Ask a Beta Tester: Starter zones and starter epics
by Alex Ziebart 
Nov 3rd 2008 at 2:30PM
In Warcraft III:The Frozen Throne, 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?
In Icecrown it's nothing but Scourge and the Scourge's servants as far as the eye can see. Anything that had been there previously is gone. There are Naga ruins further out, though. Off the coast of the Borean Tundra there are some Naga structures you'll be questing in. For those of you sick of killing Naga like I am, don't worry. There's a twist.
David asked...
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?
As other readers mentioned, the server lag won't be helped or hurt by spreading players across two zones. They'll still be on the same world server. As far as lag on your end, such as video lag, this will help quite a bit. Zones aren't going to be as cluttered as Hellfire Peninsula was before, especially since there's also the Death Knight newbie zone that'll lure people away.
The Burning Crusade actually launched pretty smoothly, so I'm confident lag won't be too big of a deal. To help my optimism a little, I'm pretty sure the Northrend world server is actually active on live realms. You just can't go there yet.
Sallix asked...
Are there any class specific quests in Northrend?
None that I'm aware of, no.
Runstadrey asked...
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
It's good enough that if you're not in T5/T6 (even if you are in T5 in some cases) that you might wear it all of the time, sure. Blizzard did the 'free epics' thing right before The Burning Crusade as well. They toss out some easy to get gear so you don't have to go into Northrend in greens. That being said, you can go into Northrend in greens and be fine, so it doesn't matter too much. This gear is just a nice perk they toss us. And it looks cool, so it's a nice perk.
Trustee of Lothar asked...
Even though we won't be able to champion old factions, will we be able to champion new factions in old dungeons? Does championing require you to earn experience/honor? Can you champion during BGs/arenas?
You can only do it in level 80 PvE dungeons that reward reputation normally. You just change who those gains count towards. You can wear those tabards anywhere you want, but they'll only have an effect on level 80 dungeons.
And that's all from me today, see you all tomorrow! And don't worry, I'll be pulling questions from both of today's Ask a Beta Tester entries for tomorrow's edition.
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: Analysis / Opinion, Expansions, The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Drakkenfyre Nov 3rd 2008 1:09PM
"Are there any class specific quests in Northrend?
None that I'm aware of, no."
The Mage quest to teleport to Dalaran, lol.
Hobbes Nov 3rd 2008 1:11PM
Can you recommend a quest help addon for WotLK? I currently use LightHeaded + TomTom + Doublewide, all previously recommended in a Wowinsider article. But I don't know which addons will be best -- or even working -- in WotLK.
Drakkenfyre Nov 3rd 2008 1:27PM
There is a good chance whatever addons are working as of the next patch will work in the expansion, lol.
blkmasta55555 Nov 3rd 2008 1:40PM
Carbonite Quest.
niko Nov 3rd 2008 1:52PM
You should pair up TourGuide with ur TomTom/LH/DW setup.
I'm betting it will even be ready for Wrath with circuits at release. Tekkub is cool like that, yo.
It's been working in the 3.0 client admirably.
Ryan11 Nov 3rd 2008 2:13PM
I will second Carbonite Quest. Already the authors have said that they have logged over 500 Northrend quests, and are working on more every day.
It's a great addon, very happy with it.
jeremiah Nov 3rd 2008 4:44PM
@Hobbes: Third for Carbonite Quest. DO NOT use it if you want to hunt for quest mobs or just walk around in a daze wondering what to do next. DO NOT use it if you want to level slower than anyone around you. DO NOT use it if you want to like wow in its pristine, unaided state.
If you want a mod that will help you level, help you quest, and just in general help you, it couldn't hurt to give Carbonite Quest a fair shake. I'm only a satisfied Carbonite user here, not a shill or anything. Use it and you'll see why I like it so much.
Andelorn Nov 4th 2008 6:37AM
If you want to experience playing the game and not just following waypoints blindly DO NOT use this mod. If you want to get to 80 and have some idea of what you've actually gone through, and learn the lore and the story of the game, DO NOT use this mod. If you want to figure out what to do yourself rather than standing around lost and confused if the mod doesn't tell you exactly what to do, DO NOT use this mod.
/shakefist
Hobbes Nov 4th 2008 1:19PM
Thanks for all the suggestions. I downloaded and tried out Carbonite Quest, and it worked pretty well for a 68 alt.
Forget story and lore. This will help me rush to 80 and start raiding Naxx.
Nick S Nov 3rd 2008 1:11PM
Are there quests chains involving trips into Utgarde Keep in both starting zones, i.e. if you want to clear all the Utgarde Keep quests will you need to run quests in both starting zones to get the (Dungeon) quests?
Azri Nov 3rd 2008 3:11PM
If memory serves, Utgarde quests (what few of them there are) come only from Howling Fjord, just as Nexus quests come only from the Borean Tundra.
dawnseven Nov 3rd 2008 1:28PM
Is there any criteria at all to choosing to start in BT versus HF? I think I read that HF might be more pleasing to the eye which kind of makes me lean that way, but then if that's the truth BT might be slightly less crowded. What don't I know? Aside from this one relatively minor thing, how will anyone choose? Are there more quests in one zone than the other? Is one arranged to appeal more toward the horde and the other more toward the alliance? Or are they perfectly (for lack of a better word) equal and I'm reduced to eeny meeny miney mo?
Muse Nov 3rd 2008 3:12PM
As a very general assuming-ish rule, blood elves and undead would probably enjoy the story in Howling Fjord, and orcs/tauren/troll in Borean Tundra. For Alliance, pretty much a toss-up. Personally though, I think the initial way your arrival is greeted in Borean Tundra as an alliance celebrity would more appeal to paladins, warriors and priests, or other "I'm a big damn hero!" type people.
Also, Borean Tundra feels a bit more exotic to someone who already lives in northern europe and has fjords and fjelds outside the window.
Azri Nov 3rd 2008 3:13PM
There's no huge difference in quest rewards, so I think it will come down to player preference and what specific quests you enjoy. Most people I have spoken to actually ended up doing both the zones before moving on to Grizzly Hills or Dragonblight.
I personally think Howling Fjord is a better-lookign zone with more interesting lore, but another person could easily argue the opposite.
AlexW573 Nov 3rd 2008 1:38PM
What tier gear will WotLK go up to? Will it follow the pattern and top will be T9?
blkmasta55555 Nov 3rd 2008 1:45PM
We're only really likely to see Tier 8 maximum in 3.0, seeing as Tiers 3 and 6 were both added in patches, along with relevant dungeons. Given the "schedule" Blizzard has set for patches/raids being released, I'm guessing tier 8 might be too. (tier 7 has already been discovered/received/released/etc as most people probably know)
webrunner Nov 3rd 2008 1:49PM
Tier 2 was patched in too. Blackwing Lair was released with 1.6 where most of the set dropped.
Angry Joe Nov 3rd 2008 3:52PM
Actually, T2 used to drop in MC, before BWL was released.
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/patch-05-04-08.html
"Prior to this patch, Molten Core boss creatures could drop items from one of two different tiered sets for every character class."
Suzaku Nov 3rd 2008 5:59PM
Both versions of the Tier 7 sets are already fully implemented in the beta, and drop in Naxxramas. They're based on the Tier 3 sets which originally dropped in Naxxramas.
Blizzard has announced three more raids following Naxxramas, one for each major upcoming content patch, with Icecrown Citadel being the final raid. Keeping that in mind, the sets should go up to T10.
MassivelyFTW Nov 3rd 2008 1:51PM
I wander how long it will be until Utgarde Keep gets called Upgrade Keep.