wrath-beta
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Beta invites going out
Though this may not have been the case earlier this morning, CM Nethaera has just confirmed that invites to the Wrath beta are indeed going out via email. So if you're opted in to the beta, check your email! I know I will be checking it many, many times today. If you don't get in, never fear; as the NDA has been lifted, we will keep everyone fully informed of all the latest news right here on the Insider. If you do get in, you'll be asked to create a temporary account using your email and a new password. So be very, very wary of any email that asks you for your current username and password, since this is almost certainly a scam. Also, verify that any links you click are located at worldofwarcraft.com (and not, say, wow-blizzard.net). The scams are only going to come faster now that the beta is really going on, so be careful. Edit: I should have remembered to mention this. Beta invite is completely random from the pool of people who have opted in.
Death Knight starting cinematic unveiled
. With Death Knights getting their own starting zone and their own heroic storyline, it was often wondered whether they'd share the same opening cinematic as their individual races. We have the answer now: They do get their own unique cinematic, shown above. There's two major things I took away from the cinematic. First, it gives a solid origin story for Death Knights: You were apparently slain in combat with the Scourge, but raised to become a Death Knight. So the ideal of the PC Death Knight seems to be a hero who was made an unwilling victim, which makes the fact that he or she is welcomed back by the Horde or Alliance possibly much more believable. As you awaken as a fresh level 55, you are also apparently still under the thrall of the Lich King, which should make for an epic newbie zone experience as you struggle to regain your freedom. Secondly, the opening cinematic has a wonderfully ominous picture of Acherus, the Ebon Hold, home of the Death Knights, looming above Light's Hope Chapel -- a perfect setup for the coming war with the Scourge, that drives home how immediate the threat is. Oh, and do be cautious, this cinematic has a high chance of getting you way too fired up to play a Death Knight. [via Deathknight.info]
Death Knights get new starting zone, Runeforging skill
No more spawning at Tirion Fordring for new Death Knights, it looks like the Death Knight Citadel of Acherus, The Ebon Hold, is now implemented on the Beta servers, reports beta tester Jayde. The Ebon Hold, which is located on the eastern edge of the Eastern Plaguelands, will be where all new Death Knights start. What's more interesting is that some of the first new quest text seems to imply that new Death Knights are still under the control of the Lich King, as the quest "The Eye of Acherus" sends you to a beacon on top of the hold to report to the Lich King himself. So apparently, you will in fact have to quest to break free of the Lich King -- but you start the quests on the Death Knight. Of course, we'll know as soon as we can get more information from the servers. Another mechanic of the Death Knight that seems to have popped up for the first time is the concept of Runeforged Weapons. However, this is not the switching of Blood, Unholy, and Frost runes that has been previously discussed-- rather, it appears that the forging instead applies buffs to your weapons. The two examples shown by Jayde's screenshots are as follows: Rune of the Fallen Crusader: Affixes your Rune Weapon with a rune that has a chance to heal you for 3% and increase Strength by 30% for 15 seconds. Modifying your rune weapon requires a Rune Forge in Ebon Hold. Rune of Lichbane: Affixes your Rune Weapon with a rune that has a chance to strike the undead for extra fire damage and stun them for 5 seconds. Modifying your rune weapon requires a Rune Forge in Ebon Hold.
Wrath Beta Patch Notes: Hunter
By now, I am sure you've heard that the Wrath of the Lich King Beta is going live and the patch notes are up. There's a rather extensive section devoted to Hunters on this iteration. We have a few more insights into the pet talent trees that were announced at the Worldwide Invitational, as well as a few changes to existing talents and a nice Steady Shot buff.
Wrath Beta patch notes: Priest
My main is a Priest. A Shadow Priest, to be precise. While I started out Holy, my Priest has always been my main and probably always will be. The only thing that could possibly draw me away is my Protection Paladin, should my raid ever need another. Obviously, the very first thing I looked at in the Wrath Beta patch notes were the Priest notes. I've talked about what we saw in Alpha, and I was cautiously optimistic at the time. After seeing these notes... well... yeah, I'm still optimistic. I am (dare I say it?)... excited, even!I'll tuck my analysis behind the cut, but here are my three favorite notes out of the Priest notes: New Talent: Improved Spirit Tap (Shadow) - Gives you a 50/100% chance to gain a 50% bonus to your Spirit after gaining a critical effect chance from your Mind Blast or Shadow Word: Death spells. For the duration, your mana will regenreate at a 25% rate while casting. Lasts 8 sec. Lightwell (Holy): Cast time reduced to .5 sec, down from 1.5 sec. Charges increased to 10, up from 5. Now breaks from any attack that hits you for 30% or more of your total health. Cooldown reduced to 3 minutes, down from 5. Shadowform (Shadow): Now has an innate 30% threat reduction. Now has a shapeshift UI.
What's your first task in Beta?
European Beta keys started rolling out beginning at 6AM. I don't know about you but I will be anxiously checking my mail box when I wake up in the morning (that is if I make it to bed at all). My guess is that we will see North American beta keys at about 6 Pacific time (9 Eastern). For you folks staying up all night with us, that's in about 4 hours. The crew here at WoW Insider is biting their nails in anticipation of bringing the latest breaking news on the expansion. We've discussed why we should be in the beta, now we'll see who wins the lottery. My understanding is that the Beta will be a ramp up, so do not lose hope if you don't get your email right away. There will likely be much time for testing.
Totem tracking for Wrath beta
As promised Blizzard is giving Shamans some love in the next expansion. The Beta patch notes deliver on some of that. Most of what we're seeing at this time is changes to talents, but there's quite a bit of totem news in there. Some totems stand to get buffed, others nerfed and some removed from the game altogether. As expected totems will be placed in the physical school, rather than magic. To date, one of the major downfalls of totems is that has been if the Shaman is locked out of the Nature school of spells, they are more or less out of luck until the effect wears off. Even when completely silenced it will still be possible for Shamans to drop their totems. This will be handy in both PvE and PvP, but will probably be more influential for PvP Shamans.
Breakfast topic: Why should you be in the Beta?
Not long ago Blizzard opened up the expansion content to selected friends and family. We've had a few days to sign up for the Wrath of the Lich King beta test. Blizzard has made it clear that assignment in the Beta test that aside from a better chance of selection among* World Wide Invitational attendees, the beta testers will be selected by a random lottery. But what is it that makes a good beta tester? I've entered twice for the Beta, as I have two accounts. I'm not sure how many participants will be selected, but I really hope I get in. If I wasn't with WoW Insider, I probably would avoid the beta. I'm rather in favor of delicious surprised once the expansion is actually released. Recent iterations of the Public Test Realm have invited everyone to come and play. Many have taken that challenge to see nifty, new gear and test new mechanics. Blizzard has proven open to feedback through progressive testing.
Sunday Morning Funnies: You inspire me
For the long weekend, we have several nifty comics that are all geared up to entertain you. From commentary and the creative process, to booby-traps and those poor dwarves, you won't want to miss this week's line-up. World of Warcraft is the inspiration for many games. Apparently, not all are that great. Everyone is suffering over at Dark Legacy Comics, but there is still time to play games. Too bad there is no time for pants. Where would the long weekend be without Activision/Vivendi commentary? Nowhere. It would exist nowhere. The warlock's predicament continues, first as he attempts to escape his unforeseen captivity and then, well, let's just say he's in trouble. Everyone needs a little gardening humor. Ding! shows us how to show the vendors some love. Okay, maybe not terribly ineffectual vendors. Teh Gladiators give their little pet a chance to rampage. He is still not an ostrich. This week, Disgraph brings us Indiana Dwarf and the Temple of the Frozen Beta. Ready to vote? Pass through the break and choose your favorite from this week.
URL hints at Wrath beta
Alright, this is only the ghost of a hint, but at this point I'll take what I can get with anything that looks reminiscent of a Wrath of the Lich King beta. A tipster known only as "Anonymous" wrote in to let us know that the URL http://beta.worldofwarcraft.com is active, and redirects to http://beta.worldofwarcraft.com/game/character-copy.html. The logical conclusion is that this page is meant to let (authorized) people transfer characters for some sort of beta. And what's coming up that might be beta-tested? Wrath.Right now, the address returns a "403 Forbidden" page, but obviously, someone at Blizzard HQ bothered to set up the "beta" subdomain and make it redirect to something. Any address on beta.worldofwarcraft.com seems to redirects to that "character-copy" page. Remember, a "forbidden" URL was our first real confirmation that Wrath of the Lich King was going to be the title of the expansion, so we've gotten information this way before. There's still no telling how long it'll take until a beta is available to us, as this page may well just apply to an interior beta, but this might be a clue that we're getting closer. Does this mean there won't be a patch 2.5?
WoW Rookie: Account Security Basics
Recently we've had several posts about being hacked, guild banks assaulted, and Blizzard's typical response. The Customer Service Forum is filled with threads started by desperate World of Warcraft players seeking the return of their accounts and belongings as a gesture of goodwill. It is our responsibility to keep our accounts safe from hackers. I speak from experience when I say that being hacked is just dreadful. Although it is usually possible to have your account returned, there is usually significant damage done in the process. In the past, even Blizzard employees have had their accounts compromised. This post is designed to help you do the best you can to protect your World of Warcraft investment.
There is no Wrath beta
This is a public service announcement from all of us here at WoW Insider: there is currently no beta running for Wrath of the Lich King. This means that if you receive an invitation that claims to be for a Wrath beta, it's definitely a scam and you should under no circumstances click the links therein. If there were an actual Wrath beta, you would surely hear about it here and/or on the official website. If you have signed up for any alleged beta test, it would be a good idea to change your account password as soon as possible; you can't be too safe these days.Oh, and while we're on the subject of misinformation about Wrath, release dates on retailers' web pages mean nothing. They have to make a date up in order to enter the product into their system most of the time, but unless they're Blizzard, they're just guessing, and your guess is probably as good as theirs. Now have a nice weekend, and don't sign up for any dodgy beta tests.
