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World of Warcraft News and Raiding Strategies
by
Published on 2010-05-25 04:45 PM
Icecrown Citadel Buff increased to 20%
The Hellscream's Warsong and Strength of Wrynn buffs in Icecrown Citadel have been increased to 20%.
[blizzquote author=Zarhym source=http://blue.mmo-champion.com/t/23425467230/icecrown-citadel-raid-buffs-active/]
We have increased the potency of the Strength of Wrynn and Hellscream’s Warsong buffs in Icecrown Citadel by an additional 5%. These buffs now increase total health, healing done and damage dealt by 20%. In addition, the number of attempts allotted for all final bosses on Heroic difficulty has been increased to 50.
[/blizzquote]
The Hellscream's Warsong and Strength of Wrynn buffs in Icecrown Citadel have been increased to 20%.
[blizzquote author=Zarhym source=http://blue.mmo-champion.com/t/23425467230/icecrown-citadel-raid-buffs-active/]
We have increased the potency of the Strength of Wrynn and Hellscream’s Warsong buffs in Icecrown Citadel by an additional 5%. These buffs now increase total health, healing done and damage dealt by 20%. In addition, the number of attempts allotted for all final bosses on Heroic difficulty has been increased to 50.
[/blizzquote]
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by
Published on 2010-05-24 08:13 AM
Ruby Sanctum Loot Table Update
The Ruby Sanctum loot table has been slightly updated, we're still waiting for heroic mode items and we will have to wait for the next testing to see them.
Also, vodka (US-Alterac Mountains) released their video of Halion on PTRs and I assume that a few people would like to see the fight from another point of view.
Blue posts
Addon Spotlight - QuestMyMap
I had to level a few more alts lately and I was more than happy to find QuestMyMap. Also, Addon Spotlights are great because I can just copy/paste the description from the addon author!
Download
QuestMyMap is a small addon without configuration that aims to provide a nicer quest map and some fixes.
Features:
The MMO Report
It's monday, and it's time for your weekly dose of MMO Report
Comics
Dark Legacy Comic #239 and Teh Gladiators #134 are out! Also added an extra strip from Questionable Content.
The Ruby Sanctum loot table has been slightly updated, we're still waiting for heroic mode items and we will have to wait for the next testing to see them.
25-Man Loot Table
| lvl | Type | Spec | Slot | Item | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 271 | Plate | Melee.DPS | Feet | Apocalypse's Advance | |
| 271 | Plate | Spell | Feet | Foreshadow Steps | |
| 271 | Plate | Tanking | Feet | Treads of Impending Resurrection | |
| 271 | Spell | Waist | Split Shape Belt | ||
| 271 | Leather | Spell | Wrist | Phaseshifter's Bracers | |
| 271 | Cloth | Spell | Wrist | Bracers of Fiery Night | |
| 271 | Cloak | Spell | Back | Cloak of Burning Dusk | |
| 271 | Neck | Melee.DPS | Neck | Penumbra Pendant | |
| 271 | Finger | Phys.DPS | Finger | Signet of Twilight | |
| 271 | Finger | Spell MP5 | Finger | Ring of Phased Regeneration | |
| 271 | Trinket | Phys.DPS | Trinket | Sharpened Twilight Scale | |
| 271 | Trinket | Tanking | Trinket | Petrified Twilight Scale | |
| 271 | Trinket | Spell DPS | Trinket | Charred Twilight Scale | |
| 271 | Trinket | Healing | Trinket | Glowing Twilight Scale |
10-Man Loot Table
| lvl | Type | Spec | Slot | Item | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 258 | Plate | Melee.DPS | Wrist | Bracers of the Heir | |
| 258 | Leather | Phys.DPS | Chest | Gloaming Sark | |
| 258 | Leather | Spell | Hands | Changeling Gloves | |
| 258 | Cloth | Spell Hit | Waist | Misbegotten Belt | |
| 258 | Cloak | Spell MP5 | Back | Abduction's Cover | |
| 258 | Finger | Melee.DPS | Finger | Zarithrian's Offering |
Also, vodka (US-Alterac Mountains) released their video of Halion on PTRs and I assume that a few people would like to see the fight from another point of view.
Blue posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Addon Spotlight - QuestMyMap
I had to level a few more alts lately and I was more than happy to find QuestMyMap. Also, Addon Spotlights are great because I can just copy/paste the description from the addon author!
Download
QuestMyMap is a small addon without configuration that aims to provide a nicer quest map and some fixes.
Features:
- Resizes the quest map to full scale
- Drag border of the quest list to resize it (or shift-click / rightclick to toggle)
- Quest levels on quest titles
- Hides quest log and quest rewards on world map
- Moves quest selection frame to a transparent overlay
- Paste quest links from the world map with Shift-Click
- Rightclicking a selected quest opens the quest log
- Difficulty coloring for tooltips (make sure you activate the Interface option "Quest Difficulty Color")
The MMO Report
It's monday, and it's time for your weekly dose of MMO Report
Comics
Dark Legacy Comic #239 and Teh Gladiators #134 are out! Also added an extra strip from Questionable Content.
by
Published on 2010-05-22 10:20 AM
Patchwerk (25) Solo Kill by a Rogue
Jider from Impervious (US-Stormreaver) had a lot of time and a lot of (very) smart ideas to kill Patchwerk (25) alone. It took him quite some time but it's definitely a smart use of game mechanics, see the description below.
Description from the Youtube video
Soloing Patchwerk 25-man version was something I had been meaning to do for a while. The main reason I did not attempt it sooner was because of all the trash leading up to him. I had no idea how to handle trash re-spawning or if any of my ideas would even work. I spent a great deal of time thinking about how I would handle every aspect of the fight but I had to resolve numerous issues during the thought process and had to overcome various things which I thought would make the fight impossible. Eventually, I came up with 2 and in most cases 3 ways of handling every problem Patchwerk could throw at me. However, I also came into this fight with a technique I figured out elsewhere, a Shadowstep technique I dub Jiderstep. This technique involves an Unconscious Dig Rat which is considered a critter and it is just like any other rat/critter in game except for the fact you can drop it where you like and it stays put and lasts until it is killed or the server is restarted. You can shadowstep to it just like any other critter. Due to the significant increase in his health pool I tested my methods successfully on live servers in 10-man before moving on to kill it on 25-man live server.
The fight takes places in two positions, one in the tunnel past Grobbulus, the other on the floor along Patchwerk's patrol path. The setup begins by Shadowstepping to Grobbulus on the platform he tosses his slimes from. I then go into the poison tunnel that leads to Gluth to drop an Unconscious Dig Rat at a key location inside the tunnel where there is a hole that leads back to Patchwerk's room. This position and the floor position are important as they are beyond the leash points for Grobbulus and they allow me to Shadowstep up and drop down whenever I need to. Once the Unconscious Dig Rat is in the right position I jump down and buff and get ready to pull Patchwerk. I execute the pull by pre-potting and launching a Hand-Mounted Pyro Rocket. The use of a ranged attack to pull is important as it will require him to path all the way to that point to reset/full heal after a Vanish or Shadowmeld.
After that, the fight basically becomes a repetition involving a few key ideas. Firstly, I never engage Patchwerk without Evasion. Anytime I am attacking and Evasion is about to wear off, I either Shadowstep up to the tunnel or drop down to the floor. This forces him to spend a great deal of time pathing which enables me to wait for the Evasion cooldown and to heal myself. Another key point is using Vanish and Shadowmeld appropriately. On the initial aggro of Patchwerk, his trash is also put into combat which requires me to Vanish it off but I also use it during the fight to reset his enrage timer which eliminates the need to deal with the increased damage and slime bolts. To do this, I wait for Preparation to come back up, and then I wait until Patchwerk reaches the poison tunnel position. I jump off and immediately Shadowmeld which gets me out of combat and gives me time to eat and/or rebuff as needed. My potion timer also resets. Since I am no longer in combat Patchwerk is in evade mode and begins his pathing back from the tunnel through Grobbulus' room. This is where the pull positioning comes in to play as I am already waiting to intercept him well before his final reset point which would heal him to full. When I engage him his trash aggros again which forces me to Vanish. I watch carefully and if that Vanish fails to reset the trash I burn Preparation and Vanish again. This cycle is repeated until the boss is dead which resulted in a fight lasting 4 hours 45 minutes on my kill.
Buffs: Drums of Forgotten Kings, Drums of the Wild, Runescroll of Fortitude, Scroll of Agility VIII, Flask of Endless Rage, Blackened Dragonfin. Jewel-crafting and Engineering professions. Gear used can be viewed here. Both weapons are enchanted with mongoose and Instant poison main-hand and Deadly poison off-hand. The reason behind using Purified Shard of the Flame was to counter the significant nature damage from the tunnel (ticks added up to ~2 million damage) and provide extra healing. Other methods of healing included eating, bandages, and Dense Stone Statues. The talent spec used was 0/18/53 and glyphs were Hemo/evasion/ghostly strike. Besides Shadowstep, many of the talents chosen are very useful for this encounter by providing extra survivability (Enveloping Shadows, Cheat Death), increased damage (Dirty Deeds, Setup), or both (Sinister Calling, Lightning Reflexes, Endurance).
Song #1 Velvetine Safe [Wherever You Are] (Rank 1 Remix)
Song #2 Delerium Truly (Signum Club Mix)
-Jider
www.impervious-guild.com
Blue posts
Jider from Impervious (US-Stormreaver) had a lot of time and a lot of (very) smart ideas to kill Patchwerk (25) alone. It took him quite some time but it's definitely a smart use of game mechanics, see the description below.
HTML Code:
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Description from the Youtube video
Soloing Patchwerk 25-man version was something I had been meaning to do for a while. The main reason I did not attempt it sooner was because of all the trash leading up to him. I had no idea how to handle trash re-spawning or if any of my ideas would even work. I spent a great deal of time thinking about how I would handle every aspect of the fight but I had to resolve numerous issues during the thought process and had to overcome various things which I thought would make the fight impossible. Eventually, I came up with 2 and in most cases 3 ways of handling every problem Patchwerk could throw at me. However, I also came into this fight with a technique I figured out elsewhere, a Shadowstep technique I dub Jiderstep. This technique involves an Unconscious Dig Rat which is considered a critter and it is just like any other rat/critter in game except for the fact you can drop it where you like and it stays put and lasts until it is killed or the server is restarted. You can shadowstep to it just like any other critter. Due to the significant increase in his health pool I tested my methods successfully on live servers in 10-man before moving on to kill it on 25-man live server.
The fight takes places in two positions, one in the tunnel past Grobbulus, the other on the floor along Patchwerk's patrol path. The setup begins by Shadowstepping to Grobbulus on the platform he tosses his slimes from. I then go into the poison tunnel that leads to Gluth to drop an Unconscious Dig Rat at a key location inside the tunnel where there is a hole that leads back to Patchwerk's room. This position and the floor position are important as they are beyond the leash points for Grobbulus and they allow me to Shadowstep up and drop down whenever I need to. Once the Unconscious Dig Rat is in the right position I jump down and buff and get ready to pull Patchwerk. I execute the pull by pre-potting and launching a Hand-Mounted Pyro Rocket. The use of a ranged attack to pull is important as it will require him to path all the way to that point to reset/full heal after a Vanish or Shadowmeld.
After that, the fight basically becomes a repetition involving a few key ideas. Firstly, I never engage Patchwerk without Evasion. Anytime I am attacking and Evasion is about to wear off, I either Shadowstep up to the tunnel or drop down to the floor. This forces him to spend a great deal of time pathing which enables me to wait for the Evasion cooldown and to heal myself. Another key point is using Vanish and Shadowmeld appropriately. On the initial aggro of Patchwerk, his trash is also put into combat which requires me to Vanish it off but I also use it during the fight to reset his enrage timer which eliminates the need to deal with the increased damage and slime bolts. To do this, I wait for Preparation to come back up, and then I wait until Patchwerk reaches the poison tunnel position. I jump off and immediately Shadowmeld which gets me out of combat and gives me time to eat and/or rebuff as needed. My potion timer also resets. Since I am no longer in combat Patchwerk is in evade mode and begins his pathing back from the tunnel through Grobbulus' room. This is where the pull positioning comes in to play as I am already waiting to intercept him well before his final reset point which would heal him to full. When I engage him his trash aggros again which forces me to Vanish. I watch carefully and if that Vanish fails to reset the trash I burn Preparation and Vanish again. This cycle is repeated until the boss is dead which resulted in a fight lasting 4 hours 45 minutes on my kill.
Buffs: Drums of Forgotten Kings, Drums of the Wild, Runescroll of Fortitude, Scroll of Agility VIII, Flask of Endless Rage, Blackened Dragonfin. Jewel-crafting and Engineering professions. Gear used can be viewed here. Both weapons are enchanted with mongoose and Instant poison main-hand and Deadly poison off-hand. The reason behind using Purified Shard of the Flame was to counter the significant nature damage from the tunnel (ticks added up to ~2 million damage) and provide extra healing. Other methods of healing included eating, bandages, and Dense Stone Statues. The talent spec used was 0/18/53 and glyphs were Hemo/evasion/ghostly strike. Besides Shadowstep, many of the talents chosen are very useful for this encounter by providing extra survivability (Enveloping Shadows, Cheat Death), increased damage (Dirty Deeds, Setup), or both (Sinister Calling, Lightning Reflexes, Endurance).
Song #1 Velvetine Safe [Wherever You Are] (Rank 1 Remix)
Song #2 Delerium Truly (Signum Club Mix)
-Jider
www.impervious-guild.com
Blue posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
by
Published on 2010-05-20 06:16 PM
Ruby Sanctum PTR - Halion Kill Video
EF BIE EI (EU - Dalvengyr) released a video of their kill of Halion on the PTRs. Don't forget that US PTR testing is tonight!
Cataclysm Screenshot of the Day
A new screenshot has been added to the Screenshot of the Day Gallery.
Blue posts
EF BIE EI (EU - Dalvengyr) released a video of their kill of Halion on the PTRs. Don't forget that US PTR testing is tonight!
HTML Code:
<object width="640" height="405"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/J_S277XtDvY&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/J_S277XtDvY&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="405"></embed></object>
Cataclysm Screenshot of the Day
A new screenshot has been added to the Screenshot of the Day Gallery.
Blue posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Female Worgen hair styles
They will have hair styles to choose from. The model is still a work in-progress and the pictures provided to our fan sites show her with no hair style. (Source)
Larger health pools / AOE Damage in boss fights
The first part is definitely a goal. The second part has been taken out of context a bit. I was saying that I was sure we would still have *some* fights with raid-wide AoE damage because that mechanic is one way to make healing feel different from encounter to encounter. But it is not a design to have persistent damage auras as part of every encounter. It's also not a design goal to have crowd control part of every encounter, but overall we expect you'll be doing more CC (and therefore less group tanking) than in Wrath. (Source)
Is Remote AH an ingame advantage?
First off, no correlation can be made here between the idea of releasing a Remote Auction House feature and that of releasing epic equipment for sale. The ground is still quite firm on that slope.
Second, a player who has more time in a week to play the game than you has an advantage over you by this same standard. Someone that has an hour or more a day to use the Auction House than you do has an advantage, and they're not even charged extra for it. The Remote Auction House provides no in-game functionality that isn't already available to every single player as often as they can or want to use it. The only difference now is that, for an additional monthly fee, players can use the Auction House in a remote fashion without having to log into the game client.
I'm not sure how many time Blizzard has to say they won't sell gear before people will believe them.
It's a legitimate concern. I'd share it if I weren't confident about our commitment to our players and our ultimate goal of creating epic games with incredible support and bonus features. Some players fear this happening so much though, that they almost wait for it to happen. With nearly any announcement we make about additional features or flavor items which have a cost associated, this is then seen as a sign of the slippery slope, no matter how large the leap to an adequate assertion may be.
Our core philosophy has not changed and we feel we're being very reasonable about the products and premium services we're offering. They allow us to maintain a strong company, afford and maintain state-of-the-art tools and hardware, keep some of the most talented staff in the gaming industry around, and continue making great games.
(Source)
They will have hair styles to choose from. The model is still a work in-progress and the pictures provided to our fan sites show her with no hair style. (Source)
Larger health pools / AOE Damage in boss fights
The first part is definitely a goal. The second part has been taken out of context a bit. I was saying that I was sure we would still have *some* fights with raid-wide AoE damage because that mechanic is one way to make healing feel different from encounter to encounter. But it is not a design to have persistent damage auras as part of every encounter. It's also not a design goal to have crowd control part of every encounter, but overall we expect you'll be doing more CC (and therefore less group tanking) than in Wrath. (Source)
Is Remote AH an ingame advantage?
First off, no correlation can be made here between the idea of releasing a Remote Auction House feature and that of releasing epic equipment for sale. The ground is still quite firm on that slope.
Second, a player who has more time in a week to play the game than you has an advantage over you by this same standard. Someone that has an hour or more a day to use the Auction House than you do has an advantage, and they're not even charged extra for it. The Remote Auction House provides no in-game functionality that isn't already available to every single player as often as they can or want to use it. The only difference now is that, for an additional monthly fee, players can use the Auction House in a remote fashion without having to log into the game client.
I'm not sure how many time Blizzard has to say they won't sell gear before people will believe them.
It's a legitimate concern. I'd share it if I weren't confident about our commitment to our players and our ultimate goal of creating epic games with incredible support and bonus features. Some players fear this happening so much though, that they almost wait for it to happen. With nearly any announcement we make about additional features or flavor items which have a cost associated, this is then seen as a sign of the slippery slope, no matter how large the leap to an adequate assertion may be.
Our core philosophy has not changed and we feel we're being very reasonable about the products and premium services we're offering. They allow us to maintain a strong company, afford and maintain state-of-the-art tools and hardware, keep some of the most talented staff in the gaming industry around, and continue making great games.
(Source)
by
Published on 2010-05-19 04:00 PM
Update - Added PTR Schedule at the end of the post
Female Worgen Preview Pictures
Blizzard just released a couple of screenshots of the ... female worgen! That's not really what I asked for my birthday (yes, it is!) but I guess that works.
Important - These models are a work in progress and they might not reflect the final appearance of female worgens in game.
US PTR Testing Schedule
The US PTR is testing again tomorrow.
[blizzquote author=Daelo source=http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?sid=1&topicId=24702035046]Now that the 3.3.5 patch is available for PTR testing, we wanted to have a round of focus testing for Ruby Sanctum. Only normal mode will be available, with Heroic testing to occur at a later date.
Everything related to this zone is implemented for this test, please note any issues with the trash creatures and sub-bosses, loot, achievements, and quests.
US Testing Schedule:
Thursday, May 20 starting at 19:00 EDT.
We plan to allow testing for an extended period. However since this is the Test Realm, unforeseen issues could delay or cancel testing at any time.[/blizzquote]
Female Worgen Preview Pictures
Blizzard just released a couple of screenshots of the ... female worgen! That's not really what I asked for my birthday (yes, it is!) but I guess that works.
Important - These models are a work in progress and they might not reflect the final appearance of female worgens in game.
US PTR Testing Schedule
The US PTR is testing again tomorrow.
[blizzquote author=Daelo source=http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?sid=1&topicId=24702035046]Now that the 3.3.5 patch is available for PTR testing, we wanted to have a round of focus testing for Ruby Sanctum. Only normal mode will be available, with Heroic testing to occur at a later date.
Everything related to this zone is implemented for this test, please note any issues with the trash creatures and sub-bosses, loot, achievements, and quests.
US Testing Schedule:
Thursday, May 20 starting at 19:00 EDT.
We plan to allow testing for an extended period. However since this is the Test Realm, unforeseen issues could delay or cancel testing at any time.[/blizzquote]
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