hellfire-peninsula
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Saving quests for level 70
As early as Hellfire Peninsula (which I'm playing through on my Hunter right now), it becomes pretty clear that Blizzard packed Outland with quests and things to do. By the time you hit Zangarmarsh, you're probably already at 62, and with a few instance runs, it's pretty easy to get all the way to level 70 without ever seeing certain quest areas or zones in Outland. So Dacronic wants to know: what zones did you save for level 70, when you didn't need XP any more and just wanted to get money or have fun?On my Shaman, I barely saw Netherstorm before 70, and went up there way after I'd hit the highest level to go looking around for cash. And there are lots of fun quests to do up there, too. Shadowmoon Valley was another one that I didn't actually quest in for a while after 70, but now that I've done it, I'd say that it should actually be a priority ASAP-- there are a ton of terrific quests in SMV, not only for lore's sake, but just really well-done content as well.When you hit 70, what areas did you head towards to continue questing in? And what areas did you "save" until you were as powerful as you could get, and reading to have fun instead of just grinding?
The Art of War(craft): Outdoor PvP, part II - an Outlandish war
Last time, we went over Blizzard's initial attempts at implementing outdoor PvP and found that while the implementation of World PvP objectives in the Eastern Plaguelands and Silithus were teh suck far from stellar, they provided key learnings upon which future zones were built. The battle rages on in The Burning Crusade where four out of the seven zones in Outlands have World PvP objectives. Some work better than others, having quests that lead players to the objectives, while some are just plain confusing.Similar to the World PvP objectives in Azeroth, all four provide zone-wide buffs for your faction when completed. The buffs in all the zones provide an unimaginative 5% increase to damage, with the exception of the Blessing of Auchindoun, which also adds a 5% increase to experience gain and allows Spirit Shards to drop from Auchindoun instance bosses. The World PvP in Outlands are situated in the hearts of the zones, almost central to the maps, making each objective harder to ignore. As the world beckons for war, let's examine what each specific zone has to offer and how best to achieve each objective.
Jeff Kaplan reveals how to get to Northrend
MMO Champion's got the rest of the details on that PC Zone interview we heard about yesterday-- Jeff Kaplan sat down with the French magazine and gave out some new hints about what we'll see up in Northrend in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. As we heard at BlizzCon, Northrend isn't all a snow-covered wasteland-- there are forests (including one full of Furbolgs) and other terrain types to find up there. We've also heard this before, but it's worth repeating again: Arthas will play a much bigger part in the day-to-day Northrend than Illidan did-- lots of people, both raiders and casuals, will have a chance to "interact" with him. Here's something new-- there will be two entry points, and previously we'd assumed that one would be for Horde and another would be for Alliance. But that's not the case-- instead, each of the zones (the Borean Tundra and the Howling Fjord) will have an entry point for each faction. So there will actually be four ways into the expansion. Alliance get to choose a battle in the Howling Fjord or a massive stronghold (complete with a brand new faction leader) and a giant steamship And Horde either go into the Forsaken's new lands (with new architecture-- we saw it at BlizzCon), or into Garrosh Hellscream's (son of Grom) Warsong Fortress. Very exciting. Hearing about four entry points instead of two definitely makes me think that we will be able to avoid the whole Hellfire Peninsula lag problem that plagued BC's release. Keep the WotLK info coming, Blizzard!
Around Azeroth: From Hellfire to Zangarmarsh
Saintstryfe sends in this shot showing off the boarder between Hellfire Peninsula and Zangarmarsh in Outland. On one side, the harsh, baked red soil of Hellfire -- on the other the lush blue/green landscape of Zangarmarsh. Outland must have some interesting weather patterns to cause such a drastic shift in the environment. Any Outland meteorologists care to explain this climate change for us? (Global warming?)Do you have any incredible scenery just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? Because we'd love to see your idea of the best looking instance on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot 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!%Gallery-1816%
Potential traffic jams in WotLK
Adding up all the traffic jams in World of Warcraft would probably make an insightful list-- I can remember some crazy days in Ironforge, a huge mess near the battlegrounds when they first opened, a lot of clustering during the AQ World Event, and anyone who logged on in the early days of Burning Crusade knows that Hellfire Peninsula was a laggy mess as well.But Blizzard claims, once again, that they've finally learned their lesson, and in Wrath of the Lich King, things will be different. Shattrath will be designed to stay up in the air (even if landed on by thousands of players), and when we played the expansion at BlizzCon earlier this year, we already saw one way Blizzard plans to split the load: Horde and Alliance players are starting at different zones on different sides of the continent.I doubt things will be perfect-- it seems like players always think of some way to ruin even the best laid plans of Blues and men. But we can say this about Blizzard-- they are visibly learning from every iteration they release. It'll be really interesting to see what they've come up with to improve upon the expansion experience in Northrend.
Around Azeroth: At the Dark Portal
The first thing most of us noticed when running into Outland for the first time was the immense size difference between the Dark Portal on the Azeroth side and the Outland side. But it's been so long since most of us, I'd imagine, have visited the portal on either side that this odd quirk of Outland may have been forgotten -- right up until the point that you ran into this shot sent in by reader Casters, at least.Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing a copy to aroundazeroth@wow.com, with as much or as little detail as you'd like to share with the world! %Gallery-1816%
Around Azeroth: The Demoniac Scryer
Laptantidel of Dethecus (EU) sends us this shot taken while completing the Demoniac Scryer quest in Hellfire Peninsula in Outland. In this quest-chain, you attempt to uncover the magic at work behind the Fel Orcs of Hellfire Citadel. The Demoniac Scryer, which we see in this screenshot, can attune itself to Fel magic and tell us what's going on -- but only at the cost of souls.Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing a copy to aroundazeroth@wow.com, with as much or as little detail as you'd like to share with the world! %Gallery-1816%
Around Azeroth: Looking over the Pools of Aggonar
Reader Dekulink sends in a lovely image of a terrible spot. We're looking out over the Pools of Aggonar, right above Aggonar's bones. But in the foreground of this troublesome scene is the the lovely golden glow of the herb Dreaming Glory, which maintains its brilliance despite the dreary surroundings.Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth. %Gallery-1816%
A guide to BC pre-raid goals and how to achieve them
I'm a little compulsive about finishing every quest in a zone. Ok, ok, I'm certifiably compulsive about it. I love exploring all the various corners of a zone and learning their dangers and rewards. Because of this, I barely got through half of the Outlands solo content before I hit L70. After thoroughly enjoying Hellfire Peninsula, Zangarmarsh, Terokkar Forest and having just a taste of Nagrand and Blade's Edge, I hit the level cap. Why should I continue?Starryknight of the Executus server has an excellent answer: completing every Outland quest and running through every dungeon will net you the 5,000 gold for your epic mount, gain the necessary reputation to access later parts of the game and get you keyed for both the Heroic dungeons and Karahzhan. Essentially, you will be ready to jump into the raiding game, if you so desire.To achieve this, he wrote up a general guide on what to do in every Outland zone with links to more specific information about the quest chains for each area. For me, this is what I needed to push on and continue exploring the wonders that Warcraft still has to offer for people already at the level cap. Even if you don't intend to raid, the goal of buying an epic mount is reward enough. Check it out, it may be what you are looking for to refocus your goals in the game if you find your motivation has flagged.
Around Azeroth: Into the Blood Furnace
Reader Drakid of Arygos sends us this very pastel image of Blood Furnace, one of the wings of Hellfire Citadel in Hellfire Peninsula. With a name like "Blood Furnace," you'd really expect something more ominous than these pastel pinks and blues, though I doubt the choice of colors makes the monsters inside any friendlier.Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth. %Gallery-1816%
Around Azeroth: The Pools of Aggonar
Reader Paul sends in this nice areal shot of the corpse of Aggonar located in the Pools of Aggonar in Hellfire Peninsula. When the Pit Lord Aggonar died here, his demonic aura quickly corrupted the pools, which were once a sacred site to the Draenei.Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth. %Gallery-1816%
Does anyone do the world PVP objectives?
The world PVP objectives were a nice addition in the Burning Crusade. Capturing objectives in Nagrand, Hellfire Peninsula, Zangarmarsh and Terokkar Forest provided minor buffs to everyone in the zone, as well as exchangable tokens for the capturers. Yet today, at least on Magtheridon, barely anyone actually does the world PVP objectives. What went wrong? As best I can figure:
