Holyssa

RAWR. Hyjal, aka the Great AoE Moshpit. This can be a fun place if everyone reads up and performs their role properly. And as Kailand said, there is ZERO room for mistakes here, cause all it takes is one or two loose mobs or dead tanks to ruin everything. Boss linkage & advice from Miss Holy (read or die, foo'!). Don't just accept my advice though - please read the Wiki links! Rage Winterchill - All players need their PvP trinket for this. No excuses. The 5 minute trinket is nice, but the 2 minute one will help in case you become Rage's best buddy and wind up being the victim of multiple freezes/lockdown during Death & Decay. It's also a very generous 8000 Honor, and earns an Achievement. Anetheron - Shadow Resist prayer should be up at all times, and make sure you run like hell to the Infernal offtank, who is typically by Jaina for the sake of getting her DPS into the groove. Otherwise, NPC damage will outlast the OT, and it could cause a potential wipe if they get to close to Anetheron. Kaz'rogal - Any paladin should keep Judgement of Wisdom up constantly to help mana conservation. Bringing at least 3-4 mana pots if you're new to the fight is a huge help, and a decent level of Shadow Resist helps nullify his Mark ability. If you have a low mana pool, don't hesitate to run like hell! Azgalor (aka - @$$es-galor) - The doomguard OT should keep their PvP token on in case of emergencies, because you will be on constant lock down due to Cripple, War Stomp, and the Silence. A LOT. Warlocks must be ready to soul-stone any healers afflicted by the Doom spell so they can get back up & aid the MT. Be wary of where you run when Rain of Fire affects you - it can kill Thrall or the MT very easily over a span of a few minutes, forcing people to start trash clearing all over again. Azgalor trash makes Holyssa eat babies. Archimonde (assuming we get this far) - Speak to Tyrande, and test your Tears by dragging them to a free hotbar icon, and clicking them in the air/on the ground (not sure if using them from your bags is still bugged, but this method is more efficient). There is a nearby cliff people can use to leap off of which is just above 65 yards in height, and is great for practice. Slow Fall/Levitate works also, but is not recommended because of the Silence effect one of Archie's Soul Charges can apply. Don't stand still and finish a cast if you see Doomfires come at you - run away, and don't run through the boss if it happens to chase melee. Sometimes a Doomfire can be seen via a (very) subtle candle-like flicker, then it erupts into a winding snake of flames that can chase you for a good 20 seconds or more. Pally Bubble/Cloak of Shadows/Ice Block are the only spells that can remove it, but should be used conservatively. As repetitive as it may sound: you're better off alive than dead! This movie is the best Archi one I've seen, and offers two very nice perspectives: one from melee (it's a rogue), and a very clever usage of Birds Eye View: the camera man dies in mid-air (no, they do NOT wipe), yet he continues to film the fight...an almost perfect display of Doomfire and Fear mechanics! I recommend you watch this regardless of role or class. http://www.bosskillers.com/cgi-bin/bbguild...;sid=hpIIo6QZOx Trash Tips: - Don't break CC, much like in SSC/TK. Necromancers are one of few mobs that fall under this rule, but they can cause problems for aggro-heavy ranged classes while buried among all that AoE. - Provide the AoE tank a few seconds (usually 6 or so) to establish aggro and hold the mobs in place. Hunters can also kite larger mobs and give the tank's HP a bit more breathing room, allowing another OT to join the fun. - Fear = bad. It attracts more NPCs, but the AoE people will hate you, and many NPCs are mandatory for survival during Azgalor's waves. Again, it primarily applies to Necromancers & some demon mobs. - The 6th Wave of Azgalor trash is caster-crazy and can easily murder your tanks. Banish a Felhound from Wave 5 by the front where the mobs enter the camp. Any NPCs alive (including Thrall if you're lucky) will attack the banished mob until Wave 6's trash is in position, suddenly rushing in and war-stomping them into la-la land.

Good job last night folks - C'thun one-shotted even with all his numerous bugs/glitches and many new faces. Proof that crappy programming cannot stop a solid group of friends & raiders from accomplishing stuff. And what I consider a big accomplishment: knocking down one of the weirdest and most-ignored gimmick fights ever: Viscidus.! Next Tuesday will be Molten Core! AQ40 will be taken off the list now that the vast majority of mains have C'thun's kill Achievement done, and I'd like more of our own clan to see Ragnaros (c'mooon Finkle's Lava Dredger!). So if you got an Aqual Quintessence eating bank space, bust it out for next week. Also: if you have completed the "Only One May Rise" quest with us in BWL - you should use this chance to grind to Neutral with the Brood by following the quest instructions. I was hoping we could push to Neutral via more AQ40 farming, but with the xpac looming in a few weeks, it will be a tricky goal to reach without ignoring other raid boss Achievements people need (Rags, Hakkar, Ossirian, etc.). Once you hit Neutral, then you can turn in all those Insignias you've (hopefully) been stockpiling. EDIT: One last thing. If you own a deep BM-spec'd hunter and you want a red (read: sexy) Core Hound, stable your current pet. Once we kill Magmadar, these guys stop spawning!

To make matters more...interesting: rather than wait for the patch, much of the Ret changes got hotfixed in today on Live & Beta (supposeably): By (that b@stard crab) Ghostcrawler:

RAWR @ Nefarian dead in just above 45 minutes or so. We'll be doing AQ40 again tonight for more mounts, C'thun kills (bring a reasonably strong alt if you want the Achievement on someone else this time), and hopefully moar Brood rep. Also: we'll do Viscidus & Ouro for more Qiraji Insignias. Next Monday we'll do one final BWL, and the following Tuesday (Nov. 4th) will be Molten Core for those still requiring Rags!

Sorry for the double post, but I figure this was important for all you grumpy zombie-haters: the plague is gone as of this afternoon! But Blizzard isn't finished having fun with pre-WotLK celebrations... By Tigole:

I wouldn't be too worried - even if someone else forms up the Gruul/Mag run a bit later than usual, both raids should get cleaned up relatively quickly in light of the HP nerfs. BWL will be also be a relatively short trip. Now that I have the mats needed for one of those precious Ony Cloaks, we should have zero problems downing the 3 drakes & Nef, making this a silly-fast clear if people show up quickly. Your welcome! And don't worry about taking the blame - thankfully the stone outside was working as intended (lawl), but I don't think the one in BRM will be as generous, which is why I'm being a bit more strict on showing up on time.

*cleans the dirt off this section with a fossil-dusting brush* ((I'm in a writing mood, so in light of the recent zombie madness, I figure I'd write a mini-journal describing Holy's thoughts & experiences during the recent craziness. Enjoy!)) Thursday, 23rd of October Last night I had finished a rather lengthy journey into the jungles of Stranglethorn, and we stopped at Booty Bay, one of Cresalia's favorite spots. The little one insisted we bring home some of that Pupellyverbos Port that the bartender had a "limited stockpile" of. When will she ever learn that no matter where the drinks come from, it'll just make her stupider with every sip? I got the two of us a small room just above the bar...rather unusual to have so many vacancies, considering how many people get stabbed or shot just to get a room with a view around here. The goblins outside have been making a rather nasty racket over a new shipment of crates that came in by sea not long ago. One approached me while I was fishing on the pier this afternoon and begged that I cleanse this "itch" that had been bothering him since unloading the cargo. They really do need to be more careful around that stuff. With Cresalia (happily) reeking of alcohol and my satchel filled to the brim with pearls from this morning's clam catch, we decided to set on home just before sundown. The Bay can be rowdy at night, and I did not want to risk Cressy making new friends with pirates and cut-throats. On my way past the Bay's entryway tunnel, a Night Elf woman suddenly dashed up to my ram, and threw herself to her knees, begging and pleading in her native Kaldorei tongue. Her skin was covered in small welts of green, her clothing was scratched and torn in various places, and her eyes looked as though she had not slept in days. Cressy was quick to place her hand on her blade even during her drunken stupor, but rather than make a fuss in front of the guards, we increased our pace and made a dash towards the zepplin. Seriously, if the damned hussy elf did not get so cuddly with the native trolls in these woods, she wouldn't be such a diseased wreck. Then again, Kaldorei never were very bright when it came to meddling with nature. We approached Grom'gol, and had secured a spot below deck on the zepplin returning to the Undercity. We looked over the edge of the ship and noticed a horrifying sight: the Kaldorei woman we spotted earlier had made a desperate charge at an orcish guard, leaping onto the guard and clawing at his face like an animal! Very unusual behavior even for her people. It took the aid of five grunts to pry the crazed woman off, and the last thing we heard as the camp faded into the distance was the death-cry of the odd woman... Friday, 24th of October Cressy knocked on my bedroom door this morning in a fit of absolute terror. Apparently a group of some four people had chased after her into the front gates of Silvermoon City this morning, but were quickly cut down by the local guards. She described them as having the same animalistic qualities as the sick Kaldorei lady, but far worse - patches of skin were missing from their bodies, and they were vomiting uncontrollably as they desperately dashed after my dear friend. Perhaps the Wretched had escaped from Quel'danas? No...cleanup was going smoothly over there last I heard now that the Sunwell is somewhat stable. And this was far from ordinary Wretched behavior. If these were Scourge attackers, someone has a lot of explaining to do. And where the blazes are all these bugs in the Bazaar coming from?? Saturday, 25th of October This morning looked as if a war broke out! Refugees from all the various capitols began swarming into any city they could, and Silvermoon was now a mini-hospital of sorts: men, women, and children alike were stretched out under small doctors' tents spread throughout the Walk of Elders, each bearing the mark of the Argent Dawn. I offered my services to the Dawn in order to help ease some of the chaos, but even my restorative powers could only handle so much. Many were grateful for my aid, but for each I seemed to cure, more would quickly fill their sickbeds. A recently married couple were among the most recently infected, but the two had died just within an hour or so of contracting the disease, even after taking restorative droughts from the doctors. To make matters worse, the gates were under constant attack by decaying and sickened people. I don't know how long the guards plan to hold them off, but my beloved city just was not safe anymore. Just what kind of plague are we dealing with? Sunday, 26th of October The road to Shattrath was like a bad dream come true. This morning, Stonard was literally a ghost town, and the road leading to the Dark Portal was littered with raving, mutilated carriers of this new plague..some feasted on the hyenas desperately trying to fight back with tooth and claw, others fed upon each other. All I could do was look forward while we rode towards the foreboding glow of the gate to Outland, for if my ram slowed down for even a moment, I fear what would become of us, what would become of my dear blood-sister Cresalia. Cresalia and I spent the night in my flat atop the Aldor Rise. It's not very big, but it has enough resources to keep us in good shape for the next few months... She's not very fond of the squid-faced folk, but their knowledge and acceptance atop this windy spire is far better than the spreading horrors beyond A'dal's reach. I woke up not long ago from a rather short nap, only to discover a small camp set up by a group of Forsaken, one calling himself Putress. He gives off a very sickening vibe every time I pass by him, and he has been handing out delivery package orders to able-bodied folks all day. Monday, 27th of October Cresalia was bitten this morning while she went hunting for food outside the city walls, despite my warnings to stay in and wait for today's food reserves to come in. It took all my strength to not only crush the ghoulish fiend that had chased her beyond the already heavily-occupied guards, but I nearly passed out trying to clean the vile disease from her body. I can only hope that my magic can keep her in this world for just a bit longer, but if this keeps up, there won't be enough of us left to last the coming winter. A flyer was placed on the wall of the Aldor bank not long ago, a call to arms soon being sent out to any who could hold a steady sword, gun, or staff. I took a good long look at the flyer, which portrayed a drawing of the Roof of the World, Northrend. The construction of the new zepplin towers couldn't come at a better ti- [The journal entry is cut off short, the last word hastily scribbled as if the writer were caught by surprise.] EDIT: Fixed some boo-boos. Thats what I get for typing in mid-lunch.

Mini FYI - Blackwing Lair is tonight (after Magtheridon)! Before heading down to Blackrock Mountain, please grab this quest from Silithus called "What Tomorrow Brings". It's a very short quest which merely involves approaching the big dragon outside Caverns of Time. The next part, however, is crucial for folks that wish to take a stab at Nozdormu rep, or completing their own AQ Scepter chain for lore's sakes - because the item it asks for is Broodlord Lashlayer's head! Also: if you plan on inviting friends/guests from outside of CS, please let me know well in advance!! I think you all realized how much it sucked @$$ summoning people to AQ40 without a warlock at the stroke of midnight. So if you know someone who wants their Nefarian Achievement, speak up.

A hotfix is coming for the odd Necropolis Invader spawn rates: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.h...o=1&sid=1#2 As for that new guy in Kara...you only have 10 days left to get yer bats! http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.h...=1&sid=1#13

This takes "surprise buttsecks" to a new level. He's gonna be hurtin' in the morning.

Fixed that for ya Right now it's just for good, clean (I use the term loosely) fun. Blizzard is being very cryptic about things for now. It's probably going to become something bigger over time, but I'd like to see stuff like mini-objectives seen around the launch of L60 Naxx (Holy wanna AD Tabard!).

Moar Hyjal? RAWR! I'd be up for this, and a certain ret pally still wants her hat, I'll bet >_> I know I said I'd do AQ40 Tuesdays, but with the recent HP nerfs this place should be a breeze if we get some good people, and I can always schedule it for later in the week depending on our success. Come help roflstomp Archie!

Not since the great (RIP) has getting sick in WoW become so much fun. Here's what I found out so far about what looks to be the start of something fun & potentially scary!1. Become infected by interacting with the odd crates in Booty Bay or attack a zombie NPC/player. Also, if you step in the green Retch cloud spread by a zombie you'll get the germ. 2. You will gain a 10 minute disease that can be cleansed by Paladins/Shaman/Priests, or by going near an Argent Healer (they're all over capitol cities). If you want to have some fun, don't let your friends cure you! 3. When the infection has run its full course, you'll transform! You can't mount up, and your walk speed is slow/zombie-like, but you get a bunch of cool new spells: Mangle - Increases your next attack by 20 damage and reduces the target's armor by 3%. Lurch - Removes CC spells/snares and gives you a small speed boost. Beckoning Groan - Beckon 4 zombies that are out of combat to you. A taunt, perhaps? Retch - Zombie puke! Target an area in front of you to use this. Humanoids in it are slowed and infected, but zombies in it are healed. Zombie Explosion - KABOOM! Those nearby that are affected catch the germ. -Retch will heal you, as will attacking people. Be careful - city guards still hit like trucks! -To become an instant zombie, use spells like Divine Shield, Ice Block, or (dwarf) Stoneform to "force" the infection. Cloak of Shadows does not seem to remove or trigger the germ because it isn't a form of invulnerability. -Becoming a zombie makes you hostile to all player factions, but here's the funny part - if a player from a rival faction transforms, you can communicate with them!

Mini FYI to those working hard on Halloween Achievements - the Squashling (which counts for the Holiday and Pet Collection tasks) has been confirmed to drop from Treat Bags by Blizzard! Clicky!

I made a little schedule adjustment after much needed thinking/coffee drinking. BWL will immediately follow Gruul/Sacktheridon on Monday nights. In my opinion, it is the shortest of the 40-mans, and given our success in AQ40 with a group at half size, we can roflstomp it in a swift amount if time and earn 25-40 people their Nefarian kill. That, and Saturdays are typically a day of real life R&R for people (and in some cases, dead quiet in-game), and it would seem odd to me to suddenly pop a raid in there just weeks before Wraith. As for Ossirian and MC? The Great Pecker I'll be putting on hold for a bit, depending on demand for his achievement. And with the recent patch changes, Cenarion rep is super easy to farm by killing mobs for the Texts...a boring task, but very satisfying @ 500 rep for 10 per turn in. MC I'm thinking of placing on Mondays after we kill Nefarian, and alternating back & forth till WotLK hits. If enough people stay online after Magtheridon, we can possibly form a full raid of 40 heavily armed Crushers and watch the guild flood with Achievement spam Let me know what you guys think. I kinda suck when it comes to planning these things (gimme credit - my days of leading as a mage are very foggy x.x), but I hate to see this content become forgotten come xpac time, especially now that Blizzard has given us some form of motivation to return.

Been a while since anything zomg-super-exciting has really happened in Beta Land, but this caught my eye. By Ghostcrawler: Kinda sucks for all those Combat rogues out there, but if raid bosses drop dead as fast as the stories say, perhaps this is for the best.

Good work last night folks! Even with the server stability displaying mass amounts of epic fail, we still killed the Twin Emperors via the mighty power of Paladin Facerolling™, and got to share one of the coolest boss fights in WoW with many friends. Come back again Friday night after Kailand's Zul'aman run - with the Emperors dead, we can teleport to the room directly before C'thun and Ouro, leaving only a stream of trash pulls between us and the boss kill Achievement! He sees what we did there. >.>

Shouldn't you be at Scryer bank right now? O_o

As most of you probably know, I'm running classic raids after our initial Gruul/Mag/ZA trips on the weekends. The following is a list of old-school content with Achievements tied into them, as well as the times I will be attempting to form rep runs. Given our recent successes and gear levels, these classic runs will take no more than an hour of your free time, and will be a perfect opportunity to experience what made many of Azeroth's finest leaders rip their hair out so long ago ^_^ Zul'Gurub: Sundays @ 9:00PM (or when Shelah's ZA group finishes) Achievements: Hakkar - Pretty simple. Destroy the Soul Flayer. Note that leaving all the priests up can still make this mob very aggravating even at L70, so a full, if not partial clear, is still a good idea. Deadliest Catch - A must for if you wish to acquire the Fishing title. Summon the boss, and one person at a time will earn credit, whether you live to slay it or not. Swift Razzashi Raptor / Zulian Tiger - Yep. Bloodlord Mandokir and High Priest Thekal still drop these super-rare animals. Onyxia: Following BWL if there is interest. Simply killing her will earn the Achievement. Note that with the latest patch, there is no more attunement! Temple of Ahn'Qiraj: Tuesdays @ 8:00PM. Will try to get a minimum of 25, but a full raid of 40 will make this place somewhat of a joke. C'thun - Stab the great eyeball. AQ40's difficulty curb ranges from MC-ish to Naxx-like as it progresses. Many battles will be zergfests, but great care must be taken on specific sub bosses, and from Huhuran onward. ...oh, don't be " " who chains the beam onto people.Why? Because it's Red - There's four different colored Qiraji Battle Tank bugs in the dungeon, but this one is...special. Maybe girls find big red bugs sexy... Blackwing Lair: Mondays after Gruul/Magtheridon (removed from Thursday & Friday to avoid conflicts with other raids/sleepy people) Nefarian - Deathwing's son is still very nasty. A mandatory item for tanks is the Onyxia Scale Cloak, otherwise the shadowflame DoT will absolutely wreck even the most bad@$$ L70. Smelt Elementium - Not an Achievement, but necessary for most blacksmiths to help build a familiar sword. A priest must Mind Control a goblin named Master Elemental Shaper Krixix (please don't kill him by mistake among a trash-mob zerg), and then "teach" players to smelt the ore. What Tomorrow Brings - Long ago, many people sulked about the Silithus inn, knowing they'd never get a shot at this huge, yet lore-packed quest chain as they listened to that dumb goblin upstairs groaning 24/7. Now the head of Broodlord Lashlayer is lootable by all raid members! Get this quest! Molten Core: (Will alternate with BWL depending on time, availability of Quintessences and manpower) Ragnaros - TWO SCOOPS, EXECUTUS! Note that you need Aqual Quintessences to douse the many runes in MC and awaken big bad Rags, so bring some old-school friends to help this process go by quicker. Sulfuras / Thunderfury - Do these weapons need any introduction? Building them will award Feats of Strength, but good luck gathering the manpower and oodles of mats needed to make the goods. Core Hounds - This specifically applies to deep-BM Hunters, but if you want a big drooling red friend, now is your chance! Q: WTF are all these scarabs and idols for? (AQ) A: Collect and turn them in for gear. Each turn in rewards you with a selection of bizzare items, as well as reputation. Personally? I'd stick with grinding the instance trash and turning in Twilight Text...unless you like weird looking weapons. AQ20 Scarab Table: http://www.wowwiki.com/Ruins_of_Ahn%27Qiraj_quest_loot AQ40 Scarab Table: http://www.wowwiki.com/Temple_of_Ahn%27Qiraj_quest_loot (these don't give rep, but I listed them for all you item packrats) Q: Any rules on loot? A: The usual: pass on everything, and we roll on stuff 1 item at a time. Some items are rep-boosters (Qiraji Insignias, for instance), but they cannot be turned in until you become Neutral with the Brood of Nozdormu (see the quest for Broodlord's head up above) or collect a specific set (ZG Coins). For non-set/rep items, we'll DE whatever is left behind, but don't feel ashamed to take a piece for nostalgia/fashion's sakes...Blood Elves, I'm looking at you . Q: How long will these runs go on? A: Until WotLK or until people get bored of it. Q: Will we need stuff like NR or FR gear? A: Not really. Paladin Auras & Aspect of the Wild should do fine for most encounters, since the level gap helps resist a good deal of damage done already. For places like AQ or MC, it's not nearly as heinous as oh say...Sapphiron in L60 Naxx.

..whoa. Figure I'd link some quests to help people get a jump start on Rep grinds for the title & Exalted Achievements. Most of these are the solo-able stuff that aren't directly tied to raids: Timbermaw Hold: Feathers for Grazle / Nafien 300 Rep per turn-in. Beads for Salfa: 300 Rep Ritual Totems: 1400 Rep The competition for grinding this rep was brutal at L60. With the recent boosts provided by the patch, this rep grind became a lot less tedious (despite being a semi-slap to the face for those that did it the old fashioned way), but now you gotta compete with epic'd out friends & rivals. Cenarion Circle: Twilight Texts: 500 rep There are other turn-ins for getting rep, but if you don't feel like grinding AQ20 or the Abyssals, this is the best method. The price on these has gone up greatly on AH, so spend wisely. Mobs in Silithus die super fast, and keep an eye out for the Twilight Prophet - she can drop as many as 7-10 texts per kill! Bloodsail Buccaneers: The best guide for this (IMO) is listed here at Breanni's amazing Warcraft Pet site: http://www.warcraftpets.com/guides/pets/bloodsail.asp Great for those that want to be a hardcore pirate, but always wanted to know the pros & cons. Your grinding methods may vary! Shen'dralar: Class books: 500 rep Enchant books/Librams: 500 rep Those crazy Night Elves in the Dire Maul Library. Probably the most time and money-consuming rep to build up depending on how much of a classic pack-rat you are. The good news is that each class book/Libram gives a LOT of rep. The bad news? Each Libram is UNIQUE - you can only carry one set of quest mats and a book at a time. Easiest way to do this is to mail yourself every Libram, and carry a massive amount of quest materials, running back & forth from Camp Mojache to DM North. The following Librams award Shen'dralar rep and do not cost money (unlike the quest in the Steppes): Libram of Protection Libram of Rapidity Libram of Focus If you're a faction perfectionist, think carefully before you chuck away those books!

In regards to retro-content, My ZA team will be hosting Zul'Gurub runs after Zul'jin dies for mounts and achievements (this usually happens around 9:00PM assuming we experience no hiccups and enough people feel like going). Our raid will already contain 10 people from stomping ZA, but we can bring in an additional 10 (or have people swap alts, since ZG is super easy) to defeat Hakkar for rep and the boss kill. I'll also be hosting AQ20 (Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj) runs Mondays after Gord's Gruul/Sacktheridon run. Depending on what time that raid finishes (not set in stone yet), I'll be running the Ruins for Cenarion Rep, and a shot at the giant pecker, Ossirian!

Great job on ZA last night! Even with Shelah and Kieranna missing, we roflstomped the Amani Empire into extinction. The nerfs truly made BC raiding more relaxing than hair-pulling, I must admit We plan to run this until the expansion hits for lewts and fun. A special thanks go out to those who aided us in our ZG run afterwards, as well as Burana & Kailand for filling our missing spots. If there is enough interest, we will follow every Sunday ZA run with a Zul'Gurub clearing to get rep, Hakkar kills, and a shot at the mounts for Achievement fillers. The place falls like bowling pins with a group of properly geared people, so don't hesitate to ask us for one of those extra ten raid spots!

Argh. This Saturday (10/18/08) is booked for me due to RL madness. But if this is going to be a weekly thing until xpac time, Holyssa would love to help.

http://www.warcraftmovies.com/stream.php?i...p;stream=Google Tamzin's Vashj Tutorial. Not the greatest quality, but it still gives you a general idea of what to expect.

Bump because of a recent hotfix: ret pallies got nerfed! By Ghostcrawler: For those that hate reading, I highlighted the main changes. Looks like Divine Storm is now a whirlwind clone, and burst damage took quite a bite. /target Kadi /gives [Folded Handkerchief]