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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsSkill Mastery: Zombie Explosion!
by Zach Yonzon 
Oct 26th 2008 at 9:00AM
It's important to know that You're Infected!, the disease that turns unwitting players into subservient members of the Scourge, now has a
The best way to wreak as much havoc is to quietly get infected (you can kill a Plagued Roach or click on a Conspicuous Crate), and situate yourself in a densely populated area. Some players will try to rid you of the disease, so be wary of Priests, Paladins, and Shamans. The moment you turn, start casting Zombie Explosion!. Don't bother with anything else. It is a four second cast spell, with pushback extending that to five, so you must try to get it off as quickly as possible. There is nothing subtle about this ability... it is simple, it is devious, and best of all, you explode in a symphony of rotting body parts and noxious green gas. All hail the Lich King!
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Events, Guides, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 4)
OrkOfYork Oct 26th 2008 2:09PM
OK, let me be someone who will put this event in both perspectives.
When the event started, being a zombie was the coolest thing ever. It was almost like that promised "outlaw" system mentioned in the WoW manual that apparently fell through when under developement. I learned something fast as a Zombie: You're weak and vulnerable. And when this first started the disease took 10 bleeding minutes to become a zombie unless you were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice like drowning yourself or dropping off a cliff to change faster. Sometimes a Ret Paladin would show up mere seconds after my long conversion and would kill me. Quickly. And heal all the people I had infected.
That was pretty annoying. What did he have to say for himself? "Stop griefing people who are trying to level up." Now I'm not gonna go all RP on everyone here, but let's think for a second: What would a scourge zombie do? Would he be polite to people trying to level up? Would he kindly avoid popular towns to allow people to do their chores? The answer is simply: NO. And I'm quite sure that's WHY Blizzard allows you to attack anyone as a zombie. Any other way would seem fakey.
Now on the other hand, just yesterday I was doing quests in Duskwood for rep with the alliance for achievements as my level 65, the quest givers were all dead, the flight master was dead so I couldnt get out of there, and needless to say it was mildly irritating. But did I whine about something I was doing just the day before? NO. I got even. I cratered the zombies using chain lightning and my spirit wolves, and when one of them whined to me that they were having fun and I ruined it, I said "Oh well". Simple as that. I didnt whine that they were disrupting MY fun, I just got back at them and went back on my way.
In summary: with the plague hastened to 2 minutes of incubation, there is a drastic rise in Zombie population. Main cities are almost always infected completely and totally. This is a bleeding crisis. And, I may point out, it's SUPPOSED TO BE. We're not going to Northrend because we want the Lich King's Epix lewt. We're going in response to this crisis which he brought down on us. PAYBACK TIME.
AND BTW: The further away you are from a main city, or any town for that matter, the less likely you will run into a zombie. Grab what quests you need from the towns, go and do them in the solitude of the wilderness, and don't whine when some zombie manages to kill you, it won't help you, and it won't convince the zombie not to do that anymore.
It is very easy to outmaneuver zombies, which I have tested and done as a level 1. I ran through two main cities without getting touched by zombies or infected.
And Zombies: DONT WHINE WHEN PEOPLE KILL YOU. They're just getting back at you for what you did to them. *shrug*
OrkOfYork Oct 26th 2008 2:21PM
Wow, didn't realize what a text wall that was. More like a text Skyscraper.
TL;DR version:
Zombies are weak and easy to kill.
They are very easy to outmaneuver (did so multiple times on a level 1 alt, so don't try to argue that point.)
There are plenty of opportunities to get quests when the quest givers are infected or when they respawn.
The further you are from a main city or town, the less likely you'll see a zombie.
Dying to a zombie is annoying, but raging about it WONT fix any problems.
Getting ganked quickly as a zombie is annoying, but raging about it WONT fix any problems.
Quitting over the whole thing will not fix your problem either.
This is a game, and it's meant to be fun. You're idea of fun may be different than the next person, but that's a fact you have to accept.
The point of the invasion is to fight the Scourge... or to a lesser extent, help spread their will. So fight on, brave heroes, and forget not that this is just a game.
Paladin777 Oct 26th 2008 2:28PM
As a 70 Holy Paladin I've been letting the players who enjoy being zombies roam freely through the streets, just to see how far they can get. I don't even cleanse random players unless they ask me to.
I only stop to fend off the shambling horde when they stand between me and a particular task's completion. Its goes a long way toward making a list of rather mediocre chores into an exciting adventure.
Fending off 2 random zombie attacks while having to cleanse myself 5 times between the flight path and the bank in Shatt is alot of fun. ^_^
Should they actually manage to zombify me then oh well time for some brains. :D I'd love to see some zombie related achievements for infecting large numbers of people, or having a certain number of npc ghouls at your command. Conversely I think most ghouls killed in a certain amount of time would be cool too... or even most players or npc's cleansed.
I think this event is alot of fun and could have been taken a step further by using different character models for different races/classes. Such as mummies for trolls, or skeletons for casters. Perhaps upgrading your model and attacks as you chomp on more peeps.
Being able to beckon selected number of high level NPCs from the plaguelands would have been especially interesting.
Max Oct 26th 2008 2:39PM
amen
Max Oct 26th 2008 2:44PM
Why are so many people complaining?
It's the first FUN thing blizzard has done in a very long time.
and its SO EASY TO AVOID IF YOU DON'T WANT TO PARTICIPATE
get over yourselves, people. It's just a game.
javert78 Oct 26th 2008 3:03PM
For you TLDR people out there, there will be a bit of QQ here. Please feel free to skip this post.
Ultimately, it comes down to choice. Believe it or not, there are some people out there (myself included) that do not want to participate in the event. They have other things going on in the game that are more important to them. It is one thing to get infected because you went to go beat on a zombie--you pretty much asked for it, and that's on you. It is quite another to be forced to participate because someone decided it would be a good idea to see how many people he can infect in the AH, even though you were doing your own thing. Doesn't matter if you want to participate or not--the choice has been taken out of your hands. THAT is what I dislike about this event. By introducing this element to the Scourge Invasion (which I liked in its previous incarnation), Blizzard has finally thrown its support, unwittingly or not, behind same-faction griefing.
I rolled on a PvE server specifically because I didn't want to have to engage in PvP if I didn't want to. This event effectively takes that decision out of my hands, and I strongly resent that.
Andrew Oct 26th 2008 3:05PM
The infection time has just been reduced to 1 minute on the EU servers. Without any warning at all the server went down, and when it came back up the infection time had been reduced.
Elvanbryn Oct 26th 2008 4:21PM
As a class that totes a shotgun, I'm rather enjoying this new shooting spree...err...zombie event. House of the Dead anyone?
Also ChathJess rather enjoys the roaches. Makes great puppy snacks.
Deeznuts420 Oct 26th 2008 4:32PM
only thing im pissed about is people curing me with me asking.
ONLY CURE PEOPLE WHO ASKS TOO. maybe some people want to be zombies and have a little fun....damn.
DarkWalker Oct 28th 2008 8:01AM
Worst ever WoW event.
Enough said.
jacksworth Oct 27th 2008 7:08AM
Yup, i infected the whole Orgrimmar AH, several times.
The best bit about exploding in a group of people is laughing at all the QQ as you run back to your corpse.
Oh, and chasing down randoms around the city and trying to convert them to zombies is also pretty fun.
Dont forget to takeout the bankers and auctioneers!
(Just remember to get naked beforehand, otherwise you might end up with a rather large repair bill.)
Zach Oct 27th 2008 7:09AM
Zombie Explosion! counts as a suicide, which doesn't cost any item durability. =)