frenzyheart-tribe
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Breakfast Topic: An earnest letter
Dear Oracles; For the better part of a year and a half, I've diligently run your errands. I've collected thousands of shiny objects for your weird little god, killed legions of "puppy men" in your name, and yet you insist on denying me the green protodrake. I've spent enough gold on eggs to single-handedly fund the feeding and care of your young for the next several years, and yet you choose to withhold the one item I covet. I'm sorry, but you've brought this upon yourselves. I have decided that since your benevolence doesn't extend far enough to grant me a dragon of verdant green, I will no longer be performing your menial tasks. That's right, I've taken up with the puppy men. You may have noticed this when I began my campaign of wholesale slaughter against the Sparktouched Village. I will continue the murdering of your people until I'm satisfied that my message has been received, at which point I may, in my benevolence, return to collecting baubles for you. It would be in your best interests when I do so to give me the drake I've been after. Rather than blame me for my actions, I suggest you take a long, hard look at Geen over in Rainspeaker Canopy. This is his fault. Sincerely, Soon-to-be Mercenary P.S. I suggest you think quickly. I'm in ICC-25 gear. I'm tired of random number generators, especially when I've been trying to get something for more than a few months. How about you guys? Do you enjoy grinding for that inexplicably rare drop, or does the very thought of spending more than a few days trying to obtain something make you feel a little green? What's the one thing that's eluded you, no matter how hard you've farmed for it?
Ask a Faction Leader: High-Shaman Rakjak
WoW.com's prestige in the community has afforded us the opportunity to speak with major Azerothian leadership figures on any subject, and we're letting you, the reader, Ask a Faction Leader! We recently spoke to Regent-Lord Lor'themar Theron, interim leader of the blood elves, and he shed light on several key issues, including requisition paperwork, small business ownership, visitor permits, and class confusion. In this installment of Ask a Faction Leader, we'll be sitting with High Shaman Rakjak, leader of the Frenzyheart wolvar tribe. Our first reader question: Hi, High-Shaman, Like many, I ended up slaughtering many of your people on behalf of the Oracles to get a drake. By my estimates, that's at least 1000 people killing 50 of your tribesmen every day. And yet you had no shortage of troops when we came to do it all again the next day! What's the secret to your fertility, and have you considered selling it? Corusis Dwarf Paladin Cenarion Circle Rakjak responds: Rakjak like how dwarf think. How can dwarf be as vi ... viri ... be as good at pup-making as wolvar? DWARF WISHES HE KNEW. Rakjak tell. OR WILL RAKJAK?
Breakfast Topic: The quest that dinged you
I experienced something of a double whammy last night. I completed my 1,500th quest and I leveled to 80. I will always think of the night fondly, but I'm sure that I will also remember the particular quests I dinged on. For the 1,500 quests achievement it was a quest in the Love is in the Air chain out of Stormwind, Dangerous Love. I wasn't paying attention to my quest count so it was quite a surprise.A little later in the evening I found myself chasing chickens in Sholazar Basin and then surfing a crockolisk past mutated undead Scourge. This time I was very aware of how close I was to leveling to 80. I thought it was going to happen turning in Pitch's remains, but it turned out that the quest that pushed me over the top was taking down a sandworm for a tribe of overmuscled, underbrained wolverines. Not exactly the most heroic of tales, but at least it wasn't for resorting to cheetah form to successfully capture the errant poultry.Do you remember the quest or kill that marked a major milestone for you in the game? Let's hear it!
Going to Northrend for the holidays
It's the day after Christmas. A fair portion of our readership is only now getting Wrath of the Lich King installed on their computer, especially after the gift exchanges of the last few days. Over the weeks since Wrath's release, we've had quite a bit of content to ease you through your first steps into Northrend. With this latest wave of people hitting the frozen shores for the first time, it's a good opportunity to look back on a lot of that.
Shifting Perspectives: Faction gear for Druids, part II - Argent Crusade
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting Druids and those who group with them. This week we continue our examination of the faction gear available for Druids in Wrath and have a serious conversation with our aesthetic conscience regarding the hideous Kirin Tor tabard: "Is the tanking staff we get at Revered worth the humiliation of wearing that purple monstrosity?" The answer, dear readers, is no.In the first part, we covered Druid gear available with the Tuskarr, the Alliance Vanguard/Horde Expedition, Wyrmrest Accord, Kirin Tor, and Oracles/Frenzyheart. This week, we're going to finish with a look at the Knights of the Ebon Blade, the Argent Crusade, and the Sons of Hodir. You're unlikely to encounter any of these three factions while leveling between 70 and 74, but all three figure prominently in mid to late '70's leveling. Read on for the last three factions, but if you want a quick set of links to each individual faction, here you go: Kalu'ak and Horde Expedition/Alliance Vanguard Guide Wyrmrest Accord and the Kirin Tor Guide The Frenzyhearts and the Oracles Guide The Argent Crusade Guide The Knights of the Ebon Blade and Sons of Hodir Guide
Shifting Perspectives: Faction gear for Druids, part I
Every Tuesday/Wednesday/some day that ends in -y, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting Druids and those who group with them. This week we take a look at faction rewards available to Druids in "Wrath of the Lich King" and wonder if that Mysterious Egg of ours -- the only faction reward we could truly be said to care about -- is ever going to hatch.Like most of you, I'm still running a lot of dungeons and getting acquainted with the array of drops available on both normal and heroic mode, and I'm not anywhere near as familiar with the Northrend 5-man drops as I am with Outland's after tanking them all eleventy-billion times. For the moment, my ability to compare all of the reputation gear available from Wrath factions with potential dungeon drops is fairly small and mostly confined to feral equipment, so I apologize. What I can say is that I've noticed a fairly clear trend favoring Balance if you're planning on getting a lot of your gear at 80 from faction reputations (although if you go that route there's a sizable pitfall in the form of a serious lack of +hit on most pieces). Feral is a little more hit-or-miss. Restoration seems to have the hardest time getting its best pre-raid or heroic pieces from rep grinds, and I'm not going to lie; get used to most of your best pieces being cloth.With what are essentially four different specs to cover for all the new factions available in Wrath, this got a bit long. So this week we'll discuss the rep grinds that become accessible a little earlier in the trek to 80 -- namely, the Tuskarr, the Alliance Vanguard/Horde Expedition, Wyrmrest Accord, Kirin Tor, and Oracles/Frenzyheart. Next week we'll cover the Knights of the Ebon Blade, the Argent Crusade, and Sons of Hodir, as you're not likely to see these guys as early as you'll see the others. Indeed, before a quest line that phases the lady into existence, you won't see the Knights of the Ebon Blade quartermaster at all.EDIT: Now that the faction guides are finished, here's a set of quick links in case you're looking for information on one faction in particular: Kalu'ak and Horde Expedition/Alliance Vanguard Guide Wyrmrest Accord and the Kirin Tor Guide The Frenzyhearts and the Oracles Guide The Argent Crusade Guide The Knights of the Ebon Blade and Sons of Hodir Guide
Shifting Perspectives: Faction Gear from Oracles and Frenzyheart
THE ORACLES:Who am I kidding? You're here for the Mysterious Egg, same as everybody else. But along the way -- or possibly beyond it -- you might pick up a few good pieces. Glitterscale Wrap -- Revered, Level 78: Surprisingly good melee belt. Armor penetration prejudices it toward cat DPS although it's fine as a threat stat for bear, and it's otherwise solid. At 80 you'll want to have Trollwoven Girdle crafted for tanking (and possibly kitty if you're not doing so hot on +expertise from other pieces) if you don't get Jorach's Crocolisk Skin Belt from badges or the Sharp-Barbed Leather Belt from heroic Utgarde, but Glitterscale will tide you over til then. Fishy Cinch -- Revered, Level 78: An equally useful Restoration belt, although we're back to cloth again. No +crit or +haste to muck up the item budget; just good solid stats all around and a great chunk of spirit. If you can afford to give that up, however, then you may want to spend more time working on Ebon Blade rep for Belt of Dark Mending. Oracle Talisman of Ablution -- Exalted, Level 70(?): A level 70 trinket available at exalted with a Wrath faction is kind of a head-scratcher, but eh. The amount of crit on this, as a Wowhead commenter correctly observes, is 1.55% at level 80 -- more, obviously, if you manage to get the trinket before that. The straight +crit trinkets available from the Skyguard at exalted were actually pretty good at 70, but the introduction of Savage Roar into a cat DPS rotation generally, I think, argues for the use of trinkets granting more attack power (or an attack power use/proc). The energy/rage/mana return here could be useful while leveling or while grinding, however. THE FRENZYHEART TRIBE:One of the irritating things about the Oracle/Frenzyheart faction fight is that switching between the two will make you unable to use gear from both as your reputation rises and falls. If you're dependent on a piece from either of the factions until you get a drop, crafted, or badge piece, you'll want to keep that in mind. Azure Strappy Pants -- Revered, Level 78: The Oracles do belts; the Frenzyheart do pants. As with Glitterscale, this is a surprisingly solid piece for where it is, and possibly better for cat DPS than the Mind-Expanding Leggings available from the Kirin Tor depending on your current +expertise versus +hit. Time to fire up Rawr again. Muddied Crimson Gloves -- Revered, Level 78: The glove counterpart to the Oracles' Fishy Cinch and another fine, no-nonsense, Restoration piece with straight stats and good +spellpower. Grotto Mist Gloves from heroic Azjol-Nerub are better, unless you can somehow dig up the materials for Moonshroud Gloves -- which, at less than a month into the expansion, is going to be very difficult. Frenzyheart Insignia of Fury -- Exalted, Level 70: The proc, per Wowhead commentary, appears to be +91 critical strike rating. Undeniably useful, but again, you'll find better trinkets at 80, and quite sadly the proc is of more use to cat Druids than the actual equip on the trinket (haste, as noted, is not an amazing stat for us). It's better for moonkin, but still primarily a trinket oriented toward leveling. Whew. Next week we'll cover the Argent Crusade, the Knights of the Ebon Blade, and the Sons of Hodir. Until then, good luck with the rep grinds you're on and the dungeons you're running (especially if it's Ymiron on heroic Utgarde Pinnacle).Click here to head back to the beginning of the guide.
Lichborne: Reputation rewards for Death Knights in Wrath of the Lich King
Welcome to Lichborne, WoW Insider's weekly column on the Death Knight, written and named by a guy who actually doesn't have that talent. How does this keep happening, seriously? So by now, I'm sure a lot of Death Knights are, like yours truly, getting into the level 80 home stretch and trying to figure out which of the Wrath factions to grind first. If you've already read our Wrath 101 guides to reputation and to the Oracle and Frenzyheart tribes, you're off to a good start. In this week's Lichborne, we'll take it a step further by looking at the purchasable rewards for each faction with the eye of a Death Knight. As with our previous gear guide, I'm operating on the assumptions that haste and armor penetration are less desirable for Death Knights and that expertise is primarily for Death Knight tanks.
Encrypted Text: Wrath reputation rewards for Rogues
Every Wednesday, Chase Christian of Encrypted Text invites you to enter the world of shadows, as we explore the secrets and mechanics of the Rogue class. This week, we'll be talking reputation gear available in NorthrendRogues are like butterflies. We soar between currents of air, our paths seemingly chaotic. We serve no master, no blood oaths to demons or fear of a higher power. We simply float our way through the world, focusing on preservation of self as the highest goal. Our path is truly our own.Rogues are also like Joe The Plumber. We've got bills to pay, mats to farm, and drops to grind. While driving around Azeroth in your parent's Traveler's Tundra Mammoth with your disappearing act may seem attractive, life in WoW isn't that easy for a Rogue. In order to keep up with content, we're in constant need of new leather gear to keep us at the top of our game. We've got our dues to pay, and one word describes how "The Man" requires us to fulfill these obligations: Reputation. Read on to explore exactly what juicy pieces of rep gear await in Northrend.
Arcane Brilliance: Wrath reputation rewards for Mages, part 1
Each Saturday, Arcane Brilliance conjures forth a column all about Mages. You may well wonder: what does Arcane Brilliance do the rest of the week? The answer--up until a couple of weeks ago--was travel through time, righting the wrongs of the past. It was all very heroic, lent itself handily to an episodic format, and Dean Stockwell was prominently involved. Then Wrath happened. Now? Well, now Arcane Brilliance pretty much just hangs around in , ganking Death Knight noobs. Trust us, it's just as heroic, in its own way.I trust we, as a nation of Mages, are all happily churning our way through the new content, gazing about us in wonder and amazement at the majesty of Northrend, and then nuking the crap out of that majesty. I know I am. Just about everything about the Wrath experience has been positive for me so far. The visuals are incredible, the quests are fun and rich with lore, and the music is phenomenal. I could (and have) spend hours just wandering about Dalaran, taking in the ambiance, feeling all kinds of magey. Seriously, Blizzard, I'm starting a slow-clap right now, and it's all for you.One thing you've likely noticed as you've quested your way north is that almost everything you do seems to grant you reputation with some new faction or another. If you're anything like me, your first questions were probably "where might I find the quartermasters for these factions," and "what do they sell that is made of cloth and dripping with spellpower?" For a nice overall guide to the basics of these new factions, I'd urge you to check out our own Alex Ziebart's Wrath 101 posts about the subject. They can be found here and here. After the jump, we'll be focusing on the rewards these new factions offer that are specifically valuable to Mages.
Wrath 101: The Oracles and the Frenzyheart Tribe
Throughout the lifespan of Ask a Beta Tester (now The Queue), people have asked if there are any factions like the Aldor and Scryers. Are there two factions like that, you get to pick one or the other? The answer is yes, but they don't play as big of a role. They're less prime players of the expansion, and more lolcat comedy relief.I'm convinced that this situation in Sholazar Basin isn't to be determined by which faction you like more, but which faction you hate less. The two warring factions are The Oracles and the Frenzyheart Tribe. The Oracles are a group of fully sentient, 'intelligent' gorlocs (a step up in murloc evolution) that unknowingly worship the Titans. The Frenzyheart Tribe are a tribe of wolvar (little wolverine men) and they're fairly new to Sholazar Basin. They're huge jerks that do jerk things and steal gorloc land like jerks. The gorlocs do have big, annoyingly floppy tongues though, so I guess it's justified.
Ask a Beta Tester: Glyphs and gorlocs
Isn't this fella cute? Sooo cute? Adorable!? No? He isn't? Yeah, i don't think so either. We'll get back to these horrible abominations a little later, because Meethan asked...Is Hunger For Blood, the 51 point Assassination talent, at all useful for solo leveling?I asked a friend of mine about this since I don't personally play a Rogue, and he says popular opinion is that Hunger for Blood is mostly going to be a PvP talent. Keeping the damage buff up constantly while questing isn't worthwhile, and the debuff clearing it provides will be highly situational while soloing through Northrend. You can take it if you're gung ho about Assassination, but you'd be better served picking up something else until you start PvPing often.Drewcast asked...Are there or will there be any Aldor vs. Scryer type factions?
