December 9, 2009

Frozen Halls 5-man dungeon attunement walkthrough

The new 5-man dungeon complex in patch 3.3, The Frozen Halls, has three instances:

The Forge of Souls

Pit of Saron

Halls of Reflection

The Pit of Saron and the Halls of Reflection require attunement. In this walkthrough we'll guide you along each quest you need to do in order to be attuned properly.

Please note that this information is based off the PTR version of patch 3.3. Things may have changed slightly since its live release. We'll update the post as necessary.

Alliance / Horde Difference

The objectives and rewards for the Alliance and Horde quest chains are exactly the same. The only difference is that Horde players talk to Sylvanas Windrunner. You can read both versions of the guide:

Alliance Walkthrough
http://www.wow.com/2009/12/08/frozen-halls-5-man-dungeon-attunement-walkthrough/#alliance

Horde Walkthrough
http://www.wow.com/2009/12/08/frozen-halls-5-man-dungeon-attunement-walkthrough/#horde

Alliance Walkthrough

Step 1: Get the quest "Inside the Frozen Citadel"

This quest begins the attunement quest chain. You can obtain this quest by talking to Apprentice Nelphi who walks around Dalaran, frequently making stops at the various banks. This quest is technically optional; it's just a breadcrumb quest to lead you to the dungeons. But, it counts towards various quest totals, so you might as well do it.

Step 2: Go and talk to Jaina Proudmoore in the Forge of Souls

Jaina is right inside the Forge of Souls. Talk with her, and you'll get the next quest "Echoes of Tortured Souls."

Step 3: Clear The Forge of Souls

In particular, you'll need to kill both Bronjahm and the Devourer of Souls.

Step 4: Turn the quest into Jaina, get the next one.

Jaina and friends should appear and open up a portal to the Pit of Saron. Complete the quest and grab the next one in the line, aptly called "The Pit of Saron."

After you turn in "Echoes of Tortured Souls" you are attuned to the Pit of Saron.

Step 5: Go into the Pit of Saron

Enter the portal (or enter the instance later on) and talk to Jaina to turn in the quest. She'll then give you the next quest in the chain "The Path to the Citadel."

Step 6: Free 15 Alliance Slaves, clear the Pit of Saron.

As you clear the quarry in the Pit of Saron you'll come across lots of bad guys with slaves attached to them. Just kill the bad guys, and the slaves will be freed. You'll also need to kill Forgemaster Garfrost, who is the first boss in the Pit of Saron.

Step 7: Talk to Jaina

After you defeat Ick and Krick you'll see Jaina nearby ready to talk to you again. Turn the quest in, she'll now give you the quest "Deliverance from the Pit" where you have to go and kill the final boss of the Pit of Saron, Scourgelord Tyrannus.

Step 8: Kill Tyrannus

Clear the rest of the instance and kill Tyrannus. Once he's dead you can turn the quest into Jaina and get the next quest in the chain called "Frostmourne."

After you turn in "Deliverance from the Pit" you are now attuned to the Halls of Reflection.

Step 9: Meet Jaina in the Halls of Reflection

Even though you're attuned to all the instances, you'll want to finish up the quest chain, since it gives a couple Emblems of Frost. Enter through the gate to the Halls of Reflection (or go into the instance via whatever means you go), and talk to Jaina again. Start the event.

Step 10: Defeat Marwyn

The Halls of Reflection event requires you to defeat several waves of trash, and the bosses Falric and Marwyn. Once you've defeated Marywn you'll automatically be given the one time quest "Wrath of the Lich King."

Step 11: Talk to Jaina, escape the Lich King

Go up and talk to Jaina and escape the Lich King. This requires you to complete the rest of the Halls of Reflection instance.

Turn in the quest to Jaina when you're done, and that's all she wrote.

Again, please remember that this article is based off the PTR versions of the quests. Things could change a little bit between the testing version and the live version.

December 8, 2009

WoW Patch 3.3 goes live Tuesday

We've gotten confirmation from our sources that patch 3.3 is set to go live tomorrow. We should be seeing the downloader get the rest of the files after the downtime begins (which hasn't been announced yet). There are no new patch notes just yet, however those should be coming shortly.

We have been working hard today on our patch 3.3 information, and will have a lot of great content for you throughout the day tomorrow. You can check out everything you need to know, and then some, in our Guide to Patch 3.3.

Hang tight! Should be a fun day tomorrow!

Additional resources that you're probably immediately interested in:

Latest Patch 3.3 PTR Patch Notes
http://www.wow.com/patch-notes/patch-3-3/

Tier 10 armor set gallery
http://www.wow.com/2009/11/09/tier-10-armor-set-gallery/

Class changes
http://www.wow.com/guide-to-patch-3-3#classchanges

Latest news
http://www.wow.com/guide-to-patch-3-3#latestnews

WOW Kalu'ak Fishing Derby details

Blizzard has just released the details of the Kalu'ak Fishing Derby that's coming with patch 3.3. The full announcement after the break.

Some of the major points of the announcement:
The derby happens at 8:00pm Server Time every Wednesday.
You have to be the first person to catch the Blacktip Shark and turn it in to win the Derby.
The quest giver, Elder Clearwater, is located in Dalaran.
Two item rewards (detailed after the break). One is a BoA +5% XP ring, and one is a BoP pair of boots that teleport you to Booty Bay.
Winning the Derby increases Kalu'ak rep by 5000.

The full details after the break.

From Slorkuz:

Coming in patch 3.3.0, the esteemed Tuskarr of the Kalu'ak are proud to introduce to Northrend the Kalu'ak Fishing Derby, a test of fishing skill with a healthy dash of luck! Every Wednesday beginning at 8 PM players can try to catch the elusive Blacktip Shark. Elder Clearwater sits in Dalaran for one hour awaiting the return of the quickest, most experienced fisher to bring him the first catch of the night. This champion fisher will be rewarded in-kind for his or her fishing expertise. Those who aren't able to return with the first catch will still receive just reward for getting the Blacktip Shark to Elder Clearwater before he takes his leave.

It is said that these sharks' favorite meal are the bite-sized Pygmy Suckerfish. Perhaps a hook in their waters will do the trick. Because of the increased concentration of fish, you have an increased chance to catch a shark from fishing pools. Don't forget, in patch 3.3.0 you never catch trash from fishing pools, regardless of skill.

The derby winner will receive a substantial chunk of experience (or money at maximum level) and gain 5000 reputation with the Kalu'ak. In addition, the champion will be given a choice between two unique rewards:

Dread Pirate Ring
Binds on Account
Unique-Equipped
Finger
+34 Stamina
Requires level 1 to 80 (80)
Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 53.
Equip: Improves hit rating by 29.
Equip: Experience gained from killing monsters and completing quests increased by 5%.

Boots of the Bay
Binds When Picked Up
Feet
Requires Fishing (200)
Equip: Increased Fishing +15.
Use: Whisks you away to the finest drinking establishment in Booty Bay. (1 Day Cooldown)

To keep it interesting, the Achievement "Master Angler of Stranglethorn" has been changed to "Master Angler of Azeroth." This can be earned by winning either the Kalu'ak Fishing Derby or the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza.

Please bear in mind this feature will be undergoing testing on our Public Test Realms and is subject to change prior to the release of patch 3.3.0.

Official Patch 3.3 confirmation and patch notes [Updated]

Confirming our earlier post, Blizzard poster Zarhym has just announced the release of Patch 3.3: Fall of the Lich King today on the official WoW forums. The complete patch notes are available here on WoW.com or on Blizzard's patch notes page.

There are still several hours to go until the patch goes live, so until then, check out our Patch 3.3 resources:

Guide to Patch 3.3
http://www.wow.com/guide-to-patch-3-3

Patch 3.3 patch notes
http://www.wow.com/patch-notes/patch-3-3/

By the way, commenters -- this is official! You owe us 10g. You know who you are. We'll be watching our mail!

Update: We will be seeing the trailer tomorrow (not tonight).
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=21627634661&sid=1&pageNo=4#74

November 28, 2009

WOW Free 7 days of game time for select unsubscribed players

Blizzard is offering, via email, select inactive accounts the chance to return to the game with free seven days worth of game time. These emails are what appears to be a special unannounced promotion for those that have left Azeroth, coinciding with the five year anniversary of WoW.

We can confirm these emails are legitimate, the links and headers all point back to blizzard.com servers. And indeed a blue over in the Customer Service forums has more or less confirmed that it's legit.

These kinds of promotions are not all that uncommon in the MMO world. Several companies that have MMOs of varying degrees of success have offered them in the past -- they're a nice way to get some old players back and make them feel like part of the community again.

We want to be sure we're clear: it appears these emails are not going to all unsubscribed accounts. If you have an unsubscribed account, don't count on getting one; right now it looks like it's just random chance whether or not you'll get some free game time.

Thanks to AishaLove for the help!

FigurePets mark WoW's 5th Birthday Spyro style

I love FigurePrints and this has been widely documented. I stare at my FigurePrint of Turpster a hundred times a day. A model? Not just a model, but a FigurePrint. Handmade in Italy, they carve it out of illegal whalebone. They only make eleven of them a year. This one cost me $12,000 or 30 million liras. Perfectly balanced, low drag, minimal torque. (Please note: FigurePrints aren't constructed from illegal whalebone, nor do they cost $12,000 (only $129.95/€99.95) but Turpster's been watching far too many Will Farrell films lately.) No exaggeration, I could not love a human baby as much as I love my miniature real life version of my favorite fantasy Warcraft character.

The folks over at FigurePrints and FigurePets are introducing some great new products and features to coincide with WoW's 5th Anniversary. You'll find all of the new features now available on their site after the break.

They include:

An Onyxian Whelpling FigurePet. This cute little guy matches the in-game pet Blizzard is introducing and will be available on the FigurePets website through the end of the year.


A Slain Onyxia Base. Now your character can be posed next to the head of the slain Onxyia! This base caries a small additional charge ($9.95, €7,99).

Along with the anniversary items FigurePrints/Pets also are introducing a few things to get ready for the holidays:


"Gift Certificates! This is something we've had a lot of requests for from customers. Now you can give a FigurePrints gift certificate for the holidays in any amount from $5 to $500 (or €5 to €500 for us Europeans)."


Holiday Armor Sets! What better way to celebrate the holidays than by posing your naughty night elf in Winter Garb? Red and green are both available.


So if you are stuck for what gift to get the WoW fan who has it all this upcoming holiday season I can personally recommend a FigurePrint, and the gift certificate means that they can have their FigurePrint just how they want it.

WoW Rookie: Recruit-a-Friend

New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW's newest players to the basics of a good start in the World of Warcraft. Visit WoW.com's WoW Rookie Guide for links to all our tips, tricks and how-to's.

Your evil plan has come to fruition: your significant other, best buddy, school pal or co-worker has finally confessed an interest in playing World of Warcraft. Send your buddy a Recruit-A-Friend invitation, and let the bodies hit the floor. You're about to cut a mean swath through Azeroth while enjoying some sweet side benefits:

300% XP bonus for both you and your recruit (when grouped)

10% reputation bonus for you and your recruit

The ability to summon one another to each other's locations across the world

30 levels of "free" XP from your recruit, granted to any of your lower-level veteran characters

A free month of game time for every recruit who upgrades to a retail account

The ever-so-sweet, exclusive Zhevra mount for one of your characters, once your recruit pays for 60 days' worth of game time



Recruit-A-Friend bonuses have been woven into all sorts of mad leveling schemes (which you'll undoubtedly hear tell of in the comments). At its foundation, RAF is designed to get you teamed up and moving forward with a buddy who's new to the game. Because you already know the ropes, Blizzard gives you XP and rep bonuses to allow you to zip through the early levels faster. That may sound as if it's aimed squarely at long-time players, but we think RAF's a great way for new players to enjoy WoW, too. Not only do you get a boost through the early levels, but you get a regular partner throughout the more sparsely populated territories of Azeroth.

If you're wondering if RAF is right for you, consider these points:

In order to gain triple XP, you need to be grouped with your recruit and within 100 yards of one another.

Low-level quests and grey mobs or quests are not eligible for triple XP.

For bonus quest XP, both party members must be present for all kills and at quest completion.

Holiday events are eligible for RAF XP bonuses.

Players who level this quickly will definitely outstrip their crafting and gathering skills, weapon skills and the ability to earn enough money to train new spells and abilities. As the veteran player, be ready to help fund the cause! Plan to catch up on weapon and profession skills, cash flow and gear once you've hit 60.

Your recruit can give one of your veteran characters some 30 "granted" levels up to level 60. Recruits earn one "gift" level to give for every two levels they earn.

Recruit-A-Friend "links" (the period of time that you and your recruit gain bonuses and other benefits) last for 90 days.

RAF benefits are effective only until level 60.

XP bonuses from heirloom items do stack with RAF bonuses; rested XP and other XP bonuses do not.

There are enough rules, regulations and loopholes to the Recruit-A-Friend program that we won't go into all the arcane details here. Visit Blizzard's Recruit-A-Friend FAQ and the Recruit-A-Friend page for the entire scoop.

http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?locale=en_US&articleId=26269

World of Warcraft and Battle Chest on sale for Black Friday

Yes indeed, this Friday is none other than Black Friday, which means the deals will be aplenty, the crowds will be horrendous, and the holiday money drain will begin (of course, you could go with Buy Nothing Day, but that seems a little too grinchy to me -- why not go ahead and buy while the buying's good?). Fortunately, there are a few WoW deals floating around out there, in case you need to pick up a copy of the game for a loved one (or that Recruit-a-friend account you've been planning to make).

The regular WoW vanilla game (useful for leveling to 60, but if you want to go past that, you'll have to buy the expansions) is on sale in a few places for super cheap -- the Ladies of Leet saw it at Best Buy for just five bucks, and Gamestop's matching that price. Gamestop also will have the Battle Chest (with WoW and BC and a few other goodies) for $19.99, and Newegg has the same price if you don't want to fight the crowds. Unfortunately, there's no sign of Wrath on sale -- you'll still have to pony up the $40 if that's the one you want. But stay tuned in the comments -- if readers can find better prices on this stuff, we're sure you'll see them below. Good luck out there, happy deal finding.

Encrypted Text: Notes from the Patch 3.3 PTR

If you've logged into WoW at any point in the past few days, chances are you've been a target of the infamous Turkey Shooter. Someone on the Blizzard World Event team decided to put us in the crosshairs during this Pilgrim's Bounty holiday season, via the Turkey Lurkey achievement. Orc and dwarf rogues are especially vulnerable, as your rarity will have people spamming trade chat with shouts of "I found one near the North Dalaran bank!"

Outside of this Thanksgiving-themed festival, there have been a ton of changes for rogues in other aspects of the game. The patch 3.3 PTR has been buzzing with new changes, affecting us from levels 1 to 80. Considering it's likely to be the last major content patch before Arthas goes down, this is Blizzard's last real attempt to finalize any balancing issues before they're pushed to Catacylsm. I believe that with a few tweaks, rogues can be more versatile than we ever have before.

Low level changes:

Those of you who have been considering starting a new rogue, I would caution you to wait until patch 3.3 if you really want to streamline the process. Blizzard is making the leveling period of 1-10 much, much easier, and they're starting rogues out with weapons in both hands right out of the gate: a dual-wielding death dealer. In addition, Stealth is being reduced to a single rank (in prep for Cataclysm) which reduces your speed while Stealthed to 70% of normal. Chalk up a 20% boost to Stealthed speed and greatly improved damage and health regeneration, all starting at level 1, and it's clear that the devs goal is to make starting a new rogue as accessible as possible. For more tips on leveling your rogue, check out Encrypted Text's guide to rogue leveling.

Preparation is also seeing a tweak, with its CD being lowered from 10 minutes to 8 minutes. This is due to the new Arena policy of "no 10 minute cooldowns", and Cataclysm's removal of all of the 'long CDs' from each class. They adjusted Filthy Tricks accordingly (from a 5 minute reduction to a 3 minute reduction), as 3 minute Preparations would be slightly overpowered.

Deadly Poison's dirty little secret:

Deadly Poison is the only pure stacking DoT in World of Warcraft, at least at the moment. While there are a few stacking DoTs, like a druid's Lacerate, Deadly Poison is the only one that doesn't include some sort of base effect outside of the DoT. If you Lacerate when you already have a 5 stack on your target, they take some amount of damage instantly, in addition to refreshing the effect. If you proc Deadly Poison when you're already at 5 stacks? Nothing but a stack refresh and a nice pat on the back for being a good rogue and remembering to use the right poisons.

In order for Deadly Poison's effect to be truly maximized, you don't want to 'waste' poison procs constantly refreshing it. Imagine if you could turn those extra Deadly Poison procs, when there's plenty of time left on your DP stack, into some sort of instant damage. Now you're gaining a ton of extra poison DPS, because you're essentially weaving those instant poison procs in with occasional DP procs to keep the stack maintained. There are so many wasted DP procs, especially now that Mutilate's favorite finisher, Envenom, doesn't consume the stack anymore. So why are we wasting so many poison procs for absolutely no gain?

In comes Adrine, addon author extraordinaire, with a shiny new mod: PoisonSwapper. A simple mod designed to automatically switch your offhand weapon (and therefor, poison) while in combat. It can detect your poison stack and the time remaining on it, and swap to a secondary offhand with Wound or Instant Poison on it when your DP stack is safely ticking away. Due to Blizzard not restricting the automatic swapping of items in combat, the entire addon is scripted and doesn't require any input on your end. If your DP stack is at 5 with plenty of time left, your backup OH swaps in and starts procing Instant or Wound Poison for you. Once the stack gets low, it swaps back until you get a Deadly Poison refresh, and then the process repeats itself.

The addon took the forums and community by storm, and with claims of triple-digit DPS gains, there was no reason NOT to be using the mod. It was advertised as "free DPS" and it truly was, but it also raised a concern that there was now a 'required' addon involved with playing a rogue in PvE. The issue is not with the addon itself, but with DP's poor scaling when the rogue is at the poison hit cap with growing haste values. Adrine found a way around that limitation, and it opened Blizzard's eyes to the problem underneath.

Mutilate had already seen a significant buff via a Murder change to make it affect all targets. Murder was often the 4% margin of difference between Combat and Mutilate on many fights, and setting it to 4% against all targets pushed Mutilate into a truly solid raiding build for any environment. This latest change that Blizzard implemented to fix the Deadly Poison problem showed up like a Christmas present on December 26th for Assassination rogues everywhere.

The fix for Deadly Poison:

Let's start off with adding 10% to Deadly Poison's proc rate by doubling the effect of Improved Poisons (from 10% to 20%). Alone, this change would be a slap in the face to those who complained about DP's broken state, as MORE waste procs would only compound the problem. The game-changer for DP comes from the second change, to Deadly Poison's base tooltip:

Deadly Poison: In addition to its existing effects, when a rogue applies Deadly Poison to a target which has already reached the maximum number of applications, this will also trigger the poison which the rogue is using on his or her other weapon.

In other words, if you have a 5-stack of Deadly Poison on your target, and Deadly Poison procs again, it actually procs the poison on your other hand instead. Assuming that you'd be using the PoisonSwapper mod to swap to the same poison as your main hand (since there is only one 'best' instant-type poison for each spec), this performs essentially the same function without the addon. You don't have to run an addon for it to work, you don't lose a GCD when the addon makes the swap, and Deadly Poison stacks faster in all situations.

Previously, a Mutilate rogue could count on Instant Poison having around a 40% proc rate on their main hand, and a constant 5 stack of Deadly Poison on their 1.4 speed offhands. Now that Improved Poisons will bring Deadly Poison's proc rate up to 50% (DP is not a PPM poison!), that means that your offhand weapon will be proc'ing your Main Hand's Instant Poison at a 50% chance every 1.4 seconds, meaning that your offhand will be doing more poison damage than both of your hands combined used to do. Unless Blizzard changes DP to be a PPM before then, Mutilate will demand the quickest OH possible in every situation and will blow every other DPS spec out of the water.

Conclusion:

With Mutilate's poison damage spiking and Murder's new species agnosticism, Assassination has been absolutely destroying every other spec, build, and class on the PTR. Either Deadly Poison needs to be switched to PPM, or the MH poison proc it causes needs to be at half damage, or some other nerf to bring Mutilate back into the realm of every other class. Once properly tuned, Mutilate and Combat will be able to truly compete on any fight, regardless of mob type. The more that different rogue specs compete, the stronger and more balanced we will become as a class.

WoW Raid Rx: Maximizing the proc

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned the idea of using spells based around procs or on-use trinkets. Now I don't know about you, but I sometimes tend to forget that I have these on-use abilities. Other times I never notice procs going off.

But first, what is a proc anyway?

A proc is short for procedure. They are events that happen when conditions are triggered. For example, Val'anyr will trigger a buff for the user when they heal players. This buff then grants the player to place shields on anyone they heal.



Chance on use procs

These ones are a bit trickier to base spells around of. They're random and the effects will only kick in after you meet a condition (heal a player, damage a target, etc). Something like Solace of the Defeated will kick in every time. All a healer needs to do is continue casting, and the mp5 buff will always be up. However, if the healer stops casting for a prolonged period of time, the buff falls off and they'll have to develop their stack again.

In contrast, you have the chance trinkets. A good example is Pandora's Plea (which has eluded me in 5 months of Ulduar farming). Your spells have a chance to increase spellpower by 751 for 10 seconds. It's good for any DPS or healer. I seem to have this problem where my trinkets will activate after a boss dies or during moments when I'm busy running around trying to survive. However, in the off chance that I'm in a good position where I'm not distracted, this is where you'll want to pop your strongest heals to take advantage of it.

Raid take a whole bunch of damage? If Pandora's Plea goes off, start dumping obscene amounts of Prayer of Healing or some other raid wide heal (Tranquility? Chain Heal? Glyphed Holy Light spam?). That's 10 seconds where your spells gain a massive bonus to healing. Take advantage of the situation.

If you're forgetful like me, there's a few addons out there that'll flash stuff on your screen to help remind you when they're active. Power Auras Classic is the standard that many players like to use in order to track what buffs happen to be up. I personally found it a bit too complicated for my taste, so I relied on something simpler like Surgetrack. It's the same idea where it'll show the icon of the proc in the middle of your screen when it's up and a timer that shows when it's going to run out.

Activated procs

Now activated procs are a different story. You get to control when these benefits occur. Talisman of Resurgence is a trinket that's accessible to any healer. Use it and gain 599 spellpower for 20 seconds. Spellpower boosting trinkets for healers should be saved when things get hectic in fights or when spike healing is required. An example of this would be say if Incinerate Flesh is active on a player and it needs to be removed at once. Activate the spellpower boost and unload your largest heals. When these trinkets should be used is largely situational and up to the player to decide.

A common question I hear players ask themselves (especially in the heat of battle) is should I save the activation of a trinket for later when I need it or use it now?

Here's a great guideline to follow when deciding trinket use that has served me well over the years.

If you have to ask yourself if this is a good time to use a trinket, it probably is.

Don't kick yourself in the butt later when you reflect and think that you could've prevented that wipe if you had that slight extra boost. It's happened to me too many times to count.

One more thing I want to add is in regards to mana regeneration trinkets. This typically applies to Druids and Priests as they're less reliant on mp5. If you're in possession of a trinket that adds a lot of Spirit like Spirit-world Glass, it's best to use it when you're not doing anything. Let the Spirit regeneration take effect without interfering.

Anything that provides stacking mp5 buffs such as Meteorite Crystal is better off used as often as possible. Mana per 5 regeneration is a constant no matter what you're doing. Use it early and every chance it's available.

Again, I'm suffering from not remembering to use these trinkets. There's two strategies behind trinket use and I'll let you in on a few tips to use these at key moments.

If you prefer manual activation, I suggest making a bar that contains your trinkets on them. Make the bar larger than your usual ones and place it somewhere prominent (perhaps in the middle of the screen but off to the side). There should be 1 or 2 icons there tops. I like to add a bit of transparency to them but that's just aesthetics.

If you prefer automatic activation, create a macro that combines your class cooldown spells with trinket use. They usually last the same amount of time (although most trinkets are 2 minute cooldowns and some classes have 3 minute cooldowns).

As an example, you could macro Talisman of Resurgence and Inner Focus together. Something like this:

/use 13
/cast Inner Focus

13 refers to the item slot number. In this case, 13 is the trinket in the top slot. 14 would be the trinket in the bottom slot. Between the two methods, you shouldn't have any difficulties with trinkets. Good luck!

November 19, 2009

WoW Icecrown raid access progression

Blizzard has just released a lengthy statement on the way the new Icecrown raid in patch 3.3 will be progressively accessed. Some of the key points:

Icecrown Citadel is going to be broken up into four distinct sections: The Lower Spire, Plagueworks, Crimson Hall, and Frostwing Halls. We plan on releasing these four sections of Icecrown Citadel over time and not all immediately when patch 3.3.0 goes live.

The first section that opens will include the Lord Marrowgar, Lady Deathwhisper, Icecrown Gunship Battle, and Deathbringer Saurfang encounters. "Several weeks" until the next encounters become available.


Players may not attempt any Heroic versions of 10 player encounters until they have defeated the Lich King in a 10 player raid. The same goes for 25 mans. This means no heroic Icecrown until after the Lich King is defeated, which will apparently be, at the earliest, in a couple of months.


The four most difficult bosses have a limited number of attempts on them each week. Once those attempts are gone, you have to wait another week to try again.

There will be no explicit rewards for defeating the Lich King with a specific number of attempts remaining as there was with Trial of the Grand Crusader. There will also not be an achievement to complete Icecrown Citadel without being defeated by a boss encounter, or letting a raid member die. (i.e. A Tribute to Insanity).

In the weeks and months after all twelve encounters are unlocked, additional attempts against the final four boss encounters become available.

Over time, after all bosses are defeated, players will begin to get a buff, making defeating bosses easier.

This is a jam packed statement from Blizzard on the mechanics of the raid zone, and outlines exactly what your raiding guild will be doing in the weeks and months ahead. If you are going to ever set foot in the Icecrown Citadel raid, you need to know this information.

The full statement after the break.

The full statement from Daelo:

Icecrown Citadel testing has been progressing very well over the last few weeks, and this has been a huge help to the encounter design team. I want to thank everyone who has logged onto the PTR and tried the encounters there.

As we're now getting closer to the release of 3.3.0, I wanted to talk about our plans for access progression within Icecrown Citadel. Icecrown Citadel is going to be broken up into four distinct sections: The Lower Spire, Plagueworks, Crimson Hall, and Frostwing Halls. We plan on releasing these four sections of Icecrown Citadel over time and not all immediately when patch 3.3.0 goes live. At this point I can't give precise dates for these release dates as they are determined by when patch 3.3.0 goes live. Once dates are known with more certainty, I'll update the community so they can plan appropriately.

The first section that opens will include the Lord Marrowgar, Lady Deathwhisper, Icecrown Gunship Battle, and Deathbringer Saurfang encounters. Progress beyond that point will be prevented for several weeks. Then the Plagueworks will open with Rotface, Festergut, and Professor Putricide becoming available. After another period of time, the Crimson Hall will open and you can then fight the Blood Princes and Blood-Queen Lana'thel. The final Frostwing Halls unlock then occurs after that, making Valithria Dreamwalker, Sindragosa, and the Lich King available. We believe a staggered release of the content will allow players to experience Icecrown Citadel at a sustainable, measured, and ultimately more enjoyable pace.

There are other elements that gate access along the way. Players may not attempt any Heroic versions of 10 player encounters until they have defeated the Lich King in a 10 player raid. Similarly, players must defeat the Lich King in a 25 player raid before they can attempt a Heroic 25 player encounter. So players must master every normal difficulty encounter in Icecrown Citadel before attempting Heroic difficulty.

The Lich King may not be attempted until Professor Putricide, Blood-Queen Lana'thel, and Sindragosa are defeated. Furthermore, the Heroic difficulty of The Lich King encounter may not be attempted in any week unless the three aforementioned encounters have been defeated in Heroic difficulty that week.

The Ashen Verdict provides reinforcements and material for players to assault Icecrown Citadel, but this support is not endless. Raids will have a limited number of attempts total each week to defeat the four most difficult encounters in Icecrown Citadel: Professor Putricide, Blood-Queen Lana'thel, Sindragosa, and the Lich King. As these boss encounters are unlocked, the number of attempts available per week will increase. The initial number of attempts provided for defeating Professor Putricide is only five. When Blood-Queen Lana'thel unlocks, the amount of total attempts remaining will increase to 10. Then when Sindragosa and the Lich King unlock, 15 total attempts will be available to defeat all four bosses. After a raid has exhausted their attempts for the week, the Ashen Verdict must withdraw their support and the four most difficult bosses all despawn and become unavailable for the week. The limited attempt system is a feature of both Normal and Heroic difficulty.

There will be no explicit rewards for defeating the Lich King with a specific number of attempts remaining as there was with Trial of the Grand Crusader. There will also not be an achievement to complete Icecrown Citadel without being defeated by a boss encounter, or letting a raid member die. (i.e. A Tribute to Insanity).

In the weeks and months after all twelve encounters are unlocked, additional attempts against the final four boss encounters become available. This represents the Ashen Verdict growing more powerful and gaining a stronger foothold in Icecrown Citadel. To further help raids, Varian Wrynn and Garrosh Hellscream will begin to provide assistance by inspiring the armies attacking Icecrown Citadel. This is represented as an additional zone wide spell effect applied to all players that will increase their hit points, damage dealt, and healing done. This effect will also increase in effectiveness over time. Players may opt out of the spell's effect if they so wish.

WoW Icecrown raid access progression

Blizzard has just released a lengthy statement on the way the new Icecrown raid in patch 3.3 will be progressively accessed. Some of the key points:

Icecrown Citadel is going to be broken up into four distinct sections: The Lower Spire, Plagueworks, Crimson Hall, and Frostwing Halls. We plan on releasing these four sections of Icecrown Citadel over time and not all immediately when patch 3.3.0 goes live.

The first section that opens will include the Lord Marrowgar, Lady Deathwhisper, Icecrown Gunship Battle, and Deathbringer Saurfang encounters. "Several weeks" until the next encounters become available.


Players may not attempt any Heroic versions of 10 player encounters until they have defeated the Lich King in a 10 player raid. The same goes for 25 mans. This means no heroic Icecrown until after the Lich King is defeated, which will apparently be, at the earliest, in a couple of months.


The four most difficult bosses have a limited number of attempts on them each week. Once those attempts are gone, you have to wait another week to try again.

There will be no explicit rewards for defeating the Lich King with a specific number of attempts remaining as there was with Trial of the Grand Crusader. There will also not be an achievement to complete Icecrown Citadel without being defeated by a boss encounter, or letting a raid member die. (i.e. A Tribute to Insanity).

In the weeks and months after all twelve encounters are unlocked, additional attempts against the final four boss encounters become available.

Over time, after all bosses are defeated, players will begin to get a buff, making defeating bosses easier.

This is a jam packed statement from Blizzard on the mechanics of the raid zone, and outlines exactly what your raiding guild will be doing in the weeks and months ahead. If you are going to ever set foot in the Icecrown Citadel raid, you need to know this information.

The full statement after the break.

The full statement from Daelo:

Icecrown Citadel testing has been progressing very well over the last few weeks, and this has been a huge help to the encounter design team. I want to thank everyone who has logged onto the PTR and tried the encounters there.

As we're now getting closer to the release of 3.3.0, I wanted to talk about our plans for access progression within Icecrown Citadel. Icecrown Citadel is going to be broken up into four distinct sections: The Lower Spire, Plagueworks, Crimson Hall, and Frostwing Halls. We plan on releasing these four sections of Icecrown Citadel over time and not all immediately when patch 3.3.0 goes live. At this point I can't give precise dates for these release dates as they are determined by when patch 3.3.0 goes live. Once dates are known with more certainty, I'll update the community so they can plan appropriately.

The first section that opens will include the Lord Marrowgar, Lady Deathwhisper, Icecrown Gunship Battle, and Deathbringer Saurfang encounters. Progress beyond that point will be prevented for several weeks. Then the Plagueworks will open with Rotface, Festergut, and Professor Putricide becoming available. After another period of time, the Crimson Hall will open and you can then fight the Blood Princes and Blood-Queen Lana'thel. The final Frostwing Halls unlock then occurs after that, making Valithria Dreamwalker, Sindragosa, and the Lich King available. We believe a staggered release of the content will allow players to experience Icecrown Citadel at a sustainable, measured, and ultimately more enjoyable pace.

There are other elements that gate access along the way. Players may not attempt any Heroic versions of 10 player encounters until they have defeated the Lich King in a 10 player raid. Similarly, players must defeat the Lich King in a 25 player raid before they can attempt a Heroic 25 player encounter. So players must master every normal difficulty encounter in Icecrown Citadel before attempting Heroic difficulty.

The Lich King may not be attempted until Professor Putricide, Blood-Queen Lana'thel, and Sindragosa are defeated. Furthermore, the Heroic difficulty of The Lich King encounter may not be attempted in any week unless the three aforementioned encounters have been defeated in Heroic difficulty that week.

The Ashen Verdict provides reinforcements and material for players to assault Icecrown Citadel, but this support is not endless. Raids will have a limited number of attempts total each week to defeat the four most difficult encounters in Icecrown Citadel: Professor Putricide, Blood-Queen Lana'thel, Sindragosa, and the Lich King. As these boss encounters are unlocked, the number of attempts available per week will increase. The initial number of attempts provided for defeating Professor Putricide is only five. When Blood-Queen Lana'thel unlocks, the amount of total attempts remaining will increase to 10. Then when Sindragosa and the Lich King unlock, 15 total attempts will be available to defeat all four bosses. After a raid has exhausted their attempts for the week, the Ashen Verdict must withdraw their support and the four most difficult bosses all despawn and become unavailable for the week. The limited attempt system is a feature of both Normal and Heroic difficulty.

There will be no explicit rewards for defeating the Lich King with a specific number of attempts remaining as there was with Trial of the Grand Crusader. There will also not be an achievement to complete Icecrown Citadel without being defeated by a boss encounter, or letting a raid member die. (i.e. A Tribute to Insanity).

In the weeks and months after all twelve encounters are unlocked, additional attempts against the final four boss encounters become available. This represents the Ashen Verdict growing more powerful and gaining a stronger foothold in Icecrown Citadel. To further help raids, Varian Wrynn and Garrosh Hellscream will begin to provide assistance by inspiring the armies attacking Icecrown Citadel. This is represented as an additional zone wide spell effect applied to all players that will increase their hit points, damage dealt, and healing done. This effect will also increase in effectiveness over time. Players may opt out of the spell's effect if they so wish.

Patch 3.3 PTR: The new tier 10 purchasing model

The latest patch 3.3 build on the PTR has yielded tier 10 purchasing information. When players were purchasing tier 9, they had to to use badges to pick up the item level 232 iterations. But to get the next rank up, they needed badges and a token. When purchasing tier 8, all you needed was a class specific token which dropped from different bosses.

That will not be the case here. Tier 10 purchasing has been streamlined further, and I think this is the best solution as it contains elements of both tier 8 and tier 9 models.

Now when you want to buy tier 10, you have to use Emblems of Frost to purchase the item level 251 variants. This is the lowest version of tier 10 you can get. In order to get the next level which is item level 264, you'll need to get a class specific token which presumably drops from Icecrown Citadel on 25. It could drop from Icecrown Citadel 10 after taking down Arthas or doing some heroic versions of bosses. We have no idea yet.


In other words, if I want to get item 264 versions my shoulders, I have to first spend 60 Emblems of Frost to get the Crimson Acolyte Shoulderpads. Then I have to raid and patiently wait for a Conqueror's Mark of Sanctification to drop (Paladin, Priest, Warlock). Once I get the mark, I visit the tier vendor in Dalaran and turn both of them in exchange for the Sanctified Crimson Acolyte Shoulderpads.

In other news, tier prices also released. Gloves and shoulders can be bought for 60 Emblems of Frost, while the Helm, Legs, and Chest can be had for 95.

Know Your Lore: Highlord Darion Mograine

Put simply, the Knights of the Ebon Blade are traitors to the Scourge. Like the Forsaken, they've broken free of the grasp of the Lich King due to the intercession of an external source - Sylvanas and the Forsaken escaped the Lich King's grasp when he was weakened due to the crack in the Frozen Throne and had to recall Arthas to Northrend, while the Knights were more autonomous than the average Scourge and regained their freedom following the events at Light's Hope Chapel. At LHC, the Knights were freed due to the actions of their Highlord, Darion Mograine.

If you played through the events of the Death Knight starting area, you already have a basic idea of the origins of the order, especially if you ran around Acherus reading books like I did. Some are funny, some are meaningful, and from them we can glean certain information about the history of the order before the events leading up to its break from the Lich King. If you've read the Ashbringer comic series, you're of course informed of some of this anyway. But there's still devils in those details for us to discuss.



Basically, Alexandros Mograine found a crystal object at the battle of Blackrock Spire in the hands of an orc warlock. We know from Christie Golden's Rise of the Horde that it was most likely one of the fragments of the Ata'mal Crystal captured by the orcs when they slaughtered the draenei. (Possibly Leafshadow, the crystal used to hide the Horde's attack on Shattrath until it was too late for the draenei to defend themselves, although this isn't confirmed.) Whatever the crystal was, in the warlock's hands it was so suffused with evil fel energy that touching it destroyed Mograine's hand. Years later, casting holy magics in an attempt to destroy the crystal instead purified it, making it a beacon of the Light itself. So inspired, Mograine left for Ironforge, where Magni Bronzebeard himself forged a sword out of the crystal for Alexandros: both the sword and its wielder would become known as Ashbringer.

Sadly, it was this man's legend that would cause the ruin of both his sons and the indirect formation of the Knights of the Ebon Blade.


Alexandros Mograine had two sons, Renault and Darion. Both were fairly young when the Scourge first invaded Lordaeron... we see them as old enough to get into trouble going into their father's chest (where he kept the crystal from Blackrock Spire) but young enough to get scolded for it. However, both are close enough to adulthood to be taken into combat at Stratholme some years later on the fateful night when Balnazzar usurped the body of Grand Crusader Saiden Dathrohan. Renault grew up resentful of the attention Alexandros gave to Darion, who reminded him of his deceased wife Elena. (It's also possible Renault resented Darion because his mother died giving birth to the younger boy.) Renault was more like his father, quick tempered and as we all know, the more fathers and sons are akin to one another the more chances they have to butt heads.

Renault's seduction by Balnazzar from within the Grand Crusader's body led to Alexandros' death and resurrection as one of the Four Horsemen of Naxxramas, one of the Lich King's most powerful Death Knights. The potent Ashbringer was thereby corrupted. Note that while the Death Knights of Naxxramas are indeed servants of the Lich King, they are not members of the Knights of the Ebon Blade.

In the Ashbringer series, it's revealed that Darion Mograine doesn't leave things to this state of affairs, but rather joins the Argent Dawn and manages a daring raid on Naxxramas itself. (This raid also is key to Varimathras and Putress' later actions at the Wrathgate, as it provides them the basis for the plague they use against the Lich King, Alliance and Horde.) After escaping from the Four Horsemen with the Corrupted Ashbringer (at the cost of his entire party, which I have to say is kind of cold... basically, Darion ninja's the sword and drops group, not cool, didn't even wait for them to res) he did what anyone who was totally unaware that it was his brother who killed their father in the first place might do and went to his big brother for help.

Yes, that turned out about as well as you might expect. Renault attacked Darion, Alexandros' ghost comes out of the sword and kills Renault, Darion is pretty messed up in the head over the whole thing. A visit to Tirion Fordring out in his shack in the Plaguelands (where Tirion, still in his depressive exile phase, basically was no help at all) ended with Tirion telling Darion that only an act of love greater than the act of evil that bound Alexandros to the sword could free him.

The first battle of Light's Hope Chapel followed hard upon, which is difficult to summarize without sounding somewhat irreverent but I'm on a schedule here. Darion returns to Light's Hope, Maxwell Tyrosus gives him a guided tour of the crypts beneath the chapel containing the thousand protectors who died fighting Arthas at Lordaeron and who were moved to LHC to prevent his perverting them into undead minions. If there's one thing Arthas loves to do, it's perverting someone into an undead. He can't get enough of it. Even when it repeatedly comes back to bite him on the ass, if there's an even half-way decent dead person around Arthas'll raise that sucker in two shakes of an abomination's back arm. So the Scourge attack, the Argent Dawn defend, Darion whips out the Corrupted Ashbringer and bucks wild until he finally reached Kel'Thuzad who snarks at him that not even the Ashbringer can destroy him and Darion decides the ultimate act of love that would redeem his father's soul is to stab himself in the chest with the Ashbringer.

What amazes me is not that it works... I'm sure there's some form of logic there... but that Darion's sacrifice causes those thousand champions of the Light to bust out and destroy pretty much the entire Scourge army except for Kel'Thuzad (guys, please, while you're wiping out the Scourge? Kill the floating skeleton in the headdress and chains too, okay?) and our friend Darion, who is now an undead Death Knight in the place of his father. The reason this amazes me is that, once he's the head of the Lich King's brand new order of Death Knights, Darion leads them into battle at Light's Hope Chapel to be defeated by the very same power of the Light he himself unleased in the previous battle. Apparently undead makes a man forgetful.

From there, Darion heads up the push to create a new order of Death Knights for the Lich King. This leads to the events of the Death Knight starting zone, where your DK plays a pivotal role in wiping out the remnants of the Scarlet Crusade who hadn't managed to get on boats and sail to Northrend, and from there to the second assault on Light's Hope Chapel where the power of the Light (and possibly Alexandros Mograine's redeemed spirit) combined with Arthas' cartoonish super villainy (I mean, seriously, showing up and admitting that you fully intended all of your new Death Knights to die as long as it got you a shot at Tirion? It's one thing to do it, sure, we've all set up complicated long distance schemes to lure our archenemies out where we can attack them, but to just come right out and admit it? Lame, dude) helped break the Lich King's hold on Darion. From there, the Highlord gave up his hold on the Corrupted Ashbringer, allowed Tirion to redeem it, and turned all of the strength of will (some might say 'ridiculously fanatical single minded drive') that helped him beard Naxxramas and rescue his father's spirit to the task of destroying the Lich King.

Throughout Northrend, in fact, it's been members of the Knights of the Ebon Blade who have scored some of the more crucial victories against the Lich King. While the Argent Crusade tried to hold Zul'Drak, it was the Knights of the Ebon Blade who struck down Drakuru. It was the Knights of the Ebon Blade (led directly by Darion) who helped stem the tide of disaster and preserved the first breach into Icecrown itself. And when Tirion Fordring nearly gets himself killed by the Lich King, it's again Darion Mograine and his death knights who have to pull him out.

In patch 3.3 we'll see even more of this with the Ashen Verdict, as following the somewhat dubious events of the Crusader's Coliseum the Argent Crusade and Knights of the Ebon Blade have joined forces to take the fight to Arthas once and for all. Darion's up front inside the Citadel leading in a snazzy set of T10 DK armor. As to the future of our last surviving Mograine? Well, there's some lore spoilers in the new five man instances (and if you've read this far into this post you're probably not terribly concerned about being spoiled but I figured I'd warn you anyway) that indicate that post Arthas, someone else has to step up and take over the Scourge, or it will buck wild and eat everyone. (Why Arthas hasn't already ordered it to do exactly that is probably best explained by his neurotic need to convince himself he's right and that everyone would break just like he did - half of Arthas' appearances in Northrend are basically to taunt you, something he seems to have picked up from Mal'Ganis) Darion's probably not the lead contender for this job, but I'd put him solidly as a dark horse for it. He's also heavily involved in the Shadowmourne questline. So we're certain to see a lot of him in patch 3.3 at least.

Encrypted Text: Leveling a rogue, level 71-80

Every Wednesday, Chase Christian of Encrypted Text invites you to enter the world of shadows, as we explore the secrets and mechanics of the rogue class. This week, we talk about leveling a rogue from level 71 to level 80.

Your goal is firmly in sight: your rogue is ready to being his or her assault upon the Lich King's lands. With only a fleeting few levels between you and the level cap, these last few minutes are among the most important in your rogue's development. With nearly every trick available and our DPS rotations fleshed out, your rogue will be feeling more and more like the level 80 you are about to become.

All three talent trees are fairly viable for leveling, and so this is by far the most flexible period of the leveling process. As I mentioned in the last installment, experimenting with different specs, rotations, and playstyles will only become harder and harder to do once you reach level 80. During these important formative levels, max out your respect costs and give every build a fair shake. You'll be a better rogue for it in the end.

New abilities:
While there's only really two new moves between level 71 and level 80, one of our earliest spells gets a complete makeover. Feint, which we learn at level 16, finally becomes the spell we always knew it could be. If used, it reduces all AoE damage that a rogue will take for 6 seconds. This spell alone will save you a hundred times while raiding, as there is plenty of AoE damage being thrown around. You won't pick up Rank 8 (the version with the bonus) until level 78, but be sure to use it in any dungeons you explore while leveling up.

Prior to that, you'll be receiving one of, in my opinion, our "signature moves". Tricks of the Trade is our threat redirection / damage boost combo, which sees extensive use in both PvE and PvP. In a raid or dungeon environment, it becomes the tank's best friend, and can really make your dungeon experiences much smoother. In certain fights where DPS gain significant buffs (like Hodir), Tricks of the Trade is crucial to a tank being able to maintain aggro on a mob. It can even be a DPS buff to share with another rogue during "burst phases" of certain fights. Tossing this to your partner in PvP can often be enough to score a kill, as the damage bonus is significant.

One of the reasons I see TotT as so integral to the WotLK rogue is its integration into the new T10 set. The 2 piece set bonus makes TotT yield energy instead of costing it, resulting in a significant DPS boost for everyone involved. We want to cast it more often, it allows more threat to be redirected due to increased energy, and it results in a higher uptime on friendly DPS classes. Imagine it as a poor level 80's Renataki's Charm of Trickery: pop it when you're low on energy to give you just enough juice to extend that stunlock a few more seconds.

If you're leveling with a partner (either a tank or DPS), be sure to toss them TotT every time it's up. It takes the pressure off of you for incoming damage (and rogues are pretty frail in that regard) and boosts their damage, making the entire leveling process much quicker. You can check out my guide to macros to find a great TotT macro that will let you set it to an easy keybind and forget about targeting someone to cast it on.

The final move a rogue receives on their journey is also their just reward for reaching level 80. Fan of Knives has become a true game-changer for the way that rogues play. We're no longer relegated to throwing grenades or making campfires in the back of the raid during AoE phases. Fan of Knives has been one of the top AoE abilities in the game today due to its unique scaling and properties. If you want to learn more about this ability, I wrote a full article dedicated to all of its intricacies. Let it suffice to say that if it weren't for FoK, rogues would be nowhere near our current spot at the top 10% of the damage meters. Yogg+0 and Anub'Arak hard mode are two fights where FoK simply outshines every competitor, and resulted in both world first kills of the last two "end bosses" seeing rogues at the top of the meters.

Posterity:
While I strongly recommend you go crazy experimenting with specs while leveling, I would also caution you that due to the repetition of leveling and grinding, bad habits will eventually work their way into your subconscious. If you start letting Slice and Dice drop while you're farming the Scourge, it will work against you later, when it's actually pretty important. Start reading up on raiding rotations and playstyles, and try mimicking those as much as possible.

If you're playing as Mutilate, it's a great time to work on keeping Hunger for Blood up full time, while trying to maintain a good Slice and Dice uptime via Cut to the Chase + Envenom or Eviscerate. As Combat, keeping Slice and Dice up full time should be your goal, while also using your cooldowns wisely to take out 2+ mobs when Blade Flurry is available and destroying elites with Evasion and Killing Spree. Subtlety rogues should be looking out to also keep Slice and Dice up (I told you it was our most important ability!) and keeping the Hemorrhage debuff active while also using good energy management to maximize your finishers.

By doing the little things like keeping the right poison on both weapons, using the right gems (even if they're just green quality), and starting to work on your end game rotations, you'll be building the foundation for a long and prosperous life as a rogue. Take pride in your achievement of nearing level 80, and focus on refining your playstyle to the point that it becomes second nature. I talked about a few combat opener / sequences last time, and finding out how to go from an opener to a dead opponent in the most efficient way should be your objective.

Reputations:
While this will certainly change once Cataclysm is released, the message is still relevant today: focus on reputation quest hubs. There's several reputations you'll want access to once you hit level 80, and working on their quests while they still give experience is simply making them twice as awesome. The Sons of Hodir are key for their shoulder enchants (and decent starting weapons), while the Knights of the Ebon Blade will sell you a great helm enchant if you perform enough of their dirty deeds. Read up on which reputations yield what gear, and then go to their areas and quest your heart out. Anything that you can do while leveling to give you an easier time at level 80 is like pure gold.

Level 70 gear:
One last tip for the leveling rogue, you can often find level 70 gear that players had stashed in their banks available on the AH for mere fractions of their original price. Level 70 BoE gear, epic gems, and consumables will greatly increase your leveling speed, so check the AH for any relics from level 70 that are left over that you can score for yourself. I find that the old DPS flasks and BoE level 70 blues are typically only a few gold total, which should be affordable with all of the questing and grinding you've been doing.

Conclusion:
I know that many of you are already level 80, and you're interested in reading about the things that are affecting us now. However, there are still a ton of rogues that are leveling up, and we honestly need the fresh blood as the "great rogue to death knight reroll exodus" of WotLK left us pretty decimated. Look at the bright side, you won't have to read another leveling column until Cataclysm! To those rogues who are just entering the fold at level 80, we welcome you with open arms, and we look forward to stabbing those cursed cloth-wearers and praying for Armor Penetration trinkets at your side.

Patch 3.3 PTR: Shadowmourne revealed

The latest build on the PTR has uncovered the stats of the World of Warcraft's newest legendary weapon, the two-handed axe Shadowmourne. Apparently bandied around by random GMs on the PTR, players were able to see the highly impressive stats of this weapon, which requires an epic quest to complete. MMO-Champion also has it in its database, the entry of which can be viewed here.

Notable among its features, aside from the ridiculous +223 Strength and 344.1 DPS, are three red sockets and an interesting proc. The sockets can combine for a total of 68 Strength when socketed with Bold Cardinal Rubies and obtaining the +8 Strength bonus. If we understand it correctly, the proc also stacks Strength for a total of 360 before firing off a damaging effect, presumably resetting the Strength bonus to 0. Needless to say, even without the proc, this Item Level 284 weapon is the best two-handed melee weapon in the game and should serve players well into the next expansion.

Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.
http://wow.com/guide-to-patch-3-3

Patch 3.3 PTR: Armored Frost Wyrm mounts are rewards from Icecrown

Ancilorn over at the European forums has confirmed that the armored Frost Wrym mounts mined from early builds of the Patch 3.3 PTR will be rewards for achievements in the Icecrown Citadel raid. Much like past raid dungeons have awarded mounts for completing meta-achievements, such as the Ironbound Proto-Drake for Ulduar, the Frost Wyrms will be "up for grabs," for dedicated raiders.

MMO-Champion previously unearthed this armored Frost Wyrm model along with spells named Frostbrood Vanquisher and Frostbrood Vanquisher Flight, which could give some insight into some Icecrown Citadel encounters. Despite the confirmation of new reward mounts (expected to grant 310% flying speed, as well), there is currently no word on the removal of the Ulduar reward mounts, which Blizzard has said to stay for "the foreseeable future".

Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.

November 15, 2009

Patch 3.3 PTR: Limited attempts to clear Icecrown

During my time in the upcoming patch 3.3 raid instance Icecrown the other day, I managed to notice something peculiar at the top of the screen. I didn't recall seeing this before anywhere else.

You know how in Trial of the Grand Crusader, you only get 50 attempts before the instance is shut down for your raid group? It seems like a similar mechanic is being implemented in here for Icecrown. When I was in it, I noticed we had 3000 of 3000 attempts remaining. I don't think this is the final number. Remember, this is on a test server so the chances are probable that it's just a placeholder figure.

Some ideas

150 - 200 attempts: In Trial of the Grand Crusader, we had 50 attempts to use against 5 bosses. Assuming it's going to be a similar ratio of attempts to bosses, I think we'll see a range between 150 - 200 attempts.

Heroic mode only: We saw this counter on normal mode. But could it just be for the heroic enabled bosses that count towards the meter? Either that, or it could be that any boss attempts on normal or heroic will count toward it.

Rewards and achievements: Lastly, I suspect we'll see some possible item rewards and achievements based on the amount of attempts we have remaining. Right now there aren't any but we could be seeing some added later on.

November 14, 2009

WoW Mage leveling guide, 41 to Outland

Something I wanted to throw out there before we begin:

I'm lazy. It's difficult to find pictures every week for this column. Thus, I no longer wish to do it. Therefore, I am extending an open invitation to you, my fellow mages everywhere, to do my job for me. I formally request--nay, demand--your screenshots. That's right: if you ever had the desire to see your mage featured prominently at the beginning of a sentient, warlock-hating mage column, this is your chance. Ground rules:

1、Mage-pictures only. If you try to slip in a picture of a warlock and pass it off as a mage, I will hack your Twitter account and then make a series of embarrassing tweets on it, like "My genital fungus really burns today...I wonder if I've been scratching it too much," "Quick tip, everybody: bacne + shaving back-hair = an awful way to spend a weekend," or "I firmly believe that Michael Bay is the genius of our time."

2、In-game screenshots that you personally captured only.

3、No character names visible, and no hud, please. Use Alt-Z before you take your screenshot.

4、Nothing vulgar. No matter how much I'd like to see a picture of you doing something obscene to the corpse of that warlock you just killed, I can't use it. Also, I have a wife and two small children. Try not to send me anything that will scar them permanently should they be in the room when I open it.

5、Send all screenshots to the following email address: arcanebrilliancepics@yahoo.com. Also, title them with something simple and appropriate, like "mage screenshot," so I don't think they're spam.

6、Other than the above limitations, I don't care what you send. I can use just about anything. Low-level mages, high-level mages, cool looking spells, action shots, funny stuff...chances are I can find a use for just about anything you send me.
And with that out of the way, we're ready to begin this week's installment of our ongoing mage leveling guide.

You'll notice from the title of this week's installment that we're covering a bit more this week than we have in previous weeks. You can safely head for Outland as early as level 58, meaning that instead of covering 10 levels, we'll be attempting to guide you through a full 18 levels in this column. Why? Because at this point, the new spells and noteworthy milestones are spread a bit thin, and this stretch can feel more grindy than any other in the game. To be quite honest, the levels between 40 and 60 are, without a doubt, my absolute least favorite levels to slog through. The quest hubs spread out, some of the zones become a little less fun to tool around in (I'm looking at you, Felwood.), and the instances tend toward the extreme end of the "long, difficult and kinda boring" spectrum (cough...Maraudon).

This isn't to say there isn't fun to be had, it's just that it's very easy in this stretch to find yourself grinding for experience instead of enjoying the journey. So how to make it fun? Here's a list of...wait a second...

...what's that...is that...that's Bullet Points' music! They're headed for the ring! And they've got metal chairs in their hands! Noooooo! Oh, the humanity! Why, of all the times, did the referees pick now to be distracted and/or unconscious? Nooooo!

(Special thanks to Bill Simmons for that joke. He uses a variation of it in pretty much every column he writes, and it's always funny.)
Mix things up. Don't just go from quest hub to quest hub, and unless you hate yourself, don't just AoE farm your way to Outland. Do some battlegrounds, run a few instances (if you can find a group), or just go exploring and see the sights. Focus on the lore. Though things can become a bit of a slog in this stretch, and many of the quests can be needlessly difficult, complex, or require far too much travel, the storylines start to become quite gripping, and the lore rich. This used to be the climax of the game, guys. Spend some time in places like Eastern Plaguelands. Get a high-level buddy to run you through Blackrock Depths or Stratholme. Actually read the quest text. Seriously. Enjoy the plot of the game. See the sights. For the love of god, don't spend 10 levels in Felwood. It's ugly, depressing, and judging by the amount of felpuppy poo I stepped in while I was there, I'm pretty sure it was designed by a warlock. Only do the quests you want to do in a place, then move on to someplace else. It's incredibly easy to skip zones now, but there are a couple nice ones in this stretch that warrant a visit. Spend some time in Winterspring (pretty snow!), Searing Gorge (pretty volcanoes!), Ungoro Crater (what is it with Blizzard and volcanoes in this level range?), and Azshara. In fact, we'll be talking a bit more about Azshara in a bit. Don't spend the entire time waiting for Outland. Trust me. You be seeing plenty of Outland. You'll be taking your next character there. And your next one. And the one after that. Enjoy the old end-game--and the relative freedom it offers--while it's still relevant. Because the moment you hit level 58, it ceases to be.

Levels 41-49

Sadly, there are no new spells from 41-49, at least not the ones you can learn from trainers. Use this as an opportunity to perfect your mastery of the skills you already have, I guess.

Instances to run in this range include:
Uldaman (out-of-the-way, but full of good lore, and to an improbably large lady) Zul'Farrak (desert trolls, good loot, loads of quests to complete, and on my server, at least, it's one of the few old-world instances I still see people looking to group for...just be careful not to kill the goblin before he blows up the door to the last boss encounter) Maraudon (Incredibly long, and full of plants. Plants that want to eat you. I hate this place. But it does have some good loot.) Level 50

New spells: Portal: Darnassus or Thunder Bluff

Mages hit several milestones at level 50. First, we get our second major glyph slot. There are a lot of good choices at this point to fill that slot, so take a look at what's affordable in the auction house and pick something that you like.

Second, you can finally complete your collection of old-world portals by traveling to either Darnassus or Thunder Bluff and snagging the appropriate portal spell there.

And third, more mage quests.

I've written about Archmage Xylem before, on several occasions. He hangs out in a tower high in the mountains of western Azshara and just oozes wizardry. At level 50 he'll hand out the first part in a quest chain to your mage that will eventually lead you to the depths of Sunken Temple, pit you against a pair of giant dragons, and reward you with your choice of a dagger, necklace, or trinket.

Every class gets a similar quest to kill the same dragon, so finding a group for Sunken Temple isn't as hard as finding one for other dungeons in this range. It's a difficult and lengthy instance, to be sure, but I'm of the opinion that doing this chain is an essential part of magehood. Plus, that trinket is nice. Don't waste your reward on either of the other two items. You'll be replacing them almost immediately. But that trinket...it'll serve you into Outland and beyond. Unless you're not a Fire mage, of course. In which case, the trinket sucks. Three cheers for old-world itemization!

Lastly, level 50 opens up the ninth tier of your chosen talent tree, and all of the awesome talents contained therein. Seriously, this tier is stacked.

Fire mages now have access to Dragon's Breath, which is a fantastic short-range, instant AoE spell. It strikes everything in front of the mage in a cone and dazes them all, in addition to dealing rock-solid damage. Also opening up at this level are Hot Streak, which hands out instant Pyroblasts when you crit twice in a row, and Firestarter, which triggers an instant Flamestrike whenever you cast Blast Wave or Dragon's Breath. All of these talents are sweet.

Frost Mages can learn to summon their big blue buddy. Summon Water Elemental becomes one of the hallmarks of the spec from this point on. He does damage, he freezes opponents at range, and he gives great back rubs. Brain Freeze is also fun, giving you a reason to put Fireball back on your action bar. Nothing says "Frost mage" like throwing out the occasional free, instant ball of flame.

But perhaps no spec benefits more from the ninth tier than Arcane mages. Slow is the ultimate kiting tool. Though its mana cost is a bit high, it's one of the best PvP spells in the game, and once you start applying it to mobs effectively, you may never be hit by a melee attack again. Also, you get access to my single favorite talent in the game: Missile Barrage. Take a moment and soak in that tooltip. That's right, starting now, your offensive spells give you a chance to fire out a mana-free, short-channel, super-cool-looking gatling missiles. Now, finally, being an Arcane mage starts to actually feel like a good thing.

Levels 56-57

New spell: Arcane Brilliance

Yes, you read that correctly: level 56 brings you the ability to summon a sentient, overly-wordy, weekly mage column that hates warlocks...wait...I'm being told that's not what the tooltip actually says. What's that? Oh, ok. It's actually just a version of the Arcane Intellect buff that costs more mana, requires a reagent, lasts longer, and affects your entire party or raid. Well, that's still nice, right? Convenient?

One final note: this level range is really the last gasp for the old world. Enjoy it while you can. See the zones you want to see, and visit the instances that appeal to you while they still hold some benefit for you. I always advise a trip to Blackrock Depths at this point if you can manage it. It's really the last dungeon in the old-world in the pre-Burning Crusade level range. Those that follow it aren't really feasible before you're high-enough level to go to Outland, and the green-quality loot that drops off the first boar you kill there will absolutely crush almost anything that drops in them.

Plus, Blackrock Depths is one of my favorite instances. It's a vast, Dungeons & Dragons-esque, old-school rpg experience, with a wide array of bosses, interesting mechanics, and excellent lore. Put together a like-minded group, or find a willing level 80 comrade to run you through. It's worth the trip, and the loot will set you in good stead when you make the leap through the Dark Portal.

Level 58

This is it. Though you can stay in Azeroth for a few levels if you wish, you're really best-served heading straight to Outland at this point. It's actually much easier to get there in this enlightened age. The major capital cities now have portals situated near the portal trainers that deposit you about two feet from the Dark Portal. Once you step through, you're in Outland. Start picking up quests and let the massive gear-upgrade parade begin.

Be wary, though. In your mismatched old-world gear, you'll discover that the mobs in Hellfire Peninsula are fairly formidable. They have significantly more health and hit much harder than their similarly-leveled Azerothian counterparts. Be cautious, fight tactically, and be prepared to die a few times. And watch out for the Fel Reaver. He can be seen from much farther away now, but he can still be quite stealthy, which is somewhat improbable for a giant robot. If you hear that distinctive mechanical roar, drop everything and flee. Blink, go invisible, whatever you need to do. It's no fun to be eaten by a giant, stealthy robot.

This drastic upswing in difficulty will even out rapidly as you complete quests and upgrade to Outland gear, but at first you may find yourself longing for the cupcakes you were blasting through in the old world.

Keep pressing forward, and get yourself to level 60. What's so great about level 60, you ask? Two words: Flying Mounts.

Send in your screenshots, and come back next week, when we start our burn through Outland.

Patch 3.3: Quel'delar caster mace hastened

Ah, Quel'delar -- the Patch 3.3 questline with rewards for everybody. Well, everybody except tanks. And elemental shamans. And shadow priests, and moonkin, and mutilate rogues, and you get the idea. While the caster sword is itemized very well for DPS casters -- and can be used by two of them -- the mace version is loaded with MP5, which is patently useless for them. A lot of healers don't even really need it on their weapon.

Well, Blizzard may not have caved to tanks or rogues, but they certainly caved to DPS casters, as Bornakk indicates that the MP5 on the Hammer of Purified Flame is being converted to haste to better match Quel'delar, Lens of the Mind. As an elemental shaman in dire need of replacing his Aesuga, I appreciate that!

Then again, this makes it even more odd that sword-and-board tanks are still left out in the cold in this questline. I suppose there's still time before the patch for Blizzard to make the change, but it looks like they're not going that route. Oh well, tanks. There's always dual-spec.

Patch 3.3: More community members honored with item names

In the vein of Phaelia's Vestments of the Sprouting Seed and the BRK-1000, Blizzard honored several community members with items named after them in Patch 3.3.

Ones we've seen so far:

Maghia's Misguided Quill - Named after the well-known cosplayer who came to BlizzCon as Alexzstrasza and the Eredar Twins.

Toskk's Maximized Wristguards - Named after the player who maintains a popular druid DPS calculator.

Aldriana's Gloves of Secrecy - Named after the player who maintains a popular rogue DPS spreadsheet.

There are other items in the patch files that look to be named after certain individuals, but I'm admittedly not familiar with everyone ever involved with the WoW community, so I'll leave it to you guys to let me know if I missed someone.

I'm always happy when I see items like this in the game. They show that somebody out there is paying attention to the players that are making an impact in the community, and that's good enough for me.

Patch 3.3: Blizzard previews new quest tracking UI

Looks like the newly-renamed Dungeon Finder isn't the only new UI feature we have to look forward to in Patch 3.3 -- Blizzard just released an official preview of its new Quest Tracking feature, and it looks great. It seems to have a number of the features that ZorbaTHut's great QuestHelper addon does, which follows Blizzard's pattern of poaching the best third-party UIs for use in the stock UI.

Our UI whiz Gregg Reece covered the feature briefly last week, based on what was active on the PTR. For those who haven't fiddled with it, new additions to the UI include:

Enhanced World Map: The large world map is now separated into four active panes. Quests are automatically tracked on the map and listed to its side. The quest log entry for the selected quest is located below the map.

Areas of Interest: Shows what area on the map your quest's points of interest can be found, represented with a blue polygon. If mobs populate a large area, the map will indicate it. If you need to find one specific doodad, that'll be on there too. If there are multiple spawn areas for a mob or doodad, the map will automatically locate the one closest to you.

Pop-out Map: Players can utilize a smaller zone map outside of the normal full-screen map to track progress and get their bearings.

Better Tracking: Tracked quests outside the map will now indicate your progress with a number for items found or mobs killed and will indicate whether you've already completed it. And more! The main thing I notice is missing (so far) is the arrow that indicates where you should head next on the World Map, like QuestHelper or Carbonite, but who knows if that'll even make it in.

Blizzard says that the new UI will work with nearly every quest in the game, regardless of type. You can check out the official preview here.

The Art of War(craft): Absolute beginners' guide to Arathi Basin

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote up a basic look at the Battlegrounds for all the new players who don't know anything about it. From the looks of it, Blizzard expects an influx of new players, too, so newbies will always be on the lookout for 'For Dummies'-type information. Because we're such awesome folks over here at WoW.com, we're ready to oblige. Last week we answered some basic questions about the game's first Battleground, Warsong Gulch. This week, we'll answer some beginner's questions about Arathi Basin, the next Battleground leveling players are eligible to enter. Hit the Read More button to, you know, read more.

What is Arathi Basin?
Arathi Basin is a resource accumulation Battleground with 15 players on each side. The goal is to gather 1600 resource points (2,000 points prior to Patch 3.2), with the first team to reach that number winning the match and ending the game. There are five resource nodeswhich can be controlled by capturing the associated, nearby flag -- an 8-second channel (formerly 10 seconds) action similar to opening a chest (you'll see a progress bar). Once a flag is tagged, teams must protect it for one minute until it comes under their control. The one minute window allows opposing teams to recapture a tagged flag.

The rate at which resources are gained depend on the number of resource nodes that a team controls -- the more nodes, the faster resources are accumulated. Capturing all five bases guarantee a rapid gain of resources and can be difficult or impossible to overcome if allowed to continue uncontested for a certain period of time. Players also gain honor and reputation according to the resources gained, so teams that win the match get the maximum bonus honor while teams that lose have varying levels of honor gain. It is virtually impossible to have a tied game of Arathi Basin.

The five nodes are the Farm, Blacksmith, Lumber Mill, Gold Mine, and Stables. The Farm is nearest to the Defiler's Den, the Southeastern part of the map where the Horde contingent spawns. The Stable is on the Northwestern part close to Trollbane Hall, where Alliance players start the game. The Lumber Mill is situated to the central West of the map, with the notable geographic feature of being atop a small cliff. It's always fun there. At the center of the map is an island where the Blacksmith is, and slightly Northeast to it would be the Gold Mine.

So, what's the deal with this place?
The physical entrances to Arathi Basin (not that you need them anymore) are located in Hammerfall and Refuge Pointe in the Arathi Highlands. In customarily nebulous fashion, Arathi Basin is supposedly such a resource-rich land that members of the League of Arathor and the unfairly villainous-sounding Defilers constantly clash over it. We can only assume that there's a lot of gold there, as well as some lumber, and a fair amount of livestock. And boy, do the Alliance and Horde forces need their livestock.

What's in it for me?
Unfortunately, none of the gold found inside the gold mine. Aside from honor, though, players get brownie points with the League of Arathor and the Defilers, Alliance players earning the Knight of Arathor and Horde players getting The Defiler Achievements. Either one grants another 10 Achievement points to brag about. Other Achievements can also be pursued if you get some more experience playing the Battleground. If you're not into those things, there's always those Arathi Basin Marks of Honor -- three for those on the winning team, one for those on the losing side -- which you'll need to purchase gear or turn-in in your quest for more honor. And everybody loves more honor.

Cool, I'm sold. What's next?
While Warsong Gulch opens up to players as early as Level 10, Arathi Basin has a slightly higher requirement. It's about perfect, too, since Level 20 is when players can get mounts. Considering players need to get from one node to another in the most expedient fashion, mounts are a good thing. The brackets for Arathi Basin are as follows:

20–29
30–39
40–49
50–59
60–69
70–79
80

As with all Battlegrounds, players would do well to be on the higher side of the level bracket in order to better appreciate the Battleground experience. That said, even lower level characters can contribute greatly by keeping their eyes open and alerting their teams to incoming enemies. The Battleground is also bigger than Warsong Gulch, so it's quite possible to avoid too much combat, particularly by keeping guard in relatively quiet nodes.

Let me at 'em! Uh... what do I do?
Easy, fella! My first suggestion would be to get a mount. You'll need one. Fortunately, players can now get mounts at Level 20 since Patch 3.2 worked it in. In the old days, players ran on foot for about twenty levels in Arathi Basin (when Level 40 was the minimum level to obtain a mount), which made the first two brackets of the Battleground rather unpleasant. Arathi Basin is a game of responsiveness, and the team able to support attacked nodes the fastest will win.

While there are many strategies to winning Arathi Basin, one of the best pieces of advice I can give to new players is to always fight near a flag. Making sure a flag is never left alone and is always protected is highly underrated, even by experienced players. Blizzard has already added an incentive to players to protect the flag with the Honorable Defender buff. This increases the honor gained from killing enemy players by 50% as long as you're within reasonable range of the flag. The only way Blizzard could make the message any clearer would be for them to have 50-foot tall neon signs pointing at the flag saying, "Fight Here!"

This means it's always ill-advised to leave a node unguarded. Resist the urge to go where the fighting is, despite the common lull that can happen when a node isn't being attacked. Sometimes a player's worst enemy in Arathi Basin can be boredom, which can strike those who nobly stay to defend the flag. One of the absolute worst things any player can do in Arathi Basin is to needlessly fight on the roads, which doesn't quite achieve anything.

It also goes without saying that having more nodes is better. While controlling three nodes is a slow and steady way to win the game, there's always the danger of losing a node and having the tide turn. As difficult as it may be to pull off, a five-cap or control of all five nodes is the best way to ensure victory, even if maintained only long enough to gain a sizable lead. For new players, simply providing warm bodies to protect flags and call out incoming enemies is key. Don't be afraid to type in the chat channel by typing /bg and keeping your team informed. Even lowbies can help immensely in this respect.

On to Alterac Valley!
Arathi Basin is a fun, fast-paced game that, if you play it right, might even end up with very little PvP at all. It's actually kind of Zen. After we take a quick look at all the other Battlegrounds (don't hold your breath, we've got four more to go...), we'll look at specific strategies every class can employ in each one. In the meantime, don't be afraid to cause some Battleground mayhem! Next week, we'll take a beginner's look at Alterac Valley.

November 13, 2009

Deathknight Level 70 Tanking Gear Set

My DK has got it goin' on!

She hit level 70 and swapped into the Cobalt gear set that's craftable by Blacksmiths in their early Northrend professions levels:

[Cobalt Helm]
[Cobalt Shoulders]
[Cobalt Chestpiece]
[Cobalt Bracers]
[Cobalt Boots]
[Cobalt Legplates]
[Cobalt Belt]
[Cobalt Gauntlets]

Then, after affixing Armor Kits and various enchants with the Outland and early Northrend materials I had laying around in this Enchanter's bank, I headed to the Auction House and picked myself up a few [Eternal Belt Buckle]s and a [Solid Chalcedony] to fill this current belt's gem slot as created by the belt buckle.

I looked for new rings and trinkets, and managed to pick up one Heavy Adamantite Ring for low cost, but since it's unique-equipped, I couldn't make use of two. Trinkets were available in the form of the Darkmoon Faire ones, but the cheapest one started at 500g and I'm not sure I'm ready to invest that much without a bit of thinking, first.

Before and After
I'd originally taken some screenshots to be included in this entry that were meant to show how much of a change this new gear is going to make for me, but I must admit - I was going to be comparing apples and oranges, and then I had blog problems, so I'll save those screenshots for another entry.

You see, I didn't plan to tank during the Outland levels and as a result I focused on my DPS set and DPS Blood spec. So when I plan show the difference between the DPS gear I had on when I hit 70 and the Tanking gear set I put on after I dinged, it's not really a fair comparison.


WoWGrrl's Done The Research Already!

Solid gearing lists for your Northrend toons, from Instances, Crafting, PvP and more!

WoWGrrl's Northrend Gearing Lists

Gearing Guides By WoWGrrl
I'm getting my Blacksmith buddy to craft me the cobalt DPS gear set soon, and once that's crafted then I can do a more direct comparison of the improvements that can be had with a wee bit of work right at the level 70 marker for plate-wearing DPS or Tanks (Paladin, Warrior, Deathknight).

Blizzard has done a really good job at making sure the Tanks can start to be decently geared going into the new leveling dungeons this time around - while DPS folk wearing tailored or leatherworked gear have to level up to 72/74/76 before they can wear their full "set" of gear, Tanks can deck themselves out right at 70.

It remains to be seen if DPS gear requires higher levels than 70 to wear the whole set!

Epic Flyer Purchased
Once I got my gear all in line, I headed through the portal to Shattrath City and then hopped the Taxi to Thrallmar.

Being only Honored with Thrallmar, the cost of my Epic Flying training was a cool 4500g. Ouch! That took a chunk out of my savings, but didn't decimate my monetary supplies like the first two characters I purchased Epic Flying for back in Burning Crusade. By the time my third character got to 70 in order to qualify for Epic Flying training, I had gotten a much better handle on my cash flow and still had thousands of gold left over.

With this Deathknight's purchase of Epic Flying skill, it's my fifth toon with Epic Flying.

It used to be that I bought Epic Flying more because of how painfully slow regular flying was in comparison - once you flew an Epic, your other flyers felt so horribly slow that you were MOTIVATED to get the money to upgrade to the faster flyer. But now, it's simply because I can!

Choosing A Rune Enchantment
Oh yah! One more enchant I got done was on my new 2h sword, but I forgot to write about it.

One thing that makes a Deathknight unique from almost every other class in World of Warcraft is that we can enchant our own weapons with class-related skills.

Now, I realize the Warlocks can do the same, but I don't think their firestones, etc, have the same flexibility as the Deathknight Runeforging.

After I finished off the enchants and armor patches and had visited the Auction House to get some belt buckles and a cheap stamina gem to go into it, I opened up my Death Gate and headed back to "home base" to apply a runeforge enchant to my new 2h sword. My sword wasn't anything spectactular, so I'm not thinking of applying any "real" enchants on it yet.

I looked through my list of Runeforge enchants, and finally chose Rune of Swordshattering for my tanking sword:

Rune of Swordshattering: Affixes your two-handed rune weapon with a rune that increases Parry chance by 4% and reduces the duration of Disarm effects by 50%.

That looks like a good tanking runeforge to me!

Stay tuned for an upcoming entry where I talk about the coming together of my Blood DPS set, along with my first adventures as a tank in Northrend.

WoW Icecrown Citadel Loot

Update #2: Added the stats of a few Tier 10 sets
Update: Added the spec column for all the items, added a lot of 25-man items and 10-Man items, added reputation rings. I do realize that some of the 10-man normal mode items are flagged as heroic but at this point I'll just assume it's a bug.

Icecrown Citadel Raid Loot
The raid instance has been itemized as well and this news will be updated throughout the night.


25-Man Normal Mode

ilvl Type Spec Slot Item
264 Axe Melee.DPS Two-Hand Bryntroll, the Bone Arbiter
264 Dagger Spell Main Hand Frozen Bonespike
264 Fist Weap. Melee.DPS Main Hand Black Bruise
264 Gun Tank Ranged Rowan's Rifle of Silver Bullets
264 Shield Spell Shield Bulwark of Smouldering Steel
264 Staff Phys.DPS Two-Hand Distant Land
264 Plate Melee.DPS Chest Gendarme's Cuirass
264 Plate Melee.DPS Hands Fleshrending Gauntlets
264 Plate Spell MP5 Head Faceplate of the Forgotten
264 Plate Spell MP5 Shoulder Rusted Citadel Stormers
264 Plate Spell Waist Belt of the Lonely Noble
264 Plate Tank Legs Legguards of Lost Hope
264 Plate Tank Waist Belt of Broken Bones
264 Plate Tank Wrist Bracers of Dark Reckoning
264 Mail Phys.DPS Chest Carapace of Forgotten Kings
264 Mail Phys.DPS Head Snowserpent Mail Helm
264 Mail Phys.DPS Waist Nerub'ar Stalker's Cord
264 Mail Spell MP5 Hands Unclean Surgical Gloves
264 Mail Spell MP5 Legs Leggings of Dubious Charms
264 Mail Spell Shoulder Horrific Flesh Epaulets
264 Leather Phys.DPS Feet Frostbitten Fur Boots
264 Leather Phys.DPS Legs Gangrenous Leggings
264 Leather Spell Hands Handguards of Winter's Respite
264 Cloth Spell Hit Legs Plaguebringer's Stained Pants
264 Cloth Spell Feet Plague Scientist's Boots
264 Cloth Spell Shoulder Stiffened Corpse Shoulderpads
264 Cloth Spell Waist Crushing Coldwraith Belt
264 Cloth Spell Waist Lingering Illness
264 Misc. Melee.DPS Finger Might of Blight
264 Misc. Melee.DPS Finger Ring of Rotting Sinew
264 Misc. Phys.DPS Finger Band of the Bone Colossus
264 Misc. Phys.DPS Neck Wodin's Lucky Necklace
264 Misc. Spell Hit Finger Loop of the Endless Labyrinth
264 Misc. Spell MP5 Finger Marrowgar's Frigid Eye
264 Misc. Spell MP5 Neck Putrid Embrace
264 Misc. Spell Neck Bone Sentinel's Amulet
264 Misc. Tank Finger Harbinger's Bone Band

10-Man Normal Mode

ilvl Type Spec Slot Item

251 Axe Phys.DPS One-Hand Bone Warden's Splitter
251 Mace Phys.DPS One-Hand Gutbuster
251 Mace Tank One-Hand The Brokenhammer
251 Staff Spell Hit Two-Hand Abracadaver
251 Sword Melee.DPS Two-Hand Citadel Enforcer's Claymore
251 Sword Spell Hit Main Hand Frost Needle
251 Plate Melee.DPS Hands Festering Fingerguards
251 Plate Spell MP5 Feet Ancient Skeletal Boots
251 Plate Spell MP5 Hands Festergut's Gaseous Gloves
251 Plate Spell Legs Corrupted Silverplate Leggings
251 Mail Phys.DPS Waist Linked Scourge Vertebrae
251 Mail Spell MP5 Wrist Coldwraith Bracers
251 Leather Phys.DPS Legs Plague-Soaked Leather Leggings
251 Leather Spell Wrist Wrists of Septic Shock
251 Cloth Spell Legs Kilt of Untreated Wounds
251 Cloth Spell Shoulder Bloodstained Surgeon's Shoulderguards
251 Cloth Spell Waist Cord of the Patronizing Practitioner
251 Cloak Phys.DPS Back Shawl of Nerubian Silk
251 Cloak Tank Back Cloak of Many Skins
251 Misc. Phys.DPS Neck Precious's Putrid Collar
251 Misc. Spell MP5 Finger Signet of Putrefaction
251 Misc. Spell Trinket Sliver of Pure Ice
251 Misc. Tank Neck Marrowgar's Scratching Choker

Reputation Rewards

Note: You can upgrade these rings for more powerful version as your standing with the Ashen Verdict increase.

ilvl Type Spec Slot Item

251 Misc. Tank Finger Ashen Band of Courage
251 Misc. Phys.DPS Finger Ashen Band of Vengeance
251 Misc. Spell Hit Finger Ashen Band of Destruction
251 Misc. Spell MP5 Finger Ashen Band of Wisdom



Tier 10 Armor Sets
The stats of a few Tier 10 Sets have been discovered. (Sets with a Purple name below)



Class ilvl 251 ilvl 264 ilvl 277
Death Knight Scourgelord's Battlegear Sanctified Battlegear Sanctified Battlegear (Heroic)
Death Knight Scourgelord's Plate Sanctified Plate Sanctified Plate (Heroic)
Druid Lasherweave's Garb Sanctified Garb Sanctified Garb (Heroic)
Druid Lasherweave's Battlegear Sanctified Battlegear Sanctified Battlegear (Heroic)
Druid Lasherweave's Regalia Sanctified Regalia Sanctified Regalia (Heroic)
Hunter Ahn'Kahar Blood Hunter's Battlegear Sanctified Battlegear Sanctified Battlegear (Heroic)
Mage Bloodmage's Regalia Sanctified Regalia Sanctified Regalia (Heroic)
Paladin Lightsworn Garb Sanctified Garb Sanctified Garb (Heroic)
Paladin Lightsworn Plate Sanctified Plate Sanctified Plate (Heroic)
Paladin Lightsworn Battlegear Sanctified Battlegear Sanctified Battlegear (Heroic)
Priest Crimson Acolyte's Regalia Sanctified Regalia Sanctified Regalia (Heroic)
Priest Crimson Acolyte's Raiment Sanctified Raiment Sanctified Raiment (Heroic)
Rogue Shadowblade's Battlegear Sanctified Battlegear Sanctified Battlegear (Heroic)
Shaman Frost Witch's Garb Sanctified Garb Sanctified Garb (Heroic)
Shaman Frost Witch's Battlegear Sanctified Battlegear Sanctified Battlegear (Heroic)
Shaman Frost Witch's Regalia Sanctified Regalia Sanctified Regalia (Heroic)
Warlock Dark Coven's Regalia Sanctified Regalia Sanctified Regalia (Heroic)
Warrior Ymirjar Lord's Battlegear Sanctified Battlegear Sanctified Battlegear (Heroic)
Warrior Ymirjar Lord's Plate Sanctified Plate Sanctified Plate (Heroic)