thunder-king
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Patch 5.2 reveals a 13-boss raid tier and new scenarios
Revealed details about patch 5.2 lists four new scenarios, Infiltrating the Shipyard, Alliance and Horde versions of Isle of the Thunder King, and To the Skies! The last of these includes a stage called "Mount your Pterrorwing!" This sounds almost ridiculously fun, and all of these scenarios point to heavy Zandalari involvement in the upcoming patch 5.2 content. But, it seems from the information we have so far, the Zandalari are the initial force which must be overcome in order to tackle the true threat. There are also a couple of zones listed which are currently undefined, of which Defense of the Alehouse screams scenario or dungeon. Some new 5-man content would be welcomed! Wowhead has also datamined information on the bosses to be found in the Throne of Thunder, classified as a raid, so presumably the raid zone pictured above. There are currently 13 bosses shown, with varying levels of information currently available for each.
New heirlooms in patch 5.2 resemble the old but bring in the new
Patch 5.2 is thundering down on us this holiday season, bringing a raid, a Thunder King, and all kinds of shenanigans. It even has some great news for those of us who like to level small hordes of alts: new heirloom items! Of course, there's a twist. The new heirlooms like the War-Torn Ancient Bone Bow may superficially look like the old Charmed Ancient Bone Bow, but it's actually a different item. That's perfect in one sense, since the War-Torn Ancient Bone Bow now goes all the way to level 85. But it's a bummer for people who like to collect and save their points, since it means you'll probably have to rebuy it. The Vengeful Heartseeker, Battle-Forged Truesilver Champion, and many others enjoy this treatment in patch 5.2. Granted, this is pretty early in to the PTR cycle. It's entirely possible that Blizzard intends to provide an upgrade path. But you have to spend all those points on something, and heirlooms items have always served as a very effective point sink. I suspect we'll all be buying new heirlooms soon enough.
Know Your Lore: Who is the Thunder King?
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. In light of the news of Patch 5.2, let's take a look at who the Thunder King is. Lei Shen was the first ruler of the mogu, the first to unite his people. In a very real sense he was the first Emperor of what is today Pandaria. He cleverly united the mogu people not merely through force of arms or even powerful magic, but through motivation. He learned the lessons of strength by studying the mantid, and applied the lessons he learned to his own people. It has been written that when the great Lei Shen first looked upon the lands of the mantid, he did not feel fear, but inspiration. As he began to unify his people under a single banner and subjugate the other races of Pandaria, he knew that the mantid would never succumb to his authority. They spoke his language, the language of strength. He commanded his slaves to construct the Serpent's Spine, a magnificent wall that spanned the length of the empire. It would take many generations to build. But Lei Shen knew how to motivate his subjects. Fear. Fear of the mantid moved mountains, raised armies, secured his empire, and built his wall. The Thunder King, from Dark Heart of the Mogu Before he could apply the lessons of the mantid, however, Lei Shen would first need to rise to power, which he did with the aid of an ancient lost artifact. This artifact allowed Lei Shen to annihilate his rivals and cement his power over the mogu, and the Thunder King is said to have built the Mogu'shan Vaults to contain this weapon.
Patch 5.2: The Thunder King is Risen, PTR Early January
Blizzard emailed us the above screenshot this morning, heralding the rise of the Thunder King in patch 5.2. Blizzard has been tweeting and talking a lot about patch 5.2 recently, so it shouldn't be a huge surprise that the PTR will drop soon -- sometime in early January. The following message was also sent along with the screenshot. Blizzard Entertainment Happy Holidays from the World of Warcraft team! Here's a small present to tide you over until the new year. Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.
Patch 5.1 PTR: Windsteeds get more color, and new audio files
As if one Swift Windsteed wasn't enough, the dataminers have now discovered even more, with the windsteed showing its true colors with three new looks, meaning a total of four windsteeds will be available. Anne Stickney had previously speculated that the windsteed might be a new store mount, that is to say, one purchaseable via battle.net with real money. It seems the appearance of new colors for this mount might indicate that it is available from another source -- there are very few mounts purchaseable for real money which come in different colors but there's always a first time! The source of this new mount could well be reputation with one of the two new factions coming in patch 5.1: the Dominance Offensive and Operation: Shieldwall. The multiple colors of the windsteed are below. Which is your favorite? I think I like the gold one. SPOILER ALERT: There are four new audio files and some description of their contents after the break. If you don't want spoilers, you know what not to do. Don't hit the break.
