Ask a Beta Tester: More on leveling, Alliance lore, and starting zone RP

"Ask a Beta Tester" took a short break during patch 3.02 madness, but we're back!

DM7000 asks...

What happened with the glyphs that turned (Druids) into a polar bear or a lynx?

This is a question I asked constantly in the beta for about a week. As much as I was excited about the talent changes and new skills, I was even more excited about form customization, because I hate Tauren cat form. I love my class dearly, but all of the form models have basically been unchanged since the original game went live, which is very hard for those of us forced to live with the unadulterated suck of Tauren cat form. It's kind of a bitter pill to swallow wandering the beautifully rendered landscapes of Northrend and seeing the quantum leap of Blizzard's artistic touch while using an ancient, low-polygon model like Tauren cat form. I found out that Glyph of the Red Lynx (and other Druid-form glyphs) hadn't actually gone live, which was a devastating blow to those of us with Tauren cat form. The glyphs exist in the game files, but none are trainable or discoverable; the developers apparently came to the decision that forcing Druids to use a glyph slot to customize their forms wasn't a great idea, and they're leaning toward the idea of patching in the ability to get the hell out of Tauren cat form using the barbershop. Frankly I think most Druids would agree that's a much better option, especially if they have to use Tauren cat form. Or see it. Or occupy the same game with it.

Alpen asks...

Will there be a new "Fel Reaver" type mob in Northrend which will make us all cry when we have to go afk while questing?
As the commenters have said, don't afk in Storm Giant territory; you will be squashed. Like Fel Reavers, their aggro radius doesn't appear to be too big, but they wander all over, and odds are good you'll run into one within a few minutes of getting off the boat/zeppelin.

Littlepins asks...

Will BC dailies still be level 70 or will they be upped to level 80 in the expansion?

BC dailies are still level 70, and there are portals in Dalaran for you to go back to Outland to do them anytime. As Eopie writes, you won't necessarily want to spend your time doing Outland dailies with a lot of newer and more convenient Northrend dailies, but you will need most of the Outland dailies for various general or profession Achievements. You can get many of these done before Wrath goes live, however.

RedBearon asks...

With Warth's 2 entry zones, I'm trying to decide where each of my characters should start. Now I understand that it is a matter of personal preference, but is there a "preferred" zone for RP/lore reason for each race?

Blood Elves and Forsaken: BE's and Forsaken who intend to roleplay a revenge-driven agenda against Arthas will want to start in Vengeance Landing. Both factions are in Northrend to crush the Scourge for what was done to their people and their homeland, and the Forsaken running Vengeance Landing mean business. Most of the Forsaken questgivers in the zone are working on a plague to kill the Scourge -- or at least that's what they'll tell you -- and there's quite an interesting little event in the starting town with a Scourge representative trying to recruit Forsaken back into Arthas' ranks. The Forsaken general running the town is having none of it.

Orcs, Tauren,and Trolls: There are more obvious RP reasons to start out of Warsong Hold, particularly if your character is a Druid or Shaman interested in assisting D.E.H.T.A. Also, quests to meet and assist the Tuskarr and the Taunka are a little earlier and more easily accessible in the Borean Tundra than in Howling Fjord (although you'll still meet and help them plenty in HF too). Truthfully, Warsong is the better pick if for no other reason than process of elimination; the orcs, tauren, and trolls are still generally suspicious of the Forsaken and the Blood Elves, and most of them aren't 100% sold on their inclusion in the Horde anyhow. If you're one of these factions and your RP storyline has made it easier for the character to trust the undead/elves, then Vengeance Landing is less of a stretch.

Humans and Dwarves: Valgarde is the more obvious pick as this is settlement is the result of the Human campaign in Warcraft III. If your character is related to any of the soldiers left for dead by Arthas, or if you're most concerned with revenge for the "death" of Muradin Bronzebeard or what happened to the kingdom of Lordaeron, start here.

Draenei, Gnomes, and Night Elves: There are no truly compelling RP reasons to start in either of the Alliance's starting zones -- at least, not to my knowledge. Valiance Keep's questlines are very well-designed and you're not going to be left out of the Alliance's excellent lore moments, but -- like the portion of the Horde that's not in Northrend for revenge -- you'll find fewer, if any, references to previous events that make particular quests important RP moments for your character's race. Obviously the Draenei weren't around for the events of Warcraft III.

I should just note that either way you'll have fun leveling and this is just for RP purposes; both starting zones are beautifully designed with great quests. My main is a Tauren and I started out of Vengeance Landing simply because Warsong Hold was overrun that day! You'll also have a reason to visit both sides of the continent for access and flight paths to reach the Nexus (Borean Tundra) and Utgarde Keep (Howling Fjord).

CRE asks...

I might have missed this, but do I need to make the highest lvl alchemy stone in order to create the stone which will be available in WotLK?

Nope. The new alchemy stones will only require Northrend materials.

Amaxe asks...

We've been hearing a lot about the epic storylines for the Horde in the coming expansion. Do the alliance get similar ones, or do we get hosed on it?

I've been hearing roughly equal complaints from both factions about the other side getting the better lore experience in Wrath, so frankly I think Blizzard's tried pretty hard to keep things as equal as possible. With that said, I have to give the edge here to the Alliance, if for no other reason than the storyline of Warcraft III. The Alliance just has more and better reasons for being in Northrend, with more major lore figures directly involved with, or cognizant of, the events that led to the rise of Arthas as the Lich King. I've privately hoped that once Icecrown Citadel's raid is patched in, both Sylvanas and Jaina will get a showdown with Arthas.

Gridwerk asks...

Lemme ask the real question: Do I even bother to run the (mostly for the purpose of lore at this point) "end-game" dungeons knowing that in two weeks "leet" will be dramatically redefined or do I push to level my 60 alt?

If you only instance or raid for loot, I'd say don't bother. But given the huge nerf to BC raids' difficulty, and the equally huge boost to overall raid DPS, these places are also easier than they've ever been. So if you have the opportunity to see the fights and lore moments, go for it; you will not be disappointed.

Sprocket asks...

Would it be better to go ahead and level to 70 or just get my 60's to 68 and just start leveling again when Wrath comes out?

Hitting Northrend at 70 rather than 68 will certainly make leveling there a little easier, but it's by no means necessary. I would get your 60's to 70 if for no other reason than being able to do a few dailies before Wrath hits, as you'll need a few hundred gold to get all of your tradeskills trained up.

Tim asks...

Can you apply both and enchantment and an engineering "upgrade" to an item?

Unfortunately not. Only one player-created modification per item.

Johncheese asks...

How soon can park our new DKs in an inn or resting zone?

Acherus is counted as an "inn" or "city" -- not really sure which it would be properly classified as, seeing as to how it's a giant floating harbinger of plaguey death -- and you will get rested experience if you log your DK there. If you mean, how long will it be until I can get my DK to a normal city or inn on your own steam, probably about 1-2 hours for your first Death Knight while you're learning the quests, and maybe 45 minutes once you're familiar with them. Both, obviously, will depend on how crowded the starting area is.

There were a few questions from the previous comment thread that I don't know the answer to yet and haven't, as far as I'm aware, been answered by commenters. I'll be trying to get some information on those tonight. As always, leave any other questions you have in the comments here!

The Wrath of the Lich King beta is in full swing, and the WoW Insider crew is here to sate your curiosity with Ask a Beta Tester! Leave your beta questions in the comments and we'll do our best to answer 'em! And if you can't get enough Wrath, don't forget to check WoW Insider's Wrath Roundup page for anything we haven't answered here!