Ask a Beta Tester: Flying in the snow, etc

FoSho asked....
Maybe I'm in the dark here, but how does one get to Dalaran since its floating in mid air. Is there a portal in a town, or do you have to be 67 to get there? I keep on hearing its "dangerous" to get to Dalaran, how so?
I wouldn't call it dangerous, but you aren't going to be able to get there at level 70 without the help of a Mage or Warlock. Because Dalaran is floating high above Northrend, you need a flying mounto reach it, and when you first arrive in Northrend, your flying mount simply doesn't know how to handle the cold weather. You'll need to complete a level 77 quest chain to obtain Cold Weather Flying and reach Dalaran on your own. Alternatively, there's a quest at level 74 you can seek out in certain inns that will take you there.For more of your beta questions -- and our beta answers -- read on! But if you're the sort who wants to avoid spoilers, turn back now. We're aiming to avoid major story spoilers, but this feature is all about beta content and we can't talk about the beta without giving a few things away.
Blue_Bland asked....
Are the Mage spells Conjure Food (Rank 8) and Conjure Water (Rank 9) still only able to be learned from book drops or are they now available from the Mage trainers at 70?
Both of these are available at a Mage trainer near you in the Wrath beta.
Debesun asked....
I'm unsure whether this has been detailed yet but I was wondering about the starting reputation of Death Knights. Does a Death Knight begin the game at 55 but with the faction standings of a level 1?
I'm afraid a new Death Knight starts where any other new character starts -- with little faction standing anywhere. Alliance DKs start out at friendly with all Alliance factions. Horde DKs start out as friendly with Trolls/Orcs/Tauren or Undead/Blood Elves, depending on their racial selection. (And before anyone starts with cries of unfairness, this is exactly how a level 1 starts. You may now continue with your regularly scheduled cries of unfairness.)tehvoid asked....
Death Knights will have all old world flight paths but what about explored zones? Will they have some pre-explored parts of the world (like flight path sites) or have just forgot all of her past life minus flight paths?
Besites their flight paths, I'm afraid Death Knights know nothing of the lay of the land. If you're after exploration achievements, you'll be starting from scratch.
Tap asked....
Speaking of talent spec swaps, is Blizzard going to implement anything? I'm guessing they're too busy and won't get to it for WotLK....too bad, it would be awesome to change from DPS to healer (as a Priest) or (less likely) tank to healer and back (as a Pally) depending on need.
At the Worldwide Invitational this year, we were told, specifically, that "We are working on a plan to give players access to two talent specs." Though they promised more details in the future, they weren't specific about when, and there's always the chance that their "future" time-frame is post-Wrath. However, they've also promised the dance studio for Wrath, and we've not seen a hint of it in-game yet, so it's probably not too late for new features to pop up. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that dual talent specs makes the Wrath launch.

MacGayver asked....
I remember someone mentioning something about king Varian Wrynn being back on his throne. Any word about how that all is currently?
King Wrynn has returned and Stormwind's throne room redecorated to celebrate -- see above.Eric asked....
Do we have any idea what the rewards for the achievements will be, beyond those points? Will we be able to trade them in for something?
Though new achievement (and feats of strength) rewards seem to be popping up regularly, we do have information on some rewards. There are a number of new titles in Wrath, available only by completing certain achivements. In addition to cool titles, PvPers out there will be able to pick up a Black War Bear mount as an achievement reward. (But getting your Black War Bear won't be easy -- you'll need 100,000 honorable kills before you unlock the achievement requiring you to assassinate opposing faction leaders, which then rewards you the mount.)
Kevin Gass asked....
I have a mount question: You mounts are learned to the new spell book and you move them around an organize them? or should a clutterfree freak like myself learn the mounts in the exact order I want them to appear?
I'm afraid they show up in your spell book in alphabetical order, no other organiation to it. However, like some in the comments mentioned, I've no doubt there will be addons that will allow more precise sorting for the obsessive compulsive among us.
Filed under: Wrath of the Lich King
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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 5)
verakum Sep 15th 2008 2:04PM
I think you do .... i read about it sometime ago... and i know of a lot of herbs that are in lookout for low level herbs for future inscription... also the prices of those herbs went sky high in some servers... mine included....
Drakkenfyre Sep 15th 2008 6:25PM
Due to one of the recent changes in the Death Knight quest line, you don't start out Friendly with your faction anymore. I won't say more than that, but it's been changed, lol.
Jason Sep 15th 2008 1:20PM
In one of the more recent Beta patches my DK got a new quest to take a letter to Thrall. The entire way to the throne room you run thru Orgrimmar having the guards and other NPCs throw rotten fruit at you and spit on you. Once you complete the quest you get enough rep (6K iirc) to become Honored with Orgrimmar and thus friendly with all the other Horde factions. I can only assume it's the same deal for Alliance DKs. DKs are pacified and cannot summon their mount for this, so you can't attack the commoners or ride through the streets for this quest.
I liked the quest in that it shows how a former agent of the Lich King is accepted among the Heroes of the Alliance/Horde.
Khanmora Sep 15th 2008 1:32PM
I liked this quest too, it does do the same thing on the alliance side. The guards and citizens yell taunts, throw rotten apples and spit on you. Which makes you feel just that much worse when you finally meet Varian Wrynn with the debuff "You smell bad" from getting hit with an apple.
Galla Sep 15th 2008 4:18PM
That sounds extremely entertaining.
dawnseven Sep 15th 2008 1:21PM
The answer about achievement points missed the mark I think. Yes there are titles for certain achievements, we get that, but what kinds of things can the achievement POINTS be turned in for? That was the question as I read it and I don't see that addressed. Maybe the answer is nobody knows yet? Which, you know, is still sort of an answer. :)
Camaris Sep 15th 2008 1:28PM
From general chat on the PTR.. I don't think anyone knows. Hell, maybe just having those points is a goal in itself, as in "I have more points than you, you noob!".
Khanmora Sep 15th 2008 1:33PM
So far there's nothing to spend achievement points on, they are just there.
Circ Sep 15th 2008 1:44PM
Much like Xbox Live, I don't think the point of ahcievement points is to be able to spend them. It's to be an epeen/loser index.
holyground Sep 15th 2008 2:05PM
I think people are equating acheivement points with honor points. They are not the same thing.
Acheviement points are not a currency. They are a measure of acheviement. Think of it this way: back in Vanilla wow, you couldn't spend your PVP title. Same with these points. You can't spend them. You accumulate them and the amount you accumulate is like a score. so someone with 500 points has acheived more than someone with 200.
Anyone with an xbox 360 should understand this program inately.
elizabeth Sep 15th 2008 4:15PM
I'm afraid no one knows yet, which is why I stuck with answers we did know. :)
Min Sep 15th 2008 1:24PM
What happened to the changes that Blizzard said were coming to Infernals and Doomguards to make thme more viable? Also, why no new demons at all? I felt a little let down when the new BC demon was a 41-pt talent; however, WotLK offers only Metamorphosis and no new demons. Believe me, I love a lot about WotLK and the upgrades to the current demons, I just wish my little warlock would try a little harder to summon something else from the pits of Azeroth :-)
Thander Sep 15th 2008 3:59PM
Blizzard has said the warlock is pretty much complete as far as pets are concerned. They don't see any need that a new pet could fill.
Galla Sep 15th 2008 4:10PM
Doomguard: Health increased 20%, mana increased 24%.
Infernal: Cooldown reduced to 15 minutes, down from 1 hour. Duration reduced to 1 minute, down from 5 minutes+. Health increased by 30%, damage increased by 60%, and armor increased by 30%.
And I agree. I wanted a new demon too.
Min Sep 15th 2008 6:58PM
Figured that was all there was. I just sometimes think about warlock lore and what a warlock would do as it got more powerful. When I see Hunters taming all kinds of new pets in the beta (thanks Big Red Kitty), I get to thinking: why can't my warlock learn to summon a friggin satyr, shivan, beholder, etc? I remember that feel of progression when levelling from 1-60, but it disappears after that. Oh well, I'll keep having fun anyway!
Camaris Sep 15th 2008 1:27PM
Is there actually any limit to the number of pets/mounts those new windows can accommodate? I'm assuming they work like key rings (growing larger as you get more stuff), and I hope I'm not wrong on this.
Khanmora Sep 15th 2008 1:34PM
There are multiple pages you can fill up for pets and mounts. There is a pet achievement for over 50 pets so I know it can hold at least that much cause my rogue got the achievement.
Kaorael Sep 15th 2008 1:36PM
In fact they work more like a spell book, and new pages are added as needed.
Allen Sep 15th 2008 1:36PM
So, wait, where is Dalaran?
RogueJedi86 Sep 15th 2008 1:44PM
Floating above Crystalsong Forest. At least 500 feet above it. I know the topmost branches of some of the Crystal Trees are just below Dalaran in terms of altitude.