Project Lore

Feeling a bit down on your luck lately? Run into one too many ganks, Ulduar wipes or failed PuG runs? Perhaps it's time for you to take a break from the grind and get to know your toon's chivalrous side through the Argent Tournament. Now I know some people in our Project Lore forums have expressed skepticism about how popular the Argent Tournament will be in the long run. Others also seem enthusiastic about the idea. I, for one, love being able to kick back for some casual game play in the tourney. I've always thought that WoW has taken a new look at Azeroth as a different kind of take on medieval times. But the Argent Tournament is a bit less subtle, which I find refreshing. We don't have to dig deep to find plenty of pop-culture references that provide framework for how we visualize medieval times. You know, the romanticized, Hollywood version with valiant good guys who wield legendary weapons to defeat a corrupt and overbearing government and win over the hot (and virgin) woman. Right away for the tournament, you start quests investigating a mysterious black knight who is said to be able to defeat anyone who is unfortunate enough to meet him (I won't ruin it for anyone who hasn't started, but it's a fun quest line!) Then you'll progress into proving your jousting worth and venturing around the world to either gather various items, kill random bad guys or rescue helpless maidens (I don't think it matters whether your toon is male or female!) It all leads to more jousting until reaching Champion status and working toward buying some tournament rewards. If you want to speed through the new addition, or if you want a closer look at what you'll be getting yourself into, definitely take a look at iTZKooPA's guide to the Argent Tournament. As for me, I am thoroughly enjoying taking my time through these quests (on my husband's main, haha, I'm still leveling!). It makes me want to join a RP server and see what kind of fun plot lines are being worked into the already awesome tournament goodness. I definitely call the Argent Tournament a win for WoW. So what does everyone else make of the new Argent Tournament addition? Is it holding your interest, or something that you'll be over within a week or two? I'm hoping that the coliseum area continues getting built up so that it maintains a fresh feel.

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It has been nearly a week since the Argent Tournament launched alongside patch 3.1 and there remains much confusion about the new addition to solo gameplay.  Solidsamm started the festivities late last week, but Blizzard created the contest in such a way that progression through the various stages moves at a smooth pace.  You never feel that the next step is out of reach, just a few days away.  Damn them knowing how to dangle that carrot so perfectly! You're a bit behind if you haven't started your dailies by now, as the first Champions will be crowned today, but don't let that stop you.  To help you on your journey we have compiled all you need to know about the Argent Tournament's daily quests in a neat little post, rather than spread across the great reaches of WoWHead.  Since many of the new NPCs are still unknown to WoWHead, we will also present you with their locations where needed. Before we dive into the daily quests we need to get you situated and out to the tournament grounds.  The grounds are located in the northeastern part of Icecrown, directly above Sindragosa's Fall.  As you fly into the area you'll be greeted by the first two dailies that are sheerly for monetary gain, A Chip Off the Ulduar Block and Jack Me Some Lumber.  They have nothing to do with the tournament, outside the illusion that you will be helping the crusaders build the actual Coliseum.  At this point you should familiarize yourself with the new camp, as it is quite large.  Fly around and pick up all the quests you see, you should find the following four quests in addition to the previous pair: 1.  The Black Knight of Westfall/Silverpine - This begins the Black Knight quest chain that progresses throughout you tournament ambitions.  Just do the damn quest chain, it's a pop culture reference that shouldn't be missed. 2.  Mastery of Melee/The Charge/The Shield-Breaker - These three quests are designed to teach you the basics of horse combat.  Grab your steed and head to the dummy location noted on the above map.  They are a cakewalk.<br> 3. Up To The Challenge - Now that you've mastered the basic moves of jousting, you can begin your run to Champion.  This quest forces you to collect Aspirant's Seals, which are rewarded from the following quests.  You can complete this in three days time if you do all the dailies offered to you.  *NOTE* One of the last three quests will be assigned, not all of them. 4.  Aspirant's Challenge - When you turn in your 15 Aspirant's Seals for Up To The Challenge you will be given that challenge, defeating your first jouster.  Head over to Squire David by the training dummies to begin you battle.  Your first battle will be an easy one, use Shield-Breaker and then Melee for the easy win. 5.  A Valiant of Capital City - Yay, you won!  Now you can head to the next level of jousting, the Valiant rank.  Fly to your faction's tent, locate your race's tournament rep and begin your ascent as a Valiant.  The rest of your dailies will be given by this representative or the buddies surrounding him/her. 6.  The Valiant's Charge - Time to collect some newfangled Valiant's Seals. At a maximum of 5 seals per day, you'll need a full business week to finish off this rank.  Don't worry, there aren't many new quests to participate in, so it should mostly be on cruise control.  The three random dailies from the Up To The Challenge section return with no changes.  Training in the field is repeated, but bumped up to ten kills instead of just eight.

• The Grand Melee - I hope your original jousting match was incredibly easy, because if it wasn't than this may be difficult for you.  You're tasked with taking down three Valiants in this feat of strength.  Be aware that you Shield (hotkey 4) can stack up to three times.  Before you go into combat get it stacked and allow the cooldown to pass, then start the battle.  Shield Break your opponent until they come into melee range and then melee.  While in melee keep your shield active, as the attack and buff are on separate CDs.  If you can keep a shield up while you opponent's is down during the melee skirmish, then it'll be an easy victory.
• At the Enemy's Gates - Here's another easy traveling quest.  Head down to Corp'rethar in southern Icecrown - clearly marked on the map - and smash some Scourge skulls.  The combat is exceptionally easy, just make sure you are attacking the Lieutenants and not the Commanders.  The Commanders are far more difficult and not part of the quest criteria.

7.  The Valiant's Challenge - The same as step four, but a bit more difficult.  Chalk it up as another Grand Melee battle. 8.  A Champion Rises - At this juncture you as essentially done with the quest line.  From here on out it is just about grinding additional reputation, seals and coin to use for those delicious rewards.  Oh, and of course those achievements and titles, how could I forget those.  In association with that, the Valiant's Charge quest will re-open for all of the other races.  If you so chose, you can re-run them for added Achievements. 9.  Eadric the Pure/The Scourgebane - I haven't gotten to this point yet, so I don't know exactly why you do one and not the other of these.  Perhaps it is a simple choice or it has something to do with your reputation for Ebon Hold vs Argent Crusade?  They don't appear to be faction related at all.  Either way, both NPCs are on the tournament grounds themselves.

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