World of Warcraft

[TristorTrucido]

Bah, can't connect. Guess they still messing around with the servers for the patch. Took me 3 hrs to get that patch done, good old dial-up.

The Tuesday maintanece time is extended a few hours longer than normal. Will be going on till 11 am PST.

[suzumebachi]

time to start levelling my druid..

anyways like i said they stopped coming in waves after a minute or so. once we killed the first 3 waves it was just a full on endless rush of friggen trolls. and no, none of us were on the staircase. there were probably 10 guys on each of the NPCs.

i'll try again with a protection specced tank though (last time we had an Arms junkie).

anyone know how big the patch is yet? i knew i should have brought my USB drive to school today...

Anyone considered forming an OCR guild?

no. and the reason for that is everyone is on different servers. I'm horde on Smolderthorn, Rama is horde on Illidan/Archimonde, Zircon is horde on Gorefiend, Russ is.. somewhere... and Wingless is playing in the Forest of Feelings.

[Shhteve]

At level 60, it's all about PVP and doing high end instances. It's either good or bad depending upon what kind of associates you're working with. At that point, the community is what makes the game.

[Russell Cox]

no. and the reason for that is everyone is on different servers. I'm horde on Smolderthorn, Rama is horde on Illidan/Archimonde, Zircon is horde on Gorefiend, Russ is.. somewhere... and Wingless is playing in the Forest of Feelings.

Horde, Stormscale

[The wingless]

Wingless is playing in the Forest of Feelings.

PVP-RP is a healthy mix of the anal-retentive Dragonlance nerd and the malicious, ritalin-deprived pre-teen

[suzumebachi]

yeah so umm... anyone else having problems getting on tonight? there's a message at the login screen that links to the forums... the forums are down too.. sigh.

[Being]

All my friends are all like "BUY AN UPPERLEVEL CHARACTER FROM EBAY BECAUSE THAT'S WHEN THE REAL FUN BEGINS!"

I be all like "what the hell are you talking about?"

As you can tell, I don't play WoW.

[suzumebachi]

this is wonderful. i finally get on illidan, i'm on for a total of 2 minutes then i get disconnected and the server goes down.

but does blizzard update the realm status page to show which servers are down? hell no. that would require effort.

[Russell Cox]

yeah so umm... anyone else having problems getting on tonight? there's a message at the login screen that links to the forums... the forums are down too.. sigh.

Same, it's patch time. I'll start getting back into playing sometime Wednesday.

[Ramaniscence]

this is wonderful. i finally get on illidan, i'm on for a total of 2 minutes then i get disconnected and the server goes down.

but does blizzard update the realm status page to show which servers are down? hell no. that would require effort.

Good, so it WASN'T just me.

[Russell Cox]

this is wonderful. i finally get on illidan, i'm on for a total of 2 minutes then i get disconnected and the server goes down.

but does blizzard update the realm status page to show which servers are down? hell no. that would require effort.

That's because your server isn't down. The login servers are fucking up, not the realm servers. It happens every patch on most MMOs, just relax.

[Arek the Absolute]

Hmm, it seems as though Blizzard had a little joke up on their main page. There were supposed to be links to images to "plumbers" entering their world. If you check the url link, it says "mario__", which obviously shows who is involved. The thing is, is that the links are dead. Anyone see the pictures and save them before the link went down?

[p1x13]

Hmm, it seems as though Blizzard had a little joke up on their main page. There were supposed to be links to images to "plumbers" entering their world. If you check the url link, it says "mario__", which obviously shows who is involved. The thing is, is that the links are dead. Anyone see the pictures and save them before the link went down?

The italians are always involved.... not really but no I didn't get to =\

[zircon]

Last night, we tried rag for the 4th and 5th time - serious attempts using greater fire pots and other consummables. The first time, we got him to about 65%, and barely got through the Sons. The second time, we got him to 46% - the sons went pretty well, but they took down a bunch of healers and rogues, and people were relatively drained by the time Rag came up. I think personally that we had way too much FR. I had 85 unbuffed with no Shaman totem giving me more, and I had NO trouble managing the fire damage (in fact, I used mana potions more). Some other casters had anywhere from 150 to over 250 unbuffed with IMO is completely ridiculous.

[Russell Cox]

Last night, we tried rag for the 4th and 5th time - serious attempts using greater fire pots and other consummables. The first time, we got him to about 65%, and barely got through the Sons. The second time, we got him to 46% - the sons went pretty well, but they took down a bunch of healers and rogues, and people were relatively drained by the time Rag came up. I think personally that we had way too much FR. I had 85 unbuffed with no Shaman totem giving me more, and I had NO trouble managing the fire damage (in fact, I used mana potions more). Some other casters had anywhere from 150 to over 250 unbuffed with IMO is completely ridiculous.

Right! :D

Grats on your progression, though. Usually I reccommend AMAP for tanks, 150ish for melee, and 80ish for casters/ranged DPS. 46% is *VERY* good for a starting point upon entering your first Sons phase.

As for the Sons, what I'd reccommend is enforcing everyone to have the newest CTRA installed; period. On the MT list, put slot 1 as the MT (i.e. Ragnaros's slot) and on MT list 4 or 5 put a non-tanking Warrior. The Warrior's job is to focus on one target during Sons of the Flame and *everyone* in the raid burns them down; each Son should be dying within 7-8 seconds. Use fear bombs, freezing traps if Hunters can get it done, but don't use Banish; you're under a time limit and you can't wait for that to run its course.

While this is going on, the MTs should NOT be engaging unless they get the aggro of a Son. Their job is to stand near Ragnaros so that when he emerges they can quickly get aggro again. If no one is in melee range of Ragnaros, he does his 1-2 shot move, going down the hate list, so it's imperative that the MT (and their healers) are ready when he comes back.

If you've got 1 Son left when Ragnaros is back, don't sweat it, just get the damn thing killed. Any more (unless he's down to 20% when he emerges) and you probably won't have enough mana/people alive to burn him down.

[zircon]

Yeah, we do use an assist chain (I think a Rogue is the MA) to get the sons down. It's just a matter of practicing gathering them up so they CAN be CCed.

[suzumebachi]

god damn the princess of maraudon is one ugly ho.

also i realized how much of a DPS machine hunters really are. i had the highest DPS of the group, even though I was the lowest level guy there, level 48. there was even a 56 warrior and 51 mage. i actually had to cut back a bit at parts because i was pulling mobs off the tank. but we had an excellent healer who knew how to handle those situations quite admirably.

[Russell Cox]

god damn the princess of maraudon is one ugly ho.

also i realized how much of a DPS machine hunters really are. i had the highest DPS of the group, even though I was the lowest level guy there, level 48. there was even a 56 warrior and 51 mage. i actually had to cut back a bit at parts because i was pulling mobs off the tank. but we had an excellent healer who knew how to handle those situations quite admirably.

Yeah, people don't give Hunters enough credit. A properly specced and geared Hunter and rival and even surpass a Rogue or Mage DPS if they know how to dance the aggro threshold perfectly. Usually, unless a specific encounter calls for a certain class to go apeshit with damage (Rogues for Kazzak/Ragnaros, etc.) Hunters are almost always near the top in our guild.

On a side note, FLJOPDH)@(Y@)($&)(*&EU)@E& I HATE BROODLORD LASHLAYER IN BLACKWING LAIR! Jesus fucking CHRIST that is a bullshit encounter. If any of you have ever been to the Lycieum in Blackrock Depths, you'll KNOW what constant instant spawn of 10+ monsters is like. It's like that in the suppression chamber in Blackwing Lair....

...except there's no torches to turn off spawns like there is in BRD, there's no place to stop and rest at the end, and there's also the added bonus of the Suppressors; they're traps basically Rogues have to disable. If a Suppressor goes off, Attack speed is reduced by 80%, casting speed by 80%, and walking speed by 80% -- in short, if you let this stay on longer than 5 seconds you're almost guarranteed a wipe.

Sound fun yet? It gets better. The 'trash' mobs are whelps, which have 4K HP each, and come in groups of 5-20. There are also Blackwing Taskmasters, which are like a Warrior/Mage hybrid -- they hit fucking hard and their Flamestrikes can do well over 2K, with 500 a tick additional. PLUS, there are Dragonkin casters that give off an aura doing 50 damage a second for 5 seconds -- this can stack unlimiited times and I've seen it get up to 1,500 a second damge.

WAIT! It gets better... because...

YOU HAVE TO FIGHT THE BOSS WHILE ALL OF THIS SHIT IS GOING ON!

That's right! Broodlord can one-shot a Protection specced, Molten Core geared, 8K+ HP wearing Warrior with his Mortal Strikes. Fun shit. Plus, he has not one, but TWO knockback abilities that COMPLETELY reset hate on the tank -- the AoE is blastwave and reduces movement speed to 50% and does around 3K damage, the single KB does about 2K + fall damage if you go high enough. So, what essentially happens is the gap from healing to tanking aggro is very narrow, and WILL eventually tip the other way.

Now, because hate is so tricky, Mages are literally demoted to AoE bitches on the constantly spawning whelps and/or wanding Broodlord -- but watch it, because you CAN pull hate via wanding on this guy. It's a race against the clock to down him via DoT tactics, surviving the respawns, Rogues being on top of the Suppressors, and trying to survive without pulling healing aggro.

So yeah, fucking goods times are after the first two bosses.

[Arek the Absolute]

Just started playing the horde side on the new server Gurubashi. If anyone is interested, pm me and we will party up or something.
Character: Mumbo - Troll Warrior

[zircon]

Russ: ouch. I heard Broodlord isn't as hard as Vael though. Vael apparently is a huge bitch of a fight.. everyone else seems to breeze past the next few encounters up to Chromaggus.

[Russell Cox]

Russ: ouch. I heard Broodlord isn't as hard as Vael though. Vael apparently is a huge bitch of a fight.. everyone else seems to breeze past the next few encounters up to Chromaggus.

Lies! lol...

Seriously, Vael is merely a matter of control like Onyxia. You never have to worry about running out of Rage, Mana, or Energy because you get 20/500/20 every second on him. Plus, once you get him down to 19 percent (he starts at 30) Warriors take over and Execute his ass into the ground.

People that breezed through Broodlord did so because his Mortal Strikes were only hitting 1K max. When BWL came out and people got to him, they were cock-blocked by the 7-9K MSs. When they hotfixed Vael and Razorgore the last time, they messed with his damage table and it shrunk to 1K. Now it's back where it originally was and he's NOT SO EZ.

To be honest, I find the Razorgore fight harder than the Vael. Razorgore's an encounter where one person's fuck up will screw up the entire raid. It has to be done nearly perfectly to get past the puzzle part. On Vael, it's just a matter of aggro control and tank switching when one gets hit with Burning Adrenaline.

[suzumebachi]

i hit 50 yesterday. also if there's anybody on Skullcrusher feel free to join me on Smolderthorn once the transfers are up on thursday!

and man, halloween WoW style = fun. world PvP has officially returned as tons upon tons of horde try to throw stink bombs and place rotten eggs in southshore. and the variety of strange buffs and items you get make for an interesting time. i managed to get the buff that makes you big and orange.. and then stack it with Winterfall Firewater...

let's say the results were.. quite amusing (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v387/sz1985/WoWeen1.jpg). [2] (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v387/sz1985/WoWeen2.jpg) [3] (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v387/sz1985/WoWeen3.jpg)

i probably made a few lowbies in STV shit themselves as they were promptly run down by a 30 foot tauren.

the other buffs were kinda fun (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v387/sz1985/WoWeen4.jpg), too (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v387/sz1985/WoWeen5.jpg).

[Rodin]

Yeah, I discovered that having a dwarf take the big orange buff from the candy and then use a world enlarger makes them ~gnome sized, which was rather amusing.

The best combo I've gotten so far though was the candy that makes you floating and ghostlike and the world enlarger. You basically become a little floating pixie, and can run around making "OoOOooOHhH!" noises at everybody :P

Also, the stink bombs from Southshore are fricking HARD to remove. Improved Mend Pet can scrape just about everything off, but failed in the case of this stuff.

[tefnek]

Yeah, I'm a badass. (http://www.tefnek.com/pix/jol.jpg)

[Russell Cox]

and man, halloween WoW style = fun.

Yeah, almost all of WoW's events are nice; we were doing Ragnaros last night due to lack of healers being on Saturday and our MTs tanked him as a bat and a Leper Gnome. I really like the Children's Week with the orphans, though.

FFXI's Halloween consisted of creating a trade macro, spending shittons of money buying fruit/juice/food from vendors, finding an NPC that participates in the event, and then spamming the macro. You either got one of the 8 ridiculously fucking rare items (that did absolutely nothing and looked like the same items every year), or you got a costume that you had to manually remove to be able to talk to the NPC again (so it became trade, take off costume, trade, take off costume, etc.). I know some people that spent millions of gil just to try to get these items, with one person I personally know spent over 5 million gil (before the massive inflation 7 months ago of FFXI currency, that was easily 200-300 gold).

[suzumebachi]

Also, the stink bombs from Southshore are fricking HARD to remove. Improved Mend Pet can scrape just about everything off, but failed in the case of this stuff.

what does that debuff do anyways? i managed to get all 3 of mine off, and i noticed that every time the alliance guys would run for their lives.

i'm curious to see what happens for X-Mas and new years. lots and lots of free fireworks!

...i still can't get over how amazingly huge i was.

[Russell Cox]

W00t! Downed three of the new dragons so far. Taerar Friday night, Emeriss twice Saturday, and Ysondre Sunday afternoon. Lethon is the one no one's beat, as he just laughs before WTFPWNing you.

[zircon]

More Rag attempts.. we still can't get him. Very frustrating, even though we're using consumables. Rogues are not able to do enough DPS because they are drawing aggro (and yes, they are using feint, and yes we have 2 tanks with full FR hitting Rag around). I don't get it.

Sons are owning us too.

[SleazyC]

W00t! Downed three of the new dragons so far. Taerar Friday night, Emeriss twice Saturday, and Ysondre Sunday afternoon. Lethon is the one no one's beat, as he just laughs before WTFPWNing you.
Just out of curiosity what guild are you in? Seems to be one of the bigger raiding guilds since they are the only ones that are taking down dragons like that. Lethon is tough though, we took a crack at him and some alliance ran in and botched our attempts. Also GG on the Emeriss shadow reflector bug. I laughed pretty hard about that one after reading about it.

[Russell Cox]

http://www.wowjuice.org/

Ignore the front page, they're humoring some retard with his newly found 'photoshop skillz'.

Zircon, post your raid makeup from what you had on the last attempt. Also, what is killing everyone? Sons, or too few alive after phase one?

[zircon]

Bah, I'm not sure if I remember. It was pretty balanced in terms of classes, though. Maybe a few less Druids/Warlocks/Hunters and a few more Priests + Rogues though.

Phase 1 we get him down to about 50-55% ish at best. The problem is that even though rogues are spacing out their DPS, they still draw aggro. This is presumably because our tanks aren't doing their jobs properly, so we're going to try it with new tanks (who do have the requisite FR) first. Usually in Phase 1 we have about 6-7 people die.. maybe a little less lately.

Problem with sons is simply that.. they rape us. We try to all move to one spot immediately while mages frost nova and warp away, tanks engage them and then we assist them down. Usually our assist has died in phase 1 though which is kind of annoying, and another thing is that we can't control all of them well enough. It's just really, really chaotic and very difficult. By phase 2 (if we get to it.. we only have like twice out of ten attempts) we're just about wiped out and have no chance.

[Raenok]

So...where are the places in the Durotar region that I could get candy? And are there any other items I could get, like masks and costumes?

[SleazyC]

So...where are the places in the Durotar region that I could get candy? And are there any other items I could get, like masks and costumes?
Go to any innkeeper and just click on the 'Trick or Treat' option. You might randomly get turned into something like a frog but most of the time you should get a Bag of Treats that has a wand or a mask in it.

[Russell Cox]

Bah, I'm not sure if I remember. It was pretty balanced in terms of classes, though. Maybe a few less Druids/Warlocks/Hunters and a few more Priests + Rogues though.

Phase 1 we get him down to about 50-55% ish at best. The problem is that even though rogues are spacing out their DPS, they still draw aggro. This is presumably because our tanks aren't doing their jobs properly, so we're going to try it with new tanks (who do have the requisite FR) first. Usually in Phase 1 we have about 6-7 people die.. maybe a little less lately.

Problem with sons is simply that.. they rape us. We try to all move to one spot immediately while mages frost nova and warp away, tanks engage them and then we assist them down. Usually our assist has died in phase 1 though which is kind of annoying, and another thing is that we can't control all of them well enough. It's just really, really chaotic and very difficult. By phase 2 (if we get to it.. we only have like twice out of ten attempts) we're just about wiped out and have no chance.

(Gnome Warrior 4tw! I'm tinkering with one on the side this week; I've got a funeral to attend so I can't rog in much for raiding).

K, first of all, is everyone engaging when the MTs does? If that's the case, BIG NO NO! The MTs need about 10-15 seconds on Ragnaros to build up a good amount of hate. THEN everyone can engage.

Secondly, people dying are Rogues I assume (or Rogues + Warriors). *Everyone* in the raid should have the following for this, and every encounter after Ragnaros:

Heavy Runecloth Bandages
Whipper Root Tubers (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=2959)
Night Dragon's Breaths (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=6414)
Windblossom Berries (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=4841)
Greater Fire Protection Potions
Whipper Root Tubers will heal 800 on average every 60 seconds and is on a separate timer from potions. Night Dragon's Breath will heal 400 on average every 60 seconds, and is on a separate timer from potions AND Whipper Root Tubers. Factor in... half of a bandage and that's 2200 health non-tank melee have access to every minute.

To be able to loot those items, I would suggest doing a guild run one night to 'farm' them. The prequest is in Felwood, as are the plants -- just do a Thottbot search for "Cleansing Felwood" based on your faction to find the NPC. She'll send you to find 15 bloods off of the Shambler elementals in the north, and then well open up a few ways to turn in various items for Cenarian Salve. Once all that crap is done, then you can start harvesting the plants.

1 Salve = 1 plant, so one person in the guild should be in charge of hording the turnin mats for the Salve. You find a NDB, WBB, or WRT plant in Felwood, the person in charge cleanses it and then comes the most important part everyone in my guild has problems with --- *EVERYONE* in the area should right click the plant to open the window that says "Do you wish to harvest this plant?" but DON'T harvest it. You wait until everyone has said "Ready," the person in charge says "GO," and then everyone selects collect. BAM! You've just looted 2-20 items per *person* in the raid per plant. Respawn on NDBs are 25 minutes, the rest are about 10 minutes.

What this does for Ragnaros, and *every* boss fight afterwards, is allow non-tanks a way to keep themselves alive. You'll find for Blackwing Lair, the new dragons, and even parts of Zul'Gurub that everyone that *ISN'T* a tank is on their own for healing. Shit hits *that* hard. Mages, Warlocks, Rogues, Hunters, and non-Warriors are on their own in the future boss fights. For example, Vael in BWL (second encounter) can easily crit up to 4K instantly. His normal hits are 800-1,200, and he attacks lightning fast; factor in breath attacks and cleaves and that'll give you an idea of how much healing is needed to keep one person alive -- and with Vael you need around 5 tanks.

Also, are you all getting the UBRS fire protection buff? If you haven't, I'll post how to get it when you respond.

[zircon]

Err.. we're not TOTAL noobs, you know. MC is a very difficult instance (maybe not after you've run it 1279313x) and we read an awful lot about it before we formed the guild to get it started. Everyone does have all the consumables, from tubers to NDB to potions to bandages to fire pots etc. However even with all that, we just can't break the 50% mark before he submerges.

We've been waiting only 3 secs for the MT to get aggro because we're afraid we're not going to do enough DPS before he went back down (and we haven't been able to, but that is perhaps because we've been holding back). Is that bad?

[Russell Cox]

Err.. we're not TOTAL noobs, you know. MC is a very difficult instance (maybe not after you've run it 1279313x) and we read an awful lot about it before we formed the guild to get it started. Everyone does have all the consumables, from tubers to NDB to potions to bandages to fire pots etc. However even with all that, we just can't break the 50% mark before he submerges.

We've been waiting only 3 secs for the MT to get aggro because we're afraid we're not going to do enough DPS before he went back down (and we haven't been able to, but that is perhaps because we've been holding back). Is that bad?

I wasn't calling you 'tards :D Half of our guild refused to get tubers and such until we told them "Get it, or we're booting your ass." I've never seen so many people log on a Monday night farming session... The UBRS buff question I asked because it's a new thing, about 2 months old and not a lot of guilds do it or even know about it.

And yes, the MTs need more time. By giving them 15-20 seconds, you'll allow them to have a firmer hold on hate. It'll allow the DPS to push a little harder, and since people won't be dying to losing aggro so much you'll have more overall DPS on an attempt due to just more people throwing shit out at him. 50% before he submerges is fine. We've been doing him with 35 usually and that's about how far we get before he submerges.

As far as Sons are concerned, I would suggest each Warrior grabbing one, as soon as they pop (when CTRA announces he's about to submerge I'd have everyone haul ass south to that section). Have *one* Warlock banish one elemental *once* and the rest have Warriors fear bomb, priests included. If you have mana, you should not be anywhere NEAR the elementals because they drain 300-400 mana everytime their fire shield goes off.

Oh, and if you have Resto Druids, they need to make sure Insect Swarm is on him at all times; every case of the debuff is 2% to hit, and that's applied before crits are calculated.

[zircon]

We don't do the UBRS buff, because I've heard conflicting reports from GMs that it's exploiting. I would rather not get banned for something stupid, when we already have enough FR.

Are you saying you do 2 waves of sons, though? According to the "Pacifists" guide, 2 waves = wipe almost 99% of the time. We can barely handle 1 as is. I don't see how you can NOT do 2 if you can't get him below 50% on the first phase.

[Russell Cox]

We don't do the UBRS buff, because I've heard conflicting reports from GMs that it's exploiting. I would rather not get banned for something stupid, when we already have enough FR.

Are you saying you do 2 waves of sons, though? According to the "Pacifists" guide, 2 waves = wipe almost 99% of the time. We can barely handle 1 as is. I don't see how you can NOT do 2 if you can't get him below 50% on the first phase.

Pacifist is overrated. Their raid leader gets his strategies from people in Conquest, so it's not theirs in the first place. Plus, you have to consider that the MT's hate does not decrease when Ragnaros is submerged -- he gets another 10 seconds before everyone engages on Stage 2 and you can literally open the floodgates on him.

But yes, we've had a few cases of 2 waves of sons. We had that happen this past Friday as a matter of fact; two of the MTs healers, a Rogue, and I think a few mages and hunters got disconnected and couldn't log back on. We went into Stage 3 Ragnaros with him having only 3% health.

As far as UBRS is concerned, the only responses I've heard from GMs personally have all stated it's fair game, since the developers have to manually code which abilities you gain from the monster if they're mind controlled -- out of all their abilities and spells only 4 fit on the bar. Tigole and Caydiem CMs even responded that it wasn't an exploit on the forums, but rather it's one of the surprise eggs in there "for players who are willing to find them". The ability was discovered by Reign of Darkness on our server (alliance guild), and we waited a few weeks before even trying it.

We use it for every Ragnaros and Vael attempt, and for the first time we used it there was a GM literally watching us at our request. Take from it what you will, since if they're going to ban your guild (which I doubt) they'd have to be 95% of the other guilds on every server.

[Russell Cox]

And now for something... TOTALLY UNRELATED!!!

World of Warcraft - THE BURNING CRUSADE


The "Burning Crusade"

Illidan has gone insane, and already the alliance between the Draenei, Naga, and Blood Elves has began to crumble. The Naga once again wish to return to the sea, and the Blood Elves' hunger for demonic energies increases day by day... Illidan was tortured by Kil'jaeden after he failed to defeat Arthas - but finally, Kil'jaeden saw another task for Illidan. One that, if he failed, he would be sent into the twisted nether to be consumed by demons... Kil'jaeden then told him everything that had happened since his defeat.

As unexpected as it was, Illidan returned to his three allies and told them of this new plan to destroy not only the Scourge, but all other enemies that would ever oppose them.

Kael'thas and his Blood Elves were to go to the Forsaken for aid. Though they were undead, Illidan explained that their leader was a High Elf - Lady Sylvanas Windrunner, General of Quel'Thalas... or, used to be, anyways. Kael'thas saw this as a great advantage, as he had personally known her in the past. Though their hatred of the Trolls and Orcs was strong, Illidan told them of the new plague they were creating - to kill not only the Alliance, but the Horde as well.

Illidan told the Draenei of the pact with the Alliance they would have to make. He told them that this Alliance would aid in the slaying of the remaining orcs, the Draenei's most hated enemy. Reluctantly, Akama, leader of the Draenei, agreed to this, though only because they were in debt to Illidan for saving them from being destroyed by orcs years ago.

The Naga were to go into the sea of Azeroth, and cripple the Scourge of Northerend by sneaking in, killing groups of Scourge, and fleeing back to the sea before the Scourge's main forces could catch them. Eager to return to the oceans of Azeroth, Lady Vashj and the Naga agreed to this almost immediately.

Blood Elves have made an alliance with the horde by becoming Allies of Sylvanas. The Blood Elves also have claimed to the orcs to want to be rid of the demonic powers corrupting them, and that they wanted to be redeemed of the dark powers they once tried to harness. The orcs, though slowly and unsure, finally accepted the Blood Elves. In turn, the Tauren and Trolls also followed the example of the Undead and the Orcs, and accepted the Blood Elves as part of the new Horde.

Akama went to the Night Elves to plead. They told them of the demonic orcs that had forced them from their homeland, Draenor, and that they wish for an alliance against the Horde. The Alliance, though suspicious of the Draenei true intentions, has accepted the Draenei plead for an alliance.

Soon after Kael, leader of the Blood Elves, Lady Vashj, leader of the Naga, and Akama, leader of the Draenei, had left Outlands, Kil'Jaeden once again imprisoned Illidan within the Black Citadel and closed the Dark Portal to Azeroth... The Blood Elves, Naga and Draenei were meant to never return.

In the Royal Throne Room of Undercity, Sylvanas entered with many of her most powerful guards at her side. She had found out of the betrayal of Varmithras, and that the natherizim Balnazzar still lived. To her surprise, many undeads had already been slaughtered in the Throne Room... and Varmithras was nowhere to be found.

A dark Nightmare has enveloped the Emerald Dream, slowly corrupting it. Rumors have emerged that Archimonde has found his way into the Emerald Dream by using the powers of the World Tree before he died...

Max Level Increased
The max level players may now reach has been increased to 75, and many new max-level raid instances have been added to the game world.

New Races
Horde
Five races compromise the Horde, the brutal orcs, the shadowy undead, the spiritual tauren, the quick-witted trolls, and the reckless blood elves. Beset by enemies on all sides, these outcasts have forged a union tey hope will ensure their mutual survival.

Blood Elves
Serving Illidan to satiate their magical addiction, the blood elves have grown stronger than they ever imagined. But even now, with demonic magic in constant supply, many of the blood elves are hungering for even more magic.

Racial Traits:
Demonic Corruption - Due to their corrupted blood and their hunger for magic, the Blood Elves begin the game with +10 resistances to all types of magic. In Addition, all of their resistances to magical spells and effects, excluding Nature, are increased by 8%.

Available Classes: Warrior, Rogue, Mage, Priest, Warlock, Spellbreaker

Alliance
The Alliance consists of five races: the noble humans, the adventurous dwarves, the enigmatic night elves, the ingenious gnomes, and the mysterious draenei. Bound by a loathing for all things demonic, they fight to restore order in this war-torn world.

Draenei
Nearly wiped out by the Orcs during the early days of the Horde and then faced with the destruction of their entire world, the Draenei have become adept at survival and avoiding danger. Even knowing that the Burning Legion is the ultimate cause for their suffering, the Draenei survivors hope that their pact with the Alliance, and Illidan, will someday grant them a new homeland and, most importantly, help them in the eradication of their most hated enemy, the Orcs.

Racial Traits:
Unseen - Once every ten minutes, the Draenei may go invisible for fifteen seconds. This effect may not be cancelled, and the Draenei cannot attack or cast any spells, and they are also considered to be "in combat" for the entire time of this effect.

Available Classes: Warrior, Rogue, Hunter, Spellbreaker


New Class: Spell Breaker


Spell Breaker - Among the Blood Elves, there are those who show such an amazing aptitude for magic that they can become almost immune to it's effects and can even twist the spells of others to benefit themselves. Called Spellbreakers, they were the elite, holding mastery over all forms of magic. Now, with demonic blood flowing through their veins, these Spellbreakers and their allies among the Naga and Draenei have begun to evolve into demons themselves, with the most powerful able to manipulate the fabric of the Twisting Nether.

Spell breakers begin the game with leather armor but are able to use mail once they reach level fourty.

Examples of Specific Abilities:

Shadow Orbs: Summons several shadowy spheres to circle the caster's body. This spell will increase the player's parry/block rate, with each parry or block causing shadow damage to the attacker. Each attack blocked/parried in this fashion will cause an orb to violently explode, causing minor arcane damage to the attacker and decreasing the number of orbs surrounding the player until all orbs are gone and the effect ends. 30 second cooldown.

Demon Fangs: Fangs are often the first demonic trait evolved by Spellbreaker characters. Using this ability will cause you to attempt to bite your enemy, causing shadow damage and causing a Damage over Time debuff on the opponent, unless resisted. 3 minute cooldown.

Fel Strike: The Spellbreaker's weapon is charged with demonic energy, causing extra shadow damage every hit. Lasts five minutes.

Dark Whispers: Has a 75% chance to temporarily lower nearby enemies' attack power by 10%, lower their hit points by 5%, or lower their mana by 5%. Has a 25% chance to buff nearby enemies' attack power by 10%, hit points by 10%, or mana by 10%. Effect is random on every target. 1 Minute Cooldown.

Fel Concentration: Has a 50% chance to either slow casting time of the target by 10%, or making it 10% faster. May be used on Party Members or enemies. Lasts 5 seconds. 15 second cooldown.

Talent Trees:

Fel Protection - Centered around defensive abilities that allow the Spellbreaker a chance to survive when up against melee classes.

Fel Combat - Talents used to improve offensive spells and abilities used by the Spellbreaker.



Spellbreaking - Talents used to attempt to increase spell the spell resistances of the Spellbreaker.

Example Talents:

Spell Alignment: The caster attempts to align his body with the next spell cast upon him. Once hit by the spell, his body 'aligns' to that spell's school, making him immune to that spell school for 20 seconds. Lasts until a hostile spell is cast on the Spellbreaker. 15 minute cooldown. LEVEL 40 TALENT - Fel Protection.

Spell Reflection: For 20 seconds, all positive and negative spells used on the Spellbreaker are reflected at the caster. 15 minute cooldown. LEVEL 40 TALENT - Fel Combat.

Spell Absorbtion: For 20 seconds, all spells used on the Spellbreaker will cause normal damage, but the mana cost of the spell is added to the Spellbreaker's mana. LEVEL 40 TALENT - Spellbreaking.

Improved Demon Fangs: Damage caused by the bite of the demon fangs does 5%/10%/15% more damage and has its cooldown reduced by 15/30/60 seconds. 3 ranks. FEL COMBAT.

Melee Specialization: Chance to cause shadow damage on hit with a melee weapon is increased by 10%/20%. 2 ranks. FEL COMBAT.Improved Shadow Orbs: Damage caused by the shadow orbs is increased by 10%/20%/30%. 3 ranks. FEL PROTECTION.

Shadow Shield: Increases your chance to block with a shield by 2%/4%/6%/8%/10%. Also gives a chance to cause shadow damage equal to the amount of damage that had been blocked to the attacker by 5%/10%/15%/20%/25%. 5 ranks. FEL PROTECTION.

Fire Resistance: Increases your resistance to fire spells by 2/4/6/8/10. 5 ranks. SPELLBREAKING.

Frost Resistance: Increases your resistance to frost spells by 2/4/6/8/10. 5 ranks. SPELLBREAKING.

Shadow Resistance: Increases your resistance to shadow spells by 2/4/6/8/10. 5 ranks. SPELLBREAKING.

Arcane Resistance: Increases your resistance to arcane spells by 2/4/6/8/10. 5 ranks. SPELLBREAKING.


New Areas


Undermine:
The Goblins have finally accepted to allow the other civilized races of Azeroth onto their home of Undermine.

This is a level 60-65 zone, and is now the main hub of neutral transportation.

Quel'Thalas:
With the aid of the Horde and Argent Dawn, the Blood Elves drove some of the remaining Scourge out of Quel'thalas. The Blood Elves have started to rebuild their cities, and have unexpectedly found that some cities were untouched.

Gnomeregan:
After a long struggle, the Gnomeregan Exiles were finally able to retake their home, with the aid of both, Horde and Alliance adventurers. The Clean Zone is the new starting area for gnomes. Gnomeregan can take the player to about level 12 afterwhich they have to go to other areas.

The New Echo Islands:
Farther south of the Echo Islands was a large chain of many islands, which ended up also being named the "Echo Islands".

Nothing but beasts had lived on these islands when the trolls found them. It is the new starting area for Trolls. These islands can take the player to about level 12.

Northrend:
The Horde and Alliance are now able to reach the continent of Northerend, thanks to the aid of the Goblins of Undermine. A zeppelin will take the players to the town of Valgarde in Northerend, where they will begin many quests to oppose the Scourge. Northerend is a massive level 65-75 zone, and contains many new max-level instances.

The Emerald Dream:
The Emerald Dream is the primal heart of Azeroth. It is an echo of what the world would be like if intelligent beings had not altered its surface. The ethereal layer of the Emerald Dream shares the same space of the Physical layer one on top of the other - a parallel realm overlapping the physical world like an invisible and intangible layer. It is characterized by its green hue and verdant forests. The Emerald Dream, though, is like a perpetual time-frame of creation, back when the Titans reshaped the planet to bring order to chaos. Yet both realms share the same time. Time passes normally within the Emerald Dream as in the Physical world. The Emerald Dream is ruled by Ysera the Dragon Aspect of the Dream, empowered by Eonar the Titan to watch over the Emerald Dream realm. Lately, the Emerald Dream has been affected by the Nightmare. It is not a place. It is an effect that roams the Emerald Dream randomly affecting other dreamers and attacks them during their sleep. The nightmare twists and reshape the dreams corrupting the sleeping dream-form. Those trapped within the Nightmare are known as the Unwaking. Their physical form may die of starvation, not able to wake up as the affected can't escape the Emerald Dream. There are many magical and planar ways to reach the Emerald Dream. Sometimes, Ysera can't detect intruders that enter the Emerald Dream by means of magic plane-shifting. There are rumors that somehow Archimonde was able to affect the Emerald Dream through the World Tree. Since the World Tree was bound to the Emerald Dream, Archimonde might have found a way to infiltrate the Emerald Dream before dying. Only time will tell... The Emerald Dream is a level 70-75 zone which will have players attempt to cleanse the Emerald Dream of the Nightmare - and, if the rumors that are told are true, Archimonde will once again need to be defeated by mortals...


Transportation


All boats from neutral cities, such as Ratchet, and Booty Bay now connect to Undermine. New boats have been added to Steamwheedle Port, Menethil Harbor, and Theramore which will take anyone on it to Undermine. In addition, there is a new zeppelin which will take the player to Undermine. There is also a zeppelin on Undermine which will take the player to the shores of Northerend, to a town called Valgarde. All goblin-owned transportations now have atleast four level 62 Undermine Bruisers on them. Alliance-owned and Horde-owned transportation now force any members of the opposite faction on them into PVP, and are also now guarded by atleast four level 60 guards.


New High-End Instances


Naxxaramas Necropolis:
Within Stratholme, near the Slaughterhouse of Baron Rivendare, is the Naxxaramas Necropolis. Kel'Thuzad reigns the Undead Scourge from the Naxxramas Necropolis. This new 40-player, level sixty raid instance is equal in difficulty to Blackwing Lair, and will send the player to assault the Tower of Medivh.

The Tower of Medivh:
This tower was described by Medivh as an Hourglass. As the sand particles flow slowly through the hourglass clock, time flows in different places of the glass, allowing one to see the past - and future - of Azeroth. This is a 40-player max-level raid instance, much more difficult than Naxxaramas Necropolis.

Caverns of Time:
This is the lair of Nozdormu, one of the five great dragon aspects. Nozdormu, unlike most other dragons in the game, requires the aid of mortals. To repair damage done to the timeline, Nozdormu will send players on large raids into two 40-player, level sixty raid instances, and one 40-player max-level raid instance, the first two being equal in difficulty to Naxxaramas Necropolis, and the final being equal in difficulty to The Tower of Medivh.

Outlands:
The desolate place of Outland emits flashes of light and streams of energy. Outland is currently a way station. Many portals are still active within some of the floating asteroids, leading to other worlds. This new zone is for groups of five or more max level players. Among the creatures that inhabit Outland are Felboars, Phase spiders, Draeni, Fire Elementals, Fungal Horrors, Succubi, Nether Dragons(composed of nether energy, and not related to real dragons).

THE BLACK CITADEL:
Beneath the Black Citadel, there is a very large prison. Rumors have been created that heroes from past wars are still being held within this prison, and that even now the ruler of the Black Citadel tortures these heroes. Other rumors are that Kil'jaeden, the most powerful entity of the Burning Legion, dwells withing this Citadel, plotting the destruction of Azeroth. This is a large, 50-player raid instance.

GRIM BATOL:
Rumors have emerged that Alexstrasza and her dragonflight are keeping anyone from getting near Grim Batol. They are protecting something deep within its walls, a secret power. Some say they are protecting a powerful artifact or creature.

Some have gone as far as to speculate that Deathwing has been held captive and imprisoned within Grim Batol, though, others believe in the possibility that the creature that now holds the essence of the Sunwell might be under protection of the Red Dragonflight. Anyone who dares to venture into this max level 50-player raid instance will find themselves standing against the power of the Red Dragonflight, Alexstasza, herself. This is equal in difficulty to The Black Citadel.

THE LAIR OF MALYGOS:
Malygos lives in Northrend in a deep and complex cavern. He is known to gather relics of arcane power, keeping them locked away from mortals. Frozen Orcs, Nagas, Trolls and Wendigos are many of the victims of the horror of Malygos' power, and to display what happens to those who venture into the Lair of Malygos. This is a 50-player max level raid instance, equal in difficulty to Grim Batol.


ICECROWN MOUNTAIN:
Icecrown mountain is the most difficult instance to ever be in Azeroth, and will challenge anyone to stand against the power of not only the Lich King's armies, and his most trusted lieutenant, Anub'arak, but also the Immortal Lich King himself.

This is a 100-player max level raid instance, and will challenge the Horde and Alliance to work together to defeat the Immortal Lich King. To have the full 100 players, 50 players of max level on Horde and 50 players of max level on Alliance must work together, merging both groups of 50 into one large raid party. Upon Icecrown, Horde and Alliance may not attack eachother at any time, but are instead able to aid eachother. Leaders of the Argent Dawn have also worked together to teach the Alliance and Horde to understand both, Common and Orcish, so they may communicate as they work together to defeat the Immortal Lich King.

THE EYE OF YSERA:
Deep within the Emerald Dream is the Eye of Ysera. The Eye of Ysera is a large golden dome that randomly appears in the Emerald Dream, and the dome in which Ysera dwells. No one has ever been able to enter or penetrate the golden dome. That is, until the Nightmare came... And once again, if the rumors were true, this is where Archimonde will most likely be...

Source: http://www.goblinworkshop.com/news/story.html?StoryID=699

It should also be noted that Spybot is the one that's released leaked patch notes in the past, and *every* single one released by him have been correct. So, take what you will from whatever he posts; he could be entirely correct, or wrong, but he has yet to be wrong. We'll know in about 8 days either way from Blizzcon.

[Jack&TheBox]

I wish it were the Panderans instead of the Draenei. I can't even remember what the hell a Draenei is, but Blood Elves? And Spellbreaker sounds right up my alley, gameplay-wise. That may just make me reinstall the game.

[Hum4n After All]

Tch if ya wanna play a real RTS then play
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a352/ChaosSorceror/boksbilde-full.jpg

[ellywu2]

wow, more 40-50 player max level raid instances. Woopey fucking do.
They should've gone the ZG route, imo far more engaging than spamming autoshot on a mob for 5 hours at a time.

[Russell Cox]

wow, more 40-50 player max level raid instances. Woopey fucking do.
They should've gone the ZG route, imo far more engaging than spamming autoshot on a mob for 5 hours at a time.

Then roll another class. The raid size doesn't determine the difference in the encounters, the dungeon does.

[ellywu2]

lol, thats true. I just hope blizzard doesnt go down the MC way which, no matter which class you play comes down to:
spam SS and feint.
spam frostbolt.
spam regrowth.
spam flash heal.
spam holy light/cleanse.
etc

this is ofc purely molten core, from my limited experience of BWL it seems to relieve the absolute mind numbing tedium of molten core, where unless you are an MT or raid leader or maybe primary healer your class role is stripped to the bare minimum.
I think anyone who considers the actual mechanics of MC fun needs their head checked. Now, mad skills epixx on the other hand..

[zircon]

MC is only boring once you get it to farm status. Many of the encounters were very fun and challenging the first 5 or so times around. They're not all *that* boring now either, it's not like I can go AFK during the fight.

[Russell Cox]

Nah, MC was more or less just an introduction to a raid size group of people; it's really nothing more than clearing Scholomance or Stratholme on a larger scale.

Blackwing Lair and Zul'Gurub are examples of what the real shit's going to be like; every encounter is different and the classes don't do the same thing all the time. For examples hunters kite in Razorgore, go all out on DPS on Vael, and on the way to Broodlord melee while *very lightly* DPSing Broodlord himself in 2-5% increments due to hate being so shaky. Plus, judging from your tone you've already done ZG so you know how different it is from Molten Core.

Coming from FFXI, where *every* fucking 'boss kill' is the *exact same* I can honestly say I've not been really bored in WoW stuff. Seriously, I'd rather do Molten Core everyday then ever have to do an FFXI boss.

spam regrowth.

If I had a Druid do that in one of my raids (aside from Vael, because you have infinite mana and it's the only heal fast enough), he'd have one warning before I talked to Scott to kick his ass.

[ellywu2]

If I had a Druid do that in one of my raids (aside from Vael, because you have infinite mana and it's the only heal fast enough), he'd have one warning before I talked to Scott to kick his ass.

Hence why we're stuck on razorgore! :P

But yeah, we've done ZG and i love it. The Hakkar encounter is genius! Best instance so far except for the troll bit in Zul'farrak. I might just loathe MC so much because i started doing it with a guild who already had it on farm status. In fact, the most fun i have in MC is seeing which of the hunters can get closest to the starting molten giants without aggroing them.

[zircon]

Come on, there is SOME tricky stuff in MC. We wiped on fire packs for months before we mastered dealing with them. Geddon was a hard fight for awhile, as was Garr. Sulfuron still can give us trouble and Domo took a few weeks. It may be an "intro" place but it's pretty demeaning to say it's no harder than scholo.

[[deltree]]

ICECROWN MOUNTAIN:
Icecrown mountain is the most difficult instance to ever be in Azeroth, and will challenge anyone to stand against the power of not only the Lich King's armies, and his most trusted lieutenant, Anub'arak, but also the Immortal Lich King himself.

This is a 100-player max level raid instance, and will challenge the Horde and Alliance to work together to defeat the Immortal Lich King. To have the full 100 players, 50 players of max level on Horde and 50 players of max level on Alliance must work together, merging both groups of 50 into one large raid party. Upon Icecrown, Horde and Alliance may not attack eachother at any time, but are instead able to aid eachother. Leaders of the Argent Dawn have also worked together to teach the Alliance and Horde to understand both, Common and Orcish, so they may communicate as they work together to defeat the Immortal Lich King.

I think this a very cool idea. Not only fighting the Lich King, but working with opposing faction in a instance sounds interesting.

[Russell Cox]

Come on, there is SOME tricky stuff in MC. We wiped on fire packs for months before we mastered dealing with them. Geddon was a hard fight for awhile, as was Garr. Sulfuron still can give us trouble and Domo took a few weeks. It may be an "intro" place but it's pretty demeaning to say it's no harder than scholo.

Read what I wrote again. I didn't say it wasn't harder; I said it's nothing more than the same thing as those instances *on a larger scale*.

[suzumebachi]

woohoo! thanks to the server transfers (as well as the minimum player change), Alterac Valley has finally returned to Smolderthorn!

AV is awesome. Pure bloodshed for 7 hours before we finally killed that freaking dwarf. The battle went back and forth for quite some time. The alliance even came so close as to destroying both our towers before we finally pushed them back.

It was extremely fun, and a challenge as it actually requires some strategy. You can't just throw yourselves into the opposite team's base and hope to take over their graveyard.

The end boss fight was quite fun as well. He'd be pretty tough by himself, but when you factor in all his little gaurd fgts and 40 alliance guys trying to rape you from behind, it becomes very interesting.

In the end it was definately worth the struggle, because my New Polearm (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=40261) is le awesome.

[zircon]

Yeah, AV is definitely a lot of fun. And Ice Barbed Spear is one of the best hunter weapons for awhile. Damn, you levelled pretty fast too, suzu.. what are you now, like 55?

[suzumebachi]

lvl 54 now. which reminds me, where i should i be questing and/or grinding at this level? winterspring? also, i think i should probably do sunken temple or something.

[zircon]

54.. yeah, ST is good, but you're on the high end, and it's also boring as hell. One more level and you've got BRD anyway. Try Un'Goro, Western/Eastern Plaguelands, maybe Felwood. Winterspring in a few levels.

[Russell Cox]

lvl 54 now. which reminds me, where i should i be questing and/or grinding at this level? winterspring? also, i think i should probably do sunken temple or something.

If you're horde, there's a lot of easy quest lines around low 50s. The cauldron series in Western Plagueland is one (close to 40K), the tablets series in Azshara is another (40K again). Un'Goro has a lot of quests that are gathering but mixed in with killing quests; you'll end up full bags and have to sell a lot of shit before you complete them all (almost half a level in quest EXP alone, nevermind kill EXP).

Winterspring is gorgeous....but has very few quests. Silithus you can start questing around level 55/56 safely and actually make progress. Also, make your way to Moonglade and pickup the Silithus quests there before heading that way; it's 3 quests that nets a total of around 30K, plus you'll have the new quests that just opened up there.

If you haven't done any, there's also the Thorium Brotherhood quests in Searing Gorge, which is easily a level in itself due to sheer number of kills.

[suzumebachi]

yeah i messed around in searing gorge for a while (49-51)... there was one or two quests i could never finish though. that damn underground area is massive.

the dwarves there make for good grinding though.

[Russell Cox]

Plus, Un'Goro is where you can start the "Legend of Zelda" series of quests.

[Russell Cox]

Weee! Ysondre, the female green dragon from the patch, spawned today in Duskwood. We ride up from Grom'Gol, get buffed up, and start going; we'd already killed Taerar and Emeriss several times so we knew the basics of the fight. The key thing on these dragons are their special move, and their 75/50/25% moves.

Her move is to spawn a legion of Druids equal to the number of half of your raid. They spam Moonfire, and occassionally toss out a 2 second silence. They're non-elites, so mages can AE them down in about 4 seconds.

She dropped my CORNCOB OF DOOM (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=52191) (scroll to the bottom, I have a picture posted), as well as some nice tanking shoulders for our MT. I'd say without her 25% ability (which is a joke, I'm willing to be she gets hotfixed to be harder), your guild could take her Zircon; imagine Golemagg without the adds up front basically, tank gets about 30 seconds of hate building, then everyone engages full throttle. In the event a tank goes down a new one steps in and DPS backs off for another 30 seconds. All healers just focus onhealing the tank, as the dragons hit hard -- 1,400 is the average hit, with crits floating around 5K.

[Bren]

She dropped my CORNCOB OF DOOM (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=52191)

Best staff ever :lol:

[suzumebachi]

i just made my proudest accomplishment thus far:

one-shotting a lvl 49 mage with a 1980 damage crit. booyah motherfucker! seriously doubt he saw that shit coming.

and un'goro is a bitch. i can't go 5 minutes without having to fight off another rabid pack of alliance (which i've become quite good at now).

[Russell Cox]

w00t! Broodlord down :D Drops were:

Maladath, Runed Blade of the Black Flight (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=40807)

Boots of Transcendence (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=27394)

Bloodfang Boots (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=27566)

Flamemaw is going to be fun. He hits about as hard as Broodlord, pulses a fire aura that does minor DoT at first, but stacks. I does 150 initially, then 300, then 600, then 1,200, then 2,500. It also is the first boss to breath Shadow Flame -- a move that does a 4-6K intial damage + 8K DoT over 20 seconds. Onyxia's Scale Cloak lessens the initial damage *slightly* and removes the DoT portion.

Sadly, we don't have one for everyone in the guild ; ;

His breath does a piddly amount of damage at first; the MTs died on our first attempt and I was the first one he turned to (which, as a Druid with -20% threat talent meant other healers were being pussies) and it did only 600 damage. However, the first breath gives you a debuff that increases fire damage taken by 250, then 500, then 1,000, then 1,500, and finally 2,000. He likes to spam fire breaths alternated with Shadow breaths on the MTs :\

The good news is Firemaw, Flamegor, and Ebonroc are the "minor" bosses of BWL (Zircon, think of Shazz, Lucifron, and Gehennas) and once you killed one you've killed the other two basically since they act the same. Then we clear the trash shit, free Chromaggus (he's the screenshot you can see on the main site -- looks like a cross between the Dragon Footsoliders and The Beast) and stomp his ass (however long that takes), and then we'll be at Nefarion.

The rush is on for Horde side still, as last I checked there is *NO* Horde guild that has killed Nefarion...yet. Only Alliance side with their "omg it's not unbalanced" unbalanced Blessing of Salvation.

[cobaltstarfire]

The rush is on for Horde side still, as last I checked there is *NO* Horde guild that has killed Nefarion...yet. Only Alliance side with their "omg it's not unbalanced" unbalanced Blessing of Salvation.

I don't know about your server, but I'm pretty sure the Horde guild "TKT" on my server (Sargeras) has downed Nefarior without useing blessing of Salvation.


That "corncob of doom" is a pretty nifty little staff.

[suzumebachi]

so the expansion has officially been unveiled, though blizzard is still holding back on some things (like the other new playable race which is rumored to be Draenei).

check it out:
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade/

[zircon]

Another series of Rag attempts, got him down to 42% at best (AFTER sons, which we are getting better at). No good. Very frustrating.

[dabattousai]

so the expansion has officially been unveiled, though blizzard is still holding back on some things (like the other new playable race which is rumored to be Draenei).

check it out:
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade/

Nah, I believe that it will be the Pandarens, even though people are considering them to be a Horde race, look at the Blood Elves, no one would have thought of them as Horde. Let us not forget that China has now been given WoW and since Pandas are considered a Chinese animal, well you get the idea. Beisdes we need an animal race on the Alliance side, Tauren just aren't what they use to be =/

Found this on a fansite and Blizzard has yet to comment about this picture to Gamespot since Gamespot has also found this image. Before I start getting negative feedbacks from people saying this is FAKE, I do believe the same thing, but I thought I would give the forum something to talk about =)

http://www.wowcentral.com/images/wowc/screenshots/ss603.jpg

[Rodin]

Honestly, I can't see the Pandarens ending up as a major race in the game. There's simply no motivation for them to be fighting ANYBODY. They live to party, they are the eternal fratboys. Furthermore, they are overall a very peaceful people from what I've gathered.

The Draenei, however, are almost equally unlikely to my mind. The main problem with the Draenei is pretty simple - their homeland would HAVE to be Outland. And Outland is a pure PvP, level 60+ area. Even if the Draenei were put right next to the Dark Portal, that still dumps them into the Blasted Lands. They'd have to do some funky stuff to put them close enough to the Alliances areas. Notice where the Blood Elf starting lands are - right smack next to the Undercity.

To further confuse things, what would the Draenei capitol be like? This is supposed to be the shattered remnants of a people that were nearly wiped out by the Orcs, after all. Given that the Blood Elves are getting a capitol (at least I think I remember reading that - can anyone confirm?), it seems only natural that there would have to be some impressive Draenei city, which just plain out doesn't seem to fit.

[Dark_T_Zeratul]

That's why I see the furbolgs as a possibility. They'd start in northern Kalimdor (and whatever the new Alliance race is, it would probably have to in order to maintain balance), and one could easily say that they're one of the few tribes still uncorrupted by demonic taint that has driven most of them to madness.

[Rodin]

That's why I see the furbolgs as a possibility. They'd start in northern Kalimdor (and whatever the new Alliance race is, it would probably have to in order to maintain balance), and one could easily say that they're one of the few tribes still uncorrupted by demonic taint that has driven most of them to madness.

The problem I see with that is that one of the most logical Furbolg classes is Shaman - which is a Horde-only class.

[zircon]

Furbolg is not going to be it.

[Russell Cox]

Before I start getting negative feedbacks from people saying this is FAKE, I do believe the same thing, but I thought I would give the forum something to talk about =)

Actually, that picture *is* fake though Blood Elves are the race for the Horde. This was confirmed at Blizzcon (love my Murloc baby, btw, cute as a button). The new Blood Elf models that will be used on Horde model don't have the "blocky" look that the current Night Elves do, plus there are artist differences in the way they look, move, and attack.

I seriously, seriously, seriously doubt it will be Panderan. For one, the Chinese populace may consider it a slap in the face due to Blizzard's own description of them on the WC3 site is "A race of Warriors whose single ambition is to find their next drink." -- they portray the Panderans as Drunkards.

Draeni is more than likely going to end up being the Alliance race. Blood Elves were trapped in Outlands just like Draeni and the Vjashl tribe of Nagas; it's not unforseeable that Draeni calls upon an old favor with the Night Elves. The orcs decimated the Draeni in Outland, the Alliance shuns the Blood Elves, and both factions despise the Naga. Lorewise it'll end up being Draeni more than likely -- how else is Illidian/Burning Legion going to keep tabs on the Alliance side?

[PhantomSky]

All I know is that socketed items remind me too much of Diablo II, and although it is a fun game, I'd much rather Blizzard try to stay away from it with World of Warcraft.

WoW already is so much like diablo 2....talent trees remind you of anything? So far...jewelcrafting and socketed items are what I am most excited for, next would be the new races.

[Airwalker]

I'll put my money up for Pandarens, just because I want to play as one. No real reason, I jsut do. Except, Blizzard said they originally the had plans to place them in somewhere, and I honestly couldn't see a better place. (Just so long as they are at least NPCs, I'll be satisfied.)

Though, I also may place a few chips on the Draenei, just because they are ugly and hate the horde. If Blizzard was trying to give Horde a pretty face, they may believe they are balancing it out by giving the Alliance an ugly one.

If there are any kinks in the story though, Blizzard will change it like they have everything else. Like moving Draenei's home or creating a motivation for the Pandarens to fight. They can add whatever they want.

[PhantomSky]

Pandarens....no. There are about 4 of them in azeroth and they are a joke race really...

[Russell Cox]

This beez a bery bery rong reply. Lots of shit from people I know that heard this from developers and Blizzard employees firsthand from Blizzcon. Also, this will put your fears to rest about the UBRS buff Zircon.

Alright, Both my husband Quutar and I are here in Anaheim, Calf, at Blizzcon.

Yesterday was the first day and was a total blast. We walked from our hotel at about 9:30am to get in line for the opening ceremonies.Luckly we arrived pretty early, because apparently the line ended up wrapping around the block. Quutar and I started talking to the people around us and had fun meeting a couple and their neice from Uldum and a group of guildmates from Destromath. Sometime after 10am the doors opened and we were all ushered inside the beloved con. We looked around for a bit but not long before heading straight over to the big auditorium for Opening Ceremonies. We got good seats right off the asle and met up with our new friends form Uldum and enjoyed the excellent opening remarks then then new WoW Expansion Demo movie. (look below for Quutar's excellent notes)

After there we headed up to the "realm meet" but were sadly disappointed because, while they went through all the trouble to make this nifty schedule and set up tables, the con forgot to NUMBER said tables so it was total chaos. Sighing in defeat, Quu headed over to nab us some food while I waited in the exceedingly slow line for the Blizzcon store. Sore feet and a sandwich later, Quu headed off for his Raid panel while I continued waiting. (look below for Quutar's excellent notes) Two hours later I got my phat l00t and even got my Well of Eternity book signed by Richard Knaak before heading over to the Lore and Quests panel.

Sadly i had to retire for the night, but Quutar wandered around and had fun. The Cocktailes and Contests shindig was ok. The contests were painful as most convention contests are, but the supposed mixer afterwards was sadly disappointing since all the well known Blizz staff disappeared as soon as the contests were done.

Overall the whole thing is really exciting and I'm betting today is going to be a blast (more panels! yea!).

Now.. as promised, Quu's excellent notes from the con:

================================================== ====
Interesting quote from the line to get in:
“WTB Murloc pet… $30!”

Opening ceremonies
The opening started with the president of blizzard doing a future talk… talking about how good things will be. This was the first Blizzcon, and got 8,000 people in attendance. He loves the fans, blah blah blah. The Zerg are playable in the Ghost multi player, and other Ghost things that I did not pay much attention to.

The name of the expansion is the “Burning Crusade”. The producer for WoW came on, and talked about community. The community of WoW is what makes it strong; In the future… for the free “patches” they will be adding
Noxtramus (sp?) (The place above Stratholme)
Linked Auction Houses in all major cities (HUGE cheer)
Ahn’Quiraj
Weather effects… real effects, not just pretty fluff

And the highlights from the expansion was:
Burning Crusade
Blood Elves for Horde
Primarily in outland, through the dark portal
Medhiva(sp?) Tower
Caverns of Time
The Black Temple where you will fight and kill Illdian
Flying mounts in the outlands
Gem Crafting/socketed Items… new profession


They then showed a demo movie for the new expansion. It was a lot of concept sketches that looked awesome… some in game scenes from Medhevas(sp?) tower, and from the Blood Eleve starting area

The burning legion is exacting revenge on the people beyond the dark portal. They are punishing the outland. The concept art… looks awesome.

The caverns of time will deal with the lore of WoW. Three instances listed were:
The raising of thrall, before he became war chief… something about hillsbrand
The opening of the dark portal for the very first time
The defense of the world tree… final battle in War3

And… the level cap is raised to level 70. Talking to a blizzard employee afterwards (they had a “B” on their badge)… they will be giving us ten more talent points… and increasing the “tree” to a 41 point talent. No details were giving on the filling in from 31 to 41… but the idea is one of balance… if someone gets the 41… they can’t have a 21 from another tree…

Raid Panel
Definition of a raid: Entrance into another territory for phat l00t.

They focus on the end game for raids. “Heat only rises” which means… I think… that they have to keep things going up and harder, since the challenges have to remain. Raid targets provide something to aspire to… something that makes the world feel bigger, even if you don’t do the raids, you hear about them.

Low level raids are not really their focus. It is possible to ten man the dead mines at level 15… but they don’t focus on balancing it for that.

The 1% myth. They talked about how on the forums they are flamed for making “content” that only 1% of their player base is playing. According to blizzard, during the week… during peek hours… at any one time there is
500 Molten Core instances
1500 Onyxia instances
250 BWL instances
700 Zul’Gurub instances

All going at the same time. If you consider that this is all week long (for instance 800 MC on weeknights) that is far more than 1% of their gaming population.

Onyxia was born August 13 2004. She was the first end game raid targeted instance/mob for WoW. She was designed to break the mold for previous games raid encounters. She borrowed “stages” from other RPG games and brought them into WoW. Her stages, as described by blizzard were:
Introduction
She can fly!
All hell breaks lose

Onyxia became a template for the mindset of later raids. They ask themselves for each raid:
what should each class be doing
Mix things up, try not to keep it static
Have a duration in mind
Pacing is important
Keep Challenging the player
Raise the bar

There was some discussion about “smart” mobs. Nefarion, in Oobers, says to go after the one in the skirt, but when you finally fight him, he gets tanked like normal. Where are the smart mobs that go after healers first? That use smart tactics? Simple answer:
“We can kill you any time we want!”
A smart raid boss is not fun. Killing the player is easy, challenging the player is hard.

They had some interesting stats up. In a one week period… the most deadly raid bosses were:
Vaelstraz(sp?) 24,182
Bloodlord 11,242
Firemaw 10,363

Then the most deadly “mobs” in the game outside of raid bosses:
Gadjetstan Bruiser 19,254
Defias Pillager 17,162
Tauren Mill Death Guard 8,298

Testing the raids is very hard. A guild that works together will do better than a pickup raid almost always. Previously, internal testing was basically done via pickups. They would get some internal testers, CMs, and other blizzard employees… all of which are very good raiders on their own, and have them test things out. The problem was that all of these people were not used to raiding together… so they are working on a “Strike Raid Team” of dedicated raiders. A group of employees who test raid content… and work together… mimicking a guild.

Blackwing Lair was not put on the public test realm at the request of the player base. They wanted to be surprised… and well… it was a mistake. Zul’Gurub was in the PTR, and the difference showed… all future raid instances will be on the PTR.

WoW was in Alpha/Beta for over a year. The average turn round now for content is 3-8 weeks. That is why the older stuff is far more polished than the new stuff.

The CDC (Center for Disease Control) in Atlanta contacted blizzard about the ZG plague in the game. The CDC had read that Blizzard had simulated a plague spreading through the world, and was interested in how they simulated it. They were disappointed when they found out it was a bug.

They also previewed some of the raid content. Ahn’Qiraj was the focus of the preview. There is going to be a massive war with the Qiraj, and it will involve the entire server. Previous raid locations were bereft of quests, that is going to change with AQ. There will be a large amount of quests interwoven with the raid instances. Story is highly important with all new raid instances coming out, AQ being the first with this it seems.

AQ will require a world event to open. Both sides, alliance and horde have to complete “stuff” to open the gates. Once they are opened, then they are forever opened, it’s a permanent server change. All level ranges will be involved, as there will be supply gather and processing quests for the lower levels, and stuff ranging the spectrum. One side and/or the other will have to gather the four parts to a scepter to open the gates. It will take the average server 3 weeks to open it. If nobody does stuff, eventually the gate will open on its own.

The 20 man instance of AQ is an outdoor instance at the difficulty level of ZG. It is an exterior instance and will be non linear, just like ZG.

The 40 man instance of AQ is HUGE. They showed a scale map of the 40 man, and showed the cathedral section of the scarlet monastery. The cathedral section fit inside of one of the boss rooms. They also showed some play scenes (one of the devs hopped on the computer and explored with an invulnerable dwarf)… and it looks beautiful… and creepy. It sets the mood, and just makes you feel like the miniscule invaders.

They showed the map of the Naxxram(sp?) which is the instance above stratholme. It will have multiple floors. I think I saw they had multiple wings, and that is something that blizzard wants to move to for future dungeons.

They are really pleased with the “wing” experience with dungeons. A group can do a single wing, and feel accomplishment.

Kazzazhan (sp?) medhiva’s tower is going to be a 10 man raid instance. It is massive, larger than all of blackrock spire (upper and lower) combined. The opera house inside of it was very cool.

The caverns of time will have 4 instances. Two normal instances, one battle ground, and one battle of mount hijal from the end of WC3.

Tempest keep was talked about. It is the home of Kael’Thas (sp?) and will have 4 wings. There will be three 5 man wings, and one raid wing at the level of Molten Core.

Hellfire Citadel is the home of Magtheredon (sp?). It will be modeled like Onyxia… a few trash mobs, then right to the boss.

Illidan will be the final boss of the black temple in the outlands. He is the big bad boss that is planned for the expansion… expect him to require 40 level 70 players.

The ultimate goal of the raid team is to keep hard core raiders busy all week. They want to provide a menu of raids available, making the raid lockout a background issue, since there are so many to choose from that by the time you get back to raid XXX, its timer is up anyway.

Linear progression is no longer desired in raids. One example of this was Onyxia->BWL where her cape is needed… I think they listed another… but I don’t remember what it was.

Smaller raid sizes are planned in the future… they want to make more 10 and 20 man instances. They will still add 40… but the focus will be on 10 and 20 man instances for the raid team.

The dire Maul tribute idea they like a lot. It provides at least two ways to approach and experience the same raid. Expect them to do similar things in the future with multiple ways to play a dungeon besides just killing all that walks.

Q:“How will level 70 effect current spic gear?”
A:”You will have a head start on the new stuff”

Itemization was addressed. Items for specific builds is lacking, and they plan on adding more. They will be, eventually, adding stuff for specific builds… like more fire mage gear, more shadow priest gear… things like that.

The big raid change
The biggest, to me, change they said they are doing… probably in the 1.9 patch, is how they handle the raid lockout timer. Currently, the timer expires in XX amount of hours/days after the first boss kill. They are going to be moving that to a calendar system. For instance, molten core would reset on Tuesday during server maintenance for everybody… even if you entered it for the first time on Monday. It means that all the instances will reset at certain times… not a set time after you first kill a boss. I am not sure if this is a good or bad thing. This also was not something they were “thinking of” but something that they are doing soon.

The idea of loot tokens, like with ZG was brought up in a question. Blizzard really likes the tokens more than the pure random drop like BWL/MC. Expect them to move to things like that for all future set pieces. They would have implemented something like that before, except that the quest department was to busy. Its time vs effort.

The random seed for loot is random. It is not seeded from the raid leader, or who ever enters the raid first. There is no mystic voodoo on what loot drops when. They did a two week study on what loot actually did drop, and found it to be random and approximately average… the way it was supposed to be.

They will be adding more scripted encounters in raids… they really like them a lot.

Any thoughts on cross faction cooperation should be squashed. More horde vs alliance in the future… the two sides will hate each other more and more

What is the role of druids in a raid? It was said that each class is tasked and thought about when they design encounters… how is druids considered. They added more crowd control into encounters to compliment druids, and are going to add in the future times where a feral druid is needed. But for now, we are healers with unique crowd control for encounters.

Mods where discussed. Blizzard looks at the top mods found on curse gaming, and evaluates each one. Does this mod provide functionality that is sorely lacking from the base UI, and should it be implemented. Does this mod do something we don’t want it to, and should we remove that functionality from the API. Is the mod great, but purely 3rd party and should stay as such. They basically adjust things based on the players needs.

A quick aside… thunder clap was mentioned in a way that made it sound like it works on bosses… can anybody test this?

Rogues in instances was brought up. They acknowledge that there is not much for a rogue to do in earlier instances, which is why they added traps to BWL. In the future they will do more for the special abilities of the various classes. As far as rogues being vulnerable to AE attacks, they are doing more directional AE attacks… cores and such, as not to decimated rogues as often.

They want skill to be more important than gear and level.

Items and Professions Panel
20 million items are crafted each day. Number one is the copper bar, number two is the heavy rune cloth bandage. They want professions to be simultaneous, be done while questing, and be for everybody.

They listed some barriers to professions that they avoided:
Complex invention (you just make the stuff, no complication)
Repetitive behavior. (to make one item should not be a grind…)
Scary interface (click and make)
Focus on item creation
Creation failure (it does not fail and you lose your materials)
Item quality (if you can make it, you make it at full quality)
Items need to be fun to make

Not quiet sure the explanation on all of them, since I don’t like the crafting interface all that much. But overall it was an explanation on why the current crafting system is the way it is, something to be simple, accessible, and intuitive.

They are going to be adding more gear with a random enchant… like wild leather and green lens.

They are adding more consumable items

They allow tradesmen to differentiate themselves through world drops, specialization, and other methods. Specialization is obvious, but the world drops was surprising. Basically the patterns that have rare drops are there to set apart one crafter who has it, from another.

They want to let the hardcore players shine, to reward the hard core players. Enchanting is considered the hardest core of the hard core professions. They have no plans on making “enchanting crystals” allowing enchanters to sell their enchants on the AH. Having to spam the trade channel in the cities is a conscious choice, and intentional. They will be adding something to the enchanter for the auction house.

Wizzard oil. There is at least two types of wizard oil, which acts on weapons just like sharpening stones. One of the adds +24 to spell damage and healing to a weapon for 30 minutes… another adds to mana regen. There are consumables, and applied to the spell casters weapon.

Each profession is supposed to cover different needs, no duplication. An example was the “scribe” profession people ask for. The ability to make the scrolls of agility and the like. The problem is that is what alchemy does, so the scribe won’t be made.

The future of fishing looks interesting. Macro/bot fishing was a big upheaval early in the game, and caused many of the current adjustments. The biggest change for fishing is the targeted fishing, like in the tournaments. They will be doing that for all fishing in the future. There will be schools of oily blackmouth, schools of stonescale eels, shipwrecked items… that you target and fish for. They want to make fishing use nodes, just like herbalism and mining.

Dis enchanting items are “cool” according to the items person. It allows a useless item to become useful. In the future, when you dis enchant an epic (level 60 epic or any epic was not said)… you will get a nexus crystal instead of a shard. There will be new very powerful enchants that use these crystals.

The expansion will add specializations to tailoring and alchemy. Transmutation was one specialty in alchemy. Jewel crafting will be added also. It will allow people to make rings and necklaces, crowns and “gems” for inserting into socket able items.

When ever a item is made, four questions are asked:
Who is it for
What else is available
What makes it compelling
How difficult is it to obtain

There is a math formula on how items are made, when balancing the various stats and abilities. It is item level and quality which is put together to find what stats it can have. The slot also matters, with some slots getting more than others. Special abilities also cost stat points. 1% crit cost 14, while 1% dodge costs 12 stat points. Spreading stats allows for a higher overall value. But even with this hidden formula… the item creators are allowed to fudge things.

Design flows into art. When something is designed, then the concept art is made for that item

In 1.9 there will be a lot of new procs for casters. Spell casters are getting a massive itemization boost in 1.9. There was one proc on a weapon that when ever a successful spell cast, there is a chance to lower the targets resistances to the spell. There is a lot of caster itemizations coming.

Socketable items are a concession to the player. They will allow the players to pick and choose the abilities that they find important, fitting the gear they have to their playing style. Gems will be available through various ways. Crafted, quest, and drops.

The tier two art is very very nice. The paladin art is incredible… make up for all the banana jokes ever. The tier two items will undergo a review stat wise… but mainly for the set bonuses… the stats for the items will not likely change.

There will not be a caster legendary any time soon. If they make a caster legendary item, they will have to make one that all casters (except hunters!!!! Specifically) would want and could use.

Do not expect any epic quest items for other classes individually any time soon. The current epic quest items for hunters and preists where a mistake. There are items in AQ that are better than both of the epic quest items for those classes. If they do make new epic weapon quests… they will release all 9 at the same time.

Warlock shard bags are a long way off.

http://svc002.wic379dp.server-web.com/images/news/wowxp17.jpg

Left = Shaman (The Ten Storms), Right = Paladin (Judgement Armor)

http://svc002.wic379dp.server-web.com/images/news/wowxp11.jpg

Warrior (Battlegear of Wrath)

[Russell Cox]

K, that one is long enough, so double posting for her Husband's comments.

(this is not pretty formated or edited by my wife... we had a long day today... so this is the rest of day 1... raw... working on day 2 right now... someone buy me a drink! my head is still rining from the offspring concert... i did meet and talk with some of the euro CMs... go figure... very friendly and easy to talk to... maybe i play on the wrong side of the pond?)

Expansion Playable Demo
I did not get a chance to play the demo yet… the line was huge and I only had 30 minutes before the next panel. I did get to ask some questions, and watched some blood elves play. First off… the blood elves are close to night elves in model and movement, but there are a lot of subtle differences that make them two races. First off… they don’t flip when they jump. Occasionally when you jump… you spin in a circle. The starting area and the races are very bright. The playable classes for the blood elves are Warrior, Warlock, Mage, and Priest.

Dungeon Panel
(THIS IS NOT FOR RAIDS, but mainly the 5 man instances)
With the dungeons, the level range is the first choice of the developer. The first time they expect the players to begin venturing into dungeons is level 15. The best loot and experience is supposed to come from dungeons. For the gear, they mostly got that right, but for the experience, they messed up slightly. Mathematically it is supposed to be better, experience wise, to grind dungeon 5 mans… but they failed to take into account the vagarities of dealing with 4 other people, the amount of time to travel to the dungeons, and the time to form the groups. Dungeons are supposed to have an epic sense to them. Elite mobs were originally added for dungeons, giving the designers a way to boost the combat potential of the mobs up, with out messing with the balance of levels and resistances.

Players want a sense of progression in a dungeon. They want to feel that they have a large goal, and easily understandable “mini goals”, or bosses on the way.

Designers want to vary the points of interest through a dungeon. The dungeon should have a unified theme or style, but the background should not feel cookie cutter.

They like to mix up the pulls. Not every pull should be exactly identical. They want the strategy to have to adjust to the moment, and for the players to have to adapt… not go afk or /pizza.

They want to make groups move through the dungeon. “Pulling” is a very valid and smart tactic, according to the dungeon designer. What he did not want was things from other games… where the healers and main part setup camp at the beginning of the dungeon, and the pullers basically feed all the mobs in the dungeon back to the original safe point. He wanted the full party to explore through the dungeon with the pullers.

Every class needs places to shine. Warlocks shine in Dire Maul and Marudon, being able to banish one demon and enslave another, for example.

Boss pacing is important. There should be bosses spaced evenly through the progression of the dungeon. Red side strath was an example of how they failed at this.

They want to let skilled players shine, by adding short cuts and hidden buffs. This is important! They know about the shortcut in lower black rock spire, and approve of smart players using it. They know about getting buffs from mind controlled mobs, and put those there specifically as hidden treats and bonuses for smart players. They specifically mentioned the mind controlled mobs in more details, saying how it was one of his favorite ways to reward creative players was to put great buffs on various mind controllable mobs, they were not accidental. The fire buff in black rock spire was put there intentionally, and is not an exploit, but instead a valid and encouraged strategy. Apparently, one GM, way back when, did not have the right info, and it has been corrected.

Stealthing through a dungeon is a completely valid tactic. They are aware of the rogues and druids ability to stealth, and the designed gave the example of three rogues and two druids stealthing through a dungeon and killing each boss as a smart and valid thing to do. The 5 instance cap per hour was added to “balance” stealth runs, but they are still allowed and encouraged.

Instancing was heavily implemented for a couple of reasons
• Player collision (players don’t grief bosses)
• The boss is always up
• Being able to script encounters (this was a big one)
• Best elements of a traditional RPG can be integrated

The public areas provide a freely moveable area… to make sure the players never feel trapped in pockets. There is content added to these public area to reinforce that the players have a choice, and are not forced into the instances.

Micro dungeons are scattered through out the lands. These are basically the non instanced caves, towers, and other places, normally used in quests. They typically have a single named boss, and are not meant to force the player to party, but to encourage it. The instanced dungeons are meant to force partying

Dungeon caps were added, mainly due to the path of least resistance. Dungeons are tuned and seeded based on the amount of players envisioned for each, and the ability to zerg a dungeon makes the experience easier, less of a challenge. When the design cap is exceeded, the perception of the dungeon goes down. With a smaller group, each player feels more important. This was a tough choice, but one that was overall good for the game.

What is interesting… Oobers is considered a 10 man instance as far as tuning is concerned. A story was told about how when the designer is playing on the public realms anonymously, he was in a UBRS group… that would not move until they filled all 15 slots. He kept trying to hint that the 11 people they had at the time would be fine… but could not outright say it with out blowing his cover.

One big lesson they learned is to keep a very tight level range in the dungeon. Deadmines was a big example of how they failed with this. The beginning of the dungeon is level 14 I believe, while the end is level 22. The players that find the beginning a challenge will fail at the end… and players who find the end a challenge will breeze through the beginning.

They apparently have fallen in loved with the winged design for dungeons. Winged dungeons allow you to define you own style of playing. If you want to do only one wing, you can easily and still have a sense of accomplishment. If you clear all the wings, it’s a grand thing, and you feel that you have done something bigger and better. Scarlet Monastery and Dire Maul were listed and successful examples of winged instances. Uldaman, Gnomeragon, and Stratholme were listed as the failed attempts at winged instances.

The level range of the dungeons is also a huge consideration for the design of the dungeon. A lower level dungeon is primarily a quest and XP source for the players. They will quest inside of it, for short term items and for experience, but quickly move beyond it. Higher end dungeons are primarily for loot, and expected to be ransacked again, and again, and again, and again.

They wanted each level range to have a choice of dungeons available to the player. The player as they progress should have 3-4 dungeons to choose from, and not be forced into the same one all the time.

They also said that they enjoy the random bosses, such as the arena in BRD, and will be implementing things like that more and more.

There is 4 phases when designing a dungeon
• Concept
• Design and Layout
• Spawn and Scripting
• Playtesting

The concept is the first part, and many times directed from the lore director. “I need a dungeon inside of a volcano”. The beginning of any design is the who/where/why questions. Who is the dungeon for? Where is the dungeon at, and why is this dungeon being designed. The art team comes up with some concept sketches, and the designers brain storm various cool ideas.

Design and layout is the second phase. They figure out where the bosses are, figuring out how they want the pacing. They add in various points of interest, things that are in the background, but important for story or ambiance. The quest and trade skill team is engaged, making the quests and trade skill items, recipes, and “stuff” an integral part. BRD with the dark forge and dark anvil was an example of the trade skill team integration.

Once they are beginning to flesh things out, they start with a 2D model of the instance. This allows them to get a sense of flow and placement for the mobs. It allows them to get their first ideas down, and to have something to work with the art team with.

The second phase is a low polygon version of the map. This is a simple set off blocks and the like, done to specifically test scale and play feel. A 2d map can be deceiving for scale and visual issues, the 3d map compensates for this.

The final step in the design and layout is passing the items to the art team for them to finish the assets and visual design. Some of the images given here of unreleased dungeons was breath taking.

Spawning and scripting is the third phase of the dungeon. Here is where they place the creatures in the dungeon. Pathing and AI is designed for the creatures, as is the scripted encounters. This third phase is the longest of the four phases, and requires many iterative steps.

Spells and abilities of the mobs inside this new dungeon are added at this point. It is important to the designers that the bosses in a dungeon be unique, each a different challenge. Spells and abilities can be shared in a dungeon, to provide cohesion and a sense of belonging, but the individual details are tweaked to make the abilities different when they are shared.

The final phase is the play testing phase. This is hard because there is no way to adjust the time of this. A 4 hour dungeon takes 4 hours to beat, and can’t be condensed. Many important things are learned here. Bloodlord originally did not have a le vel cap, and during one play testing, made it to level 72. The public test realms are the final part of the play testing.

Player caps will be used extensively in the expansion pack.

It was re iterated that stealth runs were not exploits, and a smart use of abilities and skill.

They will be moving to small caps, and “tighter” dungeons to emphasize the player over the group. In a smaller group, the actions of one player are more critical.

3rd party UI mods are never considered when designing a dungeon or encounter. They do not count on anybody having any mod, and do not tune for them. Internal play testing is done with the stock UI.

The idea of Diablo style random dungeons was brought up, but was quickly nixed. The current dungeons are all hand crafted, each mob and each boss placed exactly where they want. There is no quality control in a random dungeon. They will be adding more and more random elements, but there will be no random dungeons in the for seeable future.

Rest of the con
I had planned on attending the battle grounds panel… but hunger made me re choose otherwise. I returned for the 7pm contests and mixer. The contests were a mix of brilliance, and pain… which is normal. The mixer afterwards was awkward and poorly planned. The designers and coders did not stand out versus the normal blizzard employees, and it was very hard to figure out who was who.

Overall the first day of Blizzcon felt more professional, but less friendly and inviting than the Anime cons I had attended in the past. This is not a bad thing, but mainly an observation.

Plus, we have a Hunter in our guild that works as a GM (hence why we never see him anymore ; ; ). He specifically told us the second he got home "The cat's out of the bag so I can tell you this. Stop giving out loot to people that's going to rot -- Warlock and Druid gear in particular -- and *save* them for disenchants past 1.9. You're going to need them, and I have a feeling the necessity of the enchants that use the Nexus Crystals will require DKP to regulate. They're literally that awesome compared to ZG enchants guys, even though they're on separate slots."

[zircon]

Fucking shit. ANOTHER Rag attempt. Got him to 35% - sons phase went better, we still can't do it. It pisses me off every time I read "Rag takes no skill" or "Rag isn't a real raid boss" or "MC is training for REAL dungeons" when my guild is putting their blood, sweat, and tears into this fight.. farming consumables, watching videos, reading strats, etc. It's NOT AN EASY FIGHT.

[Russell Cox]

Fucking shit. ANOTHER Rag attempt. Got him to 35% - sons phase went better, we still can't do it. It pisses me off every time I read "Rag takes no skill" or "Rag isn't a real raid boss" or "MC is training for REAL dungeons" when my guild is putting their blood, sweat, and tears into this fight.. farming consumables, watching videos, reading strats, etc. It's NOT AN EASY FIGHT.

Can you get me a video of it? I can maybe see what's going wrong.

[zircon]

No, no one has used fraps yet. I guess I can ask them to use it next time.

[Russell Cox]

No, no one has used fraps yet. I guess I can ask them to use it next time.

Prz do!

One thing I can suggest, if they don't do it already, is have the Hunters go literally fucknut-ballstothewall-krazy DPS on Ragnaros and then Feign Death. I mean, crit heaven, Arcane Shot laden, Aimed Shot Saturated, DPS goodness. They're going to end up have to DPS like this on everything afterwards if they don't already do it. A lot of Hunters save it for "emergencies" when they shouldn't; a full aggro wipe if non-resisted should be utilized every damn 30 seconds to push every bit of DPS out of them you can get.

Hunters and Rogues really end up being tied for highest DPS on Ragnaros. It just depends on how many of each class you have that determines which walks away home the leader.

[zircon]

Rogues are only now making it into the top 10. Rag just keeps killing them. I don't know what the fuck is wrong with our main tanks or what, but we simply can't get him below 53% in phase 1 after over 10 attempts.

[ellywu2]

http://www.thottbot.com/?i=37747

Finally. woo woo

[zircon]

Hmm.. where would I go to get an appraisal for my account? Or maybe some of you guys could help? This game is too addicting for me right now..

I have no significant alts, my main is a 60 Priest at pvp rank 7 (honored with AV - nearly revered, honored with AB, friendly with WSG). 5 Tier1 armor pieces, 1 Tier2 armor piece, Benediction/Anathema - all with very powerful enchants. A pvp gear switch including an MC epic belt. LOTS of potions (swiftness, greater mana, major mana, fire protection), bandages, other consumables, various ZG coins, 300 herbalism with herbs in the bank, about 185 Engineering.. epic mount.. etc.

[suzumebachi]

Plus, Un'Goro is where you can start the "Legend of Zelda" series of quests.

wait what? i thought i did all the quests in un'goro... must have missed something.

anyways what did the GM guy mean by stuff that will rot? and what do they mean the hunter epic quest was a mistake? that quest is INSANELY hard to complete. you have to down domo, get a super rare drop from onyxia, and solo 4 elite demons WITHOUT A PET. i think anybody who can pull that shit off deserves a decent bow.

[Russell Cox]

Plus, Un'Goro is where you can start the "Legend of Zelda" series of quests.

wait what? i thought i did all the quests in un'goro... must have missed something.

anyways what did the GM guy mean by stuff that will rot? and what do they mean the hunter epic quest was a mistake? that quest is INSANELY hard to complete. you have to down domo, get a super rare drop from onyxia, and solo 4 elite demons WITHOUT A PET. i think anybody who can pull that shit off deserves a decent bow.

It's in a wrecked ship in one of the 'ponds' in southern Un'Goro. You can't see it unless you're underwater, but it sends you to talk to Linken. The steps of the quest and storyline will show you what I mean by LoZ.

He meant that it was a mistake in that they only did two quests and left everyone out; in other words it wasn't fair. And yes, Hunter epic is *definitely* the most difficult quest in the entire game.

[ellywu2]

Took me 3 months :( and well, i'm still left with a shat class lol! But yeah, STUPIDLY hard. Literally, if i had a wing clip parried that was it, quest over, i lose.
Besides the fact everyone wants to help and gets involved, thus despawning the demons which are on a 3 hour spawn time...UGH

[zircon]

Uh, hunters (especially after 1.7) are pretty damn awesome.

[Miletus]

They're the only ones that can pull properly, too.

[Rodin]

Hunters currently have 4 classes after them for being overpowered. Mages/Warlocks/Priests hate us for being able to one-shot them, and because Bestial Wrath prevents them from exploiting our deadzone anymore.

Rogues have always hated Hunters, and probably always will.

Hunters ARE the best pullers, but except for in raid instances, it's generally faster to let the warrior do it.

I had to scream tonight - UBRS group that made it all the way to the bridge right before Drakk with no problems, and both our pallies get punted off the bridge. We then go back down to bring them up, causing one of our warriors to leave in disgust. Then, our other warrior AFKs out. We make it to Drakk, and try to do Drakk with no warriors. 5 seconds into battle, someone hits the dragonguard that I had freeze-trapped, and I instantly die as my feign-death is resisted. Things go downhill from there pretty quickly, and the group wipes and disbands.

Bleh.

[ellywu2]

lol, sorry sarcasm doesnt go down well on the internet.
To be honest, Hunters were always pretty awesome if you had decent gear and a reasonable knowledge of the class, 1.7 just opened everyone's eyes and made hunters a bit more accessible.

[The Author]

I just want to have rogues back to the "not sucking" level...

On another note, I willl be looking for a guild for my main, since I want to get into higher level gameplay...

[Russell Cox]

Hunters ARE the best pullers, but except for in raid instances, it's generally faster to let the warrior do it.

No, they're still the best then. Trying to let a Warrior pull in MC, ZG, or BWL is suicide.

[zircon]

I just want to have rogues back to the "not sucking" level...

On another note, I willl be looking for a guild for my main, since I want to get into higher level gameplay...

Rogues own extremely hard. A friend of mine went to Blizzcon and played one of the 60 fully equipped rogues there (full tier2 with BWL weapons and trinkets) and against similarly equipped 60s of other classes, he completely trashed them. Rogues are generally a little more gear-dependent than most people think.

In battlegrounds, Rogues are fearsome. You just have to not be dumb and rush into a group of 10 people. You stealth, let your Warriors charge, and then get into the back lines and pick off the healers. 2 rogues working together can do that very fast.

[The Author]

Hunters have a mostly efficient combat removal tool.

I would not know about BWL though, but in MC, a warrior is a good enough puller simply because of the space between encounters.

[Rodin]

Hunters ARE the best pullers, but except for in raid instances, it's generally faster to let the warrior do it.

No, they're still the best then. Trying to let a Warrior pull in MC, ZG, or BWL is suicide.

That's...exactly what I meant. In MC, ZG, or BWL it's plain out suicide for a non-hunter to pull. It's even safer to let the hunter pull in all other instances. However, it doesn't matter in most 5-man instance groups, and thus the warrior ends up doing it so that you can just roll from pull to pull the fastest.

[The Author]

I just want to have rogues back to the "not sucking" level...

On another note, I willl be looking for a guild for my main, since I want to get into higher level gameplay...

Rogues own extremely hard. A friend of mine went to Blizzcon and played one of the 60 fully equipped rogues there (full tier2 with BWL weapons and trinkets) and against similarly equipped 60s of other classes, he completely trashed them. Rogues are generally a little more gear-dependent than most people think.

In battlegrounds, Rogues are fearsome. You just have to not be dumb and rush into a group of 10 people. You stealth, let your Warriors charge, and then get into the back lines and pick off the healers. 2 rogues working together can do that very fast.

Okay, but what if you take 2 characters that can do any "pick up group" instance but not MC, BWL, or ZG. The rogue gets raped every time.

[Skilless]

I love my rogue but I've been playing priest, and I've got to say, he is awesome too.

With my rogue, I like stalking people and the DPS is phenomenal; however, I am a big fan of instances and rogues are well, you know the rest...

With my Priest, I like having the feeling of the parties life in my hands (I'll have to talk to a shrink about that.) and hes pretty strong too. Also highly wanted for end game instances. The down side of this class is getting bitched at by idiots when you go to heal them and they run behind a wall and you lose line of sight but they feel its your fault. That's when i decided to rez then neglect them. (no heals for thier punk ass)

Anyway, I guess theres a time and place for each class. They need to incorporate something that makes rogues mor wanted for endgame but eh, i got my priest to play for now.

[Russell Cox]

That's...exactly what I meant. In MC, ZG, or BWL it's plain out suicide for a non-hunter to pull. It's even safer to let the hunter pull in all other instances. However, it doesn't matter in most 5-man instance groups, and thus the warrior ends up doing it so that you can just roll from pull to pull the fastest.

Nah, I still use them in 5 man if one's in the group. Then again, I usually only instance with guildmates unless we're on a recruiting streak -- like now -- and we always, always, always take a Hunter. They can put out sick, sick DPS then just FD it away if they don't get resisted.

I'd rather have a bear tank than let a Warrior pull in a 5 man group. At least the Hunter won't pull when we're OOM since he has mana issues as well. Plus, with a Hunter we've got that extra AoE every what... 60 seconds?

Anyway, I guess theres a time and place for each class. They need to incorporate something that makes rogues mor wanted for endgame but eh, i got my priest to play for now.

Rogues consist of 80% DPS on almost every boss fight with rare, rare, exceptions. Anyone that told you they're not desired for endgame is an idiot. Anyone can play a Rogue; not everyone can be good at it.

[The Author]

A rogue from my former guild (Fate, it got disbanded after one member fucked thing up badly and had members leave the guild because the leader did not kick the guy at the time of the offense.), Shijima claims to be the most awesome rogue out there. He's well geared (all blue and some purple) dagger speced(apparently the best spec there is...) and he is uber.

I, on the other hand, am a very casual rogue sporting all blue sword/crit specced sporting Trash blade in my main hand (I still love it) and a Hanzo sword off hand (my friend is the only alliance with the Lionheart helm pattern on bloodscalp so she bought me a gift.)

So, despite the fact that I cannot, because of my specs, perform well in PvP, something I do admit quite candidly, I believe I have a rather good build for PvE. We ended up doing a UBRS run together, and in the damage meter, the only person above me in damage was a Warlock with the entire Nemesis set.

I outdamaged the Uber rogue by about 25%. Sadly, he is in a major guild and I am not. And now I am stuck with the reality that no guild needs a rogue, and the few that would have me, have no need for a casual player.

[suzumebachi]

a tauren warrior by the name of Jupitor on my server (smolderthorn) has literally like 40 of those lionheart helms. he basically uses them as freaking currency, lol.

[The Author]

a tauren warrior by the name of Jupitor on my server (smolderthorn) has literally like 40 of those lionheart helms. he basically uses them as freaking currency, lol.

The purple item that needs about 12 arcanite bars, 40 thorium bars, 10 blue saphires, 40 wicked claws?


The thing worth about 1 month in farming per helm?

[dabattousai]

http://static.blizzpub.net/news/pandaleak.jpg

More Pandaren goodness 8)

I haven't played WoW since I just find it dull compared to FFXI. The jobs are more expanded in FFXI and the community is friendly and is party based, which sometimes can suck if you are not the best job for the party.

[suzumebachi]

!!!

where did that come from? i've yet to see a single pandaren in the game. i've come across many a blood elf and draenei though.

if the PRC doesn't like it, it can go screw itself. if they banned the game all it would do is cut back on gold farming and power levelling anyways. cao ni ma, motherfuckers.

[The Author]

New theory for the next race:

Orcs from Outland.

The alliance, in beyond the dark portal and in the third war, did help free Outland from tyranny. What if a clan of orcs that was left back there (being freed from the pact with what's his face) would have helped the heroes from the second war to survive, once the alliance would be in contact with the survivors and the orcs that clan might just ally themselves with the alliance.

...


That makes as much sense as the bloodelves too...

[phantomINTELLECT]

More Pandaren goodness 8)

I haven't played WoW since I just find it dull compared to FFXI. The jobs are more expanded in FFXI and the community is friendly and is party based, which sometimes can suck if you are not the best job for the party.

dude FFXI sucks. The jobs are more expanded? How long did you play WoW. I not a fanboy or anything but I played FFXI for like a year and all it was non stop grinding all the time. If you want party based fighting run instances. That's why wow is so good, because you can solo or party. FFXI doesn't even have PvP does it?

[The wingless]

I haven't played WoW since I just find it dull compared to FFXI. The jobs are more expanded in FFXI and the community is friendly and is party based, which sometimes can suck if you are not the best job for the party.

Having played both games, this is the single most stupifying statement ever uttered in the long and sordid history of the internet.

You, sir, are worthy of all the flames in Hell

[versus]

If FFXI didnt have the two words Final Fantasy in it I would of saved 50 bucks and 2 months of my gaming life. WoW is way better and I don't even care about blits lore.

[Darkoni]

Hmm guess I know what im stayin away from btw does any one play on the Scarlet Crusade server?

[[deltree]]

I haven't played WoW since I just find it dull compared to FFXI. The jobs are more expanded in FFXI and the community is friendly and is party based, which sometimes can suck if you are not the best job for the party.

Appearently you like waiting for hours to get a good party. Only to have some asshole leave after 30 mins. In which time you have amassed maybe 1/8 of the exp needed for your level. So you have to wait another 30-40 mins to get a party to grind. Then it happens again and again and again.... It's like an endless masochistic cycle with very little reward. At least in WOW you don't have to grind all the time and you can solo if you want.

[suzumebachi]

level 57 now... man i love killing level 60's. especially hunters. if i get killed by a hunter 3 or 4 levels lower than me... man i feel stupid. and then you're not sure whether or not to get help when they're camping your corpse because you're embarassed someone might laugh.

anyways... stupid realm transfers. before the realm transfers opened there was about a 1.1:1 horde to alliance ratio. now it's at about 2.3:1 in alliance's favor. questing in high level areas has suddenly become insanely difficult due to the sheer amount of alliance running around. in un'goro, i was the only horde vs. about 20 allies. it's become quite agitating...

yet we still win battlegrounds 75% of the time... :D

[Rodin]

level 57 now... man i love killing level 60's. especially hunters. if i get killed by a hunter 3 or 4 levels lower than me... man i feel stupid. and then you're not sure whether or not to get help when they're camping your corpse because you're embarassed someone might laugh.

anyways... stupid realm transfers. before the realm transfers opened there was about a 1.1:1 horde to alliance ratio. now it's at about 2.3:1 in alliance's favor. questing in high level areas has suddenly become insanely difficult due to the sheer amount of alliance running around. in un'goro, i was the only horde vs. about 20 allies. it's become quite agitating...

yet we still win battlegrounds 75% of the time... :D

This is what Mal'Ganis has been like since WoW came out, only in favor of the Horde. I feel your pain, and have felt it for 10 months.

[SleazyC]

level 57 now... man i love killing level 60's. especially hunters. if i get killed by a hunter 3 or 4 levels lower than me... man i feel stupid. and then you're not sure whether or not to get help when they're camping your corpse because you're embarassed someone might laugh.

anyways... stupid realm transfers. before the realm transfers opened there was about a 1.1:1 horde to alliance ratio. now it's at about 2.3:1 in alliance's favor. questing in high level areas has suddenly become insanely difficult due to the sheer amount of alliance running around. in un'goro, i was the only horde vs. about 20 allies. it's become quite agitating...

yet we still win battlegrounds 75% of the time... :D
Aren't you on Smolderthorn? If so I thought it was horde heavy and on top of that one of the top-tier Horde guild's Nightmare Asylum transfered over.

[dabattousai]

Guess none of you played Paladin then on FFXI 8O can't someone have their own opinion on games, I didn't say FFXI is the BEST DAMN GAME IN THE WORLD. (because everyone knows Mother 1+2 and finally news that Spring 2006 marks the release of Mother 3 for the GBA are)

I played WoW for 3 months, and I find it easy to level. Once the expansion comes out I will play WoW again, but as of now, I got bored of the game and wanted to play a game that has a community of talking people. I have been in many guilds and I never see any talk go around in WoW. Now that they got a new system in the works for Star Wars Galaxies, I will probably sample that and see if that is any good. That Pandaren picture is a leak so this website reports and it could be a fake like the other pic I posted (notice Brutal spelt Brltal in the Horde Description and lack of weapon)but if you don't like my opinion don't yell at me and saying im an ass.

[mecca]

< pin> so on saturday i was at a bar
< pin> telling a friend about how i played world of warcraft that day
< pin> and this girl was like.. are you talking about world of warcraft?
< pin> then i found out she played alliance and stopped talking to her
< pin> dumb cunt

[suzumebachi]

yeah Nightmare's Asylum transfered over... but so did Exodia, and a handful of other end game alliance guilds, plus craploads of individual people that wanted a change. I'm not sure what the exact ratio is now, but it's definately in alliance's favor.

In other news, I made my first trip through UBRS today. Totally not as hard as people make it out to be. Hell I was the lowest level there (57) and I didn't pull any aggro or anything.

Also... server stability has become a serious issue lately. We almost didn't get to do UBRS because the realm went down as soon as we all entered the instance and nobody could get back in for well over an hour. That's like the 4th time in the last 5 days that shit has happened. Today's extended maintenance was supposed to fix these problems, but it obviously failed.

[Russell Cox]

Today's extended maintenance was supposed to fix these problems, but it obviously failed.

Gold farmers on a lot of realms are exploiting Dire Maul again somehow. I don't know if it shows on your AH, but on Proudmoore, Garona, and Stormscale Horde side there's always a single Rogue, level 60, in DM. He also has at least 2 of every class book on the AH, and just today on stormscale he put up 4 books for Quel'Serrar for 5,000G a pop. The names are different for all servers, but it's one person on each server selling the items.

Someone's found a way to exploit the king in DM and solo him as a Rogue, and the goldfarmers found out. It's just like the dupe trick with Maraudon a few months ago. They'll figure out how they're doing it and neutralize the problem. Though, it's their own damn fault because DM has to be one of the most poorly built dungeons in the game -- aside from shitty graphics almost everywhere and tears in the terrain, when it went live half of the bosses didn't even drop loot :\

[Rodin]

yeah Nightmare's Asylum transfered over... but so did Exodia, and a handful of other end game alliance guilds, plus craploads of individual people that wanted a change. I'm not sure what the exact ratio is now, but it's definately in alliance's favor.

In other news, I made my first trip through UBRS today. Totally not as hard as people make it out to be. Hell I was the lowest level there (57) and I didn't pull any aggro or anything.

Also... server stability has become a serious issue lately. We almost didn't get to do UBRS because the realm went down as soon as we all entered the instance and nobody could get back in for well over an hour. That's like the 4th time in the last 5 days that shit has happened. Today's extended maintenance was supposed to fix these problems, but it obviously failed.

UBRS is a vastly over-feared instance. Most people refuse to run it without 15 people, and yet it was designed as a 10-man instance. The only real problem is General Drakk, who can be tricky unless your group knows what it's doing.

The last time I was there, our group almost wiped on that final bridge. Someone aggroed, and we actually ended up fighting ON the bridge. Sure enough, a few seconds later one of our paladins went flying off the bridge. Shortly thereafter, another pally went rocketing off into the depths. By this time my hunter was on auto-shot as I rolled on the floor laughing my ass off.

[suzumebachi]

did UD strat today. still no beaststalker drops. it was a mostly guild run. our MT was a guildy warrior. he's done UD strat like 90 times or so and has yet to get the valor legs. so we kill the baron and the legs drop. then the other warrior in the group (the only non-guildie) rolls on them and of course wins.

also did BRD yesterday. dear god BRD is terrible. horrible layout, shitty ass drops, pointless encounters... we gave up in the torch room when we wiped after 15 minutes of infinite dwarf spawns. we killed both torch carriers... but only one dropped the damn torch. needless to say that pissed us off.

as for UBRS.. yeah the bridge was the toughest spot. thankfully we only lost one guy there. we had a near wipe though in the general's room when a rogue's sap failed. me and the other hunter saw what was going on and immediately sleeped 2 of the mobs, but then the rogue vanished and all the mobs came straight to us and gang raped us in 3 seconds flat. both hunters and most of the cloth wearers went down and it was pure chaos until one of the warriors was able to get enough threat to hold aggro. the general himself wasn't bad though. me and the other hunter kited him across the bridge into another room until the rest of the group killed his two gaurdians, at which point we brought him back. good thing he is slow because he hits damn hard.

[zircon]

UBRS is a very easy zone. I think 5man live strat is more difficult.

ps. Rag's still not down. No more progress. We're going to try something different next, because apparently our melee DPS just isn't working. We're gonna bring 10 Mages, 5 Warlocks, and 5 Hunters.

[ellywu2]

BRD is the most horrible dungeon in the entire game. god i HATE that place. Also Suzu, try Dire Maul. Whilst the dungeon itself may suck, alot of the gear there is easily as good as BS, and you don't have to run it thousands of times. Backwood helm especially.

[zircon]

No, BRD isn't that bad. It's easy to the point where you can do most of it with only 2 or 3 people. It has some decent loot, too.

The worst dungeon is 5man LBRS. There is nothing good there, and it takes forever.

[The Author]

Havent done LBRS in an eternity.

I just remember some painful curses.

[SleazyC]

UBRS is a very easy zone. I think 5man live strat is more difficult.

ps. Rag's still not down. No more progress. We're going to try something different next, because apparently our melee DPS just isn't working. We're gonna bring 10 Mages, 5 Warlocks, and 5 Hunters.
Thats an interesting composition there. My guild is currently also trying to down Rags, best bet we got him down to 44% and got eaten alive by the Sons. Tonight we hope to get a lot more practice on the sons and try DPS'ing him down good. We are good on staying alive for everything non-sons but when they rush out we haven't quite got our positioning down yet. Good luck to you guys on your attempts!

EDIT - Rags down! Money Shot! (http://www.sleazyc.com/Ragdown.jpg) 31% pre-sons, smoked the sons, killed him when he resubmerged. Only 3 deaths, was a pretty amazing fight.

[The Author]

Joined a new guild very interesting.

Instead of going for MC because we have the fire power, they are actually focusing on getting set pieces for all members so that we can go to MC and have a chance to survive.

So to increase speed, we raid instances, and nothing is more fun than to AOE spams the last encounters before the general in UBRS.

[suzumebachi]

we're doing a guild ZG raid today. i'm not sure what to expect because i know so little about it. i hear there's epic mount drops there though which is awesome.

[Snooper_1989]

I myself am a level 22 troll mage on Smolderthorn, though I haven't been playing that long, I think i've accumulated about 48 hours of total playing time - and most of that time was spent using guild members gold and stuff to get up to master enchanting and master tailoring so I could make stuff for the guild...

[Raenok]

we're doing a guild ZG raid today. i'm not sure what to expect because i know so little about it. i hear there's epic mount drops there though which is awesome.

If you find any, tell about it, and post picture if you can.

[zircon]

ZG rules.

[Russell Cox]

we're doing a guild ZG raid today. i'm not sure what to expect because i know so little about it. i hear there's epic mount drops there though which is awesome.

If you find any, tell about it, and post picture if you can.

We've had the epic tiger mount drop (horde side). It's reddish with brown/white hue stripes. Really kickass looking.

We haven't seen the raptor one drop yet, though.

[suzumebachi]

hahaha my guild totally wasn't prepared for ZG. we did fine up until the first boss (i forget his name) but we wiped there. we got him down to like 60%, but we got owned by bats. lots of bats. exploding bats.

i should totally tame one.

[zircon]

ZG is a lot harder than people think. It's not UBRS. It's more like MC in difficulty. In fact, I think some bosses are even HARDER, even if you do know the strats. I would bring people with very good blues at a minimum, preferably epics.

[zircon]

Another weekend, another set of wipes on Rag.

boy do I hate my guild sometimes.

[Miletus]

If I remember correctly, Team Ice on Illidan killed Onyxia many months ago.

But I could be wrong.

Anyway, my guild downed Ragnaros about a week ago, and ran through Orgrimmar shouting about it.

Yeah.

I'm kind of off-and-on with World of Warcraft... I began playing about six months ago, and quit around July, just to come back to it three months later. The game really isn't all that interesting in the earlier levels; it's just mostly a tedious grind 'til 60, with a few fun things along the way.

I'd actually say it's the opposite. In my experience level 1-59 is the most interesting bit, with the whole solo content and exploration, and at 60 you're suddenly either forced to raid instances in large groups or grind honour in BG all day if you want to keep playing.

[Jared Hudson]

I always thought I'd play the game if I was finanically secure, in charge of my own work schedule, and had no committments or obligations to anything in life.

Seriously, I know friends who were A students flunking out of college or at least their majors. They were almost grad students, then WoW came along. If I played this game, I would most likely flunk out of college and move back in with my parents. Or if I managed to get a job, I'd be fired within 3 days. I strongly believe this came is quite possibly more addictive than crack/cocaine. I've never touched an MMORPG, and I don't plan to soon.

So other than that, I basically complimented the game. :lol:

[Raenok]

I always thought I'd play the game if I was finanically secure, in charge of my own work schedule, and had no committments or obligations to anything in life.

Seriously, I know friends who were A students flunking out of college or at least their majors. They were almost grad students, then WoW came along. If I played this game, I would most likely flunk out of college and move back in with my parents. Or if I managed to get a job, I'd be fired within 3 days. I strongly believe this came is quite possibly more addictive than crack/cocaine. I've never touched an MMORPG, and I don't plan to soon.

So other than that, I basically complimented the game. :lol:

Those people did not have self-control. I play it, and I always do schoolwork first. Games almost always come second, even World of Warcraft.

[suzumebachi]

pre WoW GPA: 3.89
post WoW GPA: 2.95

[SleazyC]

pre WoW GPA: 3.66
post WoW GPA: 3.76

Just gotta know how to control yourself. There are weeks where I raid and weeks where I don't touch the game until I am done studying or doing other things I need to prepare myself for tests/labs/finals.

[Miletus]

Awesomeness (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/underdev/)

[Raenok]

pre WoW GPA: 3.66
post WoW GPA: 3.76

Just gotta know how to control yourself. There are weeks where I raid and weeks where I don't touch the game until I am done studying or doing other things I need to prepare myself for tests/labs/finals.

Exactly.

[Rodin]

Awesomeness (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/underdev/)


*does the linked AHs dance*

Now I can actually go cruising around Winterspring without having to worry about the pain in the ass that is going back to Ironforge to buy stuff off the AH. I can just hop a ride to Darnassus and do business there.

Linked AHs are going to be the frickin' BOMB. That alone makes this next patch worth waiting for.

[Russell Cox]

Ahn'Qiraj...

*mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm*

Too bad I'll be in the middle of moving, so I'm literally going to miss the entire opening ceremony/weeks and the first few bosses :\

I'm loving WoW and more each day endgame. The green dragons are a nice distraction and gearup for AQ, and the Nefarian fight alone makes the suppression room and Chromaggus fight worthwhile.

[zircon]

What server do you play on, zircon, and what guild are you in?

As for myself, I'm with Warrior Nation in Illidan.

Shadowlords, Gorefiend, Horde.

[Neonlare]

Guild Wars was a waste of 30 pounds and five months.

I want to play a MMORPG where you don't have to level to be a better player, I want a Secret Of Mana esque game (that lower level'd players who have skill can defeat higher players)

[The Author]

Quoted from my guild forum:

I have been thinking about retooling my current build:


Assassination
Improved Eviscerate Rank 3
Malice Rank 5
Assassination Total: 8

Combat
Improved Sinister Strike Rank 2
Lightning Reflexes Rank 5
Deflection Rank 5
Precision Rank 5
Riposte Rank 1
Dual Wield Specialization Rank 5
Blade Flurry Rank 1
Sword Specialization Rank 5
Aggression Rank 3
Adrenaline Rush Rank 1
Combat Total: 33

Subtlety
Master of Deception Rank 5
Camouflage Rank 5
Subtlety Total: 10

To:

Assassination
Improved Eviscerate Rank 3
Malice Rank 5
Ruthlessness Rank 3
Improved Slice and Dice Rank 3
Relentless Strikes Rank 1
Assassination Total: 15

Combat
Improved Sinister Strike Rank 2
Lightning Reflexes Rank 5
Deflection Rank 5
Precision Rank 5
Riposte Rank 1
Dual Wield Specialization Rank 5
Blade Flurry Rank 1
Sword Specialization Rank 5
Aggression Rank 3
Adrenaline Rush Rank 1
Combat Total: 33

Subtlety
Master of Deception Rank 3
Subtlety Total: 3


As you can see from my previous build, I am a combat rogue, sword specialised. In the new build, I might put either 3 points in improved slice and dice or go for a partial lethality. I have put 3 points in MoD because I hear rank 4 is the only top one that makes a difference. I am open to suggestions though.

Any suggestions here? I think seriously I will ignore improved slice and dice and go for lethality.

[SleazyC]

Quoted from my guild forum:

I have been thinking about retooling my current build:


Assassination
Improved Eviscerate Rank 3
Malice Rank 5
Assassination Total: 8

Combat
Improved Sinister Strike Rank 2
Lightning Reflexes Rank 5
Deflection Rank 5
Precision Rank 5
Riposte Rank 1
Dual Wield Specialization Rank 5
Blade Flurry Rank 1
Sword Specialization Rank 5
Aggression Rank 3
Adrenaline Rush Rank 1
Combat Total: 33

Subtlety
Master of Deception Rank 5
Camouflage Rank 5
Subtlety Total: 10

To:

Assassination
Improved Eviscerate Rank 3
Malice Rank 5
Ruthlessness Rank 3
Improved Slice and Dice Rank 3
Relentless Strikes Rank 1
Assassination Total: 15

Combat
Improved Sinister Strike Rank 2
Lightning Reflexes Rank 5
Deflection Rank 5
Precision Rank 5
Riposte Rank 1
Dual Wield Specialization Rank 5
Blade Flurry Rank 1
Sword Specialization Rank 5
Aggression Rank 3
Adrenaline Rush Rank 1
Combat Total: 33

Subtlety
Master of Deception Rank 3
Subtlety Total: 3


As you can see from my previous build, I am a combat rogue, sword specialised. In the new build, I might put either 3 points in improved slice and dice or go for a partial lethality. I have put 3 points in MoD because I hear rank 4 is the only top one that makes a difference. I am open to suggestions though.

Any suggestions here? I think seriously I will ignore improved slice and dice and go for lethality.
Couple quick questions; are you primarily going to be PVPing or PVEing or both? Either way I would suggest looking into imp kick. A good mage is a very tough matchup for a combat rogue and 2 seconds of silence is very powerful in this battle. Also think about putting one or more points into expose armor as it really does help against plate or a feral druid in bear. I don't really see anything bad with the build either way just wanted to give my two cents.

[The Author]

Improved kick doesn't really cut it. Since I don't backstab, I use gouge and kick as spell interrupts more than anything. 2 seconds silence is nothing.


What I want is a hybrid PVP/PVEsolo/PVE group build.

[SleazyC]

Improved kick doesn't really cut it. Since I don't backstab, I use gouge and kick as spell interrupts more than anything. 2 seconds silence is nothing.


What I want is a hybrid PVP/PVEsolo/PVE group build.
With 2/2 imp kick you are looking for an 100% guaranteed silence and with duel wield spec the white damage generated by a combat rogue is going to hurt. Combat is all about white damage in my mind and a 2 second guaranteed silence against a mage can generate a good chunk of white damage (and thats not counting in crits or if you sword spec procs).

[The Author]

I know about improved kick, I used to have it and it seemed to not do enough.

[zircon]

It's killer v priests.

[The Author]

It's killer v priests.

So, where do I take these 2 points?

It seems to me that overall, lethality (instead of improves slice and dice) would be a much better overall choise than improved kick.

What about MoD?

[SleazyC]

It's killer v priests.

So, where do I take these 2 points?

It seems to me that overall, lethality (instead of improves slice and dice) would be a much better overall choise than improved kick.

What about MoD?
Depends, are you a human rogue? If so I would drop MoD outright. If not then you might want to think of moving those two points out of Lightning Reflexes.

[The Author]

It's killer v priests.

So, where do I take these 2 points?

It seems to me that overall, lethality (instead of improves slice and dice) would be a much better overall choise than improved kick.

What about MoD?
Depends, are you a human rogue? If so I would drop MoD outright. If not then you might want to think of moving those two points out of Lightning Reflexes.

I'm a NE rogue. Why should anyone drop MOD?

It does a serious difference.

[SleazyC]

Well if you are human Perception makes MoD a moot point. Don't get me wrong, MoD is a great talent but perceptions change to allow it to be used in stealth really doesn't make it that crucial for a human rogue.

[The Author]

MoD is not about finding people, it's about being harder to find.

[SleazyC]

Depends on your play style. I look at MoD as a talent that will help me find another stealthed opponent. I duel a lot alongside the BG's I do and whenever I duel a human rogue they are pretty much guaranteed to get the first hit in. If a human rogue is defending a flag in AB or WSG all they have to do is pop perception everytime it is up and if a rogue or druid is coming in at that time then they will see them. Yes MoD will help when moving in on just about any class but with most of the changes done stealth is pretty easy to detect or break out of so my value of MoD has gone down quite a bit.

[The Author]

Revised it:

Assassination
Improved Eviscerate Rank 3
Malice Rank 5
Ruthlessness Rank 3
Relentless Strikes Rank 1
Lethality Rank 5
Assassination Total: 17

Combat
Improved Sinister Strike Rank 2
Lightning Reflexes Rank 3
Deflection Rank 5
Precision Rank 5
Riposte Rank 1
Dual Wield Specialization Rank 5
Blade Flurry Rank 1
Sword Specialization Rank 5
Aggression Rank 3
Adrenaline Rush Rank 1
Combat Total: 31

Subtlety
Master of Deception Rank 3
Subtlety Total: 3

I need to fine tune this, last time, it cost me 5 gold to respec.

[zircon]

Intersting build. So you're going for serious sustained DPS, and the most power vs. armored opponents? Rogues aren't my specialty but I know that a Subtlety-heavy build is really powerful in AB tends to rip casters apart.

[suzumebachi]

ooh the new patch is looking nice... the linked AH/trade channel/LFG channel is going to be a HUGE improvement. i also give the multiple BG queues a big hell yes!

people on my server have already been stocking up on the materials needed to open ahn'qiraj. so we should see that done fairly soon (hopefully less than a month).

the new armor sets look sweet as hell. the one im most disappointed in is the hunter set, but it's still a huge improvement over the current dragonstalkers. that pally set is fucking SWEET though.

[Skilless]

The pally armor set screams Judge Dredd. So bad ass looking.

Too bad I'm horde. The Priest armor set better be cool looking too and not girly pink and purple kind of cloth crap we get stuck with (not including prophecy set cause that is BA too)

[The Author]

Master of Deception 3 or Improved Slice and Dice 3?

[zircon]

Master of Deception 3 or Improved Slice and Dice 3?

Uh.. a no brainer. MoD 3.

[SleazyC]

Master of Deception 3 or Improved Slice and Dice 3?

Uh.. a no brainer. MoD 3.
Depends, in PVP it is infintely more useful, but Slice and Dice pulls in a lot of damage in PVE

[The Author]

Master of Deception 3 or Improved Slice and Dice 3?

Uh.. a no brainer. MoD 3.
Depends, in PVP it is infintely more useful, but Slice and Dice pulls in a lot of damage in PVE
I went with MoD since my damage output was increased by this respec. Relentless strikes make AR a lot more interesting simply because I can pull out more energy after my first evis, and I can do 2 fully charged evis during AR instead of one, meaning I can do 2full evic and a 3 or 4 point evis during an AR/blade fury combo.

[suzumebachi]

argh WoW made me extremely mad today. i was doing scholo run again, trying to get beaststalker's cap. we got to darkmaster gandling, and put on master looter as we had done all the times before. we killed him with ease, and proceeded to loot his corpse.......

let me just say, DONT EVER USE MASTER LOOTER ON DARKMASTER GANDLING. you'll be fucked out of your loot. period. i wrote a ticket and blizzard apparently knows about this bug. as does almost everyone on our realm. people say it's been around since like 1.4 with no fix. needless to say i am extremely pissed.

i gaurantee you that was the 8% drop. now i'm gonna have to run scholo like 15 more god damn times. *cry*

[zircon]

My guild cleared Zul'Gurub for the first time a few days ago. We hadn't really been taking it seriously, but I decided it was time for the BS to stop and about 2 weeks ago we started doing "real" runs, hashing out strats for ourselves, bringing our good players, setting up a loot system, etc. We killed Hakkar, the Hexxer, and the Panther aspect 2 days ago, and we just did the entire place (minus Hakkar) in about 4.5 hours tonight. Not bad considering we had about 5-6 wipes total.. not on bosses, but on stupid shit like facepulling 5 groups. To be fair, it's very amusing sometimes, but it did waste a lot of time. That instance is a LOT of fun. Fantastic loot too.

[ILLiterate]

I'm planning on starting the game soon, mostly because just about every one of my friends from school play the game. I'm thinking about Orc Warrior, offensive & be an alchemist...

Anything I should know?

[versus]

Get one of your friend to be your personal priest bitch, because pvping in bgs as a war without a healer will piss you off to no end.

[zircon]

I'm planning on starting the game soon, mostly because just about every one of my friends from school play the game. I'm thinking about Orc Warrior, offensive & be an alchemist...

Anything I should know?

Orc Warriors are pretty awesome. They have some of the best racials in the game and are practically BUILT for PVP. If you're going offense, you have two choices, basically. There's the "Mortal Strike" build which typically uses a powerful 2h weapon, such as an axe, and then there's the "Fury" build which uses two fast one handed weapons to do damage. Most people like the former, but the latter is quite powerful also.

Alchemy is cool. You will also want to pick up Herbalism if you want to do that. Being able to make healing potions, rage potions, free action potions, and stat buffing potions is a very cool ability.

[SleazyC]

In game Tier 2 pics!

Link (http://www.worldofwarcraft.co.kr/info/world/underdev/1p9/)

[Rodin]

Oh wow - when I saw the concept art for the hunter set, I thought it would make us look like fairies. That's...pretty awesome in-game though.

[ellywu2]

I'm rolling a pally lol
judgement looks absolutely pimp as shit.

[suzumebachi]

downed first ZG boss yesterday. all that dropped was this (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=51620). the other hunter won it. :?

[zircon]

That shouldn't happen. They always drop one of those epic quest components plus at least one other item.

ZG rules. Lemme know if you need strats, I have them typed up.

[ILLiterate]

So yay, started a Human Warrior and things have been going good so far, fun game, I just can't find the alchemy trainer...mabye I just need to wait until I get to a bigger town

[[deltree]]

In game Tier 2 pics!

Link (http://www.worldofwarcraft.co.kr/info/world/underdev/1p9/)

Druid has the moose horns YES!
"Watch me pull something outta my sleeve!"
All of the sets look really nice, although the mage set is kinda pink.

[suzumebachi]

i officially hate the smolderthorn realm.

let me tell you guys low population sucks. terribly. when you're going through the game you don't notice it so much. until you hit the end game. then you feel it. the overwhelming sense of.. underwhelmedness. it's impossible to find groups to do instances on this server. and when you DO find a group, it's to do scholo. again. for the eleventy-thousanth time. living strat? never. UD strat? once a month maybe. UBRS? you might get lucky and find a rend run, but if you need general you're screwed. LBRS? been trying for over two weeks now to get a LBRS group. can't even get a 5 man group going. DM? pfft don't even think about it. oh but we can do scholo.

why is this? because the end game guilds are constantly merging. and what do they do when they merge? MC, MC, and MC. what does my guild do? pick-up BGs. why? because we can't get healers because they constantly get absorbed by the larger guilds. we have 70+ lvl 60's in our guild, and out of that is 3 priests and 1 druid. when all 3 priests and 1 druid are on (which is basically never) we might try and do ZG once. then one will have to leave before we get to the bloodlord and the whole group disbands.

it's happened too god damn many times.

time to reroll alliance.

[zircon]

Gorefiend, Horde. :)

[SleazyC]

Suzu you might have more luck by going to a high pop server and to the larger faction. But from what I heard Smolderthorn was horde-heavy. End game instance really is where it pays to know people. Chances are one of these people you know will be in a raiding guild and might have a chance to get you in. If your guild is too small try forming an alliance with another guild or a couple of guilds to run through until you get the size to run MC, BWL, Onyxia, outdoor bosses yourself.

[zircon]

RAG DOWN!! Finally! We had a flawless strat this time. So good. Besides Nemesis + Dragonstalker pants, we got Onslaught Girdle, the Crown of Destruction, and - I creamed my pants when I saw this - a Spinal Reaper.

[ILLiterate]

God damn j00 Blizzard! Nice to know that I server I pick to play on is over heavy lag most of the time -_-

[suzumebachi]

w00t. we downed the bloodlord in ZG. took 3 attempts. the first we wiped at about 15%, second at about 10%, the third we finally killed him. i'm so excited, i'm going to post our strategy!

the whole group except for rogues and warriors was on the wall just below the staircase. we had two MT's. the first MT pulled the speaker guy, and we killed him in no time flat using as little mana as possible. the first MT then pulled the bloodlord's raptor off to the left side, while the second MT pulled the bloodlord out into the open on the right. the whole group DPS'd the raptor like mad all the while keeping both tanks alive. as soon as the raptor went down, the second MT basically becomes THE MT, and everyone focused on the bloodlord.

here is where things start getting a little tricky because the bloodlord gets really mad for a bit, and begins to "watch" people. when he watches someone, if they move, cast, or attack in the next 5 seconds, he will basically one-shot them. and every time someone dies, he gains XP. if enough people die, he will get larger, and larger, and become stronger and stronger. this is what happened on our first attempt. he does an insanely strong AoE move that hits everyone within melee range. needless to say he only did this once or twice and all the rogues were dead. he got bigger and stronger, and killed the MT in no time. from there it was basically a wipe because as soon as people resurrected they'd die again and he'd just become immensely strong.

so we tried again. this time the hunters and mages were to be the main damage dealers, and the rogues and warriors would attack in bursts. this seemed to work a lot better because the MT held aggro better, and the rogues wouldn't die from the AoE. the only problem was the hunters and mages eventually started to pull hate off the MT. it also didn't help that every attempt at FD was resisted. so one of the hunters eventually pulled the bloodlord off the MT, died, and started the cycle of the bloodlord getting stronger and stronger once again.

so the third time we tried the same thing, except by now the rogues and warriors had learned better to gauge their threat and when to move out of range of his AoE. the hunters also moved farther back and so had a better chance of feigning when they needed to, so they'd just go all out on DPS and feign every 30 seconds. the MT went down once during the 3rd attempt, but he was soulstoned so we were able to get him back up and going again within a matter of seconds before anyone else died.

as for the drops:
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=51408 <-- rogue
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=51372 <-- warlock
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=51155 <-- warrior

P.S.: we still had to go out of guild to find healers. :?

[Stalwart Jester]

as for the drops:
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=51408 <-- rogue
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=51372 <-- warlock
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=51155 <-- warrior

::blinks...::

Oh, I so envy that rogue who got the Warblade. About 6 Bloodlord kills and all he's dropped has been hunter-stuff. Like a bow that looks like a snake. :lol: At least I'm going to ZG tommorow...maybe I'll have better luck, eh?

Oh.

Colban - 60 UD Rogue - Argent Dawn.

:P

[zircon]

Suzu, grats on your kill. But here is a strat that will make things easier for you.

--
Start Positioning: All melees about 30 yards from the "Speaker", a weak elite mob at the base of the stairs the boss is at. The casters hide themselves behind the fence made of spears - you can't miss it, it's an enclosure that houses a group of raptors when you first enter the room.

Strat: The Speaker gets pulled and killed quick. An offtank will then tank the raptor pet of the boss, who is relatively weak. The MT tanks the boss. Please note that every time the boss kills someone, he has a good chance of gaining a level. He gets harder to kill every time this happens, and hits harder too. So DON'T let anyone die. Melees should back out and bandage if they need to. This is a relatively long fight (5-6 minutes) and is all about controlled DPS. All melees/DPS focus on the raptor pet first, kill it, then start dps on the Bloodlord himself. He will be temporarily enraged, healers need to watch for that. He has some standard Warrior abilities like whirlwind to watch out for, otherwise, nothing significant on the offense front.

He DOES cast something called 'Threatening Gaze' on random people. If you get this debuff, you can't do anything. Stop whatever you are doing. If you do things while he's watching you, he'll kill you. So don't do anything. Very simple! This is one of the easiest fights as long as no one dies (which should not be a problem, as he will not assault the casters who are behind the spear fence).
--

The fight is a joke if you do it this way.

[The Author]

Suzu, grats on your kill. But here is a strat that will make things easier for you.

--
Start Positioning: All melees about 30 yards from the "Speaker", a weak elite mob at the base of the stairs the boss is at. The casters hide themselves behind the fence made of spears - you can't miss it, it's an enclosure that houses a group of raptors when you first enter the room.

Strat: The Speaker gets pulled and killed quick. An offtank will then tank the raptor pet of the boss, who is relatively weak. The MT tanks the boss. Please note that every time the boss kills someone, he has a good chance of gaining a level. He gets harder to kill every time this happens, and hits harder too. So DON'T let anyone die. Melees should back out and bandage if they need to. This is a relatively long fight (5-6 minutes) and is all about controlled DPS. All melees/DPS focus on the raptor pet first, kill it, then start dps on the Bloodlord himself. He will be temporarily enraged, healers need to watch for that. He has some standard Warrior abilities like whirlwind to watch out for, otherwise, nothing significant on the offense front.

He DOES cast something called 'Threatening Gaze' on random people. If you get this debuff, you can't do anything. Stop whatever you are doing. If you do things while he's watching you, he'll kill you. So don't do anything. Very simple! This is one of the easiest fights as long as no one dies (which should not be a problem, as he will not assault the casters who are behind the spear fence).
--

The fight is a joke if you do it this way.

This information has been passed on to my guild, as we are to attemp ZG for the first time in a while (well, for them, I have never been to ZG...)

[The Author]

Also, I posted this on my guild's forum, but I wanted your insight:

Would blizz's change actually make some fast weapons better?

A fast 1 hand sword (like war blade of the hakkari) which has a 1.7 speed, getting the 2.4 speed attack power bonus damage. Assume that for each second, I get a 10 bonus damage. With the warblades, I would have had 17 bonus damage, but now I would get 24.

Would that make them good for rogue?

Assuming that same +10 damage, the warblade's DPS becomes 49.7+24=73.7.

Sacred charge, with a speed of 2.8 with the same +10 would have gotten +28, now it gets +24.
41.4 is now 65.1

Warblade of the Hakkari becomes a better choice, as it would have been prior to the change 49.7+17=66.7 versus 41.5+28=69.5.

Now, here is the second part of my question: Does attack power affect SS in the same proportion?

I still think that overall, Dal Rend would be the best SS sword, but:

+68 attack power, +1 crit, and +6 to swords... Wouldn't that make it better than +4 str, +1% crit, +100 armor, +7 defense, and +50 att power.

Without enchants, you end up with +68 AP on warblades, and +54 Ap on rend.

Warblades has a better overall DPS out, but would it make SS pointless?

If you SS to release a slice and dice, would that make warblades viable?

[zircon]

Yeah, just let me know if you need more ZG strats. We can clear the whole place in a few hours now (usually takes a little longer than 4 total because we wipe a few times doing stupid shit like facepulling 3 groups in a row, but 75% of the time we actually do clear the pulls successfully).

[The Author]

Yeah, just let me know if you need more ZG strats. We can clear the whole place in a few hours now (usually takes a little longer than 4 total because we wipe a few times doing stupid shit like facepulling 3 groups in a row, but 75% of the time we actually do clear the pulls successfully).

...

Why Blizzard WHY?

Why do you make instances longer to make them "challenging?"

It's not like we get rewards for the hardest parts: Getting a group.


And it's not like most of the people who have a job can realisticly do ZG on a work night.

Why do you make it so hard on us? I am tired of doing UBRS.

I am tired of Strat.

But I can't do a whole ZG run simply because you think it smart to make it be 4 freaking hours long.

/cry.

[zircon]

4 hours is not that long, for one thing. For another thing, you can get it down more than that if you work at it (I think 2.5 hour clears are possible). Finally, what we did when we were first hashing out strats and figuring out all the bosses, we split it into two or even three nights. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. It's SUCH a good instance.

[The Author]

I get out of work at 5. I finish eating supper at 6, 6:30...

I get on, and then lets say I am lucky, and invites start at 6:30.

By 7:30, we are ready to leave. At 8, we start the instance.

At 11, I have to go to bed because I need to sleep because I don't want to sleep at work, just on the off chance that I actually have to do something.

[zircon]

2-3 hours per day over two days is more than enough to make progress in that instance.

One thing, though; are you doing this with guild groups? If not, you're fucked. Even my guild had trouble getting used to the instance until I decided to take charge, whip people into shape, and get our collective asses into gear. Unless everyone is on vent, you have at least a core team of 10-15 or so people that are smart + know how to follow orders, and you have a strong leader, you're in trouble.

[The Author]

Yeah, it's a guild run. They used to get far in it, but that was teamed up with another guild. Tonight is more of an exploratory first run.

If we get people signed up for it.

(Have you looked at what I posted higher? I wanna know your opinion on the math I did concerning warblade versus Dal Rend.

[Stalwart Jester]

Also, I posted this on my guild's forum, but I wanted your insight:

Would blizz's change actually make some fast weapons better?

A fast 1 hand sword...((etc etc...I cut this down, it was definitely too long to quote))

As a 60 rogue myself...well, since the 1.8 changes made fast swords...like the Hakkari Warblades, equal to any other sword, when taking into account the instant-attack speed modifier...

Honestly I'd rate the Hakkari Warblades at just about equal to the Dal'rends. Perhaps a little better in PVE though, since many fights last quite a bit. It has more attack power, and the Dal'Rends has more defense...for a rogue, defense shouldn't matter so much. Now in PVP that's a little bit of a different story...but eh, I've always been one to sacrifice defense for more agression. I love damage, that's all I can say. :lol:

Plus: The Hakkari Warblades look 43907x better than the Dal'Rends. Especially if you have both, and they're sheathed. And I've always been one for aesthetics as well. :roll:

[ellywu2]

If you want an easy boss in ZG, go for the snake one. He is an absolute piece of piss. Also, level 40 with my shaman alt now! Boy shamans dont half suck in PvE compared to a hunter.

[suzumebachi]

i wonder if a hunter would get blacklisted for rolling on the warblades :(

nothing else worthwhile has dropped except a 2h mace (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=51572).

[ellywu2]

I'd take them if i didnt have Rhok. +70 odd attk power AND a +1% crit chance with mean DPS as well.. Sounds like 'Hunter weapon!' to me :) although that could be said about anything :P What setup do you have at the moment?

[Archaon]

How the hell do I stop getting killed.

[Raenok]

How the hell do I stop getting killed.

Play smarter. Instead of rushing in all nilly-willy, think about attack plans.

[zircon]

If you want an easy boss in ZG, go for the snake one. He is an absolute piece of piss. Also, level 40 with my shaman alt now! Boy shamans dont half suck in PvE compared to a hunter.

Bat + Snake are really, really easy. Bloodlord is easy if you execute the initial positioning right. Spider requires a LITTLE work on the part of the tanks. Panther/Tiger are a step up. Hakkar is VERY easy. Hexxer is the hardest.

[Archaon]

How the hell do I stop getting killed.

Play smarter. Instead of rushing in all nilly-willy, think about attack plans.

The only thing I can think of doing is not using Fear so that I don't get one of them running away and training back a goddamn swarm.

And then I just get killed because there are two and I'm frail.

[suzumebachi]

I'd take them if i didnt have Rhok. +70 odd attk power AND a +1% crit chance with mean DPS as well.. Sounds like 'Hunter weapon!' to me :) although that could be said about anything :P What setup do you have at the moment?

i'm currently using:
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=40261
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=37260

[Raenok]

How the hell do I stop getting killed.

Play smarter. Instead of rushing in all nilly-willy, think about attack plans.

The only thing I can think of doing is not using Fear so that I don't get one of them running away and training back a goddamn swarm.

And then I just get killed because there are two and I'm frail.

Wait..do you play Warlock?

[ellywu2]

i'm currently using:
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=40261
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=37260

In that case i'd reccomend picking up
http://www.thottbot.com/?i=35869 from DM north. Its a good stop-gap til you get mad skills epix. It provides decent AP and +Crit whilst still packing a bit of a punch. Plus its not DW so you wont miss the vital wing clips and mongoose bite...well just wing clip. Also its a piece of piss to get, you dont even need to do the tribute! IBS is good as it is, but if you find yourself with a free hour i say go and get Barb blade.

Ancient Bone bow is pretty safe. Its a toss up between that and http://www.thottbot.com/?i=37177
I used the crossbow myself mainly because the burst damage from aimed shot crits was stupidly high.
either way dont go and do something silly like getting a DHC, total waste of money if you have the ABB already in my opinion.

[Russell Cox]

Suzu, grats on your kill. But here is a strat that will make things easier for you.

--
Start Positioning: All melees about 30 yards from the "Speaker", a weak elite mob at the base of the stairs the boss is at. The casters hide themselves behind the fence made of spears - you can't miss it, it's an enclosure that houses a group of raptors when you first enter the room.

Strat: The Speaker gets pulled and killed quick. An offtank will then tank the raptor pet of the boss, who is relatively weak. The MT tanks the boss. Please note that every time the boss kills someone, he has a good chance of gaining a level. He gets harder to kill every time this happens, and hits harder too. So DON'T let anyone die. Melees should back out and bandage if they need to. This is a relatively long fight (5-6 minutes) and is all about controlled DPS. All melees/DPS focus on the raptor pet first, kill it, then start dps on the Bloodlord himself. He will be temporarily enraged, healers need to watch for that. He has some standard Warrior abilities like whirlwind to watch out for, otherwise, nothing significant on the offense front.

He DOES cast something called 'Threatening Gaze' on random people. If you get this debuff, you can't do anything. Stop whatever you are doing. If you do things while he's watching you, he'll kill you. So don't do anything. Very simple! This is one of the easiest fights as long as no one dies (which should not be a problem, as he will not assault the casters who are behind the spear fence).
--

The fight is a joke if you do it this way.

That'll work, but here's what we do (we run it mainly for enchants -- it's what every single one of the Primal Hakkari are used for in our guild -- and the chance of epics, as well as the ring sets):

1) There is the little platform to the right/south of the stairs where Bloodlord resides that houses a group of humanoids and a group of raptors -- kill them all. EVERYONE but the main tank should be standing on the platform railing (i.e. fortified posts by the wall part).

2) Kill the Speaker, melee just stand still on the platform and use ranged attacks.

3) MT engages Bloodlord about 20-25 yards on the ground in front of the rest of the raid. There are no LOS issues. A second Warrior will pull the raptor onto the platform, and everyone but the MT on Bloodlord will focus on the Raptor. 2-3 healers focus on the MT (2 Priests and a Druid/Shaman, Druid, Priest), and any remaining healers can spotcheck the melee/tanks on the raptor.

4) If the Raptor dies quickly (20-30 seconds) then give the MT another 10-15 seconds of hate building; if the Raptor takes a while, melee will bandage themselves then engage Bloodlord. Do not hold back on DPS; he has no threat reduction techniques so the tank's hate will always be greater than yours (unless you somehow land every backstab/Mortal Strike/spell as a critical hit).

5) When Bloodlord uses Whirlwind, melee will back away for 3-5 seconds, bandage/tuber up, then go back in to DPS again. As long as you don't die from his Threatening Gaze, and the MT stays alive, this is an easy fight.

I'll post the rest of our guild's strats at another time and zircon you can compare yours to ours. And yes, Hexxer is a fucking PITA.

[zircon]

Err, how is that different from what I posted? :P

[Miletus]

http://www.whataboutpp.com/

World of Warcraft Client Patch 1.9.0 (2005-??-??)

1.9.0 Transcendence Stats
1.9.0 10 Storms Stats
1.9.0 Nemesis Stats
1.9.0 Dragonstalker Stats
1.9.0 Bloodfang Stats

The Gates of Ahn'Qiraj

The Gates of Ahn'Qiraj will house two massive, unique dungeons -- the Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj, a 20-man raid dungeon, and the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj, a 40-man raid dungeon. As players delve deeper into the mysteries of Ahn'Qiraj, they will discover revelations of the Silithid infestation and their shadowy masters, the Qiraji. Players will have to complete a world event of massive proportions before they can open the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj on their realm.
***During the public test of Ahn'Qiraj, the world event to open the gates will be accelerated to allow testing of the dungeon content.***

Linked Auction Houses

Players will now be able to buy and sell goods with greater effectiveness using the Linked Auction House system. Auction Houses in Orgrimmar, Undercity, and Thunder Bluff will now share the same pool of Horde player-created auctions, and Alliance players will find the same to be true when visiting Ironforge, Stormwind City, and Darnassus Auction Houses. This system has been expanded to support the neutral Auction Houses as well. Tanaris, Everlook, and Booty Bay will all be linked for players of both factions to access. In addition, the "Looking for Group" and "Trade" channels have been unified among the corresponding cities, meaning, for example, that you can trade your goods or look for groups in Ironforge while in Stormwind.

Multiple Battlegrounds Queues

Players will be able to enter multiple battleground queues. No longer must you make the hard decision of which queue to join -- when queued for all three, you can join the first one available or hold out for that particular battleground which you've really got your heart set on.

Soul Shard Bags

Tailors now can make soul bags to hold soul shards. The smallest is a 20-slot bag, the recipe for which can be purchased in Gadgetzan. The recipe for a larger bag can be found in Scholomance, and one for an even larger bag can be found in Molten Core. In the main UI, these soul bags will display how many shards they contain. So long as the soul bags have room, any soul shards a warlock creates will automatically go into the bag.

Raid Calendar System

The raid-lockout system has undergone a significant change. The new system will have all instances reset at a certain server time, regardless of when you were actually saved to the instance. The reset schedule is as follows:
Molten Core: Every 7 Days, resetting during weekly maintenance.
Blackwing Lair: Every 7 Days, resetting during weekly maintenance
Onyxia: Every 5 Days
Zul'Gurub: Every 3 Days
Temple of Ahn’Qiraj (40-man): Every 7 Days, resetting during weekly maintenance
Ruins of Ahn’Qiraj (20-man): Every 3 Days
All resets will occur during off-hours, when the least amount of raids are active.

Important Note for Mac OS X Users

The minimum supported Mac OS X revision for WoW will be changed in a post-1.9.0 patch, from 10.3.5 to 10.3.9. If you are running 10.3.5 - 10.3.8 and need to get the free update, you can use Software Update or you can click here for the direct download. This change will make it easier for us to release future updates to the game, for example to support upcoming Mac models based on Intel processors.

General

* All Disorient effects have been renamed Incapacitate effects. This includes Gouge, Sap, etc.
* All Confusion effects have been renamed Disorient effects. This includes Blind, Scatter Shot, etc.
* Food and Drink are now in separate categories, so you can only have one food effect and one drink effect on you at a time. The only effect should be that foods that used to stack with each other (you could have two food effects on you at once) no longer will stack.
* On-next-swing abilities will no longer cause multiple weapon procs on a single swing.

PvP

* Several civilian NPCs, who previously would assist non-civilians, will no longer do so.

Druids

* Bear and Dire Bear form - Effects that lower armor will now lower armor by a percentage of the druid's full armor, rather than just base (caster form) armor. However, Enrage will still only remove 75% of base armor.
* Omen of Clarity - Special attacks will no longer consume their own clearcasting state. All melee attacks will now be able to trigger the clearcasting state.
* Nature's Grasp - This spell can now trigger from special melee attacks. It will no longer be possible to cast Entangling Roots at no mana cost immediately after Nature's Grasp procs.
* Nature's Grace - The Nature's Grace buff will now appear on the player upon completion of casting, before the travel time of the spell. So, Wrath crits will now benefit the casting time of the next spell cast.
* Insect Swarm - New icon.
* Improved Starfire - The stun effect's duration no longer diminishes or is diminished by controlled stun abilities and spells (e.g. Cheap Shot, Hammer of Justice, Charge etc.).
* Omen of Clarity - This spell now works correctly with Bash, Rip, Ferocious Bite, and Demoralizing Roar, granting a decrease in the cost of the ability. Ferocious Bite will still use the entire energy bar to generate additional damage.

Hunters

* Arcane Shot - This spell can no longer trigger twice in one shot off of the Paladin's Judgement of Wisdom.
* Aspect of the Pack and Aspect of the Cheetah - Periodic damage will no longer trigger the Dazed effect.
* Aspect of the Wild - Radius increased. Tooltip updated to display radius.
* Improved Concussive Shot - The stun effect's duration no longer diminishes or is diminished by controlled stun abilities and spells (e.g. Cheap Shot, Hammer of Justice, Charge etc.).
* Tame Beast - The hunter will now turn to face the target during the taming process.
* Bestial Wrath - Damage bonus reduced, duration increased.
* Unleashed Fury - Damage bonus increased.
* Pet Changes
o Turtles can now eat raw and cooked fish.
o Turtles can now learn Shell Shield, allowing them to reduces all damage taken by 50% for 10 sec.
o Hunters can now tame Sons of Hakkar. Sons of Hakkar are in the Wind Serpent family and will know Lightning Breath (Rank 6).
o Boars can now learn Charge, an ability that allows them to charge to an enemy, immobilize that enemy for 1 second, and add a large amount of Attack Power to the boar's next attack.
o Gorillas can now learn Thunderstomp, an ability that causes high threat area Nature damage.

Mages

* Impact - The stun effect's duration no longer diminishes or is diminished by controlled stun abilities and spells (e.g. Cheap Shot, Hammer of Justice, Charge etc.).
* Netherwind Regalia - The 8-piece set bonus will now proc immediately upon completion of casting the spell, before travel time on the spell. This will allow the proc to affect the next spell cast as intended.
* Arcane Concentration - Blizzard will now be able to gain a Clearcasting state from this talent.
* Blast Wave - Will now show spell data in the talent page.

Paladins

* Due to significant talent changes, all Paladins' talent points will be refunded and can be respent. Training costs for all talent spell/ability replacements have been significantly reduced.
* Paladins can now learn Greater Blessings for the following spells:
o Blessing of Might
o Blessing of Wisdom
o Blessing of Kings
o Blessing of Sanctuary
o Blessing of Salvation
Greater Blessings will cast the associated blessing on all raid members that share the same class as the target. For example, if you cast Greater Blessing of Might on a warrior in your raid, all warriors in the raid party will receive Blessing of Might from you. Additionally, Greater Blessings have an increased duration of 15 minutes. These blessings require twice as much mana as the single target version, as well as a reagent. Paladins can purchase these new Greater Blessing spells from their class trainers.
* Seal of Fury - The seal and judgement have been removed and replaced with a new self-buff, Righteous Fury, which will increase threat from holy damage.
* Seals and Judgements - Added or increased damage per level so that these spells keep pace between replacements.
* Judgements - Judgements that place a debuff on their victim will now all have their duration refreshed when the judging paladin strikes the victim with his or her melee swings. All these debuffs have had their duration decreased to 10 seconds. In addition, Judgements that place debuffs can no longer be resisted.
* Seal of Righteousness - Now does holy damage on every swing. It can now proc correctly as well. The Judgement effect has been renamed "Judgement of Righteousness" to differentiate it from the Seal damage in the combat log.
* Judgement of the Crusader - The holy damage bonus has been decreased as part of rebalancing paladin damage (which is still increased overall).
* Seal of Command - The proc will occur more often, but will only do 70% of weapon-swing damage.
* Judgement of Command - Instead of placing a debuff on the victim, this spell now does immediate damage. If the victim is not stunned, they only take 30% of the total damage. The damage on this Judgement was increased significantly.
* Judgement of Wisdom - Arcane Shot will no longer cause this to proc twice on one shot. Channeling spells can now trigger this proc as well.
* Vengeance - Special ability critical hits can now trigger Vengeance.
* Judgement of Righteousness - The damage of this judgement was increased significantly. This judgement can now trigger procs.
* Holy Shock - Now heals friendly targets and damages enemy targets. Mana cost reduced. Bonus from spell damage and healing items increased.
* All Seals and Judgements have had their bonus coefficient from plus spell damage re-evaluated. Some holy damage effects had no coefficient before and now have a coefficient.
* Vengeance - Clarified the tooltip to indicate procs will not trigger Vengeance.
* Summon Warhorse - Mana cost reduced.
* Summon Charger - Mana cost reduced.
* Consecration - No longer displays a debuff icon on targets in the area of effect.
* Updated Aura tooltips to be more clear (include radius, fix grammatical errors etc...).
* Judgement - Range increased, cooldown decreased, mana cost decreased. Using Judgement will now initiate melee combat.
* Exorcism - Now usable on Demon targets in addition to Undead targets.
* Holy Wrath - Now usable on Demon targets in addition to Undead targets.
* Seal of Justice - Mana cost slightly increased. The stun effect's duration no longer diminishes or is diminished by controlled stun abilities and spells (e.g. Cheap Shot, Hammer of Justice, Charge etc...).
* Seal of Righteousness - Damage bonus from +Holy damage items increased, mana cost slightly increased.
* Seal of Command - Damage bonus from +Holy damage items increased.
* Seal of the Crusader - Mana cost slightly increased.
* Seal of Fury - Removed and replaced with Righteous Fury.
* Seal of Light - Mana cost slightly increased.
* Seal of Wisdom - Mana cost slightly increased.
* Seal of Command - Mana cost slightly increased.
* Hammer of Wrath - Missile speed of the flying hammer increased.
* Divine Protection, Divine Shield and Blessing of Protection - Targets of these spells will now receive the "Recently Shielded" effect, preventing another of these three spells from being applied to that target for one minute.
* New Spell: Righteous Fury (level 16) - Increases the threat generated by the Paladin's Holy attacks by 100%. Lasts 30 minutes.
* Blessing of Sanctuary - Now causes Holy damage to the attacker when the blessed target blocks an attack in addition to the current effect.

Priests

* Martyrdom - This talent will now trigger on melee special abilities as well as on melee swings. The tooltip has been clarified to indicate this ability only works on melee strikes.
* Mind Blast - Threat raised on ranks 7, 8, and 9. Incorrect data had been entered in those spells, resulting in less threat generated than designed.
* Blackout - The stun effect's duration no longer diminishes or is diminished by controlled stun abilities and spells (e.g. Cheap Shot, Hammer of Justice, Charge etc...).

Rogues

* Mace Specialization - The stun effect's duration no longer diminishes or is diminished by controlled stun abilities and spells (e.g. Cheap Shot, Hammer of Justice, Charge etc...).

Shaman

* Lightning Shield - This spell will now proc when the shaman is struck by elemental attacks.
* Stormstrike - Earthbind and Stoneclaw totems will no longer use up charges of Stormstrike.
* New Spell - Tranquil Air Totem. Creates a totem that reduces the threat caused by nearby party members by 20%.

Warlocks

* Searing Pain - Increased damage on all ranks of Searing Pain.
* Infernal and Doomguard - Increased armor 10% and damage 30% on both pets.
* Soul Link - This spell can no longer be partially dispelled off the warlock. In addition, Soul Link can no longer be used on non-demon pets.
* Hellfire - Victims of Hellfire are now able to resist properly. Warlocks continue (as designed) to be unable to resist their own damage.
* Curse of Shadow and Curse of the Elements - These curses can no longer cause resistance to become negative. To compensate, both curses now increases the damage taken from the appropriate schools by a percentage.
* Summon Felsteed - Mana cost reduced.
* Summon Dreadsteed - Mana cost reduced.
* Pyroclasm - The stun effect's duration no longer diminishes or is diminished by controlled stun abilities and spells (e.g. Cheap Shot, Hammer of Justice, Charge etc...).

Warriors

* Execute - Improved Execute and other discounts to the Execute ability will now correctly convert the resulting extra rage into damage.
* Retaliation - This ability will no longer lose charges when the attacker is behind the warrior.
* Sword Specialization - Special attacks now properly trigger the chance to gain an extra attack.
* Sweeping Strikes - Whirlwind and Retaliation will now correctly consume the charges from Sweeping Strikes.
* Bloodthirst - The damage component has been increased to 45% of attack power.
* Enrage - The talent will now grant 5/10/15/20/25% extra damage when enraged, instead of 8/16/24/33/40%.
* Mace Specialization - The stun effect's duration no longer diminishes or is diminished by controlled stun abilities and spells (e.g. Cheap Shot, Hammer of Justice, Charge etc...).
* Improved Revenge - The stun effect's duration no longer diminishes or is diminished by controlled stun abilities and spells (e.g. Cheap Shot, Hammer of Justice, Charge etc...).

Racial Traits

* Troll Racial Abilities
Troll Berserking
o Is now triggered off any critical hit on you, including spells and ranged attacks.
o Melee/ranged haste bonus and duration reduced.
o Now adds spell damage in addition to the haste bonus.
o Berserking now ability requires a small amount of mana, rage, or energy (depending on your class) to activate.
Throwing Mastery
o Trolls now also receive a bonus to Bow weapons in addition to Throwing weapons.
* Orc Racial Abilities
Blood Fury
o Now applies a healing effectiveness debuff on the user instead of the attack power penalty. The healing debuff is applied immediately upon using the ability.
Hardiness
o Resistance is now applied to just Stun mechanics.
* Gnome Racial Abilities
Escape Artist
o Casting time lowered.
* Dwarven Racial Abilities
Stoneform
o No longer snares the user.
o Armor bonus increased.
o Duration lowered.

Items

* All of the Tier 2 Class Armor sets have been updated with new art.
* The following weapons and shields have been updated with new art : Perdition's Blade, Obsidian Edged Blade, Gutgore Ripper, Core Hound Tooth, Aurastone Hammer, Drillborer Disk, Staff of Dominance.
* Many of the pieces from the Tier 2 Armor sets have received updated statistics. The armor sets with the most extensive changes include the Netherwind, Nemesis, and Judgement sets. Other sets received fewer revisions, or none at all.
* Slimes have been latching on to more valuable items and they will now be dropping better loot than they used to, including coin drops and special bags.
* Drop rates of Darkmoon Cards 2-8 (Portals 2-8, etc..) have been reduced. Ace drop rates have been increased.
* The drop rate of Shadowcat Hides has been increased.
* The Lifestealing enchantment now does shadow damage rather than fire damage.
* Manna Biscuits now have two separate spell effects so they stack correctly with other food and water.
* Well Fed buffs from special foods will no longer stack with each other.
* The enchanter-made wands are now correctly flagged as Bind on Equip.
* Silithus air elementals have a slightly increased chance of dropping essence of air
* Stormshroud Shoulders have been fixed to be a superior item and have had the stamina on them slightly increased as well.
* Whistle of the Black War Raptor was changed to Bind on Acquire.
* The Runed Stygian Belt is no longer Unique.
* Bandages will now appears as "Consumable" in the auction house.
* Jadeanar humanoids and demons in Felwood and Winterfall Furbolgs in Winterspring can now drop Runecloth.
* Winterfall Furbolgs will not drop Winterfall Firewater as often.
* The Seal of Wrynn, Nogg's Gold Ring, and Talvash's Gold Ring have been improved to be superior items.
* All Giants in Azshara now drop cash and items appropriate for an elite creature.
* The attack speed slowing effect from Thunderfury has been reduced to 20%, and no longer stacks with other such effects such as Thunderclap.
* The Reckless Charge ability of the Goblin Rocket Helmet and Horned Viking Helmet is now considered a disorient instead of a sleep effect.
* Flamewaker Legplates and Sash of Whispered Secrets improved to have the proper stats of an epic item.
* Broken Silithid Chitin is now marked as a poor item.
* Albino Crocscale Boots now has the appropriate geometry attached.
* Darkshore Grouper now has an appropriate sound when moved in your inventory.
* The effect of the Freezing Band is now considered a Freeze effect.
* The Force Reactive Disk's and Cloak of Fire's effects will no longer gain a benefit from effects that increase spell damage.
* The Insightful Hood and Southsea Head Bucket will now cover hair properly.
* The proc ability of the Halberd of Smiting can no longer cause another proc.
* The Glimmering Mithril Insignia will no longer make a player immune to Death Coil.
* The Goblin Mortar's stun effect now has a description.
* Six Demon Bag tooltip changed to note that the target must be in front of the caster.
* The Fiery War Axe is now in fact, Fiery.
* The Abyssal Plate Gauntlets are now Bind on Equip.
* Items with the Frost Blast ability will now deal the correct damage listed.
* Gauntlets of Shining Light is now spelled correctly.
* The Pure Elementium Band now has a sell price.
* The Mendicant's Slippers now have the proper amount of stamina for the level of the item.
* Arcanist's Bindings had more resistances than proper for the item, and these were removed.
* Alcor's Sunrazor is now Bind on Equip.
* Transforming Thunderstrike and Shadowstrike will no longer consume additional copies of the item that might be in the inventory.
* Added a note to the tooltip for the Healing and Mana Draughts available in Alterac Valley that informs the player they are only usable in Alterac Valley.
* Incorrect amounts of abilities such as Attack Power, Increased Fire Damage, or Increased Healing Damage were being applied to all random item property world drops. Two handed weapons such as Staves had much lower amounts of these abilities, while ranged and one handed weapons had too much. All further drops of these items will have the correct amounts, but previously dropped items will not be affected by this change.
* The Shardtooth Meat quest item can no longer be fed to a Hunter pet.
* Blue Dragon Card - This trinket will no longer proc from non-combat abilities.
* Shield Spikes - Shield Spike damage will no longer occur on ranged blocks.
* Halberd of Smiting - This weapon will no longer proc multiple time off one swing.

Professions

* An Alchemy recipe to Transmute Heart of Fire into three Elemental Fires has been added at the Friendly level of the Thorium Brotherhood.
* Epic items that are level 51 and above will now disenchant into a Nexus Crystal. Also items that normally disenchant into Large Brilliant Shards have a very small chance of disenchanting into a Nexus Crystal. New more powerful enchanting recipes that require these Crystals can be found in the new Ahn'Qiraj content.
* Enchanters can now turn some of their dusts and shards into magical oils. These oils when applied to weapons add a temporary bonus to magical damage or mana regeneration that stacks with permanent enchantments. The lower levels of these recipes are found on normal enchanting vendors. The higher level versions are found on special vendors and are rewards for high Zandalar faction.
* The Enchanting Trainer in Cenarion Hold in Silithus sells some of both new types of enchanting formulae.
* Schools of fish have appeared around the world that can be fished from a few times before being fished out. These schools tend to contain valuable fish types such as Oily Blackmouth or Firefin Snapper. In some places, wreckage can be fished from for even better rewards.
* The cooking trainers around the world sell the recipe for Sagefish and Greater Sagefish. These two fish types can be found in schools in inland areas and provide health and mana regeneration as well as additional mana regeneration for 15 minutes after eating.
* Engineers with skill 250 or greater, who have completed Umi Rumplesnicker's 'Are We There Yeti?' quest line, should seek her out again in Everlook.

Quests & Reputation

* The Timbermaw Furbolgs have received a faction revamp!
o The Timbermaw Furbolg faction is now named "Timbermaw Hold."
o Certain named Deadwood and Winterfall Furbolgs are now giving more positive Timbermaw Hold faction when killed.
o Old quests have been revised, and several new quests involving the Timbermaw Furbolgs have been added.
* Reputation caps for killing monsters now happen at the end of a level, rather than in the middle of it. For example: if reputation gains for killing a monster were previously capped at the middle of the range for Friendly on a monster, then they are now capped at the end of Friendly.
* Reputation is now its own category in the chat window; you can change the color of reputation gains and losses as reported in chat without it affecting other miscellaneous information.
* All Alliance versions of the quest "Heeding the Call" now give uniform reputation increases.
* Warlock quests that teach imp summoning now all uniformly award reputation increases for respective racial factions.
* Spells now may have a casting requirement of current reputation with a faction.
* All versions of the quests "A Donation of Wool," "A Donation of Silk," and "A Donation of Mageweave" have had the level of the quest raised so that higher level characters performing them will be able to receive the full reputation gain. The minimum level requirement for the quests have not changed, though the amount of XP gained when completing any of these quests will be different than from before. Mageweave will continue to give more XP than Silk, and Silk more XP than Wool.
* The Alliance version of the quest "Centaur Bounty" now gives Stormwind faction for completion.
* The Horde version of the quest "Centaur Bounty" now gives the same amount of XP as the Alliance version (which means it was increased).
* The quest "Zaeldarr the Outcast" now gives an Argent Dawn reputation increase upon completion.
* A bug with the reputation system has been fixed that was preventing some awards to Horde and Alliance factions from being shared properly amongst all member factions of the team.
* The quest "Ledger from Tanaris" now gives a reputation reward for Gadgetzan upon completion.
* The quest "Supplies for Nethergarde" now has an additional reward of increased Stormwind reputation.
* Fixed typos in both quest versions of "All Along the Watchtower".
* Fixed typos in both quest versions of "Lessons Anew".
* A kobold has been moved away from Piznik so that it won't keep evading in the quest "Gerenzo’s Orders".
* Fixed typos in the quest "Signets of the Zandalar".
* Fixed typos in the quest "Rotten Eggs".
* The cleansed plants of Felwood have been modified:
o There is no longer a gossip option to interact with them; simply right click on the plant to receive your buff or fruits.
o The amount of items you get from plants has been adjusted.
o A corrupted whipper root plant was bugged to require one fewer plant salves than intended to be cleansed; it’s now fixed to require the salves just like the other whipper roots.
* Fixed two bugs where Pratt McGrubben in Feathermoon Stronghold was not offering to re-teach Wild Leather Shoulders and where he was not properly teaching Wild Leather Leggings.
* Fixed typos in both quest versions of "Power over Poison".
* The level of the quest "Piercing the Veil" has been increased from 3 to 4, bringing it in line with similar quests.
* Sayge’s Dark Fortune of Damage buff now only increases damage from a randomly determined range of 1-10%.
* A coin reward has been added to the quest "Worth Its Weight in Gold".
* Vahlarriel in the second part of the quest series "Vahlarriel's Search" now has something to say when returning with the pendant.
* The level for the quest "Parts for Kravel" has been raised to bring it in line with the other quests of the Kravel series.
* You now need fewer Scorpashi Venoms to complete the second quest of the "Reagents for Reclaimers Inc." quest series.
* Baron Revilgaz now should be a little more vociferous.
* Fixed a bug with the Horde Hallow’s End quest "Ruined Kegs" that allowed the Alliance to interact with the keg.
* Hallow’s End Pumpkin Treats should no longer be on the same timer as combat-oriented potions. Really.
* Xabraxxis’ Demon Bag will now last slightly longer in the world once he is killed (3 minutes, up from 2).
* The reward for the quest "An Audience with the King" " Seal of Wrynn - has been improved.
* The reward for the quest "Gnome Improvement" " Talvash’s Gold Ring " has been improved. XP and reputation rewards for the quest have also been increased.
* The reward for the quest "Nogg’s Ring Redo;" "Nogg’s Gold Ring" has been improved. XP and reputation rewards for the quest have also been increased.
* The Horde Quest "Material Assistance" should no longer auto-launch an incorrect (deprecated) quest.
* The quest "Galen's Escape" now gives an additional coin reward upon completion, as well as an increase of reputation amongst the player’s factional team.

Raids & Dungeons

* Noxxion in Maraudon now has the correct immunities.
* Noxxion is now social and will bring friends if pulled past other creatures.
* Abyssal Templars are no longer marked as Humanoid.
* Twilight Stonecallers in Silithus should now aggro properly.
* Gordok Reavers and Warlocks now have a slightly larger radius for detection and "call for help."
* Drop rate of Dark Runes in Scholomance has been reduced.
* The Altar of the Deeps in Blackfathom Deeps will now give players the Blessing of the Deeps.
* The abomination event in Stratholme was been reworked with new technology to insure there are no more premature resets.

User Interface

* The Guild UI has been significantly improved. Now when you click on a guild member, it will open up a side panel with all the information about that member including their note and officer's note.
* There is now a Guild Info panel for each guild. That panel allows a guild to enter long term information and messages about the guild that is too long for the message of the day. The guildmaster can use the guild control panel to determine who has access to change the text in this panel.
* Options have been added that allow raiders to not display their base party UI when the Raid UI is up. Also, you can choose to only display effects on players that you can dispel or ones you can cast. This is all in the interface options pane.
* A "tip of the day" feature has been added to loading screens within the game.
* Under Video Options there is now a slider to control the detail of spell effects. Lower settings can help to improve performance.
* Auction buyers/sellers will now receive a detailed invoice of the transaction.
* The casting bar has been brightened back up, it was appearing darker than intended due to a bug.
* A new option has been added to Interface options, "Sticky Targeting". When this is turned on, you will not deselect your current target when you click on empty space.
* A new interface option, "Detailed Loot Information" has been added that defaults to 'on.' If you turn it off you will only see the roll and Need/Greed option of the player who won the item rather than information for every player.
* Open bags that are in your bank will now have a bluish background to them to allow easy differentiation between inventory bags and bank bags.
* The Friends List and Guild UI will now display when a person is AFK.
* It is now possible to use the dressing room UI to model items that are being rolled for in the Group Lood/Need Before Greed Popup window.
* Add-ons, Macros and Keybindings can now be saved on a per character basis, so you can have different characters load different add-ons/macros/keybindings.
* The Ignore command will now ignore emotes.
* The Interface Options Pane has been split up into a normal panel and an advanced panel.
* In the initial loading screen there will be a tip displayed. This can be turned off from the interface options menu.
* Any time an item is distributed using the "Master Looter" system and the item is quality epic or above there will be a confirmation dialogue to confirm that the item is going to the correct person.
* Key bindings can now be saved either globally or on a per character basis.
* Add-ons can now be saved either globally or on a per character basis.
* In addition to the set of macros shared by all characters, each character gets an additional 18 macros available to them.
* Added the ability to link enchanting recipes in chat.
* Optimized UI event handling in raid situations.
* Optimized UI layout engine to improve loading times.
* The game will no longer accidentally load UI files that are dropped loose into the top level installation directory.
* The EquipCursorItem() script function uses slot numbers consistent with the rest of the inventory functions. Any macros which use this function should be updated by adding one to the slot number used currently.
* New TOC entry for dynamically loadable add-ons: ## LoadWith: Addon1, Addon2, etc. - Indicates that your add-on should be automatically loaded after ANY of the add-ons specified on the LoadWith line are loaded.
* The 8th return value from GetItemInfo() is no longer be localized, instead is one of a number of INVTYPE_* tokens.
* A new 9th return value from GetItemInfo() is the inventory icon for the item.
* debugprofilestop() will now return sub-milisecond (floating point) values.
* Added Texture:GetTexture() which returns the filename (without extension) of the file for the texture.
* Added FontString:SetNonSpaceWrap(true|false)
* Added Frame:GetFrameType() which returns the type of a frame.
* Added Frame:IsFrameType("typeName") which returns true if the frame is of type typeName, or a subtype of typeName.
* New 8-param form of Texture:SetTexCoord(ULx, ULy, LLx, LLy, URx, URy, LRx, LRy)
* Parent frame scales are cumulative instead of overrides.
* Textures and FontStrings now have IsVisible() and IsShown() functions with the same semantics as the frame functions of the same name.
* Added Button:SetFont(), which works like the equivalent FontString function.
* Added ScrollingMessageFrame:SetFont(), which works like the equivalent FontString function.
* Special honor awards show up in the combat log.
* Druids can preview different weapons in the dressing room while in moonkin form.
* The Disgusting Oozeling will share its disgusting aura with you even while you are PvP enabled.
* Emotes show up in the chat log file.
* Combat messages no longer show up in the chat log file.
* Resurrection spells will return pets to life with the appropriate amount of health and mana.
* Talent improvements to buffs will persist across instance boundaries and logging out.

World Environment

* Elven NPCs in Scholomance will now animate properly.
* Players should no longer be able to walk on steep terrain.
* Players should no longer be able to move slowly through some locked doors and gates.
* Nida Winterhoof in Thunder Bluff now sells Flowers for the sensitive Horde player.
* The Short John Mithril's chest in Stranglethorn Arena will now display an effect when it is being opened so its harder to open the chest unnoticed.
* Night Elf food vendors have changed their supplies slightly.
* Chests in Maraudon have been disabled for good.
* In Wetlands, Bluegill Murlocs will now be more plentiful and several other Bluegill camps have been thinned.
* All mount sounds, when standing still and pressing spacebar are now all in place.
* Tauren males now use their off-hand attacks animation.
* The Zeppelin’s propeller from Under City should now animate properly.
* Flight Paths
o New flight paths added between Ironforge and Chillwind Point. Also, between Chillwind Point and Light's Hope Chapel.
o Fixed a problem with the flight paths between The Crossroads in The Barrens and Zoram'gar Outpost in Ashenvale.
o Fixed the flight over Yojamba Isle from Booty Bay in Stranglethorn to Sentinel Hill in Westfall.

Bug Fixes

* Fixed a bug that caused Crimson Templar to be doing much more damage with it's fireball attack than intended.
* Fixed a bug that could cause Guard Slip'kik to move while trapped in ice.
* Fixed a bug that caused Azure Templar, Earthen Templar, and Hoary Templar to be resistant to Fire.
* Fixed a bug that would cause Time Lapse to cause hate reduction even if the target resisted the effect.
* Fixed a bug that allowed pets to be targeted by "Wild Polymorph" during the Nefarian encounter.

[Archaon]

Wait..do you play Warlock?

Yes.

[The Author]

For my first ZG, we downed Snake dude, Bat girl, and Raptor mounted guy before I had to log off. Which means it was a good run, I got some good rep, and some DKPs. No rogue oriented drops, but hey, rogues... like blizz cares about them.

[zircon]

Just wait until Hakkar and the Fang of the Faceless. It's a dagger that's better than several MC daggers. Eye of Hakkar is pretty sweet too (necklace with I think +1% crit and 40 attack power).

[The Author]

Just wait until Hakkar and the Fang of the Faceless. It's a dagger that's better than several MC daggers. Eye of Hakkar is pretty sweet too (necklace with I think +1% crit and 40 attack power).

Sword rogue.

If only the hakkar main hand was 2.7 and not 1.7...

[zircon]

Hum. In that case, I can't think of much you'd find in ZG that's any good for you. Dal'Rends and Cold Forged Blade/Glacial Blade would be the best combos I can think of in terms of pre-MC gear. Once you do get to MC, however, you get that lovely Brutality Blade, and then you can pick up either Perdition's Blade (ragnaros) or Vis'Kag the Bloodletter (Onyxia) and go nuts.

[The Author]

Hum. In that case, I can't think of much you'd find in ZG that's any good for you. Dal'Rends and Cold Forged Blade/Glacial Blade would be the best combos I can think of in terms of pre-MC gear. Once you do get to MC, however, you get that lovely Brutality Blade, and then you can pick up either Perdition's Blade (ragnaros) or Vis'Kag the Bloodletter (Onyxia) and go nuts.

Even items in developpment are crappy for rogues:
http://wow.allakhazam.com/item.html?witem=18582


Ultimate one hander and the stat it buffs the most is intel.


Freaking hunters.

[zircon]

That's a fake item.

[The Author]

That's a fake item.

No. It's actually a level 70 item planed for burning crusade. It's a drop off of illidan. It's somewhere in the item sets on your wow files, if you know where to look, you can find it.



Anyway, whenever I read about good rogue swords, all I hear is "Hunter swords. if I DW them with +15 agility, they will be great."

To which I usually want to reply while screaming: "Just dual wield two letter openers with +15 agility."

[The Author]

Huh. Blizzard sent me an e-mail touting their latest bargain--"Give World of Warcraft as a gift to anyone you like for just $19.99!"--even though I haven't been a paying customer based on account activity for four months. I thought they practiced a more salutary neglect with former customers and focused on the active ones.

That whole promotion is:

Get someone to play and we give you a discount on your next couple of months.

It's a great way to make more cash for them.

[gleipnir binds]

I'm downloading the trial now <_< >_> I've never even played it but seeing screens, watching video, and reading about it already has me hooked... I need a fix

[The Author]

I'm downloading the trial now <_< >_> I've never even played it but seeing screens, watching video, and reading about it already has me hooked... I need a fix

Huzzah, one more is joining the cult.

[zircon]

That's a fake item.

No. It's actually a level 70 item planed for burning crusade. It's a drop off of illidan. It's somewhere in the item sets on your wow files, if you know where to look, you can find it.



Anyway, whenever I read about good rogue swords, all I hear is "Hunter swords. if I DW them with +15 agility, they will be great."

To which I usually want to reply while screaming: "Just dual wield two letter openers with +15 agility."

No.. it's a fake item. Trust me.

[gleipnir binds]

I'm downloading the trial now <_< >_> I've never even played it but seeing screens, watching video, and reading about it already has me hooked... I need a fix

Huzzah, one more is joining the cult.

if i can manage to get a job or get good enough grades to talk my dad into paying for the game and subscription *only 15*

[luminaire23]

Still not sure what I think about the paladins changes. Seems more like nerfs than anything else... Sure, the new Holy Shock is nice, but why is BoK still 31 Ret?
Ugh... What does everyone else think about the "new" Pally. Everyone on the WoW forums is going nuts(in a bad way)

[The Author]

Still not sure what I think about the paladins changes. Seems more like nerfs than anything else... Sure, the new Holy Shock is nice, but why is BoK still 31 Ret?
Ugh... What does everyone else think about the "new" Pally. Everyone on the WoW forums is going nuts(in a bad way)

The official talent preview is not out yet.

[gleipnir binds]

God damn... im downloading the thing for installation and its at 900MB and still going... Ive been waiting for hours. Imagine once I actually get to the installation part. My free ten days are gonna be up by the time
i start the game

[The Author]

God damn... im downloading the thing for installation and its at 900MB and still going... Ive been waiting for hours. Imagine once I actually get to the installation part. My free ten days are gonna be up by the time
i start the game

yeah, it's almost up to 2 gigs of patches.

[gleipnir binds]

God damn... im downloading the thing for installation and its at 900MB and still going... Ive been waiting for hours. Imagine once I actually get to the installation part. My free ten days are gonna be up by the time
i start the game

yeah, it's almost up to 2 gigs of patches.

8O ... ... I'm never gonna get to play this game

[The Author]

God damn... im downloading the thing for installation and its at 900MB and still going... Ive been waiting for hours. Imagine once I actually get to the installation part. My free ten days are gonna be up by the time
i start the game

yeah, it's almost up to 2 gigs of patches.

8O ... ... I'm never gonna get to play this game

The patches are worth it. The game has gained 3 high end dungeons (instances) a ton of new items, abilities, and npcs, 3 battlegrounds, and 1 new area entirely.

Only complaint is that all of this is packed into MPQ files, and that unpacked, it would take about 12 gig...


I would love to have a good enough computer to actually play it with everything unpacked.

[gleipnir binds]

The patches are worth it. The game has gained 3 high end dungeons (instances) a ton of new items, abilities, and npcs, 3 battlegrounds, and 1 new area entirely.

Only complaint is that all of this is packed into MPQ files, and that unpacked, it would take about 12 gig...


I would love to have a good enough computer to actually play it with everything unpacked.

well I'm not really gonna get that far in 10 days so I'll skip the patches... if I can

[The Author]

The patches are worth it. The game has gained 3 high end dungeons (instances) a ton of new items, abilities, and npcs, 3 battlegrounds, and 1 new area entirely.

Only complaint is that all of this is packed into MPQ files, and that unpacked, it would take about 12 gig...


I would love to have a good enough computer to actually play it with everything unpacked.

well I'm not really gonna get that far in 10 days so I'll skip the patches... if I can

Nope.

[luminaire23]

Still not sure what I think about the paladins changes. Seems more like nerfs than anything else... Sure, the new Holy Shock is nice, but why is BoK still 31 Ret?
Ugh... What does everyone else think about the "new" Pally. Everyone on the WoW forums is going nuts(in a bad way)

The official talent preview is not out yet.

No, but the test realms are. You can't copy characters yet, but you can still see the new talents if you level to 10 on a pally. Things rarely change much between test realm and the patch(at least with druids, anyway). The new talents seem more like a joke than anything else.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.aspx?fn=wow-paladin&pageno=1

[zircon]

The "new" Paladins are no worse than the old ones, which were very powerful already. The only reason you'd complain about them is if you try to play them like a Warrior. They are combat healers in PvP, and, if you have BWL-level gear, can pump out fairly nice damage as a bonus. But they're at not Warriors first, Priests second.

[gleipnir binds]

I downloaded it... and completed registration... almost --_-- the stupid thing needs a credit card to verify age or something so I have to wait till my dad gets up in the morning... FUX >_<

[ILLiterate]

Yay, started my first real character. Undead Mage, at 10 right now, I found a guy who knows all the quest so I'm blowing through them not to mention i'm about to get in my friends group and i'll fill the missing class so we will pwnt

God the horde is alot more fun than the alliance

[suzumebachi]

yeah i tried playing an alliance alt... i just can't get into the whole ally groove. everyone seems friendly as hell at first, until you actually need help with something, then it's like you don't exist. plus they get off on ganking low levels, and bitch bitch bitch bitch when the same thing happens to them.

[gleipnir binds]

iu want a tauren shaman once I start... had that picked out for months

[The Author]

Still not sure what I think about the paladins changes. Seems more like nerfs than anything else... Sure, the new Holy Shock is nice, but why is BoK still 31 Ret?
Ugh... What does everyone else think about the "new" Pally. Everyone on the WoW forums is going nuts(in a bad way)

They need it. Paladins never seem to realize how overpowered they are, and Blizzard has just been giving them buffs 'til now. They're like warriors, with healing abilities that outdo any priest. If one level 60 Paladin can take on a level 56 hunter, a level 45 mage, a 43 druid, and a level 30 warrior all at the same time (trust me, I've seen this happen multiple times with slightly varying numbers), you definitely know you need a bit of fixing there.

'Sides, it's not just Paladins getting nerfs. Every class has been getting them lately... it's part of Blizzard's "balancing" campaign (though they did buff the hell out of hunters and druids in the process).

Play a pally. A green mob can take up to one minute to kill...

[zircon]

How powerful your class is has nothing to do with how fast you kill a mob. Shamans actually take a very long time to kill mobs as well, unless they blow most of their mana bar. The power of Paladins is their defense and healing abilities.

[weggy]

Its not entirely based on DPS, however that is a big (read half) of a class's power.

Shamans and pallys are both overpowered by a slight amount. I'm not saying this as some newb whos been killed by one and shouted "OMG NERF!", ive played both classes quite extensively.

There is a rock to every scissor. And your class might not even have it. But its all balanced.

[zircon]

I disagree that DPS is a big part of a class' power. I would also say that Shamans are not particularly overpowered. They are balanced, as Blizzard says. They lack significant defensive abilities, and they are highly mana-inefficient. In PVE, their totems are generally inferior to Paladin blessings (particularly the aggro one). In PVP, they can pull off relatively good burst damage, but their totems can be easily killed with a 1.3s wand shot from a single caster, reducing their usefulness somewhat. They ARE fairly good in Warsong Gulch but Paladins have their strengths there as well - and they REALLY dominate Arathi Basin.

[Juicebox Dragon]

Wait..do you play Warlock?

Yes.


What level are you and what area are you in?

I can give you some basic strategies, though.
- Use your Damage Over Times. Shadow Bolt is nice, but pile on the DoTs as well.
- Kill "Beast" type monsters. Most types of this mob won't pull more back to you when you fear them, and if you've taken up skinning, you can skin them and sell their parts in the Auction House.
- Put your first five talent points into the talent that reduces the cast time of that one DoT (You'll know what I mean when you see it).
- At level 10 you'll get a Voidwalker pet. This will act as your tank and make leveling a million times easier.
- When you get to (roughly) level 13 or 14, head to westfall and grind there. It's very wide-open, and you won't have a problem if you need to fear a mob.
- Check back with your trainer every two levels, use Soul Drain when monsters are near-dead, and stock up on Soulshards. You can use those to make Health Stones, which act as Healing Potions.

That's all I can help you with -- I never got my Warlock past level 14, so I don't know if you will find any of this useful. Good luck, though. Warlocks are severly overpowered once you get Death Coil.

[The Author]

AQ loot is being linked more and more:

http://mammae.org/images/1.9/1.9Loot_page1.jpg

change the pages to look around.

[zircon]

Wow. Talk about unbelievably good loot for casters..

[ellywu2]

Yeah. Also, new ranks of skills and spells drop in AQ. Which is a big slap in the tits to PvPers/non-raid orientated players.

[The Author]

Kinda primed about that 58dps swords...

And that mace for druids on page 7 is abusively good.

[zircon]

Looking at some of this shit, Blizzard is out of their minds. A 2h axe that has a 3 second Blind proc, ridiculous stats and 86+ DPS? This is better than Sulfuras and the rank 14 pvp weapons combined. 66.6 DPS dagger with massive attack power, AND stamina, AND +skill to daggers? A priest set that destroys even Warlord's gear in terms of pvp? What the fuck are they doing?

[The Author]

Looking at some of this shit, Blizzard is out of their minds. A 2h axe that has a 3 second Blind proc, ridiculous stats and 86+ DPS? This is better than Sulfuras and the rank 14 pvp weapons combined. 66.6 DPS dagger with massive attack power, AND stamina, AND +skill to daggers? A priest set that destroys even Warlord's gear in terms of pvp? What the fuck are they doing?

Backstab rank 9 before a new SS rank...

[ellywu2]

i kind of agree. On the one hand, i'm glad that caster itemization is finally coming in. On the other one..JESUS stop making stupidly high DPS weapons. Its bad enough that warriors are running around two-shotting clothies at the moment, god forbid what happens when they get hold of some of this stuff.

[zircon]

The fact that they made stuff better than Rank12-14 pvp gear (and Rank12-14 takes hundreds to thousands of hours to get to of VERY INTENSE PLAYING) is a massive blunder. Also, now there is really no incentive to do BWL, where the loot is barely better than MC, which is vastly easier.

[ellywu2]

Yup exactly. Its forcing a playstyle on people plain and simple. One small blessing is that being on a european server means it will be months before people get to AQ. On my server nef hasn't even been attempted.

[Russell Cox]

The fact that they made stuff better than Rank12-14 pvp gear (and Rank12-14 takes hundreds to thousands of hours to get to of VERY INTENSE PLAYING) is a massive blunder. Also, now there is really no incentive to do BWL, where the loot is barely better than MC, which is vastly easier.

Four months from now, put up a new PvP rank with matched rewards. Problem solved.

People want their gear to last forever and it's not going to happen. Rank 14 crap's been out since Battlegrounds first came in, so the gear itself has had nearly 6 months to sit at "supreme" at the top of a lot of people's lists. I'm surprised nothing's knocked it down already, and with Ahn'Qiraj loot it's about time.

Also, notice the Druid mace on that list of weapons. Nice fuckup on their part; needs to be 2 handed. Ironically, MC = BWL loot, ZG epics > BWL epics, and AQ > * -- the ZG part's kinda fubared. The fact that Blackwing Lair's loot is on par with Molten Core actually makes sense. Both are set designs that boost different attributes in your role; Nightslayer's about improving your raw stats and buffing Vanish whereas Bloodfang is about improving your crit percentage and chance to hit (where later bosses in BWL get up to level 66, that *IS* a big deal) -- Cenarian is built around a balance of mana regen and +healing and making your group spells better, while Stormrage is designed for solo play and stats are all focused on raw +healing. Molten Core has the better neck and ring items, BWL has better wands, trinkets, and weapons (for the most part).

Grats on Ragnaros finally zircon :) (Sorry I didn't say so earlier; we moved into a new house and I developed pneumonia, hooray!) It's pretty sweet when you get that fight that just clicks and everyone's on a high. One thing I've noticed is that you either win with most everyone alive or you wipe -- due to the nature of all the PvE encounters usually trying to salvage a situation is pointless most of the time.

(and I was conked out on medicine when I posted under you on Bloodlord strats -- you said 30 yards so I guess you meant be near the entrance; a berserker spawns in the little 'village' part when you engage Bloodlord and wanders nearby, so I don't usually reccommend people standing there).

[zircon]

The problem is that it is so ridiculously hard to get to rank 14 that only a handful of players typically do on any given server. You have to play for at LEAST 8 hours a day, every day, for weeks to months at a time to even have a shot at it. I've heard of people skipping school and taking vacation days from work just to get closer. To suddenly introduce some PVE content that is (apparently) not THAT difficult that easily beats out their hard work is bs. The PVP gear all needs to be scaled better. The nature of the PVP gear is that it is absolutely the best, or very close to it, for PVP. And with AQ, it's not even going to be close to the best. That's ridiculous.

[The Author]

The problem is that it is so ridiculously hard to get to rank 14 that only a handful of players typically do on any given server. You have to play for at LEAST 8 hours a day, every day, for weeks to months at a time to even have a shot at it. I've heard of people skipping school and taking vacation days from work just to get closer. To suddenly introduce some PVE content that is (apparently) not THAT difficult that easily beats out their hard work is bs. The PVP gear all needs to be scaled better. The nature of the PVP gear is that it is absolutely the best, or very close to it, for PVP. And with AQ, it's not even going to be close to the best. That's ridiculous.

Most of that content was found by sifting through databases.

Also test realms are usually populated with hardcore gamers who probably have been farming BWL for a while and want to see the next challenge.

The elite of all servers grouped into one spot, all wanting to complete the instance to have a strong strategy wor when it becomes live.

I think that's why they went through it real fast.

[Wizards Bane]

I played Guild Wars mostly through all the betas and events and was hooked for the time being.

Yes, someone else who plays the game of the gods.

[Russell Cox]

The problem is that it is so ridiculously hard to get to rank 14 that only a handful of players typically do on any given server. You have to play for at LEAST 8 hours a day, every day, for weeks to months at a time to even have a shot at it. I've heard of people skipping school and taking vacation days from work just to get closer. To suddenly introduce some PVE content that is (apparently) not THAT difficult that easily beats out their hard work is bs. The PVP gear all needs to be scaled better. The nature of the PVP gear is that it is absolutely the best, or very close to it, for PVP. And with AQ, it's not even going to be close to the best. That's ridiculous.

The 20 man AQ is on par with ZG, the 40 man starts off as hard as BWL and eventually gets as hard as Nefarian fights halfway through, with the final boss being 'twice as hard as Nefarian'. I seriously doubt it's as easy as you're thinking. Hardly anyone calls BWL 'easy' even though the first two fights are as hard as Ragnaros/Majordomo.

Uh, and where did Blizzard state that PvP gear is supposed to be 'the best' for PvP? They never did. They DID, however, release a statement that it's not a replacement for high endgame raid content gear -- it's an alternative, nothing more. It's fine. Not everyone's going to get into a guild that kills Ragnaros, Emerald Dragons, Nefarian, and other raid content, but everyone CAN PvP solo.

It's why they're moving away from the drop system for set pieces in the future and instead doing them via quests for people that don't have stable guilds and don't want to leave them -- to prevent item rotting and for casual players; Nexus Crystals are one part, the token system for sets is the other. One part you have to be in the instance for, the rest are able to be bought on the AH if you can't find a PUG (dunno about your server, there's usually 1 ZG PUG a week, at least).