ulduar
Latest
The best of WoW Insider: February 24 - March 3, 2009
Lots of new information on Joystiq's WoW-obsessed site WoW Insider this week. There's a new PTR, a new patch on the way, and lots of new tidbits and insights about what's going to be new in Azeroth in a little while. Having trouble staying on top of all the changes? We can help. News WoW Insider's Guide to Patch 3.1Top to bottom coverage of the upcoming content patch. Full Tier 8 armor sets beginning to emergeWe're getting our first looks at the hot new armor coming out of the endgame instances. Datamined Ulduar boss information, with analysisWhat kinds of bosses will you be facing down in the new Ulduar raid instance? We'll let you know. WoW PTR 3.1: Swimming mount videoTake your mounts for a swim with videos of every single mount we could find. PTR quests show hard mode, Ulduar storyline, and Val'anyrDefinite spoilers here, but if you want a look at what we'll be questing for in the new content, check this out. Features Guildwatch: Brother against brotherOur guild gossip column dives into the worst of guild drama from around the realms just for your enjoyment. The Queue: Missing outHave questions about the World of Warcraft? Our Q&A column has answers. Insider Trader: Your livelihood after patch 3.1How you'll make your money after the new content patch comes out. Arcane Brilliance: Mage changes (or lack of) on the PTRSo what's up with Mages on the PTR? Not much, apparently. WoW Insider Show Episode 79: Argently competingOur weekly podcast lays down the lowdown on the latest in game news.
Ulduar on the Patch 3.1 PTR: The Flame Leviathan
The developers sent us for a bit of a loop today, putting an Ulduar boss up for testing with very little notice immediately after PTR maintenance. Matticus, ever reliable, threw together a quick 10-man raid and welcomed me along to try out the Flame Leviathan. Unfortunately, Michael Sacco (who walked you through Hodir and the Iron Council) wasn't able to go with us this time around. I think he did it on purpose so I couldn't make any jokes about his inability to perform, if you know what I mean.The Flame Leviathan is the boss (or one of the bosses) that uses siege vehicles in its encounter in the outdoors portion of Ulduar. For the safety of those that do not wish to be spoiled on anything Ulduar related, I'll put all information on the encounter beneath the cut below.Again, if you do not want to be spoiled, do not click the link below.
Ulduar in-game dungeon maps
We're reported on the new in-game dungeon maps that Blizzard has implemented before, and we've got the Ulduar maps for you tonight. These are coming fresh off the latest Patch 3.1 PTR build (#9637 for those keeping track).Click below through our gallery to see them all.The map seems to indicate there are five floor to Ulduar. There is also a mini-map overview that was complied a few days ago you can also check out.Boss testing is commencing tonight, and we should have some more information and impressions up for you by tomorrow morning. We're also on the PTR now checking out other reported changes, we'll let you know what we dig up!Full gallery of Ulduar maps after the jump!
This week's Ulduar testing schedule
Daelo, our cloth-wrapped lead encounter designer, has just posted the schedule for which bosses will be tested in Ulduar on the 3.1 PTR this week. As you may be aware, they're not opening all bosses for testing at once (at least, not yet), and bosses are up only during certain hours, to let the devs watch players (try to) beat them. This week, here's the schedule for the North American realms: Tonight, Tuesday 3/3, starting at 4 PM PST now: Flame Leviathan, the (in-)famous vehicle boss. Only the 10-man version should be tested, as the 25-man one is "not properly tuned." I'm really curious to see how this fight is going to work out. Wednesday, 3/4, starting at 4 PM PST: Ignis the Furnace Maker. Thursday, 3/5, starting 4 PM PST: Hodir. And for the European realms: Wednesday, 4/3, 1 AM CET: Flame Leviathan, 10-man only. Thursday, 5/3, 7 PM CET: Thorim. Friday, 6/3, 7 PM CET: Freya. Thorim on Thursday, Freya on friday? I think they did that on purpose. Daelo also promises that General Vezax and Razorscale will be soon available for European testers, and XT-002 Deconstructor for US testers. Patch 3.1 brings us Ulduar, dual specs, significant changes to all the classes, and more! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1.
An Immortal in Ulduar and other troublesome achievements
Here's an interesting Ulduar request from Hugner on Hyjal -- he wants to ask that there be no "Immortal"-style achievement in the new raid instance. He says getting the achievement has been super frustrating for his guild, not only because, you know, it's hard, but because with one simple disconnect at the wrong time, the whole week's attempt is wasted.Of course, an achievement like that isn't meant to be easy. Some people in the thread suggest making it more like The Dedicated Few (so that not all the bosses have to be flawless in one run), but Bornakk says it's an achievement -- it's not required and if you really want to get the meaningless points, you'll just have to work around the disconnects. He's also shoring up discontent on the other side of things -- people are complaining that the Gonna Go When the Volcano Blows achievement is messing up their Sarth runs, because they're dodging insignificant damage rather than actually downing the boss. In fact, the easiest way to do that one is just to suicide in the very beginning (because the AoE can't hit corpses), and lots of people are doing that. Bornakk says change isn't likely -- the achievement is designed to be separate from gaining loot from the boss.Bottom line on both of these is that they're achievements -- if they're hard or random or waste time, that's kind of the point. Blizzard may have caved on a few of the holiday achievements, but these endgame achievements aren't meant to be gotten easily or even without a little RNG help.
Why now's the best time to run BC content
Spartonian over on WoW LJ has been running some old content, and he points out something that everyone should hear: now is the absolute best time to be running the old Burning Crusade endgame. He says the contest is laughably easy with current endgame levels and gear, and yet, because we're still basically at the beginning of this expansion's endgame, there are still quite a few items that can be picked off of the end bosses in Black Temple and Sunwell (not to mention you can pick up the achievements for those places if you weren't able to down them before.And he's right -- there are some nice trinkets still found in those old instances, and who wouldn't want to complete their Warglaive set or grab a Thori'dal from Sunwell? Sure, the stats may not be the best, but until the ammo changes go in, you can save money while soloing -- and own a legendary to boot.Of course, when Ulduar shows up, we'll all likely be too busy with the new content (be it the raids or the Argent Tournment or whatever else you got) to go back to Burning Crusade. But now, during the downtime post-OS and Naxx, is the perfect time to go back and clean up the old content.
The Queue: Genn, you're such a jerk
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.Be warned that the very end of today's edition of The Queue contains minor spoilers for the upcoming Ulduar raid zone. Everything is perfectly safe until the very last question, and even then the spoilers are very minor. Minor as in it describes a couple of the bosses found within the zone. It doesn't give away any story or plot. If you want your experience to remain pure, stop at the last question. If you don't care so much about knowing who you'll see in Ulduar, it's perfectly safe.I warn because I love.mindor asked...What is the deal with the Greymane wall in Silverpine forest? Is there an old raid set in there? What is on the other side of that monstrous wall?
WoW Insider Show Episode 79: Argently competing
We had a great time as usual last weekend on the podcast -- Dan O'Halloran and BigRedKitty joined me on the WoW Insider Show, and we chatted about the most popular stories in WoW from the last week. We answered your emails, including how to fill up your guild with quality raiders and what kinds of things you can do to make leveling an alt easier (including not leveling an alt at all).And of course we talked 3.1 -- a little bit of class changes, lots of information about the new dual spec system, what the equipment manager is like (and what it can do for you), Ulduar and the bosses we've seen so far, and finally, the Argent Tournament: what we know and what we don't know just yet. And of course we updated folks on Turpster's new song (almost done, but not quite mastered yet), and on our drive to get over 9000 Twitter followers. If you aren't following us yet, head over to Twitter and hit follow so we can hit our goal and do a video podcast.Was a fun show to make, and hopefully you'll have just as much fun listening to it. We'll see you next week.Update: As promised, here's BRK's intro in mp3 form. No idea what you all wanted it for, but there you go.Get the podcast:[iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show directly in iTunes.[Ustream] Listen to the unedited recording in Ustream.[RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator.[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.Listen here on the page:
Ulduar revealed on full map
Stompalina over at Rawrbitchrawr pointed us in the direction of a map of Ulduar that was meticulously pieced together by a guild mate. The map contains major spoilers, so do not click on the links if you want everything to be a surprise. The map contains a list of all the possible bosses, including those that haven't been announced yet.The map also reveals a possible progression through the dungeon, which should be indicative of the relative difficulty of the bosses as players head towards the final boss. It's a rather interesting map, if you're willing to see spoilers. The map is spawling and looks massive. Head on over for a peek at the big dungeon of Patch 3.1. Have I said it was filled with spoilers yet? Well, it's filled with spoilers!
All the World's a Stage: So you want to be a Tailor
This installment of All the World's a Stage is the twenty-seventh in a series of roleplaying guides in which we find out all the background information you need to roleplay a particular race or class (or profession!) well, without embarrassing yourself. Tailoring is another aspect of Warcraft which people tend to just gloss over without realizing it is an important element of your character's backstory and personality. "I am Zorlastine the wicked Forsaken warlock!" one might say, "I have come to wreak havoc and destruction upon this world! I also sell extremely large bags on the auction house!" Often it's an element that doesn't quite jive with the rest of one's character, but at the same time, nobody really notices. A powerful mage capable of teleportation, massive explosions, and yes, even KNITTING! Makes perfect sense, right?No it doesn't.So today we have gathered a few ideas for how to weave your cloth-wearing character's capability to create cloth wearables into the actual story and roleplay of your character. You think making clothes is a tedious profession? A pastime just for old ladies? No, tailoring is an avant-garde artistic activity of the elite, an excellent way for a starving hero to make cash, and even a mystical philosophy all on its own.
More Druid changes on the 3.1 PTR
The above headline is a polite, succinct means of saying "I went AFK for a few hours yesterday and returned to 2/3 of the Druid class wanting to throw itself in front of an oncoming train."Additions to the latest PTR build aren't extensive for Druids but include a 10% nerf to stamina returns from Heart of the Wild in the feral tree, and a doubling of Lifebloom's mana cost (and reworking of its bloom mechanics) in the Restoration tree.Well, no point checking our watches waiting for the next harbinger of welcome death by way of light commuter rail. Let's take a look.HEART OF THE WILD: Stamina bonus changed to 2/4/6/8/10%.Ouch, baby.Before I write anything else, a quick note to the people spamming the Tanking and Druid forums with End-of-the-World proclamations; it's the frigging public test realm. None of this is set in stone. Calmez-vous.I can finally stay on the PTR without disconnecting every 5-10 minutes, so I hopped on and started comparing the character sheet to my main's live version. The biggest problem right now is that the HotW change (in addition to the Survival of the Fittest armor nerf) has gone live on the PTR without Savage Defense going live alongside it. If you get any toons copied to the PTR or can just finally log on successfully, you'll find yourself down several thousand armor and several thousand HP without Savage Defense active to compensate.
PTR quests show hard-mode progression, Ulduar storyline, Val'anyr
We've been wondering for a while how exactly the Ulduar storyline plays out in 3.1; this may seem a bit silly or lorelol, given how much time is going to be spent running the instance itself or its myriad of raid bosses and hard modes, but I like to know what's driving me to complete an instance beyond phatty purpz.You can obviously infer a lot from the instance itself and the names of each respective room, but for those seeking a little more information, Wowhead's PTR page has you covered. There were a few quests added in this most recent PTR build that give us tantalizing bits of Ulduar storyline and show Blizzard's intention to create clear progressions -- not only in the 10- and 25-man versions of Ulduar, but a reward and progression path for those blazing a trail in the hard mode versions of each instance. A fine notion indeed. Oh, and if you wanted to know just how to forge that new legendary mace... This writeup will be spoiler-heavy! If you don't wish to know anything about the secrets that lie within Ulduar, don't click the link below. You've been warned.
Ulduar on the 3.1 PTR: The Iron Council
Last night was round 2 of the Ulduar encounter testing on the 3.1 PTR, and after last night's attempts at Hodir, my guildies and waste-of-a-raid-spot coworker were excited to get back into the beautiful Titan dinner party and sink our teeth into another new encounter. And if we wanted a snack, we got ourselves a three-course meal: The Iron Council, a veritable Three's Company of dudes made of metal. Except Three's Company really had one dude in it regularly, and the other two were women. And none of the Iron Councilmen are Councilwomen. Clearly Iron society is not as progressive as ours. As expected, the server couldn't be convinced to just let us get in and do what we needed to do, so we spent an inordinately long time logging in, stalling at the loading screen, getting in, crashing out, getting stuck in queue, swearing loudly in Ventrilo, and getting alcohol to ease the pain.But we did manage to try the fight a few times. This writeup is spoiler-heavy! If you don't wish to know anything about the strategy for this or any Ulduar boss, don't click below. You've been warned.
[UPDATED] WoW Patch 3.1 shuts down the Iron Council
After players got a taste of Hodir yesterday, Blizzard earlier opened up another Ulduar boss encounter on the Patch 3.1 PTR. The Iron Council were ready and waiting for raiders eager to have a shot at them -- and as you can see from the screenshot above, they don't look like pushovers. However, numerous crashes and related problems prevented full testing of the encounter, and Blizzard shut down Ulduar testing for the meantime. We had some of our team from WoW Insider who tried to take a crack at the Iron Council but were repelled by various iterations of server fail.[UPDATE: According to some reports, well-known raiding guilds Death & Taxes, Method, and Fusion all managed to stay inside Ulduar for some time after Blizzard booted everyone else out of the instance. This is sort of expected, considering Blizzard wanted to truly test the encounter -- numerous players formed 2-man raids just to be able to enter Ulduar, thus maxing out the instance limit.]Players who can't get on the PTR or who have similarly given up in frustration because the world server isn't exactly in the stablest of conditions, you can live the encounters vicariously through the streaming video of other intrepid players such as the folks from Rawrcast or Thelastrace on Justin TV. You mileage may vary. In the meantime, you can enjoy the screenshots of the encounter below. We guarantee they won't crash. %Gallery-45995% Patch 3.1 brings us Ulduar, dual specs, significant changes to all the classes, and more! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1.
The Queue: Vanilla Coke edition
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.Hey, everybody! How's your Friday afternoon so far? Mine is full of rain and Vanilla Coke. Mmm. Delicious Vanilla Coke. You know, I'm definitely a Mountain Dew man, and Voltage is my lifeblood, but some days you just want something else. I couldn't drink Vanilla Coke every day, but cracking one open now and then? Caffeinated heaven.* Now, if I can just find my dentures, I'll start answering your questions...Hellscreamy asked... A few days ago I read in one of the posts that Noblegarden would be getting new achievements, items and events. Is there any indication at the moment (PTR or otherwise) that this will count towards the 'What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been' achievement?
Ulduar on the 3.1 PTR: Hodir
Last night was an exciting night -- the first night of Ulduar encounter testing on the 3.1 PTR. Lead Encounter Designer Daelo, a.k.a. Scott Mercer, was on hand to open up the instance portal and guide us to our intended boss (the only boss in the instance for that night) -- Hodir. I've talked about Hodir a few times; he was featured in my Ulduar boss speculation post (and I was right), and I went through some of his datamined abilities a few days ago. Getting to finally test the encounter was exhilarating, and getting back into the process of learning a strat by hitting the ground running was something to which I've been looking forward for a long time. I brought my Elune guildies and a deadweight coworker with me for a 10-man attempt. This writeup will be spoiler-heavy. If you don't wish to know anything about this fight, don't click below. You've been warned.
Ghostcrawler on the success of "bring the player not the class"
You have heard Blizzard's motto for raiding in Wrath of the Lich King, "bring the player not the class." The intent is to steer away from strict raid composition and shake things up. Encounters are being designed so that no one single class is necessary, although the 25-man Razuvious fight currently requires at least one priest, preferably two or three, with at least one specced shadow. Classes are being designed so that many necessary buffs, such as Replenishment, can be acquired through a variety of classes, rather than just one. The rigidity that came with Sunwell is one of the reasons that development has taken this direction. The motto sparked high hopes, and not all players are convinced that the implementation has been successful. In response, Ghostcrawler points out that just like everything in WoW, it is a process. It's not going to be perfect, because things are always changing.
WoW Patch 3.1: Inside Ulduar
It's been just two hours since we first heard Blizzard would be opening Ulduar for testing, and after a rocky start (filled with crashes of all shapes and sizes) we're in game and collecting screenshots. If you can't get into Ulduar yourself, why not take a moment to peruse our gallery? (And, yes, before you even ask: spoilers inside. Don't click if you don't want to see!)%Gallery-45995% Patch 3.1 brings us Ulduar, dual specs, significant changes to all the classes, and more! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1.
Help World of Warcraft, come test Ulduar!
Ok. Ulduar looks amazing. We really, really, really want to go raiding in the Halls of the Titans and learn more about the ancient city that resides in the Storm Peaks. But, sadly, we're relegated to waiting until patch 3.1 launches onto World of Warcraft's servers.Or are we?Our sister site, WoW Insider, got a hold of the test schedule of Ulduar raid bosses. Tonight is the first, Hodir, and he's already started (since 7 PM)! If you can't get on tonight (as some of our correspondents at WoW Insider are locked out) then no worries, as the Iron Council will be the boss for tomorrow night at 7. The full schedule is as follows:On the North American test realmsHodir - Thursday night, February 26, starting at 7pm EST/4pm PST.Iron Council - Friday night, February 27, starting at 7pm EST/4pm PSTOn the European test realmsThorim - Friday night, February 27, starting at 7pm CET.Freya - Friday night, February 28, starting at 7pm CET.The full story is over at WoW Insider, so stop on by and check out how to find Hodir.
Ulduar testing schedule now available
Forget what Blizzard said about not having a testing schedule. That was just to throw you off the trail. Daelo just announced on the forums that some Ulduar bosses are going to be available for testing very soon. And by soon I mean within the next hour. Here's what Daelo had to say:On the North American test realmsHodir - Thursday night, February 26, starting at 7pm EST/4pm PST.Iron Council - Friday night, February 27, starting at 7pm EST/4pm PSTOn the European test realmsThorim - Friday night, February 27, starting at 7pm CET.Freya - Friday night, February 28, starting at 7pm CET.That means that Hodir will be available to fight in less than an hour in North American realms. The Iron Council will be available tomorrow. On the other side of the globe, the Europeans can have a shot at Thorim and Freya. This surprise testing comes right after Blizzard told everyone to stop asking about a raid schedule. Well, there you have it. Note that this will be bare bones testing of the bosses... there will be no trash, no loot, and no Achievements. It's just the boss in order for Blizzard to tune the encounter. Get to the PTR now and form your raids!NOTE: According to Blizzard, "To get to Hodir from the front of Ulduar, travel all the way through the exterior section headed straight until you teleport into the interior section. Go up the stairs, over the temporary bridge, then Hodir's wing is to your right. The walls of his wing are ice covered and he's at the end." Patch 3.1 brings us Ulduar, dual specs, significant changes to all the classes, and more! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1.
