TheBurningCrusade
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The Burning Crusade: Level 1 - 5
For those poor souls not lucky enough to be in the beta (myself included!), I ran into this movie on Google video showing a Blood Elf wandering the starting zone and leveling from 1 to 5 to give us a taste of what to expect. At over 18 minutes long, it's not for the faint of heart and if you're anything like me you'll keep trying to click things on the video screen long before it's over.
More BC screenshots than you can shake a stick at!
Browsing the World of Raids forums I ran across these links to hundreds of screenshots taken from the Burning Crusade beta test. Huzzah for its lack of an NDA! So... if you've got a lot of free time on your hands, head over and check out gallery 1 and gallery 2.
You knew this was coming...
Reader Nelson sends in this screenshot showing that in the Burning Crusade, yes, you will be able to wield the infamous Sword of a Thousand Truths. Just like the South Park kids. Of course, the screenshot could be faked, but if so the image looks awfully clean to me.
More jewelcrafting rumors
Because just one set of rumored items just isn't enough, today I bring you even more possibly real, possibly fake, jewelcrafting items. Noggyh on the World of Raids forums has posted a list of some very interesting new trinkets, necklaces, and rings. And, wow, some of these things look awfully nice. (Which probably just means they'll take ten of each of the rarest jewels to craft, I assume.) Chance on spell hit to restore 128-173 mana to the bearer? Looks like I'm going to be adding several new trinkets to my collection...
Jewelcrafting items
Last week we made a post about what sorts of benefits various gems could provide when inserted into socketed items (all rumor, of course), but a jewelcrafter will be able to do more than simply cut gems for socketing. Jewelcrafters will also be able to create necklaces, rings, and trinkets -- and if this list on World of Raids is right, some other armor slots, as well. All of the items have interesting effects, and all I have to say is Truesilver Boar ftw! Read on if you don't feel up to scrolling through all of World of Raids' profession information to find jewelcrafting.
Official hunter talents released!
You heard correctly -- we have official news on hunter talents and spells. (I'm linking them via the European site, because the US site seems to be swamped right now.) These talents seem very similar to what we saw leaked last week, even including the odd "snake trap" ability. (Let the "snakes on a..." jokes begin!) And, before you ask -- yes, that is a legitimate screenshot from the website.
Burning Crusade mounts
BCspy.de.vu presents us with these lovely photographs of various mounts we'll be seeing in the Burning Crusade. For normal mounts, we have the Draenei's elephant-like Elekk, the Blood Elf's Cockatrices, a specially colored Paladin Warhorse for the Blood Elf, and the ram-like (only taller) Talbuk. For flying mounts, we have Gyphons for the alliance and Wyverns for the horde, as well as the (presumably more rare) Netherdrakes and Pheonixes. There's still no news about how to get any of these mounts (the Talbuk are especially mysterious -- they are listed as neutral mounts, and are obviously not of the flying sort, which makes them somewhat unusual), but they're great eye-candy -- so click on and enjoy!
Breakfast Topic: Addon changes in the Burning Crusade
The recent announcement of major addon changes coming with the release of the Burning Crusade has caused an uproar on the official forums. Many applaud it -- saying it stops lazy or skill-less players from playing the game on easy mode. But many also decry the changes -- saying that it only serves to increase the portion of the game that is tedious and dull. So this morning's question is this -- which side are you on? Are you glad to see decursive go? Or will you miss it? (For my own part, I'm worried -- I have to yell often enough at the mages to decurse the main tank even when they do have decursive. How will I ever teach them to target-and-decurse when I can't even get them to one-click decurse?!)
Rumored jewelcrafting abilities
I'm not sure whether I can classify this one as a rumor, since it doesn't come with the requisite blurry screenshot. And while there's no verification to any of these gem abilities, they're certainly interesting if true -- providing a wide range of small buffs that will be interesting to see in different combinations on items. Blizzard's own jewelcrafting information suggests that items will have a a varying number of sockets and that some sockets will be specific to certain types of gems (you'll get a bonus ability for socketing them with the appropriate type of gem). Read on for the specific gem abilities.
Rumored hunter pet abilities
These new pet abilities on the Curse Gaming forums, if accurate, sound pretty darned awesome. As to their accuracy, several posters have noted that some of these abilities have been in the game (not available to players, but in the game) since beta, but never usable -- and that the final release of pet skills gave pets completely new abilities. To this, original poster Celebrimor notes that, in the Alpha release, these abilities now scale up to level 70, meaning they've at least been updated. (And why update them if not to make use of them in-game?) So are they real or just someone's idea of a bad joke? Read on and see what you think.
Priests & racial abilities
Priests are an unusual class -- the only class in the game to have class spess that are restricted to specific races. This has long been the source of complaints, as some racial abilities are immensely useful (such as a Dwarf's Fear Ward, which prevents its target from being feared and can make a number of raid situations easier), while others aren't worth putting on even a tertiary hotbar (such as a Human's Feedback, which restores mana to the priest on melee hit -- melee priest ftw!). As a long time priest, my biggest question about the coming expansion is this: what sort of class racials will Draenei and Blood Elf priests have? Well, CM Eyonix has provided me with a partial answer -- saying that the new races will receive one existing and one brand new racial skill. (Hmm, does the Blood Elves' new racial start with "fear" and end with "ward"? If so I'm already well on my way to having a third priest on my account!)
Another set of possible hunter talents
We're getting close to the end of these Burning Crusade talent rumors -- as all sources are predicting official hunter talents out soon. However, they're not out yet, and that means just one thing: more hunter talent rumors! I am tempted to put some faith in this set of rumors, which come from poster Anders on the Curse Gaming forums, as we've gotten interesting information from him before that's later proven accurate. The talents are interesting and some rather odd (threat reduction? increased RAP by 25% of intellect), but with some of the talents I've seen previewed thus far for other classes, these would not surprise me. And if they're wrong? Well, we'll see in the next few days. Read on for the full text of the possible talents.
Quest rewards in the Burning Crusade
This lone screenshot has spawned a lot of excitement, by presenting us with a glance of what sort of itemization we can expect to see in the mid-60s. If you're already decked out in epic gear, these items might make you cry, but if you aren't, they might make you jump for joy. (My thought is that they never should have allowed Goblins to name these things.) The items in the screenshot, for those who can't bother to click on, include the following...QR 9977 2H AxeTwo-Hand Axe221 - 333 Damage Speed 3.40(81.5 damage per second)+31 Strength+30 Agility+45 StaminaQR 9977 Caster StaffTwo-Hand Staff92 - 162 Damage Speed 2.10(60.4 damage per second)+45 Stamina+31 IntellectEquip: Improves spell critical strike rating by 30.Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 85.QR 9977 DPS DaggerOne-Hand Dagger74 - 139 Damage Speed 1.70(62.6 damage per second)+13 Agility+19 StaminaEquip: +26 Attack PowerQR 9977 Feral StaffTwo-Hand Staff144 - 253 Damage Speed 3.30(60.2 damage per second)+31 Strength+30 Agility+45 StaminaEquip: +298 Attack Power in Cat, Bear, Dire Bear, and Moonkin forms only.QR 9977 Fist WeaponOne-Hand Fist Weapon109-204 Damage Speed 2.50(62.6 damage per second)+13 Agility+19 StaminaEquip: +26 Attack Power.QR 9977 Healer MaceThe screenshot, for some reason, does not include a mouseover of this mace. However, later in the thread, someone comments that the mace has "160ish +healing and some other stats I dont recall."
Burning Crusade Spells & Talents Updated
No, no -- still no hunter abilities. The main body of these changes seems to be extensive revisions to the priest abilities, making them a lot more interesting (and actually tempting me to spec higher than 31 points in any tree -- crazy!). However, there are also some tweaks for paladins, warlocks, and warriors. Check them out on the forums, or read on for the details.
A chance to get in to the BC beta!
At present, I'm only seeing this contest up on the European website, but it wouldn't surprise me to find a similar affair on the US website soon. (If not, expect more moaning on the forums than usual over the next few days.) Winning is simple -- just take a screenshot of your guild near a well-known NPC. So get out your fanciest clothes and get searching for that perfect spot. The best 40 entries will receive 25 beta keys for the guild. Now get going -- you only have until October 5th to send in your entry!
Character screens from the Burning Crusade
You won't find huge amounts of new data here, but poster ethan_th on the Curse Gaming forums has posted a number of screenshots of the character screen in the Burning Crusade expansion. This screenshot selects the defenses menu, which shows off the much talked about new resilience statistic -- the mouseover for which reads: "Decrease the chance of enemy a criticial hit on you by 0.0)%" Read on for some additional screenshots.
Have some friends who aren't yet hooked?
Not very likely, I know. But if you do have a friend that hasn't yet been convinced to start playing World of Warcraft, it's a cheap time to get started, as Blizzard seems to have quietly dropped the cost of retail boxes to $19.99. Local prices may vary, but I've noticed several local retailers showing this markdown, including Best Buy, EBgames, Fry's Electronics, and Amazon.com (coming in with the low, low price of $18.98). So, unable to finish a post without adding in some Burning Crusade speculation, I have to wonder if is this price drop another sign of impending expansion release? (Get a few new players in before the expansion hits, or lower the cost of entry for new players once the expansion is released, perhaps?)
Blizzard 1, BC rumor sites 0
The pluralization is a bit pre-emptive here, as only one site I know of has had its contents pulled offline due to Blizzard's requests. That site, the Caverns of Time, was a great compilation of rumors and occasionally legitimate information about the upcoming expansion (the screenshot above, pulled from the site, was obviously not an accurate representation of the druid changes). They've received notice from Blizzard giving them 48 hours to remove contents of the site or else face "formal action," and they seem to have complied. You can check the site, still, for a copy of what I assume is Blizzard's complaint. Ah well -- I'm sure three sites will spring up tomorrow to replace it, thus providing us a steady stream of interesting Burning Crusade gossip!
Another hint at the Burning Crusade release date
Alert reader Elüna points out an interesting fact about the possible release date of the coming expansion -- the release date of the official Bradygames strategy guide. This isn't an avenue I'd thought to check before, but apparently the strategy guide is scheduled for a November 15th release. And while game release dates tend to be guessed at by retailers (hard to sell a pre-order without a release date!), I doubt that book release date information, from the official publisher, is done in quite the same fashion. So what do the rest of you think -- are we looking towards a mid-November expansion release? My magic 8-ball says "maybe!"
Beta invites for raiding guilds?
Multiple threads on the forums have popped up today asking about mails claiming to come from Blizzard (that is to say, an e-mail address ending in @blizzard.com) requesting the names and e-mail addresses of 25 players for beta invites. Is this real? A hoax? A scam? Responses in the forums have ranged from calling it out as an obvious scam, to saying that it's a known fact that Blizzard has been looking for raiders to test the newest raid content. Well, Tseric has replied to one such thread dodging the scam issue entirely, telling us the following: "The players invited to the beta have a rather broad demographic, so looking at it as only raiding guilds being invited into the beta is simply inaccurate." This seems to kill the scam angle and open up another question -- if Blizzard isn't simply picking out raiding guilds for these out-of-the-blue beta invites, who are they picking? (And what do I have to do to get one? Huh, Tseric?)
