The release date of Patch 4.2 is getting close and I will recap its major features throughout the week to end up with a nice and complete guide to Patch 4.2 for the release, hopefully on June 28th. Let's start with the highly anticipated Encounter Journal!
Road to Patch 4.2
Encounter Journal
The Encounter Journal is an in-game encylopedia listing everything you need to know on instances and raid bosses. Assuming people start using it regularly, it will probably fix a lot of issues people had in pick up groups where people were just too afraid to ask what a boss does and would rather die than look stupid and get kicked.
The encounter journal can be accessed from the bottom menu bar or by hitting CTRL + Shift + J on your keyboard.
You will then access the instance selection menu with a "Dungeons" and "Raids" tabs, allowing you to get details on any raid or dungeon encounter introduced in Cataclysm (including the Firelands raid)
Cataclysm Raids Tab |
Firelands Raid Boss Selection |
Encounter Journal - Boss Loot Lists
The encounter journal includes a list of items dropped by each boss with a couple of extra features:
- The list can be filtered for 10 and 25-Man encounters. It doesn't really change anything these days but it will probably be useful if an item is only available in 25-Man at some point, or when older raids are supported.
- The "Heroic Mode" filter is also available in the loot list and will display loot from the Heroic version.
- A filter by class, to easily get a list of the gear relevant to your class only. (The Druid filter automatically lists all the items in the instance)
- You can also list the loot from all the bosses in the instance by clicking the Chest icon when at the Boss selection screen.
Boss Loot Table |
Class Filter |
Paladin Loot! |
Instance Loot Table |
Boss Information and Abilities
The main objective of the Encounter Journal is to give you all the information you need to engage a boss without being clueless about what's going to happen to you and your raid. The journal provides you with:
- A description of all the abilities used by the boss.
- A description of all abilities used by NPC adds that might spawn during the encounter. (Hostile and Friendly)
- The evolution of the fight over multiple stages.
- A general idea of how mechanics work.
- An "heroic only" filter to display abilities and variations of the fight only happening in Heroic Mode.
You might also notice a couple of icons icons next to some of the spells. Those are alerts used to bring your attention to important point of the fights, 12 Alerts are available in the current version of the Encounter Journal:
For example, this is the journal entry for Beth'tilac, one of the boss of the Firelands raid instance.
Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
Beth'tilacMatriarch of the Cinderweb Brood, Beth'tilac and her merciless offspring sate their appetites by sucking the magma and fire from the corpses of elementals. To provide her broodlings with added sustenance, Beth'tilac has woven a network of incendiary webs throughout her lair to trap unsuspecting prey.
Stage One: The Cinderweb
Beth'tilac retreats to the top of her web at the beginning of the encounter.
Fire Energy
Beth'tilac slowly loses Fire Energy over time. Cinderweb Drones also siphon some of her energy when their own energy is depleted. Whenever Beth'tilac runs out of Fire Energy, she will set herself ablaze, causing Smoldering Devastation.
- Ember Flare - Intense heat burns enemies near Beth'tilac, inflicting 18500 Fire damage to players at the same level as Beth'tilac.
- Meteor Burn - Meteors crash down onto the web, inflicting 37000 Fire damage to players within yards of the impact. The meteor also burns a hole in the web through which players may fall.
- Consume - Beth'tilac consumes Cinderweb Spiderlings, healing Beth'tilac for 10% of her maximum health.
- Smoldering Devastation - When Beth'tilac's Fire Energy fully depletes, she will set herself ablaze and inflict 380000 Fire damage on all players located at her same level.
Cinderweb Spinner
Cinderweb Spinners dangle from the web above on a filament strand. Using Taunt or a similar ability on a Spinner will cause them to drop to the ground. Once killed, their web filament remains. Players may then interact with the filament and move to the top of the web.
- Burning Acid - The Cinderweb Spinner spits burning venom at a random player, inflicting 18850 Fire damage.
- Fiery Web Spin - The Cinderweb Spinner channels a fiery web onto a random player, stunning them for 25 sec.
Cinderweb Drone
These large spiders climb out of caves below the Cinderweb. When their Fire Energy fully depletes, the Cinderweb Drone climbs up to Beth'tilac and siphons Fire Energy from her.
- Consume - Cinderweb Drones consume a Cinderweb Spiderling, healing itself for 20% of its maximum life, increasing damage dealt by 20%, and increasing movement speed by 20%.
- Boiling Spatter - The Cinderwb Drone spits burning venom in a 20 yard long 60 degree forward cone, inflicting 58967 Fire damage on any enemy within the area.
- Burning Acid - The Cinderwb Drone spits Burning Acid at a random player, inflicting 18850 Fire damage.
- Fixate - The Cinderweb Drone fixates on a random player, ignoring all other targets but decreasing its damage dealt by 75% for 10 sec.
Cinderweb Spiderling
These tiny spiders climb out of caves below the Cinderweb. They instinctively move towards Cinderweb Drones.
- Seeping Venom - The Cinderweb Spiderling leaps onto a random player within 5 yards, injecting them with venom and inflicting 6936 Fire damage every 2 seconds for 10 sec.
Cinderweb Broodling
These unstable spiders fixate on a random player and cast Volatile Burst when they reach their target.
- Volatile Burst - Cinderweb Broodlings explode when they reach a player, inflicting 41624 Fire damage to all enemies within yards.
Stage Two: The Frenzy!
After she has performed Smoldering Devastation three times, Beth'tilac enters a frenzy. She lowers herself from the safety of the top of her Cinderweb and no longer calls for aid from her brood.
- The Widow's Kiss - Beth'tilac's deadly kiss boils the blood of her current target, reducing the healing dealt to the target by % every 2 seconds for 20 sec. The kiss also causes the target to inflict increasing Fire damage to their surrounding allies within 10 yards.
- Ember Flare - Beth'tilac emits a blazing heat, inflicting 18500 Fire damage to enemies on the same level as Beth'tilac.
- Consume - Beth'tilac consumes Cinderweb Spiderlings, healing Beth'tilac for 10% of her maximum health.
- Frenzy - Beth'tilac periodically casts Frenzy, increasing her damage dealt by 5% until the end of the encounter. This effect stacks.
The MMO Report
It's time for your weekly MMO Report, with an E3 2011 special this week.
Comics
Dark Legacy Comics #292 and Teh Gladiators #244 + #245 are out. I'm one week late on comics again but if I cover my ears with my hands and close my eyes I can sing "la la la la la la" and pretend I'm not.
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