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The Queue: What red totem u have
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. Patch 3.3 is just awesome. The new Dungeon Finder means that not only are you able to run dungeons faster and easier than ever, but you also get the dubious honor of running into any of the myriad crazy people that play this game. Some of those crazy people are me (see above). And, for somebody else, the crazy people might just be you. Speaking of the Dungeon Finder, we've got an actual topical question for The Queue today. Everybody gather 'round by the fireplace, grab some cocoa, and be educated. Spriesty asked... I have a question. Is the new looting system working as intended? I was surprised to see in a group the other night a person win DE mats over a person greeding for an off-spec. So what, we all have to need now, even if it's off-spec, and then trade if needed??
Know Your Lore: Quel'delar, the Sister Blade
Welcome back to Know Your Lore, WoW.com's column about the story behind the game we all play. A featured questline in Patch 3.3, the story of Quel'delar is available to any player who attains the Battered Hilt, which can drop from any mob in the Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons. But what's the story behind this ancient and powerful weapon? Long ago, the night elves and the five Dragonflights worked together with great ceremony to forge a set of incredibly powerful prismatic swords, intended to be the first line of defense against any evil that would challenge the races of Azeroth: Quel'serrar, the High Blade, and Quel'delar, the Sister Blade. Quel'serrar was gifted to the night elves, but ultimately nearly destroyed. For thousands of years it remained partially intact with the Shen'dralar of Eldre'thalas, who anticipated that one day it'd be possible to reforge the blade. Only recently did this occur, with heroes reforging the blade in the flames and black heart of Onyxia, broodmother of the Black Dragonflight. The blade's triumphant return to its full glory brought great joy to the night elves, who thought the blade lost forever. Its sister blade, however, followed a different path. This writeup contains spoilers from the Quel'delar questline and should be avoided if you want to be surprised when Patch 3.3 launches.
Blizzard releases Bosstiary for the Frozen Halls
Following up on their neat entry for Ulduar, Blizzard has released their newest Bosstiary, this time for The Frozen Halls, the collection of new Icecrown 5-man dungeons coming with Patch 3.3. The site serves as an encyclopedia of information on the many and varied bosses of the Forge of Souls, Pit of Saron, and Halls of Reflection. The Bosstiaries often have information that the dungeons never really give you; for example, who knew that Auriaya was the Titans' librarian? Nobody, that's who. We just wondered why the heck she was wandering around Ulduar with a bunch of cats and a bad attitude. But now you can go into the Frozen Halls and know exactly who you're fighting and why, replete with marks on the map indicating the position of the bosses and the instance entrance. The Forge of Souls sees us freeing the souls of innocents from Arthas' Soul Grinder machines, run by Bronjahm, Godfather of Souls. Guarding the machines and preventing souls from escaping is the Devourer of Souls. The Pit of Saron is Arthas' saronite mining operation; Krick, a leper gnome, oversees the operation from atop his abomination, Ick. Forgemaster Garfrost shapes the saronite into weapons of destruction under Arthas' command, and Scourgelord Tyrannus lords over the pit with his fearsome Scourge powers. The Halls of Reflection are Arthas' private quarters, guarded by his lieutenants in life, Falric and Marwyn. Inside, Arthas himself keeps Frostmourne locked away from those who would try to use it against him. Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.
Find the hidden skulls in Halo 3: ODST
Warning: Spoilers! As we did when the Mythic Map Pack was released, Joystiq brings you a quick video guide to locating the final three skulls in the new Halo 3 multiplayer maps included with ODST. In order for gamers to grab the final skulls -- and the Gamerscore attached to them -- players will need to enter each new map (Citadel, Heretic and Longshore) in Forge mode accessed on ODST's second disc.Like the Mythic Map Pack, not every skull is in an easy to reach location. Citadel may pose somewhat of a challenge, because the skull is placed in an area gamers may not be able to access when exiting Monitor mode. However, with the help of a few objects and the Grav Lift equipment, it will eventually be yours. Found a better way to grab the skulls? Drop some science in the comments! Be sure to check out Joystiq's Halo 3: ODST Review, as well as in-depth analysis of the Campaign and Firefight games modes.
See the new Halo 3 maps in action
Well, they're not technically "in action," we suppose -- more like action's going on around and within them. So, more accurately, you can see the Halo 3 maps that will ship with Halo 3: ODST (Citadel, Heretic, and Longshore) in the general vicinity of action after the break.You'll be surprised to hear that the maps all look like they're set in some alien, intergalactic space cabin. No, it's true!
ODST's Halo 3 maps revealed
click to open detailed screenshot terrain With all the talk of fancy open-ended environments, playable flashbacks and new cooperative modes, we'd almost forgotten about ODST's offering of new Halo 3 maps! When it launches later this year, Bungie's latest entry in the epic space hoop saga will include a Halo 3 multiplayer disc, which will contain three new maps (in addition to all the ones you've come to love and die repeatedly in).Be sure to take a look at "Heretic" (the return of Halo 2's "Midship" arena), "Citadel" and "Longshore" in the gallery below. We've found that staring intently at them while bobbing back in forth in our seats provides a good, albeit imperfect, approximation of actual gameplay. We're just missing the cybernetic crotch thrusting toward us in regular intervals.%Gallery-67527%
