The moment you've been waiting for has arrived! It's hard to believe that a whopping five months have gone by, but Azerothian Super Villains - Episode 6 has finally been released! Ian Beckman went all out in the production of this sequel to his popular series. It wouldn't be complete without a voiceover from our favorite guest actor, Drewbie, though!
You know the drill. Illidan plots something evil, Kael'thas screws up, and everything goes awry. However, there's a lot more depth (and laughs) to it than that. In this episode, "The Virgin Kael'thas," Illidan plans to take over the island of Theramore, but needs Kael'thas to distract the leader, Proudmoore, in order to carry it out. When Proudmoore is discovered to be Jaina, a lady, will he be able to carry out his mission?
Welcome to Ask a Lore Nerd, the column that answers your questions about the story and lore of the Warcraft universe. Click the Comments link below, ask your question, and blogger/columnist Alex Ziebart will answer you in a future installment! Travis asks...
What can you tell me about the other portals around Outlands (the only one that springs to mind right now is the one in Zangarmarsh)? They look just like the one you get to Outlands through, but are just standing there doing nothing.
Answer: Those portals were once used by the Burning Legion and their lackies to travel between Outland and various other worlds. Those portals were also used to send Legion reinforcements to Outland. Before Illidan and his posse usurped Magtheridon, they went around shutting down these portals to prevent Magtheridon from being reinforced. Further, they've been kept closed so Kil'jaeden can't come stomping back into Outland to punish Illidan for not being able to kill the Lich King.
We're just going to go ahead and declare this Journey masterpiece the official song of raiders -- apparently one of our guilds in the Downed section this week found a lot of inspiration in these rockin' lyrics, and so for the rest of you, here you go. Just like your guild's attempts on Kael, it goes on and on and on and on. Be thankful -- we could have embedded this raid video, which doesn't quite have the same inspirational music to it.
Click the link below to check out this week's news of guild drama, downings, and recruiting notices -- we've got everything from more app drama to a ton of great downed news from regular tipsters. In fact, a few people told us this week that seeing their guild in Guildwatch actually got them raiding better than ever -- if you want your guild here (and have something interesting to tell us), drop a line to wowguildwatch@gmail.com.
So recently, Tobold was saying that excitement around Wrath of the Lich King is visibly much less than the excitement that led up to the release of Burning Crusade. People are tired out by the 2 year wait, WoW isn't innovating, WoW isn't adding the content fast enough: there's just so many reasons that the Wrath of the Lich King is being greeted with ennui instead of excitement.
My first thought upon reading that: Wait, people aren't excited over WoTLK?
Tank Talk is WoW Insider's new raid-tanking column, promising you an exciting and educational look at the world of getting the stuffing thrashed out of you in a 10- or 25-man raid. The column will be rotated amongst Matthew Rossi (Warrior/Paladin), Adam Holisky (Warrior), Michael Gray (Paladin), and myself (Druid). Our aim is to use this column to debate and discuss class differences, raid-tanking strategies, tips, tricks, and news concerning all things meatshieldish. At least, that's what the others said they were doing. I intend to use it mostly as a soapbox to complain. Absolute power tends to......something something.
Welcome to Tank Talk. I am your bear Druid hostess for this week, with a topic that occurred to me while reading a recent article here on the site. Eliah Hecht wrote that his guild is facing a not-uncommon tank shortage and that he has considered the possibility of leveling a tanking class to 70 before Wrath, or tanking on a Death Knight afterwards. A number of people on my server and in my guild have talked about doing the same thing, or switching mains once Wrath hits. With so many people playing Death Knights, I think it's very possible that more people will discover they enjoy -- or at least, don't mind -- tanking, and may seek to do so in a raid environment without necessarily knowing what they've really signed up for.
From those of us who have tanked raid content in vanilla WoW or BC, here are the 10 questions you'll want to ask yourself if you're considering the possibility of tanking serious raid content:
I know that image above is tiny, sorry about that -- click it to see the whole convo. Basically Mimszee got what he thinks is a bum deal out of a jewelcrafter (who he calls a "jellyfish" -- because he's too spineless to talk to Mimszee maybe?), and keeps telling one of the jewelcrafter's guildies to "open your face!" Your guess is as good as ours as to what that's all about. But that's not even the end of it -- there's more in this week's GW about Mimszee. A lot more.
For other downed, recruiting or drama news from around the realms, click the link below. And to put your own guild's news here (or a particularly tasty morsel of drama about another guild), just drop us a note to wowguildwatch@gmail.com, and you could see it here next week. Open your face!
15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes – from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about at 15minutesoffame (at) wowinsider (dot) com.
Last week, 15 Minutes of Fame introduced Tamzin, maker of the madly popular strat videos that have helped catapult so many guilds past some of the most intimidating battles in the game: Lady Vashj, Kael'thas Sunstrider and Illidan Stormrage. Our week-long correspondence with Tamzin meandered far beyond the actual videos – so this week, we bring you Tamzin's musings on her professional work in games and movies, being a girl gamer and her thoughts on the future of raiding.
15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes – from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about at 15minutesoffame (at) wowinsider (dot) com.
Take a deep breath, everybody – that stale smell is just the whiff of a lame duck era. We'll be back in fresh air again soon. If you've been wondering what's left for you to accomplish between now and Wrath of the Lich King, we've got good news. As guilds begin taking down the infamous Kil'jaeden (the last boss of the Sunwell Plateau and final raid content available before the Wrath of the Lich King comes out) and a druid solos the hapless Onyxia, Tamzin is on your side. The creator of the madly popular tactical videos that have helped so many guilds master end-game raiding content, Tamzin wants to see as many players as possible experience juicy raid boss goodness. Her clean, classy and accurate videos have helped steer countless groups to success in content that might have blocked them in the absence of clear direction.
15 Minutes of Fame recently conducted a week-long correspondence with Tamzin about her strategy guides, her own WoW habits and experience and her work in the movie and music industries. She had so much to say that we decided to give her not just 15 minutes but a whole half an hour – two installments -- of fame. Read the first part of our exclusive visit with Tamzin after the break, and be sure to click the screenshot here to link over to her most recent video, a guide to taking down Illidan.
It seems like one of the biggest problems a lot of people have with Death Knights is the fact that they can be all races. Me, I say: Why not? The lore really isn't as bad as you might think. Sure, some of the retcons can get a little annoying, but despite the fact that non-Paladin races will get to be Death Knights, I don't think you really consider it a retcon, but rather an evolution in an ever-evolving story that opens up a lot of great story ideas and RP opportunities, and I'm really looking forward to it.
Theantipoet of the World of Warcraft LJ community has a challenge for us in the spirit of the ten word and Wow-ku challenges: Sum up the Burning Crusade raiding game in four words or less -- his was "Fire bad. Tree Pretty." The community stepped up to the challenge quite nicely, offering answers that ranged from the obvious ("You are not prepared!") to the cynical ("Let's just farm badges"), and from the silly ("Making Coffee -- Kael's Talking") to the sublime ("Sometimes there is fire").
Myself, I think my raiding experience on my Druid can be best summed up thus: "Damn Dire Bear butt!" Seriously, whenever I tank a boss, that is all I see. The scenery gets boring. And furry. When it comes to my Hunter, I think it would be something like: "Why won't Wolfslayer drop?" The rifle never dropped for me.
Of course, we hardly need to stop there. Why not expand the challenge to what you're looking forward to the most in WoTLK ("Fear my undead army!"), or what is frustrating you about your trade skill ("Drowning in Mithril Spurs"), or an ode to your favorite quest reward("Alliance has Boot Flasks!")? Give me your four word descriptions in the comments.
When most guilds have trouble in Sunwell, they go to Mount Hyjal or Black Temple to do a little raiding and pick up some more gear. But not Reforged on Runetotem, pictured above -- they go to Vegas and blow off some steam at the blackjack tables and the all-you-can-eat buffets. That's my kind of guild!
That story and more, all in this week's Guildwatch, right after the jump. Don't forget to send us your tips of drama, downed, and recruiting news -- we collect them all at wowguildwatch@gmail.com. Whether it's your guild or someone else's let us know what's going on out there on the realms, good or bad.
(We're hijacking this little spot here to let you know that Never Stay Tuned 3 is out. Olibith informed us the other day that it's a little too naughty for this blog.)
Shepiwot is so close to Episode 30 of his How to Paladin series! Episode 29, or XXIX, finds him in Quel'danas and killing Kael'thas. At what point do you think that he'll get a lifetime achievement award? With 71 machinimas under his belt, of which none of them have been sabotaged by me, and one WCM recommendation, we definitely think that he qualifies!
In a bold move that is perhaps indicative of the direction Blizzard will be taking with the game and lore progression, Patch 2.4 saw the removal of M'uru from Silvermoon City and the displacement of Lady Liadrin from the chamber in Farstriders' Square. In a scripted event that reveals what happened to the captured Naaru, Lady Liadrin pays a visit to A'dal in Shattrath City, eventually pledging the service of the Blood Knights to the Shattered Sun Offensive. In the blink of an eye, Lady Liadrin become Exalted with the Shattered Sun Offensive (where'd she get that quest, I wonder!) and leaves Shattrath wearing one of the coolest tabards in the World of Warcraft.
What does this imply for Blood Elf Paladins? Gameplay-wise, not much. Although I would've welcomed a change in the quests for Horde, the biggest changes were that all the quests that were previously available from Lady Liadrin are now obtained from Lord Solanar Bloodwrath. Obviously moved for logistical reasons, the quests are virtually identical to the ones that Lady Liadrin dispensed. The one noticeable change is in the early quest Claiming the Light from Knight-Lord Bloodvalor. In the original quest, players were to fill a Shimmering Vessel with power from M'uru, whom the Blood Knights used to hold captive. The updated quest now requires the player to draw the lingering energies from the Blood Elf Magisters rather than M'uru, indicating that what remains are mere vestiges of the power that the Blood Knights once wielded.
Let the lore geeks at WoW Insider help you out a bit. We've put together a scene by scene analysis of the lore behind the Fury of the Sunwell trailer, and we're presenting it to you here. Hopefully, it sheds some more light on this whole "Did Kael'thas go crazy or didn't he, and what is up with Kil'jaedan anyway?" thing.
The release of patch 2.4 was epic by anyone's standards. New content accessible to every level 70, new items, new high end raids, and a new instance. Magisters' Terrace is the newest addition to the WoW 5 man instance family, and has a lot of great goodies in it for the intrepid traveler.
Heroic mode Magisters' Terrace can be a thing of beauty or a real pain. I find that while it's challenging and requires a lot of good social communication amongst participants, it can be a bit ridiculous at times. Especially the 9 mob pull right before you face Kael'Thas.
However with that said, one of the best rewards in any five man instance comes out of heroic Magisters' Terrace's Priestess Delrissa: the trinkets. The tanking trinket in particular makes me cry it's so great. Five hundred seventy more HP and an amazing live saving dodge increase. The DPS trinkets, casting trinkets, and healing trinkets are equally great. Let's take a closer look at them.
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