garrisons
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Recruit Leorajh the Saberon as a Garrison Bodyguard
The saberon are a new race, introduced for Warlords of Draenor -- a group of humanoid cat-people who by and large aren't terribly happy to see you, with very few exceptions. One of those exceptions is Leorajh. Leorajh isn't exactly on the good side of his clan, but he's happy enough to see you -- if you can find him, that is. One of a very few followers with the Bodyguard trait, Leorajh is hidden away in the Spires of Arak, awaiting those who are determined enough to locate him. As a Bodyguard, Leorajh can be assigned to the level 2 Barracks and accompany you on your travels in Draenor. There are a limited number of followers with the Bodyguard trait, and Leorajh is one of three that is available to both Alliance and Horde. Each Bodyguard has their own reputation bar -- taking them on missions with you will raise your reputation and unlock follower-specific quests, and eventually, a follower specific perk. Leorajh's perk? He'll grant you access to your command table from anywhere on Draenor -- meaning you can turn in and hand out missions from anywhere you happen to be on the world map.
Garrison Followers, traits, abilities, and training
If you've been playing Warlords of Draenor fairly regularly since release, you should by now be familiar with the traits and abilities of your followers. These abilities and traits are randomly generated when you obtain your new follower, but there are some items in game, obtainable via missions, that will teach a chosen follower a new trait. Apparently there had been some confusion regarding these items, so CM Crithto took to the forums to further clarify how these items work. Crithto There's been some confusion regarding the various items you can use that allow you to change a trait on one of your Garrisons followers, so we wanted to clarify how these items work. If you use an item such as the Supreme Manual of Dance or the Hearthstone Strategy Guide, the targeted follower will gain the trait associated with the on-use item, and lose a random trait which cannot be selected or changed after the fact. Currently, the tooltips for these items are not specific enough about the randomness associated with their outcome, and we're working on getting them adjusted. So if you're now missing a follower with a specific trait you want or need, remember that you can level your Inn or Tavern to tier 2 to gain access to an NPC who will hunt down new followers. When one becomes available, you can then limit your search based on the traits you desire. source
Blizzard on Garrison Invasions
Garrison Invasions, how do they work? Well, Blizzard decided to go ahead and explain exactly that. Some players have been confused by seeing the introductory Garrison Invasion restricted to Rank 2 of the Garrison, and thought that the Invasions had been removed from Rank 3. Not the case, says Nethaera. Nethaera - Garrison Invasions and You We've been seeing a lot of confusion in regard to the way Garrison Invasions work and we wanted to take some time to clear up this confusion for you. Most players will get their first taste of what Invasions will be like when they get into Tier 2 of their Garrison. Approximately midway through Frostfire Ridge or Shadowmoon Valley, a player's Garrison will be attacked either by a Thunderlord or Shadowmoon force. The quest is just a taste of what this type of gameplay offers but it's not a full blown invasion just yet. It's a way to get your feet wet and experience just a bit of what it will be like when you reach max level. For those who move quickly into their 3rd tier before getting this event, don't worry. You haven't missed out on any special rewards. It's just a precursor to what you're going to get to experience at maximum level. Once you reach max level, these events are triggered organically. What this means is, as you fight powerful foes among the enemy factions of Draenor (generally in and around the areas for Apexis Crystal Missions) you'll draw their attention and an enemy force will eventually prepare to attack your Garrison. When that happens, the commander outside your Town Hall will have a quest for you, allowing you to trigger the invasion. The Nuts and Bolts: Your effectiveness in defending your Garrison is measured by how many enemies you're able to defeat and how many of your guards and buildings survive the assault. (Don't worry, there's no permanent damage- they will rebuild it!) You can bring up to 2 friends into your Garrison to assist in the defense. (It's like a party, but with heavily armored invaders.) Based on your final score you and your allies present will earn a Bronze, Silver, and/or Gold award for your efforts – each award may only be earned once per week. source So fear not - if you upgraded your Garrison to Tier 3, you'll still get your Garrison Invasions.
Garrison Campaign quests unlocked
Blizzard has recently unlocked Garrison Campaign quests, so if you're level 100 you should be on the lookout for a new quest somewhere in your garrison. What are Garrison Campaigns? They're weekly quest chains that give you some cool rewards. There will also be a bonus objective you can complete while you're doing the quest for 800 Apexis Crystals (in addition to 800 from the regular daily). What quest you get appears to be entirely random. For example, this week I had Garrison Campaign: The Ring of Blood and my warrior friend, Mr. Rossi had Garrison Campaign: Seismic Matters. My reward for completing the Ring of Blood campaign quest was a new title, "Blood Champion." The final reward from the latter quest is a mole machine outside your garrison that will transport you instantly to your outpost in Gorgrond. Other quest rewards include things like Pile of Blackfuse Shredder Scrap or Sargerei Disguise. There's also an achievement tied into completing all of them, which looks like it will take 3 months assuming you complete one of them every week.
How to get Garrison Resources
Garrison Resources are something you may casually dismiss while leveling up. Quests are granting them left and right, you're not having any problems building your first building or two, and everything looks peachy. So you're thinking that you may as well start buying those Excess Potions of Accelerated Learning for 100 resources a pop, right? Wrong! Anyone who has spent hundreds of their precious resources on those potions could be in for a rude awakening once they hit level 100 and realize they need 2000 resources to upgrade their garrison. Don't let me stop you from buying the potions if you truly need to get to 100 a few hours earlier, but don't say I didn't warn you. Either way, you're going to run into a resource problem eventually. Garrison Resources are the main bottleneck for progressing every aspect of your garrison. Given enough time, you will eventually generate enough resources to do everything you want. But we're not all patient people, are we? Here's a few tips to get your hands on some resources as soon as possible.
The Queue: Exploration, garrison resources, and more
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. After the long drought, we now have a deluge of Warlords of Draenor questions. And I couldn't be happier. ArthurN asked: Is there supposed to be an easy way for Horde to get into Shadowmoon Valley? I had a Garrison quest to tame an animal in Shadowmoon Valley. I made it in, even picked up a flight path with the Shadowmoon Exiles (they were yellow to me instead of red like everyone else in the zone). But I had to run around the coastline a bit to find some passable beach. The only way in by land that I found was guarded by Alliance. Am I missing something? And is it similarly tricky for Alliance to get into Frostfire Ridge?
Meet Pepe, your feathered garrison pal
Garrisons are one of the most ridiculously cool parts of the Warlords of Draenor expansion. Part ever-evolving quest hub, part resource and profession management system, part place-to-park-your-butt at the end of the day, garrisons work seamlessly and effortlessly with the flow of the expansion itself. But if you really needed another reason to love your home away from home, you should keep your eye out for Pepe, and consider adding him to your daily routine. Who's Pepe? He's a happy little bird that lives in your garrison's trees. He's the only named bird on the premises. And if you manage to reach him and click on him, he's also a fashionable chirpy hat -- or maybe your head is a warm and cozy nest. Either way, Pepe will stick around with you for an hour, or until you die, whichever comes first. After a period of time, he'll reappear in your garrison, just so you can click him and begin your adventures together all over again. There's no achievement for Pepe, nor is he an item you carry in your bags, or a pet you can battle with. He's just a fun side bonus in your garrison, tucked away for player to discover. Pepe is available to both Alliance and Horde players, in all three stages of garrison construction. He can be found in the trees around your stronghold, but if you're having a hard time, you can always target him by typing /tar Pepe to hunt him down a little more efficiently. Because he's in a tree, it may take some creative climbing to get to him. But once you do, you'll obtain the buff Pepe, which does nothing other than state "You've got a friend!" And honestly, on a harsh and unforgiving world like Draenor, who wouldn't welcome another one of those?
BlizzCon 2014 interviews feature Cory Stockton, Alex Afrasiabi
Just in case you missed it in the madness of Warlords of Draenor's launch, WoW Insider had the opportunity to interview not one but two developers this year at BlizzCon 2014. Both interviews were posted earlier this week and are well worth the look -- and may have been missed in the flood of Warlords expansion announcements and updates. For those with more of a bent towards lore, the interview with World of Warcraft's Creative Director Alex Afrasiabi focused on the story behind the expansion, including discussion on alternate universes, some surprising stories about Garrosh Hellscream and the development of Warlords, and even an interesting tidbit about alternate Azeroth. For those with more of a technical bent and burning questions about Warlords of Draenor's features and content, check out our interview with Lead Game Designer Cory Stockton. In the interview, we take an in-depth look at garrisons and their development, the new look of Warcraft's professions, and some cool new things to look forward to with transmogrification, as well as a few other fun features of the latest expansion.
Garrisons, professions and more with Cory Stockton
Warlords of Draenor has arrived, with tons of new content, quests, dungeons, raids, zones, and of course garrisons! During BlizzCon 2014, we sat down with Lead Game Designer Cory Stockton to discuss the development and design behind the new feature, in addition to a closer look at the changes to professions and profession design in Warlords of Draenor. But what's a talk with Mumper without a little transmog talk thrown into the mix -- and it appears we've got more transmog changes on the distant horizon that we'd originally thought.
World of Warcraft's garrisons 'like a personal guild'
Experiencing garrisons in World of Warcraft is no longer an exercise in daydreaming but an immediate reality with this morning's launch of Warlords of Draenor. That doesn't mean that Blizzard is finished with talking about it, as it's shouting a final garrison dev diary today to the crowd that's already streamed out of the front door. This fourth dev diary is mostly concerned with showing how this feature can benefit players and how they can be accomodating to different playstyles. "Your Garrison operates more like a personal guild that you lead," Blizzard posted. "Whether you check in on it multiple times per day or a few times a week, you can set up your Garrison to give you rewards and present you with challenges at varied intervals." Every two levels of the expansion will open up more garrison options, and these instances will also offer weekly quests that tie into the storyline. You can even end up building a monument to your mighty ego if you overcome one of a handful of significant tasks.
Broken garrisons and other issues on launch day
UPDATE: Bashiok posted that Blizzard will be "restarting some Garrison services" to address access and progression issues. He also says that Blizzard has implemented "dozens of hotfixes" over the last few hours. UPDATE 2: For those experiencing long queue times, this is working as intended. Bashiok has said that Blizzard is reducing realm population caps in order to address latency. Rygarius has posted a list of hotfixes for November 13. UPDATE 3: Lore tweeted about the issues: "So obviously launch not going as smoothly as we wanted. Will be many discussions in the near future about what could have been done better. Right now, however, we're focusing 100% on just fixing issues so everyone can play. Can worry about what went wrong later." UPDATE 4: Lore says fixes have been implemented for garrisons, but he recommends walking to your garrison instead of flying there or using a hearthstone. Despite a mostly smooth launch so far, some realms are now experiencing major problems as more and more players crowd the servers. Garrisons on Argent Dawn, Cenarion Circle, Khadgar, and other realms are currently bugged and not always phasing properly. Twitter user @ikolism posted the image above of players in an unphased Horde garrison. Normally you're only supposed to see the players you've invited to your version of the fortress... Players can become stuck inside their garrisons, or stuck outside and unable to "zone in." If the entire garrison server crashes when players are inside it, they are reportedly sent back to where their hearthstones are set. For many that means an unexpected trip back to Orgrimmar, Stormwind, or Pandaria. High population realms, particularly in the EU, have experienced world server lag and crashes. CM Lore tweeted an update on the problems, but did not provide an ETA: Still working on server and garrison issues. Making some headway, exploring as many options as we can find. - Lore (@CM_Lore) November 13, 2014 Earlier, rolling restarts were required to fix Establish Your Garrison for Horde players. A number of hotfixes have already gone out today to fix problems with These Colors Don't Run in Frostfire Ridge and Drudgeboat Salvage quest objects in Shadowmoon Valley. Lore also says a hotfix is "in testing" for Gormaul Tower. Another for Gorgrond NPCs that are reluctant to spawn is "being developed."
BlizzCon World of Warcraft - Items, Class Changes, and More liveblog
The halls are abuzz with Overwatch, but what's in store for World of Warcraft? The World of Warcraft panel, covering items, class changes, garrisons and more is starting up at 4:45pm Pacific time, and we'll be liveblogging it right here. An assortment of WoW devs will be on hand to discuss all the changes in Warlords of Draenor, as well as new features of the expansion that's set to launch next week. Updates will be in reverse-chronological order, with newest updates at the top of the page. If you only want the latest update, you can stay near the top. If you missed the beginning of the panel, scroll to the bottom.
Blizzard updates WoW's garrison game guide
Blizzard has updated its game guide to World of Warcraft's garrisons. In case you missed it, garrisons serve as your Draenor ops center and allow you to collect resources, send followers on missions, and "create wondrous items to aid you in your journey," the firm says. You've still got a few days before Warlords of Draenor releases on November 13th, so why not give the new guide a look-see?
How professions are changing in Warlords of Draenor
Like with every expansion before it, Warlords of Draenor will be shaking things up. Professions will get their skill caps increased to 700 and you'll find new recipes (and new epic gear) waiting for you in Draenor. But it's not all business as usual: some major changes in Warlords will be shaking up how professions work and how they fit in with the rest of the game. Blizzard's goal here seems targeted to opening up player choice: you shouldn't be forced into a profession or be penalized for not having or leveling one. This doesn't mean that the advantages of having a profession are going away, but come Warlords some unique bonuses will be gone, people without a profession will have additional access to it, and leveling professions will be more straightforward for players who might not have focused on professions in the past. Here are the biggest changes: Profession-based bonuses are gone. And, though we may be losing some perks, with the stat squish and resultant rebalancing in Warlords, this is the ideal time for Blizzard to make this switch. The end result is that you won't have to pick a profession for a specific combat bonus... but can have whichever professions you most want. You can gather anything in Draenor, regardless of skill level. We saw this happen with mining and herbalism in Pandaria in patch 5.3, and now it's expanded to cover all gathering professions, making it easier to level up a gathering profession from zero. Players with higher skill levels will gather more materials than players with lower skill levels. In addition to gathering professions being easier to level, crafting professions all have catch-up recipes that will let you level from zero onward using Draenor materials. This will probably make it more expensive if you plan on buying materials (since everyone will be looking for the same new-world materials), but less of a nuisance if you're gathering your own. Garrison buildings will allow you limited access to professions you don't have... or improve your abilities in professions you do have. Want to know all the details? Read on to see just what's happening for professions in Warlords of Draenor.
Choosing the right Garrison buildings for you
Once you head through the Dark Portal in Warlords of Draenor, you're going to be faced with a variety of choices, particularly when it comes to building your garrison for the first time. While the process may seem like a complicated jumble of various bonuses and purposes, it's actually relatively easy to get your garrison up and running -- and your first few buildings will be handed to you right off the bat. As you continue to level, however, you're going to face more and more choices in regards to what to place in your Draenor stronghold. Garrison buildings are also tied into professions in Warlords, although not quite as rigidly as you might think. Instead, what the buildings do is offer you a way to craft items that involve professions you might not already have trained. It's about flexibility and choice. It's also not something that's going to take up the majority of your time while you're in Draenor. Your garrison is fully capable of functioning on its own, once you've handed out the orders. So how do you pick what's right for you? It's a personal decision, but here are some things you want to keep in mind when you're getting started.
World of Warcraft's garrisons will send Leeroy Jenkins to protect you
Part of the potential fun of owning, building, and operating a garrison in World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor is that you'll be leader to several NPCs known as followers. A new garrison dev diary today talked about the acquisition and benefits of followers and how that will change your gameplay. Followers can be obtained through several means, including quests, reputation, and a once-a-week headhunter service. Once there, followers can be sent out in missions alone or as a group in order to bring back rewards for their kind and generous master. Players can accumulate up to 25 active followers of various quality types and can level them up over time. Probably the most interesting facet of follower ownership is the use of a select handful as bodyguards. Players can attach a bodyguard to them for general world questing, asking such famous figures as Leeroy Jenkins to fight by your side. Once enough reputation with that NPC is reached, the bodyguard will attain several helpful abilities, such as being able to summon friends or create a portal back to your garrison.
Blizzard's third Garrison preview shines a spotlight on followers
So we've seen parts 1 and 2 of the Garrison Preview, and now it's time for part 3, which should feature ewoks if my memory serves me. This time, however, instead of ewoks we get followers - they fulfill many of the same functions as ewoks but they're mostly less cute. Mostly. I think Lantresor of the Blade is adorable, myself. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have Leeroy Jenkins, Milhouse Manastorm or Archmage Vargoth as your companions and friends? Well, wonder no more! It's like pet battles, only with NPC's! You can collect as many followers as you like for your garrison, but there's a limit on how many you can have active at a time - think of it as a 'too many cooks' situation. Each follower has specific abilities that make them better or worse for specific missions (some have crowd control, for example) and some followers will even be your bodyguard, accompanying you on missions and protecting you as you (and they) level up. For more details, please check out this third preview of the Garrison feature coming in Warlords of Draenor.
Garrisons 101: What are Work Orders?
Most buildings in your garrison are capable of placing work orders. In simplest terms, a work order is exchanging one type of resource (such as ore or herbs) for a more valuable resource used for crafting (such as Gearspring Parts or Truesteel Ingots). Work order basics Work orders take basic materials such as herbs or ore and convert them into high quality crafting materials. To start a work order, you interact with NPCs at your garrison buildings. Work orders take 4 hours to complete each. You can queue up additional work orders so you don't have to babysit your garrison quite so often. Level 1 buildings can queue up to 7 work orders. Level 2 buildings can queue up to 14 work orders. Level 3 buildings can queue up to 21 work orders. The Storehouse building can increase your total queue of work orders by up to 15 more. With a level 3 Storehouse, you could queue up to 6 days of work orders without having to come back and start more. Completed work orders must be picked up at the building they were placed (it will show up as a lootable crate, as seen in the image above). Assigning a follower to a profession building (the follower must have a trait for that particular profession) has a chance to increase the yield of work orders. This follower is then unavailable for missions for the duration.
The Queue: Blood moon
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. How many of you woke up at absurd hours to see the eclipse this morning? I didn't. Because I was already awake. Insomnia and sleep deprivation win again! Odebek asked: Have there been any details released about WoD launch day? Will it be released just after midnight (which time zone) between Nov 12 and 13th?
Garrisons 101: What are Strategic Assaults?
Strategic assaults are max level daily quests found within your garrison's Town Hall/Great Hall. You get to choose between one of two options every day -- a solo quest, group quest, or PvP quest. It appears that a solo quest will always be one of the two options. These quests are your primary means of obtaining Apexis Crystals -- 800 for the solo quests and 1000 for the group/PvP quests. Apexis Crystals are primarily used to purchase and upgrade armor but can also be used to purchase pets and mounts from certain reputation vendors. Each zone in Draenor has level 100 areas to facilitate these quests. The quests involve going to the designated area and filling up a progress bar by killing mobs and interacting with objects. They are fairly time consuming, but the advantage is only having to do one large quest instead of many smaller quests. Don't worry, completing a single strategic assault is nowhere near the time commitment of patch 5.0 dailies. This will be a 20-30 minute venture for the average player.
