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Preparing for Wrath Day 5: Dungeoneering and you
I can see that Adam's post yesterday was something of a graphical hit with readers, which frankly I am at something of a loss to reproduce. Stupid Adam with his stupid Photoshop. It's pictures you want? I got your pictures right here, pal. Did Adam get to see Arthas in a highly compromising position? An action shot, dare I say? Anyway, leaving aside that unpleasant little intrasite feud that will probably escalate and leave millions of people dead, I wanted to use today's Preparing for Wrath to remind people that some things, especially if you're a hardcore achievement bunny like me, are going to get a lot harder to do once Wrath goes live. I think we can all agree that Outland is going to empty faster than a Dave Matthews concert after the cops show up, so you're going to want to exploit the fact that most people are hanging around Shattrath with nothing to do. Foremost among the things you're probably not going to be able to do (at least easily) on once Wrath hits? Outland dungeons. Warriors and Paladins will also want to be aware of a certain demographic shift that's going to affect the likelihood of their getting a group slot.
One Shots: The aurora of Northrend
The frozen expanse of World of Warcraft's new area Northrend will be open to us in a matter of days. Swarms of players who have not seen this strange land first-hand will be set free to kill all manner of new monsters and check out all manner of new quests. (This is, of course, assuming you're not planning onstarting a Death Knight immediately and ignoring Northrend until you get there on your DK.) With the beta closed down, we thought it would be nice to remember it via today's World of Warcraft One Shots sent in to us from Deadend -- this lovely image of the moon shining through the aurora over a foreboding, misty forest. Were you in the Wrath of the Lich King beta? Perhaps you're just a beta fiend and have screenshots of other betas (not under NDA, please) that you'd like to share with us -- especially if you'd like to show how much the game has grown. If you've got screenshots and tales to tell, we want to hear from you! Send those to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, and a quick description. We'll post them out here for everyone else to check out. %Gallery-9798%
Preparing for Wrath Day 7: Eat, drink, and be merry
If you're planning on entering Northrend at 68, or if you're going to bring a toon that's new to 70 and isn't sporting a lot of good gear yet, setting aside a few choice consumables may help ease the pain while you're leveling. Even if your character's well-geared, you can take advantage of the early-bird specials being offered by a number of vendors in Azeroth and Outland who are already selling Northrend-level food and drink like Pungent Seal Whey. Check in with your local innkeepers to see what they have stocked, sell off the Outland-level equivalents, and set aside a few stacks of upgraded food and drink from vendors with whom you probably have a reputation discount. This will save you some time and gold before you board a zeppelin or boat for the north. If you're still leveling cooking, now's a great time to get to 375. You can also lay in a stash of buff food that will not only help get you the achievement The Outland Gourmet, but will help you complete The Rokk's daily cooking quests a little bit faster (and the Rokk has an achievement of his own). And it certainly won't hurt to have some buff food around for your first few dungeons.
Shifting Perspectives: State of the class, part 1 - Balance
Every Tuesday, or possibly Thursday when the writer votes on Tuesday and spends Wednesday screaming and beating her laptop over formatting errors, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting Druids and those who group with them. This week Allison Robert steals John Patricelli's column once again, secure in the knowledge that she will never be forced to atone for her crime as long as she writes something nice about ferals and keeps a respectful distance from Dan O'Halloran's whip.I hate Tauren cat form.Good. I got that out of my system and can write something productive. Although, believe me, if I could get away with it, an entire Shifting Perspectives would be devoted to just how much I hate Tauren cat form. I mean, just look at it! Look at the angle on the horns! The cat can't bite anything! Christ, I just -- hi, Dan. Yes, I'm totally writing the column! Look at me go!This week, mindful as always of American election-year politicking, I'm going to borrow a page from presidential duties and write a little something I like to call "State of the Class." Druids have undergone a number of changes in the transition to Wrath of the Lich King, and will acquire even more as they level to 80. We are one of Blizzard's primary targets for both gear and role consolidation, which raises a few questions over how comfortably we're going to scale in relation to pure classes and what we can realistically expect on the march to a new level cap.The TL:DR version of this article -- I believe our future is generally bright, the Druid community continues to have a few concerns over certain aspects of the class, our focus in PvP seems to be changing the most, and I hate Tauren cat form. This is a three-part post, so let's get started with balance. However, if you want to jump ahead to feral, you'll find that here; and the third part, restoration, is here.
Preparing for Wrath Day 8: Your bank
There's only 8 more days until Wrath's release. Each day until the release we'll take a look at one thing you can do to prepare for the expansion. Taking a half hour here and there to get things ready before release will let you spend more time in Northrend and less time doing some of the un-fun things.It might seem a tad strange now, but that big bank of yours is going to be more or less worthless once Wrath hits the streets. Just about everything is going to plummet in value. Liquidate your assets now or be in worse of a position than our real life economy is.There are some exceptions to that of course. You'll probably want to hang onto enchanting mats, since they can still be useful and high-value in the long run. You might also considering hanging on to some herbs for those leveling inscription. Most other raw minerals however can probably be safely sold now.
Ask a Beta Tester: A closer look at the starting zones and other things
There's only about a week left of Ask a Beta Tester, so get your questions in while you still can! You can be special like Radiophonic and get your name all bold-like up here! I guess we could actually answer the questions, too... So I'm hearing that there are tons of quests in all areas, has the allowable number of quests in your quest log expanded or should we all start getting those last 10 or so completed?The number of quests you can have in your log is still limited to 25. If you stick to one zone at a time, it's very highly unlikely you'll ever have more than 15-20 quests in your log at once. If you're anything like I am though, curiosity will probably get the best of you and you'll end up questing in 2-3 different places at once and you'll need that space in your quest log.You might want to finish up the quests you have now, or when Wrath comes around you can scribble down where you got them, abandon them and go back later.
Ask a Beta Tester: Starter zones and starter epics
Just a little earlier, Allison Robert posted questions we wish we had been asked on Ask a Beta Tester. Me? I'm still going to answer the questions we have been asked, starting with Jay's question... In Warcraft III:The Frozen Throne, the Blood Elves and Naga teamed up to wage a massive battle against Arthas right on the slopes of Icecrown. It's already been mentioned that settlements and Ruins from further back, when Arthas's expedition land are still there. Is there any sign of the Belf and Naga ruins from their assault? In Icecrown it's nothing but Scourge and the Scourge's servants as far as the eye can see. Anything that had been there previously is gone. There are Naga ruins further out, though. Off the coast of the Borean Tundra there are some Naga structures you'll be questing in. For those of you sick of killing Naga like I am, don't worry. There's a twist.
Ask A Beta Tester: Questions I wish we'd been asked
Here at WoW Insider sometimes we go a little nuts around big news events due to sleep deprivation or sensory overload in conjunction with large hits of caffeine. When that happens while we are writing "Ask A Beta Tester," occasionally we ask ourselves questions ("Why am I not in bed?") that we later realize might actually be useful.As Wrath of the Lich King's release date creeps up and the beta becomes more and more deserted (seriously: Dalaran is a ghost town these days, not that my computer's wheezing hardware doesn't appreciate it), I find myself turning to a few topics that readers generally never asked about, but wound up being game-defining experiences in the beta. By necessity, most of them are a little more general -- overall impressions, things you wouldn't necessarily think to ask about unless you were a fresh arrival in Northrend and noticed the differences -- but I've included a few specific things that I hope people will find interesting. Unlike --Why are you not in bed?What makes you think I'm not?
Ask a Beta Tester: Lordaeron, epic quests, and other things
Welcome back to Ask a Beta Tester, where we answer your questions about the Wrath of the Lich King beta! Let's get things started with Chris's question...I really enjoy the Epic quest in Nagrand to bring Thrall to meet his grandmother. Is there anything like that in Wrath where you have to complete all the quests in one zone before you get an epic quest to complete?Well, there are a lot of quest chains. Maybe not that long, but certainly not less epic. That doesn't mean the chains are short, either. They just don't necessarily require completing every other quest in the zone. Some of the stories start the moment you step into a zone and last straight through until you're ready to leave it again, but there are plenty of other quests you do on the way. They're less of a prize for 'beating the zone' and more an everpresent story.
Know Your Lore: Preparing for Wrath of the Lich King
If you're a regular reader of Know Your Lore, you've probably noticed that it's been missing for... oh, a month or so. As I've been going through potential topics, I keep finding myself going, "No, I can't do that, that gets updated in Wrath. No, I can't do that, it'll be a spoiler for Wrath." So, thanks a lot Wrath. Thanks for bringing us rich and interesting lore. Gosh, couldn't you be more boring so I don't feel bad spoiling everyone!?So what we're going to do today instead is prepare you all for the expansion. We have a lot of Know Your Lore entries already for many of the characters and stories that'll be moving forward in Wrath of the Lich King, so here are some suggestions on what you should read so you have some background as to what the heck is going on in Northrend!
Breaking down Blizzard's world event so far
Blizzard, as we've said already, has really outdone themselves with this latest world event. It's been so fun and so innovative that players are wondering just why the rest of the game hasn't been this good so far (even though, of course, it's been superb anyway). The zombie invasion really gave players of MMOs everything they've wanted since this genre first came into being -- a growing, changing world populated not by mindless AI characters stuck in static patterns, but actual, creeping story and chaos. For all of the anti-zombie whining, this world event has been MMO gameplay at, I'd say, the best it's ever been.And while I was waiting until the event completely ended to do a final analysis, Colin Brennan over at Massively isn't waiting -- he's got a good analysis up over there about the zombie event and just why it was so brilliant. He describes how the world event not only gave players a terrific reason to hate Arthas enough to go to Northrend and want to fight him, but how the gameplay design of the event (when you are killed by a zombie, you become one) was tuned towards fueling the story and the immersion. As he says, the best way to fight the plague was to embrace the fact it was in the game, whether you were a zombie or a cleansing Paladin.There's lots more to dissect with this world event, including how Blizzard brilliantly invoked something that had happened by accident -- the Corrupted Blood plague -- and incorporated it into the game itself, and how the various zombie abilities were aimed directly at gameplay only possible in an MMO, from the AoE healing to the shrinking plague incubation time. I'll go so far as to say it expanded the boundary of what an MMO can do -- Blizzard let zombies loose on the populace not by hiring GMs to run around on every server, but by giving power to the players. But again -- there'll be time for analysis later, once we've discovered ingame just exactly what's going on here and how it all ties to Arthas. Colin's analysis is a good start, though -- Blizzard really outdid themselves with, even considering the complaints, one of the best world events ever seen in an MMO.
A WoW burnout's guide to Wrath of the Lich King
Does Wrath of the Lich King, the second World of Warcraft expansion, have enough new, interesting and worthwhile content to give longtime burnout players a reason to come back again? What about players who've recently hung up their Azerothian hat? In this feature, we're taking a burnout player's perspective and looking into all of the interesting things about the soon-to-see-release title expansion.
The best of WoW Insider: October 14-21, 2008
The World of Warcraft is hoppin' yet again -- patch 3.0.2, a.k.a. "Echoes of Doom" is out on the live realms, and everyone is revelling in the new talents, the new Inscription profession, and the new endgame, which is easier and more lucrative than ever. And Hallow's End has begun as well, bringing players of all kinds out to the Scarlet Monastery's Graveyard, where the Headless Horseman holiday raid boss calls home. Yes, times are good in Azeroth, but what's that in the Autumn air? A cold wind is about to blow in from the North... News Essential addons for patch 3.0.2There are a lot of changes in this patch, but the first thing to do is get your UI back up to speed. 3.0.2 patch notesDirect from Blizzard, 3.0.2 has all of the updates to the game before the second expansion goes live. Ret to be nerfed "to the ground"That was a joke, but seriously: Pallies are next for the nerf bat. Raiding has never been easier than in 3.0.2Right before we all head to Northrend, Blizzard gave players a break on the Burning Crusade endgame. Don't Panic: Frequently asked questions in 3.0.2Confused and perhaps even frightened by all the newness in the game? We've got you covered. Features WoW Insider's guide to Hallow's End 2008Hallow's End (Azeroth's version of Halloween) is live on the realms, and here's your guide to doing everything -- no trick. Patch 3.0.2 guide to exotic petsHunters get a slew of new companions -- find out which one's right for you. A brief introduction to glyphsEvery character gets a set of new upgrades to their spells, provided by inscribers. Here's how it all works. Patch 3.0.2 talent guidesYour talent points got refunded and you have no idea what to spec? Let our class columnists give you the lowdown on all the new talents. Apprentice Scribe: An Inscription FAQInks and parchments and what you can do with the game's new profession.
Wrath manual hidden in latest WoW files
If you just can't wait to read the Wrath of the Lich King manual, Maeglin of Khadgar made an interesting discovery -- it's already on your computer. Inside your World of Warcraft folder, if you go to the Data folder, and then "enUS" and Documentation, you'll see a PDF file called Manual_WLK. It's the Wrath manual in black and white -- there are good writeups in there (spoiler-free, as far as I could tell) on the story so far and Northrend, and some cool concept art for weapons and other sights of the next expansion. The credits are in there, too, and make sure to go to the very end to read all the thanks from Blizzard -- some of them are pretty funny.This likely isn't the final manual -- there's something in the Death Knight description that still says runes can be customized, and while we heard that earlier in development, it's since been removed from the class. And it's in black and white, while we'd expect the full manual to have color when it's finally printed. But it's a cool find, and something to tide you over until you can get the real thing on release day (which, as you can see from our countdown, is growing ever closer).Thanks, Wes R.!
Ask a Beta Tester: More on leveling, Alliance lore, and starting zone RP
"Ask a Beta Tester" took a short break during patch 3.02 madness, but we're back!DM7000 asks...What happened with the glyphs that turned (Druids) into a polar bear or a lynx?This is a question I asked constantly in the beta for about a week. As much as I was excited about the talent changes and new skills, I was even more excited about form customization, because I hate Tauren cat form. I love my class dearly, but all of the form models have basically been unchanged since the original game went live, which is very hard for those of us forced to live with the unadulterated suck of Tauren cat form. It's kind of a bitter pill to swallow wandering the beautifully rendered landscapes of Northrend and seeing the quantum leap of Blizzard's artistic touch while using an ancient, low-polygon model like Tauren cat form. I found out that Glyph of the Red Lynx (and other Druid-form glyphs) hadn't actually gone live, which was a devastating blow to those of us with Tauren cat form. The glyphs exist in the game files, but none are trainable or discoverable; the developers apparently came to the decision that forcing Druids to use a glyph slot to customize their forms wasn't a great idea, and they're leaning toward the idea of patching in the ability to get the hell out of Tauren cat form using the barbershop. Frankly I think most Druids would agree that's a much better option, especially if they have to use Tauren cat form. Or see it. Or occupy the same game with it.
Patch 3.02 for Restoration Druids, part 1
The single biggest change for most restoration Druids with patch 3.02 will be the disappearance of at least four commonly-used PvE and PvP specs: 8/11/42 (the traditional resto PvP spec) 11/11/39 (Resto PvP with Insect Swarm) 13/11/37 (Resto PvP with Insect Swarm and Nature's Reach) 11/0/50 (PvE Tree of Life with Insect Swarm). The first three are kaputski because Feral Charge is now a 21-point talent in the feral tree, and the last three are bye-bye because Insect Swarm is now a 21-point talent in the balance tree. If you still want talents from the balance tree especially, you'll have a ton of stuff to play with (frankly I ran out of space here to discuss the new restokin specs but we'll cover it as soon as we can), but for the moment we're only going to concern ourselves with stuff squarely in the Restoration tree. Shifting Perspectives later today will have a full run-down on moonkin in patch 3.02 and Wrath. Otherwise, there's still a ton of new stuff for tree Druids in this patch, including a resurrected Tier 3 set bonus, a vastly-improved Tree of Life form, an out-of-combat rez, and an insane +haste buff to two of your most-used spells. If you also want a look at what early 5-man healing in the beta is like as a resto Druid, head here.Read on for a comprehensive look at the new healing and mana regeneration mechanics, Restoration abilities, talents, and glyphs!
Patch 3.0.2 graveyard
There's a lot of great stuff incoming with patch 3.0.2, but there's a lot of stuff leaving as well -- here's a rundown of what we'll be missing after today. The Zul'Aman bear mount. Yes, if you haven't picked one up yourself (or paid to get one from another guild), you're out of luck. The bear mount has been replaced with other loot, so you'll have to wait until Northrend (or go for the new TCG or BlizzCon mounts) to ride a bear. The Alliance Onyxia key quest, and any other quests that mention the missing king of Stormwind. The king is back in town (or will be soon), so any references to Varian Wrynn not being around any more... aren't around any more. Naxxramas. It's gone up north (or will soon -- we know that some people actually made sure to log out in Naxxramas, so hopefully they didn't completely disappear into the ether. Dalaran, that big purple bubble in the Arathi Highlands Hillsbrad Foothills. In its place, there's nothing but a crater, because the whole city has flown North as well. That 1% chance to miss with spells that all mobs had. In an effort to take a little bit of randomness out of the game, you can now beat spell misses with hit rating. Rogue poison making. No more making poisons, rogues -- now you just buy all your poisons straight from vendors. The old Hunter pet training system. It's been replaced with the new (and really awesome) pet talent system. Mages, contrary to rumor, are actually not getting removed from the game. But it's bye-bye to bears, potions, and pet training -- it's going to be a very different game when you log in for the first time after patch 3.0.2 hits.Update: We even missed some -- more after the break. Patch 3.0.2 "Echoes of Doom" has landed and WoW Insider has you covered. From patch notes to talent guides for every class to fixing your addons to 5 easy achievements you can snag right now. Make sure to check out the latest news.
Ask a Beta Tester: Leveling, the Taunka, and mounts
All of us here at WoW Insider are staggering around somewhat zombie-like in the wake of BlizzCon with the patch (probably) coming tomorrow and the amount of information we're hoping to get out in the next 24 hours. So in all truth I don't know whether the answers to today's questions are completely factual or just stuff that started swimming in front of my eyes at 1:00 this morning. Arthas is actually a girl underneath all that armor, just like Samus Aran. The zone music to Icecrown is "Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who. The Hateful Gladiator cloth belt is a pink tutu. Flying bunnies will be available in the next expan-(Sound of a short scuffle in the background, followed by a whip crack)Thank you, Dan, a little perspective is always useful in these difficult times.Jason asks...Will Northrend be accessible at 68 like Outland was accessible at 58? Or do I need to be a solid 70 to quest and instance in Northrend?Technically, Northrend will be accessible to anyone with the Wrath of the Lich King expansion installed; you can hop a boat or zeppelin on any character of any level. There's no "You must be THIS HIGH to cross through the portal to Outland" restriction, but you won't be able to pick up any of the quests available in Northrend until level 68. Could you grind your way to 68 in Northrend from the mid-60's? Maybe, but I wouldn't recommend it.
All the World's a Stage: So you want to be Forsaken
This installment of All the World's a Stage is the ninth in a series of roleplaying guides in which we find out all the background information you need to roleplay a particular race or class well, without embarrassing yourself.There are those who like to buy Hello Kitty paraphernalia, decorate their bedroom with stuffed animals, or perhaps just smile at anyone they pass on the street. The Forsaken would eat those people for breakfast.I see, dear readers, that I have caused some of you to recoil in horror at the very thought of such depravity. But to the Forsaken it is not uncommon to view other people as potential lunch -- the reason being that the Forsaken are not really "people" as such. They used to be people, they remember being people, and yet now they are not. Their bodies are decayed and some of their flesh is missing -- and yet they are doomed to walk this world under the curse of undeath, animated by evil magic rather than natural life energy, denied all those things that living people enjoy.Consider for a moment the pleasures of the flesh: the rich taste of food in your mouth, the soft touch of the breeze in your hair, or the embrace of your dearest loved one. Consider also the feeling in your body when you rise to heights of anger or fear, joy or sadness. Now imagine if all those were taken away -- you may still eat, but your meals no longer taste good or bad; the breeze simply disturbs the stiff remains of hair on your head; and the embrace of your loved one would feel like the touch of wax upon wax, if anyone could love you enough to touch you anymore. You don't even feel that love in your heart anymore -- no feeling, no matter how passionate, can make it beat even once more. The feelings you used to live with every day are merely ideas now, reminders of a time when you lived in the body that now traps you in its cold and dark materials.If you were thus afflicted, could you maintain any sense of compassion?
Ask a Beta Tester: Dalaran coins, environment effects, and AoE tanking
I ran into two common questions last night on the Dalaran coin post, so I thought I'd start off by answering those here. I apologize if we haven't yet gotten to everyone's questions; most of them, like Gurluas' question concerning The Missing Diplomat and the high elves in Northrend, we're just not 100% sure of the answer to yet, but I'll keep trying. Keyra asks...Just curious...the gold coins all have "Use: Throw this coin back into the Dalaran fountain", yet I've seen people commenting (as well as the author) that they'll carry the coin in their packs. What happens when/if you throw the coin back in?When you toss a gold coin back into the fountain, you gain the "Lucky" buff for 2 minutes, increasing your chance to fish up any and all coins from the fountain (rather than fishing hooks or goldfish). You don't have to toss them back in if you don't want to, in which case they'll just occupy a bag slot like anything else, or you can sell them to a vendor (not for much). But most people throw the coin/s back in because fishing the coin up is enough to give you the Achievement for getting it. Particular coins would be carried solely for personal or sentimental reasons, i.e. I can definitely appreciate the irony and RP value of grimly hunting Arthas down like a dog while carrying a symbol of Sylvanas' wasted hopes.Rexigar asks...Question though, do we have to keep the coins for the achievement or does it count when we throw it back in?It counts as of the moment you've fished it up. No matter what you do with it afterwards, the Achievement's yours. The same mechanic is true of everything else; once the game "knows" you've done something and an Achievement's gained, nothing can take it away.
