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WWI '08 Panel: Death Knight
Understandably, everyone is begging to know more about the Death Knight class. At WWI, the Blizzard developers discussed the class in depth at both the main Development panel as well as at the Q&A panel. So you don't have to go fishing everywhere to find what you want to know, here's a roundup of new information about Death Knights from WWI so far.Starting AreaThe Death Knight starting area will be an extended area in Northern Plaguelands. The developers feel strongly about keeping people interested in playing in the Old World so they are creating this new zone. I personally hate every zone that has the word "plague" associated with it. Admittedly, I didn't reach either of the current Plaguelands until after I'd upgraded to The Burning Crusade, which meant I really had no time for grinding there since Outland awaited alluringly. However, it will be interesting to see if they make changes to the existing Western and Eastern Plaguelands along with adding content to the North to make these areas more interesting to players -- be they Death Knights or not.
WWI '08 Panel: Priest
Before I begin, if you haven't seen our notes from the class discussion Dev Panel at the Worldwide Invitational, you should go take a look. Skip down to the Priest section, look it over, and come on back. I'll wait here for you, okay? Okay, go. Are you back now? Good.We knew of the existence of the three spells Chilton discussed for quite awhile now, but the confirmation is nice, especially since there's no need to dance around the 'it might not be real, oh no' bit. The three spells I refer to are Divine Hymn, Guardian Spirit, and Dispersion. The stated goal of these abilities is to solidify the role of the current Priest specs. I can definitely agree with that on the part of Divine Hymn and Guardian Spirit, but not so much Dispersion. That doesn't mean Dispersion is a bad ability for what it does, it just doesn't reinforce the role of a Shadow Priest necessarily.
WotLK bestiary presents Flesh Giants
The Wrath of the Lich King bestiary has been updated and it now introduces us to the Flesh Giants, "nightmarish creatures that make abominations look tame by comparison." I must say, I agree with that description! Abominations have the 'ew gross' factor, but these guys look downright intimidating. Even though they are basically the same as the regular Northrend giants (their parts are harvested from those giants), the Scourge variation has a little something extra. I'm not sure what it is, but I like it!Next up on the list seems to be the Darkfallen, so maybe we'll learn just what they are fairly soon. Of course, it is Blizzard's website and they don't need to reveal those next if they don't want to, but it's next on the list so I'll continue assuming it's coming like a good boy. From the name alone, my first thought is the Darkfallen will be ghosts or spectres of some sort, but we already have those. Maybe some sort of Priest or Acolyte of the Shadow? Perhaps the vampires we've been hearing rumors about?
Rumor: Death Knights coming early
Though this is the merest shred of a rumor, it's a nice enough idea that I think it's worth a post anyway. DeathKnight.info is passing on the speculation that maybe, just maybe, this weekend's announcement (or one of them) is going to be that the Death Knight class will be playable before Wrath of the Lich King's release, to those who pre-order Wrath. It sounds a bit silly, given that the Death Knight is one of the banner features of Wrath, but there are a few points riding in its favor: You only need a level 55 to create a DK. It would assuage concerns of everybody and their dog rolling a DK on the day of the Wrath release, since if the class was released (say) next month, or even in a few months, many of us would have time to get a DK to 70 before Wrath's release, to see whether we liked the class and so forth. It would give those of us who have exhausted the current content something to do for the next few months. The eyes revealed in today's teaser image could easily be sinister Death Knight eyes. Allegedly, a post on this subject was nuked by the CMs in the official forums earlier today. However, even if this is what the post was about, speculating on unreleased content is explicitly forbidden by the forum terms of service, so the post would have been removed whether or not it was accurate. Thus this is still solidly speculative. But we can dream. Now I don't know which I'm hoping for: Diablo 3 or sooner Death Knights. Not that there's any reason they can't do both.
The rise, fall, and rise again of the WotLK Information Wiki
This past Monday, June 23, The WotLK Information Wiki relaunched on a new web host after having been pulled down by a Cease and Desist order from Blizzard. Darkside, one of the admins for the WotLK Information Wiki, gave an interview to Medros over at All Things Azeroth to explain what happened. The interview was conducted as part of Medros' podcast Episode 53. Some highlights from the interview include: Most of the information that the alpha wiki provides is a result of file and image extraction from Blizzard's publically-available alpha client. The alpha client files contain all the information on the spells, creatures and environments to be tested and new things are added or subtracted each time the alpha is patched. The alpha wiki folks set up a "sandbox" where they could fly through the new locations and spawn creatures for screenshots. A small portion of the WotLK info -- some screenshots, for example -- has come from Blizzard employees under non-disclosure agreements the identities of whom the alpha wiki admins protect. Blizzard, Vivendi, and Activision IP addresses had visited the wiki frequently since it began. The Cease and Desist order from Blizzard arrived last Friday, June 20. Over the weekend the WotLK wiki admins tried several ways to appease the lawyers and eventually settled on moving to a new web host. The wiki's readership is approximately 200,000 page views per day. Go to All Things Azeroth to hear the rest of the interview. Make sure you listen to the first few minutes of the podcast to hear a very humorous and well-sung parody of Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues called Pugging Kara Blues.[Thanks, Matticus and uber.]
Construction begins in Stormwind City
Personally, I think one of the most exciting undocumented changes in 2.4.3 is the work being done in Stormwind. The action in the Alliance's heartland isn't limited to the comic book, oh no. Alliance construction workers are breaking their backs day and night to make preparations for the upcoming addition to Stormwind City, the Stormwind Harbor. You can take a look on the PTR between the Park and the Cathedral. I can't help but notice the boatloads of explosives floating in the canals. You would think they would take the back wall of the city down the traditional way, but it looks like the Dwarven workers may be taking lessons from the Gnomes.Hopefully, this is only the first in a long line of changes to the world leading up to Wrath of the Lich King. Something like that definitely feels like the progress needed in-game to lead up to such a meaningful expansion as far as story goes. Such massive changes to one of the most beloved Alliance cities shouldn't simply happen overnight. We'll see if they continue this while we're on the road to Wrath. Who knows, we may even get a few hints at other world changes we aren't sure about quite yet.%Gallery-25596%
Hybrid Theory: Shaman and the Wrath Alpha
Welcome to Hybrid Theory, where we discuss all things hybrid in the World of Warcraft. Hybrid Theory is brought to you each week by columnist/blogger Alex Ziebart.The seedy underbelly of the internet continues to supply the goods. Just in time to follow up on our look at Druids and Shadow Priests, we're supplied with some potential Shaman information. Let's hope Paladin timing will be as convenient, though it seems unlikely.As usual when discussing Alpha information, it's always wise to remember that much of it will likely change by launch. Stay optimistic, but cautiously so. That way you can get excited without your hopes being crushed later on. Now, with the disclaimer out of the way, let's dig right into the Shaman talents and abilities. A lot of the previous weaknesses of the class are being addressed (much like they were for Shadow Priests) with a few new interesting things tossed in, accompanied by a side of itemization band-aids.
And now here's Koraa with the Shaman forecast
Thanks, Koraa! Musolini of Uldaman-US posted a thread in the Shaman forums that is... well, pretty hilarious if you're familiar with the Ollie character they parody alongside their Shaman class. You might want to read through it just for that alone.To discuss the actual change, which I assume is a change in Wrath (but may come sooner since Koraa didn't specify), the few Shaman I've spoken to about it seem pretty excited. It seems minor, and may be minor in the long run, but this change would allow totems to be used through Spell Lock and Silence effects. When your Shaman gets Counterspelled in the arena, they'll still be able to drop Totems at least. It certainly won't fix everything, but you'll still have some of your defenses(and offenses) available to you, and you won't be completely shut down. There's still a long road ahead, but this is a step in the right direction.
Badges in Wrath
As we were promised, the latest Blizzcast episode talked some about the Badge of Justice system, and where they want to take it in Wrath of the Lich King. Specifically, Tigole said the following: Badges will definitely be back in Wrath, in some form. Like how it's ended up in BC, they want badges to appear in both Heroics and raids. However, they want to stratify it more, so it's not just one gigantic pool of items. (They also want to spread the vendors around the world, so it's not just "one dude in Shattrath and one dude out on the Isle of Quel'Danas"; this sounds like an annoyance to me, and at any rate will not make a real difference in how the system works.) Proposed stratification options include: "A token from different levels of content" as well as badges that would need to be turned in for the different levels of items Different kinds of badges
LotRO-style achievements coming to Wrath?
One thing I like about the history of MMO development so far (and game development in general, I suppose) is the tradition of borrowing the best parts of other games for your own games. Heck, WoW (as it's often said) had very little in the way of sheer newness when it was launched; rather, it polished and perfected concepts and trends started in Everquest, Dark Age of Camelot, and others. If you are willing to do a little interpretation on some leaked screenshots from the Wrath alpha, it looks like Blizzard will be adapting another feature into WoW, this one familiar from Lord of the Rings Online (and Xbox Live): achievements. Basically, an achievement is an unlockable something, unlocked by reaching a certain goal. That's a vague definition, so here are some example goals hinted at by what's leaked out: Reveal the whole map of Outland Do at least one daily quest a day for five days Get a character to level 80 on both factions Achievements are clearly not yet implemented, even in the beta; many of the numbers in the screenshots are placeholder values, and the rewards for completing the achievements, whatever they may be, are completely unknown. It does look like there is a point system – the UI implies that each of the above achievements is rewarded with 50 points – but what might these points be used to purchase? Well, gear, most likely, but it's also possible that they may be a way to get prestige items, like special mounts or titles. Either way, I welcome yet another advancement path; more importantly, achievements are just plain fun!
Hybrid Theory: Shadow Priests and the Wrath Alpha
Welcome to Hybrid Theory, where we discuss all things hybrid in the World of Warcraft. Hybrid Theory is brought to you each week by columnist/blogger Alex Ziebart.I really thought my excitement over Wrath of the Lich King would fade after the initial onslaught of alpha information and just come back around launch time, but that hasn't really been the case. It's been a pretty consistent type of excitement, and I pretty much devour every piece of information I can find.We've talked about Druids already, but while I love Hybrids in general, my Shadow Priest is my main and my first love. Yes yes, I'm sure some of you still disagree with Priests being Hybrids, but I'm of the opinion that they are so I shall continue. If you want to disagree, do so in the Comments section below. I adore playing my Shadow Priest, but I think all Shadow Priest players agree with me when I say there are some definite issues with the class on some level or another. Why don't we take a seat and see what might be on the devs' minds, eh?
Koraa hints at the future of Shaman. Kind of. Maybe.
While it isn't especially earth shattering, class designer Koraa popped into the official Shaman forums (gasp!) to say something simple, yet intriguing. Eronar of Argent Dawn posted a thread asking the question, "Are you staying a Shaman in WOTK?" and Koraa's simple response was, "I think you'll stay." It could be a completely simple statement with no deeper meaning at all, but it isn't like the WoW community to let something like that go without coming up with some kind of conspiracy theory.Last we knew, Shaman spells and abilities hadn't yet been implemented into the Wrath alpha. Could this be a sign that the devs are planning to move into the testing phase for Shaman soon? That's probably something to be excited about, if the other classes are any indicator. While certainly not everything in Alpha will make Live, things are looking pretty exciting so far, even for the classes and specs that have felt left behind in the past. Hopefully Shaman will feel the same. It's definitely something to look forward to seeing, at the very least.
Tank Talk: Do you feel lucky, punk?
Tank Talk is WoW Insider's new raid-tanking column, promising you an exciting and educational look at the world of getting the stuffing thrashed out of you in a 10- or 25-man raid. The column will be rotated amongst Matthew Rossi (Warrior/Paladin), Adam Holisky (Warrior), Michael Gray (Paladin), and myself (Druid). Our aim is to use this column to debate and discuss class differences, raid-tanking strategies, tips, tricks, and news concerning all things meatshieldish. At least, that's what the others said they were doing. I intend to use it mostly as a soapbox to complain. Absolute power tends to......something something.Welcome to Tank Talk. I am your bear Druid hostess for this week, with a topic that occurred to me while reading a recent article here on the site. Eliah Hecht wrote that his guild is facing a not-uncommon tank shortage and that he has considered the possibility of leveling a tanking class to 70 before Wrath, or tanking on a Death Knight afterwards. A number of people on my server and in my guild have talked about doing the same thing, or switching mains once Wrath hits. With so many people playing Death Knights, I think it's very possible that more people will discover they enjoy -- or at least, don't mind -- tanking, and may seek to do so in a raid environment without necessarily knowing what they've really signed up for. From those of us who have tanked raid content in vanilla WoW or BC, here are the 10 questions you'll want to ask yourself if you're considering the possibility of tanking serious raid content:
Wrath bestiary reveals the Magnataur
The official Wrath of the Lich King website has had its Bestiary updated. What's the new addition? Magnataur! They seem to be centaur on steroids, essentially. An amalgam of a giant and a mammoth, these guys do not look (or sound) small whatsoever.They're also described as fairly vicious, and their description lets us in on another fun blast from WoW past - the return of kobolds! You no take icicle? It sounds like the two races have a fairly symbiotic relationship, which should be an interesting dynamic to follow.It's mentioned that single males control 'giant herds' which makes me a little curious about how big these guys can really be if they want to represent that in the game. The zones are supposed to be bigger in Wrath, but big enough to accurately represent massive herds of Magnataur? Maybe, maybe not! I guess that we'll see in time.[ Thanks, Zakk! ]
Ask WoW Insider: Any point to starting to raid before Wrath?
Welcome to today's edition of Ask WoW Insider, in which we publish your questions for dissection by the peanut gallery -- now with extra snark and commentary by one of our writers. This week Kedou writes in:Hi,I'm wondering what people think about starting to raid (as in, starting Kara) now, with WotLK on the horizon. Is there any point?Thanks.
Official Forums shows hints of the cold
It's a subtle change, but a definite one -- and it's one that not everyone seems to be able to see. However, at least for some folks, portions of the official forums have started to switch over to the new Wrath of the Lich King theme. Mostly, it's the menu and organizational pages showing the new theme for certain viewers. This may be a bit of Internet turbulence -- it could be something that Blizzard hadn't really intended to release yet. There was quite a bit of spotty login troubles earlier this morning, and several people reported having difficulty reaching the forums. This hint of what's-to-come could be an error, or some kind of forum glitch. But, at least for now, we can get a sneak preview of what our forums are going to look like while we face the Wrath of the Lich King. Edit: Within 20 minutes of the theme being visible, it looks like it may already have been reverted. We hope you got a chance to see it!
Hybrid Theory: Is it too much?
Welcome to Hybrid Theory, where we discuss all things hybrid in the World of Warcraft. Hybrid Theory is brought to you each week by columnist/blogger Alex Ziebart.Here on Hybrid Theory, we've done a lot of glorifying the group utility that Hybrids provide. It's one of their strongest points, and the factor that could make or break their raid spot in a setting of pure recruitment. Recently, I discussed the direction this concept of utility is going with a few raidmates of mine, and some interesting points were made.The synergy between classes in The Burning Crusade is powerful, but moving in a direction in which the classes and specs become too reliant on one another, or you have to decide which hybrid is more important to you than another hybrid in the same role. Some class/spec combinations simply can't perform in a raid setting without a specific hybrid class alongside them. Some hybrid classes can't perform without other hybrids in their group. This poses a problem for the pure classes, and even though we don't know the exact details of the Death Knight, adding another class may only make things harder.
ShadowPriest.com gets a new look
The single most informative resource out there for Shadow Priests, shadowpriest.com, has recently undergone a makeover! They've launched a custom theme tailored to their logo's color scheme, and a few new features have come with it. In addition to the awesome new look, they've added a couple of (unobtrusive) RSS feeds to the sidebar. LightNatured (their sister site for healers) is one of them, and WoW Insider is another! That's always a good thing, eh?I'm sure I've said it a few times since I've joined the WoW Insider team, but if you're a Shadow Priest and don't stop in at ShadowPriest.com once in awhile, you're doing yourself a disservice. Even the bleedingest of bleeding edge players have room for improvement and can learn new things once in awhile. ShadowPriest.com goes well alongside Elitist Jerks for all of your gear, strategy and theorycrafting needs. Especially with all of the discussion that will inevitably crop up when the Wrath Beta rolls around, you definitely owe it to yourself to take a look.[ Thanks, Matt! ]
WoW Insider Weekly
Missed some of our great weekly content over the last seven days? Worry not, good reader! Here it is, recapped in easily clickable link roundup form. Insider Trader: Wrath alpha editionInsider Trader examines what just might happen with professions in the expansion. Blood Pact: The Warlock's way ahead, part 1Vims examines what's next for the class that parties with demons. Hybrid Theory: Druids and the Wrath alphaWhat kind of loving will Druids get when Blizzard takes us up to Northrend? Guildwatch: 25man raid LF24M, healers and tanks preferredThis is what happens when guilds stop being nice -- and start getting real. Even more great weekly content found after the jump.
Breakfast Topic: Battle of the battlegrounds
In The Burning Crusade, Blizzard implemented the Eye of the Storm, brinding the number of battlegrounds up to four. They each manage to create an interesting dichotomy in the playerbase. You either love a battleground, or you hate it. Personally, I adore Alterac Valley and Eye of the Storm. I hate, hate, hate Warsong Gulch and Arathi Basin. Most of my friends hate AV and love WSG. And of course, there's always the people that hate them all. My first question to all of you is, where do the battlegrounds lie in your mind? Which do you adore, which do you loathe? Second, Wrath of the Lich King will be bringing us another battleground. We don't know anything about it, but what would you like to see? What do you think we'll get? Personally, I would like to see some sort of urban warfare. Maybe Warsong Gulch style Capture the Flag, but placed in a village rather than a wide open field. Instead of the flag carrier and their pursuers running through an open field, they need to weave between buildings and through alleys. It would probably make hiding way too easy, but I still think it's a fun concept.Again, here's your questions for today: Which battlegrounds do you love, which do you hate, and what new battleground do you think is coming our way in Wrath?
