Ask a Beta Tester: More on phasing and starter zones

Welcome back to Ask a Beta Tester on this Maintenance Day Tuesday. Let's get started right away with webrunner's question...
Have you seen any interesting/fun usable gear with cool procs or use abilities, or is it just stats, stats, stats till the Tauren come home?
There are plenty of trinkets with this sort of thing, but not weapons or robes or anything like that. Trinkets are much more common as quest rewards in Wrath than they were before, and you get a pretty wide range of effects. On weapons, it's all stats of various flavors.
Rodrigo asked...
Are there any mounts summonable like the Magic Broom of the Headless horseman? Instant summon is just too delicious... I'll miss mine in 2 days...
Nope. Sorry!
The Hammer asked...
As an RPer, I'll be looking forward to hosting events within Northrend, and within the other places in the game. I am worried, however, about this phasing technology. A lot of my events are situational, and rely on everyone being on the same "page", as it were. So, my question is, far from being a gift to the RP community, is the expansion and its phasing going to damage these events? By explanation, will an attack on a Scourge-controlled town fall apart when most attendees have already seen the Scourge off, in their phasing version? Or does it not work like that?
It depends on where you host it. The entire game world isn't changed by phasing, just certain sections of it. Icecrown is one place where they use a massive amount of it, because the zone is a story, more or less. Other zones don't see nearly as much of it. I don't have a list I can give you of all the places it is used, but you'll be able to find places for your events. Heck, if you can get people to the same phased step together, you might even have some fun with it. I could see making an event out of the final group quest in a certain chain in Icecrown. I won't spoil what the chain is, but the 5-man group quest that pops up will be a nice hint.
Fojar asked a pair of questions...
If I want to get the maximum awesome-lore experience, would you recommend leveling my Alliance toons or my Horde toons first?
Both sides have great stories in Wrath. Anybody who says Alliance is favored or Horde is favored is nuts. Which faction do you like better? The Horde has the Forsaken out for vengeance, or Saurfang struggling to keep things together with Hellscream romping about. The Alliance has origin stories, and a healthy helping of vengeance there as well. Both factions are awesome, and I don't think one needs to come before the other. Just pick whichever.
And also, have you noticed any significant bugs or problems with the phasing system?
There were some weird bugs during the beta but they've been smoothed out. Bugs such as an area rolling over to the next phase because one quest triggered it, but you had other quests to do in that area that you can't finish anymore. They don't phase early anymore.
In another case, I had a quest to get a few drops from some mobs, and while those mobs existed in my current phase, they were different from the ones I was supposed to kill in the previous phase. So I killed them for an eternity without the drops until I realized I was supposed to do it earlier. That was a bug, and has now been fixed and I have the quest done. I think all of these kinds of bugs have been fixed for launch.
Joe asked...
How should we approach mounts and riding skills as we go into WotLK? If we can afford our epic flyer and training, should we go ahead and do it?
Are there faster mounts in WotLK that require new training?
It's up to you if you want to train epic flying now or not. You won't be able to use it until at least level 77, but buying it now means you already have it and you won't be tempted to spend the money on random junk on the AH as you level. Having epic flying in Northrend is really, really nice, especially if you're questing in Icecrown or Storm Peaks. Just keep in mind you'll need an extra 1000g (roughly) at level 77 for Cold Weather Flying. There aren't faster mounts as far as new training, but you do need Cold Weather Flying to fly in Northrend at all.
Omestes asked...
Is this like TBC, where I can comfortably level in Northrend at 68?
Yes.
Nick S asked...
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?
The two starting zones each have an instance cluster of their own. The Borean Tundra has the Nexus, the Howling Fjord has Utgarde Keep. You'll only get quests for the local dungeons in each starting zone.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Expansions, Wrath of the Lich King
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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
Schtix Nov 4th 2008 3:19PM
I've been looking everywhere, but I've yet to find much information on changes to Naxxramas. So I'm wondering, did you have an opportunity to see any ten-man content? Do you know if the bosses are very different from how they were before?
dcwdvl Nov 4th 2008 3:27PM
Naxx 10 and Naxx 40 are similar in terms of bosses and their abilities. The major changes are ones that required specific classes. Instructor Razuvious, in 10 man, now has mind control crystals that you use instead of a Priest's mind control (which is still used in 25 man). The gist of the fight is the same. Likewise, two of the Four Horseman are tanked by ranged dps since you won't have four tanks in a 10 man. The fight itself, however, is pretty much the same with having to watch your debuff count and rotating.
komamura Nov 4th 2008 3:23PM
reroll druid. You get an instant cast flying mount at 68, and it only cost 8g
Candina@WH Nov 4th 2008 3:32PM
And to wipe that smug look off your lvl 68 face, still can't fly in Northrend until lvl 77 and 1000g.
komamura Nov 4th 2008 3:37PM
ok so now i actually have to pay for what would have been my normal flight training =( but it will still be instant cast at 77
dcwdvl Nov 4th 2008 3:24PM
I think a lot of dungeon quests are available right from the dungeon. There are probably others from chains, though. I know Utgarde Keep, for example which is typically the first instance, had a quest at start off instance offering two quests.
Jodi Nov 4th 2008 3:30PM
Could you possibly tell us more about the starter areas? Everyone says to quest where you like it the best, but I cant find enough on each starter area to really know which one I will like best. What kind of story does each bring, what kind of quests, what kind of playstyle? Im really interested to know because I want to start leveling as soon as I can so my mage can start porting people to Dalaran :D
Eddy Nov 4th 2008 4:38PM
Playstyle doesn't matter here. You'll find quests you like in both. For me the big seller is the racial issue- my hunter hates the Forsaken, but he is excited to befriend the Taunka and the Tuskarr, so he's starting in Borean Tundra. Colorwise, Borean Tundra is a lot more varied, it goes from reds and whites to some green, while Howling Fjord is heavily forested but has some firey patches as well.
Lab Monkey Nov 4th 2008 3:48PM
Do the current lvl 70 dailies award cash or xp?
gundamxzero Nov 4th 2008 4:03PM
I almost guarantee its cash, no matter what dailies usually only reward xp after the first turn in.
Elmo Nov 4th 2008 4:12PM
hello, is there any chance we will see more BRAAAAAINS?!
Jeff P. Nov 4th 2008 4:25PM
I see a lot of epic quality gems on wowhead, like cardinal rubies and king's amber, but there is no mention about how to get these gems. Do the uncut forms drop from 10 mans, 25 mans, do we buy them from a vendor?
Bylak Nov 4th 2008 4:38PM
What are the stat caps that raiders should be looking for in Wrath (defense, hit, expertise, that kind of thing).
IanC Nov 4th 2008 5:27PM
Really pissed by that charge for the Cold Weather Flying still. Would of been tons better as quest reward.
"Is this like TBC, where I can comfortably level in Northrend at 68?"
Well in my experience Outland was not comfortable at 68 - heck even at 69 it was a stretch.
Kaeb Nov 4th 2008 8:28PM
I believe you mean Outland was a stretch at 58 and 59?
Some quests I died a lot on my 68 priest. Others I coasted through. A lot of it was just trying to learn shadow priest all over again and being in mostly lvl 60-65 greens.
no matter what, your mileage will vary.
Drad Nov 4th 2008 5:46PM
Im wondering, as a Balance druid, where would the best place to for gear from quests? I've heard that fro Leather, Borean Tundra is better while Howling Fjord is better for caster Leather.
wyn Nov 4th 2008 7:31PM
I think I remember reading somewhere that recipe drops from certain mobs (say, major spell power to weapon from the Ethereals in BEM) won't be as common in Wrath, so this question might not be relevant, but will phasing affect this at all? Are there any zones involving phasing where one type of mob that you may want to farm at a later date won't be available once you've moved past a certain phase?
lynnia+alts Nov 5th 2008 6:14AM
Can u tell me, for those of us with no cash reserves going into wrath, just from quest rewards and vendoring everything from trash to greens can u earn anywhere near the 1000g needed for cold weather flying by the time u can get it????
Tridium Nov 5th 2008 7:08PM
I really dont understand this phase thing your talking about. how does the zone change by phase? how do you know which phase you are in? can you change phases easily? how do you change them? can you go over it all again cuz i seem to have missed it?