World Wide Invitational: WoW News

This weekend, in Paris, France the Blizzard World Wide Invitational is being held. Outside of the great Diablo 3 news, there is also some WoW news to touch on as well.

Hunter pets are getting their own talent trees, including a tanking tree, a dps tree, and a utility tree. This is a great change in my opinion, as it makes the hunter pet (the main reason to be a huntard in my opinion) that much more of a powerhouse. Could this mean that hunter pets could be the next tank? With enough threat generation, and Stamina they could.

Shamans are getting a polymorph style CC, and some totems like Strength of Earth, and Grace of Air are being combined. Also, totems will stretch to the entire raid, not just the party they are in.

MMO-Champion has a long list of additional changes as well.

News: Diablo 3

The recent splash page preview that I talked about last week, has been revealed. Diablo 3! Check out the teaser video:


Diablo 3 - Cinematic Teaser from Boubouille on Vimeo.

Amazing! Really looking forward to this. :)

News: Horde get Brewfest Kodo, Alliance gets Ram

According to a blue post today, Alliance players will not be getting the Brewfest Kodo as expected. The Alliance will get the Brewfest Ram that was given away last year. I just don't understand this move. The Horde was given the chance to get the Brewfest Ram last year, a dwarf racial item, with little or no effort. Now Blizzard is 'fixing' there problem by giving the Horde something else.

Now I don't want to get off on a rant here*, but it just seems spiteful to me. I don't see what the problem would be in having a Kodo on the Alliance side. There doesn't seem to be any issue with the Horde having Rams.... and while we are on the subject of mounts, why can you only ride certain mounts. Shouldn't Asher be able to run up on a dang Zhervra, or Wolf or whatever and ride it wherever I go! I paid 5,000 gold for my epic training, I should be able to ride NPC's, dangit! Can't you just see Dorabel riding high on her epic Thrall mount.

*Apologies to Dennis Miller

News: Worldofwarcraft.com splash page

A new splash page shown on the World of Warcraft community frontpage shows an interesting new graphic. What looks to be the runes from Frostmourn radiate from the main page.

Since the World Wide Invitational is being held in Paris, France this weekend, I predict this will be the street date for Wrath of the Lich King. Before anyone gets excited, Blizzard is well known for changing street dates. If I were a betting man, and I am, I would say that WotLK will be out between Thanksgiving and Christmas. They will blow right through that date, and release in mid-Janurary, much like The Burning Crusade.

Midsummer Festival! v0.2

Honor the Flame

Eastern Kingdom
Arathi Highlands - Refuge Pointe 50, 44
Blasted Lands - Nethergarde Keep 58, 17
Burning Steppes - Morgan's Vigil 80, 62
Dun Morogh - Ironforge 64, 25
Dun Morogh - Kharanos 46, 46
Duskwood - Darkshire 74, 51
Elwynn Forest - Goldshire 43, 65
Elwynn Forest - Stormwind 41, 61
Hillsbrad Foothills - Southshore 50, 46
Loch Modan - Thelsamar 32, 40
Redridge Mountains - Lakeshire 24, 59
Stranglethorn Vale - Booty Bay 33, 73
The Hinterlands - Aerie Peak 14, 50
Western Plaguelands - Chillwind Camp 43, 82
Westfall - Sentinel Hill 56, 54
Wetlands - Menethil Harbor 13, 47

Kalimdor
Ashenvale - Astranaar 38, 54
Azuremyst Isle - The Exodar 41, 26
Azuremyst Isle - Azure Watch 44, 53
Bloodmyst Isle - Blood Watch 55, 69
Darkshore - Auberdine 37, 46
Desolace - Nijel's Point 65, 17
Dustwallow Marsh - Theramore Isle 62, 40
Feralas - Feathermoon Stronghold 28, 44
Silithus - Cenarion Hold 57, 34
Tanaris - Gadgetzan 52, 29
Teldrassil - Darnassus 57, 93
Teldrassil - Dolanaar 55, 60
Winterspring - Everlook 62, 35

Outlands
Blade's Edge Mountains - Sylvanaar 42, 66
Hellfire Peninsula - Honor Hold 62, 58
Nagrand - Telaar 50, 70
Netherstorm - Area 52 31, 63
Shadowmoon Valley - Wildhammer Stronghold 40, 55
Terokkar Forest - Allerian Stronghold 55, 55
Zangamarsh - Telredor 69, 52

Desecrate the Flame

Eastern Kingdoms
Arathi Highlands - Hammerfall 74, 41
Badlands - Kargath 4, 49
Burning Steppes - Flame Crest 62, 29
Eversong Woods - North Sanctum 46, 50
Eversong Woods - Silvermoon City 70, 43
Ghostlands - Tranquillien 46, 26
Hillsbrad Foothills - Tarren Mill 58, 25
Silverpine Forest - The Sepulcher 49, 38
Stranglethorn Vale - Booty Bay 32, 75
Swamp of Sorrows - Stonard 47, 47
The Hinterlands - Revantusk Village 76, 74
Tirisfal Glades - Undercity 68, 9
Tirisfal Glades - Brill 57, 52

Kalimdor
Ashenvale - Splintertree Post 70, 69
Desolace - Shadowprey Village 26, 76
Durotar - Orgrimmar 47, 38
Durotar - Razor Hill 52, 47
Dustwallow Marsh - Brackenwall Village 33, 30
Feralas - Camp Mojache 72, 47
Mulgore - Thunder Bluff 21, 26
Mulgore - Bloodhoof Village 51, 60
Silithus - Cenarion Hold 46, 44
Stonetalon Mountains - Sun Rock Retreat 50, 60
Tanaris - Gadgetzan 49, 27
The Barrens - Crossroads 52, 28
Thousand Needles - Freewind Post 41, 52
Winterspring - Everlook 59, 35

Outlands
Blade's Edge Mountains - Thunderlord Stronghold 50, 59
Hellfire Peninsula - Thrallmar 55, 40
Nagrand - Garadar 51, 34
Netherstorm - Area 52 32, 68
Shadowmoon Valley - Shadowmoon Village 33, 30
Terokkar Forest - Stonebreaker Hold 52, 43
Zangamarsh - Zabra'Jin 36, 52

Version History
0.1 - Original Draft
0.2 - Updated Honor/Desecrate the Flame quest locations

Midsummer Festival!

((Note: This is a work in progress, and will be updated frequently on the blog until it is completed.))

Frostlord

Inside Slavepens

New Dailies

Flame Catching -
Flame Tossing -

Honor the Flame

Eastern Kingdom
Morgan's Vigil - Southwest of Flightpath
Redridge - West of Flightpath
Goldshire - East of city
Westfall - Next to Flightpath
Duskwood - South of city
Netherguard Keep - Outside city gates to the north
Karanos - South of Ironforge
Loch Modan - Thelsamar (west of the city)
Menthil Harbor - Over the bridge
Southshore - North of Flightpath
Arathi Basin - East of Refugee Point
Arathi Highlands - East of Flightpath
Western Plaguelands - Chillwind Camp

Eastern Plaguelands, Thorium Point, Rebel Camp, and Booty Bay do not have Honor the Flame quest givers.

Kalimdor

Auberdine - Next to Flightpath
Winterspring - North of Flightpath (Horde fire west of Flightpath)
Astranaar - East of City
Nijel Point - South of City
Gadgetzhan - West of Flightpath (Horde fire, east of Flightpath)
Silithus - East of City


((More updates later))


Sanctum of the Stars, Un'goro,

News: 2.4.3 PTR is up

MMO-Champion has the PTR patch notes, and undocumented changes. There are a few exciting changes upcoming. Here are a few that I picked out.

-Regular mount minimum level is reduced from 40 to 30: This is a good change I think. The grind through the 30's, especially in STV, will be much easier. I am sure this will get a lot of complaints.

-Epic gems from arena point vendor: All the honor gems are now available for 800 Arena Points.

-Tailoring gets a 28 slot herb bag: About time. The 24 bag is fine, but bigger is always better.

-Haris Pilton vendor: This vendor in Worlds End Tavern in Shattrath, offers a number of different items, including a 1200g 22-slot bag. The other stuff is money sinks, ala Griftah.

-A bunch of new mounts: A new bear mount, the headless horsemen mount and a Brewfest Kodo! A Kodo! I hope Alliance gets it too!

-Magister's Terrance changes: The stun effect from the Mage guards has been removed (thank god).

There are a number of other changes as well. Let me know if you get on the PTR!

Screencap: Aeth as Gnome

Just before killing Big Bad Wolf in Karazhan, Aeth was turned into Little Red. Trinkit couldn't keep her hands off the new Gnome.

/laugh

Raid Night: Karazhan

Tonight we hit up Karazhan for our weekly badge run. We took down Attumen, Moroes, Maiden, and Big Bad Wolf in 89 minutes. The last two hours were devoted to Nightbane (one shot), Curator (one shot), and Illhoof (3 shot). I picked up Barbed Choker of Discipline off of Maiden, replacing an embarrassing blue.

We picked up 13 badges, bringing my current total to 73. That led Aeth and I into a conversation about the badge chest pieces. He pointed me to Maintankadin, a forum for paladin tanks. There, I found a list of epic tanking gear. The three chest pieces that were discussed, Chestplate of Stoicism, Chestguard of the Stoic Guardian, and Shattrath Protectorate's Breastplate. I was pretty set on the Breastplate, due to the high spellpower and spellhit, but according to the list its pretty low. The Chestplate and the Chestguard are both in the #3 spot, and I am kind of torn. I will most likely end up getting the Chestplate, as it is more stamina.

Either way, I will have finally replaced a blue with an epic. Then all thats left is my shoulders. I have thought about running Heroic Sethekk alot to get them, but they are the lowest epic shoulders you can get. I will have more luck getting them off of High King, or the first timed chest from ZA, of which we are about to get.

All in all it was a good night. Looking forward to ZA on Thursday.

PvP Woes

We won our first 3v3 match tonight, but lost the next six. We faced a couple of really, really good groups including a Rogue, Rogue, Druid and Warlock, Priest, Druid. I am not sure what to change, but I think we need to, as a group, study more on strategy.

Weekend Play

On Friday, I worked some dailies with Dorabel to gain some cash, and hit up a pug group for Heroic Sethekk Halls on Asher. That was a terrible group. The shadow priest couldn't keep anything shackled for more than 10 seconds, the paladin healer let me die while lagging 4 times, and the hunter was in almost all greens. This is why I don't do pugs.

Saturday was another day of dailies on Dorabel. I was going to go to Gruul with Cenarian Protectors, but some real life friends came over and we had a great night of cold beers and lively conversation.

Today, I hit Exalted with Shattered Sun Offensive with Dorabel. Now I have to get from 3K into Honored, to Exalted with the Scryers so I can use the new neck piece. Looking forward to that long grind.

News: Arena Season 4 Begins 6/24

According to Blue Poster Eyonix, Arena season 4 starts on June 24th! Save your points! All personal and team ratings will be changed to 1500 for a fresh start. Season 1 gear will no longer be available from the Honor vendor (but will still be available from the Shattered Sun vendor for Tier 4 tokens), and Season 2 gear will take its place. Season 3 gear will now have lower personal rating requirement, and lower cost.

The first couple of days after new arena gear comes out, there is a big push for enchanting, and other item enhancement goods (armor kits being one). So if you have some extra stuff lying around, might be a good idea to put it up on the AH the evening of the 24th.

Screencap: At the Feet of Ragnoros

This was taken at our recent BYOB Molten Core run, before we took down the Fire Lord. We had a great time, and are heading into Naxx for our next BYOB run on May 27th, 2008 if anyone on SC would like to go.

Raid Night: Karazhan

Our weekly badge run into Kara was a great success this week. We got through Curator, with Nightbane down as well. Jeralon (70 Dranaei Hunter) got a nice trinkit, and Saffrin (70 Night Elf Druid [Restoration]) picked up 3 pieces for her Feral set. On top of that 11 badges, and we had a good night. I have 59 saved badges now, aiming for 100 to get Shattrath Protectorate's Breastplate.

I also plan on farming Heroic Sethekk Halls for the Spaulders of Dementia. They aren't the best tanking shoulders in the game, but they are a great upgrade from my current DS3 set shoulders. The only ones better where I am currently are the Mantle of Abrahmis off of Netherspite.

I also found a great video to share.


'Warcraft' Sequel Lets Gamers Play A Character Playing 'Warcraft'

Horde Monday: Dustwallow Marsh Questing

Only 4 of our 5 members were on tonight, so we were minus a tank. There was talk of hitting up Stranglethorn Vale, but I am pretty much sick of the place. I hadn't done the Horde side Dustwallow Marsh quests, so I suggested it. It was agreed, and we all moved over there.

The questing was uneventful, and a bit boring really. Some lively chatter kept things interesting though. Should have put on some music. I hit 38 on my BE Hunter tonight, and should get to 39 next week. I am looking forward to my mount, even if its a stupid chicken.

After we were done, I popped onto Dorabel to do some dailies. I knocked out about 130g worth, and got the mats together for my Nethercleft Leg Armor for my Season 3 pants. Its nice to have that stamina. Rhianne was kind enough to make the kit for me. Thanks!

test

Screencap: Anzu

Tonight, Isbaern (70 Night Elf Warrior [Protection]), Cattianna (70 Human Priest [Shadow]), Aeth (70 Human Paladin [Retribution]), and Saffrin (70 Night Elf Druid [Restoration]) and myself as Asher (70 Dwarf Paladin, normally [Protection], but respeced to [Shockadin] for dps) took on Heroic Sethekk Halls. It was the first time I had been there, and it was hard, but not impossible. Saffrin even had the stuff to summon the Raven boss. In this shot, you can see us waiting for the summoning.

Here he is as he attacks. It was a fun fight.

Overheard: Hurricaine

My buddy, and former Keeper and High Council member Hurricaine messaged me about tonights Arena matches.

Hurricaine: Will be back on in a little while for arena little buddy.
Dorabel: Who you calling little, elf?
Hurricaine: Haven't you looked in the mirror lately? You're a dwarf!

Raid Night: Gruul's Lair

Tonight Wipes on Trash teemed up with Cenaurian Protectors to take on Gruul. We were able to get High King down on our third try, which was really awesome. Saffrin got her T4 Shoulders, and I got Bladespire Warbands for my dps set. The only thing I am really missing for my Retribution set, is a decent 2h weapon.

I switched from Asher to Dorabel to give the team more dps, and we started working on Gruul. About 10 people had not been to Gruul before, and the dps was lacking. We had him down to 35% on our best try. I think we can get him down next week.

Adormra hits 58!

Outlands here I come! I hit 58 today, and I am happy to be moving on to the Outlands with this toon. I spent the gold to level his Leatherworking to 300, so I am ready to start the cool stuff out there.

I am really stoked. :)

Raid Night: Zul'Aman

We hit up Zul'Aman with the help of Avalanche (70 Night Elf Druid [Feral]) and Kelwinn (70 Night Elf Druid [Restoration]) from Amicitia. We got to the Bear Boss without a major problem, but wiped on the first try. We were close to the timer too, but we were able to get him on the second try. I got Jungle Stompers, which is great as its the first piece on spec that I have gotten out of ZA. I bought a +15 Stamina gem for them.

We made the Eagle Boss gauntlet with no problems. Kelwinn remarked that we had a good system for the gauntlet. We knocked down the Eagle with no problems, and Saffrin (70 Night Elf Druid [Restoration]) picked up Brooch of Nature's Mercy.

Avalanche showed us a short cut up to the Lynx, which saved us about 45 minutes of trash pulls. We were able to give the Lynx 3 shots, and the second one had him down to 12% before he enranged, killing me with a 115,000 (yes, thats right) crit. I don't think he will be killing us too much often.

It was a good night, but still haven't progressed. Soon.

Playing Catch Up

I have had a terribly busy week in real life, which has kept me away from my blog. A thousand apologies. Here is some quick notes about the last few days.

Horde Monday! We had 9 people on, and played two games of Warsong Gulch. Most of our group was 39, I was only 36. I led in both games (Horde and Alliance) for Killing Blows, Honor Kills, and Damage. It truly, truly amazes me that I am able to outclass all the other DPS when I am 3 levels lower. Rhianne seems to think its because I have played a hunter before, so I know how to be successful. Maybe everyone else just sucks. :D (joke there, calm down Dragon)

Raid Night: Karazhan! On Tuesday we didn't have enough geared players to do ZA, so we went into Kara and got through the Curator. Everything seemed slow to me. We have gotten through Shade (with Illhoof and Nightbane down) on one night. I think we are going to start splitting the week up between ZA, and Kara badge runs. This should help us get the SSO loot gear quicker.

I didn't play at all on Wednesday, other than to log into my auction house alts and scan the AH.

Tonight is ZA. Hopefully we will get off the ground tonight. If not, might do a Heroic or two.

WIDT: Four Levels

After last nights alcohol induced MC run, I was feeling pretty crappy all day. So I just banged out some time on my NE Rogue. I went from 4 bars into 50, to 3 bars into 54 in about 9 hours. I also got his Leatherworking up to 280, so I should hit 300 by 58.

I need to get into ST, and BRD soon. Hopefully I can beg a run from someone.