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Ask a Beta Tester: Northrend, tanking, and pop culture
Step off the zeppelin or boat to Northrend and you're in a new world. Even when there's not snow, Northrend simply feels cold. Piano playing in the background in Dragonblight even sounds like ice should feel. It's a brave new world of strange sights, unusual architecture, and unheard of beasts. Curious about what you should expect? Read on.Nizari asked.... Have you seen much of the Nordic influence that Wrath is supposed to have? I know you've discussed the Vrykul and the Val'kyr before, but I'm wondering if you've seen any more esoteric or obscure references? I'd find it mighty entertaining if there was a baker who sold Kransekake, or a cooking recipe to make Lutefisk. I think this question pretty much floored most of the team -- because none of us really experts in Norse mythology. Your friend and mine, Alex, had this to say about Norse influences in the expansion: There are the jormungar, of course, and the Avatar of Freya in the Sholazar Basin. The Avatar of Freya is a vaguely Druidic being that is battling the Scourge and Freya is one of the Titans. The Titans themselves are heavily inspired by Norse and Greek mythology.For more of your questions -- and our answers! -- read on! But if you're the sort who wants to avoid spoilers, turn back now. We're aiming to avoid major story spoilers, but this feature is all about beta content and we can't talk about the beta without giving a few things away.
Ask a Beta Tester: Dalaran and UI updates
We're starting out today with a question on everyone's favorite mystical city: Dalaran. (That is your favorite mystical city, right? Because otherwise we'll have to start all over...) Alc asked.... How does Blizzard account for all the wanton slaughter of Dalaran folk by the Horde? How would a hordie get into Dalaran because of this? Not being Chris Metzen, it's tricky to answer this question. Dalaran was not treated kindly by the Horde in the Second War and even today in Silverpine Forest and Hillsbrad Foothills, Horde questlines encourage the killing of Dalaran's mages. So how exactly is Blizzard working around this minor problem? WoWWiki claims that Dalaran has been neutral since the Lands in Conflict RPG sourcebook, but provides no additional details. How Blizzard is going to make lore mesh with reality? We aren't sure yet, but we're keeping out eyes open. For more of your questions -- and our answers! -- read on! But if you're the sort who wants to avoid spoilers, turn back now. We're aiming to avoid major story spoilers, but this feature is all about beta content and we can't talk about the beta without giving a few things away.
Rhonin and Vereesa in Dalaran
Love him or hate him, the latest beta patch has made it official: Rhonin has entered the World of Warcraft. Along with his wife Vereesa, of course. The Violet Citadel in Dalaran had its artificial wall preventing you from getting inside removed in the last Wrath beta patch, and they've begun populating it in this patch. Rhonin, Vereesa, and a couple members of what I assume is the Dalaran ruling Council (the Six).Rhonin and the two Archmages in the Citadel all seem to be wearing recolors of the supposed Mage Tier 7 that cropped up awhile back, so we can all consider that a definite confirmation. It looks pretty cool, if a bit unusual (wow, a tunic and not a robe!), with the helm turned off. With the helm on, I really couldn't help but giggle. You can see Rhonin and Vereesa above, and we've also added higher resolution images to our Dalaran gallery. Oh, and forgive the poor lighting. They apparently haven't turned on the electricity in the Citadel yet.%Gallery-28715%
The strange task of entering Dalaran
Here's a somewhat annoying little problem with the Beta. As of the latest build, you can't just walk into Dalaran, or rather, you can't just use the teleportation crystal go up. Instead, you have to complete a quest to align yourself to Dalaran. But this quest is only available at level 74. In the Outlands, it's not uncommon for a fresh 58 to head through the Dark Portal and right to Shattrath City. Binding in one of the Inns there essentially puts all of the Outlands before you, with flights connecting you easily to where you wish to go. It seems strange that Blizzard has put up this strange quest attunement roadblock to those who wish to alight from the boat to Northrend and head straight to the capital. Perhaps it's a similar decision that caused them to restrict flying mounts to level 77 and above -- they don't want people skimping on exploration and seeing content, so they make you hang around the newbie zones for a while before you can just stick with Dalaran. Luckily, not all is completely lost. Much like with Shattrath before level 58, You can still get teleported or summoned up by a Mage or Warlock before level 74. Still, it's a strange little extra hoop Blizzard's having us leap through to get the to top.
WoW Insider's Dalaran image gallery updated
Dalaran gets more shine and polish with ever beta patch, and the most recent is no exception. The Violet Citadel has had it's front doors opened, though it remains unpopulated. Many missing textures have been filled in, and a lot of the empty buildings have been put to use.We've updated our Dalaran image gallery to reflect some of these updates, and added a new batch of pictures including things such as the Dalaran Sewers. Click the link or thumbnails below to check it out. As always, if you want to see a Hi Res version of the image you're looking at, the button is in the upper right.%Gallery-28715%
Ask a Beta Tester: Of textures, turtles, and Tuskarr
If you're on a coastline in the World of Warcraft, encountering hostile pirates is always a possibility -- and Northrend seems to be no exception. I'm not sure what this intrepid crew intends to plunder, but if you meet up with them on the open seas, watch out -- I was nearly swallowed by an Orca trying to swim to shore. But enough about me: let's get to your questions!Warlia asked... Does the game really look more crisp and detailed like people are saying? Remember walking into The Exodar or Silvermoon City for the first time? I bet you immediately compared them to the other major cities in the game and suddenly all of those other cities looked a bit less impressive. Walking into Northrend is going to be just like that. Everything in Northrend looks so good that it makes previous parts of the world look a trifle dusty. Blizzard seems to be using textures in Wrath that have a lot more detail than anything they've done previously. And though I haven't gone and counted polygons, the architecture in Dalarn (especially the curvy tunnels of the sewers, which are much more pleasent than you'd imagine) looks like it might use more of 'em. And beyond the architecture of the place, the environment is tremendously detailed. For example, if you visit Dalaran's toy shop you'll find shelves packed with all manner of toy -- nearly all of which are constantly buzzing, whirring, or moving. There are reflections and real-time shadows. Everything looks fantastic. (Though I've seen some reports -- as recently as in the comments thread of the previous edition of Ask a Beta Tester -- of content outside of Northrend looking better, I can't say I'm seeing a difference, though it could be a hardware issue.) For more on the game's video quality -- and other questions! -- keep reading! But if you're the sort who wants to avoid spoilers, turn back now. We're aiming to avoid major story spoilers, but this feature is all about beta content and we can't talk about the beta without giving things away here and there.
Ask a Beta Tester: Do you not value your life fruit vendor edition
I can't say enough good things about Dalaran. It's the most beautiful place in the game -- the architecture and textures in the area are more detailed than any we've ever seen. If it weren't for the invisible holes in the ground that send you plummeting to the Crystalsong Forest below, I'd probably never leave! Now that I think of it, that's probably why we don't have more flying cities: health hazards. (Yes, at present, visitors to Dalaran may fall through the city to the ground below without warning.) However, it has its own fruit vendor, so it can't be all bad, can it? But on to your questions! Boowat asked....How do you actually get to Dalaran. It's really high up... can you only fly there?Earlier in the beta, anyone could reach Dalaran by visiting the Crystalsong Forest and using a crystal below the city to teleport up. However, more recently, transport has been further restricted. To visit Dalaran one must be level 74 and complete a quest. (As I'm not yet level 74, I can't give you details on the quest, I've only been told it exists.) Commentor Ktok also notes that Mages get a self-only port to Dalaran at level 71.The level 74 thing does seem a bit odd (can you imagine Shattrath with a level-restriction?), but we'll see if the restriction sticks around and makes it live.
WoW Moviewatch: Muffins WotLK Exploration Part 70-77
(Viewers be warned that this video contains spoilers for the Wrath of the Lich King beta.)Muffins did a great job with her most recent exploration video. If you're looking for another artistic take on the new locations available in WotLK, this is the movie for you. The areas that she visits include Howling Fjord, Borelean Tundra, The Nexus (Instance), Utgarde Keep (Instance), Crystalsong Forest, Dragonblight, Stone Halls (Instance), Drak'tharon Keep (Instance), Zul'Drak, Dalaran, Sholazar Basin, and Grizzly Hills.The other day, I mentioned that Razzik may have had his exploration video removed from Vimeo. While I have yet to confirm it with him, there is a comment on Muffins' WCM page saying that they removed hers. I'll be weighing in on this shortly with some additional news from other sites, as well as recommendations for where to keep your machinima safe.[Via Warcraftmovies.com]If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ...
Ask a Beta Tester: The Argent Crusade
It's that time again, ladies and gents. Alex here with today's round of answers to your Wrath Beta questions. Keep the questions coming, and we'll keep answering. To everyone that asked about Arena points: We don't know anything about that yet, and Blizzard doesn't either. As soon as they know, we'll know, and then you'll know.Gurluas asks...How many high elves are there in Wrath, and what are their role now that they have thier own faction?The High Elves actually have a pretty strong presence, which I'm rather excited about. The High Elves (and Blood Elves to a much lesser extent) are one of my favorite Warcraft races, and it makes me sad I can't play one. Alliance FTW. Dalaran, first of all, is packed full of them. Most of them are under the banner of the Silver Covenant, an Alliance-aligned faction of High Elves that aren't too happy about the Blood Elves being given a sizable section of Dalaran.There are also High Elves scattered throughout the Alliance forces in Northrend. There are a few of them in the 7th Legion (no, they're not all High Elves), the Argent Crusade, and just the Alliance forces overall. The fellow in charge of the Alliance contingent helping the Red Dragonflight at the Red Dragonshrine is a High Elf. He's a total badass, by the way. Check him out up there. Ashkandi is Draconic for Awesome.
Ask a Beta Tester: Seals, judgements, and more
It's 11AM, do you know where your beta testers are? If you're reading WoW Insider (and you certainly seem to be), then they're right here answering your questions. We've picked a few unanswered questions from recent installments of Ask a Beta Tester to answer this morning, and, as always, invite you to drop in any new questions that might be plaguing your poor brain. I'm going to start off with a question I've been waiting for -- because it allows me to properly express the full extent of my glee over the changes to the Paladin's seal and judgment system, which are, if I may be so bold, magnificent. Offhand writes in to say, "I'm getting confused as to how paladin seals work now. It seems like they keep updating and changing that system." The old system of seals and judgements is dead -- long live the new system. At present, a paladin's available seals have been reduced to light, wisdom, righteousness, blood/vengeance (Horde/Alliance), and corruption/martyr (Horde and Alliance's new versions of blood/vengeance, to put them on even footing, insofar as seals are concerned)...You'll notice former staple crusader is missing -- it buffed holy damage on application and your all-around damage has been buffed so you won't notice a change. Madness! Now, when you cast a judgement, it does not use up your seal -- all seals last for two minutes. Also, while you have seal of light, wisdom, and justice, their use is much more limited, because you now have three different types of judgements: light, wisdom, and justice. Regardless of which seal you use, using judgement of light, wisdom, or justice will apply the debuff formerly associated with the seal of the same name while doing the immediate effect of the seal you currently have up. It may sound convoluted, but in practice, it really cuts down on the seal/judge/seal/judge keyboard action and streamlines paladin combat.Update: Clarified the new corruption and martyr seals which, as many commenters have pointed out, are versions of blood/vengeance for the opposite faction. Also, I'm a total idiot and forgot to mention righteousness. It's not gone, I promise!More questions after the break..!
Ask a Beta Tester: More Titan's Grip
We're back again with today's round of Ask a Beta Tester questions. I tried to answer as many as I could, but time is a fickle mistress and I was going to write some sort of metaphor here but I can't think of one, so if you would all be so kind, come up with one for me. If I didn't get to your question today, don't worry, we'll be doing these for as long as there are questions left to answer. Just post it in the comments section below, and we'll try to get to it as soon as we can. Jamesisgreat asked: How much gold are you getting rewarded per quest on average? I mean is it worth us saving up our gold for Wrath or are quests going to reward 100g a pop or something? Most quests throughout the starter zones give around 5g each, though group quests offer more. On top of that there are the green rewards you don't use that you can vendor, so you don't need to save a lot of money. I advise saving up a little bit though, because questing to 80 is not going to get you the (roughly) 8,000g you'll want to buy the ring that ports you to Dalaran. You won't be totally broke at 80 if you don't save money now, but you won't be able to run around and buy whatever you want either. Northrend is a big place, so that ring will be nice even if you only use it for the portal. You can be free to set your hearth elsewhere.
Wrath of the Lich King's magical city of Dalaran
Dalaran, which is more or less the Shattrath of Wrath, has been getting a lot of love in the last couple of beta patches. It seems development on that particular bit of Northrend is going at full steam. It's still far from complete, with a whole legion of NPCs missing, the inside of some buildings still lack textures, and entire parts of the city still walled off. It really is coming together little by little though, and the city is more or less presentable now, not to mention beautiful -- it's like cotton candy for your eyeballs.We've put together a little gallery of Dalaran for you to sift through if you're interested, and as the beta patches go by we'll probably update it with more of the finished product. Not yet pictured is the Dalaran Sewers, but I hope to fix that soon. What are the Dalaran sewers, you might be wondering? It's a small hidden town beneath Dalaran, within the pipelines that were torn up when the relocation took place. It's full of all sorts of unsavory stuff. Awesome? Yes. Yes it is.%Gallery-28715%
Ask a Beta Tester: Wyrmrest Temple and the dragon shrines
Elizabeth is off having grand adventures at the airport today, so I'll be filling in for her on Ask a Beta Tester today. You may know me from such WoW Insider features as Know Your Lore, Ask a Lore Nerd, Hybrid Theory, and Bad Pop Culture References. Hm, wait, I think I imagined that last one... Anyway! I'll be fielding your questions today, and I apologize if I didn't get to yours. I had to pick and choose questions I actually knew a thing or two about, so I couldn't really answer class questions about classes I don't play or don't know very well.If I didn't get to your question today, go ahead and ask it again today, and hopefully one of the other WoW Insider staff in the Wrath Beta will be able to answer it for you. Thanks, everyone!juicyjuice asked: As I understand it, the Argent Dawn is making a reappearance in WotLK. Will players who spent a lot of time with the Argent Dawn pre-BC have a significant advantage over people who may not have much or any Argent Dawn rep when WotLK hits? The Argent Dawn and parts of the Silver Hand are now operating as the Argent Crusade. I won't elaborate on that so we can avoid any spoilers on the front page here. So no, high Argent Dawn rep from WoW Classic will not give you any advantage in Wrath of the Lich King. However, it will probably play a role in an achievement or two, though it is a bit too early to say for sure whether that will be the case when Wrath hits retail.
WoW Moviewatch: A look at Dalaran
Earlier today, Elizabeth Harper answered some of your questions about Dalaran as it pertains to the Wrath of the Lich King beta. Now WoW Serbia has a look at the recent changes made to Dalaran with yesterday's patch. While not 100% complete, it's shaping up pretty nicely.Recently, the city was moved from Azeroth to Northrend. Since the move, it hasn't been easy to get there, but you'll find a gorgeous city when you do. With trainers beginning to populate the area and portals that take you to a variety of areas, Dalaran is shaping up to be a must visit destination![Via WoW Serbia]If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ...
Ask a beta tester: Death Knights and Dalaran
With over 200 questions yesterday on our initial Ask a Beta Tester column, I'm afraid we couldn't answer everyone's questions. (There just aren't enough hours in the day!) However, I did pick about a dozen questions to answer -- like a Death Knight picking Peacebloom! -- after the break. Did your question not get answered? You're welcome to ask it again today, and maybe the WoW Insider crew will be able to hunt down the answers. So what are you waiting for? Ask us your questions in the comments!
Wrath Money Sink Found: Dalaran teleport rings for 8000 gold
Here's a brand new find fresh from the Kirin Tor capital of Dalaran on the Wrath Beta servers. We've been wondering for a while what type of money sinks Blizzard might implement in wrath, and we've found one, to the tune of 8000 gold coins: A set of melee and caster rings that not only deliver some pretty sweet stats, but also have a free teleport to Dalaran on use to the tune of an hour cooldown. The rings are sold by Tiffany Cartier, the Jewelcrafting supply vendor in Dalaran, who hangs out next to the jewelcrafting trainer. They come in both melee and caster versions, and seem to have pretty solid stats. Still, the main draw is the teleport, and it seems very likely that it will be on a separate cooldown from the Hearthstone. That means that for a paltry sum, you too can feel somewhat like a Mage once an hour. It's also worth noting that Tiffany herself is on the Kirin Tor faction. That means that if you care to do a bit of grinding before you spend your dough, you'll be able to haggle the price down to 6400 gold -- still far above the price of Burning Crusade's major money sink. This is certainly a useful and clever way for Blizzard to siphon money out of the economy once we all hit 80 and start doing all our Argent Crusade dailies, and it makes me sort of glad I didn't blow all my money on the Gigantique bag craze. Of course, now I need to figure out where I'm going to find the gold to buy one for all my alts. Thanks to Kurai for the tip, and Alex for heading to Dalaran for screenshots.
Hands-on with Inscription in the Wrath Beta
By now you've heard of inscription, the new trade skill coming with Wrath of the Lich King. We've already given you a few sneak peeks, looking at glyphs, enchantment scrolls, and other beta insights. This time, though we had a chance to fiddle with Inscription directly, on the Beta servers themselves. The trade skill is most obviously only in the very first stages of implementation, but there's still enough to play around with to get an idea of how it will all work once things go live. %Gallery-28616% To start off with, we needed to do a little running. There's no inscription trainers to be found in Dalaran or any of the capitals. We found one in Vengeance Landing, so it seems likely that Alliance could find one in Valgarde as well. However, there are no Inscription suppliers nearby, so you'll still have to run to Dalaran to get the Scribe Tools and parchment you need for most recipes. It's probably a given that that'll change for the better as we get closer to live, but for now it's a pain. You'll probably want to go buy the Scribe Tools and stock up on parchment before you go to train if you're doing it in Beta. Luckily, Light Parchments stack up to 20, so you can carry a lot -- be warned though, most of the scrolls you make out of them only stack to 5. Anyhow, to the meat.
Around Azeroth: Beta testin'
Despite what you may have heard, the life of a Wrath of the Lich King beta tester isn't always filled with action and excitement. Sometimes it's filled with, gulp, bugs! I can tell you from personal experience that life in the beta involves plenty of "World Server Down" and "Restart in 15:00" messages and some things plain don't look or work the way they ought to. What can I say? It's a beta and it still has some rough edges to be polished out -- that's the whole point of having a beta test! Nowhere is the game's beta state more obvious than in this shot by Ferin of Hakkar, who logged into Stormwind City to find... well, this. I'm pretty sure that this is a graphical glitch and doesn't mean Stormwind City, like Dalaran, has been relocated in Wrath, though I've been wrong before...This image came to us straight from the Wrath of the Lich King beta -- and we'd love to have your beta screenshots, too! If you have anything our readers might like, sharing it 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! Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. We prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. And, please, no more sunsets! (Well, okay, maybe if they are some really cool Northrend sunsets, we can consider.)%Gallery-1816%
Dalaran's now a hole in the ground
Kaydeethree over at WoWWiki posted a picture of Dalaran's old spot in Azeroth. It's now a gigantic hole with purple residue all over. The city has moved to Northrend, where it will be a pinnacle of Wrath of the Lich King. Click on the image above for a high resolution version.This is really quite cool, and it's been one of the big mysteries of Wrath. It will be interesting to see what the NPCs have to say about its removal to Northrend. I'm sure we'll have that covered in the days ahead when we find out more.Many thanks to reader Adam (no relation) for alerting us to this. Stay tuned! Lots of great Wrath coverage all weekend.
Neutral Factions: An idea whose time has passed
Neutrality in factions started with the Steamwheedle Cartel and only got worse. It seems that once you get to the level cap, most of the intense rivalry between the factions, at least as expressed in the PvE game, peter off to nothing. Almost every faction accepts both Horde and Alliance fighters. In Burning Crusade, they even share the same capital, and it looks like that will be happening again in WoTLK with Dalaran -- despite that fact that, 50 levels earlier, the Horde utterly devastated Dalaran's holdings in Silverpine Forest and Hillsbrad. The general argument for this change is that at higher levels, most people learn to put aside their differences and fight the greater challenges that threaten to wipe both sides out. My problem with that line of reasoning is that up until the end game, what we're trying to wipe out is each other. In the Ghostlands, the Night Elves are involved in extensive operations to attack the Blood Elves. In Ashenvale, the Horde is constantly attacking the Night Elves, including setting up spy posts and killing their animal companions. In the southern Barrens, the Dwarves are willing to wipe out the Tauren to set up their excavations. In Lordaeron, the Forsaken have the stated intent of wiping out the alliance, devastating one settlement and even making a preliminary attack against Southshore.
