drums-of-war
Latest
WoW Archivist: Patch 1.12, Drums of War
The WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? I'm not ashamed to admit when I've made a mistake. Which is good, because today's Archivist would be awkward otherwise. Last week's classic WoW recap was a smidge premature. I haven't covered patch 1.12 yet. Why? Because I thought patch 1.12 was patch 2.0. Patch 2.0 would go with the Burning Crusade-era patches. Patch 1.12 isn't patch 2.0, however, so we're mired in classic WoW for one more week. Patch 1.12, Drums of War, released in August of 2006. It contained the feature that has set the standard for all group content in World of Warcraft: cross-realm Battlegrounds. In addition to cross-realm Battlegrounds, patch 1.12 also included sanctioned world PVP (which didn't work) and a number of UI improvements that you probably take for granted all these years later. Let's dive in, shall we?
Naxxramas Raid Deck and Treasure Packs now available
Following the success of their previous raid sets, Onyxia's Lair, Molten Core, Magtheridon's Lair, and the Black Temple, Upper Deck has released the first Wrath-themed event pack with the Naxxramas Raid Deck and Treasure Pack last December 22. Unlike their previous raid offerings, however, the Naxxramas Treasure Packs are stand-alone products which can be used separately from the raid deck. According to Dan Bojanowski, Upper Deck's World of Warcraft TCG Senior Brand Manager, the stand-alone approach "was created as a direct result of customer feedback." Aside from containing the standard content such as exclusive foil cards, the set would also include "alternate art heroes featuring heroes from the Drums of War block in Naxxramas-themed gear and settings." The Raid Deck, which is available for $29.99, contains a 110-card raid deck, 15 oversized boss cards, a 16-card Treasure Pack, and a UDE points card (or Loot card) and rulebook. Treasure Packs retail for $9.99 apiece and contain 15 random foil Treasure Pack cards out of a total of thirty collectible cards, a hero in Naxxramas-themed armor, and a UDE points card or Loot card. Hero cards are drawn from the Drums of War expansion set with variant art, with a total of ten cards with new art to collect. Each Treasure Pack also has a chance to contain a random Loot card from the Fields of Honor expansion set.
Upper Deck giving away Drums of War packs
Our friends at Upper Deck have decided to break out a series of contests for free cards from the WoW TCG. Over on their forums, they've posted a Card Caption contest -- they'd like you to come up with a caption for the Ryno the Short card (because Gnomes and short jokes are always funny -- and probably because the card bears a striking resemblence to Ryan O'Connor, the WoW TCG content manager), and in return, they're giving away free stuff: 12 packs of the Drums of War expansion for the first place winner (which means it's almost guaranteed that you'll pick up a dance grenade at least), and six packs each for a second and third place.So if you've already honed your caption making skills on our caption contests, head on over there and try your luck. You've got to enter before Sunday night, but the good news is that you can apparently enter as much as you want, so go crazy.And keep checking in over there on their forums -- we're told that they'll have new contests with new prizes every Monday. And we all know that while the WoW TCG is fun, the best way to play it is with free cards.
Upper Deck announces new "Drums of War" TCG loot cards
The latest WoW TCG expansion pack, the Drums of War, hits stores in late October (the 28th, to be exact), and Upper Deck has revealed three new loot cards that will come along with it. These are pretty wild. Slashdance is a super common card that will give you a party G.R.E.N.A.D.E. that, when thrown, will explode into a dance party on any unsuspecting characters who happen to be standing around. Owned! Flag is probably my favorite -- it lets you plant a flag, Emissary of Hate style, with a "thumbs down" flag in your conquered opponent. And The Red Bearon will give folks who missed out on the War Bear another chance -- it's a black battle bear mount. All very cool (still not quite worth paying for by themselves, in my opinion, but that's up to you). If nothing else, folks playing the TCG will have a nice chance at some cool loot.But that Owned! flag is nuts. Hopefully that's not the only flag we get to stab into corpses in the future -- even if the" thumbs down" stays TCG only, I'd be a big fan of stabbing someone with a Horde flag.%Gallery-34033%
Tinnitus: Leatherworking drums cause a debuff
Part of the allure of drums in raids has been the ability to overlap the effects of different types of drums by having several leatherworkers drumming at a time. One member might boost attack power and spell damage for party members in range, while another might restore health and mana. With the new Tinnitus debuff, any targets affected by drums are immune to the effects of all other drums for two minutes. While this sounds like a nerf, it might actually have a balancing effect. In fact, other professions are seeing similar changes. Potions will create Potion Sickness, which will prevent the consumer from using more than one in any given encounter. Players will have to rest out of combat in order to refresh the privilege. So far, this also is affecting mana gems and similar items, although it is unclear if that particular effect is a bug or not. What does this mean?
Insider Trader: Bang a drum
Insider Trader is your weekly inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products. If you missed out on playing a bard in EverQuest, you can still get your drum on in today's World of Warcraft. Beginning with The Burning Crusade expansion, leatherworkers can create and use a handful of charged drums that create short-range AoE spells affecting party members or enemies. While some players rail against their utter uselessness and others rave about their OP-ed-ness (let's add that to the dictionary, shall we?), players who are slaves to eking out that last bit of buffage and leatherworkers who are slaves to eking out those last few skill points turn to banging the drum.First, a few banging basics: Only leatherworkers can make drums, and only leatherworkers can use them. Druids are at a slight disadvantage here, since drums are similar to potions in that they cannot be used in feral form (although they're fine in Moonkin and Tree of Life forms). Also like potions, drums do not work in arenas. Drums affect all party members within range but do not affect raid members not in the drummer's group.
Bears, flags and cross-server queue times
"This PvP thing is quite fun," thought I, several weeks ago.Time passed. Lured on by cheap combat potions, armour and (of course) glory, I've been spending plenty of time attempting to kill Horde recently. I thoroughly enjoy the niche my druid has found in PvP, and have worked hard to become a better player. By slowly but steadily ranking up, the addictive microreward cycle has worked its magic on me, and what began as an experiment to see how far I could get PvPing when I had the time has become something more permanent.Of course, such idyllic stories end in tears; the Drums of War have arrived in Azeroth, bringing with them shortened battleground queues. Previously, it was a case of occasional PvP games (usually short losses to elite teams) fitting nicely in amongst work breaks -- a little light relief from a heavy burden. However, now the queues are almost eliminated, and the games are much longer, I can't multitask any more.All is not lost, however. Despite the joy of being a flag-carrying bear, sometimes it's fun to just get out there and burn faces. My mage alt is old enough to go into AV, and firing pyroblasts with reckless disregard for rank or reputation is a different -- and utterly refreshing -- kind of game.
