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Mists of Pandaria Beta: Reputation rewards for the Shado-Pan
The Order of the Shado-Pan was formed 10,000 years ago when Pandaria first split from the rest of the Kalimdor continent and floated off into the sea. The Shado-Pan were charged by the last emperor of Pandaria with the task of protecting Pandaria from the Sha that had been imprisoned. With such a grim, serious task at hand, most of the Shado-Pan order are nowhere near as lighthearted as the rest of the pandaren players will encounter in their travels. The Shado-Pan offer a variety of rewards for those who choose to gain reputation with their Order. Cloaks, trinkets and helms await those who become revered with the Shado-Pan. And for those who work their way to exalted reputation, the Shado-Pan offer mounts. Three Shado-Pan riding tigers in red, green and blue are available for purchase. Quests and dailies for the Shado-Pan mainly take place in Townlong Steppes, although players first encounter the Shado-Pan in the Valley of the Four Winds. The Shado-Pan are working hard to keep several different threats at bay. Not only are there mantid to worry about, there's also the odd case of the mogu on the isles off the coast of the Townlong Steppes, who appear to be up to no good. Take a look at the gallery below for the full list of Shado-Pan reputation rewards. And remember, point and price totals for items may not be final. We're still in beta, after all! %Gallery-160434% It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Mists of Pandaria Beta: Reputation rewards for the August Celestials
The August Celestials are a group of pandaren dedicated to defending the temples of Pandaria from the threat of the sha. So far, there are four known temples and celestials associated with them -- the Serpent, the Crane, the Tiger, and the Ox (or, more appropriately, the Yak.) The quartermaster for the August Celestials couldn't be easier to find; he's located in the lower level of the outdoor tiers for each capital city, one for Alliance and one for Horde. The August Celestials don't have any trick items with their reputation rewards, but they do have armor. A lot of armor. Boots, gloves and bracers can all be found with the August Celestials, for every class and spec available in the game. And if that isn't enough for you, they also sell the Reins of the Thundering Cloud Serpent to anyone with exalted reputation -- and who doesn't want a cloud serpent? There are several sets of dailies to gain reputation with the August Celestials. There are dailies that have you defending the various temples around Pandaria, and there is also a really fun quest chain of dailies out at the Cradle of Chi-Ji off the southern coast of Krasarang Wilds. I've written about the quest chain before; it's fun, interactive, and doesn't really feel like work at all. Plus, getting in-game mail from NPCs is always a bonus, in my book. Take a look at the gallery below for the full run-down of everything the August Celestials have to offer. %Gallery-160423% It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Mists of Pandaria beta: Wrathion quest chain now live in beta
Wrathion's appearance in Pandaria was originally a bit of a surprise to me. After I finished the rogue legendary chain, it seemed to be clear that Wrathion was going to go find someplace quiet and out of the way to brood. Pandaria certainly wouldn't have been my first choice for the one pure black dragon out there in the world -- but to Pandaria Wrathion went, and presented with his own quest chain to boot. The voice files for the Wrathion chain were datamined several weeks ago, but it wasn't until this beta build that players got the opportunity to see Wrathion in action. Level 90 players can now make the trek to the Veiled Stair and find Wrathion sitting happily in the Tavern of the Mists with a quest marker over his head. Speaking to Wrathion will offer the option to share a drink while Wrathion shares some information that is dearly important to him -- and probably ought to be pretty important to the rest of us, too. We've captured video of the event, which you can view after the break. Spoiler warning: The video shown may contain big spoilers for Mists of Pandaria. If you are avoiding spoiler content, turn away.
PvP with the blues on Mists of Pandaria beta realms
Have you ever wanted to get ganked by Nethaera? Now is your chance. This Monday, July 16, the various development teams (World of Warcraft Encounter, Level Design, Class Design, and QA) will be helping to test the new PvP Battlegrounds, Silvershard Mine and Temple of Kotmogu. These tests will begin at 4:30 p.m. Pacific time. If you like playing with the people who develop and run the game and/or you like testing PvP maps out, this is the event for you. Keep your eyes on the official forum thread for more details as we get closer to Monday, and get your beta character geared with the easily accessible PvP vendors. The vendors can be found atop the wall between Dread Wastes and Vale of Eternal Blossoms. That way, when Monday comes, you'll be ready for battle with the blues. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Mists of Pandaria Beta: Reputation rewards for the Klaxxi
The Dread Wastes feature the conflict between the mantid of the region. While some are content to follow their leader, others question her true motives. Because of this, players end up allying with the Klaxxi, a group of mantid that are set on identifying the problem with the mantid populace and eliminating that problem before it causes any further trouble than it already has. And as we know, where there is reputation, there are reputation rewards to be purchased. Players gain reputation with the Klaxxi both through questing in the Dread Wastes and via dailies that are unlocked when players reach level 90. While the Klaxxi don't offer any sweet mounts like the Golden Lotus, they do share in the splendor of neat items with unusual twists. Players can purchase Restorative Amber upon reaching honored reputation with the Klaxxi, and it works just as the name suggests. Using the item will encase the player in amber, restoring 300,000 health and mana over 10 seconds. And though there are no mounts to be found, the Klaxxi offer a ton of options in the form of armor. Legplates, belts and necklaces can all be bought with valor points. For the full list of items, check out our full gallery. And remember -- prices and point values shown on the vendors are not finalized until the game is released! %Gallery-160314% It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Mists of Pandaria Beta: Reputation rewards for the Golden Lotus
Reputation rewards were added to the Mists of Pandaria beta recently, and while not all of the assorted reputations were added, most have items available for purchase. The Golden Lotus is the main faction behind the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, and players will obtain reputation through dailies in and around the Vale itself. The Golden Lotus offer a wide assortment of rings and armor, as well as the gorgeous crane mounts that were datamined some time ago. Although some rewards like the mounts are purchased with gold, most reputation rewards are now purchased with valor points, which you can obtain through doing dungeons, raids and dailies as well. And for an interesting cool factor you can also pick up the Mogu Rune of Paralysis once you're honored with the Golden Lotus -- an item that will place a rune on the ground for a minute, stunning any creature that enters it for 4 seconds. For a look at everything the Golden Lotus has to offer, check out our full gallery below. And remember, prices and point values are not finalized until the game is released. %Gallery-160227% It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Claim 1 of 450 Mists of Pandaria beta keys while supplies last
Update: 10 minutes later, they're all gone. Sorry! Today we're giving away 450 Mists of Pandaria beta keys. To make this process as smooth as possible, we're partnering with guild hosting service Enjin. Keys will be distributed on a first come, first served basis. Clicking the button immediately below will take you to our Enjin page; then clicking the button on that page will generate your beta key while supplies last. Claim Your Key! To redeem your beta key, log in to your Battle.net account, click the Games & Codes drop-down menu, and then proceed to Add or Upgrade a Game. Paste your key in and activate it. Enjoy the beta! If you did not manage to claim one of our 450 beta keys, don't panic! We'll be giving away another 50 keys away on our social media outlets over the course of the next week. Keep an eye on our Twitter and Facebook pages for further details. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
More chances to win a Mists of Pandaria beta key coming soon
At this time tomorrow, 5:00 p.m. Eastern, we will be giving away 450 Mists of Pandaria beta keys. We're offering an early warning because the keys will be distributed in an automated first-come, first-serve method, with each claimant being limited to one beta key. We expect the keys to go very quickly and want everybody to have as fair a chance to claim one as possible. If you aren't enough of a Quick Draw McGraw to get your hands on one of the initial 450, don't worry. You may still have a chance to acquire a beta key. Blizzard gave us a total of 500 beta keys in our latest batch. Fifty of them are being set aside to give away on our social media outlets over the course of the next week. If you want to participate in those opportunities in the coming days, follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Until tomorrow, ladies and gentlemen. Good luck! It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
No-brainer talent and cookie-cutter builds
I was reading the forums the way I do recently, when I came across this thread. In it, the original poster Strawberry asked for examples of talents in the new talent system that players would always take. In the current talent system, as an example, no fury warrior would avoid Flurry. You'd be an idiot to do so. Ghostcrawler chimed in, indicating that he wanted to increase people's awareness of the thread and get them participating, because the thread was useful. The reason it is useful is because no-brainer talents are something Blizzard's trying to do away with in the new talent scheme, and the only way to really know what talents are must haves is to have people tell them. The entire purpose of the new talent system is to promote choice and do away with the cookie-cutter builds of the previous and current talent paradigm. Cataclysm actually ended up with a lot more choice than previous iterations -- you usually have a few talent points left over when you're done getting the basics down -- but Mists of Pandaria is poised to remove the concept of going elsewhere for a spec or copying someone else's build entirely. This got me wondering. Assuming the thread does its job and helps identify talents that are too good to pass up right now and make adjustments to bring them in line, will that make the game harder or easier for new and inexperienced players?
Breakfast Topic: What new Mists ability are you the most or the least excited about?
If you read WRUP, you'll know that my mission for this weekend has been to get my shaman levelled on the beta. I've been slacking a lot with this, since there's just so much opportunity for PvP on live servers at the moment, and there's usually someone messaging me who wants to do Arenas. I can't say no to Arenas! But it's progressing nicely now, and a couple of days ago, I hit 87 and got the new shaman ability, Ascendance. And hot damn, I'm disappointed. I mean, the ability itself is quite nice, don't get me wrong. It's like having Ultraxion's green crystal on demand for restoration. And Ultraxion's green crystal is really pretty good. But wow, the ascendant you transform into is ugly -- ugh-lee. My main beta shaman (I have three) is a cute pandaren lady, and when I hit that ascendance button, she morphs into this big, ugly, semi-watery dude who dances slowly back and forth with his chest stuck out. Alex Ziebart rightly criticized me for whining about the look of the ascendant. It is, after all, an ability called ascendance. What did I expect to transform into? A murloc? Anyhow, I've gone from being excited about ascendance to resenting that button. That button that drops in a big chunk more random healing ... Would I be more excited if it were like Power Infusion? Probably, yes. But my main complaint is the ugliness of the form. So how about you? You don't have to have played the beta to know about the new abilities that are incoming; there's been a lot of writing about it on WoW Insider. I think I'm the most excited about the mage Incanter's Ward. It sounds like it might be really great for PvP. What do you think? What are you tense with anticipation for, and what really isn't floating your boat?
A First Look at Mists of Pandaria Professions: Tailoring
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Fox Van Allen and Basil "Euripides" Berntsen aim to show you how to make money on the Auction House. Feed Fox's ego by emailing him, tweeting him at @foxvanallen, or sacrificing your first-born to him. Tailoring has always been a solid profession choice, especially for casters. You can create some of the best, epic-quality gear for your character with your own two (digitized avatar's) hands. You can even create some serious bank notes by selling leg enchants and bags. It's never been the most profitable profession -- but in every expansion, it's been a solid money maker. A number of tailoring patterns have finally started appearing on the Mists of Pandaria beta. But is the outlook for the upcoming expansion as golden as it's been in the past? The outlook is a bit cloudy (misty? haw haw haw), but we'll still see if we can make some sense of some of the major changes coming to the profession in just a few months' time. Just how major are these changes, you might ask? Major enough that it's worth considering whether or not it's time to give tailoring up for good.
Mists of Pandaria Beta: Vale of Eternal Blossoms
The Vale of Eternal Blossoms, nestled at the center of Pandaria, is the last zone players will encounter while leveling. Unlike prior expansions, the Vale is a level 90 zone -- you won't really see any quest hubs open until you have hit level 90. Once you've reached max level, you'll find scores of daily quests to do for the various factions of the Mists expansion. The Vale is also home to this expansion's two capital cities for the Alliance and Horde, perched on opposite sides of the valley. And those capital cities are complete with bankers, auctioneers, vendors, inns, trainers, reforgers -- just about everything you need for day-to-day errands and quests. This way, there's no real need to head back to the rest of Azeroth -- unless you're looking to farm some older content, that is. Because of the proximity to each other, the two cities guarantee you'll see members of both factions here and there, although it's definitely not a peaceful situation. The Vale is home to the Golden Lotus, who offer the majority of the daily quests available in the zone. Also based in the Vale are the Lorewalkers, who offer additional daily quests. The Vale itself is a picturesque valley, but it's being besieged by mogu, and you assist the Golden Lotus in thwarting the mogu's efforts as part of your daily duties. But it's the architecture of the zone that really stands out above anything else. The cities are some of the most amazing eye candy I've ever seen in World of Warcraft -- and frankly, I'm not sure I'm going to want to leave them when the expansion is over. For a look at the Vale and a closer look at the cities, take a peek at the full gallery. %Gallery-159941% It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
5 things you need to know about Mogu'shan Palace
So, the last time your friendly five things you need to know correspondent stopped by, it was to give you five pieces of useful information about the rollicking barrel of fun that is Stormstout Brewery and its emo sister dungeon Temple of the Jade Serpent. And now we're back, with the first of the level 87 dungeons: Mogu'shan Palace! Well, I say the "first"; you actually get Mogu'shan Palace at the same time as you get Shado-pan Monastery, but Mogu'shan is the easier of the two, in my book. I would argue that its also the more fun one of the pair. As ever, this is not intended as a walk-through. It's more a set of tips so that you can head on into the dungeon armed with just enough knowledge to be dangerous. My aim is to let you explore the dungeon for yourself without spoiling your fun while still alerting you to some useful bits of information. That's enough introducing -- let's get going! We've zoned in, and we're in a square room with some very fancy decoration. There are lots and lots of guys wandering around here. What do we do? 1. Look at your map! Um, yes. Most obvious advice ever? Well, sure, but the reason I'm saying it for this dungeon is that if you're there for a speed run, you can really skip a lot of trash. As long as you're careful about patrols, you really only need to take out about two packs of the seven-ish in the first room, for example. Navigation is a bit complicated in parts of this dungeon, and you can save yourself a lot of time and wiping by watching your map to see where your dungeon party are off to. Oh, and after the first boss, head to the western side of the room. There's a crescent-shaped secret staircase that appears after you've looted the chest. Run down it, and the mobs will most likely give up attacking you and go back to arguing about which clan is the greatest. You can thank me later.
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Starting a warrior in Mists of Pandaria
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Care and Feeding of Warriors, the column dedicated to arms, fury and protection warriors. Despite repeated blows to the head from dragons, demons, Old Gods and whatever that thing over there was, Matthew Rossi will be your host. People have asked me a few times now what leveling a new warrior from scratch in Mists of Pandaria is going to be like. I decided this week to level a new warrior to 10 in order to get a feel for how it plays out. I deliberately chose a draenei because the draenei and blood elf zones haven't seen a significant revamp since The Burning Crusade, and while I've already leveled a pandaren warrior to 10, I wanted the freshest possible beta build. Also (I admit it), I figured it would be pretty easy to do. I mean, I've leveled how many warriors at this point? I admit I've actually lost track. I went without heirlooms because I wanted to get a feel for what someone new to the game would experience (although I have to be honest, I'm incapable of really forgetting the game to that degree) in terms of speed and ease of understanding. So here we go. What is Mists of Pandaria like for a new warrior?
Arcane Brilliance: Weighing the level 90 mage talents
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we're looking once again at the mage of the future. And just like the mage of the right now, the mage of the future needs two things in abundance: mana and spellpower. Fortunately, the mage of soon™ only has to get to level 90 to get a new way to gain both. You've traversed the wilds of Pandaria. Your mage has decked himself out in shiny new quest reward greens that are better than the purples he farmed Deathwing for months to collect. You've killed X number of mobs, collected X number of inexplicably difficult-to-locate vital organs from those mobs and returned them to people with increasingly tough-to-reconcile reasons to want said organs, killing a potentially genocidal percentage of the warlock population along the way. Now, you're level 90. Your reward is two new abilities. One is Alter Time, which we've already discussed at length. The other is entirely up to you. There are three new choices in your talent ladder to select from. They range from a fresh and infinitely more useful version of Mana Shield to a crazily improved buff for Evocation to a rune of wizardly sparklesauce that you place on the ground and then set up shop there, serving up magical deathfire to all customers forevermore, amen. They sound quite different, but have one thing in common: You press a button, and you get mana and spellpower. I think we can all agree this is a button we want. The question is, which of those three buttons do we want the most? And the next question is, do we want any of them as our capstone talent?
Blizzard clarifies Challenge Mode gear scaling
U.S. blue Watcher has recently been online answering questions about Challenge Mode gear scaling. Blizzard first responded to discussion about the upscaling of old items, confirming that as many suspected, this has been purely for beta testing purposes. Gear above ilevel 463 will be scaled down, but gear below ilevel 463 will be left alone. This certainly means that challenge modes will not be available to those who have only recently started working their way through the dungeon gearing system, and I definitely think that is working as intended. After all, players who aren't experienced at the dungeons they're attempting will likely not do well in challenge mode scenarios. One commenter mentioned that it meant they could choose their favorite tier set bonus. I rather sympathize with that perspective; it would be really cool to have the opportunity to go back and reuse those old set bonuses. In a later post, Watcher went on to clarify how the scaling would work on in the live game. Check it out after the break!
Patch 5.0.1 PTR testing to begin soon, beta accounts will not have access
The 5.0.1 PTR realm will be available for testing soon -- and while we still don't have an exact date for it, we do have some information regarding beta realm access. Players with a game account that accesses the Mists of Pandaria beta will not be able to access 5.0.1 PTR realms, according to blue poster Qoennon on the EU forums. Qoennon We will soon begin public testing of patch 5.0.1 of World of Warcraft, a patch that will precede the Mists of Pandaria release, and includes many features and functions that are new to the game. We encourage all players who wish to test patch 5.0.1 with us to take careful note of the following: It will not be possible to access the 5.0.1 PTR realms with a game account that accesses the Mists of Pandaria Beta. If a game account has been flagged with a Mists of Pandaria Beta license, it can only be used to enter Beta realms. This limitation is on each World of Warcraft license, and is not Battle.net account-based. While testing 5.0.1, players will not be able to access zones or content that is a part of the Mists of Pandaria expansion. Thank you for your continued support of our testing and tuning process. We look forward to seeing you in-game. source Players with multiple licenses under the same Battle.net account should theoretically be able to test the 5.0.1 PTR realm with any licenses that do not have beta access. But for those who are participating in the beta currently, it appears that the 5.0.1 PTR is off limits. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Lichborne: 3 death knight tanking changes to watch out for in Mists of Pandaria
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done. On the surface, blood death knights seem relatively unchanged in Mists of Pandaria. With Bone Shield and Vampiric Blood off talents and back to being blood specializations, we have our usual toolkit in place. Death Strike still serves as our main source of damage absorption. However, an expansion always brings with it unexpected changes, and there are a couple subtle little tweaks that may affect blood tank death knights more than you realize. Overall, of course, it's looking like we have at least another month of the Mists beta to go, so any of this could change at any time. Still, it's always nice to have the heads up. In the end, the large changes are the ones you see coming and the ones you can easily adapt to, but sometimes it's the ones you don't expect that can throw you off balance. Today we'll look at a few of those changes, how they may affect your tanking style, and what Blizzard may or may not do before the expansion goes live.
Mists of Pandaria Beta: Raid testing schedule for July 3 and 5
Are you and nine friends in the Mists of Pandaria beta, at level 90, and ready to test some raids? We've got your raid testing schedule right here. Watcher On Tuesday, July 3, we'll be testing two encounters; on Thursday, July 5, we'll test two more. Each encounter should be available at approximately the listed times below for all Beta Test Realms, regardless of suggested geographical region. Tuesday, July 3 Elegon (Mogu'shan Vaults) - 10 Player Normal 10:30 PDT (13:30 EDT, 19:30 CEST) Blade Lord Ta'yak (Heart of Fear) - 10 Player Normal 16:00 PDT (19:00 EDT, 01:00 CEST) Thursday, July 5 Protectors of the Endless (Terrace of Endless Spring) - 10 Player Normal 10:30 PDT (13:30 EDT, 19:30 CEST) Tsulong (Terrace of Endless Spring) - 10 Player Normal 16:00 PDT (19:00 EDT, 01:00 CEST) As always, this testing schedule is very fluid and subject to the realities of a beta environment. We might have to change the time of a testing session or cancel it entirely, due to bugs, builds, server hardware issues, etc. Keep an eye on this forum for the latest information, and thank you in advance for testing and providing feedback. source Note: The ilevel of your gear will scale automatically. Initially, Blizzard said that MoP gear was required for the scaling, but some readers report that Cataclysm-level gear works as well. Your mileage may vary. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Gold Capped: Spirit of Harmony crafting limitations
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Gold Capped, in which Basil "Euripides" Berntsen and Fox Van Allen aim to show you how to make money on the Auction House. Check out Basil's re-reboot of Call To Auction, and email Basil with your questions, comments, or hate mail! The Spirit of Harmony is going to be the limiting factor in a lot of craftable items in Mists of Pandaria. Just take a look at all the recipes it'll be a reagent for -- some 153 so far, and they haven't even finished designing the professions. The interesting part of this is that the Spirits (and the Motes you can turn into Spirits) are going to be bind on pickup, which means that you can't trade for them. Does this means that you will not be able to level a profession up to the new maximum skill level without farming Spirits and Motes of Harmony yourself? Will it mean the end of readily available, entry-level crafted PvP and PvE blues?
