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Reigniting the flame and rediscovering the joy of Warcraft
I think my favorite part about a new patch is that it always seems to inject new life into WoW. Don't get me wrong, I love WoW all the time. I think it's a great game. But there's something about a new patch that always seems to invigorate me. There's new stuff to do, maybe a new twist or two to one of the classes I play, or at least to one of the classes I play against. What's even more interesting to me is that it sometimes makes even the old stuff feel brand new.
The best of WoW Insider: March 2-8, 2008
Yes, the news that we were becoming Hello Kitty Online Insider last week was actually a joke, and we're back covering the World of Warcraft and all of its ten million players (most of which showed up on the Isle of Quel'danas this week, as you can see above, courtesy of WI reader Sync). Here's a look at the most popular and interesting posts from Joystiq's Azeroth-inclined sister site, WoW Insider. News Sunwell griefing runs rampantWhat happens when you put hundreds of players in the same place? Rampant griefing, of course. Shattered Sun Offensive pendants make some regret faction choicesRegretting that Aldor or Scryer faction choice that you made way back when? Too bad. Proudmoore gets badge vendor to 100%, chaos ensuesOn the first realm to unlock some of the world event rewards from patch 2.4, things get a little nuts. Patch 2.4.1 available for downloadBlizzard wasn't just joking around last week -- they were working, too. Sunwell Daily QuestsOur feature page on the Sunwell Dailies has everything you need to know about unlocking the NPCs on Sunwell Isle. Features Guildwatch: Years between bossesWhen guild drama rears its ugly head, our weekly Guildwatch column is right there to document it all. The trinkets of Magisters' TerraceWhat to look for in terms of trinkets inside the game's new five man instance. Hybrid Theory: Brutallus and youMaking it past patch 2.4's big gear check with a hybrid class. Ready Check: Getting your first bearOur hardcore raiding column tells you how to head into Zul'Aman and pick up the coveted bear mount. Know Your Lore: The Wrynn dynastyKYL covers the kings of Stormwind and what happened to most of them.
Fury of the Sunwell trailer Lore analysis
So you've had time to traipse around Sunwell Isle, you've read the new lore (both the official stuff and Alex's Know Your Lore: The Sunwell), watched the trailer, and all that good stuff, but you're still a bit confused. What does it all mean? Let the lore geeks at WoW Insider help you out a bit. We've put together a scene by scene analysis of the lore behind the Fury of the Sunwell trailer, and we're presenting it to you here. Hopefully, it sheds some more light on this whole "Did Kael'thas go crazy or didn't he, and what is up with Kil'jaedan anyway?" thing.
Gamers on the Street: Proud of Proudmoore
This was the scene this morning on Proudmoore, as they were the first server around to open up the Heroic Badge vendor on the Isle of Quel'danas. So for this week's Gamers on the Street interviews, I decided to go there and see the sights myself. Unfortunately, just as on the PTR, it's not quite that easy to get a level one Blood Elf to the Isle -- I figured I could just fly from Silvermoon like normal, but no -- apparently I had to run all the way to Tranquilien to even get the Silvermoon flight point. So I did.Fortunately, when I got there, the flight master gave me the flight point to Silvermoon, which would then take me to the Sunwell Plateau. Unfortunately, I was completely and totally broke -- I didn't even have enough cash to fly. I sold everything I had, but it wasn't nearly enough, and instead of begging for gold, I did the next less annoying thing on the list -- I spammed the Trade channel. And I was able to find two nice residents of Proudmoore to tell me about opening up the world event content on Sunwell Plateau.
The onset of pre-expansion depression
It's that time again. Those of you who were around right before the Burning Crusade release might remember this time -- there are no new content patches before the next expansion, and we've got pretty much nothing to look forward to and nowhere to go before Wrath shows up and changes the world for good. Yes, there is a little more yet to discover at the Sunwell, but once we've seen that instance cleared out (Blizzard originally predicted about a month, and it seems like some players might be moving even faster than that), there'll be nothing left but the waiting.Things went pretty badly last time around -- guilds stopped raiding (what was the point, when the next expansion would replace all of our gear with greens?), players abandoned the game for a while, and there was a general depression in Azeroth. While people were excited for the expansion, the live realms seemed like yesterday's news.Hopefully things will be better this time around -- back then, we didn't have dailies to do, there weren't any arena matches or tournaments, and the 40 man high-end raid instances were pretty much the only game in town (nowadays we have 10mans, 25mans, or Heroics, and lots of rewards from each). And depending on when Blizzard gets the expansion out, the wait might not be as bad (although if they wait until January again, the time frame should be about the same as last time). But get ready -- the calm before the storm is coming, and we won't see a new game again until we step foot on the icy shores of Northrend.
Proudmoore gets badge vendor to 100%, chaos ensues
Chaos! That was the scene on Proudmoore as they became the first server to unlock Sunwell Isle's badge vendor. Smith Hauthaa, completely. As you might expect, every Thrall, Jaina and Larry who'd been saving up Heroic Badges descended on the vendor to cash out, and from what we're told by reader Sync, it was madness.Madness? This is the Sunwell! Surely this is just temporary -- as people get those badges turned in, Hauthaa's popularity will drop back down to much more managable levels. But as you can see from the gallery below, everyone and their alt showed up to buy from the vendor, and there was lots of world PvP, low framerates, and even a server shutdown (we hear) to show for it. Whenever your server opens up, whether you're looking for Warlock, Hunter, Druid, or any other Badge Loot gear, you may just want to wait an hour or two until people settle down and realize that they'll have a long time to buy new Professor Plums with badges.%Gallery-19980%
Shattered Sun Offensive exalted reputation pendants make some regret their faction choice
While Blizzard has made some steps to homogenize the playstyle of the Horde and Alliance a bit with the whole Paladin/Shaman swap, they've also done a bit of experimenting in the Burning Crusade with allowing people to make choices about certain paths, namely the Aldor and Scryer factions. While patch 2.4 has bought as an "end" to the Aldor/Scryer rivalry lore-wise, the mechanics remain the same: You cannot enter the other side's tier without being attacked, you can't use the other side's bank, and the item and shoulder enchant vendors will still only sell to those with proper faction. In addition, there's a new twist to the sides from this patch: At exalted reputation with the Shattered Sun Offensive, you can purchase 4 different neckpieces that have seperate bonus that depending on whether you're Scryer or Aldor.
Nihilum vs Brutallus video
The flag ship raiding guild Nihilum has released a great video of them taking on Brutallus, one of the new 25 man Sunwell Plateau bosses. The video is available from several sources, and the downloaded version is of quite high quality. The version provided above, a stream from File Front, is also pretty good.The video itself is taken from the standpoint of their main tank, Kungen, and runs for just over seven minutes. Most interesting is the additional pieces of information Nihilum provides about their raid setup. For guilds attempting him, looking at a successful raid composition can be a major piece of information. The raid setup Nihilum uses is:
Sunwell Phase 4 daily quest walkthroughs
As many servers approach Phase 3, we're going to be one step ahead as always and make sure you're all prepared the day Phase 4 hits. It'll be some time before anyone reaches it I'm sure, but if you're anything like me, you always want to know what is on the horizon.Phase 4 concludes the taking of Quel'Danas and the progressive content, thus some of the quests are simple things like putting the finishing touches on the new Shattered Sun Stronghold. However, there are still a few things that need some work. This phase will focus on an Alchemy Lab and a super cool statue to plant in the middle of the freshly taken town.Read on for more information on Phase 4, as well as links to guides for each of the new quests you'll encounter!%Gallery-19191%
Phase 4 Conclusion: A Magnanimous Benefactor
Unfortunately for Anchorite Ayuri, it seems that not so many people were willing to donate 10 gold to her thoughtful cause. Luckily, Anchorite Kairthos is here to tempt those of us with overflowing wallets to donate a little more.A Magnanimous Benefactor is a one time only quest found at the top of the Sun's Reach Harbor inn that can only be acquired at Exalted reputation. If A Charitable Donation was a money sink, A Magnanimous Benefactor is a money black hole. The reward is very, very cool, though. For the low, low price(donation!) of 1,000 gold, you will be awarded a title, 'of the Shattered Sun.' For example, I would become Alex of the Shattered Sun. Sweet.Now, a thousand gold is a steep price, but in my opinion this is one of the cooler titles in the game. My main has Hand of A'dal, but Of the Shattered Sun sounds way, way cooler, even if Hand of A'dal has more prestige. This title is also unique in that you can acquire it purely through solo play. Justicar/Conqueror can be gotten through semi-solo play, but you need to join groups and raids in Battlegrounds. Plus, it takes way longer to get.If you're Exalted with the Shattered Sun Offensive, you probably have far more than 1,000 gold. All of those daily quests(and/or Magisters' Terrace runs) up to Exalted? Go ahead, spend 1,000 gold. Have something to show for that work.
Phase 4 Dailies: A Charitable Donation
Acquired from Anchorite Ayuri just outside of Sun's Reach Sanctum, A Charitable Donation marks the final step on the reclaiming of Quel'Danas and the construction of the Shattered Sun Stronghold. It isn't a daily quest so much as it is a daily reputation vendor.It's easy to look at the quest and get angry, because it's a fairly obvious money sink. Give 10 gold, get 150 reputation. Keep in mind that it's completely optional, and the only thing it unlocks is a little flavor for the world. If you don't want to do it, don't do it, don't feel bad avoiding it. It won't hurt anybody.If you do want to contribute, though, donating that 10 gold moves the server toward earning a pretty neat thing. After enough donations, a statue will be built commemorating those that died in the battle for the Sunwell Plateau, and the friends and family they left behind. It is also a sign of unity between the Aldor and the Scryers; the monument has two sides, one with a Draenei and one with a Blood Elf. It has no real effect on the world, but it's pretty cool to look at.As I mentioned, this quest is basically a reputation vendor. You buy reputation, and this can only be done once a day. You pay 10 gold and get 150 SSO rep, so if you run one of the easy dailies(such as Distraction at the Dead Scar) for roughly 10 gold and 250 rep, you can turn that into a total of 400 rep. That sure beats buying Coilfang Armaments for 25 gold each, to turn in for 75 reputation. If you do this quest regularly, you can shave a few Magisters' Terrace runs off of your grind to Exalted.As always, if you need to know more about this quest, take a look at Wowwiki or Wowhead!
Sunwell Radiance, nerf or band-aid?
The Dungeons and Raids forum has been discussion the existence of an interesting buff in the Sunwell Plateau. The Sunwell Radiance, an invisible buff that everything in the 25-man raid dungeon seems to have, is ticking off quite a few people. What this buff does, is it gives the mob/boss an additional 5% To Hit, and reduces your chance to dodge their attacks by 20%.This existence of this buff was hotly debated at first, but analysis of boss attempts and long nights of fighting in the Plateau have mostly proven it to be true. There are a few theories as to why this buff exists, the most likely being that it is a band-aid on a gearing issue as they move away from Crushing Blows. As far as I know, nothing in the raid dungeon can land a Crush. If I understand Druid tank mechanics correctly(and there's a chance I don't), removing Crushing Blows would make them nearly unbreakable. However, removing Crushing Blows and implementing this buff is decent enough way to put a band-aid on something they want to move away from before they're able to make sweeping changes in Wrath of the Lich King. There's a net increase in damage taken, but it isn't as massive as it sounds. Bosses are still being killed.If you're interested in this little(big) buff(nerf?), take a look behind the cut! Patch 2.4 sounds great, but what's in it for you? Find out on our Sunwell Isle page where we list the impact on classes, professions, PvP, Raiders and many other playstyles and interests including walkthroughs on the new Sunwell Daily Quests. Looking for more great info? Check out the WoW Insider Directory for the best of our guides and analysis.
Breakfast Topic: Adamantite and Mana Thistle on Azeroth?
Mana Thistle grows in Outland. Some of the mines of Outland contain Adamantite Ore. So how do plants and ore that are native to a completely different planet occur on the Isle of Quel'Danas?I understand that it is a level 70 zone and therefore they put level 70 gathering nodes there. But story-wise it makes no sense. The Lore of WoW is rich and entertaining and is one of the best parts of playing this game. Inconsistencies like this mar the immersion of what is otherwise a very fun new zone.Lasica responded to Battery's question about this on the forums with a suggestion that they fell out of the Exodar as it passed overhead. This could easily explain the Mana Thistle, if it took to the fertile soil on the Isle, but metals don't grow like plants, so this explanation can't really be stretched to the Adamantite.Do you have an explanation to satisfy the lore-nerds like me? Or are you just happy to have another place to farm?[Thanks Henric!]
Realm progression rankings for the Shattered Sun questline
The efforts to retake the Isle of Quel'Danas proceed apace. Some realms are going faster than others, but Drysc assures us that even the low-population realms will get the phases auto-completed for them eventually if they don't have the manpower to get there fast enough on their own. What if you want to see exactly how the realms stack up? We talked last week about a manually maintained forum post; however, that has problems with trustworthiness and the difficulty of keeping it updated.Edur, of Gorgonnash-A (EU), has created a web site that relies on game data form participants to rank the realms according to their completion of the Sunwell questline, and a very nice site it is. You can see all the US and European realms and where they stand both on the main phase quests and on the side accomplishments, like constructing the portal from Shattrath to Quel'Danas. There are also nice progress charts for each individual realm, and, most usefully, ETAs for when the objectives might be reached given current rates of completion.
Hybrid Theory: Magisters' Terrace, stomping all over your comfort zone
We've been talking about Magisters' Terrace a lot. I have been talking about Magisters' Terrace a lot. Lucky you, we're going to talk about it some more!Magisters' Terrace is the brand new 5-man that came with Patch 2.4, so it comes across as much harder than it actually is. It is hard, sure, but not the soul-rending pain we're all feeling right now. All new dungeons require a period of adjustment. I remember when Dire Maul first came out, way back in the day. Everyone thought it was utterly horrifying.During this period of adjustment, you're going to run into groups being far more strict about group composition. Once the community has become accustomed to the difficulty level of Magisters' Terrace, things will ease up. Currently, a lot of damage specced hybrids are having a rough time finding a group consistently due to one pretty large factor: A lack of crowd control. There are a lot of things you can(and should) do to make up for that, and knowing those things will do a lot to contribute to speeding up the adjustment period.
Arcane Brilliance: Mage version 2.4
Every week, Arcane Brilliance endeavors to provide a small peek into the mysterious world of Mages. On Tuesday--in case you just teleported in from under the Dalaran bubble this morning and weren't aware--we got a new patch. This week, we'll take a long hard look at the patch as it relates to Mages, including some Mage-related observations and a giant list of all that sweet, sweet, cloth gear.I almost didn't have time to write a column this week, guys. I don't know if you've noticed, but there are 8 billion daily quests out there for us to do and most of them involve competing with several hundred players for the same 3 mobs. At some point on Tuesday I may or may not have started sprinting around Quel'Danas Arcane Explosioning over and over until I tagged something, but I can't be sure. The whole day is sort of a blur.So far I absolutely love the patch. We've had the better part of four days with it now, and I have a few thoughts, if you'll indulge me. First, Magisters' Terrace is hard. I like that. You have to know what you're doing in there, so either find a patient group, study up yourself on what to do for each of the boss fights, or invite someone who's run it a few times. Unless you know what you're doing, you're going to wipe a few times. It's just the right amount of challenging for what will eventually be the final 5-man dungeon before the expansion. There are a lot of ways for Mages to make themselves useful in the place, what with all the sheepable mobs that pull in large groups and the value of ranged DPS in many of the encounters. If you haven't gotten to AoE the living crap out the room before Vexallus yet, you're missing out. Just make sure the healer has a quick trigger finger.Secondly, If you haven't respecced to try out the new Improved Blink, you should consider it. It isn't going to let you tank an instance by any means, but it provides some very nice extra survivability in PvP. When you Blink, you get this very nice phased-out effect going on, and you can actually see the arrows and spells pass through you instead of hitting you 25% of the time. Good clean fun, believe me. Makes running the flag in the new and improved Warsong Gulch slightly more entertaining.Come back after the break for more gear than you can shake a magical stick at.
Priestess Delrissa, bringing a little PvP to your PvE
A brief glance at the Dungeons and Raids official forum last night was a bit of a surprise. The third boss in Magisters' Terrace has inspired a lot of hatred and arguing. Why is that a surprise to me? Well, it's becoming one of my favorite 5 man boss encounters in WoW! Either the QQ is going strong on the official forums, or I'm a complete and utter masochist. I'm leaning towards that second one, considering Blackheart the Inciter is my former favorite.If you have never seen this encounter before, or don't know how it works, Eliah touches on it a bit in his Magisters' Terrace guide. Basically, it's a 5v5 arena match. You can't tank it, there are no threat tables. It's a game of control and survival. Priestess Delrissa, who is a Holy Priest, can spawn with four random friends, chosen from a pool of eight.
Ready Check: Facing Kalecgos
Ready Check is a weekly column focusing on successful raiding for the serious raider. Hardcore or casual, ZA or Sunwell Plateau, everyone can get in on the action and down some bosses. Or wipe to them. Again. And again. And again... This week, we take our first steps into Sunwell.Apparently, there's some sort of patch out, and with it some new raid instance. Wait, what? A new raid instance? After the months and months of farming BT to death? Many of the raiders in my guild have been well and truly bored for a while, and we've seen a fair bit of attrition as people got so bored they dropped out of the game for a while. A new patch and a new instance brought some back; on our first raid this week, attendance was through the roof. With bags of flasks, potions, food, sharpies, seeds and caps, we ventured into Sunwell Plateau for the first time; read on for the raiders' lowdown on Kalecgos, the first boss you'll meet there. (Note, spoilers within!)
Magisters' Terrace illuminated
Patch 2.4 is just a win all around, if you ask me. Very casual player? Only have an hour or less to play? Hit the dailies. Super-hardcore raider? Sunwell Plateau, baby, the hardest raid yet (or so I hear; I'll likely never see it myself). And if, like me, you flat-out love five-man dungeons, you have a new playground too: Magisters' Terrace, lovingly known as MrT.The gallery below is a comprehensive, step-by-step, illustrated guide to the Terrace on normal mode, starting from the first pull and going all the way through to Kael'thas. First, some quick notes on group composition. In my opinion this isn't the hardest of the level 70 instances (that honor would go to Arcactraz or Black Morrass), so you don't need everyone to be group-specced or raid-geared, but it does help tremendously to have some crowd control available. The more, the better. And if you don't have much CC, you'd better hope you have a tank that can keep threat on multiple targets (might be a bit more difficult for Druids).The good news is that the bulk of the mobs in the instance are humanoids, and can therefore be sheeped or seduced; traps also work well. There are also a few demons around that can be banished.But before you can start pulling, you've got to get there. The Terrace is on the new Isle of Quel'Danas (IoQD); taxis from Ironforge and the Silvermoon City will get you there quickly for 25 silver or so. Or, if your realm has completed the quests to activate the Sunwell portal, you can port straight from Shattrath to IoQD. Once you get on the island, just ride east up the road to get to the instance. It's hard to miss, what with the meeting stone and big glowing portal and all. Click on to the gallery below to see a picture of where it is on the map, and the rest of the walkthough.%Gallery-19389%
Report Card: Phase 2 daily quests
So, now that phase 1 of the Shattered Sun Offensive is over on many servers, phase 2 is in full swing. Phase 2 is a little bit smaller than phase 1, but you can still do all the phase 1 quests just fine, so it's more of a question of deciding how many you want to fit into your daily rotation. So what about the phase 2 quests? Progression needs aside, are they worth doing?
