trial-of-the-champion
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Patch 3.2.2: 5-man Coliseum jousting woes to be addressed
I'm sure a lot of us have had this experience: You finish up jousting down the three champions in the first encounter of the 5-man Trial of the Champions, then all hell breaks loose. Your tank goes to lock down the Warrior, but in the meantime, the Rogue, who fell on the other side of the coliseum, makes a beeline to your healer, who was the person who dismounted him. Then the Mage, who's on yet a third side of the arena, starts blasting down your Mage who never seems to get any stamina on his gear. Your tank tries to rein everybody in, but since the bosses still have the aggro they built up from the jousting stage, they're near impossible to peel. Everyone dies.
Dual specs and loot priority
Like lots of other players, I found myself running the regular version of Trial of the Champion endlessly in pursuit of trinket drops when patch 3.2 hit, and it wasn't uncommon for groups to spend some time beforehand figuring out who was going to roll on what. With so many players now dual-specced into different roles and volunteering to come to 5-mans on an offspec just to get things moving, determining who had more priority on an item drop usable by multiple classes got a bit tetchy at times. I saw some ugly fights break out, and never more so than when a DPS player who respecced to heal for the sake of the group was told not to bid on the Abyssal Rune or Banner of Victory. Losing a roll on something you need to an off- or secondary-spec sucks, but being unable to roll on gear that benefits your main spec just because you respecced to get the group going is equally agonizing.
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Trial of the Champion Loot Part 2
Yes, technically that's a screenshot from last night's Ulduar alt PuG. Since there's a Marrowstrike and several other pieces of TotC gear in it, as well as a female draenei warrior (how often do you see that?) I'm gonna let it go. Draenei women hold polearms really weird, in my opinion.Last week we covered weapons, trinkets and rings from both heroic and normal Trial of the Champion. This week, we'll cover plate drops, capes and neck pieces. We may actually be able to get it all in, although there's a decent amount of plate in this instance. I'm actually surprised at how expansive the loot table (for a 3 encounter instance) TotC has managed to support. For the short duration there's a lot of gear in here.Also, I can confirm that Marrowstrike and Edge of Ruin are 212 DPS weapons now. (That's cause I'm using one in the back there.)
Speeding up Trial of the Champion
Trial of the Champion, the latest dungeon, has quickly become a popular daily destination. It's no wonder why; in under half an hour, with little difficulty, you can begin outfitting your character(s) with epics of Ulduar quality!At first, I wasn't sure if I agreed with Blizzard's decision to start handing out welfare epics again. Surely we can't be that close to the next expansion, Cataclysm!Then I realized how easily I could now gear one of my alts, which was something previously impossible to me. Being a main healer, I knew I would never have the opportunity to bring an alt to a raid, so my favorites have not even hit 80 yet. Now that I know I could get them Ulduar-ready in such a short time, I have renewed interest in leveling them. I can also see why Blizzard would want to help players gear up at this point in time. In Burning Crusade, so few people got to see Sunwell and experience what the expansion was all about, that this time around, they seem to be gunning for the general raiding population to reach Arthas (Icecrown Citadel). Having accepted this acceleration in "progress," I was left with one major qualm. The introduction to Trial of the Champion, which must be endured each run, is way too long. Unbearably long. Go and make a triple-decker sandwich long. Then a few guildmates and I discovered that there is indeed a way to hasten the process.
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Trial of the Champion Loot
Each week The Care and Feeding of Warriors discusses all sorts of warrior related topics. This week, Matthew Rossi discusses the gear options for tanks and DPS warriors in the new 5 man instance that dropped with Patch 3.2.I was actually pleasantly surprised at the various gear options available in TotC and its heroic version. Some of the drops (trinkets, weapons) will draw the attention of even people in various stages of raiding, and it's all solid for someone just getting into the 80 game.Since the loot list is fairly long, we'll just dig right into it. This week we cover weapons, trinkets and rings, and next week we attempt to wrap it all up.
The Queue: Simple things
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.Today is a day of, apparently, quick questions and quick answers. Most of the questions asked were fairly straightforward and not particularly involved. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is really up to you, but it is what it is: simple. I planned to embed a cartoon at the top of this video, but the aspect ratio made it gigantic if I used our standard width, so there's a link instead.whalt asked... "Any idea if prior season PvP weapons will ever be available from honor/arena points and not require an arena rating like the old Glad weapons were back in BC?"
The best of WoW.com: August 4-11, 2009
Exciting times in the World of Warcraft lately -- patch 3.2 is out, and with it comes brand new instances, new items to find, and a multitude of changes to make the game more fun. Oh, and don't forget about BlizzCon -- speculation is at a fever pitch with the event just 10 days away, and as you can see from the first post below, the leaks are starting to come already. Here's a sampling of the news you'll find on Joystiq's WoW.com. News Cataclysm races leakedWoW.com reveals the new playable races in the Cataclysm expansion, to be announced at BlizzCon next week. Player reaction to the 5-man TrialWhat did players think of the brand new 5-man instance? Patch 3.2 Known IssuesHere's what's still broken in the newest patch. BigRedKitty gets his own gun in AzerothOur friend and former coworker BRK gets honored with his own piece of ingame gear. 53 Emblems per dayWant to take advantage of the Emblem changes in the new Heroics? Run this route and farm as many emblems as you can. Features Every kind of player's guide to patch 3.2Not sure what to do in patch 3.2? Let us help. Arcane Brilliance: Good and bad in patch 3.2The Mage column examines the pros and cons of what's happening to them in the recent patch. Insider Trader: Progressive professionsHow to move professions forward in the future of the game. Time is Money: On patrolHave only a little time but want to make a lot of gold? Join the Troll Patrol! World of Warcraft Patch 3.2 Mounts guideThe mount changes have affected the game a lot -- here's the rundown of everything that's new.
How the "Summon Memory" fight in the Trial of the Champion should have been done
Responses to the implementation of Patch 3.2 have been pretty mixed. I've been trying to see as much of it as I can. I loved Children's Week, for example, but over the weekend, I ventured into Trial of the Champion, the new 5-man content in the Crusaders' Coliseum. My curiosity had been piqued by talk of Hogger as a raid boss and whispers of the power to fight Illidan and Lucifron. Now, having never ventured into either Molton Core or Black Temple, I was quite keen to experience the encounter for myself. So I grouped with my guildies (who all seem quite addicted to the quick runs, easy fight and shiny loot) and headed into the unknown. I was already aware that Trial of the Champion sees you fighting a bunch of champions on horseback, then getting either Eadric the Pure of High Confessor Paletress. We, luckily, got the latter. I like Paletress. She's an intriguing character as well as an epitome of goodness who's not afraid to fight for her beliefs. She also has the coolest attack in the Trial: she summons the memory of a past encounter. This was the bit I was waiting for and when Onyxia appeared, I was momentarily stunned.
The Queue: Exploits and dirty cheats
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.The video embedded in today's edition of The Queue isn't a silly music video this time around, I'm afraid. No funny business today. Today is for game faces. Today is for serious business. Today is for italic letters. Sashay asked... "I have found a glitch that has caused many people to have their hearts broken. This glitch is the "underground" mining technique that people use so they will not be attacked by enemies. Does this happen because they found a "Under Stormwind" glitch somewhere in Northrend? Maybe they put their toon in the tourney castle before it was built and now they are under everything?"
WoW Insider Show Episode 102: Stupid big-tongues
We had a terrific time (as always) on the live podcast last Saturday afternoon, as Zach Yonzon, Mike "Belfaire" Sacco, and Turpster and I sat down to talk about the most popular stories in the World of Warcraft. Of course patch 3.2 was at the forefront of our minds, and we chatted about what each of us was most interested in, from the new BG to the 5-man Trial instance. And we got a little bit of discussion in about the various classes and roles they play in instances.Of course we answered your emails as well -- we talked with Michael Sacco about the "Additional instances can't be launched" issue that's going around (that I got hit with for the first time yesterday, actually), and a reader emailed us about BRK's gun -- so awesome to see our friend get recognized, and deservedly so. It was an excellent show, in my humble opinion, and a great way to squeeze a week's worth of WoW news into just one hour.This week, the podcast will be at a special time -- we'll be going live on Thursday at 1pm Eastern. That's a little earlier than we usually do it, but it should give our friends overseas a chance to tune in when they might not have been able to before (and if you can't make it live, don't worry, the recording will be in iTunes soon after). See you then!Get the podcast:[iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show directly in iTunes.[RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator.[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.Listen here on the page:
Phat Loot Phriday: Marrowstrike
Here's something for you Hunters to go after in the 5-man Trial this weekend.Name: Marrowstrike (Wowhead, Thottbot, Armory)Type: Epic PolearmDamage/Speed: 570-856 / 3.50 (212.3 DPS)Attributes: +106 Agility, +101 Stamina Yellow socket (nice for +Hit gems, though you can put whatever you want in there) with a +4 Agility socket bonus %Gallery-33600%
Every kind of player's guide to Patch 3.2
If you've been hiding under a rock these past few months (and who doesn't do that every now and then, really?) you might have only just noticed that Patch 3.2 recently went live. For some of you, it's as good an excuse as any to log back into the game while for others, it might've been a surprise to find yourself suddenly downloading upwards of 300Mb of content. If you fall under the category of surprised, lost, or surprised and lost, have no fear! WoW.com is here to hold your hand and guide you through the wild and wacky wonders of the Call of the Crusade. Let's take a look at what the latest patch holds for you - and there's something for you no matter what kind of player you are - after the jump.
53 Emblems per day
This is great -- it's probably more WoW playing than I could do in one day, but maybe I'll try it this weekend anyway. loztaylor has designed a heck of an instance run that rolls through thirteen Heroics and will nab you 53 Emblems of Conquest (along with all of the other spoils of war) in one day. Basically, you'll be sweeping across the land of Northrend, hitting every Heroic you come across, and if by some chance you're able to keep the group together the whole time, and keep from passing out from all the WoW playing you're doing, at the end you'll end up with 53 Emblems, more than enough to purchase most of the Emblem gear, and almost enough to pick up a Tier piece.Of course, if you're wearing a rep tabard, you'll also rein in a ton of dungeon rep. And if you hit the new Trial of the Champion, you'll pick up your Champion's Seals as well. And you'll have 13 Frozen Orbs to divvy among the group, a few extra Emblems and gold from doing the daily quests, and if you're good and/or lucky, you might even be able to clear up a few of the achievements or snag that blue proto-drake. Of course, doing this much of anything in the game will probably nab you plenty of rewards. But here's a tuned route to follow all the way around the world of Heroics. If I can find a willing group of suckers guildies, I think I'll give it a shot.
The Queue: Crazy delicious gets my vote
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.Today's edition of The Queue is somewhat short, as there weren't a ton of questions in the last edition. I think everyone was too busy boggling at the video I linked. Whoops! Also, here is a random poll.%Poll-32820%Allen Ibrahim asked..."Seeing as Blizzard has been implementing popular addons into the actual game, when do you think we'll see DBM or even Omen in-game? Do you think they will just save them for the next-gen MMO instead?"
World of Warcraft Patch 3.2 Mage Guide
WoW.com has covered patch 3.2 extensively. Everything from the surprising changes to flying mounts, to the latest and greatest loot, and all the changes in between. In our patch 3.2 class, raiding, and PvP guides we take a look at exactly what changes and how the changes will affect your playing. So...a patch happened or something? I guess it's a big deal. People are excited or whatever. I'm way too cool to show any kind of positive emotion, so...meh. Meh, I say.Ok, I can't keep that up. Patches always make me happy. I've been known to break into song and engage in impromptu yet highly choreographed dance routines on patch days. This time around it was a little number called "Living Bomb is Castable on Multiple Targets Now...Yay!" The lyrics are actually quite clever. They go like this: "Living Bomb is castable on multiple targets now...yay!" repeated several times, and sung to the tune of whatever Wiggles song my kids happen to be listening to in the background at the time. Or sometimes to the Knight Rider theme. Don't ask me why. I'm a musical genius and I don't have to explain myself to you.Anyway, let's take a quick look at the ways this patch will be affecting Mages. Here's a five-word preview: Living Bomb Multiple Targets Yay
Arcane Brilliance: Trial of the Champions loot preview for Mages
Each week Arcane Brilliance conjures a portal into the darkest regions of your soul. You should tip Arcane Brilliance, though....those reagents cost money, guys. Also, your soul has a lot of dark regions, so finding the darkest ones is actually kind of a pain. Seriously, tip. Arcane Brilliance took time out of its day to come over and open that portal for you--time that could have been spent killing Warlocks. Compensate Arcane Brilliance. I don't think that's asking too much, really. A couple thousand gold will do. Arcane Brilliance isn't picky. Oh, and Arcane Brilliance also has a Spectral Tiger mount to sell you... Gather round, I want to tell you all a story. Once upon a time, we all hit the level cap (or maybe you haven't yet, but just go with it). We were stumbling around Blasted Lands, or Netherstorm, or more recently, Storm Peaks or something, setting things on fire like we tend to do, and suddenly we realized we weren't getting experience points anymore. What to do now? Our gear sucked; we were tromping around sporting some kind of purple turban, a hideous brown shirt with agility on it, and probably a pink skirt that showed way too much leg or something. We glanced around and probably saw some other Mage flying by on a giant golden dragon, wearing a slick getup that looked as if had come off the rack as a matching set at Archmages R Us, carrying a staff that was constructed out of a full demon skeleton and pulsed with the pallid red malice of a thousand hells. We looked down at the flimsy stick or crappiness we'd found on a kobold corpse about 6 levels back, and we wanted more. Unfortunately, the gear that other Mage had could only be obtained through raiding, and you couldn't spell DPS if you had a dictionary and a last name with 72 consonants in it. To get good gear, you had to have good gear, and your flimsy stick of crappiness just wasn't going to cut it. So you put your nose to the grindstone. You got into max-level instances. You ground reputation with 17 different factions. You saved your pennies and bought things on the auction house. You applied yourself to a profession until you could craft yourself some kind of epic pants or something. Little by little, you pieced together the best of what the pre-raid end-game had to offer, until one day your guild finally let you come along to your first raid. Then the Warlock won the roll on that sweet wand from the fourth boss, and you checked to see if you could kill another person through your computer screen, just by hating them enough. Turns out you can't. Shame.
