Project Lore

Project Lore clears a path to the third boss in Heroic Botanica, Thorngrin the Tender. Will the guys make Throngrin frown or will they tender their resignation? Check out the crowd control chat and more as Project lore faces Thorngrin the Tender.

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Project Lore continues its adventure into Heroic Botanica and meets the second boss, High Botanist Freywinn. Will Project Lore kill this insane gardener or will they be pushing up daisies? Watch as the guys talk about healing then take on High Botanist Freywinn

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Project Lore confronts Commander Sarannis in Heroic Tempest Keep - The Botanica. Will Project Lore take command in this fight or come up short? Check out the tank talk and of course, the first big boss fight in Heroic Botanica.

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We've posted the guide for Episode 5's instance: Botanica. Check it out, and let us know if you've got any tips or secret tactics that aren't in there. This week, Juggynaut returns to kick some ass as an Enhancment, and DrDark remains MIA. In his place is, once again, Shnoobins. The team also goes over the basics of the different roles in group play. The release schedule for this week is as follows: Episode 5.1 - Noon PDT on Monday, August 11th Episode 5.2 - Noon PDT on Tuesday, August 12th Episode 5.3 - Noon PDT on Wednesday, August 13th Episode 5.4 - Noon PDT on Thursday, August 14th Episode 5.5 - Noon PDT on Friday, August 15th If you haven't already, you can subscribe to the new and improved Episodes RSS feed and the Blog RSS feed, or follow our Twitter to find out when new episodes are out.

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The Botanica is the second part of the Tempest Keep instances in Netherstorm. These wings are floating off of the east side of the zone, and are accessed by flying mount or warlock summon. Enemies inside include Mechanicals, humanoids, demons, beasts, and elementals. There are five bosses in the instance, and all of them are technically optional, though most of the trash leading to each must be cleared to continue through the instance. Enemies in the Botanica give Sha'tar Reputation, and heroic mode require the Warpforged Key, purchasable in the center of Shattrath from Almaador.

	Enter the Botanica. Most of the mobs in the instance will need to be killed to clear all of the bosses, though a few can be avoided. If possible, Mind Control the Menders to cast Holy Fury on any classes that use spells, as it gives a huge buff to spell damage. You'll eventually find a group of dragonhawks with a single humanoid. If possible, crowd control the humanoid because she will direct all of the birds onto a single random target after some time, making tanking them all very difficult. With her out of the fight, they follow a normal aggro table. Prior to the boss who pats up and down a bridge leading to a small window overlooking the Warp Splinter's room, there are nine enemies who pull in groups of three. Be careful to pull these while the boss is away in order to avoid an accidental pull of the boss.
	Head past the first boss and then stay towards the left wall to avoid some pulls, but be careful because some mobs in the groups around the tables are difficult to see. Be very careful with chemists, as they drop a Vial of Poison that causes a green cloud that must be avoided, since it does a lot of damage. Pull the single elite with the non elites and AoE them down. The next pull is the nearest four mobs by the wall, so be ready. After that, clear the rest of the mobs and get ready for the second boss.
	Continue heading into the Botanica, downing the AoE pull with the single elite and then watch for glowing red enemies. The buff will dissipate after some time, so be patient. Interrupt the channelers when they cast soul channel, since it does significant damage. Head down the right side of the room, watching for pats of demons on the ramp area. Pull the group of four demons while the channeler is away and while they are not glowing red, then pull the channeler when it is not glowing red. Repeat for the other group. Before pulling the boss, run to the left to find a set of stealthed satyrs to avoid pulling them during the boss fight.
	Go back towards where the stealthed demons were and continue. Watch out because Gene-Splicers will cast a red cloud, Death and Decay, on the ground that does high damage, so get out of it. They also summon non-elite adds. Harvesters cast polymorph, and Fear Shriekers will fear, as well.
	Head down the ramp past Laj and take on a couple of AoE pulls before the final boss Warp Splinter.

Commander Sarannis

Abilities

• Arcane Resonance: A magical debuff that increases arcane damage taken
• Arcane Devastation: An arcane based melee attack

Strategy

A relatively simple fight, dispel the Arcane Resonance debuff if possible. After some time, she will summon three Bloodwarder Reservists (non-elite) and a Bloodwarder Mender (elite). The easiest way to deal with these is to fear them while the boss is finished off, and they can be avoided entirely by killing the boss before they spawn.

Heroic

Exactly the same fight, with more applications of Arcane Resonance. It should still be relatively easy to kill the boss before the adds appear.

High Botanist Freywinn

Abilities

• Plant Blue Seedling: Spawns a Blue Seedling that casts a slow effect.
• Plant Green Seedling: Spawns a Green Seedling that inflicts a damage aura.
• Plant Red Seedling: Spawns a Red Seedling that deals direct damage.
• Plant White Seedling: Spawns a White Seedling that casts Freezing Touch.
• Tree Form: Transforms into a Tree of Life, becoming invulnerable and summoning Protectors. Once the Protectors are killed, he will transform back into his humanoid form.
• Tranquility: Cast over the entire duration of Tree Form, heals High Botanist Freywinn and all of his adds for 1% of his health every 2 seconds

Strategy

Freywinn should be tanked at the close side of the bridge. One DPS class should take out the seedlings as the spawn. Once he transforms into the Tree Form, all party members should run out of the tranquility and then take out the protectors to minimize the amount of healing Freywinn is able to do. Once the protectors die, resume DPS on the boss. Repeat this strategy as he transforms back and forth.

Heroic

Other than increased damage and hit points, this fight is exactly the same.

Thorngrin the Tender

Abilities

• Sacrifice: Occasionally sacrifices a party member, teleporting them to Thorngrin's initial position and doing Shadow damage over time. This will only hit targets in line of sight and those other than his primary target.
• Hellfire: Channels Hellfire at his feet, causing fire damage in large radius around him
• Enrage: Occasionally enrages, increasing attack speed by 75% and physical damage by 110.

Strategy

The main idea here is to avoid his hellfire, which can be accomplished by tanking him away from the altar where party members are sacrificed. All party members can run out of his hellfire as soon as he casts it, helping to alleviate some pressure on the healer. If possible, the healer should stay out of Thorngrin's line of sight to avoid a sacrifice. Fire and shadow resistance are also helpful to mitigate a large amount of his damage.

Heroic

No major changes, but all damage is increased

Laj

Abilities

• Allergic Reaction: A disease that does periodic nature damage and increases damage taken by 500. It can spread to nearby players. Dispellable.
• Summon Thorn Flayer & Summon Thorn Lasher: Adds will be summoned to the two pedestals near Laj. These will randomly be Thorn Lashers or Thorn Flayers.

Strategy

Throughout the fight, Laj will teleport back to his spawning point and summon two adds. Each time Laj teleports, he will change colors, signifying a different resistance. Black is Shadow, Blue is Frost, Green is nature, Red is Fire Resistant, White is Arcane Resistance. Laj can either be tanked on his platform or in the area before his room, out of line of sight of the adds. If he is tanked on his platform, take care of the adds as soon as possible by killing or crowd controlling them. The adds can be feared and banished, so warlocks should be able to take two out of the fight. If he is tanked in the hallway, the adds should be killed once Laj teleports back to his platform while he runs back to the group. After Laj dies, the adds persist, so be ready to kill them afterwards.

Heroic

The same tactics can be applied, as Laj has no new abilities.

Warp Splinter

Abilities

• Spawn Treants - summons 6 Saplings on the grassy area around Warp Splinter. They are slow moving, but will do melee damage to targets in their range. After approximately 20 seconds, they will despawn and heal Warp Splinter for their remaining health.
• Stomp - 1000-2500 physical damage, 25 yard range AoE stun increasing damage taken by 550 - lasts 5 seconds.
• Arcane Volley - Hits all targets in range with arcane bolts.

Strategy

Ranged DPS and healers should stand at a distance in order to avoid the Stomp. Warp Splinter should be faced away from the group to avoid arcane volley as well. If you have a warlock or a priest, tank Warp Splinter at the part of the path where it starts to spread out into the large area where he stands. Then, healers and ranged DPS should stand where Warp Splinter starts. This will attract the adds to them, and they can then be fear bombed to prevent them from healing Warp Splinter when they despawn. A warrior tank can do the same with positions reversed. If you have no AoE fear, focus fire the adds down or ignore them if you feel your DPS is high enough.

Heroic

Warp Splinter has no new abilities, so the same tactics are effective.

Lore

The Botanica is one satellite wing of the Tempest Keep. The Tempest Keep is a fortress created by the Naaru. It contained three other satellites, the Arcatraz, the Mechanar, and the Exodar. The fortress is able to travel along the Twisting Nether to travel almost instantly between places. The Naaru used this ability of the Tempest Keep to travel to the Outlands, but when they left the fortress, the blood elves led by Prince Kael'thas attacked it and took it over. The Botanica is a center for plant experimentation for Kael'thas and his Blood Elves. Commander Sarannis is stationed there, along with High Botanist Freywinn. Together they are in charge of creating strange plant and elemental based abominations, including Laj and Warp Splinter. Warp Splinter is an ancient of the arcane that has been confused and twisted into becoming evil. By taking a piece of him back to Darnassus, the being can be grown anew over thousands of years.

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BlizzCon tickets go on sale tomorrow. According to a blue post, it will happen sometime after the work day starts. So you won't have to stay up late tonight in order to guarantee yourself a spot. Last year, tickets sold out in days. Earlier this year, World Wide Invitational tickets sold out quickly, went back on sale, then sold out quickly again. So apparently, people like WoW and want exclusive swag. If you want to go to BlizzCon, you'd better check that official BlizzCon website often on Monday, so you don't get left high and dry. I know at least a few of you are anxious to get your hands on tickets to the convention. Many people seem to already have made plans, travel arrangements, and hotel reservations. Who of you are among them? How many of you have made up your minds about getting that polar bear mount, winning the costume contest, or making your to class designers about nerfing warlocks? The show isn't going to be far from where I live, so who knows, I may just have to show my face there. Or maybe I'll dress up in a murloc suit.

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To celebrate the 2008 Olympic Games, Blizzard has implemented a couple of fun new rewards for competition in battlegrounds. There is a new tabard that is pretty much a participation ribbon, it is a white tabard with four colored rings on it. In order to get it, all you need to do is run any battleground once and stay until the marks are awarded. You don't have to win, but you need to stay till the bitter end. Afterwards, you'll get the tabard in the mail. Easy, right? In a year, it might be a rare item that you can show off to all of those people who got recruited by their friends who just wanted an exclusive mount. Something that may end up being a little rarer than the tabard is the vanity pet. It is a very cool looking chinese type dragon, and you can summon it using the Gold Medal that you have a chance to receive when you win any battleground. Check your mail after each win if you're one of the many pet collectors. Now you've got even more incentive to keep running those BGs. Don't forget to read up on the basic strategies for each battleground that SaintGermain posted a while back, if you really want a chance at winning that gold medal.

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The conclusion of Episode 4 has been posted! Project Lore finishes its adventure in the Underbog by taking on The Black Stalker. More tactics for this fight can be found in the Underbog guide. Also, let us know if you know a good way to take down this mother. Characters featured in this episode: Dorkins, Goggins, Xenophontos, Lylelovett, and Shnoobins. Subscribe to the Episodes RSS feed, the Blog RSS feed, or Twitter to find out when new episodes are out, and join our Facebook Group, Facebook Page, and MySpace. That's it for Episode 4, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Don't forget that the schedule for next week's instance will be up on Sunday along with the guide for the instance.

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We love getting all of your great feedback on everything, and we are starting a new community feature for our future episodes where we can include you guys. So what we need right now are your questions. Do you want to know something about the site, the guides, the videos, the guys, the set, our computers, our addons, the Juggybox, our favorite colors, or anything else? Post your questions here and we might answer them on our new feature next week. Anything you want to know, put it here!

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Part three of episode 4 is available! Today, Project Lore finds a hunter and his pet, Swamplord Musel'ek and Claw. If you need some tips on taking these guys down, head to our Underbog guide. Also, let us know if you know some good tactics for taking on this duo. Characters featured in this episode: Dorkins, Goggins, Xenophontos, Lylelovett, and Shnoobins. Subscribe to the Episodes RSS feed, the Blog RSS feed, or Twitter to find out when new episodes are out, and join our Facebook Group, Facebook Page, and MySpace. Episode 4 concludes with part four tomorrow, when the boys take on The Black Stalker

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