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Ghost Wolf: The newest, rarest pet
"Ghost wolf" is usually a term you associate with shamans, but now it might just become the keyword for the newest, rarest, most difficult to tame, and most visually unique hunter pet in the game. As the Mistress of Pets Mania's Arcania reports, some of the new Dustwallow Marsh content in Patch 2.3 involves some Grimtotem shamans who summon tamable ghost wolves. For most hunters, however, these ghost wolves will be impossible to tame, because a few seconds after they appear, they just die, regardless of how much damage they take. The only way to tame them involves using various items or abilities which can shorten the casting time of your "Tame Beast" spell down to a fraction of its original 20 seconds. Here's a list of what you might find useful, listed in approximate order of how important they are to your success: [Mystical Skyfire Diamond] -- This metagem can cut the time it takes to cast Tame Beast in half, and you can't tame this beast without it. You have to repeatedly cast various aspects until its special proc goes off. Heroism or Bloodlust -- The same ability with different names for Alliance and Horde shamans; having a friend in your party use this will further reduce your taming time by 30%. If your latency is good, this should make your taming just barely fast enough to succeed. Mind Control -- Bring a priest friend along too, and he or she willl be able to take control of one of the Grimtotem NPCs to summon the ghost wolf whenever you're ready. A handy macro -- To save time in getting your casting going, just type "/target grimtotem spirit guide;" on the first line of a macro, and "/cast tame beast" on the second. Then drag it to your action bar so you can hit it repeatedly just as you ask your priest friend to summon the wolf. [Thanks Grunde!] [Drums of Battle] -- It's also very helpful to either be a Leatherworker, or have one in your party who will use this for you just before you start your taming, in order to shave a few more moments off your taming time. Be a troll -- Trolls get a Berserking ability, which might just be the final little bit you need in order to cut down the taming time enough to snatch this ghostly wolf pet. A lot of non-trolls have succeeded in taming this pet, too, of course; but if you happen to be a troll, feel free to use this ability to make it a bit easier. After all that, you need a macro or something to immediately target the wolf and start taming the very moment it appears. Then, you can pray for a few seconds and hope everything works. It may be very hard, but it has been done before -- though one person on Mania's site said that her new ghost pet died a second after she tamed it, possibly as a residual effect of its otherwise very limited lifespan. So if you want to try it, be patient, and don't get your hopes too high don't worry -- even if your pet dies, once it's tamed, it's yours. Just revive pet, and proceed. Oh, and get ready for an extremely long leveling grind to get it up from 30 to 70 (though it's soon to get a bit faster). Hunter alts passing through Dustwallow as you level up: Don't even dream about it.[Update]: I've edited this post to include some of the other helpful information from commenters and other sources that came out after we originally published it. Be sure to check out our other resources on the Ghost Wolf pet, including a video showing the taming in action, a story about how Matthew Rossi helped his wife get one, and proof that the Grimtotem Sririt Guide will remain tamable in the future. Read about the Ghost Wolf's color changes in combat ==>>
WoW Moviewatch: The Gods of Zul'Aman
The arrival of a new patch used to be noted with a simple entry on the update page of the WoW's site. Now, it's heralded with its own movie trailer. Blizzard has released a short trailer exploring the story behind Patch 2.3's Zul'Aman and challenging the players with: "This is our land. You wanna stay? You stay here forever. We gonna bury you here."It's a well done trailer, especially the camera moves, sound design and music composition. But am I the only one who thought the montage of the Zul'Aman gods at the end was a little...Power Rangerseque?Previously on Moviewatch...EDIT: Oops, this was already featured yesterday on our site. Ah well, for those of you who missed it, here it is. For those of you who saw it yesterday, see it again for the first time. And I still stand by my Power Rangers comment.
WoR previews Zul'Aman
World of Raids has posted everything they know about Zul'Aman, the next 10man instance due in patch 2.3. Tigole has said that Zul'Aman is coming to the PTR next week, so if your guild is a big fan of the PTR, you could be headed to the Troll city in the Ghostlands very soon.They've got pictures up of four of the bosses, and info about the two last bosses, Hexlord Zin'jakk and Zul'jin himself, that we'll fight together. The first boss (whichever one that is-- I thought it was the Bear boss, but that fight seems more complicated) is supposed to be easier in terms of raid coordination, but Zul'Aman is definitely a continuation of what's going on in Karazhan, according to Blizzard. They say the difficulty will start around Nightbane or Prince and head upwards from there. Also, as we've heard, Zul'Aman will have a timed quest similar to the Baron Run, where you can try doing the instance quickly to earn better loot.Exciting stuff. I usually stay away from the PTRs, just because I like seeing stuff when it's released live on the realms, and any progress I make in the PTRs is eventually lost. But 10 mans are always fun, and I love the Zul instances, so whenever the PTR hits this week, you just might find me there taking down Trolls.Thanks, Atryd!
Around Azeroth: I can dance!
Reader Joseph sends in this shot of a male Troll caught mid-dance in the middle of an undisclosed (but very orange) location. I know where this shot was taken, but Joseph has sworn me to secrecy, suggesting that you, dear readers, come up with an answer -- where is Joseph's troll dancing?Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth. %Gallery-1816%
Know Your Lore: Troll history
Woo, Zul'Aman is coming. Another dang troll instance. Another fight against my brothers and sisters. Another slog through endless high priests and animal aspects. Another raid of "Sorry there, I thought you were one of the mobs so I was trying to fight you." We've killed so many trolls now, I think it's about time we know what we've been fighting. Troll lore is extremely interesting, but it's also ridiculously confusing. I mean, how many troll tribes have we launched genocides against by now? How are all these trolls related, anyway? Do any trolls actually get along with other trolls? Read on, and we'll try to sort through some of the muddy tangles of troll history. Next week we'll actually get to Zul'jin himself, who was originally the focus of this article before it got horrendously long. Who: Trolls! What: Trolls! History: First, before this gets too confusing, let's do a basic summary of the sort of trolls you're going to run into in WoW, so you can connect the names with the in-game models. Jungle trolls are the skinny dudes in the Temple of Atal'hakkar, Stranglethorn Vale, Zul'Gurub, and Darkshore. The Darkspear trolls -- the playable race of trolls -- are also jungle trolls. Forest trolls include the troll enemies in Hinterlands, LBRS, Ghostlands, and Eastern Plaguelands, and the Horde-friendly Revantusk trolls. Ice trolls are found in Northrend and Dun Morogh, and sand trolls are the guys in Zul'Farrak. A basic troll identification guide is skin color. Forest trolls are green, jungle trolls are blue/purple, ice trolls are white/light blue, and sand trolls are beige. An excellent guide to troll looks can be found here. What? We're not racist.
Gamers on the Street: Attunement changes
Hello all, and welcome to Gamers on the Street! In this column I will be logging into a different server each week to create a character and ask completetly random gamers of both factions their opinions about things that are currently impacting players in World of Warcraft. In this way we hope to reach out to the community and give some everyday gamers a chance to talk about some of the things going on in game.This week, I picked the Gnomeregan server by asking someone in the <It came from the Blog> guild to name a server for me. It was the first one that was given to me. I rolled my two characters -- a Gnome Rogue and a Troll Rogue, which I dutifully leveled past one so nobody thought I was a gold spammer -- and headed for the major cities nearby to ask my questions. Amusingly, getting anyone to talk to you at level five (Alliance) or three (Horde) was difficult to say the least...
Orc & Troll "monsters" oh my!
Many people have crafted cool WoW-themed items for their friends and families. We've seen cool WoW cakes, nifty paper non-combat pets, We've even seen different takes on people's characters. Recently, I was gifted with a "monster doll" of my own character -- the Troll Rogue on the right. She now sits above my monitor, protecting my desk from any bad guys who decide to raid it. (Sadly, my dear little monster Rogue is not terribly effective at staving off the dreaded Housecattus Napimus though.) In the interest of sharing some of the neat things dreamed up by the WoW community that are out there, I sat down with the artist, Nicole, to find out more about these WoW 'monster' dolls!
Japanese hardware sales, May 21 - May 27: Step by Step edition
Some of our readers wonder exactly what they're supposed to do with the Japanese hardware sales every week. To promote enlightenment and worldwide harmony, we've taken the liberty of creating a step-by-step walkthrough of a proper response to the weekly figures. Adhere to these rules whenever possible, and if you must deviate, remember to at least properly remove all semblance of standard English grammar from your comments.1. Look for any obvious outliers in the sales data, such as the Nintendo DS falling out of first place. This will never occur; advance to step 2.2. Statistical variation causes slight fluctuations every week. Immediately look for numbers that come close to dividing evenly into one another; this enables comments such as, "lol, wii sold 5x of PS3s this week, pwnage."3. Should any Nintendo systems suffer a decrease in sales, come up with reasons as to why they dropped. The usually accurate "supply is unable to currently meet demand" excuse is no longer sufficient in most cases. Come up with creative replies like, "redirected shipments of software caused a temporary instability in the retail market," or "lol ghost of kutaragi put a curse on teh DS kekekekeke."4. There will invariably be a Sony or Microsoft troll, defending his or her own system while attacking your own. Henceforth, we'll be posting IP addresses and relevant contact information*; please take it upon yourselves to attack and/or maim the aforementioned troll, preferably with some kind of mace that grants +7 strength while fighting trolls.*Really.**- DS Lite: 127,461 16,248 (14.61%) - Wii: 58,644 6,451 (12.36%) - PSP: 26,097 1,408 (5.12%) - PS2: 11,311 430 (3.95%) - PS3: 9,627 968 (11.18%) - Xbox 360: 2,044 18 (0.89%) - Game Boy Micro: 407 21 (4.91%) - GBA SP: 288 42 (12.73%) - Gamecube: 256 20 (7.25%) - DS Phat: 81 55 (211.54%) - GBA: 17 16 (48.48%)[Source: Media Create]**Not really.
Around Azeroth: Welcome to Yojamba Isle
Reader Tiffa sends in this shot of Yojamba Isle, which looks like the ideal setting for a beach party, doesn't it? Blue sky overhead and palm trees below! However, the Zandalar tribe which resides here is a serious lot, dedicated to the fight against Hakkar, the Blood God, and his minions in Zul'Gurub. But if you fancy some good times in old Azeroth, pay the Zandalar a visit! The fights in Zul'Gurub remain some of my favorite in the game.Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth. %Gallery-1816%
Screenshots from inside Zul'Aman
Borst from the World of Raids forums has reported back this morning with some screenshots from the other side of the Zul'aman portal on live servers. For those of you not familiar, Zul'Aman is an instance just chock-full o' trolls, much like Zul'Farrak and Zul'Gurub are. Unlike the other two, however, the trolls in Zul'Aman make use of the beefier-looking troll model -- specifically, the Forest Trolls who are currently seen in the south-eastern side of the Blood Elf starting area. It is also, per an interview with Tigole, a L70 raid instance, although I haven't personally seen anything official from Blizzard stating if it's a 25 man or a 10 man as yet. Still, for all that the post and exploration was limited to just a couple of interior shots, it's interesting to see some small part of it. Although I do think it would be nice if we weren't killing trolls quite so much... Someone might get the idea that all of us trolls are bad, and it would be troll sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria! Then who would ya get to dance 'da capoeira, mon? [via World of Raids]
Message board complaints ruin games
At Wired News, Lore Sjöberg complains about the complainers, dishing out amusing profiles of the MMORPG message-board posters. His eight personality sketches ruin the game for average players, sucking otherwise-satisfied gamers into the jaded world of the complainers. (Alas, we're all too familiar with that world.)We're critical about games because we expect a lot and see so many. You readers likely fall into a similar level of exposure and anticipation. We're often most critical about games that are near perfection; that level of quality amplifies minor issues. But this column reminds us -- at some point -- to overlook the problems and just have fun playing.
