mists
Latest
Arcane Brilliance: Your mage's new spell rotations in Mists of Pandaria
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we realize that everything we know is wrong, and learn how to make it right again. Last time we had an expansion release, it was all about an actual Cataclysm, and when we made jokes about the end of the world and chaos descending and the impending apocalypse, those jokes were appropriate. This time around, we've got cuddly pandas and fun pet battles and ... I don't know ... Eastern philosophy? Jokes about impending apocalypses aren't as apt this time around. Still, if any expansion has the potential to usher in mass chaos and confusion, Mists of Pandaria may be the one. Never before at any one time have our spellbooks and talent trees undergone such sweeping change. On Tuesday, the servers will go down, and when they come back up, the pre-expansion patch 5.0.4 will be in place (barring unforeseen maintenance mishaps), and everything we know about how to effectively wield magic will be completely different. Our current spell rotations will be gone, and we will need to go about the tricky business of learning our new spell rotations. Which brings us to the reason I called you all together today. There's magical cake in the back of the room, and later on we'll be doing trust falls with warlocks where they fall and we hit them in the face with an Arcane Barrage. But for right now, our agenda has only one item on it: our new spell rotations. It's time we learned them.
Blizzard clarifies the raid finder's role in gearing progression
Blizzard blue Taepsilum posted today on the EU forums regarding the role of the raid finder as a key part of the gearing ladder. It has been regularly mentioned how the raid finder in Cataclysm became a vital part of gear progression, offering items that were an upgrade from Firelands normal gear and -- with procs and set bonuses accounted for, as well as the half-tier increase in item level for drops from Spine and Madness -- upgrades from Firelands heroic gear. I posted a while back about the purpose of the raid finder and how while it was intended as a means for folks who didn't have access to a raid team to see content, it became a rung on the gearing ladder. Well, it seems that Blizzard is taking steps to change that. Matt Rossi posted earlier with more information on the loot changes, and Taepsilum's post only serves to add weight to the notion that the raid finder will be adapted to serve its intended purpose. This shift was mentioned yesterday on the Q&A with the Devs at Gamescom, but it bears repeating for all the raid finder naysayers out there. When Blizzard knows millions of players will see content, it makes it easier for them to justify allocating resources to it. It's really hard for Blizzard to justify putting the huge resources to design a raid into something a fraction of players will experience. WoW Insider had a message direct from Lead Encounter Designer Ion Hazzikostas in which he restated this point: The existence of LFR justifies the creation of more raid content for casual and hardcore players alike. See Taepsilum's post after the break.
Amazon and GameStop offer free beta keys with Mists preorders
So you want to preorder Mists of Pandaria but can't wait for more than a month to feast your eyes on the new continent, races and class? Well, the good folks at Amazon and GameStop are offering free beta keys with all preorders! With Amazon, if you buy either the standard or the collector's edition, you will be emailed your beta key within five business days of your purchase. The offer will be extended to all existing preorders and will expire Sept. 17. It's only valid on products shipped and sold by Amazon.com. GameStop offers a very similar promotion, but if you buy the game in-store, your beta key will be printed straight onto your store receipt when you place your preorder. If you buy online from GameStop.com, the code will be emailed to you within two business days of your purchase. Just like Amazon, this offer is valid for either the standard or the collector's edition. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, it doesn't look like Amazon has rolled out this offer to stores in the EU, and GameStop U.K. doesn't even seem to have Mists in stock. If we hear word that this changes, we will of course let you know! [Thanks for the tip, Kamaron!]
Gamescom Raid Q&A with the Devs: Nerfs, the raid finder and more
You may have spotted Monday's post on how to design a raid, which was the first half of the Gamescom 2012 Raids and Dungeons round table with Ion Hazzikostas and John Lagrave. The second half of the Round Table was a Q&A session in which many interesting questions were asked, shedding light on some hot issues as well as simply providing a little more insight into the Blizzard Encounter Design Team's creative processes. Again, these aren't verbatim quotations from Ion and John, as I simply can't write that fast, but the overall statements are accurate representations of their responses. Are there any encounters Blizzard have had to alter or leave out due to technical constraints? There was a boss leading up to the Lich King who you had to heal (Valithria Dreamwalker), and that was a huge challenge for their existing technology. If you think about it, Ion explained, up to that point, every healing spell in the game was designed to be cast on a friendly target, that is to say, a player. So the devs were faced with the task of reworking every healing spell in the game. They didn't want players to only be able to use certain spells on her, as that would have been bad, so they redid every healing spell. The technical team changed the game's design so that the boss basically became a raid team member. Ion and John explained that it's all about working out creative ways to implement the designers' ideas.
Gamescom 2012: World of Warcraft reveals Mists of Pandaria opening cinematic
Ever since Blizzard announced that the opening cinematic for World of Warcraft's next expansion Mists of Pandaria would be revealed at Gamescom 2012, fans have been patiently waiting to watch the introduction of the Pandaren in the popular fantasy MMORPG. Now the wait is over: Watch as the black and white kung-fu master takes on two warring combatants in the video after the break.
New Mists of Pandaria Battlegrounds: Temple of Kotmogu
Welcome back, readers, to this second instalment of our run-down of the new Mists of Pandaria battlegrounds. There's no reason why the Temple of Kotmogu is second. It's not harder, and it's not available later. It's just the second one I wrote about. First, a word of warning. The information in this post is accurate in beta build 15961 and may change significantly before launch. Like Silvershard Mines, this battleground is only currently available at level 90. It is significantly more straightforward in construction than its mine-based sister battleground but equally as tactically interesting. I'm really excited about both these battlegrounds, and I think it's fantastic how Blizzard is introducing new styles of battleground rather than capture the flag, capture the node, and invade the keep. The in-game battleground finder screen describes the battleground as follows: The Horde and Alliance wage battle for the ancient Mogu artifact that is foretold to hold great powers. Temple of Kotmogu is a 10 vs 10 Powerball battleground where each side attempts to control the Mogu artifact for as long as possible in different scoring zones Let's take a closer look.
Totem Talk: Calm before the storm for resto shaman
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Totem Talk for elemental, enhancement and restoration shaman. Want to be a sultan of swing healing? A champion of Chain Heal? Totem Talk: Restoration, brought to you by Joe Perez (otherwise known as Lodur from World of Matticus and cohost of the For the Lore podcast), shows you how. Last time we met, I had quite a bit to say about tier 3 shaman talents in regards to restoration shaman, and I promise that today I won't spend too much time harping on it, since I've already committed a couple of thousand words to the topic. Since that time, there have been quite a number of changes. There's been a new beta build release with all manner of updates, which is probably the most important one. There's also been a ton of information flowing from the official forums, especially when it comes to terms of such things as class balance, healer throughput and talents. Also during this time, there has been a massive amount of raid testing for both normal and heroic modes. Truth be told, there's a ton of information to absorb this week -- not least of all that fezzes are in fact cool.
World of Warcraft schedules big patch for Guild Wars 2's launch day
It's on. Oh, it's so on. Not one to take a competitor's launch sitting down, Blizzard has scheduled its World of Warcraft 5.0.4 patch release for Tuesday, August 28th. Fans of Guild Wars 2 might have an inkling that the 28th has some significance within their own community as well. WoW 5.0.4 is the pre-expansion patch for Mists of Pandaria. It weighs a hefty six gigabytes and includes shared mounts, new pets, and the massive talent revamp. North American players will get the patch on August 28th, while European servers will see it on the 29th. Mists of Pandaria is slated for a September 25th release. Deciding whether this happens to be an innocent coincidence or a shrewd counter-stroke to GW2's launch is up to you. All we know is that August 28th is going to be one very, very busy day.
PvP season 11 ends Aug. 28
The title says it all -- it has been announced on Battle.net that season 11, the current PvP season, will end on Aug. 28 (Aug. 29 for the EU). That's about two weeks away (15 days if you're on EU servers), so if you want to grind out those last points of rating, you'd better get your skates on! As ever, at the end of the season, your conquest points will be converted to honor points. In the interim period between Aug. 28 (29 for EU) and Mists' arrival on Sept. 25, there will be no honor cap. Come Sept. 25, all your points over the 4,000 honor point cap will be converted to a ridiculously tiny amount of gold -- 35 copper silver per point, to be precise. So make sure you're not over the cap. Spend everything! On Aug. 28 (29 for EU), all the gear that was purchasable with conquest points becomes purchasable with honor points. Any items with rating requirements attached are no longer available for purchase. If you think you may be in the running for an achievement, it is very important not to do anything to the character you think might be eligible. Don't faction-change, don't realm-change; either of these things could wipe out your rating. Season 12 will begin approximately one week after the release of Mists of Pandaria, and in the interim period, there will be no arenas or rated battlegrounds available. Only normal battlegrounds will continue as usual.
Leaderboard: Battle of the fall expansions
Thought expansions were a thing of the past for MMOs? Don't tell 2012, which has three major releases lined up this fall! First up is Lord of the Rings Online: Riders of Rohan, which sends players into the titular Rohan region for the first time. Not only will there be epic confrontations with Saruman and Sauron's forces on the plains, but characters will be able to fight from horseback for the first time with the new mounted combat system. Next is World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, Blizzard's fourth expansion for its hit MMO. There's a grab bag of goodies in this release, including a new race, additional continent, pet battle system, talent revamp, and more. Finally, RIFT: Storm Legion is coming out at an unknown point this fall. Trion's first expansion promises four new souls, two huge continents, player housing, and expanded game systems. So as you look at the big board (just pretend you have a big board -- it makes your life more exciting), which of these three looks the most promising? Which wins in potential and promise, at least, compared to the other two? Vote after the jump!
WoW adjusts Scroll of Resurrection for Mists of Pandaria
Call it the Scroll of Resurrection 2.0. Blizzard's popular networking recruitment tool is undergoing an upgrade to reflect the changes coming with World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. The scroll is an attempt to encourage players to bring their friends in the game by tempting both parties with faster leveling and free mounts. The updated scroll adjusts to the new specialization and talent system in Mists of Pandaria by allowing resurrected (returning) players to pick their new specialization. Talents won't be preselected for those players, however. The scroll won't affect the new Monk class, so those hoping for a quick trip to level 80 on a Monk will need to do it the old fashioned way instead. Pandaren characters also need to pick a faction before the scroll's benefits can kick in.
Mists of Pandaria: Guide to Rogues
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Encrypted Text for assassination, combat and subtlety rogues. Chase Christian will be your guide to the world of shadows every Wednesday. Feel free to email me with any questions or article suggestions you'd like to see covered here. While Mists of Pandaria is still actively being developed and patches are dropping regularly, the rogue of tomorrow is starting to take its final shape. The amorphous blob of shadow that we see on the horizon is congealing into something resembling a functioning class. In fact, rogues have been receiving fewer changes these past few weeks than any other class. I'm not surprised by this fact, as there's really not much to improve upon when we're already a model class. With talent choices reduced to a half-dozen easy decisions, there's really not much you can mess up while playing your rogue in Mists. I like to think that you can break a class down into three basic categories: customization, enhancement, and execution. You need to pick the talents and glyphs that best suit your situation, gear up with the right gems and enchants, and finally push the right buttons.
How should classes be balanced?
If you've visited the official beta forums lately, there've been lots of complaints about how powerful monk (and paladin, to a lesser extent) healing currently is in the Mists of Pandaria beta. A good blog post from Beruthiel, an expert druid healer, indicated that she was never able to beat a monk or paladin healer, no matter how hard she tried. On Sunday, one player went so far to began discussing what specs his raiding guild was planning to "bench" for Mists of Pandaria, which triggered a response from Ghostcrawler last night. Ghostcrawler Quote: When I'm being outhealed by a factor of two by any Joe Schmoe paladin or monk who happens to wander into a raid...I'm sorry, but skill is simply not going to overcome that. It's probably not possible to overcome that much of a difference. Fortunately, you don't have to, because paladins and monks both had some egregious bugs that inflated their healing. We actually hotfixed those bugs but then a new build broke them again. Until you get a new build or we hotfix the issues again, you are probably better off comparing druid, priest and shaman healing. I apologize for any inconvenience. Overall, I would recommend not deciding who you're going to bench based on beta testing until we are very close to ship. It's not a great strategy to try to get your character buffed either. :) source This is an absolutely key thing to remember -- enough so that it's worth a reminder. For those who haven't been around for an expansion launch before, there will likely be heaps of balancing hotfixes that go out at the same time patch 5.0 is released. I distinctly remember my feral druid topping DPS meters in ICC, hitting rock bottom as soon as 4.0.6 was released, then coming back up to mid-pack after a slew of hotfixes a few days later. The developers are still prioritizing testing mechanics, not balancing numbers; if you're in the beta, you should be doing the same. From there, the discussion took a turn from raid balancing to raid stacking, in reference to Paragon's bringing 11 druids to their world-first heroic Nefarian kill. Ghostcrawler Quote: Also one thing to consider is that benching and stacking of classes in the top guilds has less to do with SimCraft numbers and more of certain mechanics being very powerful on certain fights. Case in point: Paragon's 11 Druids on their first Heroic Nefarian kill. Agreed. Remember guilds in those world first situations are doing content very undergeared compared to what we expect because they are skipping the weeks of farming. In those situations players have to resort to some unusual strategies to make up the difference. In general (though not always depending on what they feel like they have to do) those type of machinations are fun for the guilds in questions and very few players are affected overall. When we see widespread stacking, that crosses the line. In retrospect, the dependence on quick burst for a fight like Spine might cross the line. Overall, we didn't see a ton of stacking or sitting for the Cataclysm raids and we'll try to do even better for the new content. source In situations like this, it's important to consider the game developers' perspective. They have to ensure content is balanced for all levels of skill, not just those on the top end, while still creating encounters that are varied and entertaining. For the most part, I think they do a pretty good job, and it's always refreshing to see when they admit mistakes in their design. What's your take on the matter? Should Blizzard balance classes based around their theoretical maximum performance, or should they balance around what the average class member can typically accomplish? 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!
Vengeance no longer capped for tanks
As the Mists of Pandaria beta has progressed, the developers have actively attempted to balance the new active mitigation model for tanks. One of the significant problems that they've run into is how to handle defensive abilities that scale with attack power/Vengeance, since the amount of damage taken (and Vengeance gained) by tanks at different levels of content can vary widely. Happily, the developers have arrived at what seems to be a fairly elegant solution. They've removed the Vengeance cap entirely and significantly toned down Vengeance decay. Now, your Vengeance will simply be computed as a rolling value, based on the damage you've taken over the last 20 seconds. This should allow for 10-man and 25-man tanks to be much better balanced and fix the annoying side effect of leveling tanks also topping damage meters. Overall, I'm a big fan of this change. Here's the full post from Ghostcrawler, after the break.
Mists of Pandaria Beta: World boss Salyis's Warband
You may recall from an earlier post that raids will have a staggered release in Mists, with the first raid, Mogu'Shan Vaults, not appearing for a whole week after the expansion's launch and then a week later in the raid finder. Then you'll have to wait a whole four weeks for the next batch of raids, Heart of Fear and Terrace of Endless Springs. But if you level at break-neck speed and are thirsty for a challenge to get your teeth into in a group, fear not! Blizzard has accommodated your needs with world bosses, available from day one, and the preview page is now up for Salyis's Warband, as we were informed yesterday. Check out the Mists of Pandaria preview website and get a first glimpse at one of the two new roaming world bosses: Salyis's Warband! These extremely powerful monsters will do everything in their power to make your life more... "interesting" as you explore the mysterious continent of Pandaria. World bosses spawn in the open world and can be attacked by any player (un)fortunate enough to cross their paths. Salyis's Warband will be quite rare, while the expansion's other boss will appear with fairly regular frequency. But before you charge headfirst into battle, keep in mind that it will take the combined efforts of a full raid to bring one of these guys to their knees. Taking down a world boss is no small feat, but the rewards make it all worthwhile: achievements, fabulous items, and massive bragging rights will all be yours if you and your comrades in arms succeed in felling one of these roving terrors. Check back soon for more info on the game's other world boss, the Sha of Anger! source
5 things you need to know about the Shado-Pan Monastery
This is the final one of the four leveling dungeons that you'll encounter on your journey from 85 to 90. In my opinion, it is also by far the hardest to get through. There's a lot of stuff in here that hits like a train right now in the beta, or so it seems. I think this dungeon strikes a really great balance between being hard enough to challenge experienced players and not so hard that it's impossible or too difficult for newer players. Of course, we've given you a walk-through of the four bosses, and they're also included in our bosses in 5 seconds post for this set of dungeons. You're welcome! For those of you who don't want all the spoilers of a walk-through but need a little more information than can be transmitted in 5 seconds, here we are again with your friendly 5 things you need to know correspondent, giving you just enough knowledge to sound like you might know what you're talking about! I would mention that given the plethora of information already floating around about the bosses in this dungeon, 5 things you need to know has chosen to concentrate a little more on the trash. The trash in this dungeon, from a healing perspective, is a real pain. I've healed this dungeon 16 times now, and I blow more cooldowns on trash than I do on bosses, unless boss fights start going pear-shaped. Now, before we get onto the 5 things, I want to make a separate point. This dungeon, as I mentioned, has some high damage levels, especially from trash. Remember the trash from the Zandalari dungeons? Well, some of the trash here hits about as hard as that, if you're not careful to avoid it. This dungeon is all about avoidable damage, and taking out the problematic trash as priority rather than just AoE-storming through the place is really vital for your healer's sanity. OK?
World of Warcraft has 9.1 million subscribers, down by a million since May
World of Warcraft remains the reigning titan in terms of subscription-based games... but the titan is looking just a little bit leaner at the moment. The most recent subscriptions numbers for the game were released today in the Activision Blizzard earnings report for Q2 2012, and the game has dropped to a total of 9.1 million subscribers as of the end of June. For those keeping track at home, that's a loss of 1.1 million players since the last update on subscriber numbers in May. Despite the subscriber loss, the overall earning report is positive, citing the announced launch date of Mists of Pandaria and the success of Diablo III (it sold over 10 million copies) as major milestones for the company. According to the report, most of the lost subscriptions are coming from Eastern players rather than US and European players. This is the first time in several years that WoW has been beneath 10 million players, and it's certainly interesting in light of recent discussions about the future of games with a subscription fee.
Mists of Pandaria Hunter Pet Guide
Anne posted yesterday about the new hunter pet challenges, including exciting information on how hunters can track down their target tames using tracks on the ground that are visible only to hunters. The hunter then casts down a flare at the end of the line of tracks to hopefully reveal the rare pet. This is a really cool-sounding new feature that should hopefully also dramatically reduce the number of hunter tames lost to other marauding players. So why are we telling you about it again? Well, Kalliope over at Petopia has done a truly fantastic forum post that serves as a guide to hunting down these beasts of mystery. Kalliope has done a pet-by-pet guide showing you what tracks you're looking for, where the tames are likely to be roaming in Pandaria, and the family and names for each tame. Not only that, but Kalliope has a host of great tips for would-be owners of these beasts. The full tip list, after the jump.
Encrypted Text: Lifestyle of the Pandaria rogue
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Encrypted Text for assassination, combat and subtlety rogues. Chase Christian will be your guide to the world of shadows every Wednesday. Feel free to email me with any questions or article suggestions you'd like to see covered here. After writing Encrypted Text for nearly four years now, I have gotten into the groove of writing about how rogues will handle upcoming expansions. The upcoming Mists of Pandaria expansion looks to repeat most of the last two expansions' changes: a complete poison revamp, talent trees slashed to the core, and no news on our missing Swirly Ball. Wait, Swirly Ball is back? Everything I know about rogues just went out the window. The developers avoid implementing major class changes via patches, preferring to deploy them via expansions. There's a natural separation between expansions that softens the blow of redesign a class mechanic. While rogues weren't fundamentally altered during Cataclysm's patches, there are already several changes brewing for us in Mists. We're gaining more raid utility, dropping a few outdated mechanics, and becoming more flexible with our abilities. How will these changes affect your day-to-day lifestyle?
New Mists of Pandaria Battlegrounds: Silvershard Mine
As you may be aware, there'll be two new battlegrounds arriving on our doorstep in Mists. They are the Silvershard Mine and the Temple of Kotmogu. If you listened to this week's Convert to Raid podcast, you'll have heard me talking briefly about these two battlegrounds -- but I save the best for you, dear readers, so this is a more in-depth look at the battlegrounds. Firstly, a word of warning. The information in this post is accurate in the current beta build 15913 and may change significantly before launch. So first, let's look at the more complex of the two battlegrounds, the Silvershard Mine. As the name would imply, it's in a mine. Revolutionary! More specifically, it's in a Venture Co. goblin mine underneath Stranglethorn Vale. It's described in the battleground finder tool as a 10vs10 escort battle, which is pretty accurate, as the objective of the battleground is for each faction to capture and escort mine carts to depots at the end of the line, retaining control of the carts throughout their jouney from the central depot to their destination. An added level of involvement is found at the crossroads, where players can change a mine cart's direction.
