Results tagged “Isle of Quel'Danas” from From the Abbey to Outlands

As we are beginning to see the news and blog posts of people making preparations for the upcoming expansion, I felt it time to begin working on this planned series of articles. When you look down the path and see change coming, it is natural for us to look back on what has been, and to look forward to what will come. That is the plan for this series of articles of indeterminate length.

The first part I want to look at is looking back. First thing I would like to know is what your favorite part of Burning Crusade was. Was it flying mounts? Daily quests? The Isle of Quel'Danas? Becoming Ogre royalty? Or was it the end game? Did Karazhan give you the thrill of your raiding career or was it pushing into Black Temple and Sunwell? The improved leveling and Dustwallow Marsh revamp?

For me, it is a hard thing to answer. I have enjoyed making money at my professions. I always enjoy the feeling of flying from the most northern tip of Netherstorm to the Netherwing Ledge in under 5 minutes. I love the collection of flying mounts I have, and the soon to be 4 level 70s I have. I love the dailies, though to be honest after a month or so of doing each of the new ones, they can get boring unless combined with something I do already like the Nether Residue one.

The second part of this is what you liked least about the Burning Crusade expansion. Was it welfare epics? The constant first kills? Lackluster patching? Did Blizzard not take the game in the direction you wanted? Did you find a disparity between casual end game like the 10 person dungeons and the higher end 25 person raids like Magtheridon and Gruul's Lair? Do yuo not like how hard it is to get through the end game? Is your class not useful in raiding or PvP?

For me, I guess the one biggest annoyance is the duration of TBC. I have never denied that I thought we would have Wrath go gold by now with a July or August release date, not just at about the halfway point in development at this point. Another thing I didn't like about TBC was the utterly useless and wasted time spent on the in game Voice Chat feature.

With Blizzard's need to make their games available to as many people as possible this feature was doomed from the start, because accessible and high quality audio are not possible. Blizzard spent months on that patch when they could have put time and effort into other things like housing and more stable servers.


Overall, I give the first expansion to the game a 4/5 rating, or a B+ grade. The expansion brought a lot of content to the game and really changed a number of aspects of the game. From PvP to raiding, Low level to end level, the World of Warcraft changed drastically in the 2.x version, and I think overall it was a positive change to the game that has only increased it's popularity.

Next up, we will look ahead to a variety of aspects of Wrath of the Lich King that we know about before the big Worldwide Invitational. 

Perhaps my brush with fame had gone to my head, but I am calling here and now for a few things. I am offline for a couple more days, so this does impact me a lot. First, reading this post from WoW Insider's Eliah Hecht saying his server is at 59% done on Phase 1, has me concerned. I would love a chance like we had for the AQ opening, to see out of game the progress being made. This is a new kind of war effort, isn't it? Let us call for a new war effort status page!

Second, I worry that the Isle is opening too fast. Half a phase in 1 day? Completely open in a week? I can only hope that 2, 3, and 4 are harder, requiring more time and effort to get them opened up. At this rate, assuming Argent Dawn is about the same rate as Eliah's realm, when I get in sometime Friday, the Isle will be nearing the end of phase 2. That's missing pretty much half of this epic world event.

Lastly, I am not sure how much I like the idea of some dailies not being able to be done after some phases. What if I have that, completed, in my logs? Will I still be able to turn it in for rep? In another post on WoW Insider a staff writer posted a link to this timeline of dailies for the Isle, and it shows that we have a lot of dailies, twenty of them, and I worry that some will vanish before I even get a chance to break glass, destroy portals, or many of them.

[Update: And this post tells me that after about 24 hours of stable servers, Argent Dawn has reached second phase of the Isle of Quel'Danas. Maybe I can get in for phase 3 and 4...]

When is the last time Blizzard brought in a 5 person(thanks Drysc for the politically correct version) dungeon outside of an expansion or launch of WoW? Was it Maraudon? Dire Maul? That was three years ago, and it was still for the most part 'Vanilla WoW' as they call it. That was almost launch version as they were still working on the server issues until May.

This question was brought up by a post from Lavata of the Sentinels US realm. She asks why Blizzard made the Magister's Terrace so damned hard. With mobs that "are worse than trash in Kara" and Bosses that are easier than some of the trash pulls, Lavata says that it is far too difficult for your average 70. "MaT fails to fill the spot it is meant to in progression" to paraphrase.

I think that Lavata, and many others who eagerly fly their way to the Isle of Quel'Danas in anticipation of a run through MaT(for lack of a better abbreviation), are making on mistake in assumption. They assume that this will be just another 5 person just like the rest we got with TBC. It isn't. Why would it be? It is a dungeon we get as we all near the next phase of the game, Wrath of the Lich King.

Look at this like... the baby Naxx of the TBC era. It's not the big raid instance, as Sunwell Plateau fits in there. It's the baby one for the non raiders or those just looking to get more gear from rep rewards. It will be hard. Harder than any of the other 5 person dungeons we have so far, and that is fine because it should be hard.

Another thing to consider is something that Drysc points out in the thread. When TBC came out, people were even at the high ends of the dungeons still banging their heads on the wall of the low TBC dungeons like Blood Furnace and Slave Pens. Hell, some people still haven't done those dungeons because of their earlier troubles. Only one of my 3 70s has ever fought his way through the Slave Pens dungeon.

This is the early head banging phase of Magister's Terrace. It's the point were we try out the strategies, attack fights from different angles, and see what works. We also see what doesn't work and how we can fit in those classes who are the outsiders of the dungeon sets, the Ret Paladins, the rogues, the hunters and more. Give it some time, Lavata, It'll come.

Of course, as always, your mileage(and gear) may vary.

While I have been off doing a very different kind of writing as well as working, Blizzard has slowed a bit their new info from the PTR. Our first link of the day is for a WoW Insider post about the new Isle of Quel'Danas. Well, actually, we have a few about that. The big thing, though, is that this will not be the walk in the park that many Level 70 zones are these days. Netherstorm and Shadowmoon are usually not a big problem unless you get overrun like Khadgar in his dream.

The Isle will be tough. We also have new info on the third phase of the opening of Quel'Danas, Sun Reach Harbor. I love that WoW Insider is detailing these things, but I worry about how many quests and accomplishments I hear are only available during certain phases. It would almost encourage an addiction like playstyle for the duration of the opening. I guess we will have to see what happens once stage 4 is reached.

Along with the opening of the Armory, we had the pleasure of meeting the new gear for badge vendor, and boy is it interesting. Ranging in cost from 45 for off hand weapons to 150 for two handers and the crossbow, the items on the vendor are said to rival Black Temple loot, which will no doubt anger many BT raiders. WoW Insider did do the math and figure out how many badges the average player will need, and if you've been a good little player, saved up over 600 badges before the next patch hits, you too can be Sunwell ready, or at least over geared for Kara and Zul'Aman, when Phase 3 hits.

While WoW Insider points out Razorthorn Rise is not a new area, as it is just sitting there taunting us with emptiness like the Barrier Hills did pre 2.1, but in 2.4 the area will be newly populated and farmable for a Shattered Sun Offensive daily quest, or so we are informed. Of course the links above aren't the only changes, just the notable one. We also have a PTR Patch Notes update with some class changes, new daily quests that indicate they may be related to Alchemy and Jewel Crafting respectively, and which might just lead to new recipes for those professions.

MMO-Champion, always a great resource for the raw details of items from the PTR, have a fair bit of info from the realms today, including an interesting similarity between a Demon and the Dark Naaru in the Sunwell Plateau, Entropius and M'uru, as well as theories about how M'uru became Dark(though wouldn't having your light sucked out of you be enough?), as well as some Relic and weapon changes. The site was also the source of the information about the upcoming Horseman-like Midsummer Fire Festival event boss, Lord Ahune in Slave Pens, and also the source of the discovered skin in the PTR data files for what might be a true Sylvanas look, instead of the tired Night Elf model we have now. Stay tuned for more including a discussion of farming!

So I am, at this very moment, playing Medrose, the renames toon from the PTR PvE realm that I copied over. Let me just say that since I cannot see Silvermoon without rolling a Hordie or dying horribly, this place is great. I get to see the amazing Blood Elf structures they brought in with the expansion and have a lot more protection than I expected to have surrounded by such structures.

My second thought was that the measures Blizzard put in shortly after the expansion launched to combat lack of spawns for questing sure are in full force on the PTR. The sheer number of quests on the Isle of Quel'Danas, the bump to 25 daily quests, and the amazing amount that can be done in the 2.4 patch is just shocking and pleasing. I have no doubt there will be a lot to due and little to get bored with when the Isle of Quel'Danas opens up.

When I first got Med his bird, I flew around all the zones, just exploring the scenery. I happened on the Throne of Kil'Jaden and back then those mobs looked so deadly that just flying within sight felt like a huge risk. Now we get to go there, get to fight the mobs that are in that seemingly inaccessible area, and that is exciting! Oh, and I finally found Doom Lord Kazzak, who has always frustrated me with his yell spam in Hellfire Peninsula.

I think that when 2.4 hits, there will be more for people to do in a day than they know what to do with. /cheer

Of course, when the patch notes first hit, there was a lot of new info, helping or otherwise adding to the excitement surrounding patch 2.4. While that huge influx of info has slowed a bit, there is still a good amount of info coming out about the next patch for World of Warcraft. WoW Insider has their own roundup post, where they will put all the info they find about the patch in nice, neat categories.

We have info about the World PvP daily quests, a peek at the UI and Interface panel changes in 2.4, and an awesome post about what we can expect to see in 2.4 before we even run off to the Isle of Quel'danas, including daily quests in Shatt from some of the newly converted NPCs which are now members of the Shattered Sun Offensive. Oh, and don't forget the gift to PvPers who spend their time in Battlegrounds, a repeatable turn in quest that gifts you honor for all those excess tokens.

A day or two ago WoW Insider informed the audience that the Naaru that the Blood Elves where fueling their Paladins on had vanished on the PTR, and that pretty much sealed it for the identity of the Dark Naaru in the Sunwell Plateau. Of course, those on the PTR aren't hesitating in having a bit of fun as some enterprising warlocks have found a way to enslave Brutallus the demon from Sunwell Plateau, pretty effectively killing everything on the Island. I agree with WoW Insider's Daniel Whitcomb, this will most likely be fixed before 2.4 goes live.

Fishing is getting some major buffs, or gifts at least, in 2.4. First, we get fishing Daily quests.  Yay! We can push people into 375 fishing with rewards of cash and blues! Speaking of Blues, There is a report that at least one fishing quest rewards you with a new non combat pet, Chuck the baby crockolisk, which you would get in a Bag of Fishing Treasures, which comes from the fishing quests much like the Crate of Meat and Barrel of Fish come from the Cooking Daily. Other items found inside this bag are Sharpened Fish Hooks, a recipe for Captain Rumsey's Lager, Weather-Beaten Fishing Hat.

We also have reports of a seemingly common drop 20 slow unique bag, Sun Touched Satchel, and even though their own reader said so days before, WoW Insider is reporting that the Phoenix non combat pet does, in fact, drop from Kael'Thas in Magister's Terrace. How it took them 4 days to read their own comments which included a screen shot of the Phoenix being looted off Kael'Thas, I don't know, but there you have it.


News out in the last few days shows that items critical to making most high end crafted items, Primal Nether and Nether Vortex, will no longer be BoP, and Nether Vortex will not be purchasable for 15 Badges of Justice as well as 7g and change. This will make crafting my next level breast plates for Medros, as well as the items for Ameland even more possible since I won't have to go run heroics or go and do Kara runs endlessly to get enough badges for them.

The last roundup of news in the last few days are as follows. Suggested possible Dragonhawk mounts, class set changes, and even a few class changes as well as more promised to be coming. We have linkable spells and quests, and more walk throughs of the new area of the Isle of Quel'danas, starting with the new rep, all the way up through the 5 man Magister's Terrace  and unlocking the 25 man Sunwell Plateau. Update: Tigole on Attunements, miscellaneous notes from the latest PTR build, with more likely as the progressive test continues.

While anyone who visits fan sites or the WoW forums will already know patch 2.4 is out, I figured I would let you all know a few highlights of the PTR so far. First, though, the current PTR notes version can be found here, and as they are trying a new testing method where there test different content as they are satisfied with it, those notes can be expected to change regularly.

The biggest info we have so far is profession based, and my goodness we have a lot of goodies coming for professions in this final battleground in the fight with Legion(for now).

• Leatherworking
• Blacksmithing 
• Tailor
• Jewelcrafting and Gems

We also have other information, such as the rep rewards for the Shattered Sun Offensive, though sadly no loot links yet due to the database sites not quite catching up. We also have some interesting tidbits of new surrounding some interesting new raid drops, sunmote. But wait, there's more! New possible bag types, the Rocket Mounts from the TCG loot card(available in March), new Badge of Justice rewards on the Isle of Quel'Danas that equal or surpass Black Temple loot, and did I mention the new epic bow Thor'idal, which makes it own arrows, has the build in buff from the quivers we have now, and which is just fricking awesome? Well, consider it done.

Additional Info:

• Black Temple & Mount Hyjap Attunements gone!
• The return of 8 piece sets?!?
• Defense changes
• Possible new Priest form: Holyform
  
• Dubious quality of PvP Battleground changes
• New Phoenix Non-Combat Pet dropping off Kael'Thas
• Sunwell Plateau in game cinematic
• 
  

Keep tuned here for more as the news develops