Ask a Beta Tester: Lordaeron, epic quests, and other things
by Alex Ziebart 
Nov 2nd 2008 at 12:00PM
I really enjoy the Epic quest in Nagrand to bring Thrall to meet his grandmother. Is there anything like that in Wrath where you have to complete all the quests in one zone before you get an epic quest to complete?
Well, there are a lot of quest chains. Maybe not that long, but certainly not less epic. That doesn't mean the chains are short, either. They just don't necessarily require completing every other quest in the zone. Some of the stories start the moment you step into a zone and last straight through until you're ready to leave it again, but there are plenty of other quests you do on the way. They're less of a prize for 'beating the zone' and more an everpresent story.
Bearkub asked...
I am not 100% sure this would fit as a "beta" question, but here goes... I play a 70 Holy Paladin and a 70 BM Hunter, while my partner plays a 70 Destro Warlock and a (soon to be) 70 TG Warrior (we will not be respeccing, so Ret/Demo or the like isn't an option)... What are the 2 "best" 2-man combinations for us to use while leveling in Wrath? By best I mean efficiency and synergy, as well as ease of not being forced to split up in 5 mans.
If your partner doesn't mind tanking now and then, my personal suggestion would be Holy Paladin and the Warrior. You can find other good combos in there like the Hunter and the Warlock for mowing things down at range, or the Paladin and the Warlock for destroying mobs en masse, but Paladin/Warrior carries the benefit of having two of the most important parts of a 5-man group, a healer and a tank (who can DPS if you find another tank laying around).
When you're not in a 5-man group, the Titan's Grip Warrior will dish out a ton of pain, and the Holy Paladin can keep him going forever. Warriors with Healers become very, very scary. That's a good thing!
Debesun asked...
Is there any mention of any Lordaeron specific Alliance forces in Northrend? During a certain in-game cinematic there are certain alliance soldiers calling "For Lordaeron!" in a similar way one would say "For the Alliance!"
I can't recall any specific Lordaeron forces, but you can probably safely assume there are plenty of people that used to be citizens of Lordaeron folded in with the Stormwind forces now. Also, remember that the current Stormwind is fairly recent. The Orcs razed Stormwind 1.0 and all of the surviving citizens were refugees in Lordaeron. Stormwind 2.0 was born in roughly the same time period that the Scourge came to northern kingdoms, so a lot of the current day Stormwind citizens probably lived up there at some point in their lives for at least awhile prior to its fall.
Even if they didn't live there, battlecries like that aren't unusual. Lordaeron was part of the Alliance, Stormwind was part of the Alliance. It's a cry of vengeance, camaraderie, that sort of thing.
BiggusGeekus asked...
What is WotLK's equivalent of Arakkoa Feathers, Sanguine Hibiscus, Firewing Signet Rings, etc.? What are the dropped items in WotLK that are turned in for reputation, yet are still sellable on the auction house?
As far as I've seen? Nothing. I haven't run into any of those silly grinds at all. Every faction I've bumped into has had a ton of quests. Even the Kalu'ak, the Tuskarr faction that is sort of a 'side' faction, has a ton of quests and a few dailies.
Laz asked...
Is there a Northrend equivalent to Consortium monthly gems consisting of Northrend gems? Or are we stuck with free Outland gems only?
I haven't run into anything like this in Northrend. I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist, but it's possible it's tucked away in a corner of Northrend that I missed. I've quested in all of the zones though, so they would have needed to hide it really well. I think you're stuck with Outland gems.
The Wrath of the Lich King beta is in full swing, and the WoW Insider crew is here to sate your curiosity with Ask a Beta Tester! Leave your beta questions in the comments and we'll do our best to answer 'em!Filed under: Hunter, Paladin, Warlock, Warrior, Analysis / Opinion, Expansions, Lore, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jay Nov 2nd 2008 11:53PM
In the WC3 RTSG TFT, the Blood Elves and Naga teamed up to wage a massive battle against Arthas right on the slopes of Icecrown. It's already been mentioned that settlements and Ruins from further back, when Arthas's expedition land are still there. Is there any sign of the Belf and Naga ruins from their assault?
Gerb Nov 2nd 2008 12:28PM
"What is WotLK's equivalent of Arakkoa Feathers, Sanguine Hibiscus, Firewing Signet Rings, etc.? What are the dropped items in WotLK that are turned in for reputation, yet are still sellable on the auction house?"
You gather ears from certain humanoid mobs, for the D.E.T.A. (the druid radicalist faction). Not sure what the names of the mobs are anymore, but it was something like crazed looters, or crazed hunters.
Gerb Nov 2nd 2008 12:33PM
Here it is:
http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?quest=11867
David Nov 2nd 2008 12:34PM
Do you think there will be lag and problems because all of the influx of people in Northrend once the expansion hits, or will having two starting zones solve that problem? Sorry if this has already been asked. ^-^
Heleth Nov 2nd 2008 1:22PM
It won't matter that much, both starting zones are on the same world server. It will mean you wont have to compete so much for mobs though.
dpak Nov 2nd 2008 11:12PM
I do not think it will be too bad, because:
* Two starting zones (dont confuse "world server" with "physical computer").
* Many players will be starting death knights.
Sallix Nov 2nd 2008 12:40PM
Are there any class specific quests in Northrend?
Falcio Nov 2nd 2008 12:42PM
Random question that goes back to the olden days, but I understand you can get a tabard that champions the Wrath factions, allowing you to grind that rep while going into other dungeons.
My question is, have any old-world or BC factions been given these championing tabards? For example, the Argent Dawn would do well to have something of the sort, considering how tough it can be to get the rep up outside of the Scourge invasions. And having the ability to gain some old-world rep while doing regular instance grinds would be a cool thing to do.
And really, it would help a bit for those factions that will be required for an achievement, like the Argent Dawn/Crusade one or the Cenarion Circle/Expedition one.
Toraneko Nov 2nd 2008 1:37PM
Blizzard have already stated that this championing system will only apply to Wrath factions. That means you can't champion for an old world or Outland faction.
Christian Nov 2nd 2008 12:48PM
I've not been paying too much attention to the new game before this week, and now i've readed that there's is two starting zones..! That seems a bit weird... Will that be one for the horde and one for the alliance? If not, wouldn't that cause problems like lack of reputation, and not being able to fully explore one of the two zones?
dpak Nov 2nd 2008 11:12PM
Your concerns are valid, but not correct in this case.
Here is an executive summary for the new zones:
* The factions are the same.
* You dont need to do both with the same toon
* They are BOTH horde and alliance.
* There are two so you have a new experience when bringing an alt to northrend.
Daelin Nov 2nd 2008 12:54PM
Regarding the second question/answer:
There will be Lordaeron forces in Northrend, just remember in the Frozen Throne, when the traitor, Arthas send a huge expedition to Northrend. Some settlements might be destroyed, aftermath there are still plently of the Expedition(which contains High Elves from Quel'Thalas, Dwarves/Gnomes from Dun Morough/Muradin's Expedition and such). Maybe there is/or isn't a rep for them, maybe they reside with Valiguard Expedition, Valgarde and settlements from Dragonblight. They might mention Lordaeron and Arthas Expedition in quests and some crucial points towards the lore(retconned i know).
I don't recall, Stormwind 2.0(or w/e) being recent, after the death of beloved Lothar, Terenas issued to rebuilt Stormwind, it was created during the second war(warcraft 2:beyond the dark portal) as I recall, one of the orc mission is to destroy new Stormwind(maybe that was Stormwind 1.5 or retconned to you, i guess). Which most bankrupted their economy, prior to the Third War, the seven kingdoms bickered upon the king(which led to the separation, with Stromgarde, Quel'Thalas, Gilneas and others gone) This might be a reason why the scourge and the Burning Legion destroy Lordaeron fatally, the splinter of the Alliance(with only Dalaran, Kul'Tiras, Stormwind, Dwarves/Gnomes and Lordaeron itself)
You mean the Cult of the Damned, not the Scourge. Which the Cotd, started to plague the land, prior-start of the Third War, when Kel'Thazad(a wizard from Dalaran) hed the voice of the Lich King and consumble him into darkness. The infection(like the Zombie Infection but fatal) started to spread during the Third War, where Arthas, Uther and Jaina investigated these mysterious plague from their lands. Leading up to the destruction/purging of Stratholme. There is always battlecries for Lordaeron, the burning legion and the scourge totally destroyed the Alliance(see how much damaged Archimonde caused to Dalaran, wow?!)
So that might be big misconception there, Alex.
Note: I'm not mad, I'm just confused/curious, so don't assume that I'm pissed off because of this...
Eddy Nov 2nd 2008 1:08PM
Technically that gives you Cenarion Expedition Rep, which doesn't give you any real new rep rewards beyond what that already gives. So while you are right in a specific case, that's not really an equivalent.
Za Nov 2nd 2008 1:24PM
What special items are there in the profession specializations? I'm looking on Wotlk WoWHead, and I see a few items under armorsmithing and weaponsmithing, and I know tailoring has new specialties, but I haven't heard or seen anything regarding LW specialties (I'm tribal).
There was a fair number of items in Vanilla, and not alot in BC, but the items that were there were pretty sweet. I want to say they're just not implemented yet, but with only 2 weeks left, I'm becoming afraid that we're being left in the cold. I know LW got the fur linings and things, but what really makes the profession for me is the ability to specialize and get items that are really useful for me. Is there something there and I've just missed it?
zappo Nov 2nd 2008 2:11PM
I noticed the same thing, but LW specialization is sort of outdated anyway and was all but abandoned in TBC. Feral Druids now use the same stuff as rogues so that consolidates all of that. Mail would be for hunters and shamen so it should be rather obvious who would get what in those crafted items. I think Blizzard has it mostly right with crafting BOP items in LW. There really isn't any reason to arbitrarily limit who can craft these specific things other than to justify the existence of LW specialization.
As for being left out in the cold... well it sort of looks that way for the moment. Keep in mind of course that only the first stage of WotLK has been implemented, so as they release more content I'd expect we'll see more powerful leather working only items. Sort of annoying that Engineers can make Harleys, tailors can fly on carpets, and all leather workers can do is make fuzzy bracer linings. But if you've stayed with leather working this long you should find this is all par for the course in this profession :/
Cy Nov 2nd 2008 1:37PM
@Heleth: A crowded zone causes just as much lag as a crowded world server. Ever been in the middle of a 100-man city raid?
@David: Two zones should help, and there's also the Death Knight starting zone to distract more people. So it should be better than Hellfire was when BC launched.
But it would be difficult to judge the impact of having two "starter" zones from the beta experience, since people were slowly trickled in to test it. They did some server stress-testing during beta, but I don't think anyone can accurately predict how it will go once Wrath goes live.
Cy Nov 2nd 2008 1:39PM
Bah, thought I had hit the reply button. Grr... bad commenting system.
Tcgjarhead Nov 2nd 2008 2:21PM
As to the second question, Alex is kind of wrong and kind of right as far as the TG warrior "dishing out a ton of pain". A TG spec wont actually put out alot of DPS until level 75 when you will be able to get Deep Wounds. (And thats only if they dont nerf Deep Wounds which is doing a LARGE percentage of a warriors dps right now)
Until then TG is not and will not be good, go for a 53/8 arms dual wielding spec or a 15/46 fury spec.
Runstadrey Nov 2nd 2008 2:45PM
Could the Blessed * of Undead Slaying be the gear that Blizz wants us to wear into Northrend?
We (enh shammy, prot pally & holy priest) farmed up complete sets of plate, cloth & mail in just over an hour with a bunch of leather and duplicates for DEing. The purple drop rate was incredible and the runes were more common than copper nodes or peacebloom sprouts. Be Imba reports a large increase wearing this gear over the blue faction rep set that I used to wear.
I'm just thinking these drops are too easy for simple scourge killing
The Claw Nov 2nd 2008 5:57PM
I think the Undead Slaying gear is one of the manifestations of this expansion's "great pre-release loot giveaway".
Recall that before TBC we got the new honour system which allowed everyone to go battleground crazy for a month and buy epics, which were solid upgrades for non-raiders - especially the GM/HW weapons were great for anyone playing a weapon-using class that wasn't raiding Naxx.
This time around we get heavy nerfing of all raids, and Undead Slaying gear sold like candy.
Of course none of this is necessary, the WotLK starting zones have to be tuned to be possible for fresh level 70s (or even level 68s, I guess) hitting them without ever farming any gear, just wearing greens obtained levelling in Outland.