Project Lore

Mages, Death Knights and Hunters definitely need to be aware of Ghostcrawler's most recent posts. The face of the forums has tore it up over the last two days, announcing changes to all three classes that are sure to upset some, but will having others jump for joy.

Some of the changes he listed are now part of the just posted v3.0.8 PTR notes, which include a new mount-based Achievement, complete with an exclusive mount as the reward. Although this probably isn't exactly what the people QQing in the comments of this post had in mind, it is a start. An expensive start considering if you bought ground epic mounts for half of the required 100 mounts, you'd be dropping something like 5000g. And I don't think there are even that many available.  So let's just call it a crapton of gold.

I will just start this off with the bad news. Dorkins, prepared to be nerfed to the ground. Ghostcrawler's notes specifically mention that Hunters, PvE Beastmastery Hunters to be more specific, are doing too much god damn damage for Blizzard's liking. While the designers hoped other classes would catch up to them, they haven't, thus comes a series of nerfs. The developers figured the best way to hurt PvE damage, while skirting the PvP balance issue, would be to heavily modify Steady Shot and Volley. Ouch!

From the blue:

• Steady Shot – now only gains 10% of attack power as damage (down from 20%).
• Volley – reduced the damage by about 30% for all ranks. Note that AE damage from many classes is very high right now and we are looking at all of them. Volley in particular had reached the point where some hunters were using it to the exclusion of most other attacks.

Death Knights are getting the opposite treatment of Hunters. The changes to the newest and most populous class - for the moment – revolve around modify tanking a good deal, while reducing their defense capabilities for PvP. Those PvEers out there, specifically the ones who rolled a DK for tanking, should be excited. From my understanding of the changes, and the class, the PvP modifications aren't nearly the nerf that Hunters received on the PvE end.  Blood Aura doing double the healing...think I may go Blood when I return to my DK.

As for our faithful Blinkers out there, some of you will be happy to hear that you have a buff coming your way. I quantified that previous sentence with 'some' because the buffs only apply to those mages that are Arcane spec. To be honest, I do not know, and possibly have never known, a mage that was Arcane spec. Nonetheless, Blizzard will has decided that that particular spec needs a hand, going so far as to completley redesigning the Arcane Blast ability.

• Arcane Blast – overhauled. Will now increase the damage of your next Arcane spell by 15/30/45%. However using Arcane Blast itself does not consume the charge, but instead increases the mana of your next Arcane Blast, up to a maximum of 3 stacks (and a 45% buff). You can alternate Blast and Barrage to keep buffing Barrage, or you can build Blast up higher for a heavy mana cost.

To sum it up, we have Hunters' PvE being super-nerfed with a buff in survivability for PvP. Death Knight's Blood spec is more attractive for tanking, with tanking mechanics relying less on cooldowns and a small nerf to their defense in PvP. Arcane Mages get a nice bump in damage, however, Blizzard is keeping a close eye on them to see if they become too powerful in PvP, or the class in general taking the lead in PvE damage output.

As for me, my two main characters have barely been touched. Fan of Knives is now better, but my rogue lacks the ability, so blah. Circle of Healing now has a 6 second cooldown, instead of just the global cooldown. That sucks, but I hated spamming it so much anyways.

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Photograph by L. Simon.

Like many of you, I am taking my time in getting to level 80. I did not create an elaborate flowchart of areas to tackle, research the best grinding spots or enlist a friendly Priest, Paladin, Shaman and Warrior for their buffs. Last night I got a few of my guildmates to slow down and enjoy some of the content they have skipped over, bringing two level 75 players into Utgarde Keep with my newly-found old friend.

This weekend, well that was an entirely different story. With my girlfriend busy with visiting friends, I had Friday night, Saturday and most of Sunday to do with what I pleased. Naturally, I took the extra free time to tear into Northrend, although not as focused as some people. As of launch, I was still uncertain who I was going to level, my Rogue or my Priest. In the end I surprised myself and rolled a Death Knight. An enjoyable experience thus far, but it wasn't long before I jumped back to my Rogue to see Northrend.

By mid-Saturday, General Chat was full of people looking for healers for various things. Being the good samaritan that I am, I logged in and began SolidSagart's journey into Northrend. After performing the first few quests outside Valiance Keep, I realized that my professions were woefully under skilled. Not wanting to pass up dozens of skinning opportunities or trot by numerous herb nodes, I had to head back to Stormwind and went about the tedious task of skinning low level mobs and picking pointless flowers. Say what you will about my choice in professions, she is simply my gathering girl.

After logging a reasonable 20+ hours across the three characters, I feel I got a bit done. The DK is now up to level 68, SolidSamm is a bubble shy of 71 (he was the most neglected character) and SolidSagart has her professions up to snuff and is a hair shy of finally hitting 70. She started the weekend out as 67, with little rested. If only her professions were leveled beforehand, I would have been able to get her past 70, possibly even jumping ahead of the rogue.

While my WoW avatars progressed a decent amount, other parts of my life were pushed aside. As you can see in the image above, my kitchen is an absolute mess of dishes, plates and glasses. I even saved numerous articles of kitchenware from washing by abandoning them, opting to eat right out of pots and pans like any good college student would – just over my computer instead of the sink. On the brighter side of things, my ferrets, fish, snails, crayfish, and plants all made it through the weekend. They would like to thank boat rides, flights and queues for their continued existence.

What'd you accomplish?  Perhaps more importantly, what didn't you accomplish?

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We've got six videos for you on this week's schedule. Of course, We are continuing our Ten Days of Knight special covering the Death Knight experience in Wrath of the Lich King. In addition to that awesome series, our five guys will be bringing to you a Level 80 instance from the beta, as well, the Halls of Lightning. Can you imagine what might be inside waiting for our group? Tune in this week and find out. Here's the schedule: Monday, October 27th at Noon PDT- Project Lore WotLK beta Episode 2.1: The Halls of Lightning Tuesday, October 28th at Noon PDT- Project Lore's Ten Days of Knight: Day 6 Wednesday, October 29th at Noon PDT- Project Lore WotLK beta Episode 2.21: The Halls of Lightning Thursday, October 30th  at Noon PDT - Project Lore's Ten Days of Knight: Day 7 Friday, October 31st at Noon PDT- Project Lore WotLK beta Episode 2.2: The Halls of Lightning Saturday, November 1st at Noon PDT - Project Lore's Weekly Wrap-up Take a look at our subscribe page to find us all over the web, and use the Episodes RSS feed or follow our Twitter to find out when new episodes are out! Project Lore is also on MySpace and Facebook, so please be our friend!

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Continuing their romp through Karazhan, Project Lore and friends downed a bunch of bosses: Big Bad Wolf, Nightbane, Curator, and Illhoof all went down. Here are quick links to each episode from this past week: Episode 10.1: Karazhan Episode 10.2: Karazhan Episode 10.3: Karazhan Episode 10.4: Karazhan Episode 10.5: Week 2 Wrap-Up In addition to the amazing week in Kara, we were interviewed by Nihilum. Everyone is still looking forward to Wrath, getting worried, or hoping their computers will even run it. Oh and also, Death Knight footage? Yes please! Remember, we're be at BlizzCon today and tomorrow, so follow our Twitter to keep up with the latest haps. If you want to keep up with whatever Alexis is up to, follow her on twitter at twitter.com/alexisknapp or you can email her at alexis@projectlore.com! Join us next week as the team of ten make their way through the next bosses in Kara, starting with the Shade of Aran. As usual, keep up with us by using the Episodes RSS feed, the Blog RSS feed, or Twitter, and join our Facebook Group, Facebook Page, and MySpace! You can head to our subscribe page to find us on some of your other favorite sites, too. Lastly, get over to the Lore Store to grab yourself a Project Lore T-Shirt and stay tuned for next week's schedule on Sunday. Hope to see some of you at BlizzCon!

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After the Utgarde Keep episode, we got a myriad of questions about the Wrath of the Lich King Expansion. Often, we were asked about the new Hero Class, the Death Knight. Apparently, you all want to see some footage of one in action. You guys have been begging us and begging us, and we are giving in (To be honest, we couldn't wait to show you guys this stuff either). Next week, in addition to the Karazhan episodes that we are still churning out, we are going to start a ten part special that will be all about the Death Knight leveling experience, as seen through the eyes of none other than Zand Broumand, AKA Dorkins. How does that sound? Stay tuned, as we will have the schedule and more details for you on Sunday.

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Wrath of the Lich King has me far more excited than The Burning Crusade ever did. I don't know what it was about TBC that turned me off so much, because I was interested in what it had to offer. I was in TBC's beta, but I didn't burn myself out in it. In fact, that is where I realized that I wasn't as intrigued by The Burning Crusade as much as I was for World of Warcraft. I bought the first expansion regardless, hoping that Blizzard would manage to wow me in some way. I don't believe TBC struck me as much as vanilla WoW, but the expansion – and the community - managed to keep me entertained for the past 21 months and counting. Thankfully, WotLK seems like it will do more than just hold on to me.  With exciting features like these, how could it fail?

• Questing & Exploration – I love exploring these digital worlds that we spend so much of our time in and the new quests should make it that much more enjoyable.  To top it off, the lands are full of unseen monsters living in harsh conditions.
• Phasing – Phasing is the new black. The idea of phasing is to allow players to have their own unique world. Did you manage to do an escort quest and your buddy didn't? Well, to you, the person you escorted may appear in the nearby town, while for your buddy, he is still held captive by the forces of the scourge.  Same game, but appearing to each player in its own special way.
• Stormwind Harbor – Stormwind is getting a large addition that will gradually be introduced to the Human stronghold.  For the aesthetics alone, it is nice to see the major cities change over time.
• Naxxaramas – My hardore raiding days ended with Naxxaramas 40-man. No guild on my main server managed to clear it before TBC went live, although we were the closest. I can't wait to dance tackle it again, only this time at level 80.
• New talents & Level 80 – The idea of dual specs are interesting and so are all the new talents, for all classes.
• World PvP – World PvP and Battlegrounds are to make a comeback in Wrath. Arenas with environmental hazards are all well and good, but Lake Wintergrasp and Strand of The Ancients are where it is at for me.
• Enchanting Changes - Being able to sell and purchase Enchants on the Auction House = priceless.
• Death Knights – Forget about new races, that is old hat. Yea, we will have new racial abilities, but what could be more exciting than the first Hero class? I won't be leveling a Death Knight right away, but I will definitely take one for a spin due to the quest chains and lore associated with starting one.
• Lore – This is actually the number one thing I am waiting for. Wrath of the Lich King promises to have some killer lore.  With the introduction of the new Death Knight class, new quests, the lead up to Icecrown Glacier and the battle against the Lich King/Arthas, how could it not be awesome? I guarantee you that there will be one quest chain in the game that will blow you away. KooPA's are known for their truthiness...and walking off cliffs.

There is tons more to Wrath of the Lich King than what I have listed, another reason that I can't wait to jump in on November 13th. What has you all in a tither?

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As you may or may not have noticed, our home page is looking a little cooler (get it?). Included in that look is a key piece of information. In Stores 11/13/08. That's right, Wrath of the Lich King will be available at retail stores on November 13, 2008. How close was that to your guess? That means we've got approximately two months (or less, depending on when patch 3.0.2 is released) to do what we need to do before starting on the epic quest to level 80. After that, Outland is going to be empty except for Death Knights and dual boxers. Is that enough time for you? Are you excited or dreading it? Remember to stay tuned to Project Lore for more videos from the Wrath of the Lich King beta in Utgarde Keep!

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Blizzard debuted the Wrath of the Lich King cinematic trailer during last week's Leipzig Games Convention to much discussion. Many, yours truly included, felt that it was lacking something. At the same time, others enjoyed how Blizzard "hid" the lore by not explaining it during the video but eluding to the backstory. Either way, just about everyone loved the animation and art. Surely, not everyone is a lore nut and therefore may not know what Arthas is doing in Northrend, or simply forgot. Today we will add a little lore to ProjectLore with a quick re-cap of Arthas and his ascension as the new Lich king. Prince Arthas was first introduced to the Warcraft univserse with the release of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. Blizzard's third RTS in the series revolved around the return of the Burning Legion to the land and the four races' attempts to stop them. Arthas begins his career as a Knight of the Silver Hand by defending Strahnbrad before moving onto Stratholme. His actions in Stratholme mark the beginning of his turn, as he purges the town of its people in an attempt to stave off the plague. With Kel'Thuzad, the plague bringer, dead, Arthas pursues Mal'Ganis into Northrend where he and Muradin Bronzebeard find Frostmourne. In his final conversation with Muradin, Arthas explains that "I would gladly bear any curse to save my homeland!" shortly before a powerful explosion shatters the ice surrounding the sword, wounding Muradin. With Frostmourne in hand Arthas seeks revenge upon Mal'Ganis. Striking the dreadlord down before he returns to Lordaeron. To kill his father. Now corrupted, following the bidding of Tichondrius, hearing the Lich King's sweet nothings and lacking a soul, Arthas began performing unthinkable acts. For months he carried out Tichondrius' bidding, including exhuming the corpse of Kel'Thuzad, and obtaining a magical urn for his body. An urn protected by his former mentor Uther the Lightbringer and one that possessed his father's ashes. Without remorse, the former Prince dispatched of his mentor and discarded the last remains of King Terenas Menethil II. The Death Knight proceeded to resurrect Kel'Thuzad as a powerful lich after destroying Silvermoon and plundering the Sunwell for its power. With his resurrection complete, Kel'Thuzad tells Arthas of the Lich King's full plan. The pair sought the Book of Medivh and succeeded in summoning Archimonde to their lands. The demon - not knowing their plan - disregarded the pair, allowing them to meet with Archimonde's enemies. Arthas located the recently freed Illidan Stormrage and divulged the secret to Archimonde's demise, the Skull of Gul'dan. Arthas made his return shortly after the combined forces of the Night Elves, Humans, and Orcs defeated Archimonde. Archimonde's remaining three dreadlords realized that the Lich King's power was waning and moved to seek their revenge. Thanks to Kel'Thuzad, Arthas narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by his former aide, Sylvanas Windrunner. The ordeal left Arthas shaken and the Lich King called him to protect The Frozen Throne in Northrend. After being saved by Anub'arak, the former king of Azjol-Nerub, the pair ventured towards the Icecrown Glacier via the remains of Azjol-Nerub. During their descent into the caves they first claimed the treasures of Sapphiron and after his defeat, Arthas managed to raise him once again as a powerful frost wyrm. Then, they were confronted by the remaining forces of Muradin, led by Baelgun. After dispatching of the dwarves, the team ran into the legendary race known as the Faceless Ones before managing to reach the Upper Kingdom. Arthas' forces clashed with Illidan's as he attempted to open the path to The Frozen Throne. Upon starting his ascent he was greeted by Illidan. Arthas quickly dispatched the demon-infused elf and so he climbed the icy stairs to receive the Lich King's armor. With a powerful cry Arthas shattered the throne and claimed the helm of the Lich King. The act merged the soul of Arthas with that of the Lich King. Ner'Zhul and Arthas became one and await you in Icecrown Glacier. For more information on Arthas check out his WoWWiki page or the plot's to Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.

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