This is the end.

Beautiful friend, the end.



This is the end. My only friend, the end.



Of our elaborate plans, the end.



Of everything that stands, the end.



No safety or surprise, the end.



I'll never look into your eyes... again.



Can you picture what will be?



So limitless and free.



Desperately in need of some... stranger's hand.



In a... desperate land...



It's been a long, tumultuous ride. Hundreds of boss kills, thousands of pieces of loot, players coming and players going, drama that would make most quit, etc etc etc.

Attumen the Huntsman, Moroes, Maiden of Virtue, the Karazhan Opera, The Curator, Shade of Aran, Netherspite, the Chess Event, Prince Malchezaar, Nightbane, High King Maulgar, Gruul the Dragonkiller, Magtheridon, Doom Lord Kazzak, Hydross the Unstable, Fathom-Lord Karathress, Doomwalker, Leotheras the Blind, The Lurker Below, Morogrim Tidewalker, Void Reaver, Al'ar, Lady Vashj, High Astromancer Solarian, Prince Kael'thas, Rage Winterchill, Anetheron, High Warlord Naj'entus, Supremus, Shade of Akama, Kaz'rogal, Nalorakk, Akil'zon, Jan'alai, Halazzi, Hex Lord Malacrass, Zul'jin, Azgalor, Archimonde, Teron Gorefiend, Gurtogg Bloodboil, Reliquary of Souls, Mother Shahraz, the Illidari Council, Illidan Stormrage, Kalecgos, Brutallus, Felmyst, the Eredar Twins, M'uru, Kil'jaeden.

Now, it's time to head north. It's also time to change classes again. Henceforth, you'll get to hear things from the point of view of a (badly played) Death Knight.

Goodbye Outlands. Hello Northrend. See you there!

(Hands up, everyone who thought this was an "I quit" post.)


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Death Knights and You, Part 2

Wrath of the Lich King is due out in just under two days, and it's been a long, boner-inducing journey to get here. I managed to con my way into the Alpha back in May via sexual favors and a bet over a game of Chutes & Ladders, and since then I've gotten the chance to see most of what you guys are going to dive into in the very near future. Even so, I can't wait to see all of it again - Northrend is that good.


My PC is so exited to run Wrath that it can't contain itself.

"But Ekera," you're likely asking, "can you lay off the rampant fanboyism for like two minutes?" First, stop talking to your computer. It's embarrassing. Second, sure I can. PvP balance is still a long way off. Raiding and heroics are probably on the easy side. Wintergrasp needs some work to keep it from being Halaa 2.0 (aka: The PvP Zone That Time Forgot). Naturally, there are likely to be bugs still. Through all that though, this is a game that displays more polish in single zones than Burning Crusade had in almost its entire duration. Your mileage may vary, but I'm not concerned with what YOU think. (haha just kidding please don't stop reading :()

Anyhow, all that aside, I promised a Part 2 to this initial look at Death Knights, so that's what I'll deliver today. This time, I'll take a look at what kind of shit you should expect from DKs in groups, and what kind of loot they should (and shouldn't) be taking. This won't be a definitive guide on how to spot a shitty Death Knight, but if you really want a way to do that, just look at their name. Does it involve the words "death," "knight," "black," "dark," or "evil"? If so, do yourself a favor and kick them now.


Last time out, I gave you rundown of the different trees and what, in a basic sense, they were all about. I'd like to note at this point that, regardless of their choice of spec, most Death Knights will be using pretty much the same gear. DK tanks will use tank gear that mixes threat, avoidance, and mitigation, and DPS DKs will want the usual melee stats. One tree might favor, say, critical strike rating a bit more than another, but essentially you could spec to tank or DPS down any given tree and not have to switch gear much at all.

So, what kind of gear and/or stats should Death Knights be looking for?

Strength - A DK's primary threat and damage stat. Strength, and consequently Attack Power, will make everything they do better. DKs like strength probably about as much as Retribution paladins, and should try to snag gear with it at every opportunity.
Parry - Very yes. Helps keep Rune Strike lit up (DK version of the warrior ability Revenge), synergizes well with the Blood talent Spell Deflection, and of course it's a good avoidance stat besides. Tanking with a two-hander means a slow swing speed, and parrying an attack will hasten your next swing, so it's much more useful in that respect than it would be for a warrior or paladin using a 1.5 speed tanking weapon.
Critical Strike - PHAT CRITZ. This should go without saying.
Dodge - Like Parry, a good avoidance stat. Also helps with Rune Strike.
Defense - As good for DKs as it is for any other non-drud tanking class.
Stamina - Hey guess what having a huge health pool is a good thing as a tank derp a derp!
Armor Penetration - Useful to varying degrees depending on spec. Blood DKs will be ok with having this, Frost and Unholy less so as a great deal of their damage is from spells and ignores armor. Either way, a secondary stat - it's useful if it's on an already good item, but not worth going for exclusively.
Hit Rating - Doubly useful in that it helps both DK attacks and spells. Like other tanks, DKs will want to get to the hit cap as soon as possible to make their threat output smooth.
Expertise - See hit. Just like warriors, rogues, and ret paladins, expertise helps DK dps and threat output a ton.
Block/Block Value - NO. DKs do not use shields, so this stat is 100% useless for them.
Spell Power - NO. All, repeat, ALL DK abilities that do damage scale off of Attack Power. If you're an Unholy DK and take the talent Impurity, they'll scale even better. Spell Power does jack shit for a Death Knight. Period. Any DK taking spell damage plate in a group should be kicked immediately for being a dimwit.
Spell Penetration/Mana per 5/Spirit/Ranged Crit - ... are you serious?

So, as you can see, DKs gear much like any other melee class. How much weight one should give a particular stat over another isn't something I'm going to cover. If you're a DK player, you'll learn that over time or through judicious reading of guides/threads on Elitist Jerks made by people with better calculators than you.

As a final note on gearing, Death Knights CAN dual wield. Currently, they can use either one- or two-handed axes, maces, and swords, so if you see a DK rolling against a rogue on an offhand sword he's not an idiot. That said, at least at this early stage, two-handed weapons almost always have an edge over dual wielding - but that's not enough of a reason to brand a DK player as moronic.


Death Knights get to hang out with cooler people than you.

So, now you have a good idea of what loot DKs should be taking when they're in a group with you. On the other hand, what should they be giving? In this next bit, I'll cover some of the group utility that DKs bring to the table, both in the form of buffs and just all-around useful shit that they can do. Here comes... another list!

Horn of Winter
This is the DK version of Battle Shout, but its closest group buff analogue is actually a shaman's Strength of Earth totem. It increases the Strength and Agility of all party/raid members by a static amount, and must be recast every two minutes.

Blood Presence + Blood Aura
Presences are like the Death Knight version of warrior stances or paladin auras. Blood Presence is generally the damage-dealing one, increasing the DK's damage done by 15% and allowing 4% of their damage dealt to heal them. When the DK also has points in the talent Blood Aura, all party/raid members nearby will heal themselves for 2% of the damage they deal.

Frost Presence + Frost Aura
Frost Presence is generally the tanking presence for DKs, as it increases health, armor, and threat generated, and reduces spell damage taken. When combined with the Frost Aura talent, all nearby party members will gain spell resistance equal to the DK's level. So, at level 80, +80 to all resists.

Unholy Presence + Unholy Aura
Unholy Presence is generally the PvP stance, as it allows 15% faster movement speed, 15% melee haste, and reduces the global cooldown on all abilites by 0.5 sec (essentially giving DKs the same GCD as rogues). With Unholy Aura talented, that 15% run speed bonus for DKs will apply to all nearby party members as well.

Abomination's Might
This deep-Blood talent is similar to a shaman's Unleashed Rage, and is mutually exclusive with it. When using some of their most common melee attacks, the DK will provide their group members with a 10% bonus to Attack Power for 10 sec. Assuming they're keeping up their DPS rotations, this will seldom fall off of group members.

Improved Icy Talons
This talent lies partway down the Frost tree, connected to Improved Icy Touch and Icy Talons. The basic Icy Talons essentially makes Icy Touch steal haste - Icy Touch reduces an opponent's attack speed by 20%, and Icy Talons increases the DK's own attack speed by the same. Improved turns this into a group buff, giving all nearby party or raid members 20% melee haste for 20 sec. Does not stack with a shaman's Windfury Totem.

Ebon Plaguebringer
DKs specced deep into the Unholy tree will bring this debuff to the table. Essentially, as long as they keep at least one of their diseases on the target they will also keep this debuff up. It increases magic damage taken by the target by 13%. This does not stack with a warlock's Curse of the Elements or a Balance druid's talented Earth and Moon debuff.

Anti-Magic Zone
Unholy-specced tanks or PvPers (though DPS might pick it up as well, for utility) will have this ability at their disposal. Anti-Magic Zone creates a static bubble about 10 yards in diameter. Any party or raid member standing inside the bubble will take 75% less spell damage temporarily. The bubble lasts either 30 seconds or until it mitigates anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 spell damage in this manner.

Path of Frost
All DKs have this ability. When turned on, it generates an aura that affects all nearby party members, allowing them to walk on water until they take damage. Yes, this even works while mounted, so the DK can turn it on as the group is riding towards a lake, and the entire group will simply ride across the water. Pretty cool, eh?

I believe that covers most of the major abilities you'll run into. There are a few other things DKs can do, such as silence stray casters with Strangulate, potentially heal the group periodically if they have talented and Glyphed Rune Tap, or Death Grip runners back to be dealt with Scorpion-style, but this list encompasses the major group buffs that DKs will have when grouped with you.

That concludes this little primer on Death Knights and You. Hopefully you'll have learned something here, so when the expansion comes out in two short days you're not scratching your head wondering what the fuck. DKs, played right, are just as useful in your groups as any other class. Played wrong, they're just as stupid. Here's wishing you run into... the latter, actually, so you'll invite me to your groups instead. I'm not dumb, promise.

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Death Knights and You, Part 1

Again, it's been quite a while since I last updated, but as before, I was avoiding the shit out of the Beta in preparation for the launch of Wrath. As fun as it was to test out the new content, find bugs, experiment with new abilities, and see shiny new shit, I don't especially want to sleepwalk my way through the all the new content because HO HUM I've seen it all already.

That said, one thing I did do a lot of recently was run the Death Knight starting area in preparation for getting out of the gates as fast as possible on the 13th. As cool as Acherus and questing in Havenshire are, I really don't want to be stuck with a million other Death Knight rerollers fighting over Hellfire Peninsula spawns. I'm not gunning to be the first 80 DK on the server, or even among the first dozen; I just want to get ahead of the pack and then cruise comfortably.


Death Knights get lots of toys.

One thing that occured to me this morning as I gulped down coffee, however, was that there are probably quite a few people out there who have no clue about what the deal is with Death Knights. Either they have no interest beyond rolling an alt to play around with, or they've been keeping themselves in the dark about Wrath, or whatever. There's a lot of misinformation (and disinformation) floating around about the class, so I figured I'd take the opportunity to clear the air a bit.

So, this'll be Part 1 of 2 in taking a look at this potentially confusing new class. Not interested? Here's a political discussion thread on the Maelstrom realm forums to keep you entertained.


Ok so, first things first, what are Death Knights exactly? In the simplest terms, they are a melee DPS/tank hybrid, very similar to a warrior. In fact, in terms of basic mechanics and feel, they're probably most similar to a warrior, so if nothing else, consider them as able to fill that gap in your 5-man and PvP groups. Obviously, it's more complicated than this, but like I said, simplest terms.

One major difference between warriors (and, really, all other classes) and death knights is how their talent trees are structured. For warriors, you have Arms, Fury, and Protection. Arms and Fury are both DPS trees - if you spec primarily down either one, you're doing so with the intention of doing damage, either in PvE or PvP. Conversely, if you dump your points into Protection, you're looking to tank.

Not so with Death Knights! Obviously, they have three talent trees as well: Blood, Frost, and Unholy. However, none of them are strictly DPS or tanking trees. Instead, all three trees have a mix of DPS, tanking, utility, and all-purpose talents. Thus, you can't specifically say, "Oh, we need a tank, let's find a Frost DK." You might end up with a Frost DK who's specced for DPS. That means, for all intents and purposes, that you have to at least glance at a DK player's talent choices to see if they're telling the truth about whether they tank or DPS. Actually, that's not all that different from any other class anyway.

With that in mind, let's take a look at the three DK trees. I'll give a short explanation of each tree, and also list off some talents that will generally (not always) give an indication of which of these two roles an individual player is focused on.

Blood

The Blood tree is the most straightforward tree of the three. A Blood-specced DK will rely primarily on doing Physical melee damage, and many talents in the tree give bonuses most will be familiar with, such as bonus damage when wielding a 2-handed weapon or a stacking damage bonus based off of critical strikes. Blood also excels at self-healing, with abilities such Rune Tap, Vampiric Blood, and Mark of Blood being particularly noteworthy.
Tank talents to watch for: Blade Barrier, Spell Deflection, Will of the Necropolis


Frost

Frost Death Knights are a bit more like spellcasters. They combine elements of frost mages (SHOCKING) and both shockadins and Ret paladins in varying amounts. As you'd suspect, a great deal of what this spec relies on for damage is Frost-based, which means they'll do more damage against higher armor targets, as they'll be ignoring that armor with abilities like Frost Strike and Howling Blast. In PvP, Frost DKs, like Frost mages, are about control - slows, freezes, shatter combos, etc.
Tank talents to watch for: Toughness, Unbreakable Armor, Frigid Dreadplate, Acclimation


Unholy

An Unholy Death Knight feels like what would happen if old Firestone warlocks weren't stupid and laughable - melee based, with elements of both Demonology and Affliction. Like Frost, they do a great deal of their damage as magic, in this case Shadow. They tend to rely on Diseases much more than the other two, and they're the only spec that uses a Ghoul as a permanent pet, rather than a temporary, uncontrollable minion. They also tend to be very good at AoE, with Unholy Blight and Corpse Explosion providing an added boost to the baseline Bloodboil and Pestilence in that department. They also make the best magic-based tanks of the three specialties.
Tank talents to watch for: Anticipation, Magic Suppression, Anti-Magic Zone

That's all for this entry. In Part 2, which should be posted in a couple days rather than in a MONTH (I'm awesome at this bog thing), I'll cover what you should expect from a DK that you're grouping with - what abilities to watch for and what they mean, what buffs you should be giving them, and why you should be booting the retard that rolls on spell damage plate from your party.

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Hola! Random thoughts.

Haven't had much to update about lately in regards to beta, since I haven't been playing a lot. I've been trying to avoid seeing TOO much stuff before release, because I want some of it to be fresh when it all actually means something. At least, as much as any of this shit can mean. Philosophically? I dunno. Video games are stupid.

I'd like to take this opportunity to point out that WAR sucks. I base this not upon any personal experience, playtime, or even research. It just sucks because it isn't WoW. Aren't I a great impartial observer?


Truly though, WAR will probably never be the game for me. I've just never been much of a PvP type. Against all odds, I'm too nice to be a ganker. If someone slaps my alt around, I'll be on my 70 and camping them until they log as fast as anyone, but I don't go out of my way (even a little bit) to kill someone. A game that is based around PvP with (reportedly) shit for PvE content just won't ever hold my interest.


Lake Wintergrasp - I basically know nothing about this shit, so don't ask.

I AM, however, looking forward to Lake Wintergrasp. You'll notice that I've commented exactly not at all on this particular new feature of the expansion, and that's for good reason. As quickly as I tire of PvP shit anymore, I want this place to be fresh and new when I get to 80 and start fucking around there. Five mans and (to an extent) raids I will run repeatedly in beta because I know I'll run them repeatedly on live. I don't get tired of those, so I don't care as much that I see them early. That said, I'm also avoiding the Eye of Eternity and the Obsidian Sanctuary for the same reasons. :>


Sartharion - Onyxia 2.0 except not really.

One thing I have noticed, however, is that I don't seem to get tired of the opening zones. Hellfire Peninsula, at this point, makes me want to shoot myself in the face. Felboars aggroing from 7 miles away, quest objectives halfway across the zone, dodging Fel Reavers, those goddamn slimes at the Pools of Aggonar (you know, the ones that dismount you instantly EVERY. FUCKING. TIME.), running back and forth from the Mag'har village, having to bug people to help you finish Cruel's Intentions or Natural Remedies, the list goes on. Both Howling Fjord and Borean Tundra have been fun the several times I've done them (trying out different classes for a level or so in a desperate effort to find out what the fuck I want to play). They're linear (a good thing), quests are easy to chain together in areas, and the content is varied. I can see still enjoying these places a year and a half down the road when I take a new alt through them.

What else? Oh yeah, short rant. Anyone who says that resto shaman have mana troubles (keep in mind, I only refer to PvE) at 80 is fucking retarded. I've seen post after post on the beta forums pleading with Blizzard to address the non-existant efficiency issues the spec has, and it's infuriating. It's a case of people still playing like it's TBC, with the same gear, enchants, and playstyle, not acknowledging even for a second that things might have changed - and they HAVE. The spec is much more reliant on crit now for mana regen. All that haste on Sunwell gear, so useful at the time, is wasted now, as it really WILL make you run out of mana faster. MP5, healing, and crit, in some as-of-yet-unknown optimized combination, is the way to go.


Icecrown - Good one, Arthas, set your walls on fire. That'll help.

That's about it for now. I'll do my best over the next couple days to knock out the remaining 5-man reviews. I've also got a few other things in mind to post over the coming weeks as Wrath draws close to release, so stay tuned.
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Borean Tundra or Howling Fjord?

Unlike the Burning Crusade expansion, this time around Blizzard has given us the option of beginning our journey in one of two starting zones. The idea is an excellent one, as it allows the no doubt massive amount of gamers hitting Northrend for the first time to be funelled into two seperate areas, cutting down on quest camping, PvP madness, and general lagginess. Howling Fjord and Borean Tundra are designed to be mutually exclusive... there's no NEED to do both while leveling up. There's only one problem... which zone do YOU start with?

Here's a spoiler for how this post will end: I'm going to tell you that ultimately which of these two zones you choose as the beginning of your adventures in Northrend depends entirely upon your own tastes. My opinions are just that, and you may not share them. That said, if you don't share them, frankly, you're a dumb dumb head.


So, let's take a look at the two zones and weigh their pros and cons individually. We'll start with...

Borean Tundra



Borean Tundra is situated on the west side of the continent, accessible by zeppelin from Orgrimmar if you're Horde or ship from Stormwind if you're Alliance. The terrain is rather varied - the tundra areas themselves are true to the name, barren and rather lifeless looking, stained with the color of lichen and moss. Further east, there are snowfields and an extensive hot springs area. To the west lies the subzone of Coldarra, a snow-filled bowl of arctic conditions.

In terms of quests, there is a LOT to do here. Warsong Hold itself has plenty of lines both in and around it, and once those are complete you have your choice of several different locations to head to next. Taunka'le Village in the east is another major quest hub, and there are several other locations dotted here and there - the D.H.E.T.A. camp and Bor'Gorok Outpost to name two. Moreover, the Amber Ledge just north of Warsong Hold will lead you to Coldarra, where there are plenty more quests to do, a lot of them leading to dungeon quests inside The Nexus. Definitely not to be missed.



Borean Tundra is very reminiscent of Hellfire Peninsula, both positively and negatively. The environs are far more desolate and, well, bland than Howling Fjord, and the music tends toward subtle and atmospheric, making it not especially noteworthy. That said, the feeling of being dropped into a warzone is there just as it was upon arriving through the Dark Portal for the first time - the Nerubians have Warsong Hold under siege, and your first tasks are to break this by any means necessary.

There's also excellent flow-through to the next zone, Dragonblight. Assuming you complete everything in Taunka'le Village, the quest line there will take you directly on to Icemist Village in Dragonblight, and eventually to the Horde settlement there, Agmar's Hammer. In terms of rewards, not including Nexus quests, you'll walk out of the zone with two blues for your trouble - the earlier of the two will be a weapon that lesser geared players and alts will definitely not want to miss.




Howling Fjord



Howling Fjord, by comparison, comprises the eastern edge of Northrend. Travel to and from the Fjord is accomplished via zeppelin from Undercity for Horde or by ship from Menethil Harbor for Alliance. The terrain here is much less varied than in Borean Tundra, but what IS here is spectacular. Stark cliffs, pine forests, lots of rivers and streams, and the northern mountains all make for a very picturesque zone. There's definitely a Nordic/Northern European feel here, and that's only enhanced by the presence of the vrykul.

It should be noted that there are less quests overall in the Fjord. Going purely on the quest achievements for each zone (which seem to comprise about 95% of available quests), Borean Tundra has Howling Fjord beat 130 to 105. Plus, things are more spread out at first - a couple quests here, one or two there, and so on. It's only once you reach Kamagua and Scalawag Point, or Camp Winterhoof up north, that you really start to find several quests you can chain together logically. Despite having fewer quests, however, it's worth pointing out that no matter which zone you start with, unless you do no instances whatsoever and kill only the minimum number of creatures required per quest, you're going to hit 80 with plenty to spare, just like in TBC.



One advantage the Fjord has over the Tundra is that the zone's main instance, Utgarde Keep, is quite a bit more easily accessible (both geographically and quest-wise) than The Nexus. Two of the dungeon's three quests lie right on the other side of the instance portal, and the trip here from Vengeance Landing is only about three minutes if you know where you're going. That said, The Nexus might net you slightly more and better loot, and has more quest support and thus more XP. You can check out my reviews for The Nexus
and Utgarde Keep at those links for more info.

The flow from this zone to the next (at least in terms of proximity), Grizzly Hills, isn't quite as good. Assuming you do only Howling Fjord, maybe tossing in some Utgarde Keep AND Nexus runs along the way, you should be around 72 by the time you're finished, which leaves you a level or two short of Grizzly Hills' optimum. However, a quest from New Agamand will send you on a free flight to Venomspite in Dragonblight, where you can pick up questing there. You'll just have to remember to turn around and come back slightly to the Grizzly Hills once you've gained a couple more levels.




So, when all is said and done, what's the verdict? Like I said at the top, that's up to you. Borean Tundra is a little more bland, but there's tons of quests. Howling Fjord is prettier but a bit lighter in that department, and more spread out.

Ultimately, though, I think the best way to do it is to simply alternate between the two zones. Hit up Coldarra, but make sure you also check out Kamagua. Camp Winterhoof's quests into Gjalerbron in the Fjord are definitely a must see, but then so are the quests from Taunka'le Village that take you into the Temple City of En'kilah.

Both zones are done well enough that you really can't go wrong.
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Caverns of Time: Stratholme Past (80)

Might as well follow one highly anticipated instance with another, right? In this post, I'll take a look at the newest of the extremely popular Caverns of Time dungeons, Old Stratholme... Stratholme Past... Unfucked Stratholme? Whatever you want to call it, this dungeon recreates the mission The Culling from Warcraft 3. Arthas, in his journey through Loraderon to investigate the plague and try to stop its spread, comes to Stratholme to find that all the citizens have already been infected. Spurning his teacher Uther and his hottie friend Jaina Proudmoore, he embarks on the first step of his journey to becoming the Lich King by murdering every infected citizen he can find. Here, though, the Infinite Dragonflight is attempting to stop Arthas from coming to this, thus preventing him from ever becoming the Lich King and unravelling reality as we know it.




As with all the Caverns of Time dungeons, this place is accessible by heading to Tanaris. As a bonus, Blizzard has been kind enough to put in a portal to the place in Dalaran, inside the Violet Citadel. As far as I know, it requires no reputation like the Shattrath one did, but I'll investigate this and update here when I know more.

There's a single quest line for this place that starts from Chromie, our old friend from the Bronze Dragonflight, inside the instance. Like most instance quests it's easily completed by simply running the place, but the first portion of it also gives some really cool leadup to what's to come as you're tasked to mark crates of plagued grain for Arthas and the troops from Lordaeron to find.





Stratholme Past Ekerameter:

Difficulty - 2
Loot - 5
PUG Factor - 4
FUCK YEAH Quotient - 4
Overall - 4

Comments - In expanding on the innovative instance design of Old Hillsbrad and Black Morass, Stratholme Past mixes a lot of different elements that will be familiar from both to weave its story of Arthas going wrong. The first portion of the instance is reminiscent of the beginnins of Old Hillsbrad, while the first two bosses are vaguely similar to Black Morass (albeit with a less urgent feel to them). The latter two bosses go back to the Old Hillsbrad feel of things with a harrowing escort. Through it all, you get an up close and personal look at the events that resulted in the Stratholme we know today - eternally aflame and filled with the minions of the Scourge.





As far as difficulty goes, this place is honestly rather easy, at least on Normal mode. The first two bosses are almost pushovers, and while the escort portion and the latter bosses are more challenging, with a good group you'll hardly break a sweat. With that in mind, the chances of a bad PUG wiping your group are pretty small, unless they're fond of dying repeatedly. As with any instance escort, pulling off a resurrection in the short amount of time you get between fights can be pretty difficult.





The loot for this place is fantastic - there are lots of useful 80 blues here, plus a further one from the quest. All bosses drop one blue save for Mal'Ganis who, when defeated, leaves a chest with two of them. Being that the place is relatively easy AND fun, it's definitely worth running repeatedly. FYQ? The chance to see Stratholme in all its pre-destruction glory is pretty damn cool, and Blizzard really pulled it off well, as you can see from the screenshot comparisons above. You'll be pointing out familiar shops, noting a couple familiar names, and generally be wowed the whole time. My only beef is with the actual meat of the dungeon. In The Culling in WC3, Arthas was killing living citizens. Here, he's smashing already-Scourged zombies. Plus, the race with Mal'Ganis never really materializes. That does disappoint a little bit, as it's a departure from the source material, but the rest of the place is so well done it's honestly a minor concern.

Summed up, once again Blizzard has made an extremely cool and fun instance in the Caverns of Time. One could wish that the majority of their dungeons were done like this, as it would allow us to relive a lot of the cool moments in Warcraft history. As it stands, what we DO get to see this time around is well worth the wait.



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Naxxramas (80 Raid)

Foolishly you have sought your own demise.
Brazenly you have disregarded powers beyond your understanding.
You have fought hard to invade the realm of the Harvester.
Now there is only one way out --
To walk the lonely path... of the damned.

Changing things up from the bevy of 5-mans that I've reviewed, it's time to take a look at the most anticipated instance in all of Wrath of the Lich King: The Dread Citadel, Naxxramas. Raised from the depths of Northrend by the Lich King, this floating ziggurat originally served as Kel'Thuzad's fortress in Lordaeron, hovering above the Eastern Plaguelands. It's rather nebulous as to whether that incarnation of Naxxramas actually existed, and whether Kel'Thuzad was defeated there before the whole thing flew back to its current home over the Dragonblight in Northrend. Regardless, Kel'Thuzad, Sapphiron, and all the other familiar names are back again and ready to roll again... and this time, they'll probably wreck a lot fewer guilds.




As stated, Naxxramas lies above the Dragonblight. Specifically, it's almost directly above Wintergarde Keep, the Alliance base in the eastern part of the zone. Just southwest also lies Venomspite, the Horde town here. So, either way, a 30 second flight tops from vendors and an inn. This makes the place extremely convenient compared to its old version, as well as the introductory dungeon of The Burning Crusader, Karazhan. Note that there will be plenty of comparisons between these two raids, as they serve the same purpose in terms of progression.

Quests? At present, this place has no quests, which is a disappointment, as there is a lot of potential. This actually reminds me to make a post asking about this very subject on the beta forums, but that's neither here nor there. Karazhan had not only an attunement questline, but also two long lines that took you inside the dungeon, spanning several bosses and giving you a bit more lore background on the place. While Naxxramas requires no attunement, it would be nice to see some quests for the place, even if they're only as simple as being tasked to kill X boss or gather Y drops from trash. Being that it's still beta, however, I wouldn't count this possibility out just yet.



Naxxramas Ekerameter:

Difficulty - 5
Loot - 5
PUG Factor - 2
FUCK YEAH Quotient - 5
Overall - 5

Comments - Naxxramas was the most popular dungeon of the original game because of its innovative design, interesting and numerous boss encounters, well-itemized and varied loot, and extreme difficulty. So how does the place fare when you take away the last factor and try to present old content as new again?

I have three words for you: it's fucking Naxxramas! Seriously, I don't know anyone who didn't at least have a few good things to say about the old place; all raids grow old if you run them often enough, but that's the thing: this came out so late in the process of the old game that almost nobody got the chance to really see the place. Now, Blizzard's best-designed instance will be open to all, and THAT is pretty damn cool.

Now, let me preface the rest of my comments by stating that my boss exerience in the place so far consists of Anub'rekhan, Noth, Heigan, Loatheb, Razuvious, and Gothik, but I feel like that's a fairly good spread of bosses to determine difficulty. In addition, my experience is limited to the 10-man version, although from what I understand, there isn't a very large difference between the two. That said, I think the place is extremely well-tuned for an introductory raid. There are individual exceptions - the opening bosses of each wing save for Patchwerk might be TOO easy - but generally, things seem to be tuned fairly well. Loatheb is appropriately hard, Heigan is medium difficulty (and as "fun" as ever), etc etc. As with Karazhan, for quite a while this place won't be doable with a pick-up group. I imagine, barring nerfs, bosses like Loatheb and the Four Horsemen will be a nightmare for PUGs even well down the road.



As far as loot goes, as it was before, once you're killing a good number of bosses this place is a pinata of loot. Two epic drops per boss, plus my guess is that the end bosses of each wing will drop either two epics plus a set piece, or two set pieces plus an epic. Not entirely sure on Sapphiron or Kel'Thuzad yet, but my guess is 3-4 items apiece. Even at two drops apiece, though, you're talking 30 epics for a full run. There seems to be a great variety here for all classes, including weapons, relics, and of course the sets. T7 will be recolored T3, and following in the footsteps of TBC design, will have a set available for every spec where applicable.

FYQ? Again, it's fucking Naxxramas. Everything you loved about the old place is back. The creepy atmosphere, the haunting music, the Four Horsemen taunting you as you progress through the Military Quarter, the Frogger slimes after Patchwerk, Mr. Bigglesworth, stabbing yourself in the eye because half the raid just died on the Heigan dance AGAIN... it's all here, and now those of you who missed it the first time around will get a chance to see all of it in all its glory. Granted, if you hated the place when you came here originally, you'll probably continue to hate it, but if you're THAT GUY/GIRL nobody likes you anyway.

Well worth the wait and anticipation. November 13th can't come soon enough.



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The Oculus (80)

Time for the first level 80 instance of the batch. This time, I'll take a look at The Oculus, that giant floating series of rings and platforms you see in the picture below. Using the Arcanomicon, a map of Azeroth's ley energies and lines, Malygos has been diverting them to The Nexus, where the magic is then redirected upward through the ascending rings of the Oculus and forcefully channelled back into the Twisting Nether. Malygos' end goal is to strip Azeroth of all magical energy and thus deprive the mortal races of what he considers to be a horribly misused tool. Because the game would be pretty boring if all the mana-using classes suddenly had to fistfight instead, you're out to stop him.




Like the previously reviewed dungeon, The Nexus, The Oculus is on the island of Coldarra, off the west coast of the Borean Tundra. As you'll have a flying mount by the time you're ready to do this place, it's a quick flight from either Warsong Hold or Valiance Keep. Don't forget to stop by the Transitus Shield first, however, to pick up the quest for this place.

There's only one quest line for the instance, beginning at the Shield, but it's interactive and takes you throughout the entire instance, involving all of the bosses. From the looks of it (doesn't appear to be finalized yet at the time of this writing) you'll receive two blue rewards from the line, making it definitely worthwhile since you'll basically trip over completion on the way through.



The Oculus Ekerameter:

Difficulty - 3
Loot - 4
PUG Factor - 3
FUCK YEAH Quotient - 5
Overall - 4

Comments - The Oculus is a landmark achievement for a Warcraft instance in several respects. First, it completely redefines the idea of a "dungeon", being that the entire thing is outdoors; the terrain you fight upon is literaly no different than if you were to fly up to the Oculus outside of the instance and look around. Second, much more importantly, a great deal of the place is completed while flying. After the first boss, you'll receive your choice of a red, green, or bronze dragon mount, each with their own abilities, that you'll use for the rest of the instance for both transport and combat. In fact, the final boss is fought exclusively using the dragons. In this respect, much of the instance is truly three-dimensional; it makes it almost disappointing to run other, more linear and "flat" dungeons.



Difficulty-wise, at least on Normal, the place isn't hard. There's a decent amount of trash, and some of it can be tricky, and each of the bosses has some abilities that can be fairly dangerous, but nothing to the point of group wiping unless you're on autopilot. Consequently, a shitty PUG won't be a huge hindrance, although the final boss fight isn't exactly easy; all three types of dragons' abilities are key in defeating him, and if someone slacks it could be trouble. Mostly, thoguh, the place is fairly intuitive.

In terms of loot, the four bosses here have a nice spread of gear available for the different classes, specs, and armor types. You'll get 5 total drops from bosses, plus the quest will net you two more blues the first time through, meaning this place is absolutely worth the bare minimum of one run. That being said, for FYQ, there is no instance I've seen yet in Wrath of the Lich King that compares to this place. The views are breathtaking, the design is innovative, and the use of "vehicular" combat as a central point in completing the dungeon and the general variety all combine to make this an absolute must-do. There's enough fun to be had here that I could see running it plenty of times in the future, especially on Heroic.

In short: do not miss The Oculus.



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