Project Lore

Ah, patch 3.2. I hardly knew ye. It seems like just yesterday that I was running hToC for its awesome iLvl 219 upgrades and Champion's Seals. I fondly remember waiting each week for a new Crusader's Coliseum boss to be released. How times have changed. If I never run hToC again it'll be too soon, and I've farmed CC to my heart's content.  I've got a new raid to look forward to in patch 3.3, and lots of new content. Here is what my to-do list is going to look like for the first couple weeks:

• Check to see if any of my addons are updated, as new interface changes, such as a new map and objectives tracking, have broken a lot of my addons.
• Plan on completing the weekly raid quest to get by weekly 10 Frost Emblems to buy some shiny tier 10 gear.
• Plan on running Icecrown Citadel 10 and 25 man every week to maximize my Ashen Verdict reputation and Emblems of Frost, as well as see some of the coolest bosses and get epic loot.
• Use the Dungeon Finder tool to do a daily random heroic and obtain 2 Emblems of Frost.
• Run all three wings of the Frozen Halls for great gear and kicks, including a shot at the Battered Hilt to obtain Quel'Delar. Using the Dungeon Finder tool to find groups will bring me closer to the Perky Pug.
• Complete the daily Battleground quest to get 25 arena points.
• Sell my stockpiled materials, including Saronite and Arctic Fur, at exorbitant prices.
• Complain about not being in a progression guild good enough to clear all of the ICC content in one day.

I'm sure I'll be talking about my exploits with the new content on Twitter, as will the other Project Lore bloggers. What are your plans for a standard day in a 3.3 world?

[caption id="attachment_8982" align="alignright" width="251" caption="The Beginning Of The End"][/caption] Patch day is always a day spent killing time.  We'll chew the fat on Ventrilo, play other games or twiddle our thumbs as we watch out download or install complete, wait for guildies to do the same, or do the return from the dead server resurrection spell.  Basically, a ton of crap can, and usually does, go wrong.  That's why whenever a major patch comes out I write the day off as a complete loss.  Instead of expecting to play, I spend my free time getting in the mindset of the +1 increment to the patch version. I am lucky enough to have a crew of solid players to run the new 5-man dungeon (or the threesome of 5-mans if you look at it that way) with.  But like the 101st Airborne, we've had our sticks spread in the wind.  No more than two people of the large group of friends (each with at least two geared level 80s) are in the same guild.  Before I can begin hunting the Lich King, I must remedy my guild situation by hooking up with one of my many friends.  I can't believe I'll be joining my fourth guild since Wrath of the Lich King launched. Something far more fun to do during the downtime is to learn exactly who this Lich King fellow is.  What did he do to deserve our absolute hatred?  What foul acts did he commit that could join the Horde and Alliance together to fight a common enemy (again)?  If you're scratching your head at the difference between the Lich King, Arthas and Ner'zhul, then you have a lot of reading to do.  Here are some helpful links.

• Arthas Menethil - A quick synopsis from yours truly on Arthas.  It was one of my early articles for PL, coming before Wrath launched, so we have learned a lot more about Arthas since then.
• Arthas Menethil - WoWWiki's article will complete the discussion for you.
• Arthas' & The Lich King's Enemies - A synopsis of who has beef with the frosty one.  This article leads perfectly to...
• How Do You Want Arthas To Die? - Should he die?  Then who gets to kill him?  Is Arthas capable of redemption?  Or will his soul be banished forever?
• Arthas: Rise of the Lich King - I'll stop short of reading the novel again, but if you haven't read it already, now is the perfect time to dive into the best Warcraft-branded book.
• Ner'zhul - The original Lich King, betrayer of the Burning Legion and tempter of Arthas.  This orc started it all (and is no longer with us in body or spirit).

A new major content patch doesn't just mean downtime though.  It also means time spent on add-ons.  It doesn't matter if you employee an automatic updating technique or prefer the old method of self-updating, your add-ons are going to break with Patch 3.3.  I'll be scavenging the web for working alternatives or updates to my list of favorite add-ons throughout the day. Now, I may write off today's playtime due to server instability and patching issues, but the Auction House will (likely) be a hotbed of activity.  I'll spend a large portion of my time there, unloading all of the materials that I've been hording, and seeing if Heartbourne is correct in his crafting material estimations. That's actually turned out to be a lot of stuff for one day...I may need two.  What's first on your list?

[caption id="attachment_8988" align="alignright" width="245" caption="Can this man help us figure out the mystery of patch day maintenance?"][/caption] Probably the least surprising thing that could've happened today has, in fact, happened: likely due to the release of Patch 3.3, regular server maintenance has been extended for an undetermined amount of time. It was first announced at 11:04 AM PST by Bornakk:

We are performing extended maintenance while we resolve some additional issues. We do not have an estimate on when the realms will be available for play but we will provide another update in approximately 1 hour. Thank you for your patience.

Do note that this means another update will be given an hour from the original message, not that the extended maintenance will only last an extra hour. On patch days like this, it has been known to last most of the day, and even then, loads of problems including lag and the inability to access dungeon/raid portals have occurred once servers are back online. The question, of course, is: how does this keep on happening? You would think by now Blizzard would understand most of the potential problems that could occur and how to deal with them effectively, but like clock work, every time a new patch is set to release, we run into the same issues. It's one I ask out of curiosity, though. I don't mean to get down on the server techs, as though I know I jack about the architecture and maintenance of such, I do understand that they're complex systems. I've had a few friends that work in IT or at server farms and have heard of nothing but headaches. Still, the company controls when patches are released and have as much time as they allow themselves to make sure maintenance goes smoothly beforehand. My guess is that the monkey tasked with pushing the "Start World of Warcraft button" escaped his cage again. Anyway, we'll keep you updated on the situation as it changes and hopefully that means we'll be able to toy around with Patch 3.3 sooner rather than later. In the mean time, anyone want to share some conspiracy theories? Update: Blizzard's site is down and it seems even some of the fansites are having trouble what with everyone wanting to know what's going on. Thankfully, Twitter comes to the rescue. As of around 12:23 PM PST:

We are in the final stages of resolving the issues. We will provide another update in about 1 hour. Thank you for your patience.

After conquering the Pit of Saron, you enter the final wing in the new 5-man dungeons. Halls of Reflection is the mysterious chamber where the wretched blade Frostmourne is held when it is not by the Lich King's side. And why would that be? Some have speculated that the sword is an entity of ancient evil unto itself. Levitating as it does over a pile of skulls while spiritual energy swirls around it, it's distinctively otherworldly. Perhaps even the Lich King wishes to maintain his distance from its influence at times. Regardless of the reason, it is here you must travel to learn some of Arthas' deepest secrets. But said knowledge comes at a price, for the Lich King will not let you get away so easily. Falric and Marwyn -- Heartbourne wrote a nice, lengthy piece on this pair which you I urge you to read if you want to know more about them, but it boils down to this: Falric and Marwyn are the Lich King's right-hand men. They served him when he was still Arthas, mowing down the innocent citizens of Lordaeron, and became his first two Death Knights when he was turned. In some ways, it's a bit of a disservice that they're relegated to stone-walling you in a 5-man dungeon, but they nonetheless serve an important roles as guards of the Scourge's most important artifact. After an in-game cinematic event taking place in Frostmourne's chamber, the Lich King recovers the blade and commands Falric and Marwyn to do away with the intrunders (that's you, naturally). You will have to suffer through five waves of spectral guardians, who seem to mimic the basic Human units found in Warcraft III (both in dress and function), before you can Falric. This, alone, can be tricky if your tank isn't able to wrangle up the caster mobs who often appear across the room. It's easiest to stand in the hallway just outside the chamber and have the tank stand out front since the mobs will aggro to whoever is closest when they activate. Falric is all about making you feel depressed, and without any bottles of Xanax on hand, you're just going to have to fight your way through it. Quivering strike is a melee attack that will reduce the tank's dodge chance by 20%, but the entire party should be on the lookout for the rest of his abilities. Impending Despair will cause an individual player to cower for 6 seconds (unless dispelled), while Defiling Horror will send everyone running for four as 2500-4000 damage ticks every second. Finally, there's Hopelessness, which reduces your party's healing and damage done by 20/40/60% for each quarter of health Falric loses. Once you kill him, you only have a moment's respite before dealing with five more waves of spectral guardians and, finally, Marwyn. Marwyn thinks it's better to corrupt the flesh than the mind and his abilities reflect as much. First, there's Well of Corruption, a void-zone-like effect that increases shadow damage taken by those who stand in it. He will also cast Corrupted Flesh, which can reduce nearby players' maximum health by 25% (50% on Heroic) for approximately 10 seconds. This means that tanks, especially, should be aware of Obliterate which can deal 20-30k damage when used. The other thing your party needs to watch out for is Shared Suffering, which deals a significant amount of damage over time, the remainder of which will be shared amongst party members if you try to remove or dispell it. With Arthas' closest confidants defeated, the doors open and you are free to proceed down the hallway. The Escape -- The Escape is an interesting event which I don't want to spoil very much, but this is the first time in the game you're really able to go blow-to-blow with the Lich King. Of course, even if you can target and attack him, I wouldn't recommend it. He'll one-shot just about anybody who gets within range and with nowhere to go but the precipitous ridge outside, you'll have to hold off waves of attackers as your faction's hero (Jaina or Sylvanas) clears the way forward. Meanwhile, the Lich King lumbers slowly towards you with his sword drawn. If he gets close, you can kiss your party goodbye when he casts Fury of Frostmourne, dealing a whopping 1 million damage to all players. However, if you do manage to escape, be prepared for a really cool cinematic event straight out of the best action movies! And that's it. You're done until you decide to venture into Icecrown Citadel, itself. With the 5-man dungeons of the Frozen Halls now out in the wild you can experience all of these encounters for yourself! Enjoy!

After conquering the Forge of Souls, a portal leads you into the shivering, frosty air of the Pit of Saron. Considering that this is largely an outside dungeon, one might wonder why the Lich King's saronite mining operation doesn't seem to appear on the overworld. Shouldn't you have been able to fly right over it before? Oh well, it wouldn't be the first time Blizzard's played spatial shenanigans with Azeroth, especially where dungeons are concerned. Three terrible bosses stand before you and the final wing of the Frozen Halls. Can you defeat them and rescue the princess? Forgemaster Garfrost -- The main section of the Pit of Saron is shaped roughly like a giant triangle, with you entering at the top. The path to the left leads to Krick and Ick, but in my experience on the PTR, most groups follow the one to the right and tackle Garfrost first. Feel free to ignore the giant, floating, demonic skull in the center of the pit as you clear your way to the boss. It may look creepy, but it poses no threat to your party. It's hard to imagine that Garfrost is a "Forgemaster" of any sort, as surely any tools of the size seen here would just end up all fumbly in his boulder-sized fists. Big, dumb, and brutish does not exactly inspire confidence in the production of fine weapons and armor. But what this twenty-foot-tall abomination is good at is hauling around gigantic chunks of Saronite pulled out of the mine. And he's not afraid to hurl them at you if you get too close. Utilizing this mechanic correctly is the crux of winning the fight against the Forgemaster. You see, Garfrost constantly pulses an area-of-effect debuff called Permafrost that causes (what else?) Frost damage to stack up on your party members. Every once in awhile, he'll target a player and toss some Saronite their way, which you want to avoid at first because it deals damage when it lands. But once it has done so, using the boulder as cover for a few seconds will allow Permafrost to wear off until you step out from behind it again. In short, there's really no way to completely avoid Permafrost, but when the stacks get too high, you need to put a rock between yourself and the boss or the healer is going to have a hell of a time keeping up. At 66%, he enters phase two, in which he will leap over to one of his forges and create a weapon that gives him increased Frost damage. He also earns the ability to send a wave of icy cold water in a cone in front of him. At 33%, he'll repeat the process and forge a mace that enhances his damage even further, and he'll begin to use Deep Freeze, which slows the movement speed of a chosen target and deals massive Frost Damage after about 14 seconds. Kill Garfrost and the slaves you rescued along the way will join you and arm themselves with the leftovers. Krick and Ick -- Make your way along the far-side of the pit and under the cliff, towards the domain of the next boss. Krick is a wormy, little leper gnome sporting a Dayglo pink mohawk, who commands his minions from atop his mount: an unsurprisingly witless zombie named Ick. Together, they oversee the Scourge who haul things to and from the mining pit. This is not an exceptionally difficult fight as long as you remember to keep moving. Nearly every ability that this diabolical duo has requires you to dance around the battlefield. The pair will randomly pursue players from time to time, and if you've ever done the Big Bad Wolf version of the Opera Event, you'll be familiar with the tactics required here. Of course, this being a 5-man boss instead of a raid one, Ick is not nearly as fast as his lupine counterpart, but if he does reach you, it could still spell instant death. Between pursuitis, Ick will cast poison-based spells. One causes the wretched goo to appear on the ground under players (hint: stay out of it, the tank should also probably be kiting the boss around) and the other is a nova-type spell meaning that everyone should be running out of range. Occasionally Krick will become fed up with his zombie pal's incompetence and decide to get in on the action by, in typical Gnome fashion, conjuring up a menagerie of mines that will randomly spawn for several seconds in the area. They start as small bubbles on the ground and continually grow until they pop, causing damage. Since they have a slightly larger range than the graphic implies, it's hard to completely avoid getting hit, but you can still minimize the pain by paying attention to where they spawn and moving away from the larger groups. Once Ick is felled, you can practically one-shot Krick, who will give up the secret location of Frostmourne before he perishes (or, in the Horde's case, is force-strangled by Sylvanas!). Scourgelord Tyrannus -- Blizzard had big plans for the Lich King with Wrath. They realized they had made a mistake with Illidan in Burning Crusade, who stayed holed up in Black Temple and refused to engage the player more than once or twice until they entered his inner sanctum. As a result, you come face-to-face with Arthas multiple times and even delve into his back-story as you quest and raid your way throughout Northrend. Scourgelord Tyrannus serves as a sort of microcosm of this philosophy, as he taunts you from the beginning of the Pit of Saron to the very end. As a result, you really want to give him a good old sock in the jaw once you confront him on the precipice overlooking the mine. Unfortunately, Tyrannus is not that much of a challenge. While he does have a few tricks up his sleeve, it's fairly easy to tank-and-spank this fight with a minimum of kiting due to the Scourgelord's Frostwyrm mount, Rimefang, spitting ice from above. You just have to make sure your healer is up to the challenge. If not, then you should strategize more effectively as I detail below. Tyrannus' abilities are primarily focused on dealing extra damage to the tank. He hits relatively hard for a 5-man dungeon boss, and that only increases when he is Empowered (increases damage by 75-100%, depending on difficulty) or uses Forceful Smash, which can cause a sudden, massive spike in damage. Just as well, Overlord's Brand will be cast on random players. If those players are DPS, their hits will be mirrored onto the tank, and if those players are healers, their spells will also affect the boss for the duration of the debuff. Needless to say, if you're a damage-dealer suffering from Overlord's Brand, stop what you're doing because you might kill the tank. Rimefang will fly around overhead, untargetable, shooting down frostbolts which leave icy patches on the ground. These patches can deal damage and reduce movement speed, but can also be used to slow down the Scourgelord while he is Empowered if you don't think the tank/healer can bear the brunt of it. Just as well, Tyrannus will occasionally command Rimefang to target a specific player, not long after which that player will be frozen for several seconds. It's important for this player to maintain his distance from others, or they will become entombed, as well. Once you kill Tyrannus, Rimefang will fly away (don't worry, he'll get his later on in Icecrown Citadel). With the knowledge of Frostmourne's location in hand, it's time to head off to the Halls of Reflection.

Its Tuesday, December 8th. Do you know where your patch 3.3 is? Its here! The wait is finally over. Players can now march on Icecrown Citadel, use the Dungeon Finder tool to join dungeons and heroics, explore the Frozen Halls, and more. If you don't know what is coming in this patch, be sure to check out our extensive coverage, and check out the patch notes as posted by Zarhym below:

World of Warcraft Client Patch 3.3.0: Fall of the Lich King The latest test realm patch notes can always be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/test-realm-patchnotes.html The latest patch notes can always be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/ Icecrown Citadel: The Frozen Halls Looming over the stark wastes of Northrend, Icecrown Citadel awaits those who would see the Lich King and his Scourge brought low and the threat they pose wiped from the face of Azeroth. The heroes who venture within will face some of the greatest horrors yet seen. But before you burst into the front gate of the citadel, an alternate means of entry beckons. Journey through three separate wings of the new five-player dungeon, Icecrown Citadel: The Frozen Halls, and follow Jaina Proudmoore or Sylvanas Windrunner into the Lich King's domain. Icecrown Citadel: The Frozen Throne All across Northrend, many battles have been fought against the vile Scourge. Countless lives have been lost since the Alliance and the Horde first reached these frozen wastes, but the champions of Azeroth continue to march forward -- and Icecrown Citadel, the cornerstone of the Scourge's power and the home base of the Lich King, is their final target. Tirion Fordring and the Argent Crusade have forged an accord with Darion Mograine and the Knights of the Ebon Blade to form the Ashen Verdict. This coalition's strongest combatants, along with the champions of the Alliance and the Horde, will lead the charge against the citadel. In the new Icecrown Citadel raid dungeon, Azeroth's mightiest will face terrifying challenges before ascending to the Frozen Throne, where the Lich King and his runeblade, Frostmourne, await to deliver the heroes to their deaths.... Cross-Realm Dungeon Finder The Dungeon Finder is now available, providing players with quick and easy access to five-player parties. This feature connects all realms within a battlegroup using an advanced matchmaking system, making it easier for players of all levels to find a dungeon group. In addition, players can reap additional rewards through the Dungeon Finder by choosing the Random option, which is available to both pick-up and pre-formed groups. Check out the User Interface section for more details. Getting Started and Quest Tracking A number of changes have been made to World of Warcraft's introductory experience, including updated character and class information at the character-selection screen, more robust tooltips with images, improved health and mana regeneration at lower levels, and adjustments to various classes designed to make it easier for players to get started. In addition, all-new quest-tracking features have been added to assist players in finding objectives, including new interface functionality in the quest log, the map ("M" key), and the Objectives pane. General

• Icecrown Citadel
  • Three separate 5-player dungeons – The Forge of Souls, Pit of Saron, and Halls of Reflection – containing all new challenges and missions of discovery, await players in normal and Heroic modes.
  • 10- and 25-player challenges await players in Icecrown Citadel. Only when all challenges have been overcome in the raid dungeon can players unlock hard modes for individual bosses. For more information on how the Icecrown Citadel raid content will be made available, please visit our Dungeons & Raids forum: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.html?forumId=11126&sid=1
• Character Creation: The descriptions for races, classes, and race/class combinations have been improved to provide new players with a better idea of the roles and advantages of each class and race.
• Dazed: Creatures attacking a player from behind can no longer cause players level 1-5 to be dazed, and have a reduced chance to cause players level 6-10 to be dazed.
• Knockbacks no longer dismount players. If on a flying mount, you will be knocked back a short distance before being able to resume flying.
• The existing /welcome emote now greets/welcomes targets (character says “hello”), while the new /yw is for saying "you're welcome."
• Many of the tail sweeps with knockback effects will no longer hit players’ pets.
• Level 1 characters no longer start with food or water in their inventory.
• Attack is now called Auto Attack. The tooltip has been changed to reflect that the player will continue automatically attacking a target.
• Meeting Stones: To use any Meeting Stone, it is only required that the character’s minimum level be 15. There is no maximum character level requirement for any Meeting Stone.

Classes: General

• Area-of-Effect Damage Caps: We’ve redesigned the way area damage is capped when hitting many targets. Instead of a hard cap on total damage done, the game now caps the total damage done at a value equal to the damage the spell would do if it hit 10 targets. In other words, if a spell does 1000 damage to each target, it would hit up to 10 targets for 1000 each, but with more than 10 targets, each target would take 1000 damage divided by the number of targets. 20 targets would be hit for 500 damage each in that example.
• Attack: Level 1 druids, mages, priests, and warlocks will no longer start with the Attack button placed on their action bars by default.
• Default Equipment: Starting weapons are now more uniform. Rogues now start with a pair of daggers equipped. All other classes except shamans start with a 2-handed weapon equipped and the required skill already known. Shamans start with a 1-handed weapon and a shield, as they benefit more from the shield than they would from a 2-handed weapon.
• Glancing Blows: The mage, warlock, and priest classes no longer have an increased chance for their melee attacks to be glancing blows; and the damage penalty due to their glancing blows is the same as for other classes.
• Health and Mana Regeneration: These regeneration rates have been increased by up to 200% for low level characters. As a player’s level increases, the regeneration rates gradually reduce, returning to normal rates at level 15.
• Pet Resilience: All player pets now get 100% of their master’s resilience.
• Spell Mana Costs: These costs have been reduced for almost all lower level spell ranks. In general, if a spell decreased in cost with a higher level rank in patch 3.2.0, that spell now has the decreased cost at all ranks. In addition, spells learned before level 20 with reduced cast times and/or durations have even further reduced mana costs, proportionate to their reduction in cast time or damage.
• Taunt Diminishing Returns: We’ve revised the system for diminishing returns on Taunt so that creatures do not become immune to Taunt until after 5 Taunts have landed. The duration of the Taunt effect will be reduced by 35% instead of 50% for each taunt landed. In addition, most creatures in the world will not be affected by Taunt diminishing returns at all. Creatures will only have Taunt diminishing returns if they have been specifically flagged for that behavior based on the design of a given encounter.

Races: General

• Orc and troll shamans now have their own unique totem art.
• Racial Attribute Bonuses: These bonuses have been recalibrated to even out the amount of starting health on the various races. All races start with a standardized level of stamina, except for orcs, dwarves, and tauren who now start with 1 extra point of stamina. For each class, bonuses and penalties to all attributes have been adjusted so that each race has an equal attribute total.
• Will of the Forsaken now shares a 45-second cooldown with similar effects, including the Medallion of the Horde, Titan-Forged runes, Insignia of the Horde, etc.

PvP

• Arenas
  • All abilities that have base cooldowns of 10 minutes or longer cannot be used in Arenas, down from 15 minutes.
• Battlegrounds
  • Battleground Experience: Battleground experience gained is now based on the level of the player gaining experience, rather than the highest possible player level in that Battleground.
  • All level 71-80 Battleground daily quests will now award 25 Arena points in addition to their current rewards.
• Wintergrasp
  • You must now have the following ranks to build or pilot siege vehicles:
    • Rank 2: Build/pilot Catapults.
    • Rank 3: Build/pilot Demolishers.
    • Rank 3: Build/pilot Siege Engines.

Dungeons & Raids

• Naxxramas
  • Players no longer need to kill the final bosses in all four wings of this dungeon in order to teleport to Sapphiron. Teleportation orbs have been added to allow players access back and forth from Sapphiron's lair.
• Oculus
  • Azure Ring Guardians agro distance changed from 50 to 40 yards.
  • Many bosses and creatures have had their total health reduced.
  • Several bosses and creatures have had cooldowns on specific abilities increased, effect durations reduced, and damage on some of these abilities reduced.
  • Ring-Lord Conjurers and Sorceresses now hang out in packs of 4 instead of packs of 5.
  • Vehicle scaling on the drakes based on the rider’s item level has been increased to make them more powerful.

Death Knights

• Army of the Dead: The cooldown on this ability has been reduced from 20 minutes to 10 minutes. Army Ghoul damage dropped by 50%. Cannot be used in Arenas.
• Raise Ally: The cooldown on this ability has been reduced from 15 minutes to 10 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
• Rune of the Stoneskin Gargoyle: There is now a 1-handed version of this rune in addition to the current 2-handed rune.
• Rune Strike: Threat generated by this ability increased by approximately 17%.
• Talents
  • Unholy
    • Night of the Dead: Now reduces the damage your pet takes from area-of-effect damage by 45/90%, but no longer applies to area-of-effect damage caused by other players. In addition, this talent now reduces the cooldown of Army of the Dead by 2/4 minutes, down from 5/10 minutes.
    • Scourge Strike: Redesigned. The base ability now deals 50% weapon damage plus an additional amount as physical damage. However, for each disease the death knight has on the target, the target will take additional shadow damage equal to 25% of the physical damage done.
    • Unholy Blight: This talent now deals only 10% of Death Coil damage as a damage-over-time effect on the target.

Druids

• Prowl: This ability no longer has multiple ranks and penalizes movement speed by 30%.
• Rebirth: The cooldown on this spell has been lowered from 20 minutes down to 10 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
• Rejuvenation: The base duration on all ranks of this spell is now 15 seconds.
• Tranquility: The cooldown on this spell has been reduced to 8 minutes, down from 10 minutes.
• Talents
  • Balance
    • Eclipse: This effect will not activate again within 15 seconds of either type of Eclipse effect firing, in addition to the existing 30-second cooldown for each type of Eclipse. In addition, Eclipse now grants a 40% critical strike chance to Starfire and 40% increased damage to Wrath, up from 30%.
    • Force of Nature: Health on the treants has been increased.
  • Feral Combat
    • Predatory Strikes: The Predatory Swiftness buff from this talent now has an 8-second duration.
  • Restoration
    • Gift of the Earthmother: Redesigned. This talent now increases spell haste by 2/4/6/8/10% and reduces the base global cooldown of Lifebloom by 2/4/6/8/10% instead of its previous effects.
• Pets
  • Avoidance (passive): Now reduces the damage your pets take from area-of-effect damage by 90%, but no longer applies to area-of-effect damage caused by other players.

Hunters

• Call Stabled Pet: Cooldown reduced from 30 minutes to 5 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
• Deterrence: Now also increases the chance for ranged attacks to miss the hunter by 100% while under its effect.
• Misdirection: Redesigned. Instead of having finite charges, it now begins a 4-second timer when the hunter using Misdirection performs a threat-generating attack, during which all threat generated by the hunter goes to the friendly target. In addition, multiple hunters can now misdirect threat to the same friendly target simultaneously.
• Talents
  • Beast Mastery
    • Intimidation: If the hunter’s pet is in melee range of its target, the stun from Intimidation will now be applied immediately instead of on the pet’s next swing or attack.
• Pets
  • Avoidance: This talent has been replaced by Culling the Herd. Hunter pets now innately take 90% less damage from area-of-effect abilities like all other class pets. This does not apply to area-of-effect damage caused by other players.
  • Cower: Redesigned. This ability no longer affects threat, and instead reduces damage taken by the pet by 40% for 6 seconds with a 45-second cooldown. While cowering, the pet’s movement speed is 50% of normal speed. Cower now only has a single rank and is available at pet level 20.
  • Culling the Herd: This pet talent has replaced the Avoidance talent in the pet trees (Hunter pets now gain that benefit automatically without expenditure of talent points). Culling the Herd increases pet and hunter damage by 1/2/3% for 10 seconds each time the pet deals a critical strike with Claw, Bite, or Smack.
  • Demoralizing Screech: The attack power reduction from this ability has been increased by 40%, equaling the maximum possible attack power reduction from the abilities of other classes.
  • Improved Cower: Redesigned. This ability now reduces the movement penalty of Cower by 50%/100%.
  • Pet Leveling: Hunter pets now need only 5% of the experience a player needs to level, down from 10%.
  • Venom Web Spray: Range increased from 20 yards to 30 yards.
  • Web: Range increased from 20 yards to 30 yards.
  • Wolverine Bite: This talent is now enabled when the pet lands a critical strike rather than from the target dodging the pet’s attacks. In addition, this talent no longer has a prerequisite.

Mages

• Talents
  • Arcane
    • Arcane Empowerment: This talent now also grants 1/2/3% increased damage done by the mage’s party or raid for 10 seconds after the mage gets a critical strike with Arcane Explosion, Arcane Missiles, Arcane Barrage, or Arcane Blast. This effect is exclusive with Ferocious Inspiration and Sanctified Retribution.
  • Fire
    • Blast Wave: The mana cost of this talent has been significantly reduced.
    • Burning Determination: The duration of interrupt immunity granted by this talent is now 20 seconds.
    • Dragon's Breath: The mana cost of this talent has been significantly reduced.
    • Firestarter: When this talent is triggered, it makes the next Flamestrike cost no mana in addition to being instant.
    • Improved Scorch: The debuff from this talent no longer stacks, and instead can apply the full effect from a single cast of Scorch.
  • Frost
    • Deep Freeze: This spell now deals a large amount of damage to targets permanently immune to stuns. In addition, when this ability deals damage it will no longer consume two charges of Fingers of Frost for those mages with the Shatter talent.
    • Fingers of Frost: This talent now triggers immediately on casting a spell rather than being delayed until the spell strikes the target.
• Pets
  • Avoidance (passive): Now reduces the damage your pets take from area-of-effect damage by 90%, but no longer applies to area-of-effect damage caused by other players.
  • Mirror Image: Health on the mirror images has been increased.
  • Water Elemental: Waterbolt mana cost reduced by 80%.

Paladins

• Divine Intervention: This ability now also removes Exhaustion or Sated from a target if the recipient is out of combat when the effect ends. In addition, the cooldown on this ability has been reduced from 20 minutes to 10 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
• Flash of Light: This spell no longer causes a heal-over-time effect unless the player has the Infusion of Light talent.
• Lay on Hands: This ability will place Forbearance on the paladin if used on his or herself. It will not place Forbearance on others.
• Talents
  • Holy
    • Aura Mastery: This effect of this talent has been reduced in duration to 6 seconds.
    • Infusion of Light: This talent now causes the paladin’s Flash of Light spells to heal the target for 50/100% of the Flash of Light healing amount over 12 seconds.
  • Protection
    • Divine Guardian: This talent no longer increases the amount of damage transferred to the paladin from Divine Sacrifice. Instead it causes all raid and party members to take 10/20% reduced damage while Divine Sacrifice is active. In addition, the duration has been changed to 6 seconds, however the effect does not terminate when Divine Sacrifice is removed before its full duration.
    • Divine Sacrifice: Redesigned. The effect of Divine Sacrifice is now party-only and the maximum damage which can be transferred is now limited to 40% of the paladin’s health multiplied by the number of party members. In addition, the bug which allowed Divine Sacrifice to sometimes persist despite reaching its maximum damage has been fixed. Divine Sacrifice will now cancel as soon as its maximum damage value is exceeded in all cases. Finally, Damage which reduces the paladin’s health below 20% now cancels the effect early.
  • Retribution
    • Repentance: This crowd control effect will no longer break early from the damage done by Righteous Vengeance.

Priests

• Divine Hymn: The cooldown on this spell has been reduced to 8 minutes, down from 10 minutes.
• Power Word: Shield: This spell can now be cast on non-raid/party friendly targets.
• Talents
  • Shadow
    • Improved Devouring Plague: This spell now deals 10/20/30% of its total periodic effect instantly, up from 5/10/15%.
    • Mind Flay: The range of this ability has been increased to 30 yards, up from 20.
    • Shadowform: This talent also now causes Devouring Plague and Vampiric Touch to benefit from haste. Both the period length and the duration of these spells will be reduced by haste. In addition, the mana cost has been reduced from 32% to 13% of base mana.
    • Vampiric Embrace: This ability is now provides a 30-minute buff that cannot be dispelled, instead of a target debuff and only generates healing for single-target shadow damage spells.
• Pet
  • Avoidance (passive): Now reduces the damage your pet takes from area-of-effect damage by 90%, but no longer applies to area-of-effect damage caused by other players.

Rogues

• 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.
• Dual Wield: Rogues now know this ability upon logging into the game at level 1.
• Stealth: This ability no longer has multiple ranks. While active, the single rank of this ability (available at level 1) allows rogues to move at 70% movement speed.
• Talents
  • Assassination
    • Improved Poisons: Bonus chance to trigger Deadly Poison from this talent increased.
    • Murder: This talent now provides a flat damage increase of 2/4% against all targets, instead of only targets which do not appear in Icecrown.
  • Subtlety
    • Preparation: The cooldown on this ability has been reduced to 8 minutes, down from 10 minutes.
    • Filthy Tricks: The cooldown reduction this talent provides for Preparation has been reduced to 1.5/3 minutes, down from 2.5/5 minutes.

Shamans

• Earth Elemental Totem: The cooldown for this totem has been reduced from 20 minutes to 10 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
• Fire Elemental Totem: The cooldown for this totem has been reduced from 20 minutes to 10 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
• Fire Nova Totem: This totem has been replaced with a new spell, Fire Nova, which is available at the same ranks as the old Fire Nova Totem. Existing characters will automatically learn this new spell in place of the totem. With a Fire Totem active, shamans will be able to use Fire Nova (fire magic) to emit the same area-of-effect damage as the old Fire Nova Totem from the active Fire Totem, not consuming the totem in the process. Fire Nova will activate a 1.5-second global cooldown when used and has a 10-second spell cooldown. The caster must be within 30 yards of the totem to use this ability, but does not need to be within line of sight of the totem.
• Reincarnation: The cooldown on this spell has been lowered from 60 minutes down to 30 minutes.
• Talents
  • Elemental Combat
    • Elemental Mastery: This talent now increases spell haste by 15% instead of critical strike chance while active.
    • Improved Fire Nova Totem: Renamed Improved Fire Nova. This talent now provides an additional 10/20% damage to the spell and reduces the cooldown by 2/4 seconds.
  • Enhancement
    • Earth’s Grasp: This talent now also reduces the cooldown of the Stoneclaw and Earthbind totems by 15/30%.
  • Restoration
    • Improved Reincarnation: This talent now reduces the cooldown of Reincarnation by 7/15 minutes, down from 10/20 minutes. Reincarnation cannot be used in Arenas.

Warlocks

• Create Soulstone: The cooldown on this spell and duration of its buff have been lowered from 30 minutes down to 15 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
• Talents
  • Affliction
    • Improved Drain Soul: This talent now reduces threat by 10%/20%, up from 5%/10%.
    • Improved Felhunter: This talent now also reduces the cooldown on the felhunter’s Shadow Bite ability by 2/4 seconds.
    • Shadow Mastery: This talent now also increases the damage done by the felhunter’s Shadow Bite ability by 3/6/9/12/15%.
  • Demonology
    • Decimation: Redesigned. When Shadowbolt, Incinerate or Soul Fire hit a target that is at or below 35% health, the cast time of Soul Fire is reduced by 20/40% for 8 seconds. Soul Fires cast under the effect of Decimation cost no shards.
    • Demonic Pact: This talent now also increases the warlock's spell damage by 1/2/3/4/5%.
    • Molten Core: Redesigned. This talent now increases the duration of Immolate by 3/6/9 seconds and provides a 4/8/12% chance to gain the Molten Core effect when Corruption deals damage. The Molten Core effect empowers the next 3 Incinerate or Soul Fire spells cast within 15 seconds (Incinerate: increases damage done by 6/12/18% and reduces cast time by 10/20/30%; Soul Fire: increases damage done by 6/12/18% and increases critical strike chance by 5/10/15%). Molten Core now has a new spell effect.
  • Destruction
    • Conflagrate: Redesigned. This talent now consumes an Immolate or Shadowflame effect on the enemy target to instantly deal damage equal to 9 seconds of Immolate or 8 seconds of Shadowflame, and causes additional damage over 3 seconds equal to 3 seconds of Immolate or 2 seconds of Shadowflame. In addition, the periodic damage of Conflagrate is capable of critically striking the afflicted target.
    • Destructive Reach: This talent now reduces threat by 10%/20%, up from 5%/10%.
    • Ruin: This talent now also increases the critical strike damage bonus of the imp’s Firebolt spell by 100%.
• Pets
  • Avoidance (passive): Now reduces the damage your pets take from area-of-effect damage by 90%, but no longer applies to area-of-effect damage caused by other players.
  • Doomguard/Infernal: These pets now innately have Avoidance like all other warlock pets.
  • Inferno: The cooldown on this summoning spell has been reduced from 20 minutes to 10 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
  • Shadow Bite: This pet ability now does 15% increased damage for each of the warlock’s damage-over-time effects on the target.
  • Summon Imp: This ability is now available from the trainer for level 1 warlocks and no longer requires a quest to learn.

Warriors

• Victory Rush: This ability is now trainable at level 6.
• Talents
  • Protection
    • Damage Shield: This ability will no longer trigger any chance-on-hit effects from the warrior or the opponent it damages.

User Interface

• Many of the default Interface Options settings have been changed for greater ease of use by new players. Existing players who create new characters may want to review the Interface Options in the event that the default settings feel different.
• Quest Tracking Feature
  • Players can now track quest objectives on the map (‘M’ key).
  • Quest Log
    • A Show Map button has been added to the Quest Log. Selecting a quest and pressing this button will open the map for the zone in which the quest objective is located displaying the associated area of interest. Any other active quests in a player’s Quest Log for that zone will also be displayed.
  • Map
    • The map interface has been separated into four separate panes: a map pane (left), a pane listing active quest names for the zone being viewed (right), a pane listing the full quest text for any highlighted quest (bottom left), and a pane listing the quest rewards for any highlighted quest (bottom right).
    • All active quests listed in the right pane for the zone being viewed on the map will be assigned a number. These numbers will be displayed on the map according to the areas of interest for each quest.
    • Highlighting a quest name in the right pane will highlight the corresponding area of interest on the map in the left pane, show its quest text in the lower left pane, and list the quest rewards in the lower right pane.
    • Given that some quest objectives can be achieved in multiple locations within a given zone, highlighting such a quest will highlight an area of interest closest in proximity to the character’s current location.
    • This feature can be disabled by un-checking the Show Quest Objectives box in the bottom right corner of the new map interface, restoring the map to its standard full-screen display.
    • Clicking on the arrow in the top right corner of the new map interface will hide all but the map pane, bringing the map out of full-screen mode and allowing players to leave it open while navigating a zone or engaging in combat.
  • Objectives Tracking
    • This frame has been improved to offer new functionality and can be used with the new shrunken map option.
    • The Objectives frame is now docked below the mini-map next to the right 2 action bars and will track up to 10 quests for a zone.
    • Numbers have been added next to each quest name and objective corresponding with those areas of interest displayed on the map.
    • If a quest objective has been completed, the number will be replaced with a yellow question mark symbol.
    • The arrow button in the top right corner of the Objectives frame can be used to toggle between minimizing and maximizing the quest objective display.
  • Quest Difficulty Tracking
    • This feature is off by default and can be enabled in the Objectives window from the Interface Options menu. Turning this feature on will color-code all quest names displayed in the map interface according to difficulty (grey, green, yellow, orange, and red).
• Dungeon Finder
  • This feature has replaced the Looking For Group tool and provides all-new dungeon party creation functionality.
    • Players can join as individuals, as a full group, or a partial group to look for additional party members.
    • Groups using this tool will be able to teleport directly to the selected instance. Upon leaving the instance, players will be returned to their original location. If any party member needs to temporarily leave the instance for reagents or repairs, they will have the option to teleport back to the instance.
    • Players can choose the Random Dungeon option.
      • The Heroic Wrath of the Lich King Daily Random Dungeon option will award two Emblems of Frost no more than once a day.
      • The normal Wrath of the Lich King Daily Random Dungeon option will award two Emblems of Triumph no more than once a day.
      • Continuing to complete Wrath of the Lich King Heroic instances using the Daily Random Dungeon option will award players two additional Emblems of Triumph each time.
      • Daily Heroic and normal dungeon quests have been removed. These quests have been replaced with weekly raid quests (see the “Quests” section for details).
      • Level-appropriate rewards will be offered to players who choose the Random Dungeon option for pre-Wrath of the Lich King dungeons.
      • Players can be placed in a group for a random dungeon no more than once every 15 minutes.
      • Random Dungeon rewards will be placed in each player’s inventory automatically upon completion of the dungeon (final boss killed). A pop-up notification will display any rewards earned through the Dungeon Finder.
    • Instead of choosing a random dungeon, players can also choose specific dungeons appropriate for their level range. Multiple instances can be selected at one time. The feature no longer limits the choice to look for only 3 dungeon groups at one time.
    • Pick-Up Groups
      • Cross-realm instances are now available and use an improved matchmaking system to assist players in looking for additional party members. As with Battlegrounds, the realms in each Battlegroup are connected.
      • As part of the matchmaking system, some of the more difficult dungeons will have a minimum gear requirement. Players also need to meet the requirements for dungeons that require attunement, such as keys or quests. If a player does not meet the requirements for a particular dungeon, a lock icon will be displayed next to that dungeon. Hovering over this icon will display the requirements which have not been met.
      • Only conjured items and loot dropped in a dungeon for which other party members are eligible can be traded between players from different realms.
      • A Vote Kick feature will be available in the event a member of a party is not performing to the expectations of the other members.
      • Players who leave the group prematurely are subject to a Deserter debuff preventing them from using the Dungeon Finder for 15 minutes.
      • If an existing group loses a member, the leader will be asked if he or she wants to continue the dungeon. Choosing to continue will automatically place the group back into the Dungeon Finder queue.
      • A Player will not be placed in a group with people on his or her Ignore list.
      • Players who take part in groups who have one or more members who have been matched with them randomly from within the Dungeon Finder will receive extra rewards, up to and including the coveted Perky Pug non-combat pet. The more random players with whom one groups, the faster the pet can be obtained.
      • The Need Before Greed loot system will be the unalterable default looting system for pick-up groups in the Dungeon Finder and has been updated.[ul]
      • Need Before Greed will now recognize gear appropriate for a class in three ways: the class must be able to equip the item, pure melee will be unable to roll on spell power items, and classes are limited to their dominant armor type (ex. paladins for plate). All items will still be available via Greed rolls as well as the new Disenchant option should no member be able to use the item.
      • Players will be able to roll on items with a required minimum level higher than a player’s current level.

User Interface

• Looking For Raid
  • There is a new Looking For Raid option available to players that can be accessed via the Raid Information screen in the interface or by typing “/LFR.”
    • Players will be able to browse the system manually for any other players looking for a raid dungeon group.
    • While browsing LFR players may sort the list ascending or descending by left-clicking the following headers: Name, Level, Class, Tank Role, Healer Role, and Damage Role. The crown is the Leader Role (representing a raid group with 2 or more people). Players can left-click on this header to sort the list with groups at the top or at the bottom.
    • Hovering over players listed in LFR will display their name, class, level, roles and comments. Hovering over a raid/group will display the leader’s name, the raid information (number of people in the raid), comments, if there are any bosses dead (and which ones), and if there are any friends from your Friends list or ignored players from your Ignore list in the raid group.
• The Looking For Group chat channel has returned and can be accessed in all major cities (similar to the Trade chat channel) without the use of the Dungeon Finder interface.
• Players may only be queued or listed in one of the following systems at a time: Dungeons, LFR, Battlegrounds, or Arenas.
• Ignore List: The amount of characters a person can ignore has been increased to 50. In addition, players on other realms can be placed on the Ignore list.
• Buffs and Debuffs: This is a new section added to Interface Options.
  • New option - Castable Debuffs: Enabling this will cause only debuffs you have cast on an enemy target to appear.
  • New option - Consolidate Buffs: Enabling this adds a buff consolidation box near the mini-map. Very short term buffs (e.g. Replenishment) and very long term buffs (e.g. Prayer of Fortitude) are filtered into the buff box. The icons are stacked here, but they can still be seen by moving the mouse cursor over the buff box. Long term buffs will move out of the box when they are about to expire. Buffs such as important procs (e.g. Art of War, Maelstrom Weapon), cooldowns (e.g. Bloodlust / Heroism, Combustion) or limited in range (e.g. totems and paladin auras) are always displayed.
• Tutorial System: The tutorial pop-ups are now larger, contain images, and better try to direct players to the relevant locations or user interface elements on the screen. In addition, several new tips have been added, while some existing tips will now appear at more appropriate times for new players.
• Dungeon & Raid Difficulty Display: A group’s dungeon or raid difficulty setting will now be displayed via an icon off of the mini-map.
• Group Disenchanting Option: In addition to rolling Need or Greed on items, players now have the option to elect for an item to be disenchanted if an enchanter of the appropriate skill level is in the group. Disenchant works exactly like Greed except if a player wins the Greed roll, they will receive the disenchanted materials instead. Players who choose Need will always win the item and will always beat those that choose Greed or Disenchant.
• Lag Reports: Players can now report high latency or lag by accessing the Help Request menu.
• Unit Nameplates
  • The range at which players can see unit nameplates has been increased by 40 yards.
  • Unit nameplates are now subject to line-of-sight limitations in certain situations (this does not pertain to objects like Arena pillars or bridges).
  • Players can now adjust select unit nameplate display settings listed below under Interface Options via the Names tab.
    • Friendly/enemy pet nameplates can be toggled.
    • Enemy totem nameplates can be toggled (friendly totem nameplates are never displayed).
    • Players can choose whether or not unit nameplates overlap.
  • Unit nameplates for critters are never displayed.
• Non spell-based tracking now persists through logout.
• Any party member may mark targets (this does not apply to raid groups).
• Players will be warned when their talents are reset due to a new patch.
• “/Settitle” command has been added.
• Instant quest text is on by default.
• Tentative status added for calendar responses.
• Players below level 10 may not join raids.
• Ignore list expanded to 50 to match the friends list.
• Unit frames added for special encounters.
• Interface element added next to the mini-map to show what dungeon you are in (ex: 10- and 25-player Heroic dungeons marked with a skull).
• Experience earned for a quest will display in the Quest Rewards section.
• Confirmation box added when buying stable slots.
• Macro Changes
  • Symbol “@” added as a synonym for “target=”;. For example, “/cast [@focus] Flash Heal”.
  • New macro conditionals: “vehicleui” (if the player has a vehicle UI) and “unithasvehicleui” (if the target of the macro has a vehicle UI).
• Addon Author Changes
  • “registerForClicks” added to xml buttons.
  • “MouseIsOver” has been converted to a “C” function for increased efficiency (e.g. /dump PlayerFrame:IsMouseOver() ).
  • When an addon file is loaded, the addon name and an addon table are passed to the file through ‘…’. The same addon table is passed to every file loaded by a particular TOC file (example at the top of a Lua file: “local addonName, addonTable = …;”.
  • “motionScriptsWhileDisabled” attribute added to buttons. This allows “OnEnter”; and “OnLeave”; to fire while the button is disabled.
  • “GetFileHeight()” and “GetFileWidth()” added to Texture objects. 0 is returned if no texture file is associated with the texture.
  • You can now query for a list of completed quests with “QueryQuestsCompleted()” then wait for the “QUEST_QUERY_COMPLETE” event, and call “GetQuestsCompleted(<luatable>)”.
• For additional notes on Lua and XML changes please visit the UI & Macros Forum: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.html?sid=1&amp;forumId=11114

Graphics

• A new feature has been added to the D3D graphics engine to improve texture management (particularly for Windows XP users). If you are experiencing random crashes related to file read errors or out of memory, this new backend may help. To enable the new backend, add the following line to your Config.WTF file: SET gxApi "d3d9ex". For more information please visit our Technical Support forum: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.html?forumId=11110&sid=1

Professions

• Enchanting
  • Enchant Weapon - Black Magic: This enchantment now sometimes increases haste rating for the caster rather than inflicting the caster’s target with a damage-over-time effect. It is also now triggered by landing any harmful spell rather than inflicting damage with a spell. Enchant Weapon - Unholy: This enchantment now inflicts Shadow damage in addition to its original effect.
• First Aid
  • The training costs for most bandages have been reduced.
• Fishing
  • The all-new Kalu’ak Fishing Derby, a test of fishing skill with a healthy dash of luck, has come to Northrend! Every Saturday beginning at 2 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 this shark. This champion fisher will be rewarded in-kind for returning with the first catch. 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.
• Mining
  • Enchanted Thorium: This ability now uses the Mining skill and is learned from trainers at a skill level of 250.

Quests

• Weekly raid quests are now available from Archmage Lan'dalock in Dalaran. Every Tuesday at 3 AM the Council of Six will choose a different strategic target that must die from either: The Obsidian Sanctum, Naxxramas, The Eye of Eternity, Ulduar, Trial of the Crusader, or Icecrown Citadel.
• For the various Icecrown Bomber quests at Aldur'thar: The Desolation Gate, players can now choose to eject from their bomber seats mid-run. If you do so, a rescue vehicle will transport your character back to the safety of your infra-green platform.
• Azure Drakes and Dragons will now attack back when attacked by characters not riding Wyrmrest Defenders.
• Brittle Revenants, quest creatures fought for the Sons of Hodir daily quest “Hot and Cold,” no longer cast Shield Slam.

Achievements

• The Achievements to get exalted with the Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin, and Alterac Valley factions have been removed from their respective “Master of” Meta-Achievements. Special titles will be offered to those who reach exalted with these factions.
• “The Party’s Over” has been removed from Achievements and is no longer a part of the “Glory of the Hero” Meta-Achievement.
• “Master Angler of Stranglethorn” has been changed to “Master Angler of Azeroth” and can be achieved by winning either the Kalu'ak Fishing Derby or the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza.

Reputation

• Commendation Badges which award reputation with various Wrath of the Lich King factions can be purchased with Emblems of Triumph in Dalaran. Each badge costs 1 Emblem of Triumph.
• Gaining reputation with the Ashen Verdict in Icecrown Citadel will grant players access to upgradeable rings from Ormus the Penitent. Players can switch between the type of ring (melee/caster/tank/healer) at any point in the upgrade path for 200g.
• The following reputations have been sped up by roughly 30%:
  • Argent Crusade
  • Alliance Vanguard
  • Horde Expedition
  • Kirin Tor
  • Knights of the Ebon Blade
  • Sons of Hodir
  • Wyrmrest Accord
• Sons of Hodir quests now give more reputation overall.
• Top-level helm and shoulder faction-related enchants are now available as Bind-on-Account items that do not require any faction to use once purchased (they still require the appropriate faction level to purchase).

Items

• Arena Set Bonuses: The two-piece set bonus for all Wrath of the Lich King Arena sets now provides 100 resilience and 29 spell power or 50 attack power. The current four-piece bonus will remain, however it also now provides 88 spell power or 150 attack power.
• Bind-on-Account Items: Players can now mail Bind-on-Account items to characters on the same account and realm regardless of faction. Please note this only applies to Bind-on-Account items. Other items or gold cannot be sent via mail to characters on the same realm and account if they are from differing factions.
• Death Knight Tier-9 4-Piece Bonus (Damage-Dealing): This set bonus no longer grants Frost Fever a chance to be a critical strike. It still grants that possibility to Blood Plague.
• Glyphs
  • Death Knights
    • Glyph of Icy Touch: Instead of granting additional runic power, this glyph now causes Frost Fever to deal 20% additional damage.
  • Druids
    • Glyph of Rapid Rejuvenation: This glyph allows for the druid’s haste to reduce the time between the periodic healing effects of Rejuvenation.
  • Mages
    • Glyph of Improved Scorch: Renamed Glyph of Scorch. This glyph now increases the damage of Scorch by 20%.
    • Glyph of Eternal Water: This glyph allows for a summoned Water Elemental to last indefinitely, but it can no longer cast Freeze.
  • Priests
    • Glyph of Mind Flay: This glyph now increases the damage done by Mind Flay by 10% when the target is afflicted with Shadow Word: Pain.
    • Glyph of Shadow Word: Pain: The periodic damage ticks of Shadow Word: Pain now restore 1% of the priest’s base mana with this glyph.
    • Glyph of Shadow: While in Shadowform, this glyph causes non-periodic spell critical strikes to increase spell power by 30%, up from 10%, of the priest’s total spirit for 10 seconds.
  • Shamans
    • Glyph of Fire Nova Totem: Renamed Glyph of Fire Nova. This glyph now reduces the cooldown of Fire Nova by 3 seconds.
  • Warlocks
    • Glyph of Life Tap: The effect of this glyph now has a chance of activating when Dark Pact is used.
    • Glyph of Quick Decay: This glyph allows for the warlock’s haste to reduce the time between periodic damage effects of Corruption.
  • Warriors
    • Glyph of Victory Rush: This glyph now increases the critical strike chance of Victory Rush by 30%, regardless of the percentage of the target’s remaining health.
• Haris Pilton now sells a new 24-slot bag! She has stubbornly decided to remain in Shattrath City, so those interested should seek her out there.
• Icecrown Citadel Items: Normal and Heroic versions of Icecrown Citadel rings and trinkets are considered Unique-Equipped and cannot be used at the same time.
• Hatchlings: Leaping, Darting, Razormaw, and Ravasaur Hatchlings no longer drop from their associated rare creatures. Instead, there are now rare nests that spawn which contain these hatchlings. For example, the Leaping Hatchling can now be found in Takk’s Nest rather than as a drop from Takk the Leaper.
• Sceptor of Celebras: Since this item is no longer needed as a key, Celebras will no longer give one out to a player who loses it. The item can now be sold or disenchanted as normal.
• Shaman Tier-9 4-Piece Set Bonus (Elemental): This set bonus now does an additional 10% of Lava Burst’s initial damage over time instead of increasing the size of the Lava Burst.

Bug Fixes

• Items
  • Ancient Pickled Egg: This item can no longer be triggered by Life Tap.
  • Brutal Hauberk: The tooltip on this item no longer references granting energy (as energy-based classes cannot equip it).
  • Costumes: Various costumes from holidays, items, and quests that previously were cancelled by getting on a mount will now cause an error message when the player attempts to mount instead of cancelling the costume.
  • Carapace of the Old God: Now tradable using the Bind-on-Pickup trade system.
  • Crystalforged Trinket: Can now be refunded at its vendor.
  • Dragonslayer Set: No longer displays a duration on the Nature’s Ally buff.
  • Drums of the Forgotten Kings: The buff from this item will no longer be cancelled when the player who used the item swaps talent specializations.
  • Drums of the Wild: The buff from this item will no longer be cancelled when the player who used the item swaps talent specializations.
  • Eating and Drinking: Eating and drinking are now cancelled and prevented while in a vehicle as a passenger.
  • Figurine: Emerald Owl: Now grants mana properly to druids in Bear Form, Cat Form, and Dire Bear Form.
  • Figurine: Talasite Owl: Now grants mana properly to druids in Bear Form, Cat Form, and Dire Bear Form.
  • Fire Hardened Hauberk: The tooltip on this item no longer references granting energy (as energy-based classes cannot equip it).
  • Giantstalker Set: No longer displays a duration on the Nature’s Ally buff.Glyph of Immolation Trap: Now properly increases damage by 100%.
  • Gul’dan’s Regalia Set: Tooltip corrected to indicate increased damage for all pet attacks, not just abilities.
  • Husk of the Old God: Now tradable using the Bind-on-Pickup trade system.
  • Idol of Flaring Growth: Now has a detailed combat log tooltip.
  • Idol of Lunar Fury: Now has a detailed Combat log tooltip.
  • Idol of The Corruptor: Now has a detailed Combat log tooltip.
  • Insignia of the Alliance: Item level changed to 60.
  • Insignia of the Horde: Item level changed to 60.
  • Level 58 PvP Items: A variety of PvP items with a minimum level of 58 were not being translated properly when a player used the Paid Faction Change service. That has been corrected. Paladin- and shaman-specific items still will not be translated, as there is no opposite version to translate them into.
  • Liadrin’s Plate Set: No longer incorrectly reduces the cooldown on Divine Shield.
  • Lightning Capacitor: Combat log tooltip for Electrical Charge updated to include more detailed information.
  • Nightsong Regalia Set: The bonus to Rejuvenation from this set will now work properly with the Idol of Rejuvenation equipped. In addition, the instant heal provided now has a correct combat log tooltip.
  • Noggenfogger Elixir: Players shrunk while under the effects of this item will now be able to mount.
  • Quel’dorei Channeling Rod: Spelling error corrected.
  • Quel’dorei Sash: Spelling error corrected.
  • Quel’dorei Guard: Spelling error corrected.
  • Qiraji Bindings of Command: Now tradable using the Bind-on-Pickup trade system.
  • Qiraji Bindings of Dominance: Now tradable using the Bind-on-Pickup trade system.
  • Reclaimed Shadowstrike: No longer has a cooldown to create Reclaimed Thunderstrike.
  • Reinforced Shadowstrike: No longer has a cooldown to create Reinforced Thunderstrike.
  • Reins of the Swift Frostsaber: The mount learned from this item no longer triggers a global cooldown.
  • Runescroll of Fortitude: The buff from this item will no longer be cancelled when the player who used the item swaps talent specializations.
  • Seaspray Albatross: Now grants mana properly to druids in Bear Form, Cat Form, and Dire Bear Form.
  • Sigil of Virulence: Now has a detailed combat log tooltip.
  • Solace of the Defeated: Can no longer be triggered by spells with a base cost of 0.
  • Solace of the Fallen: Can no longer be triggered by spells with a base cost of 0.
  • Spirit of Eskhandar Set: This set no longer requires Eskhandar’s Collar to complete (that item can no longer be acquired).
  • Swift Horde Wolf: The mount learned from this item no longer triggers a global cooldown.
  • The Egg of Mortal Essence: This item can no longer be triggered by Life Tap.
  • Tier 2 Helmets: Looting these items from Nefarion in Blackwing Lair will no longer trigger the Onyxia’s Lair (level 60) Feat of Strength achievement.
  • Totem of Quaking Earth: This totem will no longer sometimes grant unintended bonus healing.
  • Turalyon’s Plate Set: No longer incorrectly reduces the cooldown on Divine Shield.
  • Veklor’;s Diadem: Now tradable using the Bind-on-Pickup trade system.
  • Warmth of Forgiveness: Now grants mana properly to druids in Bear Form, Cat Form, and Dire Bear Form.
  • Windrunner Set: The set bonus which grants Greatness to the hunter’s pet will no longer spuriously show the hunter also gaining that buff.
  • Worldbreaker Garb Set: The Electrified effect caused by this set now has detailed combat log tooltips.
• Racial Abilities
  • Arcane Torrent: Updated tooltip to include the functionality that this ability also interrupts spellcasting on NPCs. In addition, this ability will now be properly noted and displayed as an interrupt in the cast bar UI.
  • Every Man for Himself: Disconnecting while rooted will no longer sometimes trigger this ability.
• Classes
  • Death Knights
    • Bloody Strikes: Now properly increases the damage displayed in the tooltips of Blood Strike and Heart Strike.
    • Bone Shield: Tooltip corrected to indicate the player has the correct number of bones.
    • Chains of Ice: This ability will no longer appear to land on targets which are immune.
    • Desecration: The debuff from this ability will no longer sometimes appear as if it were cast by someone else. In addition, the visual and snare from this ability will now both dissipate at the same time. Further, this talent will now respect snare immunities, and no longer sometimes snare immune targets.
    • Frost Presence: The animation for activating this presence will no longer also have the animation for Blood Presence played at the same time.
    • Glyph of Bone Shield: Now updates the number of charges in the Bone Shield tooltip.
    • Glyph of Dark Death: Now updates the tooltip on Death Coil. In addition, its own tooltip has been clarified to indicate it also applies to healing from Death Coil.
    • Glyph of Death’s Embrace: Now updates the tooltip on Death Coil to indicate runic power is refunded.
    • Glyph of Heart Strike: Now updates the tooltip on Heart Strike to indicate Heart Strike applies a movement snare.
    • Glyph of Icebound Fortitude: Now updates the tooltip on Icebound Fortitude to show increased damage reduction.
    • Glyph of Plague Strike: Now updates the damage shown in Plague Strike’s tooltip.
    • Glyph of Unbreakable Armor: Now updates the tooltip on Unbreakable Armor. Tooltip on glyph modified to make its effect more clear as well.
    • Master of Ghouls: Tooltip typo corrected.
    • Night of the Dead: Tooltip typo corrected.
    • Obliterate: This ability will no longer sometimes fail to do additional damage based on diseases on the target.
    • Raise Ally: While this spell is active on a target, they will not be sent to the graveyard, prematurely ending the spell.
    • Raise Dead: It is no longer possible under some circumstances to use a Risen Ghoul to cause neutral guards to attack opposite faction players.
    • Strangulate: Updated tooltip to include the functionality that this ability also interrupts spellcasting on NPCs.
    • Taste of Blood: Corrected inaccurate information in combat log tooltip.
    • Unholy Presence: The animation for activating this presence will no longer also have the animation for Blood Presence played at the same time.
  • Druids
    • Glyph of Hurricane: Now modifies the spell tooltip on Hurricane to indicate the spell also applies a movement slowing effect.
    • Hurricane: When cast from Bear Form, Cat Form, or Dire Bear Form, this spell will now channel properly instead of stopping the channel as soon as the shapeshift is cancelled.
    • Infected Wounds: This ability is no longer considered to be in the magical defense category; therefore spell hit no longer applies to its activation. Tooltip error corrected.
    • Nature's Grace: The tooltip now correctly indicates that it will not be activated from periodic spell critical strikes.
    • Swipe (Bear): Tooltip corrected to display 8 yard range.
    • Rejuvenation: Druids will no longer get a more powerful spell error message when attempting to overwrite a Rejuvenation they cast.
  • Hunters
    • Concussive Barrage: This ability is no longer subject to spell reflects.
    • Explosive Trap: The damage from this trap will now scale properly with the hunter’s attack power.
    • Glyph of Immolation Trap: Now properly increases damage by 100%. In addition, this glyph will now modify the tooltip of Immolation Trap correctly.
    • Glyph of Mending: This glyph will now modify the amount healed in the tooltip on Mend Pet.
    • Point of No Escape: It is no longer possible to gain benefit from this talent multiple times by having a target affected by multiple of the same hunter’s traps. In addition, Freezing Arrow will no longer incorrectly provide a critical strike bonus to players beyond the hunter with this talent.
    • Roar of Sacrifice: Corrected tooltip error.
    • Silencing Shot: Updated tooltip to include the functionality that this ability also interrupts spellcasting on NPCs.
    • Volley: The tooltip for this ability will now update properly from haste.

Bug Fixes

• Classes
  • Mages
    • Arcane Concentration: The interaction of this talent with Arcane Missiles has been restructured. Instead of an Arcane Missiles cast triggering the talent, each missile has an independent (but reduced) chance to trigger this talent. In addition, the talent will no longer sometimes be triggered from misses by Arcane Missiles, Arcane Blast, and Blizzard.
    • Blast Wave: Tooltip typo corrected.
    • Blizzard: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from all talents which increase its damage by a percentage. Also fixed a bug where some trinkets were not triggered by this spell.
    • Cone of Cold: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from all talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
    • Dalaran Intellect: Mages will now be properly blocked from casting this spell when the target has a more powerful version of the buff.
    • Deep Freeze: This spell will no longer consume two charges of Fingers of Frost when it misses its target.
    • Flame Strike: Some ranks of this spell had an incorrect cast time of 3 seconds. All ranks now share a 2-second cast time.
    • Frost Nova: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from all talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
    • Frostbolt: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from all talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
    • Glyph of Mirror Image: Now updates the tooltip on Mirror Image to show 4 images are summoned.
    • Ignite: Now correctly benefits from the dispel resistance granted by the Arcane Subtlety talent. In addition, this talent will now properly include in its damage calculation any damage of the initial fire critical strike that was absorbed.
    • Ice Lance: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from all talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
    • Improved Scorch: This talent no longer causes a bug that removes all resilience from pets.
    • Mirror Image: The mirror images summoned will no longer sometimes appear as shades before taking on the appearance of the casting mage.
    • Prismatic Cloak: Rank three of this talent will now properly modify the tooltip on Invisibility to indicate the effect is instant.
    • Slow Fall: This spell can now activate trinkets that can trigger from casting a helpful spell.
    • Winter’;s Chill: This talent no longer causes a bug that removes all resilience from pets.
  • Paladins
    • Aura Mastery: The animation for this ability will no longer be extra bright when used with Concentration Aura active.
    • Beacon of Light: The effect of this ability will no longer sometimes continue past the duration of its buff. In addition, the duration when used with the Glyph of Beacon of light will now correctly be 1.5 minutes. Finally, the tooltip was corrected to indicate benefitting targets must be in the paladin’s party or raid.
    • Blessing of Kings: It is no longer possible to have multiple buff icons from this spell.
    • Blessing of Sacrifice: Damage transferred via this ability can now be prevented by damage absorption effects.
    • Blessing of Sanctuary: It is no longer possible to have multiple buff icons from this spell. In addition, the tooltip has been corrected to include 10% increased strength.
    • Devotion Aura: When in a party with another paladin using a different rank of this ability, it is no longer possible to see two different Devotion Aura icons displayed as buffs.
    • Divine Sacrifice: This ability now properly counts all damage transferred against its limit, instead of not counting some damage.
    • Greater Blessing of Kings: It is no longer possible to have multiple buff icons from this spell.
    • Greater Blessing of Sanctuary: It is no longer possible to have multiple buff icons from this spell. In addition, the tooltip has been corrected to include 10% increased strength.
    • Guardian’s Favor: Corrected a tooltip error in rank 1 of this ability.
    • Hand of Freedom: It is no longer possible to use this ability while under the effects of the druid spell Cyclone. In addition, disconnecting while rooted will no longer sometimes trigger casting this on oneself.
    • Hand of Reckoning: Tooltip clarified to indicate taunt immune targets will not take damage from this ability.
    • Hand of Sacrifice: Damage transferred via this ability can now be prevented by damage absorption effects.
    • Heart of the Crusader: The effect of this talent is now always removed when the target no longer has an active Judgement debuff.
    • Judgements of the Just: The effect of this talent is now always removed when the target no longer has an active Judgement debuff.
    • Judgement of Righteousness: The damage from this ability will no longer sometimes increase when the paladin’s agility increases (only occurred with low strength and high agility).
    • Judgement of Wisdom: Corrected incorrect information in the combat log tooltip.
    • Retribution Aura: It is no longer possible under some circumstances for the UI to display buffs from two different ranks of this ability.
    • Seal of Corruption: Tooltip corrected to list the actual amount of damage done instead of a higher number.
  • Priests
    • Glyph of Power Word: Shield: The heal caused by this glyph will now correctly use the casting priest’s critical strike chance instead of the target’s.
    • Inspiration: The tooltip now correctly indicates that it also functions with Prayer of Mending.
    • Levitate: This spell can now activate trinkets that can trigger from casting a helpful spell.
    • Mass Dispel: Some trinkets which were not triggered properly by this spell will now work correctly when Mass Dispel is cast.
    • Mind Flay: The rank 1 tooltip has been corrected to indicate the accurate damage and snare effect. In addition, this ability will now work correctly with [target=focus] and [target=mouseover] macros.
    • Prayer of Mending: Inspiration and Divine Aegis can no longer be incorrectly triggered by this spell for priests who do not have those talents.
    • Silence: Updated tooltip to include the functionality that this ability also interrupts spellcasting on NPCs.
    • Spirit Tap: This talent can no longer be triggered by the death of the priest’s Jewelcrafter Stone Statues.
  • Rogues
    • Ambush: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
    • Backstab: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
    • Deadly Poison: Another rogue using a higher rank of this poison will no longer prevent the lower rank Deadly Poison from being applied to the target.
    • Eviscerate: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
    • Glyph of Rupture: Now updates the duration on Rupture’s tooltip.
    • Killing Spree: Entering a vehicle will now cause this ability to halt, and attempting to use it while on a vehicle will result in an error message.
    • Mutilate: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from talents which increase its damage by a percentage. In addition, the damage from this ability can now be blocked.
    • Sinister Strike: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
    • Slice and Dice: Improved Slice and Dice and Glyph of Slice and Dice now update the duration of this ability.
    • Throwing Specialization: Deadly Throw will no longer cause multiple spell interruption combat log entries when used with this talent.
  • Shamans
    • Glyph of Earthliving Weapon: Now updates the tooltip for Earthliving Weapon.
    • Glyph of Lesser Healing Wave: Tooltip and functionality corrected to ensure this glyph will cause extra healing from Lesser Healing Wave regardless of which shaman cast Earth Shield on the target.
    • Hex: Players are no longer able to use Battlemaster trinkets while under the effects of this spell.
    • Mana Tide Totem: The tooltip on this spell will now be modified properly by the Glyph of Mana Tide Totem.
    • Thunderstorm: It is no longer possible to use this ability while under the effects of the Druid spell Cyclone.
  • Warlocks
    • Conflagrate: This spell will no longer benefit inconsistently from the talents Emberstorm and Improved Immolate, as well as the Glyph of Immolate and Tier 9 set bonus. Just as for Immolate, all stacking percentage increases will be applied additively instead of multiplicatively (+10% and +20% make +30% instead of +32%). In addition, Conflagrate used with Shadowflame will now scale properly from spell power.
    • Curse of the Elements: Rank 4 has been increased to 11%, up from 10%.
    • Drain Soul: This spell now deals 4 times the normal damage for all ranks. Previously it was only ranks 6 and above.
    • Glyph of Conflagrate: Now updates the tooltip of Conflagrate to remove reference to Conflagrate removing an Immolate or Shadowflame effect on the target.
    • Glyph of Siphon Life: This glyph will now modify the tooltip on Siphon Life correctly.
    • Glyph of Unending Breath: Now updates the tooltip on Unending Breath to indicate it increases swim speed.
    • Hellfire: Dealing damage to another player with this ability will now put the Warlock in combat.
    • Improved Shadow Bolt: This talent no longer causes a bug that removes all resilience from pets.
    • Soul Link: Damage transferred via this ability can now be prevented by damage absorption effects.
    • Suffering (Voidwalker): Ranks 5-8 had the incorrect taunt radius of 5 yards and have all been adjusted to a 10-yard radius.

Bug Fixes

• Classes
  • Warriors
    • Blood Frenzy: This debuff is no longer considered a Bleed effect that can be removed separately from the actual Bleed effect which caused it.
    • Bloodrage: Tooltip now adjusts to show effect of Anger Management on this ability.
    • Glyph of Cleaving: Now updates the tooltip of Cleave to show that more targets are struck by the ability.
    • Glyph of Hamstring: Now updates the tooltip of Hamstring to indicate it has a chance to immobilize.
    • Glyph of Vigilance: Now updates the tooltip on Vigilance to show that more threat is transferred.
    • Mocking Blow: Tooltip clarified to indicate taunt immune targets will not take damage from this ability.
    • Rampage: Rampage now behaves correctly as an Enrage effect when interacting with the Enraged Regeneration ability.
    • Recklessness: Heroic Throw and Shattering Throw will now benefit from this ability and consume charges of this ability. In addition, Recklessness now behaves correctly as an Enrage effect when interacting with the Enraged Regeneration ability.
    • Sudden Death: Corrected inaccurate information in combat log tooltip.
    • Sweeping Strikes: Corrected inaccurate information in combat log tooltip.
    • Vigilance: The threat transfer granted by this ability will now reactivate when Tricks of the Trade or Misdirection cast by the Vigilance target expires.
    • Warbringer: Tooltip typo corrected.
• Game Systems
  • Target Effects: When this UI feature is activated, Fear, Silence, Frostbolt, and Hamstring will all now display text over the target’s head indicating what type of effect has been applied.
• Battlegrounds
  • Strand of the Ancients
    • The “Let the Battle for the Strand of the Ancients” message should no longer appear twice in round 2. It also now appears correctly at the beginning of round 1.
    • Storm the Beach should now be correctly granted to the Horde when they start round 1 on offense.
    • The east Antipersonnel Cannon at the Amethyst gate should no longer be able to shell the graveyard flag.
    • Fixed an order of operations issue where players would sometimes not be resurrected or clear their Inactive debuff at the end of the 1st round.

Mac Client Changes and Fixes

• Rewrote OpenGL implementation for Intel Macs with Mac OS X 10.5.7 or later.
• Fixed an issue with TrackPad scrolling on Macbooks/Macbook Pros behaving erratically.
• Fixed the lightning effect on Thorim's hammer in Ulduar.
• Fixed a crash that could occur on low-end Macs during the second phase of The Black Knight encounter.
• Fixed a crash when recording in-game movies on Macs that have Intel GMA x3100 video chipsets.
• Added support for mapping all 15 buttons on the SteelSeries WoW Mouse via the in-game key bindings.

Long patch notes are long. P.S.: Long time readers might recall that I predicted this date for the release of the patch as today back on October 17th. That's the Project Lore quality you've come to expect!

World of Warcraft still looks good, but let's face it, it's running on a pretty archaic engine. Even with enhancements like dynamic shadows in 3.0, revamped character models sprinkled throughout several patches, and improved water visuals coming in Cataclysm, there's still a lot of things that the game can't natively do. And if Blizzard doesn't see fit to tweak the game so that it pulls off some of the latest graphical tricks, then you're out of luck.

Except if you're antsy for some high-dynamic range lighting in your Warcraft. What is HDR you ask? Well, it's easiest to think of it this way: in theory, it makes the the brights brighter and the darks darker, while preserving the details of both. Most games use simplistic lighting models that don't take into account how someone would naturally see things. While HDR can be applied to make the overall world look more realistic, one specific application you might be familiar with is to simulate the way in which the human eye adjusts going from a place of intense light to intense darkness, and vice-versa (think entering or leaving a tunnel).

An enterprising player by the name of Chronalis has taken some a freeware DLL, tweaked the values, and made it compatible with World of Warcraft, so that you can implement the feature just as easily as installing any other mod. Simply download the ZIP and unpack the files into your root game directory (the one with WoW.exe in it). The filter can then be turned on and off at will by pressing Shift-F12, and it's lightweight enough to not tax most systems.

In my rudimentary experience, it can make some area of the game look really nice, and others look like an absolute nightmare. Forget about flying anywhere in Northrend where there's a lot of snow and white terrain, unless you enjoy having your eyes bleed! I've included a few screens in this post, but it's probably worth checking out Chronalis' Youtube video to figure out whether or not this is something you want to use.

[caption id="attachment_8948" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Grizzly Hills without HDR."][/caption]

The mod is something I might turn on every once in awhile to fancy up screenshots, but I don't think it's something I can actually play the game with. The main problem stems from the basic fact that it's third party, and seems to use a bit of post-processing to achieve the effect. Since it's not built-in to the engine, it can also affect the user interface which is a major pain.

But hey, I'm all for more graphical effects in the game, as long as Blizzard can maintain the optimization. Even the Warcraft III engine can buckle under the strain of a few dozen characters running around on the screen at once.

I don't know about you, but I absolutely love chocolate and peanut butter.  The combination of two of the tastiest forms of caloric intake is pure win.  The sweet and the salty are a perfect menagerie of taste that excite my tongue while soothing hunger pains.  There are only a few things in World of Warcraft that successfully blend two of my loves together, and I stumbled upon one of them last week. I stood there locking down the paladin in the Faction Champions encounter of Trial of the Crusade when I realized that I didn't know the next fight, Twin Val'kyr.  Anub'arak, no problem, but all of the TotC attempts I've made before had ended, or begun, before the ladies had made their appearance.  I owned up to my shortcoming, and asked if there was anything special I needed to do.  A long-time gamer friend of mine simply said "Its [sic] Ikaruga" and left his description at that.  It was all I needed. Ikaruga is one of the newer games in the shoot-em up genre that revitalized the classic video game design.  As a lone spaceship (or if you are good enough, as both spaceships), you are tasked with destroying hordes of bad guys.  Your adversaries can come as stationary and moving targets, as with numerous other titles, but Treasure twisted the classic design on its head by implementing a new mechanic, color coordination.  If your ship is black, then it can absorb black bullets, and deal damage to white targets, and vice versa by flipping your ships color at the push of a button.  Sound familiar?  It should, because it's the exact strategy to killing Eydis and Fjola. The fight is nothing more than a gimmick, but I absolutely loved it.  After my friend dropped me the hint the raid leader gave a full description, but the two words was all I needed.  The fight mirrors the properties central to Ikaruga so closely that there was no learning for me, as DPSer, to do.  I just had to recall the hours lost to the greatest unheard of Dreamcast/Gamecube (now XBLA) game.  From powering up via careful absorption to unleashing the cache in a fury of fire, it was all accounted for in Blizzard's flattering design. The battle with the Val'kyr and the encounter's lifted mechanic saved Trial of the Crusade from being a huge yawn for me.  Now I need to go dig my Gamecube version out of a box and pop it in the Wii.

Fishing is casting its lines into changes coming for Patch 3.3. In addition to that handy-dandy weekday Kalu'ak Fishing Derby that will be coming to a server near you (and bringing heirloom rings along with it), we'll also see a more subtle change that I can only now begin to appreciate after recently fishing up a Weather-Beaten Journal and learning how to Find Fish. You see, like cooking, fishing is another profession that I've been putting off leveling, and in which I am only now beginning to immerse myself. What, exactly, is said change? Well, buried within the Kalu'ak announcement, Blue Poster Slorkuz added this little nugget:

...in patch 3.3.0 you never catch trash from fishing pools, regardless of skill.

I guess that means I don't have to worry about activating my special fishing hat between fishing nodes, since my skill level either way is irrelevant, as long as I aim my cast correctly. It seems like a pretty innocent change. Personally, I'll be happy to be carrying around less driftwood and sickly fish in my bags, and perhaps taking a little less time to complete certain fishing dailies, if I can find the right fishing node. But as expected, there's always a down side to changes as well, and some players on the WoW forums are questioning whether the boost to finding fish is going to drastically change the auction house market for our scrumptious catches. One player suggests that Blizzard takes delight in ruining others' fun by making fishing and the leveling process too easy while they had it harder. Blue PosterWryxian fires back that Blizzard often doesn't know how players will react until they actually make the announcement, so simply talking about upcoming changes isn't trying to trample on anyone's parade. The discussion continues, and Wryxian confirms how the new mechanic will work:

The change coming in 3.3 means that instead of getting a grey item from a pool, you will instead be guaranteed to get a fish of the same type as the pool, irrespective of your fishing skill level. Yes this will mean a character with level 1 fishing skill can fish up a Deep Sea Monsterbelly, for instance. Currently you need around 480 fishing skill to start fishing Deep Sea Monsterbellies from one of their pools. ....Those who enjoy fishing for fishing's sake can do so and get some useful rewards while doing it, or at least stuff they can sell. Those who only level up fishing so they can get high level fish can now get what they want (the fish) without having to put in the time investment first.

Looks like both sides have valid points. How does everyone with maxed out fishing feel about the changes? What about those of you, like myself, who are just getting on the boat?

Proverb is a rare yet delicious column discussing the lore of Warcraft. It is spoiler heavy for all Warcraft games, novels, and other media. Comment on this post or send a tweet to @Heartbourne and let us know what you would like to see in future columns!

Thassarian

This week, we take a look at Thassarian, one of the first Death Knights of the Scourge. This article is largely based off of information found in the Death Knight manga, so read only if you comfortable learning spoilers for that book. Thassarian was a soldier of Lordaeron during the Third War. He traveled with Arthas to Northrend to hunt Mal'Ganis. When Arthas and Falric (see previous Proverb) went missing, he went to search for them alone. He discovered Frostmourne Cavern, where he found Falric. Falric, already converted to a Death Knight by Arthas, slew Thassarian, and thus began his unlife as a Death Knight. Thassarian returned to Lordaeron with Arthas and assisted in the massacre of its citizens. Arthas forced him to slay his mother, Vivian, to prove his loyalty. This horrific event continued to haunt him, and it remained perhaps his last scrap of humanity for some time.

Koltira as a Death Knight

Arthas' assault on Quel'thalas introduced Thassarian to the high elves Koltira and his brother, Faltora, at An'owyn, where he pursued the mooncrystal to open the second moongate and proceed with their attack. Thassarian nearly killed Faltora, but, upon remembering his mother, he decided to show a moment of mercy. He returned to Arthas with the mooncrystal that he recovered. Koltira later confronted Thassarian and questioned why he didn't murder his brother, hoping to convince him to regain his humanity. This attempt failed, and Thassarian killed Koltira, who was returned to unlife as another Death Knight. Koltira and Thassarian developed a significant friendship that lasts to this day. Years later, the Lich King ordered his Death Knights under the leadership of Darion Mograine to attack Light's Hope Chapel using the necropolis Acherus with the goal of raising the thousand or so Alliance soliders buried beneath it to bolster the ranks of the Scourge. The attack on Light's Hope Chapel ended with a defeat for the Death Knights. Many of the family of the Death Knights were buried at Light's Hope Chapel, and the spirits of their relatives rose to convince them to lay down their weapons. Thassarian was convinced by his father, Killoren, to stand down. Mograine declared the independence of the Knights of the Ebon Blade. Thassarian confronted king Varian Wrynn to accept the Knights of Ebon Blade as allies and to readmit its members as members of the Alliance. Part 2 will be up in the coming days. Additionally, since I use WoWWiki so extensively for my information, I'm beginning to give back to WoWWiki! For articles where I research and find information that WoWWiki lacks, I'm updating it along with the publication of Proverb. I encourage you to help keep WoWWiki up-to-date and informative, as we all use it extensively as a gameplay and lore compendium.