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Live
News Round Up: Garalon LFR Hotfixes, Battle.net World Championships
Today's news round up covers LFR fixes to
Garalon
, World of Warcraft Monopoly, and information on the upcoming Battle.net World Championships! The Challenge Mode competition was a highlight at MoP's launch party, and you can catch more of that at 7:30 p.m. PDT this Friday, as players from Asia's top raid teams race though
Shado-Pan Monastery
,
Scarlet Halls
, and
Stormstout Brewery
.
Terrace of Endless Spring
is open tomorrow, but if you're still progressing through
Heart of Fear
, <Method> uploaded
many normal-mode videos
and one for
Heroic Imperial Vizier Zor'lok
.
Also around Azeroth: the Darkmoon Faire just ended, but if you want a trinket by the next Faire, check out WoW Insider's
guide to obtaining a deck
, covering crafting, farming, AHing, and trading.
Garalon
LFR Fixes
We’ve recently hotfixed the Raid Finder version of
Garalon
, reducing both his health and Furious
Live
5.1 PTR: New Alliance Scenarios - Lion's Landing, A Little Patience
The latest PTR patch opened up new scenarios for the Alliance and the Horde. Today we'll take a look at the two Alliance ones--"A Little Patience" and "Lion's Landing." In these scenarios, you help the Alliance defeat the Horde, in spite of being at a disadvantage, by using teamwork and organization.
Lion's Landing
In
Lion's Landing
, the Alliance find their base under attack by the Horde. Players work with SI:7 and other Alliance NPCs from Jade Forest questlines to defeat them.
[screenshot id=333501 width=2
Live
5.1 PTR: New Reputation Rewards, User of the Month
This latest PTR patch added rewards to
Operation: Shieldwall
and
Dominance Offensive
quartermasters! Rewards include ilvl 496 boots, rings, belts, and trinkets, as well as ilvl 458 trinkets, and commendation tokens (
Grand Commendation of Operation: Shieldwall
,
Grand Commendation of the Dominance Offensive
). The most interesting reward by far is
Grand Armored Wyvern
and
Grand Armored Gryphon
at Exalted. (Note: when these items were first datamined a few weeks ago, they had different stats and names, often appearing as duplicate copies of existing reputation rewards. If you are still seeing the old tooltips, try clearing your cache.)
To learn more about the new 5.1 reputation hubs, check out our
visual preview
and
list of quests and rewards
.
User of the Month Program
With all the additions in 5.1 for you to comment on, we thought it would be a good time to update you on our participatory-based User of the Month Program. Congratulations to October's winner, user
lightclaw
, who won a $75 Razer gift card!
Live
Blizzard Removes Brawler's Guild Realm First, More Heroic Vizier Hotfixes
The
Brawler's Guild
, a new feature in 5.1 that lets players test their mettle in soloing challenging bosses, has been at the center of a lot of debate recently for two reasons: participating in this content requires buying an invite from the BMAH or getting an invite from a friend, and there was a Realm First Feat of Strength tied to defeating all the bosses.
Blizzard clarified some things about the Brawler's Guild today--the invite system is here to stay, but the Realm First has been removed.
To learn more about the Brawler's Guild, check out our coverage of
invitations, achievements
,
rewards, and bosses
, as well as our
visual preview
.
We updated this post to include some more hotfixes made to
Imperial Vizier Zor'lok
this afternoon!
I thought I'd hop back
Live
Blizzard Dev Notes, Patch 5.0.5 Hotfixes
Earlier this week, the Blizzard Community Team shared notes from weekly developer meetings to fansites! While this is a partial transcript as not all questions and answers can be shared with the public, there's a ton of useful information covering a wide breadth of topics and it's a neat to see what's discussed at dev meetings.
We've summarized the highlights below, and be sure to check out (removed) the complete Q&A over at Wowjuju, as well as their extremely-useful (removed).
Classes
Several class issues and abilities were brought up:
Zen Pilgrimage
,
Hunter
pet storage, PvP Balance for
Rogue
and
Shaman
.
Challenge Modes
The instance creation cap can be dodged by resetting while inside the instance.
Challenge Mode mounts are intended to be account-wide.
Leaderboards are planned to not be reset this expansion.
PvP
Blizzard is happy with PvP vendors on the wall: map icons and in-game mail clarify their locations.
The rewards from random Battlegrounds and dungeon bonuses were changed to fit the new reward structure in MoP.
Discip
Live
5.1 PTR - Build 16281 - Spell Changes and More
Check out the latest additions!
Latest Additions
It seems Sha-Touched weapons get another socket in 5.1:
Eye of the Black Prince
.
New Winter's Veil present:
Stolen Present
Reputation commendations for the new 5.1 factions:
Honorable Commendation of the Dominance Offensive
,
Honorable Commendation of Operation: Shieldwall
.
Several Brawler's Guild achievements now rewards
Brawler Passes
.
Several Paladin Tier 14 set bonuses were changed:
Item - Paladin T14 Holy 4P Bonus
: Reduces the cooldown of your Holy Shock spell by 2 sec,
Item - Paladin T14 Retribution 4P Bonus
: Reduces the cooldown of your Avenging Wrath ability by 65 sec.
Icons
Achievements
Number Five Is Alive
:
All five [del
Live
5.1 PTR: New Achievements - Brawler's Guild, Scenarios, Pet Battles
There's been a lot of discussion about
, a new Feat of Strength datamined last week for the Brawler's Guild, so we thought it would be a good idea to list all the other new achievements we've datamined so far for Patch 5.1. Highlights include many new Scenario achievements,
Wakener
which rewards a title, a series of exploration achievements for finding objects like
Statue of Xuen
, and several pet battle achievements with fun rewards.
Brawler's Guild
Name
Description
Bottle Service (Season 2)
Hit an angry spectator in the head with an Expired Blackout Brew.
Brawlin' and Shot Callin' (Season 1)
Reach Rank 8 with Bizmo's Brawlpub.
Brawlin' and Shot Callin' (Season 1)
Reach Rank 8 with Brawl'gar Arena.
Haters Gonna Hate (Season 2)
Win a brawl with ten stacks of You Stink!
I'm Your Number One Fan (Season 2)
Cheer a player on after they have won a brawl.
Now You're Just Showing Off (Season 1)
/
Now You're Just Showing Off (Season 1)
Defeat the following rare brawl bosses.
Rabble Rabble Rabble (Season 2)
[
Live
News Round Up: Jade Pandaren Kite, Conquest Point Cap, LFR Analysis
For a brief look at what's new on the PTR, here's some pictures of one of the new mounts, the
Jade Pandaren Kite String
! This is a reward for collecting 150 mounts and completing
We're Going to Need More Saddles
. It doubles as both a ground and flying mount.
News Round Up
Today's news round up has an update on
, as well as additional posts on the pressure to gear up, run LFR, and do many daily quests. We have all the posts below under the cut, and our friends at WoW Insider have an
in-depth analysis of what's right and wrong with the Golden Lotus reputation grind
that should resonate with a lot of players.
Cap Increased
To help everyone keep up with the
upcoming system
in 5.1 that will allow you to upgrade your Conquest gear with
s, a hotfix is being implemented very soon tha
Live
5.1 Pet Battle Improvements: Battle-Stones, UI Features
5.1 introduces many quality-of-life fixes for fans of pet battles, from battle stones that let you upgrade the quality of your favorite pet, to UI improvements showing pet rarity and levels of wild battle pets. We've covered the big ones below!
If you're looking to get started on pet battles, check out our interactive
battle pet map
and
visual database
, as well as WarcraftPets'
pet battle tools
!
Pet Battle Journal: Sort Features
Several search filters have been added to the Pet Battle Journal.
Name: Sort pets in alphabetical order.
Level: Search by highest to lowest.
Rarity: Group pets together by Rare, Uncommon, Common, and Poor quality.
Type: Group pets by family (Beast, Mechanical, etc).
Zone Maps: Levels of Wild Battle Pets
Players can now see the levels of wild battle pets per zone with the in-game map. The levels show up beneath the zone's name, colored green, yellow, or orange depending on the
Live
5.1 PTR: Brawler's Guild - Invitations, NPCs, Achievements
This following article is a PTR preview from the Brawler's Guild. Since this preview, the Guild has gone through several changes. Please read
Wowhead's Brawler's Guild Guide
for all the details that made it live to 5.1.
The
PTR patch notes
created some controversy yesterday when it was revealed that invitations to the Brawler's Guild would be quite exclusive--either via existing members or by purchasing one on the Black Market Auction House with gold.
Edit: Since this was posted, Blizzard has added in an alternative method: having it drop from select Alliance/Horde NPCs.
To recap, the Brawler's Guild is an area for players to demonstrate their skill in soloing challenging bosses, gaining ranks within in the guild as they do so, in a "Fight Club" atmosphere.
There's been a few things added in this PTR patch--invitations, achievements, various NPCs--which we've covered below.
In addition, spectators can no longer influence the outcome of a fight by throwing flowers or rotten fruit at players.
To learn more about
Live
Patch 5.1 PTR Patch Notes - November 2
New PTR Patch notes were posted this evening--here's the most notable bits:
More information was released about participating Brawler's Guild--it will be "invitation only" either from guild or via invitations on the Black Market Auction House (
Bloodied Scroll
).
The Warlock ability Cataclysm was removed, as well as several PTR glyphs.
Various old-world bosses like Viscidus were nerfed to make
pet farming easier
in 5.1
Many Mistweaver Monk healing changes.
The bits in red are copied over from Blizzard's own post--they're a different color to show what's specifically been added November 2nd. We know players usually associate red with things that are removed instead!
Click the cut to read the patch notes!
Live
5.1 PTR - Build 16257 - Spell Changes and More
New PTR build just in time for the weekend--we have the newest spell changes and items!
Check out the latest additions!
Patch Highlights
A new title is in for various Klaxx achievements (
Wakener
): The Wakener!
Akama's Seal of Courage
is most likely a reward tied to the 5.1 Warlock quests and Black Temple challenge.
Updated loot for Love is in the Air:
Choker of the Pure Heart
,
Heartbreak Charm
,
Shard of Pirouetting Happiness
,
Sweet Perfume Brooch
,
Winking Eye of Love
New faction mounts:
Grand Wyvern
,
Grand Gryphon
Some fun Brawler's Guild achievements were added:
You Are Not Your $#*@! Legplates (Season 1)
,
Now You're Just Showing Off (Season 1)
Spells were datamined that allow you to upgrade legendary gems:
Breath of the Black Prince
,
Breath of the Black Prince
,
Breath of the Black Prince
New Loading Screens
New Sound Clips
Varian gets a lot of new audio clips this patch--
spoilers ahead.
Hit the cut to see the spell changes!
Live
New Scenario: Assault on Zan'vess, Blizzard Analyzes LFR
Today's news covers two aspects of WoW that are designed to be easily accessible for many players: Scenarios and LFR. We have a preview of a new scenario on the PTR, as well as a ton of blue posts discussing players' perceptions behind LFR.
Assault on Zan'vess
Recently, a new scenario was open for testing on the 5.1 PTR,
Assault on Zan'vess
. For everyone complaining that scenarios feel a bit easy, this one should be a welcome challenge. The mobs hit hard, pulling additional groups can be lethal, and coordination is actually required on bosses.
This scenario appears to change based on your faction, as Alliance players start off on their gunship and kill a Horde commander later on.
Stage 1: Join the Assault
Players land on top of their faction's gunship, and are told to join in the assault by getting on one of the gyrocopters.
Stage 2: Defenses of Zan'vess
You're asked to fly over Zan'vess and destroy the sonic shield, which is maintained by several generators around the island. As your character makes loops around the island, you can bomb the control towers as well as shielding yourself from enemy fire. You'll also n
Live
Patch 5.0.5 Hotfixes: October 26th - November 1st
General
Weapons sold by
Ambersmith Zikk
can no longer be disenchanted for
Ethereal Shard
s.
Classes
Hunter
Stampede
Pets summoned into the Arena, Rated Battlegrounds, and Wargames will now do the correct amount of damage.
Monk
Friendly players activating
Monk
s will no longer break
Mana Tea
channeling.
Shaman
Shaman
Searing Totem
s will no longer break on Heroic
Elegon
due to the line of sight restrictions while the energy vortex is active.
Quests
The quest
In Battle's Shadow
now only requires the appropriate faction to take and no longer requires a quest prerequisite.
Dungeons & Raids
Updated the Dungeon Finder matchmaking system to properly identify
Monk
classes and their available roles.
Heart of Fear
Garalon
now mends his injured legs more frequently in Normal mode.
Garalon
will now take longer before he casts
Massive Crush
.
Players will now be able to zone back to
Live
News Round Up: Day of the Dead Guide, Snowy Owl Available, Lil' KT Sale
Hallow's End
is now over for 2012, but there's another in-game holiday today:
Day of the Dead
. If you're missing Halloween though, check out Blizzard's
2012 Pumpkin Carving Contest winners
! In addition to seasonal favorites like the Headless Horseman, the winners this year brought Halloween to Pandaria, with creations like the Sha of Anger and Pandaren.
On a more serious note, Blizzard added an update about
Stampede
to yesterday's
PvP Dev Watercooler
, and
<Method>
has an interview over at
WoW Insider
today about the World First progression race--which continues this month with
Heart of Fear
and
Terrace of Endless Spring
. We'll be covering their progression kills again, once the race gets started! All of their heroic kills of
Mogu'shan Vaults
are available on their
YouTube channel
.
This week also marks the start of some other things around Azeroth:
It's a new month for our [url=
http://www.wowhead.com/news=
Live
Dev Watercooler: Mists of Pandaria PvP
Update: A clarification regarding Stampede for Beast Mastery
Hunter
s was added in after this blog was published
:
Ghostcrawler
Class Balance Concerns -> BM Hunters
Update: We have just discovered a bug in which the debuff that makes Stampede pets weaker than normal pets was not being applied in Arenas. This helps explain why hunters could cause so much damage in Arenas but not in (say) the outdoor world or a dungeon environment.
<div class="detail"><p>Now that Mists of Pandaria has been out a few weeks, we wanted to let you all know what we consider working well in PvP, what we want to improve, and what’s coming down the pike. I’m going to split this up into three parts: a discussion of Matchmaking Rating (MMR), class balance concerns, and a sneak peek at some of our PvP plans.</p></br>
<p><u><span style="font-size:14px;"><strong>MMR</strong></span></u></p></br>
<p>As I’m sure you’re aware, the intent behind MMR is to match players by skill. This is accomplished by comparing an assigned number (MMR) that adjusts based on the relative MMR of t
Live
5.1 PTR - Build 16231 - Spell Changes, New Vol'jin Model, and More
A new PTR patch is coming soon--seems a bit smaller than the rest. Spell changes are below, as well as the one new icon and some loading screens.
Check out the latest additions!
New Loading Screens
New Vol'jin Model
New models were added of Vol'jin, both healthy and wounded. Click on the images to view them in our 3D Modelviewer.
New Icons
Achievements
I Choose You
:
Complete the Grand Master Aki quest.
New reward: Reward: Heavy Sack of Gold
Click the cut for the class changes!
Live
Cross-Realm Zone Updates
Busy day for Blizzard today--they just posted an update on Cross-Realm Zone issues, specifically time zone jumps and transition lag.
As promised, we wanted to give you all an update on what we’ve been working on with regards to the cross-realm zone feature. Just to recap, cross-realm zones are meant to improve the leveling experience by increasing the amount of people in the same zone together, while also allowing you to quest with your Real ID or BattleTag friends. It’s a complex feature, and there are still some technical issues that we’re continuing to work to address. We’re committed to further refining the system so that it provides the best possible gameplay experience.
This is an update on the technical issues we’ve been working on and some of the progress we’ve made.
Time Zone Jumps
Right now we have a three-hour time zone differential limit on which realms can be mixed together. This is intended to reduce day/night jumps from occurring when crossing CRZ zones, as well as time zone jumps that may cause world events to end earlier than intended. We agree that the day/night jump can be jarring, and planning for l
Live
Heart of Fear Now Live and Raid Schedule
Blizzard
The latest Normal difficulty Mists of Pandaria Raid Dungeon is now available:
Heart of Fear
. Raid Finder and Heroic difficulties will be available Tuesday, November 6.
Raid Finder will unlock bosses in
Heart of Fear
over time, and all
Heart of Fear
bosses will be unlocked and available Tuesday, November 13. To access the new Raid Finder dungeons, you will need a minimum item level (ilevel) requirement of 470.
Here is the current schedule for these Raid releases:
Tuesday, October 30
- Normal
Heart of Fear
Tuesday, November 6
- Heroic
Heart of Fear
and first half of
Heart of Fear
on Raid Finder
Tuesday,November 13
- Second half of
Heart of Fear
on Raid Finder and Normal
Terrace of Endless Spring
Tuesday, November 20
: Heroic
Terrace of Endless Spring
and
Terrace of Endless Spring
on Raid Finder
All raids/difficulties will still be fully accessible by November 20, as we had always intended, but we’re staggering the release a bit more.
Live
Raid Preview: Heart of Fear
Heart of Fear
opens
October 30th
on US servers on Normal mode.
Terrace of Endless Spring
was planned to open on October 30th, but it was
changed on Friday
to open in two weeks, on
November 12th
. We've got the loot tables and dungeon journal below for each boss, as well as 3D models of all the weapons. Most notably, players can now loot 'Sha-Touched' weapons from
Heart of Fear
, special weapons that can be socketed with legendary gems. This instance also drops some
Tier 14 tokens
.
You can check out Method's livestreams of Heart of Fear
here
, and check out their
YouTube channel
where they'll be uploading all of their kill videos.
Heart of Fear
is located in central
Dread Wastes
, on the right side of the large sinister tree growing in the Sha-touched trench.
There are six bosses in
Heart of Fear
:
Imperial Vizier Zor'lok
Blade Lord Ta'yak
Garalon
Wind Lord Mel'jarak
Amber-Shaper Un'sok
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