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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.
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!]
Arcane Brilliance: Mists of Pandaria mage glyph guide
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we're talking glyphs and the mages who love them. Question: where do we keep our glyphs? Are they semi-permanent tattoos? Are they inscribed upon our clothing somewhere? Do we carry around a piece of paper with all our runes scrawled upon it? And if so, what happens to that scrap of paper when we forget to take it out of our pants before we run them through the laundry? The practical mechanics of inscription intrigue me. As time marches forward, I find myself staring intently down the barrel of my wand at the approaching pandaren invasion, realizing with each passing moment that I am entirely unprepared. So much to cover! So little time. Good thing we can Alter and Warp time, right? It's high time we discussed glyphs. I know Josh Myers previewed glyphs during my absence a few months back, but a whole lot has changed since then. This particular system has changed a bit from what we're used to. Gone are prime glyphs. Now it's just majors and minors. And the majors have been redesigned in an attempt to make them more situational and utilitarian, and this attempt seems to have been largely successful. Instead of being forced to choose between damage increase glyph A and damage increase glyph B, you will now find yourself choosing the glyphs that appeal to you most or fit your playstyle best. Cookie-cutter, must-have glyphs are by and large a thing of the past, and I submit that this is a positive change. Still, each spec will find that certain glyphs work better for them than others, and in the guide that follows, I will endeavor to advise you as best I can on which glyphs look most attractive for each school of mage.
Arcane Brilliance: Mists of Pandaria talent spec guide for mages
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we're looking at the overhauled talent system in Mists of Pandaria and figuring out which talent is best for killing warlocks. My initial impression is all of them. All of the talents are good for killing warlocks. So with the expansion less than two months away and patch 5.0 looming on the "any week now" precipice, it's time we stopped messing around. I promise to stop skipping weeks of this column for trivial things like "family," or "crippling work schedule," or "violent and possibly terminal illnesses," because, damn. The time is short. The end of the end of the world is nigh, and the coming panda apocalypse is nearly upon us. We need to get down to the nitty-gritty here, guys. Look forward to some extra mage content in between Arcane Brilliances as we ramp up in the coming weeks, in the form of basic class 101 guides for all the stuff you need to know before the expansion hits. I'll save the Saturday columns for more detailed analysis. This week, we're wading neck deep into the new talent system, since it's probably the single biggest change our class is undergoing in Mists. It's a bona fide shock to the system and a radical departure from the status quo, and believe me when I say that it will take all of us some getting used to before it begins to feel even remotely normal. The whole basis behind this talent system revamp is to eliminate cookie-cutter specs and provide us with six distinct choices between talents that serve roughly the same function as each other with slightly different mechanics. The idea is to provide freedom of choice by removing the need to pick the best talent at each tier. Each of the three choices at each tier is designed to be a good choice depending on playstyle, and no specific talent is supposed to provide measurably better DPS than another, so we can all hold hands, smoke the peace pipe, and pick whatever we like. And now's the part where we all decide which of these equal talents are more equal than the others.
Lonesome George immortalized in Mists of Pandaria
Syiler from Ace Games has sent us a video of Blizzard's tribute to the last of the Pinta Island giant tortoises. Lonesome George died last month, and as a result, his subspecies is extinct. He was always an icon of the nature conservation movement, but now he's become somewhat of a martyr to rally behind. Blizzard's version of Lonesome George, Lon'li Guju, is spectral and has wings. He flies around Kun'lai summit and will follow you around if you /kiss or /hug him, as Syiler shows in the video. Given that the tortoise only died a month ago, Blizzard has worked quickly to incorporate him into the game. This just shows that there is time for more surprises for us before Sept. 25. [Thanks Syiler!] 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!
Blizzard giving away even more MoP beta keys on Facebook
With today's news of Mists of Pandaria's Sept. 25 release date, there's sure to be a surge of interest in the expansion, and Blizzard is giving you the opportunity to get into the beta before it ends with a new sweepstakes. All you have to do is follow Warcraft on Facebook and complete the entry form, and you're good to go. They'll draw 2,000 names a week, and half of those will receive another key to give to a friend, for a grand total of 15,000 keys. Check out the full Blizzard summary below, and get crackin' if you're not in the beta yet! Mists of Pandaria Beta Key Sweepstakes We've just launched a Mists of Pandaria Beta Key Sweepstakes! Starting July 31, we'll be randomly selecting 2,000 winners each week to receive a key to our exclusive World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria beta test. In addition, every other winner chosen will receive a second key to share with a friend! Drawings will occur every Tuesday for five weeks for a total of 15,000 keys. To enter participants simply need to follow Warcraft on Facebook and complete our official entry form between now and August 27 for a chance to win. For more information about how to participate, check out the sweepstakes rules and eligibility page and our sweepstakes FAQ. source 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 Dungeon Journals and loot tables at Wowhead
Wowhead has all of the loot tables and Dungeon Journals for the raids and the 5-mans that are new to Mists of Pandaria. The journals are already in the latest patch, and Wowhead has them all up for reading if you don't have access to the beta. Some of the loot highlights include: Dreadwoven Leggings of Failure drop off of the Sha of Fear located in The Terrace of Endless Spring raid dungeon. Feng the Accursed in the Mogu'shan Vaults drops the Hood of Cursed Dreams. The Flashfrozen Rosin Globule drops in the Siege of the Niuzao Temple from Vizier Jin'bak. Does the globule attach to the ear via freezing to it, or is it sticky because of the rosin? /shrug The Dungeon Journals for two new world bosses are there to peruse as well, but they don't include the loot tables. Head on over to Wowhead for the details on the MoP dungeons and loot. Remember that all facets of the beta are subject to change without notice. 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!
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?
Mists of Pandaria: Wowhead previews Vale of Eternal Blossoms
The Vale of Eternal Blossoms is the zone for max-level players to hang out and get their endgame faction work done. The Alliance and Horde each have their own settlements, which have every thing you would look for in a major city while also including many level 90 faction hubs. The catch is that the only way to get into the vale is to complete a quest chain for the August Celestials, A Celestial Experience. At the Kun-Lai Summit, you must complete the trials of Xuen the White Tiger in order to gain access. Other points of interest: Mogu'shan Palace, a 5-man dungeon and home to the Lorewalkers Golden Lotus, the faction that continues the quest chain begun with A Celestial experience, while helping to protect the pandaren from the mogu Gate of the Setting Sun (located at The Great Wall), another 5-man dungeon Wowhead News has screenshots and more details in their preview. 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: New mounts in the latest build
Wowhead has unearthed more than 1,000 new items in the latest Mists of Pandaria beta build, including some new mounts, that will all be account-wide. The Blue Shado-Pan Riding Tiger is a ground mount that requires exalted with the Shado-Pan, as do the green and red tigers. You can get the Thundering August Cloud Serpent, a flying mount, as long as you are exalted with the August Celestials. The Crimson Pandaren Phoenix is another flying mount, but it's unclear how this is obtained. The Shado-Pan are a faction in Townlong Steppes along with The August Celestials, who also reside in Krasarang Wilds. 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 raid testing schedule for June 28
Blizzard is opening up two more encounters for testing tomorrow: Garalon and Amber-shaper Un'sok. In order to participate, you need to be level 90 and have Mists of Pandaria gear in every slot. Watcher gives us the schedule details. Watcher On Thursday, June 28, we'll be testing two encounters. Each encounter should be available at approximately the listed times below for all Beta Test Realms, regardless of suggested geographical region. Garalon - 10 Player Normal 10:30 PDT (13:30 EDT, 19:30 CEST) Amber-Shaper Un'sok - 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 If you do join in on the testing, Blizzard always sets up a feedback post for each encounter on the Beta Dungeons forum. Or you can just lurk there and see the responses from teams that participated. They often give their raid lineups and the tactics they used. Go check them out. 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!
Arcane Brilliance: Which spec will be best in Mists of Pandaria?
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we endeavor to answer that age old question: Which spec will other people insist my mage needs to be? We will try not to resort to that age old response to that question, which tended to involve punching those other people in the mouth. One constant, no matter how hard I've tried to ignore it, that has always existed in WoW is that one spec is always "best." The class designers are constantly tweaking the numbers and trying to keep things balanced, but once we all sit down with our collective calculator and spreadsheet, one spec always emerges to rule them all. It has been a sad reality that while we have always had freedom to choose a spec and personalize it to fit our preferences, when it comes time to raid at high levels or take part in PvP at high levels, that freedom essentially vanishes. You can make arguments for utility over damage or for certain specs in certain fights, but in most cases, under most circumstances, you're going with whatever cookie-cutter spec the internet has agreed upon that week, or you're not getting an invite. Well, now we have a fresh expansion to leverage our calculators and spreadsheets upon. It's still early in the beta process, and hard numbers are in short supply. Still, the overall design of the specs seems to be fairly well-defined, even if the actual percentage points are still in flux. What conclusions can we draw at this stage? Which spec looks to put out the best damage? And most importantly, which spec will let us kill warlocks most efficiently?
New vanity glyphs in Mists of Pandaria beta
A giant tauren named Flaskataur, Esq. is selling glyphs for your class in Orgrimmar, Stormwind and the Valley of the Four Winds. For some classes, he offers cosmetic glyphs. If you are a monk, hunter, mage, priest, or shaman, you can now customize your character's skills in various ways. As you can see above, monks can glyph a new flight form called Zen Flight. Other examples include the Glyph of Marking that turns the Hunter's Mark into a bull's-eye, and the shaman's Chain Heal spell looks like water with the Glyph of Deluge. Check out the complete list of vanity glyphs at Wowhead News. Flaskataur, Esq. will only show you the glyphs for the class you talk to him with. Prices are 4 silver each. He's live on the latest Mists of Pandaria beta build right now, looming over everyone in a conspicuous location. So if you're in the beta, you can try the new glyphs out for yourself. 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: First raid testing schedule announced
Blizzard has announced the times of the first raid testing sessions for the Mists of Pandaria beta. Normal 10-man Stone Guard in Mongu'shan Vaults will be tested for two sessions this Friday, June 22. More details as to how to be ready are in the initial announcement. Daelo For Friday, June 22 we'll be testing just one encounter, the 10 player Normal difficulty version of the Stone Guard encounter in Mogu'shan Vaults. There will be further opportunities to test this encounter. Think of today as a warmup! The encounter should be available at approximately the listed times below for all Beta Test Realms, regardless of suggested geographical region. Early Session: 10:30 PDT (13:30 EDT, 19:30 CEST) Late Session: 16:00 PDT (19:00 EDT, 01:00 CEST) As always, this testing schedule is very fluid. We might have to change the time of a testing session due to various issues with bugs, builds, server hardware issues, designers being sick, class issues, etc. Keep an eye on this forum for the latest information. source Will you be joining in on the testing fun? [Via MMO-Champion] 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: Raid testing to begin Friday, June 22
If you're itchin' to get your hands on some new beta raids -- and we're sure that applies to none of you, because everyone in the world is totally content just running Dragon Soul again -- there's good news: MoP raid testing begins this Friday, June 22. Testing begins with the 10-player normal version of -- aw heck, I'll just let Blizzard Game Designer Daelo tell you: Raid Testing - Starting Soon We plan to start Mists of Pandaria Beta raid testing this Friday, June 22. We'll begin testing with the 10 player Normal difficulty version of the Stone Guard in Mogu'shan Palace. Available testing times for testing will be posted soon. 25 player Normal difficulty testing should begin next week, with Raid Finder and Heroic difficulty testing to follow in the weeks ahead. You must be level 90 to participate in the raid test, and level 90 character templates will not initially be available. We do have some new technology that automatically raises or lowers your items to the appropriate level for testing. So as long as you have a Mists of Pandaria quest or dungeon item in every slot, you'll be fine. Note that player interface add-ons are disabled on the beta at this time while we work through some technical issues. They'll be available once again at some point in the future. As always with raid testing on beta or public test realms, the schedule is subject to change or cancellation with very little warning. Server issues, build issues, newly discovered encounter, combat, or class bugs, and many other reasons could prevent testing. While I will endeavor to provide warning about future tests, this will also not always be possible. Whatever I do know, I'll post here in the Beta Dungeons forum as soon as possible. source Well, you heard the blue! If you want to get in on the action, you'd better start grinding out that MoP gear now. And if you're looking for raid partners, there are guilds actively recruiting for raiding on the beta -- just keep your eyes on trade chat for 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!
Shifting Perspectives: Lifebloom is like broccoli, and other lies my mother told me
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat, bear, restoration and balance druids. This Tuesday, Lifebloom prevents vitamin deficiencies. When I was a small child growing up on the mean streets of a rural farming community, my mother used to hector me into eating my vegetables. "You'll get rickets if you don't eat your broccoli," she said. "Children in some parts of the world would kill to have string beans," she said. "You'll flunk your SATs if you don't eat zucchini," she said. So I'd choke the stuff down in resentful silence, assuming that dessert would be forthcoming in the typical quid pro quo of the childhood dinner table. (My lawyer father lived to regret teaching that phrase to small children.) It took me until freshman biology to realize that my mother was exaggerating the odds of developing scurvy if we didn't eat a sufficient quantity of vegetables at every meal. And you know what? Playing a resto druid on the beta is kind of like being a small child getting Lifebloom and Harmony endlessly stuffed into your face. In the meantime, there's a bowl of deep-fried, bacon-crusted, chocolate-dipped Wild Mushrooms just ... out ... of ... your ... reach on the table. I ate the green stuff, Blizz. Now where's my dessert?
Arcane Brilliance: 4 things I'm going to miss the most in Mists of Pandaria
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we're discussing a sad topic: loss. Not that this is a new feeling for mages. We've loved and lost before; everyone pour one out for Wand Specialization. You were too beautiful to die. Every time there's a new expansion, we get some new toys to play with. We tend to focus on these shiny new abilities or revamped mechanic -- and rightly so, as they are often pretty spiffy. But I fear we sometimes forget the casualties. For when Blizzard giveth, it also tends to taketh away. Spells are replaced, redundant talents vanish, and mechanics change, and as a mage, I always feel somehow diminished when I see a blank page in my spellbook -- even if it's a page that used to be occupied by something as useless as Arcane Fortitude or Amplify Magic, those ancient relics of fail. Mists of Pandaria will be no exception. We're gaining some awesomeness but losing a few things too. And some of those things, I'm really, truly going to miss.
Mists of Pandaria: Wowhead previews the Dread Wastes
Dread Wastes is a corrupted version of the previous questing zone, Townlong Steppes. The Mantid Corruption will be the main opponent here, as it is in Townlong, but you'll have allies as you progress through this Sha-damaged land. The Klaxxi Sworn to fight the corruption, this race seeks your cooperation in order to build faction with them. Their quest hub, Klaxxi'vess, is in the center of the Dread Wastes. The Anglers Building faction with these lighthearted fishermen rewards you with items to help you fish as well as the Azure Water Strider mount. Their settlement is in the southern part of the zone. Sunset Beergarden These brewers of a special beer made from amber are fighting the mantid, who are killing the trees they need. Their home is located at the northern part of the Dread Wastes, bordering Townlong steppes. Check out the screenshots and previews of the stories over at Wowhead News. 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: Jaina Proudmoore gets model update
Wowhead News has datamined the latest beta patch and discovered an update to Jaina Proudmoore's look. Her hair has mostly turned white, presumably due to traumatic events and not to age. The hair matches what we've seen in previous art that accompanied the spoilerific Battle of Theramore voice clips. A closer view of her full body, which you can see using Wowhead's model viewer, shows that her robes are rather tattered as well. Jaina has changed her appearance before. Back in patch 3.3, she went from looking like a random human to getting her own model -- a much-needed change, but no in-game event was the basis for the update. In Mists of Pandaria, however, the events at Theramore seem to have put Jaina through enough to make her look rather battleworn. The Battle of Theramore isn't officially implemented on beta servers yet. Sapperwix says there will be no new content with today's beta build, only the temporary removal of the Jade Forest, so it will be some time before we see this new Jaina in action. What do you think of Jaina's new look? 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: Sungshin Ironpaw powerlevels your cooking skill
In the town of Halfhill, located in the heart of the Valley of the Four Winds, adventurers can find many interesting people and things at the market. One of the market residents, Sungshin Ironpaw, can train your cooking from level 1 to 525 and has all of the required (new) recipes and mats to do it. At this point in the beta, it's not cheap, but the prices of course may change before launch. Once you are at 525 cooking, the Guide to the Ways will offer you quests so that you can begin pursuing the the six Ways (specializations). Each Way has a max level of 600: Grill Wok Pot Steamer Oven Brew Some of the quests, recipes and items that you can get from Sungshin are in the gallery below. [Thanks for the tip, Jesse!] %Gallery-157762% 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!
