siege-of-orgrimmar
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Patch 5.4 PTR: Raid testing for Friday, August 16
Patch 5.4 may be up on the background downloader, but that doesn't mean there isn't more raid testing to do! Testing for the Siege of Orgrimmar bosses Sha of Pride, Kor'kron Dark Shaman, General Nazgrim and Malkorok takes place tomorrow throughout the day, this time on 25-man Normal difficulty. Not in a 25-man raid guild? Not a problem -- just log onto the PTR at the appropriate times, hang out in the Vale and you're likely to see plenty of people looking for folks to test the raid content. Keep in mind that these are PTR bosses open for testing purposes, and leave your feedback for these encounters in the appropriate threads on the official PTR forums. Gear, as always, will be scaled inside the raid for the purposes of testing content. If you'd like to participate, you can copy one of your existing characters to the PTR via your Battle.net account, or simply create a level 90 premade character to test with. Read on for more details, including the full schedule of times for individual raid bosses.
World of Warcraft's 5.4 trailer features Orc on Panda violence, boats
It's been a long road for the Alliance and Horde, the perennially at-war factions that fuel much of World of Warcraft's lore (and PvP). Over the last few years, players waved the Alliance or Horde banner as they conquered old gods, dispatched massive dragons, toppled titans, and even crushed a walking constellation. But perhaps none of those battles will compare to the final showdown with the power-thirsty madmanorc Garrosh Hellscream, who seems to have angered pretty much everyone on both sides of the fence with his latest plans for world domination. Mists of Pandaria's patch 5.4, titled Siege of Ogrimmar, is almost here. With it comes new content, flexible raiding, a solo pet battle scenario, proving grounds, and one more raid to clear featuring the final showdown between Hellscream and those who would challenge him. Blizzard marked the approaching cataclysm (get it!?) with an all-new trailer, which you can watch after the break.
Weekly news roundup with Panser of TradeChat
Panser of TradeChat fame is back once more with the WoW Insider weekly news recap, and this week is all excitement as she speculates about the upcoming Siege of Orgrimmar raid complete with BoA heirloom drops from Garrosh and dreams of a level cap set to three digits. These weeks topics are heavily focused on patch 5.4 and include: Pet collection cap raised to 1000 Warlock class mounts get green fire Garrosh drops level 90-100 heirlooms Hearthstone state of the beta Discussion topic: Will you be playing Hearthstone? If you like the show, make sure to subscribe to TradeChat, leave comments, and tune in next week for a new episode!
Siege of Orgrimmar Preview: Malkorok
In Wrath of the Lich King, we rescued Valithria Dreamwalker. In Cataclysm, we had to contend with Chimaeron. Healers, if you were looking for a signature encounter for Mists of Pandaria, look no further than Malkorok. He's a former member of the Blackrock orcs who swore allegiance to Garrosh and now acts as bodyguard, chief advisor, and leader of the Kor'kron. In fact, Malkorok is so loyal that he volunteered to be infused with the power of Y'Shaarj. Read on to find out more about taking down this horde champion!
Patch 5.4 PTR: Flexible Mode testing open this weekend
If you've been wanting to test Flexible Mode raiding on the patch 5.4 PTR servers, now's your chance. The Underhold wing of the Siege of Orgrimmar raid will be open all weekend, continuing into Monday on the PTR servers. Players testing the content may queue with anywhere between 10-25 players by using the same interface for finding groups for dungeons, scenarios, or LFR difficulty raids. Unlike LFR, Flexible mode raids have all the same mechanics as Normal mode bosses. However, the difficulty of the encounters have been tuned to adjust in health and damage depending on how many players are participating in the raid. The Underhold contains Malkorok, Spoils of Pandaria, and Thok the Bloodthirsty, giving players plenty of opportunity to test the challenges of Flexible raiding. If you're interested in testing the content, you can either copy an existing character to the PTR via your Battle.net account, or create a level 90 premade. If you're planning on testing the content, don't forget to leave feedback in the official thread on the PTR forums!
Sympathy for the Warchief
I have a weird personal quirk -- I can't really handle playing evil characters. Part of it is that I feel like I've seen enough cruelty and evil triumphant in the real flesh and blood world I move through every day. From petty, small viciousness to boorish rudeness all the way up the ladder, with stops at knee-jerk offense for offense's sake, lying, stealing, racism, sexism, and it just keeps going up and up and up. I don't play World of Warcraft or other games to revel in that kind of behavior, because I see entirely too much of it (and worse) in my day to day. I play the game to escape those things, for at least a little while. Now, I'm neither arrogant nor self-centered enough to demand that the game be tailored to me, or conform to this tendency. I get that there's a catharsis inherent in playing the black hat for some folks. I even get that there are shades of grey and interesting challenges to be had in coming up with reasons and motivations for people doing the worst things. Conflict helps create interesting stories, and you can't have conflict without opposition. I get all that. But I admit, I'm still rendered somewhat uncomfortable by people who get excited about evil, who use terms like deliciously wicked - in my experience, evil is far more often banal and tedious, wickedness usually the work of dull, plodding and inflexible minds. Therefore, I'm surprised to find myself sympathizing more and more with Garrosh Hellscream as this expansion has unfolded.
Patch 5.4 PTR: Patch notes update for August 7
A new round of patch notes have hit for the patch 5.4 PTR. This time around, there seem to be very few class changes, but plenty of updates for professions. In addition to the numerous profession updates and tweaks is one update to Wrathion's legendary quest chain that ought to make those working to catch up very, very happy. The first eight bosses in the Siege of Orgrimmar raid all have a chance to drop a Sigil of Power, Sigil of Wisdom, Secrets of the Empire, or Titan Runestone. This is in addition to their normal loot table, and the items will drop according to what step of Wrathion's quest you happen to be completing. Items that were formerly obtainable with Valor Points that have been changed to cost Justice Points, as well as gear from new PvP recipes or plans will now disenchant into Sha Crystal Fragments. Multiple Fragments can be combined into a Sha Crystal. Fishing fanatics, don't worry -- the Jewel Danio formerly swimming happily in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms have now been relocated to the Timeless Isle. You can see the full list of patch notes at the official site, but if you'd just like a list of the new changes, follow after the break for a consolidated list.
Know Your Lore: The future of the Alliance
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. The Siege of Orgrimmar is almost upon us, and the Alliance stands strong, ready to dive in and put an end to Warchief Hellscream's reign. Along the way, they've picked up some entirely unconventional allies in Vol'jin's group of rebels, who are also insistent upon getting Garrosh out. But when the dust settles and all is said and done, if and when the Alliance prove their military superiority, take out Hellscream, and are declared the ultimate victor of what has been a very messy, bloody war, what happens next? Does the Alliance simply go home and wait for the world to rise up with yet another threat? Do they at last attempt some kind of tentative peace treaty with Vol'jin and his group of rebels? Will Varian Wrynn take a moment of clear victory and use it to crush what remains of the Horde? Will the Alliance leave a military presence in Orgrimmar, to carefully watch and make certain events like this don't come to pass again? What does the future for the Alliance hold, once Orgrimmar has been taken down?
Patch 5.4 PTR: Patch notes update for August 2
Another round of patch note changes been released for the patch 5.4 PTR. Vengeance has once again received several changes that tanks should probably look over, as well as the usual round of minor class updates. More importantly, two changes have been made to current content that ought to be interesting for players looking to get caught up to the latest raid. Vengeance now has diminishing returns while tanking multiple targets -- each additional target grants progressively less Vengeance. All enemies in the Throne of Thunder now have a debuff called Shado-Pan Onslaught, which reduces their health and damage by 20%. Heroic Scenarios no longer have a minimum ilvl requirement to enter. You can see the full list of patch notes at the official site, but if you'd just like a list of the new changes, follow after the break for a consolidated list.
Patch 5.4 PTR: Siege of Orgrimmar story datamining -- major spoilers
Thanks to our friends over at Adriacraft, we have been alerted to some very interesting new information about the Siege of Orgrimmar. However, this would definitely fall under the category of a spoiler. A fairly epic spoiler at that, so we are doing our best to be bland and uninteresting this side of the break at least. But you know the drill, guys. The juicy tidbits are after the break. And man, if you don't want to see some serious spoilers, you had better not click it. You also shouldn't read the comments, or basically do anything else. Focus instead on how pretty Orgrimmar looks in this picture. Final warning: spoilers after the cut.
Patch 5.4 PTR: Thrall vs. Garrosh
Orgrimmar is about to get wrecked, the Horde is in a state of political upheaval, the Alliance is on the brink of storming Stormwind's gates and Garrosh seems to be unstoppable, which leaves many players with one question: Just where the heck is Thrall in all of this, anyway? After all, the former Warchief is in at least some small part responsible for the current state of affairs, given his insistence on plopping Garrosh in place as the new Warchief of the Horde. And really, that fact cannot be argued with -- if Thrall had not appointed Garrosh as the new Warchief, none of the current events going on in Mists would have happened. Thrall made a very brief appearance in the events in patch 5.3, showing up to help his old friend Vol'jin before heading off to Orgrimmar, presumably to confront Garrosh once and for all. Over on Youtube, Adriacraft has dug up the confrontation between old Warchief and new, with some unsurprisingly heated words thrown between the two of them. The video is after the break -- but be warned, if you've been wanting to avoid patch 5.4 spoilers, clicking through would be a bad idea.
Weapons and stats for ret paladins in Siege of Orgrimmar
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Seasoned ret paladin Dan Desmond is here to answer your questions and provide you with your biweekly dose of retribution medicine. Contact him at dand@wowinsider.com with any questions, concerns, or suggestions! Weapons have always been my favorite piece of gear. They're iconic and powerful; they define our spec more clearly than any spell or ability. So when I stepped into Throne of Thunder and finally saw Zerat, Malakk's Soulburning Greatsword drop, I took one look at my aging Shin'ka, Execution of Dominion, a pale copy of its normal and heroic variants, and quickly tossed the axe aside. And then did the same thing to Zerat when we saw Uroe, Harbinger of Terror drop from Lei Shen. And again when a heroic Greatsword of Frozen Hells gracefully tumbled from the heavens and landed on the corpse of Horridon, nestled in whatever pockets or pouches or sacs a massive direhorn may have. As patch 5.4 and the Siege of Orgrimmar loom on the horizon, some exciting and deadly instruments wait to be plundered. Since this will (okay, might) be the final raid of the expansion, now is a good time to reexamine our stat weights before we make any judgment calls on the bludgeons that those savages have to offer.
Guild inappropriately accesses heroic Siege of Orgrimmar on PTR
Blizzard Lead Encounter Designer Ion "Watcher" Hazzikostas made an interesting post on the PTR forums regarding the delicate relationship between "bleeding edge" raiding guilds and the developers. Both sides stand to gain something from their arrangement, where the guilds get advance attempts on heroic progression bosses, and the developers get information from spectating on fights, noticing bugs and that old chestnut, "creative use of in-game mechanics". I like to think this is why Ion's forum name is Watcher, because he's always keeping an eye on proceedings, along with his team. Recently, though, it seems that one of the "bleeding-edge" guilds has taken some action that has soured this relationship. While we don't know which one, there are only a few candidates these days, and from reading Ion's post a progression raid group accessed the Siege of Orgrimmar raid and spent hours on a Heroic boss in the middle of the night, after copying fresh characters with generic names, presumably with the hope of going unnoticed. While he doesn't say so in so many words, it seems like action was taken, perhaps revoking this guild's access to the PTR. Whether this will have an impact on the World First race remains to be seen.
Siege of Orgrimmar Preview: Thok the Bloodthirsty
You can sort of guess what this boss will do if your raid group wipes. There won't really be any corpses of your group left when Thok is finished. Patch 5.4's Siege of Orgrimmar will feature a trend that started in patch 5.2: Fighting raid sized dinosaurs! Know what's more worse than fighting dinosaurs with laser beams? A hungry one. Read on to find out about other dietary alternatives for Thok the Bloodthirsty. Thok is a multi-phase boss that you'll get to later on in the Siege of Orgrimmar instance. Let's go over what he does and how my raid group dealt with him. Phase 1 For the tanks, I hope you're great at the lateral shuffle. Thok's Fearsome Roar will dish out around 200k damage in a frontal cone which applies a debuff. They'll be taking 50% more per debuff stack. Tag out and in as needed. Ensure that Thok is facing to the side while the rest of the raid is somewhere to the side of him. If the raid stands behind him, they'll be hit with a nasty Tail Lash. In other words, assume standard issue dragon slaying position with the raid on the side.
Patch 5.4 PTR: New mounts from the Siege of Orgrimmar
PTR files are the gift that keeps on giving: today AdriaCraft posted videos of two mounts from the patch files, which we expect will be drops in the Siege of Ogrimmar raid. On show are the Kor'kron Proto-Drake and the Iron Juggernaut. The Juggernaut may actually be the Kor'kron Juggernaut Wowhead lists as dropping from Garrosh, but we can't yet say with certainty where either of these drop, so if you're desperate to nab one, stay tuned for more info. If you're in this post for the eye candy, check the videos embedded after the break for a close look at what could be your next mount!
Greg Street and Marco Koegler Korean Q&A on WoW and its future
Some very interesting things were revealed in this Q&A from Lead Systems Designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street and WoW Technical Director Marco Koegler. The interview was conducted in Korea, so there's a bit of down time while translations are being made between interviewers and interviewees, but the hour-long video is worth watching for a few meaty tidbits. In particular, Ghostcrawler has essentially stated that Garrosh will not be replaced at the end of patch 5.4. Oh, his days as warchief will be over for sure, but the patch is intended to end with his defeat at the hands of the players. These actions will set in motion a chain of events which will lead to the new warchief's implementation--but not in patch 5.4. So it seems that the mystery of who will next lead the Horde draws on! Other bits of information worth noting include the confirmation that patch 5.4 will be the final raid patch of Mists of Pandaria, which leads us here at WoW Insider to speculate on the timeline of the next expansion. Considering that traditionally new WoW expansions have been announced at Blizzcon--still a few months away--and given that the next warchief will not be revealed quite as soon as we expected, it seems reasonable to speculate that there might be a non-raid 5.5 patch in the works to take us through to 6.0. However, there is no mention of that in the Q&A and really, it's just idle speculation on my part. Still, I'm now more fascinated than ever to see what the future holds in store for us denizens of Azeroth! How about you?
Siege of Orgrimmar Preview: Sha of Pride
The Sha of Pride is the fourth boss in patch 5.4's Siege of Orgrimmar raid instance. You'll find him in the chamber right after defeating Norushen. It's the last Sha in existence and allegedly the one that has influenced Garrosh in his actions throughout the expansion. Read on to get an overview of his abilities.
Watcher clarifies ilvl distribution in patch 5.4
Players participating in patch 5.4's new Flexible Raids have noticed that the ilvl for Siege of Orgrimmar loot is set to 540 -- just below the 541 ilvl of current Heroic Thunderforged gear, but above current heroic gear from Throne of Thunder, which is set at 535 before any valor point upgrades are applied. To some players, it may seem as though Blizzard is now encouraging the same kind of multiple-instance running that occurred with the Trial of the Crusader raid and its many, many difficulties. A thread on the official forums points out that if Flexible Raid gear is better than heroic gear from the previous tier, players will be obligated to run both Flexible and Normal difficulty along with LFR in order to gear up more quickly -- since Flex difficulty doesn't share a lockout with normal modes, it's entirely possible to do so. While the arguments for and against have been both fast and furious, Ion "Watcher" Hazzikostas stepped in to clarify just what the reasoning was behind the different ilvls for the different difficulties, as well as the purpose of Flexible Raids.
Patch 5.4 PTR: First Raid Finder wing of Siege of Orgrimmar Available
Patch 5.4's Siege of Orgrimmar is available for testing on the PTR raid finder for the weekend of July 19 - 22. If you're looking for something to do this weekend, why not head over to the PTR and check it out? The first part of Siege of Orgrimmar involves the first four bosses. This is another big indicator of how close we're getting to a patch 5.4 drop on live servers. Perhaps another month and a half or two? Vale of Eternal Sorrows (Part 1) Immerseus The Fallen Protectors Norushen Sha of Pride Weekend LFR Testing - July 19-22 The first LFR wing of the Siege of Orgrimmar raid is currently open for testing, and will likely remain so throughout the weekend. Please feel free to check it out and share your feedback. source
Patch 5.4 PTR: Patch notes update for July 18
Another round of patch notes updates have been released for the patch 5.4 PTR. Two major items of note are included with the latest list: First, many classes have had new glyphs added, or current glyphs redesigned. It's glyphmas come early! Second, the Timeless Isle is now open for testing on the PTR server, teeming with all kinds of interesting new stuff to check out. Players looking for the Timeless Isle on the PTR should check their mailbox -- a Curious Ticking Parcel has been delivered to you. Druids, you have a new minor glyph, Glyph of One With Nature, that will grant you the ability to teleport to a random natural location -- among many other glyphs and glyph updates. Rogues, Evasion now increases dodge chance by 100% instead of 50%. Shaman, you have a whole ton of new glyphs, both major and minor. How about summoning a Rain of Frogs? Yes, you heard that correctly. You can see the full list of patch notes at the official site, but if you'd just like a list of the new changes, follow after the break for a consolidated list.
