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First Illidan China kill by The Seven
Just about a month and a half after they first got access to the Burning Crusade, a Chinese guild has downed Illidan Stormrage over the weekend. World of Raids has more, including the fact that it only took 52 days total, and that a Gnome Rogue picked up the offhand. As many are noting, lots of players are still dressed up in Tier 3 gear, which means they just barrelled right through SSC and TK up into the Black Temple.Incgamers has an interesting point, however-- Chinese players, getting BC so late, supposedly had the benefit of all the nerfs and tweaks that Blizzard added to all the encounters since it first was released here. From Vashj's bugginess to the attunement removal, it could be argued (I'll leave this one up to you guys) that China is playing a much easier Outland endgame.At any rate, downing Illidan is always an achievement, no matter what game you're playing. Grats to The Seven in China-- now here's hoping they go back and actually try enjoying that raid content![ via MMO Champion ]
Five is the new eight
Bornakk has pretty much laid down the law. Eight piece armor sets are dead as we know them. Despite Claymore from Medivh's call to bring them back, Blizzard is happy with the way the five piece tier sets are working out, and that's the way they're planning to keep it.Kind of a shame, because as Claymore says, seeing someone with a full eight piece set was pretty epic. It took a lot to pick up every since piece, and some of the eight piece bonuses were pretty cool for their time. But just like the 40 man raids, there were lots of problems with eight piece sets as well. I never completed mine, just because my guild had moved on from where the gear was dropping before I was able to pick all the pieces up. And five piece sets give a lot more options as to customization-- with the extra, non-set pieces, players can choose to focus on a certain stat over others, which couldn't be done with the full eight piece sets.So in general, it's a good move-- bigger is not always better. Nostalgics may long for the days of Bloodfang and Giantstalker, but five piece armor sets are here to stay.
MMO Champion's Armor Showroom is out
Here's another cool tool from our buddy Boubouille over at MMO Champion-- he's put together a little viewing room of all the hottest armor in the World of Warcraft.There's nothing really new here-- we've seen all of this armor before, and it's all currently available in the game. But in case you wanted to check out how hot that Cyclone set is (and it is hot) or see where the pieces drop, or check the prices and stats of that PvP gear you're hoping for, this is a great little tool to do it with.And Bou's still planning on updating it some more-- as he says, it's a little strange to see a Human wearing the Shaman and Hunter sets, so he's eventually planning on putting in support for all the races. But if you wanted to get a good upclose look at the armor set you've been drooling over, here it is.
Tier 3 Armor Preview
Blizzard has released official information about the new tier 3 armor sets, which we'll find in the Naxxramas dungeon to be released in patch 1.11. I have to say I'm pleased with the graphical look they're going with - unlike tier 2, I wouldn't feel embarrassed to be seen in any of these sets. So check them out and report back - what do you think of the new sets, their stats, and their look?
Some Info on the Tier 3 Sets
IGN went out and collected a multitude of screenshots focused on these new armor sets. As we know from this morning's New York Times article, the sets will be 9 pieces (all of the usual armor slots as well as one ring). The pictures are somewhat blurry, but the print is legible and the visual concept of the sets are obvious. The armor show seems to follow the recent trend (with Dungeon 2 sets) of more subdued armor coloration (no bright purples here), which I'm perfectly content with. Update: Of course as soon as I posted that, I found some additional information (better organized, if nothing else) here.
Breakfast Topic: What do you want from E3?
Another year and another E3 is upon us. Of course E3 is a source for gaming news across the spectrum, but Blizzard and World of Warcraft will certainly have a presence. We've already been told to expect more information on upcoming raid dungeon Naxxramas and the new tier 3 armor set contained within, but I've no doubt that Blizzard is keeping some surprises up its sleeves. More news on the Burning Crusade expansion? New Alliance race information, perhaps? Hero classes? What do you hope for from Blizzard at E3 this year? Tell us about it!
