Holy crap, here it is: Tanaan Jungle. And this strongly, strongly implies that Warlords of Draenor is wrapping up.
First: a link to the patch notes via MMO-Champion.
Details are extremely sketchy at this point - I'd expect that we're not going to see this go live for a few months - probably with the traditional summer second tier release.
Hellfire Citadel:
I called it! Hellfire Citadel will be the Tanaan Jungle raid, and likely the final raid of Warlord of Draenor. The raid will have a lucky 13 bosses. Confirmed on the list of bosses are Kilrogg Deadeye, Gorefiend, a reanimated Mannoroth and... Archimonde! Surprisingly no Gul'dan is mentioned, which makes my speculation-senses tingle. (Does that mean a third raid tier or Gul'dan as a recurring villain or perhaps we kill him outside of the raid... or maybe he's there anyway.)
Tanaan Jungle:
The zone is described as "open world questing," which I assume will be some blend of Timeless Isle and perhaps daily quests or a Garrison Campaign-type story series. We'll be trying to prevent the Legion from invading Azeroth.
Mythic Dungeons:
A new dungeon difficulty is being created explicitly to serve as an alternative form of progression to raiding. Mythic dungeons will be on a weekly lockout (but given that there are eight, you should still have stuff to do.) Sadly no word on actual new dungeons, but I think they might be working on the ones for the next expansion. Mythic Dungeons will reward 680 gear with the final boss having a chance to drop 700 level gear (presumably with the same Warforged/Sockets/Tertiaries as normal.)
Legendary Ring Completion:
The Legendary chain will reach its conclusion, which strongly implies that we're looking at the last raid tier (in fairness, we were able to complete the cloaks before Siege of Orgrimmar, but that was still in 5.4.)
Shipyard:
We'll be building shipyards at our garrison to assault Tanaan Jungle. Again, details are thin, but we'll be building ships and sending them on Naval Missions, which I assume will function similarly to follower missions but presumably give more up-to-date rewards.
This is all very cool, but I wouldn't get too excited - my summary here is about as detailed as the patch notes themselves are (though without the numbers-tuning class stuff,) which likely means that it'll be a good long while before any of this hits live.
Still, news of new stuff on the horizon is pretty good. Warlords is an expansion that I think started off very, very strong, but petered out quickly when it became clear that there wasn't much to do outside of raiding and hanging around our garrisons. The zone design and quests were great (well, I wasn't crazy about Gorgrond) but at this point it's been Foundry Foundry Foundry (I actually liked the aesthetic of Highmaul a lot more. Foundry felt a bit like Siege of Orgrimmar's Underhold 2.0, though Blackhand's 3-story fight was pretty inspired.)
The concern I have, though, is that this looks very much like a final patch. Especially given the Legendary chain coming to an end, I really don't think we're going to see more out of Warlords after 6.2. And that means that Blizzard had better be chugging along on expansion six. Admittedly, I think Blackrock Foundry hasn't totally worn out its welcome yet (though I might feel that more strongly if the place had had a more varied aesthetic - Throne of Thunder was a fantastic and recent example of how to do this) but I think WoW really needs more stuff to do outside. The Apexis Dailies aren't really rewarding, or maybe engaging enough.
I'll be eager to hear more details about the new features. Mythic dungeons aren't quite as exciting as Timewalker dungeons or just plain new ones, but they're at least a way to keep 5-player content relevant. The shipyard has the potential to be really cool - but only if we actually get to take the ships around on the sea. If it's just a new follower system where we have to level up new ships, that's not that great (and also is almost exactly what Assassin's Creed did.)
Monday, April 13, 2015
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Chapter III: The Foundry Falls
I'm sure anyone spending much time working on the Legendary quest chain is probably up to the point where they're getting elemental runes from bosses in Blackrock Foundry. However, upon finishing the collection, things get kicked into overdrive.
Runes and Tablets:
Upon capturing Garona, Khadgar tasks you with gathering a number of things from Blackrock Foundry. He needs a the Heart of the Heart of the Mountain - the Elemental Fury inside the Blast Furnace. He also needs the Flamebender's Tome off of Flamebender Ka'graz, the second boss in the Black Forge. The third piece is a Draenei Navigation Orb that is locked away in a chest that becomes available after defeating the Iron Maidens. Upon gathering these three items, he wants you to collect Blackhand's arm - the arm that was turned into elemental stone.
All of these things will be easy to get - just do the first three wings of BRF and you'll have them, and then you'll be able to get the quest for Blackhand. However, while you're working on this, you'll also need to collect Elemental Runes. You will need a total of 900 of these bastards. Every 300 you will then turn into an Elemental Tablet, as the quest is really just asking for three tablets.
Every boss in the instance is guaranteed to drop at least 9 runes, but if you're lucky, you'll get 27 off them instead. Blackhand, however, will always drop the full 27, meaning that a full clear each week will give you a minimum of 108, but a potential of 270 (expect it to be much closer to the 108 side.) Like the Abrogator Stones before them, you'll have a chance to get these in random work orders. Additionally, there's a weekly follower mission that will net you 18 runes, so if you have geared followers who can do it, that's a guaranteed 126 a week.
Point is: it'll still take you a long, long time, though I believe that subsequent characters will have a much higher chance for the 27-a-boss droprate.
Khadgar uses the tablets to upgrade your ring, and he kills you a little more thoroughly than usual (seriously, this is what, the third time he's killed us?) While dead-ish, you have a vision of Gul'dan pressing Grommash to drink the demon blood, pointing out that the Foundry has already fallen. Khadgar revives you with a set of goblin jumper cables.
Free Your Mind:
Using the tablets, Khadgar will upgrade your ring to 715. The ring also gains an upgraded version of the proc, now called Archmage's Greater Incandescence, which boosts your primary stat by 15% instead of 10%.
However, try as he might, Khadgar is unable to break Garona's mind control. Not to worry, though, as he sends you to a cave beneath Elodor (I'm not sure if there's a different area for Horde players.) Funny story: I actually stumbled upon this cave while leveling and one of the level 100 guards, rather than attacking level 91 me, just warned me that I should stay away. Anyway, you slaughter your way through the Shadow Council forces there (getting a kind of bonus quest to kill 15 of them) and get an Orb of Dominance off of an Ogre Warlock there.
Bringing it back to Zangarra, Khadgar uses the orb to break Garona's mind control. However, this involves "The Demon Within" breaking out, and you'll have to fight and kill it first. When it is dead, Garona thanks you and provides you with information on where Gul'dan is - at Bladefury's Command at the gates of Tanaan.
Iron Gear Solid:
You arrive at the gates of Tanaan and meet with Khadgar and Garona. You need to infiltrate the place without being seen with Garona's help.
This is the most challenging part of the chain outside the raids.
You get an extra action button that will call upon Garona to shadow step, assassinate a target, and then shadow step back. This is the only attack you'll be using, as anything else will raise the alarm.
The key here is that the rules of stealth are slightly different. The various guards are on "High Alert." What this means is that they've got a sort of cone of vision in front of them. If they see you or Garona (including when she's performing an assassination) they will cast "Raise the Alarm," which, if they finish, will alert everyone to your presence and you'll have to start from the beginning. Garona's ability has a six-second cool-down, and I believe that Raise the Alarm has a six-second cast time, meaning that if she's spotted while assassinating, you're almost guaranteed to fail and have to start over. If you set a guard off just by walking into the wrong place at the wrong time, however, there's a chance you can recover if you're quick.
So the key here is patience. Make sure you can single out guards that no one is currently looking at. After killing one guard, other nearby guards will look at the spot where that one died, which you can use to your advantage. You'll need to make your way up the nearest path and around a pit-arena to steal some Iron Horde intelligence. The initial path is actually the most guard-dense area, so until you get the hang of the mechanics, you'll be seeing that area a lot. Luckily, the blade master guards around the pit will be watching the fight, so you can eliminate them easily. They will turn if a nearby guard dies, though, so you'll want to take them out when there's a window.
Once you get the intel, you'll need to backtrack and head up the path up the hill. There are a few more tricky groups of guards, but you will likely have taken out some of them in the course of making your way to the intel. Once you get up the hill, there will be a box of crates you can hide behind, and that's when the biggest plot development in the expansion happens:
And this is finally non-spoiler, because I did this whole thing on LFR, meaning several wings delayed many weeks, so we can say that the "average" player should be able to get to this point by now.
Gul'dan comes to call on Grommash, asking once again for him to drink. Calling out Grommash's failure to make his people conquerors, he drops the bombshell that one of said followers was Grommash's own son. Grom's devastated, but he can't be turned. He charges Gul'dan, but the warlock counters with a powerful binding spell. The other orcs of the Iron Horde look around in confusion, but Kilrogg Deadeye sees an opportunity (or perhaps just his destiny) and walks forward to take the blood. Kilrogg drinks and is transformed, and with that Gul'dan has effectively taken over the Iron Horde.
Teleported back by Khadgar, you get the "wait for 6.2" quest, but you also get Garona as a legendary follower. Garona has standard rogue abilities, but she also has "Master Assassin," which greatly increases her effectiveness against all targets. This effectively gives her three abilities, the third being whichever threat might not have been countered yet. So yes, she's by far the best follower, which makes sense given that she's Legendary. I recommend quickly upgrading her to 675.
Runes and Tablets:
Upon capturing Garona, Khadgar tasks you with gathering a number of things from Blackrock Foundry. He needs a the Heart of the Heart of the Mountain - the Elemental Fury inside the Blast Furnace. He also needs the Flamebender's Tome off of Flamebender Ka'graz, the second boss in the Black Forge. The third piece is a Draenei Navigation Orb that is locked away in a chest that becomes available after defeating the Iron Maidens. Upon gathering these three items, he wants you to collect Blackhand's arm - the arm that was turned into elemental stone.
All of these things will be easy to get - just do the first three wings of BRF and you'll have them, and then you'll be able to get the quest for Blackhand. However, while you're working on this, you'll also need to collect Elemental Runes. You will need a total of 900 of these bastards. Every 300 you will then turn into an Elemental Tablet, as the quest is really just asking for three tablets.
Every boss in the instance is guaranteed to drop at least 9 runes, but if you're lucky, you'll get 27 off them instead. Blackhand, however, will always drop the full 27, meaning that a full clear each week will give you a minimum of 108, but a potential of 270 (expect it to be much closer to the 108 side.) Like the Abrogator Stones before them, you'll have a chance to get these in random work orders. Additionally, there's a weekly follower mission that will net you 18 runes, so if you have geared followers who can do it, that's a guaranteed 126 a week.
Point is: it'll still take you a long, long time, though I believe that subsequent characters will have a much higher chance for the 27-a-boss droprate.
Khadgar uses the tablets to upgrade your ring, and he kills you a little more thoroughly than usual (seriously, this is what, the third time he's killed us?) While dead-ish, you have a vision of Gul'dan pressing Grommash to drink the demon blood, pointing out that the Foundry has already fallen. Khadgar revives you with a set of goblin jumper cables.
Free Your Mind:
Using the tablets, Khadgar will upgrade your ring to 715. The ring also gains an upgraded version of the proc, now called Archmage's Greater Incandescence, which boosts your primary stat by 15% instead of 10%.
However, try as he might, Khadgar is unable to break Garona's mind control. Not to worry, though, as he sends you to a cave beneath Elodor (I'm not sure if there's a different area for Horde players.) Funny story: I actually stumbled upon this cave while leveling and one of the level 100 guards, rather than attacking level 91 me, just warned me that I should stay away. Anyway, you slaughter your way through the Shadow Council forces there (getting a kind of bonus quest to kill 15 of them) and get an Orb of Dominance off of an Ogre Warlock there.
Bringing it back to Zangarra, Khadgar uses the orb to break Garona's mind control. However, this involves "The Demon Within" breaking out, and you'll have to fight and kill it first. When it is dead, Garona thanks you and provides you with information on where Gul'dan is - at Bladefury's Command at the gates of Tanaan.
Iron Gear Solid:
You arrive at the gates of Tanaan and meet with Khadgar and Garona. You need to infiltrate the place without being seen with Garona's help.
This is the most challenging part of the chain outside the raids.
You get an extra action button that will call upon Garona to shadow step, assassinate a target, and then shadow step back. This is the only attack you'll be using, as anything else will raise the alarm.
The key here is that the rules of stealth are slightly different. The various guards are on "High Alert." What this means is that they've got a sort of cone of vision in front of them. If they see you or Garona (including when she's performing an assassination) they will cast "Raise the Alarm," which, if they finish, will alert everyone to your presence and you'll have to start from the beginning. Garona's ability has a six-second cool-down, and I believe that Raise the Alarm has a six-second cast time, meaning that if she's spotted while assassinating, you're almost guaranteed to fail and have to start over. If you set a guard off just by walking into the wrong place at the wrong time, however, there's a chance you can recover if you're quick.
So the key here is patience. Make sure you can single out guards that no one is currently looking at. After killing one guard, other nearby guards will look at the spot where that one died, which you can use to your advantage. You'll need to make your way up the nearest path and around a pit-arena to steal some Iron Horde intelligence. The initial path is actually the most guard-dense area, so until you get the hang of the mechanics, you'll be seeing that area a lot. Luckily, the blade master guards around the pit will be watching the fight, so you can eliminate them easily. They will turn if a nearby guard dies, though, so you'll want to take them out when there's a window.
Once you get the intel, you'll need to backtrack and head up the path up the hill. There are a few more tricky groups of guards, but you will likely have taken out some of them in the course of making your way to the intel. Once you get up the hill, there will be a box of crates you can hide behind, and that's when the biggest plot development in the expansion happens:
And this is finally non-spoiler, because I did this whole thing on LFR, meaning several wings delayed many weeks, so we can say that the "average" player should be able to get to this point by now.
Gul'dan comes to call on Grommash, asking once again for him to drink. Calling out Grommash's failure to make his people conquerors, he drops the bombshell that one of said followers was Grommash's own son. Grom's devastated, but he can't be turned. He charges Gul'dan, but the warlock counters with a powerful binding spell. The other orcs of the Iron Horde look around in confusion, but Kilrogg Deadeye sees an opportunity (or perhaps just his destiny) and walks forward to take the blood. Kilrogg drinks and is transformed, and with that Gul'dan has effectively taken over the Iron Horde.
Teleported back by Khadgar, you get the "wait for 6.2" quest, but you also get Garona as a legendary follower. Garona has standard rogue abilities, but she also has "Master Assassin," which greatly increases her effectiveness against all targets. This effectively gives her three abilities, the third being whichever threat might not have been countered yet. So yes, she's by far the best follower, which makes sense given that she's Legendary. I recommend quickly upgrading her to 675.
Monday, March 30, 2015
How Not to Wipe on Blackhand's Crucible LFR
The Blackhand fight is, at least on LFR, a somewhat more frantic rush than Imperator Mar'gok's careful hierarchy of add destruction and not standing in one of a million things. It's not a short fight, exactly, but each of the three phases feels like a fairly simple and quick boss fight, but one that can potentially subject your raid to attrition, which is why the third phase - in which the area fills with dangerous damaging areas and people start to take heavy damage - becomes the real challenge of the fight. Effectively, making it through phases one and two is how you beat phase three - which perhaps sounds like a tautology now that I'm looking at the sentence I just typed, but there you have it.
So: How Not To Wipe:
Hold On, Partner!:
One of the easiest ways to make a mess out of the fight is accidentally pulling the boss before the whole raid is there. Blackhand patrols a large area that opens up very soon after you step off the elevator to reach him - and that means that it's common for players to wander out into the arena while other raid members are waiting for the next elevator as they had missed the previous one.
There is a safe little foyer - just sit tight right there and let the raid assemble. Blackhand will sometimes cross rather near the edge of the circle, so stay the hell back!
Falling Stuff!:
You can die on phase one. Mainly this happens if you stand in a slag bomb and then get hit by Massive Demolition. Best advice I can give is that the tanks should be moving him in a circle quickly so that you can leave the bombs behind. Don't stand in the arrows, don't stand in the bombs. Don't stand in the big brown swirls (and avoid the little ones if you can.)
Tanks and Snipers:
Phase two I think is probably the easiest one to survive on LFR. But you should know that if you get fixated by a siege tank, you need to run it over the mines that Blackhand tosses out in order to blow off the armor and also give a temporary debuff that makes it much easier to take the siege tanks out (it actually lasts long enough that if the DPS is paying attention, it won't live long enough for it to fall off.) It seems you can get away with leaving the snipers alone, but if you're melee, let yourself get knocked back by his slam on the tank (red circle) and take out about six of them before jumping down.
Danger Zones!
Phase three is a mad rush. Really the tanks just need to be good about pulling the guy around in a big circle. If you get bombs, run them to the center, or if that's not an option, run them to behind the group. Save Time Warp/Hero/Lust/Ancient Hysteria for this phase if you can. You will run out of space eventually, but if enough people survive the first two phases, you should be able to take him down without too much trouble.
So: How Not To Wipe:
Hold On, Partner!:
One of the easiest ways to make a mess out of the fight is accidentally pulling the boss before the whole raid is there. Blackhand patrols a large area that opens up very soon after you step off the elevator to reach him - and that means that it's common for players to wander out into the arena while other raid members are waiting for the next elevator as they had missed the previous one.
There is a safe little foyer - just sit tight right there and let the raid assemble. Blackhand will sometimes cross rather near the edge of the circle, so stay the hell back!
Falling Stuff!:
You can die on phase one. Mainly this happens if you stand in a slag bomb and then get hit by Massive Demolition. Best advice I can give is that the tanks should be moving him in a circle quickly so that you can leave the bombs behind. Don't stand in the arrows, don't stand in the bombs. Don't stand in the big brown swirls (and avoid the little ones if you can.)
Tanks and Snipers:
Phase two I think is probably the easiest one to survive on LFR. But you should know that if you get fixated by a siege tank, you need to run it over the mines that Blackhand tosses out in order to blow off the armor and also give a temporary debuff that makes it much easier to take the siege tanks out (it actually lasts long enough that if the DPS is paying attention, it won't live long enough for it to fall off.) It seems you can get away with leaving the snipers alone, but if you're melee, let yourself get knocked back by his slam on the tank (red circle) and take out about six of them before jumping down.
Danger Zones!
Phase three is a mad rush. Really the tanks just need to be good about pulling the guy around in a big circle. If you get bombs, run them to the center, or if that's not an option, run them to behind the group. Save Time Warp/Hero/Lust/Ancient Hysteria for this phase if you can. You will run out of space eventually, but if enough people survive the first two phases, you should be able to take him down without too much trouble.
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Outcasts, Broken, and Sethe
We obviously don't encounter many of the "Broken" Draenei on Draenor. In our timeline, the Horde used a mysterious "Red Mist" at the siege of Shattrath that caused many of the defenders (those who stayed behind, unlike Maraad, who was tasked with escorting civilians out of the city) to be horribly mutated, transforming their bodies into the Broken, or for those who were perhaps hit with a larger dose, transforming them into the "Lost Ones." (Fun fact: in Warcraft Three: The Frozen Throne, all of the "Draenei" seen there use essentially the Lost One model we have in WoW. Akama was later retconned to be somewhere between your standard Broken and a Lost One, and Burning Crusade retconned the Draenei to be related to the Eredar.)
Beyond the physical transformation, the Broken were unable to call upon the power of the Light anymore. Paladins and Priests who had literally spent tens of thousands of years using the Light to protect themselves were suddenly cut off from the power that had kept them safe and given them hope.
And this severance created an uncomfortable segregation within the normally nearly-utopian Draenei society. With the Light being so central to Draenei culture, those who were unaffected worried that without the Light, the Broken would become a threat to them. Without the Light, after all, the Draenei would have become Man'ari, like their brothers and sisters on Argus. Of course, this became something of a self-fulfilling prophecy - driven to desperation, some of the Broken did turn to Warlock magics - some even joined the Shadow Council (though how many of these people had been members of the Sargerai before is up for debate, though I think most surviving Sargerai Warlocks most likely made the full transition to Man'ari Eredar demons, like Socrethar.) However, most of the Broken remained loyal to their people, and Nobundo, a former Vindicator Paladin, answered the call of the Elements of Draenor, who taught him Shamanism and gave the Broken an avenue to inner peace. But the Red Mist's effects were irreversible, and though people like Nobundo were certainly good and honorable, the Light was still inaccessible.
I think the general assumption was that the Red Mist was some sort of foul Warlock magic - the technique being - thankfully - lost to time.
Yet our journey to Draenor has revealed that the Red Mist actually has nothing to do with demons or Warlocks. Though I don't know if it has been confirmed exactly, all signs point to the idea that the Red Mist is in fact the blood of Sethe.
The sequence of events on Draenor isn't quite the same, though. It seems that Garrosh's interference pushed Gul'dan's Blood of Mannoroth Gambit to earlier in the war against the Draenei. In all likelihood, the original Horde had already conquered the Arrakoa and claimed the Blood of Sethe before they made their assault on Shattrath and Karabor. Yet the Iron Horde has a relatively small presence in Arak - and one that seems less like an invasion and more just the Shattered Hand's ordinary base of operations.
Anyway, it turns out that the Draenei were not the first ones to be transformed by Sethe's evil essence. The Arrakoa had, in recent centuries, become a cruel society of elitists, and political enemies were cast down - literally - into the ever-flowing blood of Sethe. The Wind-Serpent God had been slain by Anzu long ago, but his blood had cursed the land on which it spread. Anzu himself was cursed and made unable to fly. And those Arrakoa who were exposed to the blood were twisted and transformed as well.
The Outcasts are really just the Arrakoa equivalent of the Broken. Just as the Broken had their connection to the Light cut off, the Outcasts turned away from the magic of the Sun and embraced the Shadow.
Admittedly, something must have changed here - Draenei players who run through the blood are not transformed. This could be a mere gameplay/story separation, but it could also be that the blood had to be altered in order for it to work on other species.
It's a shame that the story of Arak is all limited to the zone itself. It seems like there's a lot more potential backstory there. What exactly is Sethe? Or Anzu and Rukhmar for that matter? It seems to me that the latter two could be Draenor equivalents of Ancients or Loa (which I've always maintained are essentially the same kind of entity - ditto Celestials.) And if that's the case, Sethe could be Draenor's equivalent of Hakkar the Soulflayer (actually, wind-serpent Loa tend to be bad guys. We worked with Quetz'lun, but she was clearly not a good guy.)
We know that Draenor had a Titan presence - and they most likely had a large role in the creation of the Ogres and their Breaker ancestors (Magnaron, Gronn, Ogron,) as well as the Primals and probably the Arrakoa (the Apexis ruins look very Titan-esque.) But then we still don't really have a solid understanding of the relationship between the Titans and the Ancients/Loa/Celestials on Azeroth, so I don't know how much we can infer about what's going on with the ones on Draenor.
Still, it's a fascinating connection and insight into the history of our Horde. And it answers the question of why the Red Mist disappeared - it was lost when Draenor broke apart and the Spires of Arak were cast out into the Twisting Nether.
Beyond the physical transformation, the Broken were unable to call upon the power of the Light anymore. Paladins and Priests who had literally spent tens of thousands of years using the Light to protect themselves were suddenly cut off from the power that had kept them safe and given them hope.
And this severance created an uncomfortable segregation within the normally nearly-utopian Draenei society. With the Light being so central to Draenei culture, those who were unaffected worried that without the Light, the Broken would become a threat to them. Without the Light, after all, the Draenei would have become Man'ari, like their brothers and sisters on Argus. Of course, this became something of a self-fulfilling prophecy - driven to desperation, some of the Broken did turn to Warlock magics - some even joined the Shadow Council (though how many of these people had been members of the Sargerai before is up for debate, though I think most surviving Sargerai Warlocks most likely made the full transition to Man'ari Eredar demons, like Socrethar.) However, most of the Broken remained loyal to their people, and Nobundo, a former Vindicator Paladin, answered the call of the Elements of Draenor, who taught him Shamanism and gave the Broken an avenue to inner peace. But the Red Mist's effects were irreversible, and though people like Nobundo were certainly good and honorable, the Light was still inaccessible.
I think the general assumption was that the Red Mist was some sort of foul Warlock magic - the technique being - thankfully - lost to time.
Yet our journey to Draenor has revealed that the Red Mist actually has nothing to do with demons or Warlocks. Though I don't know if it has been confirmed exactly, all signs point to the idea that the Red Mist is in fact the blood of Sethe.
The sequence of events on Draenor isn't quite the same, though. It seems that Garrosh's interference pushed Gul'dan's Blood of Mannoroth Gambit to earlier in the war against the Draenei. In all likelihood, the original Horde had already conquered the Arrakoa and claimed the Blood of Sethe before they made their assault on Shattrath and Karabor. Yet the Iron Horde has a relatively small presence in Arak - and one that seems less like an invasion and more just the Shattered Hand's ordinary base of operations.
Anyway, it turns out that the Draenei were not the first ones to be transformed by Sethe's evil essence. The Arrakoa had, in recent centuries, become a cruel society of elitists, and political enemies were cast down - literally - into the ever-flowing blood of Sethe. The Wind-Serpent God had been slain by Anzu long ago, but his blood had cursed the land on which it spread. Anzu himself was cursed and made unable to fly. And those Arrakoa who were exposed to the blood were twisted and transformed as well.
The Outcasts are really just the Arrakoa equivalent of the Broken. Just as the Broken had their connection to the Light cut off, the Outcasts turned away from the magic of the Sun and embraced the Shadow.
Admittedly, something must have changed here - Draenei players who run through the blood are not transformed. This could be a mere gameplay/story separation, but it could also be that the blood had to be altered in order for it to work on other species.
It's a shame that the story of Arak is all limited to the zone itself. It seems like there's a lot more potential backstory there. What exactly is Sethe? Or Anzu and Rukhmar for that matter? It seems to me that the latter two could be Draenor equivalents of Ancients or Loa (which I've always maintained are essentially the same kind of entity - ditto Celestials.) And if that's the case, Sethe could be Draenor's equivalent of Hakkar the Soulflayer (actually, wind-serpent Loa tend to be bad guys. We worked with Quetz'lun, but she was clearly not a good guy.)
We know that Draenor had a Titan presence - and they most likely had a large role in the creation of the Ogres and their Breaker ancestors (Magnaron, Gronn, Ogron,) as well as the Primals and probably the Arrakoa (the Apexis ruins look very Titan-esque.) But then we still don't really have a solid understanding of the relationship between the Titans and the Ancients/Loa/Celestials on Azeroth, so I don't know how much we can infer about what's going on with the ones on Draenor.
Still, it's a fascinating connection and insight into the history of our Horde. And it answers the question of why the Red Mist disappeared - it was lost when Draenor broke apart and the Spires of Arak were cast out into the Twisting Nether.
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Iron Crucible First Impressions - Tank Perspective
Well, this is it, boys and girls, the final wing of Blackrock Foundry on LFR, and the ultimate raid boss until we get into Tanaan Jungle. Much like Imperator's Rise, the Iron Crucible is a single-boss instance to allow for the complexity of the final boss.
Blackhand is, on LFR, actually not terribly difficult, but of course I was running more or less right when the servers went up, so my raid had some fairly hardcore people (though actually the DPS averaged only about 20k, which is certainly good for LFR, but not mind blowing.)
Trash before Blackhand:
We start once again at the very entrance to the instance, but thankfully all the trash in the Workshop is gone, so you don't have to pull those same guys again.
There will now be a path leading into the Iron Crucible. You'll find a single miniboss there. Make sure that you get the whole raid inside before you pull her (someone pulled ours before the other tank could get inside.) Flame jets will blast certain areas in the corridor, so pull the miniboss farther along as the fight goes on. She'll stack up a debuff on the tank, so do a taunt swap (if the other tank is there.)
An elevator will open up and you'll be able to head to the top, where Blackhand awaits.
Blackhand:
Tanking Blackhand is relatively simple, though I did die on phase 3 so I might need to go into more specifics when I've seen the fight from other perspectives or just done it more than once.
The fight takes place in three distinct phases. You'll start way at the top of the instance, then drop down to ground level, and finally fall into a cavern on a platform over lava.
Phase 1:
This one's pretty simple. There's an enforced tank swap, as he'll knock his current target away, clearing their threat and doing the same to anyone standing within the red circle. When you're not tanking him, stand behind him with the melee. Bombs will appear on the ground that you should avoid, and you'll see arrows pointing away from him at players targeted by his impaling throw, which you should also avoid. Be sure to tank him in the center of the room, as the outer edge will heat up and deal damage to people, with the glowing heat slowly working its way to the center (that's your phase 1 soft enrage mechanic.) Once he hits a certain health threshold (I assume 2/3) he'll smash the floor and you'll fall to the second level.
Phase 2:
Much of the same mechanics will persist in this phase (and the last one.) He'll summon tanks that will fixate on random raid members, so as a tank you can ignore them. When he knocks you back, he'll send you to a balcony where a bunch of snipers are taking potshots at your raid. Kill what you can, but make sure you're down again before he knocks back the other tank. DPS should stand in your knockback circle so that they can help with the snipers. Eventually, he'll smash the floor and you'll fall to the lowest level.
Phase 3:
Ok, I died on this phase (though he was about to die when I did) so I might have some of the basics wrong, but mainly you want to make sure he doesn't knock you off the edge of the platform. That said, you can't be in the center, because he'll be laying down some persistent AoE, and you'll want to gradually kite him out of it by making a big circle. The bombs, throws, and knockback/tank swap are all still there. This is probably when you want to pop Hero/Lust.
So overall, not so bad. I'm sure it'll be more of a challenge later in the week, but it also doesn't really have the complexity or the adds of Imperator Mar'gok, so I think it should be pretty easy within a week or two.
And with that, Blackrock Foundry is down, and the Iron Horde is in serious trouble.
Blackhand is, on LFR, actually not terribly difficult, but of course I was running more or less right when the servers went up, so my raid had some fairly hardcore people (though actually the DPS averaged only about 20k, which is certainly good for LFR, but not mind blowing.)
Trash before Blackhand:
We start once again at the very entrance to the instance, but thankfully all the trash in the Workshop is gone, so you don't have to pull those same guys again.
There will now be a path leading into the Iron Crucible. You'll find a single miniboss there. Make sure that you get the whole raid inside before you pull her (someone pulled ours before the other tank could get inside.) Flame jets will blast certain areas in the corridor, so pull the miniboss farther along as the fight goes on. She'll stack up a debuff on the tank, so do a taunt swap (if the other tank is there.)
An elevator will open up and you'll be able to head to the top, where Blackhand awaits.
Blackhand:
Tanking Blackhand is relatively simple, though I did die on phase 3 so I might need to go into more specifics when I've seen the fight from other perspectives or just done it more than once.
The fight takes place in three distinct phases. You'll start way at the top of the instance, then drop down to ground level, and finally fall into a cavern on a platform over lava.
Phase 1:
This one's pretty simple. There's an enforced tank swap, as he'll knock his current target away, clearing their threat and doing the same to anyone standing within the red circle. When you're not tanking him, stand behind him with the melee. Bombs will appear on the ground that you should avoid, and you'll see arrows pointing away from him at players targeted by his impaling throw, which you should also avoid. Be sure to tank him in the center of the room, as the outer edge will heat up and deal damage to people, with the glowing heat slowly working its way to the center (that's your phase 1 soft enrage mechanic.) Once he hits a certain health threshold (I assume 2/3) he'll smash the floor and you'll fall to the second level.
Phase 2:
Much of the same mechanics will persist in this phase (and the last one.) He'll summon tanks that will fixate on random raid members, so as a tank you can ignore them. When he knocks you back, he'll send you to a balcony where a bunch of snipers are taking potshots at your raid. Kill what you can, but make sure you're down again before he knocks back the other tank. DPS should stand in your knockback circle so that they can help with the snipers. Eventually, he'll smash the floor and you'll fall to the lowest level.
Phase 3:
Ok, I died on this phase (though he was about to die when I did) so I might have some of the basics wrong, but mainly you want to make sure he doesn't knock you off the edge of the platform. That said, you can't be in the center, because he'll be laying down some persistent AoE, and you'll want to gradually kite him out of it by making a big circle. The bombs, throws, and knockback/tank swap are all still there. This is probably when you want to pop Hero/Lust.
So overall, not so bad. I'm sure it'll be more of a challenge later in the week, but it also doesn't really have the complexity or the adds of Imperator Mar'gok, so I think it should be pretty easy within a week or two.
And with that, Blackrock Foundry is down, and the Iron Horde is in serious trouble.
Thursday, March 19, 2015
How Not to Wipe in Blackrock Foundry LFR
So, I did a bunch of rundowns on the bosses in LFR after my first impressions, but now that we've had two weeks of Iron Assembly (with only Blackhand left,) I figured I'd look at some troublespots and give advice about the bosses that seem to be causing the most trouble.
Slagworks:
Actually, Slagworks pretty quickly became a rather safe LFR wing. As with all of them, the trash at the beginning is only hard if you try to skip it and fail. And it's LFR, so people will fail. Just pull the stuff and happily go on with your run.
Blast Furnace: This one's a long fight, but it's never been terribly hard. DPS should kill the Bellow Operators first, and let the other adds die to cleave damage. Be sure to interrupt Engineers casting Repair and stun Security Guards when they get their defensive shield up. Taking out Foreman Feldspar will ease your raid damage. Also, if you get Melt, run the hell away and drop that off somewhere people aren't going to be standing!
Black Forge:
Kromog: Thankfully people seem to be finally learning how to do this fight, so it's not the wipefest that it once was. Three key things: when he starts to cast his Rippling Smash, look at where he's facing and don't be there. Second: ranged needs to let melee and tanks take the runes at the front. Don't send that poor Rogue scrambling for a rune because you were being lazy on your Mage - easy fix, just stand toward the back of the room. Third: don't just start DPSing the boss when your rune is down. Help others out, especially healers, who are going to be busy what with the damage they're taking from the freaking hands!
Iron Assembly:
Operator Thogar: Two things: watch the doors (on either side!) and you'll never be surprised about where the trains are coming through. Second thing: kill the adds! It's not difficult. Just kill the adds. Go crazy for AoE and pad your numbers. Ranged also needs to take out turrets.
Iron Maidens: This one's not as complicated as it seems. You want to cleave until any of them get to 20% and then focus Gar'an's Dominator Turrets, followed by Admiral Gar'an, followed by Marak the Blooded, and then taking out Sorka when nothing else is standing. I don't care how your guild does it - on LFR, the turrets are the biggest danger. Once any of them hits 20% they all gain their new abilities, so keep cleaving until then, but afterwards you want to focus them down so that there are fewer of them and the fight gets easier. Thankfully, they're getting a big nerf in the health pool department- the Maidens and the Turrets as well - so this should be pretty easy going forward.
To sum up: Cleave until 20%, then go Admiral, Marak, Sorka. Ranged focus turrets. Also, pick a boat team before you pull.
I'm sure I'll have stuff on Blackhand next week.
Slagworks:
Actually, Slagworks pretty quickly became a rather safe LFR wing. As with all of them, the trash at the beginning is only hard if you try to skip it and fail. And it's LFR, so people will fail. Just pull the stuff and happily go on with your run.
Blast Furnace: This one's a long fight, but it's never been terribly hard. DPS should kill the Bellow Operators first, and let the other adds die to cleave damage. Be sure to interrupt Engineers casting Repair and stun Security Guards when they get their defensive shield up. Taking out Foreman Feldspar will ease your raid damage. Also, if you get Melt, run the hell away and drop that off somewhere people aren't going to be standing!
Black Forge:
Kromog: Thankfully people seem to be finally learning how to do this fight, so it's not the wipefest that it once was. Three key things: when he starts to cast his Rippling Smash, look at where he's facing and don't be there. Second: ranged needs to let melee and tanks take the runes at the front. Don't send that poor Rogue scrambling for a rune because you were being lazy on your Mage - easy fix, just stand toward the back of the room. Third: don't just start DPSing the boss when your rune is down. Help others out, especially healers, who are going to be busy what with the damage they're taking from the freaking hands!
Iron Assembly:
Operator Thogar: Two things: watch the doors (on either side!) and you'll never be surprised about where the trains are coming through. Second thing: kill the adds! It's not difficult. Just kill the adds. Go crazy for AoE and pad your numbers. Ranged also needs to take out turrets.
Iron Maidens: This one's not as complicated as it seems. You want to cleave until any of them get to 20% and then focus Gar'an's Dominator Turrets, followed by Admiral Gar'an, followed by Marak the Blooded, and then taking out Sorka when nothing else is standing. I don't care how your guild does it - on LFR, the turrets are the biggest danger. Once any of them hits 20% they all gain their new abilities, so keep cleaving until then, but afterwards you want to focus them down so that there are fewer of them and the fight gets easier. Thankfully, they're getting a big nerf in the health pool department- the Maidens and the Turrets as well - so this should be pretty easy going forward.
To sum up: Cleave until 20%, then go Admiral, Marak, Sorka. Ranged focus turrets. Also, pick a boat team before you pull.
I'm sure I'll have stuff on Blackhand next week.
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
BRF Upgrades Live
Literally in the middle of a Black Forge run, I found that a lot of my gear suddenly jumped up in item level. That's right, kids, all gear out of Blackrock Foundry has been upgraded by 5 levels.
Apexis and Crafted gear (at level 4) has also received an upgrade, so my Paladin's goggles and apexes cloak are now 685 and 675, respectively.
UPDATE: So Blizzard must be messing with me, because now the LFR tier sets have been upgraded to 660. That means Blacksteel, Sootfur, Ebonflame or Ashlink armor pieces are gaining a nice buff, meaning you'd be crazy for putting any other LFR pieces in place of these sets (maybe if you're crazy for crit like a Fury Warrior or Fire Mage.) I'll have to check in on the Rukhmar pieces to see if they've also been buffed.
Apexis and Crafted gear (at level 4) has also received an upgrade, so my Paladin's goggles and apexes cloak are now 685 and 675, respectively.
Apexis and Crafted gear (at level 4) has also received an upgrade, so my Paladin's goggles and apexes cloak are now 685 and 675, respectively.
UPDATE: So Blizzard must be messing with me, because now the LFR tier sets have been upgraded to 660. That means Blacksteel, Sootfur, Ebonflame or Ashlink armor pieces are gaining a nice buff, meaning you'd be crazy for putting any other LFR pieces in place of these sets (maybe if you're crazy for crit like a Fury Warrior or Fire Mage.) I'll have to check in on the Rukhmar pieces to see if they've also been buffed.
Apexis and Crafted gear (at level 4) has also received an upgrade, so my Paladin's goggles and apexes cloak are now 685 and 675, respectively.
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