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.
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Reader Comments (Page 3 of 5)
deviationer Sep 15th 2008 1:47PM
right now flying is really broke in beta. You know those triggers in buildings and replaces that dismount you? well normally those aren't a problem in Outland. But in Northrend it doesn't matter how high up your are in the air, if you fly across one of those triggers, it will dismount you. In mid-air which equals falling to your death.
Finnicks Sep 15th 2008 4:49PM
I'll be sure to keep my parachute cloak handy then. :)
Andelorn Sep 16th 2008 10:30AM
I rode a ground mount over a bridge a few days ago in Outlands and was dismounted.
Dinnerbone Sep 15th 2008 1:52PM
Your dalaran answer is misleading. You can get to dalaran on your own without flying, as long as you have used the teleport crystal inside dalaran atleast once you can return there any time you like through the crystal in Crystalsong directly under Dalaran.
elizabeth Sep 15th 2008 4:19PM
You can get to Dalaran without flying there yourself so long as you've been summoned by a Warlock or have taken a portal by a Mage. But you have to have been to the city somehow before you can use the teleportation stone on the ground.
Dinnerbone Sep 15th 2008 6:54PM
You don't need to fly at all; Doing that quest ensures that you can use that crystal whenever you please.
That quest teleports you straight to Dalaran, which you then get asked to use the crystal to teleport down and back up again so that you may use it freely in the future.
yazah Sep 15th 2008 1:55PM
Question:
1) Are there any changes to fishing? I don't mean new fishing areas, or fish, but are there any changes to the *mechanics* of fishing? Or is it the same boring process as before?
(I mean, specifically, that they said there were looking at ways to make it more interactive and responsive - have there been any changes like that, or is it still a game of "click the bobber" while watching tv?)
RogueJedi86 Sep 15th 2008 2:21PM
Same old boring fishing. Try www.elsanglin.com for all your WoW Fishing information. El's in beta and has info on all the fish from Northrend, as well as fishing itself. This also applies to the rest of the game.
ssscreamer Sep 15th 2008 2:05PM
I have a question. So yesterday i saw in WoW Radios' Stratholme run a gnome with the coolest mohawk possible. Some1 mentioned that NEs are getting Mr.Ts' mohawk(which seems a bit strange though) and as i have gnome rogue, ne druid and a drawf paladin i just have to ask will we see a dwarf with a red mohawk ,from another well known game starting with W, in WoW? Are there NE and dwarf mohawks in beta ? And will they see (that includes the gnome haircut) wrath release ?
Khanmora Sep 15th 2008 3:54PM
I hit the barber shop on my dwarf male yesterday (no dwarf female warrior premades :() and there was a flat top available but no mohawk.
Reric Sep 15th 2008 2:08PM
Is there anymore information on heirloom items? I saw screenshots of the lvl 1 and lvl 80 versions, but nothing in between. Do the stats change every lvl or every 5 or 10? Can you use enchant the item on your 70 character with a top end enchant and then give it to your lvl 1
Khanmora Sep 15th 2008 6:22PM
They scale approximately every 10 levels:
http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/9679633896-binds-to-account--new-badge-vendors.html
Tap Sep 15th 2008 2:10PM
Still only 10 slots for chars in Beta? Adding the DK will make me loose my banker. *snif*
Metal_Gear Sep 15th 2008 3:42PM
The next Update bring a lot of space savers though, so I suppose that can help as a trade off :P
Mounts and Pets are spells. BG Tokens dont take space either do they? If so, those Badges of Justice or whatever they are called shouldn't take space either.
Kz Sep 15th 2008 2:13PM
I have run through the DK starting quest line twice and the implementation is absolutely excellent. I recommend doing to quest line for everyone. However, once the starting quests are completed, I find I have little enthusiasm for playing a DK. One of the reasons may be that I have 8 level 70's (all except Paladin) and some of these classes are more fun to play than a DK, at least for me. Another reason is that upon hitting the Outlands, I encounter a big let down from the starting quests which were so much fun. At this time I do not plan on playing a DK until the dust settles and I can better evaluate the utility of a DK. Anyway I was wondering if other beta players are experiencing the same letdown.
ssscreamer Sep 15th 2008 2:19PM
If you have 8 70s you probably have WAY too much free time and i really doubt it that you wont level a death knight just because you dont feel like going through Outland again, which really seems the only cause for your "let down".
Milhojas Sep 15th 2008 7:39PM
The same happened to me. The DK questline is suddenly cut and you're left with nothing to do, except grinding and outland quests. A DK is not that fun to play and without a nice story to follow, I put mine aside (for now). And I have only 2 level 70, since wow vanilla. My DK is still level 58, but I presume it will get a lot more interesting if I get to use death & decay and army of the dead. You should really try unholy. Seems like the most fun spec of them all. And not just me. Almost every DK I've found at Wintergrasp is unholy (so I got used to wait until a ghoul raised from their dead bodies to kill them again). Don't give up yet on the class. Try the PvP level 80 templates before you decide to play as a DK or not.
Jason Sep 15th 2008 2:19PM
Minor question, but earlier patch notes showed the shaman talents Convection and Ancestral Knowledge being dropped to three ranks, but they still show up as five ranks in every talent calculator I see. Any word on them changing in the beta?
Blorc Sep 15th 2008 2:20PM
What does the 4th chest in ZA drop now? I had a group miss it by 1 minute on the PTR, but I'm really curious as to if it's just empty now, or what?
goosegrease Sep 15th 2008 2:31PM
wotlk mounts? bears, mammoths, undead gryphons, frost wyrms, the black warpstalker, the motorcycle, etc. Who gets what, when, how fast, and how much?