vargoth
Latest
Warlords of Draenor: Archmage Vargoth's Spare Staff
Players who have been around since Burning Crusade have fond memories of a fellow named Vargoth. We've given a rundown of the man's history in an earlier post about his newfound status as a garrison follower in Warlords of Draenor, but where Vargoth is concerned, Warlords keeps giving. Players clung to Vargoth's staff back in Burning Crusade to retain the ability to summon the mage to their side at any time. In Warlords, an updated version of that staff can be acquired via the rare follower mission Finding Farahlon. Successfully completing Finding Farahlon awards you with the Mysterious Shining Lockbox which contains Archmage Vargoth's Spare Staff. The Warlords version of the staff, which fits into your toy box, appears to use the same spell effects as the Burning Crusade version. Vargoth continues to talk about betrayal at the hands of Kael'thas despite those events being in the distant past by now. Regardless, there's no longer a need to carry a quest item in your bags in perpetuity.
Patch 5.2 PTR: Isle of the Thunder King Preview
With the Patch 5.2 PTR finally allowing access to the Isle of the Thunder King, I logged on both my Alliance and Horde warriors to see what all the fuss was about. Both the Sunreaver Onslaught and the Kirin Tor Offensive are in full swing, with both Lor'themar Theron and Jaina Proudmoore directly leading these opposing forces into battle. There's so much to look at that we had to resort to a massive gallery to even get a little of it for you. After the cut, I'll talk about some of the daily quests and how they play out. %Gallery-175676%
Breakfast Topic: Where have you taken your orphan?
Ok, admit it. Dornaa and Salandria are pretty cute. They say the darndest things and they are so tiny and they are like little bundles of irrepressible energy and now I want kids of my own, damn it. But seriously, If you're like me, you've probably kept your orphan whistle a little longer than you had to and took your orphan around a few extra places. Auchindoun? The Dark Portal? Pff, c'mon kid. I'll show you some real fun. How about Karazhan? That was actually a lot of fun, although fighting Prince Malchezaar was sort of creepy, since Dornaa was staring at me through the whole fight as I stood with my back against the wall, tanking him. She looked sort of accusing. You don't suppose Mal was her dear uncle before the whole Eredar corruption thing, maybe? Unfortunately, I don't think you're allowed to take your orphan into the arenas, but I may have to take her for a tour of scenic Alterac Valley before the whistle disappears. Seriously, I don't care how awesome Willy is, I just want to adopt Dornaa and keep her forever. She can keep Archmage Vargoth company on all my boss kills. I know I'm not the only one who's done this. Orphan tours are probably some of the most random fun you can have in World of Warcraft with an annual event, I think. Where have you taken your orphan?
Around Azeroth: Kirin'var Village
Jason sends us this shot of the haunted city of Kirin'var in Netherstorm. Inside this the Violet Tower at the heart of this ghostly town is one of the more amusing quests chains in Outland, given by Archmage Vargoth. And perhaps it's not the quest line itself that's amusing as the quest item that you can keep long after the quest is completed: Archmage Vargoth's Staff, which allows you to summon an image of the Archmage wherever you might be. Do you have your own gallery of Archmage Vargoth -- or any other entertaining quest chain? We want to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!%Gallery-1816%
Archmage Vargoth's travels documented in blog form
As I've said a few times on the site before, I love seeing Archmage Vargoth in the weirdest of places. Wherever players can go, I love seeing that little purple guy show up, too. And so reader Horns has made my day-- he's started a blog completely dedicated to seeing Archmage Vargoth all over Azeroth. Vargoth in the Undercity, Vargoth in Feralas, Vargoth in that little cave above WC, and Vargoth under the hammer of Rag in MC.Awesome. And Horns needs your help-- if you've got a pic of Vargoth in a funny or interesting place (or even a boring place-- would be awesome to see a hundred Vargoths standing in Ironforge's AH), get it to Horns and he'll post it for you. I'd really like to see Vargoth in places that he shouldn't go-- since he actually summons a little bit off center of the player, it should be possible to stick him in place players can't go, shouldn't it? Like on the roofs of buildings in Stormwind? I'll try messing around with it when I get a chance, but if you guys pull it off, send the pic to Horns.
Changes to loot items coming in 2.2
Drysc tells us that there are changes coming to the latest Upper Deck loot items in 2.2. The Goblin Gumbeaux Kettle is going to keep its one hour cooldown, but everyone who loots it will get Gumbeaux (warning: may cause intestinal gas) for the entire three minutes it stays on the ground. Can't wait to see those pop up around Shattrath (or, as Drysc says, in the middle of raids).And good news for the few who were able to grab the Spectral Tiger Mount (or just picked it up on eBay). Apparently the cat is getting "a little more armor" and the ethereal effect of it will be improved. Sounds great. I still haven't seen one of those ingame yet-- have you?People are still complaining about the hourlong cooldown on the gumbo (sorry, Gumbeaux), and I'm torn. One on hand, an hour is a really long time for an item that's just a joke. I get to summon Vargoth every few minutes (and often do when I get bored). But then again, it is just a joke-- who really cares whether you have to wait five minutes or an hour to burp your heart out? It's a fun loot reward-- be happy you got one and enjoy it as is.
That shifty Vargoth
Ever wanted to bring a smile to the face of the projection of an NPC trapped in a far off tower? Now you can. When you dance with the Image of Archmage Vargoth, the tricksy little mage now laughs. I heard this rumor and had to try it myself. It seems that the devs added this in the patch. I ran straight out and pulled my Archmage Vargoth's Staff out of the bank and tried it. Sure enough, he's a chuckling fool. I tried telling him jokes, pleading with him, flirted a bit, but only the dancing seems to charm his exiled soul. Now we have an audience if we ever feel the need to burst into dance. Sure he wants me to turn in my quest, but since my only purpose in visiting Netherstorm these days is to farm primals, he's going to continue to be disappointed. These are the sorts of small undocumented changes in the patch that make me giggle. Have you found any little gems that have shifted in the game without being mentioned in the patch notes? If so, what's your favorite?
Fun with Archmage Vargoth
Seen this wizard (or these wizards) around lately? It's Archmage Vargoth. Actually, it's an image of Archmage Vargoth-- the guy himself is locked, by Kael'thas, inside the Violet Tower up in Netherstorm. The image is summoned with a staff obtained from a long quest chain that starts in Area 52. At around the third quest in the chain, you can obtain Vargoth's staff, which lets you summon an image of him which actually works as a questgiver for the rest of the chain (the eventual end of the chain is to get him out of the tower, though some players say it's not working correctly).In fact, as long as you have the staff, you can summon him again. And again. And, yes, again. And you can do it anywhere. This guy had a little Vargoth party in Karazhan, and Vargoth has been popping up all over Azeroth-- in the captial cities, and even in battlegrounds. The only drawback is that the staff has a 2 minute cooldown on it, and so does the image-- you can't summon more than one at a time with just one staff. But if you have more than one player with the staff, Vargoth clones can appear, which means with a little coordination, he can become a very familiar face around Azeroth.Until it gets "fixed," that is-- chances are that Blizzard will attach a location to the staff, only letting you summon him close to the tower where he's trapped. But until then, I can't wait to see this little purple wizard in as many unexpected places as possible.
