The Queue: Cooking, gardening, and Riptides

Welcome to the second edition of The Queue, our new daily Q&A column where we, the WoW Insider team, try to answer your questions about the World of Warcraft. We won't delay getting into things much today, but please note that I'm saving the lore-related questions you've all asked for Ask a Lore Nerd, which will be coming just later today (every Sunday). With that said, let's start with Gristor's question...

One comment about the size of Northrend... Finally, please, an answer: Is Northrend bigger than Outland? How much bigger/smaller?

It's definitely bigger, but I can't say for sure just how much bigger. The starter zones almost feel twice as large as Hellfire Peninsula was, but I can't say 100% confidently that Howling Fjord is twice as large as Hellfire Peninsula. It's just bigger, and it feels much, much bigger. Northrend feels absolutely massive.

Kirby1612 asked...

I thought this was going to be an column about what to do waiting in line.

Well, maybe it is! Are you stuck in the queue? Looking for something to do? Need entertainment? Read The Queue!

Taytayflan asked...

Since a lot of classes seem to have gotten AoE capabilities (Rogues have Blade Flurry, Fan of Knives, Killing Spree to do a crapton of damage, all tanks can AoE, and so on), is there any class that can't AoE attack? Is really weak in that department?

Well, while a lot of classes got new AOE spells/abilities in Wrath of the Lich King, that doesn't necessarily make them strong in AOE. Rogues of a certain spec can burn some cooldowns, but I wouldn't call them an AOE class. Shaman are generally regarded as having some of the worst AOE, but they can do it in a pinch too, just like Rogues can. They do have Fire Nova Totem, Chain Lightning, and Elemental Shaman have Thunderstorm. So... it's situational, I guess. Rogue AOE wouldn't cut it in some situations, but it's just fine in others. So, easy answer? Shaman probably are bottom rung on the AOE chart. Hard answer? It depends on what's going on.

Jack Spicer asked...

I know that mages now make refreshments past level 70 instead of separate food and water, but do vendors sell refreshments as well, or do we still have to buy food and water separately?

I don't think I've run into any vendor-bought food that does that, but if you have Cooking and make your own food, all of the new recipes that regenerate health also regenerate mana.

Kahri asked...

In the WoTLK beta Resto Shaman's got the talent "Spirit Link". Whatever happened to it?

It was replaced with Riptide. It wasn't working out like it was supposed to, was kind of awkward to use with its random elements, and opened up some really cheesy possibilities like using three tanks to tank a raid boss instead of one. Riptide turned out much cooler, I think. I'm loving it on my Resto Shaman.

Shulkman asked a pair of questions...

Is there an area in Northrend like the Dead Mire, with lots of beasties to be killed, and most importantly, herbalized afterwards?

There are areas of Northrend with a lot of herbable (that's not a word, is it?) mobs, but not as concentrated as the Dead Mire, I think. Have you run The Nexus yet? There's a big area of the dungeon full of things you can pick apart. Of course, you can't farm there solo, but it's something.

Also, can we get some new maps with flight paths listed?

I'll see what we can do.