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Hallow's End was exactly random enough
Now that Hallow's End is over for another year, it's time to settle up. We already asked whether you got what you wanted, but according to the informal polls (and the feedback I've been hearing), quite a few people didn't actually get everything they were trying for. As we mentioned on the podcast the other week, many people who said they did everything they could probably didn't (did you really go trick-or-treating every hour of every day during the holiday?), but it's not too far a stretch to suggest that maybe the drop rates for some of the hardest items to get (the Horseman's helm and the Sinister Squashling pet seem to be the toughest, though I heard a lot of stories about hard-to-find toothpicks, too) are a little bit lower than they should be for fairness. Not so, says Bornakk -- he said while the holiday was ongoing that the drop rates were fine, and now that it's over, he says they're still fine. That doesn't mean Blizzard won't change it for next year, but it does mean that they don't have any current plans to change the holiday at all. "The randomness," as he says, "can win sometimes." Our condolences if you were trying for an item and didn't get it -- even on a 50/50 coin flip, there's still a chance to see one side 1000 times in a row. We sincerely mean this one: better luck next year.
Breakfast Topic: Hello, Headless Horseman
As the Horseman once again appears without his head attached to his body, we'd be remiss not to talk for a bit about this creepy cranially challenged boss. Pugs upon pugs will form offering nothing more than member's souls in return for the coveted mount. Those that get it will dart about showing off their satanic spirit, while those without it will look on enviously.Of course the mount isn't the only thing to be had -- there are plenty of other goodies dropped by the scourge of Sleepy Hollow. I'm going to be running some alts through and pick up the Ring of Ghoulish Glee on a few of them. The nice combination of attack power, crit, and hit makes it a solid choice for nearly every beginning level 80 melee DPS.And while my warrior has been sporting the level 70 helm for three years now, he's going to have to go back and get the updated level 80 one. Gotta' collect them all.I think this is one of the holidays that the loot from the boss overshadows the achievements and the holiday themselves. Perhaps it's just because this was the first real holiday boss we had that dropped enough special stuff everyone had to farm it as much as possible, or perhaps it's just because the mount is so cool. But nonetheless, the achievements are all there too waiting to be completed.For more information on the holiday, check out our Over Achiever Guide to the Hallow's End Achievement, and the list of the level 80 Headless Horseman rewards. How much do you plan on farming the Headless Horseman? Every day on every alt possible? Or just a bit? %Gallery-75797%
The Hallow's End Horseman will be ready for you
>>Click here for WoW.com's Guide to Hallow's End 2009<< We've been getting a few queries from you readers lately about the upcoming Hallow's End holiday (it starts this Sunday) and what's new, but honestly, we haven't heard anything solid yet. You can assume that the usual festivities will be happening, so you can definitely plan to run the Horseman and go around getting your candy, but if anything else is new, we haven't heard it for sure yet. There is one tidbit -- Bornakk has confirmed that, like Coren Direbrew, the Horseman will be set for level 80s. And we can assume that means that there will be some new loot to obtain as well. But other than that, anything else that goes down for Hallow's End this year will be a surprise.Not that we won't tell you about it -- of course we'll have coverage up as soon as we see anything new, and if you need help getting any of the achievements or quests done, we'll have help for you there, too. Just a few days left until our favorite holiday in the game -- can't wait!
Horseman VCC Pro adds a bellows and large-format functionality to your DSLR
Okay, so we don't think Horseman is marketing the $2,000 VCC Pro technical camera movement adapter to people like us who just want to make our DSLRs look fun and old-timey, but hey -- in addition to giving photographers ultra-precise control over depth of field and perspective, it also makes your DSLR look fun and old-timey. Comes in Nikon and Canon versions, as you'd expect, and it'll be available soon at pro photography shops. The rest of us will stick to wearing high-waisted pants and growing comical mustaches. [Via SlashGear]
Patch 2.4.3 is going live today
It's official now: Patch 2.4.3 is indeed going live. You can download it now by logging into the game, and when the servers go up again, you can go buy mounts for all your level 30 alts. Here's some of the other highlights of the patch: Epic gems can be purchased for Arena points -- and yes, the Arena versions are not unique-equipped! You can now undertake a quest to beat up an old man and steal his hat. Haris Pilton is showing off her new line of 22-slot designer handbags, now for sale in Shattrath's Lower City. A new holiday boss and holiday boss loot appeared on the test server and will hopefully appear in time on live. Coren Direbrew is now a 5-man boss for the Brewfest, and new Headless Horseman loot should appear this Hallow's End. There was a bit of a nerf for the Rogue talent Cheat Death WWI attendees can now use their pet code to grab their own pet archangel! The new in-game loot from the Hunt for Illidan TCG expansion is now live. There were many profession changes as well, including new tailoring patterns. You can also check out the full official patch notes (via MMO-Champion) after the break.
New Headless Horseman loot shows up on the PTR
As we mentioned the other day, The Hallow's End event is now live for testing on the 2.4.3 PTR. As seems to be the general case, Kisirani's world event team hasn't been resting on their laurels, but has been relatively steadily upgrading and fleshing out holidays as they come up. Hallow's End looks to be the latest holiday to get a change or two in the form of some new Headless Horseman loot, discovered by MMO-Champion.
Warlock soloes the Horseman
Well I sure thought it would have been "some ambitious Paladin," but nope-- turns out it was an ambitious and crafty Warlock that brought the Horseman down all by his lonesome. As you can see in the video above, Deadmasters on EU Blackmoore has gone in SM with some amazing stats, and claimed all the epics off the Horseman for himself.So how'd he deal with tanking? Unfortunately, it seems like the whole thing is based on a pathing exploit-- the player can jump up on that ledge at the end of the fence, but the Horseman can't, so he basically "juggles" the bad guy back and forth while dotting and nuking him. The job gets harder when the pumpkins show up, but it's the same thing-- jump up and then jump back down when the Horseman gets close. If Blizzard had known about this, they probably could have fixed that pretty easily.But I don't mean to downplay Deadmasters' achievement-- clearly he's geared up right for the fight (look at those Affliction DoTs go!), and by the outtakes at the end, you can see that juggling the mobs just right was no easy task. It'll be interesting to see if Blizzard makes changes in the encounter next year, though-- by then, we may be level 80, and who knows what horrors will lie in the SM GY?[ via incgamers ]
