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by Alex Ziebart 
Jan 27th 2009 at 2:00PM
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft.We have another appearance from Allison Robert today for you Druid players, so that's fun! Guest answers tend to be a lot more fun, no? I certainly think so, because it means less work for me to do! I'm kidding, I'm kidding, but it's definitely fun to spread the love around a little.
Chas asked...
Has there ever been any lore surrounding Thane Korth'azz and Lady Blaumeux from Naxxramas? The other horsemen seem to have back-stories but I can't find anything on them.
Blaumeux seems to have the least amount of backstory of all of the Four Horsemen, so I'm not entirely sure what her deal is in everything. Thane Korth'azz, however, is probably a former member of the Silver Hand. In the comic he's been referred to as "one of Uther's men" so the common theory is he went down around the same time Arthas shivved Uther. The details are fuzzy, but he was definitely a member of the Silver Hand.
Blaumeux is a question mark. Probably she was just a notable female Paladin, likely in the Silver Hand as well. We don't really know.
Thuixz asked...
What happened to Dungeon Sets in WotLK? Is this just another thing Blizz was too lazy to get creative about?
We hardly need class specific dungeon sets. They really served no useful purpose except looking pretty, and while I love looking pretty just as much as the next guy, those sets were pretty superfluous. Very few people actually wore their tier set, so all they really did was clutter up loot tables. Most of the people that collected their dungeon sets did so just so they could say they had the full set, but very few actually wore it.
They were really unnecessary, and I don't think they really served a purpose. The 10-man version of Tier 7 isn't that much harder to get, so it's not like there's no sets at all available to slightly newer level 80s. Most of it is on easy to reach bosses or available from Emblems of Heroism, just running whichever Heroics you want.
Phun asked...
What do the glowing colours on the meeting/summoning stones mean? I've seen green, blue and orange (and I think red too but I'm not sure). I was guessing it was to do with level ranges but it seems completely arbitrary. For example at level 80 BRD was orange but BRS was blue.
I never actually noticed the different colors on the meeting stones. After digging around, I've come up empty. I don't think it means anything, just aesthetics, but if any of our readers know anything about it beyond that I hope they'll let us know! It'd be interesting if it indicated something, but I don't think it does.
actodd asked...
Now that every Tom, Dick and Hunter has the Staff of Trickery, I'm starting to look at other weapon options, particularly One-Handed. Are there any DPS/tanking off-handers available? Are there any combos that would be better than a 2Hander?
Allison Robert answered...
Hi Actodd - like Gorehorn, I'm assuming you're a Druid because you've referenced the Staff of Trickery.
For tanking purposes you'll probably still want to use either the Kirin Tor revered staff or the Enraged Feral Staff from heroic Utgarde Keep. In Naxxramas, tanking upgrades will be an Origin of Nightmares (Naxx-25 shared loot table Gluth/Grobbulus), Staff of the Plague Beast (Naxx-10 shared loot table Heigan/Gluth) or Staff of the Plaguehound (Naxx-10 Kel'Thuzad). OoN is still the best overall feral tanking staff in the game right now, although not by the wide margin it occupied before 3.0.8. Plaguehound doesn't have any armor on it but in all honesty the expertise on it is almost completely wasted on a cat. Use it for DPS only if you're not expertise-capped from gear; otherwise it's a good threat weapon for a tank.
For DPS purposes, Staff of Trickery will keep you going until an Undeath Carrier (Naxx-25 share loot table...I think Gluth/Grobbulus again but I'd have to look it up), a Journey's End (Naxx-25 Kel'Thuzad), or a Black Ice (Malygos-10). Journey's End is currently the best DPS staff in the game. Black Ice is roughly comparable to an Undeath Carrier right now but make sure you train polearms.
At the moment there really are no 1H/offhand feral combinations at all - everything you'll be using will be a staff or a polearm.
Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Wrath of the Lich King, The Queue
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
chip.aucoin Jan 27th 2009 5:17PM
Inevitable Defeat (2H Mace trash drop in Naxx-25) is pretty close to Plaguehound, except it has 100 Str instead of 200 AP, which is nice because Str gets stat buff from Kings. It's what I've been using since 3.0.8 finally dropped.
Expertise is still good for druids DPSing, now that mobs can dodge even when you're behind them.
Not that I wouldn't upgrade to Journey's End if it would ever freaking drop...
tedoubledy Jan 27th 2009 5:22PM
First time Post!
Love the site esp the queue.
I have 2 questions, 1 general, and 1 rogue specific.
Can you stack glyphs? such as putting in 3 major ambush glyphs for rogues.
Also, in the new arena rating system, I noticed that my rating and my 2v2 teammate's rating are different. There's actually a 14 point rating gap between us. After every 5 or so fights the gap is becoming steadily larger... We have a 5v5 team but never even completed a full week's worth of fights on that team as of yet and we have no other partners or any other teams. So if we have won and lost together and only with each other then how can there be a gap between us? I opened a ticket but as always the response left more to be desired: "Answer: There's currently a new hidden rating system that dictates the amount of loss or gain a player will
accrue. It takes all arena activity into account, rather than just activity with one particular team, as the old system did. Because the system is new, and has very little input thus far, some rating changes will seem a bit extreme. This will balance out as more games are played, and begin to look more and more normal."
So what does that mean? That somehow I suck more so than my partner?
kakaroff Jan 27th 2009 6:14PM
Are the deathknights we rolled actually dead?
I feel left out everytime we meet an ebon hold member because they act like they have no idea who I am....... arent I suppose to be in the same epic awesome deathknight club?!?!?
plus they (and every other NPC) always refer to me as human rather than whatever I thought deathknights were.... In the satrting zone it shows NPCs being raised from the dead to become deathknights so i just assumed that thats where i came from too... is this true? am I dead or not???
Erodor Jan 27th 2009 6:38PM
seeing as people havent been raised from the dead yet in real life it is hard to say if they would be refered to as human. in wow a characters race defines them, even in death they still look their race and wear their races colors. i as a blood elf death knigh still fight for the dead and speak thalasinian.
are you talking about the npc's in ebon hold? if you are i see no reason why they would talk to you. they are dead and mad about it. i wouldnt expect the friendly greetings that you get from shop keepers in dalaran from a death knight in ebon hold.
and if you are dead or not depends on your defenition of the word "dead." you are clearly not inanimate but i would say that your soul is dead. thats just my take on it though. it makes me feel like more of a bad a** when i play my death knight.
Suzaku Jan 28th 2009 4:47PM
Yes, you're dead. The narration when you create a new Death Knight even says, "You stood boldly against the shadow and purchased another dawn for the world... with your life."
You can feel free to RP your DK however you want, but the background setup for all Death Knights of Acherus is that they were killed and raised by the Scourge. Unlike the higher ranking "real" Death Knights, most of those raised at Ebon Hold were intended to be used as fodder in the Lich King's assault against Light's Hope.
ultraguy Jan 27th 2009 6:48PM
@Blkmasta55555
Thane is just another name for lord (or some kind of nobility). Macbeth was a thane, and if u consider the violent nature of tht play then maybe thts y bliss chose it.
Eisengel Jan 27th 2009 10:48PM
The old Norse weren't exactly gender-neutral, but the harsh environment required everyone to do important work to ensure survival. Female leaders certainly weren't unheard of.
Cellwinn Jan 27th 2009 7:17PM
Why is Anub'arak simply a 5-man boss fairly early in the expansion? Pretty much all of the other NPC's that played a role in WarCraft 3 appear as raid bosses and usually the last boss of a raid at that.
Think Lady Vashj, Kel'Thuzad, Illidan etc. All of these characters have been major raid bosses whereas Anub'arak (who was pretty much the majordomo of the Lich King prior to Arthas' arrival) is stuck being a lowly 5-man boss in a level 73 instance.
I was under the impression that he was more powerful than that and should have at least made an appearance in Naxx.
Or do you think we will see him return in the Endgame, resurected, similar to how Kael'Thas came back for Magisters Terrace. (Only this time he comes back stronger rather than the weaker version we saw with Kael).
Has there been another WarCraft 3 character been brought back as less than a raid boss or an quest giver NPC?
Suzaku Jan 28th 2009 4:47PM
Level / boss status doesn't really relate to strength within the lore.
Dar'khan Drathir, the leader of the Scourge in Quel'thalas, was a major villain in the Sunwell Trilogy, a nearly immortal half-lich that was able to hold his own against Sylvanas, Halduron, Lor'themar, Jorad, Kalec, Tyri, and Krasus... simultaneously. And yet he's fodder for level 20 blood elves questing through the Ghostlands (and doesn't look nearly as cool in-game as he does in the books).
I think they simply wanted people to be able to fight Anub'arak. His encounter is, in my opinion, a really good representation of him, and his instance is really short and cool. He might not have been a level ?? raid boss, but I think the instance does him justice.
And, while I wouldn't rule out the possibility that he could return, I don't think it's likely that he'll be re-raised by the Lich King, as his dying words are something to the effect of, "Finally, I'm free of him..."
Cellwinn Jan 28th 2009 7:12PM
@Suzaku
I have no issue with the Azjol'Nerub instance (it is one of my favourites) and I accept that there are other occurances of powerful (in lore at least) characters appearing in lower level areas. Gnomeragen springs to mind.
The thing I just found strange was the appearance of a major WarCraft 3 character appearing as a boss in a 5-man when all the equivalent characters appear as raid bosses. I would argue that Anub'Arak was at least on par with Lady Vashj in terms of importance.
I conceed that Blizzard wanted to make an encounter that everyone could experience featuring one of the WarCraft 3 heroes but would have thought it would at least be a level 80 instance.
Runyarusco Jan 27th 2009 8:38PM
Let's try this again, because apparently my first comment got deleted accidentally.
All of Allison's suggestions for Actodd are very muchly appropriate, but she leaves out an entire class of weapons: 2-Handed Maces. If Actodd is looking for an entry-level DPS weapon, I'd actually suggest picking up a Titansteel Destroyer. It's crafted, it's got a little more AP than the Staff of Trickery, and for what it's lacking in Critical Strike, it more than makes up for in Hit Rating.
Additionally, some of the 2-Handed Mace drops in Naxxramas cannot simply be skimmed over, especially for DPSing. Check out Demise, The Jawbone, and (this one you'd really want to pick up, if you were lucky enough) Inevitable Defeat. The 2-Handed Maces tend to be lacking in AGI/Critical Strike (though not entirely) as compared to the Polearms and Staves, but the STR will be multiplied by Kings (which is super) and the Expertise is superior for both DPS purposes AND for tanking.
I did an extensive write up about Cat weaponry at Unbearably HoT:
http://www.unbearably.net/2009/01/23/new-two-handers-that-will-make-your-pussy-go-wild/
The title is just a gag. Hope this helps (and stays posted this time).
Carda Jan 28th 2009 12:03AM
Here's a question that a lot of people may want to know, but never thought to ask: Which heroic dungeon provides the most rep? Of course, this will probably vary depending on the amount of trash pulled (full clear vs. "just the pats, ma'am"), but accounting for bosses and essential trash pulls, where can I farm to max out my rep as quickly as I can?
zweitblom Jan 28th 2009 1:48AM
wowwiki lists OK and Nexus heroics as those providing the most rep. Since the rep from mobs is negligible, just counting the bosses seems to provide a good estimate.
Gabe Jan 28th 2009 1:08AM
how much gold would one get doing only quests from 70 to 80?
Wrendil Jan 28th 2009 4:35PM
What I don't understand is with such a nice and fancy new harbor in stormwind, would it have been such a bad idea to open up one simple bar?! I mean, really...what's the docks without a bar!