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Blue Notes: Aran's Flame Wreath and Blade's Edge graveyards
I have two quickies for you all in the wake of the Alchemy issues. One bug with the Shade of Aran has been fixed:Beneficial immunity effects from abilities such as Ice Block and Divine Shield will no longer cause the Shade of Aran's explosion effect from Flame Wreath to proc when the duration has faded.I'm sure he'll still wipe my guild without breaking a sweat -- he's what we're currently stuck on in Karazhan. Aran is the sixth boss in Karazhan (or so). Flame Wreath is an effect that puts a ring of fire around you; if you move, thus placing your character in the flames, it pretty much wipes the raid.And another piece of bug-fixing goodness, they've fixed that ridiculously obnoxious graveyard bug in Blade's Edge Mountains. I'm sure I'll still hate the zone when I take my third Outlander through there (Mage perhaps?), but a little less, now:All characters that die on the Northwest plateau of Blade's Edge Mountains will now be sent to the Evergrove graveyard.Previously, if you died up in the northwest of BEM, your ghost appeared at the Sylvannar graveyard (for Alliance; I'm not sure what the Horde equivalent is). While this is geographically closer to the northwest part of the zone than Evergrove is, due to BEM's labyrinthine layout, it takes a good ten minutes to run back to your corpse from there.
Breakfast Topic: Netherstorm vs. Shadowmoon Valley
Outland has a fairly linear zone progression. From Hellfire Peninsula, you move on to Zangarmarsh, then Terokkar, Nagrand, and Blade's Edge. After that, though, you have a choice of two zones: Netherstorm or Shadowmoon Valley. They're both of approximately equal level, and on both the characters that I've taken through Outland, I've only needed one of the two zones to get to level 70. I've picked Netherstorm both times, and was 70 before I was done with it. That leaves the Shadowmoon quests available for lovely gold rewards.Having quested around in both, I have to say I vastly prefer Netherstorm. Shadowmoon Valley just feels icky to me. The mobs are constantly killing me, and the zone just doesn't seem to "flow" like it should. Also, I love the way ethereals look, and Netherstorm is full of them. However, I know people who feel precisely the opposite way, generally preferring Shadowmoon and avoiding Netherstorm. What do you think? Do you have a preference between the two zones, or do you like them equally?
Druid flight form FAQ
Earlier today, I hit 68 on my Priest, which was awesome because I got Prayer of Mending. However, if I was a Druid, I would have gotten something infinitely more awesome: Flight Form. If anyone's unfamiliar with flight form, it's a Druid shapeshift that's only usable in Outlands and turns you into a Stormcrow, allowing you to fly. This means a free, instant-cast flying mount, basically, as well as free flying mount training (which is much more expensive). People have a lot of questions about Flight Form; fortunately for us, Locust has compiled an excellent FAQ in the forums. I'll put the more interesting bits here, and the whole FAQ (which is rather long) after the cut for those who can't access the WoW forums. Do I need Journeyman Riding skill (which is needed for ground epic mounts) in order to gain this ability? Will it cost me? Yes, and it will cost you 540g. Will I still need to buy Expert Riding skill in order to buy Artisan Riding skill to ride a flying epic mount? No. Once you train for Flight Form, you automatically gain Expert Riding skill. You save yourself 800g. If I activate Flight Form while falling, can it save me from a fall that would normally cause me to die? You bet. Can I attack in Flight Form? No. No attacks. No abilities. What happens if I die while very high in the air? Your body will be found exactly where you died. If you are unable to retreieve your corpse because it is too high, you will have to spirit res. Normal running speed: 100% Walking speed: 40% Aspect of the Cheetah: 130% Cheetah form: 140% Ground normal mount: 160% Ground epic mount: 200% Druid Flight Form: 160% Normal flying mount running: 160% Normal Flying mount flying: 160% Epic flying mount running: 200% Epic flying mount flying: 380% Epic swift nether drake: 410% Wind Rider (Flight Master): 500%
