Entries by Amatera (189)
ICC Rogues' Gallery: Pit of Saron
Amatera
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.
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.
World of Warcraft HDR Mod
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.
- Grizzly Hills with HDR.
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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.
ICC Rogues' Gallery: Forge Of Souls
Welcome back to the Rogue's Gallery, readers! I know I said that I would wait until the next wing of the Icecrown Citadel raid dungeon was released to update this column, but I figured you might also want a quick run-down of the bosses found in the 5-man instances, as well. I'll be covering them over the next three days, hopefully leading into the release of Patch 3.3, itself.
As you're probably aware by now, these 5-mans need to be tackled in the proper order to progress. You can't access one without having cleared and completed the quests in the others before it, and the first place you must go is the Forge of Souls. The Forge is home to a pair of rather... interesting bosses who oversee the operation of the soul grinders that, well, grind souls. Why souls and how do they grind them? Who knows, but it sure sounds malevolent doesn't it?!
Bronjahm -- Who better to greet you at the doorstep of Icecrown Citadel than the jive-talking, boot-sliding Godfather of Souls? No, not James Brown, but you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. Well, aside from being able to conjure up a giant storm of spirits, of course. While none of these bosses are going to truly tax players, it's still worth learning some of their tricks, and Bronjahm does have a handful up his sleeves. Everyone needs to be aware of his aforementioned Soulstorm ability, which creates a vortex of ectoplasmic turbulence dealing damage to anybody unlucky enough to wander into its path.
Soulstorm's area of effect is donut-shaped, meaning you want to stay in the "hole" near Bronjahm. This doesn't seem tough at first, but once you're there, he'll start fearing players left and right, sending them uncontrollably into the spiritual spiral. If there's a Shaman in the party, make sure they throw down a Tremor Totem.
Magic-users have even more to fear from the Godfather of Souls, whose heroic-mode skill Magic's Bane will cause anyone with in range to suffer the spell's normal damage plus that equal to half of the player's total mana. This ability should not kill anyone at max health, as it has an upper limit of 10,000 damage (15,000 on Heroic), but it can still cause some trouble.
The last thing you really need to look out for is Bronjahm's Corrupt Soul, which drains health from a random player and creates a gem that the boss can use to heal himself. DPS needs to kill the soul fragment as soon as possible.
Devourer of Souls -- While not quite as "comedic" as the Godfather, the Devourer of Souls is strange in its own special way. Based roughly on the Reliquary of Souls from Black Temple, this floating, three-faced monstrosity is probably one of the weirdest-looking bosses in the game.
As you might assume from the boss' design, she can quickly rotate between several different attack modes, meaning that players really need to be on their toes during this fight and change their strat accordingly. Here are the three principal abilities you need to watch out for:
Bronjahm -- Who better to greet you at the doorstep of Icecrown Citadel than the jive-talking, boot-sliding Godfather of Souls? No, not James Brown, but you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. Well, aside from being able to conjure up a giant storm of spirits, of course. While none of these bosses are going to truly tax players, it's still worth learning some of their tricks, and Bronjahm does have a handful up his sleeves. Everyone needs to be aware of his aforementioned Soulstorm ability, which creates a vortex of ectoplasmic turbulence dealing damage to anybody unlucky enough to wander into its path.
Soulstorm's area of effect is donut-shaped, meaning you want to stay in the "hole" near Bronjahm. This doesn't seem tough at first, but once you're there, he'll start fearing players left and right, sending them uncontrollably into the spiritual spiral. If there's a Shaman in the party, make sure they throw down a Tremor Totem.
Magic-users have even more to fear from the Godfather of Souls, whose heroic-mode skill Magic's Bane will cause anyone with in range to suffer the spell's normal damage plus that equal to half of the player's total mana. This ability should not kill anyone at max health, as it has an upper limit of 10,000 damage (15,000 on Heroic), but it can still cause some trouble.
The last thing you really need to look out for is Bronjahm's Corrupt Soul, which drains health from a random player and creates a gem that the boss can use to heal himself. DPS needs to kill the soul fragment as soon as possible.
Devourer of Souls -- While not quite as "comedic" as the Godfather, the Devourer of Souls is strange in its own special way. Based roughly on the Reliquary of Souls from Black Temple, this floating, three-faced monstrosity is probably one of the weirdest-looking bosses in the game.
As you might assume from the boss' design, she can quickly rotate between several different attack modes, meaning that players really need to be on their toes during this fight and change their strat accordingly. Here are the three principal abilities you need to watch out for:
- Mirrored Soul: The Devourer will place a debuff on players that damages them as they DPS the boss. Unlike similar abilities, it seems that the damage done still hurts the mob, instead of merely being reflected.
- Unleash Souls: A pack of wraiths will be summoned to deal area-of-effect damage to players. The swarm doesn't hurt much, but they can't be targeted either, so it's imperative to run out of range if it becomes too much for the healer to handle.
- Wailing Souls: This laser-like "scream" will sweep the a portion of the room, causing high amounts of damage to anybody standing in front of the Devourer. This ability lasts for quite awhile, so make sure to get behind her and DPS away from the beam while you have the chance.
Icecrown Citadel To Feature Cinematic
Game Informer's Phil Kollar recently sat down to talk with Blizzard's Jeff Kaplan. Also known as Tigole, the former World of Warcraft Lead Game Designer actually spends most of his time on the company's next MMO project, but he nonetheless has some interesting experience to share. The four-page interview covers a lot of ground, and even though none of it is necessarily new, there is at least on pertinent piece of information we should be aware of going forward: we can expect to see another Wrathgate-style cinematic event play out somewhere in Icecrown Citadel!
"Cutscenes will always be something that we use sparingly, yes. We never want to interrupt gameplay too frequently or for too long of a period of time. The Wrathgate cutscene was a big experiment for us. It was our first foray into in-game cutscenes in World of Warcraft. I don’t think we’ve fully refined how we want cutscenes to work with future World of Warcraft content. We debate like crazy. We debate the length, we debate the frequency, and we have a lot of theories, but Blizzard is a really iterative development house. I think what’s going to have to happen is that you’ll see more cutscenes come into the game for us to really refine our strategy with them. We definitely have an eye toward more cutscenes, but at the same time, we don’t want to become just a cutscene game. Even before Cataclysm, in patch 3.3, there’s going to be a really exciting cutscene moment that’s going to be our next experiment with that."I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to figure out what said cinematic might pertain to. Oh, I don't know, maybe the most important moment in World of Warcraft up until this point, perhaps? And I think it's the right choice, because unlike the felling of some of the game's other villains, there are a lot of loose ends that need to be tied up involving multiple characters. To have such important events taking place while your raid passes out loot just sort of kills the impact. Don't you agree? I also find it interesting how conflicted they seem to be over cutscenes. This is the sort of thing most game developers go through: how do you let the players experience the story? Now while that's more important for a contained, single-player experience, WoW's core game is expansive and involving enough to reward the player with a cutscene every once and while and not make them feel like they're watching a film. What do you think, readers? Would you like to see more Wrathgate-style cinematics in the game? If so, how far do you think Blizzard should take it?
Thassarian Manga In Stores Now
Tokyopop has released a new World of Warcraft-themed manga focused on the life (and subsequent unlife) of Thassarian, aptly titled Death Knight. You may know him as one of the quest givers from the Death Knight starting area, and he's also the resident Ebon Hold representative on Alliance gunship, "The Skybreaker."
Indeed, as the first of his order to be released into the Alliance's care, he plays an important, if curiously muted, role in the lore. If you were ever curious to delve further, the manga intends to lift the veil on Thassarian's past.
It begins as the Lich King forces his newest lieutenant to strike down an innocent woman, highlighting the inner turmoil every Death Knight seems to suffer from, and then quickly moves into a flashback of Thassarian's life as a young farm boy where he's either trading blows with his troublesome sister or his fellow soldiers.
As any ambitious conscript in the Alliance army no doubt desires, Thassarian expresses his intentions to move up through the ranks and become a commander, but is threatened with the possibility of being a career grunt.
The 23-page preview ends there, but it should be interesting to see how things develop from there and how he interacts with Arthas. Is he turned against his will or does he embrace the power the Lich King promises? And how does he manage to hold onto his latent humanity in the process?
I suppose we all know how the story eventually ends, but I still like this format. As a stand-alone volume, I hope this manga sets a precedent for extended, visual biopics of our favorite Warcraft characters.
Death Knight features 192 pages of Dan Jolley's storytelling and art by Rocio Zucchi. It should be in stores now for an MSRP of $10.99.
PTR 3.3: Patch Notes Update (Build 10952) 12/1
[caption id="attachment_8847" align="alignright" width="300" caption="It's coming..."]
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What's so special about this release you say? What could possibly be changed or added to 3.3 this late in the game? Well, not much at all, but that's just what is so exciting about Build 10952, because it is the first (and likely last) build to be labeled a Release Candidate!
That means that Blizzard is more or less happy with where all the changes they've made are at right now and are looking to push this version of the patch onto live servers. Barring any further, unforeseen issues to fix or deal with, this is 3.3 that we'll all be playing with in due time.
Like in the last post, I'm going to refrain from putting a specific date on the patch, but the fact that it features a change to the Winter Veil holiday should give you at least some indication of when they plan to drop it:
[/caption]
What's so special about this release you say? What could possibly be changed or added to 3.3 this late in the game? Well, not much at all, but that's just what is so exciting about Build 10952, because it is the first (and likely last) build to be labeled a Release Candidate!
That means that Blizzard is more or less happy with where all the changes they've made are at right now and are looking to push this version of the patch onto live servers. Barring any further, unforeseen issues to fix or deal with, this is 3.3 that we'll all be playing with in due time.
Like in the last post, I'm going to refrain from putting a specific date on the patch, but the fact that it features a change to the Winter Veil holiday should give you at least some indication of when they plan to drop it:
AchievementsSince this is likely the final revision, it might behoove you to once again familiarize yourself with all of the changes that are being made to the game in 3.3. Most people are probably aware of the major features such as Icecrown Citadel and the Dungeon Finder, but sometimes all those class tweaks can be a little harder to wrap your head around until you see them all in once place!Icecrown Citadel
- Merrymaker doesn't require you to complete Crashin' & Trashin' anymore.
Druid
- Essence of the Blood Queen - Now heals for 10% of all damage inflicted. (Down from 15%)
Warrior
- Eclipse now increases damage done by Wrath by 40% (up from 30%) and the critical chance of Starfire by 40% (up from 30%)
- Item - Warrior T10 Melee 2P Bonus - When your Deep Wounds ability deals damage you have a 3% chance to gain 16% attack power for 10 sec. (Down from 20% attack power)
Patch 3.3: Background Downloading Continues
I know the rest of you are as sad as I was to learn that today would not end up being patch day, but the march towards 3.3 continues on regardless. Logging onto World of Warcraft and then exiting again will activate the Background Downloader, which is now gathering data from the second chunk of the patch.
This piece (wow-partial-2.mpq) clocks in at a whopping 656 MB. That's even larger than the first (wow-partial-1.mpq), which was a "mere" 459 MB. If you do the math, that totals to just a scoche over 1.1 GB, making it one of the heftiest non-expansion patches we've seen so far! Not surprising with an expansive raid dungeon and three five man instances coming all at once.
But enough of the numbers. What could this mean for the release of Patch 3.3? Considering the size, I'd hope that this is the last pre-load we get and that any more data coming down the pike is doles out on release day (there really shouldn't be a whole lot left). However, this whole deal has thrown out a lot of what I thought I knew about patch cycles, leaving me with little desire to speculate any further on a specific date. Personally, I'd still love to see it this month, but at this point, any guess I could possible have comes out of hope rather than education, so I'll just stick with Blizzard's own age-old mantra: "soon."
We'll keep you up to date if anything else happens or new details come to light. In the meantime, feel free to share with us how your download experience is coming along. For me, it sped along until around 450, and now it's chugging very slowly towards the finish.
Edit: Oops! As some readers have pointed out, the total for both chunks of the patch is 656 MB, not for the second piece alone. No need to form a lynch mob, I'll go out back and beat myself!
This piece (wow-partial-2.mpq) clocks in at a whopping 656 MB. That's even larger than the first (wow-partial-1.mpq), which was a "mere" 459 MB. If you do the math, that totals to just a scoche over 1.1 GB, making it one of the heftiest non-expansion patches we've seen so far! Not surprising with an expansive raid dungeon and three five man instances coming all at once.
But enough of the numbers. What could this mean for the release of Patch 3.3? Considering the size, I'd hope that this is the last pre-load we get and that any more data coming down the pike is doles out on release day (there really shouldn't be a whole lot left). However, this whole deal has thrown out a lot of what I thought I knew about patch cycles, leaving me with little desire to speculate any further on a specific date. Personally, I'd still love to see it this month, but at this point, any guess I could possible have comes out of hope rather than education, so I'll just stick with Blizzard's own age-old mantra: "soon."
We'll keep you up to date if anything else happens or new details come to light. In the meantime, feel free to share with us how your download experience is coming along. For me, it sped along until around 450, and now it's chugging very slowly towards the finish.
Edit: Oops! As some readers have pointed out, the total for both chunks of the patch is 656 MB, not for the second piece alone. No need to form a lynch mob, I'll go out back and beat myself!
ICC Rogues' Gallery: Storming The Citadel
As of this posting, we still don't know precisely when Patch 3.3 is going to drop (could be tomorrow, could be next month). But we do know that people are going to be packed like sardines in the doorway of Icecrown Citadel once it does, and thought it might help if you knew exactly what you would be up against if you manage to make it past the portal (and the patch-day server issues). Project Lore presents to you the Rogues' Gallery, the first edition of which will cover the first four bosses that you will face whilst Storming The Citadel.
Lord Marrowgar -- At the beginning of the testing phase, this marrow monstrosity wasn't much different from the big old bone guards you see running around outside. Now he looks more like the leavings on your plate after a night of all-you-can-eat wings. As the front gatekeeper of Icecrown Citadel, Marrowgar's imposing visage will be staring you down the moment you enter the dungeon, with only a few trash pulls and a small battalion of Ashen Verdict soldiers (okay, Tirion Fordring and some of his best buds) between you and his mighty axe. Marrowgar may seem like the manifestation of Death himself, but take heart, he's hands down the easiest boss in the Citadel (and as the first, that may not be terribly surprising).
That doesn't mean you won't have to play hard, though. Marrowgar has a handful of menacing abilities that, like any boss, can quickly wipe your raid if aren't paying attention. Melee players will learn to loathe his Bone Storm, which is likely the largest whirlwind effect yet seen in the game. He'll spin like an over-sized top for awhile, shifting across the room and laying down a cross-pattern of Coldflame which inflicts 9000 frost damage per second. Even casters will have to be on the move during this phase. Once Marrowgar's rampage ends, it's time to strike. His Saber Lash deals 300% melee damage to the target and his nearest allies, meaning you might want to have more than one tank on the boss to soak up the extra damage. The only other thing to watch out for -- and it's admittedly a big one -- is his Bone Spike which can, in theory, impale multiple players at once.
Once defeated, Lord Marrowgar will shatter in an explosion of bone and the ice blocks will melt, allowing you to progress further into the dungeon.
Achievements:
Lady Deathwhisper -- Lady Deathwhisper awaits at the far end of the Icecrown Citadel's first level, though looking at her, you'd be hard pressed to find anything feminine about the vile lichess. Deathwhisper's job is to convert and prepare new recruits in the Lich King's service, and she's not afraid to use test the skills of her freshest meat on the next group of heroes that enter her sanctum. As you might guess, this is a fight focused on handling various cultist adds, which you'll have to fight in both normal and re-animated forms.
They come in two flavors: the Cultist Adherent and the Cultist Fanatic. The former is more of a caster-type and features normal ranged spells, curses, and powerful area-of-effect spells. The latter features melee attacks such as a cleave and an ability that absorbs healing on the afflicted player. Both can buff themselves (and perhaps each other).
Deathwhisper, herself, features the usual set of lich-like spells. You've got your Frostbolts, your Shadowbolts, your Death and Decay... but she's not afraid to use her silver tongue (or lack thereof) on your raid members, either. Her Dominate Mind ability not only charms a player for up to 12 seconds, it also boosts their damage 200% and healing 500%!
Crushing the putrescent proselytizer activates a lift on the side of the hall, which will take you outside the citadel to the Rampart of Skulls...
Achievements:
Gunship Battle -- Even in the face of their greatest foe yet, the tenuous partnership between the Horde and Alliance is constantly being tested. The Gunship Battle is evidence of that tension as both factions attempt to beat the other to the upper spire of Icecrown Citadel. Instead of milling about aimlessly in the skies of Northrend (as they have been for the last year), both Ogrim's Hammer and The Skybreaker will finally get their chance to shine.
This is not necessarily a hard fight once you've got the basic tenets under control, but the gimmicks employed are fun! I could've amused myself with the rocket pack on the PTR for hours, but the encounter had to start sometime. After cutting a path through both the Lich King's minions and NPCs of the opposing side, you'll reach your faction's airship. If you're Alliance, your forces are commanded by the dwarf Muradin Bronzebeard. If you're Horde, it's the Orc Elder Saurfang (who plays an even bigger part in the lore of the next boss).
Starting the battle causes your Gunship to lift off from the dock and head upwards, where it eventually sidles up next to the other pirate-style and the cannonballs start flying. Like the last fight, add control is pretty important here, but it's more of a defensive measure than an offensive one. The goal is not to defeat the opposing leader, but to cripple their airship, so killing adds becomes a measure to keep your raid from being overrun.
The basic flow of battle goes something like this: bomb the crap out of opposing faction, using the cannons mounted on the side -> once a quarter of the enemy ship's health has been lost, they'll send out a Mage -> the Mage freezes your cannons -> you send a boarding party over using rocket packs to kill said Mage -> your boarding party comes back. This is repeated until one side's health is reduced to zero, and you'll need to keep some of your party members on the deck of your own ship the entire time to pick up and whittle down the adds.
Once the enemy explodes into a fire-y ball of fire, a war chest opens up on your ship for loot and you dock on the next level of the citadel. Of course, despite what happens to either ship, the story dictates that both actually make it to the upper spire. However, in the way of both factions stands an imposing foe...
Achievements:
Deathbringer Saurfang -- The Wrathgate was only a setback! But unlike Kael'Thas' wussified turn in Magister's Terrace, the younger Saurfang is arguably much more powerful after being risen from the dead than that pansy Blood Elf ever was. While the ultimate fate of Alliance hero Bolvar Fordragon is still up in the air (he's being tortured as you enter Icecrown Citadel), Elder's son has been given the Death Knight treatment and the job of ass-kicking gatekeeper.
As the final boss of the first content release, he's far from a push-over and, arguably, presented the greatest challenge to anybody who encountered him on the PTR. Fighting against Deathbringer Saurfang can roughly be described as running into a brick wall. The kind of brick wall that, despite exuding a strong sense of structure and steadfastness (as most walls do), you have a hard time actually connecting with. You just sort of find yourself sprinting towards it and tripping over your own feet before you get there, but your face is hurt and bleeding as if you did make contact. Oh, and did I mention that should you manage to chip some of the stone of with your bruised and fleshy body, that it has an unhealthy (for you) habit of regenerating that lost concrete?
This is a roundabout way of saying that Deathbringer is one tough mother and that on the PTR he both had an extraordinarily high dodge rate and most of his abilities healed him in one way or another. He also summons adds like every 15 seconds. While some people will no doubt continue to clamor for Icecrown Citadel to be released all at once, I have a feeling that Saurfang will keep most guilds veeerrrryyy busy until the next wing is available.
The inevitable defeat of Deathbringer serves as both an appropriate bookmark in your ICC raiding career and the lore associated with some of Azeroth's greatest heroes.
Achievements:
Lord Marrowgar -- At the beginning of the testing phase, this marrow monstrosity wasn't much different from the big old bone guards you see running around outside. Now he looks more like the leavings on your plate after a night of all-you-can-eat wings. As the front gatekeeper of Icecrown Citadel, Marrowgar's imposing visage will be staring you down the moment you enter the dungeon, with only a few trash pulls and a small battalion of Ashen Verdict soldiers (okay, Tirion Fordring and some of his best buds) between you and his mighty axe. Marrowgar may seem like the manifestation of Death himself, but take heart, he's hands down the easiest boss in the Citadel (and as the first, that may not be terribly surprising).
That doesn't mean you won't have to play hard, though. Marrowgar has a handful of menacing abilities that, like any boss, can quickly wipe your raid if aren't paying attention. Melee players will learn to loathe his Bone Storm, which is likely the largest whirlwind effect yet seen in the game. He'll spin like an over-sized top for awhile, shifting across the room and laying down a cross-pattern of Coldflame which inflicts 9000 frost damage per second. Even casters will have to be on the move during this phase. Once Marrowgar's rampage ends, it's time to strike. His Saber Lash deals 300% melee damage to the target and his nearest allies, meaning you might want to have more than one tank on the boss to soak up the extra damage. The only other thing to watch out for -- and it's admittedly a big one -- is his Bone Spike which can, in theory, impale multiple players at once.
Once defeated, Lord Marrowgar will shatter in an explosion of bone and the ice blocks will melt, allowing you to progress further into the dungeon.
Achievements:
- Storming The Citadel (10/25/Heroic) -- Defeat the first four bosses in Icecrown Citadel.
- Boned (10/25) -- Defeat Lord Marrowgar without any raid member remaining impaled for more than 8 seconds.
Lady Deathwhisper -- Lady Deathwhisper awaits at the far end of the Icecrown Citadel's first level, though looking at her, you'd be hard pressed to find anything feminine about the vile lichess. Deathwhisper's job is to convert and prepare new recruits in the Lich King's service, and she's not afraid to use test the skills of her freshest meat on the next group of heroes that enter her sanctum. As you might guess, this is a fight focused on handling various cultist adds, which you'll have to fight in both normal and re-animated forms.
They come in two flavors: the Cultist Adherent and the Cultist Fanatic. The former is more of a caster-type and features normal ranged spells, curses, and powerful area-of-effect spells. The latter features melee attacks such as a cleave and an ability that absorbs healing on the afflicted player. Both can buff themselves (and perhaps each other).
Deathwhisper, herself, features the usual set of lich-like spells. You've got your Frostbolts, your Shadowbolts, your Death and Decay... but she's not afraid to use her silver tongue (or lack thereof) on your raid members, either. Her Dominate Mind ability not only charms a player for up to 12 seconds, it also boosts their damage 200% and healing 500%!
Crushing the putrescent proselytizer activates a lift on the side of the hall, which will take you outside the citadel to the Rampart of Skulls...
Achievements:
- Storming The Citadel (10/25/Heroic) -- Defeat the first four bosses in Icecrown Citadel.
- Full House (10/25) -- Defeat Lady Deathwhisper with at least five different types of Cultists active at the time of her demise.
Gunship Battle -- Even in the face of their greatest foe yet, the tenuous partnership between the Horde and Alliance is constantly being tested. The Gunship Battle is evidence of that tension as both factions attempt to beat the other to the upper spire of Icecrown Citadel. Instead of milling about aimlessly in the skies of Northrend (as they have been for the last year), both Ogrim's Hammer and The Skybreaker will finally get their chance to shine.
This is not necessarily a hard fight once you've got the basic tenets under control, but the gimmicks employed are fun! I could've amused myself with the rocket pack on the PTR for hours, but the encounter had to start sometime. After cutting a path through both the Lich King's minions and NPCs of the opposing side, you'll reach your faction's airship. If you're Alliance, your forces are commanded by the dwarf Muradin Bronzebeard. If you're Horde, it's the Orc Elder Saurfang (who plays an even bigger part in the lore of the next boss).
Starting the battle causes your Gunship to lift off from the dock and head upwards, where it eventually sidles up next to the other pirate-style and the cannonballs start flying. Like the last fight, add control is pretty important here, but it's more of a defensive measure than an offensive one. The goal is not to defeat the opposing leader, but to cripple their airship, so killing adds becomes a measure to keep your raid from being overrun.
The basic flow of battle goes something like this: bomb the crap out of opposing faction, using the cannons mounted on the side -> once a quarter of the enemy ship's health has been lost, they'll send out a Mage -> the Mage freezes your cannons -> you send a boarding party over using rocket packs to kill said Mage -> your boarding party comes back. This is repeated until one side's health is reduced to zero, and you'll need to keep some of your party members on the deck of your own ship the entire time to pick up and whittle down the adds.
Once the enemy explodes into a fire-y ball of fire, a war chest opens up on your ship for loot and you dock on the next level of the citadel. Of course, despite what happens to either ship, the story dictates that both actually make it to the upper spire. However, in the way of both factions stands an imposing foe...
Achievements:
- Storming The Citadel (10/25/Heroic) -- Defeat the first four bosses in Icecrown Citadel.
- I'm On A Boat! (10/25) -- Claim victory in the Gunship Battle without any raid member visiting the enemy gunship more than once (I bet you never thought you'd be here).
Deathbringer Saurfang -- The Wrathgate was only a setback! But unlike Kael'Thas' wussified turn in Magister's Terrace, the younger Saurfang is arguably much more powerful after being risen from the dead than that pansy Blood Elf ever was. While the ultimate fate of Alliance hero Bolvar Fordragon is still up in the air (he's being tortured as you enter Icecrown Citadel), Elder's son has been given the Death Knight treatment and the job of ass-kicking gatekeeper.
As the final boss of the first content release, he's far from a push-over and, arguably, presented the greatest challenge to anybody who encountered him on the PTR. Fighting against Deathbringer Saurfang can roughly be described as running into a brick wall. The kind of brick wall that, despite exuding a strong sense of structure and steadfastness (as most walls do), you have a hard time actually connecting with. You just sort of find yourself sprinting towards it and tripping over your own feet before you get there, but your face is hurt and bleeding as if you did make contact. Oh, and did I mention that should you manage to chip some of the stone of with your bruised and fleshy body, that it has an unhealthy (for you) habit of regenerating that lost concrete?
This is a roundabout way of saying that Deathbringer is one tough mother and that on the PTR he both had an extraordinarily high dodge rate and most of his abilities healed him in one way or another. He also summons adds like every 15 seconds. While some people will no doubt continue to clamor for Icecrown Citadel to be released all at once, I have a feeling that Saurfang will keep most guilds veeerrrryyy busy until the next wing is available.
The inevitable defeat of Deathbringer serves as both an appropriate bookmark in your ICC raiding career and the lore associated with some of Azeroth's greatest heroes.
Achievements:
- Storming The Citadel (10/25/Heroic) -- Defeat the first four bosses in Icecrown Citadel.
- I've Gone and Made A Mess (10/25) -- Defeat the Deathbringer before Mark of the Fallen Champion is cast five times.
Tawainese Player "Beats" World of Warcraft
We always knew it was technically possible, but we never thought it would happen so soon: a little over a year since they initially became available, one account has earned every single achievement in the game! And what was the final one, you ask? The achievement that pushed him to the magical number of 986 of 986? That which has now become one of my personal least favorites, Turkey Lurkey.
Yes, the Tauren Druid, whose name is 小灰 (I won't even bother trying to pronounce that) passed the threshold by shooting a Rogue. I'm sure more than a few of you out there are amused by that. I suppose it also begs the question, why isn't there an achievement for getting all the achievements?!
But let's dial things back a second and take a closer look. According to MMO-Champion, 小灰 is still technically missing one called BB King, which requires you to pelt the opposite faction's leaders during Winter Veil (which hasn't occurred yet this year, of course). It's not part of the meta-achievement for the holiday and some people have been lead to believe that it could not be completed until this December at the earliest. So, in order to hit 986, the player had to take advantage of an old bug in a PvP achievement which effectively counted twice.
Even taking that into consideration, completing everything else is undoubtedly a monumental task which took a lot of planning, coordination, and called-in favors. It may even be possible that multiple people have shared the character, taking turns in order to knock out the achievements (because doing so would be a major drain on a single person's life otherwise). I suppose we'll figure out the truth of that when/if someone is able to talk to the owner of the account.
The sad part of all this, of course, is that Patch 3.3 will likely be released before 小灰 will have the chance to finish off BB King. With the gating system in place for Icecrown Citadel, this means that it will be at least several more months before the maximum number of achievements can be, well... achieved again.
As a little bit of a measuring stick, I want you to tell me how far along you readers are on your achievements! What's your count and what have you found it most difficult to complete? I'm a little over halfway with 540/986, myself, and most notably lacking in the PvP area.
Yes, the Tauren Druid, whose name is 小灰 (I won't even bother trying to pronounce that) passed the threshold by shooting a Rogue. I'm sure more than a few of you out there are amused by that. I suppose it also begs the question, why isn't there an achievement for getting all the achievements?!
But let's dial things back a second and take a closer look. According to MMO-Champion, 小灰 is still technically missing one called BB King, which requires you to pelt the opposite faction's leaders during Winter Veil (which hasn't occurred yet this year, of course). It's not part of the meta-achievement for the holiday and some people have been lead to believe that it could not be completed until this December at the earliest. So, in order to hit 986, the player had to take advantage of an old bug in a PvP achievement which effectively counted twice.
Even taking that into consideration, completing everything else is undoubtedly a monumental task which took a lot of planning, coordination, and called-in favors. It may even be possible that multiple people have shared the character, taking turns in order to knock out the achievements (because doing so would be a major drain on a single person's life otherwise). I suppose we'll figure out the truth of that when/if someone is able to talk to the owner of the account.
The sad part of all this, of course, is that Patch 3.3 will likely be released before 小灰 will have the chance to finish off BB King. With the gating system in place for Icecrown Citadel, this means that it will be at least several more months before the maximum number of achievements can be, well... achieved again.
As a little bit of a measuring stick, I want you to tell me how far along you readers are on your achievements! What's your count and what have you found it most difficult to complete? I'm a little over halfway with 540/986, myself, and most notably lacking in the PvP area.
Pilgrim's Bounty Retrospective
Azeroth's newest holiday is now over with, but how does it measure up to the rest? Join me as I take a quick look back on the past week of shooting things and sneaking into enemy cities to stuff your face!
Right of the bat, I can tell you the best thing about Pilgrim's Bounty: no Random Number Generator. The RNG has been the bane of several world events, including last month's Hallow's End where earning all of the achievements involves getting lucky with drops from several different sources. As some people have pointed out, this honestly calls into question the whole idea of an "achievement" in the first place, which ideally should be something earned from skill and not purely by chance.
And unlike some other achievements out there that literally rely on a roll of the dice, those associated with the holidays can prevent someone from earning their rewards for an entire year. So it was a welcome surprise when Pilgrim's Bounty ditched the randomness altogether, even though it's not part of the greater meta-achievement for the Violet Proto-Drake. All in all, it's probably for the better. Aside from, perhaps, Winter's Veil, few other Azerothian holidays fall on parts of the year when people in real life are off visiting family the entire time. As Pilgrim's Bounty only lasts six days, that drastically reduces the amount of time players have to spend completing it.
That doesn't mean it was all simple, though. Two accomplishments presented particular problems of their own. The first of these was The Turkinator, which asked players to kill forty wild turkeys in a row, with a maximum of thirty seconds between each death. I was lucky to finish it off the morning the event started, when few people were online, and even that took me a few attempts. One of the main issues was that there were only two places in the world to find the gobblers, and even if they were spread out over a fairly large area, you'd be competing with the rest of your faction for kills during prime time. To make matters worse, classes with speed boosts or instant ranged attacks had a distinct advantage at picking turkeys off before others could. And woe befall the player that strayed too far to the edge of a designated area only to find that they had completely run out of turkeys and turning around wouldn't be quick enough to find the next one necessary to keep up your chain.
I thought the whole idea of hunting turkeys was fun, but the concept could use a little tweaking, which would include bringing down the total kills needed for the achievement.
The second was Turkey Lurkey. As a Rogue, I spent a lot of time both dodging my fellow players (when I was in a bad mood) and giving them free hits (when I was feeling a bit more generous). While I derived a great deal of amusement from riding my Darkspear Raptor or casting Fan of Knives in fowl form, it just became plain old annoying after awhile and I vowed to only log-on as my Shaman for the duration of the holiday when my achievements were done.
That aside, it was still tough to find Rogues of certain races, but I managed to get all of them done by scouting Dalaran during peak hours. If you still have trouble with this next year, I might advocate going into Battlegrounds and looking for them that way. Since some servers have low racial populations (and Rogues themselves are a relative rarity compared to the olden days), it doesn't hurt to open your prospective pool up to your entire Battlegroup.
Of course, being a Rogue does have its advantages when faced with achievements like Pilgrim's Peril, which involves getting yourself seated at Bountiful Tables located outside the enemy faction's capital cities. Being able to sneak into position proved to be a great boon and I never once got killed or caught doing so. Darnassus was the most difficult if only because (as required by similar objectives during other holidays) you have to go through a guarded portal and most of the city to reach the tables. It's going to be much easier to perform tasks like that in Cataclysm where you'll probably be able to fly right to the place you need to reach.
On the flip side, I greatly enjoyed ganking Alliance players attempting to breach Undercity's courtyard. I spent some time there racking up the Honor Kills for the non-holiday achievement City Defender.
And that wasn't the end of Pilgrim's Bounty's wonderful side-effects. Perhaps it was charity on Blizzard's part, but utilizing the recipes you need to complete the dailies can get you from 1 to roughly 366 Cooking in no time flat. As a player who has only dabbled in the secondary profession over the years, this was a welcome alternative to raising the skill by farming the kinds of meat that only rarely appear on the auction house these days (and almost never in the desired quantities).
Everything else about Pilgrim's Bounty I found to be refreshingly easy to accomplish. City-hopping to complete the food-related dailies was a little irritating, but hardly the worst of things to complain about. When all was said and done, it only took me three days to complete the event and even that was only because I mis-fired a Turkey Shooter once and had to wait until the next day for quests to reset.
How did the rest of you fare? Do you have any concerns or complaints about the holiday? Was it one of your favorite or was its relative simplicity not engaging enough to hold your attention?
The second was Turkey Lurkey. As a Rogue, I spent a lot of time both dodging my fellow players (when I was in a bad mood) and giving them free hits (when I was feeling a bit more generous). While I derived a great deal of amusement from riding my Darkspear Raptor or casting Fan of Knives in fowl form, it just became plain old annoying after awhile and I vowed to only log-on as my Shaman for the duration of the holiday when my achievements were done.
That aside, it was still tough to find Rogues of certain races, but I managed to get all of them done by scouting Dalaran during peak hours. If you still have trouble with this next year, I might advocate going into Battlegrounds and looking for them that way. Since some servers have low racial populations (and Rogues themselves are a relative rarity compared to the olden days), it doesn't hurt to open your prospective pool up to your entire Battlegroup.
Of course, being a Rogue does have its advantages when faced with achievements like Pilgrim's Peril, which involves getting yourself seated at Bountiful Tables located outside the enemy faction's capital cities. Being able to sneak into position proved to be a great boon and I never once got killed or caught doing so. Darnassus was the most difficult if only because (as required by similar objectives during other holidays) you have to go through a guarded portal and most of the city to reach the tables. It's going to be much easier to perform tasks like that in Cataclysm where you'll probably be able to fly right to the place you need to reach.
On the flip side, I greatly enjoyed ganking Alliance players attempting to breach Undercity's courtyard. I spent some time there racking up the Honor Kills for the non-holiday achievement City Defender.
And that wasn't the end of Pilgrim's Bounty's wonderful side-effects. Perhaps it was charity on Blizzard's part, but utilizing the recipes you need to complete the dailies can get you from 1 to roughly 366 Cooking in no time flat. As a player who has only dabbled in the secondary profession over the years, this was a welcome alternative to raising the skill by farming the kinds of meat that only rarely appear on the auction house these days (and almost never in the desired quantities).
Everything else about Pilgrim's Bounty I found to be refreshingly easy to accomplish. City-hopping to complete the food-related dailies was a little irritating, but hardly the worst of things to complain about. When all was said and done, it only took me three days to complete the event and even that was only because I mis-fired a Turkey Shooter once and had to wait until the next day for quests to reset.
How did the rest of you fare? Do you have any concerns or complaints about the holiday? Was it one of your favorite or was its relative simplicity not engaging enough to hold your attention?
