Encounter Journal Preview, MMO Report, Comics

Road to Patch 4.2 - Encounter Journal
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'tilac
Matriarch 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.

This article was originally published in forum thread: Encounter Journal Preview, MMO Report, Comics started by Boubouille View original post
Published on 2011-06-19 07:43 PM
76 Comments
Comments 76 Comments
  1. mmoc006fb91b8d's Avatar
    the ability fine but the icons is so fail. to much information on that.
  1. Yisera's Avatar
    Im not sure if there are any addons that make the same crap as this journal. But I'm sure that if you're talking about DBM you're way off of the topic. Seriously DBM only tells you timers for activities, if you know what that activity is or not, that's up to you. And IMO whoever doesn't use DBM in raidinng is either too pro or just TOO STUPID. I'm sure it's more likely to be the second one. And like someone said, the journal won't kill the boss for you. You can be explained everything there is to be known about the fight, if you still suck and are a fail dipshit you won't get far in the fight. Simple as that. There's nothing about being elitist or not in here.
  1. Opaqus's Avatar
    To anyone who says this journal is making the game easier, I bet you idiots use WoWpedia everyday, all day, especially during raiding days. This isn't different. Shut up.
  1. Spectrez's Avatar
    Blizz thinks people will read the journals to know fights now? The idiots who made Blizz introduce this journal into the game are 10 year olds who go into boss fights not knowing a thing and wiping the raid. Blizzard thinks 10 year olds can read?
  1. ectox's Avatar
    bye bye atlasloot?
  1. ultimar235's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by bloodwine77 View Post
    On the one hand I don't see the problem with them providing a list of tactics a boss uses during an encounter, but on the other hand I wonder if the development time would have been better spent giving us another 5-man in 4.2 or any other additional content.

    I don't see the in-game journal replacing any addons. Raiders will still use DBM for the alerts. People will still use AtlasLoot because it not only contains dungeon and raid loot, but also profession loot, faction loot, and so forth. Not to mention AtlasLoot has the ability to set up wish lists to track which loot you are needing and from where it is obtained.

    The in-game journal will be nice for some casual puggers, but to be frank I wonder how many of those people will even bother to look at the journal and still ask in party or raid chat (or just stay silent and fumble through anyways). I am a very casual raider these days and I still read up on boss fights, and I am sure there are lot of other casual players that read up on strats and it doesn't take much time or effort to do so. Also, after you have seen the encounter a couple times then the in-game journal becomes moot for that encounter. Not to mention people may still check websites to see what strategies other guilds have used to down the encounter.

    Again, I don't see it as a bad addition, but content-wise 4.2 looks rather dearth.
    It doesn't provide a list of tactics, it just reveals mechanics. Players still have to figure out how to deal with each ability.
  1. Vasz's Avatar
    I think the Journal is a big mistake. I admit that within the first few hours after a boss fight, the details are on Youtube and wowhead, but really ..... in game? Are they REALLY going to tell you all the abilities of every single boss from now on? Any other game do that? I'm pretty sure the answer is no. Why would you? Even if the information was available all over the internet, why would anyone add that information into their own game? After 2-3 fights, even the most noobish of guilds will know the boss mechanics. I still think that all of the content will be cleared in two weeks. High end guilds no longer have to learn each of the boss fights. I mean normally our data that goes onto wowhead comes from these top guilds. Now they have it already.
  1. Spoiledkid's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Vasz View Post
    Even if the information was available all over the internet, why would anyone add that information into their own game? After 2-3 fights, even the most noobish of guilds will know the boss mechanics.
    That just doesn't make any sense. If "the most noobish guild" use Encounter Journal, why aren't they using the infromation that is available all over the internet?
  1. Onzay's Avatar
    LOL Curse is a purple star of david.... who else finds that hilarious?
  1. khatsoo's Avatar
    And knowing what skills do won't beat the boss for them. Noobish guilds won't start clearing content fast because of this, it makes no sense. In my opinion, E. Journal is a great addition and will server me well when checking detailed things on abilities and looking for my gear needs, all of that without getting out of the game I'm playing. (yeah, not everyone wanders the internets looking for info of the game, so I'm glad for them)
  1. rofltroll's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Jaq View Post
    Road to Patch 4.2
    You sir win everything. Anything else is just 2nd best.
  1. mmoce672ea5972's Avatar
    In that Icon thing. Isnt it InterruptAble instead of interruptible?
  1. BoomChickn's Avatar
    Hmm... Atlas loot implemented into the game, and ability lists, allowing people to make their own strategies, I like it! And to the qq, all of this stuff is already available, its just scattered on the internet, blizz it putting it in-game because a lot of people use it already.
  1. Pope's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Onzay View Post
    LOL Curse is a purple star of david.... who else finds that hilarious?
    It's the same icon as always. It's just a purple explosion with 6 spikes. It's not a davidstar.
  1. Waylander's Avatar
    Anyone else thinking the guy at 10:30 (mmo report) looks like a slim version of Daniel Craig?
  1. Howard Moon's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Docoda View Post
    In that Icon thing. Isnt it InterruptAble instead of interruptible?
    interruptible is in the dictionary

    http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/interruptible
  1. fangless's Avatar
    Our guild can tell you all the abilities that Heroic Cho'gal has... doesn't mean we still don't wipe because people aren't on the ball. Get over yourselves-_-
  1. Cherrysoul's Avatar
    I welcome the Journal with open arms, at least i dont have to troll the net looking for information anymore, when it is all there in game. As for people saying it will make it easier to kill stuff, you obviously have never raided, its an overview not a step by step guide as to how to pawn a boss. As for Atlas Loot ofc you will still have a use for it, this is a Dungeon guide, not a rep/faction, pvp, arcaelogy etc and so on loot guide.
  1. crsh1976's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Alceus View Post
    The Encounter Journal is a nice addition. It won't change the difficulty level of various encounters. People who say that this makes raiding easier, is wrong.

    It's like you're going on a quest and the questgiver warns you about the boss's abilities and the precious loot you can have.


    It will help you, but it won't kill the boss for you. write this down, it's a nice piece of advice.
    Yeah I'm sure having the quest giver tell you the target will whirlwind every 15 seconds and spit fire/poison/ice/whatever immediately when you engage him doesn't make the encounter any easier.

    While strat are always available externally, surely you have been in groups where people don't read them because it's bothersome or boring or whatever else, with this built-in aid nobody will have any excuse to not know what to expect - nice for the group, but ultimately it's just more hand-holding and spoon-feeding.
  1. mmoc1eac2911f4's Avatar
    if it makes you feel any better about the comics DL's new one is already out ^_^
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