where you intend to stream like an unstoppable torrent of locusts? Well, there may be lots of better options, but I'm doing it anyway. Cataclysm has several new zones to experience and quite a few new dungeons to crawl through. Let's take a look, shall we?
Spiritual Guidance: Professions for healing priests in Cataclysm
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Spiritual Guidance for discipline, holy and shadow priests. Dawn Moore covers healing for discipline and holy priests and is trying to find a good recipe for Lamingtons. Is everyone excited? How about anxious or intimidated? Cataclysm comes out tonight at midnight, and by tomorrow afternoon, everything will be different. Before you know it, there will be level 85 priests running about your respective realms and spam requests in trade chat for Inferno Rubies. Everyone's priorities are about to change -- but for now, we're still in the calm before the storm. In this calm, I though I'd focus on professions for priests. There have been a lot of small changes to professions that I think we need to give some attention before we get further invested in them. Plus, the start of the expansion is when professions get the most use, what with all that new, easily accessible gear. Let's get started.
The OverAchiever: Reputation factions in Cataclysm
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. This week, we find ourselves the designated butt-monkey of several new factions. Hello again, fellow achievement-hunters. This week we're going to finish up with a look at the new reputation factions available in Cataclysm and a quick look at new world events. "There aren't any new world events," you point out. That's what makes it so quick. Although this goes without saying in any article discussing new achievements, there are a few spoilers in here discussing how you meet and work with various Cataclysm factions. If you'd rather stay unspoiled about upcoming quests, don't go past the cut. 45 Exalted Reputations This is now the highest reputation-related achievement in the game. Interestingly, there is not a new title associated with it; you'll still receive The Exalted at 40 Exalted Reputations, although it's possible that it's just a placeholder. Then again, if you already have 40 exalted reputations, getting 45 should be very simple during Cataclysm, as there'll be at least six new reputation factions available. I'm not sure a new title's going to be in the cards as a result.
Cataclysm Beta: Reputation rewards revealed
As the beta progresses and we get closer and closer to release, new details continue to pop up over on MMO-Champion. The faction rewards popping up recently should be familiar in concept to anyone who played through Wrath of the Lich King or The Burning Crusade. So far, we have reputation rewards for Therazane the Stonemother in Deepholm, the Baradin Watchers and Hellscream's Reach in Tol Barad, the Wildhammers and Dragonmaw Clan in the Twilight Highlands, and the Ramakhen faction of Tol'vir from Uldum. Right now, all rewards are itemized for Alliance in the case of the Hellscream's Watch and Dragonmaw, but new models and names should come in a later build. While these are not necessarily the complete lists for each faction, you get an idea of what will be available.
Cataclysm Press Event: New lore details revealed
He's not quite dead-dead, only mostly dead, and new information from a Cataclysm press release event confirms it -- Cho'gall is back. The folks over at World of Raids have released a ton of new Cataclysm information including a good chunk of lore info. Here are some of the highlights: Cho'gall is not only alive, he's the last boss in Grim Batol: Bastion of Twilight, the new entry-level raid for the expansion. Upon defeating Cho'gall on heroic mode, the floor beneath you will collapse and you will fall into a cavern of flowing lava that hides a "horrifying secret," according to Lead World Designer Alex Afrasiabi. Uldum was locked away by a Titan mechanic that created a projection of a large, impassible mountain -- the Cataclysm destroyed the machine and opened access to Uldum. Thereazane the Stonemother will be present and involved in a reputation grind similar to the Sons of Hodir. Reports state that one of the bosses in Skywall: Vortex Pinnacle is an elemental lord. Given that Skywall is the Elemental Plane of Air, this can only mean Al'Akir the Windlord. Garrosh is the "acting" Warchief of the Horde. Implying "temporary." Everyone breathe a sigh of relief. The Valley of Wisdom in Orgrimmar is now the Tauren district. Garrosh's stronghold is not in the Valley of Wisdom; it's at the center of Orgrimmar. The Park district in Stormwind has been destroyed, largely because Deathwing wasn't exactly happy about his daughter's head hanging from the rafters. The Forsaken have set up a foothold in Silverpine Forest and have rebuilt many areas, to provide a base of operations for assaulting Gilneas. The current reason for the attacks is because Gilneas is strategically valuable to the Horde. Less of a lore note, more of an immersion note: New music will be added for all of the cities, and a large portion of the game world. Archaeology Plenty to look forward to, but the most interesting change is to the Archaeology profession. Since Path of the Titans is being scrapped, Archaeology is no longer involved with it. Instead, players will use Archaeology to "dig into the lore of the game" as a new vehicle for storytelling purposes. There are two types of "artifacts" players can uncover. The first will be a lore or story artifact, while the second type can reward items -- cosmetic or fun, with the occasional rare useable weapon. Archaeology will not provide any "must-have" items, so those that don't feel like grinding out another secondary profession can skip it entirely. However, it sounds like Blizzard is taking another step towards making the story and lore of the Warcraft world a more interactive experience.
Know Your Lore: Children of the Stonemother -- The elements, part three
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. We've talked about the elemental spirits in general and about those of fire in more depth. This week, we take a look at Therazane the Stonemother and the elementals of earth. Unlike the more active fire elementals, the more erosive water or the quicksilver air elementals, those of earth reflect the solidity of their element. In general, the elemetals of earth tend to be slower to anger and play the middle ground for the other, more energetic elementals. It would be a mistake to assume this makes them placid or unwilling to resort to violence, however. Earth elementals were among the prized soldiers of the Old Gods during their war with the Titans, and to this day, some of their strongest still reside in Azeroth. The earth elementals owe allegiance to Therazane (we can see her name in game on a belt dropped by Nefarian and an off-hand available through old AV purchases). Her daughter, Theradras, seduced Zaetar (the son of Cenarius) and produced the centaur races of Azeroth. She can be found in Maraudon, which is holy ground to the centaur tribes of Desolace. While Therazane is often said to be the most peaceful and loving of the elemental lords, this doesn't mean members of her elemental court don't make trouble in Azeroth from time to time. However, given Therazane's connection to the earth, it's interesting to consider just what her role might actually be in the history of Azeroth. It's often said that Therazane feels pain when the earth and stones are disturbed and that she hates Deathwing for his destructive rampages (and, presumably, out of a rivalry with him, since he is the Titan appointed Aspect of Earth, while she is the Old God summoned Stonemother). This begs the question of Therazane's identity. Is the Stonemother the same entity the tauren refer to as the Earthmother?
Know Your Lore: The Elemental Lords
Welcome to Know Your Lore, where each week Alex Ziebart brings you a tasty little morsel of lore to wrap your mind around. Sweet, sweet lore. Mmmm.In the spirit of the Midsummer Fire Festival, We're going to take a look at the Elemental Lords, one of which was the inspiration for this holiday. The Elemental Lords were originally agents of the Old Gods, and some of their most powerful ones at that. They were used to do little more than sew chaos in Azeroth and keep it in a constant state of disorder.As we know, the Old Gods didn't hold up very well against the Titans and their champion, Sargeras. When the Old Gods were beaten, bloodied, and chained far beneath the earth, their Elemental Lieutenants received similar treatment. All four of them were banished from the plane of mortals, trapped within an Elemenal Plane, where they could cause as much trouble amongst themselves as they wanted without bothering Azeroth.Of course, long after the Pantheon no longer had an active hand on Azeroth, the mortal races did catastrophically dumb things as they usually do and ruined it for everybody.
