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New mounts and non-combat pets of 2.4
Of the many shiny goodies coming our way with Patch 2.4, some of the shiniest are the new mounts and non-combat pets. The 5-man Kael'Thas of Magister's Terrace drops the latest status symbol among pet collector's: the Phoenix Hatchling. We're not sure of the drop rate, but we have to assume it's going to be rare. If you can't get it in-game, you can always check it out on video.If baby creatures aren't your thing, there's also a number of new mounts available with the Sunwell patch. Two new PvP mounts: the Black War Elekk and Black Swift Warstrider. Information on obtaining these new mounts as well as pics can be found in our PTR post.Finally, the new Rocket Mount will be introduced in either blue or red. This can only be gained through a World of Warcraft Trading Card Game loot card. Or, you know, EBay. Patch 2.4 sounds great, but what's in it for you? Find out on our Sunwell Isle page where we list the impact on classes, professions, PvP, Raiders and many other playstyles and interests. Looking for more great info? Check out the WoW Insider Directory for the best of our guides and analysis.
Encrypted Text: Gear me up in 2.4
Surprised to see us again so soon? Well, with 2.4 hitting today (Elune willing), it's time to see what there is out there for rogues in the new patch -- at least gear-wise, since rogues don't have many mechanic changes on the PTR right now. This new gear is available as badge rewards, drops from Magister's Terrace, and even crafted loot! (Sorry -- since the Sunwell isn't going to be open at first, loot from the 25-man raid has been left out of this one, and we talked about the Shattered Sun rep rewards already.) Badge of Justice Loot The first things you'll probably be staring at in the new badge vendor's inventory are the new daggers. The Blade of Serration, Swift Blade of Uncertainity, and the Mutilator clearly have a lot in common -- all three have the same 103.1 DPS and stam/hit/AP stats. However, the Blade of Serration is 1.8 speed, one-handed, and costs 105 Badges of Justice, while the identical Mutilator is off-hand only and costs only 45 Badges. The Swift Balde, intended as an off-hand for combat dagger rogues, boasts a speed of 1.5 and the same discount off-hand price of 45 Badges. Since these daggers clock in as the fourth-best daggers in the game DPS-wise, they're a must-have for all small-group dagger rogues. Combat fist spec rogues can also enjoy some hot new weapons. (Sorry, swords and maces, but no new pointies/blunties for you.) Vanir's Right (and left) Fist of Brutality and Vanir's Left Fist of Savagery forgo the hit rating and stam of the daggers in exchange for agi and haste rating. They share the same 105/45 badge price as the daggers, so you can pick up the whole set for 150 Badges of Justice. Drawbacks include that the models look like rejected monsters from AQ40.
Around Azeroth: The Magisters' mural
Player Shisou of the Mug'thol server was exploring the new 5-man Sunwell instance, the Magisters' Terrace on the PTR. In the room with the first boss, Selin Fireheart, he found this beautiful mural on the wall. He has some speculation on its origin:"I'm not entirely sure why the high elves would decorate their buildings with murals of themselves being subjugated by a gigantic demon overlord, so I'd have to assume that this was painted more recently by Kael's artsy fanatics."Do you have any unusual World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? Because we'd love to see it 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! Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. We prefer full screen shots without the UI showing. And please, no more sunsets. No, really. Ok, only if it's a sunrise in new Patch 2.4 lands. We'll take those anytime. Oh, and no more shots of Omen killed in Ogrimmar. It's cool, we get it. A lot of it.%Gallery-1816%
The best of WoW Insider: February 11-18, 2008
Lots of great patch 2.4 and Sunwell news on Joystiq's sister site WoW Insider this week. The biggest MMO out there is about to get a little bigger, with a brand new patch that will include a new raid instance and lots of new quests and things for players to kill (like this Dark Naaru above). Here's what we posted about last week on WoW Insider.News The companion cube cannot remain through the testingMore proof that Blizzard employees are playing Portal rather than working on the next expansion. Mobile WoW officially being consideredPlaying WoW on your cell phone? You will... but probably not in the way you think. Getting what you paid for: should the endgame be accessible to casuals?Shouldn't everybody get a chance to play in the deep end of the pool? Magister's Terrace walkthroughA WoW Insider exclusive: we take you through the new 5man instance in patch 2.4. Hail to the (Lich) King, babyWho's the king of MMOs? Gimme some sugar, baby. Features Blood Pact: Warlocks buffed in 2.4Life will be even better for the demonic class after the new patch releases. Forum Post of the Day: These are the people in your raidFrom the Dead Mage to the Prima Donna, a few familiar faces from your raiding experience. The Light and How to Swing It: Four things for 2.4Our weekly Paladin column (we've got one for all the classes) examines the big lore moves in the new patch. Breakfast Topic: Hacked!Our daily discussion topic covers the worst experience in WoW: logging in to find your character taken over. Scattered Shots: Your first levels as a new HunterStarting out, hunter-style.
Phoenix Hatchling caught on video
I'm so excited about this pet that it's getting silly. Last time on "Tiny Phoenix Obsession," we discovered that it's acquired as a drop from Kael'Thas, in his incarnation as the final boss of patch 2.4's 5-man Magister's Terrace, and speculated that it's probably a pretty rare drop. WOWDB has it at a 1% drop rate, apparently in both normal and heroic mode, although it doesn't say how many kills that's based on.Now we have in-game video! It's just as appealing as its picture, and I really like the fiery aura that surrounds it. And that calm, confident hovering...I must have it! Look out, Kael'Thas, the day 2.4 goes live I'm coming after you, and I'm taking your cute little fiery bird. Are you prepared?[via Blizzplanet]
PTR Notes: Miscellaneous changes
In addition to the big change of Nethers not being BoP anymore, some other changes were pushed to the PTR tonight: Commendation of Kael'thas has had its dodge rating bonus reduced from 380 to 152 Five epic trinket jewelcrafting recipes have been added, all with passive benefits and on use effects. See this MMO-Champion screenshot for materials. Crimson Serpent: +33 Int, + 49 Stam, use: +150 damage/healing for 20 sec (2 min cooldown) Empyrean Tortoise: +42 def rating, use: +165 dodge rating for 20 sec (2 min cooldown) Shadowsong Panther: effective stealth level increased by one, +80 attack power, use: +320 attack power for 15 sec (2 min cooldown) Khorium Boar: +84 attack power, use: summon the Khorium Boar to fight for you for 30 sec (5 min cooldown) Seaspray Albatross: +18 mp5, use: restores 900 mana over 12 sec (3 min cooldown) New gem cut: Regal Nightseye, +4 dodge rating, +6 stam, matches red or blue Warlocks' Drain Mana buffed by 50%; top rank now drains 300 mana per second (was 200). But remember that resilience now affects mana drain, to the tune of -20% at 400 resil. Paladins' Holy Shock damage buffed by about 35%, healing buffed by about 75%. Top rank now deals 721-779 damage or heals for 931-987 (was 530-574 damage or 530-574 healing). That's a lot of changes. And now that I look at those numbers, those are big shifts for Drain Mana and Holy Shock. Is anyone now reconsidering those spells? Do you think those buffs will last through testing?[via MMO-Champion]
Phoenix pet drop found
Thanks to tipster Panagiotis of <Horde Hit Squad> (EU-Mazrigos-A), and to valiant PTR testers, we now know where patch 2.4's new non-combat Phoenix Hatchling pet can be found: it drops from Kael'thas, in Magister's Terrace. This is kind of cute if you think about it, since the version of Kael'thas in the Eye drops the Ashes of Al'ar. Big Kael'thas, big phoenix; little Kael'thas, little phoenix. According to MMO-Champion, it drops it normal mode, but not in Heroic. If you need any help with your normal-mode Kael'thas strategy, check out this video. Still unknown is what the drop rate is. I'd guess pretty low, as these "frill" items tend to be that way (Baron's mount, anyone?).
Some good news, some bag news
Yet another fun little tidbit slipped by unnoticed in the recent frenzy of 2.4 news, but no longer! Behold, a WoW Insider exclusive!Okay, so it's not that special and I may have exaggerated the weight of this news item just a little, but I think most of you will be happy to know that the Magisters' Terrace drops a 20 slot bag: The Sun Touched Satchel. It is unique, but it seems to be a fairly common drop off of the trash inside of the instance. I don't have statistics and percentages for you but when I mentioned it in General chat, a fair number of people spoke up to say they had one as well. Judging entirely off of that, I assume it won't take you dozens and dozens of runs to get your own.I'm sure this is a bit of a sting in the bum of Primal Mooncloth tailors when combined with the near-free 20 slot bags from Zul'Aman, but keep in mind that the bag is unique. I don't expect this will cause the market for 20 slotters to change much, if at all. Besides, I think everyone in WoW can agree that more bag space is a good thing, no matter the source.
Magisters' Terrace Walkthrough
Yesterday I was able to get my warrior copied over to the PTR. I proceeded to head up to the new 5 man instance, Magisters' Terrace, and see what it was all about. Its a pretty cool place over all. It feels a lot like the Blood Elf city, and has a couple cool encounters. Including Kalecgos!Of course to get to the Terrace you first have to have your character copied over to the PTR. For a little while, Blizzard was letting new people through. But lately it seems that the PTR character copy queue is again backed up.Take a look after the break for lots of pictures of the place, a good walk through, and my first impressions of each boss fight.
Magister's Terrace videos
Spoiler alert: this video shows a successful kill of Kael'thas, the final boss of the new 5-man Magister's Terrace in patch 2.4.
What will we call Magister's Terrace?
MT = Mana Tombs.MT = Main Tank.MT = Mistell.MT = Montana (well it does).And now, we've got a new instance coming to the game called Magister's Terrace. And people are wondering the exact same thing I first thought when I heard that yesterday: what do we call it? Terrace? "5man Sunwell"? MagTer? MrT?Sure it's not the most important issue in the game today. But someone's got to think of this stuff, or else we'll end up with:[2. Trade]: Mohawk: LF1M need MT for MT. Whoops, MT, wrong channel.
New Sunwell details from Swedish mag Level
Acacia sent a tip that Swedish magazine Level has released their annual WoW issue, and there are some juicy tidbits in there about patch 2.4, which as you probably know will feature the last expected instance before the next expansion, the Sunwell. Jeff Kaplan did the deed in an interview, and let us know that: Sunwell Isle will be off the north coast of Silvermoon. Magister's Terrace will be the 5-man instance, and the Sunwell Plateau will be the 25-man raid, designed to close off the Burning Crusade storyline (although Kaplan admits there are a few more stories in progress in case they need to delay Wrath at all) There will be quests outside the dungeons, too, and they will tell the story of Tempest Keep And with those quests, there will be a new faction, called the "Shattered Sun Offensive." Finally, the limit of daily quests will raise in 2.4, from 10 to a whopping 25 (which is all the quests in your log. Money money money!) There are a few more good story notes, but those are spoilers, so we'll put them after the break. If you don't want to know what you'll find in the Sunwell, don't click the link below. But if you're fine with hearing about it ahead of time, feel free to hit the link and move on.
