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WoW Insider's Guide to Patch 4.3
So today's the big day. Time for revenge for the great cataclysm and all those who died in Deathwing's burning crusade to bring his wrath unto the vanilla souls of Azeroth. Soon you'll be flying high and bringing the great black dragon back down to earth. But to get there, you're going to have to know your stuff, son. And for that, check out all our patch 4.3 coverage, made into a nice and easy guide for you all. Read WoW Insider's Guide to Patch 4.3
The Queue: Patch 4.3 FAQ
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky (@adamholisky) will be your host today. Today The Queue will focus on patch 4.3 questions that we've seen asked time and time again -- and for good reason, too. This is a huge content patch, and there are lots of different aspects of it that people are confused about. Read on for a bunch of patch 4.3's most frequently asked questions! And, um ... math. Because that seems to be a popular thing around here lately. (I have no idea why.) Many of you asked: What are the requirements for the new patch 4.3 5-man dungeons?
Patch 4.3: End Time, Well of Eternity and Hour of Twilight images
The new patch means new heroics -- and just in case you haven't been wandering around on the 4.3 PTR yourself, we've got a collection of images from all three of the new heroic dungeons. The new heroic dungeons are located in the Caverns of Time as well as the Dragon Soul raid. Two heroics, End Time and Hour of Twilight, are located in a new corridor to the right of the Battle for Mount Hyjal entrance. You'll know you're there when you see all the scenic charred trees and ashes. If you head down the corridor, End Time is the first entrance on your left; if you head to the end of the corridor, you'll see the entrance to the Dragon Soul raid on your left and the entrance to Hour of Twilight on your right. But what about Well of Eternity? Well, that dungeon has its own entrance -- it's on the other side of the caverns, next to the entrance for the Black Morass instance. Of course, if you're queuing via the Dungeon Finder or the new Raid Finder tool, you won't need to travel. But if you want to know what you'll see once you're inside, take a peek at the galleries below for screenshots from each zone and the bosses within. %Gallery-140330% %Gallery-140331% %Gallery-140332% Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Review the official patch notes, and then dig into what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back!
Breakfast Topic: What's your most anticipated patch 4.3 feature?
With the release of patch 4.3: Hour of Twilight, we are entering the final chapter in the Cataclysm saga. Deathwing has emerged from Deepholm, shattered our world, and laid siege to our cities. Now the time has finally come to take down Deathwing, a fairly significant lore figure going back thousands of years in Azeroth's time line and back to Warcraft II in ours. Patch 4.3 is one of those sea-change patches where bombshell features are being added to the game. Transmogrification, void storage, and the Raid Finder (just to name a few) are big deals. WoW has been without solid character customization options for years, and transmogrification hopefully is only the beginning of a new push for more options. Transmogrification is obviously my new favorite feature coming in patch 4.3, but what about you, dear readers? What are you most looking forward to doing or experiencing once the servers go back up and Azeroth finally gets to stand up against the might of Deathwing the Destroyer? Oh, and if you need some context on the image above, the image of Deathwing smoking a hookah was actually a misunderstanding between a foreign art team and Blizzard while working on Warcraft: Lord of the Clans, but it was so awesome Blizzard decided to leave it in. Deathwing, you've changed, buddy. You used to be so chill.
Tuesday Morning Post: On the edge of patch 4.3 edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. CM Bashiok has already confirmed that patch 4.3 will going live today, after the traditional 3 a.m.-to-11 a.m. Pacific downtime. The patch may even be downloadable by the time you read this. With that in mind, it may be a good idea to spend this downtime getting ready and reading up on some of the week's news. To start, I'd strongly suggest you check our guides to the three new 5-man dungeons: End Time Well of Eternity Hour of Twilight You'll probably be queuing up soon to get your first valor points, so make sure you're in the know. Beyond that, we'll have more patch 4.3 FAQs and guides for you as the day goes on, and you'll want to check our guide to patch 4.3 as well. Our usual roundup of the past week's news awaits you after the break.
Patch 4.3: Hour of Twilight official patch notes
Early this morning (3 a.m. for those of you on the west coast!), Blizzard released the official patch notes for patch 4.3, just a few short hours after the release of the trailer. There are no major surprises on the list -- we've seen nearly all of the changes on the PTR -- but those of you who have managed to avoid all of the public test realm hype and spoilers are in for a treat: transmogrification for your gear, void storage to free up your bank, three new dungeons, and the Dragon Soul raid to cap off the entire expansion, all flying your way this afternoon. We've documented the full patch notes behind the cut below, all courtesy of Blizzard.
Patch 4.3: Hour of Twilight trailer
If you've been up all night waiting for the patch 4.3 trailer like I have, wait no more -- it's here. Watch it above in all its embedded glory. However, if you're only watching the embedded video, you're missing out on the flavor text Blizzard included in its YouTube description. Lucky for you, we've included that below. Enjoy! Hour of Twilight Patch 4.3: Hour of Twilight features something for everyone. From a new raid to unexplored dungeons to the latest story developments to shake the world of Azeroth, this content update introduces a new tier of armor sets, the legendary "Fangs of the Father" rogue quest line, Transmogrification for cosmetic armor and weapon customization, Void Storage as a handy long-term storage option, Raid Finder to make forming pick-up raids easier than ever, and much more. Read more about the lore behind this trailer below, or check out the comprehensive overview here: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/3964559/Patch_43_Hour_of_Twilight-11_22_2011#blog In the wake of the Cataclysm, Azeroth's champions rose up to thwart the forces of the maddened black Dragon Aspect, Deathwing. Thus far the world's defenders have shattered the power base of the Twilight's Hammer cult and defeated the raging elemental lords Al'Akir and Ragnaros. Yet despite these victories, as long as Deathwing is free to pursue his twisted goals, Azeroth will remain under threat. No one is more aware of this fact than the great Dragon Aspects Alexstrasza, Nozdormu, Ysera, and Kalecgos. Together with the wise shaman Thrall, they have devised a plan to vanquish Deathwing with a weapon of his own design: the infamous Dragon Soul. In patch 4.3, Thrall and the noble Aspects will call upon the Horde and the Alliance to help them retrieve the artifact--no longer in existence--from the distant past. Those brave enough to face the challenge will embark on a perilous journey from Azeroth's apocalyptic End Time to the Dragon Soul's point of origin during the catastrophic War of the Ancients. If the heroes succeed, an even more harrowing battle awaits them in the present.... source
Patch 4.3 officially going live tomorrow, Nov. 29
Just in case you were wondering, it's confirmed. Community Manager Bashiok has posted that patch 4.3 will be going live tomorrow. That means (among other things) new dungeons, a new Darkmoon Faire, transmogrification, void storage, a new raid, and legendary daggers. There's an eight-hour downtime accompanying the patch starting at 1 a.m. Pacific, but we'll be in a whole new world on the other side. Check after the break for the full announcement.
Realm maintenance for Tuesday, Nov. 29
Update: Blizzard has changed the maintenance times and confirmed patch 4.3 for tomorrow. Realm maintenance this week is an eight-hour stint beginning at 1:00 a.m. Pacific and ending at 9:00 a.m. Pacific for all U.S. realms. This maintenance includes the game as well as many of the web services; we may be looking at a little forum downtime with the game downtime tomorrow morning. While there's been no official announcement, the eight-hour window may indicate that we're looking at the release for patch 4.3 tomorrow, which would set us up nicely for the new Darkmoon Island event the following week. If you've been patiently (or not so patiently, like me) waiting for void storage, transmogrification, new instances, new raids and more, you may not have much longer to wait. Neekliam We will be performing scheduled maintenance on Tuesday, November 29th. Maintenance will begin at 1:00 AM PST and conclude at approximately 9:00 AM PST. During this time, all realms and many web services will be unavailable. Thank you for your patience. source Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Review the official patch notes, and then dig into what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back!
WoW Insider's guide to Hour of Twilight
Hour of Twilight is chronologically the last of the three new 5-man dungeons in patch 4.3. However, both it and End Time have been available for far longer than Well of Eternity, so most of us have wound up having a lot more experience with the former than the latter. As with our other guides, I've continued to include the new Explain it in 5 seconds or less feature, for all those glue-sniffing players you'll encounter through the Dungeon Finder. Have fun with them! If you want the quickest possible guide to all the new 5-man boss mechanics, read Patch 4.3 5-man bosses in 5 seconds or less.
WoW Insider's guide to End Time
After writing the guides to Zul'Gurub and Zul'Aman, it occurred to me that I'd missed out on the opportunity to include a useful feature. Most of us will be seeing the patch 4.3 5-mans with a Dungeon Finder group at one point or another, and a high percentage of Dungeon Finder groups contain ... How shall I describe this politely? ... at least one player who has obviously spent the better part of a day with his head down a glue jar. You don't need a sophisticated understanding of the boss' mechanics for these people. You want to explain the fight as quickly and simply as possible to someone whose pupils are the approximate size of a dinner plate. Consequently, in addition to information for the folks out there who care about what the boss is actually doing, I have also included a small section for each boss called Explain it in 5 seconds or less. And take heart! There's at least one boss in End Time where you don't have to care about anyone's survival at all! If you want the quickest possible guide to all the new 5-man boss mechanics, read Patch 4.3 5-man bosses in 5 seconds or less.
WoW Insider's guide to Well of Eternity
Demons die when a lore nerd goes to war. QQs will sound and drown the fun When a lore nerd goes to war. Each PUG dies and ninja lies Tank will quit and the the queue will rise When a lore nerd goes to war. Demons die, but count the cost, The valor's won, but the cheevy's lost. -- Bellajtok Well of Eternity is chronologically the second of the three dungeons you'll encounter in patch 4.3, but it was also the last of the three to become available on the PTR. There were also a few bugs with the second encounter when it went live, so you probably won't find as many useful videos or things online about it. However, it's a pretty cool dungeon, with quite possibly the funniest 5-man achievement in the game. If you want the quickest possible guide to all the new 5-man boss mechanics, read Patch 4.3 5-man bosses in 5 seconds or less.
The Queue: Universal
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. I wish someone had told me that Stargate Universe was a good show while it was still on TV. Nrethal asked: Will 4.3 add any new hairstyles? Particularly the ones they didn't finish in time for last patch. None of which we're aware. A shame!
Totem Talk: Elemental shaman in patch 4.3
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Totem Talk for elemental, enhancement, and restoration shaman. Josh Myers once only tackled the hard questions about enhancement but has recently expanded his sphere of responsibility to all shaman DPS specs. (And no, two-handed enhancement is still never coming back.) This is it, guys: This is officially the last Totem Talk for elemental shaman I will write before patch 4.3 hits live servers. It might be this Tuesday, or it might be the sixth of December. Whichever it is, it's pretty definite we'll be seeing Dragon Soul within the next 10 days, barring a natural disaster, an alien invasion, or Mike Morhaime's changing his mind, of course. Elemental is going through a few significant changes in 4.3. Our AoE will be totally revamped; we'll be dropping Fire Nova from our AoE rotation entirely. Instead, we'll be falling back on spamming the now cooldown-less Chain Lightning. Also, we'll possibly drop Earthquake, but only if we can guarantee the mobs don't move for 10 seconds. Ground-based AoEs are still very unreliable AoE damage.
The Queue: What does that even mean?
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. "China is here"? I don't even know what the hell that means. Glasscannon asked: Which race has the best 2H weapon animations in your opinion? Unequivocally, male blood elves.
Mists of Pandaria talent preview new ability roundup
A few days ago, Blizzard launched its official Mists of Pandaria talent calculator, which also contained a full list of abilities for each class, complete with the level learned and tooltips. Several new abilities were revealed, as well as changes to existing abilities. Some of the highlights: Druid: Symbiosis (level 87) Creates a symbiotic link which grants the druid one ability belonging to the target's class, varying by the druid's specialization. In exchange, grants the target one druid ability based on their class and combat role. Mage: Alter Time (level 87) Instant, 3-minute cooldown. Alter the fabric of time, causing the caster to return to their current location, health, mana, and conditions after 4 seconds. Effect negated if the caster dies within the 4 seconds before the effect occurs. Paladin: Blinding Light (level 87) Instant, 3-minute cooldown. Emits a dazzling light in all directions, blinding enemies within 10 yards, causing them to wander disoriented for 6 seconds. Rogue: Dispatch (level 70, assassination) Instant, 30 energy, melee range. A vicious strike that exploits the vulnerability of foes with less than 35% health remaining, causing 200% weapon damage plus 766 to the target. Requires a dagger in the main hand. Awards 1 combo point. Warlock: Demonic Portal (level 88) 70-yard range, 5-second cast. Create a demonic gateway between two locations. Stepping into the gateway causes any party member to be instantly transported to the other gateway. Limit 5 charges. Ths possibilities behind Symbiosis are incredible. A moonkin Heroic Leaping to safety in PvP? Bears borrowing pally shields to finally get their ranged silence? Resto shaman begging for an Innervate? (Wait, that happens already.) Alter Time is also super cool and really increases the Arcane flavor of the class. "Hi, I just hit you with a cooldown-boosted stacked Arcane Blast ... and now, I will do it again." I see mages figuring out just how far they can fall in 4 seconds, in order to troll their raid leaders. Check out the full list of changes and new abilities at Wowhead News. World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria is the next expansion, raising the level cap to 90, introducing a brand new talent system, and bringing forth the long-lost pandaren race to both Horde and Alliance. Check out the trailer and follow us for all the latest MoP news!
The Queue: Black Fly Day
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. Why is everyone so excited about shopping today? First of all, it's a little weird to have an entire day dedicated to black flies, and second, where the heck can you even buy them? I don't understand American consumerism at all. Chris asked: So is it for sure that with patch 4.3, that Pyrium Ore wont be prospectable into Epic Gems? There's been no indication whatsoever, either from Blizzard or from PTR datamining, that it'll be possible to prospect epic gems from Pyrium Ore. At this very moment, it seems that geodes are the only way to get 'em.
Blood Sport: How will patch 4.3 impact PvP?
WoW Insider covers the world of player vs. player action in Blood Sport for fans of battleground, world PvP and Arena play. Steering you to victory is Olivia Grace, who spends most of her time in Azeroth as a restoration shaman turning people into frogs. With patch 4.3 imminent and Arena season 10 due to end Nov. 29, it seems reasonable to assume the patch will appear in early December. While you're racing to get your team into title range, get that last piece of gear, or just running laps of your capital city, you might be thinking forward to the arrival of the patch and wondering what your fate will be in PvP as the nerf bat winds up for another swing. Firstly, let's deal with some housekeeping. Conquest points, the PvP equivalent of valor points, will now be far, far easier to earn from ordinary Battlegrounds. The first daily Battleground win will now award 100 conquest points, up from 25, and wins after that will award 50 conquest point, up from, well, none! The conquest cap will remain, so while it will still be far quicker to reach it through Arena, it will also be attainable via Battlegrounds of the non-rated variety. This makes it far easier for solo players to build up the resilience numbers people often demand (fairly or otherwise) for access to Arena and Rated Battleground teams or just to gear for Battlegrounds.
Know Your Lore, Infinite Paths: The golden-eyed
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. Last week, I talked about Murozond and the End Time. Some astute readers noted that upon confronting the players and Nozdormu, Murozond claims, "I have witnessed the true End Time. This? This is a blessing you simply cannot comprehend." What does this mean, exactly? Granted, we could simply dismiss this as insanity brought on by the Old Gods. But what if the issue isn't insanity? What if the Old Gods didn't drive Murozond mad at all? Aman'Thul, the Highfather of the Titanic Pantheon, granted Nozdormu a vision of his own death. It is said to be this very fate that Murozond is attempting to avoid by fracturing time. What, however, if that's not the case at all? What if in his case, much madness was and is divine sense? Murozond's End - End Time Murozond: You know not what you have done. Aman'Thul... What I... have... seen... Nozdormu: At last it has come to pass. The moment of my demise. The loop is closed. My future self will cause no more harm from this day on. Nozdormu: Still, in the future, I will... fall to madness. And you, heroes... will vanquish me. The cycle will repeat. So it goes. Nozdormu: What matters is that Azeroth did not fall; that humanity survived to live another day. Nozdormu: All that matters... is this moment. source Why does Murozond call out to Aman'Thul in his moment of death? Beyond his own death, what has Murozond seen? Did the Infinite Dragonflight seek to break this clockwork universe, and if so, has it already done so? This week's KYL continues based on last week's Tinfoil Hat Edition and presents an entire alternate time line based on the question What if Murozond was the hero all along?
The Light and How to Swing It: Dealing damage in Dragon Soul heroic dungeons
Every week, WoW Insider brings you The Light and How to Swing It for holy, protection and retribution paladins. Seasoned ret paladin Dan Desmond is here to answer your questions and provide you with your biweekly dose of retribution medicine. Contact him at dand@wowinsider.com with any questions, concerns, or suggestions! This new series of heroics runs akin to the Forge of Souls, Pit of Saron, and Halls of Reflection trio of Wrath in that you must complete them in a specific order. In the interest of fitting all of these encounters in one post, I will need to truncate a lot of descriptions and irrelevant details. If you have any questions or suggestions for your fellow ret paladins, please feel free to drop a comment below! Warning: This post contains strategies and brief descriptions of the new heroic dungeons in patch 4.3 that may or may not be spoiler-esque. As always with my columns, proceed with caution.
