Holyssa

PTR is up for playing! Many news sites are spewing forth info at a crazy rate, but each one has different stuff. Among them... - http://www.worldofraids.com has artwork posted for the Alliance/Horde exclusive weapons used in the new Colosseum raid. - http://wotlkwiki.info/index.php/Main_Page lists SOME new BoE epic items which are craftable. Take the material list with a grain of salt. - http://www.mmo-champion.com has a list of the new Emblem of Triumph items. - There's a bunch of sites listing art and set bonuses for Tier 9 gear. FYI: the artwork is not done and is currently using Ulduar Art as a placeholder. - New raid tier means new VoA boss: Koralon the Flame Watcher. - They finally added holiday achievements for Day of the Dead, Pirate's Day (Talk Like a Pirate Day FTW) and Thanksgiving (Pilgrim's Bounty). My dream of owning a brave little turkey pet has finally come true... EDIT: Footage of the new Vault boss. He's a palette swap of Ignis: This is the 10-man version, so he dies incredibly fast. There isn't much info out there yet, but it looks like yet another "stay out of the fire" fight with flame patches, another big AoE to heal through (fire spin?), and a fusion-punch ala Steelbreaker. Some pics of the new weapons to make you chuckle: Horde PvE staff: What the f*ck is that? This is definitely the kind of professional craftsmanship that screams "Orcala Weapon". Horde PvE fists: I can't help but think of one of the endings from Twisted Metal Black...very sick art. I'd love to see these on a tauren. Horde PvE Gun: A canon. On a stick. With guns getting bigger & bigger, you figure Blizzard would make the sound effects louder to compensate... Horde PvE Shield: A coffin lid complete with hinges. WIN.

Until Blizzard fixes the classic/TBC torches, here's a list of Northrend flames you can steal/honor. Grab 'em while you can for gold, blossoms to spend on food (which stacks with stuff like Fish Feasts), and goodies related to the holiday: Alliance: * Borean Tundra - South West of Fizzcrank Airstrip [55, 20] * Howling Fjord - Fort Wildervar [57, 15] * Dragonblight - Wintergarde Keep [74, 43] * Crystalsong Forest - North of Windrunner's Outlook [77, 74] * Grizzly Hills - Amberpine Lodge [34, 60] * Zul'Drak - North of The Argent Stand [40, 61] * Sholazar Basin - Southern River's Heart [47, 65] * The Storm Peaks - West of K3 [41, 87] Horde: * Borean Tundra - East of Bor'gorok Outpost [51, 11] * Howling Fjord - West of Camp Winterhoof [48, 13] * Dragonblight - Agmar's Hammer [38, 48] * Crystalsong Forest - South of Sunreaver's Command [79, 53] * Grizzly Hills - Conquest Hold [19, 61] * Zul'Drak - South of The Argent Stand [43, 71] * Sholazar Basin - Northern River's Heart [47, 61] * The Storm Peaks - West of K3 [40.4, 85.6] Classic/TBC torches: http://www.wowwiki.com/Midsummer_Fire_Festival Semi-useful tip for Torch Juggler Achievement: Step 1: Buy 10-20 torches from the vendor, Step 2: Throw the stack of juggling torches on one of your keybinds. I used "1". Step 3: Point your camera downwards and hover your mouse over your character, so the AoE crosshair is surrounding your feet. Step 4: Spam your keybound torch + left click. Step 5: Achievement. Got this tip from Wowhead, and completed it after buying only 15 torches with 2 seconds to spare. If you catch the torches successfully, you don't lose them. Oh, make sure you do this in an open spot like the sewers so people don't gripe about torch tossing spam lol

I can bring Hikoria as DPS (death knight), but only for Monday.

The new heirlooms, or at least the ones Blizz has spoken publicly of, are officially *drumroll* ...chests! http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.h...=2&sid=1#36 Rawr.

Had to read those notes a few times to get a grasp on things. Grr @ Blizz for the Tower of Text. Probably one of the nicest PvP changes aside from the XP toggling. Turtles will still occur, but at least WSG isn't a big grassy twilight zone players can't escape from anymore while the other team is hiding. Speaking of XP toggling, this will probably give rise to "Classic" guilds now: people who wish to remain at L60 (including blood elves and squid-men) and farm the old 40-man content for fun and not accidentally ooze to L61, and it saves Blizzard the trouble of having to calm the cries for "Vanilla" servers....which people will probably STILL whine for. lol The logic behind this is weird. This does not smell like a temporary PTR change either, or else Blizzard might as well hand stuff out for free on those realms (Say "Rawr" for Flaskataur! ). Yea, it "hands out" epics to folks for just a day of chain-farming 5-mans. But on the other hand, it's NOT top Tier gear like you'd see from Ulduar hard modes or Vezax/Yoggy/Al. Ulduar items still blow away a good chunk of badge loot for many classes/specs, and new raiders must still do their homework to get the good stuff. All the QQers on MMO-Champ & the official forums fails to see this logic, and it's amusing to watch the super hardcore folk whine that "their" epics are easily acquired. There's more to raid loot than just Tier sets! /facepalm On the bright side, it will help hybrids and alts gear faster and make catching up to help your fellow raiders less of a chore. Although...I have this gut feeling that by doing this, it's like they want people to rush by the content... /shrug A better idea would be kinda like what somebody suggested on MMO-Champ: Heroism = Normal 5-mans (Northrend) Valor = 10-man Raids. Maybe even drop 2x per boss or more if Hard Mode requirements were met (not sure if Sarth+3D already does this). Conquest = Naxx/Sarth/Maly 25 and Archavon. Ulduar-10 too for normal modes. Again, probably increase their quantity? Triumph = Ulduar-25 & the Colosseum. SHOOP DA WHOOP! I'MMA CHARGIN' MAH EXORCI-- *AxeRogue's Kick silences you* ...still a nice pulling tool that won't force Avenger's Shield onto the cooldown, and now rets will stop whining about one less form of "burst". I can live with the SotR damage nerf...if it can even be called a nerf due to Block Value changes. Ouch. Even Blizzard's box-based minigame got kneecapped. So much for simply buddying up with a 2nd player and trying to earn gear GADZOOKS!

Once again, take it with a grain of salt: some of these changes (with the obvious exception of old news like druid art, mount changes etc) will need to be taken with a grain of salt and may not be final. Actually, screw the grain: take it with a bucket, because this post is so big, it's....well, just read. For those of us in the TLDR crowd, I underlined what I felt was the really...fascinating stuff. Take the term as you may. >.> http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/...patchnotes.html Oh mai. Twinks can actually STAY twinks now for a decent fee. Kinda sucks how it limits you to only playing with people using the same toggle switch, which I have a feeling will STILL lead to QQ for people that didn't get the memo. (OH NOES! I dinged 20 in WSG! /liferuined) Axe Rogues. I never thought I'd see the day.

"A" made me clutch my sides due to laughter pains. Thou art brave, tree-druid, but squishy! Golemagg's twins had many lols. "B" is something we all wind up doing. Sticking our faces in stuff may feel refreshing, but it's all fun & games till someone loses an eye. Or in Eigun's case: brain cells via electric shock. Simple reminder: pay attention to your surroundings, folks! "C"...well, we all have our trademarks and annoyances. Deal with 'em folks. No raid is full of saints, and I'm not even going to bet money that the rest of the raids out there are far meaner than ours could ever hope to be. Yeah, some stuff (like our mystery cougher, whose name I won't mention out of respect) can seem REALLY irksome. But you also deal with this stuff in reality everyday too (like this guy in my lab who laughs like Steve-O from Jackass.../cock shotgun). Just keep your cool, and POLITELY remind said noise-maker person to try to keep control (such as temporarily muting their mic). "D"? Not much to say here, except I can't WAIT for Mimiron-25 wipe recovery bloopers. Somebody break out the Pac-Man intermission music! This is for mocking the Voltron theme on Sunday! /tar Eigun /pickup <AFK> Orcala /toss

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/underd...tournament.html Blizz said they'd expand upon the tourney a while back, but here's some details: RAWR! It's good to be a paladin. How much do you want to bet the mount will be a slap in the face and end up colored pukey pink? And yea, I know there's an Argent Warhorse, but Blizzard's art department has a weird sense of humor. Moar heirlooms! Maybe Blizzard will finally re-use more of the BWL or AQ weapon designs. Mounted Squires...poor little fellas finally get a break after tirelessly chasing our epic mounts for so long. EDIT: More details from Blue: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.h...mp;pageNo=6#116 It's a repair bot with an 8-hour cooldown, basically. Great for those that want to repair on-the-go without having to pull a prehistoric animal out of their pocket in the middle of some dark cave.

Guess what guys? More nerfs. We just missed a few of these: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.h...14070&sid=1 "Good heavens!" as mama moo says. Maybe we can get (Heroic) FL down with one tower or more in the future with some practice.

The 19 bracket may not be so safe either...unless you play a shaman/hunter/druid that is. Zarhym updated his blue post with class-specific speed boosts. Have a look:

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.h...54175&sid=1 Blazing saddles at L40 for a measly 50g? Very nice for those who have been bitten by the alt-itus bug. Faction discount with Artisan skill is fine too.

You two made raiding a lot of fun, and a wholesome experience if you ask me. From Remm randomly dancing with me in that silly ogre suit, to Xeno scaring the crap outta me each time he pulled aggro, I will never forget all that we've been through. Go with your family, and enjoy the game, I say You two will make any guild very proud. But don't be a stranger: roll an alt or twink, and drop by to say hello every now and then!

And finally, Night Elves: Of the new forms, this ties with tauren bears as the best of the new art IMO. Too bad Night Elves only go good over a roasting fire... + Doesn't look like Anorexia Cat around the arms. + No more old-man stubble. It looks like...well, fur now. + No more pointy tail. - Eww. Colors look like vomit, but seeing as they are night elves, I can see where they originate from (hair color?) - Necklace looks kinda odd. One charm would be nice, but three seem more fitting for a moonkin or tree. - Colored teeth! WTS toothbrush.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...COW CAT! +No more lockjaw. There's a blue post somewhere saying Bear got a similar treatment (ie no more bugs flying into a bear's mouth), but can't find it :\ +Looks more intimidating. No more bright eyed smiling kitty chasing you in WSG! +Fur looks very detailed around the mane, and it looks like an actual lion as opposed to a starved wind rider. -The head is huge/scaled oddly. Looks okay when idle, but a bit lengthy when seated, particularly around the muzzle. -Nose rings look out of place. Here's hoping this is also just an appearance-choice thing, like the fur color. -Dark colors don't seem to blend well. The upper-right one looks like Kimahri Ronso (from Final Fantasy X) mixed with a pack mule.

XT-002: Must Deconstruct Faster: http://www.wowhead.com/?achievement=2937 We keep coming close to this one. I think it's just one of those we'll "accidentally" unlock as we grow close to roasting the heart. Ignis: Shattered: http://www.wowhead.com/?achievement=2925 Kill 2 constructs within 5 seconds, then finish off the fat guy. Stokin' the Furnace: http://www.wowhead.com/?achievement=2930 Killing him in 4 minutes. This is one of those things that will simply pop up with better gear. Iron Council: Can't Do That While Stunned: http://www.wowhead.com/?achievement=2947 Really tricky, but it doesn't require a crazy gear-check like the hard mode stuff. Just careful interrupt timing. Hodir: Cheese the Freeze: http://www.wowhead.com/?achievement=2961 Don't get hit by Flash Freeze. Simple matter of paying attention. Wowhead also suggests jumping among the snow piles to avoid the accidental mid-snow freeze bug. I Have the Coolest Friends: http://www.wowhead.com/?achievement=2963 Beat him with all NPCs alive. Not sure if we did this one already. Auriaya: Nine Lives: http://www.wowhead.com/?achievement=3076 Might be a healer gear check since it makes the fight drag out a bit longer. Thorim: Who Needs Bloodlust? http://www.wowhead.com/?achievement=2975 Mind control a Dark Rune Warbringer and use it's buff, although this will be tricky since we lack a priest lol Mimiron: Not-So-Friendly-Fire: http://www.wowhead.com/?achievement=3138 Force him to blow up an add in P3/P4. Kite, bubble/block, profit.

Night Elf Bear art released. So far Horde wins the vote for most attractive-looking druid forms...the colored Elvis sideburns kind of ruined it, and are far more noticeable. On the bright side, no more massive back hump, but they may have just recycled the model used for bears in the wilderness. Bleh. Cross your fingers and hope they do away with the Circus Lion look tauren cats have been cursed with!

My turn! Happy Birthday! Naxxramas Gargoyle Fun. This will make you feel old!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xzv28z6EBA Nerf Paladins! I think Orcala did this to a gnome: A GM has a nice surprise during this RP wedding: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWZYRDdk8lU It's Gnomezilla! Fun with Beerfest Goggles & Gruul: The Original Reckoning Bomb from many moons ago. Poor Kazzak Happy Birthday! : A hilarious bug with the Chopper bikes. I think it's fixed now: Orbital death owls will do this two expansions from now:

Someone had a case of the Orcalas Happy Birthday!

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/underd...ruid-forms.html For a sampler, this looks VERY promising. Happy Birthday!

To all you JCers: beware! F**k 'Bornak's Couch: I posted this here because as we get better gear, some of our raiding JCers will want to stick to Prismatics in order to keep helmet meta-gems working. Spend those daily tokens wisely, and pray this doesn't go live. /RAGE

Orcala and I will be attending Anime Boston '09 this weekend at the Hynes Convention Center When I get back though, I'm going to relax and enjoy a good ol' a$$-whuppin' at the hands of the new Wii Punch-Out. RAWR~! Here's some footage of Aran Ryan for giggles:

Hope you feel better soon Waldy! ...and in before "swine flu" jokes >.>

I know I put myself down for the craftable boots, but after doing my homework, I'll need them for the belt instead: http://www.wowhead.com/?item=45551 (Indestructible Plate Girdle) Much like the boots, it requires just 6 orbs. And since I only recently got shoes from the Ignis trash a few weeks back, it makes more sense to replace the item with a weaker iLevel & mitigation

Here's a list of Ulduar-specific stuff that got hotfixed. Some of you may have noticed these amidst the typical raging patch-day lag: "The following are a list of changes that have been hotfixed to 3.1.2 or are in the process of being hotfixed. All changes are to both 10 and 25 player versions of the instance, unless specifically noted. By Daelo: Other "fixes" (some are a repeat of above): By Bornakk:

Mini FYI: Orcala and I will not make this Thursday (5/21) since we'll be in town trying to get Anime Boston reservations finished up.