The Queue: I am serious about that last question

Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.

The Queue is as good a place as any to solicit feedback, right? Sure, why not! Readers, in addition to whatever questions you might have for us to tackle, we would appreciate any suggestions or recommendations for Cataclysm content you'd like to see either before or during the expansion's launch. Is there anything you're dying to know? Something you just don't feel prepared for the expansion without? We'd love to hear it!

Now, to the Q&A!

JoJa asked:

I have a trio of level 80 characters decked out in a mix of ICC, TOC, and badge gear. I've recently returned to playing a favorite alt, however, and I'm thinking about making it my main in Cataclysm. I keep reading about how hard the mobs hit in the leveling zones of Cataclysm. Will I be able to take my alt in a mix of quest greens and dungeon blues directly to the first Cataclysm starting zone? Or will I have to grind for iLevel 232 badge gear just to stay alive in the new zones?

Hyjal and Vashj'ir aren't too bad as far as damage is concerned. You don't start getting your face rocked off until Deepholm. Taking Wrath greens into the two starting zones won't be an issue at all. You'll replace all of your Wrath greens with Cataclysm greens before you're done with them, and then you'll be prepared for Deepholm.

Once you actually get into Deepholm, you'll need to be more careful about how you play. You don't need to shake in your boots the entire time you're in the zone, but if you're going to pull three to four mobs at a time like you might be doing in Wrath of the Lich King, you're going to run into trouble.

Allenok asked:

Why do the weapons that the Lich King drops have such great lore-based names but are just lame, over-used models of other weapons that drop all over ICC? Is it just designers being lazy? Shouldn't a figure as important as Arthas drop unique-looking items?

I think you're looking at it in the wrong direction. Arthas isn't dropping copy/pastes of weapons off of lower bosses. Lower bosses are dropping copy/pastes of weapons off of Arthas. It's a side effect of trying to itemize both 10- and 25-man raids. Across 10- and 25-man raids, not counting heroic-quality items, there are nearly 300 total items. Things such as rings and necklaces don't need models, but that's still a lot of items that would need them. I don't know if not having the time to model nearly 300 unique items for a content patch is being lazy.

One of the reasons they're giving 10- and 25-man raids the same loot in Cataclysm is so that bosses like Arthas can have entirely unique drops. If there was only a 25-man version of Icecrown Citadel, then Arthas's drops would not appear anywhere else in the zone.

gboyd asked:

What is the zone leveling order come Cataclysm?

This question gets asked so much that we should probably turn it into its own post just so we have something to link to people when they ask. I'll answer it here, but don't be shocked if it shows up on the site on its own before launch. The zone order is:

• Hyjal/Vashj'ir: 80-82

• Deepholm: 82-83

• Uldum: 83-84

• Twilight Highlands: 84-85

You absolutely can not do Hyjal or Vashj'ir until level 80. No skipping out of Northrend at 78 to move on.

Ihastail asked:

So when Deathwing pops out of the ground ... if he sees his own shadow, does that mean another six weeks of Wrath?

Oh, hell no. I am not running Icecrown Citadel for another six weeks. If I have to sunder Azeroth myself, I will.

Have questions about the World of Warcraft? The WoW Insider crew is here with The Queue, our daily Q&A column. Leave your questions in the comments, and we'll do our best to answer 'em!