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Patch 3.3: Icecrown raid preview
Blizzard has just released their preview of the Icecrown Citadel raid instance, which will be launching with Patch 3.3. This comes about a week after they released the Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeon preview.Some of the key pieces of information from the preview: "Join the legendary heroes Highlord Tirion Fordring, High Overlord Saurfang, Muradin Bronzebeard, Highlord Darion Mograine, and King Varian Wrynn in an epic battle against the Scourge and their master." "Icecrown Citadel features 10- and 25-player versions of the raid dungeon, and each version has 12 encounters. Each encounter can be fought in either normal or Heroic mode, and players can use a new user interface feature to toggle easily between difficulties." "The rewards in the raid dungeon start at item level 251 in the normal mode with 10-player encounters, increase to item level 264 in the Heroic mode mode with 10 players and the normal mode with 25-player encounters, and then finally reach item level 277 in the Heroic mode with 25 players." "...two new forms of abomination in Festergut and Rotface, who currently protect their devious creator, Professor Putricide." The entire text of the preview after the break. %Gallery-74839%
Patch 3.3 PTR: The Pit of Saron in motion
As you might have read, a few members of the WoW.com crew hit the PTR over the weekend and took a few runs through the Pit of Saron, one of the new 5-man dungeons in Patch 3.3. It's also the only one currently available for testing. We didn't walk away from it with only our impressions posts for you, oh no. We also have screenshots and video.Above you'll find our video of Forgemaster Garfrost, the first boss of the instance. Behind the cut below, you'll find the other two bosses (Krick and Scourgelord Tyrannus) and something a little... special. All of the videos are edited to make sure none of the story moments of the instance are included, so the narrative won't be spoiled for you at all. Enjoy!%Gallery-74549%
Breakfast Topic: Have you tried the Pit of Saron?
The PTR has been out for several days now. It's loaded with the latest build of the upcoming patch 3.3 which will feature the Icecrown raid and several smaller 5 man instances. The first instance that's up for testing is the Pit of Saron. I know some players do not like to be spoiled and would rather take in the moment when they first encounter it on their own. Others like myself crave information and wish to know every possible detail on a particular boss or instance. There's no right or wrong answer. PTRs are designed to be a testing ground and it offers a cool preview of what is to come. Some of the other bloggers on the staff along with myself jumped on during the weekend to give the place a shot. I had a fun time in there and learned a few interesting things. I don't think the instance is entirely finished yet, but there's enough in there to keep me busy healing. Have you taken a look around the place yet? If not, do you intend to at some point?
Patch 3.3 PTR: Pit of Saron first impressions
Welcome to WoW.com's two part piece on our first impressions of the Pit of Saron, one of the three new 5-man dungeons in the upcoming Patch 3.3. First up is Matthew Rossi from the point of view of a tank, followed by Matt Low with a healer's take.Okay, first off we're going to try and keep all spoilers after the cut. If you're interested in them, you go ahead and look, but please be warned. Today, your intrepid WoW.com team assembled in the super justice fortress and set forth to brave the Pit of Saron, the currently accessible dungeon on the PTR.We were a stalwart group consisting of myself, Alex Ziebart, Matt Low and Tristan from The Elitists podcast. Since there was a bug where some non-premade characters were unable to see the instance due to phasing issues, we played premades (except for Tristan, but his gear was at about that level as well): Myself as a gnome warrior tanking, Matt on a human priest and Alex on a dwarf ret paladin. While my human's DPS gear is about as good as the premade, my tanking set has more T8 in it, so the gnome felt even more OP than usual for a level 80 instance. We did bosses on both normal and heroic and the general consensus is, heroic seemed undertuned or perhaps not even tuned yet at all. We saw no major differences between our normal and heroic fights.As was mentioned in the official Blizzard page about the Pit of Saron and Patch 3.3, there are two bosses before you can access the final challenge of the instance. Since we were an Alliance group, we had Jaina Proudmoore helping us (sort of) along the way.
WoW Insider Show today at 3:30pm Eastern
Our podcast returns to the air once again this afternoon -- WoW.com writers Amanda Dean and newbie Dominic Hobbs will join Turpster and I to talk about the most popular posts of the last week. First on the menu, I'm sure, will be the 3.3 PTR and what's new with Icecrown. All the new info about Cataclysm will probably make an appearance, and as promised last week, we'll talk about Ghostcrawler's recent forum decisions and what it means for Blizzard's development in general.And of course we'll chat live with listeners, do a pre-show and an aftershow as usual, and answer your emails, which you can send to us anytime at theshow@wow.com. If you're around today, we'll start it all up around 3:30pm Eastern over on our Ustream page, or right after the break below in an embedded feed. See you then!
Patch 3.3 PTR: NPCs hint at events of Icecrown instances
Once again they're hard at work at MMO-Champion digging out juicy bits from the 3.3 PTR files. Like what, you may ask? Oh, like the existence of somebody named Deathbringer Saurfang, that's what. And that's not all: we also will apparently see appearances from Muradin Bronzebeard, as well as the expected appearances by Sylvanas, Jaina, Varian, Saurfang the Elder and the like. We're also seeing possible hints at the Quel'Delar questline with new appearances by Lor'themar Theron and Grand Magister Rommath.In addition, other tantalizing changes are evident. Baine Bloodhoof is listed as a leader and a boss mob in these files... preparations for Cataclysm, or is Baine going to step into the spotlight sooner? There are also a host of AV figures listed. Perhaps updates to Alterac Valley are in store? At any rate, it's tantalizing indeed to imagine seeing two Saurfangs in one raid. Can Icecrown Citadel contain that many cleaves?
Kisirani on the world post-Icecrown
Obviously, if you've been paying attention to what players are saying about Garrosh Hellscream, confidence isn't high in the guy. Especially if, as rumored, he's going to be getting a promotion very soon. But lest your fears about the guy are overtaking your Horde pride, just wait -- Kisirani says that we haven't learned all there is to know about the son of Grom. He may yet show a more palatable side, as we're told that we "haven't seen the entirety of who Garrosh is."And what better place to do that, she continues, than in the run up to Cataclysm. We already know there's going to be a world event, but Kisirani hints yet again that it's going to be quite sizable -- considering that she mentions it between Icecrown and the expansion release itself, we could just be talking about a whole content patch on its own. However it all plays out, it's quite clear that Icecrown is definitely not the end of this round of content, and the world we'll be playing in when Cataclysm actually releases will be very different than the one we know today.
Patch 3.3 PTR: Icecrown 5-player dungeon maps
You want Icecrown 5-man dungeon maps, you say?You need cross-server instances as you make your way up the Citadel?You've got it. In the gallery below we're happy to give to you the Icecrown 5-man dungeon maps, fresh off the Patch 3.3 PTR. They cover the three wings of the 5-man version. The maps for the raid are not on the PTR yet. The three wings of the 5-man are the Pit of Saron, Halls of Reflection, and the Forge of Souls.Check 'em out below.%Gallery-74485%
Patch 3.3 PTR: Craftable nature resist gear
The patch 3.3 PTR is up (as you must have noticed if you're reading the same site I'm writing on), and among other things, it contains a battery of crafted gear that confers nature resistance for users of the various armor classes. There's leg and foot wear for all armor types, in various versions where appropriate (like DPS/tanking/spell for plate). This is a pretty good sign that we're going to want/need nature resist somewhere in Icecrown Citadel. The mats list is another hint in that direction, calling as it does for Icecrown Thing of Crafting Things [PH]. It's a good thing they put "PH" there, or I might not have known the name was a placeholder. But seriously folks, get ready to craft another set of resistance gear. I'm not particularly jazzed about this myself - I mostly raid as a druid these days, and we have little enough bag space as it is - but I guess it's one way to make sure players don't consume the content too quickly (if they have to stock up on Things of Crafting Things from earlier bosses first). Still seems like a silly hoop to make us jump through.
World of Warcraft Patch 3.3 PTR Patch Notes
Blizzard has just released the patch notes for the Patch 3.3 PTR. As with all PTR patch notes, please be aware that they are the early stages of the finalized patch notes, and not everything may yet be in them. These notes are particularly shorter than what most would expect, however there are still some juicy goodies.The PTR is not up yet. You'll hear it here when it is. These notes come a day after the information and pictures of Icecrown were released.Some of the highlights from the patch notes released thus far: The Forge of Souls, the first wing of the 5-player dungeon, is currently available for testing. Additional Icecrown Citadel dungeon and raid content will be made available in future test builds Misdirection: Redesigned. Instead of having finite charges, it now begins a 4-second timer when the hunter using Misdirection performs a threat-generating attack, during which all threat generated by the hunter goes to the friendly target. In addition, multiple hunters can now misdirect threat to the same friendly target simultaneously. Rogue Vanish: For the first second after this ability is used, neither Vanish nor Stealth can be broken by taking damage or being the victim of a hostile spell or ability. Shaman Fire Nova Totem: This totem has been replaced with a new spell, Fire Nova, which is available at the same ranks as the old Fire Nova Totem. Existing characters will automatically learn this new spell in place of the totem. With a Fire Totem active, shamans will be able to use Fire Nova (fire magic) to emit the same area-of-effect damage as the old Fire Nova Totem from the active Fire Totem, not consuming the totem in the process. Fire Nova will activate a 1.5-second global cooldown when used and has a 10-second spell cooldown. The caster must be within 30 yards of the totem to use this ability, but does not need to be within line of sight of the totem. Black Magic: This enchantment now sometimes increases haste rating for the caster rather than inflicting the caster's target with a damage-over-time effect. It is also now triggered by landing any harmful spell rather than inflicting damage with a spell. Entire patch notes after the break.This post is currently being edited.
Patch 3.3 PTR: Character copy is up, but not so fast
A few readers have reported in to say that character copies are currently up for what we presume to be the patch 3.3 PTR (not that surprising, considering that Blizzard has been forthcoming with Icecrown info today), but before you go running over to send your character racing to meet Arthas, don't forget that usually in this situation, character copies get wiped before the PTR goes up anyway. You can try a copy, but don't be surprised if, when the realm finally does go up and Blizzard is ready, you have to do it again.That said, this is a pretty good sign that the PTR is just around the corner -- Blizzard's got the content in a workable state, and they're just about ready to let us have a look at it and run it through the ringer for them. Icecrown or bust! Thanks, Low!
Blizzard releases details on Icecrown Citadel
Looks like patch 3.3 might be closer than we thought. Over on the European site, we have a massive info dump about Icecrown Citadel's Frozen Halls, a new instance with normal and heroic versions offering iLevel 219 (on Normal) and 232 (on Heroic) gear. It sounds like the new 5 man we were told was coming. (Edited to add: the North American site has caught up to our European brethren.)It seems that Horde and Alliance each get their own juicy lore goodness in addition to loots, as players will be able to accompany Sylvanas Windrunner or Jaina Proudmoore as they seek a path into the heart of Icecrown Citadel for their individual reasons. (It's safe to say Sylvanas is probably looking to shoot Arthas a lot.) Once inside the Frozen Halls, players must confront the bosses of the Forge of Souls and the Pit of Saron before finally confronting Arthas himself. Sounds pretty bloody epic to me. The text indicates that each section will have its own unique means of challenging the players before confronting the bosses. With names like Bronjahm the Godfather of Souls (is that a James Brown reference) and Scourgelord Tyrannus, I think it's safe to assume we're not going to be offered tea and crumpets, unless of course they're evil tea and necromantic crumpets.So there you have it. Go forth and feast your eyes on screenshots of this 'massive, sprawling 5 player dungeon' if I may paraphrase.Since we know many of you can't access WoW's official website at work, the complete details from Blizzard are reproduced after the break.%Gallery-74362%
Vanish "change" coming in patch 3.3
Ghostcrawler (who decided to back off the forums, and then decided to back off that decision slightly) is now back on the forums with word of a change that Rogues will probably be intrigued by: he promises, in patch 3.3, a "change" to Vanish. That's about all we get, unfortunately -- some players assume that it's the Vanish fix they've been seeking for so long, but it sounds more to me like a reworking than a straight-out fix, considering that he points out that if Blizzard finds it's too much of a buff to Rogues (is he actually saying that Vanish working as intended is OP?) then they'll nerf it down.Anyway, as for when we'll get to try it out, GC gives an official "soon (tm)," so look for a fix on a 3.3 PTR near you coming up quick. Hopefully they've come up with a solution that both keeps Rogues happy in terms of using Vanish the way it's intended, and also keeps the ability in line with other classes in the game.
Breakfast Topic: What do you want to see in Icecrown Citadel?
While a lot of us (myself included) have been starving for Cataclysm news lately, it would behoove us to remember that we still have one more patch to go: Patch 3.3, the (hopefully) epic showdown with one of the most iconic figures in Warcraft lore, the Lich King himself. We've actually learned very little about it so far. We got Ghostcrawler admitting there's not 31 bosses, and a few other BlizzCon tidbits, but beyond that, what do we know?The other day, Zarhym at least gave us a small hint or two, saying that the 5-man dungeons would be epic and essential to the overall fight against Arthas, that they would be separate content from the raids, and that neither dungeons nor raids (Thank Elune) would have vehicular or mounted combat (the airship battle will not be a vehicle fight, it seems). Of course, that does give us hope, but doesn't get us to the meat of the dungeon so to speak. So I'm sort of wondering: What do you want or expect to see in Icecrown Citadel, both the raids and the dungeons? Are there certain bosses or boss encounters you want to see? What type of storylines would you think epic enough for the 5 mans? I'm still hoping for the completely ignoble, futile death of Tirion Fordring, but that could just be me.
Encrypted Text: Rogue tips for raiding Trial of the Crusader, part 2
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 discuss some of the tips and tricks to remember when raiding the third and fourth bosses in the Trial of the Crusader.Not even a full week had passed, and already not one, but two guilds were able to clear their way through the heroic version of Trial of the Grand Crusader. While it may have been due to soulstone exploits or spamming Holy Wrath, either way, one of the Lich King's most powerful warriors and oldest companions died to the might of the Horde (or maybe some Alliance cowards got lucky).I've had the luxury of fighting my way through and also defeating Anub'arak, though only on normal difficulty so far. This week, I'll cover some of the tips and tricks that I've picked up in my clearings of the Trial of the Crusader, with a focus on the next 2 encounters in the instance.
BlizzCon 2009: What to expect in Icecrown
Oh hey guys -- remember the other World of Warcraft expansion, the one we're currently playing? Turns out this one has some cool stuff too. The most interesting thing (at least to me) that we heard from the Dungeons and Raids panel is that we're going to get some sort of cinematic or lore moment on Arthas' death (if he does in fact die). I remember being somewhat disappointed when Illidan finally croaked for my guild; for such an important lore figure, he really went out with a whimper and not a bang. Anyway, here's what we know so far about the Icecrown Citadel raid confirmed to be coming in patch 3.3: There will be at least 4 floors' worth of content in Icecrown Citadel, which I would guess means it'll be reminiscent of how you worked your way up from the sewers of the Black Temple to the roof with Illidan. They plan to make more use of the warp/teleport mechanic currently used in Ulduar that makes it possible for players to see bigger dungeons without spending a lot of time just running from place to place. Sindragosa (the same dragon you saw Arthas raising in the Wrath of the Lich King cinematic trailer) and the Lich King are two confirmed bosses. Based on the "Shadow Vault" scene glimpsed in Yogg-Saron's brain room, I'd wager you'll be seeing Saurfang the Younger and Bolvar as well. Read on for more news on Icecrown Citadel!%Gallery-70747%
Ghostcrawler: There will (not) be at least 31 bosses in Icecrown
Ghostcrawler has posted an interesting little hint at the next patch (we know of) headed to the game. In response to a discussion about "tanking niches," he talks about Icecrown Citadel over on the forums, and just happens to mention that people might think of tanks as waiting outside until "boss 4, 17 and 31 (yes, IC is that big)." 31 bosses? More like Icecrowded, am I right?Blackrock Depths is the largest 5-man in the game, if not the largest instance, and it boasts over 40 bosses (that's mostly counting encounters, though -- you wouldn't count The Seven, for example, as seven different bosses), including lots and lots of optional bosses and even a holiday boss. Ulduar, by comparison, has about 14, and Karazhan is about that same size (though that depends on how you count random bosses, like the Opera Event). No matter how you slice it, 31 raid bosses is a ton of bosses to go through -- Icecrown could be a return to a really epic, large-scale instance.Of course, there will likely be wings involved (Naxxramas' Quarters have worked out pretty well, I think), and with the new changes to raid lockouts, Blizzard no longer needs to squeeze the raiding experience into an average of two or three nights a week (which is what it seemed like they were usually aiming for before). If yours is the kind of guild that likes to clear everything in one night, though, you might want to start freeing up some time now.Update: GC now says he didn't mean the instance would have 31 bosses, he was just throwing in some ridiculous number to prove a point. Our question: why did he say "yes, IC is that big" if he didn't mean it would be that big?
Around Azeroth: The Two Towers
Submitter Beastotem of the guild Arise on Spinebreaker-EU sends us this photograph, freshly snapped from the back of his flying mount. When I saw it, I have to say, I was filled with a sense of foreboding doom. That's right, everyone, brace yourselves. The Two Towers are back. It looks like Sauron decided that the big flaming eye on the spire was so last year, but Saruman, strangely enough, seems to have decided to redecorate Orthanc in neon greens and blues. I think that whole "Saruman of Many Colors" shtick is going to his head.Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.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. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, gold seller ads with dead gnomes, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran. %Gallery-1816%
Breakfast Topic: The joy of phasing
Rayless on the General Forums asks a question that I've always wondered about but never poked into; how exactly does phasing work? If you've leveled through the Death Knight starting area, done the Wrath Gate questline, or quested in Icecrown (and you should really do all three), you've had the opportunity to see Blizzard's most intricate phasing in action. However, Zarhym and Crygil are pretty cryptic on how it's done, and it's up to players to fill in the details. In a nutshell, phasing is all about the information that's sent (or not sent) to your computer by the game server; Blizzard can toy with anything that's not client-side, affecting which buildings and NPCs you can "see" but not affecting the game's basic geography. I was surprised to discover that phasing has technically been in the game since launch -- ghosts and stealth are a form of phasing, as are (I would assume) the ghosts of Caer Darrow -- but the hugely elaborate set pieces of Wrath are simply a more complicated evolution of the same mechanic. Given the success of phasing, players have been kicking around suggestions for instances or zones that could do with a touch of it, and Gnomeregan seems to be a pretty consistent pick. I'd have to agree, but I'd also add the Echo Isles (the Gnomes and Trolls have overcome their low-level foes by now, surely?) and perhaps Duskwood for starters. Is there any other zone or instance that you think would benefit from a little reality-bending?
Crusaders' Coliseum difficulty is a test for Blizzard
I've suspected this on the podcast, and I'm sure many people have figured this before, but Crygil makes it absolutely clear: the four difficulty levels set up on the Crusaders' Coliseum is just a test for Blizzard. This isn't at all the standard, it's just something different they're trying with this format of dungeon, and they'll be watching to see how players respond. As Crygil says, it definitely doesn't mean that they'll be going back and revamping the old dungeons to reflect the new layout (where 10 and 25-man raids each have their own Heroic modes), and the corollary is that it doesn't necessarily mean that Icecrown will be like this, either. They're giving this a shot, and if there are issues with it, they'll go back to the old way or consider something else.Will it work? My guess is that it will. Besides the fact that players will always run the heck out of the game's latest raid (and Blizzard can definitely use that as justification that it's a popular way to do things), I think any move that gives players more options will be received well. Some guilds will try to run all four modes all the time, and will get sick of the instance way before any new content shows up, but I think most folks will just choose one or two difficulties to run every week (say, 25-man Heroic with their guild, and 10-man Heroic with a PuG), and get their gear from there. Whether we'll see this again in Icecrown, however, I'm not sure -- this seems like a setup for a lower-tier instance that everyone gets to run, not an expansion-ending, top-of-the-line raid. Blizzard may go back to the normal 10 and 25-man setup for Icecrown, and then bring this scheme back for instances in the next expansion, whatever that may be.Patch 3.2 will bring about a new 5, 10, and 25 man instance to WoW, and usher in a new 40-man battleground called the Isle of Conquest. WoW.com will have you covered every step of the way, from extensive PTR coverage through the official live release. Check out WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2 for all the latest!
