Blog Archives

Tier 11 normal mode raid bosses to give valor points again

Good news for everyone tired of all those trolls: Tier 11 normal modes will once again give valor points. According to Community Manager Daxxarri, [hide]raids will receive[/hide] 35 valor points on 10-man bosses, and 45 valor points on 25-man bosses. This hotfix should be live within the next few hours.

For the full text of the announcement, check after the break.[hide]Continue reading Tier 11 normal mode raid bosses to give valor points again[/hide]Filed under: [hide]News items[/hide], [hide]Raiding[/hide], [hide]Hotfixes[/hide][hide]Tier 11 normal mode raid bosses to give valor points again[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Mon, 18 Jul 2011 23:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide] | Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

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Spiritual Guidance: Should a healing priest learn to shadow?


Every week, WoW Insider brings you [hide]Spiritual Guidance[/hide] for [hide]discipline[/hide], [hide]holy[/hide] and [hide]shadow[/hide] priests. [hide]Dawn Moore[/hide] isn’t here this week, and [hide]Fox Van Allen[/hide] is just being his usual shadowy stuff. Instead, you’re stuck with [hide]Matt «Matticus» Low[/hide] of [hide]World of Matticus[/hide] and [hide]Plus Heal[/hide]!

Greetings, minions of the light! As you can tell, resident priestess Dawn Moore is not here this week. That means you are stuck with blessed with my presence for the day!

As a priest, you have the luxury of blowing stuff up or healing damage. Your leaders may periodically ask you to switch roles because of the nature of the encounter or composition in a raid. I have recognized the usefulness that the flexibility offers, but I also understand that my lack of shadow skill can be detrimental to the team.

So just how important is it to learn how to DPS? I’m also going to add a minor comment about priests in Firelands and the dominance of discipline over holy.[hide]Continue reading Spiritual Guidance: Should a healing priest learn to shadow[/hide]?Filed under: [hide]Priest[/hide], [hide](Priest) Spiritual Guidance[/hide][hide]Spiritual Guidance: Should a healing priest learn to shadow[/hide]? originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Mon, 18 Jul 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide]Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

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Weekly Podcast Roundup: July 11-17, 2011

Every Monday evening, WoW Insider brings you a long list of WoW podcasts that were published the week and weekend before. If you don’t see your favorite World of Warcraft podcast listed, just let us know in the comments. Be sure to leave a link to it, and we’ll pick it up next week.

All podcasts and content belong to their owners. WoW Insider is not responsible for what you hear, and some of the content may not be safe for work.

[hide]All Things Azeroth[/hide] That’s Not The Wolfheart I Thought We’d Get!

[hide]Rawrcast[/hide] Pantalones de la Aventura

[hide]The Instance[/hide] When Thrall Leaves His Tiny Tower

[hide]Twisted Nether Blogcast[/hide] Roundified Table
[hide]Continue reading Weekly Podcast Roundup: July 11-17, 2011[/hide]Filed under: [hide]Weekly Podcast Roundup[/hide][hide]Weekly Podcast Roundup: July 11-17, 2011[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide]Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

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Two Bosses Enter: High Priestess Azil vs. Cookie


In [hide]Two Bosses Enter[/hide], WoW Insider’s series of fantasy death matches, the bosses of World of Warcraft face off in the squared circle. Your vote determines who wins and claims the season title.

This week marks the first week of Cataclysm’s second season of Two Bosses Enter. Last week we announced this season’s lineup, but now it’s time to begin. We’re about to witness a showdown between the Stonecore’s High Priestess Azil and the false Defias Kingpin, Cookie.

[hide]View Poll[/hide]

Follow along for the rules of the matchup and a review of what these bosses can do.[hide]Continue reading Two Bosses Enter: High Priestess Azil vs. Cookie[/hide]Filed under: [hide]Two Bosses Enter[/hide][hide]Two Bosses Enter: High Priestess Azil vs. Cookie[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Mon, 18 Jul 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide]Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

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Blood Pact: How to trounce through Firelands as a warlock


Every week, WoW Insider brings you [hide]Blood Pact[/hide] for [hide]affliction[/hide], [hide]demonology[/hide] and [hide]destruction[/hide] warlocks. For those who disdain the watered-down arts that other cling to like a safety blanket … For those willing to test their wills against the nether and claim the power that is their right … [hide]Blood Pact[/hide] welcomes you.

Being relatively newish to writing Blood Pact, I’m not sure if I’ve yet said this. On the off chance that I have, well, then it at least bears repeating: I am a raider. What I do, what I care about, is going into the most relevant content and kicking butt. Not only am I a raider, but I raid as a DPSer. Though my main might be a hybrid-capable for healing or tanking, I have absolutely no interest in either of those concepts. There’s a reason that the first four alts that I pushed to level 85 were the pure classes.

That being said, even I know that damage cannot be — is not — everything. The tired phrase that dead DPS is zero DPS certainly holds true. More so than that, very encounters are even about raw damage potential, anyway. Although Firelands is a lot less gimmick-based than tier 11 raids were, nearly every boss encounter is going to require some non-DPS related task that has a much higher chance of wiping the raid than anything else. Are you prepared to deal with every situation? Let’s find out.[hide]Continue reading Blood Pact: How to trounce through Firelands as a warlock[/hide]Filed under: [hide]Warlock[/hide], [hide](Warlock) Blood Pact[/hide][hide]Blood Pact: How to trounce through Firelands as a warlock[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Mon, 18 Jul 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide]Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

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WoW Insider reviews Christie Golden’s Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects

Just under 10 years ago, on Oct. 1, 2001, a novel was released as a new addition to the Warcraft universe that would change the history and lore of the games forever. [hide]Lord of the Clans[/hide] outlined the history and childhood of a young orc named Thrall. Son of Durotan and Draka, the former slave would break free from his imprisonment at the hands of Aedelas Blackmoore, step forward to unite the shattered and lethargic clans of the orcs, and lead the Horde in a manner that none that had played the original Warcraft games could possibly comprehend at that point in time.

Almost a year later, [hide]Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos[/hide] was released, and that orc’s journey from the beleaguered, Scourge-ridden lands of the Eastern Kingdoms to the dusty and barren shores of Kalimdor was told in a tale that captured the hearts of players. No longer simply a character in a novel, Thrall’s travels and ultimate triumph, united with the night elves and humans at the peaks of Mount Hyjal and working as one to defeat Archimonde, would forever seal his place as true Warchief of the Horde.

It is only appropriate then that the latest novel written for the Warcraft franchise, detailing the further journeys of Thrall, be undertaken by the woman who started it all — [hide]Christie Golden[/hide]. Not just an author with a host of Warcraft novels under her belt, Golden is the voice of the former Warchief, the author who gave him a life of his own. Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects continues the journey that Thrall began nearly 10 years ago — and what a journey it is.[hide]Continue reading WoW Insider reviews Christie Golden’s Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects[/hide]Filed under: [hide]Lore[/hide], [hide]Cataclysm[/hide][hide]WoW Insider reviews Christie Golden’s Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide]Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

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WoW Moviewatch: Dinner Party

[hide]Dinner Party[/hide] is an episodic installment from Smash Productions. Other movies exist about the two main characters, but I’ll admit this is the first one I’ve seen. Essentially, the two characters wake up in a cage to find they’re about to be eaten by wild gnomes. I feel like we’ve seen that plot before, but every video has to start somewhere.

What really impressed me about Dinner Party was how well the fight scenes were handled. It’s difficult to get convincing action out of WoW’s tired old models, but Smash did an amazing job of making it work. The choreography felt natural; the movements had none of the choppiness you might expect in simple game footage.

The dialogue felt like it could have used a little more tightening up, but overall, I was impressed with Dinner Party.

Interested in the wide world of [hide]machinima[/hide]? We have new movies every weekday here on [hide]WoW Moviewatch[/hide]! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at [hide]moviewatch@wowinsider.com[/hide].

Filed under: [hide]WoW Moviewatch[/hide][hide]WoW Moviewatch: Dinner Party[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Mon, 18 Jul 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide] | Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

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The Queue: I need to hug a bunny right now!


Welcome back to [hide]The Queue[/hide], the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. [hide]Alex Ziebart[/hide] will be your host today.

Whichever region out there is hogging all of the rain, please send some towards Wisconsin. My lawn could really use the help. Thanks in advance!

Jack Spicer:

In the pure interest of unlocking all of Molten Front as fast as possible, is «Additional Armaments» the superior choice over «Filling the Moonwell» and «Calling the Ancients» because it unlocks 1 additional daily quest, or do those other ones also unlock additional dailies?[hide]Continue reading The Queue: I need to hug a bunny right now![/hide]Filed under: [hide]The Queue[/hide][hide]The Queue: I need to hug a bunny right now![/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Mon, 18 Jul 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide]Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

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Ответы Blizzard на 11-ю серию вопросов «Лечение»

Компания Blizzard Entertainment [hide]опубликовала[/hide] 11-ю серию ответов на вопросы игроков MMORPG World of Warcraft о лечении. Из статьи вы узнаете: почему эффективность шаманов намного ниже, чем у других лечащих классов; могут ли «умные» АоЕ-заклинания лечить спутников и питомцев; собираются ли разработчики отойти от стереотипа «Паладин света – лекарь танка»; будет ли создан героический класс целителя и многое другое.

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В: Из-за того что в рейдах мне постоянно приходится возобновлять «Водный щит», чтобы у меня всегда было достаточно маны, я часто не могу кого-то подлечить. Скажите, почему эффективность лечения шаманов намного ниже, чем у других лечащих классов? – Epistemology (Северная Америка), Ерз (Россия)

О: Давайте вспомним, как именно функционирует «Водный щит». При входящем прямом уроне происходит срабатывание щита, в результате чего расходуется сфера. По этому принципу работают все щиты шамана. Однако в некоторых сражениях бывает так, что персонажи получают урон довольно часто. В этом случае заряды щита поглощаются слишком быстро, и шаманам постоянно приходится обновлять щит. Но при таком частом поглощении зарядов щита вы получаете гораздо больше маны. Здесь мог бы помочь символ с механикой, аналогичной символу «Щита молний». В общем, здесь есть над чем подумать.

Как нам кажется, потенциал шамана в плане лечения танка сильно недооценен. Имея в своем арсенале такие заклинания, как «Щит земли», «Быстрина» и «Великая волна исцеления», усиленная «Приливными волнами», шаман способен демонстрировать впечатляющие результаты. Да, паладин света, использующий «Частицу», способен эффективнее «отлечивать» двух танков, по которым одновременно идет урон, но шаман, в свою очередь, лучше лечит остальных игроков. У всех целителей есть определенные плюсы и минусы, и это совершенно нормально, пока одни классы целителей не начинают преобладать над другими, но мы отдаем себе отчет, что умение «отлечивать» одного танка, получающего значительный урон от босса, является обязательным для всех целителей. Нам кажется, что сейчас в этом плане все классы целителей хорошо сбалансированы, но, разумеется, при появлении значительных перекосов в балансе мы будем вносить в него соответствующие изменения.

Изменения «Прилива маны» в обновлении 4.2 были в первую очередь направлены на то, чтобы уменьшить количество маны, доступной в рейде целителям, не являющимся шаманами. В двух словах, шаманы теперь могут всегда использовать «Прилив маны», чтобы восстановить себе ману, в то время как другие целители должны использовать свои уникальные способности («Исчадие Тьмы», «Озарение» и т.п.). Когда в дополнение к этим способностям каждый класс мог рассчитывать еще и на «Прилив маны», часто получалась так, что другие целители могли вообще не следить за своей маной, поскольку проблемы ее нехватки просто не существовало. Смена «Улучшенного водного щита» на «Упоение» должна была компенсировать снижение эффективности «Прилива маны».

В: Действительно ли задумано так, что «умные» заклинания лечения и заклинания с действием по площади, имеющие ограничения по количеству целей, могут лечить спутников и питомцев, к примеру, кровочервей, вместо игроков? Можно ли переработать механику работы «Цепного исцеления» шамана, чтобы заклинание пропускало игроков с полным здоровьем и переходило дальше на игроков с неполным здоровьем? Есть ли у вас планы как-либо усилить «Цепное исцеление», чтобы сделать его более привлекательным для применения в группах из 5 человек и в рейдах, рассчитанных на 10 игроков? – Epicfail (Северная Америка),

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Around Azeroth: A big fish tale

[hide][/hide]
Submitter [hide]Gryffud[/hide] of Garrosh (US-A) was exploring Tirisfal Glades when he stumbled upon this gruesome tableau out in the middle of a lake. What could explain this mysterious death? A jealous fishing buddy? An angry murloc? An errant goblin copter, smuggling weaponry to Northrend, that suddenly had to drop its cargo to avoid a crash landing? I kind of like the last possibility.

Gallery: [hide]Around Azeroth 3[/hide][hide][/hide][hide][/hide][hide][/hide][hide][/hide][hide][/hide]

Want to see your own screenshot here? Send it to [hide]aroundazeroth@wowinsider.com[/hide]. We strongly prefer full-sized pictures with no UI or names showing. Please include «Azeroth» in the subject line so your email doesn’t get marked as spam, and include your name, guild and server if you want to be credited.
Filed under: [hide]Around Azeroth[/hide][hide]Around Azeroth: A big fish tale[/hide] originally appeared on [hide]WoW Insider[/hide] on Mon, 18 Jul 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our [hide]terms for use of feeds[/hide].[hide]Permalink[/hide] | [hide]Email this[/hide] | [hide]Comments[/hide]

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