World of Warcraft

[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
Night Dragon's Breaths
Windblossom Berries
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 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 and 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

[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!

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*.