Blizzard posts Quel'delar preview
by Mike Schramm 
Oct 30th 2009 at 2:37PM
For those of you who are spoiler-sensitive, details are behind the break.
Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to the Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.This one, however, has actually fallen into the hands of the Scourge -- it was wielded by a female blood elf warrior named Lana'thel who fell in battle against Arthas and Frostmourne, and was raised back as one of the San'layn, a small faction of vampiric blood elves forced to serve the Lich King (we'll be fighting them in Icecrown as well).
Lana'thel has apparently shattered the blade and spread it across Azeroth, and it'll be up to us, the heroes, to locate the pieces and combine them with "a source of great power" to reforge the blade. Bornakk confirms that yes, the blade will be wieldable by players. Can't wield blades? No worries -- the preview hints that if you don't want the blade, the elves will take it back "in exchange for a usable weapon." So everybody ends up happy. Sounds epic and all, but what's with these old lore figures shattering all of their most powerful weapons? Can't they just put them in a safe deposit box or something? Do you really need to completely shatter it and spread the pieces around the world every single time? Come on now.
Update: Bornakk also says this will be available from 5-man dungeons -- it will still require some instance-running and dedication, but it won't be as huge as the Hand of Ragnaros or the old AQ Scepter questline.
Filed under: Night Elves, Items, Fan stuff, Virtual selves, Blizzard, Quests, Blood Elves, Raiding
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
jealouspirate Oct 30th 2009 2:40PM
This sounds awesome, a cool epic questline where everyone gets a significant reward at the end.
Though as a Shaman, I'm wondering what kind of "usable weapon" I'll get...
Ryan Oct 30th 2009 4:03PM
Dear god please let there be a dagger option.
Elmo Oct 30th 2009 5:54PM
is this another 1 in the raid weapon like val'anyr or can everyone gather it at the same time?
I assume it's piece gathering again, the text at the end suggests it.
Tobie Oct 30th 2009 2:41PM
The original post says it better...
"In ages past the great Dragon Aspects worked alongside the night elves to forge powerful prismatic blades that could be used to thwart any evil that came into the world. They would become known as the blades of Quel'Serrar. One of these blades, which had become lost in time, was recently unearthed again by brave heroes of Azeroth. Now rediscovered, Quel'Serrar is revered once more as a mighty tool of raw power.
Its sister blade, however, has not been seen for many years...
The sword known as Quel'Delar was held by the group of kaldorei who would eventully become the high elves, and it was handed down from generation to generation. Most recently Quel'Delar was wielded by the valiant high elven warrior Thalorien Dawnseeker. Thalorien fought tirelessly in the Troll Wars to defend his beloved home of Silvermoon, the Sunwell, and all of Quel'Thalas. When the Scourge swept through the lands during the Third War, Thalorien was among the last lines of defense for the Sunwell. Despite the sword's power, he was ultimately slain by the overwhelming might of Arthas and his legendary runeblade, Frostmourne. Quel'Delar was thought to be lost forever.
Following the destruction of their homeland, the determined blood elves began to regroup and rebuild. It was during this time that the battle-hardened warrior Lana'thel stumbled upon Quel'Delar, and soon afterward the greatest opportunity to use the blade presented itself: Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider raised an army and combined forces with Illidan Stormrage, who led them north to Icecrown on a mission to destroy the Lich King. Lana'thel readily followed her prince with one thought in mind -- revenge against the Scourge -- but only tragedy awaited her.
In the icy hills of Northrend, Arthas ultimately defeated Illidan and Kael'thas, and the expedition's few survivors were scattered across the frozen wastes. One by one the Lich King sought out those who had challenged him, and Lana'thel found herself cornered. Using Quel'Delar, she struck at him with all her might... but Frostmourne's evil powers overwhelmed her. Through his blade, the Lich King chose Lana'thel to serve him in undeath as queen of the San'layn, a group responsible for overseeing the Scourge's operations across Azeroth.
Queen Lana'thel eagerly carried out her new duties, but every time she looked at her blade, maddening anger would swell within her as she remembered her former life. She could not afford such distractions, and with a scream that echoed throughout Icecrown, she shattered Quel'Delar and flung the fractured pieces as far as she could.
Now...
The champions of the Alliance and the Horde who confront the Lich King's armies have but a slim chance of finding the pieces of this fabled blade. If they succeed, the heroes can embark on an epic adventure to re-forge Quel'Delar. They will require the strongest materials and a source of great power to make this shattered blade into the fearsome weapon it once was. Several classes can use Quel'Delar, and the sword can fit several different play styles. For any class that is unable to wield it, however, the Sunreaver blood elves and the Silver Covenant high elves will gladly take this relic of their history in exchange for a usable weapon.
The search begins soon..."
Gamer am I Oct 30th 2009 2:41PM
I think the purpose of shattering the weapon is the try to guarantee that no one else will be able to use it. If they just hid it somewhere, someone could stumble upon it and wield it. By shattering it, these lore figures guarantee that the odd adventurer will not be able to use the weapon just because he stumbles upon one piece. This also makes it more likely that the pieces will fall into the hands of people or factions who aren't on speaking terms (alliance and horde, for example), preventing them from collaborating on reassembling the weapon.
I read too deeply into these things sometimes, I know.
Tobie Oct 30th 2009 2:47PM
I'm sure she shattered it out of rage. From a game standpoint, what better way to get you to repeat content than to pick up pieces, again... Thunderfury, Atiesh, Val'anyr...
Rhozul Oct 30th 2009 4:21PM
Quel'Delar was a symbol of what the Blood Queen once was and what she had become. That sword reminded her of her hatred of Arthas, who was now her master. More likely then not, she destroyed the blade to destroy the conflicting emotions inside her head.
Tim Oct 30th 2009 4:57PM
Like Jumanji?
Zhiva Oct 30th 2009 8:41PM
As fantasy books teach us, if a powerful weapon is shattered somewhen in described world's past, it never stays shattered. Was Narsil/Anduril the first of such weapons?
Stella Oct 30th 2009 2:48PM
I'm guessing Shaman, Priests and Druids will get a 1-handed mace in exchange.
Iano Oct 30th 2009 2:49PM
Indeed, I agree with Gamer am I- I remember all these old RPGs, where one would find weapons absolutely key to defeating a dungeon boss and blasting his minions into oblivion right there, inside the dungeon. I used to think that was crazy- then I thought, well, the boss was probably trying to keep someone from going somewhere, finding the weapon, and bringing it to him and using it. Much better with his own trusted minions guarding it, right?
Oh Course not! But that's not the point- the practice is sound and logical, but much better than just locking the thing away is to blast it into little pieces.
We're totally screwed when bosses figure out that they need to separate powerful, holy/good weapons into individual atoms and spread them into the world. How long would that take to collect?!
CDave Oct 30th 2009 2:56PM
"Much better with his own trusted minions guarding it, right?"
Yep, we all know what happens in the Mega Man. When will they ever learn?
staffan.johansson Oct 30th 2009 3:26PM
That reminds me of an old D&D adventure, Dragon Mountain. As part of the Huge Treasure (tm) at the end, there's a piece of once-molten metal that's been shoved away from the rest of the pile. Further investigation shows that it's the remains of a dragonslaying sword, whose wielder should clearly also have tried to get his hands on something to protect him from dragon fire.
Volker Oct 30th 2009 4:09PM
This has historic precedent. Read your Beowulf:
"Hroðgar, Beowulf, and their men track Grendel's mother to her lair under a lake. Beowulf prepares himself for battle; he is presented with a sword, Hrunting, by a warrior called Unferth. After stipulating a number of conditions to Hroðgar in case of his death (including the taking in of his kinsmen and the inheritance by Unferth of Beowulf's estate), Beowulf dives into the lake. He is swiftly detected and attacked by Grendel's mother. However, she is unable to harm Beowulf through his armor and drags him to the bottom of the lake. In a cavern containing Grendel's body and the remains of men that the two have killed, Grendel's mother and Beowulf engage in fierce combat.
Grendel's mother at first prevails after Beowulf, finding that Hrunting cannot harm his foe, discards it in fury. Beowulf is again saved from his opponent's attack by his armor and, grasping a mighty sword from Grendel's mother's armory (which no other man could have hefted in battle), Beowulf beheads her.
catharsis80 Oct 30th 2009 2:59PM
"it was wielded by a female blood elf warrior"
A blood elf warrior. -_-
Kelashtir Oct 30th 2009 3:17PM
They're coming in Cataclysm, remember, and they've always been around. Just not playable.
supracom Oct 30th 2009 3:58PM
Dath'Remar himself was a warrior. Making the warrior class unavailable to blood elves made sense during the Burning Crusade, when they were in the fresh agony of losing the Sunwell and searching for a new source of magical power - which they found in M'uru and, later, the new Sunwell.
Now that the blood elves have a new source of power, it makes sense to unlock the warrior class. Probably would've made sense to open it up with release of Wrath, but oh well.
supracom Oct 30th 2009 4:22PM
Actually, maybe I'm wrong. Wowwiki's article makes it sound like he's a mage. But all the in-game items with his name are tanking items, including a plate helm. Anyone know?
Alanid Oct 30th 2009 6:06PM
@supracom
ALL the high elves could use magic to variyng degrees. Being the king it makes sense that he would be a profficient swordsman and at wizardry
Shisho Nov 15th 2009 12:54AM
Actually the reason was more to the effect of how OP arcane torrent was going to be for Warrior at that time.