Filed under: Lore

Two Bosses Enter: Gortok Palehoof vs. Krik'thir the Gatewatcher

by Lisa Poisso Nov 26th 2009 at 8:00PM

Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy death matches. This season's combatants come from the original five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King.

We've got adds here, people: it's Gortok Palehoof (Utgarde Pinnacle) versus Krik'thir the Gatewatcher (Azjol-Nerub). Gortok steps into the Thunderdome fresh from a resounding defeat of Lavanthor, while Krik'thir arrives after besting the Commander Stoutbeard/Kolurg from The Nexus.

Let's review the ground rules:

Assume that the opponents share similar levels, health pools and comparative overall damage output.
New clarification: All of the competitors' abilities, including crowd control and other effects to which bosses are usually immune, work on their opponents.
This deathmatch takes place in neutral territory, which shall in no way hinder either opponent from using his usual resources.
Don't get caught up in gameplay mechanics and what actual players might do in each encounter.
Don't neglect style, story and scale.

Let the doors open, and let the contestants come forward. As Dr. Dealgood would say: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls ... Dyin' time's here.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Features, Lore, Bosses, Two Bosses Enter

One Boss Leaves: King Dred chomps Herald Volazj

by Lisa Poisso Nov 26th 2009 at 9:00AM

Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy death matches. This season's combatants come from the original five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King.

The heat's on in the Two Bosses Thunderdome -- not only in the ring itself, as competitors slash, cast and bash one another on their way toward the final matchup, but in the comments too. How will style balance substance? Who can make the best case for a victory? This week, the votes pointed to King Dred. The great devilsaur raked opponent Herald Volazj 50% to 46%.

Spectators who sided with King Dred put their faith in his sheer power. "... I think this one will have to go to Dred," observed Psiwave. "I'm a Herald fanboy (Lovecraft FTW!), but the herald is punching at mist here. Dred runs on pure instinct: no doubts, no regrets, just hunger."

But plenty of readers believed Volajz's tricks would carry the match.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Features, Lore, Bosses, Two Bosses Enter

Ask a Faction Leader: Fandral Staghelm

by Michael Sacco Nov 24th 2009 at 9:30AM

WoW.com's prestige in the community has afforded us the opportunity to speak to major Azerothian leadership figures on any subject, and we're letting you, the reader, Ask A Faction Leader!

We recently spoke to Nexus-Prince Haramad, leader of the ethereal Consortium, and he shed light on several key issues, including goblin rearrangement, investment opportunities, bad business practices, proprietary bandage technology, and static cling. In this installment of Ask a Faction Leader, we'll be sitting with Archdruid Fandral Staghelm of the Cenarion Circle.

Our first reader question:

Dear Fandral Staghelm,

Over the years, I have many times assisted your morrowgrain research. I have found many weird plants in my quest for that elusive herb. I have been awarded many (useless but, I am sure, heartfelt) scrolls and pieces of food by your research team. My question is: Where is all this effort ending up? What end does all this morrowgrain research lead to?

Sincerely,
Bowjób-Lightbringer EU

Staghelm responds:

Look, pal, when I send you on an errand, you say "how high." You don't ask "what exactly do you need all of this eldritch herb for." I need it, you need to get it for me. You know the saying? Yours is not to question why, etc?

Oh, wonderful. See her, over there? My handler is signaling me. I guess that means "answer the poorly-named hunter's (yes, I know you're a hunter) question, you magnificent king among kaldorei." I guess it's just as well, I got a dozen emails about what I was doing with morrowgrain.

Fine. The big reveal. What am I doing with morrowgrain?

Filed under: Night Elves, Trolls, Druid, Lore, Interviews, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm, Worgen, Ask a Faction Leader

Two Bosses Enter: Herald Volazj vs. King Dred

by Lisa Poisso Nov 19th 2009 at 5:00PM

Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy death matches. This season's combatants come from the original five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King.

This week's Two Bosses fantasy deathmatch throws another loser who was voted back into the competition into the pit: King Dred, who lost his last match against King Ymiron, returns to test his claws against the subtle insinuations of Herald Volazj. Volazj is riding high in this season's tournament, easily winning his first matchup against Novos the Summoner and then shutting down Grand Magus Telestra.

This week's ground rules:

Assume that the opponents share similar levels, health pools and comparative overall damage output.
This deathmatch takes place in neutral territory, which shall in no way hinder either opponent from using his usual resources.
Don't get caught up in gameplay mechanics and what actual players might do in each encounter.
Don't neglect style, story and scale.

Let the doors open, and let the contestants come forward. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls ... Dyin' time's here.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Features, Lore, Bosses, Two Bosses Enter

Return of the Grimtotem

by Mike Schramm Nov 19th 2009 at 3:00PM

Cocles over at Loregy.com (who I actually got to meet the other day -- good guy, and check out his license plate) has an interesting idea about something he spotted in the information about the Cataclysm zones the other day. Thousand Needles is getting a revamp, including possibly a new instance, and Cocles says that could mean something awesome: the return of the Grimtotem clan (just a warning: there is a more serious spoiler later in that post).

I'm in. I love the "dark Tauren," and would love to see more from them. Plus, while we've seen plenty of troll instances, Cocles says we haven't seen a Tauren instance in the game (and all we can think of is good old Mr. Smite). And we haven't really heard from the Grimtotems since that whole issue with the spirit beast taming. It'd be nice to fight some cows for once.

There's lots of lore to mine there, too: Magatha is the reigning matriarch of the clan, and not only is she buddies with the Forsaken (obviously there's been something happening with them during Wrath), but she's rivals with Cairne Bloodhoof as well. It would definitely be interesting. Of course, this is all speculation -- we aren't sure that there will even be an instance in Thousand Needles, much less that it'll be Grimtotem based (the whole place is getting flooded, so anything could happen -- maybe the Naga will get a "fin-hold" there). But the idea of taking on the Grimtotem again seems like fun.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Odds and ends, Instances, Quests, Lore, NPCs, Cataclysm

One Boss Leaves: Loken shockwaves Gal'darah

by Lisa Poisso Nov 19th 2009 at 11:00AM

Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy death matches. This season's combatants come from the original five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King.

Returning underdog Loken showed why he was among the fighters readers voted back into the season, downing Gal'darah this week in the Two Bosses Thunderdome. Fifty-eight percent of the vote went to the Dark Titan from the Halls of Lightning. Gal'darah brought in some positive comments but ultimately lacked the votes to carry him through.

Elovan: Gal'darah could easily shift to rhino form and simply Impale Loken anytime he tries to use his novas. That plus his insane whirlwind could take down Loken pretty easily imho

catharsis80: Don't forget Enrage, enabling him to attack 125% faster than Loken does, and considering the article says they have "comparative overall damage output"... Yeah, I think the results are quite obvious, since Gal can interrupt and Loken can't. PLUS, Pulsing Shockwave will do practically nothing to Gal, since he'll be all over Loken like white on rice.

Nolls74: This, plus Gal has his rhino buddies who will charge Loken and knock him around like a rag doll. All of you picking Loken have no sense of style and are only judging it based on "Loken sucks for players; he must be the ultimate boss."

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Features, Lore, Bosses, Two Bosses Enter

Know Your Lore: Highlord Darion Mograine

by Matthew Rossi Nov 18th 2009 at 6:00PM

Welcome back to Know Your Lore, WoW.com's column about the story behind the game we all play.

Put simply, the Knights of the Ebon Blade are traitors to the Scourge. Like the Forsaken, they've broken free of the grasp of the Lich King due to the intercession of an external source - Sylvanas and the Forsaken escaped the Lich King's grasp when he was weakened due to the crack in the Frozen Throne and had to recall Arthas to Northrend, while the Knights were more autonomous than the average Scourge and regained their freedom following the events at Light's Hope Chapel. At LHC, the Knights were freed due to the actions of their Highlord, Darion Mograine.

If you played through the events of the Death Knight starting area, you already have a basic idea of the origins of the order, especially if you ran around Acherus reading books like I did. Some are funny, some are meaningful, and from them we can glean certain information about the history of the order before the events leading up to its break from the Lich King. If you've read the Ashbringer comic series, you're of course informed of some of this anyway. But there's still devils in those details for us to discuss.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Expansions, Features, Lore, Know your Lore, Death Knight, Wrath of the Lich King

The Daily Quest: Roadhouse

by Adam Holisky Nov 17th 2009 at 6:00PM

We here at WoW.com are on a Daily Quest to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere. Roadhouse.

Big Hit Box has a brand new look. Roadhouse.
Gray Matter looks at Moonkin Basics: Stats. Roadhouse.
Big Bear Butt has a good wrapup with lots of great pics of their Raid for The Cure. Roadhouse.
Too Many Annas talks about how to use WoW Scribe to turn a chat log into a story. Roadhouse.
Lodur over at World of Matticus shares his thoughts on Shaman Tier 10. Roadhouse.

Click here to submit a link to TDQ. Roadhouse.

Filed under: Druid, Shaman, Lore, The Daily Quest

The Queue: Cho'gall is back in black

by Alex Ziebart Nov 17th 2009 at 2:00PM

Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.

On the last edition of The Queue written by yours truly, I included a mind-blowing video on how to properly eat chicken wings. Today, I bring you something equally as mind blowing. How to properly peel a banana. And now, on with the show.

Boombaclot asks...

"Do you believe that WoW has truly gotten easier or just maybe that the WoW community as a whole have become better players? Yes you have your scrubs but I know my WoW game has improved vastly since I started playing in Vanilla WoW."

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Lore, The Queue

Patch 3.3: Official Shadowmourne preview

by Michael Sacco Nov 17th 2009 at 1:45PM

Following its announcement at BlizzCon '09, players have been looking forward to seeing just how the new legendary two-handed axe, Shadowmourne, will be created and how it'll function. Today, Blizzard fills us in on the details ... well, sort of.

In their official preview of the weapon, Blizzard fleshes out its backstory as the Ebon Blade's premier anti-Arthas weapon. Forged from the hardened blood of Yogg-Saron, empowered with the souls of the deceased, encased in ice from Arthas' own Frozen Throne, the axe is intended to be a true match for Frostmourne. But at what cost?

Blizzard has yet to reveal the weapon's stats, but the soul-stealing proc on it is pretty neat. Here's hoping it's not too much of a pain to craft.

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 Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.

Filed under: Patches, News items, Lore

Patch 3.3 PTR: WoW.com's stream of the Frozen Halls

by Mike Schramm Nov 15th 2009 at 11:00AM

We ran our livestream of the Halls of Reflection on the PTR yesterday, and other than one little hitch (I figured I'd save us all the trouble of raiding the Lich King and just jump in and take him down myself, with disastrous consequences), it went pretty well. Turns out you need to run through the main quest to unlock the last two Frozen Halls instances, so we ended up doing all three: Forge of Souls and Pit of Saron on normal, and then the Halls of Reflection on both normal and Heroic. On the way, you can see all of the bosses, dropped loot, the various lore and questlines that weave throughout the new 5-man, and the final epic confrontation.

Obviously, considering this is straight video of these instances (with commentary and audio from the game), these things are full of spoilers -- if you don't want to know what happens when you enter Icecrown Citadel, steer clear. That said, the video we recorded is after the break. You don't have to watch the whole thing (in fact, at over two hours, you'd be crazy to), as I've tagged the Forge of Souls run, the Pit of Saron run, and the final heroic Halls of Reflection run on their own. Clicking those links or the markers on the video below should take you to the specific parts of the video. Enjoy.

Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Virtual selves, Quests, Lore, NPCs

Blizzard announces holiday card contest

by Mike Schramm Nov 12th 2009 at 6:50PM

Blizzard has made it a holiday tradition to release a holiday card every year (usually drawn by Samwise), but this year they're putting a little twist on it. They're running a contest asking the potential artists among you to submit your own original Blizzard-themed holiday card. Download their template, fill it up with Diablo, Starcraft, or Warcraft-related holiday art (no Lost Vikings or Rock N' Roll Racing art, apparently), submit it on the contest page before December 7th, and you can win a whole slew of prizes from Blizzard and Razer, including a mouse, keyboard, and headset, as well as a signed copy of Blizzard's 2009 holiday card from Samwise himself.

So artists, get to, um, "art"-ing! We can't wait to see your rendition of Deathwing as Santa Claus, Kerrigan as the Mrs., and a whole tribe of Fallen Ones standing in for the little elves.

Filed under: Events, Blizzard, Contests, Lore, NPCs, Fan art

Two Bosses Enter: Gal'darah vs. Loken

by Lisa Poisso Nov 12th 2009 at 4:00PM

Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy death matches. This season's combatants come from the original five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King.

This week's match in the Two Bosses Thunderdome makes the healer in me cringe: Gal'darah (Gundrak) versus Loken (Halls of Lightning). Gal'darah steps into the Thunderdome on the laurels of a solid 68.4 percent victory in his last battle against Moorabi. However fearsome his reputation, Loken creeps into the ring as an underdog, having lost his most recent battle against Anub'arak and subsequently re-earning a berth through the reader vote that brought back three vanquished combatants.

This week's ground rules:

Assume that the opponents share similar levels, health pools and comparative overall damage output.
This deathmatch takes place in neutral territory, which shall in no way hinder either opponent from using his usual resources.
Don't get caught up in gameplay mechanics and what actual players might do in each encounter.
Don't neglect style, story and scale.

Let the doors open, let the crowds take to their feet. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls ... Dyin' time's here.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Features, Lore, Bosses, Two Bosses Enter, Wrath of the Lich King

One Boss Leaves: Eregos downs Keristrasza

by Lisa Poisso Nov 12th 2009 at 9:30AM

Two Bosses Enter ... but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com's series of fantasy death matches. This season's combatants come from the original five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King.

How crazy does crazy get? Keristrasza's brand of crazy was mind-numbing enough to drop her from the skies in this week's Two Bosses Thunderdome. Eregos maintained the upper hand with a full 50% of the vote in this week's fantasy deathmatch.

"In her maddened state, I'd say Keristrasza is at a large disadvantage," wrote DruidGuard. "All too eager for her own death, driven mad and facing down one of the major blue dragons that helped imprison her, Keristrasza might very well eat a full Planar Shift burst to the face. Not to mention she'll be facing down a very angry Ley-Guardian Eregos every so often with his Enraged Assault.

"If she was on her A game, she might have a chance with careful kiting and freezing, but in her current mental state, I'm not sure how well she'd act. Ley-Guardian Eregos just seems too strong and cunning for this battle, so I'm afraid Ley-Guardian Eregos gets my vote on this one. Such a shame, but remember, this IS ultimately what Keristrasza wants."

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Features, Lore, Bosses, Two Bosses Enter, Wrath of the Lich King

Patch 3.3 PTR: Lich King audio files mined from latest build

by Zach Yonzon Nov 12th 2009 at 3:58AM

A 7-minute YouTube clip pieces together sound files mined from the latest build of Patch 3.3 PTR. The sound files feature the Lich King delivering lines from Icecrown Citadel 5-man and raid dungeons, as well as the Shadowmourne quest line. These files are filled with spoilers, so readers who wish to keep everything a surprise should steer clear of continuing on. The video is embedded after the jump. Again, be warned that these files are full of spoilers!

Filed under: Instances, Lore, Bosses, Wrath of the Lich King

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