Filed under: News items, Wrath of the Lich King

Good news, everyone! Your faction specific Icecrown Citadel buff is now 30%, meaning things just got a little more lenient in ICC. Now’s your chance to capitalize on the content in there to get alts ready for Cataclysm, finish off those drakes you’ve been lusting after, or just proudly wear that Kingslayer title.

Icecrown raid buff now at 30% originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm, Gold Capped

Want to get Gold Capped? Every week, Basil “Euripides” Berntsen takes a short break from building a raiding guild on Drenden (US-A) (we’re recruiting!) to write up a guide that will help you make gold. Check out the Call to Auction podcast, and feel free to email Basil any comments, questions or hate mail. Basil is also soliciting questions for an upcoming Gold Capped series, “Ask an auctioneer” via email.

This post is best read while imagining me singing the title to the tune of “Where have all the coyboys gone” by Paula Cole. There — good luck getting that out of your head!

Auctioneers rely on farmers for raw materials for various businesses. In fact, we rely very heavily on them, and there are quite a few markets that are only more profitable than farming in terms of gold per hour if we can do them on a very large scale … much more than any one person can farm.

I’ve been flying circles around Sholazar Basin and boy, are my arms tired!

The interesting thing about the markets we work on is that it’s almost no more actual work to make, for example, 150 Titansteel Bars than it is to make 20. The only difference is in how annoying it is to find mats, and the number of Dr. Who episodes you get to watch while AFK crafting. The difficulty of finding lots of cheap mats is really the only barrier we worry about. And any experienced auctioneer will tell you that, historically in Wrath of the Lich King, it’s been no trouble at all.

For some reason, the majority of mornings I’d log in to do my buying, I’d see absolutely dumbfounding amounts of raw mats available for ridiculous prices. Cobalt Ore for under 20g a stack, Saronite Ore for as low as 7g a stack, Adder’s Tongue for under 5g a stack and Eternal Shadow for as low as 15g a stack. I have access to unlimited storage and basically unlimited money, so I did what any opportunist with a basement full of toilet paper would do: I bought every last scrap every single time, reasoning that I’d eventually find time to use it.

Continue reading Gold Capped: Where have all the farmers gone?

Gold Capped: Where have all the farmers gone? originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Blizzard, Lore, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm

Lore nerds, rejoice! Weeks back, Blizzard asked official forum-goers to submit questions for the CDev (Creative Development) team in this thread. Questions have been answered, and there is information-a-plenty. We learn about the ethereals’ home planet, pieces of lore about the tol’vir and the oft-reviled Obsidian Destroyer unit from Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne and World of Warcraft, why goblin shaman exist, and the origins of Varok Saurfang, to name just a few awesome reveals.

Here are some highlights:

For the full list of questions and answers, visit the World of Warcraft official forums thread here.

Blizzard’s creative development team answers tons of lore questions originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Events, Add-Ons, Wrath of the Lich King

The Midsummer Fire Festival is pretty decent for a WoW holiday — good experience and gold from extinguishing and honoring fires, fun cosmetic rewards and occasionally mind-numbing achievements. Wait, what was that last one?

Torch Juggler has become notorious this year, as the achievement is not only difficult for people who are unable to click their mouses and buttons fast enough, but it is also part of the meta-achievement for completing the Midsummer Fire Festival and gaining the title “Flame Keeper.” So, here’s how to get Torch Juggler in three easy steps.

1. Get about 15 Juggling Torches. For five Burning Blossoms, the holiday’s currency gained through honoring fires, desecrating fires and dailies, you can purchase five Juggling Torches.
2. Go to Dalaran. A common mistake is that many players attempt this achievement in other capital cities. You need to be in Dalaran!
3. Download and install the mod Juggler. Juggler is a simple addon that you activate with /juggle or /juggler. The addon replaces your mouse wheel with a series of actions that select a torch and then selects where to throw the torch.

Download Juggler at [Curse].

Activate Juggler, aim your mouse underneath your character and spin your mouse wheel faster than you’ve ever spun it before. Is this cheesing the achievement? You bet it is. But frankly, the achievement requires dexterity that might not be possible for many people, and factoring in other variables like lag time in Dalaran makes this addon worthwhile. And there you have it. The worst part of the Midsummer Fire Festival is now put to rest, so you can go on having fun.

Midsummer Fire Festival: Need help juggling? originally appeared on WoW.com on Mon, 28 Jun 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Warrior, The Burning Crusade, (Warrior) The Care and Feeding of Warriors, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm

Continue reading The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Wrath report card — protection

The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Wrath report card — protection originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 25 Jun 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Death Knight, Wrath of the Lich King

With the final content patch of this expansion on our doorstep and Cataclysm following close behind, we’ll be taking the next several weeks to look back on Wrath of the Lich King and everything that made it what it is, for better or for worse, in Wrath Retrospective.

Wrath of the Lich King is coming to an end, and with it one of the largest experiments that Blizzard has ever done in the history of WoW. At the onset of this expansion, we were all introduced to a new class; the death knight. The addition of a new class has major complications on the game as a whole: how they fit into PvE, how they work in PvP, what buffs and debuffs they bring, what roles they fill, what unique utility that they provide. All of these things have changed the face of the game as we know it. though fairly new arrivals, death knights have been integrated into the game almost seamlessly; the craters that they made when they first arrived, however, are still highly visible to those that know where to look.

There were a lot of misconceptions about death knights when they were first released. Once they were announced, Blizzard classified them as being a hero class, not to be confused with your ordinary, run-of-the-mill class. To many people, this caused worry that death knights would be grossly overpowered and far superior to all of the others. Blizzard was quick to point out that this was not the case, but it did little to assuage many of the fears that players had. Still, death knights have had their ups and their downs all throughout this expansion, and if that is not a case for removing then from hero status then I don’t know what is.

What can we learn from death knights? What has all of the work done with the significant re-balancing changes and the major talent changes taught us about WoW in general? How can we apply that knowledge to all of the other classes in the game? That is what I wish to explore to day, and I hope that you will join me.

Continue reading Wrath Retrospective: What we learned from death knights

Wrath Retrospective: What we learned from death knights originally appeared on WoW.com on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Raiding, Lore, Wrath of the Lich King

“Next to nothing is known about who might be responsible for the assault on the Ruby Sanctum: the black dragonflight is not known for forgiveness or patience, but its numbers in Northrend are surely limited. What force would be powerful or daring enough to assail the stronghold of these ancient wyrms? How could such an enemy sneak by the temple’s guardians undetected? Surely an approaching air or ground force would have been caught by Wyrmrest Temple’s defenders.

For the moment, the members of the accord and their allies must assume the worst scenario that they can conceive of: that all life within the Ruby Sanctum rests on the precipice of extinction, and only immediate intervention will prevent the red dragonflight from being decimated. They’ll find that the truth is far worse.”

Blizzard releases Patch 3.3.5 Ruby Sanctum storyline originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Wrath of the Lich King

Trial of the Crusader was, for all intents and purposes, an experiment. The world part of raiding, from suppressor rooms to the Twin Emperors and beyond, has always been the stifling mechanic of trash. “The real meat of the dungeon’s content should be the boss fights,” the masses cried! And for the most part, they are right. Trash serves many purposes, from creating artificial time sinks and flavor, to teaching players mechanics that they would then need to hone, skill wise, against a boss. Trial of the Crusader paved a very different path, succeeding in many areas, but ultimately failing in many others. ToC was uneven at best, soul-destroying at worst.

Let’s look back!

Continue reading Wrath Retrospective: Ulduar and Trial of the Crusader, part two

Wrath Retrospective: Ulduar and Trial of the Crusader, part two originally appeared on WoW.com on Mon, 21 Jun 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Events, News items, Wrath of the Lich King

Looks like mini-pet collectors are going to be unable to get the Scorchling this year. Aredek posted in the official forums that the Scorched Stone is no longer on the Ice Chest’s drop table from Ahune.

Aredek

It’s unclear why they elected to leave it out this year, however it almost looks like it might have been a simple error rather than a design decision. Either way, the historical drop rates for this were so low that most players won’t be able to tell the difference. Also, despite this, the Lil’ Game Hunter achievement is much more easily obtainable now than it was this time last year, with the introduction of many new sources for non-combat pets.

Still, that’s a very cute fireball.

Scorchling not available in this year’s Midsummer Fire Festival originally appeared on WoW.com on Mon, 21 Jun 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Wrath of the Lich King

Ulduar and Trial of the Crusader/Grand Crusader (collectively “ToC”) were the middle children of the Wrath raiding family. And like many middle children, they both turned out wildly different from the children before and after them. Ulduar and ToC could not have been farther apart in design, structure, implementation, and style. I would love to share with you my experiences in both raids as a business-casual raider and my own thoughts looking back on these two distinct experiences.

Continue reading Wrath Retrospective: Ulduar and Trial of the Crusader, part one

Wrath Retrospective: Ulduar and Trial of the Crusader, part one originally appeared on WoW.com on Sun, 20 Jun 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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