wrathion
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Legendaries for Everyone: What could it mean?
Our friends over at Wowhead datamined up news that could be a game-changer if it goes live. It seems possible that the Wrathion quests datamined last month offers eight varieties of legendary, including a shield and a gun. This could mean that this will be the first legendary that any class -- and potentially, any spec -- can equip and use. The quests seem to involve multiple tiers of raiding, meaning that you won't be able to get a legendary at the end of the first Mists of Pandaria raids and will have to be in it for the long haul to acquire one. This avoids the problem of early legendaries (such as Dragonwrath or Val'anyr) being adjusted in later patches. However, the very possibility that this will be a legendary that anyone can get means we need to consider the effect it's going to have on your raiding group.
Mists of Pandaria: New Wrathion voice files datamined
So, have you been wondering why exactly Wrathion's made an appearance in Pandaria? Datamining over the course of the past month or so has revealed several legendary quality items, and the possible existence of a quest chain for more details on what those legendary items are for. And of course this all ties back to our dear friend Wrathion, who has apparently been quite pleased with what he's seen so far in Pandaria. But Wrathion, while a black dragon, isn't necessarily a bad guy. A bit short-tempered, yes. A creature you certainly wouldn't want to cross, absolutely. A black dragon with an agenda that benefits something other than himself? ... well, that actually seems kind of likely. MMO-Champion dug up some voice files for Wrathion and the apparent quest chain for those legendary items. The implications are utterly fascinating, both for current events in Mists of Pandaria, and for future patches as well. Spoiler Warning: These voice files may contain big spoilers for Mists of Pandaria. If you are avoiding spoiler content, turn away.
3 things the Black Market Auction House needs to succeed
The Black Market Auction House seems to be a controversial topic. Some players love the idea, while some players utterly detest the idea with every ounce of their being. Regardless, the theory behind the Black Market Auction House is a solid one. Removing gold from the WoW economy is something that is desperately needed in the days of Auction House kings, in order to balance everything out. If the Black Market Auction House works, it'll even out player gold to a reasonable level, keeping items on the regular Auction House at reasonable prices. And for those who spent the tremendous amount of time it takes to amass their fortunes, it means that they finally have something to spend their reward on, something tangible and -- let's face it -- something pretty cool. In expansions past, we've only had one or two really major gold sinks to speak of, whether crafted mounts, or really useful mounts purchased from a vendor. Once those mounts were purchased or crafted, there was a vast sea of nothing for people to spend that gold on. But the potential for abuse runs pretty high with this thing. And as I pondered the potential side effects of the Black Market Auction House, I realized there are certain things that really need to be in place to make it work effectively.
Is the thought of the Black Market Auction House bugging you?
Ever since the Black Market Auction House was mentioned, people wondered what the heck would be in it. We were told it would sell rare items, but what we weren't told was the extent of those rare items. It's not just level 90 recipes and things along those lines; it's also rare mounts and items that have been removed from game. This includes the elusive tier 3 that was lost presumably for all time when Naxxramas was changed from a 40-man raid to a 10- and 25-man raid and moved from the Eastern Plaguelands up to Northrend. As shown in the screenshot above, this also includes the Ashes of Al'ar, a rare mount drop from Kael'thas Sunstrider in Tempest Keep. And that seems to be a hot topic for a lot of players right now, particularly players who already have the mount and obtained it the old-fashioned way. It's an even bigger topic among those who don't necessarily have gigantic piles of gold stashed away, because it's obvious the prices on these items are going to be incredibly high. Some have said that Blizzard is catering to the 1% of players who have stockpiled mass amounts of gold. Well, that's not it at all, really. And the Black Market Auction House is something that we've needed for a very, very long time here.
Mists of Pandaria: Black Market Auction House offers rare and removed items
According to reports by MMO-Champion, the Black Market Auction House is now live on beta realms. Attempts to confirm this by chatting with Madam Goya just kicked back a UI error at me, but there seem to be plenty of people stopping by to check her out. Madam Goya makes her home at the Tavern of the Mists in the Veiled Stair, north of the Valley of the Four Winds. She's not alone, as Wrathion is still quietly hanging out in the tavern as well. So what's available at the Black Market? A little bit of everything, including rare mounts like the Ashes of Al'ar, pictured above. Also included are pets that require a grind to obtain such as the Sen'jin Fetish, previously available only from grinding out Argent Tournament reputation, and high-level crafting recipes, although we don't have a lot of information on what those recipes are exactly. However, perhaps the most interesting note to glean from this is that the Black Market Auction House appears to be carrying the original tier 3 sets that were removed from the game when Naxxramas was moved to Northrend and changed from a 40-man raid to a 10- and 25-man raid in Wrath of the Lich King. Obviously, this means that those looking to transmogrify into these rare tier sets can now pay to do so -- provided they've got the gold to fling around.
Mists of Pandaria Beta: Wrathion's return?
The latest patch on the Mists of Pandaria beta opened up Pet Battles (briefly), new areas and more -- including a very familiar face from Cataclysm. Wrathion, the only uncorrupted black dragon in existence and source of the legendary daggers Fangs of the Father, has apparently made good on his mention of exploration in the Fangs of the Father recap posted by Blizzard. Wrathion can now be found in the Tavern of the Mists in the Veiled Stair, north of the Valley of the Four Winds. Lest you think that Wrathion is a Goody Two-shoes, make note of the location. It's also the location of Madam Goya, titled Leader of the Black Market. Goya has nothing for sale yet -- she merely replies to questioning players with a sly, "Wait till you see what I have for you ..." and no other way to interact. But given the shady nature of the black market, it makes one wonder whether Wrathion is simply taking a rest from travel or if perhaps he's up to slightly more sinister pursuits. Tangling with Wrathion wouldn't be recommended, either -- not only is he in the company of Madam Goya, he has two personal guards, simply named Right and Left. All guards and NPCs in this location are level 90 elites. While Wrathion's presence and motives are a mystery for now, it's still nice to see the return of the temperamental prince who earned the respect of many a rogue in Cataclysm. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Blizzard recaps the story of Cataclysm's legendary daggers
If you don't play an endgame rogue capable of getting your hands on the Fangs of the Father legendary daggers, you missed out on quite a bit of awesome lore surrounding the future of the Black Dragonflight. Worse, you don't get to meet Wrathion the Purified, Deathwing's son, at all. This has been an ongoing problem with legendary quest chains specific to certain classes or roles, but Blizzard has provided a solution this time around. Blizzard has released a series of videos detailing the events that occur throughout the Fangs of the Father quest chain. Even better, the entire recap is narrated by Wrathion himself, describing the events of the quest chain from his perspective. The entire thing is capped off with an insinuation that we just might run into Deathwing's heir beyond the mists of the sea. You can watch the first part embedded above and the following three parts either on Battle.net or behind the cut below. In addition to the videos, Battle.net offers a list of the first 100 people to complete their Fangs in each world region.
Encrypted Text: The Shock and Awe build
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Encrypted Text for assassination, combat and subtlety rogues. Chase Christian will be your guide to the world of shadows every Wednesday. Feel free to email me with any questions or article suggestions you'd like to see covered here. If you have been raiding 10-man Dragon Soul every week, Wrathion should be handing over the Fangs of the Fathers any day now. Even the second rogues in most 25-man groups will be collecting their last Elementium Gem Clusters shortly. For many rogues, these daggers are the first legendary weapons that they've ever acquired. When you receive them from Wrathion, it might feel a bit overwhelming. What do you do with these weapons? What will they do to you? There is a quote that's been passed down from thief to thief, assassin to assassin, and rogue to rogue for generations: "If your blades are happy, you're happy." You want your weapons to work for you, and not the other way around. You can't starve your blades, trying to forcefully adjust their diet to tolerate Morchok's rocky hide or Hagara's snow cones. If you want to keep your blades happy, you have to feed them what they really want: player blood, and lots of it.
Encrypted Text: How fast can you get Fangs of the Father?
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Encrypted Text for assassination, combat and subtlety rogues. Chase Christian will be your guide to the world of shadows every Wednesday. Feel free to email me with any questions or article suggestions you'd like to see covered here. Last week, a rogue obtained the very first pair of legendary daggers, Fangs of the Father. The spelling of the rogue's name is Имбос, and I can only imagine it sounds like the words "borscht" and "gulag" combined, because those are the only two Russian words that I know. You might recognize Имбос's guild, Exorsus, as the guild that achieved the world-first Glory of the Dragon Soul Raider. Thankfully, I can actually pronounce Exorsus. How could one guild win both the Glory achievement and legendary dagger races? In fact, how could any rogue have obtained the Fangs of the Father when they take eight weeks to acquire, at the very least? If you're keeping track, there have been seven raid lockout periods since patch 4.3 and Dragon Soul were released. If you examine Имбос's armory, you'll notice that there are a combined nine kills of Yor'sahj listed (three normal, six heroic). Lockout resetting is a known issue for progression raiders, but since it hasn't been declared an exploit by Blizzard, there's nothing stopping players from spending some cash to get ahead. I'll be waiting to congratulate the first rogue to acquire Fangs of the Father in a mathematically possible timetable.
Know Your Lore: Wrathion the Purified
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. While we've been busy putting Cho'gall in his place, dealing with Nefarian, and otherwise addressing Elemental Lords Al'Akir and Ragnaros, the rest of Azeroth has been busy in its own way. Players wandering through the Badlands are taken along on quests to help the red dragon Rheastrasza perform a bit of important research on the black dragons. Though at first it seems as though Rhea's work is mundane, her ultimate plans are soon revealed. Rheastrasza is attempting to find one purified, untainted black dragon egg. And she's successful, but the egg is in immediate danger. Deathwing doesn't want this egg to exist, and he'll do anything to get rid of it. The egg has been shuffled around constantly, hidden from Deathwing's sight -- a faint shred of hope in the post-Cataclysm world. ... unfortunately, nobody bothered asking the egg's opinion on the subject. Today's Know Your Lore contains spoilers for the rogue legendary quest line.
Patch 4.3: Rogue legendary Fangs of the Father official preview
Blizzard is on a roll today with new information and official previews -- not least of which is the new rogue legendary coming in patch 4.3, The Fangs of the Father. Rogues will be tasked with assisting Wrathion, the young prince of the Black Dragonflight, through acts of burglary, stealth, assassination, and manipulation. For their troubles, rogues will be granted a set of daggers that gets progressively more powerful as the quests continue. The legendary items will provide a stacking agility bonus that culminates in a combo point cost reduction for finishing moves, increases the damage of finishing moves, and unfurls large black wings that look imposing and destructive. Rogues can also call upon the wings on command to act as a built-in slow fall (or to just pop out the wings to look cool). Check out the official video preview of the Fangs of the Father after the jump.
