Patch 5.3 interview with Ghostcrawler
Mystery of the Unborn Val'kyr
The latest patch 5.3 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe Queue: Glory of the Hero
by Alex Ziebart 
Mar 24th 2009 at 3:00PM
Hey, everyone. I just wanted to take a moment to remind all of you that Adam and I are not the same entity, even if we both have A names and contribute to the same column. There's been a lot of confusion over the last year, so let me repeat: Adam Holisky and Alex Ziebart are two different people. Adam is not Alex, Alex is not Adam. And when you throw Allison into the mix, Allison is neither Adam nor Alex and they are not she. Are we on the same page here? Great.
Herumor asked...
"As things are now without the Maelstrom, is there any point to adding the upcoming water mounts without a large water based area? I don't really see a use for them other than showing off, and even that's kind of difficult to do."
It's possible that they could be using those mounts to prepare us for something coming in the future. Once we reach somewhere that needs/benefits from aquatic mounts, some people will have already picked out their unique mounts from this place or that place and we'll be all set to start riding the waves.
There's also a possibility that they don't really intend for the aquatic mounts to be anything earth-shattering. The turtle mount could just be a fun little thing they added for fun and vanity. If 'fun and vanity' weren't a valid reason for adding items, a great number of our favorite things would be gone from WoW.
The water mounts could be prepping us for something big, but they could also be for /afking in Dalaran while astride a freaking turtle.
Scott asked...
"Who actually stays in general/trade chat anyway?"
Monsters.
Adrilankha asked...
"Any word in if the Red Proto Drake is going to be removed along with the Plagued and Black Proto Drakes in 3.1?"
I believe the Red Proto-Drake is staying in the game, I haven't heard anything specifically about Glory of the Hero, which is the achievement for Heroic dungeons. The achievement for Raids and Heroic Raids are going away, but nothing has been said about Glory of the Hero. Unless I'm very, very badly mistaken. If that's the case, I probably won't be getting my Red Proto-Drake because I've been a terrible slacker about Heroic Occulus!
Alucromancer asked...
"Where's the best place to go and watch Arena 2v2 strategy videos to better educate yourself on team compositions and class strategies? Also, are there videos of a known mage/rogue combo that can be used for educational purposes?"
I don't arena on (or with) a Mage or a Rogue, so I don't have much for you there. I do know where you can look for information on all of that sort of thing, though. ArenaJunkies is pretty much the go-to place for all things arena. Dig around, and you'll inevitably find what you're looking for.
Nahl asked...
"Any news on how honor rewards will trickle down in season 6? Will hateful gear be purchasable for current savage prices like we've seen in the past, or is Blizzard planning on doing something different this time around?"
We don't know yet. We'll let you know when we do.
Croe asked...
"I note in the patch notes the following changes for Shaman:
Bloodlust/Heroism: Cooldown reduced to 5 minutes, but Sated and Exhausted now last 10 minutes.
Can anyone explain the logic behind this? Why bother changing the CD to 5 minutes if you can't use it again for another 5 anyway?"
This is a change for raids, most specifically progression raids. In both iterations of the spell, you couldn't use more than one Heroism per encounter. Sometimes you could use a second, but it was very very rare. The big issue is when you're trying to learn a new boss, you're burning Heroism/Bloodlust every attempt to better your chances, and wiping after awhile.
Since the spell had a 10-minute cooldown, if you're waiting around for Heroism/Bloodlust, you waste a lot of time in your raid night. If you're not waiting, Bloodlust isn't there for you to use and the fight probably won't go the same way as it does with it. Two different experiences, not very helpful.
With this change, you still can't use it more than once per encounter, but the spell cools down faster for your next attempt. Most likely, it's going to be there for you to use every single attempt on a boss instead of half of them. As someone who spent an absurdly long time working on Sarth3D's 10-man version, I appreciate this change. No more sitting around waiting for Heroism to refresh between attempts.
Aelador asked...
"How do you get the Ulduar fragments to make the legendary mace?"
By beating Ulduar bosses on Hard mode.
Have questions about the World of Warcraft? The WoW Insider crew is here with The Queue, our daily Q&A column! Leave your questions in the comments and we'll do our best to answer 'em!Filed under: Mage, Rogue, Analysis / Opinion, The Queue
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 4)
Michael Mar 24th 2009 5:24PM
They may be adding water mounts for the Malestrom, but it's more likely that they'll be useful more for added quests/PvP in some of the more water-dependent areas of Northrend like Borean Tundra and Howling Fjord
Flame Mar 24th 2009 5:29PM
I'm sure someone has asked this before, either here or on the official forums, but here goes anyway:
Is there any chance of adding a mechanic that will allow us to trade in honor points for Marks of Honor? Currently I'm capped out at 75,000 (mostly from WG) and have no real desire for any of the PvP gear, but would very much like the mounts from the honor system. I don't foresee myself sitting through 30-90 battlegrounds just to get a single mount, though (and honor points aren't even used to buy them).
Basically I'm just wondering if, as a person who doesn't have much interest in PvP, there's any reason for me to have all these honor points?
Olicon Mar 24th 2009 5:44PM
Can't wait to see the new instances. They really are prepping us up to die a lot, don't they, what with the flak's production and this.
restodrood Mar 24th 2009 6:17PM
sorry...i was just wondering...
Thander Mar 24th 2009 6:23PM
I hope you will add this to next week's queue as a follow-up to the question about honor rewards next season.
Kalgan writes this is their plan for the pvp gear. Furious is the working name for the new pvp set.
Honor purchases - no rating requirement
Hateful 5-piece set
Deadly off set pieces
Honor purchases - some rating requirement
Furious off set pieces
Arena and honor purchases
Deadly 5-piece set
Arena purchases
Furious 5-set piece
Furious weapons
He mentions in a later post that they probably will not release PvP weapons except the top tier ones. (only Furious weapons) They want PvPers to get their weapons from PvE for the most part but the people that have really done well have the choice of using a PvP specific weapon.
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=14910422788&postId=149086026319&sid=1#132
Brouck Mar 24th 2009 7:06PM
What is the most successful strategy for Heroic Occulus, other than don't PUG it?
pscof42 Mar 24th 2009 9:13PM
I have a question:
Ulduar, will it be on the same Tuesday reset schedule as Naxx? ie. Will the queue [sic] get even longer on Tuesday nights? Or can we expect a timed schedule once you've been saved to the instance?
Tim Mar 24th 2009 9:16PM
what is the staff the druid has in the screenshot?
phatosen Mar 24th 2009 11:36PM
Will 'The Immortal', being one of the coolest titles available in game, still be available in 3.1? I realize the meta is going away, so no drake, but what about this particular title?
molimo Mar 25th 2009 12:06PM
heres a question, why is gamon killable at all, i just dont understand it.
Thayer Mar 25th 2009 7:47AM
Gamon has to be killable in order to be pickpocketable, and young rogues need to pickpocket him for an early rogue quest.
pants Mar 25th 2009 1:32AM
I know that they are taking away the proto-drakes for the raid achievements in 3.1, but will the title "Champion of the Frozen Wastes" be gone as well for it's respective achievement?
Mprintz Mar 25th 2009 2:43AM
With 3.1 coming out soon, is there a need for me to save my Emblems of Valor or am i safe to use them to exchange for Emblems of Heroism for Frozen Orbs/BoA gear? I hear there is new emblems coming out with Ulduar as well as new Valorous gear, is this true?
Rahl Mar 25th 2009 6:32AM
So wheres all the news, info and guides to the Argent Tournament??
deadsy457 Mar 25th 2009 8:10AM
with regards to blizz taking rewards away from certain achievements, has anything been said about the title's "Immortal" and "Undying". i still havent got mine and would love to get it but it would only make sense that if they are taking away the mount achievements to also take away the titles.