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Guild Wars 2's latest release will bring together new Fractals
Guild Wars 2 players voted Ellen Kiel into a position on the Lion's Arch captains' council during the Cutthroat Politics release. In the newest update, Fractured, Kiel will keep her campaign promises by opening up new areas in the Fractals of the Mists! You'll be able to revisit the popular Molten Weapons Facility and Aetherblade Retreat dungeons in Fractalized form, with the final bosses from each joining the Jade Maw as Fractal bosses. Kiel has also sponsored research into the Thaumanova Reactor meltdown, giving players a chance to explore that slice of history for the first time. In addition, Fractals of the Mists will be getting a coat of polish on rewards, progression and Agony resistance. This release will also include the opening of an arena in World vs. World's Obsidian Sanctum, giving players a dedicated space in which to beat on each other mercilessly for the fun of it. Have at you! Enjoy the new trailer after the break.
The Queue: The Kweh
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. So how many people do you know that pronounce it "kweh" instead of "kyoo"? All it does is give me chocobos on the brain. Boredbetweenclasses asked... "When WotLK came out the design of the Chamber of Aspects seemed to imply that there would be at least five bosses, with one for each flight, as there are five gate points which all have two guardians of each flight. (Though the question remains as to why, as mortals, we'd even want to fight against the last three good-aligned dragonflights.) But over a year later with talk of Cataclysm coming soon we still only have The Obsidian Sanctum as an encounter there. Is there any indication of expanding the raid content within the Chamber in the future?" The Chamber of the Aspects was, I believe, an area that was added as a contingency plan in case there needed to be some emergency raid content -- dragon encounters are comparatively easy to whip up compared to others, and the entrance area is already there. Tom Chilton recently indicated that we might get a new one-shot raid in the Ruby Sanctum before Cataclysm launches, though, so if you've got a hankerin' for another fight where you avoid breaths, cleaves, and tail whips, you might be in luck.
Trinkets: Hard to get, and Blizzard likes it that way
Any caster worth their salt can remember the frustration involved in trying to nab the elusive Illustration of the Dragon Soul trinket from Sartharion in the Obsidian Sanctum. We tried everything we could to get it, from creating our own melee-heavy raid groups, to participating only in "3D zerg" runs hoping that participants would be too over-geared to want it, to participating in Less Is More achievement runs just so there would be less competition for it. Towards the end of the Patch 3.2 days, people would run OS25 once a week just to try and get that one trinket. Most weeks, it wouldn't even drop. When it did, you'd have to beat a good twelve or thirteen people in a roll for it. The Illustration was so valuable (1) because it was a darn good trinket with gobs of spell power, and (2) it seemed impossible get it -- or any good trinket, for that matter. You can still head to Dalaran and buy trinkets with emblems, like the Talisman of Resurgence, but their use is painfully specialized and their value is often less than trinkets you can find in lower level heroics. It turns out that good trinkets are hard to find for a reason: Blizzard like it that way. Bornakk at the official World of Warcraft forums wrote today: "Trinkets are really the one item (weapons are to a lesser extent) that we use to try and capture that old slot machine feel from the classic Molten Core days. Yes, completely random loot with huge loot tables can be frustrating but we are pretty far from being completely random these days. Trinkets however are still somewhat random, they can be hard to acquire, and there is often a lot of competition for them."
Turning off the fog effect
Here's a neat tip from Amiyuy of the WoW Ladies Livejournal group. Personally, I don't mind the "fog" effect that sometimes pops up in game -- I experienced it most recently while doing OS the other day, though it pops up on the haunted Borean Tundra coast and a few other places ingame as well. But a few people don't get along with it too well; like the drunken blur effect, it can be somewhat overwhelming for those with a weak stomach.Fortunately, there's a way to turn both of those off -- you just have to dive into the config.wtf file in your World of Warcraft installation's WTF folder (open it up with Notepad on Windows or TextEdit on Mac, though be careful in there, and save a copy before you do it: if you accidentally edit anything else, it could cause problems on your game), add SET ffx "0" to the end of the file, save and close it, and then you shouldn't see that fog effect any more.
When to move up to the next raid
I like this post over at Tank Like a Girl that raises the question of just when your guild should make the big step to move on up the raiding ranks. Just last night, my very casual guild headed into Ulduar for the first time, and even though we'd never been in there before (we've been doing Naxx, OS, and EoE with some regularity, though when I say we're casual, I mean we're really casual), I think we did it at exactly the right time. We made it up to Kologarn -- enough to know that we didn't go in too early (and come out empty-handed, unable to down any bosses) or too late (and breeze through the place).Now obviously, every guild is in a different place raiding-wise (and most guilds are way ahead of ours, I know), and TLaG is dealing with a different dilemma: whether to take down Yogg-Saron before moving on to ToC or not. And in her case, she's got the added "gotta catch 'em all" thinking. But it's a tough thing as a raid leader -- you don't want to move on past content you know you can do eventually, and progression always beckons. In the end, you've got to figure out what's best for the guild. And of course, the content's not going anywhere -- if you can't drop a certain boss this week, there's always the next raid reset.
Breakfast Topic: When are we going to see the rest of the Chamber of Aspects?
I've been killing Sarth for months and, oddly I still enjoy it. Sans the last half an hour which normally involves bickering and the following question: 'What's a raid roll?' repeated ad infinitum. However each time I enter the Chamber of Aspects, I find my eyes drawn to the other still-sealed portals and wonder when they will open. It's clear the Dragonflight portion of Wrath lore is still incomplete and I live in hope these new raids might be tied into patch 3.3 or even the new expansion.So tell me readers, when do you think Blizzard will start opening the other Sanctums? What kind of raids would you like to see for each flight? Do you think it might tie into the whole Infinite Dragonflight questline or be something to do with the Lich King? What are your thoughts, constant readers?
Guildwatch: Confessions of the guilty
Diemm, in this excerpt from a long trade chat screenshot (which you can see in this week's column below), confesses right away to ninja'ing a guild bank -- he was brought into a guild by a merge, and decided he'd rather take everything in the bank than be a part of the guild. As despicable as it is, his honesty is quite refreshing. We have a confession, too: last week's Guild "Goodness" was just an April Fool's joke. In fact, here's the scary part: Jalabharxo, in the intro, who asked for help and actually got it? That's my character. And that was actually the third time I asked a trade chat nicely before I got a clean screenshot I could post -- the other two times, I got made fun of.So it seems that drama is the norm. Not that there isn't goodness to post -- if you hear of any, let us know, and we'll fit it in. But for now, if you hear about guild drama or downings, feel free to send them to us at wowguildwatch@gmail.com. A few quick notes this week: we are no longer posting about Vault of Archavon ninjas because a) there's just too many of them, and b) they often have nothing to do with guilds, and this column is about guild drama, not PuGs. Also, we are way, way backlogged on guild recruitment -- apparently everybody and their guild is recruiting new players. We'll spotlight guilds as we can, but we've got way more coming in than we can post for now. Sorry if your guild got missed, hopefully you'll find the people you need. This week's GW is right after the break.
Guildwatch: A kinder, gentler GW
Something really amazing happened the other day -- Jalabharxo, as you can see in the chat above, asked for some help in the Trade chat. But unlike what usually happens (someone insults his mother or people make fun of his lack of knowledge by calling him a noob), the unthinkable took place: someone respectfully answered his question. He couldn't believe it, and even though he sent us the screenshot, neither could we.Because of this crazy change to the way the game is played (People helping each other? Who'da thunk it?), we've decided to change up the format of Guildwatch. Usually we cover downed and recruiting news from guilds around the realms, as well as all of the crazy guild drama. But the drama is always so vicious, and no one ever seems to like it too much, so from now on, we're going to be covering a different side of the game: guild goodness. We're sure you'll love this change -- the new GW starts right after the break. And as always, you can send us news of your guild or anyone elses at wowguildwatch@gmail.com.
Guildwatch: Ninja tested, GM approved
This isn't guild drama, but what a move -- Kokor of Draka convinced a PuG to help him through a second run of Gun'drak just so he could ding level 80. And take a guess what he did as soon as he dinged -- yup, split off to Naxx, leaving the PuG, who'd just helped him level the last few points, in the lurch. The jerk store called, and they just ran out of Kokor.More stories of drama in this week's Guildwatch below, including a prodigal son that isn't so welcome. Plus, we've got downed and recruiting news from around the realms -- if you want to know what the guilds are up to on your server, it's in here. And don't forget, send your tips on drama, downed and recruiting news to wowguildwatch@gmail.com, and you'll see them right here in the future.
Breakfast Topic: Hitting your stride
We finally did it. Heroic: The Twilight Zone. I thought we'd get it much sooner than yesterday -- and we had come close a couple of times -- but thanks to shoddy third world Internet, things often don't go the way we plan them. Several key raid members would get disconnected mid-battle, and we were never quite sure what caused it. We'd just blame it on a bad connection and hope for the best. So imagine the great luck we had when we finally got it all together.That was an awesome night, and we headed to Naxxramas to clean up and ended up making quick werk of Patchwerk without even trying. I guess when you hit your stride, things just fall into place. Have you ever had a really good run where everything just worked out? A good day of playing where things just go your way? Gunning for Battlegrounds Achievements, I've had bad days but also excellent days where I felt like I just couldn't be beat. What things have worked out for you? Selling stuff at the Auction House as soon as you put them out? Successful Heroic dungeon farming? Mike asked the other day if the RNG worked out really well for some of you, but what about stuff that isn't so random? When you're right on top of your game? I wish all my Arena sessions were like that, but well, nothing's perfect. How about you? Have you hit your WoW stride lately? Tell us how good things have been going in-game so far.
Guildwatch: "Ninja-ing mount, sry"
We don't really know how or why you would make an intro movie for a raiding guild, but there you go. That's the intro for Goon of Kil'jaeden, who are apparently currently working on Sarth 3D. I like the music, although as a trailer, it doesn't really work that well. Exactly what is coming soon?Looking for your fix of guild drama, downed and recruiting news for the week? It's right here in GW. If you've got a tip about any guild from around the realms, feel free to send it in to us at wowguildwatch@gmail.com (we've got tons of tips coming in lately, so if you don't see your guild here this week, it'll probably be in next week). Click the link below to read on.
Officers' Quarters: The hard-mode mambo
Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership.Arriving with the upcoming 3.1 patch, Ulduar will be ground zero for hard mode raiding -- complex encounters rewarding the best loot in the game, presumably a hardcore raider's dream. There's only one problem: Hard mode is hard. Some people don't like hard. They like easy. Easy bosses, easy loot, and everybody wins, right? But other players enjoy a challenge. This week, one reader wonders how he can get his guild to dance the hard-mode mambo with Ulduar's finest. Hey Scott,With the release of Ulduar on the minds of most players, I thought this might be a timely question that ties in a current issue our guild's been having with what I see becoming a serious problem for us in the new 3.1 instance.The current problem:After clearing all available 25-man content and having it on farm for over a month, a line seems to have been drawn in the proverbial sand. Half of our raiders consider multiple drake Obsidian Sanctum the next step in guild progression. However, the other half seem to be content farming the content that is "easy" for us and are happy not logging on when we schedule attempts.Furthermore, whenever we do get enough people for a "progression" raid, we run into the same problem. After a few attempts (I have seen as few as 2), we inevitably get the one or two raiders planting the seed of doubt."We don't have the DPS for this.""Our healing is weak."
Raid Rx: On the fly healing
Raid Rx has returned from retirement! Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of PlusHeal, a new healing community for all restorative classes. This week we're going to cover assignment-less healing: When to get away with it and when you can't! Assignment-less healing. It often has unpredictable results. Sometimes your raid group will be lucky and emerge unscathed. I'm a control freak. I like to have a plan A, a plan B and even a plan for when things go wrong. I've joined my share of pickup groups in the past few months. I usually play on my alt Shaman. I'm more of the Shatner type that hurls bolts of lightning. I've experienced mixed success. On bosses like Archavon, Anub'Rekhan and Sartharion with no drakes active, I notice not a whole lot of organized healing is done. Either that or it was organized behind the scenes via whispers. To be fair, those types encounters can be done with little organization before hand. I know the first time I went into Naxx and Obsidian Sanctum wearing half blues, a smattering of crafted epics and the odd green or two. Having the healing set up in advance helped out a lot and reassured people. Sometimes it helps the raid morale some when they know the confidence emanating from healers who know who they're healing is there.
Why too many currencies actually helps progression
Badges of Justice, Battleground marks, Marks of Honor Hold and Thrallmar, Spirit Shards, Stone Keeper's Shards, Emblems of Valor, Emblems of Heroism, and now Emblems of Conquest: Ulduar will add yet another currency item into the game and Cypruss of Draka wonders, rightfully, if it's all just too much. The good news is that since the currency system was introduced, all of this stuff is out of our bags, but wouldn't it just be easier if instead of creating a whole new token system, Blizzard just charged a lot more for the gear?Bornakk says no -- he says that if they just kept the same tokens and charged more per item, people would end up doing Naxx, Ulduar, OS, and any other instances that dropped that token every single week rather than actually moving up through the content, which is what Blizzard wants us to do. He also says that the Emblem exchange mechanic is designed to help this -- you can do Ulduar and go backwards for the gear, but you can't do Naxx ten extra times to get Ulduar gear.Which, we have to give it to Blizzard, is actually pretty smart. Yes, it does keep players from farming up the tokens (Blizzard knows that if you could run all the instances per week just to get one kind of token, there'd be lots of players who would), but it also keeps people progressing to get gear they can upgrade to. As Bornakk says, they've been trying to improve the Badge system ever since it was introduced in BC, and this method of introducing new currency to send players up the ladder is a result of their work there.
Guildwatch: "Ok ready for summon"
We have to admit -- that takes chutzpah. Ziro stepped away from a progression raid, got summoned to Molten Core just to ding the achievement, and then asked for a summon back. And got it, even without being /gkicked. First of all, we're surprised he pulled it off -- if something had gone wrong on either side, he'd be out an achievement and a guild. But wow, we're really just amazed at his confidence. All he did was type "Ok ready for summon." And it worked.Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how much you want to be entertained), not all guild runs go so smoothly. After the break, we've got the good, the recruiting, and the ugly. All the guild news fit to print in this week's Guildwatch after the link.
Why now's the best time to run BC content
Spartonian over on WoW LJ has been running some old content, and he points out something that everyone should hear: now is the absolute best time to be running the old Burning Crusade endgame. He says the contest is laughably easy with current endgame levels and gear, and yet, because we're still basically at the beginning of this expansion's endgame, there are still quite a few items that can be picked off of the end bosses in Black Temple and Sunwell (not to mention you can pick up the achievements for those places if you weren't able to down them before.And he's right -- there are some nice trinkets still found in those old instances, and who wouldn't want to complete their Warglaive set or grab a Thori'dal from Sunwell? Sure, the stats may not be the best, but until the ammo changes go in, you can save money while soloing -- and own a legendary to boot.Of course, when Ulduar shows up, we'll all likely be too busy with the new content (be it the raids or the Argent Tournment or whatever else you got) to go back to Burning Crusade. But now, during the downtime post-OS and Naxx, is the perfect time to go back and clean up the old content.
Guildwatch: Brother against brother
The worst thing about the screenshot above? "Nùker" is a character that's already been known around the server as a ninja. We swear, people -- we work week after week to bring you all this news of nefarious guild switching and loot stealing, and you're not even paying attention. Given, as ninjas go, taking the mammoth is a pretty lame way to ruin your rep (or at least ruin it even more), but still, we're posting all of this for a reason here, people!Oh, that, and because it's really funny. More drama, downed, and recruiting news after the break in this week's Guildwatch. If you've got guild news of any kind (especially drama -- we're full up on downed news lately, but drama is harder to come by), send it right along to wowguildwatch@gmail.com. And keep an eye out for your server and guild in this week's GW -- you never know when we'll show up on your doorstep.
Ready Check: Sartharion plus 3 Drakes
Ready Check is a weekly column focusing on successful raiding for the serious raider. Hardcore or casual, ZA or Sunwell Plateau, everyone can get in on the action and down some bosses. This week, we take on a dragon and his mates. Yeah.Last week we provided an outline of the Sartharion encounter, promising to deliver more detail this week on how to beat the boss with all three of his drake companions alive at the pull. This is commonly called 'hard mode' and, although it's not for the faint hearted, it's by no means impossible either. However, excellent co-ordination and DPS are required in order to keep the fight under control and things can quickly degenerate into chaos. When to attempt 3 drakesIs your guild or raid group ready to even try 3 drakes? There's no hard-and-fast rule that says 'you need to be this awesome to leave three drakes alive'. If you're thinking about trying it, we'd hope that you've already killed Sartharion, probably with one or two adds already alive. You've cleared Naxx and are decked out in gear, you have a diverse pool of people to draw from, and you can communicate with each other. That's all you need, really, although a couple of things can help, including a well geared tank and complementary DPS.
Voidwalker tanks Sartharion 10 with three drakes
When I grow up, I want to be like Seche. Or more importantly, I want Grimkrast to grow up like Makgarth. Let me explain. Choren first tipped us off to this a few days back, but because we were in such shock at the whole thing it took me only now to write it up -- the guild Damaged Goods downed 10-man Sartharion with three drakes up with a Voidwalker main tanking Sartharion. They have a video of it but to be honest I couldn't see the Voidwalker doing his job. On the other hand, it turns out Voidwalkers have a knack for tanking dragons with flame breaths that one-shot normal tanks because Township Rebellion's Seche from US Crushridge also did it with his pet Makgarth.Now I've never dreamed of letting Grimkrast tank anything. He holds aggro about as well as a wet noodle. But then again I've never specced for it, so that's probably my fault. After all, Voidwalkers tanked Illidan back in the day, didn't they? So while The Twilight Zone is arguably the toughest raid Achievement in the game (I personally think it's the Heroic version that's tougher because you need 25 people to not die to void zones instead of 10), it's apparently doable with a Voidwalker. Michael Sacco reported getting Twilight Zone using this method, too. Watch the fun video and follow the link for screenshots of the event. I think it's time to send Grimkrast to the gym.
Ready Check: Sartharion
Ready Check is a weekly column focusing on successful raiding for the serious raider. Hardcore or casual, ZA or Sunwell Plateau, everyone can get in on the action and down some bosses. This week, we try to avoid dying in a fire. Again.In keeping with this weekend's theme, we all know there's nothing that shows your love for another pixellated avatar as sincerely as slaying a dragon for them. Throughout history, knights in shining armour have triumphed victorious in the face of fire-breathing monsters, and this week's Ready Check is no exception. (We'll deal with Sartharion's frost-breathing compatriot in an upcoming week, don't fret!)Sartharion the Onyx Guardian is a 'standalone' boss located in the Obsidian Sanctum below Wyrmrest Temple. Accompanied by a trio of lesser drakes, this encounter can be approached a number of ways, making it challenging to a wide audience. Although clearing the trash is necessary, killing the drakes before engaging Sartharion is optional; any drakes left alive before beginning the fight will join in during the encounter, adding extra challenge (and loot) to those who desire it.
