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Recruit Leorajh the Saberon as a Garrison Bodyguard
The saberon are a new race, introduced for Warlords of Draenor -- a group of humanoid cat-people who by and large aren't terribly happy to see you, with very few exceptions. One of those exceptions is Leorajh. Leorajh isn't exactly on the good side of his clan, but he's happy enough to see you -- if you can find him, that is. One of a very few followers with the Bodyguard trait, Leorajh is hidden away in the Spires of Arak, awaiting those who are determined enough to locate him. As a Bodyguard, Leorajh can be assigned to the level 2 Barracks and accompany you on your travels in Draenor. There are a limited number of followers with the Bodyguard trait, and Leorajh is one of three that is available to both Alliance and Horde. Each Bodyguard has their own reputation bar -- taking them on missions with you will raise your reputation and unlock follower-specific quests, and eventually, a follower specific perk. Leorajh's perk? He'll grant you access to your command table from anywhere on Draenor -- meaning you can turn in and hand out missions from anywhere you happen to be on the world map.
Garrison Followers, traits, abilities, and training
If you've been playing Warlords of Draenor fairly regularly since release, you should by now be familiar with the traits and abilities of your followers. These abilities and traits are randomly generated when you obtain your new follower, but there are some items in game, obtainable via missions, that will teach a chosen follower a new trait. Apparently there had been some confusion regarding these items, so CM Crithto took to the forums to further clarify how these items work. Crithto There's been some confusion regarding the various items you can use that allow you to change a trait on one of your Garrisons followers, so we wanted to clarify how these items work. If you use an item such as the Supreme Manual of Dance or the Hearthstone Strategy Guide, the targeted follower will gain the trait associated with the on-use item, and lose a random trait which cannot be selected or changed after the fact. Currently, the tooltips for these items are not specific enough about the randomness associated with their outcome, and we're working on getting them adjusted. So if you're now missing a follower with a specific trait you want or need, remember that you can level your Inn or Tavern to tier 2 to gain access to an NPC who will hunt down new followers. When one becomes available, you can then limit your search based on the traits you desire. source
The Daily Grind: Do you like having NPCs fight alongside you?
The news that some garrison NPC followers will be able to become your bodyguards and fight alongside you is the first Warlords of Draenor information that's interested me at all. I love such systems in other games, such as companions in Star Wars: The Old Republic and Neverwinter. It's probably the same reason why I like pet classes: Having a combat NPC there makes me feel less alone and more in charge of a team, even if there's only code on the other end and not an actual human face. (Or so I assume.) Although, as in SWTOR, it might be a little awkward in WoW to see dozens of people running around with the same companion you have. Do you like it when a game gives you an NPC to be your bodyguard? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
World of Warcraft's garrisons will send Leeroy Jenkins to protect you
Part of the potential fun of owning, building, and operating a garrison in World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor is that you'll be leader to several NPCs known as followers. A new garrison dev diary today talked about the acquisition and benefits of followers and how that will change your gameplay. Followers can be obtained through several means, including quests, reputation, and a once-a-week headhunter service. Once there, followers can be sent out in missions alone or as a group in order to bring back rewards for their kind and generous master. Players can accumulate up to 25 active followers of various quality types and can level them up over time. Probably the most interesting facet of follower ownership is the use of a select handful as bodyguards. Players can attach a bodyguard to them for general world questing, asking such famous figures as Leeroy Jenkins to fight by your side. Once enough reputation with that NPC is reached, the bodyguard will attain several helpful abilities, such as being able to summon friends or create a portal back to your garrison.
Blizzard's third Garrison preview shines a spotlight on followers
So we've seen parts 1 and 2 of the Garrison Preview, and now it's time for part 3, which should feature ewoks if my memory serves me. This time, however, instead of ewoks we get followers - they fulfill many of the same functions as ewoks but they're mostly less cute. Mostly. I think Lantresor of the Blade is adorable, myself. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have Leeroy Jenkins, Milhouse Manastorm or Archmage Vargoth as your companions and friends? Well, wonder no more! It's like pet battles, only with NPC's! You can collect as many followers as you like for your garrison, but there's a limit on how many you can have active at a time - think of it as a 'too many cooks' situation. Each follower has specific abilities that make them better or worse for specific missions (some have crowd control, for example) and some followers will even be your bodyguard, accompanying you on missions and protecting you as you (and they) level up. For more details, please check out this third preview of the Garrison feature coming in Warlords of Draenor.
Warlords of Draenor: Garrison Followers and you
One of the largest and most highly-discussed features of Warlords of Draenor is the garrison -- a stronghold on Draenor that you get to construct and customize to your heart's content. Hand in hand with the garrison are a multitude of other things to look forward to -- missions, quests, blueprints, profession buildings, building bonuses, followers, and more. You aren't going to necessarily be spending a lot of time sitting around in your garrison, but you'll be ducking back to it periodically in between everything else there is to do on Draenor. You can kind of think of your garrison as your own, personalized capital city in a way -- you can customize it with whatever buildings you want, and you can switch those buildings out if you decide you're better off with a different kind of building. As for your followers, they are the citizens of your garrison, the NPCs that wander around doing various tasks and spitting out conversations with passers-by. But followers are far more than just eye-candy for your garrison -- they are useful tools to help you get the most out of what the expansion has to offer.
RIFT: Nightmare Tide to introduce Minions
Today's adventurer in RIFT is busy. There are a lot of villains all across Telara, after all, and let's not forget those rifts opening up all the time. So instead of having to help another random NPC find a missing coat, wouldn't it be nice to just have some of the NPCs you've met solve problems for you? Good news, then, because the Minion system being added with the game's Nightmare Tide expansion will allow you to do just that. Minions come from a variety of sources across Telara, and they can be dispatched on a variety of different missions. Once they've completed their tasks, they'll return with a variety of rewards including crafting items and dimensional rewards. Minions can only be sent on so many missions before they need a break, though, so a player won't be able to do everything with just a handful of loyal troops. Check out the full preview for a bit more insight into the upcoming system.
Warlords of Draenor: Recruit Alexi or Weldon Barov for your garrison
Ah, the Barov family. If you've been playing WoW for any length of time, you're likely well acquainted with the brothers Barov. The last two heirs to the Barov family fortune, Alexi and Weldon Barov used to send players both Alliance and Horde to the opposite faction's camps in order to murder each other. Once the head of the offending brother was returned, players were rewarded with the Barov Peasant Caller, a trinket that summoned Barov servants. In Cataclysm, the Barov brothers seemed to have come to an accord, each no longer intent on the murder of the other, and instead focused on assaulting Scholomance. But in Mists, both Weldon and Alexi disappeared without a trace. The Barov Peasant Caller was no longer able to be obtained, Scholomance was revamped, and the brothers Barov vanished. Some players idly wondered if this meant the end of the Barov line -- we can officially say no, it did not. Why? Because it looks like Weldon and Alexi decided to team up and band together to enter the lumber industry, and you can find them both on Draenor. In fact, you can recruit either Weldon for the Alliance, or Alexi for the Horde, as a follower for your garrison. And that Peasant Caller? It's back, and it's gotten a substantial upgrade along the way.
Twitter is officially putting tweets from strangers in your timeline
You know how Twitter started inserting others' favorites and follows into your timeline? As it turns out, it's not an experiment -- it's official policy. We now know that the social network recently updated its timeline explanation to confirm that it's adding tweets from strangers, new accounts to follow and other "popular" content to your feed. Like you might have suspected, the company is trying to make your stream "even more relevant and interesting" by showing you material you might not otherwise have seen.
Twitter tries sharing your favorite tweets with others
Have you recently noticed people commenting on your Twitter favorites, even when you didn't (intentionally) share them with the rest of the world? You're not alone. The social network has started putting your favorites and following activity in your followers' timelines, whether or not you're mentioned -- if you really like an article, others may know right away. It's not clear whether this is an experiment or a permanent feature, and we've reached out to Twitter for the full scoop.
Warlords of Draenor: Recruit death knight Abu'gar for your garrison
Sometimes, death knights aren't all about death, destruction, and cold. Sometimes they really just want to kick back and reflect on what's important in the world -- fishing. Well, at least one death knight would rather be fishing, and his name is Abu'gar. Abu'gar was never exactly thrilled with the idea of serving the Lich King, he just wanted to spend his undeath relaxing by the side of a warm lake. You can find Abu'gar out in a lovely secluded glade in Nagrand, contemplating the water, the scenery, and the fishing conditions, all of which seem to be pretty idyllic as far as the death knight is concerned. But unfortunately, he's missing a few key items to take advantage of the awesome fishing spot he just found -- and that's where you come in. Scattered around the zone are the various tools Abu'gar needs to get a fantastic day of fishing in under the warm skies of Nagrand. Apparently Abu'gar is the forgetful sort, or simply neglects to pick up his things when he's moving on.
Warlords of Draenor: Recruit Archmage Vargoth for your garrison
One of the most prized, beloved items from the Burning Crusade expansion had nothing to do with your armor or your prowess in slaying endless dungeon and raid bosses. In fact, it wasn't even a quest reward -- it was simply a quest item, Archmage Vargoth's Staff, which was used to summon an image of Archmage Vargoth himself. Many players didn't bother handing in the quest in which the staff was obtained, because there was something appealing about having Vargoth on call. Players were so pleased with Vargoth that the image was eventually changed to respond to player emotes -- when you danced, Vargoth would chuckle at your absurdity. In Warlords of Draenor, where you go, Vargoth will follow -- or at least he will if you can find him. A rare level 100 follower with a whopping 550 ilvl, Vargoth, or rather, his image, is a solid addition to any garrison. But Vargoth isn't the easiest mage in the world to track down, and requires a little legwork and exploration if you want to add him to your army. Vargoth may be a powerful mage ... but he's not so good at getting to Draenor.
Warlords of Draenor: Recruit Nat Pagle for your garrison
The folks over at El's Extreme Anglin' have provided a comprehensive step-by-step guide on how to obtain legendary fisherman Nat Pagle as a follower for your garrison in Warlords of Draenor. Over the years Nat Pagle has become somewhat of a beloved figure in World of Warcraft, and has been the focus of numerous fishing quests -- some obscure, some mundane. In Warlords, you're going to have to have him as a follower if you want a shot at fishing up the rarest and most difficult fish in the expansion: Lunkers. To get Nat, you'll first have to unlock the garrison Fishing Shack, which becomes available at level 96. From there, your garrison fishing vendor will send you on a quest to catch a specific type of fish from a specific place. Once you turn that in you'll get a quest to go find Nat Pagle, and from there begins his recruitment questline. Once you complete all his requirements -- to fish up various Lunkers throughout Draenor using special bait -- you'll be rewarded with Nat as a level 100 rare-quality garrison follower. You'll also be able to start catching Lunkers throughout Draenor without using bait. No word yet on what Lunkers do, but my guess is that they'll be required for certain high-level cooking recipes, so devoted raiders or guild suppliers probably want to make sure to schmooze Nat into their garrisons! Happy fishing!
Breakfast Topic: Broken things and Daleera Moonfang
Broken things are one of my guilty pleasures. Not completely broken, mind you -- something that doesn't work at all isn't much fun. But things that are just broken enough that they function incorrectly are wonderful. A household animatronic with low batteries, for example. Or when game physics go bad. This guilty pleasure means I love alpha and beta test phases of games. Sometimes the stories that result from a glitch in a game tickle me more than the actual stories. Daleera Moonfang, pictured above, is the subject of one such story. While playing the latest Warlords of Draenor alpha build, I'd just recruited Daleera as a follower in my garrison. She'd been with my crew for no more than five minutes before I noticed her over by a keg of ale, drinking away. I wandered over there just for the sake of saying hello and noticed her actions were looping a whole lot faster than they should. Only a few seconds passed between each refill of her mug and she never stopped. She'd fill, drink it down in one go, then immediately refill. While refilling, she'd comment on how much she enjoyed the drink before it. "That'll get you there, son," she said. "Just like Mom used to make. It's like a little piece of Ironforge." It doesn't matter that the NPC that loiters by the keg is randomized. It could have been any of my followers. But Daleera was the first, and now, in my heart, it will always be her. Daleera Moonfang is my hard-drinking priestess of Elune. She could drink dwarves and pandaren under the table. She's honed her boozy craft for an entire elven lifetime. It isn't canon, but it's my canon. Tell me: do you love broken things? I want your stories!
Official Garrison preview lays down the foundation
We've been waiting very impatiently, almost salivating really, for more details on Grrisons and how they're going to work. Well, at last, our wait is over. Blizzard has finally dropped some of that sweet, sweet structure-creating science on us. In this post, part one of a four series, we get the basics for how Garrisons will work -- how your Garrison is part of the leveling process, how followers will work and how you can recruit them, the missions you can send them on and how that will benefit the Garrison, how we'll expand the Garrison with new building and use each zone to expand their role in the expansion. As the story unfolds, you'll find that Garrisons are intimately integrated into every zone-whether you choose to follow the main quest path or just head off into the hills to explore, you will meet allies (and enemies) in every corner of the world. While your main fortress will always be in Shadowmoon Valley (Alliance) or Frostfire Ridge (Horde), you will establish Garrison outposts in Gorgrond, Talador, Nagrand, and Spires of Arak, all customized based on your building choices. Eventually, your forces will span the continent, and you will have an army capable of assaulting the fortified Iron Horde Foundry. Will your troops succeed? That's entirely up to you, commander. This in particular is of interest - you apparently won't just have the one Garrison, but a linked series of fortifications throughout Draenor to serve as your means of recruiting and defending your followers for the push against the Iron Horde. Head over to the official site for more details.
Warlords of Draenor: New info from PAX East
PAX East 2014 has come and gone, but we at WoW Insider have come away from the weekend with juicy new information to share with you about Warlords of Draenor. During the expo, I sat down for a chat with senior game designers Steve Burke and Brian Holinka, lead class designer Kris Zierhut, and other developers. In our brief time together, they told me some exciting info about garrisons, raiding, transmog, and the expansion's starting experience. They also provided insight into what a boosted level 90 will experience after the expansion launches. Please note that mild spoilers about the early story of Warlords of Draenor will follow. Join me after the break for all the new info!
Twitter pulls option that let you receive direct messages from any follower
After enabling the feature for just a month, Twitter's decided it doesn't want you to receive messages from any follower without the need to follow back. The Next Web reports that the company has silently removed the checkbox in user settings that enables the option, which we've confirmed in at least five accounts, meaning you'll once again be limited to direct-messaging users that you personally find interesting. Twitter remains quiet on the matter, pointing to previous correspondence that it is always testing new features, but given that it's rumored to be considering a standalone messaging app, we wouldn't be surprised Twitter's much-maligned DM feature is overhauled in the near future.
Garrisons: Player housing in Warlords of Draenor
People have wanted it forever and now, it's finally here: World of Warcraft is implementing its own unique form of player housing, the Garrison feature. Quite frankly, if you ever played really old school Dungeons and Dragons, the Garrison feels a lot like the old dominions that players could get in the Companion rules. Based on the way building a settlement felt in the original Warcraft RTS games, building your Garrison gives you benefits including epic gear, access to professions you don't normally have in a limited fashion, and customize the buildings in the Garrison for specific customizable benefits. The Garrison system includes NPC followers who can go on missions for you while you're offline for various benefits as well. This ends up nearly being a complete minigame - my first impression is that you can almost play an entirely new RTS minigame while playing WoW.
Xbox One Friends app gets detailed in video walkthrough
Are you a friend or a follower? In the world of the Xbox One, the distinction is based on reciprocation. Xbox sage Major Nelson has broken down the forthcoming console's Friends app, detailing the distinction between the two groups. As previously stated, friends are a finite resource on the app -- limited to a mere thousand -- while you can have as many followers as your heart desires. A follower becomes a friend when both parties sign on to follow each other, a process that unlocks additional information like when you're online, real-time achievements and other Xbox One related activities. As with social networks like Facebook, you'll be able to control what your followers see. Friends from the 360 will automatically be ported over, though the gaming luddites on that system will appear as grayed out, smaller icons. An activity feed on the right side of the screen, meanwhile, shows off precisely what your friends are up to in real-time. Check out a video break down of the app from the Major himself, just after the break.
LinkedIn branches out with new blogging and 'following' features for select group
LinkedIn has always been based on the notion of "connections" rather than "followers," but the social network has made a bit of a break with that tradition today. For the first time, it will let users follow people they aren't connected to, although their choice of people is initially limited to a group of 150 individuals that LinkedIn deems to be "thought leaders." What's more, the company is also giving them access to some more advanced blogging tools that will let them publish longer posts with pictures and videos. Of course, while it's fairly limited in scope now, LinkedIn is clear that this is only their first step in this direction. It says it will continue to expand its group of "influencers" over the next few months (it's taking suggestions), and LinkedIn's Dan Roth told TechCrunch that "eventually we want to allow all people to follow each others." In the meantime, you can get the full rundown of what's in store at the links below.
