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Cataclysm hotfixes for Dec. 27
Community Manager Zarhym's list of Cataclysm hotfixes has received yet another update Dec. 27. I have to admit, my heart skipped a beat when I first saw today's list. Is that a Tol Barad fix? Be still, my beating heart! Has Blizzard finally -- Wait. Never mind. The fix won't really fix anything. Still, maybe it's a sign Blizzard's noticed how broken the zone is. Here's the fix, along with a few other interesting changes: Winning as an attacker in Tol Barad now rewards players with 1,800 honor points, up from 180. Winning as a defender still rewards players with 180 honor points. Vashj'ir archaeology dig sites no longer unlock for players. They felt too punishing without additional benefits compared to low-level sites and were much more difficult to obtain artifacts in due to the way Vashj'ir navigation works. Gyreworms, Enormous Gyreworms, and Gorged Gyreworms no longer drop money or elite-level loot. For a complete list of the latest hotfixes, check after the break.
The Queue: Merry Christmas
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. Or, you know, whatever. Leo asked: I'm curious about the epic-quality weapons and armor that can be gained via rare discoveries in archaeology. They say they are bound to account, but do they stay that way (like heirlooms), or do they become soulbound once they're equipped? Like any other account-bound item, they will never become soulbound. They don't scale with your level either, though.
The Queue: Dead Space Tueue
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. This demo is downloading way too slowly. I gotta get my necromorph stompin' fix. Xodin asked: Is it possible to get the Fossilized Raptor after skill level 300 in Archeology? I was under the impression from the initial blue posts that we wouldn't see repeat projects until everything was learned at least once, yet at skill level 450 I'm seeing duplicate Fossil artifacts pop up without having yet gotten the Raptor. When I check WoWWiki, it looks like the Raptor might only be available during the 225 to 300 range, but that seems somewhat silly. The raptor becomes available in the 225-300 range, yes, but there's no cap on when you can actually make it. And to answer your tangential question, you can create duplicate projects of common items, but you'll never make two of the same rare item.
The Queue: I don't want to look back yet
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. Be honest. How many of you winced, cringed, or shrieked in terror upon seeing that screenshot of Oculus up above? Kal asked: How do you feel Cataclysm compared to the other expansion releases in terms of bugs and hotfixes? I didn't play much during The Burning Crusade and Wrath's releases, so I'm not sure how this one compares.
Cataclysm hotfixes for Dec. 21
Continuing the steady stream of Cataclysm tinkering we've seen this week, Blizzard has posted yet another set of hotfixes. And this is a pretty good set! Some notable changes: The duration of the Superheated Quicksilver Armor debuff on Karsh Steelbender is now 17 seconds, up from 12 seconds. The encounter was too hard to tank and went against our intended fight mechanics. The display for this buff may not properly update until a client-side patch is applied. Rare archaeology finds should now grant triple skill gains. Mekgineer Thermaplugg is no longer using outdated abilities and has a shiny new list of abilities to use. He is also no longer immune to taunts. Elemental Goos now drop 100% of the time off of Cataclysm elementals for the jewelcrafting daily quest. Chaos Orbs can now only been seen and rolled on by characters with a minimum skill level of 425 in tailoring, blacksmithing, leatherworking, or engineering. For the full list of hotfixes, follow us behind the break below.
Cataclysm hotfixes for Dec. 20
Community Manager Zarhym has documented and posted another list of hotfixes this evening. The list grows ever shorter compared to what they were immediately after launch, but the changes are still numerous. Here are some interesting examples: The search radius to find an archaeology node from the archaeology ability Survey has been increased. This will result in fewer searches needed while in the "green" range of surveying. Several cooking recipes were not counting toward the achievement Set the Oven to "Cataclysmic" and have been updated. Note that Darkbrew Lager, Highland Spirits, and Chocolate Cookie are not intended to count for this achievement. Several shirts have been corrected so they no longer cause a player's item level to increase. They are item level 1. For the full list of hotfixes, follow us behind the break below.
The Queue: Quorra
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. Regardless of what you thought of Tron: Legacy (I liked it, personally), I don't think you can argue against Quorra being mesmerizing every time she was on the screen. Exogenesis asked: On the archaeology profession pane, where it shows the racial crests, there is one consisting of a hat and two tools. I have not unnearthed any artifact that goes under this crest, nor can I actually find any information as to what it is. Anyone able to let me know? If I remember correctly, that icon was used for every archaeology race before they all got their own little crests, so it's likely just a placeholder icon for whatever race or project type is added to the profession next. Ghostcrawler said that archaeology is intended to be easily expanded.
Arcane Brilliance: Gearing a mage for Cataclysm heroics
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. Come for the mage talk; stay for the warlock-bashing. So you have a mage. After literally days of grinding out experience points, your mage has dinged 85. Re-energized after the climb from 80, you allocate that final talent point, rush off to the mage trainer to learn Time Warp, and then open the dungeon finder tool, ready to leap feet-first into your first Cataclysm heroic. Visions of vast piles of justice points dance in your head as you click the button to queue yourself ... but what's this? Your average gear level needs to be ilvl329 to queue for a heroic? And your gear level is well below that? Bewildered, you pore over your character sheet, noticing with some dismay that you're still using that wand you found off a crab in Vashj'ir on the first day of the expansion, and you somehow never replaced that off-hand from PvP Season 8 in the last five levels. What to do? Those of us who are used to having the gearing process spoon-fed to us by the past year or so of the Wrath endgame progression are likely in for a bit of a shock. Plentiful and easy-to-obtain purples like those offered in normal 5-man instances like Trial of the Champion and the Icecrown instances are nowhere to be found here. There's no short-cut. This is the beginning of the endgame, and baby steps are still required. Past the break, we'll dive headlong into the various options available to us at this very early stage in the expansion. Gearing up in Cataclysm is gradual, challenging, and rewarding. We'd better get started.
The Queue: There was a title here. It's gone now.
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. Answering reader questions, flailing wildly with a plank. Just another day at the office. Kyle asked: I'm considering leveling my shaman from 80 to 85 first. Which of the two new starting zones (Hyjal or Vashj'ir) provide the best lore experience for a shaman, or at least the most rep with the Earthen Ring? There's no real shaman content in Hyjal; it's all druids all the time there. Vashj'ir, on the other hand, has you interacting and working with the Earthen Ring for pretty much any non-"Bring us food, it's cold and wet down here" quests.
Cataclysm 10-day trial edition announced
If somehow you managed to avoid buying Cataclysm (perhaps you were shielded behind thick lead plates in a secret bunker), then know that nowhere is safe, for Blizzard has announced a 10-day trial edition of the fastest-selling World of Warcraft expansion to date. You somehow believed that you were impervious from your Cone of Ultimate Seclusion, but know you now that nowhere, no matter how remote, can save you from the Cataclysm. Seriously, though, how have you managed to not buy this expansion yet? This trial edition requires Wrath of the Lich King be installed to play, and you have a current subscription or ever have had one to Wrath of the Lich King. This 10-day trial has access to all the content but can't level past 80 (the FAQ specifically states "any characters you play during the trial can only advance up to one experience point below level 81," so if you want to go to Deepholm, Uldum or Twilight Highlands, you'll either need to buy the retail release or, in the case of zones that can be flown to, accept dying a lot. Seems like an interesting way for the six people in the whole known universe who are on the fence to make up their minds, right? Go read the FAQ and decide if it's for you. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.
The Queue: What do you mean there's an octopus on my face?
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. Yesterday was mostly comments on Adam's treatise, so there wasn't a lot of Queue-worthy material in there. Sorry. The quest giver told me he had put something on my head to show to L'ghorek, but I didn't notice anything different. And speaking of Vashj'ir ... Shulkman asked: I read in a blue post about six months ago that there was supposed to be a special "underwater food" for questing in Vashj'ir. (Also, something special for the mages, food wise.) Whatever happened to that? Blizzard took the far, far superior route of letting you eat or drink whatever you want in Vashj'ir, as long you're not swimming. You can consume nutriment at your leisure while sitting on the ocean floor or any horizontal surface.
Cataclysm hotfixes for Dec. 16
Another day, another round of hotfixes. Once again, today's hotfixes are aimed primarily at class and dungeon balance, turning some knobs one way and some the other. Some examples: Halls of Origination The damage of Fireballs automatically cast by Temple Fireshaper with Molten Barrier active has been adjusted in normal and heroic difficulty. The Stonecore The Crystal Shards creatures in the Corborus encounter are now level 86, down from 88. Shaman The Mana Tide Totem hotfix from yesterday has been reverted. The Mana Tide buff no longer stacks, as this had a major impact on encounter design. The full list of hotfixes is behind the cut below.
Archaeology grants group-wide buffs in Cataclysm 5-man dungeons
Archaeologists have the ability to give a group-wide dungeon buff to all their party members upon entering Cataclysm's 5-man dungeons. Each buff is gained through a repeatable quest during which the appropriately leveled archaeologist turns in a specific keystone to activate the zone-wide buffs. The specific turn-in locations are near the beginning of each dungeon. Here are a list of the buffs available: Blackrock Caverns Dark Iron Contingency Plan: Reduces elemental damage done to you by 5 percent; requires a Dwarf Rune Stone. Throne of the Tides Waters of Elune: 10 percent bonus damage against Naga; requires a Highborne Scroll. Stonecore Might of the Earthen: Reduces physical damage taken by 5 percent; requires Dwarf Rune Stone. Grim Batol Vengeance of the Wildhammer: 5 percent damage increase; requires Dwarf Rune Stone. Vortex Pinnacle Whispers of the Djinn: Heals your wounds and replenishes mana slowly; requires Tol'vir Hieroglyphic. Lost City of the Tol'vir Tol'vir Secrets: 10 percent bonus damage against the Neferset; requires Tol'vir Hieroglypic. Halls of Origination Map of the Architects: Increases movement speed; requires Tol'vir Hieroglyphic. Thanks, Uriah! World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.
Cataclysm hotfixes for Dec. 15
This is getting to be a little bit of a habit, isn't it? We've got another round of hotfixes today, though it's a relatively short list compared to what we've seen over the past few days. The changes were pushed live and published to the official World of Warcraft blog. The majority of today's changes seem to be addressing dungeons and raids, including the following: Argaloth in Baradin Hold now respects the faction that kills him and does not drop trinkets for the opposing faction. In the Lost City of the Tol'vir, Frenzied Crocolisks should always despawn when Lockmaw resets. In Shadowfang Keep, troll druids in particular, when shapeshifting into Cat/Bear form, were dealing an extra 5 percent damage to themselves via Beast Slaying when afflicted by Barion Ashbury's Asphyxiate. This caused them to die instead of being taken down to 1 health. This has been corrected, and Asphyxiate now properly ignores damage modifiers. Take a look after the break for the full list of changes.
Interact with target keybind gets you past players atop NPCs
Have you been frustrated with all of the dragons and mammoths sitting atop your vendors and quest NPCs? If you're like every other WoW player in history, the answer to that question is yes. It happens in every content patch and in every expansion. Every crucial NPC is completely obscured. Luckily, back in patch 3.1, Blizzard added the ability to set an "Interact With Target" keybind, which few players seem to know about. To set this keybind, bring up World of Warcraft's main Options menu (hitting Escape will bring it up), go to the Key Bindings menu, scroll down to Targeting Functions, and you should be able to find the option easily. You can also set an Interact With Mouseover key bind if you so choose. If you've never customized your key bindings before, be careful about the key you choose to bind to these functions. You don't want to overwrite other crucial keybinds accidentally. Once your Interact With Target key is set, you no longer need to worry about crowds or mammoths. Just /target who you want to interact with and hit the appropriate key. It will bring up the dialogue prompt, and you're set. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.
Cataclysm hotfixes for Dec. 14
Once again, Blizzard has applied another round of hotfixes addressing several issues with quests, classes, and flying mounts. The changes were pushed live and published to the official World of Warcraft blog. While not quite as much of a novel as yesterday's list of fixes, there are still a lot of changes that ought to make players a bit more happy in this post-Shattering world, including the following: Master Riding now properly grant players 310 percent flight speed in Eastern Kingdoms with X-53 Touring Rocket, Celestial Steed, Headless Horseman's Mount, X-51 Nether-Rocket, X-51 Nether-Rocket X-TREME, and Invincible. The dungeon finder random bracket for Throne of the Tides and Blackrock Caverns has been changed from level 80-81 to 80-82, and the specific bracket has been changed from level 80-83 to 80-85. The respawn rates for all Horde and Alliance cooking daily quest objectives in Orgrimmar and Stormwind have been increased. The Alchemy mount Vial of the Sands is no longer bind on pickup. Check out the full list of changes after the break.
Archaeology receives stealth buff
Yesterday saw a slew of hotfixes, but it appears that today's maintenance has added a stealth buff to archaeology. Previously, all surveys in an area were only allowing three fragments per successful survey, making the archaeology grind a little long. Today, it appears that surveying an area is allowing anywhere from three to six fragments per survey, a substantial buff for those trying to complete artifacts at a speedy pace. While there has been no official blue post regarding the change, it has been verified in game. For more information about the archaeology profession and how to get started, check out our Archaeology 101 video, courtesy of Robin Torres. [Thanks wowdigsite.com!] World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.
PvP Season 9 has begun!
Polish your shields and sharpen your swords, because Season 9 of World of Warcraft PvP has begun! New vendors are available for the new sets of PvP gear in the capital cities, and the new Cataclysm rated battlegrounds are now available! Check out the full blog post at the World of Warcraft community site. Zarhym The first PvP season of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is underway! Players are now able to compete in level-85 Rated Arenas for top gear, items, and titles -- and for the first time ever, they can enter level-85 Rated Battlegrounds to fight for the same rewards available through Arenas, along with the original World of Warcraft PvP titles. Players can also participate in unranked War Games, skirmishes that allow Battleground and Arena teams to hone their skills against opponents of their choosing -- even if they're in the same faction. So prepare yourselves, aspiring Grand Marshals and High Warlords, as the struggle between the Horde and the Alliance is about to get bloodier. source World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.
Cataclysm hotfixes for Dec. 13
Another day, another round of hotfixes for Cataclysm deployed and published to the official World of Warcraft blog. Today's round of fixes is just as lengthy if not longer than the last few we've seen posted. Along with a few class changes, there are a metric ton of tweaks to quests in several zones, including the following: In Vash'jir, NPCs on The Verne and the Pincer X2 will no longer despawn or behave oddly while players are completing the quest Full Circle. In Twilight Highlands during the quest Aiming High, the Flintlocke's Explosives can now be used anywhere on the Skyshredder. Those exploring in Deepholm should be happy to hear that players should no longer be repeatedly consumed by the very mean Colossal Gyreworm. Follow through the break for the full list of hotfixes.
Sexual dimorphism in Cataclysm
Three years ago, I read this article by Annalee Newitz on sexual dimorphism in WoW, promptly filing it away in my head as one of those interesting quirks about the game and games in general. What really struck me at the time were the alpha pictures of trolls and tauren. While I like the current tauren female model, I'm not terribly enamored of troll ladies, if only because 95 percent of them (not an actual statistic) seem to choose the same blandly "pretty" face. Alpha troll women seemed to share a lot more of the troll male's features, with more pronounced tusks, sharper profiles and more of a hunch like the men. In general, I found these alpha models fascinating. Also interesting to note was that this trend goes both ways: when blood elves debuted, the males were much closer to the females and were beefed up in The Burning Crusade beta. As Annalee Newitz pointed out, the other race that debuted in BC, the draenei, are extremely dimorphic; males are bigger and more massively muscular than orcs, while their females are far less mesomorphic. What interested me, at least so far as the tauren and troll model changes went, is that players complained that the tauren and troll women weren't to their liking, which most likely had an influence on the design of draenei and blood elves. Now, with Cataclysm, we have two new races to consider. How do the worgen and goblins stack up on the dimorphism scale?
