WotLK Pre-Launch Event Begins!

The new Wrath of the Lich King pre-launch event has begun on all US servers. Zombies are spawning throughout the world and are infecting the citizens of Azeroth!

Currently we are in Phase 1 of the zombie invasion.  You can become infected by getting attacked by another person who is a zombie, zombie NPCs that spawn, or conspicuous crates.  Once you are infected you will gain 5 zombie abilities and become a member of a special zombie faction.  You can now attack members of either horde or alliance and you become friendly to all other zombies.  You will lose the zombie effect if you die or if you get cured.

Here is what is known so far:

• Caution, NPCs can become infected too, and they will transform into a ghoul of the same level.  This is especially dangerous for areas with elite guards in the cities.
  
• While as a ghoul, there is a constant DoT effect killing you; you must attack other players or NPCs to proc the “Bite” spell, which will heal you.  If you die to an NPC while a ghoul, you will lose durability.
• While infected, even going near an Argent Healer will cause them to cure you.
• From all accounts thus far, you become a zombie of your level, so low level players will have lower health and overall stats as a zombie than level 70 players.

Here is an official mini-FAQ posted by Bornakk:

FAQ

Q: How do I become a zombie?
A: Disease-infected crates are scattered throughout the cities of Azeroth, spreading a sickness that transforms its sufferers into zombies. And of course, when zombies attack, their victims can be afflicted by the disease as well.

Q: How do you stop being a zombie?
A: The disease can be cured by other players who can cast ‘Cure Disease’ or by special healer NPCs in the cities. Once the disease has run its course and a character has become a zombie, the only cure is death.

Q: Can I become a zombie again?
A: Yes.

Q: As a zombie, what are some things I can/cannot do?
A: You can no longer cast the spells/abilities that you had as a normal character, and formerly friendly NPCs now consider you an enemy. You can, however, cast new, unique zombie spells.

Q: Anything else I should know while being a zombie?
A: As a zombie, you are part of a special faction that is friendly with all zombies and can converse with them, regardless of whether they were part of the Horde or Alliance in their mortal existences.

Stay tuned to Zuggaming.com to see how the event unfolds.  As details surface, we will keep you updated!

WoTLK Honor Gear Prices

For those that have been waiting to hear the dreaded honor point costs of gear ever since Zuggy first talked about it, I logged on the beta realms today to get the scoop.

There are two different sets of honor gear in Wrath of the Lich King for level 80′s to try out.  The first set is called the Hateful Gladiator set and that will include pieces that have no arena rating requirement and are accessible to all players who saved up some points as soon as they hit level 80.

• Hateful Gladiator Belt - 49600 Honor
• Hateful Gladiator Bracer – 31600 Honor
• Hateful Gladiator Boots - 49600 Honor
• Hateful Gladiator Neck – 38000 Honor
• Hateful Gladiator Cloak – 38000 Honor
• Hateful Gladiator Ring – 38000 Honor
• Medallion of the Horde - 49600 Honor (This has 84 Resiliance)

For the more experienced Gladiator, you can buy Deadly Gladiator gear with the following amount of honor and credentials:

• Deadly Gladiator Belt – 62000 Honor and 1630 Personal Rating
• Deadly Gladiator Bracer - 39400 Honor and 1660 Personal Rating
• Deadly Gladiator Boots - 62000 Honor and 1720 Personal Rating
• Deadly Gladiator Neck – 47400 Honor and 1600 Personal Rating
• Deadly Gladiator Cloak - 47400 Honor and 1750 Personal Rating
• Deadly Gladiator Ring – 47400 Honor and 1690 Personal Rating
• Battlemaster’s Trinket – 62000 Honor and 1800 Personal Rating

WotLK Profession Specific Bonus Perks Summary

Blizzard will be continuing the trend of giving each profession it’s own perk with special abilities and BoP enchants, item enhancements, and items.  Here is a summary of what we know so far:

Alchemy Profession Bonus Perks

- Mixology
- WotLK Flasks get 32 itemization points, elixirs get 16 points. Doubles duration on all flasks and elixirs.
- Using WotLK Flasks, gives 37 spellpower, 64 attack power, 13 MP5, or 320 health
- Crazy Alchemist’s Potion
- Alchemists can still transmute items on a daily cooldown
- Endless Mana Potion, Endless Healing Potion, and Endless Rejuvenation Potion
- Indestructible Alchemist’s Stone, Mercurial Alchemist’s Stone, and Mighty Alchemist’s Stone
- Alchemy discoveries are on a weekly cooldown – Northrend Alchemy Research – Spell – World of Warcraft

Leatherworking Profession Bonus Perks

- New WotLK drums are not in the spell database at the moment Current drums are unusable at level 80.
- Reduced cost on leg armor – does not give a special bonus
- Fur Lining – Enchantment on bracers. – fur lining – Wowhead Search – Gives a large stat boost over the equivalent enchant (+40 spell damage, +82 attack power). There’s also a stamina one for 90 stamina, but no stamina enchant yet. There is also resistances for fur linings, for an additional 60 resists.

Skinning Profession Bonus Perks

- Master of Anatomy – Spell – World of Warcraft

Mining Profession Bonus Perks

- Toughness – Spell – World of Warcraft

Herbalism Profession Bonus Perks

- Fire Leaf
- Fire Seed
- Lifeblood – Spell – World of Warcraft

Enchanting Profession Bonus Perks

- Enchant Ring – Assault – Spell – World of Warcraft
- Enchant Ring – Greater Spellpower – Spell – World of Warcraft
- Enchant Ring – Stamina – Spell – World of Warcraft

Jewelcrafting Profession Bonus Perks

- Dragon’s Eye gems – dragon’s eye – Wowhead Search
- A Jewelcrafter can have up to three Dragon’s Eye gems equipped. They can be the same or different. They act like every color of gem for socket bonuses and metagems.
- Ruby Hare, Emerald Board, Sapphire Owl, Twilight Serpent, and Monarch Crab
- Gem Perfection – Spell – World of Warcraft — A chance to craft green-quality gems into slightly better cuts. The gems produced will be in between uncommon and rare in stats.
- Jewelcrafting has its own set of dailies, with which rare gem recipes (5 tokens), metagem recipes (8 tokens), and Dragon’s Eyes (1 token) can be purchased. – Dalaran Jewelcrafter’s Token

Inscription Profession Bonus Perks

- Shoulder enchants – master inscription – Wowhead Search – Effectively a bonus of +37 spell power, 64 attack power, or 32 dodge rating over the epic version
- Tarot cards – can make cards to get items from the Darkmoon Faire.  Implementation not yet known
- Inscription discoveries are on a daily cooldown – Northrend Inscription Research – Spell – World of Warcraft and Minor Inscription Research

Tailoring Profession Bonus Perks

- Lightweave Embroidery – Spell – World of Warcraft – 50% proc rate with 45 second cooldown
- Swordguard Embroidery – Spell – World of Warcraft
- Darkglow Embroidery – Spell – World of Warcraft – 35% proc rate with 75 second cooldown
- Four epic flying carpets and one regular version – carpet – Wowhead Search – acts exactly like a mount – Swift Flying Carpet
- Frostweave Net
- Reduced cost for spellthreads on armor
- Three transmutable cloths – Spellweave, Moonshroud – Spell – World of Warcraft , and Ebonweave – Spell – World of Warcraft
- A Guide to Northern Cloth Scavenging

Engineering Profession Bonus Perks

- Hand-Mounted Pyro Rocket – Spell – World of Warcraft
- Hyperspeed Accelerators – Spell – World of Warcraft
- Flexweave Underlay – Spell – World of Warcraft
- Nitro Boosts – Spell – World of Warcraft
- Personal Electromagnetic Pulse Generator – Spell – World of Warcraft
- Belt-Clipped Spynoculars – Spell – World of Warcraft
- Various goggles – Armored Titanium Goggle, Charged Titanium Specs, Electroflux Sight Enhancers, Greensight Gogs, Truesight Ice Enhancers, Visage Liquification Goggles, and Weakness Specrtalizers
- Bombs and decoys – Explosive Decoy, Saronite Bomb, Cobalt Frag Bomb, and Goblin Thermal Sapper Charge
- Gnomish Army Knife
- Trinkets – Gnomish Lightning Generator, Noise Machine, and Sonic Booster
- Portable mailbox and vendor – MOLL-E and Scrapbot Construction Kit
- Wormhole: Gadgetzan Group portal to Gadgetzan

Blacksmithing Profession Bonus Perks

- Smelt Titansteel – Spell – World of Warcraft (20 hour cooldown transmute)
- Socket Gloves – Spell – World of Warcraft and Socket Bracers – Spell – World of Warcraft

World of WarHammer?

Taking queues from the recent success of Warhammer: Age of Reckoning, Tigole has posted about some upcoming ideas for the future of WoW PvP, many of which mirror the PvP style that Warhammer has implemented.  Source

Actually, we have been discussing new battlegrounds quite a bit lately. Wrath of the Lich King will feature Strand of the Ancients (attack/defend) as well as Wintergrasp (non-instanced, world PvP).

But past that, we are exploring ideas that would involve expanding our Battleground content in future patches and beyond. We believe we have some strong ideas for improving Battlegrounds and PvP as a whole in the game and we’re definitely going to focus on improvements in the future. Now, it’s very early to be talking about some of this stuff but I think it’s important for the community to know that it’s on our minds.

Our general thought is that we could provide more BG content over time. The BG content that we could provide could be of higher quality with a higher degree of accessibility. Overall, we’d like to have more content and variety. We also want the gameplay experience in the BGs to be better directed. We’re also exploring the concept of a complimentary “competitive” bg system as well. Over time, we’d like the focus of PvP to shift back to being more BG-centric and more focused on Horde versus Alliance — the core of our game.

We’re also planning on improving some Battleground and PvP features in general. For example, we want to give you the ability to queue for Battlegrounds from anywhere in the world. We’re also going to explore EXP gain through the PvP system as well as low level itemization to support that.

Please don’t take this post as a promise. This won’t be an overnight process. Not all of these things are set in stone and guaranteed to happen. It would take us a while to shift in this direction. But these are some of the current thoughts on the development team. I think it’s important for you guys to know some of our thought process in regards to PvP.

In my opinion, everybody wins here.  Even though I didn’t enjoy my time in the Warhammer beta, I always root for its success.  If Warhammer stays successful, fans of WoW will be getting content sooner rather than later and the same goes for Warhammer players.  As Borat would say, “Great Success”.

Season 4 End Date Announced!

This afternoon Tigole calmed the fears of many players who thought they were going to lose their Brutal Gladiator titles to triple Retribution Paladin teams by announcing that the end of Season 4 would happen on the day that the 3.0 Patch hits live servers.

We’ve reevaluated certain aspects of how the arena system and current arena season will be affected during both the next content patch, and the launch of Wrath of the Lich King. For starters, the current arena season will end in respect to the ladder upon the release of our next major patch. What this means is, we’ll be taking a snapshot of the current season’s ladder just before the realms are taken down for patch maintenance, and our normal process will commence to determine who is eligible for the end-of-season rewards.

Teams and ratings will not be wiped at that time, and will carry forward allowing players to earn points each week (and buy gear) until the launch of the expansion on November 13th. Almost immediately before Wrath of the Lich King releases, all arena teams as well as ratings will be wiped and arena charter NPCs disabled.

So there you have it, no need to worry.

New honor items coming in 3.0 patch

After hearing the bad news that honor was going to be reset before Wrath of the Lich King, you may have been wondering what exactly blizzard has in store for it’s honor hoarding subscribers.  Today a European blue post released the item names and stats of the new honor gear that players can dump their spare points into before the expansion is released.

Cloak of Certain Reprieve
Binds when picked up
Back
130 Armor
+42 Stamina
+18 Intellect
Requires Level 70
Equip: Improves your resilience rating by 28 (0.71% @ L70).
Equip: Restores 8 mana per 5 sec.
Equip: Increases spell power by 33.

Sergeant’s Reinforced Cape
Binds when picked up
Back
130 Armor
+42 Stamina
+26 Intellect
Requires Level 70
Equip: Improves your resilience rating by 30 (0.76% @ L70).
Equip: Increases spell power by 33.

The Gladiator’s Resolution
Binds when picked up
Back
130 Armor
+42 Stamina
Requires Level 70
Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 26 (1.18% @ L70).
Equip: Improves your resilience rating by 20 (0.51% @ L70).
Equip: Increases attack power by 56.
Equip: Increases your armor penetration rating by 18

Volanthius Shroud
Binds when picked up
Back
130 Armor
+42 Stamina
Requires Level 70
Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 19 (0.86% @ L70).
Equip: Improves your resilience rating by 28 (0.71% @ L70).
Equip: Improves haste rating by 18 (1.14% @ L70).
Equip: Increases spell power by 33

Battlemaster’s Resolve
Binds when picked up
Trinket
Requires Level 70
Equip: Increases attack power by 120.
Use: Increases maximum health by 1750 for 15 sec. Shares cooldown with other Battlemaster’s trinkets. (3 Min Cooldown)

Battlemaster’s Courage
Binds when picked up
Trinket
Requires Level 70
Equip: Increases spell power by 70.
Use: Increases maximum health by 1750 for 15 sec. Shares cooldown with other Battlemaster’s trinkets. (3 Min Cooldown)

Battlemaster’s Celerity
Binds when picked up
Trinket
Requires Level 70
Equip: Improves haste rating by 60 (3.8% @ L70).
Use: Increases maximum health by 1750 for 15 sec. Shares cooldown with other Battlemaster’s trinkets. (3 Min Cooldown)

Battlemaster’s Aggression
Binds when picked up
Trinket
Requires Level 70
Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 60 (2.72% @ L70).
Use: Increases maximum health by 1750 for 15 sec. Shares cooldown with other Battlemaster’s trinkets. (3 Min Cooldown)

Please note that Gems that have been acquired through Honor will no longer be unique-equipped after the release of Patch 3.0.2. Also, they will no longer Bind on Pickup.

Priest Racials being removed!

In an unexpected turn of events, a recent blue post informed us that the current priest racial abilities will not be making the boat ride to Northrend with the rest of us. Say goodbye to Hex of Weakness, Chastise, and other great abilities.

In an upcoming build all Priest racials have been retired, except the following:

- Desperate Prayer – This is now the 11-point talent in Holy, Holy Nova is now a base ability. Cooldown also reduced to 30 seconds.
- Devouring Plague – Now a base ability. Cooldown reduced to 30 seconds, mana cost greatly reduced.
- Symbol of Hope – Now a base ability. Now restores 5% base mana every 2 seconds for 8 seconds to your party. Renamed “Hymn of Hope.”

While this change does reduce the “uniqueness” of different Priests, we feel game balance as a whole will benefit.

Note: These new “racials” are not racials, they are trainable to all Priests.

WotLK Arena Gear from PvE?!

Fans of World PvP have been waiting long enough for their favorite place to do battle to have some purpose, and that is just what Blizzard has in store for Lake Wintergrasp in Wrath of the Lich King.  Level 80s who belong to the faction currently controlling Lake Wintergrasp may attempt the new boss, Archavon the Stone Watcher.  The best news of course, other than the fact that it is a single boss instance with no trash mobs, is that he drops Season 5 arena gear!

If you are looking into slaying the 3.4 million HP beast, here is what you may have in store for you:

10 Man Loot drops

25 Man Loot drops

WotLK PvP Achievements: Part 2

In Part 2 of the multi-part series, I will be taking a look at some more of the PvP Achievements you can gain once the 3.0 patch hits live servers.  Don’t forget to check out Part 1 if you missed it!

Today I will be taking a look at two classic battlegrounds, Arathi Basin and Warsong Gulch.

Arathi Basin

Arathi Basin All-Star – 20 Points

Assault and Defend 2 bases in a single Arathi Basin match.

Arathi Basin Assassin – 20 Points

Get five honorable kills at each of the bases in a single Arathi Basin battle.

Arathi Basin Perfection – 20 Points

Win Arathi Basin with a score of 2000 to 0.

Arathi Basin Veteran – 10 Points

Complete 100 victories in Arathi Basin

Arathi Basin Victory – 10 Points

Win Arathi Basin.

Disgracin’ The Basin – 10 Points.

Assault 3 bases in a single Arathi Basin battle.

Knight of Arathor – 10 Points *Horde equivelent is The Defiler

Gain exalted reputation with The League of Arathor.

Let’s Get This Done – 10 Points

Win Arathi Basin in 6 minutes.

Me and the Cappin’ Makin’ it Happen – 10 Points

Take 50 flags in Arathi Basin.

Overly Defensive – 10 Points

Defend 3 bases in a single Arathi Basin battle.

Resilient Victory – 10 Points

Overcome a 500 resource disadvantage in a match of Arathi Basin and claim victory.

Territorial Dominance – 10 Points

Win 10 Arathi Basin matches while controlling all 5 flags.

To the Rescue! – 10 Points

Come to the defense of a base in Arathi Basin 50 times by recapping the flag.

We Had It All Along *cough* – 10 Points

Win Arathi Basin by 10 points (2000 to 1990)

Master of Arathi Basin – 25 Points

Complete all of the Arathi Basin Achievements.

Warsong Gulch

Capture the Flag – 10 Points

Personally carry and capture the flag in W

arsong Gulch

Frenzied Defender – 10 Points

Return 5 flags in a single Warsong Gulch battle.

Ironman - 10 Points

In a single Warsong Gulch battle, carry and capture the flag 3 times without dying.

Not In My House – 10 Points

In a single Warsong Gulch battle, kill 10 flag carriers before they leave the Flag Room

Not So Fast – 10 Points

In Warsong Gulch, kill a player who is under the effects of the speed power-up.

Persistent Defender – 10 Points

Return 50 flags as a defender in Warsong Gulch.

Quick Cap – 10 Points

Grab the flag and capture it in under 75 seconds

Save the Day – 10 Points

Kill the enemy who is carrying your flag in the opposing team’s flag room while the opposing team’s flag is at their base, within their control.

Silverwing Sentinel – 10 Points *Horde Equivelent is Warsong Outrider

Gain exalted reputation with the Silverwing Sentinels.

Supreme Defender – 10 Points

Kill 100 flag carriers in Warsong Gulch.

Warsong Expedience – 10 Points

Win a Warsong Gulch in under 7 minutes.

Warsong Gulch Perfection – 10 Points

Win Warsong Gulch with a score of 3 to 0.

Warsong Gulch Veteran – 10 Points

Complete 10 victories in Warsong Gulch.

Warsong Gulch Victory – 10 Points

Win Warsong Gulch.

Master of Warsong Gulch – 25 Points

Complete all of the Warsong Gulch Achievements.

WotLK Racial Abilities Changes

Kalgan has recently dropped the ball on some new racial changes that we can expect to see tested out in upcoming patches:

Changes that should be in the next beta push. Bear in mind that some of these may change somewhat or entirely, and there may also be other changes coming in subsequent pushes:

Orc
- Hardiness now reduces the duration of stun effects by 15%

Troll
- Racial Passive “The Voodoo Shuffle”: Reduces the duration of all movement impairing effects by 15%. Trolls be flippin’ out mon!

- Berserking: no longer has an activation cost of energy/rage/etc

Draenei
- Gift of the Naaru: now scales based on the higher of either the caster’s Attack Power or Spell Power

- Shadow Resistance: reduces the chance to be hit by Shadow spells by 2%

Dwarf
- Frost Resistance: reduces the chance to be hit by Frost spells by 2%

- Racial Passive “Mace Specialization”: Expertise with Maces and Two-Handed Maces increased by 5.

Undead
- Shadow Resistance: reduces the chance to be hit by Shadow spells by 1% (yes, this is lower than the other resistance racials)

- Will of the Forsaken: removes any fear, sleep, or charm effect (no longer has a lasting immunity).

Night Elf
- Quickness: reduces the chance to be hit by melee or ranged attacks by 2%

- Nature Resistance: reduces the chance to be hit by Nature spells by 3%

-shadowmeld: Activate to slip into the shadows, reducing the chance for enemies to detect your presence. Lasts until cancelled or upon moving. Any threat is restored versus enemies still in combat upon cancellation of this effect.

Tauren
- Endurance: now scales based on base health, to be tuned to approximately a 5% heath increase if the player were wearing green quality gear

- Nature Resistance: reduces the chance to be hit by Nature spells by 2%

Gnome
- Escape Artist: the freeing effect can no longer be resisted

- Arcane Resistance: reduces the chance to be hit by Arcane spells by 2%

Blood Elf
- Mana Tap: ability removed (partially integrated into Arcane Torrent)

- Arcane Torrent: restores 15 energy, 15 runic power, or 6% of mana to the Blood Elf (along with the current 2s silence effect)

- Magic Resistance: reduces the chance to be hit by spells by 2%

Human
- Perception: changed to a passive, now grants one character level of passive stealth detection

- Racial “The Fall of Humanity”: Feign death which may trick enemies into ignoring you. Any threat is restored versus enemies still in combat upon cancellation of this effect. 5min cooldown

- Racial Passive “Human Supremacy”: The dominance of Humanity is evidenced by having one more racial bonus than normal. Actually, make that two counting this one. (just a tooltip, no actual functionality)

-UPDATED – The fall of humanity has been removed in the most recent beta patch and replaced with “Every man for himself”, effectively works just like a PvP trinket, though it’s on the same cool down as PvP trinkets.

- The Human Spirit: spirit bonus lowered to 5%

Next Page »