Welcome to the second insance of Icecrown Citadel: Frozen Halls last time I did a guide on Forge of Souls, now, here’s my guide on Pit of Saron.

Pit of Saron (3 bosses)

This is the second wing of the dungeon complex known as the Frozen Halls, located within Icecrown Citadel. The The Forge of Souls must be completed before a player can access the Pit of Saron, and this dungeon must be completed in order to access the Halls of Reflection.

Quests

Trash

<Cult of the Damned>

• Deathwhisper Necrolyte - Interupt Conversion Beam to reduce shadow damg.
• Deathwhisper Shadowcaster – just shadowbolts.
• Deathwhisper Torturer – Curses and debuffs.

Ymirjar ,Wrathbone and Other undead

• Ymirjar Deathbringer -Shadowbolts.
• Ymirjar Flamerbearer-Firebolts and does hellfire best to kill them first.
• Ymirjar Wrathbringer-meele.
• Ymirjar Skycaller with Iceborne drake- does Glacial Strike with healers must get off fast since drake and rider do frost damg.
• Wrathbone Coldwraith- Interupt frezzing Circle as much as possiable.
• Wrathbone Laborer – Meele.
• PlaugeBorn Horror-stay out of poison areas.
• Ghouls – Meele.
• Fallen Warrior-Meele

Boss Guides

Forgemaster Garfrost

A master of Scourge weaponry, the forgemaster hauls stocks of saronite ore and other precious materials to the cold forges where the mechanisms of death are born. With a host of rime weapons and exotic alloys at his disposal, it could get cold in here.

Garfrost smash

Abilities

TIPS

• Garfrost’s main attack outside of basic melee is to throw saronite boulders at ranged players. The boss emote appearing above only is displayed to the player who actually has a boulder heading his/her way. Thrown boulders carry a large amount of kinetic energy and will both knock a player back and deal tremendous damage to anyone foolish enough to stand in its shadow.
• At 66 and 33%, Garfrost AoE stomps the instance, then jumps over to one of the two forges in his room and reforges his weapon to increase his frost damage dealt by 50% (100% in Heroic mode). While Garfrost is in his corner it’s important that the tank (and everyone else as well) should stand behind a saronite boulder and let the stacking debuff wear off.
• After the second phase transition, Garfrost’s +frost damage bonus has increased to +100% (+200% on Heroic). Garfrost will use Deep Freeze on random players in the party. Make sure the player is at full health (and shielded if possible) when the debuff wears off, as Deep Freeze hits hard.

Krick and Ick

Zombies serve as mindless muscle in the Pit of Saron’s mines, stockpiling metals for Forgemaster Garfrost, and Krick – a devious leper gnome – supervises the operations from atop Ick, Krick’s ghastly means of transportation (Master Blaster anyone?).

TIPS

• For the most part, this is a fairly simple fight with a lot of movement. When engaging Krick and Ick, Ick will stick to basic melee, while Krick will ride atop Ick’s back, firing globs of poison that will land and create a field of poison.
• Krick yells: No, that one! That one! Get that one! Krick will target a random player. Whoever is targeted (except the tank) must immediately run away(not back-pedal), kiting Ick around the area taking care to not get cornered. Ick’s attack power is increased, so do not get caught.
• Krick yells: Quickly! Poison them all while they’re still close!-Ick will cast a poison nova, which is a point-blank AoE that deals extremely high damage (around 30k on Heroic) followed by a DoT ticking for 1500/6000 every three seconds. It only has an 18 yard range, so run away while he’s winding up, as it’s a five second cast or use the crates as a Line of Sight (to be confirmed). Healers: Decurse/cleanse or whatever else here is far more valuable than any heal you’ve got.
• Krick yells: Enough moving around! Hold still while I blow them all up! In this attack, Ick remains stationary while Krick continuously summons mines at every player’s position for 18 seconds. Said mines explode after a few seconds, so keep moving.

Scourgelord Tyrannus

Tyrannus is a terrible force who will no doubt demonstrate his powers to those brave enough to enter the Pit of Saron. The scourgelord must die if players hope to make their way into the third and final wing of this dungeon

Abilities

• Forceful Smash – Knocks an enemy back with a powerful blow, inflicting 28275 to 31725 Physical damage.
• Overlord’s Brand – Brands an enemy with the mark of Tyrannus, causing all damage dealt by the Branded foe to be mirrored to the caster’s primary target, and all healing done by the Branded foe to be amplified and mirrored to the caster.
• Unholy Power – Empowers the caster with dark might, increasing physical damage by 75% but reducing movement speed by 50% for 10 sec.

Rimefang

• Mark of Rimefang – Marks a target for attack by Overlord Tyrannus’s frostwyrm, Tyrannus.
• Hoarfrost – Deals 4813 to 6187 Frost damage to enemies within 8 yards of the point of impact and stuns them for 5 sec.
• Icy Blast – Deals 4813 to 6187 Frost damage to enemies within 7 yards of the point of impact.
• Icy Blast – Reduces movement speed by 75% and inflicts 2313 to 2687 Frost damage per 2 sec. on those caught within the lingering icy chill.

TIPS

• Tyrannus deals fairly heavy damage and can spike with Forceful Smash, so keeping the tank constantly at full is very important.
• Scourgelord Tyrannus roars and swells with dark might! Which he seems to do after a Forceful Smash. This will double Tyrannus’ damage and movement speed, possibly overwhelming the tank. To survive this, the tank needs to drag Tyrannus over the frost patches created by Rimefang, which will slow him and allow you to kite him around (the range of the patches are generously large for slowing Tyrannus, so it’s possible to simply skirt him over the edges to slow him). Once Empower wears off, you can return to tanking him normally.
• The only other major thing to watch for is Overlord’s Brand. Any DPS that receives this needs to immediately stop doing damage, as any damage they deal will also be done to the tank in addition to Tyranus’ own damage. Additionally, if a healer is marked with the brand, all heals done will be amplified and then mirrored on Tyrannus. but this isn’t as bad as it simply prolongs the fight a little.

And that sums up Pit of Saron. With the Scourge Lord dead, you’re now free to enter the fabled Halls of Reflection, the home of Frostmourne, The Lich King’s legendary weapon. We will be covering that in the next part of this series.

5 Comments » ~ ~ Random Post

Welcome my name is Gustava and this is my guide to the new five mans in 3.3. I will be going over new dungeons in this guide. Players will be getting a starting quest from one of the NPCs in their factions’ area in Dalaran then head West to the citadal. On the right-hand side of the citadal on the top rampart (2nd floor) there will be a small opening that the Ashen Verdict has blasted throught that leads to the five man instances. They have the be completed in sequence the first time you ever do them and you can then enter whichever you want once the pre-requisit dungeon has been completed. This applies to both Regular and heroic versions of the dungeons. So here they are in order:

Forge of souls (Two Bosses)

is the first wing of the dungeon complex known as the Frozen Halls, located within Icecrown Citadel. The instance portal is located to the left inside the secured area of Icecrown Citadel, near the meeting stone. No attunement is required for entry, but completing the instance is required to gain entrance to the Pit of Saron.

Quests-

• Inside the Frozen Citadal- Enter The Forge of Souls from the side of Icecrown Citadel and locate Lady Sylvanas Windrunner(H)/Lady Jaina Proudmoore(A).
• Echoes of Tortured Souls -Kill Bronjahm and the Devourer of Souls to secure access to the Pit of Saron.(2 Frost Emblems)

NPCS

<Cult of the Damned>

• SoulGuard Adept-Healer must always be killed first
• Soulguard Animator-The soul sickness it casts need to be Dispelled
• Soulguard Bonecaster-Casts shadow bolts
• Soulguard Reaper-Meele
• Soulguard Watchman-cast magic reflection spellcasters beware

Ghosts

• Spiteful Apparition-Random explodeing ghost
• Spectral Warden-does a dispellable debuff to tank that reduces healing to 25%
• Soul horror-Warping around  droping aggro

Bosse Guide

Bronjahm <Godfather of Souls>

He oversees some of the most disturbing devices the Scourge engineers have ever created – the Soul Grinders.

Abilities

• Magic’s Bane – Inflicts 2,500 physical damage and additional damage equal to half the tagret’s total mana. Hits all players standing close to the boss, but does not exceed 10,000 physical damage.
• Shadow Bolt – Inflicts 2,828 to 3,172 Shadow damage. Used if the primary aggro target isn’t in melee range.
• Corrupt Soul (Phase 1) – Channels a spell on a player for 4 seconds. Will summon a Corrupted Soul Fragment at the player’s location.
• Corrupted Soul Fragment – Attempts to move towards Bronjahm. On arrival it heals Bronjahm through Consume Soul.
• Consume Soul (Phase 1) – Consumes a Corrupted Soul Fragment and heals Bronjahm for 120,000 health.
• Teleport – Teleports Bronjahm to the center of the room. Used when Bronjahm’s health reaches 30% and marks Phase 2.
• Soulstorm (Phase 2) – Conjures a vortex surrounding Bronjahm. Players touching the boundaries are hit by Soulstorm.
• Soulstorm – Inflicts 10,000 Shadow damage and reduces movement speed by 50%. Lasts 2.5 seconds.
• Fear (Phase 2) – Fears an enemy into the vortex. Healers need to watch out for feared players.

Tips

1. Tank him near the north door of the stage.Casters keep max distance to avoid Magic’s Bane and that goes for hunters too.
2. If you have Corrupt Soul beining cast on you, run far away from the tank to create max distance to kill Soul fragment. Use any crowd control moves like chains of ice to keep fragment from getting to the boss.
3. Bunch up in central stage when he at 30% he starts casting soul storm and get ready to burn him. Using anti fear moves and if not use magic damage reduction skills.
4. Or alternately … (if your tank and healer are geared enough) Tank and Spank in the middle of the room.

Devourer of Souls

A being of unknown species.

Abilities

• Phantom Blast – Inflicts 11700 to 12300 Shadow damage.
• Mirrored Soul – The Devourer of Souls mirrors the targets soul! A percentage of damage from the Devourer of Souls is being mirrored with you.
• Well of Souls – The Devourer of Souls leaps towards a target, slamming the ground creating a Well of Souls.
• Well of Souls – Inflicts 2925 to 3075 Shadow damage.
• Unleashed Souls - The Devourer of Souls is releasing tormented souls periodically.
• Wailing Souls – Lets loose Wailing Souls, inflicting 4875 to 5125 Shadow damage to anyone infront of her and knocking them back

Tips

6 Comments » ~ ~ Random Post

Retrospect on Raiding in Wrath

Welcome to my 3.3 preview live from my time on the PTR, this is Gustava, and this week I am going to talking about dungeon updates.

Let’s look back for just a second, since Wrath is little over a year old now and the story of this saga has really changed raiding. We started in Obsidian Sanctum and the return of Black Dragons.  Twilight Drakes showed us the first taste of hard modes and fire avoidance. Then we return to a classic raid: Naxxarmas. Raised from  the depths of vanilla WoW raiders’ nightmares as a new level 80 raid with Tier 7 gear. New raiders could learn the joy of slimes, Patchwork and Deep Breaths/Frost Tombs all over again. Once you got  a key in Naxx, you can go fight Malygos bringing new meaning to fighting fire with fire – with drakes.

Ulduar opened its gates in 3.1 where hardmodes abound and new Tier 8 gear. From the massive tank opening that was way better than flying drakes in the Malygos encounter to the madness of Mimirons’ fight with a giant robot and an old God with a thousand maws. Ulduar was truly a challenge with its epic scale with some of the hard modes offering more replay value  than ever.

Following that: the Trials of the Crusader opened its doors in 3.2. The fights were new and challenging with monster beasts,  demons, champions and undead – plus the Tier 9 gear. Now all that’s left is the icy fortress of the lich king in 3.3 and a conclusion to the epic tale of Northend once and for all.  At least, we think so . . .

Icecrown Raid Difficulty Functionality (source)

We chose this particular functionality because we didn’t want to use the Trial of the Crusader method, and have four versions on a raid of this size. We felt the Ulduar method of having to know a certain trick to do on the boss was difficult to communicate and tied too heavily to achievements. We might eventually convert Trial of the Crusader over to this new system but Ulduar and Naxxramas will likely never change.

• Many bosses and creatures have had their total health reduced.
• Several bosses and creatures have had cooldowns on specific abilities increased, effect durations reduced, and damage on some of these abilities reduced.
• Ring-Lord Conjurers and Sorceresses now hang out in packs of 4 instead of packs of 5.
• Vehicle scaling on the drakes based on the rider’s item level has been increased to make them more powerful.

Icecrown Citadel: The Frozen halls (New 5-Man Dungeons)

The Frozen Halls

4 Comments » ~ ~ Random Post

Hello, Gustava here again. I’m currently testing the PTR ver 3.3 Fall of the Lich King part of the Wrath expansion. I will be previewing user interface in this artice of stuff i’ve seen in the PTR. I will be going over the new  things on the PTR I think the people like to know and other things I find cool.

In Game tips

Remember back when you created your first character and it seemed like everything you do would make that little box with a question mark pop up at the bottom of your screen and demand your attention? Well, Blizzard has decided that their in-game tips are not quite as helpful as they should be. How could new players know that converting their small and innocent party into a raid would stop them from gaining quest credit? Or how would they learn that elite monsters and quests usually require more than one person to overcome? So they pretty much tripled (rough estimation) the number of tips they have – and made them prettier too.

what about fire

Wrath Reputation  Increase (from patch notes)

• Commendation Badges which award reputation with various Wrath of the Lich King factions can be purchased with Emblems of Triumph in Dalaran. Each badge costs 1 Emblem of Triumph.
• Gaining reputation with the Ashen Verdict in Icecrown Citadel will grant players access to upgradeable rings from Ormus the Penitent. Players can switch between the type of ring (melee/caster/tank/healer) at any point in the upgrade path for 200g.
• The following reputations have been sped up by roughly 30%:
  • Argent Crusade
  • Alliance Vanguard
  • Horde Expedition
  • Kirin Tor
  • Knights of the Ebon Blade
  • Sons of Hodir
  • Wyrmrest Accord
• Sons of Hodir quests now give more reputation overall.
• Top-level helm and shoulder faction-related enchants are now available as Bind-on-Account items that do not require any faction to use once purchased (they still require the appropriate faction level to purchase).

The 30% more rep in Heroics is a great move by Blizzard now you can get a lot of rep and emblems to gear your new 80’s faster. We all hate grinding rep for the Sons of Hodir for the 56th time this rep increase will make a lot easier and less like a chore. But the thing I really like is the BoA Shoulder and Head enchant. This simply means that you’re getting Raid-level enchants as soon as you hit 80 (assuming you can afford them) as long as you’ve done it at least once on any of your other 80s. Add to that a new upgradeable ring (like the old violet eye one in BC) will make every trash mob rep in Icerown as rewarding as the trash drops themselves.

New fishing event: Kalu’ak  fishing derby

Tired of getting ganked in Stranglethorn Vale for the weekly fishing contest? Well worry no more as our favourite walking walruses, the Kalu’ak, are hosting their own fishing tournament in Northrend every Wednesday. Elder Clearwater is going to hang out in Dalaran for exactly one hour and wait for a Blacktip Shark that you have to catch and return to him. The event starts at 8:00 PM on Wednesday. During the contest all fishing in Northrend is free of trash. Don’t worry though as even if you don’t end up being the champion angler,
you’ll still receive a reward just for turning the shark in. On an achievement related note, the master of strangle achievement has been changed to Master Angler of Azeroth. Winning the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza or the Kalu’ak Fishing Derby will be enough to meet the requirements for the achievement. Also winners can win a rare heirloom(BoA) ring or a pair of boots that warps you to Booty Bay every 30 minutes (Yet another hearth-type product).

Emblems in 3.3

Bosses in Naxxramas, Obsidian Sanctum, Eye of Eternity, Ulduar, Trial of the Crusader, and all Heroics will drop Emblems of Triumph. Bosses in the Icecrown Citadel 10- and 25-player dungeons will drop the new Emblems of Frost. Choosing the Random Heroic Dungeon option via the Dungeon Finder (new in content update 3.3) and completing whatever dungeon is selected for you, will award you with two Emblems of Frost the first time you do it (this is in place of the daily Heroic dungeon quests which are being replaced with weekly raid dungeon quests).

Continuing to use the Random Heroic Dungeon option within that same day to complete dungeons will award you with two Emblems of Triumph each time in addition to those dropped in the instances. The random option can also select Heroic dungeons to which you may already be saved, so you can technically do every Heroic dungeon more than once in a day by continuing to use this option.

New Weekly Raid Quests(Npc who did heroic daily quests)

New weekly raid quests have been added to the game! These quests will give you a good reason to run the old raid instances for 5 emblems of Frost and 5 emblems of Triumph each week. Here’s the list for the bosses tnat have a weekly quest kill. One is picked each week for the quest.

• The Obsidian Sanctum/Eye of the Eternity-Sartharion and Malygos
• Naxxramas: Anub’rekhan, Noth the Plaguebringer, Instructor Razuvious and Patchwork.
• Ulduar: Flame Leviathan,Ignis the Furnace Master,Razorscale,and XT-002 Deconstructor
• Crusaders’ Coliseum/Trial of the Crusader: Lord Jaraxxus
• Icecrown Citadel: Lord Marrowgar

New Armor Sets in Icecrown Citadel:  Tier 10

The next tier comes out in 3.3 and to earn them is no simple task.

• The first set of T-10 (251)  is bought with Frost emblems costing 405 Emblems for the whole set: 60 frost  emblems each for gloves and shoulders, 95 Frost emblems for head piece, chest plate and leggings.
• The next set is 10.5 Sanctified (263) which you need the first set piece and a Conqueror’s Mark of Sanctification to upgrade the 10 piece into the 10.5Sanctified piece.
• Same goes for 10 Sanctified heroic(271).The gear is in the ardent verdict camp in the raid.

The sets are modeled after Lich Kings troops , the Ashen Verdict and Faction Heroes.

• Warrior – Ymirjar Lord’s – Elder Saurfang/Muradin Bronzebeard(link)
• Death Knight – Scourgelord – Highlord Darion Mograine(Link)
• Paladin – Lightsworn – Highlord Tirion Fordring(link)
• Shamans – Frost Witch -Vrykul(link)
• Hunters – Ahn’Kahar Blood Hunter – Nerubian Cryptlord(link)
• Rogues – Shadowblade -Geist(link)
• Druids – Freya Lasherweave(there none in Scorge or Verdict)(link)
• Mages – Blood Mage -San’layn Blood Princes(link)
• Warlocks – Dark Coven -Lichs(link)
• Priest – Crimson Acolyte’s -Cultist High Priest (link)

__________________________________________________

Well with 3.3 coming out in next week or two Bizzard has pulled all the stops to make it the biggest patch ever.With raids and dungeons for the PvE crowd and a new arena season 8 with Wrathful gear for the PvP crowd. Add to that impoved leveling with quest helper and new in-game tips for those who need to make new toons every day (Alt-a-holics). So whether you do PvE or PvP this patch can provide lots of entertanment for many weeks/months ahead. Wherever you go in the world of Azeroth always remember to Dominate whatever bizzard throws at you.

-Gustava

5 Comments » ~ ~ Random Post

Hello, Gustava here, bringing you an important update straight from the PTR 3.3 test servers. In this patch, Blizzard is introducing their brand new Dungeon Finder System. It will revolutionize the way we PuG in World of Warcraft. Here is the breakdown of the new LFG in the coming patch.

(source)
New Dungeon Finder System In the upcoming content patch there are many new additions and improvements. Perhaps one of the largest changes is the introduction of the new dungeon finder system. This new system will be available for all dungeons. A “Dungeons” button will replace the Looking For Group feature currently available in-game, and provides additional benefits to those who use it.
Join as a Group or Solo
Much like the current Looking For Group system, players will be able to join the dungeon system and choose the role they would like to fill within groups: Healing, DPS, or Tank. In addition, once roles have been identified, they will be applied to all dungeons chosen. Players will now be able to choose multiple dungeons and will no longer be limited to three. The system has also improved group creation and matchmaking capabilities and will create more balanced groups when assessing the selected roles of players. The LFG channel has been disconnected from the dungeon tool and can be used by anyone in a major city,much like the trade channel currently available.
Cross Realm Instances
When joining the dungeon system as a solo player or with a partial group, additional random players can be found within the same Battlegroup via cross-realm instancing. While the new system offers the ability to group with player from other realms within your Battlegroup, you won’t be able to use this to manually invite specific players to groups.
Instance Teleporting
When you use the dungeon tool to find a dungeon, you’ll get ported to the inside of the dungeon, much like the current Battleground system. When you leave the instance, you will be returned to your previous location. If you need to leave temporarily, such asfor repairs or to purchase reagents, you can teleport back to the dungeon again. This feature can be used both by groups looking for other players and by premade groups of five who use the dungeon tool.
Smarter Group Matching
The new system will now work to match at least one experienced player for the assigned dungeon with less experienced players in the group. It will more carefully match class types, and will more consistently match players of equal levels for the dungeon chosen. The interface will also allow players to see how many players are looking for groups as well as the average wait time of groups that the tool has formed.
Daily Random Dungeons
Players or groups can choose specific dungeons or they can instead take their chances with a random Heroic or random normal dungeon. Picking randomly conveys some additional benefits. If you defeat the final boss in a dungeon, you receive 2 Emblems of Frost for Heroic dungeons and 2 Emblems of Triumph for normal dungeons. In addition, after players have received 2 Emblems of Frost for the first Heroic dungeon they do in a day, they will earn 2 Emblems of Triumph for each additional random Heroic
dungeons in that day. These random rewards replace the current daily dungeon and daily Heroic dungeon quests. The current NPCs who offer those quests will offer weekly repeatable raid quests instead. You can also earn level-appropriate rewards for running random pre-Wrath of the Lich King dungeons while you are leveling up.
Lovin’ the PUG
Players who take part in groups with one or more members who have been matched with them randomly from within the dungeon system will receive extra rewards, including the coveted Perky Pug non-combat pet. The more random players you group with, the faster you could get your new pet!
Vote Kick
Players who use the system to find additional random members for their party will be afforded a couple of extra conveniences to help them perform well. The loot option is fixed to the updated Need Before Greed option (and unalterable by any member) and players can vote to remove another party member from the group. It will take four votes in order to remove someone, however, so consider this newfound power carefully.
Looking for Raid
There will be a new option available to players that can be accessed via the raid information screen in the interface or by typing /lfr. Players will also be able to take part in raid-specific weekly quests and will be able to browse the system manually for any other players looking for a raid dungeon group.
Need Before Greed Updated
Need Before Greed will now recognize gear appropriate for a class in three ways: the class must be able to equip the item, pure melee will be unable to roll on spellpower items, and classes are limited to their dominant armor type (for example, plate for paladins). All items will still be available via greed rolls should no member be able to use the item as well as the new disenchant option will be available for all parties.

_________________________________________________________

This move is yet another great idea from Blizzard to update the LFG option.

To try this out, I leveled a toon to level 23 and I wanted to run Shadowfang Keep. Even today, if I wanted to find a group to do that, I would probably still be in the queue  for days. With this new system, I can queue a group for it. This system will pool all the players from your server’s whole battlegroup, much like the current BGs.This would theoretically allow you to find a group to do Occulus at 3 am … if you were so inclined for whatever reason. When your group is complete, you will be prompted to enter the instance, exactly the same way that BGs work now.

The Looking for Raid interface is just as Good as the LFG interface, only better for guilds who don’t have enough to run their  own full 10-man raid or need a few more to fill a 25 man raid. This is also good for people who run VoA, or OS, or Onyxia since most pug it anyway. It works almost the same as LFG works now but with a little more detail. And I am sure it will be a big help with many smaller guilds that don’t raid often at all.

If nothing else it will entice the newer player to actually experience end-game content. This can lead to other issues such as groups ending up with well-geared “n00bs” that don’t know the fights and cause wipes. This is inevitable and WILL occur, hopefully those who are motivated enough to get geared will also learn the fights.

Now, there will be no more daily heroic quests. I’ve seen many people forget to get the quest or loot the boss after we finsh the dungeon. When 3.3 goes live, if you kill the final boss you automatically get your two Frost Emblems and gold, no muss no fuss. I also like how the new Need Before Greed works so ninjas will not be able to loot-steal gear that’s not their armor type or spec type. Blizzard does it again taking a system no-one really uses now and making it better. I have tried it on the PTR and I am quite impressed by how well it works and I think you will too.

Bottom line: we will ALL be using this new and improved LFG/LFR a lot in the near future and we’ll all Dominate even more because of it.

12 Comments » ~ ~ Random Post

Blizzard has finally revealed how Icecrown raid will act at launch.They are going  a ToC-type route. Content will be released over several weeks, below is how the raid will work.

__________________________________________________________

Quote from: Daelo – Blizzard Lead Encounter Designer (Source)

Icecrown Citadel testing has been progressing very well over the last few weeks, and this has been a huge help to the encounter design team. We want to thank everyone who has logged onto the PTR and tried the encounters there.

As we’re now getting closer to the release of 3.3.0, we wanted to talk about our plans for access progression within Icecrown Citadel. Icecrown Citadel is going to be broken up into four distinct sections: The Lower Spire, Plagueworks, Crimson Hall, and Frostwing Halls. We plan on releasing these four sections of Icecrown Citadel over time and not all immediately when patch 3.3.0 goes live. At this point we can’t give precise dates for these release dates as they are determined by when patch 3.3.0 goes live. Once dates are known with more certainty, I’ll update the community so they can plan appropriately.

The first section that opens will include the Lord Marrowgar, Lady Deathwhisper, Icecrown Gunship Battle, and Deathbringer Saurfang encounters. Progress beyond that point will be prevented for several weeks. Then the Plagueworks will open with Rotface, Festergut, and Professor Putricide becoming available. After another period of time, the Crimson Hall will open and you can then fight the Blood Princes and Blood-Queen Lana’thel. The final Frostwing Halls unlock then occurs after that, making Valithria Dreamwalker, Sindragosa, and the Lich King available. We believe a staggered release of the content will allow players to experience Icecrown Citadel at a sustainable, measured, and ultimately more enjoyable pace.

There are other elements that gate access along the way. Players may not attempt any Heroic versions of 10 player encounters until they have defeated the Lich King in a 10 player raid. Similarly, players must defeat the Lich King in a 25 player raid before they can attempt a Heroic 25 player encounter. So players must master every normal difficulty encounter in Icecrown Citadel before attempting Heroic difficulty.

The Lich King may not be attempted until Professor Putricide, Blood-Queen Lana’thel, and Sindragosa are defeated. Furthermore, the Heroic difficulty of The Lich King encounter may not be attempted in any week unless the three aforementioned encounters have been defeated in Heroic difficulty that week.

The Ashen Verdict provides reinforcements and material for players to assault Icecrown Citadel, but this support is not endless. Raids will have a limited number of attempts total each week to defeat the four most difficult encounters in Icecrown Citadel: Professor Putricide, Blood-Queen Lana’thel, Sindragosa, and the Lich King. As these boss encounters are unlocked, the number of attempts available per week will increase. The initial number of attempts provided for defeating Professor Putricide is only five. When Blood-Queen Lana’thel unlocks, the amount of total attempts remaining will increase to 10. Then when Sindragosa and the Lich King unlock, 15 total attempts will be available to defeat all four bosses. After a raid has exhausted their attempts for the week, the Ashen Verdict must withdraw their support and the four most difficult bosses all despawn and become unavailable for the week. The limited attempt system is a feature of both Normal and Heroic difficulty.

There will be no explicit rewards for defeating the Lich King with a specific number of attempts remaining as there was with Trial of the Grand Crusader. There will also not be an achievement to complete Icecrown Citadel without being defeated by a boss encounter, or letting a raid member die. (i.e. A Tribute to Insanity).

In the weeks and months after all twelve encounters are unlocked, additional attempts against the final four boss encounters become available. This represents the Ashen Verdict growing more powerful and gaining a stronger foothold in Icecrown Citadel. To further help raids, Varian Wrynn and Garrosh Hellscream will begin to provide assistance by inspiring the armies attacking Icecrown Citadel. This is represented as an additional zone wide spell effect applied to all players that will increase their hit points, damage dealt, and healing done. This effect will also increase in effectiveness over time. Players may opt out of the spell’s effect if they so wish.

__________________________________________________________

This move by Blizz is a smart one, to keep content from being cleared to fast. This way even the most top end guilds will have to wait before they can knock the Lich King off his throne. As was the case with the Release of ToC, it gave every guild a chance to build up to the later encounters at the same pace as the Hard-Core Raiders. Leveling out the playing field as it were.

The max counter on the Big-Four and having to beat Arthas on regular to start Hard Modes will make it more fun and offer a new take on raiding. Blizzard is essentially applying their ToC formula to an actual 10-25 man raid, as opposed to ”encounters”. In retrospect it seems that ToC reveals itself to be a test for a new format of end-game encounter.

Another fringe benefit of this type of growth is that it will allow all players the necessary time to pick up the rather rare Emblem of Frost necessary for the Tier-10 gear. I also suspect that this latest tier won’t really be an option if you want to stand a chance against Arthas.

The format used in Icecrown will allow Blizzard more time to develop the next expansion by stretching out this patch over several weeks as well as allowing them the necessary time to fix the bugs they inevitably create when tweaking existing content.

This should keep players busy for a while, at least until a certain Black Dragon performs a global, elemental jail-break. I’m still curious to see just how long this patch will last based on how fast guild are progressing through content.

All in all however it’s always nice to see Blizzard respond to user feedback and continue to cater to their clients.

4 Comments » ~ ~ Random Post

Blizzard has decided to give us something most players use to help them level, only, Better! I have tested it and find it easy to use for new and returning players alike and a welcome addition to the existing features of the current interface. Below, I’ve put togehter a list of the some options Blizz has stated in various blue posts since patch 3.3 was announced:

Quest Log

We added a new “Show Map” button on the Quest Log. The “Show Map” feature highlights any quest in the log and will pull up the map for the zone in which the corresponding quest objectives are located.

Map

When viewing the large zone map (’M’ key), players will notice that all quests they have for that zone will be automatically tracked. In addition, this large map is now separated into four separate interface panes.To the right of the map, all active quests for that zone will be listed by name and be represented with a number. These numbers will be placed on the map highlighting areas of interest for each quest.A third panel below the zone map will give players the full quest text for any highlighted quest, while the fourth pane will display the quest reward. The quest map tracking feature is enabled by default. Players can disable this feature and restore the map to its original state by un-checking the “Show Quest Objectives” box in the lower right corner.

Areas of Interest

All areas of interest in a zone will be represented with a number corresponding to the number assigned to each active quest in that particular zone. When highlighting a specific quest, the corresponding number on the zone map will be highlighted as well.If the area of interest is large, for example, and a player needs to kill a number of quest creatures or collect quest items found within a large area on the map, the entire questing area of interest around the number on the map will be shaded blue.If quest objectives can be accomplished in multiple areas of the zone; for example, certain creatures need to be killed for a quest and have several different locations, the map will automatically display the nearest area of interest in proximity to the player.

Shrunken Map and Objectives Tracking

When viewing the large zone map (’M’ key), players can click the arrow in the top right corner to bring the zone map out of full-screen mode.The map will show all areas of interest for the zone; however the other three interface panes will be removed so players can still view their character, spells, and abilities with the map open. The standard quest objectives window has been improved and will now show numbers next to each quest displayed, or a gold question mark if the quest has been completed.The objectives window is now docked below the mini-map, next to the right two action bars and can display up to ten active quests in the zone. Players can toggle between minimizing and maximizing this quest objectives window at any time by clicking on the red arrow in the top right corner of the objectives frame.

Quest Difficulty Tracking: no more being lost now

This feature is turned off by default and players can choose “Color Quest Difficulty” under Objectives in the Interface Options menu to enable it. Enabling this option will color-code all quest names in the new map interface according to the player’s level (grey, green, yellow, orange, and red).This new feature has been built to work with nearly every quest in World of Warcraft with only a few exceptions. For example, if a quest requires that a player turns in some sort of cloth or other trade goods that can be purchased from other players, the map will not display an area of interest for where these items can be found.
All other quests, whether they require players to slay groups of creatures, gather some type of quest object, or hunt down a single specific target, will be tracked on the map, provided that the player is viewing the map of the zone in which these objectives can be completed.

Quote from: Blizzard (Source)

””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””””’

The conclusion

After quite a bit of field testing on the Public Test Realm, I have to say that I really like this interface. It’s everything Blizz is making it out to be. I won’t even be sorry to see my quest and map mods go, this does most of what they do just as well if not better and won’t cause nearly as many bugs. It’s about time Blizz made this part of the game.

No more alt-tabing out of the game to find information on a quest giver or the exact location (coordinates) of a quest items. No more wondering if you’re in the right zone. No more downloading super complex mods that take up the whole screen and are so hard to configure that you just rather use the default UI than mess with the countless pages of options.

This is an Orientation Revolution! The only thing better than this little wonder would be someone doing the quest for you … and that would take all the fun out of it.

This new interface should make it significantly easier for the newer players to find what they are looking for in-game and the old timers will welcome the change as well. Regardless if this is your first run through Azeroth or your 22nd DK, the new Quest Helper User Interface will help you Dominate and level faster then ever before.

Thanks Blizz!

14 Comments » ~ ~ Random Post